Streptococcus Pyogenes Overview

Streptococcus Pyogenes Overview The beta-hemolytic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes officially has a place with the family Streptococcaceae, where it is known to be the most pathogenic bacterium out of its whole class due to the wide range of sicknesses it is known to cause. Notwithstanding, Streptococcus pyogenes is an omnipresent, facultative anaerobic bacterium that can be situated in the nasal ways of some sound people because of its optimal condition for microorganisms. It is a gram positive microscopic organisms that is delegated a gathering A Streptococci (GAS) that is remarkable in its capacity to cause a wide scope of various onsets of sickness in its host, for example, tonsillitis, red fever, cellulitis, erysipelas post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, necrotizing fasciitis, myonecrosis and lymphangitis. The name Streptococcus is a subordinate from the Greek word Streptos meaning effortlessly bent or to twist and moreover to pyogenes which is a subsidiary from the word pyogenic, which is an arrangement f or Streptococci that are perfect with discharge development. People are the basic store for Streptococcus pyogenes which is fit for causing a variety of various side effects relying upon the immediate disease it is exacting on its host. Notwithstanding, it is generally known for being the guilty party behind Streptococcal pharyngitis (Strep throat), where it can cause a mellow to serious sore throat went with a fever, delicate/swollen lymph hubs and aggravated tonsils. It is exceptionally effective in its quick drive starting with one individual then onto the next. The transmission can be as basic and honest as the trade of nasal or throat discharges by means of airborne beads or from sharing tainted food and beverages. Strep throat shows no segregation in the ages it taints. Despite the fact that, it will in general be increasingly common in little youngsters. Despite the fact that Strep throat is profoundly infectious it is regularly a brief sickness that is effectively rewarded by social insurance suppliers with the correct course of anti-t oxins. Whenever left untreated or abused difficulties, for example, rheumatic fever can emerge, which is the bodys over driven safe reaction to the disease. On the opposite finish of the range Streptococcus pyogenes can cause an increasingly unfavorable beginning of side effects with the malady known as Necrotizing Fasciitis (The substance eating infection). Necrotizing Fasciitis is an uncommon provocative contamination that quickly focuses on the belt and subcutaneous tissues leaving difficult rankles and redness on the outside of the tainted territories of skin. The indications regularly connected with this ailment go from influenza like side effects, the nearness of bubble like rankles, staining, inconsistent pee and noteworthy growing of the contaminated region. It is commonly spread through direct contact with open or tainted injuries on people. In contrast to Strep throat, Necrotizing Fasciitis isn't as usually observed or as effortlessly rewarded. It has a high death rate, wi th 1 out of 4 contaminated individuals passing on from it. ( SITE). Be that as it may, solid people who practice legitimate day by day cleanliness ordinarily dont need to stress over getting tainted with Necrotizing Fasciitis. Individuals who are at a more serious hazard incorporate the individuals who have had ongoing medical procedure, an undermined insusceptible framework , scraped areas on the skin, diabetes, malignant growth, have had past medical procedure and so forth. Streptococcus pyogenes is a non-sporing bacterium that is non-motile in nature and can be seen in chains and bunches of cocci that are under 2  µm long, delivering amazing measured states more prominent than 0.5 mm. There are a few distinctive one of a kind M serotypes that add to the various illnesses brought about by Streptococcus pyogenes. Some of strains of M serotypes incorporate Streptolysin O, Streptolysin S, Streptodornase, Streptococcal chemokine protease, Hyaluronidase, Streptokinase, and so forth. Streptolysin O is a poison that chips away at the cell layers porousness so as to take into consideration increasingly satisfactory take-up of bigger charged particles. Streptolysis S†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Clinical Significance. Streptococcus Pyogenes is self-outfitted with numerous destructiveness factors that are profoundly invaluable in its avoidance of the hosts invulnerable reaction so as to make it all of conceivable to build up a beneficial disease inside its host. At first lipoteichoic help (LTA) take into consideration the microscopic organisms to build up a following connection between the cell surface or mucosa of epithelial cells.(depending on the zone of connection). Protein F (Fibronectin restricting protein) comes in and goes about as a solid restricting reinforcer between the microbes and its surface of picked connection. Be that as it may, at the same time if the bacterium entered through the mouth it might be experienced with secretory IgA immunizer in the salivation attempting to counter the impacts of the antigens on its surfaces to release the bacterium. The fruitful bacterium than rapidly start repeating and colonizing the engaging more noteworthy surface zone on the tonsils, causing swollen lymph organs and tissue harm as the bacterium produces mixes like Hyaluronidase to corrupt the mammalian cells. The emissions of bradykinins and chemokines result because of the hosts tissue harm which start the procedure of aggravation. The expansion of aggravation just as the quick progressing bacterium replication brings about the succession of numerous invulnerable cells, explicitly being neutrophils, macrophages, T-cells, B-cells and dendritic cells. The swollen organs are an immediate consequence of the T - cells progressively involving the tonsils while the presence of yellow discharge in the rear of the throat is aftereffect of the death of neutrophils. The M protein alongside an external hyaluronic corrosive container help the microscopic organisms in opposing phagocytosis. At the same time pyogenes has built up systems to counter explicit reactions of the host invulnerable reaction, for example, T-cell expansion, counter against neutrophil extr acellular snares (NETs), debasement of IgG,etc.

Free Essays on Anselm

First we should comprehend that Anselm accepted that confidence and reason are two wellsprings of human information. Confidence must be that beginning stage in the quest for truth. â€Å"For I don't try to comprehend all together that I may accept, however I trust all together that I may understand.† The idea of fittingness as a philosophical standard fundamentally expresses that if something bodes well and is by all accounts great, and can't demonstrated something else, at that point it is valid. When we remember the statement given to us, â€Å"If a thing must be and on the off chance that can be, at that point it is.† Then we should likewise remember the inquiry introduced to Anselm which is: For what reason or need did God become man and by his demise reestablish life to the world, when he could have done this through some other individual, or by sheer demonstration of will? The answer to this inquiry is, it was essential for God to reclaim man for his wrongdoings in the manner he did. At the point when we state fundamental we mean it should have been. In this way, on the off chance that in reality man should have been spared, at that point for Anselm it more likely than not been done along these lines, as indicated by the image, for it is the best and most fitting route for God to have spared man. For Anselm the inquiry for the idea of keeps an eye on joy, or unceasing bliss with God, is outlined in the image or the sacred text that is given to us. The image isn't just fitting for Anselm, yet it is proper or more all it is great. In the case of something is important, fitting, suitable and great, at that point why not trusted it. This idea demonstrates that either by confidence or not, the story has no blemishes and by reason we can presume that God acted in the manner he did, by become a Man-God and assuming the least type of human instinct, conceived of a lady and passed on, in light of the fact that it was the best and most fitting approach to spare man from transgression and accommodate man for obligation the man couldn't reimburse. Besides, it would be unfitting for God to show or uncover to man a joy that couldn't be accomplished by man due to ... Free Essays on Anselm Free Essays on Anselm First we should comprehend that Anselm accepted that confidence and reason are two wellsprings of human information. Confidence must be that beginning stage in the quest for truth. â€Å"For I don't look to comprehend all together that I may accept, yet I put stock all together that I may understand.† The idea of fittingness as a philosophical basis essentially expresses that if something bodes well and is by all accounts great, and can't demonstrated something else, at that point it is valid. When we remember the statement given to us, â€Å"If a thing must be and in the event that can be, at that point it is.† Then we should likewise remember the inquiry introduced to Anselm which is: For what reason or need did God become man and by his passing reestablish life to the world, when he could have done this through some other individual, or by sheer demonstration of will? The answer to this inquiry is, it was essential for God to reclaim man for his transgressions in the manner he did. At the point when we state vital we mean it should have been. Along these lines, on the off chance that in actuality man should have been spared, at that point for Anselm it more likely than not been done thusly, as per the image, for it is the best and most fitting path for God to have spared man. For Anselm the inquiry for the idea of keeps an eye on bliss, or unceasing joy with God, is outlined in the image or the sacred writing that is given to us. The image isn't just fitting for Anselm, however it is suitable or more all it is great. In the case of something is important, fitting, suitable and great, at that point why not trusted it. This idea demonstrates that either by confidence or not, the story has no blemishes and by reason we can presume that God acted in the manner he did, by become a Man-God and assuming the least type of human instinct, conceived of a lady and passed on, in light of the fact that it was the best and most fitting approach to spare man from transgression and accommodate man for obligation the man couldn't reimburse. Besides, it would be unfitting for God to show or uncover to man a satisfaction that couldn't be accomplished by man due to ...

Minimize Vacation Spending Guilt

Minimize Vacation Spending Guilt Minimize Vacation Spending Guilt Minimize Vacation Spending GuiltGet away and feel good about it.Vacations can often leave us feeling guilty and stressed when we return home. Or even worse, sometimes we start worrying before the vacation is over because of the money we are spending and the work we are missing.But vacations should make you feel good! Why else would you pay for them?Unfortunately, these feelings of guilt and stress aren’t uncommon. Recent research conducted by OppLoans found 49% of surveyed Americans felt vacation-related guilt due to spending. Additionally, the report said, “Of those who experienced guilt, 83% said it primarily set in after vacation â€" not when they were spending.”That is why we spoke to the experts to find out how you can turn your guilty pleasures into regular pleasures, and come back from vacation feeling better than ever.Prepare in advanceYour workday probably keeps you busy enough. You do not want to add anything else to your regular workload. Still, taking some extra tim e to make sure your work will be covered while you are gone will go a long way towards minimizing the guilt or concern you may feel when you are away.“Make sure that you leave your work in a good place in the office before you go,” says Patricia Thompson, Ph.D., corporate psychologist and president of Silver Lining Psychology. “Tie up loose ends and make sure your colleagues know how to keep up with any of the duties that will need to be done in your absence. That way, you will not have to feel as though the people at your workplace will have to suffer because of your absence.”Depending on your job, you may need to utilize some creative thinking when leaving instructions for your coworkers.“I create a brief list of possible scenarios that could occur while I am away, along with steps to take in case any of those take place,” says Staffo Dobrev, budget travel expert at bus and train travel booking platform Wanderu. “That way, I am confident everything will be effectivel y taken care of while I am away and I will not spend my vacation worrying or feeling guilty that I have left my projects unattended.”Budget wellWhen it comes to making the kind of vacation plans that will lead to less guilt, it is not just about making sure things back home will keep going without you. It is also important to have a plan in place that will keep you from spending your way into guilt.“A lot of us feel guilty after indulgent spending following trips, and then end up realizing we never needed the goods or services in the first place,” suggests Beverly Friedmann, who works for consumer review site ReviewingThis. “So going into your vacation with a set allotment for spending may not seem very fun, but it is certainly pragmatic and can prevent a lot of post trip-guilt.”Additionally, making smart travel plans, such as booking flights and hotels for a low-traffic time of year, are just a couple of ways to cut down on spending.“If there is a huge demand and limite d supply of hotel rooms, the chance of you scoring a bargain is pretty slim, because hotel owners know that someone else will come along with the money they want,” says travel writer Anthony Bianco in our blog post on cutting vacation costs. “Trying to book early can help, or trying to find a spot [during] either side of peak demand will reduce costs.”Cash outIt is impossible to overuse your credit cards on vacation if you do not use your credit cards on vacation. Sticking to an all-cash plan can help with that.“It is very easy to lose track of the amount of money you spend when you rely only on credit cards, so using cash makes it easy to physically see how much money you are spending and how much you have left,” Dobrev advises. “In fact, when you mainly use cash, you may end up spending even less than you originally accounted for because you are more prone to stop and think whether you want to give away your hard-earned money on something frivolous compared to just swi ping a credit card with the justification that you will deal with it later.”OppLoans’ research report revealed a variety of financial disasters that awaited those who overspent on vacation, including:Taking on excessive credit card debt (49%)Missing important payments (34%)Taking out personal loans (16%)Borrowing money from friends and family (34%)Remember the importance of relaxationOne reason you may feel guilty going on vacation is because it can feel selfish and frivolous. But not only do you probably deserve a vacation, your employer may be better off.“Recognize the benefits that vacations serve in your life,” Thompson advises. “We all know that they make us feel better, but think about how refreshed and more productive you will be upon your return to work.” Not that you should live just to serve your employer. Vacations can offer essential benefits to your own well-being, which in the long term, can impact your medical expenses.“Vacations benefit your health,” Thomson says. “A classic study found that men who don’t take vacations had a 30% increased chance of having a heart attack. This number was 50% for women.”Unless you have your dream job, there are probably more important things to you in your life than work. Vacations can be a great time to recharge with the ones you love, and that is nothing to be guilty about.Looking for some tips to help you cope with your financial stress post-vacation? We have some for you right here.ContributorsThe Travel Tart (sometimes known as Anthony Bianco) is a self-proclaimed travel addict who will find any excuse to travel. He discovered he really enjoyed traveling the world when he was sent to a former war zone for work â€" Kosovo â€" as his first venture outside of Australia and New Zealand.   This created a habit of visiting places that most package tourists avoid like the plague. He has since traveled to more than 50 countries across six continents. He writes about the funny, offbeat, and wei rd aspects of world travel today and has appeared in numerous publications online, in print, and even on radio. Follow him @TheTravelTart.Staffo Dobrev  is the budget travel expert at bus and train travel booking platform  Wanderu. Prior to joining Wanderu, Dobrev spent five years working in the entertainment industry as a public relations specialist for various fashion and lifestyle brands, as well as for leading Hollywood talent and film projects. Having lived in some of the greatest cities in the world, Dabrov has always had a soft spot for travel and adventures. Instead of hitting the usual tourist attractions though, he prefers to make friends with local people and check out fun places and activities that are not in the travel books. Follow him @GoWanderu.Beverly Friedmann  works as a content manager for the consumer website  ReviewingThis,  has a background in sales and marketing management, and is from New York, NY.   Find more information on Twitter  @ReviewingThis.Patricia Thompson, Ph.D., is president of Silver Lining Psychology, a management consulting firm devoted to helping organizations and the people within them to flourish. She is a corporate psychologist, executive coach, speaker, and author whose expertise has been featured on sites like the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Time, and many others.

What is Special Education

There are many students who have special learning needs and these are addressed through special education (SPED). The range of SPED supports varies based on need and local laws. Each country, state, or educational jurisdiction has different policies, rules, regulations, and legislation that govern what special education means and looks like. What Is Special Education? In the US, the governing federal law is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under this act, special education is defined as:   Specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Students qualifying for special education services have needs that often require support that goes beyond what is usually offered or received in the regular school/classroom setting. Special education is in place to ensure that all students educational needs are met. This means that additional services, support, programs, specialized placements, or environments are supplied when necessary and at no cost to the parents. The 13 Categories Under IDEA Typically, the types of exceptionalities/disabilities that fall under special education are clearly identified in the jurisdictions law. Special education is for students with disabilities, which are defined under IDEA as follows: AutismDeaf-BlindnessDeafnessEmotional DisturbanceHearing ImpairmentIntellectual DisabilityMultiple DisabilitiesOrthopedic ImpairmentOther Health ImpairmentSpecific Learning DisabilitySpeech or Language ImpairmentTraumatic Brain InjuryVisual Impairment The goal of special education is to ensure that students who have any of these disabilities can take part in education along with students without disabilities and can access the curriculum whenever and as much as possible. Ideally, all students would have equitable access to education in order to reach their potential. Developmental Delays Even if a child does not have any of the disabilities outlined above, they can still qualify for special education. It is up to the individual states to include children at risk for disabilities in the eligible group for special education. This falls under Part C eligibility in IDEA and relates to developmental delays. Children identified as having developmental delays are generally those who are slow to meet or who are not reaching certain educational milestones. Part C eligibility is determined by each states definition of developmental delay and includes children with established physical or mental conditions with a high probability of resulting in developmental delay. Sidenote: For gifted and talented students there are no minimum federal standards, and it is up to individual states and local administrations to make any decisions about programs and services for gifted learners. As a result, there are large differences even between districts in the same state. How Do Students Obtain Special Education Services? A child suspected of needing SPED support will usually be referred to the special education committee at the school. Parents, teachers, or both can make referrals for special education. Parents should have any necessary information/documentation from community professionals, doctors, external agencies etc. and inform the school of the childs disabilities if they are known prior to attending school. Otherwise, the teacher will typically begin to notice the students special needs and will relay any concerns to the parent which can lead to a special needs committee meeting at the school level. The child who is being considered for special education services will often receive assessment(s), evaluations, or psycho testing (again this depends on the educational jurisdiction) to determine if they qualify to receive special education programming/support. However, prior to conducting any type of assessment/testing, the parent will need to sign consent forms. Once the child qualifies for additional support, an Individual Education Plan/Program (IEP) is then developed for the child. IEPs will include goals, objectives, activities, and any additional supports needed to ensure the child reaches their maximum educational potential. The IEP is then reviewed and revised regularly with input from the stakeholders. To find out more about Special Education, check with your schools special education teacher or search online for your jurisdictions policies surrounding special education. Sources â€Å"Sec. 300.39 Special Education.†Ã‚  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2 May 2017.ECTACenter. â€Å"Part C Eligibility.†Ã‚  ECTA.

The Role Of Body Image And Social Media Essay - 1352 Words

Social media is often viewed as ‘friendlier’ than mass media and more ‘real.’ Posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr are made by ‘real’ people. While many women have learned to recognize the inaccurate portrayals of the female body in mass media, fewer have made this connection with social media. An Instagram post can be edited, retouched, angled, and filtered to make the individual in the photo look drastically different from the way they appear in person, just as models are altered in mass media advertisements. The literature I have consulted addresses the relationship between body image and social media use but does not factor in dietary choices. This gap in knowledge is connected to the strengths and weaknesses of the research methods predominantly used to deal with this problem. Researchers use content analyses to describe existing evidence. In this field of study, this method is useful for analyzing social media posts and content posted on the web. It does not, however, address why these patterns may exist and why this is important. Researchers use ethnographies (or netnographies) to study people. Ethnographies rely on rich description of the individual(s) being studied. This research method, however, may result in the exclusion of important information. De la Pena and Quintanilla (2015) may have failed to take note of relevant information because they did not feel it was important to the research question. This, in turn, may have produced incomplete researchShow MoreRelatedThe Study Of Body Image1572 Words   |  7 PagesThe study of body image is a broad topic that touches many subjects including gender. However, the s tudy of body image has been focused mainly on females. This is because the physical shape and image of male bodies have not changed over the history. From the ancient Greek until the modern era, the masculinity is the predominant stereotype for men. Masculine traits include courage, independence and assertiveness (Judith, 2001; Murray, 2000). In contrast to the male body, the female figures have beenRead MoreLiterature Review : Body Image1173 Words   |  5 PagesLiterature Review: Body Image â€Å"Act 2: Extending Theory on Social Media and Body Concerns† shows the pattern and connection between social media and body image. People that are already affected by vulnerable factors, such as low self-esteem, depression, perfectionism and the thought that appearance is essential to self-worth, seek the gratifications that come from using social media. For example, if someone is feeling unattractive, but a picture they posted online is getting liked and commented onRead MoreThe Impact Of Mass Media On Body Image1255 Words   |  6 Pagesother health related images and videos on social media, online magazines/blogs, and mass media in general. 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Also, social networking sites allow for upward social comparison, or the comparison of yourself withRead MoreThe Impact Of Media On Body Image1538 Words   |  7 Pagesthe concept of body image is influenced by external factors as culture, society norms, especially with the development of modern social media, it has grown up to be an important element in affecting the perception of body image to shape the body image. The influence of mass media may be related to the social comparison process of appearance in female and male. The ideal media body image, it is easy to compare in everyday life, and that will result to dissatisfaction with people s body size. On theRead MoreSocial Media Allows People To Share Pictures And Ideas1057 Words   |  5 PagesSocial media allows people to share pictures and ideas with others across the world. Women and girls can use social media to earn approval for their appearance and compare themselves to others. Women during this time period that are so heavily impacted by the media can link their self-worth to their looks. I used scholarly articles all relating to how social media affects body image to decide what my view point was. After research, we can conclude that social media has a negative effect on a woman’sRead MoreMedia s Impact On Media Consumption Essay1729 Words   |  7 Pagesresources on the internet, 24 hours a day 7 days a week (XXXX). The rapid technological advancements has shifted the consumption of media from television, magazines and billboards to online digital media channels accessed via mobile devices, creating a ‘bedroom culture’ (Sumner, 2016) for many. The shift in media consumption has particularly been induced by the emergence of Social Networking Sites as well as other online platforms, which have become an integral part of our daily lives. SNS enable users to

Ikea Selling Strategy Free Essays

1. Executive Summary: 2. 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Ikea Selling Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now IKEA Objectives: * IKEA produces cheap and affordable products for the customers. * The company wants better life for those who cannot afford expensive products. * IKEA always helps to produce right product for the right consumer. * IKEA always tries to sell their products at low prices. * The company’s global developments and its continual commitment is to have a positive impact on people and the environment. 2. 2. IKEA Vision: The Vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. They make this possible by offering a wide range of well-designed home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. 2. 3. IKEA Mission: The mission is to offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function, excellent quality and durability, at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them (IKEA 1994). The company targets the customer who is looking for value and is willing to do a little bit of work serving them-selves, transporting the items home and assembling the furniture for a better price. The typical Ikea customer is young low to middle income family. 2. Company Summary: 3. 4. Company Background: IKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world. The company, which pioneered flat-pack design furniture at affordable prices, is now the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden and it is owned by a Dutch registered foundation controlled by the Kamprad family. The company which was originated in Smaland, Sweden, distributes its products through its retail outlets. As of August 2009, the chain has 301 stores in 37 countries, most of them in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was born and grew up on the farm Elmtaryd, parish of Agunnaryd in Smaland, in the south of Sweden. As a young boy Ingvar Kamprad knew that he wanted to develop a business. Various events during his upbringing gave him a strong drive to create his own resources and to be independent. In 1943 The Ikea was born, initially a mail-order business selling pencils, postcards, and other merchandise. The name derives from the initial letters of Ingvar Kamprad and of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd. More over in 1948 Furniture manufacturing was an additional business for many farmers in Smaland. So Ingvar Kamprad also introduced Furniture in the IKEA business as a complement to the general merchandise. This was a success and Ingvar Kamprad starts exploring innovative solutions such as furniture design, self-assembly and advertising and by 1951 The first annual IKEA furniture catalogue was published in Sweden. Ikea grew and two years later by 1953 they opened a showroom in Almhult. Here the customers could see and experience the quality of the products before ordering them and Ingvar could meet customers in person and learn from them. 3. 5. Company Location and Facilities: The company IKEA has a several store over many places in the world as the following a. Europe: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Greece, France. Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, and United Kingdom b. North America: Canada and United States. c. Middle East: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. d. Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand. The facilities that could be found in most of IKEA stores is the same, however they are mentioned in the IKEA Ireland as the following: a. Showroom: IKEA stores are huge home exhibitions. Stretch out on a bed, see how many people you can fit on a sofa, or let your children choose furniture for their rooms. Our room settings are built entirely from IKEA products, and will give you inspirational ideas for furnishing, lighting and decorating your home. . Market hall: The market hall is just what it sounds like: many different specialist shops gathered together. You’ll find everything from rugs to pots to picture frames and clocks. You’ll also see all kinds of home lighting, everything you need for your kitchen, and countless unique gifts you can give to others – or spoil yourself with. c. IKEA Restaurant: At the IKEA restaurant you can take a break from the hard work of shopping. You can even start your day at the IKEA restaurant with breakfast before the store opens. Or why not have coffee and cake in the afternoon! In the restaurant you’ll find healthy Swedish and local dishes daily made using high quality fresh produce. You can use our highchairs and baby changing facilities for the little ones. And while the grownups rest a few minutes after lunch, the kids can have fun in the children’s play area. d. IKEA for kids: IKEA supervised play area and ballroom, and shop in peace. This way, everyone’s happy. Or if you want them to help make furnishing decisions, strollers are available at the entrance. e. Care and feeding of kids: IKEA provides clean feeding and changing facilities for small children. And our restaurant has a special menu just for the kids. f. Trolleys for everyone: There are plenty of carts available to help you take your purchases to your car. Or you can bring your car to your purchases by pulling up to our customer loading bay. g. The barter system: Almost any way you want to pay is fine with us. You can always pay with cash or a major of credit card, but other payment methods are usually also available. They vary from store to store, so please check with your local IKEA store to find out more. 3. Product and Services of IKEA: 4. 6. Products Description: IKEA products are identified by single word names. Most of the names are Scandinavian in origin. Although there are some notable exceptions, most product names are based on a special naming system developed by * Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish place names (for example: Klippan) * Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names * Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names * Bookcase ranges: Occupations * Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays * Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names * Chairs, desks: men’s names Fabrics, curtains: women’s names * Garden furniture: Swedish islands * Carpets: Danish place names * Lighting: terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms * Bed linen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: flowers, plants, precious stones * Children’s items: mammals, birds, adjectives * Curtain accessories: mathematical and geometrical terms * Kitchen utensils: foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions * Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: colloquial expressions, 4. . Competitive Comparison: Retailers have generally been slow to develop multilingual Web sites simply because they’ve been slow to expand outside of their domestic markets. According to a Deloitte study of the world’s top 250 retailers, 104 retailers have no international operations at all, but IKEA had a leg-up on its competitors because it built its business not only through store expansion but through a hugely popular mail-order catalog. 4. 8. Supply and Demand Details: We will talk about the market forces for the global market instead of talking about Malaysian market only. Supply planner – demand ; need Global supply chain management of Children’s lighting products from IKEA suppliers to IKEA stores world-wide, managing sales forecast, capacity planning, replenishment and information flow. Responsible for the global supply to 350 IKEA stores worldwide within a business area of Children’s IKEA. The Increased availability at the store from 85% to 99% within a year. Reduced the stock weeks from 7 weeks to 3 weeks within a half year. Shared knowledge of supply chain management with co-workers in China and Lithuania. 2005 Logistics ; Operations, IKEA Trading Southeast Asia Thailand Managed a variety of competence development programs in areas of logistics and operations for purchaser, technician, supply planner, material manager and business development managers. In addition to be responsible for the company’s Centre of Competence in supply chain management, executed a research program about competence management in a cross-cultu ral organization that covers Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. 150 IKEA Trading Southeast Asia co-workers have attended supply chain management program. Licentiate thesis has been written and it raised the attention to the importance of total optimization within IKEA pipelines both in goods and information flows. 4. 9. Technology Needs: After surfing the market for information we figured-out that the tools in the industry are similar for all the brands. Tools are the heart of the carpentry profession. The best place to start is with basic hand tools. A measuring tape, combination ruler and level, pencils, hammer; saws, a carpentry square and hand drill are all inexpensive parts of a carpentry set. Chisels, planes and sanding blocks are also important because furniture needs a fine, smooth finish, free of splinters and sharp corners. A kit of brushes, cloths and sponges are required for the stain and lacquering steps. In order to add padding or upholstery to the furniture, the carpenter will need a set of clamps in varied sizes and a staple gun. Time the first few projects completed in the shop step by step to determine which steps will benefit most from investing a time-saving power tool. Power saws are the most universal time-saver, and drill presses and power sanders also offer time savings. But Ikea does not have its own manufacturing facilities. Instead, it is using subcontracted manufacturers all over the world for supplies. All research and development activities are however, centralized in Sweden. In order to maintain low cost, 4. Market Analysis 5. 10. Target Market in this study I will not separate each market but instead of that I will focus on the global integrated market. 4. 1. 1 Target Market Segment Strategy: IKEA is large enough to enjoy economies of scale. This lowers average costs in the long run through, for example, better use of technology or employing specialized managers. Economies of scale also give a business a competitive edge if cost savings are then passed on to customers in the form of lower prices. This puts up high barriers to entry for smaller companies entering the market. The target customer of IKEA is everybody. So the market segment is a very important part of IKEA strategy. After visited the IKEA store, I think the market segment of IKEA is the different part of house, like the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom. Actually, the market segment is according to the â€Å"life situation†. The life situation creates the need of the home furniture. IKEA do not select the customer, IKEA just select the offer from the life situation. For example, I am a student. I need the bookshelf, desk and I do not need the kitchen because I do not live in my own place now. But after 10 years, the need of life situation will change. I will need other things. The most important point is that I am always the target customer even in different ages. And IKEA always provide customers the things they need. I think that is a good method that IKEA used to service the customers and win the hearts of the customers. 4. 1. 2 Market Needs: 4. 1. 3 Market Trends 4. 1. 4 Market Growth: 5. 11. Industry Analysis 4. 2. 1 Industry Participants/Key Players To analyze the Industry I will use Porter five forces analysis: According to Pearce, J. A. and Robinson R. B. (2011) Strategic Management . 12th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill â€Å"Harvard professor Michael E. Porter propelled the concept of industry environment into the foreground of strategic thought and business planning†. The five forces were as following: 1- Competitive rivalry. 2- Threat of substitute products. 3- Threat of new entrants. 4- Bargaining Power of suppliers. 5- Bargaining Power of customers. * INTERNAL RIVALRY/COMPETITORS: the industry is highly competitive and characterized by other low priced furniture producers such as Galiform of England and retailers such as Wal-Mart of the United States. Internally, the organization saw differences of opinion regarding product offerings and positioning. Due to the intense competition worldwide, IKEA has wisely attempted to compete by entering the markets which typically pose the largest competition, such as China and Japan. * SUPPLIER POWER: because Ikea had heard from its customers that many of its furniture offerings were too complicated to be assembled by the customer; showing the power of the supplier to make a difference, IKEA has gotten cooperation from some suppliers to provide materials that are easier for the customer to assemble, thereby (using its’ value chain system) by adding value to the supplier relationship. BUYER POWER: everyone can recognize that Buyers have a great deal of influence over IKEA’s product line and direction; for example, in the 1960s, IKEA developed the ability to package its unassembled furniture in flat cartons, making it easier for the buyer to handle the cartons. This considered as a response to direct feedback from the buyer. Additionally, due to buyer demand, IKEA will continue on its current growth strategy. * POTENTIAL ENTRANTS: Domestically, IKEA faces the threat of potential entrants; as the dominant firm, because the nature of the business allows new ventures to enter the market, IKEA worst scenario is the copy-cats. The organization always feel threaten by any potential new entrant to use do it yourself approach which gives IKEA many of its’ competitive advantages. * THREAT OF SUBSTITUTED PRODUCT AND SERVICE: is low as there are no too many products and services available that can substitute the demand for furniture, home appliances and a range of other products offered by IKEA. So Substitution is not a reason to make them worry, because they have their own market -segments. 4. 2. 2 Main Competitors/Competitive Analysis: If the 5. 0 Strategy and Implementation Summary 5. Marketing Strategy: People like to buy IKEA’s products because of their low prices and medium-quality. People have great awareness of the brand. Moreover, we can see people like to go IKEA store because of good facilities. The products that will be in direct competition with IKEA’S sales are split into distinct different groups by home depot they are: Bedroom, dining room, furniture parts, home office, kidâ €™s room, and living room and kitchen supplies. The different products that are supplied are provided to Home Depot by a variety of different brand names. . 2 Pricing Strategy: IKEA positions itself with low prices. They are extremely price/cost conscious. 5. 3 Promotion Strategy: Promotion: IKEA has its own website where they now have their catalogues virtually. In the last year 198 million copies of the catalogue were printed in 56 editions and 27 languages. Moreover, IKEA uses newspaper ads and television commercials. The company uses billboards ads and bus stop ads. IKEA also faced controversy in their â€Å"Tidy up† advertisement campaign. IKEA does not spend largely on promotions. IKEA believes on their online catalogues and print publications of the catalogs. The catalogue is the main tool for selling. IKEA try to cut the cost with lease advertisement. But it is very important part. 5. 4 Distribution Patterns: IKEA has 28 large distribution centers and 11 customer distribution centers in 16 countries. IKEA has 1400 suppliers for distribution. 5. 5 Marketing Programs People like to buy IKEA’s products because of their low prices and medium-quality. People have great awareness of the brand. Moreover, we can see people like to go IKEA store because of good facilities. The products that will be in direct competition with IKEA’S sales are split into distinct different groups by home depot they are: Bedroom, dining room, furniture parts, home office, kid’s room, and living room and kitchen supplies. The different products that are supplied are provided to Home Depot by a variety of different brand names. 5. 6 Sales Strategy: 5. 7 Sales Forecast: 5. 8 Sales Programs: 6. 0 Web Plan Summary 6. 1 Website Marketing Strategy 6. 2 Development Requirements How to cite Ikea Selling Strategy, Essay examples

The U.S. National Debt Essays - Fiscal Policy, Deficit Spending

The U.S. National Debt Spending financed not by current tax receipts, but by borrowing or drawing upon past tax reserves. Is it a good idea? Why does the U.S. run a deficit? Since 1980 the deficit has grown enormously. Some say it is a bad thing, and predict impending doom, others say it is a safe and stable necessity to maintain a healthy economy. For nearly 150 years the U.S. government managed to keep a balanced budget. The only time a budget deficit existed during these years was in times of war or other catastrophic events. For instance, the government created deficits during the War of 1812, the recession of 1837, the Civil War, the depression of the 1890s, and World War I. However, once each incident ended the deficit would be eliminated. The economy was much stronger than the accumulated debt and would therefore quickly absorb it. The last time the budget ran a surplus was in 1969 during Nixon's presidency. Budget deficits have grown larger and more frequent in the last half-century. In the 1980s t hey soared to record levels. The government cut income tax rates, greatly increased defense spending, and didn't cut domestic spending enough to make up the difference. The deep recession of the early 1980s reduced revenues, raising the deficit and forcing the Government to spend much more on paying interest for the national debt at a time when interest rates were high. As a result, the national debt grew exponentially in size after 1980. It grew from $709 billion to $3.3 trillion in 1990, only one decade later. (See Table 1) Federal spending has grown over the years. If you compare actual dollars and their proportion to the economy (Gross Domestic Product, or GDP), much of it began in the 1930s. Beginning with the New Deal, the Federal Government came to play a much larger role in American life. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to use the full powers of his office to end the Great Depression. He and Congress greatly expanded Federal programs. Federal spending, which totaled less than $4 billion in 1931, went up to nearly $7 billion in 1934 and then over $8 billion in 1936. U.S. entry into World War II sent annual Federal spending soaring to over $91 billion by 1944. Thus began the ever-increasing debt of the United States. Is our debt increasing as fast as we think it is? The dollar amount of the debt may increase but often times so does the amount of money or GDP to pay for the debt. Some believe a deficit allows more people to work, increasing productivity. A deficit does this because it is invested into the economy by government. For example, if the government spends deficit money on new highways, trucking will benefit and more jobs will be produced. When an economic system is in recession all of its resources are not being used. For instance, if the government did not build highways we could not ship goods and thereby decrease demand for them. Because we cannot ship the items, the supply remains low even though we have the ability to produce more. This non-productivity comes at a cost to the whole economic system. If deficit spending eliminates non-productivity then its direct monetary cost will be offset, if not surpassed, by increased productivity. In the 1980's when the huge deficits were adding up, the actual additions to the public capital or increased productivity were often as big or bigger than the deficit. This means that as long as the government spends the money it gains from a deficit on assets that increase its wealth and productivity, the debt actually benefits the economy. But what if the government spends money on programs that do not increase its assets or productivity? Consider small businesses for instance. A company invests money to hire a new salesman. He will probably increase sales and the company will regain what it spent hiring him. If the company spends money on paper clips when they already have staplers they will just lose money. This frivolous spending is what makes a deficit dangerous. The government's net worth decreases which risks putting it into serious debt. Debt should not be a problem because

India and Pakistan Essays

India and Pakistan Essays India and Pakistan Essay India and Pakistan Essay It was in the year 1947 that both India and Pakistan were granted independence on the midnight of August 14-15 but Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14 and India on August 15. Ironic but interestingly, Pakistan first independence day was celebrated as August 15 and later on it became August 14.Another reason was that British Viceroy Mountbatten, who chose August 15 symbolizing the surrender of Japan to Allies two years ago as the date, preferred to transfer power to Pakistan on August 14 so he could attend the ceremony in Karachi and be in New Delhi the next day to oversee India’s birth as an independent nation. Since the power of transfer took place on the midnight of 14 and 15 August, the Indian Independence Act 1947 clearly stated that 15 August was the birthday of both Pakistan and India. As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven, two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and Pakistan, the act stated. Even Mohammad Jinnah, who became the first governor general of Pakistan, declared August 15 as the independence day of Pakistan in his opening speech. Jinnah in his first broadcast to the nation said: August 15 is the birthday of the independent and sovereign state of Pakistan.It marks the fulfilment of the destiny of the Muslim nation which made great sacrifices in the past few years to have its homeland. So, Pakistan celebrated its first birthday on 15 August but in subsequent years 14 August was marked as the independence day. Even the first commemorative postage stamp of the country that was released a year later stated 15 August 1947 as the independence day of Pakistan. But in 1948, Pakistan decided to celebrate its Independence Day on August 14, a day before India’s Indepndence Day due to 27 Ramadan that fell on August 14, 1947.

Spinner Dolphin Facts

Spinner Dolphin Facts Spinner dolphins were  named for their unique behavior of leaping and spinning. These spins can involve more than four body revolutions. Fast Facts: Spinner Dolphin Size: 6-7 feet and 130-170 poundsHabitat: warm tropical and subtropical waters in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian OceansClassification: Kingdom: Animalia, Class: Mammalia, Family: DelphinidaeLifespan: 20 to 25 yearsDiet: Fish and squid; locate prey using echolocationFun Fact: Spinner dolphins gather in pods that can number into the thousands and are known for spinning and leaping.   Identification Spinner dolphins are medium-sized dolphins with long, slender  beaks. Coloration varies depending on where they live. They often have a striped appearance with a dark gray back, gray flanks and white underside.  In some adult males, the dorsal fin looks as if has been stuck on backwards. These animals may associate with other marine life, including humpback whales, spotted dolphins and yellowfin tuna. Classification There are 4 subspecies of spinner dolphin: Grays spinner dolphin (Stenella  longirostris  longirostris)Eastern spinner dolphin (S. l.  orientalis)Central American spinner dolphin (S.l.  centroamericana)Dwarf spinner dolphin (S.l.  roseiventris) Habitat and Distribution Spinner dolphins are found in warm tropical and subtropical waters in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Different spinner dolphin subspecies may prefer different habitats depending on where they live. In Hawaii, they live in shallow, sheltered bays, in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, they live on the high seas far from land and often associate with yellowfin tuna, birds and pantropical spotted dolphins. Dwarf spinner dolphins live in areas with shallow coral reefs, where they feed during the day on fish and invertebrates. Click here for a sighting map for spinner dolphins. Feeding Most spinner dolphins rest during the day and feed at night. Their preferred prey are fish and squid, which they find using echolocation.  During echolocation, the dolphin emits high-frequency sound pulses from an organ (the melon) in its head. The sound waves bounce off objects around it and are received back into the dolphins lower jaw. They are then transmitted to the inner ear and interpreted to determine the size, shape, location and distance of prey. Reproduction The spinner dolphin has a year-round breeding season After mating, the females gestation period is about 10 to 11 months, after which a single calf about two and a half feet long is born. Calves nurse for one to two years. The lifespan for spinner dolphins is estimated at about 20 to 25 years. Conservation The spinner dolphin is listed as data deficient on the IUCN Red List. Spinner dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific were caught by the thousands in purse seine nets targeting tuna, although their populations are slowly recovering due to restrictions placed on those fisheries. Other threats include entanglement or bycatch in fishing gear, targeted hunts in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, and coastal development which affects the sheltered bays that these dolphins inhabit in some areas during the day. Sources and Further Information American Cetacean Society. Spinner Dolphin: . Accessed April 30, 2012.Stenella longirostris (Short-Beaked) and Delphinus capensis (Long-Beaked)Culik, B. 2010. Odontocetes. The toothed whales: Stenella longirostris. UNEP/CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany. Accessed April 30, 2012.Hammond, P.S., Bearzi, G., Bjà ¸rge, A., Forney, K., Karczmarski, L., Kasuya, T., Perrin, W.F., Scott, M.D., Wang, J.Y., Wells, R.S. Wilson, B. 2008. Stenella longirostris. IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Accessed April 30, 2012.Nelson, B. 2011. Why Does This Dolphin Have Its Fin On Backwards?. Mother Nature Network, Accessed April 30, 2012.NOAA Fisheries: Office of Protected Resources. Spinner Dolphin (. Accessed April 30, 2012.Stenella longirostris)OBIS SEAMAP. Spinner Dolphin (. Accessed April 30, 2012.Stenella longirostris)Perrin, W. 2012. Stenella longirostris (Gray, 1828). In: Perrin, W.F. World Cetacea Database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at marines pecies.org/aphia.php?ptaxdetailsid137109 on April 30, 2012. The Mammals of Texas. Spinner Dolphin. Accessed April 30, 2012.

The learning and teaching of mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The learning and teaching of mathematics - Essay Example The paper tells that decimal notation is a crisis experienced by children in mathematics. The researcher has faced instances where some children are unable to distinguish between small and large values when presented with decimal points. When the subject of decimals is first introduced to primary school children, there is a general belief that when the number is long, the value is high. This means that there is an existing problem in the ability to differentiate the values of digits with decimal points. For example, when the researcher ask children to assign the number with the highest values between 5.555, 5.55 and 5.5, 5.555 is given as the answer. The reasons children give are arguably connected to the way they view whole numbers and denote decimal points. This trend can be explained by a number of misconceptions in decimal notation. There is a general belief that numbers with more digits represent high values than those with small values. 5.555 is believed to have a large value t han 5.5 because 5.555 has four digits that make the number look bigger, and 5.5 has two digits that make the number look smaller. While this explanation may be true in some cases, several combination of numbers may not adhere to the misconception. For example, in differentiating between 0.12, 0.111 and 0.1012, children pick 0.1012 as the number with the greatest value because 0.12 has three digits, 0.111 has four and 0.1012 has five, hence, the more the number of the digits, the higher the value of the number. In reality, 0.12 has a higher value compared to 0.1012.

A Metacognitive Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

A Metacognitive Exercise - Essay Example Reflecting on the modules and the readings, is that language and literacy learning is both overwhelming and, surprisingly, well-researched. Overwhelming because the depth of research is staggering, from the selection of reading texts to a child’s stages of cognitive development, to the variables affecting interpretation and meaning. This initial sense of being overwhelmed, however, later gives way to a sense of security as the readings come together to form a more comprehensive whole. To be sure, there are theoretical disagreements. There are areas in need of additional research. That said, there really is a sufficient groundwork, in both theoretical and practical terms, with which to plan meaningful literacy lessons and programmes. The text emphasised the significant effects of word choice in the narrative text. The choice of words such as "reared" and "crushed" and the use of punctuation such as "Thud!" truly affected the mood and the feeling conveyed by the text. As a menta l exercise, I arbitrarily changed some of the words in order to see how the meaning might be altered; the results were quite significant. In sum, from the point of view of a student or a writer, I find the concepts of metalanguage and social purposes of text very helpful both in terms of understanding a text and in terms of creating a text. Though seemingly intuitive, these concepts add very much to the understanding of language, linguistic features, and meaning. To this regard I have the initiative to improve myself by answering the following activities: Activity: Describe the genre used by the seven-year-old child in the following text. List the features in terms of use of verbs, general and specific participants and descriptive words and statements. What understandings of the convention of written language does she demonstrate "I was going Dawn cabell terast on my Big Bieck. It was a Stiep Hill and my brakes pat up when I was haf the wai dan the hill and I broacd my coliaBone and I had to to go to the hosPtall to get a slliea on it. Its getting beta, ten I can ride I't a gain" Answer Using what I have learned from Green and Campbell, I recognized the genre of the text as a narrative. It tells the story of a seven year old boy in a sequential manner- precisely how Green and Campbell defined narratives. It also uses past tense form of verbs and makes use of the linking verb "and" to denote what happened next. It can also be recognized that the text is full of grammatical errors such as spelling and punctuation. However, it can be seen that the child is able to use the basic Subject - Object construction with the verb in between. The text displays the " how you pronounce it is how you spell and write it" system. Entry 2: Being particularly interested in writing, I found the work by

Scramjet Powerplants :: Essays Papers

Scramjet Powerplants Higher, further, faster, carry more. These have always been the goals of aircraft designers from the very beginning of aviation history. Even today engineers and researchers attempt to build aircraft that will be able perform better. Throughout the history of aircraft design, the main limiting factor has been the performance of power plants. This is still going on today as we attempt to build engines that allow superior performing aircraft. Scramjet engines offer one potential solution to this problem. By the end of World War II we had the technology to build airframes that would fly higher, go further, faster and carry more, but there were no power plants available to power such aircraft. With the introduction of the jet engine aircraft took an enormous step forward. Although the jet engine offers a multitude of advantages over jet engines, there are still limitations. One of these is that jet engines have a limited operating speed. A speeds much higher than Mach 3 the turbine engines, with rotating blades and other moving parts are unable to stand the stress and pressures associated with high speed flight. Rocket power has been used in some applications. Some of these include experimental aircraft such as the X-15. Rocket power is also used in spacecraft as the main means of propulsion. Rocket powered aircraft must carry a supply of hydrogen and oxygen. The requirement to carry large supplies of fuel severely limits the payload capabilities of the ship. In addition it is cost prohibitive for most operations. Commercial transportation is out of the question. Ramjet engines offer some improvements, but are still speed limited. A ramjet engine works in a similar manner to a turbine engine, but there are no moving parts. Instead of using a compressor section to produce high-density air, the forward speed of the aircraft is used to compress the air. The air is then slowed to subsonic speed through a reverse venturi. Fuel is ignited and creates thrust is a fashion similar to that of a turbine engine. (Ramjet/Scramjet...) Scramjet is the name given to a supersonic compression ramjet. It operates in a similar manner to a ramjet, however the air passing through the engine maintains supersonic speed. The scramjet uses hydrogen fuel, just like a rocket engine, but is does not require an onboard supply of oxygen.

History of Computer Virus

THE HISTORY OF COMPUTER VIRUSES A Bit of Archeology There are lots and lots of opinions on the date of birth of the first computer virus. I know for sure just that there were no viruses on the Babbidge machine, but the Univac 1108 and IBM 360/370 already had them (â€Å"Pervading Animal† and â€Å"Christmas tree†). Therefore the first virus was born in the very beginning of 1970s or even in the end of 1960s, although nobody was calling it a virus then. And with that consider the topic of the extinct fossil species closed. Journey's Start Let's talk of the latest history: â€Å"Brain†, â€Å"Vienna†, â€Å"Cascade†, etc. Those who started using IBM PCs as far as in mid-80s might still remember the total epidemic of these viruses in 1987-1989. Letters were dropping from displays, crowds of users rushing towards monitor service people (unlike of these days, when hard disk drives die from old age but yet some unknown modern viruses are to blame). Their computers started playing a hymn called â€Å"Yankee Doodle†, but by then people were already clever, and nobody tried to fix their speakers – very soon it became clear that this problem wasn't with the hardware, it was a virus, and not even a single one, more like a dozen. And so viruses started infecting files. The â€Å"Brain† virus and bouncing ball of the â€Å"Ping-pong† virus marked the victory of viruses over the boot sector. IBM PC users of course didn't like all that at all. And so there appeared antidotes. Which was the first? I don't know, there were many of them. Only few of them are still alive, and all of these anti-viruses did grow from single project up to the major software companies playing big roles on the software market. There is also an notable difference in conquering different countries by viruses. The first vastly spread virus in the West was a bootable one called â€Å"Brain†, the â€Å"Vienna† and â€Å"Cascade† file viruses appeared later. Unlike that in East Europe and Russia file viruses came first followed by bootable ones a year later. Time went on, viruses multiplied. They all were all alike in a sense, tried to get to RAM, stuck to files and sectors, periodically killing files, diskettes and hard disks. One of the first â€Å"revelations† was the â€Å"Frodo. 4096† virus, which is far as I know was the first invisible virus (Stealth). This virus intercepted INT 21h, and during DOS calls to the infected files it changed the information so that the file appeared to the user uninfected. But this was just an overhead over MS-DOS. In less than a year electronic bugs attacked the DOS kernel (â€Å"Beast. 512† Stealth virus). The idea of in visibility continued to bear its fruits: in summer of 1991 there was a plague of â€Å"Dir_II†. â€Å"Yeah! â€Å", said everyone who dug into it. But it was pretty easy to fight the Stealth ones: once you clean RAM, you may stop worrying and just search for the beast and cure it to your hearts content. Other, self encrypting viruses, sometimes appearing in software collections, were more troublesome. This is because to identify and delete them it was necessary to write special subroutines, debug them. But then nobody paid attention to it, until †¦ Until the new generation of viruses came, those called polymorphic viruses. These viruses use another approach to invisibility: they encrypt themselves (in most cases), and to decrypt themselves later they use commands which may and may not be repeated in different infected files. Polymorphism – Viral Mutation The first polymorphic virus called â€Å"Chameleon† became known in the early '90s, but the problem with polymorphic viruses became really serious only a year after that, in April 1991, with the worldwide epidemic of the polymorphic virus â€Å"Tequila† (as far as I know Russia was untouched by the epidemic; the first epidemic in Russia, caused by a polymorphic virus, happened as late as in 1994, in three years, the virus was called â€Å"Phantom1†). The idea of self encrypting polymorphic viruses gained popularity and brought to life generators of polymorphic code – in early 1992 the famous â€Å"Dedicated† virus appears, based on the first known polymorphic generator MtE and the first in a series of MtE-viruses; shortly after that there appears the polymorphic generator itself. It is essentially an object module (OBJ file), and now to get a polymorphic mutant virus from a conventional non-encrypting virus it is sufficient to simply link their object modules together – the polymorphic OBJ file and the virus OBJ file. Now to create a real polymorphic virus one doesn't have to dwell on the code of his own encryptor/decryptor. He may now connect the polymorphic generator to his virus and call it from the code of the virus when desired. Luckily the first MtE-virus wasn't spread and did not cause epidemics. In their turn the anti-virus developers had sometime in store to prepare for the new attack. In just a year production of polymorphic viruses becomes a â€Å"trade†, followed by their â€Å"avalanche† in 1993. Among the viruses coming to my collection the volume of polymorphic viruses increases. It seems that one of the main directions in this uneasy job of creating new viruses becomes creation and debugging of polymorphic mechanism, the authors of viruses compete not in creating the toughest virus but the toughest polymorphic mechanism instead. This is a partial list of the viruses that can be called 100 percent polymorphic (late 1993): Bootache, CivilWar (four versions), Crusher, Dudley, Fly, Freddy, Ginger, Grog, Haifa, Moctezuma (two versions), MVF, Necros, Nukehard, PcFly (three versions), Predator, Satanbug, Sandra, Shoker, Todor, Tremor, Trigger, Uruguay (eight versions). These viruses require special methods of detection, including emulation of the viruses executable code, mathematical algorithms of restoring parts of the code and data in virus etc. Ten more new viruses may be considered non-100 percent polymorphic (that is they do encrypt themselves but in decryption routine there always exist some nonchanging bytes): Basilisk, Daemaen, Invisible (two versions), Mirea (several versions), Rasek (three versions), Sarov, Scoundrel, Seat, Silly, Simulation. However to detect them and to restore the infected objects code decrypting is still required, because the length of nonchanging code in the decryption outine of those viruses is too small. Polymorphic generators are also being developed together with polymorphic viruses. Several new ones appear utilizing more complex methods of generating polymorphic code. They become widely spread over the bulletin board systems as archives containing object modules, documentation and examples of use. By the end of 1993 there are seven known generators of polymorphic code. They are: MTE 0. 90 (Mutation Engine), TPE (Trident Polymorphic Engine), four versions NED (Nuke Encryption Device), DAME (Dark Angel's Multiple Encryptor) Since then every year brought several new polymorphic generators, so there is little sense in publishing the entire lists. Automating Production and Viral Construction Sets Laziness is the moving force of progress (to construct the wheel because that's too lazy to carry mammoths to the cave). This traditional wisdom needs no comments. But only in the middle of 1992 progress in the form of automating production touched the world of viruses. On the fifth of July 1992 the first viral code construction set for IBM PC compatibles called VCL (Virus Creation Laboratory) version 1. 00 is declared for production and shipping. This set allows to generate well commented source texts of viruses in the form or assembly language texts, object modules and infected files themselves. VCL uses standard windowed interface. With the help of a menu system one can choose virus type, objects to infect (COM or/and EXE), presence or absence of self encryption, measures of protection from debugging, inside text strings, optional 10 additional effects etc. Viruses can use standard method of infecting a file by adding their body to the end of file, or replace files with their body destroying the original content of a file, or become companion viruses. And then it became much easier to do wrong: if you want somebody to have some computer trouble just run VCL and within 10 to 15 minutes you have 30-40 different viruses you may then run on computers of your enemies. A virus to every computer! The further the better. On the 27th of July the first version of PS-MPC (Phalcon/Skism Mass-Produced Code Generator). This set does not have windowed interface, it uses configuration file to generate viral source code. This file contains description of the virus: the type of infected files (COM or EXE); resident capabilities (unlike VCL, PS-MPC can also produce resident viruses); method of installing the resident copy of the virus; self encryption capabilities; the ability to infect COMMAND. COM and lots of other useful information. Another construction set G2 (Phalcon/Skism's G2 0. 70 beta) has been created. It supported PS-MPC configuration files, however allowing much more options when coding the same functions. The version of G2 I have is dated the first of January 1993. Apparently the authors of G2 spent the New Year's Eve in front of their computers. They'd better have some champagne instead, this wouldn't hurt anyway. So in what way did the virus construction sets influence electronic wildlife? In my virus collection there are: †¢ several hundreds of VCL and G2 based viruses; †¢ over a thousand PS-MPC based viruses. So we have another tendency in development of computer viruses: the increasing number of â€Å"construction set† viruses; more unconcealably lazy people join the ranks of virus makers, downgrading a respectable and creative profession of creating viruses to a mundane rough trade. Outside DOS The year 1992 brought more than polymorphic viruses and virus construction sets. The end of the year saw the first virus for Windows, which thus opened a new page in the history of virus making. Being small (less than 1K in size) and absolutely harmless this non resident virus quite proficiently infected executables of new Windows format (NewEXE); a window into the world of Windows was opened with its appearance on the scene. After some time there appeared viruses for OS/2, and January 1996 brought the first Windows95 virus. Presently not a single week goes by without new viruses infecting non-DOS systems; possibly the problem of non-DOS viruses will soon become more important than the problem of DOS viruses. Most likely the process of changing priorities will resemble the process of DOS dying and new operating systems gaining strength together with their specific programs. As soon as all the existing software for DOS will be replaced by their Windows, Windows95 and OS/2 analogues, the problem of DOS viruses becomes nonexistent and purely theoretical for computer society. The first attempt to create a virus working in 386 protected mode was also made in 1993. It was a boot virus â€Å"PMBS† named after a text string in its body. After boot up from infected drive this virus switched to protected mode, made itself supervisor and then loaded DOS in virtual window mode V86. Luckily this virus was born dead – its second generation refused to propagate due to several errors in the code. Besides that the infected system â€Å"hanged† if some of the programs tried to reach outside the V86 mode, for example to determine the presence of extended memory. This unsuccessful attempt to create supervisor virus remained the only one up to spring of 1997, when one Moscow prodigy released â€Å"PM. Wanderer† – a quite successful implementation of a protected mode virus. It is unclear now whether those supervisor viruses might present a real problem for users and anti-virus program developers in the future. Most likely not because such viruses must â€Å"go to sleep† while new operating systems (Windows 3. xx, Windows95/NT, OS/2) are up and running, allowing for easy detection and killing of the virus. But a full-scale stealth supervisor virus may mean a lot of trouble for â€Å"pure† DOS users, because it is absolutely impossible to detect such a stealth virus under pure DOS. Macro Virus Epidemics August 1995. All the progressive humanity, The Microsoft and Bill Gates personally celebrate the release of a new operating system Windows95. With all that noise the message about a new virus using basically new methods of infection came virtually unnoticed. The virus infected Microsoft Word documents. Frankly it wasn't the first virus infecting Word documents. Earlier before anti-virus companies had the first experimental example of a virus on their hands, which copied itself from one document to another. However nobody paid serious attention to that not quite successful experiment. As a result virtually all the anti-virus companies appeared not ready to what came next – macro virus epidemics – and started to work out quick but inadequate steps in order to put an end to it. For example several companies almost simultaneously released documents- anti-viruses, acting along about the same lines as did the virus, but destroying it instead of propagation. By the way it became necessary to correct anti-virus literature in a hurry because earlier the question, â€Å"Is it possible to infect a computer by simply reading a file† had been answered by a definite â€Å"No way! with lengthy proofs of that. As for the virus which by that time got its name, â€Å"Concept†, continued its ride of victory over the planet. Having most probably been released in some division of Microsoft â€Å"Concept† ran over thousands if not millions of computers in no time it all. It's not unusual, because text exchange in the format of Microsoft Word became in fact one of the industry standards, and to get infected by the virus it is sufficient just to open the infected document, then all the documents edited by infected copy of Word became infected too. As a result having received an infected file over the Internet and opened it, the unsuspecting user became â€Å"infection peddler†, and if his correspondence was made with the help of MS Word, it also became infected! Therefore the possibility of infecting MS Word multiplied by the speed of Internet became one of the most serious problems in all the history of existence of computer viruses. In less than a year, sometime in summer of 1996, there appeared the â€Å"Laroux† virus, infecting Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. As it had been with â€Å"Concept†, these new virus was discovered almost simultaneously in several companies. The same 1996 witnessed the first macro virus construction sets, then in the beginning of 1997 came the first polymorphic macro viruses for MS Word and the first viruses for Microsoft Office97. The number of various macro viruses also increased steadily reaching several hundreds by the summer of 1997. Macro viruses, which have opened a new page in August 1995, using all the experience in virus making accumulated for almost 10 years of continuous work and enhancements, actually do present the biggest problem for modern virology. Chronology of Events It's time to give a more detailed description of events. Let's start from the very beginning. Late 1960s – early 1970s Periodically on the mainframes at that period of time there appeared programs called â€Å"the rabbit†. These programs cloned themselves, occupied system resources, thus lowering the productivity of the system. Most probably â€Å"rabbits† did not copy themselves from system to system and were strictly local phenomena – mistakes or pranks by system programmers servicing these computers. The first incident which may be well called an epidemic of â€Å"a computer virus†, happened on the Univax 1108 system. The virus called â€Å"Pervading Animal† merged itself to the end of executable files – virtually did the same thing as thousands of modern viruses do. The first half of 1970s â€Å"The Creeper† virus created under the Tenex operating system used global computer networks to spread itself. The virus was capable of entering a network by itself by modem and transfer a copy of itself to remote system. â€Å"The Reeper† anti-virus program was created to fight this virus, it was the first known anti-virus program. Early 1980s Computers become more and more popular. An increasing number of program appears written not by software companies but by private persons, moreover, these programs may be freely distributed and exchanged through general access servers – BBS. As a result there appears a huge number of miscellaneous â€Å"Trojan horses†, programs, doing some kind of harm to the system when started. 1981 â€Å"Elk Cloner† bootable virus epidemics started on Apple II computers. The virus attached itself to the boot sector of diskettes to which there were calls. It showed itself in many ways – turned over the display, made text displays blink and showed various messages. 1986 The first IBM PC virus â€Å"Brain† pandemic began. This virus infecting 360 KB diskettes became spread over the world almost momentarily. The secret of a â€Å"success† like this late probably in total unpreparedness of computer society to such a phenomenon as computer virus. The virus was created in Pakistan by brothers Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi. They left a text message inside the virus with their name, address and telephone number. According to the authors of the virus they were software vendors, and would like to know the extent of piracy in their country. Unfortunately their experiment left the borders of Pakistan. It is also interesting that the â€Å"Brain† virus was the first stealth virus, too – if there was an attempt to read the infected sector, the virus substituted it with a clean original one. Also in 1986 a programmer named Ralph Burger found out that a program can create copies of itself by adding its code to DOS executables. His first virus called â€Å"VirDem† was the demonstration of such a capability. This virus was announced in December 1986 at an underground computer forum, which consisted of hackers, specializing at that time on cracking VAX/VMS systems (Chaos Computer Club in Hamburg). 1987 â€Å"Vienna† virus appears. Ralph Burger, whom we already now, gets a copy of this virus, disassembles it, and publishes the result in his book â€Å"Computer Viruses: a High-tech Disease†. Burger's book made the idea of writing viruses popular, explained how to do it, and therefore stimulated creating up hundreds and in thousands of computer viruses, in which some of the ideas from his book were implemented. Some more IBM PC viruses are being written independently in the same year. They are: â€Å"Lehigh†, infecting the COMMAND. COM file only; â€Å"Suriv-1† a. k. a. â€Å"April1st†, infecting COM files; â€Å"Suriv-2†, infecting (for the first time ever) EXE files; and â€Å"Suriv-3†, infecting both COM and EXE files. There also appear several boot viruses (â€Å"Yale† in USA, â€Å"Stoned† in New Zealand, â€Å"PingPong† in Italy), and the first self encrypting file virus â€Å"Cascade†. Non-IBM computers are also not forgotten: several viruses for Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST have been detected. In December of 1987 there was the first total epidemics of a network virus called â€Å"Christmas Tree†, written in REXX language and spreading itself under the VM/CMS operating environments. On the ninth of December this virus was introduced into the Bitnet network in one of West German universities, then via gateway it got into the European Academic Research Network (EARN) and then into the IBM Vnet. In four days (Dec. 13) the virus paralyzed the network, which was overflowing with copies of it (see the desk clerk example several pages earlier). On start-up the virus output an image of the Christmas tree and then sent copies of itself to all the network users whose addresses were in the corresponding system files NAMES and NETLOG. 1988 On Friday the 13 1988 several companies and universities in many countries of the world â€Å"got acquainted† with the â€Å"Jerusalem† virus. On that day the virus was destroying files which were attempted to be run. Probably this is one of the first MS-DOS viruses which caused a real pandemic, there were news about infected computers from Europe, America and the Middle East. Incidentally the virus got its name after one of the places it stroke – the Jerusalem University. â€Å"Jerusalem† together with several other viruses (â€Å"Cascade†, â€Å"Stoned†, â€Å"Vienna†) infected thousands of computers still being unnoticed – anti-virus programs were not as common then as they are now, many users and even professionals did not believe in the existence of computer viruses. It is notable that in the same year the legendary computer guru Peter Norton announced that computer viruses did not exist. He declared them to be a myth of the same kind as alligators in New York sewers. Nevertheless this delusion did not prevent Symantec from starting its own anti-virus project Norton Anti-virus after some time. Notoriously false messages about new computer viruses started to appear, causing panic among the computer users. One of the first virus hoaxes of this kind belongs to a Mike RoChenle (pronounced very much like â€Å"Microchannel†), who uploaded a lot of messages to the BBS systems, describing the supposed virus copying itself from one BBS to another via modem using speed 2400 baud for that. Funny as it may seem many users gave up 2000 baud standard of that time and lowered the speed of their modems to 1200 baud. Similar hoaxes appeared even now. The most famous of them so far are GoodTimes and Aol4Free. November 1988: a total epidemic of a network virus of Morris (a. k. a. Internet Worm). This virus infected more than 6000 computer systems in USA (including NASA research Institute) and practically paralyzed their work. Because of erratic code of the virus it sent unlimited copies of itself to other network computers, like the â€Å"Christmas Tree† worm virus, and for that reason completely paralyzed all the network resources. Total losses caused by the Morris virus were estimated at 96 millions of dollars. This virus used errors in operating systems Unix for VAX and Sun Microsystems to propagate. Besides the errors in Unix the virus utilized several more original ideas, for example picking up user passwords. A more detailed story of this virus and the corresponding incidents may be found in a rather detailed and interesting articles. December 1988: the season of worm viruses continues this time in DECNet. Worm virus called HI. COM output and image of spruce and informed users that they should â€Å"stop computing and have a good time at home!!! There also appeared new anti-virus programs for example, Doctors Solomon's Anti-virus Toolkit, being one of the most powerful anti-virus software presently. 1989 New viruses â€Å"Datacrime†, â€Å"FuManchu† appear, as do the whole families like â€Å"Vacsina† and â€Å"Yankee†. The first one acted extremely dangerously – from October 13th to December 31st it formatted hard disks. This virus â€Å"broke freeà ¢â‚¬  and caused total hysteria in the mass media in Holland and Great Britain. September 1989: 1 more anti-virus program begins shipping – IBM Anti-virus. October 1989: one more epidemic in DECNet, this time it was worm virus called â€Å"WANK Worm†. December 1989: an incident with a â€Å"Trojan horse† called â€Å"AIDS†. 20,000 copies were shipped on diskettes marked as â€Å"AIDS Information Diskette Version 2. 0†. After 90 boot-ups the â€Å"Trojan† program encrypted all the filenames on the disk, making them invisible (setting a â€Å"hidden† attribute) and left only one file readable – bill for $189 payable to the address P. O. Box 7, Panama. The author of this program was apprehended and sent to jail. One should note that in 1989 there began total epidemics of computer viruses in Russia, caused by the same â€Å"Cascade†, â€Å"Jerusalem† and â€Å"Vienna†, which besieged the computers of Russian users. Luckily Russian programmers pretty quickly discovered the principles of their work, and virtually immediately there appeared several domestic anti-viruses, and AVP (named â€Å"-V†) those time, was one of them. My first acquaintance with viruses (this was the â€Å"Cascade† virus) replaced in the world 1989 when I found virus on my office computer. This particular fact influenced my decision to change careers and create anti-virus programs. In a month the second incident (â€Å"Vacsina† virus) was closed with a help of the first version of my anti-virus â€Å"-V† (minus-virus), several years later renamed to AVP – AntiViral Toolkit Pro. By the end of 1989 several dozens of viruses herded on Russian lands. They were in order of appearance: two versions of â€Å"Cascade†, several â€Å"Vacsina† and â€Å"Yankee† viruses, â€Å"Jerusalem†, â€Å"Vienna†, â€Å"Eddie†, â€Å"PingPong†. 1990 This year brought several notable events. The first one was the appearance of the first polymorphic viruses â€Å"Chameleon† (a. k. a. â€Å"V2P1†, â€Å"V2P2†, and â€Å"V2P6†). Until then the anti-virus programs used â€Å"masks† – fragments of virus code – to look for viruses. After â€Å"Chameleon†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœs appearance anti-virus program developers had to look for different methods of virus detection. The second event was the appearance of Bulgarian â€Å"virus production factory†: enormous amounts of new viruses were created in Bulgaria. Disease wears the entire families of viruses â€Å"Murphy†, â€Å"Nomenclatura†, â€Å"Beast† (or â€Å"512†, â€Å"Number-of-Beast†), the modifications of the â€Å"Eddie† virus etc. A certain Dark Avenger became extremely active, making several new viruses a year, utilizing fundamentally new algorithms of infecting and covering of the tracks in the system. It was also in Bulgaria that the first BBS opens, dedicated to exchange of virus code and information for virus makers. In July 1990 there was an incident with â€Å"PC Today† computer magazine (Great Britain). It contained a floppy disk infected with â€Å"DiskKiller† virus. More than 50,000 copies were sold. In the second half of 1990 there appeared two Stealth monsters – â€Å"Frodo† and â€Å"Whale†. Both viruses utilized extremely complicated stealth algorithms; on top of that the 9KB â€Å"Whale† used several levels of encrypting and anti-debugging techniques. 1991 Computer virus population grows continuously, reaching several hundreds now. Anti-viruses also show increasing activity: two software monsters at once (Symantec and Central Point) issue their own anti-virus programs – Norton Anti-virus and Central Point Anti-virus. They are followed by less known anti-viruses from Xtree and Fifth Generation. In April a full-scale epidemic broke out, caused by file and boot polymorphic virus called â€Å"Tequila†, and in September the same kind of story happened with â€Å"Amoeba† virus. Summer of 1991: â€Å"Dir_II† epidemic. It was a link virus using fundamentally new methods of infecting files. 1992 Non-IBM PC and non-MS-DOS viruses are virtually forgotten: â€Å"holes† in global access network are closed, errors corrected, and network worm viruses lost the ability to spread themselves. File-, boot- and file-boot viruses for the most widely spread operating system (MS-DOS) on the most popular computer model (IBM PC) are becoming more and more important. The number of viruses increases in geometrical to progression; various virus incidents happen almost every day. Miscellaneous anti-virus programs are being developed, dozens of books and several periodic magazines on anti-viruses are being printed. A few things stand out: Early 1992: the first polymorphic generator MtE, serving as a base for several polymorphic viruses which follow almost immediately. Mte was also the prototype for a few forthcoming polymorphic generators. March 1992: â€Å"Michelangelo† virus epidemics (a. k. a. â€Å"March6†) and the following hysteria took place. Probably this is the first known case when anti-virus companies made fuss about this virus not to protect users from any kind of danger, but attract attention to their product, that is to create profits. One American anti-virus company actually announced that on the 6th of March the information on over five million computers will be destroyed. As a result of the fuss after that the profits of different anti-virus companies jumped several times; in reality only about 10,000 computers suffered from that virus. July 1992: The first virus construction sets were made, VCL and PS-MPC. They made large flow of new viruses even larger. They also stimulated virus makers to create other, more powerful, construction sets, as it was done by MtE in its area. Late 1992: The first Windows virus appears, infecting this OS's executables, and starts a new page in virus making. 1993 Virus makers are starting to do some serious damage: besides hundreds of mundane viruses which are no different than their counterparts, besides the whole polymorphic generators and construction sets, besides new electronic editions of virus makers there appear more and more viruses, using highly unusual ways of infecting files, introducing themselves into the system etc. The main examples are: â€Å"PMBS†, wording in Intel 80386 protected mode. Strange† (or â€Å"Hmm†) – a â€Å"masterpiece† of Stealth technology, however fulfilled on the level of hardware interrupts INT 0Dh and INT 76h. â€Å"Shadowgard† and â€Å"Carbunkle†, which widened debt range of algorithms of companion viruses. â€Å"Emmie†, â€Å"Metallica†, â€Å"Bomber†, â€Å"Uruguay† and â€Å"Cruncher† – the us e of fundamentally new techniques of â€Å"hiding† of its own code inside the infected files. In spring of 1993 Microsoft made its own anti-virus MSAV, based on CPAV by Central Point. 1994 The problem of CD viruses is getting more important. Having quickly gained popularity CD disks became one of the main means of spreading viruses. There are several simultaneous cases when a virus got to the master disk when preparing the batch CDs. As a result of that a fairly large number (tens of thousands) of infected CDs hit the market. Of course they cannot be cured, they just have to be destroyed. Early in the year in Great Britain there popped out two extremely complicated polymorphic viruses, â€Å"SMEG. Pathogen† and â€Å"SMEG. Queeg† (even now not all the anti-virus programs are able to give 100% correct detection of these viruses). Their author placed infected files to a BBS, causing real panic and fear of epidemics in mass media. Another wave of panic was created by a message about a supposed virus called â€Å"GoodTimes†, spreading via the Internet and infecting a computer when receiving E-mail. No such virus really existed, but after some time there appeared a usual DOS virus containing text string â€Å"Good Times†. It was called â€Å"GT-Spoof†. Law enforcement increases its activities: in Summer of 1994 the author of SMEG was â€Å"sorted out† and arrested. Approximately at the same time also in Great Britain there was arrested an entire group of virus makers, who called themselves ARCV (Association for Really Cruel Viruses). Some time later one more author of viruses was arrested in Norway. There appear some new unusual enough viruses: January 1994: â€Å"Shifter† – the first virus infecting object modules (OBJ files). â€Å"Phantom1† – the cause of the first epidemic of polymorphic virus in Moscow. April 1994: â€Å"SrcVir† — the virus family infecting program source code (C and Pascal). June 1994: â€Å"OneHalf† – one of the most popular viruses in Russia so far starts a total epidemics. September 1994: â€Å"3APA3A† – a boot-file virus epidemic. This virus uses a highly unusual way of incorporating into MS-DOS. No anti-virus was ready to meet such kind of a monster. In 1994 (Spring) one of the anti-virus leaders of that time – Central Point – ceased to exist, acquired by Symantec, which by that time managed to â€Å"swallow† several minor companies, working on anti- viruses – Peter Norton Computing, Cetus International and Fifth Generation Systems. 1995 Nothing in particular among DOS viruses happens, although there appear several complicated enough monster viruses like â€Å"NightFall†, â€Å"Nostardamus†, â€Å"Nutcracker†, also some funny viruses like â€Å"bisexual† virus â€Å"RMNS† and BAT virus â€Å"Winstart†. The â€Å"ByWay† and â€Å"DieHard2† viruses become widespread, with news about infected computers coming from all over the world. February 1995: an incident with Microsoft: Windows95 demos disks are infected by â€Å"Form†. Copies of these disks were sent to beta testers by Microsoft; one of the testers was not that lazy and tested the disks for viruses. Spring 1995: two anti-virus companies – ESaSS (ThunderBYTE anti-virus) and Norman Data Defense (Norman Virus Control) announce their alliance. These companies, each making powerful enough anti- viruses, joined efforts and started working on a joint anti-virus system. August 1995: one of the turning points in the history of viruses and anti-viruses: there has actually appeared the first â€Å"alive† virus for Microsoft Word (â€Å"Concept†). In some month the virus â€Å"tripped around the world†, pesting the computers of the MS Word users and becoming a firm No. 1 in statistic research held by various computer titles. 1996 January 1996: two notable events – the appearance of the first Windows95 virus (â€Å"Win95. Boza†) and the epidemics of the extremely complicated polymorphic virus â€Å"Zhengxi† in St. Petersburg (Russia). March 1996: the first Windows 3. virus epidemic. The name of the virus is â€Å"Win. Tentacle†. This virus infected a computer network a hospital and in several other institutions in France. This event is especially interesting because this was the FIRST Windows virus on a spree. Before that time (as far as I know) all the Windows viruses had been living only in collections a nd electronic magazines of virus makers, only boot viruses, DOS viruses and macro viruses were known to ride free. June 1996: â€Å"OS2. AEP† – the first virus for OS/2, correctly infecting EXE files of this operating system. Earlier under OS/2 there existed only the viruses writing themselves instead of file, destroying it or acting as companions. July 1996: â€Å"Laroux† – the first virus for Microsoft Excel caught live (originally at the same time in two oil making companies in Alaska and in southern African Republic). The idea of â€Å"Laroux†, like that of Microsoft Word viruses, was based on the presence of so-called macros (or Basic programs) in the files. Such programs can be included into both electronic spreadsheets of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word documents. As it turned out the Basic language built into Microsoft Excel also allows to create viruses. December 1996: â€Å"Win95. Punch† – the first â€Å"memory resident† virus for Windows95. It stays in the Windows memory as a VxD driver, hooks file access and infects Windows EXE files that are opened. In general the year 1996 is the start of widespread virus intervention into the Windows32 operating system (Windows95 and WindowsNT) and into the Microfoft Office applications. During this and the next year several dozens of Windows viruses and several hunsdreds of macro viruses appeared. Many of them used new technologies and methods of infection, including stealth and polymorphic abilities. That was the next round of virus evolution. During two years they repeated the way of improving similar to DOS viruses. Step by step they started to use the same features that DOS viruses did 10 years beforehand, but on next technological level. 1997 February 1997: â€Å"Linux. Bliss† – the first virus for Linux (a Unix clone). This way viruses occupied one more â€Å"biological† niche. February-April 1997: macro viruses migrated to Office97. The first of them turned out to be only â€Å"converted† to the format macro viruses for Microsoft Word 6/7, but also virtually immediately there appeared viruses aimed at Office97 documents exclusively. March 1997: â€Å"ShareFun† – macro-virus hitting Microsoft Word 6/7. It uses is not only standard features of Microsoft Word to propagate but also sends copies of itself via MS-Mail. April 1997: â€Å"Homer† – the first network worm virus, using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for propagation. June 1997: There appears the first self encrypting virus for Windows95. This virus of Russian origin has been sent to several BBS is in Moscow which caused an epidemic. November 1997: The â€Å"Esperanto† virus. This is the first virus that intends to infect not only DOS and Windows32 executable files, but also spreads into the Mac OS (Macintosh). Fortunately, the virus is not able to spread cross the platforms because of bugs. December 1997: new virus type, the so-called â€Å"mIRC Worms†, came into being. The most popular Windows Internet Relay Chat (IRC) utility known as mIRC proved to be â€Å"hole† allowing virus scripts to transmit themselves along the IRC-channels. The next IRC version blocked the hole and the mIRC Worms vanished. The KAMI ltd. nti-virus department has braked away from the mother company constituting the independent one what, certainly, is considered the main event of 1997. Currently the company known as Kaspersky Labs and proved to be a recognized leader of the anti-virus industry. Since 1994 the AntiViral Toolkit Pro (AVP) anti-virus scanner, main product of the company, constantly shows high results wh ile being tested by various test laboratories of all world. Creation of an independent company gave the chance to the at first small group of developers to gain the lead on the domestic market and prominence on the world one. For short run versions for practically all popular platforms were developed and released, the new anti-virus solutions offered, the international distribution and the product support networks created. October 1997: the agreement on licensing of AVP technologies use in F-Secure Anti-Virus (FSAV) was signed. The F-Secure Anti-Virus (FSAV) package was the DataFellows (Finland) new anti-virus product. Before DataFellows was known as the F-PROT anti-virus package manufacturer. 1997 was also the year of several scandals between the anti-virus main manufacturers in US and Europe. At the year beginning McAfee has announced that its experts have detected a â€Å"feature† in the antivirus programs of Dr. Solomon, one of its main competitors. The McAfee testimony stated that if the Dr. Solomon's antivirus while scanning detects several virus-types the program switches to the advanced scanning mode. What means that while scanning some uninfected computer the Dr. Solomon's anti-virus operates in the usual mode and switches to the advanced mode – â€Å"cheat mode† according to McAfee – enabling the application to detect the invisible for the usual mode viruses while testing virus collections. Consequently the Dr. Solomon's anti-virus shows both good speed while scanning uninfected disks and good virus detection ability while scanning virus collections. A bit later Dr. Solomon stroked back accusing McAfee of the incorrect advertising campaign. The claims were raised to the text – â€Å"The Number One Choice Worldwide. No Wonder The Doctor's Left Town†. At the same time McAfee was in the court together with Trend Micro, another antivirus software manufacturer, concerning the Internet and e-mail data scanning technology patent violation. Symantec also turned out to be involved in the cause and accused McAfee of using the Symantec codes in the McAfee products. And etc. The year completion by one more noteworthy event related to McAfee-name was marked – McAfee Associates and Network General have declared consolidation into the new born Network Associates company and positioning of their services not only on the anti-virus protection software market, but also on the markets of computer safety universal systems, encryption and network administration. From this the virus and anti-virus history point McAfee would correspond to NAI. 998 The virus attack on MS Windows, MS Office and the network applications does not weaken. There arose new viruses employing still more complex strokes while infecting computers and advanced methods of network-to-computer penetration. Besides numerous the so-called Trojans, stealing Internet access passwords, and several kinds of the latent administration utilities came into the computer world. Several incidents with the infected CDs were revealed – Some computer media publishers distributed CIH and Marburg (the Windows viruses) through CDs attached to the covers of their issues, with infected. The year beginning: Epidemic of the â€Å"Win32. HLLP. DeTroie† virus family, not just infecting Windows32 executed files but also capable to transmit to the â€Å"owner† the information on the computer that was infected, shocked the computer world. As the viruses used specific libraries attached only to the French version of Windows, the epidemic has affected just the French speaking countries. February 1998: One more virus type infecting the Excel tables â€Å"Excel4. Paix† (aka â€Å"Formula. Paix) was detected. This type of a macro virus while rooting into the Excel tables does not employ the usual for the kind of viruses macro area but formulas that proved to be capable of the self-reproduction code accommodation. February – March 1998: â€Å"Win95. HPS† and â€Å"Win95. Marburg† – the first polymorphous Windows32-viruses were detected and furthermore they were â€Å"in-the-wild†. The anti-virus programs developers had nothing to do but rush to adjust the polymorphous viruses detecting technique, designed so far just for DOS-viruses, to the new conditions. March 1998: â€Å"AccessiV† – the first Microsoft Access virus was born. There was no any boom about that (as it was with â€Å"Word. Concept† and â€Å"Excel. Laroux† viruses) as the computer society already got used to that the MS Office applications go down thick and fast. March 1998: The â€Å"Cross† macro-virus, the first virus infecting two different MS Office applications – Access and Word, is detected. Hereupon several more viruses transferring their codes from one MS Office application to the other have emerged. May 1998 – The â€Å"RedTeam† virus infects Windows EXE-files and dispatches the infected files through Eudora e-mail. June 1998 – The â€Å"Win95. CIH† virus epidemic at the beginning was mass, then became global and then turned to a kind of computer holocaust – quantity of messages on computer networks and home personal computers infection came to the value of hundreds if not thousands pierces. The epidemic beginning was registered in Taiwan where some unknown hacker mailed the infected files to local Internet conferences. Therefrom virus has made the way to USA where through the staff oversight infected at once several popular Web servers that started to distribute infected game programs. Most likely these infected files on game servers brought about this computer holocaust that dominated the computer world all the year. According to the â€Å"popularity† ratings the virus pushed â€Å"Word. CAP† and â€Å"Excel. Laroux† to second cabin. One should also pay attention to the virus dangerous manifestation – depending on the current date the virus erased Flash BIOS what in some conditions could kill motherboard. August 1998: Nascence of the sensational â€Å"BackOrifice† (â€Å"Backdoor. BO†) – utility of latent (hacker's) management of remote computers and networks. After â€Å"BackOrifice† some other similar programs – â€Å"NetBus†, â€Å"Phase† and other – came into being. Also in August the first virus infecting the Java executed files – â€Å"Java. StangeBrew† – was born. The virus was not any danger to the Internet users as there was no way to employ critical for the virus replication functions on any remote computer. However it revealed that even the Web servers browsers could be attacked by viruses. November 1998: â€Å"VBScript. Rabbit† – The Internet expansion of computer parasites proceeded by three viruses infecting VisualBasic scripts (VBS files), which being actively used in Web pages development. As the logical consequence of VBScript-viruses the full value HTML-virus (â€Å"HTML. Internal†) was born to life. Virus-writers obviously turned their efforts to the network applications and to the creation of full value Network Worm-Virus that could employ the MS Windows and Office options, infect remote computers and Web-servers or/and could aggressively replicate itself through e-mail. The anti-virus manufacturers world was also considerably rearranged. In May 1998 Symantec and IBM announced the union of their forces on the anti-virus market. The collective product would be under the Norton Anti-Virus trade mark distributed and the IBM Anti-Virus (IBMAV) program is liquidated. Response of the main competitors, Dr. Solomon and NAI (former McAfee), followed immediately. They issued the press-releases offering the IBM product users to promotionally replace the dead anti-virus with their own products. Less then one month later Dr. Solomon â€Å"committed suicide†. The