Chapter Six Reading Response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter Six Reading Response - Assignment Example For instance, the bronze figure of Siva figure represented the Hindu god in a dance pose as a symbol of ritualistic devotion of the Hindu. It is quite fascinating to learn how people had diverse ways of religious devotion. Secondly, the Amber Necklaces of Eastern Asia were a symbol of good luck, happiness and as a charm against evil. The good associated with it is quite fascinating. The two works of art that I responded to most negatively were The Bayeux Tapestry and the Stc-Foy Reliquary. Though they are useful representations of the religious transformation and influence of the 10th century in Europe, they period was marked by several Christian-Muslim wars. The one monument I would want to know more about is the statues of Moai Ancestors figures found in Polynesia Island. I equate their significance to the pyramids of Egypt which has images of their early rulers. I would imagine how the rulers must have looked like. The monumentality of the statues exhibits some respect and

A Non Excusable Delay Construction Essay

A Non Excusable Delay Construction Essay 2.1 Introduction In this chapter, I will discuss types, causes and effects of delay of project in the construction industry. Besides that, I will also discuss the method to minimize the delays happening in construction industry 2.2 Type of Delay In construction industry, there are the categories of delays used in determining delay damage as shown in table 2.1 Delay Concurrent Delay Excusable Delay Non-Excusable Delay Entitlement for time Compensable Non-compensable Figure 2.1 Types of Delay 2.2.1 Excusable delays Excusable delay as define a delay that is due to an unforeseeable event beyond the contractors or the subcontractors control. Usually, based on common general provisions in public agency specifications, delay resulting from the following events would be considered excusable such as fires, floods, owner-directed changes, errors and omissions in the contract drawing, unusually severe weather and etc. Excusable delays can be further classified into excusable with compensation and excusable without compensation. (Ibnu Abbas Majid,2006) 2.2.1.1 Excusable with compensation Compensation delays are caused by the owner or the owners agents. An example of this would be the drawings late release from the owners architect. An excusable, compensable delay normally leads to a schedule extension and exposes the owner to financial damages claimed by the contractor. In this scenario, the contractor incurs additional indirect costs for both extended field office and home office overhead and unabsorbed home office overhead. (Abdul Hamid Kadir Pakir 2009) 2.2.1.2 Excusable delays without compensation Non-compensable delays are caused by third parties or incidents beyond the control of both the owner and the contractor. Examples typically include acts of God, unusual weather, strikes, fires, acts of government in its sovereign capacity, etc. In this case, the contractor is normally entitled to claim extension of time but no compensation for delay damages. (Abdul Hamid Kadir Pakir 2009) 2.2.2 Non-excusable delays Non-excusable delays are cause by lack of performance of the contractor on the construction project. This delay can be cause by underestimates of productivity, improper project planning and scheduling, poor site management and supervision, wrong construction methods, equipment breakdowns, unreliable subcontractors or suppliers. Therefore, it is contractor responsibilities to continue their work with no entitlement to claim for extension of time or delay damages until they completed the project. For instance, a contractor failure to provide an adequate material to completed their job. 2.2.3 Concurrent Delay Concurrent delay is a problem that happening on most of the construction industry project. This issue arises when two or more delaying event at the same time in a project cannot complete on time. In this situation, both owner and contractor are responsible for the delay. Commonly concurrent delays which involve any two or more excusable delays result in extension of time. When excusable with compensation and non-excusable delays are concurrent, an extension of time can be issued or the delay can be distribution between the owner and the contractor. Concurrent delay can be categories in three types of delays: If excusable and non-excusable delays occur concurrently, the contractor only to allow claim for extension of time: If excusable with compensation and excusable without compensation delays occur concurrently, the contractor is entitle to claim extension of time but no delay damages: If two excusable with compensation delays occur concurrently, the contractor is entitled to claim extension of time and delay damages. For instance, a concurrent delay would be if the owner failure to give more detail regarding either using ceramic tile or homogeneous tile for toilet floor finishes. But at the same time contractor made with own decision and using ceramic tile for toilet floor finishes but actually owner plan using homogeneous tile. In this situation, the contractor cannot claim for damages. It is because contractor is not follow owner instruction but he can claim for extension of time with owner failure to give more detail of drawing 2.3 Cause of delay Bramble and Callahan (1987) have defined that ; a delay is the time during which some part of the construction project has been extended or not performed due to an unanticipated circumstance. An incident of delay can originate from within the contractors organization or from any of the other factors interfacing upon construction Project. Some projects are only a few days behind the schedule; some are delayed over a year. So it is essential to define the actual causes of delay in order to minimize and avoid the delays in any construction project. Many and various studies were carried to assess the causes of delays in construction projects. Assaf et al., (1995) surveyed the causes of delay in large building construction projects in Saudi Arabia. The most important causes of delay project in construction industry included approval of delays in payments to contractors and the resulting cash-flow problems during construction, shop drawings, design changes, conflicts in work schedules of subcontractors, design errors, labor shortage and inadequate labor skills, slow decision making and executive bureaucracy in the owners organizations. Mezher et al., (1998) conducted a survey of the causes of delays in the construction industry in Lebanon from the viewpoint of owners, contractors and architectural/engineering firms. It was found that owners had more concerns with regard to financial issues; contractors regarded contractual relationships the most important, while consultants considered project management issues to be the most important causes of delays. Ogunlana et al., (1996) studied the delays in building projects in Thailand, as an example of developing economies. They concluded that the problems of the construction industry in developing economies could be nested in three layers: problem of shortages or inadequacies in industry infrastructure, mainly supply of resources, problems caused by clients and consultants, and problems caused by incompetence of contractors. Kumaraswamy et al., (1998) surveyed the causes of construction delays in Hong Kong as seen by clients, contractors and consultants, and examined the factors affecting productivity. The survey revealed differences in perceptions of the relative significance of factors between the three groups, indicative of their experiences, possible prejudices and lack of effective communication. Chan and Kumaraswamy (1996) conducted a survey to evaluate the relative importance of 83 potential delay factors in Hong Kong construction projects and found five principal factors: poor risk management and supervision, unforeseen site conditions, slow decision making, client-initiated variations, and work variations.these causes were categorized into the following into eight groups: Project-related factors include project characteristics, necessary variations, communication among the various parties, speed of decision making involving all project teams, and ground conditions; Client-related factors include those concerned with client characteristics, project financing, their variations and requirements, and interim payments to contractors; Design team-related factors include design team experience, project design complexity, and mistakes and delays in (producing) design documents; Contractor-related factors include contractor experience in planning and controlling the projects, site management and supervisions, degree of subcontracting, and their cash-flow; Materials related factors include shortages, materials changes, procurement programming, and proportion of off-site prefabrication; Labor factors related include labor shortages, low skill levels, weak motivation, and low productivity; Plant/Equipment related factors include shortages, low efficiency, breakdowns, and wrong selection; and External factors include waiting time for approval of drawings and test samples of materials and environmental concerns and restrictions. Abd. Majid and McCaffer (1998) studied the factors of non-excusable delays that influence contractors performance. They classified the main causes of non excusable delays according to the source of occurrence, and then identified the factor contributing to those causes. It is assumed that the client has more control over the compensable delays and can take action to prevent them. The contractor is expected to have control over the non-excusable delays and, presumably, do more to prevent them. They classified the factor of causes of non-excusable delays into twelve groups: material-related delays; labor-related delays; equipment-related delays; financial-related delays; improper planning; lack of control; subcontractor-related delays; poor coordination; inadequate supervision; improper construction methods; technical personnel shortages; and poor communication. Mansfield et al., (1994) studied the causes of delay and cost overrun in construction projects in Nigeria. The results showed that the most important factors are financing and payment for completed works, poor contract management, changes in site conditions, shortage of material, and improper planning. Al-Momani (2000) conducted a quantitative analysis of construction delays by examining the records of 130 public building projects constructed in Jordan during the period of 1990Â ¯1997. The researcher presented regression models of the relationship between actual and planned project duration for different types of building facilities. The analysis also included the reported frequencies of time extensions for the different causes of delays. The researcher concluded that the main causes of delay in construction projects relate to designers, user changes, weather, site conditions, late deliveries, economic conditions, and increase in quantities.

Brave New World vs. The American Dream Essay -- Social Studies

The American Dream has always been rooted in the idea that no matter what circumstances a person is born into, that person can rise to the top with hard work and seized opportunity. This dream--the underlying belief of American exceptionalism--is the reason millions of immigrants have come to the U.S. over the years. In 1932, Aldous Huxley, a Briton, published a book that flew directly in the face of that great American ideal. In Huxley's Brave New World, citizens are pre-destined before birth to a certain socio-economic group and conditioned during early life into accepting that status. While that idea horrifies its American readers, their expectations for their own socio-economic mobility are steadily drifting away from the realities of life in the U.S, and the consequences for this shift could be severe. Americans believe they live in an upwardly mobile society that is the opposite of Brave New World's predestined existence, but perhaps that opposite is, in reality, a mirror image . Huxley's Brave New World fast-forwards several centuries to an imaginary civilization that has moved past traditional birth and child-rearing by parents. This society takes the guesswork out of life in order to promote consumerism and reduce social unrest. There are five inescapable castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Episilons. Caste is crucial because a citizen's work is progressively more menial the farther down the hierarchy he or she sits. In this civilization, fetuses are kept in bottles and manipulated with chemicals to be prepared mentally and physically for the jobs that have been assigned to them. After decanting (birth), they are subjected to years of conscious and sub-conscious instruction that teaches them not to question their ... ...reality. Works Cited DeParle, Jason. â€Å"Harder for Americans to Rise from Lower Rungs.† The New York Times 4 Jun. 2012: 1-4. Nytimes.com. The New York Times Company, 4 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. Foroohar, Rana. â€Å"What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility?† Time 14 Nov. 2011: 1-5. Time.com. Time Inc., 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York City: Harper & Row, 1969. Print. â€Å"Poll Results: Economic Mobility and the American Dream.† Chart. Economicmobility.org. The Pew Charitable Trusts, 19 Mar. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. â€Å"Upper Bound.† The Economist [Chicago] 15 Apr. 2010: 1-4. Economist.com. The Economist Newspaper Limited, 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. Zakaria, Fareed. â€Å"The Downward Path of Upward Mobility.† The Washington Post 9 Nov. 2011: 1. Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post Company, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

Memory Management Comparison Essay

When discussing the differences in memory management practices between Windows and Linux environments, an understanding of what they do is necessary. Memory management systems are core aspects of operating systems. Managing a memory hierarchy of random access memory (RAM) and available hard disks is only its basic function. They perform other critical tasks such as the allocation and de-allocation of memory for processes that take care of logistics and implementing virtual memory via the hard disk to perform as additional RAM. Maximum optimization of the memory system is crucial as it greatly affects the overall speed and performance of the system. An important concept in memory management is virtual memory. The basic idea behind this is providing an application the illusion of the presence of large amounts of memory available for use. This is made possible as the kernel makes use of secondary storage (hard disk) to fulfill extra memory requirements. Virtual memory requires mapping functions to do address translation – converting physical addresses to virtual addresses. The virtual being the location the application refers to, and the physical being the actual memory location; this is generally a paging or segmentation function, but can be both, depending on the kernel, processor architecture and its state. To begin a comprehensive comparison of memory management systems of Windows and Linux, let us first analyze the data structures used to keep track of and maintain virtual memory. Windows uses a tree form system where each node of the tree is called Virtual Address Descriptors (VAD). VADs denote a range of address that has the same commit state information and protection parameters. This tree is a balanced to keep the depth of the tree at a minimum. This allows the search time when finding a node containing a location to be kept relatively low. Nodes can be marked one of three ways, committed, free, or reserved. Committed nodes represent ones that have had code or data mapped to it. Free nodes are not yet used; reserved nodes are used in special cases. In Linux systems, virtual memory is kept in a linked list structure. This list is a structure that represents continuous areas of memory having the identical protection parameters. The structure records the address range it is mapped onto, whether it is pinned in memory, the direction it will grow in, and the protection mode. Whether the area the public or private is also recorded. This linked list also converts into a tree list if the number of entries exceeds a particular number. This method uses the best structure in the best situations. These two systems while originating in different backgrounds (Windows –commercial setting, Linux – hacker setting), have modern and theoretically sound concepts which are suitable for production environments. Both systems have many things in common with few technical differences. Windows has gone through more thought and effort during its design/development with decisions at various levels being made to better performance. While in the case of Linux, these decisions were often favoring simplicity instead of performance. This caused Windows to be developed into complex and sophisticated code whereas Linux is elegant and simple while still being modern.

Businesses Operate and Their Products and Services Essay

Question 1 a) Describe how information systems have changed the way businesses operate and their products and services. One of the more popular topics that I have been asked how the information systems have changed the way businesses operate and their products and services. In my point of views I think they have major three ways in which information technology has brought about a huge change in the way in which people conduct business in different parts of the world. One of the most important problem is â€Å"time† So the advantages of using technology is that time constraints are eliminated. Since updated information can be provided to the staff and existing or potential customers at remote locations on a real time basis and more business can be done. Company can save much more money because they don’t have to pay for their staff to travel to meet either customers or other executives. Meetings held through the Internet are as good as the traditional ones. In fact, companies also involve their customers in the meetings so that the products can be designed according to their needs. Since information from all parts of the world can collect and merged with the inventory management system of the company, the process of accepting orders and supplying the materials has become far more perfect. If the time taken between invoicing and shipment can decrease, customers will bind to much more satisfied. As more and more people start using the Internet for business and personal reasons, if companies don’t adapt themselves and use the upcoming technologies, they will bound to fall behind. Today customers expect goods and services to be available 24 hours, seven days a week. E-commerce is a mode of business where the product is sold through the website of the company. This means that people do not have to step out of their homes to make purchases. Last but not the least whether you are a business to business or business to consumer concern, you should make use of information technology to maximize profits. b) Describe the characteristics of a digital firm. A digital firm is a firm which nearly all of the organization’s major business relationships with customer, supplier, and employee are digitally enabled. Axis business processes are accomplished through digital networks spanning the entire organization or linking multiple organizations. Business processes refer to the set of logically related tasks and behaviors that organizations develop over time to produce specific business results and the unique manner in which these activities are organized and coordinated. Digital firms involve both time shifting and space shifting. Time shifting refers to business being conducted continuously, rather than in narrow â€Å"work day† time bands of 9 a.m. To 5 p.m. Space shifting means that work takes place in a global workshop, as well as within national. Questions 2 a) List and describe the organization, management, and technology dimensions of information systems. 1. Organization: The organization dimension of information systems concerns issues like the hierarchy of organization, culture, processes of business, functional specialties and political interest groups. 2. Management: The management dimension of information systems concerns issues like job attitudes, staff training, and management behavior. 3. Technology: The technology dimension composes of computer software, hardware, data management technology and networking technology. b) Distinguish between data and information and between information systems literacy and computer literacy. Data vs. information Data which is a move of raw fact representing events occurring in the organization before the organization have been organized and arranged into a form that people can use and understand. Information which is a data that have been became a form that is meaningful and useful to human being. Information systems literacy vs. computer literacy Information literacy is more care for create information useful to an organization and its staff, on the other hand computer literacy satisfied the simple use of computer. As technology uses spread beyond traditional computer, information literacy enables staff and organization to gain an edge over their competition. Question 3 a) List and describe six reasons why information systems are so important for business today. Six reasons about information systems are so important for business today include: 1. Operational excellence 2. New products, services, and business models 3. Customer and supplier intimacy 4. Improved decision making 5. Competitive advantage 6. Survival Information systems are the basis of conducting business. In 21st century, in many companies, survival and even existence without extensive use of IT is unimaginable, and IT plays a critical role in rising  productivity. Although information technology has become a daily, when organization have complementary changes in , it can provide the basis for new product, service, and ways of conducting business that provide firms with a strategic advantage. b) Describe the sociotechnical perspective on information systems. Optimal organizational performance achieved by together optimizing both social and technical systems used in production can help them to avoid purely technological approach. So it can produce their product much more better. Question 4 a) Define business process and describe the role they play in organizations. A business process which is a use computer’s logic to substitute staff to handle related set of activities; Business processes are the ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, knowledge to produce their valuable product or service. Business processes have four different areas. 1. For the manufacturing and production area include product assembling, quality checking, and producing bills of materials. 2. For the sales and marketing area. Business processes include identifying customers, making customers aware of the product, and selling the product. 3. For finance and accounting, business processes includes paying creditors, creating financial statements, and managing cash accounts. 4. For human resources, business processes include hiring employees, evaluating job performance of employees, and enrolling employees in benefits plans. b) Describe the relationship between information systems and business processes. Between information systems and business processes, their relationship is they can substitute each other. Whatever in management, finance, sales or marketing etc†¦ Question 5 a) Define collaboration and teamwork and explain why they have become so important in business today. Teamwork can raise productivity. Teamwork requires each team member to work together while allowing their individual interests to become a subordinate concern. As a result, team members focus on the goal at hand and contribute their knowledge, resources and skills to reaching the goal. Collaboration can raise profitability because of collaboration in the supply chain industry. Collaboration is teamwork on a larger area in that companies collaborate and more than one business may participate in the partnership. Organizations and businesses meet larger target when collaboration is considered a priority. Consequently, collaboration has several benefits including shared risk, resources and knowledge. So they have become so important in business today because they can raise productivity and profitability. b) List and describe the business benefits of collaboration. Collaboration is a behavior executed by an organization, company or group of people to arrive a common goal, which occurring on a larger scale than teamwork. Effective collaboration requires communication technology, definition of responsibilities and an encouraging culture. Collaboration is most effective when team members are expressive and open to positive competition. A professional sports team that wins a championship is an example of well-executed teamwork. The benefits of collaboration and teamwork outweigh the productivity of a single individual or company’s effort.

Quotes from Faulkners A Rose for Emily

Quotes from Faulkners A Rose for Emily A Rose for Emily is a short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Faulkner. Its one of the most popular (and controversial) works, and its also often discussed in literature classrooms. Quotes from Faulkners A Rose for Emily Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron-remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity. They rose when she entered a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldnt have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized. We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will. She carried her head high enough even when we believed that she was fallen. It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness. I want the best you have. I dont care what kind. When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-gray, when it ceased turning. Up to the day of her death at seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man. Thus she passed from generation to generation dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse. Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.

Free Essays on Imperial Rome

The study of Roman imperial historywhich in practical terms began from the 60s BCEpresents the modern reader with certain paradigmatic issues relevant to governments and societies today. In broadest terms, the persistent dilemma was how to modify government structures and ethos as state and society expanded geographically and demographically. The republican ideal of Rome had somewhat made sense in a time when the state was little more than the preeminent city in a Mediterranean peninsular area, and needed to ensure its own survival and domination of surrounding locales. By the middle of the final century BCE, however, Rome had become the center of a multi-continent empire stretching from Spain to Iraq. Thus, one can present the continuing civil unrest from 80 to 30 BCE as the inability of an expanded city government to cope with the needs of an empire's administration. Part of these needs consisted of large armies far from home. In such cases, powerful generals could emerge, and after Marius' military reforms of the 90s BCE, the soldiers in these legions became dependent upon generals for material survival. In turn, soldiers and veterans strengthened military leaders' political power as a pay-off. As the ensuing half-century showed, the Senate could not thwart a powerful general with charisma and a mass base of political support. Also lacking in a city government weighted down with imperial responsibilities was an efficient Empire-wide civil service and economic administration. Roman fiscal exactions and provincial administration often were, or at least appeared, erratic or irrational. A common pattern of Roman governance involved Rome responding ineffectually at first to a local disturbance, which grew to such extents that Rome had to invest large human and material assets to bring a resolution to a crisis that better administration would have pr evented. Of course, Roman statesmen had long thought about reforms in their state a... Free Essays on Imperial Rome Free Essays on Imperial Rome The study of Roman imperial historywhich in practical terms began from the 60s BCEpresents the modern reader with certain paradigmatic issues relevant to governments and societies today. In broadest terms, the persistent dilemma was how to modify government structures and ethos as state and society expanded geographically and demographically. The republican ideal of Rome had somewhat made sense in a time when the state was little more than the preeminent city in a Mediterranean peninsular area, and needed to ensure its own survival and domination of surrounding locales. By the middle of the final century BCE, however, Rome had become the center of a multi-continent empire stretching from Spain to Iraq. Thus, one can present the continuing civil unrest from 80 to 30 BCE as the inability of an expanded city government to cope with the needs of an empire's administration. Part of these needs consisted of large armies far from home. In such cases, powerful generals could emerge, and after Marius' military reforms of the 90s BCE, the soldiers in these legions became dependent upon generals for material survival. In turn, soldiers and veterans strengthened military leaders' political power as a pay-off. As the ensuing half-century showed, the Senate could not thwart a powerful general with charisma and a mass base of political support. Also lacking in a city government weighted down with imperial responsibilities was an efficient Empire-wide civil service and economic administration. Roman fiscal exactions and provincial administration often were, or at least appeared, erratic or irrational. A common pattern of Roman governance involved Rome responding ineffectually at first to a local disturbance, which grew to such extents that Rome had to invest large human and material assets to bring a resolution to a crisis that better administration would have pr evented. Of course, Roman statesmen had long thought about reforms in their state a...