The Blue Sword CHAPTER FOURTEEN

She woke up with a jolt, hearing her name, â€Å"Harry,† and for a moment she did not know where she was, but was convinced she was a prisoner. It was only Jack, standing in the doorway of the bedroom. She sighed and relaxed, conscious that much of her panic was caused by the fact that her right hand had closed only on bedclothes. Jack was looking at her quizzically; the white-knuckled right fist was not lost on him. â€Å"It's right here,† he said, nodding to his left, where Gonturan hung from a peg on the wall, next to silver-hiked Dalig and long Teksun. She unbent her fingers one by one, and with her left hand smoothed the bedding. Senay and Terim sat up and quietly began pulling on their boots, and Narknon lay down with an offended grunt over the pillow Harry had just vacated. There was food on the table again, and silent Ted stood to one side, poised and waiting to fill a plate or a cup. Harry came into the front room with her left arm close to her side and her hand across her stomach; Gonturan was hanging over her right shoulder. â€Å"Jack,† she said, â€Å"do you suppose I could borrow a – a belt from you? I seem to have †¦ lost mine.† Jack looked at her and then at the saffron- and blue-sashed waists of her two companions. â€Å"Lost?† he said, knowing something of Hill sashes. â€Å"Lost,† said Harry firmly. Ted put down his coffee-pot and went off to search for a leather Outlander belt. The sky was red when two dozen grim Outlanders set out beside three Hillfolk, one wearing a brass-buckled Outlander belt, heading north and west away from the Outlander fort. â€Å"We include one first-rate bugler,† said Jack cheerfully. â€Å"At least we'll know whether we're coming or going.† His men were dressed in the Homelander uniform of dull brown, with the red vertical stripe over the left breast that indicated Damarian duty. Harry permitted herself a twinge of nostalgia for her first sight of those uniforms, in the little clattering train, sitting opposite her brother. She asked, â€Å"Is it indiscreet, or merely putting a good face on it that you're wearing your proper uniforms?† Jack replied, staring toward the mountains, â€Å"It is that most of us have little useful clothing that is not of army issue.† He turned to her and smiled. â€Å"And besides, familiarity also breeds comfort. And I think, just now, we might do well to think of morale whenever we can.† They jogged steadily, with much jingling of tack from the fort horses; Harry had forgotten how noisy bits and chains and stirrups were, and felt that the Northerners would hear them coming from behind the mountains. They stopped just before dawn, in a valley at the beginning of the foothills. â€Å"Tonight,† said Senay, â€Å"we must go east into these hills, for there my village is.† Harry nodded. Jack looked uneasy. â€Å"Harry,† he said, â€Å"I'm not sure my lot will be very welcome in Senay's home town. If you like, we can ride a little farther along the way, so as not to lose time, and meet you near the pass – at the foot of the final trail to it, perhaps.† â€Å"Mm.† Harry explained this to Senay, who looked at Jack and then Harry with surprise. â€Å"We will all ride together,† she said. â€Å"We are comrades.† Harry did not need to translate. Jack smiled a little. â€Å"I wonder if Corlath would approve.† Terim had caught the king's name, and asked Harry what was said. â€Å"He would say the same, of course,† Terim replied. â€Å"It is true we are often enemies, but even when we are enemies, we are nearer each other than we can ever be to the Northerners, at least so long as only human blood runs in our veins. It is why this war is so bitter. We cannot occupy the same land. It has always been thus.† â€Å"We don't occupy the same land particularly well ourselves, however human we may be,† said Jack, and when Terim looked inquiringly at him, Jack put it in Hill-speech. Terim chewed his lip a minute. â€Å"Yes, we fight, and usually we do not love each other; but we are still the same. The Northerners are not. You will see. Where their feet step, it will be as if our land were sown with salt.† Jack looked at Harry, and Harry looked at Jack. â€Å"I am not sure of this,† she said. â€Å"I know the wizardry their folk produce is different than the Hillfolk's, and †¦ I know that any possibility of a part-blood Northerner is looked on with disgust and †¦ fear. You call someone half-North, thidik, and they may be forgiven for trying to kill you. Evidently,† and Harry's voice was very even, â€Å"Hill and Outlander blood is supposed to cross more gracefully.† As Jack stared at his horse's neck, Senay leaned toward him, and touched his horse's mane. â€Å"We are like enough, Jack Dedham; we all follow Harimad-sol.† Jack smiled. â€Å"We all follow Harimad-sol.† Harry said, â€Å"Jack, you are not following me. Don't you start.† Jack looked at her, still smiling; looked up, for his stolid gelding Draco was a hand and a half shorter than Sungold. But he did not answer. They rested most of the day and started off again an hour before sunset, following Senay's directions. The desert was behind them now, and so neither the sun nor the conspicuousness of traveling through empty country would force them to march only by night. It was near midnight when two men stepped into the path before them, and held up torches that suddenly burst into fire. Everyone blinked, and the Outlander horses tossed their heads. Then a voice behind one torch said sharply, â€Å"Who are you, who travel to the town of Shpardith?† Senay replied, â€Å"Thantow, have you forgotten me so quickly?† Thantow walked forward, holding his torch high, and Senay dismounted. â€Å"Senay you are,† he said, and those near behind could see him smile. â€Å"Your family will be pleased to see you return to them,† although his eyes wandered over them, and the jingling of bits was very loud in Harry's ears. â€Å"These are my comrades,† Senay said simply, and Thantow nodded. He muttered a few words to his companion, who turned and trotted off, the light of his torch bobbing dizzily till he disappeared around a bend of the rocky way. Harry dismounted, and Narknon reappeared from the darkness to sit under Sungold's belly and watch the goings-on, and make sure she wasn't being left out of anything interesting. Senay turned to Harry and introduced her reverently as â€Å"Harimad-sol,† whereupon Thantow swept her a very elegant Hill bow, which included the hand gestures of respect, and Harry tried not to shuffle her feet. They all moved forward again, and after a few minutes the narrow path opened up. It broadened slowly till it turned into a round patch of grass encircled by a white path that gleamed mysteriously in the torchlight. A little breeze wandered around them, and the smell was like roses. Thantow led them around the white path, and at the end of the circle opposite was a tall building of brown and grey stone, built into the mountainside, with moss and tiny, carefully cultivated trees bordering its roof. In the windows of this building lights were appearing. As they approached nearer, the wooden door crashed open, and a child in what was probably a nightgown came flying out, and unerringly sprang into Senay's arms. â€Å"You've been gone weeks and weeks,† the child said accusingly. â€Å"Yes, love, but I did tell you I would be,† said Senay, and the child buried her face in Senay's diaphragm and said, â€Å"I missed you.† Three other people emerged from the still-open door. First was a tall old man carrying a lantern, and limping on one leg; a younger woman strode behind him, then hurried forward to say, â€Å"Rilly, go inside.† Senay gently disengaged the reluctant Rilly, who backed up, one foot at a time, toward the house, not caring whom she might run into, till she bumped into the doorframe, fell through it, and disappeared from view. The young woman turned back to Senay, and embraced her long and silently. When the old man came up to them, he called Senay daughter. Harry blinked, for this man was certainly the local lord, the sola, of this place; but then, to be able to send his daughter so far to the laprun trials, perhaps it was not surprising. The third person was a young man, Senay's brother, for they both looked like their father; and he patted her arm awkwardly and said, â€Å"How was it?† He looked about sixteen. Senay smiled at him. â€Å"I was well defeated,† she said, in the traditional phrase, â€Å"and I wear my sash so,† and her fingers touched the torn rent. Harry sighed. â€Å"This is Harimad-sol,† Senay said, â€Å"who wielded the sword that cut my sash. She took the trials.† The old man turned to look at her sharply, and Harry met his gaze, wondering if he would comment on her obviously Outlander cast of features under the Hillman's hood; but he looked at her a moment, the lantern light shining in her eyes, and then bowed himself, and said, â€Å"My house is honored.† Only then did his eyes drop to the blue hilt just visible beyond the edge of her cloak. He turned to look at the rest of them, and his quiet face gave nothing away as he looked at two dozen Outlander cavalry standing uneasily at his threshold. â€Å"These are my comrades,† Senay said again, and her father nodded; and the woman, Senay's stepmother, said formally, â€Å"They are welcome.† Terim and Jack followed Harry and Senay into the house, while Jack's men and horses were led along the stone ridge of mountainside that the sola's house was built against, to a long low hall. â€Å"It is the village meeting-place,† Senay explained. â€Å"Many of our Hill towns have them, near the sola's house, for there we can all come together to talk or to celebrate; and when it is necessary we can shelter our friends and stable their horses.† Harry nodded slowly. â€Å"And if you must †¦ defend?† The old man smiled without humor. â€Å"There are caves, and twisting paths that lead pursuers to walls of stone or cliffs; and we can disappear if we must. You would not have come easily to this place if Senay had not guided you. The Hills are not good country for conquerors; there are too many holes in them.† â€Å"Yes,† murmured Jack. The room they entered was a large one; there were rugs on the floors and walls, and a long low table beside a long window, although it was closely curtained now. â€Å"Rilly,† said her mother firmly, â€Å"you may stay up for a short while, but you must put your robe and your boots on.† Rilly disappeared again. Servants entered the room bringing malak and small fat cakes, and Rilly reappeared and snuggled down by Senay, who put an arm around her. Harry waited, wondering if she would have to explain their errand; but Senay said with the same simplicity as she had explained the Outlanders as her comrades: â€Å"We go to stop the Northerners who come through the Madamer Gate. Who is there that can come with us?† Sixteen riders joined them in the morning when they set out once more, and Harry began to feel a trifle silly riding at the head of what was becoming at least a company if not an army. But it was obviously expected of her to ride first, chin in the air, staring forthrightly ahead. It's better than one mad Outlander on a Hill horse, she thought. What would I have done if Senay and Terim hadn't followed me, if Jack hadn't been at the fort? â€Å"Jack,† she said. â€Å"Mmm?† â€Å"Have you ever seen Ritger's Gap?† â€Å"No. Why?† â€Å"I am wondering, in a foresightful commanding sort of way, how ridiculous a few dozen of us strung out across it are going to look when – if – the Northerners do in fact decide to use it.† Jack grimaced. â€Å"Not very – silly, I mean. I believe it's a very narrow place; there's a valley spread out on the far side of it, but the gap itself we should be able to bottle up for some time, even the few of us.† Harry expelled her breath. â€Å"I do keep thinking how much of a fool's errand this is.† Jack smiled. â€Å"A noble and well-meaning fool's errand at least.† That night Harry dreamed: Ritger's Gap, the Madamer Gate, was a thin cleft of rock, no more than two-horse width; on the south side was a small rocky plateau, which then fell away abruptly into the forested mountainside. On the north was a wide bowl of valley with some dull brush and loose rock covering it; uneven footing, she thought in her dream, and no protection. Not a battlefield of choice. The valley led slowly up to the final narrow gap in the rock. She turned in her dream, and saw a little string of riders, the leader on a tall chestnut horse that gleamed like fire in the sun, striding up the path to the rocky plateau. She had seen these riders before, toiling up that mountainside. The familiarity of the vision comforted her; perhaps she had, after all, made the right choice when the path had forked. Perhaps she would justify Luthe's faith in her. And Corlath? She woke with a start. There was the greyness before true dawn in the sky, but she arose nonetheless and began to stir the fire. She noticed, with a flash of fear and anger, that her hand trembled; and then the fire burned up, and in its red heart she saw two faces. First was Corlath's. He stood quietly, staring at something she could not see; and he looked sad, and the sadness wrung her heart as though she were the cause of it. Then his face became the flames of a campfire again, but they flickered and rearranged themselves and became the face of Aerin, who smiled wryly, and it came into Harry's mind that perhaps Aerin had something to do with Senay and Terim following her, and Jack having sent Richard alone to argue for the General Mundy. Harry smiled a little, weakly, herself, at the face in the fire. Aerin looked away, as if something had caught her attention, and there was a blue glint at her side, which might have been Gonturan's hilt, or only the snapping of a small fire. â€Å"Do we ride out early, then?† said Jack, his voice rough with sleep. â€Å"Yes,† said Harry. â€Å"I don't like my dreams – and I †¦ suspect that I am supposed to pay attention to some of my dreams.† Their voices caused other sleepers to stir, and by the time the sun rose up over the crest of the Hills on their right, they had ridden some miles. â€Å"We will be there by tomorrow,† said Harry at their midday halt; and the grimness of her own voice surprised her. She was sitting on the ground as she spoke, and Narknon came to her, and wrapped herself around her shoulders and back like a fur cloak, as if to comfort her. There was a scuffle, suddenly, to one side, and Harry whipped around, one hand on Gonturan. A tall woman strode out from the trees, two of Jack's soldiers, looking tousled, slightly annoyed, and slightly afraid, standing on her either side. One of them held half a loaf of bread and the other a drawn dagger; but he held it like a bread knife. The woman was dressed in brown leather; there was a woven blue belt, sky blue, a color that comforted the eye, around her waist, and a dull crimson cap on her head; and she wore a quiver of arrows over her shoulder and carried loosely in her hand a long bow, with blue beads the color of her belt twisted just below the handgrip. â€Å"I am Kentarre,† she said. â€Å"Forgive the abruptness of my arrival.† â€Å"The filanon,† breathed Senay, standing stiffly at Harry's side. â€Å"The who?† muttered Harry; and then to the tall woman, â€Å"You have just proven to us that we need to post sentries, even to eat a mouthful of bread. We thought ourselves alone here, and our haste to our own ends has made us careless.† â€Å"Sentries, I think, would not have stopped me, and you see – † and Kentarre held up her bow – â€Å"I come in peace to you, for I cannot notch an arrow before any of your people might stop me.† She spoke Hill-speech, but her accent was curious, and the inflections were not predictable. Harry found she had to listen closely to be sure she heard correctly, for she was not that accustomed to the Hill tongue herself. Perhaps it was her attention that caught the unspoken â€Å"even† before â€Å"I cannot notch an arrow,† and she smiled faintly. Kentarre stood quite still, smiling in return. Narknon came to sit, in her watch-cat disguise, at Harry's feet. She gave Kentarre one of her long clear-eyed looks and then, without moving, began to purr. One mark in your favor, thought Harry, for Narknon's judgment is usually pretty good. â€Å"What do you wish of us?† she said. Kentarre said, â€Å"We have heard, even in our high Hilltops, where we talk often to the clouds but rarely to strangers, that she has come who carries the Lady Aerin's sword into battle once more; and we thought that we might seek her, for our mothers' mothers' mothers followed her long ago, when Gonturan first came to Damar in the hands of the wizard Luthe. So we made ready for a long journey; and then we found that Gonturan, and the sol who carries her, were coming to us; and so we waited. Three weeks we have waited, as we were told; and you are here; and we would pledge to you.† In the last sentence Kentarre's lofty tone left her, and she looked, quickly and anxiously, into Harry's face, and color rose to her cheekbones. Harry was doing some rapid calculations. Three weeks ago she had sat in a stone hall and eaten breakfast with a tall thin man who had told her that he had no clear-cut fortune for her, but that she should do what she felt she must do. Harry met Kentarre's gaze a little ruefully. â€Å"If you knew so well when we would be here, perhaps you know also how pitifully few we are and how heedless an errand we pursue. But we would welcome your help in holding the Northerners back for what time we may, if such is also your desire.† The last finger of the hand holding the bow gently spun one of the blue beads on its wire; and Harry thought that Kentarre was not so much older than herself. â€Å"Indeed, we do wish it. And if any of us remain afterward, we will follow you back to your king, whom we have not seen for generations, for in this thing perhaps all of what there is left of the old Damar must come together, if any of it is to survive.† Harry nodded, thinking that perhaps Kentarre's people would be convinced to go without her when the time came, for Corlath was likelier to be pleased to see them without his mutineer in their midst; but such thoughts were superfluous till they found out if any of their number would survive a meeting with the Northerners. Kentarre turned and stepped briskly back into the woods. â€Å"The filanon,† Senay murmured again. â€Å"The which?† Harry said. â€Å"Filanon,† she repeated. â€Å"People of the trees. They are archers like none else; it is said they speak to their arrows, which will turn corners or leap obstacles to please them. They are legends now; even my people, who live so near their forests, have believed that they no longer exist, even if the old tales are true, and once the filanon, with their blue-hung bows, did live high in the mountains where no one else went.† She paused a moment, and added, â€Å"Very rarely one of us has found one of the blue beads; they are thought to be lucky. My father has one that his father found when he was a little boy. He was wearing it the day the gursh – boar – gored him, and he said that it would have had him in the belly, and killed him, if the blue bead had not turned the beast at the last.† Jack said, â€Å"Tell me, Captain, do you always take in the loose wanderers you find in the woods if they offer to fall in with you?† Harry smiled. â€Å"Only when they tell stories that I like. Three weeks ago I was talking to a †¦ wise man who told me that †¦ things would happen to me. I am inclined to believe that this is one of them. Besides, Narknon likes her.† Jack nodded. â€Å"I prefer to believe you. Although I have my doubts about your tabby's value as a judge of character.† He blinked at her once or twice. â€Å"You're different, you know, than you were when you still lived with us Outlanders. Something deeper than the sunburn.† He said this, knowing its truth, curious to see its effect upon the young woman he had once known, had once watched staring at the Darian desert. Harry looked at him, and Jack was sure she knew exactly what was passing through his mind. â€Å"I am different. But the difference is a something riding me as I ride Sungold.† She looked wry. Jack chuckled. â€Å"My dear, you are merely learning about command responsibility. If you were mine, I'd promote you.† They finished their noon meal without seeing anything more of Kentarre; but as they mounted, many of them looking nervously around for more tall archers to burst from the bushes upon them, the materialization suddenly took place. Kentarre stood before Harry with a dark-haired man at her elbow; he carried a bow too, but among the blue beads at its grip was one apple-green one; and his tunic was dun-colored. Then Harry without turning her head saw that the path was lined with archers; she nodded blandly as if she had expected them to appear like this – which in fact she rather had – and moved Tsornin off. Kentarre and the man fell in with her and Jack and Senay and Terim, and the rest of the archers followed after the last horses had passed. Kentarre walked with as free and swinging a pace as Sungold. There were about a hundred of her new troop, Harry found, when they stopped again. With them were about twenty hunting-cats: bigger-boned, with broader flatter skulls than Narknon's, and more variety of color than Harry had seen among Corlath's beasts. Narknon herself kept carefully at Harry's heels: even the indomitable Narknon seemed to feel discretion was the better part of valor when faced with twenty of her own kind, and each of them a third larger than herself. Harry and her company found a little rock bowl, sheltered from the northwest wind that had begun to blow that afternoon, and all of them clustered in it, around several small fires. The archers unstrung their bows and murmured to or over their arrows, and the others watched them surreptitiously. Bows seemed as outlandish to the sword-bearers as feathers on one of their horses. Jack's men felt absently for revolvers that weren't on their hips. At dawn they set off again, and now Harry felt that she rode into her dream; perhaps she would wake up yet and find herself in the king's tent, with unknown words on her lips and Corlath's hands on her shoulders, and pity in his eyes. They rode, the archers striding long-legged behind them, up a narrow trail into the mountain peaks; up the dark unwelcoming slopes to the border of the North. The cold thin air bit at their throats, and the sun was seen as scattered falls of light through the leaves. The ground underfoot was shaly, but Tsornin never stumbled; his ears were hard forward and his feet were set firmly. Harry tapped her fingernail on the big blue stone in the hilt of Gonturan and thought of a song she'd sung as a child; the tune fluttered through her mind, but she couldn't quite catch the words. It made her feel isolated, as though her childhood hadn't really happened – or at least hadn't happened as she remembered it. Perhaps she'd always lived in the Hills; she'd se en Sungold foaled, and she had been the one first to put a saddle on his young back, and had trained him to rear and strike as a warhorse. Her stomach felt funny. They reached Ritger's Gap, the Madamer Gate, before sunset, spilling out across the little plateau that lay behind it, with trees at its back and only bare rock rising around it to the mountaintop, a few bowlengths above them. There was a long shallow cave to one side, where the mountain peak bent back on itself, and low trees protected much of the face of it. â€Å"We'll sleep in something resembling shelter tonight,† said Jack cheerfully. â€Å"At least as long as the wind doesn't veer around and decide to spit at us from the south.† Harry was listening to the northern breeze; it sneered at her. â€Å"It won't,† she said. Jack cocked an eyebrow at her, but she said no more about it. The plateau was loud with the panting of men and horses; they had hurried to arrive, just as her dream had told her they would, or must; the last hour, men and horses had had to scramble up, side by side. Harry leaned against Sungold's shoulder, grateful for the animal solidity of him; he turned his head to chew gently on her sleeve till she petted him. After a minute of staring around her she slowly followed Narknon as the cat paced up to the Gap itself and stared into the valley beyond. Even Narknon seemed subdued, but perhaps it was the day's hard miles. Two riders abreast could pass the narrow space in the rock, perhaps, but their knees would touch. On this side of the Gap, the plateau sloped up to the shoulders of the narrow cleft and down the other side, where men and clever-footed horses might climb. Harry stared through, and became conscious of Sungold's warm breath on the back of her neck. Narknon leaped down from her perch beside the cleft, turned her back on it, and began to wash. Harry stood in the Gap itself, and leaned against the spot Narknon had vacated. A pebbly slope dropped down away from her to a scrub-covered valley between the mountain's arms; there was a lower valley wall on the far side, but it fell away into foothills. Harry felt her sight reaching away, into the harsh plain beyond the dun-colored valley and scattering of low sharp hills; and on the edge of the plain she saw a haze that eddied and drifted, like a tide coming in, exploring the shore before it, reaching out to stroke the little hills before it swe pt over them. Harry turned and went back to her company. She said to no one in particular, â€Å"They will be here tomorrow.† It was a silent camp that night; everyone seemed almost superstitiously afraid to polish a dagger one last time in too obvious a fashion; much quiet checking of equipment went on, but it was a shadowy sort of motion. No one met another's eyes and there was no bright ring of metal on metal. Even footfalls were muffled. Jack's bay gelding Draco and Harry's Sungold had become friends over the days of carrying their riders side by side. The Outlander horses were always set out on a picket line while the Hill horses wandered where they would, never far from the human campsite; and Sungold and Draco stood nose to nose often, murmuring to each other perhaps about the weather and the footing of the day past; perhaps about the eccentricities and preoccupations of their riders. Tonight they stood near together with their heads facing the same way – watching us, Harry thought, looking back at them; or watching that awful northwest wind. Sungold nicked one ear back, then forward again, and stamped. Draco turned his head to blow thoughtfully at his companion, and then they both settled down for a nap, one hind leg slack, their eyes dim and unfocused. Harry watched enviously. The north wind gibbered. â€Å"Draco, who knows almost as much about battles as I do, has told young Sungold that he should get a good night's sleep. I, world-weary warrior that I am – that's hard to say after too many hours in the saddle – am about to say the same thing to you, my brilliant young Captain.† Harry sighed. â€Å"Do stop calling me Captain. Carrying Gonturan is enough; and she's not your legend.† â€Å"You'll get used to it, Captain,† said Jack. â€Å"Would you deny me one small amusement? Don't answer that. Go to sleep.† â€Å"Perhaps if I could stand on three legs and let my eyes glaze over, it would help,† she replied. â€Å"I do not feel like sleeping and I †¦ dread dreaming.† â€Å"Hmm,† said Jack. â€Å"Even those of us who aren't compelled to believe in what we dream aren't happy about dreams the night before a battle, but that's †¦ inevitable.† Harry nodded, then got up to unroll her blanket and dutifully laid herself down on it. Narknon couldn't settle either; she paced around the fire, wandered over to touch noses with Sungold, returned, lay down, paced some more. â€Å"I'll send Kentarre and her people into the woods on either side of the Gap, looking down on the valley; we can all mob together here – and see what comes.† â€Å"Splendid,† said Jack from his blanket, as he pulled off his boots. â€Å"I couldn't arrange it better myself.† Harry gave a breathless little laugh. â€Å"There isn't much to be organized, my wise friend. Even I know that.† Jack nodded. â€Å"You could send us through that crack in the rock two at a time, to get cut in pieces; I would then object. But you aren't going to. Go to sleep, General.† Harry grunted. Harry's eyes stayed open, and saw the cloud come across the moon, and heard the whine of the north wind pick up as the clouds strangled the moonlight. She heard the stamp of a horse from the picket line, and an indeterminate mumble from an uneasy sleeper; and Narknon, who had finally decided to make the best of it by going to sleep, snored faintly with her head on Harry's breast. And beyond these things she heard †¦ other things. She had set no sentries, for she knew, as she knew the Northerners would face them tomorrow, that they were not necessary. It was a small piece of good fortune that every one of her small company might have the chance of sleep the night before the battle, and it would be foolish not to accept any good fortune she was offered. But as she lay awake and solitary she heard the stamp of hooves not shod with iron, the shifting of the bulk of riding-animals that were not horses, the sleeping snores of riders that were not human. Then her mind drifted for a few almost peaceful minutes; but she heard a rustle, and as her drowsy mind slowly recognized the rustle as a tent flap closing she heard Corlath's voice say sharply, â€Å"Tomorrow.† She sat up in shock; Narknon slithered off her shoulder and rearranged herself on the ground. Around her were the small dead-looking heaps of her friends and followers, the red embers of campfires, the absolute blackness of the curve of rock and the shifting blackness that was the edge of the trees. She turned her head and could faintly see the silhouette of horse legs, and she heard the ring of iron on a kicked rock. Jack was breathing deeply; his face was turned away from the dying fire glow, and she could not see his expression; she even wondered if he were feigning sleep as a good example for her. She looked at Narknon, stretched out beside her; her head was now over Harry's knees. There was no doubt that she was sincerely asleep. Her whiskers twitched, and she muttered low in her throat. Harry lay down again. The wind sniggered around the rocks, but overhead it flung itself, laughing shrilly, through the mountains, into the quiet plains of Damar, bearing with it the inhuman whispers and moans of the Northern army. Harry shivered. A finger of breeze touched her cheek and she recoiled; it ran over her shoulder and disappeared. She pulled the blanket over her face. She must have slept, for when she pushed the blanket away from her face again the mountain was edged with dawn and her mouth tasted sticky. She sat up. Narknon was still asleep. Jack's eyes were open. He was staring grimly at nothing; she watched his eyes pull into focus to look at her. He sat up, saying nothing, and put his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his hands over the grey stubble of hair on his head. Other bodies were stirring. There was a small spring-fed pool in a fist of rock where the front of the shallow cave was sheltered by the trees; one of Jack's men filled a tin at it and brought it to one of Kentarre's archers, who had produced a slender tongue of flame from last night's ashes. Harry stared dreamily at the little fire till something black came between her and it, which proved to be Jack, kneeling down at their own bed of embers. Harry got up, kicking her blankets off, and went to fetch another tin of water. Jack smiled at her when she returned. She tried to smile back; she wasn't sure how successful she was. While they waited for the water to boil, Harry walked to the Madamer Gate and stared through it. The top of her head stood above the rock cleft, and the north wind howled down on her; her scalp felt tight and cold. The haze still hung where she had seen it the evening before, at the beginning of the foothills; but this morning she felt she could see flashes of color and motion within it. The color was the color of fear. The wind chewed into her and she went back to the cave. They were all sitting, hunkered down around their tiny fires; and they were all watching her; or all but Jack, who was shaving. She admired the steadiness of his hand as he bent over a ragged bit of mirror propped against a rock on the ground. She stopped just before the shadow of the cave began. â€Å"Stay out of the wind while you can,† she said. â€Å"It's not †¦ the right sort of wind.† Terim looked up, as if he could see the shape of the wind itself, and not only the way it shook the leaves and bounced pebbles from the rockfaces. â€Å"The Northerners send their wind to chill us,† he said. Harry remembered the creeping touch on her face the night before. â€Å"Yes,† she said slowly. â€Å"To chill us – but I think also to discover us. I prefer that we tell it no more than we must.† At midmorning Harry saddled Sungold, unrolled the tops of her boots and lashed them to her thighs, settled her leather vest with particular care across her shoulders, and Gonturan against her hip. Shield and iron-bound helm hung ready from the front of the saddle; Sungold turned to look at her. The saddle looked strange, unbalanced, without the bulky knapsacks strapped around it. Draco chewed his bit, and Tsornin pointed an ear briefly at the sound. Shortly before noon Harry sent Kentarre and her archers and their big soft-footed cats out beyond the Gate, into the last trees on the mountains' shoulders rising above the haggard valley. Harry watched anxiously, for the covering of stunted trees was not good, and she felt that every blue bead would be visible; but the archers disappeared as if they were no more than thrown pebbles. Harry was sure that whatever approached them knew the Gate was held against them – knew and smiled at the tale the wind brought; but she could do no more. Jack saw them for the first time just before Kentarre led her archers away. He was staring through a narrow black spyglass; his hands were as steady as they had been with his razor. Harry could keep hers from chafing and plucking at each other only by thinking about it constantly; she clamped them on her sword belt. They felt damp. Harry had been watching those coming toward them all morning and it took her a moment to understand Jack's sudden grunt of comprehension. The fog had flowed into the mouth of the valley, and now it resolved itself into a mass of dark moving shapes which still seemed to cast more shadow than they should, for they were very near. â€Å"Mount,† said Harry. The wind chuckled wildly as it tore at their hair, and pinged madly off metal as helms were settled in place, and dragged at the fingers of gloves, and sword tips, and horse tails. Sungold stood with his nose in the Gate; Draco stood at Harry's knee, stolidly, ears pricked. Harry could feel Tsornin tremble, but it was impatience; and she bit her lip in shame for herself and pride for her horse. Terim's horse tossed its head anxiously and switched its tail; Terim's face beneath the helm was unreadable. Narknon reappeared from wherever she had spent the morning, licking her chops; she hadn't been satisfied with porridge this morning. She polished her whiskers carefully, then came to the head of the column, to sit between Tsornin and Draco. â€Å"Narknon, my dear,† said Harry, â€Å"why don't you go sleep by the fire for now, till †¦ till we come back? This isn't your sort of hunting.† Narknon looked up at her, perfectly aware that she was being addressed; then she lowered her gaze again and stared out across the valley. â€Å"The filanon's cats went with them,† said Jack. â€Å"You'll hurt her feelings if you try to leave her behind.† Harry said fiercely, â€Å"This is not the time to make silly jokes.† â€Å"On the contrary, Captain,† replied Jack. â€Å"This is exactly the time.† Harry swallowed and looked out at the Northerners again. At the front of the army before them was a rider on a white horse. The horse was magnificent, as tall as Sungold, with the same proud head and high tail; red ribbons fluttered from its forelock and crest. His reins were golden glints against its snowy neck; and the rider's heavy sword was a great golden bar at his side. Beside him a dark rider on a mud-colored beast carried a banner: white, with a red bird on it, a bird of prey with a curved beak. â€Å"No army can move that fast,† said Jack. â€Å"No,† said Harry. The white horse screamed and Sungold answered, rearing; Harry punched his neck with a closed fist, and he settled back, but his haunches were tensed under him, waiting to hurl them forward. â€Å"Very well,† said Harry. â€Å"We will go to meet them now.† A rain of arrows fell from the sky into the dark sea at their feet, and some of the dark many-shadowed shapes fell, and weird cries drifted up to the watchers at the Gate. â€Å"At least arrows pierce them,† Harry heard Terim say. Sungold's ears lay flat to his head, and he pranced where he stood. Harry could hear the horses moving up close behind her; Senay and Terim stood with their horses' front feet half up the rock slope on either side of the Gap. â€Å"Jack,† said Harry. â€Å"You wait here; we'll come back when we're ready for a breather, and you can argue with them for a while.† â€Å"As you say, Captain,† said Jack. And he whispered, â€Å"Good luck, Harimad-sol.† Harry gestured to Jack's trumpeter, and they sallied out under a banner of bright brass notes, for they carried no other. Sungold leaped down the slope, and the white stallion reared and neighed; his rider turned him and galloped to one side, and the lightless mass of the army surged up the sides of the valley. War-cries rang in harsh throats, twisted by ill-shaped tongues. The ground before the Gate was in Harry's favor, for there was little room to maneuver, and no room for the overwhelming numbers of the Northerners to sweep around their small adversaries and crush them. Each side must fight on a narrow front; it was a question merely of how long the Hillfolk had the strength to fight, for there were always replacements for any Northerner who fell or grew weary. Harry pulled Gonturan from her scabbard and swung her once, shrilling through the air, splitting the northern wind into fragments that fell, crying, under Sungold's feet. â€Å"Gonturan!† yelled Terim. â€Å"Harimad-sol and Gonturan!† called Senay, not to be outdone; and then the Hillfolk met the Northerners. Sungold plunged and struck with teeth and hooves as Gonturan cut and thrust; and Harry felt the yellow wave rising in her mind and was glad of it, for her intellect was of little use, and that the wrong sort, just now; and she noticed that Gonturan was wet with blood, but that the blood seemed an odd color. Clouds massed to cover the sun, but they kept breaking up and drifting away again, and the Hillfolk fought more strongly for this proof that the black army was not all-powerful. Harry was dimly aware that Draco's head was at her knee again, and there was a momentary lull when her right arm could drop and her small shield rest heavily on her leg, and she said, â€Å"Where did you come from?† â€Å"It looked as if you never would come back and give us a chance, and we got tired of waiting,† said Jack; and then the battle swelled around them again, and the clank of metal and the bash of blows rose up and smothered them. There was a smear of blood along Sungold's neck, and as he tossed his head, foam flew backward and ran down Harry's forearm. Those they fought were hard to see clearly, even from as close as a sword stroke. Harry saw better than most and still she could not say why she was sure that those she faced were not all human. Some glittering eyes and swift arms were human enough; but others seemed to swing from curiously jointed shoulders and hips, and the eyes were set oddly in odd-shaped skulls – although perhaps the skulls were all right, and the helms were deliberately misshapen. Some of the horses too were true horses; but some had hides that sparkled like scales, and feet that hit the ground unlike hooves, and teeth that were pointed like a dog's. Minutes passed and Gonturan had a life of her own; and the next time Harry saw Jack, Draco crashed into them from one side and Jack's stirrup caught at her ankle; and he yelled, â€Å"You might think of retiring for a few minutes, Captain; we've upset them, and we deserve it.† Harry looked around puzzled, but it was true; her handful had driven the dark army back; they were halfway down the valley again. â€Å"Oh,† she said. â€Å"Umm. Yes.† â€Å"Back!† shouted Jack, standing in his stirrups. â€Å"Back to the Gap!† The trumpeter picked it up, for he had followed Jack when the colonel struggled to reach Harry, as he had followed Colonel Dedham often before in years and battles past; and never yet had he received a wound that hindered his playing, although the border skirmishes he was acquainted with had little prepared him for this day. He was tired and bloody now, and it took him a moment to fill his lungs to make his trumpet speak; but then the notes flew out again, over the heads of the combatants, and Harry's company collected themselves to fall back to the Gap. Harry saw Senay near at hand, and then the others, one at a time, turning, half aware, in their saddles, hearing the notes of the retreat; some picking up the cry and throwing it farther; the filanon had a long clear singing note that they passed among themselves. As the Hill and Outlander horses wheeled to gallop away and Harry prepared to fol low them, suddenly the white stallion was before her. This one almost looked like a real horse, she thought; but its teeth were bared, and they were the sharp curved fangs of a flesh-eater. Its bit came to a sharp point on each side of its jaw, so it could slash an opposing horse with a sideways twist of its head. Its long ears were flat to its skull, and its blue eyes rolled. It reared and screamed its stallion scream again, and Sungold answered; but when her horse's front feet hit the earth again, he leaped forward; and Harry saw the other stallion's rider sweep his golden sword up in challenge. Gonturan glittered in the sunlight; but when they met, the blow was of more than physical strength. The other rider's sword drew no blood, but Harry reeled in her saddle; the noise the sword had made against her fresh-stained and pitted shield sent waves of fear through her, and her yellow war-rage went grey and dim. Sungold reared and shrieked; the white stallion was not quick enough, and when the chestnut swerved away there was blood on the other's neck and shoulder and rein. This seemed to drive the white horse mad, and it came again; Harry heard through the deadening thunder in her ears that the other rider laughed. She raised her eyes to where his should be, under his blazing white helm, and saw spots of red fire; below that, teeth were bared in a grin in a jaw that might once have been human. The power that washed over that face, that rolled down the arms and into the sword and shield, was that of demonkind, and Harry knew she was no match for this one, and in spite of the heat of Gonturan in her hand her heart was cold with fear. The two stallions reared again, and reached out to tear each other; the white stallion's neck was now ribboned with blood, like the real ribbons he wore in his mane. Harry raised her sword arm, and felt the shock of the answer; the hilts of the swords rang together, and sparks flew from the crash, and it seemed that smoke rose from them and blinded her. The other rider's hot breath was in her face. His lips parted and she sa w his tongue; it was scarlet, and looked more like fire than living flesh. Her arm was numb. The contact lasted only a moment; Sungold wrenched himself and his rider free, and Harry's legs held her on his back from habit, while she struggled only not to drop her sword. Sungold bit the white stallion just above the tail, and the horse kicked; too late, for Sungold again twisted out of the way and bit him again on the flank, and the blood flowed from the long wicked gash. The white stallion threw up his head and lunged forward, away from his enemy. Harry heard the rider laugh again, although he made no attempt to rein his horse around for another attack; an attack that Harry knew would be her last defense. He could wait. He knew the strength of his army and the size of the force that chose to try and block it, for the wind he sent had told him. But it was then, as the white stallion ran from them, and the banner-bearer turned to follow its leader, that from the black ground-swell a long stripy body rose and flung itself snarling at the mud-colored beast. Sungold was leaping forward again before Harry was aware of her legs closing around him; for it was Narknon. The cat slashed at the rider, and dropped away again, and then sprang at the beast's face and seized its nose in her teeth; purple blood welled out and poured down Narknon's matted sides. The beast reared, trying to tear at the cat with its clawed forefeet, but Narknon twisted in mid-air. The beast came to the ground again as its rider made a sword cut at the cat, but it missed, for Gonturan got in its way. And the beast reared up once more, mad with pain, and flung itself over backward; and neither beast nor rider rose again, and the red-and-white banner was trampled underfoot.

Cafe Amadeo Development Cooperative Essay

In September 24, 2014, Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) – Quezon City had a plant tour. It is one requirement in our course’s Production and Operation Management. Our two organizations that we went are in Cafe Amadeo Development Cooperative and in Tri-R Allied Industries, INC. Both of them are really exciting when we heard about those organizations that we will be going for. Our mission here is to get knowledge and to apply it for ourselves in our future work. It was very educational because we saw the processes of how they do the coffee and also the parts of the vehicle. But before all, my classmates and I met within the school at 4:30am exactly because we do not want to make us left the bus so we go ahead for our assurance. The bus leave at school at exactly 7o’clock in the morning. After traveling of almost 3 hours, we finally arrived in Cavite at 10:30 in the morning. We started to discover, observe and learn in Cafà © Amadeo Development Cooperative organization. Their exact place is at Barangay 6, Poblacion, Amadeo, Cavite. This is the logo and actual view of their business, Cafà © Amadeo has their general purpose, vision and mission. Here are they; GENERAL PURPOSE To promote the cooperative as way of life by improving the social and  economic well-being of the people. VISION The country leading cooperative that produces and distributes quality coffee. MISSION Produce and offer quality products and services through technologically advanced capabilities its members. Develop professional officers and management team encourge thrift and savings consciousness. In their organization, you should be truly honest and loyal. They held that kind of value. Mrs. Agnes, the spokes man told us that Cafà © Amadeo was started on June 28, 2002 with only 20 members. They have an investment of â‚ ±137,500.00 when Cafà © Amadeo started, but it is just bit of their money. The coffee millers and traders of Amadeo were taking the amount of coffee. Their coffee before were worth rage of â‚ ±450.00 – â‚ ±500.00 per cut. Per cut is about 1 kilo and it has coffee pod yet. The usual coffee before was too expensive but because the coffee was lack of supply, they washout the coffee. Most farmers before usually gets their livelihood in coffee, like Mrs. Agnes’ life. So they take another economical as farming pineapples and papayas because coffee was almost a year when you are harvest it. But the good news here is, the DTI, DOST, and Provincial Municipal helps their cooperative to promote their products. Their cooperative consists of Farmers, Traders, and Millers. All the members are encouraged to sell and to add capital. It has also set up five market outlets, three in Cavite, one in Paraà ±aque City and lately in San Fernando, Pampanga. From now on, the cooperative is fast growing and keeping to its mission of continually supplying best grade coffee beans and ground coffee for the entire benefit of Amadeo Coffee farmers (4,560) in general and of its members in particular. They has a different kinds of coffee and this is the, Arabica Coffee, Liberica / Baracco Roasted Coffee, Robusta, and Excelsa. Mrs.Agnes told us that Arabica Coffee is commonly in Davao, Baguio and Benguet because it springing up in high and cold areas. Liberica/Baracco Roasted Coffee produces big beans, resistant to drought. The pulp is very thick and it takes 40 days to dry. Robusta is the number 1 soluble of coffee and most preferred by coffee growers. It dries in 15 days and since the pulp easily separates from the beans, it takes least effort to clean. Excelsa, which is secondly to Baracco. Excelsa is also resistant to drought and takes 25 days to dry. With  a pulp that does not separate from the beans when milled. PROCESS OF CAFÉ AMADEO The process used by Cafà © Amadeo is continuous because there is a very high volume of nondiscrete, highly standardized output is desired and their products have almost no variety in output and no need for equipment flexibility. It is used to manufacture, produce, or process materials without interruption. It also produces greatest quantity of a product over the time. Continuous-flow production requires products for which the same level of quality can be reliably achieved as long as the process of manufacture and the ingredients are unchanged. A production worker in continuous production commonly works in rotating shifts. So that I think they used Job rotation which means having workers periodically exchange jobs to avoid having one or a few employees stuck in a monotonous job because some of the employees will be get bored from their jobs because some of the responsibility there is only putting coffees into their packages or to wait the coffee from machine. As what I remembered from the speaker, they chose Amadeo province because since then Amadeo is one of the places that already engaging in coffee farming and coffee is Amadeo’s major crop for trade. There is a very high volume of nondiscrete, highly standardized output is desired and their products have almost no variety in output and no need for equipment flexibility. Continuous-flow production requires products for which the same level of quality can be reliably achieved as long as the process of manufacture and the ingredients are unchanged. They’re also using Product layout, product layout in the sense that there is a flow in the production of coffees or there are step by step processes. From work station 1 to work station 2 and so on and so for. Cafà © Amadeo their stores are located near towns in different places in Cavite so that it can easily be seen by the travelers and also they can be easily recognized by their customers. When it comes to working condition their work places are full of ventilations and sound proof mirrors so that their workers cannot be bothered by any distractions such as heat and other factors that can affect their works. VISION To be the most preferred manufacturing solution provider MISSION AND GOALS PROFITS-To have a sustainable growth of 20% annually and to maximize profit margin. PEOPLE-Proud and Happy associates. PORTFOLIO- To be an industry market leader and game changer. PARTNERS- To be preferred name the industry. PLANET- To be an environmental friendly company. PRODUCTIVITY- Promote effective management of people time and money TRI-R ALLIED INDUSTRIES INC. PROCESS CAPABILITIES STAMPING Metal stamping presses range from 35 – 600 tons for manufacturing seat frames and automotive parts. PAINTING/PLATING Bare metal parts are pre-treated before powder coating at 240 degrees C. Aside from painting, engaged also in in-house plating. WELDING Welding process occupies a large part of automotive parts manufacturing. From thin metal sheets to form structures. Welding processes include resistance welding, arc and gas welding using welding assembly jigs. SEWING AND SEAT ASSEMBLY The company cut, saw and assembled motorcycle dual seat assembly using PVC leatherette. Pad cushion and bottom plate. FOAM INJECTION Two components chemicals are used both for automotive and motorcycle seat pads. MACHINING The in-house machining centre fabricates tool and dies. The in-house machining centres fabricate tool and dies. METAL CASTING The company also employ metal casting process using High Press Die and Ductile Iron Casting using aluminium or metal alloys. TRI-R PROCESS MAP TRI-R Inc. uses job shop processing because they are customizing metal processing shop. A job shop process creates the flexibility needed to produce a variety of products or services in significant quantities like in TRI-R they make different kinds of parts of vehicle/cars. Customization is relatively high, and volume for any one product to meet customer quality and service standards. The work force and equipment are flexible and handle various tasks. Typically, they make products to order and don’t produce them ahead of time. The specific needs of the next customer are unknown, and the timing of repeat orders from the same customer is unpredictable. Each new order is handled as a single unit–as a job. A job shop process primarily involves the use flexible flow strategy, with resources organized around the process. Most jobs have a different sequence of processing steps. The job shop is organized by process, where assembly lines or continuous flow operations are organized in a product layout. In the latter layout, equipment or work processes are arranged according to the exact steps in which the product is made and the path for each part resembles a straight line. And also TRI-R is using Product Layout processing because the layout of equipment and processes in the workstations are distributed around the needs of the end product. Each station is given a small task to complete in a certain sequence. Because according to the information that I’ve obtained TRI-R is using Product Engineering, according to the definition of Product Engineering it is the process of designing and developing a device, assembly, or system such that it is produced as an item for sale through some production manufacturing process. So that, it became my basis to say that they’re using product layout. Also they are using assembly line of production because the automobiles parts that they are processing are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from work station to work station where the parts are added in sequence until the final product is produced.

A History Of Flexible Manufacturing Systems

A History Of Flexible Manufacturing Systems Now once you have a Flexible Manufacturing System in place, it cannot function in isolation. The department has to make its other processes and work conditions conducive enough to take full advantage of FMS. There are a lot of other design variables involved in the decision making process. It is very important for every manager in charge of FMS to address the question â€Å"What are the activities an FMS adopter has to carry out in order not only to implement an FMS but also to realize the requisite organizational conditions; and what are the possibilities for the adopter to organize this manufacturing innovation process effectively?† Stating a few examples of the extraneous factors: Maintenance Department Process planning, Production planning, and quality control processes The people carrying out these processes and production resources used to make these processes feasible The organizational arrangements used to divide and coordinate the processes Introduction A Flexible Ma nufacturing System (FMS) is a manufacturing system in which there is a certain degree of flexibility that allows the system to react in the case of changes, whether predicted or unpredicted. According to Maleki   [ 1 ]   , flexibility is the speed at which a system can react to and accommodate change. To be considered flexible, the flexibility must exist during the entire life cycle of a product, from design to manufacturing to distribution. Flexible Manufacturing System is a computer-controlled system that can produce a variety of parts or products in any order, without the time-consuming task of changing machine setups. The flexibility being talked about is generally considered to fall into two categories, which both contain numerous subcategories   [ 2 ]   . The first category, Machine Flexibility, covers the system’s ability to be changed to produce new product types, and ability to change the order of operations executed on a part. The second category is called R outing Flexibility, which consists of the ability to use multiple machines to perform the same operation on a part, as well as the system’s ability to absorb large-scale changes, such as in volume, capacity, or capability. The main advantage of an FMS is its high flexibility in managing manufacturing resources like time and effort in order to manufacture a new product. The best application of an FMS is found in the production of small sets of products like those from a mass production. FM systems are supposed to provide the manufacturer with efficient flexible machines that increase productivity and produce quality parts. However, FM systems are not the answer to all manufacturers’ problems. The level of flexibility is limited to the technological abilities of the FM systems. FM systems are being used all over the manufacturing world and though out industries. A basic knowledge of this kind of technology is very important because FM systems are involved in almost every thing that you come in contact with in today’s world. From the coffee maker to your remote control FM systems are used all over. History of Flexible Manufacturing Systems At the turn of the twentieth century, FMS did not exist. There was no pressing need for efficiency because the markets were national and there was no foreign competition. Manufacturers could tell the consumers what to buy. During that period, Henry Ford had been quoted as saying â€Å"People can order any colour of car as long as it is black.† All the power remained in the hands of the manufacturer and the consumers hardly had any choices.

Fear and trembling by Soren Kierkegaard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fear and trembling by Soren Kierkegaard - Essay Example In his argument, he shows that objectivity falsehood can be revealed by lack of individual obligation. Fear and trembling, written by Soren Kierkegaard provides a description of two people: knight of faith and knight of infinite resignation. According to him, knight of infinite resignation refers to an individual that has had to surrender something they dearly treasure. Among such things are loved ones or a calling that can happen due to unavoidable circumstances in the current world. An Individual in the knight of infinite resignation has to reassign to stated facts and await his death as he lies with the circumstance that renders him impossible to achieve the desired object. Never the less, the individual has hope in the afterlife and still holds on without giving up. He remains hopeful that his aspirations of the commitments that are supposed to define his life will be granted in the afterlife. In his argument in knight of faith, Kierkegaard goes beyond his description of faith pe rsonalities in knight of infinite resignation. Both interpretations of faith ensure that the prospected individual has to surrender a valuable item that they treasure and is essential in providing a meaning in their lives. However, their difference is that the knight of faith has the belief that they will posses again all that they treasured and lost, an aspect identified as the absurd’s strength. He has the trust that regaining his treasured items will not have to happen in the afterlife but in the temporality life of the finite world. On the other hand, Concluding Unscientific Postscript conceives correspondence in objects and thoughts in both transitive and symmetrical ways. Kierkegaard argues that true objects could correspond to these ideas. In depth, he explains the manner in which objective truth differs from subjective truth. Explaining that objective truth is an outer truth and subjective truth an inner truth, he shows the entire writing as a philosophical method of reasoning that has the aim of gaining truth. Although Kierkegaard elaborates on faith, his interpretation in these two writings is dissimilar. Whereas Knight of faith and knight of infinite resignation provides an account of faith in requisites of conviction in the absurd, concluding unscientific postscript proves that faith is the contradiction amid vast passion of individuals’ inwardness and the purpose uncertainty. He identifies the former aspects as the only two steps that used in the development of real faith, but states in the latter that truth is all about subjectivity. Concluding unscientific postscript is explained in a major contrast of objectivity and subjectivity. Objectivity entails science, history, speculative philosophy, and they lack any relationship with the knower’s existence. Subjectivity is not inclusive of any worldly perceptions, but involves occurrences and introspections that have a single relationship with the Creator. On the other hand, knigh t of faith and the knight of infinite resignation show major aspects of freedom related to individualism in major choices of life. Kierkegaard uses the story of a lad falling and staying in love with a princess despite knowing that his expectations are impossible in showing some choices that different people make. The knight of faith presents faith in the form of a paradox that explains the difficulties involved in reconciling with logic. This is explained using the knight of faith where logic does not appear in the manner he trusts that he will gain his commitment in the present world. However, he still holds on to his belief complying with the aspect named above: the aspect of strength of the absurd. This is considered paradoxical

Fundamental of International Buisness Master Essay

Fundamental of International Buisness Master - Essay Example CPC's production facilities are decentralized according to the four regions in which it operates, following the principle of having the right product in the right store at the right time. Using SAP software for more effective management of logistics and promotional investments, reduction of out-of-stocks, and excellent customer service, it has production and R&D facilities in the following countries: CPC has a stable of global brands that include the following: Colgate, Palmolive, Kolynos, Sorriso, Elmex, Mennen, Protex, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Ajax, Soupline, Suavitel, Hill's Science Diet, and Hill's Prescription Diet. Its product formulations (Annual Report, 2004, pp. 8-12) are adapted to the country or region where these are sold. The growth rates of exports are higher compared to that of domestic sales, which declined slightly by 0.19% (from $2.744 billion to $2.739 billion) in 2003 and grew by 1.52% (to $2.781 billion) in 2004. Colgate-Palmolive Company (2004). Annual report: investing strategically for profitable growth. New York: Colgate-Palmolive Company. Retrieved November 26, 2005, from http://investor.colgatepalmolive.com/downloads/2004Annual.pdf

Does Violent Video Gaming Have an Effect on Children Research Paper

Does Violent Video Gaming Have an Effect on Children - Research Paper Example Kim et al (2010) have mentioned that â€Å"excessive playing of video games may result in impaired academic performance (Kim et al, 2010). It is an accepted fact that most of the modern videogames are thought provoking and hence it can improve children’s skills such as numerical ability, problem solving, decision making, synthesis, analysis etc. At the same time, it should be noted that spending too much time for playing videogames may have detrimental effect on children as far as the academic achievements of the children are concerned. The increased influence of video games will force the children to decrease the time spent for learning academic topics. In other words, children who spent more time for playing videogames may spent little time for doing their home works, assignments or project works. Failure in doing home works may result in poor academic performances of the children in schools. Poor academic performances of the children may generate criticism from family and teachers which may generate frustration in the minds of children. Increased frustration may often come out in the form of violent behaviors. In other words, even nonviolent videogames can generate violent behavior indirectly among children. Children may discuss the themes of the violent videogames they played even at schools and they may try to implement it in their real life also. For example, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most popular videogames among children at present. The theme of this videogame is a motor vehicle theft as the name indicates. Same way Mortal Kombat is another videogame in which the major theme is fighting. Such videogames will definitely encourage children to do the same activities in their real life as they... Children of current generation are not much keen in playing physically hardworking sports and games; they are more interested in spending as much time in front of the computers, mobile phones or television sets for playing videogames. According to Gouzouasis et al (n. d), â€Å"the type of extra-curricular activities like playing an instrument versus playing video games has differential effects on the person’s skill acquisition and personality development†. The themes of majority of the videogames currently available are violence. Many people believe that violent videogames play a vital role in the personality development of children. Moreover, many of the school violence incidents are happening as a result of the increasing influence of violent videogames upon children. Children who engaged in playing violent videogames may try to practice violence in their real life also. At the same time many other people believe that violence in videogames may not affect childrenâ⠂¬â„¢s attitude or character very much. Videogames playing may have some utility as far as the mental development of the children are concerned. However, playing violent videogames may always affect the children negatively. Unknowingly children may develop violent behaviors as a result of continuous playing of violent videogames. Since children have less awareness in segregating good and evil, they may often try to practice the themes they observed in the violent videogames in their real life. Many of the school violence incidents are taking place as a result of the increasing influence of violent videogames upon children. In short, videogame playing, especially the violent videogame playing should be restricted among children. Parents and teachers should focus more on student activities and they should assist the children in the selection of videogames for playing.

Examin the relationship between sexuality and suffering in any of the Essay

Examin the relationship between sexuality and suffering in any of the texts - Essay Example What is most important to Genet, however, is not a simple recounting of his life story, but rather the elaboration of his aesthetic preoccupations. It is in this narrative that Genet identifies most clearly his means of literary production, and discusses the relationship of body to text. It is within the context of the stated reality, and as influenced by Genet's own sexual proclivities, that the theme of sexuality and suffering asserts itself. Traditionally, autobiography is a narrative form that has as its primary theme the recounting of the life of the author. The key element in identifying a narrative as autobiographical is, to use the terminology of Philippe Lejeune, the pacte autobiographie By identifying the pacte the ideal reader realizes without a doubt that the character denoted by "I" is indeed a projection of the author on the page. Genet accomplishes this in Journal principally by providing verifiable statistics regarding his "statut civil," - his date of birth and the circumstances which surrounded it. Though a Genet character exists in Genet's other novels, this information appears only in Journal du voleur. What is most remarkable about this fact is that, rather than stabilizing the identity of the author, by its very nature it destabilizes. The fact that Genet was orphaned at a young age, and that he knows only the name of his mother, and not that of his father, puts the author character in an awkward posi tion in a society more patrilineal than most. The Journal is in many ways, an aesthetic treatise, an examination of the ideas and practices that have made Genet a creator. The two fundamental concepts that drive his creation are "beauty," and a vertiginous space that we could call the "vide," or, "nothingness." His writing exists in a tense space between the aesthetic attractions of the physical world, and the intellectual imperative of the contemplation of the emptiness of existence. Genet attributes his attraction to the physical world to its beauty. Pinning down a precise meaning of beauty is difficult. In the short entry on "beauty" in the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Aquinas is quoted as defining beauty as "that which pleases in the very apprehension of it" (80). This definition, though vague, does point to two components of the assessment of beauty, the observer and the observed. There is no beauty without a subjectivity to apprehend it. The article goes on to note that the physical beauty of a human being is hard to define in the absence of the desire that is aroused by that person in the beholder. Though philosophers have long searched to provide an understanding of the universality of beauty, we must ask if any assessment of beauty can be truly objective. It would seem that, in order for aesthetic judgements such as beauty to be meaningful, they would have to be understood in the context of subjectivity. Aesthetic philosophy, beginning with Longinus, has chosen to focus on the "sublime," that which transcends mere physical beauty and creates a deeper, more mystical meaning. In his treatise On the Sublime, Longinus says, "sublimity in all its truth and beauty exists in such works as please all men at all times" (107). In this case one might ask if any work could possibly live up to such a general definition. Longinus further elaborates on the nature of the sublime in the following quotation: By some innate power the true sublime uplifts our souls; we are filled with a proud exaltation and a

Customizing the Body and Constructing Gender Essay

Customizing the Body and Constructing Gender - Essay Example In postmodern society, art has undergone several evolutions with one invention of the human body being used as one of the medium of expressing art. Body tattooing, body piercings, incisions like tongue splitting, elongation of body parts are just among the many ways the evolution of body modification evolution has undergone (Rose, 1993).Tattooing and body piercing are perceived as acts of pursuit of empowerment and self-expression. In countries, such as Australia and the U.S., different social groups that associate themselves with Homosexuality, Nerdism, Supremacists, Modern religions and atheists, use tattooing as a symbol of self-stigmatization and as a form of communicative or per formative expression (Rose, 1993). Medically body modification may include plastic surgery, circumcision, body amputation, body piercing, tattooing, and body parts elongations amongst others. According to Edelman, the modern society women may disregard the outlook of some parts of their bodies, and subsequently resort to plastic surgery (Edelman, 2000). The body parts that are commonly modified include the breasts, cheeks, lips, buttocks, thighs amongst others(Edelman, 2000).Some individuals resort to body amputations due to pain or medical implication such as cancer or viral infection, which cannot be treated unless the amputation is performed by a qualified doctor. Others pierce their bodies to cope with trauma or stress to act as therapeutic process, which subsequently helps the subjects in coping with the reaction of the body and mind (Edelman, 2000). Legally, body modification under the American State Laws, stipulates that it should only be done on an individual who is of legal age (18-years-old), of sane mind, voluntarily, and the individual should not be under any influence of intoxications such as alcohol, drugs (Edelman, 2000). Only a qualified physician should perform body modifications that culminate to extreme actions

Novel of John Cheever The Bullet Park and The Five Forty Eight by John Essay

Novel of John Cheever The Bullet Park and The Five Forty Eight by John Cheever - Essay Example The great thing about John Cheever was his capacity for invention. (Donaldson,1998).He merges compassion and wit while maintaining the absurdity of the surroundings’ and pointlessness of their behaviors and actions, his stories hold out the hope of redemption in love and sense of revenge and unforgiving attitude Such as in the story â€Å"Five-forty-Five† and his novel† The bullet park†. John Cheever was a complex person himself and during the course of his life he was saddled by the habit of alcoholism and infidelities but he presented himself so earnestly as a Man in Brooks’ brother suit, his life was as contradictory as his characters and so his writing is not neat and raises so many questions and answer’s very less.(The guardian,2009).  Cheever rightly described himself near the end of his life, in a heartbreaking sentence: "I am one of those old men; I am like a voyager who cannot remember the streams he has travelled." (Gottlieb,2002). Vengeance and conflict due to spiritual and moral emptiness is evident between contradictory characters. In the novel â€Å" The Bullet Park†, author portrays an array of well kept houses and more than well mannered people of the town the Bullet Park but Cheever’s characters always has a double meaning to them and an unobserving reader might fail to see the crouching beast dangerously hidden behind those well kept houses. The story unfolds as a fateful intersection of two men the innocent Eliot Nailles and his nemesis, Paul Hammer, whose object is to murder his neighbor's son, takes place. The novel has an aura of retribution from the beginning. For example the chosen names for the characters are Hammer and Nailles, which show the exact opposite of each other and every quality of hammer is lacked in a nail. It is the first impression of reckless and conflicting situation between the two characters and the author tried to expose their rivalry for each other by his blunt , quite witty and creative writing.(Shannon,1998) Cheever’s view of rivalry and revenge is also seen in the description of his characters as the two main characters’ were exactly opposite of each other, in short the characters are also in the state of conflict, not just in their names but also in their defining characters as well. In the beginning the complete description of Elliot Nailles is given as person, who is responsible, loving and caring in short a good man but incomplete because he is a simple minded optimist who keeps his expectations to the sky no matter what befalls him. He is a simple man so uncomplicated that the intricacies of life disgust him. According to him anything but action should be taken in demanding situations or emotions should not be valued so much in front of responsibilities. Elliot’s son Tony is another one of his dilemmas, as he refuses to leave his bed just because he feels sad and Nailles is stumped the plight of his son. On the other hand Hammer is everything Nailles is not, a bastard son of a mother and absent father. With his dashing looks Hammer represents instability, restlessness and irregularity of his character. Where Nailles was utterly simple, Hammer is so complex that he is unable to understand himself. His sinful life became a reason for depression and he takes decision to sooth his conscience with sacrifice. Now here what is notable, is lack of logic behind the planned murder. There is no explanation of why and what. In Cheever’

HR Performance Issues and Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HR Performance Issues and Motivation - Essay Example HR management literature has well documented the relationship between motivation, job satisfaction, and work performance. Using the theories of motivation, this paper will analyze the inextricable relationship between performance and motivation in the modern business environment. Â  In order to clearly understand the relationship between employee performance and motivation, it is better to consider a real-life situation. For instance, a sales executive (Jim) who has been working at a leading MNC for the last four years fails to meet his sales targets continuously despite periodical increases in his salary and incentives. Jim had acquired his post graduation degree from the Harvard Business School with the 10th rank holder status, and subsequently, he was hired by this MNC through a campus interview. For the first three years, Jim performed outstandingly and received the ‘best performer of the year’ award two times from the sales manager. He was excited to work overtime and performed duties and responsibilities beyond his job requirements. Considering his caliber and short-term achievements and the exemplary commitment to work the management doubled his salary incentives and allowed him free food and accommodation and a brand new company vehicle. In addition, the company agreed to pay his phone and electricity bills. In spite of those attractive offers, Jim’s performance began to decline by the end of the last year. Currently, he is not interested to work overtime and is frequently absent from the office. Jim failed to meet even his sales target for the last five months.

After high school Essay Example for Free

After high school Essay As we get older, more and more problems begin to form. When we reach our teenage years though, it becomes worse. One problem I think the hardest is for young adults is deciding what we want to do for the rest of our lives when we are so young. You can go to college, military or the working field depending on your preference. When we’re in high school, we have to raise our hand and ask to use the restroom, go to the office to make any phone call no matter how important it may be and have ridiculous dress code rules. You are treated like a child from kindergarten all the way up to senior year and yet they expect you to make the most important decision of your life then. One thing that people do straight out of high school is go directly to the work field. Although its normally in most people’s best interest not to, not everyone is made for college. Unless you are extremely lucky, it has been found that people who didn’t advance to other education after high school make 85% less than those with a college diploma. My brother has a roommate in college and his dad dropped out of college after his first year or two and he makes more money than most people will ever see. His wife doesn’t have to work and his kids have it made when it comes to the materialistic things in life. He owns his own real estate company in Pittsburgh and sells and rents houses to people. He does most of his own work so he doesn’t have to pay people to do it, which is very convenient for him. Although most people do not get as lucky as him, that’s okay for some people because money isn’t everything though. Sometimes it’s better to take time off of school instead of wasting all that money when you don’t even know what you are planning on doing for the rest of your life and going straight to college. There are many reasons why people decide to not go to college, not because they just don’t think that they can do it. Sometimes people have kids before they plan, family problems or even they just can’t get help to pay for it so it holds them back from attending. College is an expensive thing that most people don’t want to pay for. You have years of loans to pay back and for a lot of people; they end up miserable at their jobs after a few years. It is also very hard to get help to pay for you college education. When my cousin tried getting help for college, because she had a full time job and no kids she could get barely any money even though she wasn’t getting any help from her parents. If college still isn’t the right thing for you but you don’t want McDonalds to be your only  definite in for a job, the military is a great option. Although you have to work your butt off for it, the military gives awesome benefits. Of course it’s nothing that the NBA players make, which is ridiculous, but it is still a lot just for being in the military. A player in the NBA averages about $5.15 million per year and all the do is dribble and shoot a basketball for a living where people in the military have to work their tails off every single day to fight for our country and they only get about $70 thousand per year. There is a lot of schooling that they will pay for you so you can still get an education while being in the military. Not only will you get your schooling paid for, but also you can even get paid for going. Also, they have programs like ROTC where you can still train for the military but you are in an actual college getting your education. As well as getting your education paid for, you also get free medical care, financial security and you can retire around 20 years before other people do. If you get all of that stuff paid for, is there even anything left to buy? Food and housing. No worries, in the Army, you receive a regular paycheck and free housing including meals. If you live off of base, you will still receive a housing allowance. Even if the amount of free meals and the checks don’t cover all of the food you want, some restaurants and grocery stores offer military discounts, which will also save a lot of money. My dad owns houses and rent them out to people and the first thing he looks at is what kind of job they have to make sure they can keep up with rent. Last summer there was a guy from the Army that tried to rent of my dad and he told him that the monthly paying isn’t going to be a big deal because he gets checks from the Army specifically for his housing so it is totally free for him. Although college isn’t everyone’s best option, I believe it’s more worth it than working forever at a job that barely gets you by. Colleges can really help you out when you aren’t exactly sure what you want to do. Some even make you take a full year of general education classes just so you are sure that you want to be in that major. Nobody should waste thousands of dollars just to change their mind like 50-70% of college kids end up doing. Also, most colleges have classes that help you transition from high school to college and help get good study habits and things like that. For most kids, what they do for the school like sports, music, theatre and clubs is the most important part of high school. Proceeding to college gives you the opportunity to further  your career in things like that where there are plenty of sports, clubs, different bands and also sororities and fraternities. Although that would be going to college for the wrong reasons, a college education in general expands your knowledge base, makes you more organized and exposes you to a whole new world of learning. There are also so many different types of colleges though. Depending on your preference, you can go to school for a few months or 12 years. There are community colleges, tech schools, four-year schools and also schools that are totally based on what you want to do. At the four-year schools, you have to take a certain amount of general education courses where as a college with a certain amount of month program, all of your classes are dedicated for your major. Every school that you go to has a variety of majors to choose from which also make the college option hard. There are some things that people will never even hear of until they go to college and even then, there are thousands of jobs you can do with most majors that people will probably never even know throughout their entire life. A lot of people don’t realize that a really big benefit of going to both college and the military is the life long friends that you make. Of course you’ll always have your friends from high school, but college and the military both give you the opportunity to start over and make new friends. As you can see, there are benefits to every option you decide to do when you graduate high school. There are also a lot of cons to the option that you decide. It all depends on the person and what they are like. It’s just a very hard decision to make when you are barely old enough to stay outside past 11pm. We are very uneducated about the all the different majors in college and the benefits of or other options if we decided to not go to college. We have only lived about a quarter of our life and we are expected to decide what we want to do for three more quarters of our life. This decision is the one that is going to affect you for the rest of your life and I just don’t think that we are educated enough to make it.

Qantas Airlines Essay Example for Free

Qantas Airlines Essay Introduction Qantas Airlines, initially known as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS), was founded by two former war pilots, Wilmot Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, in 1920 at Queensland, Australia. Qantas is the flag carrier airline for Australia and it is the second oldest airlines in the world. Qantas Airlines headquarters is located in Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales with its major hub at Sydney Airport. The airline began with joy flights in 1920 and by 1922, they carried 871 passengers and logged 54,000 km without severe damage. It also began its airmail service between Charleville and Cloncurry which was their first ever to be scheduled in 1922. In 1935, Qantas operated its first international flight which was a regular four-day trip from Brisbane to Singapore. It has now become Australia’s largest domestic and international airlines with much development. Qantas started advertising via television. It was a television campaign which started in 1967 through a few decades with it targeting American citizens. The ad was a huge success as it was named as one of the greatest commercial of all times. The airlines also promoted its brand by sponsoring a handful of sports team. Qantas is the principal contributor of the â€Å"Qantas Wallabies†, Australia’s national Union Rugby team and the Formula One Australian Grand Prix. It also sponsors the Australian’s national association football team, Socceroos and recently made a deal with Cricket Australia to be the main backer of the Australian national cricket team. Qantas had become so significant that the government bought over it back in 1947 which is a year after the Australian Airlines was formed. Unfortunately, Australian Airlines had a major issue which led to Qantas b eing sold. Qantas was then privatised and since then it has continued to mature despite fighting financial crisis and global turndown for aviation. To regain profit, Qantas have produce subsidiaries such as Jetstar Airways which is Qantas’ low-cost carrier. CEO Alan Joyce was pleased to announce Qantas’ best profit ($250 mil.) since the global financial crisis in 2011, even though the airlines and the aviation suffered from some challenges. Despite everything, it is undeniable that Qantas is regarded as the worlds leading long distance airline and one of the strongest brands in Australia.

The Infopreneur

The Infopreneur Infopreneur Simple but, an infopreneur is a person that sells information (Chandler, 2007). The infopreneur creates an idea and provides information through the internet. An infopreneur gathers, organizing and disseminates information online as a venture or value added service. The infopreneur runs an information-based business and is available to users of the internet with ease. There is a clear route of disseminate transform profit/ value. Chandler also suggest that it is a relatively new buzz work that is creating waves as is opens doors for entrepreneurs to create new revenue streams. Entrepreneur Experts have different options of how they interrupt the entrepreneur. For Kirzner the entrepreneur is someone who is alert to profitable opportunities for exchange (Deakins, Freel, 2003). He see the individual acting more as the middle man but identifying customers as well as suppliers and taking action to bring to two together, anyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur. However Schumpeter has a contracting view, he sees the entrepreneur as an innovator. They bring about change but introduction something new. Nevertheless Peter Jones, a successful entrepreneur might agree with Kirzner, Entureprenuer are not born, they are made (Jones 2009). But Dr. Steve Gedeon of Ryerson University 2007, suggests that there are two types of entrepreneurs those whom start their own business venture and those whom Innovate within a corporate framework to add value to a company. By bring these views together it can be concluded that an entrepreneur is a person who undertakes, operates or proposes a new business venture. This usually takes place with an innovative mind set of introducing new or existing product/service into a new or existing market. It is usually found that an individual would not make this move without a significant befit. Infopreneur vs. Entrepreneur Just doing a simple search for infopreneur through the infopreneurial site of Google a user can find statement like: everyone is an expert in something make money from what you know on the other hand if a search is preformed regarding entrepreneurs you gain a list of famous entrepreneurs. There is no set of rules to follow to become a profitable entrepreneur. As Bill Gates states in recent article, The Internet makes the world simpler. For businesses, the Internet breaks down logistical barriers, offering greater flexibility and power in the way they do business. The language of the Internet is universal and easily grasped, any business can create products and services that make use of it. (Gates 2007) With the use of the internet escalating and becoming past of our day to day lives can the entrepreneur really survive? The following will discuss some of the challenges that both parties face: Old world rules vs. new world rules The entrepreneurs work with old world rules of business consisted of companies buying from suppliers, they create a physical product and sell these products through stores/outlets. Customers visit these to buy the products, this is governed by law. While the infopreneur has a new set of rules where by they present information that may not have to be purchased, it is a digital product that is on the internet. For example anyone can set up a blog and start to make money, Gina Garrubbo, executive vice president of BlogHer, There are millions of dollars to be made, (Shiels, 2008). Creating a blog if free, all the writer needs to do is to add an advertising service such as Google adsence, which displays targeted text and ads dependent on the blog context. The writer then receives money for reader click on the ads (Marshall, 2009). Customers never have to leave their home to access or buy the digital product/information, is some case the customer may ever set the price they wish to pay for the product. For example Jay Walkers invention of Priceline, invites users to name the price they want to pay for a variety of goods from hotels to airlines. (Price, 2000) Infopreneurs also benefit from the fact that the new world is not governed by heavy laws. It is clear to see that these rules matter when looking upon entrepreneurs and Infopreneurs as it can be seen that an entrepreneur plays to the old rules of business, added value by transforming a physical product and the infopreneur uses the new, business added value by transforming information. In the old world of business it is expected to see suppliers, customers, competitors and substitutes feeding into the business. For example Michael Dell an entrepreneur who revolutionized the personal computer industry but simple eliminating the middle man, has suppliers like Intel, competitors such as HP and Acer and rival substitutes of retail companies of PC world and Comet (Allen, 2002). However when looking upon the new world, not all exist in the business environment. It has been observed that suppliers are occasionally absent in the new world rules therefore making a dramatic impacted on the running cost. For example EBay simple acts as the middle man by bring customer and seller together, they have no suppliers (Price, 2000). Without suppliers the business has little to no out going cost leaving the business owner with considerable more income. The legal/Illegal battle In recent time it has been seen that the law is clamping down on cyberspace, for example Pirate bay is one of the most high profile file sharing web sites. It was set up in 2003 with millions of files being transferred everyday. The creators of the site have always denied breaking any copyright laws however they have just been sentenced to one year prison sentences and ordered to pay ÂÂ £3 m in damages (BBC, 2009). The creators ague that the site dose nothing more that Google dose and simply directs users to location where information/files can be found. The story of Pirate bay could be a starting block of the way the internet could be governed in the future. Cyberlaws could crash the industry for some Infopreneurs. For example, Bloggers could now face publicising laws if they refuse to publish correctly, it will affect anyone who post or publish anything on the internet. Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw said Existing defamation law needs to be updated so it is fit for the modern age, and it is important we listen to views on the best way to achieve this. Freedom to hold and express opinions is a right that is vital to democracy, as is respect for the rights and freedoms of others. How these principles are balanced in the fast-changing internet age is a fascinating debate. Infopreneurs may think twice before entering the new world of the internet age, with big organization like these and also Yahoo facing court tribunals, A French judge has ruled that the US Internet Service Provider Yahoo! Inc must make it impossible for French users to access sites auctioning race hate memorabilia (BBC, 2000). Plus Web search giant Google faces a court case in Switzerland because of privacy concerns over its Street View service (BBC, 2009) It may not be a matter of if but when more cyberlaws come in to action as these governing bodies show there power to direct the future of the internet. The internet age The Internet has a revolutionary impactindividuals and businesses can overcome geographical, cultural and logistical barriers and improve the way they live and work. (Gates, 2007) as Bill Gates state the internet has open doors to us all. Business can be set up with just a few clicks of a mouse and customers never have to leave the comfort of their homes to access products and services online. This is now a well know term as the internet age. The world never sleeps and trading taking place online 24/7 within the global market of anytime anyplace anywhere (Louise Proddow 2000). September figures show that there is a staggering 1,733,993,741of internet users world wide (Internet Usage Statistics, 2009). As the use of the internet ever increasing the infopreneur business is growing as they are able utilize this every expanding market. The old world business of the entrepreneur has to significantly innovation to serve in the internet age. For example existing and well established entrepreneurs from the TV show Dragons Den, access new revenue streams by investing in innovative entrepreneur s and Infopreneurs, mentoring and acting as the middle man then benefit from the return on investment. There are using there knowledge to teach other on how to be a successful entrepreneur by doing this enforcing the options of Kirzner. The internet ages appeals to the business nature of the infopreneur by offering a global customer base with very little investment needed. If you already have a computer and word processing program, biggest investment is likely to be your time (Chandler, 2007). A few clicks the infopreneur has a global business however it could take a number of years for the entrepreneur to gain global visibility. In a recent article a BBC writer discussed how the internet could kill the high street, with smaller overheads than its High Street rivals. Internet businesses may have a better chance of surviving a deep recession than some of the big retail names. Shops selling electronic goods, books and music will find it ever harder to compete. The economics of the long tail, where web operators can make money by offering a vast selection of goods that no single store can accommodate, may now prove irresistible. Google tallering services to the end user. The online retail industry body reported that this year there was a 34 per cent increase in online shopping last year. Conclusion People from all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to set up and run a successful online business. (Pickell, 2009) As stated previously, entrepreneurs need extensive amounts of funding but in contrast, infopreneur have virtually no risk or endless amounts of set up costs they can setup and start running a business in just a few clicks on a mouse. The infopreneur business is also nondependent on graphical location, their website is visible to the world but it could be aguwed that a entrepreneurs However it needs to be considered where the internet is going. As Kevin Kelly states at the 2007 EG conference, the world wide wed is only 5,000 days olds how can we predict what will happen in the next 5,000 days? Infopreneur are almost depend on entrepreneurs to dictate this as with out entrepreneurs like Tim Berners-Lee (the inventor of the WWW) and Bill Gates there would be no market place for Infopreneurs to function in. There are no laws that govern online activities yet they are rule to govern physical business that are set up by entrepreneurs. References Peter Jones 2009 [online] Entrepreneurs are not born, they are taught The skills needed to turn ideas into commercial successes must be taught in school says the Dragons Dens Peter Jones Comments (1) Buzz up! Digg it Peter Jones The Guardian, Tuesday 6 October 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/oct/06/dragons-den-peter-jones Dr. Steve Gedeon of Ryerson University 2007 [online] KIMBALL, Ralph and ROSS, Margy (2002). The data warehouse toolkit: the complete guide to dimensional modeling. 2nd ed., New York, Wiley. DEAKINS, David and FREEL, Mark (2003) Entrepreneurship and Small Firms. 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Education, UK