Abstract This paper looks at the problems caused by large volumes of unwanted email on the internet. It discusses the economic ramifications and legal issues involved. Federal Trade Commission recommendations are examined and seen as a serious annoyance to internet users.
From the Paper "re you sick and tired of junk e-mail filling your inbox and wasting your time? Do you want to do something about it? The boundless, dreadful Spam monster must be stopped, and you can help. This is how a typical day starts for me. While sipping the morning coffee in front of my PC at home or work, I get an uneasy feeling that I am only a mouse click away to viewing something I do not want to see. My password is entered and there they are, four advertising e-mails trying to sell a product, service, or a promise to make me rich. The junk e-mail is called UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail); a.k.a. "Spam", but has nothing to do with the luncheon meat product we all love or hate."
Abstract The following paper gives us some insight into Bill Peet's, a children's literature author, his past, influences on his life and career and his feud with Walt Disney. It also examines the themes and styles in the three chosen works.
From the Paper "Bill Peet is one of America's greatest unsung authors. Although he began his career as a talented storyman and sketch artist for Disney, he eventually found the role too constricting and he decided to start a new career publishing his own short stories. At the age of forty-nine Bill Peet was getting his second wind. Using his knowledge from The Jungle Book and other Disney movies, Bill Peet started to create shaping literature. Shaping literature is a story or poem that is meant for young readers, but with adult overtones, to add moral and social character."
Abstract This story presents a common slice of life that can be projected to other situations. The author is waiting for the light to change and next to her is a religious zealot type. The story is fast-paced and written in narration which you can hear in your head. And while the author is going through the narration----the light changes red again!
From the Paper "My friend Nancy would have crossed against the light. And if that didn't work, she would snort and start speaking Greek in her Exorcist voice. Rachel would shout "Rape!" at the top of her lungs. John would say "Oh! there's the bat-signal!" and take off running, but no, not me. My mother had to teach me manners. While the other kids just said "No" to Drugs, I had to say "No Thank You."
Abstract Today, with every television news station, radio station, police department, traffic reporter, life-flight rescue and emergency units circling above, helicopter roter sounds have become an annoyance to the public. The paper shows that this has led to an increase in local restrictions and tighter certification standards, forcing manufacturers to seek new technology for sound abatement. The paper discusses the three noise categories and modern noise reduction technologies.
From the Paper "Helicopter noise reduction has become so important to rotorcraft manufacturers that competition has ignited advertising campaign wars with each claiming one or more of their models to be the quietest in the industry (Kernstock 1999). he competition is so great in many cases that many helicopters are ?within a tenth of a decibel of each other ? far below human hearing thresholds? (Kernstock 1999). This advent of low-noise technology has created two classifications of rotorcraft, the new quiet crafts that meet new regulations and the older noisy ones that continue to operate under grand-fathering clauses yet may be prevented from being introduced into new markets (Kernstock 1999). Moreover, as anti-noise regulations increase, the older grand-fathered craft could eventually become prohibited in many areas, causing serious consequences for many operators who cannot afford the newer models (Kernstock 1999)."
Abstract This paper introduces the topic of cell phone use while driving and, specifically, discusses the increased use of cell phones in the United States and the dangers of driving while talking on one. It shows how, although using cell phones in public can be annoying and downright rude, driving while talking on a cell phone can be deadly and how driver inattention is one of the main causes of accidents on the road today.
From the Paper "The Utah psychologists had conducted earlier studies which showed that drivers missed traffic signals while they were talking on the phone, whether the phone was hands-free or not. They also discovered that other types of driver distraction were not nearly as dangerous as the use of cell phones. "The earlier study also found there was no impairment of drivers who either conversed with a passenger or who listened to the radio or to books on tape" (Blind). Drivers will always be distracted, but anything that can be done to keep drivers from becoming overly distracted is not only important, but also imperative."
Tags: inattention, distraction, hands-free, headset, ban
Abstract This paper begins by briefly tracing the history of alcohol and alcohol consumption and then looks at its transformation from a mildly annoying social phenomenon to a potentially hazardous and deadly phenomenon when combined with the automobile. The paper looks at the effects significant alcohol consumption can have on a driver's performance, the warning signs of drunk drivers, who is most likely to drive while drunk, and who is most likely to die as the result of a drunk driver.
From the Paper "Alcohol is a legal drug, one of society's oldest and most popular behavioral modifiers. (NEFA) While teetotalers and social reformers of the last 200 years have done much to alienate people from alcohol and to cast it as a terrible social ill, they have often only succeeded in bastardizing its consumption without really making a dent in its wide acceptance. Alcohol and humankind have a long history together that is hardly going to be erased by a few laws, or a handful of sermons. Alcohol is found in the most primitive and the most advanced of cultures known to man. According to most ancient mythologies, it was a gift from the divine. Egyptian mythology says that Isis and Osiris taught the people how to make beer. Greek mythology speaks of the great gods of intoxication, such as Dionysus and Pan. In many cultures it has served as a way of purifying water, a natural painkiller and anesthetic, and a socially bonding experience for celebration. In our modern culture, however, it has taken on a far darker role."
Abstract This paper examines a number of the social norms exemplified in a particular public location. The writer was chosen to observe social interaction in a common public library. Over the course of the approximate hour that the writer spent studying the library's patrons and personnel, several behavioral patterns emerged. It became apparent that certain types of behavior were acceptable, while others appeared to produce annoyance or other forms of sanction. All of the interactions, however, were highly specific to the public library setting; put elsewhere, certain actions that produced sanctions would be perfectly acceptable, while others simply would not fit. It is important to note that the patterns observed remain reasonably unofficial codes of conduct and that adherence to them is relatively implicit. Therefore, violations of these social norms were more likely to be overlooked, depending upon the individual's familiarity with them; age, for example, tended to be one of the most influential variables. Overall, the brief examination of the public library as a social setting revealed a number of facts that often tend to be overlooked or taken for granted.
From the Paper "A social norm is, essentially, a guideline dictating appropriate behavior dependent upon the social context. Generally, "Social norms theory states that behavior is often influenced by how individuals perceive that other members of a social group behave." So, these norms are created and perpetuated by individuals' interpretations of how others act, in combination with their desires to adhere to common practices. Collectively, these perceptions come together to formulate specified methods of procedure for certain social situations. Often times, sociologists define the most iron-clad form of customary behavior to be "mores"; these constitute "must behaviors, the basic patterns of ideas and acts of a people." These mores are often backed up by more formal rules or laws within a particular society. More unofficial than both norms and mores are folkways. These tend to be, "Behaviors which are construed as somewhat less compulsive than mores of the same society, and do not call for a strong reaction from the society if violated." In other words, folkways are behaviors that are generally looked upon with favor when held to, but are not obligatory in their nature."
Abstract This paper explains that SPAM, originally the name of a disgusting canned substance, is annoying junk email or mass, unsolicited commercial email; the use of the term as repetitive junk comes from a Monty Python skit. The author relates that the first SPAM was originated when two lawyers named Canter and Siegel hired a programmer to write a program script that would post the lawyers' advertisement to thousands of newsgroups on "USENET", which at the time was the world's largest online conferencing center. The paper contends that SPAM is the absolute worst way to get a message across because these junk emails are never read, only deleted yet they cost society millions, if not billions, of dollars and are very difficulty to control through software and legislate.
From the Paper "Aside from being annoying, Spam is costing people big bucks. Saul Hansell of the New York Times explains how in the year 2000, Indiana University spent approximately 1.2 million dollars on a new network of nine computers, with their sole purpose being to process email for over 115,000 students and faculty members across the state. This network was believed to be sufficient until 2004, but with the exponential increase in Spam email, the school had to upgrade their system in 2001, at a cost of 300,000 dollars. The cost to universities is chump change compared to what it is estimated to be costing the United States."
Abstract The author of this paper argues from a personal perspective that telemarketers harass people through being persistent, ignoring peoples' requests for being left alone, targeting the calling times to when people are eating dinner, being deceptive and just being plain annoying -all in order to boost sales. The paper touches on privacy legislation and gives examples of companies which do not honor these laws.
From the Paper "The government's solution to the telemarketing problem is to try to regulate telemarketing. They believe that the customer should call and request to be placed on a national do not call list, and that the companies should check these lists every ninety days to see if anyone they are calling is on these lists. The problem lies in the fact that the company in charge of maintaining this list, AT&T, is the one company who has the most complaints made against it for not abiding by consumers' wishes to not be called."
Abstract This paper makes the case that the convenience that mobile phones provide is not worth the many drawbacks they bring with them: physical danger, accidents, health issues, intrusion, social isolation, eroding of relationships, and privacy concerns.
From the Paper "We would all be much better off without mobile phones. Although the convenience of being able to call from any location at any time is undeniable, the impact of mobile phones on our lifestyles and our health is predominantly negative. Mobile phones are potentially one of the most dangerous devices on the market today and yet even children use them. Many consumers are not aware that a significant number of mobile phones explode during use. Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going..."
Abstract This paper discusses the television program "Curb your Enthusiasm", which is a satirical comedy focusing on the life of the writer, Larry David. The paper describes Larry as successful, but also enormously annoying and unlovable.
From the Paper "Existentialism and Curb Your Enthusiasm The television program Curb your Enthusiasm is a satirical comedy focusing on the life of a writer, Larry David. Larry is successful, but he is also enormously annoying and unlovable. Regardless of his lack of personal charms, he is portrayed as having a wonderful life, in which he seldom puts in a full day of work, and instead drifts from social engagement to social engagement. Like the characters in the television show that made Larry famous, i.e. Seinfeld, Larry seems to lack any serious purpose in life, and takes his extreme good fortune entirely for granted."
Abstract This paper discusses the growing security risk Internet users face and the potential threat this risk carries with it. The paper explains that various forms of malware such as viruses, worms, or spyware are created and distributed each day, increasing the risk that everyone must bear. The paper also points out that, although usually considered just an annoyance, spam represents one of the more significant security risks for Internet users, if only because of its extreme ubiquity. Everyone on the Internet continuously deals with spam. Much of it may simply be a frustration; however, some of it represents a real security risk as when spammers use this method to infect systems, crash servers, or obtain personal information.
This paper describes a personal experience in which a person, Steve, whom the author trusted, has let him down and how this occurrence affected the author's sense of personal trust and self-confidence.
Abstract This paper relates that, in terms of self-concept, the author of the paper learned from his altercation with Steve that his self-esteem was directly impacted by the loyalty of others, which he had never sensed before in other similar experiences. The author realizes that he too often makes sweeping generalizations about others, possibly caused by his desire to trust without hesitation, which has led to many instances of disappointment that affected his self-esteem. The paper relates that this epiphany has given him a great deal of personal strength. The author states that, instead of viewing the situation as a new generalization that no one can be trusted, he was able to see that he can always trust himself to get done what needs to be done. The author underscores that, in terms of Steve's behavior, while many people try to follow the social rules around them, some are unable to actually handle the relationships with others thus they inflate their own self-concepts.
From the Paper "At this point, I had stopped searching for a used car. I had utmost confidence that Steve would come through, despite his recent lapses in communication. Another week passed, and I received no word of my car. I decided to call again. There was no answer. I began to realize that there never actually was an answer--only the answering service. I called and called. I became desperate. School was about to begin and I had no vehicle and no supplemental income. I had been waiting for Steve...but, who was Steve? In the end, Steve did call me back. It was over a month later that I received the call, only to be curtly chastised for my annoying requests."
Abstract This paper explains that Gap, Inc. is one of the world's biggest multinational specialty retailers, selling casual clothes, accessories and personal care products for women, men and children. The author points out that, since its beginning, the goal of Gap has been to make shopping easier. The paper stresses that the judicious use of technology, such as computer-telephony integration (CTI) and data warehousing, can play a vital role. The author underscores that Gap utilizes state of the art technology, such as integrated global databases, to coordinate its customer knowledge; however, the greatest recent technological change in customer service has been the advent of online shopping. The paper relates that the Web has served its American customers extremely well by offering an excellent online shopping service, but its British clients are annoyed because Gap fails to offer them the same service.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Importance of Customer Service
Technology in Customer Service
Questionnaire
Results of Questionnaires
Conclusion
From the Paper "US customers felt that they got good customer service at Gap. Some said it was very important that there is a sufficient number of staff, compared to stores like Wal-Mart or Target, where it is hard to even find a staff member, let alone someone knowledgeable. UK customers had very similar comments, comparing Gap stores favorably to retailers such as Tesco, where there is almost no customer service. Gap seems to be impressing its customers by resisting the global trend towards self-serve."
Abstract The paper looks at four types of annoying workers in the office and six types of power and shows how individuals translate their bases of power into specific action that is called politics. The paper discusses different types of empowerment and how those who engage in harassment in the workplace are typically abusing their power position. The paper explains that politics is almost inevitable in a workplace due to members holding different goals and interests, the scarcity of organizational resources and unclear and subjective performance outcomes. The paper concludes by describing several ways in which people can help to minimize office politics.
From the Paper "I think the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency. Dependency is basically the more that B depends on A, the more power A has in the relationship. Dependence is based on the alternatives that B perceives and the important that B places on the alternatives that A controls (Langton and Robbins, 2006, p.281). An example of this would be if you are attending university on funds totally supplied by your parents, you should recognize the power that your parents hold over you. You are dependent on them for financial support. But when you are done school, have a job, and making a living, your parents' power is drastically reduced. Another example of this seems to be the rich relative who is able to control family members by the threat of removing them from the will."
