Essay on Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness -- comparison compare

The Tragic Fall in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness In Achebes Things Fall Apart and Conrad Heart of Darkness, the role of Africa is intertwined. It is seen as extremely primitive and the Africans belief system is belittled. The two heroes in the novels also are very similar, and most(prenominal) especially in one aspect. They both experience a downfall. This is a vital theme throughout both books. Aristotle would say it is the fall of two tragic heroes. However, even though these two characters share these similar incidences, the readers are given several different perceptions of one event. The colonization of the Europeans paid a heavy buzzer on the Africans and their substance of life. The Europeans are consistently portrayed at the outsiders. Okonkwo is also quite familiar with Africa, so far Marlow was not. In his eyes, the Africans are seen as the outsiders. Okonkwos father, Unoka, was seen as a person who was very lazy and who made no contribution to their societ y. This made Okonkwo hate him and any trait of any kind that correlated with that of his father. One way that this is displayed is that Okonkwo never showed emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show emotion was a sign of weakness, the only thing worth demonstrating was strength (Achebe 28). Okonkwos greatest weakness was fear, yet this a contradiction in its own terms. His fear of fear played such a big part of his adult life that it came back to hangout him. He never wanted to be considered a victim. Yet, ironically, he was only setting himself up to self-destruction and tragedy. Because of fear, it drives him pull his machete and strike a blow, prototypic killing Ikemefuna and later the Court Messenger. Finally, this drives him to be physically abus... ...d, but instead because he could have been so great. Instead, he buzz offs cruel, unfeeling, and greedy. The true tragedy is that Kurtz did not become the great man that he could have been. Okonkwo and Kurtz w ere two men from the opposite ends of the spectrum. Their beliefs did not coincide, but they did have one aspect in common. They both brought themselves to the floor of a tragic fall. For some reason or another, they both had to leave their homes. This is the marking of their fall. As soon as they do leave, the downfall begins, and it does not demote until there is nothing else to lose. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1959. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 1988. Daniel, Patsy J. Conrads Heart of Darkness. Explicator. 54(3)164-165.

A Compareison Between When The Legends Die And Dances With Wolves :: essays research papers

Symbolism In the novel When the Legends Die and in the film Dances with Wolves symbolism is really important. Throughout both of them the used symbols are very similar but have very different meanings. In the movie, Dances with Wolves the wolf, Two Socks, and the horse, Cisco, are animal symbols, deal the assume in When the Legends Die.Two Socks and Cisco are the main two symbols in Dances with Wolves. Two Socks, is the wolf that befriends John Dunbar symbolizing the Sioux Indians who start trying to likewise befriend John. Then, when he takes the meat from Johns hand the wolf continues to symbolize the tribe, that will now accept John to come and be whizz of them. After, when Two Socks is shot by soldiers it symbolizes the fate of the Indians, later to come. Cisco, John Dunbars favorite horse is a symbol of Johns faithfulness to the Sioux Indian tribe, although they have tried to take the horse away many times he has always found a way to return to his master. Later in the sto ry, when John is being shot at by the army the horse finds a way to make those shots hit him instead of John and separates from John in death, symbolizes that John will have to leave the Indians, to protect them. In When the Legends Die the Bear cub who grows up with bears brother is a symbol, of hope, love, meaning, direction, and most importantly the inheritance of tomcat Black Bull. The bear symbolizes the Toms heritage because he came around just as Tom, started learning the old ways, his heritage, and he was separated from Tom when he, Tom, went to the new ways of life. In the new ways of life Toms difficulty is that he cannot find a place to run from his past. Then, he realizes that bear symbolizes his past, so Tom sets out to kill it. As Tom reaches the bear he pulls out the rifle and prepares to shoot the bear, but than he realizes that the bear not only symbolizes his past but all the good in his life because that is where he had the life in the old ways and was the happie st time in his life.

Lady Macbeth :: Literary Analysis, Shakespeare

The play Macbeth was written by Shakespeare in the early 1600s. There have been many papers and many different thoughts about the play. This paper, though, is over who is the stronger character, Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Macbeth is the weaker character of the play.The play is about a nobleman of the King of Scotland, Macbeth, who is told by witches that he could possibly become business leader if he did a terrible deed. They also showed his right hand man, Banquo, a prediction as well. That his bloodline will lead to abilitys. The deed that Macbeth has to commit is to hide the king and take his place. Macbeth tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, about the prediction the witches and she continues to encourage him until he does kill the king and scared off the kings sons so he can become king himself. He becomes king and the witches that showed him being king came around again and showed Macbeth another prediction. The prediction showed that Banquos family will become king and will lead t o more kings. Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and his son but his son gets away. One of the sons of the now dead king returns with an army and attacks Macbeth at his own castle. Macduff, one of the many people affected by Macbeths rise to power, engaged Macbeth during the attack and beheaded Macbeth in the end. After the battle, Malcolm, one of the sons of the slain king, took power of Scotland and the play ends. Macbeth, at the very beginning of the play, demonstrated only if how weak of a character he is. He lets the three witches who meet him at the start of the play continue to speak there poisonous, twisted speech Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more...(1.3, 70-71). He lets their words fester in the back of his mind until he goes mad with greed. He also shows his weakness by comprehend and believing the words of the witches, which he knows are not to be trusted Your children shall be king...(1.3, 86-88). He tells his wife about the witches predictions, who then continu es to press upon him the need to foregather his, at that time, destiny. Macbeth finally succumbs to the nags of his wife Prithee, peace I dare do all... (1.7, 45-47). Throughout the continuation of the play, Macbeth continues to show his weakness and lack of a spine.

Anti-families on T.V. :: essays research papers

In TVs Anti-Families Married . . . with Malaise, Josh Ozersky talks to the highest degree the repackaging of American TV families from Ozzie and Harriet into Rosanne. From the point of view that the corporate world has manipulated television viewers into watching TV he shows the exaggerations of current day dysfunctional TV families. He goes on to discuss what the effects of these shows are on family values.Ozersky mentions the idea that a boundless discontent exists in our culture and its beginnings are found with the family, where complaisant patterns are first internalized. Ozersky furthers this notion by saying that boundless discontent means there are boundless needs. An understanding of the origins of these boundless needs in American culture can be understood from the context of The More Factor, by Laurence Shames. An endlessly fertile continent whose boundaries never need be reached, a domain that could expand in perpetuity, a gigantic playing field that would never run ou t of room and on which the game would get invariably bigger and more filled with action.The corporate world knows this all too well as they exploit the needs of consumers and manipulate them into buying their product. In Ozerskys words, Given TVs entirely corporate nature, it is unreasonable to assume that the channels are referenda. Ozersky reminds us that many of these corporate executives are independent in the market and have not experienced a rich family life.What kind of effects on viewers do these dysfunctional families have? Ozersky points out that in mocking traditional family values on TV real families are sabotaged. He explains how this happens by saying that problems within the family are trivialized preventing any healing and exactly causing discontent.While TV is criticized on TV and even by us, we somehow become flattered and keep watching anyway. Why do we do this? . . . To tactual sensation superior to TV and yet keep watching it, as Ozersky writes. It delivers the dream of having our cake and eating it too. By criticizing TV we put ourselves above it, yet we have got it harmless and continue to watch it anyway. Ozersky says that we have no power of our own to reject this

Categorizing of People in Shakespeare’s Tempest and Dante’s Inferno :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Categorizing of People in Shakespeargons The Tempest and Dantes Inferno Shakespeares The Tempest and Dantes Inferno both exhibit Foucaults idea of categorization and subjectification using dividing practices. (Rabinow 8) Foucault argued that people can rise to power using discourse, Discourse has the ability to turn human beingnesss into subjects by placing them into certain categories. (Rabinow 8) These categories are then defined according to their level of deviance from the acceptable norm. (Rabinow 8) Some examples of such categories are the homosexual, the insane, the criminal and the uncivilized. (Rabinow 8). By the above method, called dividing practices, people can be manipulated by socially categorizing them and then comparing them to norms. In this way human beings are given both a social and a personal identicalness (Rabinow 8) and this is how superiority among human beings can be established.In the play, The Tempest by William Shakespeare, Prospero took control of Calib an and made him his servant. Prospero was able to do this because he viewed Caliban as an uncivilized being Caliban was portrayed as a beast. Thus, Prospero was able to assume power over Caliban. It can be seen from Prosperos speech that he thinks that Caliban is inferior to him when Prosper says, I have used thee, Filth as thou art, with human care (1.2.348-349). Prospero tries to justify enslaving Caliban, but all he really does is place Caliban into a course of instruction of bestial and uncivilized and as a result enslaves him.Even Miranda, Prosperos daughter, speaks in a way that categorizes Caliban as an uneducated and uncivilized savage. I pitied thee, Took perseverance to make thee speak, taught thee each hour When thou didst non, savage, know thine own meaning (1.2.356-359) Miranda doesnt stop there she continues labeling Caliban, But thy vile race, though thou didst learn, had that int which good natures could not abide to be with therefore wast though deservedly con fined into this rock (1.2.361-364). Exactly this kind of discourse turns Caliban into a subject. If Caliban had not been alone on the island, then Prospero and Miranda would have categorized a whole group of human beings rather than just one.In addition to the above, Prospero also charge Caliban of trying to colza Miranda. The fact that in the play Caliban doesnt contest this challenge shows that his character is being categorized as a black rapist (Loomba 324). The black rapist theme is the thought that black men have a lust for white women and that they are much more likely to rape a white woman.

Categorizing of People in Shakespeare’s Tempest and Dante’s Inferno :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Categorizing of People in Shakespe ars The Tempest and Dantes Inferno Shakespeares The Tempest and Dantes Inferno both exhibit Foucaults idea of categorization and subjectification using dividing practices. (Rabinow 8) Foucault argued that people can rise to power using discourse, talk about has the ability to turn merciful beings into subjects by placing them into certain categories. (Rabinow 8) These categories are then defined according to their level of deviance from the acceptable norm. (Rabinow 8) Some examples of such categories are the homosexual, the insane, the criminal and the uncivilized. (Rabinow 8). By the above method, called dividing practices, people can be manipulated by socially categorizing them and then comparing them to norms. In this way human beings are assumption both a social and a personal identity (Rabinow 8) and this is how superiority among human beings can be established.In the play, The Tempest by William Shakespeare, Prospero took control of Caliba n and make him his servant. Prospero was able to do this because he viewed Caliban as an uncivilized being Caliban was portrayed as a beast. Thus, Prospero was able to assume power over Caliban. It can be seen from Prosperos speech that he thinks that Caliban is inferior to him when Prosper says, I have used thee, Filth as thou art, with human care (1.2.348-349). Prospero tries to justify enslaving Caliban, unless all he really does is place Caliban into a category of bestial and uncivilized and as a result enslaves him.Even Miranda, Prosperos daughter, speaks in a way that categorizes Caliban as an uneducated and uncivilized savage. I pitied thee, Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning (1.2.356-359) Miranda doesnt hold the line there she continues labeling Caliban, But thy vile race, though thou didst learn, had that int which good natures could not abide to be with therefore wast though deservedly hold in into this rock (1.2.361-364). Exactly this kind of discourse turns Caliban into a subject. If Caliban had not been alone on the island, then Prospero and Miranda would have categorized a whole group of human beings rather than just one.In addition to the above, Prospero also accused Caliban of trying to rape Miranda. The fact that in the play Caliban doesnt contest this challenge shows that his fiber is being categorized as a black rapist (Loomba 324). The black rapist theme is the thought that black men have a starve for white women and that they are much more likely to rape a white woman.

Coca-Cola Essay

Coke has been the leader in the soft drink industry for decades. Coke has a grueling customer loyalty base, while appealing to new customers through effective marketing. In recent years, the soft drink industry has changed with consumers becoming more wellness conscious. With the consumer market ever-changing, soft drink sales have devolveped and the demand for healthy drinks are in demand. To be able to make up the difference of the drop in sales, Coca-Cola needed to come up with some innovative new products and marketing strategies that would appeal to a new market of the beverage industry.In the remnant decade, PepsiCo. has gained leverage on Coca-Cola, because Pepsi made beverages that appealed to the changing consumer market. In two thousand-four, Pepsi owned fifty-two point three percent of the market in China aft(prenominal) Coke produced a plant there (SinoCast, 2004). Coca-Cola has faced struggles in the past decade due to the lack of effective marketing and new product culture. The individuals that were reservation the decisions for Coca-Cola were focusing on their beaver seller Coke and Diet Coke, and discovered that two products were not enough to keep the corporation running.When using the PESTEL compendium, the first samara component is to do an environmental sfanny (Finch, 2012). PESTEL is an acronym known as the six environmental factors which are the framework (Finch, 2012). The six environmental factors are political, economic, social, proficient, environmental, and legal (Finch, 2012). The PESTEL analysis is based upon understanding forces and trends and can pertain to any given industry (Finch, 2012). Coca-Cola did not do any environmental scan, and solely relied upon the traditional beverages and marketing that Coca-Cola had always used. oke 2. PepsiCo not only began to distribute health conscious beverages, such as juices, teas, coffees, and water they also began distributing snack nutriments. PepsiCo has even implemented a rel ationship with schools which incorporates accountable advertising practices, like offering healthy foods and beverages. PepsiCo also became a member of the International Food & Beverage Alliance, which has to be met by certain standards in food and beverage distribution.The proper execution of the PESTEL analysis is a tool that would give PepsiCo an advantage as it delves in market penetration, market development, and product development. The PESTEL analysis would embody market trends, and internal and external factors, which would allow the organization to do more specific research and create the ability to make adjustments in order to deliberate a gain in the industry. The PESTEL analysis is the answer as to how PepsiCo had the ability to act on a changing market and fully benefit from the changing market.A decade ago Coca-Cola began its struggle in the beverage industry, when reality hit Coca-Cola made adjustments, offered new products and adapted to the market. Five years fro m now, Coca-Cola has to remain warring by changing with the market, and producing products that appeal to the current consumer interest. Not only will Coca-Cola have to be creative with products, marketing is also another challenge.Marketing has changed with technological advances, today marketing is more than a television commercial, or a billboard there are now various channels and strategies in hich to electron orbit and appeal to consumers. Coca-Cola is known for sticking to traditional marketing and product, which has eventually put them behind their competitor. Technology is utilized in many different forms and will hold open to increase as technology is an ever changing industry. Technology is a tool that should be utilized it can be cost effective and orbital cavity a new market segment. The weakness of the beverage industry is that consumers continue to become more health conscious, even down to the ingredients that make the food or beverage they are consuming.There hav e been studies done that lead researchers to believe that aspartame causes cancer. There are studies that lead researchers to believe that Splenda in large and prolonged quantities can also lead to cancer. These ingredients are commonly used in different types of beverages that are distributed by various companies. With the recent studies of various ingredients, the government controls food and beverage production which also means that everything has to be made public knowledge (on a label).The strengths are that of which Coca-Cola has the ability to produce beverages that appeal to the health conscious consumer. The enthronisation into new products will allow Coca-Cola to remain competitive and appeal to new consumers as well. Along with new beverages, Coca-Cola should also explore new avenues in to growth markets and invest in them. With the financial power that Coca-Cola the investment to tap into new frontiers.There are many opportunities for growth given that marketing and pr oduct development are the focus of the future of the company. oke 4. The future of Coca-Cola relies upon the decision to continually evaluate the six major factors into success and future success of any business. Frequent environmental scanning is necessary to execute the analysis of how and what changes need to be made. With the constant adjustments to product development and marketing strategies in place to accompany the changing times, it enables the best utilizations of products and marketing.

Buddhism as a religion

Buddhism is a adjusteousness with a major following of believers from the Far East Nations. These nations atomic number 18 among the close inhabited countries of the world commanding about three quarters of the world population with large part of China professing Buddhism it can be regarded as that faith enjoying the largest number of believers. Bearing in mind that many of this nation are (or they were) communists by ideology it is doubtless that establishment of any form of religion has not been easy, and Buddhism has not been an exception.Craik Kenneth (1943). In this narration two most important names feature-a devoted Buddha who runs away at the time of heightened persecution, and the second one belonging to an American reference and artist, George Crane. Tsai ran away from Mongolia as a young Buddhist monk in the wake of attack by the Red Army in 1959. regrettably many of the remaining monks are killed in this operation that was meant to do away with the Buddhism religio n.According to Tsai, the main char masker in the Bones of the Master, he ran away to save the doctrine of Buddha. Craik Kenneth (1943). His exodus takes him to Hong Kong and eventually to the United States where, in New York he meets his neighbor and friend George Crane. As they were all working on translation of poems their relationship gets to maturate deep despite their age, although it appeared quiet unusual for Crane in the way the Buddha friend expressed his faith.In observing the Buddhism culture to the maximum Tsai seeks to return to Mongolia with the main bewilder of searching for the bones of his master and also construct a shrine for his master. Tsai also has a statue of the master which was given him by his student of surmisal, but this seems so awkward to Crane who fears for its size and weight. Crane feared beca hold with such a massive thing with them they might not even be allowed to go beyond the boundaries of China. In this return journey he asks his friend Cran e to accompany him, and the later is more than than willing to come along.The land at this moment is still very(prenominal) dangerous for any respective(prenominal) who professes Buddhism as his religion and for this very reason Crane is worried on how they will enter Mongolia, a land which is more obvious that he is the only one remaining of the stock of Buddhist monks. Craik Kenneth (1943). George Crane (2000), came out to explain the very basic concepts of Buddhism and begins by saying that this religion is built on main principles and one of them is basically that life is about suffering. He notes that human life is centered on striving and attachments and therefore harmonise to Crane it is this struggles that bring about suffering.Futhermore, of utmost importance according to his views is how to overcome this sufferings in which he suggests that the believer should choose the way of the right action and views. At this point, Crane, who most obviously has been influenced by the Buddha practices points out that this actions lead to a path or a way of nirvana or unification with the universe, in which the author says it is about one being in control of her own experiences. Further on Crane says that this path is brought down into four divisions, three of which deal with psychogenic experiences and the remaining one deal with the physical part of the approach.By doing this the author is giving as the insight of the importance of emotions for any believer of the religion of Buddhism. In addition, an individual of the Buddhism faith should act with emotions in addition to his or her mind as a sign of understanding the faith. Concequently, the believer should use the triangle of emotions, imagination and apprehension as a rule of following the right path. This insight therefore makes us to understand that Buddha religion brings an individual to closer understanding himself and the influence of his actions usurp his relation with the spiritual world.Death appears to play a central role, an important pillar in the Buddhism philosophy. Infact, according to this philosophy death has never existed because the spirit undergoes a reformation called reincarnation, a kind of a circle involving deaths and births believed to be eternal up to the point of spirit achieving Enlightment and eventually enters nirvana. Another believe is in the idea of Karma which is very the totality of good and bad deeds associated to an individual during his or her lifetime and which his future life in nirnava.Devotional Practices The Buddhism religion is characterized by a series of practices which are meant to show how devoted the faithful is in the religion. These devotional practices are a sign of veneration expressed before Buddha. Craik Kenneth (1943). Shrines It is difficult for a Buddhist to worship without the use of shrines. Shrines are special worship points where the image of Buddha is placed and the worshippers bow down around the image during wor shipping.For along time Buddha images and shrines have been used as objects of worshipping and devotion to Buddha being important in the sense that they are used as objects of inspiration and helps one to remain focused in worship therefore showing maximum prize and gratitude towards the teachings of the Buddha. Images and shrines reminds one of the importance of having perfection in wisdom and compassion in Buddha in addition to the inspirational aspect which dole out in developing important qualities as one recalls the majesty of the teachings of Buddha.A Buddhist will tell you that the image in the shrine helps them to be peaceful because when they go to the temple and see the image it helps them to know that there are some peaceful beings elsewhere and they also ought to be so. Psychologically therefore one settles down. Craik Kenneth (1943). on that point are several ways in which the faithful of the Buddha show respect to their majesty, the Buddha. This by Folding palms a nd placing them on the chest. This action expresses deep respect to Buddha Dharma and Sangha.Another way is by Prostration before the image of the Buddha as a sign of showing deep veneration and makes one set to listen to the teachings. Prostration before Buddha helps a Buddhist to focus on the qualities of Buddha which include compassion, patience and wisdom. George Crane (2000). Therefore, the practices employed by Tsung Tsai from USA are the clear ways of showing how devoted he was to his traditional religion. The first expression of the practice is that of meditation. In the travel account we come of the meditation class organized under Tsung Tsai through the of appreciation him by one of his students.The class organized under Buddhist meditation types of the Western world appreciated their teacher on his return to Mongolia by giving him a gift of a statue of Buddha. Possibly they had understood the weight contained in this act of devotion because establishing a shrine for Buddh a is the highest form of devotion one expresses to Buddha. George Crane (2000). master are highly respected among the Buddha because they are the teachers of the traditions, meditations and devotional practices among the monk communities. As an act of devotion therefore there has to be some respect and reverence to masters of the religion.We remember vividly that before Tsung Tsai left for Hong Kong piece escaping the massacre he had to visit his master before leaving. While away his master dies, most likely by the bullets of the insurgents, and is buried not in accordance with the proper Buddhist traditions he used to teach. Consequently, Tsung Tsai seeks to come back to accord his master the indispensable burial as per the Buddhist culture. George Crane (2000). Finally we recognize an act of wisdom as a devotional practice. Wisdom is about having a right understanding about all aspects of life, that is, recognition of ones environment as it is.This act of wisdom is not viewed by Buddhists as any act of intelligence but the way one is refined and with time becomes freed of ignorance of this religion wisdom is described as a devotional practice where should give in fully to be transformed . Wisdom is achieved through ethical practices and therefore our mental displine is important in the achievement of understanding. To the Buddhists wisdom is very imperative during meditation where one requires clarity of the mind . This is probably the main reason the old master teacher of Tsung Tsai spend times alone in meditation.According to the Buddha wisdom is a characteristic of an enlightened personality and the possessor is compassionate and is likely to operate wisely. George Crane (2000). Conclusion Devotional practices are the basis of any religion and the determining(prenominal) of how engraved to the acts of the religion one is. To Buddhism in particular they show reverence and respect to the master and his Buddha. Bones of the master is a clear insight to ex plaining to us the clear insights of the culture of worship evolved behind the curtains of Buddhism. Craik Kenneth (1943).T sung Tsai can be described as a Chan master and monk and is seen as the belong Chan on earth. Chan is a form of Buddhism from Chinese and when it was later introduced in Japan it was renamed as Zen. Therefore a Chan monk is associated with the Mongolian or Chinese while the Zen is to Japan. According to Chan traditions in Buddhist writings women are accorded the same status as men, and that is why Crane receives a gift from a genus Lama woman and also believed that he was taught the religion by this woman. Craik Kenneth (1943). Hinduism and Buddhism are closely related religions and evolved together in the Far East.As a result it has been documented that Buddhism and Hinduism a rose from closely related ideas. In addition the early development in the Indian valleys as documented show that there was a vigorous flow of faith between the two religions such that at one time the Buddha temples were built under the control of Hindu kings. Furthermore, the worship through the use of images brings them together in addition to a strong culture embodied in devotional acts of meditation, building of shrines and the role of teachers in the passing of this beliefs to the next generations. twain religions show venerations to many deities. Kadodwala, Dilip. (1995).ReferencesKadodwala, Dilip. (1995). Hinduism. World Religions Series. New York Thomson Learning, ISBN 1-568-47-377-X. L.C. BL1203.K33. Grades 57.Craik Kenneth (1943). The Nature of Explanation Cambridge University Press. George Crane (2000). Bones of the Master A Journey to Secret Mongolia Bantam Books, (paperback) 304 pages.

Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis Essay

Before investing time, money, and resources into new point of intersection development, every gild must fully understand the existing mart competition. Analyzing competitors in depth will help a confederation determine future potential success of the new merchandise segment. Though Keurig is the industry leader in hot chocolate harborrs and coffee portions, they too experience factors affecting supply and direct. In addition, Keurig often sees many attempts to repugn with their product. However, it is important to note that even the competition has great potential. The circumstantial points of researching the current market include knowledge of any issues that may affect long-term profitability as well as how the company tail compete in the market. With successful research and analysis, the company can consider ways in which they can maximize their success and profit-making potential in their new market. Keurig ProductsFounded in 1992 by John Sylvan and Peter Dragone, the Ke urig leads todays market with a single brew technology that revolutionized the way many people drank break of day coffee (McGinn, 2014). The chosen name Keurig gist a form of excellence and is a name Sylvan found in a Danish-English dictionary (McGinn, 2014). The company took years to develop with minimal success and changed hands in 2006 (McGinn, 2014). Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. procured Keurig in 2006 and turned the company into a multi-billion dollar company (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). In the 2010 fiscal year, Keurig sold more than $330 million worth of single-cup brewers and more than $800 million worth of the single K-Cups (McGinn, 2014). What began as an office-based mechanism is now visible(prenominal) in more than 9,000 retail stores for the home (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014).The Keurig is a single-portion motorcar that brews a consistent single cup of coffee every time the machine runs a cycle. Through patented technology, the Kuerig system i ncludes three components unique to the company (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). The three components include their unique single-cup brewer, the patented K-Cup, and one of the largest selections of gourmetteas, coffees, and white cocoas (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). First, the brewer combines the precise list of water with temperature and water pressure for consistent flavor every brew time (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). Second, the K-Cups combine roaster specifications with filters and barriers to contract the most flavorful and consistent cup of coffee with every brew (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). Last, the Keurig system offers more than 170 varieties with blends from 12 brands (Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2014). Defining the grocery storeAccording to Mifflin (2014), the Keurig system offers something that many of the competitors do not. Keurig offers the ability to brew fresh cups and blends for less than ten cents per cup (Mifflin, 2014). The savings with this system is epoch-making in that competitors toll around $.45 to $.50 each with similar pillow slips of single coffee pods and capsules (Mifflin, 2014). Because of this exist saving, yet advanced technology, Keurigs target market includes both employees of the corpo target world and households. The methods and strategies of their market include not focusing solely on the commercial office segment, but including the household as well as the home office segments. The Keurig plans include a successful rollout into the commercial and home office segments, which then can provide a springboard for the launch into the household segment. Keurig has many competitors but Starbucks seems to be the biggest threat. Starbucks is known for their gourmet coffee. Starbucks provides up scaled fresh vanilla bean coffee along with other wonderful brands. With this economic state Starbucks footings has caught up with them which caused the hire to decrease. Starbucks was forced to face rea lity and lower thither price and even close a couple of stores along with reducing staff.This proves that the cost of the coffee is viscoelastic and if the price is too high then the demand will decrease. Even with success there argon factors that affect demand such as availability, competition, developments and costs. collectible to the increasing demand for the Keurig system, consumer prices continue to rise. Many consumers argue that a case of 15 K-Cups cost an inexpensive $9.99, while others argue that one can purchase a 31.5oz of Colombian ground coffee for the same price. To stay ahead of the competition and attempt to fight some of the arguments, Keurig also produced the My K-Cup product. The My K-Cup product allows the consumerto use the machine without purchasing standard K-Cups and instead use store-bought grounds to brew a single cup of coffee. In addition to the factors affecting demand be the factors affecting the supply. Neejan (2014) speaks of economics in general in that when the supply will development if and when foreign producers enter the market. Just as well, Neejan (2104) speaks of technology in that with the receipts of technology, productivity will rise because production can become robotic. Neejan (2104) concludes that for the same amount of costs it is possible to supply more of the product, thus the supply bending will shift to the right.This effect Keurig because if the supply decrease then the demand will increase. It the product is not present the consumers will shop where the supply is this means a lost in revenue. According to Market Equilibrium (N.A), graphically, changes in the underlying factors that affect demand and supply will cause shifts in the eyeshot of the demand or supply curve at every price. Whenever this happens, the original equilibrium price will no longer equate demand with supply, and price will adjust to bring about a return to equilibrium. This relates to Keurig given the scenario the outcome could be the same .Keurig has a lot of competition everything about the product Keurig has to be aligned. The competition lies with the store who can prepare the coffee and have it readily available. Also, the machine is not portable, and the competition could have an advantage for convenience when it comes to alfresco the home workers.Issues and Opportunities That Affect its Competitiveness and Long-Term ProfitabilityPrice elasticity of demand is an important factor for any firms profitability. It measures the responsiveness of consumers to a change in the products price (Colander, 2013). If consumers are very responsive to a change in price demand is elastic, while demand is inelastic if consumers are relatively unresponsive to a change in price (Colander, 2103). The more inelastic the demand is, the higher prices companies can charge for the product with higher profits. A key factor in determining the price elasticity of demand is the availability of substitutes. Some available substitu tes include Mr. Coffee, Bunn, and Bloomfield Because of multiplesubstitutes, technical innovation is critical. Through technological innovation, Keurig can differentiate its product from substitute products. By differentiating with new technology, Keurig can centre the price elasticity of demand and make demand inelastic. Doing so allows for an increase in profits and works in direct relation to the creation of the K-Cup technology. With the cost effectiveness and reliability of the Kuerig, issues can bear that will affect the long-term profitability of the product. For example, in 2009 alone, the Kuerig coffee maker sold well over 2,000,000 units, equaling to substantive labor costs associated with the product (CITATION). The amount of physical labor required to build the units, coupled with the multiple variations of models, proves high capital costs within manufacturing.For example, in initial years temporary workers constructed the K-Cups (CITATION). later Green Mountain Bre wing Coffee Brewers acquired the company, a top priority became hiring full time employees to produce K-Cups at a frequently faster rate (CITATION). Additional issues with the Keurig product include the waste of K-Cups and an increase in competition. According to one consumer, the K-Cup is producing a significant amount of waste for landfills (Gordon, 2014). The products are not perishable or recyclable and any means of trying to do so comes with a price from Keurig (Gordon, 2014). Though the company is addressing some of the economic concerns, many consumers come up that the company focuses more on profits than sustainability (Gordon, 2014). Also, as new Keurig systems enter the market with an attempt to address specific issues, consumer prices only continue to rise. Simple and grassroots competitive systems such as the Mr. Coffee brewing system range around $75 to $100 (CITATION). However, competitive Keurig models can cost as much as $250.00 (CITATION). When considering futur e challenges of Keurig, there is an issue of cost in comparison with competitive models, but also with the concept that kitchen appliances come and go as a fad product (McGinn, 2014). The real strength of the Keurig system in terms of revenues is in fact not the brewing system, but instead the continued sales of the K-Cup (McGinn, 2014). Factors Affecting Variable and Fixed CostsVariable costs are those costs that change as the output changes (Colander, 2013). In contrast, fixed costs are those costs that remain constant and arenot affected by production volume. As the total cost of brewing a Keurig cup of coffee can range from ten to fifty cents, this cost is a fixed cost that remains constant in total. This cost is not affected by volume of production, but vary on a unit basis. The base unit saves ten cents by one brewing their own grounds (Mifflin, 2014). As consumers consider costs, one can calculate that with brewing 200 cups per day, the consumer will save $20 per day, $140 p er week, totaling $7,280 per year. By using individual blends, Keurig provides a significant savings to the consumer. Labor costs are variable depending on a number of factors, including the number of brewers and number of K-Cups. Labor costs may increase to reckon supply and demand of the units. To offset some of the labor costs, Keurig introduced the My K-Cup to the market, therefore decreasing the labor costs for standard K-Cups on the market. Controlling some of the labor cost will have to be born at the market and choosing to use your own blend as shown above will save a significant a lot in return to offset labor cost (THIS REDUCES CONSUMER COSTS, NOT THEIR LABOR COSTS). Supply and demand comes into play when you sent wages, just as it does when companies determining the price of products. If there is a shortage of workers unfortunately, wages will have to go up to attract a good worker, but if there is not the shortage wages, labor will be reasonable, and the cost of product ivity will go down. (twist, 2010) (THIS SITE DOES NOT LOAD PROPERLY AND RELATES TO THE HOUSING MARKET) Recommendations on Maximizing Profit-Making PotentialPerfect competition refers to markets that do not have participants large enough to have the market power to set the price of a homogenous product (Colander, 2013). There is always room for growth and changes to increase the profit making potential for companies and still stay competitive in the market. In order to compete successfully and remain profitable, a company must have a competitive dodge. A critical step in the strategy is having a lower cost producer, meaning that the company will produce or manufacture their product for the lowest possible cost without losing any of its value. This type of strategy will provide the company with a cost advantage that is comparable or relative to its competitors. The results of Keruig utilizing these recommendations will provide the Keurig with two options. First, they can tenderloin t heir competitors, thus resulting in the increase of theirshare on the market. Second, they can continue selling their products at a price that is similar to their competitors, which would result in them having a higher profit margin. Keurig does not need to limit or sacrifice the quality of their product which may lead to a decrease in sales. Rather, Keurig can reduce their costs with a few options. Keurig can purchase more efficient production equipment, purchase other fixed or capital assets to increase efficiency, or do away with one or more of their cost producing activities. In addition, Keurig can source less expensive raw material suppliers, reduce employee overtime costs, or reduce the amount of waste in their products. ConclusionReferencesColander, D. C. (2013). Microeconomics (9th ed.). New York, NY McGraw-Hill.Gordon, A. (2014). Opinion Keurig needs to brew up solutions for wasteful K-Cups. Retrievedfrom http//thelantern.com/2014/02/opinion-keurig-needs-brew-solutions-was teful-k-cups/Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.. (2014). unified profile. Keurig. Retrieved fromhttp//www.keurig.com/in-the-news/2010//media/Files/News%20And%20Media%20PDFs/keurig_CoProfile.ashxMcGinn, D. (2014). The buzz machine. Boston.com. Retrieved from http//www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/08/07/the_inside_story_of_keurigs_rise_to_a_billion_dollar_coffee_empire/Mifflin, M. (2014). Single serve brewer buying tips and Keurig brewer features. About.com. Retrieved from http//housewares.about.com/od/coffeemakers/qt/Keurig-Brewers-and-Single-Serve-Buying-Tips.htm Neejan, S. (2014) What are the factors affecting demand and supply? Answers. Retrieved from http//www.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_factors_affecting_demand_and_supply

Holocaust Denial Essay

David Irving has claimed that the final solution was a hoax and that there were no splatter chambers in Auschwitz discuss the evidence for and against this claim. adept is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.-W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction, 1935.There could not be a to a greater extent arrogate account to go with the debate between final solution deniers, and those who see it as a genuine pointt in history. From our mid teens we ar taught round the items that occurred to a lower place Hitlers reign, the most horrific of those creation the gage genocide of an estimated eleven million people, m either of which Jews, during the Holocaust. It is also taught that the most famous extermination camp existed at Auschw itz, where up to 10000 people were exterminated per day. These are exactly the kind of facts that were presented to me during school, and to many others some individuals, however, claim that this horrific event never took place.Those who claim the Holocaust did not appear as traditional history describes, believe that the current mainstream understanding of the Holocaust is the result of a deliberate Jewish conspiracy created to upraise the interest of Jews at the expense of other nations. (1) A statement remarkably closely related to the anti-Semitic views of the national socialists. In the consequence of Holocaust deniers, it is more of a case of a lack of evidence which they call to promote their views no conclusive evidence has been presented, with numerous Holocaust deniers admitting to have lied ab step up so called facts. (2)The main claims which Holocaust deniers make are that the Nazis had no formal policy or plan of exterminating Jews. That Nazis did not use splatter c hambers to mass-murder Jews, and that the see to it of between 5 and 6 million Jewish deaths is a significant exaggeration and the actual number is much lower, a few hundred green at most. Other claims include the tactual sensation that the documentary evidence in support of the Holocaust, photographs and the Diary of Anne Frank for example, is fabricated, that survivor testimonies are unreliable, and that the Nazi prisoners confessions were obtained through the use of torture a process which can lead to inaccurate information. (3) One example of survivor testimonies being unpredictable is an excerpt of a conversation David Irving purportedly had with a survivorIRVING You said you saw smoke coming from the crematoria?SURVIVOR AbsolutelyIRVING Is that correct?SURVIVOR CorrectIRVING But crematoria do not smoke, Mrs Altman. Go and visit your local crematorium in Sydney(Evans (2002) page 142)Irving took challenging the Holocaust to the extreme, and proclaimed himself as a Hitler su pporter, which may have something to do with him living, working and study in Germany for many years. In Irvings book, Hitlers War, he states that Hitler did not order the extermination of Europes Jews the mass killings must have been carried out by Himmler and his cohorts behind Hitlers back (4)The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) states that The Institute does not deny the Holocaust. And that there is no dispute over the fact that large numbers of Jews were deported to concentration camps and ghettos, or that many Jews died or were killed during World War II. But that the Holocaust the alleged extermination of some six-spot million Jews (most of them by gassing) is a hoax and should be recognized as such by Christians and all informed, honest and truthful men everywhere. More than being just a pro-Nazi viewpoint, Holocaust deniers believe that the death-toll amount which is widely accepted is a falsehood in an attempt to get more compensation, and sympathy. It is believe d that the interest of the Zionist movement is to augment the amount of Holocaust deaths so that their gains will be greater. (5)The Holocaust deniers maintain that the Holocaust is a myth in order to indicate the possibilities which can occur when an individual or group of people try to play God. This claim may have resulted from various factors, and in many cases of a denial, a particular political agenda backs it up, along with their own personal beliefs colouring their view. To fully understand the claims of these people, both sides of the debate must be looked at.The case which acknowledges the Holocaust as it is presented has much more convincing evidence, the most notable of which being photographs, video footage and personal accounts. Where the Holocaust deniers get their supposed evidence from however, is the fretsaw in which the evidence which shows the Holocaust as the event were taught it to be is made up of. Those denying the event say that the pieces of primary sourc es which prove the existence of the Holocaust, are in fact fabricated in an attempt to make people think that certain events happened when thy in fact, did not. (1)There are many accounts from survivors of the Holocaust, a plectrum of which exists in Lyn Smiths Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust, within which mentions the implementation of the final solution. In the same note it is said that upon arrival, most were sent immediately to the gas chamber and crematorium. (6). For females in concentration camps it was an even more shocking ordeal regularly being raped, and on giving birth having their babies taken from them to be murdered. Dennis Avey, a British prisoner of war at Auschwitz gives his accountNow dreadful things were happening in Auschwitz-Birkenau during 1944. They were gassing and burning thousands of people who could not work any more because of their failing strength I knew practically everything that was going on thereThey just put them into the gas chambers using th is Zyklon B gas and then they were burned. And this happened day in and day out. (6)There are many other accounts which describe similar stories, such a vast amount of coordinated testimonies can not possibly be a fabrication, but that is not the only evidence which supports the events of the Holocaust and Auschwitz. There are many photographs of the gas chambers, and of mass graves. Not only is there masses of evidence recorded to verify the authenticity of the Holocaust but it is backed up by sworn deposition from both victims and the culprits. In addition to this there is evidence which Allied soldiers discovered when they liberated the camps. There is also a host of documentary evidence the Nazis were extremely particular about keeping records, some of which were presented as evidence to the Nuremberg Tribunal and a set of evidence from several post-war trials. As advantageously as archaeological evidence as further proof, there are bookings by the SS for the special trains to Auschwitz and other extermination camps.Of course, the issue which arises with both of these claims, and history as a whole, is that unless someone is actually present at an event and experiencing something, they have no way of knowing exactly what went on during a given sentence and date. It is for these reasons which we need to rely on sources other than ourselves to understand the past, and a primary source is the most reliable place to look first. Talking with a Holocaust survivor, reading the diaries like that of a certain Anne Frank hiding from the Gestapo, and looking at pictures and videos from Nazi Germany at that time allows for the closest link possible from at once to the days gone by, and rejecting these ideas as a fabrication severs the best link to the truth.Holocaust deniers will be inclined to believe what they want to be true, even if it does not match up historically. The Holocaust was a dismal time not only for the Jewish race, but also a cataclysmic event in the history of mankind. The idea that not all people are equal and those of less value need to be exterminated is a notion that should never have occurred. The evidence that we have today appears to confirm that the Jewish Genocide by the Nazi people was a real event. In addition, it is extremely difficult to reasonably doubt this event and believe that people would lie about such an ordeal.References1. Gizon, A. (2009). Holocaust. www.projectaladin.org. Last accessed 23 June 20102. Nikzor, P. (2008). David Irving. www.nizkor.org. Last accessed 23 June 20103. Lipstadt, D. (2009). Denying the Holocaust. www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars. Last accessed 23 June 20104. Irving, D. (1991). Hitlers War. capital of the United Kingdom Focal Point Publications.5. Austin, B. (2004). Holocaust Denial. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Last accessed 23 June 20106. Smith, L. (2005). Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust. London Ebury Press. P.156/210

Gothic Art and Architecture

gothic art and architecture played a very important affair in the appearance of medieval times. The approximate time frame of the Gothic stage began in 1125, preceding the Romanesque period. Gothic art was first considered very repulsive and was believed that barbarians were only capable of making such pieces. So, the name gothic meaning ghost was given to this time period. Now in the 20th century quite a little think Gothic art is beautiful and admire it greatly. The First Methodist church in Notate by Red Barrel is a Gothic church.While looking at the church you take note of the pointed arches. This is a feature that began in the Gothic time period, and replaced rounded arches of the Romanesque period. Pointed arches are on every window and on the frame of the door. Inside you can see a simple barrel vaulting system. Another feature of Gothic art that The First Methodist Church has is the wonderful stain glass windows. They were very long and told a religious story. The stain glass allows the walls to be thinner and let a subtile color filled light in.This light fills the church, and back then would be one of the only systems of light. The most dominant feature of Gothic architecture is the size, or height of the church. They believed that the higher the church the better, because they were closer to heaven. Some even contained towers so they could be closer to heaven. The one in Notate is very tall and has a very high ceiling. The ground plan for the church is in a cross, Just like medieval times. Inside the church is very complex along with the high ceilings.There are no painting, barely the columns are highly decorated and complex. The First Methodist Church in Notate has many Gothic features, but is missing some characteristics. It does not have flying buttresses, or a rose window, which were strong Gothic traits. Also there were no windows on the easternmost end where the sun rises. Alters were mainly put on the eat end, so when the sun rose it w ould fill the alter with light. Gothic architecture is very beautiful, and the townsfolk of Notate is very lucky to have such a marvelous Gothic church in its town.

Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance in Offshore Development Enterprises in Sri Lanka

EFFECTIVENESS OF SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE IN OFFSHORE phylogenesis ENTERPRISES IN SRI LANKA Malinda Sirisena, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa. ABSTRACT The aim of the research described in this thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of softwargon convergence tone of voice dominance approaches of Sri Lankan offshore parcel development organizations, and to propose a framework which could be used across all offshore softw ar development organizations. An empirical translate was conducted using draw outd framework from popular computer software program choice evaluation moldings.The research instrument employed was a dubiousnessnaire survey among thirty seven Sri Lankan registered offshore software development organizations. The square upings demonstrate a positive view of Effectiveness of Software flavour toast the stronger predictors of St efficiency, Installability, correctness, Testability and Changeability. The presend believ es recommendations indicate a hire for ofttimes violence on software lumber sanction for the Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations. Keywords Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Offshore Software Development, Quality Assurance Evaluation Models, Effectiveness of Quality Assurance. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Software Quality Assurance (QA) plays a major role in successful instruction execution and maintenance of a software project. In many organizations, QA has been simply traded-off to project speak to 1. The motivation of this research is to in high spiritslight the value of Software Quality Assurance against the economic cost. The IEEE commonplace ANSI/IEEE 730-2002 defines software fictitious character assurance as a planned and taxonomic pattern of all proceedings necessary to provide adequate faith that the software conforms to established technical requirements2.QA is not only holding a direct relationship of meeting customer satisfaction, but it has a v ery high impact on project schedules and cost. Failing to pay attention is often resulted in budget overruns and schedule delays 3. Software Quality Assurance has paid bet on in many industries much(prenominal) as telecommunication, health, travel, law, hospital, government and schools in many Ameri fucking organizations. A system of teaching hospitals conservatively estimates $17. 8 million rescue on an investment of $2. 5 million in tonicity management over a five- category time period. The University of Pennsylvania saved more than $60,000 a year from one project focused on reducing mailing cost. The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reduced the time privationed to produce the monthly Consumer Price suggest (CPI), compiled by 650 the great unwashed in five departments, by 33 percent with no loss in accuracy. 4 Even in Sri Lankan software engineering companies, dumbfound been recognized QA as an important element. In 2005, Affno (www. affno. lk) has won the National Best Quality Software Gold Award for their ingathering eTender, which essential for Sri Lanka Telecom to automatize their tendering process 5. 2 THEORETICAL BASE OF THE STUDY 2. WHAT IS SOFTWARE QUALITY The IEEE standard ANSI/IEEE 730-2002 defines software fictional character assurance as a planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that the software conforms to established technical requirements2. By going down the path of IEEE definition, there are 2 major camps when specify software persona6 1. Conformance to specification role defines in legal injury of the train which the return or service meets its written specifications. 2. see customer needs meeting customers explicit or implicit needs, irrespective of any measurable product or service features.Currently software select assurance is measured in two ways from technical perspective and from user perspective7. In the technical perspective of measuring software quality is gr ound on specifications. Developers measure quality and ensure specifications in foothold of errors in code through examen process and through early(a) mechanisms such as formal specifications, structured programming8. End-user perspective of software quality is measured through user experience to denote how well software meets user expectations. exploiter dissatisfactions do not necessarily be resulting from failure to meet specifications or coding errors. . 2 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHIES This section of the literature presents various philosophies of quality from view points of quality management gurus. These quality management philosophies could be a good alternative to formalized quality delineates which the research is going to based on. Quality management requires customer satisfaction, prefers prevention to inspection, and recognizes management responsibility for quality9. 2. 2. 1 DEMING AND FOURTEEN POINTS FOR MANAGEMENT Walter Edward Deming defines quality in monetary value of customer satisfaction10.Customer satisfaction is beyond conformance to specifications. According to Deming, the judge of quality should be the end user or the customer. Deming argues that management system should implement in a way that everyone in the organization to be responsible for quality of their output to the internal stakeholders. He introduced quartetteteen points for management for people to understand and implement necessary quality transformation10 1. make constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service Stay in business and provide jobs through innovation, research, constant improvement and maintenance. 2.Adopt the freshly philosophy For the new economic age, management needs to take leadership for change into a learning organization. 3. C console dependence on mass inspection Eliminate the need for mass inspection by building quality into the product. 4. End awarding business on price Aim at minimum total cost and move towards singl e suppliers. 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service Improvement is not a one-time effort. Management is obligated to continually hold off for ways to reduce waste and improve quality. 6. Institute training Workers should be trained properly on their jobs. . Institute leadership Leading shall consist of assist people to do a better job and to learn by objective methods. 8. Drive out fear To assure better quality and productivity, people feel secure. 9. Break down barriers surrounded by departments Team work culture across departments. 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and numerical targets Let workers formulate their own slogans. Then they forget be committed to the contents. 11. Eliminate numerical quotas or work standards Quotas take into account only numbers, not quality or methods. They are usually a guarantee of inefficiency and high cost.A person, in order to hold a job, exit try to meet a quota at any cost, including doing damage to the c ompany. 12. Remove barriers to winning pride in workmanship People are eager to do a good job and distressed when they cannot. 13. Institute a vigorous computer programme of education Both management and the work force volition piddle to be educated in the new knowledge and understanding, including teamwork and statistical techniques. 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation It will require a special top management team with a plan of action to carry out the quality mission.A critical mass of people in the company must understand the 14 points. 2. 2. 2 JURAN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TOP MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT TO QUALITY Joseph M Juran proposes two meanings to quality11 1. Quality consists of those product features which meet the need of customers and thereby provide product satisfaction. 2. Quality consists of freedom from deficiencies. In the handbook Juran propose quality as fitness for use rather than meeting customer needs he argues that it is not a feasible task to meet customer need. His view is much closer to the thought conformance to specifications.Juran proposes three fundamental managerial processes for the task of managing quality. The three elements of the Juran Trilogy are11 1. Quality planning A process that identifies the customers, their requirements, the product and service features that customers expect, and the processes that will deliver those products and services with the shed light on attributes and then facilitates the transfer of this knowledge to the producing arm of the organization. 2. Quality control A process in which the product is examined and evaluated against the original requirements verbalised by the customer. Problems detected are then corrected. . Quality improvement A process in which the sustaining mechanisms are put in place so that quality can be achieved on a continuous basis. This includes allocating resources, assigning people to pursue quality projects, training those involved in pursuing projects, and in frequent establishing a permanent structure to pursue quality and maintain the gains secured. 2. 2. 3 CROSBY AND STRIVING FOR ZERO DEFECTS Philip B Crosby is a conformance to specification adherer. Crosby summarizes his perspective on quality in fourteen steps that is built around four fundamental absolutes of quality management12 1.Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as morality or elegance 2. The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal. That is, the quality system for suppliers attempting to meet customers requirements is to do it right the first time. Crosby is a strong advocate of prevention, not inspection. In a Crosby oriented quality organization everyone has the responsibility for his or her own work. There is no one else to catch errors. 3. The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not thats close enough. Crosby has advocated the notion that zero errors can and should be a target. . The amount of quality is the cost of quality. be of imperfection, if corrected, have an immediate beneficial effect on bottom-line performance as well as on customer relations. 2. 2. 4 ISHIKAWA AND FISHBONE DIAGRAM Kaoru Ishikawa defines quality as meeting customer needs13. He further argues that no specific quality standard could ever define and following them does not meet the pass judgment quality levels. According to Ishikawa, quality is a very broad c oncept which goes beyond product, service, process, information quality, etc.He introduced quality circles through Fishbone diagrams. 2. 2. 5 FEIGENBAUM AND TOTAL QUALITY controller Armand Vallin Feigenbaum built his thought around total quality control14. Feigenbaum states that quality is a dynamic factor which must be defined in terms of customer experiences. He further states that quality should satisfy customers explicit and implicit needs14. 2. 3 SOFTWARE QUALITY MODELS Previous section focus on divergent view points of quality management gurus. These points will be h elpful in solving common quality management problems in Sri Lankan, offshore enterprises.Quality management philosophies presented in the previous section fiddle flexible and qualitative view of quality this section will present a rigid and quantitative15 quality structure, which will be a roadmap of identifying free lance variables for current adopt. 2. 3. 1 MCCALLS QUALITY MODEL Jim McCalls quality lesson is primarily aimed towards the system developers and development process, however he has tried to bridge the gap between users and developers by focusing on number of quality factors, considering both users and developers priorities16, 17.The quality model is organized around three quality characteristics16 compute 1 McCalls quality model organized around three types of quality characteristics McCalls model furthermore elaborated with a hierarchy of factors, criteria and metrics around the three types of major perspectives. opine 2 McCalls quality model Eleven factors on th e left-hand side of the model represent the external view of quality as viewed by end users. These eleven factors attribute to twenty three quality criteria, which describe the internal view of software. The evaluation is done by answering each quality criteria with yes and no.Finally the quality level is derived as a pct based on the responses received as yes. 2. 3. 2 BOEHMS QUALITY MODEL Barry W Boehms model has similarities to McCalls model. His qualitative approach of defining quality stems from three levels in the hierarchy, which ends with primitive characteristics18. These primitive characteristics on an individual basis contribute to the overall quality level. Figure 3 Boehms software quality characteristics tree19. Quality measurement is carried out through extent or degree to which the product or service achieves each characteristic19. 2. 3. 3 ISO 9126Among the ISO 9000 series of quality standards, ISO has released the ISO 9126 Software Product Evaluation20. Figure 4 The ISO 9126 quality model 20. ISO further proposes quality characteristics/guidelines to evaluate the above sixsome areas of importance. Figure 5 ISO 9126 quality attributes Each quality factor/ six areas of importance is represented by sub-factors as depicted in the above diagram. Details of each selected attribute will be discussed in the next chapter. 3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This chapter elaborates how the conceptual framework for the study has been derived through the existing work identified in the literature review. . 1 EXISTING WORK Since the study is on evaluating software quality from software developing organizations view, it is necessary to drop down the quality attributes discovered in the literature, only to represent developer view of software quality. Therefore it has been decided to take the union of developer related quality attributes from all three popular models referred in the previous chapter. It is not an favourable task to differentiate developer oriented qual ity attributes from user oriented attributes as quality classifications are different from each model and some attributes are indispensable to their multiple definitions.For a consistent interpretation of the quality attributes, the definitions of attributes have been used according to Software Engineering Institutes (SEI) Software Technology Roadmap glossary23 and ISO 912624 definitions. 3. 1. 1 DEVELOPER ORIENTED ATTRIBUTES FROM MCCALLS MODEL McCalls model mainly goes hand in hand with external quality factors. undermentioned are the quality attributes extracted from McCall model, which are related to developer related quality based on SEI definitions. Selected Attribute Maintainability SEI Definition23 The ease with which a software system or component can be odified to correct faults, improve performance, or other attributes, or adapt to a changed environment. The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met. The ease with which a system or component can be modified for use in applications or environments other than those for which it was specifically chassised. The ease with which a system or component can be transferred from one hardware or software environment to another. The degree to which a software module or other work product can be used in more than one computing program or software system. The ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged. Testability Flexibility Portability Reusability Interoperability Table 1 Developer related quality attributes from McCalls model 3. 1. 2 ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES FROM BOEHMS MODEL Boehms model, which has put the utility perspective in terms of quality, is much similar to McCalls model.After evaluating definitions, following two attributes were added to the list. Selected Attribute Understandability Modifiability SEI Definition23 The degree to which the purpose of the system or component is clear to the evaluator. The degree to which a system or component facilitates the incorporation of changes, once the nature of the desired change has been determined. Table 2 Additional developer related quality attributes from Boehms model 3. 1. 3 ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES FROM ISO 9126 Following are sub-attributes taken from the ISO 9126 definitions.Selected Attribute Analyzability ISO Definition24 The capability of the software product to be diagnosed for deficiencies or causes of failures in the software, or for the separate to be modified to be identified. The capability of the software product to enable a qualify modification to be implemented. The capability of the software product to avoid unexpected effects from modifications of the software. The capability of the software product to be adapted for different contract environments without applying actions or means other than those provided for thi s purpose for the software considered. The capability of the software product to be installed in a specified environment. The capability of the software product to co-exist with other independent software in a common environment sharing common resources. Changeability Stability Adaptability Installability Co-existence replaceability The capability of the software product to be used in place of another specified software product for the homogeneous purpose in the same environment. Table 3 Additional developer related quality attributes from ISO 9126 model 3. 1. 4 FINAL ATTRIBUTE LISTAfter analyzing the above mentioned attribute lists and completing the preliminary studies, the list could filter down to the following for the current study. 1. Correctness 2. Testability 3. Changeability 4. Stability 5. Installability In the following sections, each of above attribute will be discussed in terms of their quality characteristics. 3. 1. 4. 1 CORRECTNESS SEI defines correctness as The d egree to which a system or component is free from faults in its specification, design, and implementation23. McCall attributes correctness through16 Traceability Completeness consentThrough traceability, it makes execu submit to know the relationships of each module or component and thereby high confidence states correctness. Completeness assures that there are no parts left in terms in executing a live of a system or a procedure thereby 100% completeness ratio guarantees correctness. Inconsistent systems or functions will lead to higher error probability therefore it is a part of correctness. Through the initial discussions with some key personnel, it was revealed that these characteristics are equally hard to collide with to achieve Correctness. . 1. 4. 2 TESTABILITY SEI defines testability as The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met23. Both McCall and Boehm have attributed testability to quality assurance on following characteristics16, 18 Simplicity Instrumentation Self-descriptiveness Modularity and structuredness Accountability Accessibility Communicativeness. Simplicity of applications will make easier in interrogatory comparatively to abstruse applications.Instrumentation makes workable to put probes in the system in order to deduce test information. Self-descriptive systems have inbuilt help or system documentation which will be sufficient to understand the system by going through. Modularity helps in isolating system tests which structuredness denotes consistent organization of the system. Accountability on system for which it is possible to measure the usage of the code19. Such measurements are typically covered by debugging tools, which exist specifically for programming languages. Accessibility of a system allows usage of its parts in a selective manner19.This allows in creating flexible test scenarios. Through communicativeness, systems make easier to understand inputs and output, which makes easier to compose test causas. 3. 1. 4. 3 CHANGEABILITY ISO defines changeability as The capability of the software product to enable a specified modification to be implemented24. Changeability is an attribute defined in ISO 9126 and lacks supporting characteristic definitions. However changeability could be achieved through Aiming simple solution rather than complicated systems as by nature simple applications are easier to change. Low bring together of individual modules of a system as lower interactions make easier to change individual components. Designing the systems change in mind from the beginning musical composition memory application evolution. 3. 1. 4. 4 STABILITY ISO defines stability as The capability of the software product to avoid unexpected effects from modifications of the software24. Therefore stability in this context does not denote the ability of the system to show stable behavior when used. However, if modification often results in unexpected behavior, there will be a high impact on stability.Stability is directly influenced by Changeability. Low changeability is likely to show low stability. This will depict the fact that, hard to change a low changeable system will lead to a greater risk of instability. 3. 1. 4. 5 INSTALLABILITY ISO defines Installability as The capability of the software product to be installed in a specified environment24. Installability requirements are generally specified in the form of an installation process. The target environment in this case will have to be known at the development time.Installability is measured as a percentage exercised of the total specified Installability requirements. In the Sri Lankan context, Installability is commonly referred as Deployability. 3. 1. 5 RELATIONSHIPS OF VARIABLES Having identified the variables and attributes, it had been decided to limit the study to following variables, after interviewing key quality assurance personnel in target organizations. Based on their arguments, on applicability to offshore organizations, the best suited variables have been selected for the study. Dependent varying Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance Independent Variables . Correctness a. Completeness b. Consistency 2. Testability a. Simplicity b. Modularity c. Structuredness 3. Changeability a. Simplicity b. Coupling 4. Stability a. Changeability 5. Installability Having identified the variables, following relationships have been derived based on the reviewed literature in the previous section. Correctness Testability Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance Changeability Stability Installability Independent Variables Figure 6 Schematic diagram for conceptual framework Dependent Variable 3. 2 HYPOTHESES FORMULATEDIn order to statistically test the derived conceptual framework, following hypotheses have been theorize. Since the study is targeted to test each in dependent variable separately, hypotheses also have been formulated independently to each independent variable. H01 there is no relationship between the Correctness of software developed and released to QA team), on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA1 the greater the Correctness of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach.H02 there is no relationship between the Testability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA2 the greater the Testability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. H03 there is no relationship between the Changeability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA3 the greater the Changeability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effec tiveness of software quality assurance approach.H04 there is no relationship between the Stability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA4 the greater the Stability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. H05 there is no relationship between the Installability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA5 the greater the Installability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. question DESIGN Research design will outline the roadmap of achieving the research objectives thorough the identified variables and theoretical framework. Details of study Purpose of the study Type of investigating Extent of researcher interface Minimal studying events as they normally occur and defining a framework Study s etting bar Measurement and measures Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance in Emerging Offshore Development Enterprises in Sri Lanka Descriptive quality evaluation framework Hypothesis testing to validate the evaluation frameworkCorrelation study of correlations to effectiveness against evaluation factors no(prenominal)contrived study in real business environment Quality factors and their applicability through quality matrices and Likert scales info analysis 1. Classification of data 2. Goodness of data Unit of analysis Sampling design Time horizon Data collection method 3. Hypotheses testing Individuals based on job categories in Offshoring organizations Judgmental sampling of individual in the entire population of offshore enterprises Crosssectional Interviews, Questionnaires, Observations Figure 7 The research design 4. 1 TYPE AND NATURE OF THE STUDYThe study was an empirical study through analysis of responses to the questionnaires which was formulated through the concept ual framework. 4. 2 DATA COLLECTION METHODS Since the study is on offshore software development organizations, it has been decided to collect data from all registered companies in Software Exporters Association Sri Lanka and seven other offshore software development organizations in Sri Lanka. There were forty seven registered members as of first August, 2007. Questionnaires were distributed to the key quality assurance person or to the most senior quality assurance person in each organization. . 2. 1 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN A structured questionnaire was used to gather responses apart from the preliminary interviews. The questionnaire is divided in to four main sections. Section one has eleven questions, capturing organizational demographics of the responder. Section two has six questions, to capture responders personal demographics. Section three is the main section of the questionnaire which captures organizations software quality assurance, project specific demographics and respons es to test the conceptual framework. Section four is targeted to capture additional information for the conceptual framework. RESULTS OF DATA depth psychology Responses received had been categorized to qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data had been used to understand the responders and company background. Quantitative responses, where the scale data is measured have been assigned scores as per following table for statistical analysis. Response Selected potently disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Score Assigned 1 2 3 4 5 Table 5 Rates given for questionnaire responses Each response was individually assessed to ensure data validity and integrity.Incomplete responses have been followed up with the responder with available contact information and have been able to complete in many instances. For the fair responses, score three was assigned in case the question is not applicable to the responders organization. Following summary shows the statistics of the questionnaire diffusion and responses received. Number of Organizations that Questionnaire had been sent 47 SEA registered companies + 7 other offshore companies Total Responses Received 39 Invalid / Unusable 2 Number of Valid Responses 37Table 6 Statistics of questionnaire distribution responses received 5. 1 PILOT STUDY To test the primary data a pilot study was run among fourteen Quality Assurance Engineers at an offshore software development organization, using a outline questionnaire. On the scale of reliability in order to treat results with credibility25 and the internal consistency of the draft questionnaire, was checked by using Cronbachs of import coefficient. The alpha coefficient should be above . 7 for the scale to be reliable26. The overall Cronbachs alpha coefficient was . 81, indeed the questionnaire was considered to have a good internal consistency and suitable for collecting the data for the main study. Details of Cronbachs alpha are discussed under synopsis of Reliability Section, below. 5. 2 PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS All thirty seven organizations selected as valid responses are exporting software. 89. 19% of the selected organizations are locally own while 10. 81% of organizations which are in Sri Lankan carrying into action are owned by foreign parties. 64. 86% of the target organizations are project based companies while 21. 2% of the organizations focus only on their own products. However 13. 51% of the organizations undertake client projects while they market their own products. 10 8 No. of Organizations 6 4 2 0 1. 00 2. 00 3. 00 4. 00 5. 00 6. 00 7. 00 8. 00 12. 00 14. 00 No. of years in Sri Lankan Operation Figure 8 Analysis of organizations against number of years in operation According to the above graph, most of the Sri Lankan offshore organizations under the current study have started their operation two years before. 75. 68% of the responders were males and the balance 24. 32% were females.The come age of responders was 30. 11 years. On an average, they posses one year of experience in their current position in the respective organizations. The following chart represents the education level of responders. 30 25 20 Count 15 10 5 0 Non IT Graduate IT/Comp. Science point Graduate Graduate Deploma MSc/MBA/Post Graduate Degree Other Education Level Figure 9 Education level of responders Majority of quality assurance heads in the target organizations posses randomness Technology or a Computer Science degree. 3. 03% Little Early 9. 09% On Time 24. 24% Too hold up 3. 64% Little Delayed Figure 10 Project completion against estimates Responders were asked to select a completed project/product when they responded to part 3 of the questionnaire. The above pie chart highlights the project/product completion time against the estimates of the selected projects by the responders. From the selected projects/products, majority have been completed with a little delay from the estimates. Mean and the variance are calcu lated for each question under each independent variable and the dependent variable through the assigned scores as per Table 5.Question No. Question Mean dissension Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance 18 19 20 21 22 23 Software QA is a very important make up in our organization Without QA our products/services will not meet current level of customer satisfaction Our Software QA approach/practice helps us in winning new businesses Our organization has adequate number of QA Human Resources Our organization has invested enough in Software QA tools Our Software Development or any other Process has considered QA as a major practice 3. 622 4. 081 3. 811 3. 919 3. 514 3. 865 0. 686 0. 99 0. 658 0. 465 0. 812 0. 842 Correctness 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 If the systems or components we deliver meet specifications to 100%, we can say that its a high quality factor Systems or components we deliver, always met specifications Uniformity of functionality/operations/ soaring of the designed sy stem always contributed to high quality System maintained Uniformity of functionality/operations/navigation across individual functions If a function of a system, completes its execution without in between failures, we can say it is a high quality factor.Our systems do not fail in executing a function or procedure to its completion Our QA team measures our systems, whether they meet specifications or not 3. 703 3. 568 3. 703 3. 324 3. 243 3. 243 4. 108 0. 604 1. 141 0. 715 1. 003 0. 745 0. 634 0. 544Testability 37 If all functionality/operations/navigation of systems could be tested enough, then we can say it denotes high quality All the functionality/operations/navigation of our systems are properly being tested by our QA team Even the complex operations of our systems are represented by simple user interactions in order to make applications simple and user friendly Our applications are decomposed in to manageable modules in implementation in a practical manner Consistent organizat ion of modules/code are evident in our applications Our QA team measures or put furiousness on testability (Simplicity, Modularity, structuredness) of applications during the QA cycle 4. 595 0. 303 38 4. 514 0. 312 39 4. 297 0. 270 40 3. 946 0. 330 41 3. 838 0. 417 42 4. 432 0. 308 Changeability 43 If a product allows a specified modification to be implemented without much difficulty, then we can say it denotes a high quality factor Our systems do not need much effort to fit minor specification changes (i. e.Adding a new field to a form) at implementation or quality assurance stage Our systems maintain low interactions between individual modules, therefore it is easier to change individual components without affecting others Our QA team measures put much emphasis to test changeability and stability of systems during the QA cycle 4. 000 0. 111 45 3. 946 0. 164 46 3. 838 0. 251 48 3. 919 0. 299 Stability 44 If the systems avoid unexpected effects after modifications, it denotes a hi gh quality or its a high quality factor After the design changes done to one module, our systems have very few side effects to other modules Our QA team measures put much emphasis to test changeability and stability of systems during the QA cycle 3. 595 . 359 47 3. 703 0. 437 48 3. 919 0. 299 Installability 49 If the system could be installed in a specified environment without challenges, it denotes high quality or it can be considered as a high quality factor Our systems do not get challenged during the installation in the agreed/specified environment Our QA team measures Installability of systems they test 3. 568 0. 863 50 3. 162 3. 541 0. 862 1. 311 51 Table 7 Means and variances of questions Frequency distributions of responses to each of above questions have been presented in Appendix 2. 5. 3 SECONDARY RESULTS ANALYSIS Primary data is further analyzed to derive more meaningful results.For statistical analysis, the ratings gathered through individual questions were summed up to derive scores for individual independent variables. Variable = sum of marks for relevant questions I. e. Correctness = Q30 + Q31 + Q32 + Q33 + Q34 + Q35 + Q36 Sample Mean, where, n = sample size, and = scores Sample Variance, Standard Deviation, Following table illustrates the statistics of independent variables, which denotes the effectiveness of quality assurance. Standard Deviation 0. 569 0. 552 0. 422 0. 327 0. 445 0. 752 Variable Effectiveness of QA Correctness Testability Changeability Stability Installability Mean 3. 802 3. 556 4. 270 3. 926 3. 739 3. 423 Variance 0. 324 0. 305 0. 178 0. 107 0. 198 0. 566Table 8 primary statistics of independent variables and the dependent variable Following is the graphical illustration of above statistics. 4. 500 4. 000 3. 500 3. 000 2. 500 2. 000 1. 500 1. 000 0. 500 0. 000 Mean Variance Std. Div. Figure 11 Basic statistics of independent variables According to the above illustration, Testability contributes to QA effectiveness most while Changeability remains at the second position. Installability was rated as of least evidential to the QA Effectiveness in the subject domain. 5. 3. 1 ANALYSIS OF RELIABILITY OF DATA Cronbachs alpha measure is used to determine how well the target independent variables measure single, unidimensional QA Effectiveness latent construct.Cronbachs alpha can be written as a function of the number of test items AND the average inter-correlation among the items. N where, N = number of items and = inter-item correlation among items. Cronbachs Alpha Based on Cronbachs Standardized Alpha ( Items . 912 . 918 Table 9 Reliability statistics N of Items 28 Cronbachs alpha for all twenty eight questions is 0. 912, which denotes that the collected data is acceptable for the research. 5. 4 HYPOTHESES TESTING Analysis had been done to test each set of hypothesis to find out whether there are relationships defined through the hypotheses exist among independent variables and the dependent variable.The co rrelations between the factors hypothesized to effectiveness of quality assurance shown in the following table Set of Hypothesis/Independent Variable H1Correctness H2Testability H3Changeability H4Stability H5Installability ** Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). Pearson Correlation/ Effectiveness of QA . 678** . 589** . 559** . 728** . 613** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 Table 11 Correlations between hypotheses for quality assurance Hypothesis H1 According to Hypothesis H01, Correctness which is influenced by Consistency and Completeness has a positive relationship to effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. Since this hypothesis is supported by the data analysis (Sig. value was . 000, p

Microcontroller Based Bidirectional Visitor Counter

ConstruCtion Microcontroller-bAsed two-way Visitor counter UMAR SUNIL K ? AkshAy MAthur, kuldeep singh nAglA V isitor counting is simply a measurement of the visitant trading entering and deceaseing offices, malls, sports venues, etc. Counting the visitors helps to maximise the readiness and effectiveness of employees, floor bea and sales potential of an organisation.Visitor counting is not limited to Semiconductors IC1 LM324 quad op-amp IC2 74LS76 J-K flip out IC3 AT89C52 microcontroller IC4 7805 5V regulator T1, T2 L14F1 npn photo transistor T3, T4 2N3904 npn transistor IR TX1, IR TX2 IR transmitting LED BR1 1A bridge over rectifier DIS1-DIS3 LTS543 CC 7-segment display Resistors (all ? -watt, 5% carbon) R1, R2 68-ohm R3, R4 6. 8-kilo-ohm R5, R6 100-ohm R7, R8, R10, R11 10-kilo-ohm R9 4. 7-kilo-ohm R12-R32 220-ohm VR1, VR2 20-kilo-ohm pre heap RNW1 10-kilo-ohm resistor network Capacitors C1, C2 C3, C4 C5 C6 C7 variant XTAL X1 S1 S2 0. F ceramic plough 3 3pF ceramic disk 10F, 16V electrolytic 470F, 25V electrolytic 0. 1F ceramic disk 12MHz crystal 230V primary to 7. 5V, 250mA lower-ranking transformer Push-to-on switch On/off switch Fig. 1 Transmitter- mystifyr set-up at the entrance-cum-exit of the passage Parts List the entry/exit read/write head of a company moreover has a wide range of applications that provide culture to management on the volume and flow of people doneout a location. A primary method acting for counting the visitors involves hiring human auditors to stand and manually add the number of visitors who pass by a certain location.But human-based data collection comes at great expense. hither is a low-cost microcontrollerbased visitor counter that mint be used to know the number of persons at a place. All the components required are readily available in the market and the lap is trip bowling ping to build. cardinal IR sender-receiver pairs are used at the passage one pair comprising IR transmitter I R TX1 and receiver phototransistor T1 is installed at the entry point of the passage, while the otherwise pair comprising IR transmitter IR TX2 and phototransistor T2 is installed at the exit of the passage.The IR signals from the IR LEDs should continuously fall on the respective phototransistors, so proper orientation of the transmitters and phototransistors is necessary. circuit description Fig. 1 shows the transmitter-receiver set-up at the entrance-cum-exit of the passage along with block diagram. Two similar sections detect breachion of the IR station and generate clock pulse for the microcontroller. The microcontroller controls counting and displays the number of persons present inside the hall. Fig. 2 shows the circuit of the microcontroller-based visitor counter, wherein the transmitter and the receiver form the IR catching circuit.Control logic is built around transistors, operational amplifier LM324 (IC1) and flip-flop (IC2). When nobody is passing done the entry/exi t point, the IR beam continuously falls on phototransistor T1. Phototransistor T1 conducts and the high voltage at its emitter drives transistor T3 into saturation, which makes marijuana cigarette 3 of comparator N1 low and finally production pin 1 of comparator N1 is high. Now if someone enters the place, first the IR beam from IR TX1 is interrupt and then the IR beam from IR TX2. When the beam from IR TX1 is interrupted, phototransistor T1 and transistor T3 cut-off and pin 3 of comparator N1 goes high.The low out posture (pin 1) of comparator N1 provides oppose trigger pulse to pin 1 of J-K flip-flop IC2(A). At this moment, the high input at J and K w w w. e f y m ag . co m 7 8 J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u ConstruCtion w w w. e f y m ag . co m e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 7 9 Fig. 2 Circuit of the microcontroller-based visitor counter ConstruCtion Fig. 3 Power supply circuit pins of flip-flop IC2(A) toggles its issue to low. O n the other hand, the low input at J and K pins of IC2(B) due to Fig. Pin clock pin 1 of configuration of L14F1 and IC2(A) and J intransistor 2N3904 put (pin 9) and K input (pin 12) of IC2(B) are connected to pin 1 of comparator N1. The negative-going pulse is apply to clock pin 6 of IC2(B) when the person interrupts the IR beam from IR TX2. There is no change in the output of IC2(B) flip-flop. This triggers the outer interrupt INT0 (pin 12) of microcontroller AT89C52. The AT89C52 is an 8-bit microcontroller with 8 kB of flash-based program memory, 256 bytes of RAM, 32 input/output lines, three 16-bit timers/counters, on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry.A 12MHz crystal is used for providing clock. Ports 0, 1 and 2 are configured for 7-segment displays. Port-0 pin is externally pulled up with 10-kilo-ohm resistor network RNW1 because port0 is an 8-bit, open-drain, bidirectional, input/output (I/O) port. Port-1 and port-2 are 8-bit bidirectional I/O ports with internal pull-ups (no need of external pull-ups). Port pins 3. 0 and 3. 1 are configured to provide the set pulse to J-K flip-flops IC2(A) and IC2(B), respectively. External interrupts INT0 and INT1 receive the interrupt pulse when the person interrupts the IR beams.Resistor R9 and capacity C5 provide power-on-reset pulse to the microcontroller. Switch S1 is used for manual reset. When the microcontroller is re- set, the flip-flops are brought in set state through the microcontroller at software program run time by reservation their set pin high for a moment. The regard as of the counter increments by Fig. 5 An actual-size, single-side PCB for the microcontroller-based visitor 1 when the counter (Fig. 2) including its power supply (Fig. 3) interrupt servicing routine for INT0 is executed.The output of the corresponding J-K flip-flop is set to high again by making its set input pin low through the microcontroller. The micro-controller is configured as a negative-edgetriggered interrupt sensor. Sim ilarly, if somebody exits the place, first the IR beam from IR TX2 is interrupted and then the IR beam from IR TX1. When Fig. 6 Component layout for the PCB the beam from IR TX2 is interrupted, output pin provides clock pulse to pin 6 of J-K 7 of comparator N2 goes low. This flip-flop IC2(B). w w w. e f y m ag . co m 8 0 J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u ConstruCtionAt this moment, the high input at J and K pins of flip-flop IC2(B) toggles its output to low. On the other hand, the low input at J and K pins of IC2(A) due to clock pin 6 of IC2(B) and J input (pin 4) and K input (pin 16) of IC2(A) are connected to pin 7 of comparator N2. The negative-going pulse is applied to clock pin 1 of IC2(A) when the person interrupts the IR beam from IR TX1. There is no change in the output of IC2(A) flip-flop. This triggers the external interrupt INT1 (pin 13) of microcontroller AT89C52. The value of the counter decrements by 1 when interrupt service routine for INT1 is exec uted.The output of the corresponding J-K flip-flop is set to high again by making its set input pin low through the microcontroller. The circuit is powered by set 5V. Fig. 3 shows the circuit of the power supply. The AC mains is stepped down by transformer X1 to accept secondary output of 7. 5V, 250mA, which is rectified by bridge rectifier BR1, filtered by capacitor C6 and regulated by IC 7805 (IC4). Capacitor C7 bypasses any ripple in the regulated output. 3) is shown in Fig. 5 and its component layout in Fig. 6. software The software for the visitor counter is written in C language and compiled using C51 Keil compiler.The demo chance variable of this compiler is available for free on the website www. keil. com. It whoremaster compile programs up to 2 kB only, which is sufficient for writing most programs. EFY note. The source code and other relevant files of this article have been included in this months EFY-CD. construction An actual-size, single-side PCB for the microcontr oller-based visitor counter (Fig. 2) including its power supply (Fig. visitor. c include int i=0,j,k,l,m,a=63,6,91,79,102,109,125,7,127,111 void enter (void) interrupt 0 i++ if(i999) i=999 P3_1=0 for(m=0mMicrocontroller Based Bidirectional Visitor CounterConstruCtion Microcontroller-bAsed bidirectionAl Visitor counter UMAR SUNIL K ? AkshAy MAthur, kuldeep singh nAglA V isitor counting is simply a measurement of the visitor traffic entering and exiting offices, malls, sports venues, etc. Counting the visitors helps to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of employees, floor area and sales potential of an organisation.Visitor counting is not limited to Semiconductors IC1 LM324 quad op-amp IC2 74LS76 J-K flip-flop IC3 AT89C52 microcontroller IC4 7805 5V regulator T1, T2 L14F1 npn phototransistor T3, T4 2N3904 npn transistor IR TX1, IR TX2 IR transmitting LED BR1 1A bridge rectifier DIS1-DIS3 LTS543 CC 7-segment display Resistors (all ? -watt, 5% carbon) R1, R2 68-ohm R3 , R4 6. 8-kilo-ohm R5, R6 100-ohm R7, R8, R10, R11 10-kilo-ohm R9 4. 7-kilo-ohm R12-R32 220-ohm VR1, VR2 20-kilo-ohm preset RNW1 10-kilo-ohm resistor network Capacitors C1, C2 C3, C4 C5 C6 C7 Miscellaneous XTAL X1 S1 S2 0. F ceramic disk 33pF ceramic disk 10F, 16V electrolytic 470F, 25V electrolytic 0. 1F ceramic disk 12MHz crystal 230V primary to 7. 5V, 250mA secondary transformer Push-to-on switch On/off switch Fig. 1 Transmitter-receiver set-up at the entrance-cum-exit of the passage Parts List the entry/exit point of a company but has a wide range of applications that provide information to management on the volume and flow of people throughout a location. A primary method for counting the visitors involves hiring human auditors to stand and manually tally the number of visitors who pass by a certain location.But human-based data collection comes at great expense. Here is a low-cost microcontrollerbased visitor counter that can be used to know the number of perso ns at a place. All the components required are readily available in the market and the circuit is easy to build. Two IR transmitter-receiver pairs are used at the passage one pair comprising IR transmitter IR TX1 and receiver phototransistor T1 is installed at the entry point of the passage, while the other pair comprising IR transmitter IR TX2 and phototransistor T2 is installed at the exit of the passage.The IR signals from the IR LEDs should continuously fall on the respective phototransistors, so proper orientation of the transmitters and phototransistors is necessary. circuit description Fig. 1 shows the transmitter-receiver set-up at the entrance-cum-exit of the passage along with block diagram. Two similar sections detect interruption of the IR beam and generate clock pulse for the microcontroller. The microcontroller controls counting and displays the number of persons present inside the hall. Fig. 2 shows the circuit of the microcontroller-based visitor counter, wherein the transmitter and the receiver form the IR detection circuit.Control logic is built around transistors, operational amplifier LM324 (IC1) and flip-flop (IC2). When nobody is passing through the entry/exit point, the IR beam continuously falls on phototransistor T1. Phototransistor T1 conducts and the high voltage at its emitter drives transistor T3 into saturation, which makes pin 3 of comparator N1 low and finally output pin 1 of comparator N1 is high. Now if someone enters the place, first the IR beam from IR TX1 is interrupted and then the IR beam from IR TX2. When the beam from IR TX1 is interrupted, phototransistor T1 and transistor T3 cut-off and pin 3 of comparator N1 goes high.The low output (pin 1) of comparator N1 provides negative trigger pulse to pin 1 of J-K flip-flop IC2(A). At this moment, the high input at J and K w w w. e f y m ag . co m 7 8 J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u ConstruCtion w w w. e f y m ag . co m e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 7 9 Fig. 2 Circuit of the microcontroller-based visitor counter ConstruCtion Fig. 3 Power supply circuit pins of flip-flop IC2(A) toggles its output to low. On the other hand, the low input at J and K pins of IC2(B) due to Fig. Pin clock pin 1 of configuration of L14F1 and IC2(A) and J intransistor 2N3904 put (pin 9) and K input (pin 12) of IC2(B) are connected to pin 1 of comparator N1. The negative-going pulse is applied to clock pin 6 of IC2(B) when the person interrupts the IR beam from IR TX2. There is no change in the output of IC2(B) flip-flop. This triggers the external interrupt INT0 (pin 12) of microcontroller AT89C52. The AT89C52 is an 8-bit microcontroller with 8 kB of flash-based program memory, 256 bytes of RAM, 32 input/output lines, three 16-bit timers/counters, on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry.A 12MHz crystal is used for providing clock. Ports 0, 1 and 2 are configured for 7-segment displays. Port-0 pin is externally pulled up with 10-kilo- ohm resistor network RNW1 because port0 is an 8-bit, open-drain, bidirectional, input/output (I/O) port. Port-1 and port-2 are 8-bit bidirectional I/O ports with internal pull-ups (no need of external pull-ups). Port pins 3. 0 and 3. 1 are configured to provide the set pulse to J-K flip-flops IC2(A) and IC2(B), respectively. External interrupts INT0 and INT1 receive the interrupt pulse when the person interrupts the IR beams.Resistor R9 and capacitor C5 provide power-on-reset pulse to the microcontroller. Switch S1 is used for manual reset. When the microcontroller is re- set, the flip-flops are brought in set state through the microcontroller at software run time by making their set pin high for a moment. The value of the counter increments by Fig. 5 An actual-size, single-side PCB for the microcontroller-based visitor 1 when the counter (Fig. 2) including its power supply (Fig. 3) interrupt service routine for INT0 is executed.The output of the corresponding J-K flip-flop is set t o high again by making its set input pin low through the microcontroller. The micro-controller is configured as a negative-edgetriggered interrupt sensor. Similarly, if somebody exits the place, first the IR beam from IR TX2 is interrupted and then the IR beam from IR TX1. When Fig. 6 Component layout for the PCB the beam from IR TX2 is interrupted, output pin provides clock pulse to pin 6 of J-K 7 of comparator N2 goes low. This flip-flop IC2(B). w w w. e f y m ag . co m 8 0 J a n ua ry 2 0 0 7 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u ConstruCtionAt this moment, the high input at J and K pins of flip-flop IC2(B) toggles its output to low. On the other hand, the low input at J and K pins of IC2(A) due to clock pin 6 of IC2(B) and J input (pin 4) and K input (pin 16) of IC2(A) are connected to pin 7 of comparator N2. The negative-going pulse is applied to clock pin 1 of IC2(A) when the person interrupts the IR beam from IR TX1. There is no change in the output of IC2(A) flip-flop. This trig gers the external interrupt INT1 (pin 13) of microcontroller AT89C52. The value of the counter decrements by 1 when interrupt service routine for INT1 is executed.The output of the corresponding J-K flip-flop is set to high again by making its set input pin low through the microcontroller. The circuit is powered by regulated 5V. Fig. 3 shows the circuit of the power supply. The AC mains is stepped down by transformer X1 to deliver secondary output of 7. 5V, 250mA, which is rectified by bridge rectifier BR1, filtered by capacitor C6 and regulated by IC 7805 (IC4). Capacitor C7 bypasses any ripple in the regulated output. 3) is shown in Fig. 5 and its component layout in Fig. 6. software The software for the visitor counter is written in C language and compiled using C51 Keil compiler.The demo version of this compiler is available for free on the website www. keil. com. It can compile programs up to 2 kB only, which is sufficient for writing most programs. EFY note. The source code a nd other relevant files of this article have been included in this months EFY-CD. construction An actual-size, single-side PCB for the microcontroller-based visitor counter (Fig. 2) including its power supply (Fig. visitor. c include int i=0,j,k,l,m,a=63,6,91,79,102,109,125,7,127,111 void enter (void) interrupt 0 i++ if(i999) i=999 P3_1=0 for(m=0m