Sunday, May 24, 2020

Choruses †what is the importance of these speeches in...

Choruses – what is the importance of these speeches in Dr. Faustus? The essential function of the chorus speeches are as a commentary, an omnipotent voice which observes Faustus’s actions, clarifies his character and by foreseeing his change in fortunes, heightens the anticipation of the audience. Also, rather like dressing Mephastoples in a Friar costume, the chorus speeches are a practical device used by Marlowe to communicate aspects of the play which are simply impossible to perform on stage. Thus, they have particular significance from a 16th century perspective, as the theatre would not have had the elaborate lighting and stage sets to demonstrate a change in scenery as audiences are used to today. The chorus speeches†¦show more content†¦Indeed this imposing style of commentary is mirrored in the second chorus, which introduces Faustus’s actions in Rome. The opening chorus refers to Roman Mythology, ‘Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians’, perhaps alluding to Faustus’s ambitions to be as powerful as the gods. Similarly, the second chorus mentions ‘Mount Olympus’, the home of the gods in Greek Mythology, which may impress the audience as they hear of Faustus’s ‘travelog’, while at the same time, reminding them that he is being to ambitious and not matter how hard he tries, he will never be as powerful as God. Despite this dramatic language, its is important that Faustus is presented, in the opening chorus, as someone who is from ‘’base of stock’. In this way, Marlowe is making the point that anyone can ‘’over-reach’’ and suffer a similar fate to Faustus, thus it is almost intended as a warning to the audience. Indeed, the final Chorus speech alliterates Faustus’s ‘fiendful fortune’, which seems to summarise exactly where Fasustus twenty-four years of ‘’voluptuousness’’ gave him. This major theme of ‘’overreaching’’ is heavily emphasised in this opening speech, demonstrated by using language connected to greed and appetite. Faustus is ‘’glutted’ with learning, ‘’surfeitsShow MoreRelatedThe Function Of The Tragic Greek Chorus1295 Words   |  6 Pageswhere Aristotle makes a crucial claim as to what the Chorus should be: â€Å"the Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it should be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action† (qtd. in Weiner, 205). Aristotle goes on to say that â€Å"[the Chorus] should be a part of the whole enterprise and share in the action† (205). The more the Chorus is integrated into the play, the more it becomes more of a character. Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well as

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Delphi Thread Pool Example Using AsyncCalls

This is my next test project to see what threading library for Delphi would suite me best for my file scanning task I would like to process in multiple threads / in a thread pool. To repeat my goal: transform my sequential file scanning of 500-2000 files from the non threaded approach to a threaded one. I should not have 500 threads running at one time, thus would like to use a thread pool. A thread pool is a queue-like class feeding a number of running threads with the next task from the queue. The first (very basic) attempt was made by simply extending the TThread class and implementing the Execute method (my threaded string parser). Since Delphi does not have a thread pool class implemented out of the box, in my second attempt Ive tried using OmniThreadLibrary by Primoz Gabrijelcic. OTL is fantastic, has zillion ways to run a task in a background, a way to go if you want to have fire-and-forget approach to handing threaded execution of pieces of your code. AsyncCalls by Andreas Hausladen Note: what follows would be more easy to follow if you first download the source code. While exploring more ways to have some of my functions executed in a threaded manner Ive decided to also try the AsyncCalls.pas unit developed by Andreas Hausladen. Andys AsyncCalls – Asynchronous function calls unit is another library a Delphi developer can use to ease the pain of implementing threaded approach to executing some code. From Andys blog: With AsyncCalls you can execute multiple functions at the same time and synchronize them at every point in the function or method that started them. ... The AsyncCalls unit offers a variety of function prototypes to call asynchronous functions. ... It implements a thread pool! The installation is super easy: just use asynccalls from any of your units and you have instant access to things like execute in a separate thread, synchronize main UI, wait until finished. Beside the free to use (MPL license) AsyncCalls, Andy also frequently publishes his own fixes for the Delphi IDE like Delphi Speed Up and DDevExtensions Im sure youve heard of (if not using already). AsyncCalls In Action In essence, all AsyncCall functions return an IAsyncCall interface that allows to synchronize the functions. IAsnycCall exposes the following methods: //v 2.98 of asynccalls.pas IAsyncCall interface //waits until the function is finished and returns the return value function Sync: Integer; //returns True when the asynchron function is finished function Finished: Boolean; //returns the asynchron functions return value, when Finished is TRUE function ReturnValue: Integer; //tells AsyncCalls that the assigned function must not be executed in the current threa procedure ForceDifferentThread; end; Heres an example call to a method expecting two integer parameters (returning an IAsyncCall): TAsyncCalls.Invoke(AsyncMethod, i, Random(500)); function TAsyncCallsForm.AsyncMethod(taskNr, sleepTime: integer): integer;begin result : sleepTime; Sleep(sleepTime); TAsyncCalls.VCLInvoke( procedure begin Log(Format(done nr: %d / tasks: %d / slept: %d, [tasknr, asyncHelper.TaskCount, sleepTime])); end);end; The TAsyncCalls.VCLInvoke is a way to do synchronization with your main thread (applications main thread - your application user interface). VCLInvoke returns immediately. The anonymous method will be executed in the main thread. Theres also VCLSync which returns when the anonymous method was called in the main thread. Thread Pool in AsyncCalls Back to my file scanning task: when feeding (in a for loop) the asynccalls thread pool with series of TAsyncCalls.Invoke() calls, the tasks will be added to internal the pool and will get executed when time comes (when previously added calls have finished). Wait All IAsyncCalls To Finish The AsyncMultiSync function defined in asnyccalls waits for the async calls (and other handles) to finish. There are a few overloaded ways to call AsyncMultiSync, and heres the simplest one: function AsyncMultiSync(const List: array of IAsyncCall; WaitAll: Boolean True; Milliseconds: Cardinal INFINITE): Cardinal; If I want to have wait all implemented, I need to fill in an array of IAsyncCall and do AsyncMultiSync in slices of 61. My AsnycCalls Helper Heres a piece of the TAsyncCallsHelper: WARNING: partial code! (full code available for download)uses AsyncCalls;type TIAsyncCallArray array of IAsyncCall; TIAsyncCallArrays array of TIAsyncCallArray; TAsyncCallsHelper class private fTasks : TIAsyncCallArrays; property Tasks : TIAsyncCallArrays read fTasks; public procedure AddTask(const call : IAsyncCall); procedure WaitAll; end; WARNING: partial code!procedure TAsyncCallsHelper.WaitAll;var i : integer;begin for i : High(Tasks) downto Low(Tasks) do begin AsyncCalls.AsyncMultiSync(Tasks[i]); end;end; This way I can wait all in chunks of 61 (MAXIMUM_ASYNC_WAIT_OBJECTS) - i.e. waiting for arrays of IAsyncCall. With the above, my main code to feed the thread pool looks like: procedure TAsyncCallsForm.btnAddTasksClick(Sender: TObject);const nrItems 200;var i : integer;begin asyncHelper.MaxThreads : 2 * System.CPUCount; ClearLog(starting); for i : 1 to nrItems do begin asyncHelper.AddTask(TAsyncCalls.Invoke(AsyncMethod, i, Random(500))); end; Log(all in); //wait all //asyncHelper.WaitAll; //or allow canceling all not started by clicking the Cancel All button: while NOT asyncHelper.AllFinished do Application.ProcessMessages; Log(finished);end; Cancel all? - Have To Change The AsyncCalls.pas :( I would also like to have a way of cancelling those tasks that are in the pool but are waiting for their execution. Unfortunately, the AsyncCalls.pas does not provide a simple way of canceling a task once it has been added to the thread pool. Theres no IAsyncCall.Cancel or IAsyncCall.DontDoIfNotAlreadyExecuting or IAsyncCall.NeverMindMe. For this to work I had to change the AsyncCalls.pas by trying to alter it as less as possible - so that when Andy releases a new version I only have to add a few lines to have my Cancel task idea working. Heres what I did: Ive added a procedure Cancel to the IAsyncCall. The Cancel procedure sets the FCancelled (added) field which gets checked when the pool is about to start executing the task. I needed to slightly alter the IAsyncCall.Finished (so that a call reports finished even when cancelled) and the TAsyncCall.InternExecuteAsyncCall procedure (not to execute the call if it has been cancelled). You can use WinMerge to easily locate differences between Andys original asynccall.pas and my altered version (included in the download). You can download the full source code and explore. Confession NOTICE! :) The CancelInvocation method stopps the AsyncCall from being invoked. If the AsyncCall is already processed, a call to CancelInvocation has no effect and the Canceled function will return False as the AsyncCall wasnt canceled.The Canceled method returns True if the AsyncCall was canceled by CancelInvocation.The Forget method unlinks the IAsyncCall interface from the internal AsyncCall. This means that if the last reference to the IAsyncCall interface is gone, the asynchronous call will be still executed. The interfaces methods will throw an exception if called after calling Forget. The async function must not call into the main thread because it could be executed after the TThread.Synchronize/Queue mechanism was shut down by the RTL what can cause a dead lock. Note, though, that you can still benefit from my AsyncCallsHelper if you need to wait for all async calls to finish with asyncHelper.WaitAll; or if you need to CancelAll.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Book analysis A Texas Frontier Free Essays

In the preface section of Ty Cashion’s book A Texas Frontier, it is quite notable that the author aims at giving an account of Texas, more specifically West Texas, through an expository journey in Clear Fork country and the events and people that helped shaped the ‘frontier experience’. It attempts at showcasing the identity of being a West Texan embedded deeply into the consciousness of those â€Å"local citizens† who â€Å"embrace the heritage of life as it existed (Cashion, 1997c)†, putting up a unique personality and indelible character that never fails to fade away and succeeds at extending even up to this very day. This book analysis attempts at analyzing how the author was able to explain and interpret the numerous themes as well as concepts that he has intended to deal with in the preface section of the book. We will write a custom essay sample on Book analysis: A Texas Frontier or any similar topic only for you Order Now An understanding of the explanations and interpretations that are written across the pages of the book will be of great significance in having a better grasp of the content of the author’s work inasmuch as one will obtain a clearer and more defined view of, to borrow the author’s words, the ‘Texas frontier’. It must be noted, however, that this book analysis merely serves the purpose of shedding light on the intricate parts of the book and several crucial points of contention. In spite of the analysis directed towards identifying what the book is lacking of, it does not aim at arriving at a substantial substitute for the written sections of the book that may or may not be criticized. Nevertheless, using the preface as the main guide, a closer look into the rich pages of A Texas Frontier will bring one to realize the main contentions of the author and, more importantly, acquire a mental perspective of what it is to be a citizen of ‘West Texas’ in the face of a growing society and a constantly changing environment. Looking into the frontier In the author’s attempt to bring about an exposition on the â€Å"development of Anglo-American settlement in Northwest Texas west of Fort Worth (Barr, 1997)†, it is certainly quite a remarkable feat to be able to arrive at a substantial understanding and diffusion of who may be included among the group of those contributed to such a development. The ultimate task, then, of Cashion is to not only to be able to elucidate on matters that revolve around the idea of such a significant development but also to be able to identify the contributors. Cashion effectively enables himself to meet this goal by not only focusing on the â€Å"history of the Anglo cattle herders† (Powell, 1997) but also on other people who pose a great deal in the development of the settlement, barely spreading out the very context of the concept of â€Å"we†. By including narratives on the lives of the African-American soldiers of the 10th U.S. Cavalry or those who came to be known as Buffalo Soldiers, the Tonkawa Indians or the corporeal adversaries of the Comanche, and the â€Å"Yankee† soldiers among others helped Cashion achieve his goal of enlarging and, thereby, not limiting those who took primordial roles in the historical background of West Texas. Cashion mentions of â€Å"African American buffalo soldiers of the U.S. Army†, the â€Å"handful of former slaves who came West and settled† among the â€Å"white ranchers† (Cashion, 1997a) in order to broaden the very contention of the â€Å"we† that pertains to those who settled in West Texas. This concretizes further the fact that the development of that region, notwithstanding the areas of Clear Fork country and Fort Griffin, was also taken in a little but significant part by the â€Å"handful of the hundred-odd black civilians† and â€Å"many former buffalo soldiers† who â€Å"remained near the post after being discharged (Cashion, 1997b).† The succeeding parts of the book reflect and emphasize the â€Å"development of society and the transition from southern to western culture in the region† (Barr, 1997). It brought into light the transition that began â€Å"with the 1849 expedition of explorer Randolph B. Marcy and ended in the late 1880s when the ‘formative development’ of the area was complete† (Noelke, 1997). Throughout this stretch of time considerable changes took place, adding up to the continued transformation of both the locality of the region and the entire â€Å"west† itself. This continued transformation bears the crude system that involved both external and internal forces in bringing about both subtle and obvious changes that altered the mindset as well as the attitude of those who lived and died in West Texas towards those who came and went in that region. Not only is Cashion trying to highlight the role of individuals and groups of people in the development of the area. He also settles on the significant events during those days that marked not only the beginning of the transformation but also the transformation itself. This process, as Cashion himself argues in the preface section of the book, â€Å"turned Southerners into Westerners†, stirring-up the idea that the entire context of the creation of a West Texan perspective is largely influenced by the combination of both human and event forces. Some of these critical events include the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, affected in significant fractions by a wide range of crimes and outlawry as well as brisk inhabitation and, conversely, diversification of a number of races and ethnic and societal backgrounds. The impacts of these events are felt not only on a single isolated region where it transpired but rather to a degree upon which a vast number of innocent people can be afflicted. Civil wars, for example, draw upon the thought that these types of conflict are â€Å"terribly bloody, accounting for nearly 12 million battle-related fatalities during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Balch-Lindsay Enterline, 2000).† Hence, civil wars account for the loss of a huge number of deaths, wiping away a considerable number of a group of people, especially in the region of West Texas, raising the possibility of having a new breed of citizens inhabiting a former dense spot of its original inhabitants. Quite apart from this, the development of the West Texan region has also been affected by outlawry even after the time of the civil wars and the reconstruction period. This has virtually changed the way in which the residents viewed the law, recognizing the fact that having these bandits and outlaws goes beyond the reach of the law must be a sign that the law is not enough in maintaining a crime-free territory. Thus, the â€Å"emerging culture† that Cashion mentions in the preface and throughout the pages of the book narrates the culture that was on the process of constant change and remolding. That same culture is also a culture that has been under a constant injection of worldviews and local perceptions from human factors both coming from the internal locality as well as from the external or those beyond the immediate fences of the region who settle within the place. Opinion on the frontier In general, the course of the work and its expository nature provides us with the impression about the development of a â€Å"West Texas† both from inner and external perspective. If one’s aim is to merely acquire an in-depth understanding of the process behind the region’s formation, then reading the book is of great value. Putting in context the various explanations elucidated in the chapters of the book, we can arrive at the observation that the patches of ideas separated by the pages actually contribute to the entirety of the ideas conjured by the paragraphs that are seemingly dependent with one another. Thus, to have a thorough reading it is a necessity to not fleetingly skip through the pages and jump towards the succeeding themes and interpretations. From a scholarly point of view, the book is worth reading inasmuch as it makes the academic individual enjoy the book and the historical background of the region all the more. However, inasmuch as the book is primarily intended to be a scholarly piece of work, the reader who merely fancies the content of the stories and who does not have a hint of scholarly attitude may be prompted to dismiss the book as something that compares to those that are simply kept in shelves and aged through time, eaten away by cobwebs and the cruelty of human forgetfulness. Although A Texas Frontier benefits the scholarly individual from expanding one’s knowledge and understanding towards the ‘westerners’ in Texas, much of the text lacks the characteristic of being able to sustain the passing reader’s interest. Yet this is not to totally discredit the efforts of the author and the substantial content of the book. Conclusion Ty Cashion and the book A Texas Frontier provides us not only with a fleeting glimpse and feel of â€Å"West Texas† and the events and people that stood behind its colorful history and development through decades of evolution. It also gives us with an in-depth understanding of the ‘external’ elements that sustained the stages of changes and expansion of the ‘Texas frontier’. From the preface section of the book down to its last pages, one can picture-out the historical evolution of the people of ‘West Texas’ and how they were able to establish for themselves a cultural identity that is solely their own in spite of the fact that their society is one that has been contributed by a significant portion of external events. References Balch-Lindsay, D., Enterline, A. J. (2000). Killing Time: The World Politics of Civil War Duration, 1820-1992. International Studies Quarterly, 44(4), 616. Barr, A. (1997). Book Review: A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 by Ty Cashion. The Journal of American History, 84(1), 235. Cashion, T. (1997a). Introduction: Marlboro Country. In A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 (Reprint ed., pp. 13). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Cashion, T. (1997b). Just Plain Ol’ Folks, 1875-1880. In A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 (Reprint ed., pp. 258). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Cashion, T. (1997c). Preface. In A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 (Reprint ed., pp. xiii-xvii). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Noelke, V. (1997). Book Review: A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 by Ty Cashion. The Journal of Southern History, 63(3), 659. Powell, J. (1997). Book Review: A Texas Frontier: The Clear Fork Country and Fort Griffin, 1849-1887 by Ty Cashion. The Western Historical Quarterly, 28(2), 236.    How to cite Book analysis: A Texas Frontier, Papers

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Labeling of Food Products

Question: Discuss about the Labeling of Food Products. Answer: Introduction Ethics is a field of knowledge, whose purpose is to deal with morals, disciplines related to a specified group, field or form of conduct. It is a method or a study that involves a systematic process, and recommendation for conducting any particular task or work. Ethics on labelling of food products help a buyer by suggesting that a product has particular qualities derived from its place of origin, or that it has certain social, environmental or nutritional credentials. Labelling on food products, helps a customer by guiding about the additives and preservatives included in the food product to make the food last longer, or to improve its taste and appearance. Ethical Issues The Australian Made Campaign Limited (AMCL), stated that Australian consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the origin of the food products they eat, and these concerns are mainly consisted of economics, health and safety, ethical and environmental factors. In the year 2000, Food Standard Council of Australia decided to do the labelling of food products. Choice thinks that consumers of the various food products have the right to know about their food products i.e. from where the product comes from. It also stated that country of origin food labelling is a priority concern for Australian consumers (Zealand, 2015). The Australian manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) explained the value of the food products, as well as about the quality of the food products. Country of origin labelling is used as an important part of the safety and health information regarding food. The food ethics has an ability of determining the behavior of producers, manufacturers and retailers, and regula tors. Recently a debate was ignited in Australia over food labelling, due to a scandal. Food labelling should be done so that consumers are able to make informed decisions about their food consequences like health, ecological footprint and their food supply chain. Safety assessment is done of the all food products produced in Australia, before starting their sale in the market. Requirements for labelling of food products will vary from product to product. These requirements depend upon on other factors such as, where the product was grown, where it was packed etc. If any food product which is not produced in Australia, but the manufacturer claims it by images or words, that the product is produced in Australia, then it is an illegal task. (Australia, 2016). Business Problems regarding the current information on food labels is not meeting the actual expectations of consumers. Some business reported that some aspects of the framework are very tough and to use them is difficult, or we can say to follow them, looks impossible. To ensure that they are working according to the framework, sometimes they provide less information. The Australian government has tried to solve this problem, by providing more guidance material for industry and consumers. This consultation, regulatory impact statement discusses a number of issues which are like:- What information will satisfy consumers? How can businesses be more confident in using the claims? Hoe should the labelling of imported food be treated? What is the role of digital information? What activities may be required to increase awareness? The main motive is to provide more and more information to consumers about the products, while ensuring there are not undue costs to business and maintaining Australias trade obligations. A common wealth government is responsible for revising the label framework, some of them are:- The proposed changes to labels include, that the food products produced in Australia must have Australian logo. The food products must have a bar chart showing the proportion of ingredients. Consumers dont get the information they want regarding the food products and find the labels confusing because, the current labelling framework of Australia doesnt require businesses to provide all of this information. Current framework can be confusing and costly for business because, there are a number of expectations of business in relation to country of origin labelling. This framework consists of various Australian laws. Businesses have reported difficulties in applying the framework, including that some requirements are not necessary and government regulation is complex (FAO, 2015). Different conditions of the legislation related to country of origin labelling and are enforced by agencies at commonwealth and state and territory levels. For some food businesses, the current country of origin labelling is straightforward, flexible and does not impose significant costs. The framework does not require businesses to provide information on the proportion of Australian ingredients in a product, which consumers find an important key piece of information. The costs of interpreting and complying with the current framework can be difficult. Further, stakeholders have stated that, if substantial transformation were clarified, the 50 percent local production cost test would be unnecessary (Thompson, 1993). To satisfy the 50 percent production cost test, businesses must spend time learning about the requirements of the test. Then they have to apply that test to each of their affected products, and review each product to ensure that compliance with the requirement is maintained. There are various negative effects of buyer motives, some of them are as mentioned below:- Manufacturers have to invest a lot of money into testing of the products, which increases their manufacturing cost, depending on them grocers will also cost more. Food producer at the smaller level would feel the cost burden much more, and number of consumers decreases to buy products from those producers. Expenses of farmers and food producers will increase. Not following the national standard creates confusions in the publics mind regarding the food products. Therefore, the sale of that product is done in a state without following the various laws of labelling. Considerations Regarding Ethical Issues Revision of the current country labelling framework has the ability, to improve the information available to consumers and provides clarity for business. Consumers have reported that, labels on the food products are often hard to find and difficult to understand. For these types of issues, businesses must study that what type of information must be provided. There are no such requirements to study that how that information should look. Businesses should use different words and some use their own images. Some businesses have license to use the Australian made logo (the kangaroo in a triangle) to identify their products as Australian (Bates, Blair, Jerme, 2007). There are some types of food about which consumers are more value origin information, products are: - Fruit and vegetables Meat and meat products Dairy products Fruit and vegetable juices Flour products Bread Sugar Edible Oils Prioritization of food is based on personal values of consumers and is not necessarily indicative of quality, health and safety risks, relative size of the import market. Food labelling helps the consumers in deciding or selecting the food of their requirements, by providing them a lot of information related to that product. The various advantages of labelling are: - Food labels may tell consumers about the quality of the product. Method of using the product. Advantages and Disadvantages of the product. Risks due to misuse of the product. It tells about the place and method of manufacturing. Conclusion Labelling on food products is important for the consumers, because labelling helps in the comparing between a large number of similar products. It tells us about various properties of the products that are on sale to the public. Labelling of food products includes nutritional information which helps consumers to check which food they elect to purchase. The specifications relating to allergens are well described. Labelling laws help the consumers to move in a direction which is good for them, further making it important for the companies to provide various selections for fear of losing business. One of the best systems is the GDA system. GDA system provide consumers with a lot of information about their food products and helps them to understand the measure of their food products. Therefore, we can say that labelling of food products effects positively on buyer motives now a days. Bibliography Australia, C. o. (2016). Current issues: New food labelling laws. Current issues: New food labelling laws. Retrieved from https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/food/regulation-safety/current-issues Bates, T., Blair, A., Jerme, E. (2007). Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee. Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee. Retrieved from https://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/gmos2.htm FAO. (2015, April 19). Food labelling can provide consumers with the information they need and desire to make food choices. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org: https://www.fao.org/ag/humannutrition/foodlabel/en/ Thompson, P. B. (1993). Ethical Issues Facing the Food Industry. Texas AM University, Center for Biotechnology. Retrieved from https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/26567/1/24010012.pdf Zealand, F. S. (2015, December). Labelling: Food standards. Labelling: Food standards. Retrieved from https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/labelling/Pages/default.aspx