Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Idioms and Expressions - Draw

Idioms and Expressions - Draw Here are  idioms with the verb  draw  in English. For each idiom, study the definition and read the example sentences.  Next, take the quiz to check your knowledge of what youve learned.  To learn more idioms, you can also use  short stories providing idioms in context. Draw a Blank Use draw a blank  to express that you do  not know the answer to a question: Im afraid Im drawing a blank. I just dont know what to do.Who is that person over there? Im drawing a blank. Draw a Line Between   Use draw a line between  with two objects to show that you  separate one activity from another:   You should draw a line between your private life and work.Some people have a hard time drawing a line between friends and family. Draw Blood   Use draw blood  to express that something or someone has  caused someone to bleed. This idiom is also used figuratively to express that someone hurt another emotionally: He drew blood during his last five boxing matches.She drew blood when she began to put down his friend.   Draw Interest Use draw interest  to indicate that something has  created interest or become popular: Any time a new movie comes out, youll see articles in magazines trying to draw interest to the movie.His crazy comments drew interest during the presidential campaign. Draw Someone Out   Use draw someone out  when you are  asking questions in order to get someone to speak in detail about something: Make sure to ask her lots of questions. Its hard to draw her out and shell try to keep everything secret.If you keep asking questions, you can draw anyone out on almost any subject. Draw Something Out Use  draw something out  to refer to a process that takes place over a long period  of time: The chairman drew the meeting out for over two hours.Its a good idea to not draw out your presentation for too long. Draw Fire Away From Something Use draw fire away from something  when someone  creates a distraction so that people dont pay attention to something else: Id like you to go out and draw fire away from the institution.Politicians dont answer direct questions in order to draw fire away from something that has gone wrong. Draw Something to a Close Use draw something to a close  to express that you would like to  finish  something in progress: Lets draw this meeting to a close by reviewing the decisions weve made.If you dont mind, Id like to draw dinner to a close. Ive got an early flight tomorrow. Draw Something Up Use draw something up after having reached a verbal agreement when you intend a write a contract, proposal, or report based on the agreement: Now that weve agreed. Lets draw a contract up and get to work.Could you draw up a proposal for next weeks meeting? Draw the Line at Something Use draw the line at something  to show that you will tolerate something up to a certain point: Im afraid I draw the line at speaking poorly of my friends.If you were in a difficult position, would you draw the line at breaking the law to resolve your situation? Draw to a Close Use draw to a close  to indicate that something has come to an end: Thank you, Mary. And with that, our presentation draws to a close. Thank you for coming this evening.Id like to draw the class to a close. Remember to do your homework for Monday. Beat Someone to the Draw Use  beat someone to the draw  when you are quicker than someone else in obtaining something: He beat me to the draw and won the auction.Jennifer beat us to the draw and arrived an hour earlier. Quick on the Draw Use  quick on the draw  to show that someone is quick to do or understand  something: She was quick to the draw on buying that handbag.ï » ¿Im afraid youll have to be quicker on the draw on such a good deal. Quiz Use one of the  idioms with draw to complete the blanks. Be careful to use the correct form of the verb draw: The new actor from South Africa is _________. I think shell be a huge success.Id like you to _________ a contract by the end of next week.She told me she ______________ her work and her family, so she wouldnt work more than 20 hours overtime.The politician _________ at the death penalty.  If you can _________ from my scandal, Ill make sure you get all of my business for the next two years.I dont know answer. Im _________.You _________ me  __________, so go ahead and take the last one on sale.Id like to _________ the meeting _________. Thank you all for coming.  Ask her as many questions as you can, so you can _________. Shes a fox!I promise I didnt _________ when I hit him!I tried to ________ her ________ on the details for the deal, but she wouldnt tell me anything.Shes very ____________ and understands almost everything immediately. Answers drawing interestdraw up  drew the line betweendrew the line at / draws the line atdraw fire away  drawing a blankbeat me to the drawdraw the meeting to a closedraw her outdraw blooddraw her outquick on the draw

Saturday, November 23, 2019

7 Ways Entertainment Writers Can Maximize Their Online Presence

7 Ways Entertainment Writers  Can Maximize Their Online Presence Writing a noteworthy feature film or television script is challenging enough, but as an up-and-comer, standing out in a crowded marketplace might be even harder. Tinseltown is chock full of novice scribes angling for a shot at the spotlight, creating fierce competition as everyone jockeys for attention from a limited group of agents, managers, and producers. With all this, it may seem hard to find a good friend in the entertainment business, but the internet can certainly be one if you know how to leverage it. 1. Blogging Creates Belonging A solid first start is creating your own blog or website. Blogger 2. Social Media: No Longer Optional Get on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But don’t just tweet or post about successes on your personal page. Follow others in your field. Join filmmaking groups. Use the platforms to network with producers, directors and other writers, seek collaborations and work opportunities, share important resources and get invited to events. Yes, it’s difficult to speak highly of yourself in such settings without coming off as pretentious, but until you have an agent or manager doing it for you, the next best thing is to generate the support of an online community who can help 3. Those Mysterious Spec Script Marketplaces Several reputable marketplaces exist where writers can showcase speculative material for potential buyers. Some of the most prominent include Inktip, Spec Scout and The Black List. The former allows you to list any treatment and/or script for a nominal fee while the latter two sell analysis services that result in high-scoring scripts being promoted online. Indie producers seeking affordable and often specific material from writers will check these sites. (Side note: Writer-producers who are seeking financing can also list their projects on Slated if they can get admitted to the site.) ​​​​​​​ 4. A Little Competition Never Hurt Screenplay competitions are a viable way to generate online buzz so long as you perform well in them. The top finishers in well-respected contests like Nicholl, Final Draft, and Scriptapalooza – usually quarterfinalist level and above – will be mentioned on their websites and in various online promotional materials. Script Pipeline, going a step further, offers finalists in their competition both development assistance and online circulation of the material to a network of producers, agents, and managers. 5. All Publicity’s Good Publicity Seek out opportunities for free publicity in online trade magazines, screenwriter blogs, and entertainment podcasts. Find an angle that makes your material or personal story unique and pitch those site proprietors on why they should give you a platform. No good at pitching? Well, you’ll need to work on it because it’s an essential skill for writers in Hollywood. But in the meantime, hire an affordable short-term publicist like October Coast to help you find such opportunities. 6. Shoot Something! Not all online exposure has to be written. Writing for the screen is just the first step in the process of creating a much more layered audio-visual product. Shoot a scene from your script yourself to share on YouTube or Vimeo as a way to show your scripting skills in practice. Better yet, see if you can convince an indie filmmaker to shoot a short or do a web series based on your material. Once you have any sort of produced credit, you can submit to have a profile on IMDB, perhaps the most referenced online resource there is in entertainment. 7. Be Down with the Cause Consider ways your material might be able to attract the attention of partner groups like charities, non-profits or other special interests. For instance, if your script features a lead with autism, you might be able to attract the support of autism foundations that can help provide online exposure for the story. Material that is inspirational, purpose-driven or based on a true-life figure is often the best fit for this. https://www.blogger.com/ https://www.wix.com/ https://www.weebly.com/ https://www.site123.com/ https://www.inktip.com/ https://specscout.com/ https://blcklst.com/ https://www.slated.com/ https://www.oscars.org/nicholl https://www.finaldraft.com/products/bb-contest-info/ https://scriptapalooza.com/ https://scriptpipeline.com/ https://www.octobercoastpr.com/ https://www.imdb.com/

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Dennett's Darwinian theory of human creativity Essay

Dennett's Darwinian theory of human creativity - Essay Example It is a mere efficiency-enhancer, a composer’s aid to assist him over the barriers of composition that is confronted by any creator. It is a modern extension of the ancient search vehicles. This is because it facilitated itself into an entire composer, combining quite a number of generate-and-test procedures as its competence grew (Dennett). According to Dennett, Deep Blue is used as example of an artificial chess player developed by IBM. Deep Blue beat Kasparov that dominated chess game for a very long period of time. This is because Deep Blue designs better chess games compared to any game designed by Garry Kasparov, the reigning World Chess Champion. Dennett uses these examples to indicate that no matter how Darwinian or anti-Darwinian may view their assertions and experiments to be true, they are not. Dennett also uses these examples to characterize a mutual suspicion between Darwinians and anti-Darwinians that deforms the empirical examination of creativity (Dennett). This was because Darwinians suspected their opponents of longing after a skyhook, an amazing gift of masterminds whose authority lacks putrefaction into mechanical operations, regardless of how complicated and informed by initial procedures of R and D. Anti-Darwinians on the other hand, suspected their opponents of desiring after an account of creative procedures that so reduces the Finder, Author, Creator, that it disappears, at best a mere provisional locus of mindless discrepancy application. When looking at Dennetts Darwinian Theory of human creativity, it is apparent that the above examples are related significantly with this theory. While Darwin’s theory states that â€Å"In order to make a perfect and beautiful machine, it is not requisite to know how to make it.† Dennetts Darwinian Theory of human creativity disputes this theory by stating that it is requisite to know how to make a machine in order to

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 10

Sociology - Essay Example It is the separation of economy and state† (Capitalism, socialism and Mixed-Economy, 2007). According to Przeworski (1990) capitalist economic system working under a totalitarian political one is possible. In most cases, capitalism requires a democratic political system in which to function. Likewise a socialist economic system can be either part of Communism or Socialism. Thus capitalist economic institutions under totalitarian governments (for instance, Fascist or Communist) become generally more centralized, more planned, and rely less or not at all on a free market. Capitalism, therefore, requires a democratic political environment if it is to exist and function. It should be recognized that state ownership, and control, and planning produce a bureaucracy and power situation which may latently provide the basis for totalitarianism. Socialism means †control of property is put into the hands of society as a whole† (Capitalism, socialism and Mixed-Economy, 2007). The classical argument for the perfectly competitive, and free market has therefore been under considerable attack for some years. The weak point of socialist system is that it rests on collectivism which limits free market operations and economic performance. One of the most obvious features of collectivism as an economic system is the absence of the right of private persons to hold property. Property rights of a sort might exist under an absolute dictatorship to the extent that the dictator personally controls all resources in the economy, which he would then regard as his personal property. In a collectivist society there are no market prices to help guide the dictator by serving as indicators of expected benefit and expected cost, and enabling him objectively and meaningfully to record the benefits and costs of each undertaking. A ‘mixed economy’ is a combination of capitalism and socialism which help to achieve the best economic

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Zongshen Group Essay Example for Free

Zongshen Group Essay Chongqing, a city in central southwestern China, had a heritage in heavy manufacturing, as it was one of the centers of the Chinese defense industry, especially for vehicles. In 1980s, when the Cold War slowed, the central government wanted to reduce defense expenditure and asked some of the state owned enterprises (SOEs) to begin manufacturing civilian products. At the beginning only SOEs could get license for the business but government permitted people to go into business for themselves but they could only work as individual business operators and could not set up companies. Many of the SOEs turned to parts production. Zuo Zongshen, being a former motorcycle repairer, decided to open a motorcycle repair business in 1982 with the present condition in China. Almost all of the motorcycle industry was producing imitations of Japan motorcycles at first as they could not afford any investments for research and development. By 1992, the regulations had changed and individuals were permitted to set up private companies, so Zuo quickly set up a company to assemble motorcycle engines from purchased parts which was capitalized at CNY500,000. The parts that were manufactured by SOEs were the copies of Japanese engines. There were several hundred of these suppliers and assemblers had to figure out how to select the right ones. Being a former motorcycle repairman, Zuo knew which factories made the good ones and what were the good brands. After 3 years of assembling, Zuo was dissatisfied with the approach as it was not easy to get parts from manufacturers as they were mainly responsive to large scale SOEs. He used to use his network and sometimes â€Å"red envelopes† to get the parts. With the experience he had, he has started to make core components in house and increased the number of the components in house production as his capabilities improved. He classifies the necessity to do this in three drivers; to make a differentitation, to guarantee the supply and also to upgrade the parts as a good start for innovation. In order to improve quality and reliability of parts that it produced as well as to reduce production costs, Zongshen started applying advanced technology tools such as computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing to its product development. Besides, Zongshen also sought manufacturing consultant from former Honda employees and visited its competitors and prospective partners like Harley- Davidson in the United State. As a result, Zongshen was stood out in the common manufacturers throughout the country. In 2000, Zuo decided to build up the company group structure. They splitted the responsibilities between the departments. Then they decided that they should tap into capital markets. Becoming a world class competitor would require a lot of capital, if the company could float its stock, it would have a source of equity capital. The technique that Zongshen used to raise its financial capital is very artful. Instead of following the tradition method which is through an initial public offering (IPO), Zongshen used another technique called â€Å"Reverse Merger† or â€Å"Backdoor Merger†. The technique can be described in detail that Zongshen had a target list of companies which had an existing list but lack of assets or liabilities. Once Zongshen could attain one from the list, it would merge its assets into. This technique is very critical for the success of Zongshen. In fact, when it became the largest shareholder of a Chengdu company, it divested the assets of the origina l company and inserted its own assets from the engine company. As the result, it turned into the largest engine manufacturer in the Chinese motorcycle industry. In 2004, Zongshen added its 3rd business, another listed company in Canada. Buying PEM Technologies through Norstar Venture in Canada led Zongshen to be able to control the technology manufacturing proton exchange membranes, a key element in producing hydrogen fuel cell. Having this technology, Zongshen became very successful in manufacturing and selling e-bikes. In fact, its two subsidiaries could produce 350,000 units of e-bike a year. Its sale volume increased dramatically from 50,000 units in 2007 to 220,000 units in 2008. Moreover, Zongshen enhanced its effectiveness by collaborating with other established firms. Piaggio, for instance, became its partner in exploring rural markets. The corporation set up a new company and planned to manufacture 100,000 scooters a year. As a part of the new joint venture agreement, Zongshen would supply the company with a significant amount of parts. In fact, by 2005, Zongshen provided 35% of accessories and components of the scooter. It was expectedly increased by 50% in 2006. In 2005 the Chinese motorcycle industry still had too many manufacturers, and they were introducing undifferentiated products to the same customers. As a result the margins were too low. Zuo studied W.Chan Kim and Renee Maugorgne’s book about â€Å"Blue Ocean Strategy† which argued that firms should go after uncontested â€Å"blue ocean† market, and look for some new demand instead of chasing existind demand in hyper competitive â€Å"red ocean† markets. Zuo decided not to produce imitations; instead Zongshen launched the cyclone project to develop products with technology in order to introduce differentiated products. The original production facility was converted to a RD center and Zongshen contracted with Nova design to assist with new product designs. After spending CNY300 million, they launched first Cyclone products in 2007 and 2008. But in the markets that change was not succesfull. Consumers and retailers had doubt that Zongshen could make such good products and the blue ocean products failed. So they decided to launch â€Å"Purple Ocean† products with a higher quality than red ocean products and of course with higher prices, but still lower than blue ocean products. The â€Å"Purple Ocean† products coincided sharp rebound in profitability. Improved quality and styling helped products such as ZS250 to gain popularity. One key change for the company was implementing a new performance evaluation and incentive scheme that linked all employees’ base salary to the breakeven point of the company. For the e-bike market, traditionally lead acid batteries were used. While inexpensive and mature technology, lead acid batteries were heavy and had alimited lifetime to deep discharge cycles. Zongshen PEM was using either lead acid or lithium ion batteries. The latter gave the e-bike longer range and stronger climbing capability. As there were many entrants to the market it is easily seen that the base skills for e-bike were not hard to develop but Zonghsen was determined not to compete in high volume, so the question was differentiation. The key differentiators in e-bike industry were in several categories, and the challenge was to have required skills. The company launched a tool called â€Å"Master Apprentice agreement† with about 40 key personnel and managerial positions. Zuo was personally ta king care of those personnel and helping them to build skills and giving gifts. Also there was a career development plan for those employees. While talent had always been a challenge for Zhongsen, it is now very critical as they want to transform to e-bikes.   How did Zongshen acquire the capabilities to produce motorcycles? As noted above, Zou was a motorcycle repairer in the past. As many of the SOEs turned into manufacturing of civilian products, with the change of the laws and permissions he first became an individual business operator. After 1992, the regulations has changed and indivuduals were permitted to set up companies so Zuo set up the company. As he had experience and and was not coming from the trenches, he knew to select the best parts and Zongshen became a good assembler. After some years of assembling he decided to produce some critical parts in house and gradually he has started to manufacture more parts. He classifies the necessity to do this in three drivers; to make a differentitation, to guarantee the supply and also to upgrade the parts as a good start for innovation. Zongshen also adopted the comp uter aided design relatively earlier than the others.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Zora Neale Hurston: The Woman and the Writer Essay -- Essays Papers

Zora Neale Hurston: The Woman and the Writer To most people, the name Zora Neale Hurston is associated solely with Their Eyes Were Watching God, her most famous work. In some cases her name is synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance. However, very few people are informed about the aspects of Zora's life that influenced her writing of Their Eyes , nor do they know about how she arrived in New York to become one of the most famous Black female writers of her time. Robert Hemenway's Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography and Valerie Boyd's Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston both seek to educate people about the life of this writer and to give the reader information about her other literary works. Both authors also draw from other sources to tell the story of Zora's life, including interviews with friends and colleagues and Zora's own words. However, the differences are apparent in terms of what Hemenway and Boyd chose to emphasize and what they do not. In the introduction of Zora Neale Hurston , Hemenway discusses his objectives in writing the biography. â€Å"Zora Neale Hurston is a literary artist of sufficient talent to deserve intensive study, as an artist and as an intellect,† he writes. â€Å"She deserves an important place in American literary history†(Hemenway xx). In writing the biography, Hemenway is hoping to help push Hurston into her rightful place in the history and achievements of American literary tradition. He also explains that, as a White male author, he does not feel that writing a â€Å" ‘definitive'† biography is his job. He feels that â€Å"a definitive book†¦.[should] be written†¦by a black woman†(Hemenway xx). His main objective in writing Zora Neale Hurston was â€Å"to contribute a new, closer exami... ...ry Louis and McKay, Nellie Y. New York: 1997. 1 Hemenway's interest in critical analysis of her work as well as his audience seems to be explained by his background as an educator. He is currently chancellor of the University of Kentucky, and has been for over thirty years. 2Crisis was the name of the NAACP's magazine during the Harlem Renaissance. 3 Jessie Fauset was another Black female writer of the Harlem Renaissance. According to Norton , she was responsible for the encouragement and discovery of many famous Black Harlem Renaissance writers (Gates and McKay 951). 4 Richard Bruce Nugent, who was, as Boyd puts it, â€Å"chronically broke,† lived with Zora briefly and sometimes used her apartment to work on his writing. 5 Madam C.J. Walker was America's first Black self-made millionaire, who was the creator of many hair care products for Black women.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Education in the United States Essay

Education is one of the most significant events in someone’s social life, yet a controversy. Many would think how is education a controversy; well a problem that concerns many parents would be their child’s low testing scores and behavioral problems. This results in the American education system failing to educate students with efficient knowledge to succeed in college or in the work force. While people are finding the solution of changing the education system by using the Asian model, others believe in keeping the American model by adjusting it to make it useful. Even though they both have their advantages and disadvantages the best education system for the United States would be the Asian model. The United States fundamental instruction is to see every child in school and do their best in all subjects. According to William S. Robinson, â€Å"New Math-Science Study Rates U.S Students Mediocre At Best†, American eighth-graders scored better than 17 nations in math and 18 nations in science. This concludes that students were making progress in their class subjects making the United States above all nations. Indeed the United States method has worked, but not helped students obtain knowledge for college or any other form of education. The United States has failed in teachers presenting poor teaching skills to students. For example, American teachers try to cover as much information as possible on a certain subject, as stated by Robinson’s article. Students gather so much information that as a result they do not understand half of what is being taught. After plenty of information is being accumulated, children are left confused and left unknown. The Asian educational method provides students with rigorous essentials of teaching. For example, one way they have students motivated is by exceling in modern technology, found in James Fallows, †Strengths, Weaknesses, and Lessons of Japanese Education†. Students get to engage in a way they never  have before putting their mind into a process of thought and imagination. The flaw on the Asian method is how they have an excessive pressure on students. The pressure includes staying extra hours after school learning more curriculums, complete coursework with excellence, and get into a prestigious university. The number one focus for these kids is to study until they achieve their goal. To make progress in the United States the education system needs to be taken to a different level. By making this happen the United States should reinforce the Asian model of the education system. One Asian method that can be applied is stressing on students on how effort is the explanation of achievement. According to Barbara Vobejda, â€Å" Why are U.S Kids Poor In Math?† implies how Americans see lack of improvement in a subject because they are not good. Whereas Asian mothers sit down one on one helping their child with certain equations. They expect their child to have everything done perfectly, no errors or smudges. This helps improve the performance of the student and helps the student grasp the information at an easy pace. Even though they have a lot of pressure they manage to accomplish their goals and aspirations. By changing the education system students will produce well-built math skills, excellence in language arts, and creativeness in fine arts. The United States education system needs to be changed in a way where students will excel in their learning. The change will benefit millions of children during their academic learning experience and make them successful. The solution is implying Asian methods, making the United States education system stronger. The United States will create stability in schools, excellent test scores, and performances at schools will rise.