E-marketing Test Paper

Multiple Choice1. E-marketing affects traditional marketing in which of the following ways? a. increases efficiency of traditional marketing functions b. technologically transforms marketing strategies c. marginalizes customer value but increases profitability d. both A and B (d; Moderate; LO2; Use of Information Technology)2. ________ is the subset of e-business focused on transactions that include buying/selling, digital value creation, and virtual marketplaces. a. E-commerce b. E-marketing c. Digital technology d. ESP (a; Easy; LO2; Use of Information Technology)3. Convenient, quick access to digital information has the ability to transform all of the following except ________. a. individuals b. ecosystems c. societies d. businesses (a; Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)4. The internet consists of all of the following except ________. a. computers with data b. users who send and receive data files, such as e-mail and text messages c. a technology infrastructure to create, m ove, share, and consume content d. a central mainframe (d; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)5. Data, such as digital coupons or customer complaints, exchanged between  companies and consumers typically travel via _____, while off-line electronic data collection, such as bar code scanners or databases, shared internally within an organization, travel via ________. a. internet; intranet b. extranet; internet c. extranet; intranet d. the Web; the social network (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)6. All of the following e-marketing technologies exist without the World Wide Web, except ________. a. electronic data interchange b. email c. text messaging d. hypertext navigation (a; Difficult; LO1; Use of Information Technology)7. In its technical performance, the internet supports the following roles except ________. a. human users and computers that access content and send e-mail b. technology infrastructure to move, create, and view content c. content provider s that create information, entertainment, and so forth d. none; all of the above roles are supported by the internet. (d; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)8. The internet can deliver content to all the following except _________. a. televisions sets b. refrigerators c. video cassette recorders d. automobiles (c ; Easy; LO4; Use of Information Technology)9. According to the text, ________ is the region with largest percentage of internet users. a. Africa b. Asia c. North America d. Europe (b; Moderate; LO5; Multicultural and Diversity Understanding)10. Which of the following outcomes has been cited as a negative one in terms of the world becoming a globally networked world? a. growing class divisions due to digital divide b. removing cultural differences c. efficient markets driven by more workaholism d. all of the above (d; Difficult; LO5; Analytic Skills)11. During the â€Å"first wave of internet disruption† companies essentially offered _________. a. high-end p roducts for mass markets b. tangible products that can be compared easily and purchased at relatively low prices c. commodities available in bulk quantity d. real estate (b; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)12. In the era of the Plateau of Profitability, marketers focused more deliberately on _________. a. their traditional return-on-performance roots and well-grounded strategies b. diversified unique product mixes c. disintermediation of the marketing channel d. product benefits (a; Difficult; p. 11; LO5; Analytic Skills)13. Charles Schwab pitted their online business vs. their established brick and mortar business. Which of the following is not a result of this competition? a. faster growing accounts and assets b. lower prices c. more sales of treasury bonds and less sales of private securities d. incorporation of successful e-marketing strategies (c; Difficult; LO1; Analytic Skills)14. Internet properties, or characteristics, that impact marketing include________. a. global reach b . market deconstruction c. scalable capacity d. all of the above (d; Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)15. As consumers become more demanding the internet is a good way to deliver customer value because ________. a. most products on the internet are less expensive than on other marketing channels b. broadband allows marketers to put more cookies on computers c. marketers can send digital coupons to millions of customers instantly d. customers gain ability to create, share, and access information and entertainment at will (d; Moderate; LO3; Reflective Thinking Skills)16. According to the text, ________ predicted that the ‘e’ would drop from e-marketing, suggesting that traditional marketing would evolve and integrate e-marketing principles and practices. a. Levitt Inc. b. Friedman Inc. c. Gartner Inc. d. Jones Inc. (c; Moderate; LO5; Use of Information Technology)17. ________ is leading to a large increase in wireless networks. a. Integration of information techno logy and personal digital assistants (PDA’s) b. Acceptance and usage of mobile phones and other devices by individuals worldwide c. The World Wide Web d. Increasing adoption of high bandwidth (b; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)18. The internet has the power to do all of the following except ________. a. create global communities based on interests b. decrease cultural and language differences c. prevent the upward mobility of people and countries at lower socioeconomic levels d. discourage workaholism (d; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)19. Following the boom and bust of the first wave of the internet era, industrialized countries entered the ________. a. boom b. bust c. trough of disillusion d. plateau of profitability (d; Difficult; LO5; Analytic Skills)20. ________ are specific measures designed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the e-business and e-marketing operations. a. Segmentation variables b. Metrics c. Bench systems d. Site stickiness (b; Easy; LO2; Analytic Skills)True/False21. Individuals can be both users and content providers on the internet. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)22. According to the text, nowadays the internet should be regarded more as a channel than a place. a. True b. False (b; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)23. E-marketing refers to the result of information technology applied to traditional marketing. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO2; Use of Information Technology)24. The internet provides individual users abilities to access information, entertainment, and communication. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO4; Use of Information Technology)25. The term blog refers to online diaries, or journals, that are updated and shared on Web pages. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO4; Use of Information Technology)26. More than 40 percent of global internet users are based in Asia. a. True b. False (a; Difficult; LO5; Multicultural and Diversity Understanding)27. Un solicited communications, such as spam, represent a threat to the positive impact of e-marketing practices. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO1; Use of Information Technology)28. Electronic marketing relies exclusively upon web-based technology. a. True b. False (b; Difficult; LO5; Use of Information Technology)29. The internet has shifted the balance of power from sellers to buyers. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO3; Reflective Thinking Skills)30. Gartner Inc. forecasted that the ‘e’ in e-business and e-marketing will eventually be dropped, as electronic practices become more standard. a. True b. False (a; Moderate; LO5; Analytic Skills)31. The internet is largely the product of ARPANET, a project commissioned by the United States’ Department of Defense. a. True b. False (a; Difficult; LO5; Use of Information Technology)32. Co-creation occurs when consumers /users help marketers develop products or promotional materials. a. True b. False (a; Easy; LO3; Reflective Th inking Skills)Essay Questions33. What is the difference between the internet, an extranet and an intranet?The internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Access to the internet is very broad and open. An extranet is two or more proprietary or company owned networks that are joined to share information. Access to this network is limited. An intranet is an internal network for a company that uses internet standards. Access is limited to internal company use only. (Easy; LO1; Use of Information Technology)34. What is a content provider on the internet?Content providers are individuals and organizations that create digital text, video, audio, and graphics to be sent over the internet to users who receive it as information, entertainment or communications.(Moderate; LO1; Analytic Skills)35. Define what community means for the internet and give examples.Communities for the internet are groups of users who come together to share information, hold discussions and exchange data . Examples include blogs or web logs, auctions, and peer-to peer networking. (Easy; LO1; Analytic Skills)36. Concerning internet usage, what is the digital divide?Internet adoption is affected by money, literacy, and education. This creates a divide between those who have access to the internet and those who don’t. It impairs the upward mobility of those on the lower socioeconomic level, who don’t have access to the internet and the information that comes with it. This impacts individuals on the lower socioeconomic levels and those living in less developed countries. (Moderate; LO5; Reflective Thinking Skills)37. Why did some manufacturers such as Levis stop selling on the internet?Channel Conflict with retail accounts Cannibalization Inefficiency (Moderate; LO1; Analytic Skills)38. The strength of the internet has affected traditional marketing in several ways. List five of them and how they affected marketing.Power shift from sellers to buyers (focus on customer rela tionship management) Market Fragmentation (more focus on small target markets and 1 to 1 marketing) Death of distance or geographic location affect (less focus on place for marketing) Time Compression (24/7 availability)Knowledge management is key (Track results in real time and focus on database analysis) Interdisciplinary focus (Marketers must understand technology and use it wisely) Intellectual Capital rules (focus on creativity and imagination) (Difficult; LO5; Reflective Thinking Skills)39. Marketers face new challenges with the advent of streaming, on-demand, and other digital video recorders. What is the main challenge and what have companies like TIVO or Hulu done to alleviate some of the concerns of marketers?The main challenge is the ability of consumers to speed through and skip commercials that advertisers have paid for based on their ability to communicate with consumers. TIVO (Hulu) has setup content with advertising included that viewers can watch at their leisure an d TIVO (Hulu) can provide specific metrics to the advertisers on these programs. (Difficult; LO4; Reflective Thinking Skills)

Original Writing: The Assassination

The Assassin lay in wait. She knew what she had to do, where to be, where to hide and at what time. She also knew who the victim was. Now, all she needed to do was wait. She had perched herself in the neighbouring chimney. Her research had been done. The owners of the house were away on holiday. The house was hers. While she waited, the smell in the chimney was pungent. God what had they burnt in here? She could literally taste what had been burning. Pleasant thoughts were trying to take over the smell of the chimney. It was starting to work until her concentration was broken by the sound of a car pulling into a driveway. The target was sighted. No, wait. It was the victim's son. He didn't matter; as long as he kept out of the way he would not fall to the same fate as his father. She thought about how much was staked on her to leave no recognition, to the police, that there had ever been anyone there. She never did of course; she was a professional. Her finger found the trigger of the rifle and gripped tightly. The question was asked to herself as to why she was so worried as to killing her target. She had done it many a time and was the government's first choice to do this assassination. A few cars passed on the dark, lonely road leading up to the driveway that was gloomy in the night sky. She sighed heavily, her sigh passed down the chimney and through the rest of the house. The silent wait continued†¦ The silence of the night was deafening. The force of the rain was extremely light but the Assassin was soaked right through to the bone. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked. Washington D. C's weather was so lousy this time of year. The darkness was descending slowly, the house, from where the assassin was perched, was dark, lonely and frightening. Lightening flashed above the house. In the lightening, the assassin looked like a zombie. The wind became stronger as the night dragged slowly on. The lights that ran parallel with the street were all burning brightly except for one. The only one that wasn't working was the seventh one along. It was the one right outside the house. The rain had ceased now. The tarmac glistened after the rain had stopped. The line of shrubbery reminded the killer of a war movie she had seen recently. ‘The Front Line'. That was the name of the film. Some teenagers passed by the house. They looked a bit drunk. The wind carried the dead leaves along the ground and through the air. The Assassin heard a noise approaching to her left†¦ She stubbed out her cigarette as the silver Mercedes(tm) turned off the road onto the muddy, rutted path leading to the house. The Assassin noted that the car had defective windscreen wipers; there were mud streaks on the side and a damaged bumper. As the car came to a stop outside the house, Her victim checked his watch; it was time for his favourite Radio Programme. So he sat inside of his car, turned on the radio and listened to it in comfort. The Assassin cursed herself. Why wasn't he getting out of the car? She heard the music go on, so she lifted her rifle and looked through the scope. He was sitting with a bottle of Baileys, listening to the Radio. She waited a bit longer. Eventually, he got out. John, now drunk, looked at his badge on his suit. It said ‘John Kerry'. Even though it was not raining, John stupidly put up his umbrella†¦ The assassin grinned to herself. She was finally going to get her kill. John was staggering left and right, which meant her shot, would have to be even more accurate. But, luckily for her, he was about the length of 3 Double Decker buses away from the front door. She lifted the rifle's scope to the man. She took aim, the trigger contracted into the gun. As if by pure luck, the man tripped and fell right at the last second, causing the bullet to narrowly miss its destination. She couldn't believe it. Anger swelled up inside her. She punched the gun so hard that it went unnoticed that the silencer fell off to the ground below. Reloading her gun was quite hard while she was shaking. The sight was lifted again and the shot was fired. This time it hit him right in the heart. He went flying into a nearby wall. The force of the blow scattered all of his personal belongings out of his suit. The deed had been done. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she was clearing up. But as she was cleaning up her thoughts went back to the shot. Could the shot have been heard? The floor of the chimney was searched but she couldn't find the silencer. Then her worst fears came true. Lights in the nearby house shot on. Then her thoughts were broken by the sound of a low groan coming from the driveway from across the way. John was crawling towards his mobile phone. Her items were dropped to the bottom of the chimney. She thrust her body off the roof, causing her to roll across the ground. A dagger was pulled from her belt and was driven towards her victim. Her foot connected with the bottom of his jaw and the mobile phone; causing only the mobile to scatter. He was grabbed by the neck of his suit by the Assassin and his throat slit. He died instantly. The Assassin stood up and walked towards the end of the driveway until she was stopped in her tracks by a mysterious figure at the doorway to Kerry's house†¦ It was John's son, William. He was wielding a machete. William was quick but not as quick as the assassin. The second he raised the blade to charge, the murderer turned and threw the dagger, with perfect accuracy and precision, straight into the thigh of the victim's son. His eyes opened wide but, as she intended, he was stopped in his tracks. He tried his hardest to concentrate on the assassin. The pain was excruciating. He staggered forward, unaware that the assassin was starting to make a run for it and the neighbours watching. They stared in disbelief as he pulled the dagger out of his thigh and attempted to give chase but was no match for her speed. He thought she had gotten away until one of the neighbours, named Terry, offered him a lift in his car. Terry and William drove quietly along the dark road following the assassin. The assassin thought she had lost him but then she seen two bright lights coming towards her. Using her swiftness, she ran and blended in with the bushes leading to the park. The car pulled onto the kerb and the doors slowly opened. She put her hand on her handgun. Just in case. They got out of the car slowly and carefully proceeded through the park. Suddenly Terry disappeared into the bushes causing William to jump. He investigated the bush to find Terry. He found Terry with a sleeper dart hanging from his neck. William left him. He went into the shrubs at the side. He had a hunch. She looked back out of the shrubs only to find that he had disappeared. Her hand loosened slightly on the handgun. She felt a crack in the back of her head as she went flying forward into the clearing. As she got up William was upon her like a shot. As she fought wildly to get him off her hand found something to be hard and sharp. Unfortunately for her William found the same item and they held the item between them each trying to stab each other. She identified the item as her dagger. But her taking her eyes away from the struggle gave William the chance he needed to rip the dagger free from her grasp. As he brought the knife down into her chest as she found her gun, put to the back of his throat and pulled the trigger. William lay motionless. She felt a sharp pain in her chest – what could it be? She wondered, gasping or breathe. Slowly opening her jacket, the assassin felt shocked when she realised that the blood was hers. She was feeling light headed now and cold. Maybe she needed a sit down to rest her eyes. Yes, that is what she decided to do. It was mid afternoon the following day when the police found them – William still lay motionless and pale. The assassin looked peaceful – as if she were asleep. Why was it that she killed John Kerry? I guess we might never find out†¦

Stock Market

Stock market is the place were all stocks and other securities buy and sell. Pakistan have three main stocks markets (KSE, LSE, ISE).Among these stock exchanges Karachi stock exchange founded on 18 September 1947.it was the largest stock exchange in Pakistan and oldest in the south Asia. its growing day by day. Many ups and downs are occurring in KSE due to political instability, securities threats and macro-economic issues but due to negative issues. its show a positive progress. Two types of KSE,100 and KSE 30 index. KSE 100 index rapidly growing in Pakistan indexes. 2013 is the best year in history of stock market in Pakistan on December 31 (25,261) points are occur which are great achievement. Top five companies in KSE 100 index are be capitalize and weight age.No Company Names Weightage % Market capitalism (PKR) in Million1 OGDCL 14.14 550,948,930,0002 MCB 7.17 279,583,150,0003 BOP 5.43 211,726,900,0004 Pakistan petroleum 5.06 197,201,080,0005 Standard chartered Bank 4.41 171,704,800,000 Literature Review: According to researcher's stock market in country play a vital role in economy growth. Many factors that have an impact on stock market. These factors may decrease the performance or may increase the performance. Government of every country should encourage these factors may increase the performance and should discourage these factors that have diverse impact on stock market. A study many articles and every paper about these factors but found that interest rate has a negative impact on stock market. Interest rate also decrease the efficiency of stock market.Davidson (1996) focus the relationship Between both variables and use regression analysis to define the relationship. He found that important impact of interest rate on stock market. his results are focus on long term interest rate that are play fundamental role in price dividend ratios. Knut (1996) he found that those countries with less interest rate has strong market as compere to who have high interest rate. He also says that develop countries having low rate that's way its market is extra ordinary.Kellen (2000) worked develop markets (south Africa, Zimbabwe) he says that in this market high interest rate think to huge loss market and its prices. After study the markets he found that relationship is negative in both variables. Hosing (2004) find out variables have different impact on each other. variables were interest rate, exchange rate and stock market. but at the end he found that negative relationship between interest rate and stock market.Zoran (2005) worked with macro factors i.e. World War II and he also found opposite relation between both variables. He also focused on cycle's research. For example: ten to fifteen years etc.Salahuddin (2009) study two factors that can impact on country growth and reduction. These factors are interest rate and stock exchange. Salahuddin investigate about these variables and he found that both variables have negative impact on each other.Zahid (2010) also study macro variables and stock market index and found that interest rate and inflation has negative impact on stock market.

Human Surroundings influence the buildings Essay

Human Surroundings influence the buildings - Essay Example It will develop a requirement for evaluation technique that enables the aim of sustainable progress to be inferred into building and construction goals and will reveal how this can be applied in briefing as well as design procedure of buildings. This part explains the fact that critical mission of architecture is to function in support of humans - to introduce itself amid individuals and the innate environment within which they find themselves, to eliminate the gross environmental stress from their shoulders. It further observes the different phases of the environment which buildings manage for human surroundings. Every country has a characteristic of its architecture for which it is well-known. Architecture is not merely an expression of the manufacturing expertise of a people, but as well a vision into their traditions as well as thoughts. This part highlights the different architectural features in different countries with special focus on United Kingdom and China. UK’s structural design is a blend of different architectural styles. It ranges from Roman techniques to the modern method of the 21st century. China is among the earliest civilization that has founded an exclusive, Chinese culture. In the present day socialist, China’s involvements to architecture, for instance, it’s Great Wall, gardens, as well as sanctuaries, are a major aspect of Chinese structural design. This part discusses the importance of geographical location of buildings. It is important to consider the location because weather has an effect on construction progressively and destructively. The blend of ultraviolet radiance, oxygen along with water makes materials to degrade, although various materials are additionally susceptible as compared to others. Atmospheric contamination expands these consequences. Weathering of building materials is the reason for material loss as well as structural deteriorating. Steel, which is a key source of structural

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Evaluating international business communications situations - Essay Example In order to promote holidays in China amongst the British public, one needs to come up with a great communication plan that will ensure that the target audience receives the message. This can be done through advertisements in the local media, social media, billboards and cultural fairs and events. One can also highlight some of the cultural issues such as language barrier and some cultural practices that the British citizens would face once they arrived in China. This process would ensure that mutual respect is maintained and a good relationship fostered between the two cultures. According to Noreen Barkley, Peiyi Ding and Timothy Lee, China recognised that international tourism was a key part of its economy, therefore, launching many initiatives to increase the business and provide a memorable experience that would help market its tourist attractions (Breakey, Ding and Lee 2008: 567). Through the use of excellent communication strategies and international marketing, China has successfully marketed its numerous attractions to many countries, therefore, swaying many of them to travel to the country and have a first-hand experience (Wen and Ximing, 2008: 580). A significant number of British citizens are financially secure, therefore, bearing the ability to spend a sizeable amount of money on holidays. The older generation comprising of senior citizens is also increasing, as baby boomers retire from their jobs. Therefore, Britain has a high number of potential international tourists who are willing to spend a lot of money for leisure travels and holidays. In o rder to persuade British citizens to visit China for holidays, one must establish a communication plan that will be appealing to them. It should be sensitive to the British culture and create awareness on the cultural differences between the two countries. It should also highlight China’s numerous cultural sites, unique geographical sceneries, the wide variety of

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Relationship between minimalism and Pop Art - Essay Example Originated in Britain during the late 1950s up to 1960s, the pop art movement was formed to go against the concept of both abstract expressionism and minimalism . As such, the pop art movement challenges that way traditional fine arts were created. Likewise, the development of pop art movement also tried to put a distinction between the creation of â€Å"high art and low popular culture†. Based on aesthetical issues, the history of art movement, and social responses, this essay will purposely discuss the main relationship between minimalism and pop art. As part of the main discussion, similarities and differences between minimalism and pop art will be identified followed by determining the link that creates connection between these two types of art movements. In relation to American art and culture as well as the whole â€Å"anti-abstract expressionism†, the works of pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg and minimalism artists such as Frank Stella and Donald Judd will be considered in this study. Depending on iconography, colours, forms, lines, shape, texture and other similar factors, at least one (1) work example coming from each of these four artists will be compared and contrast to show antithetical connections, similarities, and differences between minimalism and pop art. Both the minimalism and pop art movement was at its peak sometime in 1960s , . In line with this, one of the most obvious similarities between the minimalism and pop art group of artists is that both movements.

Newspaper article that is relevant to the economics concepts Essay

Newspaper article that is relevant to the economics concepts - Essay Example Together with other legislators they want this figure to rise to $10.10 per hour. It is argued by other economists that this will interfere with the market since the new wages will not be in line with the market demand and supply forces that are outlined in the diagram below (Jekin, 2001). According to this diagram, the supply and demand of commodities have a direct impact on the price of the commodity. In this case, the goods in question will be the labor. In regards to the law of demand, when there is an increased supply of a commodity the demand for the product is expected to drop. The demand for products is highest when the supply of a given product is quite low. In this situation, people are willing to pay an extra amount so as to get the product since it is not readily available. Therefore the low rates of minimum wage can be attributed to the fact that there are many laborers who are ready and willing to work at that wage and therefore the industries should be left to decide the minimum wage (Gale, 2009). However, when the president increases the minimum wage, there will be two effects. One of which is that industries will not be able to pay people the expected amount and therefore will have to lay off workers. On the other hand, the increase in the minimum wage is likely to attract more people to these jobs. Both of these instances will result to an increase in the supply of labor. According to the law of supply, when the supply is high, the demand is low and this pushes the price of the service much lower so as to increase uptake. However, when the demand and the supply curves cross is where there is an equilibrium point (Jekin, 2001). As illustrated in the diagram above, an increase in the minimum wage is likely to result in a shift in the labor supply curve. A shift in the labor curve results to an increase in workers in the market. This increase in the amount of laborers will lead to a decrease in the

Virtual Organizations and Simulation Exercises Needs Document Assignment

Virtual Organizations and Simulation Exercises Needs Document - Assignment Example Those can be divided into three separate categories, based on their content and purpose: The ordering process functions, the website functions and the decision making functions. The ordering functions of the system must provide the full flow of a customer order from the time it is requested by the customer to the sales person, until the final bill issuance. The sales person must be able to register the order of the customer, and pass it via the shop’s wireless network to the order preparation room. Order preparation personnel will receive the order and start preparing all items included in it. At the same time items will inform an items inventory database which has to be maintained. Sales person in charge of the order must be informed with a message when the order is ready in order to fetch it and deliver it to the customer. In that way no time will be missed at all as the sales person can be busy with many orders in parallel. At the time when the customer asks for the bill, s ales person sends a message to the central computer system. The receipt is automatically printed and is delivered to the customer, so that the waiting time for bill issuance is minimal. The items inventory database will keep statistics about the item preferences of the customers per area and/or customer group and help in decision making. In that way, important conclusions will be possible to be drawn by the analysis of the items data by the firm managers, that will help in the decision making process. For instance, the items information can be aggregated by shop location, by season, by customer target group and age, leading to very important marketing decisions. In addition, inventory database will be used for on-time replenishment of the items from the external wholesale vendors of the firm. (Inventory control). In that way, the continuous replenishment of all the items at the shop will be guaranteed, and the possibility of items shortage that could cause customer complaints will b e minimized. The website application of the restaurant (www.krudlerfinefoods.com) must display information such as shops location, chef and staff profile, and items menu. A dynamic update of the content must be possible to be made at any time by shop manager (to add the menu of the day, special offers etc). The customer must be able to pre-order specific items so that they are ready when he arrives at the shop. In addition the system must provide to the customer an estimation of the time that will take from the moment that he enters the shop until he is served, based on the day and time of the order, and on statistical data that will be maintained by shop manager. (e.g. time to serve could vary from 5 minutes on a regular day to 20 minutes on weekends). Customers should be able to contact the shop for leaving suggestions, feedback or any complaints. Application must support automatic and custom message sending to customers (Happy birthday, season’s greetings, promotions, even ts etc). Use Cases The Use cases of the above functional requirements are presented below. Use case: Submit order Customer orders, sales person inserts the order in system, order is sent to preparation room, preparation room employee receives and prepares order, order items inventory is reduced. Use case: Order delivery and payment Preparation room employee sends message that order is ready, sales person receives message, sales

Advanced Bioinformatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advanced Bioinformatics - Essay Example Bioinformatics is mainly directed on facilitation of ideas and obtained data. Biological research turns into an interesting and not a really hard task, when computer deals with information processing. These days bioinformatics is focused on answering the following questions: a question about new genes, protein functioning, finding the difference between healthy cell genes and cancer cells genes etc. As far as we can see, these global biological issues are solved from a quite different perspective. Bioinformatics reconsiders previous approaches and methods used in biology, and make them more advanced and modern, while there is a combination with computer science and information techniques. There are some exact benefits of bioinformatics in the face of the coming age. For example, various diseases are treated in an innovative way, protein function is considered in details nowadays, innovative drugs and medicine are on the way to discovery, microarrays are applied for diagnosis, genetically modified foods occupy its niche in the modern market and so on. All these benefits and innovative visions and approaches are mediated by means of bioinformatics. It is relevant to look beyond the initial objective of bioinformatics, which was focused on biological data analysis only. Nowadays this scientific field includes many other studies, such as genomics, gene expression studies, structural biology, etc. (Luscombe, p. 356) Biological processes should be processed by means of computation and this can be explained in the following way: the experiments focused on design of biological data or application of innovative technology in the field of data mining are mediated and facilitated by computational methods and approaches for sure (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2004) . Drug discovery is the issue of crucial importance nowadays. The leading pharmaceutical companies are operating on

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

English - Essay Example Manalansan IV. He is an Anthropologist specializing in Asian American Studies, Latin American, and Caribbean studies, at the University of Illinois. He is also an author, who has written on topics such as gender, and food. One of his works on food is the â€Å"Prairescapes: Mapping food, loss, and longing.† In this article, Manalansan also depicts food as playing different roles from that of human survival. In this paper, I will use these two works to enforce food as a powerful social tool, with special social functions. Many people overlook the other functions of food due to lack of knowledge. Charles Johnson’s â€Å"Dr. King’s Refrigerator,† is a fictional story of one Martin Luther King, Jr. He is busy looking for a theme for his Sunday sermon when he suddenly feels hungry and heads to his refrigerator for a snack. He finds food that prepared by his wife for her visitors the next morning. Seeing a variety of food, King suddenly starts making all sorts o f connections with this food. The foods are from different world regions, and he is fascinated at how this food connected him to these world regions. The connection he feels is a pure interaction of Buddhism in the ideals of the Baptists. Charles Johnson writes, â€Å"Then he slowly put the apple down, feeling not so much hunger now as a profound indebtedness and thanksgiving- to everyone and everything in Creation† (Johnson 3). This also portrays Charles Johnson’s writing style as unique. He leaves the readers with pictures in the mind. The quote also brings out the fusion of religions, in this case, Buddhism and Baptist. The appreciation of nature and the belief that nature indirectly joins humans is a Buddhism notion that is felt by a Baptist preacher. Charles John has widely employed symbolism to point out the other roles that food plays, He uses food to symbolize the cultures and the people from where they were grown. Johnson writes, â€Å"All of human culture, h istory, and civilization laid unscrolled at his feet, and he had only to step into his kitchen to discover it. He looked around the disheveled room, and he saw in each succulent fruit, each slice of bread, and each grain of rice a fragile, inescapable network of mutuality in which all earthly creatures were codependent, integrated, and tied in a single garment of destiny† (Johnson 3). Here, Johnson tries to emphasize that people should adopt a new way of perceiving at nature as human beings connect through nature. One does not have to be physically present in France in order to experience their culture. We can experience other people’s cultures, innovations, and civilization, by simply owning their products and eating their food. This shows that human beings are closer to each other than they think. Johnson’s work has allowed for philosophy and literature to integrate. His passages are philosophical as well as epistemological. He makes readers curious and to wond er what the story drives to. He infuses his philosophical ideas in the well-developed characters. He incorporates reality with fantasy, under the guidance of philosophy. For instance, he argues,â€Å"When we get up in the morning, we go into the bathroom where we reach for a sponge provided for us by a Pacific Islander. We reach for soap created by a Frenchman. The towel is provided by a Turk. Before we leave for our jobs, we are beholden to more than half the world†

Lack of Security Essay Example for Free

Lack of Security Essay The Net has a very little security of information embedded and the companies using the Net are subjected to the risk of disclosing large proprietary information without their knowledge. Since the Net was originally designed for a free flow of communication there was no provision for any regulation or security at the time the idea of internet was conceived and put to use. But with the increased use of internet for marketing as well as for advertising there are lot of chances that the copyrights and other property rights are infringed by many computer hackers and pranksters. With the number of people accessing and using the net the chances of anyone go into the Net and meddle with the information and other contents though manipulation by using pirated software and other measures. Even though there are some basic measures that can be used to safeguard the information and to prevent the practice of manipulating such information they are considered as inadequate considering the volume of information that are being fed into the Net every hour. The other disturbing factor is that it is possible for unauthorized users to get into the internal computer systems of the systems and hack away any classified information about the company and its products/services. There is the danger of the copyright protection also put to jeopardy â€Å"when the creation of intellectual property and the upload of a host of information, transmission, access and use of content† is attempted. (Business Europe, 1995) For instance the issue of computer hackers meddling with the internal computer system had costed millions of dollars of business apart from losing the customers for Sheraton Hotels when the hackers booked every room in the hotel chain worldwide. (Seal, 1995) Another serious threat posed by the hackers is their ability to access the customers’ personal information like addresses and credit card numbers and misuse them. This menace had necessitated many software and high tech companies to invest millions of dollars to arrive at solutions to make the interactive shopping on the internet fully secured. ‘Firewall’ is one of such mechanisms that allow the genuine customers to do their shopping online but prevents the hackers from creating any problems. Firewall is one of the combinations of ‘security algorithms and router communication protocols’ that are put to use for the prevention of the tapping by the outsiders into the databases and websites of various corporate entities. (Sales and Marketing Management, 1995) Firewall acts as a buffer in between the internal networks and larger external networks. It is the usual practice of all large companies that advertise on the internet to have firewall in place to protect their internal database and other networks. (Pugh 1995) Encryption is another method used to provide security to the marketing through internet. Encryption can be described as the scrambling of digits and a coding that can be deciphered by the intended receiver of the information who will be able to retrieve the required information. ‘Mosaic’ is one of such encryption programs adopted by the Netscape Corporation for its software and is first of its kind. However even this program is not considered 100 percent safe with its own shortcomings. (Computer World 1994) Hence the companies are forewarned to protect themselves as well as their products and services against the infringement by hackers and other illegitimate users of the internet. It is crucially important that a well designed copyright warning notice appears on every screen, logos and slogans and the companies should also ensure that all of them are registered with the appropriate authorities to ensure protection. Even though it is easier and less expensive for the companies to advertise through Net, it requires a large investment for the customers to access and browse through the Net. If the customers want to have a continuous access to the Net it becomes important that they own a personal computer with appropriate internet connectivity. It involves high cost for the common users. The customers sometimes find it difficult to access the required information due to the fact that most of the modems – the equipment to provide the internet connectivity – are slow and do not allow the customers to use the Net efficiently. Also with the advancement in the technology relating to the visual media enables the companies to make their advertisement with advanced multimedia features. This requires the capacity and compatibility from the computer hardware and hence making the marketing proposals by internet beyond the reach of the common man. Since the marketing through the internet reaches all the age groups it becomes difficult for the managers to control the advertisements effectively. It may be noted that at least 50 percent of the users of the Net is below the age of 25 and the balance above 25 and the advertisements reach all of them invariably. Hence targeting a certain age group becomes difficult. Unlike the conventional methods used for advertising in the magazines and other print media or television the advertisement through internet cannot be measured precisely to aim a certain age group or class of customers. Since the nature of the Net is such that it is so broad and beyond comprehension it is difficult for the companies to really assess whom to target and how to advertise to reach the targeted audience. Further since there are a number of resources in the internet it is not possible for the users to see the advertisement for a certain product or the advertisements from a particular company unless they are prompted to do so. This necessitates a company to still use the conventional methods of advertising which have proved to be more proactive in addition to advertising through the Net. Applying the above advantages and disadvantages of marketing through internet in our instant study of the marketing of the Indian Punjabi music it can be inferred that though the advantages of internet marketing are helpful in furthering the sales of the music products, the disadvantages like file sharing and P2P swapping of music files act to the detriment of the sales growth. But the influence of internet is much large that the advantages resulting from the sales to a wider customer base over rules the disadvantages. This makes the record companies use more and more of the internet as a media of marketing to improve the sales of their products.

Importance of Prayer Essay Example for Free

Importance of Prayer Essay An uncontrolled mind cannot progress in spiritual path unless it discovers the Self. The discovery of the Self is possible by self-control achieved through the withdrawal of sense organs from their respective objects. Yoga can be attained by striving hard to utilize the conserved energies for the Divine purposes. Yoga is the science of religion. Meditation is said to be the best among all the paths of spirituality. Meditation is a deliberate act by which the seeker strives to keep his thoughts channelized into one pre-determined line of thinking by not allowing the mind to entertain any other thoughts. It is therefore an attempt to fix the mind upon some object of contemplation. The Bhagavad Gita elucidates meditation as the final gateway to Self-realization. Renunciation is not giving up enjoyments, abandoning one’s duties and escaping to a safe sanctuary. It is this misunderstanding that has turned away genuine seekers and prevented them from accessing the benefits of renunciation. The Yogi whose mind is harmonized will see the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self. He never becomes separate from The Lord nor does The Lord become separated from him. The perfected saint acts as an instrument in the hands of God. The mind must be made to rest in God. When the mind is restrained by the practice of meditation, it realizes the Self within. It experiences such Bliss as if there is nothing else in the three worlds worth possessing. When the mind is directed towards God, with a comprehensive understanding, ones perception, attitude and desires for the world change automatically. On realizing the Self even the taste for the sense-objects ceases. Thus by experiencing the God-consciousness through continuous meditation one perceives the Unity in Diversity when all the desires come to an end. Arjuna, like us, is afraid of leaving the safe confines of his present existence to discover the unknown realm of the Infinite. He asks Krishna what would be the fate of those who commit themselves to a spiritual life but die before realization. Krishna gives a fitting reply to reveal one of the most insightful laws of life. He says, â€Å"One who is righteous will never come to grief – either now or in the future. His efforts will not go in vain. He will carry forward the credits to his future life†. Hence Live ND PRACTISE as the Gita Teaches us to Live Meditationneeds to be practiced diligently and devotedly. The essential prerequisite is a calm mind. A mind burdened with desires and attachments is unable to take off into subtler realms of concentration and meditation. Yoga brings about a disciplined mind. This can be brought about by curtailing the outgoing tendencies of the mind. It leads to bliss. Once the state of bliss is reached, all other worldly matters lose their influence over the body and mind. Such a man will feel his oneness with God. He will experience unity in diversity. Any effort towards meditation is not wasted. Raise yourself by yourself. Know what meditation is and practice it regularly. Be moderate in everything you do.

Movement from Byzantine Period to Early Renaissance Style

Movement from Byzantine Period to Early Renaissance Style The transition from the Byzantine period to the early Renaissance as seen through the works of Duccio Contents (Jump to) Abstract Introduction Literature Review Chapter One:   Madonna of the Franciscans and The Rucellai Madonna Chapter Two:   Madonna and Child and Maestà  , Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography Abstract The purpose of this study is to assess the rationale for accepting the notion that the works of the Italian painter Duccio di Buoninsegna have made a significant impact on the way in which the transition from Byzantine to Renaissance styles can be determined. The dissertation focuses its attention in particular on the period in the region between 1270 to 1311 in which time Duccio was commissioned to paint a number of significant and high profile works; namely Madonna of the Franciscans, The Rucellai Madonna, Madonna and Child and Maestà  . Using these four masterpieces as the basis for analyzing their use of form, composition and the subtle influences of a much more realistic and humanistic quality. This will be compared to Duccio’s innovative relationship with the Renaissance period in contradiction to the somewhat basic style more associated with the Byzantine era that he was working in. Introduction It is important perhaps to begin with an overall definition of what is meant by Byzantine and Renaissance painting in order to put the context of where the artist Duccio resides in this discussion. The Byzantine art movement was active from the period spanning the 5th century AD to 1453 during the time when the Byzantine Empire was the most dominant. The period was centered on the Orthodox Church and featured painted icons, and decorative churches with mosaics and frescoes. With the fall of Constantinople (Istanbul today) to the Turks in 1453, the Byzantine style also ended. This occurred during the European Renaissance era but the influence of Byzantine art remained strong in Russia, and other areas where the Orthodox Church was influential. The Byzantine style essentially grew out of traditional designs involving saints and biblical stories as well as religious symbolic decoration. Figures represented in this period do not have natural forms with human figures depicted as unnaturally long, any emotion portrayed is limited formal and still, and the facial expressions are conventional and one dimensional. The most prominent figures to be painted during this era are representat ions of Christ and the Virgin Mary, the apostles, the saints, Bishops and angels.’ The political structure of the period revolved around the emperor who was believed to be divinely appointed by God. Art played a large role in visualizing his powers with images of gods, goddesses, cherubs, and personifications of virtues’. Most historians believe that the birth of the Renaissance occurred in Florence, Italy during the fifteenth century, but the new movement can be seen to have been growing and developing at least a century before this. Evidence to back this theory up will be presented throughout this paper. In particular the most well known f these painters is Gioto, who is referred to in a number of instances within the body of this text. He introduced an early three dimensional quality to his work; however the perspective was inaccurate and unsophisticated, a little like that of Duccio, with figures in paintings often hovering in space in a shallow depth of field. The Oxford English dictionary definition for Renaissance is The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists ‘ATerm meaning ‘rebirth’ applied to an intellectual and artistic movement that began in Italy in the 14th century, culminated there in the 16th century, and influenced other parts of Europe in a great variety of ways. The notion of a rebirth refers to a revival of the values of the classical world, and the concept was used as early as the 15th century, by Italians who thought they were living at a time when the qualities of ancient art and literature were blossoming anew after centuries of barbarism. In the following century Vasari gave the idea of such a revival a systematically developed form; he thought that art had declined in the Middle Ages, had been set once again on its true path by Giotto, and had risen to its greatest heights in the work of his friend and hero Michelangelo. To modern historians this picture seems much too simplistic, and the Renaissance is seen more as a period of gradual change than as a sudden break with the past. Nevertheless, the inte llectuals of the Renaissance were the first people to conceive a period identity for themselves, and this in itself gives the label certain coherence. Scholars may debate endlessly over the exact interpretation of many aspects of the period, but in the general historical scheme of things, the Renaissance has come to represent the time when ‘Medieval’ turns into ‘Modern’ and the religion-dominated world of the Middle Ages gives way to a culture more concerned with the individual.’ Although both terms have many connotations attached to them and a broad scope of other historical references and intricate philosophies and ideologies; for the purposes of this study they will be referred to in terms of their transcendence from flat, one dimensional religious iconographic paintings to the emergence of a humanistic and realistic portrayal of people, architecture and other living things providing a mathematical approach to composition and a clarity of realism. There is little documented information relating to Duccios life and career. In large part his life can only be reconstructed, taken from the evidence of those works that have been confirmed as his own. The use of a new stylistic approach provides enough evidence to support the rationale that he was painting in accordance with very early Renaissance tendancies.Duccio is first mentioned in 1278, when the treasurer of the commune of Siena commissioned him to decorate 12 strongboxes for documents. The fact that he was officially self-employed as a painter demonstrates that he was a mature and independent artist quite early on. (Jannella, 1991) In 1280 Duccio was fined the considerable sum of 100 lire by the commune of Siena for an unspecified case of misconduct. The number of fines documented throughout Duccio’s life suggests that he was a restless and tempestuous character. Three predominant shifts took place during the Middle Ages which would drastically change the course of Western Civilization. These included: The movement of cultural leadership from the Mediterranean to France, Germany and the British Isles. Paganism and barbarism was replaced by a new found appreciation of Christianity The ideology of the here and now moved to thinking about the hereafter. Consequently the body was seen as not so much beautiful but as corrupt With the new emphasis on religion, nudes were forbidden. Medieval artists were concerned with the soul and instructing new believers in the church. Art then became somewhat of a servant to the church. Medieval Art consisted of three styles; Byzantine, Ranesque and Gothic. Duccio’s work is often categorised as Byzantine or Gothic. The central tradition of Byzantine Art was located at the heart of Constantinople. The prevailing view of Byzantine Art is that it was highly true to nature, although contemporary academics criticise the aesthetic value of it, with flat surfaces and little realism, its ‘reverse perspective radiating composition disregard for scale and depth etc’. And that the main purpose of artistic expression was for images to serve and elevate people’s minds to immaterial realities. Although Byzantine Art is considered more Abstract than realistic. During the early 1400’s the World began to appreciate a broader alternative to artistic elements and influences. From Florence in Italy the new cultural appreciation spread to Rome and Venice and after 1500 throughout the whole of Europe. This new Renaissance can be attributed to the increased awareness and interest in the art and literature of Greece and Rome – the natural world, realism and the science of the human body. Anatomy was studied and reflected in the way in which artists started to paint people. The attributes of the natural world, realism and the science of the human body were now being contemplated. In addition the Protestant Reformation also decreased the emphasis on how religion and the church were perceived. Before the Renaissance and Reformation, pious images were treated not as ‘art’ so much, but as objects of worship which possessed the physical presence of the Holy. During this period the concept of Perspective was recognised and changed the whole visual interpretation of art. The illusion of creating depth on a flat surface was discovered and objects could be seen to be receding in the distance. Even the materials changed from wooden panels and fresco plasterwork to stretched canvases. By the end of the 13century a birth of technically skilled painting emerged and one of those pioneers was Duccio who managed to break down the rigid Byzantine style, replacing it with a softer and more lifelike form. One doctrine cited in this paper is that of the Sienese School. To briefly explain The Sienese School of painting flourished in Siena in Italy Siena, most documented between the 13th and 15th centuries. For a time including Duccio this rivaled work coming out of Florence. Although it is true to mention that it was more conservative and is more frequently associated with Gothic Art. Its most important members include Duccio, his pupil Simone Martini, the Lorezetti brothers, Domenico, Taddeo di Bartolo and Matteo di Giovanni, amongst lesser known others. . In Owen’s The Florentine and Sienese Renaissance: A monopsonistic explanation we are reminded that Historians have long been fascinated by the origins of the Renaissance and that ‘For art historians this fascination has appeared in investigations of the prominence of Florence in artistic development or comparisons of Florentine, Venetian, and Northern artistic Renaissance movements. It considers the question of how the arts flourished so creatively in Florence rather than anywhere else. Declaring that ‘Florentine artists have dominated the course of artistic development for 300 years in a straight line from Giotto to Michelangelo’. It then begins to address the obvious influence which is attached to other European cities, most notably Siena. A city located less than forty miles from Florence which developed its own painting tradition and produced the Siena School. It can be argued that this school despite being innovative and receiving such early practitione rs of Renaissance influence like Duccio it bypassed mainstream artistic developments that were forming in other cities such as Florence. One scholar notes ‘.had this Sienese school not arisen we should have seen no  difference in the progress of Western painting.It is simply that Sienese painting forms, as it were, an island.’ The peak of Renaissance Art is apparent in the works of masters such as Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Duccio di Buoninsegna is often referred to as the Italian precursor to this Renaissance style. Born in Siena round 1255 Duccio was the founder of the Sienese school of painting. All of his work is religious and characterized by skillful composition, a decorative quality similar to mosaic work and most importantly bearing a much more emotional tone than that of the traditional Byzantine model. As one of the most important painters of the early 14th century, Duccio introduced a dynamic move away from the Byzantine style into early Italian Renaissance painting. Duccio was known for dynamic new altarpiece designs, a striking use of landscape and colour, and unusual expressive relationships between the figures in his paintings. Duccio painted many pictures for the city of Sienna and one for the church of Santa Trinita in Florence. He also executed various works for a number of churches in Pisa, Lucca and Pistorla. These provided him with great renown and made him a considerably wealthy man. The first work ascribed to Duccio is the Madonna with the Three Franciscans. Despite its damaged condition today it still demonstrates all the traditional features of the Byzantine period, but there is a definite softness and more defined features in the gestures of the Mother and Child. The Madonna Enthroned (Rucellai Madonna) On first glance epitomizes many aspects of Byzantine painting, but on closer investigation the three dimensional qualities not found in iconography are very evident. The faces possess contours, shadow and light and a hint of personality. In particular Mary’s hand is more natural looking and the two pairs of bare feet on the right and left sides are also fleshed out and real looking. They do not sport the same sized shoes. These subtleties and more naturalistic, fluid lines are what provide the evidence to support Duccio’s work to be categorised in terms of a painter functioning within a style that incorporates the features of both Byzantine and Renaissance characteristics. This paper will present an overview of the discussions that seek to demonstrate this argument by way of illustration using four of his most significant works Madonna of the Franciscans, The Rucellai Madonna and the later Madonna and Child and Maestà  . The Literature Review following on from this Introduction presents an overall and comprehensive approach to the way in which various publications, books, articles, journals and internet references were incorporated into this dissertation. The subsequent chapters detail the main body of the text whilst demonstrating the findings and conclusions determined from the research, together with a complete Bibliography of the references employed. Literature Review In response to the challenges of researching and presenting aspects of Duccio’s work there was a need to adopt a number of methods and approaches to this study. He is not featured amongst the most popular of artists and although he receives a following of academics and interested students Duccio does not necessarily receive the deserved recognition for his inspirational insight and wealth of artistic material generated over a small space of time. Despite Duccio Buooninsegna not being the most well known of artists certain information is not limited due to the fact that for some reason Duccio was a well documented character during his lifetime. Biographical text books relating specifically to the painter and his working life include the highly informative Duccio (Masters of Italian Art Series) by Andrea Weber. The large, sumptuously reproduced images compensate for the minimal amount of text. it provides a synopsis of Duccios years, of which little is written about with regard to his private life. It documents his success as an artist in Siena and the various commissions he received. The book brings together the fragments of his Maesta and reconstructs it using a montage of photographs. Each piece of the painting is analysed and written about, the most famous of which is the Rucellai Madonna, now residing in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and is also explored in more depth in this research. This is a favourable book for those people who like iconic art and the work of early Italian masters. Duccio Di Buoninsegna by Cecilia Jannella is a good user friendly paperback reference book.with over 100 color reproductions. It makes reference to the man in relation to documentation that exists regarding his financial affairs and his spontaneous spending sprees. It presumes that he was born between 1255 and 1260, and died in late 1318 or in the early part of 1319. It is well written and extensively researched A reasonable potted source of chronological information also exists online. The Art encyclopedia website accessed from http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists provides other useful links to art galleries and different reference sites specific to Duccio. Sourcing texts that refer specifically to his work also exist. The most useful and comprehensive being Duccio: The Maesta By Luciano Bellosi. This book combines all the elements of this famous altar piece using a series of glossy colour plates that enlarge details to actual size. We see that the central panel depicts the Madonna enthroned surrounded by saints and angels, with the back showing scenes relating to the Passion. Other panels from the Maesta portray the Apostles and the Gospel story The informative text, by a well respected Italian art historian, discusses the social and historical context of Duccios commission, as well as the artists well versed relationship with his cotemporary’s Cimabue and Giotto, and the influence of their work on Sienese and Italian painting. In order to gain an appreciation of Renaissance techniques in comparison to the Byzantine era Color and Meaning: Practice and Theory in Renaissance Painting by Marcia B. Hall is an excellent approach guiding the reader on the subject of How Renaissance painters used colour to fuse their pictures, create symbolism and achieve the emotional expressiveness so lacking in Byzantine Art. Simplistic and explanatory it focuses on 20 paintings providing an insight into Leonardos naturalistic use of shadow in the Mona Lisa and the way in which Michelangelos flesh toned hues miraculously link the figures in the Sistine Chapel. It also provides an insight into Titians penchant for bright, colours in order to achieve movement. The writer allows us to appreciate Hall the limited resources so many of these artists had to hand, which makes their work even greater in its context. This text provides a traditional analysis whilst demonstrating a deeper scientific approach from the angle of the Conserva tion laboratory. The writer provides an insightful appreciation of the type of techniques incorporated between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. It explains how important the use of colour, light and shade is on achieving realism through art which has helped with the overall comprehension of works that have leapt from the Byzantine tradition onwards. Other places where Duccio is referenced are by way of an abundance of anthologies. In particular Artists of the Middle Ages By Leslie Ross. The identity of artists is examined in the context of their relationship to some of the most influential works of Art in Medieval history. However as with most books on this subject the artists themselves lose a great deal in translation, as so little information exists regarding their lives. Ross investigates the Medieval Art world in terms of architecture, iconography, metalwork, and sculpture, whilst summarizing the lives and work of these leading artists. What is gained from reading this book is a factual idea of how an artist’s life is led, combined with a useful list of reference material as to how the work was collated. Readers are also provided with an insight into the practices and traditions of medieval art and the role those traditions played in medieval society. A helpful timeline and full index gives scholars or interested students of Art History a breakdown of the research tools that are necessary for finding more information in this field. In terms of a definitive study providing a critical analysis that connects and provides evidence for Duccio to be heralded as a founding father of Renaissance art, no specific text appears to exist, although many hint to this relationship and subtlety found throughout his work. A re-examination of long established beliefs about the early renaissance painters can be found in Painting in the Age of Giotto: A Historical Re-Evaluation By Hayden B. J. Maginnis, Andrew Ladis The study is the first to discuss the theories and observations of the sixteenth century art historian Giorgio Vasari in any detail. The writers argue the origins of modern views regarding the period and the ongoing critical strategies and conventions that exist in contrast to historical reality. In an investigation of the new art of the fourteenth century, Maginnis puts forward the argument that not only was the visual concept of naturalism remarkably short-lived but that that its main pioneers were the painters of Siena and not the painters of Florence. In particular the detailed analysis of Giotto the Florentine painter and architect’s work demonstrates that his art belonged to a different kind of trend. Through a re-examination of the historical and art-historical evidence related to painting immediately after the plague of 1348 the writers determine the existence of a new interpretation of painting by the mid-century. Iconography, Byzantine and religious art prior to the Renaissance are discussed in detail in Hans Belting, Edmund Jephcott’s Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image Before the Era of Art. This book provides an overview of the concept of Byzantine Art and its true definition. That Byzantine Art was not necessarily an art form, but much more to do with worship and the recognition of all that is Holy. Hans Belting traces the long history of the sacral image and its changing role in European culture; combined with the beliefs, superstitions and hopes, that exist in relation to people’s response and understanding of sacred images. It is an interesting source of facts relating to European Christians and their churches. Not so relevant to the immediate content of this research, yet providing significant background to appreciating a better understanding of Byzantine Art. There is a chapter on Early Renaissance in Horst Janson and Anthony Janson’s History of Art. And an overview of Duccio from the perspective of evidence that supports his early Renassance tendencies. Janson writes ‘In Duccio’s hands the Greek manner has become unfrozen. The rigid, angular draperies have given way to an undulating softness†¦The bodies, faces and hands are beginning to swell with three dimensional life.’ This is a well established classic hand book of Art History with Extensive captions provided by twentieth-century art historians speaking about specific pieces of art featured throughout. Janson has also rearranged early Renaissance art according to genre rather than in terms of any specific time sequence. Ultimately this paper is too trying to demonstrate a grounded positioning of the work of Duccio for inclusion within the Early Renaissance which does not necessarily need to be defined in terms of geographical location or specific timeframe. Sienese Painting: From Duccio to the Birth of the Baroque by Giulietta Chelazzi Dini is a volume tracing the correlation between the Sienese painters namely Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers and the dawn of Renaissance painting. It also extends to include painters right up until 1700 and charts the success of lesser known artists such as Rutilio Manetti, whose style changed radically when exposed to the work of Caravaggio. The last chapters focus on Baroque paintings but the focus for the narrative is principally early Sienese masters. It documents the struggle towards naturalism. It is organized chronologically, with well documented texts on each period and work. Additional reading from a chronological perspective includes Duccio di Buoninsegna by Curt H. Weigelt which is an early novel and the first attested biography of the painter written in German in 1911, R.S. Van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, vol. 2 published in 1924. This contains a chapter on Duccio published in English but providing little scope for original ideas. Duccio di Buoninsegna (1961) is an interpretation, in Italian, of the work of Duccio and boasts a number of colour reproductions of his established works Duccio (1951) by Brandi, is an Italian language text that comprehensively researches the works of Duccio from the perspective of more modern consideration. Later works in English include John White, Duccio: Tuscan Art and the Medieval Workshop (1979); James H. Stubblebine, Duccio di Buoninsegna and His School (1979); Cecilia Jannella, Duccio di Buoninsegna (1991), with many colour illustrations of his work; Andrea Weber, Duccio di Buoninsegna, About 1255–1319 (1997). The Documents and Early Sources (2000), ed. by Hayden B.J. Maginnis is one of the most modern approaches to Duccio’s work. It offers a series of research tools with which to take further research forward. Chapter One: Madonna of the Franciscans and The Rucellai Madonna Madonna of the Franciscans is a small Tempera on wood, Tempera being a technique using powdered pigments mixed with egg yolk and water. It is chronologically the first work ascribed to Duccio in the Academy of Siena. Despite its damaged condition it shows many of the traditional features of the Byzantine era , but the formal stiffness of the ancient Hodegetria (Greek iconography) type has been softened to produce the effect of a more kindly and human depiction. Yet the composition is still dignified apparent though the gestures of Mother and Child toward the kneeling figures. The overall design has been softened with its characters flowing and lucid. The picture portrays the enthroned Madonna of the protective mantle. A type derived from Byzantine Art. The three Franciscans kneeling at the virgin’s feet demonstrate imploring gestures and intense emotional expressions. This is a cult Byzantine image, yet one that relays far more expression than typical to the style. Particularly as her head is looking out of the picture at the viewer. Her head remains the central focal point of the composition, whilst at the same time maintaining a calm, concentrated devotion. The style of artistic representation captivates the audience and pulls the viewer into its world. There are fine undulating gold lines at the hem of the Madonna’s mantle, which is traditional to that applied to old early paintings. But as a rule Duccio always refrained from covering garments entirely in gold. By painting the hems and seams only in gold this makes elements of the painting stand out further and encourages an appearance of sumptuousness. In Duccio’s time the colour that most represented glamour was the blue which was obtained from the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli. This was far more expensive than gold and used frequently in painting to highlight the rich ornate quality of the work. So by avoiding its use Duccio is in fact contradicting his images. Making them at once more emphasized and yet down playing them at the same time. And is in direct contrast to the Byzantine opulent representations Duccio responds again to the contemporary desire for the modernisation of Art by adapting to the French artistic model in this painting with the inclusion of French gothic motifs in their pure form on individual standing figures. This blatant clear French derivation and the measured breadth of contour, the curving of the robes hem and the smooth masses of colour make up part of a wider spatial dimension. Here the Gothic preference for linearity and flowing lines reaches its climax. This consequently encourages a pervading sense of animation and movement through expression. Duccio’s Madonna of the Franciscans echoes the compositions developed in Armenia and Cyprus amongst Crusader artists. It can also be identified in terms of its unique composition to being an early precursor of the Renaissance master Piero della Francesca’s triptych depicting the Madonna della Misericordia.  Where the virgin is drawn holding back the edge of her robe the better to receive and protect the three kneeling friars. The elaborate combination of echoes from the Italian mosaic painter and Duccio’s Florentine contemporary Cimabue alongside the added softness of Duccios own unique personal touch, inspires elements of the new artistic language of the Renaissance. The features of the beseeching friars and the throne which represents a simple wooden seat placed at an angle to create an effect of perspective, reflects the teaching of Cimabue, who tutored the controversial artists Giotto. Controversial in terms of his professional association with Duccio and the centuries of scholarly rivalry which has evolved in relation to authenticating their works. The unusual posture of the Childs legs is again out of context and repeats the gestures of his early Madonna of Buonconvento and the Rucellai Madonna.   When trying to understand Duccio’s style better his Madonna Enthroned, also known as the Rucellai Madonna is one of the best examples. The Rucellai Madonna was commissioned on April 15, 1285, by the Confraternity of the Laudesi of S. Maria Novella in Florence. This contract was discovered in the 18th century and led to the correction of the early biographer Giorgio Vasari’s attribution of the Rucellai Madonna to that of Cimabue. Nonetheless the proven documentary evidence and the obvious difference in style between the Rucellai Madonna and Cimabue’s other paintings still lead some academics to legitimise the painting as being that of Cimabue’s. There are also others who are reluctant to think either responsible due to the distinctive style and attribute the work to an unknown third artist the general consensus is that the painting belongs to Duccio. There is nothing in the style of the Rucellai Madonna that makes its attribution to Duccio implausible. This fact plus the documentation relating to the contract of 1285 certainly makes such an attribution acceptable. In stylistic terms, the Rucellai Madonna remains fundamentally Byzantine in many ways. But demonstrates a use of colour uncommon in the late 13th century. For example the dress of the six angels illustrates an abandonment of symmetry and reveals both the deep colors of the more traditional Byzantine period teamed with pastel silvery lilacs, pinks, and light blues, giving the painting a softer and decorative appearance. This decorativeness is exaggerated by the fluid gold lines that trace the hem and opening of the Virgin’s mantle. The Rucellai Madonna is so refined that it excels as an example of more advanced artistic thought. Delicate hues make up the formation of the throne and the shimmering cloth of honor behind the virgin. The gold hem of the

Looking Through Anothers Eyes :: Personal Narrative Writing

Looking Through Another's Eyes As we adjusted our binoculars before walking on the Anhinga Trail, I wondered if we would actually get to see anything exciting with our binoculars. Unfortunately, as the professor tried to help me adjust mine, we discovered that the new binoculars I had just purchased had double vision. Disappointed, I raised my hopes even higher that we would see something up close that we would not necessarily need the binoculars for. Headed down the path, we saw an Anhinga and a few other birds that stayed long enough for me to quickly borrow a friend’s binoculars. Not far down the path from seeing the Anhinga, all of us quickly glanced over to the right in the bushes where we saw something move. One of our professors walked over to the bushes, bent over, and picked up a snake with his bare hands. It was a harmless snake, a Black Racer, but the capture of the snake still shocked us all. The professor calmly picked up the snake and began talking about it. At that moment, we were all excited that we had our very own Steve Erwin. I was excited that I was able to see something without needing a pair of binoculars. As our professor continued displaying the snake and trying to keep it from moving, the snake reached up and latched onto his finger for about five seconds until it let go. Our professor, of course, had no reaction as he again calmly waited for the snake to let go of his finger. Just barely breaking the skin, and a little blood, the professor eventually put the snake down as we all watched it slither away into the bushes. At the moment that the snake took hold of our professor’s hand, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through the snake’s tiny brain. Was it â€Å"Geez this guy looks big, maybe if I bite him he will let me go,† or was it â€Å"hmmm, this finger looks awfully tasty; I think I’ll try a bite.† What was the real reason for the snake biting our professor? Was it out of fear, curiousness, or hunger? Considering how small the snake was, most of us would assume that it was afraid and was protecting itself. But how can we be sure? We are not snakes.

A Look into Tailgating :: Personal Narrative Sports Papers

A Look into Tailgating I slouch back in my blue canvas-folding chair. My legs are crossed neatly in front of me, making a sturdy table for my notebook. I positioned myself between two tan RVs they both are decorated in their own special ways. My back was facing the Stone building, which is right on the edge of campus. The RV on my right has a garnet flag hanging on the back window with FSU sewn on in gold letters. The RV to my left chose a white a flag with the Seminole emblem, it was hanging from the over hang. People honk as they pass. Strands of my hair blow softly across my face in the cool breeze, and getting into my eyes occasionally. There are so many questions race through my mind as stare at the crowd in front of me. Every Saturday as I walk by the thousands of parked cars I wonder why they are here. What compels these men and women who have real jobs and live in exciting cities to come back here and tailgate? So I sit amongst them, and try to understand them. They talk and eat all around me. We h ave some camaraderie, but we are different. Maybe because I can't imagine myself in their shoes ten years from now. I don't know anyone around me but they all look familiar. The dad who is dressed in jeans and a garnet pollo shirt stands behind a small Webber grill. He glances up occasionally moving his attention from the cooking meat to watch the miniature TV sitting on the table. His wife is busily at work setting up the assortment of goodies and chatting with the wife of the other RV. Every now and then she peers out from under her gold visor to make sure what the children are doing. The kids, who range from all ages, play football on the one patch of the grass that is unoccupied (which is actually part of a ditch). I watch them as they go about their routine. We have a few things in common. I am also wearing a Garnet shirt. We cheer for the same football team. But there are also so many things that separate us. To begin with, I live Tallahassee. My house is one block from where they set up their RV and portable grills. Every morning I walk past this same spot where we all sit now.

flatland :: essays research papers

"Flatland" is a story of depth, and the lack there of. The tale of A. Square's ventures through Pointland, Lineland and Spaceland ultimately reveal to him the possibilities of the seemingly impossible. In this case, the "impossibilities" are the very existence of other dimensions, or worlds. His guide throughout the journey, a god - like figure who refers to itself as "Sphere", bestows upon A. Square the greatest gift he could hope for, knowledge. It is only after the Sphere forcibly takes A. Square out of his dimension, however, that he is able to shrug off his ignorance and accept the fact that what cannot be, can, and much of what he believed before is wrong. When he sees first hand that a square can have depth simply by lining up a parallel square above it and connecting the vertices with lines he is awestruck by its beauty. A cube now exists, seemingly made out of squares. Where there was but one square before now there are six connected. To A. Square's mindset, this thing of beauty is something he could become if only he could lift up. It gives him hope, for in his world you are ranked without say according to your shape. From the lowest convict shapes to the - not - quite - perfectly - round - but - practically - there priests. When A. Square asks the sphere deity what comes next, what about the fourth dimension, Sphere becomes ve xed and sends A. Square plummeting back to his original world without the necessary knowledge to be effective in spreading the gospel of the third dimension. This is, of course, what leads to the end for A. Square; being locked up in an insane asylum for speaking of what simply cannot be. Adding to the irony is that no matter how hard A. Square tries, it is quite impossible for him to demonstrate it within the two dimensional realm. The knowledge that he thirsted for was his demise. "Flatland" is a book which main purpose is to make the reader think; it raises many questions. Is there a fourth, fifth, sixth, infinite dimensions? Logically, there should be. Just as there is a dimension zero, a dimension one, a second and third dimension, should not there also be a fourth? The Sphere speaks to A. Square of Geometrical Progression 1, 2, 4 and hints that it goes beyond even that (to 8).

Picasso’s Guernica and Tetler’s Reflection Essay

These are both massive pieces of art, ‘Guernica’ being 138 inches by 308 inches and ‘Reflections’ makes up panels 29 and 30 of the Vietnam wall. But their message is massive too  In some ways ‘Guernica’ is the more horrific with its stark black, grey   and white portrayal of nightmarish horrors, so much so, that when an international conference was held in the Prado the participants asked for it to be covered during their stay. It was painted in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in 1937 when German planes were in the service of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Usually referred to as an abstract painting, but figures are depicted   – a dying horse, a desperate woman in a burning house, a soldier with a broken sword, , and the wailing woman on the left holding her dead child and of course the Minataur, a mythical monster. The result must produce horror in all who behold it. Revulsion at what can occur   – at what man can do to man. It is an instantly uncomfortable and according to art author Jesse McDonald ‘a devastating attack on the cruelty and folly of man.’ (McDonald, front flap ‘Pablo Picasso’.) Lee Teter’s work, a memorial to a different war , that of Vietnam, is much more realistic, even though the majority of the figures in the picture are meant to be dead soldiers. It is not at first as uncomfortable as ‘Guernica’, but the longer one looks at it the more one realises there is very little difference. The figure standing in front of the wall was originally dressed in fatigues, but is now depicted as a business man – this was felt to be a truer reflection of life for many veterans. This man has lost comrades in what many felt to be a pointless war that America should not have been involved in. More than that though   – he has survived and carries in himself   the guilt that that involves. The dead are depicted as shadowy figures, one of them is a portrait of Micki Banks who actually lost his life in Vietnam. Picasso’s picture is like an instant snap shot, but Teter’s looks at the long term results, so surprisingly I find the Picasso easier to deal with, because in life people tend to get over problems, but Teter makes me realise that there are some things we cannot and should not forget.

Government Intervention and Internet Regulation Essay

Government Intervention and Internet Regulation Internet is a global network that connects millions of computers together and allows people to communicate and share information with each other in an effective and easy way. It has become the most widely used means of communications of recent times. â€Å"The number of U. S. homes with one or more personal computers increased by 16% (in 1995) to about 38 million households, up from 33 million in 1994 and 25 million in 1993† (Fox 9). Along with that staggering stat, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science has reported that 95% of the public has access to the Internet† (â€Å"Free Essay†). Internet is filled with a lot of information on almost every topic in the world and anyone can access that information anytime he or she wants and most often that information is available for free. The very fact that everything is so easily available over the internet has become a cause of great concern because people can access information that they are not supposed to view. This has given the rise to a great debate over the use internet regulation versus the concept of net neutrality. â€Å"Internet regulation is basically restricting or controlling access to certain aspects or information† (â€Å"Internet Regulation†). The proponents of regulation argue that some form of government intervention is necessary to keep a check on the information people access over the internet because that information might be a source of harm for the society in general. Whereas on the other hand, the proponents of concept of net neutrality state that if a person pays for his internet access, then there should be no restrictions on the content that he can view. Because internet is filled with all sorts of information and anyone can access unsuitable information at anytime, some sort of government intervention is necessary in the form of internet regulation to uphold the morals of the society. There are several ways through which internet can be regulated. Government can make use of the â€Å"state control approach† to â€Å"intervene directly and place technical controls on the content that can be accessed by their citizens† (Darlington). â€Å"A classic case is Saudi Arabia where all of the country’s Internet service providers have to go through a central node where the Saudi authorities block access to sites hosting pornography, those believed to cause religious offence, and web sites containing information on bomb-making† (Darlington). Another form of regulation, â€Å"the self regulation approach† is based on â€Å"voluntary initiatives by the Internet Service Providers (ISP) industry† (Darlington). As per this approach, the ISPs try to control the type of content available to the customers and they keep a check on information being accessed over the internet. â€Å"Classically this is the approach in Britain where there is no written constitution and government has shown no wish to legislate† (Darlington). And perhaps the most commonly used and widely accepted form of regulation is the use of filtering techniques through which access to some parts of the information can be controlled for some particular users. For example, parents can use filters to restrict their children from viewing inappropriate explicit content. One of the arguments for having regulation is that internet can be accessed by anyone. Initially, it was supposed to cater to the needs of the American military establishments. Then its uses spread over to the academic communities and today it can be accessed by any individuals from any country and belonging to any age group. For example, a child can easily view inappropriate content from his bedroom at any time he wants. This should not happen because that material can corrupt the mind of that child and can have some serious negative effects. â€Å"As the speed of the Internet increased dramatically with the development of broadband access in the late 1990s and early 2000s, not only has more of this type of information become more available, but also users have been able to access this information in greater quantity† (â€Å"Internet Legal Definition†). So in such circumstances, â€Å"we must have some procedures for tackling illegal content on the Internet and some mechanisms for allowing end user control of what is accessed on the Internet† (Darlington). â€Å"It is argued that the genesis of the Internet was such that it embraced and fostered a new spirit of freedom, openness and experimentation and that these values must remain an integral feature of the Internet† and if any form of regulation is introduced then the whole essence of the internet will be lost and people would not be able to access the vast resources of information that it has to offer (Darlington). The opponents of regulation also argue that any form of internet regulation is against the individual’s rights to freedom of expression and the concept of net neutrality because in such a scenario a person may not be able to choose the content he wants to view. However, it should be clearly understood that society is greater than a single person and if such rights of freedom cause harm to the values of the society as a whole, then it is perhaps the responsibility of the government to intervene and restrict the rights given to every individual in order to maintain those values. There is offensive content on the internet†, so this justifies the use of internet restrictions (Darlington). Internet is filled with explicit content. There are thousands of websites that contain pornographic materials which is considered inappropriate for minors and mostly this content is available for free, so there is no additional cost of viewing it besides the charges paid to the ISP. â€Å" Also there are some sites which propagate extremist views, often of a racist nature† (Darlington). Though such explicit material is legal to be viewed by an individual of a certain age which in most countries is set at 18, there is no one particular way of making sure that it is not viewed by anyone under this age because individuals can mislead the system and hide correct personal information. So in such a scenario, the most effective way for individuals who have responsibility of the children, like parents and teachers, is to limit the access to such material through the use of filters. These filters allow censorship of inappropriate material using the ratings provided by the websites. However, it should be kept in mind that this censorship technique â€Å"enable adults to control their own access to material so they do not stumble across things (advertising, violence, erotica/pornography, religious or political material etc. ), which offend them† (â€Å"Internet Regulation†). So in a way it is a matter of personal choice and responsibility which gives an individual the power to choose what he views because one can easily change filter settings to control the type of content available to him. Despite all the great uses provided by the internet, it is used by some people for illegal purposes; therefore, the use of regulation is justified because â€Å"a stringent internet regulation can help to curb the innumerable illegal activities over the net† (Manohar). Examples of such criminal activities include â€Å"copyright theft, credit card fraud, financial scams, money laundering, hacking, industrial espionage, cyber terrorism, actual terrorism, bomb making instructions, prostitution, certain forms of gambling, drug use, drug smuggling, suicide assistance, defamatory allegations, cyber stalking† (Darlington). In recent times, people have started to complain about the ever increasing number of spam emails that are sent over the internet. â€Å"The number of spam messages sent increased nearly 300 percent from 2001 to 2002 — from 14,078,511 to 55,683,103, according to e-mail filtering company Brightmail† ( Kornblum). â€Å"Spam refers to submitting the same message to a large group of individuals in an effort to force the message onto people who would otherwise choose not to receive this message† (â€Å"Spam†). In order to ensure that people do not indulge in such criminal activities and the society remains unharmed, the government must intervene to stop any of these activities from taking place by imposing restrictions. Some people argue that the internet is an enormous network which is growing rapidly as time progresses, so it is not possible to regulate the internet. The argument provided here is flawed because the fact that the internet is so large makes regulating it more difficult, but because it is difficult it does not mean that it should not be regulated. Some also argue that because â€Å"internet is different in operation from other communication networks†, so it should not be regulated (Darlington). â€Å"Whereas radio and television is pumped into millions of homes simultaneously (push technology), the Internet is an interactive medium and requires a particular user actively to seek a particular site or application (pull technology)† (Darlington). The very nature of the way in which the end user consumes the internet makes a good argument for having some sort of formal restrictions. In the case of radio and television, there are certain restrictions on the amount of violence and sex that goes through. So even if an individual wants to see something â€Å"special†, there is absolutely no way in which he can do that if nothing such is broadcast at that time, but the case of internet is quite different. A person can view anything, anytime and anywhere he wants. Therefore, regulation acts as a great measure to ensure that a check is maintained over the usage of the internet. Some people even argue that it is not the responsibility of the government to protect the children against the inappropriate content that is available over the internet because it has got other tasks to take care of and instead â€Å"those responsible for them at the time – parents, teachers, guardians, supervisors – should control what they access on the Internet† (Darlington). â€Å"While children and teenagers need a certain amount of privacy, they also need parental involvement and supervision in their daily lives† (â€Å"Free Essay†). One way suggested by these people requires the parents to spend time with their children when they are online so that they can keep a check on what their children are accessing. But this kind of total control can not be exercised by those responsible for children because they can not be present at all times. Furthermore, internet can now easily be accessed on mobile devices so it can be easily misused and in the case of a school where a teacher has to look after a lot of students, it is practically impossible for her to monitor the activities of each student at the same time. So â€Å"while parents and teachers must exercise responsibility, they should be assisted by other approaches including the taking down of sites with criminal content and the filtering of sites with offensive or inappropriate content† (Darlington). The debate over the topic of internet regulation versus the concept of net neutrality has become a great issue these days because of the ever growing increase in the usage of the internet and its implications on the society in general.