Rubiks Cube - A History of the 1980s Puzzle

The Rubiks Cube is a cube-shaped puzzle that has nine, smaller squares on each side. When taken out of the box, each side of the cube has all the squares the same color. The goal of the puzzle is to return each side to a solid color after you have turned it a few times. Which seems simple enough—at first. After a few hours, most people who try the Rubiks Cube realize that they  are mesmerized by the puzzle and yet no closer to solving it. The toy, which was first created in 1974 but not released onto the world market until 1980, quickly became a fad  when it hit stores.   Who Created the Rubiks Cube? Ernà ¶ Rubik is the one to praise or to blame, depending on how mad the  Rubiks Cube has driven you. Born on July 13, 1944 in Budapest, Hungary, Rubik combined the divergent talents of his parents (his father was an engineer who designed gliders and his mother was an artist and a poetess) to become both a sculptor and an architect. Fascinated with the concept of space, Rubik spent his free time while working as a professor at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design in Budapest designing puzzles that would open his students minds to new ways of thinking about three-dimensional geometry. In the spring of 1974, just shy of his 30th birthday, Rubik envisioned a small cube, with each side constructed of moveable squares. By the fall of 1974, his friends had helped him create the first wooden model of his idea. At first, Rubik just enjoyed watching how the squares moved as he turned one section and then another. However, when he attempted to put the colors back again, he ran into difficulty. Oddly entranced by the challenge, Rubik spent a month turning the cube this way and that way until he finally realigned the colors. When he handed other people the cube and they too had the same fascinated reaction, he realized he might have a toy puzzle on his hands that could really be worth some money. The Rubiks Cube Debuts in Stores In 1975, Rubik made an arrangement with the Hungarian toy-manufacturer Politechnika, who would mass produce the cube. In 1977, the multi-colored cube first appeared in toy stores in Budapest as the Bà ¼và ¶s Kocka (the Magic Cube). Although the Magic Cube was a success in Hungary, getting Hungarys Communist leadership to agree to allow the Magic Cube out to the rest of the world was a bit of a challenge. By 1979, Hungary agreed to share the cube and Rubik signed with the Ideal Toy Corporation. As Ideal Toys prepared to market the Magic Cube to the West, they decided to rename the cube. After considering several names, they settled on calling the toy puzzle Rubiks Cube. The first Rubiks Cubes appeared in Western stores in 1980. A World Obsession Rubiks Cubes instantaneously became an international sensation. Everyone wanted one. It appealed to youngsters as well as adults. There was something  about the little cube that captured everyones full attention. The first produced Rubiks Cube had six sides,  each a different color (traditionally blue, green, orange, red, white, and yellow). Each side had nine squares, in a three by three grid pattern. Of the 54 squares on the cube, 48 of them could move (the centers on each side were stationary). Rubiks Cubes were simple, elegant, and surprisingly difficult to solve. By 1982, more than 100 million Rubiks Cubes had been sold and most had yet to be solved. Solving the Rubiks Cube While millions of people were stumped, frustrated, and yet still obsessed with their Rubiks Cubes, rumors began to circulate as to how to solve the puzzle. With more than 43 quintillion possible configurations (43,252,003,274,489,856,000 to be exact), hearing that the stationary pieces are the starting point for the solution or solve one side at a time just was not enough information for the layman to solve the Rubiks Cube. In response to the massive demands by the public for a solution, several dozen books were published in the early 1980s, each spouting easy ways to solve your Rubiks Cube. While some Rubiks Cube owners were so frustrated that they began smashing open their cubes for a peek inside (they hoped to discover some inner secret that would help them solve the puzzle), other Rubiks Cube owners were setting speed records. Starting in 1982, the first annual International Rubiks Championships were held in Budapest, where people competed to see who could solve the Rubiks Cube the fastest. Now helad all ove the world, these competitions are places for cubers to show off their speed cubing. In 2018, the current world record was set at 3.47 seconds, held by Yusheng Du of China. An Icon Whether a Rubiks Cube fan was a self-solver, speed-cuber, or a smasher, they had all become obsessed with the small, simple-looking puzzle. During the height of its popularity, Rubiks Cubes could be found everywhere—at school, on buses, in movie theaters, and even at work.  The design and colors of Rubiks Cubes also appeared on t-shirts, posters, and board games. In 1983, Rubiks Cube even had its own television show, called Rubik, the Amazing Cube. In this kids show, a talking, flying Rubiks Cube worked with the aid of three children to foil the evil plans of the shows villain. Mathematicians have tried to determine how many moves are needed to solve a completely jumbled up cube: in 2008, it was announced as 22, but the computations to get there took decades of processor time. In 2019, Chinese topologists reported a way to map the mechanism—results that may have implications in other multi-structure mechanisms from laser printing to deep space exploration aircraft. To date, more than 300 million Rubiks Cubes have been sold, making it one of the most popular toys of the 20th century. Sources and Further Information Palmer, Jason. Cracking the Last Mystery of the Rubiks Cube. New Scientist 199.2668 (2008): 40–43. Print.Spatial Logical Toy. USA Patent 4378116A, Ernà ¶ Rubik, held by Politechnika Ibara Szovetkezet. Expired September 11, 2019. Zeng, Daxing, et al. Analysis of Structural Composition and Representation of Topological Structures of Rubiks Cube Mechanism. Mechanism and Machine Theory 136 (2019): 86–104. Print.

How Should We Teach - 1190 Words

How Should We Teach? : A Comprehensive Outlook on Why We Should Teach Elementary Music Education According to Students’ Abilities and Backgrounds. In the book Elementary Music Education by Frances Wright, he lists the characteristics of a good music educator. There he lists how teachers should respect their students and their needs. Most of the list is comprised on how teachers should put the needs of their students first, and make them feel like they have a sense of accomplishment. I could not agree more with this philosophy. As we have learned throughout elementary music methods course, it is important to meet the needs of children and make them feel accomplished and proud of the music they make and create. The National Standards for†¦show more content†¦In this particular piece, she experiments with children who have experienced neglect or abuse at home. Here she states that, and I quote, â€Å"Music can evoke emotional responses in active listeners.† (Graham, pg.14). She finds that children who compose and listen to music are able to express complex emotions that they are normally unable to express. It is im portant that in our classrooms that we allow children to explore all musical ideas. Timbre, tempo, rhythms and harmonies are all used to help illicit emotion. We should teach our students to listen for these concepts in music, as well as write with them. Students will walk into your music classroom with many different living situations. We may not be able to fix them, or make the problems go away, but as educators, we can make sure that students can express themselves in a way that they can let both positive and negative emotions loose. The connection between physical activity and young children is a â€Å"no brainer†. Young children are very rambunctious and need to be constantly moving in order for them to pay attention. In a journal article by David Barney and Keven Prusak, music and physical education are compared. They found that when students listen to music during casual physical activity, they are more focused and energized. During my readings in this journal, I thought about how music teachers should incorporate

Individual Report on Econometric Models Free Essays

string(103) " income in China and the United States, leading to the influence of culture for income perception \(e\." Context This report pertains to the selection of an academic paper (Caporale et al., 2009) which is examined based on its aims and results, citing new insights offered by its analysis. It also involves another paper (Oshio et al. We will write a custom essay sample on Individual Report on Econometric Models or any similar topic only for you Order Now , 2011) that cited that of Caporale et al. (2009), explaining the kind of data being used for the analysis. The report also includes a description of the economic model adopted by the authors to analyse the issues, as well as a critical reflection of the issues that are likely to arise with the use of these specific econometric models. a.Summary of the selected paper The selected paper in this report is that of Caporale et al. (2009), which was centred on income and happiness across Western and Eastern Europe. The authors utilised data from the European Social Survey (ESS) for 19 European countries, whereby they examined the association between income and subjective well-being. The aim of their study was to find out whether income can buy happiness. Happiness and life satisfaction served as the dependent variables in the study, which were likewise contained in the ESS data. These variables were tested for whether social comparisons and reference groups wielded a relevant influence on the subjective well-being of individuals in the countries involved, which likewise served as the sample. The findings revealed that for all these countries – despite the positive correlation between income on one hand and happiness and life satisfaction on the other – a negative effect was being exerted by reference income on individual well-being, a result that harmonised with the relative utility hypothesis. A separate analysis was conducted by the authors for some countries in Eastern Europe in which they were able to discover some evidence that supported a so-called ‘tunnel effect’, which was suggestive of a positive impact caused by reference income on subjective well-being. The findings maintained that situations characterising stable income and employment have income serving as the basis for social comparisons. In social comparisons, the authors posited that reference income served as the informant for future status expectations. Further, empirical findings revealed a tendency for males to report lower satisfaction than their female counterparts. The authors also cited that the literature holds robust pattern that mirrors the life-cycle areas of people’s social, economic, and family situations. The findings also suggested that happiness perception was positively related to being married, whilst a negative relationship was suggested for divorce. Moreover, the presence of children had a negative effect on happiness perception whilst good health fostered a significant positive association. There was shaky evidence on the likelihood of university qualifications to cause a negative impact on happiness. In addition, a positive effect was indicated by previous employment occurrence on the perception of happiness, which was more deep-seated for more recent unemployment occurrence. The distress accompanying a recent unemployment occurrence may diminish the aspiration value of the presently employed individua l. As the study’s sample was dominated by countries with liberal social welfarism, the influence of the welfare systems on individual’s happiness may also be indicated by the positive impact of unemployment on life satisfaction during the time of joblessness. The new insights offered by the analysis include an apparent wedge between countries in Western Europe and Eastern Europe, which clearly showed that the pursuit of life satisfaction has become embodied in countries’ political framework, serving as a source of valuable insights in policy development concerning welfare reforms. b. A paper citing the selected paper A paper that cites the selected paper here is that of Oshio et al. (2011) whose aim was to examine the effects of relative income on well-being in China, Japan, and Korea based on nationwide surveys in these countries and comparing them with that of the United States. The various factors for which control was undertaken at the individual level were age, gender, and marital status, to name a few. The results were parallel to past researches the same topic involving Western countries. The study exhibited a significant relationship between a person’s income and that of the reference group on one hand, and perceived life satisfaction on the other. In China, individual income showed stronger relationships between relative income and life satisfaction compared to family income, whilst the opposite was demonstrated for Japan and Korea. The comparisons of income within the reference group were necessary for evaluating life satisfaction, particularly when family income was used. Additi onally, Yitzhaki index was used to determine the relative deficiency within the reference group, which was found to have a negative relationship with life satisfaction. Oshio et al. (2011) used Caporale et al. (2009) as a cited paper in their study in that the former utilised it in its claim that apart from the absolute income levels, the happiness of a person is reliant to comparisons with those of others, particularly those with similar socio-economic distinctiveness. Oshio and colleagues also used Caporale and colleagues’ findings on relative income proposition, whereby both found a positive effect fostered by absolute income on both happiness and life satisfaction. Further, both Caporale et al. (2009) and Oshio et al. (2011) used regression analysis to analyse the findings on income and perceived happiness. The apparent difference that could be cited in their studies was the nature of the countries on which their studies were emphasised – Western and Eastern European countries for Caporale et al. (2009), and Asian countries and the United States for Oshio et al. (2011). The former was also more extensive as it used 19 countries f or a generalisation of income-happiness hypothesis, whilst the latter involved only four. The comparison in Caporale and colleagues’ study was between Western European and Eastern European countries, whilst that of Oshio and colleagues was between three Asian countries and the United States. If the cross-country findings in Caporale and colleagues demonstrated a political agenda (i.e. social welfarism), those of Oshio and colleagues were focused on the level of the individual, such as people’s precautious outlook on individual income than family income in China and the United States, leading to the influence of culture for income perception (e. You read "Individual Report on Econometric Models" in category "Essay examples"g. individual-orientedness vs. family-orientedness).Whilst Caporale et al. (2009) asserted a positive relationship between income and happiness, Oshio et al. (2011) declared stronger correlations between individual income (rather than family income) a nd life satisfaction in China, which was not true in Japan and Korea. c.Data used, structure of the data set, and manner of data collection The ESS data in Caporale and colleagues’ (2009) study contained information about a set of demographic and employment characteristics, which the authors utilised as controls in their regressions. Some of these controls were education, income, and position in the labour force, to name a few. The data set also involved information on previous unemployment encounter, which was used in assessing whether a person’s perception of present economic situation was influenced by previous income shocks, commonly due to unemployment. The structure of the data set included all individuals possessing similar levels of education, age brackets, and current countries of residence. The sample was also limited to employees earning full-time salaries. Alternatively, in Oshio and colleagues’ (2011) study, the data were collected from the countries’ (Japan, China, Korea) General Social Survey (GSS), from which data were downloaded. The GSS of these countries were originally gathered by a research office at the University of Chicago. The basis of their empirical analysis was the GSS of these countries which were recorded in 2006, with widely similar survey questionnaires. The results were compared with those of the United States. All income data were converted into logarithms to enable comparing the results across models and countries. In addition, the authors used sampling weights from GSS and made a computation of standard errors to provide correction for any possibility of heteroscedasticity. It may be inferred that even though both studies aimed at determining happiness and life satisfaction vis-a-vis income, their methodologies and approaches were however different but were appropriate to the nature of their hypoth eses. d. Econometric models used by the authors In this section, the econometric models used by the authors are described to analyse the issue. Caporale et al. (2009) used ordered probit model, which they deemed appropriate for their study, given the ordinal nature of the happiness variables. This model enabled a close correlation between happiness and life satisfaction, in which the authors were able to indicate a high level of happiness or satisfaction amongst the research participants. A clear skewness towards the high end was exhibited by the distribution on happiness. Some variations began emerging with the investigation of the level of happiness across the countries involved, with Denmark achieving the highest score, and Portugal, amongst others, recording the lowest scores. Reference income was used as an explanatory variable in the regressions. The estimated coefficients also showed a general consistency with those of previous studies. On the other hand, Oshio et al. (2011) used the ordered logit model to explain perceived happiness across the three countries involved in their study. The model contained an assumption of care amongst individuals in relation to their individual (or family) income when making a comparison of their income with those of others. Family income was included in both specifications, with an assumption that it represents material living standards. It was expected that the coefficient ? was significantly positive in each specification, given the relative income hypothesis. e. Critical reflection of the issues relating to the econometric models The econometric models used in each of the study of Caporale et al. (2009) and Oshio et al. (2011) were appropriately justified and carried out to suit the aim and expected results of each. The use of the ordered probit model in Caporale and colleagues’ study was suitable as this model was able to deal with the variables in ordered categories, which were present in the dataset. According to Jones (2007) and Gailmard (2014), ordered probit model is utilised in the modelling of a discrete dependent variable with ordered multinomial results. Similarly, Caporale and colleagues also noted fixing some of the threshold values, which Jones also pointed out as a characteristic of the model. The study was able to generate the specific results with the utilisation of this model, which is likewise used in a range of the social and behavioural sciences, as emphasised by Aldrich et al. (2007) and Gill (2008). Using other econometric model for the study of Caporale et al. (2009) might not ge nerate similar results, since the study involved an analysis of more than two outcomes of an ordinal dependent variable (i.e. happiness and life satisfaction). In the same manner, Oshio and colleagues’ (2011) use of the ordered logit model was suitable as the study involved a survey that aimed to find out how well responses to questions can predict a response to one question, to which the model was appropriate. In the study, the model was used for dichotomous dependent variables (happiness and life satisfaction), in which more than two response categories were enabled.Apparently, the study adopted proportional odds assumption, to which the model was applicable, as Sadler (2008) and Allegrezza and Dubrocard (2012) also pointed out. Moreover, the model clearly pursued an estimate for multiple equations in the study, whereby the number of these equations were tantamount to the number of categories minus 1. The study also showed that each equation modelled the odds of being in a category, which is consistent with the ordered logit model (Sadler, 2008; Allegrezza and Dubrocard, 2012). It is important to note that the use of the aforementioned models for the two studies was consistent with their intention to quantify or measure variables in order to come up with objective and systematic results for the relationship between income and happiness. Both studies opted to use data from established data sets (ESS and GSS) to apparently facilitate generalisation of findings, with which they were successful. It may be pointed out that Oshio and colleagues’ (2011) results were congruent with Caporale and colleagues’ (2009), reflecting the validity of the latter’s findings. References Aldrich, J. H.m Alt, J. E., and Lupia, A. (2007) Positive Changes in Political Science: The Legacy of Richard D. McKelvey’s Most Influential Writings. Michigan: University of Michigan. Allegrezza and Dubrocard (2012) Internet Econometrics. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. Caporale, G. M., Georgellis, Y., Tsitsianis, N., Yin, Y. P. (2009) Income and happiness across Europe: Do reference values matterJournal of Economic Psychology, 30(1), 42-51. Gailmard, S. (2014) Statistical Modeling and Inference for Social Science. NY: Cambridge University Press. Gill (2008) Bayesian Methods: A Social and Behavioral Sciences Approach, Second Edition. NW: Chapman Hall/CRC. Jones, A. (2007) Applied Econometrics for Health Economists: A Practical Guide. Second Edition. Oxon: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd. Oshio, T., Nozak, K., and Kobayashi, M. (2011) Relative income and happiness in Asia: Evidence from nationwide surveys in China, Japan, and Korea. Social Indicators Research, 104 (3), 351-367. Sadler, A. M. (2008) Determinants of Entrepreneurial Behavior among Immigrant and Non-Immigrant University Scientists in the US: The Impact of Cultural Predispositions and Learning. MI: ProQuest LLC. How to cite Individual Report on Econometric Models, Essay examples

Financial Crises Theory and Practice

Question: Discuss about the Financial Crises for Theory and Practice. Answer: Introduction: Financial market is a market where the people are involved in doing business of financial securities, goods including the fungible commodities at low transaction cost and at a cost which reflects the supply and demand. In economics, we can say that market is the aggregate of all the possible buyers and sellers of a particular commodity or services and as well as the place where the transaction takes place. It is also referred to as exchange including stock exchange or commodity exchange in between two or more organizations or companies. Since financial markets are associated in making money better to raise finance (Brigham and Ehrhardt 2013). Diagram depicting the understanding of the financial market: Source: (created by author) As per the question the financial market is broadly classified into five different categories: Capital market Money market Currency market Commodities market Derivatives market Capital market: Capital market include the stock markets which helps in providing finance through shares or common stocks thereby carrying out the subsequent trading. It raises capital on a long term basis basically over a year. Under the capital market comes the primary and the secondary market which can be categorized into two sub groups: Bond market which provides finance by accumulating debt through the issuance and trading of bonds .Stock market provides finance by sharing the ownership of a company by bond issuing and trading. The two basic instruments are the debt and equity (Claessens and Kose 2013). The issuers are the listed companies and the stock exchange and the intermediaries are the brokers involved in the trading. Primary market: Issues which are newly formed such as initial public offerings and are bought and sold , here the bonds are created and traded for the first time without any intermediary and are therefore called 'new issue market'. The company make direct interaction with the willing investors in the primary market. Secondary market: In the secondary market, the investors deals with the securities that have already been issued by the company and is listed in the stock exchange. Here in this case the investors purchase previously issued securities like bonds, stocks, any future options from other investors rather than issuing it from the company itself .Consequently these markets are termed as 'aftermarket'. Money market: Money market which comes under the category providing short term debt financing and investments. It enables the economic units in managing their liquidity positions by lending and borrowing of short term loans under one year. The various instruments are treasury bills, commercial paper, certificates of deposits. The players in this market are financial institutions, commercial banks, governments. Commodity market: It manages the exchange or better trading in primary products which takes place in about fifty major commodity markets where the financial exchange increasingly outstrip the physical purchases which are to be delivered . Commodities may be categorized into two subgroups: Raw goods which are hard goods like gold , oil , rubber .Agricultural products which are soft goods including sugar, coffee ,wheat. 'The players on this market are issuers andstockholders. Derivatives markets: In derivative market, the value of the assets are derived using the index of prices. It assists in providing the finance by carrying out the trade in terms of financial instruments like future contracts or some options which helps to control the financial risk. The forward, options, swaps, future contracts are some of the derivative market instruments. The players are the speculators, hedger and arbitrators. Currency market which is better known as the foreign exchange market: It abets the foreign exchange trading. It is the largest, and the most liquid market in the market world with an average traded value of more than $5 trillion per day. It also includes all the different currencies round the world and any individual or country can take an active part in it. The exchange traded fund, swap, and future and forward are the instruments. The central bank is the most vital player followed by the importers and exporters. References: Brigham, E.F. and Ehrhardt, M.C., 2013.Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Claessens, S. and Kose, M.M.A., 2013.Financial crises explanations, types, and implications(No. 13-28). International Monetary Fund. Madura, J., 2014.Financial markets and institutions. Nelson Education.