Explain why individuals should specify investment goals and understand Essay

Explain why individuals should specify investment goals and understand sources of risk and return Define basic investing terminology - Essay Example Mutual funds on the other hand are collective funds in which individual contributions are pooled together as one and invested in a financial instrument. Mutual funds are less risky since the risk is diversified between owners and different instruments. Mutual funds are invested in buying stocks, currency exchange and bonds. Bonds on the other hand, are units of debt held by an individual for claim against an invested amount. Bond is a form of lending that earns interest to the holder.The company is expected to pay interest yield upon maturity of the agreement. An annuity refers to yearly payments or receipts on an investment while dividends are shares of profits divided amongst shareholders at the end of a trading period according to the number of shares owned. Before investing, it is important to understand the goal for investment. This allows you or an investment advisor to suggest the best investment plan for your plans since different investments have different return spreads and risk. In knowing your goals, it will also allow one to know their risk appetite before investment. The main reason of understanding the source of risk is to enable one know where to invest in order to diversify their investment portfolio. It helps one avoid placing their eggs in the same basket to avoid losses. In my watch list I have listed Coca- Cola ( KO), ExxonMobil ( XOM) ,Merck ( MRK) Tupperware ( TUP), Washington Real Estate Investment Trust ( WRE),Apple Inc.(AAPL),Twenty first Century Fox(FOXA),American Airlines(AAL),Bank of America(BAC) and Google Inc.(GooG).Coca-Cola is the leading supplier of soft drinks yet to be rivalled in the world by any company which makes it a safe company to invest in for it goodwill and market share. Bank of America and Apple Inc. have entered into a partnership for the apple pay mobile service. The new product is set to boost performance of both stocks as demand for the new product increases. With the launch of the new Apple 6

White Skin, Black Mask Essay Example for Free

White Skin, Black Mask Essay Frantz Fanons astounding debut novel, Black Skin, White Masks (1952), originally titled An Essay For The Disalienation Of Blacks, defined colonialism and its effect on the black man and took him further into the region of the human mind. After taking a position at a psychiatric hospital in Algeria, he became involved in its war, eventually deserting his cranial post to become a full-time militant in the Algerian National Liberation Front, and stemming from this period he penned his infamous manifesto, The Wretched Of The Earth. A failed assassination attempt years later confirmed his potency. This complex documentary also reveals the hypocrisies and inconsistencies lurking within Fanon, the most surprising of all, when he married a white woman. Part reconstruction, part archive, Black Skin, White Masks features rare footage of the man himself and experts attest to his brilliance including Professor Stuart Hall, Francoise Verges, psychoanalyst Alice Cherki, psychiatrist Jacques Azoulay (who worked and studied with Fanon), Fanons brother Joby, Mme Felix Fanon, and his sister-in-law and niece and finally cultural critic Homi K Bhabha offers valuable insight into Fanons relevance today. Isaac Juliens absorbing ode to Frantz Fanon is a fitting tribute and in breathtaking homage and style he offers the truth, the poetry, the bitterness of history and a glowing epiphany to the man himself. Black Skin, White Masks is a provocative walk through a land filled with colour, human need and exotic diversity that leaves no stone unturned. Black Skin, White Masks was an eye opener for me. It helped me realize how African Americans were treated in the our society for many years. I now realize why the older generation of African Americans hate when the younger generation use the nigger/nigga. It could bring back memories of racism that no one wants to remember. Rage is what I felt when I read the first paragraph of the novel, but its not my place to judge a entire race for past experiences that didnt happen to me. I also realized how real life in the past was: dying for saying the wrong thing, and being judged just by the color of your skin. I glad I took the time to read Black Skin, White Masks it helped me realize a lot and gave me a better understanding of how life was during segregation.

Goodness As A Simple And Indefinable Property Philosophy Essay

Goodness As A Simple And Indefinable Property Philosophy Essay Moores Principia Ehica was the first to claim that goodness is an indefinable non-natural property belonging to a simple intuition. For Moore a property is natural if, and only if, it is detectable by the senses1. Ever since Moore, the debate of what good is has become essential to moral philosophy and meta ethics. Moore, to understand the simple notion of good, puts forth an analogy of the simple notion of yellow. The notion of yellow can only be conceived by those who already understand it, the same applies to good. Moore is contrasting the indefinable understanding of goodness to the indefinable perception of a colors qualia. Qualia is defined as the subjective quality of conscious experience2. We can mention certain properties of yellow: its specific wavelength or frequency. But we cannot mention what the nature of the property of being yellow is. This is because colour is a simple property that cannot be analyzed. To experience colour, we must appeal to our experience. Complex notions, on the other hand, can be defined by their sub-parts and the relationships between those sub-parts. The property of being a horse is an example of a complex object that can be defined because it has many different qualities3. But it can only be defined until it has been reduced to its simplest terms beyond which those simple terms cannot be defined. Since simple terms cannot be reduced any further, they cannot be clarified to anyone who does not already understand them. Yellow and good are not complex, but are simple notions. Moore, in this sense, thinks good is indefinable. Good, as a concept does not correspond to the concepts of pleasure, desire or usefulness. Given that there are things that we call pleasurable as well as good, but we can call a thing pleasurable, desirable or useful and then ask, but is it good? The fact that we are able to ask such a question of a thing with particular qualities of pleasure, desire or usefulness is evidence, for Moore, that good cannot be identical to the concepts of pleasure, desire or usefulness. This is known as the open-ended question problem. Saying that something is pleasurable does not exclude the question, yes, but is it good? The Open Question Argument Moore backs his claim that good is simple and indefinable through the famous open question argument. He argues that good cannot be defined by considering the fact that whatever definition be offered, it may be always asked, with significance, of the complex so defined, whether it is itself good 4. What he means by this argument is that, if we, for instance, equate good with doing what is pleasurable (which seems reasonable) then, Moore points out, that it can still be asked is it good to do what is pleasurable? Therefore, it remains an open question (hence the name of the argument) whether something is good, irrespective of it being pleasurable. Moore accepts that the argument does not demonstrate that pleasure is not the only test for an actions goodness, all it demonstrates is that what is pleasurable cannot be known by simply inspecting the definition of good. What is good has to be known in another way. Moore also formulates the term naturalistic fallacy. Â  Naturalistic fallacy is defined as an intent to classify some things simply being the case to the case of it being good. If something is pleasurable then, this quality alone cannot tell us anything about its being good. The Naturalistic Fallacy According to Moore, if good is simple, indefinable, cannot be analyzed and what is good? remains and open question then an attempt to define the simple notion of good as any other naturalistic notion is to commit the naturalistic fallacy5. To clarify, Moore draws the yellow analogy. Yellow can be defined as a specific wave length but these waves are not yellow. To commit the naturalistic fallacy is a common mistake when attempting to define good. While it may be entirely possible that all things that are good can also be something else, just as yellow things have certain other properties, but to equate these properties to the definition of good is incorrect. Good as an intuition Moore claims that though good is indefinable, it is part of our everyday coherent language. This is because we identify good based on our intuition. MacIntyre objects to this view by saying, how, then, do we recognise the intrinsically good? The only answer Moore offers is that we just do 6. But this would make good a complex notion since for different people good would have different analyzable content. Furthermore, this would be contrary to Moores claim of good being a simple notion. Objections Philosophers such as Mackie, MacIntyre and Nagel do not essentially agree with the naturalistic fallacy or the validity of the open question argument. Mackie, presents an objection to Moore with his argument from queerness. He argues that there is no such thing as goodness and badness. Moreover, he claims, goodness and badness have no properties or qualities that can be reduced to simpler terms since they do not exist. Goodness and badness are meant to properties of objects but they are queerly different to other properties like weight, size or fabric. Mackie concludes that goodness and badness are prescriptive moral terms and intrinsic or inherent properties of things is simply not possible.7 Moore responds by arguing that good is a simple concept of ethics. And all other ethical concepts must be derived from it. Although good cannot be defined, what is good can be defined. Thus, while we do not know the definition of good we can identify which things are good. David Hume says it best, just because something is the case does not by that fact indicate to us that it ought to be the case. Â   Conclusion In my opinion, Moores claim of good being indefinable due to it being a simple and non natural property is an extreme argument to make. If Moore is right, then it would mean that there is no objective way of defining good and that the term is relative to the human species. This fact is hard to reconcile. There would be substantial implications for the way good is discussed at a practical and theoretical level of ethics. Many do not agree with Moores arguments, especially MacIntyre who says, more unwarranted and unwarrantable assertions are perhaps made in Principia Ethica than in any other single book of moral philosophy 8. But we have to accept that Moore has been responsible for raising many issue that have become central to meta ethics today. On the other hand, maybe good is so inherent and intrinsic to the human mind that we cannot completely define it. This would not be surprising as our language is not a rational or precise tool that can be used to comprehensively define one of the most important terms used in ethical discussions today.

Adolf Hitler :: Biography

Adolf Hitler INTRODUCTION Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), German political and military leader and one of the 20th century's most powerful dictators. Hitler converted Germany into a fully militarized society and launched World War II in 1939 (see Federal Republic of Germany). He made anti-Semitism a keystone of his propaganda and policies and built the Nazi Party (see National Socialism) into a mass movement. He hoped to conquer the entire world, and for a time dominated most of Europe and much of North Africa. He instituted sterilization and euthanasia measures to enforce his idea of racial purity among German people and caused the slaughter of millions of Jews, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), Slavic peoples, and many others, all of whom he considered inferior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  II  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EARLY YEARS Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary, in 1889, the fourth child of Klara and Alois Hitler. Hitler’s father worked his way up in the Austrian customs service to a position of considerable status, and as a result Hitler had a comfortable childhood. Hitler began school in 1900, and his grades were above average. It was decided that he would attend Realschule, a secondary school that prepared students for further study and emphasized modern languages and technical subjects. However, Hitler and his father strongly differed about career plans. His father wanted him to enter the civil service; Hitler insisted on becoming an artist. As a result, Hitler did poorly in Realschule, having to repeat the first year and improving little thereafter. During this time, Hitler began to form his political views: a strong sense of German nationalism, the beginnings of anti-Semitism, and a distaste for the ruling family and political structure of Austria-Hungary. Like many German-speaking citizens of Austria-Hungary, Hitler considered himself first and foremost a German. The death of Hitler’s father in January 1903 changed the family. The survivors' income was adequate to support Hitler, his mother, and his sister, but the absence of a dominant father figure altered Hitler's position in the family. He spent much time playing and dreaming, did poorly in his studies, and left school entirely in 1905 after the equivalent of the ninth grade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time in Vienna Hitler had hoped to become an artist but was rejected as unqualified by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in October 1907. His mother died in 1908, and Hitler pretended to continue his studies in Vienna in order to receive an orphan’s pension. Adolf Hitler :: Biography Adolf Hitler INTRODUCTION Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), German political and military leader and one of the 20th century's most powerful dictators. Hitler converted Germany into a fully militarized society and launched World War II in 1939 (see Federal Republic of Germany). He made anti-Semitism a keystone of his propaganda and policies and built the Nazi Party (see National Socialism) into a mass movement. He hoped to conquer the entire world, and for a time dominated most of Europe and much of North Africa. He instituted sterilization and euthanasia measures to enforce his idea of racial purity among German people and caused the slaughter of millions of Jews, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), Slavic peoples, and many others, all of whom he considered inferior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  II  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EARLY YEARS Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary, in 1889, the fourth child of Klara and Alois Hitler. Hitler’s father worked his way up in the Austrian customs service to a position of considerable status, and as a result Hitler had a comfortable childhood. Hitler began school in 1900, and his grades were above average. It was decided that he would attend Realschule, a secondary school that prepared students for further study and emphasized modern languages and technical subjects. However, Hitler and his father strongly differed about career plans. His father wanted him to enter the civil service; Hitler insisted on becoming an artist. As a result, Hitler did poorly in Realschule, having to repeat the first year and improving little thereafter. During this time, Hitler began to form his political views: a strong sense of German nationalism, the beginnings of anti-Semitism, and a distaste for the ruling family and political structure of Austria-Hungary. Like many German-speaking citizens of Austria-Hungary, Hitler considered himself first and foremost a German. The death of Hitler’s father in January 1903 changed the family. The survivors' income was adequate to support Hitler, his mother, and his sister, but the absence of a dominant father figure altered Hitler's position in the family. He spent much time playing and dreaming, did poorly in his studies, and left school entirely in 1905 after the equivalent of the ninth grade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time in Vienna Hitler had hoped to become an artist but was rejected as unqualified by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in October 1907. His mother died in 1908, and Hitler pretended to continue his studies in Vienna in order to receive an orphan’s pension.

Aqualisa Quartz: Case Study

1. What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? What is Aqualisa Quartz value proposition to consumers? The value proposition of Aqualisa Quartz to plumbers is that it is easy to install; it is more profitable because they are able to do more installations. Because the installation process is less complicated, it takes less time to install (only half a day compared to 2 days previously). This gives plumbers the opportunity to install more units and capture some of the historical 6-month waiting list for plumbing jobs. Due to a less complex installation process, even apprentices are able to do installations, instead of only certified plumbers. The Aqualisa Quartz product also delivers excellent results, which gives the plumbers increased credibility with consumers for installing a superior product with less malfunctions. The value proposition of Aqualisa Quartz to consumers is that it had efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature. It is safe to use for kids and elderly people. It has a one touch control with a red light indicator which allowed consumers to know when the water reaches the desired temperature. Once the temperature is set, consumers only need to push the one touch control and wait for the light. It is much easier to install for the DIY sector of consumers since it does not require excavation of the wall to reach plumbing. The Aqualisa Quartz also has excellent design and aesthetics. The control box could now be placed in any space close to a water source and electrical outlet – even in out of sight locations. 2. Why is the Quartz shower not selling? Sales of the Quartz shower are significantly below expectations. There are a few contributing factors. Slow Adoption Processes. Most plumbers are wary of new technology and do not trust it, especially in light of previous electronic control failures. In addition, plumbers establish a comfort level with a particular brand and see changing their preferred product as an unnecessary cost. The uncertainty of its performance, which may result in having to do repair work, plus the time to learn a new product, is seen as a hindrance. They seem to adhere to the rule, â€Å"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. † Although there has not been much adoption with the product, plumbers also may pose a potential challenge with the structure of their fee chedule. If a labor cost of 40 to 80 pounds per hour was reduced by 75% because of the ease of installation, a plumber may have to schedule almost three times as many shower jobs to make up the potential loss in labor revenue or use the time to deliver other services. Sales Targeting and Cannibalization. With the sales force spending 90% of their time on existing accounts, there is inadequate focus on trade shops – which target plumbers. It also creates the threat of cannibalization of the other product lines. Typically, new products should be introduced to existing customers to either capture new revenue or replace aging products. Another approach is to introduce the products to new customers. In this case, the product poses direct competition and the sales team seems unsure of how to proceed when adding the Quartz to their typical sales process. The solution is for companies to refocus the sales team to target new customers or segment a portion of the sales force to specialize in a particular product line. Product Testing versus Market Research. The research and development team at Aqualisa seem to do a good job of obtaining feedback from the users and to determine what would make the best user experience. However, there does not appear to be any feedback gathered from its primary customer base on what problems they are facing, how this new product may solve them, and ultimately how it may benefit the plumbers. The approach assumes plumbers will catch on because it was simply a better shower. However, that is not the current situation. 3. Aqualisa spent three years and 5. 8 million developing the Quartz. Was the product worth the investment? Is Quartz a niche product or a mainstream product? The Quartz line product is worth the time and money that Aqualisa spent developing it. The company has been able to create an innovative, break-through product in an extremely mature industry. Given the current pricing model, Aqualisa can break even on its investment by selling slightly over 18,700 units (assuming a 50/50 split between the two models offered). There were 550,000 power shower class units sold in the United Kingdom in 2000, so selling just fewer than 20,000 of such a superior product should be an achievable goal. The Quartz is a mainstream product that appeals to anyone who can afford it. While the Quartz may have failed to post strong initial sales numbers there is clearly a demand in the United Kingdom (and probably the rest of Europe) for a product that fixes all of the problems associated with the old plumbing infrastructure that exists in this part of the world. When there is strong demand and only one supplier that adequately addresses all the consumer needs the only missing ingredient is a proper marketing campaign, which is clearly lacking. If Aqualisa can effectively convey the benefits of the Quartz units to both plumbers and consumers adequately there is no reason Quartz cannot fuel Aqualisa’s growth for the next several years. 4. Aqualisa currently has three brands: Aqualisa, Gainsborough, and ShowerMax. What is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy? Does it make sense? The act of managing multiple brands is a thin tight rope walk that can help elevate a brand yet almost just as easily diminish it. Aqualisa has recognized distinct markets within the overall market of showers. An excellent example of multiple brands can be drawn from the brief anecdote at the beginning of the paper with the mentioning of the Marriott that Mr. Rawlinson was a guest of. Marriot has a multitude of brands within their brand. Consumers come in any and every form, from those who seek quality first and have the means to pay the price for the best to those who look at the price tag first and compromise on quality and everywhere in between. Marriott consists of the Courtyard, The Fairfield Inn, Marriott Resorts, and Residence Inn, just to name a few. The goal is to isolate the needs and demands of specific types of consumers and utilize each brand to specialize and cater to that type of consumer. They have broken down their branding into an architecture defining the brands categories as; iconic luxury, luxury, lifestyle, signature, modern essentials, extended stay and destination entertainment. More than just creating these branches they have focused on distinctly establishing a separate identity for each brand while still embodying the overall total brand’s mission. This is a difficult juggling act in multiple brand management, teetering to find the perfect balance between separation and unification. The extended stay category consists of those rooms including kitchens, and other amenities to cater more too long term guests for example. Any market is filled with a myriad of different consumers so to generalize them with one brand as a ‘one size fits all’ service would be foolish. Marriott has spent a great sum of advertising and marketing dollars and effort to research the market and gain insight into the demands of the consumer. This has also been accomplished by varying pricing points, among other factors, in order to break down the target market into multiple targets. This allows the brand to better serve each demographics specific needs more efficiently and effectively. Aqualisa recognizes the same trend within the shower market. As stated in the case study, the United Kingdom’s buyers tend to fall into three pricing segments: premium, standard, and value. Aqualisa has developed three brands respectively: Aquastyle, Gainsborough, and ShowerMax, to penetrate these markets. Not only are consumers concerned with price but also ease of use, installation and performance. These various factors translate to different types of end users. They consist of the DIY consumers, plumbers, developers and contractors, and the retail consumer. These varying users each need to be reached through distinctive means. Tradeshows are the best place to reach plumbers and developers while options like hardware stores and showrooms are best for DIY and retail consumers. In a market such as the shower market in the UK, there needs to be several strategies and methods of market penetration. In order to best cater to these different strategies, Aqualisa must customize and tailor fit a product line designed for each market segment. This example is a quintessential instance where multiple branding is the best option. Just making one brand in this case would most definitely pigeon-hole their operation and typecast them as just being a product for only one or two types of consumers. A singular brand would in turn ostracize the needs of other various types of demand within the market. The sheer fact that there are commercial and residential applications support the fact that multiple product brands are required. Promoting a universal message and ideal for your brands that encompasses all product lines and bridges their differences is imperative; Aqualisa has chosen a wise strategy in pursuing multiple brands. 5. What should Rawlinson do to generate sales momentum for the Quartz product? Should he change his marketing strategy to target consumers directly, target the DIY market, or target developers? Should he lower the price of the Quartz? Or should he do something different altogether? Although the Quartz is truly ground breaking and innovative in terms of function and design, many consumers and industry professionals alike are not fully aware of its features and benefits. Aqualisa should commit to an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign targeted towards the consumer and DIY markets respectively. Targeting consumers directly will increase brand recognition, provide product differentiation, and in turn allow customers to make informed decisions. Armed with information from customized advertising and marketing strategies, customers are in a unique position to reduce the leverage plumbers have traditionally had in selecting installation brands. The price point for the Quartz should not be lowered because it is a new revolutionary product with essentially no market competition. However, Aqualisa should develop methods to effectively mitigate the immediate and continuing impact of cannibalization as they strive to increase Quartz’s sales. Aqualisa could also benefit from developing a marketing scheme to target plumbers and or industry professionals. Plumbers are influencing 73% of all shower purchase decisions, so getting there buy-in is crucial. Additionally, the overall lifetime value of a single plumber could be well into the tens of thousands of euros (where as the lifetime value of a consumer is a few hundred). The organization acknowledges the challenges it faces with products boasting technological advancements due to industry skepticism. This reluctance has undoubtedly been responsible for the lack luster demand as evidenced by product availability within trade shops. As part of this strategy the company could offer a series of workshops, trade, or industry shows designed solely for plumbers to showcase the Quartz features, reliability, and installation ease. In regards to distribution, Aqualisa needs to do a better job of getting their products into the market. Aqualisa currently has only a 40% presence in trade shops and 25% in show rooms. In order to truly make a difference in sales, the product needs to be available in more outlets for purchasing. Distribution must be expanded. With the aforementioned strategies, an increased presence is needed in trade shops, show rooms, DIY chains and general consumer stores to increase brand awareness and recognition. A lower pricing structure would not be a good strategy for the long term because it will reduce profit margin. There is some room to lower the price of the Quartz to match the profit margins on the other Aqualisa products. Currently the Quartz line is close to a 32% profit margin, in comparison to the other Aqualisa products which range from 22% to 32%. The majority of products fall near 26%. However, lowering the price may be a viable option in the future after sales volumes have increased significantly. Listed below are specific strategies Aqualisa could adopt and implement to increase Quartz sales volumes. Strategies:

Essay on Open Source Software The WritePass Journal

Essay on Open Source Software Introduction: Essay on Open Source Software Introduction:Beginnings:Motivations:Advantages:Conclusion:Introduction:Suggested solutions:Motivations:Green IT approach:References:Related Introduction: The concept of open source affects many fields of study from computer software and hardware to architecture, health, science, robotics and even politics. Linus Torvalds predicted this proliferation of source openness when he said: the future is open source everything. But another founder of open source movement, Eric Raymond, refused the using of this concept about applications outside software (Wikipedia, 2009). Free/open source software (F/OSS) is accessible software where end source code is available for the user. It is not limited to software as applicable ones, it exceeds to allow beneficial to read, modify and recreate the source code (V. Hippel, V. Krogh, 2003). So F/OSS is usually provides users with source code and information needed to apply their changes on them. The ability to run the program as the user wishes is one of the essential freedoms which Richard Stallman, the founder of free software and defender of open source, was confirmed in an interview. These freedoms are: the freedom to study how these software works, the freedom to change it according to projects requirements, the freedom to redistribute it and the freedom to distribute your modified copy to others (Reilly 2008). In Raymond opinion good programmers know how to write, great ones know what to rewrite, and he illustrated that it is almost easier to use an already existing solution to start with than to start from nothing at all. But this involves developer in difficult-to-be-solved problems if choice is not suitable. Linux operating system was not written from scratch where Linus Torvalds started by studying ideas from Minix a tiny Unix-like OS and then reused it according to projects purposes (Raymond, 1999) Beginnings: It was a big surprise for those who used to pay for software to be told that groups of volunteers create high quality software and produce it to the community for free. The idea of FOSS began in 1960s. In this decade commercial software was not available and researchers were in need to share software code. As a result, they started to share source code in a limited framework. Open sharing of software code was a common practice in the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in the early 1960s and in similar laboratories such as Stanford and Carnegie Mellon (Moon Sproull 2002). After that developers and users gave the idea more attention. Consequently, foundations of free software have been established in 1980s when Stallman called for free software and claimed that software should be common. In an interview, Stallman confirmed that computer users could not use the proprietary software come with most computers in the 1980s. So, such software keeps users divided and helpless. Stallman was dissatisfied with that situation and he started the free software movement in 1993 when he wrote the GNU open source operating system (M. Reilly, 2008). The general public license of GNU operating system allows users receive all their rights in essential freedoms mentioned above. In 2005 the idea achieved its goals in software filed and became more trusted by users and developers (Raymond 1999). Wikipedia is a known example of F/OSS. It is a free encyclopedia started in the beginnings of 2001 by means of highly qualified contributors. It provides 19 free encyclopedias in 19 different languages and its content has been created by user contributions. Many other examples like Apache web server, BIND name server and Linux operating system kernel are free for any user to use, amend and share. Motivations: The motivations of Stallman to produce free software are his strong belief in freedom, particularly the freedom for individuals to cooperate (2003). But what are the incentives other developers have to become contributors in open source projects? In other words, why do programmers volunteer their time and experience without any financial returns to create free software? Raymond is one of the first GNU contributors, a developer of many net open source software and a significant participant in Linux operating system development. He indicated that Linux project was going from strength to strength and the reason was the bazaar model of the Linux development style in which all contributors worked hard as at individual projects. He added that the democratic atmosphere in bazaar model motivated him and his partners to work hard regardless of financial returns (Raymond 1999). The Linux creator, Linus Trovalds, says: I am basically a very lazy person who likes to get credit for things other people actually do (Raymond 1999). Torvalds , as he stated in his book Just For Fun, has an early interest in computing, he does not seem to take himself too seriously, he is a lucky guy who can provide a career for himself, and he finds a lot of fun when he writes software code. It is surprising that hackers are also a significant motivating factor; they lead developers to impress their peers, gain a better reputation and raise their ranks in society (Zaleski et al. 2001). Wikipedia showed, in a study made up by Wikipedia administrators, that the reason for their participants to be a part in such free work is the desire to create a benefit thing that helps others and meets their requirements (Wikipedia 2010). While the basic motivations for corporation in learners open source community are learning specific topics, learning how to be future learners and projects creating. Advantages: Software is characterized by many factors: Its cost, where the lower price is more preferred and thus free is the most. Voluntary work, where volunteers are motivated towards the project and they are interested in, which means that they do their best. Continuously tested by all participant and users, hence it is almost free of bugs and errors. These factors refer that open source software is likely to be the best solution for any project if needed features are provided. Besides, developers have created it according to own needs which means that it is in a high level of quality and efficiency. F/OSS has many advantages related to development cost and time, bug correction and independency. Time and cost are essential factors in software development and they can be exploited by using of OSS which reduces the number of programmers employer has to pay himself, provides a ready tested code from other projects and thus reduces the time it takes to build, test and develop. Besides that creating software by many developers, each has revised and corrected its errors and each has a different background, leads to less bugs and faster detection and correction. Linus law refers to this idea Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow (Answers.com, 2009). Openness of source code provides communication paths and interactive communities. F/OSS community in schools consists of researchers, learners and teachers; each listens to others and respects their opinions. It is expected in this style of community to switch roles among its members, where students may be assigned particular roles to take on for the studied project. So they can share their ideas in all projects aspects. On the other hand, sense of control is uncommon in most classrooms, so one of learners communitys advantages is to prepare students for future life by involving them in the experiment of leadership (H. Baytiyeh, J. Pfaffman, 2010). Another advantage for open source software, which Zaleski stated in his article, that open source innovation was the reason for Linux operating system to move quickly from being an ambiguous operating system used by programmers and hackers to an essential operating system in business area (2001). On the other hand, open source technology resolved the problem of knowledge transfer in developing countries. Direct import of software not only costs these countries high amounts of money, but also puts them in complex troubles where they do not know how to develop this software to meet the local needs (Alkhatib 2008). Why do some organizations still buy commercial software instead of using free ones? The voluntary of open source projects and the relative lake of financial support make them far from marketing and advertising. This means that many organizations have not been informed that free solutions relevant to their needs are available freely. This knowledge gap cause many other barriers. Some managers do not know how to implement and use open source applications and they may be unaware of the range of services provided with such applications like support services and consultations. To cover this knowledge gap, an up to date archive of open source applications is available in SourceForge.net website. This website consists of more than 131,000 open source applications with their latest software updates where the accessibility is allowed for any organization to find suitable free software according to its requirements. Further, assistance with the technical issues of open source applications implementation is available by many open source consultants like IBM, Red Hat, and Open Sky Consulting. Forking is another reason for not using F/OSS. The independency between open source software developers groups leads to different versions of same software. Although these versions started with the same source code, they are not able to interoperate because these groups create their own versions without coordination. This phenomenon is called forking and it is the responsible for open source software fragmenting. As a result, the open source BSD-Unix community was divided into three portions in early 1990s, and Emacs text editor and NCSA web server are other examples where both forked into two divisions in 1992 and 2995 respectively. In Nagys opinion, forking is dangerous because it causes inherited fragmentation for both of the original software adopters and marketing of relative applications. Many versions of one software leads adopters to choose one to support, consequently, software will not gain the critical mass of adopters it aims to do. On the other hand, venders will be put in a point of choosing to support one of forked versions or all of them in their own applications. In this case, some adopters and vendors decide to wait for a standard version or to stall their adoption and supporting (NAGY et al. 2010). Conclusion: No one can predict the future of software, but developers can expect that open source software will be stronger and gain increased faith from traditional software industry. Historically, one can recognize the discontinuities appeared between IBM System in the 1960s, first PC in the end of 1970s and the open source movement in the 1990s. So it is expected that this technology gap will take place in the next 10-15 years for a new software innovation (Campbell-Kelly 2008) Green IT Introduction: IT has brought many significant solutions for environmental sustainability, but at the same time, it caused a lot of problems especially in data centers where energy is consumed enormously (Murugesan 2010) Hopper, a professor of computer technology at the University of Cambridge and head of its Computer Laboratory, claimed that the system we now employ is hugely wasteful and he proposed to create new systems which are more efficient, less expensive and help in reducing energy consumptions; because he believed that moving data is cheaper than energy (Kurp 2008) Computers impact environment from the first stage of producing to the last stage of disposal. Moreover, increased consumption of energy leads to more greenhouse gas emissions because the main source of energy is coil, oil or gas burning (Murugesan 2010) Since environmental problems come from each stage of computers life, green IT must covers all of these areas, from designing to manufacturing and use end with disposal. In the article Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices, San Murugesan defines green computing as the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems -such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems- efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. (Murugesan 2008) Suggested solutions: Dell and Hewlett-Packard are two computer manufacturers. They decided to solve the problem by retooling their products. On the other hand, the solution from the standpoint of David Wang, the data center architect for Teradata, is not to replace all old computers by others which are more environments friendly. He confirmed that attention must be drawn to increasing power consumption as well as to heat removal in data centers (Kurp 2008). Murugesan has illustrated areas and activities which are involved in green IT solutions as the following:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental friendly designing;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Energy-efficient computing;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Power management;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Location and architecture of data centers;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Server virtualization which has been explained before;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responsible disposal and recycling;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Regulatory compliance;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Green metrics, assessment tools and methodology;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environment-related risk reducing;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Use of renewable energy sources; and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eco-labeling of IT products (2008). Other solutions have been produced by Hasbrouck and Woodruff. They suggested two strategies for green computing: Reduce computing technologys contribution to the problem by producing energy-efficient computers, take reusability into account during computers designing, use less materials and work toward computers and related systems recycling. Moreover, they indicated that truing off inactive computers, using energy-efficient devices and reduction of emissions emitted from computers manufacturing are significant parts of this strategy. Give computing a role in resolving the issue by creating green applications which enable design green objects and green processes such as design green buildings, invent source of renewable energy and design fuel-efficient aircraft (2008). Most efforts in green IT are directed towards the first strategy to solve environmental problems which have increased along with computers using increase. As a result of these problems caused by computers, many associations are turning to green computing to save money and reduce waste. To do so, Dick Sullivan listed five major trends: Virtualization in all forms especially for servers, storage and network environments. In other words, transform entire machines into software-based entities. For instance, a room with five servers can be replaced by an efficient server provided with high performance software. Utilize the cloud computing where no need to have own data centers, own big servers or storage systems. Many organizations need only a small amount of proprietary equipment and functionality. In this case, they can basically purchase what they need from someone else who will be responsible for the security, power and maintenance. Sullivan confirmed that a huge amount of data is basically an exact duplicate of other data, so converting to intelligent compression or single instance storage can eliminate this waste and cut the total data storage needed. Solid-state disk (SSD) has no moving parts and is not magnetic, so it is a stronger, safer and faster way to store and access data. Everyone can make impact and be a part of green computing project when s/he has more awareness of her/his direct and indirect daily computing habits. Employees, for example, can support green computing if they use to turn off computers not in use, banning screen savers and shorten the turn-off times when computers are inactive. On the other hand, printing waste a lot of papers, so managing this daily process by printing only as needed and adopting double sided printing will make a significant impact (Clarke 2009) Many efforts have been made to support the idea of green IT. Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is one of these efforts. It seeks to reduce electric power consumption of PCs and it has established a catalogue of green products from organizations involved with, in addition to helpful information about reducing PC energy consumption. This initiative is a group of consumers, businesses and conservation organizations formed in 2007, it has gained brilliant results where 50 percent of energy consumed by computers was economized by 2010, and it was able to reduce global CO2 emissions from the operation of computers by 54 million tons a year (Wikipedia 2010). Motivations: To enforce computer users to subject to green IT solutions and apply them on their daily routines, government can face them with more green taxis and rules. But it is better, in my opinion, to raise people awareness toward the danger that threatens the Earth if they continue using traditional computers in traditional methods, and to teach them the benefits of green IT. Applying green IT issues in all affected areas offers individuals and organizations financial benefits where IT operations achieve better energy efficiency through green initiatives. In a survey made by Sun Microsystem Australia, 1500 responses have been collected from 758 different-size organizations. Almost of these responses illustrated that the main reasons for using green IT practices are reducing energy consumption and get lower costs. As a result, most companies started to prioritize environmental issues. Moreover, institutions and corporate ask their suppliers to take into account how to green up their products and manufacturing processes. Not only companies but also people began to adhere to environmentally friendly issues of IT (Murugesan 2008). Green IT approach: As it has mentioned above that environmental problems caused by computing should be addressed by a holistic approach which include solutions for all areas affected by using computers. This approach, as it has been explained by Murugesan, consists of four concepts: Green use that aims to reduce energy consumption and use computers in an environmentally friendly manner. Green disposal where computers, related system like printers and electronic equipments should be reused, refurbished or recycled. Green design where new computers, servers and cooling devices can be designed to be more energy efficient. Green manufacturing which aims to adopt the process of computers and sub-systems creating that minimize or get rid of its impact on the environment (2008) References: 2003. Richard Stallman: FreedomHis Passion Both For Work And In Life. Electronic Design, 51(23), 112. Answers.com, what are the advantages and disadvantages of open source software and why?, [Internet]. Available from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_ disadvantages_of _open _source_software_and_why, [Accessed 30th November 2010] Campbell-Kelly, M., 2008. 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