Case Studies Of Temporary Shelters - 1201 Words

Case Studies of Temporary Shelters: This research on case studies synthesizes three existing temporary or â€Å"transitional† structures. These temporary structures are Global Village Shelters, Butterfly Houses, and Collapsible Woven shelter. This case studies analysis ways structurally sound shelters have been developed for migratory workers and homeless people in different geographical parts of the world. Some of the ideas have been implemented in the USA, Thailand, and Jordan. This research examines an orphanage shelter designed to both serve the purpose of a shelter and help children have fun on a swing tied to the roof of the shelter. All case studies have similar goal of building affordable temporary shelters for the homeless population. Global Village Shelter In 2004, Weyerhauser, a paper company manufactured the Global Village Shelter. The motive behind the manufacturing of the shelter was to create emergency or â€Å"transitional† shelters for people without a place to reside. With the goal of making a structure which is environmentally friendly, they manufactured their structure with biodegradable materials. â€Å"Biodegradable laminated material, are low-cost temporary emergency shelters that can last up to eighteen months†(Design for the other 90%, May 4- September 23, 2007). First of all, the shelters were made to not only provide a roof over the heads of those who need them, but they were also made to provide comfort to it users. Global Village shelter serves theShow MoreRelatedTerm and Local Animal Shelter Essay1283 Words   |  6 PagesMicaela Diaz Case 1: The Psychology Department is requesting permission from your committee to use 10 rats per semester for demonstrations in a physiological psychology class. The students will work in groups of three: each group will be given a rat. The students will first perform surgery on the rats. Each animal with be anesthetized. Following standard surgical procedures, an incision will be made in the scalp and two holes drilled in the animals skull. Electrodes will be lowered into the brainRead MoreEconomic Inequality Of The United States1696 Words   |  7 Pageshomelessness in the United States, and my experiences working with LifeMoves, formerly known as InnVision Shelter Network. One of the most popular strategies non-profit organizations use to help combat this problem is offering homeless people temporary shelter. One local non-profit organization that offers this kind of shelter is HomeFirst. The type of shelter HomeFirst offers is called the cold weather shelter program. This service offers homeless people a warm meal and a safe place to stay for the nightRead MoreThe Issue Of Homelessness Is Not A New Issue1432 Words   |  6 Pagescountry, bringing up GDP, employment rate and promising even more. However, when the issue of homelessness is brought up, governments shy away, pretending that it is barely an issue in the country. Unfortunately, Canada is one of those countries. A study done in 2014 on the issue of homelessness in Canada found that approximately â€Å"235, 000 Canadians will experience homelessness in a year, with over 35, 000 Canadians homeless on any given night.† (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, 5) The issue ofRead MoreHomele ssness: the Effects of High Costs Housing1681 Words   |  7 Pagesmillionaires, and on the other, people sleeping on park benches, sometimes with their children. Introduction: Statistics on the actual number of homeless people is hard to extract because homelessness is usually a temporary not permanent condition. Depending on where the stats are extrapolated, the numbers range between 600,000 to two million. According to the Alliance to End Homelessness, between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will experience homelessness during the yearRead MoreDomestic Violence And Its Effects879 Words   |  4 Pages(Acosta, 2013) In the Piedmont area, the domestic violence shelter program helps to provide a temporary, emergency housing for battered women and their children and continuous assistance to help them not return to those situations. Last year, the shelter provided more than 12,000 nights of safety for battered women and their children – an average of 33 women and children each night. (Family Services of Piedmont, n.d.) The domestic violence shelter program provides services that help the women take controlRead More How Many People are Homeless? Essa y1591 Words   |  7 Pagesmost cases, homelessness is a temporary circumstance -- not a permanent condition. A more appropriate measure of the magnitude of homelessness is therefore how many people experience homelessness, not how many people are homeless. Studies of homelessness are complicated by problems of definitions and methodology. This fact sheet describes definitions of homelessness, methodologies for counting homeless people, and recent estimates of homelessness. Additional resources for further study are alsoRead MorePoverty And The Homeless Population Essay1704 Words   |  7 Pagespercent increase since the homeless count in 2013 (Halstead). These numbers are only expected to go up in the coming years, as long the problem of not enough room in shelters exist. In addition to the individual homeless population growing, the streets of Marin will see another consequence that the county faces due to this problem. The community will see a significant increase in the number of homeless families. Marin now more than before is seeing more families living on the streets. AccordingRead MoreHomeless And Have Hiv / Aids1617 Words   |  7 Pageswith grassroots organizing has made a huge difference for those seeking shelter but carrying â€Å"extra baggage† as it might be politely and lovingly called. Dealing with the homeless among the HIV/AIDS population has been challenging and Baltimore City has had its share of Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) push-back over the years making it at times more difficult to find adequate housing for its in-need populations. As often the case with ex-offenders and substance abusers, neighborhoods are often not asRead MoreTraces Of Nightingale s Tuberculosis Treatment And Control951 Words   |  4 Pagestransmitted by inhaling droplets from the respiratory tract of person with an active TB (WHO, 2015). In 2013, there are 287 cases of tuberculosis in Toronto (Toronto Public Health, 2013a), 43 of these cases are from the homeless or under housed populations (TPH, 2013b) The Toronto Public Health (2015a) identified people who live and work in residential setting such as in shelter and correctional facilities along with Aboriginals and Immigrants as the people at risk of TB (People at risk section). TheRead MoreHomeless Shelters, A Lack Of Resources Essay1598 Words   |  7 Pageshomeless shelters because of â€Å"a lack of resources† (Gerges 19). If city officials don’t formulate concise response plans, homeless shelters won t be able to accommodate the influx of people without access to other shelters. Some of these people are forced to stay in the cold or other harsh weather conditions. As a result, numerous homeless people suffer from conditions like frostbite and hypothermia during the winter due to the lack of precautions and treatment in addition to the lack of shelter. Most

Mobile Technologies Free Essays

We are indeed living in a very fast-paced world. Everything seems to be found on the World Wide Web, communication is instant, and there are countless of technologies developed that would make our lives easier. These technologies, or most of them, aimed to make the world connected, so that communication is possible beyond distance, space, location or time. We will write a custom essay sample on Mobile Technologies or any similar topic only for you Order Now The history of communication would show us the developments and significance of communication in our everyday lives. The need for an efficient communication has led to the technologies that make communication faster. From messengers as a way to deliver the message in the old times to telegraphs and to telephones in the present time, communication has gone a long way. But the fact is that it didn’t stop there. Today, we can communicate through the vast choices of technologies such as cellular phones, pagers and computers. Further developments continue until today. These technologies have become mobile, meaning we can communicate with others, conduct business and be entertained on the go without being confined to one place, as is the case with desktops (Farooq Carroll n.d.). Thus, we call them mobile technologies. Many studies were conducted about different mobile technologies that can be offered to consumers. One thing those studies have in common is that they showed how important these technologies became, as shown by the demand for them. One significant aspect of mobile technologies is in the area of business. One does not really have to be in his office in front of the computer when conducting business. Even when he eats lunch, he can tie a deal with just a few clicks on his phone or palmtop. It is important to note that with the rise of these mobile technologies, certain things have changed. One example is how we conceptualize things, such as place, locality and physical presence. This paper will try to delve into the role and importance of these mobile technologies and how they affect our conceptualization of place, locality and physical presence. Mobile Technologies on Place and Locality Mobility is fundamentally associated with location (Farooq Carroll n.d.). The question that arises in connection with this is, how does location bring possibilities for the mobile user? Farooq and Carroll mentioned that location-based or place-based awareness for the users can be augmented by the use of Global Positioning System (GPS). The use of GPS will surely bring research possibilities and richer user interaction. According to the article â€Å"Locality in the Age of Virtual Transcendence,† the people’s experiences of place, locale in particular, are bound with the idea of distance. It adds that locale is a â€Å"human-centric concept† which exhibits a spatial relationship between presence – a mobile, for example – and a â€Å"perceivably stationary place.† Moreover, since humans cannot be at more than one location at a given time, this becomes an existential constraint. Today, however, we all experience transition into the virtual extensions of the physical world. Due to the technological advances, temporal and spatial distances have been overcome. In fact, two subjects can dwell in the same place in sound and image despite the physical distance. They can share a virtual space through avatars (Internet user’s representation of her or him) and can access physical spaces through webcams and satellite broadcasts. The article concluded that being at more than one location at the same time has risks. It says that man’s need to conquer distance and break the boundaries of locality may mean the loss of the possibility for transcendence (â€Å"Locality† n.d.). Meyrowitz (2004) agrees with this. He says that a person cannot occupy two places at the same time regardless of the sophistication the technologies offer. He adds that â€Å"the localness of experience is a constant.† The concept of locality persists in our everyday lives. Our basic needs must be â€Å"met locally.† We are also grateful for the local convenience stores when we need something. Meyrowitz (2004) mentions that although locality plays a role in the way we sense the world, those entities that we sense are not just local. Why? It’s because media have extended our perceptual field. He furthered that with the rise of mobile and immobile technologies, the people near us have less influence as they use technologies to interact with others who are more distant but still are local and accessible. Media have also influenced us in a way that we perceive our community as not just the community but one of the many communities where we could live. Our locality, we realize, is not the center of the universe, nor our physical surroundings the foundation of our experiences (Meyrowitz 2004). With the rise of mobile technologies, or those devices that we can carry around and still be connected to the world, we have conquered the concept of place. We can always communicate with our families or friends no matter where we are (as long as there is a signal). This is probably one of the advantages of these mobile technologies. Unlike desktop computers, radios or bulky devices, handheld and portable ones such as cellular phones and laptops and iPods can be carried around and some can even do business while riding the train. The new technologies have enable people to share information with others who are in different localities. Imagine that long ago, we couldn’t have reached the people who are in far localities in the same way we now do. Mobile, and immobile, technologies have enabled us to have access on our families and friends no matter where we are or where they are. In an article of O’Hara, Brown and Perry (2003), they believed that the concept of place in relation to mobility can afford various possibilities for â€Å"ongoing configuration of relationships with other people, and even for performing actions and for habitual action.† However, the configuration of place means more than just location. Technologies have important roles in making work possible for those mobile workers in different places, and devices such as mobile phone and networked laptop make these possible. The authors also mentioned that mobile workers can transform any place, be it restaurants, cafes or bars, into places of work. These leisure spaces become invaded by the mobile technologies. In fact, a testimony to this is the ring of the mobile phone in any of these places (O’Hara, Brown Perry 2003). Ito (n.d.) mentioned that â€Å"place and locality is a technology-enabled achievement.† This is probably because with technologies in our hands, place and locality is not a hindrance. We can communicate, do business, and be entertained in places that seemed impossible in the first place. Perlman (2005) added that technologies have made the Internet to be anywhere. In fact, they can even bring the Internet into the streets. When we look around us, we see people holding phones where they can access the Internet, or typing in a laptop. Perlman also said that people used to just view webpage, but now they can also create them. However, Farooq and Carroll (n.d.) countered by saying that users of mobile technologies have no access to peers or resources compared to desktop users. This is because mobile users are in a different contextual situation since everything within the environment has changed. The authors said that this usually leads to uncertainty, or heterogeneity. Moreover, mobile users of these technologies do not have much control over the configuration of their environment. Thus, they do not have much control on the way they manage work. People began to subscribe to these mobile technologies for whatever they’re worth. Today there are cellular phones that can help in tracking another person through location-awareness and presence. There are also phones that can receive information about that house you want to buy through a transmitter. Moreover, some phones today have built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) and outfitted with WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) technology. All of these are created to enhance communication or social networking or business (Smith Grubb 2004). Meyrowitz (2004) mentioned that through the electronic media (including the mobile technologies), people have become emotionally attached to certain places. Just think that long ago, when we are moving in another locality, we miss our old place along with its people and places and the experiences we have gathered there. But the media have helped us in a way that â€Å"we can now transport most of our nexus interactions with us wherever we go† (6). Smith and Grubb (2004) reported that consumers and businesses using location-aware computing will increase from 150,000 to 42 million in just three years. This was brought about by the 1996 FCC mandate that requires mobile carriers to find any subscriber making an emergency call to within 50 to 100 meters. They added that through location-awareness and presence, both of which enable a device to be geographically located, the way people use networked services will still change. Moreover, designers of such technologies are finding out ways that location-awareness, mobility and presence can further improve each service and application so that they can offer their users superior experience. Mobile Technologies on Physical Presence Through mobile technologies, one doesn’t really have to be with the person he communicates with just to talk with him or send him a message. This is one of the advantages offered by the mobile technologies. Today there are 3G (third generation) phones that enable someone to communicate with another while looking at that person on the phone. Several companies can also do a meeting while on different countries through a screen where they can see each other. It’s almost face to face. Farooq and Carroll (n.d.) believed that a sense of physical presence is associated with a common place wherein people meet and interact. But Harper, Goble and Pettitt (2004) argued that today, the virtual world tends to be more respected than the physical. They have mentioned that people are becoming too reliant on the ‘net’ because it is their gateway to other worlds or their way of communicating with remote people and a better form of self-expression. Moreover, the focus on the virtual distorts our perception in overestimating the importance of these technologies. As a result, the local environment becomes ignored when it comes to information giving. Harper, Goble and Pettitt (2004) added that the virtual and the physical must be connected because the latter is important to realize the full potential and importance of the virtual world. They also suggested that the ‘net’ and the mobile technologies must relate to the users’ physical location and real-world artifacts to be able to arrive at choices and decisions about what information will be useful or required. Smith and Grubb (2004) said that the introduction of the aspect of presence will bring changes in the way we use person-to-person communication media and will influence network service. For instance, when we know the location of a family member in advance, it eliminates the need to send a voice call when the reason for calling is to find out that information. Moreover, if we know the mood and activity of that person, we can determine the method of communication that is appropriate. Another example is that, if we want to call a friend just for a friendly chat, it would be better to know first if he is not busy or in a bad mood. In the same way, if I need to contact an associate about an urgent business decision, I would like for him to know this urgency so that he can let me know what he thinks. Farooq and Carroll (n.d.) commented that handheld devices are now engrained in our everyday lives. But that would mean we should consider the existing application and how the standard will change with the emerging mobile technologies. They added that handheld technologies, which are also mobile in a sense, can create even better interactions and consequences for different users, whether they are in their homes or outside. This just shows that the addition of mobility to the various technological devices will supply more channels of communication that are beyond the exchange of information. Rheingold (2005), along with some friends, has interviewed several mobile technologies users, preferably those who use telephones. Their survey showed that the people of Shibuya, particularly the teenagers, were very much into sending text messages and ring tones and logos. In fact, they are called â€Å"the thumb tribe† (Rheingold 2005). The article also showed that the advent of mobile phones in Japan has freed youth in one way or another. It was mentioned that they are no longer constrained by the landline shared by inquisitive family members. Mobile phones have offered youth privacy, something the landline cannot give them. This is just one of the reasons why the mobile phones started an intergenerational power shift in the country (Rheingold 2005). More and more developments will arise that would further affect how we conceptualize place, locality and physical presence. One thing is for sure: these technological developments are there to help us in making our lives easier and giving us richer experiences. However, as these technological advancements cannot be avoided and must be embraced to realize their full potential, users must bear in mind that they must still appreciate and give importance to the things that would somehow affect them. It is still better to go visit and see our friends and families no matter how far they are and despite that mobile phone in our pockets. And it is still better to treasure the places and the locality that have been a part of our lives. References The Beginnings of Communication. N.d. Swinburne University of Technology. Farooq, U. Carroll, J.M. n.d. Mobilizing Community Networks. Center for Human Computer Interaction, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic and State University. Harper, S., Goble, C., Pettitt, S. 7 April 2004, ‘Proximity: Walking the Link.’ Journal of Digital Information, Vol. 5, Issue 1, viewed 31 October 2007, . Ito, Mizuko. Network Localities: Identity, Place and Digital Media, viewed 31 October 2007, http://www.itofisher.com/PEOPLE/mito/locality.pdf. Globe Newspaper Company. 2006, The Art of Mobile Technology, viewed 31 October 2007 from Boston.com site. Locality in the Age of Virtual Transcendence. N.d. Viewed 31 October 2007 from Between Man and Place, http://m–a–p.net/curatorial.html. Meyrowitz, Joshua 2004, The Rise of Glocality: New Senses of Place and Identity in the Global Village. O’Hara, K., Brown, B. Perry, M. Mobile Work, 2003, Technology and Place. 18:08 Rheingold, Howard 20, July 2005, The Next Social Revolution. Swinburne University of Technology. Basic Books. Smith S. Grubb J. 2004, Location and Presence in Mobile Data Services, viewed 31 October 2007 from Boxesandarrows site: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/  Ã‚   view/location_and_presence_in_mobile_data_services.    How to cite Mobile Technologies, Essay examples

Litter free essay sample

Have you ever thought about what happens to trash after you throw it away? Do you think It just vanishes or disappears? If you think it Just disappears then you are very wrong. Who knows, we might even be wading through piles of trash to get out of our houses In the near future. Trash Is something that you cant simply Ignore or be careless about. Everything that you throw away eventually comes right back at you.This litter problem is really concerning me, and I believe If I persuade you, you may gust agree with me and stop this problem. Littering Is a problem all across the earth and It Is only getting worse as people continue to buy and use products that dont easily decompose. Not all litter Is created equal, with some of It being unable to decompose. I feel that a greener New Zealand can start with one small step; pick up our rubbish, and start recycling. We will write a custom essay sample on Litter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Litter Is also dangerous to the plants and animals.For example, young turtles swim into linked bottle wrapping while they are small, and hen suffocate when they grow larger because the wrapping gets too tight around their necks! Even a simple chip packet being thrown in to the sea may kill an innocent animal. Over a billion years ago, some say the earth was just a swirling space dust, others swear to their myth and legend, while the more scientific amongst us, others believe in a combination of science and religion. The earth was most peaceful, no technology, no machinery, sky scrapers, hazardous gases etc. Then man was made ND litter was invented. Do you want a healthy country for your community? I know I do! So if we work to stop this problem maybe it will soon resolve. Now that you know what It does and where it comes from, what about cleaning it up? If you make it, then you should do something about it. So you see, trash is the gift that just keeps giving. Unless you want plastic with your next serving of fish, you better think twice about tossing that plastic bag onto the ground. You are what you eat, after all. Yours sincerely,

Controversy of Cloning and DNA essays

Controversy of Cloning and DNA essays I am writing in reference to the possible upcoming technology of cloning humans and altering DNA tissue makeup of the unborn child. This issue will come before Congress for approval or disapproval in the near future. This technology would allow scientists to alter the tissue of a future infant in regards to physical characteristics such as height, appearance, intelligence, and birth defects. It is disturbing to think that such alteration of DNA could be allowed to pass through Congress as a bill. Cloning and DNA tissue alteration, though there may seem to be positive and worldly aspects, is, in my opinion morally wrong and corrupt according to Gods word, the Bible. As a Christian young man, I believe in the Bible as truth. The Bible states in Genesis 1:27, So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gods creation can be found in Genesis 5:24. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God. Male and female created he them. Psalms 139:13 states, For it was you who formed my inmost parts; you knit me in my mothers womb. In the eyes of a Christian believing that Gods word is the truth, it would be difficult to understand how DNA altering and cloning could be done. This would be attempting to place scientists in comparison with God who is the supreme creator. To try to alter his handiwork of the human being would be morally wrong. God created man in his image and man was perfect until he sinned in this world. Setting aside Biblical beliefs, lets look at potential problems in the environment if cloning and DNA alteration were to become a reality. Man has been attempting for ages to remake the earth. Cross breeding trial and error has been experimental with for years. New technologies have allowed scientists to manipulate the world at the genetic, as ...

How Segregation Was Ruled Illegal in U.S.

How Segregation Was Ruled Illegal in U.S. In 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case determined that separate but equal was constitutional. The opinion of the Supreme Court stated, A statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races- a distinction which is founded in the color of the two races, and which must always exist so long as white men are distinguished from the other race by color - has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races, or re-establish a state of involuntary servitude. The decision remained the law of the land until it was overturned by the Supreme Court in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954. Plessy v. Ferguson The Plessy v. Ferguson legitimized the numerous state and local laws that had been created around the United States after the Civil War. Across the country, blacks and whites were legally forced to use separate train cars, separate drinking fountains, separate schools, separate entrances into buildings, and much more. Segregation was the law. Segregation Ruling Reversed On May 17, 1954, the law was changed. In the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson ​decision by ruling that segregation was inherently unequal. Although the Brown v. Board of Education was specifically for the field of education, the decision had a much broader scope. Brown v. Board of Education Although the Brown v. Board of Education decision overturned all the segregation laws in the country, the enactment of integration was not immediate. In actuality, it took many years, much turmoil, and even bloodshed to integrate the country. This monumental decision was one of the most important rulings handed down by the United States Supreme Court in the 20th century.

The Perestroika Deception Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Perestroika Deception - Research Paper Example â€Å"It is also the world’s largest country in terms of area, described to be nearly twice the size of the United States. 1 It has also the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Accident in 1986 is just one of its nuclear plants.2 â€Å"Its national language is Russian. Slavs account for the majority of the population.† 3 Russia is also one of those nations that had structural and ideological changes that affected the whole world. One of these radical changes is the what they call â€Å"Perestroika† from the derivative word Russian perestroika : pere-, around, again (from Old Russian) + stroika, construction (from stroit', to build , from Old Russian stroiti , from stroji, order)3 . Comes with Perestroika is the word â€Å" Glasnost† which means â€Å"openness†. 4 â€Å"In communist regimes crises are usually hidden from the outside world; because of the absence of democratic processes and the suppression of internal opposition, popular political, social, and economic discontents accumulate and threaten to develop into serious upheavals or revolts of the entire population against the system as a whole.† 5 There are lots of questions and debates which remain unanswered about Perestroika. For example, the â€Å"Perestroika Deception† is like an opened pandora’s box by Anatoliy Golitsyn who warns of an imminent threat from communist community which strategizes to bring all countries (communist and non-communist countries) into One-World Order of Communism? or is it just a political structural policy to shape domestic issues? Did Russia actually benefit from it or not? These are just some questions which this paper would like to try to gather and present some answers. 1 â€Å"Moscow-Rich in Russia- Facts & Stats†, Oct. 2003. Frontline World. Available from http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/moscow/facts.html 2 â€Å" Russian History Timeline. History Timelines. [da tabase online], n.d. http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/places-timelines/36-russian-history-timeline.htm 3 â€Å"Perestroika’s Root Word†, American Heritage Dictionary, http://www.answers.com/topic/perestroika ( accessed April 01,2011) 4 â€Å"Glasnost†, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, http://www.answers.com/topic/glasnost (accessed April, 03, 2011) 5 Anatoliy Golitsyn, New Lies For Old:The Communist Strategy of Deception and Disinformation http://www.spiritoftruth.org/newlies4old.pdf (accessed April 03, 2011) Thesis Statement The centerpiece of this paper is â€Å"Perestroika†. However, Perestroika is being presented from two points of view. The first point of view would come from the point of view of a Western critic as he perceives it from what Mikhail Gorbachev would like people to perceive. The second point of view is a radical twist from what it is being showcased to the world as revealed by a high KGB official and defector in the person of Anatol iy Golitsyn. He claims that Perestroika is a huge deception of the communist bloc and is just part of a bigger grand strategy of the World Communist community intended to defeat existing countries with the ideologies of democracy. This paper seeks to present in a logical and chronological manner how events have build up from its roots up to how it was uncovered. This paper intends to present the following: one is, to reveal the real issues about Perestroika as showcased to the world against its part of deception; second, is to identify and

Article Reviews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Article Reviews - Essay Example Tablets, smart-phones, notebooks and other accessories will experience significant growth in the U.S. market over the next year. The global market for consumer electronics is predicted to rise close to $210 billion and experience 3 percent growth. This sharp economic growth bucks the trend against a sluggish economy; however, this consumer demand for mobile devices will continue to grow for years to come. Only 16 percent of U.S. households have a tablet, so there is plenty of room to grow. In terms of the product life cycle, consumer electronics can be said to still be in the growth stage because sales are still climbing. The maturity stage looks a long way off at present because the rate of sales growth for mobile devices does not look like slowing down anytime soon. The largest Italian insurance company, Assicurazioni Generali, has bought a 49 percent stake in a joint venture known as GPH. Generali, which brokered the deal with the help of the European equity firm PPF Group, will pay 2 and a half billion Euros for the deal to go through. The deal will happen gradually, with Generali paying 1.29 billion Euros by March for a 25 percent stake in the joint venture, and then Generali will pay the remaining balance to acquire another 24 percent by the end of next year. With economic uncertainty still present in Central and Eastern Europe, this deal will reduce the risk of Generali entering those markets. As a result of the deal being announced, Generalis share price rose by 1.25 percent, as investors look to shore up their investment in the company. Marketers need to be open to a range of ideas so that a firm does not miss out on market opportunities. Marketing strategies need to be linked with the objectives of an organization so that marketing campaigns can be well-perceived by the target market. In order to make a brand stand out from a saturated market, a brand needs to be able to offer some form of differentiation that makes a customer