Thursday, October 31, 2019

Working with Budgets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Working with Budgets - Assignment Example It also assists in avoiding idle cash and any cash shortage that may adversely affect the organization. The cash budget consist mainly of four sections: Receipts, where cash balance at the beginning is entered plus all other cash collections from customers and other receipts; disbursement section, where all the cash payments are entered; cash surplus or deficit column, where the difference between receipts and payments are entered and finally, the financing section, enumerating a detailed account of repayments and borrowings expected during the financial period. The other budget that I work with in the organization where I work is the operating budget. This refers to a statement representing the organization’s financial plan for each duty center during the budget period and shows the operating activities involving expenditures and revenues. The various types of operating budgets I work with include revenue, expense and profit budgets. Revenue budget mainly identifies the revenue needed by the organization and mainly projects organization’s future sales. Expense budget is an operating budget that identifies expected future expenses during the budget period. These include fixed, variable and discretionary costs. Profit budget, on the other hand, is a combination of revenue and expense budget into a single statement to reveal the net and gross profit realized during the period. This budget is important because it aids in making final resource allocation (Ippolito, 2004). Working with different types of budget separating makes work harder as the organization I work with has been adopting this system. To make work easier, it is imperative that these budgets should be linked together in form of a master budget. A muster budget will be able to incorporate all the organizations financial and operating plans for the entire period (Cooke

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood and Chris Abanis Nigerian novel Graceland Essay Example for Free

Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood and Chris Abanis Nigerian novel Graceland Essay How do the names of main characters in the film Tsotsi and novel Graceland define their identity? When comparing the South African movie Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood and Chris Abanis Nigerian novel Graceland, both are stories of young men struggling with their poverty-stricken fates. In these African cultures, the names of central characters Tsotsi and Elvis are more than just a reference; they carry the clues to their past and the explanation to their present as they endure journeys of self-discovery. In the film, main character Tsotsi embodies his native label. In the local vernacular of South African townships-comprised of Afrikaans and a mixture of local dialects such as Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana and Sotho-the term tsosti can literally be translated to thug. With it comes the historical association of the 1930s urban youth gangs that ruthlessly ruled at the top of the ghettos hierarchy. Although in the past the name tsotsi carried a glamorous gangster image, the word is now used to describe displaced young criminals. This history of the word parallels the characters past. Tsotsi is seemingly comfortable in his role as a cold-hearted gang leader, but the viewer questions his motives as the film progressively exposes his troubled past. Hood uses flashbacks to portray Tsotsi as a young boy in his last moments with his bed-ridden mother. As he reaches out to hold her hand, the scene is slow-moving as if visually symbolizing the strength and endurance of their love. In these defining moments, his mother calls him David-meaning beloved. The appearance of Tsotsis aggressive, drunk father triggers a sudden change in pace-a rapid series of individual close-ups foreshadows a climax in the conflict that will permanently paralyze the characters emotional acceptance of each other. Parting from his mother metaphorically displaces David from his once safe, loving past to Sowetos perilous grasp. When he runs away, he leaves behind his real name-his true identity. The new name Tsotsi allows him to take on the role of a nameless thug that masks his emotional existence and provides him with an outlet for his traumatic childhood. In Graceland, the main characters name is inspired by the late Elvis Presley. Throughout the novel, Albanis choices of names define a culture in which all you had was your name(187). Before money became a universal determinant of status, the sole measure of a man was his name(187). Elviss father, Sunday, lives to take the family from being a nobody to carrying a name people spoke with respect(187). It is therefore untraditional for Elvis, as a future male representative of the family, to be named after his mothers, Beatrices, unaccredited passion. This act alone foreshadows Elviss inability to satisfy the conventional role posed upon him in Nigerias male-dominated society. Beatrice, meaning bringer of joy, invests her love and passion for music in Elvis. In the same way music acts as an escape from the slums grim conditions, Elvis is Beatrices symbol of hope-an innocent new beginning to life. Both Tsotsi and Elvis define their names through the strong connection with their mothers. When Beatrice dies, Elvis loses his source of inspiration, and the reader questions whether he will still be able to live up to his name. Both Tsotsi and Elvis found motivation and purpose in their mothers care, thus struggling to maintain paths of righteousness(171) after their loss. Although initially thriving in his self-adopted role as criminal, Tsotsi is eventually forced to come to terms with his true, restrained identity. In the beginning, he organizes crime with his followers Boston/Teacher-boy, Butcher and Aap (monkey in Afrikaans) at his heels. Together the meanings of the three names describe the characteristics symbolic of a stereotypical street gang; an abandonment of education, a barbaric desire to hurt and kill, and the foolishness of reckless animals. Despite the gangs obedience, it is not long before Bostons guilt consumes him after a murder, and he begins to question Tsotsis mysterious faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade. He verbally tears at the mask Tsotsi has created: Whats your name, Tsotsi? Your real name? Thug? Thats not a real name. The interrogation triggers Tsotsis angry past and fuels a brutal beating of Boston. In the following scene Tsotsi is fleeing the bar, and Hood parallels the event to the flashback of David originally running away from his father. Hoods cross-cutting implies a commonality in Tsotsis state of mind during these two events. Tsotsi has become exactly what he ran away from all those years ago-a bitter, drunk abuser. This inner realization forces Tsotsi to come to terms with his past and re-establish his true identity. After Beatrices death, Elvis struggles to maintain a source of identity. Beatrice has endured him with the role of her idol-she loved Elvis Presley(105)-and Elvis soon begins to physically embody this responsibility. His first job in the novel is entertaining beachside tourists as an Elvis impersonator. While Tsotsi hides from his real name, Elvis tries to embrace the inspiration behind his. Unfortunately, in a life where money overrules passion, dancing is not seen as a sufficient job; it is something everyone does in de bar on Saturday(5). Despite the disparagement, Elvis finds refuge in his physical transformation into the King of Rock. Make-up is a tool to success, metaphorically providing him with the opportunity to escape his menial reality. In this way, Elviss physical mask is similar to Tsotsis emotional shield. Real make-up, however, is seen as a dangerous option(11) because he could be mistaken for a cross-dressing prostitute(11). Elvis resorts to layers of talcum powder and is dissatisfied(11) with his end result. The conservative Nigerian culture denies him freedom in expressing his genuine love for music and dance, and Elvis becomes afraid to define his impersonation as anything other than a materialistic occupation. His mother may have given him a name that carried her artistic inspiration, but she failed to raise him into a life where his true character could flourish without her. It takes Tsotsi years to accept his name, and Elvis a lifetime to try to live up to his. Together, film and novel act as a microcosm for urban African society-a culture in which names are carefully chosen as a representation of character. Hood and Abani use Tsotsi and Elvis to exemplify the powerful role of names in influencing and molding developing characters. Author and director stress the need to take control and establish ourselves in a way that brings honor to our names, and that doesnt allow societys pre-prescribed connotations to define us.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Open Source Software for Creating 3D Visuals

Open Source Software for Creating 3D Visuals An open Source Software for creating 3D Visuals and example for possibility of using Smartphone for Physics Education Abstract There are many students who cannot understand concepts and ideas in physics only with plane static diagrams. The understanding of processes, dynamic phenomena or geometric relations can be enhanced with the use of computer animations POV-Ray is a freely available 3D rendering open source package which has the potential of creating animations not only for physics education but in general for science and technology education. The focus of this paper is the use of POV-Ray to create 3D animations and 3D static illustrations to visualize the packing arrangements, voids and crystal structures which are compulsory in solid state physics curriculum in undergraduate physics and explore the possibility of introducing them to use in smartphones. INTRODUCTION Computers today play an important role in acquiring and applying scientific knowledge, facilitating the learning process. There has been growing research interest in studying the impact of ICT on educational processes, in parallel with the expansion of easy access to many learners around the world [1-4]. Animation plays a major role in ICT based education and it has been demonstrated that animations serves several instructional roles such as attracting and directing attention; simulating dynamic processes and complex phenomena [5,6].As many students are not able to understand 3D environment properly, it very common, crystal structures are explained using commercially available plastic models in many classrooms. Solid State Physics (Condense Matter Physics) course which is compulsory for physics students throughout the world, one of the learning outcomes is underrating crystal structures. Students often fail to understand close packing arrangements, shape and nature of the existing vo ids, number of atoms around and separation of layers by looking at a plane static diagrams accommodated in text books. These particular animations have been chosen not just because of their solid state physics curricular interest, but also to highlight the potential of integrating the POV-Ray rendering package for physics education and science education. As the smartphones are no longer unaffordable luxury gadget for the students, educators embrace the smartphonesto engage with their students and encourage new learning strategies[7-9].The smartphones users are rapidly growing among Sri Lankan undergraduates 3D visual created in this study were checked on smooth playing on smartphone with the intension of distributing among the students in the future. 1.1 POV-RAY OPEN SOURCE POV-Ray stands for the Persistence of Vision Ray-tracer, a tool for producing high-quality computer graphics[10].Ray-tracing is a rendering technique that calculates an image of a scene by simulating the way rays of light travel in the real world. In the real world, rays of light are emitted from a light source and illuminate objects. The light reflects by the objects or passes through transparent objects. This reflected light can form images in human eyes or in a camera. The user specifies the location of the camera, light sources, and objects as well as the surface texture properties of objects, their interiors and environment. POV-Ray scenes are created in a special text language called a â€Å"scene description language (SDL)†. POV-Ray can be used for animation too. Computer animation is the process of drawing objects on a computer screen, that then appearto move around the screen. It can be done displaying a series of stationary scenes with very short time between two scenes. 2. METHOD The production of a 3D images has mainly two stages; writing and debugging source files and rendering. One has to choose the positions to locate the required objects, light source to illuminate the scene and appropriate camera position to capture, more technically called render,the scene. POV-Ray uses a simple Cartesian coordinate (Fig 1) system making easy to identify the suitable location. Figure 1. Pov-ray coordinate system (+Z axis into the computer screen) There are simple Pov-Ray SDL codes to generate almost all geometrical objects such as, box, sphere, and cylinder etc. The object â€Å"sphere† is the most appropriate object to represents the atoms while â€Å"cylinders’ to represent the atomic link.For the creation of scenes and animation described in this paper, exact coordinates of the object locations were simply calculated considering the dimension of the objects. Positioning light source to illuminate the scene, camera was located to get the suitable view. As an example following codes capture the scene, locating the camera at looking at origin, . camera { location look_at } Animations were created generating series of scenes, called frames, looking at the scene from various angles. Movie maker software such as Windows Film Maker, VirtualDub etc.can be used to play the frames continuously to make animation. Animation can be created as either animated jip or as AVI movie.A basic illustration of the process is shown below (Figure 3). Figure 3. Schematic Diagram of Software used to Create Animations 3. SAMPLE CREATIONS The first example portrays the hexagonal close packing (HCP) arrangement of spheres in the space (Figure 4.a). Hexagonal and cubic close packing arrangement (CCP)are explained to the student with the help of static plane diagrams. Many students are failed to understand these arrangements clearly. Even if they are able to explain the nature of alternative layering of the two arrangements, HCP and CCP, few students understand the nature of the voids available in such arrangement. This is valid for any average student, but of cause there may students who can understand those arrangements without any visual aid. The visual are made not for the aforementioned few students but for the majority to strengthen the understanding. These particular animations have been chosen not just because of their curricular interest, but also to highlight some of the features of the POV-Ray rendering package. The first example portrays the hexagonal close packing arrangement (figure 1). As the arrangement is slowly rotates about the vertical axis which passes through the central sphere axis shown, the viewer can interactively explore the symmetry and geometric details for these configurations. (a)(b) Figure 4. Side view of HCP arrangement (b) Top view CCP arrangement Visuals below (Figure 5) illustrate, Body Centered Cubic unit cell (a), and diamond type structure (c)and NaCl structure respectively. These creations are also possible to view from different angles, facilitating to learner to explore the structures. (b)(c) Figure 5: (a) Body Centered Cubic unit cell (b) diamond type structure (c) NaCl structure respectively. Figure 6 shows an interstitial atom which is at an octahedral site, scenes were generated from different visual angles. Figure 6 : An interstitial atom which is at an octahedral site Author has introduced these animations for university undergraduate’s and received positive feedback. Introducing the animations for smartphone users have many advantages than using them only in computers (8). Student can use them freely, anytime any place with their own desire rather using computers. 4. CONCUSION Since 3D visual aid transcends the limitations of static diagrams, it is promising tool to strengthen the understanding of various crystal structures. The animation examples that have been created in this work demonstrate that it is possible to create high quality 3-D animations using open source POV-Ray. POV-Ray visualization provides free access to sophisticated 3-D graphics rendering that could cost thousands of rupees commercially. It is worth explore the potential of Pov–Ray to simulate other complex concepts in physics to make the process of learning more independent and , student oriented. It has been confirmed that there is no any technical incompatibilities embedding these creation on smartphones. The evolution of the modern technology has to be integrated to physics teaching and make learning process more attractive. 5. REFERENCES Muller,D.A, Designing Effective Multimedia for Physics Education (2008), Ph. D thesis Michael R. Gallis, Ping Wang, Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference Exposition, American Society for Engineering Aravind, VR and Tangrirala, S Open source software for visualization in condensed matter Physics, Lat. Am. J. Physics (2012) vol 6, No, 4, pp 538-540 Poddar, A, Teaching of the phenomena of free, damped and forced oscillations in physics through an all-inclusive java applet,Physics Education, Vol 29, No. 1, Park, O. C., Gittelman, S. S. (1992). Selective use of animation and feedback in computer-based instruction. Educational Technology, Research, and Development, 40 (4), 27-38. Park, O. (1998). Visual Displays and Contextual Presentations in Computer Based Instruction. Educational Technology Research Development, 46 (3), pp. 18-32. Woodcock, B Middleton, B and Nortcliffe,AConsidering the Smartphone Learner: an investigation into student interest in the use of personal technology to enhance their learning, Student Engagement and Experience,, Journal Volume 1, Issue 1 (on line journal) JISC,Multimedia learning with mobile phones. Innovative Practices with E-learning. Case Studies: Anytime, Any Place Learning. [Online] Online at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/southampton.pdf Coca, D,M and Slisko, J. Software Socrative and Smartphones as Tools For Implementation of Basic Processes of Active Physics Learning in Classroom: An Initial Feasibility Study With Prospective Teachers, European J of Physics Education,Vol.4,Issue,2,2013 Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pov_ray

Friday, October 25, 2019

Alcohol and Drinking - America Must Lower the Drinking Age :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

America Must Lower the Drinking Age In other countries around the world if you are under the age of 21 you can drink alcohol some countries don't even have an age limit, but in America you have to be 21 to buy alcohol. You can go to war and die for your country when you are 18, you can also vote, buy cigarettes, but you can't buy alcohol. One of the main causes of the drinking age being set to 21 was teenagers were getting into car accidents after getting drunk. I am not saying driving under the influence should be legal. What I am saying is there should be more government programs to educate and prevent people from driving intoxicated. More and more people under the age of 21 are experiencing alcohol. "A survey released by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) found that by the time Texas teenagers are seniors in high school, more than 80% of the teens admit to having some experience with alcohol. The same study found that secondary students say it's easy to get beer, wine or liquor." (qtd. in Westbrook) Texas is a zero tolerance state for underage drinking it has some of the strictest penalties for underage drinking, and if 80% of the teenagers in Texas have had experiences with alcohol that tells me that the campaigns against underage drinking, and zero tolerance programs are not working. Teens are going to drink alcohol at one point of their lives. So instead of spending all this money to prevent teens from drinking maybe it should go toward programs, or educating these teens about alcohol so they can make a informed decision about drinking. There are programs now that educate people under the age of 21 about alcohol. These programs are being implemented in colleges around the country, and are about the choices of using alcohol. "At the University of Virginia they are taking a more of an old-fashioned approach to educating college students about alcohol use. They are using two, two-and-a-half hour courses in class rooms called "Choices". They are boasting high results from this program a total of 75 percent of participants said they planned to reduce how much they drink in the future, while 85 percent indicated they had spoken to a friend." (Altamirano). If these programs have high success rates, I think these programs should be put in high schools as well.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Characters and what Pip learns Essay

Magwitch reminds Pip of his vulnerability throughout the novel. When Magwitch turns Pip upside down in the novel, this can be interpreted as a metaphor for indeed just how much Magwitch does change Pip’s life around. When Pip first meets his convict he does not look down on him, even hoping the guards don’t catch him on the marshes. However, snobbish attitudes towards convicts soon develop when Pip has expectations. Therefore, when Magwitch returns into Pip’s life, Pip looks down on the man who has provided for and supported him, simply because he is not a gentleman. This is a great irony as is the convict had kept the money to himself, Pip would be the inferior, and Magwitch the gentleman. â€Å"The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast. † Pip realises that Magwitch takes more pride in seeing Pip exist in such a rich manner than if he himself was having all the comforts. The money Magwitch gives to Pip does not make him happy, so Pip learns about the value of money from the convict. He learns that money alone cannot make him happy and that deserting dear Joe for the posh London lifestyle was wrong. ‘It was for the convict†¦ that I had deserted Joe’ At the end of the novel Pip would rather let Magwitch die a happy man with the ignorance that Pip would inherit a fortune, than let Magwitch know the crown would take his money for a chance that he might get some of it. Pip begins to realise that Magwitch was not an evil man, and not all convicts are typical of their social stereotypes. In fact, Pip’s realisation that Magwitch is indeed a more honest, true and loyal person than he had ever been, changes him completely. Going to Magwitch’s trial and holding his hand in front of the public states just how much Pip begins to pay the convict the respect he so deserved. Pip realises you cannot become a gentleman by simply having money, but it needs a change of heart. ‘No varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself’ Therefore, the idea that people are not always as they seem on the surface crops up in the novel. This is also brought to our attention when we find out that Estella, who was brought up a lady and seemed a lady, actually came from apparently more lowly backgrounds than Pip himself. Pip’s encounter with Estella at Satis House changed his whole perception of himself. Before Estella revealed to him that he was â€Å"a coarse and common boy† Pip had always been happy in his destiny as an apprentice to Joe in the forge. However, having fallen for Estella’s beauty he wanted more than anything in the world to be a gentleman, so that he might have a chance to compete for her love. The knowledge that Pip was common and seen as inferior made him ashamed of home, and unhappy in his job with Joe. â€Å"†¦ I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence. Within a single year this was all changed. Now, it was all coarse and common†¦ † Therefore, Estella and Miss Havisham had in effect poisoned Pip’s mind and given him knowledge he would have been happier without. Estella herself ends up miserable from the lifestyle she had been brought up to lead. Pip realises that Estella thinking she had no heart ruined more than just the men she teased lives, but her own. By Estella marrying Drummle and refusing Pip’s love, she made a very big mistake and admits to it. Pip learns that love should never be refused or scorned, but repayed. For example, he is happiest in his self when he is in a muturally affectionate relationship with Magwitch and Joe. Miss Havisham and Orlick teach Pip that revenge is not a route to take. The desire to have revenge on each other between Compeyson and Magwitch leads to the end of both of their lives. Orlick’s plans for revenge on Pip are unsuccessful and he ends up in the County Jail. Miss Havisham dies a thoroughly unhappy lady when she realises in horror that by raising Estella to have no heart, Estella herself cannot love even her. Another fact is that she herself had broken Pips heart in a similar fashion to how her own was broken, and she despaired at the thought. Pip regards Biddy as having a ‘bad side of human nature’ whenever she tries to approach him in the respect that Pip was not behaving correctly or had a thought that was not agreeable to him. Similarly, Pip privately believed Herbert to be a lost cause and planned eventually to disassociate himself with him. When he looks back, in retrospect, Pip realises that the faults he saw in Biddy and Herbert were not their faults at all, but his. In this way he realises that his vanity and arrogance had led him to believe he was a better person than honest and hard working Herbert and Biddy, when in fact he was far below them. ‘We owed so much to Herbert’s ever cheerful industry and readiness, that I often wondered how I had conceived that old idea of his inaptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me. ‘ Pip learns that there is more to people than just the impressions they give you. For example, Pip cannot understand how Joe can be proud of his life early on in the novel, but later finds Joe to be one of the greatest people in his life and is proud of him. Pip’s debts were paid off by Joe and this surprised Pip because he hadn’t even considered Joe would do it. Although Joe appears to be one of the simplest people in his life, Joe always remain true to Pip and always treats him exactly the same throughout, with the exception of the time when Joe comes to London and is made to feel uncomfortable. He also gives very wise advise to Pip on the way life is, and proves that the wisest men are not necessarily the ones with the largest bank accounts, but the ones with the largest hearts. ‘If you can’t get to be a oncommon scholar through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked. So don’t tell no more on ’em Pip, and live well and die happy. ‘ Jaggers behaves throughout the novel like a lawyer both while at work, and at home. He is very efficient and all his words seem as if they are planned to derive a specific reaction. Jaggers appears to have no emotion at all. However, when Pip reveals he knows of Estella’s parentage, Jaggers displays qualities that imply Jaggers does indeed have a heart, as he rescused Estella and had ‘poor dreams’ himself. This is another example of how people are not always as they seem. Pumblechook is portrayed by Dickens as a sycophantic, arrogant obnoxious, vain and selfish man. By Pip’s uncle claiming to be Pip’s earliest benefactor, it reveals that not all gentlemen are necessarily nice people. It is indeed an irony that it may be Pumblechook’s recommendation of Pip to Miss Havisham that ruined Pip’s life, rather than helped him. This idea can be seen again where Compeyson uses his education and manners to gain Miss Havishams love in order to drain her of her money.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Herbal Essence Ad

are colored in green, which is the color that people think of when they think of natural. Green tends to be associated with plants, plants are natural. The advertiser, Clairol, wants to keep this natural image throughout the advertisement due to the current trends. In this day and age it is â€Å"fashionable† to eat organic foods and drink organic... Free Essays on Herbal Essence Ad Free Essays on Herbal Essence Ad A â€Å"totally organic experience†? Everywhere you go advertising is all around us. It is important to study as it tells us about how the mind reacts to pictures, colors, and words and how the right mix of these tools can subconsciously force us into buying products that we would usually not consider buying. Rance Crain states: â€Å"Only eight percent of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind; the rest is worked and reworked deep within the recesses of the brain, where a product’s positioning and repositioning takes shape.†(Kilbourne 74) An â€Å"Herbal Essence† shampoo ad uses many different advertising tactics to sell their products. The wording, coloring, and even the placement of the bottle all play into the advertisers plot to get people to buy the product; the whole ad leans towards being â€Å"natural.† The main picture in the advertisement is of the bottle at an angle with the shampoo exploding out of the top into flowers. What this suggests is that when the bottle is opened, the person is â€Å"hit† with a sudden powerful aroma of fresh flowers. The bottle bursts with natural fragrance. Also that the product is packed full of natural ingredients such as herbs and flowers. The liquid in the bottle looks more like water then shampoo, and water appears more natural then shampoo. The background of the advertisement has been kept quite plain and off-white in color. By using the simple background it shows off the dark-colored bottle and flowers and makes it the main focal point. Secondly it is a natural color, fitting with the organic theme. The words are colored in green, which is the color that people think of when they think of natural. Green tends to be associated with plants, plants are natural. The advertiser, Clairol, wants to keep this natural image throughout the advertisement due to the current trends. In this day and age it is â€Å"fashionable† to eat organic foods and drink organic...