Scenarios week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scenarios week 4 - Essay Example The situation presented in the case of Glenbrook South High School is normal in most schools, where students with demonstrable capabilities end up failing their exams. After the results that Joanie gets, despite having spent time delivering the content as effective as she could, there is need to come up with a plan that can facilitate effective learning, application of the content and responding to questions in an exam situation. Firstly, in order to facilitate effective learning, Joanie can consider diversifying the teaching and learning style that she uses. One of these ways is to let students do the teaching. (Mwenda, 2012). For instance, a student can be assigned a single theme and allowed some time to carry an in-depth research then come and share the same with the rest of the class. In essence, learners grasp more what they have actively participated in than what has been imposed on them from the teacher. (Mwenda, 2012). Secondly, Joanie can consider engaging the class in group work through discussions and simulations. By doing this, learners will have an opportunity to bring out what they initially thought was right when it was wrong. (Mwenda, 2012). In addition to this, the levels of confidence will be built as the learners correct each other in addition to having the freedom to share what they could have dismissed as irrelevant ideas. Further to this, low achievers can have an opportunity to learn how their well performing colleagues manage to do it. (Mwenda, 2012). In order to have the learners improve in their performance in exams, there are a number of considerations that can be included in Joanie’s teaching plans. Firstly, since the questions that the students failed were to do with memory or remembrance, a catchy and memorable plan should be in place. For instance, apart from being given a chance to read the text on their own, the teacher can organize a video show or an acted presentation of the text in order to have the students remember

Ethical Issues In The Federal Government’s Department Of Defense Essay Example for Free

Ethical Issues In The Federal Government’s Department Of Defense Essay If there could be anything in the American government that the world has long been admiring, it would always be its military strength. Besides its technology, high product standards, its money, transportation and educational facilities, the world has been looking up at America because of its excellence in the field war and battle. It would seem for the rest of the world that Uncle Sam’s haven offers a smooth-sailing life that people of different colors race and strive to come over. The big question to dig into is this: â€Å"Is America free of corruption and abuse? The answer to the question is a big no. In this paper, we will try to look into the ethical standards of the Federal Government for the purpose of having a benchmark in our evaluation of the ethical deviations inside the organization. Specifically, we will try to evaluate how the Department of Defense go through the process of procurement and will try to pinpoint where the flaw in such process is, resulting to fraud and abuse. This paper has included actual court cases where the Department of Defense was involved. Through these processes, we will be able to prove that no matter how powerful the policies and laws of the Federal Government, the powerful America cannot control its entire people and prevent them from overriding personal interests and public trust. At the end of this paper, the author hopes to have the readers convinced that Federal laws and policies still have flaws and that should be taken into consideration the soonest possible in order for the American nation and the rest of the world restore its fading trust and confidence over the people behind their security. President George Bush during his term, probably ensuring the public of their trust towards the government, issued a separate order that would serve as guideline for strict compliance of all personnel directly serving the public. Executive Order 12731 of October 17, 1990, entitled â€Å"Principles of Ethical Conduct for Government Officers and Employees orders each government employee to avoid, prevent and help detect fraud and adhere to ethical standards at all times and situations. The first section of the EO12731 provides catchy ethical principles which prevent each employee to â€Å"hold financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty† and engage in financial transactions using non-public government information or allow the improper use of such information to further any private interest† (section 101-b and c). Subsections of the order also require each employee to act will full honesty in their duties and most importantly they are not allowed to use public office for private gain. The Federal Government, based on its laws and policies, has been straightforward and clear as to guiding its public servants to the proper, ethical behavior they should display all the time. So why are there still countless cases and accusations that have been polluting the air of the public servants? What is more frustrating to know is the fact that even in the Department of Defense, many employees and management personnel has been proven to be contributing to such corruption. The fact of unethical behavior existing in the Federal government is not just an outside observation but is also being recognized by those working inside the organization. In a press release issued by the Ethics Resource Center, it turned out that 52% of the Federal employees are aware and are witnesses of at least one type of misbehavior among their colleagues in the previous year. What is more is that only 30% of federal workers surveyed believe their organizations have well-implemented ethics and compliance programs and that only one in 10 said there is a strong ethical culture in their federal workplace (ERC 2008). Almost one quarter of public sector employees identifies their work environments as conducive to misconduct places where there is strong pressure to compromise standards, where situations invite wrongdoing and/or employees personal values conflict with the values espoused at work (Harned, Patricia cited in Smith, Ralph 2008). In reference to the reports mentioned above, this paper made an impression that there might be something inside the Federal government that attracts employees to disregard ethical considerations and to prefer personal interests over public trust. One thing obvious thing is money. The Federal government, even though have limited financial resources, has probably been the most liquid source of kickbacks for the â€Å"bad apples in the barrel. † It is worth noting that the â€Å"U. S. government is the largest consumer of prime contracts† (Lander, Gerald et. al. 2008). Using this mere information, we can clearly conclude that there is enough money for the bad apples on hand. Moreover, it would be very easy for us to extract the fact that the money is more attracting for those inside the procurement departments. As to federal spending, reports say that procurement contracts have been the fastest-growing part of the discretionary budget. In fact, procurement spending rose 86%, twice as fast as other discretionary spending, which rose 43% between 2000 and 2005. Moreover, such spending composed of 40 cents per dollar of discretionary spending (Ibid). The figures are quite more than attractive and conducive for the bad apples to abuse the trust and authorities vested on them by the public. Despite the fact that trust is held as the most important asset of the government, there is one thing that even the most powerful government cannot control: greed. It is a human element that the procurement agencies of the government intentionally or unintentionally tolerate. The uncontrollable fact of human greed is even recognized by the Department of Defense. As the spokesman of the Pentagon, Dan Howard has noted, The acquisition system is sound but there is no system on the face of this earth that completely obviates the human factor greed. And that is why we have policing systems (The New York Times, June 26, 1988). The trust placed by the public over the Department of Defense continue to fade as more and more cases of fraud files in court have resulted to countless convictions. In Philadelphia alone, the investigation conducted at the Defense Personnel Support Center, resulted in the indictment of 28 individuals and companies on various fraud charges. Such procurement transactions involved textile and apparel industry which have government contracts on uniforms, tents, boots for the armed forces. Here then is the chance for us to ask these questions: What is the purpose of having ethical standards in the federal government? Are these statements of ethical behaviors for the sake of complying with the SEC requirements? Are the ethical standards unsound or the problem of abuse of power and ethical deviance matters of implementation flaws? Referring particularly to the Department of Defense, it is unlikely that these educated people came short of understanding the ethical concepts. In fact, the department’s publication, Armed Forces Comptroller, the author recognizes the fact that their personnel understand the concept of ethics. The author even stressed that â€Å"most of them are required to attend some form of mandatory ethics training† (Benoit, Diana 2006). The Department of Defense has in fact sound which they consider as forming the ethical foundation of the Dept of Defense personnel. For the purpose of evaluation, let us try to look into these then core concepts. The author stressed that these core concepts â€Å"reflect the standards and expectations of military personnel and federal employees throughout the organization† (Ibid). The first of the ethical concepts is honesty which they define as â€Å"being truthful and straightforward, regardless of grade or rank. Honesty is regarded by the department as an ethical concept that goes beyond being trustworthy that it encourages its employees to do not only what is legal but also what is right. Relative to this, abuse of power and betrayal of trust still include acts or attempts of hiding the truth. If the Department of Defense personnel clearly understand this concept, there should have been no reason to remain silent on issues that involves witnessing ethical deviance inside the organization. The ethical concept of honesty goes beyond the issues of actual money laundering. It encompasses keeping accurate records and completing tasks to the extent of one’s capacity and ability. This means that coming to the office late, going out early; taking breaks more than the allowable time are forms of cheating and thus are unethical behaviors. Cheating the taxpayers could also mean using office supplies for personal activities or lavish consumption of such resources. What is frustrating is that this concept is being disregarded by high ranking employees of the department at a considerably higher level of deception as mentioned above. Simple cheating in record keeping and of utilizing government resources for personal use can be detected and be prevented at the lower level of organization. However, it would be a different thing to know that cheating is even more practiced at the higher level of management who are expected to be the police in the department. In fact, the report released by the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, â€Å"the United States recouped more than $1. billion dollars in settlements and judgments pursuing allegations of fraud and in the next fiscal year, the government recovered a record total of more than $3. 1 billion in settlements and judgments from cases involving claims of fraud† (Lander et. al 2008). Closely related to the ethics of honesty is the concept of integrity which the DOD defines as â€Å"doing the right thing the first time and every time. † In an observation by one of the members of the Special Investigations Unit of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul, Special Agent Timothy J. OMalley recognizes the temptations of fraud in their field. O’Malley said â€Å"police officers face greater temptations than they did just a decade or so ago† (Bladow, J. 1994). As an agent, he can pinpoint the fact that the department handles explosives and illegal drug cases which obviously involve a vast sum of money. Taking O’Malley’s exact words, â€Å"a tremendous amount of illicit cash fuels this market. † Here then lies one uncontrollable factor that we can consider. Money is the central thing that enables the government to run. It is money that is the main reason why people oftentimes compromise integrity and principles with dollars. Money enables the government to provide services to public. Employees have to be paid with salaries, supplies have to be bought, buildings have to be constructed, communication and transportation facilities have to be purchased and improved. In fact, America will never be the most powerful nation in the world without its money spent in technology, education and basic government facilities. Moreover, America cannot in anyway be respected or shall we say be feared by other nations if not for its military strength. It is a rare instance that this nation is being challenged by the terrorists during the 911 event. What this paper would like to point out is that even though money is an uncontrollable element in the federal government and particularly in the procurement agency of the department of Defense, transaction processes involving money are very much controllable. In fact, the DOD has sound policies and procedures expressed in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI). In brief, these regulations and guidelines were codified and implemented for procedure compliance purposes especially on procurement transactions undergone by the department. In its Section 201. 304, FAR requires the â€Å"approval of the USD (ATL) before including in a department/agency or component supplement, or any other contracting regulation document such as a policy letter or clause book, any policy, procedure, clause, or form that has a significant effect beyond the internal operating procedures of the agency; or has a significant cost or administrative impact on contractors or offerors† (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI) 2004). Where then lays the procedure flaw- on the approving committee or on those who presents the facts of the procurement contracts? The answer does not solely lies on these precepts. The factors that corrupt integrity in the Department of Defense can be traced in the early stage of the hiring process. â€Å"The applicant selection process represents a critical, though sometimes overlooked, component of police ethics programs† (Bonczek, S. and D. Menzel 1994). The authors suggest that the agency should thoroughly conduct interviews, psychological tests, and extensive background checks (Ibid, p. 4). This would then ensure an applicants compatibility with the departments ethical philosophy. This process can be beneficial in the early identification of â€Å"red flags† in an applicant’s personality before he gets into the department. Even if not all of the factors contributing to the unethical behavior of an employee can be detected at this stage, there are considerable preventive measures that are being done here that can prevent a rotten tomato mingle with the good ones inside the basket. The riskier the world becomes, the higher the standards should the department implement in order to maintain, if not to enhance the integrity of the defenders of the American security. As one observer have noted, it is important that high standards in the hiring process be maintained at all times because of the fact that â€Å"diminished standards or incomplete background checks have resulted in the hiring of armed robbers, burglars, and drug dealers as police officers† (D. Holmquist 1993, p. 38). We have to remember that temptations are everywhere and that is one uncontrollable factor inside the department of defense. Because DOD has got much money to offer especially in the procurement transactions, it clearly caters to a tempting environment. However it cannot really be an excuse neither it will justify one’s act of corruption. Deviance to ethical standards is a clear betrayal of trust and a blot in the name of the person, if he even cares enough for it. A recent study established that fast-talking, outgoing, assertive, and self-confident risk takers represent the best candidates for undercover work. While this may come as no surprise, the study also concluded that these personality traits are often the same ones predisposing an officer to corruption and psychological distress (Bladow, p. 12). This suggests that a good apple in the barrel has always the chance of being badly influenced by others. Strict hiring standards are therefore required to be implemented during the hiring process at all levels. â€Å"Police managers must view their hiring standards as components of managing for ethics† (Wells, S. A. 1993, p. 67). Strict adherence to employee selection is a must although diversity in the law enforcement departments must also be considered in order to foster diverse citizenry. â€Å"Agencies should not pursue the goal of a diversified workforce at the expense of one of law enforcements most valued asset- integrity† (Travis, M. A. 1994, p. 1717).

D. H. Lawrences You Touched Me and Nietzches The Use and Abuse of His

Compare Happiness and Life Between D. H. Lawrence's You Touched Me and Friedrich Nietzche's The Use and Abuse of History Taken From The Twilight Of the Idols INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper, I won't stick to only one topic. I will compare different topics, such as happiness and life between two romantic writers, D. H. Lawrence and Friedrich Nietzsche from D. H. Lawrence's You touched me and Friedrich Nietzche's The use and abuse of history taken from The twilight of the Idols. I will start talking about life and happiness by giving my own little definition of each of these two terms. LIFE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life: one word, many meanings. Life: one word, one precious thing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We see life in a total different way by the two writers. Life, in D. H. Lawrence's You touched me, is one, short and precious thing. We see life through the eyes of a dying father and his two daughters, who loves their father a lot and an adopted son enrolled in the army. The father continuously fights his disease, battling to stay alive. We see life as a fragile, vulnerable thing. It can also vanish unexpectedly. What I mean by "life can also vanish unexpectedly" is that you never know when something terrible could happen to you and see it taken away.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friedrich Nietzshe explains us a lot more his perception of life. Unfortunately, I didn't understand most of the things he meant, but I will explain what I think I understood. Nietzshe describes life with the help of a man and a bea...

Smart Card

A smartcard is a specific type of plastic card generally made of polyvinyl chloride based on polyesters or polycarbonate. It is the size of credit card. There is a 3by 5 mm imbedded chip in the card. Smart card contains either memory card or microprocessor that holds data and information. The microprocessor card can add, delete, and manipulate information on the card, while a memory-chip card (for example, pre-paid phone cards) can only undertake a pre-defined operation.Smart cards, unlike magnetic stripe cards, can carry all necessary functions and information on the card. Therefore, they do not require access to remote databases at the time of the transaction. A typical smartcard consists of an 8-bit microprocessor running at approximately 5 MHz with ROM, EEPROM and RAM, together with serial input and output, all in a single chip that is mounted on a plastic carrier. The operating system is typically stored in ROM, the CPU uses RAM as its working memory, and most of the data is sto red in EEPROM. Fig:-1 shows smart card. HistoryIn 1968 and 1969 German electrical engineers Helmut and Jurgen jointly developed automated chip card. Then after in 1974 French inventor Roland Moreno gives memory card concept called smart card. An important patent for smart cards with a microprocessor and memory as used today was filed by Jurgen Dethloff in 1976 and granted as USP 4105156 in 1978. The first mass use of the cards was as a telephone card for payment in French pay phones starting in 1983. Carte Bleue After the Telecarte microchips were integrated into all French Carte Bleue debit cards in 1992.Customers inserted the card into the merchant's POS terminal, then typed the PIN, before the transaction was accepted. Only very limited transactions (such as paying small highway tolls) are processed without a PIN. Smart-card-based electronic purse systems store funds on the card so that readers do not need network connectivity and entered service throughout Europe in the mid-1990 s. The major boom in smart card use came in the 1990s, with the introduction of smart-card-based SIMs used in GSM mobile phone equipment in Europe.With the ubiquity of mobile phones in Europe, smart cards have become very common. Development of contactless systems Contactless smart cards that do not require physical contact between card and reader are becoming increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit and motorway tolls. Visa and MasterCard have agreed to an easy-to-implement version that was deployed in 2004–2006 in the USA. Most contactless fare collection implementations are custom and incompatible, though the MIFARE Standard card .Smart cards are also being introduced in personal identification at national and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are appearing. A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, use d for telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications, and then periodically refreshed for additional use. Currently or soon, you may be able to use a smart card to: Dial a connection on a mobile telephone and be charged on a per-call basis* Establish your identity when logging on to an Internet access provider or to an online bank * Pay for parking at parking meters or to get on subways, trains, or buses * Give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a form * Make small purchases at electronic stores on the Web (a kind of cybercash) * Buy gasoline at a gasoline station Over a billion smart cards are already in use. Currently, Europe is the region where they are most used. Ovum, a research firm, predicts that 2. billion smart cards will be shipped annually by 2003. Another study forecasts a $26. 5 billion market for recharging smart cards by 2005. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are reportedly working on keyboards that include smart card slots that can be read like bank credit cards. The hardware for making the cards and the devices that can read them is currently made principally by Bull, Gemplus, and Schlumberger. How Smart Cards Work A smart card contains more information than a magnetic stripe card and it can be programmed for different applications.Some cards can contain programming and data to support multiple applications and some can be updated to add new applications after they are issued. Smart cards can be designed to be inserted into a slot and read by a special reader.. An industry standard interface between programming and PC hardware in a smart card has been defined by the PC Working Group, representing Microsoft, IBM and other interested companies. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source.Instead, they use an inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics. Hybrids A hybrid smart card which clearly shows the antenna connected to the main chip Dual-interface cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example is Porto's multi-application transport card, called Andante, which uses a chip with both contact and contactless interfaces . Applications First introduced in Europe nearly three decades ago, smart cards debuted as a stored value tool for payphones to reduce theft.As smart cards and other chip-based cards advanced, people found new ways to use them, including charge cards for credit purchases and for record keeping in place of paper. In the U. S. , consumers have been using chip cards for everything from visiting libraries to buying groceries to attending movies, firmly integrating them into our everyday lives. Several U. S. states have chip card programs in progress for government applications ranging from the Department of Motor Vehicles to Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBTs).Many industrie s have implemented the power of smart cards in their products, such as the GSM digital cellular phones as well as TV-satellite decoders. Why Smart Cards Smart cards improve the convenience and security of any transaction. They provide tamper-proof storage of user and account identity. Smart card systems have proven to be more reliable than other machine-readable cards, like magnetic stripe and barcode, with many studies showing card read life and reader life improvements demonstrating much lower cost of system maintenance. Smart cards also provide vital components of system security or the exchange of data throughout virtually any type of network.They protect against a full range of security threats, from careless storage of user passwords to sophisticated system hacks. The costs to manage password resets for an organization or enterprise are very high, thus making smart cards a cost-effective solution in these environments. Multifunction cards can also be used to manage network sys tem access and store value and other data. Worldwide, people are now using smart cards for a wide variety of daily tasks, which include: FinancialSmart cards serve as credit or ATM cards, fuel cards, mobile phone SIMs, authorization cards for pay television, household utility pre-payment cards, high-security identification and access-control cards, and public transport and public phone payment cards. Non-EMV cards work like magnetic stripe cards. This is a typical USA card technology (PayPass Magstripe and VISA MSD). The cards do not hold/maintain the account balance. All payment passes without a PIN, usually in off-line mode. The security of such a transaction is no greater than with a magnetic stripe card transaction.EMV cards have contact and contactless interfaces. They work as a normal EMV card via contact interface. Via contactless interface they work somewhat differently in that the card command sequence adopts contactless features such as low power and short transaction time . Identification A quickly growing application is in digital identification. In this application, the cards authenticate identity. The most common example employs public key infrastructure (PKI). The card stores an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI provider along with other relevant information.Contactless smart cards that can be read from within a wallet or even a garment simplify authentication; however, there is concern over criminals accessing data from these cards. Cryptographic smart cards are often used for single sign-on. Most advanced smart cards include specialized cryptographic hardware that uses algorithms such as RSA and DSA. Today's cryptographic smart cards generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk from having more than one copy of the key (since by design there usually isn't a way to extract private keys from a smartThe first smart card river's license system in the world was implemented in 1987 in Turkey. Turkey had a high level of road accident s and decided to develop and use digital tachograph devices on heavy vehicles, instead of the existing mechanical ones, to reduce speed violations. Since 1987, the professional driver's licenses in Turkey are issued as smart cards and the driver is required to insert his driver's license into the digital tachograph before starting to drive. The tachograph unit records speed violations for each driver and gives a printed report. The driving hours for each driver is also being monitored and reported.In 1990 the European Union conducted a feasibility study through BEVAC Consulting Engineers, titled â€Å"Feasibility study with respect to a European electronic driver’s license (based on a smart-card) on behalf of Directorate General VII†. In this study, chapter seven is dedicated to the experience in Turkey, stating that the electronic driver's license application, in the form of smart cards, was first implemented in Turkey in 1987. Public transit Smart cards and integrate d ticketing have become widely used by public transit operators around the world. Card users may use their cards for other purposes than for transit, such as small purchases.Computer security The Mozilla Firefox web browser can use smart cards to store certificates for use in secure web browsing. Some disk encryption systems, such as TrueCrypt and Microsoft Windows 7 BitLocker, can use smart cards to securely hold encryption keys, and also to add another layer of encryption to critical parts of the secured disk. Smart cards are also used for single sign-on to log on to computers. Smart card support functionality has been added to Windows Live passports. Schools Smart cards are being provided to students at schools and colleges. Tracking student attendance * As an electronic purse, to pay for items at canteens, vending machines etc. * Tracking and monitoring food choices at the canteen, to help the student maintain a healthy diet* Tracking loans from the school library Healthcare Sma rt health cards can improve the security and privacy of patient information, provide a secure carrier for portable medical records, reduce health care fraud, support new processes for portable medical records, provide secure access to emergency medical information, enable compliance with government initiatives (e. g. organ donation) and mandates, and provide the platform to implement other applications as needed by the health care organization. Advantages The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver’s license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card.For example, a smart card can be progra mmed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card. Individuals gain increased security and convenience when using smart cards designed for interoperability between services. For example, consumers only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. Additionally, the data storage available on a card could contain medical information that is critical in an emergency should the card holder allow access to this.The first main advantage of smart cards is their flexibility. There is no need, for example, to carry several cards: one card can simultaneously be an ID, a credit card, a stored-value cash card, and a repository of personal information such as telephone numbers or medical history. Such a card can be easily replaced if lost, and, because a PIN number (or other form of security) must be used to access information, is totally usele ss to people other than its legal bearer. At the first attempt to use it illegally, the card would be deactivated by the card reader itself. The second main advantage is security.Smart cards can be electronic key rings, giving the bearer ability to access information and physical places without need for online connections. They are encryption devices, so that the user can encrypt and decrypt information without relying on unknown, and therefore potentially untrustworthy, appliances such as ATMs. Smart cards are very flexible in providing authentication at different level of the bearer and the counterpart. Finally, with the information about the user that smart cards can provide to the other parties, they are useful devices for customizing products andservices.Other general benefits of smart cards are: * Portability * Increasing data storage capacity * Reliability that is virtually unaffected by electrical and magnetic fields. Smart Cards andElectroniccommerce Smart cards are turning out to be a fundamental piece of the transformation of retailing into electronic commerce. The impressive growth of the Internet is making electronic shopping at least a real possibility, if not a habit, among computer users. However, the business model used in current electronic commerce applications still cannot enjoy the full potential of the electronic medium.Moreover, concerns about the reliability of an invisible counterpart and about the safety of the Internet for credit card information increase the wariness and thereby limit the use of the electronic shopping on the part of customers. Of the estimated 360 billion payments that took place in the United States in 1995, approximately 300 billion could not have taken place using the existing electronic media. Such transactions involved micro-payments p; i. e. payments for less than $10 p; which are virtually outside of the electronic arena for lack of a payment method compatible with such low amounts.Credit cards or checks are simply too expensive to use for micro-payments, and the e-cash currently being experimented on the World Wide Web does not seem to have the characteristics to appeal to shoppers. For this reason, smart cards could be a fundamental building block of widespread use of electronic commerce, since they are an instrument to pay at a low cost for transactions involving small amountsofmoney. Another big advantage of smart cards for electronic commerce is their use for the customization of services.It is already possible to purchase tailored services on the World Wide Web p; MyYahoo and FireFly are well known examples. However, in order for the service supplier to deliver the customized service, the user has to provide each supplier with her profile p; a boring and time consuming activity. A smart card can contain a non-encrypted profile of the bearer, so that the user can get customized services even without previous contacts with the supplier. Finally, smart cards are a key technology ena bler for financial institutions.The processing power, the portability and the interactive properties of smart cards will constitute the basis for a revolution in the relationship between consumers and banks. PC-based home banking and phone banking will give way to card banking: a phone equipped with a smart card reader will be all that is needed for any kind of transaction. A smart card is a plastic card with a small, built in microcomputer chip and integrated circuit that can store and process a lot of data. It is considered to be a secure, time saving device that can access information without use of a PC or the Internet.However, smart cards have both Flexibility * Smart cards have a lot of flexibility. They can store multiple types of information including identification, credit cards, business and family contacts. Cost and Availability * Smart card readers are expensive to produce. These readers are not available in all locations and may have compatibility issues due to the diff erences of each smart card brand. Adafruit Raspberry Pi Starter Kit Now available in India ProtoCentral Security * Smart cards are individually encrypted and can only be accessed by pin number.However, there is concern about privacy and whether or not information on the card could be accessed or used illegally by the government or other third-party sources. Data Integrity * Information on a smart card cannot be erased or removed accidentally by any electrical or magnetic means. Smart Card Uses * Smart cards are useful for setting limits on expenses, customizing customer loyalty programs and accessing critical health care information. Smart cards save users from having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. DisadvantagesThe plastic card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible, and the larger the chip, the higher the probability that normal use could damage it. Cards are often carried in wallets or pockets, a harsh environment for a chip. However, for large banking sys tems, failure-management costs can be more than offset by fraud reduction. Client-side identification and authentication cards are the most secure way for e. g. , internet banking applications, but security is never 100% sure. If the account holder's computer hosts malware, the security model may be broken.Malware can override the communication (both input via keyboard and output via application screen) between the user and the application. Rabobank (â€Å"random reader†) in the Netherlands combine a smart card with an unconnected card reader to avoid this problem. The customer enters a challenge received from the bank's website, a PIN and the transaction amount into the reader, The reader returns an 8-digit signature. This signature is manually entered into the personal computer and verified by the bank, preventing malware from changing the transaction amount. Another problem is the lack of standards for functionality and security.

Learning Expirience

Learning Experience PSY/103 Learning Experience Experience can shape our behavior and personality. More over our experiences contribute to our development over time. Learning process occurs when we experience situation that have negative or positive effect on us. In this essay I will briefly describe my personal learning experience; I will also define the concept of learning, and will provide analysis of what I have learned from this experience. In addition my essay will include the analysis and application of classical and operant conditioning as well as cognitive- social learning.My Experience Every person’s identity is formed by the various roles that they perform in the world. In fact becoming a mother is one more such role and it has psychological implications. Four month ago I became a mother to a wonderful, my first baby boy. The experience of giving birth, as well as being home with a newborn for the first few weeks was overwhelming, painful, and emotionally tiring. I am 25 years old and was so exciting to becoming a mother, however when my son was born for the first few weeks I have experienced anxiety, stress, depression, fear and even anger.It has been almost 4 month and my baby is my life, I cannot imagine how I was getting frustrated and feeling all those things when my baby is my joy. Today I am still tired, and stressed, however anger and depression is gone. I have learned from this experience that I need to accept the change in my life, and avoid becoming frustrated. Being prepared for things to be different could have prepared me to deal with situation differently. Also positive attitude should have been my best ally instead of being afraid and having negative thoughts.At last I have learned from this experience that I need to try to develop a new and balanced lifestyle that takes into consideration all areas of my new life. Learning Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (David A. K olb, 1984). As we learn, we alter the way we perceive our environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and therefore the way we interact, or behave (Carpenter & Huffman, 2012). Learning through Classical Conditioning One of the best-known characteristics of behavioral learning theory is classical conditioning.Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus (Carpenter & Huffman, 2012). There are basic principles of classical conditioning process. Such as the unconditioned stimulus (UC) and unconditioned response (UR), as well as conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR) (Carpenter & Huffman, 2012). The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response (â€Å"The propositional nature of human associative learning,† 2009).For example, baby crying made me feel sad and frustrated, and baby smiling made me fee l loved, happy and positive. For instance, when I saw my bay for the first time the feeling of pain was simply gone. As I spend those first weeks with my baby although I have had mood swings and feeling of anger sometimes, however every time I looked at my baby I naturally felt better and calmer. The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus. For example, feel of love in response to my baby smile is unconditioned stimulus.The conditioned stimulus is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response (â€Å"The propositional nature of human associative learning,† 2009). For example, when my baby cried I felt frustration and in the same time my husband was trying to explain me something thus my husband voice would be conditioned stimulus. Although the sound of my husband voice is unrelated to my baby’s cry and feeling of frustration, if the sound of his voice was paired multiple times with the baby’s cry, the sound would eventually trigger the conditioned response.The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. For instance, feeling frustrated when I heard my husband talking to me. In my view classical conditioning is a useful technique that can be applied by creating a positive environment to help people to overcome anxiety, fear and frustration. For example, a situation like my baby’s crying with pleasant surroundings would have helped me to learn new associations. Instead of feeling anxious, frustrated and angry in that situation, I learn to stay relax and calm (Carpenter & Huffman, 2012).Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is a technique of learning that happens through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior (â€Å"The pr opositional nature of human associative learning,† 2009). The elimination of an undesirable outcome can be used to decrease or prevent undesirable behavior. Feeling frustrated, being angry with situation simply led to more stress and created more problems for myself emotionally and physically.Positive reinforcement: Getting to know my baby, his first smile and lough created a positive and happy environment thus increasing my positive behavior. To conclude learning process revolves around human life. People learn something new every single day, thus creating new experiences and knowledge. Self-development and growth naturally occurs through learning. References WILEY PLUS: Carpenter, S. and Huffman, K. (2010). Visualizing Psychology (2nd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley The Propositional Nature of Human Associative Learning (2009, fall). BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES, (32), 183-246. doi:10. 1017/S0140525X09000855