Thursday, October 31, 2019

The artist M.C. Escher Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The artist M.C. Escher - Research Paper Example In some of his works, he created polytypes that cannot be constructed in real world and can be explained using mathematics knowledge. His study on mathematics began with George Polya’s academic paper about plane symmetry groups. What he studied inspired him to study the concept of 17 wallpapers (Math Explorer Club, 2009). By using this mathematical concept, he manage to create a periodic tilings made up of 43 colored drawings of different types of symmetry. This was the point where he started developing mathematical approach to expressions of symmetry shapes in his drawings. He was being viewed as a research mathematician during that time when he documented his findings in a book wrote about asymmetry polygons. He researched about color based division and he came up with a system of classifying combinations of shape, color and symmetrical properties (Math Explorer Club, 2009). He also developed several interlocking figures that appear to be mathematically incorrect. With the use of black and white color, he manages to develop different dimensions to make the impossible mathematics look possible. He normally combines 2 and 3 dimensional images to a single print. In his works entitled ‘reptiles’ he drew pictures where reptiles come out of tessellation, move around, and go back into 2 dimensional forms. To create certain linear perspectives, he picked a point on the drawings such that all the lines in the work will converge together at one point. In this way, he used mathematics to develop a certain perception from the audience, without using any special mathematic tool. Escher circle limit III contains tessellations that he drew with a free hand and they are mathematically correct (Abrams, 1995). In 1956, he analyzed the concept of representing infinity on 2 dimensional planes. His wood carvings circle limit I-IV shows the infinity concept. In 1959, he explained further about infinity using his construction (Abrams, 1995). The

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Richter case - Infrastructure Essay Example for Free

Richter case Infrastructure Essay Looking at the current (2007) IT governance of Richter, Szà ¼cs is the IT director and is working together with around 50 people in the head department in Hungary. Those 50 people are focusing on four different areas: â€Å"IT operations (12), procurement and service (15), SAP support (12), IT strategy and projects (4)† (Mitchell et al., 2007). Altogether they develop a strategic plan which is expected to support the business processes at Richter. However, a plan is not very flexible since it first has to be approved by the CFO of Richter and then still has to be agreed on by the senior management. This process though takes place only once a year, namely each year in June. But there is not only the headquarter of Richter in Hungary but different affiliates all over the world (e.g. Poland, India, Russia, Romania). Those affiliates have their own IT departments and IT directors. Major important infrastructure/IT decisions and decisions regarding the SAP modules have to be coordinated and discussed with Szà ¼cs and the head office in Hungary. If the affiliates develop a plan they have to present them like Szà ¼cs but to their respective CEOs. This structure shows the level of importance of IT to Richter and has some strengths as well as weaknesses. As mentioned above IT has more of a supporting role for Richter’s business processes and there are IT directors who develop plans with a team of different specialists but cannot implement them by themselves. Looking at Broadbent and Weill (1997), Richter has a dependent infrastructure view. Their IT as a percent of expenses are around the average relative to its competitors and they also want to achieve cost savings but still be relatively flexible. This has the advantage of staying competitive without that much risk. Due to top management requiring to approve the plans developed by the IT director they can evaluate the cost and risk exactly. However, since top management might not have the best IT knowledge it could happen that they do not approve a plan because they think it is too expensive and risky. But if they would have enough IT understanding they might see the value this plan will add to the company. Also, the meetings are just once a year which let them lose some flexibility. Another infrastructure view is the enabling view. Having this view, Richter would have much higher IT expenses and their IT infrastructure would always  be on the edge. This view has its strengths and weaknesses as well: They would be a lot more flexible and management of IT would probably be different. The IT directors would not have to get approval by the CFO and top management but rather work together with them looking for opportunities to be innovative and get a competitive advantage for some time. This view has its downsides, though: Investing much money and being the first to invest in something new is always connected with a lot of risk. Also, if the affiliates would be allowed to decide everything on their own failures might be discovered too late and increase the loss. Yet, another view is the utility view with which the firm has low IT expenses and focuses on cost savings. IT is clearly used as a supporting tool. The IT director (if there even is one) gets told what is needed and just tries to find the most cost-saving solution. The firm has low risk since it does not invest much money but is not very innovative and maybe loses some profits because it probably imitates competitors later on.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Sympathy for Frankensteins Monster

Sympathy for Frankensteins Monster Mary Shelley might have written Frankenstein because she was challenged by her husband and Lord Byron to see who could write the best horror story while they were staying at Villa Diolati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Her father was interested in Galvanism- running electric currents through the body to restore it to life. In the book, Victor Frankenstein uses similar methods to create the monster. She was also influenced by the works of Samuel Taylor and Aaron Burr. Firstly, Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster by describing his appearance in a unique yet horrific way: hes gigantic; about eight feet; deformed; black lips and lastly, yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath. When you link these descriptions together, Shelley creates a vivid, unnatural image of the monster in the minds eye. This creates sympathy for the monster by making him abhorrent to typical humans. Usually when someone is different in the society, they are pitied, oppressed or threatened by the majority. Secondly, Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster the comments Victor makes behind his back. He says before making him that he hoped his creation would bless him as his creator. He also believed the monster to have happy and excellent nature and be beautiful. His words betrayed him when the monster was created. Instead of his work being beautiful, he says hes a filthy creation, hes ugly, horrid and a demonical corpse. This makes us sympathise for the monster because his father, his creator detests him. If the man that should be his father does not like him, it does not give him much hope with other people. The choice of words here are very emotive, it makes the reader feel sympathy and sorrow for the monster. Frankensteins brother, William, also detests the monster; he states hes a monster! An ugly wretch! and an ogre. This also makes us feel poignancy for the monster because even though he has done no harm to William at that point, he is able to be prejudice just by looking at his appearance. Thirdly, Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster through comments said to his face, Frankenstein says hes a vile insect, and also adds cursed be the dayin which you first saw light! The language Shelly uses here is very powerful and emotive. He further goes on to say, Shall I create another like yourself, whose joints wickedness might desolate the world? This is even harsher as it is coming from his creator. It makes the reader want to comfort the monster and help him. He is lonely. All it wants is someone to like him, someone who would treat him like hes a person, not a thing or an insect. Fourthly, Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster through what people do to him. Victor sprang on him and he flung his hands from his eyes with violence. This makes the reader feel sorry for the monster by making the monster sound helpless. He doesnt deserve this treatment. Victor further goes on to shred his girlfriend to pieces- just because the monster happened to be smiling at her. We feel empathy for the monster because it makes us realise that he has feelings like everyone else. A man in the woods just took one glance and he tore the girl from his armsaimed a gun at his body, and fired. This makes us realise how appalling people behave towards him. The man doesnt even give a chance to explain his reason for holding the girl- his appearance is good enough. These actions make us feel pity for him because we know he is innocent and all he wants is a friend. The fifth way Shelley tries to make us feel sorry for the monster is through peoples reaction to him. Victor couldnt and wouldnt look at him; he was unable to endure the aspect of being he had created. He thinks of his creation as a putrid savage without thinking hoe helpless and unwanted the monster feels by his fathers reactions. We wouldnt like it if children shrieked and women fainted just from looking at us, would we? The sixth way Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster is though his actions when he comes to life. The monster muttered some inarticulate sounds to Frankenstein, he then smiled at Frankenstein, a grin wrinkled his cheeks. When the monster tries to touch Victor, he reacted badly. If someone rejected us just for being ourselves, we would feel really sad. When the monster turned away, upset, from a window he could see a girl lovingly being lifted by her father. We feel sorry for the monster because we see how loving the man was to his child while Frankenstein loathes the monster. Her choice of language makes him sound vulnerable and emotional. He even wept when the family were upset, showing he has feelings for others, not just for himself. Finally Shelley tries to create sympathy for the monster through his speech. He says all men hate the wretched! These words create sympathy for the monster because he knows hes been rejected by society for the way he looks. It isnt his fault the way he looks. People should have given him a chance and judged him on his personality rather than his face. In conclusion, Mary Shelley makes us sympathise for the monster through his appearance, his actions, his speech and how others react to him. She gets across this by her choice of words. She uses emotive language brilliantly.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Big Brother is Watching :: Essays Papers

Big Brother is Watching Privacy in the Information Age. Have you sat down to eat dinner, just as you put that first bite into your mouth the phone rings. You know better than to answer it, but you do any way. To your dismay you find out that you were right Tele-marketers? As you hang up you wonder how did they get my number? How do they know what are your interests, likes, dislikes? You hand the cashier a plastic card with a magnetic strip which contains your name and address. All of your purchases are recorded and a few days later you receive discount coupons for a new product you might like in the mail. You think that targeted marketing in the information age really works! A woman feels she may be expecting, she goes to the pharmacy to purchase a home pregnancy test. Without thinking, she hands her â€Å"bonus card† to the cashier and a few days later she receives mail from baby product manufactures. She is thinking that she is living in an information age nightmare. Information technology, and particularly the internet and the World Wide Web, can provide benefits that were only dreamed of a decade ago. These new opportunities, however, raise questions about potential threats to personal privacy that are just now starting to be understood. Consumers, for example, like â€Å"one on one marketing† at Miscellaneous Web sites which allows them to browse various selections recommended based on previous purchases and their personal profile. They are much less sure about the site’s developing real time profiles of users based on demographics or psychographics. Similarly, workaholics are attracted to internet dating services that promise to find high achievers their ideal mate; They gladly spend thirty minutes completing the extensive introductory questionnaire. They are less thrilled when they later find that â€Å"E-Mate† has been acquired by another company specifically for its extensive data base of personal information. Our concern is the privacy of personal information in a digitally networked world where personal data can be input, stored, sorted, analyzed, mined, transmitted and exchanged globally with increasing ease and decreasing cost. There is growing concern about data privacy, especially on the Net which is accompanied by marked disagreements about what can, and should be done. These differences are exacerbated by very real cross-cultural and cross-national differences in values, history and economic philosophies. Where national borders are not even speed bumps on the information superhighway.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Engineering ewb research Essay

1. Introduction The Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) Challenge is a program where first year University Students throughout Australia are required to select from a range of problems associated with the living conditions of a disadvantaged community within Nepal, more specifically the village of Sandikhola, a hilltop community in the Gorkha district. The students are then required to develop creative solutions to combat these problems to benefit the community through design, teamwork and proper communication. This particular research report group 9C will be focusing on Water Supply and Sanitation Systems (WASH), in particular Multiple Use Systems (MUS). MUS refers to a system where the water is used for a range of purposes, so as to minimize the amount of fresh water needed to be drawn from the source and increase the applicability of the source. This report will be outlining research conducted into the MUS including; the geography of the Gorkha district, a case study on a WASH initiative al ready in place in Nepal, also included in the report will be an evaluation of sources of research, and a conclusion of the report. 2. Research 2.1 Geography of the Gorkha District The Gorkha District in Nepal is located on the mid-southern area of the Terai region roughly the center of Nepal. More specifically the village of Sandikhola is located approximately 42 kilometers North East of Bharatpur, which roughly is over an hour drive each way via a dirt road which is only accessible by 4Ãâ€"4’s and is not accessible in wet conditions. The village of Sandikhola is located on the side of a hill with an elevation of 1256 meters, and is roughly divided into three different sections consisting of crops, housing and livestock. 2.1.1 Natural Resources Land is seen as the most valuable natural resource to most citizens of the Gorkha district. With over 80% of the population, 24 506 759 people, earning a livelihood from farming, which in turn produces 36.1% of GDP on a national scale. Due to water shortages and unreliability in relation to irrigation, this is not a secure resource for the people of the Gorkha district. The only problem with utilizing land to this major of a scale is that it is being overly depleted due to the accelerating growth of population, leading  to widespread destruction of ecological systems. The other resource is water, which are polluted due to lack of sanitization and the lack of the resource, other than location, is due to de-forestation and the devastating effects it has on the environment. 2.1.2 Technological Resources The Gorkha district has very limited technological resources, especially when 90% of the population live in rural areas and average earnings per family per week are below a dollar which make the affordability of technological resources impossible for poor families. Surprisingly the telephone signal throughout the district is surprisingly good although this is a under used resource due to lack of infrastructure and finances. With under 7% of the population having access to the internet communication on a global and even national scale can be highly difficult. Due to the developing nature of Nepal access to any modern technology is unviable, with it sometimes taking up to and over 6 months for any technology to reach many rural communities e.g. water testing kits. 2.1.3 Population and Income Through researching Population and Income it was found that there are over 30 million people in Nepal, with approximately 300 000 people in Gorkha. The Terai region accommodates for 50.27% of the total population, roughly 15 million people, which is the mountainous/ hilly region of Nepal which can make life very difficult for these people in particular. The average household income is less than one dollar a day with more than 40% living under the poverty line. In the Gorkha district 90% of citizens live in rural areas which goes to show the lack of urban connection further reinforcing the fact that development of technology in relation to water use will greatly affect the population in all aspects of life. 2.1.4 Natural Disasters Natural Disasters have a major effect on developing countries, especially where climate change is concerned. This is due to the high dependence on climate sensitive sectors in the Gorkha district including glaciers, agriculture and forestry, and its low financial adaptive capacity. These disasters are becoming increasingly common with the acceleration of global warming. This is due to the increased temperatures experienced compared to 1990 to 2010 where an increase of 1.9 Degrees Celsius to the average  temperature, these particular natural disasters include an increase in dry periods, floods, intense rainfall, landslides, forest fires, glacial retreats, and glacier lake outburst flood threats. The other main natural disasters common to this area are earthquakes due to the positioning of Gorkha on the meeting point of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. These disasters need to be taken into account so the MUS can withstand destruction via natural disaster. 2.1.5 Climatic Conditions Shown in these two graphs (below) is the average rainfall and temperature of the Gorkha District. By studying these two graphs it can be seen that the year is divided into a wet and dry season with the temperature throughout the year remaining relatively constant with a minimum range of 3 degrees Celsius and a maximum range of 9 degrees Celsius. This research is essential to the analysis of water supply 2.1.6 Education Levels In the Gorkha district education is a work in progress with the basic literacy rate at 45% of males and only 28% of women. In the district alone there are close to 500 schools, 400 of which are public. With the help of many Non-Government Organizations, development of these schools has had an excellent effect on the education system, for example at the end of 2013 1000 computers were distributed to these schools readily making available vast amounts of educational resources to these communities. The problems associated with the education levels include the travel distance especially within rural areas, and also the lack of proper WASH resources which affects the health of the students. 2.1.7 Infrastructure In relation to the Infrastructure available to the people of Gorkha it can be noted as ineffective. This is found as roads to many of the rural areas within which the majority lives, are virtually inaccessible without a 4Ãâ€"4, as less than a quarter of roads in Nepal actually being paved/concreted. This is increasingly made challenging due to less than 1% of the population actually having access to a car. The main form of transport readily  available are the public buses, but on the other hand they are not extremely reliable with the multitude of strikes which occur, making life for the people more difficult when they have to walk for hours to get where they were going. Another major flaw is the inability for citizens to access a range of services with less than 15% of people having access to formal health care services, children having to walk on average 1-3 hours to attend school, there is also a lack of an electricity supply to majority of rural areas, lack of public sewage tr eatment in the majority of the district and in general isolation of rural areas. 2.2 Existing Solutions In the community of Sandikhola, there is a wide range of problems associated with water supply. These include the accessibility to water sources, the cleanliness/quality of water supply, the amount of water supplied, and the ability for the resource to be effectively used across domestic uses and productive uses. Currently in Sandikhola approximately 80% of WASH techniques are currently in place with there being a few sources of water; one small waterway, eight tap stands and two spring intakes but during the dry season these intakes become unavailable due to low pressure. When this occurs the community must draw water from a larger spring located further away from the village down the hill. In the case of Sandikhola at each spring intake is a reservoir tank, there are three water quality testers spread across the village, one rain monitor and two flow monitors. Also introduced to this community is the use of recycling water, such as; capturing overflows at spring intakes, Rainwater Harvesting (RWH), Ground Water Capture (GWC), fog water, and grey water systems. Through the integration of a range of these sources, systems and techniques we develop a MUS system. 2.2.1 Construction Basically the MUS is constructed via the connection of a range of single use technologies e.g. spring intake, storage tanks, tap stands. This is to reduce the amount of water requires for use by reducing waste water (sustainability), and also to make it more accessible for the villagers. For the construction many of the village members are heavily involved in construction so as to ensure the education of the MUS to the community allowing it to be properly maintained even after the EWB/NEWAH team leaves. 2.2.2 Inputs and Outputs For the implementation of the MUS there are a number of inputs required, these include; help from a third party in this case EWB and NEWAH in relation to funding, research and designing, participation from members of the Sandikhola community, materials, current technologies, and tools. For every input there is an output, in this case once construction is completed some of the outputs of the technology become evident, these including; an increase of income and benefits in relation to this including; general health, nutrition, social empowerment, food security, time savings. Diversification of Livelihood, which is the process by which the community develops a range of activities and social support capabilities in order to survive and improve their standards of living i.e. education, inter/intra-societal interaction. Increase in sustainability including, efficient water transfer from the water source for domestic and productive applications. 3. Evaluation of Sources of Information In research for this assignment, I tend to steer clear of any non-reliable or inaccurate resources. To do this books become an extremely valuable and trusted resource, and when using websites as resources I have stuck to .org websites while at the same time checking the about us section as not all .org sites are official sites. Some ways I checked the accuracy and validity of my sources of information include; analysis of the depth of coverage, determining the intended audience so it is relevant for this report, analysis of language used i.e. sophisticated to low level understanding. The dates of the information are essential for proper research, too old might be inaccurate compared to newer information. Does the source have a bibliography and the type of sources of information the author uses and an analysis of the layout and structure of the document. Through all of this analyzing we are able to determine the accurate and reliable sources of information. 4. Conclusion In conclusion, through the research of the Gorkha district and my project area the MUS, it is possible to realize the positive potential that the implementation of the MUS has on all aspects of life. This is due to water  playing a massive part in the lives of every human, and when there is a lack of sufficient resource, daily functionality is affected. 5. References ï‚ §Renwick, et.al, 2007, â€Å"Multiple Use Water Services For The Poor: Assessing the state of Knowledge,† Winrock International: Arlington, VA ï‚ §Mikhail, et.al, 2008, â€Å"Multiple-Use Water Service Implementation in Nepal and India: Experience and Lessons Scale-Up,† International Development Enterprises: Lakewood, CO ï‚ §Engineers without Borders USA 2014, EWB-USA, Denver viewed 10 March 2014, http://my.ewb-usa.org/project-resources/technical-resources. ï‚ §iDE Organization 2014, iDEORG, Colorado viewed 10 March 2014, http://www.ideorg.org/OurTechnologies/MultipleUseWaterSystems.aspx#. ï‚ §Practical Action 2014, Practical Action, Rugby viewed 12 March 2014, http://practicalaction.org/mus-2. ï‚ §Engineers Without Borders Australia 2014, Engineers Without Borders, North Melbourne viewed 12 March 2014, http://www.ewbchallenge.org/nepal-water-healthnewah/sandikhola. ï‚ §Smith, J., 2014, Personal Communication, 25th February 2014 ï‚ §United Nat ions 2014, United Nations, New York viewed 12th March 2014, http://www.un.org.np/maps/nepal-gorkha-district. ï‚ §Rural poverty portal 2012, IFAD, Vancouver viewed 12 March 2014, http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/en/country/statistics/tags/nepal.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

memento essays

memento essays Memento directed by Christopher Nolan, is quite the rabble-rouser. The concepts and ideas the film conveys to the movie watching audience are a welcome, fresh change from the recent stagnation that American Film has endured. Mr. Nolan built this film off a concept that had nothing in common with the all too familiar current movie templates directors have been following in hopes to create the next box office smash. Although sometimes the movie seemed to become disjointed with too many segments to follow at once, it was none the less still a welcome change from the ridiculously repetitive suspense films of late. Now try to follow along, because the road does get somewhat twisty. The film begins with what amounts to the end, with Leonard Shelby (Guy Pierce) executing a man named Teddy. A man we learn later on Leonard believes to be responsible for the rape and murder of his wife. But is Leonard (an ex insurance agent) even murdering the correct man? The Polaroid says He is the one, kill him. Lost you already? Here lets clarify. Ever since his wifes rape and murder (in which Leonard sustained a serious head injury) Mr. Shelby has been unable to make new memories as he puts it. He remembers everything before and during the incident clearly, but everything he tries to place in his memory banks since then seems to fade as quickly as sunlight at dusk. Being only able to hold onto new thoughts and experiences for a few minutes at the most, Shelby lives his life through a compulsively strict system of post-it-notes, tattooed facts on his body, and Polaroid photos to remember faces by. This system keeps him alive and functioning, but somewhat unable to avoid the deception that occurs around him. After the film opens with the final moments, it then does a leap backwards in time to the scene previous. These backward leaps continue and in each scene Leonard is unaware of the events previous, w ...