Relation to marriage Essay Example for Free

Relation to marriage Essay Acclaimed as the Father of English Literature and the English Homer before William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, the writer of The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale, was born to a middle-class family in ca. 1343 and was once a member of the house of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster. Regarded as one of the most famous and significant poets in the medieval period, Chaucer was well-known for his use of dream-vision form, his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales (ca. 1387), and more importantly, his contribution to the English language by importing more than 1000 new words that were derived from foreign languages. In The Wife of Baths Prologue, Chaucers precise presentation of the Wife of Baths experience (line 1) of marriage, which she believes to be right ynough for [her] to speke of wo that is [inside] (lines 1 3), brings forth to her convincing arguments about marriage. Obviously in the beginning of the Prologue, Chaucer suggests the idea of the Wife of Bath as being a five-time, experienced married woman, whose first marriage experience comes when she is only twelf year of age (line 4). The wise woman is without doubt an advocate of marriage, as she is always ready to fight back all kinds of attacks concerning her marrying five times with her strong, convincing arguments with references to the Bible although she graunte it wel (line 101) the truth that [one] does well not to marry (1 Corinthians 7.1), as it would be better to continue to live alone (1 Corinthians 7. 8) as a widow, the Wife of Bath strongly believes that there is nothing wrong to marry more than once, as she always agrees with the idea that to be wedded is no sinne (line 57) as long as [her] housbonde is fro the world agoon (line 53) according to her idea, it is of no repreve (line 90) and withouten exception of bigamye (line 92) to wedde if that [her] make [dies] (line 91). Despite the advices from other men, who [keep on] [conseiling] [her] to be oon (line 72), she is convinced that she does the right thing as there is no law that forbids her marrying, and whether to marry is up to her owene juggement (line 74) and decision. Her firm belief and strong arguments are, in my opinion, the results of her awareness of the law and her situation in the society, as well as her understanding of the Bible. Regardless of the higher values of maidenhood, the Wife of Bath believes that marriage is of the same importance as virginity as it is God who [tells] us to wexe and multoplye (line 28) and it is impossible to do so without marriage. In her argument about virginity and marriage, she likens wives as barly breed (line 150), which [the] Lord Jesu [uses] to [refressh] many a man (line 152). Such metaphor, in my view, works well to emphasize the importance of wives (barly breed), despite its inferiority to the purity of virginity, which she likens as breed of pured whete seed (line 149). The Wife of Bath, furthermore, believes that marriage suits her the best and is what she desperately needs, as it is her will to bistowe the flour of al [her] age in thactes and in fruit of marriage (line 118 119) it will definitely be a disaster for her if she has to laden al [her] lif in chastitee (line 100), despite the fact that virginitee is great perfeccioun, and continence [is] with devocioun (line 111 112), which is according to the Almighty God, the way to live a perfect life.

Dangers of Plastic Bottles Essay Example for Free

Dangers of Plastic Bottles Essay Plastic bottles are hugely popular these days for their convenience and perceived purity, as portrayed by effective marketing strategies. But according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, consumers should not assume that bottled water is safe. Â  Reusing plastic drink bottles is not recommended, as it increases the likelihood of impurities due to the introduction of bacteria and the potential leaching of plastic compounds into the water. Common Types of Plastic Drinking BottlesPolyethylene terephthalate or (PET plastics) are most commonly used for disposable plastic water bottles. High-density polyethylene, or HDPE (No. 2); low-density polyethylene, or LDPE (No. 4); and polypropylene (No. 5) are also used for drinking containers, though less frequently. PVC (No. 3) and styrene (No. 6) are sometimes used for food and beverage containers but are generally considered unsafe for this purpose. No. 7 plastics are a mix of different plastics and generally contain bisphenol A (BPA), which is under much scrutiny for its potential health risks. Bacteria ConcernsAll plastic bottles, when reused, are subjected to high levels of bacteria due to contact with hands and mouths, creating moist conditions that encourage bacteria growth. Water bottles can be washed with warm soapy water and allowed to dry before being reused. But the process of washing and agitation has been shown to damage the structure of the bottle, causing release of chemical compounds Leaching ConcernsPET and BPA plastics are the most common types of containers for water and other drinks. Both PET plastics and BPA plastics have been shown to leach over time. PET plastics tend to leach when exposed to realistic though extreme conditions, such as exposure to sunlight, heat and storage time It has been shown that exposure to BPA can interfere with reproductive development in animals. It has also been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans. Safe Alternatives to Reusing Plastic BottlesStainless steel bottles are considered the safest alternative to plastic bottles. They are durable and do not leach. Aluminium bottles may also be considered. Glass is another safe alternative but less practical due to its breakable nature.

Water Meter Data Management System Analysis

Water Meter Data Management System Analysis SYSTEM ANALYSIS EXISTING SYSTEM The conventional billing system for water usage involves person visits each residential and read the meter data manually. The collected data are used for billing purpose. Manual readings can cause error and can lead to corruption. Thus the billing system can become inaccurate and inefficient. There are chances of leaks and theft which could not be identified. A traditional water meters provide only total consumption of water and provides no information about when the water was consumed at each meter site. Traditional water meters requires back end billing which may not provide accurate billing. PROPOSED SYSTEM Water Meter Data Management provides several benefits to both utilities and customer. It involves long-term meter data management for vast quantity of data received from smart meters. The data is then validated according rule engine and stored in database for billing purpose. Water Meter Data Management (WMDM) involves smart meter data collection, planning and management. It fetches and records water meter reading periodically to identify amount of water is being used by the consumer. It also creates awareness among consumers about the consumption of water. Water meter readings are collected automatically without human intervention. After manufacture, meters will have a universally unique ID (UUID) which will be printed on meter and will act as part of the meter’s serial number. Under normal operating conditions the Data Concentrator Unit will query a meter periodically to read its meter data. It is Data Concentrator Unit which always initiates the communication between meters. Meter commands will be sent over radio frequency to various meters from DCU and responses is sent by meters. DCU periodically communicates with meters and collects data from them and sends to Head End Server (HES) typically through HTTP. A WMDM system performs accurate data storage and fast management of vast quantities of data delivered by smart metering systems. This data primarily consists of usage and events that are imported from the Head End Servers and that manage the data collection in Automatic meter reading (AMR) systems. A WMDM system will mainly import the data, then validate, cleanse errors and estimates it and makes it available for analysis and billing purpose. Each meter is integrated with SIM, WMDM make use of Existing Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) networks for sending request and receiving data. It promises fast and accurate billing. System offers alerts on leaks and suspected theft. MODULES DESCRIPTION Project contains the following modules: Head End System Data Collection Validation and Error Estimation Visualization Head End System HES is used receive stream of meter data from DCU through the Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI). Data Concentrator Unit (DCU) communicates with several numbers of meters and collects the data from them and transmits to HES. The data is sent in multiple frame formats and frames are of constant size of 20 bytes. The frame consists 4 bytes of header, 2 bytes of data size, 1 byte of frame id, 2 bytes of flags, 4 bytes of source address, 4 bytes of destination address, 1 byte of checksum, last 2 bytes of CRC. HES periodically collect data from DCU and store it in different file formats such as CSV, XML, and TXT. HES pings DCU to check whether water meter is responding or not responding. This is one of main advantage in WMDM where it alerts in case if meter is not working but water is being consumed. READ command is used to get particular meter readings among several number of meters using meter serial number. It is DCU which always initiates the communication between sets of meters. DATA COLLECTION Data collection allows data to be stored easily and efficiently. It easy-to-use data acquisition solution for collecting water usage information and for display and reporting purposes. It mainly concentrates on acquiring various sets of data from different file formats stored in database. Rule engines are developed to convert raw data into respective formats, processed and stored on to database. Radio Frequency HTTP Raw data Converted to Native formats Exact data VALIDATION AND ERROR ESTIMATION Rule-based algorithms are developed to validate meter readings stored in database. It provides either actual data or the best possible estimate. Invalid data can be analysed to further identify the root causes of any problem. Multiple rules can be executed simultaneously and can be prioritized to match business needs. Estimation based on consumption profiles or historical data are automatically calculated as a substitute for missing data. VISUALIZATION This module mainly concentrates on meter data interpretation fetched from database and visualized by hourly, daily, monthly data using graphs. Visualization module is also used to Compare meter data of different customers. Visualization is more user-friendly and also creates awareness by comparing meter data of different customer. REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENT Meters: DCU communicates with meters to collect and store meter readings according to interval of 30 minutes or hourly. Provides a capability to remotely access meters readings to support customer billing, service and system operation. Provide processing at the meter or within system necessary for customer service or system operation application. Allows customer to view meter data using graphs. Utility Data Processing: Entry, update and monitoring of data on installation and replacement of meters. Data stored according to regular intervals are validated in accordance with billing standards and updated to database. Validated data must be integrated to support customer billing and other system functions. AMI Network System: It provides a capability to manage vast meter data collection schedules, and alerts in case of meters problem and all other system maintenance and operations. NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIRMENTS Availability: Water meter Data Management System is available 24/7. Customer can view their water usage anytime. Reliability: The reliability of the overall application depends on the reliability of the meter data being collected. Maintainability: In case of a failure, the meter data can be requested from DCU. Vast amount data can be easily stored and updated. Extensibility: New features can be added and system can be upgraded to meet business requirements. Performance: Response times – application loading, screen open, refresh times, etc are highly responsive. Processing times –Calculations of bill, importing and exporting data are done in less amount of time. Query and Reporting times – The application initial loads and subsequent loads are done fast. Fraud Tolerance System identifies the tampering in meters automatically.

Affirmative Action Must Play a Role in College Admissions Essay

Anxiously awaiting its contents, the high school senior stares at his mailbox. He has been awaiting a response for months from his dream college. He has endured the endless questions from friends and family, "Did you hear from that college yet?" He has spent many a night he should have been sleeping lying in bed wondering whether he would be heading to his dream school in the fall. He has read numerous books and has done serious research on just what it took to get where he wanted to be. He continues to stare for hours, shaking from either anticipation or fear, though he cannot decide which. Finally his parents arrive home and encourage him to open the letter. He then opens the box. Now I ask this. Should this senior’s ethnicity impact whether his envelope is thin or thick? Should he have a better chance to attend his dream school because he is a minority? Or do the questions go deeper than the single factor of ethnicity? The issue of Affirmative Action, preferences towards persons of racial minorities to compensate for prior discrimination, in college admissions is a quite complicated one. Many sides must be explored to gain a better understanding of the theories and views on this issue. It is not easily answered with a yes or no. Since its inception, Affirmative Action’s use has been a major debate in American society. Many questions are left to be investigated. Many believe that we should live in a society where preferential treatment could be eliminated, and admission to college is based solely on one’s merit and character, yet this view seems quite unrealistic. The United States Supreme Court handed down its first decision on this complex issue with the case of Allan Bakke. Allan Bakke was a white male who applied to ... ...ns. The evidence supports the fact that if racial preferences are not used in admissions, the country will be withholding quality educations, both graduate and undergraduate, from large numbers of minority students. One of the staples of slavery when it is employed in this world is preventing those who are enslaved from becoming educated. We must work for the advancement of the human race as a whole, and this includes making sure that entire races of people are not left off prematurely on the road of education. Sources Cited Cross, Theodore. "What if There Was No Affirmative Action in College Admissions?" The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. No. 5. Autumn 1994. 52-55. Â   Dreyfuss, Benjamin W. "Reverse Discrimination’ or ‘Equal Opportunity’?" http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~dreyfus/bakke.html. 1995. Â   Mundy, Bob. Personal Interview. 27 April 2001

Using Technology in Sports :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Using Technology in Sports The ball comes speeding over the net and slams down onto the face of the court landing just beyond the base line, the line running along the back of the court. I had called her winning point... "out." As I turned towards her, I could see the anger building in her eyes. We walked towards each other, and with only the net separating us, she began to confront me. She argued that, as she saw it, the ball was obviously in and that we should replay the point. I wanted this game as much as she did and we were both standing strong. I finally decided that there was no use in fighting. We had to resolve this argument between ourselves because there were no line judges to decide for us. We decided to replay the point and she won. I tried to convince myself that there would be times when a call would be questionable and that I should try not to point fingers. I still went home discouraged that night because I knew that the call I had made was fair. The next day I sleepily drifted in and out of my Ethics lecture, although, the teacher was able to catch my attention by an interesting question that he presented. What is morally correct? This got my mind going. I was bothered by the match the previous day and I began to question myself about my call. Was it morally correct or was I being partial to my own success? I reflected on that final call that I had made, the point that won the game. I was positive that I had made a fair call but a little hint of doubt kept ringing in my head. What if I had made a bad call? What if I saw the ball differently than everyone else? Questions like these continued to haunt me throughout the hour. One of my close friends, Sarah, noticed that something was bothering me. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her that I was upset about last night's match and was wishing that there was a way to tell for sure if the ball had been in or out. As soon as I had finished, an excited look washed over her fac e. Being a track star, she proceeded to tell me about a new technology that was being used for runners.

Laura’s Struggle for Growth in The Garden Party Essay -- Garden Party

Laura’s Struggle for Growth in The Garden Party  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Through her short story "The Garden Party," Katherine Mansfield portrays a young woman’s struggle through adolescence and her tumultuous entrance into adulthood. Mansfield paints a tale of grievance, bewilderment, enlightenment, and maturation furthered by the complications of class distinctions. Mansfield’s protagonist, Laura, encounters considerable hardship in growing up and must denounce all of the puerile convictions in her chimerical world in order to attain maturity in the real adult world. As does any normal teenager, Laura Sheridan struggles to make sense of her adolescent life. As Don Klein remarks, "The story’s focus—and central dramatic impulse—is the young girl’s secret struggle to grow up" (124). Grappling with excessive inner turmoil, she attempts to erect a unique identity for herself, one set apart from those of her family members. In order to effect such radical transformation, she is first compelled to overcome several major impediments in her life, the most encumbering being her mother. The overbearing presence of Laura’s mother and her mother’s ideals pose an impending hindrance in Laura’s progression to adulthood. As Laura battles with maturity, she begins shedding the skin of her childhood and hence begins transcending the mold created for her by her mother’s upbringing. Laura also begins to denounce the snug, evasive dream world that her mother has suffocated her in. Mrs. Sheridan intentionally raises her children in this dream world in order that she have complete control over their thoughts and actions without their knowledge. She furthers this dream world by letting them believe that they, and not she, are actually in control. For in... ... the daily life struggles of an average teenager, but also, on a more personal level, she gives insight into her own adolescent hardships as well. Works Cited Davis, Robert Murray. "The Unity of ‘The Garden Party.’ "Short Story Criticism 23 (1993): 128-30. Klein, Don W. "’The Garden Party’: A Portrait of the Artist." Short Story Criticism 23.(1993): 123-8. Mansfield, Katherine. "The Garden Party." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1996. 2510-20. Taylor, Donald S. "Crashing the Garden Party: A Dream-A Wakening." Short Story Criticism 23 (1993): 121-2. Walker, Warren S. "The Unresolved Conflict in ‘The Garden Party.’" Short Story Criticism 23 (1993): 119-21. Weiss, Daniel A. "Crashing the Garden Party: The Garden Party of Proserpina." Short Story Criticism 23 (1993): 122-1.      

Managing Information Overload Essay

In my opinion, organizations are likely to find better solutions thru informational overload using technical and social systems. Information overload has an ability to cause negative effects on an organizations performance. Within, technical and social systems there are a collection of complex components that solve problems within that system. Knowledge management uses the combination and utilization of technology at every phase that is available within the organization. Social and technical framework for management of knowledge is an appropriate method than an organization can use to handle problems due to information overload. In using both a social and technical approach within an organization allows an individual to gain the most insight within their performance. The relationship between people and technology does not matter in the process of solving different performance problems within an organization. The technical system is a tool used to identify problems within the organization that affect its performance. It supports the investment of knowledge management throughout the organization and its people. In doing so, this move enhances the technology and people within the organization to be used as interface models, and IT blueprints to ensure technology is implemented. (Liu & Errey, 2006) Conducting of business is at its present day of age within information technology. Within, the work environments today, they currently have access to various tools that assist with effective communication. (Pijpers, 2010) There is enough evidence to prove how these tools assist within an organization by keeping employees in an organization up-to-date, connect with others, remain productive and engage effectively with one another. In doing so, this shows the development of information technology thru internet and communicational technologies by bringing light problems to informational overload in addition to the increasing pace and development complexity in the society. (Strother 2012) Within an organization, many people find it difficult to deal with the information they receive within a continuous transformation in an organization with the increased unpredictable and complex effects on these actions. This leads the organization to stress and anxiety. (Blair 2010) This makes it challenging for the employees to comprehend the priorities in an organization and focus on the tasks that are achieved. Within reference to the introduction of the module, socio-technological design can be effective in the diagnosis of information overload that are present and not present in other organizations. Without knowledge in an organization nothing is possible and it is necessary to identify which place and at what extent the challenge exists within an organization. For example, within an organization knowledge is in repositories, documents, routines, practices, and processes. Social interaction among members plays a huge role in searching for knowledge. Knowledge management assists in renewing, developing, transferring, and sharing knowledge. This is based on produce value, economic wealth, and organizational performance. (Becerra-Fernandez & Sabherwal, 2010) This process creates value from its intellectual and knowledge based assets. Knowledge management leverges knowledge within an organization to provide a competititive edge. The fuctions within knowledge management acheives the goals of an organization to acquire additional knowledge within its operations to remain competitive. Management of knowledge can take the approach of being technology focused, people focused or social-technology focused. The people focus approach stresses that people are of primary importance in an organization. This results in developing and implementing significant strategies that encourage individuals to develop, store and disseminate knowledge. However, this approach is unable to solve problems alone. Technology management under knowledge management deals with collecting, modifying, storing, and manipulating knowledge through the use of technological resources such as computers and other machinery. Similar to people focus approach, this approach is not able to provide solutions to existing problems alone (Becerra-Fernandez & Sabherwal, 2010) This assumption is made by intoducing new technology by solving the existing problems in performance. Performance is perceived by people as complicated. The two approaches of people focused, and technolgy focused are effective in their area of focus. Therefore, there is a need for a more effective knowledge management approach that is taking advantage of these strengths. (Grant & Shahsavarani) Socio-technical refers to the balance between the social and technical systems that make up an organization. According to the perspective of socio-technical system, the capacity of an organization and its employees to perform effectively depends on knowledge. A systems concept seeks to emphasis a two way relationship between technology and individuals. A socio-technical design has a system of modifying changes, itself, and exploits creative capacities of human resource available for the organization. Computers are unable to make practical and crucial decisions. This means the attention of the human should stay in the loop at all times. These findings are assessed and identified in researching the socio-technical approach to handle information overload. In doing so, it shows for an organization to store and develop its’ knowledge they need to consider its culture and structuring roles. This ensures effective knowledge creation, sharing of information, and storage of an organizations reward system by motivating the employees to gain more knowledge. This is necessary for the organization to consider the huge significant role in the success of knowledge management initiative. All in all, organizational knowledge and knowledge management is the storage of information and additional data. Individuals that possess this ability make effective decisions to determine the success of the knowledge management initiative. This study considers the most significant methods that an organization uses to handle various problems from information overload including its complexity affecting knowledge management (Becerra-Fernandez & Sabherwal, 2010) The most effective approach in an organization is to increase the capacity, advance the intelligence and knowledge of individuals by using the people approach. However, this approach may not be enough because of various intrinsic limitation of the human brain. Thus, by advancing the information processing capacity complements an individual’s decision by making capacity with the support of computers thru technology. References Blair, A. (2010, November 28). Information Overload, Then and Now. Retrieved from The Chronicle: http://chronicle.com/article/Information-Overload-Then-and/125479/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en I. Becerra-Fernandez & R. Sabherwal. (2010). Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes. New York: M.E. Sharpe. J. B. Strother, J. M. Ulijn & Z. Fazal. (2012). Information Overload: An International Challenge for Professional Engineers and Technical Communicators. New York: John Wiley. Levinson, M. (2012). Knowledge Management Definition and Solutions. Retrieved from CIO: http://www.cio.com/article/40343/Knowledge_Management_Definition_and_Solutions Liu, X. and Errey, C. . (2006, February). Socio-technical systems: There’s more to performance than new technology. Retrieved from ptgGlobal: http://www.ptg-global.com/PDFArticles/Socio%20technical%20systems%20-%20There’s%20more%20to%20performance%20than%20new%20technology%20v1.0.pdf Pijpers, G. (2010). Information Overload: A S ystem for Better Managing Everyday Data. New York: John Wiley.