Whos afraid of sigmund Freud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Whos afraid of sigmund Freud - Essay Example He is no longer thought of as scientific or serious. He is mostly a cartoon character who speaks in a thick German accent while chomping on a cigar. People tend to believe stereotypes about him, such as that he believed childhood trauma was the reason for all problems in adulthood. The author of this article seeks to defend Freud from some of these claims, and to a certain extent succeeds. To be fair to Freud, it is important to recall the time period he was living and writing in. Very little was known about psychology. He was the founder of this discipline. Many of his ideas were educated guesses based on conversations with patients and scientific study he undertook. There were bound to be errors. Few psychologists today would have been anywhere near as successful as Freud was if they had to operate under the same conditions. Even today, his basic concepts are accepted, as Hustvedt writes, â€Å"No neuroscientist today would say that the unconscious does not exist, nor would he or she say that we do not have implicit memories (memories outside of consciousness.) No one working in the field would argue against primal emotional drives in human beings either.† It is clear that he has a continuing influence, even if it is not as large as it once was. That is not to say Freud was not wrong on many fronts. Much of his thinking about sex is outdated. But all things considered, he was a genius who deserves our respect. An important subject he studied that is very relevant today is the relationship between patient and therapist. He immediately saw the danger of too close an attachment and warned that therapists must watch their feelings closely in these encounters.

Written Assignment for Industrial Technology Essay Example for Free

Written Assignment for Industrial Technology Essay 1. The written assignment for Industrial Technology has continuously posed a level of difficulty for some students and teachers who are required to contend with the CSEC practical areas. In light of this challenge the following presentation has been created to give a better understanding of the procedure to follow. 2. In order to successfully complete written assignments candidates must firstly become aware of the requirements of this component. It is very important that each candidate is not only provided with these requirements (which include background and mark scheme) but also that teachers utilize a session or two to explain thoroughly the steps to be followed. Guides presented to candidates should include the following: 1. Background to written assignment 2. Mark scheme [Samples shown below] THE WRITTEN COMPONENT The written assignment will take the form of a report of about 1000 – 1200 words based on the common modules. These are: Safety Health Welfare Introduction to Computer Impact of Technology on Society Candidates are to demonstrate their full understanding of the concepts relating to these modules. They should produce a report that uses word-processing technology. Candidates may also use other software packages (Spreadsheets or databases) to do any analysis that may be necessary to enhance the presentation of the report. The report should be a critical analysis of a particular institution, business or theme that has relation or relevance to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied. It is suggested that one of two approaches be used. 1. Industrial visits Preparation of a report on a visit to an industry or industrial site. 2. A report on a particular theme that is relevant to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied, for example, – Transport – road, air, rail or water; – Communication; – Manufacturing; – Service industry. The report should include drawings, and photographs, wherever these are relevant, in addition to the written material. The report should address the areas listed below. – The jobs or careers involved in the particular institution or theme that relate to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied. – The norms, regulations and codes of which employees in these areas must be aware and to which they must adhere, because of legal, financial, strategic or other considerations. – The impact of technology on the careers identified and the processes involved as they relate to the Unit(s) or Subject(s) being studied, for example, employment vs. unemployment, self-employment, security considerations, methods of processing and environmental considerations. – Ethical and moral considerations. A critical look at the environmental issues, employment practices and safety, health and welfare issues as they are addressed. 3. If the candidate is studying: (i) One Unit or Subject only, the report should address the areas listed in point 2 above which are relevant to that Unit only. (ii) Two or more Units or Subjects, the report should address the areas listed in point 2 above which are relevant to ALL the Units being studied. INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY *Table outlining the breakdown of marks for students completing one, two or three units/subject. Interpreting guides and mark scheme It is important to note that unless the report is prepared according to the guides and mark scheme given, students will find it difficult to score points for this component. As such strict adherence to the instructions given through the documents above is critical to the successful completion of this piece. INTRODUCTION OF THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT The introduction of the written assignment consists of two areas, namely: 1. Topic outlined briefly and, 2. Methods/approach at data collection. Based on the breakdown of the mark scheme the introduction asks for two specific pieces of information and values 2 marks, one for each. It is therefore unnecessary for candidates to be lengthy in this section. Example 1. The manufacturing of ordinary Portland cement at Carib Cement Jamaica Limited. (1 mark) 2. The following approaches were taken in gathering the data: i. A guided tour of the plant ii. Video presentations iii. Use of questionnaires iv. Interviews conducted with personnel (1 mark) CONTENT As outlined in the mark scheme, candidates are required to identify the different careers at the industry that they have visited. In the case of the theme approach, candidates will naturally identify those careers associated with that area of specialization also including support staff that would aid in the successful running of such an establishment. All candidates are required to do here is to list the careers. Evidently only one mark is allotted for this section. Creative ways could also be employed if so desired by candidates to present this information. E.g. Organizational charts. The norms, regulations and codes to which employees must be aware and to which they must adhere because of legal, financial, strategic or other consideration. Again this other item values only one mark on the mark scheme, hence candidates are not expected to be lengthy. A good approach to take here is to break down the heading in order to sufficiently address each component. Example: Norms Norms speak to the customary operation of the plant and especially employees from the time of ‘check in’ to the time of ‘check out’. The operations here could be itemized with an indication of the time in which they are carried out. E.g.: 1) Employees check in at security post for processing 8:30 AM 2) Employees report to departments. - 9:00 AM Regulations Regulations speak to the set of rules to which employees must adhere. These rules must be linked to the daily operations carried out by employees. In presentation these regulations could be tabulated with possible photographs of signs mounted on the plant. NOTE: There are points allotted separately for pictures, tables and charts. Codes could also be addressed at this point. These can be described as a systematic set of laws which quite often govern both behavior and safety. Pictures of codes identified on site could also be used to enhance presentation. Impact of Technology on Careers The impact of technology is essentially seeking to identify the negatives and positives of the use of the equipment on the plant (especially if newly introduced) and the effect that these have on the existing careers. However, candidates are required to speak specifically to the impact as it relates to the following areas: 1) Employment vs. unemployment 2) Security or processing 3) Environmental If an actual tour of an industrial plant was conducted then the information needed in this section could be collected with the aid of interviews, questionnaires or observation of operations. If the report was completed from a theme then candidates would naturally identify possible effects that could arise as a result of the introduction of new technology. As it relates to employment vs. unemployment, candidates are required to say whether jobs have been lost or jobs have been gained as a result of the introduction of technology. In terms of security or processing, candidates will select one of these and identify technological features/devices that are used in these areas striking a comparison with manual methods which were previously employed. Industrial plants are popularly known to have a deleterious effect on the environment especially where the emission of waste is concern. The candidate at this point is to explain what technological feature if any is used to control these emissions and elaborate briefly on its effectiveness. How ethical and moral considerations are addressed This section speaks specifically to two areas, these are: 1) Legal polices on safety, health and welfare. 2) Moral approach in handling safety, health and welfare. A legal policy in this context can be defined as a prudent course of action employed by an organization. This prudent course of action seeks to outline how situations/developments are handled within the establishment. At point 1) above candidates are required to list the legal policies employed by the establishment/industrial plant which address safety, health and welfare. These policies may vary from organization to organization but in this case could include: 1) A safety and health policy. 2) Welfare policy developed through the human and resource department in the establishment. (Information below seeks to give further details on safety and health. Kindly peruse) Safety and Health policies Safe and healthy working conditions do not happen by chance. Employers need to have a written safety policy for their enterprise setting out the safety and health standards which should be their objective to achieve. The policy should name the senior executive who is responsible for seeing that the standards are achieved, and who has authority to allocate responsibilities to management and supervisors at all levels and to see they are carried out. The safety policy should deal with the following matters: 1) Arrangements for training at all levels. Particular attention needs to be given to key workers such as scaffolders and crane operators whose mistakes can be especially dangerous to other workers; 2) safe methods or systems of work for hazardous operations: the workers carrying out these operations should be involved in their preparation; 3) the duties and responsibilities of supervisors and key workers; 4) arrangements by which information on safety and health is to be made known; 5) arrangements for setting up safety committees; 6) the selection and control of subcontractors. Safety organization and management (policies) must cover all aspects of the employer’s or the contractor’s operations Moral Approach in handling safety, health and welfare Moral approach in handling safety, health and welfare has to do with how employees are treated by the establishment. Candidates at this point will identify the initiatives within the organization/establishment which have been developed for employees under the heading of safety, health and welfare. These could include: 1) Health care for employees and family. 2) Provision of safety equipment for employees. 3) Insurance packages for employees. PRESENTATION Seven points are allotted for presentation and in order for students to score maximum they must meet all the requirements outlined in the mark scheme. Keen attention must be placed on the use of tables, charts, pictures and diagrams to present data. The instrument selected can be used to represent any data that the student wishes to highlight. All areas to be addressed under introduction and content should be treated as headings and subheadings thus improving the presentation of the report. COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION This area deals with the communication of information in a logical way using correct grammar and appropriate jargon of the field. All of twelve marks are allotted to this area and as such teacher is expected to monitor students closely ensuring that all the requirements outlined are adhered to as much as possible. SUMMARY This segment of the report carries (2 marks). These are separated evenly between two areas: 1) Major findings 2) Recommendations Major Findings This is where students will highlight any area of plant operation that they might consider to be outstanding. This could include new technology which leads to greater efficiency. Recommendation This is where students identify possible strategies/initiatives which could serve to improve operations in the areas of concern.

My Trip To Egypt

My Trip To Egypt It was my grandmothers 70th Birthday in May this year and my Mum, my sister Sophie and my Mums three sisters decided to have a girly long weekend in Dorset during the May half term. Consequently, my Dad and I had most of the week on our own. My Dad came up with a few options of places to go ranging from Paris to Rome but also suggested going to Cairo. As I have always wanted to go to Cairo and see ancient Egypt, I thought that this was a brilliant idea and a fabulous gift from my Dad and I readily agreed to the trip. It was a five hour flight to Cairo and my Mum drove us to the nearest underground station for us to reach Heathrow airport in time for our early morning flight of course the anticipation was killing me as and I desperately wanted to see what an Arab country was like, especially one with all the mysteries of the ancient world that I imagined Egypt to have. We enjoyed the flight I enjoy my Dads company as he is such a good story teller and of course, he had been to Egypt about 20 years before so was telling me about all the things I could expect I couldnt wait! When we stepped off the airplane, the first thing I could feel was the intense heat that was thrown against my face and it seemed to suck the moisture from not only my face but seemed to reach right into my mouth and towel dry my tongue I knew then that I was in a desert country. When we stepped off of the tarmac into the custom hall, the first culture shock hit me and I have never seen so many guns pointing at me as if I was public enemy number one, although on the other hand, it seemed like I was the prime minister arriving! My Dad had arranged for us to be met by a personal driver, and he treated us like visiting royalty, escorting us to the car, looking after our luggage and settling us in for the journey. Although we arent used to that kind of service at home (well apart from my Mum!!), for comfortably-off Westerners with our standard of living this was probably just an average means of transport. I was really interested in seeing Cairo as we drove to our hotel and while it was not immediately as spectacular compared to some of the cities I have visited, it seemed a fairly average city with a lot of slums, colourful graffiti, stray dogs but balanced with some fairly modern buildings too. On the next day my Dad and I decided to visit the market, which was called the Khan E Khali Bazaar and which had a range of shops and stalls that I had never seen before with most of the goods on offer being so cheap that I felt that I could virtually buy the whole bazaar. I bought a lot of souvenirs right away as this was one of the aims of my visit I am a great shopper and collector, especially on holiday, and this visit was going to be no exception! The market was based near the citys main Egyptian museum, is one of the major areas of Cairo and which houses all the mummies and Egyptian artefacts, which are of course key to defining the history of Egypt. The sun was scorching and I felt as if I was inside an oven, but suffering the heat was worth it we ended up spending most of the morning in the colourful, bustling market, taking refuge in the little tea-rooms and of course buying about three shopping bags of a wide range of goodies to take home, for example I bought an old Egypt ian coin which in this country would be worth a lot of money because it is an ancient artefact. The texture of the coin was very rough; I made me think of all the hands it must have been through. I also allowed my imagination to wander and dream about the very strong sun in the sky, beating down on the coin; how many hardworking slaves in Ancient Egypt had stood where I stood now with the sun beating down on them as they toiled in the heat and the dust all those centuries ago, battling with famine and the anxiety of not knowing if theyd see another day? The smells of anywhere new is always something that lodges in your memory and this was no different; we visited a perfume shop that had a whole range of intoxicating perfumed oils and lotions and we bought a full set of different liquids all in their own intricately made glass bottles to take back home to my Mum and Sister. There were so many different spices and perfumes and I just know that when I smell any of these intoxicating aromas, or the smell of meat mixed with the aroma of jasmine and various herbs of the Arabic world, this will remind me of various soap shops that we walked past. Also, I think that the smell of raw meat reminds me of walking past open meat stalls in various supermarkets, such as, Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys I will be instantly transported back to that busy market! We had a really full and interesting day but eventually decided to head back to the hotel and take an afternoon nap so that we would be in the best shape to be ready for a lovely dinner in the hotel in the evening. After a long and relaxing sleep, the next morning, we decided to visit what is called the Gem of Egypt and the world famous pyramids. There were many more pyramids than I expected as there are actually three major ones and three smaller ones. The one I liked best was one known as the step pyramid as this was a major landmark in history for the Egyptians. I cannot imagine how long it would have taken to construct these Wonders of the World. Again my mind wandered back to the Egypt of 3000 years ago when I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be part of the many thousands of poor slaves who were forced to build these massive constructions; I was finding difficult just to stand or walk in this intense heat how hard would it be to pull massive stone blocks into place, or using rope and tackle having to pull the stones up and into their place and then to have these monuments to hard labour stand for thousands of years the whole scene and where it stood in history was mind bl owing. Another equally impressive installation sitting serenely nearby was of course the Sphinx which dominates the pyramids with its beauty and its uniqueness. To see and touch the Sphinx had been one of my life long ambitions and of course, I had to buy a memento a small replica of the beautiful monument, although this souvenir had been painted. Although this is not currently the case, whos to say it wasnt originally painted? At the end of this long, hot and sweaty day making tiring journeys to, from and inside the pyramids, I desperately needed a shower and then we had a relaxing meal and after dinner drink by the moonlit pool (although did have to battle the treacherous nightlife in the form of mosquitoes!), we repeated our pattern of fairly early night and off to bed. Lying in bed of an evening, I heard various different noises of the Arabic world, my imagination was very much alive this holiday due to the lack of internet, television and video games, I had a lot of time to think and reflect on what might have gone on in the surroundings around me. I acted out many scenes in my head, filled with various battles and mysterious tales that have been centred in and around Ancient Egypt. We were very tired the next day and so we decided to take it easy and decided against some trips from the hotel. We woke up lazily at around eleven in the morning, because of the exhausting past two days. After a scrumptious breakfast, we went to the swimming pool which was a clear as a diamond with lovely clean as water. The pool was neither too hot nor too cold but just perfect and the water was of the same quality as in England with no dirt. We swam for about half the day and then made our way to the restaurant again for lunch, this time a buffet laid out perfectly with such a vast selection of delicious food that I felt quite confused as to what I should have for lunch. In the afternoon, we decided to visit the mosque of the Emperor which was so beautiful with all carvings of the Quran and people praying it almost felt like you were in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, everything was just so authentic. I think when you are faced with a completely different religion or culture, t here are very stark differences and on the surface, you feel that there are no similarities; this is especially true with the differences between Christianity and Islam. However, it is only when you study the religions in depth that you come to realise that there are some things that are very similar or in fact the same. During my visit to the mosque I also learnt some Arabic (for numbers) which sounded like a language made by God. Later on in the evening, we had a real contrast to the holy experiences of the day when we went to watch a typical Arab belly dance with a woman dressed in an Arabian dress showing her bare stomach. It was like a dance exhibition for a king, and she had thousands of pounds worth of jewellery all over her. The dance lasted for about thirty minutes and it was performed while we ate some typical Arab fare for dinner. Finally, we went back to our hotel and because we already had had dinner, went straight to bed. All so quickly, I reached the last day of our fantastic visit to this wonderful country with such diversity, such rich culture and rich smells and tastes. Our flight was quite late at night so during our last day we visited the world renowned Egyptian museum, which contained wonderful artefacts. One artefact which startled me the most was the picture of Tutankhamen, one of the great rulers of Egypt, which was full of rich colours and was truly a work of a great artist. I never imagined that the people of so long ago would have had such refined and great skills, especially artistic and also construction work. The museum was really fascinating and I felt honoured to have witnessed so many treasures. We finally made our way to the airport and even though I didnt want to go home, we had to our flights were booked and so we could not stay longer. The airport had the same high security situation with the guards holding guns on display. I will never forget this trip and the only thing that would have made it even better was if I had my mum and sister with me too.

Avons Marketing Strategy in International Markets Essay -- Internatio

Avon's Marketing Strategy in International Markets 1/ Which actors in Avon's microenvironment and forces in the macro environment have been important in shaping its marketing strategies? We can explain what is exactly microenvironment and macro environment. Micro-environment is the factors in a firm's immediate environment which affect its performance and decision-making; these elements include the firm's suppliers, competitors, marketing intermediaries, customers and publics. Macro-environment is the major uncontrollable, external forces (economic, demographic, technological, natural, social and cultural, legal and political) which influence a firm's decision making and have an impact upon its performance. Macroenvironment forces include the increasing mobility of the U.S. population (demographic change), which meant that both customers and salespeople were moving. This made it difficult for salespeople to establish loyal, stable customer bases. In order to define what influenced the Avon's marketing strategy: ACTORS in Avon's MICRO ENVIRONMENT FORCES in Avon's MACRO ENVIRONMENT ïÆ'Ëœ Sales force: homemakers who needed extra money but didn't want a full time job outside the home. ïÆ'Ëœ Recruiting salespeople was easy ïÆ'Ëœ An army of women selling products = Avon ladies ïÆ'Ëœ Direct Saling ïÆ'Ëœ Convenience for the customer ïÆ'Ëœ They develop clients lists of friend or neighbours ïÆ'Ëœ More women found that they needed to work outside the home ïÆ'Ëœ Salaries needed more than part-time Job ïÆ'Ëœ When Avon ladies rang the doorbell, often no one answered. ïÆ'Ëœ More competitor were competing for the pool of people interested in full or part time direct selling jobs. ïÆ'Ëœ Increasing mobility of the US population : both customers... ...ust its marketing strategies. Avon had successfully negotiated with the Chinese government to restart its business. Avon agreed to operate as a wholesaler, selling its products to retail stores and converting its 75 branch centers into retail outlets. The new arrangement meant that Avon's 50,000 sales representatives would lose their jobs. Avon should not view a whole country as a single market and always bear in mind that there is a strong purchasing power in the hands of many urban communities in these countries. This is particularly true for China where the stereotype of 1.3 billion, low-income people living in rural areas is simply not true. China has the largest urban population in the world with 400 million consumers living in a set of urban centers along the Chinese coast. There should be a concerted marketing effort to targets this huge untapped market.

Credit card Essay

1.0 Background of credit cards The general-purpose credit card was born in 1966 by the Bank of America. Today, Master card and Visa are the well-known international credit card companies in Europe and their cards are accepted in more than 24 million outlets worldwide. Credit cards work to make attractive revenues to credit card companies, banks and retail sales. Nowadays, credit cards have such high interest that they are no longer attractive to purchases the unnecessary items. Credit cards are primarily seems to be used on important events to avoid indebtedness. The used of credit cards started up with individual firms, like oil companies as well as hotel chains, began to issue them to their customers. At first, these cards were just involves between the merchants who offer these cards to their customers and it had been proved to be a major way of ensuring customer loyalty. Later on, the companies began to accept each other’s cards to expand the uses of credit cards. The first bank issued credit card was the Charge-it, which came up in 1946. The card was introduced by John Biggins and was issued by the Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn in New York. In this, the merchants could deposit the sales slips into the bank and it would in turn get it from the customers. Then, in 1950s, the Diners Club credit card was issued. The card was invented by Frank McNamara, who was the founder of Diner’s Club. MasterCard was then been introduced in 1959, these cardholders no longer had to make the full payment on or before the due date, it gave customers greater flexibility in managing their money. In Australia, the first credit card was issued in 1974. It is known as a Bankcard, was a shared brand credit card and was issued by the Australia financial institutions, and functioned only in limited locations such as Australia, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands. The card soon caught the fancy of the entire region and dominated the credit card market in Australia, during the late 1980’s. A report shows that Bankcards were applied by around 2.3million users in Australia and accepted by 350,000 establishments in 2004. Besides that, the earlier cards were made from metal coins, plates, as well as celluloid, fiber and paper. These days however they are mostly made of plastic.  The usefulness of credit cards and charge cards is actually similar but the only different is the credit balances due date and the amount have to be pay. A charge card is actually a type of credit card that require you to pay your total balance in full at the end of each billing cycle instead of making payment on the lowest limit of the total balances. The cardholders won’t pay any interest on a charge card balance because they are not allowed to carry a balance beyond the due date. However, they’ll face a late fee if their full balance didn’t paid by the due date, the late fee could be a flat fee or a percentage of their balance. A charge card is typically issued by one company these days, America Express such as Amex’ Zync, Green, Gold, and Platinum cards. A credit card, on the other hand, allows you to have a revolving balance that you can pay off over a period of time. Credit cards also have a late fee that’s charged when the cardholders didn’t make their minimum payment by the due date. So nowadays, people are preferred to use credit cards more than charge cards because of the due date and the amount that must pay on due date. However, credit cards may cause more terrible debts than the charge cards. 2.0 Related information 2.1 Types of credit cards There’s two types of credit cards which are variable payment cards (VPC) and fixed repayment card. The VPC is a credit card which allows users to make purchases of variable sizes but limited to the credit limit imposed by the company. The fixed repayment cards allow users access to one month’s credit but with settlement of a minimum payment, say, 15% of the balance. 2.2 Advantages of credit cards and charge cards 2.2.1 Provide a means of obtaining credit The financial institutions which provides credit cards and charge cards products is actually issue credit or loan to the cardholders because when the customers spend money by using credit cards or charge cards, they can enjoy the goods and services first before they really have to pay for it,  which means that they can buy the goods and services by credit but not cash. Although credit means that owe to the financial institution but as long as customers able to pay before the due date, it is a very convenience way to shopping with the credit cards and charge cards. 2.2.2 Interest free credit is given from a week to 4 weeks Financial institutions actually didn’t charge interest on credit to the credit card holders and charge card holders during the first 4 weeks after they spend on it, so customers may spend as much as they want within their credit card or charge card’s limit without making any burden to themselves. But the most important is they have to remember to pay the credit within the first 4 weeks, or else interest on credit will be charge by the financial institution. 2.2.3 Easier to use as payment than cheques Credit cards and charge cards are easier to use as payment than cheques because they are just a small and flat plastic cards which can easily keep in wallet compared to the cheques that need to bring along the cheque book to make payment. Cheque book is very inconvenience to bring along especially without bringing a bag, it have to be hold on hand and it can be dirty, folded and wet easily, once its messy, most probably it will be return by the financial institution after make payment by cheques. Credit cards and charge cards can be dirty too but it can be wiped by tissue or cloth easily and even if its wet also not a problem to continue use it to make payment. 2.2.4 Cardholders can also withdraw cash over the counter or from an ATM Credit cards and charge cards not only can be function on the credit card machine such as MBF machine, it also can be use to withdraw cash over the counter in the financial institution or from an ATM. Although the financial institution will charge the cardholders on withdraw cash by using the credit cards or charge cards, but when the cardholders need cash for emergency case especially during midnight, it can be easily withdraw cash from an ATM. 2.2.5 Global acceptance Cardholders can enjoy goods and services by using credit cards and charge  cards in any countries because it is acceptable in global. It will be very convenience especially during travel or a business trip, cardholders don’t have to look for foreign currency exchange, all they need is just a credit card or charge card will do. Even when they really need cash at overseas, they can withdraw cash through an ATM or over the counter, so they don’t have to scare any robbery when they take out their cash in an unfamiliar countries. 2.2.6 Easy bill payments and earn reward points Cardholders are able to make their bill payments through online banking savings account, by cash or cheque at the financial institution branches, standing instruction and Cash Deposit Machines ( CDM ) or Cheque Deposit Machines ( QDM ) easily. They just have to pay it monthly and when they spent money using the credit cards and charge cards, they will earn reward points which can be used to redeem gifts from the financial institution. So some people might think that if they spent money by cash or cheque, they get nothing extra like the reward points but if they spent money by using credit cards or charge cards they might get extra gifts, it will be more worth than spending by cash or cheque. 2.2.7 Discount on other cooperate stores Some stores will cooperate with the financial institutions, so they will give discount to the specific financial institution’s cardholders when they spend on their stores by using their credit cards or charge cards, this will encourage the cardholders to spend more on their stores to get more discount. For example, Hong Leong Bank provides GSC-Hong Leong Credit Card, the ultimate movie card. The cardholders can enjoy 50% discounts up to RM100, subsequently up to 10% discounts on movie tickets purchase at all of the GSC outlets. 2.2.8 Provide 0% interest installment plan Some of the financial institution will provide 0% interest installment plan which the cardholders can purchase from those specific stores. For example, HSBC bank provide 0% interest installment plan for their credit card holders to purchase goods and services from a lot of shops such as Canon, Gintell, SASA Cosmetic and so on. That means the cardholders who don’t have enough budget also can enjoy the goods and services through the interest free installment plan without any guarantor needed. 2.3 Requirements to apply  credit cards and charge cards There are several requirements to apply credit cards and charge cards which are minimum age, minimum annual income and latest salary slips or relevant documents. At least 18 years old and above for the supplementary and between 21 to 65 years old for principal to apply credit cards and charge cards, this is required by every financial institutions in Malaysia. For the minimum annual income, it depends on financial institutions, they have different requirements on different types of cards. For example, CIMB required RM 24,000 per annum to apply the classic card, RM 30,000 per annum to apply the gold card and RM 60,000 per annum to apply the platinum card. For the charge cards, Maybank provides three types of charge cards only. The American Express Personal Card required RM 30,000 per annum, American Express Gold Card required RM 48,000 and The Platinum Card required RM 190,000 per annum to apply it. 3.0 Current issues of product 3.1 Addicted in using credit cards and charge cards will lead to debt disaster Most of the cardholders will become addicted in spending by using credit cards and charge cards because of at the moment they use the cards they actually don’t have to pay for what they purchases, at least they get to enjoy first before they really need to pay for it. Besides that, purchases with cards and cash have the different feeling, purchases with cash will be not willing to pay for it due to consumers have a clear picture that their cash is really flowing out from their pocket while purchases with cards won’t really feel about that because when you’re not looking at your money flowing out, you won’t feel that it’s actually already been spent by credit. So, this kind of bad habit will make cardholders overspend without realize especially to the shopaholics, therefore it will lead to financial difficulties. There’s still a lot of Malaysian suffering from the credit cards’ debts, some of them just able to pay the lowest limit of th eir debts every month due to the high interest rate charged, it is quite similar to loan sharks as they just able to pay back the interest of credits every month and became a burden which they unable to bear. 3.2 High interest rate of credits Most of the financial institutions in Malaysia offered tiered interest as per Bank Negara Malaysia credit card interest rate structure. The tiered interest rate structure rewards those cardholders who willing to pay their credit card bills in time. For those who pay credit card bills in time for every month in a year will only be charged 13.5% per annum for the interest rate, those who pay credit card bills in time for at least 10 months in a year will be charged higher interest rate than pay in every month which are 16% per annum, while those who pay credit card bills in time for less than 9 months in a year will be punished on the interest rate charged with 17.5% per annum which are the highest interest rate charged in Malaysia. So, for those who pay every month consecutively for a year will get to enjoy a lower interest rate on the 13th month compared to those who didn’t pay the bills every month consecutively for a year. However, some financial institutions offer a lower interest rate. For example, Affin Bank credit card offer 9.99% per annum on the interest rate of credit card bills and AMEX gold credit card is only 9% per annum. So, cardholders will have to choose wisely before they apply the credit cards. Normally financial institutions only require cardholders to pay the lowest limit every month which is 5% or RM50 depends on whichever higher of the total outstanding balance of their credit card bills. But they will have to take a long time to clear all the outstanding balance without any new spending if they only make lowest limit payment. Apart from the high interest rate, cardholders are also subjected to finance charges which will be imposed from the day the transaction is posted to the card account if they just make partial payment or less than that on or before the payment due date. Cardholders will have to make full payments every month consecutively to avoid the finance charges and also get to enjoy the interest free credit for retail transactions for 20 days on retail transactions but it’s not including the cash advance, balance transfer and installment payment plan programs. Even the cardholders didn’t make payment on or before the due date, they also subjected to late payment charges minimum of RM5 or 1% of total outstanding balance, whichever is higher, and  it will be up to RM50. 3.3 Declared bankrupt due to credit card debts There are 41 of the Malaysian declared bankrupt every day on average and most of the reason is because of the credit card debts. The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations ( FOMCA ) had discovered that most of those who declared bankrupt due to credit card debts were below 40 years old because of their poor financial management, they didn’t think wisely on what they’ve spent and don’t care about the consequences they need to face for the rest of their life. It is very tough to face financial difficulties too early in life and they are actually not mature enough to manage on their financial. For those cardholders who always overspend and unable to make full payment on the credit card bills, the outstanding balances will still remaining and it will become more and more expensive due to the high interest rate charged by the issuers. Usually most of the credit card debts are from the moderate income group because the financial institution only issue credit cards to those who earn at least RM 24,000 per annum, so if they didn’t settle the full payment every month, they will have to suffer from the high interest rate charged and unable to settle the credit card bills easily especially for those who owned more than one credit cards unless they stop spending by using the credit cards and they will need around 2 years to settle the outstanding balances. 3.4 Insecure in using credit cards and charge cards Nowadays there are many cases on the fraud of credit cards due to the technological advances such as exists of hackers, insecure websites during payment and so on. Some of the consumers rather use cash instead of credit cards if they lack of information on credit cards protection. The fraudsters are always creative on thinking a new way to steal the information of the cardholders. The credit card phone activation scam is to cheat the owner of the cardholders’ in order to ask them call a number to activate their new credit cards from their own home number, after the card is activated, the card can be used fraudulently. Just a phone call and the legitimate credit card owner will become a pitiful victim that have to pay the amount from spending that doesn’t recognize which may lead the victim to bankrupt. Some of the credit card scammers might steal or trick the cardholders to tell them the security code and then make purchases over the internet or the telephone. Once they know the credit card’s PIN, they could get cash advances from any of the ATM using a duplicated credit card where the legitimate cardholders’ details have been copied into the magnetic strip of another card. The most popular credit card fraud is use credit card numbers to online purchases in unknown websites which we not sure whether it is a secure website or not. Most of the cardholders didn’t check the safety of making payment with their credit card numbers during online purchases, it is a very dangerous case that will loss a large amount for the careless consequences. In addition, fraudsters also targeting the cardholders through email links and attachments. Once they click on the links or open the attachments they reveal themselves to computer viruses that can detect their keystrokes when they log on to their accounts. 3.5 Teenagers struggle to get control of credit card debt Recent laws designed to prevent young adults from running into credit card debt, it seems teenagers haven’t been doing enough on their own to find debt relief. Parents who want their teenagers to learn to use credit responsibly and effectively often try to train them by giving them a credit card of their own, co-signed by one of the parent and for only a low credit limit. Most teenagers still, however, struggle with some aspects of credit card management, including paying them on time. Few of the teenagers know how to properly manage their accounts, but most of them failed to do so. According to a study entitled Financial Literacy and Credit Cards: A Multi Campus Survey, published in the International Journal of Business and Social Science, about 36 percent of teenagers have two or more credit cards in their name. The report said, just 9.4 percent of those polled said they pay their balances off in full at the end of every month and very few actually knew the cost of their acc ount. Only 14.6 percent of them knew the interest rate on their card, while 24.3 percent and 29.2 percent claimed knowledge of their late payment and over-balance penalty fees, respectively. Altogether,  only about 10 percent said they knew all three. They pay little attention to interest rates, terms, and card features. The card they choose may set them up for failure right from the start. In addition, many young people are not adequately educated about credit cards and debt. They may know that you have to pay the money back, but they may not be prepared to understand the effect of high interest rates, minimum payments and the devastating effect that late payments can cause. And when most young people have relatively low-paying or part-time jobs, it can become difficult to keep up with credit card payments. There are some reasons teenagers struggle with credit cards. The first reason is teenagers don’t make enough money. Teenagers often have a very narrow scope of the world and of financial matters in particular. For example, they often simply don’t see that they won’t be able to pay off the expensive new sound system for their car on their Rm150 a week part time job. They also get sucked in by the minimum payment offer and don’t really consider how much interest they will be paying in the longer term. Besides that, teenagers believe that their parents will rescue them. Teenagers may not admit it, but they need their parents to get them out of trouble. Often, these young adults will spend their credit card limit foolishly because they believe that if they really can’t pay it their parents will step in and rescue them, as most parents lend a helping hand when their child is in trouble. Also, they may believe that their parents will fix their damaged credit history if they end up with a poor credit score later. 4.0 Recommendations / Suggestions / Opinions 4.1 The ways of using credit cards and charge cards intelligently 4.1.1 Choose wisely When selecting a credit card, be aware of all of the interest rate and repayment options. Compare different cards based on your needs and your ability to pay all purchases in full. There are several things that need to be consider wisely which are a low annual percentage rate (APR), which will reduce the interest you have to repay, the interest calculation method which can change how much interest you pay, low or no annual fees, which issuers might charge, all other charges such as late payment fees, transaction fees, over the limit fees and others which can add to the total cost of your charges, credit limits for cardholders should be low, and the services and  features such as cash rebates, frequent flyer miles, extended warranties, convenience checks. 4.1.2 Don’t spend more than you can afford to pay on a monthly basis You can make wise decisions about purchasing items you need versus those you simply want. We’ve all used the word â€Å"need† to describe something we really just wanted badly. Using your credit card responsibly and recognize which things you really need and which you just want. Responsible use of your credit cards will help you establish a solid credit rating and avoid financial problems. 4.1.3 Keep track of your spending It is important to monitor more often than once per month when you receive your statement of credit cards. You should check your account online frequently, save receipts and keep accurate records, consider signing up for balance notices and billing statement notifications from your credit card provider. 4.1.4 Keep an accurate record of the following in case your card is lost or stolen Keep the important informations in a secure and safe place at home such as account number, issuer’s name, phone number, and photo copy of the front and back of the card. 4.1.5 Don’t apply for credit that you don’t need Although your first few credit card accounts build and improve your credit score, there’s a point when acquiring more will reduce your score. Where that point is, no one knows, but generally, two or three cards are all you need. You should say â€Å"no, thanks† when the cashier offers 10% off your purchase in exchange for filling out the store’s credit application. In my opinion, store credit cards aren’t necessary and the interest rates are horrendous, unless there’s some overriding benefit that will offset the ding in your credit- like getting Rm500 off a Rm2000 refrigerator. 4.2 The ways to reduce credit card debts 4.2.1 Hide your credit cards The first step is to hide your credit cards in a place where you could access them in an absolute emergency, but that they’d be very difficult to find. For example, put them in a little box way in the back up in the attic, freeze them in a big chunk of ice, or hide them in the back of the cupboard at your mother’s house. Make sure it’s somewhere where you can’t easily  access them. Then, go to every online account where you use a credit card regularly and delete your credit card numbers there. For example, Amazon, PayPal, and World of War craft. Make sure that you’re not forgetting anything. If you absolutely must retain a service, use a debit card number instead of a credit card number. Why should you do this? Your credit card balances need to go down, but not up and the biggest step in doing that is to break yourself of the habit of using them without a connection to the real money you’re spending. That means going back to using cash, che cks, and debit cards. If you don’t actually have the money, you’re not spending it. 4.2.2 Write a budget plan To start reducing your credit card you need to work out where you’ve been going wrong and ensure you do not continue to mount up further debt. You can start by writing down a list of all your monthly incomings such as wages, dividends from shares or interest from savings and so on. Following this, write a list of all your regular outgoings such as mortgage or rent payments, personal loans, council rates, utility, phone and internet bills, fuel and vehicle maintenance, insurance, health and groceries. Besides that, don’t forget to you include other aspects of your life such as entertainment, eating out and clothes shopping. Once you have these figures you can calculate your monthly cash flow by adding up your total incomings and subtracting your total outgoings. Hopefully your incomings will exceed your outgoings leaving you with positive monthly cash flow. However, if you find your outgoings exceed your incomings you have negative cash flow and are pushing yourself furt her into debt each month. Next, search through your expenses for areas where you could cut back. Maybe you are eating out too often or treating yourself to more new clothes or shoes than you really need. You need some nice treats to look forward to but make a budget for non-essentials and entertainment and stick to it. You can then use the spare cash flow each month towards paying off your debts. 4.2.3 Figure out what you owe and what the interest rates are The next step is to dig out the most recent statements for all of your credit card bills and determine exactly how much you owe and what the interest rates on each of the bills is. This information should be easily found on your most recent statement, but if you’re having difficulty finding the information, call up your credit card  provider and get that information. You should be making a list of all of these: credit card name/type, current balance, and interest rate. This helps when you develop a plan, you can use this master list to figure out which credit card to pay first. 4.2.4 For teenagers’ problem, it’s still up to the parent If parents want their children to have good spending habits and resist the temptation that can come with having a credit card, it’s up to parents to educate them. Teenagers need to know the benefits of having a card and the devastating consequences that can come from misuse. As parents, they need to sit down with their sons or daughters before they head off on their own. Discuss the reasons why it’s important to have a credit card and credit history. Also, parents should help teenagers find a good credit card so they don’t end up signing up for the first one they come across. Once teenagers obtain a card, make a purchase and walk them through the process of making the monthly payment. Either by check or electronically so they know what to expect and are familiar with the process. Finally, go over the ground rules. Parents should explain exactly what the credit card should be used for and who is responsible for the payments. If parents take the time to educate tee nagers at a young age so they can establish credit in a responsible manner, they will be in a position to hit the ground running with a solid credit history and have established sound financial habits going forward. 4.3 The ways to solve unsecured credit cards Credit and charge card fraud costs cardholders and issuers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. While theft is the most obvious form of fraud, it can occur in other ways. For example, someone may use your card number without your knowledge. It’s not always possible to prevent credit or charge card fraud from happening. But there are a few steps you can take to make it more difficult for a crook to capture your card or card numbers and minimize the possibility. The best way to deal with credit card fraud is to avoid the crime altogether. Internet commerce is one of the most common places where credit card fraud occurs. Do research on the site and only give out your credit card if the transaction is secure and the vendor is reputable. To verify a site is secure, before using, check out the â€Å"security  or encryption† software used to see if is reliable. If you are unsure of a vendor, look for a physical address and be wary of temporary addresses, such as PO box es. Cardholder has to be cautious when responding to special, unsolicited email offers and to avoid overseas vendors. Besides that, by keeping a list of all your credit cards and account information will help you to avoid uncertain problems. If you notice anything suspicious, refer to your handy list, and call the authorities immediately. To prevent credit card and charge card fraud, don’t lend your card to anyone or leave it lying around. When you sign a receipt, draw a line through any blank spaces above the total. Write your account number on a postcard or the outside of an envelope. Give out your account number over the phone unless you’re making the call to a company you know is reputable. If you have questions about a company, check it out with your local consumer protection office or Better Business Bureau. 5.0 Conclusion As a conclusion, we can know more related information about credit cards and charge cards. By using credit card can make consumers more convenient yet troublesome. All are stated in advantages and disadvantages of credit cards and charge card’s part. Besides that , we have found out some current issue about credit card and charge card such as article about high interest rate of credit card, debt disaster and bankruptcy all these related articles. To solve these current issues and problems of credit card and charge card, we have recommended some ways such as how to use credit card intelligently, ways to solve unsecure credit card and ways to reduce credit card debts. Therefore, we should use credit card wisely to prevent the misuse and overuse of credit card. 6.0 References Internet The New York Times Company. ( 2012 ). The Difference Between Charge Card and Credit Card. Retrieved from http://credit.about.com/od/creditcardbasics/a/Charge-Card-vs-Credit-Card.htm. Maybank. ( 2011 ). Identity Theft. Retrieved from http://www.maybank2u.com.my/mbb_info/m2u/public/personalDetail04.do?channelId=CRD-Cards&cntTypeId=0&cntKey=CRD08.12&programId=CRD08-Utilities&chCatId=/mbb/Personal/CRD-Cards. Maybank. ( 2011 ). American Express Personal Card. Retrieved from http://www.maybank2u.com.my/mbb_info/m2u/public/personalDetail04.do?channelId=CRD-Cards&cntTypeId=0&cntKey=CRD02.01&programId=CRD02-ChargeCards&chCatId=/mbb/Personal/CRD-Cards. CIMB Group. ( 2012 ). CIMB Bank Credit Card. Retrieved from http://www.cimbbank.com.my/index.php?ch=cb_per_ca&pg=cb_per_ca_prod&ac=2&tpt=cimb_bank#. HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad. ( 2012 ). 0% Interest Installment Plan. Retrieved from http://www.hsbc.com.my/1/2/personal-banking/credit-cards/smart-privileges/0-installment-plan/household-and-furniture. Hong Leong Bank Berhad. GSC-Hong Leong Gold & Platinum Credit Card. Retrieved from http://www.hlb.com.my/pfs/cc/ccgsc_fb.jsp?flag=ccgsc. Golden Screen Cinemas. ( 2012 ). GSC-Hong Leong Credit Card – The Ultimate Movie Card. Retrieved from http://www.gsc.com.my/gsceonbankcard/Default.aspx. Lawyerment.com. ( 2012 ). Shocking reasons why Malaysians are living beyond their means. Retrieved September 22, 2011 from http://www.lawyerment.com.my/boards/article-Malaysia_Business_Consumer_Bankruptcy_Law-1650.htm?Page=20. 1-million-dollar-blog.com. ( 2012 ). Credit Card Interest Rate, Charges & Debt Calculator. Retrieved January 18, 2011 from http://1-million-dollar-blog.com/credit-card-interest-rate-charges-debt-calculator/. The New York Times Company. ( 2012 ). Credit Card Fraud – Credit Card Phone Activation Scam. Retrieved from http://banking.about.com/od/securityandsafety/a/creditcardfraud.htm. Free Malaysia Today – Free and Independent. ( 2012 ). Nearly 50% of credit card holders gone bankrupt under 30. Retrieved from http://archive.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/news/general/3216-nearly-50-of-credit-card-holders-gone-bankrupt-under-30. Debtmerica, LLC. ( 2012 ). College kids struggle to ge t control of credit card debt. Retrieved from http://debtmerica.com/industry-news/11-credit-cards/1171-college-kids-struggle-to-get-control-of-credit-card-debt. Debtmerica, LLC ( 2012 ). Consumers doing a better job making payments on time. Retrieved from http://debtmerica.com/industry-news/11-credit-cards/1168-consumers-doing-a-be

Movies vs Plays essays

Movies vs Plays essays Plays are live shows with actors and actresses acting out a story in front of a live audience. A movie is a pre-taped showing of actors and actresses acting out a story. There are benefits and hindrances both to seeing a play and a movie. Making a movie allows for postproduction to add effects, plays cannot accomplish this because it is a live production. Watching a movie is very much more entertaining to an audience than any play that is being shown live. Since movies are not live shows put on right in front of you, it gives the producers the room for special effects. In a movie you can see anything from explosions, aliens, shape shifting, full-scale wars, to bloody deaths. In Terminator 2 the evil man could shape-shift his body. Every time he did this, the viewer would see his body melt into this liquid nitrogen that proved to be some very impressive eye candy. A play cannot reproduce these effects live; we do not yet have the technology. A movie can be computer animated, which allows for most of these effects to become possible. Computer animation is something that happens in post-production after the movie has been video taped. On the other hand, live show does not have post-production because it is live. These effects would not be very effective if there were no impressive sounds to go along with them. The sounds you will hear in a movie theatre are very loud and add to the whole impact of the movie you are watching. For example, an explosion sets off in the movie, but all you hear is the faintest bang. Now, Imagine this, an explosion sets off in the movie and you hear a monstrous BANG! The loud bang is more effective in terms of getting your attention and making an impact. Unlike movies, many plays have viewers straining just to hear what the actors are saying on stage. I remember one time I was watching a play called Jesus Christ Superstar and this one actor did not have a very loud voi ...