Measuring Intangible Assets - Apple, Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Measuring Intangible Assets - Apple, Inc - Essay Example Tangible assets are fixed assets, which have physical substance and are held for use in the production or supply of goods and services such as lands, buildings, plants, and equipment. An intangible asset is an identifiable non-monitory asset without physical substance (Weetman 2010). Examples of intangible assets are trademarks. This essay will examine patients and brand names more thoroughly. One of the most challenging principles of accounting is the recognition of intangible assets, such as trademarks and patents, and a company’s reputation in its financial statements and balance sheet. In addition, these assets are considered â€Å"non-mentionable† or in another sense â€Å"unrecognized† in the balance sheet due to the failure of the rule of recognition in measuring the cost of the asset. The conventional argument is that the company gains nothing from the intangible asset, such as reputation etc. However. intangible assets can some of the largest assets a company’ acquires. They are also one of the major factors in generating future profits. This essay investigates the value and the importance of intangible assets for Apple Inc. After conducting research and examining its annual report Apple Inc. held considerable interest for me. Apple Inc is considered the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalization of $346 billion (James 2011). One considers whether the world’s number one company has recognized their reputation in the balance sheet and whether the confidence of their consumers over the years has been recognized in the company’s financial division. After examining the company’s annual report I could locate this asset on the company’s balance sheet. Apple’s brand is valued at $153 Billion ("Trademark a name:" 2011); this is almost half of its market capitalization size and is recognized as â€Å"unmeasurable† intangible asset of its trademark, which includes its reputation.

Funds Accounting Essay Example for Free

Funds Accounting Essay Business-type organizations and not-for-profit organizations, including not-for-profit colleges, universities and health care providers b. Business-type organizations; not-for-profit organizations; and all colleges, universities and health care providers, whether organized as not-for-profit or governmental entities c. Business-type organizations only d. All entities, except for those under the jurisdiction of the American Institute of CPAs Answer: a 5. A not-for-profit organization performs all of the following activities except . Charging a fee for services provided b. Paying dividends to shareholders c. Purchasing long-lived (capital) assets d. Paying overtime to employees Answer: b 6. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) establishes financial reporting standards for state and local governmental entities. An entity possessing the following characteristics should follow GASB standards: a. The power to enact and levy a tax. b. The power to issue debt, for which its interest is exempt from federal taxation. c. The potential that a government could unilaterally dissolve the entity and assume their assets and liabilities. d. All of the above. e. Only a and b. Answer: d 7. For which types of organizations is the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) responsible for establishing accounting and financial reporting standards? a. All state, local, and Federal organizations b. All state and local governmental organizations, except for state and local governmental colleges, universities, health care providers, and utilities c. All state and local governmental organizations, including government-sponsored colleges, universities, health care providers, and utilities d. All governmental and not-for-profit organizations Answer: c 8. Which entity establishes financial accounting standards and principles for the federal government? a. FASB b. GASB c. FASAB d. None of the above. Answer: c 9. Which of the following is the most authoritative source of accounting standards for cities and counties? a. Current practices widely used by not-for-profit entities b. GASB Statements and Interpretations c. AICPA Industry Audit Guides d. Implementation guides published by GASB staff Answer: b 10. Not-for-profit organizations obtain their revenues primarily from a. Sales to customers b. Contributions from donors c. Taxes on personal property d. Taxes on real property Answer: b TRUE or FALSE State whether these statements are true or false. Discuss why the false statements are false. True a. An entity is likely to be a governmental entity if a controlling majority of its governing body is appointed by governmental officials. True b. The objective of a government is to provide services to its constituents. False c. AICPA pronouncements have approximately the same level of authority as articles appearing in the Journal of Accountancy. True d. The objective of a not-for-profit organization is to provide services to its constituents. False e. By definition, all funds have cash, financial resources, and capital resources. True f. The objective of a business organization is to enhance the wealth of its owners.

MP3 :: essays research papers fc

Executive summary It's only been about three years since a little known extension of an audio compression technique-MPEG-2 Audio Layer-3 or MP3-opened the door to being able to send large volumes of CD-quality music over the Internet by pack the equivalent of several commercial compact disks onto the equivalent of one CD platter (Lange 01). It also initiated the veritable floor of pirating activity by an underground community students and hackers. Hundreds of MP3 Internet sites sprung up overnight. At these sites, everything in music from Mozart to Marilyn Manson is being reproduced (Lange 01). Of course, it's illegal, but it's free, which has a huge appeal. Two men summarize the battle that is still raging over this new technology. On one side there's Val Azzoli, co-CEO of the Atlantic Group, which has numerous popular artists signed to their label; and on the other is the CEO of the website MP3.com, which gives away digitized songs by new artists that no one has heard of yet (Mardesich 96). While this may not sound like much of a threat, what lies at the heart of this conflict is the concern of recording industry that this new technology may chance the balance of power and if allows the shipment of music directly to the consumer (Mardesich 96). The five giant corporations that contr ol 80% of the global music industry-worth roughly $60 billion a year-have taken notice (Wood; D'arcy 42). The following discussion will explore more fully why the record companies, despite their obvious power, are scared. Pros and Cons It is the impressive 12:1 compression ratio of the MP3 that has made it so popular. While 60 or so Mbytes are needed to store a typical song, once it is converted to MP3 format it becomes a single 5 Mbyte file (Lange 01). "The advantages are obvious," commented one executive, "CD-quality sound in a small package" (Lange 01). The drawbacks are all felt by the record companies. Artists are likely to benefit, eventually, if they take advantage of the new technology and deliver their songs to their fans directly via the Internet (Mardesich 96). They'l l no longer have record companies making money off from their work and by eliminating this "middle man" could conceivably earn a great deal more then they do now. However, for the large record labels, this new technology could mean real trouble in the future. Right now, the loss are negligible. For example, Americans spent almost nothing on downloaded music in 1998, but they spent nearly $14 billion on music from stores (Mardesich 96). Nevertheless, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said that MP3 piracy may have contributed to a

Enhancing Efl Learners Writing Skill Via Journal Writing Education Essay

The accomplishment of authorship has been for old ages considered to be of import, but besides demanding and disputing for foreign linguistic communication scholars. In Enhancing EFL Learners ‘ Writing Skill via Journal Writing, Tuan points out that pupils ‘ advancement in authorship is hindered by uninteresting nature of the accomplishment itself ( Hedge, 1991: 6 ) , fright of rectification and clip force per unit area ( Weir, 1990: 61 ) . In his research, he aims at set uping whether the acquisition of composing accomplishments can be facilitated and advanced by the usage of diary authorship. The experiment took topographic point amongst 85 Vietnamese sophomore pupils of English of similar authorship proficiency. The topics, divided into Control ( CG ) and Experimental Group ( EG ) , were assigned assorted in-class authorship activities. Members of the latter were besides required to carry on a personal diary for a period of 13 hebdomads. The consequences were analysed and compared harmonizing to quantitative ( figure of words produced, figure of unfinished essays, figure of errors and mean tonss ) and qualitative methods ( questionnaire study ) . The findings province that participants from the Experimental Group produced more words, made less errors and received better tonss. Their motive has besides increased as they found the activity utile and enjoyable. It is undeniable that the pattern of composing diaries helped Experimental Group scholars develop their general composition accomplishments, nevertheless, carry oning the research in an academic environment seems slightly unequal, peculiarly when one takes into consideration Tuan ‘s motivations behind the survey and the fact that academic authorship is well different from that found in a typical foreign linguistic communication schoolroom. Britton ( 1972: 93 ) , in his acknowledged taxonomy, divided composing into three types: expressive ( exploratory ) , transactional ( explanatory ) , and poetic. This differentiation has been since supported by legion bookmans, including Phenix ( 2002: 50-52 ) and Browne ( 1999: 8-9 ) . Transactional authorship is related to academia, as it â€Å" prepares authors for engagement in their academic or professional discourse community † ( Babin and Harrison, 1999: 258 ) , while private diaries are classified as expressive composing seeing that they involve â€Å" linguistic communication near to the ego, uncovering the talker, verbalising his consciousness, exposing his stopping point relationship with the reader † ( Britton et al. , 1975: 88 ) . White ( 1995: 201 ) placed journal authorship amongst those techniques that help develop expressive, non explanatory composing accomplishments. On this footing serious uncertainties can be raised against the value of diary authors hip in developing academic authorship accomplishments. White proposes that the advancement in scholarly authorship should non be achieved by agencies of authorship, but reading: Within academic authorship, the nexus between reading and composing is extremely of import. Reading provides content every bit good as theoretical accounts. Students need developing in sum uping and rephrasing so that they can abstract thoughts from beginnings and present them within the context of their ain authorship ( White, 1995: 59 ) . It is extremely likely that by composing diaries pupils were forced to look for certain words and forms in order to convey their ideas and feelings, which developed their general authorship accomplishments and improved foreign linguistic communication competency. It is nevertheless undeniable that such development is limited to specific, repetitive set phrases and discourse ( e.g. day-to-day modus operandis ) and does non enable pupils to compose in a broad spectrum of subjects. One of the standards taken into history by the writer when measuring findings was figure of words produced. This benchmark seems nevertheless by no agencies related to truth and eloquence – standards of judgement. Undoubtedly, a greater figure of words does non guarantee the meaningfulness of vocalizations. It can, on the contrary, cause prolixity as the participants use constructions that are typical for this peculiar discourse ( e.g. disjunct adverbials ) . With mention to the statements that supported set abouting the research, one averment stated that pupils feel â€Å" uncomfortable about being corrected † and are hence afraid of perpetrating mistakes. The conversations nevertheless revealed that the pupils felt that they can larn and profit from doing mistakes, even if they encounter jobs with showing thoughts and feelings over a limited linguistics repertory. Another disagreement between the concluding behind the research and the existent results is that the challenge of developing the wont of â€Å" believing on paper † was non met by diary authorship. Despite bring forthing more words and doing less errors, huge bulk of Experimental Group pupils kept interpreting their thoughts from the First to the Second Language. Although the research has emphasised truth, instead less attending has been paid to fluency in footings of functional rightness. The interviews conducted by the research worker expose great diverseness in discourse used by the participants. The linguistic communication of the pupil who liked diary authorship appears comparatively right, but sounds unnatural and awkward. Conversely, the pupil who did non like the activity, makes a few errors, but his address comes across every bit much more natural and unschooled. On the whole, the extracts from pupils entries presented in the article are a mixture of formal and informal authorship, with phrases like â€Å" I feel like composing diaries † in one sentence, and â€Å" hence † or â€Å" a meaningful nowadays † in another. As a consequence, the concluding lingual merchandise sounds inelegant and unreal. One advantage of diary authorship is the development of certain, general authorship accomplishments. However, the virtues of diary authorship in developing academic authorship accomplishments remained unaddressed by the research. In the instance of the probe, it seems that pupils gained accomplishments they should already possess or at least pattern at the academic degree: summarising, rephrasing, critical thought, and doing their authorship cohesive.

Impact of video games in society Essay

A video game is an interactive computer that displays a video signal, allowing you to play thousands of games on your television or handheld video game device. (Wikipedia, Video Game) We have came a very long way since the very first type of video game console was invented by Ralph Baer in 1967. From the very first console, the â€Å"Brown Box† to the more interactive video game consoles such as the Wii, Playstation, XBOX or the handheld Nintendo DS. Regardless of which video game is being used, it has made a huge impact in life’s of many children, as well as adults today. In the beginning, the games were user friendly and parents did not have much to worry about if they purchased a video game for their child. Take Pac Man for example, a very simple game where the player â€Å"Pac Man† eats dots and tries to avoid getting touched by an enemy. Now in 2012, we have games such as Call of Duty which focuses on killing members of the opposite team. As we as a society became more developed in technology, the video game systems became more and more high tech. For today’s generation, playing a 3D interactive video game is normal. The manifest function of video game systems of today is the ability to connect the console to your television and even internet and play virtually with friends online. In 2009, it was reported by the Entertainment Software Association that nearly sixty-eight percent of households told have at least one gaming system. There are many video games aimed at children today that can be used as a learning tool. However, the amount of violent games greatly outweighs the educational ones. There are many sociological impacts from video gaming systems today. Gaming systems are a very popular way of keeping children and teenagers entertained. Teenagers and children are becoming more and more addicted to these gaming systems everyday, which could lead to many issues such as poor school work or childhood obesity. Instead of doing homework or playing outside as we did before video games became popular, children are spending hours a day sitting on the couch due to the addictiveness of these games. Many of the games being sold today are full violence and teaching children bad morals such as sexuality, drug trafficking and even rape. According to Dr.Craig Morrison, a professor of psychology at Iowa State University, even if children are playing games without violence, these children are forty percent more likely to show aggressive behavior after playing. The latent functions of these video gaming systems are quite clear. If we continue to allow children to play them it will lead to childhood obesity, violence as they grow older and even lack of motivation to communicate with the real world. In 2007 a sixteen year old boy in Ohio killed his own mother and shot his father simply because they took a game away from him, â€Å"Halo 3. † According to the boy’s lawyer, he was injured in an accident that did not allow him to go anywhere, so he focused all of his time, energy, and mostly anger on playing this video game. When his parents decided the game was too violent, they took it away, causing the boy to snap. This is just one example of how video games can unintentionally lead to violence, and in this case death. The University of Texas performed a study on the relations of childhood obesity and video games. Results were found to be that video games, due to their addictiveness were the cause of the children’s overweight status, and not linked to watching television as some may argue. It was found that children with a high weight status spent more time inside and less time performing outside activities, such as sports or riding bicycles. Perhaps the parents are to blame for allowing their children to do this; however, many parents today are of the working class group, sometimes being forced to leave their children unattended to do whatever they please. Each and every video game is required to have a rating. There are seven total. Early childhood being the most non-violent and inappropriate. The rating Adults Only, requiring the purchaser to be eighteen years or older. Titles in this category usually include scenes of intense violence and or graphic sexual content and nudity. Even with the ratings, these video games are still getting into the hands of children. As our society and technology begins to grow, the problem will continue to worsen. Citations: (Iowa State University Newspaper Article) http://www. public. iastate. edu/~nscentral/news/2007/mar/vvg. shtml (Cleavlead. com Article) http://blog. cleveland. com/metro/2008/12/boy_killed_mom_and_shot_dad_ov. html.

The 22nd Amendment Sets Presidential Term Limits

The 22nd Amendment Sets Presidential Term Limits The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes term limits for persons elected to the office of President of the United States. It also sets additional eligibility conditions for presidents, who after assuming the office through succession, serve out the unexpired terms of their predecessors. Under the 22nd Amendment, no person may be elected president more than twice and no person who has already served or acted as president for more than two years of an unexpired term may be elected president more than once. The joint resolution proposing the 22nd Amendment was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification on March 24, 1947. The 22nd Amendment was ratified by the required 36 of the then-48 states on February 27, 1951. Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment states: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. History of the 22nd Amendment Before the adoption of the 22nd Amendment, there was no statutory limit on the number of terms a president could serve. The Constitution merely stated that the president’s term in office lasted four years. The Founding Fathers had believed that the shifting political views of the people and the Electoral College process would prevent third presidential terms. After George Washington and Thomas Jefferson chose to limit their presidencies to two terms, the two-term limit became a respected tradition- sort an unwritten rule. The two-term tradition held sway until 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt chose to run for a third term. With the nation facing the Great Depression followed closely by World War II, Roosevelt was elected to not only a third but a fourth term, serving a total of 12 years in office before his death in 1945. While FDR was the only president to be elected to a third term, he was not the first to try. Both Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt had run unsuccessfully for third terms. In the 1946 midterm elections, just 18 months after Democrat FDR had died in office, many Republican candidates made limiting presidential tenure a large part of their campaign platforms. In the election, Republicans succeeded in winning control of both the House and Senate and immediately pushed the 22nd Amendment establishing presidential term limits to the top of the legislative agenda when the 80th Congress convened in January 1947. In less than one month- on February 6, 1947- the House of Representatives, with the support of 47 Democrats, passed a joint resolution proposing the 22nd Amendment by a vote of 285-121. After resolving differences with the House’s version, the Senate passed the amended joint resolution on March 12, 1947, by a vote of 59–23, with 16 Democrats voting in favor. The 22nd Amendment imposing presidential term limits was submitted to the states for ratification on March 24, 1947. Three years and 343 days later, on February 27, 1951, the 22nd Amendment was fully ratified and incorporated into the Constitution. The Constitution’s Framers and Presidential Term Limits The Constitution’s Framers had little to go on as they debated how long the president should be allowed to hold office. The Constitution’s predecessor, the Articles of Confederation, provided for no such office, granting Congress both legislative and executive powers instead. Their only other example of a supreme national executive- the King of England- against whom they had just revolted, was a troubling model. Some of the Framers, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, argued that presidents should serve for life and be appointed by Congress, rather than elected by the people. Of course, that sounded far to â€Å"kinglike† for others, like Virginia’s George Mason, who said it would make the American presidency an â€Å"elective monarchy.† Surprisingly, however, when Hamilton and Madison’s proposal for lifelong, appointed presidents came to a vote, it failed by only two votes.      With the â€Å"presidents-for-life† option off the table, the Framers debated whether presidents could be re-elected or be term-limited. Most of them opposed term limits, arguing for presidents who would be elected by Congress and could run for re-election an unlimited number of times. But that, warned Gouverneur Morris, would tempt incumbent presidents to make corrupt, secret deals with Congress in order to get re-elected. That argument led the Framers to adopt Article II of the Constitution with its complicated and still controversial Electoral College method of electing presidents with no term limits. Since the 22nd Amendment amended Article II in 1951, some politicians and constitutional scholars have argued that desperate circumstances, like the Great Depression and World War II faced by Franklin Roosevelt, warranted unlimited presidential terms. Indeed, some two-term presidents of both parties, including Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, lamented their constitutional inability to run for third terms. 22nd Amendment Key Takeaways The 22nd Amendment establishes term limits for the President of the United StatesUnder the 22nd Amendment, no person may be elected President of the United States more than twice.The 22nd Amendment was approved by Congress on March 24, 1947, and ratified by the states on February 27, 1951. References Neale, Thomas H. (October 19, 2009). â€Å"Presidential Terms and Tenure: Perspectives and Proposals for Change.† Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress.Buckley, F. H.; Metzger, Gillian. â€Å"Twenty-second Amendment.† The National Constitution Center.Peabody, Bruce. Presidential Term Limit.† The Heritage Foundation. Updated by Robert Longley

6 Things You Must Do Before That Successful Interview

6 Things You Must Do Before That Successful Interview Getting an interview feels like a victory, doesn’t it? It means you’re one step closer to that job, and makes a black-and-white online job posting seem like more of a reality. After you do your happy I-got-the-interview dance, it’s time to start thinking ahead for the interview itself. Here are six things you can do ahead of time to set yourself up right for the big day.1. Plan your outfit.This doesn’t just apply to fashionistas. Figuring out ahead of time what you’ll be wearing can take one major thing off your mind the day of the interview. It also lets you plan ahead for small (but crucial) touches like making sure your clothes are cleaned and pressed on time or that your lucky interview shoes are shined up and ready to walk into the room like a boss.2. Get your talking points in order.Review the job listing, and remind yourself how your skills and experience dovetail with what the company’s seeking in this role. Then, be sure to practice working those into a conversation. Naturally.  No one wants to be hit with a barrage of canned-sounding bullet points†¦ especially if you were asked to name a few of your strengths, and you respond with a memorized monologue about your achievements from your last job.3. Take another pass at your resume.You should have reviewed your resume before you applied for the job (please tell me you did!), but even so, take a fresh look at it. Is there anything you can tighten up before you walk into the interview as an ambassador for yourself and your work achievements? Once you feel good about the content and of your resume and have caught every typo, make sure to print copies (on high-quality paper, whenever possible) to take with you on interview day.4. Put on your researcher hat.Learn as much as you possibly can about the company before you go in. Can you tell anything about their corporate culture from their social media accounts? Have they been in the news for anything lately? If there’s been a scandal, obviously don’t eagerly bring it up in the interview. But if the company has been involved in something cool or newsworthy, it’s good to have that info stored and ready to go.5. Practice your smile.Spend a few moments rehearsing your interview smile in the mirror each night before you go to bed. Work on your most confident, pleasant smile, and be ready to break it out for every  person you meet during the interview (receptionists, assistants, interviewers). You can also practice with loved ones, or take some selfies to review and find the best â€Å"hire me† grin.6. Have your thank-you letters ready to go.The night before your interview, type up a template for your thank-you notes to your interviewers. That way, after you walk out of the interview you just have to enter a few crucial details (the person’s name, email address, and ideally a specific reference or two to the conversation you had), then hit send. Easy peasy.A little extra care and planning as you get ready for the interview can be the edge you need to get you to that next step: the job offer. After all, the interview is the only thing keeping you from an even better happy dance: the I-got-the-job one.