Skins: A whole new look on everything :: Peter Dykstra Technology Essays

Skins: A whole new look on everything Concept Background: Dykstra's concepts of linear programming and modularity take on a whole new look. Peter Dykstra the father of linear programming suggested that anything that could be done in programming could be done with a combination of three basic procedures. Sequence- procedures performed in a linear order Decision- Expressions evaluated to determine between two routes of action. Repetition- The ability of a machine to perform an operation millions of times a second. In order to clean up the commonly used "spaghetti code" of the times, Dykestra then proceeded to say that all code should be divided up into "chunks" related to a specific tasks called modules. The idea was that by abstracting these modules into "black boxes" that with well-defined input they would perform their tasks and generate predictable output. This would allow a programmer to not know anything about the modules he was using except what goes in and what comes out and still be able to use it. This modular thinking was eventually applied to a GUI interface, but is still not widely utilized. What is a "skin"? The term "skin" was first coined by a MP3 player called xxx-AMP. The GUI interface of a program is modulated and broken out from the program as explained in the previous paragraph and given the ability to be swapped with other skins to change the entire appearance of the program. Would you ever guess them to be the exact same program? Would you ever guess the creators of these GUI interfaces were not paid to do it, or necessarily even professionals? My first introduction to a program that had some characteristics of skin like behavior was a shopping cart program with a â€Å"Look and Feel Module† that they had made public to great success. Groups of users would congregate around their site and support each other by swapping self generated custom modules and knowledge on how to create them. However it was far from easy and involved more Perl than HTML or graphics work. How Does it work? Skins in the HTML world follow the same concept. A skin is a simple HTML page with special hooks for the CGI (or ASP, etc.) to connect to. For example: in the HTML a variable that must be replaced with output from the CGI would be named '$$varname:' This will cause the tag to be replaced with the CGI Perl variable $varname.

The movie Super Size Me

The movie Super Size Me, is an in your face way of making people realize how the fast food industry is negatively affecting our nation. The surgeon general has declared the increasing rates of obesity an â€Å"epidemic†. In this documentary movie, Morgan Spurlock conducts an experiment, to investigate if indeed, fast food is the correlation to our nations obesity epidemic. The movie has severally bonus features such as an interview with Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, and an interview with Phil Lawler about the PE 4 Life program. As well as, The Smoking Fry, an interesting experiment looking at the decomposition of food. The movie Super Size Me, and all of its bonus features, revolves around two main components, the importance of nutrition and physical activity. I. Fast Food Nation The interview between Morgan Spurlock and Eric Schlosser discusses how fast food is processed and flavored, the unhealthy agricultural settings, obesity trends and how both the government and the people need to make a change for the better. I was appalled by the information provided in the interview, I had a basic idea of all the concepts but did not realize how extream they were. I can easily say that after knowing how fast food is made I have no interest at all in eating it. The fact that while in feed lots, cattle are pilled in fecal matter which can make it into the hamburgers that we eat, and that is why there is a higher increase in poisoning and disease from eating fast food. I think that is absolutely disgusting and it should not be allowed. I definitely will read the book Fast Food Nation, if this short interview opened my eyes this much; I am very interested to see how the book will make me feel. II. PE4LIFE Phil Lawler pointed out that, Illinois is the only state that enforces mandatory physical education k-12. During his interview talked about the PE4Life program, how it refocuses testing based on a healthy zone, that physical activity is the â€Å"fertilizer† for the brain, and the importance of creating a pattern and habit of exercising. PE4Life departs from the traditional approach to physical education by not focusing on traditional sports, but rather physical activities that assures every child is active. Testing in the PE4Life program assesses results on whether the students â€Å"does it well enough that he/she is considered healthy. While the traditional program assesses testing based on what percentile the student falls into compared to their peers. If the State of Michigan were to adopt a serious daily approach to physical education, such as the PE4Life program the outcome would be extremely beneficial to the students overall heath. We discussed in class how students in Michigan do not meet the set goal of exercising five times a week for thirty minutes at a time. Also, how forty percent of children in MI are currently over weight. The end of the Super Size Me video made it a point to state that Detroit is now the fattest city in the United States. Obviously something needs to be done to change these trends, implementing mandatory physical education k-12; using a PE4Life philosophy may be exactly what Michigan students need. III. The Smoking Fry The Smoking Fry was an experiment conducted by Morgan Spurlock to examine how different McDonalds food items and less artificially enhanced flood items would decompose after periods of time. I thought that all of the different food items would start to mold after about a week, and they all would get worse as more time went by. I just assumed that food that wasn’t frozen or at least refrigerated started to mold after a period of time. My reaction to the results was disgust; it made me wonder what kind of crazy chemicals are in those fries that they do not show any signs of molding after ten weeks. I think that as our bodies decompose food we ingest from fast food chains it is exposed to the many chemicals preservatives put in the food, and does not receive the proper nutrients. I would also assume that the same logic would apply from the experiment, to our bodies, meaning that it is more difficult for the body to decompose fast food as opposed to more natural foods. My mother eats mostly all organic food whenever possible, so when my birthday came she was going to make a cake from scratch like usual. I told he that I would rather have a funfetti box cake instead; begrudgingly she made the cake for me. Not without going on and on about how bad it is for you, and how many chemicals, and ingredients you cant even pronounce and in it and that not even like eating a real cake. What was interesting and supports the results from the Smoking Fry is that, she pointed out to me that after a month of sitting in the tupperware not a speck of mold was on it. Processed foods contain so many preservatives that they may never mold, for instance a Twinkie has no expiration date, I think that is absolutely crazy. The fact that processed foods are filled with so many chemicals to they have a longer shelf life should be a good indication as to how bad they are for your body. IV. Movie Super Size Me The movie Super Size Me is a documentary by Morgan Spurlock. In this movie Spurlock undertakes eating nothing but McDonalds for thirty days, to determine if fast food is the fast track to becoming obese and if its unreasonably dangerous. Spurlock had a set of rules for the month; can only super size when asked, can only eat food from McDonalds water included, has to eat everything on the menu at least once, and he must eat three meals a day, lastly limit the amount of steps per day. Before the experiment Spurlock consulted with a cardiologist, gastrologist, and a general practitioner, all three doctors concluded that he was currently physically healthy. The doctors said that increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels, weight gain, and an increased risk for heart disease were expected outcomes of this experiment. The actual end results of the experiment where much more serous than expected. Spurlock gained twenty four and a half pounds, the liver had basically turned to fat, cholesterol shot up sixty five points, body fat percentage increased seven percent, he doubled his risk for heart disease and failure, felt exhausted and depressed, experience rapid mood sings, had a non existent sex life, and developed an addiction, he craved more and more and had headaches when he did not eat the food. There was a point where he considered stopping short of the thirty days because his health being seriously affected. The movie addressed the lack of regards to the state of our nations physical education programs. Again it was stated that Illinois is the only state that makes physical education mandatory k-12. Brain Philips a physical education teacher stated that students in his elementary school only receive physical education one day a week for forty-five minutes. According to the surgeon general, a person needs to be physical active thirty minutes a day, every day to maintain your weight and a healthy well-being. The Nations schools are not close to implementing these standards, and its only getting worse. In 2001 while President Bush was in office he created the No Child Left Behind reform. Due to this reform schools cut recess time, heath, nutrition, and physical education classes back to allow for more time to prepare for the more â€Å"academic† classes. Naperville, Illinois setting the standards for the model program of physical education because they are creating an awareness in the community about the importance of physical activity, and in turn receiving the support to make the PE4Life program possible. In my opinion other states are not pushing to adopt this model due to the No Child Left Behind reform, lack of effort, fear of change, and the financial expenses. Physical education should be of the utmost importance for individuals making decisions about education in Michigan. Detroit is heaviest city in the United States. From class lecture we no that in Michigan forty percent of children are over weight compared to thirteen to fourteen percent Nationally. It can no longer be ignored; it must be addressed by the school systems, to stop this growing epidemic of obesity. This movie mad an impact on how I view fast food. I do not consume fast food on a regular bases, but occasionally when I am starving and I do not have time, or am not around to cook something, I will eat it. That is definitely going to change, after watching this how could you eat fast food, its disgusting. When I have children of my own, I will not allow them to eat fast food, except on very rare occasions. I grew up with a mother that always cooks dinner, buys organic food, and has always been very couscous on the making sure I eat a balanced diet. I plan to use the same nutritional approach with my own children. V. Conclusions After viewing Supper Size Me, my position of consuming fast food still stands, as it not being a healthy choice. Proper nutrition directly related to a persons heath, and with a sufficient amount of physical activity a person is at their optimal level of overall health. After watching Super Size Me, and its bonus features, it opened my eyes wider to both the importance of nutrition and physical activity, and how the Nation is in a fight against obesity epidemic. I do now think that eating fast food is truly the fast track to obesity. I now will make a more conscious decision about the things I am eating. My periodic fast food visits will be eliminated, and I will try to stay away from all process foods, anything with artificial flavoring, and definitely increase my eating of organic foods.

Novartis Pharmaceutical Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit

Amy Velez, et al. , v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. is one of the largest gender discrimination lawsuits ever to go to trial. The class action lawsuit claimed Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NPC) practiced sex discrimination against female employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Wilson 2010). The plaintiffs are nineteen women presently or formerly employed by NPC in sales related positions. They claimed the NPC discriminated against them in various ways, including compensation, promotion and promotional opportunities, personnel evaluations and by adverse treatment of women who take maternity leave.They seek injunctive relief, back pay and front pay, and compensatory and punitive damages (US District Court Document). The class action lawsuit later grew to include 6,200 women employed by NPC. The time period of the discrimination was from 2002-2007 Amy Velez, who had twins in 2001 claimed she was repeatedly passed over for promotions by men who had inferior sales numbers . She also claims to have overheard a manager asking recruiters prospective employees were married or had children. Wilson 2010). Another woman claims she was told by a manager that he prefers not to hire younger women saying â€Å"First comes Love, then comes marriage, then comes flex time and a baby carriage. † (Wilson 2010). In addition, the plaintiffs claim that men in the same positions earned more money than women in the save positions. The final approval of the settlement was November 19, 2010. The settlement, which totaled $175 million, included $152. million in back wages, benefits, and adjusted wages, service payments to named plaintiffs who helped litigate the case, and attorneys' fees and costs, plus $22. 5 million in nonmonetary relief representing Novartis's commitments to revise its employment policies to eliminate sex discrimination (McGowan 2010).In response to the decision, according to NPC’s web page â€Å"As part of its commitment to fostering a di verse and inclusive workforce, NPC is implementing comprehensive programs designed to ensure that all members of its sales force are treated fairly. NPC still denies these claims but admits some of its employees may have not followed company policy. NPC will also substantially revising its human resources policies, revamping its personnel management systems, and strengthening its commitment to ensuring gender equality in the workplace These practices by NPC took place over a five year period between 2002-2007. The severity of the claims shows an escalating conflict. There were repeated offences. First here was awareness of differences; a couple female employees knew they were being passed over for promotions. This continued to annoyance; more female employees learned they were being continually passed over for promotions. Later to frustration; when the female employees learned that certain managers were not hiring younger women or women with children. Next there was anger; when sexi st comments were made by management. This conflict finally escalated to hostility and war (war being the lawsuit).NPC could have avoided this class action lawsuit by making sure all their branches were following proper anti-discrimination procedures. Inappropriate comments by management should have been taken seriously by upper management. All employees should have been required to go to diversity training. Upper management should have looked more closely at the male/female promotion ratio. If only NPC’s upper management would have been more in tune with their subordinates this costly lawsuit might have been avoided.

The Boston Photographs

The Boston Photographs In â€Å"The Boston Photographs† by Nora Ephron, Ephron used most of the time writing about the reactions of the many readers all over the nation and world whom were shocked by the pictures that were published in their local newspapers. She should have used most of the time writing about the day when the incident happened. By doing this, it would have affected people a lot more than seeing the bad of it.In telling the facts, Ephron only provides factual information such as whom took the picture, what the picture is about, what type of camera he used, and what a variety of newspapers all over the nation did with the pictures. Ephron dedicates a large amount of writing telling the reactions to the photographs by first expressing her own reaction to the pictures and then in detail the reactions of readers and publishers whom published the set of pictures in their newspapers.Ephron gives a small amount of writing to editors and their defense of the photograp hs. Ephron only explains how several editors wrote columns defending the pictures. For Ephron’s own analysis she dedicates a very large part to explaining her analysis of the pictures and the people reactions of the publishing of the pictures and her views on the treatment of publishing such pictures for the general public. Ephron explains how the phone calls, letters, and Seib’s own reaction, were occasioned by one factor, which was the death of a woman.She explains how everyone’s reaction to the picture would have been different if the caption said that the women didn’t die or the child was killed instead because the picture would always be the same, but everyone’s reaction would be different. In the end Ephron explains how newspaper editors are afraid to publish such pictures such as the Boston pictures because they fear the reaction of the people and so they continue censoring such pictures.In my opinion, Ephron stabilities these numerous perce ptions in not such a good style of writing because she doesn’t provide an equal amount of words for each perspective and what needs to be addressed by each point of view and the importance of each view. I think if she spent more time giving equal opportunity to each perspective so that there is a balance in information that is being presented by each viewpoint then her essay would be a whole lot stronger and I would think that it would be less opinionated.In reading this essay I kind of wanted to know more about the people’s reaction as well as how numerous editors defended the photographs and the outcomes of those editors defending the publishing of those photos. For example, when the author say’s â€Å"The photographs are indeed sensational. They are pictures of death in action, of that split second when luck runs out, and it is impossible to look at them without feeling their extraordinary impact and remembering, in an almost subconscious way, the morbid fan tasy of falling, falling, off a building, falling to one’s death† (Ephron 657).This quote proves that the author uses her opinions rather other people opinions. Also, by using her opinions, her form of writing is not strong. If she used other people’s thoughts with her beliefs, then her writing would be strong enough to back up the information she is trying to present. I disagree with the author, because she doesn’t use vivid examples throughout the story. She should have written more about the special incident that happened and how everyone felt about it.Instead, she wrote who took the picture, what the picture is about, what type of camera the person used, and what did all the newspaper company’s all over the nation did with the pictures. For example, when the author says â€Å"The pictures were taken by Stanley Forman, thirty, of the Boston Herald American. He used a motor-driven Nikon F set at 1/250, f 5. 6-8. Because of the motor, the camera c an click off three frames a second† (Ephron 657). The author should have not put this information in the story, because is it unnecessary in the story, and does not belong in the story.The article makes me think about the incident that happened to the world trade center on 9/11, because it reminds me of people that had to go through the whole attack and how they felt about it. It is similar to The Boston Photographs, because the photos where published in the newspaper. After the 9/11 attack, seeing the photos on the front page, people went insane just as in The Boston Photographs. Works cited Ephron, Nora. â€Å"The Boston Photographs. † â€Å"The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2012.

Intelligent building Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Intelligent building - Assignment Example Its potential will initially be showcased via the 10-megawatt solar park at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi as it started development in May 2010. It will be able to supply Masdar City with 17,500 megawatt-hours annually. This paper will try to discuss what made Madar City innovative in its 21st century sustainable economy campaign as well as carbon neutral town. It will also provide an ideal eco-city or better model based on the Masdar City goal. Discussion Masdar City Masdar City is a planned carbon-neutral and zero-waste town in Abu Dhabi (Appendix A), a federate state of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi has abundant hydrocarbon resources that generates up to 70% of its gross domestic product or GDP. The emirate owns about 95% of the United Arab Emirates oil resources. Abu Dhabi started its policy on the promotion of renewable energy through the Masdar initiative in 2006. Masdar City is its focus to develop a carbon-neutral town (Reiche, 2009) with a targeted realisation by 2016. Alre ady by that time, the population will be about 90,000 composed of 40,000 residents and 50,000 daily commuters. Masdar is a 212,000 square metres or 55 acres development with more than 87,000 solar modules. It uses 50% thin film from First Solar and 50% crystalline from Suntech. As mentioned earlier, it produces some 17,500 MWh of electricity per year and offsets about 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year (Asian Solar, 2009). In contrast, the UAE requires 6,600 MW or about $5,000m (Asian Solar, 2009). Aside from the solar power plant, Masdar City will also develop the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology with focus on information technology, water and environment, engineering systems and management, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, amongst others (Reiche, 2009). It targeted to open by fall of 2009. Masdar also is geared towards attracting some 1500 technological companies engaged in sustainable energy. It helps that Masdar is a free zone, which mean t that companies maybe 100% foreign owned, zero taxes and zero import tariffs (Reiche 2009). To start achieving its goals, the local government of Abu Dhabi has already offered the International Renewable Energy Agency of IRENA to be host of its headquarters, which was accepted. IRENA was founded in Germany with 114 country-members, and it is the first international organization to base in the Middle East. IRENA was granted by the Abu Dhabi government $135 million for its incubation period, and additional $50 million yearly to fund IRENA-endorsed projects in developing countries for a succession of seven years (The National, 2009). The purposes of developing Masdar City are many, but mainly to diversify economy of Abu Dhabi. Its economy is currently dependent on exporting fossil fuel and the government’s leadership is preparing for the depletion of fossil fuel source as well as making its businesses competitive. The goal is to â€Å"transition from a 20th Century, carbon-bas ed economy into a 21st Century sustainable economy,† (Masdar, 2009, 1). It hopes to use its oil wealth to lead a renewable energy economy (Reiche, 2009).

Women and Advertisements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Women and Advertisements - Essay Example She tries to clarify her point by criticizing the advertising agencies and their aims to successfully sell a produce (Kilbourne 461). Kilbourne’s assertion towards commercial advertisement leaves us with no doubt that it is a wrong practice. Jean Kilbourne reasons that the use of female imagery in the making of advertisement is an act of belittling the morale and esteem of a woman. These advertisements are considered to be painting women as sexual objects, in several instances, and this might depict a woman as a person with no dignity or feelings but one that is only interested in achieving the objective set for her. Similarly, the image of Kerri Hugg relaxing in the arms of her couch depicts another side of female imagery opinion (Shari and Michael 739). This is considered as a complete difference from the female imagery displayed in Jean Kilbourne’s piece. Kilbourne argues that the use of female imagery for commercial advertisement is a way of violating women’s rights, particularly in the sense that these advertisements display women as objects and not equal beings to their male counterparts. The images of male and female athletes, nevertheless, have much more in common as compared to the images of female and male artists used in commercial advertisements. In several instances, the women who chose to do sports like athletics concentrate fully on the game and forget about their feminine essence. In such instances, they prefer winning most titles and becoming the best in their positions. It is thus so hard to spot a particular female athlete concentrating on her looks and beauty as opposed to any ordinary woman (Greene and Lindsky 125). The key reason behind this fact is that most women consider themselves equal to the task and thus, give it their best so as to be successful athletes. Subsequently, there are no key dissimilarities in the images of the female and male athletes. Several female athletes are well-built

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Social Media - Essay Example These websites are designed for sharing messages, pictures, events, updates and such other activities. Social Media sometimes feeds in innovating and discovering new contents like news, stories and other activities. There are hundred thousand of people, who daily perform searches on social media websites to search social media contents (Thomas, 2012). At managerial ability of permissible astuteness, it has four important components: The Attitudinal Component Officially astute teams hold the instruction of commandment and identify the ethical features of planned choice. The astute TMTs take duty for handling the permissible features of corporate and would not delegate those conclusions to people such as counsel, who could not comprehend the wider business points. It is identified that it is a duty of the general manager to take decision that which provision of possessions and rewards creates the sensible business. Counsel does not advise that a certain course of act is legal or not, i t depends upon the administration team to take decision whether a certain risk is valuable or not. A prominent data administration software and hardware manufacturer will have to decide whether to obtain the entire standard of VMware, the designer of leading-edge Virtual software that allowed customers to run unlike computer operating classifications like Unix, Linux and Windows instantaneously on a single server (Mandiberg, 2012). The Proactive Component Officially astute administration teams claim lawful guidance that is professional business oriented, and they assume their solicitors to support them in addressing corporate opportunities and pressures in conducts that are lawfully permissible, actual, and competent. Rather than observing the rule purely as a restraint, somewhat to respond to and fulfill with, officially astute administration teams contain lawful restraints and opportunities at each phase of plan preparation and implementation. They take a preemptive method to rule , both to elude extra difficult government rule and to take benefit of the renewal opportunities parameter and de rule suggestion. Such as Regina Company decreased its product accountability disclosure and shaped an improved product in the method when it fortified its home-grown spa applications with an engagement recognition circuit interrupter that sheltered customers from electrical tremor if they unintentionally let fall the appliance in water. The Judgment Component Officially astute administrators with proper legal training do not have reason to guide themselves on permissible issues of significance. They appreciate the significance of choosing a right counselor at rule, who syndicates information of the black-note rule with decision and knowledge. Convinced developments of achievement might be lawful but not astute. Part of the highest administration team’s work is assimilating all method of viewpoints, from economic specialists, HR specialists, and marketing administr ators to solicitors. General Executives must take decision, how much to devote for gaining extra information, whether it is in the marketplace research or based upon lawful opinion. The Knowledge Component Although the knowledgeable administrator may realize the role that rule plays in setting the directions of the good game, it is frequently less clear, how commandment distresses the risk ratio for any