Media Violence Essay -- essays research papers fc

Machine gun fire, explosions, and screams for help atomic number 18 only a few of the sounds that can be heard emanating from a childs bedroom today, while his parents listen nervously just outside his door. Horrified, these parents shake their heads ruefully, wondering at the power of entertainment available for kids nowadays. Sometimes they even argue whether it is right for their child to have access to this sort of violence the kind found in most video games, video recording shows, and movies all over the world. But honestly, does it make a difference in the childs development as a productive member of society, and if so, can a parent really do anything about it? These are the questions that researchers of the subject hope to answer conclusivelyIn point to understand how media violence has an effect on children, different variables must first be examined. To begin with, children of various ages understand what they are watching very differently. or so of it depends on the le ngth of their attention spans, the way they go about processing their information, the amount of mental effort that they put in, and their own life experiences. These stages are down in the mouth up into five parts.The first part is the effects on infants. Infants or children up to 18 months old can Pay attention to an operating television set for short periods of time, but the attention demands a great effort and infants are more(prenominal) interested in their own activities.1 Even when it seems that they are focusing on the television, infants will usually not be able to comprehend what is going on. They take it as a bunch of Fragmented displays of ethereal and sound, which they can only recognize and put together certain pieces and characters. Although there is no evidence yet as to the effect of media violence on infants, there is still evidence that infants may imitate round behavior that they have seen on television.The toddler period begins at roughly two-and-a-half to t hree age old. It is at this point that they begin to pay more attention to the television when it is on. They also begin to develop a minute capability to take some meaning out of what they watch. They are also more likely to copy what they see on television. Children, who are at preschool age, three to five years old, run low watching television with the intent of understanding the content. They are drawn to fast-pacing images, which tend to b... ...t of violent games will grow up to be violent. But just as every cigarette increases the chance that someday you will get lung cancer, every exposure to violence increases the chances that someday a child will behave more violently than they otherwise would.3 .Bibliography1)Wendy L. Josephson, Ph.D. (1995). Television Violence A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages. Retrieved Nov.17, 2004. Media Awareness Network. http//stauffer.queensu.ca/inforef/instruct/tv1.htm2)Dr. Michael Craig Miller, (2000). Does Violence In The Media travail Violent Behavior? Nov.18, 2004. Harvard Mental Health Letter. http//www.health.harvard.edu/medline/Mental/M901c.html3)Senator Orrin G. Hatch, (1999). Children, Violence, And The Media. Nov.18, 2004. Senate Judiciary Committee Media Violence Report. http//www.senate.gov/judiciary/mediavio.htm4)Saul Kassin, (2004), Psychology. Retrieved Nov.19, 2004 New Jersey Pearson Education, Inc.THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN NOVEMBER 23, 2004

Essay --

In modern day bon ton it has become a scary reality that it could actually be argued that individuals are becoming bored of simply existing(REFERENCE). The individuals needs has increased and their need for complete satisfaction is one that requires them to step outside of what is cognize to be a normal existence (REFERENCE). We are more than acquainted with the world around us and therefore we want to experience it. We are more aware of the possibilities of who we could be and what we could do that the exposure of popular culture through various forms of media leaves the individual with often higher aspirations as we are a society that feels that anything is possible, it is unfortunate that in the majority of cases within society we cannot all attain the level of material wealth that so many wish for. Society appears to be escaping from normality and constantly searching for something else (REFERENCE), Yet this factor can be so easily justified as there seems to be so much more that the individual needs to escape from then there ever was before. However, Are we actually escaping? As we...

Far From The Madding Crowd :: essays research papers

Thomas HardyFar From The Madding Crowd centers around the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene, and the three who love her and try to win her over. Gabriel Oak, Mr. Boldwood, and Sergeant Francis troy weight find them selves intertwined in their quest to win Bathsheba. Bathsheba is headstrong, feminine, and beautiful. She inherits her uncles farm, and tries to run it herself. As all of theme were farmers, they didnt think that she cold do it. Although she had a fewer things go wrong like fires she overall handles her farm very well and became a good farmer. But, her love life was something else. She had three men after her at the same time. The first suitor she met was Gabriel Oak.Farmer Oak was dependable and caring and wise. Without him, Bathsheba couldnt have taken care of the farm. Oak did have his own sheep, alone they were killed in a freak accident when they ran off a cliff. Oak is one with nature. He knew just by looking at his shes dog that it was going to rain. He would do any thing for Bathsheba (and he did), even thought she denied his first attempt at marriage. In the end thought, Bathsheba did marry Oak. troy first met Bathsheba as they were walking through the woods. Bathsheba became complex in the brambles with Troy. He made a few comments to her about how lovely se was and how he would love to stay tangled up with her. Instantly, Bathsheba was in love. Little did she know that Troy was deeply in love with a girl named Fanny Robbins, who was a maid of Bathshebas. Troy cease up marrying Bathsheba, but it was a bad marriage and didnt last for long. Bathsheba was in love with Troys image and he loved her for her gold and appearance. The final straw for their marriage was when Fanny died. Troy lost his true love, an unborn child, and in the end, his own life. Ironically, his death was by the hands of Bathshebas suitor Boldwood.Boldwood was introduced to Bathsheba when she sent him a valentine. Soon, his pleasure turned to obsession for Bathsheba. She constantly denied his advances, but he wouldnt give up. Boldwood eventually found himself on the brink of insanity. When Troy returned, after allowing everyone to believe that he had drowned, Boldwood became enraged when he tried to take Bathsheba away.

Battle Of Impunity :: essays research papers

Battle of ImpunityInsults often serve as a catalyst for revenge. Yet, revenge never comes without consequences. These consequences can stay in a soulfulnesss subconscious for the remainder of their life. Through the clever short story The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor suffers from being insulted, seeking revenge and living with guilt. Montresor is unsuccessful in punishing Fortunato with impunity.The obsession to confess is a killer. Montresor starts the evil revenge plot with a smiling on his face. It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good allow for. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation. Montresor believes that he will feel free and better about himself, for he will be completing his mission of impunity. With matchless brick remaining, My heart grew sick it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so. He th inks he will feel free, yet throughout his life his freedom to do otherwise stands arrange in the dank vault with Fortunato. He to is dead to the world, immobile, chained to the rock of his one guilt-ridden act of aggression. The sickness he feels isnt the dampness of the catacombs, but the first feeling of remorse. He is killing a well respected and even feared man. Now confessing, there is no way to change the past and his illegal conscience still remains.Through all the trouble Montresor goes through to kill the one person he truly despises, he benefits nothing. He thinks he will be happy. He even smiles at the sight of Fortunato in the beginning. Once he completes the task, the only thing left to do is live his life departure Fortunato behind physically and mentally. Montresor can be better off leaving Fortunato alone, but instead he takes the unchristian way out and ends Fortunatos life. He doesnt gain anything from doing this, except a guilty conscience and a dead body. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself mat as such to him who has done the wrong. Montresor doesnt gain anything positive from the revenge.With every experience one learns a lesson. Montresor lets the insulting Fortunato go straight to his head. He over reacts and cleverly tricks Fortunato into the catacombs of the Montresors.

Truth About God :: essays research papers

Truth About God"You are just like your fathers You always resist the Holy Spirit Wasthere always a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those whopredicted the coming of the Righteous One." - Acts 751-52The Jews have always been afraid of the radicals of God. They have alwaysdwelled in the safeguard and understandings of the past and fear the effects ofthese radicals. But when these radicals like the prophets arrive, theypersecute them because they are uncertain about the truth. An example is whenthe Jews didnt want to believe Stephen in Acts 756-58, " Look, he said, Isee heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. At thisthey covered their ears and yelling at the poll of their voices, they all rushedat him, dragged him out of the city and stoned him."A lot of potshots have been taken at the Church over the years. In painof its obvious imperfections, the Church is the means that has been chosen tocarry the message of the Go spel to the world. One wonders why a better systemcould not have been devised. then one realizes that any system that has peoplein it is going to be imperfect.Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote in the Gulag Archipelago that it was in prisonwhere he learned that the line separating faithful and evil passes not through with(predicate)states, not through classes, not through political parties, either, but rightthrough every human heart and through all human hearts.When we give ourselves serious evaluation, we find things hiding in ourhearts that, if we could choose, we would remove. Our hearts have beendescribed as "a zoo of lust, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a haremof fondled hatreds." Yet the Church, by its very nature, must be made up of thelikes of us."Imagine yourself as a living house," wrote C. S. Lewis. "God comes in torebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. Heis getting the drains right and stopping the leaks i n the roof and so on. Butpresently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably anddoes not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?

Truth About God :: essays research papers

Truth About matinee idol"You are just like your fathers You always resist the Holy Spirit Wasthere ever a prophesier your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those whopredicted the coming of the Righteous One." - Acts 751-52The Jews have always been afraid of the radicals of God. They have alwaysdwelled in the safety and understandings of the past and devotion the effects ofthese radicals. But when these radicals like the prophets arrive, theypersecute them because they are uncertain about the truth. An example is whenthe Jews didnt want to believe Stephen in Acts 756-58, " Look, he said, I rule heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. At thisthey covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rush alongat him, dragged him out of the city and stoned him."A lot of potshots have been taken at the perform over the years. In spiteof its obvious imperfections, the Church is the means that has been chosen tocarry t he message of the Gospel to the world. One wonders why a better systemcould not have been devised. Then one realizes that every system that has peoplein it is going to be imperfect.Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote in the Gulag Archipelago that it was in prisonwhere he learned that the line separating good and evil passes not throughstates, not through classes, not through political parties, either, but rightthrough every humans heart and through all human hearts.When we give ourselves serious evaluation, we find things hiding in ourhearts that, if we could choose, we would remove. Our hearts have beendescribed as "a zoo of lust, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a haremof fondled hatreds." Yet the Church, by its very nature, must be made up of thelikes of us."Imagine yourself as a living house," wrote C. S. Lewis. "God comes in torebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. Heis getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. But short He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably anddoes not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?

Moroccan Family Values

Moroccan Family Values .The family is the most significant unit of Moroccan support and plays an important role in entirely social relations. .The individual is al govern manpowert agencys subordinate to the family or group. .Nepotism is viewed positively, since it indicates patronage of ones family. .The family consists of both(prenominal) the nuclear and the extended family. .The elderly are revered and respected and practically exert a great influence on the rest of the family. Gift Giving Etiquette .If you are invited to a Moroccans home bring sweet pastries, nuts, figs, dates or flowers to the hostess. A small endue for the children is seen as a token of mettle. .Do non bring alcohol unless you know that your host drinks. .Gifts are non opened when received. eat Etiquette If you are invited to a Moroccans house .You should remove your shoes. .Dress smartly. Doing so demonstrates respect towards your hosts. .Check to see if your spouse is included in the invitation. Cons ervative Moroccans may not entertain mixed-sex groups. .Shake everyones hand individually. Greetings Man greeting Man Men shake hands when greeting one another and usually kiss erst temporary hookup on each cheek.Handshakes tend to be on the loose side. Woman greeting Woman- Wo workforce usually greet each other with kisses on the cheek. This can pluck from one to five (alternating cheeks) depending on the situation and relationship. Man greeting Woman- A simple handshake or hand grasp while simultaneously fondling both cheeks is common. It is best to allow the woman to extend her hand or offer her cheek first. If the hand is not extended, than a slight bow or nod is the polite thing for men to do. NoteIt is taboo for religiously observant men to touch women and vice-versa. Gender Issues In general, the world of men consists of the overflowing-page pop outside world, while that of women consists of the world inside the home. Cafes are in the male domain and are an intersec tion between private life and the public life found in the street. * Women are expected to cook and clean and raise the children. In big cities they enjoy much more freedom in snip off, manner and activities however, it is still not common to find a woman out alone or in sidewalk cafes. * It is unacceptable for a woman to be in bar that serves alcohol, otherwise she is likely to be seen as a prostitute.Because Islam forbids alcohol, most bars have a seedy and unwholesome atmosphere. * As a general rule of thumb, foreigners can get away with drinking and cafe sitting, however, be sure to carefully select the bar or cafe. * Men testament oftentimes try to pick-up girls along the street. Do not react in any way or they will not leave you alone. In Morocco, it must be the boy who makes the advances, otherwise the girl is seen as easy. The girls is expected to be so lovely and magnetic that the boy comes to her without any prompting. Views Of cartridge holder * Punctuality is no t usually a virtue in Morocco, although some things do function on a strict time table, such as public schools. * Time works differently in Morocco as long as one does not expect punctuality to be high the list of enviable qualities for a Moroccan and can learn to go with the flow of things, traveling is lots less stressful. * Trains are more or less on time while buses usually have no posted times nor routes, so it is necessary to ask the bus driver or local riders where and when the bus comes. When inviting people over, never expect them to arrive on time. Its best for example to invite people over at 9pm for dinner, fully expecting people to arrive after 10pm. Introductions, Greetings and Public demeanor Moroccans are very hospitable and friendly people. When introductions are made, it is quite customary to ask about your counterparts family or friends. The most common way to greet a person in Morocco is to either offer a handshake to a person of the same gender.You may find t hat the handshake in Morocco is gentler than in Western countries it is not proper etiquette to firmly grip and enthusiastically shake another persons hand. Men and women greet in a slightly different way. The woman should always offer her hand first to initiate a handshake. Women who wear a full veil will often refrain from any physical contact, so in these instances it is customary for the man to simply give a slight bow and allow the woman to bind some personal space.If you have become well acquainted with your Moroccan counterparts, the proper greeting etiquette is to initiate a handshake whilst simultaneously kissing both cheeks, kissing the left cheek first. This should only be done with a person of the same gender. In public, you should be aware that it is considered good manners for men and women to leave space in between one another. Handholding is only usually seen as a platonic gesture between the same sexes. Public displays of affection are not really tolerated, and ce rtainly homosexuality is still relatively taboo in Morocco.In some instances, it is considered quite uncouth for a woman to be seen alone at a bar or cafe, especially if she is young and unmarried. Although this is not the case with many Western women, if female and planning to venture out to such a place, it is best to attempt to go out in a group or be accompanied by a man. tender Events and Dining Etiquette You may find that during your stay in Morocco, you will be invited into the family home for a meal. It is always customary for a Moroccan to offer nutriment whenever you visit, and it would be seen as quite rude to refuse this offer.Likewise, if you are offered a present when invited into the home, you should always graciously accept. You do not have to open your gift in front of your host equally you shouldnt expect your host to open your present either. Gifts should be relatively small sweets, pastries or flowers are all popular gifts. Bringing a small gift for any child ren in the home would also be well received. In more conservative households, men and women will dine separately, so if planning on bringing a spouse or partner, you should always find out beforehand if this is the case.In Morocco, it is proper etiquette to dress conservatively, removing your shoes and cleaning your hands before each meal. Because eating is often done with your right hand (although bread can be taken with the left), a small basin will usually be provided before the meal. You will be expected to hold your hands out whilst a jug full of water, often scented, is poured over them. Dry your hands and wait for your host to invite you to begin eating. This ritual is also performed at the end of the meal.

My favourite holiday destination Essay

The chairperson of India is the head of put forward of the Republic of India. The chairman is the formal head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of India and is the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The chairman is in at a time choose by the people through take members of the sevens of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) as well as of the Legislative Assemblies in tell aparts of India (Vidhan Sabha) and serves for a term of five years. Historically, ruling companionship ( absolute majority in the Lok Sabha) nominees (for example, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee) have been elected or largely elected unanimously. Incumbent presidents are permitted to stand for re-election. A approach pattern is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state and the number of votes assembly members from a state send away cast, and to give an equal balance between State Assembly members and the members of the Parliamen t of India. If no fueldidate receives a majority of votes, then there is a placement by which losing candidates are eliminated from the contest and their votes are transferred to other(a) candidates, until one gains a majority.Although Article 53 of the genius of India states that the death chair can exercise his or her powers directly or by subordinate authority, with few exceptions, all of the executive authority vested in the President are, in practice, exercised by the popularly elected Government of India, headed by the Prime Minister. This Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister with the help of the Council of Ministers. The President of India resides in an estate in New Delhi known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan (which most translates asPresidents Palace). The presidential retreat is The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam (Presidents Place) in Hyderabad. The 13th and current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and swor n-in on 25 July 2012. He is also the start-off Bengali to be elected as President. He took over the position from Pratibha Patil, who was the first woman to serve in the office. pedigree-India achieved independence from British Rule on 15 August 1947, initially as aDominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as the King of India, represented in the country by a Governor-General. Still, following this, the Constituent Assembly ofIndia, under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, undertook the process of drafting a completely new constitution for the country. The Constitution of India was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950,26making India a republic.9 The offices of monarch and governor-general were replaced by the new office of President of India, with Rajendra Prasad as the first incumbent.1 LegislativeLegislative power is constitutionally vested in the Parliament of India of which the president is the titular head. The Pres ident summons both the theaters (the Lok Sabhaand the Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament and prorogues them. He can dissolve the Lok Sabha. 147 These powers are formal and by convention, the President uses these powers according to the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President inaugurates the Parliament by addressing it after the general elections and also at the beginning of the first session each year. presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new policies of the government. 145 All blames passed by the Parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent of the President.The President can return a bill to the Parliament, if it is non a money bill or a constitutional amendment bill, for reconsideration. When, after reconsideration, the bill is passed and presented to the President, with or without amendments, the President is obliged to assent it. The President can also with conserve his assent to a bill whe n it is initially presented to him (rather than return it to the Parliament) thereby exercising a pocket veto.11 When either of the two Houses of the Parliament of India is not in session, and if government feels the need for immediate procedure, the President can promulgate ordinances which have the same force and effect as laws passed by Parliament. These are in the nature of interim or temporary legislating and their continuance is subject to parliamentary flattery. Ordinances remain valid for no more than half-dozen weeks from the date the Parliament is convened unless approved by it earlier.Appointment powersThe President appoints, as Prime Minister, the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha(usually the leader of themajority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. 72 The Council of Ministers remains in power during t he pleasure of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers essential retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include72 Governors of StatesThe Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and high Courts of India The Attorney GeneralThe Comptroller and Auditor GeneralThe Chief Election fiter and other Election Commissioners The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission Vice Chancellor of central university and academic staff of central university through his nominee Directors of IITs and NITsAmbassadors and utmost Commissioners to other countriesFinancial powersAll money bills originate in Parliament, but o nly if the President recommends them. He or she presents the Annual Budgetand supplementary Budget before Parliament. No money bill can be introduced in Parliament without his or her assent. The President appoints a finance commission every five years. Withdrawal from the contingency fund of India is done after the permission of the President. 48 The Contingency Fund of India is at the disposal of the President.Judicial powersThe President appoints the Chief Justice of the Union Judiciary and other judges on the advice of the Chief Justice. He or she dismisses the judges if and only if the two Houses of the Parliament pass resolutions to that effect by a two-thirds majority of the members present. According to Article143 of Indian Constitution, if the President considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, he or she can ask for the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court. multitude powersThe President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India. The President can affirm war or conclude peace, subject to the approval of parliament only under the decision of the Council of the Armed Forces Chief staffs,Military Secretary and Presidents Officer (Deputy Military Secretary). All important treaties and contracts are made in the Presidents name. He also appoints the heads of the armed forces.Emergency powersThe President can declare three types of emergencies national, state, fiscal. 12 subject emergencySee also The Emergency (India)National emergency can be declared in the whole of India or a part of its territory on causes of war or armed anarchy or an external aggression. much(prenominal) an emergency was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-China war), 1971 (Indo-Pakistan war), 1975 to 1977 (declared by Indira Gandhi on account of internal disturbance) Under Article 352 of the India Constitution, the President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Cabinet Ministers headed by the Prime Minis ter. Such a proclamation must be approved by the Parliament within one month. Such an emergency can be imposed for six months.It can be fadeed by six months by repeated parliamentary approval, theres no maximum duration.18page needed In such an emergency, essential Rights of Indian citizens can be suspended.733 The six freedoms under Right to Freedom are automatically suspended. However, the Right to Life and Personal Liberty cannot be suspended.(Article 21)20.6 The President can make laws on the 66 subjects of the State List (which contains subjects on which the state governments can make laws). Also, all money bills are referred to the President for its approval.1688 The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by a period of up to one year, but not so as to extend the term of Parliament beyond six months after the end of the declaredemergency. 223 State emergencyIf the President is satisfied, on the basis of the report of the Governor of the concerned state or from other sources that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the provisions in the Constitution, he/she can declare a state of emergency in the state. Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within a period of 2 months. Under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, it can be imposed from six months to a maximum period of three years with repeated parliamentary approval every six months. If the emergency needs to be extended for more than three years, this can be achieved by a constitutional amendment, as has happened in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. During such an emergency, the President can take over the entire work of the executive, and the Governor administers the state in the name of the President. The Legislative Assembly can be dissolved or may remain in suspended animation. The Parliament makes laws on the 66 subjects of the state list (see National emergency for explanation). A State Emergency can be imposed via the following1. By Article 356 If that stat e failed to run constitutionally i.e. constitutional machinery has failed25159 2. By Article 365 If that state is not working according to the given direction of the Union Government.26 This type of emergency needs the approval of the parliament within 2 months. It can last up to a maximum of three years via extensions after each 6-month period. However, after one year it can be extended only if 1. A state of National Emergency has been declared in the country or in the particular state. 2. The Election Commission finds it difficult to organise an election in that state. On 19 January 2013, Presidents rule was imposed on the Indian State of Jharkhand, making it the latest state where this kind of emergency has been imposed. Financial emergencyeditIf the President is satisfied that there is an economic situation in which the financial stability or credit of India is threatened, he/she can then proclaim a financial emergency, as per the Article 360. 159 Such an emergency must be app roved by the Parliament within two months. It has never been declared. 604 A state of financial emergency remains in forceindefinitely until revoked by the President.13195 The President can reduce the salaries of all government officials, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, in case of a financial emergency. All money bills passed by the State legislatures are submitted to the President for approval. He can direct the state to get a line certain principles (economy measures) relating to financial matters.EligibilityArticle 58 of the Constitution sets the principle qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. A President must be A citizen of IndiaOf 35 years of age or aboveQualified to become a member of the Lok SabhaA person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments. Certain office-holders, however, are permitted to stand as Presidential candidates. These are The current Vice President.The Governor of any State.A Minister of the Union or of any State (Including Prime Minister and Chief Ministers). 72 In the event that the Vice President, a State Governor or a Minister is elected President, they are considered to have vacated their previous office on the date they begin serving as President. Under The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952,31 a candidate, to be nominated for the office of president needs 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders for his or her name to appear on ballot. Conditions for PresidencyMain article Electoral College (India)Certain conditions, as per Article 59 of the Constitution, block up any eligible citizen from contesting the presidential elections. The conditions are The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature o f any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State be electedPresident, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President. The President shall not hold any other office of profit.The President shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law and until provision in that behalf is so made, such emoluments, allowances and privileges as are specified in the Second Schedule. The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Examine the opening five minutes of ‘High Noon’, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, and ‘Unforgiven’

Examine the opening five minutes of High Noon, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance small fry, and Unforgiven. Discuss what each of the directors seek to achieve in these sequences and how they locate their film in spite of appearance the genre. The three films High Noon, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kidskin, and Unforgiven be all classic films that atomic number 18 located in the Western genre. Principally these Westerns are set between the menstruum 1860 to 1900 and often located to the west of the Missouri and the Mississippi.The production of these three films span through a period of 40 years from 1952 to 1992 present a convert and progression in the style of filming. From examining the opening five minutes of each of the three films and with striking reference to the key concepts I shall be able to gain what notions build a Western and analyse how effectively they are utilize within each of the three films. High Noon directed by Fred Zinnemann was produced in 1952 and te lls the story of Miller, a renowned villain who was sentenced in the town of Hadleyville to a lifetime imprisonment in Texas.Much to the towns distress Miller is released and back with a vengeance and together with a group of other villains they return to Hadleyville to seek revenge on the towns sheriff. This is a story about the final triumph of swell(p) over evil yet also touches upon other subjects like testing friendships and the rise of women in power. This was the world-class film to use real time, by 1957 it was existence parodied. High Noon begins with a non-diagetic soundtrack, Dont forsake me, oh my darling, which tells the story that is to follow.The film opens with a wide shot of the great grassy plains with a lone dress downr in the distance, showing great iconography of a ordinary Western scene. Its narrative clues are very strong in the first five minutes w here the essentially bad characters are here shown with the stereotypical look of being roughly shaven and draining ragged clothes and a Stetson hat. This is further backed up when they ride into the town, where people shocked and scared by their appearance stop immediately what they are doing and some even run to hide.One Spanish woman crosses herself when she sees them showing their bad reputation and is obvious here, that they are not often at that town and it is not a welcomed sight. There is a great contrast here between the good and the bad, mainly between Will Kane and Miller. In almost everyway they are opposite relating to Claud Levi-Strauss idea on binary oppositions. The connotation of colour is very observable here, where the bad guys are all wearing dark colours and ride on black horses in contrast to Will Kane who is about to wed Amy who is wearing white which reflects their innocence.This film uses conventions effectively to locate itself in the Western genre. It is located in a small town with one high street that is lined with tall wooden buildings. It also includes the familiar saloon and sheriffs office. These all link together to provide a representation of the stereotypical image of a Hesperian town. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid directed by George Roy Hill (1969) is based on a true story that follows the lives of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who are famous for great bank and train robberies.After many successful bestows they encounter resistance and in a bid for freedom flee the country. This film takes the idea apart from the evil cowboy and by the end of the film you feel less anger for them as in most Westerns but like them and feel a sense of sorrow and pity for them. This film opens with a short film reel shot in sepia. It tells of one of their many great train robberies as the hole in the wall gang. The sepia is a good reflection of the period of which this film is located, it also highlights and emphasises iconography of Westerns straight away.It then cuts out of sepia to the beside scene in which Butch is examining the security of the towns bank in preparation for the robbery. There is a lot of exposure to the heavy bars and strong locks, evidently new, and unforeseen, Butch asks the bank teller What happened to the old bank, it was beautiful, the bank teller replies, People kept robbing it Like High Noon the way Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are dressed reflects their personality and means that they can be more easily recognised. As well the bad guy is well renowned and scares a lot of people.Here, the Sundance Kid is well known for his precise firing aim, shown in the scene where the Sundance Kid is playing cards and his opponent accuses him of cheating not wise(p) who he is, I didnt know you were the Sundance Kid when I accused you of cheating If I draw on you, youll kill me. He then asks him how good of a shooter he actually is, the Sundance Kid then show ups this and shows to the audience his character whereas Butch Cassidy appears to be a lot more rational and the brains behin d the operations. The Sundance Kid is very sombre and does not show much facial expression.Male pride is very dominant in this film, especially among the Sundance Kid, where his reputation is very eventful and must be maintained to uphold the bad guy image. Unforgiven is the most recently produced film of the three, made in 1992 and directed by Clint Eastwood who also stars and won 4 Oscars. It follows the story of William Munny, a notorious killer who is offered the chance to earn a large sum of money by reverting to his old ways and putting to death two cowboys. The story line develops to show a more in depth side of the stereotypical villain of the West and the corruptness of people who are supposed to be on the good side.This film demonstrates 3 themes common to the Western genre Love, honour, and loyalty. The opening shot of the film has a simple scene of William Munny care to his wifes grave in a silhouette cast by a glowing sunset. This is further explained by the use of a short paragraph that tells of Munnys past. The first few minutes shows how William Munny has become much more of a settled family man since his wife died and so his gangster days are long foregone and now owns and runs a ranch with his two children, whom can further accentuate his now much more innocent personality.Due to his presence as a family man we do not initially see him as a villain, and due to the different nature of the story, whereby Munny is asked to kill the villains who cut up the young girls face, which is well deserved, it makes the audience portray Munny more as a hero, who was only looking out for the best interests of his family. This first scene of tranquillity is contrasted by a thundery second scene as it makes the change from the country to a small Western town, and gives a narrative clue that something that could upset the equilibrium is about to take place.There is a shot emphasising the sign saying billiards upstairs and then we see women being paid for s ex. Screaming then breaks the silence and the pace is speeded up using fast editing which portrays the commotion thats taking place. This is stopped abruptly with the pointing of a gun. As in many Western films women are used to demonstrate the issue of male power and pride at this time in history. Within Unforgiven Little Bill, the town sheriff, talks to the head prostitute with little repute and does not listen to her opinion.Within the three films I have examined all three directors use similar iconography to portray the familiar Western scene and the villains continuously wearing dark clothes, with roughly cut hair and stubble around the mouth. The hero of a Western will always contrast the bad guy. The main themes that are covered are male pride, loyalty and honour. Women are used repeatedly to show male power in society and are used as mere objects. High Noon is a base that most Western films use and its ideas are often revised. Tying together narrative theories, iconography and typical themes makes these film fit into the Western genre.

Is Oracle Dying

illusionist connection was founded in Jun 1977 by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, Ed Oates. Over the days, it has risen to become closely indisputable attraction of the Relational database circumspection System (RDBMS) grocery store with 44% (Source IDC 2009) at least, for now, though, no one is sure how long that numero uno maculation get taboo last. on that institutionalize were heady days of 1996-2008 or so when prophesier ruled the world of RDBMS. It was unch completelyenged cover king that could do no wrong. Hundreds of thousands of infobase engineers, architects, administrators spoke of prophet as if it was actually the famed seer of Delphi.Conference passes to prophet devote World were so coveted that it was distri merelyed to star employees in all beau monde using illusionist Products. However, after 2008, the downward spiral has been really faint to the database communities. The hush-hush talks could now be heard genuinely loud and clear. Only that visiona ry was perhaps earshot but valiantly choosing non to listen. It march ond to maintain the arrogance of a star past its primitive denying that it was aging, claiming that the talent would always trump the age.I think the vaticinator Goliath had forgotten that for each compulsory Goliath, there is a David that is springtime to introduce it to its nemesis. But my guess this downward spiral perhaps manage into drive long before 2008 or so when world started noticing it. Time machine Let us trace oracle Journey with its very b atomic number 18(prenominal) beginnings and how it lost its course along the way. The chronological sequence of this journey could be roughly as I flip shown below- 1977 SDL ( prophesiers predecessor) founded 1978 seer Version 1 developed 1979 First commercial SQL RDBMS 983 visionary Version 3, commencement RDBMS developed to run on mainframes, PC, minicomputers, VMS 1984 basic RDBMS to offer read-consistency 1985 freeingd of prophet Version 5 , first RDBMS in client/server environments 1986 Oracle initial public offering (NASDAQ) 1987 Rises to number one in the world for RDBMS, Oracle gets into building enterprise applications 1988 Oracle Version 6 with some(prenominal) new features PL/SQL, Row-level locking 1989 Oracle provides DB support for OLTP and moves its HQ to Redwood Shores, California 1990 Launches Oracle Applications Release 8 992 Launched Oracle 7, offers full applications implementation methodological analysis 1993 Client/server environments enhancements 1994 Oracle receives the efforts first security clearance 1995 Debuts first 64-bit RDBMS 1996 Releases feature rich 7. 3, with different types of data types text, maps, audio, video, or images, develops an grant put upards-establish, meshing-enabled architecture 1998 Oracle8 Database Oracle Applications 10. 7 first enterprise deliberation club to use Java 1999 Offers its first DBMS with XML support 2000 Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i 001 Ora cle9i Database with Oracle RAC, first RDBMS to complete 3 terabyte TPC-H record 2002 Oracle RDBMS passes 15 attention standard security evaluations first RDBMS to achieve this 2003 Oracle debuts Oracle Database 10g, more robust clustering parcel 2004 Declares Oracle the Information Company and distributes into numerous other areas 2005 Acquires rival PeopleSoft, releases first free database, Oracle 10g XE 2006 Declares a 30-year commitment for open standards computing, adult customers splinterproof Linux 2008 HP Oracle Database Machine/Exadata storage 009Gets into as well more things including BEA mathematical point of intersections, launch of Oracle Fusion Middleware, 11g advance Oracle 2010 Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems, announces Sun establish Exadata/Exalogic machines 2011 Keeps adding bells and whistles to surface-to-air missilee Exadata/Exalogic machines 2012 Announces initiative focalisationed on Cloud Rise of Oracle Most of the engineers in software product perseverance were not even born when in late seventies, it struck young Larry Ellison, after reading paper written by Dr Edgar F.Codd (1970) on relational database wariness systems titled A Relational posture of Data for Large Shared Data Banks, that a software could be designed that could follow the principles of relational databases. His sentiment was reinforced when he read some other article, published in the IBM Research Journal, and authored by Ed Oates (IBM) rough the IBM System R database. System R itself was found on Codds theories. In 1977, Ellison co-founded Oracle confederation with Bob Miner and Ed Oates under the name software system Development Laboratories (SDL) and in 1979, SDL was rechristened as Relational bundle, Inc. nly to convince its name again in 1982 to Oracle Systems Corporation. In 1995, Oracle Systems Corporation changed its name to Oracle Corporation. From 1979 through and through 1992, Oracle primarily boil downed its attention on making it s flagship product, Oracle RDBMS, strong. Oracle was acquire complacent after version 5 and and whence it came out with version 6 this was huge fiasco product and it was nightmare for customer support and Oracle support. Corporate customers were threatening to pull off Oracle.Version 6 was quickly followed up by version 7 which relieve the day for Oracle. 7. 34 turned out to be very stable product. Version 8i, 9i and 10g added to Oracle RDBMS core competence. These versions by themselves attracted customers to Oracle. If everything was so beneficial, continues to be uncorruptedly then why do I especially feel that Oracle could be dying as a company? Lack of Level 5 leaders Oracle has been led by Larry Ellison all these years. Larry is a level 4 leader wish he was level 5.Under his lead, Oracle has always focused on what should be done and how will it be done. Level 5 CEOs first focus on who and then on what and how. People part of the equation be very flaky, to say the l east, with Oracle. It has been notoriously lumpen about exodus of top talent. Many ex-Oracle top per agents have gone on to form companies, rise to be C staff, unleash innovations but Oracle didnt really do anything specific to stop the fleeing top talent.Also, wish well many other celebrity CEOs, Ellison is getting two distracted by things that his company should not be focusing on example, Oracles Ameri rotter Cup sponsorship, Ellisons many prime properties, Ellisons unflinching support for former ousted HP CEO and bully friend foretoken Hurd, Ellisons purchasing Lanai Island. All these have direct invasion on Oracles proximo why? Because all these are issues that distract the CEO. Same thing stoped with Lee Iacocca once he turned somewhat Chrysler, he focused more on politics, image building, helping White House ith many initiatives which distracted him from his duties as CEO. And Chrysler slid back into the mess that it had be cured _or_ healeded from. Marks hiring into Oracle forced Ellison to move Charles Phillips off. Charles was a great executive and leader recognized for his talent in and outside Oracle. Letting a great leader go in party favour of a friend whose moral ethics are somewhat doubtful neer went well with the employees. Also, Oracle doesnt have conversations like what can we do to stop you from leaving with most of their top talent attritions. 5 Phases of a perilous corporationAny company going through the general educateth, if not managed in a disciplined manner, can hurtle itself into peril. Jim Collins brings this out very succinctly in his book How the Mighty ensconce any why some companies never give in. The 5 stages of this journey from greatness to perish are very perceptible when they happen. The Path to last I suspect Oracles downward spiral started after 2001-2002 (or at least sometime during that period). It could not come to terms with the ever soaring stock price of more than $45 and started becoming greed y.Perhaps under some implicit or explicit mandate from Uncle Larry, the gross revenue people were sent border district to see how practically more they could milk out of their unsuspecting and totally Oracle dependent customers. And perhaps the sales people came back with the message that customers would not mind paying more for the crown jewel product core RDBMS as well as Oracle ERP Suite 11i. Oracle (read, Larry Ellison) could not stand contestation especially those then started spirit at how to kill rivals hostile and non-hostile acquisitions of rival JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel.Every growing company reaches a point where emersion starts flattening happened with Apple, happened with Google and will happen with next big shinning company as well Oracle was not particularly immune to it so in an attempt to resuscitate its flattening growth, largely collect to its flagship core RDBMS product, Oracle started developing other preliminary that it could open this wa s championship of application servers an exploding market back in the day.An application server is packaged software that developers use to write and deploy web specific applications. The market had exploded past decade or so since many application server vendors were move to build dynamic applications for the web and alert devices. For Oracle the lure was that the market had the potential to perhaps become as lucrative as their core database market.Oracle was very late entrant into this market but it quickly acquired BEA package (leader in the space at that point) and started competing neck to neck with IBM WebSphere. Within Oracle, Application Server business is viewed as third business in addition core RDBMS and ERP. Oracle built its business around data bases and from the very beginning it has dominated the database market, providing the data stores and commutation repositories to store critical business info that businesses must maintain, use and safeguard to complete tr ansactions.This has given it nigh a monopoly and a very superior position when negotiating with customers. Oracles sales aggroup that is always scavenging to find new sources of revenues, capitalizes on such an edge and leverages it to squeeze every dollar out of the customers really earning a fearsome reputation of cosmos hard-line negotiators and they are squeezing where it hurts the customers most at their licensing and support costs.However, like it had opened a third front by getting into Application Servers market, it has since then opened many more such fronts via its acquisition spree Oracle has expanded well beyond nevertheless the databases and application servers and entered the business software reach as well, acquiring leader companies in domains related to technology infrastructure, sales, employees, inventory and customers. People typically use products from these acquired companies to jumper cable information related to these important entities. unchecked growth In their pursuit to keep up with their YoY growth, Oracle has descended into a very undisciplined growth. in that respect was also very unreasonable desire to grow into every domain. While growing via acquisitions, Oracle Executive guidance has forgotten that it is not simply enough to acquire good companies, it takes good and dedicated diligence to grow them into great companies. Some of the companies Oracle acquired are as under (source http//www. oracle. com)- 2013 Feb-13Acme PacketNetworking hardware for telecommunications service providers 2012 Dec-12Eloqua Marketing Automation programme for managing sales and marketing leads across an enterprise.Dec-12DataRakerCloud based Analytic platform to transform meter, customer, network and asset Big Data into actionable business intelligence. Nov-12InstantisCloud and premises-based PPM Project Portfolio trouble applications. Sep-12SelectMindsCloud-based social talent sourcing and corporate alumni counselling application J ul-12Xsigo SystemsProvider of network virtualization technology that simplifies buy infrastructure and operations Jul-12SkireSolutions provider for managing capital projects, facilities and real estate Jul-12InvolverSocial media developing platformJun-12Collective IntellectCloud-based social intelligence solutions May-12VitrueSocial Marketing political platform provider Mar-12ClearTrialCloud-based Clinical Trial Operations and Analytics products Feb-12TaleoTalent focal point packet 2011 Oct-11RightNow TechnologiesCloud-based CRM Oct-11EndecaE-commerce & Business Intelligence Sep-11GoAHead swear out Availability and Management Software Jul-11InQuiraService Knowledge Management Software Jul-11KspliceRebootless Linux kernel updates Jun-11 FatWire Software Web Content and Web Experience Management (WCM and WEM) Software Jun-11 linchpin Data Systems Storage systemsApr-11Datanomic Data Quality Software Feb-11Ndevr Select IP only Environmental Reporting and Business Intelligence 201 0 Nov-10 Art engine room GroupEcommerce software vendor May-10 Pre-Paid Software requital Solutions May-10 Market2LeadApplications May-10 Secerno Data protection hardware and software Apr-10Phase Forward Applications for life sciences companies and healthcare providers Feb-10AmberPoint Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) prudence Feb-10Convergin Telecom Service BrokerJan-10Sun Microsystems Computer servers, storage, networks, Java, MySQL, software, and services Jan-10Silver Creek SystemsProduct Data Quality Solutions for connecting Enterprise Systems, Customers, Suppliers and Partners. 2009 Oct-09SOPHOI Intellectual berth management for Media & Entertainment pains Sep-09HyperRoll Financials, software and IT services Jun-09Conformia Product Lifecycle Management May-09Virtual Iron Software Server Virtualization Management Software Mar-09Relsys International Drug galosh and Risk Management 2008Oct-08Haley (RuleBurst Holdings) Natural Language Business Rules / Policy Automation Oc t-08Advanced Visual Technology Retail space Planning Oct-08Primavera Project Portfolio Management Jun-08Skywire Software Document Management May-08AdminServer Insurance Policy Administration Jan-08BEA Systems Enterprise Software 2007 Dec-07MoniforceReal User Experience Monitoring Sep-07BridgestreamEnterprise component part Management software Jul-07Bharosa, IncOnline Identity theft and Fraud Detection May-07Agile Software CorporationProduct Lifecycle Management Apr-07Lodestar CorporationUtilities Application SoftwareMar-07Hyperion CorporationEnterprise Performance Management Mar-07Tangosol IncDatagrid Software 2006 Nov-06Stellent Inc. Universal Content Management, digital Rights Management Nov-06SPL WorldGroupUtility guardianship and Customer Service Systems Oct-06SunopsisETL, Data Integration Oct-06MetaSolvOSS service activation Jun-06DemantraDemand-Driven Planning Solution emailprotected IP-based Contact Center Solution Apr-06Portal Software Billing and Revenue Management solu tions for communications and media industry Feb-06HotSipCommunications infrastructure solutionsFeb-06Sleepycat Software Open-source database software for embedded applications Jan-06360CommerceRetail Industry Solutions Jan-06Siebel SystemsCustomer relationship management 2005 Dec-05Temposoft Workforce Management Applications sam organization Nov-05OctetString Virtual Directory Solutions Nov-05Thor Technologies Enterprise-wide User Provisioning Solutions. Oct-05Innobase discrete Transactional Open Source Database Technology Sep-05G-LogTransportation Management Solutions Aug-05i-flexBanking Industry Solutions Jul-05Context MediaEnterprise Content IntegrationJul-05ProfitLogicRetail Industry Solutions Jun-05TimesTenReal-time Enterprise Solutions Jun-05TripleHopContext-sensitive Enterprise Search Apr-05RetekRetail Industry Solutions Mar-05OblixIdentity Management Solutions Jan-05PeopleSoftEnterprise Software 2004 Jun-04CollaxaBusiness process management May-04 PhaosIdentity management J an-04SiteWorks Solutions Clinical trials management 2003 Jun-03ReliatyEnterprise data protection Jun-03FileFishEnterprise content management 2002 Jun-02SteltorEnterprise calendaring system Jan-02NetForce Adverse event inform systemJan-02Indicast Voice portals Jan-02TopLink Object-relation mapping technology 1999 Jun-99Thinking Machines Corporation datamining technology 1995 Aug-95IRI Software OLAP products 1994 Oct-94Rdb (A division of DEC) Relational database The early acquisitions show Oracle focus on growing its databases market but acquisitions of past few years including very surprising $5 Billion acquisition of Sun MicroSystems do not give us good sense of where Oracles focus is. The strategic theme in Oracles acquisition spree is missing and seems more like reactions of leadership focusing only on growth.Take a look at spread of Oracle into sectors and even a layman would agree that it is stretching itself furthermost too thin. If people outside of Oracle cant understand wh y Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the confusion is equally evident inside Oracle as well. No one can put a figure on if Oracle acquired Sun for hardware market entry point or MySQL or Sun Solaris OS or was it a combination of all these and then some. Oracle has come out with an integrated ERP product suite Fusion. The sales team ups do not fully drudge how to package Fusion compared to Oracle 12 version.As such Fusion itself is at least four years too late. In its attempt to create a unified platform for ERP software, it has managed to successfully scare customer who want only if a small focused set of modules like AR and GL or Manufacturing. There was Steve Jobs who make the famous statement that we tell customers what they want. Larry Ellison can fetch the same claim but to be successful at doing that, you have to be a visionary and not be distracted so hopelessly as Ellison currently is. And, customers seem to be last thing that Oracle considers spell deciding these mov es.For example, many of Suns largest former customers were large Wall Street financial institutions, and they were really miffed last year when Oracle cute to restrict their server and operating system choices to only Sun technologies. They relentlessly pushed back and Oracle had to ultimately give in to their defiance, reaffirming deals that would let companies like HP and Dell offer Sun software on their respective hardware. Customers will always gripe about giving too much control to any one company, said Israel Hernandez, director of software research at Barclays Capital.Larry Ellison runs Oracle likes his personal fiefdom. The Oracle Board of Directors is entirely a formality that is maintained to see the Wall Street and SEC. Most decisions are taken unilaterally by Ellison and his leadership team. For example the 2010 hiring of ex-HP CEO, Mark Hurd, as a co-president after Hurd was fired by HP board due to sexual harassment allegations. Analysts viewed the hiring as a posi tive outcome for Oracle as it looked to expand. However, Mr. Hurds arrival was quickly followed by departure of one ofOracle long-timer, Charles Phillips. At one time, Charles was touted as Ellisons protege and likely successor. Oracle customers are worried about putting all their eggs in one basket. Almost every company that they tend to do business is being bought by Oracle much to customers dislike. And for hosts of Oracles Annual Open World program, San Francisco city officials are running into dilemma of saying No to Oracle at some point for hosting the event, simply because it is unlikely that city could function the demands of an Oracle four times its current size.A look at its portfolio will tell you more about shivery reach and disappointing and unfocused spread that Oracle has now 110 product lines spread across 14 different domains. (source http//www. oracle. com)- DATABASE DataScaler (October 2010) e-Test (acquired from Empirix) (March 2008) Innobase (October 2005) Moniforce (December 2007) mValent (February 2009) Secerno (May 2010) Sleepycat (February 2006) TimesTen (June 2005) TripleHop (June 2005) MIDDLEWARE AmberPoint (February 2010) BEA (January 2008) Bharosa (July 2007) Bridgestream (September 2007) Captovation (January 2008)ClearApp (September 2008) Context Media (July 2005) Datanomic (April 2011) FatWire (June 2011) HyperRoll (September 2009) GoldenGate (July 2009) Java (April 2009) Oblix (March 2005) OctetString (November 2005) Passlogix (October 2010) Sigma kinetics (August 2006) Silver Creek Systems (January 2010) Stellent (November 2006) Sunopsis (October 2006) Tacit Software (November 2008) Tangosol (March 2007) Thor Technologies (November 2005) APPLICATIONS AppForge (April 2007) Collective Intellect (June 2012) Eloqua (December 2012) Haley (October 2008) InQuira (July 2011) Interlace Systems (October 2007)Involver (July 2012) LogicalApps (October 2007) Market2Lead (May 2010) Ndevr (February 2011) RightNow (October 2011) SelectMi nds (September 2012) Taleo (February 2012) TempoSoft (December 2005) Vitrue (May 2012) PRODUCT LINES Agile (May 2007) ATG (November 2010) Endeca (October 2011) Hyperion (March 2007) PeopleSoft (January 2005) Primavera (October 2008) Siebel (January 2006) emailprotected (June 2006) IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION TOOLS Global Knowledge Software (GKS) (July 2008) SERVERS, STORAGE, AND NETWORKING Ksplice (July 2011) Pillar Data Systems (June 2011Sun (April 2009) Xsigo Systems (July 2012) Virtual Iron (May 2009) exertion SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA Acme Packet (February 2013) (pending) Convergin (February 2010) eServGlobals Universal Service Platform (USP) (May 2010) GoAhead (September 2011) HotSip (February 2006) MetaSolv Software (October 2006) Net4Call (April 2006) Netsure Telecom Limited (September 2007) Portal Software (April 2006) Sophoi (October 2009) ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION Instantis (November 2012) Primavera (October 2008) Skire (July 2012) FINANCIAL serve i-flex ( August 2005)HEALTH SCIENCES ClearTrial (March 2012) Phase Forward (April 2010) Relsys (March 2009) INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING Agile (May 2007) Conformia Software (June 2009) Demantra (June 2006) G-Log (September 2005) INSURANCE AdminServer (May 2008) Skywire Software (June 2008) RETAIL 360Commerce (January 2006) Advanced Visual Technology (AVT) (October 2008) ProfitLogic (July 2005) Retek (April 2005) UTILITIES DataRaker (December 2012) SPL WorldGroup (November 2006) LODESTAR (April 2007) Failure to Admit humans It is also felt that Oracle executive management is out of touch with reality.The typical strategy is to first make fun of competitors, then ridicule them and at long last scare the wits out of the customers who were even thinking of adopting competitors products. If the competition still survives all this and continues to grow then Oracle does one of the two things either it buys the competition or simply buys the number two in that space. They did this for Sun, HP, NetApp , EMC, VMWare, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, Microsoft (for MS SQL Server). Most of the times, customers can see through this and continue their adaptation of new products from customers.Most recent examples are Oracles taking potshots for two consecutive years in Oracle Open World 2010 and 2011 at Salesforce. com and then when it couldnt wean external customers from Salesforce. com or slow down the ramp up, it launched its own versions of cloud offerings in 2012 Open World. Sun MicroSystems Millstone around the Neck Whatever be the be rationale for purchase of Sun MicroSystems, Oracle is now challenged to make the whole acquisition viable. It now finds itself in the dominion of hardware market that its sales team is so ill-equipped to sell.The only option it had was to turn the Sun hardware into Exadata, Exalogic and Exalytic Servers and try to hoodwink the customers into buying this domineering computing machines. Much to its chagrin, not many customers are biting this new set of baits. Dark Cloud Space For a long time almost three years Oracle made fun of Salesforce. com, Amazon and Microsoft specifically for their cloud services. It positioned the Exadata and Exalogic servers as new cloud servers that could provide as much computing power as tens of commodity hosts from these vendors cloud offerings.However, around late 2011-2012, it became very clear to Oracle that Cloud hosting and cloud based multi-tenancy software are the rising and it scrambled to buy as many Cloud services based companies as it could examples are RightNow, Taleo, Virtue all acquired inside months of each other in 2011-12. Oracle needs to realize that near acquisition of a company by and in itself doesnt position Oracle as a leader in that space acquisition is just the start Oracle thereafter needs to retain the talent in that company, invest and grow the company, integrate it seamlessly within Oracles other relevant product lines.Unfortunately for Oracle, these are al so the areas where it has failed most of the times in the past. Grasping for straws Good news first, Oracle has not yet reached this stage yet in this stage, very perceptible symptoms are changing CEOs and executive staff in quick rotation and changing the product directions every so often. However, there is bound to be a moment, not in very distant future, when we will find that eople will become so weary of Oracle products that Ellison will be either dislodged by a hostile board or will leave on his own. He has fundamentally no succession plan in place except bunch of execs like doubting Thomas Kurian or Mark Hurd who can stake their claim to the crown. Thomas is well respected within the company but lacks charisma and chutzpah of Ellison. Mark may not be as respected but has good experience of cutting costs like he did at HP. Death KnellIn this stage, a company either slowly vanishes into irrelevance or is acquired or merge into another competitor or goes abdomen up. For the sake of hundreds of thousands of professionals using, preaching and earning their bread from Oracle Technologies, I just hope Oracle never reaches that stage. Out of hundreds of companies that passed through this stage and vanished into oblivion, only two companies have thus far ever recovered from this stage Xerox and Apple. Once again, I am sincerely hoping that Oracle never reaches this stage.Will it be able to recover from this downward spiral? Oracle can arrest this dance towards its vanishing into oblivion question that really begs for an answer is will it have the honesty to first ingest and then stop this march? First of all, Oracle should focus and determine its core strength and then focus on building up on those. There is no prudence demonstrated in draining money on acquisitions and then selling those companies at markdown, or worst, writing off the centering as a loss.It is about time Oracle give up its greed on squeezing more money out of its customer and first c reate products and value that customers will willingly play obscene amount of money for. References http//finance. yahoo. com http//www. oracle. com http//www. nytimes. com/2010/09/22/technology/22oracle. hypertext mark-up language? _r=0 http//www. forbes. com/2001/10/29/1029orcl. hypertext markup language http//www. zdnet. com/oracles-customers-a-bit-baffled-by-fusion-strategy-says-report-7000011143/ http//www. networkworld. com/news/2013/011713-oracle-cloud-265922. html How the Mighty Fall And why some companies never give in by Jim Collins,Is Oracle DyingOracle Corporation was founded in Jun 1977 by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, Ed Oates. Over the years, it has risen to become almost indisputable leader of the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) market with 44% (Source IDC 2009) at least, for now, though, no one is sure how long that numero uno position will last. There were heady days of 1996-2008 or so when Oracle ruled the world of RDBMS. It was unchallenged crown kin g that could do no wrong. Hundreds of thousands of Database engineers, architects, administrators spoke of Oracle as if it was actually the famed Oracle of Delphi.Conference passes to Oracle Open World were so coveted that it was distributed to star employees in any company using Oracle Products. However, after 2008, the downward spiral has been very perceptible to the database communities. The hush-hush talks could now be heard very loud and clear. Only that Oracle was perhaps hearing but valiantly choosing not to listen. It go along to maintain the arrogance of a star past its prime denying that it was aging, claiming that the talent would always trump the age.I think the Oracle Goliath had forgotten that for every arrogant Goliath, there is a David that is bound to introduce it to its nemesis. But my guess this downward spiral perhaps set into motion long before 2008 or so when world started noticing it. Time machine Let us trace Oracle Journey through its very meager beginning s and how it lost its course along the way. The chronological sequence of this journey could be roughly as I have shown below- 1977 SDL (Oracles predecessor) founded 1978 Oracle Version 1 developed 1979 First commercial SQL RDBMS 983 Oracle Version 3, first RDBMS developed to run on mainframes, PC, minicomputers, VMS 1984 first RDBMS to offer read-consistency 1985 Released of Oracle Version 5, first RDBMS in client/server environments 1986 Oracle IPO (NASDAQ) 1987 Rises to number one in the world for RDBMS, Oracle gets into building enterprise applications 1988 Oracle Version 6 with several new features PL/SQL, Row-level locking 1989 Oracle provides DB support for OLTP and moves its HQ to Redwood Shores, California 1990 Launches Oracle Applications Release 8 992 Launched Oracle 7, offers full applications implementation methodology 1993 Client/server environments enhancements 1994 Oracle receives the industrys first security clearance 1995 Debuts first 64-bit RDBMS 1996 Releases feature rich 7. 3, with different types of data types text, maps, audio, video, or images, develops an open standards-based, web-enabled architecture 1998 Oracle8 Database Oracle Applications 10. 7 first enterprise computing company to use Java 1999 Offers its first DBMS with XML support 2000 Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i 001 Oracle9i Database with Oracle RAC, first RDBMS to complete 3 terabyte TPC-H record 2002 Oracle RDBMS passes 15 industry standard security evaluations first RDBMS to achieve this 2003 Oracle debuts Oracle Database 10g, more robust clustering software 2004 Declares Oracle the Information Company and spreads into many other areas 2005 Acquires rival PeopleSoft, releases first free database, Oracle 10g XE 2006 Declares a 30-year commitment for open standards computing, giving customers Unbreakable Linux 2008 HP Oracle Database Machine/Exadata storage 009Gets into too many things including BEA products, launch of Oracle Fusion Middleware, 11g advance Ora cle 2010 Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems, announces Sun based Exadata/Exalogic machines 2011 Keeps adding bells and whistles to same Exadata/Exalogic machines 2012 Announces initiative focused on Cloud Rise of Oracle Most of the engineers in software industry were not even born when in late seventies, it struck young Larry Ellison, after reading paper written by Dr Edgar F.Codd (1970) on relational database management systems titled A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks, that a software could be designed that could follow the principles of relational databases. His belief was reinforced when he read another article, published in the IBM Research Journal, and authored by Ed Oates (IBM) about the IBM System R database. System R itself was based on Codds theories. In 1977, Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation with Bob Miner and Ed Oates under the name Software Development Laboratories (SDL) and in 1979, SDL was rechristened as Relational Software, Inc. nly to change its name again in 1982 to Oracle Systems Corporation. In 1995, Oracle Systems Corporation changed its name to Oracle Corporation. From 1979 through 1992, Oracle primarily focused its attention on making its flagship product, Oracle RDBMS, strong. Oracle was getting complacent after version 5 and then it came out with version 6 this was huge fiasco product and it was nightmare for customer support and Oracle support. Corporate customers were threatening to pull off Oracle.Version 6 was quickly followed up by version 7 which saved the day for Oracle. 7. 34 turned out to be very stable product. Version 8i, 9i and 10g added to Oracle RDBMS core competence. These versions by themselves attracted customers to Oracle. If everything was so good, continues to be good then why do I particularly feel that Oracle could be dying as a company? Lack of Level 5 leadership Oracle has been led by Larry Ellison all these years. Larry is a level 4 leader wish he was level 5.Under his leadership, Orac le has always focused on what should be done and how will it be done. Level 5 CEOs first focus on who and then on what and how. People part of the equation remains very flaky, to say the least, with Oracle. It has been notoriously uncaring about exodus of top talent. Many ex-Oracle top performers have gone on to form companies, rise to be C staff, unleash innovations but Oracle didnt really do anything specific to stop the fleeing top talent.Also, like many other celebrity CEOs, Ellison is getting two distracted by things that his company should not be focusing on example, Oracles American Cup sponsorship, Ellisons many prime properties, Ellisons unflinching support for former ousted HP CEO and great friend Mark Hurd, Ellisons purchasing Lanai Island. All these have direct impact on Oracles future why? Because all these are issues that distract the CEO. Same thing happened with Lee Iacocca once he turned around Chrysler, he focused more on politics, image building, helping White House ith many initiatives which distracted him from his duties as CEO. And Chrysler slid back into the mess that it had recovered from. Marks hiring into Oracle forced Ellison to send Charles Phillips off. Charles was a great executive and leader recognized for his talent in and outside Oracle. Letting a great leader go in favor of a friend whose moral ethics are somewhat doubtful never went well with the employees. Also, Oracle doesnt have conversations like what can we do to stop you from leaving with most of their top talent attritions. 5 Phases of a perilous corporationAny company going through the general growth, if not managed in a disciplined manner, can hurtle itself into peril. Jim Collins brings this out very succinctly in his book How the Mighty Fall any why some companies never give in. The 5 stages of this journey from greatness to perish are very perceptible when they happen. The Path to Destruction I suspect Oracles downward spiral started after 2001-2002 (or at lea st sometime during that period). It could not come to terms with the ever high stock price of more than $45 and started becoming greedy.Perhaps under some implicit or explicit mandate from Uncle Larry, the sales people were sent marching to see how much more they could milk out of their unsuspecting and totally Oracle dependent customers. And perhaps the sales people came back with the message that customers would not mind paying more for the crown jewel product core RDBMS as well as Oracle ERP Suite 11i. Oracle (read, Larry Ellison) could not stand competition especially those then started looking at how to kill rivals hostile and non-hostile acquisitions of rival JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel.Every growing company reaches a point where growth starts flattening happened with Apple, happened with Google and will happen with next big shinning company as well Oracle was not particularly immune to it so in an attempt to resuscitate its flattening growth, largely due to its fl agship core RDBMS product, Oracle started developing another front that it could open this was business of application servers an exploding market back in the day.An application server is packaged software that developers use to write and deploy web specific applications. The market had exploded past decade or so since many application server vendors were trying to build dynamic applications for the web and mobile devices. For Oracle the lure was that the market had the potential to perhaps become as lucrative as their core database market.Oracle was very late entrant into this market but it quickly acquired BEA Software (leader in the space at that point) and started competing neck to neck with IBM WebSphere. Within Oracle, Application Server business is viewed as third business besides core RDBMS and ERP. Oracle built its business around data bases and from the very beginning it has dominated the database market, providing the data stores and central repositories to store critic al business information that businesses must maintain, use and safeguard to complete transactions.This has given it almost a monopoly and a very superior position when negotiating with customers. Oracles sales team that is always scavenging to find new sources of revenues, capitalizes on such an edge and leverages it to squeeze every dollar out of the customers rightfully earning a fearsome reputation of being hard-line negotiators and they are squeezing where it hurts the customers most at their licensing and support costs.However, like it had opened a third front by getting into Application Servers market, it has since then opened many more such fronts via its acquisition spree Oracle has expanded well beyond just the databases and application servers and entered the business software domain as well, acquiring leader companies in domains related to technology infrastructure, sales, employees, inventory and customers. People typically use products from these acquired companies to track information related to these important entities. Undisciplined growth In their pursuit to keep up with their YoY growth, Oracle has descended into a very undisciplined growth.There was also very unreasonable desire to grow into every domain. While growing via acquisitions, Oracle Executive Management has forgotten that it is not simply enough to acquire good companies, it takes good and dedicated diligence to grow them into great companies. Some of the companies Oracle acquired are as under (source http//www. oracle. com)- 2013 Feb-13Acme PacketNetworking hardware for telecommunications service providers 2012 Dec-12Eloqua Marketing Automation platform for managing sales and marketing leads across an enterprise.Dec-12DataRakerCloud based Analytic platform to transform meter, customer, network and asset Big Data into actionable business intelligence. Nov-12InstantisCloud and premises-based PPM Project Portfolio Management applications. Sep-12SelectMindsCloud-based social ta lent sourcing and corporate alumni management application Jul-12Xsigo SystemsProvider of network virtualization technology that simplifies cloud infrastructure and operations Jul-12SkireSolutions provider for managing capital projects, facilities and real estate Jul-12InvolverSocial media development platformJun-12Collective IntellectCloud-based social intelligence solutions May-12VitrueSocial Marketing Platform provider Mar-12ClearTrialCloud-based Clinical Trial Operations and Analytics products Feb-12TaleoTalent Management Software 2011 Oct-11RightNow TechnologiesCloud-based CRM Oct-11EndecaE-commerce & Business Intelligence Sep-11GoAHead Service Availability and Management Software Jul-11InQuiraService Knowledge Management Software Jul-11KspliceRebootless Linux kernel updates Jun-11 FatWire Software Web Content and Web Experience Management (WCM and WEM) Software Jun-11Pillar Data Systems Storage systemsApr-11Datanomic Data Quality Software Feb-11Ndevr Select IP only Environment al Reporting and Business Intelligence 2010 Nov-10 Art Technology GroupEcommerce software vendor May-10 Pre-Paid Software Payment Solutions May-10 Market2LeadApplications May-10 Secerno Data protection hardware and software Apr-10Phase Forward Applications for life sciences companies and healthcare providers Feb-10AmberPoint Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) management Feb-10Convergin Telecom Service BrokerJan-10Sun Microsystems Computer servers, storage, networks, Java, MySQL, software, and services Jan-10Silver Creek SystemsProduct Data Quality Solutions for connecting Enterprise Systems, Customers, Suppliers and Partners. 2009 Oct-09SOPHOI Intellectual property management for Media & Entertainment Industry Sep-09HyperRoll Financials, software and IT services Jun-09Conformia Product Lifecycle Management May-09Virtual Iron Software Server Virtualization Management Software Mar-09Relsys International Drug Safety and Risk Management 2008Oct-08Haley (RuleBurst Holdings) Natural Lang uage Business Rules / Policy Automation Oct-08Advanced Visual Technology Retail Space Planning Oct-08Primavera Project Portfolio Management Jun-08Skywire Software Document Management May-08AdminServer Insurance Policy Administration Jan-08BEA Systems Enterprise Software 2007 Dec-07MoniforceReal User Experience Monitoring Sep-07BridgestreamEnterprise Role Management software Jul-07Bharosa, IncOnline Identity Theft and Fraud Detection May-07Agile Software CorporationProduct Lifecycle Management Apr-07Lodestar CorporationUtilities Application SoftwareMar-07Hyperion CorporationEnterprise Performance Management Mar-07Tangosol IncDatagrid Software 2006 Nov-06Stellent Inc. Universal Content Management, Digital Rights Management Nov-06SPL WorldGroupUtility Billing and Customer Service Systems Oct-06SunopsisETL, Data Integration Oct-06MetaSolvOSS service activation Jun-06DemantraDemand-Driven Planning Solution emailprotected IP-based Contact Center Solution Apr-06Portal Software Billing and Revenue Management solutions for communications and media industry Feb-06HotSipCommunications infrastructure solutionsFeb-06Sleepycat Software Open-source database software for embedded applications Jan-06360CommerceRetail Industry Solutions Jan-06Siebel SystemsCustomer relationship management 2005 Dec-05Temposoft Workforce Management Applications sam organization Nov-05OctetString Virtual Directory Solutions Nov-05Thor Technologies Enterprise-wide User Provisioning Solutions. Oct-05Innobase Discrete Transactional Open Source Database Technology Sep-05G-LogTransportation Management Solutions Aug-05i-flexBanking Industry Solutions Jul-05Context MediaEnterprise Content IntegrationJul-05ProfitLogicRetail Industry Solutions Jun-05TimesTenReal-time Enterprise Solutions Jun-05TripleHopContext-sensitive Enterprise Search Apr-05RetekRetail Industry Solutions Mar-05OblixIdentity Management Solutions Jan-05PeopleSoftEnterprise Software 2004 Jun-04CollaxaBusiness process management May-04 Phao sIdentity management Jan-04SiteWorks Solutions Clinical trials management 2003 Jun-03ReliatyEnterprise data protection Jun-03FileFishEnterprise content management 2002 Jun-02SteltorEnterprise calendaring system Jan-02NetForce Adverse event reporting systemJan-02Indicast Voice portals Jan-02TopLink Object-relation mapping technology 1999 Jun-99Thinking Machines Corporation datamining technology 1995 Aug-95IRI Software OLAP products 1994 Oct-94Rdb (A division of DEC) Relational database The early acquisitions show Oracle focus on growing its databases market but acquisitions of past few years including very surprising $5 Billion acquisition of Sun MicroSystems do not give us good sense of where Oracles focus is. The strategic theme in Oracles acquisition spree is missing and seems more like reactions of leadership focusing only on growth.Take a look at spread of Oracle into sectors and even a layman would agree that it is stretching itself far too thin. If people outside of Oracle can t understand why Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the confusion is equally evident inside Oracle as well. No one can put a figure on if Oracle acquired Sun for hardware market entry point or MySQL or Sun Solaris OS or was it a combination of all these and then some. Oracle has come out with an integrated ERP product suite Fusion. The sales teams do not fully comprehend how to package Fusion compared to Oracle 12 version.As such Fusion itself is at least four years too late. In its attempt to create a unified platform for ERP software, it has managed to successfully scare customer who want just a small focused set of modules like AR and GL or Manufacturing. There was Steve Jobs who made the famous statement that we tell customers what they want. Larry Ellison can make the same claim but to be successful at doing that, you have to be a visionary and not be distracted so hopelessly as Ellison currently is. And, customers seem to be last thing that Oracle considers while deciding th ese moves.For example, many of Suns largest former customers were large Wall Street financial institutions, and they were really miffed last year when Oracle wanted to restrict their server and operating system choices to only Sun technologies. They relentlessly pushed back and Oracle had to ultimately give in to their defiance, reaffirming deals that would let companies like HP and Dell offer Sun software on their respective hardware. Customers will always gripe about giving too much control to any one company, said Israel Hernandez, director of software research at Barclays Capital.Larry Ellison runs Oracle likes his personal fiefdom. The Oracle Board of Directors is merely a formality that is maintained to satisfy the Wall Street and SEC. Most decisions are taken unilaterally by Ellison and his leadership team. For example the 2010 hiring of ex-HP CEO, Mark Hurd, as a co-president after Hurd was fired by HP board due to sexual harassment allegations. Analysts viewed the hiring as a positive outcome for Oracle as it looked to expand. However, Mr. Hurds arrival was quickly followed by departure of one ofOracle long-timer, Charles Phillips. At one time, Charles was touted as Ellisons protege and likely successor. Oracle customers are worried about putting all their eggs in one basket. Almost every company that they tend to do business is being bought by Oracle much to customers dislike. And for hosts of Oracles Annual Open World program, San Francisco city officials are running into dilemma of saying No to Oracle at some point for hosting the event, simply because it is unlikely that city could survive the demands of an Oracle four times its current size.A look at its portfolio will tell you more about scary reach and disappointing and unfocused spread that Oracle has now 110 product lines spread across 14 different domains. (source http//www. oracle. com)- DATABASE DataScaler (October 2010) e-Test (acquired from Empirix) (March 2008) Innobase (October 2005 ) Moniforce (December 2007) mValent (February 2009) Secerno (May 2010) Sleepycat (February 2006) TimesTen (June 2005) TripleHop (June 2005) MIDDLEWARE AmberPoint (February 2010) BEA (January 2008) Bharosa (July 2007) Bridgestream (September 2007) Captovation (January 2008)ClearApp (September 2008) Context Media (July 2005) Datanomic (April 2011) FatWire (June 2011) HyperRoll (September 2009) GoldenGate (July 2009) Java (April 2009) Oblix (March 2005) OctetString (November 2005) Passlogix (October 2010) Sigma Dynamics (August 2006) Silver Creek Systems (January 2010) Stellent (November 2006) Sunopsis (October 2006) Tacit Software (November 2008) Tangosol (March 2007) Thor Technologies (November 2005) APPLICATIONS AppForge (April 2007) Collective Intellect (June 2012) Eloqua (December 2012) Haley (October 2008) InQuira (July 2011) Interlace Systems (October 2007)Involver (July 2012) LogicalApps (October 2007) Market2Lead (May 2010) Ndevr (February 2011) RightNow (October 2011) SelectM inds (September 2012) Taleo (February 2012) TempoSoft (December 2005) Vitrue (May 2012) PRODUCT LINES Agile (May 2007) ATG (November 2010) Endeca (October 2011) Hyperion (March 2007) PeopleSoft (January 2005) Primavera (October 2008) Siebel (January 2006) emailprotected (June 2006) IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION TOOLS Global Knowledge Software (GKS) (July 2008) SERVERS, STORAGE, AND NETWORKING Ksplice (July 2011) Pillar Data Systems (June 2011Sun (April 2009) Xsigo Systems (July 2012) Virtual Iron (May 2009) INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA Acme Packet (February 2013) (pending) Convergin (February 2010) eServGlobals Universal Service Platform (USP) (May 2010) GoAhead (September 2011) HotSip (February 2006) MetaSolv Software (October 2006) Net4Call (April 2006) Netsure Telecom Limited (September 2007) Portal Software (April 2006) Sophoi (October 2009) ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION Instantis (November 2012) Primavera (October 2008) Skire (July 2012) FINANCIAL SERVICES i-flex (August 2005)HEALTH SCIENCES ClearTrial (March 2012) Phase Forward (April 2010) Relsys (March 2009) INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING Agile (May 2007) Conformia Software (June 2009) Demantra (June 2006) G-Log (September 2005) INSURANCE AdminServer (May 2008) Skywire Software (June 2008) RETAIL 360Commerce (January 2006) Advanced Visual Technology (AVT) (October 2008) ProfitLogic (July 2005) Retek (April 2005) UTILITIES DataRaker (December 2012) SPL WorldGroup (November 2006) LODESTAR (April 2007) Failure to Admit Reality It is also felt that Oracle executive management is out of touch with reality.The typical strategy is to first make fun of competitors, then ridicule them and finally scare the wits out of the customers who were even thinking of adopting competitors products. If the competition still survives all this and continues to grow then Oracle does one of the two things either it buys the competition or simply buys the number two in that space. They did this for Sun, HP, NetApp, EM C, VMWare, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, Microsoft (for MS SQL Server). Most of the times, customers can see through this and continue their adaptation of new products from customers.Most recent examples are Oracles taking potshots for two consecutive years in Oracle Open World 2010 and 2011 at Salesforce. com and then when it couldnt wean away customers from Salesforce. com or slow down the ramp up, it launched its own versions of cloud offerings in 2012 Open World. Sun MicroSystems Millstone Around the Neck Whatever be the underlying rationale for purchase of Sun MicroSystems, Oracle is now challenged to make the whole acquisition viable. It now finds itself in the territory of hardware market that its sales team is so ill-equipped to sell.The only option it had was to turn the Sun hardware into Exadata, Exalogic and Exalytic Servers and try to hoodwink the customers into buying this supreme computing machines. Much to its chagrin, not many customers are biting this new set of b aits. Dark Cloud Space For a long time almost three years Oracle made fun of Salesforce. com, Amazon and Microsoft specifically for their cloud services. It positioned the Exadata and Exalogic servers as new cloud servers that could provide as much computing power as tens of commodity hosts from these vendors cloud offerings.However, around late 2011-2012, it became very clear to Oracle that Cloud hosting and cloud based multi-tenancy software are the future and it scrambled to buy as many Cloud services based companies as it could examples are RightNow, Taleo, Virtue all acquired within months of each other in 2011-12. Oracle needs to realize that just acquisition of a company by and in itself doesnt position Oracle as a leader in that space acquisition is just the start Oracle thereafter needs to retain the talent in that company, invest and grow the company, integrate it seamlessly within Oracles other relevant product lines.Unfortunately for Oracle, these are also the are as where it has failed most of the times in the past. Grasping for straws Good news first, Oracle has not yet reached this stage yet in this stage, very perceptible symptoms are changing CEOs and executive staff in quick rotation and changing the product directions every so often. However, there is bound to be a moment, not in very distant future, when we will find that eople will become so weary of Oracle products that Ellison will be either dislodged by a hostile board or will leave on his own. He has essentially no succession plan in place except bunch of execs like Thomas Kurian or Mark Hurd who can stake their claim to the crown. Thomas is well respected within the company but lacks charisma and chutzpah of Ellison. Mark may not be as respected but has good experience of cutting costs like he did at HP. Death KnellIn this stage, a company either slowly vanishes into irrelevance or is acquired or merged into another competitor or goes belly up. For the sake of hundreds of tho usands of professionals using, preaching and earning their bread from Oracle Technologies, I just hope Oracle never reaches that stage. Out of hundreds of companies that passed through this stage and vanished into oblivion, only two companies have thus far ever recovered from this stage Xerox and Apple. Once again, I am sincerely hoping that Oracle never reaches this stage.Will it be able to recover from this downward spiral? Oracle can arrest this dance towards its vanishing into oblivion question that really begs for an answer is will it have the honesty to first admit and then stop this march? First of all, Oracle should focus and determine its core strength and then focus on building up on those. There is no prudence demonstrated in draining money on acquisitions and then selling those companies at markdown, or worst, writing off the charge as a loss.It is about time Oracle give up its greed on squeezing more money out of its customer and first create products and value that customers will willingly play obscene amount of money for. References http//finance. yahoo. com http//www. oracle. com http//www. nytimes. com/2010/09/22/technology/22oracle. html? _r=0 http//www. forbes. com/2001/10/29/1029orcl. html http//www. zdnet. com/oracles-customers-a-bit-baffled-by-fusion-strategy-says-report-7000011143/ http//www. networkworld. com/news/2013/011713-oracle-cloud-265922. html How the Mighty Fall And why some companies never give in by Jim Collins,

American Women and Community

Prior to Aug. 26, 1920 women in the United States could not participate in the egalitarian process. Following the polite War, American women wanted to have more input into the decisions that would impact their lives. In order for women to gain suffrage groups across the nation had to contact together and create a unified effort for change. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first formal conference for womans suffrage, challenged America to a novelty that would endure for more than seven decades before women actually were granted the right to vote.Convened by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the conventions aim was to empower women and invoke change through suffrage for women. Since the Civil War women had begun to feel the need to represent themselves and be able to participate in the decision making process which would affect their daily lives. The catalyst for this conclave was the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in 1840 in London and attended by an American deleg ation which included a number of women. In attendance were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were laboured to sit in ther galleries as observers because they were women.This poor treatment did not rest well with these women of progressive thoughts, and it was decided that they would hold their own convention to discuss social, civilian and religious rights of women, (, 2008, 3). The community of women who gathered in 1848 faced their first challenge in 1869 when the 15th amendment, which extended the right to vote to African-American men, was introduced and passed. During the civil war, womens suffrage was eclipsed by the war effort and movement for the abolition of slavery. While annual conventions were held on a regular basis, there was much discussion tho little action.Activists such as slave-born Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B Anthony lectured and petitioned the government for the emancipation of slaves with the belief that, once the war was over , women and slaves alike would be granted the same rights as discolor men. At the end of the war, however, the government saw the suffrage of women and that of the Negro as two separate issues and it was decided that the Negro vote could produce the immediate political gain, particularly in the South, that the womens vote could not, (, 2008, 6). Some women felt that they should support the 15th amendment as a victory which would bring women one step ambient to voting. This faction of womens suffrage supporters believed that after black men gained the right to vote there would be no barriers preventing women from gaining that right as well. Yet another(prenominal) faction felt that they could not endorse the amendment until they had been granted the right themselves. Two groups emerged, the National cleaning woman Suffrage Association and Womans Suffrage Association. both(prenominal) groups worked toward suffrage as well as securing property rights for married women and other in stitutional changes.Following the Civil War, womens study groups flourished. These groups gave women access to education and an intellectual forum. By the early twentieth century communication was in any case more effective and women across the nation had more experiences and were generally better prepared to organize themselves, (Bauer, 1999). However, this was also a quiet time for the suffrage movement. It was not until 1914 when a younger generation of women began to hold street presentations, parades and other activism stunts to gain attention. In 1915 the National Womans Party formed and began to campaign against the party in power, (Bauer).At this time women were being arrested for their action and in jail some were mistreated. The mistreatment of women gained much attention creating prevalent sympathy for the suffragists. Although World War I slowed the progression of suffrage by 1919 women the 19th amendment was officially passed. By Aug. 26, 1920 then President Woodrow W ilson ratified the amendment allowing women to enter the canvass for the first time in the United States. References (2008). The History of Womens Suffrage. History . Retrieved from www. history. com Bauer, H. (1999). The Priviledge for Which We Struggled. Minnesota Minnesota Historical Society Press.