Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Marketing - Essay Example With time the bank has been able to establish a good market position in Europe, US and Asia. The products and services offered by the bank range from fund management, stocks and annuities to mutual funds, asset management and health & life insurance schemes. The bank has built its portfolio based on tradition and acquisitions pursued over the years. UBS has successfully entrenched itself in the various business segments and its wide range of customer services are highly valued by the global clients (Thirkell-White, 2004). Strengths Umbrella brand strategy- It has been observed that ‘umbrella brands’ used by the firms, with multi-business operations, foster improved market penetration. An umbrella brand refers to the use of a common brand for various businesses. UBS has also adopted this concept of a single brand across all its businesses by abolishing the local brands in order to form a â€Å"global umbrella brand†. By leveraging the reputation and trust effects a ssociated with a strong brand image a firm can make use of various growth opportunities. To make use of the growth synergies that comes along with it, Swiss based bank UBS recently moved towards an ‘umbrella brand’. ... UBS officials viewed that the adoption of ‘one brand for all its businesses could convey the bank’s core values to the clients more effectively and consistently. The bank seems to be reaping the benefits of this umbrella brand. The brand value of UBS has increased from US$6.5 billion in 2004 to US$8.7 billion in 2006. Besides this the customers increasingly affirm to the key attributes of the bank like â€Å"UBS is a global power-house†; â€Å"UBS takes time to understand us† and â€Å"UBS has superior expertise† (Knoll, 2008, p.164). The strength of UBS is reflected from the rise in its brand value over the years. As per the survey conducted by Business Week in 2007 the bank’s brand value is nearly $9.8 billion and it ranks among the top forty most valuable brands in the world. The brand value of the bank enhanced significantly by nearly 13% in the year 2007. This is very important in making customer recall and leads to improved market penetr ation. UBS has an international clientele base. The global nature of its business operations creates additional value for its customers by integrating the expertise and resources of its various business segments. Competitive advantages of UBS- The strength of a business strategy is based on the competitive advantages that it enjoys as compared to the rival firms. According to Porter competitive advantage lies at the centre of the performance delivered by a firm in a competitive market scenario. This means that competitive advantages imply product differentiation, low costs etc (University of Northern Iowa, n.d.). The present business mix of UBS is a by-product of many years of development, acquisitions and internal growth. UBS has consistently worked towards

Imagery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imagery - Essay Example However, the poem states that in the end, all these vanish. In the second line, â€Å"her hardest hue to hold, â€Å"Frost sees nature to contain elements of femininity. This means nature is fertile, productive and it has a feminine force. Consequently, nature is entirely powerful because it is able to carry the hue of gold. Therefore, when a leaf blossoms, they are seen to contain a lot of chlorophyll that makes them heavy. Usually when a leaf turns gold, it becomes bulky than the original green color, hence substituting them. The poem still focuses on the youth as it explains converting metaphors into images of nature. â€Å"The early leaf† is a rebirth of the â€Å"first green.† This means, for a child to become an adult, they have to undergo certain passage rites. The leaf and the color represent the tribulations of life. From the young green leaves of the spring season, the whole tree grows controlling the various natural processes that the tree will encounter. In the line† So Eden sank to grief, â€Å"Frost attempts to establish a connection between the green and gold colors. He further uses the myth of Eden to show originality in nature. The gold and green can also be interpreted to symbolize the persistent attitude of nature. This means that as the night goes into rest (gold), the new day is born (green).Consequently, gold color flourishes during the night, whereas the green color blossoms during daytime (Frost, 1995). This is a fundamental concept of nature that is irreversibl e. The â€Å"early leaf† of the day contains forgiveness. This is explained in reference to the Garden of Eden when lack of knowledge is expressed, and the concept of life and death emerges. Forgiveness however, lasts for â€Å"an hour.† This is not surprising because as stated by the poem â€Å"nothing gold can stay.† William Carlos Williams captures the normal daily activities in

Different Aspects of Evidence Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Different Aspects of Evidence Law - Case Study Example Usually evidence of some struggle or resistance by the complainant maybe the best proof of lack of consent but this is not always necessary. It will be recalled in the case D.P.P. v Morgan3 the House of Lords held that if an accused person believed that the woman was consenting he should not be guilty of rape even though he had no reasonable grounds for his belief. The mental element of rape is intention to have sexual intercourse without the woman's consent or not. The sexual offences (Amendment) Act 1976 amended the law relating to rape in England by providing that a man commits rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman who does not consent to it; and at the time he knows that she does not consent to it or he is reckless as to whether she consents to it. The amendment in effect confirmss the decision in D.P.P. v Morgan. A similar case was reported in Jamieson v HMA4 This Scottish criminal case decided by the High Court of Justiciary on appeal held that a man does not commit rape where he honestly, albeit unreasonably, believes his victim is consenting. For the facts of the case: Phil raped Jill in a lane close to the house that Jill shares with her mother, Bunty, and her two sisters, Joleen and Shula. Bunty was still up when Jill returned home on the night of the alleged rape, but Jill said nothing about it. She did not mention it to her mother or sisters the next morning, but told Joleen about it two days after the alleged incident. Whatever reason made her to report an incidence, as rape 2 days after it occurred is very suspicious. Rape, as stated earlier is a criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment. Not telling of the incident the moment it happened could mean that she was not raped on that night. It could be that she finds Phil as the most culpable person to put a rape charge on when she was raped two days after having sex with Phil. The doctrine of break in chain of causation could be applied here. Lord Hoffman in Environment Agency v. Empress Car Company Ltd5 had spelt out the test of causation: whether the intervening act was an "ordinary" occurrence, which would not be a novus actus, or something "extraordinary". In this case Jill is claiming to have been raped by Phil and did not report the rape to her mother on the night neither did she scream for help from passersby. The delay in reporting the issue of rape can cause for the doctrine of break in chain of causation to be applied. The period bet ween when she alleged the offence to have been committed and the period of reporting it is so long that any thing could have happened within that period. This makes her claim of being raped by Phil very questionable. Phil and Jill have a one-year

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 35

History - Essay Example It is for this notion alone that the memorial is more commonly known today as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The integration of the subterranean museum to the memorial is a good idea to give the whole structure a more relative association to the Holocaust. In a way this could serve as a cohesive rationalization that the visual abstract from the ideological meaning. This thought of commemoration is the entire reason behind all the controversies, praises and criticisms, behind Peter Eisenman’s work. The opinion of Prof. Norman Finkelstein is quite understandable from his perspective as and his viewpoint of the whole scenario as an industry. This is quite an entangled revisionist theory that sees all that happened under a very different life than all that is contained in most history books pertaining to World War II. Finkelstein opinion of a Holocaust Memorial in Washington DC is not without its merit. The whole endeavour seems futile as there is, in my view, no direct correlation that sufficiently necessitates it. This does, to a certain extent, instigates the exploitation of the Holo caust and the emotions it

Of Mice and Men Novel Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Novel Essay The novel was set in California in 1937, on a barley farm. The book is about 2 guys named George and Lennie. They are 2 friends who travels around together going from workplace to work place, earning there keep. To achieve a dream a dream of owning there own piece of land to do whatever they want. There are alot of characters that are lonely in this novel. Candy is one, he is the oldest worker on the farm, and with being a pensioner he is also disabled, but not bye mental, but only has one hand. I think this is why people on the ranch dont really want to know him. Hes old and one-handed. Krooks is another lonely individual on the ranch, hes also one of a kind in the book. Hes the only black person there. Back then it was extremely common for there to be racism, so the fact that a negro was on the ranch made it incredibly hard for him. Curleys wife is another example of one of a kind on the ranch, she is the only woman on the ranch. Her husband curly is full of himself, and is always looking for a fight. So in order to speak to Curleys wife, is just asking for trouble. This doesnt help her, because at first people just think shes a slapper whose trying to get the guys at the ranch in trouble. but she really cant help feeling lonely and wanting a conversation with a human being now and then. Feisty Curly is very strict over her and almost has her imprisoned. A way Steinbeck has done this is because you dont even know her name. the fact that no one wants to get to know her, or just the fact she is kept away from society we dont even know her name. George and Lennie are two guys who are travelling around together, working around wherever they can to earn some money. George is the smaller of the two but the one with the brains. Lennie on the other hand is a big strong lump. The classic type of couple to go travelling around. Lennie isnt just all brute force, he is actually very affectionate he likes soft animals that he can pet. He doesnt quite understand his own power, as you will find out later. George takes care of Lennie through there travels, because Lennie wouldnt survive by himself. Even though Lennie is a burden on George, he doesnt just leave Lennie because he knows that hed be nothing without him. Lennie does respect George though like an older brother or parent, he will listen to everything George says and do it. But everyone else he couldnt give a damn! After a discussion Lennie and George were having about there dream place, George announces to Lennie he knows somewhere like theyve always talked about. Candy over hears as he is still in the room. Now Candy is an old swamper, who spends his time sweeping. He doesnt want to live the rest of his life like this. He interrupts there conversation, to give George a proposition of helping them out with the land. He offered a huge sum of money towards it. Maybe he was also buying himself into a relationship. He also offers to cook clean and other various chores around the place. After he offers the money they cant resist the offer or there dream would stay a dream forever. But I think they knew they could trust Candy as he hasnt got anything to live for or in any way betray the two. Crooks is the only nigger in this story. I think Steinbeck gave a sense that even if you didnt read the description of crooks you would know he was different somehow. He isnt allowed to play cards with the other guys in the bunkhouse, hes not even aloud in the bunkhouse. He has his own room out in the stables, its kind off like theyve just said, now hes out with the other animals. Just because he is a different colour, they just look down on him, like he is an animal. This shows the extent of the racism. But in one way this is the one thing, crook is aloud to have, that is his own personal space. I think the others respect this as they know if they want to come in, then they need his permission first. He is very sour towards white people, as what they have pout him and his family through for generations. So he is very bitter against racists, and white people in general. When Lennie is in the barn, after his pup died, via the over petting from Lennie. Curlys wife enters the scene. They sit and talk, at first Lennie wants to obey Georges orders, but she convinces him to settle down. I think Steinbeck made this scene more than just to put an end to Curlys wife. I think its also to bring the two most lonely people on the ranch together. All the men are outside horseshoeing, apart from Lennie. And Curlys wife just expelled from everyone as per usual. So after talking, they seem to have made friends. When lennie talks about his love of animals and soft things, she says he can touch her hair, because its soft. But now after Lennie touches her hair it has flipped the story right round to the beginning. Lennie not understanding the delicate female emotions. After stroking her hair for abit, she asks him to stop. But Lennie cant resist, and just has to keep stroking her. After this she thinks shes being attacked or assaulted. She gets very panicky, and starts screaming. This gets George very confused and scared. In shock he pleas for her to stop, with his hands around her mouth. This just gets her even more scared and she keeps going. Lennie not knowing what to do, gets angry that shes not listening to him and violently shakes her. Resulting in her breaking her neck. After he realises what hes done. He remembers what George told him, and runs away to the riverside where he was told to go if he caused trouble. Now after everyone had found out Curleys wife was dead George and curly knew there dream was shattered. Theres nothing they could do to save Lennie from a fait ending only with death. Candy seems very thoughtless and selfish, when he asks George George can we still do it? But I think hes just trying to keep his dream alive for a little more. He really needed an outlet from the life he is leading at this time. George must have been quite offended, especially how close he was to Lennie. But they both must have been annoyed. Theyve both just had there dream shattered in a moment. I think Candy wanted to keep it alive just for a little longer.

Face recognition

Face recognition Face recognition are processes involved in recognition of faces. Explanations of face recognition include feature analysis versus holistic forms. Remembering and recognising faces are an important skill one applies each day of their lives. It is important to the social interactions, to work and school activities, and in peoples personal family lives. Although most of the research in this area has been undertaken on faces it is in fact rare in real life that we need to identify someone from their face alone. Information from a persons clothes, voice, mannerisms etc, and the context in which we encounter them all help in the identification process Sometimes we fail to recognise someone because they are not wearing the clothes we normally see them in or because they are in an unexpected context. Holistic form theory is an unconventional to feature analysis approach to face recognition. Although features are important in describing faces and therefore do have some role to play in face recognition, dependence only on bottom up processing for such a complex activity is very unlikely. Bruce and Young (1986) proposed a top down approach to face recognition in which they argued that recognising a face is a highly complex process involving stored knowledge of semantic and emotional information and is therefore much more than adding together the sum total of a faces features. According to the Holistic approach a face is recognised as a whole, analysing not just the separate features but also the configuration of the face, the relationship between the individual features, feelings aroused by the face and semantic information about the face. Such an approach is sometimes referred to as a template model (Ellis 1975) whereby we have a stored template or pattern for each person as we k now and when presented with a face try to match this stimulus to our mental template. Several studies illustrate how recognition depends on the layout or configuration of the face as a whole. Young and Hay (1986) demonstrated the importance of configurable processing of faces. They cut pictures of famous faces horizontally and ensured the participants could recognise the two separate halves. Then they combined two separate halves together and measured time taken to and accuracy of, naming the top and bottom halves of the composite figures. This proved very difficult for participants as the composite seemed to produce a new holistic face in which it was difficult to perceive the separate halves. A particularly intriguing find was that if the composite faces were inverted participants could name the to half much better than when the faces were the correct way up, despite the fact that inverted faces are normally much harder to recognise. Similar research involves disrupting the configuration of the faces in other ways, either by scrambling the facial features or by inverting the face. Haig (1984) showed how recognition times increased for faces of famous people where the spacing between features or the configuration of features had been altered. Yin (1969) found that inverted faces are much harder to recognise. Although errors are found when attempting to recognise any object that has been inverted, faces seem to produce particular difficulties. Cohen (1989) suggests that this demonstrates that faces are normally recognised holistically, and inversion destroys the global pattern relationships between features. Thus, such findings could be interpreted as evidence for the holistic approach to face recognition.Mohammad A consensus has developed that the process underlying face identification (meaning the process by which a person recognizes a visual stimulus as being Aunt Bertha, my mail carrier, or Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the process underlying most forms of basic-level object recognition (Meaning the process by which a person recognizes a visual stimulus as being a table, a boat, or a human face) are different. A number of lines of evidence showing dissociations between face identification and basic-level object recognition support this conclusion. For example, faces are more difficult to identify in photographic negatives than are basic-level objects (Bruce Langton, 1994; Galper, 1970; Galper Hochberg, 1971; Phillips, 1972), and faces show greater recognition costs when turned upside down than do basic-level objects (Carey Diamond, 1977;Scapinello Yarmey, 1970; Yin, 1969; see Valentine, 1988, for a review). Additional evidence that face identification and basic level object recognition are accomplished by different processes comes from work in neuroscience. Sergent, Ohta, and MacDonald (1992), using positron emission tomography (PET), found regions of the right hemisphere that become active during face identification that are not active during basic-level object recognition. Further, a righthemisphere advantage for identifying faces is well documented (for reviews, see Davidoff, 1982; H. D. Ellis, 1983), whereas the evidence for hemispheric specialization during basic-level object recognition is far less clear, with some studies finding a left-hemisphere advantage (Bryden Rainey, 1963; McKeever Jackson, 1979; Wyke Ettlinger, 1961; Young, Bion, Ellis, 1980), others finding aright-hemisphere advantage (Schmuller Goodman, 1980), and still others finding no advantage for one hemisphere over the other (Biederman Cooper, 1991; Kimura Durnford, 1974; Levine Banich, 1982). Perhaps the most persuasive evidence that basic-level object recognition and face identification are accomplished by different processes comes from studies of brain-damaged patients showing a neurological double dissociation between the two processes. Farah (1994) found 27 cases in the literature in which patient showed impaired face identification but intact basiclevel object recognition and 16 cases in which a patient showed impaired basic-level object recognition but intact face identification, arguing strongly that different neural subtract underline with two tasks Given that face identification and basic-level object recognition occur through different processes, the next logical question to consider is how the memory representations used for the two processes might differ. The most common speculation in the current literature is that faces use configured or holistic representations, whereas basic-level objects use featural representations. Unfortunately, this method of characterizing the differences in the representations is rather vague, and as OToole, Abdi, Deffenbacher, and Valentin (1995) and Bruce and Humphreys (1994) pointed out, it has different meanings for different researchers. When researchers say that face identification uses Further support for a holistic model of face recognition comes from studies investigating the superiority of recognition over recall. People have been found to be consistently better at recognising faces seen before than they are at recalling them. A study by Ellis et al (1975) illustrates the difficulties involved in recalling faces. Participants were shown six photographs of male faces for ten seconds and then asked them immediately to recall the face so that it could be reconstructed using photo fit materials. When judges attempted to pick out the target face from the photo fit reconstructions only an average of 12.5% identifications were correct indicating that the reconstructed faces did not closely resemble the original stimulus face. It seems that in order to describe a face we need to convert our stored mental representations of that face into words. The fact that this seems to be so difficult and so ineffective as illustrated in this study would indicate that we do store faces as wholes rather than as sets of separate features. According to Bruce and Youngs Holistic model of face recognition there are different types of information that can be obtained from faces, some of which are used for familiar faces and others for unfamiliar faces. When firstly we see a face it is encoded structurally, meaning that we encode the visual information, processing the look of the face. If this matches an existing face recognition unit (FRU) then this will be activated. The FRU contains not just physical information but also semantic knowledge. Activation of the FRU triggers activation of the person identity node which enables access to a wealth of information about the person including their occupation, interests, where we normally encounter them, whether we are comfortable with them or not, whether we have friends in common or not. The final stage in the recognition process allows for name generation. According to Bruce and Young names are stored separately to the FRU and person identity nodes but can only be accessed via the identity nodes. This would explain the frustrating and embarrassing experience of knowing lots of details about a person we meet but not being able to think of their name. Young, Hay and Ellis tested the Holistic model in 1985. They asked participants to keep a diary and record problems experienced in face recognition every day. Out of 1008 incidents there were no reports of naming an individual without knowing other information about them. But in 190 cases the opposite occurred, participants reported knowing information about individuals but could not name them. These findings are consistent with the sequence of events proposed by the holistic model where by names can only be accessed if semantic information been accessed first. Further analysis of the diary data showed that of the 1008 incidents there were 233 reports of experiencing familiarity without any personal information being available. Again this supports the sequential nature of the model as these would be cases where an FRU has been triggered causing the feeling of familiarity, but the identity Node has failed to activate, hence the lack of availability of any further information about the person. Holistic form theory is an alternative to feature analysis approach to face recognition. Although features are important in describing faces and therefore do have some role to play in face recognition, reliance only on bottom up processing for such a complex activity is very unlikely. According to the Holistic approach a face is recognised as a whole, analysing not just the separate features but also the configuration of the face, the relationship between the individual features, feelings aroused by the face and semantic information about the face. There is also another theory called feature analysis theory which is an example of a bottom up theory in which it is suggested that analysis if individual facial features plays a crucial role in face recognition.

Forgery And Plagiarism | Analysis

Forgery And Plagiarism | Analysis To falsify something for the purpose of deceiving someone is known as forgery which is a crime. Forgery can be in the form of counterfeiting or art forgery but every kind of forgery is considered a crime. Forgery in the case of counterfeiting is severely punished. Crime has been there since the world came into being but it started to flourish in the twentieth century when several prospects for forged activities arose. Greeks and Romans signed their art with other peoples names and hoped that a big name would be capitalized. Similarly, coins and paper money have been faked by counterfeiters since they were introduced in the world. Some acts of ancient forgery were so impressive that they have been placed in museums for display and in some instances, pieces of art havent been exposed as forged work for centuries after the museums and galleries got hold of them, very much to the shame of the staff. (Smith, 2010) Definition of Forgery To illegally modify or reproduce a document, signature, an instrument, legal tender or any other means of storing information is known as forgery. Any item that is copied is also considered forged. (forgery Definition) When something is forged, a piece of art for the purpose of mimicking the style of a popular artist is made by a person and signed with the name of the artist. Usually, the work of dead artists is forged because their work cannot be testified. A few art forgers are very sharp. They utilize several techniques so that it becomes hard to detect a fake. Similarly, several techniques are used by art historians for examining art in the hopes of detecting forged works from real works of art. To forge documents is a profitable endeavor in several parts of the world. Identification, certificates of title to property and other such documents can be generated by forgers for cheating. In a few cases, documents are forged for kind purposes such as to enter an establishment with age restrictions and in many cases forgery is done for more sinister purposes such as to detect theft. Several precautions are taken when official documents are made like the use of special inks and papers so that forgery is made difficult. Forgery is a growing problem in the financial world. Currencies are actually made by forgers which is known as counterfeiting but fake checks and other important financial documents are also signed which cause a lot of problems even if the crime is detected. To examine suspicious documents and other material that might have been forged is called questionable document examination. Individuals, who choose to study forgery, may select a specific kind of forgery to speci alize. Those who specialize in forgery may analyze things such as medieval paintings, title deeds, currency with the help of several instruments and techniques to detect forgeries. (Smith, 2010) Types of Forgery Forgery is of three main types and all the types of forgery are common these days because of the advanced technology. The three types of forgery are: Altered documents. Signature forgery. False documents. Altered Documents Forgers can change documents for their benefit by altering the information within a particular document. Household bleach, paint thinners or special ink rubbers to a check can be applied to make changes to documents. Forgers can attempt to alter the amount or change the payee on a check easily. Most of the times, these alterations are not detected. Some forgers alter documents by using cut and paste technique. Others alter documents with the help of technology. Nowadays, documents can be easily scanned into a computer and the details along with the image can be altered within a few minutes. With the help of color inkjet printers, new documents can be created by forgers that look just like or even better than the original documents. A student in the United States got admission to New York University (NYU) with the help of a forged college record. The forged college record was obtained by taking the college record of another student going to another college, and then the students name, grades and other details were changed and blank forms were obtained and printed from a local print shop. Fake classes and grades were filled in by the student which he sent to New York University with the admissions application. Signature Forgery Signature forgery is thought to be the easiest type of forgery. The forger obtains a document from another individual and that individuals name is signed on it. It is difficult to find out the forger even if the forgery is uncovered. False Documents Forgers easily create false documents because computers, printers and scanners are easily available all over the world. To create false documents, a check or a business card can be scanned not considering what the business card or check looks like. Forgers can steal large sums of money by cashing forged checks. Just like signature forgery, by the time, forgery is uncovered it becomes impossible to track down the forger. (Forgery ICU 97-02) Forged Writing To make or alter a written instrument for fraudulent activities or to deceive someone such as to sign another individuals name to a check is known as forged writing. Writing payees endorsement or signing a check without the permission of the payee or the related authority. The true owner of a check is the payee to whom the check should be paid. Forgery at common law is the fraudulent making and alteration of a writing to the prejudice of another mans right. (Forgery Defined Explained) It was defined by a modern writer as a false making; a making malo animo, of any written instrument, for the purpose of fraud and deceit. (Forgery Defined Explained) Forgery is a crime which is subjected to punishment by the state and national governing bodies. To make a whole written document in the name of another individual for the purpose of fraud by altering or erasing any material part of the document which gives a new meaning to it, is considered forgery though the document maybe used by someone who is not aware of the forgery. To sign a false document or any other instrument with a true signature for which it was not intended or vice versa is also considered forgery. For example, a person might be asked to draw a will for an ill person in a specific way but what he might do is that he inserts legacies of his own head and then procures the signature of that ill person who asked him to draw the will without letting him know that the legacies have been deceitfully inserted. Sometimes a person may copy a receipt, add words in the original and then offer it as a proof on the basis that the original receipt was lost, that person too may be punished forgery. At times the name and character of another living person is assumed by a party in the writing. But to adopt a false description and to add, when a false name is not written or assumed and no individual answers the description, then it wont be prosecuted as forgery. To make a document in a pretended name or the name of someone who does not exist is a kind of f orgery which is just like creating a document in the name of a living individual and however a document may be made by someone in his own name, if he represents it as the document of another individual of the same name when actually that person does not exist, then it will be considered forgery in the name of the person who does not exist but the accuracy of this decision is doubted. Generally, a person cannot be guilty of forgery on doubt, however in writing a will, a legacy is deceitfully omitted which he was told to insert and by omitting that legacy, a material alteration would be caused, or in other cases, a devise of an estate for life to one is omitted, as a result of which, devise of the same property to another to pass a present estate which would have passed remains only, then it will be considered a forgery. It may be seen that the crime of forgery may be complete without publishing a forged document. For a document to be forged the purpose of making the document must be to defraud another person but it is not necessary that anyone of the persons is hurt. It is enough that the forged document is proven harmful. Laws have been passed in most of the states which make some acts to be considered forgery and Congress has also enacted some laws on forgery. (Forgery Defined Explained) Signs for Forged Checks There are several signs which may detect a forged check. However any one sign does not necessarily mean that the check is forged. The more the number of signs, higher are the chances of forgery. The signs are: Perforations maybe lacked on the check. There is a missing digit from the check number or it does not change. Personal checks having a low check number such as from 101 to 400 and from 1001 to 1500 on business checks. Around ninety percent of forgeries are done on accounts that are less than a year old. The font that has been used to print the customers name seems obviously different from the font used to print the address. Additions have been made to the check such as the phone numbers are written by hand. The address of the customer is not present on the check. The address of the bank is not present on the check. There are marks on the check because of the changes. The MICR coding on the bottom of the check is shiny. Real magnetic ink appears to be dull. The check number and the MICR coding do not match. There are missing MICR digits. The district of the bank and the routing symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the check and MICR coding do not match. The payees name seems to have been printed by a typewriter. Where as payroll, dividend checks and expenses are printed with the help of computers. The word VOID seems to appear on the check. There is no authorized signature. (Check Fraud Prevention: What is Check Fraud-Types of Check Fraud) Famous Forgers Frank Abagnale Frank Abagnale is considered one of the biggest forgers of the world. He cashed around $2.5 million through false checks between 1964 and 1969, assumed identities of eight different people including a lawyer, a pediatrician and even a pilot for Pan Am. A movie, Catch me if you can was made on his life in which Leonardo DiCaprio played his role in 2002. Anatasios Arnaouti Anatasios Arnaouti was a forger who was caught and imprisoned in 2005. He led one of the major of United Kingdoms counterfeiting operations. He produced fake currency in his factory and around  £276,000 was created in one day. It has been estimated that he created around  £10 in fake currency. Abel Buell Abel Buell was a forger who was born in Connecticut in 1742. He attempted to convert  £5 notes into higher denominations. He was caught and punished by printing F on his head which branded him as a forger. Victor Lustig Victor Lustig is known for selling the Eiffel Tower twice by fraud though he did not own it. He was arrested when he was opening a locker with a key in his hand which had $51,000 in fake currency. William Chaloner He was a famous British forger who was known for counterfeiting. He was detected by Royal Mint and Sir Isaac Newton in 1699. He was caught and punished by hanging. Stephen Jory Stephen Jory led the so-called Lavender Hill Mob. He created fake  £20 notes. He was arrested and admitted in his trial that he had created  £50 million of fake  £20 notes but the figure is believed to be much higher. Catherine Murphy Catherine Murphy clipped off small pieces from gold coins to make new ones. She was executed in 1789. (Famous Forgers, 2009) Analysis of major forgery Forging documents by corrupting the records keeping systems is a severe crime against society. Forgers like their work accepted as being genuine and get amused while embarrassing the experts. They like to change history the way they want to see it. People practice forgery for its lucrative benefits and pleasure. Forgery robs society and contaminates the very essence of humanity. Letter Forgery The Salamander Letter Plain one and half page handwritten letter to W.W. Phelps of Canandaigua, New York from Martin Harris, dated 23 October, 1830, depicted an uncanny event that Harris had observed three years back. In the fall of the year 1827 I hear Joseph Smith found a gold bible I take Joseph aside he says it is true I found it 4 years ago with my stone but only just got it because of the enchantment of the old spirit come to me 3 times in the same dream says dig up the gold but when I take it up the next morning the spirit transfigured himself from a white salamander in the bottom of the hole struck me three times held the treasure would not let me have it because I lay it down to cover over the hole when the spirit says do not lay it down. Harriss narration of Prophet Joseph Smiths discovery of golden plates, the plates that were translated to be included in the Book of Mormon that is the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gravely denied Smiths own recollection of the event. It called into question the divine character of the finding. The salamander was of no divine importance or an angel sent by God, it was a common sign that originated from fold magic and medicine. The letter recommended that Prophet Smith was hallucinating while mistaking it with divine communication that could have emerged from folk medicine experiments. The letter damaged the authenticity and divinity of the 150 years old church and no one cared where could have been all these 153 years. It was found by a Mormon dealer in an unstamped envelope, a philately specialty that concerted on postal blotting prior to stamps in late 1840s who paid no attention to the letters origin. The FBI and a prominent manuscript dealer subst antiated that the letter had the genuine look and feel. When the Salamander letter was compared with other documents of the period, it was known that it was written by similar iron gall ink used during that period and had the same chemical composition. The report concluded, there is no evidence to suggest that these documents were prepared at a time other than their reported dates. In 1983, the letter appeared to be indisputable and the leaders of Mormon Church got worried. Subsequently further events revealed that a disenchanted Mormon, Mark Hofmann had forged the letter and used his skills to dishonor the church. He was trying to change the churchs history to destabilize the foundations of the church. He testified during his murder trial, I believed that the documents that I created could have been a part of Mormon history. In effect, I guess, the questions I asked myself in deciding on a forgery[,] one of the questions was, what could have been? I had a concept of church history and I followed that concept. Hoffmans Technique of forgery Hoffman work of forging nineteenth century documents required mastery uncovered broad range of knowledge and abilities like: Artistic and manual dexterity to fabricate smooth and flawless writing according to persons specific writing style. Composition and chemistry of ink that could test positive for the period in question Having contemporary paper sources and postal blots Undertaking historical research to be in command of commonly known facts, day of delivery suitable and mail route for the fabricated letter to gain acceptance as being genuine and Fictional content imagination that is enough to being closer to real, and will be taken for authentic. Hoffman used two conventions, first he made up the documents discovery to someone else such that its real value is recognized. Second he made the document suggest historical connections of individuals that sufferers would eagerly see and unsuspectingly accept (Gracy II). Detection of forgery Detecting forgery of unique objects can be done through the objects evidence of time and place in which it was finished (Forgery, Britannica). Often a forger unconsciously creates style confusion or ingeniously accents elements that spark contemporary bias. For example the work passed as Lucas Cranachs by the bright German forger F. W. Rohrich, by imbuing paintings with a feel of Biedermeier visual, that was common in his own times, that later deceived their falsity. Regardless of modern technological breakthroughs, a great deal of forgery remains impermeable to detection by other than experimental means (forgery, Encyclopedia topics). Success to detect a forgery can only be achieved only if the investigator is precipitous about all related technical, mechanical, physical and historical matter that may be essential in recognizing irregularities in any document. Serendipity is one of the important powers and hence is ranked high for all investigators. Examiner needs to ask the right question at the right instant to spot forgeries and note dissonances. There are various features of a forgery and can be classified into four groups, that is content of forgery, provenance, technology and technique of the forger. Content of the forgery The examiners inexperience surfaces when the document is question is being assessed to validate the content. Examiners do not know all the necessary facts, while skilled forgers have carefully analyzed every aspect. The older the document is, the more the examiner needs to be well-versant with the rule of phraseology and word usage of the period. Configuring dates and the styles of abbreviation have evolved greatly over the last three centuries. Furthermore the shapes of certain letters have also changed over time in their cursive. Provenance Common forgery cases get successful because often the victim believes in the validity of the document. Forgers give victims enough knowledge to lay their provenance basis, and let them build and substantiate the forgery through facts and chance discovery. An old aphorism states that if a proposal appears too good to be true, it is probably false, rightly applies to forged documents. This aphorism can be rephrased for forgery as, If it is remarkable that a document has surfaced all of a sudden, likely there is more to the story of the documents existence than the provenance offered. Technique of the forger Forgers have unique creative abilities, in intellectual conception and styling provenance and content, and in physical area of making of the object to make it appear to something it is not. Forgers do fake repairs to suggest substantial age and attention to the object for the intention of improving provenance. The examiner should critically evaluate the material used in the repair and the condition in which it was done. The examiner should be well versed with the aging techniques that may include staining paper with tea or coffee, or document misuse with tears or holes for book worms. Finally the examiner should doubtful about standard dealers markings. Technology Examiners need to evaluate the appearance of the forgery through use of technology. They should look for the dates when certain technology became common and the technical aspects of their likelihood of applicability. Examiner should check paper under lights for watermarks and for woven or chained patterns of the paper texture. The interaction of paper and ink is vital to exposing any forgery (Gracy II). Detecting forgery in Writing While examining writing for evidence of forgery requires careful comparison between the original writers and other. The author of the writing known is commonly called the original and is referred to by his name. The writing with which it is compared, or is the subject of investigation is a called the suspect. The suspected writings should be separately numbered until the original thoroughly mastered. It is important to put away the suspected writing to avoid confusion having multiple types of writing in front of the eye and mind so as to avoid prejudice to any one type. Any influence to first evaluate the suspect should be resolutely defied. Paper and envelope should be examined carefully for its quality, watermark, size or any inherent feature for clues. Then the overall general style of the document should be studied for top and side margins. Identify words in the writing for usual use of hyphen to divide words. Next measure the distance between the lines and make a note of the distance. Then make a note of the average distance between the words, and see if they appear to be connected without lifting of the pen. Check the slope and top of the letters that have tails. Look for punctuation style frequency and accuracy. Determine the writing class. Note for language peculiarities and errors or spelling of words like if its favor or favour etc. Note particular letters that have two or more touching points like, m, h, d, k, n and so on to check for writing regularity. Lastly look for tailed or topped letters for loops and bars if they are formed by single stroke. Classify and examine the loops or their angular, roundness, s hort or narrow style. Devoting time to this aspect of handwriting will unveil the writers unconscious features, and will reflect upon valuable evidence (Blackburn Caddell). Detecting forgery in Art Forgery detection is done through two major approaches, stylistic and technical analysis; these are complementary and generate best results together. Stylistic analysis is very subjective in nature and resides with the wise eye of the art historians. Each artist has a certain flair, style, and vigor that solely belongs to him and is easily familiar. The style changes and improvises overtime as the artists career flourishes and can be stylistically documented and analyzed (Forgery, Britannica). Expertise in important to authenticate the styles and aesthetics of various periods and remain the principle instrument to detect forgery. Artistic gaucherie or clutter of motifs and styles, and an apparent emphasis of forgers aesthetic values current times constantly reveals the forgery than most of the technical analysis. The technical analysis can involve various techniques and have evolved over time. Sometimes a sketch or an x-ray can be used underneath the original art surface to substanti ate the paintings. In earlier centuries, costumes of an under painting were considered basic characteristic of an art value, and later surface painting emerged as one way of doing forgery (Conklin). Even so contemporary tools like infrared, ultraviolet photography and x-ray are used to expose overpainting and pentimento. Furthermore craquelure can also be microscopically scrutinized. In addition carbon-14 and chemical analysis provide comparatively uncertain evidence in case ancient materials have been utilized. Forgeries in United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates labor ministry has initiated an e-signature card system to prevent scams and forgery to minimize standard procedures. The e-signature system has replaced the signature authorization card scheme which earlier required authorized signatory for any transaction with the ministry. The new e-signature will have a card with a specific code number which is required to be entered before any transaction with the ministry (e-Signature card..). Passport forgeries are very common in United Arab Emirates. Dubai police recently released details of passport forgers including six British born and three Irish individuals suspected in killing key Hamas commander. The suspect used real life individual identifies for forging their passports. One of the British national confirmed the name and passport number that matched has, but had the incorrect birth date. The individual had no clue how and when his passport details were obtained as it was never reported being lost or stolen (Neighbor). The passport forgery was believed to have been done through Israeli government officials. British foreign secretary David Miliband showed his displeasure over Israel involvement, and said that Such misuse of British passports is intolerable, and added that Israel being an ally of UK Miliband only adds insult to injury. The passports were forged using genuine UK identities in a highly sophisticated operations and planning and clearly indicated a gov ernments involvement (UK: Israel behind Forgery, CNN). A Filipino waiter faced trial for theft of credit card and signature forgery. The waiter worked at a local hotel, stole a debit card, three mobile phones, watch, three iPods, and watch. He shopped for 1300 dirhams using the stolen debit card at a nearby supermarket, and used forged owners signatures on the acquired receipts (another phony waiter in UAEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Numerous universities in UAE are using RFID tags on the degrees and certifications they issue to ensure the document authenticity. The ministry requires academic institutions to standardize data collection of students specifically their personal and academic details. In addition it recommends institutions to publish certificates that are difficult to forge. They are recommended to adopt the Amricons solution that uses diplomas having fitted adhesives with RFID labels that contain specific security codes that are helpful in hindering any forgery attempts to encode the RFID tags using unauthorized means (Wessel). Preventing Check Fraud It is important to go through the checks regularly and check the starting and ending numbers which are important for re-ordering. Keep checking if all the checks are present The financial institution must be notified even if any one check is missing. Bank statement should be reconciled every month. Signs of check forgery must be observed. Checkbook must be kept in a set place and it should not be accessible to guests. Checkbook must not be left in the car. If the car gets stolen, the checkbook will also be lost. Environment should be assessed while traveling. Purse or backpack should be carefully set. Checkbooks should not be kept in pockets. (marthareggie) Conclusion Forgers are very clever and are always honing their skills to manage and master new technologies in their desire and motivation to create fake documents. The forged documents and art are so original to ones view and examination that they are often mistaken for what they are supposed to be. Forgers have personal gains that they earn at the expense of the society and history. Forgery acceptance and use of intentionally false documents deprives individuals understanding of history, and endanger ones sense of present. Forgers success greatly depends on the vigilators record keeping. Therefore keeping records safe is every individuals responsibility as it makes the foundation and basis of who we are. As the scientific techniques are getting more and more sophisticated so are the techniques of the forgers. The finding of the forgery reveals interesting facts; one day a great piece of art will be priceless, and the other day worthless. Therefore without the origin and proof, any arts valuat ion or estimation is purely a matter of subjective human judgment.