6 Reasons You Should Invest in Proofreading

6 Reasons You Should Invest in Proofreading 6 Reasons You Should Invest in Proofreading I was walking down the street the other day, when a man with a mad look in his eye approached me, shouting incoherently. â€Å"YOU’RE ONE OF ‘EM HECKIN’ PROOFREADERS, AIN’T YOU?† he bellowed, showering me with spittle. â€Å"Why yes, sir, I am,† I replied, â€Å"How can I help you?† â€Å"I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!† he screamed, his face inches from my own, â€Å"WHAT GOOD HAS PROOFREADING EVER DONE NO-ONE?† Sighing wearily at the double negative, I took the shouting man aside and bought him a cup of coffee. I then explained the following points: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Proofreading Can Boost Your Grades Many colleges award additional marks for good spelling and grammar (sometimes up to 10% of your overall grade). This can make a big difference over the academic year. More importantly, having your work proofread will make it easier to read, which can make your arguments clearer and more convincing. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Automatic Spellcheckers are Unreliable The automatic spellchecker on your word processor is useful for catching basic errors, but it’s limited when it comes to proper nouns, technical terms, acronyms, homonyms and sentence structure (all things with which a proofreader can help you). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Tyranny of Deadlines Whether you’re at college or in the office, many of us have heavy workloads and deadlines to meet. Having a professional check your work will save you valuable time and effort, making sure that you never miss another deadline. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Word Limits Part of proofreading is making sure your written work is concise and free from repetition. This is very helpful if you struggle to stay within the word limit on your assignments! 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fresh, Expert Eyes Even the best writers struggle to proofread their own work, no matter their level of linguistic expertise. A professional proofreader, on the other hand, comes to your writing fresh, which makes it easier to spot small errors that might otherwise get missed. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mistakes in Promotional Material are Bad for Business Research has shown that poorly written promotional material can attract bad press and incur significant costs. For example, the publisher Penguin had to recall and destroy 7,000 copies of a cookbook that included a recipe demanding â€Å"salt and freshly ground black people† when it should have said â€Å"salt and freshly ground black pepper. Oops. That’s $20,000 dollars that could have been saved with good proofreading. Once we had finished our coffee, the previously furious man seemed much calmer. â€Å"Oh my,† he said, no longer expectorating, â€Å"I had no idea! My sincere apologies! From now on, I will always have my written work checked by a professional!† And with that he left, leaving me sat alone in the coffee shop, despairing over a misplaced apostrophe in the menu.

Grasmicks Low Self-Control Scale Essays

Grasmicks Low Self-Control Scale Essays Grasmicks Low Self-Control Scale Essay Grasmicks Low Self-Control Scale Essay According to the University of Oklahoma website, Dr. Grasmick has been publishing articles since 1974 and is still continuing his research on his theories on criminal deviance and its deterrents. The website indicates that â€Å"he is credited with creating the â€Å"Grasmick’s Low Self-Control Scale†, which is used to measure self-control in criminal deviants † Grasmicks scale is being employed in most studies and dissertations under the subject of Criminal Justice. John McMullen wrote a dissertation on the topic which is entitled â€Å"A Test of Self-control Theory Using General Patterns of Deviance. † He employed Grasmicks Low Self-Control Scale in his survey instruments to derive his results for the study. The scale measures six separate aspects of self control. The scale consists of 24 total items, divided evenly into â€Å"simple tasks, impulsivity, physical activities, risk seeking, self- centered, and temper sub-components. Respondents were asked to report whether they â€Å"strongly agree,† â€Å"agree,† â€Å"disagree,† or â€Å"strongly disagree† to each individual item. He described the concept of self- control in reference to Gottfredson and Hirschis General Theory of Crime, by stating that â€Å"Individuals who possess the low self-control trait are more likely to become involved in criminal, deviant, and accidental behaviors than those who possess high levels of self-control † (McMullen, 1999, p. 6). In terms of reliability, McMullen mentions that on the basis of empirical support and extensive testing, the scale was very suitable for use in his sample age group. : He also comments that: â€Å"the most convincing argument for using this scale comes from Piquero and Rosay (1998:170), who concluded that, â€Å"it appears the scale can be an acceptable scale in terms of tapping into the components alluded to by Gottfredson and Hirschi† (McMullen, 1999, p. 35). References McMullen, J. C. (1999). A Test of Self-control Theory Using General Patterns of Deviance. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University .

Kiosk Technology Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Kiosk Technology - Research Proposal Example Kiosk point-of-sale systems provide 24 x 7 availability to the customers where they can make transactions in an easy, user-friendly manner. The ease, with which transactions can be made, provides an important element towards an organization's ability to attract customers; as the customers look for user-friendly and always available systems that can take care of their needs. Kiosk promises to be the technological advancement that can take care of this need. In addition, kiosks provide customers with product information and interactive features that improves the overall image of the company in customers' minds. Kiosks are available in various types and for various purposes. Ranging from a simple cash register to a complex and integrated ATM (Automated Teller Machine), kiosks are believed to improve customer relationships, reduce headcounts for manual/ traditional operations, to take benefit of technology boom, to achieve accuracy and efficiency in operations and to improve customers' p erception about the company by providing various marketing and product/ services information on the kiosk terminals. This research will concentrate on evaluating the use of kiosks at var... Presenting Problem Any strategic investment in technology is made only if there are visible benefits and high expected returns from the investment. Kiosks have been used at POS sites with a hope to increase customer visits and their satisfaction levels that might ultimately lead to an increase in business revenue. However, there are no measurements and or performance evaluation mechanisms to find out the effectiveness of kiosks in adding to customer delight at the point of sale sites; and if at all there are some benefits to it. My research will help establish a relationship between kiosks and the POS systems to determine if kiosks add value to the overall productivity of POS sites and how can this value be measured, if at all. This can be used as part of feasibility analysis for strategic IT investment in kiosk technology by companies at their point of sale systems sites. Scope and Scale The scope of this research can not be restricted to few organizations or customers only. Since kiosks are being used by a variety of companies in a number of instances, it is wise to sample different sets of businesses and customers to develop a representative output for the entire universe of customers and businesses. The scope of this research includes surveys to be conducted with both customers who make use of kiosk technology and businesses that employ kiosk systems at the point of customer interaction. I will gather surveys from approximately 25 respondents belonging to various sites and areas, and then will attempt to compile the results. The number of surveys and interviews is only an estimate with an expected variation of ten percent for the number of respondents for the survey. Target The relationship between customer interaction with kiosk at POS systems and

E-Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

E-Portfolio - Assignment Example di Arabia, in 1990 to a medium-sized family made up of my parents, me, three brothers, and one sister.   Throughout my childhood, I was taught the importance of hard work, honesty, and doing a good job.   My siblings all work good jobs, with two working as engineers and two working as professors of Chemistry. However I am the first in my family to leave the country in order to pursue higher education.   I believe this experience of leaving my country has made me a stronger person with a better understanding of the world and my chosen profession.   I had to struggle to learn English at first, although now I do well in it, and assimilating into the culture of another country was also a challenge which taught me a lot about myself and my own culture as well.   As an international student at Pennsylvania State University, I have been exposed to all sorts of courses and have gained a hands-on understanding with a number of topics related to petroleum and natural gas engineering.  Ã‚   If you visit my work samples page, you can see just a few of the best assignments that I have completed during my time here.   As well as courses I have taken, I have done an internship with oil combines in Saudi Arabia.   This experience gave me a good understanding of important industry practice, and has helped me to get skills that will let me be a better engineer.   After I graduate from university, I hope to work in the petroleum and natural gas industry in some way or another.   While I would like to be able to return to my native country and be near my family, I am also excited to explore the world around me.   My ideal job would let me use my knowledge of English and Arabic to share what I have learned at Pennsylvania State University about petroleum and natural gas engineering.   I would be especially interested in working in the oil industry as either a drilling engineer or production engineer.   For the moment, I am keeping my options open and look forward to seeing what

Gestational Diabetes Essay Example for Free

Gestational Diabetes Essay Gestational Diabetes is high blood sugar (diabetes) that starts or is first diagnosed during pregnancy. It is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy, especially during third trimester. There is still the question whether the condition is natural during pregnancy (Serlin Lash 2009). Causes, Incidence, and Risk Factors Pregnancy hormones can block insulin from doing its job. When this happens, glucose levels may increase in a pregnant women’s blood. You are at greater risk for gestational diabetes if you: are older than 25 when you are pregnant, have family history of diabetes, gave birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds or had a birth defect, have high blood pressure, have too much amniotic fluid, have had an unexplained miscarriage or stillbirth, or were overweight before the pregnancy (Benjamin Pridijan 2010). Symptoms Usually there are no symptoms, or the symptoms are mild and not life threatening to the pregnant woman. The blood sugar (glucose) level usually returns to normal after delivery. Symptoms may include: blurred vision, fatigue, frequent infections, including those in the bladder, vagina, and skin, increased thirst, increased urination, nausea and vomiting, and weight loss despite increased appetite (Benjamin Pridijan 2010). Signs and Tests Gestational diabetes usually starts halfway through the pregnancy. All pregnant women should receive an oral glucose tolerance test between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy to screen for the condition. Women who have risk factors for gestational diabetes may have this test earlier in the pregnancy (Serlin Lash 2009). Once you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you can see how well you are doing by testing your glucose level at home. The most common way involves pricking your finger and putting a drop of blood on a machine that will give you a glucose reading (Serlin Lash 2009). Treatment The goals of treatment are to keep blood sugar (glucose) levels within normal limits during pregnancy, and to make sure that the growing baby is healthy (Cohen-Almagor R. 2000). Watching the baby The health care provider should closely check both mother and baby throughout the pregnancy. Fetal monitoring will check the size and health of the fetus. A nonstress test is a very simple, painless test for the mother and baby. A machine that hears and displays the baby’s heartbeat (electronic fetal monitor) is placed the the mother’s abdomen. The health care provider can compare the pattern of the baby’s heartbeat to movements and find out whether the baby is doing well (Cohen-Almagor R. 2000). Diet and Exercise The best way to improve the diet during pregnancy is by eating healthy foods. The expectant mother should talk to her doctor or dietitian if vegetarian or on a special diet. In general, when diagnosed with gestational diabetes the diet should be moderate in fat and protein, provide carbohydrates through foods that include fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates such as bread, cereal, pasta, rice. Foods that contain a lot of sugar, such as soft drinks, fruit juices and pastries should be avoided. If managing the diet does not control blood sugar levels, then the physician may prescribe diabetes medicine by mouth or insulin therapy (American Diabetes Association 2008). Prognosis Most women with gestational diabetes are able to control their blood sugar and avoid harm to themselves or their baby. Pregnant women with gestational diabetes tend to have larger babies at birth. This can increase the chance of problems at the time of delivery, including: birth injury (trauma) because of the baby’s large size, delivery by c-section. The baby is more likely to have periods of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) during the first few days of life. Mothers with gestational diabetes have an increased risk for high blood pressure during pregnancy. There is a slightly increased risk of the baby dying when the mother has untreated gestational diabetes, controlling blood sugar levels reduces this risk (Serlin Lash 2009). High blood glucose levels often go back to normal after delivery. However, women with gestational diabetes should be watched closely after giving birth and at regular doctor’s appointments to screen for signs of diabetes. Many women with gestational diabetes develop diabetes within 5-10 years after delivery (Serlin Lash 2009). Prevention Beginning prenatal care early and having regular prenatal visits helps improve the health of expectant mother and her baby. Having prenatal screening at 24-28 weeks into the pregnancy will help detect gestational diabetes early. If overweight, decreasing BMI to a normal range before getting pregnant will decrease the risks of developing gestational diabetes (Benjamin Pridijan 2010).

The Pearl :: essays research papers

The Pearl, which takes place in La Paz, Mexico, begins with a description of the seemingly idyllic family life of Kino, his wife Juana and their infant son, Coyotito. Kino watches as Coyotito sleeps, but sees a scorpion crawl down the rope that holds the hanging box where Coyotito lies. Kino attempts to catch the scorpion, but Coyotito bumps the rope and the scorpion falls on him. Although Kino kills the scorpion, it still stings Coyotito. Juana and Kino, accompanied by their neighbors, go to see the local doctor, who refuses to treat Coyotito because Kino cannot pay. Kino and Juana leave the doctors and take Coyotito down near the sea, where Juana uses a seaweed poultice on Coyotito's shoulder, which is now swollen. Kino dives for oysters from his canoe, attempting to find pearls. He finds a very large oyster which, when Kino opens it, yields an immense pearl. Kino puts back his head and howls, causing the other pearl divers to look up and race toward Kino's canoe. The news that Kino has found an immense pearl travels fast through La Paz. The doctor who refused to treat Coyotito decides to visit Kino. Kino's neighbors begin to feel bitter toward him for his good fortune, but neither Kino nor Juana realize this feeling they have engendered. Juan Tomas, the brother of Kino, asks him what he will do with his money, and he envisions getting married to Juana in a church and dressing Coyotito in a yachting cap and sailor suit. He claims that he will send Coyotito to school and buy a rifle for himself. The local priest visits and tells Kino to remember to give thanks and to pray for guidance. The doctor also visits, and although Coyotito seems to be healing, the doctor insists that Coyotito still faces danger and treats him. Kino tells the doctor that he will pay him once he sells his pearl, and the doctor attempts to discern where the pearl is located (Kino has buried it in the corner of his hut). That night, a thief attempts to break into Kino's hut , but Kino drives him away. Juana tells Kino that the pearl will destroy them, but Kino insists that the pearl is their one chance and that tomorrow they will sell it. Kino's neighbors wonder what they would do if they had found the pearl, and suggest giving it as a present to the Pope, buying Masses for the souls of his family, and distributing it among the poor of La Paz.

Putnam Paper Essay

Introduction   Putnam’s recent work has mainly focused on bringing philosophy out of its case and back to the world of ordinary people and ordinary social problems. Pragmatic provides us with some ideas for finding the claim that there is no difference between what is real and what we experience as real. A pragmatic realist philosophy of religion is not reductionism and therefore acceptable for religious as well as non-religious philosophers of religion.   Ã‚  Majority of the pragmatists seek to find a middle way between metaphysical realism and relativism and between dogmatism and skepticism by using the pragmatic maxim, in order to establish the meaning of a conception we should consider what practical consequences might conceivably result from the truth of that conception. Belief in what is taken to be true is conceived as a guiding action, that is, it is a habit, a disposition to behave, and its opposite is disbelief and doubt. This doubt is normally caused by surprising phenomenon that is incompatible with one’s earlier accepted beliefs. We begin a process of inquiry whenever the doubt arises where we attempt to obtain a new equilibrium with our environment where our doubt is detached. This new equilibrium refers to new habits and revised beliefs. A glowing inquiry lead to stable view, that is only short-term, and will eventually be followed by new doubt.   Most of the pragmatics conceived an inquiry method as the way we think and have to think in all aspect of life. Cognitive experience is the result of inquiry. An inquiry process begins in a sensible difficulty, going on through the stage of conceptual elaboration of probable resolutions, and results in a concluding reconstruction of the experience into a new cohesive whole. This cohesive whole is not, a closed system.   With this view of a cohesive whole, pragmatists question knowledge as a sort of inactive recording of antecedent facts. They claim that, knowing is vied as a constructive conceptual action, anticipating, and guiding our alteration to future practical interactions with our environment. With that regard, we cannot therefore assign a complete status to the traditional ontological distinction between mind and body, means and end, or between fact and value. However, these differences should functionally and contextually be understood. Moreover, most pragmatists refute truth as correspondence of consideration to things in themselves, but ague that, truth is a subject of successful change of our ideas to challenging circumstances, a view which was supported by William James.   With regard to moral, aesthetic and the religious, there is a pragmatic interrelation between the truth and utility. These truth values are brought by their sensible function in our lives. The religious should have sensible penalty for their people who accept them. According to pragmatism, both religion and science have an explanation concerning who we are as human beings. Nonetheless, science deals with experimental and observational experience, while religion deals with the existential experience.   Putnam ague that objects in the world is always objects conceptualized by people. These objects vary depending on the theory at hand. This implies that what is say concerning the objects as true, presupposes a theory. However, this does not implies that what is say to be true concerning the objects is caused by the theory. Yet, there is no any reason to claim that truth consists with unconseptualized objects, because what people say about objects is based on theory, and so, it is appropriate to see truth as some kind of rational acceptability, perfect consistency with one another and with our experience. According to Putnam the truth can be defined in terms of evidence. This claim was severely question by Alvin Goldman by giving an example of a person who was falsely accused of a crime that was actually committed by somebody else who had already died. Several witnesses gave their evidence and eventually the person was accused without chance to defend his innocent. In such situation, if the definition of truth in terms of evidence is accepted, then automatically the accused person is saying to be guilty which in fact is converse to the truth that the person is not guilty. Goldman therefore, ague that truth can only be said to be exact if it can be defended.   This view does not mean that the truth is a correspondence between judgments and words or that the fact is independent of conceptualized. Putnam’s internalism is supported by the Murat Bac who ague that there is indeed sensible distinction between members of the community who are convince that there is no sense of truth other than what is agreed by them and another community members who believe that suggested truth is what is independent of their best evidence.   According to this argument, the former would accuse Goldman’s innocent man of being guilty while the latter would be more cautious on it. According to the internal realist, they is no description of the world, not even the most advanced scientific one, is the world’s or nature’s own. Ontology, truth and reference are internal to conceptual schemes serving different uses. The outcome of this conceptual view is that we live in a human world; and that there is no ready made world.   Putnam ague that , it is obstinately scientific and culturally dangerous to consider natural science as being more closely clued-up with the true structure of reality than other human language games.   Putnam often views truth as an epistemic concept contrasted to non-epistemic conception of truth proposed by associated theorists. He argued that we should, instead of succumbing to metaphysical or internal realism, accept a reasonable natural realism.   We cannot negate unintelligible statement of the metaphysical realist because their negation is likewise unintelligible as the original statement. According to Putnam, the metaphysical realist does not get to something which is a significant target and that our inability to describe the world entirely is no failure by any means, but is due to collapsing of the description into unintelligible if construed as the negation of such an idea. Truth cannot be just something language internal, but it is a representative relation between language users’ utterances and principally non-linguistic reality, although metaphysical effort to describe this relation as correspondence indeed lead to problem. Truth is the main element in a conceptual system that allows us to use terms such as statement, refers, belief, thought, etcetera. According to Putnam, world involving notions ensnare with our practical habit of act in the world where we live.   Putnam ague that the metaphysical or scientific realist’s try to find a privileged scientific position for describing the world   the way it is, independently of practice laden human perspectives, is a complete failure. His attacks on a tough kind of realism have resulted into more broad attacks on the reductionist, scientific dream of representing eventual reality in terms of scientific theories. Putnam has been interpreted as a relativist, but he has reminded his critics that he never consider the facts found in the world as dependent on how we use language in any common sense of the word dependent. Putnam view could be interpreted as an empirical realism in a Kantian sense, where the world would be constituted by our purpose oriented practices nearly in a way in which the empirical world is a human construction, but not being fictitious. There is a sense that the world and the truths relating to it are human constructions; however it is ever from a human perspective that we say whatever we say concerning the world we take to be real. It is only in particular contexts of philosophy confusion that, we are expected to justify our beliefs about objectives world’s facts. Moreover, we should all the same take our words as corresponding to how things are. Putnam critically evaluates the likelihood of philosophy to make the human lives better, where he borrows from Jame’s and Dewey’s meliorism. He argued that there is no ethical dichotomy between the facts and values which can be drawn. According to him all facts that can be found in our humanly structured world are value laden, and value are everywhere, they extend into each and every corner of our experience and thought. Here Putnam was very categorical in criticize skeptical and relativist theories of ethics, that see values as basically subjective and should be banished from the scientific world view. According to Putnam it is extremely wrong to believe that science as a privilege perception for describing the world that it may perhaps reduced values to something entirely factual.   We have to develop moral images of the world where metaphysical and ethical elements are a deep entangle. Putnam has tried to bring religious issues, characteristically marginalized in scientific oriented analytical philosophy, back to the centre of philosophy. He noted that scientific attacks on theism are based on misunderstandings. Later, Putnam arrives relatively close to Wittgensteinian mysticism, where it is not possible to communicate religious perceptive in a meaningful language. His religious idea is troubled by tensions; however this may be an indication of a profound religious thinker. Human being both are at the centre of theoretical and practical philosophy, this is not clearly separable. The metaphilosophical view as put by Putnam is very critical to make us understand our challenging existence in the world, and thus be able to make a difference on the way we live. Philosophy is a deeply human project which aim at a humanly world view rather than any impersonal unlimited conception. It gives us a clear look at our own situation.   Conclusion   In this work , I have critically discussed the Putnam perspective view of the world, and have argue that human being can only adopt internal perspective which attempt to explain clearly about who we are. Reality is always reality conceptualized by us, building on the experiences and existential ones describing the fact that science and religion have different role in our lives. This however, is not reductionism, but rather taking religious seriously as a human phenomenon. Our view on references, truth, the mind, values, religion, and other issues can be seen as fallible, self-critical attempts to discover what our best practice add to in these varied cases and what kind of philosophy pertinent commitments it makes. References Peter A. French et.al; (1997) ‘God and the Philosophers,’ in Religion, Midwest Studies in Philosophy 21, Minneapolis, pp. 175-187. Boolos, et.al; (1990) Meaning and Method: Essay in Honor of Hillary Putnam, Cambridge. Putnam, H., et.al; (1994) A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, Oxford, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 507-513.