Survey Paper of open-source software and it's use in enterprise and Essay

Survey Paper of open-source software and it's use in enterprise and government - Essay Example Open source software enables businesses and government institutions to access and offer certain services that otherwise would have cost lots money to install and use. This survey paper aims to conduct an in depth analysis of past research literatures on the use of open source servers by enterprises and government organizations. Further, the paper analyzes how these organizations use the open source servers to efficiently perform their activities. Objectively, this survey paper seeks to relate elementary analysis of open source servers in business and government institutions as studied by other researchers in the past. Finally, the paper puts into context all the exclusion as well as inclusion results of the analyzed literature reviews about open source usage in businesses.   As a result of the widely and broad technological improvement and innovations, businesses and government organizations all over the world are in the rash to cope with these changes. It should be noted that the basic aim of any business is to maximize profit while minimizing cost. However, a successful business should also consider long term growth plans through installing an effective business operations system. On the other hand, government institutions may also want to put into place effective service delivery systems to its citizens (Bitzer & Schroder, 2006). The later considerations bring about the importance of integrating computing system into these organizations. There are different types of computer systems and some of them are more sophisticated than others. In addition, some of them have strong variance in their functionalities while others are more or less related. While business and government institutions may afford to use premium computing systems, there has been a growing demand and usage of open source servers. This reality could be attributed to the fact that some of these computing systems are free or cost effective as

Write a complete laboratory report that covers all three experiments Essay - 1

Write a complete laboratory report that covers all three experiments for Lab 2 Water Quality and Contamination - Essay Example ater comprises at least 70% of the earth, only about 1% percent of this water is fresh water, and the rest 99% of the water is non-usable salty water. The process of purifying salty water to make it usable fresh water is extremely complicated and expensive and as such, people, many animals, and plants have to survive on the 1%. There are three sources of fresh water used by people and animals; ground water, surface water, and aquifers. Surface water includes water that collects on the ground through the process of precipitation and which does not evaporate back to the atmosphere or even infiltrates to the ground. This water collects in such places such as rivers, lakes, among others. Ground water on the other hand settles underneath the ground, and is stored in pores, fractures, or solid rock underneath the earth surface. This water collects in these places through the infiltration process. Aquifers on the other hand are areas where water collects such as in sand, gravel or permeable rock. Although rainwater is pure, it gets contaminated very fast, especially after it touches the ground through man made, natural and animal pollutants. Ground pollutants travel from one place to another through streams, rivers, or ground water while others are available in the air. Man-made pollutants include motor oil, petrol and diesel, acidic chemicals, among others. There are many dangers of consuming contaminated water, especially the potential of these impurities in causing diseases. Poisons, disease causing agents and toxins can reside in water, and adversely affect people. Medics believe that contaminated water such as toxins and lead acid chemicals are responsible for majority of cancers affecting many people today. It is because of these impurities and dangers associated with contaminated water that water purification becomes

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - Essay Example It is achieved when a company is able to provide similar benefits as their competitors but at a lesser cost, or deliver benefits that are better than those of the competing products. The two types of competitive advantage therefore are cost advantage, which offers lower cost and differentiation advantage, which offers better benefits. Competitive advantage helps the company gain higher profits and aids it in creating superior or excellent value for its customers. Companies offer products to customers with the aim of continuous and growing patronage and positive feedback directed to possible customers. They aspire to maintain a solid customer base while aiming to increase that number by active marketing and selling of the products. Products may be classified into different kinds. Products may be physical objects or tangible goods, people, services, ideas or concepts, places, organizations and activities. All these material and non-material products are offered by the companies to their existing and prospective customers with the promise that the customers will benefit from their products in greater ways than if they support the competition. In order for the companies to offer the appropriate products to specific customers, they have to first identify the needs and wants of the customers. No two customers are exactly alike in their preferences. Each person differs from another. Focusing on the individual needs and wants of a multitude of customers is not feasible and practical fro companies. The cost will be too much to handle. The strategy used is to segment or group customers into clusters. Members of clusters share common characteristics which may be concluded as leaning towards a support, need or want of specific products. This way companies may determine the approaches they need to apply for specific customer groups or clusters. Aside from the actual selling techniques of companies, marketing strategies propel organizations to higher profits and bigger market share. According to the American Marketing Association, "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders" (AMA Adopts New Definition of Marketing). Marketing revolves around the theory that customers use a product or a service because they have a need or a want for it or the product offers a perceived benefit. Thus, determining the actual needs of customers is the very basic strategy for marketing. Markets today are very competitive in that the players more often than not have products of the same quality and similar sales and marketing strategies. This homogenous quality of markets makes it difficult for customers to choose a preferred company and establish loyalty with that company. Since the kinds and qualities of products are similar, prices of goods and services are often at the same level. Same levels of pricing do not give the companies cost advantage, so they resort to gaining differentiation advantage. They gain differentiation advantage by the provision of excellent customer service which translates to customer loyalty and creation of customer value. Customer Relationship Management is a vital element in the provision of

Patriot Act Essay Example for Free

Patriot Act Essay In her article, Cathy Zeljak maintains that the Patriot Act has infringed on Americans’ civil liberties, particularly the Fourth Amendment’s protections against illegal searches and surveillance. Using the recent history of legal decisions on law enforcement agencies’ information-gathering practices, the author argues that the Patriot Act strips citizens of the legal protections they received in the late 1970s. Throughout the piece, she asks, â€Å"Are we sacrificing essential liberties in the fight against terrorism? (Zeljak, 2004, p. 69), and her answer (the overriding thesis of this article) is â€Å"yes. † Zeljak argues that the Patriot Act undermines both the Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Act, which was passed in 1978 to impose guidelines on government surveillance of private citizens. Before then, government surveillance of citizens lacked clear guidelines, and government agencies behaved arbitrarily as a result. Supposed â€Å"threats,† like antiwar activists and civil-rights leaders like Martin Luther King, were frequently monitored and harassed. The FISA Act aimed to curb these abuses and placed more legal guidelines on federal surveillance, requiring that foreign intelligence had to be a primary cause for issuing a warrant to conduct surveillance on an individual. However, the Patriot Act has removed many of the FISA Act’s protections, now allowing warrants to be issued with foreign intelligence purposes as only a tangential reason, not a primary cause. In addition, law enforcement officials may now seize a wider array of records, using the broad definition â€Å"any tangible thing† (Zeljak, 2004, p. 70) instead of the narrow lists specified by the FISA Act. The Patriot Act also allows government agencies to spy on innocent third parties as a means of obtaining information about primary suspects, further weakening the Fourth Amendment’s protections, and it allows agencies to share information more freely, without letting accused individuals known what evidence exists against them. In March 2002, FISC rejected John Ashcroft’s proposals to allow law enforcement officials broader access to (and use of) information gathered under the Patriot Act. In effect, says Zeljak, this â€Å"transferred fundamental rights away from individual citizens, greatly increasing the authority of intelligence and investigative agencies† (Zeljak, 2004, p. 70). FISA warrants can thus be used for criminal investigations without clear probable cause. Zeljak also claims that, despite two court defeats on this issue, the Bush administration hopes to further expand its surveillance and prosecutory powers with Patriot Act II, which would automatically grant federal agents who conduct illegal searches complete immunity and allow the government to deport American citizens found guilty of helping terrorist organizations. Basically, she maintains, such an expansion of the Patriot Act would allow the government near-total freedom to conduct investigations with few legal guidelines, and would considerably curtail citizens’ protections and civil liberties. Zeljak concludes the article by stating that â€Å"Americans must wonder whether we are sacrificing essential liberties in the fight against terrorism,† and ends with a provocative question: â€Å". . . have the terrorists already won the opening round? † (Zeljak, 2004, p. 0) Zeljak takes a clear stance against the Patriot Act, considering it a flagrant violation of American citizens’ constitutionally-guaranteed rights against illegal surveillance. She asserts that the FISA Act has essentially been gutted and that plans to widen the Patriot Act would further deprive citizens of legal protection, making their rights meaningless in the name of intelligence gathering. Her concluding question implies that, with the Patriot Act, democracy has been undermined.

Islamic Banking in Malaysia | Research Introduction

Islamic Banking in Malaysia | Research Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction Background of Studies Islamic Banking is a banking system that based on Islamic Law (Shariah). It follows the Shariah, called fiqh muamalat (Islamic rules on transactions). The rules and practices of fiqh muamalat came from the Quran and the Sunnah, and other secondary sources of Islamic law such as opinions collectively agreed among Shariah scholars (ijma), analogy (qiyas) and personal reasoning (ijtihad). The main principles of Islamic banking are the prohibitions of interest (usury) in all transactions, the undertaking business and trade activities must be based on fair and legitimate profit and the prohibitions of monopoly and hoarding. By doing so, Islamic banks will safeguard the Islamic communities and societies from activities that are forbidden in Islam. Islamic Banking is one of the fast growing banking industries today, many institutions have stepped into this multi-billion dollar booming industry by establishing its Islamic wings and units. Thus it may have a good prospect in the future. Introduction Islamic banks have been operating like other traditional banks about four decades. Like another conventional or commercial bank, they also mobilize deposits and granting loan to other. However, there are some different between Islamic bank and conventional or commercial bank. Islamic bank running the business based on Islamic Law (Shariah). Besides, Islamic banking also prohibited the transactions based on interest rate. Beyond the above distinct, Islamic bank are similar with conventional or commercial bank as the products and services provided are the same. Generally, we can define the Islamic bank as a non-interest based financial institution, which complies fully with Islamic Laws and has creative and progressive financial engineering to offer efficient and competitive banking, investment, trade finance, commercial and real estate financing services (AbdulQawi, O. and O. Lynn, 2001.) Islamic Banking is now one of the worlds largest faster-growing economic sectors, comprising over 300 institutions over 75 countries. Islamic Banking refers to a system of banking, which is following the Islamic Law or Sharia principles and guided by Islamic economics. In Islamic banking, the collection and payment of interest (also commonly called Riba is prohibited. In general, Islamic law also prohibits people from trading in financial risk because is seen as a form of gambling. Besides, investing in businesses that are considered as haram also prohibited in Islamic law. Various Concepts of Islamic Financial Products Profit sharing financial products Musyarakah (partnership/ joint venture) Involve 2 or more parties. All parties invest their money in a business. Distribution of profit will be shared according to the agreed ratio. Losses will be borne by all parties (share the losses on the basis of their equity participation). Mudharabah (profit sharing) There is an agreement between capital provider and entrepreneur. Capital provider provides money for an entrepreneur to carry out a business. Profit will be shared in profit sharing based or pre-profit ratio (Variable rate). Losses have to bear by capital provider of the fund. Qardhul Hassan (benevolent loan) Interest free loan Need to repay the principal amount borrowed plus an extra amount at borrowers borrower ¡Ã‚ ¯s absolute discretion (as token of appreciation) Example: Amanah Ikhtian Malaysian (AIM) The Bank may use an appropriate proportion of the funds at its disposal for what may be considered as the discharge of its social responsibilities through loans to truly deserving customers for worthy economic projects with the underlying objective of support and assistance. The borrower is obliged under Syariah to repay only the principal amount of the loan according to its terms and conditions. The Bank cannot demand the borrower to pay anything apart from the principal amount of the loan, although in Syariah it is desirable that the borrower does so at his/her own discretion. Wakalah (nominating another person to act) A situation A person nominates another person to act on his behalf. Hawala Bill of exchange, promissory note, cheque or draft. Example: a debtor passes on the responsibility of payment of his debt to a third party who owes the former a debt. Thus the responsibility of payment is ultimately shifted to a third party. A mechanism for settling international accounts, by book transfers. This obviates, to a large extent, the necessity of physical transfer of cash. Advance purchase financial products Murabahah (cost plus) Short term loan Involve in asset buying Bank buys it and sells it back to you when it is mature. The price will include a profit margin as agreed to by both parties. (Cost + profit margin) It is similar to housing loan. Payment can pay back in lump-sum or monthly payment and the period of paying back is set by the borrower. Istisna (Progressive Financing) A contract of acquisition of goods by specification or order where the price is paid progressively in accordance with the progress of a job. Ijarah (leasing) Leases equipment, building or other facility At an agreed rental against a fixed charge (agreed by both parties) Deposit products Wadiah Yad Dhamanah (savings with guarantee) For safekeeping or saving purpose. Wadiah is a Trust which means that the depositor must trust the depository. Bank (depository) act as trustee Depository becomes the guarantor who needs to guarantee repayment of deposit. There is no interest t be provided. Depository has provided the return to a depositor as token of appreciation. Return (profit) given based on profit sharing (Fixed rate) Mudharabah Deposit products based on revenue-sharing between depositor and bank, including saving products that can be withdrawn any time and time deposit products. Qard al-Hasanah Unremunerated deposit products, usually for charitable purposes. Insurance products Takaful Islamic insurance with joint risk-sharing History The first modern experiment with Islamic banking was undertaken in Egypt under cover without projecting an Islamic image to avoid of being seen as a manifestation of Islamic fundamentalism that was anathema to the political regime. The pioneering effort, led by Ahmad Elnaggar, took the form of a savings bank based on profit-sharing in the Egyptian town of Mit Ghamr in 1963. This experiment lasted until 1967 (Ready 1981), by which time, there were nine such banks in the country. In 1972, the Mit Ghamr Savings project became part of Nasr Social Bank which, until the date, is still in business in Egypt. In 1975, the Islamic Development Bank was set up with the mission to provide funding to projects in the member countries. The first modern commercial Islamic bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, opened its doors in 1975. In the early years, the products offered were basic and strongly founded on conventional banking products, but in the last few years the industry is starting to see strong development in new products and services. Islamic Banking is growing at a rate of 10-15% per annum and with signs of consistent future growth (Islamic Banks and Financial Stability: An Empirical Analysis, 2008). Islamic banks have more than 300 institutions spread over 51 countries. The earliest form of Islamic Banking in Malaysia was set up by Perbadanan Wang Simpanan Bakal-Bakal Haji (the Pilgrims Management and Fund Board) in 1963. This institution was set up for Muslim to save and assist them to perform a pilgrimage in Makkah as well as to encourage them to participate in investment opportunities and economic. While the first Islamic bank established in Malaysia was Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB) which commenced operations on 1 July 1983. The government of Malaysia had introduced a systematic process to implement a proper Islamic financial system among the people in Malaysia. The first phase is the period of familiarization during year 1983-1992, and this is the time that Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad established. During this period, BIMB has developed itself as one of the most respectable financial institutions in the country, and been listed on Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) on 17th January 1992. The second phase was happened in year 1993-2003. In these ten years, the government on Malaysia was aimed on creating a more conducive environment for competition among the banks and give banks to try to capture the market share. During year 1993, the conventional banks were allowed to offer Islamic banking services by setting up Islamic windows or Islamic banking scheme (IBS) to attract the public especially Muslim to involved in. The third phase that commenced from 2004 was the period of further financial liberation. At this time, the government gives the opportunities to foreign Islamic banks to operate in our country by issuing a license to them. Malaysia is the first country that implements dual banking that Islamic banking system and conventional banking system operate side by side. Problem Statement The Islamic banking nowadays is gaining rapidly and going popularity. Many local and foreign banks in Malaysia are offered and open special Islamic Banking counter. In this research, I will focus on the performance, problems and prospect of Islamic banking in Malaysia. There are lots of issues about Islamic banking in Malaysia, such as public acceptance, factors of selection toward the services and products, risk management and others. This will be discussed in the next chapter which is literature review. Even the Islamic banking has been introduced in our country over 20 years, but there still have to meet some problem. Based on the above, the research problems are listed as below: Lack of knowledge among public about the prospect of Islamic banking in Malaysia Lack of understanding about Islamic banking makes the people do not involve in it. Islamic banking has a different risk profile than the conventional bank due to the Islamic prohibited of interest. Public acceptances of Islamic banking are not strong. Research Objective To study the problems and performance of Islamic Banking in Malaysia Islamic Banking has emerged as a new reality in the international financial scene since the 1970s and has been established in Malaysia over 20 years. The emergence of Islamic banking is often related to the revival of Islam and the desire of Muslims to live in all aspects of their life in accordance with the teachings of Islam. This paper is designed to study about the performance of Islamic banking and determine how well it. To analyze the prospect and growth of Islamic Banking in Malaysia Islamic banking has a significant growth in Malaysia. Many local banks as well as foreign banks are now providing Islamic banking and finance services to the public. The factors that determine the prospect and growth need to be studied. As a country that consisted of a dual banking system, Malaysia plays an important role as an example to other countries on how to maintain this kind of banking system. This may give the opportunities to Islamic banking to expand and continue to growth. To find out the public acceptance and awareness of Islamic Finance Product among Malaysian The public acceptance is playing an important role to determine the succession of Islamic banking in Malaysia. Most of the people are dealing with the conventional banking because the interest rate provides a constant return for the customers. Islamic banking advocate interest free makes people think that there is no return by invest their money in Islamic banking services and products. Thus the public acceptances need to be raised as this will only bring a good prospect and future for Islamic banking industry. To study the factor influence the selection of Islamic Banking. Currently Islamic bank strategically offering high quality products and services to satisfy their customers due to the strong competition, a customer expectations for high quality services and rapidly changes of technology. Factors that are reflecting to customers perception and satisfaction on Islamic Banking need to be investigated. This study hope to analyze and determine the perception, quality of services, availability of services, confidence in bank and social and religious perspective about the Islamic banking system. Scope of Studies The scope of studies of this research paper is a focus on the problems, performance and prospect about Islamic banking industry in Malaysia. This paper also introduces various Islamic financial contracts provided and give a briefly describe about the products and services. Besides, this research also discussed about the factors of selection on Islamic banking and some current issues through the literature review. Organization of Research This research is divided into three sections, which includes: The use of literature review to find out what is the current situation about Islamic banking industries. By review these journals, I can easily identify the performance, problems and prospect about Islamic banking industry in Malaysia. This would be the first part of research. After this step, a framework will be developed and to understand the variables. Once the framework is being done, a questionnaire will be created to understand the revolution and the impact of Internet Banking for the users. This questionnaire will then be distributed for results. The third part of the research will be analyzing if the results of questionnaires scientifically and come with conclusions and reasons of particular happening. Once this is being done, then we will formulate various measures that could be done to make the situation more favourable.

Platos Symposium analysis Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Plato’s Symposium† Kaboom, that was the sound of Zeus’s thunder crashing towards the Earth. During this time period the people in Greece believed in these gods. Also happening at the same time period was when the worlds most famous philosophers began to come out and teach. Most importantly the philosophers did what they were suppose to, and that was to question the world around them. One of the most famous philosophers in the Greek period around 416 B.C. was a man named Socrates. Socrates was student of the Diotima which taught him things about love, ignorance, wisdom and right opinion, which he rehearses to the people attending the dinner of Agathon’s. We will first start by analyzing what Diotima has said about the four cognitive functions, which are: wisdom, understanding, right opinion and ignorance. She asks Socrates â€Å"do you think what is not wise, then it is ignorant?† and she continues with â€Å"Do you not perceive that there is something between wisdom and ignorance?† In these first quotes Socrates only believes that if something is not wise then it has to be ignorant and that there is no in between. Diotima then points out that doesn’t think see that there is an middle point between wisdom and ignorance. Diotima then replies â€Å"To have right opinion without being able to give a reason, is neither to understand (for how could an unreasoned thing be understanding?) nor is it ignorance (for how can ignorance hit the truth?). Right opinion is no doubt something between knowledge and ignorance.† In the second quote what Diotima tells Socrates is that right opinion is in between wisdom and ign orance. She explains this by telling Socrates that being incapable of giving a reason something cannot be considered knowledge, because how can knowledge be entirely lacking reason. She also points out that it can’t be considered ignorance because you can’t obtain the truth from ignorance, but then it is clearly something in between wisdom and ignorance which is called right opinion. Diotima explains the four cognitive functions more in depth a couple of paragraphs later on starting with â€Å"The truth is this: no god seeks after wisdom or desires to become wise—for wise he is already; nor does anyone else seek after wisdom, if he is wise already. And again, the ignorant do not seek after wisdom nor desire to become wise; for this is the worst of ignorance, that one who i... ... all equal forms, and from equal forms to equal practices, from equal practices to equal notions, until from equal notions he realizes the notion of absolute beauty, and finally knows what the essence of beauty is. Diotima explains that this is the life for which a man should live in the view of absolute beauty; a beauty that if you once touched you would not care of gold, clothing, and attractive boys, who’s presence entrances you; and you many a one would be satisfied to live seeing them and talking about them with out food or water, if that were possible, you only want to look to be closer to them and to stare at them. But what if man had eyes to see the true divine beauty, pure and undisrupted, not clogged with the pollutions of human life. To that place looking, and having ability to communicate with true beauty divine and simple? Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be able to bring forward, not images of beauty, but realities for he has hold not of an image but of a reality, and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may. Would that be a non-honorable life?"

Case Study Fast Fashion Essay

After two decades of fast fashion popularity, retailers and consumers have come to realize one of its biggest issues, its impact on the environment. Can fast fashion and sustainability work together? Step 2 The affordability of Fast Fashion is one of the main reasons for its high demand. Lack of authenticity or Intellectual Property. Fast Fashion has forced retailers to desire low cost and flexibility in design. Lack of quality in production Rapid production prevents consumers to get an idea of what’s to expect. (Forecasting) Excess of production. Wastes of these products from the retailers and consumer harm the environment. Reveals what is exposed in runways and fashion shows ahead of time. Fast fashion exploits the young consumer by incentivizing impulse behavior. Consumers are getting used to buying more frequent. Due to such rapid turnover, there’s a lack of exclusivity. Step 3 1. Higher quality, lower quantity. Pros Better option for repair: The customer will rather repair a good quality garment than can last than an inexpensive low quality one. Customer satisfaction: Consumers will be happier with a better value product. Long life: Products that are of better quality will definitely last longer so the consumer wont be forced to dispose. For the retailer, there is a great possibility they may attract a variety of new consumers that do appreciate superior quality. As a result of lower quantity, garments will stand out by look fresher and spacious on the sales floor. Cons Retailers may suffer fewer sales. There is a possibility they may lose some of their usual customers. Fewer options, now that there is a lower quantity. Higher quality means it wont be as affordable for the consumer as it used to be. Companies may have to reinvent themselves and state the fact that they are now enhancing the quality of their products. Consumer will be unwilling to compromise on price. 2. Personalization of Clothing Pros Consumer will be satisfied with having a say in the creation of its particular product. This idea will attract and motivate many more consumers. It’s innovative and fun for the consumer. The design will be personalized and the consumer will want to keep. Cons May require more shopping time for the consumer Products may not be as inexpensive now that the retailer will cater to every individuals needs. Consumers of fast fashion may be disappointed that there will now be less variety. Consumers may not adapt to this idea and reject it. 2. No more wasting, get compensated! Recycle and Reuse. The system involves customers bringing all the used items back to the stores and getting compensated with either a discount or a minimal refund. This is to incentive the customer to care more instead of wasting and harming the eco-system. Pros Companies will be take back used garments and send them off to countries in need. Companies will be able to reuse and reproduce them. Customer’s ability to help other in need is facilitated by the companies they have purchased from. Customers get an incentive to bring items back after knowing they also get a discount/store credit/ refund.