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Babe Ruth is seen as a great American legend that made the country proud in the world of baseball. His achievement of 714 home runs made him into an idol for fans and a hero to the nation. His life and career is a timeline of hard work and perseverance. “The Great Bambino” and “The Sultan of Sway” were just a few nicknames for Ruth. After his passing, the legend of his name became a myth that everyone thought couldn't be achieved again.

Ruth's own unique legacy would never be similar to any other player's story. But that didn't mean it would be impossible. Hank Aaron was an African American baseball player who matched up with the big boys of the game. During his time, a Negro baseball player was not welcomed by everyone. As he hit one home run after the other, his numbers were getting closer and closer to the great legend's feat. Many saw this as the coming of a great moment while others were threatened by the end of Ruth's legacy.

Racist letters were sent to Aaron on a daily basis. But it did the opposite of weakening his determination. On April 8, 1974, thousands saw Ruth's legendary record being surpassed by Aaron's home run. Two great legends will always be remembered for that once in a lifetime moment.

The great Joe Luis once said “Everyone has a plan until they've been hit.” I believe his record of longest reign as boxing world champion will be pretty close to impossible to being broken. He was a world champion for eleven years and ten months. I think it's amazing that he knocked out 23 opponents in 27 title fights. These days, fighting champions like James J. Braddock is hard to come by.

The rules and style of boxing have changed since Luis's time. The era of World War II was another struggle for Luis to overcome and protect his title. His timeline of great achievements will never have anyone come close to it. I'm sure he was a hopeful symbol to many during those times. He's a champion who's at the top with Muhammad Ali. It is pretty close to impossible to surpass but I can never say it can never be done because records were meant to be broken.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -

co·in·ci·dence /koʊˈɪn sɪ dəns/ Pronunciation Key - [koh-in-si-duh ns

-noun

1. a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance: Our meeting in Venice was pure coincidence.

2. the condition or fact of coinciding.

3. an instance of this.

[Origin: 1595-1605; coincid(ent) + -ence ]

-Synonyms 1. accident, luck, fate.

Ever watch the TV series “Lost”? Then you'll understand how numbers and coincidences can seem strange and yet maybe have more meaning to them than most people would realize.

When I was growing up in New York, my phone number wasn't just ordinary to me. * When I was seventeen years old, it became even more special. My phone number and birth numbers were the same and in the same order. About a year after my Mother passed away, I tried to call that number, just out of curiosity to see if it was being reused. I was surprised by what I encountered. It was being reused, by another gal, named Tina. When I explained why I was calling, she almost cried as told her my name and the story about the phone number and my birth numbers. It seemed too unreal.

When my husband and I moved to New Hampshire, many years after we were married, we lived in an apartment until we were able to find a permanent home to buy. The number of our apartment was #144, Bob's new employer's address was #144, and our new license plate had #144 on it. I wish I had that luck when it came to picking numbers for the lottery. (Yes, I tried to play them a few times but never won.)

When we finally found the house that we would purchase and call our first home, I couldn't help but wonder if the coincidences that happened had a meaning behind them. The street that the home was on was called Nathaniel Drive. The brother I never knew was supposed to have the name of Nathan. Mom said she had thought about Nathaniel but shorten it. She never got to name him.

Other “coincidences” with our first home included the man that we purchased the home from. We were moving into his home and he was moving to the same town that Bob's parent's lived in New York, which included him shopping at the same store that his Mother worked at. Our next door neighbor and I had something in common too. I started a new job just previous to buying the house, the position I had at the company, was the same position that she had just left with that company.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -

nu·mer·ol·o·gy /ˌnu məˈrɒl ə dʒi, ˌnyu-/ Pronunciation Key [noo-muh-rol-uh-jee, nyoo-]

-noun

the study of numbers, as the figures designating the year of one's birth, to determine their supposed influence on one's life, future, etc.

[Origin: 1910-15; < L numer(us) number + -o- + -logy ]

Mom was born: 4-2-22

Bob and I were married: 4-2-82

Mom died: 10-22-02

My birthday: 8-22 *

Looking at those numbers, you can think of a bunch of different ways to match them up. I often think of how they are supposed to influence my own life and future.

Those are just some of the “coincidences” in my life. Coincidences? Or are they something more? Maybe they have a deeper meaning. If so, hopefully it is something that I'll be able to recognize and learn from in order to make my life a little better. We all know that our life is only a small sum of the variations of the people and the world around us.

*Numbers not published for privacy protection.

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My issue I would like to address is not your ordinary subject, but it is what I conceive as one of the greatest problems-Society itself. Society in the United States classifies itself as the greatest nation on Earth, but a false sense of democracy doesn't define a great society. 

We live in a society that splits people. We define people by status, race, height, age etc. We do it in everything from classifying students for free and reduced lunch in our public school system, which in turn generates more money for public leaders to utlize in the school system, to implementing affirmative action in everything from job hirings to getting into college to ensure a balance of different races. Some of examples of this includes widely public hiring practices to the United States Supreme Court ruling that the University of Michigan could use race in determining admissions to its law school. 

We are told our vote counts in the electoral system, but we are controlled by politicians who have anything but our best interest in mind. There are some 34,750 lobbyist in Washington D.C., according to a June 2005 article in the Washington Post. Do you think President Bush doesn't release some oof the country's reserve gas supply to help easer prices because he wants to be a good guy. Politicians are controlled by the bucks. The bucks are represented by the lobbyist who represent the guys that control the politicians. 

The following are some of the points I would like to make in my argument about why we lack what it takes in the United States to be a successful society:

*There are 299,321,041 people in the United States as of 5:14 p.m on 7/26/06. The national debt as of 7/27/06 was $8,423,269,319,365.84 and growing. Each person's responsibility in the United States for paying towards that growing debt is currently $28,154.06. The national debt has been growing by $1.6 billion per day since 9/30/05. 

* The high court in Washington State upheld a ban on gay marriage, saying it violated the sanctuary of marriage. But there is no evidence that homosexual couples are any more deviant than hetrosexual couples. My point being is we live in a country that is suppose to promote equality, acceptance, etc, but we don't allow people who are in love with one another to be together because there are the same sex. 

* Healthcare is another issue I have. The Connecticut Coalition for Universal Healthcare points out that the United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't guarantee access to healthcare for everyone. The United States already spends 40 percent more per capita on healthcare than any other country with universal healthcare. A single payer system would save between 100-200 billion per year. Insurance companies will not allow this universal system. Healthcare companies spend between 20-30 percent of our premiums on administration and profit. In 2004, there were 45 million people in the United States with no healthcare insurance. 

* Childcare is another issue. Based on a study at www.nccp.org, the country's workforce would be stronger if the government provided childcare subsidies more commonly. It would result in more low-income mothers working fulltime and finishing their education. 

* We destroy the earth with global warming. The United States is the leading producer of emissions that effect global warming with its power plants and carbon dioxide emissions from such things as cars and airplanes. Texas A&M University did a study in 1996 that showed drivers in New York and Los Angeles wasted 600 million gallons of gas sitting in traffic, which translated into 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. 

* Nationalhomeless.org said in 2004 that 3.5 million people were homeless in the United States, 1.35 million of whom were children. Contributing factors to homeless include low wages and rising housing cost. 

* WWW.Pregnantinfo.net offered the statistic of the growing teen pregnancy problem. In 2000, there were 821,810 teen pregnancies in the United States. 

* Everyday, four women die in the United States from domestic violence, according to www.now.org (National Organization for Women). There are a reported 572,000 battery cases with 170,000 resulting in a hospital stay for the victim. 

* The United States has the largest prison population in the world with 2 million people behind bars. 

* With what is being spent on the war in Iraq currently, the United States government could have offered free health insurance to 179,103,820 children for one year. We could have built 2,693,145 new housing units and hired an additional 5,183,500 teachers.

The issues go on and on. But overall, my point is society and the people that make up society are the greatest problems we face in this country today. We are self destructive people by nature. What we need is what I like to refer to as a Star Trek society, where we start working for the betterment of society instead of just the individual. The end result being that the individual would be better off because of the social advances that society as a whole has addressed. We focus our efforts now on other places so we don't have to address the issues in the United States like I named above. 

We like to believe in such things as free will and that we are the best society in the world. But there is no such thing as “The American Dream.” Try telling a starving, many of whom are right in our own backyard, that there is such a thing as the American Dream. 

We need to start focusing people in society on working together to address the issues. Sure, some might say it is a hopeless fight, but I believe it is a worthwhile fight. Afterall, the betterment of society is probably the most nobalest cause I can think of. It benefits us all.

Information Sources

www.census.gov
http://apps.leg.wa.gov
www.UMich.edu
Yakima Herald
http://cthealth.server101.com
www.nccp.org
www.tqnyc.org
http://antiraweb.org
www.nationalhomeless.org
www.enwikipedia.org

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While preparing Able Corporation's business plan, we developed a SWOT analysis, which provided us with valuable insight into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our company. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that affect an organization and opportunities and threats are the external factors that affect an organization. It is not only vital for us to discover our strengths, but our competitors as well. Understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our strongest competitors will help us predict their competitive position so that we may effectively accomplish our newly developed strategies (MindTools, 2009).

According to the rigorous research Able has been conducting, it has been determined that Smith & White Corporation (S&W) and Makatume are two key contenders in the U.S. PEPT industry. S&W sells a complete product line of reasonable quality tools to both consumer and professional channels. In addition, they also sell other items under the same name such as kitchen appliances, lawn and garden products, and hobby tools. Makatume simply sells professional tools (CTU Online, 2009). We can take our analysis one step further and apply a SWOT analysis to our competition. The following table represents a SWOT analysis for S&W and Makatume:

Strengths

• S&W's integrated strategy throughout all of their product lines

• S&W brand equity

• Makatume's fast growing cordless segment and dominant market share in professional cordless market

• Highly regarded by tradesmen for their quality, robustness, and durability.

Weaknesses

• S&W's huge size

• Makatume is locked into lower voltages

• S&W's lack of presence in cordless segment

• S&W high operating costs

Opportunities

• Low (less than 5%) market share by several domestic and foreign competitors

Threats

• Growing strength of Far East imports from China

Both companies have significant strengths that have helped them position themselves as industry leaders. S&W's biggest strength is the integrated strategy throughout all of their product lines and their ability to preserve brand equity through mass advertising enables them to remain dominant in the markets in which they operate. Well-built brand equity creates high consumer demand and influences many retailers to supply S&W products. Makatume's biggest strength growth they are experiencing in the cordless sector. They control 70% of the professional cordless market and have developed into the U.S.'s second leading competitor within their industry (CTU Online, 2009).

S&W and Makatume are not without their weaknesses. For instance, S&W incurs high operating costs. This is a result from their outdated and badly placed plants. It also doesn't have much of a presence in the fast growing cordless segment. Another weakness is S&W's huge size, which makes it hard from them to respond to change. Makatume also has some significant weakness. While their early market entry has helped them dominant their industry markets, it has limited their products to lower voltages because of it well established interchangeable battery. As innovations in battery effectiveness moves forward, Makatume will have to make some serious decisions in order to grow as well (CTU Online, 2009).

Lastly are the possible opportunities and threats for S&W and Makatume. One opportunity for both companies is the low market share of competing businesses within the industry. The remaining players in the market represent both national and international niche competitors and only account for 5% of the total market. On the flip side, a potential threat to both S&W and Makatume are imports from China. The good value and low price of Chinese imports are starting to create an influence on consumer tools (CTU Online, 2009).

Carrying out a SWOT analysis identifies strategies for minimizing weaknesses, neutralizing threats, and maximizing strengths and opportunities. Weaknesses and threats lessen a company's competitiveness within a specific industry/market. Strategies are developed to reduce weaknesses and avoid external threats. For instance, S&W can develop strategic objectives to increase their presence in the cordless sector of power tools. They can also focus on renovating or relocating their existing manufacturing plants to lower their operating costs. Makatume can develop strategic objectives to possibly expand their product lines to accommodate higher voltage batteries. Although these two companies have no control over external factors that may affect them, as with the rising strength of Chinese imports, the solution is to recognize potential threats and then draft contingency strategies to counteract the threat or lessen its potential impact (Simmering, 2007).

S&W and Makatume want to maximize their strengths and opportunities. Not only will this give them an increased competitive advantage, it will also lessen potential threats and weaknesses. S&W and Makatume can identify which strengths can be used to make the most of its opportunities. They can identify the appropriate strengths that can used to take advantage of and maximize its opportunities. For instance, the strengths of these companies that could help them infiltrate a new market include brand equity, highly regarded product quality, and quickly growing cordless sector (Simmering, 2007).

Makatume should definitely implement strategic objectives to move towards changing their interchangeable battery system to a higher voltage. They must keep up with the technology of battery efficiency to maintain their competitive advantage. While there is a risk that their innovations in battery efficiency will give other companies the initiative to employ the same product, it is a risk worth taking. They will be able to better serve their customers, which in turn will continue to build brand equity and to attract and retain its customers.

A SWOT analysis can be one-sided, so it should not be used as a be all to an end all, but rather as a guide. Using a SWOT analysis will give us the opportunity to take a look at ourselves and our competitors so we may develop effective strategic objectives to sustain a competitive advantage. Obtaining an awareness of our competition is vital in creating a winning strategy.

References

CTU Online. (2009). Course Materials: MGM465-0903B-03: Business Strategy. Retrieved on

September 22, 2009 from https://campus.ctuonline.edu/MainFrame.aspx?ContentFrame=/Default.aspx

MindTools. (2009). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved on September 22, 2009 from

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

Simmering, M.(2007). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved on September 23, 2009 from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/SWOT-Analysis.html

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Adding to its line of hard drive camcorders, JVC launched the Everio GZ-MG555 camcorder a while back. It offers improved picture quality and enhanced features. It records to either the built-in 30GB hard drive or to an SD card. JVC sent me a GZ-MG555 for evaluation and review purposes.

The Everio line, the first camcorders with hard drives, offers advanced imaging technology and versatility. Innovations include a new imaging engine, one-touch DVD burning, one-touch back-up to a PC, in-camera editing features, a dock and support for SDHC (high-capacity SD cards). The GZ-MG555 also produces still images using its 5.37-megapixel CCD, the largest offered in a hard drive/SD camcorder.

I shoot video with miniDV camcorder. One problem with miniDV camcorders is the outdated tape-storage technology. While it generally works fine, I recently had trouble when I transferred taped interviews to my hard drive. One segment had the video and audio out of sync. Tape also has insufficient storage capability. And you have to play the video in real time on the camcorder to transfer it to your PC via FireWire.

The Everio GZ-MG555 changes all this. With digital via the 30GB hard drive, you don't have problems with tape dropout. If you want, you could shoot a feature-length production without unloading the hard drive. Shooting times for the GZ-MG555 are approximate, but in Normal mode, it's about 14 hours. In Fine mode, you get around 10.5 hours. In Ultra mode, you can shoot around seven hours of footage. You can shoot a whopping 37.5 hours if set to Economy mode.

Using the GZ-MG555 is somewhat like my miniDV camcorder. It has similar separate buttons for video and photos. The zoom lens control is on top, and the on/off control works the same. The GZ-MG555 has what JVC calls the Gigabrid engine. JVC says it “improves picture quality by integrating various noise reduction technologies to increase the signal-to-noise ratio by about 30 percent over previous models.” We'll have to take their word on it.

Let's look at more GZ-MG555 features. It has a 1/2.5-inch, 5.37 megapixel CCD, larger than you usually get in consumer camcorders. There's a 10x optical zoom, and 300x digital zoom. The lithium-battery remote control is especially handy. An LED light comes on automatically in low-light situations. It has a built-in stereo microphone, and a mic port to plug in your own microphone. It offers 16:9 aspect ratio recording, and has a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD for real-time viewing of 16:9 video while shooting.

The Everio GZ-MG555 includes a docking station to pop in the camcorder. With the dock connected to your PC, you don't need a cable to transfer files or burn DVDs. The Everio dock also charges the camcorder's battery. While I got good results shooting video with the Auto setting, the Program AE dial offers manual, twilight, portrait, sports, snow and spotlight settings. You can also do manual focusing, and change the shutter speed (from 1/2 to 1/4000).

The GZ-MG555 features one-touch direct DVD burning, and one-touch backup of video files to a PC. The FireWire (IEEE 1394) output on the Everio dock permits easy dubbing to DVD or hard drive recorders. The GZ-MG555 has a Partial Delete function that allows a portion of a video file to be saved as a new file, leaving out any unwanted material.

The camcordercomes with a software suite. It includes CyberLink's PowerCinema NE for Everio for browsing camera content and enabling direct DVD/direct backup functions. PowerProducer 3 NE is for DVD burning, and PowerDirector 5 NE Express is used for editing. However, there's an oddity about the video files,which are transferred via USB 2.0 to your PC.

The MPEG-2 files are actually saved in the .MOD extension, a proprietary format developed by JVC. But I was able to load and edit them in Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus. The files also played in Windows Media Player. The older Windows Movie Maker wouldn't recognize the format. But you can load .MOD files into PowerDirector 5 NE Express, and then save them as .AVI or standard MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 files for further editing by any editing program.

And don't forget, you can take nice 5-megapixel photos, too. The JVC Everio GZ-MG555 has a suggested list price of $899.95. Check your favorite discount brick-and-mortar or online store for best price. Or surf to www.jvc.com/main.jsp.