Kseniya Simonova is a sand animator from Ukraine. She first started making these type of drawings on the beach and eventually progressed to this amazing animation. Simonova, winner of the Ukraine Has Talent Show, captured a universal chord in a country where emotions run deep with generational wounds from WWII.
In this video she uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine druing WWII.
ENJOY!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday, April 14, 2008
How the crisis in the U.S. housing market and new Chinese policy is affecting Chinese manufactures
It is amazing how influential the Unites States is with the world. If something happens to their economy, the whole world suffers. The same thing happens in the Dominican Republic, in which if something happens to the U.S., there is going to be an effect in our economy since we depend on the U.S. But now the housing market crisis as hit hard the Chinese manufactures. They generated a lot of demand from the U.S. housing market since they make the majority of the bathroom sets, all the way to bathroom fixtures. The housing crisis has made their demand and profit decrease. Also the Chinese manufactures have been hit hard by a new Chinese labor law that took effect at the beginning of the year which raised the the labor and energy costs, and also the superior policies for the exporters.
A lot of plants are going to shut down due to this situation. Some companies already started moving their plants to other countries like Vietnam and India, where labor is relatively cheaper but is also getting affected
Even though this is affecting their economy, I believe it has a good aspect for them. By passing down a new labor law, it is going to reduce export since China has a huge trade surplus. I believe that they need to make a balance. So now they are going to focus also in the domestic market because it will do well for the people and also good for the country. But don’t get me wrong China is not going to forget about exporting since it is a great income for their economy.
I was just so surprised on how the U.S. economic slowdown as affected different countries in the world making clear how globalize the economy is these days.
A lot of plants are going to shut down due to this situation. Some companies already started moving their plants to other countries like Vietnam and India, where labor is relatively cheaper but is also getting affected
Even though this is affecting their economy, I believe it has a good aspect for them. By passing down a new labor law, it is going to reduce export since China has a huge trade surplus. I believe that they need to make a balance. So now they are going to focus also in the domestic market because it will do well for the people and also good for the country. But don’t get me wrong China is not going to forget about exporting since it is a great income for their economy.
I was just so surprised on how the U.S. economic slowdown as affected different countries in the world making clear how globalize the economy is these days.
Undergraduates and graduate students are getting affected by the US recession
Right now is a very difficult time to get a job after graduation due to the economic slowdown the US is living. But I believe that for graduates students the stake are even higher. Now students are facing very tough choices in which it is going to affect the rest of their lives. Typically, when the economy is in a bull, most of the graduates students from business schools already have job offers but lately those offers have been decreasing as a of the recession.
I believe that a good choice for students would be either to stay in school or to go into a different industry and start their careers. You never know where you are going to go but it’s better to have a path and then you may find a chance to change your path to one of your past aspirations. At the same time this affects a lot of MBAs and undergrads because graduating at this point in time would reduce your lifetime earnings, since the starting wage is going to be different. Also staying in school might sound like a great idea but is also going to be difficult because not everyone has the luxury to keep paying for tuition. I believe that we have to keep in mind that some students even work two different jobs in order to pay their tuition.
So in my opinion I believe it is more beneficial for students to get into a different industry even though there are not going to get the same salary but at least you start from somewhere in which you will do networking that might be helpful in the future.
I believe that a good choice for students would be either to stay in school or to go into a different industry and start their careers. You never know where you are going to go but it’s better to have a path and then you may find a chance to change your path to one of your past aspirations. At the same time this affects a lot of MBAs and undergrads because graduating at this point in time would reduce your lifetime earnings, since the starting wage is going to be different. Also staying in school might sound like a great idea but is also going to be difficult because not everyone has the luxury to keep paying for tuition. I believe that we have to keep in mind that some students even work two different jobs in order to pay their tuition.
So in my opinion I believe it is more beneficial for students to get into a different industry even though there are not going to get the same salary but at least you start from somewhere in which you will do networking that might be helpful in the future.
Record labels should start getting involve in the Net
We already know how important the Internet has become since this past decade. The record labels have been having a lot of problems with the Internet. Their sales have dropped down a lot as a result of piracy. There is always some way in which you can download a song. Record company’s annual revenues have from music sales have been decreasing every year as a result of piracy. The problem is that the Internet is worldwide so it is going to be very hard to shut down the millions of people that are online at all different hours.
Recently in April, a couple of record labels and MySpace have been meeting up and now are cutting a pretty good deal I believe. Since the CD sales have dropped as a result from the fans, which the majority gets songs off the Internet, Warner, Sony BMG, and Universal have gathered together and managed to get a joint venture with the giant networking, MySpace. As we already know, MySpace is one of the sites that have more social networking in the world. The deal their cutting in is that MySpace music will let people listen to music and watch video for free online but at the same time you can buy merchandise, concert tickets and music just the Apple is doing through iTunes.
I believe that the music culture has to adapt to this change because is a new era and the people now are very dependant to technology or in other terms the “digital culture.” The record labels need to understand that they would never beat piracy, there is no way of stopping it. So I support their deal since I believe it is going to bring them more equity and also ad income.
Recently in April, a couple of record labels and MySpace have been meeting up and now are cutting a pretty good deal I believe. Since the CD sales have dropped as a result from the fans, which the majority gets songs off the Internet, Warner, Sony BMG, and Universal have gathered together and managed to get a joint venture with the giant networking, MySpace. As we already know, MySpace is one of the sites that have more social networking in the world. The deal their cutting in is that MySpace music will let people listen to music and watch video for free online but at the same time you can buy merchandise, concert tickets and music just the Apple is doing through iTunes.
I believe that the music culture has to adapt to this change because is a new era and the people now are very dependant to technology or in other terms the “digital culture.” The record labels need to understand that they would never beat piracy, there is no way of stopping it. So I support their deal since I believe it is going to bring them more equity and also ad income.
The Aftermath from the collapse of Bear Stearns
People were surprised how fast a major firm can suddenly collapse. In just one week, Bear Stearns lost the majority of their market value, their reputation, and their identity. In addition to the chaos that this created in the U.S. market, the 14,000 employees that Bear Stearns employs face job cuts. It has become difficult to know whom and what to blame, I believe that this drove people to get frightened and anxious since they don’t know what to expect now, thus making them less willing to invest and more inclined to save, as a result creating a down spiral in the U.S. job market. I believe that right now is the most difficult time to get a job in the finance industry. This is due to the unemployment and also to the economy’s recession. As a result there have been massive layoffs in large companies so some people are wondering where are they going to go and what is going to happen.
The majority of the employees and investors felt like they were robbed and now there is no one to blame. They are putting all their hopes to Joseph Lewis, which owns 8% of the bank and is trying to block the buyout from JPMorgan. But since JPMorgan is being backed up the fed, I believe that Lewis is going to have a hard and challenging time in order to the stop this buyout. The fed supplied JPMorgan to purchase Bear Stearns and I think it was the smartest move because I believe if that didn’t occurred, then the stock markets would have gotten very hurt and it would also contributed to the US economic slowdown
I believe that now is going to be a good time for the corporate counselors since a lot of employees are going to need a venting solutions and also a little bit of guidance. I believe people are going to get worried of their future because the Finance world is layoff a lot of people, so it is getting harder to find a job.
The majority of the employees and investors felt like they were robbed and now there is no one to blame. They are putting all their hopes to Joseph Lewis, which owns 8% of the bank and is trying to block the buyout from JPMorgan. But since JPMorgan is being backed up the fed, I believe that Lewis is going to have a hard and challenging time in order to the stop this buyout. The fed supplied JPMorgan to purchase Bear Stearns and I think it was the smartest move because I believe if that didn’t occurred, then the stock markets would have gotten very hurt and it would also contributed to the US economic slowdown
I believe that now is going to be a good time for the corporate counselors since a lot of employees are going to need a venting solutions and also a little bit of guidance. I believe people are going to get worried of their future because the Finance world is layoff a lot of people, so it is getting harder to find a job.
Monday, March 17, 2008
How today’s economy is affecting Hedge Funds
We already know that our economy is going into a slowdown. The majority is due to the credit crisis and also the housing market, which also created a credit crunch. However this has affected a lot the Hedge Funds. A Hedge fund is a private investment taking huge risks and also very advanced investment strategies such as derivatives with the goal of generating high returns. But not everyone can invest in them. You need at least $1 million dollars to invest in a hedge fund. Also they are the only type of investment that it is unregulated since it is done very cachet portfolio managers.
Now a day, Hedge Funds are facing some difficult situations. Most of their clients want to get their money back since the economy is in a slowdown, housing market keeps declining, and the stock market is being very volatile. Keep in mind that a lot of the Hedge Funds’ investments were made in the mortgage market in which they have lost a lot of money and are projecting that it is not getting better. Now the Hedge Funds had to limit investors from taking their money or if they did they could only take a certain amount. If they sold all the assets to give money back to the investors, both the company and the investors are going to lose a good part of their initial investment. Also by doing this, fund managers protect their paychecks because in a freeze like this, they still collect their management fees.
Keep in mind that the hedged funds have been a victim of the credit crunch. So I believe that right now is not a very good idea to invest in a hedge fund unless you are economically capable and also have the advanced investments methods to do so.
Now a day, Hedge Funds are facing some difficult situations. Most of their clients want to get their money back since the economy is in a slowdown, housing market keeps declining, and the stock market is being very volatile. Keep in mind that a lot of the Hedge Funds’ investments were made in the mortgage market in which they have lost a lot of money and are projecting that it is not getting better. Now the Hedge Funds had to limit investors from taking their money or if they did they could only take a certain amount. If they sold all the assets to give money back to the investors, both the company and the investors are going to lose a good part of their initial investment. Also by doing this, fund managers protect their paychecks because in a freeze like this, they still collect their management fees.
Keep in mind that the hedged funds have been a victim of the credit crunch. So I believe that right now is not a very good idea to invest in a hedge fund unless you are economically capable and also have the advanced investments methods to do so.
Apple is thinking about getting into the corporate market
As we already know, Microsoft has been dominating the corporate market for years. Now, Steve Job wants to take the iPhone to another level. He wants it to compete with the BlackBerry, the device that has dominated the wireless e-mail market for years in the corporate world.
I believe that they are going to have a really hard time introducing the iPhone to the corporate market because since the beginning, Apple has aimed its products to consumers. First they would have to develop more software for the phone in order to make it work smoothly as the popular BlackBerry does. Then they would have to find a way to make the keyboard in the iPhone more comfortable to write e-mails. People find it sometimes uncomfortable and slow since most of the time you can only use one finger since it’s keyboard is based on a touch screen.
They even face a bigger challenge, which is that Apple needs to gain more corporate buyers. Corporations has not been very interested in the Apple products, so it is going to be very hard to make them change their mind. Also Apple might have to be a little more open with other partners in which they have not been in the past.
I believe that Apple definitely can do it because their technology has advanced incredibly. If it does, then most likely it will create an intense rivalry with the BlackBerry. But Apple has to remember that it is not going to be an easy task.
I believe that they are going to have a really hard time introducing the iPhone to the corporate market because since the beginning, Apple has aimed its products to consumers. First they would have to develop more software for the phone in order to make it work smoothly as the popular BlackBerry does. Then they would have to find a way to make the keyboard in the iPhone more comfortable to write e-mails. People find it sometimes uncomfortable and slow since most of the time you can only use one finger since it’s keyboard is based on a touch screen.
They even face a bigger challenge, which is that Apple needs to gain more corporate buyers. Corporations has not been very interested in the Apple products, so it is going to be very hard to make them change their mind. Also Apple might have to be a little more open with other partners in which they have not been in the past.
I believe that Apple definitely can do it because their technology has advanced incredibly. If it does, then most likely it will create an intense rivalry with the BlackBerry. But Apple has to remember that it is not going to be an easy task.
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