Most of the time, monopoly brings negative effects. First, monopolies tend to become less efficient and innovative over time because they do not have to be efficient or innovative to compete in the marketplace. Hence, the technology advancement is comparatively slow when one company controls a particular market. Second, monopolies generally overcharge the end consumers because there is no alternative on the market and companies are always greedy. Third, consumers have no place to complain if they are not satisfied with the products or services since those monopolies most often ignore these voices and do nothing. Most of monopolies become complacent giants eventually. Sometimes this very loss of efficiency can raise a potential competitor's value enough to overcome market entry barriers, or provide incentive for research and investment into new alternatives.
Hence, if one monopoly wants to keep its status for a long term, it behaves as if there were competition because of the risk of losing their monopoly to new entrants. Sometimes, consumers feel more comfortable if the market is controlled by one responsible monopoly because the product value will stay steadily, therefore, their investment is safe for a long term, particularly, in terms of these luxury, however, without any intrinsic value, jewelry such as gem-diamond.
From my point of view, the best business model is that the market is dominated by several (less than 5) major players. Hence, these companies are able to collect enough revenue to invest on research and development. In the meantime, they have to compete against each other to improve their product and service in order to stay in the market. These kinds of case can be found in the soft beverage market (Coca-cola and Pepsi), the computer microprocessor market (Intel and AMD), and the civil aviation market (Boeing and Air Bus).
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Summarizing comments about Obama on 02/14/2008
Bloggers gave different, even disparate, comments about Obama.
Some bloggers [Sarah, Show-Me MO, Amy in Ohio] say Obama does not have any detailed plan and doesn’t say anything so far. However, other bloggers [Bryan] disagrees with this and claims he has specific policy proposal.
Some bloggers [Spock, Randy] claim that Obama is the most liberal Senator and has never stood on single issue. Instead, his answers in general are to appease both sides. Other bloggers [Ryaple] totally disagree to this and give a detailed list showing Obama stands on a lot of issues.
Some bloggers [No Obama] says Obama is not producing results and not work hard. While, others [Mrsnivel] argues that Obama is there to work for us.
A lot of bloggers [Kfol, etc.] claim that the support wave for Obama is a cult. Others [Digital Disease] say it is a movement.
In general, it is very normal for a lot of people to have diverse opinions to a heated debated news or characters, especially on the internet. For the case of Obama, it is interesting to know how people think of his sweeping success in the current primary election and find the reason behind it.
Some bloggers [Sarah, Show-Me MO, Amy in Ohio] say Obama does not have any detailed plan and doesn’t say anything so far. However, other bloggers [Bryan] disagrees with this and claims he has specific policy proposal.
Some bloggers [Spock, Randy] claim that Obama is the most liberal Senator and has never stood on single issue. Instead, his answers in general are to appease both sides. Other bloggers [Ryaple] totally disagree to this and give a detailed list showing Obama stands on a lot of issues.
Some bloggers [No Obama] says Obama is not producing results and not work hard. While, others [Mrsnivel] argues that Obama is there to work for us.
A lot of bloggers [Kfol, etc.] claim that the support wave for Obama is a cult. Others [Digital Disease] say it is a movement.
In general, it is very normal for a lot of people to have diverse opinions to a heated debated news or characters, especially on the internet. For the case of Obama, it is interesting to know how people think of his sweeping success in the current primary election and find the reason behind it.
Citation Review on 02/142008
Researchers have arguments about the purpose of citations in academic writing. Most researchers agree that citations are good ways to acknowledge other’s original work. However, different points of view about citations are proposed as well. Some researchers suggest that proper citations are a matter of ethics and are a means to prevent plagiarism. Some researchers [Gilbert 1977] claim that citations are mainly for providing support to authors’ statements. Other researchers [Bavelas 1978] argue that the completeness of citations can show the writers’ familiarity to a particular field. In a word, citations are used to give credit to original authors, to prevent plagiarism, to support claim, and to demonstrate familiarity with the field. More investigation are needed to show their relationship in the future
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
EAV Chapt 7, 7b(2)
I once did a three-month internship at Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) in the summer of 2006. At that moment, SGI was developing and testing its new released high-performance reconfigurable computer and I was hired to write applications for performance testing. The working environment was quite typical and I was assigned a cube in a big office. The employees at SGI were always happy to help when I encountered any technical problems. Because I already knew the platform I was going to use before the internship started, I was able to begin my work from day one. In the meantime, my supervisor at SGI didn’t assign other work to me except the application development; so that I was able to focus on one single task and produce a lot of result at the end. Overall, I was doing the work I was interested; I was able to get the help immediately when problem arose; and I was paid quite well too. However, the disadvantage of this three-month internship is that I didn’t get a lot of challenges. I knew what and how I was going to do even before I went to SGI; hence, I just moved from one application to another one and didn't have a lot of chances to try something beyond my knowledge. Although I accumulated a lot of experience for one particular task, my overall knowledge didn’t grow. I believe the latter is more important.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Homework on Feb 07, 2008
EAV Chapter 6
1.
a) heart
b) structure
c) first
d) major
e) changes
f) percentage
g) enough
h) salary
i) change
j) restrictions
k) duties
l) skills
m) says
n) factors
o) money
3.
1) a steady job
2) working class
3) job security
4) odd jobs
5) workplace
6) task force
7) on-the-job training
8) workout
9) works of art
10) workload
11) foreign assignment
12) job description
13) job satisfaction
14) workaholic
4B.
1) initially
2) interactive
3) dominant
4) locate
5) sufficient
6) comments
7) illustrations
8) emphatic
9) react
10) correspondingly
5.
1) emphasis
2) basic
3) sufficient
4) routine
5) put
6) theoretical
7) outcome
8) funds
9) gave
10) raise
7B.2.
Testing, i.e. exam, can evaluate how comprehensive a student has understood a particular subject and mastered the necessary knowledge. In the meantime, subjects of arts and subjects of science may require totally different ways for testing. In order to realize the testing objective of scientific subjects, different methods should be applied in the test. For example, multiple-choice questions are good for assessing the basic points of a subject by mixing solutions with false ones. Then simple questions can be given to test the student’s capability of solving problems that are related with only one or two elements in the subject. At the end of the test, one or two advanced or difficult questions can be used to demonstrate the student’s skill of applying multiple elements together to solve a problem. However, testing methods for subjects of arts may use one method only. For instance, writing an essay is the typical way for testing a student’s skill in English writing class. Doing a small project and giving a short presentation is a good way for pushing students to dig up the real story in history class. No matter what kinds of testing methods are used, it is necessary for them to assess the knowledge comprehensively and deeply.
1.
a) heart
b) structure
c) first
d) major
e) changes
f) percentage
g) enough
h) salary
i) change
j) restrictions
k) duties
l) skills
m) says
n) factors
o) money
3.
1) a steady job
2) working class
3) job security
4) odd jobs
5) workplace
6) task force
7) on-the-job training
8) workout
9) works of art
10) workload
11) foreign assignment
12) job description
13) job satisfaction
14) workaholic
4B.
1) initially
2) interactive
3) dominant
4) locate
5) sufficient
6) comments
7) illustrations
8) emphatic
9) react
10) correspondingly
5.
1) emphasis
2) basic
3) sufficient
4) routine
5) put
6) theoretical
7) outcome
8) funds
9) gave
10) raise
7B.2.
Testing, i.e. exam, can evaluate how comprehensive a student has understood a particular subject and mastered the necessary knowledge. In the meantime, subjects of arts and subjects of science may require totally different ways for testing. In order to realize the testing objective of scientific subjects, different methods should be applied in the test. For example, multiple-choice questions are good for assessing the basic points of a subject by mixing solutions with false ones. Then simple questions can be given to test the student’s capability of solving problems that are related with only one or two elements in the subject. At the end of the test, one or two advanced or difficult questions can be used to demonstrate the student’s skill of applying multiple elements together to solve a problem. However, testing methods for subjects of arts may use one method only. For instance, writing an essay is the typical way for testing a student’s skill in English writing class. Doing a small project and giving a short presentation is a good way for pushing students to dig up the real story in history class. No matter what kinds of testing methods are used, it is necessary for them to assess the knowledge comprehensively and deeply.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Summarization Exercise on 02/07/2008
1.a.
Electronic communication can let students find classmates, contact scholars, post and share ideas by attending online groups easily, and provide a good means for project research; hence, it dramatically extends the way for students to work with other people.
1.b.
In order to maximize the learning effect for most possible students, teachers should adjust the teaching methods appropriately to reflect the different learning styles of students and differnt learning activities from time to time.
Summary of Chapter 1 of "The craft of research"
In the first chapter of "The craft of research", the authors explain what research is, why we need to write the research report, and why we have to write the report in a formal way. Research basically is a process to find the solution for a particular problem by exchange information with other people in this world. In order to make the research valuable and accessible, it is important to write it up; furthermore, writing a report can help remember what the researchers find, understand the results better, and make your idea clear. To achieve these three objectives of writing, it is necessary to write the report formally because it can help make the ideas more accurate from readers' point of view. In a word, writing the report in a formal way can help both, the researchers and the readers, for better understanding each other and making the research more valuable to the community.
Electronic communication can let students find classmates, contact scholars, post and share ideas by attending online groups easily, and provide a good means for project research; hence, it dramatically extends the way for students to work with other people.
1.b.
In order to maximize the learning effect for most possible students, teachers should adjust the teaching methods appropriately to reflect the different learning styles of students and differnt learning activities from time to time.
Summary of Chapter 1 of "The craft of research"
In the first chapter of "The craft of research", the authors explain what research is, why we need to write the research report, and why we have to write the report in a formal way. Research basically is a process to find the solution for a particular problem by exchange information with other people in this world. In order to make the research valuable and accessible, it is important to write it up; furthermore, writing a report can help remember what the researchers find, understand the results better, and make your idea clear. To achieve these three objectives of writing, it is necessary to write the report formally because it can help make the ideas more accurate from readers' point of view. In a word, writing the report in a formal way can help both, the researchers and the readers, for better understanding each other and making the research more valuable to the community.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Homework on 02/05/2008
EAV Chapter 4
4b.
(1) participation, (2) categorized, (3) participate, (4) random, (5) tradition, (6) voluntary,
(7) injuries, (8) acquire, (9) regional, (10) normally, (11) energy.
6a.
(1) import, (2) porter, (3) port, (4) report, (5) deportation, (6) transportation,
(7) portable, (8) portfolio, (9) export, (10) reporter.
7b. my extracurricular activities in college
It was the story long time ago; however, the experience of extracurricular activities in college is imprinted in my memory forever. I started to feel a little bit loneliness after I spent one and half semesters in the first year of college. One day, I saw the hiring post of the campus café, which was managed by students under the supervision of university. I decided to do something different than studying at that time and went to apply for the position of waiter. I was recruited and started the par-time job of working behind the bar once or twice a week. In the café, I had the chance to know the students beyond my own major, such as the students from business school, law school, etc. In the meantime, my devotedness to the part-time job was acknowledged by those managers, who themselves were students; hence, I was promoted to be one of the shift managers after one and half semesters and later was appointed to the position just behind the general manger. At the beginning of my third year in college, I was picked up by the university and joined the unit that supervised all of those student-organized small businesses, such as café, supermarket, etc. I spent one year to work with these different types of organizations, and decided to quit at the beginning of the forth year.
The two-and-half-year experience participating in these student-organized businesses dramatically changed my life from the outside. In one sentence, I was wearing sneakers at the beginning and was wearing leather shoes at the end. However, my inside didn't change a lot actually. I was still a very naive student after I quit from the part-time job at the end.
At the same time, my focus was shifted from study as well and my grade was not as good as the first year. I was not sure this bad influence of the grade was related with the part-time job because that job didn't take a lot of time indeed.
4b.
(1) participation, (2) categorized, (3) participate, (4) random, (5) tradition, (6) voluntary,
(7) injuries, (8) acquire, (9) regional, (10) normally, (11) energy.
6a.
(1) import, (2) porter, (3) port, (4) report, (5) deportation, (6) transportation,
(7) portable, (8) portfolio, (9) export, (10) reporter.
7b. my extracurricular activities in college
It was the story long time ago; however, the experience of extracurricular activities in college is imprinted in my memory forever. I started to feel a little bit loneliness after I spent one and half semesters in the first year of college. One day, I saw the hiring post of the campus café, which was managed by students under the supervision of university. I decided to do something different than studying at that time and went to apply for the position of waiter. I was recruited and started the par-time job of working behind the bar once or twice a week. In the café, I had the chance to know the students beyond my own major, such as the students from business school, law school, etc. In the meantime, my devotedness to the part-time job was acknowledged by those managers, who themselves were students; hence, I was promoted to be one of the shift managers after one and half semesters and later was appointed to the position just behind the general manger. At the beginning of my third year in college, I was picked up by the university and joined the unit that supervised all of those student-organized small businesses, such as café, supermarket, etc. I spent one year to work with these different types of organizations, and decided to quit at the beginning of the forth year.
The two-and-half-year experience participating in these student-organized businesses dramatically changed my life from the outside. In one sentence, I was wearing sneakers at the beginning and was wearing leather shoes at the end. However, my inside didn't change a lot actually. I was still a very naive student after I quit from the part-time job at the end.
At the same time, my focus was shifted from study as well and my grade was not as good as the first year. I was not sure this bad influence of the grade was related with the part-time job because that job didn't take a lot of time indeed.
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