Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses created a major controversy when published in 1988, much like the controversy that Nikos Kazantzakis's novel The Last Temptation of Christ caused in 1951. Kazantzakis's work upset many Christians due to the controversial characterization of Jesus, who in the novel engages in sexual activities and other behaviors that many Christians find offensive. The Satanic Verses caused a similar uproar in the Umma, or Muslim community, resulting in book burnings, death threats, and even a murder. Most of the controversy focused on some the problematic characterizations of the Prophet Muhammad and his wives, such as using their names for a pimp and twelve prostitutes living in a brothel. Another offense was that Ibrahim was called "bastard" for abandoning Hagar and Ismail (Ishmael), in the desert. In The Satanic Verses, Rushdie pulls on the historical threads of Pre-Islamic Arabia and uses them to insinuate that Islam, rather than being a total breach from the Pre-Islamic traditions, was not an immediate break from the past but a slow process of change from the former belief system. By re-imagining these historical threads, Rushdie suggests that there is a plurality of possibilities that canonical Islam does not accept. The plurality that Rushdie suggests is anathema to the normative view of Islam, which is a monolithic Islam. These possibilities cast doubt on the purity of the Prophet, which some fear can cause ordinary Muslims to doubt the truth claims of Islam. These doubts can damage the faith of the believers and the unity of the Umma. These and other Islamic themes in the novel remain unexplored in contemporary scholarship of the novel, particularly the theme of struggle between good and evil. Gibreel Farishta, the co-protagonist in the novel, will be the center of this inquiry. I will explore the notion that the plight of Gibreel Farishta in The Satanic Verses is similar to the suffering of Iblis in Sufi Islam.

For entrepreneurs it can be difficult to attract investors. The business plan is a well-known document for that purpose, and is used widely by entrepreneurs and companies. With this in mind, several questions arise. What information in a business plan is important? Do the criteria for information in a business plan differ between banks, venture capital companies, and business angels? What is the perception of a business plan to these investors? These are questions future entrepreneurs have to deal with before taking action and start searching for investors. This thesis investigates the investors’ perspective on the issue of entrepreneurship and business planning.The purpose of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of the business plan as a mean to attract capital for new ventures. It further aims to investigate the relevance of the business plan and the optimal composition of information, according to the investors. A qualitative method has been used in this thesis. Empirical findings have been captured from interviews with relevant actors in the investing market, and thereafter been analyzed with existing theories. The overall conclusion in this thesis is that there is a very broad view of the business plan as a concept. There are different aspects of the business plans roles as a formal mean to attract capital. Obvious differences between how the three different investors evaluate a business plan have been found as well as that the investors find other things than the business plan to be important in a decision. The investors do not look solely on the business plan and then make the decision whether to invest or not. The third conclusion is that all three investors enter a company with different roles, affecting the business’ activities in different ways. Finally, the business plan as a document is never as formal as the theory states. It is surprisingly different from the theory which claims that formality is an important issue in this kind of documents.

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The ANGEL project (Aerial Network Guided Electronic Lookout) takes a systems engineering approach to the design, development, testing and implementation of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle. Many current research endeavors into the field of quadrotors for use as unmanned vehicles do not utilize the broad systems approach to design and implementation. These other projects use pre-fabricated quadrotor platforms and a series of external sensors in a mock environment that is unfeasible for real world use. The ANGEL system was designed specifically for use in a combat theater where robustness and ease of control are paramount. A complete simulation model of the ANGEL system dynamics was developed and used to tune a custom controller in MATLAB and Simulink®. This controller was then implemented in hardware and paired with the necessary subsystems to complete the ANGEL platform. Preliminary tests show successful operation of the craft, although more development is required before it is deployed in field. A custom high-level controller for the craft was written with the intention that troops should be able to send commands to the platform without having a dedicated pilot. A second craft that exhibits detachable limbs for greatly enhanced transportation efficiency is also in development.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2010 May 13

El propósito de este estudio es evaluar la viabilidad de instalar y operar en Chile una red de inversionistas ángeles adaptando el modelo de negocios de la empresa británica Hotbed Limited y aprovechando los incentivos de CORFO. Se evalúa la industria de inversión ángel en Estados Unidos y Reino Unido, al igual que la naciente industria del capital de riesgo e inversión ángel en Chile. La investigación se basa en revisión bibliográfica y entrevistas a actores relevantes de la industria tanto en Chile como en Inglaterra. En particular se consulta la opinión sobre la situación chilena en los factores que sugiere la bibliografía como necesarios para la viabilidad de una red ángel en una comunidad, que son: comunidad ángel potencial, industrias establecidas en la región, fuentes de emprendimiento, equipos y servicios de soporte, fondos para la siguiente etapa de financiamiento, e infraestructura del emprendimiento que apoye, eduque y promueva el emprendimiento y los nuevos negocios. El modelo propuesto considera levantar el capital necesario para cada proyecto de manera similar a las redes ángeles, es decir, a través de presentar los proyectos seleccionados a un grupo de inversionistas miembros quienes deciden individualmente si participan o no y con qué montos, que pueden ir desde los cinco millones de pesos. Sin embargo, una vez levantado el capital, el modelo funciona como un fondo de inversión que administra la dirección y control de las empresas hasta su venta. Este modelo resuelve varios de los problemas identificados en las redes ángeles chilenas, como el poco interés de los ángeles de invertir con gente que no conocen muy bien, ya que se evita el caos que significa que un grupo de diez o más inversionistas se pongan de acuerdo en la dirección y control de cada empresa en la que invierten. Como gran parte de los ingresos se generan una vez que las empresas son vendidas, el análisis financiero se realizó a un plazo de diez años. Se proyecta un financiamiento de 300 millones en tres proyectos el primer año, y de 2,800 millones en siete proyectos el año diez, cuando se tienen 10,150 millones bajo administración en 28 empresas. El equipo crece de dos a trece personas y hay gastos en marketing, relación con inversionistas, asesoría externa, y visitas de ejecutivos de Hotbed Limited. Los ingresos de la red son de 110 millones el primer año con costos de 177 millones e ingresos de 1,469 millones al año diez con costos de 916 millones. El año diez se logra un EBITDA de 554 millones y se mantiene un stock option de 8% sobre las 28 empresas administradas por la red. El proyecto genera un TIR de 34% en términos reales y un VAN de 439 millones de pesos. Se ofrece un 55% de la propiedad de la red por un aporte de 536 millones, con un TIR para los inversionistas de 24%. Los emprendedores obtendrían un TIR de 41% a cambio de un sueldo inicial bajo mercado. Esta iniciativa se encuentra en estado de plan de negocios, lo que implica que el riesgo asociado a cumplir las proyecciones es muy alto y un inversionista no debería conformarse con una promesa de retornos bajo el 40%. En conclusión, no es recomendable ejecutar el proyecto a menos que se encuentren formas de reducir los riesgos o se espere a que la industria de la inversión ángel en Chile esté más desarrollada.

Orientador : Mauricio Mendonça Cardozo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 01/05/2017 / Inclui referências : f. 71-74 / Resumo: Esta dissertação discute a tradução no horizonte da indecidibilidade. Se, em geral, a tradução pode ser entendida como uma atividade fundada na tomada de decisão, este trabalho busca questionar o pressuposto de que a decisão caracterizada como a melhor ou a mais adequada seja de fato capaz de resolver, em definitivo, um problema de tradução, estigmatizando, nesse mesmo movimento, todas as outras possibilidades de decisão como hierarquicamente inferiores (piores, menos adequadas, inadequadas). Em seguida, buscamos redimensionar a noção de decisão (na tradução) à luz da noção de indecidível, de Jacques Derrida, com o objetivo de repensar as consequências desse redimensionamento sobre o modo como lemos um texto traduzido. Desse movimento, apresentamos uma leitura de dois textos críticos sobre a obra Gran Sertón: Veredas (1967) tradução espanhola do romance roseano realizada pelo poeta e tradutor Ángel Crespo, nos quais se pode ler as consequências de uma crítica de tradução baseada no pressuposto da melhor decisão, e que, nessa perspectiva, invalidaram a tradução espanhola por considerá-la um projeto falho e inadequado. Ao final, propomos a leitura de um poema da mesma obra traduzida por Crespo, destacando os diferentes modos como a questão da indecidibilidade impacta em sua leitura. Palavras-chave: tradução; indecidível; Jacques Derrida; Angel Crespo; Gran Sertón: Veredas. / Abstract: This dissertation discusses the translation on the horizon of the undecidability. If, in general, the translation can be understood as an activity founded in decision making, this paper aims to question the assumption that the decision characterized as the best or the most appropriate can be in fact capable of solving, definitely, a problem of translation, stigmatizing, in the same movement, all the possibilities of decision making as hierarchically inferior (the worse, least appropriate). After that, we target to resize the notion of decision (in translation) on the light of undecidable by Jacques Derrida , with the goal to rethink the consequences of resizing the way a translation is read. From this movement, we present a reading of two critical texts about the book Gran Sertón: Veredas (1967), spanish translation of the romance made by the poet and translator Ángel Crespo in which it is possible to read the consequences of a translation critic based in the assumption of the best decision, and that, in that perspective, invalidated the spanish translation for considering it a failed and inadequate project. In the end, there is a proposal for reading a poem from the same book translated by Crespo, highlighting the different ways in which the matter of undecidability impacts its reading. Key-words: translation; undecidable; Jacques Derrida; A?ngel Crespo; Gran Sertón: Veredas.