Stargirl loves Leo Essay Example for Free

Stargirl loves Leo Essay The Stargirl fad is now dying at Mica Area High. Leo Borlock, though always find much excitement and purpose in the company of Stargirl Caraway, was beginning to feel the sharp rub from the spillover of Stargirl’s shunning. After Leo received a good douse of love from Stargirl’s huge sign painted with â€Å"STARGIRL LOVES LEO† and, afterwards, abject rejection by his school, he begged Stargirl to change and be â€Å"normal†. This conformity gave birth to â€Å"Susan†, a girl who is everything but â€Å"Stargirl†. However, it was not enough. May brought the final days of Stargirl at Mica High until she disappeared the day after her most glorious night at the Ocotillo Ball. Her disappearance eventually forced Leo to reflect upon his life and found peace and contentment knowing that at least, someone was bold enough to love and care for him for who he was and will continue to do so even after it all. A celebration of the pure essence of nonconformity, the book draws readers to reflect on their own circumstances and find out which character are they unconsciously playing in reality—the individualistic and exotic â€Å"Stargirl†, the indecisive Leo, or one with the Mica Area High crowd who finds comfort in being just like everyone else. In the form of normal teen-age circumstances and decisions, the book effectively conveys its stand on the serious social issue of conformity. The mesh of light humor, drama and love that was meant for both the young and old, in the end, brings a resounding resolution to that certain point in our lives where we find ourselves pondering on how to discover our own purposes—do we seek it in our own terms or must we still care for another’s opinion? Certain instances during my reading process brought me to reflect deeply on some issues I have found that piqued my interest and some that left me with so many questions. This in turn made me realize that it would greatly help if I could have someone with me to whom I could disclose my insights and whose insights, in turn, would help compensate for the issues I failed to understand. This experience will help me learn from and acknowledge the opinions of my students as well when discussing lessons that warrant such rapport. Though, as a teacher, I would be personally responsible for the learning process of my students, I know that there would be instances where I would fail to maximize that responsibility if I do not recognize their ideas and insights as well. Bibliography Spinelli, J. (2000). Stargirl. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf.

Model Driven Development Vs Test Driven Development Computer Science Essay

Model Driven Development Vs Test Driven Development Computer Science Essay Model driven development is a top-down, traditional approach that has been around for a long time. Test Driven Development (TDD) is a bottom-up, new approach in the sense that it has picked up its value in the recent years. The focus of MDD as the name implies is on the models rather than on code that guides the development of software whereas focus of TDD is on the tests. There have been several changes to MDD since the beginning to deal with the changing environment and complexities raised by projects. TDD started as a part of extreme programming (XP) methodology and has gained popularity among many developers as a separate practice itself. Traditional, hard cored MDD developers are accustomed to developing software that seems more natural to them considering it to be an Engineering approach. TDD developers approach the problem in a totally different perspective concentrating on customer views of the system. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. For a high qual ity software product that meets the goals of the organization, it is important to understand and apply the most suitable methodology while making certain trade-offs if necessary. The best approach to follow depends on several factors including the type of organization, type of project, and experience the developers have. This paper is aimed at explaining Model driven and Test Driven development along with case study and observations. 1. Model Driven Development or MDD. Model can be precisely defined as â€Å"a description of a system from a particular perspective, omitting irrelevant detail so that the characteristics of interest are seen more clearly†. (Source: Patterns: Model-Driven Development Using IBM Rational Software Architect) Consider an example in which there is a pressing business need such as automation of certain processes and understanding the data collected in the business. In this situation a Business exists and there are people who are performing certain business activities in certain way. These are the people who are thinking of having a tool or a software product to help them increase their productivity and their functionality. These people who are called Domain Experts or Subject Matter experts or Business Experts know what they want. However, they currently do not have any software product that will help them to meet their needs. In this situation Domain Experts are the driving force. They do things in a certain way and expect the software product developed for them meet their needs should also do things in that manner. However, they do not know how a new software product will look like and how it will help them to meet their needs. People who develop this software product understand the needs , but they may miss the intricacies of the desired end product. Building a MODEL will help alleviate this situation. A MODEL can be a diagram, an animation or a presentation. If the Software that has to be developed is very small or involves 1 or 2 people, then the process need not be so much structured, even though it helps. However, while developing a large product which will involve tens or hundreds of people having different expertise, model will help them to accomplish this easily. A new product development building a Model is absolutely necessary. This is analogous to a civil Engineer creating a model of Building before it is actually built. Model Driven Development (MDD) is a methodology that focuses on designing models at an abstract level without considering the implementation details that guide the development process, focusing on one part of the system to manage complexity. Models help to analyze the problem and visualize the process. Most commonly used language for this purpose is Unified Modeling Language (UML). It establishes certain vocabulary and structure so as to understand and communicate between various developers. Artifacts are produced from the models, so the models are machine-readable, which is an important aspect of MDD. MDD is also called as â€Å"Model Driven Engineering†. An implementation of MDD is given by Object Management Group (OMG)s Model Driven Architecture (MDA). Focus of MDA is on forward engineering, i.e. creating code from modeling diagrams. Apart from MDA, there are also other views of MDD such as Domain Oriented Programming, Agile Model Driven Development, etc. MDA uses platform-independent model (PIM) to describe the system functionality as the first step. Platform Independent Model (PIM) is a generic way of representing the end view of the product without considering any technology or platforms going to be used. This model just transforms the Business requirements into a Model. This format does not contain any particular software code but shows the end state of the product in one of the Model development modes such as Diagrams, Flow Charts, and Animations etc. Based on the PIM and considering some economic conditions or availability, a proper platform is selected to develop the software. A model is then converted from PIM to platform specific model or PSM. . This contains software code at a higher level. Platform is a loose word in this context. This can be referred to type of hardware, software, operating system, programming language or combination of any of these put together. That is why choosing a platform is related to economic viability also. PSM can be thought of Developers model where as PIM can be thought of Domain Experts or End users model. UML representation using IBMs Rational Rose can be considered as PIM. Whereas, tools like IBM WebSphere Studio and Borland Together/J are used for developing PSM. In these, we have CODE VIEW and MODEL VIEW. These two views are synchronized together. When code is changed in Code View, it is reflected in the Model View and vice versa. The models may contain fixed and variable data, business requirements, presentation elements (forms, reports). If one of these elements changes, they can be incorporated into the model to see the changes that occur due to interdependencies. Based on the affects, all the other depending code can be changed accordingly to accommodate these changes. Models also describe what is called the Gap Analysis. Models are first built with an Ideal situation, but in reality the business processes and other aspects may be different. Therefore, the models will show the difference between the Real Life situation and the End State Ideal situations. This will help the Business units to define the changes in Business Practices or the Developers to meet the Business needs and bridge the gap. A well defined Structured System Analysis and Design (SSAD) is required to develop software based on Models. In this process, the design (Model) is taken as the basis to start with the development and as the development process is advanced, it is analyzed with the design and tested against the Model and re-visited to meet the requirements. Hence, software development using MDD approach requires Domain (Business) experts, software developers, Team leaders and Integration experts. Someone should also be able to play a Liaison role to understand both sides of the table Business side and Software side. This person will help each of the expert groups to understand the needs of other groups and will bridge the gap. Number of iterations in the project development process will be reduced drastically if this Liaison person has good knowledge and is an expert on both sides. MDD is used with many development processes such as waterfall model, iterative model, spiral model, etc. In MDD approach, a model plays an important role and forms the basis or driving mechanism to develop a software product. Test Driven Development: Test Driven Development (TDD) started its roots in Extreme Programming (XP) approach. Later on, it became a popular method by itself. TDD was originally called â€Å"Test First Programming†. TDD can best be described in three words as â€Å"Red-Green-Refactor† (source: Kent Beck). Simple essence of TDD is to write tests before the code is written. First, unit tests are written from the requirements. These tests will definitely fail because the code for it has not been written. In order to write the tests, it is necessary for the developer to understand the requirements well. Then, code that implements the test cases is written. The code that is written should be just enough so that the tests pass, no more, no less. This means that no prediction about the future story must be made. Test driven approach is â€Å"then there† approach. This means that code is written at that time from the user story requirements without making any assumptions or predictions about fu ture. After writing the code, the tests are run and seen if they succeed. If they do, then programmer can be assured that the requirements were met. After this, a process called refactoring is done. This refers to improving the quality of code and removing any duplication in the code. If the design is changed for the better, the developer can be sure he is not breaking any functionality by running the tests again. This process is repeated for the test cases that follow. This process is shown as a flowchart below: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development There are different issues to consider in this process. Test cases are written taking small steps at a time, such as implementation of one method. It is important to know the size of the test case and when the test case exceeds its limit of functionality to test. A test case contains the following: condition that specifies the systems state, an event that is to be tested, and finally systems state after the event has occurred. Almost every language has associated tools for writing these tests. In general, they are XUnit tests available for each language. For example, java has JUnit, C++ has cppUnit, .Net has NUnit, etc. The amount of designing that has to be done in TDD depends on developer. In Extreme Programming, no designing is done, directly jumping to test cases. However, some developers prefer to spend some time on design. Too much time should not be spent on the designs and deciding on that right amount of time to spend on it comes with experience. As suggested by Dave Chaplin, it takes almost a year for a good developer to learn most of the techniques in TDD. He divides the learning process in three stages. First stage would take three months to master writing the tests correctly. TDD is a totally different approach to take in developing software and most developers believe that hardest part about it is getting used to it and thinking in that direction. It takes another six months to learn about Mock objects. Last would be to be able to draw UML diagrams in a TDD perspective. This takes about three months. Those that become familiar with TDD find many advantages in it. These advantages are explained later in the paper. Pair programming is considered one of the best ways to develop a program using TDD. This is because another person can make sure you are going in right path. It is hard to make developers believe that this approach works. Also, management believes that it is a waste of money to make two people work on one feature while they can work on different features. Through test driven development, the focus is on customers requirements. TDD is now part of many other methodologies, such as Scrum, Agile Unified Process (AUP), and Rational Unified Process (AUP). TDD gives confidence to the developer and produces enthusiasm as they can see parts of the program coming together when they run the tests and see them pass. Case Study: Results of TDD and MDD are seen more effective by example. Therefore, I consider a case in which a Software Engineering class was given a choice of either doing MDD or TDD project. The projects were done for the same problem using different approaches. It was a calendar program that consisted of certain functionalities to fulfill. For TDD people, six user stories were given one after another without knowing what the next user story is. MDD people were given a problem definition and they were to submit GUI, design, code, tests at regular intervals. The functionalities that had to be implemented included finding the following: next date, previous date, zodiac sign, day of the week, next Friday the 13th, number of shopping days left until Christmas. These were each given as a user stories to TDD people. From the results of these, the following statistics were made: Model Driven Development approach results Criteria MDD User 1 User 2 User 3 User 4 User 5 User 6 Time To Code (hrs) 8 52 89 8.67 11 17 Time to Test (hrs) 2 15 13 3 3.3 2 NCSS (non comment source statements) 275 600 692 499 280 Number of Test Cases 109 142 51 Technology Used VBA Java Java (using Eclipse) C#.NET VS2008 C# VS Express C# Decision Complexity 79 59 Referential Complexity 26 52 Cyclomatic Complexity 105 111 83 GUI yes yes yes yes yes yes Test Driven Development approach results Criteria TDD User 7 User 8 User 9 User 10 User 11 User 12 User 13 User 14 User 15 User 16 User 17 User 18 Time to code 16.5 22 17 33 28 13.5 33 19.5 33 15 28 12.75 NCSS(non comment source Statements) 349 397 276 654 240 233 1095 279 196 298 328 277 Test cases 150 84 124 70 107 247 112 88 262 56 889 128 Technology C#.NET VS2008 Java Java Java VB.Net Express C VB .Net VBA Java Java VB.NET Java Decisional Complexity 106 66 76 76 97 115 62 57 77 145 81 Referential Complexity 12 43 40 24 24 34 19 102 9 160 29 Cyclomatic Complexity 118 109 117 100 65 121 149 81 159 86 115 110 GUI no no no no yes no no no no no No no Number of Times Refactored none 1 2 none 5 none 5 4 6 1 1 3 Observations: Even though there were almost twice as many people who did TDD as MDD, certain trends can be seen from the statistics. Since majority of the projects were developed using object oriented technology such as Java and C#, most of the observations are made based on these languages only. First and major difference that can be seen is creation of GUI. Only 1 out of 12 TDD people developed GUI while all of the six people who did through MDD developed it. One of the reasons for this is that in MDD, designing of GUI was first part of the task. In TDD, although there are tools that test a user interface, it is hard to obtain them and so user has to manually test them. Since it wasnt part of the requirement also, many had chosen to omit it. I noticed that neatest and well designed code came from most of MDD people. Even though there is refactoring in TDD, many had chosen not to do it. This can be seen by the statistics that 6 out of 12 people have either not done refactoring at all or did it only once. As research suggests, TDD is supposed to lead to high quality code. However, most of TDD projects code was of less quality. This comes to the point that in order to successfully carry out TDD, experience is needed. The lack of experience that most people had in doing a TDD might have been a factor for such quality. Many of TDD people had no experience in TDD methodology including me. As suggested by Dave Chaplin, in order to carry out TDD effectively, minimum one year of learning the techniques involved in the approach is needed for a good developer. Even though the quality and design is neater in MDD, number of lines of code was much less in TDD than MDD projects. In object oriented languages such as Java and C#, MDD projects had lines of code as 518 on an average while TDD projects had 350. This is partly due to refactoring eliminating unnecessary conditions and mostly due to the reason that since code was developed based on test cases, just about enough code that was necessary was written. Since the whole point of TDD is to start out with test cases, TDD projects have more test cases compared to MDD projects. For object oriented languages, TDD tests were 124 on average while MDD was 100. Although theory says that TDD results in highly cohesive and loosely coupled, but in practice, it is seldom like that. This point can be seen in this study. Most of the MDD projects were more cohesive and loosely coupled resulting in more reusable code compared to TDD. In TDD projects, it was seen that most of them had 2 or 3 classes at a maximum reducing cohesive nature and reusability. I observed that this is due to unpredictability of future user stories. MDD people can carefully plan the code such that it results in certain functions that can be used by other functions. In object oriented languages, correct amount of responsibilities and collaboration among objects in my opinion can be done more effectively if more designing is done. This is because it is much easier to see visually through the models. The reusability of the code in TDD also depends on the order of the user stories given. Most people reused day of the week code in shopping days till Christmas user story or Friday the 13th user story. Suppose that the user stories are given in a different order, then different approaches might be taken that might not result in the efficient piece of code. Refactoring tells you to remove duplications and keep the code clean, but the logic of the code will not change. In our case, if suppose number of shopping days left before Christmas was given before day of the week user story, then different approach might have been taken and the reusability of the day of the week code wouldnt have existed. It is easier to see collaborations and responsibilities of objects when the whole picture of the problem is present. Even the small amount of reusability that existed in TDD was due to the logical order in which the user stories were given. The time spent on the whole project for TDD is much less than MDD. Considering object oriented languages, TDD average time spent was 21 hours while MDD was 42 hours (almost double!!). TDD is proven to be faster and easier technique than MDD. In TDD, concentration is on current user story and it is faster to write test cases and code directly from user requirements. The time spent on test cases is paid off since no debugging has to be done at the end. Time and effort can be distributed and planned in advance in MDD. However, in TDD, since the amount of time and effort for the next user stories is hard to predict, it is difficult to plan. Some user stories take less amount of time while others consume lot of time. This can be seen in the case study. Most people said that finding zodiac sign took very less time and effort compared to finding the number of shopping days till Christmas . Pros and Cons of Using MDD approach From research and experience, these are some of the observations that were made on the MDD approach in general. A model in projects has following advantages It helps to break down the project into smaller code development pieces or modules which can be assigned to different teams. It helps each team to understand their role and how their part of the development is integrated into the whole product development The project managers and team leaders will understand on how to integrate all the modules and do testing. The end user will be able to visualize the integrated end product. If enough of time is spent in building a model properly, even though it takes time and effort, it will greatly reduce the time to build the product. A properly built model will also help in reducing the iterations of testing process, thus creating the integrations much quicker. There is also an economic advantage of building the models. A model will help to present a product to the investors easily and attract investments to fund the projects. Some disadvantages of using MDD approach The disadvantages of using MDD approach are not related to the approach itself, but rather it is related to the application of this approach. If MDD is not used properly, there will be extended delays in the product developments. Some of these possible setbacks are Building a Model will take lot of time and resources. MDD is not always â€Å"fit for all approach†. The project and product has to be analyzed before this approach is taken. Some people visualize a Model as an abstraction layer hiding all the complications of the product development process. Too much of abstraction may be good to certain audience in the project, but it over all defeats the purpose of building a model in the first place. So, care should be taken as not to ABSTRACT too much. If proper resources, such as, proper Domain experts are not involved while building a model, then the model as well as end product will be disastrous failure. MDD should not always be thought of the end point. Always underlying approach for each module should be associated with proper testing. Failure to consider the real life situations also causes the MDD unusable. The key to the whole process of Product development using MDD approach is having a proper liaison between Business group and IT group. Pros and Cons of Using TDD approach Some of the advantages of using TDD are: Since test cases are developed first, developer understands the requirements thoroughly in order to write them. The focus is on the functionality perspective of the client. TDD involves taking small steps at a time and focusing on one task at a time. Even though it consumes lot of time to write many unit test cases covering all possibilities, this makes it an advantage as it avoids debugging at later stages in the project. Finding bugs as early as possible is always beneficiary in terms of time and cost. Fixing bugs at a later stage is difficult because it is hard to determine what caused the bug. Since just enough code to pass the test is written, TDD will result in thorough testing covering all possible paths. If tests are written well, then it will produce stable code. Code is developed faster and there is working piece of code at every level, which inspires confidence and encourages the developer. Developer is aware of the progress made and can set goals to achieve a particular goal. TDD results in good design because of many factors. With experience, TDD can be a very effective method as it lets the developer think in small units of code leading to modularity and good design. This is also the result of looking at the problem from customers perspective to understand how it will be implemented. Refactoring also leads to producing good designs. Mocking and faking is beneficial in the sense that it will define the boundaries of the classes. This is because through mocking, you will find out what your classes should and should not know about the other class. This is the basic essence of encapsulation in any object oriented language. The test cases provide support for faster regression testing. On next iteration or anytime in future, when you add more tests, you can run all the tests to make sure that it works and if it doesnt, it is easy to see what part of the code broke. Some disadvantages with TDD approach are: TDD requires commitment and supporting management. Developers should be committed and write proper tests. If the tests are deleted or changed accidentally or purposefully, it will give false impression that the code is bugs-free. Support from management is important and they have to believe that this methodology works. If either of them does not exist, then TDD approach fails. Functional tests need to be done for programs that use a database or for creating user interfaces. For such things, using TDD approach is difficult. Tests and code are written by the same person most of the time and if the developer overlooks certain things, then it will affect the code as well and may not result in what is supposed to happen. If he interprets the requirements wrong, then the tests he writes and the code that implements them will turn out to be wrong and will lead to code that will not be as efficient as it should be. Another example would be if the developer doesnt check for certain specific inputs, then the code that needs to implement that will never be implemented. Having large number of working unit tests may build up over confidence that will lead to less concentrations on additional activities such as quality assurance evaluations. Unit tests only tell if the piece of code you wrote works. Other tests such as domain testing, integration testing, etc have to be done. Amount of coverage and details of testing that is done in TDD development cannot be reproduced at a later stage. So, these tests become an important aspect and it is necessary that they are well-written. There is no way to predict the type of user stories and it is not possible to gain a complete understanding of the system from the user stories. This leads to extensive code rewriting and refactoring. WHEN to use WHAT? This leads to the question of when is it appropriate to use TDD and when is it appropriate to use MDD. Software development is a process of developing a product to meet a certain business need. In a well defined environment and in large houses Software Development is done using the techniques described in Software Engineering and experience gained over the years. Many factors have to be taken into consideration when deciding on the methodology to use. These include things such as type of organization, management, type of project, experience of the developers, and availability of effective tools. Type of Project: Software development is done under two major circumstances 1. To develop altogether a new product a. A product that never existed before, but there is a need in the minds of people. A great example of this in recent years is ‘Youtube. There was no such product before, however, people had thought about having some kind of sharing videos. So, there is direc

Emily Dickinsons Poetry :: Biography Biographies Essays

Emily dickinson's Poetry In Emily Dickinson's Poetry she has a great interest with brief encounters and transition states of mind. Dickinson's depicts many of her brief encounters in great detail. Even if it was only a passing moment, Dickinson does not omit any aspect of her sightings. An example of a passing moment which she develops into great detail would be Dickinson's first sighting of the bird in "A bird came down the walk" Here ED expands on the birds actions and movements. Her description of the bird in flight takes up many lines. Instead of simply telling us the bird took flight, she elaborates on the beauty and grace of his flight. The actions of the birds are awe - inspiring to her. "And rowed him softer home" "Than oars divide the ocean....." Dickinson's attitude to passing moments is quite complex, as she does not interpret them simply as a "passing moment" but an extraordinary descriptive event. Another example of a passing moment would be in "A narrow fellow in the grass" In this poem Dickinson's keen observation of passing moments is clearly observed. She notices every movement of the snake even though his movements are very sudden and fast. Initially the snake is characterized as transient or passing swiftly. These movements appear to be very sudden but Dickinson goes into more detail and as a result the essential nature of the snake is clearly defined. "The grass divides as with a comb" "Whip lash" "wrinkled and was gone" The snake's brief passing seems much longer to Dickinson whereas it was a very quick movement. By using he word "Whiplash" to describe the snakes actions we can see how sudden the experience must have been. She tells us how she was frightened to the core of her being: "Without a tighter breathing "And Zero at the bone" Dickinson does not treat this as a quick passing moment but an experience, which she elaborates on. This aspect of her work also occurs in "I felt a funeral in my brain" An example of this would be her stream of consciousness which is clearly illustrated with Dickinson' s urgent repetition of `And "

growaw Kate Chopins The Awakening - Edna Pontellier’s Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Edna's Awakening in Kate Chopin's The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚   The society of Grand Isle places many expectations on its women to belong to men and be subordinate to their children. Edna Pontellier's society, therefore, abounds with "mother-women," who "idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it to a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals".   The characters of Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz represent what society views as the suitable and unsuitable woman figures. Mademoiselle Ratignolle as the ideal Grand Isle woman, a home-loving mother and a good wife, and Mademoiselle Reisz as the old, unmarried, childless, musician who devoted her life to music, rather than a man.   Edna oscillates between the two identities until she awakens to the fact that she needs to be an individual, but encounters the resistance of society's standards to her desire.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin carefully, though subtly, establishes that Edna does not neglect her children, but only her mother-woman image.   Chopin portrays this idea by telling the reader "...Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.   The mother-woman seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle".   Edna tries on one occasion to explain to Adele how she feels about her children and how she feels about herself, which greatly differs from the mother-woman image.   She says:   "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money; I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself.   I can't make it more clear; it's only something I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me."   This specifically contrasts the mother-woman idea of self-sacrificing for your husband and children.   Also, the "something . . . which is revealing itself" does not become completely clear to Edna herself until just before the end, when she does indeed give her life, but not her self for her children's sake. Although Edna loves her children she does not confuse her own life with theirs.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Similarly to Edna's relationship with her children is that with her husband, Leonce.   The Grand Isle society defines the role of   wife as full devotion towards their husband and to self-sacrafice for your husband. Edna never adhered to the societies definition, even at the beginning of the novel.   For example, the other ladies at Grand Isle "all declared that Mr.

Werner Heisenberg :: essays research papers

Werner Heisenberg One cannot fully appreciate the work of Werner Heisenberg unless one examines his contributions in the context of the time in which he lived. Werner Karl Heisenberg was born in Wuerzburg, Germany, on December 5, 1901, and grew up in academic surroundings, in a household devoted to the humanities. His father was a professor at the University of Munich and undoubtedly greatly influenced young Werner, who was a student at the Maximilian Gymnasium. Heisenberg had the opportunity to work with many of the top physicists in the world including Niels Bohr and Max Born. Like many of the top physicists of the time Heisenberg received his doctorate at an early age. In Heisenberg's case he received it at the young age of twenty three. Heisenberg was not just a researcher. He was also a professor and author. During his career he taught at many prestigious universities, including the Universities of Leipzig, Goettingen, and Berlin. He also wrote many important books including, Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory, Cosmic Radiation, Physics and Philosophy, and Introduction to the Unified Theory of Elementary Particles. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in Quantum Mechanics. With the Nazi's in power, and World War two on the horizon it was inevitable that his German heritage would play a crucial role in his career. Before Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland Heisenberg decided to make one final visit of his friends in the West. Many tried to convince him to stay and accept a professorship at Columbia, but Heisenberg declined. He felt that it was his duty to preserve the foundation of science in Germany during the war. He also believed that by staying in Germany during the war, he could help individual German scientists. In fact, he did offer jobs to Jewish scientists when they were fired from their posts at other universities. As time passed, Heisenberg found that he was powerless to protect his friends. Heisenberg himself was personally attacked, and his appointment at the University of Munich was blocked. For over a year Heisenberg was attacked in the SS newspaper, which referred to him as a "white Jew." The attack became so threatening that Heisenberg's mother, who had a slight connection to Himmler's family, wrote to Himmler's mother asking Himmler to intercede. Himmler personally cleared Heisenberg of the charges leveled against him a year later, but he was told to study science and avoid discussing scientists. The strain of the investigation surely affected Heisenberg's creativity. During the war Heisenberg worked on the German A-bomb project along with a number of other German scientists.

Work In A Business Environment

For the following unit, you can either write a statement on the criteria listed below or you can make notes and we can have a taped discussion at our next visit:Understand how to respect other people at workDescribe what is meant by diversity and why it should be valued Diversity can be different races, heritage, customs, belief systems, physical appearance, mental and physical capabilities. Diversity should be respected and valued as nobody is the same. Our difference can lead to growth and development but also problems as these differences can cause tension in a workplace. Regardless of their background, everyone has a right to their own thoughts and opinions which can be beneficial to the company.Describe how to treat other people in a way that is sensitive to their needs Treat every person the way that you want them to treat you. Observe each individual that you encounter and analyse what needs they may have and try to meet those needs. Physically disabled people need more time t o move around the office area, to treat this person correctly and with respect I would hold doors open and keep walk ways clear.Disabled mentally, anyone of a high mental disability would not be encountered in my area of work but if I did come across someone who clearly needed more help I would do everything I could to try to help and keep the person relaxed. Person of a strong religion, never discriminate against them because of their beliefs or use any offensive language- this is applicable to every person in office and visitor in office.Describe how to treat other people in a way that respects their abilities, background, values, customs and beliefs The best way to be tolerant, open minded person is to always remember that everyone has different ways of doing things and that most of the time there is not just one right way of doing something. People almost always like explaining their own culture and beliefs, so asking them questions are usually a good way of starting a conversat ion.People don’t usually take offense if they can see you are honestly trying to learn about them. The fact that you are interested in the first place means that you are probably already a tolerant person. Most people are uncomfortable about other cultures because they are unfamiliar with them and are made nervous by what they do not know.Describe ways in which it possible to learn from others at work†¢Ask people for information †¢Ask people to show you how to do things †¢Ask people about their beliefs, culture and customs and getting them to explain what they do or believe and why they do so †¢Talk to people a lot †¢Listen to what other people have to say †¢Watch other people to see what they are doing †¢Work with other people and in team/group tasksNow give me an example of a time when you have learnt from someone else at work (this could have been when you first started- did you receive training on your new work role etc) I still learn so mething new as my responsibilities have been change a lot since I have started work in Cold Chain. Every time when new duties come across to me I always try to get as many information as I can from appropriate person and record a notice just in case if I forgot.Understand how to maintain security and confidentiality at work and deal with concernsDescribe the purpose and benefits of maintaining security and confidentiality at work Most of this information is now collected, processed and stored on electronic computers and transmitted across networks to other computers. Should confidential information about a business’s customers or finances fall into the hands of a competitor, such a breach of security could lead to a loss of business, law suits and bankruptcy. Protecting confidential information is a business requirement, and in many cases also an ethical and legal requirement.Describe requirements for security and confidentiality in an organisation If an organisation stores a ny information on people its needs to meet  requirements set out in the Data Protection Act. The information should be stored securely whether it is paper based or electronically. The organisation should have an access to information policy. Anyone who has information stored about them has access to it on request and after completing security procedures (all vary depending on organisation). The information should not be given to third parties unless there are criminal implications and the courts demand it, or it is with the consent of the person themselves.In large organisations such as Rolls Royce (Derby) all employees must have their ID badges to gain access to sites; they also have a complex data and computer system to ensure the confidentiality and security of their most sensitive files. Describe legal requirements for security and confidentiality, as required †¢Data Protection Act 1998: The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament de fining the ways in which information about living people may be legally used and handled. The main intent is to protect individuals against misuse or abuse of information about them. The DPA was first composed in 1984 and was updated in 1998.†¢ Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988: The Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988 is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of literacy, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. The rights cover: broadcast and public performance, copying and adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to the distorting of their work.Describe procedures for dealing with concerns about security and confidentiality in an organisation †¢Identify potential problems†¢ Identify implications (potential loss) of each problem †¢Determine possible preventative meas ures (and cost of each measure) †¢Assign a risk factor to each problemNow give me an example of a work task that you have completed where you have has to keep the information confidential A company decided to issue laptops to its managerial staff. IT determined that the risk and cost of losing confidential company data stored on the laptops was ‘high’. The solutions  was to ‘move’ the ‘My Documents’ folder from users laptops to the companies servers (in order to access documents when away from the office, you would have to log-in across the internet (VPN)).The directors, being technically illiterate, were incapable of logging into anything- so their laptops were made an exception. So whilst the canteen managers next week menus were safely stored on the companies server, the new product launch plans were revealed to the competition when the inevitable happened and a directors laptop was left in a taxi.Understand the purpose and procedures for keeping waste to a minimum in a business environmentExplain the purpose of keeping waste to a minimumKeeping waste to a minimum in the business environment serves the same purpose as it does everywhere else. It decreases the amount of waste a business contributes to the environment (this can include solid waste, water waste and carbon emissions). Reducing waste is key to minimising an individuals or business’s environmental impact by reducing air and water pollutions and limiting the amount of materials that end up in landfills. Reducing waste can also serve to save business money.By enacting plans that conserve materials, they will inevitably cut down on the amount of materials they need to purchase. Likewise any attempt to reduce carbon emissions inevitably relies on a reduction of energy use, which means less money spent on electricity and fuel. The advantage of applying waste minimising principles in a business environment is that it impacts a larger number of people . Such actions also serve to improve a business’s image.Describe the main causes of waste that may occur in a business environment Can mean wasting time, energy or office equipment.Time = internet, people doing personal tasks, inter-office socialising, not being productive because of poor management directions, lack of knowledge regarding workload and work process. Office supplies = theft, excessive use of printing when not needed, personal use of office equipment by employees, people not proof reading or checking documents for mistakes. Energy = leaving lights and PC’s turned on at night when no one is there, keeping  heat or air conditioning turned too high or low, inefficient use of company vehicles.Describe ways of keeping waste to a minimumKeep the faxes, printers and copiers in good working order so that they produce good copies and don’t ‘eat’ copies and jam. Order good quality paper that is the recommended weight for the office machine. El iminate the conformation page of the fax by changing the settings. Periodically ask everyone to purge their desks of excess pens, stickers, sticky notes and other supplies. Order a reasonable amount of supplies for a shot period so there is not a feeling of oversupply and that usage doesn’t matter. Set expectations that people do not take supplies home with them, or use printers/copiers for excessive amounts. Organise supplies and remove those that are out of date. Request that people ask for supplies from a specific person by a deadline. Turning off equipment and lights will also help reduce waste.Identify ways of using technology to reduce wasteYou can email people instead of writing letters and notes out on paper and leaving them lying around. You could also phone someone instead of writing a letter out to them this is the quickest way of communication as long as the other person answers, this will save you time, ink and paper. If a machine in your office has broken down t hen you could email the person who supplied you with it to come and take it away or you could call them to come and take it away as soon as possible.If your company has a shredder that does all the shredding for you then you could use that to get rid of waste paper, it would also destroy any sensitive and confidential details/information. Sending bills/invoices/statements via email saves paper and ink also saves money that would have been spent on Franking. Some companies will have a purchase order control for ordering stationary, when staff have sent their requests through the orders are checked by a manager who will determine how necessary the orders and can decline orders should they know sufficient supplies are available.Outline the purpose and benefits of recyclingRecycling at work is a great way to increase your business sustainability and help to reduce climate change. Once you start to recycle at work you’ll experience the wide range of benefits that come with making your company a more sustainable and environmentally responsible organisation. †¢ Enhances company image- Engaging in greener business practices and publishing those practises can do wonders for your company image and can attract both employees and customers. †¢ Recycling is easy to do- Recycling at work is straight forward and easy to do. It’s easy to separate out materials to recycle from your other waste, if you get a good system in place its easy to implement and maintain.†¢ Recycling increases customer loyalty- Customers prefer to do business with companies that behave in an environmentally-friendly way. †¢ Recycling often reduces clutter and saves space- Recycling often reduces clutter and improves the working environment. Less clutter also means increased safety around your workplace. †¢ Recycling is great for the environment- Recycling at work helps you reduce the environmental impact of your business. Recycling your waste materials means they can be used again in new products and applications, instead of simply going into landfills where they generate harmful greenhouse gas emissions.†¢ Increases employee morale- Employee satisfaction is the best reason to undertake a recycling scheme. Employees find great pride in working for a company that embodies environmental values and focuses attention on its environmental impact and responsibilities. †¢ Recycling is cost effective- Recycling is a cost effective method of dealing with your waste, simple because is it often cheaper when compared with general waste management and disposal.Describe organisational procedures for recycling materials†¢sensitization †¢collection †¢storage †¢sorting †¢distribution †¢recycling to raw material †¢manufacture †¢marketingNow give me an example of a time when you have recycled at work We using three separate bins for rubbish: paper, plastic, and rest.Understand procedures for disposal of hazardo us materialsDescribe the benefits of procedures for the recycling and disposal of hazardous materials Hazardous waste refuses, recycling and reclamation can avoid environmental hazards, protect scarce natural resources, provide economic benefits and reduce the nation’s reliance on raw materials and energy. †¢ Environmental benefits- Recycling hazardous waste reduced the consumption of raw materials by reducing the volume of waste materials that must be treated and disposed of. Recycling hazardous waste can mean less air, water and soil pollution associated with the extraction, refining and processing of raw materials, recycling can also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.When hazardous wastes are recycled, less energy is needed to extract, transport and process raw materials and manufacture products. When energy demands decreases fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. Emissions of other air pollutants can be reduced too, a s recycling hazardous wastes can decrease release of air toxics from waste incineration. †¢ Economic benefits- Not only can hazardous waste recycling be good for the environment it can also be good for the bottom line. Recycling hazardous waste can increase production efficiency and reduce costs associated with purchasing raw materials and waste management.By recycling hazardous materials a business may be able to eliminate the generation of hazardous waste. A business may also benefit from the positive or ‘green’ image associated with hazardous waste recycling efforts. For example, a company who values strong corporate stewardship can increase good will with shareholders and consumers and further distinguish itself from its competition.Describe organisational procedures for the recycling and disposal of hazardous materials Generally in the UK you have to write a COSHH (Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health) assessment for the disposal of hazardous  materials . There is no one safe method and each substance must be individually assessed. For example, the disposal of a lead-acid battery is different to the disposal of an alkaline battery which again is different to the disposal of a metal hydride rechargeable battery. All these contain toxic compounds that can be recycled.Thus the procedure is to write a COSHH assessment for each substance to be disposed of or recycled. This comprises writing an assessment of the hazards and risks, the safety precautions that are needed, what to do if something goes wrong and how to contain the waste material at the end. For example, something like sulphuric acid can be rendered harmless in its disposal procedure, meaning that the end product can be disposed of by normal means. Other substances may remain hazardous, even after processing, and a special disposal method is needed. Here at UK Waterproofing Solutions Ltd we do not recycle any hazardous materials from the office base, however when out on sites our men deal with the recycling of plastics, bitumen, rubble and asbestos.Know how to support sustainability in an organisationOutline the purpose of improving efficiency and minimising waste The purpose of improving efficiency is so that raw materials can be managed in order to minimise waste and therefore reduce costs. Also, minimising waste can have a positive effect on the environment. One of the most fundamental ways to improve efficiency is to minimise waste, you can do this in three main ways: †¢ Compliance with the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and any equivalent laws in the countries your business operates. †¢ Voluntary measures: these might include undertaking a waste audit and creating a company waste minimisation policy. †¢ Sharing waste minimisation knowledge with partners in your supply chainDescribe ways of improving own working methods and use of technology to achieve efficiency and reduce waste

Financial Research Report: Google Essay

The paper will analyze a corporation to determine whether a financial advisor should recommend the company to an investor. The paper will, first, give the company background. Second, the paper will discuss the type of investor the company would appeal to. Third, the paper will go over the financial health of the company. Fourth, after analyzing the financial information, the paper will discuss the company risk. Fifth, the paper will discuss final recommendations as to whether the company is the right fit for the investor. Company Information Google, Incorporated was originally a search engine company founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google, n.d.). The company went public in 2004 and has since broadened their horizons in the amount of products and services they offer. According to Alexa, a website analytics program, Google.com is ranked #1 popular website in the U.S. and in the world. Google currently has a vast number of products and services that people use daily. Google has stated that the have â€Å"Over 1 billion users per week. Over 100 billion searches per month. Over 1 billion Android activations. Over 1 billion YouTube users per month† (Mohan, 2014). Some popular Google products are: Google.com – A search engine Google+ – A social sharing site Gmail – Webmail Google Chrome – A web browser Google Play Store – A digital application distribution platform for Android Google Play Music – A platform to upload music and share music on Android devices YouTube – A website to share music Google Maps – A digital navigation system to find local businesses and residential areas Android Software – Operating software for mobile devices Google Wallet – An application that allows the user to shop online with payment cards Picasa – Application that organizes, edits and shares photos (Mohan, 2014) Google believes in innovation and is constantly trying to evolve with the mission of people using Google products in all aspects of their lives. Some products the company is currently working on are: Google Smart Watch – Wearable computers that connect to the user’s mobile devices Google Glass – Glasses that act as a computer and connect to the user’s mobile devices Google Fiber – A device used to provide users with faster, more reliable internet service Project Loon – A means of internet service through balloons as opposed to cables and telephone lines Google Home Automation – A smart home service where the homeowner can control the home through mobile devices Google Smart Contact Lens – A contact lens that can monitor glucose levels for diabetics Google Self-Driving Car – A car that can drive by itself with robotics technology Chrome Tablet – A mobile tablet with Android software  (Amadeo, 2014). Currently, Larry Page, one of the founders of the company, is CEO of the company. He has graced Forbes Magazine’s Most Powerful People list twice at #17 in 2013 and #20 in 2012, Forbes 400 Richest People in America Category at #13, and Forbes World’s Billionaires list at #20 in 2013 and #13 in the United States (Forbes, 2013). This young mogul has a net worth of $24.9 billion dollars (Forbes, 2013). With his vision he helped turn a 2 person operation to a business with over 30,000 employees worldwide. (Google, n.d.) He helped expand Google from merely being a search engine to creating computer software, phones and making way for new technology such as driverless cars and teleport machines. Larry Page’s management style can be described as someone who is running his business like a startup. He believes in innovation and staying ahead of his competition. As a technology based company, you are only as good as your next big idea. Page encourages his employees to thin k of crazy ideas and cultivate the best of them. â€Å"When no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition,† he says. (Elmer, 2011). Investor Profile The client is a young investor. She is interested in seeing her money grow over 10 – 15 years. She is a multi-millionaire and has the desire to be an  aggressive investor. She wants to accumulate a substantial amount of wealth in the future and is open to investing in a start- up company. Though the company has been around for approximately 16 years, Google is run like a start-up company and is relatively young compared to some of its competitors (i.e.: Microsoft and Apple). The company is always trying to reinvent itself with a diverse portfolio of products and services. They spend a lot of money on research and development to cultivate innovation and improve their products already on the market. Google does not pay stockholders dividends. It uses the dividend money for R&D, data centers, legal issues and diversification (Rosoff, 2012). Since the client is not interested in an instant money maker and can afford fluctuations in the market, Google may be a good fit for her to invest in. Financial Data The financial advisor must use a number of ratios to determine the financial health of the company. Five ratios what will be used are current ratios, quick ratio, earnings per share, price earnings ratio, and debt to equity ratio. Current Ratios Current ratios give the investor the opportunity to see the company’s ability to pay back its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets (Current Ratios, n.d.). The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is to pay back its debts which would be great for a bank lender. But a high current ratio could also mean the company has a lot tied up in nonproductive assets (Brigham & Ehrhardt, p. 99, 2014). Current ratios are determined by dividing total assets by total liabilities (Brigham & Ehrhardt). 201120122013  52,758 / 8,913 = 5.960,454 / 14,337 = 4.272,886 / 15,908 = 4.6 Companies generally aim for a ratio of 1 to ensure their current assets can at least cover the short term obligations. Having a ratio greater than 1 gives the company a better contingency to be able to cover those obligations. The company started out with a high current ratio of 5.9 in 2011. This means, in 2011, the company was able to cover 5.9 times their short term obligations. It dropped down to 4.2 in 2012, but rose by .4  points in 2013. The drastic fluctuation may be due to the acquisition of Motorola Mobile in 2011 (Goldman, 2012). Both current assets and current liabilities would increase due to the increase of inventory and debt. The technology industry average current ratio is 2.33 (Reuters, n.d.). For all three years, the current ratio is almost twice the industry’s average. Due to the high current ratio, the company is not at risk of bankruptcy. Quick Ratios Quick ratios tell the investor what the company’s liquidity position is or how quickly it can be converted to cash at the going market price (Brigham & Ehrhardt). To calculate quick ratios the formula is current assets minus inventories divided by current liabilities. 201120122013 52,758 – 35 /8,913 = 5.960,454 – 505 / 14,337 = 4.272,886 – 426 /15,908 = 4.6 As of 2013, the current technology industry quick ratio average is 1.26 (Technology Sector, 2014). The past three years has been higher than the industry average. The higher the quick ratio in comparison to the industry average shows that the company is less likely to be overwhelmed by debt in the near future. A higher ratio is safer than a lower one because it means the company has excess cash. This is a favorable consideration for an investor. Prior to 2011, Google, Inc. did not have any inventories listed on their balance sheets. Google started as a search engine in 1998 and have provided technology services that did not require inventory. In 2011, Google acquired Motorola Mobility, taking it from a strictly software company to a software and hardware company (Goldman, 2012). This puts Google in direct competition with technology companies such as Apple, Inc. and Microsoft, Corp. In partnership with HTC and Samsung, Google has created their line of Nexus smartphones and tablets. They also have Google Glass that is expected to launch for consumer purchase by the end of 2014 as well as the Google Smart Watch. Other items Google is working on for the near future are the self-driving car, Project Loom, and Google Home Automation. Total Assets Turnover Ratio Total assets turnover ratio determines how productive the company is. It shows how much revenue the company generates for each dollar in assets.  Total assets turnover ratio is calculated by dividing total revenue from the income statement by total assets from the balance statement. 201120122013 37,905 / 72,574 = 0.5250,175 / 93,798 = 0.5359,825 / 110,920 = 0.54 The average turnover ratio for Google is 0.53. This means for every dollar worth in assets, the company generates 53 cents in revenue. Some companies have less assets than others, in which the total assets turnover ratio will be lower than a more assets-intensive company. Google is primarily a service related company, so it has less assets than the majority of its competitors who produce a vast number of products. Some of Google’s most popular products are the Google search engine, Google+, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play Store, Android software, and YouTube. The company does not require as many physical assets. The technology industry total assets turnover ratio is 1.07 (Reuters, n.d.). Though Google’s ratio is lower than the industry average, it is not necessarily a bad thing considering most technology based companies sell a physical product and Google mainly sells services, thus less assets than its competitors. Debt to Equity Debt to equity ratio is a leverage ratio which explains how much of the company’s assets are financed by debt and stockholders’ equity. The debt to equity ratio is calculated by dividing the total debt by the total common equity. The total debt is determined by adding current liabilities with long term debt. 201120122013 14,429 / 58,145 = .2522,083 / 71,715 = .3123,611 / 87,309 = .27 From the three years, the average debt to equity ratio is .28. This ratio translates that Google has 28 cents of debt for every dollar of equity. The technology industry average is 31 cents. The lower number is more favorable because it shows that the company is less risky. The lower numbers indicate that the company relies on less external lenders than other companies. In 2012, the ratio increased by .06. In May 2012, Google, Inc. completed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility in which it acquired the company’s debts as well as its assets. The following year, Google may have paid some of the debt. Stockholders’ equity increased by having a significant increase in retained earnings. Retained earnings are part of the net income that goes back into  the company instead of the company distributing dividends to the stockholders (Brigham & Ehrhardt, p. 1114, 2014). Net Profit Margin Net profit margin measures a company’s profitability. The net profit margin is calculated by dividing the net income by sales. This ratio can determine if a company earns enough money to cover its operating costs. If it does not, the company could eventually shut down which would make it a bad investment. 201120122013 9,737 / 37,905 = .2610,737 / 50,175 = .2112,920 / 59,825 = .22 Based on the past three years, Google’s profit margin dropped by 5% between 2011 and 2012. It slightly increased by 1% between 2012 and 2013. In all three years, the profit margins were higher than the technology industry averages for those years. In 2011, the industry average was 19%; in 2012, the industry average was 16%; and in 2013, the industry average was 19% (Profitability Analysis, 2014). If the company’s net profit margin is higher than the industry’s profit margin, it is a good investment. Company Risk Level Based on the financial analysis for Google, the company has a low risk level based on the industry’s averages. The current ratio average for the technology industry is 2.33. Google’s average is 4.9. This means that the company has a contingency to be able to take care of their short-term obligations over twice the industry average. The industry average for quick ratios is 1.26. Google’s quick ratio average over the past 3 years is 4.9. This shows that the company is least likely to be overwhelmed by debt in the future compared to its competitors. The average turnover ratio for Google is .53 indicating that for every dollar the company has in assets, it generates 53 cents. This is a low number mainly because the company has a low amount of assets unlike its competitors. Google is mainly a service company and does not have a vast number of assets like its competitors that produce products such as tablets, phones, computers, etc. The technology industry’s average for debt to equity is 31. Google’s debt to equity average is 28. This means that there is 28 cents of debt for every dollar of equity. The lower number is more favorable because it means that the  company depends less on external lenders. The industry’s profit margin average was 18%. Google’s profit margin average over the course of the past three years was 23%. This shows that compared to most of its competitors, it is generating more of a profit. A company’s â€Å"beta† measures the company’s volatility in the stock market. A company’s beta depends on how much the company fluctuates within the market. The stock market itself has a beta of 1.0 (McClure, 2012). Anything above 1.0 is considered risky. Anything below 1.0 is considered more stable.According to Yahoo Finance, Google has a beta of 1.14. This means it is 14% above the stock market average and is considered a risky investment. Though the company is considered risky, it has the potential for high returns. The downfall of betas is that they only calculate what happened in the past. Its assessment does not calculate for the future of the company. Recommendations Despite the market risk of the technology based company, Google has shown growth over the past year. According to the Financial Post, Google’s shares have risen 58% in 2013. In January 2014, the company’s stock rose U.S. $2.37 to U.S. $1,141.23 (Ratner, 2014). Of the 48 analysts covering Google, 35 of them recommend buying the stock whereas 13 of them recommend holding it (Ratner, 2014). Google maintains a strong position in the driving the market share on online advertising in the mobile and video departments. The company has strong control over four pillars of the mobile department: operating system, apps, app store, and payment. YouTube is a leading advertising and video sharing medium. Unlike its competitors, Google has had a steady 20% growth annually (Ratner, 2014). Under the direction of CEO Larry Page, the company constantly improves already existing products as well as produce innovative products. Larry Page wants to make Google a household name so that a person would need to use Google products several times throughout the course of their day. Currently, Google has well over 100 products that, in some cases, have become a necessity in everyday life. There are a number of phones and tablets that have been uploaded with Android software as an operating system. Google’s search engine has become so increasingly popular that when a person wants to do a web search on a topic they simply â€Å"Google it†. The website has become the #1 site globally and nationally according to Alexa.com. YouTube is a popular video website  where people upload everything from home videos, tutorials, music videos, and ad campaigns. Also, one of the most reliable mobile navigation applications is Google Maps. The company is constantly updating its maps to provide better locations and directions. The company has a number of future products that will diversify their product portfolio. For example, Google Glass is a mobile device used as glasses which is like a personal computer or tablet and also interfaces with the consumer’s mobile phone. So far the product is generating a lot of attention with the public. Google is also working on the driverless car, Google Contacts, Project Loom, Google Fiber, and the Google Home Automation. Google is expanding their spectrum from a search engine and mobile apps to automobiles, health care, the internet, and home security. All of these projects show a promising future for the company. For an aggressive investor who does not mind investing in a risky company and is looking to invest for the long-term, Google is a good investment to have. The company has seen a consistent increase in growth and has shown financial stability over the years. Google does not pay stockholders dividends but companies that have a high risk, have the ability to have larger payouts in the long run. Resources Alexa. (2014). Google, Inc. 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(n.d.). Company Overview. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/company/ Mahesh, M. (2014, January 28). Over 101 Google Products and Services You Probably Don’t Know. Retrieved from http://www.minterest.org/google-products-services-you-probably-dont-know/ McClure, B. (2012, August 7). Beta: Know The Risk. Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/04/113004.asp Profit Analysis. (2014). Stock Analysis On Net. Retrieved from http://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NASDAQ/Company/Google-Inc/Ratios/Profitability Ratner, J. (2014, January 9). â€Å"Why Google, Inc. is a ‘Must Own’ Tech Stock†. Financial Post. Retrieved from http://business.financialpost.com/2014/01/09/why-google-inc-is-a-must-own-tech-stock/?__lsa=389e-8727 Reuters. (n.d.). Technology Overview. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/assets/curtainMainContentLoader?view=RSM-US-Curtain-MainConte nt-Sector-Technology Rosoff, M. (2012, April 12). Why Google Would Be Nuts To Declare A Dividend Now. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-would-be-nuts-to-declare-a-dividend-2012-4 Technology Sector. (2014). CSI Market. Retrieved from http://csimarket.com/Industry/industry_Financial_Strength_Ratios.php?s=1000 Yahoo Finance. (2014, June 13). â€Å"Google, Inc.† Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=GOOG+Key+Statistics