Pride and Prejudice Intro Summary Essays - Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice Intro Summary Essays - Pride And Prejudice Set in the country village of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, the story revolves around the Bennet family and their five unmarried daughters. They are the first family of consequence in the village, unfortunately the Longbourn estate is entailed by default to a male heir, their cousin Mr. William Collins. This is distressful to Mrs. Bennet who knows that she must find husbands for her daughters or they shall all be destitute if her husband should die. Mr. Bennet is not as concerned and spends his time in his library away from his wifes idle chatter and social maneuvering. The second eldest daughter Elizabeth is spirited and confident, wanting only to marry for love. She teases her eldest sister Jane that she must catch a wealthy husband with her beauty and good nature and support them. The three younger sisters Mary, Catherine and Lydia hinder their sisters chances for a good match by inappropriate and unguarded behavior. When Mr. Bingley, a single man of large fortune, moves into the ne ighborhood with his fashionable sisters he attends the local ball and is immediately taken with Jane Bennet. His friend, Mr. Darcy, is even richer with a great estate in Derbyshire, but is proud and arrogant giving offence to all including Elizabeth by refusing to dance with her. The whole community declares him the most disagreeable man, eaten up with pride.

How to Stay Safe in College

How to Stay Safe in College Staying safe while youre in college doesnt have to be complicated. These fifteen tips can be done with minimal effort and can avoid lots of problems later. Top 15 College Safety Tips Make sure the main door to your hall or apartment building is locked at all times. You wouldnt just leave the front door to your house open, would you? Dont let anyone into your hall or apartment building that you dont know. Not letting someone in doesnt make you look like a jerk. It makes you look like a good neighbor and, if the person is supposed to be in your hall, theyll be grateful for it. Make sure your room door is locked at all times. Yes, this even means when you run down the hall to borrow a book or hop in the shower. Be careful with your keys. Also, if you lose them, dont depend on your roommate to keep letting you in, thinking that your keys will just pop up. Pay the fine and get a new set. If you have a car, lock it. It seems so easy to remember, yet its so easy to forget. If you have a car, check on it. Just because you havent been using your car very much this semester doesnt mean someone else hasnt! Get a locking device for your laptop. This may be a physical lock o r some kind of electronic tracking or locking device. Watch your stuff in the library. You may need to take a quick run to the vending machines to clear your mind...just as someone happens to walk by and see your iPod and laptop unattended. Keep your windows locked. Dont be so focused on locking your door that you forget to check the windows, too. Put emergency numbers in your cell phone. If your wallet is stolen, will you know what phone number to call to cancel your credit cards? Put important phone numbers in your cell so that you can call the moment you notice something is missing. The last thing you want is someone cashing in on the money youve been budgeting for the rest of the semester. Use the campus escort service at night. You may feel embarrassed, but its such a smart idea. And besides, who wouldnt want a free ride?! Taking a friend with you when going out at night. Male or female, big or small, safe neighborhood or not, this is always a good idea. Make sure someone knows where you are at all times. Heading to a club downtow n? Going out on a date? Theres no need to spill all the intimate details, but do let someone (a friend, a roommate, etc.) know where youre going and what time you expect to get back. If you live off-campus, send someone a message when you get home.  If youre studying for finals with a friend late one night at the library, make a quick agreement that youll text each other you get home later that evening. Know the phone number for Campus Security.  You never know: you may need it for yourself or for something you see from far away. Knowing the number off the top of your head (or at least having it in your cell phone) may be the most important thing to remember during an emergency.

Outsourcing with pros and cons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Outsourcing with pros and cons - Research Paper Example There are several reasons why many firms utilize outsourcing of their services, such as enhanced efficiency, cost reductions, increased flexibility and focus on core competencies. Outsourcing offers many benefits, although clearly with many caveats. The loss of skilled, expert staff is expected with outsourcing. Other risks involved with outsourcing include: loss of innovation, creativity, and flexibility and loss of control, continuity, and cooperation. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing decision that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Abstract Outsourcing allows organization to reduce cost and concentrate on its core competences and to improve its activit ies. Although, outsourcing is an attractive strategy bounded by appealing benefits but it also contains some significant risks. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing decision that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Abstract Outsourcing allows organization to reduce cost and concentrate on its core competences and to improve its activities. Although, outsourcing is an attractive strategy bounded by appealing benefits but it also contains some significant risks. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing deci sion that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Outsourcing with Pros and Cons Introduction Outsourcing has become one of the most important management activities in recent years (Bromage, 2000). To outsource or not to outsource is one of the questions managers are increasingly asking themselves (Gunn, 2003). It is necessary to examine the degree of outsourcing and its pros and cons. The author posits that outsourcing is very beneficial to the growth of a company as it allows organization to reduce cost and to concentrate on its core competences and improve its activities. Outsourcing Outsourcing, as it applies to manufactured goods, is the practice of moving production to an outside supplier. Companies send this work to other domestic facilities or offshore. The outsourced activities can be thought of as new intermedi ate inputs or completed imports, shifting the entire production function done at home (Robert and Gordon, 1999). The outsourcing firm can then experience a reduction in the amount of labor required to continue operation. Outsourcing is a practice being used increasingly by organizations in order to combat the competitive forces within the global manufacturing sector. According to Michael Corbett, Firms extensively â€Å"use outsourcing everyday to improve the products and services they provide customers†¦. More than 90 percent of companies state it is an important part of their overall business strategy.†(Corbett, 2004: p. 3) Pros of Outsourcing Cost Savings Cost savings is the most important and most commonly cited reason for outsourcing. According to Burmahl (2001) cost savings is among the top reason to outsource. Cost-savings calculations encompass fixed costs, which include capital and administrative overhead; variable costs, which include specific supplies, service s, and labor cost for all personnel

Introduction to Marketing PowerPoint Presentation

Introduction to Marketing - PowerPoint Presentation Example outsourcing social media marketing services from the social media companies that have since been established and now, looking to dominate the industry. The overall market size for the social media advertising companies cannot be estimated precisely because to do so, one will need to count the ever-growing number of companies and institutions being established daily, and who essentially need to market their products. Thousands of existing companies and institutions are already outsourcing social media services, so an estimate of 50% of all businesses countrywide would be an appropriate market size, for now. 1. Placing adverts for companies and institutions on all the six most popular social media platforms. These include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus+ and You Tube. The choice of platforms to use depends on the social media sites preferred by the client and most importantly, the nature of products and serviced being advertised. 2. Content creation and campaign management services. In an effort to marketing a particular product or service, there has to be a campaign to sensitize its use and the content in that campaign needs to be original. 4. Research, monitoring and analysis of social media marketing.- success depends on your ability to measure and understand your efforts. Community measurement is an essential tool in social media marketing. 2. The top areas businesses want to flourish in are tactics and engagement processes - At least 89% of companies want to use the most effective social tactics and engagement plans for their social media audience. 4. Businesses want to make the most out of Google+ - While 54% of big corporations are using Google+, 65% of smaller companies want to know more about it and 61% plan on increasing Google+ activities this year. 5. Podcasting is on growth trajectory-Though only 6% of companies have utilized podcasting in their advertising, 21% plan to increase their podcasting activities this year. That is

Share Holder Value Essay Example for Free

Share Holder Value Essay Public and private companies are under a great deal of pressure to create and sustain shareholder value by increasing both returns on capital and growth rates and company’s stock price or equity value. Share holders would like to associate with a firm whose stock prices are not depressed. Who is a Shareholder? A share holder can be defined as the owner of one or more shares of stock in a corporation, commonly also called a stockholder. The benefits of being a shareholder include receiving dividends for each share as determined by the Board of Directors, the right to vote (except for certain preferred shares) for members of the board of directors, to bring a derivative action (lawsuit) if the corporation is poorly managed, and to participate in the division of value of assets upon dissolution and winding up of the corporation, if there is any value. A shareholder should have his/her name registered with the corporation, but may hold a stock certificate which has been signed over to him/her. Before registration the new shareholder may not be able to cast votes represented by the shares. (Enhancing share holder value, Dr William . e. Broxterman Chairman/CEO Chemquest Group,unc). Shareholder value is a business term, which implies that the ultimate measure of a companys success is to enrich shareholders. It became popular during the 1980s, and is particularly associated with former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch. ( In March 2009), Welch openly turned his back on the concept, calling shareholder value the dumbest idea in the world. The term used in several ways: To refer to the market capitalization of a company (rarely used) * To refer to the concept that the primary goal for a company is to increase the wealth of its shareholders (owners) by paying dividends and/or causing the stock price to increase * To refer to the more specific concept that planned actions by management and the returns to shareholders should outperform certain bench-marks such as the cost of capital concept. In essence, the idea that shareholders’ money should be used to earn higher returns than they could earn themselves by investing in other assets having the same amount of risk. The term in this sense was introduced by Dr Alfred Rappaport in 1986. ) In (1981, Jack Welch made a speech in Hotel Pierre, New York City called) ‘Growing fast in a slow-growth economy’ (8. 12. 1981) this is often acknowledged as the dawn of the obsession with shareholder value. Welchs stated aim was to be the biggest or second biggest market player, and to return maximum value to stockholders. Strategic planning In today’s fast-changing, often business environment, formal systems for strategic planning have become one of top management’s principal tools for evaluating and coping with uncertainty. One of the key roles of Board of directors is to approve and adopt the strategic and annual business plans, the setting of objectives and review of key risk and performance areas. Corporate board members are also showing increasing interest in ensuring that the company has adequate strategies and that these are tested against actual results. While the organizational dynamics and the sophistication of the strategic planning process vary widely among companies, the process almost invariably culminates in projected (commonly five-year) financial statements. This enables top managers and the board to review and approve strategic plans in the same terms that the company reports its performance to shareholders and the financial community. Under current practice the projected financial statements, particularly projected earnings per share performance, commonly serve as the basis for judging the attractiveness of the strategic or long-term corporate plan. The conventional accounting-oriented approach for evaluating the strategic plan does not, however, provide reliable answers to such basic questions as: †¢ Will the corporate plan create value for shareholders? If so, how much? †¢ Which business units are creating value and which are not? †¢ How would alternative strategic plans affect shareholder value? Managing shareholder value This management principle, also known under value based management, states that management should first and foremost consider the interests of shareholders in its business decisions. As shareholder value is difficult to influence directly by any manager, it is usually broken down in components, so called value drivers. A widely used model comprises 7 drivers of shareholder value, giving some guidance to manage. These drivers are, * Revenue, the amount of money that is brought into a company by its business activities. In the case of government, revenue is the money received from taxation, fees, fines, inter-governmental grants or transfers, securities sales, mineral rights and resource rights, as well as any sales that are made. * Operating Margin, the ratio used to measure a companys pricing strategy and operating efficiency, if a companys margin is increasing, it is earning more per dollar of sales. The higher the margin, the better. Can be calculated as: Operating margin=Operating Income/Net Sales. * Cash Tax Rate, the cash a company pays to governments as a percentage, while looking at an unlevered company. * Incremental Capital Expenditure, additional cash invested by a firm in its long term assets in order to generate a dollar of new sales. * Investment in Working Capital, a measure of both a companys efficiency and its short-term financial health. The working capital ratio is calculated as, working apital=current assets-current liabilities * Cost of Capital, equity and debt capital and the related discount rate. * Competitive Advantage Period, advantage over competitors by offering consumers better value either through greater benefits or lower prices. Share holder value, and the Economic value concept The value that a shareholder is able to obtain from his/her investment in a company ,is made up of capital gains, dividend payments, and proceeds from buy back programs and any other payouts that a firm might make to a shareholder. In other words share holder returns exceed the required return to equity, and the company is deemed to have exceeded the required expectation. Share holder value in recent years is being measured using the Economic Value Added Concept (EVA), a measure of a companys financial performance based on the residual wealth calculated by deducting cost of capital from its operating profit (adjusted for taxes on a cash basis). Share holder value, and the WACC concept Investors use WACC as a tool to decide whether to invest. The WACC represents the minimum rate of return at which a company produces value for its investors. Lets say a company produces a return of 20% and has a WACC of 11%. That means that for every dollar the company invests into capital, the company is creating nine cents of value. By contrast, if the companys return is less than WACC, the company is shedding value, which indicates that investors should put their money elsewhere. It measures a trend of improving or declining share holder value and it helps managers to focus on projects, businesses, product lines and activities yielding more than a firms weighted average cost of capital WACC (The return that both debt holders and equity holders expect, WACC, in other words, represents the investors opportunity cost of taking on the risk of putting money into a company. Investors use WACC as a tool to decide whether to invest. The WACC represents the minimum rate of return at which a company produces value for its investors. Lets say a company produces a return of 20% and has a WACC of 11%. That means that for every dollar the company invests into capital, the company is creating nine cents of value. Current value of a business is fairly expressed by the share price, there fore increasing EVA should move prices upwards. This means an earning return greater than its cost of capital. Value creation for shareholders through strategic acquisition Acquisitions have known to create value for share holders, however this has to be done strategically, for example in the study of industry acquisitions in 1998(1999 The Chemquest Group. Inc) describing the adhesives industry, such acquisitions have integrated a number of companies in to a single unit with a positive EVA have added significant value and enhanced shareholder value of the company. In order for an acquisition to create share holder value it must generate a positive NPV. In other words it behaves the same as a capital investment. By carrying assets that maximize long term value of the firm for example outsourcing activities such as manufacturing. Dell investments are involved extensively in marketing but out sources distribution, inventory and manufacturing. Also hiring of employees should be strategic. Share holder value and capital structure design Share holders wealth can be improved with increasing leverage by using more debt in place of equity and or dealing judiciously with debt and equity, designing a capital structure that will reduce WACC and increase the value of the firm. This is based on the fact that the composite cost of debt lies between the least expensive debt and the more expensive equity. This approach enables the maximization of corporate profits and shareholders equity. By keeping an eye on the capital market for the firm, the Financial Manager should keep an eye on capital markets for the firm, substituting methods for more effective ones which can improve the firms value and so the shareholder value. Areas such as interest on loans and normal dividend rates as dictated by the market should be examined for decisions. Share holder value and expansion and diversification A company can increase shareholders wealth by diversifying for example addition of a new product line. When BOC gases wanted to expand its business there was consideration by the board for an acquisition of a business in a similar industry, Carbacid. Although this did not succeed, the focus to grow through this product is still on and there is a plan to buy a carbon dioxide mining well. Nakumat seeks sh 1 billion for expansion and is talking with commercial banks for a syndicated loan. The loan is a long term five year loan to be used for stocking new branches recently opened in Rwanda Kigali( Business Daily pg 23). Share holder value and replacement and modernization Finlay Kenya in kericho the tea producing company has replaced a large number of manual labor, with machinery for plucking tea leaves; in a bid to modernize the labor market, to improve on productivity and to reduce labor costs and there fore shareholder value. Boc gases is evaluating an investment for an additional air separation in order to improve performance of machinery (Annual Report 2007). As a firm continues to grow, it may consider improving its retail centers, availing information to customers , displaying sales ware while encouraging caller customers to come and buy the goods in the retail shop. Investors Africa transformation fund, are trying out new methods to tap Africa Agriculture aimed at double digit returns with programmes to boost food production. ( Top News Business Daily pg 3 Dec 6 2010). Share holder value and investment decision rule Through sound capital budgeting techniques, a firm may come up with appraisal techniques to measure economic worth of an investment project for example, coming up with an unambiguous way of separating good projects from bad projects, ranking projects according to profitability, and choosing amongst a number of projects, the project that maximizes wealth. Investment decision can be divided into long-term and short-term decisions and techniques. Capital investment decisions are long-term choices about which projects receive investment, whether to finance that investment with equity or debt, and when or whether to pay dividends to shareholders. On the other hand, short term decisions deal with the short-term balance of current asses and current liabilities; the focus here is on managing cash, inventories, and short-term borrowing and lending (such as the terms on credit extended to customers), for example treasury has signed up for a new World Bank fronted bonds trading plan, which should help the central bank in diversifying its forex reserve mix and cushion the shilling against wild swings(professor Njuguna Central Bank of Kenya Governor, Business Daily Dec 6). Share holder value and discounted/non discounted cash flow methods By recognizing that bigger and early cash flows are preferred, the shareholders value can be improved. Using discounted cash flow methods such as NPV and PI. When NPV is +ve, the project should be accepted and when it is –ve it should be rejected. In the decision rule for profitability where PI is less than 1, then the project should be rejected while where PI is greater than 1 then the project should be accepted. In the non-discounted cash flow method, projects with higher ARR are preferable. In order to make the right investment decision, it is important that the project is thoroughly analyzed using available tools, remembering that the resources are minimal and can not be wasted. Increasing or liquidating part of shareholding This can be achieved by shareholders taking up shares and so increasing their investment in the business, or selling their rights and liquidate part of their investment. In theory, share splits have a positive effect on the shareholders wealth because they encourage beneficial price movements. This should be in line with the dividend policy. Cash cycle and cash management Firms should ensure that there is a match between accounts payable and accounts receivables and that payment to creditors is delayed while receivables are collected earlier. These may seem like daily chores but can cost the shareholder dearly if poorly managed. Many firms have closed down because of not managing accounts receivables appropriately. Summary In summary Strategies selected in creating share holder values should be strategic in the real sense. Strategies selected will usually cover three to five years and will incorporate the big picture. Strategies of substance that have been tested will ensure that the right programs for growth of the firms share value are selected and implemented.

Hustler v. Falwell :: essays research papers

Hustler v. Falwell   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hustler Magazine versus Jerry Falwell was a case that involved many key elements. First of all it was a case that examined if a public figure such as Jerry Falwell could collect for emotional damages sustained to him by a parody that was published in an issue of Hustler Magazine. Secondly, did Hustler invade Falwell’s privacy by publishing the contents of the parody? The most important aspect of the case, that was under review, was if Hustler was in accordance with their First Amendment Rights, of freedom of speech, by publishing the parody.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The parody in question was published in an issue of Hustler in a faux advertisement for Campari Liqueur. In the advertisement entitled, â€Å"Jerry Falwell tells about his first time,† Falwell is portrayed as giving an interview. In the fake interview Falwell talks about his first sexual experience, which was with his mother, and describes how he was drunk and the experience took place in an outhouse. The interview also tells how Falwell doesn’t go out in front of the pulpit unless he’s â€Å"sloshed.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The district Court found Hustler Magazine liable for Falwell’s emotional distress and granted him 100,000 dollars in damages. However, the court did rule in favor of Hustler in that they did not invade Falwell's privacy since he was a public figure. They also ruled against Falwell’s libel claim, stating that Hustler did not publish anything that a reasonable person would misinterpret as the facts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The big argument in the case, when it was introduced to the Supreme Court, was if the District Court had deprived Hustler Magazine of their First Amendment rights. Since Hustler was a magazine of nationwide circulation and since Falwell is a national figure Hustler argued that the parody was in no way wrong since any reasonable person would identify it as humor rather than facts. The Court agreed and it found that Falwell should not be rewarded any damages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Chief Justice Rehnquist presided over the case. In his statement of opinion Rehnquist acknowledged that the article wasn’t of the best taste. He also acknowledged that there isn‘t really a good way to distinguish between cases of this nature. His argument of this was since all jurors have different views and opinions that verdicts in cases such as this would be of opinion rather than clearly defined by the law. He acknowledged that not all speech is protected equally by the First Amendment but this case didn‘t possess such speech.

Public Key Cryptography

Abstract- Public-key cryptography is a key technology for e-commerce, intranets, extranets and other web-enabled applications. However, to garner the benefits of public-key cryptography, a supporting infrastructure is needed. The Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000 operating system includes a native public-key infrastructure (PKI) that is designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the Windows 2000 security architecture.This paper describes the fundamentals of public-key security systems, including what benefits they offer and what components are required to implement them. It also describes how the Windows 2000 PKI components deliver the needed services while providing interoperability, security, flexibility, and ease of use. I. Overview Public-key cryptography offers significant security benefits when it's properly implemented. Like other enabling technologies, public-key cryptography requires an infrastructure to deliver its benefits.However, the public-key infrastructure, or PKI, isn't a physical object or software process; instead, it's a set of useful services provided by a collection of interconnected components These components work together to provide public-key-based security services to applications and users. This white paper has two goals: to explain public-key technology and its uses, and to describe the features and benefits provided by the native PKI in the Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000 operating system.Understanding both of these topics will help you to decide where you can use PKI technology to improve your business processes and increase your ability to securely handle transactions with others. In this paper, you'll learn what a public key infrastructure is, what desirable benefits it can offer your operations, and how the Windows 2000 PKI delivers interoperability, security, flexibility, and ease of use. II. History During the early history of cryptography, two parties would agree upon a key using a secure, but non-cryptographic, metho d; for example, a face-to-face meeting or an exchange via a trusted courier.This key, which both parties kept absolutely secret, could then be used to exchange encrypted messages. A number of significant practical difficulties arise in this approach to distributing keys. Public-key cryptography addresses these drawbacks so that users can communicate securely over a public channel without having to agree upon a shared key beforehand. In 1874, a book by William Stanley Jevons[1] described the relationship of one-way functions to cryptography and went on to discuss specifically the factorization problem used to create the trapdoor function in theRSA system.Since the 1970s, a large number and variety of encryption, digital signature, key agreement, and other techniques have been developed in the field of public-key cryptography. The ElGamal cryptosystem (invented by Taher ElGamal) relies on the (similar, and related) difficulty of the discrete logarithm problem, as does the closely rela ted DSA developed at the US National Security Agency (NSA) and published by NIST as a proposed standard. The introduction of elliptic curve cryptography by Neal Koblitz and Victor Miller independently and simultaneously in the mid-1980s has yielded new public-key algorithms based on the discrete logarithm problem.Although mathematically more complex, elliptic curves provide smaller key sizes and faster operations for equivalent estimated security. III. What is public key cryptography? When most people hear the words encrypt or cryptography, they immediately think of secret-key cryptography, wherein two parties share a single secret key that's used both to encrypt and decrypt data. Loss or compromise of the secret key makes the data it encrypts vulnerable. By contrast, public-key systems use two keys: a public key, designed to be shared, and a private key, which must be closely held.These keys are complementary: if you encrypt something with the public key, it can only be decrypted w ith the corresponding private key, and vice versa. Public-key systems depend on the mathematical relationship between the public and private keys. It's not feasible to derive one from the other. There are two fundamental operations associated with public key cryptography: encryption and signing. The goal of encryption is to obscure data in such a way that it can only be read by the intended party. In public-key cryptography, if Bob wants to send Alice some private data, he uses her public key to encrypt it, then sends it to her.Upon receiving the encrypted data, Alice uses her private key to decrypt it. The important concept here is that Alice can freely distribute her public key in order to allow anyone in the world to encrypt data that only she can decrypt. If Bob and Chuck both have copies of her public key, and Chuck intercepts an encrypted message from Bob to Alice, he will not be able to decrypt it; only Alice's private key can do that, and she is the only person who holds it. These two operations can be used to provide three capabilities A PrivacyPrivacy is a necessity for businesses of all kinds, but it's of vital importance for ones that use the Internet. The Internet allows anyone in the world to communicate with anyone else, but it doesn't provide security. Even within your company's internal network, if someone can gain physical access to your network media, they can eavesdrop on any data that traverses it. Public-key cryptography provides privacy via data encryption, whether the data is in the form of e-mail messages, credit card numbers sent over the Internet, or network traffic.Because public keys can be posted freely, complete strangers can establish private communications simply by retrieving each other's public keys and encrypting the data. B. Authentication Any transaction involves two parties, whether they're a client and a server or a customer and a vendor. For many transactions, it's desirable for one or both sides to be able to authentic ate, or verify the identity of, the other. For instance, before a customer provides their credit card number to an e-commerce web site, they will want to know that they are not talking to an imposter.One way that a customer can do this is by making the web site prove that it holds the right private key. For example, a web browser might encrypt a piece of information using the site's public key and ask the web server to decrypt it, thereby demonstrating that the server has the right private key, and proving its identity. Authentication can also take the form of assuring your customers that you produced a particular piece of data and that it has not been tampered with. Public-key cryptography enables you to do this by means of a digital signature, a concept which is an extension of the public-key signing operation discussed above.If Bob wants to digitally sign his company's annual report, he first generates a unique fingerprint of the report using an algorithm called a hash algorithm. Hash algorithms are specially designed to guarantee that even a single changed byte in the document will generate a completely different hash. Next, he encrypts the report and the hash using his private key. Alice (or anyone else) can verify the origin and authenticity of the signed report by first decrypting it using Bob's public key, then calculating her own version of the fingerprint and comparing it to the fingerprint she received.If the two match, it proves two things: that the report has not been tampered with, and it came from Bob. C. Non-repudiation Businesses require the ability to enter into binding agreements, whether in the physical world or on the Internet. Suppliers and buyers need the assurance that if they enter into an agreement, the other party will not be able to repudiate the agreement at some later point. Digital signatures on electronic purchase orders, contracts, and other agreements are legally binding in several countries and in many U.S. states, and legal acceptance is rapidly growing. D. infrastructure Manage keys: a PKI makes it easy to issue new keys, review or revoke existing keys, and manage the trust level attached to keys from different issuers. Publish keys: a PKI offers a well-defined way for clients to locate and retrieve public keys and information about whether a specific key is valid or not. Without the ability to retrieve keys and know that they are valid, your users can't make use of public key services.Use keys: a PKI provides an easy-to-use way for users to use keys—not just by moving keys around where they're needed, but also by providing easy-to-use applications that perform public-key cryptographic operations, making it possible to provide security for e-mail, e-commerce, and networks. E. A capability,not a thing A common misperception is that a PKI is a thing. In fact, it's a capability—the capability to easily publish, manage, and use public keys. Think of a PKI like a municipal water system. A wat er system is made up of purification plants, storage towers, pumps, water mains, and so on, as well as the pipes and faucets in your house.All of the disparate service-providing objects work together to provide a capability for users to obtain water on demand. In a similar way, a PKI consists of a group of discrete components that work together to allow you to use public keys, and public-key cryptography, seamlessly and transparently. The best place to implement a PKI is in the operating system. Operating systems already provide a number of other infrastructures, like the printing infrastructure that moves documents to printers and the file service infrastructure that retrieves files from shared storage.In both cases, the operating system provides a capability to transparently and easily use a network service, just as a PKI does. F. Digital certificates:packaging for public key So far, this paper has mentioned public keys when talking about the objects that a PKI uses. While public keys are required for PKI-based security, they're usually packaged as digital certificates. (It's important to stress that only public keys are packaged into certificates. The private key is never shared, so it doesn't require packaging—it's simply stored securely). The certificate contains the public key and a set of attributes, like the key holder's name.These attributes may be related to the holder's identity, what they're allowed to do, or under what conditions the certificate is valid. The binding between attributes and the public key is present because the certificate is digitally signed by the entity that issued it; the issuer's signature on the certificate vouches for its authenticity and correctness. For a real-world analogy, look in your wallet. If you have a drivers' license, you have the equivalent of a digital certificate. Your license contains a unique key (your license number) and some attributes (an expiration date, your name, address, hair color, and so on).I t's issued by a trusted agency and laminated to prevent it from being tampered with. Anyone who trusts the agency that issued your license and verifies that the lamination is intact can rely on its authenticity. At that point, though, the analogy breaks down—in the real world, only the government can issue a driver's license, so everyone knows that a license issued by Joe's Really Good DMV isn't valid. How do you make the same determination with a digital certificate? The answer lies in the concept of a certificate hierarchy.In a hierarchy, as shown in Figure 1, each issuer, or certificate authority, signs (using its own private key) the certificates it issues. The public half of the CA's keypair is itself packaged in a certificate—one that was issued by a higher-level CA. This pattern can continue through as many levels as desired, with each CA certifying the authenticity of the certificates it has issued. Eventually, though, there must be a top-level CA, called a roo t certificate authority. Since there's nobody above the root CA in the hierarchy, there's nobody to vouch for the authenticity and origin of its certificate.Instead, the root CA signs its own certificate—it simply asserts that it is the root. Figure 1: What a certificate hierarchy looks like Clearly, it's not secure to accept a root CA's assertion of its own identity. To verify a root CA's certificate, a trusted copy of its public key is obtained via an out-of-band method-—that is, it's delivered by a third party instead of over the network—and the key is used to verify that the root certificate is bona fide. Microsoft provides the public keys for many popular root CAs in PK-enabled products like Internet Explorer, allowing users to verify those roots transparently.Root CAs can also provide copies of their public keys for downloading from public web sites. Once the root key has been delivered via an out-of-band means, the user can verify the root certificate, an d hence the entire certificate chain. Even better, because each certificate's digital signature protects it from tampering, certificate chains can be freely passed over insecure media like the Internet. G. Public key enabled application Once your PKI can issue, publish, and control certificates, the next step is to deploy applications that can use them.A well-written application that is tightly integrated with the rest of the PKI can make the use of public-key cryptography all but transparent to the user. The user should not need to know how cryptography works, where certificates are stored, or any of the other details—they should simply indicate what they want done, and leave it to the applications and the PKI to make it happen. Applications can use digital certificates to deliver the benefits of public-key cryptography, and they can combine cryptographic functions like signing and encryption to make possible e-commerce, secure network access, or other desirable services.All Microsoft applications that use public-key cryptography are natively public-key enabled. For example, the Microsoft Outlook ® messaging and collaboration client offers built-in signing and encryption support, combined with the ability to use certificate publishers and root certificates from a number of sources. Internet Explorer, Microsoft Money, and Internet Information Server provide the ability to set up encrypted web sessions. PKI-enabled applications can build on industry-standard protocols to speed development and allow easy interoperability with other organizations, too.H. Hardware support The increasing market demand for PKI implementations has spurred hardware vendors to develop cryptographic hardware, including smart cards, PC cards, and PCI cards that offer onboard cryptographic processing. These hardware devices offer a wide range of capabilities. On the low end, smartcards offer limited cryptographic processing combined with secure key storage; on the high end, multi processor crypto-accelerators allow high-volume web services to secure data without suffering from bottlenecks caused by software cryptographic modules.The best thing about PKI hardware devices is that they're optional—if your application requires additional performance or security, you can add hardware to provide it as necessary, but you can still build a completely functional PKI in software. I. Models The standalone CA model The standalone CA model (see Figure 2) is probably familiar to you if you've used SSL-protected web sites. In the standalone model, some third-party entity holds the root key and certificate for your organization, and it issues and revokes all certificates for your users.This third party might be a commercial CA like VeriSign, Thawte, Belsign, or GTE Cybertrust; it could also be a bank, a law firm, a trade association, or any other organization that you trust to issue certificates on your behalf. Figure 2: The standalone CA model This model allows trus t both within and outside your organization, so you can exchange secure e-mail and e-commerce transactions with outsiders. Standalone CAs also free you from the complexities of issuing, revoking, and tracking certificates.However, it requires you to trust some outside entity with your certificate management, and many third-party CAs levy an individual charge for each issued certificate. The enterprise CA model In this model (see Figure 3), your enterprise acts as its own CA, issuing and revoking certificates subject to your business requirements. Because no outsourcing provider is involved, your organization maintains complete control over its PKI. In addition to that control, though, you can guarantee that no one outside the enterprise can obtain a certificate unless you issue it to them.This model works well for controlling access to internal resources, or for generating certificates whose attributes would be meaningless to an outside entity. For example, you could issue certifica tes to managers that would allow them to make electronic travel reservations through the company travel office. Figure 3: The enterprise CA model Enterprise CAs with subordinates You can expand the flexibility of the enterprise CA model by adding subordinate CAs for individual departments, business units, or subdivisions of the organization. Most organizations already delegate some amount of administrative control to their subunits.For example, individual managers at most companies have some level of purchasing authority; higher-ranking managers can write bigger checks. Even though there's a centralized purchasing department that does much of the enterprise-wide buying, individual units still have the ability to perform day-to-day purchasing tasks. Choose your trust model If the choice of a CA model is the most important one you face when implementing a PKI, choosing a trust model comes in a very close second. When you trust a root, you're making an implicit statement that you trust them to be careful about who they issue certificates to.In this case, careful isn't quite the right word; what you're really saying is that you trust them to follow their prescribed policies and procedures to verify the identity of a certificate holder when they issue the certificate. When you choose to trust a root certificate, you're also choosing to trust certificates signed by that root. Depending on the CA model you use, the practical impact of this choice could be large (as when you choose to trust a large, widely used commercial root CA) or small (like deciding to trust your own accounting department).Normally these decisions are made for the enterprise as a whole; however, the Windows 2000 PKI allows individual users (or their administrators) to make their own trust decisions. In addition, administrators may override or augment user trust decisions with group policies. You also have to choose what you trust certificates to be used for. The X. 509 v3 certificate standard all ows you to specify whether certificates can be used for signing, encryption, or both. For example, you might want to give everyone signature certificates but restrict the use of encryption-capable certificates to certain departments or individuals.Microsoft has extended this feature to allow you to specify additional uses, including signing software components, logging on using a smart card, or recovering an encrypted file. When using the Windows 2000 PKI, the issuer has total control over what the certificate can be used for. IV Conclusion Public key cryptography offers critical business advantages, including the ability to conduct e-commerce and normal business operations with increased privacy, security, and assurance. To deliver these benefits, a public-key infrastructure is necessary that makes it easy to manage, publish and use public keys.Windows 2000 offers a PKI that is completely integrated with the operating system and provides flexible, secure, interoperable services tha t are easy to use, easy to deploy, and easy to manage. References N. Ferguson; B. Schneier (2003). Practical Cryptography. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-22357-3. J. Katz; Y. Lindell (2007). Introduction to Modern Cryptography. CRC Press. ISBN 1-58488-551-3. J. Menezes; P. C. van Oorschot; S. A. Vanstone (1997). Handbook of Applied Cryptography. ISBN 0-8493-8523-7. IEEE 1363: Standard Specifications for Public-Key Cryptography Single Sign-On Technology for SAP Enterprises: What does SAP have to say? [1] ^ Ed Gerck, Overview of Certification Systems: x. 509, CA, PGP and SKIP, in The Black Hat Briefings '99, http://www. securitytechnet. com/resource/rsc-center/presentation/black/vegas99/certover. pdf andhttp://mcwg. org/mcg-mirror/cert. htm ^ Stephen Wilson, Dec 2005, â€Å"The importance of PKI today†, China Communications, Retrieved on 2010-12-13 ^ Mark Gasson, Martin Meints, Kevin Warwick (2005), D3. 2: A study on PKI and biometrics, FIDIS deliverable (3)2, July 2005

The Host Chapter 57: Completed

It was a small tribunal this time, not like the trial for Kyle's life. Ian brought only Jeb, Doc, and Jared. He knew without having to be told that Jamie must not be allowed anywhere near these proceedings. Melanie would have to give that goodbye for me. I couldn't face that, not with Jamie. I didn't care if it was cowardly of me. I wouldn't do it. Just one blue lamp, one dim circle of light on the stone floor. We sat on the edge of the ring of light; I was alone, the four men facing me. Jeb had even brought his gun-as if it were a gavel and would make this more official. The smell of sulfur brought back the painful days of my mourning; there were some memories that I would not regret losing when I was gone. â€Å"How is she?† I asked Doc urgently as they settled in, before they could get started. This tribunal was a waste of my small store of time. I was worried about more important things. â€Å"Which one?† he responded in a weary voice. I stared at him for a few seconds, and then my eyes grew wide. â€Å"Sunny's gone? Already?† â€Å"Kyle thought it was cruel to make her suffer longer. She was†¦ unhappy.† â€Å"I wish I could have said goodbye,† I murmured to myself. â€Å"And good luck. How is Jodi?† â€Å"No response yet.† â€Å"The Healer's body?† â€Å"Trudy took her away. I think they went to get her something to eat. They're working on finding a temporary name she likes, so we can call her something besides the body.† He smiled wryly. â€Å"She'll be fine. I'm sure she will,† I said, trying to believe the words. â€Å"And Jodi, too. It will all work out.† No one called me on my lies. They knew I was saying this for myself. Doc sighed. â€Å"I don't want to be away from Jodi long. She might need something.† â€Å"Right,† I agreed. â€Å"Let's get this over with.† The quicker the better. Because it didn't matter what was said here; Doc had agreed to my terms. And yet there was some stupid part of me that hoped†¦ hoped that there was a solution that would make everything perfect and let me stay with Ian and Mel with Jared in a way that absolutely no one would suffer for. Best to crush that impossible hope quickly. â€Å"Okay,† Jeb said. â€Å"Wanda, what's your side?† â€Å"I'm giving Melanie back.† Firm, short-no reasons to argue against. â€Å"Ian, what's yours?† â€Å"We need Wanda here.† Firm, short-he was copying me. Jeb nodded to himself. â€Å"That's a tricky one. Wanda, why should I agree with you?† â€Å"If it were you, you'd want your body back. You can't deny Melanie that.† â€Å"Ian?† Jeb asked. â€Å"We have to look at the greater good, Jeb. Wanda's already brought us more health and security than we've ever had. She's vital to the survival of our community-of the entire human race. One person can't stand in the way of that.† He's right. Nobody asked you. Jared spoke up. â€Å"Wanda, what does Mel say?† Ha, Mel said. I stared into Jared's eyes, and the strangest thing happened. All the melting and melding I had just been through was shoved aside, into the smallest part of my body, the little corner that I took up physically. The rest of me yearned toward Jared with the same desperate, half-crazed hunger I'd felt since the first time I'd seen him here. This body barely belonged to me or to Melanie-it belonged to him. There really wasn't room enough for the two of us in here. â€Å"Melanie wants her body back. She wants her life back.† Liar. Tell them the truth. No. â€Å"Liar,† Ian said. â€Å"I can see you arguing with her. I'll bet she agrees with me. She's a good person. She knows how much we need you.† â€Å"Mel knows everything I know. She'll be able to help you. And the Healer's host. She knows more than I ever did. You'll be fine. You were fine before I was here. You'll survive, just like before.† Jeb blew out a puff of air, frowning. â€Å"I don't know, Wanda. Ian's got a point.† I glared at the old man and saw that Jared was doing the same. I looked away from that standoff to level a grim glance at Doc. Doc met my eyes, and his face clenched with pain. He understood the reminder I was giving him. He'd promised. This tribunal didn't overrule that. Ian was watching Jared-he didn't see our silent exchange. â€Å"Jeb,† Jared protested. â€Å"There's only one decision here. You know that.† â€Å"Is there, kid? Seems to me there's a whole barrel of 'em.† â€Å"That's Melanie's body!† â€Å"And Wanda's, too.† Jared choked on his response and had to start over. â€Å"You can't leave Mel trapped in there-it's like murder, Jeb.† Ian leaned forward into the light, his face suddenly furious again. â€Å"And what is it that you're doing to Wanda, Jared? And the rest of us, if you take her away?† â€Å"You don't care about the rest of anybody! You just want to keep Wanda at Melanie's expense-nothing else matters to you.† â€Å"And you want to have Melanie at Wanda's expense-nothing else matters to you! So, with those things being equal, it comes down to what's best for everyone else.† â€Å"No! It comes down to what Melanie wants! That's her body!† They were both crouched halfway between sitting and standing now, their fists clenched and their faces twisted with rage. â€Å"Cool it, boys! Cool it right now,† Jeb ordered. â€Å"This is a tribunal, and we're going to stay calm and keep our heads. We've got to think about every side.† â€Å"Jeb -† Jared began. â€Å"Shut up.† Jeb chewed on his lip for a while. â€Å"Okay, here's how I see it. Wanda's right -â€Å" Ian lurched to his feet. â€Å"Hold it! Sit yourself back down. Let me finish.† Jeb waited until Ian, the tendons standing out in his taut neck, stiffly returned to a seated position. â€Å"Wanda is right,† Jeb said. â€Å"Mel needs her body back. But,† he added quickly when Ian tensed again, â€Å"but I don't agree with the rest, Wanda. I think we need you pretty bad, kid. We got Seekers out there lookin' for us, and you can talk right to 'em. The rest of us can't do that. You save lives. I got to think about the welfare of my household.† Jared spoke through his teeth. â€Å"So we get her another body. Obviously.† Doc's crumpled face lifted. Jeb's white caterpillar eyebrows touched his hairline. Ian's eyes widened and his lips pursed. He stared at me, considering†¦ â€Å"No! No!† I shook my head frantically. â€Å"Why not, Wanda?† Jeb asked. â€Å"Don't sound like a half-bad idea to me.† I swallowed and took a deep breath so my voice wouldn't turn hysterical. â€Å"Jeb. Listen to me carefully, Jeb. I am tired of being a parasite. Can you understand that? Do you think I want to go into another body and have this start all over again? Do I have to feel guilty forever for taking someone's life away from them? Do I have to have someone else hate me? I'm barely a soul anymore-I love you brutish humans too much. It's wrong for me to be here, and I hate feeling that.† I took another breath and spoke through the tears that were falling now. â€Å"And what if things change? What if you put me in some-one else, steal another life, and it goes wrong? What if that body pulls me after some other love, back to the souls? What if you can't trust me anymore? What if I betray you next time? I don't want to hurt you!† The first part was the pure and unadorned truth, but I was lying wildly through the second. I hoped they wouldn't hear that. It would help that the words were barely coherent, my tears turned to sobs. I would never hurt them. What had happened to me here was permanent, a part of the very atoms that made up my small body. But maybe, if I gave them a reason to fear me, they would more easily accept what had to be. And my lies worked, for once. I caught the worried glance Jared and Jeb exchanged. They hadn't thought of that-of my becoming untrustworthy, becoming a danger. Ian was already moving to put his arms around me. He dried my tears against his chest. â€Å"It's okay, honey. You don't have to be anyone else. Nothing's going to change.† â€Å"Hold on, Wanda,† Jeb said, his shrewd eyes suddenly sharper. â€Å"How does going to one of those other planets help you? You'll still be a parasite, kid.† Ian flinched around me at the harsh word. And I flinched also, because Jeb was too insightful, as always. They waited for my answer, all but Doc, who knew what the real answer was. The one I wouldn't give. I tried to say only true things. â€Å"It's different on other planets, Jeb. There isn't any resistance. And the hosts themselves are different. They aren't as individualized as humans, their emotions are so much milder. It doesn't feel like stealing a life. Not like it feels here. No one will hate me. And I'd be too far away to hurt you. You'd be safer†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The last part sounded too much like the lie it was, so I let my voice trail off. Jeb stared at me through narrowed eyes, and I looked away. I tried not to look at Doc, but I couldn't help one brief glance, to make sure he understood. His eyes locked on mine, clearly miserable, and I knew that he did. As I quickly lowered my gaze, I caught Jared staring at Doc. Had he seen the silent communication? Jeb sighed. â€Å"This is†¦ a pickle.† His face turned into a grimace as he concentrated on the dilemma. â€Å"Jeb -† Ian and Jared said together. They both stopped and scowled at each other. This was all just a waste of time, and I had only hours. Just a few more hours, I knew that for certain now. â€Å"Jeb,† I said softly, my voice barely audible over the spring's gushing murmur, and everyone turned to me. â€Å"You don't have to decide right now. Doc needs to check on Jodi, and I'd like to see her, too. Plus, I haven't eaten all day. Why don't you sleep on it? We can talk again tomorrow. We've got plenty of time to think about this.† Lies. Could they tell? â€Å"That's a good idea, Wanda. I think everyone here could use a breather. Go get some food, and we'll all sleep on it.† I was very careful not to look at Doc now, even when I spoke to him. â€Å"I'll be along to help with Jodi after I eat, Doc. See you later.† â€Å"Okay,† Doc said warily. Why couldn't he keep his tone casual? He was a human-he should have been a good liar. â€Å"Hungry?† Ian murmured, and I nodded. I let him help me up. He latched on to my hand, and I knew he would be keeping a tight hold on me now. That didn't worry me. He slept deeply, like Jamie. As we walked from the dark room, I could feel eyes on my back, but I wasn't sure whose. Just a few more things to do. Three, to be precise. Three last deeds to be completed. First, I ate. It wouldn't be nice to leave Mel with her body uncomfortable from hunger. Besides, the food was better since I'd been raiding. Something to look forward to rather than endure. I made Ian get the food and bring it to me while I hid in the field where half-grown sprouts of wheat replaced the corn. I told Ian the truth so that he would help me: I was avoiding Jamie. I didn't want Jamie frightened by this decision. It would be harder for him than for Jared or Ian-they each took one side. Jamie loved us both; he would be more evenly torn. Ian did not argue with me. We ate in silence, his arm tight around my waist. Second, I went to see Sunny and Jodi. I expected to see three glowing cryotanks on top of Doc's desk, and I was surprised that there were still just the two Healers, set in the center. Doc and Kyle hovered over the cot where Jodi lay inert. I walked quickly to them, about to demand to know where Sunny was, but when I got closer, I saw that Kyle had an occupied cryotank cradled in one arm. â€Å"You'll want to be gentle with that,† I murmured. Doc was touching Jodi's wrist, counting to himself. His lips pressed into a thin line when he heard my voice, and he had to begin over again. â€Å"Yeah, Doc told me that,† Kyle said, his gaze never leaving Jodi's face. A dark, matched set of bruises was forming under his eyes. Was his nose broken again? â€Å"I'm being careful. I just†¦ didn't want to leave her alone over there. She was so sad and so†¦ sweet.† â€Å"I'm sure she'd appreciate it, if she knew.† He nodded, still staring at Jodi. â€Å"Is there something I'm supposed to be doing here? Is there some way to help?† â€Å"Talk to her, say her name, talk about things she'll remember. Talk about Sunny, even. That helped with the Healer's host.† â€Å"Mandy,† Doc corrected. â€Å"She says it's not exactly right, but it's close.† â€Å"Mandy,† I repeated. Not that I would need to remember. â€Å"Where is she?† â€Å"With Trudy-that was a good call there. Trudy's exactly the right person. I think she's gotten her to sleep.† â€Å"That's good. Mandy will be okay.† â€Å"I hope so.† Doc smiled, but it didn't affect his gloomy expression much. â€Å"I've got lots of questions for her.† I looked at the small woman-it was still impossible to believe that she was older than the body I wore. Her face was slack and vacant. It frightened me a little-she'd been so vibrantly alive when Sunny was inside. Would Mel†¦? I'm still here. I know. You'll be fine. Like Lacey. She winced, and so did I. Never like Lacey. I touched Jodi's arm softly. She was much like Lacey in some ways. Olive skinned and black haired and tiny. They could almost be sisters, except that Jodi's sweet, wan face could never look so repellent. Kyle was tongue-tied, holding her hand. â€Å"Like this, Kyle,† I said. I brushed her arm again. â€Å"Jodi? Jodi, can you hear me? Kyle's waiting for you, Jodi. He got himself in a lot of trouble getting you here-everybody who knows him wants to beat him senseless.† I grinned wryly at the big man, and his lips curled up at the corners, though he didn't look up to see my smile. â€Å"Not that you're surprised to hear that,† Ian said beside me. â€Å"When hasn't that been the case, eh, Jodi? It's good to see you again, sweetheart. Though I wonder if you feel the same way. Must have been a nice break to get rid of this idiot for so long.† Kyle hadn't noticed his brother was there, attached like a vise to my hand, until Ian spoke. â€Å"You remember Ian, of course. Never has managed to catch up to me in anything, but he keeps trying. Hey, Ian,† Kyle added, never moving his eyes, â€Å"you got anything you want to say to me?† â€Å"Not really.† â€Å"I'm waiting for an apology.† â€Å"Keep waiting.† â€Å"Can you believe he kicked me in the face, Jodes? For no reason at all.† â€Å"Who needs an excuse, eh, Jodi?† It was oddly pleasant, the banter between the brothers. Jodi's presence kept it light and teasing. Gentle and funny. I would have woken up for this. If I were her, I would have been smiling already. â€Å"Keep it up, Kyle,† I murmured. â€Å"That's just right. She'll come around.† I wished I would get to meet her, to see what she was like. I could only picture Sunny's expressions. What would it be like for everyone here, meeting Melanie for the first time? Would it seem the same to them, as if there were no difference? Would they really grasp that I was gone, or would Melanie simply fill the role I had? Maybe they would find her entirely different. Maybe they would have to adjust to her all over again. Maybe she would fit in the way I never had. I pictured her, which was picturing me, the center of a crowd of friendly faces. Pictured us with Freedom in our arms and all the humans who had never trusted me smiling with welcome. Why did that bring tears to my eyes? Was I really so petty? No, Mel assured me. And they'll miss you-of course they will. All the best people here will feel your loss. She seemed to finally accept my decision. Not accept, she disagreed. I just can't see any way to stop you. And I can feel how close it is. I'm scared, too. Isn't that funny? I'm absolutely terrified. That makes two of us. â€Å"Wanda?† Kyle said. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"I'm sorry.† â€Å"Um†¦ why?† â€Å"For trying to kill you,† he said casually. â€Å"Guess I was wrong.† Ian gasped. â€Å"Please tell me you have some kind of recording device available, Doc.† â€Å"Nope. Sorry, Ian.† Ian shook his head. â€Å"This moment should be preserved. I never thought I'd live to see the day that Kyle O'Shea would admit to being wrong. C'mon, Jodi. That ought to shock you awake.† â€Å"Jodi, baby, don't you want to defend me? Tell Ian I never have been wrong before.† He chuckled. That was nice. It was nice to know that I'd earned Kyle's acceptance before I left. I hadn't expected that much. There was no more I could do here. There was no point in lingering. Jodi would either come back or she would not, but neither outcome would change my path now. So I proceeded to my third and final deed: I lied. I stepped away from the cot, took a deep breath, and stretched my arms. â€Å"I'm tired, Ian,† I said. Was it really a lie? It didn't sound so false. It had been a long, long day, this, my last day. I'd been up all night, I realized. I hadn't slept since that last raid; I must have been exhausted. Ian nodded. â€Å"I'll bet you are. Did you stay up with the Heal-with Mandy all night?† â€Å"Yeah.† I yawned. â€Å"Have a nice night, Doc,† Ian said, pulling me toward the exit. â€Å"Good luck, Kyle. We'll be back in the morning.† â€Å"Night, Kyle,† I murmured. â€Å"See you, Doc.† Doc glowered at me, but Ian's back was to him, and Kyle was staring at Jodi. I returned Doc's glare with a steady gaze. Ian walked with me through the black tunnel, saying nothing. I was glad he wasn't in the mood for conversation. I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on it. My stomach was twisting and turning, wringing itself into strange contortions. I was done, all my tasks accomplished. I only had to wait a bit now and not fall asleep. Tired as I was, I didn't think that would be a problem. My heart was pounding like a fist hitting my ribs from the inside. No more stalling. It had to be tonight, and Mel knew that, too. What had happened today with Ian had shown me that. The longer I stayed, the more tears and arguments and fights I would cause. The better the chance that I or someone else would slip up and Jamie would find out the truth. Let Mel explain it after the fact. It would be better that way. Thanks so much, Mel thought; her words flowed fast, in a burst, her fear marring her sarcasm. Sorry. You don't mind too much? She sighed. How can I mind? I'd do anything you asked me to, Wanda. Take care of them for me. I would have done that anyway. Ian, too. If he'll let me. I've got a feeling he might not like me so much. Even if he won't let you. I'll do whatever I can for him, Wanda. I promise. Ian paused in the hall outside the red and gray doors to his room. He raised his eyebrows, and I nodded. Let him think I was still hiding from Jamie. That was true, too. Ian slid the red door aside, and I went straight to the mattress on the right. I balled up there, knotting my shaking hands in front of my hammering heart, trying to hide them behind my knees. Ian curled around me, holding me close to his chest. This would have been fine-I knew that he would end up sprawled out in all directions when he was really asleep-except that he could feel my trembling. â€Å"It's going to be fine, Wanda. I know we'll find a solution.† â€Å"I truly love you, Ian.† It was the only way I could tell him goodbye. The only way he would accept. I knew he would remember later and understand. â€Å"With my whole soul, I love you.† â€Å"I truly love you, too, my Wanderer.† He nuzzled his face against mine until he found my lips, then he kissed me, slow and gentle, the flow of molten rock swelling languidly in the dark at the center of the earth, until my shaking slowed. â€Å"Sleep, Wanda. Save it for tomorrow. It will keep for the night.† I nodded, moving my face against his, and sighed. Ian was tired, too. I didn't have to wait long. I stared at the ceiling-the stars had moved above the cracks here. I could see three of them now, where before there had been only two. I watched them wink and pulse across the blackness of space. They did not call to me. I had no desire to join them. One at a time, Ian's arms fell away from me. He flopped onto his back, muttering in his sleep. I didn't dare wait any longer; I wanted too badly to stay, to fall asleep with him and steal one more day. I moved cautiously, but he was in no danger of waking. His breathing was heavy and even. He wouldn't open his eyes till morning. I brushed his smooth forehead with my lips, then rose and slid out the door. It was not late, and the caves were not empty. I could hear voices bouncing around, strange echoes that might have been coming from anywhere. I didn't see anyone until I was in the big cave. Geoffrey, Heath, and Lily were on their way back from the kitchen. I kept my eyes down, though I was very glad to see Lily. In the brief glimpse I allowed myself, I could see that she was at least standing upright, her shoulders straight. Lily was tough. Like Mel. She'd make it, too. I hurried to the southern corridor, relieved when I was safe in the blackness there. Relieved and horrified. It was really over now. I'm so afraid, I whimpered. Before Mel could respond, a heavy hand dropped on my shoulder from the darkness. â€Å"Going somewhere?†

Cómo se apostilla un documento para darle validez en otro país

Cà ³mo se apostilla un documento para darle validez en otro paà ­s La apostilla de la Haya es un sello que acredita que un documento obtenido en un paà ­s es verdadero y, por lo tanto, debe ser reconocido y aceptado como vlido en otro. El sello de la apostilla - o apostille- puede variar en diseà ±o, tamaà ±o o color entre paà ­ses. Lo fundamental para su validez es que sea colocado por una autoridad competente segà ºn las leyes que regulan este tema en cada uno de los paà ­ses firmantes de la Convencià ³n de la Haya o que adoptaron ese tratado posteriormente. Este artà ­culo informa sobre los puntos clave que deben saberse sobre la Apostilla de la Haya, quà © tipo de documentos se pueden apostillar y cules son las autoridades competentes para apostillar en todos los paà ­ses de Latinoamà ©rica que forman parte de la Convencià ³n, asà ­ como en Estados Unidos y en Espaà ±a.  ¿Cules documentos se pueden apostillar? Son susceptible de apostillar documentos de registro civil, por ejemplo, certificados de nacimiento, matrimonio, divorcio, defuncià ³n o solterà ­a. Tambià ©n aplica a documentos notariales, certificaciones de nivel de estudio, diplomas acadà ©micos y titulaciones universitarias. Asimismo, pueden apostillarse las certificaciones de los registros mercantiles, patentes, autos y sentencias judiciales, y cualquier otro documento emitido por una autoridad o funcionario pà ºblico. Por otro lado, no pueden apostillarse los documentos administrativos referentes a una actividad aduanera o mercantil, ni tampoco los expedidos por agentes consulares.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Argentina? La potestad de legalizar un documento mediante la apostilla de la Haya - conocida en Argentina como Apostille- corresponde al Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Culto. La documentacià ³n debe presentarse en Esmeralda 1214, C.A.B.A. C1007ABR. En el interior del paà ­s los colegios de escribanos estn habilitados para colocar la apostilla. Si la documentacià ³n a legalizar ha sido emitida o certificada por una autoridad local, previamente a presentar los papeles deber obtenerse una legalizacià ³n por el Ministerio del Interior, Obras Pà ºblicas y Vivienda, y deber solicitarse el turno por Internet. Por otra parte, los tà ­tulos universitarios y las certificaciones de estudios secundarios y de estudios superiores no universitarios debern contar con la cadena de legalizaciones previa exigida por el Ministerio de Educacià ³n o, en su caso, el Ministerio de Sanidad, dependiendo del tipo de estudios.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Bolivia? Desde 2018, se puede solicitar apostillar un documento en las oficinas del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores en La Paz, Cochabamba o Santa Cruz.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Chile? La autoridad competente para apostillar en Chile depende de la naturaleza del documento pà ºblico. Asà ­, para asuntos de justicia le corresponde a los secretarios regionales ministeriales, y en el caso de la regià ³n metropolitana, al Subsecretario de Justicia. Los documentos de educacià ³n deben presentarse ante las secretarà ­as regionales ministeriales. Los sanitarios, ante los secretarios regionales ministeriales, el Intendente de Prestadores de Salud o directores de servicios de salud. Los documentos de identificacià ³n o registro civil deben apostillarse con los directores regionales o el nacional. Los documentos emitidos por el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores deben ser apostillados por el Director General de Asuntos Exteriores e Inmigracià ³n. Si la persona que debe apostillar un documento se encuentra fuera de Chile, puede solicitar este servicio por Internet y retirar el documento apostillado en un consulado en el exterior.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Colombia? La tramitacià ³n de la apostilla se hace en là ­nea.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Costa Rica? La autoridad para apostillar corresponde al Departamento de Autenticaciones del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto. La solicitud de cita se realiza en là ­nea. Pueden presentarse un mximo de 12 documentos por cita.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Ecuador? En Ecuador, varias oficinas repartidas por las nueve zonas del paà ­s estn autorizadas para apostillar documentos pà ºblicos, previo pago de una tarifa de $20 que se reduce para mayores de 65 aà ±os y personas con discapacidad. Puede apostillar el titular del documento pà ºblico o una tercera persona.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en El Salvador? Corresponde apostillar al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, el cual lo hace de forma gratuita. Previamente a presentar los documentos para apostillar es necesario obtener la certificacià ³n de autenticacià ³n de la firma del documento. El lugar donde se obtiene depende de la naturaleza de dicho documento. Por ejemplo, si se trata de partidas del estado civil, pueden hacerlo el alcalde municipal, el jefe del registro del estado familiar o el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores; si se trata de tà ­tulos universitarios, se encarga el Ministerio de Educacià ³n o el de Relaciones Exteriores.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Estados Unidos? En Estados Unidos, la competencia para legalizar un documento mediante la apostilla de la Haya corresponde a diversas autoridades dependiendo del tipo de documento. Asà ­, si se trata de un documento emitido por una agencia del gobierno federal, puede apostillar la Oficina de Autenticacià ³n del Departamento de Estado. Se puede contactar marcando al 1-202-647-5002 o por correo. El costo es de $8 por documento. Si se trata de apostillar un Reporte Consular de Nacimiento, el certificado de matrimonio o fallecimiento de un ciudadano estadounidense ocurrido fuera de Estados Unidos, o el certificado de nacimiento o fallecimiento emitido entre 1904 y 1979 por el Gobierno de la Zona del Canal de Panam, la competencia recae en el Bureau de Asuntos Consulares del Departamento de Estado. La solicitud de la apostilla debe estar notarizada y acompaà ±ada por una copia legible de una identificacià ³n emitida en los Estados Unidos como, por ejemplo, la licencia de manejar. Si se trata de documentos emitidos por un juez o una corte federal, como una sentencia o un auto, por ejemplo, pueden apostillarlos los secretarios o los asistentes de secretario de dichas cortes. Asimismo, en estos casos hay otra alternativa, la cual consiste en solicitar al Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos que autentifique el sello de una corte federal y, a continuacià ³n, solicitar la apostilla a la Oficina de Autenticacià ³n del Departamento de Estado. Sin embargo, en Estados Unidos, la mayorà ­a de las veces la autoridad competente para apostillar es el Secretario de Estado de cada uno de los estados, ya que ellos apostillan documentos emitidos por cortes locales y tambià ©n documentos de registro civil, como por ejemplo certificado de nacimiento, matrimonio, divorcio o fallecimiento, o incluso de un tà ­tulo acadà ©mico. En estos casos, antes de apostillar es necesario obtener el documento original o una copia oficial del mismo. En el caso de certificados de nacimiento o de estado civil, lo ms frecuente es que se deba contactar con la oficina del secretario del condado (county clerk, en inglà ©s) o de la municipalidad. Tambià ©n es posible obtenerlo a travà ©s de pginas en Internet dedicadas a esta labor como, por ejemplo, vitalcheck. En ningà ºn caso, las embajadas o consulados de Estados Unidos pueden colocar el sello de la apostilla en un documento emitido por una autoridad de Estados Unidos.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Espaà ±a? Para apostillar documentos pà ºblicos administrativos o judiciales, incluidos los de registro civil, las autoridades competentes son las gerencias territoriales del Ministerio de Justicia, la Oficina Central de Atencià ³n al Ciudadano, el mismo ministerio y las secretarà ­as de gobierno de los Tribunales Superiores de Justicia autonà ³micos. Sin embargo, si los documentos judiciales han sido expedidos por el Tribunal Supremo o por la Audiencia Nacional, la autoridad competente son sus respectivos secretarios judiciales. Finalmente, si se trata de un documento privado o un documento notarial, tienen la competencia para apostillar los colegios notariales. En numerosos casos es posible que previamente a apostillar se requiera un reconocimiento de firma por parte de la autoridad competente, como es el caso de tà ­tulos universitarios, documentos expedidos por el Instituto de Seguridad Social, el Instituto Nacional de Empleo, la Agencia Tributaria, etc.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Guatemala? Corresponde la labor de apostillar al Departamento de Autà ©nticas de la Direccià ³n General de Asuntos Jurà ­dicos del Departamento de Relaciones Exteriores, ubicado en el Centro de Atencià ³n al Migrante (2a. Av. 4-17 zona 10), en Ciudad de Guatemala.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Honduras? Corresponde esta labor a la Seccià ³n de Autà ©ntica y Apostilla de la Secretarà ­a de Estado en el Despacho de Relaciones Exteriores, Municipio del Distrito Central. Para la solicitud se requiere presentar recibo bancario de pago de tarifa. La apostilla se demora un dà ­a.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Mà ©xico? Los documentos pà ºblicos estatales deben apostillarse con el gobierno del estado correspondiente. Son ejemplo de este tipo de documentos los emitidos por los oficiales del Registro Civil, los Jueces del Fuero Comà ºn, los presidentes municipales, los notarios pà ºblicos, la Procuradurà ­a y el Tribunal Superior de Justicia Estatal, etc. En el caso de documentos pà ºblicos federales, corresponde apostillar a la Secretarà ­a de Gobernacià ³n, Calle Rà ­o Amazonas # 62, Planta Baja,  Del. Cuauhtà ©moc, Col. Cuauhtà ©moc, C. P. 06500, Ciudad de Mà ©xico, Tel. (0155) 50-93-32-18 y 50-93-32-22. Las personas que viven en el interior de la repà ºblica pueden evitar tener que desplazarse al D.F. enviando la documentacià ³n por paqueterà ­a con guà ­a prepagada. Previamente, debern certificarse la firma del documento, pagar en ventanilla bancaria la hoja de ayuda para el pago de derechos, presentar identificacià ³n oficial vigente con pasaporte, INE, cà ©dula profesional o cartilla militar y, en el caso de los mexicanos, el CURP (Clave à ºnica de registro de poblacià ³n).  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Nicaragua? La autoridad competente es la Direccià ³n General Consular de la Cancillerà ­a. El titular puede presentarse en persona en sus oficinas o enviar la documentacià ³n por courier, previa descarga del formulario en el que se realiza la peticià ³n de apostilla.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Panam? La labor de apostillar corresponde al Departamento de Autenticacià ³n y Legalizacià ³n del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, ubicado en Ave. Ricardo J. Alfaro, Centro Comercial Sun Towers Mall. Se puede contactar marcando al 511-4045 / 511-4046.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Perà º? En Perà º corresponde al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores la labor de apostillar documentos pà ºblicos, y realiza esta labor en las Ventanillas de Trnsito y Atenciones Personalizadas. Cualquier consulta sobre la apostilla puede enviarse por correo electrà ³nico a: legalizacionesyapostillatrcrree.gob.pe  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Repà ºblica Dominicana? La persona interesada en apostillar un documento pà ºblico debe presentarse en el rea de Recepcià ³n y Entrega de Documentos de la Direccià ³n de Legalizacià ³n de Documentos dependiente del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Previamente deber haber pagado la tasa correspondiente en el Banco de Reservas y obtenido la certificacià ³n de firmas ante la autoridad competente que depender del tipo de documento. Asà ­, si se trata de actos de tipo civil, deber obtenerse certificacià ³n previa por parte de la junta de distrito. En el caso de documentos jurà ­dicos o judiciales, est a cargo el Departamento de Legalizacià ³n de Firmas de la Procuradurà ­a General de la Repà ºblica; los documentos de estudios de primaria y secundaria son apostillados por el Ministerio de Estado de Educacià ³n; de los de estudios universitarios se encarga el Ministerio de Educacià ³n Superior; los documentos mercantiles y de empresas son apostillados por la Cmara de Comercio; los relacionados con la salud se apostillan por el Ministerio de Salud Pà ºblica; los militares, por el Ministerio de Defensa y Policà ­a Nacional; y, finalmente, los documentos concernientes a la religià ³n catà ³lica, son apostillados por el departamento de legalizaciones del arzobispado.  ¿Cà ³mo apostillar en Venezuela? Para apostillar es necesario registrarse en la pgina del Ministerio del Poder Popular para las Relaciones Exteriores y solicitar cita electrà ³nica. El dà ­a de la cita puede acudir el titular del documento, un familiar o su representante o apoderado. De interà ©s para quienes desean estudiar o trabajar en EE.UU. Entre los documentos que ms se apostillan estn los relacionados con la educacià ³n. Es un paso comà ºn para los extranjeros que desean estudiar o desempeà ±ar trabajados que requieren ciertos estudios en Estados Unidos. La apostilla es diferente a la validacià ³n y homologacià ³n de los expedientes y tà ­tulos acadà ©micos. En Estados Unidos, la llevan a cabo empresas privadas expresamente reconocidas por la institucià ³n en la que se desea estudiar o trabajar, es decir, no sirve cualquiera y es necesario prestar atencià ³n a ese detalle. Puntos clave La apostilla permite que un documento expedido en un paà ­s sea aceptado en otro.Se apostilla en el paà ­s que ha emitido el documento.Cuba es el à ºnico paà ­s hispanoparlante en donde no aplica la Convencià ³n de la Haya.Embajadas y consulados no pueden apostillar.Dependiendo de los casos, es posible que sea imprescindible obtener un reconocimiento de firma antes de apostillar e, incluso, una traduccià ³n jurada que tambià ©n podrà ­a ser necesario apostillar. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal de ningà ºn tipo.

PERFECT ADMISSION ESSAY

PERFECT ADMISSION ESSAY Admission essays are written for several main purposes. First main reason is to get to know the personal reasons why a student chose to enter particular college, course or university. Second, the perfect admission essay must state what are the major benefits a student is about to receive at this particular school. Third important aspect is what a student is ready to contribute to it. Admission essay is written in a form of an answer that will show a student’s personal case in   larger perspective. For example, regular section of college application cannot provide full insight on student’s personality. An admission essay can do a much better job. It will also show how this particular student differs from the other students with his experience, background and talents. To be true, the admission essay gives college or university admission committee a chance to whether particular applicant will be selected or not. perfect-admission-essay The initial goal of perfect admission essay writing is to show a unique type of character and to convince the admission committee that he deserves be accepted. This is done through a proper writing skills and personal ability to coherent thoughts organization. The number of admission essay topics is growing with each day. Here is a great tip. Choose most interesting admission essay topics, and create a top-ten admission essay topics list. They can be selected from different categories such as famous plays or movies, massive sport events, different eras of history, famous books and favorite actors or people, etc. Proceed with topics list review and pick a topic that has much positive influence on one’s life. Essay writing starts with a section that describes a person (yourself). Major admission essay writing tip is to find a particular focus and concentrate on positive sides of the chosen experience. Important emphasis is the accentuation of individual learnt experience from coping with the life situation one is writing about.

North Street Primary School Upgrade Proposal Essay - 1

North Street Primary School Upgrade Proposal - Essay Example North Street Junior School is facing the similar problem thus it needs few amendments to cure the problems related to the greenhouse emission and the energy consumption. The school utilizes the artificial lights to enlighten the inner building and utilize maintain the temperature by utilizing the electricity. All the classrooms have radiators that help maintain the temperature during all seasons. In general, the building of the school is an old patterned building that utilizes the immense amount of energy for all the systems. In my view, the building was such made to restrict the outer air from being penetrated into the building but due to the lack of technology, it also restricted the natural lights from penetrating into the building that is the major reason for its higher energy consumption. On the other hand, the utilization of the fossil fuel and electricity based temperature controlled system also consumes a major portion of the electrical energy increasing the number of carbon footprints. At some place lack of insulation permits the inner atmosphere to diffuse into the outer environment making the temperature control unit to work more than requ ired. The School is surrounded by smaller building, thus allowing a lot of light to be faced by the building (Cayless, & Marsden, 1997, p45-122). The immense amount of light may serve as to enlighten the building and to provide warm water and air to be circulated into the school. However, the dominant feature of the building is that the building is a symbol of cultural heritage and it should be touched little but implementing effective alteration in the building to consume lower energy units and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the solar water heaters should be placed over the roofs of the building to capture the solar energy and heat the water.