What is an ICT system? :: ICT Essays

ICT and computers are NOT the same thing. An ICT system is a set-up consisting of hardware, software, data and the people who use them. It very often also includes communications technology, such as the Internet. Computers are the hardware that is often part of an ICT system. This is why your GCSE is not just about computers, but about how,why and when people use them. It is the power of computers and communications that has allowed ICT systems to become so important. Like any piece of equipment, the important thing about it is what it lets us do. ICT Systems are used in a whole host of places, from offices, shops, factories, aircraft, ships, and communications to medicine and farming. They are everyday and ordinary yet extraordinary in how they can add extra power to what we do and want to do. ICT systems have become important because by using them we become: * More productive in that we can do more things more quickly and at reduced cost. * More accurate and able to work continuously. * Able to deal with vast amounts of information and process it quickly. * They can transport information rapidly. Types of ICT system ------------------- There are different types of ICT system. The main aim of each system decides which name is sometimes used for it. Information systems Many ICT systems are set up to manage data and information. Examples of these are a Sports Club membership system or a Supermarket Stock system. Control Systems Other ICT systems have controlling machines as their main aim. They still use input, process and output, but the output may be moving a robot arm to weld a car chassis rather than information. Communications Systems Yet other ICT systems are dedicated to communications. Their output is the successful transport of data from one place to another. Input, output & system diagrams ------------------------------- What comes out of an ICT systems is largely dependant on what you put into the system. The acronym GIGO is a good way of thinking about this. GIGO can be interpreted in 2 ways: 1. Good Input, Good Output ICT systems work by taking inputs or instructions and data, processing them and producing outputs that are stored or communicated in some way. The higher quality and better thought-out the instructions, the higher quality and more useful will be the outputs. 2. Garbage In, Garbage Out ICT systems all "fall down" if the inputs are inaccurate or faulty; they will either not be able to process the data at all, or will output data which is eroneous or useless. That's why the term GIGO is sometimes used to stand for "Garbage In, Garbage Out".

As I Walked Out One Evening †W.H.Auden Essay

The poem in study is As I Walked out One Evening by W.H. Auden. His views projected in this poem are suggested to have not varied since the time he composed this piece. Unlike his other poems, this piece was never revised. Here, Auden exposes the two sides of romance through the manipulation of narrative voices, the poet, the lover’s song and the chiming of the clock personified. As I walked out one evening is composed in a traditional ballad form. It’s consists of 15 quatrain stanzas conforming to an â€Å"abcb† rhyme scheme. The masculine end rhyme employed gives more freedom of wording. It is through these settings that exhibits the song-like quality of a ballad and by this lyrical tune, Auden suggests the theme and theories examined in the poem are of childlike logic and knowledge. With reference to the structure of the poem, it comprises of 15 stanzas split into three distinctive voices. The first and last being the narration by the poet himself, framing the Lover’s Song and the menacing voice of the clock. Through the beginning narration by the persona, W.H. Auden sets the essence of nostalgia with a â€Å"walk down Bristol Street†. The mention of Bristol Street creates the tone of reminiscence as it is a venue of Auden’s childhood. The contrast of â€Å"crowds upon the pavement† that use to be â€Å"fields of harvest wheat† showcases the change taken place during time-lapse. Down by the brimming river, the poet hears a lover sing â€Å"love has no ending†. The transition of narrative position from the initial persona to the Love Song takes place through the marking of inverted commas. The rhythm of the poem also changes away from iambic tri-meter when the love song begins. The love song is hyperbolized, injected with imageries and unconventional similes to exaggerate the affections of a naà ¯ve lover. With suggestions of the uncanny ability to love â€Å"till China and Africa meet†, Auden captures their simplistic and unrealistic minds. The silly and lighthearted tone shown through the alliteration of the line â€Å"salmon sing in the street†. In addition to undermining the forces of nature, the lover’s song seem to believe its love to be pure and immune to time, for â€Å"in my arms I hold The  Flower of the Ages, And the first love of the world†. This love is expressed to be ageless, the Flower of the Ages a Biblical reference to the year of maturity in which a woman can marry. In a sense, the song provokes that the incredibility of love is beyond human entity, but of something greater. However, the tone shifts in the 6th stanza, turning to the narration of the clock and time personified. They seem to be rebuking the ideals embodied by the Lover’s Song as they began to â€Å"whirr and chime†, an onomatopoeia that creates the image of violent and unsettling wind. The wind that could break them apart, hit their faces with a chill. The clock conveys the negative perception of naà ¯ve love as it rings out a series of advice to the lovers. The Clock’s advice is like a progression of a 4 session counselling, speaking to us readers as if we are the young lovers. Marked by the phrase â€Å"O†, he begins with a gentle coaxing. â€Å"O let not time deceive you†, the idealism borne by the love song shall break through time’s passing. â€Å"O plunge your hands in the water† as if washing one’s face in the morning. Wake up from the hyperbolized world of love to reality. â€Å"Stare, stare at the basin,† reflect on your past actions and their indications, what you’ve missed. â€Å"O look, look in the mirror† examine your present self. Finally â€Å"O stand, stand at the window†, see your partner through the barrier of glass. Unclouded and unaffected by cruel words of a quarrel, in the peace of one’s own mind, then we shall see that we are all hypocrites in love. The overall tone of the clock is quite dark and Auden uses the technique of contrasting metaphors to develop the negative effects of time in idealism. The â€Å"green valley† and â€Å"appalling snow† signifying the presence of time will eventually break momentary joy. â€Å"The glacier knocks in the cupboard, the desert sighs in the bed†, the consequences of time will invade one’s privacy and comfort, perhaps even home. Until it becomes overwhelming, one should break down, it’ll â€Å"open a lane to the land of the dead† where qualities of life we once known are twisted into a paradoxical world embodied by stanza 12. There is however, a consolation to these negative aspects, that if we â€Å"wake  up† in time, we shall learn to love truly, for life remains a blessing, even when we’re too focused on our distress. Throughout this entire process, the language suggests the lack of presence of the first persona. But this theory is contradicted by the last stanza where the â€Å"poet† narrates. â€Å"It was late, late in the evening†, the repetition a habit picked up from the clock’s speech. The persona was watching the whole time, now knows better, that the overflowing love of the â€Å"brimming river†, actually has a lot more depth. W.H. Auden through the shift of narrative voices explores the different perspective of love. This technique shows us not only one sided opinions but various views. And readers are shown, that perhaps what is right in the minds of one, may vary to the eyes of another. The image of romance is often twisted to extremes by society. As human beings, we have the tendency to form opinions based on our own favours. To an extent, this poem may resemble a satire to society. Humans tend to be hypocrites and very good liars to even our own minds to justify our wrongdoings.

The Desired Freedom Of Nora s A Doll s House - 1630 Words

The desired freedom of Nora in â€Å"A Doll’s House† Henrik Ibsen wrote the play A Doll’s House in 1879. In the play Ibsen describes how the society trapped women in marriages and how they carry no value to the family. Just like Stasz Clarice writes â€Å"Society, particularly through social class, structures men and women alike to be insensitive and inhumane.† Nora Helmer is apparently happily married to Torvald, he is a lawyer who is about to be promoted to a management position. They have three small children. Early in their marriage Torvald became seriously ill, and the doctors advised a stay in a more southerly climate. Nora had to get hold of the money for the journey in secrecy and so borrowed it from Krogstad, a lawyer who had been a coworker of Torvald. As security for the loan she forged her dying father’s signature. Ever since then she has saved some of the housekeeping money in order to pay back the loan with interest, and she has taken on small jobs to earn some money herself. When the play opens, an o ld friend of Nora’s, Mrs. Linde, has arrived in town to look for work, and Nora sees to it that Torvald gives her a post at the bank. But this means that Krogstad is dismissed from his post at the bank, and in desperation he goes to Nora and threatens to tell Torvald about the loan and the forgery unless he is allowed to keep his post. Nora considers asking Dr. Rank, an old friend of the family, for the money, but when he declares his love for her, she finds it impossibleShow MoreRelatedChanging The World : One Play At A Time1644 Words   |  7 Pageshistorically influential plays that were written during the birth of feminism are quintessential to the rise of free expression among women. A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles by Susan Glaspell both explore the unjust role of women in society, though in contrast, A Doll House develops the theme through a more complex external conflict. Trifles and A Doll House are both centered on marriage and both come from the woman’s point of view. In Trifles, the audience is introduced into the home of MrsRead MoreA Dolls House And A Dolls House Essay1421 Words   |  6 Pages Henrik Ibsen one of his most famous literature works â€Å"A doll’s house† and Kate Chopin’s short story â€Å"The story of an hour† portrays to the Victorian era, when women didn’t have rights. Both authors were born in an era where women didn’t have rights, and that women faced many aspects in life, such as being submissive to their husband’s, they were viewed as possessions than as people, and live a life that they didn’t want to live during the Victorian age. Even though Ibsen did not live the life ofRead MoreNora – a Classical Hero in Henrik Ibsens a Doll`S House2683 Words   |  11 PagesNora – A Classical Hero in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll`s House Nora Helmer makes the right decision to free herself from the social and traditional commitments and obligations and come and become an independent individual. Nora Helmer in Isbens A Dolls House lived in the world of predetermined social and societal constraints that made her deprived her of her freedom and happiness. The society in which she lived wanted people to live according to the rigidly set norms and standards of the societyRead More Investigation of Power in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ Essay1490 Words   |  6 PagesInvestigation of Power in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ Nora Helmer is introduced in Act I as a character subjugated to the wills and desires of her husband; she is merely an object which Torvald, possesses. At the conclusion of Act III however, she has become sufficiently independent to arrive at her decision to leave the children, her husband and what life she had behind, as she slams the door on the family home. A significant transition of power has occurred and this is one of the major themesRead More freedol Noras Freedom in Ibsens A Dolls House Essay1934 Words   |  8 PagesNoras Freedom in The Doll House      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nora is initially introduced as a macaroon-loving, naà ¯ve individual constantly trying to please her husband.   However, when the audience discovers that she borrowed the funds that allowed her and her husband to travel to Italy for a year in order to save Torvald from certain harm, Nora demonstrates that she is actually a much stronger character than originally portrayed.   However, the real problem lies with the way in which she burrowed the money.   In