What can we learn about American history and the American experience Essay

What can we learn about American history and the American experience through an in-depth study of the jazz tradition - Essay Example The touch and feel of jazz is purely from an African origin because the mellow feeling was as a result of suffering African slaves underwent in settlement schemes (Whyton 17-21). Thus, an in-depth study of jazz tradition is imperative in giving insight into American history and experience. Thus, they came up with the concept of jazz music as a technique of communicating their sorrows and tribulations they underwent as slaves (Rinzler 3). Jazz music has a blues quality that is a characteristic of soft and mellow voices that further express the feelings of Africans during the slavery period. The slaves would not air their grievances to their masters and so the only way to expel their bitterness was through music and in this case jazz music. In addition, this genre of music is often accompanied by instruments whenever it is performed. The African tradition induced a certain culture into jazz such that an instrument being played would be done in an individual’s expression without following any particular order or rules (Rinzler 7). The Harmony in jazz music is a culture borrowed from Europeans. Additionally, the music has a chorus that is played on a piano, which accompanies tunes. Despite the African tradition having their musical instruments, those used in the performance of jazz music trace their origin in Europe and they include trumpets, saxophones, and pianos among many others. Thus, it is evident this genre of music developed as a result of the integration of two different cultures that had varied backgrounds (Larson 79). Despite the long history often attached to jazz music, it is believed the genre first originated from New Orleans in America, which is a coastal city located in Western America that was a major transient port during the ancient times where ships carrying slaves from Africa and the rest of the world docked. For this reason, the city provided an environment for people from various ethnical

Golden Ratio Essay Example for Free

Golden Ratio Essay The Golden Ratio which is also referred to as golden mean, golden section or divine proportion is a number frequently encountered when calculating ratios of distances particularly in simple geometric figures like pentagram, dodecahedron, pentagon and pentagram. It is an irrational constant in mathematics which is given an approximate value of 1. 6180339887 and is symbolized by the Greek letter phi or in other words , or sometimes . Most of the greatest mathematicians in the ancient Greece, Euclid and Pythagoras along with Leonard of Pisa who was medieval Italian Mathematician together with Johannes Kepler, Renaissance astronomer and the present day scientific individuals like Roger Penrose, Oxford Physicist have spent a lot time in studying this ratio along with its properties (Weisstein, 2010). The Ancient Greek mathematicians initially studied the Golden Ratio simply because it frequently appeared in geometry. The Greeks have always attributed the discovery of this ratio to Pythagoras along with his followers. The Golden Ratio was first used by Martin Ohm in his 2nd edition book Die Reine Elementar-Mathematik in 1835. The fascination of this concept is not confined to mathematicians but also artists, musicians, biologists, mystics, architects, historians and psychologist have debated and pondered the basis of its appeal and ubiquity. Prof. Michael Maestlin wrote the first approximation of the Golden Ratio in 1597 and stated it to be about 0. 6180340. It is fair to declare that the Golden Ratio have brought inspiration to most thinkers of various disciplines than any other number has done in the history of mathematics (Weisstein, 2010). The Golden Ratio in Art Just as the Golden Ratio is used in the beauty and design of nature, it can also be applied in achieving balance and beauty in the design of art. This is just a tool for composition although it is not a rule. Leonardo Da Vinci, used the Golden Ratio intensively in designing and in many of his paintings, he featured the Golden Ratio which he called the â€Å"divine proportion†. This he did after his exploration of the human body by engaging in the ratios of the lengths of different body parts. His illustration of the polyhedra on the divine proportion, and his perspective concerning the body proportions portraying the Golden Ratio has led to the speculation by some scholars that he used Golden Ratio in painting. This speculation has been seen in his Mona Lisa painting where it employs Golden Ratio proportion. The Sacrament of the Last Supper, which is a painting by Salvador Dali explicitly, illustrates the application of the Golden Ratio. The canvas’ dimension is that of the golden rectangle and what dominates the composition is the large dodecahedron which has its edges in Golden Ratio and swings above and behind Jesus. Other paintings speculated to symbolize the Golden Ratio are Holy Family by Micahelangelo, Crucifixion by Raphael, Self-portrait by Rembrandt, Golden Section Plate by Fletcher Cox and Bathers by Seurat (Obara 2010). The Golden Ratio in Architecture The Ancient Egyptians became the first individuals to apply mathematics in art. It is obvious that they did this by ascribing magical properties of the Golden Ratio and henceforth using that in designing their great pyramids. Some studies regarding the Parthenon and Acropolis offer a conclusion that most of its proportions give an estimated value of Golden Ratio. The facade of the Parthenon along with the elements of its facade are suspected to be circumscribed in terms of golden rectangles. The fact that the proportions of the classical buildings or rather their elements are according to the Golden Ratio clearly explain that the architects who designed them were conscious of the Golden Ratio and applied it in their designs. On the other hand, it is possible that the architects applied their special sense of good proportion and as a result their proportions gave approximate of the Golden Ratio (Obara 2010). According to a geometrical analysis carried out by Boussora and Mazouz concerning to the Great Mosque of Kairoua, it is evident that there was consistent utilization of the Golden Ratio in its design. The Golden Ratio is applied in the overall proportion of the plan along with the dimensioning of the court, the prayer space and the minaret. Mazouz and Boussora further scrutinized earlier archaeological theories concerning the mosque and demonstrated the Golden Ratio in the geometric constructions through the application of the constructions on the plan so as to test their hypothesis(The Golden Number). Le Coubusier explicitly applied the Golden Ratio specifically in his Moduaor system which he saw as a continuation of the traditions of the work of Battista Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci’s â€Å"Vitruvian Man† and others who applied the human body proportions to improve the function and appearance of architecture. Mario Botta, a Swiss architect based most of his designs on figures of geometry. Some of the private houses which he designed in Switzerland consist of cylinders, squares, cubes and circles. In Origlio, Mario has designed a house with the proportion of the Golden Ratio between the side sections and the central section of the house. In a recent book by Jason Elliot, it has been contemplated that the Golden Ratio was utilized in designing the Lotfollah mosque and Naqsh-e Jahan Square. The Golden Ratio was also used in designing the Notre Dame in Paris in 1250 (The Golden Number). Conclusion The idea of translating beauty into a simple number, the Golden Ratio is quite disturbing. It is true that beauty is not something that is so substantial in something like a lifeless number but rather something we all have to make personal choices regarding it. Basing on the rule of thirds that is used in photography, for a photo to emerge appealing and balanced, the image must be made to abide by the grid that is divided into thirds. The number of comments that a person receives directly correlates with the beauty found in his/her image. Though, there are other factors that affect how people view a person or something, good comments are given depending on how the image appeals the eyes. For attractive people like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the skeleton of Golden Ratio almost fit perfectly on them. However, when the skeleton was put on a picture of an individual who looked a bit unattractive, the skeleton did not fit. I am not suggesting that beauty should be translated into being lifeless and cold because of it being defined inform of numbers. However, I think that the paintings and houses that used the proportions of the Golden Ratio look appealing and beautiful. In my opinion therefore, physical beauty can be measured by Golden Ratio.

Effects of Globalisation: Case Study of Tesco

Effects of Globalisation: Case Study of Tesco INTRODUCTION Globalisation is a progression by which local markets, humanities, and beliefs have become united through a globe-spanning network of communication and trade (Gary, 2001). The term globalisation is occasionally used to refer explicitly to economic globalisation. It is the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of skill and technology. Globalisation of markets refers to the process of incorporating and unification of the individual world markets into a sole market. Jurgen argues in his publication in 2005 that the process engages integration of some common standard, worth, perception, taste and accessibility around the world and slowly enables the cultures to shift towards the use of common merchandise or service. It has been greatly argued that globalisation is not a fresh phenomenon, but rather it has been there since colonial age. However, its recent and tactful use can be d ated to 1983, when Levitt published his article â€Å"The Globalisation of Markets†. (Kapferer, 2008). One of the features of globalisation of markets is that the size of the company needs not to be large to create a global market. Even small companies can create a worldwide market. Factors influencing the locality of manufacturing facilities vary from country to country. They may be more favourable in foreign countries rather than in home country because of cheap labour or low taxes in foreign countries, which forces the corporations to establish manufacturing facilities in other countries. It is renovating the ways in which countries interact. State economies become incorporated as the flow of merchandise and goods expands outside the borders. In theoretical simulations, less trade barriers or decrease in transport costs generates increase in trade between consumers in another country and producers in the other. In the current atmosphere, businesses are more able to section their operations internationally, outlining each stage of manufacture in the country where it can be completed at the least cost, and communicating ideas for new merchandises and new ways of manufacturing products around the world. The digital revolution that has charged up globalisation is alteringhow customersandcorporationsbehave. This revolution is cumulatingcompetition, decreasing prices, creating new simulated companies, allowing individuals to sell goods to each other deprived of a middle man. In the era of new vending, it’s more important than ever that the company shows that they are on the customer’s side and they arehere to make their lives a bit easier, a bit better. That’s the base of the faith companies want to build as they become the model for new business. In addition, when outsourcing happens between neighbouring nations, such as the Pakistan and China or Mexico and USA, the exchange of production raises the intentions for businesses to produce in areas with comparatively low-cost access to far-off markets. Thus, the location of economic activity inside countries may alter (Hanson, 2001). The diversity of global market is still dominant even after the globalisation of markets and production. These discrepancies require the businesses to formulate diverse policies for each market. The global business firms compete with each other frequently in different national markets including their home markets. This essay will further explain the effect globalisation of markets and production has on an organisation by illustrating it with a case study on TESCO. CASE STUDY TESCO is one of the world’s largest merchant after Wal-Mart. It has followed an aggressive foreign expansion strategy into US, South Korea, Eastern Europe and China. It sources its goods globally and always purchases in great volumes, which helps it to keep costs down of its products. Substantial cost-cuttings are made through handling the supply chain efficiently and effectively. The corporation has introduced a points card which collects data from customers when they use it to buy items. The data is then used to provide discounts and offer savings with the range of products on deals. This builds loyalty and develop promotions that aim for specific customers. Through the use of this technology, TESCO has been successful to create a fair amount of customers for themselves and remains a leader within the UK market. (HSC Online, 2014). The size of the business can be estimated by the figures provided by (Tesco, 2014) that it’s operating about 6,784 stores worldwide, engaging over 500,000 employees. That makes it the largest food supplier in the world. It also offers online services over its subsidiary, www.tesco.com. The largest company in UK’s market operates below four banners of Metro, Express, Superstore and Extra. The company vends about 40,000 food products, clothing and non-food lines. The company also produces own-label merchandises which are categorised in three levels, normal, value and finest. Apart from these, Tesco also provides several petrol stations, becoming one of Britains major independent gasoline retailers. One of the major retailers in the world, Tescos early experiences with globalization was not fruitful. However, later Tesco started restricting its stores and merchandises according to the worldwide markets. It entered South Korea in the year 1999 by starting a combined venture with a deep-rooted native retailer Samsung. The joint venture assisted Tesco attain in-depth understanding of the marketplace and also helped it get the finest store locations (Tesco plc. 2014). Tesco began working in the country under the well-established Home Plus banner. Tesco confined its stores according to the likings of the Korean customers and brought in several of its international best practices into the country. Globalisation of markets and production has a great role in making Tesco plc. Britain’s largest retailer, as a major multinational corporation. 65 % of its operating lie outside the UK with 12 international subsidiaries (ibid). During the progression of expansion Tesco has been able to capture and benefit from the innovation which emerged from international subsidiaries. Due to the interconnection of the markets, Tesco’s organizational structures and operating skills have been continuously transformed as it has learned to operate in and adapt to host economies. The firm has transferred knowledge from the UK around its international operations using intra firm networks of telecommunications and face-to-face best practice transmissions. Innovatory practices emerging within the international subsidiaries have also been captured via bottom up processes of organizational learning. Only thanks to internet, Today, Tesco have been able to include 13 countries in its business empire which give it access to over 3 billion people, which is about 54% of the total world’s population. Because of the advent of technology, the process is so progressive that (Tesco Plc., 2011) claims it would have been the world’s biggest online grocer if they knew it back in the early 1980. That means 13% of all card transactions in the Britain would be on a Tesco credit cards, or there would be more than six millionclub card holders just in South Korea (ibid) Tesco has been successful in using the concept of outsourcing and cashing the productivity out of it throughout the past years. The Multi-floor store design and operational services were developed in Tesco’s East Asian subsidiaries. Afterwards, being transferred into Britain in the form of â€Å"stores on Stilts† designs which first appeared in Altrincham in 2002 (Aim research, 2014). The Low-build-cost stores technique was first developed in Thailand and then was transferred to Europe and used as a benchmark to assess its Central European developments. Food hall merchandising techniques (emulating East Asian â€Å"wet markets†) being transferred to and used to enhance â€Å"retail theatre† within its Central European hypermarkets (ibid). International production has been so successful that Tesco has extended its applications management outsourcing contract, in a deal worth of  £18 million (CIO, 2007). Philip Clarke in his first speech as the CEO of Tesco Group said â€Å"We are in a new era of retailing, creating great opportunities and challenges for every retailer, and putting even more focus on consumer trust† (Tesco plc., 2011). Thus, Tesco have embraced thetechnology,built the team, and fostered talent. And In return the globalised market gave them one of the most successful businesses of our times. Clark proclaimed that by the completion of the year Tesco will double the amount of stores with non-food Click and Gather to 600 (ibid). CONCLUSION Globalisation affects all three levels of manufacture, but in diverse behaviours. Globalisation make available a market for main industries, but demand can occasionally take importance over sustainability, to the disadvantage of long-standing reasonableness. Minor businesses benefit from globalisation because businesses select zones where the market suits them, but this may lead to redundancy for trained employees who reside in countries with a greater standard of living. Globalisation, joined with technology, is a benefit for tertiary trades when corporations can sell services on the international marketplace without repositioning. They are, however, vulnerable to market variations. Anyhow, Because of the interconnected global market, companies can achieve increased revenue opportunity through global sales. They are able to reach a bigger customer base with better success chances. Through globalisation of production, they can also enjoy reduced production costs by producing in low cost countries such as Apple Inc. is producing most of its products in China. With these businesses investing in developing companies, it also increases income for these countries which creates an overall good environment for economic activities. Fascinating as it seems, the changed atmosphere causes the traditional norm of running a local businesses to become null and void. Businesses nowadays need to be on a bigger market to gain the competitive advantage above its rival businesses. Global planning might seem fancy and fruitful, but global execution is definitely not an easy task. Extremely talented team is required to sustain a business in such competitive environment. Furthermore, some countries might take global production as exploitation of their workers which can damage a company’s image. Thus, with careful planning and innovation, companies today can be much more successful than they ever was. REFERENCES HSC Online. (2014). Business studies operations: influences. Charles Sturt University. Site accessed by the URL: http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/business_studies/operations/4408/Part%202%20Influences.htm Rugman, A. M. Hodgetts, R. M. (2000). International business : A strategic management approach. Pearson education Limited: London, UK Jurgen, O. (2005). Globalization: A Short History. Princeton University Press Gary, J. Wells, Robert, S., Ray K. (2001). Globalization. New York: Novinka Books Kapferer, J. N. (2008). The new strategic brand management: Creating and sustaining brand equity long term (Fourth Ed). Kogan Page Limited: United Kingdom Hanson, G. H. (2001). The globalization of production. Article retrieved from http://www.nber.org/reporter/spring01/hanson.html Tesco Plc. (2011). Philip Clarkes keynote address to the British Retail Consortium Symposium. Retrieved from http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17newsid=541 Aim research. (2014). Globalisation of innovation. Advance institute of management research: Accessed by the URL http://www.aimresearch.org/uploads/file/Presentations/Globalisation_of_Innovation.pdf CIO (May, 2007). Tesco extends outsourcing. Accessed by the URL http://www.cio.co.uk/news/networks/tesco-extends-outsourcing/?otc=103

Review Of John Updikes Review it Was Sad :: essays research papers

Review of John Updike's Review "It Was Sad" I chose to review John Updike's Review â€Å"It Was Sad† from the October 14th issue of â€Å"The New Yorker†. In the review, Updike examines several works concerning the tragedy of the Titanic. He cites these works, I feel, to support his own opinion about the event, and the different accounts of what really happened. Updike spends some time disproving the belief that the upper class male passengers heroically sacrificed their own seats on the lifeboats for those less fortunate than themselves. He even points out, who he feels, are the real heroes in this catastrophe. This shows he is writing from a moral perspective, relating to these works. He definitely takes the position of the lower class of American society as this time in history, and even brings up the topic of racism and sexism in the recall of the event. It seems that the ships crew and the lower class passengers were the most courageous in the eventful two and half hours it took for the ship to totally go under. He provides quotes from the various selections, one being the statistics of death, by class. These statistics show that, in actuality, more of the upper class passengers survived than the lower classes (by both percentage, and total people). Updike also examines, in depth, the cultural effect of the sinking of the Titanic. The thought that a ship declared unsinkable going down on its first voyage was at the very least, shocking to the public. Who could look at invention and progress in the same way? Updike seems to point out that the public at this time is naive and quick to make idealistic judgments. He also refers to the passengers moral standpoints, describing the decisions they made not only during the ship's final hours but also during the whole trip. To further prove his point, he gives the testimony included in one of the books, concerning a Senator who heard the screaming of the suffering passengers but

Lease versus Buy Essay

When an individual is trying to decide whether or not to lease or buy, he or she needs to know the purchase cost, the lease cost, as well as the interest rate of a loan that will be used to purchase the item. The residual value of the item also must be known up front to help determine if leasing is the better option. When determining whether to lease or buy, the cash flow for both should be compared so the best decision can be made. Below is a chart on lease vs buy. (www.smartcomputing.com; Retrieved November 6, 2006) Lease/Buy Cash Flow – Usually better from a short-term cash flow perspective. Frees up cash for other purposes while you generate income to pay the leases. You pay less overall but need to have available cash. Financing as an alternative costs more than a lease. Tax Treatment – If properly structured, a lease may give your company a larger expense write-off than a purchase. Consult your tax advisor. Depreciation write-off is based on IRS rules for the type of equipment that you are buying. Consult your tax advisor. Upgrades- Many lease companies let you upgrade to newer equipment during the term of the lease without renegotiating. If you need newer equipment, you are on your own. However, simple upgrades (RAM, hard drive, etc.) cost you only whatever the upgrade is. Equity- At the end of a lease, you don’t own the property, and you will need to replace it or buy it from the lease company.You own the equipment and can do with it whatever the needs of your business dictate. Disposal – The lessor is responsible for whatever it costs to dispose of the equipment. You are on to your next set of computers. You can use the equipment for a different purpose within your company, sell it, or pay someone to recycle it for you, but disposal is up to the owner of the equipment. The first scenario is an organization called Bonnesante Research based out of Irvine, California. Bonnesante is set up with Venture Capitalist (VC) Funding. Bonnesante major focus is asset acquisition, which is why the Chief Financial Officer has to weigh the pros and cons of leasing vs buying. Bonnesante’s is trying to determine if purchasing or leasing is the better option for a mainframe computer. I chose to lease the mainframe computer because the loan options have a higher outflow whereas the lease option of 18 months with no down payment has the lowest present value of cash outflows. Because the Mainframe would not be used through its entire economic life, it was better for the organization to lease the mainframe. If a loan was acquired to purchase the mainframe, the organization would have to record the purchase on the balance sheet and the depreciation and the interest payments would be recorded as expenses. If the organization was taxed then purchasing the mainframe would be beneficial because the depreciation and the interest payment would lower the outflows. In the second scenario Bonnesante Research is tasked with finding the best option to acquire a spectrometer. The options Bonnesante Research is faced with are: – Operating Lease – Capital Lease – Loan After evaluating all the information, buying the spectrometer would be the best option for Bonnesante. Buying the spectrometer is beneficial because it is considered to be a long term asset with no threat of becoming obsolete. The spectrometer can be used for its entire economic life. An operating lease would not be beneficial because an operating lease is considered when equipment is to be acquired on a short term basis. The capital lease was another option but was not chosen because the 60 month capital lease would have cost more in present value terms than what the loan amount would have  been to purchase the spectrometer. If the organization had cash flow issues, then the capital lease might have been a better option. Whether the company pursued a capital lease or received a loan to purchase the spectrometer, both options can be recorded on the balance sheet so the organization can reap the benefits of depreciation. The final scenario is Bonnesante Research has been in operation for 6 years and wants to acquire a manufacturing facility. Bonnesante Research already has a facility in mind but that facility will require an upgrade. Bonnesante Research has the options of a capital lease or Bonnesante can purchase the facility by obtaining a loan. Also, Bonnesante Research has to keep in mind the organization is having a cash flow crisis that needs to be resolved. The challenge Bonnesante was faced with was to acquire the facility at the lowest cost possible and to resolve the cash flow shortage. Although the buy option was more expensive than the lease option, it gave Bonnesante more flexibility to upgrade the facility and to carry out a sale and leaseback transaction. Due to the leaseback transaction, Bonnesante was able to resolve the cash flow crisis. The leaseback option was more beneficial to Bonnesante rather than the bridge loan. The bridge loan is a short-term loan with a higher interest rate compared to long term borrowing. A bridge loan would have been more costly to Bonnesante Research and the organization could not afford to go with this type of loan. A sale and leaseback is beneficial to any organization that has a cash flow shortage. Selling the asset can bring forth a large amount of cash and the organization can retain use of the asset by leasing it back hence the name sale and leaseback. The risks involved with lease vs buying depends on an organizations financial status. Whether or not an organization decides to lease or buy is determined by what option is more beneficial to the organization. An organizations attitude toward acquiring assets and financial strength all affect the decision on leasing vs buying. Whether an organization leases or buys, the organization needs to make sure the asset that is being acquired will add value to the organizations capital budget. â€Å"The advantage of computing present value considers all factors such as  inflation and forgone interest on money. That is, account must be taken of the fact that utilizing capital in ‘investing’ in equipment could result in the loss of income that would have been earned if it were invested elsewhere. To properly evaluate the alternative cash flows, it is necessary to discount them and express them in terms of their present values, to determine their net present values. In summary the Net Present Value calculation determines today’s value of future cash flows.† (www.pngbd.com Retrieved November 6, 2006). When determining when to lease vs buy, an organization should take into account the financial and non-financial issues. When considering the financial aspect, it should include the cost to acquire an asset; if there will be a tax advantage, cash flow, and the benefits to the organizations balance sheet. The non-financial issues that should be considered are asset-management and the cost to dispose of obsolete equipment. In conclusion, under certain circumstance leasing is the better way to go rather than purchasing a capital item outright and vice versa. By leasing, it gives an organization a way to acquire up-to-date equipment while maintaining cash flow. By maintaining cash flow through leasing, an organization can use the cash flow for more pertinent renovations such as office expansion or research and development. Leasing has less of an impact on an organizations budget whereas purchasing an item outright has more of an impact on an organizations budget. Overall, leasing is a way for an organization to recognize operational savings and production improvements in a timely manner. Reference: Smart Computing; Lease vs Buy; Executive Decisions; March 2004, Vol. 8 Issue 2 Page(s) 55-57. (www.smartcomputing.com) Papua New Guinea Business & Tourism; Making Capital Expenditure Decisions-Leasing vs Buying vs Borrowing; (www.pngbd.com Retrieved November 6, 2006).

Multimedia Basics Essay

Application of Multimedia: Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, advertisements, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, and scientific research applications. A few application areas of multimedia are listed below: Entertainment and Fine Arts: In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry, especially to develop special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games are a popular pastime and are software programs available either as CD-ROMs or online. Some video games also use multimedia features. Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of just sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia. Education: In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses (popularly called CBTs) and reference books like encyclopedia. A CBT lets the user go through a series of presentations, text about a particular topic, and associated illustrations in various information formats. Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education with entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment. Engineering: Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for anything from entertainment to training such as military or industrial training. Multimedia for software interfaces are often done as collaboration between creative professionals and software engineers. Industry: In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the world via virtually unlimited web-based technologies. Mathematical and Scientific Research: In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling and simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model of a particular substance and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance. Representative research can be found in journals such as the Journal of Multimedia. Medicine: In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they can simulate how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and bacteria and then develop techniques to prevent it. Multimedia System Architecture: Multimedia encompasses a large variety of technologies and integration of multiple architectures interacting in real time. All of these multimedia capabilities must integrate with the standard user interfaces such as Microsoft Windows. The following figure describes the architecture of a multimedia workstation environment. From the above figure: the left side is very similar to non-multimedia systems. Right side shows the architecture of multimedia supporting system. Multimedia Extensions is used to enhance the speed of process. The add-on multimedia devices and peripherals include scanner, video camera, VCR, and sound equipment along with their associated device controllers. For each of these special devices, a special software device driver is needed to provide the interface from the application to the device. The graphical user interface designed primarily for windows managed by applications at fixed resolution; require control to extensions to support applications such as full-motion video or remote desktop. Evolving Technologies for Multimedia Systems: Multimedia applications use a number of technologies generated for both commercial business application as well as the video game industry. Let us review some of these technologies in this section. Hypermedia Document: Hypermedia documents are documents which have text, embedded or linked multimedia objects such as image, audio, hologram, or full-motion video. Hypertext: Hypertext implements the organization of non-sequential of data by natural association of information. Hypertext systems allow authors to link information together; create information paths through a large volume of related text in documents. It also allows annotating existing text, and appending notes. It allows fast and easy searching and reading of selected excerpts. Hyperspeech Multimedia stimulated the development of general-purpose speech interfaces. Speech synthesis and speech recognition are fundamental requirement for hyperspeech systems. Speech recognition is nothing but converting the analog speech into a computer action and into ASCII text. Speech-recognition systems cannot segment a stream of sounds without breaks into meaningful units. The user must speak in a stilted fashion. He should make sure to interpose silence between each word. 3D and Holography: Three-dimensional technologies are concerned with two areas: pointing devices and displays. 3-D pointing devices are essential to manipulate object in a 3-D display system. 3-D displays are achieved using holography techniques. Digital Signal Processing: Digital Signal Processing is used in applications such as digital servos in hard disk drives, and fax/modems. DSP technology is used in Digital wireless communications, such as personal communication networks (pens), wireless local area networks and digital cordless phones. DSP Architectures and Applications: A typical DSP operating system architecture would contain the following subsystems: Memory Management: DSP architectures provide dynamic allocation of arrays from multiple segments, including RAM, SRAM and DRAM. Hardware-Interrupt handling: A DSP operating system must be designed to minimize hardware interrupt latency to ensure fast response to real time events for applications, such as servo systems. Multitasking: DSPs need  real-time kernels that provide pre-emptive multitasking and user-defined and dynamic task prioritization.