Evolution of Computer Technology Free Essays

Several centuries have been taken toward the development of inventions made by different people into modern forms. Single inventors rarely bring out modern invention. What we have now as electronic devices (the computers) are inventions of several scientists, mathematicians and engineers from different centuries. We will write a custom essay sample on Evolution of Computer Technology or any similar topic only for you Order Now For the purpose of this mini research key terms like evolution, technology and computer shall be considered, not forgetting to take a careful look at the evolution of these inventions from different centuries/years to our present generation starting from the earliest known device. The characteristics of these devices from generation to generation and their classification according to sizes, functions and uses shall also be discussed. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Evolution: Evolution is a gradual development that occurs in a particular place or thing. Technology: This is the use of mechanical arts and applied science. Technology here refers to systems, methods of organization and techniques. Computer:A computer is a programmable mechanical device that accepts information or inputs, stores and manipulates data and brings out the result or output in numerical format.COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM A general purpose computer has four major components namely: arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), control unit, memory and input/output devices. These parts are interconnected by buses often made of groups of wires. ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC UNIT (ALU) This unit carries out arithmetic and logic operations. According to Stokes (2007), the set of arithmetic operations that a particular arithmetic and logic unit supports may be limited to adding and subtracting or might include multiplying or dividing functions ( sine, cosine, etc) and square roots.While others represent real numbers with the use of floating point, some can only operate on whole numbers (integers) albeit, with limited precision. Arithmetic operation could be carried out by any programmed computer. Logic operation can be useful both for creating complicated conditional statements and processing Boolean logic. THE CONTROL UNIT The control unit which is often called a control system or central controller, manages the computer’s various components. It reads and interprets (decodes) the program instructions, transforming them into a series of control signals which activate other parts of the computer. In order to improve performance, the control system in advanced computer may change the order of some instructions. FUNCTION OF THE CONTROL SYSTEM It reads the codes for the next instruction from the cell indicated by the program counters. It decodes the numerical code for the instruction into a set of commands or signals for each of the other systems. Whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory are read by the control system. Necessary data to an arithmetic and logic unit or register is also provided by the control system.If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, it instructs the hardware to perform the requested operation. It writes the results from the ALU back to a memory location or to a register or perhaps an output device. It could be observed that the sequence of operations gone through by the control unit to process an instruction is in itself like a short computer program. MEMORY The memory of a computer is seen as a list of cells into which numbers can be placed or read. Each cell has a numbered address and can store a single number.Anything such as numbers, letters can be represented by the information stored into the memory with equal ease. Software gives significance to what the memory sees as series of numbers. In almost all modern computers, each memory cell is set up to store binary numbers in gaps of 8bits or bytes. Each byte representing 256 different numbers (Stokes 2007). Several consecutive numbers may be used to store larger numbers. Computer memory is of two types or principal varieties: The Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM).Random Access Memory according to Inyang and Umoh (2003), is a part of primary memory that holds the programs being executed and the data to be worked upon. RAM also stores the result of a processed data, waiting to be transferred to output device or secondary storage device. It is a temporary memory and the content of RAM is erased when a computer is turned off and data stored in it can instantly be accessed. The storage of RAM is expressed in megabytes and its capacity or size limited. An area of RAM set aside for storage of most frequently accessed information is the CACHE memory. It is a temporary high speed data holding area between the memory and the central processing unit. RAM has four parts: the conventional memory which consist of the first 640KB of RAM, used by operating system and device drivers; Upper Memory Bound (UMB) located between 640KB and 1MB of RAM, used by device drivers: extended memory (XMS) which include direct access memory above 1MB; and Expended memory: a special part of ram that is up to 32MB and exists outside the conventional memory. Read only memory (ROM) is preloaded with data and software that never changes, so the central processing unit (CPU) can only read it.ROM is typically used to store the computer’s initial start up instructions. It retains its data indefinitely. In a personal computer (PC), ROM contains a specialized program called the BIOS that orchestrates loading the computer’s operating system from the hard disc drive into RAM whenever the computer is turn on or reset. All of the required software may be stored in ROM in embedded computers which frequently do not have disc drives. Software stored in ROM is referred to as firmware because it is more like hardware than software. INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICEMeans by which information between the computer and outside world is exchanged is known as input/output. Peripheral includes input devices like keyboard and mouse, and output devices such as the display and printer. Hard disc drives, floppy disc drives and optical disc drives serve as both input and output devices. HISTORY OF COMPUTER Computer technology has changed today world to a global village. Since the field of computer is a vast sea, there are many options and benefits one can get from it. Internet is constant and rapidly growing source of information. People can get information or piece of required knowledge from any part of the world by just a few clicks on the websites. There is a rise in the need of more websites and knowledgeable sources as information is much easier to access. The early men counted by means of matching one set of object with another set. The history of modern computer begins with two separate technologies: automated calculation and programmability. The earliest known computing device was called ABACUS. It is the first counting device that was developed about 500BC (Umoh and Inyang, 2003).It is made up of wood and beads. It has a role of any number of parallel wires, rods or grooves on or in slide of small beads or blocks. Strung beads which have different values were manually used to operate abacus. Bars were used in dividing the Abacus into two parts perpendicular to the rods. Bits moved in active position towards the bars and the ones towards the frame are ignored. Each bar signifies digits and least significant digits were on the right. Abacus was used in calculating (i. e. adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing) numbers by moving the bit complex.In the 9th century, the Persian Mathematician Abu, Abdullah Muhammad Bin Musa Al-Khwarizni developed the concept of a written process followed to achieve some goals, and published a book on the subject that gave us its modern name Algorithm. In 1623, Wilhelm Schikard, a German Scientist invented a machine that used eleven complete and six incomplete sprocketed wheels that could add and with the aid of logarithm tables, multiply and divide. Many inventions have taken several centuries to develop into the modern forms and modern inventions are rarely the product of a single inventor’s effort.Many people each added a small contribution towards the development of the bits and pieces of a computer (including the software). Each person in this work contributed a part towards the development of computers. In 1642, a 19year old French boy, a philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal invented a mechanic al adding machine called a Mechanical Calculator. It is like a modern desk calculator and contains numbers of wheel and uses gear system to perform arithmetic operations. Computations are carried out by a process of integer counting.In 1801, Punch cards were invented by a French Weaver called Joseph Marie Jacquard. These Punch Cards allowed his loom to automatically weave intricate patterns. Different parts were used in storing different patterns of holes that produced different designs. Punch Cards are used in processing information in computers. The fusion of automatic calculation with programmability produced the first recognized computers. Charles Babbage, British Mathematician and inventor, invented mechanical computing machine – Babbage’s Analytical Engine.In 1820, it carried out complex arithmetic operations and made decisions based on its own computations. It was self-controlled and had two important parts which are the storage unit with memory device and arithmetic unit known as the Mill. It was the world’s first digital computer. Babbage’s contributed the idea of conditional transfer which gave way to comparison of quantities and modification of programs. The idea of a sequence of punch cards to produce a more flexible design was borrowed from the Jacquard’s pattern weaving loom. It performed functions like additions, subtraction, division and multiplication. How to cite Evolution of Computer Technology, Papers

Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism

Question: Discuss about theIntroduction to Hospitality and Tourism. Answer: Introduction The tourism industry of Australia is one of the inevitable parts of the Australian business. The hospitality industry is another sector that comes under the tourism department and this covers up the major part of the tourism industry which includes the lodging, event planning, transportation, cruise line and many more additional fields that avail leisure time to the population. The hospitality sector of tourism department also includes the restaurant, amusement park, hotels along with the provision of super facility of maintenance and operations to the customers (Altinay, Paraskevas Jang, 2015). Moreover it is evident that the tourism department of Australia adds up some emphasis to its economy which helps in increasing the GDP of Australia. The department of tourism also gives its 8% contribution to the total export earnings of Australia. That is the reason the report is prepared which contains the details of hospitality and tourism industry of Australia. Along with that the essay represents the valuation of the importance and the challenges of tourism department of Australia faces (Buhalis Crotts, 2013). Australian Tourism Department The tourism department of Australia is the major part that adds to its economical that eventually increases its GDP with every growing year. In between that the domestic tourism is more popular in Australia which also represents 73% of the total GDP of Australian direct tourism. Also, the Australian tourism department helps in enhancing the employment of the country by providing employment to the 5% of the workforce of the Australian population. Some of the popular destinations for tourism in Australia are Brisbane, Sydney, Queensland, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef and the Australian outback. Apart from that the wildlife of Australia also adds on to its tourism department (Brotherton, 2015). The Australian tourism department is of international, backpackers and the domestic types that involve the visit of different types of customers to different tourist places of Australia. Out of these most important is the domestic tourism whose market is mostly estimated to be of $63 billion. It is because the domestic tourism includes the facilities for all type of customers. Apart from that the international tourism is mostly famous just because the wild life of Australia and its native animals. Linking to development of tourism in Australia the Australian tourism department formulated a core message saying There is nothing like Australia by which they aim towards the sharing of the favourite place of Australia with all corners of the world. Importance The major importance of tourism industry is it contributes to the growth of the Australian economy. Its importance gets contributed mainly from the domestic tourism that provides 73% of the total direct tourism. One of the major factors is it provides employment to almost 580,000 people in Australia which are of major importance. Apart from the full time, there is also the availability of part-time job that gives employment to 43.7% of people in Australia. On the whole, the department of tourism contributes 8% of the total earnings of the Australias export quantity (Mok, Sparks Kadampully, 2013). The tourism department mostly creates the generation of jobs within the country which eventually benefits the growth in the communities throughout Australia. The department of tourism in Australia can be said to be major importance because it is the key strength just because it is appealing to the natural assets of the Australian environment. Apart from that the tourism department of Austra lia have the provision of low cost of airlines to the customers. It has of greater importance just because it goes through a keen understanding of needs and demands of the customers which also drives the consumer segments that increases the investment for the tourism industry. Challenges Though having many places that can attract the customers to visit the places, still it needs some development in its infrastructure by revamping the hotels along with boosting the service standards. Apart from the few cities like the Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne, the other places of tourist importance in Australia are mostly regional areas. The tourist places including the wildlife are also the regional portion of Australia which is mostly facing various threats to the population. During the management of tourism in Australia, these are the places which come across through the challenges which could be geared up to make the developments for the improvisation of tourism department in Australia (Mok, Sparks Kadampully, 2013). The challenges that the Australian tourism department face are the flexibility in its services along with the options for more availability of food and beverages in the tourist places. Apart from that, it is important to make the tourist websites must be digit alised for the easy delivery of the services. Also, the content part of the tourism department must be taken care of as it is the source of attraction of the people from where they can get attracted. This will eventually provide the idea of traveling to the tourists. That is the reason it is mandatory to have the knowledge regarding the destination of tourism which is lacking a bit in this condition. The major challenge that the Australian tourism department faces is taking the tourism department in a serious mood to make it high priority in making its service delivery to the customers. The other factors that are hampering the popularity are the shortage of the workers and rooms which also in some instances affecting the statistics of tourism department of Australia. Conclusion The tourism department of Australia are the sector that adds the heavy economy increase to the financial condition of the country. It is also evident that though contributing towards the growth of economy still, it is facing many challenges for its growth due to some inevitable crucial parts. If these challenges are treated well and improvised then the Australian economy will face a huge growth in its economy which will be helpful for the countrys growth as well. Also if the all the government that includes the Austrade and the state and territory investment agencies which will eventually provide a strategic and long term approach for the development of the tourism department of Australia. References Altinay, L., Paraskevas, A. and Jang, S.S., 2015.Planning research in hospitality and tourism.Routledge. Buhalis, D. and Crotts, J., 2013.Global alliances in tourism and hospitality management.Routledge. Brotherton, B., 2015.Researching hospitality and tourism.Sage. Mok, C., Sparks, B. and Kadampully, J., 2013.Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure.Routledge. Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Cobanoglu, C., 2014. Progress on information and communication technologies in hospitality and tourism.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,26(5), pp.727-750. Riley, M., 2014.Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry.Routledge.

Marriage and Family

Introduction Marriage and Family is an interesting topic to be discussed within the context of this study. In order for the study to be helpful or resourceful to the reader, the researcher will embark on analysis of marriage and family as discussed in the three movies that include David Morrell’s First Blood, Pale Rider (1985) and Saturn-day Night fever.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marriage and Family specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marriage is considered as an institution just like the family. Based on the themes under discussion, marriage and family differ based on the type of the society in which they are applied. However, marriage is considered as the union between two parties for instance a man and woman. Some people define marriage as a relationship between a man and woman with an aim of forming a family by fulfilling the role of procreation. In contrast, people can live together but in real sen se, they are not married to each other meaning that marriage is not the act of a man living with a woman but the agreement between the two parties. In tradition society, marriage is practiced differently compared to the modern society. For instance, in traditional society, many people practice polygamous more often than monogamous, which is practiced in modern society. The reason behind polygamous marriage was that in ancient time’s people consider children as source of security meaning that for a certain family to have potential security, a person should marry many wives. In contrast to modern society whereby children are considered as a blessing in the extended context, many people in the modern society treasure monogamous types of marriages. In addition to this, the manner in which marriage is conducted matters a lot when it comes to differentiating of marriage in traditional and modern society. For instance, in traditional society marriage was not conducted in church as o pposed to modern society where wedding ceremonies are presided over by pastors and priests whose purpose is to bless the marriage. Moreover, in the traditional society, people used to elope other people daughters at night hence forming a ritual among other western countries and the U.S. Parents were entirely involved in the marriage of their sons and daughter because they were said to play important role in marriage arrangements. Many US scholars as arranged marriages that are rarely practiced consider this form of marriages in the modern society. Traditionally, marriages were considered as being more expensive compared to the modern society because in traditional society, large herds of cattle were to be handed over to the bridegroom parents as appreciation.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is very different to what is practiced in the modern society. However, marriage can be considered as the engine of a family meaning that it is impossible for a family to exist without marriage. Family is considered as an entity that acts as the product of marriage and it forms the basis of the society. The implication here is that society is a complex entity that comprises of sub-entities known as families. Just like marriage, families differ based on the type of the society in which it is applied. For instance, in traditional society, extended families dominated over nuclear families that are practiced in modern society. People in modern society advocate for a nuclear family in which a man and woman control over their family without influence from other family members such as their parents. Traditionally, gender roles have changed due to advanced education systems that call for gender equity between men and women. Based on this issue, the core role of the study is to discuss various marriage and family themes as portrayed in the three movies under discussion. Exam ples of themes to be discussed within the context of the study include betrayal, father/son theme, traditional gender roles, traditional family roles, Orphaned sons/Adopted fathers, primogeniture, absent fathers/fatherless sons, communalism/individualism and the rugged individualist. Thematic Analysis of Movies Traditional gender roles is a theme portrayed in Movie-David Morrell’s First Blood by characters such as Sylvester stallone (John Rambo), delmare Berry,Will Teasle, Art galt and Caruso. Sylvester is ready to use all the available means to get Delmare berry hence depicting the roles of male gender in looking after the female. Sylvester’s efforts reveal the duties performed by men. It is also clear that Sylvester is loving and caring and that is the reason he accepts to suffer because of berry. It is very uncertain that all of his mere efforts are unfruitful because Berry had already died from cancer that emanated from the Agent Orange exposure Galt death (Morrell 15). Pale rider is a movie by Clint Eastwood who was a preacher. The movie describes how Clint Eastwood had good relations with the people from the village whereby he used to preach. Clint came to realize that Richard Dysart who was a mining boss had exploited his people. Through the character of Clint Eastwood, the movie highlights the lives of people in the village by demonstrating how Richard Dysart intended to raid them. The reason behold his intention was to take control over the Gold and privatize the land. Richard Dysart and his son Christopher Penn hired guns with an aim of driving the people from the town.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marriage and Family specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through the struggle between the gold mining boss, his son and the town people, Sydney Penny pet was killed. It is from that point when Sydney penny prays to God to send someone who could save the community from the attack. This incidence explains how Clint Eastwood intervened by joining hands with unofficial leader of miners by the name Michael Moriarty (Gerstner and Staiger 12). The two characters defended against Richard Dysart and Christopher Penn his son. At the same time, Sydney Penny (Megan) and her mother by the name Sarah were drawn closer to the preacher. The theme of father and son is demonstrated whereby Richard Dysart joined hands with his father to raid the town people. This was definitely evil because their actions were against the community wishes. The two characters portrayed a theme of individualism as it is tied in marriage and family concept in the movie. Richard Dysart and Christopher Penny were after individual achievement thus ignoring the needs of the town people. In addition, the town people used to earn their living through mining while Richard Dysart and Christopher wanted to take control over the gold through evil means. Traditional gender role is another theme highl ighted within the context of the study whereby men are assigned the role of providers with Richard and Christopher as major characters depicting this theme (Gerstner and Staiger 37). This movie highlights the life experience of Tony Manero who was a Nineteen-year-old Brooklyn in the Saturday night club. He is portrayed as a King of the club because he likes local disco played every Saturday night. His title came from his dancing style that was unique compared to those of other dancers. The movie tends to demonstrate how harsh his life is outside the club whereby everything is considered unfriendly to him. For instance, at home he is used in fighting with his father over petty issues. In addition, he competes with his elder brother who is a priest something that he hates because the entire family is against him. However, the other sort of trouble is associated with his working place whereby he is disgusted by the manner in which work mates behaves at the paint store (Faludi 27). More over to Tony things are subject to change when he met with Stephanie in the dance floor and began to train him on how to dancer the modern music. The movie portrays a theme of betrayal whereby Tony thought that his brother is the cause of the conflict between him and his father. However, an aspect of individualism is highlighted with Tony playing the major role. Traditional family roles as a theme are portrayed whereby Tony’s father makes decisions for his children though Tony is against it (Faludi 39).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In conclusion, the study is interesting because it explores the concept of marriage and family as discussed in the three movies. Not all themes are highlighted in each movie as discussed in the study. It father and son theme, traditional family roles, traditional gender roles, individualism, and communism and orphaned are some of themes that are dominant in the study. Works Cited Faludi, Susan. Stiffed: the betrayal of the American man. Maryland: Perennial, 2000. Gerstner, David and Staiger, Janet. Authorship and film. New York: Routledge, 2003. Morrell, David. First Blood. London: Fawcett Publications, 1981 This essay on Marriage and Family was written and submitted by user Harrison Y. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

john Lennons imagine essays

john Lennons imagine essays John Lennons song Imagine is by all means a classic which will endure in the hearts of many, as long as it is still around. With that in mind, I believe that it should live on by being placed in the UTD time capsule. It has many aspects that make it the ideal song for such a project, from its musical quality, to its imperative message of peace. Lennons melodic style conveys a poignant innocence, which complements the theme of the song perfectly. The music stays simple and seems to grasp the lyrics without a seam. It is the type of song that will appeal to almost anyone who hears it because of its rythmic, almost hypnotic sound. I dont know what the music of the future will sound like, but I believe a song like this is one that can be enjoyed by all generations to come. It isnt the music of our generation today; not rock with heavy distortion, or rap with deafening bass, nor is it the synthesised RnB many of us choose to listen to. It is the type of song that touches a persons heart, the kind of music we listen to because we can feel it. This selection is a more instrumental rock that is set apart from all other genres, deserving of the reverance received in the decades past, and for those to come. This song is trully a tribute to great music, and has been likened to the twentieth centuries answer to Beethovens Moonlight Sonata and Bachs Fantasia. In that regard, this song is seen as one the greatest songs of our century, and isnt that the type of musical merit we should consider when selecting the one song to represent us in the capsule? The song itself is asking that we see the world consciously, and dont just coast by on what others have established as right. It wants you to invoke thought upon life as your own person to decide what it is you believe in. The idea of this song is one that coul...

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant - Essay Example This essay discusses that the author cleverly represents a lot of elements through the diamond necklace, most prominent of which is the high social statuses and wealth. While a diamond necklace represents beauty in the real world, within the novel it is representing the evils of the society. The satirical reference is clearly visible during the story as Madame Loisel is not content with her dress which is worth 400 francs, but would rather have the necklace too. She considers it unruly and humiliating for herself to go amidst rich women with a dress but no expensive jewelry. When she is asked to select between the different jewelry items by her friend, she skips on the Venetian cross, pearl necklace, and bracelets, and selects a diamond necklace instead. This shows her thirst for wealth and needs to belong to the upper class. She clarifies it herself when she states that the party will be attended by many riches and she doesn’t want to feel left out because of her social statu s. In the late 1800s, wealth was a factor that many people cared about, and social class even more. Maupassant uses situational irony and the social satire to deliver his message that money is not always wealth. Maupassant learned from his seniors about observation and reporting of daily life occurrences in a biting way. Very rarely would he show the sympathy for his characters? The Necklace was also inspired by his clerical work experience in the Public Instructions Ministry.

Consumer attitudes towards supermarkets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer attitudes towards supermarkets - Essay Example They buy goods in bulk and they also sell items in bulk, as a result they are in the long run, able to offer fresh produce and larger quantities at lower prices. However, the supermarket also creates an impersonal atmosphere, where consumers do not enjoy any close interaction with the people from whom they buy their goods and this could possibly contribute to a negative attitude towards supermarkets. When combined with other aspects developing in the retail sector, such as e-commerce, this provides an indication that factors such as the lack of time or the desire to avoid close personal contact may be affecting consumer attitudes and preference for supermarkets. It also appears likely that the greater range of products available under one roof and the lower prices may also be affecting consumer attitudes towards shopping at supermarkets. The objective of this research study is to examine the growing prevalence of supermarkets and to examine consumer attitudes towards them. At the outset, the attempt would be to determine whether consumers have a predominantly positive or negative attitude towards them and then determine the reasons for such an attitude. In order to gain an understanding of consumer attitudes towards supermarkets, the researcher will apply the Fishbein Model to measure the affective component of a consumer’s response to supermarkets. The research question which is proposed to be examined is therefore: The evolution of the super market was therefore the result of economic considerations shaped as a result of urban growth and technological innovations. The phenomenon of mass production that characterized the industrial era spilled over into mass marketing as well. Earlier, bartering, wholesale buying and serving customer needs was all carried out within the premises of the small store. (Mayo, 1993:43), but a broader range of products with enhanced shopping

A Web Based Meeting Scheduler Information Technology Essay

A Web Based Meeting Scheduler Information Technology Essay The web based meeting scheduler (WMS) is a user friendly tool developed to assists humans in office environments to schedule meetings efficiently. The algorithm used in the distributed meeting scheduler paves way for negotiation of various processes on behalf of their users and comes up with an agreement on a common meeting time that is acceptable to all the users and abides by all the constraints set by the hosts and attendees. The motive of the algorithm is to obtain a solution based on the knowledge it acquires during the process. In summary the Web-based Meeting Scheduler follows a decision oriented methodology that depends on knowledge based approach. The purpose of WMS is to support the organization of meetings and to determine for each meeting request, a meeting date and location so that most of the intended participants shall effectively participate. The principal users of this system are the Meeting Initiator and Meeting Attendees/Participants. Each user is going to have their own login IDs and passwords. It is the responsibility of the meeting initiator to schedule the meeting based on the availability of the attendees along with the constraints expressed by the attendees/participants. The meeting scheduler system shall have the ability to handler several meeting requests in parallel and resolve conflicts. The key functionalities of this system are: Schedule or plan meetings, re-planning of meetings to support changing user constraints, support conflict resolution, keep participants informed of the meeting schedules and any changes, and to cancel meetings. Problem Context Despite the advances in technology, scheduling a meeting is not as simple as it looks. There is a lot of judgment involved. Anytime you bring together a group of people, there are many factors to consider. You have to consider pecking order. Some members of the group are more important, so others must change their schedules to accommodate. But with the right system, meeting scheduling can be quick, easy and super efficient. Therefore, a web-based system meeting scheduler system will be developed to allow individuals or organizations to easily, efficiently, and precisely schedule meetings in accordance with practical limitations of virtual and real-world meetings. This project does on how the software system will try to achieve what it is intended to do, by describing requirements such as security, reliability, maintainability, usability and performance. Rationale Now that the problem has been identified, once implemented, the system could bring about significant tangible and intangible benefits. It is anticipated that the system could be the best solution to the existing problems that meeting planners or organizers encounter when running meetings. The following are the tangible and intangible benefits of the system: Meetings are vital for communication and management. Properly run meetings save time, increase motivation, productivity, and solve problems. Plan, run and follow up meetings properly, and they will repay the cost many times over because there is still no substitute for physical face-to-face meetings Description of Problem Area Holding meetings is an increasingly expensive activity, hence the need to run meetings well. Badly run meetings waste time, money, resources and are worse than having no meetings at all. The following are common problems that occur when scheduling a meeting: The meeting is scheduled and after everyone had been invited you discover that some important participants cant attend. Another date has to be found. This can lead to a cycle of invitations and revisions. A meeting is confirmed but then needs to be changed. A meeting location is specified and then later changed in a subsequent meeting notice. Some of the attendees follow the original meeting notice and end up in a wring room. Repeated meeting notices and revisions are sent out, so everyone is confused about the meeting. You use an internet based meeting scheduling system, but outside participants dont have the same software. A meeting is scheduled and confirmed, but the location is already booked. No one sends a meeting reminder, and several attendees forget about the meeting. People are invited to a meeting but the meeting organizer did not say what it is about, so they show up unprepared Nature of Challenge The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build. No other part of the conceptual work is as difficult as establishing the detail technical requirements, including the entire interface to people, to machines, and to other software systems. No part of the work so cripples the resulting system if done wrong. No other part is more difficult to rectify later.[Brooks, 1987] We consider the problem of determining suitable meeting times and locations for a group of participants wishing to schedule a meeting subject to already scheduled meetings possibly held at a number of different locations. Each participant must be able to reach the new meeting location, attend for the entire duration, and reach the next meeting on time. Major problem will be in deriving efficient algorithms for solving general meeting scheduling problems, to find approximate solutions, where appropriate implement the solutions and to integrate them into applications that allow users who are connected over a network to schedule meetings. Currently meeting scheduling systems take into consideration only time and not location or geometry. C. Brief description of project objectives. (i.e. scope of proposal and deliverables) Scope The scope of the project shall include scheduling meetings in an efficient way, gathering the feedback from attendees, cancelling the meeting, changing the schedule and/or location, scheduling concurrent meetings in timely manner, conducting virtual meeting, confirming the location and time of the meeting and last but not the least minimize users effort in coordinating and scheduling meetings. Core Modules This is the main functionality of my project. It has to do the following: Automate the meeting schedule process to enable efficient use of the time and efforts of meeting organizer. Select a date and time according to the availability of the participants. Allocate the location that is convenient to all the participants. Send reminders to the participants about the meeting and any schedule changes. Re-organize and modify the meeting schedule if required. Enhanced Features This are the additional features I plan to include in my project: Adding members of the meeting Administrator has privilege to edit users profile. Search for members of the meeting and see who is free and who is not, and who is coming for the meeting Generation of appropriate reports to show meeting attendees and the meeting agendas Attendees photos for verification incase of same information. Participants option for denying the invitation. User need to register. Special Features Based on my research and if I have the time and ability, these are the features I am going to attempt to implement: Make the system work on diverse platforms (Windows, Blackberry, iPhone and other Smartphone compatibility). Participants choice of getting reminder in pop-up window or mail. Facility to book conference bridge (conference bridge is a phone) and editing reserved bridge. Assumptions and Dependencies The following will be major assumptions of this project: Will ensure that I am available as needed to complete project tasks and objectives. Will abide by the guidelines identified within this plan. Project plan might change on new information revealed or issues encountered. Availability of participants for meetings and training. Constraints The project has the below three constraints: Time: time frame within which the project should be completed. Cost: cost of developing the system within the estimated budget. Quality: level of quality to be met as per the requirements of the users. D. Brief description of the resources needed by the proposal. (i.e. hardware, software, access to information / expertise, user involvement etc.) Hardware requirements A standard PC with minimum 40gig hard disk and 256MB RAM. A Smartphone. Software requirements The system shall be developed using n-tier architecture consisting of the presentation (web layer), business layer and Data Access layer. Integrated Development Environment : Netbeans IDE Development using Java 1.6, J2ee, Ajax, JavaScript Database Management : SQL server 2005 The web-based interface for the WMS shall run in the below internet browsers Internet Explorer 64.x and above Firefox Access to information or Expertise Mostly books are used as a source of information for this project. However websites and research paper also play a major role as a source of reference. User Involvement Knowledge and experience of people who have used the existing Web-based Meeting Schedulers is respected, valued and drawn upon to influence and shape the work of the proposed system. They would help to understand the requirements hence building a better system. These information can be gathered by using some research methods such as interviews, questionnaires or even case studies. E. Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt. (i.e. what are the names of books you are going to read / data sets you are going to use) The following are some of the books I am going to read in conjuction with the information gathered online as I will be doing this project: Dawson, C.W. (2009) Projects in Computing and Information Systems : A Student Guide Tudor, D.J. and Tudor I.J. (1999)Â  System Analysis and Design: A Comparison of Structured Methods, New Edition. Palgrave Macmillan Software Hughes, B. Cotterell, M. (3rd Ed)(2009) Software Project Management Sommerville, I. (6th Ed) (2000) Software Engineering by Ian Sommerville Philips, J. Project (3rd Ed) Management Professional Study Guide Hall, E. Johnson, J. (2002)Integrated Project Management Prentice Hall F. Brief description of the development plan for the proposed project. (i.e. which software methodology and why, the major areas of functions to be developed and the order in which developed) After reading and making researches, I strong-willed to do this project using Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It is a conceptual model used in project management that unlike other methodologies describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Although SDLC has different forms and models, it follows certain steps. These steps could have the same meaning in one methodology but they are treated in a different manner or could lead to something different. It is chosen because of its ability to cater for the project as a whole and part of it that involves an application that is going to be developed on the web. These following steps are for the project: Planning- Everything starts with a concept or with a question such as what do you want? being asked to certain people so as to know what they want and decide to create an answer. Design- Once planning is done; one can now design or create a rough plan regarding the software. Will decide on the initial specifics of the software to be created, decide what platform or programming language to use. Implementation- When the design and all the things that I need have been laid out, it is time to work on the plan and present it for approval. Testing- Two types of testing are going to be performed, one which will be the actual testing by users. Once the stage is completed the WMS will be tested by professionals in the field. Acceptance- When the software is released to be used by a certain company, acceptance means the software is implemented. Maintenance- When the software is implemented, it does not mean that the software is good as it is. Maintenance is included since there is absolutely no way that the software will be working perfectly. Disposal- When a software is outmoded, it is not just all deletion of files, affected files should be looked at and determine which file to protect and dispose. And the following are web development stages: Analysis, Initial design, Design approval, Web development, Prototype, Launching, and Maintenance. G. Brief description of the evaluation and test plan for the proposed project. (i.e. what is the success criteria and how will be evaluated implementation will be tested, indicate the estimated size of the demonstration/test database) Testing Testing refers to the process of exercising a product to identify differences between expected and actual behavior. It is the means by which the presence, quality or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial. The project will be successful it if manages to perform all the key functionalities. It will be tested by me and as I will be developing the system with both black-box and white-box testing methodologies while my supervisor will use White-box testing which provides a degree of sophistication that is not available with black-box testing as the tester is able to refer to and interact with the objects that comprise an application rather than only having access to the user interface to check if all the functionalities, deliverables and objectives are met. Evaluation Evaluation is a systematic determination of merit, worth and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards. Without an evaluation process a product reaching consumers would be untried. It would reflect the intentions of its designer but there would be no study of the relationship between design and use. The two main types of evaluation, Formative and Summative evaluation are going to be used to evaluate Web based meeting scheduler that is going to be developed in this project. The Web-based Meeting Scheduler will have approximately 20 people in its database. They will be used for testing some of the functionalities of the system. For example if one person is invited to a meeting that clashes with another meeting that he or she has already been invited to, and the person showed that they will be attending it, an error message should be displayed to show that the person will not manage to attend that one. Or if meetings that should have the same attendees clash, an error message should be displayed also.