Handstar Inc Essay Example for Free

Handstar Inc Essay Handstar Inc. was created a little over four years ago by two college roommates to develop software applications for handheld computing devices. It has since grown to ten employees with annual sales approaching $1. 5 million. Handstar’s original product was an expense report application that allowed users to record expenses on their handheld computers and then import these expenses into a spreadsheet that then create an expense report in one of five standard formats. Based on the success of its first product, Handstar subsequently developed three additional software products: a program for tracking and measuring the performance of investment portfolios- a calendar program, and a program that allowed users to download their email messages from their PC and read them on their handheld computers. The two founders of Handstar have recently become concerned about the competitiveness of their offerings, particularly since none of them has been updated after their initial launch. Therefore, they asked the directors of product development and marketing to work together and prepare a list of potential projects for updating Handstars current offerings as well as to develop ideas for additional offerings. The directors were also asked to estimate the development costs of the various projects, product revenues, and the likelihood that Handstar could retain or obtain a leadership position for the given product. Also, with the increasing popularity of the Internet, the founders asked the directors to evaluate the extent to which the products made use of the Internet. The product development and marketing directors identified three projects related to updating Handstars existing products. The first project would integrate Handstars current calendar program with its email program. Integrating these two applications into a single program would provide a number of benefits to users such as allowing them to automatically enter the dates of meetings into the calendar based on the content of an email message. The directors estimated that this project would require 1250 hours of software development time. Revenues in the first year of the products launch were estimated to be $750,000. However, because the directors expected that a large percentage of the users would likely upgrade to this new product soon after its introduction, they projected that annual sales would decline by 10 percent annually in subsequent years. The directors speculated that Handstar was moderately likely to obtain a leadership position in email/calendar programs if this project were undertaken and felt this program made moderate use of the Internet. The second project related to updating the expense report program. The directors estimated that this project would require 400 hours of development time. Sales were estimated to be $250,000 in the first year and to increase 5 percent annually in subsequent years. The directors speculated that completing this project would almost certainly maintain Handstars leadership position in the expense report category, although it made little use of the Internet. The last product enhancement project required enhancing the existing portfolio tracking program. This project would require 750 hours of development time and would generate first-year sales of $500,000. Sales were projected to increase 5 percent annually in subsequent years. The directors felt this project would have a high probability of maintaining Handstars leadership position in this category and the product would make moderate use of the Internet. The directors also identified three opportunities for new products. One project was the development of a spreadsheet program that could share files with spread-sheet programs written for PCs. Developing this product would require 2500 hours of development time. First-year sales were estimated to be $1,000,000 with an annual growth rate of 10 percent. While this product did not make use of the Internet, the directors felt that Handstar had a moderate chance of obtaining a leadership position in this product category. The second new product opportunity identified was a Web browser. Developing this product would require 1875 development hours. First-year sales were estimated to be $2,500,000 with an annual growth rate of 15 percent. Although this application made extensive use of the Internet, the directors felt that there was a very low probability that Handstar could obtain a leadership position in this product category. The final product opportunity identified was a trip planner program that would work in conjunction with a PC connected to the Web and download travel instructions to the users handheld computer. This product would require 6250 hours of development time. First-year sales were projected to be $1,300,000 with an annual growth rate of 5 percent. Like the Web browser program, the directors felt that there was a low probability that Handstar could obtain a leadership position in this category, although the program would make extensive use of the Internet. In evaluating the projects, the founders believed it was reasonable to assume each product had a three-year life. They also felt that a discount rate of 12 percent fairly reflected the companys cost of capital. An analysis of pay-roll records indicated that the cost of software developers is $52 per hour including salary and fringe benefits. Currently there are four software developers on staff, and each works 2500 hours per year. Which option should they choose?

Pre-history :: essays research papers

Pre-History Anthropologists: Anthropologists study the skeletal remains of prehistoric life. Two examples of famous anthropologists are Mary Leaky and Donald Johanson. Donald Johanson was the anthropologist who discovered â€Å"Lucy†. â€Å"Lucy†is the first known sign of humanity. The technical name for â€Å"Lucy† is Australopithecus. The odd thing about â€Å"Lucy† is that she was both modern and pre-historic, having arms longer that her legs, and being bipedal was a strange combination for a creature said to be three million years old. Anthropologists study all over the world, but â€Å"Lucy† was found in Africa. Radiocarbon Dating: Radio Carbon dating is a dating method in which the amount of carbon14 in an object is measured. The bodies carbons start to decay at death so they measure how old something is by measuring it’s amount of carbon. There are two major problems with this method though. 1) The specimen can only date back about 100,000 years. 2) If the original amount of carbon was distorted for any reason that will mess up the date given. For those reasons scientists developed other methods that help date things more accurately. These methods include the stardust theory and the river delta theory. Ice Age: Glaciers; large, slowly moving masses of snow and ice. Each of the four cold weather periods lasted from 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. The Ice Age. Scientists believe that the age we live in started after the 4th period Ice Age sone25,000 years ago. Today 1/2 the earth is covered in ice. During the third period 1/3 of the world was covered in ice. The ice age made animals either migrate or disappear entirely. (Saber Tooth Tiger, Woolly Mammoth) It also shaped the continents we live on today. There were also land bridges in the Ice age. Paleolithic Age: Paleolithic means â€Å"old stone† we called it the stone age. 1974 Ethiopia Donald Johanson a well known anthropologist discovered female skeletal remains that might have been as old as 3 million years. Cro-Magnon People: When neanders disappeared cro’s appeared in Europe. Better tools and weapons were made, the 1st spear and paintings were made in this age.

Sex and Religion

Sexual origin and conduct morals differentiate between cultures and have evolved gradually over time to what we now know today. The conflict between sexuality (sex) and religion has been ever present in every cultures history. This conflict, however, comes in two parts: sex as in the action and sexuality. The action of sex, or conduct, has many different views that can sway easily from polar to polar. From the belief that sex is immoral and dirty, to the belief that sex is the highest expression of the divine, this an example on how the view of each religion differ greatly from each other. Some religious faiths believe that only sex as a means of biological reproduction between a formal marital couple is acceptable and even promoted; while on the other hand, sex for the basis of pleasure is considered sinful and looked down upon. There seems to be little middle ground in any of the world’s major and minor religions. But while there may be little middle ground in the direct interpretations of religious texts and values, the middle ground is made up by society that as a whole is very laid back on such matters with only a few high profile individuals who happen to talk more than they walk. Most people tend to such matters with privacy and discretion. The second of the two conflicts is of sexuality and preference, and this is one that grips our nation and many others when really it should not. Religious institutions have such a problem with gay-marriage that through years of successful lobbying against such marital status resulted in many states banning or suspending this right. This is a clear indicator that the seperation between church and state has become a bit of a fallacy. Out of all the major faiths and sects in the world, the Anglican church is the only branch that even allows homosexuals to hold any leadership and pastorship position. Being Anglican, I have been taught that God just wants everyone to be happy and live a good life. If two same-sex people love each other and are happy, then why limit their possibilities to extend that happiness? At the same time, homosexual couples seem to be the only ones not affected by the hellish situation that is a divorce. To be honest, it is unfair that they get rarely encounter any of the pain that a divorce brings. Plus, it allows divorce attorneys a new frontier to cast their loveless shadow over, and add extra impetus in their reservations in hell. Anyways, it’s none of our or any religion’s business to influence the happiness and lives of generally good people who contribute immensly in our world. In Judaism, sex and reproduction are the holiest of acts that one can do, they believe this act is the only one where one can imitate God and bring life to the world. Of course, like many religions, they sanction monogamous and committed heterosexual relationships with marriage. Though, the Jewish Hebrew Bible prohibits adultery and heterosexual intercourse during when the wife in her menstrual period, or known as the Niddah. Orthodox Judaism strongly oppose homosexual sexual acts, while the Traditional division of Judaism views just male homosexuality as a grave sin. With that in mind, female homosexuality is apparently fine with them – I guess they are fans of girl-on-girl action. Contradictions like this just make the view and morality of sex to religious faiths a huge joke. But there is hope as the tolerant attitudes ofReform and Reconstructionist Judaism in relation to both sexual diversity and interfaith marriage have contributed to the rise in popularity to eventually making it the largest Jewish denomination in the United States. For centuries

The Cause For Global Warming - 1279 Words

Darvon Millsaps Millsaps 1 Mr. Armao English 1A 24 April 2015 The Cause for Global Warming Global warming refers to the drastic change in climate. But who are the ones that cause global warming? Is it the people of earth or is it just the natural change in climate as the world ages? People claim that it’s just a natural change in climate, that the people have only a little influence on the climate. Others say that we the people are the cause for the dramatic change in climate with the greenhouse gases we emit into the atmosphere. Global warming is indeed real and can have a catastrophic effect on the world if we do not improve the environment. The greenhouse gas we emit into the atmosphere has already taken effect on the†¦show more content†¦According to Weeks’ article â€Å"Will Governments Act to Curb Rising Temperatures?† a Millsaps 2 chart that the article displays that China and the U.S emits the most carbon dioxide into the world. The climate change going on in the world has affected the world already. With the change in climate the rain pattern in California is proof that global warming can have an effect on the world in its early stages. According to an image in Colin Woodard’s article, the ice in the arctic area is shrinking. The ice in the arctic area will continue to shrink at a rapid rate of nine percent every decade since the year 1979. The changes will only get worse if people don’t try to stop global warming from advancing. The problem is that with temperature increasing that will only cause us to use more air conditioning which is emitting more carbon dioxide into the air. According to Reed Karaim a freelance writer, an image displays that every five years we experience at least a one degree increase in temperature. That increase has been happening since the year 1984. The increase can add up to be catastrophic if people do not stop burning Millsaps 3 fossil fuels, building oil refineries, and not using solar power. According to Maria Van Der Hoeven, executive director of International Energy agency, â€Å"Limiting warming to 2 °C would require capping CO2 concentrations at about 450 parts per million, a level the planet could hit by