GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Everyday Life

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Everyday Life GIS According to Canalys there were approximately 41 million GPS units sold in 2008, and in 2009 the number of GPS enabled cell phones in use had exceeded 27 million. Without even thinking, tens of millions of people access directions and look-up local businesses from these hand-held devices every day. Lets tie this back to our big picture here, GIS. The 24 GPS satellites orbiting earth are constantly broadcasting data about their location and exact time. Your GPS device or phone receives and process the signals from three to four of these satellites to figure out where it is located. Points of interest, addresses (lines or points), and aerial or road data is all stored in a database that is accessed by your device. When you submit data, such as posting a geo-Tweet (a location-based Tweet on Twitter), checking in on Foursquare, or rating a restaurant you are adding data to one or more GIS data sources. Popular GIS Applications Traditionally desktop GIS has dominated the GIS mindset. People think of ArcMap, MicroStation, or other enterprise-level GIS applications when they think desktop GIS. But the most prevalent desktop GIS application is free, and quiet powerful. With over 400 million total downloads (according to GeoWeb 2008 keynote speech by Michael Jones) Google Earth is by far the most used GIS application in the world. While many people use Google Earth to look for fun things such as a friends house, crop circles, and other oddities, Google Earth also allows you to add georeferenced images, view parcel data, and find routes. Georeferencing Photos Even before the average computer user was using GIS on a near daily basis, everyone has benefited from it. The government uses GIS to decide voting districts, analyze demographics, and even time street lights. The real power of GIS is that it is more than a map, it is a map that can show us exactly what we want to see. How has GIS become such an integral part of society almost seamlessly? Google, Garmin, and others were not creating products with Hey, the mass public needs GIS in mind, no, they were meeting needs. Humans think geographically. Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How those are the five Ws right? Place is extremely important to people. When studying how human populations have acted over the past millennia it is easy to see how geography dictated culture. Today, place still dictates much of our lives: property values, crime rates, education standards, these can all be classified by place. It is interesting to see when a technology has become so ingrained in a society that people dont consider it when they use it, they just use it; like with cell phones, cars, microwaves, etc. (that list could be very long). Personally, as someone who loves maps and loves computers and works in the GIS field I think it is great that an eight-year-old has the ability to look-up their friends address and sho w their parents exactly where they are going, or for family members to be able to see pictures of those they love where they were taken, and so many more cool things that GIS allows us to do without thinking. Kyle Souza is a GIS professional from Texas. He operates TractBuilder and can be reached at kyle.souzatractbuilder.com.

The American Labor Sector of Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The American Labor Sector of Today - Essay Example   The movements drew clear lines between the management of the industries and the labor aspects that based on the issues between the two. This was aimed to advocate for the improvement of their working conditions. It is sentiments like these that the screenwriters and the director of the movie â€Å"Norma Rae† shared and sought to evoke among the audience. The movie highlights the processes and trials experienced in the starting of a workers union (Canby). It shows that although the start of worker unions is marred by challenges, their successful formations eventually result in improved labor conditions. The employers victimize the founding figures of trade unions when they start advocating for the rights of the workers. The movie gives a clear illustration of this aspect that is replicated in nearly all scenarios involving the establishment of labor unions. After hearing a speech from Rueben Warshowsky, Norma decides to unionize her workmates. This does not augur well with the managers of the cotton mill, who confront her (Canby). She in turn writes â€Å"UNION† on a piece of cardboard and stands on a table to display it to her workmates. This makes them shut down their machines. The management views this as a threat to their authority and responds by sacking her and sending her to jail (Canby). Although Reuben eventually frees her, the acts bring out the factor of victimization against unionists advocating for workers rights. The movie brings out the aspect of the different family members reaction to one’s involvement in union activities. After hearing Reuben’s speech Norma starts participating in union formation activities. This invokes negative reactions in her husband who feels Norma is not spending enough time with her family (Canby).

Chrysler Group LLC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chrysler Group LLC - Research Paper Example This is a good stance for our students since they will also learn the basic tenets of corporate social responsibility. As a reputable institution, we should groom our students so that they can meaningfully contribute to the development of different societies rather than just focusing on getting well paying jobs. This will also help to create a good reputation for the institution if we are associated with companies that are socially responsible for their operations. The aspect of good corporate citizen makes Chrysler Group an ideal company to partner with in as far as internship for our students is concerned. Good record of workplace safety The other reason why we should partner with Chrysler Group in terms of internship for our students is that it has a good record of workplace safety environment. Our students will be safe if they are attached to this company and they will also generate knowledge about the significance of creating and maintaining safe working environments. The Nation al Safety Council (NSC) recognized Chrysler Group’s focus on improving safety in the workplace recently. Each company has a responsibility of ensuring that it creates a safe working environment and there is no doubt that Chrysler is good in this particular area. The company also strives to maintain good records of quality working relationships and this will help our students to gain the practical experience they so much require. This will also help our students to transform the theoretical knowledge they have so far acquired from their academic courses into practice. The aspect of good record of workplace safety maintained by Chrysler Group will play a pivotal role in the development of our students. Committed to develop diverse future business leaders Finally, there are indications that the company will uphold its commitment to develop diverse future business leaders. This is evidenced by Zetsche’s outstanding leadership qualities that significantly helped the company to turnaround its fortunes in the early 2000 after unprecedented loses. This leader is accommodative and to date Chrysler Group boasts of diverse and competitive leaders who come from different parts of the globe. The major success of the company can be attributed to its strategy of recruiting talented people from diverse backgrounds. The company also has retention schemes in places that are meant to ensure that all the skilled workers stay for a long period there. The company also has a policy that is meant to attract students for internship and this program is designed in such a way that the students will improve their business communication skills. Of notable concern is the fact that Chrysler Group offer scholarships to talented MBA candidates and it draws the applicants from more than 30 of the nation’s leading business schools. It will be a privilege for our school to be associated with is reputable company since it will help us to create a positive image. On top of tha t, our students will be marketable internationally which will be an added advantage to them as well as our institution. It is my conviction that the company’s commitment to develop diverse future business leaders will go a long way in assisting our students with their internship

Inquiry 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inquiry 3 - Essay Example I worked in the Treasury department which was a division of the Finance wing of the organization. Like any other organization, there were diverse cultures, races, beliefs and races, who worked in the organization. During my internship, I was afforded the chance to interact with a host of different people, with different views on life and the way the organization should be run. I had both bad and good experiences but I don’t think I will be able to forget my first day. Since it is a local bank, my internship was not exactly accorded to me through the proper channels. In fact, I think the main reason that I was given the opportunity, despite my impressive academic achievements, was the fact that my father previously worked as the branch manager of that branch and still had some contacts in the organization. Anyway, the world is run on strong social contacts and I guess I had that as an advantage. At the back of my mind, I thought that the internship would be a casual affair with no need for formal attire. Therefore on my first day, I showed up at work in a semi-formal fashion, no tie and no coat and you can imagine the surprise on the security guard’s face when I told him I was an employee. He must have thought I was a visitor or the son of one of the employees in the branch. At the entrance of the Finance division, I was ushered into a cubicle with two short African American gentlemen, who calmly enquired about my academic performance, my social lifestyle and gave me a quick orientation regarding the workings of the organization. They were very helpful and very friendly, with calm reassuring demeanors which I frankly found to be nothing similar to the stereotypes of African Americans, which perceives them as being loud and aggressive. They even jokingly warned me to look out for certain people who they quoted as being ‘nothing but trouble†. I could tell that they were the jokers of the office due to the informal set up of the

Of Mice and Men and the American Dream Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men and the American Dream Essay John Stienbeck’s novel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† is about the death of the American dream. George, Lennie and Candy’s dream is to own their own piece of land to work and live independently on. This dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s strength, which he cannot control. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to contact her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. Racism and the attitudes of others destroy this dream. Lennie and George’s dream is to own a piece of land to work and live where they can have cows, pigs, chicken a vegetable patch with alfalfa and rabbits. â€Å"O. K Someday – we’re going to get the jack together and we’re going to have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ‘An’ live off the fatal the land’ â€Å"We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit-hunch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter we’ll just say the hell with going’ to work, and we’ll build up the fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain coming’ down on the roof. (Steinbeck 1937:18) This quote illustrates the dream have about owning their own land and living independently on it, growing and harvesting their own crops in the vegetable patch, farming cows and goats for milk, pigs for ham and bacon and chickens for eggs. When Candy hears about this dream, he wants to become part of it by offering his saved money to fund the purchase of the piece of land and be able to work and live on the land with George and Lennie. George, Lennie and candy’s dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s ignorance of his own strength. When Lennie is in a stressful situation, like when he wanted to pat the girl’s dress and she screamed, Lennie panics and doesn’t know what to do. Lennie’s strength and ignorance ruins their dream when Lennie and Curley’s wife are talking in the barn. Curley’s wife invites Lennie to feel how soft her hair is. Lennie patted her hair very hard. Curley’s wife, not wanting her hair to be messed up, jerks her head away. Because Lennie is confused he grabs her hair and tries to make her stop yelling. But because Lennie does not know how to control his own strength, he squeezes Curley’s wife’s neck too hard and crushes her spine. Lennie then flees the ranch because Curley wants to kill him for what he did to his wife. So Lennie is not brutally murdered by Curley, George finds Lennie and, because he cannot get him out of trouble, shoots Lennie. Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and ignorance destroyed his, George and Candy’s dream Curley’s wife’s dream is to become a famous Hollywood actress. She dreams of fame, fortune, fancy clothes and large, expensive hotels. Curley’s wife is waiting for a Hollywood director to mail her about becoming an actress. This dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley because once she is married she is not allowed to pursue an acting career because she has to look after the house, because Curley will not allow her to leave the ranch to become an actress. Her dream is also destroyed by a Hollywood director who believed she had the potential to become a film actress. Curley’s wife meets this director at a dance and he promises he would send her a letter about acting in one of his films, but she never gets the letter so she does not become an actress which is her dream. Her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who has not mailed her about her acting career destroys her dream. Crooks dream is to be equal. Because he is black, he is treated differently than others because of their racist attitudes. Crooks must not go in the bunkhouse so he has to sleep in the harness room. He is also abused by the boss of the ranch whenever the boss gets angry. Crooks dreams that he can be treated the same as everyone else, so he does not have to sleep in the harness room instead of the bunkhouse or by abused by another man. â€Å"And he gave the stable buck hell, too† â€Å"Give the stable buck hell? ’ he asked ‘Sure. Yak see the stable buck’s a nigger. † (Steinbeck 1937:22)This quote shows how Crooks is mistreated by the farm boss because he is a black man. The ranch boss thinks he can ill-treat and discriminate against Crooks because he is black. Crooks dream of becoming equal is destroyed by the racist attitudes of others The novel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck is about the death of the American dream. The dream of George, Lennie and Candy is to own their own piece of land to work and live on. Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s uncontrollable strength destroy this dream. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to write to her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. This dream is destroyed by racism and the attitudes of others.

The Role of Media on Middle Eastern Conflicts Essay example -- News Co

The Role of Media on Middle Eastern Conflicts 'By now, all of us realize that there is a high powered media campaign aimed at promoting the war on Iraq and shaping the views of the American people, relying on media-savvy political strategy to sell the administration's priorities and policies' 'Systematic sources of bias in TV coverage of international affairs not only distort information, but can also restrict citizens' awareness and options, and thereby produce more social control. The focus here is on the way TV news formats can limit, constrain, and distort information about terrorism.' The relationships between countries in the Middle East and with the West have never been ones of peace or tranquility, and in recent years these relationships seem to be headed in a downward spiral. Currently, there has been an increasingly intense clash between the citizens of all societies that is largely a reaction against what is perceived through the news media about the other society. While the general public goes about watching their favorite nightly news broadcasts, they are unaware that the very knowledge they hope will educate them about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the War in Iraq, is actually one of the primary factors leading to the strain between our two differing societies. This is largely the result of the way news coverage is produced and presented in the United States, the Middle East, and around the world. In the United States, there are many facets that determine how news about the Middle East is produced and presented. Ultimately, these news reports deter mine how the American people view Middle East societies and unfortunately, how they view people of Middle Eastern ethnicity within the United States.... ...s without the possibility of individual bias, people around the world cannot attain an accurate depiction and thus a truly educated understanding of world affairs. This lack of knowledge leads to a host of consequences, one of which is the violence that comes from those naà ¯ve to that which is different. As well, an increased sense of apathy toward government policies and our administrative leaders has enveloped our country because a majority of the American public is aware of the faulty nature of our media system. As a result of the multitude of structural problems that plague the media system, which include all of the examples presented here, people?s perceptions about the conflicts in the Middle East, both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Iraq, are skewed and are an inherent cause of the continued clashes resulting from misconceptions about others.

Energy Needs Essay

Fracking or hydraulic fracturing is a method used to extract valuable gasses from rock formations in the earth. Some of these gasses include shale gas, tight gas and petroleum. In South Africa fracking is used to extract shale gas in the Karoo. Shale gas is a natural gas that forms when air is captured in rock formations under the ground. It is one of the main reasons why hydraulic fracturing is used. Shale gas is used especially in America. In 2000 shale gas made out one percent of America’s energy producers but in 2010 it replaced over 20% of America’s natural gas resources. There was claimed by experts that South Africa has the fifth biggest shale gas resources in the world while China has the biggest. There is hoped that this gas could be an alternative resource of energy for South Africa’s growing need. That is why the eighteen-month moratorium for the use of fracking, to extract shale gas, was lifted. Even though this could be a great opportunity for our country the damage caused to our environment would be far greater than the little energy it would produce. When fracking is used to extract this gas, water, harmful chemicals and sand is pumped into the fractures of the rock formation. Manmade machines mostly make these fractures that drill holes into the rocks over three thousand meters deep. When this mixture of the water, sand and chemicals reach the shale rock formations hidroxide gasses are released inside the rock. These gases are than captured and used for the generation of electricity. No one can say that fracking does not have a huge impact on the natural environment. Unluckily I am not too sure that it is a positive impact. The chemicals and toxins used in fracking are released into the scarce  underground water of the Karoo, making the water polluted and unusable. Harmful emissions are also released into the air when extracted causing a greenhouse effect on the environment. A study shows that 3,6 to 7,9% methane is released into the atmosphere after fracking has taken place. Even the use of shale gas causes air pollution. The fact that fracking causes allot of pollution cannot be missed. It was even banned in France because of all the pollution it would have made. Because of the negative effect of pollution on the environment, in this case air and water pollution, I can’t understand why such a thing was allowed. For me as part of a new generation it is more important to use clean alternative energy rather than to use short-term solutions with financial benefit just to cause the earth to decline faster.