.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

History of the Ashanti Kingdom

Otumfuo Opoku Ware II from 1970-1999. The Asante kingdom was founded by the great King Osei Tutu in the eighteenth century. His fetish priest was Okomfo Anokye, who unified the Asante states through allegiance to the Golden Stool, which miraculously descended from heaven. Okomfo Anokye planted two trees in the forest and predicted that one tree would live and become the capital of Ashanti. Hence is derived the name Kumasi (the tree lived); the place in which the other tree was planted became Kumawu (the tree died). Although located in the heart of the forest, Asante dominion was extended by military action and political skill towards the European occupied castles on the coast to the south, and also into the dry savannah lands to the north. This led to various wars with Britain. Kumasi was captured by the British Army in 1873 (as a result of which much of the magnificent Asante gold regalia can be seen in Londo n in the British Museum). After a final uprising in 1901, led by the Queen Mother of Ejisu (Yaa Asantewaa) Asante came into British Protection and finally became a region of the Gold Coast colony. In 1957, after a period of internal self-government, the Gold Coast becam e the first African colony to achieve independence under the charismatic leadership of Kwame Nkrumah. Kumasi Getting to the end of the 17th century Anokye Komfuo planted three â€Å"KUM† trees at different places. One at Kwaaman ruled by the Nananomayokofuo , a second one at Apemso-Bankofo ruled by Nananomaduanafuo and a third a village near Fomena and Amoafo called Oboani ruled by Nananomekuonafuo. The Kum tree at Kwaaman flourished and became a very big tree under which the King and his people often sat and so Kwaaman became Kum-ase meaning under Kum. The tree at Oboani was however very tiny and for no apparent reason was relatively short. According to oral tradition this small tree however produced a couple of other trees which were all small in size. The name of the village was changed to Kuma meaning small KUM. The Kum tree at Apemso-Bankofo did not grow at all. After some few weeks the leaves got rotten and the tree fell down and so it was said that the Kum tree has died or the Kum tree was dead and so the village became Kum-awu and this later chnaged to become Kumawu.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Masks and Disguise Essay

In William Golding’s novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ and Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ masks and disguises are used to serve different purposes. Both texts use masks and disguise to allow characters to behave in ways that they usually would not or could not. For example, in Lord of the Flies, the boys go from being civilised to becoming savage. This is evident when it says â€Å"the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self consciousness†. The fact that the mask is â€Å"a thing on its own† shows that the boys, Jack in particular, feel as if they are not responsible for their actions because of the mask. This is supported by the quote â€Å"The mask compelled them.† It also suggests that the boys have become completely different people after wearing the mask. The word â€Å"hid† suggests that the boys are also protected from the repercussions of their violent actions because the mask creates anonymity. At the masquerade ball in Romeo and Juliet, people are able to speak openly to each other as their true identities are hidden beneath their masks. This is evident when Capulet says â€Å"I have seen the say/ That I have worn a visor, and could tell/ A whispering tale in a fair lady’s ear.† This shows that Capulet was able to charm a lady with his stories with the aid of his mask. The word â€Å"whispering† suggests that Capulet’s action was something that had to be done with secrecy and that the mask allowed him to speak openly with the â€Å"fair lady†. Romeo, hidden beneath his mask, is also able to charm Juliet. This is shown when Juliet says â€Å"My only love sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late!† The word â€Å"unknown† reinforces the fact that people are anonymous beneath masks and are able to do things they usually wouldn’t. It also shows that Juliet fell in love with Romeo because she did not know his true identity. Also, if Romeo did not wear a mask, he would not have been able to meet Juliet, so the plot would not be able to move forward to reveal their â€Å"death-mark’d love†. During the time in which Romeo and Juliet is set, people often had masked parties as cultural occasions or for celebrations, â€Å"†¦the nuptial of Luciento†¦ and then we masked†. However, in Lord of the Files, masks are used to represent the removal of culture and the dehumanisation of the boys. This is shown in the quote â€Å"The forest near them burst into uproar. Demoniac figures†¦ rushed out howling†¦ stark naked†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shocks the reader as the boys go from completely civilised children to savages. The word â€Å"uproar† makes it sound as if there is chaos on the island. The word â€Å"demoniac† shows that Jack and the boys have become the embodiment of evil, unlike their former selves. The word â€Å"howling† makes the boys sound more like animals than humans. It may also suggest that the boys have freed their inner beasts and that wearing a mask makes it easier for their inner beasts to come out. The fact that they are â€Å"stark naked† shows that they are not civilised anymore and have become ‘less British’. The boys are also hidden behind masks when they brutally kill Simon and behave like savages. The masks used during Simon’s death protect the boys from punishment as their identities are hidden so no-one can be held accountable. This makes the reader feel upset because Simon gets no justice. Golding may have included this to show that all humans have the potential to become uncivilised and evil, and to show that civility is what contains a person’s inner beast.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29

Assignment - Essay Example This gave me more chances to listen to other songs and become more critical about music. Moreover, my readings enabled me understand deeper what have been discussed and to discover other materials that are helpful in understanding harmony, melody and rhythm. I also learned to listen more carefully and become more observant about instrumentation. For instance, when I listen to a song, I try to identify the instruments used without looking at the performers. In this manner, I also learned to distinguish what instruments are vital and what could be a good combination of instruments that could be used to create beautiful melodies. I learned to become more observant not only in the music that I listen to but also on how musicians perform. Movements indeed are essential as it has been observed in most successful performers because body movements help to relate the message of the song to the listeners. Today, I am not just able to enjoy music but I also have the confidence to attempt to cre ate my own music with the understanding I have gained in the

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Micro economics price in a competitive market Essay

Micro economics price in a competitive market - Essay Example A sales subsidy, paid on a per unit basis to sellers, creates a subsidy wedge between the price that the market will pay (P1), and the price that the suppliers will receive (P2). The per-unit subsidy will also shift the supply curve to the right, from S1 to S2, depending on the magnitude of the subsidy. The benefit of the price subsidy is usually shared by the market buyers and the suppliers, with the allocation of the benefits depending on the balance of the elasticities of the demand and supply for the product. B. From society's point of view, the per-unit subsidy paid to the sellers will prove to be more beneficial than the statutory minimum price that is set above the market-clearing price. The subsidy shifts the supply curve to the right, and provides either (or both) the buyers (market) and the sellers (suppliers) benefits from the subsidy. On the other hand, the price floor set above the market-clearing price creates surpluses, leading to an inefficient allocation of resources and to the unfortunate scenario where the government will be forced to purchase the surplus goods.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

QUALITY FROM THE CONSUMER'S PERSPECTIVE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

QUALITY FROM THE CONSUMER'S PERSPECTIVE - Essay Example The research proposal has brought out the definition of terms like ‘quality’, and ‘quality and customer’s perspective’. The variables that influence the perception of quality have been discussed. The concept of boutique hotels has been discussed briefly after which information about the smaller hotels has been brought out. The research method and approach has been discussed at length and the questionnaire formulated based on the information about quality and perception of quality by the customer. Both primary and secondary data would be collected and the research design has been discussed. The service sector and the smaller hotels have been chosen because this could help the hotels to change their marketing strategies and adopt a long-term approach. Achieving quality has become a global issue as more and more organizations attempt to enhance quality of their product or service offerings. To day in any sector, in any region, it is not enough to provide good quality product or service. Quality is not perceived as a strategy and not merely to make profits. The quality has to be measured from customers’ perspective and this requires understanding the requirements, expectations, preferences and experiences of consumers (Stern et al. 2003). Quantitative and qualitative feedback from consumers is a critical component as it helps the managers and decision-makers to assess their strategy and improve performance. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards (1999) advocates strong quality focus within all processes at all levels and it has now been recognized to apply equally to service enterprises including tourism and hospitality, healthcare and education. The hospitality industry has been trying and vying to attract repeat customers and for this they need to have a quality approach to customer needs and expectations. This suggests that customer’s perspective could guide the industry in enhancing the services. Douglas

Monday, August 26, 2019

Final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Final paper - Essay Example Additionally, around 6% of the Palestinians are Christians and only 1% of the Palestinians are represented by other small religious groups. Israel is an official Jewish country and it is situated in the Middle East. Additionally, Palestine comprises of two physically separate groups; the Muslim and Arab territories and they are located alongside the Israel’s West Bank (Gaza and Jordan River). Moreover, all these territories are dependent. Officially, no internationally recognised border separates Palestine and Israel. The lack of a demarcating border has led to the two countries claiming that they own the lands they currently occupy, and this has resulted in disputes for centuries now.1 The decades-long course of action aimed at resolving the border conflict between the two religious factions led to the creation of another overlapping conflict; managing the extremely unpleasant coexistence between the Israelis and Palestinians. The unpleasant coexistence has led to the Israelis military occupation of the Palestinian territory, while at the same time the Palestinian armed groups terrorise the Israelis mercilessly. Those two conflict dimensions were made worse by the long existence history of violence and bitterness between the two groups. Essentially, it is not the existence of distrust and resentment that usually make reconciliation between these two groups ineffective, but the existence of extremists who usually oppose any negotiation and want to subjugate or even destroy the other side. Moreover, when these extremists control the peace conversation and process, they usually ensure that they derail the whole process.2 In other words, the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis has advanced into a horrible cycle of conflict and the peace process continues to look less possible each breaking day. In most cases, these two groups are blamed equally for perpetuating conflict because many people, in both sides, enjoy squandering peace as well

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Coca Cola Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Coca Cola Company - Research Paper Example We will be looking at several types of financial ratios available in assessing the financial position of The Coca-Cola Company: Liquidity Ratios, Asset Management Ratios, Profitability Ratios and Gearing Ratios. The quantitative findings in this segment can be found in the Appendix section of this report. The results show that The Coca-Cola Company has a good Liquidity Ratio. The company's Current Ratio is 1.12 (0.95 in Q1 2008) and its Quick Ratio is 0.94 (0.80 in Q1 2008). This means that The Coca-Cola Company is still able to generate enough cash to settle its short-term liabilities. There has been a slight improvement in its Liquidity Ratio compared with the previous quarter. As a guide, a current ratio of 2 is ideal. However, in the company's case, 46% of its Current Assets (42% in Q1 2008) are made up of cash and cash equivalents. At a glance, the company's assets are being managed efficiently. Its Inventory Turnover is 1.13 (1.07 in Q1 2008), which shows that company is trading better. Its inventories declined by 6% in the first quarter of 2009 whereas its sales increased by 3% in the same quarter of 2008. Nevertheless, the company should take note that over increasing its inventories may adversely affect its business performance. This is because costs associated with holding inventories for too long can be very expensive. As such, managing its inventories well is recommended. There is a slight improvement in the Average Collection Days of 39 (43 Days in Q1 2008). Although the company is able to meet its short-term liabilities; it should still make an effort to improve the collection of its debts. The credit term given to its customers is not stated; however, as a guideline, 30 days is recommended. In this case, the company's customers are enjoying slightly more than the normal credit terms and this should be monitored. The profitability of The Coca-Cola Company is sound. Its Gross Profit Margin of 69% (64% in Q1 2008) is quite high. This is a 4% drop compared to the first quarter of 2008, due to the lower sales in the first quarter of 2009. Although, its sales performance shows a slight improvement from the previous quarter, the comparative results from the first quarter of last year did not fair as well. The company should analyze further the cause of this decline - whether the efficiency of its production dropped resulting in lower finished goods or simply experiencing slower sales due to consumer choice. The Return on Assets and Return on Equity ratios show similar results. At 3.2% and 6.4% respectively (3.2% and 6.5% respectively in Q1 2008), these can still be improved on. The Gearing Ratio is quite low at 24% (14% in Q1 2008). Although it has nearly doubled, the results should not cause an alarm. The estimated cost of capital of the company is 12.75%. This measures the opportunity cost of the investors that their investment is creating value. It measures what it costs to raise capital. It is advisable to have a balance between debt and equity sources. This balance should be the mix that gives the lowest possible cost of capital consistent to the attributes of the company. 3 COMMENTARIES Considering the sluggish economic situation across the world, The Coca-Cola Com

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Case Study-Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case Study-Law - Essay Example The signing of the terms and conditions for hire also includes the hirer’s conformity to UTS’ policy on the expression or manifestation of religious, political, and such other beliefs, ideas and values practiced in UTS (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). Even though the venue booking has been approved beforehand, the UTS may still cancel such an application without notice if there are â€Å"extraordinary or unusual circumstances† which necessitate such cancellation (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). The University, however, will make an effort to find a substitute venue if the cancellation of the booking was without the fault of the hirer (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). Cancellation made by the hirer of the dinner 24 hours before the event takes place, shall result in the payment and liability for a cancellation fee equaling to a hundred percent of the total hire and event fee as stated in the terms and conditions (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). In terms of displaying promotional material on the window of the venue, the terms and conditions of hire states that there must be an approval first of the University or an express permission made, without which, any advertisement, poster, handbill or other form of announcement or statement should not be placed on any structure or natural feature of the campus including windows (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). In using sound and audiovisual equipment, authorization must first be given by the University, especially when used in the said premises (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). Aside from this, the details regarding the amplification of the equipment should be described by the applicants in detail so that the appropriate provisions can be made, details of which include the utility connections and facilities for loudspeakers, speaker’s or performer’s location, control of decibel level and others (University of Technology Sydney, 2006). Prior

(Business Ethics) An Ethical Analysis of the Use of Performance Assignment

(Business Ethics) An Ethical Analysis of the Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport - Assignment Example Other than this, the use of performance enhancement drugs also increased in sports mainly to reduce psychological dependency, stress and lack of confidence. As a result, the use of pharmacological drugs, hormones, anabolic steroids came into existence. Due to the presence of varied types of steroid and anabolic steroids, the performance and strength of the professional players increased but it hindered the qualities of fair play. Moreover, introduction of such type of performance enhancing drugs also reduced the features and natural qualities of athletes. Therefore due to the causes the ethical framework of sports changed from impartiality and objectivity to partiality and biasness. This paper mainly tries to highlight the issue, that whether the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports is ethical or not. In order to specify this concept, varied types of ethical theories are used like utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, theory of justice, rights, the challenge of normative ethical relativism. Dissatisfaction with performance and progress- in this age, the rate of use of anabolic drugs and steroids has increased in order to reduce the rate of dissatisfaction over his or her performance and progress. By doing so, the level of performance of the athletes increases resulting in amplification of their activities or actions. Due to which, the popularity and equity of the athlete as well as the nation also enhances to a significant extent as compared to many other nations. Psychological dependency: numerous athletes intake varied types of anabolic drugs or steroids due to psychological dependency. As a result, the inner strength and morale of the athletes reduces that declines the level of performance to a considerable extent. Wanting to attain a renowned position: in order to attain a renowned position just like numerous other experienced athletes, maximum extent of the new comers takes help of anabolic drugs or steroids in very low age

Friday, August 23, 2019

The Effect of Media (Internet) on Children behavior Essay

The Effect of Media (Internet) on Children behavior - Essay Example Ethical reasoning on the subject of Internet use among Children and Adolescents VII. Conclusion The Effect of Media (Internet) on Children’s Behavior INTRODUCTION Since the introduction of the internet, children everywhere have been fascinated by this media format and the various opportunities for entertainment that it presents. Today, most children in the developed nations are interested in internet related sources of entertainment and information than in formerly popular activities such as reading story books and playing in the playground. The teenagers in Western nations use the internet for entertainment and education almost as much as the adults do. Objectives of Studying about the Effects of Internet use by Children and Teenagers Children today have more access to a lot of information than children in bygone eras did due to the internet. Computers cannot really be considered as being innately damaging to the minds of users, or only beneficial; however, in the hands of ch ildren, they can be changed to become either of these options. The internet can deeply affect a child’s psychosocial development. Thus, it is vital for educators as well as parents to acquire the necessary information in regards to the effects of prolonged exposure or supervised exposure of children to the internet. This will then allow them to be able to offer direction on the age-appropriate exploitation of different features of the Internet. The fact that this objective may be difficult to achieve is not unusual. In the present age, there are many educators as well as parents who may fear that they know much less about how best to use the different internet features that exist than their own children. Many do not even appreciate the emergence of the internet as the latest medium which can be used to champion literacy. Moreover, this approach may be counterproductive because there is a need for parents to understand how the internet affects their children’s developme nt. In addition, there are many unseen dangers in the relatively unregulated world of the internet. The only way to tackle such potential dangers is by learning about different facets of the internet and accepting statistics and facts about the effects of the internet from researchers who study the subject. Learning about the internet will also allow educators as well as parents to be able to ensure that children benefit from educative information from a safe environment. Research Findings on the use of the Internet The findings of all research conducted on internet use among children indicate that there are both negative as well as positive developmental consequences that come with using the internet during adolescence as well as childhood (Holloway & Valentine, 2003). It has also been established that there are other environmental elements that mediate the effects of childhood online behavior. The techno-subsystem theory, for instance, addresses aspects about child interaction wit h both non-living factors such as information from hardware sources, and living sources such as colleagues (Holloway and Valentine, 2003). In emphasizing the function that technology plays in the development of a child, the ecological techno-subsystem supports the holistic examination of the developmental results that could be determined by various levels of internet during a

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Risks and Internal Controls for Kudler Fine Foods Essay Example for Free

Risks and Internal Controls for Kudler Fine Foods Essay Internal controls are policies and procedures a company uses to ensure the accuracy and validity of their data. Risks are threats to that data that could be internal or external of the company (Hunton, Bryant, Bagranoff, 2004). The following paragraphs will identify and analyze the risks and internal controls as they relate to the information systems for Kudler Find Foods. This will give Kudler information on how to evaluate risks and the application of the internal controls and this document will discuss other external risks associate with buying a new accounting information system (AIS). Identifying and Analyzing Risks There are many types of risks that a company has to confront each day in information technology (IT). The four main types of risk are business, audit, security, and continuity risks. A business risk is when a company will not be able to achieve its goals and objectives; this could be union issues, a competing company, fraud, or production equipment failure. Audit risks include misstatement of financials by an auditor or a failure by an auditor to uncover fraud or material errors. A security risk can be a host of things that would ruin the integrity and access of the data, which can also lead to fraud or misuse of other information from internal (like employees) to external (like hackers) sources. And, finally, continuity risks are information system risks that have to do with backup, recovery and day to day availability of the system. When unplanned risks occur, management and auditor need to act quickly to intercept the risk, balance the risk with cost-effective countermeasures, since it is impossible to plan all risks (Hunton, Bryant, Bagranoff, 2004). It is important to thoroughly evaluate the AIS selected for risks as it includes confidential customer, vendor, payroll and corporate information within the master databases. The types of risks associated with Kudler’s new AIS system are system setup, data transfer and implementation issues, the AIS exceeding server capacity, other technology issues, and internal security breaches such as fraud, loss, or misuse of data. Typically the risks to AIS systems are primarily internal threats, as processing occurs behind the Company’s firewalls and system access is usually limited to only company employees. Kudler has multiple stores, so it might be web-enabled, allowing vendor users and employees to access the system over the Internet, which will expose their system to external threats. This increased connectivity might make unauthorized access easier for hackers and therefore data loss, industrial espionage, fraud and system outages could occur as well (Goldenberg, 2011). Internal controls are vital to put into place from this point of assessing the risks. Identifying and Analyzing Internal Controls The purposes of internal controls for an AIS are to protect the data resources against fraud, damage, and loss. It is also to ensure accuracy, validity, and reliability of the financials and operating data, which will help Kudler to stay compliant with its policies and procedures of the company and make better decision making strategies. For best business practices, internal controls need to be put into place, as the risks are many for Kudler, but in order for management to document their understanding of internal controls, they should use a flowchart to highlights risk issues and areas needing control. Attached are Appendix A, B, C, and D Data Flowcharts for Kudler. On these charts are highlighted areas of possible risks and potential internal controls to put into place (Apollo Group, 2013). The first step to developing an effective internal control system is to identify the areas where exploitation or errors are likely to occur. Separation of duties is the key to eliminate many fraudulent concerns surrounding accounting and finance. No employee should handle more than one of the following responsibilities: record keeping, authorization, reconciliations, and custody of assets. The following areas in accounting should also be reviewed for internal risks: * Cash receipts and disbursements: This will include deposits recorded and made promptly to the bank, checks signed and reviewed by management, petty cash secured and roperly recorded, bank reconciliations are done monthly and reviewed by Management, AP and AR master data files are secured with end user controlled passwords. * Payroll: This will include that all payroll changes should be approved by a supervisor, that disbursements are for actual employees, and tax filing are filed in compliance. * Fixed Assets: This will include all purchases of Fixed Assets are properly labeled and recorded and are used solely for work purposes, should be reviewed by Management monthly. Ordering (Inventory): This will include all orders are approved before placing, audits are done of inventory regularly, and inventory is properly recorded in compliance with depreciation schedules. * System changes: Approval of all changes that will occur to the system must be assigned by the Security Administrator to the Programmers and the Programmers must work with the end users for the changes and then get approval from Management before implementing the changes (BDO Consulting, 2009). Controls Outside of the System Other controls outside of the system that Kudler should evaluate for risks and improvement could be environmental controls, such as physical access to the building or utilities, or operational controls, such as personnel policies, strategic planning, administration, and supply chain, or even reputation controls, such as internal or external communications and media issues. Achieving understandable business controls on any level requires Kudler to clearly state procedures for handling each area, including a system of checks and balances in which segregation of duties has been established from beginning to end of the process. Management has the responsibility for setting a tone and degree of accountability and preciseness regarding the company’s assets and responsibilities. Management fulfills that responsibility in part by approving many aspects of the internal controls (Disaster Recovery Journal, 2011). Conclusion It is the responsibility of Kudler Fine Foods’ management to understand, monitor, and control risks. This document has shed some light on potential risks the company could face, but being prepared for all risks is impossible. Evaluating and implementing a system of internal controls allows the company to have peace of mind that the organization is able to deal effectively with managing its data, resources, and operations from certain risks. Internal controls also support reliable reporting and compliance with laws and regulations, which are necessary for best practices in business.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Tariff and non tariff trade barriers

Tariff and non tariff trade barriers INTRODUCTION Despite all the evident benefits of international trade, governments have a tendency to put up trade barriers to protect the domestic industry. There are two kinds of barriers: tariff and non-tariff. Tariff Barriers Tariff is a tax levied on goods traded internationally, that is on imports. As a result, the price level of imported products rises and the demand for them decrease, thus imports are less. Non-tariff Barriers Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) include all the rules, regulations and bureaucratic delays that help in keeping foreign goods out of the domestic markets. Baldwin  [1]  defined a non-tariff distortion as any measure (public or private) that causes internationally traded goods and services, or resources devoted to the production of these goods and services, to be allocated in such a way as to reduce potential real world income. The WTO After the World War II, many countries focused on protecting home industries. So, international trade was hampered by severe trade restrictions. To remedy this situation, twenty-three nations joined together in 1947 and signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which stimulated free trade by regulating and lowering tariffs. The work of GATT is sustained by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which encourages global commerce and reduces trade barriers. Tariffs on goods and services have been reduced to low levels through eight successive rounds of the WTO; still there has been a significant increase of Non-Tariff Measurements which are seriously hindering trade. Countries use many mechanisms to restrict imports. NTBs have gained importance as tariff levels have been reduced worldwide. They are the greatest single threat to a liberal world trading system and they are becoming more widespread: the percentage of industrial countries total imports subject to NTBs rose from 25% in 1981 to 27% in 1983 and they are even higher today. NTBs are therefore one of the most important issues in the round of international trade negotiations. TYPES OF NON-TARIFF BARRIERS Non- Tariff Barriers to trade can be categorized in six types: Specific Limitations on Trade: Quota shares A quota is a restriction in value or in physical terms, imposed on import and export of certain goods for a certain period of time. For example, the US has imposed a quota on textiles imported from India and other countries. Import licenses/ Restrictive licenses Import licensing can be defined as administrative procedures requiring the submission of an application or other documentation, other than those required for customs purposes, to the relevant administrative body as a prior condition for importation of goods  [2]  . For example, in Washington, cheese and cheese products are subject to the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture and most importations of cheese require an import license and are subject to quotas administered by the Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service  [3]  . In Mauritius, pesticides require import licence from the Ministry of Health, arms and ammunitions require import permit from the police and many others.  [4]   Exchange controls This is monitoring the amount of foreign exchange available to residents for purchasing foreign goods domestically or while travelling abroad is another way of restricting imports. Foreign exchange restrictions and foreign exchange controls occupy a special place among the non-tariff regulatory instruments of foreign economic activity. Foreign exchange restrictions constitute the regulation of transactions of residents and nonresidents with currency and other currency values. Import bans/ limitations This is a government order forbidding imports of a specific kind or from a particular country. For example, in order to protect the domestic manufacturers against cheap competition from the neighboring country, the government of India imposed ban on the import of Chinese toys. Moreover, many countries, like for example India, have impose a ban on food imports from Japan fearing contamination. Furthermore following a milk scandal that led to the widespread poisoning of babies in China, India banned the import of milk and milk products from China. Embargoes Embargo is a particular type of quotas prohibiting the trade, in other words, when imports from a specific country are totally banned. It is mostly put in place due to political reasons. For example, the United Nations imposed an embargo on trade with Iraq as a part of economic sanctions in 1990. Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures Customs Valuation There is a commonly held view that the invoice values of goods traded internationally do not reflect their real cost. This gave rise to a very subjective system of valuation of imports and exports for levy of duty. If the value ascribed to a particular product would turn out to be considerably higher than its real cost, it could end in affecting its competitiveness by increasing the total cost to the importer due to the excess duty. This would hence act as a barrier to international trade. Antidumping practice If a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges on its own home market, it is said to be dumping the product. Antidumping is prohibiting a country to dump, that is, to export goods at usual lower prices. Documentation requirements This is when complicated and unnecessary documentation requirements are asked by the importing countries. In Mauritius, according to the Mauritius chamber of commerce and Industry of Mauritius, these imports documents are required; invoice, showing the FOB and CIF value of goods; packaging lists; bill of lading; bill of entry; and where applicable; insurance certificate, certificate of inspection, certificate of origin and imports permits  [5]  . Rules of origin Determining where a product comes from is no longer easy when raw materials and parts across the globe are used as inputs in the manufacturing plants. Rules of origin are important in implementing such trade policy instruments as anti-dumping and countervailing duties, origin marking, and safeguard measures. Technical barriers to trade Technical Barriers Countries generally specify some quality standards to be met by imported goods for various health, welfare and safety reasons. In Mauritius, rice (imported by traders other than the State Trading Corporation) should not exceed 10% broken rice, bakery additives shall not contain potassium bromate as an ingredient  [6]  , etc. This facility can be misused for blocking the import of certain goods from specific countries by setting up of such standards, which deliberately exclude these products. The process is further complicated by the requirement that testing and certification of the products regarding their meeting the set standards be done only in the importing country. The Precautionary Principle The precautionary principle, is a government restrictions on trade in the context of environmental and health concerns, often regardless of cost or scientific evidence. The precautionary principle has been interpreted by some to mean that new chemicals and technologies should be considered dangerous until proven otherwise. It therefore requires those responsible for an activity or process to establish its harmlessness and to be liable if damage occurs. Sanitary and phyto-sanitary conditions This is a restriction on imports from certain places in order to protect consumers, the environment, or agriculture from harmful diseases or pests that may accompany the imported product. For instance, in Mauritius, agricultural goods require a phytosanitary certificate from the ministry of Agriculture, prepared foods, drugs, and chemicals with potential adverse effects on health require phytosanitary certificate from the Ministry of Health.  [7]   Packaging conditions, labeling conditions and product standards. Countries usually impose standards on classification, labeling and testing of products in order to be able to sell domestic products, but also to block sales of products of foreign manufacture. These standards are occasionally entered under the excuse of protecting the safety and health of local populations. In Mauritius, the establishment in charge for the control of standards mainly for food and other items is the Mauritius Standards Bureau. In addition, European exporters and investors are facing an increasing number of unjustifiable non-tariff barriers in the form of product certification, labeling standards, import approval requirements and customs clearance delays. Also, many of the Chinese standards such as the CCC standard require certification by the Chinese authorities before a product can be put on the Chinese market. Important information has to be submitted and the factory has often to be inspected at the expense of the exporter. Government Participation in Trade Complex regulatory environment Some countries have complex regulatory framework, for e.g. complex business registration and license, and thus this hamper free trade. For instance, rules recently enacted in China, prohibit European financial information agencies and operators to sell directly their services customers in China. Government procurement policies This is another type of NTB where governments pretty frequently follow the policy of procuring their requirements (including that of government-owned companies) only from local producers, or at least extend some price advantage to them. This closes a big potential market to the foreign producers. Subsidies to Local Goods This occurs when governments directly or indirectly subsidize local production in an effort to make it more competitive in the domestic and foreign markets. For example, tax benefits may be extended to a firm producing in a certain part of the country to reduce regional imbalances, or duty drawbacks may be allowed for exported goods, or, as an extreme case, local firms may be given direct subsidies to enable them to sell their goods at a lower price than foreign firms. Countervailing duties This is a duty placed on imported goods that are being subsidized by the importing government. This helps to even the playing field between the domestic producers and the foreign producers receiving subsidies. Buy national policy This is a policy hosted by the government to help the national economy. For instance, in 2009, the Paraguayan Finance Ministry specified changes to public procurement policy in relation to the national stimulus plan. That is, public bodies that seek to spend money from the stimulus money are to give preference to national goods and services. More specifically, domestic goods shall receive a preferential margin of 70 percent over imported products. In terms of labor, the announcement declares that at least 70 percent of the labor involved in stimulus projects shall come from local employees living in the territory of the contracting public authority. Charges on imports Variable import levy A  variable import levy  is a  levy  on imports that raises their price to a level at least as high as the domestic price. Such levies are adjusted frequently in response to changes in world market prices, and are imposed to defend administered prices set above world market prices. Under the  Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, the variable levies of the EU have been converted into fixed tariffs or tariff-rate quotas. Border taxes It is a tax system for imports and exports, especially one that compensates for internal taxes in Common Market countries by levying fees or paying rebates. Others Voluntary Export Restraints This is an act of limiting exports. It happens when a country facing a persistent huge trade deficit against another country pressurized the latter to adhere to a self-imposed limit on the exports. For instance, after facing consistent trade deficits over a number of years with Japan, the US persuaded it to impose such limits on itself. Direct and Indirect Restrictions on Foreign Investments A country may directly restrict foreign investment to some specific sectors or up to a certain percentage of equity. Indirect restrictions may come in the form of limits on profits that can be repatriated or prohibition of payment of royalty to a foreign parent company. These restrictions discourage foreign producers from setting up domestic operations. Foreign companies are generally interested in setting up local operations when they foresee increased sales or reduced costs as a consequence. Thus, restrictions against foreign investments add impediments to international trade by giving rise to inefficiencies. PROBLEMS CAUSE BY NTBs The reduction of tariffs in progressive rounds of trade liberalization at the multilateral and regional levels has been mirrored by the rise to prominence of NTBs. NTBs for instance specific limitations on trade and charges on imports such as quotas, import ban and so on, will directly affect trade negatively as they will impact on exporting countries by decreasing or prohibition their exports. Although embargo is usually introduced for political purposes, the consequences, in essence, could be economic. This decrease or ban in exports, if it was of an important quantity/ value, will create serious economic catastrophe for the exporting countries and may result in Balance of Payments deficiency, a decrease in GDP, an increase in the level of unemployment and if nothing is done to remedy the situation, the country can go in a recession. NTBs in the customs and administration entry procedures category and in the standards category do not directly hamper free trade but they add to business cost. These testing procedures being expensive, time consuming and cumbersome to the exporters, act as a trade barrier. This will eventually raise their costs, leading to higher prices thus making them less competitive at international level, and small and medium enterprises may be discouraged to export. A vivid example is in Iran where  NTBs negatively impact on the trade of pistachio and shrimp products. The most important reasons for the reduced export of these products are Sanitary Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers (TB). According to WTO rules, countries are allowed to adopt regulations under the SPS and TB agreements in order to protect human, animal and plant health as well as the environment, wildlife and human safety.  [8]   However, by imposing NTBs, both counties will lose, that is, the country which imposes the NTMs also loses. This can be demonstrated by the following facts: for instance, Japanese consumers pay five times the world price for rice because of import restrictions protecting Japanese farmers. American consumers also suffer from the same double burden, paying six times the world price for sugar because of trade restrictions. Hence, allowing free trade in a way will benefit everyone. European consumers pay dearly for restrictions on food imports and heavy taxes for domestic farm subsidies.  [9]   HOW TO REDUCE NTBS The action should start from the top, that is, from the WTO itself. The WTO has already reached some agreements like the Anti-dumping Agreement, SPS agreements, technical barriers agreements and many other agreements. Moreover, RTAs is the first step to reduce NTBs, as it is easier to get the consensus of all an RTA members on a matter that the consensus of all the WTO members. In addition, RTAs normally constitute of country members with a similar/ more or less the same economic background. For instance, in ASEAN, most members are from developing countries while EU has members from developed countries. As a result, removing NTBs will benefits all the members equivalently. For example, there has already been an agreement on the general features of the process for eliminating NTBs in ASEAN. The process Involves, verification of information on NTBs, prioritisation of products/NTBs, developing specific work programmes, and obtaining a mandate from the ASEAN Economic Ministers to implement the work programme.  [10]   In addition, different RTAs have different methods of reducing NTMs. Such as, the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies aims at building a shared regulatory framework and at achieving greater security for consumers and workers, better protection for the environment and reduced cost for international trade.  [11]  They also developed standards for agricultural produce that define minimum quality requirements in order to facilitate the trading process. CONCLUSION Free trade, will surely benefits many countries. Thus in order to allow trade to occur freely, tariffs as well as non-tariff barriers need to be reduced. However, sometimes for safety reasons, some NTMs are required. For instance the import ban on food from Japan is necessary in order to avoid the proliferation of the radioactive contamination. Thus some trade restrictions may be necessary for countries to ensure the safety of the food supply and the health of plants, animals and the environment. However, sometimes governments go beyond what is necessary to protect domestic industries.   Moreover, free trade can increase the poverty gap. This is so because developing countries and LDCs will not be able to compete with developed countries and multinationals may implant themselves in the LDCs just to reap the benefit of cheap labour and resources and does not contribute more to the development of those LDCs.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Literature Review: Wireless Sensor Networks

Literature Review: Wireless Sensor Networks CHAPTER 2 To complete this project, a lot of literature reviews have been done. These include many case studies from past to recent research and general understanding towards the theory behind each technology. Articles, journals, books, previous projects and internet have served as sources of literature reviews. Some major case studies are described below. 2.1.1 Case study 1 Case study towards paper Integration of RFID into Wireless Sensor Networks: Architectures, Opportunities and Challenging Problems (2006) [1] In this paper, Lei Zhang and Zhi Wang propose three different forms of network architecture based on integration of RFID and wireless sensor network, The three architecture are Heterogeneous network, Distributed reduced functional sensor reader network, and Mini node network. Heterogeneous network architecture uses 802.11b/Wi-Fi technology as its platform. In Physical layer, 802.11b/Wi-Fi uses the unlicensed 2.4 GHZ band and Discrete Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) technique. Its maximum data rate can reach to 11 Mbps. In MAC sub-layer, 802.11b/Wi-Fi uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) scheme, which will improve the efficiency of network. This architecture is good for real-time operation but limited range. Distributed reduced functional sensor reader network architecture uses ZigBee protocol as its platform. The reasons are ZigBee uses lower power consumption in physical layer and MAC layer, more reliable and low cost. This architecture is good for wide range but no real-time requirement. The last architecture which is the Mini node network architecture uses IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standard protocol as its platform since there is little data flow and reduced cost. The mini node is actually the Mica nodes which allow communication between each mini node. This architecture is specially fit for industrial security and remote condition-based maintenance system, Figure 2.1 below describe remote condition-based maintenance systems based on the application of Mini node network architecture. By using this architecture, the reader from the forklift will sense signal from each mini node and will move toward the signalled mini node to perform tasks like move rotating parts of a machine automatically. Figure 2.1: Fork lift operation dispatching in a factory [1] Case study 2 Case study on paper Smart Home Mobile RFID-based Internet-Of-Things Systems and Service (2008) [2] Mohsen Darianian, Martin Peter Michael introduce a RFID reader system architecture for a home comprised of several readers in master slave architecture. The communication protocol between the readers and tags is based on RFID standard protocols like UHF. As shown in Figure2.2 below, the system consists of following reader components: Master Reader (MR), a number of Slave Readers (SR), and Mobile RFID (MRFID) Reader The Master reader is a conventional powerful fixed reader with a direct fixed or wireless connection to the smart home server. It starts the read process of slave readers and power up passive tags for reading process. In addition, this master reader also acts as the so-called RF Energy Generator for mobile RFID reader so that the mobile RFID reader can have lower consumption of power. The Slave reader acts as middleware for capturing tag ID information tags which are not accessible by the direct radio transmission of the master reader. Slave readers will be integrated in the home appliances. Since location of the slave readers is known by the system, it is good for localization of tags As for the Mobile RFID reader, in this paper, it has been improved so that it does not consume a lot of energy. The mobile RFID reader will use the proposed architecture so-called RF Energy Generator to be powered up by master reader or slave reader. Thus, these mobile readers will act like passive readers. In this paper, Mohsen Darianian, and Martin Peter Michael have apply the proposed system architecture as described above to create a smart home which apply wireless concepts along with RFID technologies for creating services almost everywhere in a house. It applications include control electrical appliances, home tele-monitoring, and give intelligent suggestions inside the house automatically and wirelessly. Figure 2.2: Smart Home using RFID and WSN [2] Case study 3 Case study on Paper Bus Management System Using RFID in WSN by Ben Ammar Hatem and Hamam Habib (2009) [3] In this paper, intelligent bus tracking application applying integration of RFID and wireless sensor network technology to monitor whether the bus will be arriving on time, early or late inside the bus station is introduced. The design approach is proposed. As shown in Figure 2.3, first, each bus will has its own UHF tag. Next, Entrance and exit doors will be equipped with an RFID reader, antennas and motion sensors. When a bus enters or exits the station, the RFID reader will send its identification to the central computer where the event is displayed on a Map. Finally, a software application on the control station keeps track of the entrance and the exit of buses and updates the displays related to those buses with useful information. The communication will be wireless using ZigBee protocol. To execute this proposed architecture, they choose to use Ultra High Frequency generation 2 (UHF Gen2) RFID which operates between 860MHz to 960MHz bandwidth. UHF is better suited for reading tag attached to buses. It uses backscatter technique to communicate with the tag and provides higher read range compared to HF and LF technology. As for the antenna, they used Alien circular antenna to read RFID tags to improve orientation of reading. Two antennas are used in each gate, to communicate with tags. One is used for the emission of energy to the tag and the other receives energy back from the tag. The display is using the LCD and LED technologies. By completing this proposed system, it is hope to provide a smart solution for managing the bus schedule in the bus stations and offering helpful information to passengers. Problems like under employment of buses fleet and long waiting time at the bus station can be minimised. Case study 4 Case study on paper Intelligent Traffic Management System Base on WSN and RFID by Lejiang Guo, Wei Fang, Guoshi Wang and Longsheng Zheng (2010) [4] This paper introduces Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) base on RFID and WSN, and discusses the hardware and software design principles of the system. Figure 2.4 shows the ITS system architecture. It consists of Access and Terminal Layer, Application Processing Layer, and Data storage and access management. The Access and Terminal layer mainly completes information exchange between each subsystem of ITS. Application Processing Layer will be responsible for processing the information. And lastly the Data storage and access management will be the data management system for the ITS system. As for the composition of the system, RFID tags and sensor nodes are used to keep stored in the monitoring area. RFID reader is used for the base station. At the same time, the sensor nodes send the data after its transfer to the local PC or remote network. RFID can be used for dereliction of duty as an intelligent base station device for RFID and data WSN systems Integration. In the network, the system consists of five types of facilities which are Base Station, Sensor nodes, RFID Tags, Device reader and Center Data Platform. Zigbee protocol is implemented in this system architecture. Figure 2.5 show how the sensor nodes are deployed and communicate to each other. As for the data communication middleware, advanced web Service architecture is implemented. The reason is web service is the most advanced platform for distributed applications, by which it not only can achieve basic distributed application, but also improve fault tolerance. Messaging middleware is using XML format for the transmission of information. Geographic Information System (GIS) is also combined in the system. GIS is based on one of the technologies supported by Public Security Traffic Management GIS platform. GIS is used to process all information associated with visual processing, to provide simple and direct for visualization information interface. By utilizing the application of ITS based on combination of RFID and WSN. The real-time traffic management system can provides the basis for efficient data monitoring. Second, the system uses the heterogeneous adaptive network architecture for road monitoring will provide a more flexible way, efficient, reliable system communication architecture for traffics management system Case study 5 Case study on paper Innovative Application of RFID Systems to Special Education Schools by Shu-Hui Yang and Pao-Ann Hsiung (2010) [5] In this paper, the uses of RFID system innovatively broaden. Application of innovative Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems has been incorporated to special education school campus to improve the teaching and learning and control process in special education schools. For the Implementation Platform and Architecture, the main RFID campus system was implemented using the YesTurnkey technology, which includes four parts, namely front-end RFID middleware server, front-end RFID application server, backend database server, and backend RFID application server. Front-end RFID Middleware Server consists of YesTurnkey Asset Tracking Manager which is a manager of all network resources that includes the set of active RFID readers installed on campus and RFID Processor DLL that processes RFID data. Front-end RFID Application Server is a server which used by the Type 1 (Direct-Connected) RFID scenario windows applications. Backend Database Server implemented the Microsoft SQL Server. And finally, Backend RFID Application Server: which manages the execution of two kinds of applications which are YesTurnkey WiNOC (Wired/Wireless Network Operations Center) Web Application and Type 2 (LAN-Based) RFID Scenario Web Application. However, five of the innovative works are focused, including student temperature monitoring (STM), body weight monitoring (BWM), garbage disposal monitoring (GDM), mopping course recording (MCR), and campus visitor monitoring (CVM) by applying the RFID system technology. Basic operation for mopping course recording (MCR) system will be described below. (Swab with the reader is moving across tag) As shown in Figure 2.6, first, they patch up of a mobile pedestal, an artificial plastic floor with embedded passive RFID tags, and a real mop equipped with a Bluetooth passive RFID reader. The mobile pedestal carried a laptop for displaying the real time status of how a student is performing the cleaning job and a projector connected to the laptop, which could project a black, dark grey, light grey or white image on the artificial floor, which represented dirty, little clean, quite clean, and clean. By using this MCR, teacher can monitor these special education students so that the students will learn to complete their task better. As can be seen, by using this RFID technology, outcomes shown above have truly give benefits not only to teacher but also the student. Research is still ongoing to include RFID technologies in teaching method and materials. Summary of the case studies Theories behind this project This section explains general theory on the technologies involve in this project. The theory and technology involve include Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Radio-frequency identification (RFID), Integration of WSN and RFID and Visual Basic Programming (VB). 2.2.1 Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) A Wireless Sensor Network is a self-configuring network of small sensor nodes communicating among themselves using radio signals, and deployed in quantity to sense, monitor and understand the physical world such as temperature, pressure, humidity and more. Figure 2.7: WSN Sensor Node 2.2.1.1 Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) Topology Wireless sensor network topology show how each sensor node inside a wireless network are connected. Some of the WSN topologies are like star, mesh and cluster/tree. They are shown Figure 2.8 below. Basic WSN topology is the star topology in which each node maintains a single, direct communication path with the gateway. To increase wireless coverage, cluster/tree topology can be used although it increases complexity. Finally, although network latency may be experienced, mesh topology is especially good in increase network reliability. [6] Figure 2.8: WSN network topologies 2.2.1.2 Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) components A wireless sensor network may consist of the following components: power supply, microcontroller, wireless communication, sensor, local storage, and real time clock systems. Some components may be optional and are depend on the function purpose. The main idea is that the sensors are connected to a tiny computer that coordinates the measurement, pre-processes, stores and delivers the information. Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) characteristics This section describes the behavior or the uniqueness of wireless sensor network. Some of them are: harvest or store limited power, Able to withstand harsh environmental conditions, able to adapt with node breakdown, nodes mobility, dynamic network topology, heterogeneity of nodes, large scale of deployment, unattended operation, and lastly, node capacity is scalable and only limited by bandwidth of gateway node. Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) protocols There are a lot of wireless sensor network protocols in market nowadays. Some of the well- known WSN protocols are Bluetooth, WiFiZone, IEEE and ZigBee. Choosing the wrong protocol may cause severe inefficiency and prevent the WSN to accomplish user need. The protocol will affect energy dissipation, system cost, Latency and Security. Thus, it is very important to choose the best protocol for a system as it strongly impact on system performance. Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) platform Wireless sensor network platform basically include the hardware design, modular design, smart sensor interface, software design, and operating system. The hardware designs include super node, simple node and gateway. All these design have to follow several standardized specification developed by IEEE, Internet Engineering Task Force, and International Society of Automation. Modular design has to be flexible and expandable for various applications. Smart sensor interface has to equipped with plug and play modules. Important topics to be considered in software design include security, mobility and middleware which allow communication between software and hardware. And finally, operating system has to be compatible with TinyOS as TinyOS allows easy establishment to wireless sensor network. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) RFID is a means of identifying a person or object using radio frequency transmission. Mainly, RFID consists of three parts which are reader, tag and also host computer. There are also various types of reader and tags depend on their uses. Figure below show basic operation of a RFID system. First, to read data for tag, tag is move and enter RF field of reader through antenna. Then, RF signal from antenna will power the tag to allow the tag to transmit its ID and data back. Reader will then capture the data and send them to the computer for displaying. To write data to the tags, we just write the data into the computer, and the reader will take the data from the computer and transmits them into the tag via the antenna. Figure 2.9: Basic Operations of RFID 2.2.2.1 RFID reader RFID reader is also called as RFID interrogator and it is used to read/write data from/to tags. It can operate on single or multiple frequencies, and perform anti-collision processing. There is also a hybrid RFID reader which can read bar code. There are mainly three types of RFID reader which are fixed, hand-held and mobile reader. Each reader has their own uniqueness. RFID reader consists of components like receiver, transmitter, oscillator, controller/processor and input/output port. The receiver holds an amplifier and a demodulator. Transmitter has a modulator and power amplifier. Oscillator is used to provide carrier signal to modulator and a reference signal to demodulator circuits. Then, the controller/processor will perform data processing and communicates with external network. And lastly, input/output port is connected to the antenna. 2.2.2.2 RFID tag RFID tag consists of RFID chip, antenna and power source. RFID chip consists of modulation circuitry, control circuitry, processor and memory. Modulation circuitry can change the signal from reader to include data to be transmitted back to the reader. Control circuitry control internal function under the command of processor. Processor interpret signal from reader and control memory storage with retrieval. And memory serves as writable and non-writable data storage. Antenna is only used by Ultra high frequency and Microwave frequency tags. Low frequency and High frequency tags will use induction coils. As for power sources, the tags can be divided into three types which are active tags, semi-passive tags and passive tags. Active tags have internal power source. Passive tags draw power from reader. And Semi-passive tags are battery-assisted but communicated by drawing power from reader. Integration of WSN and RFID Wireless sensor network (WSN) is used to sense and monitor various parameters in the environment while RFID is used to detect presence, location and identification of objects. By integrating these two technologies, they will provide a significant improvement on monitoring application. The basic idea of integration of WSN with RFID is to connect the RFID reader to an RF transceiver, which has routing function and can forward information to and from other readers wirelessly. RFID will act as a sensor in the WSN. With combination of RFID and WSN, monitoring and tracking application can be done not only outdoor but indoor also (with obstacle). The coverage can also be improved depends on the specification of WSN platform used. Visual Basic Programming (VB) Visual Basic is a programming language and environment developed by Microsoft which is based on the BASIC language. Visual Basic is commonly used to develop graphical user interface. Visual Basic was one of the first products to provide a graphical programming environment for developing user interfaces. Since it uses graphical programming environment, we can be sure to increase the efficiency in design the graphical user interface.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Wilderness Empire :: essays research papers

In Wilderness Empire, Allen W. Eckert has given a sweeping and thorough look into the lives of key decision makers and the pivotal events leading up to and including the French and Indian War. Through Eckert’s educated insight, the reader is able to enjoy a look into a distant way of life made edifying through his portrayal of historical figures. Following the lives of William Johnson and his friend Tiyanoga, a powerful leader of The Six Nations, the reader is able to better understand a way of life that has long since been eradicated. Eckert provides portraits of the Ottawa warrior Pontiac and various French and English political leaders of this period. The reader recognizes and enjoys the appearance of a young George Washington and Ben Franklin. Eckert records the early life of the characters William Johnson and Pontiac. Through this glimpse of such different and simple beginnings, the reader has a better understanding of the scale of change that took place during this time in history. Johnson, born a poor Irish Catholic, is given the opportunity to come to the colonies where he became a wealthy land owner and a successful businessman. Johnson, who was known among the Indian tribes as a man of clear sight and honesty, developed a deep relationship with Tiyanoga, a principal chief among the Mohawks. Through this bond with Tiyanoga, Johnson gained knowledge of native culture that gave him strong political influence with the Indian League of Nations, also called the Iroquois League or The Six Nations. As Pontiac grew to manhood in a culture that is foreign to most modern readers, he became a formidable leader among his people as the Ottawa war chief. Wilderness Empire chronicles the relationship of the Iroquois League with the French and the English. As the tensions between the European powers grew, the Indians were courted by emissaries from both countries. The reader is provided with an astute portrayal of the corrupt political systems that were used to both influence and prejudice the Native Americans, even to the extent of conversion of the Indian tribes by the French to a bastardized version of the Catholic faith. With this perspective, readers are offered an understanding of the strength of the Native American people as a warring force in this conflict. The English and the French both knew that they would be defeated if their political opponents could win the support of the tribes. Wilderness Empire :: essays research papers In Wilderness Empire, Allen W. Eckert has given a sweeping and thorough look into the lives of key decision makers and the pivotal events leading up to and including the French and Indian War. Through Eckert’s educated insight, the reader is able to enjoy a look into a distant way of life made edifying through his portrayal of historical figures. Following the lives of William Johnson and his friend Tiyanoga, a powerful leader of The Six Nations, the reader is able to better understand a way of life that has long since been eradicated. Eckert provides portraits of the Ottawa warrior Pontiac and various French and English political leaders of this period. The reader recognizes and enjoys the appearance of a young George Washington and Ben Franklin. Eckert records the early life of the characters William Johnson and Pontiac. Through this glimpse of such different and simple beginnings, the reader has a better understanding of the scale of change that took place during this time in history. Johnson, born a poor Irish Catholic, is given the opportunity to come to the colonies where he became a wealthy land owner and a successful businessman. Johnson, who was known among the Indian tribes as a man of clear sight and honesty, developed a deep relationship with Tiyanoga, a principal chief among the Mohawks. Through this bond with Tiyanoga, Johnson gained knowledge of native culture that gave him strong political influence with the Indian League of Nations, also called the Iroquois League or The Six Nations. As Pontiac grew to manhood in a culture that is foreign to most modern readers, he became a formidable leader among his people as the Ottawa war chief. Wilderness Empire chronicles the relationship of the Iroquois League with the French and the English. As the tensions between the European powers grew, the Indians were courted by emissaries from both countries. The reader is provided with an astute portrayal of the corrupt political systems that were used to both influence and prejudice the Native Americans, even to the extent of conversion of the Indian tribes by the French to a bastardized version of the Catholic faith. With this perspective, readers are offered an understanding of the strength of the Native American people as a warring force in this conflict. The English and the French both knew that they would be defeated if their political opponents could win the support of the tribes.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Dinner vs. Instant Message :: Personal Narrative Writing

Dinner vs. Instant Message I can remember sitting at my boyfriend's house, while he took part in Teen Chat , an online chatroom that he had recently become addicted to . He's being awful quiet and I am getting annoyed at the chronic pounding at the keyboard and the spontaneous giggles coming from him that pop out of nowhere. Here I am watching some dumb movie on HBO with his cat "Whiskey" coughing louder and louder until I finally get his attention. "Hey babe, you wanna type?" Did I want to type? No, I didn't want to type! You promised me Chilis! We were supposed to go out! "I guess,"I said. Anything to get some attention here. I wandered over to the damn machine to see what his fuss was about. Ok, I admit it, I was amazed that he could be a part of ten conversations at one time. There were about fifteen people in the chat room, talking about everything from sports to some stuff that I would like to think of myself too much of a lady to mention. "This is dumb, you WOULD want to be a part of this!" I said totally aggarvated that he could be subject to some of the things they were talking about. "Babe, WE'RE talking about baseball!" I guess he was right and I noticed that about five people acted as if they knew him before he even entered the chat room. I asked him how he knew these select few. "This is Ryan," he would say, "He is taking some of the same classes as me at CFCC, this girl's name is Jessica, she's from Tennessee, she just IM's me to talk sometimes." Wow. Friends online? Now this was starting to intrigue me. I mean how many of my friends could I communicate with? No phone bills or waiting three or four days to receive outdated letters. Now the meeting new people thing seemed a bit ridiculous, though he would beg to differ. But, whether I cared for it or not, there was a whole community online and he's meeting more people as I sit beside him holding Whiskey in my PJ's, watching the walls in his empty living room. He had always tried to get me to type on this thing and say hello. Finally, the next time, I did. "Say something," he would tell me. I wasn't surprised or disappointed to see that my simple "hello" was completely ignored.

Socrates :: essays research papers fc

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The wise and inquisitive Socrates was both a philosopher and a martyr, not just in his words but in his actions as well. Socrates was so adamant about his principles that he wouldn’t deny them to save his own life. A lesser man left in his shoes would have done anything to stop the fate that he faced. Socrates practiced what he preached through and through and for the most part only taught good morals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next four pages consist of the life of Socrates, his contributions to the world, his family life, appearance, events leading to his death and his death. You should see how strict the Greek government was. Most of all this paper should teach you what kind of a person Socrates was and what kind of a person you are. 2 Socrates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is known about Socrates stems from the works of his pupil Plato and the historian Xenophon. Since both men were about 45 years younger than Socrates, the only first hand knowledge they had of him was from the last 10 to 12 years of his life. Some believe that since Xenophon and Socrates weren’t close, the information that he had of Socrates was drawn from Plato. Since Socrates never wrote anything down and didn’t leave anything behind, the accuracy of his history is questionable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Socrates was born in Athens, Greece in 469 B.C. where he lived all of his life. His father was a wealthy sculptor named Sophroniscus and friend to the family of Aristides, the founder of the Delian League from which the empire arose. His mother was said to be a â€Å"midwife† (which implies nothing about her place in society) named Phaenarete.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Socrates was known as a great fighting man, his appearance wasn’t pretty. He was short and stout, big nostrils on a small stubby nose, and prominent eyes. Despite his appearance, those who knew him were aware that his true beauty was on the 3 inside. It was said, that he had great self-control and endurance, along with unparalleled intelligence, and sophistication.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a youth Socrates was the pupil of Archelaus and studied scientific theories of Anaxagoras. Later in life Socrates abandoned physical studies and focused on the building of moral character. He believed that to do wrong is to damage the soul and that it is worse to do wrong than to be wronged, so you should never do wrong to right a wrong.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Analysis of Virginia Woolf Essay

The essay â€Å"In search of a Room of One’s Own† by Virginia Woolf starts out by asking a simple question, what were the living conditions of women in England, in the time of Elizabeth? The author wants to understand why no woman had written any literature, unlike a man who was capable of a song or sonnet. It was as if the life of a woman was fiction. We must first start out by understanding how women were viewed in the public’s eye and then understand how they could not have been as smart as men; or could they? The author uses expressive and mimetic elements throughout the essay to support her argument. Young girls had their husbands chosen for them when they are still young by her parents. Any girl who refused to marry the man that was chosen for them was liable to be locked up and beaten without it even being looked upon as bad in the public’s eyes. Marriage was not about personal feelings; it was at the convenience of the family. Mostly taking place in the upper class societies, women were allowed to be beaten by their husbands. It was a recognized right and practiced without shame. Eventually women of upper and middle class were allowed the right to decide their husbands. When they had chosen their husband, he would become the lord and master over her. Plainly saying she was his property. Women were not wanted if they had any personality or character. This is referring to Shakespeare’s women, who were lacking of both. This is why women have no real existence saved in the fiction written by men. The author disagrees with this way of thinking; women are much more than that, â€Å"†¦ one would imagine her a person of the utmost importance; very various; heroic and mean; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater† (Woolf 383). This is the author’s way of expressing that men and women think differently about the women’s role in life. Although men saw woman as a piece of property with no real value, they really are more than that. A woman is everything and nothing at the same time. A woman is of the highest importance and completely insignificant. She pervades poetry and is basically absent from history. She is a slave to any man whose parents forced her to marry. Some of the most inspired words, some of the most profound thoughts in literature fall from her lips; in real life she could hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband†(Woolf 383). The reality of how things were for women in this era was how a man said they were. There were plenty of women in this time that had preceded the notion of what men thought. For instance Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth, and Rosalind were strong willed women who did not follow the fictional depiction of what men said they were. Throughout history, a woman is only mentioned here and there, and normally they are all queens or great ladies. Women had the brains and character to be just as great as their male counterparts, but they would never receive a chance. A middle-class woman would never be mentioned, because of her oppression by man. According to historians, she was not allowed to write about her life or keep a diary. This leaves nothing to judge her by. Out of the many men that were all great writers, artists, and inventors only a handful of extraordinary woman do we know of equal caliber. The author is expressing emotional despair for the average woman. Her passion would be suppressed and forever unfulfilled. The author starts asking why is there nothing known about women before the eighteenth century? How can there be no such poetry produced by a woman. According to men, â€Å"†¦ it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come, to have the genius of Shakespeare† (Woolf 385). A stroke of genius like this would drive a woman insane and they would kill themselves. Genius like this is not something you are born with. It comes from the proper education and training. Things like this were not allowed for women. A highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift for poetry would have been hated and punished by other people. â€Å"†¦so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty† (Woolf 388). This is expressing how a smart woman will be so hated and revered that they will not have a chance for a normal life. Even if they were able to survive and actually write some poetry, it would have been twisted and deformed, coming from a strained and morbid imagination. If there was work from a woman it would have been published in a man’s name. This was the only way for a woman to get published. The women who did get published under a man’s name were still looked upon as distasteful. â€Å"Thus they did homage to the convention, which if not implanted by the other sex was liberally encouraged by them (the chief glory of a woman is not to be talked of, said Pericles, himself a much-talked-of man), that publicity in women is detestable† (p. 389). This means that women are nothing compared to men. Women do not care as much about fame as men do. What is most important is to be heard not seen. If a woman was born in the sixteenth century with a gift of poetry, their life would be unhappy and they would strife against themselves. The conditions of her life and her own instincts are what set her up for her ultimate demise. Nothing is to be expected intellectually from a woman. Any girl can read, but this lowered her vitality, and said wonders about her work. â€Å"There would always have been that assertion – you cannot do this, you are incapable of doing that – to protest against, to overcome† (Woolf 392). The author expresses how again the women are repressed and told what and how to think. Women were not encouraged to be or do anything with their lives. They were told how to think and act. They were tortured, snubbed, slapped, lectured, and exhorted. Her mind was strained and her vitality was lowered by the need of opposing and disproving stuff. The woman is inferior and the man is superior. The author uses different expressive ideas to help the audience understand the oppression against women in the eighteenth century. To make the audience feel as oppressed as the women did. Thought out the years there has been women poets and writers, but because of the oppression from the men, they used a man’s name to be able to get their point across. Any genius should be looked upon as a gift, not torn apart because it was from a woman. In conclusion, Virginia Woolf argues a strong point on how women were treated unjust and as if they were property of a man. She expresses her ideas in a clear way using vivid descriptive language that sets the audience into her state of mind. The argument is so strong; it makes the reader feel pity for the women of that era. Makes them want to stand up and take charge of their own lives.

Friday, August 16, 2019

River Out of Eden

Division among species Human beings often questions about the world such as how the world was created, and have doubts about religions even thought they believe in one. The theory of Darwinism, creates a new idea of how human beings were created, and how they came to the stage they are in right now. In the Richard Dawkins book, River out of Eden, introduces a idea of Digital River, where species creates many branches of many kind. In this book, Dawkins explains the digital river by using the illustration of speciation, explanation for the â€Å"long good bye†, and speciation rom the reptiles. To begin with, the digital river, term that humans created for the explanation of the speciation, describes the whole cycle of process that occur among the living creatures over time. In order for creatures in this world to survive, they need to adapt to the environment they are in. Dawkins states that â€Å"to be good at surviving, a gene must be good at working together with the other genes in the same species-the same river. To survive in the long run, a gene must be a good companion. †(5) Thus saying that among their own kinds, any certain kind of species has to be in good shape and needs the competitive attitude towards their kind. For example, when lions hunt zebras, they need strong leg muscles and swift movement in order to get the prey in one shot. Usually, in order to achieve this status, lions need to acquire good genes from their ancestors. If they do not have the skills to hunt, they will not be able to survive, resulting only the fastest and quickest lions to survive in the cycle. Dawkins also states the idea of the â€Å"long goodbye†, relates to the digital river. The â€Å"long ood bye† is a status when animals of similar kinds cannot have sexual intercourse anymore. The book states â€Å"nobody doubts that the most important ingredient is accidental geographical separation. For example, when lions and tiger mates, they still h ave a baby, people call in the liger. But ligers cannot mate within themselves because their genes are different in a great way. Tigers and lions may had a same ancestor, but by the geographical factors, divided in two ways. They have many similarities and style of living, but still they cannot create a new branch in the igital river. Lastly, Dawkins talks about the speciation of the reptiles. The book states â€Å"When the ancestors of all the modern mammals broke away from those that are not mammals, the event was no more momentous than any other speciation. †(9) like this, even though many people bring upon the idea of the Darwinism that reptiles turning into other mammals by the theory of evolution, this is no other different than the process of speciation such as geological part away, or natural selection. In Dawkins book, Digital River presents lot of information and thought about how pecies evolve in about to certain stage, and how they come upon to that certain degree . It is not a true fact, or a certain thing whether the evolutionary statement of Dawkins proves that species exists in certain stages, but because of the entry of the Darwinist thoughts, human beings think about the life one more time before they simplify the life, and also come up with psychological factors that deals with life. Works Cited Dawkins, Richard. â€Å"River out of Eden. † The Digital River. New York: Basic books, 1995: 1-29

Thursday, August 15, 2019

A Ready and Modern Army, a Strategic Priority

Planning Guidance, the Army will focus on five strategic priorities to meet the Nation's strategic imperatives. Although all of these priorities are significant, the strategic priority â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army† is the most important because it directly impacts the Army's ability to respond when called upon. â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army' strategic priority affects the Army's personnel, equipment, supplies, and training.One thing is non-negotiable: Americans expect and trust that their Army is properly trained and deployment ready at any given time. It is important to note that in a time of budget cuts and manpower reduction, balancing readiness and modernization will continue to be an issue across the entire Department of Defense. Nevertheless, the Army will need to continue to scale its forces into scalable, well-equipped, and highly trained force in order to maintain readiness in an unpredictable world where modernization is absolutely necessary for the Nation to addre ss future global trends.Additionally, it is crucial that the Army continues to conduct rigorous and practical training at home stations at multi-echelon levels and leverage modern technologies such as virtual and emulation capabilities. Finally, the Army needs to capitalize more on the skills and knowledge of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve as well as having the right mix of capabilities in order to establish and maintain a globally responsive and regionally-engaged force.Overall, â€Å"A Ready and Modern Army' means that the Army will need to holistically look at Its personnel, equipment, supplies, and training and determine the best way to Integrate operations where It makes sense to provide the most efficient and effective solution. The need for Integration Is even more critical In the context of the foreseeable fiscal environment.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Consider how Jane Austen Portrays Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Essay

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ The fact that Austen opens Pride and Prejudice with this sentence is evident that the theme is going to be important. Also it holds a truth as well as being satirical and humorous. As a beginning sentence, we know that this idea of marriage will be expanded later on and become more important as the novel commences. Austen fills the novel’s dialogue with irony, making people such as Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins reveal their foolishness to the reader through their ridiculous comments. Pride and Prejudice is a love story that is both humorous and deeply serious. It shows a mixture of emotions on all the characters behalf. Satire is used a great deal, where Austen criticises people in a humorous way. This is due to the fact that for a woman in this period, marriage was the surest route to independence and freedom. The story is based on a series of conflicts, the central one is between Elizabeth and Darcy, and smaller ones concerning the other characters. Jane Austen portrays marriage in Pride and Prejudice in various ways. The first idea is true and deep love, and that they would want to be together forever regardless of money or social class. This reason alone should be why the couple marry. Another idea would be money, people may have chosen to marry due each other having a substantial amount of money or land. Some marriages may be very passionate or in contrast they could be quite forced. All the marriages in the novel vary as they are all slightly different under different circumstances. Austen chooses to portray the Bennet’s marriage mainly by Elizabeth’s thoughts and opinions. Their marriage is rather different to any others. Mr. Bennet proposed when Mrs Bennet was rather young. This meant she was naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and not thinking about the consequences fully. Elizabeth’s father chose to marry her mother because he was ‘captivated by her youth and beauty’. The older the couple became, the more they argued. ‘You mistake me my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.’ This shows us that they have been together for at least twenty years and they still argue with each other. In addition, it shows that she uses ridicule. Mr. Bennet puts up with Mrs Bennet even though she may become annoyed by little things. Mrs Bennet has an uncertain temper and when she was discontented, she became really nervous. As she became more and more nervous, she took out her nerves and anger on her husband. Due to this and other reasons, Mr. Bennet discovered that she has a ‘weak understanding and illiberal mind.’ Mrs Bennet is desperate for all of her daughters to get married and settle down with a family, ‘Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; favour five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!’ whereas Mr. Bennet is not as bothered whether they do get married or stay single for the rest of their lives. Austen uses this marriage to represent how not all marriages work out perfectly, and that sometimes there are arguments. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins married for a reason that Austen does not agree with. They both married for convenience, practicality and to achieve a desired social rank. Charlotte wanted to settle down in a ‘comfortable home’, and Mr. Collins wanted to ‘set an example of matrimony in his parish’ and ‘add very greatly to my happiness’. Collins also wanted to follow the ‘recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling Patroness’. Mr. Collins had a fair amount of money, so Lady and Sir Lucas did not disapprove of their daughter’s marriage. Charlotte married to solidify her life as she was twenty-seven and way beyond the marrying age. Soon she regretted it as she spent most her time trying to avoid her husband. This is unmistakeably obvious that this marriage should not have taken place. Charlotte and Collins so not have any feelings for each other, but both feel as if they have achieved something as they are settled down with some fortune. As Austen uses her writing techniques throughout the novel, Collins was described in a very burlesque way, this was due to his exaggerated behaviour. Lydia and Wickham got married even though they each had different opinions on the subject. Lydia had rushed into an ill-advised romance with Wickham, an officer who at first appears charming and trustworthy. ‘His appearance was greatly in his favour, he had all the best part of beauty – a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address.’ Another benefit would have been that he became socially named. Lydia wanted marriage to be the answer as she believed that they were meant to be with each other and that he loved her in return. Little did she know that Wickham had no intention of marrying her, but when he finally did decide to, he only took into consideration how much money the Bennet’s owned to find out how much he would make. Lydia did not see or understand that Wickham did not love her and did not intend on marriage. Everyone in Lydia’s family thought that she was stupid and foolish accepting Wickham’s proposal as they could see how untrustworthy he was. They also all knew that he was forced into it by Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy also felt responsible as he new what Wickham was like, but failed to warn anyone even though he knew the consequences would end in marriage. Darcy forced Wickham to marry for the reason that he wanted to help out Elizabeth as he had feelings towards her and he thought that doing this would make her love him. When Lydia went on her trip to Brighton, she saw this as an opportunity to become friends with male officers. ‘She saw herself the object of attention to tons and to scores of them at present unknown.’ After the two married, the Bennet’s welcomed Wickham into their family more freely, even if they didn’t mean it and they were just acting warmly towards him. Elizabeth could not bear to listen to the conversation the family were having about the couple. She heard Lydia telling Jane that she had taken her place in rank order, and this distressed her. ‘Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman.’ This tells us that Lydia is very pleased that she is the first of all her sisters to get married, and she wants to boast about it and let everyone know. Overall, Austen portrays this marriage as a bad one, due to the circumstances. Later on she begins to change her mind, as Wickham seems to end up wanting Lydia for love, regardless of the past. Austen strongly agreed with Jane and Bingley’s marriage, as they married for love and it had nothing to do with money or land. They liked each other from the beginning, and kept it that way. I also agree that this marriage was the most suitable given that they grew to love each other before they fully found out each others history. Jane is the eldest of the five daughters, and also considered the prettiest of them. ‘†You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,† said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.’ Darcy along with Elizabeth and Bingley all seem to think that Jane is far prettier than any other of the girls in the ball room at the ball. Mr. Bennet thinks that Jane and Bingley will get cheated out of their money and become poor as they are too kind to their servants. ‘So easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will exceed your income.’ Although, Mr. Bennet did say that Jane and Bingley will be happy together as they married for love and they both truly love each other. Mrs. Bennet on the other hand, is just very pleased that Jane is married and especially happy that it is to someone that earns a great deal of money each year. ‘Why, he has four or five thousand a year, and very likely more.’ In the beginning when Elizabeth and Darcy first met, Elizabeth despised Darcy due to his inexcusable manners, and him refusing to dance with anybody, including herself. At the ball, Darcy thought that Elizabeth was ‘not pretty enough to be worthy of dancing with.’ Mrs Bennet had described him as ‘a disagreeable man.’ After the Ball, Darcy changes his opinion about Elizabeth ‘he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing.’ At this stage, Elizabeth was unaware of Darcy’s feelings towards her. Further in the novel, Darcy fears he is in ‘some danger’ of falling in love with her. The reader then realises that they might have some kind of future together. Soon Elizabeth starts to fall in love with Wickham, the handsome soldier. This is due to Darcy not mentioning how he feels and that Elizabeth knows no better. Later on, Darcy did not give Wickham the parish that he wanted and had been promised before Darcy’s father passed away. This is when Darcy wrote the letter to Elizabeth telling her about all about his and Wickham’s conversations. He told her all about how Wickham wanted to go to Law School, and then when he didn’t like law school he wanted the Parish again. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy’s Aunt, strongly disagrees to the fact that Darcy likes and would like to marry Elizabeth. She believes that as he has much more money, he should marry somebody from a higher social class than Elizabeth. Elizabeth definitely is not bothered about what she has to contribute towards the matter as she considers this to be between Darcy and herself only. ‘You are not entitled to know mine; nor will such behaviour as this, ever induce me to be explicit’. This is Elizabeth’s reply to Lady Catherine when Elizabeth denies telling her what she knows about her and Darcy. Towards the end of the novel, Darcy asks Elizabeth about her feelings towards him, she said she had changed her mind and that she does like him now. Elizabeth and Darcy then get married as they both feel the same way towards each other. This marriage is portrayed as a perfect marriage as they both married for the reason that they each love one another. I agree with this marriage, as they each fell for one another at the end, after all their ups and downs and one marriage proposal. Furthermore, these two have been through many different emotions of anger, stress, sadness and then to happiness until they were both ecstatic by being with each other. I have come to the conclusion that Austen portrays marrying for love and security as the right reason and is the decent way of doing things. We find this out because any marriage that she sees is good she goes into great detail about and explains everything that is going on, however if she disagrees with a marriage she will explain it quickly and try to finish on the subject rapidly. When Austen disapproves of a character, she views them negatively and does not inform the audience of any positive attributes. Overall I have decided that the best marriage throughout the novel was undoubtedly Darcy and Elizabeth as they married for all the right reasons. They were also the central theme so were meant to be together and work out in the end.