Management Accounting 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Accounting 3 - Essay Example Developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and David Norton as a performance measuring framework which could have the capability to take into account the strategic vision and goals of the organization. It is also viewed as value methodology besides being considered cost benefit analysis tool however it is also being labeled as something which can help organizations to change value culture as well as improving operational efficiency and profitability of the organization. (Gumbus and Lussier). The need for developing a balanced score card emerges because though companies are good at developing the glossy mission and vision statements however they fail to develop operational strategies which can help achieve organizations those strategic goals and due to the lack of ability of the organizations to effectively measure whether they are achieving their strategic goals, and targets, organizations found Balanced Score card a very effective tool to measure and monitor their per formance against their strategic goals. Since a balanced score card connect various components of the organizational strategy making such as organizational resources, customers, people, operations, finance and the community also therefore Balanced Score Card is a very comprehensive strategic tool to manage above all. This essay will look into some of the key performance areas which a balanced score card look into and will review their usefulness in achieving the strategic goals within the context of a service organization. Balanced score card have evolved from being a simple performance measuring tool to one of the highly used strategic management tools organization could ever have. It tends to associate the non-financial aspects of the performance with the financial aspects and presents a broader and deeper view of the organizational performance and its relevance to the overall organizational strategy. Rather than being simply used as a performance measurement tool, it

Worldview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Worldview - Essay Example To be a Baptist, to me, means that a person can be â€Å"different† from the others yet still be part of the same collective. This is a beautiful and inclusive message, and that is why I would describe my worldview as diverse and inclusive. The core beliefs of Baptism include that there is only one God, who manifests Himself in three persons: the Father (God in Heaven), the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Moreover, there is belief in the birth of Jesus Christ from a virgin mother, Mary. Jesus Christ performed many miracles during his lifetime, including raising the dead, and then died, was buried, and finally resurrected. Also, we believe that human beings are in need of salvation, without which they are doomed; this salvation is provided to us by the very death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the grace of God, due to which He has given us humans the unearned favor of eternal salvation by sending his Son to earth and dying on a cross for our sins. Baptists a lso believe that the world will end, and Jesus would return to us and the dead will be raised and everyone be judged by Him. Finally, we believe that the Message of God needs to be spread throughout the world, so that more people can be brought within the fold and experience the Grace of God. I know that my beliefs are true, because the Bible speaks out to me. I have personally experienced the grace and miracles of Jesus Christ in my life. When a very close cousin of mine was diagnosed with cancer, and it was clear that the cancer had spread throughout her body, the doctors told her that there was no treatment available for her, and the best all of us could do was to keep her comfortable at home. I turned to Jesus Christ in my time of need and He spoke out to me and answered my prayers through a miracle: my cousin not only survived, but her cancer is in complete remission. My worldview is accurate because it is clear by looking around that God exists, also, He is just and kind and i t was told in the Bible many years ago. What is more, the Bible is a direct account of what God wanted people to do, and its message is still true today. Even after 2,000 years, we can still derive our morality from the Bible and that is clear proof of its Divine Origins. It is very clear when one observes these facts that my worldview is accurate and believable. Part 2 Just like Baptists, Catholics are a denomination of Christians who believe in the unity of the God and the Holy Trinity. There are many more similarities between the two groups. The Catholics also believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Like the Baptists, the Catholics believe in the miracles of Jesus Christ, including healing the leper and raising Lazarus; his crucifixion and subsequent death; his burial; and his resurrection after three days. Moreover, they also believe in the infinite Mercy and Grace of God, which God showed by sending his only son to die for humans for their salvation. There are many similar ities in the ethics of the two groups as well; there is an emphasis on moral uprightness in both the groups, but, both believe, that there is no salvation for us except through Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. There are, however, many differences between the two, I will mention two big differences here. Firstly, there is no central authority for Baptists. Unlike the Catholics who have the papacy, whereby a group of priests elect a Pope, the Bishop of Rome, who is the considered to be a successor of Saint Peter, the Baptists do not have a central authority that ensures that beliefs are kept identical throughout the various Churches of the denomination. For Catholics, the pope gets to decide the policies

Business E-solutions for Small Construction Companies

Business E-solutions for Small Construction Companies BUSINESS E-SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL CONSTRUCTION  COMPANIES AND FREELANCERS Sergiu Catinas Florin Matei Abstract.There is a direct correlation among number of employees who work in construction industry and the average productivity of the construction workers. A first notice when these two factors are compared simply resides from the annual charts that follow these two factors. It is quite obviously that the average productivity of the workers depends primarily on technologies used, but depends on some other factors as well. The link among technologies used and productivity is not a subject to discus in this paper. Even though it is well known that construction industry requires a big variety of skills it is well known that some of the construction jobs are completed by workers with multiple qualifications. Also a principle of productivity clearly states that productivity of a worker is grown once the area of qualification is restrained. Therefore, in order to create a better productivity of the construction workers it is necessary to create workers with super high qualification in one small area and allow movement of the working force among construction sites. Most of the construction company has a great deal of mobility, but the most sensitive problem remains the problem of getting together the needs of labor with the suppliers of labor services. The main purpose of this paper is to underline the needs of a better link among construction actors. Also the paper proposes an e-solution for a better connection of construction players through implementing/changing an internet based site and shows some of the proposed benefits. Keywords: e-solution for construction business G14 A12 E60, construction average productivity D61 B22, construction companies’ mobility M54 C12, publically provides goods H44 D60. 1. Introduction By definition the average productivity is defined as in (1). Please note that an average productivity can be expressed with respect to marginal productivity as Saari1 said and as seen in as in figure 1. Figure 1 average productivity and marginal productivity with respect to real output/input As expressed by Harris2 the main economical factors that influence the productivity in construction industry are mortgage and accountants, fraud, cash flow, estimators and the cost engineers. By analyzing these factors and the influence of these factors over the total cost of a construction project, a solution is to be created in order to address the influence of factors like fraud and cash flow as well as the other three factors. Out of statistics offered by US Department of Labor the average construction manager contractors and the number of construction output in 2012 in US are almost the same (450 000-number of construction managers and 480.000-number of output construction in US according to US Department of Construction). Also by considering the top 5 US contractors and the number of their projects ongoing over the number of the contractor’s company employers the rate is over 0.08 in all cases, according to ENR.Construction.statistics. This leads to the idea that the big general contractors don’t have more than 12 of their own employees on the site. More over the second observation is that the big general contractors use the working labor of the subcontractors in order to complete their jobs more than their own workers. An internet based solution in order to reduce the general cost of the construction project is the proposal introduced by the present paper. The solution presented tries to m inimize the importance of the general contractors by implementing an internet based program that will allow small contractors and freelancers to bid for their project with no respect the general contractors. This system will bring significant benefits for small contractors and freelancers and will increase the average productivity of construction labors. 2. Main Concept As expressed above, the main idea is to implement a system based on the internet application that allows creating a strong connection among actors from construction industry. As a historical data it is important to mention that similar attempts were made outside Romania, but this kind of projects are not very popular. Also a similar model was build for tracking industry in USA. The system proposed would generate business revenue for all three categories involved in the construction industry, being a â€Å"triple win† system. The winners would be the owner of the site through charging money for any contact established, the general contractor or owner of the construction site and the freelancers or contractors that execute jobs because they can find jobs for their own. Never the less a major winner for this system could be the government through a better control of the labor black market and the society in general because this system would develop very effective companies and fr eelancers with high standards of safety and quality. More over a quality control can be implemented through expressing a relevant history data of every participant and through offering solid warranties for executed projects. 3. Details about techniques of implementation The internet page should provide valuable information about potential contractors or subcontractors. First this page would provide references wit previous jobs done so far by the contractors. This can provide solid knowledge about the quality, timing and safety rules applied by the contractors. According to this it can be created a scale ranging from 1 to 100 that would give a good view about an opportunity to create business relation with a specific contractor/freelancer. The internet page proposed by this idea can create a good point of view about the payment conditions, contract forms and eventually any history data for the beneficiary institution/person. Very often the government has that data offered but the private entities are not capable of showing any data related to their capabilities of assuming contractual obligations. The owner of the internet page, which can be a private entity or the government can charge both the contractors/freelancers and the developers/private owners or government agencies. Due to a good administration of the internet page it is recommended for the government to create and own such a business. The charge can be enforced only when the contact is established and an extra charge can be enforced when a contract is signed through this internet connection. Once the need for a job is expressed in details by the developer an auction that can last for 10 days can be started in order to allow the contractors and freelancers to put their best offer online, similar with the e-bay system. The winner would have to make a written contract with the developer and enforce according to the terms established in the description provided by the developer and the applicable law. To mention that a similar system exists in Romania, but with no history data for none of the sides and not very popular. Also the actual system is not open for private jobs. More over the actual internet page called â€Å"www.licitatia.ro† is for contractors only and not for small enterprises or freelancers and sometimes the value of contracts is not affordable for small companies. The main idea for this site is to create opportunities for small companies to cooperate with big contractors. A great disadvantage for the internet page that already exists is that the winners of the auctions are most of the time big construction companies and the execution of the job is done through small contractors/freelancers by subcontracting the job. T he main idea of this site is to allow the investor to create a working plan and graphic and according to that graphic to connect directly to small contractors/freelancers and decrease the cost of the labor. 4. Technical motivation for the propose As expressed by Harris2 the main important economic factors for a construction project are: fraud, mortgage and accountants, cash flow, estimators and cost engineers. Figure 2 Labour productivity growth in US, measured by GDP per hour worked (indexed) Fraud can’t be expressed mathematically by any formula and can vary a lot from a project to another. The Romanian construction industry is marked by so called underground black market of workers/labors. The rate of construction workers in Romania that are not hired legally is over 28% according to INS Bucharest. Apparently these workers represents a cheaper work force for the employers, but the long term run shows a different situations when accidents on the site construction happened and in our country the percentage of workers injuries and fatalities is double among black market according to Business Inside Magazine statistics. Therefore is hard to deliver any precise formulas or data regarding fraud in Romanian construction industry or elsewhere but we surely know that black market in construction is significant. For the mortgage and account factor the situation is expressed in detail by Nigrini4. The problem comes from the underestimation of the project and the lack of money to complete the jobs contracted. One of the solutions is implemented by creating smaller jobs and that is a main source of inspiration for the present paper and the idea proposed. Cash flow can be defined5 as the movement of money into or out of a business/project and it has three aspects: operational cash flow, investment cash flow and financing cash flow. Also cash flow factor is one of the great advantages that can be obtained through introduction of the idea presented in this paper. Estimators can get greater attention through introduction of the present idea. The error introduced by estimators is as Amos6 said in (2) and (3). (2) (3) Where is the parameter being estimate and is the expected value of the estimator. Please note that the error, â€Å"e†, depends not only on the estimator (the estimation formula or procedure), but also on the sample. Estimator engineers are engineers in charge with an estimation of the projects to be executed. The estimator engineers will have a greater implication by applying the present idea and their contribution should be linked to the estimators through trying to eliminate the errors margins as Amos6 proposed in the mathematical formulation expressed by (4) that shows how far, on average, the collection of estimates are from the expected value of the estimates. (4) 5. Example of the benefits of implementing the present idea. Consider a large construction project in Romania, in the city of Cluj-Napoca of a total value 54.00 million euro. The general contractor that was award the contract was a big general contractor with good experience in similar jobs. The second bid offer was as big as 92.10 million euro and the beneficiary was the institution of prefecture. The project was to build a sport complex in the city of Cluj-Napoca. Due to a court decision the project was stopped in the construction phase for over 18 months. The court decision was issued as a complaint by the general contractor who made an offer of 92.10 million euro. The time spent from the moment of interruption due to the court decision and the moment of the re-awarding the job to a bidder involved big amount of financial losses for both of the general contractors. Not to mention the financial losses suffered by the contractors, but to mention the difference of the bids amount will result as a margin profit of 37.90 million euro. If the exa mple above is not relevant for the profit margins obtained by general contractors let’s take the revenues of the top general contractors from US in 2012 and divide it by number of contracts completed by the same amount of time. This would generate revenue of 1.08 million dollars per project and considering an average medium project of 1.78 million dollars. These data are obtained from US Department of Construction Statistics. By applying the dates in our specific case we would obtain revenue of 19.87 million dollars. By considering dollars to euro ratio as 0.76, the revenue for our specific case would be 15.1 million euro. And this calculus does not include any losses due to the court decision that put a brake on the project. If the estimator engineers made a mistake according to (2),(3),(4) that error can be estimated from statistics as an average of 17% of the total value of the project after the project is finished according to Corps of Civil Engineers from US. In our spec ific case the average error of the estimator engineers for the project from Cluj-Napoca is 9.18 million euro. The difference of 5.92 million euro can be estimated as profit margin that can be linked to the present paper idea by creating small jobs to be done and the saving of the 5.92 million euro could be achieved. Please note that in the example above the cost of implementing the idea was not mentioned but according Brynjolfsson7 in the current practice the cost of IT development could not be more than 5 % of the total amount of the project, so a profit margin is still available. 6. Conclusions As expressed above the main idea of this paper is to express the need and procedures of creating an internet page that allows the beneficiaries of the construction structures to create a working plan and implement this plan. This working plan is technically known as Gantt plan and contains dates regarding each article of work and labor needed and the time allocated for that process. The site would create an auction system for every job/article that needs to be done. This system would benefit the contractors and small freelancers, the beneficiary of the construction structures as well as the government agencies and the general welfare. This internet application would create a triple win situation for government, contractors and beneficiaries of the construction structures. Moreover, another benefit would be due to high specialization class of small contractors and freelancers and the safety measures that would be strongly estimated and evaluated. The internet page proposed is subject to have a special section reviews regarding safety measures enforced. Regarding the safety of the labors and workers the government can enforce in a more efficient manner the black market control. Obviously the government agencies would have a better idea in what specific areas of construction the number of accidents is bigger and can enforce better safety rules. Also by knowing the contracts signed the government can put a better hand on the quality of the work in the most sensitive areas and can control the construction sites on the exact time when the most sensitive work and companies are on the site. References [1] Saari, S., Productivity. Theory and Measurement in Business,: European Productivity Conference, Espoo, Finland, 2006, pp. 44-69. [2] Craig, C.; Harris, R., Total Productivity Measurement at the Firm Level, Sloan Management Review, Feb-March 1973, pp13–28. [3] Hollmann, John, K., Total Cost Management Framework, AACE International, Morgantown WV, 2006, pp113–147. [4]Nigrini, M., Forensic Analytics: Methods and Techniques for Forensic Accounting Investigations. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley Sons Inc., June 2011, pp 206-235. [5]Strong, R., Portfolio construction, management, and protection, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio, 2009 , pp.527-537. [6] Amos, S., Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering,-Fifth Edition, AACE International, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004, pp 109-127. [7] Brynjolfsson, E., The productivity paradox of information technology.Communications of the ACM International, Mason, Ohio, 2003, pp 66–77.

Shopping is a Pastime for Women Essay -- Womens Clothing Clothes

SHOPPING IS A PASTIME Women’s clothing does not bite, but every guy I know seems to think it does. If it’s hanging on a rack or sitting patiently in a store for someone to handle, poke, or prod, it’s dangerous. Other adjectives— provided kindly by my guy friends—include â€Å"expensive,† â€Å"a waste of time,† and â€Å"unnecessary,† proving that men just don’t know anything about shopping and what it means to women. Combing through racks of clothing and looking for the cutest outfits may take hours, but many girls feel great satisfaction in doing so. Whenever my friends and I are bored, one of us will usually exclaim, â€Å"Let’s go shopping!† We all get excited and prepare for an intensive day-long outing, usually going to as many clothing stores as we can possibly carry ourselves, or until our wallets become weightless and our plastic gets maxed out. The idea of shopping is social and fun to us. While guys will usually walk into a store (even with friends) and rush to find what they need, girls will often hover around merchandise just to enjoy and inspect it. If we don’t buy anything and only browse for a whole day, simply looking at new things is a pleasurable experience and evokes happiness. Beyond clothing, the wonders of accessories, shoes, and interesting home dà ©cor excite our senses and spending possibilities. For others—typically men—the idea of getting off the couch and out of the house incites complete agony. When my younger brother hears the suggestion of shopping, he yells, â€Å"I HAVE A STOMACH ACHE. I CAN’T GO!† (unless, of course, you mention Best Buy or Micro Center). When my boyfriend hears it, he sternly says, â€Å"Mary, don’t make me sit in some chair for three hours like last time.† (Oops!) Shopping evokes... ...t turns out it was on the OTHER SIDE of the store, exactly where my guy friend said it WASN’T. If I hadn’t asked, we would have been there all night. Although I don’t believe guys will ever truly appreciate shopping and the obsession many women have with it, I do think that many have come to terms with the issue. It’s common for my guy friends to not drop their jaws if my friends and I blow a few hundred dollars in a single day on only clothing . . . especially after we point out their latest and most expensive electronic purchase. As Adams, (the design director for NBBJ Retail Concepts) states, â€Å"the woman is the decision-maker (229),† and therefore, is the primary shopper between the two sexes. Works Cited Gladwell, Malcolm. â€Å"The Science of Shopping.† 1996. The Text-Wrestling Book. Eds. Donna LeCourt, et al. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendal/Hunt, 2005. 222–231.

Computer Engineering Pdf

Study Plan Masters of Science in Computer Engineering and Networks (Thesis Track) I. General Rules and Conditions 1. This plan conforms to the regulations of the general frame of programs of graduate studies at the University of Jordan. 2. Candidates for admission in this program are holders of the Bachelor's degree in the following specialties: a) Computer Engineering b) Electrical Engineering c) Networks Engineering d) Communications Engineering e) Electronics Engineering f) Bachelor of Mechatronics II. Special Conditions: None. III. The Study Plan: Studying (33) credit hours as follows: 1. Obligatory courses listed in Table 1; (15) Credit Hours. Course No. 0903720 0903723 0907721 0907731 0907741 Course Title Random Processes Variables and Stochastic Credit hrs. 3 3 3 3 3 Prerequisite 0903720 0907721 Analysis of Communications Networks Network Systems Design Advanced Computer Architecture Distributed Systems 2. Elective courses selected from the list shown in Table 2; (9) Credit Hours. Credit Course No. Course Title Pre-requisite hrs. 903721 0903725 0903728 0903730 0907702 0907722 0907723 0907732 0907733 0907779 Digital Communications I Wireless Communication Systems Data Communication Systems Multimedia Streaming Computer Performance Evaluation Networks and Systems Security Wireless Networks Advanced Embedded Systems Parallel Processors 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0903720 0907721 – Special Topics in Computer Engineering and 3 Networks 3. Masters Thesis, 0907799; (9) Credit Hours. 1 Study Plan Masters of Scienc e in Computer Engineering and Networks (Non-Thesis Track) I. General Rules and Conditions 1. This plan conforms to the regulations of the general frame of programs of graduate studies at the University of Jordan. 2. Candidates for admission in this program are holders of the Bachelor's degree in the following specialties: a) Computer Engineering b) Electrical Engineering c) Networks Engineering d) Communications Engineering e) Electronics Engineering f) Bachelor of Mechatronics II. Special Conditions: None. III. The Study Plan: Studying (33) credit hours as follows: 1. Obligatory courses listed in Table 3; (24) Credit Hours. Course No. 0903720 0903723 0903725 0907721 0907722 0907723 0907731 0907741 Course Title Random Processes Variables and Stochastic Credit hrs. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Prerequisite 0903720 0903720 0907721 0907721 Analysis of Communications Networks Wireless Communication Systems Network Systems Design Networks and Systems Security Wireless Networks Advanced Computer Architecture Distributed Systems 2. Elective courses selected from the list shown in Table 4; (9) Credit Hours. Credit Course No. Course Title Pre-requisite hrs. 903721 0903728 0903730 0907702 0907732 0907733 Digital Communications I Data Communication Systems Multimedia Streaming Computer Performance Evaluation Advanced Embedded Systems Parallel Processors 3 3 3 3 3 3 – 2 0907779 Special Topics in Computer Engineering and 3 Networks 3. The Comprehensive Exam (0907798). – 3 Masters of Science in Computer Engineering and Networks Course Descriptions 0903720 Random Variables and Stochastic Processes (3 Credit Hours) Pro bability and random variables. Distribution and density functions. Functions of random variables. Two random variables and sequences of random variables. Multidimensional random variables. Stochastic Processes. Markov chains. Spectral representation of stochastic processes. Spectral estimation. Project. Digital Communications I (3 Credit Hours) Introduction to Communication Systems. Baseband and Bandpass digital modulation techniques: Line Codes, ASK, FSK, PSK, DPSK, QAM. Performance measures: power, bandwidth, bit error rate. Carrier and symbol synchronization. Signal design for band-limited channels. Signal design for fading channels. Project. Analysis of communication Networks (3 Credit Hours) Pre-requisite: 0903720 Introduction to queuing theory and traffic engineering. Markov chains, steady-state and balance equations. Continuous and discrete arrival models. Basic queuing systems. Erlang formulas. Applications to telephony systems and aata networks, performance parameters (blocking probability, delay, throughput and reliability). Systems with vacations, priority systems, polling and reservation systems. Network simulation. Project. Wireless Communication Systems (3 Credit Hours) Review of Multiple Access Techniques: TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDMA. Design of wireless communication systems: modulation, propagation, channel estimation, equalization and coding. Cellular systems (GSM/3G/4G), Synchronous and Asynchronous CDMA and code synchronization. CDMA performance and multi-user interference cancellation. Satellite communication systems. Indoor communication systems, wireless LANs and wireless protocols. Data Communication Systems (3 Credit Hours) Introduction to communication and switching networks. Asynchronous and synchronous transmission, SDH/SONET. Design and planning of telephony systems. Broadband access technologies. Internetworking and the Internet Protocol (IP), routing in IP. Quality of Service (QOS). Voice over IP (VoIP). Audio and video streaming. IP network planning. Integration of data and cellular/wireless networks. Security issues. Project. (3 Credit Hours) Information Measures. Audio Video Data Compression. Performance of Compression Techniques and Rate Distortion Function. Mathematical Introduction to Number Theory. Cyclic, BCH and CRC Codes. Convolutional and Turbo Codes. LDBC Codes. Performance of Error Correcting Codes. Packet Data Transmission and Formatting for Audio and Video Data. Multimedia Streaming 0903721 0903723 0903725 0903728 0903730 4 0907702 Computer Performance Evaluation (3 Credit Hours) Issues in Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking. Measurement Tools and techniques, Trace Driven and Execution Driven Simulation. Choice of metrics. Benchmarks. Statistical techniques for Performance Evaluation. Trace Generation and Validation, Synthetic Traces, Verification of Simulators. Design of Experiments. Analytical Modeling of Processors, Statistical modeling, Hybrid Techniques. Application of queuing theory, Markov models and probabilistic models for computer system evaluation. Workload Characterization. Network Systems Design (3 Credit Hours) This course gives a broad view of the current state of computer networking research. Topics include: Internet architecture; Internet routing: the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), routing characterization, routing security, Internet AS relationships, traffic engineering, end host congestion control; quality-of-service, network security: intrusion detection systems, worms, and honeypots; mobile and wireless networking; peer to peer and overlay networking; content distribution networks; sensor networks; critical network infrastructure services: Domain Name Server (DNS), mail servers, etc. network measurement: distance estimation, bandwidth measurement, trouble shooting tools; network management. Networks and Systems Security (3 Credit Hours) Pre-requisite: 0903720 Review of Computer Networks. Number Theory and Field Arithmetic. Sources of Network Threats. Data Encryption: Cryptography and Ciphering. Risk Management. Key Management. Protocols and Alg orithms of Security Systems. Email and Web Security and Firewalls. Performance Evaluation of Security Systems. Wireless Networks (3 Credit Hours) Pre-requisite: 0907721 Introduction to wireless networks: physical layer, MAC and IEEE 802. 11, HIPERLAN, Bluetooth, channel assignment and channel hopping, power control and rate control, multi-radio, network layer, mobile IP, and naming, routing in mobile networks, transport protocol in wireless networks; types of wireless networks: wireless mesh networks, sensor networks, cellular networks, delay tolerant networks, RFID and WiMax; wireless network management and security: localization, network usage studies, network diagnosis, network security. Advanced Computer Architecture (3 Credit Hours) Subjects in scientific methodologies, review of computer design principles, processor design, RISC processors, pipelining, and memory hierarchy. Instruction level parallelism (ILP), dynamic scheduling, multiple issue, speculative execution, and branch prediction. Limits on ILP and software approaches to exploit more ILP. VLIW and EPIC approaches. Thread-level parallelism, multiprocessors, chip multiprocessors, and multi-threading. Cache coherence and memory consistency. Advanced memory hierarchy design, cache and memory optimizations, and memory technologies. Advanced topics in storage systems. Designing and 5 0907721 0907722 0907723 0907731 evaluating I/O systems. 0907732 Advanced Embedded Systems (3 Credit Hours) System specifications. Requirements and models of computation including State Charts, SDL, Petri nets, Message Sequence Charts, UML. Process networks, Java, VHDL. SystemC, Verilog and System Verilog, and SpecC. Embedded system hardware, I/O, communications, processing units, memories. Embedded operating systems, middleware, and scheduling. Prediction of execution times. Scheduling in real-time systems. Embedded operating systems. Implementing embedded systems: hardware/software codesign. Task-level concurrency management. High-level optimizations. Hardware/software partitioning. Compilers for embedded systems. Voltage scaling and power management. Actual design flows and tools. Validation. Simulation. Rapid prototyping and emulation. Test. Fault simulation. Fault injection. Risk and dependability analysis. Formal verification. Parallel Processors (3 Credit Hours) In-depth study of the design, engineering, and evaluation of modern parallel computers. Fundamental design: naming, synchronization, latency, and bandwidth. Architectural evolution and technological driving forces. Parallel programming models, communication primitives, programming and compilation techniques, multiprogramming workloads and methodology for quantitative evaluation. Latency avoidance through replication in small-scale and large-scale shared memory designs; cache-coherency, protocols, directories, and memory consistency models. Message passing: protocols, storage management, and deadlock. Efficient network interface, protection, events, active messages, and coprocessors in largescale designs. Latency tolerance through prefetching, multithreading, dynamic instruction scheduling, and software techniques. Network design: topology, packaging, k-ary n-cubes, performance under contention. Synchronization: global operations, mutual exclusion, and events. Alternative architectures: dataflow, SIMD, systolic arrays. Distributed Systems (3 Credit Hours) Pre-requisite: 0907721 Introduction to Distributed Systems. Distributed Operating Systems. Processes and Inter-process Communication (IPC). Distributed File Systems. Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). Security Models. Distributed Architectures and Technologies. Middleware. Object Based Distributed Systems. Messaging and Message Oriented Systems. Agent-Based Systems. Distributed Application Project. Special Topics in Computer Eng. and Networks (3 Credit Hours) 0907733 0907741 0907779 Topics of special interest in current computer engineering and networks issues. The course description is specified by the department at every course offering. 6

Definition of Literature Essay

Literature is an outlet of escape from reality. At the end of the day, I open a book and allow the story to take me to a world where my own fades into a distant memory. With every turn of a page, my imagination is free to reinvent a narrative that is better than the reality I live. Literature can be non-fiction and based on facts surrounding real events, people, and places. Examples include history books, memoirs, biographies, newspapers, self-help, devotionals, and textbooks. Literature can also be writings based not on truth, but on the imagination and creativity of the author. This includes fiction novels and children story books. A lot of times authors of fiction will get their idea from a real life event and then they allow their imagination to recreate the characters and plot. Aside from being fiction or non-fiction, literature can also fall into different categories according to the genre, purpose, and style. Some genres include romance, science fiction, Christian, suspense, and western. The authors purpose for writing will likely determine what style and genre they will use. Poetry and drama are forms of literature that are stylistically different from other writings. Every writer wants to engage their audience and capture their attention in order to convey a message. The meaning of the text may hold differing messages within the audience, but it is the goal of the author to captivate the reader and keep them wanting to read more. John Smith wrote historical accounts of life while he was living. His writings brought insight and hope regarding English settlement during the early 1600s. The General History of Virginia is difficult to comprehend in areas because I am unfamiliar with his use and style of language, but nonetheless it is a beautifully written piece of literature. John Smith’s targeted audience was most likely the people of his time, with the goal of informing them of recent events. I appreciate the way he portrays the struggles of daily life realistically and in a way that inspires and intrigues. William Bradford was not formally educauted, yet he was a wise and well-read man. His writings spread throughout the world and have been studied and quoted by many. As with most of the literature from his time period, Bradford’s style is simple, but he writes with such conviction that demands the attention and respect of the reader. Bradford was a man of faith and often expressed this in his writing. In Of Plymouth Plantation he often refers to God’s providence and makes continuous references to God. Bradford may refer to God more than any other author in this colonial unit. Anne Bradstreet was a powerful force in literature during the 1960s because she was one of the first recognized women poets. Centuries later she is a revered writer and her poetry remains enchanting. â€Å"Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is the opening line to her poem The Author of Her Book and illustrates just how feeble her brain is not. She has the unique capacity to use words to express herself so creatively and with so much emotion. To My Dear and Loving Husband is a great romantic poem that I admire. Bradstreet’s style reminds me slightly of my own. However I need more experience and practice to become nearly as talented as she. Upon the Burning of Our House reminds of my own experience of a house fire and has inspired me to attempt to capture my experience through poetry. Through all Anne Bradstreet’s work, she inspires others to recognize the beauty and power in writing. Edward Taylor was a highly educated, well respected, and devout religious man who used poetry as a private expression of his faith. He did not seek fame or recognition for his writing, rather just the pleasure it brought him. Taylor writes of God beautifully and is a master of creating moving and emotional works of art without intending to. As with most poets, Taylor and Bradstreet used metaphors and had a personal style unique from others. There is also an overflowing of emotion from both Taylor and Bradstreet within all their writings. William Byrd was a very accomplished man of his time. He was well educated, respected, and prosperous. His most famous writings are the journals that he wrote to describe day to day life. In The History of the Dividing Line I was able to pick up on the humor that has lead Byrd to be one of the first distinct comedic writers. The humor is not â€Å"pee your pants funny† rather it is more light-hearted humor that makes the reader smile. It is evident in his writing that Byrd was indeed well-read. A writer is capable of learning a great deal about language, word usage, and style through reading. Byrd’s style is simple, yet he articulates his message very well and although he wrote for himself, he managed to write in a way that would capture an audience’s attention. Jonathan Edwards was an intelligent man of God who served as a preacher. As an author, he wrote popular sermons and other serious works on religion, metaphysics, and philosophy. Edwards’ style of writing is quite different from other authors in this unit because unlike the others he gives the reader an array of possible positions for the topic he is presenting. In the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards develops his view on destruction and punishment from verses in Deuteronomy. Not only does he explain how he interprets the scripture, he also gives other possible views. St. Jean De Crevecoeur wrote about religion but he did not profess or maintain that he believed in God. He was a well-educated humanitarian who served his people and country. I found Letters from an American Farmer difficult to get through because his style of writing is unexciting. I was also turned off by the way he wrote about certain topics particularly African American issues. Crevecoeur was not a racist man, but he lacked some sensitivity in discussing his unique view on negroes and parenting. He believed that negroes should not continue having children because if they did misery would undeniably result for themselves and their offspring. I understand that he is referring to slaves and perhaps even slaves may have wished to not have children in order to save future generations from being forced into slavery. Crevecoeur surprised me with the boldness in his writing. The progression of writing from Smith to Crevecoeur is interesting to track and there are noticeable changes in language and word usage. As defined earlier, literature to me is written art that engages my imagination and takes my mind away from reality. Not every piece of literature will bring me the pleasure of leaving my own world for a moment and that does not mean the author has failed. Genre plays an important role in this element of the definition. For example the writings from the colonies unit are primarily non-fiction history writings that are meant to inform more than entertain. Anne Bradstreet is an exception. As the writer of poetry, her style is most obviously different from the more serious and constructed essays of the other writers. Every writer has a style that is unique, however one similarity in the colonial writings is the purpose of the author’s writing. Many of the writers were writing for the sake of recording daily life and making historical accounts of slavery, war, and developing colony life. Centuries later, authors such as Smith, Bradford, Bradstreet, Taylor, Edwards, and Crevecoeur are recognized as masters in the field of writing. Writers during the establishment of the colonies wrote simple, yet serious and powerful pieces of art. They have a style of writing and voice that still captures the hearts of readers.