Josephine Beauharnais Essay Example for Free

Josephine Beauharnais Essay Behind every great man lies an even greater woman. The woman adds character to the man and also affects his actions and morals. The story of Napoleon Bonaparte would be incomplete without consideration of his first wife, Josephine. She contributed so much to his development and passion because of her influence. This greatly impacted his leadership, military victories, and and was an inspiration behind the Napoleonic Code. Therefore without Josephine’s influence, Napoleon would not have become who he was. To understand Napoleon one must first understand Josephine Bonaparte’s history. Marie was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.She was a popular Empress and had many defining characteristics which helped to shape her life. Josephine had a great impact on Napoleon’s emotions which affected the decisions and actions that he made directly and indirectly. (PBS; Napoleon and Josephine, http://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_josephine/courtship/page_1.html) She made him feel secure, provided him with emotional support, and gave him confidence which ultimately had a bearing on his decisions and actions. (PBS; Napoleon and Josephine, http://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_josephine/emperor/page_1.html) Another one of the ways in which Josephine helped Napoleon was through his military accomplishments. Prior to meeting Josephine, Napoleon was nothing more than a short, slight, shabby young artillery man, lacking real military victories. (Mossiker, 79) Josephine allowed Napoleon to strive for more than just a mistress but love. (Mossiker, 81) His fondness for her still remained with him even during his battles. After their wedding, he successfully conquered Italy in 1796-97. (Mossiker, 202) He continued his success conquering Egypt and this battle was significant because France gained a lot of gold and rare gems as well as the Rosetta stone; which was the key to hieroglyphic translations. (Mossiker, 134-139) While Napoleon was fighting his campaigns, Josephine used her connections to Frances political leaders to further Napoleons political career, hosting several parties that resulted in Napoleon quickly being promoted. That resulted in Napoleon gaining national prestige. (Josephines Influence on Napoleon, http://sphseuro.blogspot.ca/2009/02josephines-influence-on-napoleon.html) However, Josephine was chronically unfaithful to Napoleon. Napoleon nearly ended his Italian Campaign early simply to return to France and confront his wife. (Josephines Influence on Napoleon, http://sphseuro.blogspot.ca/2009/02josephines-influence-on-napoleon.html) A letter written to Josephine from Napoleon on the subject of her infidelity was published in several English newspapers, which mocked France and its ruler. Her several affairs almost led to their divorce, but Napoleon felt that a seemingly stable marriage would further his political aspirations and the two remained married. Josephines Influence on Napoleon, http://sphseuro.blogspot.ca/2009/02josephines-influence-on-napoleon.html) Therefore, even without her being present on the battle field, or even in the same country, it was Josephines inspirational spirit, that encouraged Napoleon throughout all of his major victories against Italy and Egypt. Napoleon created a code in which reflected his morals towards the family unit and marriage. In 1803, Napoleon established his own code of laws in order to repeal previous laws that weakened marriage. (The Law Behind the Man, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/jkr/napoleon.html) The 1792 divorce law was repealed and drastically changed. Before it was possible for either a husband or wife to petition for a divorce on numerous grounds, but Napoleon changed the laws so divorce could only be petitioned for under mutual consent and incompatibility. (The Law Behind the Man, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/jkr/napoleon.html) There were criteria that had to be met before a husband or wife could petition for a divorce on either of those grounds; if it was because of incompatibility the petitioner had to show proof of cruelty, adultery, or objected to certain humiliating forms of punishment administered by her spouse (Phillips 1988, p. 185). This is significant because it helps strengthen the family by giving both husband and wife the power to separa te. The Napoleonic Code also emphasized the family as a functioning unit. The needs and desires of the individual had been put ahead of others in the eighteenth century. (The Law Behind the Man, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/jkr/napoleon.html) Napoleon heightened parental authority by requiring their permission in divorce cases and a husbands power by reducing the rights of his wife. A wife.owed obedience to her husband, a husband protection to his wife, and that the wife was obliged by law to live with her husband and to follow him wherever he judged it convenient to live. (Phillips 1988, p. 186) This law strengthened the family unit, giving each marriage partner specific duties and rules. Again, because of Josephine’s influence he created this law to protect his family by providing more structure in the family unit. Even though it may seem that Josephine did not have a more profound impact on the world as Napoleon did, her relationship with Napoleon helped to motivate him to develop his military, personal, social achievements. Without Josephine, Napoleon would not have accomplished what he did and the world we know today would be drastically different. Works Cited Biography.com. A+E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . Courtiers and Favourites of Royalty. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Open Library. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . only read the short 4 paged biography Empress Josephine. London: Oxford UP, 1963. Print. Encyclopedia Brittanica. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . European History. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . Heritage History. Heritage-History, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . History Reference Centre. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Ebscohost. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. . Napoleon and Josephine. N.p.: Simon, n.d. Print. Bonaparte. London: Allen Unwin, n.d. Print. Empress Josephine. Cambridge: Knapton, 1964. Print. Frances Mossikers Napoleon Josephine. N.p.: Frances Mossiker, 1965. Print. Napoleon. New York: Aubry, 1964. Print. Napoleon Bonaparte. New York: Thompson, 1952. Print.

Analysis Of Celcom Axiata Investment In Tune Talk Marketing Essay

Analysis Of Celcom Axiata Investment In Tune Talk Marketing Essay Celcom Axiata is a member of Axiata Group is facing tough competition against the other major telecommunication rivals. Having coined as malay telco provider that is, Celcom Axiata has weak penetration into some major markets and the strategy to overcome this is by appointing the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) to penetrate into the identified markets using their own brand, look and feel. Celcom Axiata business model for Tune Talk MVNO is by having 35% stakes in the company. After over 11 months in operation, Celcom Axiata is reviewing its position in this company whether to remain its stake, increase its shareholding or pullout. Prior to making any decision with its investment, Celcom Axiata needs to evaluate the existing Tune Talk financial standing and its capability to provide the required return on investment as well as its ability to handle the issues at hands especially those concerning the cash flows. Introduction Celcom Axiata is one of the 4 major mobile telecommunication companies in Malaysia. As at 31st March 2010, Celcom Axiata was ranked as second largest mobile telecommunication company behind Maxis, and ahead of Digi and U Mobile respectively. Celcom Axiata is a member of Axiata Group of companies who manage a group of Mobile Telecommunications in the Asia region. Axiata Group was previously known as TM International and part of TM (Telekom Malaysia) Group. The process of de-merger within TM Group saw the birth of Axiata Group, meant to focus on mobile telecommunications arm of the corporation within the region whilst TM continue to maintain its fixed lines business as well as broadband provider. According to the first quarter financial report, Celcom Axiata continue to show double digit growth on a YoY basis in all key indicators. Revenue was up 15% whilst Earning Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) increased by 16%. In tandem, Profit After Tax (PAT) was up 24% in the same period. On a QoQ basis, Celcom continued to show positive performance. Despite coming off an exceptional 4Q09, which recorded the highest ever quarterly growth, revenue growth was marginal, but still up by 0.2%. Continued focus on costs saw EBITDA up by 2% with margins improving by 0.7 percentage points QoQ to 45.4%. PAT showed a robust increase of 7% to RM441 million (Celcom Axiata media release, 27th May 2010). Celcom Axiata has been aggressively expanding its network and coverage to cater for the increasing demand by the customers. Despite its continuous efforts to penetrate into the various segments in this country, Celcom Axiata still lagging in some of key markets such as the Chinese market segment, immigrant market segment and student market or low income earners segment. These markets are predominantly controlled by Maxis and Digi and will be the key success factor for Celcom Axiata to capture in order to become the number one mobile telecommunication provider in this country. One of the strategy to penetrate into these segments as single out by Celcom Axiata is by way of having a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) approach. MVNO means Celcom Axiata will appoint a third party to run the mobile business using their own brand, leveraging on their own strength such as networking, channel of distribution, marketing and customer service. By doing this, Celcom Axiata can reduce its financial burden on the go-to-market cost which in turn will be born by the MVNO partners themselves. To date there are four MVNOs appointed and launched by Celcom whereby each of them is given different market segment to penetrate and capture. Each MVNO is treated as separate entity from Celcom Axiata where the respective MVNOs have full control over their own operations and management of the companies except for Tune Talk Sdn Bhd where Celcom Axiata has 35% share of the company. Being different business model from other MVNOs, Tune Talk Sdn Bhd is seen as another Celcom Axiata joint venture company. Tune Talk is owned by the following shareholders as shown in figure 1 below : Tune Ventures (owned by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun) Individuals shareholders are Datuk Seri Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan, Lim Kian Onn, Jason Lo (the CEO of Tune Talk), Gurtaj Singh (the COO of Tune Talk) and Mark Lankaster (the CEO of Tune Hotels) Celcom decision to have its stake in Tune Talk is to ensure it has some form of control as one the major shareholder. Although Tune Talk management will have the control over the management of the company but the shareholders will have their voice heard during the monthly board exco meeting. Having represented by 2 permanent exco members from Celcom, it can ensure that Tune Talk business plan and strategies are in line with its goal to become one of the top mobile service provider in this country. The Situation Tune Talk is approaching its first anniversary on the coming 19th August 2010. Celcom need to assess its investment and evaluate whether Tune Talk business is moving to the right direction and hence generate the desired dividends to shareholders. In order to achieve the target, Celcom needs to keep track of Tune Talk managements way of running the business. The permanent exco members sitting in the boardroom must be able to drill down to the bottom line and analyze their way of spending their fund. This is very important to Celcom as the major shareholder in Tune Talk so it can decide on the next course of actions such as to inject more fund into Tune Talk, or to remain its position without adding anymore cash or worst case decide to pull out from the pack. Prior to such decision, Celcom needs to gather as much information as possible with regards to Tune Talk financial position, business directions, marketing strategies and other commercial matters which will be the key determination factors. Based from the previous exco meeting it was learned that Tune Talk is facing difficulties to move forward with its business plans and marketing strategies due to shortage of cash flow. Tune Talk Chief Financial Officer (CFO) during his presentation to the board of directors highlighted the following scenarios : a. Increase in Managed Services Costs Tune Talk adopted the managed services concept to deploy and maintain the Intelligent Network (IN) billing system, network related infrastructure namely Short Message Services Centre (SMSC), Home Location Register (HLR) and other Value Added Services (VAS). Managed services concept is a new trend in telecommunication and information technology (IT) business whereby the customers or business operators do not buy outright the related systems but pay to the supplier or provider on usage based. This method saves the company from spending an upfront purchase of an asset, hence reduce the cash outflow. Managed services can help a particular company to avoid from having to allocate depreciation cost which may impact the company balance sheet. In the case of Tune Talk the burden they are facing now is due to the increase in the amount to be spent on this managed services. The deal they are having right now is based on the number of subscribers using the system, the higher the number of subscribers the higher the managed services cost to be incurred. The amount will grow in tandem with the intake of new subscribers where the average cost per subscriber remain unchanged. Unlike buying own fixed asset, the average cost will tend to reduce as the number of new subscribers grow until it reaches the economic of scales. Increase in Channel and Distribution Cost In Malaysia, all the mobile operators are highly dependant to the normal traditional channel ie. mobilephone dealers to sell its SIM card and recharge vouchers. Being too dependant to this type of distribution channel will increase the companys cost of sales whereby for every sales of SIM cards or recharge voucher the company needs to allocate some amount of percentage as an incentive for them to push its products over the competitors. Traditionally, in mobile telecommunication business the channel of distribution consist of 3 layers : distributors master dealers ordinary dealers Normally only a handful of distributors are being appointed to distribute to the master dealers whom will then sell it through the ordinary dealers. Each of these channels will keep a small percentage as their incentive from the retail price. Operators are normally stuck with this channel cost which they cannot run away with in order to push their products to the customers. On average an operator will have to spend not less than 10% from its retail price being part of the channel cost. Allocation for Marketing Cost As a new mobile operator in Malaysia competing against the other 4 major mobile telecommunications service providers Tune Talk is facing a tough time to introduce its brand to the market. According to Nielsen Co Malaysia 2009 report (a research company), the telecommunication companies are among the highest contributor to the total advertising expenditure in Malaysia with Celcom leading the pack at RM 115.8 million, followed by Telekom Malaysia at RM 94.3 million, Maxis with RM 89.7 million and Digi for RM 87.1 million (see Figure 2 below). Newspaper and TV advertisement represent the top 2 categories for advertising followed by Radio, Magazine and Outdoor. To date Tune Talk had already spent RM 2 million in their advertising cost through billboards, newspaper, TV and radio advertisements. This amount is rather very small compare to the amount spent by the big giants and it may not give the required exposure that Tune Talk expected to create its brand awareness to the market place. Based from the report and dip stick survey conducted by Tune Talk marketing department their brand index is still very low and they would require more fund to be pumped in for this purpose. Slow Moving of Customer Recharge Activities Tune Talk is only selling prepaid mobile and it main source of income is by selling the SIM card and recharge vouchers. As far as Tune Talk is concern the revenue generated from these sales are considered as their income (based on the generally Accepted Accounting Principle). This is due to the fact the income will be reported when it is earned (Ross, Westerfiled, Jaffe, Corporate Finance, 7th edition). The good thing about prepaid business is the transactions are in cash terms. This means Tune Talk will get to record the transaction into its book as and when the SIM cards or vouchers are sold to the distributors. In accounting, the revenue from sales of SIM cards and recharge vouchers will only be realized upon usage and not upon sales. Nonetheless, as far as Tune Talk income is concerned it has already acquired the money from the distributor and realized in its book as income as per GAAP. As a rippling effect to lack of awareness of its brand in the market place, Tune Talk sales of SIM cards and recharge vouchers are moving rather at a very slow pace. Table 1 below is example of the average sales and projected 1st year revenue from SIM cards and recharge vouchers : Table 1 Items Average Monthly Revenue Projected 1st Year Revenue SIM Cards RM 500,000 RM 6,000,000 Recharge Vouchers RM 900,000 RM 10,800,000 Total RM 1,400,000 RM 16,800,000 This figure is far cry from the original budget that Tune Talk has to make which is RM 36.0 million for its first year operation and increase to RM 50.0 million and RM 72.0 million in year 2 and 3 respectively. High Customer Turnover or Attrition Rate It is common in the prepaid business industry that users tend to move or hope around from one operator to another operator to find for better offer and cheaper cost. Tune Talk is also affected by this game by the customers whereby the rate of customers churning out or leaving for another brand keep on increasing on month-on-month basis. Malaysian prepaid business industry rate of customers staying in a particular operator (industry language is length of stay) is in average of 6 months. However in the case of Tune Talk its customers average length of stay is a mere 3 months which is about half of the industry average. The impact of this short stay will cause a high acquisition cost to Tune Talk whereby its cash flow will be badly affected. In order to stay healthy, Tune Talk needs more than 3 months for each customer with average usage of RM 30 per month to recover its upfront acquisition cost such as the channel incentive, marketing cost and the other variable costs. Shortage of Cash Tune Talk started off its business with RM 7.5 million worth of shares with 35% own by Celcom whilst the remainder are by several other individuals. After 11 months of operations, Tune Talk is now facing with the most critical moment in its business where their cash flow is deteriorating. Despite being a lean and mean in expenditure and had not spent any money on fixed asset, Tune Talk still face the cash flow difficulty. An area that has badly affected Tune Talk cash flow is the channel incentive and the wholesale airtime rates that it has to pay back to Celcom. With intense competition Tune Talk needs to set its incentive on par or slightly better than the competition in order to get the channel attention and support. On the other hand, the prepaid business market is competing on the call rates to be offered to the end users in order to beat the others. Since Tune Talk is buying its airtime from Celcom at fixed rate, the competition which had forced Tune Talk to also lower down its selling rate to the end users had cause Tune Talk margin to shrink and became smaller. The result is, the income collected from the sales of SIM cards and recharge vouchers will have to be spent largely to incentive and wholesale airtime to Celcom, leaving only peanuts to Tune Talk to be used to re-generate its business. It is also better for Tune Talk to maintain a level of working capital that allows it to make it through those crunch times and continue to operate the business within tight budget (Cater McNamara, Authenticity Consulting LLC). Action Celcom Axiata really need to review its investment in Tune Talk Sdn Bhd by looking at the present situation and its potential. It is a known fact that every new business need some times to be able to stabilize and start to show positive result out of its investment. As far as telecommunication industry is concerned, a minimum of 3 years is required in order for a particular mobile operator to have a strong foothold and have substantial subscriber base to be relevant. The question here is whether Tune Talk strategies are gearing towards the right direction which will guarantee to bear fruits at the end of 3 years? How much will investor need to pump in to ensure that Tune Talk can still survive until the 3rd year ? It is imperative that Celcom Axiata representatives in the Tune Talk board of directors to insist Tune Talk management to review their existing business models which had obviously affected their cash flows. Serious attention must be given by Tune Talk management to revisit its dependency on the existing channel which will become its biggest threat in trying to minimize its cash out flows. Tune Talk management also needs to re-negotiate with its managed services provider to review the charges being imposed to Tune Talk for every new subscribers added into the system. The charges should be on decreasing trend as more customers being added. Tune Talk may also want to consider finding new manage service provider should the negotiation come to a dead end. This is important in managing Tune Talk spending over the long run. Prior to Celcom Axiata to make any decision with its investment, it needs to analyze Tune Talk financial condition. It is advisable for Celcom Axiata to scrutinize the Tune Talk financial management and ensure that all the monies are well spent and efficiently managed to protect its interest. Celcom Axiata finance manager needs to advice the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the real condition of Tune Talk by analyzing its financial statement cash flows. Having spent for over RM 2.6 million and holding 35% of Tune Talk shares, Celcom Axiata has the responsibility to report to its board of directors on the progress of its investment. The Celcom Axiata board of directors must be very interested to know whether the management of Celcom Axiata has made the right decision by investing in Tune Talk. One thing interesting in this business model ie MVNO is because the airtime being sold by Tune Talk (in this case the MVNO) is using Celcom network infrastructure. This means even though Tune Talk does not make huge profit and may not be able to provide the required rate of return in terms of dividends to the shareholders but as far as Celcom Axiata is concerned, it still make money from the airtime sold. Thus, board of directors of Celcom Axiata may well be pleased by the increase in Celcom Axiata revenue alone rather than going down to the details of earning through the Tune Talk dividends. Another area that needs special attention is to assess the existing Tune Talk management team style and business competencies. This industry is regarded as highly competitive and it takes excellent team to be able to compete with the big boys (as being referred to the seasoned mobile operators). Celcom Axiata representatives in the Tune Talk exco members must be able to provide information to the Celcom Axiata management whether there is an existence of conflict of interest in the Tune Talk management team. Although according to Vishny and Robert W, NBER Reporter, September 1989 said that the standard and ideally corporation allows management to have 5% of shares. This can be ascertained by judging into their way of running the business, their seriousness in fulfilling the required tasks as outlined in the business plans, their priorities in spending and handling the cash flows. Conclusion It is probably premature for Celcom Axiata to make decision to pull out from this pack by merely basing on the first 11 or 12 months Tune Talk operation. However any decision to increase its capital in Tune Talk either by buying more shares or by pumping more money to support Tune Talk operations must be done with great detail analysis. It is not advisable for Celcom Axiata to simply inject more cash to Tune Talk without seeing any progress or improvement on some of the area of concern which have been highlighted in previous pages. The major issues that need to be really scrutinize by Celcom Axiata financial manager is on the cash flow management. The action items highlighted in previous pages suggested Tune Talk to improve the way it runs its business which will eventually give a positive impact to its cash flow. It is said that high risk will normally generate high rate of return, but having said that, the save decision at the moment is for Celcom Axiata to remain its position without adding more cash but to continue to monitor Tune Talk progress and improvement. After all, Celcom Axiata is the one who makes more money from anyone else in the pack which is through the sales of wholesale airtime. This investment although had not been able to generate dividends to Celcom Axiata but somehow has managed to complement the weak area that cannot be penetrated by Celcom Axiata using its own brand.

Detection and Tracking of Arbitrary Objects in Video

Detection and Tracking of Arbitrary Objects in Video Kleanthis Constantinou Abstract— Detection and tracking of arbitrary objects in video is a technique which detect object and an object tracker follows that object even when the detectable part cannot be seen. The goal to detect an object in video or image is to determine whether there are any defined object in the video and return their locations, for example the object can be individual team members in a video showing sports, and it’s also been useful for the police in hot pursuit of vehicle by detecting the vehicle while moves. In this paper includes an analyses a methodology for detecting and tracking arbitrary objects in videos and documentaries. This work will explain how a moving object can allow deriving and maintaining a dynamic template of each moving objects. INTRODUCTION This paper will examine and analyze the paths followed for the implementation of a system that makes the detection and tracking of an arbitrary object possible. In addition the paper will point out the importance of embedding such a system in surveillance systems enhancing the need of those systems upon collecting cohesive temporal information though such an implementation. Section II will distinguish need for implementing such a system and how it can benefit its host. Section III will be stating the structure and the techniques used to properly manage the events of tracking and detection of an arbitrary object. Section IV will refer to the variety of problems disclosed in detection and tracking systems such as operation interference, while in addition it will state the required precautions that need to take place in order to prevent any operation interference and allow the system to run efficiently and effectively enhancing its accuracy. Section V will briefly explain the different types of surveillance systems and how they can be accessible. Lastly Section VI will display the steps followed in a moving detection system. In Video analysis the first step is the detection of moving objects and the areas which can be used are surveillance videos, tracking and monitoring people and traffic, therefore in this section we will be stating some examples on how the system works from a camera view and how effective the system can react. II. Reasons The reasons for providing an algorithm to make possible the detection of video objects is due to the need of acquiring data to be forced as an input to a computer based vision application. The application’s goal is to rebut tracking objects in the scene considering parameters in the background and the camera. Background based variables include the variation of light and objects that can change their status from moving to stopped and vice versa. The algorithm consists of two parts, the object detection which is light in terms of programming and a second part which is based on a more sophisticated structure that functions behalf of detecting objects in videos. The process of locating and tracking a moving object in video over time can be done by using a camera. Detection and tracking does not satisfy the purpose of extracting information’s but also to make implementation of systems such as traffic control, security and surveillance, medical imaging, human computer interaction, video communication and compression, augmented reality and video editing possible. Establishing correspondence of objects parts between consecutive frames of video it is the main goal of the tracking. The task of this application provides us with data that are used to enhance lower level processing like motion segmentations and data extraction such as activity analysis and behavior recognition which categorized as higher level processing. Methods and algorithms of detection and tracking The tracking and detection methods are categorized based on how an application can use them. Generally object tracking systems are adequate for outdoor surveillances videos where tracking parts of an object is necessary for several indoor surveillance systems. It is necessary to distinguish objects from each other in order to track and analyze their actions reliably. The main methods for object tracking include firstly the correspondence matching points and secondly to carry out explicit tracking by making use of position prediction or motion estimation. The techniques used for designing surveillance camera systems include the use of stationary cameras to allow the segmentation of each image into a set of regions representing the moving objects by using background differencing, and by using the method of k-Gaussian expand the video processing and allowing process of real stream videos with time varying background and without dedicated hardware. Figure 1: Tracking block diagram The diagram above shows the main blocks followed for object detection and tracking, where foreground and background are the basis for defining images. The information extraction in this scenario includes object attributes and features that could be used in applications and real time video applications. The Methods which classified as point detectors, background subtraction and segmentation is object detection. The information expected to be derived from the tracker is the trajectory of the path which has been followed from a moving object over time by locating its position in every individual video frame. The use of detection and tracking algorithms include implementation of techniques such as: data mining neural network artificial intelligence wireless sensor network biometrics. IV. Problems and Solutions Based on statements made in section II, background changes refers to light changing scenarios such as an outdoor scene, clouds covering the sun and for an indoor scenario such as turning off the lights. By considering those two factors there is problem for an object to be detected and tracked. So the approach cannot be based on frame difference where frame rate it is also depended on the object speed. From this perspective the attention must be laid on the moving object detection based on the background suppression where background model is computed and evolved frame by frame. Clarifying that statement object motion is defined by the difference between the current frame and the background model. Apart from that there must be a high response rate between the changing nature of background and reliable background model computation. Then a model must deal with erroneous ghost detection which includes objects in background that appear as moving in order to be able to compute the differenc e between those objects original position and the position that those objects where projected to after performing motion. Another puzzling fact that makes the algorithm more difficult and not approachable were the existence of shadows and moving objects while the associated shadows are sharing the same features of visual such as detectability and motion, so when the background is updated, the shadows and the moving objects are detected and grouped at the same time. The tasks that are affected by shadows its object classification and the assessment of moving object. This kind of problem mostly affects a system that controls the traffic which is evaluating the trajectories of vehicles. To eliminate such problems the approach of shadow detection needs to be defined and suppressed based on a color analysis HSV space. Another thing that interferes with the processes of tracking and detecting objects in video is the availability of video sensor, the zoom capabilities and videos streams acquired by moving platforms. In such situations the background differing techniques cannot be used because they rely on stabilization algorithm for canceling the motion of cameras, and because the stabilization and the detection are based on the background and cannot perform perfectly since it requires stabilization algorithms in order to affine the perspective model for motion compensation where the quality of compensation depends on the observed scene. To increase the accuracy of detecting a moving object we used a stabilization algorithm that locates regions of an image where this region detecting the normal component of the optical flow field. Surveillance Surveillance systems is been used for monitoring of the behavior, activities or other changing information and more often of people for influencing, managing, directing or protecting them. Such surveillance system serving government and law to enforcement to maintain social control, giving the privilege to prevent or eliminate threats because of the services suck monitoring and recognition which surveillance systems provide. Types where this kind of program and technologies are used: Computers: where responsible for the monitoring of data and traffic through internet, which is categorized in real time monitoring Computer surveillance is used monitoring all phones calls, emails, web traffic; instant messaging etc. Telephones: the official and unofficial tapping telephone lines, the program which is on use for monitoring it is on real time. By using speech to text software creates this kind of algorithm intercept audio and then processed by automated call analysis program where search for certain key words or phrases. Social network analysis: Creating social map network based on data were collected from Facebook, twitter from social sites and from phones call records. Biometrics: this kind of technology its for human analysis for their physical characteristics such fingerprinting, DNA and facial patterns. The technique used is called facial recognition and is based on person’s facial features to accurately identify them from video surveillance. Aerial: Aerial: is an airborne vehicle surveillance which is collecting visual imagery or video. Because this kind of system extraction is high resolution imagery of identification object of extremely long distance it require to use a surveillance hardware such as micro aerial vehicle Data mining and profiling: Data mining is mathematical algorithm method and statistical techniques to identify previously unnoticed relationships within the data. And the process of assembling information about a particular individual or group is called Data profiling which is use of generate profile.. Such application is use for economic and social transactions where the amount of data is large where application is working by following the electronic trail. Every transaction nowadays is electronic, resulting in an electronic trail like credit card, phone card, rented video etc. The most common type of Surveillance systems include utilization of cameras in order to survey a particular space. Surveillance videos up until now consisted of systems analogous to three differentiated generations, 1GSS, 2GSS, and 3GSS. The first generation was used for controlling a room using various cameras at different positions where the role controller was a person. The second generation involved the use of digital and analog subsystems where digital video was focusing on real time detection consequently giving the video human operators for filtering out spurious events. The third generation systems provide end-to-end digital systems followed by today’s video object detection systems. Examples From Video analysis Crossing line detection: The object is detected when a moving object crossing the â€Å"safety† line through the video processing. The safety line can be setup base on the background and the various security zones in arbitrary shapes within the cameras view. So when the object crosses the line the program will automatically activate the alarm and the object will be marked with an alert frame so that the system will mark its moving trace and will alert security personnel to pay attention to the object recognizing it as intruder. Figure 2: moving object crossing the safety line Appearing detection: when an object appears within the camera view alert detects and identifies it as a moving object, if the object behavior is according to the pre-defined alert condition the system will alarm and detect its moving tracks. This system will automatically detect any moving object like human vehicle in a designated area. Figure 3: Moving vehicle Guarding region Entry detection: By setting various security zones in arbitrary shape with in cameras view and through the intelligent video processing technique, automatically will detect moving objects such as human animals, vehicle etc. and if the object does not met the predefined rules when they entered to the security zone then alarm will alert and the object will be marked with an alert frame. Figure 4: Security zone in arbitrary shape Leaving detection: Can set alert areas or regions when an item is removed from its region and indicate its track using alarm frame when the object is removed from it position. Prevent prison break and kids who left the safe place from the kindergarten. Figure 5: Alert area or region CONCLUSION In this paper we analyzed the fact that a system for tracking and detection is necessary for computer vision application implementations such as video compression, video surveillance, vision based control, human computer interfaces, medical imaging, augmented reality etc. this kind of systems provide key tasks for monitoring and controlling applications by providing input data to video databases such content based indexing and retrieval. Reference point [1].http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=arnumber=784651url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=784651 [2]. http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.3288 [3]. http://www.google.com/patents/US20130322689 [4]. http://www.slideshare.net/yuhuang/object-processing11 [5]. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wdn/myresearch.html [6]. http://jivp.eurasipjournals.com/content/2013/1/42 [7].http://www.reoll.com/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=5Itemid=8lang=en [8]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_tracking [9]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSL_and_HSV

Blue Hotel :: essays research papers

It is not surprising for an author’s background and surroundings to profoundly affect his writing. Having come from a Methodist lineage and living at a time when the church was still an influential facet in people’s daily lives, Stephen Crane was deeply instilled with religious dogmas. However, fear of retribution soon turned to cynicism and criticism of his idealistic parents’ God, "the wrathful Jehovah of the Old Testament" (Stallman 16), as he was confronted with the harsh realities of war as a journalistic correspondent. Making extensive use of religious metaphors and allusions in The Blue Hotel (1898), Crane thus explores the interlaced themes of the sin and virtue. Ironically, although "he disbelieved it and hated it," Crane simply "could not free himself from" the religious background that haunted his entire life (Stallman 5). His father, a well-respected reverend in New Jersey, advocated Bible reading and preached "the right way." Similarly, his mother, who "lived in and for religion," was influential in Methodist church affairs as a speaker and a journalist in her crusade against the vices of her sinful times (Stallman 5). This emotional frenzy of revival Methodism had a strong impact on young Stephen. Nonetheless, he -- falling short of his parents’ expectations on moral principles and spiritual outlook -- chose to reject and defy all those abstract religious notions and sought to probe instead into life’s realities. Moreover, Crane’s genius as "an observer of psychological and social reality" (Baym 1608) was refined after witnessing battle sights during the late 19th century. What he saw was a stark contrast of the peacefulness and morality preached in church and this thus led him to religious rebelliousness. As a prisoner to his surroundings, man (a soldier) is physically, emotionally, and psychologically challenged by nature’s indifference to humankind. For instance, in the story, "what traps the Swede is his fixed idea of his environment," but in the end, it is the environment itself -- comprised of the Blue Hotel, Sculley, Johnnie, Cowboy Bill, the Easterner, and the saloon gambler -- that traps him (Stallman 488). To further illustrate how religion permeated into Crane’s writing, many scenes from The Blue Hotel can be cited. Similar to the biblical Three Wise Men (Stallman 487), three individuals out of the East came traveling to Palace Hotel at Fort Romper. The issue explored is the search for identity and the desire of an outsider (the Swede) to define himself through conflict with a society.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho :: Film Movies

An Analysis of the Opening Sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho Just like a building, a film needs a strong foundation in order to be successful, a foundation which is made up of the starting moments of the film. In Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock successfully uses the opening credit sequence to establish a foundation on which to build an interesting plot, including techniques to elicit involvement by the spectator, and the suggestion of a "Psycho" theme. A musical composition consisting of quick strokes on tightly wound violins, later used in the famous shower scene, starts to play at the beginning of the sequence. Names begin to slide on and off the screen in a series of horizontal and vertical lines. The top and bottom portions of the names slide onto the screen, followed by the middle portion. The last name to appear is that of Alfred Hitchcock, which settles in the middle of the screen and begins to twitch and flutter in an unusual manner. The credits then dissolve into a long shot of an auspicious section of an unknown city where a building is being constructed (paralleling the idea of Hitchcock shaping a foundation). As this dissolve takes place, a more subtle and mellow music (again composed of string instruments) fills the air, suggesting a stable environment. The sun burns brightly in the sky and a desert landscape is seen in the background through a haze. The shot immediately begins to pan slowly to the right, revealing more city rooftops and streets. As a dissolve zooms us slightly closer to the city and the camera continues to pan, small block letters appear on both sides of the screen and converge in the middle to read "PHOENIX, ARIZONA." Hitchcock immediately brings the reoccurring theme of birds into the film by setting the scenery in "Phoenix." The camera continues to pan to the right, now moving on to a more dreary side of the city. The next set of titles converges in the center of the screen, reading "FRIDAY, DECEMBER ELEVENTH." As the panning continues, a slow zoom begins to bring us closer to one of the buildings. The last title appears in the same fashion as the preceding, "TWO FORTY-THREE P.M." Yet another dissolve stops the camera on a rather unattractive wall, slowly zooming in on a window with Venetian blinds drawn down. A cut to a closer view of the window reveals an opening a few inches below the blind in which the camera continues to zoom in on, bringing us into a dark apartment room.

Ramrod Case Questions and Answers Essay

1.What kinds of products and technologies does Benson Metals use? How have these been changing recently? Benson Metals, a medium-sized maker of specialty steel products, has traditionally used a craftsliketechnology to produce a variety of metals. In terms of Perrow’s model of technology, task variety andtask analyzability are low, as there is still guesswork, skill, and even some â€Å"black magic† inmanufacturing products. Benson also produces metals in very small quantities—pounds not tons—so thatin terms of Woodward’s model it is small batch, and the skills and knowledge of production people aremore important than machines in getting the job done—task complexity is low. Recently, the company has moved into making sophisticated and technically difficult steels for theaerospace industry. Not only are they difficult to produce, these steels require more research skills,metallurgical analysis, and delicate handling in all stages of production. They are produced to verystringent specifications. In terms of Perrow’s model, task variety has increased and task analyzability hasfallen—production is more nonroutine and research oriented and depends more on the skills, experience,knowledge, and judgment of production personnel. Companies cannot imitate these skills, so they form acompetitive advantage. The environment surrounding the company has changed to more uncertainty because a new range of products is manufactured. Both technology and environment have changed,affecting the contingencies facing the company, and increasing potential risks and returns. 2.What problems is Benson Metals encountering as it changes products and technologies? An increased level of conflict between sales and production poses a problem. Production is responding tothe new pressures facing the organization, yet it is continually fighting with sales. Sales wants a rapidresponse to unexpected customer requests or tries to discover production’s plans or when the finished product will be ready.Morale is falling as the effects of these conflicts spread. Managers in different functions are taking sides,usually siding with sales against Ramrod and production. Communication and decision-making haveslowed as a result of uncooperative attitudes. Integration between functions is falling. This is dangerousfor nonroutine  technology that requires a high level of differentiation and integration to be effective. 3.What is causing these problems in Benson Metals? The sources of the conflict can be isolated. Keep the discussion focused on the people, principallyRamrod, and examine what he is doing wrong; this approach makes the later analysis of power moredramatic.The attitudes and behavior of Ramrod Stockwell cause the problem. Although he is competent, he causesconflict within his own function and other functions. In his own function he fails to delegate authorityand keeps the reins of power in his own hands. He has a centralized management style and does not shareinformation, which makes it impossible for subordinates to provide salespeople with the information theyneed. He does not follow the chain of command; he goes to people only when he needs them. Violatinglines of authority reduces the authority of his managers and also leaves them uninformed.His attitudes affect relationships with other functions, especially sales, because he also does not allowsubordinates to share any but routine information. Because of the centralization of autho rity in production, subordinates do not possess information. Only Rob Bronson, the vice president of sales, canget information from Ramrod, and he is too busy to do so (and too proud since he would have to admit 232 dependency on Ramrod). Stockwell says something can be done but fails to provide an accurate timeframe, making planning difficult for sales and other departments—making them dependent on Ramrod.Ramrod is a â€Å"rough diamond† and has little social contact with other top managers at Benson Metals,which further isolates him. Managers have suggested sensitivity training to help him better communicateand delegate.The conclusion is that Ramrod is the problem—his attitudes and values. What is the solution? FireRamrod? After the pros and cons have been considered (the firm would lose his valuable skills andexpertise), the instructor can turn the discussion to the issue of the company power structure; studentsrarely raise this issue. 4.In the past, which function has had the most power in Benson Metals? How has the power relationship between production and sales been changing recently? Traditionally, sales has enjoyed most of the power: †¢Ã‚  President Tom Hollis worked with Fred Benson and was the sales director. †¢Ã‚  Most of the â€Å"assistant to† managers groomed for promotion come from sales. †¢Ã‚  Sales gets the credit for good work while production is blamed in the bad years. †¢Ã‚  Sales can slip orders into the production process, although, as in the Continental Can case,this causes significant problems that will increase as the sophistication of the metalsincreases. †¢Ã‚  Production managers play second fiddle to salespeople: They have inferior facilities andlimited access to resources and to top managers.The traditional power of sales reflects the fact that in the past, the main contingency facing Benson wasto sell its products in a competitive market against four or five other companies who compete for thesame customers. In this environment, developing customer relationships and servicing customers is veryimportant. Recently the environment has changed and production has become more important—only production can produce the kinds of steels customers want. In the new competitive environment: †¢Ã‚  Production controls the main contingencies. †¢Ã‚  Production has become central and nonsubstitutable. †¢Ã‚  Production reduces the uncertainty facing sales, not vice versa. Even though the power of production is increasing, Benson’s internal power structure does not reflectthis change. Rob Bronson, the sales manager realizes the change but deliberately avoids a change in thestatus of sales, and the result is conflict.The message is that maybe Ramrod is not the problem; it is Benson’s unchanged internal power structurein a changed environment. Ramrod’s attitudes and behaviors seem logical once it is understood that hewants to increase his function’s power and status in the organization: †¢Ã‚  He doesn’t delegate authority and share information to increase his power over sales. †¢Ã‚  Information is a power resource, and by hoarding information he can increase the uncertaintyof other departments and their dependence on him. †¢Ã‚  He agrees to all requests but gives no feedback. This increases his power and makes himnonsubstitutable.Ramrod, consciously or unconsciously, is withholding information to increase the dependence of otherson him and to change the balance of power in his favor. A strong CEO would understand this and might 233 publicly recognize the importance of production and correct the imbalance. The chairman and his son areweak and the president is from sales, so nothing is being done. The level of conflict is escalating as salesfights back. 5.Suggest some ways to try to solve the problems the company is experiencing. What would be a good strategy for change? There are several ways of increasing the power of production vis-à  -vis sales. †¢Ã‚  Like Continental Can, Benson should create a production control department to buffer salesand production and reduce or eliminate sales’ ability to slip new customer orders into the production process. All requests should flow through production control, which transmitsthem to production. This reduces sales’ traditional power over production and helps promotea power balance. †¢Ã‚  The support of top management is vital for a change in attitudes, and top management needsto recognize the increased status of production publicly. †¢Ã‚  To increase the status of production, top management can improve manufacturing facilitiesand give Ramrod a bigger office and staff, a more central location, and greater access to topmanagement. †¢Ã‚  Create a task force to examine how environmental changes affect working relationships andto increase perceptions of the importance and status of production. †¢Ã‚  Send Stockwell to a management training course to improve his skills at delegation.

Canadian Business Cycles

Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically, the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across the World's longest unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care, and education, social services, and economic competitiveness, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. In addition, Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.Canada is a well-developed country that resembles the United States in its market oriented economic system. This system is characterized by the private ownership of resources and the use of markets and prices to coordinate and direct economic activity. It is an industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, and is currently The United States most important trading partne r. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban.The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the US's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. Given its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoyed solid economic growth from 1993 through 2007.The proceeds from the global economic crisis, dropped into a sharp recession in the final months of 2008 and Ottawa posted its first fiscal deficit in 2009 after 12 years of surplus. Canada's major banks, however, emerged from the fin ancial crisis of 2008-09 among the strongest in the world, owing to the financial sector's tradition of conservative lending practices and strong capitalization. During 2010, Canada's economy grew only 3%, due to decreased global demand and a highly valued. The chart below shows a clear understanding of how the GDP rates were affected: †¢GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) 1. 335 trillion (2010 est. ) $1. 297 trillion (2009 est. ) †¢GDP (Official Exchange Rate) $1. 564 trillion (2010 est. ) †¢GDP (Real Growth Rate) 3% (2010 est. ) -2. 5% (2009 est. ) †¢GDP Per Capita (PPP) $39,600 (2010 est. ) †¢GDP Composition by Sector Agriculture: 2% Industry: 20% Services: 78% (2010 est. ) †¢Labor force 18. 59 million (2010 est. ) Inflation rates are the rate at which prices for goods and services increase and measures against the standard level of purchasing power of the dollar.The main source of measured data is through Consumer Price Index. The inflation rate in Canada was last reported at 3. 3 percent in March of 2011. Between 1915 and 2010, Canada’s Inflation Rate averaged 3. 26 percent. The highest rate of Inflation was reported in June of 1920 at 21. 60 percent, and the lowest was reported in June of 1921 at -17. 80 percent. The Public service is a term used to describe services that are provided by the Government to its citizens. They are generally provided through a public sector. These services are provided free of charge.In addition, public services are offered to protect the welfare of citizens and are available to everyone regardless of income. It is often associated with human rights. Also, through public service are public goods which are non-rival and non-excludable. This means that everyone may benefit simultaneously and no one may be denied access. Canada has public police forces that enforce laws, maintain safety and fight crime. The military branches in Canada consist of Land Forces Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, and Canada Command which is homeland security.Canada is a member of the Nato Alliance and its military services are regulated by the 1950 National Defense Act and the 1968 Canadian Forces Reorganization Act. In 2005 public expenditures on education were estimated at 1. 1 percent of GDP. There are several government social programs such as family allowances, old-age security, universal health care and unemployment insurance, giving Canadians a high standard of living and desirable quality of life. Canada created a public school system in the 19th century and was established in all provinces except Quebec and Newfoundland. You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire†In 2007 public expenditures on education were estimated at 4. 9 percent of GDP. They provide public transportation in the forms or subways, trains, streetcars and buses. Canada has a Public Health Agency that protects and improves the health of its citizens from illness and disease. Canada’s healthcare system provides coverage to all its citizens. This program is publicly funded and regulated by the federal government. All citizens are eligible for benefits regardless of medical history, existing conditions or income.They receive preventative care, medical treatments, dental care, access to hospitals and other medical services. Canada is also known to have the highest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality rate; it is said to be contributed to their healthcare system. The labor force is comprised of individuals who are above the age of sixteen, who are not institutionalized and inclu des both employed and unemployed. Canada performs a monthly Labor Force Survey which estimates the rate of employment and unemployment. The results allow aid in measuring the performance of its economy.The unemployment rate in Canada was last reported at 7. 6 percent in April of 2011, a rise by 58,000 from the previous two months. Between 1976 and 2010, Canada’s Unemployment Rate averaged 8. 53 percent. The highest rate of Unemployment was reported in December of 1982 at 13. 10 percent, and the lowest was reported in September of 2007 at 5. 90 percent. Over the past year, employment in the public sector has grown by 2. 8 percent. The Canadian business cycles mostly compares to the one of the United States of America.The Canadian and U. S economies are highly integrated and have an abundant correlation between the two. These two economies correspond with each other through strong trade and financial linkages. The United States accounts for over three quarters of Canadian expor ts, and are an important source of financing for Canadian firms. There are four stages of business cycles which are Expansion, Recession, Trough, and Recovery. The most relevant business cycle Canada is in right now is considered to be Expansion. Why Expansion?Some may say more of a recession, but the main reason is because Canada between 2003 and 2009 went through its trough. Now Canada is moving to its peak where business activity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expands until it reaches its peak. Canadian business cycles are led through a series of shocks where situations in which events don’t meet expectations. One negative shock highly related to the United States playing a major role because Canada being a net exporter of commodities, in which they suffered from negative terms of trade and wealth effects as world commodity prices started to decline.The fall of U. S demand for tradable goods decreased the demand of Canadian Exports. As a consequence, the decline in the w orld commodity prices contributes to the fall in the Canadian businesses net worth, which creates additional pressure on Canadian Investment. This is a prime example of how the country went into a recession. On the other hand, Canada is now facing some positive results from their expansionary business cycle. Most recent statistics show that the domestic demand trade in billions of retail went up 3. 7 percent. The wholesale trade went up about 7 percent since last year.Another important factor of Canada expanding shows the Exports rising to about 7. 7 percent and imports up to about 9. 1 percent. These simple statistics exemplifies how the Country is progressing. Since the late 1980s until the year 2000, the Canadian Federal economic policy was influenced by two goals which were to eliminate the federal deficit and to reduce the total debt relative to economic output and to maintain the control over inflation. Of course they wanted to keep this expansionary fiscal policy alive but, w ith world economic situations recessions are sometimes expected.During the 2008-09 global recessions, Canada’s economy suffered a major decline in real GDP which fell by 5. 4 percent which was the largest drop since 1991. Now in January 2009, the Canadian federal government released its budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year titles Canada’s economic Action Plan. Still keeping its commitment for fiscal management as the key long term economic stability, there was a shift towards the expansionary fiscal policy and stimulus spending to try to stabilize the Canadian economy. Similar to the U.S stimulus package, Canada also got involved in a stimulus package which dealt with income tax reductions, and focused merely on the demand of the Canadian economy. Some contents of the package focused on the Canadian skills and transition strategy, which provided support to those who lost they jobs seeking new skills, training, and development. Another positive aspect of the package allow ed the government to provide 7. 8 billion in the form of tax credits and spending advantages to stimulate the housing market and construction.These are just a few examples of how the Canadian government temporarily tried and of course are still trying today to get the economy back on its feet. Of course, since Canada is now focusing its basis on the expansionary fiscal policy, government spending is at its high and taxation is at its low. How is the Canadian government affording all of this? Canada’s budget retains the federal government’s commitment to fiscal management and balanced budgets as a key aspect of the long term economic policy. Well of course the debt levels are very high at this point and of course a major risk is taken place.For example, in 2009-2010, TD bank reported as an estimate that Canada would hold about 170 billion in debt within that one year. But, it turned out to be that the government’s debt rose to about 463 billion. This shows that t he large spending to help could maybe hurt them in the long run, but they still have time to get out of it. The Bank of Canada is the Canadian central bank. This was created during the Great depression out of the Bank of Canada Act of 1934. The cause of the creation led to the country’s political climate at the time which was very poor.The bank of Canada is responsible for managing of government funds and the public debt as well as keeping inflation low and stable. Today, the Bank of Canada’s main monetary policy is to keep the inflation rates between 1% and 3% through its power on determining the interest rates paid on the borrowed money. The bank projects economic growth of 2. 9% in 2011, 2. 6% in 2012, and 2. 1% in 2013. If this hypothesis does work out, Canada will be expected to be running at full capacity in the year of 2014. The Bank carries out monetary policy by influencing short-term interest rates.It does this by raising and lowering the target for the overn ight rate. The overnight rate is the interest rate at which major financial institutions borrow and lend one-day or overnight funds among them; the Bank sets a target level for that rate. This target for the overnight rate is often referred to as the Bank's key interest rate or key policy rate. Changes in the target for the overnight rate influence other interest rates, such as those for consumer loans and mortgages. They can also affect the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar.In November 2000, the Bank introduced a system of eight fixed dates each year on which it announces whether or not it will change the key policy rate. Target for the overnight rate, recent data Date Target (%) Change (%) 12 April 20111. 00— 1 March 20111. 00— 18 January 20111. 00— 7 December 20101. 00— 19 October 20101. 00— 8 September 20101. 00+ 0. 25 20 July 20100. 75+ 0. 25 1 June 20100. 50+ 0. 25 Canada has been referred to as one of the strongest economies in the world. It prominent productions include the following: gold, silver, copper, nickel, lead, wood.In 1993, Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and the United States. This agreement allows free trade and eliminated tariffs and fees between the three North American countries. Canada has a Canadian-Dollar exchange rate index (CERI) which is a weighted average of exchange rates for the Canadian dollar against the currencies of Canada’s main trading countries. The six major trading countries measured in the CERI are the U. S. dollar, the European Union euro, the Japanese yen, the U. K. pound, the Chinese Yuan, and the Mexican peso.The Canadian dollar is usually a little weaker than the U. S. dollar. The United States consumes 75 percent of Canada’s exports annually. Canada is the United States largest foreign supplier of energy. To conclude, Canada is very high in correlation with the United States. They follow the same business models and both countries respectfully feed off each other. Canada is known for its exports in commodities and if there are any issues globally, for instance a recession, Canada will decline. Currently, Canada is at its climbing point out of its recession and is currently pushing for expansion.Canada’s main focus at this point is to grow and maintain a strong and healthy society, especially in the monetary aspect. Works Cited Statistics Canada. â€Å"Economy inputs and outputs† March 2009. 5 May 2011 Canadian Business. â€Å"Outlook 2007: Canada, by Province. January 2007†. 5 May 2011< http://www. canadianbusiness. com/article/14236–outlook-2007-canada-by-province> Index Mundi. â€Å"Canada Public Debt† June 2010. 5 May 2011< http://www. indexmundi. com/canada/public_debt. html> IBTIMES. â€Å"Canada employment picks up steam in April†. April 2011. 5 May 2011< http://www. indexmundi. com/canada/public_debt. html>