Assurance contracts may be a way to pay for so-called “public goods;” things that it’s said everyone can use without diminishing their value to others. Typical examples of public goods include public parks, open source software, national defense. Assurance contracts are basically pledges of funding towards providing a public good. If enough people pledge funds, then the good is undertaken. (The public park is built.) If not enough people pledge then the good is not provided. (The public park is not built.)
The open source 3D editing program “Blended 3d” was released as a result of SPP. The source code was released only when enough members of a community collectively pledged 100,000 Euros. The program was proprietary before.
Some have proposed Assurance contracts as an alternative to taxation as a way to provide public goods.
Note that the concept of public goods is itself a matter of controversy between free market economists versus more collectivist economists like Samuelson, who is credited with creating a formal theory for them.
I wonder if Seasteads could be funded by assurance contracts, given enough knowledge about and interest in them?
> I wonder if Seasteads could be funded by assurance contracts, given enough knowledge about and interest in them?
I think pledging is a great way of financing. I do not have the statistics to back it up, but I think pledges are more effective than donations. If you pledge you will be sure that your money only goes to the project if a sufficient amount of others give their money, too. So when you give your money away you can be sure it is enough to start the project resp. keep it running.
If you donate, you are often uncertain whether your money makes a difference. It is likely that too few people donate. That would waste your money because the project can’t take off. So you probably hesitate a lot more to donate than to pledge.


Causes of Keratosis Pilaris
Keratosis pilaris is not a very well known skin condition. Up to 40% of adults all over the globe suffer from it, and over half of them don’t even know it. Keratosis pilaris is genetic in origin but the precise cause has not yet been determined. Still, many doctors believe that the cause of Keratosis pilaris is the overproduction of keratin inside the skin. This excess gets trapped inside the follicle, developing a bump.
It is also thought to be a disorder of keratinisation in which the sticky cells that line the hair follicle form a horny plug instead of exfoliating. This widens the pores making them appear more obvious than elsewhere. Often a curled hair can be identified under the skin.
Keratosis pilaris is a skin condition frequently seen on the upper arms, buttocks and thighs. The skin cells that normally flake off as a fine dust form plugs in the hair follicles. These appear as small pimples that have a dry ''sandpaper'' feeling. They are usually white, but when inflamed they appear rather red. They usually don't itch or hurt, except with extreme changes in temperature.
This condition is particularly common among teenagers (up to 80%). Its manifestation is very common on the upper arms, especially on the external side of the arm. It may occur in babies where it tends to be most obvious on the cheeks. It may remain for years but in most cases it gradually disappears usually before age 30. Keratosis pilaris is unsightly but completely harmless. It is usually worse during the winter months. The worsening is directly associated with low humidity, skin dryness and tight clothes that “rub” the bumps at al times. Some people have stated that this condition worsened during pregnancy and/or after childbirth.
Some doctors as well as patients believe that food is related with keratosis pilaris. According to their own experience, spicy foods tend to increase the bumps and make them more noticeable. On the other hand, patients that reduced or eliminated milk and its derivatives from their diet claimed to have had a considerable improvement.
Treatment for keratosis pilaris is not necessary, and unfortunately, it often has disappointing results. With persistence, most people can get improve this aesthetic condition by moisturizing and replenishing the lipid content of the skin regularly.
The plugged pores can be removed by taking long, hot soaking tub baths and then rubbing the areas with a coarse washcloth, stiff brush, or 'Buf-Puf'. Also, a good microdermabrasion proceeding can help get rid of all the excess keratin.
Prescription medicines may help, including some antibiotics like Erythromycin and Bactrim. If the swelling or redness of the bumps is getting worse, you should discuss with your doctor the use of topical retinoids. The derivatives of vitamin A can be very harsh for the skin, so be aware of all the symptoms you develop.
We offer a solution for Keratosis Pilaris, a natural cream with Helix Aspersa Müller Glycoconjugates. It is a biological ingredient collected from live snails and contains a complex compound of molecules that protect the skin from free radical oxydation, promote the proliferation of the water holding molecules in the skin and the healthy turnover of connective tissues, dissolve damaged and non functional tissues such as keratin plugs by enzymatic digestion or breakdown of their amino-acid components and has antimicrobial properties.
BIOSKINTREATMENT™ and BIOSKINEXFOL™ are natural skin care products that require constancy in their use to achieve results. You must apply BIOSKINEXFOL three times a week, or the BIOSKINTREATMENT lotion twice a day every day. It is important to be patient since results will not be immediate, not even fast. For most people results will be seen in 5 to 6 weeks.
BIOSKINTREATMENT™ and BIOSKINEXFOL™ work because the biological ingredient in them and the formulation makes it the most complete and balanced natural solution for the normal functioning of the skin and for regeneration of damaged skin.
BIOSKINTREATMENT LOTION clears skin of keratin bumps and regenerates healthy skin
The product is made with the same base as BIOSKINCARE plus Salix Nigra (Willow) Extract and Amorphophallus Konjac Root Powder for a more potent keratolytic effect that cleans the excess horny material of the skin by degrading keratin plugs and dissolving debris, damaged, abnormal and necrotic tissues. It decongests the skin as the enzymes in the snail serum and the natural salicylic acid in willow bark extract help to 'digest' all damaged structures into their amino-acid and other components, which also favors the regeneration of all the structural components of healthy skin.
It leaves your skin smooth, refreshed, soft and with use over a period of time it takes away keratosis pilaris, actinic keratosis scales, controls acne and reduces and even vanishes all types of skin blemishes: razor nicks and burns, roughness, blisters, scrapes, cuts, and the list can go on and on...
Made in the USA. 60 grams = 2 oz
One Bottle: $60
Ultra exfoliate rough scars and dull skin with BIOSKINEXFOL
Home microdermabrasion cream. Contains the same natural ingredients in BIOSKINTREATMENT but infused with micro-crystals so that you may rub it with your finger tips to remove old, hard, and tough scars or stretch marks by a physical breakdown of the scar tissues. Best also for oily skin and aged skin, actinic keratosis scales and pitted acne scars. Not for keloids and not if your skin is still fragile (use BIOSKINTREATMENT for a few months first to strengthen your skin). The compounded action of the physical abrasion and the enzymes in the cream liquefy damaged proteins more thoroughly helping to release amino-acids to aid in rebuilding damaged tissues quickly. Results are not only immediate, but compound over time and do not trigger inflamm-aging of delicate skin tissues.
Made in the USA. Two to Three Month's supply 120 grams = 4.23 oz
120 Gram Bottle: $89
Biological Skin Treatment Ingredient
Our products contain a biological serum created by a living creature. It is packed with enzymes, coenzymes, glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans (hyaluronic acid), proteoglycans, peptides and oligoelements that (a) dissolve keratin plugs that obstruct the hair follicles and cause hyperkeratosis or acne and damaged and dysfunctional tissues, (b) regenerate healthy skin by promoting the proliferation of fibroblasts and supporting microcirculation in capillaries, (c) scavenge oxygen radicals and the damaging effects of excessive solar radiation and (c) keep microbes in check by the action of antimicrobial peptides secreted on the skin and within the hair follicles.
It keeps the skin moisturized, prevents skin infection, repairs wounds, promotes scarless healing, and renews the skin.
The collection of the biological ingredient in our products is done by using a humanely method that inflicts no damage upon the little creatures from which we gather the biological compound that can not possible be replicated in even the most sophisticated laboratory.
What customers say about the results of the product for keratosis pilaris?
Skin Treatment Products
A deeply moisturizing and pure natural skin care cream that dissolves keratin plugs and debris and unblocks clogged pores allowing for the outflow of sebum to the surface where it lubricates and protects the skin instead of causing injuries to the cells lining the follicles and an inflammatory reaction of the body to repair the damage. Triggers the rebuilding of damaged and dead tissues and restores the capacity of the skin to hold in water from within. Rrestores the lipid wall of our skin thereby impeding the penetration of allergens and toxins. It induces the production of antimicrobial peptides on the surface of the skin and within the skin follicles contributing to control microrganisms. Signals the body it is being taken care of and does not need to fire its immune responses and overly react to minor injuries thus avoiding the loss of tissues that characterizes deep scars. Avoids scarring and diminishes scars from accidents, surgery, stretch marks, hypertrophic and keloid scars, by the breakdown of abnormal, dysfunctional and damaged tissues into their amino acid components while stimulating their replacement with new healthy skin structures. Vanishes redness and dryness, relieves eczema and dermatitis, reduces psoriasis scales and most skin blemishes. Repairs skin damaged by glycolic peeling and other chemical peels, dermabrasion or laser resurfacing. By strengthening the skin it relieves the uncomfortable side effects of retinoic drugs such as Accutane that thin the skin. Reduces and heals skin fragility and is a potent antioxidant thus helping to reduce the damaging effects on the dermis of sun burns and too much exposure to solar radiation. It also helps to heal blisters, bruises, wounds, and the consequences on the skin of ionizing radiotherapy or radiodermatitis. 50 gram (1.76 oz) jar = $60.
A home microdermabrasion cream with micro-crystals that breakdown hard, rough and old scar tissues, and allow for a deeper penetration of our natural skin moisturizing and regeneration complex contained in the microdermarasion cream.120 gram (4 oz) jar = $89.-


Australian scientists discover deep sea corals
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists mapping the Great Barrier Reef have discovered corals at depths never before thought possible, with a deep-sea robot finding specimens in waters nearly as dark as night.
A team from the University of Queensland's Seaview Survey announced the unprecedented discovery 125m below the surface at Ribbon Reef, near the Torres Strait and at the edge of the Australian continental shelf.
Dr Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, chief scientist on the project, told AFP on Thursday that coral had previously only been shown to exist to depths of 70m and the finding could bring new understanding about how reefs spawn and grow.
"What's really cool is that these corals still have photosynthetic symibionts that supposedly still harvest the light," Dr Hoegh-Guldberg told AFP.


Shoving, teasing and name-calling are all too often a daily occurrence in schools across the country where cliques thrive and anyone who might be “different” has a hard row to hoe. And, with the growth of technology, bullying has expanded its reach, finding its way out of the schoolyard and into the back pockets of students who have no way to escape their tormentors.
Cell phones and social media have enabled bullying to evolve from mere (albeit still hurtful) verbal and physical harassment to pervasive cyber-bullying attacks through Facebook, emails and text messages.
It’s a pervasive problem and the Blaine school district is looking for answers.
To help curb bullying, they’ve asked Scott Backovich, an international motivational speaker whose talks are geared toward youth, to speak to students about bullying, respect and the effects of being what he calls “a catalyst.” Backovich will speak to students at both Blaine Middle School and Blaine High School during a special day organized by the district on January 16.
Changes in state legislation and the public awareness of teen suicides due to bullying, particularly cyber-bullying, have put the issue on center stage. “We have a mandate from the state [to address bullying],” Randy Ellsbree said. Ellsbree is in charge of making sure the district complies with the state mandate. “I help the principals follow the law and get the resources to teach students.”
The district hopes that an outside speaker can offer students a different perspective on cyber-bullying, and cause them to take note.
“Other school districts have recommended Backovich,” Ellsbree said. “And there’s a parental education piece as well.”
The district has also scheduled Backovich to give a presentation to parents on the evening of the January 16. During this session, parents will have the opportunity to learn about various cyber-bullying issues, along with tips and strategies to help their child be safe.
Parents of children in any age group are encouraged to attend. Daycare and a light meal will be provided at the evening program. For more info, contact Larissa Dhanani at the Blaine school district at 360/332-0728.


Snopes.com defines phishing as "a term which refers to the online imitation of a company's branding in spoofed e-mail messages and web sites, created with the intent of fooling unsuspecting users into divulging personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, PINs, etc. A typical "phish" e-mail will appear to come from a financial institution (such as a bank or credit card company), informing the recipient that some type of problem has affected his account and directing him to follow a provided hyperlink to clear up the problem. The hyperlink leads not to a legitimate site, however, but to a server (usually in another country) on which an imitation web site has been set up. The fooled customer is then prompted to enter confidential personal information (collected by the scammers for perpetrating) identify theft and (usually) redirected to a legitimate web site to obscure the fact that he just gave away data to crooks."
Phishing sites can also include malicious elements that are intended to take advantage of web browser vulnerabilities. Even if you don't enter personal information on the spoofed web site, you could be putting your computer's security in danger simply by clicking on the link in the spoofed message. The best way to protect yourself from phishing scams is to never click on the link in an unexpected or suspicious message you receive.
The Internet has made the world a much smaller place. While its benefits are tremendous, connecting us to others and to volumes of instant information on any subject anywhere in the world, its downside includes dark alleys frequented by criminals intent on harming you, your computer, and/or your information.
In the physical world, it used to be that you knew which dark alleys or bad neighborhoods to avoid. Today the Internet, with all its benefits, has also brought the dark alleyways to your computer. As such, it takes much more vigilance to protect yourself and your computer from would-be criminals.
Some of the risks you encounter simply by surfing the Internet include, but are not limited to: Identity Theft, viruses and worms that infect your computer, spamming, and spyware infections.
Content provided by CU Boulder


In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It will merge and build on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system which focus exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:
- Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
- International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
- Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
The main roles of UN Women are:
- To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms
To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth.
Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes.
For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues.
UN Women — which will be operational by January 2011 — has been created to address such challenges. It will be a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels.
Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women will, among other issues, work for the:
elimination of discrimination against women and girls
- empowerment of women
- achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.


The Council has placed much focus on what has come to be known as ‘International hydro-diplomacy’. For the past three years, the Council has been at the forefront, bringing forward a new water politics and making the Voice of Water heard on every level of decision making.
World Water Council Activity Report 2010-2012
One of the Council's major accomplishments is its contribution to increasing awareness of global water issues and to political mobilisation through World Water Forums. Serving as stepping-stones towards global collaboration on water problems, the Forum is a unique platform where the water community and policy- and decision-makers from all regions of the world can come together, debate and attempt to find solutions to achieve water security.
In the past, the Forum has produced the World Water Vision, a unique prospective exercise on the future state of global water resources whose results were presented at the 2nd Forum, as well as the establishment of concrete actions and commitments derived from the 3rd Forum.
The Council has also played a strategic role in promoting and facilitating the establishment of dialogues on cross-cutting issues that were not sufficiently addressed, both at local levels and national levels. Key dialogues include those on Water for Food and Environment, and on Water and Climate.
In 2001, the Council raised the issue of financing to the top of its priorities by establishing the Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure, whose mandate was to look for new sources of funding for water to avoid the 2025 "water scarcity" scenario of the World Water Vision.
With the 4th World Water Forum, the Council established mechanisms for cooperation and coordination to transform global vision into concrete actions while integrating local knowledge.
The 5th Forum gave voice to the local authorities stakeholders’ who were encouraged to improve their water situation on a local level by signing the Istanbul Water Consensus, which has reached more than 1,000 signatories throughout the world.
From 2009 to 2012, political involvement though the Ministerial, Parliamentarian and local Authorities processes of the Forum has steadily increased and the Council‘s efforts have greatly contributed in raising Water higher on the political agenda.
Water is finally being acknowledged as a worldwide priority. During the 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, a Sustainable Development Dialogue was dedicated to Water. The Council’s aim is now to keep water on the table of high level discussions in view of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.


The definition of binocular is something that uses both eyes at the same time.(adjective)
An example of something binocular is the vision you use to look through 3D glasses; binocular vision.
A binocular is defined as a device used to view things far away, often referred to as binoculars.(noun)
An example of a binocular is a set of opera glasses.
See binocular in Webster's New World College Dictionary
Origin: < L bini, double (see binary) + ocularis, of the eyes < oculus, eye
See binocular in American Heritage Dictionary 4
pair of binoculars
Learn more about binocular


story to find out more.
John Ewart (left),
an aquaculture/fisheries specialist (University of Delaware), and ARS
microbiologist Gary Richards examine freshly harvested oysters on board the
Center for the Inland Bays' work boat before transport to the laboratory.
Click the image for more information about it.
Research Reveals Functions of Harmful Shellfish
Pathogens By Jim
Core March 4, 2005
Providing safer shellfish is the goal of Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) scientists who are studying the
means by which pathogenic bacteria enter shellfish.
In the United States, two pathogenic bacteria from the genus
Vibrio are of concern: V. vulnificus and V.
parahaemolyticus. These bacteria are naturally found in shellfish and
seawater, particularly when water temperatures are warm, and can lead to
serious health concerns.
ARS scientists at the
Safety of Aquaculture Products Center of Excellence in Dover, Del., are
studying these bacteria with the goal of keeping them out of shellfish.
Richards, a microbiologist and the center's lead scientist, wants to
identify Vibrio enzymes that may help the organism enter shellfish--and,
eventually, a human host.
Richards, who leads a group of scientists from
Delaware State University and the
National Institutes of Health, recently
discovered in V. vulnificus an enzyme called phosphoglucose isomerase.
This enzyme could provide a way for Vibrio to spread more easily.
He also detected the enzyme in virtually all species of Vibrio
tested, but not in non-Vibrio pathogens. The enzyme is capable of
producing what are called vasoactive peptides, which could contribute to rapid
spread of V. vulnificus in humans. A study of V. vulnificus in
oysters suggests that strains virulent to humans may be more invasive to--and
The Dover center, a field location of the ARS
Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pa., also studies methods to detect
norovirus and the hepatitis A virus in shellfish. It also develops
high-pressure processing techniques to inactivate enteric viruses in
This research may provide better diagnostic capabilities and treatment
strategies to further reduce shellfish-related illnesses.
more about this research in the March issue of Agricultural Research
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.


This Week’s Creature Feature ... Susquehanna Flats B&B Open for Businesstesttest
Housing stock is on the rise for the young fish and crabs who’ll be sheltering at the top of the Bay come spring. The vast grass-filled Susquehanna Flats, the circular area where the Susquehanna River meets the Bay, appeared unexpectedly healthy in aerial survey images made late last year.
The valuable Bay habitats seem to have survived fall 2011’s deluge of runoff and sediment.
That was a welcome surprise. During Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, monitors saw large tangles of all varieties of uprooted grasses floating downstream. Remembering the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Agnes almost 40 years ago, scientists feared the worst.
“Back on those days of Tropical Storm Lee, looking at the deluge of water over the Conowingo Dam, I would’ve bet that we had lost the Flats grasses entirely,” said Rich Batiuk of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Had that been the case, over-wintering waterfowl would have lost a favorite table. Many juvenile Bay creatures would have been homeless come spring.
The grasses’ survival is good news not only for the creatures that feed on and live among them, but also for the Bay.
“That large, dense beds can survive extreme conditions is another indicator of the Bay’s resilience,” Batiuk said.


Reduced visibility can play a key role in traffic accidents. Lowered visibility can occur because of darkness or weather conditions such as snow or rain. No matter the cause, motorists often aren’t as careful as they should be.
The bottom line: driving in poor weather adds to the risk factor, boosting the possibility of skidding off the road, being involved in a crash and other similar events. However, there are things you can do to reduce the possibility of an accident.
Twenty-five percent of the average person’s driving is night driving, which is a more challenging time to travel.
According to PennState Environmental Health and Safety:
• Car crash fatalities happen three times more often at night
• More than half (55%) of fatal accidents happen at night
• Pedestrian fatalities happen much more often after dark (62%)
Some useful safe driving tips in times of reduced visibility, such as night driving, include:
• Slowing down
• Staying alert
• Using headlights
• Putting a safe distance between your car and the vehicle ahead of you; this is especially important when it’s a large truck, as their spray can cause additional problems with visibility
• Choosing the middle lane during wet driving conditions
• Taking advantage of tracks in the snow made by other vehicles and driving in those tracks
• Avoiding puddles
What should you do now?
• Set up a regular schedule to check your windshield wipers. New wipers are available at Advance Auto Parts. Get free installation with purchase.*
• Always keep a supply of extra windshield washer fluid.
• Check your car lights periodically.
• If your headlights are foggy or dim, purchase a headlight restoration kit.
• Use Rain-X on your windshield. Rain-X acts as a repellant on your windshield for rain, sleet or snow.
• Always carry an emergency car kit.
Editor’s note: Wow, that’s a lot to think about. Make it easy on yourself by heading to your local Advance Auto Parts store for safe driving tips and answers on how to keep your vision in check this winter.
*Most vehicles, most store locations.


The emergence of low cost computers in the UK market in the early 1980s kick started many a career in IT. The early market was not dominated by one type of machine but rather one full of choices from a myriad of companies. School playgrounds across the country soon became split between two camps, you either loved the Spectrum or the BBC Micro (which quickly became known as the Beeb). There were friends with other computers (Vic 20, Dragon, Commodore 64 to name a few) but these people were in the minority and viewed as weird.
Today marks the day the BBC Micro was first launched on the market. At the time it was expensive compared to the other machines on the market but it was supported by the BBC in the form of a TV series about computers and their uses.
At the time the BBC Micro was launched I had already been programming for several years but it is this machine which I remember with fondness. I had a great time learning how this machine worked and even purchased the Advanced BBC Micro handbook. It was this handbook which allowed me to get closer to the hardware. I even wrote my own disc operating system. This also taught me a very valuable lesson, always backup your work – I accidently tested the format command on the disc containing the only copy of the source code. To my dismay it was one of those occassions where I had manged to write 200 lines of assembler which worked perfectly first time.
The early industry meant that schools had to quickly put together a programme of lessons which taught pupils about the new machines and how to use them. The lack of software such as spreadsheets, presentation software etc. meant that children were taught about the machines and how they worked. Something which is lacking today. This lack of understanding about how computers actually work is slowly being recognised here in the UK and it appears that the government is starting to recognise that something needs to be done. One group of people who remember those early days are already working on a small computer for the education market. Check out the Raspberry Pi for more information on the project.
You can read more about the BBC Micro in this article on the BBCs news web site.
Happy Birthday BBC Micro


Filtering Posts By: "bias voltage"
02.05.2007| By Shure Notes|
Many users of professional audio equipment believe there is no difference between phantom power and bias voltage. Not true! Phantom and bias are not interchangeable. This bulletin explains the differences between phantom and bias, and addresses common misconceptions. Phantom power is a dc voltage (11 – 48 volts) which powers the preamplifier of a condenser microphone. Phantom power is normally supplied by the microphone mixer, but may also be supplied by a separate phantom power supply. Phantom requires a balanced circuit in which XLR pins 2 and 3 carry the same dc voltage relative to …


These collections contain over 80,000 rare books, magazines and government publications from the 1600s to the 1940s.
This rare collection of documentary heritage will be of interest to scholars, genealogists, history buffs and anyone who enjoys reading about Canada's early days.
The Early Canadiana Online collection of rare books, magazines and government publications has over 80,000 titles (3,500,000 pages) and is growing. The collection includes material published from the time of the first European settlers to the first four decades of the 20th Century.
You will find books written in 21 languages including French, English, 10 First Nations languages and several European languages, Latin and Greek.
The Early Canadian Periodicals collection includes over 1,000 magazines, totaling over 65,000 issues. It covers a wide range of topics such as political satire, agriculture, religion, medicine and health, as well as many men’s, women’s and children’s popular magazines. This collection even includes the first magazine ever published in Canada, The Nova Scotia Magazine (1789-1792). It offers a remarkable record of the development of thought and opinion on diverse issues of the nation in its formative years. Many of Canada's initial prominent poets, novelists, scientists and great minds were first known through their works published in these magazines. They give an entertaining window into society and individual lives of the early Canadians with their stories, articles, advertisements, cartoons, drawings and photographs. Browse this collection »
This online collection consists of 60 publications focused on the lives of the early Governors General of Canada. Browse this collection »
The Early Official Publications collection includes over 1.5 million digitized pages of historical pre-1901 colonial and federal government documents. This collection includes government acts, bills, committee reports, court rules, debates, journals, ordinances, a selection of official publications from France and Great Britain, sessional papers, regulations, royal commission reports, and treaties. Browse this collection »
This collection of 875 works includes fiction, drama, songs, and poetry, as well as biography, travel literature and exploration accounts. It is comprised of books published from 1697 to 1900, and from a variety of countries (Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland). Browse this collection »
This collection of periodicals and books relates to the field of health and medicine and covers almost 100 years of medical thought, news, practice and research in Canada. Here you will find writings on: public health, human anatomy, promotion of health, pharmacology, diet, physical fitness, dentistry, surgery, obstetrics, childbirth, pediatrics, etc. Browse this collection »
The 732 French language books in this collection relate to the history of French settlement and French culture in Canada. In the collection are books published from 1575 to the early 20th century, and from a variety of countries (Canada, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands). Topics covered include: the discovery and exploration of Canada; religious works, including those of the Jesuits; history of Acadia; First Nations settlements; scholarly writings on the French language; French Canadian songs and poems; education; biographies; geography; politics; law; social life and customs; commerce, and natural resources. Browse this collection »
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) collection consists of 160 titles (20,000 pages) that detail the rich history of one of the oldest and still active companies in the world. Browse this collection »
The Jesuit Relations is a 73-volume set of books (22,500 pages) in the original Italian, Latin and French with commentary and translation into English by Reuben Thwaites (1853-1913). Most of the Relations are annual missionary reports written between 1632 and 1678 by the Jesuits in New France for their superiors in France. Through their Relations, the Jesuits provide details of colonial life during the French regime in Canada. Browse this collection »
This collection of 900 titles relating to Canada’s early First Nations Peoples was published from 1558 to 1900 in a variety of countries (Canada, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States) and in a variety of languages (e.g. Micmac, Iroquois, Mohawk, Chipewyan, Nootka, Chinook, Ojibwa). Here you will find writings on: customs, folklore, spirituality, history, languages, treaties, battles, biographies, relations with the government, cultural assimilation, education, etc. Browse this collection »
This collection of 683 titles consists of the early published writings of Canadian women authors, as well as Canadian publications written about women or "women's issues". The collection covers many genres, including memoirs, diaries and collected letters, drama, exploration and travelers' accounts, printed ephemera, political pamphlets, and much more. Comprised of books published from 1677 to 1900, and from a variety of countries (Canada, France, United Kingdom, United States). Browse this collection »


|Part of a series on|
The Nyāya Sūtras are an ancient Indian text on of philosophy composed by Akṣapāda Gautama (also Gotama; c. 2nd century BCE). The sutras contain five chapters, each with two sections. The core of the text dates to roughly the 2nd century BCE, although there are significant later interpolations.
The Nyaya is sometimes called Tarka-Vidyā or the Science of Debate, Vāda-Vidyā or the Science of Discussion. Tarka is the special feature of the Nyāya. Thus some of its features and categories are better understood from that perspective. Gotama is sometimes given the honorific titles "Akṣapāda" (probably in the sense "having his eyes fixed in abstraction on his feet") and "Dīrghatapas" ("performing long penance"). He is also sometimes accorded the religious titles "Ṛṣi" or "Maharṣi".
In the Nyāya Sutras Gotama developed and extended the Vaiśeṣika epistemological and metaphysical system through 528 aphorisms. Later commentaries expanded, expounded, and critically discussed Gotama's work, the first being by Vātsyāyana (c.450–500 CE), followed by the Nyāyavārttika of Uddyotakāra (c. 6th–7th century), Vācaspati Miśra's Tātparyatīkā (9th century), Udayana's Tātparyapariśuddhi (10th century), and Jayanta's Nyāyamañjarī (10th century).
Purpose of the Nyaya Sutras
"Gautama Ṛṣi, in his Nyāya Sūtras, proposes that one can attain liberation by negating both illusion and unhappiness: duhkha-janma-pravṛtti-dosa-mithyā-jnananam uttarottarapaye tad-anantarabhavad apavargah. "By successively dispelling false conceptions, bad character, entangling action, rebirth and misery -- the disappearance of one of these allowing the disappearance of the next -- one can achieve final liberation." (Nyāya Sūtra 1.1.2) But since Nyaya philosophers believe that awareness is not an essential quality of the soul, they teach that a liberated soul has no consciousness. The Nyāya idea of liberation thus puts the soul in the condition of a dead stone. This attempt by the Nyāya philosophers to kill the soul's innate consciousness is here called sato mrtim by the personified Vedas. But the Vedānta-sutra (2.3.17) unequivocally states, jno 'ta eva: "The jīva soul is always a knower." In the opening sūtra of the Nyāya Sūtra, it was claimed that the ultimate purpose of it is the attainment of liberation (niḥśreyasa), attained by knowledge of the sixteen categories (padārtha), which are:
- means of valid knowledge (pramāṇa);
- objects of valid knowledge (prameya);
- doubt (saṃśaya);
- purpose (prayojana);
- example (dṛṣṭānta);
- conclusion (siddhānta);
- the constituents of a syllogism (avayava);
- argumentation (tarka);
- ascertainment (nirṇaya);
- debate (vāda);
- disputations (jalpa);
- destructive criticism (vitaṇḍa);
- fallacy (hetvābhāsa);
- quibble (chala);
- refutations (jāti); and
- points of the opponent's defeat (nigrahasthāna).
Means of attaining valid knowledge
According to the Nyaya Sutras, there are four means of attaining valid knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and verbal testimony. The sutra ultimates implicitly develop a theory of causation. Cause and effect should be homogeneous in nature, and yet the effect is a new beginning and was not already contained in the cause.
The Buddhist thesis that all things are negative in nature (inasmuch as a thing's nature is constituted by its differences from others) is rejected, as is the view that all things are eternal or that all things are noneternal. Both these latter views are untrue to experience.
Thus, the resulting metaphysics admits two kinds of entities: eternal and noneternal. The whole is a new entity over and above the parts that constitute it. Also, the idea that God is the material cause of the universe is rejected. God is viewed as the efficient cause, and human deeds produce their results under the control and cooperation of God.
The five part syllogism
The Nyaya Sutra supports a five-part syllogism, widely followed in the Indian tradition:
- This hill is fiery (pratijñā: a statement of that which is to be proved).
- Because it is smoky (hētu: statement of reason).
- Whatever is smoky is fiery, as is a kitchen (udāharaṇa: statement of a general rule supported by an example).
- So is this hill (upanaya: application of the rule of this case).
- Therefore this hill is fiery (nigamana: drawing the conclusion).
The characteristic feature of the Nyaya syllogism is its insistence on the example, which suggests that the Nyaya logician wanted to be assured not only of formal validity but also of material truth.
Types of logical error
Five kinds of fallacious "middle" (hetu) are distinguished:
- the inconclusive (savyabhicara), which leads to more conclusions than one;
- the contradictory (viruddha), which opposes that which is to be established;
- the controversial (prakaranasama), which provokes the very question that it is meant to settle;
- the counterquestioned (sadhyasama), which itself is unproved; and
- the mistimed (kalatita), which is adduced "when the time in which it might hold good does not apply".
- Nandalal Sinha, Mahamahopadhyaya Satisa Chandra Vidyabhusana, The Nyaya Sutras of Gotama, The sacred books of the Hindus, 1930; Motilal Banarsidass, 1990 reprint, ISBN 978-81-208-0748-8; Munshiram Manoharlal reprint, 2003, ISBN 978-81-215-1096-7.
- Ganganatha Jha, Nyaya- Sutras of Gautama (4 vols.), Motilal Banarsidass, 1999 reprint, ISBN 978-81-208-1264-2.
Sources and reading
- Sue Hamilton, Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-19-285374-0
- B.K. Matilal, Epistemology, Logic, and Grammar in Indian Philosophical Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2005) ISBN 0-19-566658-5
- J.N. Mohanty, Classical Indian Philosophy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000) ISBN 0-8476-8933-6
- B. K. Matilal "Perception. An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge" (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. xiv.
- Encyclopædia Britannica (2007)
- All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda
- Chattopadhyaya, D. (1986). Indian Philosophy: A popular Introduction, New Delhi: People's Publishing House, ISBN 81-7007-023-6, p.163


What Is Air Pollution?
in its great magnitude has existed in the 20th century from the
coal burning industries of the early century to the fossil burning technology in
the new century. The problems of
air pollution are a major problem for highly developed nations whose large
industrial bases and highly developed infrastructures generate much of the air
Every year, billions of tonnes of pollutants are released into the
atmosphere; the sources include power plants burning fossil fuels to the effects
of sunlight on certain natural materials. But
the air pollutants released from natural materials pose very little health
threat, only the natural radioactive gas radon poses any threat to health.
So much of the air pollutants being released into the atmosphere are all
results of man’s activities.
In the United Kingdom, traffic
is the major cause of air pollution in British cities. Eighty six percent of families own either one or two
vehicles. Because of the
high-density population of cities and towns, the number of people exposed to air
pollutants is great. This had led
to the increased number of people getting chronic diseases over these past years
since the car ownership in the UK has nearly trebled. These include asthma and respiratory complaints ranging
through the population demographic from children to elderly people who are most
at risk. Certainly those who are
suffering from asthma will notice the effects more greatly if living in the
inner city areas or industrial areas or even near by major roads.
Asthma is already the fourth biggest killer, after heart diseases and
cancers in the UK and currently, it affects more than three point four million
In the past, severe pollution in London during 1952 added with low winds
and high-pressure air had taken more than four thousand lives and another seven
hundred in 1962, in what was called the ‘Dark Years’ because of the dense
dark polluted air.
is also causing devastation for the environment; many of these causes are by man
made gases like sulphur dioxide that results from electric plants burning fossil
fuels. In the UK, industries and
utilities that use tall smokestacks by means of removing air pollutants only
boost them higher into the atmosphere, thereby only reducing the concentration
at their site.
These pollutants are often transported over the North Sea and produce
adverse effects in western Scandinavia, where sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
from UK and central Europe are generating acid rain, especially in Norway and
Sweden. The pH level, or relative
acidity of many of Scandinavian fresh water lakes has been altered dramatically
by acid rain causing the destruction of entire fish populations.
In the UK, acid rain formed by subsequent sulphur dioxide atmospheric
emissions has lead to acidic erosion in limestone in North Western Scotland and
marble in Northern England.
In 1998, the
London Metropolitan Police launched the ‘Emissions Controlled Reduction’
scheme where by traffic police would monitor the amount of pollutants being
released into the air by vehicle exhausts.
The plan was for traffic police to stop vehicles randomly on roads
leading into the city of London, the officer would then measure the amounts of
air pollutants being released using a CO2 measuring reader fixed in
the owner's vehicle's exhaust. If the
exhaust exceeded the legal amount (based on micrograms of pollutants) the driver
would be fined at around twenty-five pounds.
The scheme proved unpopular with drivers, especially with those driving
to work and did little to help improve the city air quality.
In Edinburgh, the main causes of bad air quality were from the vast
number of vehicles going through the city centre from west to east.
In 1990, the Edinburgh council developed the city by-pass at a cost of
nearly seventy five million pounds. The
by-pass was ringed around the outskirts of the city where its main aim was to
limit the number of vehicles going through the city centre and divert vehicles
to use the by-pass in order to reach their destination without going through the
city centre. This released much of
the congestion within the city but did little very little in solving the
city’s overall air quality.
To further decrease the number of vehicles on the roads, the government
promoted public transport. Over two
hundred million pounds was devoted in developing the country's public transport
network. Much of which included the development of more bus lanes in
the city of London, which increased the pace of bus services.
Introduction of gas and electric powered buses took place in Birmingham
in order to decrease air pollutants emissions around the centre of the city.
Because children and the elderly are at most risk to chronic diseases,
such as asthma, major diversion roads were build in order to divert the vehicles
away from residential areas, schools and elderly institutions.
In some councils, trees were planted along the sides of the road in order
to decrease the amount of carbon monoxide emissions.
Other ways of improving the air quality included the restriction on the
amounts of air pollutants being released into the atmosphere by industries;
tough regulations were placed whereby if the air quality dropped below a certain
level around the industries area, a heavy penalty would be wavered against them.
© Copyright 2000, Andrew Wan.


I love this document. It's a survey of property allotted to Hassanamisco Nipmuc Sarah Robins who married Peter Muckamaug. Though Native, Peter was not from Hassanamesit so the land could not be allotted to (or owned by) him. When Sarah Robins died, the land passed to her children.
The Muckamaug allotment was originally 106 acres. The land came from the division of the Hassanamisco Praying Plantation. Praying Plantations, or towns, were the colonial Massachusetts equivalent to today's reservation system. The Praying Town at Hassanamesit was 8000 acres. In 1728, the MA Bay government allowed those 8000 acres to be divided up between 40 English proprietors and 7 Native families. Land was also set aside for a Native church and school and stipulations made for a minister and teacher. The 7 Native families received 1200 acres in separate parcels. The rest was sold to the 40 proprietors and monies from the sale deposited for use by the Hassanamiscos. Since it was not believed that Native people could control their own resources, guardians were appointed to oversee their assets. Native people throughout Massachusetts could not sell their land or spend even the interest on their money without asking their guardians to petition the legislature until 1869.
Another map from the collections of American Antiquarian Society showing part of the 1728 allotments. This was posted on a Grafton, MA town webpage.
Part of the Muckamaug allotment is now owned by the town of Grafton and is preserved as "Hassanamesit Woods".The Fiske Center for Archaeological Research is conducting an archaeological dig in Hassanamesit Woods where the Muckamaug's great-granddaughter's house stood from at least 1790 to 1923 when it was bulldozed over. The story of 4 generations of Nipmuc women living on this land will be coming to this blog soon!
(You may have noticed that sometimes I write Hassanamisco and sometimes Hassanamesit. Hassanamesit refers to the land and means "the place of many small stones". Hassanamisco refers to the people of that land.)
Until next time,


Imagine having hands so sensitive to cold that each winter they would swell and split open, so that just grabbing a carton of milk out of the refrigerator makes them whiten and throb with pain. Then imagine learning to raise the temperature in your hands so that you could hold the carton of milk and do it without any pain. This is an example of what biofeedback training is attempting to accomplish for certain medical problems, such as Raynaud's disease, a circulatory disorder that can cause its victims extreme discomfort and debilitation. For Raynaud's disease, this therapy has not been found to be clearly effective, but there may be benefits for some other conditions.
Currently, incomplete but encouraging evidence suggests that biofeedback may indeed offer at least modest benefits for a variety of conditions, including anxiety , low back pain , insomnia , and female stress incontinence. There is mixed evidence as to whether biofeedback helps with migraine and tension headaches.
The major advantages of biofeedback are that it is noninvasive, has virtually no side effects, and is possibly effective over the long-term. The major disadvantage for some is that it requires effort, commitment, and involvement on the part of patients.
How Biofeedback Works
Every time you scratch an itch, grab a snack when you're hungry, or use the bathroom when you feel the urge, you are responding to biofeedback cues from your body about your physiological state.
With biofeedback training, however, you are cued by sensors attached to your body. These sensors measure heart rate, the temperature of your extremities, the muscle tension in specific muscle groups, or, in neurofeedback, the kinds of brain waves you are emitting. This information is conveyed by visual displays or sounds. Using imagery and mental exercises, you learn to control these functions, using the feedback provided by the sensors as a gauge of success. With practice, you can learn to "tune in" without instrumentation and control these functions at will during ordinary life.
For example, in a biofeedback training session for headache, temperature sensors would be attached first to your hands, then to your feet, and finally to your forehead, if needed. Your goal would be to increase blood flow away from the brain by raising the temperature in your hands and feet and eventually lowering it in your temples. Other sensors might monitor your electrodermal or galvanic skin response, how easily you sweat or get goose bumps, because this affects your ability to alter your skin temperature.
To warm up your hands and feet, you might imagine basking in the sun on a beach while listening to a script like "I feel warm…my hands are growing warm and heavy…" Both the image and the script would be tailored to you personally to evoke a vivid and relaxing mental image. After your training session, you would be sent home with an audio version of the script and small thermometers to use for your daily practice.
Who Needs to Be Involved With Biofeedback?
Any biofeedback treatment program should involve your primary healthcare provider and relevant specialists, such as urologists, cardiologists, or neurologists. The training is often most effective when integrated with other types of therapy, such as medicine or cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Neurofeedback, also called EEG feedback, is the most controversial form of biofeedback therapy, largely because so few controlled clinical trials have been able to assess its efficacy. Neurofeedback is the "retraining" of brainwave patterns. Although controversial, it is experiencing a resurgence of interest in the treatment of a variety of disorders, including depression, fibromyalgia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and alcoholism.
In a neurofeedback training session, several sensors that measure your brain's electrical activity are attached to your scalp. You relax and play a video game, which is controlled just by your brain waves and responds favorably to brain waves of the desired pattern. As you play the game, your trainer observes your electroencephalogram (EEG), transmitted to a separate video terminal. Most practitioners recommend at least 20 sessions to obtain significant, long-lasting results, although improvement is usually noted early on if the treatment protocol is right for you.
A note of caution: Be sure that the practitioner that you choose to work with has training and experience in using neurofeedback. Ask lots of questions and talk with your primary care doctor before starting a treatment program.
- Reviewer: Brian Randall, MD
- Review Date: 12/2011 -
- Update Date: 12/28/2011 -


A crowd awaits a ship at Station Pier, Port Melbourne.
Source: Italian Historical Society - Co.As.It.
Find out why this landmark has become such an evocative symbol of Victoria's immigration history.
Station Pier is one of Australia's longest operating passenger piers. It holds iconic significance in Victoria's heritage, and is particularly significant to Victoria's post-war immigrants for whom it is an ongoing symbol of their arrival and the start of their new life.
The exhibition provides an historical overview of Station Pier, including its early days as Railway Pier in the 1850s, and its upgrade in the 1920s in response to the growing needs of the city and port of Melbourne.


[en] The efficiency of the transmission of surface plasmon waves by use of a dielectric diffraction grating is discussed. The Kretschmann device allows us to obtain a surface plasmon resonance that consists of an absorption peak in the reflection spectrum. When surface plasmon resonance occurs, the TM-polarization mode of the incident electromagnetic wave is neither transmitted nor reflected. The procedure to transform an absorption peak into a transmission peak is described. Transmittivity of 68% is obtained for a simple structure that consists of a thin-film layer of Ag coated on a volume diffraction grating and embedded between two dielectric media. The results presented herein were obtained by numerical simulations that were carried out by use of an algorithm based on the rigorous coupled-wave theory.
Service de Physique Générale, Hololab
Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (Communauté française de Belgique) - FRIA


Description: In Oracle, you can create an autonumber field by using sequences. A sequence is an object in Oracle that is used to generate a number sequence. This can be useful when you need to create a unique number to act as a primary key.
Once you've created a sequence object, to retrieve the next value in the sequence order you need to use NEXTVAL.
Language: PL/SQL Highlight Mode: PLSQL Last Modified: March 14th, 2009
CREATE SEQUENCE <sequence_name>
MAXVALUE <integer>/ NOMAXVALUE
MINVALUE <integer>/ NOMINVALUE
CYCLE / NOCYCLE
CACHE <#>/ NOCACHE
ORDER/ NOORDER;-- basic autonumber with sequence:INSERTINTO<table_name>(<column_name>)VALUES(<sequence_name>.NEXTVAL);-- basic autonumber with sequence demo.-- these insert statements will insert 2 new records into -- the 'test_bed' table. The user_id field would be assigned -- the next number from the seq__user_id sequence. CREATE SEQUENCE seq_user_id;SELECT seq_user_id.NEXTVALFROM dual;INSERTINTO test_bed
(user_id, class_type, room_location)VALUES(seq_user_id.NEXTVAL,'Underwater Basketweaving','RM1205');SELECT*FROM test_bed;INSERTINTO test_bed
(user_id, class_type, room_location)VALUES(seq_user_id.NEXTVAL,'Creative Anarchy','RM3111');SELECT*FROM test_bed;
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The study involved 66 spider-phobic women who watched a video of a spider 14 times. The participants were randomly divided into different groups to either watch the video every two hours or every 12 hours, and either in the morning or evening, or after spending a night sleeping or a full day awake.
The researchers also sounded off a loud noise during some of the videos and then measured the participants’ palm sweat in response.
Overall, women who managed to get a good night’s sleep after watching the spider videos — before being shown the spiders again — were less likely to rate the spider high on a scale of “fearfulness, disgust, and unpleasantness,” according to the Harvard Gazette.
On the other hand, subjects who stayed awake for 12 hours after watching the spider videos and were then shown the videos again at the end of the day exhibited a stronger stress response.
There was no evident difference in reaction between participants who viewed the spider videos in the morning or the evening.
“Thus, sleep following exposure therapy may promote retention and generalization of extinction learning,” the researchers wrote in the study.
The researchers added that REM sleep in particular could be responsible for the effect.
Recently, a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study showed that severely arachnophobic adults who participated in just one session of therapy experienced brain changes that allowed them to hold a tarantula in their hands. The effect lasted six months after the therapy session.
“Before treatment, some of these participants wouldn’t walk on grass for fear of spiders or would stay out of their home or dorm room for days if they thought a spider was present,” study researcher Katherina Hauner, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement.
“But after a two or three-hour treatment, they were able to walk right up and touch or hold a tarantula. And they could still touch it after six months,” Hauner said.
The study is published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
Source: Journal of Psychiatric Research


For over a decade, information technologies have significantly affected the
banking industry. Banks and other financial institutions have improved their
functions as a financial intermediary through adopting various information technologies
(Chang, 2002; Gourlay and Pentecost,
2002; Hannan and McDowell, 1984; Haynes
and Thompson, 2000; VanHoose, 2003).
Generally, when the information technologies combine with functions of banks
and financial institutions, it is called electronic banking. Electronic banking
technologies have led banks and financial institutions to improve effectiveness
of distribution channels through reducing the transaction cost and increasing
the speed of service (Chang, 2002; VanHoose,
2003). Globalization of finance, integration, advances in information technologies
and financial innovations in the last couple of decades have deeply changed
banking business not only in Iran but in also other markets and forced the state
authorities to deregulate national financial systems. Deregulation allowed banks
to flourish their businesses and enter into new markets with new technologies
involving both individual and institutional costumer interaction (DeYoung
et al., 2004). In addition, developments of modern computer technology
have also enabled banks to lessen the cost of bank transactions by having the
client interact with an e-banking facility rather than with a human being. E-banking
applications, which include Automated Teller Machine (ATM), telephone banking,
mobile banking, digital television, debit and credit cards, internet banking,
etc., became one of the main battlefields of the banking industry. For instance,
Hanson and Kalyanam (2007) points out that e-banking grew
rapidly, ATMs made costumer visits to a branch less necessary and then in the
late 1990s the rapid growth in banking web sites made a wide range of services
available from almost everywhere. Among various banking technologies, Internet
banking which is the act of conducting financial intermediation on the Internet,
is the latest banking technology and the most rapidly diffused banking technology
in the Iran. Internet banking has advantages for banks to maintain competition,
to save costs, to enhance mass customization, marketing and communication activities
and to maintain and attract consumers (Daniel and Storey,
1997; Mols, 2000; Read, 1998;
Sheshunoff, 2000; Tomkin and Baden-Fuller,
1998). The primary advantage of Internet banking is to save time and cost.
Lee and Lee (2001) indicated that Internet banking allows
consumers easier access to their bank accounts, lower service charges and time
saving. Moreover, Chang (2002) showed that Internet banking
had a low transaction cost and a high speed of service when compared to other
banking services. For example, while the cost of transaction for money transfer
was 95¢ for checking and 27¢ for ATM, while it was only 1¢ for
Internet (Chang, 2002). Hence, internet is increasingly
becoming a diverse global marketplace with global business opportunities for
financial services delivery as well as challenges.
Financial sector is the spinal cord of sovereign economy of any country. Iran
is no exception; the technology adaption in banking operations in Iran was a
few decades behind that of in developed countries. In terms of international
and global comparison, Internet usage in Iran is still in the infancy stage.
Presently in Iran, an important function of e-commerce is the handling of payment
Over the Internet. Most e-commerce involves the exchange of some form of money
for goods and services. Implementation of payment system currently competes
for dominant the results of research could help bank managers to make informed
decisions, thereby providing better service to their customer and formulate
more efficacious strategies to ensure rapid migration of customers to Internet
Customer satisfaction: Early concepts of satisfaction research have
typically defined satisfaction as a post choice evaluative judgment concerning
a specific purchase decision (Churchill and Surprenant,
1992; Oliver, 1980). Most researchers agree that
satisfaction is an attitude or evaluation that is formed by the customer comparing
their pre-purchase expectations of what they would receive from the product
to their subjective perceptions of the performance they actually did receive
(Oliver, 1980). Several authors have defined satisfaction
in a different way. Satisfaction is a persons feelings of pleasure or
disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance
(or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations (Kotler,
2000) Customer satisfaction is a collective outcome of perception, evaluation
and psychological reactions to the consumption experience with a product/service
Satisfaction formation: In marketing literature (Churchill
and Surprenant, 1992; Oliver, 1980) as well as in
recent information system studies (McKinney et al.,
2002), the disconfirmation theory emerges as the primary foundation for
satisfaction models. According to this theory, satisfaction is determined by
the discrepancy between perceived performance and cognitive standards such as
expectation and desires. Oliver (1980) described the
process by which satisfaction judgments are reached in the expectancy-disconfirmation
framework. Buyers form expectations of the specific product or service before
purchase and perceived quality level which is influenced by expectations (Khalifa
and Liu, 2003). Customer expectation can be defined as customers pretrial
beliefs about a product (McKinney et al., 2002).
Expectations are viewed as predictions made by consumers about what is likely
to happen during impending transaction or exchange (Zeithaml,
1988). Perceived performance is defined as customers perception of
how product performance fulfills their needs, wants and desire (Cadotte
et al.,1987). Perceived quality is the consumers judgment about
an entitys overall excellence or superiority (Zeithaml,
1988). Disconfirmation is defined as consumer subjective judgments resulting
from comparing their expectations and their perceptions of performance received
(Mckinney et al., 2002; Spreng
et al., 1996). Ho and Wu (1999) identified
five antecedents of customer satisfaction to be appropriate for online shopping
on the Internet. These are logistical support, technical characteristics, information
characteristics, home page presentation and product characteristics. Eastin
(2002) presented the model that demonstrate the adoption of four ecommerce
activities currently available to Internet users: (1) online shopping, (2) online
banking, (3) online investingand (4) electronic payment for an Internet service
(i.e., access to exclusive sites). Author also explained six attributes common
to the model. These are-perceived convenience and financial benefits, risk,
previous use of the telephone for a similar purpose, self efficacy and Internet
use and all six attributes play a significant role in the adoption processes.
Online service quality: Oppewal and Vriens (2000)
developed an application for measuring retail banking service quality, which
consists of 28 attributes including four service quality dimensions such as:
accessibility; competence; accuracy and friendliness; and tangibles. The accuracy
and friendliness dimension turned out to be the most important factor out of
four determining banking preference, followed by competence, tangiblesand accessibility.
Kamilia and Nantel (2000) proposed an alternative measure
of perceived service quality in retail banking that comprises 31 items with
six underlying key dimensions. These dimensions are: Effectiveness and assurance,
access, price, tangibles, service portfolio and reliability. Madu
and Madhu (2002) proposed 15 dimensions of online service quality dimensions
based on literature review: Performance, features, structure, aesthetics, reliability,
storage capacity, serviceability, security and system integrity, trust, responsiveness,
product/service differentiation and customization, web store policies, reputation,
assurance and empathy. Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003)
have found four online retailing service quality dimensions through focus group
interviews and an online survey. These are web site design, reliabilityand privacy/security
and customer service. They found that reliability and fulfillment is the strongest
predictor of customer satisfaction.
Internet banking: Berger (2007) argued that
a sound understanding of client is required for improvement of e-banking. Thus,
all relevant information about the clients should be taken into account and
a client-centric strategy should be developed by Confirming Berger
(2007). Electronic banking research has attracted much attention from marketing
researchers about client perception (Maenpa et al.,
2008), client attitudes (Liao and Cheung, 2002; Mols,
1998), client satisfaction (Gonzalez et al.,
2004) service quality Bauer et al. (2005)
but it attracts relatively less attention from the finance and banking researchers
about the economic consequences of e-banking. One of the papers that examine
the economic outcome of e-banking is that of Parker and
Parker (2008) who investigated the money velocity in Finland following wide
spreading of e-banking in Finland. Their results interestingly show that money
velocity has decreased despite the expectations. Durukan
(2003) evaluated the impact of internet banking on the performance of Turkish
commercial banks. Adoption, perception and usage of internet banking by consumers
is one of the topics heavily examined in e-banking literature. Centeno
(2004) argued that speed, the convenience of remote access, 7/24 availability
and price incentives are the main motivation factors for the consumers to use
internet banking. Durkin et al. (2008) noted
that the simplicity of the products offered via internet banking facilitates
the adoption of internet banking by consumers. Calisir and
Gumussoy (2008) compared the consumer perception of internet banking and
other banking channels and report that internet banking, ATM and phone banking
substitute each other. Maenpaa et al. (2008)
examined the consumer perceptions of internet banking in Finland and their findings
indicate that familiarity has a moderating role in the perception. Guerrero
et al. (2007) examined the usage of internet banking by Europeans
and their results indicate that ownership of diverse financial products and
services, attitude towards finances and trust in the internet as a banking channel
influence clients usage of internet banking. Sohail
and Shanmugham (2003) documented accessibility of internet, awareness of
e-banking and resistance to change are found to be influencing Malaysians
use of internet banking. Another factor that promotes clients usage of internet
banking is seller support (Nilsson, 2007). While the
adoption of e-banking by clients is heavily researched there is less research
on the supply side of e-banking. We can list the advantages of e-banking as
the competitive advantage, member/client retention, increased revenues and reduced
costs (Esser, 1999). The Woolwich Bank case study conducted
by Shah and Siddiqui (2006) revealed that understanding
clients, organisational flexibility, availability of resources, systems security,
established brand name, having multiple integrated channels, e-channel specific
marketing, systems integration, systematic change management, support from top
management and good client services are the factors critical to success in e-banking.
Aktan and Teker (2009) examined the usage of internet
in Turkey to make a basic due-diligence investigation for the financial institutions,
including banking, stock trading, insurance and provision of financial information
within the framework of internet banking by using statistics compiled mostly
from the Bank Association of Turkey over the period 2005 and 2008. The findings
show that internet usage in Turkey with its young population has continued to
grow dramatically in financial services. Sudha et al.
(2007) studied the banking customers perception towards security concern
and Internet banking adoption. They research reveals that the customers have
much concern about security and privacy issue in adoption of Internet banking,
whether the customers are adopted Internet banking or not. Amiri
et al. (2009) investigated the effective factors on improving e-banking
by using Fuzzy Topsis in Parsian Bank. They present a method at solving MCDM
problems in which the weights of criteria are unequal. They results shows factors
of operational, technical and strategic have the most effect on Improving of
e-banking. Sarlak et al. (2009) examined the
factors that can speed up the successful implementation of electronic banking
innovations in the Irans country. They research revealed that there is
a meaningful and significant relationship between co-structural, content and
context factors and the successful implementation of e-banking in Iran. Pour
Mirza et al. (2009) in their study showed an understanding of Iranian
customers attitude and adoption of Internet Banking services. They only
survey Internet Banking users and non-users of Mellat Bank of Tehran. The results
revealed significant differences between demographic profiles and attitudes
of users and non-users groups.
The main purpose of this research is to identify the customer preferences towards the online banking and to find out the various service quality dimensions, which affect the customer satisfaction. This study also tried out to find out the relationship between the various demographic variables and satisfaction level of customers.
Development of hypotheses: Researcher developed the hypotheses to identify
the relation between age, profession, gender, preferences of bank and satisfaction
||There is no significant relation between age and choice of
||There is no significant relation between profession of customer and preference
||There is no significant relation between gender and number of banks usage
||Factors determining satisfaction level of respondents are independent
of their age
||Factors determining satisfaction level of respondents are independent
of their profession
||Factors determining satisfaction level of respondents are independent
of their gender
||Factors determining satisfaction level of respondents are independent
of Status of usage
||Factors determining satisfaction level of respondents are independent
of no. of Bank usage
Sampling and sample size: For achieving the objective, a descriptive
study was conducted. Primary data were collected of six kinds of banks (Saman,
Parsian, Melli, Keshavarzi (agri Bank), Tejarat and Sepah) in Iran at spring
2010, from Internet banking users of public and private banks in Tehran district,
with the help of structured questionnaire. A sample of 300 respondents who actually
use internet banking was selected by following non-probabilistic convenience
sampling technique as it is appropriate for exploratory studies.
Research instrument: Questionnaire was designed after reading of SERVQUAL
.The Service Quality (SERVQUAL) scale developed in an attempt to measure the
perception of quality of service (Parasuraman et al.,
1988; Zeithaml et al., 2001) has been gaining
momentum in application among various service sectors. Still that scale has
undergone several revisions, extensionsand modifications to suit different sectors
needs. The authors, based on qualitative research, formulated a measure of service
quality derived from data on a number of services, instead of counting on early
dimension of goods quality in the manufacturing sector. The entire approach
was formulated on the tenet that the customers entertain expectations of performance
perceptions. The authors defined service quality as the degree of discrepancy
between customers normative expectations for the service and their perceptions
of the service performance. Concept and after interacting with bank employees
and customer who generally use internet banking. Questionnaire had a list of
21 statements related to efficiency, tangibility, responsiveness, reliability
and empathy. Respondent has to choose one option of each statement depending
on whether he or she is Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neutral ,Agree ,or Strongly
Agree with statement.
Analysis of data: Data presentation and analysis were done with the
help of various statistical tools by using SPSS. Percentage, frequencies, Cross
Tabulation and factor analysis methods were used for analysis. For testing of
hypotheses, ANOVA and F-test were used.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Demographic profile of respondent: Fifty seven percent of respondent are young, having age less than 30 years. Majority of respondent (84%) were men and 85% respondent belong to Service class. 61% of respondent were using the Internet banking from last one Year. Majority of respondent (89%) having bank account in 1 bank only, while 11% respondents have bank account in 2 or more banks (Table 1). Out of 89 respondent 32 respondents have account in SAMAN bank, 25 in PARSIAN bank, 21 respondents have account in MELLI bank.
Preference of customer towards banks: Table 2 reveals
that there is no specific bank preference of customers of all age groups and
in Table 3, hypothesis testing also revealed that there is
no significant relation between age and preference of Banks, thus null hypothesis
(1) is accepted (Sig = 0.201>0.05) and (F = 36.741/23.349 =1.574).
|| Demographic profile of respondents
|Source: From primary data
|| Cross-tabulation between age and customers preference
|| ANOVA and F-test for age and customers preference of
||Cross tabulation between profession and customers preference
||ANOVA and F-test for profession and customers preference
|| Cross tabulation between Gender and number of bank usage
|| ANOVA and F-test for Gender and number of Bank usage
|| KMO and Bartletts test
Twenty seven percent of service class customers and 5% of business class Customers have account in SAMAN bank (Table 4). Table 5 reveals that there is no significant relation between profession of customer and preference of banks means null hypothesis (2) is also accepted (Sig = 0.922>0.05) and (F = 1.964/24.204 = 0.081)
After doing Cross tabulation between Gender and number of Bank usage (Table 6), it was found that most of the customers whether male or female prefer to have account only in one bank. But hypothesis testing (Table 7) revealed that there is no significant relation between genders and number of banks usage thus the null hypothesis (3) is also accepted (Sig = 0.335>0.05) and (F = 0.163/0.173 = 0.94).
Factors determining satisfaction level of customers: Factor analysis
is applied on responses provided by respondent. Factor analysis is a set of
techniques, which by analyzing the correlation between variables, reduces their
number into few factors, which explain much of the original data, more economically
According to Table 8 Measure of Sampling Adequacy such as
Bartlett's Test of Spherecity (Approx. Chi-Square is 1183.031, Degree of freedom
is 210, significance is 0.000) and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
(KMO) value is 0.818 showed that data were fit for factor analysis. Table
8 indicated the appropriateness of factor analysis i.e., the sample was
adequate. Similarly, Cooper and Schindler (2003) argued
that while the correlation coefficients in matrix table is less than 0.80, the
multicollinearity could be ignored.
For extracting the factors, Principal Component Analysis was used and 5 factors were retained as their Eigen values is more than 1 (Table 9).
|| Total variance explained
|Extraction method: Principal component analysis
|Extraction method: Principal component analysis.
KMO and Bartletts Sphericity used to test the sample appropriateness. The variables, which had loadings of less than 0.5, were excluded and dimensions with Eigen values of 1 or above; were retained.
Thus, five factors have been extracted. Extraction communalities are estimates of variance in each variable accounted for by the factors in the factor solution. According to Table 10 all the variables are fit well in factor solution as all factors have value more than 0.40.
Next task is interpretation and naming of factors. It is done by identifying the variables that have high loading on individual factors. For this purpose, Rotated factor matrix (Table 11) is used. Values close to the 1 represent high loading and close to 0 represent low loading.
Table 12 show the Naming of Factors that:
Factor 1 responsiveness: Total variance explained (Table
9) has revealed that this factor explained variance of 20.357%. 7 variables
(12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and18) were loaded on this factor. Researcher has named
this factor as Responsiveness as it includes bank and employees willingness
to help the customers.
Factor 2 reliability: It has been found that 2nd important factor have explained variance of 15.521% and 4 variables (8, 9, 10 and 11) are loaded on this factor. As the variables related to reliability and accuracy of bank websites, are loaded on this factor, thus this factor is named as Reliability.
Factor 3 efficiency: This is 3rd important factor, which accounts for 13.865% of the variance and 5 variables were loaded on this factor. As the variables related to speed and efficiency of bank website was loaded on this factor, this factor is named as Efficiency.
Factor 4 privacy of transactional information: 3 variables loaded on this factor and together they account for 11.573% of the variance. Variables related to collection and security of customers personal information was loaded high on this factor and thus researcher has named it as Privacy of Transactional Information.
Factor 5 easiness to use: Two variables load on this factor and together
they account for 6.365% of the variance. Easy to navigate and easiness to find
information on website load high on this factor and thus researcher has named
this factor as Easiness to use.
ANALYSIS OF VARIABLE AND F-TEST BETWEEN FACTORS AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES
Comparative age-wise analysis: Table 13 indicates
that hypothesis (4) is rejected partially. Thus it can be said that all factors
determining the satisfaction level of customers except efficiency and privacy
of information are independent of age.
Post-hoc analysis (Table 13a and b)
further revealed that satisfaction level of customers belonging to age group
31-50 years are effected by efficiency of bank website and privacy of information
as compared to customers of age groups of less than 30 years and above 50 years.
|| Rotated factor matrix
|Note: extraction method: Principal component analysis. Rotation
method: Varimax with kaiser normalization. a Rotation converged in 17 iterations
|| Naming of factors
|| ANOVA and F-test between age and factors
Comparative customers profession-wise analysis: Table 14 indicate hypothesis (5) is completely accepted. Thus it can be said that all the factors determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent of profession.
Comparative gender-wise analysis: According to Table 15, hypothesis (6) is partially rejected. Thus, it can be said that all the factors except Easiness to use website, determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent of gender.
Comparative status of usage analysis: Table 16 revealed
that hypothesis (7) is also partially rejected. So it can be said that all the
factors except Reliability of website, determining the satisfaction level of
customers are independent of Status of Usage.
||Post hoc analysis: Age and efficiency
|Note: The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level
||Post hoc analysis: age and privacy of information
|Note: The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
|| ANOVA and F-test between customers profession and factors
|| ANOVA and F-Test between gender and factors
|| ANOVA and F-Test between status of usage and factors
Post-hoc analysis (Table 16a) further revealed that satisfaction
level of customers who are using the internet banking from last 2 years are
more satisfied and influenced by the reliability of bank website.
Comparative status of number of banks usage: Table 17 indicates that hypothesis (8) is again partially rejected. Thus it can be said that all the factors except Responsiveness determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent upon the number of bank usage.
The increasingly competitive environment in the financial services market has resulted in pressure to develop and utilize alternative delivery channels. The most recent delivery channel to be introduced is electronic or online banking. The term electronic banking is used to describe the provision of information or services by a bank to its customers, the majority of customers are very comfortable and willing to use IB services. Hence, it is very important for Iranian banks to have online banking services. It is well-accepted fact that, providing good customer service will increase the number of adopters after a while.
Several scholars have analyzed the demographic characteristics of IB customers
(Pour Mirza et al., 2009) but emphasis has been
placed on analyzing behavioral, attitudinal and social characteristics of the
bank clients. The empirical findings of the current study show that these characteristics
have effective impacts on adoption of IB services. In terms of personal and
social characteristics, this study contributes to this purpose, by identifying
the Iranian customers attitude toward IB services.
Finding of demographic characteristics of the research reveals that Reliability
and Efficiency are important factors in level of customers satisfaction
and there is a significant relation between these two variables with age and
status of usage. This also supports the findings of Ramayah
et al. (2002) which found that most of the individuals are reluctant
to use Internet banking as they concerns over security and privacy issues. This
is also supported by the findings of Al-Sabbagh and Molla
(2004), who found that perceived security and trust have emerged as the
top issues inhibiting Internet banking adoption.
The finding about the impact of age on adoption of online banking services
indicates that the effect of age is not prominent. Therefore, age is not a crucial
variable for banks that are planning to offer IB services. Gefen
and Straub (2003) and Pour Mirza et al. (2009)
confirm this argument. Moreover (Gefen and Straub, 2000),
indicate gender has not been found to have a direct effect on adoption of technology
in general, also the results of current study uphold this matter.
||Post hoc analysis
|Note: The mean difference is significant at the .05 level
|| ANOVA and F-test between number of banks usage and factors
The research show, customers do not trust e-banking for some reasons especially
due to lack of the security of the system. Also (Rotchanakitumnuai
and Speece, 2003; Pour Mriza et al., 2009)
revealed that all the customers are very concerned about security in transaction
processes. This results is in consistent with the results, which have been reported
earlier by other scholar (Black et al., 2001;
Lee and Turban, 2001; Polatoglu and
Ekin, 2001; Alam et al., 2007).
Indeed the purpose of this study is to show how the demographic factors are associated with individuals benefits and costs of adopting Internet banking. This research have a general results for managers and customers, because researcher surveyed the public and private banks of Iran instead of only one bankand therefore can complete other studies of IB in Iran.
The present study was aimed to identify the customer preferences towards the online banking and to find out the various service quality dimensions, which affect the customer satisfaction .Factor analysis, reveals that the five factors that influence the satisfaction level of customers are Responsiveness, Reliability, Efficiencyand Privacy of Information and Easiness to use.
Hypothesis testing results show that first null hypothesis (1) is accepted and it can be concluded that there is no significant relation between age and preference of Banks. Twenty seven percent of service class customers and 5% of business class customers have account in SAMAN bank. The 2nd null hypothesis stating that there is no significant relation between profession of customer and preference of banks is also accepted. The third hypothesis, stating that there is no significant relation between genders and number of banks usage is also accepted.
Hypothesis (4) stating that all factors determining the satisfaction level
of customers except efficiency and privacy of information are independent of
age is rejected partially. Post-hoc analysis revealed that satisfaction level
of customers belonging to age group 31-50 years are effected by efficiency of
bank website and privacy of information as compared to customers of age groups
of less than 30 years and above 50 years. That mean customers in the middle
age group are more concern about the efficiency of bank website and privacy
of their personal information. Banks should adopt various tools to improve the
efficiency of website.
The 5th hypothesis, factors determining the satisfaction level of customers is independent of profession, is completely accepted. The hypothesis (6) is partially rejected, it can be said that all the factors except Easiness to use website, determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent of gender.
Hypothesis (7) stating that all the factors except Reliability of website, determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent of Status of usage is also partially rejected. Post-hoc analysis further revealed that satisfaction level of customers who are using the internet banking from last 2 years are more satisfied and influenced by the reliability of bank website. That means the customers who are using the internet banking from less than 2 years have not trust on websites and afraid of using internet banking.
The last Hypothesis (8) is again partially rejected. Thus it can be said that all the factors except Responsiveness determining the satisfaction level of customers are independent upon the number of bank usage.
The website is an important element in a banks marketing communications
activities and giving better customer experience. It is therefore important
to use it in an appropriate way and to provide rich contentand to keep it updated
to attract and maintain customers. Banks should consider that it is beneficial
to spend time on the design because this can help the company attract visitors,
which in turn can become customer. Banks should conduct surveys and self assessment
tests which should be actually related to the product and service line, which
would in turn make the customers more educated about the companies offeringsand
this could be done just by starting a blog or chat for the customers. Banks
should create platforms wherein customer can be free to express their opinion
or give the feedback to the banks. And it is believed that firms who try to
create such interaction are considered to be most successful in business. Automated
e-mail and instant massage should be used more extensively than it is at present.
It is essential to assess the effectiveness of a website. By doing this, banks
can improve their site and that helps to provide positive web experience to
Managers must know that ability and opportunity cost of time have significant impacts in explaining consumers adoption behavior for Internet banking. Also, consumers benefit and cost associated with attitude should be considered to decide the determinants of Internet banking adoption and attend to consumers past consumption pattern, current situationand future expectations influenced Internet banking adoption. Although managers must analyzed variables by comparison between individuals benefit and costand find out the nature of each variable is based on the past, presentand future consumption. Attention to this matter is essential that all of the various financial institutions can have the same functions in the financial market. Therefore, the financial institutions have tried to exert competitive power in the market through various ways such as affiliations with other financial companies, downsizing their physical facilitiesand expanding their service scope. In this situation, Internet banking has been attractive to the financial sector. Companies can expect to save a lot of the cost of maintaining their large physical distribution systems by adopting Internet banking. Although many financial companies have realized the advantages of Internet banking and launched this service, the companies have not obtained a lot of benefits yet because some consumers have not been ready to adopt Internet banking. Therefore, financial companies need to make an effort to provide information about Internet banking based on accurate customer segmentation. Usage of other banking technologies had a significant impact on Internet banking adoption. This means that customers, who have mainly depended on traditional banking services such as checks, mail and phone, have lower probabilities to adopt Internet banking. Therefore, at first, retailers or marketers in banks and other financial companies should focus on customers who have already used other banking technologies to boost usage of Internet banking. However, if financial companies have not had various banking services, it is difficult to grasp which consumers have experience of other banking technologies. Financial companies need to have various banking services within a consolidated distribution system to grasp and to meet customers needs. If a financial company has only a few functions or a small number of distribution channels, the company will find it difficult to survive in the market.
Internet banking is growing. Affiliations and business alliances can be an efficient way to increase Internet banking use because marketers or retailers in the financial companies can segment customer groups more accurately based on customers various use of banking services.
In conclusion, the study shows that Internet Banking is an integral part of web communication and provides a starting point for future studies to explore the issue of web standardization or localization for Unity Internet Banking (UIB) in the word. This research study encourages managers to understand global consumers perception of Internet Banking and their preference so as to understand the users psychology and then design UIB to target the global audience.
LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY
As only one country has been taken for this study, it is not sure whether the findings will apply to other countries. Due to the limitation of finance and time, a sample of only 300 respondents was taken which may not be representative of the whole population.
SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Rather than offering a complete answer for global Internet Banking strategy, I hope my study opens possibilities for future studies that go beyond description and pursue further to predict global Internet Banking strategies and tactics. In addition, future research can explore the results by considering the standardization of dimensions of Internet Banking for other countries also like Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Indian, Australia, Canada, UK, USA, etc. The findings are sure to provide evidence for the robustness of the framework across countries as a basis for future applications.
I would like to acknowledge and express my gratitude to Mr. Hadi Gharoei for his magnificent support during this project.


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The Canadian Arctic Archipelago
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- Title The Canadian Arctic Archipelago
- Released 29/02/2008 2:53 pm
- Copyright ESA
This Envisat image features the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, which lies to the north of mainland Canada and consists of 94 major islands and more than 36 000 minor ones. Visible in centre and lower half of image, Victoria Island is only slighter smaller than the island of Great Britain and is Canada’s second largest island and the world’s 9th largest. This image was acquired by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument on 19 September 2007 working in Full Resolution mode to provide a spatial resolution of 300 metres.


Sarah Dazley - Murder
The development of forensic science in the 19th century
A case study for Key Stage 3, Britain 1750 - 1900 and GCSE History
This case study outlines the case of Sarah Dazley, a young widow, who at the age of 28, was tried and found guilty of the murder of her 2nd husband, William Dazley.
The case is interesting in many ways:
- Forensic Evidence was used to make the case against Sarah - this was an early use of forensic science to determine the cause of death.
- Heresay gossip from villagers counted against her.
- Sarah Dazley was the last woman to be publicly hanged at Bedford Gaol.
In this section you will find background information and activites relating to the case of Sarah Dazley, the detection of crime and the treatment of those accused of murder in the 19th century.
The KS 3 & 4 activities are aimed at students but provide a wealth of additional information and insight to the life of a young woman during the 19th century.
A case study for Key Stage 3, Britain 1750 - 1900 and GCSE History. The materials can also be used for general interest.
This section has reports and documents relating to the life of Sarah Dazely that can be used for research or for completing the activities provided with this case study.