Sarajevo Blues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sarajevo Blues - Essay Example all essays, prose vignettes, and poems all written in the first person and reflecting the terrible ordeal of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.† (Segel 267) The author of Sarajevo Blues, Semezdin Mehmedinovic was born in 1960 in Bosnia. He contributed to cultural activities in Bosnia before he fled to the United States of America in 1996 along with his family to avoid the affects of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian war. Mehmedinovic claims that even though the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was broadcast extensively throughout the world, the perspective it portrayed was fairly limited due to political pressures. News on television, radio and in newspapers provided an incomplete, outside perspective on the war. Through his poems, essays and short stories in his book Sarajevo Blues, Semezdin Mehmedinovic provides a new perspective on the war; a view from the inside. A political act is â€Å"an event that forever alters our assumptions about someone else’s experience† (Mehmendivoni). Therefore, politics refer to acts that people commit which have the ability to alter people’s perceptions about a state of affairs. It is a tool for manoeuvring people’s opinions and perceptions in a certain direction in order to fulfil some ulterior motive. Politics is capable of manipulating not only a person’s perception of the world but a person’s perception of himself/herself. Mehmedinovic is sceptical about political factors affecting mass media, which in turn affects the global population’s combined and individual thinking because it is the most popular means of distributing information about past and current affairs. Semezdin Mehmedinovic’s act of writing Sarajevo Blues can also be called politics because it has the ability to and is intended to change the perception of the masses about war. He aims to show people how the media alters the realities of war. Mehmedinovic is talking about the blues faced by the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before the war and the

Information Technology Management Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Management Essay Information and communication technologies play critical roles in sustaining an organizations growth and profitability (Galliers Leidner, 2003). If managed properly, investments in information and communication technologies can improve efficiency and effectiveness of business processes and an organization’s competitive posture in the market. Proper management of information and communication technologies investments can also enrich people’s lives in the organization improving job satisfaction and productivity. Galliers Leidner, 2003). Success in managing information and communication investments depend largely on exercising good management practices like human capital management, staff training management, information technology architecture management and software management (Galliers Leidner, 2003). However, with all the potential benefits of investments in information and communication projects, they can be risky, costly and unproductive if not managed properly (Galliers Leidner, 2003). Organizations should therefore strive to attract and retain information technology personnel that are qualified and talented to ensure the success of information and technology investments. This is further complicated by a tight information and technology labor market where qualified information and technology personnel enjoy high mobility. Discussion The position I am required to design is a leadership position intended to provide technical direction and guide an organization in implementing strategic information and communication projects (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations, 2010). The occupant of this position is expected to be able to handle a wide range of duties and responsibilities. He or she should be able to use his/ her exposure, technical experience and business knowledge in developing an organization’s technical plans and to advise senior management on information technology strategies, standards and governance (Galliers Leidner, 2003). In addition he or she will be expected to monitor the industry’s trends in information technology and respond appropriately by formulating long term information technology strategies capable of improving an organization’s competitiveness. The senior information technology manager will work under the general supervision of the chief executive officer. In line with work plans and resource allocation coordination provided by the chief executive officer, he or she will be responsible for effective planning, supervision and delivery of assigned functions that fall within an information and communication department (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations, 2010) so as to ensure that an organization’s requirements for information systems and information technology are effectively and efficiently met. He will also be responsibility for ensuring that an organization’s computer systems have the capacity to meet the business needs of an organization by either upgrading existing systems or developing new systems (Info Tech Employment, 2008). Additional functions will include participation in planning, coordinating and setting policies for the development and implementation of an organization’s information technology strategies, supporting standards, procedures and practices, supervising and coordinating works of external firms in special projects or functions to ensure quality and timely delivery, providing consultant services in regards to procurement of new information technology equipments and computer systems, supervising members of staff assigned to special projects or functions and coordinating their training and development to ensure that they are up to the tasks and finally, developing and monitoring key performance indicators of assigned functions within an information technology department (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations, 2010). The senior information technology manager is expected to have an excellent working knowledge in information technology and a commitment to keep up to dat e with the latest development (Galliers Leidner, 2003). He should demonstrate people’s management skills with an ability to motivate staff members, provide a cooperative and productive work environment, manage resources effectively to achieve objectives, organize and coordinate work in the department and explain technical issues clearly (Info Tech Employment, 2008). He or she will be tasked with leading changes that fall within the information technology department, hence must be able to integrate organizational and departmental goals, priorities and values. In addition, he or she should have experience in managing large scale projects in information systems and technology (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations, 2010). To fulfill these expectations, a university degree in computer science or related fields and appropriate professional certifications are mandatory. Moreover, the candidate of choice should have at least five years management experience in information technology. He should demonstrate experience with standard software applications and data manipulation, analysis and interpretation tools (Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations, 2010). Conclusion Information technology investments can be very beneficial to an organization as a whole if they are managed properly. Organizations should therefore strive to hire and retain qualified, experienced and talented information technology managers. This is not easy given the current information technology labor market. The labor market is characterized by high mobility of qualified labor and organizations must put in place effective measures to ensure they hire the right people. One of the measures an organization should take is defining clear structures and responsibilities of all employees in the information technology department. The senior information technology manager will provide technical direction and guidance to the organization in implementing strategic information technology projects. He will be responsible for ensuring effective and efficient management of resources within the information technology department.

Home Energy Management System

Home Energy Management System 1) INTRODUCTION Network of electricity that intelligently integrates with users actions connected to network for sustainable, economical and secure supply is called smart grid [1]. Smart grid is called smart due to fast communication and networking capabilities. Smart grid has an important role in energy structure adjustment, coping with climate changes and economic development [2]. Since 1982 energy demand during peak hour is increasing 25% approximately every year [3]. New intelligent devices must be used to fulfill energy requirements. In order to add intelligence new technologies are to be developed. Electric intelligence is only requirement for operational cost and energy consumption reduction [4]. These new technologies should be able to remove peak load and off load power difference, should be capable of making demand-supply curve smoother and should reduce environmental pollution. In smart grid user plays a vital role in reducing and optimizing energy consumption thus improving system efficiency. In smart grid emission of CO2 and household energy consumption is reduced by 9% and 10% respectively [5] In order to improve electricity consumption keeping in view of consumer’s need there should be an optimum solution. Different optimization techniques can be used for energy management. Different technologies like home area networks, home automation, advanced metering infrastructure and bidirectional communication are introduced by smart grid during past few years [6]. Now a days Zigbee and sensor networks not only monitors the quality of power but use powerful strategy for communication and distribution and sale locally generated energy back to grid [7] [8]. Demand Side Management (DSM) system is important utilization efficiency parameters which have been ignored due to complex dynamics of consumption, random behavior of consumers and lack of commutation technology. The advancement in communication technology has revolutionized the power sector and introduced a concept of new modernized electrical system called as Smart grid [9] .The concept of demand side management was first introduced in late 1970’s which reduces GHG, provides reliable energy reducing the electricity cost [10]. Traditional grids consists of DSM but do not provide such type of reliability to users due lack of sensors and inefficient automation and communication. But smart grid is more efficient due introduction of low cost sensors, smart meters and integration of ICT [11]. Challenges faced by smart grid is shown below Interoperability is said to satisfy if multiple communication network coexist in smart grid. Scalability means increasing number of hardware’s in proportion to others but due to increase in demand this become a major issue can be solved by using sensing networks. Smart grid holds different communities and societies which become an issue in order to resolve it integration of power system is required which is done with actuation, security and communication networks. Security is main issue in smart grid because a hacker can interrupt the data of smart grid and easily access to smart meters so this issue can be resolve by modernization the security and by data hiding [12]. The smart grid consists of HEMS that enable demand response and demand side management. On the basis of power supply demand response is responsible for altering and managing the energy and demand side management (DSM) controls the planning, techniques and implementation of policies [13]. There are two major schemes of HEMS one is communication and 2nd one is optimization [14]. Home energy management systems consist of three basic functional blocks [15]: HEMS software Home energy management center(HEMC) Load scheduler. HEMC provides customer’s user’s friendly graphical representation which not only provides assistance to customers but also give them control over various loads using load scheduler. HEMC software uses lab view developer tool that provides necessary information to customers using Zigbee protocol. It has two main sectors a) home tab b) data tab. The information load control, line control and on/off control is provided by home tab on/off control use in switching sequence and its major application is that it is used to detect any abnormality in hardware. The data logging of current and voltage with in time is represented by data tab. Load scheduler considers the bundle of single knapsack known as multiple knapsacks due to which customers become aware of peak load at specific time and interval of occurrence. A load scheduler not only determines the critical and non-critical loads but also time dependent loads. In emergency conditions it also controls various loads. This also stores data of electricity consumption 24/7. Energy management is an organized and systematic coordination of procurement, conversion, distribution and use of energy to meet the requirements, taking into account environmental and economic objectives [16]. Energy management systems are computer aided tools that are used by operators of utility grid for controlling, monitoring and optimizing the generation and transmission system performance. In efficient energy consumption the participation of end user is as much important as the supplier. In modern power supply systems end users’ are provided with RT-feedback (real-time feedback) via different website portals, in-home displays (IHD), or some other feedback viewer device like mobile etc. [17]. Provision of feedback to end user will motivate them to alter their energy usage to minimize the electricity bills. In present smart grid system end users’ are forced for shifting their energy usage on peak to off peak hours regardless of their comfort and life style [17]. All over the world major portion of energy is consumed by residential users, so they can play an important role for energy optimization. Research shows that energy consumption is minimized by 12% by installing energy consumption information system and displays energy consumption of whole unit [18]. Due to advancement in technology the industries has become advance due to which energy demand increases which results in load shedding and blackouts and use of fossil fuel is increases which will finish soon. Now world is going toward non-conventional energy resources like solar and photovoltaic cells but in order to provide information regarding to electricity to customers the smart hems use analogue and digital systems which is an efficient methodology. Home energy management systems play a fantastic role in distribution of energy via conventional grid and homes optimistically. With increasing demand of energy the communication in wired as well as in wireless medium is increased. Internet connection and intranet connection is makes low cost smart homes. Zigbee is one of the devices that uses for communication between smart homes and smart grid. Zigbee alliance introduced Zigbee standard protocol based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard set by IEEE and new standard committee (NESCOM) for low rates wireless personal area network [15]. Zigbee consists of four layers. Zigbee Zigbee alliance platform IEEE 802.15.4 There is a great difference between energy production and consumption, low production cause deficiency of electricity supply. World energy production pie chart is shown as There are many optimization techniques that are used for optimization one of which is knapsack. In knapsack there are many algorithms used for obtaining the best optimized result. In this paper we will make comparative study of some algorithms of knapsack and we will find the best solution obtained from these algorithms. Comparison of different home energy management schemes: Optimization based residential energy management: It is the linear programming model basic purpose of this model is minimization of electricity cost at residential areas [1]. In this scheme a day of 24 hours is divided into equal time slots having equal lengths consists of various prices of electricity like time of use (TOU) tariffs. The objective function shows that with proper scheduling we can reduce the energy expenses by division of home appliances in time slots. Objective function is defined as EI DI Ut St Where I define number of appliances, E defines energy consumption of appliance, J number of days, DI length of cycle of appliance, K number of requests, Ut unit price for slot t and T number of time slots. IN home energy management (iHEM): This scheme use smart appliances like energy management unit (EMU) and wireless sensor home area network (WSHANs) for communication purposes between appliances (IHEMS). It also uses (Zigbee) protocol, wireless sensor networks and cluster tree topology. In this scheme customer may turn on appliance at any moment without being worried about peak hours. In home energy management (iHEM) gives suitable time to customer for appliance use. How iHEM works a request package is sent by appliance to EMU at the start, on receiving the packet EMU communicates with storage system in order to know available energy. Energy management unit (EMU) than communicates with smart meter for current prices. The storage unit send available reply containing information about storage energy when EMU receives packet, it schedules the suitable start time according to iHEM algorithm. It also reduces the carbon emission and energy consumption cost. 2) KNAPSACK: The single knapsack is a problem of combinatorial optimization having objects, values and weights packed into knapsack of specific capacity such that value of object is maximized [19] .The multiple knapsack is generalization of single knapsack problem it is resource allocation problem consists of M resources and set of N objects [19]- [20]. Knapsack problem is basically an items set that have different weights and values. Our choice of item must be in such a way that it should be maximum among the weights of given items. Knapsack allows community to use energy efficiently in order to achieve their goals. It not only minimizes the customer bills but force them to use their heavy appliances other than peak hours. It is estimated that energy demands overall around the world increasing 25 percent per year so its great challenge for us to fulfill the demand [21]. In order to overcome the increasing demand of energy we need to optimize energy usage. Knapsack is one of the optimization technique used for optimizing a problem. 2.1) Types of Knapsack: There are different types of knapsack which are as 1) 0-1Knapsack problem. 2) Bounded Knapsack problem. 3) Unbounded Knapsack problem. 2.1.1) 0-1 Knapsack problem (binary Knapsack): In such case the item is either taken or not taken (accepted / rejected) there are no other possibilities. Suppose a set of ’n’ items having different weights and values say ‘wi’ and ‘vi’, xi is the number of copies of item of set ‘n’. In mathematical form: Maximize ixi Subject to i xi ≠¤ W Here Xi {0, 1} 2.1.2) Bounded Knapsack Problem: In bounded knapsack problem restriction on xi is removed i.e. xi is an integer value in BKP. In BKP restriction is applied on copies of each item of set ‘n’ to some integer value say ‘ci’. Mathematically: Maximize ixi Subject to i xi ≠¤ WHere xi {0, 1†¦ ci} 2.1.3) Unbounded Knapsack Problem: In unbounded knapsack problem no restriction is applied on xi. Mathematically: Maximize ixi Subject to i xi ≠¤ WHere xi ≠¥ 0. 2.2) Algorithms for Knapsack: There are many algorithms for solving 0-1 knapsack problems which are as [22]: 2.2.1) Brute Force: It is a straight forward approach based on statement of problem and concepts’ definition. If there are n items that can be chosen from a set of given items then there will be 2n possible combination of items for knapsack. There is a bit string of 0’s and 1’s, if the string is 1 of an item then it is chosen if 0 then not chosen. 2.2.2) Dynamic Programming: It is a technique in which a complex problem is divided into smaller sub problems. These sub-problems are then solved and are recorded in table. Thus table obtain is utilize to solve original problem. The complexity of this algorithm is O (NlogN). 2.2.3) Greedy Algorithm: This algorithm requires some common sense and problem solving experience for solving problem. It’s a decision making process which may have following steps: 1) Choosing such item that has maximum value in knapsack. 2) Choose item with less weight. 3) Choose item with high value to weight ratio. 2.2.4) Genetic Algorithm: It is an algorithm used to search best solution among different possible solution of a problem. It begins with a solution set and each set is called population. A new population is made from old population by selecting them according to certain specified fitness level. 3) Appliance Usage Control: In [23] consumption of electricity is not always rational it also depends on human psychology factors. Different people use different appliances at different time slots. Now if we consider some appliances we can classify them into following categories: 1) Must Run Appliances: Appliances whose time slot cannot be changed and they must run comes in this category. 2) Fixed Run Appliances: Appliances that run only once a day at specific time. 3) Flexible Appliances: Appliances that can be run at any time in a day they don’t have fixed time. Some of the household devices are shown below: Oven LampRefrigerator Fan Considering human psychology factor the use of appliances can be categorize as: 1) Emergency Use: Appliances that use in some sort of emergency. 2) Welfare: Appliances that use for welfare 3) Enjoyment: Appliances that use for enjoyment purpose. Taking an example of personnel computer that is used by student for his working purpose or for emergency while an adult use it for enjoyment purpose. In order to make decision on which appliance should be used during peak hour follows analytic hierarchy process. Bibliography

New York City A Diverse Area :: essays research papers

New York City is a diverse area. It contains hundreds of different tracts with one different from the other. I am going to be comparing Hunter's tract, which is 120 with my tract, which is 721. After comparing these two tracts, I am going to compare them both to the entire city of New York. The pace where I live in is Forest Hills, Queens. NYC contains Demographic Characteristics such as total population. In all of New York, to be exact, there are 8,008,278 people in all. Hunter's tract contains 3,965 people. In my tract there are 5,243 people. By looking at this data, it shows that there is a larger population in my tract. Sex and Age in my tract is similar to Hunter's tract and NYC. In all three there are more females than males. Tract 721 has 46% males and 54% females. Hunter's tract has 43.6% males and 56.4% females. NYC as a whole has 47.3% males and 52.7% females. The difference in all three is the median age. Hunter's tract is the oldest one with 51.1 years. The second oldest one is my tract with a median age is 41.9 years. NYC has a median age of 34.2 years. I believe it is so young because, a lot of babies are being born. Educational Attainment and Income are very important. It matters how much education you have in order to have a good job and a higher income. Hunter's tract is more educated then the tract where I live in. There is an enormous difference between the two. In Hunter's tract, people with no high school diploma are only 3.4%. My tract's calculation for no high school diploma is 17.9%. That's almost 6 times as much. With bachelors degree or higher in my tract, there is 38.7%. In Hunter's tract it is 74.8%. That's almost double. This shows that there are greater amounts of educated people in Hunter's tract then my tract. NYC as a whole has almost the same percentage with no high school diploma as to people with bachelor's degree or higher. No high school diploma is 24.7% and bachelors degree or higher is 27.4%. This shows that there are less educated people in New York. Income is the same as educational attainment. There is a much greater income in Hunter's tract than in my tract. The median household income in tract 721 is $33,402.

Technology and Culture

There is no denying to the fact that changes occur in life as the world develops in its technology. Traditions and customs, culture of each and every race in Malaysia get a setback in this case. An attempt to keep them alive is a controversial matter and become debatable as we are somehow ‘modernized’ by the West. It is somehow painful and sad to see traditions and customs dying as we all humans have intense emotional bond with cultures and traditions but the stark reality have to be accepted that the world is a stage of flux and change.There are several reasons to why our traditions and customs are abandoned. Firstly, the advancement in telecommunication has influenced our minds to choose between cultures to which one that are convenient. We tend to look for and turn to the way as well as the one that is more convenient and are accessible. It is human nature for youths especially to adapt to changes faster. For instance, the existence of the social network called Facebo ok that enables us to connect with people from all walks of life by just typing a person’s name without actually knowing the person well.On festive seasons, we, young people need not going around visiting relatives and friends as well as going back to our respective hometowns anymore, we just wish them and greet them through the social network and phone them. Somehow, the tradition of visiting relatives and friends during festive seasons soon will be a history of life. Furthermore, the technology has moved people’s interest to play traditional games to modern and virtual games. Many youths nowadays are often categorize as the visual people.They often spend their time going to cybercafà © or at home playing computer games to the wee hours. If you ask them about traditional games they would just stare blankly at you because they as well as children nowadays only know how to swipe on the gadgets that theirs parents have. Probably, they are somehow called ‘heliophob ia’ which means a person who is fear of sunlight as most of our traditional games are played outdoors. Traditional games have now been ruled over by virtual games and have now been an ‘old-fashioned’ in youngsters mind.Moreover, the technology has equipped us with more knowledge and we become more open-minded and more rational in thinking. If we would like to know more about more information on a certain thing or events, we could just click on the mouse and search information from the internet as search engines provides us with much information. Referring to books and newspaper have been sort of ‘out-dated’ thing. On the other hand, we can now learn cultural dance through the advance video technology, YouTube.We no longer take the first step to actually ask our mentor or the cultural dance performer or instructor to train us to dance correctly. Even now, the cultural dance is called cultural cum modern dance in the video website. The younger generati on eventually become more open-minded as they think what they are doing is ‘cool’ and fashion has overpowered traditional wears in certain ethnics. All in all, advancements in technology surely have caused traditions and culture to get a setback.The government as well as the responsible authorities should organize campaigns and take action so that the young will know the legacy that our ancestors have practiced and passed on to us. Perhaps, a cultural dance such as lion dance, fan dance, ‘bharatanatyam’ being performed on occasions will get younger generation to know their culture better. They will then pass on to the next generation. It is never too late to teach them on culture and traditions, which is a legacy to leave behind when we are gone leaving a great impact on the next generation.

3 Cases of Erroneous Use of Colons

3 Cases of Erroneous Use of Colons 3 Cases of Erroneous Use of Colons 3 Cases of Erroneous Use of Colons By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, a colon is employed in the mistaken belief that the sentence structure requires it, when in fact the syntax renders it superfluous. Discussion after each example explains why a colon is inappropriate, and a revision demonstrates proper punctuation of the sentence. 1. The network is terminating all its business ties to his media company, which includes: ending its distribution of his new program, renaming the original show, and separating itself from his merchandise website. A colon should precede a list only when what precedes the colon is a complete sentence. This error is easily rectified by inserting the object â€Å"the following† before it, but a better solution is to simply omit the colon: â€Å"The network is terminating all its business ties to his media company, which includes ending its distribution of his new program, renaming the original show, and separating itself from his merchandise website.† 2. The piece was widely criticized for, among other things: failing to provide crucial context, an apparent unfamiliarity with terminology, failing to verify several claims, and failing to note that the paper had previously published a similar profile of the organization’s cofounder. As in the previous example, the writer assumed that a list must be preceded by a colon, but the punctuation is intrusive when it interrupts the syntactical flow of the sentence. In this case, a comma, not a colon, should follow the parenthetical phrase â€Å"among other things† to complement the comma preceding the phrase: â€Å"The piece was widely criticized for, among other things, failing to provide crucial context, an apparent unfamiliarity with terminology, failing to verify several claims, and failing to note that the paper had previously published a similar profile of the organization’s cofounder.† 3. They understand that, to paraphrase something British statesman Winston Churchill once said: Success is not final, failure is not fatal, and it is the courage to continue that counts. Here, the assumption is that the proper punctuation for separating an attribution from the quotation (or, in this case, paraphrase) attributed is a colon, but again, what precedes the colon must be a complete sentence, such as â€Å"Here is a paraphrase of what British statesman Winston Churchill once said† (clumsy, but syntactically sound). In addition, because the paraphrase is integrated syntactically into the sentence, capitalization of the first word is erroneous: â€Å"They understand that, to paraphrase something British statesman Winston Churchill once said, success is not final, failure is not fatal, and it is the courage to continue that counts.† (Without the attribution, the sentence would be styled â€Å"They understand that success is not final, failure is not fatal, and it is the courage to continue that counts.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SThat vs. Which48 Writing Prompts for Middle School Kids