Euthanasia Essay Example for Free

Euthanasia Essay For currency, this piece of news was published very soon after the mobile euthanasia clinics scheme started (stated in article that was cross-referenced: the Guardian) on Thursday 1 March 2012. Therefore, it is likely to be valid and updated till that point in time. However, as the article will not include any further developments since March 2012, there is a need to research as to whether there are more current reports on the issue in order to make a more informed decision on the issue. ] For relevance, this article tells us about a brand new option for euthanasia that is carried out through mobile clinics in the Netherlands. So far, euthanasia is legal in only the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia and Oregon in the USA. This can be seen as a ‘controversial’ new option that makes euthanasia even more accessible in the Netherlands. It raises questions whether this new ‘convenience’ could result in an abuse of the legislation with doctors and patients going too far. The debate over the whether it should be a right for people to choose when and how to die, with dignity, has been going on for a long time in many countries, especially in developed countries. This is also relevant to us locally as we have an ageing population in Singapore. Although we have other measures in place such as the Advanced Medical Directive, euthanasia has not been legalised in Singapore. With greater attention being given to palliative care in recent years, the different perspectives in the euthanasia debate around the world is not far removed from us. The question remains as to whether our society is ready for measures such as euthanasia. As for authority, this article is written by Anna Holligan from BBC News. BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the worlds largest broadcast news organisation. The BBC is required by its charter to be free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners. However, this has been challenged on a few occasions. On the whole, BBC News is still regarded as an objective source of news, as compared to papers subjected to political/commercial influence. In analysing accuracy, I found that the same news also appeared in The Huffington Post (US) and the Guardian (UK). NVVE (Dutch right-to-die organization) website (through Google translate). Please see the attached article from The Guardian as a cross-reference. At the same time, within the BBC article itself, the journalist had also listed quotes from the following: Mr Jan Suyver, one of the creators of the Levenseinde (Life End) units; NVVE (Dutch right-to-die organization); Bert Dorenbos, who represents the pro-life Dutch Cry for Life campaign group and The Royal Dutch Medical Association. In addition, the journalist gave statistics referring to the existing euthanasia law in the Netherlands, as well as findings from a report published by the commission on Assisted Dying in the UK. The information and quotes from these diverse sources (who offer different perspectives on the issue) strengthens the validity and reliability of the article. The purpose of this article is to inform readers about the new controversial option for euthanasia in the Netherlands. The intention to inform can be seen in the way the article presented the information in an objective manner. Perspectives of both the pro-euthanasia camp and the anti-euthanasia camp were highlighted, without the article being skewed in favour of either of them. Therefore, I think this is quite a balanced and reliable article.

Development of College Announcement Notification System

Development of College Announcement Notification System Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction This project proposal is created to propose an IT solution to the student of Sunway University. The main point that the author want to highlight is regarding the efficiencies for student in Sunway University. An example, inefficiencies that occur in posting the announcement that is post on the website or in the notice board, it is hard to inform to the student and also the staff may also forget to post the announcement that will inconvenient for the student itself. In order to solve those problems, the author proposed to create a website as a third party for the staff to post the announcement. The author feel that only a website is very simple and common nowadays, so to improve the effectiveness and give more efficiency, a SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature is added to the system. Every announcement is posted by the SCT Staffs in the website, a SMS notification will be sent to the student that already registered to the website. The content of the SMS just a brief notification abou t the title of the event, venue and time, for more brief detail the students can refer to the website. Other way to notify the students is used Email as an instant notifier, but consider using email as an instant notifier is not really effective because students didnt open their email every day but using the SMS as the instant notifier to notify the students are more effective because most of the student is own and bring their own cell phone, therefore the MS as an instant notifier is more appropriate. Since the advancement of the technology nowadays, using this system will help in reduce the paper usage. Project Objective To give efficiencies for staff of Sunway University who want to post announcement. To use SMS as an instant notifier, for example every announcement post on the website the student will receive a SMS about the annoncement. In long term of view, this system will help in notify student about things that happen in college. Project Scope To become the most useful media for announcement notification. When the system is run it involves the Sunway University students and staffs that want to use the service. The user of the system should be students of Sunway University and staffs. All users that want to use the system have to become member. Methodology Methodology is a formalized approach to implement the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle). There are many different systems development methodologies, and each one is unique based on the order and focus it places on each SDLC phase. Some methodologies are formal standards used y government agencies, while others have been developed by consulting firms to sell to client. Many organizations have internal methodologies that have been honed over the years, and they explain exactly how each phase of the SDLC is to be performed in that company. There are many ways to categorize methodologies. One way is looking at whether they focus on business process or the data that support the business. There are three types of system development methodologies, it is called Structured Design, RAD (Rapid Application Development), and Agile Development. Types of Software Development Methodologies Structured Design This is the first type of system development, it is introduced in 1980s. This methodology adopts the formal step by step approach to the SDLC, it moves logically from one phase to another phase. Waterfall Model This is the original structured design of methodology, with this methodology, the analyst and users proceed in sequence from one phase to the next phase. The key deliverables for each phase are typically very long and are presented to the project sponsor for approval as the project moves from phase to phase. This methodology is referred to as waterfall development because it moves forward from phase to phase in the same manner as a waterfall. Advantages of using waterfall model: It identifies system requirements long before programming begins It minimizes changes to the requirements as the project proceeds. Disadvantages of using waterfall model: The design must be completely specified before programming begins This model required significant rework, if there is a changes in the business environment, in order to going back to the initial phase need to go through each of the subsequent phase in return. Parallel Development This model of methodology attempts to address the problem of long delay between analysis phase and the delivery of the system. Instead of doing design and implementation in sequence, it performs a general design for the whole system and then divides the project into a series of distinct subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel. Once all subprojects are complete, there is a final integration of the separate pieces, and the system is delivered. Advantage of using parallel model: It can reduce the schedule time to deliver a system There is less chance of changes in the business environment causing rework Disadvantage of using parallel model: The approach still suffers from problem caused by paper documents It adds new problem, sometimes subprojects arent completely independent; design decisions made in one subproject may affect another subprojects Phased Development In this model, the overall system is divided into a series of version that are developed sequentially. The analysis phase identifies the overall system concept, and the project team, users and system sponsors then categorize the requirement into a series of version. Advantage of using phased model: Quickly getting a useful system into the hands of the users While the system does not perform all the functions the users need at first, it does begin to provide business value sooner than if the system were delivered after completion, as is the case with waterfall or parallel methodology. Disadvantage of using phased model: The users begin to work with the systems that are intentionally incomplete, it is critical to identify the most important and useful feature and include them in the first version, while managing users expectation along the way. Prototyping In this model, it performs the analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently, and all the three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed. In this methodology, the basics of analysis and design are performed, and work immediately begins on a system prototype, a â€Å"quick and dirty† program that provides a minimal amount of features. Advantage of using prototyping model: It is very quickly provides a system for the users to interact with, even it is not ready for widespread organizational use at first. Reassure the users that the project team is working on the system Helps to more quickly refine real requirements rather than attempting to understand a system specification on paper, the user can interact with the prototype to better understand what it can do and cannot do. Disadvantage of using prototyping model: Its fast paced system releases challenge attempts to conduct careful, methodical analysis. This can cause problems in the development of complex systems because fundamental issues and problems are not recognized until well into the development process. Software Development Methodology Comparison After do research about the types of methodology that is appropriate to be used into the project. The author compared the 4 types of methodology that is compatible with the current development. The following table is the result of using the described methodology to the project. System Characteristic Waterfall Parallel Phased Prototyping Unclear User Requirement Poor Poor Good Excellent Unfamiliar Technology Poor Poor Good Poor Complexity of the System Good Good Good Poor Reliability of the System Good Good Good Poor Short Time Schedule Poor Good Excellent Excellent Schedule Visibility Poor Poor Excellent Excellent Table 1 Methodology Comparison Selecting the appropriate Methodology According to the project objective that the author proposed, author analyze each methodology that is already been researched. The author decides to use the Phased Methodology. The main reason on why the author uses this methodology is because the author would develop this system all by himself and the project will be easier to be built phase by phase. Other considerations in choosing this model are: User Requirement: the requirement of the system is clear, which is to address the problem of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of conventional way in notify the student for announcement. Familiarity with Technology: for designing the website, PHP, VB.Net language technology is going to be used, since it is still in area of the author expertise. System Complexity: the complexity of this project is at medium level, since the author familiar with the technology used in the project so it is not really difficult. However the author still need to do research on certain area of technology, for this case the knowledge of SMS gateway, and how to integrate the web based system with the SMS gateway. Duration: the duration of developing the project is approximately 4 months in order to fully complete the project. Development Method: it is a web based application that is built using the PHP, and VB.NET as the programming language. Area of Research Certain areas that we research for this project are: How to create easy and manageable database system? What is SMS (Short Message Service) portal and SMS (Short Message Service) gateway? How to integrate web based system with SMS portal? How to create easy and manageable database system? This part is one of the crucial parts in order to make a good web based application system. Therefore, creating an easy and manageable database system is really important. The database system that the author used to manage the College Announcement System web based application is MySQL. Several reasons become the consideration of choosing the MySQL software are, first reason is because the main programming language system that the author built is using the PHP technology, and PHP language has an integrated connector that able to connect it to SQL. Second reason, MySQL is open source software so it is free for download, it is will help in determining the project cost development. There is other software which is better than MySQL but looked back at the scope of the project; this is just an undergraduate project, then the author decides that using MySQL software is a wiser choice. The third reason, the author already took the MySQL subject during the study in Sunway University College, which is still in the author expertise. However, if this system wants to be implemented into the real organization, further study to create easy and manageable design is needed. When the project is already on the run, this would be very beneficial in doing maintenance of the application system. How to integrate the Web based System with SMS portal? As most people known that SMS is the most famous service that a mobile phone give. It is a service where the users able to send short text message from a mobile phone to another mobile phone. Basically the SMS would not work with just the mobile phone itself, it I because the Mobile Phone Network Operator that give the service so the SMS can be delivered to the recipient by the help of the mobile phone device as the medium to type the message. The SMS can travel all the way from the sender device to the recipient device must go through a pathway through a network called SMSC (Short Message Service Centre). SMSC works as a hardware that stores the SMS that is sent from a mobile phone then forward it again to the recipient. From the early of 1990s, the era when the first SMS is sent through the network using the mobile phone device. Nowadays with the advancement of the technology, SMS not only can be done through using mobile phone but can be integrated in other application such as web based application system, using the SMS gateway technology. However, the SMS that is sent still have to go through SMSC, which is still needed to use the SIM Card that is given by the mobile network operator. SMS gateway act as a bridge the platform that cannot use the mobile phone SIM Card to use the mobile service by using the GSM modem, in this case the mobile service is to send the SMS. The mobile SIM Card will be inserted into the GSM modem. GSM modem will act as the third party to connect to the SMSC. The web based application store the message that will be sent into the database, and the GSM will retrieve the data from the database and ready to send the SMS to the destination number. The basic function of SMS and e mail is the same, for email the sender need to enter the destination email and for SMS the sender need to enter the destination phone number. The difference is why SMS is more popular than email is because it is mobile and user can send and receive SMS wherever they are. The mobile advantage of using SMS is the reason that makes the author choose the SMS application system to be added into the College Announcement Notification system instead of using email. Another reason the author choose to use SMS is because most of the students in Sunway didnt have mobile phone that can handles in receiving and sending email, but most of the students have mobile phone that enable them to send and receive SMS. Therefore, using the SMS as additional software into College Announcement Notification system is the best choice, and the author also learn to use the GSM modem and the implementation of it into the system. Software / Hardware Requirements In order to make this project successful there are some hardware and software which is required to use in order to complete the project are: Software and Hardware requirement to develop the system. Software: SQL YOG: is the database software that the author chose to be implemented inside the College Announcement Notification system. SQL Yog had the user friendly interface and it is open source software. XAMPP: this software is applied as the localhost to compile the web based application. Adobe Dreamweaver: is the software that makes it easier to edit the coding for PHP, JAVA. Hardware: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD Software and Hardware Requirement to run the system. User Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD User Side Software Requirement: Web browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc Server Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD GSM Modem Server Side Software Requirement: Adobe Dreamweaver SQL Yog Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc XAMPP Server side software requirement is needed to do the regular maintenance on the system. The development software might be needed to fix error that might be occurred when the system on the run. Chapter 2: Literature Review Literature Review Literature Review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that is currently undergo. The author currently did a project; College Announcement Notification System is the project. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application system, which is proposed as a solution to Sunway University College regarding the poor information flow in Sunway University College especially School of Computer Technology. The author chose to propose the solution only to School of Computer Technology because of the course that currently taken is under it. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application, it is hoped the system would work perfectly and increasing the information flow within School of Computer Technology (SCT). The users of the system able to access the College Announcement Notification System via laptop or PC, as long there is an internet connection. The author think if it just a normal website, there is no uniqueness that makes my project different than the others. After doing research, the author decided to add the SMS feature as the instant notification system. Integrate the system with SMS feature; means need to deal with SMS gateway. The author aware that using the SMS feature is almost the same like adding the Email as the instant notification where the system is able to send automatically the posted announcement that is already posted in the website. Email is an electronic mail that worked same like a normal mail, where the users need to write the content of the letter, after that the address of the recipient is a must for the users to add. Email enables users to send and receive electronically over the internet. SMS and Email basically is the same, it contains text and to send it need to know the exact recipient email address for email and phone number for SMS. There are many email server company that is give services for the users to send and receive email such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Go ogle Mail, etc. There is also an application that handles email such as Microsoft Outlook. Some advantages that email could give are emails is free for users to use like send and receive mail, it can contains richer message contents than the conventional mail did. However from the advantages that an email, there are also a few disadvantages of emails. With the advancement of the technology nowadays, the previous email only can sent the words but nowadays, users can sent not only words but can attach richer media such as picture, video, file, etc. This advantages of email were misused by some people, it enable them to send virus, malicious software, spam that can harm the recipients PC or laptop. In order to overcome this security issue, the email provider companies try many ways to increase the security but the spammer can overcome the security and still sent the spam email that may contain virus and malicious software. Using the email as an instant notification to the College Announcement Notification System is a good choice but users may not open their own email daily, usually users open their email whenever the feel like to open it. Therefore, the author proposed to use the SMS system as the instant notification. There are few reasons that become the considerations of choosing SMS to be implemented. First reason, the project is a notification system so SMS is the best choice because after the sender sent it then the recipients received it in instant. Second reason, if using email the recipients of the email need to open their own laptop or PC, and then open the email service web page, it will takes time and not instant. Most of the students nowadays had their own mobile phone and they carry their mobile phone everywhere they go, so it is one of the reason why the author choose to use SMS as an instant notification. Mobile phone user aware that open a SMS is faster than open an Email. Nowadays, ma ny mobile phone producers now produced a new mobile phone that can handles in send or receive an email. However mobile phone that can handles send and receive email is still too expensive for the most of the mobile phone users only a few that can afford that. But if the SMS only, most of the mobile phone users able to send and receive that because it is the basic function that the mobile phone offer. SMS (Short Messaging Service) As most people known, SMS is a protocol used in communication that gives way to exchange of short message from one mobile phone to another mobile phone (tech-faq.com, 2009). Nowadays mobile phone takes an important part because it provides connections to the others that in the past impossible to do. The main usage of the mobile phone is to enable users to make a phone call wherever and whenever they are, beside used to call others; other main function of mobile phone that is growing rapidly is the usage of SMS service. SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and receiving of messages between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standards right at the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and SMS standards. As suggested by the name Short Message Service, the data that can be held by an SMS message is very limited. One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS message can contain up to: 160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets.) 70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese characters should use 16-bit character encoding.) SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone with SMS messages. One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS messaging service. Unlike SMS, mobile technologies such as WAP and mobile Java are not supported on many old mobile phone models. (developershome.com, 2008) Usage of SMS As the mobile voice communication market approaches saturation, carriers are focusing on messaging as crucial value -added service to garner more mobile subscribers and generate greater market revenue. Specifically, SMS (Short Messaging Service) is emerging as one of the most important asynchronous communication that carriers provide. It is projected that in 2009 U.S subscribers will send over 126 billion messages via their mobile phone device, generating $8.6 billion revenues (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). Nowadays, people are presented with a wide variety of communication media such as email, instant messaging (IM), etc. To date, most researchers have focused on the use of SMS by teenager and young adult. Recently as SMS become the needs in our daily lives, older people also recognized the convenience of using SMS. It has been reported that over 74% of the mobile phone users worldwide is using SMS text messaging (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). How does the SMS works? Even if you are not talking on your cell phone, your phone is constantly sending and receiving information. It is talking to its cell phone tower over a pathway called acontrol channel. The reason for this chatter is so that the cell phone system knows which cell your phone is in, and so that your phone can change cells as you move around. Every so often, your phone and the tower will exchange a packetof data that lets both of them know that everything is OK. Your phone also uses the control channel for call setup. When someone tries to call you, the tower sends your phone a message over the control channel that tells your phone to play itsringtone. The tower also gives your phone a pair of voice channel frequencies to use for the call. The control channel also provides the pathway for SMS messages. When a friend sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the SMSC, then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination. (howstuffworks.com, 2005) The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives and sends short messages. The SME was sent to the SMSC.TheSMSC (Short Message Service Center)is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. After receiving the SME, then SMSC sent the SME to the SMS GMSC. TheSMS GMSC(SMS gateway MSC (Mobile Switching Center)) is a gateway so that MSC that can also receive short messages. The gateway MSC is a mobile networks point of contact with other networks. On receiving the short message from the short message center, GMSC uses the SS7 network to interrogate the current position of the mobile station form the HLR, the home location register. HLRis the main database in a mobile network. It holds information of the subscription profile of the mobile and also about the routing information for the subscriber, i.e. the area (covered by a MSC) where the mobile is currently situated. The GMSC is thus able to pass on the message to the correct MSC. MSC(Mobile Switching Center) is the entity in a GSM network which does the job of switching connections between mobile stations or between mobile stations and the fixed network. AVLR(Visitor Location Register) corresponds to each MSC and contains temporary information about the mobile, information like mobile identification and the cell (or a group of cells) where the mobile is currently situated. Using information from the VLR the MSC is able to switch the information (short message) to the corresponding BSS (Base Station System, BSC + BTSs), which transmits the short message to the mobile. The BSS consists of transceivers, which send and receive information over the air interface, to and from the mobile station. This information is passed over the signaling channels so the mobile can receive messages even if a voice or data call is going on. (logixmobile.com) How to send SMS using a computer? After done some research about how the SMS works, there are several ways in sending SMS using computer, they are (developershome.com, 2008): Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and VB commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS message. Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway. Connection between mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to computer using VB command for sent SMS A GSM/GPRS modem is a wireless modem that works with GSM/GPRS wireless networks. A wireless modem is similar to a dial-up modem. The main difference is that a wireless modem transmits data through a wireless network whereas a dial-up modem transmits data through a copper telephone line. To send SMS messages, first place a valid SIM card from a wireless carrier into a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem, which is then connected to a computer. There are several ways to connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer. For example, they can be connected through a serial cable, a USB cable, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link. The actual way to use depends on the capability of the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem. After connecting a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer, you can control the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem by sending instructions to it. The instructions used for controlling the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem are called by using VB commands. The above figure showed the process of sending SMS using the VB application. In this case, the system that the author developed is using PHP that act as the third party to store the announcement data inside the database. After finish with the stored announcement, VB application is used to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. As shown in the figure above, VB application will retrieve the stored data that will be sent as SMS. Then after retrieving the data, it will be sent to through SMS gateway until it arrived in the hand of the recipient. One of the benefits from using the VB application to send SMS is users will have a very reliable notification system, because before sending SMS intended recipient can be configured so it is received at the intended recipient. Using a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages has a major drawback, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. Only 6-10 SMS messages can be sent per minute (when the SMS over GSM mode is used). The performance is not affected by the connection between the computer and the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is connected to the computer through a serial cable, USB cable, Bluetooth link or infrared link) and does not depend on whether a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is used (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter a mobile phone or a GSM/GPRS modem is used). The determining factor for the SMS sending rate is the wireless network. (developershome.com, 2008) Send SMS from Computer through SMS Gateway The way for sending SMS messages from a computer through a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem has a major limitation, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. If you need a high SMS sending rate, obtaining a direct connection to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier is necessary. It can be difficult for small businesses or individual application developers to obtain a direct connection to the SMSC or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier since a wireless carrier may only provide such service to those who have huge SMS traffic. Buying SMS messages in bulk means the total fee will be very high (although the fee per SMS message will be low). (deve Development of College Announcement Notification System Development of College Announcement Notification System Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction This project proposal is created to propose an IT solution to the student of Sunway University. The main point that the author want to highlight is regarding the efficiencies for student in Sunway University. An example, inefficiencies that occur in posting the announcement that is post on the website or in the notice board, it is hard to inform to the student and also the staff may also forget to post the announcement that will inconvenient for the student itself. In order to solve those problems, the author proposed to create a website as a third party for the staff to post the announcement. The author feel that only a website is very simple and common nowadays, so to improve the effectiveness and give more efficiency, a SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature is added to the system. Every announcement is posted by the SCT Staffs in the website, a SMS notification will be sent to the student that already registered to the website. The content of the SMS just a brief notification abou t the title of the event, venue and time, for more brief detail the students can refer to the website. Other way to notify the students is used Email as an instant notifier, but consider using email as an instant notifier is not really effective because students didnt open their email every day but using the SMS as the instant notifier to notify the students are more effective because most of the student is own and bring their own cell phone, therefore the MS as an instant notifier is more appropriate. Since the advancement of the technology nowadays, using this system will help in reduce the paper usage. Project Objective To give efficiencies for staff of Sunway University who want to post announcement. To use SMS as an instant notifier, for example every announcement post on the website the student will receive a SMS about the annoncement. In long term of view, this system will help in notify student about things that happen in college. Project Scope To become the most useful media for announcement notification. When the system is run it involves the Sunway University students and staffs that want to use the service. The user of the system should be students of Sunway University and staffs. All users that want to use the system have to become member. Methodology Methodology is a formalized approach to implement the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle). There are many different systems development methodologies, and each one is unique based on the order and focus it places on each SDLC phase. Some methodologies are formal standards used y government agencies, while others have been developed by consulting firms to sell to client. Many organizations have internal methodologies that have been honed over the years, and they explain exactly how each phase of the SDLC is to be performed in that company. There are many ways to categorize methodologies. One way is looking at whether they focus on business process or the data that support the business. There are three types of system development methodologies, it is called Structured Design, RAD (Rapid Application Development), and Agile Development. Types of Software Development Methodologies Structured Design This is the first type of system development, it is introduced in 1980s. This methodology adopts the formal step by step approach to the SDLC, it moves logically from one phase to another phase. Waterfall Model This is the original structured design of methodology, with this methodology, the analyst and users proceed in sequence from one phase to the next phase. The key deliverables for each phase are typically very long and are presented to the project sponsor for approval as the project moves from phase to phase. This methodology is referred to as waterfall development because it moves forward from phase to phase in the same manner as a waterfall. Advantages of using waterfall model: It identifies system requirements long before programming begins It minimizes changes to the requirements as the project proceeds. Disadvantages of using waterfall model: The design must be completely specified before programming begins This model required significant rework, if there is a changes in the business environment, in order to going back to the initial phase need to go through each of the subsequent phase in return. Parallel Development This model of methodology attempts to address the problem of long delay between analysis phase and the delivery of the system. Instead of doing design and implementation in sequence, it performs a general design for the whole system and then divides the project into a series of distinct subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel. Once all subprojects are complete, there is a final integration of the separate pieces, and the system is delivered. Advantage of using parallel model: It can reduce the schedule time to deliver a system There is less chance of changes in the business environment causing rework Disadvantage of using parallel model: The approach still suffers from problem caused by paper documents It adds new problem, sometimes subprojects arent completely independent; design decisions made in one subproject may affect another subprojects Phased Development In this model, the overall system is divided into a series of version that are developed sequentially. The analysis phase identifies the overall system concept, and the project team, users and system sponsors then categorize the requirement into a series of version. Advantage of using phased model: Quickly getting a useful system into the hands of the users While the system does not perform all the functions the users need at first, it does begin to provide business value sooner than if the system were delivered after completion, as is the case with waterfall or parallel methodology. Disadvantage of using phased model: The users begin to work with the systems that are intentionally incomplete, it is critical to identify the most important and useful feature and include them in the first version, while managing users expectation along the way. Prototyping In this model, it performs the analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently, and all the three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed. In this methodology, the basics of analysis and design are performed, and work immediately begins on a system prototype, a â€Å"quick and dirty† program that provides a minimal amount of features. Advantage of using prototyping model: It is very quickly provides a system for the users to interact with, even it is not ready for widespread organizational use at first. Reassure the users that the project team is working on the system Helps to more quickly refine real requirements rather than attempting to understand a system specification on paper, the user can interact with the prototype to better understand what it can do and cannot do. Disadvantage of using prototyping model: Its fast paced system releases challenge attempts to conduct careful, methodical analysis. This can cause problems in the development of complex systems because fundamental issues and problems are not recognized until well into the development process. Software Development Methodology Comparison After do research about the types of methodology that is appropriate to be used into the project. The author compared the 4 types of methodology that is compatible with the current development. The following table is the result of using the described methodology to the project. System Characteristic Waterfall Parallel Phased Prototyping Unclear User Requirement Poor Poor Good Excellent Unfamiliar Technology Poor Poor Good Poor Complexity of the System Good Good Good Poor Reliability of the System Good Good Good Poor Short Time Schedule Poor Good Excellent Excellent Schedule Visibility Poor Poor Excellent Excellent Table 1 Methodology Comparison Selecting the appropriate Methodology According to the project objective that the author proposed, author analyze each methodology that is already been researched. The author decides to use the Phased Methodology. The main reason on why the author uses this methodology is because the author would develop this system all by himself and the project will be easier to be built phase by phase. Other considerations in choosing this model are: User Requirement: the requirement of the system is clear, which is to address the problem of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of conventional way in notify the student for announcement. Familiarity with Technology: for designing the website, PHP, VB.Net language technology is going to be used, since it is still in area of the author expertise. System Complexity: the complexity of this project is at medium level, since the author familiar with the technology used in the project so it is not really difficult. However the author still need to do research on certain area of technology, for this case the knowledge of SMS gateway, and how to integrate the web based system with the SMS gateway. Duration: the duration of developing the project is approximately 4 months in order to fully complete the project. Development Method: it is a web based application that is built using the PHP, and VB.NET as the programming language. Area of Research Certain areas that we research for this project are: How to create easy and manageable database system? What is SMS (Short Message Service) portal and SMS (Short Message Service) gateway? How to integrate web based system with SMS portal? How to create easy and manageable database system? This part is one of the crucial parts in order to make a good web based application system. Therefore, creating an easy and manageable database system is really important. The database system that the author used to manage the College Announcement System web based application is MySQL. Several reasons become the consideration of choosing the MySQL software are, first reason is because the main programming language system that the author built is using the PHP technology, and PHP language has an integrated connector that able to connect it to SQL. Second reason, MySQL is open source software so it is free for download, it is will help in determining the project cost development. There is other software which is better than MySQL but looked back at the scope of the project; this is just an undergraduate project, then the author decides that using MySQL software is a wiser choice. The third reason, the author already took the MySQL subject during the study in Sunway University College, which is still in the author expertise. However, if this system wants to be implemented into the real organization, further study to create easy and manageable design is needed. When the project is already on the run, this would be very beneficial in doing maintenance of the application system. How to integrate the Web based System with SMS portal? As most people known that SMS is the most famous service that a mobile phone give. It is a service where the users able to send short text message from a mobile phone to another mobile phone. Basically the SMS would not work with just the mobile phone itself, it I because the Mobile Phone Network Operator that give the service so the SMS can be delivered to the recipient by the help of the mobile phone device as the medium to type the message. The SMS can travel all the way from the sender device to the recipient device must go through a pathway through a network called SMSC (Short Message Service Centre). SMSC works as a hardware that stores the SMS that is sent from a mobile phone then forward it again to the recipient. From the early of 1990s, the era when the first SMS is sent through the network using the mobile phone device. Nowadays with the advancement of the technology, SMS not only can be done through using mobile phone but can be integrated in other application such as web based application system, using the SMS gateway technology. However, the SMS that is sent still have to go through SMSC, which is still needed to use the SIM Card that is given by the mobile network operator. SMS gateway act as a bridge the platform that cannot use the mobile phone SIM Card to use the mobile service by using the GSM modem, in this case the mobile service is to send the SMS. The mobile SIM Card will be inserted into the GSM modem. GSM modem will act as the third party to connect to the SMSC. The web based application store the message that will be sent into the database, and the GSM will retrieve the data from the database and ready to send the SMS to the destination number. The basic function of SMS and e mail is the same, for email the sender need to enter the destination email and for SMS the sender need to enter the destination phone number. The difference is why SMS is more popular than email is because it is mobile and user can send and receive SMS wherever they are. The mobile advantage of using SMS is the reason that makes the author choose the SMS application system to be added into the College Announcement Notification system instead of using email. Another reason the author choose to use SMS is because most of the students in Sunway didnt have mobile phone that can handles in receiving and sending email, but most of the students have mobile phone that enable them to send and receive SMS. Therefore, using the SMS as additional software into College Announcement Notification system is the best choice, and the author also learn to use the GSM modem and the implementation of it into the system. Software / Hardware Requirements In order to make this project successful there are some hardware and software which is required to use in order to complete the project are: Software and Hardware requirement to develop the system. Software: SQL YOG: is the database software that the author chose to be implemented inside the College Announcement Notification system. SQL Yog had the user friendly interface and it is open source software. XAMPP: this software is applied as the localhost to compile the web based application. Adobe Dreamweaver: is the software that makes it easier to edit the coding for PHP, JAVA. Hardware: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD Software and Hardware Requirement to run the system. User Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD User Side Software Requirement: Web browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc Server Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD GSM Modem Server Side Software Requirement: Adobe Dreamweaver SQL Yog Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc XAMPP Server side software requirement is needed to do the regular maintenance on the system. The development software might be needed to fix error that might be occurred when the system on the run. Chapter 2: Literature Review Literature Review Literature Review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that is currently undergo. The author currently did a project; College Announcement Notification System is the project. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application system, which is proposed as a solution to Sunway University College regarding the poor information flow in Sunway University College especially School of Computer Technology. The author chose to propose the solution only to School of Computer Technology because of the course that currently taken is under it. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application, it is hoped the system would work perfectly and increasing the information flow within School of Computer Technology (SCT). The users of the system able to access the College Announcement Notification System via laptop or PC, as long there is an internet connection. The author think if it just a normal website, there is no uniqueness that makes my project different than the others. After doing research, the author decided to add the SMS feature as the instant notification system. Integrate the system with SMS feature; means need to deal with SMS gateway. The author aware that using the SMS feature is almost the same like adding the Email as the instant notification where the system is able to send automatically the posted announcement that is already posted in the website. Email is an electronic mail that worked same like a normal mail, where the users need to write the content of the letter, after that the address of the recipient is a must for the users to add. Email enables users to send and receive electronically over the internet. SMS and Email basically is the same, it contains text and to send it need to know the exact recipient email address for email and phone number for SMS. There are many email server company that is give services for the users to send and receive email such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Go ogle Mail, etc. There is also an application that handles email such as Microsoft Outlook. Some advantages that email could give are emails is free for users to use like send and receive mail, it can contains richer message contents than the conventional mail did. However from the advantages that an email, there are also a few disadvantages of emails. With the advancement of the technology nowadays, the previous email only can sent the words but nowadays, users can sent not only words but can attach richer media such as picture, video, file, etc. This advantages of email were misused by some people, it enable them to send virus, malicious software, spam that can harm the recipients PC or laptop. In order to overcome this security issue, the email provider companies try many ways to increase the security but the spammer can overcome the security and still sent the spam email that may contain virus and malicious software. Using the email as an instant notification to the College Announcement Notification System is a good choice but users may not open their own email daily, usually users open their email whenever the feel like to open it. Therefore, the author proposed to use the SMS system as the instant notification. There are few reasons that become the considerations of choosing SMS to be implemented. First reason, the project is a notification system so SMS is the best choice because after the sender sent it then the recipients received it in instant. Second reason, if using email the recipients of the email need to open their own laptop or PC, and then open the email service web page, it will takes time and not instant. Most of the students nowadays had their own mobile phone and they carry their mobile phone everywhere they go, so it is one of the reason why the author choose to use SMS as an instant notification. Mobile phone user aware that open a SMS is faster than open an Email. Nowadays, ma ny mobile phone producers now produced a new mobile phone that can handles in send or receive an email. However mobile phone that can handles send and receive email is still too expensive for the most of the mobile phone users only a few that can afford that. But if the SMS only, most of the mobile phone users able to send and receive that because it is the basic function that the mobile phone offer. SMS (Short Messaging Service) As most people known, SMS is a protocol used in communication that gives way to exchange of short message from one mobile phone to another mobile phone (tech-faq.com, 2009). Nowadays mobile phone takes an important part because it provides connections to the others that in the past impossible to do. The main usage of the mobile phone is to enable users to make a phone call wherever and whenever they are, beside used to call others; other main function of mobile phone that is growing rapidly is the usage of SMS service. SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and receiving of messages between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standards right at the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and SMS standards. As suggested by the name Short Message Service, the data that can be held by an SMS message is very limited. One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS message can contain up to: 160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets.) 70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese characters should use 16-bit character encoding.) SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone with SMS messages. One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS messaging service. Unlike SMS, mobile technologies such as WAP and mobile Java are not supported on many old mobile phone models. (developershome.com, 2008) Usage of SMS As the mobile voice communication market approaches saturation, carriers are focusing on messaging as crucial value -added service to garner more mobile subscribers and generate greater market revenue. Specifically, SMS (Short Messaging Service) is emerging as one of the most important asynchronous communication that carriers provide. It is projected that in 2009 U.S subscribers will send over 126 billion messages via their mobile phone device, generating $8.6 billion revenues (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). Nowadays, people are presented with a wide variety of communication media such as email, instant messaging (IM), etc. To date, most researchers have focused on the use of SMS by teenager and young adult. Recently as SMS become the needs in our daily lives, older people also recognized the convenience of using SMS. It has been reported that over 74% of the mobile phone users worldwide is using SMS text messaging (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). How does the SMS works? Even if you are not talking on your cell phone, your phone is constantly sending and receiving information. It is talking to its cell phone tower over a pathway called acontrol channel. The reason for this chatter is so that the cell phone system knows which cell your phone is in, and so that your phone can change cells as you move around. Every so often, your phone and the tower will exchange a packetof data that lets both of them know that everything is OK. Your phone also uses the control channel for call setup. When someone tries to call you, the tower sends your phone a message over the control channel that tells your phone to play itsringtone. The tower also gives your phone a pair of voice channel frequencies to use for the call. The control channel also provides the pathway for SMS messages. When a friend sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the SMSC, then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination. (howstuffworks.com, 2005) The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives and sends short messages. The SME was sent to the SMSC.TheSMSC (Short Message Service Center)is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. After receiving the SME, then SMSC sent the SME to the SMS GMSC. TheSMS GMSC(SMS gateway MSC (Mobile Switching Center)) is a gateway so that MSC that can also receive short messages. The gateway MSC is a mobile networks point of contact with other networks. On receiving the short message from the short message center, GMSC uses the SS7 network to interrogate the current position of the mobile station form the HLR, the home location register. HLRis the main database in a mobile network. It holds information of the subscription profile of the mobile and also about the routing information for the subscriber, i.e. the area (covered by a MSC) where the mobile is currently situated. The GMSC is thus able to pass on the message to the correct MSC. MSC(Mobile Switching Center) is the entity in a GSM network which does the job of switching connections between mobile stations or between mobile stations and the fixed network. AVLR(Visitor Location Register) corresponds to each MSC and contains temporary information about the mobile, information like mobile identification and the cell (or a group of cells) where the mobile is currently situated. Using information from the VLR the MSC is able to switch the information (short message) to the corresponding BSS (Base Station System, BSC + BTSs), which transmits the short message to the mobile. The BSS consists of transceivers, which send and receive information over the air interface, to and from the mobile station. This information is passed over the signaling channels so the mobile can receive messages even if a voice or data call is going on. (logixmobile.com) How to send SMS using a computer? After done some research about how the SMS works, there are several ways in sending SMS using computer, they are (developershome.com, 2008): Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and VB commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS message. Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway. Connection between mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to computer using VB command for sent SMS A GSM/GPRS modem is a wireless modem that works with GSM/GPRS wireless networks. A wireless modem is similar to a dial-up modem. The main difference is that a wireless modem transmits data through a wireless network whereas a dial-up modem transmits data through a copper telephone line. To send SMS messages, first place a valid SIM card from a wireless carrier into a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem, which is then connected to a computer. There are several ways to connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer. For example, they can be connected through a serial cable, a USB cable, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link. The actual way to use depends on the capability of the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem. After connecting a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer, you can control the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem by sending instructions to it. The instructions used for controlling the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem are called by using VB commands. The above figure showed the process of sending SMS using the VB application. In this case, the system that the author developed is using PHP that act as the third party to store the announcement data inside the database. After finish with the stored announcement, VB application is used to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. As shown in the figure above, VB application will retrieve the stored data that will be sent as SMS. Then after retrieving the data, it will be sent to through SMS gateway until it arrived in the hand of the recipient. One of the benefits from using the VB application to send SMS is users will have a very reliable notification system, because before sending SMS intended recipient can be configured so it is received at the intended recipient. Using a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages has a major drawback, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. Only 6-10 SMS messages can be sent per minute (when the SMS over GSM mode is used). The performance is not affected by the connection between the computer and the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is connected to the computer through a serial cable, USB cable, Bluetooth link or infrared link) and does not depend on whether a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is used (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter a mobile phone or a GSM/GPRS modem is used). The determining factor for the SMS sending rate is the wireless network. (developershome.com, 2008) Send SMS from Computer through SMS Gateway The way for sending SMS messages from a computer through a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem has a major limitation, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. If you need a high SMS sending rate, obtaining a direct connection to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier is necessary. It can be difficult for small businesses or individual application developers to obtain a direct connection to the SMSC or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier since a wireless carrier may only provide such service to those who have huge SMS traffic. Buying SMS messages in bulk means the total fee will be very high (although the fee per SMS message will be low). (deve

Reflection On Nature And Nurture Philosophy Essay

Reflection On Nature And Nurture Philosophy Essay The theme of Nurture v. Nature is a topic of heated debates. Different scientists in many branches of science still can not find agreement about the degree of influence of hereditary and social factors on human development. Carolyn Csongradi in her article Why the Topic of Bioethics in Science Classes? explores this theme and gives her opinion on the topic. The author investigates how relation between nature and nurture influence thinking processes. The research is very interesting because the process of human thinking and cognition is another object of controversy and heated debates and the author unites two interesting and controversial topics in one article. In the first part of the article she explores different approaches to the problem of nature v. nurture influence. The author of the article explores different theories which investigate the relation between hereditary and social influence. The article is interesting because the author gives arguments from different field of human science. She approaches the problem from different perspectives and this gives the readers opportunity to get a detailed information on the topic. Those who believe that hereditary factors have greater influence on human development believe that genetic information determine human personalities and behavior. Of course some behavioral patterns may be nurtured but still major influence belongs to hereditary factors. According to evolutionary approach our knowledge and reactions are inborn but they may be modified by upbringing and society. Evolutionists believe that the most important knowledge about the world is selected by natural selection and passed through time and generation. This kind of information helps different spices to survive. According to Darwin, the founder of the Evolutionary Theory, instincts which are useful for the survival of the entire spice are more valuable and that is the reason why some behavioral patterns became suitable for the life in the society. During the 1800s, Charles Darwin speculated that certain rules for conflict arbitration were needed at the point in time when a species evolved a longer mem ory, a keener imagination and became involved in social contracts. For example, a bird, which could leave an active nest to migrate with her group, choosing that instinct over the one to nurture, would find this choice too difficult with a better memory (Csongradi). Neurological studies described by the author of the article show that nature prevails over nutrition. As an example the author speaks about the research of Oliver Sacks, who investigated behavior of savants people with extraordinary artistic abilities. Oliver Sacks finally came to the conclusion that surrounding has little influence on the abilities of these people. They are not dependant on the things which surround them and on the people around them. Then the author turns to philosophical investigation on the topic. The author turns to the opinion of outstanding philosophers, such as Hume and Kant, who underlined the important role of hereditary factors in human behavior and development. Kant believed we inherited certain categories or concept grids on which experiences could be sorted or organized (Csongradi). Freud, famous behaviorist and the founder of psychoanalysis, also believed that nature became that factor which determined human behavior and reactions. Descartes, famous philosopher of the 16th century expressed even more radical view. He doubted the existence of any objects outside of human mind. The author of the article gives description of the simple experiment which proves that our reactions and perceptions are determined by our mind. This simple experiment very vividly illustrates that human mind determines our perception and experience. In this experiment three bowls of water are put on the table. One bowl of water is hot, another is very cold and the third one is tepid. The participant of the experiment puts one hand in the cold water and another hand in the hot one. After several minutes he places both hands in the bowl with tepid water. The sensations in two hands will be different. This experiment proves that human mind influences our perception of reality. The author also gives arguments against natural approach. As she states there exist values which are not necessary for the survival of the spice. Certain qualities were developed not only through natural selection process and this fact raises doubts concerning natural approach. Such qualities as altruism, truthfulness or justice contradict to natural approach because they are not always necessary for the survival of the spice. Some choices may even result in the death of an individual but still there are people who make these choices. Carolyn Csongradi made interesting investigation on the theme of relation between genetic and social influence on the development of human personality. In her article she provides information in interesting and convenient manner. Information is divided into subcategories which makes it convenient to get the authors idea. It is evident that Csongradi stands for natural approach. Her thesis is clearly formulated in the beginning of the article. She presents several groups of arguments in order to prove her position. These groups are: philosophical discussion, neurological studies, evolutionary view. These three sections present different kinds of proofs for the naturalistic approach. The author uses research data. She bases her conclusions on the research of the contemporary scholars. In addition, she addresses famous philosophers of the past in order to give proofs of her position. Csongradi descries neurological research and studies which give proofs to natural approach to the person ality formation. In addition, the author describes simple experiment with water which can also prove to which extend our perception is conditioned by our mind. Big number of references at the end of the article proves that the author addresses multiple sources in her research. At the end of the article Csongradi describes arguments of the opposing side. She gives data which does not fit smoothly into the theory of natural approach and evolutionary selection. She gives arguments which must provoke reader for their own reflections on the topic. In general, the article gives interesting and trustworthy data on the theme of natural and social influence on the individual. The article Why the Topic of Bioethics in Science Classes? A New Look at an Old Debate by Carolyn Csongradi can be found in the site of National Health Museum (http://www.accessexcellence.org). In these site specialists and researches in different fields of human knowledge discuss questions of human health, bioethics and other important questions. The information presented in the website may be regarded as trustworthy. Despite the site contains advertisements, it does not refer directly to the themes of the articles. The articles presented in the site are written by specialists and presented in simple and interesting manner in order to give different people opportunity to expand their knowledge in different fields. Csongradi, Carolyn Why the Topic of Bioethics in Science Classes? A New Look at an Old Debate http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/SER/BE/whata.php Why the Topic of Bioethics in Science Classes?A New Look at an Old Debate by Carolyn Csongradi What Is The Relationship Between Nature And Nurture In The Acquisition Of Knowledge? Nature is more influential than nurture: Knowledge arises from genetic information honed by a process of natural selection. Some portions of this knowledge might be nurtured, but genetically determined forms also may modify how we categorize our experiences. Evolutionary view: From an evolutionary point of view, certain things we know about the world are innate, although modifiable by interactions with family, education, religion and society. This knowledge about objects and what is valued is natural having been selectively reinforced over time. For instance, pack behavior observed in wolves is a form of collective behavior which supports kinship preferences and caring, while perpetuating a common genetic pool. These core values, associated with social groups, were used long ago by individuals who were successful in their primitive world and had the greatest chance of procreation. Accurately understanding the world enhanced both group and individual survival. During the 1800s, Charles Darwin speculated that certain rules for conflict arbitration were needed at the point in time when a species evolved a longer memory, a keener imagination and became involved in social contracts.(29) For example, a bird, which could leave an active nest to migrate with her group, choosing that instinct over the one to nurture, would find this choice too difficult with a better memory. He argued that certain instincts, such as caring for young as opposed to making a rapid decision to leave, were preferentially selected in any conflict because those values had longer lasting consequences. (30) A reasonable alternative interpretation might be that those behaviors encouraging the survival of young also perpetuated those genes which might select for altruism at least among relatives. This form of altruism enhances the survival of the genotype of the altruist. Altruism for non-relatives is quite a different story because the personal pay-off or gain is less easil y discerned. Neurological studies: Oliver Sacks, author and neurologist, has devoted much of his recent book to describing the unique behavior of a group of his patients who are savants.(37) A savant is someone who demonstrates an extraordinary talent in a particular field such as art, music, or mathematics. A large percentage of savants are autistic with limitations in their ability to personally relate to others. Sacks became friends with a young boy named Stephen, who was an autistic savant, capable of memorizing complex scenery at a glance and retaining the information for months. When asked he would accurately construct a pen and ink sk etch from what he had observed earlier. He started his pictures at one edge of the paper, working across to the other edge, filling in the framework and all the details without an outline. While drawing, the house could come down and Stephen would not notice. He sometimes took artistic license and added features which did not originally exist, but the basics, the original flavor, remained. In a sense, having demonstrated his enormous talent at an early age, he had little need for nurture from the environment or from other humans. Philosophical discussion: In examining the relationship between what was inherited and what was learned from experience, philosophers Hume and Kant were echoed by the behaviorist, Freud, when they spoke of natures contribution as a force to be reckoned with, educated or subdued. Human nature was always a fact to contend with. In a more extreme view from the 1500s, Descartes questioned whether anything existed outside of the mind. He finally conceded that if there were real things instead of only our thoughts about them, God was responsible for the interpretation. Kant, who realized that Descartes position made all knowledge subjective to each individual, tried to move away from this restrictive view and proposed that the mind was an active participant in knowledge acquisition, constructing certain aspects of an experience. Kant believed we inherited certain categories or concept grids on which experiences could be sorted or organized. (5) To understand how the mind might construct an experience, the following experiment should be helpful. Obtain three bowls each holding about a gallon of liquid. Arrange them so that the first bowl contains hot water; the second, tepid; and the third, very cold water. Simultaneously, place your left hand in the hot water and you right in the cold. Wait one minute and immerse both hands in the tepid water. What has each hand told you about the temperature? Additional examples of the minds involvement in interpreting experience are seen with optical illusions, the unnoticed retinal blind spot and other adaptive behaviors found in the nervous system. One of the problems with a purely nature based argument is how to explain the existence or continuing survival of certain values which may involve actions for which there is no obvious natural selection pressure. For example, why should a choice be made contrary to an individuals stated preferences or which may result in actual punishment? Altruism for non-related individuals, truthfulness and justice as fairness are values difficult to support from an evolutionary view, particularly when some choices cause the death of an individual, effectively removing those genes from the pool. Hypothesizing these as primarily inherited values would generate a requirement for a very complex set of genetic directions having a large common human base of reference. The search for a potential common morality has provoked more debate than agreement among anthropologists, theologians, and philosophers.(33)

I Was Adopted- What Family Is To Me :: personal narrative, adoption

What Family Is To Me   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since birth, I have grown up with a different concept of family than most people do. Instead of being born into my biological family, I was adopted into my given family. I have known I was adopted, for as long as I can remember because my parents made sure to tell me so, at the earliest age that I could understand. By adopting me and my sister into the family, my parents showed that family means love, respect and sacrifice. My adoption gave me a family to belong to and be loved by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Love is the first part in any family. I can be defined in more ways than one. Family love is the strongest type because it is unconditional. This unconditional love means that no matter what happens my family will still love me. They have shown this love for twenty years now. And after all the things I have done wrong, or done badly, my family still shows this unconditional love to me and to each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second part in a family is respect and trust. Trust is something that can take years to build, but can be broken very easily. By breaking trust with a family member one is also breaking respect of the family. The two ideas go hand in hand. My parents respected me enough to tell me that I was adopted, instead of lying to me and having me find out later in life that I wasn't their biological son. This respect that my parents gave me, in turn gave me their trust. And I gave them the respect and trust that was given to me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without sacrifice, a family cannot be. The sacrifices that family members make for each other show the willingness to be an unselfish part of a family. Sacrifices also display the love, respect and trust in a family. I know that even though some of the time it may not seem that my parents would sacrifice anything for me, I realize that they would do anything for and everything for me and that I would do the same for them.

Belief in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath :: Free Essay Writer

Belief in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath Holiness, sin, and life are repeatedly questioned throughout John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, particularly by the former preacher, Jim Casey. As a preacher, Casey only preaches what the bible states and he resigns from his occupation after he feels the urge to pursue life's true meaning and values of the individual - basically to make sense of the world he resides in. Casey closely resembles the character and motives of Jesus Christ, as he is enthused to uncover the answers to his wonders and doubts and begins to hold new beliefs of sacrificing the self to sustain the rights of society. All the while, questions concerning the ideas and beliefs of the world circulate through Jim Casey's mind and he makes the decision to separate himself from the teachings of society to determine logical resolutions to his convoluted uncertainties. After renouncing his job as a preacher, Casey first decides to ponder his questions by going "into the wilderness like Jesus" and seeing if he can attain the 'spirit,' while analyzing his thoughts (489-90). When others around him rarely observe ideas in depth, Casey transforms all of his thoughts into complex puzzles and seeks the answers little by little. Casey believes that by taking his ideas one piece at a time, he will one day be able to encounter the "real" truth. When he first hears of the conflict between the different social classes, Casey "[throws] back his head and [looks] at the sharp stars" in deep thought, his mind poring over the controversy (77). Casey's hours of analyzing bring his thoughts together and creates for him a la rger intellectual depth, which distinguishes his sole purpose from those around him. Light is used to exemplify Casey as Jesus Christ, holy and virtuous, and separate from other people. Even during insignificant situations, his character is expressed when "the light of the coming morning made his forehead seem to shine, and his hands, swinging beside him, flicked into the light and out again" (89). Casey's image as a holy figure automatically makes him a peacekeeper among the Joad family, and most of the time he succeeds in maintaining his title role. The members of the Joad family understand that Casey is not simply a 'former preacher,' but is someone with vigorous aura and strong beliefs on the rights of people. When Casey talks to Tom by a fire one night, "the firelight [goes] deep into his eyes and [ignites] red embers," signifying his powerful presence (72).

Compare the ways in which William Wordsworth and Williams Blake Essay

Compare the ways in which William Blake and Williams Wordsworth describe London and its effects on them in their poems â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† and â€Å"London† Both â€Å"Composed† and â€Å"London† are pre 1914 romantic poetry however differ on how they are influenced by romanticism. Romanticism was a fairly new type of poetry and was developed in the 18th century and used mostly in late 18th and early 19th centuries; ideas of romanticism include: the celebration of the lower class, an idyllic world, the importance of nature, faith opposed to organised religion and freedom of expression. Blake was known as the father of romanticism and his writing is both dark (when talking about society) but beautiful (when talking about nature). Wordsworth on the other hand saw romantic ideas and beauty everywhere (including society). Life in the 18th century was all about change and revolution; some people were being more open on their views of organised religion and other areas of society – thus influencing romanticism. â€Å"Composed† is a poem about Wordsworth’s positive appreciation of London; Wordsworth grew up in Yorkshire – a land full of nature and beautiful countryside: the romantic idea of an idyllic world. This could be why Wordsworth can see the beauty and romantic views in London because he has grown on seeing so many around him. Blake however grew up in London itself therefore allowing him to see its darkness and allowing him to experience a structured and strict society. Wordsworth was an enthusiastic romantic who wrote the poem â€Å"Composed† from what he saw standing â€Å"Upon Westminster Bridge†. Wordsworth expresses his own personal view points on London; we see this as he writes in first person Wordsworth also never refers to other people suggesting that he wants London to be his own and no one else’s. Wordsworth sees freedom and innocence within the city: this can be seen when he writes that the city is â€Å"fair:† using â€Å"fair† suggests that Wordsworth sees an innocent beauty in London. Also Wordsworth uses a colon after the word â€Å"fair:† meaning that the city isn’t just beautiful but has other elements also. â€Å"Fair† is also used often in love poems, showing Wordsworth’s love of the city. Wordsworth’s love of the city is also seen when he uses personification such as â€Å"The River glideth at his own sweet will.† The use of personification identifies that Wordsworth classes the River as an equal or even higher and also shows how personal the city is to him. Differing to Wordsworth sitting and watching the city go by Blake is walking the streets at night: a time when evil is allegedly revealed, Blake choosing this time to write suggests that the poem will be negative and also dark. Blake reveals London’s late night deceptions in his poem â€Å"London†. Blake appears to see nothing in London except deception, oppression, death and depression. This is shown multiple times such as â€Å"And the hapless soldier’s sigh Runs in blood down the palace walls.† The â€Å"soldiers sigh† being the oppression and depression, the â€Å"blood down palace walls† being the death and deception. Wordsworth seems to be the opposition to these negative views, shown in his explicit positive imagery: â€Å"Never did the sun more beautifully steep†. This quotation basically means that the sun has never looked as beautiful as it does now, sunshine symbolises a fresh start and purity. Therefore suggesting the city is pure as the rays of the sun are shining on it. Purity is also suggested when Wordsworth writes that the air is â€Å"smokeless† even in the industrial city, London. The frequent use of positive imagery throughout the poem creates ideas that Wordsworth has seen London as a cathartic experience and has been enlightened by the city. Through out the poem it would appear that Wordsworth wants the reader to feel at peace with London and shows his calm and blissful visit to the city; seen in Wordsworth’s use of language: â€Å"touching†, â€Å"silent† and â€Å"asleep†. All of these words give a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere; this implies that Wordsworth feels at one with the city. Wordsworth was influenced by many different things whilst writing â€Å"Composed†; one of these influences may have been that Wordsworth was on his way to visit his daughter in France, this may have given Wordsworth positive emotions and allowing him to see London as a stepping stone on the way to see his daughter giving him hope. Hope is indicated as Wordsworth writes in the morning, a time for fresh starts and new beginnings, Wordsworth then goes on to say that the morning is â€Å"silent† and â€Å"bare† suggesting that anything can happen. All poets have reasons for writing a per civic poem â€Å"Composed† is no exception to this; Wordsworth writes the poem to show people that romantic ideas and hope can be found anywhere and that London is the heart of this. Both the language and punctuation in the poem shows hope and freedom. The purpose of the poem can also clearly be defined from the quote â€Å"This City now doth like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent bare,† This quotation shows both honesty and innocence; by the words â€Å"silent bare† – both of these words suggests that the city is not hiding anything and possesses no hidden deception. Innocence is shown as the city â€Å"doth like a garment, wear they beauty of the morning;† As the morning is new and innocent and is around the city: reflecting its innocence back upon the city. The poem â€Å"London† by Blake however has a completely different purpose and is written to show that society does not express hope, romantic ideas and is in fact corrupted and full of deception. Blake uses the poem to show how society manipulates nature and faith as shown in the quotation â€Å"Every blackening church appals;† This represents how religion has been manipulated by society and is now evil unlike faith that is true and honourable. The romantic view of organised religion is that it toys with people to make them believe that they believe in God, taking away their freedom and the purity of faith and religion. Blake has always lived in London and craves freedom and an escape from what he perceives a political and oppressed society. The differences between the purposes can be clearly defined and explained, as it is not solely the views of the poets that make their poems it is also, their positions in life and London; their state of mind; experiences and previous encounters with the city and the time of day. Wordsworth uses the structure of â€Å"Composed† to further replicate freedom in London: as the poem is a sonnet (representing society and London – what most believe as ruled and structured) however uses punctuation to break up the rules and structure to enforce freedom and constant flow of life, suggested by Wordsworth’s use of only one full stop. However significant usage of the semi-colon, colon and comma in varied places rather than just at the end of a line thus creating fluency; relating to the river in the city which is free and powerful. Wordsworth’s use of enjambments is also an indication to this much like in the lines â€Å"Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.† The enjambments allow the reader to think about the true meaning of the line and language, encouraging them to visualise the scene. Wordsworth uses positive language when talking about London, he also uses straight forward imagery of London opposed to hidden deceptions (like in Blake’s â€Å"London†), and this reflects honesty onto the city. Wordsworth writes of freedom in London this creates hope for the people of London – giving them something to admire and aspire for. This is shown in the quotation â€Å"The river glideth at his own sweet will:† â€Å"glideth† indicates peace and harmony as gliding is a constant non aggressive pace also suggesting freedom and nature, much like a bird gliding through the air – creating hope and showing Wordsworth’s admiration for the River. Although Wordsworth writes about London in a positive way parts of his language suggest that he knows there are parts of London that are not as romantic and peaceful as he sees now. Shown in the quote â€Å"And all that mighty heart is lying still!† this last line indicates that Wordsworth believes the city can be aggressive by referring to it as â€Å"mighty heart† (mighty heart also suggests a busyness as the heart is centre of everything) however sees the city at peace so writes that the city is â€Å"lying still†. Blake also uses the river as a symbol of freedom, however Blake suggests that the river’s freedom is corrupted and restricted – still the river maintains a glimmer of hope being the cities only freedom (according to Blake’s â€Å"London†). We can see Blake’s views on the river in the line â€Å"chartered Thames does flow† First it can be suggested that Blake respects the river as he refers to it by it’s name â€Å"Thames† instead of just calling it â€Å"river† (like in â€Å"Composed†) this suggests that Blake still sees hope in the river and partly wants to be like the river. However restrictions can also be seen in the word â€Å"chartered† suggesting that someone set Thames out that way and that it can not do anything but follow the set out path. There is not only restriction but also freedom within this quote as the river â€Å"flows† this shows freedom and hope. Generally Blake’s language is very morbid and negative, which suggests constrainment leading to the Blake’s view on politics. Blake is very critical of London is the poem the complete opposite to â€Å"Composed† however just like â€Å"Composed†, â€Å"London† is made personal as Blake writes in first person and refers to some of his senses: sight and sound. â€Å"And mark in every face I meet† And â€Å"through the midnight streets I hear† both of these quotations show Blake using his senses, showing that Blake takes in everything that is happening around him. Industrialisation versus romanticism is a key theme throughout the poem; Blake is very traditional and romantic and does not fit into London because of this. Through his poem Blake suggests that the industrialisation that has consumed the city only creates depression, oppression and distinctively destroys happiness and honesty. This is made apparent by the â€Å"chimney sweepers cry† symbolising the depression of the people of London by the â€Å"cry†; however showing that they are trying to clean up the state of society as they are cleaning the dark, dismal and black ashes in the city. Blake does not just blame the city itself Blake also blames the people inside the city – people who influence industrialisation. During the fourth stanza Blake suggests that the actions that people are making now will create problems for the next generation. â€Å"Youthful harlot’s curse† symbolises the sins of the youth creating a â€Å"curse†: a word this is often used in association with witches. These sins cause â€Å"the newborn infants tear† which further exemplifies future problems the next generation will have to deal with and fix due to mistakes made by the youth of the time. The curse in stanza four is also shown by the â€Å"plagues† and the â€Å"marriage hearse† which indicates death. In the case of the â€Å"marriage hearse† this creates a link between eternity and death destroying aspects of hope and proving the impurity of the city. Blake uses imagery, alliteration and language choice to illustrate his portrayal of London; using these skills he opens the open up to his reader inviting them to have their own interpretations. The differences are very apparent between the poems and there are clear divides of attitude; the state of mind of the poets; and how society affects them. Romanticism and industrialisation are key elements in both poems however are showed in immensely different ways. Blake remains negative due to the changes that have taken away romanticism; Wordsworth however keeps positive indicating clear elements of hope.

Conflicts Being a College Student

Patrice Williams November 12, 2013 Conflicts of A College Student The daily life of a college student is filled with many conflicts. To begin with, students face everyday conflicts such as having transportation, family issues, financial problems, and also lack of focus and responsibility. In college if one is without a car or a reliable source of transportation every day, it can really affect them in school. One might could have a car but it is currently broke down or someone said they were willing to provide the transportation but possibly not showing up.For example, Nicole’s car has broken down over the weekend now she’s wondering how to get to school Monday morning. Nicole calls her friend Monica to give her a ride to school and then she’ll take the metro back home. This could cause Nicole stress and causing her to take focus off of school work. Second, college students also face family issues and crisis. One could have lost a family member that is causing a l ot of stress or grief on their head while attending school. A student may have a family member or friend at home that causes them stress everyday also.For instance, Mark lives at home with Mom, brother, and sister. Conflict may be between everyone at home that causes Mark stress everyday he comes to school. Next, many students come across financial problems during their college life. Some students may lose their job or simply just don’t always have the funds to get by every single day. A student may be on a payment plan every month to pay for school or a student loan. Having everyday issues such as these can cause stress on the mind of a student that he or she doesn’t need while attending college.Take Mya for example, she’s currently in college and is on a payment plan at school to pay her tuition every month, for this current semester. Mya just lost her job and is finding it hard to come up with the money for this coming month; with her also struggling the prev ious months when she did have a job. This situation is very stressful on Mya and causing her to jeopardize school such as being late, missing assignments, and sometimes not showing up at all. Financial issues can play a huge downfall in a life of a college student.Finally, having a lack of responsibility can cause conflict while attending college. Some students start college but aren’t fully prepared. College students would sometimes start off college as if they were in high school and not strongly aware of the transition. Students hang out and party all night with school being in the morning. They slack on their work and put in high school work ethic instead of College work. Having a lack of focus can also affect students. Conflicts such as all of these can pay a huge part daily in a student’s life.