Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Mercury Fulminate and Crystal Meth in Breaking Bad

Mercury Fulminate and Crystal Meth in 'Breaking Bad' Episode 6 of AMCs Breaking Bad has a scene where our hero, Walt, passes a plastic bag of mercury fulminate off as crystal meth. Why mercury fulminate? I guess there arent many easy-to-make explosives that look like crystal meth. The thing is... I dont think fulminate of mercury looks like it was portrayed in the tv show.Mercury fulminate [or fulminate of mercury, Hg(ONC)2] was first prepared in 1800 by Edward Charles Howard. It is an explosive that mainly was used in favor of flints to ignite black powder in a firearm. Its pretty easy to make... the synthesis involves dissolving mercury in nitric acid and adding ethanol to the solution. However, you end up precipitating a white to grayish-brown powder (depending on purity) like what you see in this photo and not big chunks of glassy crystals, as seen in Breaking Bad.Although mercury fulminate is easy to prepare, you dont want to try it. The explosive is highly sensitive to just about everything... shock, sparks, flame, friction, and heat. I dont think Walt could have been so casual handling a bag of it without having a little accident. If you dont blow yourself up with the compound, you could gas yourself with fumes from the synthesis (reaction should be done outdoors or inside a fume hood). Then there is the product... mercury compounds are toxic. The mercury doesnt magically disappear when the compound explodes.The episode got me wondering. If you were in charge of props for a tv show and were asked to come up with crystal meth, what would you use? Im going to guess using the illegal drug would not be an option. I am betting they used rock candy. What do you think?Breaking Bad - Elements in the Body | Breaking Bad - Hydrofluoric AcidPhoto:

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Simple Cuisiner (to Cook) Verb Conjugations in French

Simple Cuisiner (to Cook) Verb Conjugations in French When you want to say to cook in French you have two options. One is  cuire  and the other is  cuisiner, which is the subject of this verb conjugation lesson. Since we borrowed the word cuisine in English to speak about styles of food, this one should be easy to remember. Conjugating the French Verb  Cuisiner Cuisiner  is a  regular -ER verb  and that makes conjugating it to the past, present, or future tense just a little easier. Thats because this is the most common verb conjugation pattern found in French. Once you learn the appropriate verb endings for  cuisiner, you can apply them to countless other verbs. To conjugate  cuisiner, begin by identifying the verb stem:  cuisin-. To this, various endings are added to match the tense to the appropriate subject pronoun for your sentence. For example, I cook is je cuisine and we will cook is nous cuisinerons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je cuisine cuisinerai cuisinais tu cuisines cuisineras cuisinais il cuisine cuisinera cuisinait nous cuisinons cuisinerons cuisinions vous cuisinez cuisinerez cuisiniez ils cuisinent cuisineront cuisinaient The Present Participle of  Cuisiner The  present participle  of cuisiner  is  cuisinant.  This is formed by simply adding -ant  to the verb stem and it can also act as an adjective, gerund, or noun.   The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © A  common way to express the past tense cooked in French is with the  passà © composà ©. To construct it, you must first conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir  to match the subject pronoun. The  past participle  cuisinà ©Ã‚  is then added. It all comes together quickly: I cooked is jai cuisinà © and we cooked is nous avons cuisinà ©. Note how  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir  and that the past participle does not change. More Simple  Cuisiner  Conjugations Among the other simple conjugations of  cuisiner  that you might need are the following. The verb moods of the subjunctive and the conditional imply that the action of cooking may not be guaranteed. In literature, you might also find the passà © simple or the imperfect subjunctive. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je cuisine cuisinerais cuisinai cuisinasse tu cuisines cuisinerais cuisinas cuisinasses il cuisine cuisinerait cuisina cuisint nous cuisinions cuisinerions cuisinmes cuisinassions vous cuisiniez cuisineriez cuisintes cuisinassiez ils cuisinent cuisineraient cuisinrent cuisinassent To express  cuisiner  in exclamations, requests, or demands, use the imperative form. When doing so, the subject pronoun is not required: use cuisine rather than tu cuisine. Imperative (tu) cuisine (nous) cuisinons (vous) cuisinez

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Critically discuss the reasons why location has again become a Essay

Critically discuss the reasons why location has again become a critical issue in explaining the global competitiveness of firms - Essay Example They should use all the resources at their disposal to make their markets competitive globally, while at the same time reducing any international trade barriers and limitations. On their part, businesses need to make adjustments in order to compete effectively in the global market since they cannot purely rely on good location as was the case before this trend. They must heavily invest in information technology and adopt cost effective management practices to reach this new status. Moreover, they need to adopt international management practices and culture as well as develop a positive attitude for efficient management. Companies should also consider making regional and global partnerships and connections but taking into account all pros and cons of such ventures. This paper examines the role of location in global competitiveness of multi-national enterprises, MNEs. It then investigates why location has ceased to be the only factor in the success of international business. Role of location, competitiveness and advantage The geography of international business activities greatly depends on the entry mode and competitive advantages of the firms involved. This interdependence becomes clear when one tries examining the dynamics of the activities of knowledge intensive multinational enterprises, MNE (Dunning, 1998).... economy characterized by the emergence of intellectual capital as an important wealth creation asset, globalization of economic activities due to advancement in transport and communication technologies and the emergence of collaborative capitalism. These developments have had an impact on the geography of the activities of foreign direct investments, FDIs and MNEs (Dunning, 1998). The role of spatial transaction costs is slowly shifting, reflecting the liberalisation of cross border markets and the varying attributes of economic performance (Yip, 2002). This cost reduction caused the formation of more market-seeking FDIs and at the same time boosted a welfare enhancing division of labour and also favoured the spatial bunching of firms engaged in allied activities, so that each may gain from the existence of the other, and having access to localized support services, specialized factor inputs, custom-made demand patterns, distribution networks and shared service centres (Tallman and Yip, 2001). Complementary foreign asset and capability sought after by MNEs who wish to add value to their main competitive advantages are progressively more of a knowledge facilitating type and that is mostly the case as their affiliates become more firmly rooted in host economies. A good example is the increasing of value addition in Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries of Europe and North America. An exception to this is some low value-adding activities in the under developed areas of the globe (Tallman and Yip, 2001).As the calculated asset acquiring investment has turned out to be more essential, the location requirements of corporations have changed from the market-oriented or natural resource-oriented to those concerning access to knowledge intensive assets and learning

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Jaguar brand equity charter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jaguar brand equity charter - Assignment Example This in turn has led to an increase in company’s sales revenues (LMS International, paras.2-5). Therefore, it is important to understand the identity of Jaguar brand equity because as well as acts as an important tool for determining the most appropriate marketing strategies to be applied. Further, it helps to track the positive benefits associated with Jaguar brand and its customers so that the company can be in a position to know the areas that need improvements (Kotler, Philip, Waldemar, and Ines, p.15). The resources used to complete the section on the charter include; use of comparison resources such as cartoon and photos. In addition, task completion resources were utilized whereby, customers views may be obtained by providing them with some bubble games to feel in and interpretation were made thereafter (Kotler, Philip, Waldemar and Ines, p.15). The purpose of brand charter is to determine the long term marketing strategies that may be adopted by Jaguar Company to reinforce its brand equity in the automobile industry. The charter may be used by marketing executives to determine the most appropriate marketing strategies that may be employed (Kotler, Philip, Waldemar and Ines, p.15). LMS International. Jaguar: Engineering a Brand that combines Luxurious Sound with First-ClassHandling.Web.23.04.2014.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Hong Kong Wealth Gap Essay Example for Free

Hong Kong Wealth Gap Essay According to the Development of the Human Race Report, which published in 2005, the wealth gap of Hong Kong is the widest within the thirty high living standard countries/regions. Local View The rich is getting richer, and the poor is getting poorer. For instance, in 2001, 10% of the highest income family in Hong Kong, their natural income still had 5% growth after the 97 Financial Storms. On the other hand, the natural income of 60% Hong Kong family kept decreasing at the same time. Sometime, the wealth gap problem is a type of circulation. For example, some poor is living in poverty life because he/she had low educational level and he/she now cannot afford the education fee for their children, when the children grow up, they will remain poor or even poorer. Yet out of Hong Kongs seven million residents, an estimated 1. 25 million people are living below the poverty line. You may ask what does the life of poor people look like. Well, nothing, they have nothing at all. Imagine you are living in a cage home, a flat which can only let you sit and sleep, everyday you eat pot noodles for every meal, wear the same clothes and use the same towel without cleaning, how dirty is it! Besides, when you go to the street, people stand back from you because you are so dirty. The adults may point at you and tell the children to study hard so that they dont need to live like you in the future. What is your feeling of these? Yes, it is another problem, discrimination. Poverty is the excuse of discrimination. People are not actually care about the feelings of poor people. Definition of poverty Poverty means going short materially, socially and emotionally. It means spending less on food, on heating, and on clothing than someone on an average income. Above all, poverty takes away the tools to build the blocks for the future your life chance. It steals away the opportunity to have a life unmarked by sickness, a decent education, secure home and a long retirement.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

An Analysis of Walt Whitmans Song of Myself Essay -- Song of Myself Es

An Analysis of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself `Whitman was always asking questions. He believed that life's goal or cause was a mystery. He was surrounded by people who were drawing distinct lines between right and wrong, rejecting the things in the universe that were not a direct ticket to holiness. Whitman, unlike his contemporaries, embraced the beauty of everything. His mystical perception of the world ushered in the idea that God was to be found in every thing, and that He could never be fully understood. I think that section six of "Song of Myself" captures Whitman's quest for knowing, and his idea that our perceptions of what is, only scratch the surface. How appropriate that he starts this section with a question posed by a child, "What is the grass?" Whitman wants to answer, but realizes that he can't. Nature provides so many opportunities for interpretation. It is, on one hand, the abstract "flag of [his] disposition", but in the next stanza, the more tangible "handkerchief of the Lord." Notice that he "guesses" each time what the grass might be. Whitman would never be so strict as to impose his ideas or beliefs on anyone, or to assume that he was any more right than the next person. In line 110, he says, "O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!" I love his tolerance, his ability to admit that everything is what we "perceive" it to be, in a world where everyone was bound by rules and laws. Who and where is God in this poem? His first direct reference to God is in the fourth stanza when he suggests that the grass may be a handkerchief of the Lord. He says that it is "A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped, / Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that... ...of the first self-professed homosexuals in America). The grass then becomes this nurturing thing, as it could be growing from the grave of a baby. He mentions that the grass is too dark to be from the heads or beards of the elderly, which says to me that they are living somewhere as a youth. He later says of the old men and women, "They are alive and well somewhere; / the smallest sprout shows there really is no death...And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier." Whitman then sees the "uttering tongues...[who]...do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing." This grass, again, is purposed. It is trying to tell us something. It is telling us something. Whitman has painted, for me, a picture of opportunity. Life is whatever you make of it. It is there, purposed, forever new, forever fresh, and it is up to us to learn from it. An Analysis of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself Essay -- Song of Myself Es An Analysis of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself `Whitman was always asking questions. He believed that life's goal or cause was a mystery. He was surrounded by people who were drawing distinct lines between right and wrong, rejecting the things in the universe that were not a direct ticket to holiness. Whitman, unlike his contemporaries, embraced the beauty of everything. His mystical perception of the world ushered in the idea that God was to be found in every thing, and that He could never be fully understood. I think that section six of "Song of Myself" captures Whitman's quest for knowing, and his idea that our perceptions of what is, only scratch the surface. How appropriate that he starts this section with a question posed by a child, "What is the grass?" Whitman wants to answer, but realizes that he can't. Nature provides so many opportunities for interpretation. It is, on one hand, the abstract "flag of [his] disposition", but in the next stanza, the more tangible "handkerchief of the Lord." Notice that he "guesses" each time what the grass might be. Whitman would never be so strict as to impose his ideas or beliefs on anyone, or to assume that he was any more right than the next person. In line 110, he says, "O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!" I love his tolerance, his ability to admit that everything is what we "perceive" it to be, in a world where everyone was bound by rules and laws. Who and where is God in this poem? His first direct reference to God is in the fourth stanza when he suggests that the grass may be a handkerchief of the Lord. He says that it is "A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped, / Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that... ...of the first self-professed homosexuals in America). The grass then becomes this nurturing thing, as it could be growing from the grave of a baby. He mentions that the grass is too dark to be from the heads or beards of the elderly, which says to me that they are living somewhere as a youth. He later says of the old men and women, "They are alive and well somewhere; / the smallest sprout shows there really is no death...And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier." Whitman then sees the "uttering tongues...[who]...do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing." This grass, again, is purposed. It is trying to tell us something. It is telling us something. Whitman has painted, for me, a picture of opportunity. Life is whatever you make of it. It is there, purposed, forever new, forever fresh, and it is up to us to learn from it.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Kizza, Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age Essay

CS 300 Week 2 Kizza Chapter 4 – Ethics and the Professions pages 65 to 96 Kizza, Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age, 3rd. Edition, ISBN 978-1-84628-658-2. |Chapter Number and Title: 3 Ethics and the Professions | |Your Name: Brent Robles | |Today’s date: 02NOV09 | |Briefly state the main idea of this chapter. | |A continued discussion of ethics in a professional atmosphere. | |2. List three important facts that the author uses to support the main idea: | |The four themes discussed are evolution of professions, the making of an ethical professional, and the professional decisions making process, | |and professionalism and ethical responsibilities. | |3. What information or ideas discussed in this chapter are also discussed in readings from DePalma? List the Unit and Title(s) of the reading:| |De Palma – Reading #10 – Dilberts of the World, Unite! | |This article discusses how fast the white collar sector is growing and some of the issues involved. Microsoft is discussed in great detail on | |the treatment of their contracted employees. When it came to wages they were considered to be high-level computer professionals, thus not | |entitled to overtime pay. When it came to benefits, they were treated as temps unworthy of healthcare  coverage and stock options. So some | |individuals got together and worked to organize the workers. The article also talks about Microsoft hiring immigrant workers in the same | |positions as Americans and paying them considerably less. The unions worked with congress to oppose Bill Gates request for immigrant visas to | |be extended. There will always be a fight with these companies when trying to keep them hiring Americans. They are just trying to ensure that | |they can maximize profits. I chose this article because it discusses morals in hiring and paying white collar workers. I believe that it had | |ethical issues when dealing with professional issues like equal pay and benefits for immigrants. | |4. List and briefly discuss one of the questions at the end of the chapter. | |Are whistle blowers saints or blackmailers? I think that society has turned a saint into a blackmailer. By this I mean because of the fear of | |reprisal a whistle blower has to keep his mouth shut. But when he doesn’t he is considered to be a disgruntled employee and is trying to | |blackmail his supervision. It is hard to get issue resolved when dealing with a uncooperative management team, that is why employees have | |rights and protections, however there are only a few companies that protect the whistle blower, that is why when the whistle is blown the | |individual is considered to be a problem worker. | |5. List any examples of bias or faulty reasoning that you found in the chapter: Section 4.4.3 discusses guilt and making ethical decisions. | |On page 87 he explains actions that people experiencing guilt will go through. I think that this is a biased or faulty reasoning because not | |everyone goes through this process. I know that this article is a generalization, but there are people in society that make their decisions | |and move on with no remorse or guilt. The statement that guilt causes decision makers to agonize over decisions I think is only true for a | |select few individuals. Those individuals that are affected have to have some integrity and solid values. | |6. List any new terms/concepts that were discussed in the article, and write a short definition: | |Utilitarian – where decisions are made solely on the basis of their intended outcomes or consequences. | |Rights – where decisions are made based on the set of liberties the society enforces such as the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. | |Justice – which decisions are made so that they are fair, impartial, and equitable to all. |