Saturday, December 28, 2019

The Other Reichs Before Hitlers Third

The German word reich means empire, although it can also be translated as government. In 1930s Germany, the Nazi party identified their rule as a Third Reich and, in doing so, gave English speakers around the world a wholly negative connotation to the word. Some people are surprised to find that the concept, and use, of three reichs is not a solely Nazi idea, but a common component of German historiography. This misconception stems from the use of Reich as a totalitarian nightmare, and not as an empire.  As you can tell, there were two reichs before Hitler made his third, but you might see reference to a fourth. The First Reich: The Holy Roman Empire (800/962–1806 CE) Although the name Holy Roman Empire dates to the twelfth-century reign of Frederick Barbarossa (ca 1123–1190), the empire had its origins over 300 years earlier. In 800 CE, Charlemagne (742–814 CE) was crowned emperor of a territory which covered much of western and central Europe; this created an institution that would remain, in one form or another, for over a thousand years. The Empire was reinvigorated by Otto I (912–973) in the tenth century, and his imperial coronation in 962 has also been used to define the start of both the Holy Roman Empire and the First Reich. By this stage, Charlemagnes empire had been divided, and the remainder was based around a set of core territories occupying much the same area as modern Germany. The geography, politics, and strength of this empire continued to fluctuate massively over the next eight hundred years but the imperial ideal, and the German heartland, remained. In 1806, the Empire was abolished by the then Emperor Francis II, partly as a response to the Napoleonic threat. Allowing for the difficulties in summarizing the Holy Roman Empire—which parts of a fluid thousand-year history do you select?—it was generally a loose confederation of many smaller, almost independent, territories, with little desire to vastly expand across Europe. It wasnt considered the first at this point, but a follow-up to the Roman Empire of the classical world; indeed Charlemagne was meant to be a new Roman leader. The Second Reich: The German Empire (1871–1918) The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, combined with a growing feeling of German nationalism, led to repeated attempts at unifying the multitude of German territories before a single state was created almost solely by the will of Prussian aristocrat Otto von Bismarck (1818–1898), aided by the military skills of his field marshal Helmuth J. von Moltke (1907–1945). Between 1862 and 1871, this great Prussian politician used a combination of persuasion, strategy, skill, and outright warfare to create a German Empire dominated by Prussia, and ruled by the Kaiser (who had very little to do with the creation of the empire he would rule). This new state, the Kaiserreich, grew to dominate European politics at the close of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries. In 1918, after defeat in the Great War, a popular revolution forced the Kaiser into abdication and exile; a republic was then declared. This second German Empire was largely the opposite of the Holy Roman, despite having the Kaiser as a similar imperial figurehead: a centralized and authoritarian state which, after the dismissal of Bismarck in 1890, maintained an aggressive foreign policy. Bismarck was one of the geniuses of European history, in no small part because he knew when to stop. The Second Reich fell when it was ruled by people who didnt. The Third Reich: Nazi Germany (1933–1945) In 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German State, which, at that point, had been a democracy. Dictatorial powers and sweeping changes soon followed, as democracy disappeared and the country militarized. The Third Reich was to have been a vastly extended German Empire, expunged of minorities and lasting for a thousand years, but it was removed in 1945 by a combined force of allied nations, which included Britain, France, Russia, and the US. The Nazi state proved to be dictatorial and expansionist, with goals of ethnic purity that formed a stark contrast to the first reichs broad assortment of peoples and places. A Complication When using the standard definition of the term, The Holy Roman, Kaiserreich, and Nazi states were certainly reichs, and you can see how they might have been tied together in the minds of 1930s Germans: from Charlemagne to the Kaiser to Hitler. But youd be right to also ask, how connected were they, really? Indeed, the phrase three reichs refers to something more than simply three empires. Specifically, it refers to the concept of three empires of German history. This might not seem a great distinction, but its a vital one when it comes to our understanding of modern Germany and what happened before and as that nation evolved. Three Reichs of German History? The history of modern Germany is often summarized as being three reichs and three democracies. This is broadly correct, as modern Germany did indeed evolve out of a series of three empires—as described above—interspersed with forms of democracy; however, this does not automatically make the institutions German. While The First Reich is a useful name for historians and students, applying it to the Holy Roman Empire is largely anachronistic. The imperial title and office of the Holy Roman Emperor drew, originally and in part, on the traditions of the Roman Empire, considering itself as an inheritor, not as the first. Indeed, it is highly debatable at what point, if ever, the Holy Roman Empire became a German body. Despite a near continuous core of land in northern central Europe, with a growing national identity, the reich extended into many of the modern surrounding territories, contained a mix of peoples, and was dominated for centuries by a dynasty of emperors commonly associated with Austria. To consider the Holy Roman Empire as solely German, rather than an institution within which there was a considerable German element, might be to lose some of this reichs character, nature, and importance. Conversely, the Kaiserreich was a German state with an evolving German identity that partly defined itself in relation to the Holy Roman Empire. The Nazi Reich was also built around one particular concept of being German; indeed, this latter reich certainly considered itself a descendant of the Holy Roman and German Empires, taking the title third, to follow them. Three Different Reichs The summaries given above may be very brief, but they are enough to show how these three empires were very different types of state; the temptation for historians has been to try and find some sort of linked progression from one to another. Comparisons between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kaiserreich began before this latter state was even formed. Historians and politicians of the mid 19th century theorized an ideal state, the Machtstaat as a centralized, authoritarian and militarized power state. This was, in part, a reaction to what they considered weaknesses in the old, fragmented, empire. The Prussian-led unification was welcomed by some as the creation of this Machtstaat, a strong German empire which focused around a new emperor, the Kaiser. However, some historians began to project this unification back into both the 18th century and the Holy Roman Empire, finding a long history of Prussian intervention when Germans were threatened. Different again were the actions of some sch olars in the aftermath of the Second World War, when attempts to understand how the conflict occurred led to the three reichs being seen as an inevitable progression through increasingly authoritarian and militarized governments. Modern Use An understanding of the nature  and relationship of these three reichs is necessary for more than historical study. Despite a claim in the ​Chambers Dictionary of World History that The term [Reich] is no longer used (Dictionary of World History, ed. Lenman and Anderson, Chambers, 1993), politicians and others are fond of describing modern Germany, and even the European union, as a fourth Reich. They almost always use the term negatively, looking to the Nazis and the Kaiser rather than the Holy Roman Empire, which might be a far better analogy for the current EU. Clearly, there is room for many differing opinions on the three German reichs, and historical parallels are still being drawn with this term today. Sources and Further Reading Kainz, Howard P. Political Milestones: Three Romes, Three Reichs, Three Kingdoms, and a Holy Roman Empire. In: Democracy and the Kingdom of God. Studies in Philosophy and Religion 17. Dordrecht, Germany: Springer. 1993.Vermeil, Edmond. Germanys Three Reichs. Trans, Dickes, W. E. London: Andrew Dakers, 1945.  Wilson, Peter H. Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire 1700–40. German Historical Institute London Bulletin 36.1 (2014).

Friday, December 27, 2019

Information Systems and Operations Management - 1750 Words

Please read the article: Zara: Fast fashion from savvy systems available for free at http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/gallaugher/41128#pdf-7 This article makes up Chapter 1 of the free, open access book titled, Information Systems: A Managers Guide to Harnessing Technology, by John Gallaugher. Please ensure that you read the entire Chapter 1 of the book consisting of 3 parts (Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data; and Part 3 Moving Forward). Now answer the questions below: Question 1: The Zara case shows how information systems can impact every single management discipline. Which management disciplines were mentioned in this case and how does technology impact each? (50% of the total mark) The case study†¦show more content†¦Zara’s IT expenditures are low by fashion industry standards. The spectacular benefits reaped by Zara from the deployment of technology have resulted from targeting technology investment at the points in the value chain where it has the greatest impact, and not from the sheer magnitude of the investment. This is in stark contrast to Prada’s experience with in-store technology deployment. Inventory control Zara uses Toyota-designed logistics system and overnight parcel services to manipulate items stocked in the five-million-square-foot distribution center in La Coruà ±a, or a similar facility in Zaragoza in the northeast of Spain. About two and a half million items were handled every week and none of them stayed in the warehouses more than 3 days. Before sending to each store, clothes are ironed in advance and packed on hangers, with security and price tags fixed beforehand. This system helps staff in Zara utilize their time efficiently with the inventory during busy periods. Just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) The JIT approach to manufacturing involves timing the delivery of resources so that they arrive just when needed. Inventory optimization models help the firm determine how many of which items in which sizes should be delivered to each specific store during twice-weekly shipments, ensuring that each store is stocked with just what it needs. Trucks serve destinations that can be reachedShow MoreRelatedInformation Technology Management And Operations Of Complex It Systems1897 Words   |  8 PagesPossess expert knowledge of best practices in information technology management and acquisitions, and skill in managing complex IT programs that support an enterprise vision, create improved customer service, and ensure IT program performance in a large, geographically-dispersed organization. While employed with US Army Materiel Command (AMC), AMC is a major army command, conducts over 53 billion dollars a year in business, employs 100k personnel and is commanded by a four start general (seco ndRead MoreSupply Chain Management System at Ducati - the Position of Information Systems in Enhancing Management of Operation in the Supply Chain at Ducati Motor Holding S.P.A.2542 Words   |  11 PagesSupply Chain Management System at Ducati The position of Information Systems in enhancing management of operation in the supply chain at Ducati Motor Holding S.p.a. Report’s length: 1995 words, 9 pages. AUTHOR Andrea P.F. A. Table of Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................................3 1. 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ShanuddinRead MoreFeature of Mis1573 Words   |  7 PagesFeatures of MIS Management information systems can be used as a support to managers to provide a competitive advantage. The system must support the goals of the organization. Most organizations are structured along functional lines, and the typical systems are identified as follows: 1. Accounting management information systems: All accounting reports are shared by all levels of accounting managers. The management of the information which at the accounting department is one of the most importantRead MoreThe Use Of Airport Information Systems Between Civilian And Military Airports1412 Words   |  6 Pagesdetermine if there is a significant need for the use of Airport Information systems between civilian and military airports, a correlation research study is planned. Information will be compared from Class B military and civilian airports in three regions in the United States that average similar air traffic. The dependent variables are airports whose systems that do not allow to process information efficiently. Information systems are integral part of how airports are run efficiently and safelyRead MoreWhy Are Information Systems So Essential For Running And Managing A Business Today?1458 Words   |  6 PagesAssignment One 1. Why are information systems so essential for running and managing a business today? An organization’s information system is capable of very important tasks and it is important for any business to exploit its capabilities. Information systems are important to businesses because they process data from the businesses’ input to generate information that is crucial for managing operations. The following points will explain why information systems are important to businesses: †¢ OperationalRead MoreThe Impact of the Internet or Information Technology on Logistics Management1318 Words   |  6 Pagestaking place that affect the supply chain.† Discuss the impact of the Internet or Information Technology on Logistics Management.† Table of content Page No Executive summary 2 Customer service 2 Warehouse and Storage Management 3 Inventory Planning 4 Transport Management 4 Case study 5 Answer of the question â€Å"Would you recommend the use of IT in your work area? Reference 6 Executive Summary Information technology (IT) is now become a factor which embedded to our life. Some peopleRead MoreInformation Technology Systems Primary Responsibility1198 Words   |  5 PagesThe Information Technology systems primary responsibility is to maintain and sustain the organization network and communications operations. Although, they specialize in a particular field, they combine experiences and resources to support the IT department. The functional areas support the IT department which in turns support the organization’s mission, vision, and goals. Mission: Planning, managing, synchronizing, and directing the Information Technology system communication operations with the

Friday, December 20, 2019

How Did Women Reach Their Goals Of The Time - 1453 Words

When I first read this prompt, I had to reread it multiple times to understand what exactly was being asked of me. The prompt is vague, which I would imagine was done purposefully so that students could choose exactly how they wanted to attack it based on what piques their interest. I read this prompt as â€Å"how did women reach their goals of the time†, but before answering the question as a whole, I have to ask myself smaller questions. What â€Å"women† do I want to focus on? Surely not all women had the same â€Å"desired result†, so which angle do I want to zero in on? The plight of the housewife was very different than that of the radical feminist. As the feminist tides turned in the 1970s, women were at war with each other and with the nation as a whole. Women made demands to better their gender as a unit, however the opinions of what would actually better them differed among them. While progressive women were pushing for equality by any means necessary, traditional, â€Å"homemaking† women resisted the changing world. First of all, the idea of women’s â€Å"desired result† is an interesting notion as it clumps all women into one category, when women actually had different and often opposing goals within the feminist revolution movement. The desired results for women were different as the women of the revolution were different. One side of this battle was using the power of domesticity to perpetuate a society of women as the â€Å"second sex† while the radical liberal women were fighting forShow MoreRelatedAmerica s Rights Or Venice Beaches Women s Choice For Life1357 Words   |  6 Pagesgroups in America and how did this all start? The answer to this is that of peoples dire needs of civil rights, rights that aren’t special or specific, but rights that every American citizen should have. In the year 1863, Americans were finally introduced to the effects of social change groups. In that year, slavery was abolished and blacks were able to live their lives without have to be under the control of any one person, or so they thought. Many believe that during this time, blacks were able toRead MoreSpeech On Hard Work1379 Words   |  6 Pagesbe able to put work in to reach that goal. Everyone has a goal in life and everyone has dreamt of being successful in life. As we grow older our goals may change and grow, while others goals may stay the same or fade away; due to ones lack of confidence, they do not have the means to reach their goals, they did not work hard enough and unfortunately give up. However, giving up should not be an answer to anything, you must continue to push yourself to try to reach your goals in life, because if youRead MoreEssay on Climbing the Ladder Analysis817 Words   |  4 Pagescountless foreigners to come to the U.S and what also keeps them there. All these people are filled with ongoing motivation to eventually reach this dream. Yet, the Dream and its steps to success are not a definite list. In fact, the very idea of how to achieve such a dream has been debated for generations. Andrew Carnegie, a famous humanitarian and industrialist for his time, provided a very unique perspective of this American Dream. Carnegie was a very harsh but honest man. He truly believed that everyoneRead MoreEmily, Murphy, Nellie McClung, and Agnes Macphail Stand for Womens Equality1328 Words   |  6 Pagesand women should always be considered equal, and one gender should never feel inferior to another. During the early twentieth century, there were three women who conveyed this message all throughout Canada. Emily Murphy played a significant role to promote the equality between men and women. Similarly, Nellie McClung also took responsibility for encouraging gender equality. 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Strong Women Strong Girls is one of the many nonprofit organizations located in Boston, with a goal to benefit the community. We have been working with this organization to improve our understanding of nonprofits and to help the organization benefit the community. Background Strong Women Strong Girls is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by Harvard graduate, Lindsay HydeRead MoreAnalysis Of Kanye West s Prolific Career1171 Words   |  5 Pagesculture to metaphorically assert how individuals can achieve success of every field of human endeavor through constant efforts in right direction. In addition, he also attempts to convey that one must â€Å"drive slow† in a car in order to appreciate the environment that consists outside of the automobile. West creates a double entendre of the word â€Å"drive slow,† expressing that one must drive slow in life and one must drive slow to attain a glimpse of the appealing women outside of the car. With the slow-tempoRead MoreShirley s Leadership Style And Behavior1669 Words   |  7 Pagesteams need a coach that believes in them. The team needs a coach that will work hard to help them achieve the goal of winning. They need a coach that communicates and shows interest in each of the players. On t he other hand, they need a coach that can be directive, but also supportive. In the case study this week, Shirley was quite the opposite. Conflicting enough, by all appearances she did not have a total grasp of the concept of leadership in coaching basketball. Factors that could cause the lackRead MoreThe California Ethos Essay874 Words   |  4 PagesCalifornia because they wanted to achieve their goals for a better life, as they experienced by their hard working and created lots of the potential development in this gold place. Explain the evolution of the California Ethos during the Gold Rush Era. During the Gold Rush Era, the gold-seekers brought the evolution in the California from nothing then rapidly change to be a busy town with full of newcomers by their risk-taking and persistence to reach their dreams. The gold-seekers full of risk-takingRead MoreDifferences Between Raymond Carver s They re Not My Husband And Dino Buzzati s The Falling Girl1623 Words   |  7 Pagesaddition to class division, the women in the story must meet these social standards set in place by society. In â€Å"They’re not your husband† Earl tells his wife â€Å"I think you’d better consider going on a diet. I mean it. I’m serious you could stand to lose a few pounds† (Carver 2). This example clearly showed that the comments from the businessmen impacted Earl wanted his wife Doreen to look a certain way and fit in with society. Similar to Earl’s situation, Marta and other women falling were praised for

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Expansionism Under James K. Polk Essay - 1310 Words

Expansionism under James K. Polk During the years surrounding James K. Polks presidency, the United States of America grew economically, socially, and most noticeably geographically. In this time period, the western boundaries of the Untied States would be expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Many Americans in the 19th century believed that the acquisition of this territory to the west was their right and embraced the concept of Manifest Destiny. This concept was the belief that America should stretch from sea to shining sea and it was all but inevitable. Under the cover of Manifest Destiny, President Polk imposed his views of an aggressive imperialistic nation. Imperialism is the practice of extending the power and†¦show more content†¦The South and Texans immediately wanted to annex the republic into the United States but the republics pro-slavery stance would not allow it until later. The annexation of Texas would cause controversy that continued for years because of the slavery issue. Presi dent Polk made the annexation of Texas one of his key stances in the election of 1844. Upon the election to President Polk imposed his imperialistic views on Congress and gained the majority he needed for the annexation of Texas into the United States. Former President Tyler had made a similar attempt at this but failed due to backing from his government. It was only seen as a last ditch effort to save face on his part. The annexation of Texas was only the start of Polks vision of a continental America. Texas annexation would soon cause controversy in Polks administration again with Mexico. Soon after the annexation of Texas, Polk started to implement his expansion campaign slogan of, Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! This referred to the latitude line that formed the northern border of the Oregon territory. The British and Americans had jointly occupied this territory ever since the Anglo-American convention in 1818. Polks desire for a true Pacific Ocean outlet and the willingness of the American people to fight for it put a huge amount of pressure on the British toShow MoreRelatedExpansionism Under James K. Polk1276 Words   |  6 PagesExpansionism under James K. Polk During the years surrounding James K. Polks presidency, the United States of America grew economically, socially, and most noticeably geographically. In this time period, the western boundaries of the Untied States would be expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Many Americans in the 19th century believed that the acquisition of this territory to the west was their right and embraced the concept of Manifest Destiny. This concept was the belief thatRead MoreJohn K Polk And Western Expansion2495 Words   |  10 PagesJohn K Polk and Western Expansion Under James Knox Polk, the United States grew by more than a million square miles, adding territory that now composes the states of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, much of New Mexico, and portions of Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Much of the United States is owed to the expansion planned by Former President John K Polk. His actions would lead to the annexation of Texas and purchase of California and New Mexico from Mexico. In theRead MoreThe American Of The Mexican American War1664 Words   |  7 Pages The Mexican American War â€Å"No President who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure.† –President James K Polk. The Manifest Destiny is believed to have the primary cause of western expansion in the United States during the 19th century. This doctrine is believed to have been the primary sources which led to the vast expansions becauseRead MoreManifest Destiny By James K. Polk1257 Words   |  6 Pagesexpansion of the American territory. It also had many poor results like the killing of Indians who were in the way of the belief of Manifest Destiny. The president that followed through with the belief of Manifest Destiny the most is that of James K. Polk. His war with Mexico and strong stand against the British about the Oregon territory solidified Manifest Destiny. The Unites States of America and its government drilled into its citizens that they should spread the political idea of democracyRead MoreEssay on The Presidency of James Knox Polks2023 Words   |  9 Pagesknown as â€Å"young hickory†, and the first â€Å"dark horse†. James Knox Polk accomplished many things in his life. He served in the House of Representative, became governor of Tennessee, and became president of the United States. His achievements impacted the U.S and made it what it is today. For example he annexed Texas, lowered tariffs, established an independent Federal Treasury, went to war with Mexico, and added three states to the union. If James Polk did not become president, then there is a possibilityRead MoreThe Slavery Of The Slave Trade1987 Words   |  8 PagesTalking about southern expansionism would not be complete without the mention of the interstate slave trade. This is most applicable when we talk about one aspect of the slave trade that oft en gets overlooked, the Atlantic Slave Trade. When mentioning the Atlantic Slave Trade, it is the fact that southerners considered reopening the trade after its dissolution in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Interestingly enough, there were movements by southerners to reopen the Atlantic Slave Trade thatRead MoreQuestions On The s Cotton Gin Made Cotton1559 Words   |  7 Pagesthink it was inescapable on the grounds that without the development Britain or Mexico would have control over a considerable measure of the area and I m certain there would be consistent rubbing between them. Show Destiny was utilized to support expansionism on the grounds that it said that God had bound them for it and when God is utilized as a part of that way I think it induces individuals more. 6) The addition of Texas was dubious on the grounds that numerous individuals who existed in the zoneRead MoreA Description of Bleeding Kansas3703 Words   |  15 PagesMcClellan wants war to end if he s elected, citizens of North are sick of war so many vote for McClellan, Lincoln wins 37. 38. 39. 40. American slave who sued his master for keeping him enslaved in a territory where slavery was banned under the missouri Compromise Election of 1864 36. Eli Whitney Elizabeth Cady Stanton United States inventor of the mechanical cotton gin (1765-1825) A prominent advocate of women s rights, Stanton organized the 1848 Seneca Falls ConventionRead MoreThe End Of The 19th Century2247 Words   |  9 PagesAmericans living in Texas than there where Mexicans, and because of this the Americans wanted full statehood for the province in order to have home rule. In 1833 American born Texans would support Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in his run for president, under the belief that he would support statehood. However after his election Santa Anna would declare a unified central government that would eliminate states’ rights. Outraged, the Texans revolted and declared their independence on March 2, 1836. The MexicanRead MoreA SELECTION OF PAST AP U.S. FREE RESPONSE QUESTIONS:3529 Words   |  15 PagesManifest Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was in fact an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to American expansionism in the 1840s. (90) 44. Compare the expansionist foreign policies of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James K. Polk. To what extent did their policies strengthen the United States? (93) 45. Discuss the impact of territorial expansion on national unity between 1800 and 1850. (97) 46. To what extent

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Erich Fromm and Shirley Jackson have both written wonderful true

Erich Fromm and Shirley Jackson have both written wonderful true-life affecting essays and should be awarded for them Erich Fromm and Shirley Jackson have both written wonderful true-life affecting essays and should be awarded for them. I appreciate both stories and feel they both set tales to learn from and live by. As a combined theme for both I ld say human consciousness is more then a gift. And read on to see what I mean. In Erich Fromm we notice a compassionate concern for the unfolding of life. Fromm claims that the growing process of the emergence of the individual from his original ties, a process which we may call individuation, seems to have reached its peak in modern history in the centuries between the Reformation and the present. Of course, the beginning of change is not the cause of all our problems but it did magnify them because now the existence of humanity itself has become a problem according to the way I am reading into Fromms story. Then when you shift you focus towards Shirley Jacksons The Lottery, it depicts an ordinary day with anticipation of yearly appointments. Her description awakens you to a pleasant sunny day, flowers blooming, and everyone united around the town square. All are gathered to cast lots for the right to another years meeting. From the onset, this story quickly takes you into a dismal, gloomy atmosphere. The first hint comes in the first paragraph when they indicated that The Lottery will only take two hours and be over with in time for dinner. 78 This was one meeting no one was eager to attend. These two stories are different from one another in text but are same in form. Fromm later on talks about animals living completely within nature and proclaims that they are guided by instinctive behavior. He continues and says humans have lost such instinctive mechanisms. This is where Jacksons simplicity of life falls in. She brings up Fromms ideas of animals in a form of a meeting that took place. This meeting took place every year in the town square where all other happy and significant town occasions were held; it was not your usual gathering of friends, bringing covered dishes, balloons and clowns for the kids. A celebration it was not, but just the opposite. This story reveals the dark side of human nature. Its flaws, lack of compassion, selfishness and anybody but me attitude. If you had had the opportunity to talk with my late grandmother she would characterize it as being set in your way. When a person is set in his or her way, no one can change it. This town was set in its way, undoubtedly by the first villagers that had settled there;79 who had to made killing a tradition, something that would be carried out from generation to generation. Being set in your own way doesnt necessary have to be bad? Just imagine, if the tradition was something more positive that promote life rather than destroy it. Traditions, rituals are made from rules established. The rules could be rules of a home, a city, county, state or nation. Then again imagination can do wonders and living life is just part of nature. And thats where Fromm brings our attention to living life. He states that although the animals are living within nature, they at the same time going above it and are conscious of themselves. Which I think is very true. Setting themselves over against nature they have lost their unity and feel unbearably alone, lost, and powerless. This same process can be seen in the development of individual human beings. Each of us initially feels at one with our environment, but then becomes gradually more aware of our individuality. Fromm determines, therefore, that on the one side of the growing process of individuation is the growth of self-strength, but on the other side of this process is a growing aloneness. Then again with Jacksons story one has to gaze from a distance. At first glance, one would think by reading The Lottery, that it was to tell of someones great chance of fortune. Wuthering Heights (1680 words) EssayThis he labels the death instinct as a malignant phenomenon which grows and takes over to the extent to which the Eros does not unfold. In contrast, for instance, to Conrad Lorenz, Fromm desires to show that the problem of human life does not lie in a reduction of instinctive reactions, but rather, that human aggression is conditioned by society and works in collaboration with the biological necessities of humanity. As the writing of Fromm repeatedly show, the fundamental problem of humanity is indeed grounded in its character, but not in deficiently instinctive behavior. This is also to be seen in Fromms denial of the existence of original sin. The Bible leaves no doubt that it does not consider man as either good or evil, but endowed with both tendenciesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Yet it is very significant that in the story of the fall the Bible never calls Adams act a sin. What Adam can be reprimanded for, however, according to Fromm, is his disobedience. If, therefore, disobedience is sin, admits Fromm, then Adam and Eve sinned. Yet for Fromm disobedience is virtually a liberating act: The act of disobedience done by Adam and Eve free and opened their eyes. They recognized each other as strangers and the world outside them as strange and even hostile. Their acts of disobedience broke the primary bond with nature and made them individuals. Original sin, far from corrupting man, set him free; it was the beginning of history. Man had to leave the Garden of Eden in order to learn to rely on his own powers and to become fully human. Fromm offers with these comments an idealistic interpretation of the fall that leaves no place for the concept of original sin. He believes he is supported in this interpretation by the Old Testament tradition because even the prophets confirm the idea that humans have aright to be disobedient. Only after their disobedience can human beings establish a harmony between themselves, other persons, and nature through the forces of reason and love. Fromm even believes that humanity, through new acts of disobedience, has progressed in its development. This applies to humans spiritual as well as intellectual development because they liberate themselves from authorities that would not tolerate any new thoughts or any new freedoms for the individual. But in the end of all this I feel that Jacksons The Lottery brings up its main theme as being how traditions lose their meaning due to human forgetfulness which links very well to Fromms thoughts on how humans can accept change and not know how to put it to use.

Effects of Video Game on Adolescents and Children †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Effects of Video Game on Adolescents and Children. Answer: The two articles that are to be put into the conversation in this paper are Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: Theory, research, and public policy and Empathy and violent video games: Aggression and prosocial behavior. The former article is authored by Anderson, Douglas, and Katherine whereas the latter is authored by Happ and Andr. The main topic discussed in the two articles is the effects of a video game on adolescents and children. Craig Anderson is a leading researcher of aftermaths of violence exposure in mass media and together with his colleagues Katherine Buckley and Douglas Gentile, have presented a highly scholarly and extremely sophisticated explication of VVG effects. They have detailed why partaking in violent games can, in fact, promote violence by participants and why the community at large, including prominent journals and newspapers, find it quite challenging to accept the significant amount of carefully gathered evidence which presently exists documenting such ill influences. On the other hand, Happ and Melzer usher the two primary components of research as empathy and content of social media. In this sense, both articles offer relevant information that will help me under-investigated video game content influence on electrical brain process of the adolescents and children. Anderson's study is a must read the piece for scholars with interests in understanding the media violence because it merges a concise summary of previous studies with reports of 3 different significant studies thereby efficiently elucidating the violent video games effects on young adults, adolescents, and children. Indeed, the reported studies in this book give the most compelling and rigorous evidence to present-day about the destructive effects of VVG. Especially, the use of the longitudinal study of VVG effects in Anderson et al. study is on that worth silencing the critics that complain about the short-run, experimental lab research validity. This book is worth being cited by policymakers as the cornerstone in future attempts to tackle the issues about VVG. Similarly, Happ and Melzer have used several previous studies to present the evidence of the adverse effects of violent media on children and adolescents which are explained by different theoretical models for easy understanding by the readers. The use of credible previous studies in these two articles helps present comprehensive background on the topic. Indeed, Happ and Melzer have presented useful empirical examination at the effects of empathy on VVG, and this is blended with the theoretical literature thus helping the readers to note the relationship between VVG and children and adolescents violence. Similarly, Anderson et al. provide a blend of excellent empirical research and theory including authors own studies, and several suggestions for public policy discourses thus leading to a more positive content of the games alongside a more considered videos use. The methodological section in Anderson et al. is, however, well written and identifiable than it is in Happ and Melzer and hence a must for any person who contemplates entering the VVG field. To sum up, the two articles leave readers walking away fathoming that video games are never to be feared, but need to be enjoyed responsibly once the participant has understood the science behind VVG effects. The two articles are significant tools that will assist teens as well as families to remain responsible players. References Anderson, Craig A., Douglas A. Gentile, and Katherine E. Buckley.Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: Theory, research, and public policy. Oxford University Press, 2007. Happ, Christian, and Andr Melzer.Empathy and violent video games: Aggression and prosocial behavior. Springer, 2014.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Demand And Supply Of Oil And Factors That Affect The Demand Supply

Question: Discuss about theDemand And Supply Of Oil And Factors That Affect The Demand And Supply Sides Of The Market. Answer: Demand and supply of a commodity can be identified as the crucial factors determining the price of products. The mechanism of pricing can be controlled by demand and supply side of a product in a particular market. Significantly, several factors are affecting the demand and supply of a product in a target market (Zhang, Zhao, 2009). Due to the change in demand and supply side of a commodity, price fluctuation can be noticed. In this particular study paper, the demand and supply side of crude oil has been evaluated determining the factors affecting the demand and supply channel of the commodity in the Australian market. The selected article written by Uren (2016) has reviewed the current scenario of the global oil market and the leading factors controlling the falling oil prices at the international level. Notably, in a span of mere eighteen months, crude oil prices slipped from US$110 to as low as US$30 a barrel due to uncertainties in the global market and growth worries. In the discussion, a summary of the entire article has been presented to evaluate the factors affecting the demand and supply of crude oil. Besides, demand and supply graph has been drawn to conclude the market equilibrium price and quantity. The identified article reflects the existing crude oil market and the growth aspects for the companies associated with the oil business. Precisely, the article evaluates that the output of finite oil resources has been maximum. As a result of the scenario, the price of the commodity is tumbling down (Uren, 2016). Due to falling oil prices, emerging nations are investing capitals in the energy sector. Therefore, the Australian Regulatory Committee has imposed strict limits on foreign investment. According to OPEC, the slump in the crude oil price is not permanent. Meanwhile, due to massive output of oil and technological improvement, the price of oil will remain under pressure for a while. The demand for oil can be affected by a number of factors leading to price volatility. First of all, growth aspects of global economies have largely contributed to rising in demand. If the leading economies are performing well, the demand for oil will automatically increase. Secondly, speculative buying from the emerging nations has influenced the demand side of crude. Thirdly, the changes in the financial market have a significant impact on demand for oil. A sound financial market can improve the demand for oil (Bolle, 2011). Fourthly, the Non-OEDC demand can contribute to the demand side of crude oil. The rise in consumption in the Non-OEDC countries can increase the demand for oil products. Similarly, the supply side of crude is also influenced by several factors. Most importantly, the crude output decision made by OPEC can be the leading factor affecting the supply of crude. A cut in production of crude can reduce the supply fuelling the price to surge. Secondly, a future reserve of oil can make a massive impact on the supply of crude oil. Alternatively, the rise in demand from the leading oil-consuming nations such as the USA, China, India, and Japan, etc. can increase the supply side of the commodity. Lastly, geopolitical issues and concerns can be identified as one of the biggest factors affecting the supply side of crude. For instance, a war situation in a major oil producing country can reduce the supply of oil fuelling the price of the commodity. According to Uren (2016), the demand for Oil is reducing due to the development of technology and introduction of electric and bio-fuel cars. On the other hand, the fall in the demand for oil in the international market is resulting in the oversupply of oil in the Australian market (Adil, 2016). A diagram has been presented below for better understanding: Figure: Demand and Supply curve Source: (Parkin, 2014) It can be seen from the above diagram, the fall in the quantity demanded for oil has resulted in a leftward shift in the demand curve from D to D1. On the other hand, the oversupply of oil in the global as well as Australian market has resulted in a rightward shift in the supply curve from S to S1. Hence, a huge fall in the price of oil can be evident without affecting the quantity demanded or supplied due to the shift in the market equilibrium from E to E1. Meanwhile, it is important to note that there is almost no change in the quantity demanded or supplied of oil due to the inelastic demand of fossil fuels (Pirog, 2008). Irrespective of the developing technology and shift in the demand curve, the vehicles that are already in the market needs fossil fuel (Ravindra, Iyer, 2014). On the other hand, the developing technology is further controlling the growing demand of oil in the market irrespective of the falling price of fossil fuels. Therefore, a minimum change can be evident in the quantity of consumption of oil (Bochet, ?lk?l?, Moulin, Sethuraman, 2012). In other words, the inelastic demand of oil has resulted in the shift of demand and supply curve, but has resulted in no or little change in the actual consumption of oil. Figure: Inelastic demand of Oil Source: (Parkin, 2014) It can be seen from the above diagram that a change of 30 percent in the price results in the change of only 10 percent in the quantity demanded for oil. Hence, the elasticity of demand for oil is less than 1, which states that oil has an inelastic demand. By considering the above analysis, the development of technology and alternative energy sources has resulted in the fall in the demand for oil. On the other hand, the falling demand for oil can become a major challenge for the oil producing organisations across the globe. Meanwhile, it will result in a price war in the global oil market. Hence, it is important for the government of different countries to take necessary steps in order to control the demand and supply of oil to stop the price war in the oil and energy sector for maintaining an economic balance in the nation. References Adil, J. (2016).Supply and demand(1st ed.). Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press. Bochet, O., ?lk?l?, R., Moulin, H., Sethuraman, J. (2012). Balancing supply and demand under bilateral constraints.Theoretical Economics,7(3), 395-423. Bolle, F. (2011). Competition with supply and demand functions.Energy Economics,23(3), 253-277. Parkin, M. (2014). Economics (1st ed.). Boston: Pearson. Pirog, R. (2008).Gasoline and oil prices(1st ed.). Washington: Congressional Research Service. Ravindra, K., Iyer, P. (2014). Decentralized demandsupply matching using community microgrids and consumer demand response: A scenario analysis.Energy,76, 32-41. Uren, D. (2016).Oil to burn but demand is dying.Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved April 2017, from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/david-uren-economics/oil-to-burn-but-demand-is-dying-as-technology-improves/news-story/22edee003d303ee677161471f4f441af Zhang, X., Zhao, Y. (2009). The Impact of External Demand Information on Parallel Supply Chains with Interacting Demand.Production And Operations Management,19(4), 463-479.

Private vs Public free essay sample

Most parents these days find themselves asking the question which school would be better for their children private or public school. Their decision leans on which one provides the higher quality or standard of learning for students. There is also the factor which school would help their child become more well rounded . While public and private school both provide an education private school has more motivation in students, an appropriate learning environment, and a more narrow focus. The students that go to private school are completely motivated. the students that go to private school go because they want to learn. Then again maybe because they may not know a difference if they have gone to private school all their life. The work in private school is harder , and pushes students to be the best they can be so they can reach their full potential. The students that go to private school don’t have as many distractions so they are naturally more motivated to focus on school. We will write a custom essay sample on Private vs Public or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Private school has a superior environment for one reason because its classes are smaller. Smaller classes mean more one on one time with the teacher, less distractions and more focus on school work. The environment also has a decreased amount of bullies and problem children due to stricter rules punishment, and less leniency. That in turns goes back to being able to focus on school work, and not on problems. With private school there is a more narrow focus seeing as they are not very big on extra curricular activities. Private schools main focus is on school with few distractions. Public school has a wider variety of activities and clubs which can help students grow and be good at something other than school. Not having as many distractions helps with more learning, but more activities let’s you express yourself and not only become book smart but street smart as well. when seeing what private and public school have to offer the choice is clear that private school is the superior choice. While public school has more activities and freedom to express yourself the whole point of going to school is to learn. That’s why private school is fitter for that job because it has a more narrow focus. Private school also has a environment that makes it easier for learning and less problems among students. The students that go to private school are pushed to be the best they can be so they have stronger motivation. While public school has many points that private school does not private school overall has more positives and less negatives than public school and has a greater learning environment for the students to excel.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Gun Control Essays (1114 words) - Gun Politics In The United States

Gun Control "In order to reduce gun vilolence in the U.S., there should be stricter gun regulation." By Don Sunberg U.S. Politics and Government Dr. M. Anderson September 13, 1999 Violence and crime in today's society is inevitable. Human nature is full of hatred, jealousy, and chaos. Throwing guns into the equation adds security for some, and vulnerability for others. Gun regulation is a topic of debate that has been going on for years and looks to be going on for many more to come. Although, each side of the issue seems to have a possibility of security for all, a healthy median of both sides proves to be hard to come by. On the side of no gun regulation, advocates explain that a concealed handgun provides safety, and that people who defend themselves (with guns) may indirectly benefit other citizens. Cab drivers and drug dealers who carry guns produce a benefit for cab drivers and drug dealers without guns (Lott 18). This theory seems like it could be quite effective, but it brings questions of whether drug dealers would even obey gun regulation laws if imposed, since they are already braking the law by dealing drugs. One might ask why do drug dealers need guns? The answer is quite simple, most violent acts are due to drug and alcohol abuse (Write 313). The ability to carry a concealed weapon provides safety to the insecure and vulnerable. Erika Schwartz (the first runner-up in the 1997 Miss America pageant) made her decision to carry a gun after becoming a victim of a carjacking. Other women carry a weapon due to their fear of rape. Laurence Rockefeller's reason to pack heat is because he carries large sums of money and feels that a gun will protect him from becoming a victim of a mugging (Lott 23). Advocates of no gun control say that the current gun regulation of a waiting period to help potential murders time to "cool off" is a total waste of time. Any one who leaves the scene of an argument, drives to a gun shop, buys a weapon, loads it with ammunition, and returns to kill the awaiting victim can hardly be said to be acting in the heat of the moment (Sullum). Gun regulation only prevents the innocent from having the right to protect himself or herself. Felons and criminals will go to all costs to get a weapon to kill, gun regulation or not. Stricter gun regulation, in theory, will get the guns off the streets and into the hands of those deserving and qualified. Sending a message to society that guns are not acceptable and will not be tolerated as a viable source to end an argument, is gun regulation's main goal. A recent effort in our nations capital, Washington D.C., to get guns off the street brought in over 2,300 guns that were turned over as part of a successful buy-back program. A program that has become fairly popular in America, such cities a New York and Minneapolis are looking into a similar program as well (Thurman). In an ideal world, there isn't any violence, guns, or worry. Unfortunately, America isn't that world. Therefore, actions must be taken to achieve that ideal world. Gun regulation doesn't mean absolutely any guns and safety for all, but rather it puts guns in the hands of those qualified to use them. Looking at society today, the problem with gun violence is out of control. Causing gun control activists to emphasize that change must occur. Phillip Cook, and economist at Duke University argues that if you introduce a gun into a violent encounter, it increases the chance that someone will die (Lott 20). This outlook on gun control favors the idea of stricter regulation. Even if someone legally purchases a concealed weapon and three months later goes and gets in an argument, who is to say that that person will not lose control and start repelling rounds? This is a situation that must be addressed and recognized as something that is extremely possible. By allowing random people to carry a concealed weapon is placing a lot of trust into the American society. On the idea of stricter gun control, one needs not to worry about whether gun control actually works of whether it is needed. The important thing is the message it sends. As the issue of gun control heats-up, advocates for both sides of the issue must realize that no matter how many guns we buy-back or how many permits we give out, gun

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Management system free essay sample

This document describes the high level design for the CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping Application and the CHART Internet Mapping Application. The purpose of this design is to show the high-level technical approach to meeting the requirements defined in system requirements specification. This serves to identify the architecture of the system and high-level interactions between major system components. 1. 2 Objectives Identify and describe the software architecture for the system. Provide high-level approaches to various technical challenges. Provide a guide for future development efforts, such as detailed design and coding. 1. 3 Scope This high level design encompasses the approach for meeting the requirements as defined in the documents CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping System Requirement Specification and CHART Internet Mapping System Requirement Specification. 2. System Architecture 2. 1 Overview The following diagram shows the system architecture used by CHART mapping applications. The system design utilizes web based multi-tier system architecture. The data storage is managed at the data tier by the databases. We will write a custom essay sample on Management system or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The main business logics are hosted in the two applications in the web server. Because mapping is an area that there are many requirements related to client side interactions with the graphic content of the application, application logics are partitioned based on the most appropriate location to execute them. Some are located on the client browsers to provide instantaneous feedback to the user. The general system operation flow involves the following: 1. Data updates from various sources such as the CHART II CORBA events, EORS data inputs, device and event editing modules are stored in the databases. When a mapping application receives a mapping request, it sends the image map generation request to the ArcIMS map server. The ArcIMS server retrieves the map data from the databases and creates a rendering of the map and saves it as a raster image file. The mapping application generates HTML pages embedded with the image and sends it to the browser client. 3. For the CHART Intranet mapping client, the application also generates the dynamic content in VML format, which encodes the device and event information in vector format. This enables the application to update the dynamic data without having to reload the whole map image. This avoids the heavy load on the map server when the application scales up. 4. When the images and VML data arrives at the client browser, the client displays the map to the user. The user can interact with this data on the client. 2. 2 SQL Server and ArcSDE ArcSDE from ESRI allows managing of geographic information in commercial databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, DB2 and Informix. ArcSDE provides functionalities to efficiently store and retrieve spatial information using spatial indexing mechanisms. Managing the spatial servers is the ArcIMS Application Server, which monitors each spatial server’s activity and brokers map requests to the least busy spatial server. The detailed interaction of a map request is as the following: When the ASP. Net page receives a map request, it parses it and uses the ActiveX Connector object model to construct a map request. The connector then sends the map request in ArcXML format to the Application Server. The Application Server then finds the least busy spatial server and forwards the map request to it. The spatial server performs the query against the ArcSDE database, retrieves the data and renders them into a raster image file. The location of the file is then sent back to the connector and the ASP. Net page writes it back to the client as HTML page with the image embedded in it. 2. 4 Web Server (IIS) . Net Framework and ASP. Net The web server hosts and publishes content to the client browser. In the case of the CHART mapping applications, most of the content is dynamic content generated by ASP. Net modules. When IIS recognizes a page being an ASP. Net module (an aspx extension), it passes the request to the . Net Framework to load the module and handle the request. The ASP. Net pages are then loaded into memory and executed. The . Net Framework provides many utilities such as garbage collection, tracing, just-in-time compilation that manages the execution of ASP. Net modules. The ASP. Net page modules are where the CHART mapping application logic is coded. The web server also provides security via the Secured Socket Layer (SSL), allowing interactions between the user’s browser and the web server to be encrypted when necessary. Network Level Security Network layer security will be managed by the network security configurations like firewall and RSA secure ID. 2. 5. 2 Secured Socket Layer (SSL) MDOT has a certificate server to provide digital certificates for the SSL configuration. The server name must remain consistent with the certificate. All links shall use the same server name, otherwise, if the server is referred using an IP address or a local server name, etc. , the user will see an alert indicating the certificate is in-consistent with the resource. IIS supports the configuration of one folder in the web application requiring SSL while other portion does not. The session information remains consistent between SSL portion of the web site and the non-SSL portion. 2. 5. 3 Enterprise User Enters Read-Only View Many of the CHART mapping functionalities are for display and reviewing data, i. e. a read-only view. The design allows enterprise viewers and CHART users to access the read-only portion of the web site without having to input user name and password. This also enables CHART users to reach the viewing area without having to enter their login information again. When system receives a user request to enter the secured area, the system checks whether the current session has been authenticated. If not, system displays login screen. The user shall enter their CHART user name and password. Upon receipt of the user name and password, the system checks it against the CHART II database’s user tables. If they are authenticated, the system stores the user information in the session. The session will be managed in the server until the configured timeout expires. All subsequent requests from the same user session will inherit the same authorization information for the user. 2. 5. 4 CHART User Enters Editing Area Other applications, like future versions of CHART II and CHART Lite, can launch the map editing URL via the HTTPS protocol. The user name and password can be sent via https request. The system verifies their authentication information against the CHART II user database using an OLEDB/ODBC connection. If the authentication information is correct, the system will store this information in the session. The user will be redirected to the map page. If the authentication is rejected, the user request will be redirected to the login screen to reenter the authentication information. Associating a CHART user with an op-center/default map view area: Based on CHART II R1B3 database design, users are not associated with an op-center; rather, the user specifies an op-center during logon. In order to display a default map view area based on an op-center, an external application launching the CHART mapping application will also need to pass in the operation center name to initialize the map to the associated extent. Passing user name and password in URL request: The mapping site shall have a module that verifies the user name and password, then forward the page to the map page, hence avoiding showing the password on URL address box. At the current time, without the full integration with CHART II and CHART Lite, the system will expect plain text user name and password. In the future, an encryption/decryption algorithms agreed between the systems can be added to achieve higher security. 2. 5. 5 EORS Security Currently, the EORS security has not been implemented. EORS functions will be hard-coded with security configuration. 3. Network Configuration The design above depicts CHART network configuration as the Internal network, a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network for hosting the web server and connecting out to the external Internet network. There will be two firewalls, one between the Internet and the DMZ network and another one between the DMZ network and the internal network. The map server and database servers are to be hosted in the internal network for maximum security. The initial configuration calls for two physical computers to host the map servers and database servers. In the future, if the system needs to scale up, additional physical servers can be added. The Intranet web server can optionally be hosted on the load-balanced virtual server too. 3. 1. 1 Map Server Load Balancing The design achieves load balancing by a combination of Windows 2000 Advanced Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Service and the ArcIMS Application Server. The system utilizes two physical server computers. The two servers are configured with NLB. NLB works on the TCP/IP level. Any incoming traffic from web server to the virtual server IP address is load balanced between the two application servers by NLB. ArcIMS Application Server operates at the application level, monitoring each spatial server’s load and operation. When a spatial server is busy, it directs the map request to idling spatial server(s). Each physical map server hosts one ArcIMS Application Server and two ArcIMS Spatial Server instances. An application server failure forces NLB to direct new connections to the remaining application server. When the failed server is recovered, new client connections should once again be shared between the two servers. The two spatial server instances are â€Å"cross registered† to the application servers. As shown in the diagram, Spatial Server A1 and A2 are registered to Application Server B and A correspondingly. This arrangement ensures that when a spatial server is down, the application server can still utilize the spatial server from the other server to serve the map request and the application server continue to function. Also, this configuration also allows ArcIMS to load balance at the Spatial Server level as opposed to just the network traffic level, which is what NLB provides. This configuration can withstand an Application Server failure, a Spatial Server failure, a simultaneous Application/Spatial Server failure or hardware failure of one of the physical map servers. Using two map servers with network load balancing should provide high-availability load balanced ArcIMS web site. 3. 1. 2 Database Load Balancing By running two SQL Server and ArcSDE instances with NLB to balance the load, the system can achieve high availability at the database server layer. The database servers are completely independent and share no hardware components. This type of availability is achievable with the standard edition of SQL Server. The two database servers are setup with Transactional replication. One of the two SQL Servers is configured as the publisher and the other one as a subscriber. All the data modification such as insert, delete and update will be performed on the publisher and changes are replicated to the subscriber. Transactional replication can provide very low latency to Subscribers. Subscribers receiving data using a push subscription usually receive changes from the Publisher within one minute or sooner, provided that the network link and adequate processing resources are available (latency of a few seconds can often be achieved). When the web server and map server requests use the virtual IP address on the load-balanced group of database servers, they are directed to the database server with the least amount of load. If one of the database servers goes down due to hardware failure, NLB detects that this server is down and no longer directs database requests to this machine. The remaining machine handles the database requests and apart from a slight drop in performance the users are unaware that a database server has failed. When the hardware is fixed the offending machine can be brought back online. One limitation exists for this design. It happens when the publisher database is down. In this situation the data updates cannot be committed until the publisher database comes back. But at the same time, all read access from the Internet and Intranet server could still be directed to the secondary server. In the case when the publisher data is going to be down for extended time period, system configuration need to allow system administrator to change the configuration so that the replica will serve as the main database. Compared with clustering solution, this system design provides the maximum database availability and performance benefit. The databases that need to be replicated would include: 1. Background map database. Background map data does not change often. A snapshot replication is sufficient for replicating data updates in one database to the other. 2. CHART/EORS Spatial Database CHART/EORS spatial database stores CHART and EORS device and event information with spatial data. They are dynamically updated throughout the day. Transactional replication will be setup to ensure that data change in one database gets replicated to the other one. 3. SDE metadata. In general, the system can continue to provide access of map and data to both the Internet and Intranet users in the case of failure of any one component in the system. The only exception is that when the publisher database is down, the new data cannot be updated into the system. Users will get delayed information. 3. 1. 3 DMZ Configuration CHART is currently implementing a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network to enhance the network security. This entails creating a separate network for the web server computer(s) and separating it from the internal network with a firewall. In an ideal world, the DMZ would have no physical connection to the internal network. This would require two separate map server setups to serve the Internet and Intranet users. The recommended way to implement is to disallow any access from the DMZ to the internal network, but allow access from the internal network to the DMZ. In other words, allow out-bound connections. On each of the ArcIMS server computers, mount a network drive to a shared drive on the Web server. Each ArcIMS spatial server would write the output raster image files to the location on the web server to be delivered to the Internet client browsers. 4. Database Organization To reduce the dependency and operation interference between the spatial data and the attribute data, the EORS spatial database and CHART spatial database will be created as two SQL Server databases. To reduce the performance overhead when joining data between the spatial and attribute data, the EORS spatial database will reside on the same database server(s) as the EORS database. Map Display Mechanism CHART Intranet mapping application requires that changes in event and device data be reflected on all map clients in a near-real-time fashion (within 5 seconds). To do so via the traditional raster map publishing mechanism will result in all clients retrieving updated map every 5 seconds or at least when event/device status update requires a new map to be generated. When there is large number of users of the system, it will result in a high map server load in a concentrated short time period. To resolve this issue, the project team reviewed various technical approaches and summarizes their advantages and disadvantages as the following: 5. 1. 1 Raster (JPEG, GIF or PNG) Image This is a popular approach that utilizes the basic image display functionality of web browsers. It utilizes the server processing power efficiently. The disadvantages are that the images have limited client side intelligence, leaving most of the computation concentrated on the server. It’s capability of handling large number of concurrent map requests is limited. Generally, one map server can support 4-8 requests per second. For CHART’s situation, when an event changes status, if a new map image needs to be generated, it would be about 40 requests per second (200 users at 5 second update interval). Many servers will be required to support the load. With the license fee involved with using GIF format, we will not use GIF for map publishing. Compared with JPG format, PNG graphics do not have the â€Å"bleeding† effect inherent with the JPEG compression algorithm. With the map displaying lines rather than continuous tone images, it is much cleaner. PNG also results in a smaller file, which translates into faster download times for client. The only JPG advantage is server side image generation times. It is recommended to utilize PNG for the Intranet application to produce highest quality images for standardized IE browser while utilizing JPG for the Internet to allow for support of as many browsers as possible. Also, the reduction in image processing time should deliver better web image generation performance. 5. 1. 2 XML Based Vector Graphics 5. 1. 2. 1 Vector Markup Language (VML) VML is a XML based W3C standard in describing vector graphics. Basically, it encodes the vector coordinates of points, lines and polygons in XML format. The support of VML is included in Internet Explorer 5. 0 and later. There is no download needed to display VML encoded vector graphics. It also has built-in support for style sheet and scripting. This makes it possible to modify the display properties and positions of the vector graphics using the JavaScript on the client-side browser. Using this functionality, we can dynamically update the display of devices and events. 5. 1. 2. 2 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Scalable Vector Graphics is another XML-based W3C standard format for vector graphics. Compared with VML, it requires Java or ActiveX based plug-in to be displayed. Also, based on review of the plug-ins (SVG Viewer by Adobe), there is not as much support for scripting as for VML. 5. 1. 3 ArcIMS Java Viewer ArcIMS includes a Java Viewer, which provides a Java Applet that can be customized to a certain extent to display vector encoded GIS data on the client side. It requires a download to the client. The Java Viewer reads vector data from ArcIMS feature server encoded using an ESRI proprietary compression format, which makes it difficult to implement special features such as WSMS offsetted road networks because they need to be offset dynamically based on map scale. 5. 1. 4 MapObjects Java MapObjects Java from ESRI provides a set of Java-based objects for GIS functionalities. It has an extensive set of functionality that can satisfy the requirements. But, it requires a license fee of $100/seat, or comparable server-based licensing. It also requires a download to client machine to run it. 5. 1. 5 Summary Based on the research above, the project team recommends the following design: Use raster map for background map display (background data with SHA grid map are often large amount of data, suitable for server side processing) Use XML data format to transport the device and event data from server to browser client. Use JavaScript to create and update the VML vector data elements to display the dynamic layers including all the CHART/EORS devices and events. The diagram above illustrates the map display mechanism: 1. Map server reads the spatial data from background database and sends the published map image to the client browser to be displayed as background. 2. Device and event information is broadcasted from the CHART II system in the form of CORBA events. 3. CORBA event listener receives the event broadcast and saves the data into CHART spatial database. 4. CHART/EORS device and event data are published in XML format to the client. Client browser parses the XML into a XML Document Object Model (DOM) using the XML parser. 5. The client browser then iterate through the DOM tree structure and create corresponding VML elements based on the XML device and event data. The VML elements are displayed on the top of the background raster map image. 6. At a pre-configured interval, the browser client retrieves update of device and event data from the IIS server in XML format and update the VML display based on the updated information. Automated Refresh of Device and Event Data CHART/EORS device and event information needs to be updated at a pre-configured interval. They should be updated separate from the background map to reduce the load on the map server. The technical approach to achieve this will be to use a hidden frame to send the request to retrieve updated device and event data and receive the response. The response will package the data in XML file to be parsed into a document object model (DOM) and display the data on map. The request can be to retrieve all data or only retrieve data newer than last retrieval. When the new device/event is received and it requires changing the display of the device/events, the style assignment for the elements can be changed to update the device and event display. The VML elements will be sent using real-world coordinates (Maryland State Plane 1983). After the data has been retrieved to the client side, the VML map layers can be dynamically projected using the â€Å"local coordinate space†. When user zooms or pan the map, the VML will be projected using the updated coordinates to fit the new map extent without going back to the server to retrieve new data set. 5. 3 Inter-Frame Client Script Synchronization The map page has a few frames and the browser loads them asynchronously. Scripts in one frame may call scripts in another frame that may not have been loaded. The approach to resolve this is to add client-side exception handling and verification routine to ensure that the script is called always after the frame is loaded. 5. 4 Assigning and Editing Event Location The dynamic nature of VML elements in the browser allows adding and modifying VML elements by scripting. When the user clicks or drags the mouse on the map, client-side script manages the transformation of screen coordinates and real-world map coordinates. The coordinates are sent back to the server’s secured URL where the information is extracted and saved to the database. 5. 5 Scalability The CHART mapping application serves not only the Intranet users, but also Internet browser clients. During emergency situations, the load on both the Internet and Intranet servers could get extremely high. The system must be able to scale up to serve large amount of users. The technical approach to solve this issue involves two main facets. As described in the network configuration section, the system will employ network load balancing and allows adding additional hardware in the future. The system should also be able to utilize the caching feature of IIS and ASP. Net to scale up without significantly increase hardware investment. ASP. Net allows caching configuration for individual page modules, such as whether the page is cached and how long it is cached. After the application is deployed, these caching settings can be configured on the web pages. For example, if it is determined that the Internet mapping can be up to 3 seconds late, by setting caching time to 3 seconds, all requests from the Internet will receive a cached response without creating additional load on the map and database server. Exception Management and Recovery CHART II keeps its clients updated via a push model using the CORBA Event Service. The Event Service does not guarantee delivery; therefore it is possible for event data to be lost/dropped (although in practice, this is rare). To account for this possibility, the CHART Web Event Listener will refresh its information about the status of devices and traffic events from CHART II at a configurable interval. Also, each time the Event Listener is started, it will retrieve all relevant data from CHART II. Thus, the update model becomes a push model with an occasional pull to be safe. This process will be used to recover from the following situations: 1. The Event Listener was down and did not receive new data from CHART II. 2. CHART II CORBA event(s) occasionally dropped while the Event Listener is up and running. Another likely scenario is that the CHART II server or service(s) restart. After a typical restart, the CORBA Event Service CORBA objects will be recreated with the same characteristics allowing the Event Listener to continue to automatically receive CHART II CORBA events. As the CHART II services will not be processing events during this time, no events are likely to be missed. Therefore, the Event Listener does not need to do anything special to handle a CHART II server or service(s) restart. Sometimes CHART II maintenance will require that new (and different) Event Service CORBA objects be created. This might happen during a CHART II upgrade, for example. In this case, the Event Listener will need to be restarted so that it can pick up the new objects. Since this type of maintenance does not occur often and the Event Listener restarting is fast, the restart can be handled as part of the CHART II upgrade procedures. Integration with ASP Code in EORS and CHART Web Application The CHART Intranet Mapping, replacing the existing EORS mapping application, will still be launched as a separate window by a URL string with a few parameters identifying the district, view type, etc. The impact on EORS web application should be limited to modifying the URL links. The current CHART Internet Mapping site uses â€Å"include† statement to include site navigation pages from upper level CHART web site’s pages. When upgrading Internet Mapping to ASP. Net, â€Å"include† statement is no longer used. Instead, a ServerXMLHTTP request can be formulated to request the text from the included ASP page and merge them into the mapping ASP. Net pages. The limitation of this implementation would be that the ASP. Net application couldn’t share the session and application variables from the ASP application. Currently, there are only a couple of them, such as database connection string. The ASP. Net mapping application will maintain a separate set of application variables. 6. User Interface Design 6. 1 Intranet Map Site User Interface Design Here following is a high-level frame structure for the Intranet mapping site: 1. AppFrame is the highest-level frame that includes all the child frames. On the top of the page, there will be the title frame, which will host the CHART icon. Also inside the title frame will be a group of tabs, such as Traffic, Roadway Weather, Message Sign, etc. 2. ToolsFrame hosts the map navigation and other map related tools. The ToolsFrame will also host menu system that allows the user to bring up data and other detailed information. HiddenFrame will be used to submit and receive information from the server. 4. ContentFrame is further divided to a map frame on the left and a data frame on the right. The user shall be able rearrange the frame boundary to give more space to the map or data area. Data frame will display data as well as legend, layer control and other items when needed. Management system free essay sample Provide a guide for future development efforts, such as detailed design and coding. 1. 3 Scope This high level design encompasses the approach for meeting the requirements as defined in the documents CHART/EORS Intranet Mapping System Requirement Specification and CHART Internet Mapping System Requirement Specification. 2. System Architecture 2. 1 Overview The following diagram shows the system architecture used by CHART mapping applications. The system design utilizes web based multi-tier system architecture. The data storage is managed at the data tier by the databases. The main business logics are hosted in the two applications in the web server. Because mapping is an area that there are many requirements related to client side interactions with the graphic content of the application, application logics are partitioned based on the most appropriate location to execute them. Some are located on the client browsers to provide instantaneous feedback to the user. The general system operation flow involves the following: Data updates from various sources such as the CHART II CORBA events, EORS data inputs, device and event editing modules are stored in the databases. We will write a custom essay sample on Management system or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page . When a mapping application receives a mapping request, it sends the image map generation request to the ArcIMS map server. The ArcIMS server retrieves the map data from the databases and creates a rendering of the map and saves it as a raster image file. The mapping application generates HTML pages embedded with the image and sends it to the browser client. 3. For the CHART Intranet mapping client, the application also generates the dynamic content in VML format, which encodes the device and event information in vector format. This enables the application to update the dynamic data without having to reload the whole map image. This avoids the heavy load on the map server when the application scales up. 4. When the images and VML data arrives at the client browser, the client displays the map to the user. The user can interact with this data on the client. 2. 2 SQL Server and ArcSDE ArcSDE from ESRI allows managing of geographic information in commercial databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, DB2 and Informix. ArcSDE provides functionalities to efficiently store and retrieve spatial information using spatial indexing mechanisms. ArcSDE provides a set of API and administrative utilities that help manage the spatial data storage. For the CHART mapping systems, the combination of ArcSDE and SQL Server manages the spatial information in the relational database. ArcSDE adds spatial functionalities without disrupting standard SQL database capabilities. 2. 3 Map Server (ArcIMS) ArcIMS includes a few components that will play important roles in the CHART mapping application. The workhorse component that processes the data and generates maps is the spatial server. Managing the spatial servers is the ArcIMS Application Server, which monitors each spatial server’s activity and brokers map requests to the least busy spatial server. The detailed interaction of a map request is as the following: When the ASP. Net page receives a map request, it parses it and uses the ActiveX Connector object model to construct a map request. The connector then sends the map request in ArcXML format to the Application Server. The Application Server then finds the least busy spatial server and forwards the map request to it. The spatial server performs the query against the ArcSDE database, retrieves the data and renders them into a raster image file. The location of the file is then sent back to the connector and the ASP. Net page writes it back to the client as HTML page with the image embedded in it. 2. 4 Web Server (IIS) . Net Framework and ASP. Net The web server hosts and publishes content to the client browser. In the case of the CHART mapping applications, most of the content is dynamic content generated by ASP. Net modules. When IIS recognizes a page being an ASP. Net module (an aspx extension), it passes the request to the . Net Framework to load the module and handle the request. The ASP. Net pages are then loaded into memory and executed. The . Net Framework provides many utilities such as garbage collection, tracing, just-in-time compilation that manages the execution of ASP. Net modules. The ASP. Net page modules are where the CHART mapping application logic is coded. The web server also provides security via the Secured Socket Layer (SSL), allowing interactions between the user’s browser and the web server to be encrypted when necessary. . 5 Security 2. 5. 1 Network Level Security Network layer security will be managed by the network security configurations like firewall and RSA secure ID. 2. 5. 2 Secured Socket Layer (SSL) MDOT has a certificate server to provide digital certificates for the SSL configuration. The server name must remain consistent with the certificate. All links shall use the same server name, otherwise, if the server is referred using an IP address or a local server name, etc. , the user will see an alert indicating the certificate is in-consistent with the resource. IIS supports the configuration of one folder in the web application requiring SSL while other portion does not. The session information remains consistent between SSL portion of the web site and the non-SSL portion. 2. 5. 3 Enterprise User Enters Read-Only View Many of the CHART mapping functionalities are for display and reviewing data, i. e. a read-only view. The design allows enterprise viewers and CHART users to access the read-only portion of the web site without having to input user name and password. This also enables CHART users to reach the viewing area without having to enter their login information again. When system receives a user request to enter the secured area, the system checks whether the current session has been authenticated. If not, system displays login screen. The user shall enter their CHART user name and password. Upon receipt of the user name and password, the system checks it against the CHART II database’s user tables. If they are authenticated, the system stores the user information in the session. The session will be managed in the server until the configured timeout expires. All subsequent requests from the same user session will inherit the same authorization information for the user. 2. 5. 4 CHART User Enters Editing Area Other applications, like future versions of CHART II and CHART Lite, can launch the map editing URL via the HTTPS protocol. The user name and password can be sent via https request. The system verifies their authentication information against the CHART II user database using an OLEDB/ODBC connection. If the authentication information is correct, the system will store this information in the session. The user will be redirected to the map page. If the authentication is rejected, the user request will be redirected to the login screen to reenter the authentication information. Associating a CHART user with an op-center/default map view area: Based on CHART II R1B3 database design, users are not associated with an op-center; rather, the user specifies an op-center during logon. In order to display a default map view area based on an op-center, an external application launching the CHART mapping application will also need to pass in the operation center name to initialize the map to the associated extent. Passing user name and password in URL request: The mapping site shall have a module that verifies the user name and password, then forward the page to the map page, hence avoiding showing the password on URL address box. At the current time, without the full integration with CHART II and CHART Lite, the system will expect plain text user name and password. In the future, an encryption/decryption algorithms agreed between the systems can be added to achieve higher security. 2. 5. 5 EORS Security Currently, the EORS security has not been implemented. EORS functions will be hard-coded with security configuration. 3. Network Configuration The design above depicts CHART network configuration as the Internal network, a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network for hosting the web server and connecting out to the external Internet network. There will be two firewalls, one between the Internet and the DMZ network and another one between the DMZ network and the internal network. The map server and database servers are to be hosted in the internal network for maximum security. The initial configuration calls for two physical computers to host the map servers and database servers. In the future, if the system needs to scale up, additional physical servers can be added. The Intranet web server can optionally be hosted on the load-balanced virtual server too. 3. 1. 1 Map Server Load Balancing The design achieves load balancing by a combination of Windows 2000 Advanced Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Service and the ArcIMS Application Server. The system utilizes two physical server computers. The two servers are configured with NLB. NLB works on the TCP/IP level. Any incoming traffic from web server to the virtual server IP address is load balanced between the two application servers by NLB. ArcIMS Application Server operates at the application level, monitoring each spatial server’s load and operation. When a spatial server is busy, it directs the map request to idling spatial server(s). Each physical map server hosts one ArcIMS Application Server and two ArcIMS Spatial Server instances. An application server failure forces NLB to direct new connections to the remaining application server. When the failed server is recovered, new client connections should once again be shared between the two servers. The two spatial server instances are â€Å"cross registered† to the application servers. As shown in the diagram, Spatial Server A1 and A2 are registered to Application Server B and A correspondingly. This arrangement ensures that when a spatial server is down, the application server can still utilize the spatial server from the other server to serve the map request and the application server continue to function. Also, this configuration also allows ArcIMS to load balance at the Spatial Server level as opposed to just the network traffic level, which is what NLB provides. This configuration can withstand an Application Server failure, a Spatial Server failure, a simultaneous Application/Spatial Server failure or hardware failure of one of the physical map servers. Using two map servers with network load balancing should provide high-availability load balanced ArcIMS web site. 3. 1. 2 Database Load Balancing By running two SQL Server and ArcSDE instances with NLB to balance the load, the system can achieve high availability at the database server layer. The database servers are completely independent and share no hardware components. This type of availability is achievable with the standard edition of SQL Server. The two database servers are setup with Transactional replication. One of the two SQL Servers is configured as the publisher and the other one as a subscriber. All the data modification such as insert, delete and update will be performed on the publisher and changes are replicated to the subscriber. Transactional replication can provide very low latency to Subscribers. Subscribers receiving data using a push subscription usually receive changes from the Publisher within one minute or sooner, provided that the network link and adequate processing resources are available (latency of a few seconds can often be achieved). When the web server and map server requests use the virtual IP address on the load-balanced group of database servers, they are directed to the database server with the least amount of load. If one of the database servers goes down due to hardware failure, NLB detects that this server is down and no longer directs database requests to this machine. The remaining machine handles the database requests and apart from a slight drop in performance the users are unaware that a database server has failed. When the hardware is fixed the offending machine can be brought back online. One limitation exists for this design. It happens when the publisher database is down. In this situation the data updates cannot be committed until the publisher database comes back. But at the same time, all read access from the Internet and Intranet server could still be directed to the secondary server. In the case when the publisher data is going to be down for extended time period, system configuration need to allow system administrator to change the configuration so that the replica will serve as the main database. Compared with clustering solution, this system design provides the maximum database availability and performance benefit. The databases that need to be replicated would include: 1. Background map database. Background map data does not change often. A snapshot replication is sufficient for replicating data updates in one database to the other. 2. CHART/EORS Spatial Database CHART/EORS spatial database stores CHART and EORS device and event information with spatial data. They are dynamically updated throughout the day. Transactional replication will be setup to ensure that data change in one database gets replicated to the other one. 3. SDE metadata. In general, the system can continue to provide access of map and data to both the Internet and Intranet users in the case of failure of any one component in the system. The only exception is that when the publisher database is down, the new data cannot be updated into the system. Users will get delayed information. 3. 1. 3 DMZ Configuration CHART is currently implementing a Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) network to enhance the network security. This entails creating a separate network for the web server computer(s) and separating it from the internal network with a firewall. In an ideal world, the DMZ would have no physical connection to the internal network. This would require two separate map server setups to serve the Internet and Intranet users. The recommended way to implement is to disallow any access from the DMZ to the internal network, but allow access from the internal network to the DMZ. In other words, allow out-bound connections. On each of the ArcIMS server computers, mount a network drive to a shared drive on the Web server. Each ArcIMS spatial server would write the output raster image files to the location on the web server to be delivered to the Internet client browsers. 4. Database Organization To reduce the dependency and operation interference between the spatial data and the attribute data, the EORS spatial database and CHART spatial database will be created as two SQL Server databases. To reduce the performance overhead when joining data between the spatial and attribute data, the EORS spatial database will reside on the same database server(s) as the EORS database. Technical Challenges 5. 1 Map Display Mechanism CHART Intranet mapping application requires that changes in event and device data be reflected on all map clients in a near-real-time fashion (within 5 seconds). To do so via the traditional raster map publishing mechanism will result in all clients retrieving updated map every 5 seconds or at least when event/device status update requires a new map to be generated. When there is large number of users of the system, it will result in a high map server load in a concentrated short time period. To resolve this issue, the project team reviewed various technical approaches and summarizes their advantages and disadvantages as the following: 5. 1. 1 Raster (JPEG, GIF or PNG) Image This is a popular approach that utilizes the basic image display functionality of web browsers. It utilizes the server processing power efficiently. The disadvantages are that the images have limited client side intelligence, leaving most of the computation concentrated on the server. It’s capability of handling large number of concurrent map requests is limited. Generally, one map server can support 4-8 requests per second. For CHART’s situation, when an event changes status, if a new map image needs to be generated, it would be about 40 requests per second (200 users at 5 second update interval). Many servers will be required to support the load. With the license fee involved with using GIF format, we will not use GIF for map publishing. Compared with JPG format, PNG graphics do not have the â€Å"bleeding† effect inherent with the JPEG compression algorithm. With the map displaying lines rather than continuous tone images, it is much cleaner. PNG also results in a smaller file, which translates into faster download times for client. The only JPG advantage is server side image generation times. It is recommended to utilize PNG for the Intranet application to produce highest quality images for standardized IE browser while utilizing JPG for the Internet to allow for support of as many browsers as possible. Also, the reduction in image processing time should deliver better web image generation performance. 5. 1. 2 XML Based Vector Graphics 5. 1. 2. 1 Vector Markup Language (VML) VML is a XML based W3C standard in describing vector graphics. Basically, it encodes the vector coordinates of points, lines and polygons in XML format. The support of VML is included in Internet Explorer 5. 0 and later. There is no download needed to display VML encoded vector graphics. It also has built-in support for style sheet and scripting. This makes it possible to modify the display properties and positions of the vector graphics using the JavaScript on the client-side browser. Using this functionality, we can dynamically update the display of devices and events. 5. 1. 2. 2 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Scalable Vector Graphics is another XML-based W3C standard format for vector graphics. Compared with VML, it requires Java or ActiveX based plug-in to be displayed. Also, based on review of the plug-ins (SVG Viewer by Adobe), there is not as much support for scripting as for VML. 5. 1. 3 ArcIMS Java Viewer ArcIMS includes a Java Viewer, which provides a Java Applet that can be customized to a certain extent to display vector encoded GIS data on the client side. It requires a download to the client. The Java Viewer reads vector data from ArcIMS feature server encoded using an ESRI proprietary compression format, which makes it difficult to implement special features such as WSMS offsetted road networks because they need to be offset dynamically based on map scale. 5. 1. 4 MapObjects Java MapObjects Java from ESRI provides a set of Java-based objects for GIS functionalities. It has an extensive set of functionality that can satisfy the requirements. But, it requires a license fee of $100/seat, or comparable server-based licensing. It also requires a download to client machine to run it. 5. 1. 5 Summary Based on the research above, the project team recommends the following design: Use raster map for background map display (background data with SHA grid map are often large amount of data, suitable for server side processing) Use XML data format to transport the device and event data from server to browser client. Use JavaScript to create and update the VML vector data elements to display the dynamic layers including all the CHART/EORS devices and events. The diagram above illustrates the map display mechanism: 1. Map server reads the spatial data from background database and sends the published map image to the client browser to be displayed as background. 2. Device and event information is broadcasted from the CHART II system in the form of CORBA events. 3. CORBA event listener receives the event broadcast and saves the data into CHART spatial database. 4. CHART/EORS device and event data are published in XML format to the client. Client browser parses the XML into a XML Document Object Model (DOM) using the XML parser. 5. The client browser then iterate through the DOM tree structure and create corresponding VML elements based on the XML device and event data. The VML elements are displayed on the top of the background raster map image. 6. At a pre-configured interval, the browser client retrieves update of device and event data from the IIS server in XML format and update the VML display based on the updated information. 5. Automated Refresh of Device and Event Data CHART/EORS device and event information needs to be updated at a pre-configured interval. They should be updated separate from the background map to reduce the load on the map server. The technical approach to achieve this will be to use a hidden frame to send the request to retrieve updated device and event data and receive the response. The response will package the dat a in XML file to be parsed into a document object model (DOM) and display the data on map. The request can be to retrieve all data or only retrieve data newer than last retrieval. When the new device/event is received and it requires changing the display of the device/events, the style assignment for the elements can be changed to update the device and event display. The VML elements will be sent using real-world coordinates (Maryland State Plane 1983). After the data has been retrieved to the client side, the VML map layers can be dynamically projected using the â€Å"local coordinate space†. When user zooms or pan the map, the VML will be projected using the updated coordinates to fit the new map extent without going back to the server to retrieve new data set. 5. 3 Inter-Frame Client Script Synchronization The map page has a few frames and the browser loads them asynchronously. Scripts in one frame may call scripts in another frame that may not have been loaded. The approach to resolve this is to add client-side exception handling and verification routine to ensure that the script is called always after the frame is loaded. 5. 4 Assigning and Editing Event Location The dynamic nature of VML elements in the browser allows adding and modifying VML elements by scripting. When the user clicks or drags the mouse on the map, client-side script manages the transformation of screen coordinates and real-world map coordinates. The coordinates are sent back to the server’s secured URL where the information is extracted and saved to the database. 5. 5 Scalability The CHART mapping application serves not only the Intranet users, but also Internet browser clients. During emergency situations, the load on both the Internet and Intranet servers could get extremely high. The system must be able to scale up to serve large amount of users. The technical approach to solve this issue involves two main facets. As described in the network configuration section, the system will employ network load balancing and allows adding additional hardware in the future. The system should also be able to utilize the caching feature of IIS and ASP. Net to scale up without significantly increase hardware investment. ASP. Net allows caching configuration for individual page modules, such as whether the page is cached and how long it is cached. After the application is deployed, these caching settings can be configured on the web pages. For example, if it is determined that the Internet mapping can be up to 3 seconds late, by setting caching time to 3 seconds, all requests from the Internet will receive a cached response without creating additional load on the map and database server. . Exception Management and Recovery CHART II keeps its clients updated via a push model using the CORBA Event Service. The Event Service does not guarantee delivery; therefore it is possible for event data to be lost/dropped (although in practice, this is rare). To account for this possibility, the CHART Web Event Listener will refresh its information about the status of devices and traffic events from CHART II at a configurable interval. Also, each time the Event Listener is started, it will retrieve all relevant data from CHART II. Thus, the update model becomes a push model with an occasional pull to be safe. This process will be used to recover from the following situations: 1. The Event Listener was down and did not receive new data from CHART II. 2. CHART II CORBA event(s) occasionally dropped while the Event Listener is up and running. Another likely scenario is that the CHART II server or service(s) restart. After a typical restart, the CORBA Event Service CORBA objects will be recreated with the same characteristics allowing the Event Listener to continue to automatically receive CHART II CORBA events. As the CHART II services will not be processing events during this time, no events are likely to be missed. Therefore, the Event Listener does not need to do anything special to handle a CHART II server or service(s) restart. Sometimes CHART II maintenance will require that new (and different) Event Service CORBA objects be created. This might happen during a CHART II upgrade, for example. In this case, the Event Listener will need to be restarted so that it can pick up the new objects. Since this type of maintenance does not occur often and the Event Listener restarting is fast, the restart can be handled as part of the CHART II upgrade procedures. 5. Integration with ASP Code in EORS and CHART Web Application The CHART Intranet Mapping, replacing the existing EORS mapping application, will still be launched as a separate window by a URL string with a few parameters identifying the district, view type, etc. The impact on EORS web application should be limited to modifying the URL links. The current CHART Internet Mapping site uses â€Å"include† statement to include site navigation pages from upper level CHART web site’s pages. When upgrading Internet Mapping to ASP. Net, â€Å"include† statement is no longer used. Instead, a ServerXMLHTTP request can be formulated to request the text from the included ASP page and merge them into the mapping ASP. Net pages. The limitation of this implementation would be that the ASP. Net application couldn’t share the session and application variables from the ASP application. Currently, there are only a couple of them, such as database connection string. The ASP. Net mapping application will maintain a separate set of application variables. 6. User Interface Design 6. 1 Intranet Map Site User Interface Design Here following is a high-level frame structure for the Intranet mapping site: 1. AppFrame is the highest-level frame that includes all the child frames. On the top of the page, there will be the title frame, which will host the CHART icon. Also inside the title frame will be a group of tabs, such as Traffic, Roadway Weather, Message Sign, etc. 2. ToolsFrame hosts the map navigation and other map related tools. The ToolsFrame will also host menu system that allows the user to bring up data and other detailed information. 3. HiddenFrame will be used to submit and receive information from the server. 4. ContentFrame is further divided to a map frame on the left and a data frame on the right. The user shall be able rearrange the frame boundary to give more space to the map or data area. Data frame will display data as well as legend, layer control and other items when needed. 5. PromptFrame will display the current tool selected and instructions for user activities. Here is a screen shot of the preliminary user interface design.