Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Business Management Improves the Efficiency of an...

Management approaches and practices are core to the concept of business management due to the insight it offers on various aspects of improving the efficiency of organizations. There have been a lot of researchers that have devoted a great deal of time to the study of these practices and approaches. Two very famous amongst these contributors are Fred W. Taylor and Henry Ford. Taylor had advocated that the task and priority of factory management was to determine the most efficient way for a worker to do his job, to provide all the necessary equipment and training to complete the job and to make sure that the task at hand is done achieving optimal efficiency by providing workers with incentives. He broke down each job into its individual motions, analyzed the importance of each and then timed the workers with a stopwatch. He then eliminated unnecessary motion and asked the workers to perform machine-like routine, which increased the efficiency. On the other hand Fordism was a specific stage of economic development in the 20th century. The term gained popularity as it was recognized by firstly, the system of mass production that was pioneered in the early 20th century by the Ford Motor Company and secondly, the typical postwar mode of economic growth and its associated political and social order that advanced capitalism. In this essay we will critically discuss and analyze the impact of Taylorism and Fordism on contemporary management approaches and practices. As an engineer,Show MoreRelatedCase Study Report : Air Products And Chemicals Inc1706 Words   |  7 Pages COIT20252 BUSNIESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT Case Study Report - Air Products and Chemicals Inc. SUBMIT BY: SUBMIT TO: Mukul Kaushal (S0274499) Tutor-Chandana Watagodakumbura Venkata Ramana Pendem (12031520) Course Coordinator-Ritesh Chugh Manish ChowdaryRead MoreSupply Of Supply Chain Management830 Words   |  4 PagesChain Management Goal of a supply chain. According to Defining the Supply Chain, there are 5 specific goals of supply chain management. They are as follows: 1. Achieve Efficient Fulfillment – â€Å"the purpose of supply chain management is to make inventory readily available in customer facing positions to fulfill demand. The fresh produce business adage â€Å"you can’t sell from an empty wagon† highlights this fundamental purpose of supply chain management†. (Defining the Supply Chain) Organizations mustRead MoreCreativity and Innovation Worksheet1159 Words   |  5 PagesConcepts of Creativity and Innovation Worksheet Concept Application of Concept in Scenario Citation of Concept in Reading Personal Experience in your Organization Three types of innovation: Incremental, Semi-Radical, And Radical. â€Å"Incremental innovation leads to small improvements to existing products and business processes†¦ Radical innovation results in new products or services delivered in entirely new ways.† In the past five years Best Snacks has instituted incremental innovations that haveRead MoreAccentures Strategy And Analytical Capabilities1593 Words   |  7 Pagesarrangements, and enterprise support, the platform is a flexible Analytics-as-a-Service solution designed to help a range of business users, from the C-suite to data scientists, make data-driven decisions that can solve business issues and create new opportunities. The Accenture Insights Platform can increase an organization’s speed to insight, decision-making and business outcomes. The platform has a preconfigured, industrialized end-to-end architecture that typically can be provisioned within 24Read MoreWhy Is A Management Analyst?1377 Words   |  6 PagesMy topic is how to become a management analyst. First your question will probably be what is a management analyst? A management analyst or sometimes called management consultants propose ways to improve a business’s efficiency. They advise managers on how to make their companies better. Their salary is averaged at 37.79 hourly or 78,600 a year. They require a bachelor’s in entry level education. My topic is important because many people think that it is difficult to get a job with a bachelor’s degreeRead MoreEfficency Ad Effectiveness1074 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Management has been defined as a process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently. Efficiency and effectiveness were originally industrial engineering concepts that came of age in the early twentieth century. Efficiency refers to doing things in a right manner. Effectiveness, on the other hand, refers to doing the right things. Management has been defined as a process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficientlyRead MoreSupply Chain Standards For Supply Chains1564 Words   |  7 PagesSetting Supply Chain Standards to Improve Supply Chain Management In 2002 congress considered legislation authorizing $47 million to help develop supply chain integration standards. Since the introduction of the bill to integrate supply chains, The legislation, The Enterprise Integration Act of 2002, was enacted to authorize the National Institute of Standard and Technology to work with major manufacturing industries on an initiative of standards development and implementation for electronic enterpriseRead MoreImplementing An Enterprise Resource Planning System1474 Words   |  6 PagesToday’s owners and management teams are faced with making tough decisions about how to manage operations in their organization. They need to be innovative to help reduce internal costs, improve processes, and increase efficiency across the organization (SelectHub, 2015). Thus, implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can provide many benefits to an organization. The benefits of using an enterprise system offer particular benefits, such as the support of teamwork, an improved responseRead MoreClassical Viewpoint of Management1088 Words   |  5 PagesClassical management theory Classical management theory was introduced in the late 19th century. It became widespread in the first half of the 20th century, as organizations tried to address issues of industrial management, including specialization, efficiency, higher quality, cost reduction and management-worker relationships. While other management theories have evolved since then, classical management approaches are still used today by many small-business owners to build their companies and toRead MoreTypes Of Inventory Management System Essay1402 Words   |  6 Pages.1 Types of inventory management system 4.11Transit inventory Transit inventories result from the need to transport materials from one location to another. Merchandise shipped by truck or rail can sometimes take days or even months to go from a regional warehouse to a retail facility. Some big firm like supermarket uses this type of inventory. 4.12 Manufacturing inventory: Raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods Raw materials include goods in the form acquired from suppliers. For Example

Monday, December 16, 2019

His notes Free Essays

Over the last several years I have been working on and off award an additional degree in Education. I am currently working for the El Paso Independent School District as a classroom instructor, as well as a curriculum writer in US History. I look forward to having you in class. We will write a custom essay sample on His notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Course Description This course provides an overview of the principal cultural, political, and economic developments that shaped Western civilization from prehistory to the Middle Ages. It presents a framework for understanding current social experience by applying historical perspectives to contemporary issues. After the course, students will be able o use historical knowledge to solve contemporary issues. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies overriding your current class modality. Course Materials The West: Encounters and Transformations, Combined Volume, e ISBN: 9780205947157 Author: nana Elevate Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. (2014) All electronic materials are available on the student website Week One: Prehistory and the Ancient World Details Due Points Objectives 1. 1 Explain the significance of the transition from the Paleolithic era to the Neolithic era. 1. 2 Compare the cultural, political, and economic developments of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Readings Read Chi. 1 The West: Encounters and Transformations, Combined Volume, e Read Unhistorical: Issue of the Day: From Hunter-gatherers to Food-producers – Overcoming Obstacles Read Unhistorical: Issue of the Day: Geography and Civilization: Egypt and Mesopotamia – Impact of Agriculture? Attendance Participation Attendance Participate in class discussion. 8/06 2 Talking Respond to weekly discussion questions. Choose 2 questions to answer and post each week by pm. Week 1 Talking Points What is an important discovery from prehistory? Why is it important? What are the differences between the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras? What is important about the development of human history when we consider the preferences between these two eras? How were the worldviews of the Mesopotamia and Egyptians similar? How were they different? What factors have influenced the way each of these cultures developed their worldviews? What kind of evidence do we have in order to comprehend prehistory and the ancient civilizations? Does the evidence offer a clear picture of these time periods? Why or why not? Which era of Egyptian history was the most successful? Why? Individual Prehistory and the Ancient Civilizations Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you explain the significance of the ruinations of humankind from a hunter-gatherer society to a food-producing society. Include the following: A description of the Paleolithic era Events that transformed society from the Paleolithic era to the Neolithic era A description of Neolithic era An explanation of how the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic was significant in the development of Mesopotamia and Egypt Format your paper consistent with PAP guidelines. Galoshes (before 2000 BCC)-?Earliest known fully-developed literary character )d First written language on cuneiform clay tablets )e Elaborate art work, mosaics (Standard of Our) )f First systematic polytheistic religion 01 Sights: goddess of love, fertility, and wars 02 Elaborate temple rituals in auguries 03 Religion in Sumerian Oh Sacred literature b Influence on Hebrew Bible )g Babylon under reign of Hamburg (1792-1750 BCC) – powerful cultural and political center 01 Code of Hamburg Oh Collection of laws b Earliest evidence of legal system Co Guarantees protection of slaves, women, and children Odd Governs complex Babylonian commerce system Oh Principle of Justice is retribution 02 Advancements in mathematics and astronomy 03 Jargon, king of Kodak – Most important figure in Mesopotamia history )2 Political and economic developments of Mesopotamia )a Several dynasties develop concept of monarchy )b Assyria (northern district of Sumerian)-?kings are chief priests )c Babylonian-?kings and priests have separate offices )d In later stages, influx and intermingling of various cultures, such as Hitters and Assyrian )e Expansion into Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, Palestine, and Egypt under How to cite His notes, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Backmasking Rock Music and Messages free essay sample

Backpacking: Ben. When the devil and the media Are you aware of the music nowadays? How does the band affect the lives of young people today? Well, different bands and songs had already flourished in the world. They had grown into new ideas and captured the hearts of the people, especially the teenagers. They sometimes play songs for dancing, singing, recreation or listening. People use them to express feelings and ideas and also a way for them to relax. It is an unavoidable element in everyones life.It has always been a part of every culture, big or small. Music is often a ajar part of a teenagers separate world. Most of the young people enjoy listening songs without even recognizing its lyrics as long as they were pleased with its catchy tunes. Music is not usually a danger for teenagers, unless they are not preoccupied with music that has seriously destructive themes like taking alcohol, presenting suicide or getting abused with drugs. It is easy for us to check on songs that contain good and clean messages by just analyzing its lyrics.However, for many years, there have been rumors that certain songs, speeches, and ads contain hidden messages that can only be eared when played backwards. Some people believed that most of the bands corrupt young people by burying subliminal messages in music. This process is known as backpacking and there is much debate about its existence. Backpacking is a way of reversing an audio that is meant to be played forwards. When the music is played normally, one hears a passage that sounds like gibberish, uncleanly word-like, as if it is in another language. However, when it is played backwards, sometimes clear understandable phrase or sentence is heard wherein the original message was revealed. They an reel-to-reel tape recorders backwards, but then, digital audio recording has greatly simplified the process. It had first appeared in the late sass as a result of an accidental tape mixing error by John Lennox in the Beetles song Rain. He realized his mistake, but he continued doing it in. A verbal message is recorded, reversed in direction, and placed on a recorded track. The Beetles used tapes played backward for musical effects in some of their recordings.One thing is when they theoretically put in backward or subliminal messages announcing Paul Ancestrys death when he was much alive and was clearly intentional. Another thing is when Jimmy Page, the guitarist, is said to have inserted the backward message heres to my sweet Satan into his Stairway to Heaven song that seemed to be unintentional for many people. Since then, backpacking has been used all throughout the past four or five decades. It has been used to display the thoughts of the artists for comedy, censorship, and sometimes just by accident.Today, reversing audio is a popular way to censor explicit words on radios. This technique is often used for aesthetics in order to develop or enhance the message of a song. Stanley Cubic said that When youre composing songs, youre always looking for new ideas, new sounds. One example of this was when the band of Stone Roses had used this technique on their songs, including Dont Stop, Guerrilla, and Simons, which in reverse added new vocals. Through this process, sounds or instrumental audio produce interesting and attractive sound effects.Sometimes, it results to a reverse echo that artists found appealing. This also plays an important role on concerts wherein guitar parts were played live on stage using a backward emulator. Another use of back- masking is for humorous messages. They used this technique to entertain the listeners by hiding its comedic messages through back-masking. One example of this was when Pink Floyd made a back-masked message in his song Empty Spaces that resulted to a message Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Cachalot The message turned out into a ridiculous stuff which amazed the listeners. Back-masking has also been used to censor words or phrases for clean releases of songs. For example, the word sit is resulted into a word sis when back masked. In a result of this, sis became an alternative word for sit. Through this system, songs would be acceptable in public though in behind of it is a bad message. This was a common process for some of the recording radios, which would prevent them from prohibiting in releasing songs and so that people would feel safe to listen with their songs.Another use of back-masking is for satanic purposes. This was a common controversy engaged in rock songs and heavy- metal bands. Some of the satanic messages that Robert Radish collected were Its fun to smoke marijuana, l am Satan, Serve the beast for money, l eve Satan, Satan knows I love Him and the most famous, Glory, glory to my sweet Satan, there was a little child born, it makes me sad, whose power is Satan from Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven.One of the cases happened regarding this issue was when the heavy rock band of Judas Priest was taken to the court when two of their fans committed suicide after listening to their song. But then, the judge came with a decision that it was impossible to conclu de that listening to music would cause fans to kill themselves. There was no such good evidence shown that music had such a power to influence ND attract others with a tendency to obtain suicide. And now, satanic back- masking is still an issue if it was done intentionally or unintentionally.Different accusations have sprouted regarding this issue. One of those was made by various Christian groups who have declared that Satan uses back masked messages to reign on peoples life without letting them knowing it. Some of the fund mental preachers supported that Satan was speaking to teenagers through subliminal messages hidden in rock music. Teenagers are unaware Of this, so they keep rocking on with different songs. Some Christian besides have claimed that back-masking is widely used for satanic purposes. One of the statements mentioned on their websites was written by BRB. Joe in End Time Links. It says that The Devil, being acutely aware of this fact, is using Rock music to transmit messages which keep people in bondage to him. Some Rock groups have become open mediums for the Devil and therefore subconsciously receive satanic inspiration for their lyrics and music. Another support written in the article of Knowledge of Islam was that The listener may be unaware that their subconscious mind can pick up and understand the messages. . N the long term these can be stored in the subconscious mind and may actually affect the persons behavior or judgment. In many ways back tracking is a form of hypnotism or brain washing and has the power to be very destructive. had also red an article from the book of Ravaged by the New Age: Satins plan to destroy our kids which states that He thoroughly documents the dangerous, secret messages in kids shows, cartoons, movies, comic books, fantasy games, toys and even coloring books.Youll also discover the demonic designs behind Rock and Roll and the hidden, subliminal messages in Satins New Age mood music. Thirty teenagers in Huntsville, NC, had a record-burning at their church who believed that Satan Was possessing the singers and manipulating their voices So that subliminally implanted backward messages could be placed on the record to destroy the youth of America. They believe that Satan himself is inserting back-masked messages while the recording company and band are unaware of this. Not only worldly songs are being back-masked but also Christian songs.An example of this was a song entitled W ho Am l which in its normal lyrics states that Lord, You catch me when Im falling and in reverse Oh ether we thank You. Another example was a song Jesus Christ which states that Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty and in reverse Yeah, my God loves you. A lot of religious groups believe that Satan was using musicians as his demonic pawns. The innocent musicians were Satins worshipers who persistently planted the messages into the songs. They began putting more subliminal messages into their songs on purpose.Besides of the accusations made by various Christian groups, skeptic rumors also flourished and had supported by different people. Some people believed that those back-masked sages were unintentional and made only by wrong perception of a pattern. John Evoke and J. Don Read concluded that if back-masking do really exist, it is still ineffective. People had difficulty in figuring back-masked phrases. We were unable to determine whether the messages are religious or satanic. This was because we were not exposed with the back-masked phrases. Psychology Professor Mark D.Allen says that delivering subliminal messages via backward masking is totally and ridiculously impossible. They believed that songwriter cannot write lyrics that scan forward and backwards ND the brain cannot comprehend backward messages. Figuring out Satanic messages was caused by the observer-expectancy effect. The Skeptics dictionary states that you probably wont hear back-masked messages until somebody first points them out to you. Perception is influenced by expectation and expectation is affected by what others prime you for. In 1984, S. B. Throne and P.Weinstein said that when vague and unfamiliar stimuli are presented, test subjects are highly likely to accept suggestions, particularly when the suggestions are presented by someone with prestige and authority. What they are trying to say is that our brain needs to look for recognizable or familiar patterns in order to understand back-masked messages. There are certain meaning for each patterns formed on various songs. And these patterns were used to identify the hidden messages. Messages such as My sweet Satan or Kill yourself, its fun to smoke marijuana, or sleep with me, Im not too young were due to patterns formed.Of course, you probably cant determine these messages unless expectation and expectation is affected by what others prime you for. Since most of the people are unaware of listening to their music backward, there ere two controversial concepts that have been made. Either jumbled words, whose meaning is grasped, influenced the brain subliminally or it is the brain who translates clear messages into reverse phrase. In either case, the unconscious mind evidently then directs the conscious mind to believe on bad things or do bad deeds. But there is no evidence that such mechanisms exist.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

To what extent do you consider Hamlet a play which presents a patriarchal society Essay Example

To what extent do you consider Hamlet a play which presents a patriarchal society Paper In order to understand a patriarchal Elizabethan society, we must first understand the social and historical context of the play. Elizabethan society was fundamentally male. Most roles of importance were assigned to men. The thought that a woman was to be given a post of responsibility would have caused much upset among male civilians. Even though there was a female monarch at the time, men essentially ruled the scene, with the queen as its figurehead. Shakespeare had to convey this situation fairly accurately, as a play in which women were empowered by male standards would have been frowned upon during that period in history. However, given the change in societys views on women since Elizabethan times, the play may not have been construed as patriarchal at the time of writing. It would have been viewed as an accurate representation of the monarchy and its hierarchy of power. It is known that Elizabeth was a fan of Shakespeares work, and for Shakespeare to present a society in which women were viewed entirely as sexual objects and nothing more would have been unacceptable in the queens eyes, which I believe results in the subtle hints at empowered women. Some film portrayals show Gertrude as very similar to Elizabeth I, a woman who uses and manipulates men in order to gain power. Others show Gertrude as a wine-swilling, rampantly sexual temptress, which I do not believe to be true. I believe that even though Gertrude marries her brother-in-law, and so soon after her Husbands death is not an act of sexual desire, rather an act of emotional need. Also, in the closet scene, she expresses remorse for marrying Claudius so early, and some believe that in doing this, she aligns herself with Hamlets quest for revenge, and shuns Claudius touch and bed. We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent do you consider Hamlet a play which presents a patriarchal society specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent do you consider Hamlet a play which presents a patriarchal society specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent do you consider Hamlet a play which presents a patriarchal society specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the play, it can be considered that women are only disempowered in a male sense. They do not play major roles in the development of the play, but their interaction with the male characters can be seen as a form of sub-plot, additional to the main events of the play. To empower someone is defined by the English dictionary as to authorize, or enable someone. Throughout Hamlet, we see that this means women are not empowered in the play in terms of power in the literal sense, however are empowered in their dignity and actions. There are two views of female figures in Hamlet cunningly empowered, as one critic, Praveen Pillai, puts it, or as fundamentally weak figures, who are entirely disempowered. Both these views, I believe, are partially true. In one sense, women are cunningly empowered through death. Females in the play die in a gentle fashion, with Ophelia slowly drowning, surrounded by her dress, and the queen being poisoned by wine. This can be seen as a more empowered way to die than the male figures in the play, as most of them die violent deaths, through poisoning, being stabbed, and killed by other men. In a way, this is a triumph for the women in the play, especially as Ophelia, corrupted by her sexual desire for Hamlet, dies a virgin. This is empowerment in a feminine sense, as it does not fit with male views of empowerment. However, women can also be seen as fundamentally disempowered in the sense that they hold no real authority, and are merely seen as objects of desire by the men in the play. Ophelia is seen as the cause of Hamlets madness, providing women with a negative image. Some critics, such as Praveen Pillai, even say that Ophelias name has roots in sexual imagery, with Ophelia being likened to O-Phallus. Also, Hamlets sexual obsession with his mother further proves the fact that women are seen as sex objects and no more Incestuous sheets, Live in a bed of rank sweat. This lust seems highly derogatory, and jealousy of Claudius may be a contributing factor in Hamlets anger and madness, also shown in the quote Almost as bad as to kill a king and marry his brother. This Freudian view of Hamlet is widely accepted by many, and has become a fundamental part of analysing the play. One of the most powerful statements in the play clearly shows a male view of female disempowerment in the play Frailty thy name is woman. A powerful statement, which has its roots in the Elizabethan attitude towards women. It shows that women are viewed as fundamentally weak beings in the eyes of men. The scene between Hamlet and Gertrude in the royal bedroom acts as a sort of commentary on the male societys views of Elizabethan women. It shows the low amounts of respect given to women, and the way they are scorned through sexual relations with others. Loving a woman was seen as weak, and Hamlets lust for both Ophelia and Gertrude are seen as weaknesses contributing to his madness. Rebecca Smith states that because Claudius, his mothers second husband is the killer of his Father, Hamlets general outrage at women increases and spreads and that it Ophelias unexpected rejection of his love is also a trigger factor in this, her rejection being due to the order from her brother and father, that results from their one-dimensional view of a woman as a sexual object. I am not entirely sure that this is true. I do not doubt that the general view of the female characters in the play by male characters is that of sexual objects, but rather the order was given to Ophelia by her brother and father out of an unselfish and untainted love for her as a family member, in them wishing that she should not be associated with Hamlet, who they regard as Mad. In this way, Ophelia is empowered Gertrude appears in the play as a woman whose actions contribute greatly to the negative turns in the plot as Claudius puts it, Gertrude is both My virtue or my plague. She is shown as having poor judgement, as seen in Act 1 Scene 2, in which we realise she must be more sensitive to her sons feelings. However, Gertrudes own insensitive actions reveal a form of male disempowerment in the play Jealousy. Hamlets jealousy of his mother during the grieving period may be for two reasons one, that as her son, Hamlet should be given more attention than Claudius, and two the fact that his mother has just married his uncle O, most wicked speed, to post, With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! . During the scene in the royal bedroom, a symbol of sexuality in itself, one of Gertrudes main weaknesses shows. She has the opportunity here to face the issue head on and resolve it, however she is the type of person to put bad news to the back of their minds and pretend like nothing has happened. She gives no deep thought to the matter at all. Hamlets madness can be linked to his jealousy of Claudius in this scene, and the fact that the ghost of his father warned him to Let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest The introduction of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by the King and Queen show a fundamental contrast in their characters, the Queen, representative of a female character wishes them to discover the roots of her sons madness so she can help him feel better, however the king, representative of a male character in the play, uses them for more sinister purposes, showing the great contrast between male and female characters in the play, and highlighting a form of empowerment for the women the mens underhand evil deeds lead to acts of revenge and violence, yet the female act of kindness leads to a form of peace and understanding. In this way, then we can definitely say that women are subtly empowered in Hamlet. Even though it is seen that Gertrude is an insensitive mother, in not showing her son compassion and understanding after his fathers death, while still being married to her Husbands murderer, there are certain parts of the play where she defends her son from Claudius, showing moral strength for example, when talking to Claudius about Hamlets murder of Polonius, she says that he Cries afterwards in an attempt to cover up the fact that he did not think anything of it. This is an outstanding act of compassion towards Hamlet, and proves her to be a loving mother, morally empowered. A form of female disempowerment is seen in the way that Gertrude cannot see through the deception of Claudius. He convinces Gertrude (perhaps too easily) that Hamlets sending away is to protect her, rather than the true reason, that Claudius fears for his life when Hamlet is still around. If Gertrude was empowered as a woman in this way, she would object, for fear of Hamlets life. This is a subtle element throughout the play that really stands out when the play is seen in terms of weakness, empowerment and disempowerment. Ophelia, the only other woman in the play, mostly shows female disempowerment throughout most of the play. One critic puts it well Amanda Mabillard says that Ophelia could become the tragic heroine of the play; instead she crumbles into insanity and becomes merely tragic. It seems that Ophelias purpose in the play is to show the dual nature of women Ophelias distinct purpose is to show at once Hamlets warped view of women as callous sexual predators, and the innocence and virtue of women. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes increasingly convinced that women are whores, shown by both women in the play Gertrude chose Claudius over her dead husband, and Ophelia chose her father over Hamlet. These both strike Hamlet as incestuous and add to his madness. Ophelias character is very one-dimensional and shallow; her main purpose is as an instrument through which other characters act, i. e. her father using her beauty to suit his underhanded needs, such as where she is told to spy on Hamlet to try and determine the cause of his madness. She gives Hamlet the opinion that the most innocent looking women are the worst corrupted with sexual desire, and throughout the play, we see that to an extent this is made true through Ophelias sex-crazed madness. Hamlet appears before Ophelia with no hat on his head, his stockings soiled, and round his ankles. This initially frightens Ophelia, and the fact that she confides in her father to tell him of her fear portrays her as a weak individual, unable to cope with her feelings, or her sexuality. This develops into a sex-fuelled insanity later on in the play, with her using blatantly sexual imagery in her speeches, such as when she sings By Cock. This may be untrue, as the slang word Cock may have not been used in Elizabethan times. However, in a modern context, this can be seen as a way for Ophelia to release her bottled-up emotions through her madness, much alike to Hamlets madness throughout the play. Gertrudes last acts show female empowerment in a nice way. During the dramatic final scene in which she drinks the poisoned wine, and realises that Claudius is guilty of killing her husband and attempting to murder her son, she valiantly warns her son against drinking the wine No, no, the drink, the drink o my dear Hamlet The drink, the drink! I am poisoned! It is unusual in this scene that Claudius does nothing to prevent Gertrude from drinking the poisoned wine, even though he murdered the King out of a sexual desire for her. Even though she is about to die, she still manages to show a final act of compassion for her son, and effectively renounces Claudius from her heart, giving Hamlet a final triumph, and easing his madness. In conclusion, I think the evidence shows that there are different types of empowerment and disempowerment, male and female scattered throughout the play, some blatantly obvious, some rather more subtle. After careful analysis of the play, I have come to my own personal opinion that women in Hamlet are essentially disempowered, for these main reasons : Firstly, there are more men than women in the play, showing that women play less important roles. Secondly, women are not involved in the real important parts of the plot, they only act as a sub-plot, a tangent from the storyline. Also, by the end of the play, neither of the women are seen to have any sort of peace of mind, and they both die tragically. Sources Used: Shakespeares Ophelia Amanda Mabillard Gertrude In Hamlet Orah Rosenblatt A Z of Shakespeare Charles Boyce Shakespeares Life And Times Oscar J Campbell Hamlet Commentary Granville Barker Hamlet Psychoanalysed. 1815words. W/Quotes 1703words W/out Quotes.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

To Impeach, or Not to Impeach essays

To Impeach, or Not to Impeach essays In recent weeks, everyone has doubtlessly heard of Governor Paul Pattons unfortunate series of events. Moral and ethical issues arise concerning his relationship with Tina Conner as well as the legal implications of his actions. Within this report, I hope to provide a general summation of the events that have transpired to bring about the current charges against our states leader. Both the Governor and Tina Conners account of what really happened will first be discussed without bias, however I will state my own opinions within this document. At the conclusion of this report, I hope the reader will be able to obtain a more educated opinion on this issue. We as citizens should strive to listen and learn before we speak. Kentucky Governor Paul Patton is facing three major federal and state investigations of whether he abused his official authority and has said he has no plans to resign, but could not envision running for the U.S. Senate in 2004. The Democratic governor has also said he is considering settling a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Tina Boyd Conner, with whom he has acknowledged having an affair. But he said he has not made any settlement offer. The Executive Branch Ethics Commission in Frankfort began its investigation of Patton in September of 2002. It will work with the FBI and Attorney General Ben Chandler's public corruption unit, which also have begun investigations. Conner wrote a letter to Patton in July, hinting that she was about to talk publicly about the affair. In the letter she said she sent the governor Conner said Patton put her "in situations involving group sex and other perversions that made me sick. "I went along with it to save my business ... I plan to come clean and let the chips fall where they may." Denis Fleming, Patton's general counsel, said the governor's staff had reviewed Patton's correspondence logs, but had not found any evidence of Conner's letter. Conn...

Friday, November 22, 2019

How to Cite a Website in Oxford Referencing

How to Cite a Website in Oxford Referencing How to Cite a Website in Oxford Referencing With computers now everywhere, it’s common to cite a website or two in academic writing. And to do this with Oxford referencing, you’ll need two things: footnote citations and an entry in a bibliography. The format for Oxford citations may depend on which version you’re using, so remember to check your style guide if you have one. But if you’re not sure where to start, our guide to referencing a website should help. Referencing a Website in Footnote Citations Footnote citations are indicated via superscript numbers in the main text: This is how a citation should look in your document.1 The first time you reference a website, use the following format: n. Initial(s). Surname, â€Å"Page Title,† Website [website], publication date, section/paragraph number (if applicable), URL, accessed date. You should then end up with something like this: 1. P. Philips, â€Å"Going Beyond: How to Reach Mars,† Space Travel [website], 2015, www.spacetravel.org/mars-travel, accessed August 2, 2018. If the website has more than one author, use â€Å"and† to separate the final two: 2. A. Moretti and T. Pepe, Mars Remains an Unattainable Dream [website], 2016, www.spaceexploration.com/aliens, accessed September 6, 2018. If the website has four or more authors, use â€Å"et al.† after the first name: 3. W. Ellis et al., â€Å"Has NASA Finally Outdone Itself?,† The Big Questions [website], 24 June 2014, www.thebigquestions.org/NASA, accessed September 4, 2016. If quoting part of a web page, note the paragraph or section after the date: 4. T. Harper, â€Å"Experiencing Space,† Space from Above [website], 2014, para. 10, www.spacefromabove.com/experiencing, accessed September 5, 2018. Sometimes, you might not be able to find the author or date of publication for a page on a website. If this happens, use the publishing organization in place of the author and/or write â€Å"[no date]† in place of the date of publication: 5. Space from Above, â€Å"Endless Darkness,† Space from Above [website], [no date], para. 2, www.spacefromabove.com/void, accessed September 7, 2018. As shown above, if the publishing organization is the same as the website, you do not have to repeat this information after the page title. Subsequent Footnotes After citing a source once, you can use a shortened footnote format if you cite it again later in the document. One common approach is to give the author’s surname and a relevant paragraph number. Another approach is to use the Latin abbreviations â€Å"ibid.,† â€Å"op cit.,† and â€Å"loc. cit.†: Ibid. (meaning â€Å"in the same place†) – We use this to cite the same source twice in a row. These are known as consecutive citations. Make sure to include a new page number if you’re citing a different part of the same text. Op. cit. (â€Å"in the work cited†) – Used for citing a different part of the text in a non-consecutive citation (i.e., when you have cited at another source since the initial footnote). Give this after the author’s surname. If you have cited more than one source by the author, include a shortened source title. Loc. cit. (â€Å"in the place cited†) – As above, but we use this one when citing the same page as in the initial footnote citation. If you have one, it is worth checking your university’s style guide to see if it specifies a shortened citation format. But whichever method you use, make sure to apply it consistently in your document. Adding a Website in an Oxford Bibliography At the end of your document, you should add all cited sources to a bibliography. The format to use here for a website is as follows: Surname, Initial(s), â€Å"Page Title,† Website Name [website], date of publication, URL, accessed date. In practice, then, the bibliography entry for a website would look like this: Philips, P., â€Å"Going Beyond: How to Reach Mars,† Space Travel [website], 2015, www.spacetravel.org/mars-travel, (accessed August 2, 2018). As with footnotes, if a website doesn’t have a named author, use the publishing organization. If there is no date, write â€Å"[no date]† to show this.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Literature Review - Essay Example Literature related to group and teamwork will be reviewed in order to gain full insight of this particular topic and how it impacts on the behaviour of people working in an organization. This topic has been chosen since it is insightful in that it is concerned with illustrating how knowledge gained about groups affect the behaviour of people involved in order to make organizations work more effectively. The paper will also outline a personal reflection about what I have gained from studying this topic as well as areas that need further research to improve the body of knowledge that exists in this particular topic. Text analysis Why do people join groups? A group is defined as â€Å"two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives,† (Robbins, 1993, p. 285). On the other hand, a team is a group of people that has been formed to work together in common, coordinate their action towards the achievement of an outcome of the project for the benefit of the group (Schultz, 2005). There is no single reason why people join a group. The most popular reasons for joining a group are related to our needs for security, status, self esteem, affiliation, power and goal achievement (Robbins, 1993). People often believe that there is more strength in joining groups than standing alone (Robbins, 1993). When people work in a group, they have fewer doubts and they are more resistant to threats. For instance, new employees in an organization often vulnerable to a sense of isolation and this is the reason why the turn to the group for guidance and moral support from other seasoned employees. Other people join a group as a way of gaining status (Robbins, 1993). People tend to gain prestige for belonging to a particular group that is seen as important in an organization. It can also be observed that people belonging to a certain group also develop a sense of self esteem. The feeling of self worth is often developed by people who belong to a prestigious group that is envied by many people. The other reason why people join a group is that they need affiliation with other people (Robbins, 1993). Some people may be very reach but they cannot leave their jobs as a result of the need to interact with others. Groups often represent power and this is the reason why people often join them. What often cannot be achieved individually becomes possible if people work in groups. Essence of group or teamwork in an organization The goal of the team or group should be synergy, in other words, the sum of the individual efforts in the team is greater than the sum of the individual inputs (Schultz 2005). In an organization, people who often pull their efforts towards the attainment of the same goals are likely to succeed in their endeavour than people who work as individuals. It may be difficult for a person to achieve the same goal that can be achieved by a group of people. Basically, organizational goals can be a chieved if people work in groups. Some tasks require the efforts of many people in order for them to be achieved. The main objectives of the organization have to be shared by all the workers so that they share the same understanding towards the vision of the organization. In an organization that is characterised by teamwork, it can be seen that the employees are also motivated to pull

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Employee Annual self-Evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employee Annual self-Evaluation - Assignment Example Having the positive attitude and self-confidence to succeed, while motivating the work team to remain focused on the job details, is my progress agenda. This involves meeting the delivery deadlines and work challenges in a responsible manner. Treating fellow workers with respect, following the transparent practices in communication with clients and co-workers, while personally admitting the mistakes remains the important aspect of my ethics policy. I resolve that I must set an example, where others will follow me. Meeting the clients and my co-workers on regular basis, for efficient and timely execution of jobs undertaken, remains high on my work agenda. This is with a view to uphold the confidence shown by clients in capability of the company executing the orders efficiently. Efficient communication, with a problem-solving attitude, while dealing with my coworkers remains the top priority. Respecting the ethical and cultural ethos as well as differences, I try to hold others accountable. Meeting commitments, while promoting cohesive work culture and recognition through rewards is the benchmark for me. Contributing to success of the company through proper follow up of client feedback is my target. This includes the will to listen to others, for understanding my strengths and weaknesses in a constructive manner. Accepting changes in the system with an open mind, while identifying new business opportunities for the company is my strategic goal for performance. This includes working towards getting the support of all relevant people in the organization. I constantly work towards acquiring more knowledge in my professional field, by employing work-experience and academic principals in an efficient manner to remain successful at my job, while aspiring for going higher on the corporate

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The history of forest schools Essay Example for Free

The history of forest schools Essay ‘Forest School in the UK may seem a fairly new movement. In reality it is based on a rich heritage of outdoor learning going back at least to the 19th century. Philosophers, naturalists and educators in Europe and the UK such as Wordsworth, Ruskin, Baden Powell, Leslie Paul (who founded the Woodcraft Folk in 1925), Kurt Hahn (who founded Gordon stone and was the inspiration for our first outdoor education centers), Susan Isaacs and the Macmillan sisters all laid the foundations for what is known as Forest School today. During the 1970s and 80s our education system moved toward a more teacher/outcome-centered approach in an attempt to improve numeracy and literacy, in particular, and we had the introduction of the national curriculum. Somewhat in response to this, there was a growth of ‘alternative’ educational models in the 1990s and it is in this context that Forest School emerged. ’ A brief history of the development from the Forest School Association. The Forest School model originates in Scandinavia and involves participants journeying by foot (if possible) to a local woodland environment to learn outdoors on a regular sustained basis. In 1993 a group of childcare students visiting Denmark witnessed the benefits of Forest School for themselves and brought the idea back to Bridgewater College. On returning they devised way to apply forest schools to their childcare center. Since then the idea has grown and Forest Schools are spreading throughout Britain. Margret McMillan was a socialist Christian. She was very interested in education and she fought for reforms to improve the health of young children, wrote several books on nursery education and pioneered a play-centered approach. She was very interested in how children could learn outside and how it benefitted them. It wasn’t until after her life that her thoughts and theories were put into practice, a college was opened in her sister’s name in 1930 and in 1936 the first purpose-built outdoor center was created in memory of Margaret McMillan. Friedrich Frobel was also a pioneer of outdoor learning. Introducing and sustaining the original idea according to which nature and the natural environment had a definite and positive role in the education of children. Frobel coined the word kinder garten, which means children’s garden. Other significant contributors to the outdoor learning movement were Natalie Davis and Susan Isaacs. Davis set up Chelsea open-air nursery in 1927, she handed it over to Isaacs, who wanted to give invigorating and healthy experiences to the children. Isaacs was a keen researcher of principals and new research appearing about how children should learn. â€Å"Today Chelsea Open Air Nursery School and Children’s Centre survives as a fitting and faithful legacy of Susan Isaacs pioneering work. Educationalists from around the world visit the school and are inspired by its wonderful setting, ethos and professional expertise. ’ Forests schools officially began in the Uk in 1993 after a group of students visited Denmark and saw forest schools in action. This was only 20 years ago and today there are at least 25 forest school companies listed, and I dare say that not all forest school practitioners are on the association site. There is also places like Ruskin Mill, who specialise in bush craft and farming activities for young adults, and HillHolt farm in Lincolnshire, which started as an alternative for expelled children, it is now a fully fledged educational centre using many forest school activities, and teaching other outdoor skills for life, with very successful results. Many school and nursery teachers have become forest school leaders and run sessions in their schools. No exact figure is available but I would definitely say forest schools are now becoming mainstream and it’s common place for people to be aware of what forest school is. Locally, in Lincolnshire there are 4 forest schools, and in the South Yorkshire there are another 4 registered forest schools. In Scotland (the coldest part of the UK) they’re a fully outdoor nursery/kindergarten. This embraces forest schools in an extreme way, everyday is a forest school for the children who attend â€Å"Kirsty Licence, 40, a doctor and Alastairs mother, believes the nursery will be an antidote to Britains increasingly sedentary, over-protective culture. Childhood obesity is a big problem, and one of the things is that children spend too long inside. The forest education initiative was set up to basically make people more aware of how important our forests are to us and for people to understand the link between everyday product and our trees. â€Å"Our aim is to help young people understand the sustainable role that trees and timber have in our lives. † The aims of the initiative are achieved through the work of forest schools, conservationists and groundwork, amongst others. The initiative has supported forest schools because of the work they do which takes more and more children into our forests. Forest school can register to be recognised with the Forest Education Initiative. To have financial backing and an official body to be recognised will no doubt have had a positive effect on the uptake and growth of forests schools nationally. The forest school association exists like many other associations to provide a central point for good practice, storing and sharing information for practitioners. Also to communicate a strong clear message of what Forest School is. They also work with other organisations with similar goals, not as competitors but as a team hoping to enlighten people about the importance of our forests. They are also the governing body for forest school qualifications, making the whole operation absolutely professional. Personally I think as time goes on that forest schools will become even more popular. As more people experience a child in the outdoors they will realise how much they flourish and learn in a natural environment. Unfortunately, though it may be a while before the government realises this, we may go to china and back first!

Thursday, November 14, 2019

indians :: essays research papers

â€Å"James Luna, A Native American Man,† is an insightful, cut the bullshit, view of the modern Indian culture. I identify with Luna’s viewpoints as I have seen many of the situations he describes with his art to be true to life. I have spent a lot of time in Northern Canada fishing with my brother and father. The areas we visit are predominantly Indian reservations. Having spent quite a bit of time getting to know these types of towns and people, I have grown aware of some of the many problems that surround the modern day reservation lifestyle. It is true that most people have romantic and Disneyland-ish ideas about what it means to be a modern Indian, the most of which are complete fantasy. The reality behind the situation seems to be the exact opposite. The majority of reservation towns are dirty, poor, and run-down. Many of the people have alcohol and drug related problems starting at a young age. At a quick drive through one might assume he was passing through another slum. There are no teepees, no headdresses, and no rituals. For the most part there is only poverty. Unless the town is lucky enough to have a casino, the majority of the people live month to month on their reparation checks. This is where I believe, as do many of the Indians I have spoken to, the problem lies. The idea of reparations sounds good enough in theory. Pay people back for what was taken from them long ago. The long-term effects of reparations though tend to be devastating to the Indian culture. Why would giving people free money be harmful? Quite simply, handouts deprive people of pride, a sense of equality and belonging, and especially motivation. The people I have talked to all claim the same thing†¦Children growing up know that they don’t have to work if they don’t want to. That tends to be the common attitude of the reservation Indian. This also encourages what Luna calls, â€Å"Wannabee’s,† to try and get in on the action for a chunk of change. And lets not forget the known tendencies toward alcohol and addiction that makes it even easier to drink and pass the time, rather than having to work and entrepreneur.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Menu planning

Hello aunt, my dear aunt I wish you a quick recovery, welcome to my advice on a heart-healthy diet. I suppose that your weight is between 48-68 kilogram’s, based on your weight and heart ailment I would suggest you avoid food rich in fat and too much polysaccharide. Note that your body needs about 430-610 calories per day also remember to include protein in your diet and fruits rich in vitamin. Your favorites break first should start with some fruits that have healing properties, for example apple, water melons which will cater for vitamins in your diet and further more your breakfast   require some proteins and this will force you to include sausages ,milk and some sweet potatoes. During lunchtime, you need to include leguminous protein for example green gram, some beans or lean meat. Remember strong protein food like fatty meat will overload your digestion. Add some vegetables in your lunch meal for example vegetables rich in iron like spinach, kales. Take soft drinks like fruit juice of mangoes, avocado or passion, avoid acidic fruits like oranges and also note that you are not supposed to take any drink with nicotine or strong tea to avoid high blood pressure. Take a sister and after some few minutes or so do some mild exercise. Your snack should have low sugar and carbohydrates. When it comes to your supper bear in mind that you need some bone mallow soup, egg yolk, some spaghetti because this will require boiling and no frying is needed. Add some garlic raw onions, raw cabbages, with this I belief your daily meal should not exceed 510 calories. I hope your supper will be at Paris Hotel where most dishes will suit your diet. In your second day meal schedule simply take less sugary snacks, warm milk or porridge rich in millet, a sausage or liver which will be enough for your breakfast. Have chicken, fish, some black nightshade vegetables and a little apple juice for your lunch. You can take sandwich as your snack after which you should go for some exercise example along Chicago River, Hopes you are feeling now more recuperating. Have a simple supper that will include boiled mutton and some grains and a cup of warm water. I wish you a quick recovery and good bye. Reference: Metro mix (2007) a journal on food diet, retrieved on 3rd august, ava

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporate Budgets

Before beginning to comment on the usefulness of corporate budget, it is important to know what is the meaning and purpose of budget for a corporation. A budget is basically a financial planning tool which the organization uses to plan its expenses from the revenue. A budget is a comprehensive summary of the planned expenses and revenues of an organization which is used throughout the year.The main purpose of making a corporate budget is to forecast the revenues and expenditures so that particular strategies and events can be undertaken to achieve similar financial performance (Kemp & Dunbar 2003). The budgeting also enables the organization to compare the actual financial performance of the business against the forecast.Corporate budget is the annual budget compiled by the organization and is different from the start-up budget. It is a budget which is compiled by the finance department of an organization after every department contributes its expected revenues and expenses.This way a final corporate budget is drafted through the considerable effort of various people and technology in the organization and this serves as a financial plan for the new financial year (Shim & Siegel, 2008). The actual financial performance of the company in numbers is compared to the forecasted numbers and if this matches reasonably then this means that budgeting is of good use for the business.But if the actual numbers diverge considerably from the expected numbers then this means that budgeting is not useful for the company and business is not going in the intended direction. Budgeting is basically a tool organizations use for planning and controlling their organization’s financial performance.Previously, this task was mostly centralized but with changing times it has become a company-wide effort with all the managers and employees contributing to the final budget.The traditional method was the bottom-up approach in which the every department provides its expected revenues and request expenses which are then accommodated into the corporate budget but this approach is now being integrated with the top-down approach to budgeting where the top management defines the strategic objectives and then the budget is prepared by departments.What usually happens is that budgeting and forecasting starts with the previous year’s numbers which are incorporated into the new budget.But business are adopting strategic business planning where budget planning is based on the annual company’s objectives and then the budget is planned accordingly to achieve the desired goals for example, the objective is to increase the sales by 10% then more revenues and expenses are forecasted to achieve the increased sales objective (Society for HRM, 2005).This essay will first start by providing some advantages and disadvantages of budgeting done in organization. Then the statements provided are discussed in the light of these advantages and disadvantages. In the final se ction, an organization’s budgeting procedure is critically analyzed and reviewed.Before analyzing the statements regarding budgeting, the following paragraph provides some knowledge on the advantages and disadvantages of corporate budgeting.The first and foremost advantage of budgeting is that is that it forms a link between the management and resources by compelling the former to think about the future of the organization so that plans are set out for each department to achieve the targets.Secondly, budgeting is a source of communication from the top management to the department heads and managers about what is expected from them thus, promoting coordination between the two. Budget also serves as a yardstick with which actual financial performance is compared and measured.When there is a variance then it promoted remedial action. It is a way of identifying resources and requirements and providing guidelines to the departments so that they proceed in the right direction. Mana gers are able to focus on the specific plans as outlined by the budget so that they can be achieved within the estimated time and resources.When employees are given a chance to participate in the budget proposals then they become motivated and more productive. Proper budgetary planning can also ensure that resources are allocated productively, competitively and profitably resulting in cost reductions (Putra, 2008).There are also various drawbacks and problems attached to budgeting within organizations. The first problem to budgeting is that it pressurizes the managers to achieve the targets forcing them to do gaming in order to take advantage of the rewards or due to the fear that the funds will be reduced.Those managers can take the rewards that set for them easy goals but those managers can be penalized who set for them difficult but ambitious goals. Quality and customer service might deteriorate when the organization is striving to meet the budgetary targets and not the quality t argets.There are also bad labor relations due to budget pressures and conflicts arise between departments due to disputes over resource allocation and blames are thrown over each other when targets are not achieved. Due to budgeting managers sometimes overestimate the costs as well so that if there is any over expenditure then they are not blamed (Hope & Fraser, 2003).  Recently organizations have turned against budgeting. This is because the forecast are very different from the actual results obtained at the end of the year because a business is subject to a lot of internal and external changes throughout the year.With things changing so rapidly in the environment, nobody can closely predict what will be the position of the business after one whole year. At the end of the year it seems that planning and drafting the budget was a useless task and waste of time serving no purpose (Jensen 2001).Top management is often not able to take right decisions when there seems an environmenta l opportunity due to planned budget constraints. They want to carry on the business according to the planned budget and therefore, overlook the opportunities available at some time in the year.Few corporations have stopped this activity at all thinking that planning budget is a waste of precious organizational resources and time which can be spent elsewhere productively.Non-profit or governmental organizations usually do not use budgets for their planning since such organizations do not work earning revenues and therefore, no planning is required (Whiting 2000). However, few non-profit organizations do plan their expenses so that they can arrange for the required amount of funds through charity or grants.But there are some profit organizations as well who have realized with the passage of time that budgeting especially traditional form of budgeting is a waste of time and resources distorting decision making in fast changing environment (Merchant 1981).Examples include Rhodia, a Fren ch global specialty chemicals company which dispensed budgeting entirely in 1999, Borealis, a Danish petrochemicals company which abandoned budgeting in 1995 and Volvo, the Automaker which also abandoned budgeting considering it as time consuming and waste of resources.Budgeting is not common in smaller organization because they don’t know how to use budgets to plan their financial performance and goals (Rachlin 1999).The article titled ‘Why budgeting kills your company?’ explains in a very concrete manner how budgeting actually consumes organization’s financial and human resources which could have been employed elsewhere productively (Gary 2003). It says that the average billion dollar company spends around 25000 person-days per year in drafting the budget whereas this could have been utilized in increasing the shareholder return.Many organizations have begun to question the usefulness of traditional form of budgeting and are finding alternative ways for properly aligning the spending with strategy along with reduced time and resources (Bogsnes 2008). Today business of the entire world are facing tough times with the world economy in recession therefore, it is imprudent to justify increased costs for businesses due to budget planning (Schaumann 2007).While planning the budget the top management is mostly seen in cutting expenses even if it is damaging the high-performing units while only sustains the underperforming ones. The resources are not allocated towards the high performing and deserving projects due to budget planning. Some experts believe that budgeting should be dispensed all together and decisions regarding it should be placed with the employees who are in direct touch with the customers.The entire budgeting process takes a considerable length of time where first each department produces sales and capital needed forecast, then meetings are held to discuss the budget requests and for making the final decisions, budget book s are produced after months of meeting and this all together can take around six months and 20% of the management’s time (Gary 2003).Budgeting has become an expensive, time-taking and frustrating task for organizations because it is more like a fixed performance or implicit contract (Neely, Bourne & Adams 2003).And the thing that worsens budgeting even further is that financial incentives like career prospects and bonuses are attached to such contracts if the goals are achieved.Because of these financial incentives, managers and heads of department are pressurized to achieve the desired targets often resulting in distortion, misrepresentation and gaming on part of the most honest employees.Managers become schemers since they put a proposal of 50% more than the required budget because they know that they’ll be argued down by the senior management to the desired level (Belkaoui 1994). Moreover, managers also start spending too much if their spending does not match the fo recasted expenses due to the fear that if there is anything left over then their next year funding will be reduced.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Grow Calcium Chloride Crystals

Grow Calcium Chloride Crystals   Its easy to grow calcium chloride crystals. The crystals are thin, six-sided needles that catch the light so that they seem to glow from within. Materials calcium chloride - CaCl2 water - H2O Although you may not know it, you probably have calcium chloride in your home. This salt is used in moisture control products, such as DampRid, and in salt to remove ice from sidewalks. If you use road salt, check the label to make sure its calcium chloride and not another chemical. You can also order calcium chloride online. Grow Crystals The procedure for growing calcium chloride crystals is essential the same as growing table salt crystals or those of any salt.   Heat water to a full rolling boil. The solubility of any salt is highly dependent on temperature.Stir in calcium chloride until it stops dissolving. If you like, you can filter the solution into a new container, discarding any remaining solids.Place the container with the solution in a place where it wont be disturbed. Let the crystals grow. Tips Ordinarily you can remove crystals and preserve them, but calcium chloride is so hygroscopic, taking the crystals out and leaving them in open air will lead to degradation within hours. Its best to appreciate these crystals in their solution.Calcium chloride crystals are naturally colorless. You can try to color the crystals by adding food coloring to the crystal growing solution.One easy way to grow these crystals is simply to leave a container of DampRid hanging in your home or vehicle. Eventually the conditions will become right for crystal formation.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

T5 Tax Slips for Canadian Income Taxes

T5 Tax Slips for Canadian Income Taxes A Canadian T5 tax slip, or Statement of Investment Income, is prepared and issued by organizations that pay interest, dividends, or royalties to tell you and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) how much investment income you earned for a given tax year. Income included on T5 tax slips includes most dividends, royalties, and interest from bank accounts, accounts with investment dealers or brokers, insurance policies, annuities, and bonds. Organizations do not usually issue T5 slips for earned interest and investment income less than $50 CAN, although you should still report that income when you file your Canadian income tax return. Deadline for T5 Tax Slips T5 tax slips must be issued by the last day of February, in the year after the calendar year to which the T5 tax slips apply. Filing T5 Tax Slips With Your Income Tax Return When you file a paper income tax return, include copies of each of the T5 tax slips you receive. If you file your income tax return using NETFILE or EFILE, keep copies of your T5 tax slips with your records for six years in case the CRA asks to see them. Missing T5 Tax Slips If an organization doesnt issue a T5 even though you have investment income over the $50 CAN threshold, you are required to ask for a copy of a missing T5 tax slip. If you havent received a T5 slip despite requesting one, file your income tax return by the tax deadline anyway to avoid penalties for filing your income taxes late. Calculate the investment income and any related tax credits you can claim as closely as you can using any information you have. Include a note with the organizations name and address, the type and amount of investment income, and what you have done to get a copy of the missing T5 slip. Include copies of any statements you used in calculating the income for the missing T5 tax slip. Implications of Not Filing a T5 The CRA will charge a penalty if you file an income tax return and forget to include a tax slip for the second time within a four-year period. It will also charge interest on the balance due, calculated from the tax deadline of the year to which the slip applied. If you have filed your tax return and you receive a late or amended T5 slip, file an adjustment request (T1-ADJ) immediately to report this discrepancy in income. Other Tax Information Slips The T5 slip doesnt include other income sources that must be reported, even if they deal with seemingly similar investment-related sources. Other tax information slips include: T4: Statement of Remuneration PaidT4A: Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other IncomeT4A(OAS): Statement of Old Age SecurityT4A(P): Statement of Canada Pension Plan BenefitsT4E: Statement of Employment Insurance and Other BenefitsT4RIF: Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income FundT4RSP: Statement of RRSP Income

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Culture geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Culture geography - Essay Example The initial symptoms of the disease included a high fever, accompanied by running noise and conjunctivitis(CDC). After some time, the person can develop rashes on the face that can spread to the back and trunk. In some cases, it can also present as pneumonia, meningitis, hepatitis, febrile convulsions, diarrhea, laryngitis, otitis media, bronchitis, and croup. Once a diagnosis of measles is made, treatment has always to be provided. Such medications are provided to prevent worsening symptoms or suspected complications. Commonly prescribed drugs are antipyretics, antibiotics, rehydration agents and cough syrups(CDC). For primary prevention of the disease, immunization is often used for any children under the age of 5 years. Measles can have a usual occurrence and an unusual occurrence. That implies that the symptoms of measles can vary from person to person. In some people, measles can present as a rash, conjunctivitis and running nose together with fever, and take a period of more than a week for it to heal. In other people, the disease can progress to a worse states resulting to various complications(CDC). Currently, due to the lack of treatment of measles once one gets it, as it is entirely dependent on one’s immune system, quite a number of complications can result from it.When one has measles, one loses a lot of fluids through running noise, through high fevers, through diarrhea, hence resulting to an electrolyte imbalance shift together with dehydration. Dehydration can have several complications if not corrected in advance(CDC). Patients can suffer from complications of electrolyte depletion like hypokalemia, hypernatremia, hypocalcemia, hypomagesia, and loss of other elements. Measles in Iceland is believed to have come from North of the country and infected the town of Reykjavic first. It later spread to three towns on the oopposite side of the country and thereafter to the densely-populated southwest. Finally there was a breakout of

Thursday, October 31, 2019

The CFO & the Performance and Budget Review Assignment

The CFO & the Performance and Budget Review - Assignment Example If budget is over or underutilized then VP Marketing can give its justification and on the basis of whichperformance of entire marketing department can be evaluated. CFO has no role either in budget utilization of Marketing Department or achieving performance objectives of marketing except in analyzing ROI, Revenue & Profits. CFO approves finances against proposals or case presented by Marketing Department. So CFO also has good idea about the marketing campaigns launched by the company. CFO can only be involved in order to analyze actual financial impact of marketing budget and its performance (Miller, 200). Main objective of Marketing budget is to increase salesby attracting new customers and retaining existing ones through marketing activities. Increase in customer base will eventually lead to increase in revenue. President will call the CFO if marketing expenses and performance is not justifiable as per financial outlook. Marketing expenditure is considered as an investment for the Company. These expenditures have both short term goals (get new leads, retention of existing customers) and long term impacts such as relationship building, brand awareness etc. CFO role in this scenario would be to analyze facts such as why budgets are over or underutilized, what is actual ROI as per existing and new customers on the basis of yearly marketing expenditure, whether campaigns launched by the Marketing Department during the year generated any revenue or not, financial impact of the proposals presented by the Marketing Department VS their actual output, variance analysis of Marketing budget, and other financial factors which lead to the particular result. CFO in the meeting can also suggestto decrease or increase the Marketing budget after reviewing the performance, which marketing ventures feasibility will be effective and how company can improve the revenue

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Professional development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Professional development - Essay Example The project, which will probably involve an element of problem solving, can relate to any aspect of the organisation so long as it is considered to be of use to the company. It is important that on completion of the project you obtain from your employer a written statement (on official company stationery) which gives his/her opinion of your performance in carrying out the investigation and presenting your conclusions and recommendations. The statement should comment on the overall benefit to the company of the investigation and any recommendations that you make. List in the order of Books, Journals and Website the sources you used in the Harvard Style. Remember the information here must relate to the in text referencing that has been included in the Harvard style throughout the main report, According to Learnthenet.com (2008) Â  netiquette, a term coined from either network etiquette or Internet etiquette comes in handy. To guide you through your online communications, here are a few pointers: When you talk with someone, the tone of your voice conveys great meaning. To add personality and humour to your messages, use smileys, also known as emoticons, expressions you create from the characters on your keyboard. A few popular ones include: Keep your written communications to the point. Few people like reading text on a computer screen. Many people now receive e-mail on cell phones and other portable devices. The tiny screens make reading lengthy messages particularly challenging. This is true whether you send e-mail or post messages online. To keep messages short, use some common abbreviations: A favourite is , which stands for Rolling on the Floor Laughing. A shortened version is --Laughing Out Loud. And if you get called away whilst in the chat room or on Windows Live Messenger try --Be Right Back. Remember that anything you post to a blog, newsgroup, forum or website

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Distortion effect for electric guitar

Distortion effect for electric guitar Distortion Effect For Electric Guitar Using FPGA Introduction Project Goals And Objectives The goal of the project is to implement distortion effects for electric guitar on an FPGA board. The algorithm that is going to be used is The Extended Karplus Strong Algorithm (Jaffe Smith, 1983). The analog audio signal from the electric guitar is captured by the analog to digital converter (ADC) module of the board. The FPGA is going to send the digital audio signal to a speaker to be played. The algorithm is going to be implemented on FPGA instead of using ASIC design approach. The pros and cons of FPGA design and ASIC design are discussed on the Xilinx website. The design advantage comparison of FPGA and ASICand the design flow comparison of FPGA and ASIC (Xilinx Corporation, 2009). ASIC design has more steps to complete as can be seen . Also, it is suitable for very high volume designs. For a single unit, using FPGA is a better solution. FPGA has no upfront non recurring expenses. It is faster to implement. Manufacturing of ASIC design chips take long time. However, a design can be downloaded to the FPGA and programmed very fast. Considering all these, using FPGA design is more suitable for this project. Project Deliverables The deliverables include the Verilog HDL code of the design. It is going to be synthesizable and can be used with suitable FPGA boards. The final project report is going to be delivered. It is going to include the details of the hardware algorithm, the design process and the results obtained from the functional verification and the hardware validation of the system. A demonstration of the project is doing to be done with the developed prototype of the system. The electric guitar is going to be the input of the system. The output from the board is going to be played through speakers. Technology Trends Before the invention of FPGAs, CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Device) were the most complex programmable logic devices. And before CPLDs, PALs (Programmable Array Logic) were used frequently. PALs were introduced in March 1978 by Monolithic Memories, Inc. They are only one time programmable. PALs are consisted of PROMs (programmable read-only memory). They were mostly used in minicomputers. These devices have fixed OR and programmable AND arrays. This enables the implementation of sum of products logic. A simplified programmable logic device. Typically, PAL devices have a few hundred gates. CPLD devices have higher complexities compared to PAL devices. They have similar features to both PAL devices and FPGAs. Like PALs, they dont have external ROMs, which enable the CPLDs to start functioning just after startup. They have much higher number of gates compared to PAL devices. They have around thousands to tens of thousands of gates. However, this is low compared to FPGAs, since the number of gates inside the FPGAs can go up to a few millions. FPGAs have the most number of gates and flip-flops compared to the others. They are more flexible but their design is more complex. The first distortion effect for electric guitar wasnt produced on purpose. It was mostly caused because of damaged guitar amplifiers. One example was a recording by Johnny Brunette Trio, which caused a fuzz tone effect. (The Train Kept Rollin, 2009). Electronic based distortion and overdrive effects came to scene in 1960s and 1970s. The effects were achieved by diodes, transistors and amplifiers and most of these pedals were analog. With the improvement in the digital signal processing techniques, digital processors became an important part of the technology in the last decade. Market Research The digital products in the market nowadays feature more adjustable effects than just a distortion effect. Typically, they have parallel effect modules that can run simultaneously. They also have advanced software. They have preset tones and effect libraries, tuners and even more features. Also, most of them have USB interfaces with a PC or MAC for compatible recording software. So, the projects features arent going to be able to match the products features in the market. Boss, Line 6, Zoom, Korg, Digitech are among the major companies which produce digital guitar effects processors. The bestselling multieffect electric guitar processors on Amazon.com. It can be observed that Zoom and Digitech have the most market. Requirements Functional Requirements The electric guitar will be connected to the FPGA boards analog to digital converter input. The analog to digital converter is going to convert the incoming analog signal to an 8-bit digital signal. The sampling frequency is going to be 44100 Hz, which is the standard for most of the digital audio files. The reason for choosing this sampling frequency is the human ears ability. The human ear cannot perceive frequencies above 20 KHz. According to the Nyquist Sampling Theorem, a signal can be exactly reconstructed from its samples if the sampling frequency is greater than twice the highest frequency of the signal. If the highest frequency that the human ear can perceive is considered to be 20 KHz, anything above 40 KHz is going to be enough for sampling frequency (Schulzrinne, 2008). The signal is going to be processed inside the FPGA using The Extended Karplus Strong Algorithm (Jaffe Smith, 1983). The processing should be fast enough so that the human ear cannot understand the delay between the time when the player hits a note on the guitar and the time that the output is played by the speakers. After the processing, the 8-bit signal is going to be converted to analog. Finally, this analog signal is going to be sent to the speakers and played. The hardware functionality that the system is going to provide. Nonfunctional Requirements The most of important constraint on the system will be the time constraint. The delay between the input and output audio signals must be minimized. This requires the design to be fast. For this purpose, the resources available on the FPGA should be used efficiently. The most of important constraints on the timing of the design is going to occur due to the algorithm. Floating-point arithmetic might be needed to use according to the algorithm. This might cause the calculations to take longer. Also, another constraint on the system is the speed of the FPGA. The speed of the FPGA is not going to cause a problem for sampling the incoming analog audio signal. However, the speed of the FPGA is going to put a constraint on the speed of the algorithm. A pipelined algorithm might be used in order to satisfy the requirements for the speed and the timing of the system. There are going to be feedback loops, filters and saturator blocks in the system. So, a pipelined algorithm is going to increase the utilization of these blocks and this is going to result in the increase in the throughput. If there is a pipelined algorithm, more resources are going to be needed to implement the pipelined system. The limited amount of the resources such as memory blocks and arithmetic units might put a constraint on the design. Also, another constraint is going to be the data width of the ADC and DAC. Due to the limited number of bits on ADC and DAC, the quality of the digital audio signal is going to be limited. Product Requirements Analysis The product requirement analysis is done using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique. The most important criteria for customer satisfaction are low delay time and distortion effect level. Also, good sound quality is very important too. Implementation of additional effects is the least important feature of the product. Low power consumption, low cost, effect adjustability, good bass and treble sounds, good feedback are also expected to have good standards by the customer. In order to meet the customer expectations, most important step is choosing the distortion effect algorithm correctly. The use of external resources should be kept to minimum level in order to meet the speed requirements of the system. Any use of external memory is going to cause additional memory access time and cause the system to function slower. This is going to result in an unwanted delay time. Bit resolution is also important. It is going to affect the sound quality. The higher number of bits is going to increase the quality. It might also help us get rid of using floating point arithmetic for implementing the saturation algorithm. However, the higher number of bits might cause a problem with the pipeline implementation. Project Requirements FPGA has to capture the analog sound and this signal is going to come from the output of an electric guitar. The FPGA board that is going to be used is chosen to be Spartan-3A Starter Kit board because of its built in analog to digital converter and digital to analog converter modules. The board also has a stereo mini jack for audio. These features make this board very suitable for audio processing and thus, very suitable for this project. Also, the FPGA chip has 700 K gates (Xilinx Corporation, 2009). In order to play the output, stereo speakers are going to be connected to the board pin to which the output signal is connected. The design is going to be done in register transfer level (RTL). The RTL design of the system is going to be described using Verilog HDL. In order to do this, Xilinxs design tool Xilinx ISE Webpack 11.3, which is free a program, is going to be used. Before prototyping the system, functional verification has to be completed successfully. For this purpose, Modelsim, which is develop by Mentor Graphics, is going to be used. Before starting the hardware design of the system, the algorithm is going to be simulated and verified using functional blocks in MATLAB Simulink. The hardware requirements for the system are and the software requirements for the system. Design Architecture As discussed earlier, the algorithm that is going to be used is The Extended Karplus Strong Algorithm (Jaffe Smith, 1983). The algorithm extensively uses filters. The algorithm is modeled and simulated under MATLAB Simulink. The model consists of functional blocks. The filters are defined by their discrete transfer functions. There is also a feedback loop. The sound is amplified by a gain block and passes through a saturation block. The saturation block basically causes the signal to saturate if its amplitude goes over or below specific thresholds. So, the higher the signal is amplified by the gain block, the more the signal is going to get distorted; since it is going to be saturated from lower amplitude compared to its new peak value. The model of The Karplus Strong Algorithm. Since there are consequent filter blocks, the signal is going to be delayed. To overcome the problem, the level of parallelism should be increased. Since there are 20 block RAMs in the FPGA, these can be used for increasing the pipeline depth and the level of parallelism. When an 8-bit sample passes though the first filter, it is going to go to the second one. Instead of waiting and doing the second operation using the same hardware, we should maximize the use of the resources and send the data that passed through the first filter to another resource. During that time, the other sample can pass through the first filter. Usage of block RAMs might be very beneficial here, in order to increase the throughput and the speed of the system. Since the data that is going to be processed isnt going to be large, only the internal block RAMs might be enough. Also, use of an external RAM is going to put more delay on the line because of the longer memory access time. This is highly undesirable since the most important criterion for the system is its speed. Structure The system consists of four main parts. First part is where the user interacts with the system. The user is going to generate an output from the guitar and that output is going to be captured by the FPGA board. FPGA is going to the process the output and pass it to the third part of the system, speakers. The stereo output is going to be played by the speakers. Also, a PC is needed to send the .bit file to program the FPGA. The FPGA board. It has an audio output port on the right top. If needed, DDR2 SDRAM can be used as external memory. The analog digital circuitry is used for capturing the analog signal to the board. The circuitry has 2-channel 14-bit analog to digital converter and 4-channel 12-bit digital to analog converter. The switches can be used for turning the distortion on and off. Also, they can be used for the same purpose if additional sound effects are added to the system. Rotary knob can be used for adjusting the level of the distortion or the gain or the volume. The quantity that is going to be adjusted can be determined by the switches since there is only one rotary knob. Interface There are three interfaces in the system. The first interface is for programming the FPGA. The connection between the FPGA and the computer is going to be achieved with USB 2.0. Xilinx iMPACT tool is going to be used to program the FPGA. The second interface is for capturing the analog audio signal from the electric guitar to the FPGA board. The on board analog to digital converter is going to be used for that purpose. Analog to digital converter unit on the board. The third interface is going to be between the FPGA and the speaker. The digital signal is going to be converted to analog signal using Xilinxs digital to analog converter module and it is going to be sent to the audio jack port of the board. The stereo audio jack module. Implementation Implementation Scope As discussed in Section 3.2, the system consists of four main parts. The module for sending the .bit file from the PC to the FPGA is already given with Xilix iMPACT tool, so no implementation is required for this. The second module is the audio input to the board. This is the input module. The input module is going to be implemented with the help of on board analog to digital converter. As discussed earlier, the sampling rate and the bit resolution are the most important parts of the input module. The sampling rate is going to be 44100 Hz and the resolution is planned to be 8 bits. The captured analog signal is going to be converted to digital signal and sent to FPGA module for processing. FPGA module is going to be responsible for processing the digital signal. For faster and efficient processing, pipelined implementation is going to be done. This is going to be done using RTL description of the hardware with Verilog HDL. The output module is going to convert the processed digital signal to analog and send it to the boards audio jack port for playing the processed signal using speakers. Xilinxs DAC module is going to be used for the implementation of this module. Implementation Coverage The algorithm that is going to be used for implementation is The Extended Karplus Strong Algorithm (Jaffe Smith, 1983). The block diagram of The Extended Karplus Strong Algorithm. The output is going to be sent to gain and saturation blocks. There are filter blocks and delay blocks in the system. These functions are going to be implemented inside the FPGA. The first functional block is a pick-direction low pass filter (Smith III, Pick-Direction Lowpass Filter, 2009). The second functional block before the feedback loop is a pick-position comb filter (Smith III, Pick-Position Comb Filter, 2009). In the feedback loop, there is a delay block on the top. The other blocks are again filters. After the delay block, the signal goes through a two-zero string damping filter (Smith III, Two-Zero String Damping Filter, 2009). Before the addition operation in the feedback loop, another pick-direction low pass filter is going to be used. After the loop, there is going to be dynamic level low pass filter (Smith III, Dynamic Level Lowpass Filter, 2009). After these filters and delays, there is going to be a gain block which is used for increasing the level of distortion. Distortion effect is going to be generated by a saturation block. The saturation can use either hard clipping or soft clipping. Soft clipping has higher complexity. It is a third order polynomial. It results in a smoother sound. However, for more distorted and fuzzy sound, hard clipping is preferred. Since it has a heavier sound and is easier to implement, hard clipping is going to be used. The input-output relations of hard clipping and soft clipping Develop Or Adopt Decision The most important part for the project is the FPGA board. It is going to be adopted. If I wanted to design the circuit with a PCB design tool in which I am not experienced, I would have paid a lot of money to get it manufactured. And the design has to be perfect before getting the chip produced. The decision of choosing whether to use FPGA design or ASIC design was discussed earlier in Section. So, buying and using an FPGA board is the best option here. Spartan 3A Starter Kit is going to be used for the project. For the output interface of the design, Xilinx has a module described in Verilog and is available for free. For DAC and output purposes, that module is going to be used. If there is an available module for the input port of the system for free from Xilinx, it is going to be adopted. Otherwise, the ADC module is going to be developed according to the ADC hardware available on the FPGA board. The design on the FPGA is going to be based on an algorithm but it is going to be designed by me. Also, an electric guitar and speakers with amplifiers are needed for the project. They were already available before the start of the project. For software, Xilinx ISE, Xilinx iMPACT, Modelsim XE and MATLAB are going to be used. MATLAB is already available and the others have free versions for students. Implementation Process Three modules are going to be implemented. Each module can be implemented independently from each other. Finally, all the modules are going to be connected under a top module. DSP module is the main part of the design where the algorithm is going to be implemented. The functional verification of the design is going to be independent from the other modules. Implementation Resources The resources for implementation can be grouped into two. First, we need hardware resources. The second group is the software resources. The most important resource for hardware is the FPGA development board. Spartan 3A Starter Kit is going to be used. This specific board is chosen due to some reasons. This board is suitable for DSP applications. It has ADC and DAC modules. It also has a stereo audio jack for outputting the processed signal. So, this board is going to be used for implementation. FPGA is going to be programmed from a PC. The hardware of the system is going to be described using Xilinx ISE tool, which requires a PC. So, we also need a PC for implementation. The connection of the board with the PC required a USB cable, which is provided with the board. We also need an electric guitar and speakers. The required hardware resources for implementation. Besides the hardware resources, some software resources are going to be needed too. First, before starting writing the code for the hardware, the algorithm is going to be tested and the functional blocks are going to be made clear using MATLAB Simulink software. For synthesis and implementation, Xilinx ISE is going to be used. It is going to synthesize and implement the hardware described by Verilog HDL. It also includes Xilinx iMPACT tool which is used for sending the .bit file to the FPGA for programming. For functional verification, Xilinx Edition of Modelsim, developed by Mentor Graphics is going to be used. Implementation Activities The project group consists of only one person. So design, verification, implementation and testing are going to be done by me. During the project, additional training and study is going to be required in digital signal processing and filters. Also, digital filter design should also be studied. Another thing that needs improvement is writing testbench to verify the designed system. Testing Testing Scope The testing of the system consists of two parts. There is a functional verification part and a hardware validation part. For functional verification, Modelsim XE software is going to be used with Verilog HDL. The parts that are going to be tested are the input module, the output module, the DSP module. After the integration of the modules in order to form the system, the whole system is going to be tested. Also, the hardware validation of the DSP and output modules can be done without a working input module. A randomly generated signal in FPGA can be processed and sent to output module for playing and this can be tested. Testing Coverage As explained in Section, the modules are going to be tested individually at first. The input module is going to get an analog signal from an external source. This might be coming from the electric guitar or directly from a PC. If the input signal is coming from PC, the signal can be adjusted to be simple and therefore testing can be simpler. After the conversion, the signal is going to be observed. Also, if the output module is working, the input signal can be directly transferred to the output module without any signal processing done on it. A randomly generated signal inside the FPGA is going to be enough to test the output module. DSP module is going to be tested by functional verification. The filters, the gain and the saturation blocks are going to be tested. After these, the whole DSP module is going to be tested. An example of input and output of the system with hard clipping. Pass/Fail Criteria The pass/fail criterion for the input module is going to be its analog to digital conversion performance. If a given analog input can be correctly converted to digital signal, it is going to pass the test. Digital conversion operation with its input and expected output. The module, the expected output is going to be the signal on the bottom (Azima DLI , 2009). In order to pass the test, the module has to give the correct output for each stimulus applied. The output module has to do digital to analog conversion and send the signal to speakers. For that, a signal is going to be generated inside the FPGA. This signals amplitude and frequency is going to be changed. According to the changes, we are going to expect different outputs. The output is going to be listened through the speakers. In order to pass the test, the output module should correctly respond to every amplitude and frequency change. The DSP module is going to be tested with functional verification. A reference model is going to be constructed in behavioral level. Randomly generated stimulus is going to be applied to the design and to the reference model at the same time. In order to pass the test, the results from the DSP module and the reference model have to match 100%. Another important criterion for the DSP module is its timing. The delay between the input and the output has to be below a determined quantity in order to pass the test. Testing Approach In order to test the DSP module, a self checking testbench is going to be written using Verilog HDL. There is going to be a behaviorally modeled reference unit inside the test bench. The test bench is going to generate random stimuli. These stimuli are going to be applied to both a design under test unit (DUT), which is a module from the design, and the reference model. Then, the results are going to be compared in a scoreboard. The verification approach. Also, the timing of the system is going to be considered since it is one of the most important parts of the project. After the functional verification, the timing analysis of the implemented system must be done using Xilinx ISE. Testing Resources First, in order to test the algorithm, MATLAB Simulink is going to be used. In order to test the input module, preferably a PC or an electric guitar is going to be needed as discussed in the second paragraph. To test the output module, speakers or headphones are going to be needed. For functional verification of the DSP module, Modelsim XE is needed. Also, for the timing analysis of the design, Xilinx ISE is going to be used. Test Cases After these inputs are applied, the outputs from the reference model and the DUT are also going to be stored in response file, which is going to be in .txt format. Finally, a log file is going to show where the errors occurred, if there are any errors or it is going to show that no errors occurred in the simulation. Looking at the log file and the response file, we are going to able to see where exactly the errors occurred. Test Activities Since the group has just one member, every part of testing is going to be done by me. More training about writing self checking test benches using Verilog HDL should be done. 6. Schedule If we look at the PERT chart, we can calculate the critical path. The critical path consists of the following activities: A-F-G-H-I-J-K. This path leads to a completion time of 133 days. If the most optimistic and the most pessimistic completion of each activity is estimated, we can calculate the expected completion time and the variance of the project. The expression for the expected completion time is given in Equation and the expression for variance is given in Equation. Using these equations, the completion time and the variance are calculated. The activities in the critical path are highlighted and the calculations are done according to the critical path. PERT calculation gives almost the same result with the CPM result. CPM result was 133 days. PERT calculation gives an estimated project completion time of 133.166 days. Also, the variance turned out to be 26.58. This means the project can be completed 26.58 days earlier or later. The Gantt Chart of the project is given. The estimated start date of the project is December 27, 2009. The project is planned to be completed on May 9, 2010. Bibliography Azima DLI . (2009, February 8). Analog to Digital Conversion. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from Azima DLI Corporation Web Site: http://www.azimadli.com/vibman/analogtodigitalconversion.htm Collicut, M. (2009, March 3). Extending the Karplus-Strong Algorithm to Simulate Guitar Distortion and Feedback Effects. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from McGill University Web Site: http://mt.music.mcgill.ca/~collicuttm/MUMT618/KSA_distortion_and_feedback.html Jaffe, D. A., Smith, J. O. (1983). Extensions of the Karplus-Strong plucked string algorithm. Computer Music Journal , 56-69. Schulzrinne, H. (2008, January 9). Explanation of 44.1 kHz CD sampling rate. Retrieved November 27, 2009, from Columbia University Web Site: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/audio/44.1.html Smith III, J. O. (2009, March 21). Dynamic Level Lowpass Filter. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from Stanford University Web Site: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/realsimple/faust_strings/Dynamic_Level_Lowpass_Filter.html Smith III, J. O. (2009, March 21). Pick-Direction Lowpass Filter. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from Stanford University Web Site: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/realsimple/faust_strings/Pick_Direction_Lowpass_Filter.html Smith III, J. O. (2009, March 21). Pick-Position Comb Filter. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from Stanford University Web Site: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/realsimple/faust_strings/Pick_Position_Comb_Filter.html Smith III, J. O. (2009, March 21). Two-Zero String Damping Filter. Retrieved November 28, 2009, from Stanford University Web Site: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/realsimple/faust_strings/Two_Zero_String_Damping_Filter.html Sullivan, C. R. (1990). Extending the Karplus-Strong Algorithm to Synthesize Electric Guitar Timbres with Distortion and Feedback. Computer Music Journal , 26-37. The Train Kept Rollin. (2009, November 21). Retrieved November 21, 2009, from allmusic: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amgsql=33:jjfoxzq0ldte Xilinx Corporation. (2009, April 8). Getting Started with FPGAs FPGA vs. ASIC. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from Xilinx Corporation Web site: http://www.xilinx.com/company/gettingstarted/fpgavsasic.htm Xilinx Corporation. (2009, October 6). Spartan-3A Starter Kit. Retrieved November 27, 2009, from Xilinx Corporation Web site: http://www.xilinx.com/products/devkits/HW-SPAR3A-SK-UNI-G.htm