Sarbanes Oxley

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Contents Overview3 Enron3 Sarbanes-Oxley Act3 11 Titles4 Major Sections of SOX5 Section 3025 Section 4046 Section 4096 Section 9027 Section 9067 After SOX: What has Sarbanes-Oxley Accomplished & Issues that Remain7 Conclusion8 Overview The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law in 2002 by President Bush. Sarbanes- Oxley came to be because of corporate level accounting scandals that had then, recently occurred. The most common of these scandals include: Adelphia, Enron, Peregrine Systems, Tyco and, WorldCom. This act â€Å"introduced major changes to the regulation of financial practice and corporate governance. Enron The Enron Scandal is one of many that prompted the obvious need for reform of accounting practices. It began in November 1997 when the company bought stake in another company to create a sub company of Enron. The new company, Chewco, was run by an Enron officer who enabled Enron to run a series of transactions through Chewco and ultimately, funnel deb t from one company to another, even though they were both Enron. By 2001 â€Å"CEO Jeffery Skilling resigns, becoming the sixth senior executive to leave in a year. † In October, Arthur Andersen’s legal counsel advised auditors of Enron to destroy â€Å"all but the most basic documents2. So, the cover up began. Arthur Andersen was once amongst the â€Å"Big 5† accounting firms and the provided tax, audit and consulting services to corporations like Enron. Their reputation plummeted after they were admittedly aware of â€Å"possible illegal acts† committed by Enron and ultimately, Arthur Anderson was dissolved. Sarbanes-Oxley Act Enron and other scandals cost investors billions of dollars. Stock prices were at all time lows and the people were beginning to lose faith in corporate leaders. Something had to be done to restore faith and tighten standards.Sarbanes-Oxley was named after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley. Oxley introduced t he act to the House of Representatives calling it the â€Å"Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act of 2002† on February 14, 2002. With minor changes to the name at the Act itself occurring over the span of a few months, Sarbanes-Oxley was officially signed into law on July 30, 2002 by President George W. Bush. Bush called the legislation â€Å"the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.The era of low standards and false profits is over; no boardroom in America is above or beyond the law. † The turnaround of this act was very quick. It was obvious that something needed to be done and it needed to occur quickly. 11 Titles Sarbanes-Oxley is comprised of 11 Titles, each with subsidiary sections. The eleven titles each focus on one main topic and the changes that are implemented by Sarbanes-Oxley under their heading. The names of the titles are as follows: 1. Public Company Ac counting Oversight Board (PCAOB) – this section establishes and provides the need for independent auditors.So now, a corporation could not solely publish audits that were conducted internally. 2. Auditor Independence – establishes the standards that need to be followed when conducting an external audit in order to eliminate conflicts of interest. 3. Corporate Responsibility – Title 3 states that senior executives must take individual responsibility for the lawfulness and correctness of their financial records. The hope here is that higher up executives will not turn the other way when fraudulent activity occurs for fear that they could be prosecuted on a personal level. . Enhanced Financial Disclosures – In this title, the new reporting requirements are laid out for corporations. The new requirements are much more thorough and leave little room for leaving out relevant information. 5. Analyst Conflicts of Interest – This is the shortest title of th em all and aims to help restore investor confidence. It requires any conflicts of interest to be disclosed. 6. Commission Resources and Authority – The goal of this section is to try and restore confidence in securities analysts and states the SEC’s power to bar analysts from practice. 7.Studies and Reports – The Comptroller General and the SEC are required to conduct studies and then report their conclusions and findings. 8. Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability – This title gives specific penalties based on various crimes that may be committed and also provided protection for whistle-blowers. 9. White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement – White-collar crime is punished more based on the law described here, stronger sentencing is key. 10. Corporate Tax Return – The basic requirement here, being only one section, is that the Chief Executive Officer signs the company return.This way, the CEO can’t claim that they didn’t see t he tax return before it was filed. 11. Corporate Fraud Accountability – The SEC is granted the ability and authority to freeze an account where payments seem unusual. Looking for large or unusual transactions allows fraud to be more easily detected. Major Sections of SOX Each of the 11 titles mentioned above are comprised of sections. Some titles only have one section but some have up to nine. In this section I will attempt to summarize the five most important sections: 302, 404, 409, 902 and, 906. Section 302Section 302 outlines the Corporate Responsibility for Financial Reports. It is composed of steps that are taken by the company and specifically ensuring that the CEO is very involved and informed when it comes to the financial statement process. The CEO must sign off on the financial statements and the reports when they are complete. By making the CEO the final eye to see the statements SOX is attempting to ensure that the CEO cannot claim ignorance if a fraud is committ ed. When the major corporate scandals were occurring at places like Enron, CEO’s frequently claimed they had no idea what was going on in their company.This section aims to hold CEO’s responsible for their company reporting, a form of internal control. Section 404 Section 404 is entitled: Management Assessment of Internal Controls. With the implementation of Section 404, companies are now required to include an additional report, an Internal Control Report. The purpose of this report is for management to take responsibility for a proper internal control structure and also for management to vouch for the usefulness and accuracy of this control. If the internal controls that are in place do not suffice, the faults are required to be reported as well.Section 409 Section 409 addresses timeliness when reporting. â€Å"Companies are required to disclose on almost real-time basis information concerning material changes in its financial condition or operations. † This i s a way, because of this legislation, for investors and people outside the company to be as informed as possible with changes inside the company. These changes may or may not be significant but, there is always a chance, from the perspective of an investor, that day to day decisions affect stock prices. Now, stockholders can be almost immediately aware of the changes taking place.Section 902 Section 902 falls under the white collar crime title and describes the illegality of altering, destroying, manipulating or concealing documents. The intent of the fraudster here would be to â€Å"impair the objects integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding. † Section 906 Section 906 also falls under the white collar crime category and specifically, the penalties that will be endured to any person that certifies a misleading or fraudulent financial report. In this section, it is stated that penalties can be up to $5 million and 20 years in prison.I believe this section is put in to make it clear that CEO’s are going to be held responsible for â€Å"signing off† so, it is in their best interest to thoroughly look over statements and reports. After SOX: What has Sarbanes-Oxley Accomplished & Issues that Remain The Sarbanes-Oxley had good intentions. It’s goal was to restore faith in the public and to reduce company fraud. SOX has definitely restored public faith and perception. The titles and sections that SOX includes make it clear to companies and individuals outside the company that reporting standards have been increased.Because of this increase, and the penalties that are disclosed in this statute, it would be hard to believe that any person or company would risk committing a fraud. However, this only addresses the restoration or faith and confidence. Sarbanes-Oxley has not necessarily affected the inside the company policies and procedures. There are a number of people who scrutinize Sarbanes-Oxley for its shortcomings. â₠¬Å"Sarbanes-Oxley was intended to restore faith in the integrity of corporations and executives, yet it hasn't really had a measurable impact on fraud. The new rules that were implemented under SOX simply aim to increase the CEO’s awareness in what statements and reports are being published. However, when these documents are received, analyzed and signed off, there may or may not be an actual internal investigation going on to ensure the correctness of the documents. There is really no way to prove that the documents are fraud free when they reach the CEO. Conclusion The goal of this paper was to summarize the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. I discussed the titles that comprise SOX and further went into detail on the most important sections. I am not a critic of this act.I think as far as restoring public perception goes, Sarbanes-Oxley was extremely successful. Also, I think this legislation changed the views of the CEO’s. CEO’s were now explicitly aware of th eir accountability when it came to reporting. This was an extremely beneficial change as, CEO’s use to have the ability to claim ignorance and push the consequences down the corporate ladder. I am sure that if Congress would have taken more time when passing this legislation, it could have been improved upon, but, desperate times†¦ the corporate world needed a drastic change to restore faith and help the economy.There is undoubtedly still fraud occurring and therefore this battle to end it will go on. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. soxlaw. com/ [ 2 ]. http://www. time. com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2021097_2023262,00. html [ 3 ]. http://www. nytimes. com/2002/07/31/business/corporate-conduct-the-president-bush-signs-bill-aimed-at-fraud-in-corporations. html [ 4 ]. http://c0403731. cdn. cloudfiles. rackspacecloud. com/collection/papers/1940/1940_SEC_In vst_Advisors_Act/X. pdf [ 5 ]. ttp://www. sarbanes-oxley-101. com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance. htm [ 6 ]. http://www. soxlaw. com/s302. htm [ 7 ]. http://www. sarbanes-oxley-101. com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance. htm [ 8 ]. http://www. sarbanes-oxley-101. com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance. htm [ 9 ]. http://www. sarbanes-oxley-101. com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance. htm [ 10 ]. http://www. sarbanes-oxley-101. com/sarbanes-oxley-compliance. htm [ 11 ]. http://www. allbusiness. com/professional-services/accounting-tax-auditing/5220240-1. html#ixzz2D3ZIFMye

Why Is Agriculture Important in the World of Today

Since the dawn of history, agriculture has been one of the important means of producing food for human consumption. Today more and more lands are being developed for the production of a large variety crops. In Asia, vast areas of land are being used to produce rice, wheat, rubber and a variety of other crops. In Asia, vast areas of land are being used to produce rice, wheat, rubber and a variety of other crops. More than half of the lands occupied and developed by human beings in the world are devoted to agriculture. That agriculture is one of the most essential means of producing food is realized easily when we think of the types of things that we eat. The rice or wheat that we eat comes from the land. Even potatoes and other roots or vegetables and even leaves such as tea, as well as the fruits that men eat are the products of the soil that covers the earth. In fact, everything that we eat except meat, fish and other kinds of flesh comes from the land and what grows on the land is part of agriculture. Even the sugar, oil, coffee and other beverages that we use are products of plants that grow on the land. In the same way, many of the medicines that we use are made of plants that grow in various parts of the world. The tobacco that we use for relaxation also comes from a plant. Thus, it can be easily observed that without agriculture we would be almost without food. It is true, however, that in the remote past men did live mainly on flesh that he obtained by hunting. But such a kind of life was unhappy and inconvenient, for animals were not found everywhere easily. Therefore, men turned to agriculture for his livelihood. Today, agriculture continues to provide almost all the foods that men require to survive on the earth.

Poverty in canadian society Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Poverty in canadian society - Term Paper Example There is another traditional poverty measure criteria based on basic needs poverty measure, recommended by Fraser Institute. As per this measure poverty has reduced greatly in the past 60 years, as reported 4.9% in 2004 (Wikipedia para 2). Indicators of poverty have changed with the changing times. In comparison to middle class Europeans, the â€Å"poor† America possess larger homes; more than 70% have a car; about 20% have more than one transport medium; about 60% poor have two or more television sets. The traditional definition of poor denoting those who have deficiency of food, shelter, and clothing holds minimum authenticity, therefore, requires redefining (Bauman 6). Before considering poverty in relative terms we need to find the parameters to compare, what are the standards, global or the highest known standards in Canada and Europe, as examples from third world could be the worst on absolute poverty (Segal 7). Milton Freedman, one the great post-war Nobel Prize winning conservative economists put the case this way: â€Å"The programme should be designed to help people as people not as members of particular occupational groups or age groups or wage-rate groups or labour organizations or industries† (Segal 18). ... Canada could not meet the poverty targets set by the United Nations in 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, as reported by the National Council of Welfare. Since1990s such figures have been presented that indicate a rise in the number of poor people in Canada. Even at the height of economic boom, rate of downfall in poverty was slow. There is no unanimous opinion on it, as all depends on how we define and measure poverty. Some indicators to the rise in poverty include peoples’ increasing dependence on food banks and emergency shelters. Between 1989 and 2000 the use of food banks had increased by 96%. At a boom period of 1997-2000, the food bank use increased by 9.4%. Housing has become a big issue for poor people. Canadian youth are the leading community in the matter of homelessness but when it comes to measuring poverty, computations on poverty lines are not unanimous (deGroot-Maggetti 1-3). So far as poverty lines are concerned, in Canada there is no dearth of poverty measures. The federal government has a number of poverty indicating measures. Besides, the social councils, organizations, and independent researchers have evolved their own measures. Yet provincial social help rates offer another set of poverty lines. Absolute measures stress on basic human needs while relative measures point towards the insufficiency of standards socially accepted above poverty line (deGroot-Maggetti 3). Due to different measuring standards of poverty, the term has become somewhat ambiguous. A further research into the causes of poverty in Canada can help in making the meaning clear. Many factors are responsible for poverty although there is difference in a â€Å"factor† and a â€Å"cause†. A â€Å"cause† adds to the emerging of an issue such as poverty

What aspects of an organisations internal environment are critical to Essay

What aspects of an organisations internal environment are critical to the success of an organisations strategy - Essay Example This essay will deal with certain vital facts related to internal environment and strategic management. The first few paragraphs are devoted in introducing the concept of organisational strategy and internal environment. In the latter part, an elaborate discussion is conducted on the various process by which internal environment of an organisation influences the organisational strategy. Some real life examples are also discussed to understand the manner in which few companies have modified their organisational strategy as per the internal environment to gain synergy and competitive edge in the market. Different authors have nurtured different views on the concept of strategy. In general it can be concluded that strategy assists in identifying objectives which will add competitive edge to the company over its market rivals (Sutton, 1980, p.1). Organisational strategy provides a vision or direction that organisation should strive to gain competitive position over its rivals. While developing any strategy, the management should keep in mind that the strategy should be aligned with the organisation’s market position, prevailing resources and capability possessed by it. Strategy provides the guideline for resource allocation and management policies (Walker, 2003, p.4). External environmental factors are those factors which are not under the direct control of the company. These include economic, political, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Since these factors lie beyond the reach of the company, they constitute the threats and opportunities of the business (Norton, 2008, p.10). On the other hand, the internal factors which directly or indirectly affect an organisation are financial resources, physical resources, objective of business, managerial policies, work environment, corporate image of the organisation, its relation with labours, technical and R&D capability and promoters’ vision

Social Media Marketing Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Use of Remote Sensing for Development by the Indian Space Research Essay - 1

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D3 Whistleblower Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

D3 Whistleblower - Essay Example These individuals may be in danger after the whistleblowing. The tort law aims to protect individuals against harm from unreasonable actions of other people (Lipman 2011). The law therefore protects the whistleblowers from being hurt legally by those they have blown the whistle against. Intentional tort law protects the whistleblower. Whistleblowers are protected by this tort law because even though their actions intentionally hurt those involved in the organization, they do so with an intention of ending the misconduct hence the action is justified and law offers protection (McBride and Bagshaw 2008). This law protects the special agent because even though the FBI’s integrity was questioned, the action will enable other intelligence organizations to be vigilant in future hence her action was justifiable in court. The Lloyd-La Follette Act is a congressional act that was passed as a way to protect civil servant whistleblowers against abusive or even unwarranted removal of the whistleblower for revealing misconduct or furnishing information. It also guarantees the rights of employees to reveal any inefficiency information about the institutions to the congress or authorized committees. All this is in a bid to improve the integrity of such institutions and organizations and protect their employees at the same

Purchasing and Buying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Purchasing and Buying - Essay Example I had other experience though in my life that prepared me to make or buy decision. As a child, I was always interested in business and I created many ways to make small bits of money. My father was instrumental in providing me with an opportunity to understand business and as I continued to learn about business. When I entered the military, I knew I wanted to be a part of the Marine Corps right away. I became a purchasing specialist while living in Virginia and I was able to create 24 Government Purchase card holders. I had to negotiation and execute 1,300 small purchases. The way I did this was through the use of a Request of Quotation. Vendors had to submit this information and I was responsible for making the decision of which ones to purchase. I also learned how to increase revenues by putting together small contracts until we had everything we needed. As an example, I created a net income of $1.2 million for the card holders which made them very happy because I showed them how to save money. I was able to reduce costs again by creating an electronic Point of Sale system. The way that I was able to save money in this situation was to combine three positions into one. This saved 15% in the overall cost. I created a partnership with a local ending institution that gave us good rates and h elped us lower our cost by providing check verification. Since our company did not have to verify checks, I was able to create the opportunity to again save money. Because I continue to educate myself, I have created many skills that provide me with the knowledge that is needed for each of my jobs. I have received many achievements from my military training that has come in the way of various certificates. I also have a specialty in contract law and procurement which broadens my scope of skills and the world. I also have learned that there is more information than I could possibly

The ground truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Review of the Literature-Sheila Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Review of the Literature-Sheila - Coursework Example These studies have included a range of methods for collecting qualitative data reflecting on the perceived benefits of electronic health records in improving efficiencies in the clinical setting (Sittig & Singh, 2011). 14 One of the important components of this proposed study is to seek knowledge from healthcare professionals with lived experiences. The study design is a survey of health professionals to gain their perception on patient errors and the capture of data through an electronic health record and paper documentation. Creating a tool to capture effective strategies for patient record keeping in the clinical setting is necessary to review data. Organizational leadership may learn ways to improve patient outcomes through the findings of the qualitative phenomenological study to determine the best approaches to change and methods to reduce errors (Goldstein et al., 2014; Schumacher & Jerch, 2012). 14 The ubiquity of information technology in the 21st century has transformed virtual industries. Today, computers are virtually institutional contexts because of relatively low cost and easy to access. There are still some industries, resistant to the adoption of information technology; healthcare is one such industry (Goldstein et al., 2014). Computers are major in the healthcare field and are frequently in the healthcare delivery system for care management (Chen & Lin, 2011). The advent of the Affordable Care Act creates new compelling incentives exist for clinics regarding implementation of an electronic health record management (Freymann, 2013). The United States healthcare systems are lacking quality healthcare and health record information (Oldfield, 2014). United States healthcare providers are apprehensive about the digital health record because challenges with system integration, education, privacy, and compliance with the federal government regulations. An electronic health

Midterm Exam Essay Example for Free

Midterm Exam Essay 1. (TCO 1) Suppose your company sold $25,000 in merchandise to a customer for cash. How does this transaction impact the accounting equation? (Points : 12) 2. (TCO 2) Suppose your company sold $50,000 in merchandise to a customer for cash. How does this transaction impact the accounting equation? (Points : 12) 3. (TCO 3) Rationalization is one of the components of the fraud triangle. What types of rationalization could a person use to justify misconduct? How can a company protect itself from rationalization as a part of fraud? (Points : 12) 4. (TCO 4) What is horizontal analysis of financial statements? How does horizontal analysis differ from vertical analysis? (Points : 12) 5. (TCO 3) Separation of duties is a key feature in an internal control system. Why is separation of duties such an important internal control? Give an example of separation of duties as an internal control. (Points : 24) 6. (TCO 1) Describe the balance sheet. Why is this statement important to the company, creditors, and investors? (Points : 24) 7. (TCO 4) Name and describe one liquidity ratio. What does this ratio measure? What is the formula for this ratio? (Points : 24) ACCT 301 Midterm Exam 2 1. (TCO 1) The retained earnings statement shows all of the following except which one? 2. (TCO 1) Management’s views on the company’s short-term debt paying ability, expansion financing, and results of operations are found in which of the following? 3. (TCO 4) For 2010, Fielder Corporation reported net income of $30,000; net sales $400,000; and average share outstanding 6,000. There were no preferred stock dividends. What was the 2010 earnings per share? 4. (TCO 4) A useful measure of solvency is which of the following? 5. (TCO 2) Which pair of accounts follows the rules of debit and credit, in relation to increases and decreases, in the same manner? 6. (TCO 2) The principle purpose of posting is which of the following? 7. (TCO 3) Joe is a warehouse custodian, and also maintains the accounting record of the inventory held at the warehouse. An assessment of this situation  indicates 8. (TCO 3) The following information was taken from Hurlbert Company cash budget for the month of June: 9. (TCO 11) Managerial accounting information does which of the following? 10. (TCO 11) Which one of the following is not a direct material? 11. (TCO 11) Sales commissions are classified as which of the following? 12. (TCO 11) Manufacturing costs include which of the following? 13. (TCO 11) Neeley Manufacturing Company reported the following year-end information: 14. (TCO 5) What effect do changes in activity have on fixed costs per unit? 15. (TCO 5) Which one of the following is not an assumption of CVP analysis? ACCT 301 Midterm Exam 3 1. (TCO 5) A company has total fixed costs of $210,000 and a contribution margin ratio of 30%. How much sales are necessary to break even? 2. (TCO 5) How much sales are required to earn a target income of $70,000, if total fixed costs are $100,000 and the contribution margin ratio is 40%? 3. (TCO 6) For which one of the following budgeting aspects does the budget committee generally have the responsibility? 4. (TCO 6) Under what situation might a budget be most effective? 5. (TCO 6) How does long-range planning compare to a master budget? 6. (TCO 6) Which one of the following is a source of information used to prepare the budgeted income statement? 7. (TCO 7) When is a static budget most appropriate in evaluating a manager’s performance? 8. (TCO 7) Which type of center is the housekeeping department of a manufacturing company? 9. (TCO 7) For which of the following is an investment center manager responsible? 10. (TCO 7) Merck Pharmaceuticals is evaluating its Vioxx division, an investment center. The division has a $45,000 controllable margin and $300,000 of sales. How much will Merck’s average operating assets be when its return on investment is 10%? 11. (TCO 11) Financial and managerial accounting are both concerned with the economic events of an enterprise. Similarities between financial and managerial accounting do exist, but they have a different focus. Briefly distinguish between financial and managerial accounting as they relate to (1) the primary users, (2) the type and frequency of reports, (3) the purpose of reports, and (4) the content of reports. 12. (TCO 4) Are short-term creditors, long-term creditors, and stockholders primarily interested in the same characteristics of a company? Explain. 13. (TCO 5) In the month of  September, Nixon Company sold 800 units of product. The average sales price was $30. During the month, fixed costs were $7,200 and variable costs wer e 60% of sales.

Analysis and Design of Software Architecture Essay Example for Free

Analysis and Design of Software Architecture Essay Outline 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Development Process Requirements Quality Attributes Runtime QA Non-runtime QA Requirements Analysis: Example Architectural Analysis Design Architectural Views Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 2 / 78 Development Process Methodology Diï ¬â‚¬erent software development processes have software architecture as a part of the process Rational uniï ¬ ed process Spiral development method Agile development method Evolutionary rapid development Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 3 / 78 Development Process Place of SA in SDP Figure: Source: Software Architecture Primer by Reekie, McAdam Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 4 / 78 Development Process Methodology After the initial requirements analysis but before software design The ï ¬ rst architecture is also a communication basis with the customer Inputs for the development of the architecture: 1 2 Requirements Context (technical, organizational, business, ) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 5 / 78 Requirements Analysis At the beginning there is always a customer who wants a speciï ¬ c software system Customer â€Å"wishes† are always informal Interviews, some documents, some Excel tables, We need to analyze such informal records and structure it Requirements engineering is a huge ï ¬ eld but we just illustrate here one possibility Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 6 / 78 Requirements Analysis The results of the requirements analysis: 1 2 Functional requirements Non-functional requirements (a) Runtime qualities (b) Non-runtime qualities 3 Contextual requirements Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 7 / 78 Requirements Functional requirements A technical expression of what a system will do Arise from stakeholder needs Structured language: software requirements speciï ¬ cation Use cases: structured description of user interactions with the system Formal models: e. g. state-charts Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 8 / 78 Requirements Non-functional requirements Other needs than directly functional or business-related Generally expressed in the form of quality-attributes Runtime quality attributes Non-runtime quality attributes Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 9 / 78 Requirements Contextual requirements What technology is available? Expertise of the development team Previous experience of users/customers Technical, business, market, legal, ethical, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 10 / 78 Quality Attributes Need to address QAs Without any need for performance, scalability, any implementation of functionality is acceptable However, we always need to take into account the broader context E.g. hardware, technological, organizational, business, The functionality must be there but without proper addressing of QA it is worth nothing Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 11 / 78 Quality Attributes Inï ¬â€šuence on QAs Typically, a single component can not address a QA completely Any QA is inï ¬â€šuenced by multiple components and their interactions E.g. a UI component has a high degree of usability: however, usability of the system is compromised if a data management component has poor performance in accessing the data → users need to wait long → poor usability Components and their interactions → software architecture QAs are directly inï ¬â€šuenced by software architecture Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 12 / 78 Runtime QA PURS PURS (performance, usability, reliability, security) Performance: time performance, memory, disk, or network utilization Usability: human factors, easy to learn, easy to use, Reliability: availability, safety, Security: authentication, data protection, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 13 / 78 Runtime QA Performance Time performance is most obvious Measured in the number of operations per second Also, latency: the time from receiving an input and producing an output Other measures: memory, disk, network utilization or throughput Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 14 / 78 Runtime QA Performance Diï ¬â‚¬erent measures are typically traded oï ¬â‚¬ against each other E.g. increasing throughput may increase latency Time performance might be increased with more memory True performance of the system is not only deï ¬ ned by performance of single components But also by their interactions and the overall processes in the system Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 15 / 78 Runtime QA Performance factors Choice of algorithms Database design Communication Resource management Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 16 / 78 Runtime QA Choice of algorithms Performance of algorithms is measured by their complexity (big O) E.g. linear complexity: O(n) Running time increases in direct proportion to the size of the data E.g. polynomial complexity: O(n2 ) It does not scale: double size of the data running time increased by factor of 4 Goal: O(nlog (n)) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 17 / 78 Runtime QA Database design Performance of database queries can dominate the overall performance The design of the tables has enormous impact on the overall performance Techniques to improve it: lazy evaluation, replication, caching Some additional cost to manage replication and/or caching In-memory databases (real-time systems) Developing a new database (search engines) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 18 / 78 Runtime QA Communication Network overhead Package data according to a protocol, sending data over network Each layer means additional overhead Think how to use network: packaging binary data as XML!? Use more compact formats, e.g. JSON vs XML Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 19 / 78 Runtime QA Resources management Overloaded components need to be avoided A chain is only as strong as its weakest link! E.g. a single-threaded shared resource is in use: all other threads are blocked Very diï ¬Æ'cult to track down Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 20 / 78 Runtime QA Usability Usability is a very rich ï ¬ eld If usability is important you will need a usability expert Combination of many factors: responsiveness, graphical design, user expectations, conï ¬ dence Measuring with time taken to complete task, error rate, time to response, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 21 / 78 Runtime QA Responsiveness and data availability An example of relations between QAs Usability requires that the system responds to user actions within a certain period of time If it is a complex system this need translates into performance along the path of the user action Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 22 / 78 Runtime QA Responsiveness and data availability Figure: Usability vs. Performance Source: Software Architecture Primer by Reekie, McAdam Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 23 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs This diagram shows that we need to pay attention to tuning communication between B and Y Performance of the communication channel is a consequence of a usability requirement Do we need to support security of the communication channel? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 24 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs This diagram shows that we need to pay attention to tuning communication between B and Y Performance of the communication channel is a consequence of a usability requirement Do we need to support security of the communication channel? We support QAs always only as a response to user needs Never because it is needed anyway! Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 24 / 78 Runtime QA Discussion on relations between QAs If we support security even if it is not needed Very often QAs exercise opposing forces on the system Security requires a lot of checking: performance will suï ¬â‚¬er → usability will suï ¬â‚¬er A minimalistic approach: develop only what is required! Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 25 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability In traditional engineering disciplines reliability measures the failure rate of the system Failure rate speciï ¬ ed by mean time to failure MTTF A related measure: mean time between failures MTBF MTTR is mean time to repair A is availability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 26 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability MTBF = MTTF + MTTR A= A= MTTF MTBF MTTF MTTF +MTTR E.g. expected availability of Web systems: Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 27 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability MTBF = MTTF + MTTR A= A= MTTF MTBF MTTF MTTF +MTTR E.g. expected availability of Web systems: 1 (always up-and-running) =⇒ MTTF → ∞ Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 27 / 78 Runtime QA Reliability Increasing reliability involves testing However, impossible to prove that a system is correct, i.e. without bugs Acceptability of errors depends on the  nature of a system Personal desktop use: bugs are typically tolerated Enterprise level: medium reliability level High-reliable systems: bugs can be fatal Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 28 / 78 Runtime QA Security Increasingly important aspect of systems is security Because systems are exposed to threats Especially networked systems As with other QAs security is a set of related responses to user needs Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 29 / 78 Runtime QA Authentication Requirement for identiï ¬ cation of users with a system Users present credentials so that the system can identify them Typically username and password Other forms: certiï ¬ cates, smart cards, biometric features Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 30 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization After authentication authorization which functions and what data is available for users This information is captured in an authorization model Access control lists (ACL) deï ¬ ne who can access and how a resource might be accessed E.g. read access, write access, delete access, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 31 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization Drawbacks of ACLs It is resource based, e.g. a page in a CMS Often, authorization needs to address functions or tasks Also, managing of ACLs is diï ¬Æ'cult, e.g. subresources of resources Also, performance problems with checking Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 32 / 78 Runtime QA Authorization Another model: role-based access control (RBAC) Roles are used to manage many-to-many relations between users and permissions Roles are used to represent the job functions, e.g. author, teacher, student in an E-learning system Permissions are modeled as parts of roles, e.g. create page, create tests, Users are than assigned to a role and acquire automatically permissions of that role Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 33 / 78 Non-runtime QA MeTRiCS MeTRiCS (maintainability, evolvability, testability, reusability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability, scalability) Maintainability: how easy can you ï ¬ x bugs and add new features Evolvability: how easy your system copes with changes Testability: how easy can you test the system for correctness Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 34 / 78 Non-runtime QA MeTRiCS Reusability: how easy is to use software elements in other contexts, e.g. a software library Integrability: how easy you can make the separately developed components of the system work correctly together Conï ¬ gurability: how easy can a system be conï ¬ gured for diï ¬â‚¬erent installations and target groups Scalability: how easy the system copes with a higher performance demand Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 35 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability This QA considers the whole lifecycle of a system What happens during system operation? Property that allows a system to be modiï ¬ ed after deployment wirh ease E.g. extensible, modiï ¬ ed behavior, ï ¬ xing errors Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 36 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability At the design and implementation level Code comments Object-oriented principles and design rules Consistent programming styles Documentation Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 37 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability Maintainability is very important because any software system will change over time Experience shows that such changes tend to degrade the system over time Software systems are subject to entropy The cumulative eï ¬â‚¬ect of changes degrades the quality of the system Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 38 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability The systems tend to become messy systems Regardless of how a nice plan you had at beginning Design for change recollect OO design rules Abstract messy parts of the system so that they can be exchanged Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 39 / 78 Non-runtime QA Maintainability Don’t be afraid to refactor and rewrite and redesign Each software vendor does this with major versions Create throw-away prototypes Think out-of-box and innovate Don’t always follow a hype very often nothing new in hypes E.g. Web services Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 40 / 78 Non-runtime QA Testability Means to improve testability Test cases: if something fails there is a bug Separation of the testing framework and the system, i.e. testing with scripts from outside Logging Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 41 / 78 Non-runtime QA Conï ¬ gurability Ability of a system to vary its operational parameters without re-compiling or re-installing E.g. selecting appropriate database drivers, conï ¬ guring network parameters, Typically, realized by a set of conï ¬ guration ï ¬ les E.g. Apache Web server conï ¬ guration ï ¬ le sets host name, virtual hosts, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 42 / 78 Non-runtime QA Conï ¬ gurability Conï ¬ gurability interacts with other QAs such as testability, maintainability, reliability High degree of conï ¬ gurability tends to have a negative impact on those QAs Testing of diï ¬â‚¬erent system conï ¬ guration becomes more diï ¬Æ'cult → reliability compromised Conï ¬ gurable components will be strongly parametrized → decreased maintainability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 43 / 78 Non-runtime QA Scalability Ability of a system to increase its capacity without re-compiling or re-installing E.g. serving additional Web pages means only copying these Web pages into a Web server ï ¬ le system Sometimes increasing capacity means increasing hardware, e.g. Web server clusters Managing user session on the client side, means only providing additional code-on-demand from the server Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 44 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT A simple and usable system for network analysis is needed. Networks are entities that contain not only individuals but also their connections with other individuals (see e.g. 3 for an example). The system accepts a network representations as a list of pairs of connected nodes stored in a dataset ï ¬ le. Nodes are represented as integers. An edge between two nodes is stored as a line containing two nodes delimited by a tabulator. Users might upload datasets to the systems and store them for further analysis. Each user might upload multiple datasets and can execute various analysis on those datasets. The system keeps the track of the analysis history for each user. Users may calculate degree distributions, network diameter, clustering coeï ¬Æ'cient, connectivity measures, singular values, and diï ¬â‚¬erent centrality measures. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 45 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT Users can execute various calculations on multiple datasets in parallel. The system must not be blocked if a calculation is currently under way. Rather it should be possible to start a new calculation, or view previous calculations, etc. In case of longer calculations the system needs to notify the user by e-mail when the calculation is over. The results of the calculations should be available in textual and in graphical form. All results can be also downloaded to a local computer. The system will be used by a group of students that learn the basics of network analysis. It is expect that at any times the system will be used by multiple users executing multiple calculations. Since the system is primarily an educational tool it needs to be didactically sound, i.e. simplicity and usability are very important. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 46 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description 6 How to search in a small world Pajek Figure 2: HP Labs’ email communication (light grey lines) mapped onto the organizational hierarchy of HP Labs constructed out the e-mail communication. Figure: Social network(black lines). Note that communication tends to â€Å"cling† to of formal organizational chart. From: How to search a social network, Adamic, 2005. with one another. The h-distance, used to navigate the network, is computed as follows: individuals have h-distance one to their manager and to everyone they share a manager with. Distances are then recursively assigned, so that each individual has h-distance 2 to their ï ¬ rst neighbor’s neighbors, and h-distance 3 to their second Denis Helic (KMI, TU neighbor’s neighbors, etc. SA Analysis and Design Graz) Oct 19, 2011 47 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example System description Web-based Network Analysis Tool: W-NAT The system is a Web-based system and the users should be able to operate the system by using a standard Web browser. The users need not install any additional plugins to operate the system. User perceived performance of the system should be acceptable. In addition, standard Web usability concepts need to be followed. In particular, browser back button must be working at all times and it should be possible to bookmark pages at all times. Finally, standard Web design principles should be satisï ¬ ed, meaning that pages are valid (X)HTML pages in at least HTML Transitional. The system needs to support cross browser compatibility. Further, each page and each important application state needs to have a unique and human-readable URL. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 48 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.1: UR1.2: UR1.3: UR1.4: UR1.5: Out-degree distribution In-degree distribution Cumulative out-degree distribution Cumulative in-degree distribution Hop plot Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 49 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.6: Clustering coeï ¬Æ'cient UR1.7: Distribution of weakly connected components UR1.8: Distribution of strongly connected components UR1.9: Left singular vector UR1.10: Right singular vector Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 50 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR1: The system is a network analysis tool. The system can calculate the following measures. UR1.12: UR1.12: UR1.13: UR1.14: UR1.15: Network singular values Degree centrality Closeness centrality Betweenness centrality Eigenvector centrality Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 51 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR2: Networks are stored in dataset ï ¬ les. UR3: The dataset ï ¬ le has the following format. NodeID1 \t NodeID2\n UR4: Users can upload multiple datasets to the system. UR5: To perform an analysis users select a dataset and then choose a measure to calculate. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 52 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR6: For each user and for each dataset the system manages a history of calculations. UR7: Users may initiate multiple calculations simultaneously. UR8: When a calculation is started the system is not blocked. UR9: The system notiï ¬ es users about a ï ¬ nished calculation by e-mail. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 53 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR6: For each user and for each dataset the system manages a history of calculations. UR7: Users may initiate multiple calculations simultaneously. UR8: When a calculation is started the system is not blocked. UR9: The system notiï ¬ es users about a ï ¬ nished calculation by e-mail. When is this notiï ¬ cation needed? If the user is logged out? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 53 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. How register? E-mail? Captcha? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Functional requirements UR10: The calculation results are presented in a textual as well as in a graphic form. Which form? Format? Graphics format? UR11: Users can download the calculation results. Single results? All results? Archived, how archived? UR12: Users can register with the system. How register? E-mail? Captcha? UR13: Users can login and log out. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 54 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? UR5: Web-based system should be available at all times. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR1: The system is simple, usable and didactically sound. Usability UR2: The system needs to support multiple users simultaneously. Performance How many users? UR3: Authentication should be supported. Security UR4: User-perceived performance must be acceptable Performance and Usability How many seconds at max users can wait? UR5: Web-based system should be available at all times. Reliability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 55 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability UR9: Multiple users. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Non-functional requirements UR6: Human-readable URLs. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability UR7: Extending the system with new metrics. Evolvability, reusability, maintainability, testability, integrability, conï ¬ gurability UR8: Reliability of a Web-based system. Testability UR9: Multiple users. Scalability Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 56 / 78 Requirements Analysis: Example Contextual requirements UR1: Web browser. UR2: Valid (X)HTML, at least (X)HTML Transitional. UR3: No browser plugins are allowed. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 57 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Analysis We analyze the requirements and try to identify so-called key concepts Understanding of the domain Static part of the domain We also try to identify key process and activities Dynamic part of the domain Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 58 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Design Design is the process of creating models (recollect the deï ¬ nition of SA) Two basic types of architectural models Structure and behavior Architectural structure is a static model of a system (i.e. how the system is divided into components) Architectural behavior is a dynamic model of a system (i.e. how the components interact with each other to perform some useful work) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 59 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure The division of a system into components and connectors To represent the model: box-and-lines diagrams (to see at a glance important concepts) It is important to remember that diagrams are only representations of the model Diagrams must always be accompanied by additional material such as text, data models, mathematical models, etc. The combination of diagrams and additional material is an architectural model Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 60 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure What is a component? What is a connector? Components might be subsystems, separate processes, source code packages, Connectors might be network protocols, method invocations, associations, The combination of diagrams and additional material is an architectural model Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 61 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure Figure: Example of an architectural structure Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 62 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure In the diagram we have one user-interface and one database component But what is the criteria for deciding what is a component? Separate program modules? Separate threads or processes? Conceptual or functional division? And what about connectors? Network protocols? Callbacks? Request/response cycles? Method invocations? Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 63 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure What is the level of granularity of a diagram? E.g. for a Web-based system, components are servers and browsers and connector is HTTP But, components of a server are HTTP parser, ï ¬ le I/O, cache, plug-ins, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 64 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural structure Comparison with OO: a component is an object and a connector is a message sent between two objects Because models in OO are very well deï ¬ ned Therefore, we need additional information that accompanies diagrams To describe criteria for decomposition and provide explanations on granularity Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 65 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Complementing structure is architectural behavior Interaction of system elements to perform some useful work Functionality vs. behavior Functionality is what the system can do and behavior is the activity sequence Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 66 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Example: Accessing a tweets document Request is sent to the Web presentation layer That layer forwards the request to the application logic, e.g. TweetDeck TweetDeck contacts TweetViews to obtain a particular template, then retrieves the data from TweetDB wraps it into an HTML response and sends the response to TweetUI Functionality allows me to display a tweets document, behavior is the sequence of activities that makes it happen Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 67 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Each component has a set of responsibilities Behavior is the way how these responsibilities are exercised to respond to some event An event may be an action of the user or an event from an external system A particular behavior is an event plus a response in the form of a sequence of component responsibilities Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 68 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior To represent behavioral models we use use-case map notation by Buhr A use-case map consists of a trace drawn through a structural diagram of the system The path of the trace through a structural diagram shows the sequence of activities Each crossing of a component by the trace indicates exercising of a responsibility Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 69 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Types of traces in use-case maps Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 70 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior (a) Single trace all responsibilities exercised sequentially (b) Two traces are consecutive: Equivalent to single trace but shows that continuation is triggered by another event (c) And-Fork: The traces after the line are potentially concurrent (run in parallel) Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 71 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Types of traces in use-case maps Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 72 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior (a) N-Way And-Fork: the trace after the fork may be replicated an arbitrary number of times (b) Or-Fork: The trace is split and activity proceeds along one or another path (c) Seq-Fork: The traces after the line are followed in the order indicated by the arrow Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 73 / 78 Architectural Analysis Design Architectural behavior Figure: Example of architectural behavior Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 74 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views We can examine a system from diï ¬â‚¬erent points of view Diï ¬â‚¬erent kinds of views Conceptual: components are set of responsibilities and connectors are ï ¬â€šow of information Execution: components are execution units (processes) and connectors are messages between processes Implementation: components are libraries, source code, ï ¬ les, etc and connectors are protocols, api calls, etc. Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 75 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views There are other models as well We will mention them but we will investigate only previous three models Data model describes the data Physical model describes servers, ï ¬ rewalls, workstations, Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 76 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views Each view provides diï ¬â‚¬erent information about the structure of the system Each view addresses a speciï ¬ c set of concerns All views taken together is the primary means of documenting software architecture Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 77 / 78 Architectural Views Architectural views The conceptual architecture considers the structure of the system in terms of its domain-level functionality The execution architecture considers the system in terms of its runtime structure The implementation architecture considers the system in terms of its build-time structure Denis Helic (KMI, TU Graz) SA Analysis and Design Oct 19, 2011 78 / 78

Television And Cartoons On Children Media Essay

Television And Cartoons On Children Media Essay After all commited researches, we saw that mass communications tools was investigating effects of delivered messages on upon the targets from the beginnings to date. For that reason, receivers of messages in other words audiance or listeners situations were carried an important weight and it was aroused more attention than other components of communication. The audience understand the message of the acceptance of active or passive, the research found likely to be correct, however, dubious, questionable, problematic parts formed. (Ã…Å ¾ahinde Yavuz, 2005, Medya ve Ä °zleyici, Bitmeyen TartÄ ±Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸ma, Vadi YayÄ ±nlarÄ ±, Ankara) Researchers, the event continues today, according to the liberal pluralist approach, especially the visual media presentation and a principled understanding of the task falls on the way up was needed. To give a presentation of the message by the principles of ethical norms on the one hand, and how the presentation of the message transmitted limits on the other hand, also sets the line between social media and are defending the thesis. (AyÃ…Å ¸e Ä °nal, 2003, Medya ve Toplum, Ips Ä °letiÃ…Å ¸im VakfÄ ± YayÄ ±nlarÄ ±, Ä °stanbul) CHILDHOOD AND CHARASTERICTIC FEATURES In a study showed that the most enjoyable period of childhood, developmental psychologist and expert pedagogues by Before Transaction between the ages of 4-7 is called the period. Increases childrens imagination at this stage, games and toys become the most important part of life. Children are very much is egocentric. On the basis of the world as they experience the feeling that the world spins around them and they are the only human beings. One of the most characteristic feature of this universe of inanimate objects human characteristics is they believe that lifeless objects can be alive. In kids world, any change in terms of cognitive development may be having full faith. For example; Gadgets like the fairy tale Puss in Boots camel can turn into cats or mice. At times like this kind of thinking goes, is sometimes startling. In fact, these kind of fantastic games, movies, stories and fun stuff are tools to enhance creativity of our children, us and that enrich our relationship. To a chieve this positive goal, what we need to do is have some mandatory approaches. And this approach results in what direction the research is going to be a case and that will be examined in accordance with references of the researches. A study of violence in television programs and cartoons to the elements and their activities were examined and children were observed to behave differently after watching violent content on television cartoons. The pre-school children used in this study and 100 children were observed before and after watching TV. One group was watching violent cartoons, while the other group, no aggression, non-line of the content of movies are provided. Children who were watching violent movies were observed to fight with other children more and go against to their parents and be more impatient of their behaviours examined by the researchers. Educators and pedagogues are also identified by the new generation that childrens programs and cartoons are no different than an adult programmes and shows on television. That shows feels a little girl like a teenage girl and boys who feels like the cartoon heroes subjects unsuitable topics according to childrens age and subjects do not conform to the developmental characteristics of children. That puts at risk of these young children mental health. (Sevil Gà ¼mà ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸, Pedagogue, Istanbul, 2010) When we consider all these things and we get these results that creativity and thinking system of a child is effecting when watching cartoons on the line up of films including the development of systems that are affected by some negative elements. To prevent these adverse effects from the world of cartoons for children with different solutions, rather than depriving them much easier to navigate and that will be effective results obtained by experts and research results are positive according to the data that we have. TELEVISION AND CHILDREN Television has an important role in an adults life as well as a childs. Today, as a major entertainment and recreational vehicle of television programs adopted, watched and consumed by the children as much as adults. Programme-makers are aware of the diversity of the audience, and according to different age groups and educational programs are designed in order to their targets. Cartoons are among these programmes and fundamentally children are the main target for these productions. Primary school age children in the period preceding its relationship with television are identical for the purposes of discovery. Television programs, especially the bright, vibrant and fast-changing elements, moving characters, strongly the sound or light gets childrens attention and affects them. Pre-school children meet with violence watching TV cartoons and that makes them become ready for violence watching these unreal but lively and brighter images. Especially share of cartoons has a big responsibility in that. School-age is a very important period for children as they tend to be more violence and shows aggressive behaviours in terms of their impacts of behaviours because their age. During this period, a child develops increased attention. They have an ability to understand and follow the continuity in the stories. The described events as implicit in their conclusions and approves the actions or movements of the characters and its mimics. The trend in this period and violence in children varies and changes if they watch violent programs. Especially those who follow such programs which reflects the real world of violence and those children who believed himself a hero shows aggressive behavior in real life is seen to increase. During the adolescent period, affected by television charactersor identity formation is less than younger ages. But this young teenage children are more convinient to copy violence the in the television or criminal behavior by mimicking, shows us a rebel behaviour of traditional authority challenged behavior can be exposed. (Josephson, W.L.,1995, Television violence: A review of the effects on chÄ ±ldren of dÄ ±fferent ages. Canadian Heritage.) Cartoons colorful, exaggerated and full of fun world, impresses kids big time and at the same time entertains their world. Because of the level of creativity and thinking system of the children are very different from adults as children watchs cartoons and feels themselves part of what the watch and that develops their creativity. The cartoons and events they watch and follow in a way thats much easier to adopt and internalize for them. Therefore, cartoons has important activity during childrens internalization period and that learning and observing creates different worlds in childs thinking system. But the cartoons can be adversely affected in many elements on children especially discernment wise submits and shows us that the ones who did not reach the level of understanding and judging could be way more affected. Because watching the cartoons, childrens world slowly begins to become a part of it. If the necessary intervention is not made a child makes himself part of that fantasy world and cuts the reality between that world and real life. That affects negatively childrens development. They start losing adaptation of the real world and ignore what happening around them. They start becoming some other character which does not exist in real world. (Ä °dil Seda AK, 2010, Çocuk GeliÃ…Å ¸imi UzmanÄ ±, Istanbul) The most affected social groups of the television broadcasts are today, children. The broadcasts influences their personality development and socialization who are at the stage of development also well known by the community. To protect children from negative effects of television broadcasts for both national and international levels, the various arrangements being made every day and joint operations are conducted. Those programs particularly interested by the children and can cause series of physical, mental and moral development damages. The world authorities are working on them not to be too violent and kind of measures taken in the direction of interest is still being investigated as we are not sure if we are on the right direction. (Dr. A.Zahid Akman, RTÃÅ"K, 2006, Ä °lkà ¶Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸retim ÇaÄÅ ¸Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±ndaki ÇocuklarÄ ±n Televizyon Ä °zleme AlÄ ±Ãƒâ€¦Ã… ¸kanlÄ ±klarÄ ± Kamuoyu AraÃ…Å ¸tÄ ±rmasÄ ±, Istanbul) THE IMPACT CARTOON VIOLENCE HAS ON CHILDREN Cartoon violence is an issue which recently has been growing in importance. Now a days it is extremely difficult to find a TV channel that is 100% children friendly. Most channels have children programming mixed with commercials or movies previews that are completely inappropriate for children. Cartoon programmes should not be aired whole day long as this would have a negative impact on the kids demeanor. Parents cannot watch their children every minute of the day and it only takes a second for them to change channels. Children will try to mimic anything they see or hear and cartoon violence is no exception.    Children should be given an option to watch only child friendly cartoons . EFFECTS OF CARTOONS ON CHILDREN Todays children have become much more interested in television programmes and cartoons over many years and it has become a major action to some lives. Distinctively, children begin watching cartoons on television at an early age of one, and by the age two or three children become most enthusiastic viewers. This has become a problem because too many children are watching too much television channels and the shows that they are watching (even if they are cartoons) have become violent and addictive. Marketing of cartoons has become overpowering in all around the world and so has the subliminal messaging. The main strategy is targeted toward the children to cause them to want to view the cartoons on a regular basis, but the subliminal messaging is for the adults to target them into enjoying the cartoons. This is unfortunate because children watch the cartoons on the television and they see material that is not appropriate for their age group. The children who watch too much cartoons on television are more likely to have mental and emotional problems, along with brain and eye injuries and unexpectedly the risk of a physical problem incr eases. Mental and Psychological Effects of Childrens Cartoons: From the time children start school to the time that they graduate they are averaged to spend around 13,000 hours in school. This may seem like an awful lot of hours to attend school unless it is compared to the hours a child watches television, which is nearly 18,000 hours (from the time school is started to the time of graduation). This comparison is an outrage because of the amount of television that is watched by a child will have an effect on their brain, emotions and their sense to feel pain. In a 2000 report on adolescent violence it was stated that more aggressive behavior in a young childs life is caused by frequently watched entertainment that incorporates violence in it. This has become a public health issue and because of the research findings; the American Psychological Association passed a resolution in February of 1985, informing broadcasters and the public about the dangers violence on the television has on children. Three major effects have been proven by psychologic al research caused by children seeing violence on television. These are child may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others children who watch violence do not fear violence nor are they bothered by violence in general and the children are more likely to become aggressive or use harmful actions towards others. When we are born we have the capacity for motivation, experience, and training, and because of this our minds are very impressionable. Therefore, our brains development is a dynamic mix of nature and nurture, so it is important to choose a healthy environment for all children. This means cartoons with violence will be unhealthy for a child because in general, being interactive with any environment enhances the development of a successful brain. As a result, a tremendous amount of childhood involvement with electronic media can limit social interaction and may obstruct the development of a brains social systems. IMPACT ON THE BRAIN AND EYES: An episode of the Japanese cartoon Pocket Monster which was later renamed Pokà ©mon for international distribution drew worldwide attention after multiple cases of children suffering seizures after watching the episode were reported .Parents began to wonder how the cartoons which their children watched affected their mental development. While no former study specifically relating to cartoons has taken place, multiple studies over the years have charted the impact of television on the minds and eyes of developing children. Most eye specialists agree that watching television is not a danger to the eyes, as long as children watch in the right conditions. However the room should not be pitch black, and children should not sit closer than five feet away from the screen. Sitting in a dark room or closer than five feet will not damage the eyes, but will result in eye fatigue. As for the brain, there is scientific evidence that too much cartoon viewing can be detrimental to children. According to a study it was revealed that children who watched on an average three to four hours of television daily had a greater risk of developing attention deficit disorder than children who did not watch television. While no specific program is directly responsible, it is speculated that the speed of the images displayed could affect childrens brains. A question arises whether watching television give young children seizures. According to a study it was found most children who suffered seizures from the December 1997 episode of Pocket Monsters had epilepsy, or some other underlying condition that would have caused development of seizures, regardless of whether or not they saw that program. INCREASED RISK IN CHILD SAFETY Today in many childrens cartoons you see cartoon characters jumping, diving, and falling from very high heights, then landing without being harmed. Parents seem to be happy with this as along as the cartoon doesnt promote sex or any kind of violence. On every episode of Loony Tunes    a short clip of Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner is mostly shown. And in every clip Wile E. Coyote in some shape or form seems to fall off a cliff or simple have one of his inventions back fire and cause a mass explosion. Yet, he manages to collect his teeth, dust him self off and get up for another attempt to catch the Road Runner. Another example of this sort of cartoon would have to be Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. In these cartoons it always seems to be rabbit hunting season and Elmer Fudd can never seem to shoot that dang ol rabbit. When he tries, Bugs usually finds a way to either bend the gun to aim at Elmer or to plug it up with some kind of object. But, either way the guns always fire into Elmers face. These sorts of cartoons are displaying false sense of reality upon children. Being able to fall off a tall cliff or being shot with a gun in the face and walking from these incidents with barely a scratch. At a young age, this false sense of reality can really affect them. It has been proving that children on average watch 4 hours or television a day. This false sense of reality for every hour of TV viewed per day, the risk of injury rises proportionally.    A child growing looks up to and would want to be like the super heroes in the cartoons. Thats why the false sense of reality that cartoons show encourage children to try things that they see their favorite super hero do. In some cases TV has also been linked to causing seizures. The cartoons children are watching dont show sex or violence doesnt mean that they are innocent. Because of this false sense of reality children at a young age cant tell the difference between cartoons and realism. TVS EFFECT ON CHILDRENS BEHAVIOR : Children who view cartoon shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see. This speaks to the impressionable mindsets of young children, who are still learning control of their minds and bodies, and are likely to mimic what they see, as it seems quite normal to them. A need arises for parents to keep a close eye on what their children watch. They must be there to explain that the cartoon character or actor that was shot has not been harmed, but would actually be seriously injured, or die in real life. They should also work to tell their children that violent behavior is not the best course of action to resolve a conflict. Young children are very impressionable. Higher levels of television viewing correlate with lowered academic performance, especially reading scores. This may be because television substitutes for reading practice, partially because the compellingly visual nature of the stimulus blocks development of left-hemisphere language circuitry. A young brain manipulated by jazzy visual effects cannot divide attention to listen carefully to language. TV is a very quick medium. Messages are shot at the viewer as if by an automatic rifle. Their minds must be equally as quick to interpret the messages, and with such a two-minute mind, many messages are misinterpreted, or confused. When the child becomes used to receiving information at so fast a rate, they lose interest in information that is more detailed and methodical, such as the information received in day-to-day schooling. Television certainly does affect the kids, who find themselves mesmerized by the bright flashing objects, and rapid assault of messages. Auditory Subliminal Messaging in Childrens Cartoons The lessons that the media conveys to those parts of the mind without conscious perception through the cartoons that people watch, are referred to as subliminal messages. When children watch cartoons, they always pay attention to what is being said.    In a childs subconscious mind, he or she is exposed to auditory subliminal messages that they may never discover, but they will eventually become a part of their lives.    Not all auditory subliminal messaging is negative.    However, most of these messages have a negative effect on children.    The interesting thing about the situation is that these messages are most common in popular cartoons. SpongeBob Squarepants has been on the air since 1999 on Nickelodeon.    Today, it still remains popular and new episodes are still being created.    It is now 2004 and people are speaking out against the messages that they found hidden in a number of episodes.    The main allegation against SpongeBob Squarepants is its use of metaphors in place of profanity.    When he is disappointed, SpongeBob will often yell out Tartar Sauce.    To an adult ear, that phrase may sound like it is intended to represent a curse word. When parents choose what cartoons to let their children watch, they want to make sure that these cartoons are appropriate for general audiences People who create popular cartoons are careful to not allow any vulgar content to be incorporated into their cartoons.    However, every cartoon cant be made perfectly safe for viewing by children and some of the verbal content may be mistaken for auditory subliminal messages. Marketing Practices of Companies that produce Childrens Cartoons: Children are no longer viewed as vulnerable human beings that need to be nurtured. Nowadays, companies are increasingly viewing kids through an economic lens.    This is because children are easy to take advantage of. A child will see an item that they want and will throw a complete tantrum until their parents give up and purchase it. This is a marketing companys dream come true.    Marketing Companies can open up emotional vulnerabilities, and its very easy to do with kids because they are emotionally vulnerable. Cartoon companies are the most common companies that are tapping into this new trend. It is literally impossible to walk into any store today and not see any licensed cartoon merchandise. From playing cards to toothpaste, these companies have covered every angle possible. By doing this it makes it impossible for a child to walk into a store and not want a specific item. Cartoon companies are also known to advertise their object in between television shows. The commercials are designed to have the child infatuated with the object and wanting it as soon as possible. With such devises these companies are using today, it is quite understandable why these companies bring in billions of dollars a year. To conclude with animated cartoon pictures are targeted mainly towards children. They can have a positive as well as negative influence on children depending upon the theme and the content. The animated pictures contain a wide array of content matter and messages that may influence children in many different ways. There are some cartoons that are neutral and purely meant for entertainment, some are educational but some are violent to the core.          Looking    at the good side of cartoon pictures, they are fun, entertaining and a good way to rewind oneself. Moreover, some of them even have a positive influence on kids. In the year 2005, Sesame Street, the educational puppet cartoon series, launched its Healthy Habits for Life series. This was televised with an aim to encourage young kids to lead more dynamic and nutritious lifestyles. Healthy Habits For Life featured Wyclef Jean, the rapper, singing and applauding the benefits of fruits and veggies. The puppets and animated pictures in Sesame Street were an instant hit amongst children since the time it was first televised in 1969. Many parents insisted that their kids remembered each and every word that was taught on Sesame Street.             There are many other animated cartoon pictures that inspire kids to adopt healthy habits. Popeye, the sailor man, who gobbles on spinach every time he faces a difficulty. This cartoon character actually inspired many toddlers to eat spinach. Keeping in view the positive influence that cartoons have, teachers started teaching kids through cartoons. They used cartoon character drawings to teach several subjects.Cartoon characters inspired them to study the subjects with       a deeper insight Children also have a tendency to consider some or the other cartoon character as their super hero. It is alright till the time the animated cartoon super hero they adore are cute and cuddly like baby looney tunes, sharp and funny like Tom an Jerry or cute and wacky like The Powerpuff girls However, they may become aggressive and snappy if they imagine picturing a violent cartoon character as their idol. The drawings of cartoon as stated earlier may have a positive as well as a negative influence. The images and storyline can have a enormous negative affect on kids because the violence and fury is honored without aftermaths, is extolled and idealized. Such violent cartoons should be avoided at all costs. The good news is that there are many cartoons that are simply made for pure entertainment, like Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Mickey Mouse or even SpongeBob SquarePants, to name a few. Animated cartoon pictures are meant to entertain. It is more than acceptable if the kids learn a worthwhile lesson from them and are positively influenced.

The World Consensus GameTM :: Communication Technology Philosophy Papers

The World Consensus GameTM The World Consensus GameTM allows anyone to contribute to the creation of a world consensus on issues that divide people. Participants can look up positions that have been taken on topics that people disagree on and can contribute to the discussion of these topics. Participation is easy to do. Once you identify a question that interests you, a map is provided that shows the positions that have been taken on that question along with definitions of positions. You can examine arguments that have been provided for a position, including the argument judged best by philosophers and the argument favored by the general public, and you can express your judgment on positions and arguments. Finally, you can contribute new positions, new arguments, and criticisms of other individual's arguments. The world consensus game is like a huge symposium of the world's people with you as a participant. The World Consensus GameTM can be used in a classroom setting, a conference setting, by Fax, or by compu ter. Signing in to using the World Consensus GameTM After accessing the World Consensus Game through "Peacegames.com" participants are asked to sign in. This is necessary if participants want to vote or make comments, so that their vote or comments are recorded as the vote of a philosophy student, a professional philosopher, or a member of the general public. Groups can have individuals sign in b according to any identity typed in such as member of an organization, etc. Professional Philosopher Philosophy student Public voting for First Choose an Issue A, B, C A The first thing you do is identify the area you want to examine. Areas include the traditional areas of Philosophy (Moral , Social Philosophy, 1etc..) in addition to issues relating to world order, protection of the environment, and any other types of issues anyone wants to discuss. Just click on the issue that interests you. The current World Consensus Game is problems oriented, but could be redesigned to include a historical perspective. World Order Issues Global Survival Issues Moral Philosophy, Maps, Definitions, Simulation Social Philosophy, Map and Simulations Political Philosophy Map The Criminal Justice System Theory of Knowledge Metaphysics Philosophy of Religion