Slavery in the United States Free Essays

The problem of slavery in the territories created tensions that contributed to the breakup of the Union in 1860-61. The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially when it came to Southern anger. The Southern anger was based on the Northern attempts to avoid further slave expansion, which lead to numerous acts, and essentially caused the war against Mexico. We will write a custom essay sample on Slavery in the United States or any similar topic only for you Order Now The United States was a nation divided into two different regions separated by the Mason-Dixon Line. New England, the Northeast and the Midwest had a rapidly-growing economy based on family farms, industry, mining, commerce and transportation, with a large and rapidly growing urban population and no slavery north of the border-states. Its growth was fed by a high birth rate and large numbers of European immigrants, especially Irish, British and German. The South was dominated by a settled plantation system based on slavery. There was some rapid growth taking place in the Southwest, (i. e. Texas), based on high birth rates and high migration from the Southeast, but it had a much lower immigration rate from Europe. The South also had fewer large cities, and little manufacturing except in border areas (which were very influenced by the Northern region). Slave owners controlled politics and economics, though two-thirds of Southern whites owned no slaves and usually were engaged in subsistence agriculture The economic and social differences between the North and the South were two main f actors that caused tensions that contributed to the breakup of the Union. As stated earlier the South was dominated by a settled plantation system based on slavery. Unlike the North in which slavery was frown upon. The North? s economy was based in small farms, and industrial labor in the urban populated cities. As for the North that socially was shaped by European immigration, the South was very much isolated. The North was progressing as labor united various kinds of cultures achieving a society that sustain in each other, unlike the South who solely depended on the Slaves, even though most farms did not contain slaves the Southern society was moved by the richest plantation owners (which did solely depend on slavery). Some other factors that lead to tension leading to the separation of the Union are; States versus federal rights, the fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents, Growth of the Abolition Movement, and finally the election of Abraham Lincoln. How to cite Slavery in the United States, Essay examples

Paper Addresses Various Aspects of Changing Workforce Composition

Question: Discuss Paper Addresses Various Aspects of Changing Workforce Composition? Answer: Introduction This paper addresses various aspects of changing workforce composition and its impact of employee engagement in a large organization. The world has witnessed a lot of changes socially and technologically and this has had impacts on the workforce composition as well as employee engagement. The companies, in response to these changes in the workforce composition has had to adapt accordingly in order to effectively achieves its organizational objectives Younger generation workforce Today many companies have youthful workforce of about 40 years and below. This means that the younger age groups such Millennials who are tech savvy and like more work flexibility command high percentage of workforce in many companies. The new generations are more conscious to work-life balance and like to work under contracts. This new composition has lead many companies adopting various strategies in order to attract and retain best talents at work. The management style has had to move from seniority based democratic and talented based. The leader nowadays is not about how many years youve spend at the company but how efficient and skilled you are at the company. If the company doesnt adopt this and stills maintain management on seniority grounds then it is likely to loose the young talents. The mode of communication has also changed from direct in person to email, text and social media. The companies have had to equally change in order to suit to the new composition of the workfor ce. (Post and DiTomaso, 2009) Work specialization The young generation also sees career as a contract and process as opposed to older generation which viewed career as a responsibility. The workforce is becoming more specialized viewing a job as task based not just being at office the whole day. The niche developed in terms of work specialization has seen the some companies hire an expert for specialized function on temporary basis once done the expert moves to the next company. Usually this kind of an arrangement involves a lot of money to pay for the services than it would if the expert was an in-house employee. (Christensen and Schneider, 2010) Technological advancement With the technological advancement across the world, like robotic advancements, the nature of the work has had to change and hence the composition of the workforce. The call centers are perfect example of how the technology has lead to change in the composition of the workforce. The call centers nowadays employ people to work from their homes as long as they are online to answer to customer queries and other work related tasks. The company only needs to invest in the technological infrastructure like websites and other online platforms to enable employees work remotely from home or any other place suitable to them. The few employees who the company keeps at its physical call centers are mainly for administrative purposes but the main tasks are carried out remotely. The companies have also been forced to invest in robots in place of human beings in a bid to become more efficient and faster in work deliveries. (The Changing Composition of the Workforce, 2012) Experts composition Due to various technologies needing various experts technological advancement has contributed to having heterogynous composition of the workforce at various companies. The various cultural and social differences within the workforce has lead to different approaches to issues such as smart conference facilities that enable each employee to speak in his or her official language and have the rest of the workforce understand her communication without language barrier. These teleconferencing facilities enable employees of the multinational organizations to have work- related meetings with colleagues in different countries. (Post and DiTomaso, 2009) Changes to workplace composition In the next 5-10 years there would a lot more demographic changes than it is now. The gap between men and women will continue getting narrower as more women become enlightened through affirmative action and other agents of social justice. The workforce will continue having young people and this percentage will only grow going forward. This means that a lot of the workforce will be more tech savvy and perhaps texts messages would get more use in terms of official communications. The reason for this is that with time people tend to look for convenient ways of doing things. Perhaps there is going to be more women at work than men given the rate at which the gap is closing. It is therefore hard to imagine that once the gap closes the increasing trend of women will stop. So the composition of workforce could be flipped on its head in the nest 5-10 years with more women in workforce than men. (Karoly and Panis, 2004) Workforce and managerial implications Workers will therefore need to be having basic learning in information technology in order to be marketable in the job market. Workers will not be having this certification in the next 5-10 years may experience challenges obtaining jobs because most jobs on offer will require basic IT knowledge. For example the secretary jobs is likely to move to remote working say at home where a secretary can respond to inquiries from clients through IT communication platforms. The need for physical secretary may no longer be necessary given the technological advancements. (Heler, 2014) For managers, they will need to more tolerant and consensus building as opposed to only providing directions. The managers will need to be more skilled people with basic qualifications on IT on the minimum to be able to lead by example. They would need to adopt a flexible working schedule in order to align itself with the workforce who will ne more interested in work-life balance than before. Therefore a good company now should start preparations of flexing its time table in preparation of the incoming workforce. The managers will want to attract best talents for their respective organizations and to achieve this work environment should be conducive for the younger workforce generation. (Heler, 2014) Conclusion In conclusion the world will continue witnessing unprecedented changes in the composition of the workforce in various companies. The ever present technological advancement and the need for more work-life balance will continue being major agents of the changes in the workforce composition. The companies will therefore be required to continue aligning themselves to these changes in order to remain competitive in the market and attract and retain best talents available. References Belloc, H. (1923). On. New York: George H. Doran Co. Christensen, K. and Schneider, B. (2010). Workplace flexibility. Ithaca: ILR Press. Heler, D. (2014). New Workforce: Changing Demographics' Impact on Electric and Gas Utilities: A Practitioner's Solution. Natural Gas Electricity, 30(11), pp.12-18. Karoly, L. and Panis, C. (2004). The 21st century at work. Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND. Ordun, G. and Akun, A. (2016). Personality Characteristics and Emotional Intelligence Levels of Millenials: A Study in Turkish Context. Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 6(1). PALLIATIVE CARE WORKFORCE: TEAM COMPOSITION ACROSS SETTINGS. (2015). The Gerontologist, 55(Suppl_2), pp.777-777. Post, C. and DiTomaso, N. (2009). Diversity in the work force. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. The Changing Composition of the Workforce. (2012). Springer Verlag

Digging Seamus Heaney Essay Example

Digging Seamus Heaney Essay The first theme of the poem â€Å"Digging† is one of Heaney looking back at his family’s history and tradition. Heaney’s ancestry includes both a farming Gaelic past and the modern Ulster industrial revolution, and this tension between the two sides of his past are demonstrated through this poem â€Å"digging†. This is a free verse poem containing eight stanzas and two couplets and it is written in the first person narrative, the free nature of this poem allows us to see Heaney expressing the turmoil he feels between the past the present. But it also demonstrates the love and respect he feels for his ancestors. The poem starts with an image of the poet’s hand â€Å"a squat pen rests; snug as gun. † In using this metaphor Heaney is expressing the power of the written word and the pen much like the power of the gun. Initially Heaney appears far removed from his family’s heritage and the idea that boys are expected to follow in their father’s footsteps. However, when you explore the poem further it becomes clear that Heaney is in fact reminiscing of his past and how he holds both his father and grandfather in great esteem. Whilst reflecting within the poem Heaney is disturbed â€Å"under my window, a clean rasping sound†. We will write a custom essay sample on Digging Seamus Heaney specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Digging Seamus Heaney specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Digging Seamus Heaney specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Heaney looks and sees his â€Å"father, digging. I look down† Whilst watching his father it suggests that he sees how natural his father is at digging and it invokes the memories he had as a child of both his father and grandfather. Heaney describes both men with a boyish admiration and of his father Heaney exclaims â€Å"By god, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. † And of his grandfather â€Å"My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner’s bog. † a true local legend. This demonstrates how Heaney sees both men as working class heroes. The second theme of the poem has Heaney reflecting on himself, whom he considers to have less-admirable qualities compared to his honest and hardworking father and grandfather. Heaney wonders if his grandfather forever associated him with the bottle of milk that was â€Å"corked sloppily with paper†, as Heaney is not the traditional man that his grandfather was. Heaney then draws comparisons the sloppiness of the cork and the softness of the paper to the no-nonsense attitude of his grandfather as demonstrated when the states of this grandfather â€Å"He straightened up to drink it, and then fell right to way. This leads Heaney to believe that he will never measure up to his father and grandfather whose earthy physicality he so admires. The third theme is one of realisation about Heaney to himself â€Å"But I have no spade to follow men like them. †Heaney understands that whilst he is not the traditional man like his ancestors his ultimate accomplishment is in fact lett ing go of the guilt associated with not following in their footsteps and looking down upon the manual labour as mere pre modernist stages of human existence. Upon reflecting Heaney does uncover his connection to his past and realises he has modernity of his mother’s nature within him. Heaney realises he can express the traditional side of his character through the power of the pen and his writing and in the last stanza Heaney writes â€Å"Between my finger and my thumb the squat pen tests. I’ll dig with it. † Heaney will continue the traditions of his father by â€Å"digging† with the pen through his writing.

Antigone Essays (457 words) - Antigone, Civil Disobedience, Creon

Antigone Essays (457 words) - Antigone, Civil Disobedience, Creon Antigone Sophocles' trilogy of Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone is a powerful, tragic tale that examines the nature of human guilt, fate and punishment. Creon, Oedipus' uncle and brother-in-law, is the story's most dynamic character. His character experiences a drastic metamorphosis through the span of the three dramas. Creon's vision of a monarch's proper role, his concept of and respect for justice, as well as his respect for the design evolve considerably by the trilogy's tragic conclusion. In Oedipus the King (OK) , the audience is introduced to a Creon who seems to put loyalty to the king above all. He sympathizes with the tragic plight of King Oedipus and asserts no apparent ambition himself. His attitude toward the king is one of yielding and fulfilling reverence. Creon's notion of justice in OK stems directly from the divine. That which the gods have decreed must become law. It pains Creon to have Oedipus exiled, but he must do so as the gods have willed it. Creon's respect for divinity and prophecy seems to be his defining trait in OK. His attitude is one of unquestioning reverence. In Oedipus at Colonus (OC), one sees the beginning of Creon's decline. Creon has now come to occupy the throne that once belonged to Oedipus. It soon becomes apparent that his vision of the proper role of a king has changed to accommodate his new-found position. The emphasis shifts from that of a king who must rule wisely to one who must rule unyieldingly. The kingship becomes a selfserving instrument for Creon in his attempt to secure the return of Oedipus and the good fortune prophesied to accompany him. Creon's notion of justice is severely distorted in OC. He becomes monomaniacal - conducting his affairs with tyranny and belligerence. For example, he threatens to harm Oedipus' daughters if the blind beggar does not return to Thebes. His view of rightness and fairness is no longer in line with that of his subjects. In OC, Creon still retains some respect for divine prophecies. These have after all motivated his desire to return Oedipus to Thebes. Antigone reveals the ultimate extent to which Creon's character deteriorates. His transformation completes itself; he has become an unreasonable tyrant. Creon can no longer be called a king. He has become a despot. There is absolutely no justice to be found. Violence and threats of violence are the tools by which he rules. For example, his senseless threats to an innocent sentry reveal the true extent of his loss of reason. Creon has distorted the proclamation against Polyneices' burial, which was originally intended to foster Theban unity, into a display of rashness and incompetence. There is no mention of the gods and their intentions on Creon's behalf in Antigone. He has been so far destroyed by his own power as to dismiss the divine will that he originally thrived on.

Consumer Behaviour dissonance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Behaviour dissonance - Essay Example In modern theories of consumer behaviour, much stress is given on this particular sequence of events of first knowing one's self and then proceeding to make a purchase. Experts believe "that people purchase a product or brand only if these things are consistent with, enhance, or in some way fit well with the conception they have of themselves" (Ross, 1971, p. 38). Thus, self-image, or self-concept has found a central place in the works of many modern consumer behaviour theorists. "Any bit of knowledge that a person has about himself or the environment is a "cognition," or "cognitive element."" (Wicklund, and Brehm 1976, 2). Self-cognition is not objective, but the sum total of subjective thoughts one has about one's self. It is taken as "the totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to him/her self as an object" (Rosenberg, 1979). Modern consumer behaviour theories postulate that a consumer who is not aware of his/her self, and fails to achieve "self-congruity" is bound to suffer in the act of purchasing a product from pre-choice anxiety, and/or post-choice regret arising from cognitive dissonance. In theories that attribute a "brand" with personality (Sirgy, 1985), the same principles can well apply to the development of the brand image of a product, as they apply to the consumer's path to proper purchase. Similar theorists hold that consumers select brands by the same process they select companions; "just as people take care in choosing friends who have a similar personality to themselves, so brands, which are symbolic of particular images, are chosen with the same concern" (De Chernatony and McDonald, 1997, p. 145). In today's marketing theories, products are assumed to have a personality that is not only determined by the product's physical characteristics (actual self), but also by the marketing mix promoting a brand image (ideal self) beyond the functionality of the product. In fact, according to many, self-image/brand-image congruity plays a key factor in driving consumer behaviour, and a brand image or product image, like the human self, can possess " a set of attribut es such as friendly, modern, youthful and traditional" (Sirgy, 1985, p.195). The concept of the self that a person holds has many dimensions, and includes both physical and psychological attributes. Self-concept bases itself upon human self-prototypes and moderates the psychological functioning of an individual to exhibit consistent behavioural patterns in the various social roles that a person has to play. Such self-prototypes or self-schemata control, organize, and influence the information processing function of a person that includes the processing of both self-related and other information (Markus, 1977). The selection, interpretation, filtration, and assimilation of incoming information depend upon the self-schemas possessed by each individual (Kihilstrom, 1981). Absorption, rejection, or alteration of new information is based upon its consistency with the existing self-structure (Snygg and Combs, 1949). Earlier research on measuring and analysing self-images was confined to the domain of psychologists who studied the differences that could be seen between the individual's perceptions of his/her real

DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - Essay Example Nevertheless, one main issue remains to be satisfactorily resolved and it involves accurate measurement of the occurrence of plagiarism. Scholars have relied on student reporting of their own and their peers’ plagiarising behaviour in obtaining such measures. Although, scholars may obtain useful data this way, the method develops its paradox because it requires survey participants to offer honest reports regarding their dishonesty. Moreover, although self-reporting in any behaviour is problematic, self-reporting of dishonesty behaviour is extremely challenging and studies show that student responses are not congruent to their employed behaviours; nevertheless, the advent of plagiarism detection software made the task easier. The use of software that detect plagiarism by university lecturers enables the lecturers to perform what was previously difficult or impossible namely obtaining a clear picture of the extent of plagiarism in student assignments; moreover, the use of plagia rism software has deterrent effect on plagiarism. Despite the potential usefulness of the various plagiarism software and their unequivocally acceptance by the community of academicians, a backlash against their use seems to be underway as academicians consider the use of such software to control students. The scholar’s goal is to fill the gap between what students actually do instead of what they say they do with regard to plagiarism in assignments. The main strength in the research includes a collection of records on the form and extent of plagiarism over a period of five years in two main university assignments. However, the study had several limitations one of which is over reliance on Turnitin, which only matches material found on the internet. Materials of the university textbooks cannot be matched unless the material gets online in some form like through lodging a student’s assignment in the software’s database. Moreover, the database of Turnitin may be u nable to detect material within invisible web sources like password-protected databases or even customised assignments produced by writing companies. Another disadvantage is that the measurement process relied to a certain extent on the interpretation of the original report in conjunction with checking of the assignment script; hence, absolute objectivity cannot be claimed in the data. The disadvantage of the of a convenient sample like non-randomness and potential absenteeism in generalization are acknowledged; in addition, the study is limited to New Zealand where the data was derived and the findings indicate that they may not be generalised. The findings confirmed the established view that international students have high rate of plagiarism compared to domestic students because they not only topped in rates across students, but also were at the top of rating regarding verbatim plagiarism and were among students with high rate of extensive plagiarism. The notion that students wit hout experience are more prone to plagiarism was not fully supported in the study findings because students in year one submitted the smallest percentage of plagiarised script in the year of enrolment, while students in their fourth year of enrolment plagiarised extensively. From the present6ed data in the study, it is possible to develop a profile of

Analysis of Docker Technology

Analysis of Docker Technology What is the technology? Docker is a software containerization platform. What does it do and how does it improve upon previous technologies? Docker allows users to run multiple different software packages, including multiple instances of the same piece of software within an isolated virtual container. The behaviour and features are similar to that of running a virtualized operating system, such as allowing isolation from the host machines operating system, the ability to run multiple instances of the same software package simultaneously and the storage of applications in a format that can be transferred between physical machines. Traditional virtualization hypervisors such Hyper-V, ESXi and Xen all rely on each virtualized instance to have their own complete operating system, drivers, libraries and software packages to be installed and running. Docker moves away from this method and instead provides an abstraction layer between the host operating systems kernel and the containerization application. The containerized applications are configured to share the same operating system and libraries. This removes the overhead of running multiple instances of these items reducing system resource utilization. In addition to the performance benefits, Docker maintains the security features provided by virtualization hypervisors. Docker containers are configured to use virtualized network interfaces allowing segregation, VLAN tagging and inter-container networking amongst other features. The Docker container files are self-contained allowing them to be transferred freely between different physical hardware without the need for reconfiguration. This has also led to multiple repositories of Docker containers to be created, allowing the public to upload and share pre-configured open-source software packages. How might it transform computers and devices using it? Tell us some scenarios. By converting from using a traditional virtualized operating based configuration, end users can increase the utilization by running more software on less physical hardware. This in turn will reduce hardware, energy and other related costs and improve efficiency when deploying new software instances. Web hosting services could increase the amount of services existing hardware could provide and increase efficiency when deploying new services. For example, each WordPress installation could be configured in individual containers while accessing a shared SQL database, rather than each installation requiring a full virtualized operating system to be deployed per instance. Software developers can also take advantage of Docker to assist with their development and deployment cycles. Software can be configured and optimized on developers local machines or development servers and be easily transferred to quality assurance teams and finally to production environments. Why is it interesting and important? Docker is an important step forward from traditional virtualization technology. The software has been developed under the open-source Apache License 2.0 allowing anyone to take part in development and to also freely use and modify any components for their own project both personal and commercial providing they follow the licensing requirements in their scenario. By consolidating existing infrastructure energy emissions will be reduced, reducing the carbon footprint of users. Other consumables used in certain operations can also be reduced, such as water in server farm cooling configurations and physical space used allowing more compact configurations. Management and maintenance of software packages can also be improved. If issues are found with particular software version updates, providing the previous container is kept the singular application can be rolled back rather than the entire operating system. What is the device? Ring an IoT connected doorbell What does it do? How would you use it? Tell us some scenarios. Ring is a doorbell with an integrated camera, microphone, speaker, motion sensor and is internet connected via WiFi. By connecting the doorbell to the internet it is able to alert the user via a smartphone app when the doorbell is rung or the motion sensor is triggered. The user can then check the video feed from the door, to determine who is at the door. In response, the user can then choose to activate the speaker function to speak with the person at the door using the smart device, similar to that of a traditional intercom system. The device also saves its video recordings to a cloud service allowing the footage to be viewed anywhere using a compatible smart device. The device can be used in a number of ways. If the user is expecting a parcel and is not at the address at the time of the delivery, they will be alerted on their smart device when the doorbell is rung. Once the user is alerted via their smart device, they can then activate the video feed to confirm who is at the door and then use the speaker to advise the courier to leave the parcel in a safe location. Home security can also be improved by using the device. The video recording functionality will be triggered with any motion near the front door, even if the doorbell is not rung. This footage will then be stored off-site via a cloud storage service. In the unfortunate event of a break in, the intruder will be unable to destroy the footage, which can then be used to assist authorities in subsequent investigations. In addition, some insurance providers may offer reduced insurance premiums when such devices are installed. Briefly outline the devices interesting software/hardware/networking. In what way does computer technology transform or realise the device? Ring is provided with a mobile application that allows the doorbell to be paired with the users iOS or Android based mobile device. The doorbell has an integrated WiFi adapter which is used to connected to the users home WiFi network to provide internet access to the device. This allows the doorbell to provide notifications to the smart device application regardless of if the user is at home on the same network or are located elsewhere, provided they have access to an internet connection. The doorbells integrated motion sensor and camera add further functionality previously not possible. The camera used has been selected for its low-light performance, in combination with infra-red LEDs to provide illumination to the recorded footage without any light being visible to the human eye. This enhances its ability to be an inconspicuous security device. Recorded footage is saved off-site using a cloud storage service. This is used by the mobile application to provide the user with the ability to watch footage while away from their local network and to provide an archive solution without requiring a large amount of local storage. Why is the device an interesting or important example of embodiment? As defined by Professor Tony Hey in his book The Computing Universe: A Journey through a Revolution Butler Lampsons third age of computing is about using computers for embodiment that is, using computers to interact with people in new and intelligent ways This is shown through the Ring doorbell, in the way it allows the user to connect with the outside world in a new way. It provides the user the ability The ring doorbell provides a new way for users to connect with the outside world. It removes the need for a person to be home to accept parcels, it tracks motion which can provide the user with a greater sense of security at home all through the adoption of technology. Week 2 What are the devices? Device 1: Smartwatch Device 2: PC Characterise the computing requirements of the two devices? Device 1: CPU A smartwatch requires a CPU(Central Processing Unit) to process all machine instructions provided by applications and the operating system. Most smartwatches use an ARM architecture CPU. Bluetooth Bluetooth is a networking protocol used for the smartwatch to communicate with the host device (usually a smartphone). NFC NFC (Near Field Communication) is a networking protocol used for communicating with external devices. This is commonly used in contactless payment systems GPS GPS (Global Positioning System) is geolocation system used to provide location data to the device. This is commonly used for maps and navigation systems Battery A custom made lithium-ion battery. Used to provide power to all the components in the device. To recharge the battery either a port is provided to connect the watch to a power source or wireless charging is implemented to provide from a wireless power source Display A display is used to provide visual interface for providing information to the user. Touch interface A touch interface (Also known as a digitizer) is used to allow the user to interact with the smartwatch by touching on the display. Touch screens are commonly used due to the limited space on a smartwatch for other methods of interfacing with the device, such as buttons. RAM RAM (Random Access Memory) is required for the CPU to store data while is processing instructions. RAM is volatile memory and is not used for persistent data storage. Persistent Storage Persistent storage is required to store the operating system, applications and user data. This is commonly a form of NAND flash memory due, as it offers compact storage with no moving parts which could be damaged in a device that is moved during operation. Speaker Speakers are used to provide aural feedback to the user. Microphone A Microphone is used to receive aural data from the users, for example a phone call will require the Sensors There are numerous sensors located on a smartwatch that each monitor a different function.Most smartwatches have an Accelerometer to monitor acceleration, a Barometer to measure atmospheric pressure, a Gyroscope to measure the angle of the device, a Heart Rate monitor to measure pulse and an ambient light sensor to determine the backlight of the screen. GPU The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is used to accelerate the creation of visual elements. This is commonly integrated as part of the CPU in smartwatches due to size constraints. WiFi WiF is a networking protocol used to transmit data in a local network. This is used in a smartwatch to provide network connectivity when the host device (e.g. smartphone) is not available. Device 2: CPU A PC requires a CPU(Central Processing Unit) to process all machine instructions provided by applications and the operating system. Most PCs use an x86 architecture CPU. RAM RAM (Random Access Memory) is required for the CPU to store data while is processing instructions. RAM is volatile memory and is not used for persistent data storage. Persistent Storage Persistent storage is required to store the operating system, applications and user data. This can be a mechanical hard disk drive, utilizing magnetic platters to store data or a solid state disk which uses NAND flash memory to store data. Network Adapter A network adapter is required to connect the PC to a local network. This can be achieved through a range of interfaces including a wired ethernet connection or a wireless WiFi connection. Some systems will have both options available. GPU The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is used to accelerate the creation of visual elements. This can either be integrated into the CPU or can be provided through a discrete graphics adapter, for enhanced performance. USB Ports Power supply A power supply is required to convert mains AC power into DC power required to power the individual PC components. Some PCs (such as laptop computers) may utilize a battery to provide an additional power source Video Ports Audio Ports C. Device 1 Device 2 CPU Physically bigger, more Powerful Can run hotter, active cooling x86 based Physically smaller, slower Must run cooler, no active Cooling Arm based STORAGE Space for multiple drives Mix of mechanical and solid state drives Raid capabilities Solid state storage Physical constraints Less storage NETWORK ADAPTORS Can use wireless or wired connections Must be wireless Wifi Nfc 2. Moores Law Why might Moores Law come to an end soon? Explain based on current technologies. Moores Law was originally conceived in 1965 when Intel co-founder Gordon Moore posted an article about microprocessors. In the article Moore observed that the number of transistors in integrated circuits doubles roughly every 12 months. After 10 years once more data had become available Moore updated his theory from 12 months to 24 months. Intels latest processors are built using a 14 nanometer manufacturing process, however production of Intels next generations of processors with 10 nanometer transistors has already been pushed back by a year. Intel have stated that this was not a one-off occurrence and that they are not able to continue to keep up with the rate they used to. This shows that Moores law is now coming to an end too. One main reason that Moores law slowing down and potentially coming to an end is that its not possible to continue to keep shrinking transistors, while maintaining a functional device at the rate that is required to continue improving at the rate theorized. As MOSFET transistors follows the principles of quantum mechanics, as the transistors shrinks it makes it harder to determine if it is in the 0 or 1 state. The electrons inside the transistor can travel through devices with little resistance, therefore as the transistors get smaller, the resistance also gets lower which eventually lead to quantum mechanical phenomenon described as tunnelling rendering MOSFET based transistors non-functional. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601102/intel-puts-the-brakes-on-moores-law/ http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/the-tunneling-transistor Discuss a new or future technology which might overcome these technological limitations. Instead of trying to find ways to prevent quantum tunneling in transistors, researchers are investigating a new transistor design called TFET or Tunneling Field Effect Transistors. This style of transistor is designed to manipulate when quantum tunneling occurs in a controlled manner. This allows for transistors to be produced at an even smaller scale than MOSFETS can be without quantum tunnelling becoming a negative side-effect. Another advantage of this technology is that has the potential to be implemented in place of MOSFETs without the need for technology that implements them to be completely redesigned due to the similarities between TFET and MOSFET transistors. http://berc.berkeley.edu/tunneling-field-effect-transistors-beyond-moores-law/ https://engineering.nd.edu/news-publications/pressreleases/more-energy-efficient-transistors-through-quantum-tunneling What might be the ramifications if Moores Law comes to an end or slows down? If Moores Law comes to an end or slows down, the rate at which processor performance improves will decrease. This would reduce the rate at which new technologies are developed and would slow innovation in field relying on technology. 3. Non Von Neumann Processors Investigate a non von Neuman processor such as a graphics processor, FPGA or signal processor. How and why is it different from a general purpose CPU such as you might find a phone or PC? An FPGA or Field-programmable gate array is a type of integrated circuit that can be digitally re-programmed after it has been manufactured, unlike for example, the logic within a microcontroller which is hardwired during manufacturing. This It allows the user to program custom digital circuits using hardware description language to suit their requirements. FGPAs are sold without any pre-programmed instructions and are instead sold based on the physical features of the FGPA such as how many logic gates or how much memory it has, making it a very flexible device. As FPGAs can be reprogrammed without any need to change the physical hardware, this lends them to being used heavily in development and prototyping environments. Developers can create and update the logic throughout the development process without the need to purchase new hardware each time a change needs to be made. This is different to hardware such as a x86 CPU which cannot be reprogrammed and only supports the provided instruction sets. http://download.springer.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/static/pdf/116/bok%253A978-1-4302-6248-0.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Fbook%2F10.1007%2F978-1-4302-6248-0token2=exp=1490752308~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F116%2Fbok%25253A978-1-4302-6248-0.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Fbook%252F10.1007%252F978-1-4302-6248-0*~hmac=b61cb59b461de816fe408c9ab730e0d9cd6ab12d55885171f66b3c880d9aafaa 3-5 Week 3 OS 1 IBMs z/OS IBM z/OS is a operating system designed to be run solely on IBM mainframe computers. Mainframe computers are large, high-end computers designed specifically for processing large amounts of data, often used by large organizations. IBM describe the key features of the z/OS operating system as its stability, security and high availability (IBM, 2014, para. 1). OS 2 Embedded Linux Embedded Linux is a term used to cover the Linux operating system being used on embedded computer systems. These embedded systems are generally very low-end computers, designed to run a very specific and minimal set of software that are then embedded inside another product, for example they can be found in some models of washing machine to offer further functionality. Linux is described as being flexible and open (Siever et al., 2003, p.1-3) which offers developers to ability to customize it to their exact needs and requirements. Comparison and contrasting Both of these operation systems are designed to run very specific types of workloads. The z/OS mainframe operating system is designed to process and analyse large data sets to provide in-depth insight on the data (IBM, 2015). The operating system is designed to handle very high performance workloads and to run as quick and efficiently as possible. Embedded Linux operating systems are designed to run a very specific workload such a smart TVs interface with as minimal overheads as possible due to the hardware restrictions of the low-power systems that are used in most Embedded Linux implementations (Simmonds, 2015, p.1-12). Both systems are designed to run specific processes, however the z/OS operating system is designed to run processes on high-end hardware on a large scale, whereas the Embedded Linux operating system is most commonly used on low performance hardware on a small scale. Open Source Software Security/Flexibility Open source software gives users the option to modify and adapt software to their needs. As the entire source code is publicly available and the software can be adapted, used within another software package or re-released as a different product, depending on the license type the original developer released the software under (Open Source Initiative, 2016). This also provides security to users, as they can audit the code themselves for security issues and if required patch the source code directly, rather than relying on a third party to find and resolve any potential issues. Cost Licenses for closed source commercial operating systems can range from a few hundred dollars up to thousands of dollars per installation (Microsoft, 2016). This can become very expensive for businesses that rely on a large amount of physical and virtualized operating systems. Open source software has no licensing costs associated with it, which can significantly reduce licensing costs, depending on the use case. This is also applicable to embedded platforms, which are generally designed to have a low cost per unit. Open source software can remove software and operating system licensing costs, helping to maintain a low cost per unit. Operating System Arch Linux a lightweight and flexible LinuxÂÂ ® distribution (Arch Linux, 2017) How are new features developed? New features developed in two main ways. The first of which is by the individual package developers, for example new features to the Netcat package will be developed by the Netcat developer community. Arch Linux package maintainers are then responsible for packaging new releases for the Arch Linux operating system and adding them to the Arch Linux package repository. The second way features are developed are by the Arch Linux developer team (Arch Linux, 2017). The features they develop range from developing and implementing software developed specifically for the operating system, to configuration and modification of third party packages and managing what packages are included and how they are used in the base operating system installation. How do new features make their way into a release? Arch Linux doesnt follow a traditional fixed release cycle, rather it employs a rolling release model (Arch Wiki, 2017) which allows individual components to be updated as soon as they are deemed ready. Packages are updated as soon as the maintainer has deemed the package stable and ready for release, after which it is upload and added to the repository. This model aims to remove the stagnation between fixed releases and instead aims to keep all at their latest releases. References: Arch Linux. (2017). A simple, lightweight distribution. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www.archlinux.org/ Arch Linux. (2017). Arch Linux Developers. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www.archlinux.org/people/developers/ Arch Wiki. (2017). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Frequently_asked_questions IBM. (2014). Mainframe operating system: z/OS. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/zosbasics/com.ibm.zos.zmainframe/zconc_opsyszosintro.htm IBM. (2015). IBM z/OS Fueling the digital enterprise. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=cainfotype=ansupplier=897letternum=ENUS215-267 Microsoft. (2016). Pricing and licensing for Windows Server 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/cloud-platform/windows-server-pricing Open Source Initiative. (2016). Licenses and Standards. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://opensource.org/licenses Siever, E., Weber, A., Figgins, S. (2003). Linux in a nutshell (4th ed.) Sebastopol, CA: OReilly. Simmonds, C. (2015). Mastering embedded linux programming (1st ed.). GB: Packt Publishing. Week 4 Network 1 WiFi WiFi (also known as Wireless LAN or WLAN) is a network technology designed as a replacement to LAN cabling and is developed around the IEEE 802.11 specification. The IEEE 802.11 specification is the standard dictating the use of the 802.11 radio frequency that WiFi uses to transmit data wirelessly (Tjensvold, 2007). Within the 802.11 specification there are a range of protocols that have been developed, with the current standard being the 802.11ac revision. This specification has support for speeds over 1Gb/s, depending on the antenna configuration in use. The range of a WiFi signal is generally quite short at approximately 20-25 metres depending on obstructions. This makes it good for use in home and business environments where access points can be installed where WiFi signal is required, but makes it a poor choice for larger area networks, such as mobile phone data. WiFi power usage is split between the access point and the client receiving the data. The access point uses significa ntly more power to broadcast the signal than the client device needs to receive it (Zeng, 2014). The latency provided by modern WiFi specifications, such as the 802.11ac revision offers low latency communication between clients and access points. The exact latency the client will note, will be dependant on the band being used (either 2.4GHz or 5Ghz in the case of 802.11ac), obstructions and the amount of antenna in use on the access point. Security of WiFi networks is dependant on how they are configured. A basic home configuration using outdated security technologies such as WEP or WPA1 to authenticate users is at risk of unauthorized users gaining access to the network. WPA2 authentication offers a stronger level of security by implementing the AES-CCMP algorithm. WiFi networks can also be vulnerable to MITM (Man in the middle) attacks, where a potential attacker can attempt to spoof the WiFi network, which clients may unsuspectingly connect to which will then allow the attacker to see any traffic of the connected clients. The effectiveness of this type of attack can be counte racted by ensuring traffic is being transmitted over secure protocols such as HTTPS and SSH, which will render the intercepted data unreadable (Joshi, 2009). Network 2 Bluetooth 4 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Bluetooth 4 is a short range network technology developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. Bluetooth 4 covers a range of specifications including Bluetooth low energy, Bluetooth High speed and Classic bluetooth. Bluetooth is used for short range personal area (PAN) and ad-hoc networks, primarily in portable devices such as smart phones. Bluetooth devices are classified into 3 classes, depending on the transmission power of the device and the intended usable range. Class 1 devices have 100 mW transmission power and are designed to be used at ranges of up to 100 meters, class 2 devices have 2.5 mW transmission power and are designed for use at up to 10 meters and class 3 devices have 1 mW of transmit power and are only usable at ranges of under 10 meters. Class 1 and 2 are the most commonly used types, with class 1 devices generally being used in desktops, laptops and other devices with a large battery or mains connected power supply. Class 2 devices are generally used in porta ble devices such as smart phones, IoT connected devices and wireless headsets. Class 2 still allows for a usable range while keeping power usage to a minimum (Wright, 2007). The Bluetooth specification has 4 different security modes in which devices can operate. The security mode in which the device will operate will be selected based on the Bluetooth standard in use on both devices. Bluetooth 2.1 and later devices have a mandatory requirement to use security mode 4, proving both devices support it. Service mode 4 forces encryption for all services, providing security for all communications except for service discovery (Padgette, 2012). Compare and contrast fibre optic and wireless technologies within the context of a National Broadband Network (NBN) for Australia. Fibre Optic (FTTP) The National Broadband Network (NBN) provides a range of connection types with fibre optic technology being utilised in multiple service types including fibre to the premises (FTTP), fibre to the node (FTTN) and fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp) (NBN, 2017). Fibre optic connections use a optical fibre cable that uses light to transmit data. This type of cable transmits data faster, further and with a lower latency than the traditional copper cable which transmits data by electrical impulses. As this technology relies on a physical connection to the premises it is not practical to utilize this technology for remote locations, however for areas with higher population densities supplying broadband via FTTP is more practical as the cost per premises is decreased and reduces load on wireless services. Fibre optic cable is not affected by signal degradation as significantly as copper cabling and is therefore able transmit data across long distances more effectively . As the cable transmits data by light pulses the cable is resistant to any noise and ground vibrations interrupting or degrading the signal. Fibre optic cable is also able to supply much higher bandwidth connections (Malaney, 2010), with NBN already offering 1Gbps products to service providers, although this product is not currently being on-sold to consumers due to factors including demand and pricing accordin