Game shows Essay

Game shows were dwindling down and were a thing of the past, but recently they have been making a sharp comeback. Television entertainment is now being focused on game shows such as â€Å"Twenty-One,† â€Å"Greed,† and â€Å"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. † I for one am obsessed with these new shows on television. They bring the fun back into television and makes people want to win. In the pages following, many facts, reactions from the public and comparison’s to other game shows will be discussed as they relate to the recent popularity of the game shows. As a result of the increase in game shows, there is a greater quality that is brought back into television for the audience. New values and creativity have been sparked by the demand for these game shows. Regis Philbin, host of â€Å"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,† has started this game show craze off with a bang. The first five airings of his show averaged nearly 29 million viewers (Bauder, â€Å"ABC’s Game Show†). In January, â€Å"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire† averaged an extra 5 million viewers than it did in November (Bauder, â€Å"ABC’s Game Show†). In fact, this craze sure doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Host Regis Philbin knows how well it is doing because he is looking at getting a raise, at least two times the amount he is making now. Philbin is currently accepting a $100,000 paycheck for each episode of â€Å"Millionaire† that airs, which is currently three times a week. He wants to double his income so he will shortly be looking at around $20 million a season. His income is already up in the same range as movie stars Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, and Jim Carrey (Sikles). Host Philbin is able to make such a big salary because the game shows do not cost much to produce. They are much cheaper to produce than sitcoms and dramas (Consoli). Since these shows have become so popular, television stations would be crazy not to produce them. â€Å"Millionaire† was the first game show that led to all of the major networks creating their own version of an interactive game show. As a result, some stations are getting better ratings off of these popular game shows than they do from their regular weekly dramas. The game shows have gotten positive feedback by bringing families closer together. Families have said they now feel as if there is a common ground between them and their teenagers. Bauder goes on to explain, â€Å"Experts say it has revived the concept of families watching TV together after a decade’s worth of forces pulling them apart† (Bauder, â€Å"Millionaire†). Parents have stated that instead of everyone going to their own separate rooms to watch television shows made for their age range, everyone gets to play along with shows such as â€Å"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. With the questions ranging from easy to difficult it gives everyone a chance to play along at their own intelligence level. Four-year old Walker was especially delighted when he correctly completed the name of the children’s game â€Å"Duck-Duck Goose† (Bauder, â€Å"Millionaire†). Although many people say they have watched more television than normal since these shows have started, it is said not to be a bad thing. â€Å"It’s fun to be able to actually enjoy something together† (McKinney qtd. in Bauder, â€Å"Millionaire†). Another reason parents like watching â€Å"Millionaire† with their sons and daughters is because it stimulates conversation. By watching these shows they have something to talk about with their kids; in some cases they feel this is an easier way to bring up some â€Å"harder to talk about† topics (Bauder, â€Å"Millionaire†). With this big break in bringing families together, NBC’s top entertainment executives have said that establishing new family shows are their top development priority. The public has reacted toward these shows tremendously because they contain questions in which the average person knows the answer to. My whole apartment got so excited the first time we watched someone get the million dollars, I can’t imagine how the winner felt. The game shows are exciting and are interactive for everyone. There is a sense of addiction to these game shows because of the drama and suspense, which is why they are so successful. Great Britain who originated â€Å"Millionaire† was upset with the United States’ version of the game show because the questions on America’s version were not very difficult. Great Britain creators thought the questions in the newer version should raise in difficulty. Britain’s creators were unhappy and were thinking about filing a lawsuit. Another show that is being imported from Sweden is getting ready to air in the United States this summer. This show will be on CBS and is called â€Å"Survivor. † It will take 16 contestants and drop them off on a deserted Malaysian Island with camera crews following them. Every three days the players will vote to expel one of the members of their group until there are only two contestants left. Then all the players except for the two left on the island will be able to choose which contestant they want to walk away with the $1 million dollar prize. The contestant with the majority votes wins. Internationally, game shows are also in demand and in popularity. In comparison with the game shows from Great Britain, United States’ has it easy. The shows in which viewers are drawn from Great Britain are much harsher. Their quiz questions are much tougher and their contestants have to be more daring in some cases. In one game show in Great Britain, people go on the show to face their biggest fears. They work as a team and each member has to do something that frightens them. For example, one contestant was scared of spiders and she had to get a clue for her team off of the back of a tarantula. In this case she never ended up getting it because it terrified her too much. Her teammates were hurt overall. Another example of a game show from Great Britain involves contestants getting hooked up to a bungee cord and then they jump from a high bridge. While in the air, they have to throw a ball into a Santa’s hat in the water. If the contestant successfully gets the ball in the Santa’s hat then that person wins. It is apparently a tough thing to do because not many people end up winning. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire† is definitely breeding new shows in the United States. â€Å"Millionaire† is creating theme shows, by having football focused questions around the time of the Superbowl and movie-themed questions around the time of the Academy Awards. This has proved to be highly successful and more exciting and fun for the viewers (Bauder, â€Å"ABC Takes Lead). The success of â€Å"Millionaire† has led to other stations providing the same type of entertainment to their viewers. â€Å"Greed† has become a big game show since it aired shortly after â€Å"Millionaire† got high ratings. This show has a $2 million jackpot and gives its contestants the opportunity to challenge their other teammates if chosen by the terminator. Although one wrong answer from any team member is all it takes to lose the $2 million for the team makes this show more difficult to win the jackpot. The television game show â€Å"Twenty-One† has also been revived from the 1950’s. Being taken off the air years ago due to some scandals, NBC has brought it back and it has regained itself in the television market (Gray). Other game shows in the works of coming back on the air is â€Å"The $64,000 Question† and possibly â€Å"What’s My Line† by CBS (Gray). I believe these shows might be able to make it for awhile as long as the TV station can dish out what the audience demands of them. Once the viewers have had enough of the craze, then these game shows will most likely go off the air for another fifty years or so until they get revived again by another curious generation who wants to win big. Next time, the stakes will most likely be higher than $1 million and they will raise the curiosity and greed of the fresh viewing audience. Personally, I would like to see many more game shows on the air because they are very exciting and fun to watch.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude, lived and experienced a religious Latin American life. These experiences played a vital function in the development of his characters, specifically Jose Arcadio Buendia. Jose Arcadio Buendia was the founder of the innocent city of Macondo where â€Å"the world was so recent that many things lacked names. †(p. 1) He was a strong coordinator and looked to as a leader.As Melquiades and the other gypsies passed through the village, Jose Arcadio Buendia’s attention was quickly captured. Fascinated by their magic and determined to learn more, he bartered the most valuable possessions of his family in exchange for their mystical tools. He would then spend his time trying to figure out how to use these tools and what they meant, unaware of the fact that his constant pursuit for knowledge would soon lead to his downfall.In the meantime, he became obsessed with trying to find civilization outside of Macondo, a t ask he had failed to do but his wife, Ursula, had simply completed months later. I believe Jose Arcadio Buendia’s desire to find other civilization is related to his obsession for knowledge and information for reasons beyond just the simple founding of people. The discovery of civilization will not only allow him to find more unknown information, but will also subconsciously allow him and his family to interact with more people.It is possible that this subconscious quest for social interaction is the actual cause of the introversion and solitary confinement that is evidently a characteristic of his family line. This unintentional corruption of his family is consistent with the significance of Jose Arcadio Buendia within the novel. The innocence of the rest of Macondo was also corrupted through Buendia’s obsession for facts and information.If he had not sought answers, the gypsies may have had no incentive to return to Macondo, Jose Arcadio would have never impregnated the gypsy girl or joined the gypsies as they left town, and Ursula would have never followed Jose Arcadio and returned with knowledge of the path through the swamp that led to other civilization. In fact, even if the gypsies continued to pass through the village and Ursula still found the path through the swamp, it was her husband’s obsession of finding other civilization that made mentioning of this path significant.Beyond this unfolding sequence of events, the search for truth corrupts human’s abilities to live in fantasy worlds without realizing the fantasy of it. Once truth is revealed, the world previous to that truth will be interpreted as an incorrect way of life. Thus, continuing the attempt to live that â€Å"incorrect† life after knowing the truth will now be interpreted as a fantasy. If truth had not been revealed, the village of Macondo could have lived in a fantasy world without interpreting it as a fantasy.In searching and revealing the truth, Jose Arcadio Buendia corrupted the imagination of the villagers with a correct answer for things. Soon things began to have specific names and people had correct ways of life. I find Macondo to be the Garden of Eden’s second chance. If the world of the novel were compared to the Holy Bible, then Jose Arcadio Buendia would symbolize Adam. His obsessions and constant search for knowledge is clearly analogous to Adam and Eve when they eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.The subsequent downfall of the Buendia family as well as the rest of Macondo is the same as Adam and Eve being outlawed from Eden and sentenced to live a mortal life. When Jose Arcadio Buendia is tied to a tree by the other villagers, it is a symbol for how Bible followers, such as Christians, are trying to separate themselves from Adam and Eve through redemption and reconciliation. Through the death of the Buendia line, Marquez may be trying to reveal the possibility that the line of Adam and Eve can als o be ended.

Dell Inspiron 700m Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dell Inspiron 700m - Essay Example Dell Inspiron 700m is one of the most popular laptops in the market today which is used by students. When its features are compared with the needs of students, it can be deduced that Dell Inspiron 700m's popularity among this circle is justified. The Dell Inspiron 700m is released in the market during 2004. Recognizing the fast obsolescence of computer equipments in the information technology industry, it is notable how this model retains its popularity amidst the proliferation of more advanced varieties in the market. It is reported that students and other low end markets keep the demand high for Dell Inspiron 700m. Compared with other notebooks, this model is sold at an affordable price of $489 and is available in stylish black, silver, and white designs. The competitive pricing makes it very attractive to students who are often with a limited budget. The model is also dependable in terms of functionality. Being bundled with a Pentium 4 processor, it makes computing really convenient. Dell Inspiron 700, also features a 512mb of RAM and 60 gig hard drive which is huge enough for a typical student for saving programs and other files. The notebook also has wireless capability that enable sthe user to connect to the internet.

Design Principles and Applications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Design Principles and Applications - Assignment Example A client brief is, therefore, a rough draft or sketch of the project design that the architect uses in making sure that the client’s preference in designing is not compromised or lost completely. Generally, clients’ make their requirements list to be met by the architect without much professional information and they are usually faulty but not always a waste of time. Client-oriented designers and architects always consider having the clients requirements incorporated in the final design. The need for the client brief is to ensure that the project is clearly thought out between the client and the architect, with reflections, information, budgeting, and assessments easily facilitated for the project. Involvement of the client makes sure that discontent is eliminated at the earliest possible instance and clarifications sought well enough to facilitate the development of a good design. In this case, Moulton College will be required to submit a client brief which does not necessarily have to be very complicated. Enough information and detail should be availed of the design requirements for the farm manager’s house. To ensure that the designers’ ideas based on professional principles are in congruence with the clients’ needs and specifications, the clients’ are assisted by the designers in understanding some design concepts. While it is not possible to have all clients’ needs incorporated due to some technicalities, some requirements may be useful in the design when the designer understands them. â€Å"Firming up the brief† involves the understanding of the clients’ specifications in the design work. Communication and effectiveness of the client brief are faced by some challenges which both the client and architect should be prepared for in case they arose. Designers and architects have a higher propensity to ignore and assume the input of a client in the design.  

Current events report and analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current events report and analysis - Essay Example As result of the increase in the supply of the oil, the price of the oil has gone down in the country. The demand for oil in the other oil consuming major countries like Spain and Italy had been due to the crisis that these countries have been experiencing. Thus among the other developed countries the both the consumption and the production of oil in the United States has been the highest (Norris 1). In respect to the above article, the demand and supply model has been fit and the analysis has been done from the perspective of the oil prices of the United States. The diagram below depicts the demand and supply of oil in the economy of US. The downward sloping curve is the demand curve and the upward rising curves are the supply curves. In the figure it can be seen that the initial supply curve of oil in the economy of US is given by S2 which was the supply of oil in the previous period. The demand and supply curve in the initial phase intersected at the equilibrium price of P2 and quantity Q2. In the present period the supply of oil in the economy increases and the new supply curve shifts to S1. Therefore at the same level of demand for oil in the economy the demand and supply curves intersect to form a new equilibrium the new equilibrium point is formed at the price P1 and at the quantity Q1. If the macroeconomic policy of aggregate demand and supply is applied to the article above it can be found that the rise in the consumption has resulted in a push in the demand for oil. This in turn has increased the level of supply of oil in the economy. In the above figure the aggregate supply and demand curve has been drawn. The initial aggregate supply curve is AS. Due to the rise in the production of oil the new aggregate supply curve would be at AS1. The rise in the production of the oil has led to the fall in the prices. As a result the price level of the economy decreases. The spending of the people increases the aggregate demand in the economy. This results in

The session of learning the digital content Essay

The session of learning the digital content - Essay Example The best part of this class was that I got to learn the usage of Google docs with the coworkers and students. Part of the studies also contained the lessons regarding proper usage of software like Skype and PBLs/Podcasting. I was provided with the strong basic and essential knowledge about the strengths and weakness of this software. We learnt their everyday application, in both personal and professional contexts. This learning, particularly, proved to be very beneficial for us as we had to use such parts of the information system for our routine communications as well. Then, the studying and understanding regarding the use of content specific software and screen capturing through Voki opened our minds to the entirely new world of IT advantages and benefits. With each passing session, I kept on learning more and more about the computer sciences which have been introduced for the ease and benefits of the mankind. Learning Wikis was also a major part of our course during the semester. We learnt the application and benefits of all the elements of Wikis and had also developed an extensive lesson plan on it. Using Wiki spaces opened another broader era of knowledge for our minds through the course of computer sciences. We prepared lesson plans by including the application, which was extremely content specific and collaborative in every aspect. This lesson plan was made at the end of many sessions and classes and it served the purpose of depicting our understanding of the content that we were taught in the class.

Consumer Behavior Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Consumer Behavior Analysis - Essay Example Economists have analyzed that all types of goods and services need not be advertized for the purpose of sales. Producer’s decisions to incur advertisement expenses largely depend on the market or industry concerned. Competitive market producers never go for advertisement expenses, like the sellers and producers of potatoes (Yeshin, 2006). When business firms face high monopolistic or imperfect competitive markets then they resort to high advertisement expenses. Personal care products are consumer goods products and its trading involves cut thought competition. Large number of business firms enter in such trading and the major differences between their products is qualitative in nature. Thus while targeting the young generations between 18 to 35 years in U.S.; the company must select an appropriate advertising strategy. A good slogan or message for advertisement is the one that is simple, clear and short. The slogan should be easy so that most of the buyers in the market of dif ferent classes can relate to it. â€Å"Every Man is Unique† can be an appropriate message for the personal care products for young men. This is because personal care products like shaving accessories; face wash etc. helps to keep the looks fresh and good (Pure Health, 2011). The viewer ship ratings of a product largely depend on the popularity of the advertisement slogan. ... Demand for personal care products depends on the tastes and preferences of the consumers. For some buyers requirement of personal care products may be an act of necessary consumption. While for others it may be a type of comfort good. While marketing a range of consumer care products for men in U.S., a seller might have several difficulties to attract the consumers. This is because U.S. exhibits different types of cultures in its society. The culture in U.S. is primarily western in nature but still influenced by African, Asian and Latin American cultures. Thus the company must consider different types of culture in U.S. and carry its business activities. There are also many other cultures in U.S. like Polynesian and Native American cultures. The essay tries to analyze different cultures appeal for personal care products, the three cultures considered are African, Asian and Latin American. Africans in America resemble the Black Culture in the society. They are traditional in their tho ught and firmly follow the heritage and culture of Africa (FROST, 2012). It is empirically found that despite of the global crisis, the industry for toilet soap has remained successful in Africa (FROST, 2012). The Africans create high demand for personal care products. Thus appeal for male personal care products would be high from the Africans in U.S. The demand for male grooming products in Asian countries is rising significantly. Many natives in U.S. are from Asian families. So it can be analyzed that the demand for male grooming products will be good from the Asians living in U.S. Latin American men consider themselves to be good looking. The consumers of Latin American cultures are demand for large quantities of cosmetics in

EU Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EU Law - Essay Example In the same year, she launched claims for consideration of an educational grant in the UK, giving reasons that courses in genetics were not offered in her country Germany. The application was rejected on ground that Ms. Morgan did not meet conditions on paragraph five, clause two that is 5(2) of the Federal Law on encouragement of Education and Training BAfOG. Ms. Morgan was denied grant, because she was not continuing her learning in another member state, studies initially pursued in Germany for at least one year. She had started her’s in the UK and so, failed to satisfy that condition. In the second case, Ms. Bucher began her studies in ergo-therapy in Netherlands, close to the German border. Living with her parents in Bonn, they moved to Duren, where she registered as her permanent residence before traveling to Heerlen for studies. Ms. Butcher applied for an educational grant to pursue training the Netherlands. The application was rejected on condition that Ms. Bucher did not fulfill paragraph 5(1) of the BAfOG. It was alleged that Ms. Bucher established residence on the border to facilitate her training. Reason given for denial was, Ms. Bucher did not satisfy the conditions either on paragraph 5(1) of the BAfOG or those stated on 5(2). Entitlement to an educational grant as member state citizens to both applicants is the factual claim in the two cases that is C-11/06 and C-12/06 Questions referred to the Court of Justice for interpretation were two, the first question common in both cases. Does the rights of movement allocate for citizens in the Union under Articles 17 EC and 18 EC the rights to deter a Member State, in a case like Ms. Morgan’s and Bucher’s, from awarding an education or training grant to its nationals for a course of study in other Member States on ground that the course does not reflect a continuation of studies pursued at an educational institutional in their national

Family Violence Essay Example for Free

Family Violence Essay While it is difficult to create a concrete definition of family violence or blame anyone involved in it, no one will disagree with the fact that it can be disastrous for all members of any family. The inherent complexity of such situations makes it difficult to blame any single person of the family or to underpin a particular gender as the sole guilty behind such occurrence. Therefore this study briefly explores why this issue looks so complicated and whether such complication would help to solve the situation. According to Levesque et al. (2001), family violence involves family members acts of omission or commission that result in physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or other forms of maltreatment, which eventually hampers healthy development of humans.   The above definition fairly indicates that there are many faces of family violence and it can be difficult for an outsider to identify if there is any violence ongoing in a family. However, American Academy of Family Physicians (2009), explains family violence as the intentional intimidation or abuse of children, adults or elders by a family member, intimate partner or caretaker to gain power and control over the victim. While the first definition mostly emphasizes on action, the second one stresses on intention. This adds to the complexity by highlighting the fact that family violence can take place even without the knowledge of most of the members in a family (Lau et al., 1999). For example, a father may find spanking as an effective tool to intimidate his daughter, and may intentionally does that off and on, which may not be considered as violence by her mother or other members of that family and thus such practice might continue to ruin the victims future. This is very much possible, since many acts are considered as socially accepted violence, such as spanking, and which are not considered as abusive violence, which according to the researchers an act which has a high potential for injuring the person being hit (Straus et al, 1980, pp. 21-22). The above state of affairs shows that there is much ambiguity in pinpointing family violence which in turn points at the fact that how difficult it could be to redress it or to eliminate its occurrence. This signifies the importance of spreading awareness about the damaging potential of family violence and promoting the adoption of behavioral processes that can effectively eliminate such occurrences in a family. For example, encouraging parents to abstain from using corporal punishment to their children could be a way to lessen the instances of child abuse – because the intention behind corporal punishment, i.e., to cause pain but not injury for purposes of coercion and control (Strauss et al., 1980) may be lost with raised temper and loss of control. In all, any injury has the potential to leave a scar on human mind and thus can considerably influence the actions of the victims, which may create further problems to the society. It is from this angle, the hidden niches of family violence need to be identified and redressed, and from that perspective, humans have to go through complex discussions and debates in way of finding its solution. It is not that family violence is a new phenomenon of the society, since instances of it are spread all over in the literature of all times, and earning several sobriquets in different periods, like battered child syndrome (Kempe et al., 1962), granny bashing (Burston, 1975) or battered woman (Walker, 1979). Therefore, it is the pressing lifestyle of modern times have given it some more dimensions and accordingly, the educated minds of modern times are trying to deeply investigate its root as well as its intrinsic effects on human mind. Consequently, the perception about family violence is also gradually changing, where the earlier concept of focusing on the violence on women, children as the potential victims is making way to a newer concept that includes all humans and considers any act detrimental to human development as family violence (Pleck, 1987). Conclusion The apparent complexity in defining or determining family is actually an outcome of the honest search of the researchers that has brought forth many hidden niches of family violence. This is the right process, because the more the mechanism of family becomes clear before all, the more humans will be able to eradicate it and move towards a prosperous and happy future. References American Academy of Family Physicians. (2009). Family and intimate partner violence and abuse. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/f/familyandintimatepartner-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   violenceandabuse.html Burston, G. R. (1975). Granny battering. British Medical Journal, 3, 592. Kemple, C. H., Silverman, F. N., Steele, B. F., Droegemullar, W., and Silver, Hl. K.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (1962). The battered-child syndrome. Journal of the American Medical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Association, 181, 105-112. Lau, J. T. F., Liu, J. L. Y., Tong, C. K., and Tan, P. M. E. H. (1999). Conceptualizations,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reporting and under-reporting of child abuse in Hong Kong. Child Abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Neglect, 23, 1159-1174 Lavesque, D. A., Velicer, W.F., Castle, P. H., and Greene, R. N. (2008). Violence against   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   women. Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 158-164. Pleck, E. (1987). Domestic tyranny: The making of social policy against family violence from colonical times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press. Straus, M. A., Gelles, R.J., and Steinmetz, S.K. (1980). Behind closed doors:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Violence in American families. Doubleday, NewYork. Walker, L. E. (1979). The battered woman. New York: Harer Colophon Books.

Vehicles on Non Conventional Sources Essay Example for Free

Vehicles on Non Conventional Sources Essay I would like to express our gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this report. I like to thank our HOD giving me permission to commence this report in the first instance, to do the necessary experimental work and to use departmental data. I am thanking to all our teachers who gave me the required knowledge, skill and a mental approach within the training schedule and encouraged the developing interest of ours in this field. I am bound to our Head of Department of Electrical Electronics Engineering also my training incharge Er. R. K. Sharma (HOD) for constant and stimulating support. I am thankful to everyone who supported me in our report work. I want to thank them for all their help, support, interest and valuable hints as well as for the close look at the final version of the report for English style and grammar, correcting both and offering suggestions for improvement. 1. Wind powered vehicles Introduction Here we use water as a fuel for vehicles which will replace fossil fuels. This system is pollution free. Water powered vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen for the propulsion of the vehicle. The speed of car using water as a fuel is 6 times faster than that using fossil fuels like petroleum, diesel etc as proved by Ohio State University, Honda, Ford, Renault – Nissan. If there just isn’t enough oil to go around, then let’s turn our energy needs to something that is overly abundant on the planet. Water seems like a good choice for an energy source, and many have tried. It looks like Genepax Co, a Japanese company, has been able to get a car to run on water. The engine gets its power by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes. What’s really happening is that this is nearly a hydrogen powered car, but you don’t need to find the one or two lonely hydrogen refueling stations. Genepax has created what they call a â€Å"membrane electrode assembly† (MEA) that is able to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen using a chemical reaction. I’m not sure how it works exactly, and Genepax isn’t saying, but they claim their process can produce hydrogen for a longer time. My favorite part about this little car is that you don’t need to have a pressurized hydrogen tank sitting in the back of your vehicle. Forget about how difficult it would be to refuel, why would I want a bomb in my trunk? I’m far more comfortable with a few jugs of water that get split up during the driving experience. It’s really too bad that being in the northeast eliminates many of these smaller, energy efficient, cars from practical use. Although I did see an electric car yesterday†¦I’ll have to make a note to ask those people how it handles come the blizzards in December. The cost of the engine itself is around $18,000, which puts this little car on the impractical list. But Genepax hopes that if it can go into mass production the cost will reduce down to as little as $4,600. More than 70% of the Earths surface is covered by water and our planets fossil sources are getting lower each day. This is why a lot of scientists struggled to find a way to create a car that will only need water to run. The car will only take the hydrogen from a water molecule and the oxygen atom will be eliminated. This would also improve the worlds environment a lot. Hydrogen is a very powerful power source for engines because it burns very cleanly and it generates less heat in the process. A water powered car would take the hydrogen through a special separating process called electrolysis. Even though there were a lot of companies that tried to create water powered cars, these ones cant compete yet with contemporary cars and I think it will still pass a lot of time when well see a water powered car with the same performances as a car that runs with petrol. If cars that run only with water will ever get into production, their price will be too huge for an ordinary person and scientists are still struggling to reduce the cars costs. Still, there are some cars that could use water for fuel aside from the usual petrol. These cars are called water-hybrid cars and each car have a power generating system installed that let it extract power from water. Probably the biggest benefit for water powered cars comes from the fact that water is more abundant, easier to get and a lot cheaper than petrol or gas. So, even though a car that runs only with water will be a bit too expensive from start, it could save you a lot of money on the long run. Working It generally works on fuel cell conversion system. In this system, water is split up into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis. Hydrogen produces electricity which helps in the propulsion of car and little bit oxygen is used to cool the engine and react with rest of the hydrogen to reproduce water for further use. In this way we can use this source for long time than fossil fuels. Here we can use some sort of boiler which make water pure. We can also make hydrogen by using the Hydro-Gen. The Hydro-Gen separates hydrogen gas from the natural hydrogen-oxygen mix in standard tap water which will result in us making hydrogen. A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel for motive power. The term may refer to a personal transportation vehicle, such as an automobile, or any other vehicle that uses hydrogen in a similar fashion, such as an aircraft. The power plants of such vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy (torque) in one of two methods: combustion, or electrochemical conversion in a fuel-cell: †¢ In hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles, the hydrogen is combusted in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. †¢ In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce water and electricity, the latter being used to power an electric traction motor. Can a fuel cell take in water and put out hydrogen and oxygen? In order for a car to take in water and put out hydrogen and oxygen, electricity must pass though the water molecule and split it apart into hydrogen and oxygen. It then uses the hydrogen in the water to make energy. Can a fuel cell take in hydrogen and oxygen and put out water? The net reaction fuel cell can take in hydrogen and oxygen and releases water. The equation used to do this is 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O It is able to do this by giving the hydrogen a positive and the oxygen a negative charge so the two will attract and form water. Advantages Hydrogen will slowly take over from fossil fuels as the main source of power. It will do this because hydrogen is easier to obtain and it won’t pollute like fossil fuels. It is cheaper to make. This will help it a lot in the long run to replace fossil fuels. Fossil fuels will soon run out leaving us no choice but to switch. This is a huge reason for it to replace fossil fuels. By using petroleum, we are discharging the soil and water and causing acid rain to fall. This also brings about the chances of horrible climate changes. Disadvantages The only limitation is that the vehicle using this system is expensive only once at the time of purchase. The cost of the engine itself is around $18,000 but some of the companies are saying that if it can go into mass production the cost will reduce down to as little as $4,600. 2. Solar powered vehicles Introduction. A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered by a type of renewable energy, by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface (generally, the roof) of the vehicle. Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert the Suns energy directly into electrical energy. Solar vehicles are not practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered by a type of renewable energy, by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface (generally, the roof) of the vehicle. Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert the Suns energy directly into electrical energy. Solar vehicles are not practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. Virtually all solar cars ever built have been for the purpose of solar car races, with notable exceptions that includes solar powered golf cars and utility vehicles. Solar cars combine technology typically used in the aerospace, bicycle, alternative energy and automotive industries. The design of a solar vehicle is severely limited by the energy input into the car (batteries and power from the sun). Virtually all solar cars ever built have been for the purpose of solar car races, with notable exceptions that includes solar powered golf cars and utility vehicles. Like many race cars, the drivers cockpit usually only contains room for one person, although a few cars do contain room for a second passenger. They contain some of the features available to drivers of traditional vehicles such as brakes, accelerator, turn signals, rear view mirrors (or camera), ventilation, and sometimes cruise control. A radio for communication with their support crews is almost always included. Solar cars are often fitted with gauges as seen in conventional cars. Aside from keeping the car on the road, the drivers main priority is to keep an eye on these gauges to spot possible problems. Cars without gauges almost always feature wireless telemetry, which allows the drivers team to monitor the cars energy consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters and free the driver to concentrate on driving. Solar cars depend on PV cells to convert sunlight into electricity. While the sun emits 1370 +/-3. 4% watts per square meter of energy, 51% of it actually enters the Earths atmosphere and therefore approximately 700 watts per square meter of clean energy can be obtained. [1] Unlike solar thermal energy which converts solar energy to heat for either household purposes, industrial purposes or to be converted to electricity, PV cells directly convert sunlight into electricity. When sunlight (photons) strikes PV cells, they excite electrons and allow them to flow, creating an electrical current. PV cells are made of semiconductor materials such as silicon and alloys of indium, gallium and nitrogen. Silicon is the most common material used and has an efficiency of 15-20%. Procedure Photovoltaic cell When sunlight (photons) strikes PV cells, they excite electrons and allow them to flow, creating an electrical current. PV cells are made of semiconductor materials such as silicon and alloys of indium, gallium and nitrogen. Silicon is the most common material used and has an efficiency of 15-20%. Electrical systems The electrical system is the most important part of the cars systems as it controls all of the power that comes into the system. The battery pack plays the same role in a solar car that a petrol tank plays in a normal car in storing power. Solar cars use a range of batteries including lead-acid batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH), Nickel-Cadmium batteries (NiCd), Lithium ion batteries and Lithium polymer batteries. Many solar race cars have complex data acquisition systems that monitor the whole electrical system while even the most basic cars have systems that provide information on battery voltage and current to the driver. Mechanical system. The mechanical systems of a solar car are designed to keep weight and space a minimum while maintaining strength. Solar car engineers also have to take into account array space. Some solar car bodies consist of a metal frame on the inside and a composite shell on the outside. The metal frame is primarily for structural strength and driver safety, while the composite outer shell is primarily for aerodynamics and array space. Other solar car bodies use the monocoque design, where the body consists primarily of composites reinforced by metal tubing. Solar car engineers generally use titanium, steel, and aluminum for the metal tubing, and carbon-fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar for the composites. Material selection is based on strength-to-weight ratio, ease of manufacturing, and cost. Solar cars usually have three wheels, but some have four. Three wheelers usually have two front wheels and one rear wheel: the front wheels steer and the rear wheel follows. Four wheel vehicles are set up like normal cars or similarly to three wheeled vehicles with the two rear butts close together. Solar arrays. The solar array consists of hundreds of photovoltaic solar cells converting sunlight into electricity. In order to construct an array, PV cells are placed together to form modules which are placed together to form an array. [3] The larger arrays in use can produce over 2 kilowatts (2. 6 hp). [pic] Cells,Modules,Arrays[4] The solar array can be mounted in several ways: †¢ horizontal. This most common arrangement gives most overall power during most of the day in low latitudes or higher latitude summers and offers little interaction with the wind. Horizontal arrays can be integrated or be in the form of a free canopy. †¢ vertical. This arrangement is sometimes found in free standing or integrated sails to harness wind energy. [5] Useful solar power is limited to mornings, evenings, or winters and when the vehicle is pointing in the right direction. †¢ adjustable. Free solar arrays can often be tilted around the axis of travel in order to increase power when the sun is low and well to the side. An alternative is to tilt the whole vehicle when parked. Two-axis adjustment is only found on marine vehicles, where the aerodynamic resistance is of less importance than with road vehicles. †¢ integrated. Some vehicles cover every available surface with solar cells. Some of the cells will be at an optimal angle whereas others will be shaded. †¢ trailer. Solar trailers are especially useful for retrofitting existing vehicles with little stability, e. g. bicycles. Some trailers also include the batteries and others also the drive motor. †¢ remote. By mounting the solar array at a stationary location instead of the vehicle, power can be maximised and resistance minimized. The virtual grid-connection however involves more electrical losses than with true solar vehicles and the battery must be larger. The choice of solar array geometry involves an optimization between power output, aerodynamic resistance and vehicle mass, as well as practical considerations. For example, a free horizontal canopy gives 2-3 times the surface area of a vehicle with integrated cells but offers better cooling of the cells and shading of the riders. There are also thin flexible solar arrays in development. Solar arrays on solar cars are mounted and encapsulated very differently from stationary solar arrays. Solar arrays on solar cars are usually mounted using industrial grade double-sided adhesive tape right onto the cars body. The arrays are encapsulated using thin layers of Tedlar and Tefzel. Some solar cars use gallium arsenide solar cells, with efficiencies around thirty percent. Other solar cars use silicon solar cells, with efficiencies around twenty percent. Limitations challenges Fitting battery electric vehicles with solar cells would extend their range and allow recharging while parked anywhere in the sun. However, with present and near-term engineering considerations, it seems that the more likely place for solar cells will generally be on the roofs of buildings, where they are always exposed to the sky and weight is largely irrelevant, rather than on vehicle roofs, where size is limited. . Although, saying that, solar cell technology is starting to be used successfully in the powering of electric golf cars and utility vehicles. In the case of both building and vehicles, energy from rooftop panels can be stored in batteries for future use. While some inconveniences might cause challenges, there are limitations to using PV cell: †¢ Cost. While sunlight can provide a free clean source of energy, the creation of PV cells to capture that sunlight is expensive. In 2003, it was found that energy would cost $. 30kWh which is more than double that of residential electricity. †¢ Lifetime. Even though sunlight has no lifespan, PV cells do. The lifetime of a solar module is approximately 30 years. 3. Wind powered vehicles Introduction Wind-powered electric vehicles primarily use wind-turbines installed at a strategic point of the vehicle, which are then converted into electric energy which causes the vehicle to propel. While they are not in mainstream use yet, many schools have begun building the new technology and research into their curriculums to teach students and to get them active in the subject. Wind-powered electric vehicles primarily use wind-turbines installed at a strategic point of the vehicle, which are then converted into electric energy which causes the vehicle to propel. Wind-powered electric vehicles include Ventomobile and Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero, as well as the Greenbird, which currently holds a world record for fastest Wind powered vehicle. Ventomobile [pic] [pic]. The InVentus Ventomobile racing at the Aeolus Race 2008 The Ventomobile is a solely wind powered lightweight three wheeler designed by University of Stuttgart students. It won the first prize at the Racing Aeolus held at Den Helder, Netherlands, in August 2008. [1] Matthias Schubert, Chief Technical Officer of the teams’ main sponsor REpower Systems AG, applauded the integration of the InVentus Ventomobile project into the coursework of the students: â€Å"The achievement of managing a big team over many months, and even making select construction tasks part of undergraduate teaching cannot be estimated highly enough! The enthusiasm the students show in renewable energies and the development of innovative solutions should serve the industry as an example for the development of new technologies. [2] Mercedes-Benz Formula Zero Unlike traditional racing, which focuses merely on the order of finish, Mercedes new concept introduces energy efficiency as an integral part of the competition . The Formula Zero Racer is loaded with technology designed to extract the maximum thrust from the electric hub motors, aero-efficient solar skin and high-tech rigid sail [3]. Greenbird Ecotricitys Greenbird vehicle, designed and piloted by Richard Jenkins, broke the land speed world record for a wind-powered vehicle in 2009[4]. â€Å"Greenbird recorded a top speed of 126. 4 mph (203. 4 km/h), and sustained a speed of 126. 2 mph (203. 1 km/h) for the required time of three seconds, beating the previous, American held, record of 116 mph (186. 7 km/h), set by Bob Schumacher in the Iron Duck in March 1999 at the same location. [5]. Working [pic]. Wind powered cars are one of the many possibilities for alternative transportation. After all, one ever-abundant source of green energy is the wind, which has been harnessed for travel in the past on the high seas. But can it become an efficient source of energy for travel on land? Let’s take a look at some designs for wind powered cars that may be the wave of the future: A team of engineers has set the land speed record for a wind powered vehicle at 126 mph. The Ecotricity Greenbird swept across the desert with a combination of technologies. Elements from racing yachts, airplanes and Formula 1 cars were all included in the Greenbird’s design. The car has two wings, one vertical and one horizontal. The vertical wing creates lift, much like an airplane’s wing, only instead of that force being applied to levitate the vehicle, it is used to propel it forward. The horizontal wing, which extends on only one side of the car, keeps it from leaving the ground. The body of the car is designed like a Formula 1 racer to minimize wind resistance. The end result is a sleek machine that can travel much faster than the wind is actually traveling. Although the Greenbird isn’t likely to turn up at your local dealership anytime soon, it can give you an idea of how wind powered cars might develop. Will the Ecotricity Greenbird be the design of the future? The â€Å"Ecotricity† in the â€Å"Ecotricity Greenbird† stands for the name of a British alternative-electricity company, and its founder, Dale Vince, is still working on options for wind-powered cars. At this time, the potential for wind-powered cars is unlimited. Perhaps the car could use a kite-like sail that drags the car across the road? Or maybe these cars could be outfitted with batteries that are charged using personal wind power or an at-home windmill? While the wind powered car may still be a thing of the future, present-day steps are being made to lay the foundation to make this clean energy source a viable way to travel. Bibliography www. wikipedia. com www. life123. com www. techon. nikkeibp. co.

Factors Affecting Brand Choice

Factors Affecting Brand Choice Consumer buying decision eventually is influenced by the number of factors or reasons; this concept of decision making is rooted historically in personal, psychological, demographic, and social concerns of the consumer. There are numerous reasons to buy a brand in a given situation, but our objective is only to study the behavior of the consumer regarding his/her purchasing attitude by examining the significant /dominant reasons of buying a particular product in a given situation. As theory suggests that the consumers are usually choosing a brand they recognize. If the consumers do not choose the brand according to traditional theories, then what are the dominant factors that have a greater effect on the buying behavior of a consumer? A lot of controversies are arising while looking into the literature regarding the consumer choice decision, whether the decisions are based on some attributes of the product like quality, price, brand credibility, or on the basis of consumer attitude and intention, advertising, group influences, innovations, and brand loyalty, or the decisions are made on the ground of brand awareness. So many important elements might have strong influence on buying decisions which need to be considered to understand the consumers buying decision making particularly in low involvement category of the products in an un-awareness situation. Further, it seems highly essential to differentiate between buyers behavior toward a choice among various brands within the product category and the dimensions referring to reasons affecting choice of a buyer. The most situations facing every business are to identify the factors determining preferences for the brands with supporting reasons which affect consumer choice. (Itamar and Nowlis, 2000), further, Wilson and Schooler (1991) found that subjects who had analyzed their reasons for liking different brands of jams subsequently expressed preferences that corresponded less well to those of experts than the preferences of subjects who did not analyze the reasons for their attitudes. In many studies the marketers and researchers has recognized the effectiveness of the factors those affecting brand choice, moreover Brown (1950) in his study identified that, physical characteristics of the brand, users experience with the brand, packaging, price, premiums, guarantees, habit, recommendation by friends, recommendation by experts, convenience of dealers location, personal salesmanship, dealer services, dealer prestige, advertising and display, special characteristics of the manufacturer, e.g., labor policy, location, etc., novelty, chance, availability, brand prestige or social acceptance. Many choice situations occur outside of conscious awareness and with limited information search, (Kivetz and Simonson, 2000). Further, there are evidences when some times non-conscious influences affect choice much more than are traditional concept. Whenever the unawareness on the part of consumer about the brands and the consumer is supposed to make a choice in that condition, then what factors or reasons are there which persuade a consumer to choose any brand among from available brands? The controversies about the concept of Consumer buying Decision help in knowing and testing the impact of the dominant factors/reasons on the consumer buying decision in a no-awareness situation, where a consumer is lacking any kind of information regarding the product category or/and about the available brands in that category of low involvement products. The scope of study was to focus on consumer perception on brand choice based on some factors or reasons. The study specifically was designed to explore the phenomenon in which only frequently bought products are tested in an unawareness situation, where the consumer does not have any prior information and knows nothing about the available set of brands within the product category in a given situation. The extent of the research was accelerated to compare the consumer responses of large city and a small town of rural area (i.e.; Karachi and Khairpur). The objective was to understand the consumer perception in different cultures and market segments that may help in developing an appropriate strategy to satisfy the needs of different customers accordingly. 1.2 Problem statement The goal of this experiment was to empirically examine the buying behavior and decision making attitude of the consumer in a no-brand awareness condition of low involvement product categories as a general phenomena and find out any differences with respect to rural and urban consumer choices. Research Questions: 1. How unawareness does differ from awareness of the brands? 2. How do consumers perceive on the products of low involvement? 3. What factors or reasons are there which persuade a consumer to choose any brand among from available brands? 4. How do consumers make the decision to buy the brand and what are the determinants dominating consumers purchasing decision making? 5. How rural and urban consumers differ on determinants dominating purchasing decision making? The study may contribute and assist local marketers and managers to develop effective strategies regarding production, managing, and marketing of the products in a given marketplace, further; To study the consumer response in unawareness situation. To understand the consumer perception toward low involvement products. To understand the differences in choice decision of rural and urban areas. To evaluate the factors affecting consumer choice. To help managers in developing appropriate and effective marketing strategies. 1.3 Hypotheses: H1: Uniqueness/Innovation is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H2: Quality is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H3: Price is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H4: Packaging/Attribute is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H5: Group Influences is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H6: Company Credibility is the dominant reason for choice of a brand. H7: There is no difference in dominant reason for choice of a brand in rural and urban area consumer. 1.4 Outline of the study The basic purpose of the research was to explore and recognize the effects of important elements affecting the consumers preferences and relative actions to purchase and to identify major reason(s) to purchase in a given situation where the consumer has no prior knowledge about the brands under consideration set. Expected Benefits of the study; To have a better understanding of unawareness on the part of consumer where he/she is going to make purchase decision. To realize how the consumer perceive on the low involvement product category, where little efforts are needed to make a purchase. To understand the factors influencing purchasing decision in a given situation. To assist the managers and marketers to know the dominant determinants of consumer decision and to develop the strategies particularly when introducing a new brand in a given market. Definitions The choice has been defined by different researchers in varied aspects, Flemming (1976) viewed the choice with supporting example by saying, that the person walking down a road who hesitates at a fork in the road before choosing which route to take classically illustrates choice. Consumer Buying Behavior was defined by Schiffman, and Kanuk, (1997) as the study of how individuals make decision to spend their available resources on consumption-related item, where they buy it how often they buy it and how often they use it. Low involvement refers to the premise that the consumers while making a purchase decision experiencing with little effort, time , and money to decide for a particular brand to buy, because the consumer has been buying frequently in that product category. Uniqueness refers as to be seen and viewed as different from others. Illustrative of consumers efforts to resist or counter the acceptance of popularized goods that symbolically convey conformity, consumers may dispose of goods that become popular and repeat the cycle in search of new and special products, innovations, and emerging fashion trends (Snyder 1992; and Tepper, 1997). Product quality may be defined as the consumers judgment of the excellence of the product or service (Zeithaml, 1988).Quality (perceived not conformity) is a prime factor that plays very dominant role in selection process. Price may defined in its narrowest sense as the amount of money charged for a product or service, and in broad sense it is the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service (Kotler and Amstrong, 2008). Packaging can be defined as to design and produce a wrapper or container for a product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008). A persons groups consist of all the groups that have a direct (Face-to-face) or indirect influence on his/her attitudes or behaviors. (Kotler and Keller, 2005). Corporate reputation has been defined by Fombrun (1996) as a perceptual representation of a companys actions in past and prospects of future that are an aggregate of many personal judgments about the company. While Keller (1998) has defined company credibility as the degree to which consumers do believe that a company can deliver products and services that satisfy most their needs and wants. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Choice Decision To choose a brand among from available brands of low involvement product category in a situation where consumer does not know about the brands under consideration seems very critical, because the most theories of consumer behavior support the awareness as a dominant factor in consumer choice. On the other hand it was also assumed that excess of every thing is dangerous, likely it can be guessed that more information may confuse the consumer about the brand to be selected. Jacoby, Speller, and Berning (1974) are of the opinion that Consumers actually make poorer purchase decisions with more information. The research was intended to test the assumption that what may happen when the consumer is completely unknown about he brands under consideration in a low involvement product category. The choice is restricted toward the limited brands in different categories of low involvement products. There is no disagreement on that every one is facing with a choice. If, however, the example is changed slightly, it is more doubtful whether we are still talking about a choice. The person walking on a sidewalk, when confronted with a puddle, changes his direction slightly and continues. In this case few people may say that a choice was involved. Attitude of the consumer plays an important role in making decision making in a given situation. A consumers attitude and purchase intention towards a brand is not only a product of their cognitive evaluations of that individual brand but are also determined by their perception of other competing brands within the consideration set. (Ronnie, Anne, and Karinna, 2006). 2.1.1 Decision making Process [Fig. 2.1] Need Recognition Problem Awareness Purchase Decision Evaluation of Alternatives Information Search Post-Purchase Evaluation Need Recognition The buying process starts when the buyer recognizes a problem or need. Need recognition occurs when actual state differs significantly from desired state. It is triggered when a customer is exposed to either an internal or an external stimulus. Hunger and thirst are internal stimuli, the color of a product, the package design, name of a brand mentioned by a friend, or an ad. are considered external stimuli (William, 2002). It is widely accepted that the traditional problem solving approach involving rational decision making to the study of consumer choice may not be suitable for all situations, or is at least incomplete to understand choice behavior. Limited information search and evaluation of alternatives led to a situation in which consumer choice is also driven by hedonic considerations ( Dhar, and Wertenbroch, 2000). In general, a common distinction to be made is that while the utilitarian goods usually are primary instrumental and functional, hedonic goods provide fun, pleasure and excitement. Consumer Information Search Consumer information search should yield a group of brands, sometime called the buyers evoked set (or consideration set), which are consumers most preferred alternatives (Clow, and Baack, 2001). Evaluation of Alternatives In close relation to information search, evaluation of alternatives has also gained a momentum in recent research (Laroche, Kim, and Zhou, 2003). Their study on consumers use of five heuristics (conjunctive, disjunctive, lexicographic, linear additive, and geometric compensatory) in the consideration set formation found that conjunctive heuristics is the most often used decision model in the consideration set formation for two product classes in the study (here,Sun block brands and pens). Conjunctive heuristics means that a consumer selects a brand only if it meets acceptable standards, the so-called cutoff point on each key attribute consumer regards as important (Assael, 1998). In the non-compensatory method of evaluation, a consumer would eliminate a brand that does not fulfill the standards on one or two of the most important attributes, even it is positive on all other attributes. Brands, which will be selected to group purchase options, will also be considered during the alternative evaluation process (Hawkins, Roger, and Kenneth, 1998). Purchase Decision and Post-purchase evaluation To select a specific brand after evaluation the buying and consuming it may consequently result in delighting, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and disappointment about the selected brand. It is essential to distinguish between the attributes per se and consumers perceptions of these attributes, because consumers differ in their perceptions. It is the perception that affects behavior, not the attribute itself. Attribute is often used to mean choice criteria, but this leads to confusion. A vast amount of research has been and is being conducted on many of them (factors) individually. Testing the product, the advertising, and the package, is an old story. But seldom has an adequate overview been taken. Does the consumer pay more attention to the advertising-beyond a certain point, at least-than to the dealers salesmen? Would lower prices or improved quality be more preferred by the buyer? How important are such factors as the recommendations of experts or of friends and to what extent may the individual marketing firm control them? The most effective direction of marketing activities requires accurate answers to all of these questions. The importance of the factors influencing choice has been recognized for many years by the researchers and marketers, as Brown (1950) identified as, Physical characteristics of the brand, Users experience with the brand, Packaging, Price, Premiums, guarantees, Habit, Recommendation by friends, Recommendation by experts, Convenience of dealers location, Personal salesmanship, Dealer services, Dealer prestige, Advertising and display, Special characteristics of the manufacturer, e.g., labor policy, location, etc., Novelty, Chance, Availability, Brand prestige or social acceptance. The weight of (no redundant) reasons in choice and, correspondingly, the degree to which the choice of reasons drives the choice of options vary across decisions and are likely to depend on the task, the context, the choice problem, and individual differences. In particular, when consumers are explicitly told to explain their decisions, it is reasonable to expect that the reasons that can be used to support considered options play a prominent role in the choice process. A question that naturally arises is what factors determine preferences for reasons and how does a need to provide reasons affect choice? (Itamar, and Nowlis, 2000). Wilson and Schooler (1991) found that subjects who had analyzed their reasons for liking different brands of jams subsequently expressed preferences that corresponded less well to those of experts than the preferences of subjects who did not analyze the reasons for their attitudes. Purchase decision Decision making is very complex phenomena where the consumer does not make a decision simply, and but to arrive at a final and concrete decision the consumer experiences sub-decisions (i.e.; What type of goods should be purchased, chased?, How much of an item should be purchased?, When should the purchase be made?, Where should the purchase be made?, How should the purchase be made, i.e., by telephone or in person, by cash or on credit, by husband or wife, and so on? What brand should be purchased? In many cases, the consumer is not conscious of the fact that he arrives at decisions with respect to all of these sub-decisions to purchase (Brown, 1950). 2.2 Consumer Buying Behavior Consumer Buying Behavior has been defined by Kotler, and Amstrong, (2001), as Consumers make many buying decisions every day. Most large companies research consumer buying decision in great detail to answer questions about what consumers buy, where they buy, how and how much they buy, when they buy, and why they buy A simple model of the consumer buying behavior deemed as the stimulus-response model. According to this model, marketing stimuli and other major force enter the consumers black box and produce certain responses. One in the black box these inputs produce observable buyer responses, such as product choice, brand choice, purchasing timing, and purchase amount. The consumer decision-making process does not occur in a vacuum. On the contrary, underlying cultural, social, individual, and psychological factors strongly influence (lam, Hair, and McDaniel, 2002). Cultural Factors Culture represents the behavior, beliefs, and in many cases, the way we act learned by interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is shared behavior, passed along from one member of society to other. In order to increase customer satisfaction the managers and marketers are trying to understand the real behavior and attitude of consumers in a given situation. The better the marketer understand the factors underlying consumer behavior, the better able they are to develop affective marketing strategies to meet consumer needs (Assael, 1998). 2.3 Low Involvement Hoyer and Brown (1990), examining the heuristic for low-involvement decision making, and found that consumers who are aware of the name of one of the brands in a product category will repeatedly choose that brand, even when it offers objectively determined lower quality. Consumers who are unfamiliar with the brand names often will experiment with and eventually settle on a brand that offers higher quality. Time pressure commonly influences consumers opportunity to engage in effortful decision strategies. Payne, Bettman, and Johnson (1988) demonstrate that consumers who are faced with making a choice under time pressure (lack of opportunity) will accelerate information processing, ignore certain pieces of information, or shift to simpler heuristics. Perhaps the simplest low-involvement decision heuristic involves the retrieval of previously formed affect associated with the product (Peter and Nord, 1982). 2.4 Uniqueness/ Innovation Uniqueness and Innovation play a significant role in making choice of a brand particularly in unawareness condition, as (Tepper, 1997) view it as Conceptual models of social nonconformity recognize that behaviors that render a person different relative to other people may reflect several motivational processes, Although such a choice may at times differentiate the decision maker from others, this outcome is incidental to acting consistent with personal standards. Consumers need for uniqueness is also distinct from independence, a motivation that may inadvertently manifest in social different-ness as a result of adhering to ones personal taste. Decisions shift the focus from the choice of options to the choice of reasons. Buyers who explain their decisions and have high need for uniqueness tend to select unconventional reasons and are more likely to make unconventional choices (Itamar, and Nowlis, 2000). Itamar, and Nowlis (2000) further support their view that the effect of NFU (Need for Uniqueness) on choice emerges when consumers have the opportunity to explain their decisions and do not expect to be individually evaluated. That is, the ability to explain, without concerns about others criticism, may allow greater use of unconventional arguments and unconventional choices that express uniqueness and independence. Further they argue that the need for uniqueness and autonomy is usually dominated by the desire for social approval and other pre ssures for conformity, when consumers are encouraged to explain their decisions and are not concerned about others criticism, expressions of uniqueness come to the surface and affect choices. Consumers need for uniqueness may fit into a broader theory of consumption as an extension of self (Belk, 1988). This supposition is further supported by the work of Tepper (1997) that Consumers need for uniqueness could be examined as a trait influencing processes whereby situations that elicit consumer counter conformity motivation lead to conflict and acts of conflict resolution. In phenomenological interviews, Thompson and Haytko (1997) found that attempts to stay ahead in the realm of fashion trends by discarding fashions that catch on and seeking emerging innovations are interpreted as acts of resisting conformity. The concept is exemplified in the comments of one of Thompson and Haytkos (1997) interview participants: Usually if something is hot, Ill go out of my way to stay away from it. Even if I like it at first, if everyones wearing it, I dont want to be wearing it. The concept of consumers need for uniqueness derives from Snyder and Fromkins (1977) theory of uniqueness. According to this theory, the need to see oneself as being different from other persons is aroused and competes with other motives in situations that threaten the self-perception of uniqueness (i.e., situations in which individuals see them- selves as highly similar to others in their social environment). A unique product may be sought out to restore a persons self-view as one who is different from others, such as when an anonymous art collector bids via the internet or telephone for a rare painting she wants to display in her bedroom. (Tian, Bearden, and Hunte, 2001) McAlister and Pessemier (1982) suggest that a desire for social distinction via unusual products influences new product adoption and variety-seeking behavior. Where (Fisher Price, 1992). Commenting thatBecause consumer choices, particularly creative choices, may establish ones uniqueness, such choices are likely to attract followers who also seek to develop their special-ness or share a common link with early adopter groups. And Initially unpopular consumer choices may later gain social acceptance and thereby positively distinguish the consumer as an innovator or fashion leader (Heckert, 1989). It should be noted that changing from an initially preferred choice to a new one in order to avoid similarity is a criterion for distinguishing counter conformity from other motivations that incidentally result in being different (Nail, 1986). And even initially unpopular choices can gain widespread acceptance over time (Heckert, 1989). On the contrary Thompson and Haytko (1997) in his research concluded and suggested that this could be the time when innovation is less important than heritage, as brands with history can speak to consumers through nostalgia packaging, graphics and advertising messages. As a result of pursuing different-ness through no confrontational venues such as the purchase of unique products, individuals driven by counter conformity motivation should not perceive themselves to be similar to others with respect to their consumer choices (Kilduff, 1992; Snyder and Fromkin, 1977). This concept is further supported by Snyder and Fromkin, (1977) that specifically, uniqueness theory suggests that individual differences in motivation to seek different-ness arise from early childhood socialization that either emphasizes obedience and following norms or emphasizes creativity and individuality. Further, Thompson and Haytko (1997) have suggested that, for those who construct their personal identity through a contrast between their perceived fashion orientation and that of others in their social setting, personal identity does not reflect a stable set of essential features but is negotiated in a dynamic field of social relations. Bloch (1995) in his research concluded and proposes that individual differences in the need for uniqueness influence consumers product selections through its effect on affective and cognitive responses to the exterior design. This indicates that strategically marketers should place the greater emphasis on unique features may be a reasonable heuristic when subjects must choose between two alternatives (Meyer and Eagle, 1982). 2.5 Quality While making a purchase decision it was observed that the quality of the product was affecting intensively on the consumers ability to make a decision, because the consumer always expecting a good quality product at reasonable price. Since the consumer had no previous experience with the brand under consideration, the quality of the brand was being judged through the brand exposure and outlook. Garvin (1987) proposed that product quality can be captured in eight dimensions: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality (i.e., image). Quality assessment is very critical and personal that may be viewed from different dimensions, particularly the product attributes/features and its out look, its color and shape/design etc. Income of the buyer may determine the degree of quality of a product; a particular brand may be viewed as of good quality by the person having low income and low buying power, while a higher income person may see it as inferior. The price of a brand and company and store prestige may be considered as significant cues for quality. It is encouraging to be able to confirm that such stimuli as price information and the reputation of a store or company are used as cues to the quality of a product (Wheatley and Chiu, 1977). 2.6 Price Price and quality remained very interrelated factors those affect collectively on perception of a consumer and response toward the brand. A better understanding of how customers use price information in choosing among alternative brands within frequently bought product categories helps to evaluate it and knowing the intensity as compare to other factors or reasons. Andrews, I. R., and Valenzi (1971) found that when other cues are present, some researchers have found that price remains the dominant cue. It is also consistent with Shapiros (1973), and (Marketing Science Institute, 1972) suggestion that the use of price as an indicator of quality is a reflection of both its concrete, unambiguous nature and the faith that consumers tend to place in at least some price setters such as prestigious retail stores. Notions of the price customers use as a reference in making purchase decisions, such as fair price (Thaler, 1985), aspiration price, and list price (Klein Oglethorpe, 1987). Mostly the price we consider as the expected price should coincide with the fair price Where the perceived fair price may be lower than the expected price. Customer response depends not only on the retail price, but also on how it compares with the reservation price (Scherer, 1980), perceived price (Della Bitta and Monroe, 1974; Emery, 1970; and Monroe, 1973), or evoked price (Rao and Gautschi, 1982; Thaler, 1985; Winer, 1985) view that customers use the price they expect to pay for a brand on a given purchase occasion as a reference in forming price judgments. Nwokoye (1975) found evidence that some customers use end prices-the lowest and highest prices-as anchors in their price evaluations. A significant role of the expected price in customer brand choice was found by Kalwani, Sugita, and Yim (1986) which have modeled a brands expected price as a function of the last price paid, the deal proneness of the customer, and the frequency of sales promotions of the brand, and Gurumurthy and Little (1986) assume a reference price is formed as adaptive expectations of past prices and allow a latitude of acceptance of the reference price within which customers are insensitive to price gains or losses. Price declines in importance and may become insignificant in its impact on quality perception (Jacob, Olson, and Haddock, 1971; Vithala ,1971). This indicates that it is probable, however, that price effects on quality perceptions are product specific (Gardner, 1970). Price expectations of consumers are not a function of past prices only, but these expectations are influenced also by contextual variables. 2.7 Attributes /Packaging Packaging was considered as the leading indicator of quality and a dominant clue in selecting a brand when the consumer is completely unaware about the brands real quality and performance. According to Slovic (1975) decision makers faced with a need to choose between two equally valued alternatives tend to prefer the one that is superior on the more important attribute. In judging alternatives, consumers may combine evaluations on various attributes. The rules for combining evaluations are thus important aspects of the choice process (Bettman, 1979). Consumers make purchases by image and perception of value, packaging, color and other attributes of a product, and packaging is widely considered as the silent salesman, which helps in developing strategies for better marketing results. Packaging is very important instrument in the marketing mix. Packaging has two functions: (i) to protect and contain the product; and (ii) as an interface to sell the product to the consumer. High-quality packaging involves target market research, environment changes in market, society, and the technology. Product features/attributes have also proved as a significant importance in deciding for a brand to purchase. Research suggests that an important determinant of the extent to which a feature is contrasted or assimilated is the degree of feature overlap between the new feature and the brand to which it is added (Herr, 1989). In the present case, it was expected that when a brand with superior features or brand name adds yet another (positive) feature, the new feature is assimilated into the existing perception of superior performance and, thus, is unlikely to significantly affect the over- all evaluation of the product. Reference Gro

For this piece of coursework, I am going to compare two Poems produced :: English Literature

For this piece of coursework, I am going to compare two Poems produced by Simon Armitage. For this piece of coursework, I am going to compare two Poems produced by Simon Armitage. His website has quoted that he is one of the most exciting younger poets that combines accessible humor and realist style with critical significance and has been short listed for the Whitbread Prize, TS Eliot Prize and Forward Prize. When he jumped genres, the critics moan about his first novel Little Green Man (2001) for its lack of poeticism; he said he "just wanted to tell a story", but the Guardian saw this tale of adult men trapped in childhood games as a "piece of low-key, frill-free lad-lit". "About his person" is a poem about a dead man who has been discovered. The title of the poem gives a sense that someone has written him, such as a Police officer's report. The form of layout is in 10 two-lined stanzas called rhyming couplets. The poem starts off in an ordinary way. It says "Five pounds fifty in change, exactly. A library card on its date of expiry". He had a postcard stamped but it wasn't sent to the person he was sending it to. The word "slashed" was used and this showed violence. It also showed that he was writing something quickly when the poem states "A pocket sized diary slashed with a pencil" From March 24th to 1st of April, something happened during that period of time and we don't know what it is. This makes us wonder in suspicion, what it was about. In his hand there is a piece of paper with his own handwriting on it: "A final demand, in his own hand" and this suggests that it could be his bill order which is unpaid. It is not told what is exactly meant but I presume so. On the 6th stanza it says there was a rolled up note of explanation sprayed like a carnation. This gives us a hint that he committed to suicide. The words "explanation" and "carnation" both rhyme like a simile. It gives emotion to the poem from feeling sad about "his" death. He also had possession of a photograph that was in the shape of a heart. This has given a hint why he has committed suicide maybe because he lost a loved one. For example his wife, who would be important to him. "No gold or silver, but crowning one finger" states that he had a wedding ring and this links up to the previous stanza that he was married.

German Guilt in Bernhard Schlinks The Reader Essay -- essays research

Every year or so, something happens in the media that brings us all back to the atrocities of World War II, and the German persecution of the Jews. It seems that the horrors of that time can only be digested and understood in small bites. How else can we personalize and comprehend a tragedy of that magnitude? Most of what we read and view in the media about the holocaust is a perspective from the Jewish experience. Recently, however, a question has been posed in regards to finding closure with that troubling piece of history from the German conscience. Can one German's experience reflect the tendencies of the entire country with regards to passion, denial, guilt, and finally justice? Absolutely, according to Michael Berg, the main character in Bernhard Schlink?s novel, The Reader. After being hypnotized for two days while I read this very interesting story, I would have to agree. Once I saw the startling similarities in the area of seduction, the door opened for me to see what I believe Schlink was trying to show all along. We are capable of behaving in quite extraordinary ways, but when all is said and done, we must live with the consequences of our actions, as individuals or as a Nation. Although we may deny the motives of our past actions, either good or bad, the truth does not change, and with the truth comes a reckoning, The book starts in post-war Germany. A fifteen year old Michael Berg is assisted by a beautiful older woman after vomiting in the street. He is very ill and needs months to recover from Hepatitis, but goes back to thank the woman, Hanna, as soon as he is fit enough to leave his home. Although Mich... ...anting to forgive the German war criminals, (Hanna), but being unable to openly because it would appear to condone the actions. He speaks of something being so horrific that the mind can become numb to it. What would his approach to Hanna have been if he had not been involved with her emotionally? The questions keep coming, with no easy answers. Michael tries to atone for his betrayal of Hanna by reading books to her on cassette, then sending them to her in prison. Hanna learns to read and gains understanding of the Holocaust. She tries to atone for her involvement by leaving her earnings to a survivor and after she dies, Michael attempts to carry out her will. The survivor refuses the money, and sends Michael on his way with no sympathy. This book leaves many of us quietly asking ourselves, ?What would I have done. It also demands to be read again.

Hadoop

Its a platform managed under the apache software foundation and its an open source and its deal with big data with any data type structer semi structer or unstructers and give the result in very short time it allows to work with structured and unstructured data arrays of dimension from 10 to 100 gb and even more. V.Burunova and its structer is a group of clusters or one each of them contains groups of nodes too and each cluster has two type of node name node and data node name node is a unique node on cluster and it knows any data block location on cluster and data node is the remining node in cluster and that have done by using a set of servers which called a cluster. Hadoop has two layers cooperate together first layer is mapreduce and it task is divided data processing across multiple servers and the second one is hadoop distributed file system hdfs and its task is storing data on multiple clusters and these data are separated as a set of blocks. Hadoop make sure the work is correct on clusters and it can detect and retrieve any error or failure for one or more of connecting nodes and by this way hadoop efforts increasing in core processing and storage size and high availability. Hadoop is usually used in a large cluster or a public cloud service such as yahoo. Facebook twitter and amazon hadeer mahmoud 2018 hadoops features: Scalable: Hadoop able to work with huge applications and it can run analyze store process distribute large amount of data across thousands of nodes and servers which handle thousands terabytes of data or more also it can add additional nodes to clusters and these servers work parallel. Hadoop better than traditional relational database systems because rdbms cant expand to deal with huge data. Single write multiple read the data on cluster can be read from multiple source at the same time data avalibility: When data is sent to a data node that hadoop creates multiple copies of data on other nodes in the cluster to keep data available if there a failure on one of nodes on cluster.

Bloodlines Chapter Twenty-Four

IT'S WEIRD how you react in moments of immediate danger. Part of me was pure panic, complete with racing heart and rapid breathing. That hollow feeling, the one that felt like a hole had opened in my chest, returned. Another part of me was able to still inexplicably think along logical lines, mostly something like, Yup, that's the kind of knife that could slit a throat. The rest of me? Well, the rest of me was just confused. I stayed where I was and kept my voice low and even. â€Å"Lee, what's going on? What is this?† He shook his head. â€Å"Don't pretend. I know you know. You're too smart. I knew you'd figure it out, but I just didn't expect you to do it so soon.† My mind spun. Once again, someone thought I was smarter than I was. I supposed I should be flattered by his faith in my intelligence, but the truth was, I didn't know what was going on yet. I didn't know if betraying that would help or hinder me, though. I decided to play cool for as long as I reasonably could here. â€Å"That's you in the picture,† I said, careful not to make it a question. â€Å"Of course,† he said. â€Å"You haven't aged.† I dared a quick look at the picture, just to ascertain that for myself. It still baffled me. Only Strigoi were ageless, staying immortal at the age they'd turned. â€Å"That's†¦ that's impossible. You're Moroi.† â€Å"Oh, I've aged,† he said bitterly. â€Å"Not a lot. Not enough that you can really spot it, but believe me, I can. It's not like how it used to be.† I was still clueless, still not sure of how we had reached a point where Lee – starry-eyed and lovesick for Jill – was suddenly threatening me with a knife. Nor did I understand how he looked exactly the same as he did in a five-year-old picture. There was only one terrible thing I was beginning to be certain of. â€Å"You†¦ killed Kelly Hayes.† The fear in my chest intensified. I lifted my gaze from the blade to look into his eyes. â€Å"But surely†¦ surely not Melody†¦ or Tamara†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He nodded. â€Å"And Dina. But you wouldn't know her, would you? She was only human, and you don't keep track of human deaths. Only vampires.† It was hard not to look at the knife again. All I kept thinking about was how sharp it was and how close it was to me. One swipe, and I'd end up just like those other girls, my life bleeding away before me. I groped desperately for something to say, wishing again I'd learned the social skills that came so easily to others. â€Å"Tamara was your cousin,† I managed. â€Å"Why would you kill your own cousin?† A moment of regret flashed across his features. â€Å"I didn't want to – I mean, I did†¦ but, well, I wasn't myself when I came back. I just knew I had to be awakened again. Tamara was there at the wrong place and the wrong time. I went for the first Moroi I could get†¦ but it didn't work. That's when I tried the others. I thought for sure one of them would do it. Human, dhampir, Moroi†¦ none of them worked.† There was a terrible desperation in his voice, and despite my fear, some part of me wanted to help him†¦ but I was hopelessly lost. â€Å"Lee, I'm sorry. I don't understand, why you'd need to ‘try others.' Please put the knife down, and let's talk. Maybe I can help you.† He gave me a sad smile. â€Å"You can. I didn't want it to be you, though. I wanted it to be Keith. He certainly deserves to die more than you do. And Jill†¦ well, Jill likes you. I wanted to respect that and spare you.† â€Å"You still can,† I said. â€Å"She – she wouldn't want you to do this. She'd be upset if she knew – â€Å" Suddenly, Lee was on me, pinning me to the chair with the knife at my throat. â€Å"You don't know!† he cried. â€Å"She doesn't know. But she will, and she'll be glad. She'll thank me, and we'll be young and together forever. You're my chance. The others didn't work, but you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He trailed the knife's blade near my tattoo. â€Å"You're special. Your blood is magic. I need an Alchemist, and you're my only chance now.† â€Å"What†¦ chance†¦ are you talking about?† I gasped out. â€Å"My chance for immortality!† he cried. â€Å"God, Sydney. You can't even imagine it. What it's like to have that and then lose it. To have infinite strength and power†¦ to not age, to know you'll live forever. And then, gone! Taken away from me. If I ever find that bastard spirit user who did this to me, I'll kill him. I'll kill him and I'll drink from him since after tonight, I'll be whole once more. I'll be reawakened.† A chill ran down my spine. In light of everything, you would have thought I'd already be at maximum terror level. Nope. Turns out there was still more to come. Because with those words, I began to put together a fragile theory of what he might be talking about. â€Å"Awakened† was a term used in the vampire world, under very special circumstances. â€Å"You used to be Strigoi,† I whispered, not even sure if I believed it myself. He pulled back slightly, gray eyes wide and glittering feverishly. â€Å"I used to be a god! And I will be again. I swear it. I'm sorry, I really am. I'm sorry it's you and not Keith. I'm sorry you found out about Kelly. If you hadn't, I could have found another Alchemist in LA. But don't you see? I have no other options now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The knife was still at my throat. â€Å"I need your blood. I can't go on like this†¦ not as a mortal Moroi. I have to be changed back.† A knock sounded at the door. â€Å"Not a word,† Lee hissed. â€Å"They'll go away.† Seconds later, the knock repeated, followed by: â€Å"Sage, I know you're in there. I saw your car. I know you're pissed off, but just listen to me.† Dingdong, distraction calling. â€Å"Adrian!† I screamed, jumping up from the chair. I made no attempt to disarm Lee. My only goal was safety. I pushed past him before he could react, heading for the door, but he was more prepared than I'd expected. He leapt toward me and tackled me to the ground, the knife catching me in the arm as I fell. I yelped in pain as I felt the tip of the blade dig into my skin. I struggled against him, only succeeding in making the knife tear into me more. The door suddenly opened, and I was grateful that I'd left it unlocked after letting Lee in. Adrian entered, coming to a standstill as he took in the scene. â€Å"Don't come closer,† warned Lee, pushing the knife against my throat again. I could feel warm blood oozing from my arm. â€Å"Shut the door. Then†¦ sit down and put your hands behind your head. I'll kill her if you don't.† â€Å"He's going to do it anyway – ahh!† My words were cut off as the knife pierced my skin, not enough to kill me yet but enough to cause pain. â€Å"Okay, okay,† said Adrian, holding up his hands. He looked more sober and serious than I'd ever seen. When he was settled on the floor, hands behind his head as directed, he said gently, â€Å"Lee, I don't know what you're doing, but you need to stop it now before it goes any further. You don't have a gun. You can't really hold us both here under the threat of a knife.† â€Å"It's worked before,† Lee said. Still keeping the knife on me, he reached into his coat pocket with his other hand and produced a pair of handcuffs. That was unexpected. He slid them over to Adrian. â€Å"Put these on.† When Adrian didn't react right away, Lee pushed on the knife until I yelped. â€Å"Now!† Adrian put the handcuffs on. â€Å"I'd meant them for her, but you coming by might be a good thing,† said Lee. â€Å"I'll probably be hungry once I'm reawakened.† Adrian arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Reawakened?† â€Å"He used to be Strigoi,† I managed to say. â€Å"He's been killing girls – slitting their throats – to try to become one again.† â€Å"Be quiet,† snapped Lee. â€Å"Why would you cut their throats?† asked Adrian. â€Å"You have fangs.† â€Å"Because it didn't work! I did use my fangs. I drank from them†¦ but it didn't work. I didn't reawaken again. So then I had to cover my trail. The guardians can tell, you know. Moroi and Strigoi bites? I needed the knife to subdue them anyway, so then I cut their necks to hide the trail†¦ make them think it was a crazy Strigoi. Or a vampire hunter.† I could see Adrian processing all this. I don't know if he believed it or not, but he had the potential to roll with crazy ideas regardless. â€Å"If the others didn't work, then Sydney won't either.† â€Å"She has to,† said Lee fervently. He shifted so that I was rolled onto my back, still pinned by his greater body weight. â€Å"Her blood's special. I know it is. And if it doesn't†¦ I'll get help. I'll get help reawakening, and then I'll awaken Jill so we can always be together.† Adrian jumped to his feet, full of a surprising fury. â€Å"Jill? Don't hurt her! Don't even touch her!† â€Å"Sit down,† barked Lee. Adrian obeyed. â€Å"I wouldn't hurt her. I love her. That's why I'm going to make sure she stays exactly the way she is. Forever. I'll awaken her after I'm reawakened.† I tried to catch Adrian's eye, wondering if I could pass some silent message. If we both surged at Lee together – even with Adrian cuffed – then maybe we had a chance at subduing him. Lee was seconds away from tearing into my throat, I was certain, in the hopes that†¦ what? That he could drink my blood and become Strigoi? â€Å"Lee,† I said in a small voice. Too much movement in my throat would result in a bite from the knife. â€Å"It didn't work with the other girls. I don't think the fact that I'm an Alchemist matters. Whatever that spirit user did to save you†¦ you can't go back now. It doesn't matter whose blood you drink.† â€Å"He didn't save me!† roared Lee. â€Å"He ruined my life. I've been trying to get it back for six years. I was almost ready for the last resort†¦ until you and Keith came along. And I've still got that last option left. I don't want it to come to that, though. For all our sakes.† I wasn't the last resort? Honestly, I didn't really see how any other alternative plans here could be much worse for me. Meanwhile, Adrian still wasn't looking in my direction, which frustrated me – until I realized what he was trying to do. â€Å"This is a mistake,† he told Lee. â€Å"Look at me, and tell me you really want to do this to her.† Cuffed or not, Adrian didn't have the speed and strength of a dhampir, someone who could leap over and disarm Lee before the knife could do its damage. Adrian also didn't have the power to wield a physical element, say, like fire, one that could be used as a concrete weapon. Adrian did, however, have the ability to compel. Compulsion was an innate ability all vampires had and one that spirit users in particular were adept at. Unfortunately, it worked best with eye contact, and Lee wasn't playing ball. His attention was all on me, blocking Adrian's efforts. â€Å"I made my decision a long time ago,† said Lee. With his free hand, he dabbed his fingers in the bloody patch on my arm. He brought his fingertips to his lips, a look of grim resignation on his face. He licked the blood from his hand, which wasn't nearly as gross to me as it would've been under other circumstances. With so much going on right now, it was honestly no more terrible than the rest and just rolled off of me. A look of total shock and surprise crossed Lee's features†¦ soon turning to disgust. â€Å"No,† he gasped. He repeated the motion, rubbing more blood on his fingers and licking it. â€Å"There's something†¦ there's something wrong†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He leaned his mouth to my neck, and I whimpered, fearing the inevitable. But it wasn't his teeth I felt, only the lightest brushing of his lips and tongue at the wound he'd created, like some sort of perverse kiss. He jerked back immediately, staring at me in horror. â€Å"What's wrong with you?† he whispered. â€Å"What's wrong with your blood?† He made a third attempt to taste my blood but was unable to finish. He scowled. â€Å"I can't do it. I can't stomach any of it. Why?† Neither Adrian nor I had an answer. Lee sagged in defeat for a moment, and I suddenly allowed myself to think he might just give up and call all this madness off. With a deep breath, he straightened up, new resolve in his eyes. I tensed, half-expecting him to say he was going to try to drink Adrian now, even though a Moroi – two, if you counted Melody – had apparently been on the menu of his past failures. Instead, Lee pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, still keeping the knife at my throat and preventing me from attempting any sort of escape. He dialed a number and waited for an answer. â€Å"Dawn? It's Lee. Yes†¦ yes, I know. Well, I have two for you, ready and waiting. A Moroi and an Alchemist. No – not the old man. Yes. Yes, still alive. It has to be tonight. They know about me. You can have them†¦ but you know the deal. You know what I want†¦ yes. Uh-huh. Okay.† Lee rattled off our address and disconnected. A pleased smile crossed his face. â€Å"We're lucky. They're east of LA, so it won't take them long to get here – especially since they don't care much about speed limits.† â€Å"Who are ‘they'?† asked Adrian. â€Å"I remember you calling some Dawn lady in LA. I thought she was one of your hot college friends?† â€Å"They're the makers of destiny,† said Lee dreamily. â€Å"How delightfully enigmatic and nonsensical,† muttered Adrian. Lee glared and then carefully studied Adrian. â€Å"Take off your tie.† I realized I'd spent so much time with Adrian now that I was ready for some comment like, â€Å"Oh, glad to know things aren't so formal anymore.† Apparently, the situation was dire enough – and the knife at my throat serious enough – that Adrian didn't argue. He'd handcuffed his wrists in front of him and, after some complex maneuvering with his hands, was finally able to undo the tie he'd donned for Jill's show. He tossed it over. â€Å"Careful,† Adrian said. â€Å"It's silk.† So, not completely devoid of snark. Lee rolled me over to my stomach, finally freeing me of the knife but giving me no time to react. With remarkable skill, he soon had my hands tied behind my back with Adrian's tie. Doing so required some pulling and restraining of my arms, which hurt quite a bit after the stabbing. He backed off when finished, allowing me to gingerly sit up, but an experimental tug of the tie showed that I wasn't going to undo those knots anytime soon. Uneasily, I wondered how many girls he'd tied up before in his sick attempt to become Strigoi. Weird, awkward silence fell as we waited for Lee's â€Å"makers of destiny† to show up. The minutes ticked by, and I frantically tried to figure out what to do. How long did we have until the people he'd called arrived? From what he'd told me, I'd guess at least an hour. Feeling bold, I finally attempted communication with Adrian, again hoping maybe we could covertly team up on Lee – even though our success rate had just become that much lower with both our sets of hands bound. â€Å"How did you even get here?† I asked. Adrian's gaze was fixed on Lee, still hoping for direct eye contact, but he did spare a quick, wry glance at me. â€Å"Same way I get around everywhere, Sage. The bus.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because I don't have a car.† â€Å"Adrian!† Amazing. Even with our lives in danger, he could still infuriate me. He shrugged and returned his focus to Lee, even though his words were obviously for me. â€Å"To apologize. Because I was a total asshole to you at Jailbait's show. Not long after you left, I knew I had to come find you.† He paused eloquently and glanced around. â€Å"No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.† I suddenly felt at a loss. Lee turning psychopathic certainly wasn't my fault, but it troubled me that Adrian was now in this situation because he'd come to apologize to me. â€Å"It's okay. You weren't†¦ um, that bad,† I said lamely, hoping to make him feel better. A small smile played over his lips. â€Å"You're a terrible liar, Sage, but I'm still touched you'd attempt it for my sake. A for effort.† â€Å"Yeah, well, what happened back there seems kind of small, in light of the current situation,† I muttered. â€Å"It's easy to forgive.† Lee's frown had been growing as he listened to us. â€Å"Do the others know you're here?† he asked Adrian. â€Å"No,† said Adrian. â€Å"I said I was going back to Clarence's.† I didn't know if he was lying or not. For a moment, I didn't think it would matter. The others had heard me say I was coming here, but none of them would have any reason to come seeking us. No reason, except the bond. I caught my breath and met Adrian's eyes. He looked away, perhaps for fear of betraying what I'd just realized. It didn't matter if the gang had known where I was earlier. If Jill was connected to Adrian, she would know now. And she would know that we were in trouble. But that was assuming it was one of the times when she could see into his mind. They'd both admitted it was inconsistent and that high emotion could bring it out. Well, if this didn't count as a highly emotional situation, I couldn't think what would. Even if she realized what was happening, there were a lot of if's involved. Jill would have to get here, and she couldn't do it alone. Calling the police would bring the fastest response, but she might hesitate if she knew this was vampire business. She'd need Eddie. How long would it take to get him if they were back in their dorms? I didn't know. I just knew that we had to stay alive because if we did, one way or another, Jill would get help here. Only, I no longer knew our odds of survival. Adrian and I were both confined, trapped with a guy who wasn't afraid to kill with a knife and who desperately wanted to become a Strigoi again. That was a bad combination, and it threatened to get worse†¦ â€Å"Who's coming, Lee?† I asked. â€Å"Who did you call?† When he didn't answer, I made the next logical leap. â€Å"Strigoi. You have Strigoi coming.† â€Å"It's the only way,† he said, tossing his knife from hand to hand. â€Å"The only way left now. I'm sorry. I can't be like this anymore. I can't be mortal anymore. Too much time has already passed.† Of course. Moroi could become Strigoi in one of two ways. One was by drinking the blood of another person and killing them in the process. Lee had tried that, using every combination of victims he could get ahold of, and had failed. That left him with one last desperate option: conversion by another Strigoi. Usually, it happened by force, when a Strigoi killed someone and then fed their own blood back to the victim. That was what Lee wanted done to him now, trading our lives to the Strigoi who would convert him. And then he wanted to do it to Jill, out of some crazy misguided love†¦ â€Å"But it's not worth it,† I said, desperation and fear making me bold. â€Å"It's not worth the cost of killing innocents and endangering your soul.† Lee's gaze fell on me, and there was a look of such chilling indifference in it that I had a hard time connecting this person before me to the one I'd smiled indulgently on as he courted Jill. â€Å"Isn't it, Sydney? How would you know? You've deprived yourself of enjoyment for most of your life. You're aloof from others. You've never let yourself be selfish, and look where it's got you. Your ‘morals' have left you with a short, strict life. Can you tell me now, just before you're about to die, that you don't wish you'd maybe allowed yourself a little more fun?† â€Å"But the immortal soul – â€Å" â€Å"What do I care about that?† he demanded. â€Å"Why bother living some miserable regimented life in this world, in the hopes that maybe our souls go on in some heavenly realm, when I can take control now – ensure that I live forever in this world, with all of its pleasures, staying strong and young forever? That's real. That's something I can put my faith in.† â€Å"It's wrong,† I said. â€Å"It's not worth it.† â€Å"You wouldn't say that if you'd experienced what I have. If you'd been Strigoi, you never would've wanted to lose that either.† â€Å"How did you lose it?† asked Adrian. â€Å"What spirit user saved you?† Lee snorted. â€Å"You mean robbed me. I don't know. It all happened so fast. But as soon as I find him I'll – ahh!† A yearbook is not the greatest of weapons, particularly one the size of Amberwood's, but in a pinch – and with surprise – it'll do. I'd noted earlier that I wasn't going to be able to undo the knots in the tie anytime soon. That was true. It had taken me this whole time, but I'd done it. For whatever reason, knot-making was a useful skill in the Alchemist curriculum, one I'd practiced growing up with my father. As soon as I was free of Adrian's tie, I reached for the first thing I could: Kelly's junior yearbook. I sprang up and slammed it into Lee's head. He cringed back at the impact, dropping the knife as he did, and I used the opportunity to sprint across the living room and grab Adrian's arm. He needed no help from me and was already trying to get to his feet. We didn't get far before Lee was right back on us. The knife had slid somewhere unseen, and he simply relied on his own strength. He caught hold of me and ripped me from Adrian, one hand on my wounded arm and one in my hair, causing me to stumble. Adrian came after us, doing his best to hit Lee, even with bound hands. We weren't the most efficient fighting force, but if we could just momentarily delay Lee, there was a chance we might make it out of here. Lee was distracted by both of us, trying to fight and fend us off at the same time. Unbidden, Eddie's lesson came back to me, about how a well-placed punch could cause serious damage to someone stronger than you. Sizing up the situation in seconds, I decided I had an opening. I closed my hand the way Eddie had taught me in that quick lesson, positioning my body in a way that would direct the weight in an efficient way. I swung. â€Å"Ow!† I yelled in pain as my fist made contact. If this was the â€Å"safe† way to punch, I couldn't imagine how much a sloppy one hurt. Fortunately, it seemed to cause just as much – if not more – pain to Lee. He fell backward, hitting the comfy chair in a way that made him lose his balance and collapse to the ground. I was stunned at what I had done, but Adrian was still in motion. He nudged me to the door, taking advantage of Lee's temporary disorientation. â€Å"Come on, Sage. This is it.† We hurried to the door, ready to make our escape while Lee shouted profanities at us. I reached for the knob, but the door opened before I could touch it. And two Strigoi entered the room.