Credit Crisis(Subprime) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Credit Crisis(Subprime) - Essay Example However, when interest rates began to rise and housing prices started to decline, refinancing became more difficult and subprime borrowers were unable to make their mortgage payments, which resulted in a continuous subprime cycle throughout all markets in the United States. Subprime borrowers were unable to pay their mortgage payments, so several financial institutions made the effective financing approach by issuing financial agreements called Collaterized Debt Obligation (CDO), mortgaged-backed securities (MBS) and a form of credit insurance called Credit Default Swaps (CDS) to sell to investors across the world to invest in the U.S. Graph 1 illustrates that the growth of CDOs issued increased dramatically from 2004 to 2006, then dropped slightly in 2007. These types of financial innovations derived value from increasing in mortgage payments and housing prices, becoming popular. The usages of the product expanded dramatically. The financial innovation was carried out by firms whose activities were not regulated. The transactions became too complex and the policies were inclined to support deregulation of the financial market, sometimes being loose of supervision. The subprime mortgage crisis thus became a full-fledged financial crisis, and turned to a collapse in financial markets. As the subprime crisis intensified, financial institutions faced difficulties in raising capital forced default protection, and sellers (such as Northern Rock and American International Group (AIG) were reducing credit ratings. This left depositors with no confidence in the stability of financial institutions and they began to withdraw their deposits, which was the main cause of bankruptcy of financial institutions. For example, due to the bankruptcy of one major institution like the AIG, it brought down the whole financial system. In the beginning of 2008, â€Å"The Bear Stearns Companies,

Similar Themes in Different Stories Essay Example for Free

Similar Themes in Different Stories Essay Literature is universal. Literature speaks of universal human experience that readers and authors alike can relate to. Because of its universality, themes and messages in literature can be common in various texts. In fact, two different pieces of literature may exhibit similar qualities even if they were written by different authors. Such is the case for â€Å"Oedipus the King† by Sophocles and â€Å"Othello† by William Shakespeare. Both plays share the concept of uncertain vision. Othello also shares a similar concept with Henrik Ibsen’s play â€Å"A Doll’s House;† in both plays, a malevolent character is responsible for the destruction of a marriage. Literature is indeed universal, as the messages it conveys are shared by different texts. Sophocles’ â€Å"Oedipus the King† and Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† carry a similar theme. Both plays share the theme of sight and blindness (NovelGuide). The texts illustrate how people who are blessed with the gift of sight can still be blind to what is really happening around them. Within this theme, there exists the concept of uncertain vision: the impairment of one’s perception. This impairment can result in the failure to differentiate between what appears to be and what really is. In both plays, the lead character is characterized with uncertain vision. It is their uncertain vision that drives the play forward, and leads the character into his demise. On one hand, the uncertain vision as exhibited by Oedipus was brought upon him by fate. From the moment his fate was revealed, people tried to prevent its fulfillment by changing the course of events. According to the oracle, Oedipus was destined to kill his own father and marry his own mother (Sophocles). Despite attempts to alter fate, Oedipus still lived his life as the oracle revealed. When a plague fell upon Thebes, Oedipus sought out a way to end it. Creon returned with word from the oracle, stating that the only way to end the plague is to punish the man who killed King Laius. According to Creon, â€Å"In this land, said the god; ‘who seeks shall find; /Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind† (Sophocles). This started Oedipus’ quest for the truth, which eventually led to the discovery of his destiny. When Oedipus mocked the blind seer Teiresias, this is what the latter said: â€Å"thou hast eyes, /Yet see’st not in what misery thou art fallen, / Nor where thou dwellest nor with whom for mate† (Sophocles). The passage states that while a blind man like Teiresias knows the truth, Oedipus is completely blind from it. On the other hand, the uncertain vision in Othello’s case was presented in different way. If Oedipus’ uncertain vision was brought about by fate, Othello’s uncertain vision was initiated by man. Just like Oedipus the King, the theme of Othello is also sight and blindness. The character of Othello is the most blind, as he was convinced by Iago that his wife Desdemona was cheating without seeing firsthand any evidence of her infidelity (Shakespeare). Rather, Othello was persuaded by Iago’s words and planted scenarios. The latter’s efforts impaired the former’s judgment, disabling him to distinguish between his wife’s truth and his colleague’s lies. In Act V Scene II, Lodovico said to Iago: â€Å"This is thy work: the object poisons sight† (Shakespeare). This passage states that it was Iago’s actions that altered Othello’s perception and poisoned his mind. Thus, Iago was responsible for Othello’s uncertain vision. Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† is also similar to yet another play, â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen. In both plays, a character seeks to ruin a marriage. In Othello, it was Iago who ruined the marriage of Othello and Desdemona. In A Doll’s House, it was Nils Krogstad who sought to break up Nora and Torvald Helmer. However, the difference lies in the motive of each character. Iago wanted to ruin Othello’s marriage as revenge. In Act I Scene 3, Iago directly expresses his feelings for Othello: â€Å"I hate the Moor† (Shakespeare). Iago has two main reasons to hate Othello: first, he married Desdemona whom Iago loved, and second, he chose Cassioto be the lieutenant instead of him. He wanted to punish Othello by making him accuse his wife of infidelity. In Act 2 Scene 1, Iago states: â€Å"Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor/ At least into a jealousy so strong/ That judgment cannot cure† (Shakespeare). In Act I Scene 3, Iago, he makes his intentions clear: â€Å"After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear/ That he is too familiar with his wife. / He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected, framed to make woman false† (Shakespeare). Because he made Othello suspicious of Desdemona, Iago was indeed responsible for the failure of Othello’s marriage. On the other hand, Krogstad never planned to ruin the marriage of the Helmers. He was working at the same bank where Torvald Helmer works, and his employment was terminated because he was accused of forgery (Ibsen). He was desperate to keep his job; when Nora refused to help him, he was forced to reveal to Torvald the debt that Nora owed him. He never intended to destroy the marriage; he was simply trying to remain employed. In Act I, Krogstad said to Nora: â€Å"My sons are growing up; for their sake I must try and win back as much respect as I can in the town. This post in the Bank was like the first step up for me—and now your husband is going to kick me downstairs again into the mud† (Ibsen). Krogstad thought that blackmail was the only means through which he could keep his job. In Act II, he said: â€Å"I want to get on, I tell you. I want to get into the Bank again, in a higher position. Your husband must make a place for me† (Ibsen). Unlike Iago, Krogstad was not responsible for the demise of the Helmers’ marriage. What really ended the marriage was Nora’s realization that she was merely a doll in the house. In the words of Nora to Torvald, â€Å"You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me† (Ibsen). â€Å"Oedipus the King† by Sophocles, â€Å"Othello† by William Shakespeare and â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen are three distinct plays by three different authors. Despite the apparent difference, all three works are connected because of inherent similarities. The first two plays are similar in relation to its theme, while the last two plays are alike because of the role of a character which is instrumental in the destruction of a marriage. Indeed, literature proves its universality through the unintended similarities embedded in different texts. Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. â€Å"A Doll’s House. † Project Gutenberg. 22 Feb. 2004. 3 Sept. 2008 http://www. gutenberg. org/dirs/etext01/dlshs11h. htm. â€Å"Novel Analysis: Oedipus the King. † NovelGuide. 2008. 3 Sept. 2008 http://www. novelguide. com/oedipustheking/themeanalysis. html. Shakespeare, William. â€Å"Othello. † The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 2000 Nov. 13. 3 Sept. 2008 http://shakespeare. mit. edu/othello/full. html. Sophocles. â€Å"Oedipus the King. † Trans. F. Storr. Project Gutenberg. 1912. 3 Sept. 2008 http://www. gutenberg. org/files/31/31-h/31-h. htm.

Should Uber be Banned in London?

Should Uber be Banned in London? On September 22nd, 2017, the city of London, England declared that it will not re-issue Uber Technologies Inc.’s (â€Å"Uber† or the â€Å"Company†) private-car hiring license that was set to expire on September 30th, 2017. The months following led to an appeal to Transport for London (â€Å"TFL†) by Uber, which become a stalled and slow process that ultimately could take years to move forward. While the appeal could take up to a year to fully process, the commissioner of TFL, Mike Brown, and Uber were able to converse in early November over potential resolutions prior to Uber’s hearing in December (Smith, 2017). Although talks between the Company and TFL ultimately have not become deciding factors in the appeal, they are important in creating a professional dialogue between the two bodies. As the Company has tried its best to develop a relationship with the city of London, two Uber employees came into the public eye. Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar, two Uber drivers based in London won a legal dispute on behalf of a group of nineteen Uber drivers in early November. The dispute, which involved the category in which Uber drivers were to be placed, ended with upholding regulation to deem all drivers as workers for Uber rather than self-employed. This regulation enforces the Company to pay all of its workers a minimum wage, allow time off, and holiday pay (Rao, 2017). Another defeat in UK’s court system has not only damaged Uber’s reputation in the island nation even more but made the company’s London division increasingly susceptible to an unfavorable outcome in its upcoming December hearing. Financially, Uber has done very well, especially in the United Kingdom. Boasting over 3.5 Million users in London alone (Cummins), the giant ‘ride-share’ service company keeps over 40,000 people employed in the city (Rao, 2017). Simply put, Uber’s status as a licensed taxi or ‘ride-share’ service is very important to the economy of London and its people. Stakeholders in the company’s continued operation in the British capital include local users as well as far-reaching shareholders spanning the globe. It is because of Uber’s large role that we need to pose the question, â€Å"Should Uber be allowed to operate in London with less restrictive regulation than other taxi services?†. Stakeholder(s) Stakes Transport for London, governmental organization TFL’s stake is the well-being and protection of its citizens from malpractices and the legality of business operations dealing in transportation. Due to their power as the decision maker in renewing Uber’s license in London, they are considered one of the most powerful stakeholders. Uber driversDrivers of Uber are one of the most urgent and legitimate stakeholders because of the direct impact the decision would make on their jobs and careers. Uber drivers outside of London While not directly impacted by the outcome, Uber’s international drivers are affected by the possibility of other cities following in London’s footsteps of barring Uber. Uber clients in LondonUber is fairly popular in London, with 40% of the population having used Uber at one point. Their clients would have to find an alternative, such as using Black Cabs, which are generally more expensive. They are directly impacted by the outcome and the refore can be considered an urgent stakeholder as well as a legitimate one. Uber Shareholders/Investors As 5% of all of Uber’s revenue stream, London’s consumer base for Uber is a considerable market. Losing this market could dissuade potential and current investors and shareholders through lost faith in the company. These investors and shareholders are responsible for Uber’s existence as a company which makes them a very powerful, urgent, and legitimate group of stakeholders. New Car sales companies Since most Uber drivers use their own cars for transportation, and some Uber drivers buy and lease cars specifically so they can get potential discounts, the outcome of this decision will materially impact car sales. London Public Transit Commuters If Uber loses its license, there is a good chance that previous Uber clients will opt for public transportation which is a cheap alternative, causing a large influx of commuters and crowding the already crowded public tra nsportation options. London police Uber is well known to use anti-law enforcement business tactics. There is the distinct potential that if Uber’s right to operate is revoked, they may still operate under-the-radar causing more work for London’s police to make sure Uber is compliant with their laws. London’s air qualityLondon is notorious for having one of the worst air qualities in the EU, and reducing the number of people driving will help improve the air quality situation. This affects all Londoners and tourists. Gas stations Uber contributes to a decent amount of various gas station’s revenues, as their business is to drive all day which consumes gasoline. Reducing the amount and frequency of which people drive will affect their revenues as well. Black cab companies Black cab companies want the rule to be upheld, as they will directly benefit from Uber losing their license, as they are (an albeit expensive) substitute for Uber’s services. Black cab drivers Similar to the Black Cab company itself, black cab drivers only make money (generally) when they are driving clients. Since they will see an increase in volume, the black cab drivers will make more money. TX4 Hackney Carriage Black Cab manufacturers As the manufacturer of ‘black cabs’ TX4 has a direct stake in the decision determining Uber’s fate in London. With Uber gone the company can continue producing the same black cab’s that are part of London’s large private taxi service. Rental car companies Uber has a rental car program with some rental car companies so not all Uber drivers have to own their car. If Uber were to get pulled out of London, the revenues of London rental car companies would suffer as a direct result. The London Underground transportation service and system The London Underground will similarly profit as the black cab companies due to the relationship of being a substitute to Uber as well. London Banks When people or car sales companies buy cars, they get a loan from a bank. Fewer cars being sold reduces new loan volume. Additionally, Uber drivers relying on their job to pay off the car loan may be forced to sell or remit their car to the Bank. London Car commuters A reduced volume of drivers on the road will favor car commuters, reducing traffic and congestion. However, Uber clients who are new or are returning to driving their own car could pose a risk to current car commuters because of driving inexperience and unfamiliarity. Local wildlife, in and surrounding London. (Hawks, Foxes, Badgers, Ducks, Deer, and Others) Poor air quality, light pollution, and noise pollution all affect the local London wildlife. With more Uber drivers, especially those who are new to the London area, comes a greater chance of local wildlife having incidents with motor vehicles. Environmental activists (Love Clean Air, Client Earth, EPUK, EEA, LSx, WWF, and Others) Since London’s air quality and wildlife will not speak for itself, activist groups that represent both of these stakeholder groups will likely push for Uber to lose its operating license for the reasons that are stated in their respective sections. London Tourists Since Uber is the current combination of the cheapest and most convenient option for tourists, they will have to find alternate forms of transportation which may be either more expensive (cabs) or less convenient (transit). Potential Actions & Implications There are three clear potential actions that the Transport for London can take to resolve our ethical question, â€Å"Should Uber be allowed to operate in London with less restrictive regulation than other taxi services?† along with doing what is best for the Stakeholders involved on a legal and economic scale. They have the option of continuing to treat Uber as they currently are and apply no extra regulation or restrictions to Uber’s operations, create new regulation to specifically address Uber’s operations, or decide to let Uber’s operation permit expire thusly eliminating Uber from London. For the first option, letting Uber retain its current operations and re-instating its operations permit, Transport for London would continue to support Uber as â€Å"ride-share† service as opposed to a taxi service. The implications of this are that Transport for London would be encouraging the demise of the Black Cab industry in its current state, forcing either closure of said companies or a prompting the creation of new business models. In doing so, there could potentially be long-term benefits for the general London community who use ride-share and taxi services as their primary mode of transportation. This is because the Black Cab companies would be now directly competing with their modified business plans against Uber and any competition between companies is always good for consumers. Other stakeholders, such as car sales companies, other services that compliment car sales, gas stations, Uber drivers, Uber Investors, and London Tourists would similarly benefit from this decision. If Uber was allowed to continue operations as it currently is, this would have repercussions on stakeholders such as London’s police, The London Underground, the Black Cab companies and associated stakeholders, Transport for London as a governmental body, London’s air quality, London’s local wildlife, and the local London activist groups for the environment and wildlife such as detailed in the stakeholder table above. Uber is well known for its practices regarding law enforcement evasion through its â€Å"Greyball† program, which its sole purpose is to identify and blacklist any law enforcement personnel from using Uber’s services which is both a short-term issue and if it persists, can turn into a long-term issue. It can turn into a long-term issue because as well when trying to make sure Uber is compliant with government regulations, as it will be difficult to get an unbiased audit of Uber’s operations that are conducted by a law enforcement agency. The Black Cab companies and associated stakeholders along with the London Underground will continue to lose profits and employees unless they change their business models. This can make or break the Black Cab industry, as these Black Cab companies are almost as old as London itself and have not changed their business model since then. The environment and wildlife in and surrounding London will continue to have a deteriorating quality-of-life, because of the stated reasons in the Stakeholder table. These will have some measurable immediate impact, but the long-term effects are the most worrisome where pollution reaches a point of no return and is incurable. Because these detriments exceed the benefits that would be provided by letting Uber retain their operations license, this is not a recommended answer to our question. For the second option, letting Uber continue operations but with additional regulations, the Transport for London body would invoke regulations regarding Uber similar to those that apply to the Black Cab industry. Contrasting with the first option, this would potentially allow the Black Cab industry to survive under its current business model, albeit with a shift in pricing to efficiently compete with Uber. This would benefit the Black Cab industry to an extent, Uber and Black Cab users, car sales companies and associated services, gas stations, Uber investors, and Uber drivers. However, this decision would have repercussions on other stakeholders as well. Similar to the first option, the London police, The London Underground, Transport for London as a governmental body, London’s air quality, London’s local wildlife, and the local London activist groups for the environment and wildlife would also be negatively impacted by this course of action. Letting Uber continue operations but being restricted by additional regulations is a better solution than the first option because it benefits more stakeholders. However, it is still not our recommended solution. The negative impact that stems from letting Uber operate in London is too great a cost compared to letting their operations license expire. The third solution is to let Uber’s operation license expire. This recommendation is the complete opposite of the first solution and as a result, would imply Transport for London is condemning Uber. This would have inverse benefits and drawbacks as the first solution as well, meaning it would benefit London’s police, The London Underground, the Black Cab companies and associated stakeholders, Transport for London as a governmental body, London’s air quality, London’s local wildlife, and the local London activist groups for the environment and wildlife. Since Uber would no longer be able to operate in London, it would be a huge win for the Black Cab industry as a whole and would help London preserve its age-old transportation of choice. Additionally, the surrounding wildlife and atmosphere would benefit from the reduction of cars on the road and new drivers to the area. London’s police would no longer have to conduct wild-goose chases to make sure Uber is compliant with Transport for London’s regulations. Overall, it would be a benefit to the local London community. This would imply that Transport for London has London’s best interests at heart. Like with all decisions, there are costs associated with making said decisions. Uber moving out of London would be bad for Uber as a company, its employees, its investors, gasoline companies, and car sales and associated stakeholders. Most of these stakeholders are not from London, nor are residents in the UK. However, they are having a large negative impact on London as a whole, compared to the benefits they bring. This is our recommended solution. Recommendation & Cost of Implementation: As chair of Transport for London, I, Sadiq Khan, believe that the most ethical and overall best way to proceed with Uber in London is to recommend that they remain ineligible to renew their license and that no change be made to their status. With their current disregard for minimum wage and basic benefit packages for their employees, they violate London’s idea of operating under business practices deemed, ‘fine and proper’. By doing so I believe that we will be upholding the quality that Londoners have come to expect out of everyday businesses while also doing what we at TFL believe is best for our historic city. This will, in turn, mitigate possible blowback by the community for allowing Uber to continue operations that financially damage London’s public transportation and Black Cabs. There is a multitude of costs associated with this option, many of which must be estimated due to Uber’s financial records being strictly private between the company and perhaps investors (non-public corporation). As a company, which has over 40 thousand employees in London (as stated prior), it is fairly obvious that many people who work full time as ‘ride share’ drivers will be negatively affected by this decision. Since Uber has been deemed a taxi service in early November and thus must pay minimum wage ( £9.15 an hour) to employees in the United Kingdom, there is a possibility of a people losing upwards of  £380,640,000 (Assuming only half of all drivers in London are full time) each year and more, should they apply for unemployment due to the decision. This is, of course, an estimate and not a real working number of pounds lost by employees but while an estimate, it is not a figure that we at TFL take lightly. Since keeping this decision would essentially be changing nothing in terms of a recommendation, financial costs by the city of London, and Transport for London would be minimal to non-existent. That being said some businesses would suffer somewhat, such as car companies and automobile dealers in our city who have deals with Uber to rent and sell cars for the sole purpose of being used by the Company’s drivers. To add, there could be a small loss in terms of sales by gas stations, though it would possibly be partially offset by the increased use of Black Cabs and personal vehicles by the general public. Finally, a cost in terms of tax lost by Uber’s exile from operating in London would go unnoticed except for in the case of employee’s taxes, seeing as the company does not pay a large amount in taxes. In 2015, Uber’s London division only paid  £411,000 in taxes while making over  £23 Million (Bowers 2016). It’s safe to say a city such as ours, will not miss what little Uber had to offer both London and its people.  Ã‚   Overall the costs of implementing a solution that is already in effect register no change in current costs. Since finding Uber to be an unethical business dealing in unfair and otherwise unregulated business practices since this decision, we know that the Company is not one that we as a city can stand. References: Smith, Rebecca. â€Å"TFL Boss Plans Fresh Talks With Uber’s Chief Executive Officer Over Loss of London License† City AM (November 6, 2017) Rao, Prashant. â€Å"Uber Hit With New Blow in London as Panel says Drivers Aren’t Self-Employed† The New York Times (November 10, 2017) Cummins, Chip. Uber Is Losing Its Car-Hire License in London. What Happened? The Wall Street Journal (2017). . Bowers, Simon. â€Å"Uber’s Main UK Business Paid Only  £411,000 in Tax Last Year† The Guardian  (October 10, 2016)

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE WAY WORDSWORTH AND HUGHES WRITE ABOUT NATURE E

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE WAY WORDSWORTH AND HUGHES WRITE ABOUT NATURE IN THEIR POEMS DAFFODILS AND THISTLES Hughes wrote the poem â€Å"Thistles† which is about how these plants are. He speaks about them as if they were a sign of violence, and violent creatures. He views them as a symbol of vengeance, pain and threat. The thistles are spiky and can hurt anyone. They are dull, immortal, green, rough, and produce a big amount of chaos, written in Wordsworth on the other hand, wrote about â€Å"Daffodils† which are small golden flowers. They look vivid, colourful and peaceful. These flowers produce a state of calm, sweet and memorable moments. Written in romantic era of literature, in 1804 Each poet creates a different mood in their poems. Hughes’ use of imagery creates a bad and nasty mood. It even creates horrible and mean moods, and sometimes a scary mood. The use of imagery has a reason to it as well; the purpose of it is to make people get a vision, a small scene, and a picture in their minds of what thistles look like, and what they do to be so painful. Hughes’ way of using imagery is good as it explains whatever he sees; it shows that he can use other things or words to explain his views. An example of this imagery is the line that says â€Å"everyone manages a plume of blood† this makes people think that everyone has a river of blood on them, so it brings a horrible scene into people’s minds. Wordsworth doesn’t use much imagery but whenever he does, he uses it in such a way that people want to continue to read the poem a few more times. His was of using imagery makes people get a nice and pleasant view of the daffodils, like for example in the line â€Å"tossing their heads in sprightly dance† this shows t... ...w, which makes you want to keep the scene in mind all the time and makes you think about the daffodils. But, when you think about the scene of the thistles poem, it isn’t as nice and pleasant. This is because the thistles represent a battle, a fight, in which death is involved, when you read it, it reminds you of wars, of fires and all unpleasant memories. The daffodils basically show happiness and joy to everyone, that is why I prefer it. The words that the poet uses in order to describe the poem are exceedingly special as they describe the location in which the daffodils can be found and admired. In the poem he doesn’t talk about the daffodils beside the lake, it also talks about how it affected his life and how he kept on thinking in the daffodils after being in the lake. This poem is more memorable than the thistles one, which is why I prefer it more.

Face Recognition Technology Essay

Facial recognition technology refers to a computer driven application that automatically identifies an individual from his or her digital image by a comparison of particular facial features in a facial database and in a live image (Vacca, 2007: 95).   The technology creates a template of people’s facial configurations, such as the lengths of their noses, and the angles of their jaws.   It thereby functions like the other biometric technologies (e.g. iris scanning) that use biological features for the purposes of recognition. According to Visionics, a manufacturer of face recognition technology, the technology is capable of finding human faces â€Å"anywhere in the field of view and at any distance, and it can continuously track them and crop them out of the scene, matching the face against a watch list (Kautzer, 2002).† Undoubtedly, these features of face recognition technology make it an attractive option for law enforcement agencies – always trying to catch criminals and keep an eye on suspects.   But, is there more to face recognition technology than meets the eye? Description and Uses of Facial Recognition Technology It is natural brain technology that allows humans to recognize fellow human beings.   According to Bruce & Young (1986) there are â€Å"face recognition units† in the brains of human beings (361).   Face recognition involves matching â€Å"the products of structural encoding,† that is, facial features that are spotted by the eye with â€Å"previously stored structural codes (Bruce & Young: 361).†Ã‚   Vacca writes that there are three areas of the face that are â€Å"primary targets† in face recognition because they do not typically change (95). These parts of the face include upper sections of a person’s eye sockets, the part of the face surrounding one’s cheekbones, and the sides of the human mouth.   Regardless of whether the human brain also considers these parts of the face most crucial to facial recognition, Vacca explains three different techniques used in man-made face recognition technology, namely, eigenface systems, eigenfeature systems, and thermal imaging.   Eigenface image systems capture facial images and change them to â€Å"light and dark areas (Vacca: 95).† In eigenfeature systems, certain features of the face, for example, the eyes and the mouth, are picked out and distances are measured between these features.   Thermal imaging systems, on the other hand, take thermal images of the human face, focusing on the pattern of blood vessels (Vacca). Even though iris scanning and other kinds of biometric technologies are known to be far more accurate than face recognition technology, it is believed that the latter would be more widely accepted because it is least intrusive.   This technology does not require users to push, click, or insert anything into the system, despite the fact that it takes many experts to create eigenface, eigenfeature or thermal imaging systems.   Moreover, companies using the face recognition technology do not require the installation of anything except a new software application. The cameras already in place as well as pictures of their employees on file are enough for companies that use this technology.   Hence, face recognition technology is cheaper for organizations than iris scanning, for instance, which requires reading setups.   According to Frances Zelazney, who works as the director of corporate communication at Visionics – a leading developer of biometrics – yet another advantage of facial recognition technology as compared to other biometric technologies is that â€Å"facial recognition provides for inherent human backup because we naturally recognize one another†¦ If the system goes down, someone can pull out an ID with a picture as backup, something you can’t do with fingerprint devices (Rutherford, 2001).† Unsurprisingly, facial recognition technology is known as the fastest growing biometric technology in our day.   Law enforcement agencies and the military have been successfully using the technology for many years without the public being aware of it.   In the year 1988, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (Lakewood Division) began using composite sketches of suspects, as well as video images, in order to conduct searches on a database of digital facial shots. The department also has a photo database of sex offenders and plans to find suspects on this database.   Then there is the Gang Reporting Evaluation Tracking system that can be searched with the use of photos of suspects in order for law enforcement to circumvent false identification cards as well as information that has been presented by gang members (Jarvis). Other applications of face recognition technology in the area of criminal investigation include the Integrated Law Enforcement Face-Identification System which incorporates a unique three dimensional composite technology to identify angled-view face shots more easily.   The system is meant to be very helpful in the correct identification of uncooperative suspects in addition to subjects that have been caught from a distance using video surveillance cameras. Furthermore, Britain is known to use at least two hundred thousand video cameras for surveillance.   Many of these cameras are being installed with the facial recognition technology today.   Typically these systems use computers to monitor cameras that are looking for recognized criminals.   As soon as the system is seen to identify a known criminal, the police are called (Jarvis). There are numerous United States embassies around the world that are already using the face recognition technology to keep criminals from entering the country.   The Israel-Palestine border control is similarly using the technology to reduce crime across the border (Jarvis). IQ Biometrix, established in 2001, was a company providing help to thousands of law enforcement agencies around the world with the FACES â„ ¢, a groundbreaking software tool allowing users to create and recreate billions of face shots, as well as encode, catalogue and transmit them.   The technology incorporated a facial composite tool that the FBI and the CIA also used.   The United States Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and various local as well as state police agencies had similarly opted for this groundbreaking system of facial recognition (â€Å"IQ Biometrix,† 2004). Given the importance of putting a name to a face in law enforcement, whether it is to solve crimes, protect the public, or to ensure security in jails, face recognition technology is proving itself to be of tremendous value.   Sheriff Everett Rice with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida employs the Viisage face recognition technology to â€Å"positively identify and verify individuals (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action,† 2007).†Ã‚   Some of these individuals have been recently arrested while others are about to be released.   The face recognition technology is also of use with people that visit the courthouse.   So far, application of the technology has been successful, and users of the technology believe that it would have a greater impact on crime control in the years to come (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†).   The following is a detailed account of the case being considered: Over time, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, like other law enforcement agencies, found itself faced with cumbersome booking, release and criminal investigation processes.   A prominent problem was a lack of timely information, which often allowed suspects to get away with providing false identification, hampering law enforcement or sidetracking investigations.   However the sheriff’s office found facial recognition to be an invaluable tool in providing quick and accurate identity information.   Facial recognition technology has allowed the sheriff’s office to quickly access important identity information and retrieve records, thus allowing officers to correctly identify even uncooperative suspects and to conduct more efficient investigations. In 2000, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office received a grant from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) at the U.S. Department of Justice.   The goal of the funding was to demonstrate the use of facial recognition technology for Florida law enforcement. Under the leadership of Lt. James Main acting as project director, the sheriff’s office decided to look beyond the traditional investigative uses of face recognition and to focus on how the quick, non-intrusive technology could be used to enhance operations at the jail. By initially focusing on the booking facility where mugshot images are collected, Main believed he could create processing efficiencies by using the existing images to build a facial recognition database.   The database would then serve as the foundation for identity solutions within Pinellas County, and throughout the state (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†). Application of face recognition technology by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is a model for other agencies involved in criminal investigation.   The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has applied the new technology in other ways as well.   As an example, the Sheriff’s Office has expanded use of the technology to its patrol cars to allow street deputies to identify those individuals that have been stopped and are unable to produce identification.   There are workstations in the Pinellas Country where investigators may use face recognition technology to compare images that have been acquired in investigations. This system allows for search of at least two million images within ten seconds.   What is more, this browser based system is available in the cars of deputies that patrol the streets of the Pinellas County (â€Å"Facial Recognition in Action†).   Report on the use of face recognition technology for law enforcement in the Pinellas County continues thus: As envisioned by the Department of Justice grant, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with other state and local agencies in Florida to maximize the effectiveness of the system.   Agencies participating in the project include the Florida Department of Corrections, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), seven Florida Regional Terrorism Task Forces, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Miami-Dade, Broward, Leon and Duval counties.

The Sloth

Sek Budapest International School English Work no. 1 Poetry analysis Song Yuan Shan 15. 01. 10 The poetry analysis of The Sloth by Theodore Roethke The title of the poem ‘the sloth’ tells us that the poem is probably about the animal, that lives in South America. It’s probably a poem for kids to read. In the first stanza the poet is talking about slowness. If you ask him something it takes him a year to realize that he’d been asked something. Next it says that all he does is hang on a tree upside down. Then it says that no matter you call him smug or insult him, he doesn’t care. He will still continue doing what he did before. In the last stanza he’s sleeping again swaying by his toes and just won’t bother to answer your question. But you just know that he knows he knows. Every poem has another meaning beyond the literal one. In this poem the poet writes ‘he’ for an animal and not ‘it’, so actually he’s not really talking about animals. He’s referring to lazy humans. Throughout the whole poem the poet was describing a lazy person. They’re self-satisfied, that’s why they never change their behavior. One way of achieving the qualities and making the words poetic is through poetic devices. It’s the technique or strategy a poet uses. It can help the poet or writer in developing cogent, e. g. the figures of speech. The poet was criticizing lazy people but he didn’t write it so obviously. He used metaphor. The poet also gives human characteristics to the sloth which is personification. For example: â€Å"he says, he thinks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . â€Å"He thinks about it for a Year†. The poet is exaggerating here, which is a hyperbole. He also uses capital letters. This makes a rhythm, patterns of sound. In addition the word EX-as-per-at-ing is divided into syllables to emphasize the word and call special attention to it. All lines rhyme in the poem. The sound of the last part of the word is identical in each stanza, so it’s a perfect rhyme. The tone of the poem could have been mean but he made it funny and friendly. The poet compared the lazy people to the lazy animals. The image I got after reading it a couple of times, is a stinky person watching TV on the couch while drinking coke and eating popcorn. They won’t even do the basic things for living or to stay clean. They’re too lazy to do anything. They’re happy with the way they are. So the theme of the poem is laziness. Bibliography http://ezinearticles. com/? Poetic-Devices-in-Poetry&id=110584 Total number of words : 438