The impact of the internet Essay Example for Free

The impact of the internet Essay 1. INTRODUCTION The Internet has taken the business community by storm since the early 1990s. When the community realised the potentiality of the Internet they hailed it as the most transforming invention in history. It has the ability to completely change the way business is being done. And, it is doing so at a feverish pace, turning business upside down and inside out (The Economist 1999). Information Technology (IT) experts went on to use the Internet technology to spin off the Intranet and Extranet to enhance business competition. Together with the Internet, their innovative implementations were able to provide competitive advantage for a company. The Internet, Intranet and Extranet collectively have dramatically affected business. A growing number of corporations believe in the technologys potential to lower cost, add value, improve productivity and create new business opportunities (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2001). So much has been written about the Internet, Intranet and Extranet. What exactly are they? What are their impacts on current business practices and activities? This report seeks to address these questions in the Trading Process Network, a business tool that integrates the Internet, Intranet and Extranet technologies. First, the report introduces the Internet, Intranet and Extranet. Then, it goes on to provide a brief description of the Trading Process Network. Subsequently, the study proceeds to critically review the positive and negative impacts of the Trading Process Network on current business practices and activities. It concludes with some key findings resulting from the positive impact and then provides some suggestions to overcome the negative impacts. 2. INTERNET, INTRANET AND EXTRANET. The Internet technology has risen so fast in the last ten years that it is now considered a business necessity. The Star (2004), a local newspaper, published the figure below summarising the history of the Internet. (source: Star 2004) Figure 1: History of the Internet. Presently, business corporations all over the world are scrambling to implement this technology to take advantage of its impact on their business practices and activities. The Internet The Internet is a dynamic group of computer networks that interconnect computers around the globe (Comer 1997). It is a network of networks thus a powerful form of information and communication technology. Figure 2 illustrates the Internet setup. (source: GE Lighting, www.gelighting.com) Figure 2: The Internet network Computers linking to the Internet communicate by using a common Internet protocol to disseminate information across computers (Kambil 1995). Users of the Internet can communicate electronically, retrieve information and interact with other computers. Therefore, Kambil (1995) said that the Internet is basically used for: * Electronic mail and news services * File transfer to and from remote computers * World Wide Web * Telnet the ability to use remote computers The World Wide Web is the information space for storing and retrieving hypertext documents on the Internet through a unique addressing scheme (Schaper Volery 2002). Often, the Internet is known as the World Wide Web or Information Superhighway because of its superior information reservoir. Any information placed on public web servers can be viewed by anyone with Web access using a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer (Bullock et al. 1997). The Intranet. The Intranet is an internal corporate communication networks riding on the transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP/IP) (Szuprowicz 1997). (source: GE Lighting, www.gelighting.com) Figure 3: The Intranet network It is designed for staff use only and does not to allow outsiders access. The intranet hooks into corporate databases giving the individual users access to all this data through the standard Web browsers that access Web pages on the Internet (Competia n.d. in Knowlegdepoint 2002). Although the Intranet still allows company employees access to the Internet, outsiders are prevented from entering the internal corporate sites by security features (see Figure 3). The Extranet. An extranet is an extension of the Intranet that is partially accessible to authorised distributors, suppliers, customers and business partners (Long and Long 2005). Simply, an extranet is set up on the same TCP/IP network as the Intranet which allows outsiders access to that same internal corporate information (Bullock et al. 1997). Refer to Figure 4. (source: GE Lighting, www.gelighting.com) Figure 4: The Extranet network Like a private business club, the extranet centralises business transaction by using the same user-friendly technology that has made the Internet a global network. Its members can include companies of all sizes located in virtually every corner of the world (GE Information Services 1999). The Hierarchy. The Internet is the conceptual incubator of both intranets and extranets, and universal connectivity has liberated corporate communications practices (Franklin Jr. 1997). Though they are all Internet and Web based technologies, there are differences between them such as: * The type of information each are designed to disseminate * The targeted group of people allow to access the information * Security Table 1 below compares some of the common differences: Information Type Targeted Group Security Internet general general public lacking Intranet corporate employee moderate Extranet specific to business selected outsiders good Table 1: Common differences between Internet and Web based technologies Wailgum (1998, p. 1) appropriately summed up the differences with this statement: First there was the Internet, which is available for everyone to use. Then businesses got smart and started developing their own intranets that used the same friendly Web interface but put up firewalls so that only employees could see the information on the site. Finally, the extranet was created. It finds itself somewhere in between. Theres still a firewall, but you allow only selected outsiders, such as business partners and customers, inside. Following the differences, the structural hierarchy can actually be illustrated as shown in Figure 5 below: (source: Bullock et al. 1997) Figure 5: The Internet hierarchy The Internet, the World Wide Web and Internet-based technologies such as intranets and extranets provide global links to a businesss customers and suppliers. This allows electronic commerce (e-commerce) applications (Schaper Volery 2002). Phil Gibson, director of interactive marketing at National Semiconductor, is blunt about the importance of the Internet, Intranet and Extranet to the applications when he said, Without all the nets, you just cant do that. (Franklin Jr. 1997). 3. THE TRADING PROCESS NETWORK. The Trading Process Network (TPN) is a technology that integrates the Internet, Intranet and Extranet into a package to revolutionise the way  business is done. It is pioneered by General Electric (GE), a well diversified company with business in technology (aircraft engine, plastics, power generators and consumer electronics) and services (financial services, television broadcasting and medical and science services) (General Electric 2004). (source: General Electric, www.ge.com) GEs leadership in management has long been recognised and progressive. Many of its successful business portfolio management, strategic planning, quality initiatives, employee empowerment and business process reengineering are business models for companies worldwide ( 1997). Jack Welch, GE former chief executive officer, anticipated the potential threat of the Internet. He told the MRO Today magazine (Arnold 2001, p. 1) that: Its like any big change. You can look at it in one of two ways: as an opportunity or as something to fear. You have to have a certain amount of fear to see the opportunities. The Internet is all about getting information from its source to the user without intermediaries. The new measurement is how fast information gets from its origin to users and how much unproductive data gathering, expediting, tracking orders and the like can be eliminated. Seeing reality today means accepting the fact that e-business is here. Its not coming. Its not the thing of the future. Its here. The challenge is to resolve issues in the context of the new Internet reality. Tentativeness in action can mean being cut out of markets, perhaps not by traditional competitors but by companies never heard of 24 months ago. GEs challenge is to leverage the Internet technology as a strategic weapon at a corporate level to change its business practices and activities. It started developing the TPN in 1995 as just an internal GE Intranet using an Oracle7.2 database server with a Netscape Communications commerce server and custom software developed by GE. One year later, it developed to include the Extranet. Full integration with the Internet occurred in 1998 when GE, Thomas Publishing Company and Oracle together created a data registry accessible via the web to search out suppliers of such goods or services. The database lists over 60,000 products from about 6,000 vendors and it took six IT people three months to create ( 1997; 1998; Linthicum 1996; 1997; n.d.). Figure 6 shows a typical TPN concept. (source: Bullock et al 1997) Figure 6: A typical Trading Process Network model. Basically, the TPN allows GE to call for tenders and manages bids from suppliers around the world via the web. Using the TPN Intranet software and other standard office applications, GE creates a set of tender documents with a response form. GE then searched the TPN Internet database for suppliers and decides whom it would like to receive a quotation. The tender documentation is forwarded to the list of prospective suppliers through the TPN Extranet. Suppliers who are interested in bidding began to download the call for tender and passed back to the TPN upon completion. GE may then access and evaluate them anytime ( n.d.). The TPN is so successful that many corporations wasted no time in emulating GEs initiative by creating their own version of the TPN. Today, many corporations have implemented the TPN system in one form or another. For example, Tesco developed the Tesco Information Exchange that linked the retailer with all its suppliers to increase product availability and reduce wastage (GE Information Services 1999). Presently, GE is also commercially offering its TPN technology comprehensively to companies around the world ( n.d.). Its global implementation has impacted business practices and activities which shall be discussed shortly. 4. POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE TPN ON BUSINESS. Since the TPN is a collaboration of the three web-based technologies, it is essential to critically review the positive impact of the three technologies on current business practices and activities separately. Many of the evidences presented here are taken from the impact on GEs business practices and activities. This is because as the world most admired company (General Electric 2004), GEs business practices and activities has been acknowledged and adopted globally as role models. The TPN Internet Impact. As an Internet solution to conduct business electronically and simplify business processes like purchasing, selling and marketing, the TPN impacts business practices and activities in many ways (http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/depts/mnss/courses/ 456/cases/geis.htm n.d.). Some of these impacts are listed on the Computing Insights website (, n.d.): * Instantaneous Communication. The Internet establishes immediate communication between companies and their prospects, customers, and employees without waiting and down time. It is a very fast and efficient method of communication, with messages arriving anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds (Schapel Volery 2002). By taking advantage of this the TPN enables GE to evaluate suppliers bids and award within the same day and orders may start arriving to the supplier within 24 hours ( 1997). Speed in despatching specialised information enhances service relationship thus providing superior service (Khambil 1995). * Global Access. The worldwide reach of the Internet opens the door to unlimited business opportunities by instantly placing it in any office or any home. Business  websites are doors to businesses that never close. Information about products and services are accessible anytime. The web is ideal for providing whole year round self-services ( 1998). GE Lightings 46 plants around the world procure materials and parts from more than 25,000 suppliers globally. By utilising the TPN, GE Lighting has electronic access to this list. With only a set of catalogues and documents GE Lighting obtained multiple feedbacks instantaneously ( 1997). Furthermore, the TPN provides global access to Gary Reiner, CIO of GE to monitor GEs mission operations once every 15 minutes across the companys 13 different businesses around the globe with different time zones (Lindorff 2002). * Instantaneous Customisation The Internet keeps businesses in the fast lane by offering goods and services in real time thus providing individual company the ability to tailor to the needs of customers. According to Barua et al. (n.d.), Dell Computer implemented an online supply chain management application which is somewhat similar to the TPN to help its component suppliers increase the accuracy of their forecasts by providing them access to direct customer order information. This way Dells suppliers can customised their products to Dell customers needs. Frantz (2000, p. 2) provided another example from GE Aircraft Engines: GE Aircraft Engines maintenance and overhaul market frequently requires decision on retention, rebuilding or discarding a worn part. Previously, the worn part was sent to the customer to be evaluated or the repairs had to wait until a customers representative could inspect it at GE, often taking many days. Today, a new customised part can be graphically transmitted over the TPN and quickly evaluated by the customer before installation. * New Distribution Channels. The Internet can rapidly reduce the time to market for new products because direct distribution shortens the path to markets. Electronic commerce can be used to find the best deal from distributors in terms of time and cost (Schapel Volery 2002). The TPN is a secure electronic commerce environment that supports the business-to- business buying and selling of goods and services. It provides GE the ability to find new distributors based upon the database records ( n.d.). Home Depot is one such distributor when it set up a TPN form of Internet application that enables GE appliances purchased at Home Depot to be delivered directly to consumers homes from the nearest GE warehouse (Barua et al. n.d.). * E-Shopping The Internet enables many companies to create an electronic shopping environment that enables users to browse, review, select and purchase products instantly. It is a revolutionary business tool, guaranteed to attract new, web-knowledgeable customers who buy everything online (Schapel Volery 2002). This is the TPNs primary solution where the TPN Marketplace provides purchasing professionals access to a searchable catalogue of GE goods and services including pricing and contract terms in a standardised format (Mark 2001). The TPN Intranet Impact. By allowing company staff exclusive access to corporate information electronically, the TPN Intranet positively impacts current business practices and activities. Some of these impacts are mentioned in the  Vialogix website (Vialogix n.d.): * Increase productivity. The Intranet has the ability to increase staff productivity. According to the Vialogix website, many companies have invested in intranets to boost productivity and encourage knowledge sharing. Its to have tools aimed at productivity, at letting employees do their jobs better and more efficiently, says Pam Wickham, e-business public relations manager and manager of GE (USA Today (Tech Report) 2001). Bill Snook, a sales manager at GE Energy Services in Canada said his TPN Intranet sales portal home page is the gateway to all the applications that he has. Anthes (2003, p. 2) reported Snook as saying: Before I used to go from one application to another to search for things randomly and each required a separate sign-on and password. The new portal has made multitasking much more efficient and has increased face time with customers. In May 2001, IBM launched its TPN offshoot known as the WorldJam where its 52,600 employees worldwide convened online to swap ideas on how to work faster without undermining quality (Fast Company 2001 in Vialogix n.d.). * Reduced paperwork. When employees communicate through the Intranet they effectively reduce the amount of paperwork required such as internal memos, invoices and printed company newsletters. Forbes (2001 in Vialogix n.d.) reported that GE processed 3.1 million paper invoices in 2000. Today, half of those invoices are processed digitally. John Rice, the chief executive of GE Transportation system, confirmed this fact when he said that the 1 million pieces of paper GE faxes to suppliers  each year are going to go away (GE Transportation System 2000). * More informed/empowered employees. There are many types of competitive or business intelligence information that can be included on an Intranet. Users can easily navigate and locate this information using the point-and-click hyperlinking technology (Linthicum 1996) to be informed and empowered. General Electric uses the TPN to manage its business intelligence by keeping its globally dispersed workforce informed. In a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, more than 85% said the intranet is useful for disseminating information (USA Today (Tech Report) 2001) Szuprowicz (1997, p. 7) found out that the information available in the TPN are: Annual report of the company, financial data and business information designed to allow employees to manage their own investments. In addition, GE provides employees direct access to the GE travel centre which allows them to schedule their own business trips. * Savings in expenditure. Companies exploit the inexpensive Intranet web technology for in-house applications. Since the web applications use only a single browser, training is less. Moreover, implementation costs are considerably low due to a single interface, protocol and middleware architecture (Linthicum 1996). In a 1997 survey, American Express discovered the magnitude of the savings (Fast Company 2001 in Vialogix n.d.): It was found that at a typical company where paper still predominated, the average cost of handling a single expense account was #36 or more. After switching to a similar TPN approach the cost reduced to as little as $8 per  account. * Connects users across disparate platforms. The TPN Intranet is a new dynamic client/server application development platform for corporate applications that uses open standards such as TCP/IP, HTTP, HTML, CGI, ODBC and Java to connect heterogeneous database (Linthicum 1996). Venki Rao, an IT leader in GE Power Systems, said that the TPN sales portal software has an open architecture and is flexible, making it especially easy to connect all the different platforms (Anthes 2003). USA Today (Tech Report) (2001, p. 1) reported that after GE revamped its Intranet last year, 10 million visitors a week used it: By connecting all its disparate platforms through the TPN, GE employees can now create personalised pages, read industry-specific news or check the weather. They also can download tax forms and review benefits information. An online marketplace offers discounts on GE appliances, Dell computers and other products.

The Negatives of Cosmetic Surgery Essay Example for Free

The Negatives of Cosmetic Surgery Essay Cosmetic Surgery, the thing that people get but ends up going totally wrong. Many people are against cosmetic surgery for many reason, health risk, the surgens that perform the surgery and many more. Let’s learn further more about cosmetic surgery and other risk it has. What is cosmetic surgery? Cosmetic Surgery the reshaping of body parts through surgical procedures. Common cosmetic surgery procedures include breast reduction or enlargement, facelift, hair replacement, and liposuction. Cosmetic surgery is done to approve the appearance of a person’s normal body structures. It also improve the appearance of a person and there body parts that are damaged by congenital defects, injury, burns, tumors, or diseases. But with all being done this can also lead to health risk as well. With this comes health risk, many reason why people are so against getting this done is because of the after math once you get the surgery done. For example as with any surgery, there is a risk of postoperative complications. Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, lung disease, or obesity are at higher than average risk of developing pneumonia or having a stroke, a heart attack, or blood clots in the legs or lungs after surgery. Other risks include bleeding, infection, skin breakdown, or accumulation of clear fluid (seroma) or blood (hematoma) beneath the incision (Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection). Sometimes cosmetic surgery don’t produce the results the patient desires. This is often a problem with with the skill of the surgeon. There is always the negative impact of having a surgery done and being unhappy with the results. For example, people can botox, lip injections, tummy tucks, liposucstion, etc. after getting it done and during the processe they look horrible from what they did before they go the procedures.The outcome may have been exactly what the physician described, but the patient still is unhappy with the results. Another prime  example is when after surgery the doctor write’s up a proscription for the patient to esse the pain but if anyone knew, doctor’s like over medicate their patience. There are some people that can be addicated to pain killers

Software crisis

Software crisis INTRODUCTION: Since last 20-25 years, there has been a rapid increase in the development of programs using a computer. Also, the difficulty level of software has increased to a greater extent. In other words, a drastic change has occurred in the development of computer programs. In order to make the programs more and more predictable, different types of patterns have been created. But the software industry is still many years away from becoming a mature engineering discipline. Even in todays society, software is viewed with suspicion by many individuals, such as senior managers and customers, as something similar to black magic. The result is that software is one of the most difficult artifacts of the modern world to develop and build. Developers work on techniques that cannot be measured or reproduced. All this, lead to a new concept called software crisis. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world, and it continues unabated. As the nature of software is that it is intangible, malleable, and intellectually intensive and has trivial replication. Our ultimate goal is to make quality software-on time and within budget which can be achieved through application of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation and maintenance of the software. SOFTWARE CRISIS The difficulty of writing the code for a computer program which is correct and understandable is referred to as software crisis. The term software crisis revolves around three concepts: complexity, change and the expectations. This term was given by F. L. Bauer at the first NATO Software Engineering Conference in 1968 at Garmisch, Germany. Current System design approach is exceedingly empirical. It is unable to cope with increasing systems complexity. A number of problems in software development were identified in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The problems that software projects encountered were: the projects ran over-budget, caused damage to property even to life. Despite our rapid progress, the software industry is considered by many to be in a crisis. Some 40 years ago, the term Software Crisis emerged to describe the software industrys inability to provide customers with high quality products on schedule. In general it refers to poorly written, hard to read, error-prone software that often lacks good documentation. Software crisis is also referred to the inability to hire enough qualified programmers. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world and it continues unabated. The most visible symptoms of the software crisis are late delivery, over budget; Product does not meet specified requirements, inadequate documentation. One of the most serious complaints against software failure is the inability to estimate with acceptable accuracy the cost, resources, and schedule necessary for a software project. Conventional assessment methods have always produced positive results which contribute to the too well-known cost infested and schedule slippage. As the world becomes more and more dependent on computers and as the complexity of software systems continues to rise, the crisis can only get worse. It is particularly severe in vital segments of the economy such as the health and financial services, and the transportation, manufacturing, communication, power generation, and defen se industries. Software Crisis in terms of statistics in 1990s * 31 % of projects canceled * 52.7% cost an average of 189% over budget * 84% are late or over budget (91% for large companies.) * The average system is delivered without 58% of proposed functionalities * $81 billion in 1995 for cancelled projects * $51 billion in 1995 for over-budget projects Only 16.2% of software projects are completed on-time and on-budget. In larger companies, a meager 9% of technology projects come in on-time and on-budget. In addition, about one third of all projects will be canceled before they ever get completed. Further results indicate 53% of projects will cost an average of 189% of their original estimates. In financial terms this analysis revealed that over $100 billion in cancellations and $60 billion in budget over runs occur in the Software Sector annually. CAUSES Software engineering today is in severe crisis. The situation is particularly grim because this crisis is not widely acknowledged by the software development industry. The causes of software crisis were linked to the overall complexity of the software process and the relative immaturity of software engineering as a profession. The main reason for the crisis is the lack of a sound software construction methodology with which to manage the high complexity of modern applications. The notion of a software crisis emerged at the end of the 1960s. An early use of the term is in Edsger Dijkstras ACM Turing Award Lecture, The Humble Programmer (EWD340), given in 1972 and published in the Communications of the ACM. Dijkstra says, The major cause of the software crisis is] that the machines have become several orders of magnitude more powerful! To put it quite bluntly: as long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem. Edsger Dijkstra * The cost of owning and maintaining software in the 1980s was twice as expensive as developing the software. * During the 1990s, the cost of ownership and maintenance increased by 30% over the 1980s. * In 1995, statistics showed that half of surveyed development projects were operational, but were not considered successful. * The average software project overshoots its schedule by half. * Three quarters of all large software products delivered to the customer are failures that are either not used at all, or do not meet the customers requirements. To explain the present software crisis in simple words, consider the following. The expenses that organizations all around the world are incurring on software purchases compared to those on hardware purchases have been showing a worrying trend over the years. Not only are the software products turning out to be more expensive than hardware, but they also present a host of other problems to the customers: software products are difficult to alter, debug, and enhance; use resources no optimally; often fail to meet the user requirements; are far from being reliable; frequently crash; and are often delivered late. Among these, the trend of increasing software costs is probably the most important symptom of the present software crisis. Software crisis: The present scenario The Software Crisis began 4 decades ago and continues today. In the 60s, we began to speak of a software crisis. A thirty year long crisis was beginning. A world-wide research effort also began. Today, the situation is quite different. We have a Science of Programming. We know a great deal about how to design and document software, but the Software Crisis continues unabated! The software crisis continues because the communication between Computer Scientists and those who write software, including the Engineers, has been very poor. Current software standards, are weak, superficial, and are not based on software science. Process oriented standards are empty because there are no product/document standards. SOLUTION Over the last twenty years many different paradigms have been created in attempt to make software development more predictable and controllable. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. One of the possible solutions to the software crisis is the study of software engineering. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements in the software engineering discipline itself. Software engineering is concerned with all aspects of software production from the early stages of system specification through to maintaining the system after it has gone into use. As a solution to this software crisis, we must apply a disciplinary artistry; using tools that help us manage this complexity. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. But still, there is no single approach which will prevent all the consequences of software crisis in all cases. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. It is our human inability to deal with complexity that lies at the root of the software crisis. It has been noted frequently that we are experiencing a software crisis, characterized by our inability to produce correct, reliable software within budget and on time. No doubt, many of our failures are caused by the inherent complexity of the software development process, for which there often is no analytical description. Through the use of computer-aided symbolic specification techniques and simulation, and with an understanding of the software development process, the skilled systems engineer can contribute to the resolution of the software crisis. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. In software engineering, the possible solution to software metrics is the use of proper software metrics and the proper utilization of these metrics. For the implementation of this solution to the problem of software crisis some pre-requisites are there. They are: 1. Knowledge of basic statistics and experimental design. 2. Basic understanding of commonly used software life cycle models, at least to the level covered in an introductory senior or graduate-level software engineering course. 3. Experience working as a team member on a software development project. In addition, for maximum utility in analytic studies and statistical analyses, metrics should have data values that belong to appropriate measurement scales. Software engineering is still a very young discipline. There are encouraging signs that we are beginning to understand some of the basic parameters that are most influential in the processes of software production. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects which are delivered late must adopt the following methodology: Project Planning Scheduling Project planning means creating work breakdown, and then allocate responsibilities to the developers over time. Project planning consists of construction of various tasks, timelines and essential pathways including Gantt charts and PERT charts and different written plans for various situations. It is quite usual in software development process to work backward from the project end date which results in complete software project failure. It is impossible that a project can be completed efficiently from the planning stage to the implementation stage. Allocation of roles and responsibilities has to be clearly defined. Proper scheduling is also required before the start of the project. It includes the time scheduling, teams scheduling. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects running out of budget, cost estimation methodology must be applied: Cost Estimation Cost estimation is mainly involved the cost of effort to produce the software project. But its not limited to the effort only. It also includes the hardware and software cost, training the employees and customer, travelling to the customer, networking and communication costs. Cost estimation should be done as a part of the software process model. Cost estimation needs to be done well before the start of the project development. Failure of the budgeting for the cost of the project results in complete disaster. Development tools, cost and hardware cost also need to be estimated first. ÃÆ'Ëœ In order to cope up with the increasing system complexity, risk management should be applied: Risk Management Risk management is an important factor towards software project failure if its not managed timely and effectively. As nothing can be predicted that what will happen in future so we have to take the necessary steps in the present to take any uncertain situation in the future. Risk management means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis. Project managers have to identify the areas where the risk can be and how it can affect the development of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or non technical. After the risk is identified there is a need to make the categories of that risk. Risk analysis is the process of examining the project results and deliverables after the risk analysis and applying the technique to lower the risk. After the risk is analyzed, the next step is to priorities the risk. At first focus on the most sever risk first; and les sever later. Managing the risk to achieve the desired results and deliverables is done through controlling the risk at its bes t. Conclusion Thus, we have discussed software crisis, its causes, the present status and the possible solution to this crisis. Software engineering appears to be one of the few options available to tackle software crisis. Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to software. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements to the software engineering discipline itself. The solution being advocated is to place a special emphasis on fault tolerance software engineering which would provide a set of methods, techniques, models and tools that would exactly fit application domains, fault assumptions and system requirements and support disciplined and rigorous fault tolerance throughout all phases of the life cycle. Also, the software must not be considered equivalent to a widget, i.e. a gadget. REFERENCES: Books referred: Software engineering: concepts and techniques Peter Naur Software engineering- Richard H. Thayer Websites and links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_crisis www.apl.jhu.edu/Classes/Notes//SoftwareEngineeringOverview.PDF http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/1999/july99/

A Universe in a Pizza Box :: College Admissions Essay

A Universe in a Pizza Box In one corner of our yard, just to the right of the trash cans and behind an aging fence, there is a stack of several pizza boxes, or at least there was one until last Sunday. These pizza boxes had accumulated almost mysteriously over some weeks in a very neat stack in the dirt beside the garbage cans. They waited patiently to be put out by the curb for the Tuesday morning recycling truck. Somehow though, while the neighboring trash cans moved in and out from the curb, and various loads of glass bottles and aluminum passed through this depot, the pizza boxes remained in the dirt, alone and forgotten. The rains came and softened up the cardboard, the stack sagged in the middle, and was again stiffened by the sun. Something amazing began to happen. It was only after trying to throw out these old boxes in a fit of neatness, that I discovered the miracle that had taken place. I found when I pulled back the first layer, not just soggy cardboard, but a miniature ecosystem teeming with life. A herd of slugs meandered over the plain that read â€Å"Woodstock’s† in faded brown lettering. Suddenly exposed to light, a giant earthworm the width of my small finger writhed in the damp center. Flocks of isopod-like pill bugs dove for the corners and dodged around gleaming piles of earthworm eggs. Dashing about madly, a beetle and a confused, many-legged creature searched for a hiding place. I watched the churning scene in amazement, marveling at the microcosm that these pizza boxes had become. I couldn’t bring myself to simply toss this wealth of life in a garbage can, yet the soggy pile shouldn’t sit in the yard any longer. There were only two individuals around that would appreciate this treasure more than I, and who could actually benefit from it too. A few minutes later I watched in satisfaction as my chickens, like two stately ladies, sampled the smorgasboard I offered. This is why I study zoology, I thought, for the enjoyment of just watching life act out its strange and comedic drama. Earlier, while musing about how I came to study the animal world, I had wished I could tell of some cataclysmic event—a revelation or burning bush—that had told me that this should be my path.

The End of Male Dominance Essay example -- Patriarchy Literature

Patriarchy is a form of social organization in which a male is the head of the family and has all the power to control and be a dominant individual. Male dominance is an ever present concept in society but women found a way to challenge this notion and overcome the hardships of male elitism. In â€Å"Nervous Conditions† by Tsitsi Dangarembga is focused on the colonized African clan called the Sigauke clan. The novel examines unequal power relations between men and women in the Sigauke clan which is largely steeped in tradition. The women in the story challenge the practices of male dominance; usually unsuccessful but each of these women make an effort to question some of decisions that were righteous of the patriarch. The women also break out of the role of domesticity and servility to the surprise of the men. â€Å"The Awakening† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"Things fall apart† by Chinua Achebe are very similar to the notion of woman challenging male elitism. The narrator, Tambu is culturally restricted to roles that denied her opportunity to rise above domesticity. Tambu is trapped which is portrayed when her mother says, â€Å"and these days it’s worse, with the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other† (16). Tambu’s story traces her hardships from infancy; she has to cultivate the fields, fetch the water from Nyamarira river, look after her young siblings, and cook for the family. Many of these roles obstructed her chances of attending school, her brother, Nhamo, on the other hand is able to study. He is privileged to attend school despite the family having to eke out a living. The relationship between Tambu and Nhamo is reduced to that of the privileged and the non-privileged. Nhamo has all the opportunities becau... ...iety by the men. Men always picture the women to be the housewife and nurture the children whereas the men are the ones that go to work and bring food to the table. This idea is contradicted in this story, many women play powerful roles that challenge the men. Education is a huge part of it because with knowledge becomes power and many of the women in the story are educated. Another way in how women challenged male dominance is by standing up to them to what they believe and defending themselves. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Ed. Edel Rodriquez. New York: Reed Consumer Books. 1994. Print 3-209 Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed. Elaine Showalter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1992. Print 1-221 Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Ed. Holmes, Martha Stoddard. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd, 2004. Print 1-208. The End of Male Dominance Essay example -- Patriarchy Literature Patriarchy is a form of social organization in which a male is the head of the family and has all the power to control and be a dominant individual. Male dominance is an ever present concept in society but women found a way to challenge this notion and overcome the hardships of male elitism. In â€Å"Nervous Conditions† by Tsitsi Dangarembga is focused on the colonized African clan called the Sigauke clan. The novel examines unequal power relations between men and women in the Sigauke clan which is largely steeped in tradition. The women in the story challenge the practices of male dominance; usually unsuccessful but each of these women make an effort to question some of decisions that were righteous of the patriarch. The women also break out of the role of domesticity and servility to the surprise of the men. â€Å"The Awakening† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"Things fall apart† by Chinua Achebe are very similar to the notion of woman challenging male elitism. The narrator, Tambu is culturally restricted to roles that denied her opportunity to rise above domesticity. Tambu is trapped which is portrayed when her mother says, â€Å"and these days it’s worse, with the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other† (16). Tambu’s story traces her hardships from infancy; she has to cultivate the fields, fetch the water from Nyamarira river, look after her young siblings, and cook for the family. Many of these roles obstructed her chances of attending school, her brother, Nhamo, on the other hand is able to study. He is privileged to attend school despite the family having to eke out a living. The relationship between Tambu and Nhamo is reduced to that of the privileged and the non-privileged. Nhamo has all the opportunities becau... ...iety by the men. Men always picture the women to be the housewife and nurture the children whereas the men are the ones that go to work and bring food to the table. This idea is contradicted in this story, many women play powerful roles that challenge the men. Education is a huge part of it because with knowledge becomes power and many of the women in the story are educated. Another way in how women challenged male dominance is by standing up to them to what they believe and defending themselves. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Ed. Edel Rodriquez. New York: Reed Consumer Books. 1994. Print 3-209 Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed. Elaine Showalter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1992. Print 1-221 Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Ed. Holmes, Martha Stoddard. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd, 2004. Print 1-208.

El Nino Essay -- Meteorology Weather Climate Essays

El Nino We live on an incredibly large planet. Even broader than the size of the planet are the amount of changes and relationships between humans, animals, environment, weather, and the effects of each. Many times with busy schedules and modern lifestyles we forget the interaction that goes on between any number of concepts or ideas. We fail to realize that a specific weather occurrence in the Pacific Ocean can have an effect on every day life in the United States. El Nino is one of the largest scientific phenomenons that scientists have ever explored. The main concepts of El Nino are very simple and there are many variations, causes, affects, and relationships to study. The main idea behind El Nino is that the wind changes direction across the Pacific Ocean. In a non El Nino year (normal), the trade winds blow from east to west across the ocean, from North and South America towards the tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean. In an El Nino year, the trade winds change direction and blow from Asia and the tropical Pacific towards North and South America (NOAA B, 2004). The changes in these winds, commonly called Southern Oscillation winds because the majority of activity happens in the southern parts of the Pacific, produce many other changes. In the final analysis, the winds are the root of this scheme. John Daly (2004) discussed how the winds produce major changes in the temperature of the ocean water. This is the second main concept of El Nino. In normal years, when the wind blows from east to west, the temperature at â€Å"Sea Surface† is about 8 degrees cooler in the west than in the east. During El Nino, the winds blow a certain amount of water towards the west, thus piling it up and making its depth approximately one half meter deeper. Because of the loss of water at either coast, the deeper ocean water rises to replace what is gone. The deeper/cooler water is the source of many incomes in North and South America; however, in an El Nino year, the warmer water sits on top of the ocean, which creates many tribulations relating to both income and weather. The last main point of El Nino is the weather that follows due to the changes in water temperature. Precipitation follows the warmer water, whichever direction it flows. During the normal wind patterns the rainfall in the southern Pacific islands is consistent and creates their tropical identity. Whe... ...lnino/history.asp. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Washington D.C. Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/el-nino-story.html. (A) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA). Washington D.C. Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/faq.html#what. (B) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Washington D.C. Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/impacts.html. (C) Redmond, Kelly. â€Å"El Nino, La Nina, and the Western U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.† June 16, 1998. http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/enso/ensofaq.html. United States Geological Survey (USGS). â€Å"1998 California Flood.† From News Release. Feb. 3, 1998, http://ca.water.usgs.gov/archive/floods/flood98/. University of Illinois, Champaign Illinois. Last updated April, 2000. http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/eln/rcnt.rxml. USA Today, by the Associated Press. â€Å"El Nino found to affect Antarctic Sea Ice.† 2004. http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/cold-science/2002-03-06-nino-ice.htm. Williams, Jack. USA Today. â€Å"Scientists Gather Information on El Nino Impact in Antarctica.† January 8, 2003.

Exothermic reaction Essay

The object of this investigation is to determine the enthalpy change for the reaction CaCO3 (s) i CaO (s) + CO2 (g) by an indirect method based on Hess’ Law. Hess’s law states that the enthalpy change for any chemical reaction is independent of the route taken provided that the initial and final conditions are identical. So the temperature change during these reactions below can be measured and the enthalpy changes ? H1 and ? H2 calculated. For Example: Using Hess’ law with the calculated values for ? H1 and ? H2 it is possible to calculate a value for ? H3. Results Table. Temperature change during reaction   The results for the temperatures are to the nearest whole number as it is unrealistic to measure to a point of a ? C with this type of thermometer and the masses rounded up to 2 decimal places for greater accuracy. Calculations It’s possible to use the formula E = mc ? T, where E = energy transferred, m = mass of HCl, c= specific heat capacity of HCl and ? T = temperature change. This formula can be used for calculating the energy transferred in the following reactions ? ?H1, CaCO3 (s) + HCl and ? H2, CaO (s) + HCl. Seeing as the molar mass of CaCO3 = 100. 00 ?H1 = 420 x (1 x 0. 0250) = – 16. 80 kJmol-1 I will not include the last result in my average for ? H1, which is – 16. 80 kJmol-1. This is because it’s way off the other results and would significantly affect my average results, it’s an anomaly. AVERAGE for the ? H1 for the reaction between CaCO3 + HCl: (- 25. 09 kJmol-1) + (- 24. 90 kJmol-1) 2 ?H1 = – 25. 00 kJmol-1 This value for ? H1 is negative because heat is lost to the surroundings. It’s an exothermic reaction. Calculations for ? H2 for the reactions between CaO (s) + HCl: 1. I will not include the – 102. 86 kJmol-1 result in my average for ? H2. This is because it’s way off the other results and would significantly affect my average results, it’s an anomaly. AVERAGE for the ? H2 for the reaction between CaO + HCl: (-128. 05 kJmol-1) + (- 111. 43 kJmol-1) 2 ?H2 = – 119. 74 kJmol-1 This value for ? H1 is negative because heat is lost to the surroundings. It’s an exothermic reaction. Using Hess’ cycle I will use the values that I have calculated for ? H1 and ? H2 to work out the value for ? H3. ?H3= ? H1 ? ?H2 = (- 25. 00 kJmol-1) – (- 111. 43 kJmol-1)= 86. 43 kJmol-1 This value is positive because heat is absorbed from the surroundings. It’s an endothermic reaction. I have been told the actual value for ? H3, which is 178. 00. So I will calculate the percentage by which my value is out by the actual value. 178. 00 ? 86. 43 = 91. 57 (91. 57 ? 178. 00) x 100 = 51% Evaluation Errors in procedure: When the CaO and CaCO3 were put into the cup there was a delay before the lid was put on. This could have caused heat to escape out of the cup and the temperature change would not have been as great compared to if there was no delay.