Microsoft essays

Microsoft essays United States vs. Microsoft Corporation Microsoft first came under serious government scrutiny in 1990, and was sued by the US Government for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in early 1994. After a series of accusation and rebuttals, Microsoft entered into a consent agreement with the United States in 1995 that required it to offer a version of its Windows 95 operating system without its Internet Explorer browser. Only one manufacturer, Packard Bell licensed this browser less version, and then only for some of its laptop computers. The consent decree also contained a few other restrictions, which Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, termed nothing. As a result of this consent decree, the Government dropped its charges against Microsoft. The consent decree also prohibited Microsoft from requiring OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to license any other product as a condition of their Windows licenses. The Government continued its investigation into Microsoft, primarily at the urging of Microsofts competitors who felt that Microsoft was ignoring the conditions of the consent decree. Netscape and Sun Microsystems continued to pressure the DOJ for action. The DOJ continued its investigations and actively pursued investigations into the alleged monopolistic activities of Microsoft Corporation. During the course of the investigation, Microsoft and the DOJ (Department of Justice) continued to negotiate a new consent decree. After 18(eighteen) unsuccessful drafts, the DOJ, in conjunction with 20 (twenty) states attorneys general, filed suit against Microsoft on May 18, 1998. The complaint charged Microsoft with four counts of violating the Sherman Act, with two violations under Section 1 and two violations under Section 2 . The charges were : Section 1 (count a) Exclusive Dealing Microsoft had forced computer companies that used its Windows operating system to sign agreements tha...

Power and Privilege Exclusion by Race Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Power and Privilege Exclusion by Race - Essay Example There is no doubt that the law has been used to further discrimination against racial minorities. The law as a political instrument. In a case called City of Memphis v. Greene, 451 U.S. 100, 123,126-27 (1981), the attempt to use the law as an agent of political discrimination is obvious. A white neighborhood association did not want the members of a black neighborhood to drive through their residential area. The City of Memphis, bowing under the pressure of the whites, passed an ordinance that closed the most convenient street giving access to the center of the city. In what can only be described as a wrong-headed decision, the Supreme Court sided with the residents in the name of "residential tranquility." A more classic use of the law as a political instrument could hardly be constructed. The in-power whites did not want the blacks to drive their streets; evidencing pure racism. Their ability to convince the city to close the street and exclude the black community from conveniently driving to the city center demonstrates a regional disregard for those citizens; and the Supreme Court's action took that disregard to a national level. Imagine, if you were a black resident of Memphis at the time, how disenfranchised you would feel. The city, as well as the nation, is telling you to drive out of your way just to preserve the tranquility of white racists. This is not the use of law, it is the abuse of law to further the agenda of the powerful and keep the out-class down. Justice and fairness. Similar to the case above, and a decision which flies in the face of the notion of fairness, the matter of Hernandez v. New York, 111 S. Ct. 1859 (1991), comes to the fore. In this instance, a prosecutor sought to exclude the plaintiff from sitting on a jury simply as a result of Hispanic ancestry. The claim was made that individual Latinos might have difficulty in understanding written documents submitted during the course of the trial, and should not be allowed to sit as jurors. The implication of this assumption is as bizarre as it is inappropriate. While the Supreme Court sided with the prosecution for technical reasons, the racism implied in the very act is clearly apparent; and its extension as a precedent speaks volumes regarding the political use of power and the law. In fact, it should be noted that "[w]here a rule has such a massively disproportionate impact, it is tempting to equate the impact, exclusion of Latinos, with an intent to exclude that grou p" (Friedman and Israel 1745). While the prosecutor in the case may not have intentionally meant to discriminate against an entire class of people, the notion that Hispanics cannot sit on American juries because they may not speak the language well enough is an ugly message to send. Imagine living in the U.S. as a third-generation Latina and being told that you were unfit for jury duty because you were sub-literate. The point you would get was that you were incapable of participating in the legal system because you were inferior as a result of your race. This is neither just nor fair. Once again, the powerful have designed and are perpetuating the institutionalized structure of excluding any one not resembling the people of privilege.

Marine Nature Conservation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Marine Nature Conservation - Essay Example As the report declares the consultation proposal seeks to address a number of areas in an attempt to provide a comprehensive framework for marine conservation and providing a situation where the various demands made upon the environment can be managed more effectively as part of a concerted effort to encourage sustainability against a backdrop of the increasing demands that are being made on our seas and its resources. The five areas, which the proposals concentrate upon, are fisheries management, planning, activity licensing, improving marine nature conservation and the setting up of a new marine management organisation. The purpose of this report concentrates the studies on the improvement of marine nature conservation, with reference to the other factors if and where relevant. This essay stresses that there are four main areas where the proposals for the Marine Bill are considering the way forward in terms of the imposition of relevant laws or regulations, with particular relevance to marine nature conservation. The response to the Review of Marine Nature Conservation, Safeguarding Sea Life, identified some key areas that needed to be addressed by government. These included stopping the decline and attacks upon the biodiversity in the environment, in a way that would create recovery of these areas; provide more support for ecosystems and sites for conservation of marine species, especially those most in danger; improve water quality and endeavour to reduce the impact of man’s impact upon it.

Effectiveness of the Current Credit Risk Management of Techcombank in Dissertation

Effectiveness of the Current Credit Risk Management of Techcombank in Vietnam - Dissertation Example How significant does the current credit risk management decreases the credit risk of Techcombank? What are the strategies to decrease the credit risk of Techcombank? In order to address this research question, this paper shall measure the credit risk under the previous risk management strategies compared to the credit risk under the current risk management strategies. If the findings indicate that the current credit risk management does not reduce the credit risk of the bank, then the reasons for it shall be analysed. 1.1.3. Statement of Research Hypothesis In this research study the Null hypothesis (H0) will be tested against the alternate hypothesis (H1) in each case. The null hypothesis (H0) states that Techcombank has established effective controls for reducing credit risk occurrence while the alternate hypothesis (H1) states that Techcombank still does not have established controls for effectively reducing its credit risk. 1.1.4. Scope of the Study The scope of this research is restricted to a study of credit risk and credit risk prevention in Techcombank Vietnam. However, in order to be able to critically review the credit risk situation in Techcombank of Vietnam, the research will rely on literature review from various authors about credit risk, credit risk controls and credit risk prevention. 1.2. Research Objectives / Hypotheses The specific objectives of the research are as follows: Analysis and review of credit risk faced by banks Determining Techcombank’s credit risk controls measures Proposing standards for measuring the credit risk in a bank such as Techcombank based on scientific footings 1.2.1. Significance of Study This study will identify the main causes of credit risk for Techcombank before and after the... The paper tells that for many banks, loans are the most obvious and the largest source of credit risk. However, there are other sources of credit risk which include bank acceptances, interbank swaps, bonds, equities, options, guarantees among others. In the modern times, as the economy of the world continues to grow and the effect of globalization continues to impact on economic activities, need for financing by investors has also grown, causing an increase in demand for financial services from banks. With the growth of the world’s economy, the number of people using banking services is also increasing as many people are increasingly appreciating use of bank services to undertake their businesses and day-to-day financial operations. As the number of borrowers requiring financial services from Techcombank Vietnam increases, the number of financial services extended to borrowers in form of loans, guarantees, bank acceptances, trade financing and foreign exchange transactions is also increasing. Techcombank Vietnam can fail in two ways. First, a bank can become insolvent by suffering losses on its assets or investment portfolio, resulting in a depletion of its capital. Second, a bank can be a profitable business operation, but fail because it cannot meet the liquidity demands of its depositors. The greater a banks expected deposit variability, the greater the proportion of liquid assets Techcombank should hold. The dilemma facing banks is reconciling the conflicting goals of solvency and liquidity on the one hand and profitability on the other.

State schooling and learning concepts :: essays research papers

While young people were grouped together and instructed/trained/initiated into adult life in the very earliest human civilizations, the story of state schooling best begins with Plato (427-347 BC), who really laid much of the philosophical and pedagogical framework for schools as we know them in the West. Plato believed that education and schools were the most important function of the state, and that school spending should equal that of the military. Precisely because schools were so important in Plato’s conception of the ideal state, he was adamant that education not be left to private interests, who could not be trusted to keep the good of the whole in mind. In The Republic Plato asserted that the state should take responsibility for training children from the age of three and that each citizen could be guided by the system towards an ideal conception of justice and into the social class and occupation best suited for him. Education had to be universalized so that all citizens2 could be effectively screened and placed. In this Plato was emphatic that it was the state’s job to support and control schools and to make them compulsory. There was no question in Plato’s mind that schools should be designed by the state to support the state. Through the rise of the Roman Empire Greek educational conceptions remained dominant, while being retrofitted to become more focused around literature, sciences, music, dancing, while becoming more pedagogically utilitarian. While the Romans overwhelmingly left education up to private citizens and independent schools, a succession of emperors became interested in public education. Monarchs like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius developed various common school programs by insisting that municipalities set up schools for the public (largely children of families too poor to attend private institutions) staffed by physicians, grammarians and sophists. As the Roman Empire disintegrated however, ideals of secular education declined along with it, and for a millennia education became largely a matter of one’s relationship with God, and religious schools in various forms dominated European conceptions of education. The clerical monopoly of education established in the age of transition from the ancient world to the modern lasted for more than a thousand years, and its effects on the intellectual life of Europe were tremendous.

Mandated Minimum Staff Ratios Essay

In the past several years, there has been a growing need for more registered nurses in hospitals due to rising acuity of patients. The safety and quality of patient care is directly related to the size and experience of the nursing workforce. Nursing working conditions have deteriorated in some facilities because hospitals have not kept up with the rising demand for nurses. Legislatures, health care providers, and the public are demanding adequate staffing ratios for nurses, particularly RN’s to patients in an acute care setting (Huston, 2010, p.165). These measures assign some minimum level of staffing that all hospitals must meet regardless of the types and severity of patients. A study was done that included over 10,000 nurses and over 230,000 patients in 168 hospitals; the study showed hospitals with a higher patient to nurse ratio had a higher percentage of surgical patients dying in the 30 days of admission (Huston, 2010, p.167). This study suggest that having an inadequate number of RN’s in the acute care setting places the public at risk for complications and even death. I am writing this topic because I believe that patient to nurse ratio should represent the acuity level and not the number. As a nurse, I have worked in facilities that designate patient care according to the number of patients and not the acuity. The nurses are overwhelmed because some are assigned 6 high acuity patients. When the acuity level is not considered, the patients are put at a higher rate for complications. Greenberg argued that the implementation of staffing ratios improves nurse satisfaction and eventually retention (Huston, 2010, p.169). Who wouldn’t want to go to work to a full nursing staff? The mandated minimum staff ratio would prevent nurses from working short by pulling resources from somewhere else or use contracted nurses. The end result will be patient satisfaction and happy nurses. There are several states and some countries that has adopted this legislation. Some legislatures have even established a law that goes a little further by establishing a hospital wide nursing care committee. This committee will recommend a nursing service staffing plan according to the facility’s assessment of patient care needs (Huston, 2010, p. 173). Other states call for at least an annual evaluation of the staffing plan. These are just some of the alternatives. All states should consider the effect of how this will impact the nurses and the patients. If the patients and nurses are satisfied, the health care system will benefit. References Huston, C.J., (2010). Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities (2nd ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

History essay questions - 1564 Words

1. A series of events and conditions existed in the Old World at the dawn of the fifteenth century that made New World exploration not only possible but desirable. Identify these events and conditions, and explain how each helped set the stage for exploration. a. Isabella avoids an arranged marriage by King Henry, her step brother, that would limit her power. She marries King Ferdinand, ruler of land in Northern Spain, in 1469. b. Isabella becomes queen after King Henry, a ruler that not made many enemies among the nobility and clergy, dies 1474. c. Isabella and Ferdinand start a new campaign known as the Reconquest to eliminate Muslim strong holds and to purify Christianity in the region. d. During that time, Christopher Columbus was†¦show more content†¦The Europeans had kidnapped the native women and raped them. The natives them killed the remaining Europeans in revenge. Columbus made a couple more trips to the New World before he died. c. Columbus’ trip to this new land spurred other European countries to take their own voyages out west and claim new lands. England landed in Newfoundland, a different Spanish expedition landed in northern South America with an Italian business man named Amerigo Vespucci. Portugal sent their own voyage that landed them in Brazil. d. Once word got out in Europe that Columbus’ discovery was more than just a small land mass on the way to Asia, and more of a new continent, different rulers set out to try and map this new land. In 1507, a German cartographer was the first to map the land mass separate from Asia and names the land AMERICA in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. e. Several other expeditions by Spain confirmed the speculation on another body of water between â€Å"America† and Asia. Magellan made the voyage from Spain to America, then through Panama all the way to Asia. He lost 4 of his 5 ships and 232 of his 250 men but confirmed everyone’s ideas of a new body of land and ocean. f. The Columbian Exchange was a transatlantic trade of goods from the New World to the Old World. This brought both good and bad things to both sides of the world. Diseases such as smallShow MoreRelatedHistory Essay Questions2335 Words   |  10 PagesThe Commercial Revolution â€Å"The Moneylender and His Wife,† Quentin Metsys (1514) AP European History J.F. Walters (2010) 1 Commercial Revolution: Essential Questions 1. How did developments in the late Middle Ages impact the Commercial Revolution? 2. What contribution did Luca Pacioli make to the Commercial Revolution? 3. What was the nature of banking in the Commercial Revolution? 4. What was a joint-stock company? 5. What was the Domestic System† in England? 6. What was the PriceRead MoreEssay about History Still Matters Questions792 Words   |  4 Pages1.) Moyers compares the study of history to â€Å"the view in the rearview mirror.† In what ways is this quote an apt comparison? 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Question 4 The ____________ made possible the second industrial revolution in America. b)   Read MoreA History of the World in 6 Glasses Study Questions Essay1485 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction- â€Å"Vital Fluids† 1. The author’s main thesis in setting up this book is that many drinks have built and brought together human history in to what we know about it. 2. The fluids that are mentioned in the book are vital because each one played a role in many areas of history and they are a crucial part of creating a certain period of history. â€Å"Beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt† 1. The discovery of beer is linked to the growth of the first civilizations because in both cultures ofRead MoreUs History Essential Questions on Thomas Jefferson Essay785 Words   |  4 PagesChapter 11 Essential Questions 1) Why does Kennedy refer to the case of Marbury vs. Madison as â€Å"epochal?† Describe the short and long-term ramifications to the decision. The case of Marbury vs. Madison established judicial review of acts of Congress to determine if they are unconstitutional. It was so epochal because had it not established judicial review, Congress would be free to pass laws that are completely unconstitutional and a violation of the rights set in place by the first tenRead MoreAp European History Reading Questions-Chapter 15 Essay examples1631 Words   |  7 Pages1. The upmost important reason for economic and social problems that troubled Europe from 1560 to 1650 was an incredible inflation among other things. The Spanish empire brought tons of gold back to Europe and caused the value of gold to plummet. Since this was a situation that Europe had never experienced, they didnt understand it. More gold was supposed to be good, right? Suddenly prices started to rise for no reason. Also in Spain, unlike gold, there was very little silver being produced at theRead MoreHow to Construct Research Question1149 Words   |  5 PagesIB Extended Essay – Forming a Research Question Choice of topic The topic chosen must focus on the human past, be worthy of study, and lend itself to systematic investigation in line with the published assessment criteria. Essays that focus on events of the last 10 years are not acceptable, as these are regarded as current affairs, not history. It is not a requirement for the topic to be chosen from the Diploma Programme history course, but it must be acceptable to the supervisor. It shouldRead MoreThe Victims Of History By George Orwell1234 Words   |  5 PagesThe Victims of History the importance in critical history studies In his critically acclaimed novel, 1984, George Orwell wrote the following; â€Å"Who controls the past controls the future. And who controls the present controls the past.† When discussing the validity of studying history critically, I think this quote accurately highlights many of the key points that are discussed when it comes to studying history. Critical history analysis prompts us to consider more than just the information we areRead MoreWhite People Have Been The Superior Race Essay1288 Words   |  6 PagesWhite people have been the superior race since the very beginning of America. Throughout history white people have owned and ruled almost everything about American culture. Although white people are still the majority and have most of the wealth in America, there is one thing they do not own, the n-word. This one word has caused controversy and conflicts between races in society. The essay â€Å"Why Do They Get to Use the N-word But I Can’t† talks abo ut the issue of who can say this word and why are onlyRead MoreHenry Fayol1213 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Assessment - Essay †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Assessment (Essay, 2000 words, 30%) is an individual essay. The assignment requires you to use to build an argument that answers the question â€Å"Is Henri Fayol’s management theory relevant today?† †¨Your argument should be presented as an essay. You may however make use of headings to highlight sections of your work†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Your essay should:†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Define the topic: outline what the report is about and how it will be structured i.e. what aspects are you focusing on and why. a. Specify