Deception Point Page 44

â€Å"Let's go!† Norah shouted, pulling the tethered group along as she headed toward the perimeter of the illuminated circle. â€Å"I don't know what NASA's up to here, but I sure as hell don't appreciate being used as a pawn for their-â€Å" Norah Mangor's neck snapped back as if she'd been rammed in the forehead by some invisible force. She let out a guttural gasp of pain, wavered, and collapsed backward onto the ice. Almost instantly, Corky let out a cry and spun around as if his shoulder had been propelled backward. He fell to the ice, writhing in pain. Rachel immediately forgot all about the printout in her hand, Ming, the meteorite, and the bizarre tunnel beneath the ice. She had just felt a small projectile graze her ear, barely missing her temple. Instinctively, she dropped to her knees, yanking Tolland down with her. â€Å"What's going on!† Tolland screamed. A hailstorm was all Rachel could imagine-balls of ice blowing down off the glacier-and yet from the force with which Corky and Norah had just been hit, Rachel knew the hailstones would have to be moving at hundreds of miles an hour. Eerily, the sudden barrage of marble-sized objects seemed now to focus on Rachel and Tolland, pelting all around them, sending up plumes of exploding ice. Rachel rolled onto her stomach, dug her crampon's toe spikes into the ice, and launched toward the only cover available. The sled. Tolland arrived a moment later, scrambling and hunkering down beside her. Tolland looked out at Norah and Corky unprotected on the ice. â€Å"Pull them in with the tether!† he yelled, grabbing the rope and trying to pull. But the tether was wrapped around the sled. Rachel stuffed the printout in the Velcro pocket of her Mark IX suit, and scrambled on all fours toward the sled, trying to untangle the rope from the sled runners. Tolland was right behind her. The hailstones suddenly rained down in a barrage against the sled, as if Mother Nature had abandoned Corky and Norah and was taking direct aim at Rachel and Tolland. One of the projectiles slammed into the top of the sled tarp, partially embedding itself, and then bounced over, landing on the sleeve of Rachel's coat. When Rachel saw it, she froze. In an instant, the bewilderment she had been feeling turned to terror. These â€Å"hailstones† were man-made. The ball of ice on her sleeve was a flawlessly shaped spheroid the size of a large cherry. The surface was polished and smooth, marred only by a linear seam around the circumference, like an old-fashioned lead musket ball, machined in a press. The globular pellets were, without a doubt, man-made. Ice bullets†¦ As someone with military clearance, Rachel was well acquainted with the new experimental â€Å"IM† weaponry-Improvised Munitions-snow rifles that compacted snow into ice pellets, desert rifles that melted sand into glass projectiles, water-based firearms that shot pulses of liquid water with such force that they could break bones. Improvised Munitions weaponry had an enormous advantage over conventional weapons because IM weapons used available resources and literally manufactured munitions on the spot, providing soldiers unlimited rounds without their having to carry heavy conventional bullets. The ice balls being fired at them now, Rachel knew, were being compressed â€Å"on demand† from snow fed into the butt of the rifle. As was often the case in the intelligence world, the more one knew, the more frightening a scenario became. This moment was no exception. Rachel would have preferred blissful ignorance, but her knowledge of IM weaponry instantly led her to a sole chilling conclusion: They were being attacked by some kind of U.S. Special Ops force, the only forces in the country currently cleared to use these experimental IM weapons in the field. The presence of a military covert operations unit brought with it a second, even more terrifying realization: The probability of surviving this attack was close to zero. The morbid thought was terminated as one of the ice pellets found an opening and came screaming through the wall of gear on the sled, colliding with her stomach. Even in her padded Mark IX suit, Rachel felt like an invisible prizefighter had just gut-punched her. Stars began to dance around the periphery of her vision, and she teetered backward, grabbing gear on the sled for balance. Michael Tolland dropped Norah's tether and lunged to support Rachel, but he arrived too late. Rachel fell backward, pulling a pile of equipment with her. She and Tolland tumbled to the ice in a pile of electronic apparatus. â€Å"They're†¦ bullets†¦,† she gasped, the air momentarily crushed from her lungs. â€Å"Run!† 50 The Washington MetroRail subway now leaving Federal Triangle station could not speed away from the White House fast enough for Gabrielle Ashe. She sat rigid in a deserted corner of the train as darkened shapes tore past outside in a blur. Marjorie Tench's big red envelope lay in Gabrielle's lap, pressing down like a ten-ton weight. I've got to talk to Sexton! she thought, the train accelerating now in the direction of Sexton's office building. Immediately! Now, in the dim, shifting light of the train, Gabrielle felt like she was enduring some kind of hallucinogenic drug trip. Muted lights whipped by overhead like slow-motion discotheque strobes. The ponderous tunnel rose on all sides like a deepening canyon. Tell me this is not happening. She gazed down at the envelope on her lap. Unclasping the flap, she reached inside and pulled out one of the photos. The internal lights of the train flickered for a moment, the harsh glare illuminating a shocking image-Sedgewick Sexton lying naked in his office, his gratified face turned perfectly toward the camera while Gabrielle's dark form lay nude beside him. She shivered, rammed the photo back inside, and fumbled to reclasp the envelope. It's over. As soon as the train exited the tunnel and climbed onto the aboveground tracks near L'Enfant Plaza, Gabrielle dug out her cellphone and called the senator's private cellular number. His voice mail answered. Puzzled, she phoned the senator's office. The secretary answered. â€Å"It's Gabrielle. Is he in?† The secretary sounded peeved. â€Å"Where have you been? He was looking for you.† â€Å"I had a meeting that ran long. I need to talk to him right away.† â€Å"You'll have to wait till morning. He's at Westbrooke.† Westbrooke Place Luxury Apartments was the building where Sexton kept his D.C. residence. â€Å"He's not picking up his private line,† Gabrielle said. â€Å"He blocked off tonight as a P.E.,† the secretary reminded. â€Å"He left early.† Gabrielle scowled. Personal Event. In all the excitement, she'd forgotten Sexton had scheduled himself a night alone at home. He was very particular about not being disturbed during his P.E. blocks. Bang on my door only if the building is on fire, he would say. Other than that, it can wait until morning. Gabrielle decided Sexton's building was definitely on fire. â€Å"I need you to reach him for me.† â€Å"Impossible.† â€Å"This is serious, I really-â€Å" â€Å"No, I mean literally impossible. He left his pager on my desk on his way out and told me he was not to be disturbed all night. He was adamant.† She paused. â€Å"More so than usual.† Shit. â€Å"Okay, thanks.† Gabrielle hung up. â€Å"L'Enfant Plaza,† a recording announced in the subway car. â€Å"Connection all stations.† Closing her eyes, Gabrielle tried to clear her mind, but devastating images rushed in†¦ the lurid photos of herself and the senator†¦ the pile of documents alleging Sexton was taking bribes. Gabrielle could still hear Tench's raspy demands. Do the right thing. Sign the affidavit. Admit the affair. As the train screeched into the station, Gabrielle forced herself to imagine what the senator would do if the photos hit the presses. The first thing to pop in her mind both shocked and shamed her.

The Telephone: Then and Now

Jennifer Evans The Telephone: Then and Now HUMN 303: Introduction to the Humanities Instructor E. Elliott February 11, 2011 The Telephone: Then and Now The telephone was one of the greatest American inventions. Developed in the 1800’s by Alexander Graham Bell, it quickly became one of the most used inventions in the world. The telephone had many impacts on society and the way we communicated and still plays a huge role in the world we live today. The telephone has developed from something that was not a necessity to something people must have. The telephone opened the door for communications across the world and played a part in the development of personal and business cultures by allowing people from different countries the ability to communicate with ease. Carl F. Gauss and Ernst H. Weber built the electromagnetic telegraph in 1814 and was the first step to making electrical signals travel from one device to another which influenced the invention of the telephone (Mann, 2010). Alexander Graham Bell first introduced the telephone to the public on May 10, 1876 (Shulman, 2008). Some developments had already taken place on the invention of a wait to obtain voice transmission, but a device that actually could do it had not yet been developed (Mann, 2010). The problem was developing the transmitter which is the device in the phone that actually allows each person to hear each end of the conversation (Shulman, 2008). Bell had to defend himself in several court cases because of a German inventor by the name of Phillip Reiss already developed a device like the telephone in 1816 (Shulman, 2008). Bell eventually won his patent and invented the first telephone company (Shulman, 2008). Globally, the invention of the telephone was not accepted. People in other countries viewed it as evil, or a way someone could spy on them (Mann, 2010). The telephone was mostly utilized in foreign countries for government, military, and business use only and the general public did not own them (Shulman 2008). European countries did not accept the invention of the telephone and leaders of these countries laughed at its presentation (Mann, 2010). Today, on a global level, we see that the phone did eventually become accepted worldwide and cultures of all kinds are dependent upon its use. The world no longer had to communicate through mail or other means that did not send clear messages. The telephone has evolved to a device that people cannot leave home without and this is obvious in every country around the world. Global communications are used today for government communications, business dealings, and personal relationships (Shulman, 2008). The economy grows from the use of telephones because we are able to pay bills and make business deals from anywhere. People make purchases on the phone and telemarketers use telephones to assist in sales marketing. The invention of the telephone had many impacts on society. It improved communication so that people could maintain more relationships. People had no lines of communication before its development. The mail was the only option and was a very timely process. The impact of the telephone on society when Alexander Graham Bell developed it was to allow everyone, including the poor to have communication ability through the use of the telephone (Mann, 2010). The telephone was the first device that permitted voice communication over long distances. Because of this technology our society and the world changed. It is easy to take technology, inventions, and advances in any field for granted. We accept that we have computers, appliances, and the telephones. We do not consider the impact that these technologies have on our live and they do have an impact, whether good or bad. They affect our lives in ways that we may not even know. One of the most influential, and controversial, inventions has been that of the telephone (Shulman, 2008). When the telephone was introduced it was met with some resistance and a few technical problems. As time passed it became so accepted that almost everyone in the western world had a telephone. The telephone was marketed in that it would increase revenue, employment, and an improve communication (Telephone calls for all, 2007). During World War II, the telephone systems were destroyed in the war stricken countries and the US remained intact (Farley, 2005). The military had already developed radio communications but the telephone was still just a landline. This gave the United States a jump in the invention of mobile communications (Farley, 2005). Doctor Martin Cooper developed the modern day cell phone (Farley, 2005). He invented the technology responsible for the cell phone when he was the Director of Research and Development at Motorola (Farley, 2005). Dr. Martin Cooper is also known as the first person to make a call on a cell phone and his famous first call took place in April of 1973 in New York (Farley, 2005). Cell phones and internet have become the most widely used means of communication and we are in a culture of mobile dependence. Everywhere we go people are on their cell phones or on the internet. Businesses use free access to the internet to attract customers. The telephone and mobile communications have given people access to the world and all the things the world has to offer us in the means of communication with people. The cellular phone industry has grown rapidly with major effects on the economy. People pay monthly bills and buy new phones all the time. I believe there has been a massive culture shift over time with the invention of the telephone. Culture in the earlier time of the invention of the telephone was resentful of the device. We now see a culture of dependency on the phone and the internet. Cell phones look like small computers now and internet access is easily obtainable from anywhere. From rejection to acceptation, the phone was a major invention of American history. The telephone was one of the greatest inventions in American history. Most people today do not leave their home without some type of communication device with them. In most cases, this is a mobile phone but the invention of the mobile phone was dependent upon the invention of the telephone and how to transmit voice signals. The only difference being one has wires and one does not. Communications across the globe are happening everyday and contributes to our growing and expanding culture. If we were not able to communicate with other countries, we would not have a grasp on the events or changes happening around the world. The telephone made a huge impact on the world and our ability to communicate on a global level. The culture shift with the invention of the telephone is dramatic and the economy has definitely reaped the benefits. The telephone and mobile phones were ilestones in America’s history and the we are still inventing new types of telephone devices today. References Farley, T. (2005, April). Mobile telephone history. Telektronikk,(3). Retrieved from http://www. cems. uwe. ac. uk Mann, M. (2010). The deep digital divide: The telephone in British India 1883-1933. Historical Social Research, 35(1), 188-208. Shulman, S. (2008). A game of telephone. Technology Review, 111(6), M18 Telephone c alls for all. (2007). New Scientist, (193)(2589), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. an: 23996043.

Create a video environment for the organization Essay

Create a video environment for the organization - Essay Example The technologies for this should be efficient and cheaper. Provide for technologies which give room for scalability as Rapid Freight is growing increasingly. This should cover for future expansion utilizing bandwidth by converging different technologies. LAN can be used within a branch and an ISDN between organizations. This includes approaching an IP/VoIP provider. Technology solution The technology proposed which is fit for the situation with Rapid Freight includes installing an IP infrastructure. Convergent IP/ISDN environment is where the organization’s video traffic travels over the organization data network. This usually requires installation of a shared IP gateway, otherwise connection with ISDN ends. The convergent IP environment has the following advantages. In the ISDN only video environment would require activation of a dedicated line to deploy an additional video system, but, in the IP/Convergent, the requirements are straight connection to the enterprise network. This ensures scalability in when company expands. Secondly, IP networks fee payment is not â€Å"metered† as in ISDN, but the fee is paid monthly and sometimes it is fixed. This will relieve the cost incurred by the organization because the users will be using the service as much as they can, but the fee is fixed (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2006). It has direct saving in infrastructure cost since the line from the telecom provider can be shared among the users (PBX trunk). Other than the IP/ISDN convergent video-conferencing environment, the service for ISDN is increased to its maximum available which is the Primary Rate Interface (PBR) having 24 channels in the US and Japan, and 30 in other countries. The LAN will be used in intra-organization branch communication utilizing the bandwidth available which is 384kb/s for PRI. The IP the gateway will be used to link branches and the data centre. IP phones will be introduced by implementing Voice over Internet Protocol with the real ti me transfer protocols. This requires terminating the PBX on IP/VoIP provider. The number of calls will increase to 50-100 over the same PBX circuit (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2006). The VoIP is necessary because its cost is beneficial in the following ways: Rather than paying a per-minute or per-unit fee for calls, VoIP organization usually pays a fixed monthly fee (or nothing). Users can make unlimited calls; participate in multiparty teleconferencing and make facsimile transmissions anywhere in the world. Users also save money by consolidating data and voice networks into a single integrated IP network. Convergent Solution The convergent solution is the integration IP infrastructure and ISDN. IP/ISDN convergent has been used since the service provider is not IP based, but ISDN based. The ISDN-only technology is costly and would be rejected by Rapid Freight which is already experiencing costing problems. The implementation of the IP telephony has also made it possible for many channels to be established for voice, video and data. The channels cannot be reserved for video or data and they are available on-demand. This will accommodate the increasing number of Rapid Freight employees. The PBX is configured to terminate to an IP/VoIP provider. IP software has to be installed usually from vendors like CISCO. If Cisco is used to implement the IP over ISDN, in response of bandwidth

Internet marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Internet marketing - Essay Example ating a good and long term relationship with the customers which helps the company in getting many innovative and creative ideas from the customers to better its service (Bailey, 2011, pp. 56-64). Starbucks website and social media pages are interactive and clients can ask questions and get answers to their enquiries in company products, locations and prices. They can also have their complaints addressed. Among the all the categories of marketing mix, the one which varies in case of internet marketing is the promotional activities as the product, place and price remains the same. Thus in this case Starbucks looks to promote its product using various social media websites by conducting events and attracting more number of customers. It also attracts the young generation by communicating the exact message across the customers regarding the value that the company creates for its customers. The price related to internet marketing is reduced compared to the marketing activities that have been done using other platforms. Starbucks is already using blogs and social media websites as tools for internet marketing. The company has always looked to use latest marketing techniques to reach the customers in better way. In future it can look to use other tools in internet marketing like SpyFu to know about the competitors’ strategies. Hub Spot internet application allows the company to track leads and maintain direct communication with clients. This sort of communication also allows for segmentation of the market into different sections so as to ease marketing (Chaffey, 2009, pp. 34-42). As of now, Starbucks most effective means of reaching their clients has been facebook, twitter and the company website. This could be because these sites have the highest number of users in the country and in the world. Starbucks uses the latest and available technology in its operational processes so as to provide good and high quality service to the customer. The customers have special

Importance of islamic spain and its legacy Essay

Importance of islamic spain and its legacy - Essay Example Islam is said to have been practiced in Spain as early as the year 709. At this time, Spain was still non-existent and the area was the Iberian Peninsula. It was not until 711 that Islam stamped its authority in the area. This was as a result of the need to stamp out the despotic rule of King Roderick who violated the peoples’ rights with reckless abandon. Tariq Ibn Ziyad successfully led the Muslim armies and concurred the area. In a time span of seven years, the Muslims had gained total control of the area and they ruled some parts of this the area for seven hundred years. After these years, Islam began to weaken. By the year 950, Muslims formed one of the strongest and most stable societies under the rule of the able Umayyad Caliphate in the area of Al-Andalus. Out of a population of over eight million at the time, only one million was not Muslim. As a result of the stability, Cordoba as the capital of this region was sought after by Muslims and other Europeans in search of education. The downfall of Muslim rule began when the ruling caliphate disintegrated in the year 1000 to form several but weakened states that were known as Taifa. The disunity in these small states made them susceptible to attacks by Kingdoms of Christian background. The Taifas fell apart under the attack of the Christian Kingdoms until only one, the Granada was left by 1240. Granada was able to resist attacks as it was protected by mountains that made it difficult to conquer by the Christian factions. However, the disunity in the Muslim faction finally led to the concur of Granada as the Christian faction worked together tirelessly until they took over Granada in 1491 by forcing Sultan Muhammad the Muslim Leader append his signature on the treaty that required him to cede control to the Christian kingdom then.(lostislamhistory.com). After the conquest, the Christians made Islam illegal in Granada in 1502 and became very harsh to Muslims. The intolerance led to a mass exodus of Mu slims to the Northern parts of Africa. Those who remained could not express their faith in Islam. The exodus continued till in the 1600 when almost all Muslims had left Granada as a direct consequence of the religious bigotry. Those who remained behind were forced to join the Catholic Church but it was just for safety. They still secretly practiced Islam.It was not until 1960 when Islam began to re-establish itself in Spain. Most of the Muslims in Spain from that time to 1970 were immigrants from Morocco who desired to get into France and other countries further north. They were discouraged by the strict immigration rules of these countries and decided to settle down in Spain. Islam sprouted once again. Other migrants of Muslim orientation who settled in Spain included those from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. These groups came to Spain either as businesspersons or learners. The number was slightly boosted by refugees from Iran in 1979. The influx of immigrant Muslims into Spain t ogether with the previous History of Islam is believed to have encourage many Spaniards to convert to Islam. They easily identified with it from the ancient times. (Mathew, 2009). Islam began to take route again in Spain leading to its legal recognition by the Government in 1992. By 1992, the percentage of Spanish Muslim converts was nearly equal to the number of immigrant Muslims in Spain. Apart from the rich historical legacy of Islam in Spain, Islam also significantly influenced the culture of the Spanish people. Current

Major Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12500 words - 1

Major Assignment - Research Paper Example In area, Chile is slightly bigger than Texas or France and it is 756,946 sq.km long and lies on the 380 latitude and its southernmost tip where Horn Island is situated where there is a cape which is lying on the 560. Hence, some part of the Chile lies inside the tropics and this region is the nearest continental land on the planet to the snowy expanse of Antarctica. Chile claims the ownership for these region. Hence, there is a large variation in latitude from north to south, there has been great dissimilarities in climate. Valley, oasis, arid deserts, rain-forests, tranquil green pastures, icy glaciers, mountain-framed lakes and rocky archipelagos are natural beauties that adorn Chile. Along the lines of latitude, Chile’s geographical division can be identified as forest Chile, desert Chile and Mediterranean Chile (Collier & Sater 2004: xix). Chile lies on the south-west of Pacific coast of South America. The whole nation is comprised of a thin strip of land protruding North-South. It has a maximum breadth of 420 kms which has around 2,006,096 sq.km of which only 756,626 sq.km are considered to be continental whereas the balance area is comprised of the Chilean Antarctic. Chile is a small nation situated in the Southern South America bordered by the South Pacific Ocean lying between Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. Its geographic coordinates are 710 W & 300 W. Chile has a total continental area of 756,626 sq.km out of which about 12,290 sq. km is occupied by the water and 743,812 sq.km is filled by the terrestrial. Chile owns two islands namely Isla Salary Gomez and Easter Island. It shares largest land boundary of 6339 kms with Argentina (5308 km) and Bolivia (860) and smaller portion with Peru (171 km). It shares a long coastal line of 6345 km. As per 2011 statistics, Chile has an arable land of 1.74%, it is developing permanent crops just only in 0.06% and other

Research report 8 Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Report 8 - Research Paper Example â€Å"Major consequences flow from having an immigration stream taht ignores education or skills. Immigrants are now more likely than native-born Americans to lack a high school education† (Buchanan 406). This quotation meant that America’s present immigration policy is skewed towards admitting immigrants who are less skilled and less educated whose level of skills and education are comparable to high school graduate native born Americans. As a result of this wrong immigration policy, there are more immigrants who are dependent on welfare compared before and this has negative effects on American society such as higher social expenditures and higher taxes. Further, this kind of immigration policy is skewed more on admitting immigrants which are less needed by American economy because it ignores skills, education, age and experience unlike in Canada and Australia whose immigration policy are point based depending on the immigrants skills, education and other attributes which could be beneficial to their host country. The audience of the source are Americans and policy makers. The essay (or mostlikely, a speech) was probably written for a president and delivered by a President (although we do not know who exactly) evident with these passages from the texts; â€Å"That is why I am proposing immigration reform to make it possible to fully assimilate the thirty million immigrants who have arrived in the last thirty years. As president, I will ask Congress to reduce new entry visas to 300,000 a year, which is enough to admit immediate family members of new