Analysis of The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong Research Paper

Analysis of The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong - Research Paper Example The idea of adaptation is one that becomes fragmented in identity and in being able to move to a foreign land without associating one’s identity with being foreign. Complexities in Immigrant Adaptation The immigrant adaptation that is developed in various regions is dependent on attitudes, behaviors, definitions and associations with a majority culture. The attitudes which are created create differences between the majority or native groups and the minority groups and immigrants that come from a different region. The first level of adaptation is one which is based on culture shock, which is based on the initial reactions, misunderstandings and lack of understanding about the majority culture. The process then continues with trying to adapt to behaviors, cultural norms, language and identifying the self in a different context. However, this often occurs without completely adapting into society or being a part of the majority mentality and group. The ability to adapt is based on cognitive styles and the association with both individual personality and overall adaptation into society (Witkin, 17). Throughout the explanations offered by Chong, there is a sense of trying to adapt and the continuous displacement that is a part of coming from China and assimilating in Canada. The metaphor that is used is one which is based on having a division of identity in two, one which belongs to the old culture and the other which is a part of the new. â€Å"It was as if the coat, in its last performance, in forbearance and forgiveness, had itself restored the two halves of the family – one in Canada, one in China – to one† (Chong, 3). This particular example becomes a main association in the book where the idea of adaptation also means losing part of one’s identity to gain another. While there is a strong association with the original culture, the need to be a part of the new becomes the main concern. The ability to adapt within society is not only seen with the tearing apart of identity by trying to fit in with the majority. There are also other layers of adaptation which occur. Acculturation and ethnic relations are two areas which are defined when one is working into a society. Acculturation is when an individual decides to begin being a part of the majority culture. Language, food, dress and other appearances are a part of the main culture while the area in which one immigrates form is left behind. The desire is to build ethnic relations with others that are in the community while creating a plural society of multiculturalism. It is noted that this changes security, tolerance and ethnic attitudes among both majority and minority groups while developing attitudes within the larger of society (Berry, 719: 2006). The changes in attitude that are noted with adaptation is one that is also seen in the narration. For instance, when working toward moving into the Canadian community, it is expected that Chen Sam and his family lives in Chinatown, works in a sewing factory and takes their place among immigrants. While this is expected for immigrants, the need to adapt into the society becomes more prominent based on need and the expected lifestyle of those working in the country. â€Å"Chan Sam had his own ideas about what his daughter’s next move should be. ‘Everybody is buying a house,’ he said. He persuaded them to look at what he’d found for sale†¦ Winnie and John liked the neighborhood. There was a United Church across the

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Psychology - Essay Example In that context the recent usage of scare tactics by some sections of the corporate world, media and politicians is an apt example of the usage of psychology knowledge and knowhow to influence public opinion and approach. The Health Debate It is a known fact that the healthcare is an issue of debate in the current American politics. The Obama administration wants to reform the healthcare system. However, there do exist people in the American political and corporate life who do not want these reforms to succeed. These people want the American people to oppose the healthcare reforms. These people are using the psychological weapon of scare tactics to make the people afraid of reforms and thereby oppose them (NPR, 2009). They are spreading the word that the reforms will make the healthcare system like the way it was during the Great Depression, when only the rich afforded medical care (NPR, 2009). In fact the opponents of health reforms are going as far as to claim that the system that these reforms will create will be somewhat like the health system existing in the communist countries. Some of them have gone as far as to say that the proposed reforms intend to convert the American democracy into a communist system. Thereby, by associating healthcare reforms with something bad that happened in the past or something that people hate and are scared of, these people are trying to scare the masses about the present reforms. This may cause some people to oppose the reforms (NPR, 2009). To put it simply, the opponents of healthcare reforms are using scare tactics. Psychological Importance The psychological importance of the media event under consideration is that it clearly shows the exploitation of psychological tactics by a section of the American politics, corporate life and media to scare people regarding the proposed health reforms and to make them go against the proposed reforms. The psychological weapon used by these opponents of the health reforms to subvert pub lic opinion is popularly known as the scare tactics. Scare Tactics Scare tactics is a psychological weapon that has been used by people since ages. It is based on the simple fact that fear is the most common human emotion. The human brain tends to remember the things or incidents that cause fear. In future when a person comes across a thing or incident that reminds him of the past incident that caused fear, the person responds to this stimulus by getting scared (Goleman, 1996). Suppose a person at some time in one’s life came across a poisonous snake and got scared. Then at some other time in the future the same person came across a rope lying in the dark. That person’s brain may associate that rope with the snake and may cause him to get scared, irrespective of the fact that the rope is not the snake. The use of this psychological phenomenon to achieve results in politics and social life is commonly known as scare tactics. Scientific Explanation of Scare Tactics The p art of the brain that stores the facts pertaining to past incidents and objects is the hippocampus. In contrast the part of the brain that stores the emotions associated with the past incidents and objects is called amygdale. For example if a person comes across a car accident, it is the hippocampus that stores the facts associated with the accident like the stretch of road on which the accident

Cultural and Teamwork Map and Self Reflection Essay Example for Free

Cultural and Teamwork Map and Self Reflection Essay 1. Introduction and Purpose Sharing of knowledge across the border is becoming very widespread phenomenon. Companies are well aware that hidden in their disperes, global operations is a treasure trove of ideas and capabilities for innovation(Wilson Doz, 2012). Therefore, working with multicultural groups is getting more and more common very rapidly since last decade. However, in global teams, team memebers have different feed back techniques, different uniqueness levels and different communication patterns. People belonging to different cultures have difference in values, geography, ethencity,belief system and lauguage. These difference can lead to cuture clash . In this paper I am writing about where I find myself in a cultural and team work map and my reflections about my placement thereon. I have judged myself with reference to my placement in high and low context  cultures, cultural paradigm , my preffered and performed roles in my team keeping in mind Belbin‘s team roles and my position in Johari window. Purpose of this assignmnet is to judge where I find myself right now in a cutural map in context of team work and to bring improvement in myself if I am away from the normal scale .The actual purpose of this assignment is to save me from cultural clash by giving a chance to get self-awareness and to make us conscious about behaving accordingly for future interactions. Just like these two rivers in the below mentioned picture are merging, people from different cultures should merge the same way. These two rivers have different native base but after merger nobody can find any clash between them. 2. Self-assessment Below mentioned is my self assessment and reflections thereon. 2.1 First impression My first impression on my team members was that I am trust worthy. When asked, they answered that they made this impression from my body laungauage and my tone of voice. I believe that my such impression was made because of my uniqueness levels i.e. personality culture and human natur. After practicaly working with them my group as well as me have assessed that I focused on working collectively as i believe collectivism is the key to group success. 2.2 Assessment with reference to Communication Patterns On the cultural map I find my self as the person who works better in the middle of high and low context. l worked more better after every next team meeting because in meetings we discussed our desired outcome by spoken words and I shared all my ideas and problems with my team. Secondly, I was not fully relying on what was shared among us through emails. But I cannot say that I am just a high conext person because, contrary to high context couumincation patterns, I wanted detailed information about the assignment and I used direct speech during the whole correspondance .It helped me to exchange ideas quickly . Looking further into communication pattern ,I find myself as a person who is more task oriented than people oreinted.I prefer to do work first.Relations are aligned after task completion. In gropu, I only talked about assignment till the work is finished. After submition of assignemnt I discussed my personal things and hobbies with them. My time orientation is ploy cronic. I was working on the assignment as well as I was seeing the others part also. More over, I was comparing my work with the wok done by other groups in the class. I kept on updating the absent team mebers about activities (relevent to assignment) conducted in class through a social network simultaneously. Hence I can say that my communication pattren is neither high context nor low context.Its somewhere in the middle of both. 2.3 Assessment regarding Placement in Belbin’s team roles My preferred team role is team worker. The reason of saying so is that I remain mild and gentle. I like to work in depth but I am not willing to work in pressure and tried to avoid working under stressful situations. I played the role of team worker in practical. We revised the work plans many times  initialy and I accepted that without much resistance which indicates that I am easy to be influenced. I remained mild and friendly. I worked on that part of assignment which required extensive out of the box research and long working hours. My second preference is the role of resource investigator. I always look to find smart opportunites or methods to get work done effectively, efficiently and economically. I performed the role of resource investigator in passive manner in the group. I was enthusiastic in suggesting my fellow colleagues which part of assignment should be done by whom. I also shared few articles with them.I guided one memeber about how he can do his part more accuratly. However I was little over optimistic because we spent alot more hours on assignment then i initially predicted. My third preference was to perform the role of Shaper because I am having tendencies to fit things into frame and strives to get the action start immediately. However I could not execute this role in my group as the assignment work was very dynamic and it was being revised too quickly. Secondly, one of my fellow colleagues was performing this role better than me. My third performed role was of finisher. I proof read the document many times, found the errors and gave ideas to team members to revise few workings. I was not willing to rely on other team members for final proof reading and I was worried for the acuracy of assignment. I focused to create a balance in three roles that I performed in group and tried to avoid overlapping. However team worker was the frequently performed role. 2.4 Johari Window The Johari Window, named after its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a model that provides a dynamic framework for understanding and improving self-awareness. Helping one to become more self-reflective, to learn about oneself, and to become more therapeutic is an exercise in self-awareness(South, 2007). In the context of Johari window, my arena (open area), has increased and I became aware of blind spots. Eventually my hidden areas are disclosed. During the group work, I experienced that my open arena has been gradually broadened and my blind spot has been subsequently decreased after every next working step. 3. Conclusion The combination of roles i.e. two from people oriented frame (resource investigator and team worker) and one from task oriented frame (shaper)  shows that I am not on any of extreme on cutural map. On the culture paradigm, I find myself on the middle, niether too weak nor too strong. I can infer that I am flexible, observant and non-judgmental. l Communicated respect and sake knowledge and understanding. I am in the last stage of confrontation and entring into adjustment phase. I am passing through W-model quickly because of level of education and support from family and network i.e. swede friends.In Johari’s window, my arena has broaden which indicates that I am more self aware after completion of group assignment. Bibliography Wilson, K. Doz, Y.L. (2012). 10 Rules for Managing Global Innovation. Harvard business review, 85 (10), 84-90. South, B. (2007). Combining mandala and the Johari Window: An exercise in self-awareness. Teaching Learning in Nursing,2 (1), 8.

Similarities And Differences Between Tourism And Event Management Tourism Essay

Similarities And Differences Between Tourism And Event Management Tourism Essay 1 Introduction Development of tourism industry must adapt to the tourism products of tourism demand, development of event tourism also needs to adapt to mass tourism products of tourism demand, while the core of tourism products is tourism attraction. Tourist attraction is a natural tourist attraction, cultural object, and the fundamental property and function is attractive to tourists and stimulates peoples travel motivations (Margaret Deery;Â  Leo Jago; Liz Fredline, 2004). The most basic function OF tourist attraction is to attract tourists to the destination. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to look for the similarities and differences between tourism management and event management, and the event tourism will be the focus to link the both. 2 Definitions Tourism management is relying on creative thinking, integrating tourism resources to achieve the optimal fit of resources, environment, transport and market, and finally to achieve the creative process of objectives of tourism development (Witt, S. F., Moutinho, L., 1996). Event management is the management activity to suit all levels and types of political and economic activities, sports events, the main tourism, conferences and exhibitions, entertainment, carnival and others based on the explosive growth of government and non-government agencies (Boris Gruschke, 1998). It is not only different from government administration, but also different from ordinary commercial enterprise management across organizations. Event tourism refers to the form of taking one-time or regular festivals held as the core attraction for destination marketing, or enhancing the special tourism activities (David Getz, 2008). Holiday celebrations often accumulated a rich local cultural content, and very strong participation, entertainment, therefore, the planners of event activities often try to create an atmosphere of festival or celebration in order to attract wider attention, more tourists, and even create a recycling of tradition. 3 Similarities between tourism management and event management In my opinion, the most important similarity between tourism management and event management is event tourism, which is reflected both in tourism and event activities. Tourism Management Event Management Event Tourism Management Figure 1 Similarity between tourism management and event management Compared with the general types of tourism activities, event tourism has its own distinct characteristics: One is the distinctive endemic characteristic. Production of a tourism event will often rely on local characteristics and cultural customs to attract local source (Julie E Otto and J. R. Brent Ritchie, 1996). Arising from the festival with a distinctive local features travel, it is easy to win the favor of the depth of the root causes of tourists. Second is the activity concentration. Event tourism activities are concentrated in a particular period of time, usually a fixed time period, and activity is very compact arrangement, which makes the tourists tourism activities and tourism experience with significant concentration of features. If the event activities are charming, tourists generally stay longer. Third is the widespread influence. Large scale of event tourism activities often lead to larger concerns, to attract people from all over the world concentrated in one activity enabling collaboration, feel the local atmosphere of the event (David Getz, 1997). This will bring large and widespread impact to the regional tourism development and local economic, social and cultural development. Fourth is the comprehensiveness of effects. A major event tourism activity held brings both a direct economic benefit, but also brings indirect benefits to other aspects of stealth, will promote the development in various aspects of the host. Event tourism has these features, combined with festivals by tourists with high levels of consumption, repeatability, a longer residence time, etc., features, making event tourism as a concern of the object for the regional tourism development, increasing people attention (Robyn Stokes, 2008). Australia by virtue of holding this special festive event of Americas Cup yacht race became one of the worlds most famous tourists; China Qingdao through Beer Festival, Ocean Day spread out their unique marine culture, successfully created the image as the characteristics of the marine city. It shows the organization of festivals, especially the organization of large-scale events, often become the focus of media attention. Event tourism for the city provides a stage to show their image, any one ad, any marketing activities are difficult to match with the effectiveness. Large scale of event activities Participated in event Improved Infrastructure Community interests Increased Media coverage Increased Travel promotions Increased Capacity Visitor Satisfaction Community Satisfaction Increased Identity Increased Visiting host people Word of mouth Increased Tourism image Impression of decline over time Figure 2 The link between event and tourism 4 Differences between tourism management and event management Using system theory, with project management theory, it can understand the event tourism from four levels (John Swarbrooke, 1999): the basic principles and concepts (Tourism event is a project, project management should be implemented); system development cycle (tourism event development life cycle); systems and procedures (using specific management techniques and procedures); organizational behavior (set up reasonable organizational structure and effective encouraging project members). Table 1 Comparative analysis of tourism event features and project definition Definition of project Characteristics of tourism event 1, including a single, definable goal or end product or result. Tourism event is non-routine, is the special event occurring within a certain period. It is an identifiable task, has a certain economic goals, social goals. Major tourism festival (Mega-event) on tourism has huge economic and social impact. Large-scale festival events can be regarded as sub-sub tasks. 2, unique. Project is the activity with only one type, and can never be completely repeated. Tourism event is usually carefully planned. This nature makes tourism events different from the spontaneous events and happenings unique. It is impossible to repeat, if failed, could not recover. 3, the temporary activities. Life-cycle, once the goal to achieve, the project has ceased to exist. Tourism event has a certain deadline. While some festivals held regularly, but the result of the project objectives, stakeholders and the Environment (ie project system) will change, so this new festival should be regarded as new projects. 4, requires the use of various professional and organizational skills and ability. Tasks and skills required also vary with the project. The process of the operation of tourism event is across a number of management functions units: government, business, public and many industries. Tourism events success is inseparable from their extensive support and collaboration. 5, may be unfamiliar. Very uncertain risk factors. The complexity of the process organization operation of tourism event, integrated not only manifested in not only the characteristics of tourism products in general, it also has its own characteristics and attributes. 6, there is some risk. The failure of the project may pose a threat to the organization or its goals. Tourism event has the risk for every stage, failure of tourism festival activities could adversely affect tourism destination in fairly long time. 7, is to achieve the goal of a process to work. A project to go through several different stages; stages of conversion tasks, manpower, organization and resources will change with it. Tourism event during the operation and management may still happen. There may be individual specific projects that are not fully defined in terms of projects; most projects have in front of three or four features. Comparative analysis from the table, tourism event at least meets the before six items. It can be concluded: Tourism event is a project, project management theory is applied to the tourism event products. Tourism event is present the life cycle. The life cycle of tourism events is it similar to the dynamic process of the natural life cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline and death, which includes concept, planning, implementation and operation of four stages (I McDonnell, J Allen, W Otoole, 1999). Purpose of understanding the life cycle issues travel section is very important to manager of the project: on the one hand, tourism event highlights the project life cycle in project management plan, review and analysis, implementation process, the management of each process systems analysis is the basis for the next phase of the operation, which requires management system, a comprehensive understanding of project life cycle tourism festival, and at different times to take corresponding measures; on the other hand, life cycle process is for each project objectives, which requires the project manager should be on the festivals understanding of the project life cycle and the project aims t o combine effective management by objectives (David Getz, 1997). Therefore, the managers to respond flexibly to the changing environment need to have a life cycle management culture, in order to ensure the smooth operation of the events. 5 Conclusion As a project, the tourism event should be analyzed with a systematic approach. Management of tourism event, in the face of complex elements in the events project system, managers must first carry out systematic analysis of each element. Tourism event project system is an open system, project managers must from the system level, organizational level and technical level to evaluate the system, senior managers will need more from the system level to analyze the system. To understand the main system of property projects of tourism events, particularly in the development of tourism event is the important status in the major tourism events and huge tasks. Event tourism as the bridge to link tourism and event activities, in the tourism development assumes more and more important functions and role. Although it shows the similarities and differences between tourism management and event management, for the issues of the operation idea of tourism event, development strategy and effects, we should pay more concerns. Word count: 1,529

Oliver Twist Essay -- Essays Papers

Oliver Twist Have you ever thought about how it would be to live in a time of poverty? How would life be if you were poor and did not know from where you would be getting your next meal? What would it be like to be forced to live in a workhouse? These are some of the questions you might ask yourself if you were living in early nineteenth century England. Dickens addresses these issues in his timeless masterpiece Oliver Twist. In the story of Oliver Twist, Dickens uses past experiences from his childhood and targets the Poor Law of 1834 which renewed the importance of the workhouse as a means of relief for the poor. Dickens' age was a period of industrial development marked by the rise of the middle class (Wagenknecht 219). In the elections brought about by the accession of William IV in 1830, the Tories lost control of the government. Assumption of power by the Whigs opened the way to an era of accelerated progress (Kaste 8). In this time period children worked just as much, if not more, than some of the adults. After 1833, an increased amount of legislation was enacted to control the hours of labor and working conditions for children and women in manufacturing plants. The Poor Law of 1834 provided that all able bodied paupers must reside in a workhouse (8). Widespread hostility was felt to the new law; many believed that life was harder in a workhouse than in prison (Rooke 22). The plan was successful from one standpoint, for within three years the cost of poor relief was reduced by more than one-third. However, this system was sharply censured. The increased prevalence of crime was attributed towards it. Inmates of the workhouses became objects of public stigma, and to further heighten the unpopularity of the institutions, living conditions were deliberately made harsh (Kaste 8). Poverty was at it's peak around this time in England. Houses were overcrowded, packed together in narrow streets and courts which were often piled deep in rotting refuse (Rooke 33). New problems of food and public health were faced by a parliamentary and economic system which was better suited to the eighteenth century. On June 20, 1837, Queen Victoria came to the throne of England as the long period of middle class ascendancy was gaining momentum (Kaste 8). The Victorian age, which this time period is often referred, comes from "Queen Victor... ...cked full of suspense and action. This piece of literature will never be forgotten. In Conclusion, Dickens had a rough childhood which helped prompt him to write many classic novels. Dickens wrote to make people think about how the government was being run. He wrote Oliver Twist to almost protest the Poor Law of 1834 and the use of the workhouses. Since Dickens was such an original writer his presence in literature will be forever appreciated. Bibliography: Blount, Trevor. Dickens: The Early Novels. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1968. â€Å"Dickens, Charles† Discovering Authors. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1993. â€Å"Dickens.† Encyclopedia Brittanica. 1998 ed. Hardy, Barbara. â€Å"Charles Dickens.† British Writers. Ian Scott-Kilvert. vol. 5. 12 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Son’s, 1982. Kaste, Harry, M.A. Cliff’s Notes on Oliver Twist. Lincoln: Cliffs Notes Inc., 1997. â€Å"landow.stg.brown.edu† Price, Martin. Dickens. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. Rooke, Patrick. The Age of Dickens. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978. Wagenknecht, Edward. Cavalcade of the English Novel. Chicago: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., 1967. "www.sparknotes.com"

Narrators Role in Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and Kerouacs On The R

Narrator's Role in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Kerouac's On The Road Over the last fifty years, since the release of On The Road in 1957, it has not been uncommon for critics to draw parallels between Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical novel and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, released thirty-two years previously. It is for certain that both the novels share many similar traits, both examine concepts of American ideals and The American Dream, both are heavily influenced by the jazz age of the time, but nothing binds the novels closer to one another than the authors’ use of the first person narrative and that narrators relationship with their leading character. It is perhaps the most common reading to see both Jay Gatsby and Dean Moriarty awarded iconic status by their corresponding narrators. The connotations concerning the epithet found in the very centre of Fitzgerald’s title alone can bring an image to the reader’s mind of one of history’s great leaders, putting Gatsby in league with characters such as Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great and Frederick the Great. It would seem obvious from the title that Gatsby is one beheld with admiration and respect by the narrator. The relationship between Kerouac’s Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty is often viewed in much the same light. The importance of Dean to Sal is visible from his very first paragraph, where he states that, â€Å"the coming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call my life on the road†. Within a short time period, Sal allows his life to be turned in a completely different direction by someone who is basically a stranger. This willingness to uproot and follow somebody else’s lifestyle pays a great complim... ... with the door flapping, and roar off to the next available spot, arc, pop in, brake, out, run. It would be easy to substitute the car in this instance with a woman to come up with a justifiable description of Dean’s attitude towards women. Just in the way Sal admires and enthuses about his car-parking abilities, describing him as, â€Å"†¦the most fantastic parking-lot attendant in the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Sal admirers and enthuses about his sex life. In 1991, Eagleton published an essay with a Marxist sentiment declaring that, much like Nick, â€Å"Sal is suffering from ideology – a false consciousness that is imposed on them by the hegemonic social order†. This adds to the link between the two narrators concerning their feelings towards their leading characters; in particular the manner in which they both admire the achievements made by Gatsby or Dean in their love lives.

Smart Card

A smartcard is a specific type of plastic card generally made of polyvinyl chloride based on polyesters or polycarbonate. It is the size of credit card. There is a 3by 5 mm imbedded chip in the card. Smart card contains either memory card or microprocessor that holds data and information. The microprocessor card can add, delete, and manipulate information on the card, while a memory-chip card (for example, pre-paid phone cards) can only undertake a pre-defined operation.Smart cards, unlike magnetic stripe cards, can carry all necessary functions and information on the card. Therefore, they do not require access to remote databases at the time of the transaction. A typical smartcard consists of an 8-bit microprocessor running at approximately 5 MHz with ROM, EEPROM and RAM, together with serial input and output, all in a single chip that is mounted on a plastic carrier. The operating system is typically stored in ROM, the CPU uses RAM as its working memory, and most of the data is sto red in EEPROM. Fig:-1 shows smart card. HistoryIn 1968 and 1969 German electrical engineers Helmut and Jurgen jointly developed automated chip card. Then after in 1974 French inventor Roland Moreno gives memory card concept called smart card. An important patent for smart cards with a microprocessor and memory as used today was filed by Jurgen Dethloff in 1976 and granted as USP 4105156 in 1978. The first mass use of the cards was as a telephone card for payment in French pay phones starting in 1983. Carte Bleue After the Telecarte microchips were integrated into all French Carte Bleue debit cards in 1992.Customers inserted the card into the merchant's POS terminal, then typed the PIN, before the transaction was accepted. Only very limited transactions (such as paying small highway tolls) are processed without a PIN. Smart-card-based electronic purse systems store funds on the card so that readers do not need network connectivity and entered service throughout Europe in the mid-1990 s. The major boom in smart card use came in the 1990s, with the introduction of smart-card-based SIMs used in GSM mobile phone equipment in Europe.With the ubiquity of mobile phones in Europe, smart cards have become very common. Development of contactless systems Contactless smart cards that do not require physical contact between card and reader are becoming increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit and motorway tolls. Visa and MasterCard have agreed to an easy-to-implement version that was deployed in 2004–2006 in the USA. Most contactless fare collection implementations are custom and incompatible, though the MIFARE Standard card .Smart cards are also being introduced in personal identification at national and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are appearing. A smart card is a plastic card about the size of a credit card, with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, use d for telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications, and then periodically refreshed for additional use. Currently or soon, you may be able to use a smart card to: Dial a connection on a mobile telephone and be charged on a per-call basis* Establish your identity when logging on to an Internet access provider or to an online bank * Pay for parking at parking meters or to get on subways, trains, or buses * Give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a form * Make small purchases at electronic stores on the Web (a kind of cybercash) * Buy gasoline at a gasoline station Over a billion smart cards are already in use. Currently, Europe is the region where they are most used. Ovum, a research firm, predicts that 2. billion smart cards will be shipped annually by 2003. Another study forecasts a $26. 5 billion market for recharging smart cards by 2005. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are reportedly working on keyboards that include smart card slots that can be read like bank credit cards. The hardware for making the cards and the devices that can read them is currently made principally by Bull, Gemplus, and Schlumberger. How Smart Cards Work A smart card contains more information than a magnetic stripe card and it can be programmed for different applications.Some cards can contain programming and data to support multiple applications and some can be updated to add new applications after they are issued. Smart cards can be designed to be inserted into a slot and read by a special reader.. An industry standard interface between programming and PC hardware in a smart card has been defined by the PC Working Group, representing Microsoft, IBM and other interested companies. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source.Instead, they use an inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics. Hybrids A hybrid smart card which clearly shows the antenna connected to the main chip Dual-interface cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example is Porto's multi-application transport card, called Andante, which uses a chip with both contact and contactless interfaces . Applications First introduced in Europe nearly three decades ago, smart cards debuted as a stored value tool for payphones to reduce theft.As smart cards and other chip-based cards advanced, people found new ways to use them, including charge cards for credit purchases and for record keeping in place of paper. In the U. S. , consumers have been using chip cards for everything from visiting libraries to buying groceries to attending movies, firmly integrating them into our everyday lives. Several U. S. states have chip card programs in progress for government applications ranging from the Department of Motor Vehicles to Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBTs).Many industrie s have implemented the power of smart cards in their products, such as the GSM digital cellular phones as well as TV-satellite decoders. Why Smart Cards Smart cards improve the convenience and security of any transaction. They provide tamper-proof storage of user and account identity. Smart card systems have proven to be more reliable than other machine-readable cards, like magnetic stripe and barcode, with many studies showing card read life and reader life improvements demonstrating much lower cost of system maintenance. Smart cards also provide vital components of system security or the exchange of data throughout virtually any type of network.They protect against a full range of security threats, from careless storage of user passwords to sophisticated system hacks. The costs to manage password resets for an organization or enterprise are very high, thus making smart cards a cost-effective solution in these environments. Multifunction cards can also be used to manage network sys tem access and store value and other data. Worldwide, people are now using smart cards for a wide variety of daily tasks, which include: FinancialSmart cards serve as credit or ATM cards, fuel cards, mobile phone SIMs, authorization cards for pay television, household utility pre-payment cards, high-security identification and access-control cards, and public transport and public phone payment cards. Non-EMV cards work like magnetic stripe cards. This is a typical USA card technology (PayPass Magstripe and VISA MSD). The cards do not hold/maintain the account balance. All payment passes without a PIN, usually in off-line mode. The security of such a transaction is no greater than with a magnetic stripe card transaction.EMV cards have contact and contactless interfaces. They work as a normal EMV card via contact interface. Via contactless interface they work somewhat differently in that the card command sequence adopts contactless features such as low power and short transaction time . Identification A quickly growing application is in digital identification. In this application, the cards authenticate identity. The most common example employs public key infrastructure (PKI). The card stores an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI provider along with other relevant information.Contactless smart cards that can be read from within a wallet or even a garment simplify authentication; however, there is concern over criminals accessing data from these cards. Cryptographic smart cards are often used for single sign-on. Most advanced smart cards include specialized cryptographic hardware that uses algorithms such as RSA and DSA. Today's cryptographic smart cards generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk from having more than one copy of the key (since by design there usually isn't a way to extract private keys from a smartThe first smart card river's license system in the world was implemented in 1987 in Turkey. Turkey had a high level of road accident s and decided to develop and use digital tachograph devices on heavy vehicles, instead of the existing mechanical ones, to reduce speed violations. Since 1987, the professional driver's licenses in Turkey are issued as smart cards and the driver is required to insert his driver's license into the digital tachograph before starting to drive. The tachograph unit records speed violations for each driver and gives a printed report. The driving hours for each driver is also being monitored and reported.In 1990 the European Union conducted a feasibility study through BEVAC Consulting Engineers, titled â€Å"Feasibility study with respect to a European electronic driver’s license (based on a smart-card) on behalf of Directorate General VII†. In this study, chapter seven is dedicated to the experience in Turkey, stating that the electronic driver's license application, in the form of smart cards, was first implemented in Turkey in 1987. Public transit Smart cards and integrate d ticketing have become widely used by public transit operators around the world. Card users may use their cards for other purposes than for transit, such as small purchases.Computer security The Mozilla Firefox web browser can use smart cards to store certificates for use in secure web browsing. Some disk encryption systems, such as TrueCrypt and Microsoft Windows 7 BitLocker, can use smart cards to securely hold encryption keys, and also to add another layer of encryption to critical parts of the secured disk. Smart cards are also used for single sign-on to log on to computers. Smart card support functionality has been added to Windows Live passports. Schools Smart cards are being provided to students at schools and colleges. Tracking student attendance * As an electronic purse, to pay for items at canteens, vending machines etc. * Tracking and monitoring food choices at the canteen, to help the student maintain a healthy diet* Tracking loans from the school library Healthcare Sma rt health cards can improve the security and privacy of patient information, provide a secure carrier for portable medical records, reduce health care fraud, support new processes for portable medical records, provide secure access to emergency medical information, enable compliance with government initiatives (e. g. organ donation) and mandates, and provide the platform to implement other applications as needed by the health care organization. Advantages The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver’s license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card.For example, a smart card can be progra mmed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card. Individuals gain increased security and convenience when using smart cards designed for interoperability between services. For example, consumers only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. Additionally, the data storage available on a card could contain medical information that is critical in an emergency should the card holder allow access to this.The first main advantage of smart cards is their flexibility. There is no need, for example, to carry several cards: one card can simultaneously be an ID, a credit card, a stored-value cash card, and a repository of personal information such as telephone numbers or medical history. Such a card can be easily replaced if lost, and, because a PIN number (or other form of security) must be used to access information, is totally usele ss to people other than its legal bearer. At the first attempt to use it illegally, the card would be deactivated by the card reader itself. The second main advantage is security.Smart cards can be electronic key rings, giving the bearer ability to access information and physical places without need for online connections. They are encryption devices, so that the user can encrypt and decrypt information without relying on unknown, and therefore potentially untrustworthy, appliances such as ATMs. Smart cards are very flexible in providing authentication at different level of the bearer and the counterpart. Finally, with the information about the user that smart cards can provide to the other parties, they are useful devices for customizing products andservices.Other general benefits of smart cards are: * Portability * Increasing data storage capacity * Reliability that is virtually unaffected by electrical and magnetic fields. Smart Cards andElectroniccommerce Smart cards are turning out to be a fundamental piece of the transformation of retailing into electronic commerce. The impressive growth of the Internet is making electronic shopping at least a real possibility, if not a habit, among computer users. However, the business model used in current electronic commerce applications still cannot enjoy the full potential of the electronic medium.Moreover, concerns about the reliability of an invisible counterpart and about the safety of the Internet for credit card information increase the wariness and thereby limit the use of the electronic shopping on the part of customers. Of the estimated 360 billion payments that took place in the United States in 1995, approximately 300 billion could not have taken place using the existing electronic media. Such transactions involved micro-payments p; i. e. payments for less than $10 p; which are virtually outside of the electronic arena for lack of a payment method compatible with such low amounts.Credit cards or checks are simply too expensive to use for micro-payments, and the e-cash currently being experimented on the World Wide Web does not seem to have the characteristics to appeal to shoppers. For this reason, smart cards could be a fundamental building block of widespread use of electronic commerce, since they are an instrument to pay at a low cost for transactions involving small amountsofmoney. Another big advantage of smart cards for electronic commerce is their use for the customization of services.It is already possible to purchase tailored services on the World Wide Web p; MyYahoo and FireFly are well known examples. However, in order for the service supplier to deliver the customized service, the user has to provide each supplier with her profile p; a boring and time consuming activity. A smart card can contain a non-encrypted profile of the bearer, so that the user can get customized services even without previous contacts with the supplier. Finally, smart cards are a key technology ena bler for financial institutions.The processing power, the portability and the interactive properties of smart cards will constitute the basis for a revolution in the relationship between consumers and banks. PC-based home banking and phone banking will give way to card banking: a phone equipped with a smart card reader will be all that is needed for any kind of transaction. A smart card is a plastic card with a small, built in microcomputer chip and integrated circuit that can store and process a lot of data. It is considered to be a secure, time saving device that can access information without use of a PC or the Internet.However, smart cards have both Flexibility * Smart cards have a lot of flexibility. They can store multiple types of information including identification, credit cards, business and family contacts. Cost and Availability * Smart card readers are expensive to produce. These readers are not available in all locations and may have compatibility issues due to the diff erences of each smart card brand. Adafruit Raspberry Pi Starter Kit Now available in India ProtoCentral Security * Smart cards are individually encrypted and can only be accessed by pin number.However, there is concern about privacy and whether or not information on the card could be accessed or used illegally by the government or other third-party sources. Data Integrity * Information on a smart card cannot be erased or removed accidentally by any electrical or magnetic means. Smart Card Uses * Smart cards are useful for setting limits on expenses, customizing customer loyalty programs and accessing critical health care information. Smart cards save users from having to remember multiple usernames and passwords. DisadvantagesThe plastic card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible, and the larger the chip, the higher the probability that normal use could damage it. Cards are often carried in wallets or pockets, a harsh environment for a chip. However, for large banking sys tems, failure-management costs can be more than offset by fraud reduction. Client-side identification and authentication cards are the most secure way for e. g. , internet banking applications, but security is never 100% sure. If the account holder's computer hosts malware, the security model may be broken.Malware can override the communication (both input via keyboard and output via application screen) between the user and the application. Rabobank (â€Å"random reader†) in the Netherlands combine a smart card with an unconnected card reader to avoid this problem. The customer enters a challenge received from the bank's website, a PIN and the transaction amount into the reader, The reader returns an 8-digit signature. This signature is manually entered into the personal computer and verified by the bank, preventing malware from changing the transaction amount. Another problem is the lack of standards for functionality and security.