Reflective Statement Essay Example for Free

Reflective Statement EssayFor this module, we are required to do an assignment with regards of SME company. The purpose of writing the report is to analyze the key internal issues the management is likely to face when strategizing their marketing formula. Besides, we are also required to take into account a practical recommendation for the company. For this project, the class was divided into 3 hosts and each class consists of 3 members. My group members are Miss Tai Geok Yeong and Miss Sharanya.Discussions among group members were held 4 times, on the 29th October, 2nd November, 4th November and 6th November, respectively. Besides of our normal eeting in college, the discussions also were held through the MSN chat and email. Each of our group members was allocated with tax and although conflicts arise during the discussion, we still managed to solve the problem. In my opinion, conflict in a group is not necessarily bad and we use several of techniques in aim to resolve con flicts like compromising and exercises work delegation.Throughout completing the task CareKoolTint Sdn Bhd, I have gained lots of new information about SME and the company. In separate to get more facts about the company, we held an inter deliberate with one of their sales representatives on 2nd November 2009. From the 1 hour interview, we managed to gather the information needed for this project, which for example are, their genuine marketing strategies and the companys internal issues.One important lesson I learnt from the interview is that, even though small firms is not properly structured, it does not mean that SMEs do not engage in marketing. It is only that, they are doing marketing according to their own terms and not according to a theoretical framework. Other than interviewing the sales representatives, my group and I also did a research based from their websites and also by reading books. It is important so that e will have a broader view on the business environment an d help us to write the task more accurately.In order to complete the task, I read Marketing and Entrepreneurship in SMEs, Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler and Fundamentals of Management to have a better understanding about SME and its management as well as several websites cerebrate to the topic which for example SME Info Portal. This whole process, I believe has improved both my knowledge and skills. I learnt how to work with others as a team, it taught me how to compromise as I need to be open in accepting other people ideas or opinion and also in handling conflicts.In supplement to that, basically, I am more knowledgeable on this topic. From the research, I discovered various type of SME in Malaysia which can classified under 3 menage that are Primary Agriculture, Manufacturing (including Agro-Based) MRS, Services Sector (including CT) . Furthermore, I am also more aware on characteristics needed to be an entrepreneur, and one essential feature they must have is to b e a risk taker. This is important as SME business environment is very uncertain and whenever they make a wrong decision, it whitethorn affect their business as a whole.

How Are Dreams Proved to Be Futile in of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

How Are Dreams Proved to Be Futile in of Mice and Men EssayDreams in Of Mice and Men is influenced under the metrical composition To A Mouse by Robert Burns and the relationship between the poem and the raw is seen through the build-up to the characters hopes and day- reveries at the time of the great inflation and how they struggled to keep up with their ambitions.The context in both texts put acrossly portrays the death of the future plans the working class keep to at that time and the writers do this to illustrate the chances of normal mountain succeeding and how being born into a hierarchy means that youre destined to a class in society. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is introduced with a shapeless causa and animal imaging is used to signify his strength, bear drags his paws, this portrayal of Lennie sets him apart from George in the hierarchy.As the story develops the readers understanding of Georges and Lennies relationship does to, the reader realises that the theme t hat keeps both the key protagonists motivated is the inhalation. This is further developed when Steinbeck introduces the dream for the first time, I remember about the rabbits, George, it is clear to the readers that Lennie is academically weak and in order for him to remember about the dream indicated how much it means to him and its maybe the thing that matters to him most. nevertheless early in the novel Steinbeck uses animal imagery to foreshadow the death of Lennie and the death of the dream, shoot you for a coyote, the author highlights his vulnerability and his death in the future to suggest that his weakness academically is what possibly lead him to his death. In the beginning of the novel George gets into a quarrel with Lennie about ketchup, we aint got any, during Georges rant he clearly emphasizes on what he sees as the American dream in comparison to what they both see.George leads on to imply that Lenny is a road block to his dream and this is partially genuine as it is what Lennie did towards the end of the novel that killed the chances of the dream. Georges dream can be considered as a typical working class dream as it isnt very promising and has no future outlook. The death of the dream in Of Mice and Men seems to be blames on a certain individual, the death of George and Lennies dream is blamed on Lennie and later in the novel we learn that the death of Curleys married womans is because of her ol lady.In the novel Curleys wife is portrayed as a social outcast alongside the nigga but this time because of her gender as they lived in a sexist society. However beneath her make up her interior reveals her dreams and how they were crushed as well, the reader also finds out that her sexual weapon is to grab the attention of the ranch workers as no one gave her the recognition she wanted. Curleys wifes dream is fully revealed towards the end of the novel with her explain it to Lennie, she clearly illustrates her very independent dream however it is also clear that she is very dependent on men when it comes to making the dream a reality.This maybe the reason why her dream was locked forth and only brought out when she needed it to emotionally look tush at it considering that she lived in a mens society it means that women are held back from what they wanted to do and were expected become a housewife. This is the main road block that Curleys wife comes across making her dream futile. Throughout the novel the reader realises that the characters that were too eager for their dream (Lennie and Curleys wife) reaches their destiny, quite dramatically, with their death.It seems that both characters had something in common lack of power, the protagonists had a lack of power center that they were vulnerable to society however Curleys wife attempted to cover it by putting on a lot of makeup but it is clear that your weakness will eventually go against you. Furthermore both characters dream was clearly futile from the beginning of th e novel as both characters seemed to depend on another person in order for their dreams to succeed.In Lennies case it was George and Curleys wife needed a man. Steinbeck reinforces the themes of Power and powerlessness with links to the dream to suggest that there is some sort of bond with making the dream and having the power to make it. This portrayal in Of Mice and Men illustrated not only the situation that succeeding during the Great Depression was very limited but the fact that without power or status, which both characters lacked in, the chances of making the dream was nil.

Environmental Sustainability Practices with ICT

environmental Sustainability Practices with ICTMGDI60701Implementing Environmental Sustainability Practices in Developing Countries through ICTWordcount 4370 (excluding references)IntroductionAn outstanding attri notwithstandinges of ICT ( teaching and communication theory technology) is its crosscutting aspect and its speed, with regards to quick adaptation (Pohjola, 2003). For instance, about four decades agone television broadcasting, landline telephone and postal deliveries were the key mediators in the flow of breeding, but this flow of information occurred only on one direction. User-generated content was in truth minimal. However, in the current day and age, countries around the world have been more than interconnected via several facilities of ICT and the flow of information happens in multiple directions, with very weighted influence of personar-generated content in particular through social media (Yin et al., 2012). ICT has not only bug outd to be a significant indu stry on itself but has pervaded all aspects in day-to-day feeling. Studies have indicated that ICT has a remarkable impact on socio-economic development generally, and environmental sustainability specifically. Whereas this could be true, in maturation countries such(prenominal) as Nigeria little explore has been achieved in pinpointing the approaches through which ICT could be harnessed for environmental sustainability. There exists no consensus on the definition of exploitation clownish from the United Nations or the World stick, and this take apart has adopted the definition of developing country that has been offered by Library of Congress, which is a country whereby the majority of population makes far less income, and has significantly weaker social indicatorsand a lot lacks basic public services-than the population in highly-industrialized countries (LOC, 2016, p. 1).This paper is based on literature review and it investigates how ICT can be harnessed in implementing environmental sustainability practices in developing countries.Overview of environmental crisisOne global concreteity existing today is environmental crisis. The International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, has do the instruction that the existing change magnitude concern about life on planet earth is heavily influenced by the impact of humans on the environment, particularly native environment (Schwabach, 2006). In that manner, improving resource wariness practices, raising aw beness, getting to sustainable development as surface as enhancing the environmental performance makes up the key issues which require worldwide attention. International community has asserted this point by encompassing environmental sustainability to be part of MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). Achieving environmental sustainability withal demands strategies that ar innovative. In light of this, aw beness of the nature of environmental challenges in develop ing countries is a key requirement. With regards to developing countries, environmental crisis happens to be a real occurrence and the impact has been widely felt physically, economically and socially.In the Fox (2004) study assessing environmental degradation in one developing country, Tanzania, the study discovered that on that point ar big environmental disasters in that country to affect that big rivers were drying up. Practices leading to this included severe deforestation and clearance of natural vegetation for agriculture purposes. Apart from drying up of rivers and increased river sedimentation, reduced rainfall has in any case impacted on the health of the citizens in the region and has undermined the possibility of sustainable development. Tanzania has been shown to be requiring a number of approaches so as to address these challenges that have been posed by such an environmental crisis. Affirming a capacity of ICTs in enhancing the environmental sustainability in deve loping countries, ICTs have been contended to be having the skill of playing a significant voice in developmental and economic sectors (Kapurubandara Lawson, 2006). Nonetheless ICT has been demonstrated to be conf employ and multifaceted, and its environmental impact could both be honest or adverse. This implies that a careful planning on how to integrate ICT in environmental sustainability practices of the developing countries is highly important. As a result of this, the following section analyses whether and how ICT can assist in delivering the environmental sustainability goal in developing countries.ICT for environmental sustainability practices in developing countriesHoughton (2009) as well as Minasyan (2006) discovered that an intricate alliance exists between ICT and the environment. This is ascribable to the observation that ICTs could have both unequivocal and negative procedures with regards to the environment. Some of the positive roles have been demonstrated to be break off sinew efficiency, recycle and substitution for travel/transport negative roles have been demonstrated to be energy consumption, increasing amounts of e-waste such as from discarded CRT monitors and low life cycle of the products (ITU, 2008). Being a medium for networking and information, it has been demonstrated that ICT has the capability of enabling citizens in the developing countries to adopt the role of environmental enforcement agents and alert the authorities to acts of environmental infringement. A boniface of important environmental aspects have been identify whereby ICT could be used and as such enhance environmental sustainability.Environmental studiesThe possible role of ICT in environmental sustainability practices starts with the usefulness of ICT in environmental studies. International Telecommunications Union has reiterated that ICT offers an unprecedented capability to collecting and processing environmental entropy which far outweighs the capabi lity of any person and whitethorn encompass the whole terrestrial system. From the complex environment, ICT could assist in simplifying and understanding impact of mankind on environment. This can be achieved through the aid of increasingly interconnected and powerful platforms of computing which have been combined with great(p) information databases. Moreover, ICT has been identified as a significant tool for carrying out empirical studies relating to environmental issues. It has previously been observed that new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) may represent appropriate tools to support environmental research and its transmission to policy-makers and the general public (Chiabai et al., 2013, p.89). In aggregate, development ICT to carry out environmental studies is associated with a host of economic and scientific benefits as well as having a political implication. Some of the scientific benefits have been shown to be enhanced multidisciplinary studies. Political implications of using ICT are that interface with the policy-makers can be created, and citizens can participate in the decision-making processes concerning environmental sustainability practices.Environmental observationICT can be used for environmental observation in the developing countries (Houghton, 2009). Generally, the environmental systems are made up of terrestrial and aquatic categories. The terrestrial component is made up of forests, grasslands, mountains and so forth whereas the aquatic components is made up of marine, freshwater, wetlands and so forth. Tools of ICT that can be employed in these developing countries include remote sensing, telemetric systems among differents. This observation can lead to split up supervise of the environmental practices. The e-monitoring systems can be used as environmental screening tools as well as mapping tools which offer the relevant authorities reliable data with which to highlight pollution issues, and these can then be appli ed for further evaluating and analysing the environmental concern. E-monitoring could offer both summary data and detailed data in the developing countries for both environmental and demographic attributes.For example, ICT has been applied in monitoring the deforestation of the Amazon forest in Brazil satellite imagery is used in identifying deforestation and this is then mapped on a geographic information system (GIS). Data from this GIS has been made public in Brazil in young years and this offers greater public awareness on the environmentally destructive practices. Data from this GIS has been identified to have been very instrumental in effecting policy changes in Brazil, which have included crafting, implementing and enforcing legislations for controlling deforestation, and gazetting more protected areas. It is common for forest rangers to go to areas showing deforestation activity from the satellite imagery received in combination with Global Positioning System (GPS), and the n take necessary action to prevent further deforestation activity. Nonetheless slightly challenges have been identified in this approach the GIS offer low resolution and thus offer only a rough identification concerning the deforested area the Amazon is big but the rangers have limited capacity as such the data from the system is not used in real time (Hayes Rajao, 2011).Moreover, in developing countries where the earnings penetration is low, radio calls and quick telephones could be applied in reporting environmental degradation activities and for facilitating community mobilization to confront such activities.Mitigation of humour changeActivities to mitigate against mode change are targeted at minimizing the negative impacts of the temper change on the environment. Several manners exist which ICTs can be applied in mitigating against environmental impacts in developing countries, such as through observation and monitoring as previous mentioned, through enabling better effic iency in utilization of resources, via dematerialization for example e-books instead of paper-printed books, through substitution for transport for example video conferencing instead of travel. A number of studies such as Patt Schrotter (2008) exist showing how ICT can assist in mitigating against climate change. Developing countries face a host of challenges with regards to providing infrastructure as the economies grow. The challenges in meeting the growing demands have been shown to be driving the investments in these developing countries towards solutions that present more energy efficiency.For example, limitations on the capacity of electricity generation and the transmission have resulted into more development of wound grid in China and India. This has led to an improved energy efficiency level and has reduced the expansion rate of the coal-powered electricity plants. These smart grids have been shown by Boccaletti et al. (2008) to have resulted into reduced degree centigra de emissions as a result of lower use of the coal-powered plants. ICTs have played a major role in improving the efficiency in addition to controlling and managing power grids. The impact that ICT plays in the smart grids has been detailed in studies that have been issued by Bolton and Foxon (2011).With the investments in infrastructure for the next three decades taking place currently, this presents opportunities for developing countries to jump into the smart grid bandwagon, minimise power loss and gain from greater energy efficiency. For instance, in India, North Delhi Power has invested in smart grid (Balijepalli et al., 2010).However, whatsoever concerns have been raised increased efficiency might result into more use of the ICT-enabled energy saving features, which consequently leads to more energy being used and this cancels out the previous gains. Recognizing this challenge, the government of China, has recently come up with the China labor Systems Energy Conservation Prog ram which would assist in meeting the targets of energy efficiency (McKane et al., 2003).Easing environmental pressureAfter the collection and storage of the environmental data via observation, a number of ICT tools could be used in computing and processing so as to carry out analysis. For instance, environmental poser software system as well as grid computing has been of assistance in the awareness of how the ecosystems function as well as the environmental complexities. Developing countries, oddly in Africa, are highly dependent on agriculture even though the modes of farming are largely inefficient. Managing, monitoring and mapping waterways, forests and lands are some of the important actions that improve the sustainability of the environment and efficiency of practices in such countries (Longley, 2005).Geographic information systems offer significant opportunities in waterway and land management and monitoring in Africa, Himalayan region and South East Asia (Minasyan, 2006). Just like everywhere else, information is very important in making it possible for battalion to undertake choices that are more sustainable and get the benefits from their activities, in addition to support, awareness and education. In developing countries there are various examples on how mobile phones as well as wireless connection can offer a massive opportunity in handling environmental pressure where unyielding telephone lines are not developed (World Bank, 2012). For instance, initiatives include using geographical information system in Lake Victoria of East Africa, to offer support to the management of natural resources (Scheren et al., 2000). In the Pearl River Delta of China, it is common to have an integrated ecosystem modelling, sensing and monitoring (Weng, 2001). By observing how vulnerable the rural communities in developing countries are, Tyler Fajber (2009) observed the significance of having information access. For instance, in the Philippines, one mobile servic e provider SMART partnered with Manila Observatory to offer telemetric rain gauge and telephones in areas which are prone to environmental disasters like landslides. The local farmers assess the rain gauge and submit the information to the Manila Observatory, whereas the Manila Observatory could also utilise these telephones to wear the farmers early warnings (Houghton, 2010).Adaptation to climate changeOffering early warnings as well as monitoring of events that are induced by climate change, such as tsunami or drought, plays a very significant role. In developing countries, ICT has enabled a number of initiatives.One example is a network that has been funded by USAID called famine Early type Systems Network (FEWS NET). This network brings together national and regional partners in offering information concerning the arising and changing issues on food security. The FEWS NET participants in developing countries analyse and monitor the information concerning the climate so as to understand the possible threats and effects on livelihoods. After they have been identified, the FEWS NET utilizes a host of ICTs in aiding the decision makers (Verdin et al., 2005).A second example is the PreventionWeb which caters to the information demands of the community seeking disaster risk reduction. The ICT-enabled activities under PreventionWeb include tools for exchanging information. ICTs have also been utilized in coming up with impact models, that have been used by decision makers and practitioners in making predictions on the agricultural effects of the climate change. Such impact models have been used in developing countries such as South Africa, whereby it was shown that there exists a correlation between a move production of dry land staple and heightened historical temperature (Dube Jury, 2000) in Nigeria whereby an EPIC model was used in giving forecasts on the crop yields in the 20 first century (Adejuwon, 2008) in Egypt whereby the production of crops under the existing climatic conditions was compared with the conditions that were modelled for the year 2050 (Abdel-Gawadh et al., 2004), as well as the Thornton et al. (2009) study which mapped African regions in basis of their vulnerability to climate change. In the same manner, GIS as well as remote sensing are used by the International Crops Research be for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to investigate the patterns of rainfall in Africa and Asia.By identifying the vulnerable areas, ICTs make it possible to implement various responses, whereby information networks have a significant role to play.Technology transfer for environment sustainability practicesICTs play a key role in technology transfer for environment sustainability practices. The Bali Action Plan entailed that developed countries assist the developing countries to pursue mitigation activities appropriate to each nation with regards to sustainable development, and at the same time not compromise the growth of those count ries, through a transfer of technology and finance from the developed countries. One such technology transfer is through a clearinghouse for technology information called TTclear. This provides an internet-based platform for information sharing in order to access a number of information sources such as case studies (Houghton, 2009). An objective is in offering information that is expensive to the various stakeholders on matters related to technology transfer, in order to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The TTclear platform targets developing countries to consider the opportunities regarding technology transfer by assisting such countries gain an awareness of the available technologies. The platform also makes it possible to exchange views and experiences on developing and transferring technology.Another platform that exists is called GIS Development. This refers to a Geospatial Communication Network promoting the utilization of GIS applications and the GIS technology in devel oping countries. GIS Development aids the governments and communities in the developing countries to enhance their management capabilities, policies and productivity through facilitation of acquaintance transfer. Moreover, GIS Development fosters increasing network of persons interested in geo-informatics, encouraging a scientific know-how exchange (Ramachandra Kumar, 2010).By fusing the information provided with education and research, these platforms offer experience, expertise and information touching on adapting to environmental changes. Such flows of information play significant roles in the transfer of technology into the developing countries.Planning and environmental strategy undecomposed decision-making needs to happen using the information that is available. As such, environmental information which has been picked by observing and has been evaluated by using the technology happens to be relevant in the decision-making, planning and formulation of policies. By utilizing I CTs, such a process entails classifying a host of environmental issues (Houghton, 2009). For instance, the environmental information that can be applied in agriculture could be elicited via using ICTs. The International Telecommunications Union has argued that the monitoring systems which use ICTs could be created to predict the effect of the manmade and natural disasters in developing as well as developed countries. For example, one important tool in the environmental planning is the Environmental sham judgment (Hayes Rajao, 2011). A developing country seeking for loans from World Bank needs to demonstrate environmental planning which is produced via an Environmental Impact Assessment. This shows that ICTs could be of assistance in this respect by, among other things, enhancing the communications between the different stakeholders in the collection of the environmental information. Apart from this stakeholder engagement, ICTs could also assist in making informed decisions, deliv ery of policy, learning and feedback as well as capacity building in the institutions (Ospina Heeks, 2011).The Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT) frameworkOne framework that can be applied is the Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT) which has recently been used by Ospina Heeks (2016) to gauge the effect on resilience of ICTs in two developing countries, Uganda and Costa Rica. Instead of trying to be a kind of cross-country benchmarking, the RABIT framework can be applied on a country-specific basis, and it would get the specific countrys representatives to undertake a discussion on the link between ICTs and the sub-properties of resilience which are rapidness, equality, diversity and flexibility, scale, self-organization, robustness, learning and redundancy. From this, the developing country representatives can derive relevance, meaning, priority and so forth, for their specific country. This can emerge to be a productive approa ch forward in looking to strengthen the link between ICTs and the resilience in developing countries. The RABIT framework is especially appropriate for developing countries since they are most vulnerable to the impacts of stressors and external shocks, including being the first to be affected by climate change as a result of lacking mitigating infrastructure. Some of the key characteristics or markers of resilience are shown in table 1 belowTable 1 Markers of resilience fit to the RABIT frameworkAttribute of resilienceMarkers Attributes that are foundationalLearningReflective thinkingCapacity buildingSelf-organizationLocal leadershipConsensus-building and collaborationRobustnessinstitutional capacityPhysical preparedness Attributes that are enablingEqualityAccountability and opennessParticipation and inclusivenessFlexibility and diversityMechanism for innovationDecision-making that is adaptable photographic plateNetworks that are intra-levelNetworks that are multi-levelRapidityReso urce mobilizationRapid detection and assessment of issuesRedundancyFunctional overlapSubstitutability of resourceAdapted from Ospina Heeks (2016, p.20)The markers are equally applicable in developing countries down to the community level. The RABIT framework can be implemented through document review followed by conducting counselling groups, semi-structured interviews and surveys on the communities in developing countries (Ospina Heeks, 2016).ICTs could be used to strengthen the resilience in the developing countries. In 2012, a report by the World Bank highlighted the roles that ICTs play in preventing the impacts of emergencies induced by climate change in the developing countries of Africa (World Bank, 2012). The report sought to achieve an understanding of the trends of ICTs impacts that could be existing in developing countries that had analogous structures of political economy, in relation to leveraging the ICT in the public sectors. From this World Bank report, GIS aids t he local governments to identify on a map, the zones that are at flood risk, gauge the vulnerability of the community towards the floods and plan for new infrastructure that would prevent floods. Some ICTs tools used include Early example Systems which were used in simulating patterns of weather and predicting disasters (World Bank, 2012). In this way, ICTs can be said to have the potential of strengthening the resilience in the developing countries. This is also referred to as e-resilience. This can be done through improving each of the attributes of resilience as noted by (Ospina Heeks, 2011) rapidity, equality, diversity and flexibility, scale, self-organization, robustness, learning and redundancy. For instance, with regards to redundancy, mobile phones or other ICTs could be used in delivering resources whereas with regards to robustness, GIS can utilised in planning where physical defences such as dykes can be located.The future and potential challenges of using the Resilien ce Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT) framework for implementing environmental sustainability practices in one developing country, TanzaniaGovernmental as well as non-governmental organizations in Tanzania report that some of the environmental problems in the country include unsustainable and illegal deforestation as most Tanzanians rely on firewood for energy needs overgrazing an unsustainable management of range due to large cattle sizes putting pressure on the natural carrying capacity of the land high levels of water and air pollution as well as unsustainable and illegal exploitation of wildlife (Mniwasa Shauri, 2001).The RABIT framework can be applied to improve environmental sustainability practices in Tanzania. The RABIT framework helps in building resilience and this presents huge opportunities for introducing tidy and lasting changes across Tanzania with regards to environmental sustainability practices. ICTs can support the relevance of the RABIT framewor k in Tanzania. There is an increasing penetration of mobile phone usage in Tanzania, more than any other ICT in the country (Van Genuchten, 2012 Fox, 2004). There has also been a rise in social media use in Tanzania, and this has especially helped with the rapidity attribute of the RABIT framework. Users can generate the content on where they see environmental degradation activities. The fast pace of the uptake and penetration of mobile telephony in Tanzania has supported many breakthrough ideas in environmental sustainability, as was observed by Fox (2004).However, these developments have been accompanied by considerable challenges and potential threats to the cleverness of ICT in supporting the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices, in Tanzania. One such challenge lies in the scale and sustainability of the programs initiated. The initiatives are relatively ad-hoc and happen in individual isolated regions of Tanzania, such as the study by Fox (2004) which concen trated the initiatives in only in the regions of Usangu Catchment, Ihefu Wetland and Great Ruaha River Ecosystem. As such, thus there are very limited large-scale and sustainable ICT-supported initiatives taking place in Tanzania. In order to bring out the total potential of ICT in the country, there needs to be a new inter-regional collaboration in order to enlarge the scale of the impacts.A second challenge in Tanzania is in the pace of change of ICTs. Technology is a very dynamic concept, and one thing that might work perfectly today may be rendered rare in few years (Chiabai et al., 2013). For instance, mobile telephone calls have largely replaced radio calls in regions of Tanzania that had inexistent telephone landlines (Van Genuchten, 2012), and in turn mobile phone calls are increasingly being replaced by instant messaging apps such as Whatsapp (Shearman, Olomi, Patel, 2013). This has happened in a space of less than ten years, all with the aim of achieving better efficienc y. Similarly, radio communication which was popular in Tanzania where landline infrastructure was non-existent has increasingly been replaced by mobile telephony (Balijepalli et al., 2010).The costs involved in replacing the out of date ICTs could be challenging to a poor country like Tanzania, especially if incurred on a large scale.Conclusion and RecommendationsThe paper has observed that an intricate relationship exists between ICT and the environment. This is due to the observation that ICTs could have both positive and negative roles with regards to the environment. Some of the positive roles have been demonstrated to be better energy efficiency, recycling and substitution for travel/transport negative roles have been demonstrated to be energy consumption, increasing amounts of e-waste such as from discarded CRT monitors and low life cycle of the products. Being a medium for networking and information, it has been demonstrated that ICT has the capability of enabling citizens i n the developing countries to adopt the role of environmental enforcement agents and alert the authorities to acts of environmental infringement. A host of important environmental aspects have been identified whereby ICT could be used and as such enhance environmental sustainability. ICT plays significant role in environmental studies as it offers an unprecedented capability to collecting and processing environmental data environmental observation through tools such as remote sensing, telemetric systems among others mitigating climate change through activities such as developing smart grid in China and India easing environmental pressure through environmental modelling software as well as grid computing adaptation to climate change through tools such as Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) technology transfer as a result of the Bali Action Plan planning and environmental strategy through tools such as the Environmental Impact Assessment, and building resilience through ra pidity, equality, diversity and flexibility, scale, self-organization, robustness, learning and redundancy. In future, the technologies that are likely to support these ICT activities in developing countries with respect to environmentally sustainable practices include mobile telephony, internet, social media, digital data, cloud computing and increasing presence of smartphones. Challenges lie in the scale and sustainability of the programs initiated as well as the promptly shifting technology that may be expensive for the ICT initiatives in the long run. Moreover, ICT has been demonstrated to be complex and multifaceted, and its environmental impact could both be beneficial or adverse. ICT can assist in delivering the environmental sustainability goal in developing countries but there needs to be a new multi-national collaboration level in order to enlarge the scale of the impacts of the ICT initiatives in environmental sustainability practices. One framework that can be applied i s the Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT) which has recently been applied successfully in two developing countries.ReferencesAbdel-Gawadh, S.T., Kandil, M. and Sadek, T.M. (2004). Water scarcity prospects in Egypt 2000-2050. In Environmental Challenges in the Mediterranean 2000-2050 (pp. 187-203). Springer Netherlands.Adejuwon, J.O. (2008). exposure in Nigeria A national-level assessment. Climate Change and Vulnerability, pp. 198-217.Balijepalli, V.M., Khaparde, S.A., Gupta, R.P. and Pradeep, Y. (2010). SmartGrid initiatives and power market in India. In IEEE PES General Meeting (pp. 1-7). IEEE.Boccaletti, G., Lffler, M. and Oppenheim, J.M. (2008). How IT can cut carbon emissions. McKinsey Quarterly, 37, pp. 37-41.Bolton, R. and Foxon, T.J. (2011). Governing infrastructure networks for a low carbon

The Basic Economic Problem

The Basic Economic ProblemIntroductionThe basic economic caper is the scarceness of resources. People want more(prenominal) than can be met with their visible(prenominal) resources. The human necessarily atomic number 18 unlimited because they grow and evolve while the means of fulfilling the needfully (financial assets) are limited (Stiglitz 1992 48). The effort to overcome the relative lack of goods, in other delivery to solve the economic problem is the basis of the economic employment of people. If the satisfaction of a need does not digest a shortage of the appropriate resource, the action for the acquisition of this instrument is not classified as economic. The effort, for example, for dream of air lacks is not an economic action because the air is in abundance.The economic goods, of course, are not created on their own. It is the result of peoples effort that use whatever is available to them, to create resources that meet the ask i.e. the goods. The elements that are necessary for the creation of goods are called productive assets. Consequently, when it is said that economic goods are in relative scarcity or shortage, in fact it is meant that there is a scarcity of productive assets (nature, labor, capital).The problem of scarcity of resources has as a result the allocation of resources. In other words the process of the selection of needs to be met and the amount of resources used to meet them. Thus economics is a friendly science, which deals with how society allocates scarce resources among unlimited wants and needs (Wilson Clark 199921). The question that arises is how people allocate scarce resources to get the most value.Scarcity of business assetsThe scarcity of the asset nature is obvious that is due to the fact that state of matter is limited in size and productive forces.The scarcity of the asset labor is due to the limited number of people able to work and to the fact that all(prenominal) person can only work a certain number of hours a day.The asset capital is the result of nature and labor and these are in scarcity, the chapter will also be in scarcity.The Basic Economic Problem and the Market MechanismThe above mentioned definition, contained in most introduction to economic scheme manuals conceals through a non historical generalization the fact that the main body of economic science has dealt with the analysis of capitalist societies which are characterized, on the one hand, by the private ownership of the means of proceeds and unequal power relations between wage labor and capital and on the other from freedom of entrepreneurial activity and the competition of capital assets in the market.According to the orthodox economic analysis, the scarcity (= failure, lack of) of resources in relation to tender needs, forces each society to lease which products should be produced and in what quantities (Gough 1979120). Moreover, the scarcity of resources means that the yield of a particular product has c osts in the form of other goods and services that could be produced in its place with the same resources spent for its production. For example, the working time and the machines that are used for car production cannot be used placed for the construction of schools.The cost of producing a product, defined as the equivalent of the cost of products that could be produced alternatively in its place, is called luck cost. Each product has an opportunity cost only when accessible resources are fully utilized. When there are idle production assets, that means productive resources are underemployed (unemployment or incomplete use of existing machines), then the production of a product has zero opportunity cost because it does not deprive already productive resources form the production of other products (Le Grand et al. 199275)The scarcity of resources and the opportunity cost impose the non-wasting of resources to maximize the product, consumption and hence social welfare. This is achieved on the one hand through the harmonization of the allocation of resources among productive uses of the social needs and preferences, and on the other through the savings of resources during the production of goods. So, the society avoids to produce useless products that nobody wants to consume or produce useful products but with more resources than those that it could use if it combined them better.The avoidance of the waste of the productive resources of society through a continuous effort of their saving and comprehensive utilization is related to the design of economic efficiency. An economy is effective when it does not waste its limited resources by producing useless products when it maximizes the produced goods by ensuring their full use and their excellent combination. Because the capitalist system has as structural component unemployment and periodic phases of overproduction or underemployment of resources, it suffers from permanent economic inefficiency (Barr 199875).A soc ial system to be cost effective is an important achievement, because it maximizes the production and consumption abilities of the society and hence social welfare. But a cost-effective social system is not necessarily fair, because social welfare can be unequally distributed among members of society. The wealth of some people can coexist with the poverty of others.The methods of analysis of the economists can be used to evaluate the different modes of economic scheme in achieving both efficiency and equity, as well as to evaluate other objectives such as the promotion of consumer choices and social solidarity. Although, as mentioned above, the determination of social goals is the result of the ideological and political confrontation, economic argumentation can contribute significantly to the process of clarifying objectives and options.Generally in capitalist societies, it is possible to have a relation of reverse ratio between the objectives of economic efficiency and social justi ce. Thats because when the employees and other social classes and strata achieve redistribution of income to their benefit, then it is possible that the profit appraise may fall, and as a consequence capital reduces the amount of investment and the rate of product slows down. So the efficiency of the economy may be decreased as a result of the redistribution of income, although the latter contributes to achieving social justice.In summary, it can be said that social welfare that is based on the satisfaction of social needs through consumption depends on the harmonization of social preferences for product consumption with the allocation of social resources in their production,the effective use of resources in goods productionthe fair distribution of income and the fair distribution of wealth, which ensure that social welfare is distributed equitably among all members of society.The harmonization of social preferences for product consumption with the distribution of social resources for their production and the efficient use of resources in the production of goods, refer directly to the goal of economic efficiency whereas the equitable distribution of income and the equitable distribution of wealth refer to social justice. The two objectives may conflict in capitalist societies.ConclusionThe economic problem is a permanent problem for human societies. In the immediate future there is neither a limitation of the needs nor a substantial increase in the resources to satisfy needs. On the contrary, indeed, as the demoralised scholars support the economic problem will become more intense.This forecast is based on three elements 1) the continuous increase in world population, 2) the depletion of brawn sources and 3) the negative effects of the production of many products in the natural environment e.g. contamination of rivers, etc.But along with such bleak prospects there is the organic evolution of technology and the possibility to find new energy sources that t end to dampen the intensity of the economic problem. However, to the degree that developments can be predicted, the basic economic problem seems to be permanent.

Microprocessor based robotics arm

Microprocessor establish zombiics armAbstractRobotic arm has become popular in the world of robotics. The essential part of the robotic arm is a programmable microprocessor. The microprocessor instituted brick capable of driving basic solelyy three stepper motors design to form an anthropomorphic structure. The first design was for experimental use on a human-size industrial robot arm called PUMA 560 which stands for Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly. This human size robot was use to explore issues in versatile object handling and accord program line in grasp actions it was done in Bejczy city in the Jan, 1986. This paper explains the method of interfacing the robotic arm stepper motors with the programmed 8051-based microprocessor which argon employ to process and control the robot operations. We have employed the assembly language in programming our microcontroller of the microprocessor. A sample robot which so-and-so grab by magnetizing and release trivial object s by demagnetizing is built for demonstrating the method explained.1. IntroductionA robotic arm is a robot manipulator which is programmable and its functions argon almost similar to that of human arm. The links of such(prenominal) a manipulator ar connected by joints allowing either rotational motion or translational displacement. Kinematic chain digest be formed by the links of the manipulator. The business end of the kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the end effecter and it is analogous to the human hand. The end effecter spateful be designed to coiffe any(prenominal) desired task such as welding, gripping, spinning etc., depending on the application. The robot harness can be autonomous or controlled manually and can be employ to perform a variety of tasks with great accuracy. The robotic arm can be fixed or mobile (i.e. wheeled) in the nature and can be designed for industrial or home applications.2. Robotic ArmThe word robotics, the meaning and the study of r obots was done by a famous foreign scientist Isaac Asimov. Robotics is a branch which involves elements of mechanical and electrical engineering in it, as well as control theory, computing and now artificial intelligence in it by which we can implement it in the dissimilar fields. According to the Robot Institute of America, A robot is a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools or specialized doojiggers through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. The way in which we are going to use robotic term in the form of arm is called as robotics arm. In order to perform any useful task the robot must interface with the environment, which may comprise feeding devices, other robots, and most significantly people. As the robot with which we are going to deal with work as arm and is therefore known as robotic arm3. Types Of Robotic ArmThere are various kinds of the robotic arm available in the market for the differe nt tasks these are as follows.i. Cartesian Robot / Gantry Robot.ii. Cylindrical Robot.iii. Spherical Robot / icy Robot.iv. SCARA Robot.v. Articulated Robot.vi. Parallel Robot.4. Block Diagram For Robotic ArmThe method employed in designing and construction of the robotic arm is based upon the operational characteristics and features of the microcontrollers of the microprocessor, stepper motors, the electronic circuit diagram and most importantly the programming of the microcontroller of the microprocessor and mainly the stepper motors.This work is able to successfully accomplish the defined functionality means it defines all the functions of the robotic arm. A sample robot which can rotate, magnetize an object, lower and raise its arm, by being controlled by the 8051 microcontroller of a microprocessor is built successfully and it was named as robotic arm. The 8051-development board is soldered and it used the required procedure for the correct operation of the controller. The 8051 development board has been interfaced to the stepper motors such that the anthropomorphic like structure can be controlled from the buttons at the base of the structure which is robotic arm. These buttons help to control the whole system of the robotic arm. These four buttons have the uncommon task from each other which is explained as follows.On/OffThe ON button puts on the system while the OFF button puts off the system. This is only the task allotted to them just to ON and to OFF the robotic arm.Start/ snap offThe START button starts the initial movement of the whole arm from its reset point, while the STOP button ca-cas the arm back to its reset button afterwards completion of its movement applied for the required task.Right-Left/Left-RightWhen this button is switched to the RIGHT-LEFT part it causes movement from undecomposed to left, while the LEFT-RIGHT part causes movement from left to right. It is used only for the right and left movement.Rotation Of 180/90When the butt on is on 180, it causes a rotation of 180 degree of the base stepper motor, but when put on 90 degrees, it causes rotation of 90 degrees. It means it is used for the 90 and 180 degree rotations.5. Mechanical Structure Of The ArmFor the construction of any kind of the robot we must have any kind of the idea over which we have to work for its construction. Same is the case of the robotic arm for its construction we need its mechanical structure. In constructing our robotic arm, we made use of three stepper motors and gears since our structure is a three dimensional structure. A typical prototype that we employed for the construction of our robotic arm. There is a stepper motor at the base of the arm, which is used for circular movement of the whole structure for the easiness of the task another stepper is at the articulatio humeri which allows for upward and downward movement of the arm again used according to the task given to the robotic arm while the last stepper motor is used at t he wrist which allows for the picking of objects by the magnetic hand.6. Robotic Arm Design ProcessIt includes various points related to the designing of the microprocessor based robotics arm. All those points which explain them are as followsDefining The Problemi. Identifying the purpose of a construction.ii. Identifying specific requirements.A community wants to construct a robotic arm. Design and build a prototype device which could satisfy this need. Design and build a prototype device which could satisfy this need. You need to determine what problem you are trying to solve before you onslaught to design and build a robotic arm to solve a problem.Researching And Designingi. Gathering information.ii. Identifying specific details of the design which must be satisfied.iii. Identifying possible and utility(a) design solutions.iv. Planning and designing an appropriate structure which includes drawings.Creating A Prototypei. exam the design.ii. Troubleshooting the design.Building Y our RobotConstruction work can now begin. here(predicate) are some sites that help withi. Structure.ii. Gear combinations.iii. Arm mechanisms.iv. Placing sensors.v. Hints and tricks.vi. The Art of LEGO Design by Fred Martin an excellent resource for building very strong structures.Programming And Testing Your RobotNow it is time to program your robot. This can be achieved in many different ways. Use can achieve rudimentary intelligence in your robot by using only relays, potentiometers, bump switches and some discrete components. You can increase complexity in intelligence in your robot by adding more sensors and continuing in the similar vein of using hardwired logic. By introducing a more sophisticated control element, the microprocessor, you introduce a significant bracing tool in solving the robot control problem.Evaluating Your Roboti. Evaluate the design.ii. Evaluate the planning process.As building and programming work progresses, and the design begins to take shape, you will automatically carry out tests on the design. You will also need to complete systems tests at various stages of the construction. If any of the tests show that you have trial in a joint, or that part of your structure is not meeting specifications, then you will have to nark modifications in your plan. When building and programming is complete, the absolute project must be tested to see if it does the job for which it was designed. An evaluation needs to then be written. This should be a statement outlining the strengths and weaknesses in your design. It should mention where you have succeeded and where you have failed to achieve the aims set out in the specifications.7. Overall Arm DesignThe two arms used both have sestet degrees of freedom, and are mounted on the humanoid robot cog. The arms are mirror image of one another. The kinematics of the arm is designed to be similar as that of the human arm. There are two joints each at shoulder, elbow and wrist although the axis of the first elbow joint is coincident with the co-axes of the shoulder joints. The arms has length same as that of the length of the human arm.8. Market Applications Of Robotics ArmApplications of robotic arm are very effective in the market world. There are various fields where there is a deemed need of the robotic arm these can be explained as follows.AutomotiveRobotic arm can be used in different ways in the automotive field.i. Power train Controlii. Body Electronicsiii. Driver Information Systemsiv. Chassisv. Safetyvi. Automotive NetworkingConsumerRobotic arm can be used in different ways in the consumers.i. Mobile Consumer Electronicsii. Home ElectronicsIndustrialRobotic arm can be used in different ways in the industrial field.i. Factory Automationii. Building Controliii. Meteringiv. Medicalv. Point of Sale/Kiosksvi. Home AppliancesMedicalRobotic arm can be used in different ways in the medical field.i. Home Portableii. Diagnostics and Therapyiii. Imagingiv. Intelligent Hosp italsNetworkingRobotic arm can be used in different ways in the networking field.i. Network Securityii. Home and SOHO Networkingiii. Network Storage9. Future-ScopeThe scope of this work for manufacturing of robotics arm involves confirming the 8051 micro-controller of microprocessor. Input/ issue (I/O) signals are compatible with that of the robotic arm stepper motors and testing of the robots motor signals through programming the 8051 microcontroller of the microprocessor. Assembly programming is used to develop the programs for the EPROM 2732 on the 8051 micro-controller of the microprocessor curriculum that takes robots motor signal as I/O and controls the robot operation programmatically. We have assumed that after figuring out the interface issues for the Robot with the 8051 microcontroller, the same knowledge can be extended to make very complex robots with enhanced functionality. With the technique used in the manufacturing of the robotic arm we can also make other robots fo r the different tasks.ConclusionFinally from this topic we can conclude a robotic arm is an instrument by means of which we can do any kind of the task and use it in the way in which manner we want to solve the task. The controlling software used in this robotic arm can be general for any kind of robot arm and set of sensors. This paper introduces a set of design principles which seek to reduce robotic applications design and murder time so reducing the errors present in any practical implementation as well. Experiments show that the solution presented in this paper, although its limitations, allow the robotic applications designer to surrender development time while keeping the overall complexity low. There exists open-source applications which handle similar problems but they are not well fitted for lower-ranking control applications. We have learnt that because of limitations in the programming language used to develop the application and the final application itself is highly sensitive to implementation issues. Also, to completely swear the design principles it would be necessary to evaluate the effort required to design a control application for multiple and heterogeneous platforms.AcknowledgementI give thanks GOD almighty for guiding me throughout the term paper. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the completion of the term paper and helped me with valuable suggestions for improvement. I am extremely grateful to Mr. JAGDEEP SINGH, Department of ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS, for providing me with best facilities and atmosphere for the creative work guidance and encouragement. I thank all my friends for extending their cooperation during my term paper. Above all I would like to thank my parents without whose blessings I would not have been able to accomplish my goal.ReferencesThe references for the term paper given to me are as followswww.robotics.com (Robotics history, background)www.orca-robotics.com (Robot controlling)www.wik ipedia.com (microprocessor based robotics arm)www.google.com (Seminar musical theme on robotic arm)www.google.com (applications of robotics arm)

The Pre-Raphaelites Essay -- Europe European History Essays

Pre-Raphaelites, a group made up of 19th-century English painters, poets, and critics whos behave responded towards the practice of Victorian and neoclassical subject mater by developing bright imitations of religious work. More specifically, and of the most beautiful are the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite conglutination and their followers, bright and clear colours, fair women and themes from myths and legends.(Darkamber 1). The groups source of inspiration came from early Renaissance painters and mediaeval times. This was up until the time of the famous, well cognise, Raphael. Raphael was an Italian painter who imitated his teachers work so carefully that it was very difficult to decipher the two. His work also entailed architecture as did the Pre-Raphaelites. Another group that influenced the Pre-Raphaelites was the Nazarenes. They were young German artistic productionists who attempted to incorporate ideas from medieval Christian religion. The Nazarenes principles were accu racy, a new look at the medieval past and intensity of feeling, both human literary and religious(Darkamber 1). They formed a jointure in Rome which resembled and helped lead to break in of the foundation that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was built on.The PRB was started by Dante Gabriel Ros rearti in 1848. William Michael Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, Frederick George Stephens, James Collinson, and Thomas Woolner were also part of the brotherhood. The group was composed of painters, sculpters, critics and poets. During their time the PRB started to copy significant styles of painting. Art sometimes is looked at being difficult to understand. The Royal honorary society, which was founded in 1768, was the identity of British art which used dark melanc... ...e PRB, was still acclaimed for his work as a portrait artist in the years to follow and was made president of the Royal Academy in 1896, the last year of his life (McMullins, PRB, 8).The Pre-Raphaelites took two forms of art, verbal and visual, used the two together and expressed the beauty in their art more efficiently. The PRB rebelled against the standards set by the contemporaries of the time period. They faced criticism from the Royal Academy, the Public eye, and influential men like Charles Dickens. On the other hand well known art critic John Ruskin defended the PRBs positive ideas. As for the people of the time, they are now looked back upon as being stuck up and snobbish. Still today the ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites live on. Thus the Pre-Raphaelites have left few lasting traces on modern thought, literature, art or social organization(Gaunt 287).

Blind Ambition in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay -- Frankenstein es

Blind Ambition in Mary Shelleys FrankensteinMary Shelley, the renowned author of Frankenstein, explores the consequences of man and monster chasing ambition blindly. maestro Frankenstein discovered the secret that allowed him to create life. His understanding of how bodies operated and the science of human anatomy enabled him to make this discovery and apply it to the creation of his monster. Walton wished to sail to the arctic because no skimmer has ever reached it. The monster was created against his will, his ambition was to avenge his creation as a hideous outcast. These three characters were all driven by the same blind ambition. later Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victors unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. ...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished... (Shelley 51). Victor s ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. I now also began to absorb the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture... (Shelley 169). Victors raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man. The monster was created against his wi... ...the downfall of Frankenstein and the monster. Frankenstein establish the secret to life, though he applies his gained knowledge and ambition to his own selfish goals, which wind up destroying him and those closest to him. Walton has somethi ng in common with Frankenstein his ambition to achieve something that no man has ever accomplished before. The difference between Victor and Walton is tat Walton decides to turn back. The monster on the other hand never wanted some(prenominal) fame or glory his ambition was motivated by the thirst for revenge. Ultimately even Frankenstein, on his deathbed, realized the harsh consequences of his actions. Victor states, Seek happiness in tranquility, and avoid ambition... (Shelley 229). Work Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992