Pros and Cons Erp Essay Example

Pros and Cons Erp Essay Akhilesh Nair Deepesh Chatterjee Mithun Vishnu Nikhil Kumar OPEN SOURCE ERP PROS and CONS Contents Introduction3 Commercial and Open Source ERP Software6 Open Source ERP Solution Pros8 Open Source ERP Solution Cons10 Open Source ERP Success Story11 Company Overview11 Issue At Hand11 The Solution11 Results12 The Bottom Line12 Top Open Source ERP Applications to Look Out for13 ?Goodness of Open Source ERP Packages13 ?Open Source ERP Packages13 ?Java-Based Open Source Finance Apps13 ?Latest Developments13 ?GnuCash: The Ultimate Free Open Source Accounting Software14 Introduction Open source ERP is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system whose  source code  is made publicly available. The  open source  model allows companies to access the ERP systems code and customize it using their own IT department instead of paying extra for vendor customization services and licensing, as is typically the case with closed source programs. Open source ERP can be particularly attractive to small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) that want to upgrade or customize their ERP systems without paying large licensing and support fees. Open source brings an alternative which addresses many of the key problems of both custom and commercial enterprise software. It begins by offering the user a freely available code base as a starting point. The user can try it for free to see if it meets his needs. There is no risk of upfront licensing fees for software that may not work. If no modifications are required, open source software can be implemented with the same rapid time-to-market as commercial packages. We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons Erp specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons Erp specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons Erp specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer If customizations are required, the user has a head start with an existing code base. Furthermore, he can leverage the expertise of both in-house and open source community developers. An open source project brings with it the domain knowledge and business requirements of many contributing organizations, significantly reducing the specification risk typical of custom software. Open source communities also offer user-developers collaborative help in developing and debugging of his software. The net result is better software in less time. Longer term, open source offers the user the control of custom software and the external resources previously available only with commercial software. With the source code in hand, the user can decide on future support and upgrades. There is no one to discontinue the software for him. At the same time, because the software shares the common roots with open source, he can obtain support and upgrades from the open source community or purchase professional-quality support from a range of vendors in the community. Thus, the risks of becoming stranded due to the loss of vendor support or key employees are significantly reduced with open source. Selection of ERP system Ease/Speed  of  Implementation There exist a sentiment that implementation takes too long. It is hard to state whether proprietary or open source ERP systems are faster and easier to implement. On one hand, open source solutions are, in general, believed to be less user-friendly. On the other hand, ERP vendors (or their partners) implement proprietary ERPs, so there is no clear need for them to make ERP systems easy to install. However, it can be stated that if the ERP system is easier to implement then it would be possible for the ERP vendor to sell more licenses, since it can be assumed that there is a lack of  implementing consultants. Moreover, ease and speed of implementation does not depend only on the graphical user interface and number of settings one needs to select from but  mainly on the amount of required customizations. Further development does not depend only programmer’s speed of writing code but also on requirements collection, their analysis and correct understanding Price Unless the company has the capabilities to implement an open source ERP system and program all the necessary customizations, open source ERP is not really for free. Consultants for open source ERP systems may charge significantly more than e. g. consultants for MS EPR systems, since there are rather only a few of them. On the other hand, an open source ERP system can be a perfect solution for a starting company, which has no established business processes – the company can adapt to the system, i. e. it does not require customization, so consultants need to be hired only to install the system. Another advantage is that an open source ERP system can be adjusted directly to the intended business processes in case at least one of the employees has a good  computer science background Vendor  Support Though this criterion seems to be more important for proprietary ERP systems, since it is customers of proprietary ERP systems, who are locked in with the vendors but on the other hand, they have security that the support exists. In the open source world, this criterion can be interpreted as having a large enough community, which could support the organization implementing a particular open source ERP system. Reliability Vendors providing proprietary ERP systems try to achieve as high reliability as possible but community using an open source ERP system might be able to find errors faster, since it is larger in numbers and each of them tries to make sense of code. While in proprietary ERP system vendor organization, it is always the same people looking into the code, so it is much harder for them to spot a mistake, especially in the code, which was written by them. Ease  of  Use It is unclear whether proprietary or open source ERP systems are easier to use. On one hand, ERP system vendors try to achieve competitive advantage providing ERP systems that are easier to use. On the other hand, open source solutions are, in general, believed to be less user-friendly [51, 52]. But the community of users (with programming skills) is likely to improve the system to the level that is more-or-less acceptable for most of the users. Customization Proprietary ERP systems are often programmed in vendor-specific languages. Companies can be sure that vendors (or their partners) will customize and set up their ERP systems. But it also means that they are locked to the vendor (or its partners). Since open source ERP systems are programmed in widely known programming languages, there is a greater pool of potential programmers, who can do it. Openness of code is not a domain of OSS ERPs anymore. E. g. MS Dynamics AX allows users to change a significant percentage of the code. Integration Customers are often searching for means of integration of their systems/data. Many proprietary ERP systems inherently allow for usage of data warehouses. It is possible that there fewer proprietary than open source ERP systems, which allow for communication to other systems through API. On the other hand, this communication can be solved even by less standard means (through customization). Organizational  Fit Existing ERP systems try to focus on business processes, however it can be suggested that they do not explicitly describe the business processes that are supported. Besides that, ERP systems are not easily adjustable to changes in business processes. Unfortunately, it seems that this is a problem of both open source and proprietary ERP systems. Flexibility Flexibility is required because of rapidly changing environment, which is likely to lead to new business models, which need to be supported without disturbing the end-users and on-going business. This requires an ERP system to have a robust architecture, which would allow for these requirements. Many existing proprietary ERP systems arose from MRP systems through small iterations. So systems, which were created more recently and do not carry this burden, are more likely to be more flexible, which could be the case ith open source ERP systems. Training First, it can be said that the amount of training required depends on the ERP systems  Ã¢â‚¬â€œhow self-explanatory it is and how many functions it offers. Secondly, users of  proprietary ERP systems are more-or-less dependent on the vendor or partner’s related to the specific ERP system. On  the other hand, users of open source ERP  systems may have a hard time to find a consultancy company offering training for a particular system. Latest  Technologies There is no reason why proprietary ERP systems should be better in using latest technology but it is mostly vendors of proprietary ERP systems, who claim that their competitive advance (over other (regardless whether open source or proprietary) ERP systems) is usage of latest technology. Proprietary vendors may promote them more but similar solutions may exist  in the open source world. OpenERP is a full suite of business software, including the following modules: Accounting: Record your operations in a few clicks and manage all your financial activities in one place. Application Builder:   The OpenERP application builder lets you customize every module of OpenERP directly from the web interface without any development required. CRM: Track leads and opportunities customized your sales cycle, controls statistics and forecasts and marketing campaign automation to improve your sales performance. Human Resources:   The module is for personnel information management, leave, time tracking, attendance‚ expenses, payroll, periodic evaluations and recruitment. Invoicing:  Create and supervise your entire supplier and customer invoices. Manufacturing:  Plan and control your supply chain through different applications in the Manufacturing module. Marketing:  Marketing campaigns can help you automate email and email sending, qualify leads and encourage customers to contact the right department. Point of Sale:  The OpenERP touch screen point of sale allows you to manage your shop sales. Its fully web-based so you dont need to install or deploy any software. Project Management: Keep track and manage your projects using tasks for short term project execution or plan phases for long term planning. Purchase:  Create and track your purchase orders, manage your suppliers info, control your products reception process and check suppliers invoices. Warehouse Management:  An inventory management system to easily manage complex needs: tracking stocks of suppliers/customers, full traceability, accounting links, and more. OpenERP supports multi-warehouse management based on hierarchical location structure. Because OpenERP is open source and backed by a large community, you can take advantage of more than 700 OpenERP modules on the  OpenERP Apps website. These applications extend functionality of the ERP software and provide more business apps for things like manufacturing, localization, project management and more. The other benefit to users is that you do not need to use all the business apps. You can choose only the modules that you need for your business from the suite (e. g. just CRM or CRM and invoicing). This keeps your OpenERP tidy and less overwhelming if you do not need all the business apps. You can add additional modules (at no cost) as you need them. Architecture Compiere and ERP5 are two of the top notch open source ERP systems that are widely accepted and implemented. The architecture of an Open Source ERP can be explained using the structured architectural design of compere and a comparison with ERP5. ERP5 offers powerful ERP solution for small businesses. ERP5 was originally developed as apparel industry solution for an organization with more than 300 employees on 5 internationally distributed sites. The special requirements of the apparel industry are mass customization of products and hence the need for handling unstructured and multimedia data. Mass customization means that many variants of a product are possible. The original modules are now generalized as business templates. It has the exact features that include customer relationship management (CRM), production management (MRP), supply chain management (SCM), product design management (PDM), accounting, human resources and e-commerce. For the small businesses, ERP5 has an Express edition which integrates ERP, CRM and KM funtionality. ERP5 uses the open source Python based ZOPE (Z Object Publishing Environment) application server and content management framework as its foundation. The web based Zope Management Interface is used as IDE for developing ERP5 modules. The application server also supports multiple languages, provides a security model, object persistence, and remote object access trough HTTP, XML-RPC and SOAP. ERP5 uses, extends or provides 5 important Zope components: Page Templates implement the web user interface and presentation logic. Workflows are used for the development of various types of decision workflows ERP5Form49 is used for web form development. XMLObjects add synchronization capabilities and autonomous activity (timed, pre- and postcondition triggers) to ERP5- Zope objects. The synchronization of distributed sites is carried out through XML export and import and also supports unreliable communication channels, which are allowed to fail. The duplication of reporting data to a relational database allows simple SQL querying. Compiere is uniquely designed to avoid the duplication of information and the need for synchronization. The design of Compiere allows customization of the application done easily. Modules in compiere include CRM, Quote to Cash, Requisition-to-Pay, Partner Relations Management, Warehouse, Supply Chain Management, Performance Analysis, Double-entry Book-keeping, Work-flow-Management and Web Store. Compieres architecture uses a fat Java Client (Java Webstart). The accounting engine is on the application server (JBOSS J2EE container). Thin Web clients are used for web store and some CRM functionality. There is also a beta thin client serving all forms, but it needs further work to be equivalent to the fat client. The used application server supports clustering. No cluster installation is documented. Emails can be sent and files can be attached to documents. Compiere has a built-in reporting engine. A Sourceforge side project provides Jasper Report77 integration. CSV export and import of data is provided by the commercially available migration tool. Other interfaces can be developed in Java using the briefly (Javadoc) documented APIs (application programming interfaces). The database abstraction layer is SQL-centric which was initially developed for Oracle. Commercial and Open Source ERP Software Pricing: Most open source software is freely distributed with no up-front licensing fees. Further savings come from ease of deployment, training and integration. Companies that implement open source ERP solutions often report a 50% savings over proprietary systems. With free systematic  open source ERP training methodology like SOSE! Site you can own your software for no cost. Commercial ERP is an expensive package and suitable only for bigger corporations. The prices do vary significantly but according to the size of the company and volume of business. In any cases they have been found to be extremely costly irrespective of the quantum in which they are purchased. These packages are not subject to flexibility and molding. Their usage modalities are rarely liberal and cause troubles when they are modified. Hence the deployments also turn out to be costly and inconvenient due to the procedures involved, in the future. Another major allegation against the package is that they consist of lot of  hidden costs. Flexibility: When you compare commercial and open source ERP, commercial systems are not flexible in nature. They let business with no other choice but to change their way of business. However when it comes to open source ERP everything was decided by the code . Therefore companies can do the necessary modifications in code and without much support from the vendor. Another advantage of open source is that it does not interfere with the regular schedule of the company during the implementation stage. This is a major difference between commercial and open source ERP applications. You should use business software for your needs, you should not change the way of your business to fit into software needs. Duration:- When you study commercial and open source ERP,The time allotted for implementing open source ERP is very less when compared with commercial ERP. The innumerable number of complexions in commercial ERP calls for longer time span. It consumes a lot of time not only during implementation but in every stage of ERP process due to the nature of work involved. With use of SITE  ERP implementation methodology  you can reduce time required for open source ERP to the minimum. Dependence: When it comes to the question of relying on the vendor the open source ERP owners enjoys a considerable edge than the commercial ERP. Since open source are license free users having full freedom for taking care of needs by themselves. The productivity is also high in open source ERP systems and the failure rates are very low. Results: Success rate of open source ERP are considerably more compare to proprietary ERP software’s. Read  open source ERP success stories  for more details. Training: Lots of training is required for using commercial ERP. It calls for lots of investments in terms of time and money. If they dont give the necessary impetus the results will be poor. Similarly validity of training sessions designed and handled exclusively by the ERP vendor is also debatable. On the other hand Open Source ERP does not require much training. The results are also bound to be effective because the user gets to learn through the process of self training. The company need not spend much on training and makes a minimal utilization of the resources. This is another way of reducing the level of dependence on the ERP vendor. You can get free  online ERP training  with SOSE!. Security: On comparing commercial and open source ERP applications, Commercial ERP systems are less secure. They are by and large prone to the traps and pitfalls of hackers. Even though open source ERP makes everything transparent and available in the public domain it bring into the notice of user whenever something goes wrong. Visibility: Few end users change the underlying code of an open source application. But when the need arises, open source provides access to the code to make changes to suit each distributor’s unique business needs. Open source customers enjoy a refreshing level of transparency from their vendors around activities such as bug reporting and fixing and road map planning. Longevity: Virtually any ERP solution will work well when initially deployed, but time is the true test of every ERP solution and vendor. Unforeseen opportunities will likely drive changes to a business’ objectives and necessitate changes to its ERP solution. Independently, a vendor’s commitment to supporting a solution could change over time. An open source solution with a flexible foundation addresses today’s needs and safeguards the solution’s future. Because the user has the source code, a solution can never be bought or merged out of existence, meaning the investment lasts as long as needed. Independent services for  ERP implementation support  is also available for free with open source ERP. | Conclusion: Functionality is the top consideration when reviewing ERP solutions, but it should be closely linked with evaluating open source and proprietary options. The demonstrable benefits of open source products reach deep into a company’s infrastructure. You can evaluate and  select business ERP software  which give functionality you need. The differences between  commercial and open source ERP  show the Edge enjoyed by open source ERP players. And independent free ERP trainer likes SOSE! Will help open source ERP to reach people. Open Source ERP Solution Pros * Negligible Investment and Maintenance Costs Open source ERP solutions hold a big pro in the fact that there are no huge un-front licensing fees, pre-sales cost associated with them, thus, the initial cost of an Open Source ERP solution is usually far less than a comparable proprietary program. There’s minimal dependency on the ERP vendor in most cases. In a study done by Meta Group, where it surveyed 63 companies – including small, medium and large enterprises in a range of industries – it was found that the average cost of implementation of ERP was $15 million, with the highest as $300 million and lowest as $400,000. Commercial ERP also has pre-sales cost associated with them. * Widely customizable Open Source ERP solutions are highly customizable allowing for companies to mold them to meet specific business process requirements. It is possible because it comes with two versions of code; the compiled version and the un-compiled version. There are a few reasons to do customizations, which are; functionality needed for core competencies, your front or back office systems require the customizations, you want more or less fields, or you have regulatory requirements that require the customization. So, if you need customizations, then by all means you must have them with a clear eye on the whos who of the support of customizations and financials needed. But, commercial ERP does not provide an easy and inexpensive customization of the ERP software to fit the business model changes whatsoever. Flexibility Open source ERP gives lots of freedom like free redistribution, freedom to access and modify the source code and freedom for the end user to use it for any purpose they wish to. GPL licensing of Open Source Software enables developer community to rapidly contribute to the software development and enhance features. * Total Cost of Ownership TCO of Open Source ERP solution may be less given the option of virtually free ope rating systems (Linux)and databases (MySQL) and potentially lower maintenance fees. Independent Integrations Open Source ERP solutions typically have a wide range of integration formats so that they are employable well with other software components. * Ease of Training Open source ERP packages come with complete licenses, comprehensive documentation and user manuals, helping the users to learn and understand their usage. No special trainings or consultants may be hired. * Ease with implementation The implementation can also be carried out separately without disturbing the regular operation of the business. Also, with open source ERP, the customers can do any sort of experimentations even while in production without losing the base or 100% availability. * Shorter implementation timings -The open source ERP packages require considerably shorter implementation time, which is another big positive aspect whereas in case of commercial ERPs , even six months are considered to be short period for implementation * Reduced or no Dependency on ERP Vendor As the open source ERP packages have proper documentation and user manuals, there is no or reduced dependency on ERP vendor to come and fix the issue. A good programmer can handle the issue in considerably less time. * High Accuracy and Quality The productivity and accuracy is high in the case of open source ERP systems. Also, the failure rates are often discovered to be on the lower side in comparison to commercial ERP packages. All open software has strong user community which is also very responsive and very knowledgeable. * Open source testing The open source users in the process of development are able to thoroughly test and 99% of the bugs are reported and highly secure. Except a very few, most of the commercial ERP systems are tested to a decent extent, but still are many security flaws, traps, pitfalls and loop holes, which can be easily harnessed by the hackers. * Handling security With the ever evolving nature of technology, security has become a problem of the past. And, there are many open source security applications on the market today which can be easily used with open-source ERP, which include; Nessus, Snort, Nagios, SpamAssassin, ClamAV, Open SSL, OpenSSH, Nmap, Ossec HIDS, and Wireshark. Open Source ERP Solution Cons * Risk of over-customization Delivering customized codes could prove troublesome for some organizations just in case you get into over-done customization and you can’t get out of it. Too many customizations can be a definite issue. * Difficulty in finding implementation and support resources Open Source ERP solutions also calls for the best and finest programmers of open source  ERP solutions on the code. This may be difficult and may cause higher support costs at times. Compatibility Issues with Proprietary Packages Some of the open source ERP packages are incompatible with the proprietary products of certain corporations like Microsoft, Oracle, or IBM etc (sometime due to variation in platform used for implementation). * Lack of Dedicated Support from a Specific Vendor Despite all of the benefits of open source ERP packages, the fear of the failure of open source ERP package during crucial stages of a project is considerable driving forces for commercial ERPs where vendors provide dedicate support in lieu of big bucks on licensing costs. Unstructured approach to issue resolution There are no proper defined product roadmaps and time line as most of the enhancements and bug fixes are done by freelancers and independent consulting companies and developers based on their requirements. * Devoid of feature- richness Proprietary software are feature-lade and have more features that are not found in the case of open source ERP packages mostly and may be cited helpful by commercial ERP vendors as a tool of ease and productivity. Open Source ERP Success Story Open source ERP has had its own share of successful implementations. There is no better argument for the use of an ERP solution than a testimonial by and organization which has used the system and reaped benefits from what the software has to offer. Let us take a look at a successful implementation that happened at a Danish pharmaceutical firm named Pharma Nord. The implementation was done by a firm by the name Compiere Company Overview Denmark-based Pharma Nord is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of preventive dietary supplements and herbal remedies. The 500-person company, founded in 1981, develops, manufactures and markets scientifically well-founded dietary supplements, herbal remedies and medical drugs with optimal bio-availability. Pharma Nord’s products are available in 50 countries throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Issue At Hand Due to market success with its initial line of dietary supplements, Pharma Nord was continually expanding its product line and markets served. Growth in the regulated pharmaceutical industry, however, requires precise inventory management to address business and regulatory complexity. Pharma Nord’s ERP solution requirements extended well beyond the standard set of distribution and accounting functionality that performs at a global scale. They viewed the selection of an ERP solution as having a 15-20 year life. For a solution to succeed for more than 15 years, product licensing, ease of customization and confidence in the vendor were as important as out-of-the-box functionality The Solution Pharma Nord uses Compiere to manage its sales orders, invoicing, cash collections, purchasing and accounting for its sales subsidiaries and also to manage receipts and shipments in its warehouses. Pharma Nord liked what they saw in the earliest versions of Compiere in 2001. Using knowledge gained at a Compiere training class, Jacob Pedersen, Compiere Project Manager, completed an initial Compiere deployment in early 2002 focused on a single subsidiary. â€Å"We did it on the basis that we would probably find things that need to change along the way. And we have. It’s been with us, it’s been upgraded and we’ve changed quite a few things. We’ve been able to migrate to new versions of Compiere all the way from 2002 and now we’re here at 2008. I find that quite impressive. Before selecting an ERP solution, Pharma Nord assessed a number of offerings, notably Compiere and Navision. Midway through the evaluation, Navision was acquired by Microsoft. A few months later, the Linux version of Navision was discontinued. These events were eyeopening for Pharma Nord’s information technology and executive teams. The result was an even stronger requi rement for the kind of open source licensing offered by Compiere to ensure Pharma Nord’s long-term ERP success. Services from the Compiere Partner Network and Compiere helped Pharma Nord succeed. For example, the 2001 version of Compiere lacked support for tracking lot/batch numbers and expiry dates—essential functionality for the pharmaceutical industry. Pharma Nord’s sponsorship accelerated the development of this general use functionality. â€Å"We wrote the specification of exactly what the software should be able to do and it was developed by the Compiere team. † Pedersen Results Seven years after initial deployment, Pharma Nord is still going strong with Compiere. Their database has grown over the years as they’ve added business partners, products and transactions. Having transaction history available for analysis and reporting is a nice benefit from using a single product continuously over time. â€Å"What’s great about Compiere is that everything is stored at the most detailed level,† explained Pedersen. â€Å"So whenever you need to do reporting, you have a number of dimensions to work with. You can combine each product, different sizes, and different countries. All of those will be dimensions. Since you can report and group on these dimensions, you can get the answer you’re looking for by grouping and merging these data afterwards. With its sales and distribution operations productive with Compiere, Pedersen is looking toward the future: â€Å"Pharma Nord is also a manufacturing company. We manufacture all of our products ourselves. We know that Compiere is also working on manufacturing capabilities. † The Bottom Line Several unbelievably productive, efficient and highly secure open source ERP packages are not y et well recognized in the market, most of the customers are still prepared to shell out big bucks on custom commercial ERP packages. This might be due to the credibility that the big ERP producing organizations like SAP and Oracle. In times that are proving increasingly tough for organizations the world over; organizations are taking measures to tighten their operations and keeping stock of each and every penny that is spent; open source ERP packages provide a very robust and cost effective alternative for midsize companies who might not have a big budget allocated to cover their IT requirements. Even the large corporations can cut maintenance costs by making use of these brilliant packages. However, lack of support from a particular vendor is something that the open source ERP packages badly lack, and comp

Young Goodman Brown Example

Young Goodman Brown Example Young Goodman Brown – Book Report/Review Example Young Goodman Brown Young Good Brown is a canon written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The prolific uses both symbolism and imagery to relay the exciting piece of literature. Brown, who is the protagonist in the story, leaves his wife Faith to go to an unknown destination. Brown, who is young and naive, is persuaded his wife to stay home through the night. However, he does not hide to his calls and instead leaves unceremoniously to the darkness (Hawthorne, 2005, p.1).In the last paragraph of page 8, Brown is initiated in what seem to appear as a cult that practices devil worshipping. Shockingly, he discovers that his lovely wife is in the evil activity that is widespread among the local community. He is convinced that Faith too is part of the wicked ratchet of devil worshipers because of the ribbon that she has which symbolizes the membership of the cult. Brown is disgusted given that it seems that he had not learned his wife prior to marrying her. Out of the disbelief of the unfolding even ts, he shouts his wifes name loudly. He remains unsure about his wife’s reaction after having discovered that he was in the middle of a dream (Hawthorne, 2005, pp.8-13). Coincidentally, the next morning, Mr. Brown meets the religious leader he had dreamt the previous morning. The head seemed to be preparing for the sermon for the day. Brown resented him because he felt that he was preaching water while at the same time drinking wine. During the day, he seemed he behaved like a saint but in the night he practiced devil worshiping and witchcraft. The bad dream Brown haunts him while attending the church service. According to the piece, religion has become so much hypocritical with people using religion as a cover up for their evil deeds (Hawthorne, 2005, pp.8-13).Work CitedHawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Wild side. Press LLC, 2005.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Essay Example One depicts the life of a slave boy and the other that of a girl. That Jacobs used a pseudonym is sometimes cited as a proof the account being a piece of fiction. I think it does not have to be so. It is an author’s right to use a pen name and it applies to Jacobs just as well. It is literally true that facts are often stranger than fiction and that explains why Incidents, for a long period after its publication in 1861, continued to arouse the skepticism that it was in all probability a white abolitionist’s fabricated work till Yellin of Pace University established the author’s authenticity (Diamond VIII). The cynicism understandably comes from those quarters where the members, owing as often to their community identity as to the gender identity, will never be able to identify with the traumatizing experience of what it means to be a slave – a female slave in particular; in the south, to be even more precise. The pain of having to choose between family ne eds and master’s decrees, for instance, cannot be appreciated just by going through the pages of a book. However, they were not the author’s target either. ... ery during the 17th and 18th centuries are two features that expose the darker side of the history, society, culture, politics and economics of a nation that is conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal (Elmore 232). In this context, Incidents assumes significance for its capacity to throw light on the fact that the cruelly exploitative nature of slavery is as horrible as the atrocities under colonialism, if not worse. It is an important literary work as well a source of crucial historical information about 19th century America that could be of essence to future generations in grasping what their forerunners lived through. It is a portrait of the society in which ‘citizen’ was a strange word to be used to refer to a colored man, as Jacobs observes on receiving the obituary notice of her uncle Phillip (Castronovo 158). For a slave, what images is the word freedom likely to conjure up? Being a woman can make more difference than w e think. Jacobs’ narrative is all about a relentless pursuit of individual freedom. But the way she envisages this freedom is beyond the wildest stretch of one’s imagination. The moment of freedom was not when she was able to take control of her life. Nor did it arrive when her employer had bought her freedom. Since self-definition and self-assertion are undeniably among the key themes of the protagonist in Incidents, it is not easy to resist the temptation to label it as feminist. But we find an interesting contradiction. From the feminist perspective, it is hard to think marriage can be synonymous with freedom whereas Jacobs equates freedom with marriage when she states: Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage† (Jacobs 183). It is in sharp contrast with the

Digital multi-channel communication system Lab Report

Digital multi-channel communication system - Lab Report Example Immediately, the US embarked on a dominant move to out-compete the Russian mission and conquer the space. In a period of about ten years the exploration gathered the momentum. First; Alan shepherd went capricious in a Mercury shell while Genn John moved the globe 3 times in 1962 and finally Neil Armstrong set base on moon in 1969. Wilson S.K & Cioffi J (1991) Since this period, a mood of findings has been subdued over time, yet satellite has been relaying information from around the globe that has been termed as newsworthy. Satellite is an object that runs around a bigger object the reminiscent of a planet. The moon is a natural satellite, man on the extreme end has launched millions of satellites in space and they revolve around the Earth. The satellite consists of the broadcasting antenna, radio receivers as well as transmitters that enable the satellite to correspond with one or more opinion stations, known as control axis. Communications relayed to the satellite from a soil level are unlinked; messages transmitted from the outpost to Earth are down connected. Satellites have silver plates that recharge the power source stored in batteries. Some satellite uses fuel energy that changes compound energy into electricity. There are satellites that run on nuclear energy. Miniature propellers offer outlook, elevation, as well as forward mot ion parameters to develop and alleviate the satellite’s site in space. To supplement climate monopoly onboard, energy is needed. Specialized configurations accomplish the errands dispersed to the satellite. These mostly incorporate sensors competent of photographing a variety of signal lengths. Whereas ecological satellite demands optics, telecommunications satellites don’t. Ecological satellite remits statistics in binary format on a computer that translates the same numbers into geometric images. Gerven S.V and Compernolle D.V (2000) Communication satellite is a radio transmitter antenna that

The Internet And Its Effects On College Students Essay Example for Free

The Internet And Its Effects On College Students Essay The internet is one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century and can be a very useful and productive tool. On the other hand the internet is also designed with entertainment in mind and can be a tremendous waster of time. College Students as a group have greater access to high speed internet connections than any other group. Therefore the use or misuse of the internet can be a very important issue in the education of a college student. Never before has a person had access to as much information as you have with the internet. A person has the ability to research without going to the library, as almost every library has a website which you can use to research. In addition to the websites of libraries search engines make it easy to find web pages on whatever topic you need information on. Many news organizations also have websites which you can use to view current events and current issues of the newspapers and also archived issues of the newspaper. The internet has also become and important and vital part of education. Three of the four classes that I am taking this quarter use the internet as an integral part of the course. In my physics class all the homework is done on an internet system called webassign. You submit the homework on the internet and it gives you your grade immediately and also tells you all the problems you got wrong and all the problems you got right. Another course that makes use of the internet is my computer science class. You use the internet to do the labs for the class and can also get notes for the class on the computer science site. My calculus teacher also uses the internet and has a website that she uses extensively during class. She posts the answers to the homework questions on her website and during class she uses the projector hooked up to her computer to view the website. She also posts grades on the site and you can download practice tests and quizzes. Also at the beginning of all my classes this quarter the teacher gave out his or her e-mail address. As with all things in life there is also a downside to the internet. College students in particular can be affected by the negative aspects of the  internet. Some students can become addicted to the internet and to internet based applications like instant messaging and chat rooms. This can become a problem when the time a student spends online starts to interfere with his or her schoolwork and grades. I know from personal experience how time consuming the internet can be. I regularly spend a few hours a day viewing web pages or using internet based applications on my computer. Another aspect of the internet that can be a tremendous waster of time is computer games that use the internet. I know that this is an issue for many people here at R.I.T. My R.A. told all the people on my floor of stories about people who actually flunked out in their first year because they neglected their work to play computer games. Never before have college students had such a powerful tool to aid them in research and in their overall education. The internet is also a breakthrough in communication and entertainment and can be used in a way that hinders your education. In conclusion the positive aspects of the internet in my opinion far outweigh the negatives.

Affirmative Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Essays

Affirmative action- a plan to offset past discrimination in employing or educating women, blacks etc. (Websters New World Dictionary.) The history of affirmative action has its roots in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and stems from the United States Supreme case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. In 1965, President Linden B. Johnson issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard University that required federal contractors to undertake affirmative action to increase the number of minorities that they employ. President Johnson wanted to ensure that minorities were recruited to have real opportunities to be hired and then eventually get a promotion. (Internet www.sru.edu) In 1969, the department of Labor exposed widespread racial discrimination of the Construction Department so President Nixon decided to incorporate a system of "goals and timetables" that provided guidelines for companies to follow and comply with affirmative action regulations. During the presidency of Gerald Ford, he extended affirmative action to people with disabilities and Vietnam veterans but there were no goals or timetabl es for these two groups. This type of affirmative action required recruitment efforts, accessibility, accommodation and reviews of physical and mental job qualifications. President Jimmy Carter consolidated all federal agencies that were required by law to follow the affirmative action play into the Depar...

The Largest Earthquake in the World

The largest earthquake in the world had a magnitude of 9. 5 and took place in Chile. The Valdivia Earthquake, also know as the Great Chilean Earthquake, happened on Sunday, May 22, 1960. It is the largest earthquake currently on record. It occured in the afternoon and the resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The epicenter of the Valdivia earthquake was near Lumaco, a coastal city with a population of roughly 11,405.Various estimates of the total number of fatalities from the earthquake and tsunamis have been published, with the USGS citing studies with figures of 2,231; 3,000; or 5,700 killed, and another source uses an estimate of 6,000 dead. An estimated cost of 2. 9 to 5. 8 billion in damage. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake was actually just a series of many strong earthquakes from May 21 to June 6,1960. The first was the Concepcion earthquake and the strongest was the Valdivia earthquake. The first Concepcion earthquake was on May 21,1960.Its epicenter was near Curanilahue. The second and third Concepcion earthquakes occurred a few hours apart from each other on May 22. The Valdivia earthquake occurred on May 22. This earthquake affected all of Chile between Talca and Chiloe Island, more than 150,000 sq mi. Most coastal villages disappeared. At Corral, the main port of Valdivia, the water level rose 13 ft before it began to recede. A wave of 26 ft struck the Chilean coast, mainly between Concepcion and Chiloe. Ten minutes later another wave measuring 33 ft was reported.Hundreds of people were already reported dead by the time the tsunami struck. One ship, Canelos, starting at the mouth of Valdivia River sank after being moved 0. 93 mi backward and forward in the river; its mast is still visible today. A number of Spanish-colonial forts were completely destroyed. Soil subsidence also destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands in places like the Rio Cruces and Chorocomayo, a new aquatic park north of the city. Extensive areas of the city were flooded.The electricity and water systems of Valdivia were totally destroyed. Witnesses reported underground water flowing up through the soil. Despite the heavy rains of May 21, the city was without a water supply. The river turned brown with sediment from landslides and was full of floating debris, including entire houses. The earthquake did not strike all the territory with the same strength. The two most affected areas were Valdivia and Puerto Octay near the northwest corner Llanquihue Lake.East of Puerto Octay in a hotel in Todos los Santos Lake piles of plates were reported to have remained in place. Two days after the earthquake a volcanic vent erupted. Other volcanoes may also have erupted, but none were recorded due to the lack of communication in Chile at the time. The relatively low death toll in Chile, estimated at 6,000, is explained in part by the low population density and by buildings being built taking into account that the region has many earthquakes and volcano eruptions.Other possible reasons include a high number of wooden houses and that coastal towns also tended to be located on higher ground. After the eruption, began the landslides. The earthquake triggered many landslides, mostly near the Andes. These landslides did not cause many fatalities nor significant economical losses because most of the areas were uninhabited with only minor roads. One landslide did cause destruction and alarm following its blockage of the outflow of Rinihue Lake.About 100 km south of Rinihue Lake, landslides in the mountains around Golgol River caused this river to dam up and then burst creating a flood down to Puyehue Lake. The Valdivia earthquake led to the formation of the ONEMI. ONEMI is the Spanish acronym for National Emergency and Information Office. ONEMI helps solve problems after earthquakes, large or small. The Valvidia earthquake was also referenced in two fictional novels, and the tsunami following the earthquake was referenced in a Hawaii Five-O episode titled â€Å"Forty Feet High and it Kills! â€Å".