The Time Is Ticking Away: an Analysis of “the Tell-Tale Heart”

The Time is Ticking Away: An Analysis of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† People in society today are no different from those of previous generations in that they have always possessed basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety that have carried on, and are clearly evident throughout history. In the 18th century, Edgar Allen Poe, a major author of the time based one of his more famous works on those basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† takes a normal human being that anyone can relate to, and shows just how dark and corrupt the human mind can act under certain everyday circumstances.Poe reveals the process the human mind goes through when put under stress and the fear of being discovered, the reader is able to relate and put them self in the same position, Culminating with the narrator breaking down, afflicted by the basic principles, showing the reader just what the human mind is capable of doing. Poe starts his story with the narr ator talking to himself, justifying that he’s not insane, and that the story he’s about to tell you is completely rational. Much like you and I, the narrator lives a normal life with all the issues of stress and annoyances present.One annoyance the narrator has to deal with is the eye of the old man he lives with; the eye bothers him so much and slowly eats away at him, until eventually it causes him to take action. The narrator finally can’t take it anymore and stands outside the old mans room door waiting for several days for the perfect time to strike in order to rid his mind of the odious eye. Poe paints an image in our heads as we read this example in the text that the narrator is very meticulous. In order to show this throughout the story, Poe uses several literary devices.Often within the story, Poe uses a grouping of small sentences that create a rhythm like that of a heartbeat. â€Å"Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. H e had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this. † In Charles E. Mays article, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart: Overview,† he explains, To understand the ingenious way Poe develops this story about a split in the self, one must examine the nature of the narrator's obsession.He insists that he loves the old man, has no personal animosity toward him, does not want his money, and has not been injured by him. Instead, he says he wishes to kill the old man because of his eye. By showing that the narrator is so precise and over thinks just about everything, Poe unravels how the narrator is insane, but thinks of himself as a rational human being. Poe constantly alludes to a major ideal of the story, which is time. As the narrator becomes close to finally killing the old man and being discovered, time is constantly emphasized and very evident.At first, the narrator is cool, calm, and collective, but slowly a fter he has done the deed paranoia kicks in and a sense of false security and the fear of being revealed. Although there is no way to understand this kind of motivation except to declare the narrator mad, the reader must try to determine the method and meaning of the madness. For Poe, there is no such thing as meaningless madness in fiction. As the tension and anxiety pick up in the story, Poe asks us to put ourselves in that situation and feel the pressure and paranoia the narrator is going through due to his actions.The narrator struggles so much with what he has done and if he is going to be discovered, he hides the body of the old man so meticulously that no one should be able to find it and ever know what has taken place. As the narrators paranoia sets in that is one of the basic principle’s evident in every human being the narrator starts to question himself and whether or not he did a good enough job at hiding the body that he eventually breaks down. â€Å"They heard! — they suspected! — they KNEW! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony!Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! — and now — again — hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! — â€Å"Villains! † I shrieked, â€Å"dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart† (Poe). Within each of us are the basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety, Poe wanted to show us that by giving a prime example of someone just like you or I that you can relate to and witness the effects one goes through under each principle.Poe might have gained this dark outlook due to all the neglect he had from his family, and all the substance abuse he went through to try and cope with all his pr oblems and step away from reality. He wanted to show exactly what people are capable of and what they do under the affects of fear, anxiety, and paranoia in order to prove that being insane is really a matter of opinion based on personal experiences and events rather than a textbox example. Poe faced his own fear about madness daily throughout his life.At a very young age he was orphaned, and his foster parents rarely saw him. He was scared of change and rarely did anything that wasn’t second nature to him. Constantly plagued by stressful events in his life such as closely related deaths, Poe lived a very miserable depressing life that eventually attributed to his demise. In almost every piece he produced there is a character that can be related to him and the difficulties he has to go through. Even after Poe’s death his form of writing lives on along with his ideals, which we encounter and relate to on a daily basis.

The Glass Menagerie Essay

â€Å"Choose a play in which a central character behaves in an obsessive manner. Describe the nature of the character’s obsessive behaviour and discuss the influence this behaviour has on your understanding of the character in the play as a whole.† â€Å"The Glass Menagerie† is a play written by Tennessee Williams. The play is semi-autobiographical, told from the point of view of the writer. It is a memory play set in the home the Wingfield family. The play is about a young man, Tom, who lives with his mother, Amanda and his sister, Laura. The play explores the various struggles of each individual during the great depression. The characters all have their flaws and motives which help us to understand them and sympathise or agree with them. All the characters in the play behave in some sort of obsessive manner; however, Amanda behaves most strongly this way. Amanda Wingfield is one of the main characters and plays a great role in the readers understanding of the play as a whole. She behaves in a very obsessive manner throughout the play and this creates conflict between the other characters. In Scene one, we are introduced to Amanda’s obsessive and controlling behaviour. As Tom eats at the dinner table, Amanda continuously pesters him, telling him how to eat his food. â€Å"Don’t push with your fingers. If you have to push something, the thing to push with is the crust of bread†¦So chew your food and give your salivary glands a chance to function!† Amanda treats Tom like a child which frustrates him. He is very short tempered and easily irritated by Amanda’s over controlling and obsessive personality. She also obsesses over Toms bad habits, proclaiming that; â€Å"you smoke too much.† Amanda is constantly complaining about Tom and criticising him, this is due to her infatuation and constant desire for perfection in all aspects of her life. She is like this as she cares for them but does not realise that she is smothering her children. In Scene three, Amanda has a heated argument with Tom. This is instigated by  Amanda’s act of throwing out Toms books. She exclaims that she â€Å"took that horrible novel back to the library.† This angers Tom and he vents all his frustration on her controlling nature and the sense of entrapment as a consequence of this. Amanda is also very controlling over Toms actions as she gets suspicious of what he gets up to at night. This emphasises the lack of freedom that Tom feels due to her behaviour and it creates tension and arguments between them. Tom feels the need to escape but Amanda is obsessed with the fact duty and responsibility comes first. Amanda is worried about her children and feels that it is her responsibility to monitor their actions at all times, however she fails to realise the effect this has on them. Amanda also obsesses over Laura in Scene three; â€Å"Laura began to play a more and more important part in Mother’s calculations. It became an obsession†¦ the image of the gentleman caller haunted our small apartment.† She is preoccupied with finding Laura a gentleman caller as she feels that this would be best for the family. Laura, being disabled, puts financial strain upon the family. If Amanda was able to procure a gentleman caller for her, this would ensure a better quality of living for her and the family. Amanda constantly tells Laura to expect many gentlemen callers and decides to ignore her disability. She tells Laura to â€Å"stay fresh and pretty for gentleman callers.† Amanda’s insensitivity in this matter crushes Laura’s confidence. In Scene six, on hearing the news of the arrival of the potential gentleman, Amanda â€Å"has worked like a Turk in preparation.† This implies her obsession with appearance and impressing Jim. She deceives people into making them think that they are a wealthy family – despite the fact they are not rich. She attempts to make a lasting impression on Jim in the hope that he may be their saviour from poverty. Amanda is doing this for the benefit of both herself and her family. Whilst trying to secure a suitor for Laura, Amanda often reminisces about her own past. She is still living in the past and speaks of it often – so often that Tom and Laura can already foresee what is coming next. â€Å"Tom: I know what’s coming. Laura: Yes. But let her tell it†¦ She loves to tell it.† She often talks of her â€Å"seventeen gentlemen callers.† Amanda is self obsessed and narcissistic, implying that she judges a woman’s worth by the amount of attention she receives – further causing Laura to feel insecure about herself. Amanda is vain and egotistical and obsesses over her appearance. In Scene two she is described as wearing â€Å"cheap or imitation velvety-looking cloth coats with imitation fur collar.† She cares very much for her appearance and she takes pride in it. Her clothes show that she is still living in her own past yet now is only a faded southern bell. Amanda is used to attention and in Scene seven, she makes sure to dress attractively, despite the fact that it is supposed to be Laura’s night. Amanda â€Å"wears a girlish frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash†¦ the legend of her youth is nearly revived.† The occasion of Jim the potential gentleman caller, reminds her of her own past, in which she had countless gentleman callers. Not only does Amanda obsess over her own appearance but also the appearance of her children. Before Jim arrives, in Scene six; â€Å"Amanda produces two powder puffs which she wraps in handkerchiefs and stuffs in Laura’s bosom.† This highlights the recurring theme of appearance versus reality, which is evident in many of Amanda’s actions. She is so engrossed in her actions, she I willing to deceive people in order to get what she feels she needs. She obsesses over many things in Scene seven, for example, she insists that Laura open the door to Jim and Tom and is insensitive to Laura’s anxieties and insecurities. However Amanda is only doing this due to the fact that Jim acts as a beacon of hope for them all and she is eager for the evening to be a success. In conclusion, Amanda is deeply flawed throughout in regards to her obsessive and over controlling manner. Due to her behaviour, she eventually drives Tom away. However, she only means well in her actions. She is critical of her children because she feels she knows what is best for them. Her obsessive nature influences the readers understanding of her character in the play as a whole. It helps the reader understand Amanda’s and her children’s  struggles, hopes and fears.

Population Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Population - Assignment Example Given the economic position of the country and other development as observed in the opening of the Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony, these facilities are attractive to the young population that will create a strong foundation for the future of the nation. The population shift in Russia is highly due to the poor standards of living. As a result, the mortality rate for the males is high leading to a need for an immediate intervention. Unfortunately, the ban policy adopted by the government has more adverse impacts than advantages. As observed, the number of children adopted by American couples is high thus reducing children-related expenses for the administration (Herszenhorn and Eckholm n.p). With the current poverty and health care status, more children are likely to suffer from malnourishment and diseases increasing infant mortality beyond its present rate. Consequently, the future demography of the country will constrain the government, as dependent ratio will be very high. Herszenhorn, David  M., and Erik, Eckholm. "The New York Times." Putin Signs Bill That Bars U.S. Adoptions, Upending Families. The New York Times,  2012. Web. 24  Mar.  2015.

Text messaging to personal conversation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Text messaging to personal conversation - Essay Example Obviously, it does make an ample difference to get in touch in a conservative manner of having to appoint time to see the other party over the modern option of considering a couple of key punches to transmit message of intent for quick access to info in return no matter how considerable the distance on both ends could get. Why indeed would a side of growing population opt for the habit of text messaging more than conversing on a personal level? Based upon experience, it is often observed that text messaging to some extent creates the equivalent of getting one to be in two dimensions at the same time. Besides saving time of travel and efforts associated with it on seeing someone in person, one could be spared of the hassle of being confronted with awkward issues the person may feel reluctant to readily address. Since plain texts are all that an individual receives on one side, he might find it very likely to give benefit of the doubt to the other whose picture of the situation is only perceived in part. The texting party also gains the advantage of editing text content according to the impression he would like his textmate to have or adjust with. So he is likewise able to free himself of regrets at erring with certain words he would later suppose should have been held back or given further thought. On considering the personal mode of communication when two persons gather in a setting instead of necessitating to confine dialogues within standardized communication protocols, it becomes conducive to exchange ideas. With personal conversation, there comes ease of comprehending details because people are involved with depth and sense of continuity as they instantly track stimuli which to respond to from each one. Whether a response is appropriate or favorable may be detected through the person’s manner of talking, tone, facial expressions, and other gestures from which to completely interpret utterances and behavior

Journal Article Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Journal Article Review - Essay Example This indicates that she is well qualified in the academic field which is the subject of this paper, and has experience of living and working in the United States, This is an empirical study which explores how editors of online news perceive their role, especially in terms of an assumed â€Å"gatekeeper† (p. 265) function which entails sifting the available information and packaging it for readers. It considers in particular the question of how editors view the democratizing impact of the internet, which allows anyone and everyone to publish news-related material, and whether this has influenced the way that editors perceive their role. An extensive literature is conducted, covering such themes as the difficulty of defining interactivity in online news offerings and the concept of an active audience which is enabled to co-construct the news that is published. The case of politicians is cited as an example of informed users turning the potential of the internet towards traditional purposes, such as â€Å"to exercise message control† (p. 267) rather than to develop new ones which utilize all the capabilities of the internet. There are three research questions, exploring 1) what editors affiliated with newspaper-affiliated Websites saw as their goals and their major achievements covering the 2004 political campaign; 2) the extent to which these editors relinquished their gatekeeping role by allowing users to provide or personalize content and 3) whether these editors had changed their views since the year 2000. The methodology aims to replicate the data and sampling techniques of an earlier 2000 study, using a purposive sample which is suitable for especially informative cases (p. 269). An email survey using both open and closed questions was circulated, resulting in forty seven replies, which equates to a response rate of 61 per cent (p. 269). Both

Literature Review on two topics (2000 words) Essay

Literature Review on two topics (2000 words) - Essay Example Therefore, this literature review discusses approaches pertaining to risks assessments in projects. Numerous scholars have examined various methods of assessing risks in projects. As such, the topic of methods of risk assessment is well presented. The authors selected by this study present imperative publication that can help one explain the subject of risk assessment comprehensively. Risk virtually refers to the possibility of loss, disadvantage, destruction or injury that may accompany a project. Risk assessment entails identifying a qualitative and quantitative cost of risks associated with the situation. The quantitative aspect examines the magnitude of the probable loss and the chances that the risk will occur. Risk assessment should be an evolving and learning practice, capable of adjusting to novel and dynamic demands of the project. According to McManus (2004), an ideal risk management plan should employ tactical procedures, methodologies and tools effective for predicting all probable risks accurately. Ideally, studies argue that the risk management refers to a concept of identifying risk, examining the risk and outline policies or approaches for lightening the risk. Ammar, Kayis and Amornsawadwatana (2012) state that risk assessments approach should involve analyzing the experiences of successful projects and engaging reliable professionals and analysts in the field. Methods of analyzing risks vary with the industries and the purpose of the assessment. An analysis may have a financial purpose, environmental or healthy impacts purpose. Studies have identified numerous methods of assessing risks. Risk assessment methods can be grouped into three broad categories: the qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative (McManus 2004, p. 23). According to Wysocki (2012), qualitative assessments enable one to identify assents of priority and classify one that demands simple and rapid evaluation. The method is applicable often in situations

Establish the purpose and usefulness of a professional portfolio Assignment

Establish the purpose and usefulness of a professional portfolio. Establish the components of your professional portfolio - Assignment Example The most challenging steps in the four-step job process are the preparation and planning stages (Ferrett, 2002). These are considered challenging because it requires discerning one’s professional goals and a determination of genuine interests in a wide range of employment opportunities. Likewise, one’s strengths and even weaknesses have to be accurately assessed, acknowledged and addressed prior to confirming application in intended fields of endeavor. On the other hand, under the planning stage, it would initially be difficult to create one’s schedule of activities and incorporate them in current and future plans. As emphasized, the implementation of this step requires commitment and determination; especially in creating schedules of interviews, following up applications, returning and responding to call or correspondences, as required. Villanova University. (n.d.). The Professional Portfolio: A Guide for Preparing the Final Product. Retrieved from homepage.villanova.edu:

Gear Smartwatch - Features, challenges, and Vulnerability Research Paper

Gear Smartwatch - Features, challenges, and Vulnerability - Research Paper Example It uses technique of sophisticated processing in order to find solutions of various sophisticated tasks just by using this small watch. Additionally, the feature of voice memos were also build in Gear smart watch, through a built-in speaker, that enables the owner to even answer the calls just by using their wrist and operate the gadget via voice commands. Additionally, it was a full-color work with the platform of Android sized in the fashion of an old calculator watch. Correspondingly, it runs the application, which was developed by Samsung as well as the third-party partners. During the year 2014 company replaced the Gear operating system with Tizen (Brewis, 2014). Gear was not able to withstand the expectation of the user and the security side of Gear with high confidentiality in term of exchanging the data Smartphone due to the issue of vulnerability. The most obvious reason of vulnerability issue in the gadget was due to its feature of typical ‘companion gadget’, which is worthless without the Smartphone as it has to be connected via Bluetooth. The people who turned up for the Gear will be likely to experience the features of Smartphone messaging, Personal Information Manager (PIM) and other apps just in the wrist. Correspondingly, in the current scenario the smart watch only works with the help of Samsungs Note Smartphone, the Note 3. With the help of Gear smart watch wireless communication can only be possible through using the Bluetooth connectivity feature, which led to risk of unauthorized uses. Moreover, the major issue with this device is related to its security and misuse of the various applications. With the growing ad vancement in the technology hacker are able to track the pitfall of the device very easily through finding the various vulnerabilities and utilize them in order to extract the information of the users, along with they can also utilize the

Gross Domestic Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gross Domestic Product - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that a comparison of $40,000 earned in 1980 and 2010 can be made by first finding the number of times the consumer price index has decreased or increased from 1980 to 2010. In 1980 and 2010 the consumer price indexes were 82.4 and 236.74 respectively. The percent increase in the inflation rate from 1980 to 2010 was 187%. The average consumer price index went up 1.87 times between 1980 and 2010. The increases in CPIs show that the available products in 2010 were more expensive that they were in 1980. Concerning quality, some of the products have increased quality from 1980 to 2010 because of technological advancement. Good examples are electronics and cars that were more energy efficient in 2010 than they were in 1980.  As the study highlights  a person would be wealthier if he/she earned $ 40,000 in 1980 than making the same amount in 2010. The purchasing power in 1980 was greater than purchasing power in 2010. So, the person would buy more products or assets in 1980 than in 2010. One would choose to live 1980 because prices of products were less expensive than in 2010. If an individual were to determine which year he would have liked to live, the most appropriate and practical answer would be 1980. A person earning $40,000 in 1980 would live more comfortably that another individual who is receiving the same amount in 2010 because products were cheaper in 1980 than in 2010.

Personal Computer and Dell Essay Example for Free

Personal Computer and Dell Essay Synopsis: In 1984 Dell Inc. was founded by University of Texas freshmen, Michael Dell. Dell would buy computers from the excess inventory of local retailers and revamp them to sell out of his trunk. Dell was able to sell his computers at 10%-15% below retail price. After Dell’s freshmen year he dropped out to run his business full time. By 1995 Dell had sales of nearly $3. 5 billion and was one of the top five PC vendors in the world. Dell focused on customer support and service and became the master of process engineering and supply chain management. Dell has faced many challenges including distribution through US retail stores, management changes, and keeping up with its competitors. Since consumers aren’t willing to pay huge amounts of money for computers unless they were unique, Dell is at a crossroads. Which road Dell chooses to follow will determine its future. Resources: Dell Inc. ’s most valuable resource has been Michael Dell and its ability to sell computers at 10-15% below market value. Another huge resource is the executive team that Dell formed for guidance. Capabilities: Dell’s capability at producing products at a lower cost to its consumers is key. By adding services such as laptops, software/peripherals, servers/networking, services, and storage Dell expanded its capabilities. With the added services Dell can keep pace with its competitors. Core Competencies: Dell’s core competencies are the ability to offer quality products at cheaper prices, personalized orders, and the ability to keep their inventory relatively low. These competencies have helped Dell become a leader in the computer industry. Finding of Fact: Dell is currently at a crossroads; the company’s margins aren’t in a favorable position for the company. In 2010 yes their net income rose, but was still only 2. 91% of net revenue. Dell’s consumers are no longer willing to pay top dollar for a computer, unless it was unique. Competitors are selling laptops for around $300. Tablets have pushed Dell’s laptop sales down as well. Many more competitors have stepped into the industry since Dell first was founded. Dell also spends about 1% of its sales on research and development, while other companies spend about 5%. Justified Recommendation: Dell should invest more of its money into research and development for its products. Technology is constantly changing and for Dell to stay ahead or at least at the same pace, research and development is a must. I’m not saying Dell needs to go out and hire some new employees for this team. Dell could use members from each of its sections to help brainstorm and come up with new and innovative ideas. Innovative employees are invaluable to a company. Dell’s management should perform environmental scanning both internally and externally to find Dells SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Once SWOT is determined management could strategically figure out how to move forward. Environmental scanning shouldn’t be done just when a company finds it has â€Å"hit a bump in the road†, but periodically to keep the company innovative and make sure it is on the correct path. Dell should also perform an industry analysis. This analysis will review potential entrants, buyers, substitutes, suppliers, other stakeholders, and competitors. By completing the analysis a company can determine the high and low forces against the company. The low forces could be turned into a possible opportunity or based on the analysis results, the company could switch strategies.

Auditor Liability: History, Changes and the Enron Case

Auditor Liability: History, Changes and the Enron Case Audits are carried out to ascertain the validity and reliability of the companys information especially financial information and provide an assessment on the effectiveness of the internal control system. Auditors are responsible to express appropriate audit opinion on the financial statements so as to give a true and fair view of the companys financial position based on the audit evidence they obtained throughout the audit procedures performed. Although auditors need not purposely design audit procedures to detect fraud, they are required to disclose the fraud that they have identified immediately. Recently, audit liability has become an international issue that attracts the concern of practitioners and academicians alike. Auditors liability is the possible legal obligation of an auditor for breach of contract or negligence. Auditors liability can be derived from contract law where auditor is bound by the contract or engagement letter and auditors liability is based on breach of contract; common law where the auditors liability concept is based on auditors negligence, gross negligence or fraud that are developed through court decisions; or statutory law where liability is developed through state statutes or Federal securities laws. An auditor can be held liable for breach of contract, negligence, gross negligence or fraud. Breach of contract will cause the auditor to be liable to their clients while negligence, gross negligence or fraud will lead to the auditors liability towards clients and also third parties. 2.0 The Evolution of Auditors Liability This report will basically discuss on the trend of auditor liability to third parties in United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) as the liability pressure in these two countries is predominantly intense. The trend of auditor liability to clients will not be discussed in this report as it does not change much. This is because the auditors liability to clients occurs only when there is breach of contract, i.e. when the auditor fails to meet the requirements that were established in the contract or normally in the engagement letter. Prior to 1970s, claims against auditors were relatively rare although the issue of auditors liability to clients and certain third parties has always been there. Nowadays, the number of lawsuits against auditors and public accounting firm have increase in the countries such as US, Canada, UK and Australia. Hence, the auditing profession faces litigation crisis and needs to spend a lot of time and costs defending against the lawsuits. The increase in litigation has brought about some negative effects. For instance, the litigation cost and cost of professional liability insurance of an audit firm has increased which will affect the ability and going concern of the audit firm, and increasing number of capable and experienced accountants leaving the profession which may lead to the issue of lack of accounting professionals in future. Unless action is taken, the future of auditing is under threat; this is clearly not in the publics interest (Ward, G., 1999). As there are many negative effects from the litigation, many researches have been done and proposed that the auditor liabilitys scope should be limited to reduce the litigation risk of an audit firm. The most common suggestions include replacing of joint and several liabilities with proportionate liability, capping of auditor liability to a particular limit and so forth. The scope of auditors liability is expected to be limited in future if the suggestions have been implemented. According to Pacini, C., Hillison, W. Sinason, D. (2000), the trend of the legal liability of auditor to third parties has emerged towards a narrower scope. 2.1 United Kingdom (UK) The issue of auditor liability in UK can be determined at the national level where the decision that binds on all the courts in the country is made at the highest national court. Before 1964, it is relatively difficult for a third party to sue an auditor for negligent misstatements. However, the situation has change in 1964 due the case of Hedley Byrne Co. vs Heller Partners Ltd. (1964). After Hedley Byrne case, there was an apparent trend in the expanding of the scope of duty of auditor to third parties. The case of Hedley Byrne generally provides certain tests that must be satisfied for extending the auditors duty of care to third parties: (1) the auditor must aware that the financial statements are to be used for a particular purpose, (2) a known party was intended to rely on financial statements for that purpose, and (3) there must have been some conduct on the part of the auditor linking him to that party, which indicates the auditors understanding of that partys reliance (Messier, W. F., 2007). This case has brought about the concept of reliance where the auditor will be liable if they had been negligent in conducting audit and the third party had relied on the financial statements audited by them. For auditor to be liable to third parties, it must be reasonable for a third party to place reliance on the auditors report and that the auditors were alert that the person would rely on the report. Next, the case of JEB Fasteners Ltd. vs Marks Bloom Co. (1981) and Twomax Ltd. and Goode vs Dickson, McFarlane Robinson (1982) had emphasize on the concept of foreseeability which seems to lead to the view of unlimited auditor liability. The auditors should be able to anticipate that third party will use the audited financial statement as a guideline in decision making process. Both cases had resulted in the growing number of third parties which have a legal right to sue auditor for negligence. In other word, auditors liability to third parties has increased. According to Pacini, C., Hillison, W. Sinason, D. (2000), the widening area of auditor liability to third parties was virtually reversed by the decision of the House of Lords in the Caparo Industries plc. vs Dickman Others (1990) case. From Caparo case, it was held that three necessary tests must be done in order to determine whether a duty of care by auditor can be imposed. First, the foreseeability of the occurrence of damages due to the misstatement must exist. Secondly, a relationship of proximity must exist between auditor and the suing party. Lastly, it must be just and reasonable to put into effect the duty of care on the one party for the benefit of the other. Auditor will only be liable to the third parties if these three criteria have been fulfilled. Since Caparo case, several cases involving alleged auditors negligence have occurred and the UK courts continued to limit the auditors liability to third party. In a nutshell, the Caparo decision has lessened the scope of auditor liability to third parties for negligent misstatements and cutting back the trend of extending the auditor liability to the unlimited class of investing public. 2.2 United States (US) In US, the issue of auditors liability is determined by the state courts or state legislatures separately where different judicial reasoning are applied in different jurisdictions which results in various rules of law in different states. Four different legal standards have evolved in different states of US to judge the auditor liability to third parties which include privity rule, near privity standard, restatement standard and lastly reasonable foreseeability standard. Different states will adopt different standard which will lead to a different result. Until the mid 1980s, the trend of the auditors liability in US still reflected a tendency toward widen scope of auditor liability to third parties. 1986 is the turning point of auditors liability in the US when Illinois passed an accountant privity statute and since then a trend has emerged toward a more narrow scope of duty to third parties (Pacini, C., Hillison, W. Sinason, D, 2000). 2.3 Summary As a conclusion, the evidence supports a trend towards limiting auditor liability to third-party in both UK and US. 3.0 Current Status of Auditors Liability 3.1 Public Perspective Fraud detection The extend of auditors liability largely depends on the responsible that is borne by a particular auditor. However, the liability pressures enforced to auditor has been increasing in several countries. The current public perspective is that auditors are no longer merely responsible to provide true and fair view on financial statement, but also responsible of detecting fraud on the company operation (Reffett.A,2010). Auditors negligence may as a result cause them to get involved in legal suits. A research has shown that the legal environment in five main countries, which include United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and USA, has examined the legal climate in relative to the auditors liability because third parties in those countries are filling lawsuit against auditors negligent misrepresentation in the financial statement. Therefore, current legal framework is trying to narrow down the liability of auditors to reduce their litigation risk (Reffett.A ,2010). In addition to that, auditor is now currently refusing to accept high risk client audit engagement and increase the cost for professional liability insurance so as to reduce their liability. That is because they need to protect their professions. Otherwise, auditors liability will become gradually heavier as if they will be sued when they failed to detect fraud. Yet, should auditor free from their negligence on the financial statement as their scope of responsibilities are mainly not detecting fraud? (Hassink. H, Meuwissen.R, Bollen.L ,2010). To clarify that, some researches have been done. Research has shown that there is certain level of fraud that can be detected by auditors. Therefore, if auditor fails to detect certain level of fraud, he is said to be liable for negligence. There are a certain standard which has been set to determine auditors liability. Those are the level of evidence for the type of fraud cases to be detected by auditors; determine whether auditors have complied with auditing standards regarding fraud to the impact on various context variables that has been detected by auditors. Another issue raised is that whether or not auditors who are able to collect more fraud evidence are considered to be doing the right things. The answers are still in question and it is really based on judgments from the public (Pacini.C , Hillison.W , Sinason.D ,2000). Because of that, expectation gap somehow exist while carrying out the audit work. 3.2 Lender Perspective Interjecting themselves into decision making of a company Auditor is responsible of expressing opinion on the going concern position of client. If auditor fails to express the opinion, auditor will be liable for negligence. However, in fact, auditors are expressing opinion based on the sufficient information provided by the accountants. However, if auditors express an opinion on the existence of the company for the next twelve months, auditors get involved into decision making process of a company (Pacini.C , Hillison.W , Sinason.D , 2000). These responsibilities should be borne by accountants of that company. That is because the time frame provided by auditor to access the going concern of a company will be too short. Therefore, the opinion provided may not be correct. Yet, as the issue of going concern for a company is important for users, especially lenders and suppliers, they may file lawsuit against auditors due to auditors negligence. 3.3 Legal Perspective Judges have bias in making evaluation on auditors decisions Auditors will often make their professional judgment while making decisions. Yet, sometimes, they may fail to foresee anticipated financial problems or any fraudulent act of the client. However, judges has become bias for evaluating the decision made and liability borne by auditors, especially after the failure of Arthur Anderson in discovering that its client has significantly understated the amount of obsolete inventory (Anderson. J.C, Jennings. M.M, Lowe.D.J, Reckers.M.J , 1997). By law, auditor will be liable for their negligence as if they do not exercise due care while conducting an audit. However, when judges tend to believe that auditors purposely breach its professions and professional requirement, they may make wrong judgments while determining the liability of auditor. To reduce the auditors liability, accounting profession has enacted the audit standards to expand auditors responsibilities to reduce the number of audit failures. However, these efforts will not help a lot as if they are done alone. Most importantly, we have to debias the judges in their decision making process. There are lots of methods that have been used to debias or to reduce the judgment errors. That is because judges play important roles in controlling important element of the trial. For example, there are some specific methods designed for judges to determine the liability borne by auditors. Therefore, a correct judgment can be reached. However, in reality, judges do not really believe in due diligence of auditor because of the increase in number of corporate scandals in recent years. Despite the bias view by judges, UK government has talk on contributory negligence to reduce the liability against negligent auditors. In addition to that, US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act enabled auditors to have negotiation on proportional liability so as to protect auditors from their liability towards shareholders. However, the enforcement of those acts seems to be the main reason behind US audit failures. It is claimed that auditors are given substantial protection. That is because the situation has made the investor has no way to sue parties like law and accounting firm which may get involved in fraudulent activities (Anderson. J.C, Jennings. M.M, Lowe.D.J, Reckers.M.J , 1997). 3.4 Shareholder Perspective Auditor needs to give absolute opinion rather than reasonable opinion on financial statements To reduce the power of manipulation of directors, auditors are indirectly becoming the agent appointed by shareholders to be independent parties of company and directors. Yet, shareholders at the same time doubt the independent of the auditors while they carry out their audit work. That is because they do not know the extent of the auditors honesty and integrity (Sikka.P, Filling.S, Pik Liew, 2009). However, as shareholders are constrained by lots of liability arrangement which can safeguard auditors professions, shareholders hold on to the opinion that auditors hold the responsibility to discover any irregularities in the company and any inconsistency raised. Therefore, auditor holds a responsibility that they have to be able to assess the effectiveness of the internal control inside the corporation, supported with relative substantive procedures within a short audit period. After carrying out all the audit work, it is the responsibility of auditor to reach to an accurate conclusion, especially those concerning financial difficulties and going concern of the clients company. Auditors are liable for shareholders in respect of the truthfulness of the presentation of financial statement. Their liability is going to be heavier because of the increase of complexity of the accounting environment and practices (Sikka.P, Filling.S, Pik Liew ,2009). 3.5 Summary As a whole, it is still a question whether less liability for auditors in certain areas will encourage more accurate financial statement. These are still challenges ahead for the auditor, especially facing legal suits filed by third parties due to misrepresentation of financial statement. 4.0 Relevance of the Topic 4.1 Enron Case Summary of the Case During the 1990s, Enron is a relatively small domestic Texan energy company. Then, Enron become one of the largest US corporations with a selection of international energy trading and utility operations. Enron has a strong profits grew and its market value has reached $70 billion (Accountancy as cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). However, concerns relating to Enrons profitability and the major share sales by senior executives have driven a slow but continual decline in share prices in August 2000. In October 2001, US stock market was shocked by the announcement of Enron about the accounting adjustments leading to a significant loss for its third quarter of $618 million and a decrease in its reported net asset value of around $1.2 billion. (BusinessWeek cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). At the following weeks, the aggressive earnings management practices by hiding large scale losses and liabilities on off balance sheet was revealed. The senior executives of Enron had created about 3500 off balance sheet partnerships (Special Purpose Entities (SPEs)) (Sloan cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). Enron filed for Chapter 11 within 2 months. It has become the largest corporation to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $55 billion estimates of outstanding liabilities. Many official inquiries into Enron where started after the company was collapsed (McLean cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). Auditor of Enron Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen, one of the Big Five global auditing firms, was auditor of Enron. In January 2002 allegation surfaced that, Andersen had shattered most of its working papers with Enron when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated the investigations into accounting practices at Enron (The Business cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). Further investigations disclosed that Andersen had played a key role in developing the aggressive earnings management techniques executed by Enron. Andersen was exposed to conflicts of interest because it made more fees in 2000 from selling consulting services to Enron ($27 million) than it did from auditing the Enrons accounts ($25 million) (McLean cited in Unerman ODwyer, 2004). Many clients of Anderson were switched to other big auditing firms because they lost faith in Andersen after these revelations. Andersen was collapsed due to this withdrawal of trust. As a result, there are only Big Four global auditing firms after Enron case. SOX and its impact on Auditors Liability Sarbenes-Oxley Act (SOX) was enacted after the collapse of Enron. A lot of major developments in auditors liability have arisen in US as a result of SOX. The main purpose of SOX is to increase the transparency of financial reporting by improving corporate disclosure and governance practices and to encourage an ethical climate (Toda McCarty as cited in Chung, Farrar, Poonam Thorne, 2010). Auditors liability to third parties has increased because SOX specifies the scope of third parties to whom an auditor owes a duty of care, and requires accounting firm to issue additional financial reports, add disclosure in financial reports or issue new reports about themselves (Chung et al., 2010). Since third parties could rely on this new information which is not previously required when making investment or credit decisions, it increases auditors liability to third parties. In addition, SOX has higher penalties for violations of it as compared to previous legislation. This amendment increases significantly the legal liability of auditors practicing in US. International Reactions after Enron Case In response to SOX, many countries all over the world for example Canada, U.K.., Australia and New Zealand have enacted their legislation. New oversight bodies have been created in U.S. and Canada (Chung et al., 2010). Moreover, the legislation in U.K. and Australia has been modified, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in New Zealand has issued corporate governance guidelines (Chung et al., 2010). The quick actions taken by countries are to fulfill shareholders demand after numerous failures on trying to increase the auditors liability to third parties. Malaysian Reactions after Enron Case In Malaysia, Malaysian regulators have constructed a more organized and disciplined financial reporting structure to ensure compliance and provide more confidence to the public (MIA Editorial Team, 2002). Hence, Malaysias auditor liability has increased in post-Enron era. Nevertheless, numerous fraud events were discovered in local companies such as Transmile, Megan Media and the Port Klang Free Zone in recent years. Thus, then-Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declared the need to set up an audit oversight mechanism to control and administer the financial reporting of the Public Interest Entity (PIE) in his Budget Speech 2008. In year 2010, Parliament of Malaysia has approved the Securities Commission (Amendment) Act 2010 which gives the permission to set up the Audit Oversight Board (AOB). The AOBs mission is to oversee the auditors of PIE and protect investors interest by promoting confidence in the quality and reliability of their audited financial statement (Gomes, 2010). Moreover, AOB will ensure that Malaysian regulatory framework for auditors are in line with international practices. The establishment of AOB virtually increases auditors liability. 5.0 Own Opinions Regarding the Issue of Auditors Liability 5.1 Impacts of Increased Auditors Liability Article entitled Scope of Auditors Liability, Audit Quality, and Capital Investment mentioned that the accounting profession has been facing increasing number of third-party lawsuits since 1960s. Lawsuits against auditors have resulted in direct financial effects as well as other non-financial effects to the profession and society. Audit firms are experiencing increased costs to settle lawsuits which include the management time and insurance premiums. Moreover, audit firms have suffered negative impact on reputation due to the negative publicity arising from litigation. Also, from the article entitled Auditor liability to third parties: an international focus, it is claimed that the increase in litigation for auditors has led to some detrimental effects. One of the effects is accounting firms now have became more persistent in rejecting the engagement with clients that are viewed to possess high-litigation-risk. Besides that, theres a decrease in the availability and increase in the cost for professional liability insurance. Eventually, many of the experienced accountants gradually depart from the profession. In addition, Bialkin and Cooper (1986) warned that the trend of expanding the scope of auditors liability to third parties will result in a fall in the quality level as well as the scope of services provided by the profession. 5.2 The Need to Minimize Auditors Liability Therefore, theres a need to minimize auditors legal liability. We need to minimize the legal liability of auditors because if the legal liability of auditors continues to rise without any control enforced, the profession might face a severe lack of experienced people in the profession. Accountants and auditors will start quitting the field fearing that they might be the next to face litigation due to negligence. This will eventually results in a chaos in the corporate world when the day where no competent auditors are available to audit the financial statements arrived. In order to minimize auditors legal liability, steps have been taken by the professionals and by individual firms. 5.3 Ways to Minimize Auditors Liability A special committee was formed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in the late 1985 in order to develop a legislative program for liability reform. The program focuses to limit the scope of auditors liability to third parties by retaining the privity standard. Privity approach, Restatement approach, Foreseeability approach Derek K. Chan (2002) concluded in his paper that from an efficiency approach, the privity approach is the best approach to confine an independent auditors work if compared to Restatement approach and foreseeability approach. This is because privity approach provides the firm a credible mechanism where the firm can identify lenders into two groups within its own discretion 1. Lenders who are eligible to recover their losses from the auditors; 2. Lender who are excluded from recovering their damages from the auditors. Restatement approach provides less flexibility for the firm to decide which lenders are eligible, hence expands auditors liability. The foreseeability approach offers no flexibility at all to the firm as this approach broadens auditors liability to include foreseeable third parties who will rely on the audited financial statements. In our opinion, the privity approach is in fact the best approach thus far in order to limit auditors liability. Furthermore, in order to minimize auditors liability, auditors should be setting proper audit plans and perform the best audit strategy. They should follow closely every audit guidelines provided, and never cross over the forbidden lines. 5.4 The Need to Impose Litigations on Auditors Generally, auditors nowadays are quick to issue standard unqualified opinion on financial statements due to the legal protection system. Moreover, although litigations are imposed to auditors, due to the limited liability, auditors are continuing with their tendency to issue the standard unqualified report. Example of legal protection system According to the article entitled Auditors liability-no need to detect fraud, the author concluded that fraudster is not supposed to sue his auditors for failing to detect his fraud. Applying ex turpi causa non oritur actio, if one is engaged in illegal activity, one cannot sue another for damages that arose out of that illegal activity. In the case Moore Stephens (a firm) v. Stone Rolls Ltd. (in liquidation) [2009] UKHL 39, the House of Lords has decided that the illegality defense still applies. In other words, it is determined that Stone Rolls Ltd could not rely on its own illegal acts to claim for damages from its auditor. However, in our opinion, this principle ex turpi causa non oritur actio cannot universally pardon auditors of a duty to detect fraud nor to totally protect them from any litigation. Auditors should undergo a fair trial and be judged reasonably if they were found guilty of conspiracy in the fraud case. Additionally, co-operation between auditors and directors increase the tendency of auditors to issue the standard unqualified opinion. Modifications and adjustments are made for the benefits of management and auditors at the expense of shareholders. As a result, apart from the effort to minimize the auditors liability, in our opinion, theres still a need to impose appropriate legal actions on auditors who are involved in fraud cases because this is the right thing to do in order to maintain the fairness in the corporate world as well as to place emphasis on the importance of ethics and integrity in the profession. 5.5 Conclusion Suggestions Therefore, from our groups perspective, the current condition of auditors liability indicates an imperative need to strike a balance between imposing litigation on auditors who commit fraud or who fail to comply with the approved auditing standards and minimizing auditors legal liability at the same time. In addition, auditors should be well aware of their real masters which are the shareholders. They should get on the job and reveal the fraudsters if any were found. Auditors should be carrying the burden of being accountable for pensioners and investors lost funds. Our group believes that it is time to strike a change in the auditing industry. Auditors should chuck away their old habits and ensure that figures are appropriately presented. Moreover, auditors who had committed fraud should be blacklisted. Audit firms should be brave to accept blames and consequences whenever any fraud is found due to negligence of auditors. Last but not least, we should encourage perfect market competition in this industry. More auditing firms should rise and its time to stop large firms oligopolistic position. 6.0 Conclusion Increased auditors liability poses an advantage for the shareholders and other third parties who use the audited financial statements. This is because with more auditors liability, auditors will tend to be more cautious in their works. They will place emphasis on the importance of conducting appropriate audit procedures and to disclose any discrepancy found. Besides that, they will abide by the law and follow the auditing standards closely in order to avoid any unnecessary litigation. However, as discussed, it is proven that an increase in the auditors liability brought a lot of negative impact on the auditing and accounting profession. People started to response in ways that will protect themselves such as quitting the job or reject high risk audit engagement. Hence, its still an issue as whether less liability or more liability for auditors in certain areas will encourage more accurate and better assurance in the audited financial statements. Why Do the Same Notes Sound Different in Instruments? Why Do the Same Notes Sound Different in Instruments? Why do instruments sound different despite playing t/he same notes? When we listen to music, we are exposed to various different instruments. Choice of instrumentation is one of the main factors that contribute to the overall feeling of a song. Even though major and minor chords and scales can be played across most instruments, the instrument that is chosen to play the note plays a large part in what the musician wants to express. For instance, a double bass playing an E may come across as serious, but a flute playing the same note may come across as cheerful. I aim to investigate why such is the case. Across all instruments, notes are produced by creating standing wave, which will be discussed below. It is these standing waves that cause the air surrounding the object to vibrate, causing a sound wave to spread out. The main factor that causes different sounds in an instrument is the harmonic frequencies and overtones that an instrument outputs on notes, with other factors such as material affecting this factor. A vibrating string does not produce a single frequency, but a mixture of fundamental frequencies and overtones. Say that that an A note is being played on a violin string. If just the fundamental harmonic is heard, it would sound dull. It would also sound similar to other instruments playing the same note in the same pitch, provided only the fundamental frequency is being heard. However, when the string is bowed, multiple harmonic frequencies are produced at the same time. You cannot necessarily hear each harmonic note being played, as all these harmonics blend in to produce the overall sound you are hearing. This image shows the harmonic frequencies, also known as the harmonic scale, that are involved when an A note is played on a violin. These are found by stopping the vibrating string at certain intervals. Pythagoras noticed this when he stopped a vibrating string halfway along its length, which brought the pitch to an octave higher. He did this every half interval of the previous half interval, and found that the pitch consistently became an octave higher. He also found that when the string was stopped a third way through, an octave and a fifth was produced, which also produced increasing pitches in octave intervals. To examine the formula relating the wavelengths, we need to understand how waves are formed on a string. A standing wave is produced when a driver transfers energy to the medium. Energy is transferred down the string, and as it is trapped between two points, reflects of one end and superimposes with waves coming in the opposite direction. However, standing waves6 do not occur at any frequency. Only at specific frequencies do standing waves occur. When transferring energy to the medium at the right frequency, the fundamental frequency is produced. In the case of a violin, the bow that bows the string is the driver, and the string is the medium. Let L be the length of the string, and ÃŽ » be the length of the wave. Let F be the frequency, and velocity of the string be V. As velocity is constant, and v = F ÃŽ », F is inversely proportional to ÃŽ ». At the fundamental frequency5, ÃŽ »0 = (2/1)L and F0 = (v/ ÃŽ »0) , as depicted in this image http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~coursedev/Online%20tutorials/Waves.htm As the string is stopped at certain intervals, as Pythagoras did, nodes and antinodes are produced. This is a result of constructive and destructive interference occurring, nodes being points of displacement where destructive interference occurs, due to a Ï€ phase difference, and antinodes being where constructive interference occurs, due to a 2Ï€ phase difference, as shown in this image. http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~coursedev/Online%20tutorials/Waves.htm This causes ÃŽ »1 = (2/2) L, F1 = (v/ ÃŽ »1) Considering the fact that the first harmonic causes a relation of ÃŽ »0 =2L, we can see from this image that the wavelength has halved. When the string is stopped a third of the length through, such an image occurs. This produces ÃŽ »2 = (2/3)L, F2 = (v/ ÃŽ »2). The pattern is consistent for the fourth, fifth, sixth and so on harmonic. From here a formula can be formed relating the wavelength of the harmonic to the length of the string. For the first harmonic, ÃŽ »0 = (2/1)L and F0 = (v/ ÃŽ »0). In the second, the denominator of coefficient of L increases by one, whilst F varies according to the wave being produced, in the relationship of Fn ∠ (1/ ÃŽ »n), and the same thing occurs for the third harmonic. So, for the nth harmonic, n being a natural number, this formula shows what the wavelength will be; ÃŽ »n =(2/n)L. As discussed, previously, a note produced on an instrument creates various harmonics. Therefore, by taking the sum of the amplitudes of each harmonic, we can find the shape of the wave produced when a note is played. This is depicted below. 2 A fundamental note of, say, 100 Hz 2 A second harmonic of, say, 200 Hz 2 Adding both waves together produces the resultant patterns above. Just from this very simple example above, we can already visually see how mixtures of harmonics and overtones create interesting waves. From this we can see that different instruments harmonic scales must have different properties. The various harmonics on each instrument do not necessarily have the same strength. For instance, a clarinet is strong in the odd numbered harmonics, but weaker in the even numbered harmonics, whilst a flute is stronger the other way round. 1 As a real life example, this graph shows all the frequencies that are produced when a violinist bows a D note, at 294 Hz. http://www.nagyvaryviolins.com/tonequality.html From close inspection we can see that the first harmonic occurs at around 300Hz. The second harmonic occurs around 600Hz, and the next harmonic at around 900Hz. This fits in with the relationship of Fn ∠ (1/ ÃŽ »n). In each harmonic step, the wavelength decreases, but the frequency increases which is the case above. From the first to second harmonic the wavelength goes from 2L to L, which is a decrease of scale factor  ½. Yet the frequency has increase by a scale factor of 2, which fits the relationship. This graph shows the frequencies produced when a vocalist produces the same note, at the same frequency. http://www.nagyvaryviolins.com/tonequality.html You can see by comparison that there are similarities in the shape of each graph, but with subtle differences. Although the harmonics occur in the same pattern as above, their peaks are slightly different, and at frequencies beyond 5000 Hz the frequencies outputted by the vocalist have a much lower dB than the violin. Therefore we can conclude that the harmonic scales, as shown on the first page, must vary for each instrument. The various harmonics1 on each instrument do not necessarily have the same strength. For instance, a clarinet is strong in the odd numbered harmonics, but weaker in the even numbered harmonics, whilst a flute is stronger the other way round. However, even the same instruments have certain characteristics that distinguish them from other instruments in the same category. For example, a Gibson Les Paul, a type of guitar, produces a much heavier tone than a Fender Stratocaster, and you can even tell the difference between a cheap Les Paul and a custom shop Les Paul if you listen closely. This is down to the materials used to create the instrument, and the dimensions chosen. This is explained below, using the example of a violin. The belly and back plates of a violins4 body are designed to easily resonate. To identify these frequencies, the Authors of this page mechanically drove isolated violin bellies. The force applied is the driving force, and to see the frequency response an accelerometer was used. The acceleration was then monitored, enabling them to plot the ratio of force to acceleration against frequency. Chlandi patterns7 were then used to identify which frequencies the plates resonated at most easily. Chlandi patterns are symmetrical patterns formed when a standing wave is formed on the plate. To see these patterns, granules of sand are placed on the plate, much like iron fillings are used to show the magnetic field of a magnet. The most important frequencies patterns were placed on the graph below. We can see that the resonant frequency is 163Hz as it is forms the most symmetrical pattern, and is the first symmetrical pattern to occur. Resonant frequency is found using the formula6 F = 1/2Ï€ sqrt (k/m), where K is the spring constant and m is the mass. Therefore the closer the frequency is to this frequency, the closer it is to the resonant frequency. Therefore k and m vary according to dimensions and materials used, the resonant frequency varies between instruments, even of the same make. Gibson Les Paul guitars3 are made from mahogany, a dense wood, whilst Fender Stratocaster guitars are made from either ash or alder wood. These types of wood are lighter and less dense than mahogany, which results in the brighter tone Fender Stratocasters are known for, and the heavier and darker tone Gibson Les Pauls are known for. It is the way that the wood responds to the vibrations that travel through it when a note is played that causes this. As discussed above, the body of a violin has certain frequencies it resonates best at. It can be applied here, and can be deduced that the denser material does not pronounce higher frequencies with the same clarity as the less dense material, therefore causing this difference in tone. To conclude, it seems that the main factor that affects the quality of a note produced on an instrument is the harmonics that an instrument produces. The fundamental frequency and harmonics that are expressed the most depends on the dimensions of the instrument and the materials. Even in the cases of the same instrument they can sound different depending on the skill of the maker. It is fascinating to realise that the reason why there are so many instruments in the world and why we are able to experience all these different sounds and feelings are essentially down to the physics of standing waves and resonance. Sources: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terence.dwyer/The%20Harmonic%20Series%20Explained.pdf http://www.phys.uconn.edu/~gibson/Notes/Section4_2/Sec4_2.htm http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-gibson-and-fender/ http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/violintro.html http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/Lesson-4/Fundamental-Frequency-and-Harmonics Adams S. and Allday J., Advanced Physics, Oxford, Oxford University press, pg http://skullsinthestars.com/2013/05/02/physics-demonstrations-chladni-patterns/

security terminology :: essays research papers

Security   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Terminology Define the following terms: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Authentication – ability to identify who it is a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ACL – (access control list) is associated w/ a given resource. Describes groups, users, machines and their permissions associated with that particular resource. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Token- one time only password key b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CA- certificate of authority- creates certificates -system or entity trusted to generate and distribute digital certificates. Can be privately used or from a 3rd party e-commerce site. Verifies identity of user. Authentication method. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RA- Registration Authority-issues certificates-RA verifies credentials supplied by an agent and then sends the CA an okay to issue a certificate. d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PKI- Public Key Infrastructure- Policies and behaviors that surround the deployment and management of key pairs. How you issue two keys at one time. e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kerberos- Authentication method used by Microsoft. Uses 3 different protocols, listed below   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TGT- Ticket granting ticket. Allows you to request resources on the network from servers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TGS- Ticket granting server. Accesses a particular network server for tickets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  iii. AS- Authentication Server. Equivalent to a morning check-in at security desk of a hotel. Checks the identity of a server. f.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CHAP- Challenge handshake authentication protocol. Was designed to replace the PAP. Communication between server and client proving identity. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MS-CHAP- Microsoft CHAP g.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PAP- Password authentication protocol h.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  X.509- digital certificate that uniquely identifies a party. Standard structure of a certificate. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  KDC- Key distribution center j.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Biometrics- Authentications based on human anatomy. k.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Multifactor- Authentication based on 2 valid authentication methods. l.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mutual Authentication- Client establishes identity to server. Server provides authentication information to client to ensure that illicit servers cannot masquerade as genuine servers. Both parties have to authenticate. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Encryption- hiding data using algorithms. protection, method of code, algorithms, formulas a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asymmetric keys- pair of key values one public and one private. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Symmetric keys- single encryption key generated. c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DES- Data Encryption standard developed by government. d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Diffie-hellman- encryption algorithm named after its two creators. e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  IPSec- used for encryption of TCP/IP traffic. Method of encrypting any IP transmissions. f.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PGP- Pretty good privacy- mainly used in email less secure than the PKI. g.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RSA- Rivest-Shamir-Adleman- encryption algorithm named after its 3 creators. Using two pair keys. h.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SSL- Secure Socket Loader- used mainly on web servers to transmit securely via HTTPS:// 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Network protocols and organization a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DMZ- Demilitarized zone- Zone used for public access. Used with FTP, web servers and DNS servers. b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  IDS- Intrusion Detection System- 2 types: Active and Passive c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NAT- Network Address Translation- Appends to your logical port. Protects internal hosts. Used with proxy servers. Translates internal IP to Real IP. Uses unique port table. There is 65,000 ports d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tunneling- ability to go to 1 point to another as though you are a single proprietary line.

Pat Buchanan :: History

Pat Buchanan Pat Buchanan is currently campaigning to become the Republican representative in the next U.S. Presidential election. He is credited with striking a chord amongst the main stream, blue collar sector of the country. This is because he has based his economic platform on common myths about free trade and how it is the cause of the economic problems in the U.S. His theme is that layoffs and the closing of American plants are the result of foreign companies and countries taking advantage of easy access into U.S. markets which, in his opinion, is not being reciprocated abroad. This is how he accounts for the current trade deficit that the U.S. is running with countries like Japan. Pat's economic platform regarding trade policy can be summarized as follows: * Impose a 10% tariff on Japanese imports and a 20% tariff on Chinese imports. This would generate, in his opinion, $20 billion in government revenue and reduce the trade deficit which could be reinvested into the American economy and help create tax cuts for small businesses. * Impose a social tariff on Third World manufactured goods to protect U.S. workers' wage rates from the foreign laborers who are paid a fraction of what their U.S. counterparts earn. He also resents that foreign companies do not have to adhere to the strict environmental, safety, and health standards that American firms do yet get free access to the U.S. market via GATT and NAFTA. It is evident that Pat Buchanan believes that trade deficits and trade with Third World countries are at the heart of what he perceives to be America's economic problems. He feels that through tariffs the burden of income taxes paid by U.S. workers and small businesses can be shifted onto consumers who purchase foreign goods. His underlying sentiment about his trade restrictive policies is, "This is our land; America is our country; the U.S. our market. We decide who enters here and who does not." The basis of international trade is that their are gains to be had from partaking in it. This was proven by David Ricardo, an economist in the early 19th century, who introduced the concept of comparative advantage. His theory stated that a country's "absolute advantage (overall productivity differences between countries) should be reflected in differences in income, whereas comparative advantage (variations in productivity differences by sector) will determine the pattern of international trade.

Cheap Stunts :: essays papers

Cheap Stunts Topic: Using basic techniques combined with creative thinking to achieve stunts and special FX, in low-budget film making. This paper has been written with the low budget film maker in mind. Seeing as though I am personally used to working with little or no money to produce a film or a video, I have always searched, through nessicity, for new ways to create effective looking stunts, special effects, and in general unique looking shots, devices and ‘looks’ in my movies. Of course stunts and special FX may not be your cup of tea when it comes to making or watching a film, and this is fair enough. If a dialogue laden script and endless two shots and close-ups take your fancy, then I’m sure you don’t need to be told how to achieve this. It is simply a matter of writing the script, then setting up the camera and shooting it, generally speaking. However when it comes to low budget film making these days I feel that the film maker must make a special effort to produce a movie that is unique and interesting for an audience to experience. This does not necessarily mean that the film maker must load the film with cheap stunts, blood and guts to grab an audience’s attention. However they should at least try to create something that is very original and makes the audience question how they achieved the results that they did, even if the movie does consist of only ‘two shots’ and ‘close-ups’. In the case of this type of movie (two shot/close-up style), the obvious place to start with ‘creative thinking’ is when writing the script. However this should be fundamental to any script, story or idea. First of all, whoever you are, you must realise that it isn’t money that makes a good film, it is the idea and how that idea is achieved in creative ways. Of course it’s a great thing if you do have a little bit of money to put towards a film, however, throwing around creativity will always win over throwing around a ton of cash at a film, I believe anyway. You probably already have realised this, but for the uninitiated, this is the core theme of this paper; use your creativity where possible, not your money.

Physics, Roller Coasters

Part 1 Roller coasters Additional notes: GPE = m x g x h KE = m x v? The main energy transfers that happen as a car travels along the track from the start of the ride to the end: [1]The rollercoaster car gains gravitational potential energy (GPE) as it travels to the top. Once over the top, the car gains speed as GPE is transferred to kinetic energy (KE). As it travels to the top of another loop, KE is transferred to GPE. Not all the energy is transferred to or from GPE – some is transferred to the surroundings as heat and sound.All moving objects have kinetic energy, KE. The kinetic energy an object has depends on the mass and speed. If the mass doubles, the KE doubles and if the speed doubles, the KE quadruples. Normally energy is lost through sound and heat (friction, air resistance). How the heights of the hills are designed to allow an empty car to reach the end of the ride: [2]The hills are designed so that it is low enough that the momentum of the car from the previous drop carries it up and over the hill.This is why the hills are usually lower towards the end of the ride, because the car has lost momentum due to friction and air resistance. Mainly the consecutive hill must be lower as it will not have enough energy because some of it is lost and sound and heat. Therefore, if the car was to reach the end of the ride, the height of the hills must be lower each consecutive time. How the energy transfers determine the heights of the hills: [4] After the roller coaster is drops from the first hill it does two things with its energy.First, it begins to transform that energy from one form to another–from gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy and from kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy, back and forth. Second, it begins to transfer some of its energy to its environment, mostly in the form of heat and sound. Each time the roller coaster goes downhill, its gravitational potential energy decreases and its kinetic energy incre ases. Each time the roller coaster goes uphill, its kinetic energy decreases and its gravitational potential energy increases.But each transfer of energy isn't complete because some of the energy is lost to heat and sound. Because of this lost energy, the roller coaster can't return to its original height after coasting downhill. That's why each successive hill must be lower than the previous hill. Eventually the roller coaster has lost so much of its original total energy that the ride must end. With so little total energy left, the roller coaster can't have much gravitational potential energy and must be much lower than the top of the first hill.This is why the hills must be a certain height, in order to transfer enough GPE into KE. Bibliography: [1] http://www. bbc. co. uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/forces/themeridesrev2. shtml [2] http://science. howstuffworks. com/engineering/structural/roller-coaster3. htm [3] http://www. coasterforce. com/coasters/technical- info/physics-of-a-coaster [4] http://library. thinkquest. org/26455/amuse/roller/roller01. shtml [5] – Collins Additional Sciences B ISBN-13 978-0-00-741531-1 Colin Bell, 2011

Baby Dumping

Today, in our society, every age, they need to deal with the problem. An era of some of the problems may be different from another era problem, it could be the same. High school students, especially in the face so many problems. Five issues high school students face these days, illegal racing, use of drugs and alcohol abuse, free sex, abortion and baby dumping. Problems usually follow the flow, first racing, it is usually held in the evening, of course, it is troublesome to other road users. In addition, it can also be deadly man. After the game, they will usually go to a nightclub. It is they start drugs, become addicted to alcohol places. When they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which will cause them to have an unprotected sex, which means that sex did not take any preventive pregnancy. High school students are too immature to fully understand the impact of no sex, it is possible for their lives. Therefore, there is no doubt, because that would create another problem. For a given problem is abortion and baby dumping. Unintended pregnancy scare, aborted babies before they take risks, their families know that physical changes after. Abortion is a dangerous act, which may be fatal mother. But in a desperate situation like this, they can not rationally think. But not everyone has enough intuition, abortion to take the risk. Some of them decided to give birth to a baby, but then the end of it, for some reason, they dumped the baby did not hesitate. Dump the baby means that they throw away after the baby is not in any place to take care of it. Typically, the baby is in a dump after they were born. In most cases, the baby was already dead when they find someone else. Baby Dumping Today, in our society, every age, they need to deal with the problem. An era of some of the problems may be different from another era problem, it could be the same. High school students, especially in the face so many problems. Five issues high school students face these days, illegal racing, use of drugs and alcohol abuse, free sex, abortion and baby dumping. Problems usually follow the flow, first racing, it is usually held in the evening, of course, it is troublesome to other road users. In addition, it can also be deadly man. After the game, they will usually go to a nightclub. It is they start drugs, become addicted to alcohol places. When they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which will cause them to have an unprotected sex, which means that sex did not take any preventive pregnancy. High school students are too immature to fully understand the impact of no sex, it is possible for their lives. Therefore, there is no doubt, because that would create another problem. For a given problem is abortion and baby dumping. Unintended pregnancy scare, aborted babies before they take risks, their families know that physical changes after. Abortion is a dangerous act, which may be fatal mother. But in a desperate situation like this, they can not rationally think. But not everyone has enough intuition, abortion to take the risk. Some of them decided to give birth to a baby, but then the end of it, for some reason, they dumped the baby did not hesitate. Dump the baby means that they throw away after the baby is not in any place to take care of it. Typically, the baby is in a dump after they were born. In most cases, the baby was already dead when they find someone else.

Iso 9000, Service Quality and Ergonomics Stanislav Karapetrovic

To cite this document: Stanislav Karapetrovic, (1999),†ISO 9000, service quality and ergonomics†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 9 Iss: 2 pp. 81 – 89 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/09604529910257948 Downloaded on: 17-10-2012 References: This document contains references to 27 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 3 other documents To copy this document: [email  protected] com This document has been downloaded 1952 times since 2005. * Users who downloaded this Article also downloaded: *Rujirutana Mandhachitara, Yaowalak Poolthong, (2011),†A model of customer loyalty and corporate social responsibility†, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 25 Iss: 2 pp. 122 – 133 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/08876041111119840 Harold W. Webb, Linda A. Webb, (2004),†SiteQual: an integrated measure of Web site quality†, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 17 Iss: 6 pp. 430 – 440 ht tp://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/17410390410566724 Rabiul Ahasan, Daniel Imbeau, (2003),†Who belongs to ergonomics? An examination of the human factors community†, Work Study, Vol. 52 Iss: 3 pp. 123 – 128 http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/00438020310471917Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF GAZA For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www. emeraldinsight. com/authors for more information. About Emerald www. emeraldinsight. com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education.In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensi ve range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. Perspectives ISO 9000, service quality and ergonomics Stanislav Karapetrovic 1. Introduction In the last decade or so, we have witnessed an explosion of quality-related standards and regulations.As a result of the continuous quest for better â€Å"quality† of products and services offered to customers, the International Organization for Standardization introduced the ISO 9000 series of quality management and quality assurance standards in 1987. The series currently includes three models for quality assurance (ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003), guidelines for quality management (ISO 9004), and two supporting documents: ISO 9000 Guidelines for Model’s Selection and Use and ISO 8402 Quality Vocabulary (Figure 1). The ISO 9000 standards have been accepted worldwide, with more than 200,000 organizations already registered.The standards present a sound basis for assuring the customer of quality of products and services, as well as the processes that create them. Several other quality-related standards have since emerged, such as the automotive standards QS 9000, environmental management standards ISO 14000, and emerging health and safety international standards (Figura, 1996). The upcoming revision of ISO 9000 standards in the year 2000 (now in the form of a Technical Committee Draft) is expected to further facilitate the use of quality assurance methods the world over.Another commonly used phrase from the 1980s and 1990s has been total quality management (TQM): an integrated approach to the management of quality with special emphasis on delighting customers and improving the wellbeing of all employees in the organization. A number of articles have been written on the relationship between the ISO 9000 series and TQM (Johnson, 1993; Struebing, 1996; Wilson, 1996; Velury, 1996; Corigan, 1994; Sakofsky, 1994; Emmons, 1994), underlying the opinion of quality management professionals that the two are not quite the same.While ISO 9000 series are technical, presenting speci?cations, requirements and guidelines for quality systems, TQM emphasizes teamwork and customer satisfaction. Put another way, TQM is quality management with â€Å"a human touch†. Does this mean that ergonomic aspects of the workplace and customer satisfaction are not emphasized by ISO 9000? Does quality assurance (ISO 9000) emphasize ergonomics and 81 The author Stanislav Karapetrovic is based at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Keywords Ergonomics, ISO 9000, Quality assurance, Service quality, Workers Abstract This paper addresses some ergonomic issues in the ISO 9000-based qualit y assurance. Ergonomics – the study of human factors in engineering and design of systems is brie?y touched on. Then, outlines of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 quality system models are provided, and all 20 requirements of the current ISO 9001:9004 standard are presented in an ergonomic light. Subsequently, human factors in the documentation and implementation of a quality system are illustrated.The relevance of ergonomic studies in the development of service systems is addressed. Finally, a blueprint for an ergonomic assurance system, de?ned as a set of interrelated resources and processes that function in order to achieve objectives related to ergonomic design and use of products and processes, is provided. Managing Service Quality Volume 9  · Number 2  · 1999  · pp. 81–89  © MCB University Press  · 0960-4529 Figure 1 Ergonomics – an essential element of the production and/or service systemRaw Material RESOURCES Ergonomics PROCESS PRODUCT Output Input Ergono mics COST ERGONOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS occupational health and safety? In the present time of globalization of markets and internationalization of best-practice standards, such questions can and should be posed. This paper addresses some of the ergonomic issues in the ISO 9000-based quality assurance. Ergonomics, that is the study of human factors in engineering and design of systems, is brie?y touched on.Then, outlines of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 quality system models are provided, and all 20 requirements of the current ISO 9001:9004 standard are presented in an ergonomic light. Subsequently, human factors in the documentation and implementation of a quality system are illustrated. The relevance of ergonomic studies in the development of service systems is addressed. Finally, the design of an ergonomic assurance system based on ISO 9000 is discussed. 2. Ergonomics It seems that it takes a disaster, loss of human life, or a health crisis for most of us to realize how important human factors are.Before the Three Mile Island incident, the Chernobil explosion, the Bhopal pesticide leak, plane crashes involving human errors, or ?ndings that millions of people suffer from repetitive stress injuries, it would have been hard to ?nd anyone who knew what ergonomics or human factors engineering are (not including the ergonomists themselves, of course). Today, however, we often hear about â€Å"ergonomicallydesigned computer mouse and keyboard†, 82 â€Å"ergonomic† chairs, pots, pans, door handles, and automatic teller machines (ATM).We now know that ergonomic design of products and processes is bsolutely crucial for effective and ef?cient work. Ergonomics, or human factors engineering, deals with the design for human use, as well as optimizing working and living conditions (Sanders and McCormick, 1993). The ?rst term (ergonomics) is mainly in use in Europe, while the second (human factors engineering) is often heard in North America. Th e following de?nition, modi?ed from Chapanis (1985), is provided: Ergonomics discovers and applies information about human behavior, limitations, abilities and other human characteristics to the design of systems for ef?cient, safe, comfortable and effective human use.Interested readers are referred to a classic in ergonomics, Sanders’ and McCormick’s â€Å"Human factors in engineering and design† (1993), for more information on the history of the science and a detailed study of many applications of ergonomics. Ergonomics, almost by default, is implied in quality assurance. Quality assurance encompasses techniques used to provide con?dence to customers that their requirements for quality are met. Therefore, by de?nition, human factors are involved. Assurances in the quality of products and services are provided to humans, by humans.In fact, ergonomics and quality assurance are so intertwined that it is impossible to say where one starts and the other ends. Sever al articles in ergonomics literature have already discussed the use of quality assurance techniques in human factors engineering (for instance, see Helander and Burri, 1995; Bergquist and Abeysekera, 1996). For an early account on human factors in quality assurance, the reader is referred to Harris and Chaney (1969). Hence, in the following sections, interrelationships between ergonomics and quality assurance will be addressed. 3.Quality Assurance (ISO 9001) and Management (ISO 9004) Of the three available models for quality system registration, ISO 9001 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive and most widely used. The current version (ISO 9001: 1994), includes 20 elements (requirements), to which a quality assurance system of an organization is assessed (Table I). ISO 9001 covers design, development, production, installation and servicing activities. It is aimed at providing con?dence to internal and external customers that their requirements for quality are continuously met.An organ ization’s anagement is the main internal customer, while external customers include consumers of the organization’s products and services, as well as registrars that assess the suitability and effectiveness of the quality system. ISO 9001 is a generic standard, which means that it is universally applicable to both manufacturing and service organizations, i. e. small businesses (Karapetrovic et al. , 1997), health care and education (Willborn and Cheng, 1994). Rather than focusing on speci?c products and services, ISO 9001 addresses quality systems and processes in?uencing the product throughout its lifecycle.A quality system can be de?ned as a set of processes that function harmoniously, using various resources, to achieve quality objectives (Karapetrovic and Willborn, 1998A). It is in the interaction of human, material and information resources, as well as human resources and processes, that the ergonomic aspects of the quality system emerge. Focusing on the underlyin g concept of a system will help us understand the interrelationships between the quality and ergonomic system, and provide a possibility for integration.Apart from ISO 9001, a set of guidelines numbered ISO 9004 is widely used for developing and implementing quality 83 management. The set currently consists of eight documents, ranging from the guidelines on quality management in service organizations to con?guration and project management. For the purpose of discussing an ergonomic system in services, we turn our attention to the second document in the series, namely the ISO 9004-2 (1994) â€Å"Quality management and quality system elements: Guidelines for services†).In essence very similar in scope and structure to ISO 9001, ISO 9004-2 provides guidelines for establishing quality management throughout the service life cycle, starting from establishing the need for a service, through service design, acquisition of resources, service delivery and status, as well as performance analysis and improvement. Differing from ISO 9001, these guidelines directly address interfaces with customers, including â€Å"creating a perception of the appropriate image based on the reality of actions taken to meet customers needs† (ISO 9004-2: 1994).Effective communication with customers, â€Å"listening to them and keeping them informed†, is particularly emphasized. What is also important from an ergonomic standpoint is that the guidelines provide the basis for adequate training of personnel, including motivation, staff development and communication. Although the training mentioned therein mostly involves â€Å"quality system training†, it could be expanded to environmental, health and safety, and ergonomic system training.For different strategies of using the quality system framework for developing other management systems, including environment and ergonomics, the reader is referred to Karapetrovic and Willborn (1998B and 1998C). In addition to ISO 90 04-2, another standard from the ISO 9004 series, namely ISO 9004: Part 1 â€Å"Guidelines for quality management and quality system elements†, addresses some particular ergonomic aspects. This is done in the standard’s 19th element: Product safety. Speci?cally, it is suggested that â€Å"consideration be given to identifying safety aspects of products and processes with the aim of enhancing safety† (ISO 9004-1: 1994).Steps to achieve this can include: †¢ identifying relevant safety standards; †¢ performing design evaluation tests for safety; †¢ analyzing instructions and warnings to the user; Table I Ergonomic issues and implications of ISO 9001 (1994) ISO 9001 element 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 Management responsibility Quality system Contract review Ergonomic issues Organization ensures that the quality policy is understood at all levels Procedures and work instructions are effectively documented/implemented Customer requirements are adequately de?ned and d ocumentedImplications Quality system documentation should be designed and implemented using ergonomic (human factors engineering) knowledge Ergonomic characteristics of a product, such as environmental conditions, sensory characteristics proper handling and packaging should be determined (see Bergquist and Abeysekera, 1996; Helander and Burri, 1995; Barsky and Dutta, 1997) Products should be ergonomically designed to ensure healthy and safe functioning Quality system documents should be accessible . 4 4. 5 Design control Document control 4. 6 4. 7 4. 8 4. 9 Purchasing Control of customer supplied product Product identi?cation and traceability Process control 4. 10 Inspection and testing 4. 11 Inspection and test equipment 4. 12 Inspection and test status 4. 13 Nonconforming product 4. 14 Corrective and preventive action 4. 15 Handling, storage, †¦, delivery 4. 16 Control of quality records 4. 17 Internal quality audits 4. 18 Training 4. 19 ServicingCrucial characteristics for s afe and proper functioning of the product are identi?ed Appropriate documents are readily available at all locations where essential operations are performed Purchasing documents adequately address speci?ed requirements Adequate procedures for storage and maintenance of the product are in place Product is adequately identi?ed and traceable Suitable equipment and working environment are used Criteria for workmanship is stipulated in the clearest practical manner Records clearly illustrate the results of inspection and testing activities Suitable indicators of calibration status are identi?ed Inspection and test status of the product is identi?ed by suitable means Nonconforming products are adequately identi?ed and segregated Appropriate sources of information are used to detect and eliminate potential/ existing causes of defects Adequate handling, storage, packaging, preservation and delivery of the product is identi?ed and maintained Quality records are adequately identi?ed, indexed , ?led and storedQuality records are easily accessible Quality audits are performed to examine the suitability and effectiveness of the quality system Training needs are identi?ed and adequate training provided Appropriate identi?cation of servicing needs and customer feedback is performed Ergonomic techniques can be used to ensure clear understanding of documents Safe and risk-free storage and maintenance of products is emphasized Identi?cation of products should be performed according to ergonomic guidelines regulations For identi?cation and maintenance of the suitable working environment and hardware, ergonomic analysis and evaluations must be performed Identi?cation of products and equipment should be performed according to ergonomic guidelines and regulations (for example, see Sanders and McCormick, 1993 (part 2), and Harris and Chaney, 1070 (chapters 6-11)Ergonomical analysis of human-information interaction is helpful (for instance, see Sanders and McCormick, 1993 (part 2) Er gonomical design and analysis of handling and packaging of products should be used Ergonomic techniques can be used to ensure clear understanding of documents, and accessibility of records Ergonomic audits/evaluations, identifying areas for possible improvement of human-machineproduct-environment interactions are performed Ergonomic training should be emphasized Ergonomic characteristics of a product, such as environmental conditions, sensory characteristics proper handling and packaging should be determined (see Bergquist and Abeysekera, 1996; Helander and Burri, 1995; Barsky and Dutta, 1997)Statistical tools and techniques are used in ergonomic analysis and evaluations 4. 20 Statistical techniques The need for the application of statistical techniques is identi?ed 84 †¢ developing a means of product traceability to facilitate product recall; †¢ considering development of an emergency plan The following section will address some ergonomic factors in the ISO 9001/9004 qual ity system structure, as well as suggest implementation of this system with ergonomics in mind. 4. Ergonomic considerations of ISO 9001/9004 Quality systems depicted in ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 standards apply to all phases in the life cycle of a service, from initial identi?cation to ?nal satisfaction of customer requirements.The concept of all activities in?uencing the quality of a service throughout its life cycle is often referred to as the â€Å"service quality loop† (ISO 9004-2, 1994). Thus, a service quality system involves three main elements: (1) service; (2) processes along the quality loop; and (3) resources. Likewise, ergonomic considerations within a service quality system include: †¢ Ergonomic design and delivery of service (and/or related products). †¢ Ergonomic design and application of processes. †¢ Analysis of the interaction between human and information/material resources Using Figure 1, it is possible to explain how quality and ergonomics inte rrelate in a quality system. Each product or service made possesses certain characteristics.For example, service quality is a set of characteristics that bear on the service’s ability to satisfy customer requirements. Ergonomic characteristics of products / services provide safe, healthy and ef?cient usage and/or delivery. It is evident that some ergonomic characteristics of a product (or service) are essentially quality characteristics (such as the design of the driver’s seat in a car), and vice-versa. Also, service delivery processes have to satisfy certain requirements that may be ergonomic in nature. For example, the environment in which retail-banking services operate may be altered to provide safety for a bank teller working in it. Finally, ergonomic issues emerge when human, material and informa85 ion resources are combined to create a quality system.The current ISO 9001 quality system has a multitude of elements that are directly applicable to managing ergonomi cs and health/safety. Table I lists all 20 elements of ISO 9001 in the order in which they appear in the standard, illustrates sections and speci?c requirements which pertain to ergonomics, and provides ergonomic implications of the quality system. The implications range from adequate identi?cation of customer ergonomic requirements, ergonomically suitable design of products, services and processes, to identi?cation and maintenance of appropriate working environment and equipment.Such analysis of the ISO 9001 quality system shows that virtually every element of the system includes at least some ergonomic and/or health and safety aspects. This conclusion, however, is not surprising, since ultimately, quality is created by people, and for people. Not only does the content of ISO 9001 relate to human factors (Hansen, 1996), but also its context. A quality system must be adequately documented and implemented in order to operate effectively and ef?ciently. Quality documentation, as a pil lar of the quality system, must be understood and readily available to all persons whose work affects quality, as well as understood by all involved. Ergonomically designed documentation will undoubtedly help people understand their tasks better and improve their performance.New technologies, such as head-up-displays (Geiselman and Osgood, 1995; Karapetrovic, 1995), computer-aided communication (through electronic mail and the Internet) can greatly improve the implementation of a quality system in any organization. Examples include: †¢ Operators using HUDs for display of quality procedures and work instructions. †¢ Paperless ISO 9000 documentation, i. e. documents available on-line using HTML or Java (Clarkin and Dow, 1997). †¢ Wireless electronic mail for reporting and analysis of quality-related problems. The following section addresses the implementation of human factors engineering in services, using ?nancial services as an example, in more detail. 5. Ergonomics a nd services How do ergonomics relate to service quality systems?To answer that question, we can follow the above-mentioned â€Å"service quality loop† from the inception of the need for service, to the evaluation of whether that need has been satis?ed. In designing a â€Å"quality service†, we must ?rst identify the need for it, as well as ?nd out who would actually need such a service. Put another way, we are de?ning the user and his/her needs. For instance, say we want to open a bank branch in a specific location. Do local bank users really need a branch there? What exactly do they need? Perhaps they need investment services, or easy access to cash, or mortgage consultations. Sanders and McCormick (1993) and Bailey (1982) de?ne the identi?cation of user needs through observation, interviews and questionnaires as ergonomic activities that apply here.Psychology-based tools of ergonomics deal in particular with an effective and ef?cient determination of user needs. The service system is subsequently designed on the basis of identi?ed needs. We have determined that local users require access to money from their accounts as well as the possibility of discussing investments. Now, we need to allocate resources to required banking functions. These resources include people (bank employees), hardware (automatic teller machines (ATM), computers) and software. Which particular functions should we assign to people, and which to machines? For instance, for easy access to cash, we would assume that a 24hour ATM would be appropriate.However, what if most of the bank’s clients are seniors, who are still not accustomed to trusting machines in dealing with deposits or withdrawals, or if the bank is located in a place where people prefer customer service and contact with bank tellers rather than machines? Ergonomic studies help us in determining speci?c capabilities of people, hardware and software, and can provide signi?cant assistance in allocating system functions. Then, we can decide whether to completely automate certain functions, or to assign people to perform them, or use both machines and people. For example, a bank may decide to allow withdrawals of less than $1,000 from an ATM. If a customer wants to withdraw more than that, he/she would have to go to a bank teller. 86Once we have decided which resources the bank should have (say three ATMs, four tellers and two investment advisors), we need to perform an analysis of the required processes, activities and tasks. Put another way, we are listing the sequence of activities that need to be conducted in order to accomplish a speci?c function. Flowcharts are particularly helpful here. For instance, we can specify a procedure for cash withdrawals from the bank. This, in ergonomics, is called task description and analysis (Sanders and McCormick, 1993). Whenever we have some interaction between people and hardware or software, such as when a teller needs to input withdrawal informat ion into the database, there are ergonomic implications.For example, in the bank where I normally do my ?nancial transactions, computer monitors and keyboards are placed so low in relation to the counter, that the teller needs to bend down every time he/she inputs the information, virtually disappearing behind the counter. Just imagine how many times the teller needs to bend like that every day, every week, every month. Put another way, in designing the work space for employees, e. g. placing customer service counters and computers in determined locations, allocating space for safety deposit boxes, etc. , we inevitably in?uence the comfort, safety and ef?ciency of people working in such spaces. All these are ergonomic considerations that can in?uence the quality of the product or service.The likely reason why tellers in my bank still have to bend down to reach the computer is that it was probably never de?ned as a problem at all. The existence of an ergonomic program within the bank , with planned ergonomic audits and corrective actions, would certainly identify and rectify such a problem. But how can such a program be introduced with minimum cost and maximum bene?ts? Perhaps the solution is in the integration of the existing quality system with an ergonomic program. The integration of quality and environment management systems came naturally, since standards representing best practices were effectively established at the international level (namely ISO 9000 and ISO 14000).This should also be the case with occupational health and safety (OHS), since national and international OHS standards, dubbed ISO 20000 (Figura, 1996) are already emerging. The following section presents an approach to the development of an ergonomic assurance system on the basis of the quality system. 6. Ergonomics assurance system As was mentioned in Section 3 of this paper, the systems concept can greatly assist us in understanding the interrelationships of many production and management processes, among others, quality and ergonomics. For an excellent account of the relationship between ergonomics and the system design, the interested reader can refer to Sanders and McCormick (1993), Chapter 22. While the pplication of the systems concept to service quality is presented elsewhere (Karapetrovic and Willborn, 1998A), it can be used to propose an ergonomic assurance system. We can de?ne ergonomic assurance as â€Å"all those planned and systematic actions aimed at providing con?dence to customers, management and the general public, that their requirements and needs for ergonomically safe products and processes are met†.An ergonomic assurance system is then a â€Å"set of processes and resources that function harmoniously to achieve objectives related to ergonomic design and implementation of products and processes†.Note: Proposed EAS elements are given in bold letters, while numbers represent sections of the ISO 9004-2 Guidelines 87 Similarly to the ISO 14001:1996 environmental management system, an ergonomic assurance system can include Deming’s plan-dostudy-act (PDSA) continuous improvement circle, with the following elements: †¢ Ergonomic objectives. †¢ Planning and design (ergonomic aspects, targets, determination of system performance speci?cations, ergonomic system design). †¢ Resource acquisition and deployment (allocation of functions to people, hardware and software; task analysis, design of jobs and human-hardware-software interfaces; training). †¢ Operation (ergonomic control, monitoring and measurement).†¢ Corrective/preventive action (ergonomic audits). Improvement (ergonomic evaluations, communication with interested parties. Interested parties may include customers, for ergonomic characteristics of the product/service, and employees, for ergonomics of the workplace). Rather than adding speci?c ergonomic and safety requirements to existing quality standards (Barsky and Dutta (1997) sugg est this), a separate ergonomic system standard can be drafted, and then integrated with existing quality management systems. Using the de?nition and the model of a quality system from Karapetrovic and Willborn (1998C), proposed elements of the ergonomic management system (EMS) can be illustrated as in Figure 2.For example, the executive management of an organization should de?ne an ergonomic policy that is documented and communicated to all employees. Ergonomic aspects of all activities and processes within the organization should be identi?ed and speci?c objectives and targets set. An ergonomic management program should be de?ned and documented, and adequate resources allocated. Operation of the EMS should include a statement of responsibility and authority of people involved, identi?cation of training needs and a provision of adequate ergonomic training, and preparation of adequate EMS documentation. Corrective and preventive action to eliminate existing and potential problems sh ould be undertaken, and ergonomic audits would assist in this effort.Finally, the executive management should review the status of the EMS, includ88 ing its effectiveness, suitability, and conformance to the requirements. 7. Conclusion This paper addressed some of the ergonomic issues in the ISO 9000-based quality assurance for services. Outlines of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 quality system models were provided, followed by a discussion of the content of the ISO 9001 standard considering ergonomics and human factors. Ergonomic implementation of a quality system was subsequently addressed. Finally, possible development of an â€Å"ergonomic assurance system† on the basis of ISO 9001 and systems theory was presented. Further research into the development of ergonomic assurance systems is suggested.