Hardware and Software Requirements For an IT system Essay Example for Free

Hardware and Software Requirements For an IT system Essay For this assignment we have to produce a report on the types of hardware and software requirements, and their purposes, for an IT system. In the context of this essay I have decided that bullet point form along with brief descriptions and graphics is the best way to present this assignment. 6 STAGE MODEL Shown above is the six-stage model, showing the processes undertaken by a computer system. Below is what each of my pictures represents: * Mouse: Input Device * The Tower: Central Processing Unit * Monitor: Output Device * Floppy Disk: Backing Store * Head: Main Memory * Telephone: Communications Devices e. g. Internet Input Devices and Techniques Input devices are the means whereby computers can accept data or instructions (Heathcott P M, 2000, p 159) * Keyboard: The keyboard is the most commonly used of all input devices. It can be used for a various number of tasks, form entering programs, to typing documents using a word processor, or entering a persons personal details etc. * Mouse: The mouse and its variants such as the trackball is well known with all PC users. * Scanner: A scanner can be used to scan graphical images and photographs, and software can then be used to edit or touch up the images. Scanners can also be used to read typed or hand-writtten documents and this can then be interpreted by using OCR software, which can then export it to a word processor or data file. Scanners can also be used to input large volumes of data on pre-printed forms such as credit card payments, where the customers account number and amount paid are printed at the bottom of the payment slip. * Web Cam: This transfers images onto the screen. In can be used via the internet for video conferencing or you can even pre-record messages and send them via E-mail. * Bar Code Reader: Bar codes appear on almost everything we buy, whether it is a new CD or a tin of bins. The pattern of thick thin lines represents the 13 digit number underneath the bar code. There are four main pieces of information on a bar code. The first few two or three digits represent in which country the product was registered. The next five digits represent the manufacturers code. The second group of five numbers represents the product and package size. The last digit is a check digit, which is calculated from the other digits in the code and ensures that the barcode is keyed in or read correctly. A very similar process to that used in the ASCII code where the spare digit is used as the parity. A Product Bar Code * Light Pen: A light pen is a device which incorporates a light sensor so that when it is held close to a screen over a character or part of a graphic, the object is detected and can be moved to create or modify graphics. * Microphone: An input devise for sound recording. * OMR (Optical Mark Recognition): An Optical Mark Reader can detect marks made in present positions on a form. The most common example of this is the lottery. It is also widely used for marking, multiple choice exams and market research questionnaires. * OCR (Optical Character Recognition): Light is emitted, bounced back and then received. This is how the OCR reads its characters. The light emitted is in different resolutions depending on the character. OCR is used widely in services such as gas and electricity etc. * MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition): All banks use MICR for processing cheques. Along the bottom of a cheque the banks sort code, customer account number and cheque number are encoded in special characters in magnetic ink. The amount of the cheque is encoded in magnetic ink when it is handed in at the bank. The cheques can then be processed by MICR devices that read, sort and store the data on disk. MICR has several advantages for processing cheques: 1. It is hard to forge the characters 2. The characters can be read even if the cheque is crumpled, dirty or smudged 3. The characters are readable by humans, unlike bar codes The disadvantage of MICR though is the expense. This is why you dont find many other examples of it being used. * Swipe Cards: Swipe cards are operated by using a magnetic strip. They are used in credit cards, debit cards, railway tickets, phone cards and many others. The magnetic strip can be encoded with upto 220 characters of data and other 83% of adults in Britain own at least one card. Unfortunately because there are only 220 characters of data this makes the cards very easy to copy, which is why the strips will eventually, disappear and be replaced by a chip, which is almost impossible to fake. Something slightly similar to the smart card. * Smart Cards: Smart cards are of a similar appearance to that of the swipe cards, but instead of using the magnetic strip they contain a small 1-millimeter square microprocessor which is stored in the centre of the card. This is then protected by a small gold electrical contact the card can still read information through this. Unlike the swipe card the smart cards can hold millions of characters of data. In the future banks hope to replace all the swipe cards with a Super card which will also be able to be used to pay for smaller goods such as milk and newspapers without the need to carry cash. This card will almost be unbreakable. In Belgium they already have a similar system working to this it is called the Proton Card, which incorporates the use of both magnetic strip and a microprocessor chip for bank withdrawals and payments of small goods. The Smart Card * Touch Sensitive Screens: A touch sensitive screen allows the user to touch an area of the screen rather than having to type the data on a keyboard. They are widely used in tourist centres, where tourists can look up various local facilities and entertainments, in fast food stores such as McDonalds for entering customer orders, in manufacturing, and also bars. * Digitisers: A digitiser can draw quality illustrations. It has a flat rectangular slab onto which a stylus (anything that terminates in a point) is placed. Output Devices and Techniques The ultimate aim of the computer is to produce useful information, the information that is produced by the computer is in binary digits, we therefore need devices to translate these into a form we can use (Corbitt T, 1990, p 11) * VDU: (Visual Display Unit) The VDU is similar in appearance to the television receiver, an alternative name is the monitor. VDUs have better resolution than TVs and therefore are better for graphical work. It has its own fixed amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) associated with it to store the image being displayed on the screen. So the more RAM it has the better the resolution displayed on the screen. The number of pixels used to represent a full-screen image determines the resolution. Example: If 1 bit represents each pixel then two colours can be displayed, so to display 256 colours you would need 8 bits (1byte) It is usually possible to adjust both the resolution and the number colours if you select a high resolution you wont be able to have as many colours because of the memory available on the VDU Printers The results of processing are usually required in printed form. Printers come in all shapes and sizes, there are two main categories of printers: * Impact Printers which transfer the image on to the paper by applying pressure against a ribbon onto the paper, this transfers ink form the ribbon to the paper forming the image * Non-impact Printers which produce the image on the paper without any contact. Impact Printers * Dot-matrix: The characters on this are formed by dots. The print head contains a number of needles, the more there are of these the better the quality of print. A head with nine needles would take seven horizontal movements to print a character, this printer would be said to have a seven-by-nine-character matrix. In the latest type near letter quality is produced by double printing. The line of type is printed, the head moves back to the beginning of the line, moves down fractionally and then prints the line a second time. This doubles the time taken to print a document. To overcome this more expensive models use twice the number of needles and near letter quality can be achieved with one pass of the head. The dot-matrix can also print out graphics and pictures of a basic quality. Dot-matrix printers, which can print in colour, are available, these use a ribbon which contains red, green and blue. Coloured output is obtained by repeated printing, repositioning of the paper, print head and ribbon. The dot-matrix can print between 30 and 200 characters per second (cps). * Daisy-wheel printers: The print head consists of flexible arms extending from a centre hub, the characters are at the tips of the arms. When printing the hub revolves bringing the required character next to the ribbon. Some daisy-wheel printers are bi-directional and the print head can turn in either direction so that quickest possible print time is achieved. The print can be changed so that different font styles can be used. Daisy wheel printers are unable to print graphics unlike the dot-matrix. It is capable of speed ranges 12 to 55 cps. Non-impact printers * Thermal printers: These use specially treated paper, which is affected by heat generated by the print head as it passes across the paper. The main advantages are that they are silent and fast, printing 30-120 cps. Disadvantages are that the paper is expensive and that the printed image degrades in time. * Ink-jet printer: With this type of printer the characters are formed on the paper by spraying it with a stream of ink dots. They are fast, printing 150-270 cps and almost soundless, the quality of print is very good. A Canon Bubble Jet Printer BJC7000 * Plotters: Plotters are used to produce drawings, diagrams and other types of graphical output. There are two varieties in use, the flatbed plotter which is used where accuracy is important and the drum plotter which is used for business applications. The flatbed type is fixed while the pen moves over the top of the device while the axis moves up and down, whilst the drum variety uses continuous stationery. In both types the pens, under the program control, are moved to the down position, the movement of the pens is then controlled to draw the image. There are from one to six pens, which can be used to output different colours. There is also the less commonly known graph plotter. This is most commonly seen in use for lie detector tests. * COM: (Computer Output on Microfilm) The problem of storing information on paper can be considerable in a large business. One way to solve this is to have output from the computer photographed as microscopic images directly onto microfilm. Two methods of storage are used, one put the information onto a roll of 16mm film while the other uses microfiche. Microfiche can store upto 100 pages of A4 on a single piece, to see it you must have a microfiche reader. The most recent examples of this being used is in libraries and in garages for checking car parts. Data can be stored onto microfilm directly from the computer or off line using magnetic tape as an intermediary store. * Voice output: The output of the computer can be given in spoken form by using voice synthesisers to transform words stored in the computer into human speech, this is great for disabled people who cannot speak as it allows them to communicate. The user can hear through a loudspeaker. Secondary device techniques A permanent, non-volatile form of storage is required by all computer systems to save software and data files. Magnetic tape, magnetic disks, CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), and microfilm are all examples of what is known as secondary storage. * Floppy disk: The standard 3 1/2 floppy disk is a thin, flexible plastic disk coated in metal oxide, enclosed in a rigid plastic casing for protection. A standard high density disk has a storage space of 1.44 Megabytes. * Hard Disks: The hard disk used with conventional PCs consists of one or more disk platters, which are permanently sealed inside a casing. Hard disks have a capacity of between 2Gb and 10Gb, though external hard drives can be plugged into the computer to provide extra storage space. For large-scale applications storing huge amounts of data, more hard disks would be used. The disks can be fixed or removable, although the fixed disks are more reliable and have more storage capacity. Data is stored on the concentric tracks, which are divided into sectors. Data is then stored in one of the sectors so that it minimises the movement of the read-write heads, thereby minimising access time. * CD-ROM: CD-ROMs can store around 680Mb of data, which is the equivalent of hundreds of floppy disks. CD-ROMs do not transfer data as quickly as the hard disk drive. As the name suggests the disks are read-only memory. Unlike a magnetic disk they are created by burning tiny holes into the surface of the disk, a laser beam is then reflected off the surface of the disk, detecting the presence or absence of pits, which represent the binary digits. * Worm disks (Write Once, Read Many): These look very similar to the CD-ROM in appearance but are gold rather than silver in colour. These disks can be used to write your own material and are ideal for archiving or storing images or data, which will not be changed. They are popular in the pirate industry because a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 blank disk can store upto à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20 000 worth of software and sell for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½80. They are used by less reputable PC companys which install the software onto the PC so they can charge the consumer more for the package. However because of the competition in the pirate industry at present many of these carry viruses which can cause chaos on the hard drive. * Magneto-optical disks: Magneto-optical disks integrate optical and laser technology to enable read and write storage. A 5 1/2 disk can store up to 1 Gb. These disks may in future replace current magnetic disks, but at present the technology is still developing and the disks are too expensive, slow and unreliable to be in widespread use. * Magnetic tape: Magnetic tape was developed in the 1950s and very quickly became the primary means of storing data. The data is stored on magnetic tape in the form of dots of magnetism. It is used widely for archiving past transactions or other data that may be needed again, for example, old news readings that have been collected over a number of years. * Jaz Drive: Two Gigabytes is a tape drive and a mass storage device mainly used for backing up large files or batches of files i.e. end of day transaction backup for banks or businesses Software requirements and techniques Software is the name given to the programs that direct the operation of the computer. It can be divided into two main groups, system software and applications software. System software is the programs required to run the computer system and applications software is the programs required to carry out a particular application such as stock control Systems software This is the software that the microcomputer system needs to run. In this group there are three divisions: operating systems, utilities and compilers/interpreters/assemblers. Operating systems: An operating system is a set of programs that allows the user to perform tasks without having to know how they are done. For example, a user can give a command to save a file on disk without having to know where the file will be stored or how it will be retrieved again. Applications programs are usually written to work with a particular operating system e.g. Excel will only work with Windows and not with Apple Mac, which has a different operating system. Utility programs: Utility programs perform common tasks that every computer user will need at one stage or another. They carry out such jobs as formatting and copying disks, deleting files from disks, sorting information into a required order, and to help with the testing of programs that have been written. Compilers, interpreters and assemblers: These are programs that translate the programming language that is used into a form that the computer can understand. Compilers work by translating the whole of the program from what is known as the source program into the object program which will be in a form that the computer can understand. Interpreters are programs that translate and execute source programs one statement at a time. An assembler is a program supplied by the computer manufacturer that will translate a program that was written in assembly language (low-level programming language) into machine code. Applications software: In large organisations that have a mainframe or minicomputer we would find that programmers were employed whose job it would be to write the programs for the applications that the organisation wished to have run on the computer, such as payroll, stock control or hospital appointments. The software may be designed specifically for one particular company and written especially for them using a programming language or software such as database management system. Alternatively, the software may be purchased off the shelf. General purpose software: Most general purpose software is sold as a package, including a CD containing the software. Below is the most common packages that you would find on the market to date: 1. Applications: spreadsheets, database, word processing, Desk Top Publishing 2. Presentation: CD based presentations (Power Point, Director) 3. Internet Publishing: web page development software (Front Page, Dreamweaver, Flash) 4. Programming Software: BASIC, Visual Basic, C++, Java, Pascal, HTML 5. Creation and Editing: Photo Shop, Paint Shop Pro, Premier, Coral Draw 6. Utility: Anti-virus, tidy and compression, Doctors. The newer computer systems will have these utilities on them already. Software such as word processing, spreadsheet and databases is sometimes refereed to as generic software. This means that many of the packages can be made to do many different tasks, and is not specifically for one type of application. The other types of application software such as stock control and payroll as mentioned before are special purpose because they have been designed to complete one particular task. Conclusion: I found this assignment very interesting and now feel I have a much sounder understanding off computer hardware and software. I would have liked to incorporate more images into the assignment as reference to each of the products described, but was unable to find all of the images that I required, and also had problems trying to transfer them from the internet. Apart from this I feel quite satisfied with the overall assignment and hope that I have entered all the data needed and presented it in a clear fashion. Bibliography Corbitt T, (1990), Information Technology And Its Applications. Avon, United Kingdom: Bath Press Heathcott P M, (2000), A Level Computing. Ipswich, United Kingdom: Payne-Gallway Publishers Ltd References Corbitt T, (1990), Information Technology And Its Applications. Avon, United Kingdom: Bath Press Heathcott P M, (2000), A Level Computing. Ipswich, United Kingdom: Payne-Gallway Publishers Ltd Michael Firmstone Tutor: Del Turney 14/11/01

History Of Public And Commercial Leisure Provision

History Of Public And Commercial Leisure Provision Leisure can be defined as the process whereby everyone gets freedom from lengthy duties and everyday jobs. Roberts describes leisure as the relatively freely chosen non-work area of life. This shows that leisure can be done anytime or when the body call for it. The demand of recreation is constantly increasing, therefore leisure providers try to do as much as possible to attract people and make all kinds of profit in all the ways they can. The leisure provision can be divided into two sectors: first one is public which is provided by the government. Torkildsen (2005, p.131) describes it as provided by a public authority or by legislation for the general use of public. The second one is commercial sector, presented by private industries that are willing to give luxury leisure in return for money. However, their aim is to gain financial profit and an adequate return of investment Tordkilsen (2005, p.193). As we have been asked to write about leisure providers in this essay we will be looking through the history of the two sectors that are involved in the topic, by discussing the different types of organizations within them and saying who benefits from it by trying to explain why these sectors run leisure facilities. History of public and commercial leisure provision Leisure existed during ancient period as part of everyday life. As soon as it attracted more people, different providers of amusement have emerged. First signs of this division are dated on 18th century. In this period aristocracy provided exclusive sport like fox-hunting, horse-racing, shooting, to those who were socially qualified Cunningham (1980, p.17). In other words, it was for wealthy people that often possessed a land. In these circumstances gentlemen (people from middle class) and also gentry (those who had independent income but no land) created their own clubs and often met in assembly rooms. Taverns and public houses provided leisure for labourers, small manufacturers and poor people. Among them the most favourite amusements were dog-fights, cock-fights or bull-beatings. The second half of 18th century to 19th has brought significant social and industrial changes, which also had an impact on leisure provision. During this time people were moving from villages and small towns to cities. It caused overcrowding, increase of crime, poverty and longer hours of work. People could not enjoy leisure and space as they used to do. The most common behaviours were drinking and gambling. That is why important reforms had to take place. The 19th century has changed peoples thinking about what the leisure really was. Reformers were deeply concerned about three different aspects which include welfare of children, urban life with no opportunity for healthy exercise and recreation and encouraging governments to act against social injustice and hardship of masses. As a result of that improvement, government has created Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937, which enabled people access to the leisure facilities. Employers recognized the importance of providing leisu re to their employees and they started to create social and sports clubs in order to fulfil their needs. In 20th century also people from working class started to demand leisure. Public baths, houses and music halls became available not only for wealthy people, but also for those poorer. Leisure gained more recognition after the introduction of cinema, spectator sports and television, which came ultimately as a result of two World Wars. Finally, in 1960 the actual picture of leisure was developed as we know it today. Different organizations within public and commercial sector In current times, we can see clear division of leisure providers. The sectors we will be discussing are public sector and commercial one as a part of the private sector. Both sectors provides leisure and recreation facilities in a wide range. Public sector organizations are those owned by the government. This can be national government or local government Tribe, J. (2005, p.26) Source: Adapted from Tribe J., (2005, p.25) Facilities which are provided by public sector are accessible to us in two different ways. First, is an access without any fee. Examples of them are urban parks, playgrounds, libraries, picnic areas, nature trails, beaches and country parks. They are supported with rates and taxes we pay to concerned authorities. The other way of getting those services is to pay in order to use them. These facilities include swimming pools, playing fields, golf courses, marinas, arts centres, theatres and sports centres. If the leisure is not provided by local authorities, it may include difficulties in affording those facilities. Young people would not have an access to their culture and usage of open land for other purposes like supermarkets and car parks etc. That is why central government provides leisure open for general use. This governing body is responsible for making decisions on major policy and establishes the way in which local government can act. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is a link between Local and Central governments. Therefore, it has significant influence on leisure itself. For instance, the ODPM is responsible for planning improvements such as increasing standards of leisure facilities. Another important department in central government is DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport). This department has a responsibility of providing policy on: The Arts, sport, The National Lottery, libraries, museums and galleries, broadcasting, film, press freedom and regulation, The Historic Environment and tourism. Another sector, which is engaged in providing leisure, is private sector. Although it is divided for voluntary, which is non-profit making and commercial, our case of study will be only the commercial part of it. Private sector organizations are those which are non-government-owned. They can be further sub-divided into profit-making organizations and non-profit-making organizations Tribe, J. (2005, p.26) Source: Adapted from Tribe J., (2005, p.25) Commercial sector is a part of private sector which does not include voluntary organizations. Their activity is mainly directed to make financial profit from users of those services. They try to meet the demand of consumers but it is very hard to do it on current market. The main purpose of commercial sector is to achieve a financial profit or adequate return of investment. It does not exclude benefit in other sectors, but their predominant aims are different. Examples of commercial market are sport clubs, squash clubs, bowling, themed restaurants, amusement parks, holiday camps or cinemas. Commercial organizations do not have an intrinsic interest in leisure and recreation, in and of itself, but in leisure as a source of profit Torkildsen, G. (2004, p. 249) There is a correlation between both sectors mentioned above. When commercial sector creates new market, it tries to reach the highest level of productivity. After that, when they have to invest more money again, it is more beneficial for them to create a new market rather than invest outlay on the previous one. In these circumstances commercial sector puts strain on public sector, because the demand has been created already. If commercial sector do not want to work on it any longer, public sector is expected to do it. Commercial sector is often run by entrepreneurs. There are thousands of businesses involved in commercial sector, but they have been taken over by multinational companies. As a result of this the choices of products that are sold in the market are limited. In order to reduce risk factor in current economic recession period, business people have to sell the businesses in which they may not be good but concentrate on a vertical supply chain. Both sectors have to attract potential clients or lose profit. In the past both sectors dealt with different activities of their own range, but now they have been overlapped in most part of their business. Who benefits Leisure is something that people indulge in their everyday life; according to Doggett and OMahoney (1991, p.23) it is important because it enhances the quality of life in society. Leisure is an activity that can take place anywhere. Roberts (1978, p.125) says individuals can use their leisure for recreation. Alternatively, however, they can spend their time and money in their families, on their homes, in education and other mainstream institutions. Elaborating on this, it shows that people can choose whatever way they wanted to spend their leisure time without being disturbed. The two types of sectors we have, public and commercial, exist to give entertainment to local communities. But although they have the same assumption, they both offer various kinds of amusement (as mentioned above) and both give benefit in their own different ways. Commercial providers invest in and manage public sector facilities; the public sector offers high quality health and fitness opportunities, which have traditionally been offered by the commercial sector, while the voluntary and commercial sector are beginning to establish partnerships primarily for the benefit of customers of commercial facilities The Higher Education Academy (2005) [Online]. Still, it is mostly the people in the leisure industry that benefit the most, especially within the commercial sector, which is a dominant one in United Kingdom, as they provide leisure and service in return of money. Commercial sector is directed towards two groups of customers: those with disposable income and tourist. They as the wealthy people are able to make bigger profit for the company. This sector only give discounts or buy a package and get the other free or half price. It is a completely profit orientated part of leisure industry. However, most customers get refund, if they did not enjoy the leisure that was provided for them by the companies. On the other hand, it gives a lot of opportunities as far as employment is concerned, this sector delivers it. Moreover, it revenues income from abroad and drives development within the country. Practical advice for business [Online]. Public sector is provided by the government and local authorities in order to give equality to people, to make leisure accessible for those, who cannot afford it it raises the quality of life. Among leisure there are many sports facilities which help its users to stay healthy and fit, for example by tackling obesity. Public sector is also responsible for enabling the disabled access to these facilities. What is more, it supplies several kinds of discounts for various kinds of people. One of them is free theatre entry for people under 26 years, to encourage them to use that leisure facility and to make them more familiar to the culture. Also the elderly (over 75) have a cheaper access to many services. There are many local societies within this sector, like Woodhouse Road Family Life Centre for example, which is a group that brings together older people from the local community The Higher Education Academy (2005) [Online]. Older people can attend the meetings to have fun and remain a ctive and sociable The Higher Education Academy (2005) [Online]. So, in public sector it is not only about various facilities, sometimes just mutual support is enough. It is directed toward socially excluded people people are out of work, with low income and ethnic and disabled communities. Generally, this sector is responsible for providing leisure to everybody for free, so every participant is the one who receives a benefit. There is also a lot of support from European Union. Governments can get grants to make an improvement within their countries and local authorities are also able to develop leisure facilities within the cities. This makes citizens proud of the place they live; they have more places to go to and to entertain themselves. Such actions decrease hooliganism by reducing anti social behaviour and attract tourist and event co-ordinations. Specific reasons why public and commercial sector run leisure facilities Local authorities and societies play essential role in providing, supporting and developing leisure and sports opportunities. As local authority have different types of health services such as free consultancy and distribution of drugs (medicine) to the people in need. However local authority is the important part of a borough that keeps in touch with leisure and recreational activities. They are responsible for scheduling new improvement for protecting the environment and for improving the quality of life through local transport initiatives or better green spaces. In sort, local authorities have a significant direct impact on the success of communities. Public sectors really help to developed new supports to the people such as best athletic development and provide funding for developing new sport policies. Sports and recreational conveniences are offered by together private and public sectors. Mostly health centres and fitness clubs are organized by local authorities in the local areas. According to visitor survey by Tourism South East 2004/05 Leisure and Recreation [Online] in England about 13.5 million tourists visited The National Park. The National Park provides a most popular entertaining resource for the visitors living within and around the area, and also attracts several tourist from corner to corner of southern England and on a national scale as well. New developments within leisure also have positive impact of other ways; Leisure and recreation contributes can change the image of a city and lead to increased private savings. The main reason behind the existence of commercial sector is to make a profit. Commercial sector is responsible for delivering quality services for the people with disposable income. Also the particular facilities like swimming pools, which require a lot of maintenance, are only provided by commercial sector. The reason for the provision of swimming pools by commercial sector is that they have got sufficient amount of money for the maintenance work. As the competition is inevitable in this sector so they are concentrating more on the quality of services. These sectors run leisure services because off several reasons such as creating awareness and keeping society healthy. According to Miller the globalization of sport has also created hyper-competitive worldwide surroundings where many nations try to find their moment of fame on the world sport stage. Hoye et al, (2009, p.17). It is important that local communities have access to range of entertainment, arts, sports and recreational facilities for enjoyment. Local councils provide wide range of leisure and sports services including sports pitches, playing fields and playgrounds. Local authorities provide public parks and open spaces for older citizen and people in need. Arts centres venues and theatres, galleries and museums are also run by local communities. Local authorities also conduct various festivals, sporting and culture events. Providing leisure amenities from local establishment are very beneficial for native people. As local authorities have variety of entertainment and rel axation activities. People can find all facilities easily and cheaper then managing on themselves. Local authorities will motivate people towards healthy life style, by investing more money in sport and leisure facilities. Local authorities always have great emphasizes on promoting leisure and sports in the local areas. Conclusions After all of our considerations about the given topic, we came to the following conclusions. Leisure is not a new phenomenon; it has been existing as a part and parcel of our lives since ancient times. There is a wide range of different organizations dealing with the provision of leisure and recreation facilities. The services provided by local authorities are easily accessible to each class of community. On the other hand, leisure facilities provided by commercial sector are for those people, who have disposable income. The services provided by both sectors constitute to the high quality of life and nations health. It is beneficial to invest in both sectors as they are growing dramatically and the needs and demands of the people would be lasting in coming future. From the Travel and Tourism point of view, we can say that, tourists are able to use only a few services, provided by local authorities or voluntary sector, but they can use all the facilities provided by commercial sector as every facility is available to them after payment. As far as Events opinion is concerned, the situation here looks similar to the one above. People participating in events can enjoy those provided by both public and commercial sector equally, even if they are not citizens of given place.

The Isolate Passenger :: Short Stories Crime Punishment Books Essays

The Isolate Passenger It was a Saturday the day he cried. Early and bitter, the tears were warm and moved in spurts down his face, his whiskers aiding in the formation of tributaries. Cloaked in an afghan and the capitulation of his loneliness, he sat, legs forming a peak, hands clasped loosely in front. Rocking forward and slightly back, he attempted to shake the burden of his inconsiderations. They had mounted and surmounted and he felt ill. He appeared ill, his affect manic as he trembled from an appearance of indignation to trepidation to apathy. Before rising from the chair he felt warm and resolute, lucid. But that was before, and only briefly. He snapped his legs forward and to the floor with the precision of a samurai, composed. The uncoreographed motions that followed were spastic, his fists and arms and palms striking the sky with malice. Such a fit had resulted in a broken hand 5 years earlier. Four months prior to that, such a fit had pinnacled with pieces of a convenient end table mottling th e carpet. This most recent occurrence ended where it started and he dressed, with little consideration for hygiene or otherwise. Exiting, he snatched a back pack and swung the door towards him, managing to forge a distance of 6 feet between himself and the house before it latched precisely behind him. His house was in the residential district of a typical college town, approximately ten blocks removed from campus. Oak trees lined the block, squandering the rain they had collected from the previous evening’s shower; above average sized drops fell randomly on and around him. He had only within the last year begun to enjoy the rain. Before it had been significant only as an agent of somnolence, but now the ominous gray skies and consequential downpours were almost preferred. That Saturday the sky was opaque. It paralleled his mood. Walking a half-step behind what would have been determination, he crossed the paths of seventeen night crawlers and one stray cat before reaching a tunnel that ducked under and around a stream that ran perpendicular to his mood. His eyes were level with the ground, his hands dan gling from his thumbs, his thumbs hooked to the backpack straps. Within sight was the opulent green of a park littered with picnic tables and grills, surrounded on three sides by looming Oak and Maple

Commentary :: essays papers

Commentary The article that will be discussed in this paper is entitled â€Å"Phenomenology as a method to investigate the experience lived: a perspective from Husserl and Merleau-Ponty’s thought† co-written by Maria Lucia Araujo Salada and Ruebens de Camargo Ferreira Adorno. The article gives a run through of the phenomenologies of both Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Edmund Husserl, in order to appropriate their theories into psychological nursing. The question written at the beginning of the second half of the article attempt to redefine the act of nursing through phenomenology. Then the author begins to describe how to use Merleau-Ponty’s work to re-evaluate the treatment of patients in an isolation ward. In the following passage the author describes how using Merleau-Ponty’s notion of lived experience would be beneficial for the nurse in treating patients in an isolation ward: â€Å"We chose students who were experiencing being on an isolation ward while they the research was conducted because we believed that while they were actually experiencing the isolation ward their thoughts and feelings related to the experience would show up in their perceptions before undergoing a reflexive process. In their descriptions we looked for their prereflexive experience, which is the origin of the whole reflexive process and knowledge of the world.† (Salada 288) Supposedly, by being on an isolation ward, they're lived-world is so limited that research can be done on the nature of perception much more concisely. As stated in the introduction to the article; "Recently nurses have seen phenomenology as an important methodology for understanding nursing experience....as opposed to the Cartesian method...this perspective seems to be better able to handle human issues by adding new perspectives..." (Salada 282) I chose this article because I am personally interested in how the work of phenomenology can be used in areas of medicine that have been traditionally controlled by psychology. The article gives an in-depth overview of Husserlian intentionality and Pontian redefinitions of the phenomenon and lived experience. Now, I will explain both the work Husserl and Merleau-Ponty have done in phenomenology as it regards this article. Husserl, Ponty and Phenomenological Research When Husserl began the phenomenological process, the dialectical problem that had arose from Cartesian dualism began to slip away. As Husserl put phenomenology, it was "universal in its scope, because there is no a priori which does not depend upon its intentional consciousness" (Husserl 11) Phenomenology begins from the primordial, it begins with 'the things themselves'.

Good and Evil in Goethes Faust :: Faust Essays

Good and Evil in Faust In Faust Goethe shows many of his opinions about good, evil, and religion. Goethe uses characters like The Lord and Gretchen in the early part of the play to set examples of goodness. Goethe uses characters like Mephistopheles to stand for evil. Throughout the play Goethe also uses examples of the church to show how he feels the church works. The concept of good for Goethe is that everyone has the ability to be good and that errors in judgment are what make people bad but if a person keeps striving these mistakes will bring them closer to righteousness. As long as a person continues to keep moving and doing things they will most likely achieve righteousness. This is shown in the bet between Faust and Mephistopheles. Faust says that if at any time he says, "Linger a while! Thou art so fair!" that will be when Faust dies and serves Mephistopheles. This shows that if Faust were to stop wanting to do anything it would be a horrible sin. The Lord which many perceive to stand for God stands for the perfection that Faust is trying to accomplish with his life. Gretchen in the early part of the play stands for perfection because she is inexperienced and knows nothing else until Faust starts to seduce her. The concept of bad for Goethe can be seen most in the character of Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is believed to stand for the devil. When he first introduces himself he describes himself as "a part of that Power which always wills evil, always procures good.....the Spirit which always denies." Mephistopheles actions such as talking Faust into taking advantage of Gretchen and then telling him to leave her are seen as evil actions. The fact that Mephistopheles spends time with witches which most people see as evil shows that he is also evil. Goethe believes that all people sin sometimes and God forgives us. This is shown when Gretchen is in prison and after all the sin she has done a voice from heaven grants her salvation. Even though she did sin, most of her sin was because of inexperience and she was not purposely sinning. Goethe feels that the church and religion are both useless. When Faust leaves Gretchen the first jewels, her mother takes them to the church. The church takes them saying that they are trying to help, but this can be seen as the church just trying to get money out of them.

Examples of Good an Bad Essays

Student Essays Going for the Look |On-Demand Writing Assignment | |You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan| |what you will say. Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, | |providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.Your essay should be as well-organized and carefully | |written as you can make it. | |â€Å"Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and industry experts see the point. ‘In today’s competitive | |retail environment, the methods have changed for capturing the consumer’s awareness of your brand,’ said Marshal Cohen, a senior industry | |analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. ‘Being able to find a brand enhancer, or what I call a walking billboard, is critical. |Itâ €™s really important to create an environment that’s enticing to the community, particularly with the younger, fashionable market. A guy | |wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good-looking gals. ’† | |Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and| |examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. | The sample student essays that follow reflect the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria.Sample student essay with a score of 6: Portable Posters In today’s society, marketing is being taken to new heights. Not only do companies spend a majority of their money on advertising, they also use their employees as portable posters. If employees are supposed to be â€Å"walking billboards,† then most people would agree that not everyone will be eligible for that particular position. Discrimination is defined as showing favor unjustly. What some corporations are doing today is clearly unjust. People cannot control their appearance completely.Therefore, I must agree with Steven Greenhouse, the author of â€Å"Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination. † Mr. Greenhouse has clearly shown in his article that only hiring certain people that â€Å"look great,† is definitely discrimination and should not occur. That is why I disagree with Mr. Cohen’s analysis. It is a known fact that one cannot sell everything by appearance alone. Mr. Cohen is a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. He said, â€Å"Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and the industry experts see the point. I thought that people were supposed to be hired based on their ability. In fact, Stephen J. Roppolo, a New Orleans lawyer who represents many hotels and restaurants, said â€Å"I tell employers that their main focus needs to be hiring somebody who can g et the job done. † Hiring for looks must be fairly risky from a legal standpoint because even lawyers that represent the businesses are saying that they should hire based on merit so that they do not get into trouble with the law. I have seen some first hand examples of questionable hiring practices.Many of the restaurants near my home are excellent examples of hiring based on appearance. At the restaurants, I have noticed that the servers are usually Caucasian and that the bus-boys and chefs tend to be Mexican-Americans. I have also noticed that the Chinese restaurants in my area only have Asian-Americans as waiters and waitresses. I thought that America was on the way to becoming a place full of equal opportunity. Apparently, we are taking a step back, instead of moving forward. Is hiring based on how attractive people are illegal?No, there is not a specific law saying that businesses cannot. Just because it is not illegal does not mean that it should be done. I feel that Mr . Cohen’s analysis is not correct. If a company had an extremely innovative and sought after product due to its wide range of uses and quality, the company would not need to stoop to such discriminatory hiring practices. The product would simply sell itself. After all, every company would love to get by without spending one dime on advertising. Imagine a world where everyone was hired based on merit.Productivity would increase everywhere because people would be doing what they are best at instead of just standing around and â€Å"looking great. † Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 6. The superior response indicates that the writer is very well-prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer understands and focuses clearly on the topic raised by the quotation in the thesis, â€Å"†¦ only hiring certain people that ‘look great,’ is definitely discrimination and should not oc cur. † †¢ The summary of Cohen’s argument is clear and accurate, and the paraphrasing is effective. The writer analyzes the issue of hiring for looks thoughtfully and has developed an insightful response focused on the legal implications of the practice. †¢ The essay is coherently organized and developed with a body paragraph of analysis and a paragraph citing the example of hiring on the basis of appearance in ethnic restaurants, which extends the response beyond that which is provided in the reading passage. The conclusion makes a strong case for hiring on the basis of merit. †¢ The writer demonstrates a strong command of language and syntactic variety, alternating fluent, longer sentences with short sentences to make a point. The essay is virtually error-free and reflects the writer’s command of the conventions of incorporating the words and ideas of others into the writer’s response to an argument. Sample student essay with a score of 5: Discrimination Vs Wealth One of the biggest problems causing separation in today’s society is discrimination based on looks. Our morality is constantly decreasing due to greed and selfishness. At one point in time we focused on the well being of every human being no matter their race, color or gender; looks meant nothing while love and friendships meant everything.On the contrary to Marshal Cohen’s statement that a â€Å"brand enhancer† or a â€Å"walking bill board† is critical, hiring people based on looks is not morally correct, and morality should be held above money and reputation. Hiring by looks can cause numerous amounts of issues, both at the governmental level and the emotional level. As Olophius Perry stated in the article, Going for the Look but Risking Discrimination, â€Å"If you’re hiring by looks, then you can run into problems of race discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, and e ven disability discrimination. (Greenhouse 1). Our country specifically was founded on equality and equal opportunity for all. When businesses start hiring based on looks and/or gender, our country’s morals begin to slip slowly through Uncle Sam’s fingers. Discrimination of any sort may also cause a person great emotional damage. Perhaps a hard working, well-kept, person was turned away from a job because of his or her un-attractive face, that person could be so hurt that they commit suicide; while one person gets richer because of this life changing decision they made, another person’s sanity is lost.This type of discrimination is not worth the pain and suffering of one human being in return for fame and money. Young men and women are used as sex symbols in today’s twisted society. Many companies will hire young attractive women based on their beauty with the intention of giving men something to look at as well as giving them an incentive to come into th eir store. As Marshal Cohen replied, â€Å"A guy wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good looking gals† (Greenhouse 3) shows that companies hire these girls only to bring in more profits by using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over.What kind of messages are we sending to our future generations? Is it that girls must learn that they will not receive respect and that they need to weigh 110 pounds with big lips in order to be successful in life? Pressures are enormously overwhelming on today’s young adults to look â€Å"perfect† in society’s eyes. The pressures build up and eventually lead to up to unhealthy alternatives to being skinny, becoming â€Å"built†, or having the exact look being sought. While our society may look better if we allow companies to hire by looks, it is also increasingly becoming unhealthy.In conclusion, hiring based on looks solely to raise profits is ethically and morally wrong. This idea will eventually bring our morality to an end. Health rates will drop and human sanity will continue to be taken away. In order to save our society and its morals, we should ban discrimination, or as some would call it hiring based on looks. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. The writer understands the topic and accurately summarizes Cohen’s position, using his phrases â€Å"brand enhancer† and â€Å"walking bill board. † The essay’s thesis is clear, but the writer could have sharpened it by refraining from presenting it as a three-part divided thesis. †¢ The essay reflects the writer’s understanding of some of the complexity of the issue. The analysis of the impact of the practice of â€Å"hiring for the look† on young adults’ self-image is thoughtfu l and adds depth, but the assertion that it causes insanity and suicides is unsubstantiated. The essay is well-organized and coherent, with the writer focusing on the legal implications of hiring on the basis of looks in the first body paragraph and the individual implications in the second. Each paragraph is thoroughly developed, and the conclusion presents a strong recommendation. †¢ The essay displays some syntactic variety and facility, with occasional lapses in word choice and sentence construction. †¢ The essay has scattered errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics (e. g. , â€Å"numerous amounts of issues,† â€Å"using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over†). Sample student essay with a score of 4:Beauty = Money Marshall Cohen’s argument is basically that beautiful women sell, and I strongly agree. It’s true that guys want to hang out in places where there are beautiful women. It’s also true that these wom en represent an image and that if that image is pleasing to the eye then other women will want to emulate it. Being a guy, I know the power women have over us as a gender; especially the good looking ones. The fact is that businesses know this and exploit it. Last year alone I must have spent a good 300 dollars because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good in a pair of pants she wanted me to buy.Also, it’s how most guys decide on things. Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. We would almost always end up going to the one with the good looking waitresses. Guys are suckers for cute girls and will spend great amounts of time and money just to the around them. However, men aren’t nearly as bad as women. When the average girl sees a super model or Britney Spears wearing Abercrombie and Fitch they think the key to being beautiful and popular is to match their wardrobes. They feel that if they dress like t heir idols they’ll be more important in the public eye.I have a friend that buys every outfit she sees Mandy Moore wear on television. It’s already cost her over a thousand dollars, but she doesn’t mind just as long as people make her feel important. In the end using beautiful people to advertise your product translates to one thing: money. The equation is simple, the better the girl looks the more money you make, and as long as the public sees beauty as only skin deep this will always be true. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 4.This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer demonstrates a generally accurate but somewhat simplistic understanding of the passage, summarizing it as â€Å"beautiful women sell. † The writer accepts this argument on the basis of his own experience and develops his response accordin gly. †¢ The essay maintains a clear focus on the point. It is organized around the assertion that both men and women are attracted to businesses that â€Å"hire for the look. † However, it never acknowledges the legal or moral counter-arguments to this position. The personal examples support the writer’s position and are developed in some detail, but the essay would have been strengthened by more analysis of the issues. †¢ The language is fluent and often colloquial (â€Å"Guys are suckers for cute girls†), in keeping with the writer’s personal approach to the topic. However, some sentences are not formed correctly (e. g. , â€Å" . . . because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good†¦. †; â€Å"Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. †) †¢ The essay generally demonstrates control of grammar, usage, and mechanics.Sample student essay with a score of 3: Goi ng For the Look There are three types of people in the world when it comes to style. There are the fashionable, who care what they look like and what other people think. There are the unfashionable, who think they are fashionable but do not run with the trend. Then there are the people in between. They could care less what others think. To try to get people to buy their products, a producer will look at all three types of people and chose the one that best fits the product. So the Gap would choose someone who looks good in their product.There are certain clothes that fit certain bodies certain ways. People do not want to see a fat, ugly person in tight pants and a short shirt. A place like Hot Topic wants to draw in a punk rocker crowed so they will hire people that look as if they are punk rockers. These people will have many piercings and tattoos that are visible to the public. Only certain people do not think that that stuff is not attractive and Hot Topic wants to bring them int o the store. Thrift stores and hand me down stores would hire the last type of person. People who shop at those stores do not care what they look like or cannot afford to shop anywhere else.These people cannot choose what the person selling their clothes looks like. In conclusion, there are three types of people in the fashion industry. Some are shoe-ins for certain jobs just from what they look like. Others cannot get those jobs if they tried. Cohen’s statement is correct. Now a day people hire for looks not skill. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests a developing competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer’s need for additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. The writer does not explain Cohen’s argument, instead writing an essay about style. †¢ The thesis, â€Å"There are three types of people in the wor ld when it comes to style,† does not focus on the issue of â€Å"hiring for the look. † The writer addresses the issue in the body of the essay by saying that Gap and Hot Topic hire people who look good in the company’s clothes, while thrift stores have no choice in who they hire; however, the writer directly addresses Cohen’s argument only in the final sentences. †¢ The body paragraphs are series of assertions that lack effective transitions. Most of the sentences lack variety (e. g. , the series of â€Å"There are . . . † sentences in the introduction), and word choice is imprecise (â€Å"that stuff†). †¢ The essay has an accumulation of errors, especially in spelling and punctuation. Sample student essay with a score of 2: Going for the Look Cohen’s argument expresses his oppions and his only the may not matter in the sites of other people. I don’t agree or disagree with his argument. I hold this position because of three reasons, for starters is the retailers choice who he or she wants to hire not his.And for there businesses to expand and to grow then they must hire whoever appeals to the consumer. Last his argument may or may not be true and tell complete truth, so I’m not going to base my facts or opions on him because sometimes you should keep them to your self. As I Said before it is the retailers choice who they want to hire and if you must ensist on talking bad about these people then you must have problems with yourself maybe your jellous, just because your not in the positon to hire whoever you want doesn’t mean the people that do make those choices wheather they are right or wrong.The retailers must hire the right personel to appeal to the consumer if that means only hireing whites, just blacks or purple, green, yellow it does not matter because that is what they have to do to sell there product. My third and final reason is that I don’t really want to agree or disagree baed on the facts that he is giving me are more better things to worry about then I some stores have racial issues that is there business not yours. To conclude Cohen argument expresses his own oppions that might be better kept to himself. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 2.The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer demonstrates a basic understanding of the passage but is unable to respond meaningfully to the topic, instead resorting to a personal attack on Cohen. †¢ The writer fails to respond to Cohen’s argument with a focused thesis. The sentence â€Å"I don’t agree or disagree with this argument† suggests a failure to understand the need to take a position and provide evidence to support it. †¢ Although the writer attempts three body paragraphs, they are severely underdeveloped. The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. †¢ The writer has serious and persistent errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. In particular, the sentence boundary errors and serious spelling errors obscure the meaning. Sample student essay with a score of 1: Their many methods of hiring people. Many markets know hire just because of the image of a person. In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point. Their could be certain stores that have people who have expirence, no experience, and just for the look.When you have a pearson who has experience you could expeted from them to accomplished their job. They would always be on time or even earlier. You would not hear bad comments about that person Their very reasponsible and would not complain about geting their job done Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies of thi s essay clearly indicate that the writer needs much additional practice to be ready to succeed at college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer indicates only a slight understanding of the passage and fails to refer to Cohen’s argument. The essay seems to be about qualifications for jobs, with one qualification being â€Å"the look. † However, the relationship of the thesis to the topic is not clear. The sentence, â€Å"In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point† suggests a serious lack of focus. †¢ The essay appears to be incomplete, with the second and third body paragraphs and the conclusion implied by the thesis but unwritten. †¢ The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. †¢ The writer has serious and persistent errors in mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. Spelling and verb form errors are pervasive.

Decisions: Good and Bad

Decisions: Good and Bad Introduction In the news today, it seems as though everything we hear is negative. While I was searching for an organization that recently made a good decision, it appears that most of the things we read and/or hear about these days are the bad. I found plenty of information on bad decisions made recently, however talk about positive decision-making seems to be scarce. In this paper, I will discuss my views of a former CEO of a global conglomerate and the positive decisions he has made, as well as a recent poor decision made by another large corporation.A Good Decision For decades, we have heard the brand names Apple or Macintosh. If one were to judge the decision-making skills of Steve Jobs based on the success of Apple, one would have to say that he had to possess some of the best decision-making skills possible. Over the past few years, we have seen the MacBook, iPods, iPhones and the iPad. With the competition of Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Microsoft to name a few, the Apple organization has made great strides to maintain its place at the top of the consumers list.One of the best decisions ever made by Steve Jobs was to return to Apple as CEO and take the market by storm with innovative technology and a selection unsurpassed by any other company. Through dedication, hard work and a vision, he has brought technology to a completely new level and others are left to catch up. With the desire to provide consumers with products that they were not even sure that they wanted, Jobs has made his place in corporate America.Through his decisions to take the world by storm and develop the ideas that seemed nearly impossible, he has left quite a challenge in trying to surpass the advancements in technology that he has achieved. A Bad Decision Over the past few years, there has been a vast growth in technology and the variety of products offered to consumers. One of the most popular novelties in entertainment today is the services offered by Netflix. The company began as a mainstream DVD rental provider and later transformed into an online movie-streaming leader.Recently, Netflix experienced an exceptional growth in subscriptions and demonstrated a high customer demand. However, due to terrible management decisions, the image of the company would soon become tarnished. It seems as if the decision-makers of the company misunderstood the reason behind its success and imposed a steep increase in price for the DVD plus streaming subscribers. Offering no rational explanation behind this decision, Netflix quickly experienced a momentous downfall.They did not have content that would make the company indispensable, and since most customers used the services because of the low subscription rates, stock prices would fall and consumers were looking elsewhere. This has now opened up a window of opportunity for newcomers such as Blockbuster, Amazon and Redbox. Conclusion While decisions are made within organizations each day, the l evel of research and the motive behind the decision may be the most important factor.The good decision that I described above was driven by the desire to succeed and to create innovative products and making them available to a large group of consumers. The bad decision seems to have been made out of greed and should never be a factor in making decisions at such high level. I believe that as long as the people making decisions stay focused on what is truly important to the organization, major pitfalls or obstacles may be avoided.