The History of Hominid Evolution Essay - 1049 Words

What evidence shows the changing from the early hominids to the modern humans? Throughout the human evolution body parts like legs and harms have changed for the better. By the early hominids being biped, meaning they are able to stand and even walk on two feet, it helped them to be able to do more things like getting around more and help with their tool making and hunting. A lot of the fossils discovered were found in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, which contained many different lakes and small rivers. For many years researchers have been finding new species. These species have been named Australopithicus, robust australopithecines , Orrorin tugenensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, neanderthal, and Homo sapiens. These early†¦show more content†¦The Orrorin tugenensis was found with thigh bones. And the Orrorin tugenensis had small teeth like the Australopithicus. The robust australopithecines or paranthropines had a curved face with a arch for the cheek bones that are formed by connecting the zygomatic and the temporal bones together. The robust australopithecines had a bone ridge on top of their skull called a sagittal crest, which is also attached to the jaw muscles. They had a flexable base just above were their jaw bone connected to their cheek bone. With their really large back teeth (below the cheek bone) the robust australopithecines fossils were known to the researchers as the â€Å"nutcracker man†. They used these really large back teeth to eat tough foods and nuts. And their teeth in the front were smaller. The Homo habilis was known as â€Å"the skilled human or handy man† (Standford 273). They got this name because they made tools. Homo habilis have a brain size of aproxamiltly 509 cc to aproximitly 775 cc. They also have a encephalization quotient (EQ) of about 2.73 to 3.38. Homo erectus was first found in Africa and the fossilized remains dated 1.8 and 1.0 million years old. The Homo erectus traits are very similar toward the modern human traits. Homo erectus brain size was smaller than the Homo sapiens. Homo erectus had a brain size of approximately 650 cc and Homo sapiens had a brain size of approximately 1251Show MoreRelatedBipedalism : What Is That All About?1114 Words   |  5 Pages Bipedalism: What is that all about? The issue at hand in these articles is the evidence for the development of bipedalism in hominids. Bipedalism seems to be one of the most important factors in the evolution of mankind and therefore the surrounding debate is rife with various hypotheses as to the background of this development in hominid evolutionary history. Although each of the three articles reviewed in this essay make different arguments, each seem to be cogent in their own way and do seemRead MoreMasters Of The Planet By Ian Tattersall1027 Words   |  5 Pagesof Natural History in New York. Tattersall was born in 1945 in the United Kingdom, and grew up in east Africa. He trained in archeology and anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and earned his PhD from Yale University in 1971. Tattersall’s main focus over the course of his career has been on three areas; the human fossil record, the study and ecology of Lemurs in Madagascar, and finally on human cognition. He brings to the issues a lifeti me of expertise in hominid evolution, as well asRead More Human Evolution Essay1020 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Evolution   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When people take a look at African history in general many topics and ideas come to mind. 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The BibleRead MoreThe Role Of Physical Anthropology On Human Evolution843 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout history there has always been questions that have been difficult to answer when pertaining to the human species. Where do humans come from? How have they become so advanced, when compared to that of similar species? Many have sought to find out the answer, and have found some clues that can be quite interesting. The best way to answer these questions is through the idea of evolution. Evolution, from a biological perspective, is the belief that changes within species takes placeRead MoreEssay on The History of Human Evolution1517 Words   |  7 PagesThe History of Human Evolution By definition, human evolution is the development, both biological and cultural, of humans. Human ideologies of how the evolution of man came to be is determined by cultural beliefs that have been adopted by societies going back as far as the Upper Paleolithic era, some 40,000 years ago. Through the study of paleoanthropology, we have come to determine that a human is any member belonging to the species of Homo Sapiens. Paleoanthropologists, while studyingRead MoreThe Origin of Language in Human Evolution Essay1209 Words   |  5 Pagessystem were capable of developing (Ulbaek, 1998). Whereas other animal species communicate through vocalised sounds, songs, or gestures specially primates such as apes. Similarly gestures and hand gestures were the form of communication used by early hominids, but Homo habilis and Homo erectus started to use vocalisations and decreasing the frequent use of simple hand gestures for communication. Humans developed a spoken linguistic system which is used to express separate and distinct thoughts. OthersRead MoreDarwin s Theory Of Natural Selection1638 Words   |  7 PagesWays that Darwin’s theory of natural selection was transformative to his society According to thefreedictionary.com the definition of natural selection is the process in which, according to Darwin’s theory of evolution, organisms that are better adapted to their environment tend to survive longer and transmit more of their genetic characteristics to succeeding generations, than do those that are less well adapted. The following section will cover aspects on which Darwin’s theory was transformativeRead MoreHuman Evolution: Myth or Fact1301 Words   |  6 PagesThe debate of human evolution being fact or fiction has been around for hundreds of years. Evidence of human ancestry has been found in many parts of the world and these fossils found have been proven to be human. The parts of the world include Eurasia and Africa. 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A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-nine Free Essays

string(36) " swept into the river and drowned \." Tyrion They have my son,† Tywin Lannister said. â€Å"They do, my lord.† The messenger’s voice was dulled by exhaustion. We will write a custom essay sample on A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-nine or any similar topic only for you Order Now On the breast of his torn surcoat, the brindled boar of Crakehall was half-obscured by dried blood. One of your sons, Tyrion thought. He took a sip of wine and said not a word, thinking of Jaime. When he lifted his arm, pain shot through his elbow, reminding him of his own brief taste of battle. He loved his brother, but he would not have wanted to be with him in the Whispering Wood for all the gold in Casterly Rock. His lord father’s assembled captains and bannermen had fallen very quiet as the courier told his tale. The only sound was the crackle and hiss of the log burning in the hearth at the end of the long, drafty common room. After the hardships of the long relentless drive south, the prospect of even a single night in an inn had cheered Tyrion mightily . . . though he rather wished it had not been this inn again, with all its memories. His father had set a grueling pace, and it had taken its toll. Men wounded in the battle kept up as best they could or were abandoned to fend for themselves. Every morning they left a few more by the roadside, men who went to sleep never to wake. Every afternoon a few more collapsed along the way. And every evening a few more deserted, stealing off into the dusk. Tyrion had been half-tempted to go with them. He had been upstairs, enjoying the comfort of a featherbed and the warmth of Shae’s body beside him, when his squire had woken him to say that a rider had arrived with dire news of Riverrun. So it had all been for nothing. The rush south, the endless forced marches, the bodies left beside the road . . . all for naught. Robb Stark had reached Riverrun days and days ago. â€Å"How could this happen?† Ser Harys Swyft moaned. â€Å"How? Even after the Whispering Wood, you had Riverrun ringed in iron, surrounded by a great host . . . what madness made Ser Jaime decide to split his men into three separate camps? Surely he knew how vulnerable that would leave them?† Better than you, you chinless craven, Tyrion thought. Jaime might have lost Riverrun, but it angered him to hear his brother slandered by the likes of Swyft, a shameless lickspittle whose greatest accomplishment was marrying his equally chinless daughter to Ser Kevan, and thereby attaching himself to the Lannisters. â€Å"I would have done the same,† his uncle responded, a good deal more calmly than Tyrion might have. â€Å"You have never seen Riverrun, Ser Harys, or you would know that Jaime had little choice in the matter. The castle is situated at the end of the point of land where the Tumblestone flows into the Red Fork of the Trident. The rivers form two sides of a triangle, and when danger threatens, the Tullys open their sluice gates upstream to create a wide moat on the third side, turning Riverrun into an island. The walls rise sheer from the water, and from their towers the defenders have a commanding view of the opposite shores for many leagues around. To cut off all the approaches, a besieger must needs place one camp north of the Tumblestone, one south of the Red Fork, and a third between the rivers, west of the moat. There is no other way, none.† â€Å"Ser Kevan speaks truly, my lords,† the courier said. â€Å"We’d built palisades of sharpened stakes around the camps, yet it was not enough, not with no warning and the rivers cutting us off from each other. They came down on the north camp first. No one was expecting an attack. Marq Piper had been raiding our supply trains, but he had no more than fifty men. Ser Jaime had gone out to deal with them the night before . . . well, with what we thought was them. We were told the Stark host was east of the Green Fork, marching south . . . â€Å" â€Å"And your outriders?† Ser Gregor Clegane’s face might have been hewn from rock. The fire in the hearth gave a somber orange cast to his skin and put deep shadows in the hollows of his eyes. â€Å"They saw nothing? They gave you no warning?† The bloodstained messenger shook his head. â€Å"Our outriders had been vanishing. Marq Piper’s work, we thought. The ones who did come back had seen nothing.† â€Å"A man who sees nothing has no use for his eyes,† the Mountain declared. â€Å"Cut them out and give them to your next outrider. Tell him you hope that four eyes might see better than two . . . and if not, the man after him will have six.† Lord Tywin Lannister turned his face to study Ser Gregor. Tyrion saw a glimmer of gold as the light shone off his father’s pupils, but he could not have said whether the look was one of approval or disgust. Lord Tywin was oft quiet in council, preferring to listen before he spoke, a habit Tyrion himself tried to emulate. Yet this silence was uncharacteristic even for him, and his wine was untouched. â€Å"You said they came at night,† Ser Kevan prompted. The man gave a weary nod. â€Å"The Blackfish led the van, cutting down our sentries and clearing away the palisades for the main assault. By the time our men knew what was happening, riders were pouring over the ditch banks and galloping through the camp with swords and torches in hand. I was sleeping in the west camp, between the rivers. When we heard the fighting and saw the tents being fired, Lord Brax led us to the rafts and we tried to pole across, but the current pushed us downstream and the Tullys started flinging rocks at us with the catapults on their walls. I saw one raft smashed to kindling and three others overturned, men swept into the river and drowned . You read "A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-nine" in category "Essay examples" . . and those who did make it across found the Starks waiting for them on the riverbanks.† Ser Flement Brax wore a silver-and-purple tabard and the look of a man who cannot comprehend what he has just heard. â€Å"My lord father—† â€Å"Sorry, my lord,† the messenger said. â€Å"Lord Brax was clad in plate-and-mail when his raft overturned. He was very gallant.† He was a fool, Tyrion thought, swirling his cup and staring down into the winy depths. Crossing a river at night on a crude raft, wearing armor, with an enemy waiting on the other side—if that was gallantry, he would take cowardice every time. He wondered if Lord Brax had felt especially gallant as the weight of his steel pulled him under the black water. â€Å"The camp between the rivers was overrun as well,† the messenger was saying. â€Å"While we were trying to cross, more Starks swept in from the west, two columns of armored horse. I saw Lord Umber’s giant-in-chains and the Mallister eagle, but it was the boy who led them, with a monstrous wolf running at his side. I wasn’t there to see, but it’s said the beast killed four men and ripped apart a dozen horses. Our spearmen formed up a shieldwall and held against their first charge, but when the Tullys saw them engaged, they opened the gates of Riverrun and Tytos Blackwood led a sortie across the drawbridge and took them in the rear.† â€Å"Gods save us,† Lord Lefford swore. â€Å"Greatjon Umber fired the siege towers we were building, and Lord Blackwood found Ser Edmure Tully in chains among the other captives, and made off with them all. Our south camp was under the command of Ser Forley Prester. He retreated in good order when he saw that the other camps were lost, with two thousand spears and as many bowmen, but the Tyroshi sellsword who led his freeriders struck his banners and went over to the foe.† â€Å"Curse the man.† His uncle Kevan sounded more angry than surprised. â€Å"I warned Jaime not to trust that one. A man who fights for coin is loyal only to his purse.† Lord Tywin wove his fingers together under his chin. Only his eyes moved as he listened. His bristling golden side-whiskers framed a face so still it might have been a mask, but Tyrion could see tiny beads of sweat dappling his father’s shaven head. â€Å"How could it happen?† Ser Harys Swyft wailed again. â€Å"Ser Jaime taken, the siege broken . . . this is a catastrophe!† Ser Addam Marbrand said, â€Å"I am sure we are all grateful to you for pointing out the obvious, Ser Harys. The question is, what shall we do about it?† â€Å"What can we do? Jaime’s host is all slaughtered or taken or put to flight, and the Starks and the Tullys sit squarely across our line of supply. We are cut off from the west! They can march on Casterly Rock if they so choose, and what’s to stop them? My lords, we are beaten. We must sue for peace.† â€Å"Peace?† Tyrion swirled his wine thoughtfully, took a deep draft, and hurled his empty cup to the floor, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. â€Å"There’s your peace, Ser Harys. My sweet nephew broke it for good and all when he decided to ornament the Red Keep with Lord Eddard’s head. You’ll have an easier time drinking wine from that cup than you will convincing Robb Stark to make peace now. He’s winning . . . or hadn’t you noticed?† â€Å"Two battles do not make a war,† Ser Addam insisted. â€Å"We are far from lost. I should welcome the chance to try my own steel against this Stark boy.† â€Å"Perhaps they would consent to a truce, and allow us to trade our prisoners for theirs,† offered Lord Lefford. â€Å"Unless they trade three-for-one, we still come out light on those scales,† Tyrion said acidly. â€Å"And what are we to offer for my brother? Lord Eddard’s rotting head?† â€Å"I had heard that Queen Cersei has the Hand’s daughters,† Lefford said hopefully. â€Å"If we give the lad his sisters back . . . â€Å" Ser Addam snorted disdainfully. â€Å"He would have to be an utter ass to trade Jaime Lannister’s life for two girls.† â€Å"Then we must ransom Ser Jaime, whatever it costs,† Lord Lefford said. Tyrion rolled his eyes. â€Å"If the Starks feel the need for gold, they can melt down Jaime’s armor.† â€Å"if we ask for a truce, they will think us weak,† Ser Addarn argued. â€Å"We should march on them at once.† â€Å"Surely our friends at court could be prevailed upon to join us with fresh troops,† said Ser Harys. â€Å"And someone might return to Casterly Rock to raise a new host.† Lord Tywin Lannister rose to his feet. â€Å"They have my son,† he said once more, in a voice that cut through the babble like a sword through suet. â€Å"Leave me. All of you.† Ever the soul of obedience, Tyrion rose to depart with the rest, but his father gave him a look. â€Å"Not you, Tyrion. Remain. And you as well, Kevan. The rest of you, out.† Tyrion eased himself back onto the bench, startled into speechlessness. Ser Kevan crossed the room to the wine casks. â€Å"Uncle,† Tyrion called, â€Å"if you would be so kind—† â€Å"Here.† His father offered him his cup, the wine untouched. Now Tyrion truly was nonplussed. He drank. Lord Tywin seated himself. â€Å"You have the right of it about Stark. Alive, we might have used Lord Eddard to forge a peace with Winterfell and Riverrun, a peace that would have given us the time we need to deal with Robert’s brothers. Dead . . . † His hand curled into a fist. â€Å"Madness. Rank madness.† â€Å"Joff’s only a boy,† Tyrion pointed out. â€Å"At his age, I committed a few follies of my own.† His father gave him a sharp look. â€Å"I suppose we ought to be grateful that he has not yet married a whore.† Tyrion sipped at his wine, wondering how Lord Tywin would look if he flung the cup in his face. â€Å"Our position is worse than you know,† his father went on. â€Å"It would seem we have a new king.† Ser Kevan looked poleaxed. â€Å"A new—who? What have they done to Joffrey?† The faintest flicker of distaste played across Lord Tywin’s thin lips. â€Å"Nothing . . . yet. My grandson still sits the Iron Throne, but the eunuch has heard whispers from the south. Renly Baratheon wed Margaery Tyrell at Highgarden this fortnight past, and now he has claimed the crown. The bride’s father and brothers have bent the knee and sworn him their swords.† â€Å"Those are grave tidings.† When Ser Kevan frowned, the furrows in his brow grew deep as canyons. â€Å"My daughter commands us to ride for King’s Landing at once, to defend the Red Keep against King Renly and the Knight of Flowers.† His mouth tightened. â€Å"Commands us, mind you. In the name of the king and council.† â€Å"How is King Joffrey taking the news?† Tyrion asked with a certain black amusement. â€Å"Cersei has not seen fit to tell him yet,† Lord Tywin said. â€Å"She fears he might insist on marching against Renly himself.† â€Å"With what army?† Tyrion asked. â€Å"You don’t plan to give him this one, I hope?† â€Å"He talks of leading the City Watch,† Lord Tywin said. â€Å"If he takes the Watch, he’ll leave the city undefended,† Ser Kevan said. â€Å"And with Lord Stannis on Dragonstone . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes.† Lord Tywin looked down at his son. â€Å"I had thought you were the one made for motley, Tyrion, but it would appear that I was wrong.† â€Å"Why, Father,† said Tyrion, â€Å"that almost sounds like praise.† He leaned forward intently. â€Å"What of Stannis? He’s the elder, not Renly. How does he feel about his brother’s claim?† His father frowned. â€Å"I have felt from the beginning that Stannis was a greater danger than all the others combined. Yet he does nothing. Oh, Varys hears his whispers. Stannis is building ships, Stannis is hiring sellswords, Stannis is bringing a shadowbinder from Asshai. What does it mean? Is any of it true?† He gave an irritated shrug. â€Å"Kevan, bring us the map.† Ser Kevan did as he was bid. Lord Tywin unrolled the leather, smoothing it flat. â€Å"Jaime has left us in a bad way. Roose Bolton and the remnants of his host are north of us. Our enemies hold the Twins and Moat Cailin. Robb Stark sits to the west, so we cannot retreat to Lannisport and the Rock unless we choose to give battle. Jaime is taken, and his army for all purposes has ceased to exist. Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion continue to plague our foraging parties. To our east we have the Arryns, Stannis Baratheon sits on Dragonstone, and in the south Highgarden and Storm’s End are calling their banners.† Tyrion smiled crookedly. â€Å"Take heart, Father. At least Rhaegar Targaryen is still dead.† â€Å"I had hoped you might have more to offer us than japes, Tyrion,† Lord Tywin Lannister said. Ser Kevan frowned over the map, forehead creasing. â€Å"Robb Stark will have Edmure Tully and the lords of the Trident with him now. Their combined power may exceed our own. And with Roose Bolton behind us . . . Tywin, if we remain here, I fear we might be caught between three armies.† â€Å"I have no intention of remaining here. We must finish our business with young Lord Stark before Renly Baratheon can march from Highgarden. Bolton does not concern me. He is a wary man, and we made him warier on the Green Fork. He will be slow to give pursuit. So . . . on the morrow, we make for Harrenhal. Kevan, I want Ser Addam’s outriders to screen our movements. Give him as many men as he requires, and send them out in groups of four. I will have no vanishings.† â€Å"As you say, my lord, but . . . why Harrenhal? That is a grim, unlucky place. Some call it cursed.† â€Å"Let them,† Lord Tywin said. â€Å"Unleash Ser Gregor and send him before us with his reavers. Send forth Vargo Hoat and his freeriders as well, and Ser Amory Lorch. Each is to have three hundred horse. Tell them I want to see the riverlands afire from the Gods Eye to the Red Fork.† â€Å"They will burn, my lord,† Ser Kevan said, rising. â€Å"I shall give the commands.† He bowed and made for the door. When they were alone, Lord Tywin glanced at Tyrion. â€Å"Your savages might relish a bit of rapine. Tell them they may ride with Vargo Hoat and plunder as they like—goods, stock, women, they may take what they want and burn the rest.† â€Å"Telling Shagga and Timett how to pillage is like telling a rooster how to crow,† Tyrion commented, â€Å"but I should prefer to keep them with me.† Uncouth and unruly they might be, yet the wildlings were his, and he trusted them more than any of his father’s men. He was not about to hand them over. â€Å"Then you had best learn to control them. I will not have the city plundered.† â€Å"The city?† Tyrion was lost. â€Å"What city would that be?† â€Å"King’s Landing. I am sending you to court.† It was the last thing Tyrion Lannister would ever have anticipated. He reached for his wine, and considered for a moment as he sipped. â€Å"And what am I to do there?† â€Å"Rule,† his father said curtly Tyrion hooted with laughter. â€Å"My sweet sister might have a word or two to say about that!† â€Å"Let her say what she likes. Her son needs to be taken in hand before he ruins us all. I blame those jackanapes on the council—our friend Petyr, the venerable Grand Maester, and that cockless wonder Lord Varys. What sort of counsel are they giving Joffrey when he lurches from one folly to the next? Whose notion was it to make this Janos Slynt a lord? The man’s father was a butcher, and they grant him Harrenhal. Harrenhal, that was the seat of kings! Not that he will ever set foot inside it, if I have a say. I am told he took a bloody spear for his sigil. A bloody cleaver would have been my choice.† His father had not raised his voice, yet Tyrion could see the anger in the gold of his eyes. â€Å"And dismissing Selmy, where was the sense in that? Yes, the man was old, but the name of Barristan the Bold still has meaning in the realm. He lent honor to any man he served. Can anyone say the same of the Hound? You feed your dog bones under the table, you do not seat him beside you on the high bench.† He pointed a finger at Tyrion’s face. â€Å"If Cersei cannot curb the boy, you must. And if these councillors are playing us false . . . â€Å" Tyrion knew. â€Å"Spikes,† he sighed. â€Å"Heads. Walls.† â€Å"I see you have taken a few lessons from me.† â€Å"More than you know, Father,† Tyrion answered quietly. He finished his wine and set the cup aside, thoughtful. A part of him was more pleased than he cared to admit. Another part was remembering the battle upriver, and wondering if he was being sent to hold the left again. â€Å"Why me?† he asked, cocking his head to one side. â€Å"Why not my uncle? Why not Ser Addam or Ser Flement or Lord Serrett? Why not a . . . bigger man?† Lord Tywin rose abruptly. â€Å"You are my son.† That was when he knew. You have given him up for lost, he thought. You bloody bastard, you think Jaime’s good as dead, so I’m all you have left. Tyrion wanted to slap him, to spit in his face, to draw his dagger and cut the heart out of him and see if it was made of old hard gold, the way the smallfolks said. Yet he sat there, silent and still. The shards of the broken cup crunched beneath his father’s heels as Lord Tywin crossed the room. â€Å"One last thing,† he said at the door. â€Å"You will not take the whore to court.† Tyrion sat alone in the common room for a long while after his father was gone. Finally he climbed the steps to his cozy garret beneath the bell tower. The ceiling was low, but that was scarcely a drawback for a dwarf. From the window, he could see the gibbet his father had erected in the yard. The innkeep’s body turned slowly on its rope whenever the night wind gusted. Her flesh had grown as thin and ragged as Lannister hopes. Shae murmured sleepily and rolled toward him when he sat on the edge of the featherbed. He slid his hand under the blanket and cupped a soft breast, and her eyes opened. â€Å"M’lord,† she said with a drowsy smile. When he felt her nipple stiffen, Tyrion kissed her. â€Å"I have a mind to take you to King’s Landing, sweetling,† he whispered. How to cite A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-nine, Essay examples

Prototype E-Commerce Website †Click to Get Sample Solution

Questions: Task 1 Assignment 4 JournalIn this task you are required to maintain a journal of the activities and research associated with Assignment 4 and to submit the completed journal with this assignment.Task 2 Prototype E-commerce websiteDevelop and populate the prototype e-commerce website for which you prepared a strategic analysis and preliminary prototype e-commerce website using Joomla in Assignment 2.Your e-commerce website should contain, at a minimum, the following functionality: An aesthetically pleasing, easy- to-use interface A product catalogue A shopping cart An order form and payment interface Customer registration Discussion forum Business policy statements on security, privacy, confidentiality and refunds and returnsTask 2 will be assessed for completeness and working functionality based on an inspection of your e-commerce website (you are required to provide the URL of the Joomla! website that was assigned to you for Assignment 2 in Assignment 4).Task 3 Business Case Report for your e-commerce strategyYou are required to provide a business case for the e-commerce strategy you have adopted for your organization and reflect on your experiences and insight arising from the development of the accompanying e-commerce website in terms of the following:1. Describe the e-commerce website features and functionality that have been implemented in Task 2. 2. List any additional features incorporated in your website over and above the specified requirements.3. Provide a site map of your e-commerce website in the form of a tree diagram that shows hierarchical structure of your e-commerce website.4. List any essential features not implemented in your e-commerce website and describe any major deviations from your original plans outlined in Assignment 2.5. Describe the features that are likely to be implemented in your e-commerce website in the next phase of the development process to further enhance the usability and functionality of your e-commerce site, and how you would use the Joomla CMS to facilitate this.6. Briefly describe and reflect on the challenges encountered in using Joomla! as the development environment for your e-commerce website. 7. Describe how you will address security and privacy issues in your e-commerce website? 8. Describe how you will address backend integration and legacy system issues associated with your e-commerce website? 9. List and briefly describe the hardware and software required to establish your e-commerce website as a live and fully functional entity, and provide a table of the estimated costs (hardware, software, human resources, ongoing maintenance, etc.)? 10. Provide and justify a plan for a live implementation of your proposed e-commerce web site including a prioritised timeline in a table? 11. Identify and describe the expected benefits that will arise from implementing your e-commerce website? 12. List and briefly describe how you used any links and resources to research and build your e-commerce site for this assignment. Answers: Task 1 Date Activity Time Taken 31/01/2015 After perceiving the workings of Joomla 2.5, I log-in using the Joomla backend. I began to relate the fundamentals of the Joomla backend with the concepts that I garnered form the eBook. Some concepts were easy to take in while some concepts were a bit difficult and required some modifications. Relating to some of the concepts helped me in understanding some of the finer details of a few elements. This perception of Joomla helped in creating a basic platform for me. I also tweaked a few details in the settings of the control panel. In order to understand the front end, I also modified some existing articles, modules and menu. I noticed that some changes took place while some did not. 8 hours 01/02/2015 In the earlier task, the preparation of the homepage was done without facing any hassles. Now the problem arises when I try to extend the existing template. Figuring out which modules to keep and which to delete was quite complicated. So, I thought that I should delete all the present modules like menus, articles, media files, etc. This will provide a clear backend where changes can be made and they will reflect at the frontend. After this, I started to prepare the menu for the website. To do this, I studied several online articles, books and even viewed some YouTube videos. After that, I prepared and finalized the menu components for the site. To do this, I took reference from various parallel e-commerce websites and found that there were several common menu items like About US, FAQs, Contact, etc. 7 hours 03/02/2015 After the preparation of the Menu was complete, the next step was managing the articles. I created some articles and linked them to their respective menu-items. However, this was a very messy way for creating and listing products. I searched for alternatives. First, I encountered the VirtueMart plug-in, an e-commerce plug-in for Joomla. It offers features like management of catalogues, management for inventory, etc. I found it quite complicated and on top of that, it was difficult to implement as I proceeded further. Then, I made the switch to Hike-A-Shop which is an e-commerce solution that helps in store management. So, I uninstalled the VirtueMart plug-in and installed Hike-A-Shop. I learnt about it from YouTube and the documentations provided at www.hikeashop.com. Thus, I was able to configure the Menu items properly and I was able to prepare different products, such as thriller, crime, horror, etc. The whole time was dedicated to filling up the site with various products. The Hi ke-A-Shop link to a virtual shopping cart was attached at the top right hand side corner of the website. Then, I created a discussion board by installing the Kunena Forum extension. It was quite easy to configure and some minimal changes were made in the settings. After this, I did some additional tweaking until the complete website was created. 8 hours Task 3: 1. In the task 2, the website has been taken to a new level where following key features have been accommodated: Customer registration A customer can register by logging in or signing up, refer to the Login/Sign-Up menu. All an individual has to provide are name, email address, username and password. Once the registration is successful, a confirmation mail is immediately dropped in the registered mail-ID for purposes of account validation. User interface A user friendly interface has been undertaken as per the design of the grocery website. The design of this shopping site is absolutely easy to read, easy to use and easy to navigate also. The menu at the top-level grabs the attention of almost all users. Quality content and information has been placed with care and there is a clear distinction between content and the elements. Discussion forum - A discussion forum is much needed in todays world to help with further development of the site, first and then the community. For optimizing the community, the community it serves as a medium for solving most of the queries and complainants themselves. For optimizing further, the moderators may be assigned by a company dedicated and active 24x7solving and helping one another. The feature can be located on the top of the page on the menu. But users have to be registered users. A registered user has no limitations in searching recent topics or a particular thread, or checking the users who are online at that moment. Shopping cart - As a user selects a package; it is likely that the individual would prefer to add more to the package before the final checkout. Thus, the shopping cart feature has been added. It asks the user to first login in his/her account and then gives a summary of selected products i.e. Name of the product, SKU, price, quantity, tax/discount and the total amount to be paid. Policies regarding the payment and tax are presented as URL at the bottom of the page. Product catalogue - A separate category has been inserted to display different baby care, beverages, cereal, confectionery, festive products, and laundry items and so on. Different sub category pages have been designed and one can choose their preferred brands too. The page is going to offer details about a product like the base price, the Sales price, and discounts and taxes along with the snap of the chosen item. It shall also put on display the present stock level of a product. Order Form - It is displayed in the shopping cart once an individual adds a grocery item(s) to the cart. 2. I did not implemented any specific feature apart from the ones already implemented. Although there was a breadcrumbs feature implemented in order to make navigating within the website comfortable with new visitors. This is because breadcrumbs provides them with superior control and positioning and makes them aware of where they exactly are within the website. 3. Website structure 4. There are many undeniable features that have not been implemented on the website yet. The answer to why, is because the website has been designed for demonstration purpose strictly. Yes,it might have magically worked for the sites meant for other purposes; it will definitely not work with any particular site that is meant to be exclusively an eCommerce site. The reason is because; first and foremost the capability of any eCommerce website indicates that it should be able to accept payments from the customers. At present there isn't even onepayment processor. And the reason is that to be capable of accepting payments, one must implement the payment gateway option, which is basically a paid service along with the merchant account. On top of that, to make retain the security and safety of the consumers the site must be able to allow what is known as the SSL security to encrypt communication end to end with the site. Among the list of things that remained unimplemented and is related to payment integration is the website certificate validating the genuineness of the site. This has been provided by the companies like VeriSign and it instantly permits their custome rs to learn that the website is truly what it has claimed to be. Not only that, it helps to resolve problems associated with phishing or spear phishing. Thus it's the single greatest thing which entrusts thecustomers with loyalty and trust that they're purchasing products from a popular online firm. Another essential feature which has not been implemented is the help desk. The helpdesk feature makes wayfor tracking feedbacks, queries and complaints within a convenient system. This feature provides an auto-feedback to the customers and gifts them the unique ticket. Consumers can use it later to identify their queries or feedbacks. What is worth mentioning is the much needed escalation features. On the back end, the helpdesk is there to provide aid to a company for the management, allocation and queries, complaintsof the referred people, then track only to see if these queries were unresolved or resolved. Again, since this website isn't what is known to be a live one, this feature has been left out but is totally essential for any live website. Excepting those mentioned, what was left out was Google Analytics. Google Analytics efficiently user tracks visitors on a website and concludes various statistics regarding it whichhelps in shaping a website for its betterment. Google Analytics demands a live website for its implementation and it was left out too, however, it is an essential feature definitely as it comes to any production live website. Other specific eCommerce features include the capability to track, refund or cancel orders, add the products to the wish list, notifications for exciting new products have been missed. 5. The most obvious change that calls to be implemented within the website is those involving tracking and then collecting website statistics. These include the bounce rate, visitor hits, time on the website, Heatmaps of visitors and so on. Such reliable statistics could beused for enhancing the user abilityas well as the functionality of the website for providing a standard service to customers and driving sales on the other hand. This could be possible with the help of analytical tools like that ofGoogle Analytics. Google Analytics and similar services may be easily used on a website irrespective of it being CMS or Non-CMS platforms;Joomla provides other such functionalities to broaden the scope of using analytical services. With add-ons available for the Joomla analytics, one can view some of the most viewed statistics within Joomla in the control panel. Any eCommerce site additionally needs a powerfully efficient help desk (web-based) to help a company manage feedbacks, customer queries and complaints. Rather than purchasing any off the shelf solution or developing a help desk right from scratch and then integrating or implementing it in the website, using Joomla one may simply integrate the powerful helpdesk system. Don't forget the gems, the Add-ons. As a Joomla arrives with all types of Add-ons, it gets easier for all, even a kid to integrate a complex system in a website smoothly and begin using it effectively in just a short span. Next, generally eCommerce websites have a tendency of bending towards quality content. Or in other words content plays asignificant role. Hence, the editors, content managers and article writershave to be recruited. Recruitment will result in producing and managing the content for a website ideally. Joomla provides an ability of defining different user responsibilities so that the person who is meant to write articles only, bears nil control over say management issues of the content and vice versa.Since several websites, particularly the eCommerce sites have remainedcrowded; the ability to discover is a major reason of concern. Still now a majority of users keeps visiting the website on searching for particular products on different search engines. This problem must be immediately tapped so that the search engines can fetch a noticeable traffic to the website. There are numerous add-ons that may be easily installed, whichfacilitate the search engine optimization. The other issue is that each article possesses its own keywords and Meta tags within the Joomla interface that may be keyed-in in such a way that the articles turn out to be simple to index within any search engine. 6. The quite obvious challenge that had been ignored was the one which questioned what would happen if Joomla was pre-installed. Else it would become a challenge given how tough it is to start-up with that. Again, the real next obvious challenge faced is that of understanding how the Joomla works. On logging in, no Menu managers, media managers or article managers could be spotted, but how they had been working simultaneously, in sync were the most mysterious question ever. Moreover again, it was challenging to figure out how each template worked. Templates have their personal way of highlighting the content as they possess their individual grid systems, which are unique, varying in all. While touring the website, yet another challengehas beenabout coming up with articles and having them displayed on the right hand section of the right hand page. It is easily understood that it did consume much time in understanding, especially because whenever an article was created; it would not si mply turn up on the particular page it had been aimed at. To add to the existing difficulties, the modules were highly confusing. These modules, which were kind of an extension and kind of the mere means of flaunting the content which was coupled with their placement as they would just show up whenaligned in a grid on the right hand template turned out to be the most confusing. Another task was to recognize the difference among the plug-ins, modules and components. Some extensions were found to be only to have taken the form of modules, while some of extensions took the forms of plug-ins and the components. And there were other extensions that would take the form of all the three. Installing such extensions and figuring out how they work and making them work together again was another big challenge. What was not mentioned earlier is the challenge of understanding the menu management system operation. Under Menu several different options were displayed, since the main intention was t o begin with a homepage first, there was a difficultly as to what type of menu would be suitable for the purpose. The menus turn become very much a section of that website, and the section would then need to be populated by the content that would come from the articles, media, modules and functions that would come from the components, modules and the plugins. Many a times, few menus would be incompatible thereby being difficult to populate it with the demanded content. Yet another major challenge was about getting the existing product catalogue working as it was figured out finally that it was be possible for a plug-in (third party) like say VirtueMart which itself was pretty much challenging to be understood. 7. There are various requirements of security that needs to be accomplished so that a secure website is created. This includes shell access, SSL server, cron access, etc. The choice of a correct and proper service provider is of utmost importance while securing a website. There are certain factors that need to be considered while the choice for a host is made. These factors are- Language Support An application of Joomla requires a UNIX or Linux server. So, the host must have these servers. Secure FTP The host should provide SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) for file transfers so that hackers cannot steal passwords from data packets while these packets travel over the Internet. Keep Globals OFF The host is required to keep the Register Global Directives option OFF by default and the host that requires this option to be kept ON while a site is running should be avoided. Proactive Server Management The hosts are required to provide information about breaches in security instead of just shutting off the servers at the time of the attacks. Access to raw logs The hosts are required to provide access to raw logs since these are required for security and recovery of data. Some of the other security measures for maintaining security for a Joomla based website are- Usage of proper file permissions A user can be granted access to a folder or file for reading, writing and/or executing and these permissions can be granted to wither users or groups or the public. The best combination of these can be used to set the file permission. The permission for the Joomla folder should be set to the 755 combination, the files to 644 combination and configuration.php should be set to the 444 combination as it is recommended by Site Ground Inc. Full access/permission that is the 777 combination should never be used. The security of a Joomla website can be increased with the addition of extensions like jomDefender, jSecure and the Akeeba Admin Tools. Frequent backups are quite helpful in case the website suffers any form damage or the web files are penetrated. Strong password must be used for administrative pages and folders. The Joomla organization provides various explanations for the practice of information for Joomla websites which provides details of the choices that can be made by the administrators so as to maintain privacy settings. For example, when one is registering for a Joomla forum, he/she can choose whether they have an issue with other members of the forum connecting with them. When projects or extensions are registered on www.joomla.org, users have to choice of agreement/disagreement for the separate terms of services that grants permission to Joomla organizations to connect with the website administrators. Wiki pages are created by Joomla where the identity of the website is recorded and any abuse, if detected, on the IP can lead to the blocking of the webpage. 8. Any e-commerce website is generally expected to be communicated at its best with its backing and the legacy systems. However the process of integration involves distinct issues that are mitigated through various techniques. First of all, the e-commerce website ought to have its access to the real-time data of a particular product, the customer and the information supply chain. This indicates that the chosen technologies must be scalable and has to be perfectly compatible with the platforms. To make the technologies perfectly compatible, the site architecturemust be understood thoroughly before integrating in order to avoid any sort of data loss or disruption. Then, that data needs to be synchronized and again, understood thoroughly before the integration. Because the companies tend to focus on the automatic existing processes, it is compulsory for bringing about improvements in the present workflows in a phased manner. Along with such genuine approaches, there are few internal factors that can also take part in the success of the site. It is essential to receive support from the executives and maintain the consensus among all the stakeholders. Apart from these, an undeniable commitment is also required prior to signing up for the funding. A 'Team' is at the core of any successful venture. In the initial stages only, the stakeholders ought to be involved in the integration beyond the IT support. It may include other business units or departments too. Whenever a change is noticed in the e-commerce integration, it seems that the employees are affected in the current workflow. Thus, it is nearly mandatory for the employees to have knowledge regarding the project and be fully trained in making use of new resources that result from the integration. Now, before further integration, what is required is that all broken codes (written) must be fixed like that of fuzzy processes. Within integration, any broken code may end up costing a huge amount, surprisingly. Backend integration has a huge potential and also provides lucrative opportunities for the applications and of course business processes. In order to make this happen, a realistic approach is taken for fruitful backend integration. As it comes to the legacy system, generally a technical approach is undertaken. It is only possible by developing a layer of custom integration popular as the wrappers between the modern systems and the legacy system i.e. The e-commerce application. Such a layeroffers the intermediary communication interface on exposing the web service to the application. For instance: in the case of an e-commerce application, a legacy application has been running on the mainframe. A custom layer shall not expose the details of the main frame and that of legacy systems. And in that case, the web services of APIs communicate with a third-party application. The custom layer helps to integrate the data from the legacy sources. In the world of e-commerce application, the system is allowed to talk to the system of payment processing, CMS, and so on. This indicates that the integration between the e-commerce solution and that of the back systems can be done with the workaround. It will make sure that the e-commerce solution continues its performance without major disruptions and allows the smooth transition to an integrated system with time. As a matter of fact, it turns out to be helping in mitigating the risks 9. Following are the required hardware and software tools for establishing an e-commerce website: Oracle : With the new improvements made almost daily, Oracle brings about easier management and deployment of the database. In the field of ecommerce this site will address a large number of users which will eventually turn out to be a larger amount of data. Thus Oracle is the ideal choice of database. It helps to maximize data safety and its availability. Toad for Oracle - It is the exclusive praise worthy software application coming from DELL, which offers a far better GUI for administration and development of Oracle using the SQL. Platform tools - Joomla 2.5 is the open sourced, free content management frame for publishing the web content. It has been based on Model-View-Controller application framework. Thereby it makes the use of the templates and has been already developed in PHP. There are several versions of Joomla right since it had been introduced. This site is created in Joomla 2.5. The default template is selected to carry on work with. Payment gateway - The payment gateway is the e-commerce provider which provides authentic services like the credit card payments for online businesses and e-commerce. The option protects the details of credit cards to encrypt sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers to make sure that they have been passed on safely between the merchants and the customers. A payment gateway helps to transfer information between a payment portal and the front end processor. Web browsers or Device test As soon as the application has been finished, it needs to be tested for the functioning and the quality. E-commerce site has been tested using the AppLause. It tests apps on real devices by real users. Moreover, it provides the option of instant testing on the 360-degree dashboard of the app. With the results and user reviews, the quality of the app can thereby be improved. Coding tools - Aptana is the WYSIWYG tool only for developers to build a site. It has a pretty easy usable interface which makes a perfect choice for the novice users and developers. Moreover, it can work with new technologies: HTML, CSS, PHP flash and even JQuery. It supports file transfers and supports subversions. Tool Cost ($) Aptana 20 Oracle 580 Toad for Oracle Free Joomla 2.5 Free Payment Gateway 110 10. Once the project estimate has been broken down into high-level phases, it is time for getting further granular and breaking a particular phase into tasks. Thus, from here the estimate starts being tailored to specific projects, including common tasks which you can use over and over again. Phase 1- Requirement Mapping or Gathering-The most essential requirements ought to be recognized and analyzed prior to making the final vendor decision. The implementation team members must be acquainted with the most fruitful practice recommendations, and map them to the unique processes. Phase Two: Design-Once the requirements have been gathered and mapped, the next stage involves building the functional specifications, which may be accomplished by any implementation partner. The step also involves documentation of the complex data flow, planning all that can be achieved on simple configuration, and determining the elements for development and integration. The design can be high level and low level. High level design explains the relation between the multiple functions and the modules. High Level Design is again covered up in Low Level Designs which define the logic for the entire component in an e - commerce system. 1. Initial catalogue load The initial catalogue load extracts data in the .csv format for easy uploading. The data, in this stage is made ready for loading via Map catalog model of data, WCS data model, style sheets and deign XML. Data is customized when needed and the loader utilities generally are used to load resolved data to commerce data models. 2. The Express Payment Configuration Credit Card Authorization, payment reservation, deposit, approval and system and application level other than handling, with google checkout. 3. Store Locator is integrated with Google Maps for Proximity Search and Directions includes: 4. The new store locator wouldnt just let an individual get lost. Real time directions to drive with reverse directions shall be provided. Proximity search facilities has been gifted with configurable distance scale. The store locator is compatible with WebSphere commerce version 7 Elite, Madison, and even an advanced B2B store. 5. Real Time Shipping Rates Calculator for tracking shipped goods through UPS, FEDEX or any other preferred carrier includes: 6. The owners can easily configure the shipping codes, carriers, etc. The configuration for real time shipping charges from FEDEX, UPS, etc., Shipment tracking is going on and shall be implemented soon enough. 7. Training- Websphere commerce shall be using activity builders along with other promotions s and price related laws to offer specific features. 8. Training for Business users - Activity builders and other promotions through campaigns as well as a price related rules would be used by the WebSphere Commerce in order to provide certain features. 11. E-commerce websites are known to be presenting an impressive view of the operation by highlighting the key features. Needless to mention again,eCommerce, as a retail channel plays a prominent role for sale as well, through retailers. X (change the name) has also witnessed commerce as its viable alternative to the physical store and it considers that an E-commerce website could also benefit riptide in other ways. It would serve as an ideal marketing medium for the company and the store would be open 24X7 for customers to shop. Moreover, customers need not visit the store to explore merchandize. It has additional benefits for Riptide as this company would cater to customer needs from their distant locations. Furthermore, the availability of the analytical tools on the website shall help to seek valuable insights about the customers, including information regarding their interest and purchase; in return it will facilitate Business Analytics. The decision of running the E-commerce st ore would, however throw some challenges at Riptide. Yet one must not forget that, this particular way of reaching out to the audience has benefits such as: Good shopping experience - The first and foremost thing that comes to mind is that an E-commerce website creates a wonderful shopping on eliminating the hassles of shopping involved in physical stores. Shoppers will not have to wait in a line, can avail safe delivery with barely any damage to the goods, and thereby saving time. Cost-effective marketing - marketing tools available online may be used for reaching out to a wider audience and that would save the costs involved otherwise in the old marketing methods. Profit Maximizing - E-commerce website rejects or at least reduces a large extent the costs which are involved in the operation of physical stores like that of employee hiring, rent of the store, employee hiring, and management and so on. This may increase the overall profit of the company since the cost of manufacturing a product available to the consumers is greatly reduced. Availability - E-commerce sites are not only available but also accessible 24x7 throughout the year and that is so not the case when it comes to physical retail stores making them not so feasible. 12. While creating the homepage, several modules has been while those required have been enabled. For this reason, the official documentation of Joomla had been fromhttps://cocoate.com/sites/cocoate.com/files/pdf/j25en.pdffor getting a better grasp of Joomla and about how to start working on it. Apart from this Joomlas plug-in directory was also used, the site link is as follows:https://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/. This was done for checking out all the available plugins, which were beneficial and would be or could be used for the site. The basic intention was to have a simple minimalistic layout for the website. So, accordingly, then, the modules had been positioned and each module had been inspected thenpositioned for figuring out the exclusive website layout. There was a desire for altering the footer, but an edit was essential in a file for which the backend access was mandatory, hence the process of changing the footer was left incomplete. The implementation of shopping cart has been done using Hikashop as I was unable to implement VirtueMart. I installed the plug-in and in order to implement it I referred https://www.hikashop.com/support/documentation.html. Hikashop was a straightforward implementation and was installed as a built-in module. In addition to this, I also referred video tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA9YOyzBsic for configuring Hikashop. Kunena forum