GRE Essay – Argument Topic 1
Jul1
Time: 30 mins
The following appeared in a memo from the president of Viva-Tech, a manufacturer of high-tech medical equipment. “In order to reduce costs, we should close some of our existing small assembly plants and build a large central plant. Grandview would be an ideal location for this new plant. First, of the locations that we have considered, Grandview has the largest adult population, so that we
will be able to staff our plant quickly and easily. Second, since the average wage earned by workers in Grandview is less than that in the other locations, we should be able to keep production costs low. Last, as an inducement for us to build there, Grandview’s town council has offered to allow us to operate for the first three years without paying city taxes.”
premise – in order to reduce cost.
conclusion – we should close some of our existing ….and build large central.
assumption -
largest adult population equals effective and efficient workforce, this is not necessary true.
the payrate is not scale with the abilities of the workers
exempt from city taxes is the only fee to operate the plant
The issue of reducing cost by shutting down existing small assembly plants and building a large central plant is a controversial one. Large adult population of Grandview may allow quick and easy deployment of the plant’s staff. Also the competitive pay rate may reduce the cost of production. Finally, the offer of tax exempt from the city may contribute significantly to the overal company’s saving. However, in my final analysis, I think that by building a large central plant in Grandview is not the answer to the company’s plan of reducing cost. I will demonstrate my belief in the following paragraphs.
First, the company fails to create a logical connection between the largest adult population with the ease of deploying the plant’s staff. Adult population can be divided into many category from young adult from college students, college grad, middle age workers, and even retired residents. Young college students may not want to pursue a career at the plants due to constrain in their classes’ schedule. College graduate may or may not want to work at the plan because they think they can make more money working at corporate offices. Middle age workers may possess sufficient knowledge and expertise so that they can run their own company. Retired residents may not want to work at all.
Second, the company assumes that the workers’ pay rate is Grand View is scale with the workers’ efficiency and effectiveness. This is an extravagant mistake that may cost the company more resources rather than reducing production cost. Low paying workers may not have the required skills and knowledge to work in the assembly line immediately. Thus these workers may need to be trained and even further more need to be certified, and tested. The cost to educate these workers may turn out to cost the company more money; Because at the same time these workers are being trained, the company is missing the workforce that is needed to produce goods for sale.
Third, the company fails to assess the total cost to run the plant at Grandview. The city taxes is only a small part of a larger picture of the company’s grand operation cost. How about the cost to build the plant, the cost to transfer all the existing equipments to the new plant, and the cost to build the new plant.
In my conclusion, I think the company’s strategy of abandoning their existing plants and building a new larger central plant in Grandview is not the answer to reduce product cost. The first reason is that the company fails to create a logical connection between the largest adult population with the ease of deploying the plant’s staff. Second, the company assumes that the lower the workers’ pay rate in Grandview, the highest the cost of saving. Third, the company fails to assess the total cost to oeprate the plant at the new location.
And I didn’t have to travel to Florida
Jul0
to go to the beach. They have an artificial beach at Fort Yargo, filled with sand and fresh water from the lake. The view of the lake was spectacular with trees here and trees there, and probably because this was the only second lake I’ve been to. The atmosphere was comforting stirred with laughter from kids, families, and neighbors around the park.
The water was yellowish but see through for about 2 feet. I wouldn’t know if this comes from the urine of human, animals, or any of those peeing-capable species, but what If I do anyway, I wouldn’t care because I was too busy trying to swim across the lake. It wasn’t the cause that eludes me into swimming across the lake but rather the consequences of doing it. Drowning was in my mind but even more absurd was the thought of being eaten alive by gargantuan crocodiles (the one from Lake Placid movie). I didn’t swim across the lake however because I didn’t have my goggles with me.
Nafeesa said we would do this again this Sunday and so I am so looking forward to this weekend, as I always do. I will bring my mom to the beach this time. It’s self-torturing seeing her unhappy if you know what I mean.
You can change your job, not people
Jul0
And the ironic assumption is that psychologist can fix people, yea right when my idiot co-workers change. Dilbert already said this but now I’ve been working at so many places, this theory becomes more and more valid everyday. I tell you why you can’t change people
1) To change is to modify, and since you can’t modify a person physically, it’s impossible.
2) To change is not to be a human being because human is flawed in every way. The sooner the idiots surround you find your flaws, the sooner they start rejecting your advice.
3) To change a person is to know about that person, and if I don’t even know my mother anymore, how can I change her. We’re talking about idiots at your work place here, it’s beyond your imaginations.
Let me give you some recommendations when your thought of changing your co-workers to be intelligent and smarter workers:
1) Ignore him. The more confrontation you have at work, the closer you are to the top of the “List of people I want to fired” list.
2) Don’t let him get to you. If you let people get to you, they will make a fool of you. Look at Tom Cruise, he’s a nut case now, and still sexy as hell.
3) Don’t tell your boss about this. It’s a sign of team work problem that you have the sooner you complain about anything to your boss.
4) Keep notes of all communications you have between you and your idiot co-workers. These very notes may be your last defense should SH** happen to you because your co-workers reboot the domain controller by accident.
5) Never let other people know that your co-workers are stupid. This is the same as telling people you are an idiot and that you should be fired.
If you want something, go make it happen
Jul0
I started swimming back when I was in college 3 years ago. I swam pretty hard, practically 5-7 days a week. Before then, I swam for 10 laps and passed out. So my female coach had to kick me to wake me up. It was embarrassing but that was the least I cared for since I was begging for mercy lying on the side of pool, hoping I didn’t go with the light.
I started running when I was in college too, about the same time as swimming. My legs hurt badly after every running practice. I love running so much not because of the fact that it is but because of the fact that it gives. Release from anxiety is one thing, another thing is being in the wood, and on the track. I would give anything to be outside in this hot, and humid weather of Atlanta on any given day.
Now 3 years after I received my Bachelor of Science from Southern Polytechnic State University, I’m a fat ass again. As a matter of fact, I’m a fattier fat ass. My abs is so fat, it has its own abs. So I started running and swimming again. Back then my abs was so thin, most of my clothes did not fit, now it’s the opposite. I lost my fat back then and I can do it again.
Besides running and swimming, I am biking now, practically everyday. My legs don’t hurt anymore since I’ve gained strength and flexibility from biking. Biking increases my lung capacity to process oxygen. Running benefits greatly from biking, and of course this is the most oxygen demanding sport I’ve played. Swimming requires both flexibility, strength, and endurance from both running and biking.
Today I just went to Fort Yargo for an “advanced” biking practice, or at least I think it was advanced. They name the difficult trail as “monster miles” and easy trail as “beginner miles.” Well it turned out that the “monster miles” are hell miles. I biked 20% of the time, the other time I was either walking, crawling through bushes, or lying on the ground. My lungs were calling out for help as if they were exploding due to being over used. After getting lost in the wood for 2 hours, I managed to return to my car and drive home. I both regret and proud of myself for taking the advanced trail. If I didn’t take the advanced trail, I would wonder constantly on the way home what would the advanced trail is like. And since I did take the trail, I think my next biking achievement is to conquer this trail with biking 100% the length of the route.
I hate writing conclusion so I will make it short. So I run, swim, and bike. I started running because when I was in college, I told myself I wanted to run and so I started running the next day. The same method I applied to swimming. Biking is also the same way, I went to Target during my lunch and bought the bike. The next day I was in the wood trying to figure out how to adjust the gear on my bike. My butt was in excruciating pain along with scratches on my legs, drool on my mouth, and sweat all over my body. I am glad I chose to execute what I have in my head and so can you.
[Exam 70-270] – Chapter 1/Lesson 3 – Workgroups and Domains
Oct0
I- Workgroups
- Workgroup is a logical grouping of networked computers that share resources such as files/printers.
- Workgroup is also called a peer-to-peer network because all computers can share resources equally without having a dedicated server.
- Each computer maintain its local own security database.
1- Advantage
- Decentralized administration since each computer maintain its own local security database.
- Does not require a domain controller to hold centralized security information thus making managing a workgroup easier.
- Does not require extensive planning and designing.
- Provides a convenient networking solution for computers in close proximity.
2- Disadvantage
- Workgroup is impractical if the network has more than 10 computers.
- A user must have a local account for every computer that the user wants to access.
- Any changes on any user account on any computer must also be performed on all remaining computers. For example: user A changes password on computer A. If user A wants to access computer B using the updated password, user A must also update the password on computer B.
II- Domains
- Domain is a logical grouping of networked computers that share a central directory database also known as the directory.
- This directory holds user accounts and security for the domain.
- This directory is a database portion of Active Directory service, which is the Windows 2003 directory server.
- In a domain, a domain controller is a server that holds the Active Directory database, and all security related information of the domain.
- A domain does not refer to a single location or any type of network configuration. In another word, a domain can consist of networked computers that are located on 2 opposite sides of the world. Any networked computer in a domain can interact with each other regardless of location.
- A person cannot log on locally to a domain controller machine because that computer does not have a local user database.
1- Advantage
- Centralized administration since all user accounts and security are located on the Active Directory on a single machine (domain controller server(. Any changes to this database will affect every other computer network-wide.
- Since user accounts are maintained by the domain controller, logon authentication only happens on the server side, not on the local computer side. Thus users can logon to any computer in the network regarding of its local security/account database.
- Feasible for creating large scale network of computers with hundred, or thousands of computers.
2- About domain controllers running on Windows Server 2003
- Domain controller does not maintain a security database. You cannot logon locally to a domain controller computer.
- Each domain controller grants logon access to domain users by validating the user’s credentials against the Active Directory database.
- If there are more than one domain controllers in a domain, each domain controller replicate its directory periodically so that all the domain controllers can have a copy of the Active Directory.
- A member server is a computer that is not configured as a domain controller but is in charge of providing shared resources such as files/printers.
[Exam 70-270] – Chapter 1/Lesson 2 – Windows XP SP2
Oct0
I- How to determined if you have Windows XP SP2
1- Start -> Run -> winver.exe -> enter
2- Start -> Right click on my computer -> General Tab will tell you
II- Major enhancements in Windows XP SP2
1- Security Center – is an entirely new feature provided by the XP SP2. Security features routinely checks on status of the following components
1.1- Windows Firewall – detects whether the computer has any firewall software. If the computer doesn’t, security center will warn you about this if you click on the Security Center baloon on the bottom right of the taskbar.
1.2- Automatic Updates – detects the setting of automatic updates in XP. Security Center will make recommendation regarding to the setting of automatic updates in your computer if you don’t already have automatic updates set to enable or you set it to turned off.
1.3- Virus Protection – detects whether you have antivirus in your computer. If your computer does, Security Center will check to see if the virus definition is up-to-date.
2- Automatic Updates – Windows XP automatic updates connects periodically to Windows Update on the internet to check for the latest updates, and patches for the computer. Automatic Updates can then download, and install the updates automatically in the background or it can prompt the administrator to perform an appropriate action. Additional enhancements provided by XP SP2 are:
2.1- added expanded support for Microsoft Office, and Microsoft products.
2.2- previous automatic update can only download critical updates. The new version now can download critical updates, security updates, update roll-ups, and service packs.
2.3- prioritizes the updates based on importance and size of the updates.
2.4- more automated than the old version. THe EULAs pop up has been eliminated. The users now can decided whether to restart the computer after the update.
3- Windows Firewall - a firewall protects a computer from outside attack by only allow specified traffic to travel into the computer. Previous version of windows firewall named ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) is now replaced by Window Firewall in the XP SP2. Windows Firewall is a sateful, host-based firewall software that blocks all incoming traffic that does not meet one of the following requirements:
- Solicited traffic – valid traffic that is sent in response to a request by the computer.
- Excepted traffic – traffic that is manually configured to pass through the firewall.
Windows Firewall has numerous enhancements/characteristic such as the following:
3.1- Enabled by default – when updated to Windows XP SP2, Windows Firewall will be enalbed by default to protect all network connections.
3.2- Global settings – Windows Firewall has a global setting feature that affect the firewall settings of all internet connections. Of course, user can always change the settings of each internet connection manually.
3.3- New interface – in the previous version, you have to click Settings on the Advanced tab to configure your firewall settings. In Windows XP SP2, when you click Windows Firewall, all the tabs are now consolidated into 1 interface.
3.4- Prevent excepted traffic – in ICF, you can only either enable or disable all traffic (either solicited or excepted). With Windows Firewall, you can still allow solicited traffic but disable excepted traffic at the same time.
3.5- Startup Security – in Windows XP SP2, Windows Firewall protects the network connection as soon as it becomes active.
3.6 – Traffic source restriction – now you can apply firewall rule based on individual IP or a range of IP.
3.7 – Excepted traffic based on file names – with Windows Firewall, you can simply add the application name into the firewall list. Windows Firewall will then add the ports that the application uses into the list of accepted incoming traffic.
4- Internet Explorer – many enhancements are introduced into IE by XP SP2
4.1- Information bar -notifies users regarding current activities happening in the browser. Activity such as blocked ActiveX install request, blocked pop-up windows, and blocked download request.
4.2- Pop-up blocker – IE now has its own pop-up blocker add-on. When a pop-up is blocked, a notification is showed up on the Information Bar. User then can left click on the bar to choose whether or not to view the pop-up or block the pop-up indefinitely from that particular website.
4.3- File download prompt – users now are prompted to accept or reject downloads from the Internet. This prevents malicious files to download themselves automatically without users’ permission.
4.4 – Add-on management – users now can disable/enable add-ons that they install through the add-on interface under Internet Options/Programs/Manage-addon.
III- Lesson Review
1) After Windows XP SP2 is installed, IE combines many of the common dialog boxes that prompt users for input into an area called Information Bar.
2) Windows Firewall
- is enabled by default
- protects a network connection as soon as the connection becomes active
The Linux Directories
Oct0
The root (/) directory
The root directory begins with the / symbol
The /bin directory
This directory stores system binaries or programs used to oeprate the system. Non-critical programs or binaries are stored in the /usr/bin directory.
The /boot directory
This directory holds all the files needed to boot the system, except the configuration files. Files included are the kernal, boot loaders, and message files defining the text printed on the loading screen.
The /dev directory
This directory stores all devices used to access different hardware components in the system. Some devices are disk drives, floppy disks, tap drives, terminals, console, serial ports, parallel ports, and sound card.
To view devices currently connected on your computer
cd /dev
ls -lk
The /etc directory
This directory contains a variety of system configurations files needed for system initilization. All users can read files in this directory but only administrators can execute the files.
The /home directory
The /home directory is to store user’s home directory. The root’s home directory is located inside /root instead.
The /lib directory
This directory stores shared libraries allowing Linux’s executables to have smaller file size and denser features without the need of recompiling.
The /mnt directory
This directory to store references to external file systems or devices.
The /opt directory
This directory is a holdover from Unix where /opt hosts additional or add-on software.
The /proc directory
This directory hold dynamic information generated from related system processes such as the kernal, network devices, etc…Each process is a folder with permission to access the process environment. Use ls -l to view long listing type of this folder.
ls -l
The /root directory
Not to be confused with the / directory, the /root directory is the home directory for root user.
The /sbin directory
This directory contains executables that can only be run by the root users. Many of these executables are essential for booting up the system.
The /tmp directory
This folder is used to store temporary files that lasts only a short period of time. This is an efficient way to manage files since most of these temporary files get deleted after a restart of the system or after a termination of a program.
The /usr directory
This directory is enormous that comes with a directory structure of its own.
The /usr/bin directory stores non-critical system executable files, even most of them are launched on a basis.
The /usr/dict directory stores spell checking command files.
The /usr/etc directory used to store configuration files but now no longer used for that purpose.
The /usr/games directory does not have to hold third party games but can be used for that purpose.
The /usr/include and /usr/lib are used to store the C compiler’s include and library files.
The /usr/sbin directory does not store critical system administration file.
The /var directory
Usually user mailboxes, system log files, and spool logs are stored in this directory.
The /var directory
lock – lock files for system processes
log – log files for login/logout, current users, syslog, httpd, ftpd, mail, and spool file.
run – files created for the current system run level.
spool – data that has been spooled for processing, such as print jobs.
state – system state variables.