Art essay Essay Example for Free

Art essay Essay Does art imitate life – or is it the other way around? Traditionally, we have believed that art imitates life. The painter represents what he or she sees by producing a scene on a canvas. The sculptor does the same with bronze or stone. A photographer or film maker does it even more directly. A writer describes life in his or her books. This simple concept is known as mimesis. But some have questioned the one-way nature of mimesis by arguing that art also changes the way we view the world, and in fact, life sometimes imitates art rather than the other way around. The person who first articulated this belief effectively was Oscar Wilde. Speaking about the foggy conditions in London in the late 19th century, he wrote that the way we perceive them changed because of art. Referring to the wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and turning houses into shadows he argued that poets and painters have taught [people] the loveliness of such effects. According to Wilde, They did not exist till Art had invented them. [pic] And you don’t have to look too far to see anti-mimesis in our lives. To what extent is our outlook on life altered by ideas we read in books? The portrayal of people in films? The styles we see in fashion photography? One great example of this is the TV series The Sopranos, and how it affected both the Mafia in the USA and the FBI. Art’s influence on society: propaganda and censorship Throughout history, it has always been the case that art has the power to change society, especially when new media are used to express an idea. During the First World War, for example, movie cameras were used for the first time to record trench warfare – when the film was shown in cinemas in Britain, audiences ran out screaming. This led to the government censoring further such use of such a powerful medium. And in government censorship, and use of art as propaganda, we see how seriously governments take the effect of art. All of the major dictators of the C20th understood the power of art to influence the population. In Nazi Germany, Hitler set up the Ministry of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. It was headed by Goebbels, who made sure that nothing was published, performed, or exhibited without his approval. [pic]When this happens, you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending And what Goebbels approved, of course, only fit in with Nazi ideology and ideas. In terms of art, this meant no modern and abstract art, certainly nothing hostile to the regime, and nothing that featured images other than the stereotypical blonde-haired, blue eyed set in idyllic pastoral scenes of blissful happiness. [pic] [pic] In Stalinist Russia, there was also a keen understanding of the power of art. Art portrayed contented peasants, industrious workers, and Stalin himself. In fact, Stalin was shown god-like in many paintings, a phenomenon known as the Cult of Stalin. Just as in Germany, gigantic architectural projects expressed the power of the state. [pic] [pic] However, there is no doubt that in Russia there were greater artistic achievements than in Nazi Germany. Composers worked with fewer hindrances – as seen in the works by Prokoviev and Shostakovich, and film-makers such as Eisenstein emerged. Art’s influence on society: the trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover But even under less oppressive governments, the artistic expression of certain ideas can be subject to control. One great example is the book ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by DH Lawrence, which was deemed offensive on many levels. In this book, Constance Reid, a woman from a progressive liberal middle class family marries a minor member of the aristocracy, Lord Clifford Chatterley, and takes the title ‘Lady Chatterley’. But her husband is injured in the First World War, confined to a wheelchair, and left impotent. Despite this, he becomes a successful writer and businessman. It is more his obsession with financial success and fame rather than any physical difficulties which come between him and his wife, and she begins an affair with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The largely aristocratic ‘establishment’ of Britain at the time – the book was published in Italy in 1928 were shocked by many aspects of the book. First, there was the fact that the book was ‘obscene’, in the way it went into explicit detail the affair that took place (see below). Second, there was the fact that a women was breaking her marriage vows, something considered far worse than a man behaving in the same way. Finally, it represented an intimate relationship between a member of the ‘lower’ classes (although it emerges during the story that Mellors is actually well-educated, and became an officer in the army during the First World War) and the ‘upper’ classes, a concept that was totally taboo in Britain at that time. The book was duly banned. [pic] But the book was republished by Penguin books in 1960. The attorney general, Reginald Manningham-Buller (dubbed ‘Bullying-Manners’ by the journalist and author Bernard Levin) had to read only four chapters to decide to prosecute Penguin books for publishing it. What annoyed him was not just the content, but the fact that the price of the book meant it was affordable to women and members of the lower classes (remember that only few women worked at this time, and husbands were generally in charge of family finances). The trial was a disaster for Manningham-Buller and the prosecution. They had failed to find any experts to support their case, in stark contrast to Penguin’s defence team, which had brought in authors, journalists, academics, and even members of the clergy to defend the book. Manningham-Buller and his team had very little idea of what Lawrence had been trying to express in his book, regularly being caught out by the superior insight of the witnesses they were trying to catch out. And although they tried to shock the jury – in his opening speech, Manningham-Buller announced: The word fuck or fucking appears no less than 30 times . . . Cunt 14 times; balls 13 times; shit and arse six times apiece; cock four times; piss three times, and so on. they were unable to prove that the book would have a negative influence on the readers it was aimed at. According to the Guardian: No other jury verdict in British history has had such a deep social impact. Over the next three months Penguin sold 3m copies of the book – an example of what many years later was described as the Spycatcher effect, by which the attempt to suppress a book through unsuccessful litigation serves only to promote huge sales. The jury – that iconic representative of democratic society – had given its imprimatur to ending the taboo on sexual discussion in art and entertainment. Within a few years the stifling censorship of the theatre by the lord chamberlain had been abolished, and a gritty realism emerged in British cinema and drama. (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning came out at the same time as the unexpurgated Lady Chatterley, and very soon Peter Finch was commenting on Glenda Jacksons tired old tits in Sunday Bloody Sunday and Ken Tynan said the first fuck on the BBC. ) Homosexuality was decriminalised, abortions were available on reasonable demand, and in order to obtain a divorce it was unnecessary to prove that a spouse had committed the matrimonial crime of adultery. Judges no longer put on black caps to sentence prisoners to hang by the neck until dead. Can we say, though, that it was art in this case that changed society, or was it an interaction between human sciences (ie, the law) and the arts (the book) that led to change? This is from the same Guardian article: †¦the message of Lady Chatterleys Lover, half a century after the trial, is that literature in itself does no harm at all. The damage that gets attributed to books – and to plays and movies and cartoons – is caused by the actions of people who try to suppress them. See: The trial of Lady Chatterleys Lover The effect of art: presentation [pic] What other piece of art has profoundly changed the way we view the world? And was it the art that did it, or the way it was used that made the impact? Use the link below to help you introduce to us an influential piece of art. Think about the type of change it wrought, for example, ethical, social, metaphysical, etc.

Gaussian Elimination Method And Gauss Jordan Method Computer Science Essay

Gaussian Elimination Method And Gauss Jordan Method Computer Science Essay Gaussian Elimination is considered as the workhorse of computational science for the solution of a system of the linear equations. In linear algebra,  Gaussian elimination  is an algorithm for the solving systems of the linear equations, and finding the rank of a matrix, and calculating the inverse of an invertible square matrix. Gaussian elimination is named after the German mathematician and the scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss. The method was invented in Europe independently by  Carl Friedrich Gauss  when developing the  method of least squares  in his 1809 publication  Theory of Motion of Heavenly Bodies. Gauss elimination is an exact method which solves a given system of equation in n unknowns by transforming the coefficient matrix, into an upper triangular matrix and the n solve for the unknowns by back substitution. Solving Method: The process of Gaussian elimination has two parts. The first part (Forward Elimination) reduces a given system to either  triangular  or  echelon form, or results in a  degenerate  equation with no solution, indicating the system has no solution. This is done through the use of elementary. The second step uses  back substitution  to find the solution of the system above. the first part reduces a matrix to  row echelon form  using  elementary row operations  while the second reduces it to  reduced row echelon form, or  row canonical form. Initially, for the given system, write row, the sum of the coefficients in each row, in the (n+2) nd column. Perform the same operation on the elements of this column also. Now in the absence of computational errors, at any stage, the row sum element in (n+2)nd row, will be equal to the sum of the of the elements of the corresponding transformed row. Algorithm for Gaussian Elimination:- Transform the columns of the augmented matrix, one at a time, into triangular echelon form. The column presently being transformed is called the  pivot column. Proceed from left to right, letting the pivot column be the first column, then the second column, etc. and finally the last column before the vertical line. For each pivot column, do the following two steps before moving on to the next pivot column: Locate the diagonal element in the pivot column. This element is called the  pivot. The row containing the pivot is called the  pivot row. Divide every element in the pivot row by the pivot (ie. use E.R.O. #1) to get a new pivot row with a 1 in the pivot position. Get a 0 in each position below the pivot position by subtracting a suitable multiple of the pivot row from each of the rows below it (ie. by using E.R.O. #2). Upon completion of this procedure the augmented matrix will be in triangular echelon form and may be solved by back-substitution. Steps Taken in Gauss Elimination Method: Write the augmented matrix for the system of the linear equations. Use elementary row operations on the augmented matrix [A|b] to the transform of  A  into the upper triangular form. If the zero is locate on the diagonal, switch the rows until a nonzero is in that place. If we are unable to do so, stop; the system has either infinite or has no solutions. Use the back substitution going to find the solution of the problem. Systems Of Linear Equations: Gaussian Elimination:- It is quite hard to solve non-linear systems of equations, while linear systems are quite easy to study. There are numerical techniques which help to approximate nonlinear systems with linear ones in the hope that the solutions of the linear systems are close enough to the solutions of the nonlinear systems.   The equation   a x  +  b y  +  c z  +  d w  =  h Where  a,  b,  c,  d, and  h  are known numbers, while  x,  y,  z, and  w  are unknown numbers, is called a  linear equation. If  h  =0, the linear equation is said to be homogeneous. A  linear system  is a set of linear equations and a  homogeneous linear system  is a set of homogeneous linear equations. Example:  Use Gaussian elimination to solve the system of equations: Solution:  Perform this sequence of E.R.O.s on the augmented matrix. Set the pivot column to column 1. Get a 1 in the diagonal position (underlined): Next, get 0s below the pivot (underlined): Now, let pivot column = second column. First, get a 1 in the diagonal position: Next, get a 0 in the position below the pivot: Now, let pivot column = third column. Get a 1 in the diagonal position: This matrix, which is now in triangular echelon form, represents: It is solved by back-substitution. Substituting  z  = 3 from the third equation into the second equation gives  y  = 5, and substituting  z  = 3 and  y  = 5 into the first equation gives x =  7. Thus the complete solution is: {x  = 7,  y  = 5,  z  = 3}. Gauss Jordan Method Gauss-Jordan Elimination is a variant of Gaussian Elimination. Again, we are transforming the coefficient matrix into another matrix that is much easier to solve, and the system represented by the new augmented matrix has the same solution set as the original system of linear equations. In Gauss-Jordan Elimination, the goal is to transform the coefficient matrix into a diagonal matrix, and the zeros are introduced into the matrix one column at a time. We work to eliminate the elements both above and below the diagonal element of a given column in one pass through the matrix. Solving Method Gauss-Jordan Elimination Steps: Write the augmented matrix for the system of linear equations. Use elementary row operations on the augmented matrix [A|b] to transform  A  into diagonal form. If a zero is located on the diagonal, switch the rows until a nonzero is in that place. If you are unable to do so, stop; the system has either infinite or no solutions. By dividing the diagonal element and the right-hand-side element in each row by the diagonal element in that row, make each diagonal element equal to one. When performing calculations by hand, many individuals choose Gauss-Jordan Elimination over Gaussian Elimination because it avoids the need for back substitution. However, we will show later that Gauss-Jordan elimination involves slightly more work than does Gaussian elimination, and thus it is not the method of choice for solving systems of linear equations on a computer. This method can be used to solve systems of linear equations involving two or more variables. However, the system must be changed to an augmented matrix. -This method can also be used to find the inverse of a 22 matrix or larger matrices, 33, 44 etc. Note: The matrix must be a square matrix in order to find its inverse. An Augmented Matrix is used to solve a system of linear equations. a1 x + b1 y + c1z = d1 a2 x + b2 y + c2 z = d2 a3x + b3 y + c3z = d3 System of Equations Æ’Â   Augmented Matrix Æ’Â   a1 b1 c1 d1 a2 b2 c2 d2 a3 b3 c3 d3 When given a system of equations, to write in augmented matrix form, the coefficients of each variable must be taken and put in a matrix. For example, for the following system: 3x + 2y z = 3 x y + 2z = 4 2x + 3y z = 3 3 2 -1 3 Augmented matrix Æ’Â   1 -1 2 4 2 3 -1 3 There are three different operations known as Elementary Row Operations used when solving or reducing a matrix, using Gauss-Jordan elimination method. 1. Interchanging two rows. 2. Add one row to another row, or multiply one row first and then adding it to another. 3. Multiplying a row by any constant greater than zero. Identity Matrix-is the final result obtained when a matrix is reduced. This matrix consists of ones in the diagonal starting with the first number. -The numbers in the last column are the answers to the system of equations. 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 ↠Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¯Identity Matrix for a 33 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 6 ↠Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¯Identity Matrix for a 44 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 The pattern continues for bigger matrices. Solving a system using Gauss-Jordan The best way to go is to get the ones first in their respective column, and then using that one to get the zeros in that column. It is very important to understand that there is no exact procedure to follow when using the Gauss-Jordan method to solve for a system. 3x + 2y z = 3 x y + 2z = 4 Write as an augmented matrix. 2x + 3y z = 3

An Evolving Relationship in The Circling Hand Essay -- Circling Hand

An Evolving Relationship in  The Circling Hand    An evolving mother-daughter relationship is the focus of Jamaica Kincaid s autobiographical   The Circling Hand.  Ã‚   Like the narrator, Kincaid grew up in Antigua as the only child her mother and carpenter father.   Also like the narrator, Kincaid admits her mother kept everything she ever wore.  Ã‚   This narrative is a coming of age story, in which this dynamic and unusual mother-daughter relationship plays an important role.   Through the beginning bliss of childhood to the frustrating stage of adolescence, this unique relationship, in which the daughter is infatuated with her mother, seems to control the narrator s development as a free ­thinking person.      Ã‚  Ã‚   It is easily inferred that the narrator sees her mother as extremely beautiful.   She even sits and thinks about it in class.   She describes her mother s head   as if it should be on a sixpence,   (Kincaid 807).   She stares at her mother s long neck and hair and glorifies virtually every feature.   The narrator even makes reference to the fact that many women had loved her father, but he chose her regal mother.   This heightens her mother s stature in the narrator s eyes.  Ã‚   Through her thorough description of her mother s beauty, the narrator conveys her obsession with every detail of her mother.  Ã‚   Although the narrator s adoration for her mother s physical appearance is vast, the longing to be like her and be with her is even greater.      Ã‚  Ã‚   The narrator spends her young childhood drunk with love for her mother.   She happily sleeps late on school holidays, follows her mother ar... ...tionship has completely evolved and the narrator somewhat comes into her own  ­ a natural and inevitable process.      Ã‚  Ã‚   As a result of the freshly severed apron strings, while at her new school, the narrator starts to   love   a new friend named Gwen.   When she shares her day with her mother and does not mention her new - found love, this is her young mind s way of saying   You have your life and I have mine and I don t have to tell you about it.  Ã‚   While the mother  ­ daughter relationship still exist, the narrator forms another relationship, making her less dependant on the first.   The evolution of adolescence is the theme of the story, but the transformation of the mother daughter relationship proves to be the most drastic change the narrator goes through at an age revolved   around change.   

Wilsons Fourteen Points: a Path to Peace or to Renewed Conflict Essay

Wilson's Fourteen Points: a Path to Peace or to Renewed Conflict Wilson's Fourteen Points were a decent attempt at peace and restitution after the Great War; however, there were many inherent problems with the Wilsonian agenda. These problems were caused by many things, including Allied bias, American ambition, and Western European dominance. While trying to fix many problems in Europe, the Fourteen Points mainly concentrated on the things that were important to the Allied powers: France was bent on revenge, Great Britain was looking to further its power over the seas, and America was keen on becoming an even more powerful trade nation. The Allied Powers made it very hard for Germany and Austria and the newly formed countries in Eastern Europe to carry out many of the things set down in the Fourteen points, in particular, the idea of self-determination that is evident in over half of the points. Reading the Fourteen Points might lead a person to believe that the Allies were in favor of all forms of self-determination unconditionally; in fact, just the opposite was true. They used "self-determination as a formula for rearranging the balance of power in their own interests" (Keynes pp. 2). Point Five of the Wilsonian agenda was a testament to this. It called for the "free, open-minded adjustment of all colonial claims." Essentially, what this did was allow countries to practice limited forms of self-determination, mainly by switching European rule from the more obvious direct control method, to indirect European control. Some countries were allowed independence, but those countries that were denied it became mandates; Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon are examples of the ladder. The main thing Point Five accomplished was that i... ...and incomplete" (Keynes pp. 4). Ironically this is just the thing Wilson had set out not to do. In the speech he delivered before he read out the Fourteen Points, Wilson said that there was "no confusion between the Allied powers, no uncertainty of principle and no vagueness of detail." Wilson goes on to say that the "only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war lies with Germany and her allies," when in fact this failure of definite statement was also true of the Allied Powers. The Fourteen Points did accomplish something in that they set out terms for a treaty, but unfortunately the Points failed because they severely lacked in detail and succinct. Furthermore, if the Points had been written with the sole objective of peace and restitution and not ambition or revenge, the ultimate Treaty of Versailles may have led to a lasting peace in Europe.

The Theory of Chaos :: science

The Theory of Chaos Where Chaos begins, classical science ends. Ever since physicists have inquired into the laws of nature, the have not begun to explore irregular side of nature, the erratic and discontinuous side, that have always puzzled scientists. They did not attempt to understand disorder in the atmosphere, the turbulent sea, the oscillations of the heart and brain, and the fluctuations of wildlife populations. All of these things were taken for granted until in the 1970's some American and European scientists began to investigate the randomness of nature. They were physicists, biologists, chemists and mathematicians but they were all seeking one thing: connections between different kinds of irregularity. "Physiologists found a surprising order in the chaos that develops in the human heart, the prime cause of a sudden, unexplained death. Ecologists explored the rise and fall of gypsy moth populations. Economists dug out old stock price data and tried a new kind of analysis. The insights that emerged led directly into the natural world- the shapes of clouds, the paths of lightning, the microscopic intertwining of blood vessels, the galactic clustering of stars." (Gleick, 1987) The man most responsible for coming up with the Chaos theory was Mitchell Feigenbaum, who was one of a handful of scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico when he first started thinking about Chaos. Feigenbaum was a little known scientist from New York, with only one published work to his name. He was working on nothing very important, like quasi periodicity, in which he and only he had 26 hour days instead of the usual 24. He gave that up because he could not bear to wake up to setting sun, which happened periodically. He spent most of time watching clouds from the hiking trails above the laboratory. To him could represented a side of nature that the mainstream of physics had passed by, a side that was fuzzy and detailed, and structured yet unpredictable. He thought about these things quietly, without producing any work. After he started looking, chaos seemed to be everywhere. A flag snaps back and forth in the wind. A dripping faucet changes from a steady pattern to a random one. A rising column of smoke disappears into random swirls. "Chaos breaks across the lines that separate scientific disciplines. Because it is a science of the global nature of systems, it has brought together thinkers from fields that have been widely separated. The Theory of Chaos :: science The Theory of Chaos Where Chaos begins, classical science ends. Ever since physicists have inquired into the laws of nature, the have not begun to explore irregular side of nature, the erratic and discontinuous side, that have always puzzled scientists. They did not attempt to understand disorder in the atmosphere, the turbulent sea, the oscillations of the heart and brain, and the fluctuations of wildlife populations. All of these things were taken for granted until in the 1970's some American and European scientists began to investigate the randomness of nature. They were physicists, biologists, chemists and mathematicians but they were all seeking one thing: connections between different kinds of irregularity. "Physiologists found a surprising order in the chaos that develops in the human heart, the prime cause of a sudden, unexplained death. Ecologists explored the rise and fall of gypsy moth populations. Economists dug out old stock price data and tried a new kind of analysis. The insights that emerged led directly into the natural world- the shapes of clouds, the paths of lightning, the microscopic intertwining of blood vessels, the galactic clustering of stars." (Gleick, 1987) The man most responsible for coming up with the Chaos theory was Mitchell Feigenbaum, who was one of a handful of scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico when he first started thinking about Chaos. Feigenbaum was a little known scientist from New York, with only one published work to his name. He was working on nothing very important, like quasi periodicity, in which he and only he had 26 hour days instead of the usual 24. He gave that up because he could not bear to wake up to setting sun, which happened periodically. He spent most of time watching clouds from the hiking trails above the laboratory. To him could represented a side of nature that the mainstream of physics had passed by, a side that was fuzzy and detailed, and structured yet unpredictable. He thought about these things quietly, without producing any work. After he started looking, chaos seemed to be everywhere. A flag snaps back and forth in the wind. A dripping faucet changes from a steady pattern to a random one. A rising column of smoke disappears into random swirls. "Chaos breaks across the lines that separate scientific disciplines. Because it is a science of the global nature of systems, it has brought together thinkers from fields that have been widely separated.

Challenges faced by the Allies in their Germany Advance

The establishment of empires and the countries that exist today was not an easy undertaking. There were always battles associated with this, and this led to bloodshed and destruction of cities. The world has always had incidences of wars, which most of the times are initiated by the strong countries, as they try to win the smaller ones. From the colonization battles to the wars like the First and Second World Wars, there have always been defeats and conquests. Even the strongest leaders have at times surrendered because of the extremes of the war. However, those who win are also affected, as their conquest is most of the times associated with several difficulties. The advancing of the allies into Germany in 1945 will be discussed with close reference to the scale and the nature of the problems that they faced. The crossing of the Rhine The Allies had targeted Germany after they conquered in the Battle of the Bulge. All the citizens were aware that once the Allies set foot in Germany, it would be the end of war. However, the Allies faced great challenges from some fanatical Nazis; Hitler included. Throughout the second and third months of 1945, there was a great battle by the allies in a bid to pass the Siegfried lane. They were faced with a great problem because the Germans had set up antitank fortifications, artillery and pillboxes which stretched from the western German border. This was quite a big hindrance to the allies as they sought for the best way to enter Germany. Additionally, this was an area which was always manned by old men and young boys, so that they could ensure that no enemy passed that point. Since time immemorial, the allies had not had the ability to pass through the Siegfried Line because of these hindrances. However they managed to conquer this small town in 1945 through the use of gasoline aids (World War II, 2010). When they set in, they advanced to Cologne, which was considered as the major German city. However, they were faced with a challenge because the US Army commander referred to as General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave orders to the allied forces to instead advance towards Ruhr. This is after he had realized that if Berlin was captured, then the industrial machine of Germany could be destroyed. There was a conflict between the leaders because the desire of Churchill was for the allies to overcome Berlin, but Eisenhower ordered the Allies to advance towards the Ruhr after crossing the Rhine (World War II, 2010). Crossing the Rhine for the Allies was quite an achievement because for the past one hundred and forty years before this time, there is no single group which had successfully crossed it. Hitler considered the Rhine as one of the important symbols of Germany. The only time the Rhine was crossed successfully was during the times of Napoleon, in 1805. This is because all the people who tried to do so would be shot down (World War II, 2010). However, the allies succeeded crossing the Rhine, amidst the challenges, because all the bridges had been blown up to restrict their advance. This also happened before they managed to capture Cologne city. This was indeed a great challenge. They had to cross the Rhine on special bridge units, which were often segregated. They also went ahead and constructed a bridge whose depth was twelve miles and thirty five miles width. Even though they managed, all these crossings were most of the times on fire, which was lit by the German forces. All this happened before March 23, 1945 (World War II, 2010). The Allies had set up an undertaking referred to as Operation Varsity which took place in 1945. It was considered as the last operation of the allies in Europe, and although the allies conquered, they were still faced with challenges. The Germans had prepared themselves as there were anti aircrafts units which were set strategically against the allies. All the bridges were blown up again, and Hitler was unable to restrict the allies who had settled in the west. The Red army had targeted Berlin, and it set forth to the West (World War II, 2010). Blitzkrieg Since time immemorial, Germany had always been known for using the trick known as ‘Blitzkrieg’. This was also referred to as the lightning war. This was an operation which involved the constant use of mass planes which would be ordered to break through the defenses of the enemy on a very close range. The enemy could not be allowed at any moment to invade Germany. Ordinarily, the German forces would successfully surround the opposing troops, where they would be forced to surrender (USHMM, 2010). This trick had proved effective since in the previous years, Germany had defeated Poland, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. However, they had never managed to defeat Great Britain. The allied forces also faced the same challenge, as the Germans tried to oppose their entrance to their territory. However, the allied forces managed to cross the Rhine, and consequently, the Nazi Germany surrendered (USHMM, 2010). When the war had advanced, it reached a point where the Germans felt defeated and they were therefore looking for ways in which they could surrender. This was indeed what the allies wanted. However, it was not an easy task, as there was a major challenge. There were so many deaths associated with the march. The last important German unit, which was referred to as Army Group B has all its men surrender, which totaled to two hundred thousand on April 24. The Germans were trying their best to ensure that the refugees were not a distraction so that they could surrender to the Allies from the west. Therefore, there was a delay in the Germans surrendering as most of the refugees refused to give way (World War II, 2007). German secret dealings The allied forces were constantly attacked by the refugees. There were guards who were assigned so as to force the people to move away from the fighting ground. However, most of the refugees resisted the orders and as a result, there were so many deaths which resulted. The guards continued to kill these people secretly (World War II, 2007). There was the collaboration of the allies and the Russians on the concentration camps. However, they faced another challenge as the Germans had tried to conceal their crime by hiding the bodies of the people who had been killed. They were presented with very horrific facts, as there were very many corpses which had been piled in a large heap. This revealed how the Germans had continued killing the people. In one of the camps, referred to as the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, all the civilians of this place were ordered by Eisenhower to see what used to happen in secret. This proved a great challenge to the Allies because they had to first search for all the guards that were hiding in all their ranks (World War II, 2007) As a result, the Gestapo officers and the guards realized that their dirty dealings had been revealed by the Allies. Therefore, they tried all they could so as to escape. However, most of them, including some Nazis of the high ranks were captured as they were escaping. Some of these included Fritz Von Papen, Herman Goering, and Albert Speer. There had looted art treasures which were later discovered. Additionally, there were very many hidden caches of jewelry and gold which were found in all parts of Germany. These had been stripped off from different countries and had been sent to Germany (World War II, 2007) Persecution of collaborators All the German leaders who tried to make secret alliances with the allies were persecuted and this was another problem that the allies encountered. One of these leaders was Heinrich Himmler, who tried to make a separate armistice with the allies from the west. However, he was too unfortunate because as soon as Hitler realized this, he ordered his soldiers to execute him. Additionally, Goering also tried to do the same, and even tried to take over from Hitler, but did not succeed. Therefore, the allies were in constant wrangle with Hitler as he never allowed any of his men to collaborate with them. All the same, this did not prevent the allies from excelling (World War II, 2007) When the then U. S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt died Hitler had hopes, that this would affect the operations of the allies. However, this was not the case, as the allies continued with their resolve, unaffected by anything. As a result, Hitler became a very depressed man, and vowed to fight the allies the best he could. He started by ensuring that the sewers were flooded, in a bid to stop both the Russian and the Western allies to continue their advance in Germany. The allies were constantly threatened by his actions. However, his efforts proved fruitless because most of the people who were wounded and killed were the refugees. He set battles by moving trapped or nonexistent armies. All the commanders that defied his orders were executed. Even though he tried all this, the Allies still won the battle, and the Nazis surrendered (World War II, 2007). Conclusion Though the allies were faced with great challenges as they tried to invade Germany, they successfully won. However, they were constantly faced with the German attacks through the tricks that it had used over the years so as to defend itself from its enemies. Some of the leaders of the German armies collaborated with the allies so that they could defeat Hitler and his forces. Eventually, the might of the Allies only left Hitler a depress man, who even chose his successor before he committed suicide. References USHMM. (2010).World War II in Europe. Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007681 World War II. (2007).The German surrender April 25-May8, 1945. Retrieved from http://worldwar2database.com/html/germanysurrender.htm World War II. (2010). Crossing the Rhine. Retrieved from   http://worldwar2database.com/html/rhine.htm

Software Engineering – Payroll System

Introduction Information System is processing of information received and transmitted to produce an efficient and effective process. One of the most typical information systems is the Transaction Processing System. Transaction Processing System collects, stores, modifies, and retrieves the transactions of a certain organization. The process of retrieving, modifying and transmitting data to be stored using information system is referred to as transaction. Transactions occur is known to be a part of records. All of these records were originally kept in paper. When a certain organization uses a certain transaction processing system, retrieving and transmitting of information will be available at anytime needed. The number and volume of transactions can be calculated for a given time period. Payroll System is complete Payroll  software  right from Employees Personal Information, Pay Structure, Loans, Reimbursement, Pay Slip Generation & Printing, Salary Register, P. F. , E. S. I. , Profession Tax, Income Tax, and L. I. C. Reports etc. Added to the above reports, standard formats for annual submissions of PF, E. S. I. , and P. T. are also generated automatically. This  software  can be used by Industrial units, Distribution Agencies, Departmental Stores, Consultants, Business Houses and Contractors Etc. The developers of the  package  follow a predefined pattern so that the user has the ease of use and can utilize the  package  to its fullest extent. Care has been taken so that the  software  is as much user friendly as possible and any suggestions on improvements in this regard are welcome. The use of this  package  is a must for  personnel  departments in various Industrial houses since it will help in reducing monotonous manual labour and produce accurate results for salary and related calculations. Payroll System with Time keeping and Fingerprint refers to the records – paper or electronic – and calculations that you make to work out your employees' pay and deductions under the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system. It's essential to a business or company that you pay your employees the right amount and on time – and that you make the correct deductions. So keeping accurate payroll records is really important. Now a day, Manual System is replaced into more advance and modern technology, just like the Manual Payroll System where the accountant, computes or process employees salaries through calculator. The way of saving files and important documents are only filed in filing cabinets that may cause loss of files when large amount of data are being received. In addition, it is not secured. And in fact, most accountant, uses same software of Microsoft office especially MS Excel. And with the use of this proposed system, a new and more advance Payroll System may be produced which can provide data security, prevent loss of data and redundancy and easier to access, accurate and faster to use. ABSTRACT Project Objectives The Software engineering course that we took this semester placed emphasis on the paradigm of extreme Programming (XP) techniques. Extreme programming is a programming technique that bases its values on simplicity, communication, feedback and courage. It encourages team work and constant communication with the client. The objective of this project is to put into practice the teachings that we have learnt about XP. Approach When we were first given this project, we met to determine how we were to carry out the task assigned to us. We drew up a time-line, discussed about the programming language to use to carry out the task, how the GUI would look like and also to make sure that we understood what was assigned to us. We finally settled for Visual Basic (VB) as our programming language. We got more information on what we were to do and set about completing our task, making use of the new ideas taught in class, and especially spikes. Achievement Our task was to develop a payroll system that would keep a record of employee data including their pension plan, union membership status, and taxes and also to be able to calculate the pay of the employees taking into consideration employee data. We have been able to achieve these task. The software we developed calculates the employee net pay from the deductions. The pay slip can be printed out as a receipt. Most of the bugs that we found and those that the clients and beta users found have been corrected. Any new bugs found will also be corrected and the software will be updated and released. Because we used object-oriented principles, modifying the software to fix bugs or add a new feature has been relatively easy. The Company name We believe that consistent quality results can be achieved only if the organization is â€Å"process† driven. Therefore, we have designed a standard process which needs to be followed by our development group for each project/product. A process audit is carried out by the quality department, and any deviations from the standard process are reported. We keep enhancing our process depending upon the suggestions of our defect prevention board, and the Following is the snapshot of our standard software development process: Related Document| COMPANY NAME Software Development Life Cycle| Requirement Specifications| Step 1: Requirement Analysis:   This is perhaps the most important step in the entire cycle. If the requirements are understood well and documented clearly, then the implementation becomes much smoother and less amount of re-work is required in the software. Functional Specifications| Step 2: Functional Documentation: After the requirements are known, we make â€Å"Functional Specifications† which mainly consists of specifications of the user interface and the reports. These are given to the client, to give him the knowledge of how the system would function to meet his requirements. The comments of the client are addressed and then this document forms the basis of Software Design. | Design Specifications| Step 3: S oftware Design: Once the functionality is frozen, the software is then designed to implement the same. A design specifications document is created which describes the overall software architecture and the components included in the same. The Design Specification also divides the system into smaller components (modules) which we can be treated as individual units. | Program Specifications| Step 4: Module Specifications: After the Design is finalized, program specifications are prepared for each independent unit identified in the Design. The development of modules is carried out on basis of these program specifications. |   | Step 5: Unit Development: Each module is developed on the basis of program specifications. The software developed is reviewed by peer as well as by SQA. | Unit Test Plan| Step 6: Unit Testing Each unit developed is then tested independently. Stubs are used wherever there is integration required with other units. The unit is first tested by the developer, and then an Independent unit testing is carried out to flush out unit level errors. |   | Step 7: System Integration Once all the units are developed, the system is then integrated together by the integration team. | System Test Plan| Step 8: Integration Testing This is the last step before the software is released to the user. The integrated system is tested on basis of system integration test plan to see whether it meets all the requirements of the system. The integration testing is first carried out by development group and then carried out by the SQA. The system is released only when it gets satisfactory quality rating by the SQA. | UAT plan| Step 9: User Acceptance Test Once the software is released, a user acceptance test is carried out in the production environment. The system is put into production when the user is satisfied with the results of user acceptance test. | Payroll System  Our Payroll System is specific to Philippine setting. It has a fully integrated attendance leave credit monitoring, benefits & compensation management. It has an open-ended employee number capacity. It is ready for integration with any timekeeping device(s) or software. Its robust database capability can process large records with ease. TimeKeeping and Fingerprint System  Ã‚  The Timekeeping System works as the Bundy-clock component of the payroll system. The list of employees is imported from the payroll software. There is no need for an employee list encoding! The package includes a biometric Finger Print Recognition Device. The initial list of mployees is imported from the payroll software. It is just a simple â€Å"click† on the interface button. * Simple Interface with Photo Display upon Finger Print Recognition. * Intelligent Finger Print In & Out Recognition, right on the spot for real-time verification of employees. * Fully Supported and Seamless Inter – connectivity with the PayrollPro. * Customized reports and fine-tuning is guaranteed for specific attendance-related company-policies. Statement of the Problem   In any company, it is very important to monitor the employee’s attendance or time for accurate payroll and discipline. Some companies and schools are using manual punch card to record the employee’s attendance while others are still using logbook. Traditionally, such information would be gathered on a site by site basis and transmitted by either manual or electronic means, to a central point where payroll would then be processed and other reports prepared. Oftentimes, the information was outdated by the time it arrived, delaying payroll preparation and requiring numerous employees to complete just that one task. Based on observation, Universidad de Manila is currently using the punch card machine and log book for time and attendance data tracking. But these systems are inaccurate and are less secured. These also have the following time keeping problems: 1. Lost card/ logbook – Misplacement by the time keeper. – Pages of logbook are crumpled and torn apart. 2. Buddy punching -Proxy attendance for others 3. Manual encoding of attendance to payroll programs and other frauds. | General Problem: i. How to develop an upgrade payroll system that can help the employee’s to lessen their effort and consuming of time when they using it? Specific Problem: i. What are the Benefits of Payroll System? An automated payroll system helps the company to manage its payroll processes more effectively. As an organization expands, the operations can be more challenging. The company hires new employees, promotes current ones to new positions, and terminates others. It's hard for a payroll employee or department to keep track of all these changes by hand. An automated payroll system solves these problems because it captures and stores new hire information and processes payroll quickly and accurately especially we will upgrade their current system to a new one which is much easier to access data. ii. How the Fingerprints help the employees to lessen the time they consume before? Well Fingerprints help solve mysteries and crimes and such is because a fingerprint is unique because you’re the only one who has that pattern such as cuts, curves, and swirls. But now we will use Fingerprint as Time in and Time out to lessen the waste of time of an employee. They just need to touch the biometric and that is so easy than the previous system they use. Current State of Technology In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for working for a period of time. Payroll is crucial because payroll and payroll taxes considerably affect the net income of most companies and they are subject to laws and regulations. The primary mission of the payroll department is to ensure that all employees are paid accurately and timely with the correct allowances and deductions, and to ensure the allowances and deductions are paid in a timely manner. This includes salary payments, tax withholdings, and deductions. Pens and big notebook are usually used in logbook system. Employees will simply write down their names, time they log-in and signatures as their attendance. When the time of work is done or employees had to leave from their work because of an emergency, they will just write the time-out for completing their attendance for the day. While in punch card machine, the employees simply insert the time card or punch card into a slot on the Bundy clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot of the clock, the machine could print day and time information on the card. Using this, employees can easily do the proxy attendance for others. Especially when you will need to calculate manually the taxes, insurance and any other applicable deductions and allowances in addition to each employee's actual earnings. The advantage of using their manual system is that it is very inexpensive, with virtually no start-up costs and the disadvantage of it is that whatever you save on start-up costs will probably be eaten up by the amount of time it takes to process payroll. In addition, it's very easy to make mistakes when processing payroll manually, and the penalty for mistakes, especially mistakes in taxing, can be very costly. Project Rational The study focuses on the Automated Payroll System that will help the company to have an accurate system that will lessen the waste of time when they use this system. This study will be the one source to improve the Technical knowledge in system in software engineering. This study will be a great foot step to practicing their ability in making an automated system and to their knowledge in programming. The computerized payroll software systems save time and money, they're very easy to use and they're also very practical. Especially for the employee, Computerized payroll systems are much faster and easier compared to the manual processing also quick and accurate it will be easy for Time In and Time Out and also it lessen the work load of the Accountant specifically when preparing the summary of their report and the computation of monthly deduction and net salary. General Objective Specific Objective: An objective of our proposed system is to develop a system that will eliminate the problem of insufficient and incomplete information. This proposed system will contain a different flow in calculating the salary, eduction and etc. that will eliminate the error. and also we provide a fingerprint to make a sufficient process when making a Login and Logout. To develop a payroll system that has a fingerprint technology we provide a fingerprint to make a sufficient process when making a Time in and Time out and it will be much faster and less of time for the employee and to the accountant. She don’t nee d to encode it in a spreadsheet because, it’s connected to the payroll so it become easy for the accountant. Computerized Payroll System File Maintenance The system provides the following: Employee File The employee file program is used to add, change view or delete employees’ data. Position Deduction File This program is used to maintain employee deduction records. Note: only employees who have adjustments, misc. earnings, or misc. deductions should have a deduction record. Deduction records that do not have a corresponding employee record will be automatically purged by the calculate payroll pre-processing program. Scope and Limitation After several interviews and observations, the researchers have come to identify how the payroll works. The aim of the research is to provide a specific COMPANY, a computerized payroll system. The proposed system will guide the employer through all the stages of the process. SCOPE The  System  is designed for the enhancement or development of Computerized Payroll System for COMPANY. It includes the features that can Add Employees record, Edit Employees information, Delete Employees record, print / Save the Pay Slip of each employee and Updating Employees information as well as the Weekly Salary, Cash advance, the rate per day, overtime, Gross payment, Net pay, and Deduction such as withholding tax and SSS, adding up with a log-in log-out process for security purpose. Moreover, with help file can be used by the users to know how to use the payroll software. Special Features Time Card Entry (Daily Entry or Summary Entry per Payroll Period) Automated computation of withholding tax * (weekly/ semi / monthly/ year-end) * Automatic computation of SSS/ PhilHealth and PagIbig Premiums * Infinite slots for user definable other income and deductions * Loan handling module for SSS, PagIbig and your very own company vales which effectively keeps track of each balances * Printing of Pay Slips and Payroll Register Report generation for SSS, PhilHealth, PagIbig ; withholding tax (monthly ; quarterly reports) * Automatic year-end recap of withholding LIMITATIONS On the other hand, this study limits only to the proposed enhancement Computerized Payroll System of the COMPANY. A proposed system which can only be access by authorized person. It does not support network topology implementation, online program or online transaction.