500 Word Short Story Essays

500 Word Short Story Essays 500 Word Short Story Essay 500 Word Short Story Essay ELA Something was distinctive about this day from the second I woke up. I had been debilitated for some time and had as of late been to the vet, yet today was unique. I was given a wide range of heavenly nourishment for breakfast, an extraordinary change from my ordinary bowl of kibbles, and my lords were continually petting me. They were directing sentiments toward me as well. How I wish I could get them. At that point the whole family conveyed me into the vehicle and we began retreating from the garage. I love the vehicle; it as a rule prompts some incredible experience or excursion. Today however I was too worn out to even consider putting my head out the window so I lied tranquilly in there. They tenderly stroked my hide saying my name again and again. It was calming yet I was too feeble to even consider raising my head or sway my tail. How I missed the days where I could move around in the grass cool as a cucumber. Presently I need assistance to just get up. They are continually ready to support me however. They appear to adore me a ton and I love them as well. Out of nowhere one of them started to cry. I licked her hand, which just exacerbated it. I considered what might not be right; we were essentially going for a ride. The various people appeared to be really dismal as well, in spite of the fact that I could let some know of them were making an effort not to show it. At that point we maneuvered into a parking area, yet no one got out. We stayed there, no one talking, for five minutes, at that point one of them escaped the vehicle. The time he was gone appeared to last an unending length of time yet it was extremely just two minutes. At the point when he returned, he was with another man. My vet. I was extremely eager to consider him to be he generally presented to me a treat, and sure enough in his grasp there was a little canine bread. He appeared to be miserable today however, much like my lords. He removed a needle from his pack. Unexpectedly they all began crying. They were all embracing and kissing me, which hurt a little in light of the fact that my body was so delicate. What might be going on I thought. I attempted to get up however I couldn’t. I lied there, in the arms of my darling experts as they cried surrounding me. I was so befuddled however there was nothing I could do. Caught under what appeared as though 1000 pounds I lied there. At that point I heard my vet say something and my lords gestured. My vet drew a little nearer and floated over me with the needle. Everybody had gone quiet; they all appeared to recognize what was going to come straightaway. At that point he stuck the needle into me and pushed his thumb down. Abruptly I felt light, and the torment was no more. I heard the sound of crying becoming further and further away. Then†¦nothing.

Psychology Dreams Essays - Dream, Mental Processes, Neuroscience

Brain research: Dreams I don't utilize drugs, my fantasies are sufficiently terrifying. (Escher) For what reason do we dream? It is safe to say that they are directions from the profound world or simply profound, concealed wishes that can be utilized to open the mysteries of the oblivious brain? No one knows without a doubt. One hypothesis that is predominant today is that fantasies result from the physiological exercise of the neural connections of the mind. There is no demonstrated actuality on why we dream, which is the reason there are such a large number of speculations on the subject. There is Freud's hypothesis that fantasies convey our shrouded wants and Jung's hypothesis that fantasies convey meaning, in spite of the fact that not generally of want, and that the visionary can decipher these fantasies. After these hypotheses, others proceeded with, for example, the Cayce hypothesis in that fantasies are our bodies methods for working up of the psychological, profound and physical prosperity. At long last came the contention between Evans' hypothesis and the Crick and Mitchinson hypothesis. Evans expresses that dreaming is our bodies method of putting away the huge swath of data picked up during the day, though Crick and Mitchinson state that this data is being dumped as opposed to put away. Whichever hypothesis is valid, we may never know, yet from these following speculations we can choose for ourselves what we accept to be valid and further assistance us into understanding our fantasies. My very own hypothesis on why we dream is that the inner mind is continually working. This outcomes in dreams. The inner mind trying to record the entirety of the data from the earlier day brings about dreams. A fantasy as I would like to think is just a concoction response in the mind. In research facility tests, when individuals were awaked during the RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM) phase of rest and requested to report what was at the forefront of their thoughts not long before arising, about 90% detailed an encounter named TRUE DREAM. At the point when a genuine dream is experienced is appears as though it were a real occasion instead of one idea or envisioned. Genuine dreams regularly include a progression of such encounters woven together in a to some degree peculiar story. Indeed, even those individuals who asserted to once in a while dream or just recollect pieces of dreams in the mornings had the option to give point by point records of a genuine dream experience when stirred during REM rest. The individuals who were stirred during SLOW-WAVE rest (the more profound, less intellectually dynamic phases of rest) detailed mental movement in just about 60% of cases. Generally, this action came up short on the striking tangible and engine mind flights of genuine dreams. This kind of mental movement is called SLEEP THOUGHT, and as a rule relates to what the individual had been considering a large portion of the day. Anyway this idea is generally significantly less gainful than that of cognizant musings (while the individual is wakeful). The individuals who accept that we dream because of the mind's customary exercise of gatherings of neurons refer to confirm that neurotransmitters can decline on the off chance that they go excessively long without being dynamic; this neural movement during REM rest assists with protecting significant neural pathways. At the point when neurons in the engine and perceptual locales of the mind are practiced as such, the unavoidable symptom are the fantasies we experience. The expanded mental idea action is because of the rest thought being occupied with attempting to understand these developments and fantasies. Brain research

Hacking

Hacking If youve never seen Hackers then youre depriving yourself and should make a point of getting on that train.* I get asked about hacking at MIT a lot, which is natural; I talk about it in my biography after all. There are times when I get asked, out of the blue, what made me decide to be Course 6 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). This confuses me because Im actually Course 2 (Mechanical Engineering). After explaining this I then get asked “So why does your biography say that you came to MIT for the hacks?” *Yes, Im on a train again, and will probably include a train reference every time I write an entry from a train. I will also mercilessly steal blog formatting and style ideas from my friend Trumans blog. A-ha! Hacking at MIT! There have been a bunch of entries that reference individual hacks here, and one or two that have talked more about hacking itself than individual hacks. Id like to write one of those entries, an entry that explains what hacking is and what experiences you may have at MIT that involve hacks. And so with that, a quick primer on hacking at MIT. Hacking at MIT has nothing to do with breaking into computer networks or computers. Instead hacking at MIT involves anonymous, ninja-like MIT students pulling off incredible feats of engineering right under the nose of the administration while quite possibly breaking dozens of laws and ending up on various rooftops around campus. Hacks could be considered “pranks” at any other school but since MIT makes up its own words and meanings for things they are called “hacks” here. People who pull them are called hackers. Inevitable question one: Are you a hacker Snively!? Well thought out answer: No, I prefer to take an observatory role. Let other people risk life and limb crawling on edges of buildings, I just want to see the end result. That, and Id prefer to not be arrested while at MIT If and when you are accepted to MIT there may be a day when youre walking through campus and you see something a little out of the ordinary. Sometimes its small, a chainsaw in a wooden case, sitting in a hallway. Other times it might be big, like a huge Scrabble board on the side of a building. Sometimes it may be huge, spanning over a quarter mile! (while hard to see, theres a banner that says Go Sox suspended from a line of rope that stretches from the tower on the left to the tower on the right, over a 1000 feet) These are all examples of hacks that have happened at MIT. In a nut shell, a hack is an addition to the school that makes somebody smile, makes them wonder how in the world this was possible, or both. The chainsaw hack is an excellent example of the smiling variety, GoSox! a good example of the how did they do that!? while Media Lab Scrabble is a good example of both. Hacks started many years ago with some crazy Senior House people dragging a car up onto their roof using a rope and a lot of manpower. After that students realized that they could put more crap on roofs, including a cow (fake cow! fake cow!) and then things got interesting. Theres a lot of history here you can read up on at the MIT Hack Gallery but Im going to skip to the good part. The milestone in MIT hacking that kicked it into overtime was when one day an MIT Campus Police car showed up on top of the Great Dome. Inevitable question two: Wha- how!? Well thought out answer: Well thats the point now, isnt it? Nobody knows how they got the police car on the dome, all they knew is that perched 150+ feet above everybodys heads was a police car, lights flashing, with a dummy cop inside holding a donut. MIT Facilities stared at it in awe, not quite sure what to think. How, erm, how were they supposed to get a car off the dome? Helicopters flew by all day, getting some great pictures, and eventually the rappelling gear was brought out and the police car was carefully disassembled on top of the dome and removed in pieces. It was saved and is now on display in the Stata center if youre interested in seeing it. After the police car other stuff started appearing on the dome: a working phone booth, giant beanie, triforce, and a ton of other things. Hackers realized that there was more than just the dome, that awesome hacks could fit in any number of places around campus. MIT is blessed with buildings that kind of look like the aftermath of a game of Perfection. We have two domes, a square courtyard, weird statues, a 3-4-5 triangle building, Kresge, the Green Building, and that pile of architectural vomit known as the Stata (rhymes with “data”) Center. Hackers have played to the strengths of the unique physical attributes of each building, transforming them into ships, R2D2, and spaceship landing sites. Hacks generally appear overnight since actually putting a hack up involves mucho illegality. Sure, MIT loves the aftermath of the hack, postering the admissions site and the MIT homepage with them whenever they happen, but MIT HATES hackers when theyre actually putting up a hack. Hackers have been dealt fines, had guns pulled on them, and even taken to court and threatened with jail time for hacking. More incentive for me to just enjoy looking at the fire truck on top of the dome. Inevitable question three: This sounds awesome! I want to run from the cops! How do I get into hacking!? Is it a club or something? Well thought out answer: Hacking is not a club and you will never see it listed in any official activities pamphlets given to you at CPW, orientation, or anywhere else. The reason for this is because most of the things that hackers have to do in order to pull hacks are illegal and fairly dangerous. MIT doesnt really like it when students break the law. How to become a hacker is left as an exercise for the interested reader. Inevitable question four: How do hackers have time for all of this!? Well thought out answer: Like any extracurricular activity, MIT students make time. We dont always just lock ourselves in rooms to study, we do other stuff. Some people choose hacking. As Ive mentioned, hacks had a lot to do with why I wanted to come to MIT. They made me realize that MIT is, in a word, awesome. Not only are the opportunities here endless, the education first rate, but the amount of fun students had and the creativity that blankets the entire school is just phenomenal. I think Ill finish this post off like a class syllabus, just because I can. Required Reading: 1) MIT Hack Gallery â€" http://hacks.mit.edu Supplemental Reading: 1) Nightwork Buy from Amazon.com Photos courtesy of the MIT hack gallery.

How And Why One Should Reform The Global Economy - 1245 Words

How and Why One Should Reform the Global Economy It was chosen the texts, which are related to the last global economic crises in 2008 and more later analysis of the influence of globalization on national politics of different countries. The first one is a chapter from the book Free fall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy by Joseph E.Stiglitz, the title of which is The Making of the Crisis. Joseph Stiglitz described the background of the economic crisis in 2008. He started with the description of the nature of the crises and provided insights on its prerequisites, description of the main players, their motivations, decisions, and consequences of these decisions. As is known, the global economic crises started†¦show more content†¦The second text is The Political Economy of Globalization by Layna Mosley. The core question which author researched is how economic globalization affects government policymaking and in what extent does governments retain their political autonomy. Also, she arose such questions whether countries under IMF adjustment program succeed to a greater extent in economic reform and liberalization. On the other hand, are democracy less retentive to liberalize trade than non-democracy? In her work, she described the modern trends in economic globalization at the beginning of the 2000s and tried to prove that welfare state and economic globalization are potentially inconstant. In her analysis, the core argumentation is built around the â€Å"race to the bottom† claim. Overall, the conclusion of this text is that governments started to think not only about their main â€Å"clients† (citizens who choose t heir governments) but also about financial markets because of the economic growth, especially for developing countries, is possible only due to investments in that countries. For nowadays, maybe, these two texts are not up to date. However, in my opinion, they describe the importance of the regulator in the economy of the state. As the initial topic of this essay is how and why one should reform the global economy, it is important to understand that forShow MoreRelatedArticle Analysis: On the Contradictions of the New International Financial Architecture: Another Procrustean Bed for Emerging Markets?1404 Words   |  6 Pagesconcept in the case or article? The main concept of the article is to explain why the New International Financial Architecture (NIFA) was created and who is being benefited from this approach. The discussion begins with an examination of the power structures of the global political economy by focusing on the continued dominance of the USA. The article presents the contradictory relations between USA and global finance will be explored so as to shed more critical light on the NIFA. This articleRead MoreEducation For The Collaborative Global Innovation Age1069 Words   |  5 PagesReframing education for the collaborative global innovation age seeks to build a better future by improving not only academic achievement but also educating children in a way that prepares students on how to live a practical and fulfilling life. Fischetti’s, J.C (2014) article, ‘The Rubber Duckies Are Here: Five Trends Affecting Public Education Around the World’ (2014), presents ideas about the many issues in public e ducation and how it is crucial to move forward out of this poor way of teachingRead MoreForeign Direct Fdi ( Fdi )846 Words   |  4 Pagesimprovement of the bal-ance of payments (BOP) account situation due to the increased availability of foreign exchange in an economy, and perhaps, most importantly, the prospect of the transfer of technology, manageri-al skills and other intangible knowledge to the host country which would allow domestic firms to improve their collective profitability and performance (Elijah, 2006). On a global basis, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows increased by about 35 percent to $345 billion between the second andRead MoreHow Corporations Should Be Taxed On The United States Economy1461 Words   |  6 Pagessymptom of a broken tax system that is hurting the United States economy. Furthermore, with the strict laws concerning inversions, some companies opt to direct profits to their foreign subsidiaries to take advantage of lower tax rates. The current tax code’s high corporate tax rate and outdated way of taxing domestic and foreign income puts American businesses at an unreasonable disadvantage, thus further weakening the U.S economy. Every politician and congressman have agreed that there is a needRead MoreThe Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis1418 Words   |  6 Pageslarge problem of economic stability and political unity facing the European Union. This study seeks to answer two main questions. Firstly, why should European Union help Greece bailouts its economy wo es? Secondly, should Greece change its domestic economic policies in response to demands from the EU? Yes, the European Union should help Greece bailout its economy woes. The reasons are as follows. Greece was living expenditure beyond its means even before it joined the European Union. After GreeceRead MoreNew Growth And Reform Of China1699 Words   |  7 Pages New Growth and Reform of China Siyu Sun 1377625 University of Alberta Author Note This paper was prepared for Econ 211, Section A, taught by Professor Xu. Abstract Export was the main growth from 1994 in China, but China has new growth engines in recent years. In addition, China has made some reforms in social, politics and economics for a better development. Some people think China did a right decisionRead More1. Introduction Japan has very significant characteristics in terms of their economic power1700 Words   |  7 Pages1. Introduction Japan has very significant characteristics in terms of their economic power either in the Asia- Pacific region or around the world. After World War II the Japanese economy was deeply affected by shortages, inflation, and currency devaluation means that Japanese economy was bankrupt position. Therefore, Japan passed under the control of US in the post- Second World War period. From this point, economic transformation or recovery or development has started in Japan with the impactsRead MoreWhat Is Democratic Socialism?1707 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Is Democratic Socialism? Democratic Socialists believe that the economy and society should be run democratically - to meet the needs of the whole community, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be trasnsformed to through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the decisions that affect our lives. Democracy and socialism go hand in hand. All over the world, wherever the ideaRead MoreInternational Financial Institutions ( Ifis ) Are Central Pillars And The Architects Of The Global Economy1665 Words   |  7 Pages(IFIs) are central pillars and the architects of the global economy. The world bank and IMF were founded and funded by the United states after the second world war to build shattered world economy after the war and great depression of the 1930s (socialist alternative,). The creation of the IFIs was to bring about a global economy after the â€Å"isolation economy† which some argue brought about the Second World War. The IFIs were to help the economy of the less developing countries (LDCs) to bring aboutRead MoreThe Between China And China1196 Words   |  5 PagesChina economy got in a risk. Two crisis turn into the biggest drop in the renminbi since 1994. One was the burn in Tianjin. The other was the stumble of the stock exchange of Shanghai. Residents had experiencing the explosion at a chemical-producer storage that caused the death and hospitalization of over 600 employees. This tragic incident was the consequence of the corruption of the authorities. The containers were contaminating with exceeding 27 times the safety level of sodium-cyanide. Why nobody

Coexistence of Equality and Inequality under the Social...

Political theories abound, considering many parts of society and the body politic. John Locke was one of the first to expound on the origins of property, and sixty-six years later Jean-Jacques Rousseau would also address the issues of property and inequality. According to Locke and Rousseau, the social contract is sanctioned by formal equalities yet creates or gives way to inequalities after it is formed. Though Locke would argue that inequalities in the private sphere don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the government, Rousseau would say justice gets deformed through inequality. Understanding how both equality and inequality can be present under the terms of the social contract is important because we cannot understand how to†¦show more content†¦Since everything was owned in common at first, Locke argues that individuals appropriate property when they add their labor to something owned in common and therefore improve it. Locke would also say that you donâ€⠄¢t just get to take as much as you want, but that there must be as much of and as good of left for others. Locke also defines the public and private sphere(how/what is he defining it through? Through him talking about slavery etc paragraph 85, 89 ). Political relationships are made between equal men, and these relationships (civil society) cannot be dissolved. The establishment of civil society established equality among men because each had to agree to it. Each man equally gives up some rights, and equally receives the same protection from the sovereign. The civil society, as an entity, makes a contract with the sovereign and in so doing, resigns the power to judge in their own case to the sovereign. According to Locke, the whole point of civil society was to ensure that each had their own property so that there was prosperity. For Rousseau, the first sign of inequality is when people begin to be more highly regarded based on overall physical appearance and ability; from th ese first preferences, vanity, contempt, shame, and envy were born. As soon as one man realized it was beneficial to have the assistance of another, equality disappeared, property came intoShow MoreRelatedRousseau’s Nonexistent Co-existing State1618 Words   |  7 Pagesthe ‘le volante general’, meaning the general will, in his book The Social Contract. There are certain problems with his theory such as, citizens will not be in similar situations, and so if the law was decided on, it will have different impacts on different people, leaving the minority at a disadvantage. Although citizens can help to set the general will they might not be moved to follow it, leading to an imbalance in equality. The will of the rulers can be general will as long as the sovereignRead MoreQuestions On Encountering State And Citizenship3065 Words   |  13 Pagesand exercises impersonal authority on the basis of the assumption that it represents the permanent interests of soci ety rather than the partisan sympathies of any group of politicians. Concepts that we study in political theory - rights, democracy, equality, liberty - are based on the relationship between state and those living within it. For this reason we need to be familiar with the idea and functions of the state. State’ relatively centralized, differentiated organizations the officials of whichRead MoreYasuni Itt7226 Words   |  29 Pages This proposal has been publicly known as the â€Å"society of good living† or â€Å"sumak kawsay†. It is a new model, which stemmed, in the case of Ecuador, from a constitutional dynamic which resulted in the establishment of a novel collective pact of coexistence. That is, it led to the development and popular approval of a new Constitution in 2008. 1 National Secretary for Higher Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation and Chair of Ecuador ÃŒ s Council on Higher Education. He was National SecretaryRead MoreThe Microsoft Antitrust Case11234 Words   |  45 Pageslawsuits. The 1994 investigation 2 by the United States Department of Justice (â€Å"DOJ†) was terminated with a consent decree in 1995. 3 The key provisions of the 1995 consent decree were: 1. Microsoft agreed to end â€Å"per-processor† (zero marginal price) contracts with computer manufacturers (Original Equipment Manufacturers, â€Å"OEMs†) but it was allowed to use unrestricted quantity discounts. 2. â€Å"Microsoft shall not enter into any License Agreement in which the terms of that agreement are expressly or impliedlyRead MoreAdidas - Market Entry in Indonesia5422 Words   |  22 Pagesassociations. At the beginning of the 21st century Indonesia faced economic progress difficulties due to an imbalanced allocation of resources among the regions, high unemployment, prevalent corruption, the lack of reliable legal systems in case of a contract dispute, a decentralized decision-making system and acts of terrorism. However, within five years, Indonesia managed to decrease its unemployment rate from 12 percent in 2005 to 7,14 percent in 2010 and therefore increased the standard of livingRead MoreThe Importance Of Nonverbal Communication6466 Words   |  26 Pagesdid not replace Shinto because the Japanese people recognized the existence of both religions. As previous stated this led to the Japanese society uniting some of the teachings between both religions and why Buddhism started favoring harmonious coexistence with indigenous beliefs in recent centuries. However, now â€Å"Buddhism constitutes one of the most venerable features of Japanese society today† (Hardacre, 2004, p .390). In today’s society, Buddhism refers to the respect the Japanese people have inRead MoreEssay on Digital Media and Society5371 Words   |  22 Pagesconstructed† However, Others see technology as the social and technological context of our time What technoculture means â€Å"computer mediated communication fundamentally shifts the registers of human experience as we have known them in modern society†¦ time and space, body and mind, subject and object, human and machine are each dramatically transformed by practices carried out on networked computers.† Week two – Influences of Technological and Social change â€Å"Orientating† to digital media New mediaRead MoreChina in Africa Essay20116 Words   |  81 PagesBeyene Property rights Kjell Havnevik Tor A. Benjaminsen Espen Sjaastad inequality and climate change contents to our reAders AfricAn Agriculture 1 3 november 2007 Carin Norberg African agriculture and the World Bank: development or impoverishment? Atakilte Beyene 5 8 Property rights formalisation in Africa Tor A. Benjaminsen Espen Sjaastad the relationship between inequality and climate change Kjell Havnevik commentAries intervieW 11 14 decoding theRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesperspectives on the past) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4399-0269-1 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4399-0270-7 (paper : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4399-0271-4 (electronic) 1. History, Modern—20th century. 2. Twentieth century. 3. Social history—20th century. 4. World politics—20th century. I. Adas, Michael, 1943– II. American Historical Association. D421.E77 2010 909.82—dc22 2009052961 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National StandardRead MoreTrade Openness and Economic Growth in Nigeria23422 Words   |  94 Pages but also their integration into the borderless and interlinked global economy. (NEEDS, 2005). Since 1950, the world economy has experienced a massive liberalization of world trade, initially under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade (GATT), established in 1947, and currently under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which replaced the GATT in 1993. Tariff levels in both developed and developing countries have reduced drastically, averaging approximately 4%

Waiting for the phone call Free Essays

The room is stuffy. It has a gaudy lino floor with pattern rubbed away in front of the sofa and round the table; the walls are damp and cluttered with old calendars and pictures torn from magazines. There is a rotten stench. We will write a custom essay sample on Waiting for the phone call or any similar topic only for you Order Now The mantelpiece by the fireplace is filled with china ornaments: big-eyed flop-eared rabbits and beribboned kittens and flowery milkmaids and a porcelain doll wearing a Victorian dress and her long, golden hair in two neat plaits. The room is silent; except for the steady paced ‘tick-tock’ from the ancient Grand-father clock. It is Dorothy’s birthday, 12th August. She is hunched up on her old tacky sofa on an early August morning. Dorothy is startled by birdsong echoing across the garden outside and, for a long time, she stares in confused remembrance towards where the swelling orange sun is burning the faded floral wallpaper across from her old-fashioned table. ‘It’s my birthday,’ she finally realises. ‘I’m seventy-six today. Where did it go?’ Climbing painfully from a lumpy sofa, standing in a striped night dress by the window, Dorothy stares outside in her back garden. There’s much too be done. Later. Much later. These days it’s all weed killing, backache and sore bones. ‘It’s my birthday.’ Dorothy’s cat slithers past a glass sharp wall and drops beside its shadow under an apple tree, stalking anxious sparrows. Under the broken birdhouse a mouse plays with a nibble of yesterday’s bread. Shadows shrink in bright shyness against all the garden fences and the last star melts into dawn rise. There’s heat in the breathless August day already. Dorothy sits in her kitchen. Silent. The house, holding its breath around her, the roof heavy and oven baked. Dorothy’s thick veined hands brush toast crumbs from the plastic tabletop and when she moves her faded dainty feet dust dances giddily on the sun patched carpet. She listens to the awakening of the new day: the clock on the dresser ticks hurriedly and the letter box snaps awake. Dorothy walks to the hall and picks up bills and ads that promise discounts and holidays abroad, Dorothy has never been out of England, never been on a plane. Her tired eyes examine the envelopes at arm’s length. There are no birthday cards to sigh over – Not even from her family! Returning to the familiar kitchen she slides a knife along her letters, slitting out the folded information. It’s better than nothing. Even if the electricity is red and overdue – At least, they keep in touch. No longer absorbed in her letter opening task Dorothy looks at the sunlight shining blindly on her glazed, brown teapot and then she pours some lukewarm tea. She sits and thinks about birthdays back then – Cakes and drinks, songs and celebrations and her precious beloved family members spending time with her on her special day. Back when. ‘Time flies,’ she says. She’s talking to herself most days – who else will listen? Up in the still shadowed parlour a clock chimes the hour and Dorothy rises tiredly and prepares to face the day. She stumbles into the living room and looks up to the mantelpiece. No birthday cards – Only a picture of her and her adorable grandchildren, Steven and Carol. Her eyes close. She becomes delirious with dreaming†¦ Carol skipping up the lawn with a small straw basket, picking up little daisies and carefully placing them in the basket. Steven, being 2 years old, filling the bird house with crunchy treats awaiting the magpies to glide in. Dorothy is stood under the apple tree, tip-toeing up and grabbing fresh, ripe apples for her relatives. Carol and Steven run over to Dorothy and wrap their arms tightly around her as if they were to never let go†¦ Dorothy smiles and wishes she could still feel their small hands around her waist, grabbing securely. She dresses and walks to the front door and checks the windows and the bolts and all’s secure. When the night time house creaks with its own age, Dorothy thinks of burglars and imagined violations and trembles in case they invade her. Dorothy swings open the front door and sees Carol and Steven stands there, smiling like sunlight. ‘Happy birthday Grandmother!’ No longer astonished, Dorothy smiles back and sighs because they aren’t really there. Her head sinks and she wonders back to living room. She notices the phone on the table. She slides over to it. Gently picks it up to check if the dial tone is there – she is reassured and drops it down. No phone calls. No phone messages. No birthday cards. She collapses into her tacky sofa. When she turns on the television the news assaults her soul. The world is littered with dead children and pain. The world has gone mad with cruelty and nobody seems to have noticed. It was different back in her day, when children could go out and play happily on the street without anybody worrying that someone would come abruptly attack them. Back when. She is startled by the sharp ringing of the phone. Her heart is pounding – could this be the phone call she has been waiting for all day? Is this her treasured family? She reaches over and clasps the phone. ‘Hello?’ she asks waiting urgently for answer. ‘Hello. My name is Abigail Taylor calling on behalf of†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ the woman replied. Dorothy slowly lowers the handset and replaces it back in the holder. She stands there paralysed. A tiny tear drop trickles down her wrinkly skin. She felt so much pain it was as if someone had stabbed her millions of times in the heart. What is the point of living if there is nobody who even knows you exist? The Grandfather clock strikes six in the evening. She strolls back to the photo of her with her grandchildren. Dorothy bursts out in tears – her eyes sore and red and waterfalls of tears flowing down her face. She picks up the photo and holds it against her broken heart. Dorothy still hopes to get that special phone call from her much-loved grandchildren. How to cite Waiting for the phone call, Papers

The Need for Information Security Management for Small to Medium Size Enterprises free essay sample

Defending Against Internet-Based Attacks8 Industrial Espionage and Business Intelligence Gathering9 Personnel Issues in Information Security9 Physical Security Issues in Information Security10 Cyber Forensic Incident Response10 Conclusion11 References11 Abstract Small to Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) contribute greatly to the economy in many countries despite the many challenges that they face. Lesser budgeting, resource planning and time management are just some of the limitations that they might encounter. Comparing this to a larger enterprise or government body, SMEs seems to have different approaches with regards to information security, sometimes understating the importance due to the constraint mentioned. This paper aims to study the issues relating to introduction and implementation of info security regimes in SMEs compared to larger organisations. Introduction Small and medium enterprise are defined by the number of personnel working for the company, around the upper limit of 250 to the lower of 50. They usually lack resources, competencies and management to implement strategies externally and internally for their operations. We will write a custom essay sample on The Need for Information Security Management for Small to Medium Size Enterprises or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This paper will focus on the implementation of information security regimes of SMEs and provide a comparison to large enterprises. The paper explores the multiple categories of information security, attempt to list the disadvantages faced by SMEs and how sometime large enterprises are unable to match a SME in the capability to respond to security threats Justifying The Need for Sound Information Security in Any Organisation The internet age brought upon new challenges to the business world, both SMEs and large organisation are continuously investing substantial resources to secure their presence on the internet. With increasingly virtualized business networks and expanding corporate ecosystem, more information have been created or converted into digital format. Digitalized information can be saved in different storage devices and transmitted over a plethora of interconnected network both internally and externally (Radding, 2012). Understandably, crime and security threats to information are becoming more commonplace as the reliance on Internet in business activities increase . Threats such as hackers, business competitors or even foreign governments can employ a host of different methods to obtain information from any organisation (Symantec). Yet no effective business would totally isolate themselves from using digitalized info to prevent such incidents; competitiveness or success of these organisations is linked to right information delivered on time. At its worst erroneous info may result in serious loss of potential earnings and damage to the organisations brand(Juhani Anttila, 2005). A significant element of information security are the cost and personnel expertise required with the designing, development and implementation of an effective security system. There is a need for major investment to be invested to build and maintain reliable, trustworthy and responsive security system (Anderson, 2001). Since most SMEs tend to have to operate under tight budgeting, extreme limited manpower and many different needs competing for limited supply of resources, thus placing information security down the priorities list (Tawileh, Hilton, amp; Stephen, 2007). Additionally, the lack of awareness to the negative consequences of info security issues and threats and the perception of less strict regulatory compliance requirements, information and communications infrastructure within these SMEs remain highly unsecured. Despite that, most organisations do at least have some form of basic security in the form of anti-virus softwares. Other types of security software like firewall or authentication software/hardware are considerably less popular; perhaps due to the additional complexity of having to install and configure them for the organisation usage (ABS, 2003). Linking Business Objectives with Security Security can impact a companys profitability in both positive or negative ways. It fully depends on how it is being controlled, too little will not be enough while too much may cause bottlenecks within the company internal processes. One example would be background checks on possible new employees. At times, the duration of the check may take longer than the period of employment, especially when hiring temp staff to cover short term. In their book, Christian Byrnes and Paul E. Proctor argues that to eliminate the last 20% of risk that might occur would inversely required 80% more money to implement which can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 1 It is common practice in large organisations to organise computer security around technologies, with a dedicated department running the show alongside the IT department. However computer security should be more business oriented as it is easier to achieve the security targets if good business practices are being followed. For SMEs, it is also far easier to utilise xisting employees who specialize in specific business roles to take up security positions. In the same book, Christian Byrnes and Paul E. Proctor also provided a table which list down the common security roles and the ideal personnel to handle it: Table 1 Linking security with business visions is also important as it would allow for better persuasion to the top managements to approve or push through with security purchases, master plans or policy changes. To achi eve this, the motion put forth must undergo a 5 step structured framework assess, analyse, strategize, align and communicate. Assess the companys current and future security role so as to achieve a good understanding of the current security model. Details on the security capabilities within the employees, processes and current technologies should be documented properly for the next step to be carried out with more accuracy. After collecting the raw data, using analytical tools and method to conduct a security gap analysis will show the differences between the current security model and the preempted requirements. With a clear overview of what needs to be do, next phase planning can be done to piece together to form a viable and strong strategy. Executives and managers at all levels must understand the new steps that are to be undertaken for the new strategy. Such communications may be more effective in SMEs than larger organisations as the members of the security planning may be key personnel that are required to participate rather than a separate IT security team (PricewaterhouseCooper). Incident Response Management and Disaster Recovery Incident response management is the process of managing and responding to security incidents. As organisations may encounter plenty of incidents throughout the day, it is important that incident responses are carefully anaged to reduce wastage of manpower and resources. The most appropriate level of response should be assigned to on any security incident to maximize efficiency; there is no merit in involving senior management in a response to an incident that has minimal impact on business (BH Consulting, 2006) Disaster recovery is the process used to recover access to an organisations sof tware, data and hardware that are required to resume the performance of normal, critical business functions. Typically this will happen after either a natural disaster or manmade disaster. (Disaster Recovery) Incident response management used to be separated into different entities, natural disasters , security breaches and privacy breaches were handled by risk management, information security department and legal department. This increased the cost of incident management and reduce utilization of existing resources and capabilities. By merging the 3 into one overarching incident management methodology specified with an incident response team and a charter, reduced cost and efficient usage of resource can be achieved (Miora, 2010) In larger organizations, incident response team may contain both employees and third party observers from vendors. External vendors may provide the expertise to manage an incident that could be overwhelming to the current employees. This however may not be feasible for SMEs due the financial constraints. Most likely, the incident response management team would be formed using current employees and a senior management personnel would lead the team. The response team would be the ones who do the planning scenario for each different types of incident and the type of responses required, ensure that clear processes and procedures are in place so that responses to incident are coherent. Communications between members are typically standardized be it for large organisations or SMEs; method of contact such as emails and non-email like phone calls or messages are used to inform team members (BH Consulting, 2006). Disaster recovery extremely important as well, more so for SMEs. A survey from US Department of Labor provided an estimation that around 40% of business never reopen after a disaster and of the remaining around 25% will close down within 2 years (Zahorsky). Unfortunately, not many SMEs have a disaster recovery plan in place to protect themselves. This is due to the idea that disaster recovery is costly and requires alot of resources and expertise to put in place one. This is true to a certain extend as large organisations normally spend amounts to put in place backup servers and remote hot recovery sites. However with increasing cloud-based technologies and availability of server virtualization, disaster recovery can become affordable even for SMEs. Up and coming cloud solution and renting space in secure data center via colocation are some of the solutions that SMEs can consider. Even without any or little IT staff, by paying the colocation provider they can assist to manage the setup and maintenance services (Blackwell, 2010). Mobile Device Security Managment The increasing sophisticated mobile devices together with high bandwidth network is creating a tremendous security management challenge for CIOs and other IT professionals. Proprietary and confidential data can now be moved outside of the secure perimeter of the enterprise and onto mobile devices that can be brought anywhere in the world by employees. These devices have a variety of data communication and storage technologies, such as email/PIM synchronization software, infrared data transmission, Bluetooth ® and removable data storage. As a result, it is easy for mobile devices to become strongholds of enterprise information (Good Technology, 2009). Of course with that brings additional threats to an organisation as mobile devices are susceptible to attacks as well. In both SMEs and large organisations, there is a definite need to regulate the use of mobile devices to prevent information leakage. As they can used in a variety of locations outside the organization’s control, such as employees’ homes, coffee shops, hotels, and conferences, this makes them much more likely to be lost or stolen than other devices, so their data is at increased risk of compromise (Souppaya amp; Scarfone, 2012). The most extreme application of mobile device management can be see within government bodies, specifically in the defense sector where secondary functions of such devices such as cameras are to be disable. However, this method would not be easily applied to SMEs as employees may find it to be too restrictive. Rather, having a clear policy on the usage of mobile devices and prohibiting employees from attaching their devices to the workstations would be a better option to enforce. Biometric Security Devices and Their Use Biometric devices identifies an individual through physical or behavioral characteristics such as fingerprints, palm geometry or retina. It is extremely secure as it cannot be borrowed, stolen or forgotten (Liu amp; Silverman, 2001). The table below shows the various type of biometric devices and their advantages/disadvantages: The table, as seen in the report from Dell explains clearly some of the limitations of biometric devices. Size for example must be taken into consideration as well, hand geometry scanning devices are bulky and therefore not suited for say unlocking your workstation as compared to using it to unlock a door. However, not many organisations are adopting biometric as part of their security plan. Those that do use biometric are mostly geared towards physical security of secure areas where access are to be restricted. Conventional authentication methods are still much preferred with regards to virtual access like emails, workstations and applications. The higher cost of using biometric devices as a security solution is also another concern for SMEs that wishes to utilise them. They would need to evaluate their nature of business, how and where biometric would fit in to maximize value for money. Ultimately, aligning the need for biometric security devices as a security solution to business objectives is a must, else cheaper alternatives would have to be examine and evaluated instead. Ethical Issues in Information Security Management Some professions such as law and medicine have in place a codified set of ethics that its practitioners are required to honor to protect the privacy of their clients. Violations are dealt with in the harshest possible terms, and even minor lapses can result in significant penalties. For IT however, there are no such codification. Technology professionals generally abide by personal codes of conduct and are essentially self-policing. Additionally, technology raises complexities that go beyond typical questions of what’s right or what’s fair. Areas such as data access and capture, processing speed, tracking and monitoring, and job redesign are just a few examples of IT capabilities with ethical considerations. (Relkin, 2006) Both SMEs and large organisations have to be able to cope with ethical issues such as privacy of personal information, intellectual property and cyber crime. In an effort to safeguard company secrets, many employees can be exposed to electronic or other forms of surveillance. Email screenings and monitoring internet usages are just some of the methods that can be employed. There is a need to clearly define policies that involve such practices and the boundary must be draw and communicated to all employees so as to safeguard the organisation from breaching privacy laws and from being sued by employees. (Tiwary, 2011) Security Training and Education Security training and education is becoming increasing important for employees due to emergence of end-user computing as an critical component of information security. A typical end-user has access to most vital information that an organisation has in its possession. They have knowledge of how protection systems put in place to secure information work and a small amount of more ingenious users may even know how to circumvent those systems. Most users however lack the knowledge that is required to help protect the organisation information and it is in this area that they should be educated in order to make better decisions when facing with threats and vulnerabilities that can be discovered during the course of work. (Hight, 2005) Security Education, Training and Awareness program otherwise known as SETA is designed to set the security tone to the employees of an organisation. Making it part of a new employees orientation will ensure that all employees know and understand the reasons of the security policies that are in place at any organisation. Implementation of such a program can be done at any organisation, requiring only properly written security policies and outlining guidelines that have to be followed. A good security program ensures that end user mistakes can be reduced and that employees understand the consequences of their actions when using their work stations or insert unauthorised USB devices into them. Defending Against Internet-Based Attacks With an increasing reliant upon the internet, internet based attacks have been slowly increasing. Organsations that has a presence over the internet or utilizes web based technologies are more prone to such as attacks. Internet worms, viruses, malware and distributed denial of service are just some of the types of threats that could occur. Organisations should look to prevent such incidents from occurring by securing applications that are made available over the internet and securing organisation infrastructures exposed over the internet (Klein, 1999). To carry out an attack, the attacker must first obtain sufficient control over a target system. They would most likely do some reconnaissance on the target, performing a number of scans to looked for weaknesses. Areas like remote accessible network services in default OS configurations, sendmail, sshd, RPC and Windows file sharing are some of the services exploited. Ports that are unsecured, memory handling, targeting applications like web browsers and plug ins are also some of the methods that attackers can use. The web browsers in particular are seeing a rising trend of being targeted as browsers are extremely prone to having exploitable vulnerabilities. The internet distribution model also allows attackers to attack a users web browser without even directly connecting to the cilent; planting malicious coding at specific websites where the user normally visits will achieve the aim as well (Moshchuk, 2000). Prevention of such attacks are extremely important, firewall and anti viruses are just the tip of an iceberg when it comes to methods that can protect an organisations information. Many firewalls being sold today are considered application aware and can understand protocols and commands that are being used. This allows them to determine whether or not incoming traffic to any applications or network services are malicious or not. Properly configured application aware firewall would be able to prevent common attacks thru telnet, SSH, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, SIP and applications which can be vulnerable. Additionally Intrusion Detection systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention systems (IPS) can also be used against application or network based attacks. When paired together with an application aware firewall, some intrusion detection systems have the ability to thwart off attackers by talking directly to the firewall to block the source IP address. There are no right or wrong solutions to defending an organisations network, it all boils down to which products would be suited to the organisations needs. SMEs typically would use more of off the shelf type of applications and intrusion detection prevention system (IDP) would be a better fit for such applications. Off the shelves applications uses alot of common protocols such as FTP, HTTP etc that should adhere to RFC standards and IDP is configured to block malicious or traffic that does not comply with RFC standards automatically. For larger organisations, they tend to have third party or home grown applications which developers may or may not have complied with RFC standards, IDP solutions may not have much of an effect for them. Industrial Espionage and Business Intelligence Gathering Every organisation in the world will have collected some form of information regarding their competitors, through market scanning, industrial profiling or even direct hire of employees from their competitors. Such intelligence gathering are definitely part and parcel activities used for market research and benchmarking. However, there are uncertain boundaries separating competitive intelligence gathering and industrial espionage. The laws in place at times are unable to set such limits and it would seem reasonable to define industrial espionage as intelligence practices of questionable ethics instead (Crane, 2005). Be that as it may, industrial espionage is a very critical threat against SMEs. A succesfully SME breaking in saturated markets would have attained some form of breakthrough in order to stand out. Regardless of whether it is a formulae or business process, competitors would wish to obtain such knowledge in order to raise their own profiles. To safeguard their secrets, SMEs would have to ensure that their security system in place are adequate and their employees educated on the topic. SMEs have to identify that information that would critically harm the company and the value of such information to the company and its competitors. Access to such crown jewels must be controlled and employees must be educated on security awareness programs. Despite that, employees are still the strongest and weakest link. Humans tend to react better to carrots than sticks and most of the time competitors would aim for that. Hiring professionals to perform social engineering, blackmailing, lure of monetary gains are hard to prevent. (Podszywalow, 2011) Personnel Issues in Information Security Human related security issues are extremely problematic and complex in organizations. They involve all the individuals who make up the organization, from top-level managers to clerical staff. It is crucial that the top management recognize that for security management to ultimately succeed, not only the technical dimension must be taken into account, the human aspect of security must not be ignored as well. People issues within an organisation can have an impact on its ability to effectively manage security. Uncommitted and uninvolved senior managers; unqualified, untrained and careless employees; former disgruntled employees and organizational members’ resistance to change are just some of the potential issues ertaining to human resource that might occur. Hence, to achieve security effectiveness, these issues must be addressed as a whole (Goh, 2003) For SMEs, when hiring an new employee, the employment contract should expressly emphasize the employees duty to keep certain types of information confidential both during and after the employees tenure. The languag e and structure of the contract should be made clear so as to prevent any potential misunderstanding or any loopholes that can be exploited. The employee must sign the agreement before he or she begins to work. The contract can also be included with an employees personal file to keep track. Even when exiting, care must be taken to ensure that documents, records and other information concerning the company proprietary assets in the possession of the leaver must be surrendered and returned to the company. Conducting a exit interview will help to refresh the terms of employment agreement and trade secret law with the leaver. The employee should be acknowledge in writing that he or she is aware of the obligations and will not disclose any trade secrets of the former employer. Physical Security Issues in Information Security Physical security breaches can sometimes be more devastating than technical breaches like worm attacks. The loss of data, loss of availability either from systems being shut down or by bomb or arson must be considered when dealing with physical security. With the invention of easily concealable USB drives or bombs, coupled with unauthorized access is makes physical security becoming more important. Data transfer speeds have increased as when, allowing for transferring of a large amount of data in a relativity short period of time. As with any other security planning, physical security must be included to ensure that the risk of above mentioned are reduced. Access to areas such as server rooms or routers or where documents are kept and archived must be control, just locking the doors doesnt seems to be enough now. Access control cards, biometrics system can ensure that only authorised personnel be allowed in. Securing the personal computer of employees, especially if they are using laptop is equally important. Laptop locks and OS hardening to prevent unauthorized usage of USB devices are not allow (Giannoulis amp; Northcutt, 2007). Cyber Forensic Incident Response Computer forensics is the science of acquiring, retrieving, preserving, and presenting data that has been processed electronically and stored on computer media. When paired with incident response, their job becomes more challenging. They would have to find where a breach occurred, plug the hole, then proceed to get the affected server or servers back into service, and then if possible, gather evidence on the intruder for further action and analysis (Daniel amp; Daniel, 2009) SMEs unfortunately with their limited resources may have to compromise. instead of having a dedicated team to deal with incident response, they might consider getting current employees involved within IT such as server, networking or on site support engineers to carry out such a role. If they have extra budget however, it would work to their benefit if they send their resposne team for courses pertainning to cyber forensic. The additional knowledge will allow the response team to perform more effectively should a threat occur Conclusion Small and medium enterprises typically faces the same the type of threats that will happen to larger organisations, however their approach and response to the same threat may differ greatly due to the limited resources; human, technical, physical available to them. SMEs will have to sometimes think out of the box and be very careful in planning resources for security within the company. The type of hardware, software used for security may be similar to larger organisations however, the setup and configuration may be miles apart as well. SMEs, will have be extra vigilant against information security threats.