Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Systematic Phonics Case Education Essay Free Essays

It is apparent from the epoch of 80s and 90s where rational bookmans and instructors presented new influential thoughts sing instruction of English. The field of instruction of reading is a topic that is immensely researched and still under farther research. Harmonizing to Pearson ( 2002 ) , â€Å" Man-made phonics was the chief method of learning since the beginning of twentieth century, this type of learning comprises exercising of larning missive names, sounds of letters and after so intermixing of these † ( pg, 1 ) . We will write a custom essay sample on The Systematic Phonics Case Education Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now As the twentieth century progressed, it brought more extremist alterations of attack. Smith ( 1971 ) focused on the country sing the development of the capableness to read. Harmonizing to him, the reading has something that an person learned to make instead than something an person was taught. Man-made phonics is non a new of learning reading, in fact, its function of being outstanding and popular instruction has been an unintended result of the whole linguistic communication acceptance attacks in British schools. Harmonizing to Rutter ( 2006 ) , every bit far as man-made phonics is concerned the rating of research has to be set long term and it needs to be made certain that kids with larning troubles should be assisted with different ways in order to do difference. Stuart ( 2006 ) emphasized that new options has to be seek so that recommendations on national degree could be made, Stuart made this suggestion to Rise â€Å" the current research grounds is non sufficient for leting reliable judgements of the effectivity of implementing different attacks to systematic structured phonics learning † ( Stuart, 2006 ; p11 ) . Systematic phonics Case American National Reading Panel ( NRP ) , in footings of research grounds and instruction of reading related inquiries, was amongst the critical subscribers who reported in learning kids in English reading ( NICHD, 2000 ) . The study consisted of inquiries sing the early literacy such as ‘Does systematic phonics direction aid kids learn to read more efficaciously than non systematic phonics direction or direction learning no phonics? ‘ ( P92 ) . ‘Are some specific phonics programmes more effectual than others? ( P93 ) . The decision from these inquiries was that ‘specific systematic phonics programmes are all significantly more effectual than non-phonics programmes ; nevertheless, they do non look to differ significantly from each other in their effectivity although more grounds is needed to verify the dependability of consequence sizes for each programme ‘ ( NICHD, 2000, pg93 ) . In another case, a comprehensive instruction of reading attacks research was commissioned by England ‘s Department for Education and Skills ( DfES ) in order to polish the NRP methodological analysis by bring forthing a randomised controlled tests ( RCT ) tests. Research workers in their work concluded that grounds has been seen in RCT surveies which could turn out the effectivity of one signifier of systematic phonics compared with that of other ( Torgerson et al, 2006 ) . Rutter ( 2006 ) besides commented that the of import facet of determination is that RCTs are one signifier of optimum research conditions. The existent message that is apparent from the meta-analysis, carried out by NRP and its limitation to RCTs, is the thought of importance of literacy acquisition every bit far as systematic instruction of phonics is concerned ( Torgerson et al, 2006 ) . Rose ( 2006 ) besides agreed with this decision by saying that â€Å" the importance of systematic phonic work is huge and could be more effectual if incorporated with man-made attack, after looking at its grounds which is wide-ranging † ( Rose, 2006, p20 ) . However he emphasizes that regardless of commonalty amidst systematic phonics and man-made phonics, it is therefore the man-made phonics which can offer much better class to going skilled readers for early scholars ( p19 ) . Man-made phonics instance Two surveies were reported by Johnston and Watson ( 2004 ) , in which the 2nd experiment was carried out before the first one and is of greater importance since it is related to intercession. This intercession varied from normal to extra schoolroom tuition get downing six hebdomads after school entry. The excess preparation kept on traveling for 10 hebdomads holding 2 categories per hebdomad wholly consisted of 114 printed words. The one group was taught 2 letters per hebdomad by agencies of assorted games played where kids matched images and words by merely pulling their attending to initial word sounds and letters of those sounds while other group was taught in all places of the words such as enhanced acquisition and blending of the missive sounds in all places, while being taught 2 letters per hebdomad every bit good ( Johnston and Watson, 2004, p347 ) . What writers concluded was that the group with man-made phonics were far much better in footings of reading and spelling every bit compared to analytic phonics group and therefore, the man-made phonics proved to be effectual attack to learning spelling, reading phonemic consciousness as comparison to analytics phonics ( Johnston and Watson, 2004 ) . Rose ( 2006 ) besides stresses that man-made phonics gives more indispensable accomplishments that allows the bulk of students to read and compose in front of their chronological age. Harmonizing to her, the 20 per centum pupils who have jobs with literacy still have better foundation of the reading rudimentss and merely necessitate excess clip and engagement. Pearson ‘s Findingss Pearson ( 2003 ) became portion of fact-finding programme to derive some penetrations of the kids sing their reading position, their advancement every bit good as things that were their facets of success. During the 6 month period, she met the student twice, questioning the kids for about 30 proceedingss. Children were assured of their confidentiality in order to garner honorable responses so that school can improvize on its judicial admission in the coming academic old ages. She conducted semi-structured interviews from the students, and to assist them she used a ocular prompt based on Kelly ‘s attack ( Leadbetter et al, 1999 ) . The thought she got from both interviews was related to the public presentation e.g. both the gender expressed that they stumble when they read out loud and that they do n’t wish reading in the schoolroom and maintain on spellings make them bury what to read. When the students ‘ position was asked sing the good readers, they commented that the good reader read louder and faster and that the difference between good reader and bad reader is that, the good reader makes the hapless book sound good while bad readers makes a good book sound drilling. Hence the result was that good readers have much better frequence every bit good as have much better reading. These positions of students were seen apparent even after nine months despite of the hint that their thoughts of literacy in the secondary school were developing. Few students continued to the thought that there reading is affected when they get prep and that reading is largely non the portion of their prep. Therefore the basic feeling of kids sing reading can be confusing and if concepts of kids ‘s reading are to develop helpfully so there should be a strategic program for this. Assurance is another factor act uponing the public presentation degree Fahrenheit reading, less assurance can demo apparent diminution in their reading public presentation. Persistent and on-going encouragement of students in their reading can promote their public presentation and there are staff members holding peculiar accomplishments, they can portion the same accomplishment with other staff members to assist pupil improvise. Harmonizing to Pearson ( 2003 ) , the influential function of household is besides imperative in the procedure of reading. In her interviews with kids, she found out that students appreciated transporting out reading with person they knew although this chance was non gettable all the clip. Families promoting the privation of student to hold reading spouse might assist them in come oning and therefore will get down to hold more acute involvement in reading and may purchase books of their ain involvement for their reading calling. In footings of feedback, due to the deficiency of instruments used there were no specific standards for students ‘ thought of advancement as compared to prove consequences. However, at primary instruction phase, kids are really competent to track the advancement they made by agencies of utilizing information like coloring material they are on, the groups they are working in and or the degree with which they are asked to read. Though, this sort of system was recognized to be least available at the phase of secondary school instruction. Introducing wide stairss at the secondary degree may let the kids to track and place the advancement they have made in reading efficaciously. Hence, the critical phase for schools to ease or detain students ‘ accommodation is the period of passage that includes the Year seven. Supporting the reading procedure, hiking the assurance degrees, influential function of household and the students ‘ feedback are the most effectual ingredients in developing literacy accomplishments for both primary and secondary stage of the school. Decision The scope to which instruction of reading should do the stuff appropriate to be taught has been still in the Centre of statements sing reading teaching method. There is disagreement traveling on sing the all right ways to poising work on whole texts with sub-word-level work. One manner to attach man-made phonics learning firmly in an redolent context is to straight associate it to pupil ‘s books and other complete texts. The Rose Report has by now started to hold a consecutive influence on national educational policy in the United Kingdom since harmonizing to the study, the instructors and trainee instructors should be required to learn reading through man-made phonics foremost and fast. The interviews conducted by Sue Pearson gave two factors that encouraged the schools in order to give serious consideration to the findings, foremost was the honest responses from the students since they gave positive free of vacillation response and did n’t felt forced sing their reading advancement. Second the students took engagement really earnestly. The interviews conducted gave wide scope of future considerations to schools since students shared their likes and disfavors in the reading advancement. Majority of them seem to hold better advancement in reading when they were motivated and acquiring aid from household or person they wished to read with. The information provided by the interview may play a cardinal function in the secondary school in footings of be aftering a proper focal point on the literacy and heightening student ‘s accomplishments. Hence the research of Sue Pearson consequently, discovered student ‘s aspirations, both in footings of short-run and long-run every bit far as instruction of reading is concerned and will be an on-going aid for instructors in the chance. How to cite The Systematic Phonics Case Education Essay, Essay examples

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Consumption Can Be Store The Understated †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Consumption Can Be Store The Understated? Answer: Introducation Some of the marzipan should be rolled to a ball. The ball size should be made so that it can fit within a plastic bag. Marzipan ball should be tightly rolled within freezer wrap or within a plastic bag. The surface should be covered in such a way that there should not exists any chances for air to enter within it (Boerboom and Fischer 2013). The wrapped ball of marzipan should be kept in a plastic bag, which is re-sealable. Air should be squeeze as much as possible and then the bag should be sealed. The above steps should be repeated for rest of the marzipan. The plastic bags should be put in the refrigerators for a month. Marzipans are considered to be the type of the confection that mainly consists mainly of sugar or honey with the meal of almond mainly augmented with the extract of the almond oil. It is also made into the form sweets. Some common marzipans are generally covered with chocolates or any other flavor. Few marzipans are covered with the small and different types of fruits and vegetables. It is also used in covering the birthday cakes in the form of icing in glazed conditions. The pastes of marzipan are used for making moulds of different shapes and sizes. But, in general the moulds of the animal models, egg whites are not being used for doing it. Egg whites are used in mainly used for softening the marzipans but in case of preparing the marzipan models, it needs to be hard enough so that it does not breaks off. This is the main reason; egg whites are not used in preparation of marzipan models. The four key points that should be paid attention while making marzipan animals are as follows: The side of marzipan should be covered with crme otherwise brown chocolate cake will be visible which can affect the look of marzipan animal Appropriate technique should be adapted for drying the figures of marzipan. If appropriate technique is not adapted then the marzipan animal can be injured and the look of marzipan animal cake can be hampered. Marzipan animal should be rolled for 2 to 3 mm so that the marzipan animal can maintain its shape. Detailed modelling of marzipan animal should be done. Utilisation of picks and sponge should be done for detailed modelling of marzipan (Hoban 2016). The different types of marzipan pastes are as follows: Marzipan: It is used for covering the fruit cakes and detailed modeling. The ratio of almond and sugar is 50%. Marzicover: This one of the economical product used for covering the cakes. Ratio of almond is 34% and sugar is 66%. Therefore, a sweet paste gets melts easily in mouth. Almond paste: It is used in baking as well as in chocolate products. The ratio of almond is 66% and sugar is 34%. This paste does not have a great a capability to roll out. Short crust paste: Short crust paste is crisp as well as brittle. This paste is not resilient as well as non-elastics. It is used for making savoury products. The ratio of almond is 40% and sugar is 60% (Van Gansbeke et al. 2017). The ingredients and the measurements for the preparation of the marzipan is mentioned as (Schelm et al. 2017): 1 cupfadedand ground almonds (approximately 3? ounces) almond flour is the easiest way to get this ingredient, but dried almonds can be used for grinding for the paste 2 cups confectioner (powdered) sugar (approximately 5? ounces) 1 tablespoon light corn syrup teaspoon almond extract The process of preparing marzipan can be listed as: The almond flour and the powdered sugar were shifted in a bowl and are being passed by the help of the strainer with the help of the measuring cup. A mild difference in the measurement can definitely cause difference in the taste of the marzipan. The ground almonds and sugar are being mixed together and are combined completely. The almond extract and the corn syrup are mixed and are being poured in to the dry ingredients. These entire mixtures are being mixed and are kneaded with the hand. Half tablespoon of water was added at first, then the rest of the tablespoon only if necessary, working the mixture until it becomes dough-like. A bit more water was added if necessary. The entire dough was put into the freezer and are being rolled into a smooth log. The smooth log of dough was being refrigerated for approx more than one hour. For serving, it can be cut into different shapes when required. The different types of food colors available in the market are (Attokaran 2017). These are the water-based dye and are readily available in the general stores in market. It comes in little squeeze bottles, which that allows for dripping the dye drop by drop into batters and icings. It is considered to be the less intense dye, its quiet easy for adding the color to any recipe of the food. Since it's so readily available, liquid dye is popular for tinting icings, batters and dough of marzipans. These are available in small bottles that contain a viscous, thick gel-type liquid. The texture is due to its glycerin with corn syrup base. It is quiet concentrated in liquid gel colorings and a very small amount will impart a much more bright coloration. It can make liquid gel dyes last longer. Liquid gel dyes also add less liquid to recipes, making them better suited to cakes that call for a large amount of dye. Cakes or marzipans that require very less amount of color, liquid gel dye are used, mainly in the case for the red velvet cakes and the marzipans as well. It is a very thick, super-concentrated version of liquid gel color. Where liquid gel can be dotted through a squeeze bottle, this is an extremely thick mixture. It is generally used in the marzipans in a very large scale (Zahra et al. 2015) Powdered Dye Coloring chocolates, in dry mixes or coloring the sugar crystals, powdered dyes are being used. Roses, Sunflowers Apples, Pineapples Monkeys, Dogs References Attokaran, M., 2017.Natural food flavors and colorants. John Wiley Sons. Boerboom, F.J.G. and Fischer, S., Friesland Brands BV, 2013.Chocolate with milk fat fractions. U.S. Patent Application 14/390,240. Hoban, R., 2016.The marzipan pig. New York Review of Books. Schelm, S., Haase, I., Fischer, C. and Fischer, M., 2017. Development of a Multiplex Real-Time PCR for Determination of Apricot in Marzipan Using the Plexor System.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry,65(2), pp.516-522. Van Gansbeke, B., Bny, G., De Loose, M. and Taverniers, I., 2017. A TaqMan Real-Time PCR Assay for Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) as an Authenticity Test for Detection of Traces of Persipan in Marzipan.Food Analytical Methods, pp.1-7. Zahra, N., Alim-un-Nisa, Z.F., Kalim, I. and Saeed, K., 2015. Identification of synthetic food dyes in beverages by thin layer chromatography.Pakistan Journal of Food Sciences,25(4), pp.178-181.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Impact of regional Azerbaijan

Introduction Before the trading conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia occurred due to seceding of the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia in 1988, the two countries were business partners transiting services and goods under the soviet rule. The breaking away of the region, which was a predominant Armenian ethnic expanse, was a major catalyst for conflicts that changed lives of many people within the two countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Impact of regional Azerbaijan-Armenia war on neighbouring countries and foreign policies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The support for separation by Armenia caused economic strain since this compromised foreign trade especially on Armenian’s imports from the neighbouring Azerbaijan. This paper forms an analysis of the situational crisis between Azerbaijan and neighbouring countries especially Armenia. It also forms a critical investigation of association betwee n Armenia with its neighbours in relation to Azerbaijan-Armenia conflicts. History of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict The separated Nagorno-Karabakh forces also disrupted the 1993 peace talks between the two countries. Turkey considered these as Armenian forces that caused evacuation of various ethnic groups within Azerbaijan region and declared an economic embargo in protest of the attacks. A negotiation period emerged in 1994 between the Armenia forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and an ethnic group in Azerbaijan. These negotiation talks have been maintained to date despite pressure from Azerbaijan to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh as a republic. Azerbaijan fails to recognize the self-proclaimed country but equally disproves the existence of a peace accord that would foster cooperation between the two countries. Reports from the â€Å"Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre† quoted the government statistics reports of 2008 indicating that the ethnic related violence caused internally related displacement of people who fled the war-infected regions to settle in peaceful regions of Azerbaijan (Lancer International, 2005, 8). This is a clear indication that despite the peace negotiations to resolve conflicts, people are still refugees since the 1988 chaos. Positive Effects On a positive note, the conflict between the Armenia and Azerbaijan encouraged other countries to participate in promotion and struggle for social unity as well as development. For instance, the heavy dependence of Armenia on Russian government for supplies today means that they need to maintain a strong and close relationship. Armenia also depends greatly on Russia’s services such as security provisions since collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia therefore participated in strengthening both the Armenia and Azerbaijan in their fight against soviet related forces. Various million-dollar projects were also established to strengthen the economic growth of the two countries s uch as the signing of a mining project between Armenia and Russia, where the Armenia processed precious metals from Russia.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Effects on Relationship with other neighbours Turkey formed an alliance with Azerbaijan on religious grounds and ensured heavy fortification of their eastern region, due to conflicts that related to Turkey’s national impulse of policymaking. Turkey was in support of Azerbaijan and thus opted to block the trading relations with Armenia particularly the pipeline. The early twentieth century massacres between Armenia and Azerbaijan therefore caused a bitter relationship between Turkey and Armenia particularly for the reason that Turkey did not recognize that these conflict events were campaigns meant to destroy Armenian people as claimed by their government. In 1915, the Armenian nationals were forcefully evicted from the northern side of Turkey towards south in the aim of reducing immigrants and approximated half million lives were lost in the exercise. However, Turkish administration shorn of this fact since it did not consider the act as genocide, but indicated that the eviction was a civil war that began due to Armenian attacks in which both Armenians and Turkish Muslims died. The war between the two countries eventually caused a compromise for Turkey to enter the European Union, were conditions included Turkey’s recognizing the 1915 war as genocide. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Turkey ally had a connection to the issue of control over the boundary of Nagorno-Karabakh region and caused blocking of the Turkey-Armenia border. A reopening condition was set as a peace negotiation deal between the two countries. The Secretary of U.S. state, Hillary Clinton witnessed the 2009 historical even of signing work protocols between the two countries Turkey and Armenia. The prolong ed negotiation for cooperation between the two countries ended with the establishment of a working, diplomatic relationship and reopening of the compromised border (Soni, 1996, 29). Lack of enough electric power is not that only major problem that the country suffers from due to the conflict with Azerbaijan, but food is also precious. The fact that the country is landlocked means that it depends on neighbouring states for various supplies such as oil, fuel, and for a huge percentage of the food such as wheat and sugar which emerges from other countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Impact of regional Azerbaijan-Armenia war on neighbouring countries and foreign policies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The blockade maintained by its eastern neighbour, Azerbaijan causes the country to depend on other means of transport for instance, trains with food imports from Ukraine and Russia must transverse through its no rthern neighbour, Georgia. This is a country rocked by widespread and long-term political instability such as lawlessness, which causes robbery of the foodstuffs or heavy taxing of the cargo. A political instability relating to geographical differences between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a continuous ruin of the Armenia’s coordination with other neighbouring countries such as Iran. Iran is an Islamic state, and therefore has a strong connection to the neighbouring Azerbaijan, which is a strong Muslim state as well. The strong relationship between Iran and Azerbaijan caused them to break any form of formal trade with Armenia, although currently there are some formal agreements for trade of natural gas and other scrupulous trades still occur without the consent of the authority. However, this trade remain strained. Unrests created by the poor relations between this countries causes the private as well as international investors to shun away, for instance the stalled multistate-pi peline project that would otherwise benefit majority of this countries as it transverses through them. Civil unrests by Armenia especially against the neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Georgia causes negative impacts on strategies in particular against the two involved states: Armenia and Azerbaijan. Effects on Resources The conflicts affect mostly the resources such as the pipeline, rail transport and the natural sources of energy. Armenia anticipates change but continues to wreak havoc on its neighbouring Azerbaijan state. This causes more use of natural resources and non-renewable sources of its energy. Lake Sevan, a main resource is drained since the water is used for hydroelectric generation and there are therefore some possibilities of the lake draining due to lack of alternative sources such as import supplies. According to Soni (1996, 23), the Armenian government is forced to seek alternative sources as thousands of its citizens continue to perish due to lack of food and because of excessive heat. The options that Armenian government has had to consider to improve its status have been highly objected by other international companies such as U.S. for instance the nuclear power plant. Western governments objected the reopening of the plant on the basis that it was not up to standards and remain as one of the most hazardous resources since it is located in an area that is more prone to earthquake attacks compared to other similar projects in Slovakia, Russia and Bulgaria.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Foreign Policies Azerbaijan financial embargo had major impact on food products and fuel, causing them to become more expensive in Armenia since majority of these products initially originated from Azerbaijan. â€Å"The Turkish government, through its prime minister, ‘Tayyib Erdogan’ soon made it clear that its national assembly would not authorize the signed protocol†¦ unless the Armenia withdrew from the settled territories near the Nagorno-Karabakh region†(Lancer International, 2005, 8). The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan therefore compromised the Armenian economy, since the country is a landlocked country that depends on working protocols with its neighbours. In line with the thoughts provided by World Bank and the U.S. administration (Lancer International, 2005, 8), peace would accelerate the Armenian economic growth since it would reduce the cost of transporting export and import goods in Armenia. Their easier way of trade is through Turkey, but th e conflict forces the Armenian trade to follow longer procedures through either Iran or Georgia at an estimated annual cost of approximately 100 million dollars (Lancer International, 2005, 8). Conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as with other neighbouring countries also hinder some common sustenance activities such as conservational and environmental initiatives. Although the country receives aid from world bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), various environmentalists in the country admits that the living situation often compromise their work, considering that it is almost impossible to request starving and freezing people to spare the natural resources. The environmentalists’ opposition to environmental degradation activities such as the nuclear plant operations is an abandoned fight since the desperation of the situation causes the Armenians to take the risk. Sovereign funding Today there is a great debate concerning the autonomous capital funds develo ped states as sovereign investment. These countries have to consider their investments and thus choose wisely since poor Investments often results towards the financial risks exposure especially due to the recent market crisis. Failure to secure sustainable investment from developed international states often translates to decrease of Armenian’s asset values. According to Soni (1996, 22), investment in violence infected areas require sustenance measures, for a secure, practicable and prospective economical growth. Migration There are some devastating effects of the long and unsettled Armenian-Azerbaijan conflicts, such as the devastating populating density reduction and high migration to western countries especially to United States. The conflict has attracted many immigrants into the stable states in search for better paying jobs. This is a big challenge that Armenian faces today and in future, because major analyses show that economy growth mainly relies on labour forces ma inly delivered by citizens (Soni, 1996, 20). Lack of reliability on such is evidently a huge mistake since it is a breaking entity considering that majority of the citizens face deplorable conditions, little or no human rights and little pay, they thus seek better offers elsewhere. According to Soni (1996, 21), the potential economical growth of the country may also be under threat of degradation due to scarcity of the basics requirements such as water or the environmental degradation. Culture The Muslim states and have a governance system where cultural procedures govern inheritances of political and social norms. Despite these traditional characteristics, the conflict between Armenia and its neighbours particularly the Azerbaijan has led to drastic changes over cultural outlook, styles or the living criterions. Although the system faces some setbacks over improvement, alterations in appearance are quite evident far from the traditional form of governance that existed before the co nflicts emerged. The states have experienced some dreadful transformations that bring minimal efforts of achieving higher standards of living due to unavailability of resources. There is lack of advancement in the Information Communication Technology as well, thus making the countries less marketable or economically viable. Education The widest sense of belonging indicates that country’s ability to acquire wealth requires good formal education for its citizens. A major effect of conflicts is migration and thus loss of people who have the ability to manage basic state resources or infrastructure and establish some well set-up and rooted healthy living codes. Knowledge enables citizens to establish the living standards for easy adoption to moral, economical, social, ethical and political way of working. Armenia looses a lot of acquaintance to the neighbouring and developed countries through knowledge drain as people evade unavoidable circumstances such as hunger and migrate to these countries. Education determines employment and therefore financial security. When countries are not interactive such as the case of Armenia and Azerbaijan, there is lack of adequate measures necessary for a country to face modernization or economic competition. Are citizens equipped with the requirements to combat current and future needs? Conflicts create a situation where there is little or no demand for education; the results are a status of inactivity or encumbering anti-entrepreneurial situation that are easy to conquer. Those involved are accustomed to endurance on hard work or dependent on handouts. Dignity has been lost and therefore there is lack of real and purposeful jobs compared to real situations in most countries where focus is often on education, work ethics and quality in the aim of achieving high outputs. There is equally lack of global competitiveness thus low productivity among citizens. The current trends of highly uneducated citizens especially youths and women lower efficiency. There are some clear realities regarding the future of Armenia, such as need to diversify the economy and engage the private sector as a way of generating more finances and real jobs. The country lacks vision of ensuring that its citizens acquire the role of guiding the future of the nation. This requires active practice of education to enhance economic growth of the State. Education system also ensures that citizens play the true role of democratic governance. An articulated and well-informed community shows the importance of education with the ability of promoting democratic reforms. Poor governance is a clear indication of existing challenge to ensure preparations that bring success to the global economy. Conclusion The conflict and regional war between Azerbaijan and Armenia may have triggered the emergence of various situations, for instance the June 1995’s Armenia decision to reopen the nuclear power plant built by Russia. They option is on the reason that the plan is able to cater for approximately 30% of the country’s electrical energy needs. The country is landlocked conflict with other countries such as Azerbaijan causes energy starvation The continual cold war between the two countries cripples Armenia and leads to poor trade relations with other neighbouring countries. The conflict makes Armenia to over-look the dangers involved in reopening a nuclear plant that caused major devastation especially in Yerevan (Armenian Capital) after the 1988 earthquakes. The argument was that Armenian authority were using the option as a ploy to negotiate for better trade relations with neighbours, since they would equally be venerable in case of a future earthquake attack. It could also be a coax to press for help from the neighbours to assist in negotiating for the trade block created by Azerbaijan. The real situation is that Armenian lacks electric energy and the situation has been that way ever since its self-governance ou t of the Soviet Union. Continual compromise of basic need affects the country economically. Bibliography Lancer International. (2005) Indian defence review, Volume 20. Texas, TX: Lancer International. Soni, P. (1996) Energy and environmental challenges in Central Asia and the Caucasus: windows for co-operation. Michigan, MI: Tata Energy Research Institute Publishers. This essay on Impact of regional Azerbaijan-Armenia war on neighbouring countries and foreign policies was written and submitted by user Doctor Spectrum to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer A king's esquire normally married one of the inmates of the Queen. Geoffrey Chaucer married Philippa Roet, a lady-in-waiting in the Queen’s household. Philippa left her work and both of them resided in London. Geoffrey Chaucer became a father in 1367 with his first son being born. He chose the name of Thomas. Later he had another son, whom he named Lewis. He was very ambitious and enjoyed traveling and was away quite often on diplomatic missions. This I believe would leave him very little time to spend with his children. He was made the Comptroller of Customs at Aldgate. He and Philippa settled in their Aldgate house. He did not look at this house as a place to play with his children, but a place to read his many books. As soon as he finished his daily work, he would rush home, not to rest and spend time with his kids, but to read another book. Their mother Phillipa died in 1386, leaving him to raise his two boys. This did not bring him any closer to his sons. The first love of his life was not his children or wife, it was his books. One of the closest things he did for his son Lewis was to write a book for him called The Treatise of the Astrolabe. Insofar as his influence on his writings, I believe that his traveling had the most influence on his style. He began by following the French trends in writing. After being influenced by different Italian authors, mainly Boccaccio he changed to the Italian style of writing. His visit to Florence introduced him to a totally new style of literature, which is considered to have influenced his writing to quite an extent. Geoffrey Chaucer may have been a success in his writings, but his quality of life did not seem to me to be such a big success. As he lay dying on his death bed, his only thoughts were not of his family, but of a feeling of sin against his moral ethics that he felt because of his poetry dealing with the love of man and woman.... Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the â€Å"The Canterbury Tales,† shows his views of medieval society through various characters in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† Chaucer’s expresses his views of society through characters in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† Chaucer’s views of medieval society are based on his opinions on certain people. Throughout â€Å"The Canterbury Tales† Chaucer tends to criticize or praise certain types of people over others. Generally, Chaucer highly criticizes Ecclesiastical people. For example Chaucer greatly criticizes the Pardoner by pointed out that he is a fraud. (Starting line 702 â€Å"He said he had a gobbet of the sail†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The monk is also criticized because he is part of the church but does not follow the rules of the church. On the other hand, Chaucer praises many characters in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† Chaucer generally praises people that are honest and don’t cheat or rip-off anyone. The parson and the Plowman are probably the two most highly praised characters in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† These two brothers are praised by Chaucer beca use they are honest down to earth good people. For example, (lines 475-480 â€Å"A holy-minded man†¦.teach it† and lines 528-536 â€Å"He was an honest worker†¦.the poor†). Some of the main reason that Chaucer criticizes or praises certain people over others is the effect of their actions. He feels it is worst for an ecclesiastical person to mess with ones soul and salvation than steel a good, such as grain. In â€Å"The Canterbury Tales,† Chaucer greatly shows his respect and ideas of certain types of individuals. Chaucer used a few different types of techniques and styles in his writing of â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† In order to individualize each character in such great detail Chaucer describes their physical appearance so than a reader can visualize each character to better understand them. Chaucer’s frame choice, a springtime journey to the Canter... Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer A king's esquire normally married one of the inmates of the Queen. Geoffrey Chaucer married Philippa Roet, a lady-in-waiting in the Queen’s household. Philippa left her work and both of them resided in London. Geoffrey Chaucer became a father in 1367 with his first son being born. He chose the name of Thomas. Later he had another son, whom he named Lewis. He was very ambitious and enjoyed traveling and was away quite often on diplomatic missions. This I believe would leave him very little time to spend with his children. He was made the Comptroller of Customs at Aldgate. He and Philippa settled in their Aldgate house. He did not look at this house as a place to play with his children, but a place to read his many books. As soon as he finished his daily work, he would rush home, not to rest and spend time with his kids, but to read another book. Their mother Phillipa died in 1386, leaving him to raise his two boys. This did not bring him any closer to his sons. The first love of his life was not his children or wife, it was his books. One of the closest things he did for his son Lewis was to write a book for him called The Treatise of the Astrolabe. Insofar as his influence on his writings, I believe that his traveling had the most influence on his style. He began by following the French trends in writing. After being influenced by different Italian authors, mainly Boccaccio he changed to the Italian style of writing. His visit to Florence introduced him to a totally new style of literature, which is considered to have influenced his writing to quite an extent. Geoffrey Chaucer may have been a success in his writings, but his quality of life did not seem to me to be such a big success. As he lay dying on his death bed, his only thoughts were not of his family, but of a feeling of sin against his moral ethics that he felt because of his poetry dealing with the love of man and woman.... Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer was born between the years 1340 and 1345 to John Chaucer and Agnes de Copton. He was born in London in the Chaucer’s house in Upper Thames Street (Catholic). John Chaucer had connections with the courts and helped educate Geoffrey. As Chaucer grew up, he served as a page in the house of Countess of Ulster. Afterward, he took his place in the army under the command of Prince Lionel, third son of King Edward III. While fighting the French, Chaucer was captured in Rethel and ransomed for 16 pounds. After the war ended in 1360 with the Treaty of Bretigny, Chaucer returned to England where he became the page for King Edward III. Chaucer married Philippa Roet, daughter of Sir Paon de Roet, in 1366 (www.librarius.com). Chaucer and Philippa’s first born son was Thomas, born in 1367. Thomas later became the speaker of the House of Commons. His older sister, Elizabeth, enter the Barking Abbey as a novice, with Philippa’s brother-in-law, the Duke of Gaunt, providing 50 pounds as her religious dowry. The youngest, Lewis, died while very young. Chaucer served as a valettus and later as a squire in the court of Edward III. He was â€Å"hired† on June 20, 1367 and was granted a payment of 20 marks per annum for life. During these times, he was also employed on many diplomatic missions. In 1368, he was sent to France on a diplomatic mission for the King (www.britianexpress.com). Less than a year later, he was back in France. This time he was fighting in John of Gaunt’s army. In 1372, Chaucer was sent on another diplomatic mission. This time, he was sent to Italy. His orders were to go to Genoa to establish an English port for Genoese trade and to Florence to negotiate a loan for the King. Later, he was appointed Controller of the Customs for hides, skins, and wools in the port of London. For his services, the King rewards him by granting him a pitcher of wine per day for life. Also, he is granted an a... Free Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER Geoffrey Chaucer is considered the greatest literary figure of medieval England and an outstanding writer of world literature. He made a huge contribution to all of English Literature by using English in a time when most poetry was written in Anglo-Norman or Latin. He is best known for his collection of stories written in the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer’s birth date is unsure but scholars assume he was born during the 14th century in London around 1340. No information on Chaucer’s birth can be found, most likely because of his lower social class level. Geoffrey was the son of John Chaucer, a wealthy wine merchant and his wife Agnes. The name Chaucer came from a French origin that meant â€Å"Shoemaker.† Little is known about his early years and education but his works show he could read French, Latin, and Italian. In 1356 when Chaucer came to be seventeen he became a page in the household of Prince Lionel, the third son of Kind Edward III. Then in 1359 Chaucer set off on his first military expedition to France during the Hundred Years’ War. He later got captured in war but King Edward paid his ransom. The next six or seven years is a big gap in Chaucer’s life because there are no records to be found of his activities. Scholars think that he may have worked for the king or may have spent time studying law at the Inns of Court and then married Phillippa de Roet in 1366. They had two sons together named â€Å"Little Lewis† and Thomas. Phillippa later died in 1387. Between 1367 and 1378 Chaucer went on several trips mainly to France and Italy. Some trips for diplomatic missions for the king and the others commercial missions. In 1374 he became a government official, serving as comptroller of customs for wool and leather at the port of London. He held this job for the next twelve years. He received most of his income by royal annuities and gifts given to him ...

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Genocide and crimes against humanity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Genocide and crimes against humanity - Essay Example Considering all the case studies that he uses throughout his book Eric Weitz, highlights that although each of the cases has its own ‘particularities’ yet, all ‘display some notably common features’. Eric Weitz discussion concentrates on four different genocide cases, which includes the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin, Nazi Germany, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and the final case, which is the Former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The author of this established literature applies comparative methodology to the study of genocide. In looking at the Nazis case, Weitz leaves the reader with having to accept the notion that the author concludes the chapter with avoiding the ideology of whether he places his account on an intentionalist or a functionalist perspective. Weitz cleverly manages to do this through providing a compelling narrative that balances the role of the ideology and the circumstances in that particular case. However, from reading the fourth chapt er, which details the genocide in Cambodia, the author stands at a more modern functionalist account. This is evident by the way Eric blames the French interventionism, providing few of the Khmer Rouge leaders including Pol Pot ... and states how these in particular were fortunate to be able to get the western education of which gave them the position in the communism, stating that they were born in the society that already functions like that. The author tends to rely on the race and nation to emphasize on the discussion of genocide. A Century of Genocide uses UN convention to define the term Genocide. This chapter is excellent in terms of where it covers real situation of which in turn gives the reader the ability to understand different perspectives from real situations as a appose to only write what happened without using real life characters or situations. The author successfully manages to apprehend the reader on continuing to read through using quotations from other historian s, political actors, eyewitnesses and the use of poems. Unfortunately the author fails on many accounts on making his overall book of a first authors’ establishment, he misses the opportunity on expanding the alternative methodologies of research and rather heavily concentrates on the secondary research. Thus, making ‘A Century of Genocide’ provide very little new evidence or self-interpretation of the genocide events. Having to lack in his primary research the author misses out other crucial genocide regimes including the Rwanda case. Weitz acknowledges in his introduction that throughout his 5 chapters he presents very limited primary research. Critical bibliography 2: Benjamin A. Valentino, Final Solutions: Mass Killings and Genocide in the 20th Century. – Modern intentionalist Benjamin A., Valentino an associate Professor of Government and an author of Final Solutions: Mass killings and Genocide in the 20th Century, discusses in his well-established bo ok, the different genocide regimes that occurred during the 20th century, focusing on three types of mass killings, including the communist mass killings, ethnic genocide and the â€Å"counter-guerrilla† mass killing. Valentino, focuses on particular case studies representing each type of genocide, highlighting the mass killing in Cambodia, China and the

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Path and Culture expectations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Path and Culture expectations - Essay Example Despite the fact that women take part in law enforcement, the American law enforcement can be regarded as male dominated, in relation to gender make up. The American system of law enforcement tends to have more men than women. This emanates from some of the traditionally held beliefs, which assert that men should take jobs in security forces while women should be involved in other jobs where they do not compromise their lives (Scarborough & Collins, 2002). Within the law enforcement, there tends to be varying perceptions, reception, as well as treatment of women. In some cases, women law enforcers may not be respected, but rather treated unfairly by their male counterparts. For example, sexual harassment is a common phenomenon in law enforcement, especially when women are subordinate to men; men may violate the rights of women (Scarborough & Collins, 2002). Rookies may face immense challenges when they try to fit together with senior and old police officers. Rookies are always perceived as juniors and senior officers usually allocate them menial duties, as well as exercise excessive authorities over them (Cole et. al., 2013). Humility is a key virtue in law enforcement; in order to be accepted in the culture of law enforcement, rookies have to portray humility while dealing with their seniors. Rookies are not immediately accepted, and they have to be humble to the older officers. Humility is a quality that plays a crucial role in enhancing leadership skills in law enforcement (Cole et. al.,

Monday, January 27, 2020

A Remote Desktop Application For Android

A Remote Desktop Application For Android The aim of this project is to develop a simple-to-use remote desktop application which enables users to remote view contents of their desktop and view, create, edit and delete files and folders remotely. The application runs on a portable device (such as a cell-phone or tablet) which fully supports the Android mobile platform and is equipped with features like WiFi, touchscreen, document editor etc. An important goal of this endeavour is to keep the application user-friendly and easy-to-use. The application uses the same protocol as Microsoft Windows for file sharing. Thus, implementing and using the application in a domain environment where each user has access to specific files and folders makes sense. This also enables true mobility and control over the user-account in a university or office setting. In conclusion, the application works perfectly when the target remote machine is in the same network as the mobile device. For accessing a domain share, the device needs to be connected to the domain via VPN (Virtual Private Network). The application is expected to work in the same fashion with a VPN like it does over an actual network. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation In computing, the term remote desktop refers to software or an operating system characteristic which allows applications, often including graphical applications, to be run remotely on a server while being displayed locally (1). In practise, the term remote desktop has a very broad meaning which could pertain to any of the specific uses of this feature. Also, each implementation of programs that enable remote access is different as the services provided by each of them vary. Applications of remote desktop are numerous and depend on the setting in which it is used. An important use is in the domain environment where a central server machine (or group of servers) controls all the other clients that are connected to it. In such a situation, certain programs which need a lot of resources are run on the server and are accessed by the client computers via remote sharing. This approach eliminates the need for multiple licenses or expensive client machines. Network administrators can also use remote desktop to maintain and when required, troubleshoot a remote client machine. This reduces the need for a large number of technical support staff (2). Remote desktop also serves as a handy utility for the end-user. It allows an employee to work from home by making available the same set of software and settings which are provided at office. A student can access all their important files and documents stored at the university computer without being physically present anywhere near the campus. A novice user can get help with installation of particular software remotely from an expert (3). To use remote desktop, one needs specialised software. Though there are a plethora of remote desktop clients available for the desktop on all major operating systems, the options for mobile platforms are quite scarce. This is majorly due to a variety of operating systems in use and restricted resources available in mobile devices. In addition to it, the few usable solutions are either quite expensive or are no longer supported. This prompted me to take up the challenge of developing a practical, easy-to-use remote desktop application for the ultra-portable platform which needs no technical know-how to setup and run. Chapter 2 Literature Survey 2.1 The Android Platform Today, there exist a number of operating platforms for mobile devices. A majority of them are proprietary and are adopted by a handful of device manufacturers. Thus, developing for such platforms would provide little in way of commercial value to the application. Also, it will be available to only a small section of smartphone users. Porting the app to other mobile platforms is also not an alternative as this would require drastic changes in its code which would require additional man hours. An exception to the above mentioned problem is the Android platform for mobile devices. Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware  [1]  and key applications (4). Android was originated by a group of companies known as the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google. Today, many more companies which involve cellular service providers, OEMs and developers have invested in Android and have adopted it for their products (5). As can be seen from the following figure, the architecture of the platform is no different from traditional PC architectures. Figure 1: The Android Architecture (Source: Wikimedia Commons) The lowest layer of the architecture consists of the Linux kernel which has all the drivers needed to communicate with the hardware. This layer is also called the Hardware abstraction layer. The layer above it has android core libraries written in C/C++. It also has the Dalvik virtual Machine which provides inter-process abstraction. On top of the libraries is the API  [2]  layer which enables component re-use and better application design. The topmost layer has all core applications which ship with the OS. An important attribute of the Android platform is that it is open-source. Thus, its source code is freely available which enables developers to use readily available APIs for developing robust applications quickly. Also, as the system requirements of Android are quite less, it is suitable for mid-range to ultra-high-end devices. As a result, Android can be seen in mobile phones, e-readers, PDAs and even netbooks (6). There is also an active developers community for Android which provides support via e-mail and web forums. Thus, it is not hard to see why Android provides an ideal platform for application development. Figure 2: A typical home-screen for Android devices (Source: developers.android.com) The screenshot above shows a home screen of an android device. This device is a mobile phone and thus has applications such as contacts, phone and messaging on the home screen. A variety of tablet computers, electronic book readers and netbook computers also use android and have icons relevant apps on the home screen. The white bar on the top is the notification bar which works the same way as the notification area in Microsoft windows. It displays battery level, signal strength, time and current network connection. 2.2 Android Application basics Applications for the android platform are written in the JAVA programming language. For deploying an application to a device, the java code is first compiled and then bundled into an android package which is in the .apk format. The latter operation is done by the Android Asset Packaging Tool or aapt. In Android, every application runs in its own Linux process. Android starts the process when any of the applications code needs to be executed, and shuts down the process when its no longer needed and system resources are required by other applications. Each process has its own virtual machine (VM), so application code runs in isolation from the code of all other applications. No other application is aware about the existence of the other. By default, each application is assigned a unique Linux user ID. Permissions are set so that the applications files are visible only to that user and only to the application itself. 2.3 Application components A unique feature of the android platform is that each application can use a feature provided by some other application without having to actually implement it. This encourages code-reuse and saves precious man hours spent in development. Unlike applications on most other systems, Android applications dont have a single entry point for everything in the application (no main() function, for example). Rather, they have essential components that the system can instantiate and run as needed. There are four types of components: 2.3.1 Activities An activity is a visual representation for any task that application intends to fulfil. For example, an activity could be a list of images in a gallery, a menu with settings for the user or a phonebook with contacts. An activity can spawn another activity whenever an event occurs. In the phonebook activity, when a user clicks on a contact, another activity is created which allows the user to either call or send a text message to that contact. Each activity has a view associated with it. This view provides visual elements such as text fields, buttons, checkboxes etc. These elements might have some listeners associated with them which trigger an action when interacted with. 2.3.2 Services A service might not be visible to a user but it runs indefinitely in the background and could be used by an activity. For example, a service might play background music as the user attends to other matters, or it might fetch data over the network or calculate something and provide the result to activities that need it. A prime example is a media player playing songs from a play list. The player application would probably have one or more activities that allow the user to choose songs and start playing them. However, the music playback itself would not be handled by an activity because users will expect the music to keep playing even after they leave the player and begin something different. To keep the music going, the media player activity could start a service to run in the background. The system would then keep the music playback service running even after the activity that started it leaves the screen. Like activities and the other components, services run in the main thread of the application process. So that they wont block other components or the user interface, they often spawn another thread for time-consuming tasks (like music playback). 2.3.4 Broadcast receivers A broadcast receiver is a component that does nothing but receives and reacts to broadcast announcements. These announcements can be anything that are meant to inform user about occurrence of an event such as email arrival, low battery indication, change of track in the music player and so on. Applications can also initiate broadcasts for example, to let other applications know that some data has been downloaded to the device and is available for them to use. An application can have any number of broadcast receivers to respond to any announcements it considers important. Broadcast receivers do not display a user interface. However, they may start an activity in response to the information they receive, or they may use the Notification Manager to alert the user. Notifications can get the users attention in various ways flashing the backlight, vibrating the device, playing a sound, and so on. They typically place a persistent icon in the status bar, which users can open to get the message. 2.3.5 Content providers A content provider makes a specific set of the applications data available to other applications. They basically provide for interprocess communication. The content provider extends the ContentProvider base class to implement a standard set of methods that enable other applications to retrieve and store data of the type it controls. However, applications do not call these methods directly. Rather they use a ContentResolver object and call its methods instead. A ContentResolver can talk to any content provider to manage communication with processes. Whenever theres a request that should be handled by a particular component, Android makes sure that the application process of the component is running, starting it if necessary, and that an appropriate instance of the component is available, creating the instance if it is necessary. 2.4 A typical Android project directory structure Figure 1 shows the directory structure of an android project named filegetter. Here, the first folder src holds the java source files for the project. These files contain actual java code which is written by the developers. In this case, the source files are held in a package named hardik.test.browse. The package helps to keep the source files together allowing easy access to data and variable within the project. Figure 3: Directory structure of an Android project The next folder is gen which consists of auto generated java files. These files are generated when the project is build/compiled. Information about variables, strings and layouts are stored in these files. Android 1.6 is the build of the android platform against which the application is being created. This is important as each build has some special classes which may not be present in an earlier one. Referenced Libraries consists of list of all third party or external libraries used for our project. In our case, it will consist of the JCIFS library (explained later). The assests folder in generally unused and it may hold required files if needed. The res folder has drawable, layout and values subfolders. Drawable consists of icons and other graphical elements of the application and is divided into three subfolders according to resolution of target device. The layout folder holds .xml layout files which decide elements like button, text box, list etc. for the application. The values folder is used for providing id for different components of the application. The AndroidManifest.xml is an important element of an android project. In this file, all the activities and services of the application are described. Other elements such as application permissions for the application are also described. Finally, the default.properties file has an entry for the build of target devices for which the application is being developed. 2.5 Android in the Market According to a May report by market research group NDP, the Android operating system performed quite well in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems. NPDs wireless market research reveals that based on unit sales to consumers last quarter the Android operating system moved into second position at 28% behind Research In Motions Blackberry OS (36%) and ahead of Apples OS (21%) (7). These figures indicate a rise in popularity in the android platform. Also a large range of available handsets means that consumers will be able to choose according to their needs and budgets. This increase in market share also means that more developers will be willing to develop for Android making it a competitive, mainstream product. 2.6 Remote Desktop Implementation Currently, there exist a variety of applications for PC which use either proprietary or generic/open-source protocols for remote desktop implementation. All of these applications are based on the server-client model where the server side of the software operates on the target machine and the client application is run on the remote host. Either of the machines may function as client or server provided both of them are equipped with required software. Figure 4: Implementation of a traditional client-server model (Source: acm.org) Various protocols can be used for remote access. Each of these provides a specific set of functionalities that may be common to another protocol or unique to that particular protocol. Listed below are some of the protocols used for remote access and file sharing. These are widely used in several desktop clients in the market today. 2.6.1 RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) It is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides remote display and input capabilities over network connections for windows-based applications running on a server (8). The RDP is encapsulated within the TCP layer and uses separate virtual channels for carrying data, licensing information, encrypted information and so on. All versions of windows after windows XP support Remote Desktop via RDP. But only the professional and ultimate versions come with the Remote Desktop Server program which enables a user to share their screen (9). 2.6.2 RFB (Remote Framebuffer) Protocol RFB is a simple protocol for remote access to graphical user interfaces. Because it works at the framebuffer level it is applicable to all windowing systems and applications, including Linux, Windows and Macintosh. It is primarily used by the VNC (Virtual Network Computing) software and its derivatives. By default, it uses TCP port 5900 for the client and port 5500 for the server (10). 2.6.3 SMB (Server Message Block) The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol which allows a client application in a network to read and write files on and request services from the server on the same network. The SMB protocol requires a secure and encrypted authentication method and is thus more secure than other file sharing methods. Microsoft provides an SMB client and server with its Windows operating system. For Linux based systems, a utility called Samba is freely available for using the protocol (11). Chapter 3 Design One of the major hurdles faced in designing a remote access client is to decide upon the protocol to be used. Out of the available ones mentioned before, the RDP and SMB protocols allow screen-capturing of the remote machine onto the client device. This allows the user to interact with the desktop in real-time. Both these protocols have been implemented successfully in a variety of programs for all three popular (Windows, Mac OS and Linux) desktop platforms. Upon deciding the project, the intent was to use one of these protocols for the application. But the following difficulties were experienced during the development phase. 3.1 RDP and RFB Implementation issues 3.1.1 Absence of library classes While implementing either RDP or RFB, one can use the Robot class present in Java which can mimic the mouse, simulate keyboard interactions and capture the screen of a remote host over the network (12). This class is unfortunately absent in android and thus cannot be used. This makes it difficult to perform the above mentioned functions in android as no alternative classes exist. Current RFB and RDP implementations on Android have made use of similar projects on the desktop environment by forking  [3]  the source code from these projects. These existing projects use external libraries without proper documentation and at times are written in a non-java programming language. Thus, comprehending the original code and then forking it would take a lot more time than the projects duration. 3.1.2 Need for server side installation Both the protocols (RFB and RDP) required a server side program running on the target machine. This program is bundled with server editions of most operating systems but require purchase on all other editions. Also, there may be compatibility issues if the server is running a RDP implementation and the device has a client using the RFB protocol. This will result into failed communication between the server and the client. Due to the aforementioned issues, remote access will be implemented by using the SMB protocol. 3.2 Benefits of the SMB protocol An enhanced version of the SMB called CIFS  [4]  (Common Internet File Sharing) has been in place since Windows 2000 and it provides a host of features when compared to other such protocols (13). 3.2.1 Greater accessibility The SMB protocol for resource sharing has been used by Microsoft for their operating systems since Windows 95. In a domain environment, SMB is used to provide access to relevant resources to every user. In Linux too, a free utility called Samba which uses the SMB protocol, comes with most distributions. Thus, out-of-box functionality can be provided to any client requiring remote access. 3.2.2 Added security CIFS provides flexibility to allow anonymous transfers as well as secure, authenticated access to resources. Policies can also be easily managed and changed whenever required 3.2.3 Support for slow connection Access to shared resources and transfer of resources is also supported on slower connections. Thus, using a 3G or EDGE connection from a device will not be an issue while accessing remote files. 3.2.4 Performance and scalability CIFS servers are highly integrated with the operating system. Thus they function as part of the OS and not third party programs. This guarantees maximum system performance at all times (13). 3.3 SMB Authentication Method Authentication over SMB occurs mainly through the NTLM (NT Lan Manager) that works on systems using windows and on Linux/Unix distributions via the Samba server (14). NTLM is a challenge-response authentication protocol which uses three messages to authenticate a client in a connection oriented environment, and a fourth additional message if integrity is desired (15). The following figure shows exchange of messages between the client and server during authentication. Figure 5: Message sequence to authenticate an SMB session As seen in the above figure, the client negotiates protocol-specific options using the SMB_COM_NEGOTIATE request and the server replies with similar response messages as shown by (1) and (2) respectively. The client then sends an SMB_COM_SESSION_SETUP_ANDX request message. In cases where NTLM authentication is negotiated, within this message an NTLMNEGOTIATE_MESSAGE is embedded. The server responds with an SMB_COM_SESSION_SETUP_ANDX response message within which an NTLM CHALLENGE_MESSAGE is embedded. The message includes an 8-byte random number, called a challenge that the server generates and sends in the ServerChallenge field of the message. The client then extracts the ServerChallenge field from the NTLM CHALLENGE_MESSAGE and sends an NTLM AUTHENTICATE_MESSAGE to the server (embedded in an SMB_COM_SESSION_SETUP_ANDX request message). If the challenge and the response prove that the client knows the users password, the authentication succeeds and the clients security context is now established on the server. To acknowledge this, the server sends a success message embedded in an SMB_COM_SESSION_SETUP_ANDX response message. 3.4 SMB Packet Exchange The following lists an example of a packet exchange between a client and a server via the SMB protocol (16). The client and the server establish a NetBIOS  [5]  connection. The client and server negotiate the Microsoft SMB Protocol dialect. The client logs on to the server. The client connects to a share on the server. The client opens a file on the share. The client reads from the file The connection being full-duplex, file transfer can occur from both ends. Chapter 4 Implementation 4.1 Flowchart In any application, the flow diagram is an important figure that helps one visualize the interactions a user might have with the application and the possible outcomes of these interactions. Figure 6: Flowchart 4.2 UML Use Case diagram Use cases are used to identify and partition system functionality. They separate the system into actors and use cases. Actors represent roles that can are played by users of the system. Those users can be humans, other computers, pieces of hardware, or even other software systems. The only criterion is that they must be external to the part of the system being partitioned into use cases. These actors can interact with the system in a variety of ways which create various outputs. The outputs may be for the users or for other components of the system. Figure 7: Use cases The figure above shows a users interaction with the application. The user can access the Remote resources provided they are logged in to the remote share. Similarly, they can download a file to the local resources only if the file is present in the remote share. Chapter 5 Results 5.1 Experimental Setup For evaluating the results, the application was used on an android handset with Android platform version 2.2. The remote server was a laptop running windows 7. Files and folders were shared using the SMB protocol with mandatory authentication to all shared resources. The target machine and the mobile device were both connected to the same wireless network. 5.2 Application Screenshots Figure 8: On Start-up As seen above, the user is presented with a tabbed view with local file system selected. Different icons are used for various datatypes. Figure 9: Local Photo folder Seen above is the photo folder located on the memory card of the device. The two green arrows on the top represent up and back buttons which are used for navigation. Figure 10: Login screen Login screen on clicking the Remote tab. Figure 11: Unsuccessful login (pop-up appears) Figure 12: Remote download Downloading remote file to memory card on click. Figure 13: Operations on remote file Bibliography 1. Remote Desktop Software. Wikipedia. [Online] [Cited: 25 June 2010.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_desktop_software. 2. Remote desktop. TopBits Tech Community. [Online] [Cited: 25 June 2010.] http://www.topbits.com/remote-desktop.html. 3. 5 Best Remote Desktop and administration application. TechieZone. [Online] [Cited: 25 June 2010.] http://techiezone.in/reviews/5-best-remote-desktop-and-administration-application/. 4. About the Android Open Source Project. Android. [Online] [Cited: 26 June 2010.] http://source.android.com/about/index.html. 5. Philosophy and Goals. Android. [Online] [Cited: 26 June 2010.] http://source.android.com/about/philosophy.html. 6. List of Android Devices. Wikipedia. [Online] [Cited: 26 July 2010.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices. 7. Android shakes up U.S. smartphone market. NDP. [Online] [Cited: 7 July 2010.] http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100510.html. 8. MSDN Remote Desktop Protocol. MSDN. [Online] [Cited: 4 July 2010.] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383015.aspx. 9. Understanding the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Microsoft Support. [Online] [Cited: 5 July 2010.] http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q186607. 10. Richardson, Tristan. The RFB Protocol Version 3.8 (2009-11-24). RealVNC. [Online] [Cited: 10 July 2010.] http://www.realvnc.com/docs/rfbproto.pdf. 11. Server Message Block Protocol. Search Networking. [Online] [Cited: 25 July 2010.] http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci214214,00.html. 12. Java Remote Desktop Administration. The Code Project. [Online] [Cited: 21 July 2010.] http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/RemoteAdminJava.aspx. 13. CIFS. Protocol Base. [Online] [Cited: 20 July 2010.] http://www.protocolbase.net/protocols/protocol_CIFS.php. 14. Integrating additional services. Samba.org. [Online] [Cited: 2 August 2010.] http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-Guide/DomApps.html. 15. Microsoft NTLM. MSDN (Microsoft Developers Network). [Online] [Cited: 5 August 2010.] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa378749(VS.85).aspx. 16. Microsoft SMB protocol packet exchange scenario. Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN). [Online] [Cited: 10 August 2010.] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365236(v=VS.85).aspx.