Introduction
The book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” was written by Robert Kiyosaki. The novel aims at enlightening people on how to achieve monetary success through rewarding business activities. It draws insights from the lives of two fathers who have disparate personalities and perspectives of money. The author compares the principles, financial practices, level of accomplishment, and ideas of the two dads. The book focuses on various ways of building up wealth through investments as opposed to working for a small salary.
Main body
The book starts with the narrative of two fathers and the early life of Robert Kiyosaki and his childhood best friend, Mike. One dad, who is his biological father, is a highly educated man, employed, and poor while Mike’s dad is an accomplished businessperson with only an eighth grade (Kiyosaki, 2018). Throughout the novel, the narrator likens his poor dad to individuals who have become susceptible to the vicious cycle of wanting to achieve more significant milestones in life but fail because they lack financial literacy (Kiyosaki, 2017). They spent much time in learning institutions reading books on societal issues without acquiring any valuable knowledge about money, perhaps because such lessons are excluded from the curriculum (Chu et al., 2017). On the other hand, his rich dad exemplifies a highly independent wealthy merchant who plays his cards well with the power of companies and the knowledge of taxation and financial accounting.
The book’s theme infers two essential impressions: willpower and audacious entrepreneurship. The narrator purposely relates to both concepts by providing numerous examples for each and emphasizing the significance of acquiring financial knowledge, how the power of corporations increases wealth among the rich, the role of fearlessness in overcoming obstacles, appreciating the speckled characteristics among human beings, and learning how to refrain from meddling in people’s businesses.
In the first lesson, the author alludes that the middle-class work for money as opposed to the rich people who let money work for them. The well-off father believes that individuals continue languishing in financial poverty because they do not understand this lesson. The author goes ahead to blame poor people for obliviousness, skepticism, and anxiety, among other characteristics that make them failures in life (Kiyosaki, 2017. A captivating twist arises when the author maintains that both fear and greed are catalysts to poverty. He states that poor people stay in job positions for a long time without realizing that their employers gain the most meaningful financial gains by allowing money to work for them.
The second lesson illustrates the importance of acquiring financial literacy. The author tries to show the audience the relevance of the education acquired from real-life scenarios as compared to that gained from ordinary school settings. He emphasizes that education should focus on creating and strengthening entrepreneurial mindsets rather than encouraging students to obtain good grades for future employment purposes. This reasoning shows distinctiveness in the handling of money matters between the rich and poor. Indeed, Kiyosaki (2018) believes that middle- and lower-class people regularly confuse liabilities, such as cars and expensive homes, with assets. He indicates that assets should generate money rather than create room for expenses.
In lesson three, the author wants people to get out of the rat race and start thinking about creating and developing their establishments. This example is illustrated where Kiyosaki (2018) explains the start of his professional career as a salesperson for Xerox photocopiers. He used his revenue to invest in real estate, and his income exceeded his salary in three years, prompting him to leave his job. In the fourth lesson, the narrator highlights the game of taxes and the power of corporations. He maintains that the rich have the supremacy to shield themselves from various ridiculous taxes by establishing companies. Employees earn taxed money from these establishments, protecting the owners from heavy duties.
Conclusion
The fifth lesson accentuates how the rich invent money through self-confidence. The author says, “Often in the real world, it’s not the smart who go ahead, but the bold.” (Kiyosaki, 2018, p. 112). This statement defies the notion that money comes along with more education, talent, or more contribution to society. He highlights changes that have defined wealth over time. The author states, “Land was wealth 300 years ago. So, the person who owned the land owned the wealth. Later, wealth was in factories and production, and America rose to dominance. The industrialist owned the wealth. Today, wealth is in the information. And the person who has the timeliest information owns the wealth.” (Kiyosaki, 2018, p. 113). Although the art of making money is learned, many people have no time to acquire financial skills.
The last lesson insists that people should work to learn and not to work for money. Kiyosaki explains how having a secure job was necessary for his poor dad. He was shocked by his low earnings, yet he was highly educated and talented. This lesson persuades people to expand their skill sets by getting out of their comfort zones and picking up some experiences in investment, sales, accounting, and law, among others. In a nutshell, the young Kiyosaki leaned towards the rich dad’s money principals.
References
Chu, Z., Wang, Z., Xiao, J. J., & Zhang, W. (2017). Financial literacy, portfolio choice, and financial well-being. Social Indicators Research, 132(2), 799-820.
Kiyosaki, R. T. (2018). Why the rich are getting richer. Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Kiyosaki, R.T. (2017). Rich dad poor dad: What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not! Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Essay Voice-over
Biometrics In IT Security
Introduction
Biometrics refers to the use of uniquely identifiable human characteristics to secure systems. Biometric information like height, hair color, weight, and eye color has been used for a long to assist in the physical identification of individuals. However, the constant change of biometrics and the ease with which they can be manipulated has led security personnel to use biometric data that remains the same with changing age and health. This biometrics is not as easy to fake as the earlier biometrics. The essay examines this form of biometrics.
Examples of biometrics
There are many biometric schemes used for beefing up computer security. The security accorded by each of them depends on its suitability for use in the system to be secured. Examples include fingerprint identification, face recognition, hand geometry biometrics, retina scan, iris scan, voice analysis, vein analysis, signature etcetera. Each of the above biometrics can be faked in one way or another and each of them is most appropriate in specific conditions. Although biometrics has some problems, it has played a very important role in the field of computer security and it is important to acknowledge its contribution.
Benefits of biometric security
Biometric technology is no longer fictitious. Although major advancements are still expected in this technology, biometrics has evolved to become one of the most important security innovations of all time. The need for use of biometric technology has been compounded by the fact that common security methods like the use of Passwords are characterized by a lot of problems.
Kemibaro, Harry. Biometrics security overview
For instance, some passwords are easy to hack, people may forget them, and people may keep passwords in notebooks. Some of the advantages of biometric technology include: biometric security through identification of people is very critical in the provisioned of access to information. Authentic users of information are securely and accurately identified by the biometrics before they are granted access to the information. This is usually achieved through the use of fingerprint identification, retinal scans, and iris scans that are capable of unique identification if done properly. Most biometric technology is automated and thus the scans are quick and standardized. The scans can also be carried out by minimally-trained personnel. Lastly, biometrics gives a means of identifications without the use of physical documents that can easily change hands, be lost, be damaged, or altered.
Vulnerabilities of biometric security
The fact that biometrics use parts of the body that have other functions have more than compensated for the weakness associated with biometrics. People use their hands and fingers in performing various activities. This way, people leave their fingerprints in virtually everything that they touch. With proper recording, these fingerprints can be transferred to fingerprint detection systems and authenticate unauthorized access to information. With an understanding of the common patterns of fingerprints, fake fingerprints can also be created. To evidence this, a Japanese expert has been able to create fake fingerprints that were approved as authentic by a biometric thumb scanner. It is also amazing that a thumb scanner using capacitive resistance can be fooled by just blowing over the reader after an authentic user has used it.
Dunn, Jones. Biometric Authentication Technology: From the Movies to Your Desktop
Schneider, Leakey. Biometric Authentication: What method works best?
This is explained by the fact that after authorized login, latent oil from the thumb is left on the capacitive surface with the fingerprint signature. Blowing the surface thus makes the reader sense the fingerprint pattern left and thus the reader authenticates login/access. Each existent biometric has specific weaknesses that make it vulnerable to exploitation by malicious people. In Germany, a facial recognition scanner was fooled into making positive scans by a short video shown to its camera. In the same way, a voice recognition system can be easily fooled by a voice recording. Biometrics can also deny an authorized person from accessing the system they secure. This is especially evident after repeated attempts of unauthorized access (4). It can be literally argued that the biometric becomes accustomed to denial of access such that an authorized attempt at login/access is considered unauthorized. Therefore, as long as biometrics remains prone to manipulation they will never be able to solely secure systems.
Conclusion
Although biometrics have a considerably large number of shortcomings, they are very essential in the provision of security. The contribution of biometrics to the building of impenetrable security systems especially in the military is massive. It is therefore of great essence that we major on the strengths of biometrics and deal with its weaknesses. One of the mistakes that we make in building our security systems is the overreliance on biometrics.
- McFarlane, Ben. Biometric security is merely skin-deep
- Maltoni, Davide. Biometric Authentication Workshop
Although passwords have proved to be practically insecure, it is not wise to replace passwords with biometrics. Biometrics should thus be used as an enhancement for passwords. Consider an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) security system that requires a PIN as well as a fingerprint. Even if somebody gains access to your fingerprint, it will be very hard for them to get your PIN in order for them to get the complete access code. Therefore this kind of security is better than that of the PIN alone or a case in which the PIN is replaced with the fingerprint scan.
References
Dunn, Jones. Biometric Authentication Technology: From the Movies to Your Desktop. Web.
Kemibaro, Harry. Biometrics security overview. 2008. Web.
Maltoni, Davide. Biometric Authentication Workshop. 2004. Web.
McFarlane, Ben. Biometric Security Barely Skin-Deep. 2009. Web.
Schneider, Leakey. Biometric authentication: what method works best? 2009. Web.
The Adaptation To Childhood Chronic Illnesses: Parental And Child Perspectives
Sample Size
The Research paper by Anne Gannoni and Rosalyn S. Shute uses a qualitative approach of research using the grounded theory concept. The sample size of the participant group included 18 children and 21 of their parents. Initial sample group was composed of 14 children between the ages of 7 and 15 years suffering from type 1 diabetes, chronic renal failure and different cases of cancer such as leukemia and Ewing’s sarcoma amongst others. 18 parents also participated with some of their children coming from single parent homes; the other 4 children and 3 parents joined as independent verifiers. For the qualitative approach, this number is suitable and relevant and also provides for varied views as seen in the inclusion of children from single parent households. It is therefore a prudent choice for the research especially in the inclusion of children.
Data collection and analysis
The methods used in data collection included focus groups of the different parents and children with specific relevance to the illness the child was suffering from and the individual interviews conducted with those who had concerns about being in groups. Individual interviews were the main source of data collection however because of different commitments to school and work, gender issues and specificity of illnesses. These methods fit the research question proposed by the authors in that they created a hypothetical situation of the same school-aged child suffering from the same illness as a guide into eliciting responses of what difficult situations they faced and what could possibly help them cope. The later written summary of the interviews were sent to each participant with different versions for children and parents, and to those who could not have been in the initial conversational interview to verify that all the information was accurate to their understanding and if any new information had come up. They sought personal experiences of how they individually coped with their circumstances and what challenges it posed.
It is however important to note that the participation of the initial group was not followed strictly as some participants were either too sick or had other pressing matters to attend to. This may affect the overall interpretation of the data. For example, the case of the father who does not live his child and did not inform the child of the study neglects the opinion of the child in question in how they adapt to the illness in his household and the child’s perspective of their illness.
Accuracy of Data
With regard to the accuracy of data, steps were taken to ensure it was accurate. The follow up written summary ensures that additional information was included and that any thoughts or opinions not stated earlier are catered for.
A non-participant group fitting the same profile of those who were eligible was approached to verify the data collected in the research study and check that it was conducted rigorously. The summaries of the participants’ interviews were handed to them and they were to find out if there were any views of their own experiences of having or being with a child that suffered a chronic illness that were consistent with those of the participants and if they had varied or additional information. The results showed they were in sync with their own experiences.
Summary
The research methodology is accurate and relevant to the overall research study and is consistent with the qualitative approach.