Friday, September 6, 2019

Art as Expression Essay Example for Free

Art as Expression Essay The question of what art is cannot be properly answered without asking why art is. Prior to the advent of the written language, art was used as a means of communication, and in some ways, written language is in its own regard, art. Art, then, must be an expression of meaning by the artist, or potentially by the client that artist created the artwork for, but this assumption is altogether too broad. Art is not exclusively a private expression because it is left open to interpretation by the individual who looks upon it, and as such art can then be categorized as the representation through a variety of mediums, of whatever the beholder or artist thinks it should be. Which poses a greater question is something art if the individual who designed it had no intended message? Or visa versa is something art if the consumer of the artform does not perceive any message? I was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art about a two years ago, and they had some very abstract pieces on display, all of which brought forth in me at least some semblance of a response, except for a piece by Robert Rauschenberg, call White Painting [three panel], that began a philosophical debate between my brother and I because I refused to call the â€Å"painting† art. To me, there was no way to interpret the three panels of white, they were simply empty canvases that Rauschenberg sold for substantially more than he bought them for. No soul, or emotion went into the piece and as I understand art, that does not qualify as any more than a man playing a abstraction crazy consumer culture for the fool. To backtrack, art in my eyes is the true expression of an artist to the consumer, for the purpose of provocation; art has to make something well up in a person, even if it is not enjoyment, even if it is sorrow, or anger. Art is the way we have always talked to each other as people, and the pure aesthetic painters and songwriters of the last century do not produce art. Art is emotion and passion mixing into something for others to partake in; there is no private art, there is only art that no one else has applied their own perceptions to yet.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Literature Review On Mobile Apps Information Technology Essay

Literature Review On Mobile Apps Information Technology Essay In order to achieve a competitive edge over competitors by investing into emerging ICTs and growing their international market, Mobile Construction Ltd is considering innovative ways of providing their service to global customers. As the Global Reach Manager, the CEO asked to explore the potential of delivery and retrieval service for enterprise-wide, on-demand mobile Apps. Also, the Global Reach manager needs to identify benefits and barriers of using mobile Apps, as well as strategy for effective use of existing Apps and development of new Apps. 2 Literature review on mobile Apps 2.1 Mobile Application Market Early mobile application solutions required enterprises to choose between cradle-based synchronization through a wire line network or a pure online wireless solution (PENTA group, 2010). However, Mobile applications are a rapidly rising segments of the international mobile market, which consist the software runs on a mobile device and performs certain tasks for the clients. Because of the various functions including user interface for basic telephone and messaging service as well as advanced services, mobile Apps are widely used by customs. Also, mobile Apps are a large and continuously growing market and served by an increasing number of mobile App developers, publishers and providers (the Mobile Marketing Association group, 2008). New research suggests that the global market for mobile applications will explode over next two years. Research has been done for Getjar, the worlds second biggest Apps store, said that the market will grow to $17.5bn (Â £12bn) in the next two years and downloads would rise from 7bn last year to 50bn by 2012 a 92% increase (BBC News, 2010). 2.2 Existing Mobile Applications For a technical aspect, mobile Apps can be divided by the runtime environment they are executed: Native platforms and operating systems, such as Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux. Mobile Web/browser runtimes, such as Webkit, Mozilla/Firefox, Opera Mini and RIM. Other managed platforms and virtual machines, such as Java/J2ME, BREW, FlashLite and Silverlight. (Mobile Marketing Association group, 2008) IPhone has acted as a revolution of global mobile phones. It has set a platform to develop all sorts of mobile Apps helping paint a better picture in mobile computing. The advantages of iPhone is that it is numerous with multi-touch interface, accelerometer, GPS, proximity sensor, dialer, sqlite3 database, OpenGL ES, Quartz, Encryption, Audio ,Game and Animation , Address book and Calendar including latest features of iPhone Gaming . Windows mobile application is the latest technology every mobile technique should process. This technology allows the user to browse the internet, send receive mails, check with schedules contacts, and prepare presentations, in short manage your whole business with the usage of your mobile. Android has been creating waves in the coming times with high technical interface in the mobile world. This latest innovation helps the publishers to deliver applications directly to the end user and easy downloads of applications can be achieved. The term BlackBerry has become the synonyms of the word Smart and Trendy. BlackBerry Smartphone are the worlds most desired integrated communication device. This brilliant application not only meets a single need of one person but the usage can extend to an entire enterprise be it a small scale or a huge industry. (Maadesigns.co.uk, 2010) 2.3 Infrastructure Cellular technology have largely expanded the frequency use of mobile phones, the first generation cellular mobile telephones developed by using incompatible analogue technologies while the second generation cellular mobile telephone and GMS was developed by using digital technology in 1980 (Gans G.S. et al, 2003). Over thirty years of mobile cellular networks advancements, data transmission over cellular systems has been major breakthrough in recent years. Third generation systems (3G) have been developed as new mobile cellular networks, which is known as IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telephony-2000) by ITU(Wiley J. Sons, 2005). 3G have met the single-user data rates requirement of the IMT-2000 on a technical level. However, it is limited 3G services in some areas such as video telephony (Agilent Technologies, 2008). ITU has received six candidate technology submissions for the global 4G mobile wireless broadband technology known as IMT-Advanced. And it is expected in October 2010 , the selected technologies to be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced to qualify as true 4G technologies (ITU, 2009). The south Korean government is already developing 5G access which may be ready soon after 4G service put into market, although 4G cellular wireless still waiting (MNM Media, 2009). Cloud computing is described as both a platform and type of application. As a platform, cloud computing can be physical machines or virtual machines dynamically servers as needed. Advanced cloud computing include other computing resources such as storage area networks (SANs), network equipment, firewall and other security devices. As a type of applications, cloud computing use large data centres and powerful servers host Web application and Web services since it can be extended accessible through the internet. It is said that anyone can access a cloud application with a suitable internet connection and a standard browser (IBM, 2007). Typically, it can divid cloud computing into three levels of service, which support virtualization and management of differing levels of the solution stack, offerings: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) (Oracle Corporation, 2009). 3 Opportunities for mobile Apps in construction The PENTA team (2010) insists that the construction industry is a mobile workforce, which comprised of a range of companies with self-performing Electrical and Mechanical contractors to Engineering and Construction firms to specialty concrete and plumbing. Mobile phone is the most convenient device to deliver mobile Apps, particularly for emerging because of it is a daily used device. The most use mobile Apps in construction industry are calculation, drawing, management, measurement and video records which are based on variety of software. 3.1Calculation It is quite normal for using smart phones as calculators in different areas. In construction industry, calculations can be used anywhere, such as, material supply, finance calculation, dynamic calculation, structure calculation and calculation in measurement and design. Generally speaking, the calculation in construction industry is not too complicate, therefore it is convenient to install calculation software for smart phones in order to get emergency result and check and calculate. Currently, there are several kinds of mobile apps such as Construction advantage calculator 2.0, AFHTech RC Columns and Beams 1.0.0 and PocketStatics 2.01. 3.2 Drawing Nowadays the architecture drawing is mainly based on computers, by using powerful design software architects can get the most accurate and clear drawings. Smart phone can also works as minicomputer for architecture drawing by using related software to check the original drawing and do some changes. Also, the architects can create the sketch work and get design ideas in record time without leaving the clients. Furthermore, they can use massage function of smart phones to send their works or ideas to the company. Power CAD Site Master CE 1 has been welcomed by construction workers for years. 3.3 Management Computer is used by construction manager and builder to get technological solutions of scheduling and delivery the construction process efficiently. Also, site managers and builders use computer to manage contracts, manage delivery, record construction process and manage and record risk happened in construction process. Since, site manager and builders cannot get computers anywhere, it is quite convenient for them to use smart phones with mobile Apps to check and complete their works, particularly in emergency situation. The popular Apps for construction management are Construction Manager 2.5 and Penta Mobile Field Reporting. 3.4 Measurement Instead of big and heavy measurement equipment for construction measurement work, smart phone with mobile Apps can work well for the measurement task. By using GPS function of smart phones, you will not lose or cannot find the construction site. Also, mobile Apps can make smart phones work as plumb, to get horizontal, vertical and spirit level measuring. Most popular Apps are Kais Bubble Level.Net 2.2 and Plumb-bob. 3.5 Camera record Camera record is a powerful App for smart phones using in construction area. It can take pictures and videos for the visible construction information such as gather site information, get risk information, record construction process, store property information and so on. The Apps can get literature record works together with camera can make the construction information more clear and visible. Also, it will make video conference on mobile phone become more and more popular. 4 Infrastructure/system requirements As mobile phone needs the infrastructures to support it works, the quality of infrastructure/system requirements is deeply related to the quality of mobile Apps service. The infrastructure/system requirements is summarized as: good network to support data requirement, developed device to support the Apps works, high speed operation platform to support the Apps work well. 4.1 Network Signal quality is almost the most important factor which effects the mobile communication and mobile Apps works. Since 3G network is the most popular wireless network for Mobile Apps, the majority of developed countries have been developed the communication technologies. Current mobile Apps are mainly produced based on 3G network system, and there are lots of limitation and restrict on improvement of Mobile Apps because of the limitation of data transmission. Therefore, it seems that it is impossible to widely develop the video transmission Apps at this moment. 4G system may make it possible for widely developed the Apps in construction areas when it become commercial used. 4.2 Device The mobile phone device is known as the hardware to apply Mobile Apps. The processor is the heart of Mobile device which must quick enough to support the calculation speed. As well, the battery is required powerful enough to support the mobile phone works long time. The screen and keyboard need to convenient for the use of Mobile Apps in construction area. The hard drive or storage space need to enlarge for video or files to store and the run of systems and mobile Apps. The newest Apple iPhone 3GS with 32 G storage space which can record clear video about one day on theory, however, the battery can just support the video process less than 3 hours. 4.3 Operation system Operation system is the platform of mobile Apps software and many mobile Apps software are produced based on the operation systems. For example, the operation system requirement of calculation Apps such as Construction advantage calculator 2.0, AFHTech RC Columns and Beams 1.0.0 and PocketStatics 2.01 is Windows Mobile 2003. Currently, the most popular smart phone operation systems are Apple OS, RIM Black Berry OS, Symbian OS, Android OS and Microsoft Mobile OS. The diversity of operation systems creates trouble for mobile Apps work well under different operation systems. The adaptability of mobile Apps and operation system should be improved because of the difference of the operation systems. 5 Implementation Strategy Since 4G system will make mobile Apps more powerful and more convenient, smart phones will play more and more important roles in construction industry. The implementation strategy on mobile Apps which used in construction will be created based on 4G system. Because of the 4G system can enhance peak data rates to support advanced services and applications and the targets of 4G system are established as 100 Mbps for high and 1 Gbps for low mobility (Agilent Technologies, 2008). Thus, by developing the existing mobile Apps in construction areas, it can create the implementation strategy based on 4G system can focus on e-business, video conference and GPS measurement. 5.1 E- business With the high speed data transfer speed, the mobile Apps for E-business can be developed. The construction companies can receive and send out their contracts immediately after the decision making. Also, the companies can negotiate the contracts price and amend their contracts without delay by mobile Apps. The construction managers can manage the contract by mobile Apps easily, by the wireless with their company computers. Furthermore, the implemented E-business Apps allow construction managers to get the detail information of their clients, material suppliers and their employees. Thus, it is quite necessary to implement E-business in construction organizations. 5.2 Video transmission 4G system can offer high data delivery speed which allows video conference and video transmission as mobile Apps more frequent and more effective. During the 3G period, it can also using video transmission though smart phones, however, the video transfer speed and quality is so poor that it cannot for widely use in construction area. This situation will be totally changed during 4G period when high speed data transfer can enable video conference and video record transmission during different stakeholders in construction organization. Also, video transmission can be developed as distance guidance programme, when the risk happens the recorded video can be transferred to the professional group who communication by video conference with smart phones, also they can guide the construction workers to solved the problems by video conference. Therefore, video transmission will share a large market of mobile Apps in construction area. 5.3 GPS measurement GPS measurement is frequently used in construction area, particularly in highway construction and energy supply line construction. The original GPS equipments is big and heavy to carry, it mean the mobility of GPS equipments are poor. It can implement the mobile phone to replace the GPS equipments as measurement tools through the mobile Apps. Currently it can use GPS Apps in smart phone for location guides. Since the smart phone is quite convenient to carry and it can work as plump equipment with mobile Apps, it is essential to implement the Apps work together with GPS Apps and developed new GPS measurement Apps. Also, Infrared measurements can be used as measurement apps in mobile phone. 6 Benefits and Barriers The benefits and barriers of the mobile Apps in construction areas are difficult indentified sometimes. However, it can general get the benefits and barriers factors for using mobile Apps in construction areas. 6.1 Benefits The benefits of using mobile Apps in construction areas cannot calculation by how many pounds or dollars, since you cannot evaluate the apps used during emergency. Generally, the benefits of using mobile Apps can be defined as saving transport fees and dealing with emergency. 6.1.1 Saving transport fees Mobile Apps are used for connecting with the construction company groups in different areas. Transport fees are saved since mobile Apps can take the roles of many function tools such as camera, pump and professional calculator and so on. As well, the mobile can used as camera, many managers are not necessary to get site visit in order to acquaint the construction site. 6.1.2 Dealing with emergency Many emergencies happened in construction area need professional tool to deal with; however, mobile phone with the Apps in construction area can act as the professional tools sometimes. There are huge benefits of mobile phone Apps used for emergency, which cannot measured by money. 6.2 Barriers Since it needs to develop mobile Apps for enterprise-wide and on-demand mobile service delivery, the network coverage level in different countries has great gap and the internet security problems cannot solved will be the main barriers. 6.2.1 Unbalanced Network coverage Because the unbalanced economic and technology development of the world, the developed countries such as the UK, the US and the EU countries have already complete their 3G network coverage a decades before, however, the developing countries such as China has just begin the coverage project of 3G network. The developed countries plan to develop 4G network coverage since 2012, but for the developing countries may be need another decade. 6.2.2 Security problems Using wireless connection in transferring information from construction site to the main office and having that information stored in mobile memory, the security is a big issue which is concerned by many construction organizations. The stolen of mobile device, the leak of commercial secret and the attack by hacker, all these problems will cased the lost of company benefits. Thus, it is quite essential to solve the security problems in mobile Apps. 7 New Apps Development The aim of the development this new Apps is offering the full service delivery for construction companies globally. The idea of the new App based on 4G system and cloud computing used in construction area, thus the name of the new App is cloud computing construction programme. 7.1 Cloud computing construction programme (CCCP) Cloud computing construction programme (CCCP) is an idea of new mobile Apps in construction area. The programme will developed based on 4G system, which requires high data transfer speed. The functions of the new App will contain commercial management, GPS measurement, video record and transmission, architecture drawing and risk management. Considering the compatibility of different functions Apps work in one programme, it is planned to divide the programme into small function programmes. The structure of the programme is showed as figure 7.1. C:Documents and SettingsxuweiweiDesktop11.jpg Figure 7.1 Cloud computing construction programme structure 7.2 Cloud Computing Since the CCCP is a big programme for smart phone device and operation system, it is considering the new App will use cloud computing to share the capitation and run speed by the Internet. Because of the App can share the Internet as part of processor, the hardware requirements of smart phones to run the new App will be greatly reduced. Also, by using advanced cloud computing to support the new App, it can share other computing resources and data centres and powerful servers host Web. Although this App is support by cloud computing, cloud computing is totally separate from the operational system of the mobile device. In this programme cloud computing is used both as Apps and platform. Conclusion The use of mobile Apps in construction organizations has great benefits and advantages. Also, there are many barriers for develop mobile Apps for enterprise-wide, on-demand mobile service delivery and retrieval. However, the barriers of mobile Apps in construction area will be less and less because of the development of mobile network coverage and mobile phone device development.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

My Trip To Egypt

My Trip To Egypt It was my grandmothers 70th Birthday in May this year and my Mum, my sister Sophie and my Mums three sisters decided to have a girly long weekend in Dorset during the May half term. Consequently, my Dad and I had most of the week on our own. My Dad came up with a few options of places to go ranging from Paris to Rome but also suggested going to Cairo. As I have always wanted to go to Cairo and see ancient Egypt, I thought that this was a brilliant idea and a fabulous gift from my Dad and I readily agreed to the trip. It was a five hour flight to Cairo and my Mum drove us to the nearest underground station for us to reach Heathrow airport in time for our early morning flight of course the anticipation was killing me as and I desperately wanted to see what an Arab country was like, especially one with all the mysteries of the ancient world that I imagined Egypt to have. We enjoyed the flight I enjoy my Dads company as he is such a good story teller and of course, he had been to Egypt about 20 years before so was telling me about all the things I could expect I couldnt wait! When we stepped off the airplane, the first thing I could feel was the intense heat that was thrown against my face and it seemed to suck the moisture from not only my face but seemed to reach right into my mouth and towel dry my tongue I knew then that I was in a desert country. When we stepped off of the tarmac into the custom hall, the first culture shock hit me and I have never seen so many guns pointing at me as if I was public enemy number one, although on the other hand, it seemed like I was the prime minister arriving! My Dad had arranged for us to be met by a personal driver, and he treated us like visiting royalty, escorting us to the car, looking after our luggage and settling us in for the journey. Although we arent used to that kind of service at home (well apart from my Mum!!), for comfortably-off Westerners with our standard of living this was probably just an average means of transport. I was really interested in seeing Cairo as we drove to our hotel and while it was not immediately as spectacular compared to some of the cities I have visited, it seemed a fairly average city with a lot of slums, colourful graffiti, stray dogs but balanced with some fairly modern buildings too. On the next day my Dad and I decided to visit the market, which was called the Khan E Khali Bazaar and which had a range of shops and stalls that I had never seen before with most of the goods on offer being so cheap that I felt that I could virtually buy the whole bazaar. I bought a lot of souvenirs right away as this was one of the aims of my visit I am a great shopper and collector, especially on holiday, and this visit was going to be no exception! The market was based near the citys main Egyptian museum, is one of the major areas of Cairo and which houses all the mummies and Egyptian artefacts, which are of course key to defining the history of Egypt. The sun was scorching and I felt as if I was inside an oven, but suffering the heat was worth it we ended up spending most of the morning in the colourful, bustling market, taking refuge in the little tea-rooms and of course buying about three shopping bags of a wide range of goodies to take home, for example I bought an old Egypt ian coin which in this country would be worth a lot of money because it is an ancient artefact. The texture of the coin was very rough; I made me think of all the hands it must have been through. I also allowed my imagination to wander and dream about the very strong sun in the sky, beating down on the coin; how many hardworking slaves in Ancient Egypt had stood where I stood now with the sun beating down on them as they toiled in the heat and the dust all those centuries ago, battling with famine and the anxiety of not knowing if theyd see another day? The smells of anywhere new is always something that lodges in your memory and this was no different; we visited a perfume shop that had a whole range of intoxicating perfumed oils and lotions and we bought a full set of different liquids all in their own intricately made glass bottles to take back home to my Mum and Sister. There were so many different spices and perfumes and I just know that when I smell any of these intoxicating aromas, or the smell of meat mixed with the aroma of jasmine and various herbs of the Arabic world, this will remind me of various soap shops that we walked past. Also, I think that the smell of raw meat reminds me of walking past open meat stalls in various supermarkets, such as, Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys I will be instantly transported back to that busy market! We had a really full and interesting day but eventually decided to head back to the hotel and take an afternoon nap so that we would be in the best shape to be ready for a lovely dinner in the hotel in the evening. After a long and relaxing sleep, the next morning, we decided to visit what is called the Gem of Egypt and the world famous pyramids. There were many more pyramids than I expected as there are actually three major ones and three smaller ones. The one I liked best was one known as the step pyramid as this was a major landmark in history for the Egyptians. I cannot imagine how long it would have taken to construct these Wonders of the World. Again my mind wandered back to the Egypt of 3000 years ago when I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be part of the many thousands of poor slaves who were forced to build these massive constructions; I was finding difficult just to stand or walk in this intense heat how hard would it be to pull massive stone blocks into place, or using rope and tackle having to pull the stones up and into their place and then to have these monuments to hard labour stand for thousands of years the whole scene and where it stood in history was mind bl owing. Another equally impressive installation sitting serenely nearby was of course the Sphinx which dominates the pyramids with its beauty and its uniqueness. To see and touch the Sphinx had been one of my life long ambitions and of course, I had to buy a memento a small replica of the beautiful monument, although this souvenir had been painted. Although this is not currently the case, whos to say it wasnt originally painted? At the end of this long, hot and sweaty day making tiring journeys to, from and inside the pyramids, I desperately needed a shower and then we had a relaxing meal and after dinner drink by the moonlit pool (although did have to battle the treacherous nightlife in the form of mosquitoes!), we repeated our pattern of fairly early night and off to bed. Lying in bed of an evening, I heard various different noises of the Arabic world, my imagination was very much alive this holiday due to the lack of internet, television and video games, I had a lot of time to think and reflect on what might have gone on in the surroundings around me. I acted out many scenes in my head, filled with various battles and mysterious tales that have been centred in and around Ancient Egypt. We were very tired the next day and so we decided to take it easy and decided against some trips from the hotel. We woke up lazily at around eleven in the morning, because of the exhausting past two days. After a scrumptious breakfast, we went to the swimming pool which was a clear as a diamond with lovely clean as water. The pool was neither too hot nor too cold but just perfect and the water was of the same quality as in England with no dirt. We swam for about half the day and then made our way to the restaurant again for lunch, this time a buffet laid out perfectly with such a vast selection of delicious food that I felt quite confused as to what I should have for lunch. In the afternoon, we decided to visit the mosque of the Emperor which was so beautiful with all carvings of the Quran and people praying it almost felt like you were in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, everything was just so authentic. I think when you are faced with a completely different religion or culture, t here are very stark differences and on the surface, you feel that there are no similarities; this is especially true with the differences between Christianity and Islam. However, it is only when you study the religions in depth that you come to realise that there are some things that are very similar or in fact the same. During my visit to the mosque I also learnt some Arabic (for numbers) which sounded like a language made by God. Later on in the evening, we had a real contrast to the holy experiences of the day when we went to watch a typical Arab belly dance with a woman dressed in an Arabian dress showing her bare stomach. It was like a dance exhibition for a king, and she had thousands of pounds worth of jewellery all over her. The dance lasted for about thirty minutes and it was performed while we ate some typical Arab fare for dinner. Finally, we went back to our hotel and because we already had had dinner, went straight to bed. All so quickly, I reached the last day of our fantastic visit to this wonderful country with such diversity, such rich culture and rich smells and tastes. Our flight was quite late at night so during our last day we visited the world renowned Egyptian museum, which contained wonderful artefacts. One artefact which startled me the most was the picture of Tutankhamen, one of the great rulers of Egypt, which was full of rich colours and was truly a work of a great artist. I never imagined that the people of so long ago would have had such refined and great skills, especially artistic and also construction work. The museum was really fascinating and I felt honoured to have witnessed so many treasures. We finally made our way to the airport and even though I didnt want to go home, we had to our flights were booked and so we could not stay longer. The airport had the same high security situation with the guards holding guns on display. I will never forget this trip and the only thing that would have made it even better was if I had my mum and sister with me too.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: Order and Disorder -- Midsummer Night

Order and Disorder in A Midsummer Night's Dream Order and disorder is a favorite theme of Shakespeare. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the apparently anarchic tendencies of the young lovers, of the mechanicals-as-actors, and of Puck are restrained by the "sharp Athenian law" and the law of the Palace Wood, by Theseus and Oberon, and their respective consorts. This tension within the world of the play is matched in its construction: in performance it can at times seem riotous and out of control, and yet the structure of the play shows a clear interest in symmetry and patterning. Confronted by the "sharp" law of Athens, and not wishing to obey it, Lysander thinks of escape. But he has no idea that the wood, which he sees merely as a rendezvous before he and Hermia fly to his aunt, has its own law and ruler. As Theseus is compromised by his own law, so is Oberon. Theseus wishes to overrule Egeus, but knows that his own authority derives from the law, that this cannot be set aside when it does not suit the ruler's wishes. He does discover a merciful provision of the law which Egeus has overlooked (for Hermia to choose "the livery of a nun") but hopes to persuade Demetrius to relinquish his claim, insisting that Hermia take time before choosing her fate. The lovers' difficulties are made clear by the law of Athens, but arise from their own passions: thus, when they enter the woods, they take their problems with them. Oberon is compromised because his quarrel with Titania has caused him and her to neglect their duties: Oberon, who should rule firmly over the enti re fairy kingdom cannot rule in his own domestic arrangements. We see how each ruler, in turn, resolves this problem, without further breaking of his law. In the lov... ...espeare's control of the play proper. This is shown both on the small and the large scale. The linguistic variety of the play (see below) and the control of the four narrative strands are such that the play has enjoyed great success in performance. In the wood, Shakespeare will leave a group of characters alone for as long as he needs to, but we never lose touch with their story. It is typical of Shakespeare that the mortals we see first in the wood are Demetrius and Helena; at once the playwright shows us the cause of Demetrius' rejection of Helena and lets us know that the other pair are also in the wood. We do not need to see Lysander and Hermia before they have lost their way, but we are ready for Puck's mistake as he seeks one in "Athenian garments". Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Â   A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: Order and Disorder -- Midsummer Night Order and Disorder in A Midsummer Night's Dream Order and disorder is a favorite theme of Shakespeare. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the apparently anarchic tendencies of the young lovers, of the mechanicals-as-actors, and of Puck are restrained by the "sharp Athenian law" and the law of the Palace Wood, by Theseus and Oberon, and their respective consorts. This tension within the world of the play is matched in its construction: in performance it can at times seem riotous and out of control, and yet the structure of the play shows a clear interest in symmetry and patterning. Confronted by the "sharp" law of Athens, and not wishing to obey it, Lysander thinks of escape. But he has no idea that the wood, which he sees merely as a rendezvous before he and Hermia fly to his aunt, has its own law and ruler. As Theseus is compromised by his own law, so is Oberon. Theseus wishes to overrule Egeus, but knows that his own authority derives from the law, that this cannot be set aside when it does not suit the ruler's wishes. He does discover a merciful provision of the law which Egeus has overlooked (for Hermia to choose "the livery of a nun") but hopes to persuade Demetrius to relinquish his claim, insisting that Hermia take time before choosing her fate. The lovers' difficulties are made clear by the law of Athens, but arise from their own passions: thus, when they enter the woods, they take their problems with them. Oberon is compromised because his quarrel with Titania has caused him and her to neglect their duties: Oberon, who should rule firmly over the enti re fairy kingdom cannot rule in his own domestic arrangements. We see how each ruler, in turn, resolves this problem, without further breaking of his law. In the lov... ...espeare's control of the play proper. This is shown both on the small and the large scale. The linguistic variety of the play (see below) and the control of the four narrative strands are such that the play has enjoyed great success in performance. In the wood, Shakespeare will leave a group of characters alone for as long as he needs to, but we never lose touch with their story. It is typical of Shakespeare that the mortals we see first in the wood are Demetrius and Helena; at once the playwright shows us the cause of Demetrius' rejection of Helena and lets us know that the other pair are also in the wood. We do not need to see Lysander and Hermia before they have lost their way, but we are ready for Puck's mistake as he seeks one in "Athenian garments". Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Â  

Monday, September 2, 2019

The Total Package of an American Essay -- Literary Analysis, J.D Salin

The definition of â€Å"what it means to be an American† is difficult to outline in exact terms; however, through the characters in Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye, Joseph Heller and J.D. Salinger manage to do just that. American spirit, identity, culture, and values are four aspects of America that are the basis of what it means to be an American. The characters in Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye provide the reader with a solid base of what Americans are all about. Most Americans are independent, fun loving, patriotic, and firm in their beliefs; however, some but few Americans are greedy and imbecilic. Through the works Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye, Heller and Salinger respectively use characters to showcase the true essence of being an American through American spirit, culture, identity, and values. Deep down in every American, a sense of American spirit and pride is contained. Since the birth of America, citizens have put emphasis on their love for independence, exploration, and new places, an aspect of American society that is evident in both Heller’s Catch-22 and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. In Catch-22, the American spirit is conveyed through the new roommates Yossarian acquires in chapter thirty-two. When Yossarian catches his first glimpse of the roommates, he thinks, â€Å"They were frisky, eager, and exuberant [...] They were glad the war had lasted long enough for them to find out what it was really like† (346). Heller notes that the boys are excited to be in a new place and to try new things, supporting the idea of American spirit in that the boys are overjoyed at the chance to be in a new place with new surroundings, even if it is in the middle of a war. The same feeling of American spirit is expressed in Salinger’s Catc... ...Holden on the right path in life. Salinger puts Mr. Spencer in the story to symbolize all of the wise Americans, be they teachers, parents, or adults in general, who try to steer children in the right direction, whether it is what is best for the children or not. Unfortunately for Holden; however, Mr. Spencer’s beliefs conflicts with Holden’s own views in that he is not looking for the most excellent education at the most excellent school, he is looking for a place to belong; a home. Salinger creates a sense of the many American values in Catcher in the Rye by using characters who exemplify these values. Throughout both Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye, Heller and Salinger give the reader a strong insight into what it truly means to be an American by intertwining American spirit, identity, culture, and values through the characters’ personalities and the storyline.

Case Study: Active Data Warehousing

1. Describe â€Å"active† data warehousing as it is applied at Continental Airlines. Does Continental apply active or real-time warehousing differently than this concept is normally described? An active data warehousing, or ADW, is a data warehouse implementation that supports near-time or near-real-time decision making. It is featured by event-driven actions that are triggered by a continuous stream of queries that are generated by people or applications regarding an organization or company against a broad, deep granular set of enterprise data.Continental uses active data warehousing to keep track of their company’s daily progress and performance. Continental’s management team holds an operations meeting every morning to discuss how their company is performing in regards to the data collected by their active data warehousing program. The management team believes, â€Å"you can’t manage what you can’t measure,† so they use active data warehou sing to keep track of their customers experience while using Continental Airlines.The information that the management team uses to analyze their company in regards to customer relationship is on-time arrival, on-time departures, baggage handling, and other key performance indicators. Continental also uses active data warehousing for revenue management, revenue accounting, flight operations, fraud detection and airline security. Continental restructured their goals to try to become customers â€Å"favorite† airline to use. They use their active data warehousing to gain as much information about the company’s performance as well as the customers experience.They use this real-time warehousing program to interpret information that is provided and make changes that will better improve their customers experience and help Continental better suit their business in regards to their customers’ needs. 2. In what ways does real-time data warehousing fit with the Continental strategy and plans? Continental Airlines decided to shift their strategy once they went from â€Å"worst to first. † The new goal that they wanted to achieve was making the move from â€Å"first to favorite. Continentals’ new strategy and plan of becoming their customers’ favorite airline could only be achieved by using real-time data warehousing. Continental made plans to become the â€Å"favorite† airline and their strategy involved making business decisions based on information they receive from real-time data warehousing such as: on-time arrival, on-time departures, baggage handling, and other key performance indicators. This information gives the Continental management team the necessary information needed to make corrections or changes in order to better their customers’ experience while using Continental Airlines.Continental’s strategy and plans to become the â€Å"favorite† airline would be much harder to accomplish without real-time data warehousing. They need this information in order to realize what parts of their company need to be tweaked to keep the customer happy. Without real-time data warehousing Continental wouldn’t be able to achieve their goal of moving from â€Å"first to favorite. † 3. Describe the benefits of real-time data warehousing at Continental. Real-time data warehousing has allowed Continental to make significant changes to its business in a variety of ways.According to Continental’s president and COO Larry Kellner, â€Å"Real-time BI is critical to the accomplishment of our business strategy and has created significant business benefits. † There is a wide-range of benefits that Continental has gained from real-time or â€Å"active† data warehouse in the categories of marketing, corporate security, IT, and revenue management. One key benefit in the marketing field is the average increase of travel amongst Continental’s most valuable custo mers, approximately $800 per customer (35,000 customers).A central benefit in is that all employees have the ability to access important facts and information about its customers and the business in its entirety. This in turn allowed Continental to check passenger reservations and flight manifests by cross-referencing with the FBI’s â€Å"watch† list only hours about the 9/11 attacks, deciding if it was safe to fly. Above all, Continental has recognized over $500 million of cost saving and revenue generation (tracking and forecasting, fare designs and analysis, and full reservation analysis) due to the advantages of the business intelligence. . What elements of the data warehousing environment at Continental are necessary to support the extensive end-user business intelligence application development that occurs? There are numerous elements of the data warehousing environment at Continental that are necessary in the support of the extensive end-user BI application deve lopment that takes place. Two important elements that are necessary to discuss are the systems scalability and data security. Since the real-time data warehousing warehouse never gets rid of information, the amount of data increases exponentially over time.Additionally, with the development of BI application, the number of uses will also increase. To deal with the amount of usage and data, the data warehouse at Continental should have scalability which allows the data warehouse to expand the accessible disc space and throughput. The Continental design team took this into account when going through the architecture design of the warehouse. The other element that is important to take care of is data security. Data security is extremely important when a company handles customer information and personal data.Continentals’ warehouse stores all of the customer’s information that can be accessed by other users in order to gain the data that they need. The customers can rest a ssured knowing that their personal information (i. e. social security numbers and credit card numbers) are protected from being opened by any users that are not authorized to view this sensitive information. 5. What special issues about data warehouse management (e. g. , data capture and loading for the data warehouse (ETL processes) and query workload balancing) does this case suggest occur for real-time data warehousing? How has Continental addressed these issues?Real-time data warehousing creates some special issues that need to be solved by data warehouse management. These can create issues because of the extensive technicality that is involved for not only planning the system, but also managing problems as they arise. Two aspects of the BI system that need to be organized in order to elude any technical problems are: the architecture design and query workload balancing. Architecture design is important because when a company is progressively receiving business and different asp ects of the customers’ usage of the company changes the warehouse needs to frequently be updated.Continental planned for the company to use real-time data warehousing so they structured the design to accommodate for the demand of real-time information. The information then became easier to update the warehouse in a timely manner. Query workload balancing is another important aspect of the warehouse that needed to be addressed in order to fulfill Continentals’ need to use the warehouse for tactical and strategic purposes. Continental would run into issues of backed up query processing in their warehouse if query workload balancing wasn’t introduced.The queries would be processed in a â€Å"first in first out† system and would essentially cause backups. Continental resolved this issue by making the warehouse process queries according to the query type. They set up the warehouse to process the specific queries that access single records first and marked them with high priority. Then they prioritized other queries to either be marked with medium priority or low priority depending on what information they are asking for and for what reason it’s needed.Continental’s utilization of using prioritized groupings of queries has led them to be able to process information in a timely manner that is most convenient for the person trying to access this information. (Information regarding the case as well: not sure which one you wanted so I included both) There are two issues that the case study suggests in terms of data management. The first is to recognize that some data cannot and should not be real-time, for three reasons. The first is that Continental knows that real-time data feed are hard to administer because the constant flow of transaction data must always be supervised.The second reason is the need for extra hardware. The last reason Continental is extremely cautious with the movement of additional data is because real-time data feed is extremely costly to bring about. The second issue Continental deals with when it comes to data warehouse management is having the right people in the right positions. Anny individual who handles any aspect of a real-time warehouse must be highly qualified and knowledgeable in both technology and business.According to the case study, â€Å"At Continental, data warehouse staff members in the more technical positions (e. g. , design of ETL processes) have degrees in computer science. Some of them previously built and maintained reservation systems before they joined the warehouse team. Consequently, they have experience with transaction oriented, real-time systems, which serves them well for real-time BI and data warehousing. The warehouse team members who work closely with the business units have previous work experience in the business areas they now support. †

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Muslim Women Essay

The more and more I study about Muslim Women and the obstacles they face, I become angered. In writing this paper, I’ve found that there is no substantial evidence in any Muslim or Islamic writings that states that women should be treated as slaves or insubordinates. Women are to be respected, protected, and loved; no matter what religion or color they may be. So, my paper will focus on these three things, but the lack of it. What is the definition of respect? Respect is a positive feeling of esteem or deference for a person or other entity. When you respect a person, you will show it through actions and deeds; without any conjuring. I’ve noticed that Muslim women aren’t respected too well within their own religion. The Sharia Law is the moral code and religious law of Islam which deals with many topics such as prayer, fasting, diet, sexual intercourse, hygiene, etc. It is considered the infallible law of God; there is no human interpretation. The two sources of this law are the Quran and Mohammed; the last source is part of the human interpretation that many state the Quran doesn’t possess. According to the Sharia, women aren’t equal to men unless it is in religious duties such as prayer, fasting, and making hajj. Contrary to what most Muslim men believe, a woman is not created for the purpose of a Muslim man. Rather, they are both created for each other. They are to help, support, and cleave to one another through their life and Islamic religion. Some Muslim men have taken the Quran and made it to be a falsity to their perception and added to it. This addition has caused many Muslim women to be disrespected and abused. Many Islamic religions are filled with much domestic violence. Take Bibi Aisha’s case, her husband was part of the Taliban and she never had a chance to see him. During his time away, her in-laws beat her, tortured her, and made her sleep with the livestock. The abuse became too much, so Bibi ran away, but her father returned her back to her in-laws. Due to her disappearance, her husband returned and he proceeded to torture her in front of the community by removing her ear and nose. She was left in the desert to bleed to death. She ran to her uncle’s house and he turned her away, but her father-in-law took her to the Americans (military) where they tended to her wounds and protected her. You can find her picture on my blog for this class. When I see her, I see a woman of strength and perseverance. It’s said to say, but this incident which brought her much pain, seems to have blessed her. It is because of the mutilation of her face that she is free and in a better place. It is well known within the Islamic culture that domestic abuse is hardly unique. Many Muslim women deal with this atrocity daily, due to the thoughts of Muslim men. Most Muslim males believe that Muslim women are slaves or property. Most husbands believe its right to beat their wives and treat her with disdain. An often-quoted verse in the Quran says a husband may chastise a disobedient wife, but this is open to several interpretations. What is the definition of protection and love? Protection is to cover or shield from exposure, injury, damage, or destruction and love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. I can’t say that I see these actions practiced within the Muslim culture. If anything, Muslim women are caused to feel scared, unsafe, unprotected, and abused. The most common form of abuse is emotional and mental abuse. This can include verbal threats, intimidation, neglect, extreme jealousy and possessiveness. The worse of the two is the mental abuse which causes severe psychological harm. It destroys her self-esteem, self-worth, and causes many to have nervous breakdowns and become suicidal. Some of the factors that make Muslim men abusive Muslim women are: 1. Economic hardship, political oppression experienced outside the U.S., problems with the children, or an inferiority complex. 2. Some Muslim men accept the idea that it’s normal for a man to hit his wife and that she is no more than a piece of his property. 3. It’s generational; habits are picked up after watching their own fathers abuse their mothers. 4. Some abuse their wives because they want them to be more â€Å"modern† and less Islamic. SO they have their wives remove their hijab (Islamic dress), while others turn to abuse in order to keep their wives traditional; which is the exact opposite of the former. In a marriage, the Quran is very clear on procedures in discipline for Islamic wives. First, there’s peaceful discussion between the two about the problem and resolutions. If this doesn’t work, the next step is for the husband to be more stern and focused. If the disobedience persists from the wife, the husband will leave the bed which is a form of punishment for not only the wife, but also the husband. If that doesn’t work, then other family members will become involved and try to help in resolving the issues and being fair to both parties. This is not totally true because the Muslim religion is male dominated and gender-controlled. The males within the family will be the first and last to define choices of resolution. Remember, Muslim women really don’t have rights. Whether it’s within their family, job, mosque, or society. There is no balance when it comes to gender or to resolving life’s issues in the Muslim culture. During this whole process, Muslim women keep quiet due to feelings of depression and hopelessness. They began to feel like no one will help them and they are constantly aware of their co-dependence to their husbands. Financial independence is something that is always in the forefront of their minds, but it’s always tainted by the images of control in the Muslim culture. So, they make a decision to stay in bondage to keep their homes, children, and the love of their husbands; the latter is questionable. Some Muslim women see the abuse as a fact of life and learn to live with it. So, what does the abuse and control have to do with Women’s Studies? Well, throughout the class we focused on many different types of situations that involved women; whether good or bad. The control and abuse that is present in the Muslim culture reminds of gender prejudice and gender discrimination. Both are one in the same, but speak of different influences. Gender prejudice is a belief that women are the weaker of the sexes emotionally and physically and must be protected from the world outside. I know that males are expected to be the providers and to dominate the decision making in the home, but there sh ould still be some form of balance. Balance is needed in everything; whether it’s life, work, or play. We all need to have a sense of structure or rules, but there must be a state of adjustment. In reviewing gender discrimination, you will find prejudicial treatment based upon groups or individuals due to their gender or sex; there is no protection factor involved. Gender discrimination can affect both men and women, but women are usually at the receiving end, since most cultures in the world are patriarchal and male-dominated. This isn’t a far cry for religions because mostly all religions are male-dominated. You will find women aren’t seen as being equal to men within the scope of religion. It is partly due to how man has interpreted their religious readings or scriptures, and twisted it to be a form of evil and disdain. Yes, there are places within scripture that speak of women being unclean due to their monthly or being untouchable after childbirth. But is it because the woman is evil, or is it a form of protection for her and anyone that she may come into contact with? All in all, I see the Islamic religion as being so gender biased that it causes me to become angered. This religion seems to prevent Muslim women from nurturing their true identity and blossoming into women of self-worth and self-esteem. Hiding one’s face can make a person feel unworthy and disconnected. It’s a joy to feel positive about yourself and who you are. Being able to feel good about your looks and your body can be very uplifting to the psyche and soul. What puts a damper on that? Having a father, brother, husband, or any male to make you feel that your very essence is despicable and dirty. Hopefully, in the 21st century, things will change and get better. Until then, it’s up to us to become more aware of the many differences of cultures and religions. These differences could cause or society to become cold, unloving, and aloof. I don’t believe our world should be this way. If anything, love should prevail and the worship of a power stronger than you should cause you to love everyone even the more. Bibliography Roald, Anne S. (2001). Women in Islam: The Western Experience. Routledge. Suad Joseph, Afsaneh Najmabadi, ed. Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. Brill Academic Publishers. â€Å"Women and Violence.† Welcome to the United Nations: It’s Your World. United Nations Department of Public Information, Feb. 1996. Web. 07 Dec. 2011 â€Å"American Muslim Women Unveil, and Explain Why: NPR.† NPR: National Public Radio. 19 Oct. 2011. Muslim Clerics on the Religious Rulings Regarding Wife-Beating. Jihad Watch. 15 Nov. 2011.