Online dating services Essay Example for Free

Online dating services Essay Online Dating Services, once a haven for the desperate and lonely are starting to attract a significant user and revenue base and are growing at an increasing rate. These services now attract over 30 million users a year in the U. S. and soon will be the highest revenue subscription content service on the Internet. The growth of online personals and many of the industrys characteristics are similar to those of products such as fax machines, DVD players, and the Internet itself. The main similarity is that the value of these services for each user increases with each additional user. However, many other characteristics hold true as well. It has significant economies of scale, requires highly complimentary products, and displays some semblance of standards and compatibility between its competitors. Since online dating services have proven to be so similar to other networked goods, much of the knowledge gained by examining these other services can be applied. This means that one can expect these services to continue to grow rapidly, gain mainstream acceptance and that subscription prices will remain low as long as the major services remain incompatible. Further, they likely will remain incompatible for a variety of technical and strategic reasons. Online dating services have been around since 19951. Computer dating services date (no pun intended) back as far as the 1960s2. However over the last three years these services have seen explosive growth. While other dotcoms reached their peak in 2000 and have since crashed, dating sites have seen explosive growth since 1999 both in users and revenue. The industry generated over $50 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2002, 550% year over year growth3. This growth has been so fast and successful that many of the Internet companies that survived the crash have turned to dating services for additional revenue and profitability4. This explosive growth and several of the industrys other characteristics are reminiscent of other technologies or innovations. The fax machine, VCR, and the Internet itself have all followed similar growth curves5. What online dating has in common with these sites is that they are all examples of networked products or services where each additional user increases the overall value of the good to all the other users. The following report provides an overview of the online dating industry and its recent growth. It then examines the characteristics of networks and whether these apply to the online dating. Based on these characteristics, it models an explanation for its recent growth and attempts to explain any potential shift in attitudes towards online dating. Finally, this report looks at the competition between services and the likely affect this will have on consumers utility, prices, the services themselves and societal welfare as a whole. The following section provides an overview of what online dating sites are, the major players, industry size and business models to establish a basis for comparing this industry to the characteristics of networked industries. Online dating services are simply websites that carry a database of singles for other singles to search. Typically users can visit the site and search based on sex, age and often certain characteristics of their profile, for example: I am a male seeking a female aged 18 to 24 in Toronto, ON. Only show ads with pictures. [insert screen shots here] From here visitors view a list of matching profiles and can click through on any of these to view the full profile. The full profile can contain one or multiple pictures, various stats on the user (age, sex, body type, sexual or religious orientation) as well as an opening headline, description and clever answers to profile questions. Registered users can then make contact with the user, usually through a messaging or chat system within the site and if the match is successful the relationship moves off of the site into the real world. Online dating services are big business. The online personals industry generated $53. 1 million in revenue in the first quarter of this year. That number is over 5 1/2 times the $8. 1 million total for that period in 2001. That number will likely continue to grow substantially this year once industry wide figures are available. Revenue at the leading service Match. com more than doubled in the third quarter of 2002 to $33. 4 million and this is a company with less than one third of the market. Nearly 34 million people visit personals sites each year6. The industry is dominated by two major players. Match. com is the biggest site with nearly 6 million visitors per month while Yahoo, at 3. 4 million, is the second most popular site, leveraging its large population of web directory and email users7. Following well behind these two are a dozen or so fairly evenly trafficked sites (see chart: Major Players in Online Dating). The business models for most of these sites are some combination of free and paid access. For all the sites browsing the ads is free. However users have to register and pay between $20 and $25 in order to post ads or respond to ads or both. Over 93% of online dating subscription prices are in the $5-50 range8. Both Match. com and Yahoo charge to post an ad and respond to ads. Lavalife (the 10th most trafficked site) is free to post ads but requires users buy credits in order to contact other users. Overall 98% of purchases at online dating sites are subscriptions. 54% of those subscriptions are monthly, 22% annual. The user population of online dating sites is about 60% male, 40% female9. The ages of users range from 18 to 80 with the largest percentage (32%) between 35 and 44 years of age. Followed by 24% for 25-35 year olds, 22% for 45-54 year olds and 11% each amongst 18 to 24 year olds and those 55 and over (see graph: age distribution)10. The fastest growing segment appears to be the 18-30 space. In the first quarter of 2002, fully half of the new users of Match. com have been under 3011. This suggests that dating sites are no longer just for the desperate, those over 35 and still single, but have become another source for those with time and looks on their side to accelerate their dating or improve their dating efficiency. 5 Online Dating Growth While spending on online content as a whole has increased, no category has increased more than online dating (see graph: Quarterly Growth of Consumer Spending by Category of Online Content). While the other categories such as business content and research have experienced steady linear growth, the growth curve for online dating is an exponential curve. Not only is it growing but the rate of growth quarter over quarter is also increasing. At its current rate by the time numbers are available for the rest of 2002 it will exceed business spending as the largest category of online spending. It is also the only category of online content that has significant consumption externalities. When purchasing any of business content, research, single player games, news, credit help, sports or online greeting cards, the number of other users of the product does not play more than a minor role in the purchasing decision. There is also plenty of room for the industry to grow in both revenue and users. Soon these services will have video chat capabilities12. People will overcome a lot of their negative perceptions of the practice as the number of users increase and many of these primarily US-based services will begin to expand internationally. Many products are not useful without a complementary product. Portable CD players are useless without headphones, and DVD players require DVDs to play. This is one of the factors that separate network goods from goods such as an apple which can be consumed by itself. Arguably online dating services could be the required complementary product to the Internet. With an Internet connection one needs content to look at, and certainly users of online dating services are required to have an Internet connection, so there is some complementarity here but this connection is somewhat weak. While CDs are needed for a CD player to be useful at all, dating services are not a requirement for the Internet to be useful. Further, even with the rapid growth in online personals, it still lags Internet growth and coverage so significantly that for at least the next little while the overall growth of the Internet will have a negligible effect on online dating when compared to the growth it will experience from existing Internet users. With the requirement many networked goods have for complementary products comes the need for compatibility and standards. The benefits of making goods compatible with others are clear. Consumers can benefit by being able to choose from a number of headphone choices knowing that for the most part (except on airplanes) these headphones will plug into their CD player, stereo, and computer. From a headphone manufacturers perspective it is far cheaper to build for a standard jack than specifically for every device. While there is not a single standard that all online dating services are based on to the point where a profile or other stored information from one service can be seamlessly transferred to any other, several competing platforms are starting to emerge. Nerve. com, after the rapid growth of the personals section of its website, spun the service off into a separate company, Springstreet Networks, which provides a standardized shared match making service for other content providers such as salon. com, bust, boston. com and others14. Match. coms database is shared with licensees including msn. com, nytimes. com and villagevoice. com to name a few. Relationship Exchange is another network that powers the personals services behind. cupidjunction. com, and personals. canada. com amongst others. Even some of the smaller dating sites like people2people. com are licensing their databases to online newspaper sites like sfgate. com. The competition is not necessarily amongst the dating sites themselves but the networks they supply and pull from. However, Yahoo Personals is independent and not licensed to other parties. It is banking on its existing position as the top website on the Internet15 and its large pool of users of its other tools to provide a large enough pool of users. Lavalife also has its own proprietary system and is banking on its unique features and credit based rather than subscription based system. While Yahoo and Lavalife are staunchly independent, the advantages to smaller sites are obvious. A personals site is only as valuable as its pool of profiles that match the user. If the user is unable to find people with the same interests, geography and whatever other characteristics determine a match, the user will not subscribe to the site for very long, nor be enticed to subscribe in order to contact a matching user. The larger the pool of people, the better the selection of people that may match, the more likely the user is to subscribe or purchase credits. 6. 3 Consumption Externalities The increase in value with an increase in users is the fourth characteristic of networked industries: consumption externalities. If there is one heterosexual person of each gender on one of these sites the possible number of connections is only one. However with five people of each gender the number of possible connections is 25. With 100 males and 100 females the number of possible connections is 10,000. Thus the total value of the network, as measured by the number of possible connections, increases by Vn = nm x nf where n is the number of users and m and f indicate male and female respectively.

Research on Sebastian Faulks Essay Example for Free

Research on Sebastian Faulks Essay Sebastian Faulks was born in Donnington, a village near Newbury in Berkshire on April 20, 1953. He was the younger son of Peter Faulks (1917-1998) and Pamela, nee Lawless (1923-2003). Peter Faulks was a partner in the local law firm Pitman and Bazett. He had interrupted his legal training in 1939 to enlist with the Duke of Wellington’s, a Yorkshire-based infantry regiment. He fought in Holland, France, North Africa, Italy, Palestine and Syria. He was awarded the Military Cross in Tunisia. He was wounded in North Africa and again when his company was in slit trenches at Anzio. He received further wounds when the Germans bombed the beachhead hospital while he was waiting to be evacuated. He made a full recovery and lived an active life, later sitting as a judge in London and Reading. I had a very happy childhood,’ said Faulks. ‘My parents were kind, humorous and affectionate. My brother Edward was a great companion. We only ever met one of our four grandparents. Two of them were dead and my mother was estranged from her own mother. There was a sense that everything was beginning again – a fresh start after the War. Faulks worked as a feature writer for the Sunday Telegraph from 1983 to 1986, when he went to join the Independent as Literary Editor. Faulks married Veronica (nee Youlten) in 1989. They have two sons, William and Arthur, born 1990 and 1996 respectively, and one daughter, Holly, born 1992. Faulks is a fan of West Ham United football club Set during the Second World War, Charlotte Gray was the last of Faulks’s French trilogy, following The Girl at the Lion d’Or and Birdsong. It is the most inward-looking of the three books, dealing with themes of memory and loss. The main character’s search for her missing lover in occupied France is set against an uncompromising portrayal of French political life under the German occupation, including French co-operation in the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz. Despite its harrowing subject matter, it has proved one of Faulks’s most popular novels, remains his best seller in hardback and has sold more than a million copies overall in the United Kingdom. Charlotte Gray was also made into a movie in 2001Â · Charlotte Gray was filmed by Ecosse Films, directed by Gillian Armstrong in 2001 from a screenplay by Jeremy Brock. Although the film was thought to have ducked the challenges of the book and fared disappointingly at the box office, it had a strong performance by Cate Blanchett as Charlotte, with notable support from Billy Crudup as Julien and Helen McCrory as a local French courier. ‘Only one line of mine made it into the film,’ said Faulks in 2001. ‘Something about sanitary towels, I’m afraid. The film-makers struggled to find a visual corollary of Charlotte’s inner life, but Cate Blanchett was very good.

Personal Identity Defining Yourself Philosophy Essay

Personal Identity Defining Yourself Philosophy Essay Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth Alan Watts. Personal Identity play its role as to define human with quality of its own which makes him or her a unique one. The identity of a person that is in question must be able to realize them, and he must be identified by other people. In short, what makes John unique from Felicia? Both internal (mind) and external (body) views are the two essential aspects that have to be differentiated by one. There are several general philosophical theories of this identity problem. Body theory, Soul theory and Conscious Theory will come to fit into the missing piece of the puzzle of personal identity. The body theory is one of the theories that define personal identity. It can be defined as when Person A has a personal identity if and only if they have the same body X. However, two problems can be found in this definition. Qualitatively, it is right to own the same body, but if changes happened to the body, can we still define that person as the same one? Everyones body is definitely different if we were to compare at the age of 60 and 4. Another problem popped out on the matter of body alteration. If Felicia becomes injured by a mine at war, and then her legs have to be amputated, is she not the same person, Felicia? Therefore, the definition of the theory is insufficient as the same body alteration is not accounted for. On the other hand, numerically, if a person lost his finger due to an accident, does that finger is counted as a different body? What if a scientist decided to use another persons DNA to clone another person with the exact same DNA? Two people with identical body surely cannot be the same person because they are still two different people with identical body. Both of them would be living totally different lives. Hence, in defining personal identity, the body theory by itself had failed to make it valid. The Soul theory will be the next common theory in defining personal identity. Similarly to the body theory: Person A has a personal identity if and only if they have the same soul. The idea became a lot more complicated when we are trying to define a rather controversial term soul. In the religion aspect, it is thought to be spirit of a person that passes through ones body into another realm (eg. Heaven or hell). However, it is still a mysterious phenomenon since there is no proof that can prove its existence. For instance, when a cloud changes to grayish puffy substance, we will still say, the cloud had turned gray. In short, we still recognized it as a cloud. It is just many souls in one body. Therefore, the soul theory is also not valid as it fails in that the definiens is insufficient to define personal identity.   The truest and most recognized philosophy theories about personal identity are the consciousness theory. However, this theory is interpreted differently in three ways: the experiential content, conscious self, and connected stream of consciousness theories. First on the list, the conscious self-theory: he or she is said to have personal identity if they have the same self-conscious. In another words, if there is a different conscious in two people, then both of them has personal identity. At first sight, it seems like a good theory to prove personal identity. It is analogous to Descartes cogito, I think therefore I am. Secondly, the consciousness of experiences theory is the common derivatives to the theory of consciousness. It is more easily known as the experiential content. This theory comes from the Lockes theory of having the mind blank, and accumulation from experiences. One is to have personal identity because only one person can experience at one finite space. We take twins f or instance. Although they have identical bodies, the moment they were born, they are already experiencing different moments. Therefore, both of them have personal identity because they experience different surroundings and see things in a different manner. The major problem is that we do not have the ability to remember every single experience in our life consciously. For instance, one can still tell another person what they have eaten three days ago but it is impossible for a person to tell another what they ate today after 10 years. In another example, one cannot be define as having different personal identity because they were drunk and acted like another person. In other words, because the human mind has failed to consciously remember every single moment of their lives, this theory eventually is invalid. The connected stream of consciousness will be the last theory about personal identity. With its definition of a persons identity is made out of a stream of connected conscious experiences, this theory eventually had solved the problem of human being unable to remember about their experience consciously. With this theory, we will still be the same person although we are unable to remember what we have done at the age of 4 when we are 60 years old. Generally with a finite mind, conscious is affiliated in a chronological pattern. In short, we will take the river as a metaphor. If you see a river flowing every day, you will not be looking at the same part of the river (representing body or experiences), however you will not be able to dispute that is not a river. Hence, let say the river is personal identity. This theory almost had it all right then. Thomas Reid which is also my preferred option to the idea of personal identity disagreed with Lockes memory theory by reducing it to absurdity. Lockes theory was criticized for a few irrelevancies. First of all, I strongly agree with what Reid hold on to. He thinks that personal identity should be determined with something that cannot be divided into parts indivisible but not by determining by operations. He, too, stated the main problem of Lockes is his ideas are of confusing proves of another thing with itself. Officer paradox was introduced by Reid at his attempt to Lockes theory to absurdity. Memory is the best evidence for identity, says Locke. If Felicia was able to remember what she had done, hence, she will be the same person with the same identity. But if Felicia happened to be a forgetful person, will that means she loses her personal identity? Reids idea can further support my point where he believes that to be able to prove something for its constituents and its existence, an evidence of a particular matter is relatively irrelevant. It was argued that if I were to believe the world is created, it does not mean that the creation of the world is valid. This argument is similar to someone who remember doing something but that does not mean he will the same person who did that something. I personally think that the memory and personal identity are both affiliated. They are related not in the sense of determining who a person is but they are related in a sense where one existed over time instead. Therefore, it was concluded by Reid that Lockes memory theory is a presup position of personal identity by memory rather than the creation of it. A U.S. author, James Baldwin once quoted, An identity seemed like it has arrived by the way when a person faces and uses his experience. Assuming that we will not be able to put everything into a complete puzzle, we are left with one choice. Pluck a rose, separate the petals one by one which each petals represents one idea. Whatever came out at the end, it is your call by your very own intuition. But for me, I would choose to go for Reids philosophical views about personal identity.

Essay on Evil in The Holy Bible -- Holy Bible Essays

The Purpose of Evil in the Bible      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   God looked at everything He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Five times in Genesis 1, God looks at that which He has created, and pronounces it "good". Then on the sixth day He creates Man, and says that His creation is now "very good". God's pronouncement of His creation, which would be everything around us and includes ourselves, as "very good" is hard to reconcile with that which we see on a daily basis -- a reality in which we experience much pain and cruelty from man and nature. These negative experiences we call "evil".    Evil, in this sense, is a very broad term, and needs to be defined. In general terms, "evil" is that which works against the life-giving power of God, and seeks to thwart God's will. In the Bible, the term "evil" is used to describe anything that brings sorrow, distress, calamity, and moral wrong-doing. In more modern times, "evil" has been associated with warfare, especially chemical and nuclear warfare, as well as problems associated with over-population, racism, ecological destruction, and worldwide disease. Indeed, evil is so much a part of our lives, the very term seems to have lost meaning. It is not uncommon in public debates to hear one side associate the other with evil, casually placing their opponents on the side of Satan and destruction.    So, what did God mean when He said that His creation was "very good"? Did He simply mean that He was finished, and that evil was an intentional part of His design? Or did evil come afterward, suggesting that it was beyond His control? This is a vexing question to those of faith, especially in the Judeo-Christian faith, who believe in an all-powerful, loving God. If God is good and lo... ...gardless of my worth to God, I know I will fall. If I choose to do wrong, I know that the responsibility is mine. If I catch a disease, I would not blame God, or ask why he chose me to suffer. If I am to accept all the possible good aspects of being a thinking, reasoning human being with freedom of will, I have to accept the fact that I live in an existence where evil can happen.    Works Cited   Dobson, James C. (1993). When God Doesn't Make Sense. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Green, Joel B., & Longman, Tremper (Eds.). (1996). Holy Bible -- The Everday Study Edition. Dallas: Word Publishing. Hick, John H. (1990). Philosophy of Religion. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Kushner, Harold S. (1981). When Bad Things Happen To Good People. New York: Avon books. McFague, Sallie. (1987). Models of God. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.      

Essay --

Has anyone ever told your child "This is what you need to be focusing on," or "This is more important than what is outside that window"? If yes is your answer to this question, your child might have with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children who have ADD or ADHD are often more imaginative and outgoing without their prescribed medication. However, the medication does allow them to focus and decreases their tendency to be troublesome. Naturally, a permanent cure without having to take medication is what most sufferers of ADD would prefer. These children are smart, but they can be a gigantic distraction to other children. This disease has effected over seven million Americans alone and while doctors find it in few girls because the diseases mainly affect boys. Some of the children think they are immune to ADHD, but truthfully we need to obtain a cure for them. There are multiple reasons that might be the reason that people get ADHD, such as, parents having ADHD, or the possibility of brain injuries when they were a young child. Three other likely causes are exposure to a toxic substance as a child, too much lead in their blood when they were born or pre-birth are. There will, more than likely, have to be multiple cures for ADHD because there are numerous ways to get the disease. However, I am sure that American doctors are fully capable of inventing a cure that will finally stop the disease in no time. But for right now, with the current medications and treatments, we can merely temporarily stop the symptoms. There are rumors of a neurological cure which could be an everlasting cure for most cases of ADD and ADHD. This means that children with ADHD are failing and being disrup... ...de-effects that come with the disease include difficulty focusing, especially an adult who has ADD to organize tasks, finish work within a time limit, and remember information and that makes it perplexing to find a job. Ultimately ADD and ADHD are both diseases that will make focusing harder for anybody who has either of them. ADHD could, although not likely, ruin the USA and possibly the world. People need to figure out a cure for ADD and ADHD, and soon, because it affects myriad people across America, and is causing a ton of problems. Children are having an exhausting time focusing in classrooms and adults who have ADD straining themselvs to driving. Who knows, maybe the future cure will help them pay attention and allow them to keep their creativity. So in conclusion we talked about how children get ADD or ADHD, how it affects children, and how it affects adults.

Trends in Computer Architecture Essay -- essays research papers fc

Trends in Computer Architecture Since the introduction of the first computer, the search for computer architecture that is faster, smaller, and more efficient has been a constant goal of the computer industry. The first computers were large, heavy machines composed of thousands of vacuum tubes. The development of the transistor created the next evolution in computer architecture, the microchip. This is the architecture used in the current generation of computers. Like its vacuum tube predecessor, this architecture of utilizing transistors, can only go so far. Moore’s Law predicts that the number of components on a chip doubles every 18-24 months. At this rate each switch will eventually become the size of an atom. When this happens the laws of quantum mechanics must be used. A new evolution in computer architecture will need to be developed to handle the unique laws of quantum mechanics. This architecture is already being developed and is called a quantum computer. Quantum computers work in a rather distinctive way. Instead of using traditional bits, they use quantum bits, or qubits. These qubits are particles that can take on the unique states required for quantum computing. The best way to understand how a quantum computer works is by example. A basic example is to take a register composed of 2 bits. Using a classic register, these two bits can have a value of 0,1,2, or 3. Now using a quantum register with two qubits, the register can have a value of 0, 1, 2 and 3 all at ...

Being Punctual

There are a lot of reasons to be on time for work. First of all is because it’s an inconvenience for me and the people I work with. When I am late I hold back my coworkers. Being late shows disrespect to the people I work for, and to the United States Marine Corps. It is important to be on time to show that I respect what I do and that I am ready for the day. By being on time I can focus more on the tasks at hand instead of stressing about the reasons why I was late. It also keeps me from having to play catch up. Being late also hurts others. When I am late they have to wait for me and it puts others behind as well. Being late is a sign of laziness. I do not feel that I am lazy, and I do not want to give off signs that I am. I take pride in that I am usually early. I think being on time is important so that I can focus on my work and get what I need done. I like to be prepared and ready for the day, and being late messes my routine, as well as everyone else’s up. Being late not only hurts my job, but me as an individual. I will lose the respect of my coworkers and it will hurt my chances of being promoted in the future. That will also affect my family. Being late is not something that I plan to make a habit of. I plan to teach my daughter the importance of being on time to school, work and anywhere else she goes. As a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps it is my responsibility to set the example for everyone around me. If I am late on a regular basis it will make those below me think that it is acceptable when it is not. By being late it shows poor leadership, bad initiative, and weakness to my peers. As an NCO in charge of funeral details it is important to be on time to the funerals. If I am late to a funeral I can cause more distress to the family that is already grieving their lost loved one. I wouldn’t appreciate it if I hired a worker who was repeatedly late so I don’t want to be that inconvenience for anyone else. It is very important that I make it to my appointments on time as well as coming in to work; it should not be any different between appointments or work. If I do not come into work on time it can make my senior noncommissioned officers worried because I have not checked in or called with information on where I am at, if I am hurt or if there was an emergency that I needed to take my wife or daughter to the hospital. I understand that if I do not take control by waking up on time that it becomes a habit that will be hard to break and cause me to get into serious trouble or even get me reduced in rank. If I am to fix this problem I must irst figure out what is making me sleep in, then I must do whatever I can to fix this problem by ensuring that it does not happen anymore to me or my fell marines. As the training noncommissioned officer it is my responsibility to ensure everyone’s training is up to date and everything is stored properly, I cannot do that if I walk in the door late because everyone is waiting for me which will make my staff noncommissioned officers pissed off at me. Their being mad at me will make work even harder for all of us. I do not want to make excuses for why I was late. I know that it was my fault. In the future I will try my hardest not to be late again. I will make sure every night that my alarm clock is set as well as the alarm on my phone. I will wake up early and be at work early and put in all the effort I can.