Benchmarking Microarchitecture Using Software Research Paper

Benchmarking Microarchitecture Using Software - Research Paper Example 327). These are defined by many parameters such as the instructions set, the instruction encoding and the rules for using these instructions. Some of the rules are mnemonics addressing modes and functionality. The details at this level are invisible to the user. This is known as abstraction. The implementation of MIPS is borne on the platform of Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC). Validation and Verification Validation in system design is concerned with the confirmation that the goals set are the right ones. This is to enable the proper implementation of the project. Validation is usually done during several different stages of development. It is essential at each level because it ensures that the preceding level is valid before proceeding to the next one. Validation is achieved in different ways. In the micro architecture, use of test inputs and checking on the result is the most common way of validation and verifying the system. So, before the development of the I/O functions , an algorithm is used to test various features if the microsystem. The benchmark program checks for the validity of many features of the micro architecture and verifies some of the features (Patterson, p. 47). Some of these features of the microsystem are illustrated below. The benchmark program used generates a quadratic residue from the integer inputs used by the algorithm. This program checks for functionality of different features mostly in computation. This is because it is the most important feature of the design. The instruction that will be fed into the system will need to be computed consistently. This makes the feature the basis of the design. This computation results in the output of the residue problem used. The program can be altered by using different quadratic residue problems to check for consistency in the system. This is also good for checking the range of values that the program can accept as input and compute without crashing. This is vital because then the desi gners can tell whether the system can accept the range of inputs specified in the requirements. They can also check whether it will need reprogramming. During this kind of testing, sometimes, wrong inputs are put to check how the system will react to them. The system should be able to handle wrong inputs without devastating consequences that will lead to system failure. The users are likely to enter wrong inputs from time to time and their handling should be factored in the design. The use of an 8-bit feedback register shows that the system has functionality for feedback. Feedback is described as the process where the system uses the output generated from a process as input for the same or a similar process. This is common in scenarios where complex computations are performed. These computations require the output of a process to be used as input. If this value has not been generated correctly, the system is likely to encounter an error. This is another feature, which is checked by the system. The application of this feedback is handled using a register. There are several other methods used for feedback systems such as logic circuits, but they are all used interchangeably. The program also has an increment functionality. This functionality is used to increase the value in the counter. The counter has many uses in the system, but is mostly utilized in checking the number of times a program performs a certain function. The increment functions increase the value

The tourism system model

The tourism system model The Tourism System In early tourism research, it was argued that by analysing disaggregated components of tourism, it is possible that an understanding of tourism as a whole could be achieved (Pearce, 1989). However, these reductionist claims often result in a failure to explain the different complex relationships, interactions, interdependencies and impacts within the tourism system (Carlsen, 1999). For example, traditional tourism models such as Leiper (1979) tourism system model assumes that tourism players function in a coordinated manner, suggesting that tourism could be controlled in a top-down approach (McKercher, 1999). However, tourism displays all the characteristics of complexity. Failing to acknowledge the elements of uncertainty, chaos, dynamics and non-linearity in tourist systems, these simplistic traditional approaches to tourism seems to become irrelevant and invalid. Tourism is an activity in which people freely engage in, for personal satisfaction or pleasure, where their behaviour is voluntary and discretionary proceeding from ones own free choice (de Freitas, 2002). Thus, tourists participation is expected to decrease as discomfort and dissatisfaction increase. â€Å"Should climate change, so will be the tourism demand† (De Freitas, 2005, 35). Over the years, more sophisticated models have been developed in attempting to explain what tourism is, its composition and the relationships and interactions that exist within it. From the tourist personality type models (Plog 1974; Pearce 1990), Maslows hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1954), expectancy theory based on Vrooms theory of work motivation by Witt and Wright (1992) to the Mieczkowski Tourism Climate Index (1985) and the push-pull tourism framework (Dann, 1977; Crompton 1979; Iso-Ahola, 1982, 1989; Klenosky, 2002), these approaches provide different but valuable insights for examining the motivations underlying tourist and visitation behaviour. These models have also been useful for the study of the importance of climate to tourism as well as the research on climate change and tourism, providing an understanding and agreement of the varieties and kinds of activities and stakeholders involved. Climate, a Tourism Resource Climate exists outside of any tourism project. However, it becomes a resource when incorporated within a good or service. This is illustrated by the high demand of North Europeans travelling to the Mediterranean resorts, seeing it as a land of paradise. In addition, climate is often said to delimit optimal zones for tourism at a global and regional scale, as illustrated by the warm tropical zone, considered optimum for sun and beach tourism (Burton 1991). In this way, climate, a natural resource becomes part of the tourism product. All of respondents of the survey agreed that climate is important to tourism with 89% ranking it as â€Å"very important†. With the aim of accessing how climate fares in relation to other important considerations in tourism demand, Table 2.1 illustrates the ranks respondents give to each of the factors relevant to their visit to a country for tourism. Attractions in the destination were viewed as the most important factor followed closely by climate. Of considerable importance to this study which may have been omitted in many studies focusing on the temperate regions, 95% of respondents believed that escaping from their countrys winter cold is at least of some importance in their decision for travel. This shows how weather and climate are intrinsic components of the vacation experience and can act as a central motivator in an individuals selection of holiday destination, the timing of holiday travel as well as a salient factor in tourism spending and holiday satisfaction. This study measures up to many other researches such as that done by Hu and Ritchie (1993). Measuring the importance of destination characteristics, they reviewed several destination image studies from the 1970s and found that â€Å"natural beauty and climate† were of universal importance in defining destinations attractiveness. Using a representative survey, Hamilton and Lau (2005) confirmed that climate is at least the third most popular attribute in tourists decision making. Climate can directly affect tourism. There seems to be a clear connection between weather, climate, and human sensitivity. Atmospheric weather conditions may impact tourist demand, participation, experiences and satisfaction (de Freitas, 2003; Yu et al, 2009). People usually dislike very cold or hot climates and possibly very humid ones probably for good reasons founded in evolutionary biology (Heal and Kristrom, 2002). Survey result of this study proves similar conclusion where 74% of respondents indicate that they were more likely to travel during their countrys winter and 19% during summer. None of the respondents chose autumn and spring as the season they would want to travel out of their country. A warm climate seems to be a huge attraction for many of the mid-latitude tourists with 100% citing a â€Å"hot and sunny† weather condition as the preferred choice in the country they visit, even for those who want to escape the summer heat in their country. This proves Maddison and Bigano (2000) findings that the ideal temperature at the most popular tourist destinations are those offering warmer temperatures of around 31oC. In Context: Sentosa Climate has been argued to be one important component which shapes a destinations image and in some regions of the world, constitutes the resource on which the tourism sector is predicated (Lohmann and Kaim 1999). For example, marketed as â€Å"The Island for All Seasons†, the Mediterranean climate which Cyprus, Greece has been blessed with, has identified as the fundamental attribute attracting tourists to the destination. Mather et al contends that â€Å"the climate is a dominant factor in much of the travel that takes place from northern Europe to the Mediterranean () Not only is the purpose of this mass movement of people primarily leisure-based, visiting a sunny beach destination is the intrinsic reason for travel† (2005, 70). Being a tropical country, Singapore and in particular Sentosa has the perfect conditions for the creation of the ideal tourist coast all-year sunshine, warm water, white sandy carbonate beaches and coral reefs -popularised in the three â€Å"Ss†: sun, sea and sand (Wong, 2003). Sentosa is Singapores premier island resort getaway and Asias leading leisure destination. It receives over 6 million visitors yearly, making it the most visited paid-access attraction in Singapore. According to partial break-down of visitor arrivals to all the paid attractions in Singapore as seen in Figure 2a, it show consistency with Sentosa being the most visited paid-access attraction among all groups of tourists. Thus, it makes a good case study for studying climate as a resource for beach tourism in Singapore. Findings in this study shows that although the warm tropical climate of Singapore appeals to the mid-latitude tourists, inducing them to visit the Island of Sentosa as well as their beaches, weather did not prove to be the ultimate choice affecting tourists decision to Sentosa. In fact, although weather ranks second after attraction/activities, given only a choice, only about one quarter, specifically, 27% of the tourists chose weather to be the most important. One reason for this may be because climate invokes the concept of weather which is what tourists anticipate experiencing at a specific destination and is a key factor of consideration for tourists, consciously or implicitly during travel planning (de Freitas, 2002; Gomez Martin, 2005). Thus, having already considered Singapores hot and humid climate before the trip, factoring in possible weather conditions that might be experienced, attractions and activities that can be found in Singapore is determined to be more important at the expense of weather. This result corresponds to the activities that respondents carry out in Sentosa illustrated in Table 2.2, with â€Å"visiting attractions† being the most carried activities by all tourists during their day in Sentosa. The preference of tourists for certain climatic and weather conditions highlights the relationship between tourism and climate. Naturally, different tourism types and activities require different climatic conditions. Thus, climate is one important variable that influences among other factors, what and when particular kind of tourism activities can be done carried out. For example, climate has been identified as the fundamental attribute attracting tourists to the Mediterranean area (Mather et al, 2005; Amelung and Moreno, 2009). Seeking and enjoying the sun is one of the main reasons why many tourists go away on holiday, evident in 70%-80% of UK holidaymakers citing better climate abroad as the primary reason for their trip (Perry, 1993). Similarly, winter sports depend directly on climatic resources. Without snow or low temperatures for the artificial production of snow, the development of ski resorts would not have been possible (Gomez Martin, 2005). In this study on Sentosa, the activities that can be carried out by tourists (Table 2.2) could be sub-divided into two categories: weather dependent and weather independent. Swimming/sun tanning, picnicking and water sports/playing volleyball is to a large extent dependent on weather, especially to the presence of sunshine and rainfall. Although a large percentage of 59% tourists came to Sentosa specifically for sun tanning and swimming, respondents seems to participate largely also in non weather specific activities such as visiting attractions, shopping and dining in an indoor eatery. This result points to an important fact that although Sentosa depends largely on its beaches as well as some outdoor attractions, they provide a diversified range of activities which tourists are also attracted in but do not solely tap on the appeal of the weather. Climate versus Weather Climate invokes the concept of weather in that it is defined as the accumulation of daily and seasonal weather events over a long period of time whereas, weather is the condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place (de Freitas, 2002). In a study of this nature, McEvoy (2008: 103) reminds that it is important to differentiate between visitor responses to climate versus weather conditions. Decision-making relating to tourism such as the destination and period of travel has been found to be based largely on climate information. On the other hand, the vacation period is much more weather-dependent and reliant on short term forecasts where actual weather information is more important than climate information (Matzarakis, 2007). The nature of the relationship between the atmospheric environment and the enjoyable pursuit of outdoor recreational activity may be seen to be a function of facets of on-site atmospheric conditions, the weather. Pleasant weather increases tourist satisfaction, whereas severe weather conditions such as rain and strong winds disrupt outdoor activities. In southern Alaska, for example, tour operators noted a marked difference between the sunny, dry summer of 2004 and wet summer of 2006. Although this study fully acknowledges the importance of climate to tourism, with weather being an important factor, survey results show the possibility that destinations may also be chosen in spite of the likely bad weather. Figure 1 illustrates the findings. The result suggests that even if it rains on the day that tourist decides to go to Sentosa, 49% of the respondents would not alter their original plan to visit the island. The reasons cited were more or less similar in that they would â€Å"choose to visit other attractions within Sentosa† and â€Å"stay in indoor venues†. All of the 28% tourists who states that there will be changes to their plans to Sentosa were at Sentosa beach specifically for the purpose of outdoor beach activities such as swimming, sun tanning and picnicking. Therefore, with some tourist activities more sensitive to weather than others, metrological conditions may affect or disrupt the construction of the planned days event. On the other hand, Sentosa Island with many indoor attractions, allows for contingency plans to be made which enables tourists to be independent of weather conditions. With â€Å"visiting attractions† being the most carried out activity for respondents (Table 2.2), as well as â€Å"attraction/activities† cited as the most important factor affecting their decision to visit Sentosa, it suggests why majority of tourists may not change their plans to visit Sentosa even under unforeseen weather events. Therefore, although climate and weather is one of the many factors that may influence tourist decisions, good weather may not be the primary reason for selecting destinations. Weather Forecast Mark Twains famous quote of â€Å"Everybody talks about the weather but no one does anything about it† is often held up as a truism but Twain himself have said this â€Å"aint necessarily so†. Along the same line of argument, Dewar (2005) contends that humans may not be able to alter the day-to-day weather but they do alter their behaviours to either avoid or take advantage of these weather conditions. To some extent as discussed previously, a majority of respondents seems to have predicted that they would alter their behaviours, by visiting indoor attractions to avoid unfavourable rainfall events. Weather forecasting is a useful way to alter ones behaviour or plan activities to suit prevailing weather conditions on the day of event. Favourable climate and weather conditions are essential advantages which influences the degree of satisfaction, allowing tourists to enjoy their holiday activities safely and comfortably, helping them fulfil the desires that originally brought them to the destination (de Freitas 1990, 2003; Blazejczyk, 2001; Gomez-Martin, 2005). However, it is surprising that although 59% of respondents engaged in a pre-planned weather dependent activity of sun tanning and swimming as well as 10% for picnicking, only a small percentage of 13% admitted to have checked the weather forecast before coming to Sentosa.

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Groom -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeche

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Groom I’ll have to keep this speech short because of my shins . . . Nicola has threatened to kick them I go on too long. The humor here is that you think I’m joking. I’d like to start by thanking you all on behalf of my wife and I, for sharing our special day. Thank you all for your kind wishes, cards and presents. I can’t wait to see how many stick on shower radios we get, and exactly how you wrap a wheelbarrow! Nicola and I have been worrying about this day for weeks and it means a great deal to us that you managed to make it. We hope you are all having a great time. Thank you to Barry and Marilyn for making this day possible. Without their help and support, none of us would be here today. I have to thank them both for bringing up such a beautiful and intelligent daughter, I’ll leave you to argue over which trait comes from who. Thank you t...

The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh

Katherine Mordan Art Survey Research Paper Prof. Lindt 10/23/11 The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh is a piece of Middle Age Egyptian art and it was the piece that caught my eye at the MET. The statue was made around 1919b. c-1885b. c. to represent the reign of the 12th dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat II. It is made out of stone, a stone called Granodiorite. It was carved in Aswan and was completed in Memphis near Cairo. The sculpture is a sculpture in the round, meaning that it is a three dimensional figure that is carved out of block. The statue has smooth texture and large in size. It's an normous statue that raises over a crowd of people, which adds a symbol of power towards it. I saw that it's Amenemhat II sitting on his throne; you can see some damage to the sculpture due to time and moving around of the sculpture. It's missing a nose and its beard. The Pharaoh is wearing a kilt and wearing a belt that has a bull's tail attached to it. To Egyptians a bul l’s tail is a symbol of their strength according to researchers at the Met. He is wearing a royal head cloth with a royal cobra symbolizing the ruler's power. At the foot of the cubes throne is a bunch of scriptures symbolizing it's meaning to the kingdom. The statue was made for the Pharaoh Amenemhat II who ruled in the 12th dynasty. This was the most important period in the middle kingdom, he ruled from 1919- 1885 b. c. He first started his reign with his father and then took over a country that his father kept stable and economically stable. One of the things that pharaoh Amenemhat II did was conduct a military campaign in Syria getting prisoners to build pyramids for him. He would also conducts trades with other countries for goods, copper, wood , and stones. During this time art was gaining popularity in Egypt. Some of the Fine jewelry made came from this time. Stone sculptures like the large Sphinx came from Amenemhat's time. Several years after his reign the sculpture of the Pharaoh was moved from place to place and other kings would alter the statues features to look like theirs; they would carve their names on the statue as well. During the time of the Pharaoh's in Egypt, the kings made sure that the public knew how powerful they were. They made sure that all their artwork symbolized who they were and what strength they had to control an empire. Figures such as a sphinx, lion, snake, bull's tail and falcons, were figures of strength, power and longevity. These were symbols that were used in these pieces to represent the kings. Since the king's seemed all mighty and powerful the people of the country would continue to praise and follow the kings; bringing the king's power and prosperity. The colossal statue of a Pharaoh represents power and strength of an almighty king of king's. Amenemhat II wanted his public to know that he was worthy to be king and that he had the power of control. He wanted his people to believe in him and believe he would bring prosperity. Most important of all is that he wanted people to know that no ne could knock him off of his throne; he was the ruler and could do what ever he pleased. In this type of society, in Egypt king's needed to show their public how powerful they were so that people could not overstep their boundaries and knew they were under strict control. Every social class needed to know were they stood; the rich with rich and the poor working for the rich. This piece really caught my eye due to i ts large size and wonderful detailed structure. It fascinated me to think about how this enormous statue was created back in ancient Egypt and I wanted to share this piece with everyone else.

Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race by James W. Davidson Essay

Ida B. Wells, an African-American woman, and feminist, shaped the image of empowerment and citizenship during post-reconstruction times. The essays, books, and newspaper articles she wrote, instigated the dialogue of race struggles between whites and blacks, while her personal narratives, including two diaries, a travel journal, and an autobiography, recorded the personal struggle of a woman to define womanhood during post-emancipation America. The novel, _THEY SAY: IDA B. WELLS AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE_ , provides an insight into how Ida B. Wells’s life paralleled that of African-Americans trying to gain citizenship and empowerment in post-slavery America. From the beginning, Ida B. Wells was shaped by firm moral convictions and religious beliefs taught to her by her mother and father. Ida B. Wells was born to Jim and Elizabeth Wells in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. Ida B. Wells attended Shaw University until the deaths of her parents and youngest brother during the yellow fever epidemic that claimed her parents’ lives in less than a week. She mentioned in her diary that her parents would â€Å"turn in their graves† if her remaining family were to be separated, so at sixteen, she became a schoolteacher, in order to support her brothers and sisters so they would not be given to different parents and separated. Later, she began teaching in Woodstock, Tennessee, a rural  community in Shelby County, but moved to Memphis when she obtained a position in the public schools in 1884. During this year in Memphis, Ida B. Wells sued the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroads after she was lifted and carried out and removed from the first-class ladies’ coach by the train conductor. In December 1884 the circuit court ruled in her favor, but three years later the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the decision. That experience prompted Ida B. Wells to write letters to Memphis weeklies and, later, to African American newspapers like the _New York Freeman_ and _Gate City Press_. During her tenure as a writer for these papers, Ida B. Wells wrote several articles, such as â€Å"Our Women† and â€Å"Race Pride.† These articles showed that Ida B. Wells was becoming more and more focused with African-American equality and issues with prejudice, and also with gender issues as a woman living in this time, especially an African-American woman. During this time, Ida B. Wells was becoming more and more noticed for her militant attitude in her writings. She became ostracized for her outspoken nature and blunt writings. Although criticized by the white community, she began to influence other black writers to realize their need for empowerment, and they began to speak out against their injustices. Between 1885 and 1887 Ida B. Wells kept a diary describing her struggle as a single professional woman. Ida B. Wells wrote about her life as an independent woman, committed to working, self-improvement, and uplifting the black race. She recorded acts of mob violence, such as the act of mob-lynching black men by white men, for committing lewd acts against white women. Oftentimes, there was not any sufficient evidence to prove these men guilty, and Ida B. Wells wrote about the prejudice they faced by not going through due process of law before convicted and lynched. Ida B. Wells wrote the loss of her suit against the railroad companies as well. In addition, she wrote about conferences in Kansas and Kentucky, where she was elected secretary of the Negro Press Association. Two years later, she bought an interest in the Memphis _Free Speech and  Headlight_ and became a full-time journalist in 1891. During this time, Ida B. Wells lost her teaching position in the Tennessee County School Systems because of editorials attacking inferior segregated schools. After three African-American grocers were brutally murdered by a white Memphis mob in March 1892, Ida B. Wells wrote fiery editorials urging citizens to flee the city. She talked about how the act of lynching was a racist strategy to eliminate black men by means of racism. Ida B. Wells was also outspoken about the charges of rape against African-American men. Ida B. Wells believed that these charges were trying to hide the consensual relations between white women and African-American men. Whites were so shocked and infuriated by these allegations that they destroyed her newspaper office while Wells was away and dared her to return to Memphis. Not intimidated by any of the white men’s threats, Wells kept a gun in her house and advised that guns should be kept in the homes of all African-Americans during that time, as a means for protection. Ida B. Wells also bought an interest in the _New York Age_ and wrote two weekly columns entitled â€Å"Iola’s Southern Field,† and kept increasing her oral and written campaign against lynching mainly through lectures and editorials. Some of these works by Ida B. Wells include _Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases_; _A Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States_; and _Mob Rule in New Orleans_ (1900). In all of these works, Wells argues and contemplates the economic and political causes of racial oppression and injustices. In her writing she analyzes racist sexual tensions, and explains the relationship between terrorists and community leaders, and urges African-Americans to resist oppression through boycotts and emigration. Her manifestation of black empowerment can bee easily seen in these writings. Soon after, Ida B. Wells was dealing with more issues of gender roles in society. After her June 27, 1895 marriage to Ferdinand L. Barnett, a Chicago lawyer, newspaper writer, and widower with two sons, Ida B. Wells was questioned for her marriage by the famous suffragist, Susan B. Anthony. Ida B. Wells had joined the suffragist movement with Susan B. Anthony, and they together preached the important of equal women’s rights. Ida B. Wells was  traditionally feminist, and now had to deal with the dilemma of being married, as well as having children. Professionally, Ida B. Wells also ended up buying the _Chicago Conservator_ from her husband and continued to write following the births of her children. One of the most important accomplishments during Ida B. Wells’ lifetime was her being elected secretary of the National Afro-American Council. This same council called for a conference that led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This group openly displayed its prominence in the black community during post-emancipation times. All the members of the organization were outspoken colored individuals who wanted to speak out against the prejudice of the time. They came together to discuss strategies, as well as solutions. The founding of this organization was one of the most important advancements showing black people’s wishes to be more prominent in the community. Their main discussions revolved around the concern of disenfranchisement of blacks during this time period. Ida B. Wells continued her crusade against violence into her fifties. In 1918 she covered the race riot in East St. Louis, Illinois, and wrote a series of articles on the riot for the _Chicago Defender_. Four years later she returned south to investigate the indictment for murder of twelve innocent Arkansas farmers. She then wrote _The Arkansas Race Riot_ and raised money to publish and distribute one thousand copies of her report. Throughout her final years, she continued to write for the newspaper, thus continuing her belief in African-Americans should seek their own justice. In 1928 Wells-Barnett began an autobiography, which was edited and published posthumously by her daughter, Alfreda Duster, and she kept a diary in 1930 that depicts her campaigning for election to the Illinois State Senate. After a sudden illness, she died in Chicago on March 25, 1931 at 68 years old. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was one of the most outstanding women of the late nineteenth century. She was a militant thinker and writer whose essays,  pamphlets, and books provide a well-respected analysis of lynching. She was a reformer whose insistence on resistance to oppression laid the foundation for the modern civil rights movement. In addition, her diary and autobiography offer a look into the formation of African-American female identity in the late nineteenth century. Ida B. Wells paved the way for new strategies and empowerment for colored people after the abolition of slavery. She remains an influence and an inspiration for those who seek to overcome struggle and injustice today.