Business Continuity Plan

Data Sources in Digital Forensics March 17, 2013 Joana Achiampong CSEC 650 Introduction Four sources of data that stand out for forensic investigators in most criminal investigations are files, operating systems, routers and network traffic, and social network activity. Each data source presents a variety of opportunities and challenges for investigators, meaning that the more reliable data collection and analysis activity typically involves examination of a variety of sources.Digital forensics must cover the four basic phases of activity, which include: data collection, which describes the identification and acquisition of relevant data; data examination, which includes the processing of data through the use of automated and manual tools; analysis, which describes the evaluation and categorization of examined data into coherent groups, such as their usefulness in a court proceeding; and reporting, in which the results of analysis are described with careful attention paid to recommen dations (Marcella & Menendez, 2009).The viability of each data source to an investigation must be evaluated based on how they can contribute to each phase. For example, the ability of routers and switches as a data source to help investigators might be effective in one area, but not in the other three. An examination of router activity might yield a surfeit of observable data that fails to provide diverse analytical tools that cannot be relied upon in a forensic setting. Another example is network traffic, which may yield a large amount of data that is unreliable or has a high degree of volatility (Garfinkel, 2010).Time is often essential for forensic investigators, and it is often important to know in advance the dynamics of each data source. This helps investigators avoid wasted time, or spending time analyzing data that may of minimal help in a forensic setting. For these reasons, it is important to critically assess the pros and cons of each data source for their ability to prov ide contributions. A valid assessment of each data source should be made based on consistent factors such as costs, data sensitivity, and time investment.The overall costs of each data source depend on the equipment that will be required to collect and analyze data without corruption. Costs also refer to the training and labor required during the course of the collection and analysis, which may be higher for uncommon sources that require a unique process and chain of command pattern. Data sensitivity is critical is a forensic tool, but may be more questionable depending on the source. For example, network activity can provide a wealth of information depending on the device and setting upon which data is moved.However, a network environment with many devices and multiple configurations may provide unreliable data that cannot be recognized in court proceedings. In addition, chain-of-command issues regarding the contribution of outside network analysts could compromise a source that wo uld be otherwise valid. These issues have to be considered in any data source assessment. Data Files The most common data sources in a digital forensic examination are current and deleted files. Most forensic investigators in most data retrieval environments begin with an examination of the various media store on the hard drive of a computer, network, or mobile device.The variety of types of stored data in current and deleted files, in addition to partitioned packet files and the slack space of a device’s memory, can be massive and diverse. A typical first step in data retrieval is to shut down a system and create a data grab or forensic duplicate upon which collection and analysis can be made. This ensures the integrity of the original data, while allowing investigators the ability to manipulate data however they see fit. However, this process alone creates challenges for forensic investigators, including an inability to capture live system data.This might prevent investigat ors from catching a perpetrator in the act of altering or adding data to a device or system. One of the primary benefits of files as a data source is the ability to separate and analyze the types of files, which creates a specific signature based on the content and user (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). Data can be pulled from deleted files, slack space on a system’s hard drive, or free space, all of which provides information that can be useful to investigators.The directory location and allocation type for each file informs the data that has been collected, including a time stamp and whether tools have been used to hide the data. Each of these characteristics provides investigators easy-to-access information about a system. In addition, there are a variety of hardware tools that can be used to access data. This technology is fairly common, meaning that associated costs tend to be minimal when retrieving data from files (Purita, 2006). File examination can yield a variety of type s of suspicious activity that tend to be helpful for investigators.One example is the presence of hidden evidence on file systems. This type of data can be hidden in deleted file spaces, slack spaces, and bad clusters. File space is marked as deleted when it is removed from an active directory. This data will continue to exist within a cluster of a hard disk can be identified and accessed by creating a file in Hex format and transferring the copied data. Data can also be hidden in many others ways, including by removing partitions that are created between data and by leveraging the slack space that exists between files.Attempts by users to hide data using these methods are quickly identifiable by investigators, who can then restore the data using a variety of inexpensive and efficient methods. For example, matching RAM slack to file slack identifies the size of a file and makes it easier to identify and retrieve (Sindhu & Meshram, 2012). This type of retrieval inherently emphasizes the importance of data integrity. This type of integrity is important in any forensic environment, and compromised data is usually rendered instantly unusable. The many opportunities for data retrieved from file space to be compromised are a drawback to this data source.For example, data retrieval using bit stream imaging provides a real-time copy onto a disk or similar medium. However, this can be compromised based on the fact that re-imagining of data is constantly changing during re-writing. Investigators will typically choose the type of data copy system based on what they are looking for. However, changes to data can occur if the appropriate safeguards are not taken. Write-blockers are often used to prevent an imaging process from providing data that has been compromised by writing to that media. Sindhu and Meshram 2012) stated that computing a message digest will create a verification of the copied data based on a comparison to the original. A message digest is an algorithm th at takes input data and produces an output digest. This comparison helps investigators ensure the integrity of data in many cases. There are additional pitfalls when it comes to using files as data sources. Users have different resources for eliminating or hindering data collection. One example is overwriting content by replacing it with constant values. This type of wiping function can be performed by a variety of utilities.Users can also demagnetize a hard drive to physically destroy the content stored there. Using files as a data source in this case will require a complex operation requiring different tools. Users can also purposefully misname files – for example, giving them . jpg extensions when they are not image content files – in order to confuse investigators. Investigators have to be familiar with strategies for circumventing these pitfalls, such as maintaining an up-to-date forensic toolkit and remaining committed to maintaining data integrity.In the end, fi les are very highly relied upon by investigators and are a strong source forensic data. However, investigators must be experienced and have the appropriate tools to ensure the viability of collected data. Operating Systems Generally speaking, the data that can be collected from Operating Systems (OS) is more diverse and rich than file systems data, and has greater potential to uncover application-specific events or vital volatile data specific to a network operation (Sindhu, Tribathi & Meshram, 2012).However, OS data mining can be more difficult and challenging, and often requires investigators to make quick decisions based on the type of data they are seeking. OS data mining is more case specific, in part because the retrieval of data is frequently connected to network configurations. Collecting volatile data can only occur from a live system that has not been shut down or rebooted (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). Additional activity that occurs over an individual network session is ve ry likely to compromise the OS data. For this reason, investigators have to be prepared and aware of what they are looking for.Time is of the essence in this case, and it is important to decide quickly whether or not the OS data should be preserved or if the system should be shut down. Keeping a system running during data extraction can also compromise data files. This also leaves data vulnerable to malware that has been installed by a user with bad intentions, determined to undermine the operations of investigators. The types of data that can be retrieved from the OS include network connections, network configurations, running processes, open files, and login sessions.In addition, the entire contents of the memory can be retrieved from the OS history, usually with little or no alteration of data when the footprint of retrieval activity is minimized. The order in which this data is collected typically runs in a standard succession, with network connections, login sessions, and memor y collection sitting at the top of the list or priorities. These sources are more important because they tend to change over time. For example, network connections tend to time out and login sessions can change as users log in or out.Network configurations and the files that are open in a system are less time-sensitive and fall further down the list of priorities for investigators. The forensic toolkit must be diverse to ensure that data retrieval is achieved with minimal alteration (Bui, Enyeart & Luong, 2003). In addition, the message digest of each tool should be documented, along with licensing and version information, and command logs. This careful documentation protects users from sudden loss of data or other disturbances during data retrieval.In addition, a number of accessibility issues can be implemented by users, including the placement of screen saver passwords, key remapping and log disabling features, all of which can disrupt the work by investigators, either providing unworkable obstacles or time-consuming hurdles that make complete transfer impossible. Ultimately, the use of OS as a data source is a case-by-case tool dependent on the availability of other sources and the specific needs and tools of investigators. Routers and Network TrafficAmong network configuration data sources, router activity and network sourcing has the potential to provide the most specific amount of incriminating activity for forensic use. Forensic equipment should have time stamping capabilities activated to provide an accurate time signature of network interaction between an end-user and a router or switch (Schwartz, 2011). Importantly, firewalls and routers that are tied to a network often provide network address translation which can offer additional information by clarifying configuration or additional IP addresses on a network (Huston, 2004).There are a number of tools available to people seeking an analysis of network activity, including packet sniffers and intrusi on detection systems (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). These tools help investigators examine all packets for suspicious IP addresses and special events that have occurred across a network. This data is usually recorded and analyzed so that investigators can compare unusual events to evaluate network weaknesses and special interests of would-be attackers.This is of great interests to security agents determined to identify and stop potential network intrusions. A number of technical, procedural, legal and ethical issues exist when examining and analyzing network data. It is imperative that investigators be sure to avoid disconnected from a network or rebooting a system during data retrieval. They should also rely on live data and persistent information. Finally, it is important to avoid running configuration commands that could corrupt a network or its activity (Gast, 2010).Issues such as storage of large amounts of data over a highly trafficked network and proper placement of a decryptio n device along a network can impact how data is available and whether or not it maintains integrity. It is also important to consider the ethical and legal issues of data retrieval along a network when it involves sensitive data, such as financial records and personal information like passwords. In many cases, ethical issues can be circumvented with careful documentation and the publication of organizational policies and procedures that are strictly followed.However, these are all issues that must be considered in the analysis of network trafficking as a data source. Social Network Activity The sheer volume of social network activity – such as that on Facebook, Twitter, and Instragram – makes examining it as a data source great potential as a forensic tool. To this point, the little available research on social network data has failed to come up with a comprehensive framework or set of standards for investigators. Social network tools across mobile platforms invariably have geolocation services.However, the use of these as a data source has been questioned from ethical and legal perspectives (Humaid, Yousif, & Said, 2011). The communication layer of social media applications on mobile devices can yield rich data, such as a browser cache and packet activity. Packet sniffing can expose unencrypted wifi use and third party intrusion across a social network. However, these tools are highly limited when they are restricted to social network activity. The best tools may be the ability to create a social footprint, which includes all friend activity, posted pictures and videos, communication habits, and periods of activity.For most people, this information is only available on social network websites and is not stored on a user’s hard drive. A certain climate of permissibility tends to apply to social network use, in which users are prone to making data available online that they would not otherwise expose. All of this strengthens the use of soci al networks as a data source. The greatest pitfall to social network activity is the malleability of the material. Users frequently change their habits, including the times of the day and the users with whom they connect.Cumulative social network data can be used to create a graph of all activity across a variety of factors, including time, space, usage, and devices (Mulazzani, Huber, & Weippl). But this is a rapidly changing field. There is little doubt that the cloud computing data storage and continued growth of social networks will change this field quickly, which could quickly undermine past data that has been retrieved. Potential Usefulness in Specific Events The usefulness of a data source is strictly tied to the event it is intended to investigate.It is imperative that investigators are clear on their goals prior to selecting a source to retrieve and analyze data from. For example, a network intrusion would be best tackled with an examination of network traffic, followed by social network analysis, Operating Systems, and data file systems. Network analysis is less prone to attacking strategies that can compromise file and OS data. It can observe network traffic to find anomalous entities and their entry point within a network. It can also identify source and destination data by data recovery and access to routers r other network access points (Aquilina, Casey & Malin, 2008). This is critical information for network intrusion investigations. Operating Systems enable access to volatile data, but this is limited by single-time use and data integrity issues. Most OS examinations look at network connections first, which is often another way of accessing the same data. File storage and social network analysis tend to offer peripheral views of the same material. Operating systems are the most helpful data source in malware installation investigation, followed by network traffic, data files, and social network activity.Examination of volatile data offers a ran ge of data, including network connections and login sessions, which are primary tools for finding the source of malware installation (Aquilina, Casey & Malin, 2008). Maintaining the integrity of data through quick retrieval and minimal footprints helps ensure its usefulness. At the same time, monitoring network traffic in a pro-active manner is often the surest way of pinpointing time signatures and matching them with network activity (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). The best data sources for identifying insider file deletion are data files, network traffic, social network activity and OS.Each source offers benefits for this type of investigation, but data file collection and analysis yields bad clusters and slack space, both of which pinpoint the likelihood of deleted files. Recovery can begin from this point. Network activity and OS data retrieval can lead investigators to unusual login attempts and anomalous activity in order to pinpoint the location of deleted files along a network. At the same time, social network examination can help investigators understand reasons for deleted files and even learn more about the habits and lifestyle of a likely perpetrator.In the end, a collection of each of these sources provides a rich, revealing glimpse at deleted file activity. Conclusion Network traffic, data files, operating systems, and social network activity are four common data sources in digital forensic. Each provides a unique opportunity and set of risks for investigators, and the source should be chosen based on clear objectives and awareness of all circumstances. In many cases, the best choice is a combination of sources to provide multiple opportunities to arrive at the relevant evidence.Another factor is whether the data search is reactive or pro-active, with network traffic often providing the best source of evidence in a pro-active, forward-thinking environment. The variable of time must also be considered, specifically with respect to how investigators a pproach volatile data. Each of these issues must be considered when evaluating data sources. References Aquilina, J. , Casey, E. & Malin, C. (2008). Malware forensics: Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code. Burlington, MA: Syngress Publishing. Bui, S. , Enyeart, M. & Luong, J. (2003, May). Issues in Computer Forensics. Retrieved ttp://www. cse. scu. edu/~jholliday/COEN150sp03/projects/Forensic%20Investiga tion. pdf Garfinkel, S. (2010). Digital forensics research: The next 10 years. Digital Investigation, 7. 64-73. Gast, T. (2010). Forensic data handling. The Business Forum. Retrieved from http://www. bizforum. org/whitepapers/cybertrust-1. htm Humaid, H. , Yousif, A. & Said, H. (2011, December). Smart phones forensics and social networks. IEEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Magazine, 6(4). 7-14. Huston, G. (2004, September). Anatomy: A look inside network address translators. The Internet Protocol Journal, 7(3).Retrieved from http://www. cisco. com/web/about/ac123/ac1 47/archived_issues/ipj_7- 3/anatomy. html Marcella, A. & Menendez, D. (2008). Cyber Forensics: A Field Manual for Collecting, Examining, and Preserving Data. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications. Mulazzani, M. , Huber, M. & Weippl, E. (n. d. ). Social network forensics: Tapping the data pool of social networks. SBA-Research. Retrieved from http://www. sba- research. org/wp-content/uploads/publications/socialForensics_preprint. pdf Purita, R. (2006). Computer Forensics: A valuable audit tool. Internal Auditor. Retrieved from http://www. theiia. rg/intAuditor/itaudit/archives/2006/september/computer- forensics-a-valuable-audit-tool-1/ Schwartz, M. (2011, December). How digital forensics detects insider theft. InformationWeek Security. Retrieved from http://www. informationweek. com/security/management/how-digital-forensics- detects-insider-t/232300409 Sindhu, K. & Meshram, B. (2012). A digital forensic tool for cyber crime data mining. Engineering Science and Technology: An Internati onal Journal, 2(1). 117-123. Sindhu, K. , Tripathi, S. & Meshram, B. (2012). Digital forensic investigation on file system and database tampering. IOSR Journal of Engineering, 2(2). 214-221. Business Continuity Plan Data Sources in Digital Forensics March 17, 2013 Joana Achiampong CSEC 650 Introduction Four sources of data that stand out for forensic investigators in most criminal investigations are files, operating systems, routers and network traffic, and social network activity. Each data source presents a variety of opportunities and challenges for investigators, meaning that the more reliable data collection and analysis activity typically involves examination of a variety of sources.Digital forensics must cover the four basic phases of activity, which include: data collection, which describes the identification and acquisition of relevant data; data examination, which includes the processing of data through the use of automated and manual tools; analysis, which describes the evaluation and categorization of examined data into coherent groups, such as their usefulness in a court proceeding; and reporting, in which the results of analysis are described with careful attention paid to recommen dations (Marcella & Menendez, 2009).The viability of each data source to an investigation must be evaluated based on how they can contribute to each phase. For example, the ability of routers and switches as a data source to help investigators might be effective in one area, but not in the other three. An examination of router activity might yield a surfeit of observable data that fails to provide diverse analytical tools that cannot be relied upon in a forensic setting. Another example is network traffic, which may yield a large amount of data that is unreliable or has a high degree of volatility (Garfinkel, 2010).Time is often essential for forensic investigators, and it is often important to know in advance the dynamics of each data source. This helps investigators avoid wasted time, or spending time analyzing data that may of minimal help in a forensic setting. For these reasons, it is important to critically assess the pros and cons of each data source for their ability to prov ide contributions. A valid assessment of each data source should be made based on consistent factors such as costs, data sensitivity, and time investment.The overall costs of each data source depend on the equipment that will be required to collect and analyze data without corruption. Costs also refer to the training and labor required during the course of the collection and analysis, which may be higher for uncommon sources that require a unique process and chain of command pattern. Data sensitivity is critical is a forensic tool, but may be more questionable depending on the source. For example, network activity can provide a wealth of information depending on the device and setting upon which data is moved.However, a network environment with many devices and multiple configurations may provide unreliable data that cannot be recognized in court proceedings. In addition, chain-of-command issues regarding the contribution of outside network analysts could compromise a source that wo uld be otherwise valid. These issues have to be considered in any data source assessment. Data Files The most common data sources in a digital forensic examination are current and deleted files. Most forensic investigators in most data retrieval environments begin with an examination of the various media store on the hard drive of a computer, network, or mobile device.The variety of types of stored data in current and deleted files, in addition to partitioned packet files and the slack space of a device’s memory, can be massive and diverse. A typical first step in data retrieval is to shut down a system and create a data grab or forensic duplicate upon which collection and analysis can be made. This ensures the integrity of the original data, while allowing investigators the ability to manipulate data however they see fit. However, this process alone creates challenges for forensic investigators, including an inability to capture live system data.This might prevent investigat ors from catching a perpetrator in the act of altering or adding data to a device or system. One of the primary benefits of files as a data source is the ability to separate and analyze the types of files, which creates a specific signature based on the content and user (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). Data can be pulled from deleted files, slack space on a system’s hard drive, or free space, all of which provides information that can be useful to investigators.The directory location and allocation type for each file informs the data that has been collected, including a time stamp and whether tools have been used to hide the data. Each of these characteristics provides investigators easy-to-access information about a system. In addition, there are a variety of hardware tools that can be used to access data. This technology is fairly common, meaning that associated costs tend to be minimal when retrieving data from files (Purita, 2006). File examination can yield a variety of type s of suspicious activity that tend to be helpful for investigators.One example is the presence of hidden evidence on file systems. This type of data can be hidden in deleted file spaces, slack spaces, and bad clusters. File space is marked as deleted when it is removed from an active directory. This data will continue to exist within a cluster of a hard disk can be identified and accessed by creating a file in Hex format and transferring the copied data. Data can also be hidden in many others ways, including by removing partitions that are created between data and by leveraging the slack space that exists between files.Attempts by users to hide data using these methods are quickly identifiable by investigators, who can then restore the data using a variety of inexpensive and efficient methods. For example, matching RAM slack to file slack identifies the size of a file and makes it easier to identify and retrieve (Sindhu & Meshram, 2012). This type of retrieval inherently emphasizes the importance of data integrity. This type of integrity is important in any forensic environment, and compromised data is usually rendered instantly unusable. The many opportunities for data retrieved from file space to be compromised are a drawback to this data source.For example, data retrieval using bit stream imaging provides a real-time copy onto a disk or similar medium. However, this can be compromised based on the fact that re-imagining of data is constantly changing during re-writing. Investigators will typically choose the type of data copy system based on what they are looking for. However, changes to data can occur if the appropriate safeguards are not taken. Write-blockers are often used to prevent an imaging process from providing data that has been compromised by writing to that media. Sindhu and Meshram 2012) stated that computing a message digest will create a verification of the copied data based on a comparison to the original. A message digest is an algorithm th at takes input data and produces an output digest. This comparison helps investigators ensure the integrity of data in many cases. There are additional pitfalls when it comes to using files as data sources. Users have different resources for eliminating or hindering data collection. One example is overwriting content by replacing it with constant values. This type of wiping function can be performed by a variety of utilities.Users can also demagnetize a hard drive to physically destroy the content stored there. Using files as a data source in this case will require a complex operation requiring different tools. Users can also purposefully misname files – for example, giving them . jpg extensions when they are not image content files – in order to confuse investigators. Investigators have to be familiar with strategies for circumventing these pitfalls, such as maintaining an up-to-date forensic toolkit and remaining committed to maintaining data integrity.In the end, fi les are very highly relied upon by investigators and are a strong source forensic data. However, investigators must be experienced and have the appropriate tools to ensure the viability of collected data. Operating Systems Generally speaking, the data that can be collected from Operating Systems (OS) is more diverse and rich than file systems data, and has greater potential to uncover application-specific events or vital volatile data specific to a network operation (Sindhu, Tribathi & Meshram, 2012).However, OS data mining can be more difficult and challenging, and often requires investigators to make quick decisions based on the type of data they are seeking. OS data mining is more case specific, in part because the retrieval of data is frequently connected to network configurations. Collecting volatile data can only occur from a live system that has not been shut down or rebooted (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). Additional activity that occurs over an individual network session is ve ry likely to compromise the OS data. For this reason, investigators have to be prepared and aware of what they are looking for.Time is of the essence in this case, and it is important to decide quickly whether or not the OS data should be preserved or if the system should be shut down. Keeping a system running during data extraction can also compromise data files. This also leaves data vulnerable to malware that has been installed by a user with bad intentions, determined to undermine the operations of investigators. The types of data that can be retrieved from the OS include network connections, network configurations, running processes, open files, and login sessions.In addition, the entire contents of the memory can be retrieved from the OS history, usually with little or no alteration of data when the footprint of retrieval activity is minimized. The order in which this data is collected typically runs in a standard succession, with network connections, login sessions, and memor y collection sitting at the top of the list or priorities. These sources are more important because they tend to change over time. For example, network connections tend to time out and login sessions can change as users log in or out.Network configurations and the files that are open in a system are less time-sensitive and fall further down the list of priorities for investigators. The forensic toolkit must be diverse to ensure that data retrieval is achieved with minimal alteration (Bui, Enyeart & Luong, 2003). In addition, the message digest of each tool should be documented, along with licensing and version information, and command logs. This careful documentation protects users from sudden loss of data or other disturbances during data retrieval.In addition, a number of accessibility issues can be implemented by users, including the placement of screen saver passwords, key remapping and log disabling features, all of which can disrupt the work by investigators, either providing unworkable obstacles or time-consuming hurdles that make complete transfer impossible. Ultimately, the use of OS as a data source is a case-by-case tool dependent on the availability of other sources and the specific needs and tools of investigators. Routers and Network TrafficAmong network configuration data sources, router activity and network sourcing has the potential to provide the most specific amount of incriminating activity for forensic use. Forensic equipment should have time stamping capabilities activated to provide an accurate time signature of network interaction between an end-user and a router or switch (Schwartz, 2011). Importantly, firewalls and routers that are tied to a network often provide network address translation which can offer additional information by clarifying configuration or additional IP addresses on a network (Huston, 2004).There are a number of tools available to people seeking an analysis of network activity, including packet sniffers and intrusi on detection systems (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). These tools help investigators examine all packets for suspicious IP addresses and special events that have occurred across a network. This data is usually recorded and analyzed so that investigators can compare unusual events to evaluate network weaknesses and special interests of would-be attackers.This is of great interests to security agents determined to identify and stop potential network intrusions. A number of technical, procedural, legal and ethical issues exist when examining and analyzing network data. It is imperative that investigators be sure to avoid disconnected from a network or rebooting a system during data retrieval. They should also rely on live data and persistent information. Finally, it is important to avoid running configuration commands that could corrupt a network or its activity (Gast, 2010).Issues such as storage of large amounts of data over a highly trafficked network and proper placement of a decryptio n device along a network can impact how data is available and whether or not it maintains integrity. It is also important to consider the ethical and legal issues of data retrieval along a network when it involves sensitive data, such as financial records and personal information like passwords. In many cases, ethical issues can be circumvented with careful documentation and the publication of organizational policies and procedures that are strictly followed.However, these are all issues that must be considered in the analysis of network trafficking as a data source. Social Network Activity The sheer volume of social network activity – such as that on Facebook, Twitter, and Instragram – makes examining it as a data source great potential as a forensic tool. To this point, the little available research on social network data has failed to come up with a comprehensive framework or set of standards for investigators. Social network tools across mobile platforms invariably have geolocation services.However, the use of these as a data source has been questioned from ethical and legal perspectives (Humaid, Yousif, & Said, 2011). The communication layer of social media applications on mobile devices can yield rich data, such as a browser cache and packet activity. Packet sniffing can expose unencrypted wifi use and third party intrusion across a social network. However, these tools are highly limited when they are restricted to social network activity. The best tools may be the ability to create a social footprint, which includes all friend activity, posted pictures and videos, communication habits, and periods of activity.For most people, this information is only available on social network websites and is not stored on a user’s hard drive. A certain climate of permissibility tends to apply to social network use, in which users are prone to making data available online that they would not otherwise expose. All of this strengthens the use of soci al networks as a data source. The greatest pitfall to social network activity is the malleability of the material. Users frequently change their habits, including the times of the day and the users with whom they connect.Cumulative social network data can be used to create a graph of all activity across a variety of factors, including time, space, usage, and devices (Mulazzani, Huber, & Weippl). But this is a rapidly changing field. There is little doubt that the cloud computing data storage and continued growth of social networks will change this field quickly, which could quickly undermine past data that has been retrieved. Potential Usefulness in Specific Events The usefulness of a data source is strictly tied to the event it is intended to investigate.It is imperative that investigators are clear on their goals prior to selecting a source to retrieve and analyze data from. For example, a network intrusion would be best tackled with an examination of network traffic, followed by social network analysis, Operating Systems, and data file systems. Network analysis is less prone to attacking strategies that can compromise file and OS data. It can observe network traffic to find anomalous entities and their entry point within a network. It can also identify source and destination data by data recovery and access to routers r other network access points (Aquilina, Casey & Malin, 2008). This is critical information for network intrusion investigations. Operating Systems enable access to volatile data, but this is limited by single-time use and data integrity issues. Most OS examinations look at network connections first, which is often another way of accessing the same data. File storage and social network analysis tend to offer peripheral views of the same material. Operating systems are the most helpful data source in malware installation investigation, followed by network traffic, data files, and social network activity.Examination of volatile data offers a ran ge of data, including network connections and login sessions, which are primary tools for finding the source of malware installation (Aquilina, Casey & Malin, 2008). Maintaining the integrity of data through quick retrieval and minimal footprints helps ensure its usefulness. At the same time, monitoring network traffic in a pro-active manner is often the surest way of pinpointing time signatures and matching them with network activity (Marcella & Menendez, 2008). The best data sources for identifying insider file deletion are data files, network traffic, social network activity and OS.Each source offers benefits for this type of investigation, but data file collection and analysis yields bad clusters and slack space, both of which pinpoint the likelihood of deleted files. Recovery can begin from this point. Network activity and OS data retrieval can lead investigators to unusual login attempts and anomalous activity in order to pinpoint the location of deleted files along a network. At the same time, social network examination can help investigators understand reasons for deleted files and even learn more about the habits and lifestyle of a likely perpetrator.In the end, a collection of each of these sources provides a rich, revealing glimpse at deleted file activity. Conclusion Network traffic, data files, operating systems, and social network activity are four common data sources in digital forensic. Each provides a unique opportunity and set of risks for investigators, and the source should be chosen based on clear objectives and awareness of all circumstances. In many cases, the best choice is a combination of sources to provide multiple opportunities to arrive at the relevant evidence.Another factor is whether the data search is reactive or pro-active, with network traffic often providing the best source of evidence in a pro-active, forward-thinking environment. The variable of time must also be considered, specifically with respect to how investigators a pproach volatile data. Each of these issues must be considered when evaluating data sources. References Aquilina, J. , Casey, E. & Malin, C. (2008). Malware forensics: Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code. Burlington, MA: Syngress Publishing. Bui, S. , Enyeart, M. & Luong, J. (2003, May). Issues in Computer Forensics. Retrieved ttp://www. cse. scu. edu/~jholliday/COEN150sp03/projects/Forensic%20Investiga tion. pdf Garfinkel, S. (2010). Digital forensics research: The next 10 years. Digital Investigation, 7. 64-73. Gast, T. (2010). Forensic data handling. The Business Forum. Retrieved from http://www. bizforum. org/whitepapers/cybertrust-1. htm Humaid, H. , Yousif, A. & Said, H. (2011, December). Smart phones forensics and social networks. IEEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Magazine, 6(4). 7-14. Huston, G. (2004, September). Anatomy: A look inside network address translators. The Internet Protocol Journal, 7(3).Retrieved from http://www. cisco. com/web/about/ac123/ac1 47/archived_issues/ipj_7- 3/anatomy. html Marcella, A. & Menendez, D. (2008). Cyber Forensics: A Field Manual for Collecting, Examining, and Preserving Data. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications. Mulazzani, M. , Huber, M. & Weippl, E. (n. d. ). Social network forensics: Tapping the data pool of social networks. SBA-Research. Retrieved from http://www. sba- research. org/wp-content/uploads/publications/socialForensics_preprint. pdf Purita, R. (2006). Computer Forensics: A valuable audit tool. Internal Auditor. Retrieved from http://www. theiia. rg/intAuditor/itaudit/archives/2006/september/computer- forensics-a-valuable-audit-tool-1/ Schwartz, M. (2011, December). How digital forensics detects insider theft. InformationWeek Security. Retrieved from http://www. informationweek. com/security/management/how-digital-forensics- detects-insider-t/232300409 Sindhu, K. & Meshram, B. (2012). A digital forensic tool for cyber crime data mining. Engineering Science and Technology: An Internati onal Journal, 2(1). 117-123. Sindhu, K. , Tripathi, S. & Meshram, B. (2012). Digital forensic investigation on file system and database tampering. IOSR Journal of Engineering, 2(2). 214-221.

Manual Inventory System Essay

Manual Inventory System involves all concerns within its transactions, on how the staff would be able to maintain the current status of their inventory, whether adding, deleting, and ordering a stock, the manual process consumes too much time for the staff and rigid time to process a transaction every year, the demand for the computer based systems for the businesses just keeps on growing. Companies have improved their old system for ease of work in accessing files and organizing records. Converting their old system into a much efficient computerized system, this will have a great effect on the grocery; this also helps ease the work to the staff maintaining the inventory. This contains the proposed inventory system for the store. It contains diagrams, data flows and flowcharts that describe on how the system flows. The proposed system utilizes the best way to organize the database type of system and to improve the services of the people involve. 1 Manually carry the products in each store , but if you use the computer and the other can be used to facilitate the bringing of products will improve the workers who are making it but still no use, so the difficulty manual workers because they do it, but persistent level for its workers and also requirements of shops and companies. A point of sale inventory management system allows a business owner to have more than one business location and adequately keep track of inventory at each without being present. No more worries about employee theft or pricing inconsistency between one location and another. 2In order not to sink the sale of products and requirements are also always looking at each along with your wither to be rising in the sale without having to fooling. Well not to worry, the boss of the company of the product taken. The way in which an organization manages its inventory levels has a significant impact on that organization’s profitability. If an organization is unable to anticipate product demand they could find themselves with inadequate product to meet customers’ needs or in a different regard too much product that remains unsold in the warehouse. 3 Should not keep the  product in a warehouse to be wasted and should also always much makes it to facilitate the sale. This barcode is also added to the documentation used during manufacturing and when a component has been identified as necessary, assembly line workers or assembler can scan the part number or numbers that they need and the parts will be ordering for delivery the next day from the supply warehouse. 4 To know also if not level for the product and should be will disposed. Selecting business software for inventory control must be intensely analyzed. Any manufacturer, distributor, warehouse or retail operation knows that controlling inventory and inventory levels can make or break your operation. Selecting the right business software for your inventory control system will enable you to successfully manage and control your inventory levels and costs. The foundation of this is your inventory database. 5 Because I need to correct sells products to sink and not yet settled to the manufacture of products and a successful business. Customers are ordering from the store every other day , the store personnel distribute drinks nearly 60-80 stores within the said area. The store sold approximately 90-100 cases of beverages in normal days and as far as possible the day they sold nearly two hundred cases of beverages while on off peak days they only sell eighty cases. At the end of the day, the shop keeper checks their stocks of how many drinks will be available for delivery on the next day anyway. The shop keeper also checks the cash on hand with receipts released today that they provided made their courier delivery to their customers in their area. They will verify if the cash in hand is equal from all receipts issued for the entire day. 6 I need no unclaimed money from the products in the unified confidentiality. Automated inventory is a system of keeping track of inventory on a perpetual basis. This type of inventory control ensures items are accounted for and that inflow and outflow status is updated on a continual basis. Automated inventory may be implemented through things like vending machines or with inventory management companies. Based on controlling costs, automated inventory systems track each item or product used in production or retail sales through an inventory software system. When the minimum quantity of an item is reached, an order can be placed immediately and automatically to  restock that item. This process takes into account the time needed for an order to be placed and for the company to receive and restock the item. An inventory system of this type can ensure enough products are available for sale so that customers do not go elsewhere to buy it.

Inequality of Gender in Sports, Is it warranted Research Paper

Inequality of Gender in Sports, Is it warranted - Research Paper Example Rugby has a legacy of being a violent game, and feminine identities are thought to either subvert this notion (Fields, 2005) or use the violence as a mechanism of enhancing the femininity of the players (Gill, 2007). There are several reasons given within the literature for women enjoying playing such a traditionally masculine sport; one being subverting the traditional notions of femininity, another being that the participants enjoy being part of a game which requires extreme physical strengths. Further reasons include that it gives the women that participate a sense of empowerment and self-confidence. Further interviews suggest that these women simply enjoy the game of rugby and feel it appropriate to play a sport for which they have this affection, gender-roles ignored (Chu et al, 2003). Women participate in rugby for a number of reasons, and the growing interest in the sport helps to suggest that women do not have to resist traditional notions of femininity to be recognized as tr ue rugby players. The history of women’s rugby helps to give some idea of why the sport has developed such controversy. Firstly, the early evolution of the female game is shrouded in mystery, making it hard to define a ‘first female rugby team’ or any other definitive moments (Chandler & Nauright, 1999). Early female rugby players faced challenges about their desires to play such a violent and masculine game (Fields, 2005). One of the most major discrepancies between the female and male games of rugby are the salaries. Not only are there far fewer professional and semi-professional female rugby teams, but the players get paid a significantly lower amount (Chandler & Nauright, 1999). Whilst some female rugby players have suggested that they play simply for a love of the game (Chu et al, 2003), it has been suggested that females should

EPoe Psychological problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EPoe Psychological problems - Essay Example and Mrs. John Allan (Giordano, 2005). This early glimpse of his biography sets the stage for the complex psychological case that the author and his stories represent. The rest of his biography reveals the deep sense of fear of abandonment that fed his stories and poems, particularly as they dealt with the female character, the mother that left him, the sister he lost and, finally, the child and wife he adored who died. By looking at this biography, one can begin to understand some of the observations that have been made regarding Poe’s psychiatric make-up. Although he was given an affluent childhood thanks to Mr. Allan’s success as a merchant, the young Edgar experienced more separation when his foster parents opted to send him to boarding school in England for five years beginning at the age of 6. By the age of 17, Edgar was attending school at the University of Virginia, but he was already a very unhappy man. His foster father provided him with very little spending money, which Edgar began using to fund his heavy drinking habit (Giordano, 2005). Debt and inattention forced him to quit school less than a year later. With few options available to him, Edgar then joined the Army where he did well enough to gain his foster father’s support for application to West Point, but this also forced a separation as Edgar had managed to forge a new relationship with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and his young cousin, Virginia, while awaiting admittance to the school. Edgar might have done well at West Point, but John Allan failed to send hi m money while he was attending school again and again, Poe was dismissed. Left to his own defenses, Edgar made his way to New York by 1831 and, with no further assistance from John Allan, struggled to survive until he finally landed a job with a newspaper in 1835 and began seeing some success from his writing (Giordano, 2005). It was only at this point that he began to find a sense

The Efficaciousness of the Proposed Socio-Educational Student Support Research Paper

The Efficaciousness of the Proposed Socio-Educational Student Support System - Research Paper Example The distance education enterprise, or online learning system, does not deviate from the traditional learning model, although some aspects of it are redefined. As Anderson (2004) explains, within the context of online learning, the learning occurs through the same teacher-student model. The teacher delivers the information, guides and instructs the student and the learner is expected to assimilate, reflect upon and learn the information in question. The primary difference between the two models, as may be inferred from both Ally (2004) and Anderson (2004) lies in delivery strategy and environment, rather than in the general theory regarding learning and teaching. In other words, online learning is not founded on an alternate learning theory but is grounded in the same one, or the same set of theories as is traditional learning, with the primary difference being in the format of the student to student and student to instructor/tutor interaction. Both figures indicate that there are hig h levels of interaction in the e-learning system, whether between student and content, teacher and content, teacher and student and, to a lesser degree, student and student. This means that the e-learning paradigm is based on the traditional learning model although it unfolds within a different context and delivery strategy/environment. It is the difference in context and environment which gives e-learners the impression that they do not have the requisite support systems and which, accordingly, contribute to non-completion rates.

Under what circumstances might short term interest rates lose their Essay

Under what circumstances might short term interest rates lose their potency as an instrument of policy control by central bank..........FULL TITLE BELOW - Essay Example One such inherent problem which dilutes the effectiveness of interest rates as a viable monetary policy instrument is a liquidity trap situation. Liquidity trap is a situation when the rate of interest falls too low to be used as a monetary policy tool. It is a situation when the nominal rate of interest becomes so close to zero so that the real rate of interest could almost be considered as negligible. The lower the rate of interest is higher is the amount of aggregate investment expected to be; but the problem in this instance is that commercial banks do not have ample funds to lend out to the investors. Hence, there are little chances of any stimulation in the aggregate level of investment and so of that of the aggregate output in the economy. Usually, the need for lowering the rate of interest arises when the nation in question is in an urgent need of financial stimulation. However, if the nominal rate of interest is already bound to zero and there is practically no room left for further depreciation, the multiplicative impact of an expansionary monetary policy goes in vain (Rabin, 2004). The LM curve diagram being depicted here shows that till the point when the rate of interest lingers above Rt, there are possibilities of the rate of interest being used as an effective expansionary monetary policy measure. However, at Rt, when the shape of the LM curve becomes almost horizontal, changes in aggregate demand for money from Ma to Mb and vice-versa, has no mushrooming impact at all. Hence, in such a situation, the stimulating power of rate of interest becomes almost zero. Quite obviously, the economy has to rely upon other measures to invigorate the financial condition in the economy and also initiate some steps to reinstate the corrective power of the rate of interest. Hence, unless there is a fall in the rate of interest there are little chances of an appreciation in the aggregate output level in the current period and

Examine the responses of single women that dont participate in active Assignment

Examine the responses of single women that dont participate in active physical recreation with single men that dont participate in active physical recreation - Assignment Example He also adds that people with high school education are also inactive. However, in some countries there are barriers like lack of safe places to walk and cycle that prevent them from exercising or take part in physical recreation. Individuals also face other barriers to recreation. For example, organizational barriers like lack of financial resources, supportive policies and facilities. There are also cultural barriers where minorities feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in recreation facilities. Additionally, communication is another barrier where low-income families do not have information about recreation services and resources, and gender barriers where, men are favored than women, when it comes to offering recreation facilities. Men get a lot of attention when it comes to sports recreation and therefore, women tend to withdraw themselves from such activities. To add to this, women and men do not exercise because of general barriers like, the recreation department lacking creativity of involving men and women in involving themselves in physical activities. Women or men from poverty would also feel uncomfortable exercising with wealthy individuals. Some staff can also be unwelcoming and insensitive to sexual stereotypes like lesbians and gays and therefore, they feel discouraged from participating in physical activities. This analysis will answer why single men and women do not actively participate in physical exercises, from the research method used to conduct the study (Hamblin, 2005). The research method used to conduct the study was a questionnaire, in the form of an interview. Both single men and women were asked why they do not participate in physical recreation activities and their responses were different. The questionnaire was just a closed question where that was easy to answer as well as to code. The responses were only presented as No/yes choice with small explanation required about why the

Critical Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Analysis - Research Paper Example The first issue arises when the writer shows no issues associated with the black origin of Armand. To illustrate, the writer evidently points out that Armand had a ‘dark handsome face’ that did not disfigure. It is rather unsound to believe that Armand, in his entire lifetime, had no chance to know about his color, and that he never examined his skin color or compared it with the skin of others. Secondly, a man with such a strong and rather cruel personality did not seem aware about the race his mother belonged to. It is at the end of the story that he comes to know that his mother ‘who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery’. The intention here is very clear; Armand is destined to be portrayed as an irrational human being. In other words, instead of race, the writer is trying to give stress on gender. The second technical fault comes in the fact that despite his ‘dark’ face, Madame Valmonde had no problem in al lowing their marriage. In addition, he had not loved her before, and he started loving her as if ‘stuck by a pistol shot’. Here, he decides to marry Desiree despite her obscure origin, and loves her blindly. Again as the child is born, He stops beating the black slaves he has. Thus, it becomes evident that Armand is presented as a cruel man who used to beat his slaves for no apparent reason. However, as Serafin, Bendixen point out, the birth of a child makes him give up his cruelty; and on the other hand, the female figures, despite his black complexion, started loving and trusting him blindly (188). The third point that hurts the reader is the fact that though Madame Valmonde and the nurse woman Zandrine immediately realize the fact that the child is black in complexion, both the parents; Armand and Desiree seem unaware of the color of the child until the child is three months old. It is rather irrational to believe that all other people except the child’s paren ts identified the issue. Here, again, the story loses its integrity by saying that Armand failed to identify the color of the child which is highly unlikely. For example, the moment Madame Valmonde sees the child she cries, â€Å"this is not the baby!† That means, she is totally surprised by the color of the baby. It is rather surprising that neither Armand nor Desiree could see this. However, for the sake of argument, one can say that while marrying a white woman, the purpose of Armand was to give birth to a white child that would ‘bear his name’. Here, one can make a rather reasonable assumption that though Armand was aware of his color and race, he married a white woman expecting a white boy. However, as he was disappointed by Desiree by giving birth to a black child instead, he loses all happiness. In the case of Desiree too, the negligence towards the color of the child she shows is surprising. Here, instead of claiming that she was unaware of the color, a b etter assumption would be that as she married a black man, she was expecting a black child. So, when the black child was born to a black father, she failed to see any dangers in it. In other words, she was unaware of the unreasonable ambitions of Armand. So, even when Madame Valmonde exclaims â€Å"this is not the baby† , Desiree believes the comment is about the growth of the child; not about the color.

Starbucks CO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starbucks CO - Essay Example It is almost impossible for any business not to become involved in some kind of community affairs. Some of this involvement is primarily charitable, while other community affairs with which business becomes involved pays a direct return to the company. It is difficult to separate one from the other because in most instances both community and business reap positive rewards from any business participation in community affairs. Starbucks pays a special attention to stakeholder responsibility and environmental policies. Pollution is, unfortunately in most cases, a by-product of everyday living. The operation of a "free market" system may fail to serve the best interests of society because of the inability of the market to adjust itself independently and adequately to certain kinds of side effects such as pollution. Also, the buyers and sellers in the marketplace often lack the quantity and quality of information necessary to undertake effectively and efficiently the proper transactions to optimize the side effects for the best interests of both parties involved. Under a free market economy, private industry, local governments, and county, state, and federal governments can, and do, sometimes relieve themselves of certain costs associated with disposal of waste materials by using the atmosphere, oceans, lakes, rivers, and landfills, as free waste receptacles. If it is to the economic advantage of the particu lar emitter to do so, it will normally take advantage of this free resource. The general theory behind much of it is that by business participating in community affairs it makes the community a better place in which to live. By making the community a better place to live, it helps improve the community for all those who live there and as an inducement for hiring new employees from distant communities, possibly needed experts from

A Comparative Legal Political Analysis on Child Labour in India and Dissertation

A Comparative Legal Political Analysis on Child Labour in India and Pakistan - Dissertation Example Consequently, I am writing this proposal after the research and dissertation has been finished. As requested, I have written the proposal as if the research had not yet been conducted, and have provided additional information where required. Objectives The aim of this research was to examine how people in India and Pakistan perceive child labour and what the differences in perceptions were. This information will be related to the international and national laws concerning child labour that employers in India and Pakistan are subject to, and what changes need to be made to decrease the prevalence of child labour. To address the research aim, a mixed methods research approach will be taken, using both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Proposed methods It was determined that to accurately determine the differences between the two countries, a large sample size will need to be taken. Because child labour is a sensitive topic in both India and Pakistan, it was important that the resea rch was non-invasive and did not require much time out of the participants. Consequently, a multiple-choice survey was designed containing ten questions. Using a multiple-choice survey allows the results to be quantifiable, and has the additional benefit of allow participants to maintain their anonymity. In order to bypass potential response bias and low response rate, the survey will be distributed in two forms, by mail (to 100 people in each country, using random sampling methods) and by handing out the survey in person (100 people per country). This method should allow for adequate numbers of respondents, to research the questions for this topic. Because the results from these surveys would be broad and the design did not allow individual perspectives to be shown, it was determined that a second part of the research project will also need to be undertaken. This component of the research will involve face-to-face interviews with five participants from each country, representing a range of industries. The aim is to interview two employers from industries that traditionally hire child labourers, two lawyers and one adult worker from the same industry. However, it may be difficult to find people who are willing to talk openly about child labour, so these allocations may not be exact. Each interview will be between ten minutes and an hour in length, depending on how willing the subjects are to participate. Ethical considerations Subjects who participate in this study will be given an informational page along with the survey which informs them about the study (Appendix 1) and what the data collected will be used for. Participation in the survey will be taken as informed consent. Likewise, all participants in the verbal interviews will be given information about the study, and the implications will be discussed prior to the beginning of the interview. Individuals will be given the option to opt-out of the study if they were not comfortable with the information, an d participation will be assumed to mean informed consent. The method of survey taking that will be used allows participants to remain entirely anonymous. Participants will not be asked to identify themselves in any way, and no identifying information will recorded. In addition, information on what addresses the survey is sent out to will not be recorded. Consequently, there will be no way to determine the individual identities of the people who participate in the survey. The interview portion of the study involves the researcher talking face-to-face with the participant. This is more difficult, as the researcher will be aware of the identity of the individuals that are part of the interviews. However, their anonymity will be maintained and no personally identifiable information will be

Social Change Essay Example for Free

Social Change Essay Social Change is defined as any modification in the social organization of a society in any of its social institutions or patterns of social roles. Usually social change refers to a significant change in social behavior or a change in some larger social system, rather than to minor changes within a small group. Thus, social change refers to changes in the established patterns of social relationships for example in family, religious or economic life. One of the biggest social changes that has happened during my lifetime is the development and distribution of cell phones. Ten years ago cell phones were never even heard of and now they seem to be a necessity to life. The first cell phones were made back in the 1980s and were the size of bricks. They were also costly so not many people had them. The first experience I had with a cell phone was when I was in 5th grade and my mom bought our family’s first cell phone. It was a solid black flip phone that had a pullout antenna and a black and white screen. When my mom bought the phone my siblings and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and we use to beg our mom to let us play games on her phone. A few years later, due to the ever growing popularity of portable phones, the rest of my family would be getting their first cell phones. I received my first cell phone when I was in 7th grade and most of my other friends were starting to get theirs. It was a solid red phone with a slide down keyboard and it was one of the more favorable cell phones at the time. When I bought the phone, I immedia tely noticed a big change for me and that was no longer having to remember people’s phone numbers. Instead of memorizing twenty to thirty numbers I could just program them into my phone and never have to worry about them again. By the time I entered high school, every kid had a cell phone and now it was a competition to see who had the best and most up to date cell phone. Since the invention of cell phones the technology and software of the phones have increased exponentially in such a short period of time. The biggest leaps in the phones technology happened when I was in high school. During my softmore year touchscreen phones came out and everybody had to have one.

The expository essay

The expository essay This essay is about oil and gas prices. The essay has lots of facts on gas and oil by showing people how the prices are increasing instead of decreasing. Also it shows how it is putting an effect on people. In this essay it shows readers how they prep the land for drilling process, special tools the oil companies need for drilling the whole and shows how the inspector has to test the ground to make sure it is safe before drilling. It also shows how to be safe before dealing with gas and oil, and shows people how dangerous it can be if you dont use safety. The thesis of my essay is how the prices of oil and gas are increasing than decreasing over the last couple of years. Also in my thesis statement our gas and oil prices are affecting our economy day by day. Gas and oil prices are at their highest costs since more than a year ago. Fuel costs are gaining twelve cents a gallon for the average in the United States. Gas costs were at a record of four dollars a gallon in the year 2008. In year 2008 through 2009 the gas prices are continuing to rise and not dropping, gas is at an average of two dollars and 94 cents a gallon in the United States. With the crude oil, petroleum oil is more than half a gallon of gasoline. Also when they raise the prices of gasoline they are from competitors of other marketplaces. The crude prices when they rise, all the gas stations prices rise because they have no choice it is all for the government. When all market places raise the prices of gasoline is because of the crude prices, and when the crude prices lower down the market places back down the prices. This is all competition between one gas station to another. We are high in demand of our gas prices these days; our world consumption of our gas and oil pric es is roughly a percentage of the economy. Most of the high prices you got to think are coming from our high volume of wars; the wars are costing us millions of dollars each day of the week. Which caused a huge inflation in the United States of America on gas and oil, also food prices? Robinson (2009) noted that we are returning to a record of fuel and oil prices of 2008. Predicted that the average, of gasoline prices; would stay under three dollars, a gallon nationwide in 2010. The refining of gasoline costs are gaining up to thirty five percent, gasoline contributed a twenty three percent gain of the crude oil prices. Refiners want to phase out toxic waste to add in ethanol; also the refineries want to add ultralow sulfur for gasoline and diesel. The refining of operations is having a difficult time to make fuel cleaner. OSHA inspected almost five hundred refineries; the inspections of refineries have proven to be effected. The oil and gas faces a huge challenge for environmental protection on price control. Technologies are increasing gas and oil on environmental impact. The smaller investors are putting money into stocks for major oil companies. Gasoline and home heating oil are made from plastics, toothpaste, shampoo, antihistamines and house paint they all contain a similar form of petroleum. Also the gas and oil industries is increasing on a daily basis, and not showing a decrease in price. Also when the oil gets refined through distillation it involves heating it until it turns into vapor, then they collect the oil and they let the vapor cool. When the temperature rises on oil eventually only carbon and tar are left behind. According to Marland, (2000) heating oil using three million of appropriated funds, taking the inventory to 1,984,253 barrels. Also the gas and oil are not just affecting us, but it is also putting an impact on fish and marine organizations. By our toxic waste, are polluting our water boundaries. That is affecting all of our species, by going through their gills into their blood that is going into others by killing the species. The reason most of our natural gas is polluting our water is because of our offshore and on land terminals for the crew ships and submarines are at least burning thirty percent of their toxic gases into our water which is hurting our species. It is also putting an effect on us in our economy by putting a three percent gain of our money into our penny stock for the oil and gas industries. The supplies they need before drilling is a process of getting, because the big machines and some of their other equipment they need to dig an oil well, are shipped to the location where they are digging the oil well. The task of finding oil is assigned before getting the equipment and prepping the land. They use magnetometers to measure the flowing of oil, most commonly they use seismology to put shock waves through rock layers, and are reflected back to the surface of the ground. The crew needs special equipment for the job to drill out the oil wells. Like hammer bits, tricone bits, adapter subs, air perforators, well casing, drill steel, casing alignment clamps and torch guides, diverter boxes, shock absorbers, retract hammers, thread lubes, oilers, rock drill oilers, polymers and a lot more equipment to complete the job. Prepping the land is a major job for the crews, because all the process they have to go through before they can drill. The first step before drilling the oil wells, an inspector has to test the ground to make sure it is safe before the process of drilling. Then to prep the land for oil drilling they reserve a pit which they use for the dispose of rock cuttings. During the drilling process they line the whole with plastic to protect the economy. When the oil is prepared they dig a main hole which is in a shape of a rectangle which is called a cellar. Then the crew begins lining the main hole with a large diameter conductor pipe. Also before you can drill a well you need an exploration license. The cost to drill a well is 2.5 million dollars each. The reserves for the oil to make oil wells are all under the ground. Oil exploration represents the value of the gas they bring to the gas station. It can be difficult when bad weather like hurricanes and tropical storms can be hard for oil and gas companies for oil fields for drilling. Marland (2004) stated our staff is trained to help you tackle the easiest to the most difficult projects. the supply of gas and oil been increasing, gasoline supplies are the highest level of price since the early 90s, refineries have been cutting back of low margins. Everyone that relies on gas and oil prices, believe that it is high on demand and they think that gas should decrease instead of increasing. Everyone thinks that gas and oil prices are affecting our economy, because every week of the year oil and gas keep rising, and it is affecting people because all the money we spend in our gas tanks. People think with all the money we spent into gas they want to really know when prices are ever going down. Just think everyone in America dumped at least two hundred and forty billion dollars cash into stock for gas and oil companies. Golf god (2007) stated decline in inventories and demand outstripping supply for the jump into gas prices. When the crews for oil companies are working in the oil tanks and working with gas it can be a highly hazardous work environment for them. Especially working with low pressure tanks that contain potential hazards like, fire and explosion, oxygen deficiency and when they are exposed to toxic substances. When they are working with hazardous gasses and oil it can be a result of vapors, fumes, chemicals, or excessive heat or cold. When a creation, of oxygen deficient; it may cause, serious injury; or death. A result from government officials and policy makers, are providing lessons learned for better of planning storms and flood events, can better prevent hazardous conditions caused by leaking oil and gas. To prevent the land from destroying what we need some most, and keep chemical particles away. Natural gas is released during venting operations, when there are leaks in equipment used during oil and gas development. (Anonymous 2003) My essay on oil and gas prices, gives a lot of information and process of the gas and oil industry. The readers that read my essay should get a lot of good facts, details and news about gas and oil procedures. Hopefully to all the readers out there you got a lot of enjoyment out of this. Author, Chris, Baldwin, Author, William hardy (January 10th, 2010). Ice Brent, gas and oil up on cold weather. Published on gas and oil recruitment, single page 1. Retrieved January 12th, 2010, from author. Author, Pablo, Gorondi, Author, Alex Kennedy. (2005). winter eases grip and oil cools, but higher gas prices on the way. Retrieved January 12th, 2010 from author. Website: http://www.stockhouse.com/news/financialnewsdetailfeeds.aspx?n=9188288src=cp

Differentiate Fat Fat32 And Ntfs Information Technology Essay

Differentiate Fat Fat32 And Ntfs Information Technology Essay In this term paper I have introduced the FAT, FAT32 and NTFS different file system . It includes features of FAT 32 and NTFS. At last there is comparison between FAT32 and NTFS. INTRODUCTION:- FAT:- FAT means file allocation table used by the operating system for locating files on a disk, a file can be divided into many parts due to fragmentation that is scattered around the disk. The File Allocation Table keeps track of group of all these pieces. File Allocation Table is a group of addresses that reach in the form of a table to see which cluster is coming next, when a file is accessed or a directory is scanned. In DOS, FAT is stored after the boot sector. The older versions of FAT for Windows 95 and earlier is called FAT16, and for new versions of Windows 98 and 95 is called FAT32. Terminology:- FAT: stands for File Allocation Tables, a data structure that is found in all FAT volumes. FAT1: It is the first thing to see in FAT. FAT2: The 1st copy that is used by the FAT. FAT12: File Allocation Table file systems uses 12-bits clustered addresses. FAT16: File Allocation Table file systems uses 16-bit clustered address. FAT32: File Allocation Table file systems uses 32-bit clustered address.. FATxx: File system that use File Allocation Table and all that is used by FAT. VFAT: It is the 32-bit code used for operation the file system in Win9x Graphical User Interface mode. Cluster: It is the Single unit for storage of data on the FATxx file systems. Sector: It is the unit of storage devices at the physical level of disk. Physical sector address: It refers to Sector addresses at absolute physical hardware terms. CHS sector address mode: As above, expressed in Cylinder, Head etc Logical sector address: It is a Sector address which is relative to the FATxx volume. Folder: It is a collection of items named as seen with the help of Windows Explorer. File Folder: It resembles the same as windows call it directory. Directory: It is a data structure that lists file and directory. Directory entry: It generally points to a file or directory, and contains the information about it. Attributes: It refers to the collection of bits in a directory entries that mention it. File Allocation Table is the entries list which is mapped to each and every cluster at the time of partition. The partition is further divided up into identically sized clusters, small block of space. The size of cluster varies depending on the type of FAT file Each entry contains records of one of five things: the cluster numbering of the coming cluster in a sequence a special end of chain cluster (EOC) entry that points to the end of a chain a special entry for marking a bad clustering a special entry for marking a reserved cluster a zero to note that the cluster on which we are working is unused FAT entry values: FAT12 FAT16 FAT32 Description 0x000 0x0000 0x0000000 Free Cluster 0x001 0x0001 0x0000001 Reserved value; do not use 0x002-0xFEF 0x0002-0xFFEF 0x0000002-0x0FFFFEF Used cluster; value points to next cluster 0xFF0-0xFF6 0xFFF0-0xFFF6 0x0FFFFF0-0x0FFFFF6 Reserved values; do not use. 0xFF7 0xFFF7 0x0FFFFF7 Bad sector in cluster or reserved cluster 0xFF8-0xFFF 0xFFF8-0xFFFF 0x0FFFFF8-0x0FFFFFF Last cluster in file (EOC) File System Structure:- The File Allocation Table volume has been divided into different four areas: The boot record:- It is the first and the starting sector of a FAT12 or FAT16 volume. It gives us the definition of the volume that we are using, as well as for the other remaining three areas. If the volume is made bootable, then the very first record will also contains the code required to enter the file system and for the purpose to boot the Operating System. The File Allocation Tables:- It is a address that can be reached as a lookup table to check which cluster comes next, when a file is load or scanning a directory. Because the File Allocation Table is such a important data structure, there are typically two copies (i.e. FAT1 and FAT2) so that corruption of the File Allocation Table i.e. FAT can be detected and intelligently repaired. The root directory:- It fixed in length and is always located at the starting of the volume (after the FAT) in FAT12 and FAT16 volumes, but FAT32 treats the root directory as just another cluster chain in the data area. However, even in FAT32 volume, the root directory will automatically follow immediately after the two FATs. The data area:- It fills the remaining part of the volume, and is divided into many clusters; it is only here that the file data is stored. Subdirectories are the very special files with a structure that can be easily understood by the file system, and is marked as directories rather than files by setting the directory attribute bit on the directory entry that always points to it. FAT32:- The FAT32 file system is that one which was originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, which is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides a much larger number of clusters per partition as compared to others. As such, it helps greatly in improving the overall disk utilization when it compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an vital additional limitation-many operating systems that recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32-most probably Windows NT, but also Linux, UNIX etc as well. Now this is not the problem if we running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing our drive out to other computers on our network-we dont need to know (and generally dont really care) what our underlying file system is. Features:- FAT32 supports drives up to 2 terabytes in size. FAT32 uses space more efficiently as compared to others. FAT32 is more robust. FAT32 can be used to relocate the root folder and use the backup copy of the file allocation table instead of default copy. FAT32 is more flexible as compared to others. The root folder on a FAT32 drive is a cluster chain, so it can be used to locate anywhere on the drive. The previous flaws on the number of root folder entries no longer exist. Further, file allocation table monitoring can be disabled, allowing a copy of the file allocation table other than the first one to be active. NTFS:- NTFS is define as New Technology File System .it is a file system that was introduced by Microsoft in 1993 with Windows NT. It supports hard drive sizes up to 256TB. It is the primary file system used in Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows NT operating systems. The Windows Server also primarily uses NTFS. NTFS has several advantages over FAT and HPFS (High Performance File System) such as improved support for metadata and the use of advanced data structures to improve performance, reliability, and disk space utilization. The File Allocation Table (FAT) file system was the primary file system in Microsoft older operating systems but it is still supported today along with NTFS. It is more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. There are normally three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16 i.e.short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System. The NTFS file system is generally not supportable with other OS installed on the same computer, nor is it available when we have booted a computer from a floppy disk. Advantages of NTFS:- It introduced the first version of Windows NT, which is totally different file system from FAT. It provides for highly increased security. If we have already upgraded to Windows XP and did not do the conversion then, it is not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. NTFS Security Features:- . File compression Encrypting File System (EFS) NTFS Security and Permissions Hard links and short filenames COMPARISON :- In FAT 32 operating system that are used is Windows 98 XP whereas operating system used in NTFS is Windows XP. These are much file system for hard drives.   Each has its own pros and cons. But FAT32 is preferred because it is easy to read and write to with a boot floppy.   Windows XP comes with a conversion utility for FAT32 to NTFS called convert.exe.   Only the operating system decide whether a partitions file system can be read or not . There are no security features in built-in FAT which was designed in single user era whereas NTFS has many security features built into it making it the a file system for multi user operating system. BibliographY:-. Operating system concepts by Gill n Smith A fundamental aaproach to Operating System by Jain and Iyer

Assessment of Inappropriate Behavioral Development in Children and Teens :: essays research papers

It is far easier to measure a child's physical growth and maturation than to assess the complexities of individual differences in children's disruptive and antisocial development. Pediatricians can clearly record increases in a child's weight and height on growth charts and even provide percentile estimates indicating how a child compares to others at the same age. Measuring and interpreting acceptable versus unacceptable and normal versus abnormal behaviors among children and adolescents are far more complex. Children and adolescents often test the limits of appropriate conduct by crossing the boundaries set by caretakers. When a youth exhibits a particular problem behavior, it is important to consider not only if the behavior has previously occurred, but also if it is exhibited in multiple settings and with what frequency, duration, intensity, and provocation. For example, a 2-year-old who playfully nips a playmate is less off the mark of developmentally appropriate behavior than a 4-year-old who aggressively and frequently bites playmates to forcefully gain possession of desired toys. Among adolescents, a certain degree of misbehavior, experimentation, or independence seeking is common. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association (1994) indicates that "New onset of oppositional behaviors in adolescence may be due to the process of normal individuation." On the other hand, youth who persistently and progressively engage in problem behaviors with significant impairment in personal development, social functioning, academic achievement, and vocational preparation are of great concern to caretakers. Also of concern is the broad category of "antisocial behaviors" that have an appreciable harmful effect on others, in terms of inflicting physical or mental harm on others or causing property loss or damage. The Semantics of Disruptive and Delinquent Behavior A mother finds parenting exhausting and describes her 7-year-old son as extremely energetic, frequently switching from one play activity to another, often losing his things, and forgetting to do his chores. A second grade teacher notes that her student has a learning disability, as he is unruly, requires constant disciplinary attention, fidgets or squirms in his seat, fails to follow directions or complete assignments, refuses to wait his turn, and often disturbs his classmates. A child psychologist indicates a young boy lacks the ability for sustained mental effort, is easily distracted by extraneous stimuli, displays poor impulse control, and meets the criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as defined in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

America In The Popular Imagination :: essays research papers

Twenty-one years ago, a spectacular film was made by an incredible director of the highly acclaimed film, "Badlands". The movie, "Days of Heaven" directed by Terrence Malick is a movie that shows the confusion of one woman, trying to figure out whom she loves. The movie stars Richard Gere as Bill and Sam Shepard as a rich, handsome, Texan farmer, the two men Brooke Adams as Abby falls in love with. Linda Manz plays Linda, Bill's sister and the narrator, in the story.Terrence Malick was born in Waco, Texas, which probably influenced him to make his first two films, "Badlands" and "Days of Heaven". Both share a theme of pariahs in the mid American wilderness, who are on the run from the law.The late seventies and early eighties were about getting ahead, however you could, no matter whom you had to step on, never worrying that you could get caught. This is reflected when Bill wants Abby to pretend that she is in love with the farmer. When Abby marries the farmer, Bill and Linda move in with them. Linda says "The rich got it all figured out". She means that when she was poor, she was considered replaceable and unimportant. When working in the fields, she says "If you don't work, they'll ship you right out of there; they don't need you; they can always find someone else." As a rich person, and a part of the upper class, she has fun with her life, and doesn't worry about what is going on."Days of Heaven" is about getting into a higher class. It starts when Bill punches his boss and needs to get a new job. He, his younger sister, Linda, and his lover, Abby, become sharecroppers on a farm in Texas, owned by a handsome young man. Bill and Abby pretend to be brother and sister, because they don't want people to know. Linda says "They told everyone they were brother and sister... You know how people are... you tell them something, they start talking". Bill is accused by a fellow sharecropper of being to close with his "sister" and they got into a fight because Bill was very defensive about that. Linda makes a friend with an older woman on the farm and they play in the fields. Bill overhears a doctor diagnose the handsome young farmer with a disease and one year to live.

UN Peacekeeping Essay -- International Politics, Conflicts

Even though, the UN charter does not mention the creation of a peacekeeping force, it has become a major instrument to deter violence and conflict since WWII. Particularly, after Cold War, international peacekeeping has climbed to the top of the agenda of the United Nations (UN) and many national governments (Druckman, et.al, 1997). As result, the UN peacekeeping currently operates in more than 60 disputed areas. Are these peacekeeping are effective in sustaining peace and stability? Or they are not? What are the scholars’ perspective on success and failure of peacekeeping? Did they agree or have divergent perspective? Peacekeeping operations can help to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But, scholars have competing perspective on the role of peacekeeping in resolve conflict. Scholars have also main differences in perspective of peacekeeping effectiveness. On the one hand, they see the contribution of peacekeeping to larger values such as world peace, justice, and the reduction of human suffering. On the other hand, they see limited or absence of contribution peacekeeping (Druckman, et.al 1997). Most observers see how peacekeeping has proven its value in stopping hostilities, maintaining cease-fires, restoring some degree of trust, and involvement of peacekeeping in sustaining peace significantly and substantially (Fisher, 1993; Doyle and Sambanis, 2000; Hartzell, Hoddie, and Rothchild,2001). The U.S. office of General Accounting (1999) also describes the success of the UN peacekeeping for the last fifty years. On the other hand opponents of peacekeeping point the dramatic failures of peacekeeping. Scholars such as (Fortan, 2005; Greig& Diehil, 2005) described little effect of the UN peacekeeping. Therefore, there is no ... ... of post Cold War. However, peacekeeping missions have become an increasingly well-used tool of international diplomacy and conflict resolution. ‘Globally, the deployment of military personnel in PKOs â€Å"surpassed record highs† in 2009, rising by about 9% over the year, with a total of more than 200,000 military, police and civilians in the field’ (CIC 2008, p.2). Again, the increasing choice to peacekeeping continued, with little understanding of its appropriate application and effectiveness. Scholars, however, disagree on the context of peacekeeping operation and how its impact should be evaluated (Druckman, et.al, 1997). In fact, it can be argued that the absence of what peacekeeping â€Å"missions can accomplish and determining the extent to which they have, in fact, achieved goals† (p.150) also created disparity among scholars about effectiveness of peacekeeping.

Cost, Access, and Quality Essay

*Access to care may be defined as the timely use of needed, affordable, convenient, acceptable, and effective personal health services. Accessibility refers to the fit between the location of a provider and the location of patients. *Administrative costs are costs associated with the management of the financing, insurance, delivery, and payment functions. These costs include management of the enrollment process, setting up contracts with providers, claims processing, utilization monitoring, denials and appeals, and marketing and promotional expenses. *An all-payer system requires the participation of all major health care payers in a nationwide cost-containment program. APG stands for ambulatory patient groups, which are based on a patient classification and payment system designed to identify and explain the amount and type of resources used in an ambulatory visit. Patients in an APG have similar clinical characteristics, similar resource use, and similar cost. *Clinical practice guidelines (also called â€Å"medical practice guidelines†) are explicit descriptions representing preferred clinical processes. They are standardized guidelines in the form of scientifically established protocols designed to guide physicians’ clinical decisions. *Competition refers to rivalry among sellers for customers. In health care delivery, it means that providers of health care services would try to attract patients who have the ability to choose from several different providers. Although competition more commonly refers to price competition, it may also be based on technical quality, amenities, access, or other factors. *Cost-efficiency evaluates the relationship between increasing medical expenditures/risks and improvements in health levels. A service is cost-efficient when the benefit received is greater than the cost incurred in providing the service or the potential health risks from additional services. *Cost shifting refers to the ability of providers to make up for lost revenues in one area by increasing utilization or charging higher prices in other areas. *Critical pathways are case specific plans of medical care that identify along a time line w ho will provide what interventions and what the expected outcomes would be. *Demand-side incentives refer to the cost-sharing mechanisms that place a larger cost burden on consumers, thus encouraging consumers to be more cost conscious in selecting the insurance plan that best serves their needs and more judicious in their utilization. *Defensive medicine is the practice of medicine that involves prescribing tests and services that are not medically justified but are likely to protect physicians against possible malpractice lawsuits. *Fraud involves a knowing disregard for the truth. It generally occurs when billing claims or cost reports are intentionally falsified. It includes pro vision of ser vices that are not medically necessary and billing for ser vices that were not provided. *Outcome is the end result obtained from utilizing the structure and processes of health care delivery. Outcomes are often viewed as the bottom-line measure of the effectiveness of the health care delivery system. *Overutilization occurs when the costs or risks of treatment outweigh the benefits and yet additional care is delivered. *The term peer review refers to the general process of medical review of utilization and quality w hen it is carried out directly or under the supervision of physicians. *PRO stands for peer review organization. PROs are state-wide private organizations composed of practicing physicians and other health care professionals who are paid by the federal government to review the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries to determine whether care is reasonable, necessary, and provided in the most appropriate setting. *Quality has been defined as the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. *Quality assessment refers to the measurement of quality against an established standard. *Quality assurance is a step beyond quality assessment and is synonymous with quality improvement. It is the process of institutionalizing quality through ongoing assessment and using the results of assessment for continuous quality improvement (CQI). *Reliability reflects the extent to which the same results occur from repeated applications of a measure. *Risk management consists of proactive efforts to prevent adverse events related to clinical care and facilities operations and is especially focused on avoiding medical malpractice. *Small area variations refer to the unexplained variations in the treatment patterns for similar patients and health conditions in different parts of the country. *Supply-side regulation typically refers to antitrust laws in the U.S., which  prohibit business practices that stifle competition among providers, such as price fixing, price discrimination, exclusive contracting arrangements, and mergers deemed anticompetitive by the Department of Justice. *A top-down control over total health expenditures establishes budgets for entire sectors of the health care delivery system. Funds are distributed to providers in accordance with these global budgets. Thus, total spending remains within pre-established budget limits. The downside to this approach is that, under fixed budgets, providers are not as responsive to patient needs, and the system provides little incentive to be efficient in the delivery of services. Once budgets are expended, providers are forced to cut back services, particularly for illnesses that are not life-threatening or do not represent an emergency. *TQM stands for total quality management and is synonymous with continuous quality improvement (CQI). It is an integrative management concept of continuously improving the quality of delivered goods and services through the participation of all levels and functions of the organization to meet the needs and expectations of the customer. *Underutilization occurs when the benefits of an intervention outweigh the risks or costs, yet the intervention is not used. *The validity of a scale is the extent to which it actually assesses what it purports to measure. REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the two main objectives of this chapter? 2. What are the three major cornerstones of health care delivery? 3. What is meant by the term â€Å"health care costs†? Describe the three different meanings of the term ‘cost.’ 4. Why should the United States control the rising costs of health care? 5. Name and describe the 9 major factors contributing to the high costs of health care. 6. What is a third-party payment/reimbursement? 7. Explain how, under imperfect market conditions, both prices and quantity of health care are higher than they would be in a highly competitive market. 8. Discuss price controls and their effectiveness in controlling health care expenditures. 9. Discuss the role of PROs (peer review organizations) in cost containment. 10. What are the two competition-based cost-containment strategies? 11. What does access to care mean? 12. What are the implications of access for health and healthcare delivery? 13. What is the role of enabling and predisposing factors in access to care? 14. What are some of the implications of the definition of quality proposed by the Institute of Medicine? In what way is the definition incomplete? 15. Discuss the dimensions of quality from the micro- and macro-perspectives. 16. Discuss the main developments in process improvement that have occurred in recent years.