Monday, September 30, 2019

Learning in the EYFS Essay

Knowledge and understanding of the world – Knowledge and Understanding of the World relates to children’s everyday lives, their homes, families, other people, the local environment and community and the wider world. Personal, social and emotional development – The social and emotional development of a child helps practitioners/parents understand the behaviors they exhibit. Though children develop and mature at different rates, social and emotional development generally occurs in predictable stages. Communication language and literacy – Children’s learning and competence in communicating, speaking and listening, being read to and beginning to read and write must be supported and extended. They must be provided with opportunity and encouragement to use their skills in a range of situations and for a range of purposes, and be supported in developing the confidence and dispositions to do so. Problem solving reasoning and numeracy – This area mostly focuses on a child’s ability to solve simple problems and builds an awareness of shapes space and measures. Practitioners do this by looking at shapes, numbers, building bricks etc. Physical Development – Children are encouraged to take part in a variety of physical activities. Children develop physically at different stages and times. This area helps practitioners to keep track of each individual child’s development. Creative development – Being creative covers a multitude of ideas including how children express and communicate ideas. They can explore all sorts of media (eg ICT, music) and materials. They will also develop their imagination through play. Although they are all different a good planned activity will cover more than one area of development. For example, playing a snakes and ladders board game will help a child with their Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy mainly but it will also help them with their Communication, language and literacy development as they are being encouraged to communicate with other children playing the game. Also the areas are interdependent if the child is struggling with one area it can affect how they develop in other areas. For example, if a child is disabled and cannot join in physical activities this can affect their physical development but it can then also affect their communication, language and literacy and Personal, social and emotional development because they aren’t joining in with the same activities as their peers. This can be avoided or at least limited by good planning and inclusive practice. 1.2 Outcomes are given to the different areas of learning within the EYFS to ensure that practitioners have something to focus on. These outcomes are outlined within the EYFS as â€Å"overarching principles† these are: Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities. And three main areas of development which are; Physical Development – This is the development of a child’s physical skills. It includes the Gross motor skills, such as walking, jumping, running, catching and the fine motor skills such as the pincer grip, hand-eye-coordination, doing up laces or zips. Personal Social and Emotional Development – The social and emotional development of a child helps practitioners/parents understand the behaviors they exhibit. Though children develop and mature at different rates, social and emotional development generally occurs in predictable stages. Communication and Language Development – Language development is the process by which children come to understand and communicate language during early childhood. 1.3 The documented outcomes are assessed by practitioners in different ways. On-going assessments are carried out in settings frequently. Practitioners plan an activity, observe the child/children, record information and evaluate the outcome. If needed they then plan another activity and repeat the process until they get the information they need. These are also known as â€Å"formative assessments† and they are an integral part of the EYFS framework. It helps parents, carers and practitioners to constantly monitor a child’s progress and pick up on and solve problems if there are any. At the age of two a child has a progress check. This is when practitioners review their progress and produce a short written summary of a child’s development in the main areas of development. This helps to make sure a child is on track with their development and helps to identify any areas that a child may be developing at a slower rate than is expected. This can also pick up on any dis abilities or learning difficulties. If a practitioner does pick up on a learning difficulty they should put together a plan to support the child’s future learning and development. Practitioners must discuss with parents how the outcome of the assessments can be used to support the child’s development at home, and parents are encouraged to share the outcome with any relevant professionals i.e. a teacher or a health visitor. In the final term of the year in which the child turns five practitioners must complete the EYFS profile for each child. This profile must reflect on-going observation, all relevant records held by the setting, discussions with parents and carers, and any other adults whom the teacher, parent or carer judges can offer a useful contribution. The profile lets parents, carers and other professionals have an overview of a child’s knowledge, understanding and abilities, their progress against expected levels, and their readiness for year one. Year one teachers are given a copy of this profile and it will outline whether the child is meeting, exceeding or not yet reaching the expected levels of the early learning goals. I think assessments are important to Practitioners and other professionals like teachers because it helps them to work together to identify any problems that may arise with a child’s development and address the problems quickly and effectively also if the child is very quick at development it can be spotted and they can be given extra planned work to stop them from getting bored. I think it is also good for parents because they have guidance on how to help their child’s development at home.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Economic Commentary: Public Good, Market Failure Essay

Paper Edition | Page: 5 Jakarta has long been infamous for its repeated floods, such as those that crippled the capital and all its government and economic activities last week. Over 15,000 people were displaced and the material losses from infrastructure destruction and damage inflicted on personal property have reportedly reached Rp 20 trillion (US$ 2 billion). The devastating impact of the disaster on government activities and public services under the central government’s auspices has revived a debate over the need for the country to move its capital from floodridden Jakarta. Even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, according to his aides, has considered relocation of the capital, albeit as a last resort, as part of an all-out, comprehensive effort to solve the problems facing Jakarta. With or without major floods, which strike every five or six years, Jakarta can no longer sustain the population burden with all its consequences. The city no longer has space to provide housing to all of its nearly 10 million citizens or build roads for the 6 million cars and motorcycles thronging the capital. This is quite apart from the city’s lack of infrastructure to protect residents from disasters like the annual floods. Jakarta today is typified by frustrating traffic gridlock, slums that encircle high-rise buildings, makeshift huts built along riverbanks, food stalls and groceries that occupy sidewalks, traditional markets that spill onto public thoroughfares, clogged drains, illegal parking along busy streets and other forms of disorderliness resulting from the state of over-population. Not to mention the city’s crime rate, which tends to increase year-on- year. Every time Jakarta voters chose their leader, they elect a candidate who they consider able to live up to their high expectations, which of course gives them false hope. Jakarta has turned into a megalopolis without enough resources to deal with its gigantic problems and challenges. What the founding fathers failed to anticipate when they chose Jakarta as the capital city was perhaps its evolution as the country’s commercial hub. About 60 percent of the nation’s money circulates in Jakarta, where foreign companies assign their representatives. Many countries have become aware of the problems in developing their capital city as both the center of government and the heart of economic activities. Then they have got to the point where relocating the capital city becomes unavoidable. Brazil did it in 1960 when it moved its capital from densely populated Rio de Janeiro to newly built Brasilia City, our Southeast Asian neighbors Malaysia and Myanmar moved their capitals to Putrajaya and Naypyidaw in 1999 and 2005 respectively. Indonesia moved its capital to Yogyakarta from January 1946 to December 1949 due to the war of independence. In that time Bukittinggi in West Sumatra also briefly served as the capital city when founding president Sukarno established an emergency government prior to his arrest by the Dutch between December 1948 and June 1949. Unless Jakarta takes drastic measures to shore up its increasing burden, Indonesia will have to consider an alternative capital. Sooner or later saying good-bye to Jakarta will no longer be a matter of choice, but of necessity. Commentary: The article tells us about the recent flood in Jakarta, which has brought huge impacts to the nation financial cycle. The flood was happened because many factors, but the most significant factor is because the lack maintenance of the flood controls system in Jakarta. The capacity of the drains has not been maintain to what level it should be. Therefore, due to heavy rain during the rain season the flood control system could not handle the pressure which resulting the massive flood in most of part the city. Public Good is defined as a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Nonrivalrous; its consumption by one person does not reduce consumption by someone else; Non-excludable; it is not possible to exclude someone from using the good. Flood in Jakarta happened because the government has created a market failure since they have under provided the flood control system in Jakarta. The flood control system is an example of an environmental public goods: flood cont rol system, which nobody would provide on their own, even though everybody benefits from it being available. This suggests that since flood control system is a public good (because it is over consume, and underprovided based on what is needed for society) it clearly shows that it is an example of a market failure. Since the market fails to allocate resources to the production of the public goods it means that there are external costs. The article mentioned that the flood has resulted massive looses: over 15,0000 people were displaced and material losses from the city infrastructure, damage inflicted on personal property have reportedly reached Rp 20 trillion (US$ 2 billion). About 60 percent of the nation’s money circulates in Jakarta, where foreign companies assign their representatives; the flood has also interrupted the economic activities, as Jakarta is the â€Å"heart of economic activities† Through this tragedy there are different effect resulted. Seeing the disaster, we could clearly see the disadvantages. Most Jakartans living in flood-prone areas will probably answer mud or garbage after the flood, Citizen loss their property, illness such as fever and other water-borne diseases has also spread wildly.It means, there are external cost needed to recover houses and infrastructure as well as for the health care. In the other hand, other stakeholder got more benefit : trash picker and food seller on the street. Local news reported that the trash picker help to picked up motorcycle from one point to another; they got paid for Rp. 20.000/one way. The food seller on the street increases their income as there is increase in consumer,people were trying to see the flood from closed distance. Jakarta’s government must step in to ensure that flood control systems are produced at socially desirable levels. The flood control system should be provided up to the point where MB=MC so the flood would not be happen again and it would not interrupt the economic sector as well as creating disadvantage for the whole citizen. There are many ways to correct the market failure. Government could make an effective legislation to limit number of urbanization. As we know, Jakarta does not have an appropriate city planner. People build shift huts in the area where it is inappropriate such as the riverbanks. These people are not paying for the house tax since their house is also illegal. This will distort the city infrastructure and also decrease government revenue since they are not paying tax. Government could also do implication of direct provision in using economic criteria to determine which public goods and in what quantity of the public good should be produced. To make government direct provision to be happen, tax should be imply. With implying indirect tax government will increase the revenue which could be use for the spending on public goods, in this case is to increase the number the flood control system and maintain its quality. In long run, this issue will add another problem including the nation government and economic sectors. Based on the article, the President of Indonesia has stated there would be a probability of relocation of the capital. This will bring huge cost on all government, public services, and the whole economic activity within the country, unless the flood issue in being solved. Works Citied: â€Å"Editorial: Good-bye Jakarta.† Jakarta Post. N.p., 26 Jan. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. Tragakes, Ellie. â€Å"Market Failure.† Economics for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009. 119+. Print.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Adolescence

Adult Development: Early passions and long-term development The Journey through infancy, childhood, and adolescence significantly impacts the development that takes place during a person's adulthood. There are many aspects in a person's early life that will carry on to further characterization and identity. Patterns and themes begin to evolve at a young stage in a person's life and they will often carry on to be their dominant characteristics. A dominant characteristic can often be an indication of what someone will be like upon full maturity or adulthood.This explains why it is often beneficial to research a person's personal background before Judging their future. Judging by my dominant characteristics during my childhood combined with the influence the people whom I am close to am I able to make educated guesses to what I will accomplish in the future. When reflecting on my childhood, I am reminded of the lessons I have learned and each on in its appropriate time. Upon my reflecti on, I have found that my passions during my younger days have developed into more matured ideas and dreams now.Theorist Erik Erikson contends, â€Å"each stage of life has its own psychosocial task, a crisis that needs resolution† (Myers, 2010, p. 196). During a person's life, their adolescence is vital in properly maturing. The mind of a youth is constantly questioning where they came from, what is their purpose, and who are they meant to be in the future. Erikson discusses the problems that may have already occurred before someone's years of adolescence: Trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. doubt, initiative vs. guilt, and industry vs. inferiority.If these problems are not addressed before adolescence it ay have a serious toll on that person's long-term future. I strongly believe that a child's environment will greatly influence the way they view both the world and themselves. â€Å"Some adolescence form their identity early, simply by adopting their parents' values and expect ations† (Myers, 2012, pg. 197). Without moral stability in their early years, it will not be able to provide a smooth transition from adolescence to adulthood. What enters the brain as a child has been shown to remain with who they will come to be in their matured character.If it is not stable, it will continue on n their life to more inner conflicts that Erikson presents: Intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. It is beneficial for a person to learn the necessary lessons at the appropriate time rather than learning it throughout a different life phase where it may not come as easily. Throughout my childhood I had an ability to notice the injustice in the world yet have a deep desire to change it and pursue truth. I have been a dancer since the age of three.I competed at a very high level and I had achieved top rankings in the world hampionships by the time I was eleven. Over the years of my dancing career, the idea of constantly being J udged would scare me. As a young girl, I would cave under any pressure outside of the dance studio due to the slight chance that I would not be good enough. This has always led to me to wonder how others must feel. Do those who are less fortunate feel this way? From an early age I developed a heart for those who teel worthless. I was blessed to nave the confirmation ot those who loved me that they would support me no matter what I did.The influence that my parents had n me taught me that you must love someone for who they are and not what they do; I learned this lesson very early on and it has been extremely beneficial to my adolescent years. Regarding my future, I believe God has called me to be a youth justice lawyer. I want to be a voice to a young broken heart that feels as though they are only being Judged on their actions. I firmly believe that passion for troubled youth comes directly from my childhood heart to seek Justice, truth, and acceptance. Childhood neglect is a very large problem in todays households.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits Essay

The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits - Essay Example Corporate social responsibility, a term used to describe a the way in which a corporation operates in regard to the community and environment in which it resides and the ethical and moral standards in which it conducts business; is quickly becoming an increasingly important issue as consumers are holding corporations progressively more accountable for their methods of business practices and operations. With today's current global economy, corporations can no longer operate on the level of autonomy that was once common. This is evidenced in the increasing decentralization of the traditional corporate hierarchy that is becoming more common in corporations across the nation. Costlo has been a leader in the empowerment of its' employees. The team environment has attributed to company's' many success including the current high level of employee efficiency and morale. Regardless of these positive aspects of Costlos' corporate environment, the net losses posted for the last two quarters denotes a need for fiscal policy and business model change while attempting to maintain its' current level of stakeholder confidence. As the fifth largest retailer in Over the years, the topic of corporate social responsibility has been gaining ground both in popularity and importance. The traditional Friedman or shareholder view of a corporations' only role in social responsibility is to "use its resources to engage in activities designed to increase its' profits" (Friedman 1970) in itself may be narrow though it is nonetheless true. While earning and increasing profits will always be the basis of success for any business Friedman's belief that ""business" as a whole cannot be said to have responsibility" (Friedman 1970) is becoming increasingly outdated. More importantly, the public perception of corporations is becoming ever more important. Cutting costs by decreasing employee benefits and enacting salary freezes may temporarily increase the company's net profits, it would do irreparable damage to employee morale as well as public perception of the company, possibly alienating our current consumer base. In the long term, this will negatively a ffect profits considerably. Costlo's achievement of becoming the fifth largest retailer in the United States was done so with virtually no marketing. Highlighting the corporations' continued dedication to its' employees and to the communities in which its' stores operate through advertising, is an ideal way to promote a positive public perception. This will serve as a way to build brand name recognition as well as lure back former customers that may have strayed to competitors. Given the current decline in profits, the initial start-up costs for this marketing strategy may further drive profits down in the short-term. These objections by investors, while justified, are short sighted and it should be noted that not looking toward the long-term as a measure of success as well, is just as short sighted. The fact that corporations can be profitable while maintaining Corporate Social Responsibility 3 corporate social responsibi

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Introduction to Florida History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Introduction to Florida History - Essay Example Martin Luther King, under Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) commenced an immense campaign to lend support to local civil rights movements. The objective of Dr. King was twofold: that in addition to ending local desegregation, the media attention given to the city would gather support nationally for the 1964 Civil Rights Act which had then stalled in congress. What happened is that, in 1963, under the leadership of Robert Hayling an advisor to the city’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) started the campaign to pressure to end segregation in St. Augustine. They organized demonstrations; sit-ins and pickets against segregated businesses. Perfect opportunity to air their grievance was presented in 1963 as the city was preparing its 400th year anniversary. Municipal officials intended to showcase only â€Å"acceptable† history, of which segregation was deeply inculcated. City leaders left blacks from the celebrati on preparations, jolting the local NAACP chapter to write to President Lyndon Johnson asking him to cancel his planned visit because no blacks were involved, and the city leadership had refused to form a biracial committee. As a result, White supremacists led by Ku Klux Klan (KKK) responded with violence against them. The major confrontation resulted from Haylings opposition to the federal funding to the city’s celebration. The white supremacists were angered, and violence resulted. Gunshots were fired at Dr. Haylings’ home, with armed white ruffians shooting at black neighborhood, which led to the death of one of the armed whites and charge of four blacks for the murder. There was an escalation of the racial disharmony that culminated the arrest and indictment of Haylings by a grand jury which blamed him and other activists for the racial crisis that was being witnessed then. As a result, SCLC decided to conduct seminars to give a workshop on non-violent protest. As a ll this was happening in 1963-1964, national media attention had been turned on St. Augustine. This media attention made old city more vulnerable to racial crisis as both the civil rights and white supremacists turned their guns there. Dr. King personally took charge of the demonstrations in May 1964, arriving together with his assistant Rev. Ralph Abernathy and other civil rights leaders. Their arrival gave momentum to the civil right movement and exploited the media attention that was directed at the city. St. Augustine was turned into a racial battleground. SCLC sent nationwide calls for volunteers to join in the protest. SCLC demonstrations infuriated the whites after they interrupted the lucrative tourist businesses, and, therefore, the scale of violence and unrest increased. These scenes were being televised to a shocked nation. SCLC leadership rejected calls by a grand jury to leave the city, on grounds that SCLC had disrupted the racial harmony. However, they agreed to leave after Florida Governor C. Farris Bryan, had promised to form the biracial committee in 30th June 1964. In addition to the media coverage, this racial unrest was perfectly timed to coincide with the demonstrations that were taking place in other U.S cities. The senate was also debating the motion to end the filibustering by the southerners. At the same time, black right lawyers began winning courtroom battles, with Judge Bryan Simpson ruling severally in favor of civil rights activists, encouraging black lawyers to bring cases against the white supremacists. His decision culminated in the injunctions and orders that brought the community under control. Therefore, Dr. King used the media atten

A Review of the book Packinghouse Daughter by Cheri Register Essay

A Review of the book Packinghouse Daughter by Cheri Register - Essay Example But she is only reflecting the 'beatnik' or 'hippy' point of view of the 1960's. Her hindsight at this stage of her life is evident in her work, but she does keep some childish perspective as she talks about her youth. Memories of her dad are that he talked about making knives at work and she called him a "millwright". It isn't until later that she speaks to the actual work he did butchering up animals. Like many kids who discover the reality of their parents' work world, she is not willing, or able, to give his real work the same dignity that she gives a millwright. But after describing the 'rich' kids at school, the white-collar suburban kids, she says that people from her town are "too moral" to do the things necessary to become rich, assuming that the only way to acquire money is to be dishonest. Another assumption is that they are all Republicans who would sell you out in a minute, unlike her Democratic roots. There is a pretty strong irony at the conclusion of the book where Register says that her parents end up living in the same assisted living facility as the former Governor and Mrs. Freeman. They bridge their social divide when Mr. Register shows the former Governor how to set the controls on his exercise bicycle and they have dinner together. In the second and thir... Unions are strong and important but are still aimed toward obtaining basic working conditions for union members. Being part of a union house holds its own merit. The strike at the plant lasts 109 days, about 3-1/2 months, which can be a long time for someone who has worked for years every day, and also for his family. Register doesn't write about her mother as much as she does her dad. The mother, maybe a typical housewife of the era, is in the background as a nice, supportive woman. Register does seem to have a lot of family and friends in Albert Lea. Friendships become strained as a result of the strike that threatens the economy of the area. Many people are opposed to it. But the strength of the union members' principles holds fast and after a violent patch, in which the Governor of Minnesota has to call in the National Guard and threatens to close the plant, they win their case and return to work. This memoir includes historical research and interviews with its personal memories. It crosses the lines that clarify what type of book it is this way. By doing this it sets itself apart from traditional memoirs or historical fiction. It won the American Book Award and the Minnesota Book Award for autobiography. Summary In the first chapter, The Blue Workshirt, Register relates how she wants to buy a blue work shirt from her hometown Montgomery Ward while on school break so that she can align herself with the campus radicals who, as Register puts it, "use fashion to decry fashion" (pp. 9-10). Register does not even want to call her folks 'parents' because she feels it is too "haughty" a word. After being in New York for the first semester of school,, she

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Leadership - Essay Example In light of this she is still to give recommendations to the senior management on where the ‘additional’ officers will be deployed. Kathy’s team members are aware of this move and as a result they are distressed: an aspect that as earlier stated is affecting their work performance a great deal. The main aim for Kathy is to ensure that the team members’ work performance is within acceptable levels especially during this transition period. This paper will use a leadership approach to come up with how best to solve the dilemma Kathy has. Leaders are supposed to always be able to ensure that things are done through influencing others. For a leadership process to be complete there has to be the leader followed by the task to handle and lastly the ones being led: termed as followers. Â  According to Stojkovic et al. (2008) a leader has to be visionary, good behaviour, be charismatic, have a trait and above all manifest a form of leadership style. Leaders in daily duties are faced with situations that force them to act in a certain manner. Situational variables dictate what to be done and at what time. Some of the situational factors that are of importance to consider are the style the leader opt, followers’ behaviours and capabilities among others. Contingency theories therefore play a key role in guiding leaders on how to lead more so depending on situational analysis. Contingency theories indicate that there is no particular style of leadership that can apply to any given situation. This clearly stipulates th at leaders’ approaches to a demanding situation will depend hugely on the dynamics that the situation poses. The same case applies to leaders themselves whereby if one fails to change with a situation then the chances of success in a volatile environment are slim. Decision making process is complex and can be made simple by a leader’s ability to appreciate change in the environment and by approaching

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Introduction to Operating Systems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Introduction to Operating Systems - Assignment Example Also, we need to keep in mind various other aspects such as cost, values speed, security, and compatibility while choosing an operating system. I have conducted a lot of research and found that the Windows platform is much better than Linux for the development of games. It is an admitted fact that DirectX plays a significant role in the development of games. Additionally, the DirectX supports a wide variety of video games functional PIs, similar to the present advanced versions of game with 3D support. In this scenario, we need Direct3D that offers DirectXs 3D support API for game development and execution. Additionally, the Direct3D is developed by Microsoft and is available free of cost, same as its pervious DirectX APIs. In fact, the main advantage of Microsoft operating system is its support for the DirectX that is mostly used and required by game programmers to develop more interactive games (Loki Software, Inc., 2001). Beside this Microsoft offers support for an integrated authoring tool â€Å"Unity† that is commonly used for the development of 3D video games’ contents. In this scenario, Unity offers an excellent support for game development with much more real-time 3D and architectural visualizations or simply animations support. The main reason for the selection of Microsoft for our gaming development platform is the Unitys development environment support for only Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. However, we cannot choose Mac OS X for the reason that our team members are not familiar with this operating system. Thus, additional operating system training and support will increase the overall expenditures. Another reason for not selecting Mac OS X is the overall cost increase due to purchase of new hardware systems to run this operating system. Thus, it is really feasible to select Microsoft Windows because it can be used on any

Monday, September 23, 2019

The Yellow Wallpaper as a psychological story Essay

The Yellow Wallpaper as a psychological story - Essay Example ly regarded as a classic of feminist-inspired fiction in America and the author makes a clear distinction between the psychological and the sociological elements in the story. â€Å"â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is of course brutally honest psychology, so brutal that many readers in that more innocent age were outraged that anyone would write of such terrifying experiences. They feared that the story itself would drive people crazy. The literary success of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was indeed due to the coercive effect of the wallpaper, which so disturbs the young woman’s deep, but least stable, feelings that she is drawn into its lurid, obnoxious patterns.† (Lemert, 13) Therefore, in a reflective analysis of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, it becomes lucid that the short story is one of the best examples of a psychological story. The psychological elements in the story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are mostly evident in the protagonist and the narrator of the story who is taken to a remote house as part of her ‘rest cure’. The author creates an effective setting for her psychological story when she places the narrator in an expansive â€Å"colonial mansion, a hereditary estate† which is â€Å"quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes [her] think of the English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates lock and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.† (Gilman, 3-4) Through the setting of this lonely house for the recovery of the narrator from her nervous condition, the author effectively creates the background for her psychological story, and the empty, deserted or economically rented house is a standard motif in various ghost stories as well as other ta les of the supernatural. Gilman’s narrator expresses mistrust for her surroundings which increases the character’s loneliness and vulnerability in the face of the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Jane Austens Persuasion Essay Example for Free

Jane Austens Persuasion Essay Jane Austen is a successful classic romance novelist, one of her many novels is Persuasion, a novel that portrays love. She published six novels that all relate to the theme of love and marriage along with the consequences of making that important decision. While the novel Persuasion is romantically favourable, there are ideas presented about marriage that are not very appealing. The main story of the novel was the reunion of Anne and her shattered love with, Captain Wentworth. Though they were sincerely in love, the relationship was rejected by her father and Mrs. Russell from a financial and social class perspective. The ending of the story brings us to a beautiful happily ever after, where the engagement of Anne and Captain Wentworth takes place. The reunion of the couple, led to happiness for the two and that was all that concerned them. There are marriages however, that are quite uncooperatively performed. Some marriages usually serve the purpose of financial aid or social mobility for the significant other who is less fortunate, in this case it is usually the women. This is evident with Mrs. Clay and her desire to marry Sir Walter for wealth or Mr. Elliot and his desire to marry Anne to become baronet. Marriage in Regency England was used as a vehicle for many things (Pack 2012) . Hence, Jane Austen tells her perspective of women’s idea of why they should marry during that period of time. Overall, the ideas of marriage would be happiness; social class and wealth are what persuades most of the women into marrying in Regency England. â€Å"Why should the people be unhappy? Are there not landed gentry, country parsons, and even wealthy naval commanders for them to marry? Ruoff 2012)† For a successful marriage relationship involves the dedication and affection of both partners. During the course of the novel, the most successful and content relationship would be Anne Captain Wentworth. Though their relationship was unapproved and disregarded by the elders of the family, they both knew from time that they were meant for each other. Jane Austen uses Anne and Cap tain Wentworth as an example, contrary to the other marriages present in the novel to reveal her belief in the possibility of â€Å"good† marriages. The substantial ratio of love marriages to the others in the novel evidently conveys Jane Austen’s opinion on happy marriages; indicating that perhaps happiness in marriage is just a matter of chance. The love relationship with Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth in the beginning was very strong; regardless of their separation it is still continued to be one. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. (Austen, page 177) When Captain Wentworth says this to Anne its describes his unconditional love towards Anne which is true, regardless of her breaking their engagement when Lady Russell discourages her from the engagement. He willingly stated the truth of his feelings which indicates the fact that he had loved nobody and thought of nobody other than Anne. In this novel Captain Wentworth was portrayed by Jane Austen as a character to show the value of men’s love. â€Å"What was most wrong to Jane Austen was to marry without at least affection if not love. Always ridiculed when young women and their mothers go into secure marriages more than love† (wit and wisdom of Jane Austen 2012). In all the novels that Jane Austen has written it showed how much of a believer she was in love marriages and how she regarded it as. Austen felt that love should be shown in all relationships within the partners. When the other reasons of marriage were looked upon it came back to the necessity of women. When looking at this argument however, men also have the equal standing and determinations regarding the decision of marriage. Throughout this story Austen points out and mocks the characters that chose to get married for security of themselves over happiness of their lives. For example, Mary was shown to be arrogant, complaining, and careless mother because she cared about social class more. Just as much as men showing their affections and happiness towards their partners, women also show the same amount of affection and happiness but in some cases women’s love towards their partner is greater than expected compared to men. If I loved a man as she loves the Admiral, I would always be with him, nothing should ever separate us, and I would rather be overturned by him, than driven safely by anybody else. (Austen, page 61). When Louisa says this line it portrays that another character who believed in love marriages. This quote points out the depths of a women’s love in Aus ten’s perspective, showing her understanding of love and how it should be seen. The effectiveness of this line proves that it is not easy for a woman to accept love and it’s just as important as any other decision that you could ever make in your life. Their union, she believed, could not divide her more from other men, than their final separation. (21. 2). When Anne says this quote it shows her unconditional love towards Captain Wentworth and that there will be no other man other than him to replace her love, it also shows that even after seven years she never stopped loving Captain Wentworth still regretting her actions. This proves that women take their love seriously and that it is very strong. â€Å"†¦ is the only man she can love †¦ she in sorrow and lose beauty and youth in unveiling regret† (Kavanagh 2012). This quote reveals the sorrow of a woman when she has to part from her partner, it uses imagery to better illustrate the feelings of a woman when she goes through this. It relates to Anne because this is how she felt when she had to break the engagement between her and Captain Wentworth; and how much she regretted making that decision. Marriage is an important factor when it came to women especially when it either helps elevate their social status or bring it down. Throughout the story, Austen mainly portrays the significance of social ranking in society marriages. She pictured out which couples were more successful in the marriages, for example, the Crofts whom were well matched when it came to social status. Most of the women in this novel are put out as wanting to marry for high position in social rank. One of the marriages was Mary, it helps the purpose of marriage but it does not show the real meaning of marriage. â€Å"He thought it a very degrading alliance† (Austen, page 18). At the end of the novel, Anne and Wentworth are united but in the beginning they were disapproved especially by Sir Walter because Wentworth had no social ranking. Particularly, to the people of higher ranks, social class was tremendously important regardless of what the situation might be. No matter what the circumstance was, one does not marry below their own class. Looking at Anne’s perspective, her being a Baronet’s daughter could not marry Wentworth who was not of social rank or it was frowned upon in society and brought disgrace to the family. Westgate Buildings! said he, and who is Miss Anne Elliot to be visiting in Westgate Buildings? A Mrs Smith. A widow Mrs Smith; and who was her husband? One of five thousand Mr Smiths whose names are to be met with everywhere. And what is her attraction? That she is old and sickly. Upon my word, Miss Anne Elliot, you have the most extraordinary taste! Everything that revolts other people, low company, paltry rooms, foul air, disgusting associations are inviting to you. But surely you may put off this old lady till to-morrow: she is not so near her end, I presume, but that she may hope to see another day. ( Austen, page 14). The usage of this quote reminds Austen’s audience the consequence of marrying of low class. Since Mrs. Smith married someone of a low class she was frowned upon those who were above her like Sir Walter. â€Å"Jane Austen’s novels do affirm the value of a social order is undeniable† (Ruoff 2012). When Jane Austen wrote her novels she was extremely careful about how social class worked in marriages and the importance it gave even for the smallest issues, social class was almost a question of life or death. Marriage was undisputable. Women needed to find a husband with a high status to maintain personal status. Mary had merely connected herself with an old country family of respectability and large fortune, and had therefore given all the honour (chap 1 page 3). Mary like her father was very concerned about her personal statues and chose to get married to a wealthy and respected family. Since she was married into a family like that she was given all the honour and respect automatically regardless of what she was before. Here Austen shows that marriage in Mary’s case was to upgrade her social ranking and it shows the relationship of Mary and Charles is rather unstable and nor do they love each other. Marriage here was shown as a social mobility. â€Å"†¦by her pride, the Elliot pride† (Austen, pages 65). When Louisa said this, a believer of love marriages, suggested the pride that she had towards her husband, his family and herself. Mary is completely proud of her married life because as Baron’s daughter she held up the pride of the Elliot’s name and married into a respectful family. Even though she does not lead a happy life, she is fulfilled with the position that she has in society from the marriage she had. Jane thought the worst case scenario of a woman is not able to find a husband in her own social class and whose family cannot support her (wit and wisdom of Jane Austen 2012). Even though Jane Austen was a believer of love marriages at heart she also understood that a woman without social rank or a husband without a social rank won’t have a bright future. Especially when the woman’s family won’t support her in any way. Respect and Pride was two words that if in any case it was taken away; it is almost as life or death in most women’s lives. Mary acquired importance after becoming Mrs. Charles Musgrove; but Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character †¦ was nobody: her word had no weight†. Anne’s characteristic was portrayed as sweet, wittier and overall a better person compared to her sister Mary. However, she was barely respected or seen as a member in the family. Mary’s characteristic was portrayed as a horrible mot her, arrogant and just obnoxious and yet people respected her and treated her like an equal part of the family. Mary, being married into a wealthy and high social ranked family, secured her position as high in the social circle. Still, focusing on appearance and rank as he inserts Captain Wentworth’s name in the Baronetage. He has not changed at all (Adamson 2012). Sir Walter dismissed Captain Wentworth as a potential husband for Anne because he had no title or wealth but now Wentworth is respected by Sir Walter since Wentworth has acquired a fortune putting him stable and rich and qualified to be respected as one in the high society. This will help Anne gain everybody’s respect when she becomes dependent on Captain Wentworth and will lead a wealthy life. Throughout the past, marriages were frequently seen as a contract to protect the welfare of the family’s statues and finance, especially amongst the mist of local nobility and landlord gentlemen which is always pointed out and focused on in all her novels. Marriage was a tool and excuse to become wealthy and respected. Vastly women took the upper hand and advantage when considering marriage especially if it allows their lives to be prosperous. They are not mainly to be blamed because they have no choice, they were not educated or had the right to their parent’s wealth, marriage was the only other option for them to avoid the gutters and live royalty. Since women had no education like the men, women had no means or opportunities to make money to live their own life of their choosing. â€Å"Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. † (Austen, page 172). This quote states that education was not something woman were able to grasp at all, it was given to the men at a high degree and even if women were given education and it was just to read and write a little and that was it. In today’s world the more education you had, the better the career. However, back then, women were unfortunate as the quote suggests â€Å"The pen has been in their hands. † â€Å"Men always had the upper hand and the means of living compared to the women, â€Å"You have always a profession, pursuits, business of some sort or other, to take you back into the world immediately, and continual occupation and change soon weaken impressions. (Austen, page 173. ) When Anne says this line it bluntly says the situation of women and how they can’t have a job to rely on or anything else like the men because they have no education and mostly women were not allowed to even work in England. They were expected to stay home and look after the house and the children. Hence women relying on making good marriages financial wise in order to live happily. Women in the upper classes had the leisure to educate themselves; however, they, like their counterparts in the lower classes, were not expected to think for themselves and were not often listened to when they did. Jane Austens novels both reflect and challenge the periods attitudes toward women (Smith 2012). In Jane Austen’s novels, Austen was able to portray the struggles of uneducated people in that time period. The lower class women had no education at all compared to the high class ladies so their words were not considered anywhere. While the high class ladies at least were able to read and write somewhat and because of their positions in society it was easier for higher class ladies to express themselves. Regardless, of whether a family had a daughter, as the oldest child, the parent’s wealth always ended to the closet male family member and the daughter has nothing. â€Å"She had, while a very young girl, as soon as she had known him to be, in the event of her having no brother, the future baronet, meant to marry him. † (Austen, page 4). In England back in the time, had the law where the property and wealth of the family will go to the son who will be the next in line to take responsibilities of the household. Sir Walter has no heir; son, hence, putting his nephew William Walter Elliot, cousin of Elizabeth and her sisters next in line to the Baronet title. Elizabeth knowing this well enough decided to get married to him at such a young age to gain respect and wealth, proving that women have no choice regarding the family’s wealth it never went to the daughters. Hence, forcing them to marry for just wealth and prestige. â€Å"The gentlemen, the head of the house, like you father† (Austen, page 8). Ideally the head of the house back in the time and even now the men were the head of house. Austen uses a little dryness in this quote because women were in charge of looking after the house like cooking and cleaning and they were considered as â€Å"head of the house†. However, this quote says men to be the head of the house. This shows the reality of a woman’s life and goes to prove that women had limited to no opportunity regarding credit and job opportunities. Therefore, pushing forth with women using marriage has a tool to get the hold of respect and money. She realised that it was necessary for women to marry in order to avoid poverty (Gill and Gregory, 2003).

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Knowledge From Western And Chinese Philosophy Perspective Philosophy Essay

Knowledge From Western And Chinese Philosophy Perspective Philosophy Essay In this paragraph the authors will discuss different points of views towards the definition of knowledge. In literature we can find differences but also similarities between Western and Chinese philosophy. To work with Knowledge Management Systems it is necessary to understand how to capture, store, share, learn, exploit and explore knowledge. The Western world may already have more experience in this process since knowledge management in China has just recently developed. Ancient philosophers in both worlds already had ideas how to define knowledge and how to transfer it among society and individuals. This paragraph should clarify how those ideas can be made useful for Knowledge Management. 4.2 Knowledge in the Western world First the authors will give a short overview on the Western perspective of knowledge. For this it is necessary to have a look on Western philosophers and their understanding towards knowledge. On some of those philosophers we will be able to reflect their theories on modern Knowledge Management. The goal is to find out how modern Knowledge Management gets involved with some ideas of philosophers or react in an opposite way towards their ideas by not adapting them in Knowledge Management Systems. J. Kaipayil writes in his book The Epistemology of comparative Philosophy (1995, S. 32) about Western philosophy according to the critiques of P.T. Raju. He is an Indian writer on Chinese and Western philosophy. According to Raju, the main subject of Western philosophy is its intellectualism, united with humanism. The cosmological interests of the Ionian philosophers and the humanistic interests of the Sophists are the two starting-points of Western philosophy. These two tendencies met and blended in Aristotle and Plato and for them, humans are rational beings and their essence is reason (the rational soul). The Greeks philosophy established a rational (intellectual) analysis of reality, and in the consequences the Western world became strongly outward-looking. Epistemology, logic and scientific methodology developed. In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle presents five virtues of thought that can mapped to levels of knowledge. Epistà ©mà ©: Factual or scientific knowledge Tà ©chnà ©: Skills-based technical and action-oriented knowledge Phrà ³nà ©sis: Experiential self-knowledge or practical wisdom based on experience Noà »s: Intuition Sophà ­a: Theoretical knowledge of universal truths or first principles Butler (2006, pp. 1-9) argues that Aristotles tà ©chnà © and phrà ³nà ©sis need to be the core of knowledge management attempts, and while they are not able to be directly applied to IT applications, they must be among the elements upon which knowledge management is based. Tà ©chnà © deals with subjects that vary rather than the constant relationship found in epistà ©mà ©. The use of tà ©chnà © is one of the most challenging but at the same time one of the most fertile of knowledge-management pursuits. The dynamic nature of knowledge is reflected in tà ©chnà ©. Artificial intelligence and decision-support systems seek to automate tà ©chnà ©. From that point of view, Aristotle has given us a clearly defined and delimited type of knowledge that can be related to information technologies (c.f. D. G. Schwartz, 2005, pp. 1-11). Phrà ³nà ©sis is practical knowledge dealing with action and handling things to an end. According to Aristotle, phrà ³nà ©sis is obtained through experiencing the actions being learned and hands-on training. From a learning-through-action point of view the difference between phrà ³nà ©sis and tà ©chnà © lies in terms of each type of knowledge can be shared. Aristotle says that tà ©chnà © can be taught from practitioner to student, phrà ³nà ©sis on the other hand can only be shared through actual mutual experience. On the perspective of the value of knowledge, Sveibys (1997, pp. 3) focus on the knowledge-action value chain can find significant roots in phrà ³nà ©sis. In terms of knowledge management, phrà ³nà ©sis escorts us on the way of simulation, rich media, e-learning, and other types of the experiental presentation of knowledge or captivation on a virtual environment in which the experience rendering phrà ³nà ©sis can be realized (c.f. D. G. Schwartz, 2005, pp. 1-11). J. Kaipayil (1995, pp. 33) says that the Melesians understood the principles of the universe in terms of something outward no matter how the origin and substance of the world was conceived, be it water, the indefinite, or air. This tendency was continued by the Atomists to find the source of the world in something outward. On the other hand, the Pythagoreans developed the idea that what is given to reason and not to the senses is the truth about the world. The important thing about Pythagoreanism was that it did not regard reason as an abstract concept rather as an existential and ethical entity. Yet, that does not mean that the world-view of Pythagoreanism had a clear idea of inward spirit; the viewpoint was still outward and cosmic. Heraclitus not only mentioned some rational order in nature, he also spoke about the Logos, which is called as the primordial fire and this is responsible for the world order. Still, his interest was in its foundation cosmological and did not perceive t he differences between the inward and the outward, spirit and matter. Von Loh ( 2009, pp. 1-2) writes about Heraclitus who says Everything is in a state of Flux, by reflecting his words on modern knowledge management and on the foundation that the words of Heraclitus are true knowledge organizations systems (KOS) like classification systems, thesauri, nomenclatures are all objects of permanent change and all bibliographical records are in the state of flux as well, which is not widely accepted in information science and practice. In modern technology information can be stored even if it is in a state of flux. According to the problem statement of that paper this proves how important it is to use technology in knowledge management applications. The Sophists shifted the philosophical attention from the cosmos to human and took a new turn in Greek philosophy. The human being was the centre of their philosophy, but Socrates had to fight against subjectivism and skepticism raised by the standpoint of individualism. The criterion of philosophic activity according to Socrates, is objectivity and universality. This not only restored confidence in reason but also clarified the philosophical basis of morality and state. Socrates was insisting on the cultivation of the inner self, he was remarkably rationalistic but also deeply inward-looking. For the stable foundation of morals and politics Plato continued the Socratic search for this subject. Aristotle toned down the inwardness explained by Plato in order to safeguard the reality of outward to introduce the idea of an intelligent first cause (Kaipayil, J., 1995, pp. 34). In his article A Knowledge Management Environment for Research Centers and Universities (2006, p 652 667) Jonice Oliveira writes that for Socrates knowing a subject or concept of consisted of gathering the components of a singular thing, or of a real substance, and joining the similar ones, and separating the unsimilar ones, to form the concept or the definition of the singular thing. In his thinking, in order to join the similar ones it is necessary for somebody to have demonstrations, definitions, axioms and principles for a concept to be proved as true. Which means that the knowledge resulting from scientific activities, is scientific knowledge. Its goal is to demonstrate a solution to a problem by argumentation. Scientific language leads to three main interpretations: knowledge how (know-how), knowledge that (objective knowledge) and knowledge by acquaintance. R. Hagengruber (2008, pp. 6) gives an example on that. Socrates once mentioned that knowledge is not createt because of a concrete situation, in fact the human mind is able to create knowledge in ones own imagination. Literately he claims that You do not need to walk the correct road to Larissa, it is enough if you imagine it in the correct way. To prove his hypothesis Socrates shows how a completely uneducated child can solve a difficult mathematical problem. Even though the child fails at the beginning and gives a wrong answer still due to the way how Socrates asks the child questions and gives him orders, the child is able to get to the answer. So, apparently even on a base of minimum knowledge, through disciplinary processes it is possible to create complex knowledge. This is very useful for information technology which collects and stores data and makes it accessible. Through algorithm this stored data can be merged and can be made useful. This shows how ancient Western philosophers already knew how important it is to get knowledge by experimenting through science. It is necessary to find a logi cal way to solve a problem. This way of capturing knowledge is important to make information technology useful for knowledge management. Later this paper will show how the eastern philosophy thinks about logic and the way/road in itself. In the post-Aristotelian Greek understanding the ethical and political interest was continued, so it lost much of the taste of universality and inwardness and people became isolated from society and moved towards individualism during that time. During the Middle Ages there was a tendency towards the destroying of confidence in human reason and powers through Christianity and mare reason subservient to faith. In fact the medieval philosophy was not able to make much contribution to the growth of Western thought. The following period of the Renaissance gave back the lost confidence in Greek rationalism and humanism. Rene Descartes started to consider the human self to be thought of reason. But he had to face empiricist critique on its mind-body dualism for forgetting the inward in the name of the outward. J. Aarons (2004, pp.6) mentions the method of doubt developed by Rene Descartes. In his Meditations on First Philosophy (1640) he writes that the real challenge lies in skepticism so if there is any sign of doubt about so-called knowledge being true then it cannot be genuine knowledge. But Knowledge Management stays in clear contrast to that, for Knowledge Management there is much more than just personal certainty about the world, it must involve conceptual understanding as well as practical ability. Furthermore justification of knowledge doesnt play the biggest role, it is more concerned with storage, production and processing of knowledge in a group or shared sense. So, here it is to see that the Western philosophy cannot always deliver useful suggestions towards Knowledge Management. In the case of justifying knowledge, it is quite different from its relevant philosophers. Other than Descartes the empiricism laid emphasis on the outward through its doctrine of knowledge as derived exclusively from sense experience. The unfortunate consequence of all these was the unsuccessful attempt to tackle the question of human inwardness as if it was a problem of the outward and the failure to see the mind as the mediating link between inwardness and outwardness. Kant kept a balance between the inward (the transcendental ego) and the outward (the phenomenal world) from the side of human experience. He had to keep God out of theoretical knowledge to keep this balance. Human inwardness was left in the background or sometimes ignored or rejected by the explaining the law of nature in the wake of modern scientific attempts. As a result many thinkers wanted philosophy to follow the methods of science, especially of physics to liberate the outward from the inward. What gave importance to the world was pragmatism, positivism, and analytic philosophy. Here Kaipayil points out, according to Raju, to take its dominant movements and latest accomplishments into consideration, and may say that the general trend of Western philosophy was to liberate the outward from the entanglement of the inward, the subjective, by disregarding or lessening the importance of human inwardness, at least for philosophical reasons. This does not mean that the Western philosophy is exclusively outward-looking and absolutely dissipated in objectivity. The West did realize human inwardness but did not explain it completely and did not give it due importance. The West was more consistently outward-looking in its scientific-objective attitude and it sometimes confused inwardness with faith and preventing inwardness from having its proper role in philosophy. The value what Western philosophers achieved on the other hand lied in its rigorous scientific analysis and conceptual reconstruction of reality. Hence, the West was able to make significant progress in logic and epistemology. This chapter shows that the main influence on Knowledge Management had the ancient philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates. They point out that it is important to see knowledge as a very complex source and needs to be looked at form different views. Aristotle for instance points out that there are different types of knowledge which can be captured, stored and shared in different ways. Socrates came to a similar conclusion by saying that knowledge creation can be achieved in a way of process. Thinking in a logical way was one of the main legacies ancient philosophers gave to the modern world. Knowledge Management learned from philosophers of the renaissance era, such as Rene Descartes that emphasizing on technology development is necessary to integrate effective Knowledge Management in an organization of the modern information era. To manage knowledge in a right way is a very complex and takes a lot effort and concrete analysis. This also proves the hypothesis mentioned at the beginning of this paper. It needs long and intensive approach to manage knowledge. Besides using mind-based managing of knowledge it is also very important to understand the necessity of technology development whci already was mentioned in the problem statement of this paper. After getting an overview of Western philosophy, in the following pages the authors will show how Chinese philosophy had its impact on Knowledge Management. Knowledge in China After we discussed the Western point of view how to define knowledge, now the authors will give the reader and impression of the Chinese philosophy and the understanding of knowledge and how their ideas might be able to reflect on modern Knowledge Management. The goal is to understand what impact Chinese philosophy has on knowledge management systems and how companies are able to deal with it or what they can do in the future. The next pages will show the development of Chinese philosophy. On certain aspects the authors will get deeper in to detail and reflect some ideas on modern Knowledge Management. W. Riegler (2007, p. 219) mentions that the ancient Chinese philosophy is part of a culture which does not know a kind of Genesis. Hence, it is not necessary to ask a cause to understand an effect. In the understanding of Daoism there is an everlasting cycle of recreation by the effect of changing Yin and Yang by the rules of the 5 phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). It is kind of strange for those who are not familiar with this kind of thinking. However it is very natural and also pragmatic for those who are. Riegler also asks why this kind of thinking is so important for us longnoses too? Because we are also part of nature and we act by these rules too. Most important, it is a natural way of how our brain works and we can call this thinking too. The essence is that people can synthesize single parts of information to a whole that is bigger than its parts. After this short introduction the authors will now have a closer look on the complex development of Chinese philosophy. J. Kaipayil (1995, p. 28) writes in his book The Epistemology of comparative Philosophy about Chinese philosophy according to the critiques of P.T. Raju. He is and Indian writer on Chinese philosophy. As for Rajus understanding of Chinese philosophy, humanism is its main feature. It is said that the Chinese tradition is to be primarily humanistic, because human nature, both individual and social, was the basic subject of thought in China. The Chinese extolled life and wanted to live it fully. The question of Chinese wisdom was how to be fully human. But this interest in human person and society was characterized, not by a spiritual inwardness as in India or by an intellectual analysis as in the West, but by a pragmatic immediatism. What means that the Chinese humanism was not a metaphysical humanism interested in explication of human nature but a pragmatic humanism that put emphasis on immediate and concrete human relations. The Chinese thinker was concerned with practical affairs of society and life, and, accordingly, that which has immediate application to the benefit of people and society was considered good and true. All theories were meant for immediate application to people and society for their benefit. One could therefore say an immediatistic and humanistic pragmatism characterized the entire Chinese philosophy. Confucius exemplified Chinese philosophys confirmed purpose of explaining the ideal form of society and state. As a social reformer his goal was it to put order and stability into society and state. The foundation of a good society consist in every one following ren (human-heartedness) and discharging the duties of ones state of life and vocation. The ethics in Confucianism were more or less completely devoid of metaphysics. Heaven meant for Confucius a kind of moral order only. Zhu Z. (2004 p. 67 79) says when China realized that their competitors especially from Japan, U.S.A. and Europe all engaged in knowledge management, the Chinese companies were shocked and decided to welcome knowledge management. They created a connection to wuli-shili-renli (WSR) framework, which has its origins in Confucianism. In WSR: Wuli claims the material-technical aspect of managing knowledge. Shili is to facilitate the constructive-cognitive knowing process and Renli denotes in the governing of social-political relations among knowers. The Chinese style is less focusing on debating on the nature of knowledge, nor in expressing well-ordered processual knowledge creation models. For WSR technological and institutional dimensions of knowledge are equally important. Chinese found out how to reflect Confucianism on their organization structure and how to use it to manage knowledge. They realized that it is important to put more effort into technological development. Later in this paper this technological importance will be researched in detail. The Moists (Mohists) also developed a social ethics, but there goal was it more to gain social discipline. To mention Mencius, we find in him a tendency towards human inwardness, as he saw the basis of all morality in human nature (the mind). Nevertheless, his ethical idealism was not metaphysical. Mencius wanted to build a morality on the goodness of human nature. Xunzi on the other hand maintained that human nature is basically evil and it should be controlled by education and state laws so that a good society is made possible. He was the teacher of the Legalists Han Fei Zi and Li Si. The Legalists came to the conclusion to have harder demands for enforcement of laws with rewards and punishments (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p. 29). Deli Yang (2002, p.7) explains that legalism resulted in the consequences of central planning and anti-elitism in China. The ruler (which can be any authority in a hierarchical position) establishes the law without the participation of any individuals. This affected the performances of different governments and resulted in a high level of bureaucracy. These distinctive features we can still find in many modern Chinese companies. Bureaucracy can easily hinder a fluent knowledge transfer across the organization. Not having influence on making laws and rules is a disadvantage for knowledge creation. Another fact would be that the knowledge flow goes only from the top to the bottom, so potential knowledge from the bottom cannot be reached. Further in this paper the authors will explain more about knowledge sharing and the knowledge flow. The Logicians also were not uninterested in society and state. They emphasized the absoluteness and predominance of the universals over the particulars and thereby demonstrated the harmony of things and the need for universal love. The Daoists advocated individual happiness by a life of purity, simplicity, and spontaneous union with nature. They also were interested more in human things than in material things. The Dao is not any material principle external to human being but the principle internal to humans and inherent in nature (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p. 30). Ai Yu (2008, p.4) argues that many people believe that Laozis philosophy is primarily based on Wu Wei, which is a central thought of his Daodejing and means non-action or not-acting. But Wu Wei is actually more complex and also focuses on wholeness and partiality. Laozi explains the Way (Dao) is wholeness and infinity, while everything else is partiality and finitude. Based on Daodejing as the ideal of all existence the Way is unseen, not transcendent, powerful and also humble which means it is the root of all things. In fact humans should live their life in harmony with the Way for being as true and pure as an infant. Laozis concepts considers to emotions, knowledge, rationalities and sensations and not directing ambiguity, chaos and oppressions to the outside world. People should look into their minds and should try to find explanations. Ai Yu (2008, p.5) also says that today the field of knowledge management has been changed as a model of value creation to a great deal due to the shift of demanded resources. Edvinsson (2002, p.47) argues that value is usually more than just money, knowledge management should give value a second thought because it is a cross-disciplinary area. The modern Chinese business world is changing and in 2005 Hu Jintao came up with his policy of building a harmonious society. China Mobile and domestic Chinese insurance companies had to face extra-economic challenges like income inequality, environmental degradation, rural poverty etc. and for that the Chinese companies reacted with providing support for less-privileged citizens. According to Laozi this means paying more attention to the altered value preference and therefore discovering a new way of doing business. An alternative to both Confucianism and Daoism would be Buddhism but itself was transformed under their influence none the less. Buddhism is a philosophy based on human nature alone, and therefore it was easily assimilated by the Chinese mind with its characteristics pragmatic humanism and immediatism. Cheng-Fong Wu (1989, p. 90) already said that in Buddhism giving Dharma means to deliver wisdom to living beings without pay, wisdom is designed to mentally benefit others. Which means using knowledge to inspire the poor and teaching them the knowledge of a skill can make them stand on their feet by acquiring jobs. Those thoughts of Buddhism are possible reasons that the Chinese way of thinking about intellectual property rights is far different from the Western world. They might see China as the poorer country and count on the richer countries to share their knowledge with them without getting paid in return. Further in this paper the authors will get back to the topic of intellectual property rights in China. Another philosophy called Neoconfucianism also marked a very important development in the history of Chinese thought. With its rich metaphysics Buddhism stimulated the Chinese mind to an intense interest in metaphysical problems about nature and life. Together with the revival of the Daoists way of thinking, demanded on the part of Confucian scholars to provide a more systematic cosmology that would serve as the metaphysical foundation for Confucian ethics and political thought. In Zhou Dunyi the Daoist and the Yin-Yang conceptions combined with Confucianism to make a cosmology to defend Confucian ethics. Everything is created by the Dao, called this time the Great Ultimate (Taiji), from beginning to end of yin and yang forces; and human beings are the highest creation which continues this creative process by spiritual cultivation leading to wisdom. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi were the brothers who developed the concept of li (principle), which became a major theme in Neoconfucianism. As the source of all the laws of nature and the principle of all diversified things, li is the same as the Dao. The rationalist wing of Neoconfucianism was developed by Zhu Xing who was following Cheng Yi. Lu Xiangshan who was following Mencius and Cheng Hao was founder of the idealist wing. According to Zhu Xi the Great Umtimate, which is the highest li , is found in each individual. This is the all-inclusive and wholly good Dao. Each particular thing is a combination of qi and li, and in humans this li is ren, and this is called spiritual cultivation if followed this inner nature. Lu Xiangshan and Hao on the other hand rejected the very idea of qi and focused that everything is composed to li and li is essentially the mind. Wang Yangming goes further with this idealist doctrine and says that the substance of mind is nature of things and this is li. Li is to understand by looking within, since all things, heaven, earth and humans are one. To exercise this unity is to love people (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p.32). J. Kaipayil writes on the prospect of philosophy in the post-Qing communist China, that Raju commended that the Marxian ideology with its activism and pragmatism agreed well with the naturalistic, humanistic, and pragmatic tendencies of the general Chinese tradition and it would be no wonder if a Confucian variety of communist philosophy should emerge at some future time that will meet the philosophical needs of the Chinese people perhaps more adequately than the communism of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin in its western robes. Raju supposed that the history of Chinese philosophy shows that the Chinese mind on the whole avoided the extremes of inwardness and outwardness. It is neither wholly inward-looking nor wholly outward-looking. It tries to get a balance between the inward and outward characteristics of human existence, and this attidue is best illustrated by the Daoist ideal of sageliness within and kinglingness without. The whole of human life was made the topic of philosophical investigation. The cultivation of inner human nature was insisted upon and not only for its own sake however for the creation and sustainment of a good society. All philosophical questions were used to find answers in a practical life and so China could create some of the best ideas of social and political thoughts and ethics. According to J. Kaipayil the previous words showed the positive side of Chinese philosophy but there also is another side of this philosophy. Kaipayil says that Chinese philosophy fails when ultimate qu estions are brought up. It accepted man and their life as basic facts for philosophy, not because it came to this sort of conclusion in the light of answers to ultimate questions, but because it did not come up with them and avoided these questions when raised, so that the life of human beings does not discover any foundation for its significance. Raju believed that Chinese philosophy lacked a metaphysical foundation and Chinese social thought a certain philosophical depth. The Chinese philosophy, compared to the Western philosophy, lacks logical rigour and is less epistemological and metaphysical. For the cause of not coming up with ultimate questions about human inwardness and outwardness, it is hard to find great systems of metaphysics and epistemology in China as in the West. It does not say that China lacked completely in logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. China had thoughts about that but they were explained only to that extent that was hardly enough to understand some prac tical human affairs, the hard facts of state and society. There were no serious efforts made to unknot the philosophical foundations of human existence. After getting an insight in Chinese philosophy, the authors will now highlight the more import philosophies. Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and Legalism are mentioned as high influential thinking schools. People learned from their philosophies what is useful or less useful to integrate Knowledge Management in an organization. One result in Confucianism suggests to realize the importance of technology which is also mentioned in the problem statement of this paper. Legalism can be a problem for Knowledge Management because it hinders knowledge flow and knowledge transfer. This is a very common problem in China, because society and organizations are often use legalism as their foundation. If Chinese companies want to achieve success by introducing Knowledge Management Systems into their organization it is necessary not to use Legalism as a companys philosophy. Buddhism also shows how Chinese express their feeling towards intellectual property and how Western companies might find some re asons for being afraid of the loss of their technology knowledge. Further research in this field would be highly recommended. On the other hand this paper shows that Daoism not necessarily means do nothing , it also animates to seek for the creation of value, which some Chinese organizations already adopted. To give a short conclusion about Western and Chinese philosophy, then next chapter will show how to compare those two different cultures and find out that they are not so different in some aspects. Comparison of Western and Chinese Philosophy The comparison of those two philosophies should show how Knowledge Management can react on the influence of philosophy on two different cultures. In modern Knowledge Management both cultures lies their focus on the development of technology to capture, store and share knowledge. The Western philosophy already realized the importance of logic and scientific approach while on the other hand the Chinese philosophy mainly concentrated on inner values which should be good for society. The West has a character of individualism while the East is trying to create a harmonies society by less focusing on individualism. Here Legalism can be seen as one of the biggest problems which results in not using all advantages of Knowledge Management. The problem that Chinese companies are focusing on technology has not necessarily to be seen as a problem. But leaving personal interaction behind can be seen as a major problem. The goal of Knowledge Management in China is to form transparent organizations to create knowledge and to share knowledge among their employees. As the hypothesis says it is important to take intensive care of Knowledge Management and this also cannot be realized in a short term period. Especially in China with their long history of philosophy and its great impact on their society it takes much longer to integrate Knowledge Management Systems in a company than it would take in Western company. Tacit and Explicit Knowledge After the discussion of certain perspectives on knowledge in Western philosophy and Chinese philosophy and their influence on Knowledge management, the authors will now explain the two important aspects of tacit and explicit knowledge. It is necessary to focus on the characteristics of tacit knowledge, since this is more difficult to access. During this work the reader should understand how important it is to get access to tacit knowledge and how to make it useful in a cross-cultural business environment. Faxiang Chen (2006, p.2) says that the term of knowledge refers two different forms: tacit and explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be documented, transmitted, codified, stored, shared and learned indirectly. Tacit knowledge on the other hand originates from personal accumulated experience and learning and can be shared in direct ways vi

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Effects of Human Mobility :: Traveling Mobility Technology Essays

The Effects of Human Mobility The effect of human travel has been twofold on the course of human history. It has served to transfer technologies, and it has also served to facilitate the spread diseases. There are examples of how technology travels from one culture to another all over the place, from the readings and movies we watch to things that we surround ourselves with everyday. Most of these technologies serve to make the lives of humans easier or more fun, but there are some inventions that have served to only destroy or make others lives worse. In some cases the technology’s originally intended usage was preserved, but in others the technology is used in different manners. An example from one of the first readings from this class is the Chinese invention of gunpowder. Originally it was used for religious purposes, but once the technology spread west through human travel, Europeans used the gunpowder and invented guns and ammunition. Once guns were invented, though, their use has not been altered. T hough there are many different models, and types of guns, they all operate under the same principles and for the same purpose. As I was trying to think of other examples of transfer of human technology through travel the movie â€Å"The Gods Must Be Crazy† came to mind. I know that this movie doesn’t represent real life, and might not be based on a true story, but it shows an example of how technology from one culture can influence and change another. The basic premise of the movie is that a pilot is flying his plane over the African bush lands, and drops his Coke bottle out the window. The bottle falls into the hands of a tribe of bushmen who still live a relatively primitive lifestyle. The Coke bottle serves many different uses for them. This glass bottle is harder than most things that they had access to, and its mouth and base are circular. Eventually everyone in the tribe wanted to use the bottle for their own purposes. The drawback was that there was only one bottle, so everyone in the tribe begins to fight over it. The rest of the plot is irrelevant, but what I have retold so far serves to illustrate how human travel influences the spread of technology. It also illustrates that the use of one culture’s technology in another culture may not be the originally intended purpose.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

United States Intelligence Agencies :: essays research papers fc

Although the cold war has ended and the Soviet Union has disbanded, there is still a need of intelligence collection for the United States. Finding itself as the leader of the rest of the world, the United States must prepare to identify problems as they arise, the earlier the detection, the more likelihood for success. With any one intelligence agency having too much information, problems could arise; therefore, it is imperative to keep a close watchful eye on these agencies to ensure that personal rights are not infringed upon. The success of intelligence gathering agencies is hard to determine. It is difficult to argue that covert operations had much of an impact on the outcome of the cold war (Nutter), but the cold war was not and is not the only objective for intelligence agencies. In fact, since the cold war the intelligence agencies of the United States have accomplished several tasks set before them; for instance, assisting other countries in identifying terrorists like Carlos the Jackal in Sudan, the head of the Shining Path in Peru, and the ring leader of the World Trade Center Bombing in the Philippines. As the leader of the world in the 21ST century, the United States intelligence agencies must keep up this highest level of information gathering procedures in order to stay ahead of any upcoming problems down the road. With intelligence gathering operations being utilized as collection assets on embassies of opposing nations based in the United States, careful consideration must be used when working so close with the American public. Everyday information that may appear irrelevant could be very valuable to domestic or foreign-based companies for advertising campaigns, marketing forecasts, and price gouging. This type of information leakage is a violation of an American’s rights. One problem with having so much information at home and abroad is seeing the correct way to solve dilemmas before they occur. While in war actions of questionable ethics often go unanswered and are hardly given a second thought. In 1941 when the Czech military intelligence service approached the British Special Operations Executive for assistance in an assassination of a German SS Officer no questions were raised, not even about who the target maybe (Richelson). With any agency possessing too much knowledge internally, it may choose to take the short road to ensure success of a mission. Thus, the American public should support the United States intelligence agencies, but keep a close watchful eye on them as well.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Carribbean Mist :: essays research papers

Caribbean Mist Web Project Recommendation Report Overview This report provides Caribbean Mist Inc. Tanning Spa, with a well detailed recommendation for a web site that would cater to the company’s needs. In order to create a good web site and write a good report we need to have a general understanding of your needs. From our extensive research we can see that the main goal for the company’s web site is to attract more customers and provide customers with more information regarding your services. Both goals are addressed in the recommendations for the web site so that it will achieve its full potential. In this report we will analyze and contextualize our team’s field research so that we can give recommendations for a web site that meets the standards of Caribbean Mist. After looking over what we had gathered from our research we began to see what Caribbean Mist is looking for in this web site and what restrictions and standards you are forced to comply with. The report provides recommendations for advertising for the web site, web site design, where to host the web site, and the context on the web site. Each recommendation is well stated and provides descriptive steps or actions, supported by research, that the company must perform in order to fulfill the recommendation. Along with the description, we will provide a rationale on why the option we chose will best suit your needs. Lastly, each recommendation presents Caribbean Mist with a step by step procedure of what needs to be done and how long it will take. To assist Caribbean Mist with our recommendations, we have also i ncluded a cost analysis of each recommendation that is given so that you will know exactly how much each step will cost and how much money will be needed to get the project started. Analysis Our team executed a number of things to produce our recommendations. We did field research, an interview, and market research. Our field research consisted of an in-depth observation of Caribbean Mist while they were open for business. This gave us a better idea of what types of customers come into Caribbean Mist and how often. We also conducted an interview with the manager to get a better idea of what Caribbean Mist wants in a web site. We conducted market research by examining other tanning company web sites to see what is popular in the industry.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Sample Project Portfolio Document

Major Projects of Tiger IT Major Projects of Tiger IT DOC ID: TGIBD-PREXP-100911-RFTSQB Abstract: Tiger IT is a world leader in biometrics and identity management solutions. It has more than 10 years of experience in developing turn-key solutions for different governments and industries. This document briefly outlines the different range of projects that Tiger IT has worked on. Keywords: About, Tiger, IT, TigerIT, Enrollment, Registration, AFIS, ID, Biometrics, Automated, Fingerprint, Matching, Identification, History, Background, Projects, Profile, ClientsTigerIT Bangladesh Limited House # 134, Road # 12, Block E, Banani, Dhaka-1213 Copyright  © 2011 This document contains information which is proprietary to Tiger IT Bangladesh Ltd. Use or disclosure of any material in this document without Tiger IT’s consent is prohibited. www. tigeritbd. com 1 Major Projects of Tiger IT Client: Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Project Name: Supply, Installation, and Commissioning of Hi gh Security Driving License Card, Enrolment System, Register System, Personalization System with Related Logistics, Services, and Training on Turn- ­? Key Basis Country: Bangladesh Date:April 2011 BRTA will use Tiger IT’s solution that records a driver’s photograph, fingerprints, signature, among other details and stores them in a highly secure and rugged smart card. The information will both be printed on the card and stored inside an encrypted chip that can be verified and updated by BRTA officials. The card itself will have multiple security printing techniques, some of which are visible to naked eye while others require specific instruments to check. BRTA estimates over 200,000 smart card based driving licenses will be issued using Tiger IT’s solution ever year. Tiger It is delivering he complete solution that includes biometric enrollment/registration, centralized database, application processing and issuance automation module, AFIS for de- ­? duplicati on, card printing and inventory management, and driver verification service. The scope of work includes the following: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Alpha- ­? numeric and Biometrics Enrollment in 64 locations (up to 20,000 registrations per month) Application processing and workflow automation for card issuance Relational Database Management System AFIS for 5 million records (4 fingers each) Card Printing, QC, and Inventory Management (over 200,000 card ssuance per year) Driver Verification from Smart Card (on PC and handheld devices) Various Web Service interfaces, including online pre- ­? enrollment in second phase Five years Maintenance with installation, operation and commissioning of the software www. tigeritbd. com 2 Major Projects of Tiger IT Client: Government of Cambodia Project Name: Cambodian National ID Project Country: Bangladesh Date: May 2011 Tiger IT is working in Cambodia for registration, database development, operation, and is suance of national ID cards for citizens of Cambodia. Tiger IT’s highly reputed biometrics capture and AFIS is in he heart of the project. The AFIS provided in the project is responsible for 2. 2 million records in first phase and additional 10 million records in second phase. The records will encompass 10 fingers each. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Total support for 150 mobile stations and 70 fixed stations for complete biometrics enrollment from all provinces Central database with full- ­? fledged reporting and administration support AFIS for 2. 2 million records for first phase and 10 million in next phase (10 fingers for each record) Smart Card Issuance (Personalization, Quality Control, and Inventory Management) Client: Bangladesh RapidAction Battalion (RAB) Project Name: Multimodal Biometric Project for Criminal Database Country: Bangladesh Date: June 2011 This solution uses both fingerprint and iris matching to perform de- ­? duplication. Biometrics enrollment an d fully functional Data Matching, Fingerprint Matching, and Iris Matching solution is major focus of the project. Apart from migration, Tiger IT is developing and incorporating multi- ­? biometric module to integrate with the existing RAB Criminal Database developed from www. tigeritbd. com 3 Major Projects of Tiger IT IBM Lotus Note Domino Server to Oracle 11g Enterprise Edition.Through this module new/old criminal information will be inserted, updated, deleted and identified along with the biometric features. Furthermore, the developed solution will also incorporated multi- ­? biometric module to capture information into the RAB Criminal database. 20 remote locations will be used and support for 200,00 criminal records will be provided. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Project has a high- ­? end biometrics enrollment solution to be used in 20 different locations Secure online and offline data transfer from enrollment site to datacenter Developm ent and Migration of Relational Database Management SystemThe AFIS system should support up to 200,000 citizen records for 1:N matching Customized Query, Work Flow Automation, Report Generation Training of RAB officials On- ­? site support for 36 months First biometric identity management solution in the history of Bangladesh to integrate fingerprint and iris matching in one project. Client: Bangladesh Election Commission Project Name: Supply, Installation, and Commissioning of Voters Registration System of Bangladesh Election Commission with Related Logistics, Services, Civil & Electrical Works and Training on Turnkey Basis Country: Bangladesh Date: October 2010The Voters Register System consists of a Data Center, a Disaster Recovery System and over 600 remote locations throughout Bangladesh. It comprises all the hardware, middleware, application software, infrastructure, interfaces and services to provide a turnkey solution. The www. tigeritbd. com 4 Major Projects of Tiger IT V oters Register will store 100 million voters with their bio data, photo, 4 fingerprints and signature. BEC wanted an integrated online solution connecting all remote locations to the central system. The BEC wanted to acquire hardware and solution that is fully compliant with the principles f service oriented architecture. The scope of work includes the following: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Central   Voters Register Software Relational Database Management System Disaster Recovery System Voter Register Client Software license Ident Station Software license Management Information Software Voters List Generator Software Database Servers for Data Center and Disaster Recovery System Data Storage for Data Center and Disaster Recovery System Printers to Print Voters Lists Management Information Stations Administration Stations †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Enroll Station Peripherals Identification Station peripheralsTr aining of all central staff Installation, commissioning and operation of the Voter Register System including all necessary works for infrastructural development/set up (electrical, civil etc works/services) Various Web Service interfaces Provide onsite maintenance for 1 year Five years Maintenance Installation, operation and commissioning of the software †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ www. tigeritbd. com 5 Major Projects of Tiger IT Client: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Nepal Project Name: Security Printing, Supply and Delivery, Installation of Equipments and Preparation of Machine Readable Passports Country: NepalDate: 2010 Tiger IT is working in collaboration with Oberthur Technologies in the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) project for the Government of Nepal. Tiger IT is providing the software solution for capturing data into the system with ICR. Tiger IT provided a solution capable of printing issuing 4000 passports per day. The MRP personalization center has a num ber of transaction points. These are as follows: †¢ ICR form receiving point †¢ Data verification stations †¢ ICR form scanning stations †¢ Personalization stations †¢ Dual data entry/edit stations †¢ QA Stations †¢ Foreign missions stations †¢ MRP handover oint www. tigeritbd. com 6 Major Projects of Tiger IT The ICR forms are collected in a batch and scanned using the document scanners. During the scan the software will separate the text, signature and photo, maintaining good resolution of the photograph and the signature so that they can be used for personalization of the MRP. The form image will also be scanned for the data entry/edit station operators to use. Other features of the project are similar to the ones described previously. Client: Bangladesh Election Commission Project Name: Supply, Installation, and Commissioning of Automated FingerprintIdentification System (AFIS) with Datacenter Hardware and Related De- ­? Duplication Serv ice for the Current Database of Bangladesh Election Commission (BEC) with Training on Turn- ­? Key Basis Country: Bangladesh Date: June 2010 A clean de- ­? duplicated database that eliminates fake voter registrations was the main purpose of the project. This tender was issued by PERP (Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs) project under the Election Commission Secretariat. PERP had hired international biometric experts as consultants for the preparation of the tender specifications and evaluation of the proposals.Stringent requirements were set to ensure that only the most qualified vendor wins the project. Prior to the award of the contract a validation test of the AFIS was also performed for the eligible vendors. After a competitive evaluation, Tiger IT Bangladesh Ltd. was awarded the contract on June 2010 as the most eligible vendor. Tiger IT has successfully delivered the AFIS capable of de- ­? duplicating 100 million records with all necessary datacenter hardware . The de- ­? duplication is now underway, working at present with 85 million records. (Each record in the project has 4 fingers. ) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 50 AFISMatching Cluster Servers 2 x Quad- ­? Core Intel Xeon Processor 24 GB DDR3, 1333MHz RAM 2 x 146 GB SAS, 15K hot- ­? plug hard drives, Min upgrade to 8 HDD Linux 64 bit OS, Java runtime 64 bit, Oracle 11g Delivery timeframe: 32 weeks www. tigeritbd. com 7 Major Projects of Tiger IT Client: UNDP, Bangladesh Project: Cleansing and Migration of Electoral Database of Bangladesh Election Commission Country: Bangladesh Date: May 2010 The United Nations Development Programme (â€Å"UNDP†) in Bangladesh engaged Tiger IT in order to perform services in respect of â€Å"Cleansing and Migration of Electoral Database of BangladeshElection Commission. † The scope of work included the following: Database migration to †¢ Installation of hardware/software/storage required for migration Oracle †¢ Back up of all migrated data on other backup devices †¢ Provide quality validation of migrated data †¢ Ensure data is not corrupted during migration †¢ Transfer of knowledge to BEC personnel, in terms of training, documentation, and any other preferred method by BEC Data cleansing †¢ Prepare a validated cleansing plan †¢ Identify data to be cleaned †¢ Transliterate Bengali data to English www. tigeritbd. com 8 Major Projects of Tiger IT †¢ †¢ †¢ Application evamp †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Extension of reporting features †¢ Secure API †¢ †¢ Design validation scripts to validate the clean data 99% of identifiable unclean data should be cleaned Ensure appropriate infrastructure and resources are used for this operation Porting existing application to new platform Change the application platform from PHP to Java to support new features Addition and change in business logic as per requirements of BEC Addit ion of new features Implement a general purpose reporting tool that will help the EC generate their own reports on demand New reports with extended summary features Secure API