Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control

Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control Building complete custom components can be a very advanced project. But you can build a VB.NET class that has many of the advantages of a toolbox component with much less effort. Heres how! To get a flavor of what you need to do to create a complete custom component, try this experiment: - Open a new Windows Application project in VB.NET.- Add a CheckBox from the Toolbox to the form.- Click the Show All Files button at the top of Solution Explorer. This will display the files that Visual Studio creates for your project (so you dont have to). As a historical footnote, The VB6 compiler did a lot of the same things, but you never could access the code because it was buried in compiled p-code. You could develop custom controls in VB6 too, but it was a lot more difficult and required a special utility that Microsoft supplied just for that purpose. In the Form Designer.vb file, you will find that the code below has been added automatically in the right locations to support the CheckBox component. (If you have a different version of Visual Studio, your code might be slightly different.) This is the code that Visual Studio writes for you. Required by the Windows Form Designer Private components _ As System.ComponentModel.IContainerNOTE: The following procedure is requiredby the Windows Form DesignerIt can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.Do not modify it using the code editor.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough() _Private Sub InitializeComponent() Me.CheckBox1 New System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox() Me.SuspendLayout() CheckBox1 Me.CheckBox1.AutoSize True Me.CheckBox1.Location New System.Drawing.Point(29, 28) Me.CheckBox1.Name CheckBox1. . . and so forth ... This is the code that you have to add to your program to create a custom control. Keep in mind that all the methods and properties of the actual CheckBox control are in a class supplied by the .NET Framework: System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox. This isnt part of your project because its installed in Windows for all .NET programs. But theres a lot of it. Another point to be aware of is that if youre using WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the .NET CheckBox class comes from a completely different library named System.Windows.Controls. This article only works for a Windows Forms application, but the principals of inheritance here work for any VB.NET project. Suppose your project needs a control that is very much like one of the standard controls. For example, a checkbox that changed color, or displayed a tiny happy face instead of displaying the little check graphic. Were going to build a class that does this and show you how to add it to your project. While this might be useful by itself, the real goal is to demonstrate VB.NETs inheritance. Lets Start Coding To get started, change the name of the CheckBox that you just added to oldCheckBox. (You might want to stop displaying Show All Files again to simplify Solution Explorer.) Now add a new class to your project. There are several ways to do this including right-clicking the project in Solution Explorer and selecting Add then Class or selecting Add Class under under the Project menu item. Change the file name of the new class to newCheckBox to keep things straight. Finally, open the code window for the class and add this code: Public Class newCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Red Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint( ByVal pEvent _ As PaintEventArgs) Dim CenterSquare _ As New Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor ), CenterSquare) End If End SubEnd Class (In this article and in others on the site, a lot of line continuations are used to keep lines short so they will fit into the space available on the web page.) The first thing to notice about your new class code is the Inherits keyword. That means that all the properties and methods of a VB.NET Framework CheckBox are automatically part of this one. To appreciate how much work this saves, you have to have tried programming something like a CheckBox component from scratch. There are two key things to notice in the code above: The first is the code uses Override to replace the standard .NET behavior that would take place for an OnPaint event. An OnPaint event is triggered whenever Windows notices that part of your display has to be reconstructed. An example would be when another window uncovers part of your display. Windows updates the display automatically, but then calls the OnPaint event in your code. (The OnPaint event is also called when the form is initially created.) So if we Override OnPaint, we can change the way things look on the screen. The second is the way Visual Basic creates the CheckBox. Whenever the parent is Checked (that is, Me.Checked is True) then the new code we provide in our NewCheckBox class will recolor the center of the CheckBox instead of drawing a checkmark. The rest is what is called GDI code. This code selects a rectangle the exact same size as the center of a Check Box and colors it in with GDI method calls. The magic numbers to position the red rectangle, Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12), were determined experimentally. I just changed it until it looked right. There is one very important step that you want to make sure you dont leave out of Override procedures: MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) Override means that your code will provide all of the code for the event. But this is seldom what you want. So VB provides a way to run the normal .NET code that would have been executed for an event. This is the statement that does that. It passes the very same parameter- pEvent- to the event code that would have been executed if it hadnt been overridden, MyBase.OnPaint. Using the New Control Because our new control is not in our toolbox, it has to be created in the form with code. The best place to do that is in the form Load event procedure. Open the code window for the form load event procedure and add this code: Private Sub frmCustCtrlEx_Load( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles MyBase.Load Dim customCheckBox As New newCheckBox() With customCheckBox .Text Custom CheckBox .Left oldCheckBox.Left .Top oldCheckBox.Top oldCheckBox.Height .Size New Size( oldCheckBox.Size.Width 50, oldCheckBox.Size.Height) End With Controls.Add(customCheckBox)End Sub To place the new checkbox on the form, weve taken advantage of the fact that there is already one there and just used the size and position of that one (adjusted so the Text property will fit). Otherwise we would have to code the position manually. When MyCheckBox has been added to the form, we then add it to the Controls collection. But this code isnt very flexible. For example, the color Red is hardcoded and changing the color requires changing the program. You might also want a graphic instead of a check mark. Heres a new, improved CheckBox class. This code shows you how to take some of the next steps toward VB.NET object oriented programming. Public Class betterCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Blue Private CenterSquareImage As Bitmap Private CenterSquare As New Rectangle( 3, 4, 10, 12) Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint _ (ByVal pEvent As _ System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then If CenterSquareImage Is Nothing Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor), CenterSquare) Else pEvent.Graphics.DrawImage( CenterSquareImage, CenterSquare) End If End If End Sub Public Property FillColor() As Color Get FillColor CenterSquareColor End Get Set(ByVal Value As Color) CenterSquareColor Value End Set End Property Public Property FillImage() As Bitmap Get FillImage CenterSquareImage End Get Set(ByVal Value As Bitmap) CenterSquareImage Value End Set End PropertyEnd Class Why The BetterCheckBox Version Is Better One of the main improvements is the addition of two Properties. This is something the old class didnt do at all. The two new properties introduced are FillColor and FillImage To get a flavor of how this works in VB.NET, try this simple experiment. Add a class to a standard project and then enter the code: Public Property Whatever Get When you press Enter after typing Get, VB.NET Intellisense fills in the entire Property code block and all you have to do is code the specifics for your project. (The Get and Set blocks arent always required starting with VB.NET 2010, so you have to at least tell Intellisense this much to start it.) Public Property Whatever Get End Get Set(ByVal value) End SetEnd Property These blocks have been completed in the code above. The purpose of these blocks of code is to allow property values to be accessed from other parts of the system. With the addition of Methods, you would be well on the way to creating a complete component. To see a very simple example of a Method, add this code below the Property declarations in the betterCheckBox class: Public Sub Emphasize() Me.Font New System.Drawing.Font( _ Microsoft Sans Serif, 12.0!, _ System.Drawing.FontStyle.Bold) Me.Size New System.Drawing.Size(200, 35) CenterSquare.Offset( CenterSquare.Left - 3, CenterSquare.Top 3)End Sub In addition to adjusting the Font displayed in a CheckBox, this method also adjusts the size of the box and the location of the checked rectangle to account for the new size. To use the new method, just code it the same way you would any method: MyBetterEmphasizedBox.Emphasize() And just like Properties, Visual Studio automatically adds the new method to Microsofts Intellisense! The main goal here is to simply demonstrate how a method is coded. You may be aware that a standard CheckBox control also allows the Font to be changed, so this method doesnt really add much function. The next article in this series, Programming a Custom VB.NET Control - Beyond the Basics!, shows a method that does, and also explains how to override a method in a custom control.

How to Find the Inner and Outer Fences

How to Find the Inner and Outer Fences One feature of a data set that is important to determine is if it contains any outliers. Outliers are intuitively thought of as values in our set of data that differ greatly from a majority of the rest of the data. Of course, this understanding of outliers is ambiguous. To be considered as an outlier, how much should the value deviate from the rest of the data? Is what one researcher calls an outlier going to match with another’s? In order to provide some consistency and a quantitative measure for the determination of outliers, we use inner and outer fences. To find the inner and outer fences of a set of data, we first need a few other descriptive statistics. We will begin by calculating quartiles. This will lead to the interquartile range. Finally, with these calculations behind us, we will be able to determine the inner and outer fences. Quartiles The first and third quartiles are part of the five number summary of any set of quantitative data. We begin by finding the median or the midway point of the data after all of the values are listed in ascending order. The values less than the median corresponding to roughly half of the data. We find the median of this half of the data set, and this is the first quartile. In a similar way, we now consider the upper half of the data set. If we find the median for this half of the data, then we have the third quartiles. These quartiles get their name from the fact that they split the data set into four equal sized portions, or quarters. So in other words, roughly 25% of all of the data values are less than the first quartile. In a similar way, approximately 75% of the data values are less than the third quartile. Interquartile Range We next need to find the interquartile range (IQR). This is easier to calculate than the first quartile q1 and the third quartile q3. All that we need to do is to take the difference of these two quartiles. This gives us the formula: IQR Q3 - Q1 The IQR tells us how spread out the middle half of our data set is. Find the Inner Fences We can now find the inner fences. We start with the IQR and multiply this number by 1.5. We then subtract this number from the first quartile. We also add this number to the third quartile. These two numbers form our inner fence. Find the Outer Fences For the outer fences, we start with the IQR and multiply this number by 3. We then subtract this number from the first quartile and add it to the third quartile. These two numbers are our outer fences. Detecting Outliers The detection of outliers now becomes as easy as determining where the data values lie in reference to our inner and outer fences. If a single data value is more extreme than either of our outer fences, then this is an outlier and is sometimes referred to as a strong outlier. If our data value is between a corresponding inner and outer fence, then this value is a suspected outlier or a mild outlier. We will see how this works with the example below. Example Suppose that we have calculated the first and third quartile of our data, and have found these values to the 50 and 60, respectively. The interquartile range IQR 60 – 50 10. Next, we see that 1.5 x IQR 15. This means that the inner fences are at 50 – 15 35 and 60 15 75. This is 1.5 x IQR less than the first quartile, and more than the third quartile. We now calculate 3 x IQR and see that this is 3 x 10 30. The outer fences are 3 x IQR more extreme that the first and third quartiles. This means that the outer fences are 50 - 30 20 and 60 30 90. Any data values that are less than 20 or greater than 90, are considered outliers. Any data values that are between 29 and 35 or between 75 and 90 are suspected outliers.

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financial Management - Essay Example Rents, Charges, Interests and others make up three percent of its funding (Smith, 2008). Of the total fund generated from various sources: seventy percent is spent on Salaries and Wages; twelve percent is provisioned for the employer contribution to the pension fund; another twelve percent is spent on operating expenses and six percent is for Capital Financing Charges (Smith, 2008). Fiscal governance coverage is in accordance with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (SORP Committee, 2010). CIPFA Code of Practice dictates that in cases of conflict the legislative requirements shall apply in financial governance (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy, 2010). National non-domestic rates account for approximately eighteen percent of the total local authority income (Information Centre Scotish Parliament, 1999). Therefore, only about 9 percent of the National non-domestic rate income of the local authority finances the Fire and Rescue eff orts of local governments. While every district including the two cities of Manchester and Salford only contributes a total of 3.3 percent each to the operational expense of the Fire and Rescue Authority (Smith, 2008). Risk mitigation includes the following: disaster recovery, contingency plan, emergency response, business continuity. Fire and Rescue only covers emergency response. From a financial point of view to invest more than eleven percent for emergency response alone may not maximize the value of money considering the other area of risk mitigation that would include disaster recovery, contingency planning and business continuity. However, risk and security challenges have become increasingly complex because as we plan for protection and face a multitude of threats in a rapidly changing environment, we must expect the unexpected, while staying within our budgets (Purpura, 2008). There is an underlying importance in emergency response that is to prevent the emergency escalatin g into a disaster, then to a catastrophe, then to a tragedy (Alexander, 2002). The key has always been prevention and in this case the prevention of an emergency to escalate into another level. One of the key performance indicators of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue A

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry Essay

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry - Essay Example Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a device employed by United Kingdom’s government to arguably to make the construction industry more competitive and more profitable. This does not come as a surprise since the UK construction industry provides a tenth of the UK's gross domestic product, employs 1.4 million people and is worth around  £65 billion per annum. With an output of  £81.9bn in 2006, the UK construction industry is ranked in the global top ten. Thus, it is only then logical to support the industry. PFI is a way of funding major new public building projects such as hospitals, schools, prisons and roads. Private consortiums, usually involving large construction firms, are contracted to both design and build a new project, and also to manage it. The contracts typically last for 30 years. The building is not publicly owned but leased by a public authority, such as a council or health trust, from the private consortium. The private consortium raises the cash to build the project. It is then paid back with interest by the government through regular payments over the period of the contract. PFI projects could be viewed as a means of enabling government services to be "outsourced" to private sector suppliers. PFI is not the same as privatization as the Government retains ultimate responsibility to the public for the service concerned. Outside the UK, PFI is more commonly known as Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The policy has not been without its critics. As with any form of hire purchase, buying something on tick is more expensive than paying for it up front. The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is often cited as an example of how expensive the PFI can be. It cost  £180m to build and will cost  £900m to pay for. ... Use of PFI in the Construction Industry Since the advent of PFI, the construction industry has found itself on much more stable ground. Between 2001 and 2002, its output is estimated to have increased by 9.7%. According to the Major Contractors Group (MCG), a major construction trade association which represents UK firms such as Carillion (formerly part of Tarmac), Costain and Amec, construction companies engaged in the private finance initiative expect to make between three and ten times as much money as they do on traditional contracts. (Research and Markets Online, 2003) Bill Tallis, the director of MCG, said construction firms traditionally received rates of return of 1.5% to 2% on contracts but were now expecting margins of 7.5% to 15% on PFI building schemes. The high profit available to investors in PFI schemes explains why John Laing PLC has sold off its basic construction company and bought up stakes held in such projects by hard-pressed Amey PLC. (Macalister, 2003) This strategy is reinforced by figures from the European Construction Industry Federation (ECIF), which show that the UK construction sector grew by over 8% last year while its counterpart in Germany and France slumped by 2.5% and 0.7% respectively. (UK DTI Online, 2007) The UK government defends PFI by its use of something called the 'public sector comparator'. This shows whether or not privately financed schemes offer better value for money than conventional funding. The main problem with this is that the government has provided an accounting device called 'risk costing' which has meant that private firms generally emerge as winners. When a consortium of private companies agrees to build something for a public

Market for Energy Drinks Essay Example for Free

Market for Energy Drinks Essay 3.How is the market for energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced beverages changing? What are the underlying drivers of change and how might those forces individually or collectively make the industry more or less attractive? The market for energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced beverages kept on changing through differentiation from other brands to have a better brand image and also to meet the demands of the consumers as it is said that USA has helped greatly in the growth of the industry. Because of the significance of brand recognition, the sellers kept on building the product and how it to be most familiar. Product innovation, one of the market’s drivers of change, is said to be the most important competitive features of the alternative beverage industry. Alternative beverages competed on the basis of differentiation from traditional drinks (carbonated soft drinks or fruit juices) so for energy drinks, they often changed the taste, the energy boosting of their ingredients, and image. It is also through marketing innovation and efficient distribution systems that the industry kept on changing by always having varied its packaging, clever ads, endorsements from celebrities/athletes and sponsorships. Alternative beverage sellers also need to have efficient distribution systems to be successful in the industry. These forces only made the industry attractive because it can attract first time buyers through product and marketing innovation and offer responsive customer service to large customers which may then lead to an increase in market demand, make competition more intense and lead to a higher industry profitability.

Character Traits of Elizabeth Proctor Essay -- essays research papers

Character Traits of Elizabeth Proctor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the late sixteen hundreds, the fear of witchcraft was a major concern amongst New Englanders. Arthur Miller’s book, The Crucible, tells the story of a town’s obsession with accusing innocent people of witchcraft. All the accusers were young females who claimed they were attacked by demonic specters. Members of the community supposedly sent out these evil spirits, but in reality, the girls were doing it as sport. One such person accused was Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, known throughout the community to be a noble woman. Throughout the book Elizabeth proves to be honest, untrusting of others, and determined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth’s honesty proves to be an important factor all through the book. This honest woman only lies once throughout the entire book. She tells this lie to Danforth in order to protect her husband’s reputation from being blackened in the village. Her honesty proves true when she is sent to jail for witchcraft, and she discovers she is pregnant. When she tells Danforth he says â€Å" There be no sign of it- we have examined her body† (92). In the last act, while talking to her husband, he asks â€Å"The child?† She then replies, â€Å"It grows† (134). This proves she was being honest while in jail. Another instance of her honesty is when she is charged with being a witch. Although the punishment was less severe for admitting to being a witch rather than claiming to be innoc...

History of the World in 6 Glasses Essay

Chapter 2: Civilized Beer 1. The â€Å"Land between 2 rivers† is the Tigris and Euphrates rivers located in Mesopotamia (in the Fertile Crescent). â€Å"The World’s first cities arose in Mesopotamia, ‘the land between the streams,’ the name given to the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers†¦ (24, Standage)†, which meant that around this area most of the people were hardworking. The problem about these two rivers though is that they had unexpected flooding and there was little rain. This is why at the time, goods, instead of being offerings to gods were, â€Å"compulsory taxes that were consumed by the temple bureaucracy or traded for other goods and services (40, Standage).† This only arose though because of the unpredictable weather and nature of the Mesopotamian environment. 2. Mesopotamia and Egypt had many differences,, but they were both similar in one thing, â€Å"Both cultures were made possible by an agricultural surplus, in particular an access of grain (25, Standage).† It funded many a vast amount of public works/constructions to be possible such as canals, temples and pyramids and also freed a small elite of administrators and craftsmen from the need to produce their own food. Grain was the main national diet in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, refereed to as â€Å"edible money† because it was consumed in both liquid and solid form. 3. â€Å"†¦ Grain was the basis of the national diet in both Egypt and Mesopotamia (26, Standage)†, it was consumed as not only beer, but bread too. Many people supplemented themselves with bread, beer, dates and onions (sometimes with meat and of course additional vegetables); Dates provided vitamin A, beer provided vitamin B and everything else added up to 3,5000 to 4,000 calories. They both had different ways of seeing how beer should actually be used sometimes but they both used it in the same way most of the time, for pleasure and to satisfy. 4. Gilgamesh was a Sumerian kind who ruled around 2700 BCE and tells s story that includes a wild man that becomes human by being introduced to beer and food by a woman, â€Å"He drank the veer-seven jugs! – and became expansive and sang with joy†¦ He was elated and his face glowed†¦ he splashed his shaggy body with water†¦ and turned into human (27, Standage).† Sumerian myths affected people by depicting the gods as very  fallible, human characters who enjoy eating and drinking, usually drinking too much; Sumerian writing might have also inspired how Egyptians starting writing. 5. â€Å"As in Mesopotamia, beer was thought to have ancient and mythological origins, and it appears in prayers, myths, and legends (28, Standage),† not only in Mesopotamia did they find beer to be â€Å"sacred† but in Egypt too, one tale even gives credits to beer with saving humankind from destruction, â€Å"Mesopotamians and Egyptians alike saw beer as an ancient, god given drink that underpinned their existence, formed part of their cultural and religious identity, and had great social importance (29, Standage).† In both cultures, without beer, the meal wouldn’t be complete. Beer is one of the reasons that led to the the arising of civilizations, mainly because it combined different social groups from high class to low class, from adults to children; it let people have something in common, something they could share, no matter how much money you had or even your age. 6. Originally, writing was invented to record the collection and distribution of grain, beer and other goods; it arose as a continuation of the Neolithic custom of, â€Å"using tokens to account for contributions to a communal storehouse (30, Standage).† Since there was s surplus of food, Sumerian cities collected it usually as offerings to gods, but in practice were consumed by the temple to help maintain public structures such as irrigation systems because of the unpredictable â€Å"Mesopotamian environment.† Later though, tokens were abandoned and pictograms came to represent numbers and even gods too, â€Å"Having started out as a means of recording tax receipts and ration payments, writing soon evolved into a more flexible, expressive, and abstract medium (34, Standage).† 7. Our modern Latin alphabet can be traced back to the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. After tokens were abandoned, pictograms came to place depicting gods and numbers. By around 3000 BCE writing had evolved a little bit more, â€Å"The end result was the first general-purpose form of writing, based on wedge-shaped, or â€Å"cuneiform†, indentations made in clay tablets using reeds (24, Standage).† 8. â€Å"Both civilizations barley and wheat, and their processed solid and liquid forms, bread and beer, became more than just staple foodstuffs; they were convenient and widespread forms or payments and currency (25, Standage)†, people were paid for their work in loaves of bread and jars of beer; even women and children were paid by this. The use of bread and beer as wages or  currency mean that they became associated with prosperity and well-being, â€Å"The ancient Egyptians identified them so closely with the necessities of life that the phrase ‘bread and beer’ meant sustenance in general; their combined hieroglyphics formed the symbol for food (37, Standage).† Beer was also used medically for both Egyptians and Mesopotamians. 9. Since beer, being boiled, was less likely to be contaminated than water, it had the advantage of having ingredients dissolve easily in it. A cuneiform tablet from the Sumerian city of Nippur, contains a list of medical recipes based on beer, â€Å"In Egypt, beer’s use as a mild sedative was recognized, and it was also the bass for several medical concoctions of herbs and spices†¦ Half an onion mixed with frothy beer was said to cure constipation, for example, while powdered olives mixed with beer cured indigestion; a mixture of saffron and beer massaged into a woman’s abdomen was prescribed for labor pains (38, Standage).† 10. Egyptians believed that their well-being in the afterlife depended on having a â€Å"satisfying† supply of breed and beer. A normal funerary offering consisted of bread, beer, oxen, geese, cloth, and natron, a purification agent, â€Å"Scenes and models of brewing and baking have been found in Egyptian tombs, along with jars of beer (long since evaporated) and beer-making equipment (38, Standage).† From emperors to ordinary citizens, they were all buried with a small or large jar of beer.

Descriptive- the Book I Want Essay

There are moments during the day when there is just too much noise. White noise hisses from the television in the corner. The high pitch buzz of rock music blares from earbuds implanted into the ears of someone nearby. Even the insistent clickity-clack of fingers across a computer keyboard seem to add to the flurry of traffic already flushed into my mind, via my overwhelmed ears. For me, there is one moment in my day that quiet is treasured. When I can no longer take it, I escape to a brick and mortar bookstore and treat myself to a hardback book. When I walk in, I am always taken aback by the towering displays of tomes; the precariously perched novels appearing like high divers waiting to plunge to the earth below. I find myself tipping-toeing around the pyramid tables, holding my breath to keep their descent from happening. I scan the plethora of shelves for something to read. Then, without warning, I see it. Hiding away, leaned back against a cold metal shelf, is the one I want; my book of choice, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The glossy red and yellow book jacket stands in sharp contrast to the harsh, dulled brown of its perch, like a square apple hanging from a gnarled tree. The crisp, jacket edges fall like a neatly pleated skirt around a strong sturdy backing. Embossed letters softly raise themselves to my eyes as if to say, ‘hello’, and bid me to take them home. I spy uniformed ivory pages sandwiched between the black binding, small gaps in the spacing attempt to cry out with a silent, ‘open at me first’. My mind reels at what might be uncovered once I take it home, do I dare? The hardback emits such a yearning to me, that I cannot stop a gently quivering hand from reaching out and lifting it off the ledge. At first touch, the novel is cool and smooth beneath warm meager fingers. The imprinted title on the book’s sleeve rolls beneath my fingertips, like gently sloping mountains surrounding wide expansive valleys. Tracing outside the lettering, I find the rest of the cover faintly akin to sandpaper, and draw my fingers back. I rest the digest atop flat palms to feel for its weight & length. It is not so light that it may be mistaken for a mere picture book, yet it does not carry enough weight as War and Peace might. It would make a lovely specimen in my growing collect. I tenderly run my fingertips across closed pages, savoring the minute detail of mismatched page lengths. Subsequently, I soothingly open the story just enough to hear it murmur to me. My ears delight in the sudden recognition of hundreds of small birds fluttering, as if startled by someone traipsing through their habitat. Closing the lid on this glee, I am met by the crackling pop of the book’s spine; a tribute to a roaring fire that would be waiting for us once we reached home. Sighing softly, I make my way to the front of the store to purchase my indulgence. I brush off the jacket only to find the swishing of my hand calls to mind the gentle simmer of butter in a hot pan upon the stove. For an instant, my desire for my book is momentarily eclipsed by my hunger, as I place my prize upon the cashier’s stand. The echoing thud sounds like a dropped suitcase on a marble floor in an empty airport terminal, always louder then you expect it to be. I swipe my credit card as the smiling young lady behind the register: hurriedly wraps my treasure in plastic, places a paper receipt inside the bag, presents me with my purchase, and thrusts me towards the exit. Walking out, I have a sense of anticipation building within my chest. I have my prize, and all that remains is to get home to the safety of my quiet room and secluded chair. My breath catches in my throat as I think of how wonderful it will be to relish in the first written words of the story. I imagine myself like Neil Armstrong, except taking a step into a new fantasy and not onto the moon. The drive home is marred with endless lines of cars braking at multiple stoplights. We pulse between the gas and brake pedals, like the jerky motion of a springy horse at a public playground. The constant rocking forward and back has started to slowly lull me to sleep, so I turn up the air, unexpectedly puffing the bag around my reward. Immediately, the vents push the scent of new paper into my face, I breathe deeply. The lingering spice of aged leather and printer ink reminds me of long hours curled up in the quiet, delighting in an author’s heady language. I slowly exhale my valued lungful of air, when I notice I am within reach of my home. My heart leaps at the memory of my hushed home; its tranquility will only add to the soothing moments I plan on spending with Mr. Cline, an escape from the hustle of noise. Pulling into my driveway I get a twinge in my heart of something gone wrong, like the smell of looming rain before a massive storm. The car door slamming should be thunderous, but its noise is drowned out by the riotous thumping of a bass drum. Making my way into the house, the clash of a high hat cymbal rattles the glass, distinctly reminding me of lightning doing the same during the last storm. Somehow, I get the distinct feeling that my attempts to have a quiet, relaxed noiseless reading time will be trumped by the clamor next door. And wouldn’t you guess it, I was right.

Essay Sample on Management in Japan

Essay Sample on Management in Japan Management in Japan, as well as in any other country, reflects its historical features, culture and public psychology. It is directly connected with social and economic setup of the country. Japanese methods of management are radically distinct from European and American. It doesnt mean that the Japanese operate more effectively. It is possible to tell more likely, that main principles of the Japanese and European management lay in different planes, having a few points of crossing. The Japanese management is based on collectivism. It uses all moral and psychological levers of influence on the person. First of all, call of duty to collective, which is almost identical to feeling of shame in the Japanese mentality. Considering the fact that Japanese tax system works on getting citizen’s incomes and welfare to some average value, by progressive-fiscal mechanism, welfare stratification in society is minimal, therefore it enables to use feeling of collectivism as effectively as possible. Japanese method of management differs from European and US methods first of all by its direction: main subject in Japanese management is human resources. Objective that Japanese top-mangers use to face with is to raise operating efficiency over increasing productivity of labor. Meanwhile, European and American management objective is profit maximization, with as low efforts as possible. We can define such characteristics of Japanese management: Employment guarantees lead to stability of manpower and reduce employee turnover. Stability serves as incentive for workers and employees, it strengthens corporate community feeling, harmonizes relations between ordinary workers and management. Released from pressing threat of dismissal and having a real opportunity for further promotion, workers receive motivation for strengthening feeling of fellowship with company. Stability gives possibility to increase quantity of managerial resources, on the one hand, and knowingly to direct their vector on the objectives more significant, than discipline maintenance, on the other hand. Japanese Employment guarantees provide system of lifelong hiring – unique occurrence that is doesnt clear for European mindset. When all managerial levels and workers start using common information database about firm politics and activity, atmosphere of participation and common responsibility starts to develop, improves interaction and increases productivity. In this respect meetings where engineers and administrative workers take part, bring in essential results. Japanese management also tries to create common base of understanding of corporate values for company’s workers such as qualitative service priority, cooperation between workers and administration, cooperation and interaction of departments. Management aspires to cultivate and maintain corporate values at all levels. Japanese companys presidents speak about necessity of quality assurance more often. While managing manufacture process their main care getting accurate data about quality. Personal care of the head consists of fastening efforts over quality control, and as a result, running his area of manufacture with highest quality Data gathering and its systematic applying to increase economic efficiency of manufacture, qualitative characteristics of manufacture and qualitative characteristics of production is given special sense. Every month head of the company checks income items, volume of manufacture, quality and gross receipt, to find out if results are coincided with defined values and to reveal future problems on early stages of their appearance. To cope with difficulties and to assist in solving problems in order of their appearance Japanese often allocate management personnel right in working area. While problems are solving little innovations are added and it leads to accumulating extra novelties. In Japan to assist additional innovations the system of innovative offers and groups of quality is widely used. Cleanness and order on manufacture is one of the essential factors that make Japanese goods of high quality. Directors set such order that helps increase productivity and quality of work. In general Japanese management is characterized by emphasis on improvement of human relations: coordination, collectivism, high moral qualities of workers and employees, harmonization of relations in corporation between workers and management. If you need a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation on Management, Economics, Business or other discipline feel free to contact our professional custom writing service.

Census Offers Statistics on Older Americans

Census Offers Statistics on Older Americans On July 1, 2004, 12 percent of all Americans were 65 years of age and over. By 2050, people 65 and over will comprise an impressive 21 percent of the U.S. population, reports the U.S. Census Bureau. Every year since May 1963, Older Americans Month has been honored with a presidential proclamation. Last year, President George W.  Bush said, â€Å"Older Americans help others to understand the past, and they teach timeless lessons of courage, endurance and love. Through their legacy of patriotism, service, and responsibility, Americas seniors also unite families and communities and serve as role models for younger generations.† In observance of Older Americans Month 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau has compiled some revealing statistics about Americas aging population. Population 36.3 million The number of people 65 and over in the U.S. on July 1, 2004. This age group accounts for 12 percent of the total U.S. population. Between 2003 and 2004, 351,000 people moved into this age group.86.7 million Projected number of people 65 and over in the year 2050. People in this age group would comprise 21 percent of Americas total population at that time.147% Projected percentage increase in the 65-and-over population between 2000 and 2050. By comparison, the population as a whole would have increased by only 49 percent over the same period. Jobs 4.6 million Number of people age 65 and over who are still employed. This amounts to 13 percent of all people in this age group. Education 77%- Proportion of people ages 65 to 69 who graduated from high school. Seventy-three percent of people ages 70 to 74 and 68 percent of those 75 and over are also high school graduates.20% Percentage of the population ages 65 to 69 who have a bachelors degree or higher education. Among people ages 70 to 74, 19 percent have achieved this level of education; for those 75 and over, 15 percent are college graduates.73,000 Number of people 65 and over enrolled in college in October 2002.The Census Bureau has also reported that a college degree greatly increases a persons lifetime earnings, with persons holding masters degrees typically earning $1.3 million over their lifetimes than those with high school diplomas only. On a yearly basis, a college degree typically at least doubles a persons average annual earnings.   Income and Wealth $108,885 Median net worth in 2000 of households with householders 65 and over. In contrast, householders under the age of 35 had a median household net worth of $7,240.$23,787 Median 2003 income of households with householders 65 and over, statistically unchanged, in real terms, from the previous year.10.2% Poverty rate for people 65 and over in 2003. Voting Patterns 65% Percentage of registered voters ages 65 to 74 who voted in the 2002 Congressional election. Seventy-two percent of people ages 65 to 74 voted in the 2000 presidential election. This age group had the highest rate of voter participation in both the 2000 and 2002 elections. Service to Our Nation 9.7 million Estimated number of people age 65 and over who are military veterans. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Business management - Essay Example On the other hand behavioral theory argues out that any individual who can adopt a behavior that is appropriate can be considered to be a good leader. Behaviors could be learned in an easier manner than traits making the leaders to access all behaviors. As opposed to the trait theory that believes that all leaders may be born, behavioral theory argues out that leaders may not be born. The process of leadership can be learned thus not automatic. Different leaders are made through hard work and efforts. The behavioral theory argues out that managers’ potential of leadership can be could be trained to leadership that is effective thus leadership needs to be combined together with management so as to obtain significant outcome. In this regard, the theories of behavior are based on the idea that leaders are normally made instead being born. With this basis, the theory of behaviourism focus on the leaders actions instead of traits. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that facilitates morale, performance, and motivation of the followers by using various mechanisms. The first mechanism include having the follower’s identity and self sense connected towards the project and an organization’s identity. The second mechanism is challenging the followers for them to assume a great working ownership. The third mechanism involves serving as a role model of the followers hence inspiring them and boosting their interest. The last mechanism involves getting to know the weaknesses and the strengths of the followers for the leader to align the followers with tasks for enhancement of their performance. An organization that will call for transformational leadership is an organization whose workers need their needs to be addresses, for them to rise beyond self interest for the organizational sake. This is an organization whose workers have a consciousness level considered as below the optimal level o f the