Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Company Law - Essay Example had shares with a nominal value of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds which were divided equally among the four founders. XYZ Ltd. was to own all the copyrights for band’s songs which were given to the company as a consideration for the allotted shares. The four shareholders also were the directors of XYZ Ltd. Employment of Xavier as the managing director of the company followed where he was to receive an annual salary of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Distributable yearly profits by the company were to be paid to the shareholders as dividends but the shareholders never received a single payment in dividends. Personal issues arose amongst the band members and this brought about differences between some XYZ Ltd.’s shareholders and directors causing the band members to split and form a new band. XYZ Ltd.’s existence had led to the formation of another company XYZ Concerts Ltd. to manage and run a performance tour that was to be TUVW band in the UK in 201 0. All issued shares of XYZ Concerts Ltd were held by the mother company, XYZ Ltd. The responsibilities of XYZ Concerts Ltd. ... Xavier hired Cold Chocolate PR Consultants to help improve the band’s image in May 2011. This was after Mitt pressed Xavier to improve the bands image before the release of a new album that TUVW was working on. Cold Chocolate PR Consultants spent a hundred thousand pounds for their work and the hired consultants continued working till the end of 2011 even though the bands reputation remained extremely bad and appalling. Xavier employed Yvonne as the production manager in July 2011 and they both subsequently entered into a contract with Jump Records to produce the next five albums for the band. A payment of twenty five thousand pounds was made to XYZ Ltd. by Jump records as an advance to the total payment for the five records. Due to the bad blood between the bad members, the band never met in a single occasion since March of 2011 and two of the band members had already formed another band. In January 2012, XYZ Ltd. was pronounced insolvent though its books of account showed th at the company had been insolvent since the beginning of the previous year, January 2011. At that time, the company owed the shareholders an equivalent of all dividends due to them since its incorporation, The Wyatt Hotel an equivalent of all bills incurred during their UK tour, Cold Chocolate PR Consultants an equivalent of their contracted amount as well as the amount paid by Jump Records as an advance totalling to twenty five thousand pounds. The liquidator deduced that the worth of the company as at January 2012 which was solely in the form of song copyrights was five hundred thousand pounds. Some of the issues arising in this case are discussed hereafter. First and foremost, no dividends were paid to any of the shareholders of XYZ Ltd. since its incorporation in

Monday, October 28, 2019

Financial Analysis of BLD Plantation Bhd

Financial Analysis of BLD Plantation Bhd 1.1 Sime Darby Plantation Bhd According to Sime Darby (2013), the Sime Darby Plantation is the plantation and agribusiness arm of Sime Darby Berhad, at which has incorporated over 15 countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and so on. It was founded in 1910 and growth to become the largest conglomerate in Malaysia. However, it is the one of largest palm oil producer in the world which produce 2.47 million tones of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) output annually. Bloomberg (n.d) states that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd was mainly engages in upstream activities such as oil palm and rubber plantation development, cultivation, and downstream activities. The company was involved in the manufacturing of oils and fats products, and other fast moving consumer goods. The company was incorporated in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia during 2004 with other offices in Indonesia and India (Bloomberg, n.d). Besides, its downstream operations are divided into 2 sectors, that is food and nonfood. For food sector, CPO was manufactured into different types of oils and fat products such as cooking oil, margarine and cooking fats. The company also produces the customized products to meet their customers need and satisfaction. In nonfood sector, it was involved in the manufacturing of oleochemicals and biodiesel. In 2016, the company has commenced the first large scale planting of Genome Select high yielding oil palms, which allow themselves to produce mire oil in existing land. 1.2 BLD Plantation Bhd The BLD Plantation Bhd (BLDP) was incorporated in Malaysia as a public limited company under the Companies Act 1965 in October 2001. It was listed on main market of Bursa Malaysia under plantation sector on 2003 and served as parent company to Bintulu Lumber Development Sdn Bhd, Grand Mutual Sdn Bhd, and so on. According to Worldwide Company Profile (2011), the company was principally engaged in investing holding and provision of management services whereas the principal activities of group are cultivation of oil palm, processing of fresh fruit bunches and sales of related products. The Sarawak based BLD Plantation Group was mainly involved in cultivation of oil palm, processing of fresh fruit bunches into CPO and related products. The company was also involved in cattle farming and timber business but it has gradually declined and phased out in 2004. However, the company has produces the CPO and palm kernel (PK) and only sold to Bintulu Edible Oils Sdn Bhd (BEO), which is the major palm oil refinery in Sarawak. 1.3 Riverview Rubber Estates Bhd Riverview Rubber Estates Bhd is a publicly traded company which operates in the agricultural sector in Malaysia (Worldwide Company Profile, 2012). It was mainly involved in the cultivation of oil palm. However, it was incorporated in 1936 and has registered Headquarter in Ipoh, Malaysia. In 2006, the company had produced approximately 43,651 tons of fresh fruit bunches. Moreover, it was interested in two associated companies, that is Narborough Plantations company which is interests in the operation of oil palm plantations and Rivaknar Holdings Sdn Bhd which principally involved in investment holding. Riverview Rubber Estates is listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad and London Stock Exchange (Worldwide Company Profile, 2012). 1.4 IJM Plantation Bhd IJM is one of Malaysias leading conglomerates which was listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The company has embraced the theme Nurturing Sustainability for its long-term success in agribusiness that are related to oil palm supply chain. However, they have their own vision and mission statements. Their vision statement is To be a leading regional plantation group while the mission statements is To uphold the highest standards of performance in our plantation and agribusiness. The companys theme Nurturing sustainability remain their long term success in oil palm business venture. As the group progresses, it has adopted and implemented strategies to embrace the pillar of performance, the productivity and innovations, and the care for environment. IJM Plantation Berhad was also listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2003. However, it represents one of the 5 main division of IJM group. 1.5 Innoprise Plantation Berhad The Innoprise Plantation Berhad is a Sabah based company listed on main board of Bursa Malaysia (RSPO, n.d). The company was undertaking planting and development at which have approximately 22,763 hectares of forest reserves land in Tawau, Sabah. However, the company has disposed the downstream wood product assets and start to refocus on oil palm. The company was planning to complete planting at which estimated 13,929 hectares of planted oil palm in 2013. In 2006, the company was entered into contract with its major shareholder, Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd to log over 30,000 hectares of Kuamut Forest Reserve over 10 years. This operation is to provide medium term revenue and partial funding for companys oil palm development project. Besides, Innoprise Group was highly emphasized on Corporate Social Responsibility as it recognizes the community, employees and the environment as stakeholders. With the limited resources, the company will continue to make contribution towards development of t he community especially education, sports and poverty alleviation. No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation 0.00221000 2 BLD Plantation 0.00893000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.00599135 4 IJM Plantation 0.00552490 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 0.01047740 6 KLCI 0.00289210 3.1 Expected Return Based on the expected return table above, we can know that the highest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Sime Darby Plantation. Expected return is the amount of profit or loss that an investor expected on the investment that has various known or called as expected rates of return. Expected return is important to be calculate. This is because it can predict the future value of a portfolio and provide guidance from which to measure actual returns. Expected return is always calculate based on the historical data and is not guaranteed. (Investopedia, 2017) Expected return is also known as a process of determining the average expected probability of different types of rates of return that are possible on a given assets. There are some factors to determine the expected return which are different market conditions and an assets beta. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2017). The most important factor that affect the expected return is the stock price. The formula that calculate expected return is as below: Expected return, E(r)= 1/ TÆÂ ©t=1 r(i,j) Innoprise Plantation Bhd has a highest expected return from 2007 to 2016 compared to these companies. High expected return indicates that the higher risk, the higher the volatility and return potential. (Chirantan Basu, 1995). Based on the historical data, we can know that the highest price among these few year was RM1.85546 on July 2012 while the lowest was RM0.28545 on Dec 2008. Moreover, we can know that the stock price for each month has changed drastically especially the stock price has increased from RM0.46624 per share to RM0.942 per share on April 2010 according to the historical data. It increased by RM0.47576 per share on that time. On 12 April 2010, according to the Capital Reconstruction Exercise, the existing issued and paid-up share capital of the company of RM112,500,000 comprising 112,500,000 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share was reduced to RM 56,250,000 comprising 112,500,000 ordinary share of the company. Therefore, the entire paid-up share capital of 112,500,000 ordinary shares of RM0.50 per share were consolidated into 56,250,000 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share. (Annual Report of Innoprise Plantation Bhd, 2010) Subsequent to the Capital Reconstruction Exercise, the issued and paid up ordinary share capital of the company was increased from RM56,250,000 to RM188,611,300 by the way of the issuance of 132,361,300 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share for cash based on the Rights Issue Exercies for working capital purposes. The new ordinary shares have the same right in all respects with the existing shares of the company. (Annual Report of Innoprise Plantation Bhd, 2010) On the other hand, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has lowest expected return from 2007 to 2016 compared to these few companies. Based on the historical data, we can know that the highest price among these few year was RM11.90 on January 2016 while the lowest price was RM5.20 on January 2015. Based on the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 in Sime Darby Plantation Bhd in appendix, we can know that the stock price among these few year were moved stability from 2007 to 2014. Start from 2015 to 2016, it was dramatically changed. The highest expected return in Sime Darby was 0.24064 on November 2015. The stock price was increased from RM9.35 per share to RM11.60 per share suddenly at that period. During the financial year 2015, the company increased its issued and paid-up ordinary share capital from RM3,032,053,404 to RM3,105,579,143 by the way of issuance of 147,051,477 new ordinary shares of RM0.50 per share at an issue price of RM8.94 per share amounting to RM1,314.6 million, according to the Dividend Reinvestment Plan of the company. The new ordinary shares have the same right in all respects with the existing shares of the company. (Annual Report of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, 2015) No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation 0.05695000 2 BLD Plantation 0.06363000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.00709225 4 IJM Plantation 0.00681400 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 0.00938350 6 KLCI 0.03652390 3.2 Standard Deviation In finance, standard deviation is commonly explained as the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investments volatility. We calculate the standard deviation of different company by using the formula below.    Standard Deviation = [1/n * (ri rave)2] ½   Ã‚   Where:ri = actual rate of returnrave = average rate of returnn = number of time periods Standard deviation is important for an investor to make investment decision. Why do we say so? Because standard deviation measure the dispersion about an average, illustrating how widely a return may varied over time. Therefore, investor tend to predict the range of rate of return by using the standard deviation of historical performance. For an example, a fund or stock with high standard deviation of rate of return, the predicted range of performance is vast, resulting in higher volatility. Without standard deviation, you cannot define or evaluate whether a data given is to the average or the data is spread out over a wide range. On the other hand, by using standard deviation, investor can have a much clear expectation of an investment before doing any investment decision. If a funds return follow the normal distribution, approximately 68% of the time will fall within one standard deviation of the mean return and approximately 98% of the time within two standard deviation. (Morningstar Investing Glossary) Lets say if fund A have an expected annual return of 20% and its standard deviation is 4%, then investor would expect a return between 16% and 24% about 68% of the time and between 12% and 28% about 98% of the time. From the table above, we can see that BLD Plantation has the highest standard deviation compare to the other four company. As we know that, higher standard deviation means that the investment will differ a lot from the average return. In other word, you can make high return from the investment but also make big loss in the investment as the return is high the risk is also high. BLD Plantation have the highest standard deviation, therefore the company may provide higher return but the level of variation is high which mean the investment return is not consistent. Investment in this company may have higher risk compare to the other 4 company. With a standard deviation of 6.36%, which mean the investment return may differ from the mean about 6.36% lower or higher. In the other hand, we can see that IJM Plantation has the lowest standard deviation compare to the other four company. It means that IJM Plantation may be generating lower investment return but the volatility is low which large variation are unlikely to occur. An investor who do not want to take higher risk will invest in this company as the lower standard deviation can prevent the investor to lose too much as it doesnt deviate from the mean value too much. Although BLD Plantation has the highest standard deviation, but looking at the standard deviation as a whole, these five companies still consider as company with low standard deviation in generating investment return. No. Company Name Data 1 SD vs BLD -0.000166 2 SD vs RV -0.000272 3 SD vs IJM -0.000168 4 SD vs Inno -0.000533 5 SD vs KLCI -0.000201 6 BLD vs RV 0.001854 7 BLD vs IJM 0.002451 8 BLD vs Inno 0.003689 9 BLD vs KLCI 0.001275 10 RV vs IJM 0.001862 11 RV vs Inno 0.001465 12 RV vs KLCI 0.000785 13 IJM vs Inno 0.001725 14 IJM vs KLCI 0.001340 15 Inno vs KLCI 0.002270 3.3 Covariance SD Sime Darby BLD BLD RV Riverview IJM IJM Inno Innoprise KLCI KLCI Based on the covariance table above, we can know that the highest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is BLD Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is Sime Darby Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. Covariance is a measurement of how much two random variables vary together. It is almost like variance but variance only give the information about the single variable varies while covariance give the information about the two variables vary together. A large covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables while a weak covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables in a different data set with different scales. (Statistics How To, 2017) We calculate the covariance to measure the linear relationship between two variables and understand the direction of the relationship between variables. Covariance figures are not standardized. Hence, the covariance figure can range from negative figure until infinity to positive figure until infinity. (Minitab Express, 2016). In a simply words, the positive covariance indicate that the two variables are moving together or varying directly while the negative covariance indicate that the two variables are moving in the opposite direction or varying inversely. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2017) Based on the table above, we can know that BLD plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have positive covariance which is 0.003689. It indicates that both companies tend to increase together. By looking the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 in BLD Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd in appendix, we can see that both companies has increased and decreased at the same direction. When BLD Plantation Bhd has increased the stock price which from RM8.38 per share to RM8.64 per share on July 2012, Innoprise Plantation Bhd has also increased the stock price which from RM1.42728 per share to RM1.85546 per share on July 2012. This shows that both companies had moving together and grow at the same direction. By the calculation of covariance among these two companies, we can know that these companies have strong relationship between each other. In contrast, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have negative covariance which is -0.000533. It indicates that one of these companies tend to increase as the other companies decrease. By looking the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 among Sime Darby Plantation and Innoprise Plantation Bhd, we can know that Sime Darbys stock price remained slightly from 2007 to 2014 and had fluctuated from 2015 to 2016. On the other hand, stock price in Innoprise Plantation Bhd has fluctuated from 2007 to 2016. This indicates that both of the companies did not have increase or decrease at the same direction. Hence, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have negative covariance. When Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has increased from RM9.35 per share to RM11.60 per share on November 2015, Innoprise Plantation Bhd has decreased from RM1.40824 per share to RM1.3226 per share on November 2015. This shows that both companies had moving in the opposite direction. No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation -0.15067000 2 BLD Plantation 0.95540000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.58830585 4 IJM Plantation 1.00599700 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 1.70142429 3.4 Beta Beta is commonly defined as a measure of the volatility or the systematic risk of a portfolio or securities comparing with the market as a whole. In other word, beta values are also considering as a tool used to compare each individual stock to the market performance by evaluating the relationship of a stock movement with the market itself. Beta values are one of the several values that investor use to analyse the companys risk profile. Different companies have different beta value due to different industry, different customer or different function. All these may affect the beta values of a company. Company with beta value close to 1 or equal to one are commonly found in the large companies with numerous operating segment. The demand of the product of these companies usually increase and decrease proportional to the aggregate to the economic expansion or contraction. However, companies that are related to pharmaceutical or healthcare usually have beta value less than 1. The demand of suck companys products is inelastic. This causes people hard to stop buying them or find a substitute for such product. This makes the company always have a steadily earnings and lead to low volatility in stock price. Companies with beta value have the highest volatility in stock price. These companies tend to react better than the market or worse than the market. We can take companies in cyclical industries such as airline company as an example with high beta values. When the economy contract or slow down, people will have no money to demand for travel and stock price will decrease dramatically, an d vice versa. This result in higher volatile earnings and the movement of share price. According to the data above, we can say that the beta is categorized in three groups which are higher than 1, between 0 and 1, and below 0. Beta is known as a measurement of a stocks volatility in relation to the market. There are two company that come with beta higher than 1 which are the IJM Plantation and Innoprise Plantation BHD. Innoprise Plantation has the highest beta value which is 1.70 follow by IJM Plantation with beta value of 1.006. Based on this value, we can say that Innoprise Plantation BHD stock is theoretically 70.14% more volatile than the market and IJM Plantation stocks is 0.6% more volatile than the market. This indicate that when there is a 10% increase in the stock market, stocks price for Innoprise Plantation BHD will increase by approximately 17% and also approximately 10.06% for IJM Plantation. This concept applies to the condition when market goes down too. These two company with beta value higher than 1 tends to perform better than the market when the mark et goes up and when the market slow down, the company will perform even worse compare to the market. With the beta value between 0 and 1 is BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate. Beta value for BLD plantation is 0.96 and 0.59 for Riverview Rubber Estate. These two companies are the companies with volatilities lower than the market, which means that BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate are theoretically less volatile than the market. If the market increase by 10%, BLD Plantation stocks price will increase only 9.6% and for Riverview Rubber Estate, the stock price will only increase by 5.9%. This also means that the company have a steadily earnings stream and lower volatility of the stock. The last company is the Sime Darby Plantation with a beta value lower than 0 which is a negative beta value. The beta value for Sime Darby Plantation is -0.15. A negative beta correlation indicates that the stock price will go in the opposite direction with the market situation. When the market rise about 10%, the stock price for Sime Darby will decrease about 1.5%, and vice versa. Conservative or safe playing investor will consider about BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate as the lower betas limit the volatility. Beta value of companies are one of the important element in the formula of capital asset pricing model which is known as CAPM. As how much diversify our investment is, there will be still some risk within it. So, as an investor, they claim that by taking the risk there must deserve a rate of return. By using CAPM, we can calculate the investment risk and what rate of return are we expecting from the investment. 3.5 Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship between systematic risk and expected return for assets, particularly stocks. (Investopedia, 2017) CAPM is used to calculate the required rate of return for any risky assets. Required rate of return is a rate of total return needed to be compensated for the risk taken which is made up of a risk-free rate and risk premium. (Finance, 2009) The required rate of return is also an increase in value that should be expect to see based on the risk level of the assets. (InvestingAnswer, 2017) CAPM is an idealized portrayal of how financial markets fix the price of the securities and determine expected returns on capital investments. By using CAPM, it provides a methodology for quantifying risk and translating the risk into the estimated of expected return on equity. (David W.Muslim,Jr, 1982). The model says that the only reason that an investor should earn more on average by investing in one stock rather than another stock is that the stock is riskier. By the CAPM calculation, we can know that the required rate of return among these five companies is 0.0235305. We have use the beta information to calculate the required rate of return. The weight of these five companies are the same which are 0.1. According the CAPM, the beta is the only relevant measurement of a stocks risk. By knowing the beta, then we can get the required rate of return. In this case, required rate of return which is 2.35% is greater than risk-free which is 2.33% that stated. Hence, we should not invest in this portfolio. This is because we need to have higher rate to get back the return. To conclude all the information and analysis, the highest expected return among the few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Innoprise Plantation Bhd and the lowest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Sime Darby Plantation. With the higher expected return, higher risk, the higher the volatility and return potential. Means Innoprise Plantation Bhd has the highest risk and highest volatility and return potential and Sime Darby Plantation has the lowest risk and lowest volatility and return potential. The highest Standard deviation among the few companies from 2007 to 2016 is BLD Plantation and the lowest standard deviation is IJM Plantation. The higher standard deviation means that the investment will differ a lot from the average return. Which means the BLD Plantation can provide higher return but the level of variation and risk is higher compare to other 4 companies. The IJM Plantation has lowest standard deviation means the company generating lower return but the level of variation and risk is lower to prevent too much loss. The highest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is BLD Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is Sime Darby Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. . A large covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables while a weak covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables in a different data set with different scales. Beta values are considering as a tool used to compare each individual stock to the market performance by evaluating the relationship of a stock movement with the market itself. Beta values are one of the several values that investor use to analyse the companys risk profile. The beta value can be categorized into three group, higher than 1, between 0 and 1, and less than 1. There are two company that come with beta higher than 1 which are the IJM Plantation and Innoprise Plantation BHD. Innoprise Plantation has the highest beta value which is 1.70 follow by IJM Plantation with beta value of 1.0. With the beta value between 0 and 1 is BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate. Beta value for BLD plantation is 0.96 and 0.59 for Riverview Rubber Estate The last company is the Sime Darby Plantation with a beta value lower than 0 which is a negative beta value and the beta value is -0.15. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship between systematic risk and expected return for assets, particularly stocks. By using the CAPM calculation, we can know that the required rate of return among these five companies is 0.0235305. Based on the evaluation of each company from (c), the lowest expected rate of return was Sime Darby Plantation, given by 0.00221000. The highest expected rate of return was Innoprise Plantation BHD, 0.01047740. The average expected rate of return of these five companies was 0.00662673 whereas the required rate of return was 0.0235305. For a good investment, the expected rate of return has to be higher than the required rate of return. To improve the situation, there are a few strategies taken by each of the companies to drive their operational efficiency, seek out investment while maintaining their capital discipline. Sime Darby Plantation planned to extend sustainable supply chain to include small producers since year 2016. Under the partnership, the supply of small producers will be secured. Sime Darby Plantation collaborate with Wild Asia to assist the rest of the small producers to achieve RSPO certification. As one of the worlds largest plantation company, Sime Darby manufactures, sales and marketing activities of oils and fats products, oleochemicals, palm oil-based biodiesel and other palm oil derivatives (Sime Darby News, 2016). The variety involvement of Sime Darby Plantation helps to improve the companys performance whether in short-term or long-term. Besides that, BLD Plantation had entered into a share sale agreement in year 2016 to acquire the entire 1.1 million shares of RM 1.00 each in the share capital of Pekan for RM 155.22 million. Since the agreement, BLD Plantation has conducted due diligence and it is still

Friday, October 25, 2019

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Essay example -- Alternative Energy R

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Wind is called a renewable energy source because wind will continually be produced as long as the sun shines on the earth. The sun’s contribution to wind energy deals with converting air into heat or cool wind. Wind is produced by the irregular heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. On land, the warm air spreads and goes up in the sky, in the water, heavier and cooler air moves in to take the warm air’s place, thus providing local winds. This power source should be used more often in the United States for its safer standards regarding the environment and finance. To capture this wind, turbines are used to convert the renewable resource into electricity. The energy in motion or kinetic energy is then mechanically processed. Windmills are used in the United States amongst other countries in the world. They are used to heat water, refrigerate produce, dry crops, irrigate crops, heat buildings, and charge batteries for tractors on farms, etc. Most of today's windmills extract about 30 % of the wind's energy (www.earthsci.org). Windmills are just as efficient as coal; the difference between them is that air is less polluting than coal. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a 100 percent efficient power source. â€Å"For a completely efficient source of energy, the power plants have to run all day and all year without interruption† (www.eia.doe.gov). To do the fact that in order to convert electricity, windmills depend ...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

How do composers use distinctively visual techniques Essay

How do composers use distinctively visual techniques to shape our interpretations of the world? Composers use distinctively visual techniques to shape the audiences interpretations of the world. John Misto’s play ‘The Shoe-horn Sonata and the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ uses distinctively visual techniques such as dialogue, photographic images, and music to effectively shape the audiences interpretations of the world. Firstly Misto uses dialogue as a distinctively visual technique in his play ‘The Shoe Horn Sonata to shape the audiences interpretations of the world. Misto uses juxtaposition as the dialogue consists of both private and public conversations which create powerful links between the two characters. The first scene shows Bridie re-enacting the kowtow, a tribute to the emperor of Japan. This kowtow was done when a Japanese guard would cry out ‘Keirei’. Stage directions allow the readers to visualise exactly how the composer wants i t to be performed. The audience is able relate in some way and feels engaged with Bridie at this point. Misto then uses photographic images, projected on a screen behind Bridie to support the dialogue. These images consist of several 1940 posters for the womens army, as well as photographs of the Australian army nurses disembarking in Singapore. Not even halfway through scene 1 the use of dialogue and photographic images have raised a concern to the audience of the pain and suffering that many women endured at the hands of the Japanese, yet their stories were not widely known. This has shaped their interpretations of war vastly, as there is much more horror, truth and death involved then just men on the front line. In the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ the use of no dialogue is so the importance of photographic images is essential for conveying the point of view of the advertisement, which is ‘slow down’. The photographic images show the last message left by each young person and the rush they are in. The images are shown in a slow motion effect which gives the audience time think of the situations and then evokes an emotional response. The images show the surroundings of where how the message was left, this shows that these people come from all different family backgrounds and have a relationship with members of their family. Therefore we realize that these rushing deaths can happen to anyone, regardless of who you are. This shapes the viewer’s interpretation of the world showing that rushing is not worth the consequences of speeding and therefore reinforces the importance of slowing  down. Lastly in ‘Shoe Horn Sonata’ Misto uses music from the period to go with images projected. The use of music adds emotion to the play and It places the audience in the historical context and in some parts it suggests the irony of the situations the women went through. An example is when Bridie criticises the British, the song ‘Rule Britannia’ is played. This song is very patriotic and helps us understand the irony of the situation. The use of music creates emotion within the audience helps shape their interpretation of war, as there is much more horror, truth and death involved then just men on the front line. In the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ the slow solemn music is used to arouse emotion within the audience. This shapes the audiences interpretations of the world because the slow musical beat actually relaxes the audience therefore causing them to slow down and think about the consequences of speeding and the importance of not rushing. John Misto’s play ‘The Shoe-horn Sonata and the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ uses distinctively visual techniques to effectively shape the audiences interpretations of the world. This is done brilliantly by an impressive use of dialogue, photographic images, and musi c.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Quality Television Program Essay

As the channels available on America’s cable programs exceed a thousand and as television becomes more readily available through mobile electronic devices, the criteria for what makes for a quality television program has certainly become more intricate and competitive. There are many different genres of television programs that appeal to a certain type of audience. As a huge fan of drama movies and television, I will be evaluating the recently new spin-off television show 90210 which is currently aired on CW. The American teen drama series revolves around a series of characters attending a fictional high school in Beverly Hills. The program seems to attempt to capture many of the same audiences that enjoy shows such as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries which are also popular TV programs on CW. To evaluate and determine the quality level of 90210 I will be looking at a set of criteria that includes the appeal that the characters bring to the show, how realistic the show is, and a look at the development of plots throughout the last few seasons. To shed some light on the television program I will introduce some of the main characters that have been present in the four seasons the show has been airing. Lori Loughlin and Rob Hestes play Harry and Debbie Wilson as mother and father of daughter Annie Wilson and adopted son, Dixon Wilson. After a move from Kansas, the family of four enters season one as a new family to Beverly Hills and with Harry as the principal of Annie and Dixon’s new high school. Jessica Stroup plays Erin ‘Silver’ Silver who has a bipolar disorder and tends to hang out with some of the less popular of those at Beverly Hills High. Annalynne McCord plays the infamous Naomi Clark who is the most popular, gorgeous, untouchable girl available at her school. Then there is Michael Steger who plays Navid Shirazi who in the first season plays as role as Dixon’s quirky sidekick and then slowly falls into a leading role as he gets involved in a relationship with Jessica Lowndes who plays Adrianna Tate-Duncan. And it certainly would not be a teen drama without the good looking guy, Matt Lanter playing Liam Court who soon gets together with Annie Wilson. As far as criteria is concerned for evaluating the show’s characters I want to look at how engaging the characters are for the audience, how unique and identifiable they are, and what the relationships between the characters are like. After watching all four seasons of the show, they did a great job of picking actors/actresses that fit their different roles. With that said, each of the characters definitely has their own unique characteristics and personalities.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Roswell Coverup Essays - Roswell UFO Incident, Roswell

The Roswell Coverup Essays - Roswell UFO Incident, Roswell The Roswell Coverup You feel the blazing desert sun of Corona, New Mexico beating down on your already weary body. All of a sudden it starts to rain. The cool water refreshes you. Out of the corner of your eye you see a saucer shaped flying disc in the distance. You have heard of hundreds of these sightings all over the country. You gaze in awe because you have now beheld the breathtaking beauty that these discs possess. The saucer you realize is coming directly toward you at a tremendous speed. It flies over missing your head by about 10 feet. After it is over your head you realize that it did not make a sound. If you had lived in New Mexico during the summer of 1947 this incident might have occurred. Only the government, the RAAF (Roswell Army Air Field), and the 509th Bomb Squad knows if this incident really took place, and if it did, were there aliens and what were the reasons for the cover-up. On June 25,1947, the local dentist, Dr. R. F. Sensenbaugher reported a saucer-shaped object about 1/2 the size of the full moon flying over Silver City, New Mexico. On June 26, Leon Oetniger and 3 other witnesses reported a large, silver, ball-shaped object clearly not a balloon or dirigible traveling over the Grand Canyon. June 27, 1947: A white disc glowing like an electric light bulb was reported to have passed over Pope, New Mexico, by local resident W. C. Dobbs at 9:50 a.m. Minutes later, the same or a similar object was sighted traveling southwest over the White Sands Missile Range by Captain E. B. Detchmendy, who reported it to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Harold R. Turner. At 10:00 a.m., Mrs. David Appelzoller of San Miguel, New Mexico, reported that a similar object had passed over that city, again heading southwest. Colonel Turner of White Sands initially reacted by announcing that no rockets had been launched from that base since June 12. Later, fearing hysteria, he officially identified the object as a daytime meteorite.(Berlitz 18) Also on June 27, Major George B. Wilcox of Warren, Arizona, reported a series of 8 or 9 discs traveling at high speed above the mountain tops. Then on June 28, A pilot flying in the vicinity of Alamagorda, New Mexico reported seeing a ball of fire with a fiery blue tail behind it pass beneath him and then disintegrate into the sky. (19) On July 2, 1947, Mac Brazel was sitting at home watching TV during a thunderstorm when he heard a crash that was louder than thunder and sounded different from the other rumbling. There had been a lot of strange noises since they had begun atomic research in New Mexico for World War II. After the storm, the next day Brazel and Timothy D. Proctor were riding the range to determine which fields had received rain. (Randle 37) During the ride, Brazel came across a field filled with debris of some sort. Some of the debris was shiny but most of it looked like dull metal. There were big chunks and little pieces as if something had exploded while still in the air. The debris when examined surprised Brazel because of its strange properties. The material was described to be as thin as the foil in a cigarette pack and just as light. It was strong, however, that Brazel could not scratch it with a knife or even blacken it with matches. (38) On July 6, Brazel finally decided to go to the police in Roswell. When Sheriff George A. Wilcox saw the debris he suggested they call the RAAF (Roswell Army Air Field). It only took a few minutes for the military to arrive, afterwards Wilcox said that they got there so fast it seemed like they had been waiting for the call. After all the samples were brought in and examined no one could identify the material. The next morning on July 7, Brazel took them out to the crash site. The crash site was observed to be 3/4 of a mile long and two to three hundred feet wide. One of the military officers also made the statement that

Monday, October 21, 2019

INFORMATION NETWORKS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DECISION LOCUS AND POLITICAL HOTBED essayEssay Writing Service

INFORMATION NETWORKS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DECISION LOCUS AND POLITICAL HOTBED essayEssay Writing Service INFORMATION NETWORKS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: DECISION LOCUS AND POLITICAL HOTBED essay INFORMATION NETWORKS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: DECISION LOCUS AND POLITICAL HOTBED essayIn the contemporary business environment, business intelligence plays an extremely important part because business intelligence contributes to the enhancement of the information security of organizations and prevents information breaches, which may have a disastrous impact on their business development, reputation and company-customer relationships. In this regard, it is possible to refer to the cases of Mashfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts Club, which reveal the full extent to which business intelligence is important today for the stable and successful business development. Anyway, business intelligence comprises an integral part of the marketing strategy of any company, which aims at the steady and successful business development but companies should come prepared that the development, implementation and maintenance of business intelligence may be challenging and costly, although the effectiv e implementation of business intelligence will bring positive effects that will outweigh costs of business intelligence.Creating business intelligenceThe creation of business intelligence may be driven by different factors. In case of Mashfield clinic the introduction of business intelligence was driven by the introduction of innovations by the company, such as electronic health records and shift toward electronic data storage which raised the problem of the information security, which, by the way, is another reason for the creation of business intelligence by the organization. Mashfield Clinic has to apply technological advances and the wider use of the information system that involve the access to the private information of patients and their health history. Business intelligence developed by Mashfeild Clinic aimed at the enhancement of the information security above all.Furthermore, another issue that may force businesses to introduce business intelligence is the fast progress of technologies which contributes to the emergence of innovations that integrate technologies into vitally important business processes. At the same time, the integration of such technologies raises risks and threats to their stable performance, if business intelligence is applied by rivals for instance. In addition, organizations may face the problem, which Exclusive Resorts Club has faced, the problem of the under-performance of their information system. The enhancement of the information system, automation of key processes, and the wider use of modern telecommunication systems to reach the target customer and to ensure the full customer satisfaction inevitably involve the use of business intelligence. Otherwise, companies may face substantial difficulties with attracting customers and maintaining their loyalty.Implementing business intelligenceFurthermore, the creation of business intelligence is not enough to make it efficient and successful and to reach organizational goals set b efore the creation of business intelligence. The next step is the implementation of business intelligence. This step may also raise certain challenges which organizations should come prepared to cope with. At this point, it is possible to refer one more time to the experience of Mashfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts Club. The implementation of business security may involve the implementation of new solutions, for instance, software, which enhance business intelligence of organizations.However, the implementation of new solutions may raise the opposition from the part of employees, who may be unwilling to learn how to use the new technology or software or who may grow frustrated because the new technology or software requires more efforts and brings little positive effects for employees’ performance. In such a situation, organizations should focus on communicating the change in business intelligence to employees of the company. Before implementing the change, organizations sh ould gain the positive feedback from the part of employees to make sure that employees will not oppose to the introduction of the new business intelligence. Moreover, the acceptance of the change will not just eliminate any opposition to the new solution to business intelligence but it is likely to increase the motivation of employees to implement new business intelligence solutions.In addition, organizations may need the training of employees to help them to learn how to use new business intelligence solution. Alternatively, organizations should introduce new business intelligence solutions with minimal inconveniences for employees to the extent that employees may hardly notice that anything has changed in their workplace environment and their work. As a result, organizations may just introduce new solutions of business intelligence and enjoy their benefits.Using business intelligenceAs business intelligence is implemented, organizations should pay attention to the further use of b usiness intelligence. In case of Mashfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts Club, the further using of business intelligence implies regular updates which can keep their business intelligence up-to-date. In respect to business intelligence, up-to-date means that solutions used to enhance business intelligence are still relevant and efficient. If they grow outdated, organizations should look for new solutions. For instance, Mashfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts Club have alredy had some solutions before implemented new ones. However, old solutions were outdated and they could not match the growing requirements of companies. As a result, organizations were virtually forced to change and enhance their business intelligence focusing on new solutions that could be more efficient.Furthermore, organizations need to upgrade their business intelligence regularly. To put it more precisely, software should be updated quarterly or even frequently to ensure that the new business intelligence system is running well enough. Otherwise, organizations should rather refuse from the implementation of new business intelligence because new solutions may become unsurpassable barriers for employees of organizations.ConclusionThus, the development and introduction of business intelligence is a complex process which requires multiple and hard efforts from the part of the organization. In this regard, the cases of Mashfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts Club reveal possible challenges and difficulties organizations may face while developing their business intelligence. In this regard, organizations should be just aware of the fact that business intelligence is essential today because it primarily enhances the information security of organizations, whereas the information security may be crucial for the survival of organizations and maintenance of their positive public image. In fact, the implementation of business intelligence should rely heavily on the development of up-to-date solutions w hich are upgraded regularly and maintained accurately.