The Feminine Religious Experience in Victorian Times Essay -- Victoria

The Feminine Religious Experience: Beyond the â€Å"Angel in the House† The conception of the Victorian woman as the pious repository for her family's stockpile of religiosity consistently permeates contemporary notions of the gender roles of the era. However, the idealized role of the â€Å"angel in the house† was often simply that - an ideal rather than a reality. Women's involvement in religion and spirituality varied widely based on class and level of devotion. Though the majority of women's religious duty consisted of assisting charitable works sponsored by parishes (Heeney 330), women were also employed as local missionaries. The era also witnessed the revival of the convent as an alternative avenue for women of all classes. For the Victorian-era upper middle class family of the Pagets of London, the women received a Christian education in terms of learning the Bible and reciting psalms. In adulthood they fulfilled their Christian duty by volunteering for and donating to various charities for the poor and/or feeble-minded (Peterson 692) However, the private letters of the Paget women often indicate that their helping the poor was not inspired by an altruistic love of all God's creatures, as the â€Å"angel the house† myth would lead one to believe. Instead these were societal obligations, on par with social calls to friends: Catherine Paget wrote â€Å"I spent the morning seeing poor people, the afternoon calling on rich ones.† (Peterson 706) Lydia Paget also wrote, â€Å"†¦I always go with such reluctance to visit the poor people under our care; when I once get amongst them I quite enjoy myself, but on setting out I feel inclined to bend my steps in any other direction rather than th e right.† (Peterson 706) Beyond charity work, women also... ...t beyond embodying the moral and spiritual core of the family. Works Cited Heeney, Brian. â€Å"Women's Struggle for Professional Work and Status in the Church of England, 1900-1930.† The Historical Journal 26 (1983): 329-47. JSTOR. University of Florida Lib., Gainesville, FL. 8 Nov. 2004. Peterson, M. Jeanne. â€Å"No Angels in the House: The Victorian Myth and the Paget Women.† The American Historical Review 26 (1984): 677-708. JSTOR. University of Florida Lib., Gainesville, FL. 8 Nov. 2004. Roden, Frederick S. â€Å"Sisterhood is Powerful: Christina Rossetti's Maude.† Women of Faith in Victorian Culture. Ed. Hogan, Anne and Andrew Bradstock. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. 63-77.

John Dickinson :: history

John Dickinson Even though John Dickinson lived in the colonies, he supported the King and England. He became the â€Å"Penman of the Revolution†, but mostly in favor of the king. He tried to suppress the war, but he wasn’t successful. Born in 1732 in Maryland by an affluent farmer, he later moved in 1740 to Dover, Delaware, where he was educated at a young age. In 1750 he started to study law in Philadelphia. In 1753 he went to England to continue to study law at the London's Middle Temple. He returned to Philadelphia in 1757 and became an important lawyer. Since Dickinson was so well educated, he was asked to be in politics. In 1760 he served as spokesperson at the Three Lower Counties in Delaware. In 1762 he won a seat In the Pennsylvania Assembly and did again in 1764. Unfortunately for him, he lost the seat that year for going against Benjamin Franklin. During the Stamp Act, Dickinson was an important player. He wrote â€Å"The Late Regulations Respecting the British Colonies†, a pamphlet that that advised Americans to look to revoke the Stamp Act by pressuring British merchants. In 1767-68 he wrote â€Å"Letters From a Farmer† which was anonymous letters to the Pennsylvania Chronicles which stated, â€Å"The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all her colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a moth country and her colonies; and necessary for the common good of all. He, who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire, has very slender notions of justice, or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament and we are as much dependant on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on one another.† This quote makes Dickinson seem as though he is against England, but in the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition†, from July 5, 1775, his views were a little different. â€Å"†¦the apprehensions which now oppress out hearts with unspeakable grieved, being once removed, your majesty will find your faithful subjects on this continent ready and willing at all times†¦to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your majesty and of our mother country.† It is possible that in the 8 year period between the â€Å"Letters from a Farmer† and the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition† Dickinson’s views have changed on the colonies. John Dickinson :: history John Dickinson Even though John Dickinson lived in the colonies, he supported the King and England. He became the â€Å"Penman of the Revolution†, but mostly in favor of the king. He tried to suppress the war, but he wasn’t successful. Born in 1732 in Maryland by an affluent farmer, he later moved in 1740 to Dover, Delaware, where he was educated at a young age. In 1750 he started to study law in Philadelphia. In 1753 he went to England to continue to study law at the London's Middle Temple. He returned to Philadelphia in 1757 and became an important lawyer. Since Dickinson was so well educated, he was asked to be in politics. In 1760 he served as spokesperson at the Three Lower Counties in Delaware. In 1762 he won a seat In the Pennsylvania Assembly and did again in 1764. Unfortunately for him, he lost the seat that year for going against Benjamin Franklin. During the Stamp Act, Dickinson was an important player. He wrote â€Å"The Late Regulations Respecting the British Colonies†, a pamphlet that that advised Americans to look to revoke the Stamp Act by pressuring British merchants. In 1767-68 he wrote â€Å"Letters From a Farmer† which was anonymous letters to the Pennsylvania Chronicles which stated, â€Å"The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all her colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a moth country and her colonies; and necessary for the common good of all. He, who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire, has very slender notions of justice, or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament and we are as much dependant on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on one another.† This quote makes Dickinson seem as though he is against England, but in the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition†, from July 5, 1775, his views were a little different. â€Å"†¦the apprehensions which now oppress out hearts with unspeakable grieved, being once removed, your majesty will find your faithful subjects on this continent ready and willing at all times†¦to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your majesty and of our mother country.† It is possible that in the 8 year period between the â€Å"Letters from a Farmer† and the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition† Dickinson’s views have changed on the colonies.

7-Eleven Casestudy

INTRODUCTION The ability to respond quickly to the ever-changing marketplace is paramount to the success of most businesses. The convenience-store industry is a highly competitive one and 7-Eleven’s ability to become a leader market leader appears to be based on the company’s ability to quickly respond to the rapidly changing tastes and needs of the market. 7-Eleven has not always enjoyed success, especially in the 1980s when things got really bad for the company. Helped, however, arrived in the form of Ito-Yokado (the company’s Japanese Licensee).Ito-Yokado revamped the entire retailing approach of the company by introducing an innovative approach to retailing which, along with the aid of technologically advanced systems, significantly impacted 7-Eleven’s success. ANALYSIS Ito-Yokado’s innovative approach to retailing is known as â€Å"tanpin kanri† or â€Å"item-by-item management†, a business approach that revolves around the follow ing: 1. Carefully tracking and paying attention to the fine details of the buying preferences of customers 2. Allowing the customers tastes and shopping habits to dictate the products that are carried in 7-eleven stores. -Eleven has been able to simplify the process of tracking and paying very close attention to the shopping habits of their shoppers by using the information systems installed in all of their stores. USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPACT SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY, VARIABILITY AND UNCERTAINTY Technology plays a vital role in 7-Eleven’s supply chain. The company’s state-of-the-art information systems appear to have reduced the company’s supply chain risks by increasing visibility, while reducing variability and uncertainty. Supply Chain Visibility Supply Chain visibility is the ability to access relevant supply chain information.Thanks to cutting-edge technology, like the Mobile Operations terminal or MOT, 7-Eleven knows the exact amount of individual items that are sold in each of its 5,800 North American stores on a daily basis. Another technology: the MC3000 handheld scanner lets the company collect data on items as they come off delivery trucks- increasing the company’s visibility on a real-time basis. 7-Eleven’s supply chain visibility has been greatly impacted by technology as it allows the company to better predict, with great accuracy, the number of individual SKUs that each store will sell. Supply Chain VariabilitySupply chain variability involves volatility in the flow of goods and services in a supply chain. By having the right systems in place, 7-Eleven’s supply chain variability appears to have significantly decreased. The MOT system at 7-Eleven, for example, allows stores to better forecast the number of individual SKUs, resulting in decreased storage and spoilage costs; and the elimination of potential bullwhip or snowball effects. MOT has also slashed the amount of time and labour that it takes to count inventory and to order new products, causing an improvement in company efficiency and a decrease in variability.Supply chain uncertainty Supply chain uncertainty occurs when decision makers do not know what to base their decisions on (due to a lack of proper information). 7-Eleven store managers used to color code information manually physically keep track of frozen sandwiches by their written expiration dates and would sometimes make sandwiches on the premise when instructed by corporate management. Information systems now allow stores to accurately forecast the number of stock/items that need to be replenished, resulting in significantly reduced uncertainty. THE BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY AT 7-ELEVENTechnology has played a crucial role in increasing 7-Elevens profitability and market share. The hundreds of millions of dollars that the company has invested in technology in the past decade appear to be paying dividends in the following ways: †¢Increased profitability: Last year, t he store reported $12. 2 billion in revenues †¢Increased share prices: Company stocks have soared above $30, since trading for less than $6 in early 2003. †¢Consecutive sales increases: The company boasts 35 consecutive quarters of same-store sales increases Technology plays a crucial role in the gathering, analyzing and distribution of information at 7-eleven.While other convenience stores chains have just gotten around to POS scanning, 7-Eleven has item-by-item information gathering systems that assist in day-to-day decision making. 7-Eleven’s retail information system or RIS provides timely sales data that enables stores to tailor their product assortments to meet the demands of their customers, reducing the risks involved in introducing new products ( due to the availability of sales data within 24 hours of a product’s introduction). The 7-exchange data system for category management, which suppliers access online, provides insights that can lead to new p roducts or product packaging.The information on this system can even alert suppliers to a potential or missed opportunity. 7-Eleven’s has opened its doors to small suppliers through its Web Vendor terminal. Suppliers who cannot afford EDI use this to communicate with the company and accept orders for very specific items like ethnic items or the self-serve espresso in a Manhattan store 7-ELEVEN’S BUSINESS STRATEGY The driving force behind 7-Eleven’s success appears to be the company’s ability to execute a Customer Intimacy strategy.Customer intimacy involves targeting specific market segments, then tailoring offerings that meet the demands of these segments. Companies that excel at this are known to: 1. combine detailed customer knowledge with operational flexibility (so they can respond quickly to fulfil the needs of their customers) 2. Continuously tailor and shape their products and services (in order to fit their customers). According to Keith Morrows, 7-Eleven’s CIO and VP of information systems, â€Å"decisions about what should be in the store are best made at the store, at the moment of truth, by people in the store, on a real-time basis†.This allows the company to shape their stores around the customer’s day-to-day habits, instead of basing company decisions on focus groups, marketing research or non-scientific guesses. Pursuing a Customer Intimacy strategy can be expensive: 7-Eleven spent $93 million on technology as the company installed new HP servers, wireless LAN, computer-based training software and new ordering system for fresh foods. Customer intimate companies, however, are willing to spend in order to build long-term customer loyalty that provides lifetime value to the company.

Summit Of Greatness

It was December 2, 1804, with over 400 musicians and singers performing. The world famous cathederal, Notre Dame, was filled. All eyes were set upon Napoleon Bonaparte. This Corsican native slowly ascended the steps to the alter alone, siezing the crown with his own hands. He held it aloft and brought it to rest on his head. Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France that day. Napoleon was an everday guy. He was a 5? 2? lieutenant who was later ranked a general. He married Josephine DeVorne. At first, Napoleon wasn’t very liked amongst certain parts of Europe. Mothers would say to their kids at night to make them sleep a little nightmare raising lullaby†¦ † Baby baby, naughty baby, hush you scwaling thing i say, hush your scwaling or it may be Bonepart that pass this way. † Napoleon was nothing more then an average Corsican man with a cleaver mind. Working was a passion for Napoleon. In 1805, Napoleon planned to cross the English channel. Much like most other conquerors in Eurpope’s land Napoleon had one goal in mind, to conquer all of Europe. As he crossed the channel to invade Great Britain, with 2,000 ships, and 200,000 soldiers, he soon met victory. With that in mind, Russia and Austria wouldn’t allow Napoleon to roam with triumph. Soon after the Grand Army was put to the test against the French. The Russian army was known as the strongest and most feared around. Russia and Austria’s plan to win was by outnumbering Napoleon 2:1. France was looking pretty weak and had no chance of defeating the Russian’s and Austrian’s. But Napoleon saw the flaw in this. The Austrians and Russians were planning to meet half way. Their armies were scattered. So, Napoleon figured if if he was to beat the one army before the two armies linked up,then his men would’ve still stood a chance. Napoleon did just so. He took General Mac (Austria’s general) by surprised and conquered them leaving them forced surrendor. 27,000 men surrendered. Mac lost almost half his army. † I didn’t intend to fight any but England, until your master provoked me† said Napoleon. Nothing stood now between Napoleon and Vienna. In 8 days, Napoleon destroyed Austria’s army by marching, (200,000 marching men, marched 500 miles in 40 days-defeated Austria’s army). On November first Napoleon lead his army into Vienna, the capitol of Austria. The emperor was the first to fleed. Leaving behind his palace and gardens free for the enemy. Bonaparte triumphed alongthe streets. Many then stopped worshipping Napoleon, such as Ludwig Beethoven. On October 21, British admiral Nelson destroyed Napoleon’s army, and took along his own life. Napoleon no longer had the Grand army. French stopped challangeing the British army. It was December of 1805, when Napoleon was faced with an even greater challenge. He was now 1,000 miles from Paris, and was in the center of Europe. With enemies from all angles, Europes land was a great trap to Napoleon’s men. With the knowledge that the Russian’s has once again united with the Austrian’s in November, this time with 90,000 allies put together against France’s 75,000 men, Napoleon had one of two choices. He could’ve either gone back or to move along foward. Bonaparte would’ve NEVER moved back. So, now Napoleon was to face Alexander I, the emperor of Russia. Alexander I(28 years of age) was very jealous of Napoleon. He believed that it was his destiny to triumph over Napoleon. The war against the Russian’s seemed impossible. But leave it up to Napoleon, he was a thinker. He had a plan to encourage the enemy to think he was scared. He wanted to lead the enemy to the battle field of Australit, by making them think Napoleon was weaker then he really was. Once again, Napoleon succeeded. The Russian’s came to battle by hitting Napoleon on the right (the weaker end) first. Bonaparte wanted them to do exactly that. The Russian’s fed right into his plan! Napoleon had a secret for the Russian’s. He had previously set up 2 divisons within 70 miles in 2 days to attack the Russian’s. The attack caught the enemy by surprise and yet gave Napoleon another victory. Napoleon was sort of an artist he planned each battle as if the next move would perfect the whole piece of art, the end of the battle. Napoleon being the whole hearted Corsican man he was. He never let the power get to his head. Over a duration of time Bonaparte’s name was being spread all throughtout Europe. He still managed to write letter’s to his wife and he even elected each of his siblings to an office. His brother Joseph to be the king of Naples, Jerome the king of West Falia, Louis the king of Holand. His sister Caroline to be a Queen, pauline a princess, and Alicia a Dutchess. Trough all the battles and victory Napoleon gained much popularity in no time. Yet, he remained a mother’s boy. He loved his mother and made her Madame Mayor. Josephine and Napoleon were made for eachother. Though, both of them had their own quirrels. Josephine hated all the mistresses Napoleon had. Napoleon hated the habits that Josephine had with spending money. Josephine knew that one day no matter how strong her love was for Napoleon, he would’ve had to divorce her. The day came on November 30, 1809.

Body Image in Brazil and Usa

Body Image in Brazil and USA Four thousand years ago the last of the mammoths were roaming the earth before extinction, anesthesia was still 3800 years away from being discovered, and tools were still being made out of stone. What else was happening that long ago? Humans were performing the first known cases of reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries, documenting back to skin grafts in ancient India. Between the first documented procedures and the early 1800's not a lot progressed aside from the basic tools being used. In 1827, Dr.John Peter Mettaue performed the first cleft palate operation using tools of his own design kicking off the modern plastic surgery advancements. Using the advancements in reconstructive surgeries became increasingly popular during World War I as it was used to save many soldiers' lives throughout the world. In the late 1940’s, following the second World War, the focus of plastic surgery began to shift from medical procedures to save lives in the milita ry to a more public and socialized practice. A boom in the 1960's spread rapidly after the introduction of silicone implants by Dr. Thomas Cronin.Sports Illustrated Magazine issued its first swim suit edition in 1964 featuring a five page spread of bikini clad perfect model bodies that the public was pressured to imitate. Despite the American involvement in Vietnam during the late 60's the trend continued to increase into the 70's when plastic surgery hit an all-time high due to the public discovery of its uses on all parts of the body. Over the decades, countries throughout the world including Brazil and The United States have adopted plastic surgery as an active part of their cultures despite monetary and health costs all because of media and social pressures.The United States and Brazil rank first and second in the world of most plastic surgery procedures, respectively. According to Dr. Daniela Dorneles de Andrade, a psychological research associate at the University of Vienna, t he United States alone underwent 30. 1 million cosmetic surgeries in the year 2009, enough cosmetic surgeries for one in every ten Americans to have undergone some sort of altering procedure. The United States is the only country to top the next leading country, Brazil, which reported 13. 7 million procedures.Based on its population, that amounts to one in every fifteen Brazilians volunteering for of these surgeries in the same year (Dorneles 75). The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports the average cost of plastic surgery procedures being at five thousand dollars in the United States incurring a total revenue topping one hundred and fifty billion dollars a year from voluntary surgeries alone. The figure dwarfs Brazil's reported income from the same procedures however, topping just over fifty million dollars (ASPS).Professor Alexander Edmonds, of Macquarie University, reports that the lack of funds reported by Brazil is due to a philosophy that â€Å"the poor have a right t o be beautiful† (Edmonds, â€Å"Poor† 363). The thought that everyone has a right to undergo plastic surgery, even if they cannot afford it, has been adopted by many Brazilian surgeons. Brazilian surgeons have started clinics that are being funded by federal and municipal budgets to provide procedures to everyone regardless of economic ability (Edmonds, â€Å"Poor† 365). Such acts are not only costing people in American and Brazilian cultures money but also costing them their health.Both psychological and physical health are being put into jeopardy by the procedures themselves and also by the desire to have them done (Edmonds, â€Å"Learning† 470). Health care related spending has nearly tripled in the past three centuries, seventy-eight percent of which linked to complications of cosmetic surgery. Whether it is leaking silicone implants or infections, the surgeries that people are seeking out to make themselves more perfect on the outside are in fact lead ing to more problems than with what they started with (Dorneles 77).Why are people of the world putting themselves through these extensive procedures? University of Amsterdam professor, Alexander Edmonds, says it amounts to nothing more than acceptance and expectance. The pressure to appear as perfect as possible on the outside is largely placed upon the women in both Brazilian and American culture. Such pressure is put upon women, young women most heavily, by media and social groups alike. Social groups are driven by what they see in magazine or on television ads. Media thrives on what social groups are deeming appropriate amongst themselves.The vicious cycle of perfection that American teens and young adults face every day is the same pressure that is seen in Brazil. More and more young people are turning to evasive procedures to correct themselves every day. In 2010 the second most popular gift given to high school graduates in America, trailing closely behind a new car, was that of breast augmentations (Kreimer). These gifts are giving by family members or people who care about the young person's life and they feel that their child will thrive better in life if they help them achieve a better body.This thinking is passed on from generation to the next and is rapidly increasing. One teen who received such a gift was quoted saying, â€Å"My mother, grandmother, two aunts, and stepmother have implants, so if my mom is willing to pay for it, why not? † (qtd in Kriemer). The pressure to appear a certain way is becoming even more important to people of the world with no consideration for the health and financial implications. It is becoming accepted by cultures around the globe as a normal practice.If the past is any indication for the future this issue will become an uncontrollable epidemic. Something needs to be done about how media portrays people but are the thoughts of societies and morals of cultures being influenced by the media or is the media bei ng conformed by the cultures and societies serves? Works Cited ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons). The Plastic Surgery Foundation, 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Dorneles de Andrade, Daniela. â€Å"On Norms and Bodies: Findings from Field Research on Cosmetic Surgery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reproductive Health Matters 18. 35 (2010) : 74-83. Print. Edmonds, Alexander. â€Å"Learning to Love Yourself: Esthetics, Health, and Therapeutics in Brazilian Plastic Surgery. † Routledge Journals 74. 4 (2009) : 465-489. Print. Edmonds, Alexander. â€Å"’The Poor Have the Right To Be Beautiful’: Cosmetic Surgery in Neoliberal Brazil. † Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13. 1 (2007) : 363-381. Print. Kreimer, Susan. â€Å"Teens Getting Breast Implants for Graduation. † Womensenews. Women’s eNews Inc. , 6 June. 2004. Web. 26 Oct 2012.

E Fraud Essay

An e- fraud is considered to be an electronic crime that affects not only individuals businesses and governments but also allows for very negatively intelligent people and hackers to use their intelligence to log into other’s accounts use their credit card numbers and banking password and transact huge amounts of trade and money . it has been seen that e fraud is on the increase and this is because of the low levels of awareness, the inappropriate counter measures that are ineffective to handle this kind of fraud has led to e frauds being on the increase . The only area that has been actively involved in reducing the impact of fraud is the technical side leaving the other so many variables out of the purview of the e fraud scenario. This has made e fraud even more easier because there have been no mechanisms to reduce these occurrences and even if there are there has been limited penalties issued to the frauds that happen on the cyber space. Introduction: The complexity of modern enterprises, their reliance on technology, and the heightened Interconnectivity among organizations that is both a result and a driver of e-business these are rapidly evolving developments that create widespread opportunities for theft, fraud, and other forms of exploitation by offenders both outside and inside an organization â€Å" (KPMG 2000) The paper tries to assimilate and analyze the strategies that can be adopted by everyone who deals on the cyber space to protect their information and finances securely. This paper also tries to analyze why such frauds occurs and what can be done by stakeholders to minimize the occurrences and is it worthwhile an attempt to bring in a global governance ordinance which could help businesses and agencies nab the criminals . It is recorded that global e commerce sales are steadily growing and with this the e commerce fraud too. The eco system which has promoted the concept of ecommerce streams from the millions of shoppers and customers who use their debit and credit cards . Though online shopping is projected to be a very safe way of shopping and bank transactions through secured payment modes, frauds have been continually on the increase . It has been objectively researched that e commerce transactions have to be highly secured . Every transaction has to be screened for the following inputs . 1. Risk based authentication should be enabled for every transaction and to prove the integrity of the user. 2. Card holders‘s data has to be tokenized so that consumers identity can be authorized and protected. . Reputed brands should shut down phishing and Trojan attacks that make easy e commerce frauds. Some practical applications for reducing e commerce brands: Fraud detection and prevention by addressing the critical needs of the entire credit card eco system. Evaluating transactions for the risk and balancing risk activities in cards . High transaction abandonment rates that results from poor user experience . Reducing the compliance costs so that we e commerce frauds commitment costs become high . The following diagrammatic representation shows how the personal data ecosystem is subject to hacking by very professional hackers. (source:Google. com) Credit card fraud The credit card industry reports huge frauds conducted over the internet in the US alone, in the year 2010, $8. 6 billion card frauds occurred (Aite Group study). With worldwide electronic information sourcing and data storage and the thousands on online purchasing that is going on, the frequency of card usage has increased and this has resulted in financial institutions and cardholders becoming victims of e fraud . Countries worldwide have set up agencies to monitor e fraud and have their own agencies to take care of such crimes especially those related to the cyber space and those which happen on cyberspace and in ecommerce space . E commerce sales is expected to total almost $1 trillion by 2013. Ecommerce fraud is also growing along with this. Fraudulent transactions rose from 2. 7 billion in 2010 to $3. 4 billion in 2011 and are expected to grow exponentially. The use of internet has made these frauds possible. There are many reasons why these frauds occur. . The increasing complex software that is now being used to relay ecommerce has made the systems vulnerable to attacks . 2. There are thousands of malicious codes and other tools that help hackers and attackers . 3. The increasing use of high speed internet at homes with very little security makes attack much easy . 4. The rate at which technology is changing and the ease of adaptation to the new technology and the users rather slow pace in adopting to good computer security practices is another compelling reason for fraud . . the hidden costs that are involved in an ecommerce portal goes unnoticed because the security systems that have to take care of this and when systems are set up, there is always the likelihood that ambitious technology experts give least preference to securing the information site and privacy conditions People and business which conduct business online do not inform people of the expected frauds that could occur due to ecommerce transactions, because of this frauds happen . The lack of proper governance and regulation regarding type of penalties and punishments that would be given to fraud committers is rather slack . There are no world wide global laws to tackle such frauds and hence frauds that are committed online find no jurisdictional limits and so governments do not know how to pin point the responsibility . This loop hole has been used by fraudsters . The online world is full of pseudonyms and pseudo identities . Hence tracking such frauds also becomes very difficult. There are no experts who could be given the responsibility of tracking and strategizing how such frauds occur . Though technology now is slowly trying to understand the macro environment of the fraud related scenarios, the risk and costs associated with bringing in security is very high and hence the adaptability of such scenarios cannot be done by all firms who have e commerce portals . Stakeholders involvement in the vulnerability that exists across the value chain is seen as the most critical issue in a fraud . Crime congress global: This is an imitative taken by the agency to help stakeholders and victims of e commerce fraud to find effective solutions. This proves information security in all countries of the world to meet the challenges arising from e commerce. This agency prominently uses technology and provides technology solutions in partnership with the business community to prevent frauds through information security technology and information risk management, forensics, investigations, audit, risk, compliance and fraud. This agency has been conducting global awareness programs for reaching out to institutes, businesses and government to partner in helping reduce ccurrences of e fraud to strategic and technological challenges. This is a strategic initiative involving al stakeholders to proactively reduce the risks of ecommerce frauds and to defend IT systems from those threats which are emerging and to comply with relevant legal and regulatory laws . this initiative is a step towards combating the threat of the increasing cases of fraud. This partnership brings out very important initiatives to protect not only customers but a lso business houses from succumbing to the increasing menace of hackers. Technology solutions and other security solutions are placed in a consultative approach towards tackling this . If an international business committed copyright infringements then legal action under Criminal Jurisprudence legal action can be resorted to under Article 61 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) where the loser has got legal recourse to his stolen property by means of criminal sanctions and which will thereby allow for legal and criminal punishment of the infringement and the infringer . t has been felt that all types of infringement should be punished with criminal sanctions. People can appeal under this act for legal action or they can hotlist an organization under cyber space if there are cases of patent stealing and web site hacking. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 also known as the CDPA can be used in cases where infringement has taken place. If an international business committed copyright infringements or steals a pa tent then as a victims we can take recourse under the above mentioned acts which give protection to IRP which are stolen and pirated and copied.. Early referral is said to be the best away to ensure that the evidence is properly secured and that all the investigative revenues are fully explored with the possible undercover law enforcement activities. Perhaps, communication with the law enforcement activities allows the victim to coordinate civil proceedings with the possible criminal enforcement. Though legally recourse is available it is easy to settle out of court because protection of copyright is a prelude to production of the material or product. People who invent need to protect their patents. Once the patent is protected then it cannot be copied or pirated as punishments are very severe in such cases. With so many innovations taking place in the US especially with cyber technology there has been very serious issue of pirating software and the Beijing convention has called for all member countries to come out with anti pirating laws which could effectively punish those who are caught. USA will have to worry about the number of infringements that are taking place. It has admitted legal course in serious cases but USA is neither able to gun down the culprit nor is it able to find means of putting an end to it because of the geographical distance which makes it impossible to monitor the use of technology. USA is very careful in dealing with countries where incidences of Infringement are very high and tries to bring in severe legal clauses to protect their interests. Computer forensics investigator and other laws A computer forensics investigator works with a pre determined notion of computer crimes. But that is not a sufficient coverage that should be catered. A computer forensics investigator looks upon other law system too such as data protection, data integrity, data control, audit of data components, investigation around the computer and etc. A forensics investigator moves with an initial priority of computer crime. But he should be well governed with other laws. This helps him to establish himself more concretely on the crime scene. He is prepared with the notion of covering up the areas totally in order to fully satisfy himself on the grounds that nothing is left behind. He checks into the data system, recovers the data, checks the integrity of the data, protects the data, looks for evidences around the computer, checks the network system of the accused person, goes more deeply with the computing system to enable him searching beyond the computers to narrow down his investigation procedure. Some other laws such as, human rights, digital rights, information system laws, computer laws are of special interest to him. This gives him the power to deal with any case that involves ethical computer crime. He is much more developed investigator if he is well adverse with the above law system. E – Discovery E Discovery or Electronic Discovery refers to discovery in civil litigation. This discovery process deals with the exchange of information in the electronic format. Electronic Discovery is pretty useful for the forensics analysis. We know that Forensics analysis deals with the investigation of crime scene involving computer and cyber crimes and evidence is the prime source of investigation that leads to a successful procedure. Hence the investigator is pretty much confident about the E Discovery System. The investigator with the help of E Discovery processes such as Electronic messages, voicemail; smart phones etc recover every bit of information that is required in the gathering of evidence required for the forensics investigation. The whole process of collection data through E discovery and jotting it down to the report makes it much easier for the investigator. The E discovery has led to new developments and changes in the investigation system of the cyber crimes. With latest e discovery modes as mentioned above, an investigator is much more confident about its movement into the IT system of the accused criminal, and supporting the cause with rather strong and reliable evidences gathered. E discovery is a radical change in the process of investigation and has led to much more focused and integrated system of computer investigation. Conclusion The whole conclusion is based on the cyber crimes and the enacting system of law prevailing. The cyber crimes have increased in geometric progression over the years which have led to many disasters and crimes. With the increased number of crimes taking place day in day out, the laws have been made much stricter in order to ensure that the numbers of crime taking place gets minimized and there is a fear of messing up the computer system. The laws have addressed the message of intent of distorting computer systems which will constitute a crime. Many forensics investigators have been seen in the picture off late which governs the system of computer crime. These investigators are well adverse with the system laws and crime scenes. They effectively handle the situation and get to the desired results enabling quick and accurate reply to crime involved. Thus the laws have been successful over the years in minimizing computer threats and crimes. Ecommerce has revolutionized trade in many ways and consumers have also been cheated in ways that were unknown in traditional sales. In order to protect the consumers, traders on the internet and operators in the cyber space have got together to form associations and laws that would protect the consumers in the text of ecommerce. Though every country has passed consumer protection acts which are rules and regulations to protect the consumers from fraudulent trade practices in the market. There laws were enacted to protect the consumers and give them rights to ensure that they obtain truthful information and right products as so designed by the seller. The laws have been designed to protect consumers from businesses indulging in unlawful and unfair practices . The governments of all countries have passed regulations to protect the rights of consumers especially in those products where health and safety are chief ingredients. Consumer protection is also in the form of consumer rights which consumers can exercise through redressal grievance and consumer courts. This is the history behind the concept of consumer protection. In direct contrast to the traditional business where the buyer and seller are in direct contact with each other and the buyer can inspect the goods before buying, in ecommerce the communication is only through an electronic form and business is conducted in a paperless environment. More importantly the internet or e transactions play a very important role in helping buyers and in assisting in choice comparisons and locating a product on the internet. (http://www. apec. rg/apec/apec_groups/som_special_task_groups/electroniccommerce. html. Accessed on 13/2/04) Consumer concerns in e commerce starts form the point of instance as the buyer is not known to the seller and vice versa and hence the privacy and confidentiality aspect of a trade which has to be concluded needs authenticity. Consumers are worried about 1. The unfair marketing practices that sellers resort to on the web. 2. The terms of sale, refunds, cancellation of orders, warranty conditions 3. Enforceability of the contract, performance and non performance. . Delivery time, late deliveries and no delivery verification. 5. The most illegal use of information available on credit cards payment made for online purchases. 6. Fraud and cheating because transactions are not authenticated by any physical source. 7. unsafe products not confirming to safety standards. 8. Misuse of personal information for other purposes. Since majority of e commerce transactions lead to the buyer being put to a disadvantage the Issues relating to consumer disputed have to be minimized and arbitrated. t is all the more difficult because the sellers are beyond national jurisdiction as it happens on cyberspace and SO the risks that arise out of such trade has to be taken care of and the consumers have to be suitably protected. a landmark development n the form of the E -Commerce group otherwise known as The Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection Group is constitute d by leading companies on the net like America Online, AT&T, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Network Solutions and Time Warner. These companies predominately deal in online sales of their products and so recognize the growing need of consumer protection and have addressed issues regarding consumer protection as best practices of industry and have created an environment which would allow consumers to resolve disputes arising on cyber space. The American Bar Association Task Force on E-commerce and Alternative Dispute Resolution is one of the best reference guide to consumer protection on the cyber space. This organization was asked to suggest workable guidelines that parties dealing in online transactions can use for ODR’s (online dispute redressal) . the complexity further arose from the fact that there was multijurisdictional disputes arising from B2B and B2c businesses. (THIS IS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IS REFREED TO IN EXACT TEXT) To quote the words of the task force of the Ecommerce group â€Å"that there are many ways to help prevent as well as to help resolve disputes or complaints that arise from e-commerce transactions, the Task Force makes the following recommendations and observations: 1. E-commerce businesses should place an enhanced emphasis on all stages of dispute prevention, complaints handling, and effective methods of redress through ADR and ODR. 2. Internet merchants, governmental and nonprofit entities should place a greater emphasis on consumer education and the prevention of e-commerce disputes. 3. Protecting consumers requires adequate standards and codes of conduct for ecommerce businesses. 4. Internet merchants should be encouraged to participate in and subscribe to relevant e-commerce codes of conduct and trust mark programs. 5. Internet merchants should develop or continue to improve on their in-house complaints handling mechanisms, and educate consumers as to how to use these in-house procedures effectively. 6. For consumers, recourse to in-house complaints mechanisms is normally the first and best means to obtain redress from reputable merchants. Accordingly, consumers should be encouraged to utilize the in-house complaints handling mechanisms offered by reputable Internet merchants before resorting to third party dispute resolution mechanisms. 7. at present, the lack of ODR does not appear to be a material impediment to the growth of B2C e-commerce. . At present, ODR is subsidiary to other higher priority consumer protection activities, including consumer education and use of measures that help prevent or decrease the incidence of fraud in Internet transactions. 9. Recognizing that enforcement of outcomes and decisions reached through ODR may be difficult, consumers should be encouraged to consider using other dispute prevention mechanisms such as escrow services and credit card charge back mechanisms when transacting online. 10. Rather than create a code of conduct for ODR Service Providers, the Task Force has drafted Recommended Best Practices by ODR Service Providers. 1. The Task Force recommends the creation of a new informational entity (referred to as the ADRCenter) that would provide information about ODR in an effort to educate and familiarize consumers, businesses, lawyers and other professionals with this new type of service. 12. For the advancement of ODR as an effective and efficient means of cross-border dispute resolution for both B2B and B2C transactions, there needs to be an appropriate emphasis on the development of interoperable communication and data-sharing platforms. 3. The Task Force believes that much of the education that will be useful for consumers will also be useful for businesses – especially small to medium sized enterprises and those who are ne w to the Internet marketplace and to cross-border transactions. ( Task force quoted verbatim) among all of ecommerce frauds the greatest of consumer complaints arose from identity thefts. The Federal trade commission has released statistics stating that out of 2004,000 complaints received from consumers 42% elated to fraud and identity of the seller, followed by internet auctions which constituted 10%,followed by other non performances like non delivery of goods, inferior quality goods, trial offers from the net, shop at home offers and so on. This only reiterates that consumers have to be protected and laws of cyber space have to be strictly regulated to afford consumer protection. Consumer protection measures were seen very importantly in the light of an interactive poll which shows the increased awareness of consumers against online frauds . They were dissuaded by online shopping and cited some of the reasons why they had not shopped recently. 57% said that they were worried about their credit card number being stolen,57% were worried about confidentiality measures being violated,38% doubted the integrity on the seleers,26% wanted some personal attention to be given while they shopped,37% doubted the reliability of the sellers,47% said that wanted to physically inspect the product and 25% cited many unknown reasons. source: Harris interactive)It was increasingly felt that consumer education will be able to help protect consumers better. It also shows increased concerns about consumers not knowing how to transact online. It is suggested that traders using the electronic media need to given all information that is required for consumers to feel safe about shopping online . Quoting Internet merchants association ,† Merchants need to have greater and enhanced disclosure on their websites as well as heightened compliance with relevant consumer protection law. † Another pertinent consumer protection data and study conducted by a New Zealand organization on 700 web sites explicitly brought out the consumers heightened awareness of ecommerce frauds and consumers came out with their reasons of the need for protecting their rights against fraudulent organizations. They said that 50% of the vendors had not installed security measures on the payment options, 62% did not speak of refund policies, 78% said that the vendors did not advice customers of how to lodge complaints,90% said that they did not know about laws pertaining to consumer redresses and 25% said that the vendors did not show physical address. Despite all this majority of consumers preferred to shop online so laws pertaining to consumer protection need to be implemented in its fullest sense. Consumers International released its Privacy@ net study in which it concluded: that though almost all the traders online collected data regarding the personal information of the buyers very few of them institutionalized a privacy policy regarding the use of the information that the buyer gave. Though these were correct measures to provide security, majority of these proved meaningless to the buyers. it was very common in the US and Europe to find traders giving scant respect to global standards on data privacy. Even the basic principles of informing the customers of how the data will be used, how the firm will access the data , how the consumer can use the data and how the security of the data is sought and maintained is not disclosed. A comparative study of the sites of USA and UK are no different with regard to privacy policy as both played on the information made available to them. The US online trading sites set decent privacy policies which looked good enough to follow. In The European trading sites the consumers had the law backing them up and the presence of an ombudsman and a government representative in the form of a data protection officer took care of the consumer rights and protection if breached. He also intervened to speak on behalf of the consumers if the law was tampered with . in fact it is sad to know that both the countries have left little choice to consumers in terms of data protection.. † This was a comparative study of the European merchants and the USA merchants. But both of them accepted the fact that consumer protection was a must if their sales and revenues had to increase. As a step towards greater protection measures to consumers the task force on ecommerce and protection said that various disputes redressal mechanisms have to be introduced in the form of dispute prevention like education of consumers, feedback collection from consumers, ombudsman appointments, negotiations, mediation, arbitrators, and assessment of valid consumer grievances.

Application Of GPS To Disaster Management Information Technology Essay

Application Of GPS To Disaster Management Information Technology Essay GPS is particularly useful during disasters because it operates in any weather, anywhere and at all times. While it functions simply to give the location of the receiver, the level of precision of GPS makes it quite useful in disaster management. GPS find its greatest utility during the response and recovery phases; however it can also be utilized during preparedness and mitigation phases. An important application of GPS in EDM is tracking of emergency vehicles or supplies. In this application the GPS receiver attached to the vehicle and the location is overlaid onto a map. Other applications include the monitoring the height of waves. GPS units are fixed to buoys and the height of the units are can be determined to within centimetres any significant change in wave height or velocity can trigger an alarm for a tsunami or sea surge. Volcanoes can also be monitored using GPS. By measuring the deformation of the ground, inferences about volcanic activity can be made. Remote Sensing and Flooding Flooding is one of the most frequently occurring hazards. With flooding comes the risk of damage or disruption to normal living including communication, transportation, the environment and infrastructure. Given the magnitude of disruption that can take place, it may be difficult for disaster managers to gain access to remote areas or areas that have been cut off as a result of the disaster. Remote sensing as a technological tool would greatly assist this process as it would allow users of the technology the opportunity to view what is taking place in an affected area, without jeopardizing the safety of the user, since they will not actually be at the site. It is always going to be difficult, if not impossible, for planners to identify all the areas likely to experience flooding in any location. The use of technology however, in determining flood potential could highlight features of the geography that could make the community susceptible to the hazard. Types of flooding su ch as flash flooding, which usually take place in a relatively short time, with little or no warning could prove potentially dangerous for disaster managers if they attempt to physically go into an area that has been experiencing continuous rainfall. While the task of providing assistance to victims is critical and time dependent, a physical presence in the affected area could increase the persons at risk. Using remote technology however, would allow response workers to stay away from danger zones while at the same time gather pertinent information to facilitate timely response, rescue and relief efforts. Floodplain mapping is a useful indication of flood possibilities in an area and remote sensing can aid the process of identifying flood plains. The technology would generate satellite imagery of the area in question, which would allow for proper planning and timely rescue efforts should the need arise. The detailed photography produced from remote sensing provides accurate informat ion and can restrict efforts to the affected area. Other characteristics that could be identified about a geographic region using remote sensing include land-use classification, historical data, soil coverage, and soil moisture.