Importance of Prayer

Importance of Prayer What is Prayer Prayer is the utterance from your spirit to God. In simple terms, talking to God is called prayer. It's the simple opening of one's heart to our Father in Heaven. It's coming to Him and telling Him everything in your heart. Then, why do we find praying so complicated? Those of us who say, ‘I don't pray because I don't know how to pray, haven't understood that prayer is just being yourself and talking to God with honesty and sincerity. When I was growing up, I found prayer very boring. It's because it just seemed like an endless stream of meaningless words to me.However, when I truly understood what prayer meant (that it's speaking to God with complete honesty, without any kind of masks or worrying about how and what you talk), my whole perspective about prayer changed. Prayer today is not a burdensome task that I have to complete everyday, but a joyful time I spend with my Lord. It's such a privilege to be able to talk to the King of Kings; t o share my innermost thoughts, my deepest desires! However, this privilege came at a price. Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, for my sins, just so that I could enter the throne of God's grace with confidence. So is it for you!What is the Importance of Prayer Drawing Nearer to God†¦ If you do not pray, if you do not talk to God, you can never learn more about who He is. To understand the Father heart of God, we need to pray. To lead a life of intimacy with God, we need to pray. In John 15:15, Jesus says He no longer calls us his servants, but calls us His friends. Moreover, in 1 Corinthians 3:9, God calls us His fellow workers. But, how can we be His fellow workers if we refuse to talk to Him? Tool to Bind Powers of Darkness†¦ Prayer is powerful and you need to remember, the words uttered in prayer have wonder-working power.Do not underestimate the power of prayer. The Devil is constantly trying to discourage us, demoralize us and weaken our faith in God. When tempted to fall into sin, pray. Prayer gives us the power to overcome. Pray gives us the strength and the faith to finish the race marked before us in this life. Prayer Changes You†¦ Why are parents so worried about the company their children are in? It's because they know the company you are in, can influence you. The influence may be positive or negative, but there sure is an influence.The more time you spend with God, the more your face will shine with the radiance of God. The more your nature will resemble the loving nature of God. Our habits and lifestyles change. We no longer live selfish lives, but love others with a pure and sincere heart. Prayer changes us from the inside, which soon gets reflected on the outside. Prayer Protects†¦ It is important to pray for God's protection on your family everyday. Pray for your parents, spouse, children every single day. Parents have the responsibility to make their kids understand the importance of prayer.Children are extremely vulner able and the choices they make during their growing up years will shape their future. Pray for God's protection upon their young lives. Prayer Heals†¦ Jesus healed the sick while He was on Earth. He also gave authority to His disciples to heal. Jesus Christ has also given each one of us who believes in Him, the authority to heal. Pray for emotional, spiritual and physical healing for yourself and for those around you. Walk towards Him and you will be healed. Prayer Brings Developments†¦ There's no point in getting frustrated. One must fast and pray.There is power in fasting and praying. Fasting and prayer is powerful. Fast and pray on a regular basis (weekly or more frequently if possible). Select a time when you have the house to yourself, so you will be free to sing and pray aloud. Start by singing a few choruses, then begin reading the Bible. After that pour your heart out to God and share your burdens openly. Then read some more from the Bible. Don't stop fasting and p raying even if you feel the breakthrough is taking too long. Continue fasting and praying. You will receive the answers to your prayers.

Festival Presentation

Introduction Slide 1 Background Slide 2 http://www. bluebanana. com/article. php/191/boardmasters-festival The awesome Relentless Boardmasters festival is one of the most recognised surfing events in the country and has everything you could possibly need for a weekend away. You’ve got music, a surfing event, skating and a whole load more so you’ll never run out of things to do! Where all of the biggest names in surf, BMXing and music come together, Boardmasters is the music event you must check out this summer.Located in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, watch the sun set over the cliff top and get ready for a long night of dancing and buzzing music. The Relentless Boardmasters festival offers an eclectic array of solo artists, rock bands and pop groups, you’ll discover some fresh faces as well as some tracks you’ll want to download the second you return home. You’ll be getting a full five days of sea, sun and a whole load of sand, as well as late night entertainment and world famous sportspeople. With an awesome area designated for festival camping, you won’t want to leave and will be returning year after year.So for fun filled days at the beach packed with entertainment, what more could you want from the Relentless Boardmasters Festival? To get a better feel of the Relentless Boardmasters festival and what it’s about we’ve provided a summary guide of previous years events. We’ve included information on the types of acts and artists that have performed here and other background knowledge on the actual event. So reminisce with us now about some of the most awesome times celebrated at the Relentless Boardmasters festival over the years. History and now Slide 3 http://www. bluebanana. om/article. php/191/boardmasters-festival The Relentless Boardmasters festival was previously known as The Rip Curl Boardmasters Unleashed festival and is known as Europe’s biggest surf, skate and mu sic event. The name was changed in 2009 due to a change in sponsors when the fantastic energy drink company Relentless took over. It has now been running for almost 30 years, celebrating its 30th anniversary in August 2011. Since 1981 the Relentless Boardmasters festival has been supplying you with top quality entertainment and sports from the awesome location of Newquay.In 2008 the Relentless Boardmasters festival was headlined by Groove Armada, The Zutons, Audio Bullys, The Pigeon Detectives and Reverend and the Makers. It also contained the introduction and performances of Mystery Jets, Gallows and Ghost of A Thousand on the No Half Measures Stage. Attendees of the 2008 event were lucky enough to experience pleasant, summery weather at the Relentless Boardmasters festival and a line up which had something for everyone. In 2009 the name changed to Relentless Boardmasters and welcomed the first beach session down at Fistral Beach.This year there was a wider range of acts performing at the festival, from The Streets to Master Shortie, there was something for all tastes and styles in 2009. Some of the most well known acts were; Calvin Harris, Roots Manuva, The King Blues, Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip and Noisettes. However, the highlight of the weekend was an awesome performance from headliners Cypress Hill. This year Relentless Boardmasters festival goers were also blessed with perfect weather and the weekend received fantastic reviews.Most recently the 2010 Relentless Boardmasters festival was a huge success. There are now three main stages at the surfing event; Main Stage, Relentless Stage and Vans Off the Wall Music Stage. The beach sessions continue on Fistral Beach on the Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Examples of the 2010 highlights include; The Futureheads, Natty, Young Guns, Madina Lake, Chase and Status, Gallows, Plan B, Seasick Steve and Example. The headliners at Relentless Boardmasters festival were Newton Faulkner and Leftfield which both contribu ted to an awesome review for the entire weekend.There are three main stages at the Relentless Boardmasters festival; Main Stage, Relentless Stage and Vans Off the Wall Music Stage. There are also smaller alternative stages such as; the View Stage, the Residential Dance Tent and the awesome Relentless Beach Sessions held down at Fistral Beach. Main Stage – With huge artists set to play, the Main stage is a playground of entertainment. Having seen bands from the likes of Newton Faulkner, Chase and Status, Calvin Harris, Example and a whole load more, the Main Stage is the place to park your body.Relentless Stage – Perfect for providing you manic fans with music to give your ears the fix they’ve been waiting for, previous bands to have graced the stage include New Young Pony Club, Chase and Status, Crystal Fighters and Dwarves. Vans ‘Off The Wall’ Stage – With a rawer sound blasting from this stage, if you’re in to harder music then this stage is the one to hang out at. Having had We Are The Ocean, Madina Lake, Chickenhawk and Everything Burns stealing the limelight. To check out the line up for the next festival, watch this space or head over to the official festival websites MAPEntertainment at the Relentless Boardmasters festival covers the Watergate and Fistral Beach area, so you can relax knowing you’ll never get bored. Fistral Beach will keep your adrenaline pumping with their surf competition, BMX mini ramp and so much more. Meanwhile, Watergate contains the best music, bars and a variety of fair rides. With such a large scale area, there’s so much to do at the Relentless Boardmasters festival that you won’t know what to do first. The Relentless Boardmasters festival is the place to be if you’re after intense beats, bars to grab a pint and a place to check your facebook account.Take a long walk across the golden beach and soak up some rays if you fancy chilling out. With shops near by, grab your favourite brand from one of the quirky surf shops that are tucked away. In the heat of the sun get yourself a cool refreshment or a chilled pint from any one of the Relentless Boardmasters beach bars found on Fistral beach. Growth of Festival 4 My village attracts over 90,000 unique fans to celebrate the UK’s longest running surf event at Fistral Beach and the music festival at Watergate Bay.In recent years the Boardmasters has truly become ‘Cornwall’s Festival’. Year on year the Boardmasters strives to enhance the event, not only for fans of the festival but also for the town of Newquay and Cornwall County. This is achieved through close workings with the relevant parties including the town and county councils, the emergency services, residents associations and local business. 2012 will once again see application for steady growth across the event in terms of capacity at the music festival site at Watergate Bay and its neighbouring campsite. The increased accommodation should allow a comfortable entry for new visitors to Newquay, bringing with them increased spending and vital repeat tourism. Stakeholders 5 My village Newquay Town Mayor, Andy Hannam said; â€Å"I am pleased to hear that the organisers of the successful Boardmasters event are returning to Newquay for 2012. I personally attended both days of the festival last year enjoying the world class surfing and vast, varied range of music. I was impressed with the way the event was organised and enjoyed by all that took part.Putting on this kind of event is a very difficult balancing act making sure that the people taking part don’t impact in a negative way on the residents living close to the venue. The feedback I received after the event was mainly positive and many lessons are being learned and we will work with the organisers to continue making improvements. I am sure that every effort will be made this year to continue improving the interaction between the Town and the event and Newquay will benefit from the increased visitor numbers we can expect over the weekend. The Boardmasters is a Cornish business and is the busiest week in Newquay’s calendar. As a direct result of the event, visitor spending exceeds ? 5 million throughout the county. The event itself hires over 300 event staff across 20 local businesses as well as using over 30 Cornish contractors and all catering concessions are Cornish based wherever possible. Malcolm Bell, head of Visit Cornwall said; â€Å"Boardmasters is the high point of the summer season on the North Coast of Cornwall and especially in Newquay.Not only does it contribute almost ? 20million to the local economy but more importantly it delights and thrills tens of thousands of happy visitors. If you love Cornwall, love the beach, love surfing or watching surfing and love great live acts then Newquay and Boardmasters is where you must be this summer. † Management 6 Business Opps 7 Environm ental Implications Slide 8 Sustainibility Slide 9 http://www. relentlessenergy. com/features/surfers-against-sewage-at-boardmasters. html SAS at Relentless Energy Drink BoardmastersSurfers Against Sewage’s stand will be present at Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters, where they will organise daily beach cleans and environmental sessions, and introduce a very intriguing sounding giant board game called Marineopoly. If you want to become a member of SAS, head to their website via their link below. The first 50 people to quote Relentless at sign-up will receive a free and exclusive ACTIVIST t-shirt, as well as all the other member benefits (stickers, a quarterly magazine, posters, a keyring, a 10% discount at their store, exclusive competitions and partner offers and more).If you want to know more, make sure you check out their stand and find out about the excellent work that they do. A very welcome addition to Boardmasters http://myvillage. com/article/relentless-energy-drink- boardmasters-2012 Matthew Owen, director of Cool Earth said; The Boardmasters firmly upholds its eco conscience each year. All waste is recycled wherever possible and twice daily beach cleans ensure nothing is left behind. Further to this, the event supports two strong charities, Surfers against Sewage and Cool Earth.Last year, Boardmasters and Cool Earth protected acres of Peruvian rainforest from deforestation, locking in 8000 tonnes of CO2 and saving the habitat of 17 endangered species. â€Å"Boardmasters put on the best festival of the year and, with Cool Earth, saved 40 acres of rainforest from certain destruction. Let's do it again this year. Every single act at Boardmasters saved trees in the rainforest with Cool Earth. We've never seen a festival so switched on to saving the world. Great acts, great surf and 40 acres of rainforest kept standing. No other festival can compete. † Health and Safety slide 10Media Coverage Slide 11 Marketing Slide 12 Wrap up Slide 13 Othe r Stuff Read more: http://www. thisissomerset. co. uk/Licensee-hits-limits-Boardmasters-music/story-18286420-detail/story. html#ixzz2NQJbBnmd Follow us: @thisiscornwall on Twitter | thisiscornwall on Facebook Restrictions on the volume and times music is permitted on a Westcountry beach could threaten the future of one of the region's top musical and surfing gatherings. Cornwall Council's licensing committee has decided that music at Newquay's Fistral Beach has to stop at 11. 30pm and not exceed 65 decibels.The reduction in the time music can be played, which was previously 30 minutes later, at midnight, has come after complaints by some residents who live near the beach. John Lenton, whose company, Fistral Leisure Ltd, was the subject of a licence review by Cornwall Council's environmental protection team, said the council conditions were now jeopardising the music element of the Boardmasters Festival, Newquay's biggest event of the year. Mr Lenton holds a licence to stage events a t the beach's car park, including music and a skate competition over three days in August as part of the Boardmasters Festival, this year from August 7 to 11.The committee carried out a review of the Fistral beach car park and ordered that background music from both indoors and outside sources will cease by 11. 30pm. The committee ordered that amplified music will be kept to levels that are acceptable to surrounding businesses. The levels are 65 decibels at one monitoring point and 50 decibels at another. An additional condition is that the licensee will monitor the noise at two locations highlighted on the acoustic report at least once an hour while regulated entertainment is being undertaken.Mr Lenton said four or five people living on Esplanade Road had complained about music, the surfing and skating commentary, and even RNLI beach safety announcements. He holds a licence to stage events at the beach's car park, including music and a skate competition over three days as part of t he Boardmasters Festival. Mr Lenton said: â€Å"When are the council officers going to start backing local businesses? â€Å"Boardmasters is the biggest event of the year and they are trying to push the event out of town. â€Å"It is all over by midnight. It isn't as if it goes on until 4am.Boardmasters should be thanked, not punished, for holding the event in Newquay – 90 per cent of the town is behind it and businesses rely on it. There will come a time when Boardmasters gets tired of being told off. † Council officers monitored noise levels at properties on Esplanade Road, located at the southern end of Fistral beach, between August 9 and 15 last year. All events take place at the northern end. A report by environmental protection officer Miranda Flannigan states that the team had received numerous complaints from residents and that Fistral Leisure Ltd had been contacted over â€Å"poor management†It added: â€Å"Well-run and well-organised events are welc omed. However, the events relating to the particular licence have had a detrimental effect on residents. † Read more: http://www. thisissomerset. co. uk/Licensee-hits-limits-Boardmasters-music/story-18286420-detail/story. html#ixzz2NQJWqmHX Follow us: @thisiscornwall on Twitter | thisiscornwall on Facebook Read more: http://www. thisissomerset. co. uk/Licensee-hits-limits-Boardmasters-music/story-18286420-detail/story. html#ixzz2NQJOqQgL Follow us: @thisiscornwall on Twitter | thisiscornwall on Facebook ttp://www. newquayvoice. co. uk/news/5/article/3503/ Malcolm Bell, head of tourism at VisitCornwall, says the surf, skate, BMX and music festival generates an annual ? 18. 8 million to the Cornish economy. The statistic was highlighted during his speech at the Headland Hotel ahead of work getting underway to set up this year's event, which will be held at Fistral Beach between August 10 and 14. The music festival will be staged at Watergate Bay on August 12 and 13, featuring Fa tboy Slim, Klaxons, Eliza Doolittle and Stereo MC’s.Mr Bell said: â€Å"In 2009 we did an economic impact of the Boardmasters by talking to tens of thousands of people to find out their total spend. We found there is an ? 18. 8 million impact as a direct result because of the Boardmasters, which equates to 80% going to Newquay and 20% to the rest of Cornwall. â€Å"Cynics would say a lot of people would be coming to Newquay and Cornwall anyway. But if you have the most cynical view I have no hesitation in stating there is a ? 4. 75 million boost coming from people who would never have come anywhere near Newquay and Cornwall if it was not for the Boardmasters. The event is bigger since 2009 so the amount of money generated is even more. â€Å"Cornwall has got an interesting relationship with Newquay. It is love hate. Other parts of Cornwall tend to be negative, which irritates me. â€Å"The Boardmasters bringing in tens of thousands of people shows what Newquay is about. P eople now want to know when the Boardmasters is on. In terms of promoting Newquay and Cornwall it is brilliant. † Andrew Topham, from organisers Sports Vision said: â€Å"We are celebrating not only 30 years, but this year will be a six star event with a women’s and longboard category. There are 200 surfers taking part and the music event has got Fatboy Slim and the Klaxons headlining. There will also be 150 others acts. † An official warm-up event to get everyone in the mood for the Relentless Boardmasters festival will be staged at Bunters in Truro on Friday, featuring rockers Max Raptor, indie folkers The Travelling Band, plus support from the Suitenoir and singer songwriters Tom Law and Joss White. There will also be lots of Boardmasters giveaways. http://www. cornwall. gov. uk/default. aspx? page=32060 Issued on behalf of the Newquay Safe PartnershipAs Newquay prepares to welcome enthusiastic festival goers to this years Boardmasters event, Newquay Safe part ners continue to work closely together to promote safety and to reiterate that anti social behaviour will not be tolerated. Europe’s only surf, skate and music festival returns to Newquay from 8-12 August with thousands of revellers expected to enjoy the ultimate lifestyle experience against the backdrop of our spectacular coastline and welcoming town. Steve Kessell from VisitNewquay says: â€Å"Boardmasters is a prestigious event in two great locations – Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay.The festivals mix of high level beach based sport and the music festival compliments Newquay's visitor profile of families and younger visitors seeking a vibrant night time experience. As one of the nations favourite seaside resorts Newquay remains a top holiday choice and events such as Boardmasters add excitement to the holiday menu. † Eve Wooldridge, Manager of the Newquay Business Improvement District, says, â€Å"Boardmasters is a majorly important footfall, accommodation a nd customer spend driver for Newquay’s overall economy and there is a plethora of day and night-time events that appeal to families, couples and young people alike.All of the involved local businesses are gearing up for a successful week and many run corresponding events or promotions around the Boardmasters. It is helpful to see the joined-up working of the various organisations around Newquay Safe and we look forward to seeing thousands of people enjoying our natural surroundings and making the most of the positive Boardmasters experience. † As part of Newquay Safe’s partnership working, the night time Street Safe portacabin will be operating during Boardmasters.Funded and supported by Newquay Town Council, the portacabin is staffed by Devon and Cornwall Police and South Western Ambulance Service. The Street Safe mobile unit will also be out and about to help people in need anywhere in central Newquay with help, advice, support and assistance available for anyo ne who needs it; whether it is a lost wallet or bag or a safe place to gather their thoughts. Working closely with Street Safe are the local christian organisation, Street Pastors who support the Police, Ambulance Service, Street Marshals and other partners by helping anyone in need of assistance.Volunteer teams work on Friday nights into the early hours of Saturday morning to help anyone who appears vulnerable or worried. They work closely with the police, ambulance services and Street Safe project by providing a listening voice and pastoral support for people who want it. They are also able to signpost people to other services if they need to. This year the ranks of the Street Pastors have been swelled by extra volunteers coming to Newquay from other parts of the country.Newquay Street Pastor Maria Bunyan says: â€Å"We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received and delighted to welcome volunteers from as far afield as Cheshire who have come to boost our numbers and of fer their help. † To keep traffic moving during the Boardmasters event, Headland Road will be closed from Wednesday to Sunday and there will be a park and ride on the A3075 near Trevemper, to take people into town, for the duration of Boardmasters.Town Clerk of Newquay, Andy Curtis confirmed â€Å"Boardmasters is becoming widely recognised as a key part of Newquay’s annual event calendar, bringing many new faces to the Town. Newquay Town Council and Newquay Safe partners work very hard with the organisers each year to ensure the event is developed in a safe and sustainable way; addressing many issues which naturally arise from such a heavy volume of people and vehicular traffic in and around Newquay.We look forwards to this year’s event and welcoming the local and national festival-goers to our town. † Newquay Police will be continuing their No Nonsense campaign to reduce crime and disorder in the popular seaside resort. The robust approach has yielded enc ouraging results so far this summer leading to a decrease in crime figures and making the resort a better experience for all visitors.

Stylistic Analysis. Doctor in the House

â€Å"Doctor in the house† is written by Richard Gordon a real ship’s surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. The story deals with describing process of exams, difficulties provided by them and students’ feelings and thoughts before and after examinations. The general slant of the story is quite tense, gloomy and even a bit depressed. It makes the Reader feel anxious and it forces us to have a disagreeable sense of a heavy load because we worry about the narrator’s success at the exam. The author manages to create such an atmosphere by an abundant use of similes.He compares examinations with a serious contest, an eight-round fight, a final breathless sprint and even with death. All these devices leave a very vivid description of the students’ anticipating such an unpleasant inevitability as the exam. By means of the author’s language our imagination depicts a distinct and colorful picture proving the effectiveness of t he stylistic devices in Gordon’s description. It’s hard to believe but suspense is even growing from one paragraph to another turning just an investigation of a man’s knowledge into judgment day. Also read: The Man With The Scar AnalysisAnd to my mind this allusion is chosen nonrandom but to emphasize a meaning of the exam for candidates. And Gordon asserts that if an examinee loses his nerve he’s like a cow in a bog and soon he will be finished. But not all students act like this and knowing that the author focuses his attention on describing different psychological types of candidates. He pictures them with common understandable vocabulary which refers us to life and makes the portraits very convincing.At the same time Gordon adds some tiny but significant details like the Nonchalant lolling back on the chair, the Franky Worried tearing his invitation, the Crammer fondling his books, the Old Stager treating like a photographer at a wedding. Besides an attentive Reader could notice how skillfully the author names these types underlining their essences and expressing them shortly just in one word. Meanwhile despite of a psychological type everybody can find no peace af ter the exam not knowing anything about their results. And the author perfectly conveys students’ sense of futility and despair considering these days to be black.It helps the Reader to guess how difficult to cope with such a condition when you are numbed, unable to realize what has happened and everything you can is just hope for the better. This is precisely what the author says about pernicious aftereffect of exams. So as I said the suspense is still growing especially when the results are about to come out. Gordon gives us a very unusual and picturesque image of the speechless world where everything isn’t going to stir, not a leaf. The Reader has already got used to a high speed of the story and this sudden stop makes a great contrast in mood between the whole text and the last part.But this stillness is fake the narrator’s heart is on a point of leaping out of his chest. The description of the hero’s state is highly emotional. His wet palms, burning face, pulse in his ears keeps the Reader in so great tension which disappears at once after just one word ‘pass’. And a long-awaited relief covers the narrator and the reader because the author ideally coped with his main task – he hold our attention during the whole narration compelling us to feel we are inside of this story.

Importance of Being Earnest and the U.S. Government Essay

Importance of Being Earnest and the U.S. Government - Essay Example He was born in 1854 and died in 1900. He had particular aspirations when it came to the writing of short stories and he is known to have written one novel. Wilde was later in his life arrested and imprisoned for being involved in homosexuality and indecency. After his release, he moved away from Ireland and he never returned. "Importance of Being Earnest" is a playwright written by Wilde in the year 1895. The concept of the play is vested in England. The play consists of humor and lies and is based on two men who escape their obligations. The first scene of the play is centered in the house of Algernon Moncrieff who is depicted as an upper-class refined young man with a male servant known as Lane. It is tea time in London and Algernon has just entered the room where Lane is preparing the table for tea. (Wilde, Pg 8) Algernon plays the piano and then starts a conversation with Lane asking him whether or not he liked how he played the piano. Lane says that he is sorry because he had not been very attentive. This first part of the play if compared with the government in the United States depicts the aristocratic kind of life that is led by the government. The government is sophisticated and their lies are surrounded by servants who undertake all kinds of duties left right and center. As the play coAs the play continues, Algernon requests his male servant to make mushroom sandwiches specifically for his aunt who is coming in with his cousin Gwendolyn. The scene takes a twist when Algernon asks Lane what he thinks about marriage and Lane says that he has no much experience on the field since he is a divorcee. The servant's casual answer surprises the boss. Their conversation is disrupted by the door bell which the servant responds to. Algernon is left in the room eating the Mushroom sandwiches. (Wilde, Pg 13) Lane comes back to the room announcing the presence of Ernest Worthing. Ernest is Algernon's friend. Ernest is from the country side but he often comes to visit London. Ernest in their conversation reveals to Algernon about his intention to propose to Gwendolyn, Algernon's cousin. Algernon is not happy about this and he tells Ernest that he would not allow him to propose to his cousin until he explains the incision that he had collected written from a certain Cecily. At first, Ernest says that he does not know of any Cecily. At this point in the play, a light is shed on the United States government. The government is always in a position to lay down its virtues earnestly but is always in denial. This is clear from the situation in Iraq where innocent individuals have been killed but the government of the United States continues to deny this. This leaves Ernest to explain to his friend that he leads a double life. In the country side, he is known as Jack. In addition, he feeds lies to the people in the country that he has a brother in the city known as Ernest Worthing. He uses this excuse as an attempt to escape his responsibility in the country. Therefore, Cecily is his ward in the country and the granddaughter of the man who had adopted him. (Wilde, Pg 15) In the process of the conversation, Algernon also reveals that he lives a double life since he also lies that he has another invalid friend in the country known as Bunbury who he goes to see

"engaging" your employees on the implementation of a Essay

"engaging" your employees on the implementation of a strategic plan - Essay Example Strategic Planning, as it is known, is not an event but a process. A key feature of the process is the employees ’engagement at all levels of. Employee’s engagement creates additional input and assists in build their active commitment to the end plan. Thus, strategic planning processes can be considered successful in any organization when a bottom up and top down communication technique is taken to communicate strategic plans from initiation stage. By following this, the organization is in a position to define to the employees what winning clearly looks like. It starts off with informing all levels of employees that a particular strategic planning process will be undertaken. These should be clear processes that are achievable, and all employees can give their feedback. Strategic planning process provides organizations with a clear direction and purpose. A good strategy will balance gains and productivity initiatives, and this is achievable through actively involving employees in strategic planning. Organizations that dont involve employees in planning have exponentially higher probability of

Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example Threat of Substitute The food drinks mainly represent the fast moving consumer goods market and therefore the markets mainly rely on creating impulse purchase. Price sensitivity is quite low in the market; mainly marketers mainly rely on customer loyalty and brand loyalty. There are a lot of products that can provide boost and act as replacement to the energy drinks. Due to the nature of the product the target customers may switch to soft drink and carbonated drinks. Also the customers have a lot more health conscious. Therefore the customers may also look to drink lot of fluids such as herbal tea and water. Hence, there are a lot of alternative options for the customers. Overall, the level threat of substitute of products is high. Bargaining Power of Suppliers While considering the bargaining power of the buyers from the perspective the energy drink market only it can be interpreted that the bargaining power of the buyer would be quite low as there are very few players in the market . Also buyers in the market are not very price sensitive as the products are targeted towards the higher end market. The relation between the manufacturer and retailer has also evolved over the course of the market life cycle. However, the buyers should be wary of the fact that there are a lot of substitute products in the market (Williamson, Cooke and Jenkins, 2004). Bargaining power of Buyers The production process to develop the energy drinks is quite simple and bargaining power of the suppliers is quite low. The supply chain of the top players in the market is quite short. The value added in each and every stage of the production process leads to significant level of profit. The only access to the attractive market for the suppliers is through the brand owners. All in all as there are small numbers of players in the market the bargaining of the suppliers is quite low (Brown, 2009). To summarize thing it can be said that the competition level competition in market is moderate as there as few players in the market. The threat of new entrants varies between medium to high as it is likely that more and more competitors would look to enter the market due to the high level of profit. However, the economies of scale, high level of brand loyalty and the recent economic downturn would act as a major barrier to entry. The bargaining power of the suppliers and the buyers is low as there are very players in the market. However, the major threat for would be the presence of various substitute products (Kolb, 2008). Industry Rivalry The market is mainly dominated by companies like GSK and Red Bull. Lucozade is a brand of GSK. These companies have made the market saturated. The market has moved from being a niche market to mass market. It is most certainly a market for the multinational companies. Familiarity of brands would definitely play a key role to play in gaining competitive advantage. Also product dedifferentiation would play a key role. Already Lucozade has been successful in achieving product differentiation through the introduction of the caffeine versions. One of the recent entrants in the market has been the Taut, which has looked to position itself as a clean sports drink. Due to high industry margins, large of companies have looked to enter the market; but the rivalry among the brands have no lead to any kinds of adverse conditions. Although some of the smaller players have tried to imitate the strategies of Lucozade and Red

Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices and Senge's Five disciplines Essay

Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices and Senge's Five disciplines - Essay Example It is worth noting that a culture of collaboration, innovation and meaningful inquiry is dependent on all the five common elements/dispositions while working in collaboration with one another. The two sources are suggestive of similar theoretical concepts and presentations in various ways. Kouzes and Posner believe in the need of leaders clarifying their values and acting in congruence with the values which is critical in not only building credibility, but also inspiring others to listen and follow. Senge similarly believes in the discipline of Personal Mastery aligning well with the congruence of values and actions. This is what he refers to as creative tension that is generated by the juxtaposition of vision with the current reality. We can therefore conclude that just like Senge postulates, all disciplines need to be developed together as an ensemble with the common elements. In disregard to whether one subscribes to Kouzes and Posner or Senge, all the common elements will be present in all the organizations surviving and sustaining reform in the face of declining resources. Both the five Disciplines and the Five Exemplary Practices are a true explication and demonstration of the core leader disposition that is need while buttressed with other relevant leadership

Mass Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mass Culture - Essay Example The distinction between 'serious' and 'popular' music was tackled by Adorno. Serious music is perceived as refined music compared to popular music. Serious music is regarded as highbrow as distinct from popular music which is considered lowbrow. (Witney, 2002). However, Adorno rejects these categories as a basis for making a distinction between serious and popular music. Adorno stressed that the works of early Viennese classicism were rhythmically simpler than the common arrangements of jazz. He further pointed out that based on melody, the wide intervals of â€Å"Deep Purple' and 'Sunrise Serenade' makes these much more difficult to emulate compared to Haydn. In particular, he explained that the supply of chords of the classics is limited compared to a modern composer who culls from Debussy, Ravel and later sources' (Adorno 1990:305). The rallying point of Adorno was the question of whether culture validated the experience of the individual or whether culture had eclipsed it. (Ridlesss, 1984). According to Adorno and Horkheimer, under monopoly, all mass culture is identical. Movies and radio are not art but businesses made into an ideology to reinforce the rubbish they produce. These businesses refer to themselves as industries. Some persons explain the culture industry in technological terms. They state that reproduction processes are necessary that would require similar needs in many places to be satisfied with identical goods. Adorno and Horkheimer stipulate that the standards were based on consumers’ needs. ' needs. The basis on which technology acquires power over society is the power of those whose economic hold over society is at its greatest. A technological rationale is the aim of domination itself. It is the coercive nature of society alienated from itself. The outcome is that the technology of the culture industry resulted in standardization and mass production. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1993). Moreover, Adorno and Horkheimer states that the man with leisure has to accept everything that the culture manufacturers offer him. The industry robs the individual of his function since the industry does the schematizing and classification for him. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1993). Adorno and Horkheimer stated that style is significant in every work of art. The artistic expression is imbedded in the style or into the language of music, painting and words. The promise a work of art holds depends on how it will create truth by lending new shape to the conventional social forms. The fulfillment of art lies in their aesthetic derivatives. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1993). The culture industry is basically a spectacle which is illusory. In the face of the person who isstimulated by all those brilliant names and images there is an ode to the depressing everyday world it sought to escape. The culture industry is essentially pornographic and prudish. Love is further downgraded to romance. After the descent, license becomes a specialty, it is knows as "daring. The stronger the positions of the culture industry become, the more it can handle consumers' needs by manufacturing them, manipulating them, disciplining them, and even by withdrawing amusement from them. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1993). In the culture industry, the individual is an illusion due to the standardization of the means of production. The reactions of human beings have been reified that the idea of anything specific to themselves shows as an abstract notion. The emphasis is on bodily perfections devoid of distinction. The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1993). Stuart Hall's encoding and decoding diagram is closely related to the works of Eco, Adorno and Horkheimer. Hall showed that production practices in television translate into a message, a sign-vehicle which is organized by means of a set of codes

Theory of Mind and Child Bullying Literature review

Theory of Mind and Child Bullying - Literature review Example Conclusion 15 References 17 Introduction Social issues and concerns have normally come under immense ignorance and people fail to notice the issues that leave indelible imprints on to abundant of people. Bullying, predominantly child bullying is one of the socially ethical dilemmas that dates back to several decades and may be centuries (Sanders and Phye, 2004, pp. 1-3). One can define bully as a "Use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants" (Alvesson and Spicer, 2011, pp.165). This means that bullying is an action that can come under performance by either one person and can even involve a group of people, where they tend to have aggressive and violent conduct. In addition, the practice of bullying is intended to provide harm to other people or become a source of humiliation for them publically because they perceive them stronger and wants to prove their dominance over the weaker people (Sanders and Phye, 2004, pp. 3-5). In general, it has come to observation that the victim's abilities, personality, ways of expression, gender, religion, culture, and several others become the primary or fundamental source of bullying. Bullying not only comes under restriction to verbal harassment, but also can lead to further violent conduct that includes physical assault and psychological violence. (Coloroso, 2009, pp. 5-8). Bullying has become one of the common and widespread practices that comes under exercise in nearly every institution whether it be educational institutions like schools and universities, workplace and even neighborhood. Due to this persistent and extensive application of bullying in every facet of life, it has become imperative to discover the root causes behind it, the harm that it can provide and the extensive research with respect to the subject matter (Macfarlane and McPherson, 2004, pp. 10-12). The relation of child bullying to theory of mind is imperative t o understand because the theory of mind is one of the social cognitions that come under development in the early childhood. However, the actions of the child are highly dependent upon social cognitions. This means that the mind and development of the child leads to understand the actions performed in the social world. Due to this, it comes under considerations as one of the most important developments of early childhood tha t helps in shaping the personality of the child. Child bullying has a lot of influence and power on how the personality of the child comes under formation in his or her childhood. Therefore, it is pivotal to study and analyse the role and impact of theory of mind upon the performance of the child that can help understand how and why child bullying comes under relationship to theory of mind. The thesis report has come under division into segments where the first segment broadly defines the wide-ranging research that has come under performance with respect to the grave issue, at the same time enlightening child bullying and theory of mind. In addition, it also includes a comparative study that delineates the relationship between the two. The following segment highlights the strengths, limitations, and omission in the research taken place concerning the two aspects. Lastly, based on all the research studies suggestions would come under articulation for future research questions as well as research methods. Overview to Literature Review Process The literature review concerning the matter of child bullying and theory of mind have come under consideration, numerous studies and researches have come under practice that can bring this matter into

Vietnams Declaration of Independence Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vietnams Declaration of Independence - Case Study Example April 27, Captain Patti requested Ho Chi Minh to allow the OSS team work with the Annamites with the intention of gathering intelligence on the Japanese. Ho agreed to the Captain’s request and set up a camp in the jungle that would later be Viet Minh’s headquarters. It is worth noting that all requests made to Ho by the United States, he agreed to. In his DoI speech, Chi Minh used the second paragraph of America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence to assert his point. He states that Vietnam’s wish to be a sovereign nation is in agreement with the principles of humanity and equality. He further states that all Vietnamese, like any other sovereign citizens, have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to Ho, this statement means that all men, irrespective of any differences, have a are all born equal at birth and that freedom cannot be taken away, meaning the rights at from birth are inalienable. In emphasizing these principles, Ho st ates that the same principles were used by the United States in the 1776 Declaration of Independence. Ho goes on to point out that the same principles were the foundation of the 1791 Declaration of the French Revolution on the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The French declaration mainly states that all men are born free, have equal rights, and must at all times be free with equal rights. If these principles were reasserted in the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of French Revolution, then they should be applied to Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence as well.

Gender Roles And Media Portrayals Research Paper

Gender Roles And Media Portrayals - Research Paper Example Men were portrayed as dominant, strong, and independent providers. Most past television programs portrayed them as the dominant gender in the society. Men were free to choose what they felt was working for them at the expense of the opinions from the ladies. For example, in Mad Men, the executives treated their secretaries in the offices as objects rather than human beings. In fact, it is easy to observe how they disposed of them after having sexual encounters. In the end, women were not seen as having any value to the men. It is worth noting that the current television programs tend to bring out the rapid changes in the society. For example, in the television series, Modern Family, the role of the women and men in the family tends to change. Women start assuming significant roles, for example, some of them become breadwinners while men become domesticated by their wives. Rapid changes captured by these television series indicate how the society is changing. For instance, the concept of gay marriages is brought to the fore. Though it is difficult to accept at first, we eventually see a society that positions itself to accept these changes. In conclusion, there is nothing as inevitable as change. The television continues to influence the societal transformation through fostering progression of gender roles that took place in the past half century and today. In comparison to the past, there is a significant change in gender roles and various stereotypes in television today (Trier-Bieniek, 2014).

Managing Cost of Quality Essay Example for Free

Managing Cost of Quality Essay Article Reference: Schiffauerova, A. and Thomson, V., â€Å"Managing cost of quality: Insight into industry practice†, The TQM Magazine, 2006 Abstract This paper reports on the study of the quality costing practices at four large successful multinational companies. All four companies use systematic quality initiatives; however, a formal cost of quality (CoQ) methodology was only employed at one of them. This is in agreement with the literature findings arguing that a CoQ approach is not utilized in most quality management programs. The article discusses and compares the quality programs of all four companies and explains the benefits of the eventual adoption of a CoQ approach in each case. The analysis provides a new insight into company practice, useful not only for academic research, but also for use by industry. Keywords: Cost of quality, CoQ, quality costing, industrial practice Introduction Improving quality is considered by many to be the best way to enhance customer satisfaction, to reduce manufacturing costs and to increase productivity. Any serious attempt to improve quality must take into account the costs associated with achieving quality, since nowadays it does not suffice to meet customer requirements, it must be done at the lowest possible cost as well. This can only happen by reducing the costs needed to achieve quality, and the reduction of these costs is only possible if they are identified and measured. The identification itself is not straightforward because there is no general agreement on a single broad definition of quality costs. However, according to Dale and Plunkett (1995), it is now widely accepted that quality costs are the costs incurred in the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of a quality management system, the cost of resources committed to continuous improvement, the costs of system, product and service failures, and all other necessary costs and non-value added activities required to achieve a quality product or service. Measuring and reporting these costs should be considered a critical issue for any manager who aims to achieve competitiveness in today’s markets. There are several methods that can be used to collect, categorize and measure quality costs. The traditional P-A-F method suggested by Juran (1951) and Feigenbaum (1956) classifies quality costs into prevention, appraisal and failure costs. Prevention costs are associated with actions taken to ensure that a process provides quality products and services, appraisal costs are associated with measuring the level of quality attained by the process, and failure costs are incurred to correct quality in products and services before (internal) or after (external) delivery to the customer. The cost categories of Crosby’s model (Crosby, 1979) are similar to the P-A-F scheme. Crosby sees quality as â€Å"conformance to requirements†, and therefore, defines the cost of quality as the sum of price of conformance and price of noncon formance (Crosby, 1979). The price of conformance is the cost involved in making certain that things are done right the first time and the price of non-conformance is the money wasted when work fails to conform to customer requirements. Another formal quality costing approach is the process cost model, which was developed by Ross (1977) and first used for quality costing by Marsh (1989); it represents quality cost systems that focus on process rather than products or services. Several references propose CoQ models that include the additional category of intangible costs. These are costs that can be only estimated such as profits not earned because of lost customers and reduction in revenue owing to non-conformance. The importance of opportunity and intangible costs for quality costing has been recently emphasized in the literature. Dale and Plunkett (1999) describe a less formal method based on collecting quality costs by department. Another recently proposed CoQ methodology is a method based on a team appro ach, in which the aim is to identify the costs associated with things that have gone wrong in a process (Robison, 1997). No matter which quality costing approach is used, the main idea behind the CoQ analysis is the linking of improvement activities with associated costs and customer expectations, thus allowing targeted action for reducing quality costs and increasing quality improvement benefits. Therefore, a realistic estimate of CoQ, which is the appropriate tradeoff between the levels of conformance and non-conformance costs, should be considered an essential element of any quality initiative and a crucial issue for any manager. A number of organizations are now seeking both theoretical advice and practical evidence about quality related costs and the implementation of quality costing systems. A reasonable amount of detailed information on various methods of categorization, collection and measurement of quality costs can be found in the literature (Plunkett and Dale, 1987; Williams et al., 1999; Schiffauerova and Thomson, 2004). However, there are only a few published, practical examples from indus try that give specifics about the costs that are included or excluded in quality costing and about how the costs are practically collected and measured. More detailed descriptions of CoQ systems from industry can be found in Whitehall (1986), Hesford and Dale (1991) and Purgslove and Dale (1996). This paper intends to contribute to this area by providing an analysis of the quality costing practices of four successful companies. Research Intent and Methodology The objective of this research was to obtain and analyze data concerning the practices of successful companies in the area of quality management. Specifically, the main interest was to investigate if these companies collect, measure and monitor quality costs, which kinds of costs were considered in the calculations, and whether any formal CoQ approach was used. The analysis provided a new insight into company practice, useful not only for academic research, but also for use by industry. Four companies were selected to participate in the research. The main objective of the selection was to identify the organizations with well established quality programs belonging to the different industrial sectors. Companies serving the same market could have been reluctant to share details concerning their quality practices with competition. This paper keeps the company names confidential and refers to them as Company A, B, C and D. A benchmarking session took place at McGill University. The quality management programs running at the four companies were described by company representatives. The organizations utilized this occasion as an occasion to obtain new information on the practices used at other companies and to mutually compare their experiences, efforts and successes. Summary of the Benchmarking Session This section summarizes the initiatives in the field of CoQ for the four participants. A comparative analysis of their quality strategies and final remarks follow. Company A Company A is a telecommunication company. It has very complex products, and therefore, the number of opportunities for defects per unit is very high (45,000 defect opportunities per assembly). However, Company A’s customers expect zero defects. Quality initiatives therefore play an important role in the company’s product management. Company A’s model for cost of quality measurement and calculation follow the P-A-F model, where CoQ = (P + A + F (internal + external) + other costs)/cost of goods sold. Company A is well aware of formal cost of quality methods and it has clearly determined its CoQ definitions. It knows exactly what are its conformance and non-conformance costs; however, it struggles to find out the shape of its CoQ curves, and hence, an optimum CoQ tactic. The search for an optimum CoQ is difficult because the business cycle changes often (every 2 years or less); product lines are released in phases, and component obsolescence and multiple engineering changes are quite common. Every change causes a new search for an optimum CoQ; moreover, different product lines require separate review, and variable volumes reduce optimization opportunities. Company A uses an activity based management approach, which means that it uses activity-based costing (ABC) to determine cost categories. It maps financial categories into activity costs, and activities performed at cost centers are rolled up to aggregate quality costs and percentages. In this way, the company obtains exact information about every category: prevention costs, appraisal costs, as well as internal and external failure costs. An example of activity costs is given in Table I, and the resulting CoQ chart is shown in Figure 1. Table I: Example of activity costs in Company A Activity primary OPD Change Management Internal Quality Issues External Quality Issues DFX, NPI support Proto Support PLC Deliverables Mfg Tools Quality Reporting Other Cost of quality category Failure Internal Prevention Failure Internal Failure External Prevention Prevention Appraisal Prevention Appraisal Cost of Business Totals Activity % 8% 12% 17% 9% 4% 6% 22% 6% 10% 6% 100% Cost categories Salaries Depreciation Suppliers Others Company A uses other metrics for performance comparisons, such as ‘new versus mature product’ or ’part number based CoQ ratio’. CoQ is measured at individual test stages, which allows trend analysis and comparison using mature product as the benchmark for new product. Figure 2 shows the decreasing trend of CoQ for manufacturing operations. The graph shows a decrease for all CoQ components; however, it is failure costs which show the biggest reduction, about 40 % over 18 months. The breakdown of CoQ and its cost values are measured quarterly. % Figure 2: CoQ in manufacturing operations for Company A shown on a relative cost scale. Company A has been using their CoQ methodology successfully. The company declares savings in quality costs, has quality improvement in every part of their process, and achieves very aggressive improvement targets. Moreover, the end customer directly benefits from the inhouse quality initiative. As a result, customer satisfaction is increasing. Company B Company B is a multinational microelectronics company, which dedicates a lot of effort to quality improvement. Their far-reaching and successful quality improvement program is the main axis of their quality initiatives. The program includes continuous improvement focused on process as well as extensive education and training on quality for all employees. Despite the fact that there is a great interest in reducing non-conformance cost, Company B does not measure, report or chart CoQ. It does not use any formal CoQ model and does not try to optimize cost of quality. Nevertheless, it does reduce cost due to poor quality through its continuous improvement activities. The company has a strong operations and process focus, where emphasis is put on process yield and cycle time improvement. It believes that a continuous quality improvement program focused on process will provide the opportunities for quality improvement and thus reduction in cost of quality. Company C Company C is in the aerospace industry and emphasizes products with near zero defects. Company C describes its cost of poor quality model as an iceberg philosophy, where just a few categories for poor quality cost are measured and monitored. This is, however, just the tip of the iceberg, since most of the cost factors leading to poor quality are non-visible or completely hidden (and non-quantifiable). Company C has implemented a process that allows tracking of all non-quality events and associated root causes as well as corrective actions and lessons learned. It puts full attention into measuring the cost of poor quality. It has 4 main quality ratings, which measure nonconformities (scrap, rework, etc.), poor adherence to specifications (internal, external, customers’, suppliers’), number of defective parts in parts per million, and on-time delivery. Their cost of non-quality is systematically reduced through a corporate-wide initiative based on continuous improvement. It also uses a sophisticated IT system for tracking quality. Although Company C has had success in improving the value of non-conforming quality costs, it does not use any CoQ model, and it does not include the cost of quality among its calculation elements. Company D Company D is a manufacturer of home products. It has set its quality level at a fixed warranty rate, and it attempts to optimize its quality effort to achieve this target. At the time of the benchmarking session, the company did not measure CoQ; however, it was planning to do so and was building a CoQ model. The envisioned CoQ program was based on a P-A-F model. The strategy of Company D was to directly attack failure costs in an attempt to drive them down, to invest in the right prevention activities to bring about improvements, to reduce appraisal costs according to achieved results, and to continuously evaluate and redirect prevention efforts to gain further improvements. Discussion Table II shows a comparison of the quality initiatives and CoQ effort carried out by the four companies. The following discussion is focused on the relation between the quality strategies and the industrial sectors, on the kinds of CoQ models used, on the satisfaction with company efforts, the results stemming from the quality costing programs, and the recommendations by the authors of this paper. Table II: Comparison of quality initiatives of four companies Company A B C D COC CONC P-A-F ABC Quality costs CONC + COC CONC CONC CONC Formal CoQ model P-A-F + ABC none none none Quality efforts intensive intensive intensive moderate Program satisfaction high high high moderate cost of conformance cost of non-conformance traditional model including: prevention + appraisal + failure costs activity-based costing Quality Strategies The business environment, which is the industry sector and product line, dictates the strategy adopted by the companies to assure achievement of the required level of quality. Companies A, B and C all work in high-tech industries that require very high levels of quality, and therefore, they all have quite elaborate quality and productivity improvement systems with the objective to achieve zero or near zero defects. Company D, which serves home product markets, uses a fixed rate of return through its warranty policy as its quality limit. The company, however, does have a continuous improvement program. Quality Costs Table II suggests that Company A is the only one that in fact measures both kinds of quality costs, conformance and non-conformance. This allows the company to search for the right balance between the amount spent on quality and the resulting benefits. Companies B and C both regard reducing non-conformance cost as a high priority, and therefore, they exert substantial efforts in measuring and monitoring failures and other nonconformances. At the same time, they use elaborate, systematic quality improvement programs in order to reach a zero defect quality level. The direction of these initiatives is consistent with the industry quality environment, which tolerates absolutely no defect, no matter what the cost is. Conformance costs are consequently given much less attention in the quality management programs and measuring them together with the cost of non-conformance is therefore disregarded. The situation for Company D is however quite different. Even though the company also does not measure conformance costs, the nature of its own quality strategy suggests that it would benefit greatly if it started doing so. Identification and measurement of both kinds of the quality costs would certainly improve the quality policy that Company D follows. The policy has a determined rate of return as its quality limit. Being able to find an appropriate trade-off between conformance and non-conformance costs would help Company D determine an optimal level of effort towards achieving quality. Formal CoQ Methods Literature (for example, Porter and Rayner, 1992; Schiffauerova and Thomson, 2004) suggests that, if quality costs are measured by companies, then the classical P-A-F model is the one most frequently used in practice. Even within the limited sample of four companies, P-A-F was the only model encountered. Company A is currently calculating its quality costs according to the tradit ional categorization of prevention, appraisal and failure costs. Moreover, Company D claims that it is planning to utilize this model in the near future as well. The results of this research therefore confirm other researchers’ findings on the frequency of the use of the P-A-F method in industry. Focus by companies on the classical P-A-F methodology is not surprising; however, there are several other alternatives available for monitoring CoQ. Other quality costing methods, such as Crosby’s model or process cost model, are being used with success (Schiffauerova and Thomson, 2004). Every company has to choose an appropriate CoQ method that suits its needs and its situation best. For a detailed checklist of the issues to be considered when deciding on a CoQ approach, see Dale and Plunkett (1995) Activity-based costing (ABC) is considered to be more compatible with quality cost measurement systems than traditional accounting. Although most CoQ measurement methods are activity/process oriented, traditional cost accounting establishes cost accounts by the categories of expenses instead of activities. Thus, many CoQ elements need to be estimated or collected by other methods. There is no consensus method on how to allocate overheads to CoQ elements and no adequate method to trace quality costs to their sources (Tsai, 1998). The use of ABC for a CoQ calculation is therefore an appealing alternative, and Company A is benefiting from this powerful combination. The employment of a CoQ approach together with ABC enables Company A to obtain exact information about every CoQ category: prevention costs, appraisal costs as well as internal and external failure costs. Companies B and C do not utilize any formal quality costing system. This is in agreement with the common suggestion that the CoQ approach is not fully appreciated by organizations and the practical use of formal quality costing in industry is quite rare. Satisfaction with Quality Efforts The quality initiatives of companies A, B, and C are very elaborate and the amount of effort is intensive. Whether they use a formal CoQ method or they solely aim at a reduction in the cost of poor quality, the companies obtain excellent results from their quality programs. All three companies mentioned a high satisfaction with their quality efforts during the benchmarking session. Judging by the success of Company A with its CoQ program, we suggest that companies B and C would benefit from measuring CoQ, and that they would be surprised if they knew their real quality costs. These companies should select an appropriate CoQ model that suits the company’s situation and implement the quality costing methodology in order to improve the efficiency of their quality initiatives. Monitoring quality costs would allow them to better identify target areas for cost reduction and quality improvement. Moreover, sufficient savings should occur to justify CoQ measurement expenses. Company D has a continuous improvement program that brings it moderate results and is already looking to improve it by implementing a CoQ strategy. As mentioned above, the implementation of a suitable CoQ method would secure reduced costs and improved quality benefits for Company D. Summary Even though quality is nowadays considered to be a critical success factor for achieving competitiveness, the CoQ approach is not fully appreciated by organizations, and only a minority of them use formal quality costing methods. The four companies that participated in the benchmarking session with McGill University on cost of quality have systematic quality initiatives, and have been successful in improving quality and reducing the cost of nonconformance. However, the only company that measures cost of quality and uses a formalized CoQ model is Company A. Company D is at the point of starting to use this quality measur ement tool as well; however, it is at the beginning of this path. On the other hand, Company B and Company C focus their quality efforts solely on continuous quality improvement. They measure, monitor and work mostly with the cost of non-conformance, and do not formally include cost of conformance in their analysis. It was recommended that companies B, C and D set up a suitable formal quality costing system compatible with the needs and the situation of each company. For companies B and C this program will mainly facilitate identification of the target areas for quality improvement and cost reduction in quality effort. For Company D it would also help balance its quality costs and establish an optimal level of effort towards achieving quality. CoQ programs should be part of any quality management program. The methodology is not complex and is well documented. CoQ programs provide a good method for identification and measurement of quality costs, and thus allow targeted action for reducing CoQ. Further education on the practical level is needed for managers to understand better the CoQ concept in order to appreciate fully the benefits of the approach, to increase their ability to implement a CoQ measurement system and to save money. References Crosby, P.B. (1979), Quality is Free, New York: McGraw-Hill Dale, B.G. and Plunkett, J.J. (1995), Quality Costing, 2nd edition, Chapman and Hall, London Dale, B.G. and Plunkett, J.J. (1999), Quality Costing,3rd edition, Gower Press, Aldershot Feigenbaum, A.V. (1956), â€Å"Total quality control†, Harvard Business Review, Vol.34, Hesford, M.G. and Dale, B.G. (1991), â€Å"Quality costing at British Aerospace Dynamics†, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Vol.205 (G5), p.53 Juran, J.M. (1951), Quality Control Handbook, 1st edition, McGraw-Hill, New York Marsh, J. (1989), â€Å"Process modeling for quality improvement†, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Total Quality Management, p.111 Plunkett, J.J. and Dale, B.G. (1987), â€Å"A review of the literature on quality-related costs†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol.4, No.1, p.40 Porter, L.J. and Rayner, P. (1992), â€Å"Quality costing for total quality management†, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 27, p.69 Purgslove, A.B. and Dale, B.G. (1996), â€Å"The influence of management information and quality management systems on the development of quality costing†, Total Quality Management, Vol.7, No.4, p.421 Robison, J. (1997), â€Å"Integrate quality cost concepts into team problem-solving efforts†, Quality Progress, March, p. 25 Ross, D.T. (1977), â€Å"Structured analysis (SA): A language for communicating ideas†, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol.SE-3, No.1, p.16 Schiffauerova, A. and Thomson, V. (2006), â€Å"A review of research on cost of quality models and best practices†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol.23, No.4 Tsai, W.H. (1998), â€Å"Quality cost measurement under activity-based costing†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol.15, No.6, p.719 Whitehall, F.B. (1986), â€Å"Review of problems with a quality cost system†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol.3, No.3, p.43 Williams, A.R.T., van der Wiele, A. and Dale, B.G. (1999), â€Å"Quality costing: a management review†, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol.1, No.4, p.441

Impacts of Globalization and Gaming

Impacts of Globalization and Gaming Video game franchise has taken the world by storm. It is design to trigger human emotion by satisfying one need to kill, venting of frustration and anger. Video gaming is used to de-stress, educate and kill time. People would spend hundreds of dollars in the gaming sector and this has make gaming the primary platform of entertainment and lifestyle. Impact of globalization and gaming The media has played the primary leader in re-shaping our future by imprinting images on how things should be. Images shown on advertisement, commercials, the covers of magazine and newspaper prove to have impact and stir up interest among consumers. Thus, making media consumptions as a form of manual for Life A guide to live your life Here, I am making a distinctive connection between the influences of the video game market, game production sales, game demograph and global culture. The major and leading players in the gaming industry would be the U.S and Japan. Business competition has stir up due to many other nations eager to get involve and follow the footstep of both big players. This shows how important video gaming industry has become and how it conquers the centre stage of globalization. It is predicted to posses a huge growth in coming years. Statistics shows a steady yet gradual growth in the gaming sector from the year 2002 2007 (image 1.1), overtaking other media market such as film and music. Leading franchise, Mario, created in Japan, has yield over 200 games since original release date back in 1981. Mario has then become the official mascot of Nintendo. With help from the media, everyone from every corner of the world will know who or what is Mario. It has turned itself global by its iconic representation of video game. A side from technical statistics, market has showed distinctive trends. It is obvious how our male counterpart dominant the gaming market but what is more startling is the growth and impact of girls and woman showing interest to this market over the recent years. (Image 1.2) In late November, president of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime presented several data points outlining the current gender breakdown of console play in the U.S. Reggie estimates there are 45 million people playing video games as the primary players in the U.S. Of those, Nintendo is estimating 26% are female, or roughly 11.7 million. Wanda Meloni, Gamasutra Factors such as online gaming and PC gaming are the key contributor, especially with the existence of social networking site such as Twitter and Facebook, Apart from your ordinary 2D-Planes of your computer screen, gaming console took a leap in providing both sharing and social networking into their programs. Sharing movies, pictures, music and gaming has never been a breeze while doing it in the comfort of your own living room. Such experiences have turn into a lifestyle and morphed itself into a global culture. With tool like the Internet, people from all over the world are able to communicate, share and learn other cultures. That is how the existence of game production catering to certain culture and country originate. It is evident on the gaming box art. (Image 1.3)Â   Issue Despite these positive activities stir up by the gaming market, there are still problems that need to be addressed. Base on the research I have undergone, it is evident how gamers or consumers are not aware of the upcoming games. Surveys that I have done showed almost eighty percent of gamers surveyed are not aware of the latest games that are on sales. (Image 1.4) Advertising of the games has proved to be unsuccessful. Alas, most consumers who were surveyed claimed they found out about new games releases through word of mouth or the Internet. Website such as Gamespot will show weekly game releases. (Image 1.5) Gaming Experience Your heart is beating out of control; your hands are covered in blood, your eyes staring straight at him, with your finger on the trigger. This is your final stand, should you open fire? But he is a human being? Will he kill you? Or is this all a dream? The deafening sound of silence abrupt the surrounding, now its kill or be killed. You pull the trigger. He lay before you, dead. Before you know it, he slowly fades into the background. He disappears. A typical scenario for every gamer who plays combat war game. The only difference between reality and virtual reality is the hesitation to kill a person in a game. Virtual reality has set emotions wide apart from reality. One is more likely to kill a person in a game compare to a real life event. Why has gaming eradicate every emotion in a person when it comes to killing another player? Well, the explanation is simple. No one dies in a game. Virtual reality is design in a way that it will feed off most of our emotions without us worrying what are the consequences. Unlike reality, gaming allows players to redeem back their mistake by restarting the game. It fascinates me how game design has the ability to create fantastic visual effects; immersive graphics and beautiful environment that consumed one and let gamers live their character through computer games. Amazing how this two-dimensional generating image let users escape reality and let them live a pseudo character. How or what about this moving images let us, gamers, experience this out of body experience? How can something that is not physical enable and leave a memorable marking of its existences in our mind. Case Study Virtual Guggenheim Museum designed Asymptote has designed a physical virtual world in a space. Challenged to break free from the standard web site layout, Guggenheim requested a virtual space to compliment its striking New York Museum. Debut as a perfect hybrid of electronic space and physical space, Hani Rashid claims virtual spaces are designed with the same attention to detail as real physical buildings. The design inspiration comes from the idea of three-dimensional spatial traversable space on the Internet and real-time interactive elements located at various Guggenheim locations. Guggenheim Virtual Museum will be the first virtual building of the 21st century to fully show the relations of art, space, commerce and architecture. This virtual museum will be an ideal space to convey art and experience through interactive digital medium. Element such as the sound, image and dynamic fluid environment unlike any physical space are able to respond to the direction of the user without hindering its contents. As highlighted in image 2.2 and 2.3, galleries structure are wire-framed to emphasise on transparency and opacity. This movement is base on where the viewers move in the space Ultimately, architects think spatially and where theres a spatial issue were the ones trained historically to figure out how to make people understand and feel the emotional, physical and artistic side of a space Hani Rashid Designing Virtual Reality to Reality Time and space does not exist in a game. Distance cannot be measured and mass cannot be weighed. The physical manifestation exists only if we perceive it. Virtual reality is a warped space. Through this, I am inspired to design a permanent exhibition space in relation to the gaming cycle of life and death. It is base on the dynamic movement in a game and experiencing two-dimensional visuals into three-dimensional. This space will address the issue that was mentioned earlier; Promoting and creating awareness to new game releases to the mass. Base on the definition of Utopia, both living and dead spaces will fully illustrate the position of bliss. Some see death as a paradise while other sees fear in death. Imagine walking through a space that fully depicts death as a form of Utopia, a paradise and an unforsaken world that detach itself from reality. Walking through a dark narrow passage with nothing but the shimmering star that brightens your way. A journey nobody has ever experience. A psychological journey that let users experience death in both euphoric and frightening state, far from tranquillity. It is a momentary journey that makes users of the space ponder and reflect upon their own well-being The design approach is divided into three primary journey, reality, life and death. Reality is design to be grounded to the ground in which illustrates how our lives are tie down to our beliefs. Life is depicted to be hovering in between death. While death is describe as the answer to our entire question in life and reality that were left unanswered. Death space is design to overview the whole space. Designs using three way planes, the planes are a representation of life, death and reality. It consist of lines overlapping each other, depicting how life, death and reality overlapping each other to form and create dimensions, depth, gravity and volumes. All this planes will merge into one core area that illustrates the gaming cycle. The different hierarchy of spaces and planes creates a weaving journey that makes users move in and out of spaces. Life and Death Cycle Through Design The journey begins with two entrances that were place base on the human traffic directions. (Image 4.1) As you walk through the narrow path of the dimly lighted surrounding, you are greeted by this massive, rustic metallic structure that seemed to be hovering. Struck with curiosity, you cant help but to venture into this foreign, alienated space that awaits you. As you walk in through the narrow tunnel, you could hear the surrounding of the environment starts to quiet down. Suddenly, the pleasant sound of silence hits you, the thought of a broken clock gives birth to tranquillity and an escape from reality youve been waiting for. It feels as if you are in a different world where time does not exist. A long flight of glass staircase awaits you on the other end of the tunnel. (Image 4.2) With precarious footing on the steps, you climb the flight of stairs wondering where it will lead you too. The sight of the staircase seems endless. You never know what it is like to walk on glass. It feels as if youre hovering on the glass staircase as you see stranger climbing the staircase on the other side of the glass wall. (Image 4.3) You stop mid-way through the journey as you feel the transition of space varies from where you were from. The surrounding becomes vast as you see the exterior environment of the space. Move further up, you be greeted with a dark narrow space. You question your surrounding and it finally struck you that youre in a gaming environment. The metal rustic wall, the lights, the intense bold feeling you get from the dimly lighted space that is clad with perforated metal walls makes you feel as if youre in a combat science fiction game. From the perforated wall, you could see the people outside the space. Alas, the people from the other side of the wall could not see what is happening in the space. As you bask into the environment and take a new control of your journey, you see another staircase. Wondering where it will go, you decide to take the chance and proceed down the steps. As you place your footing, one foot at a time, you realised you are detached from the pervious space. You are back to reality. (Image 4.5) It feels as if youre taking a break from an alter reality space and the decision for you to immerse back into gaming or get back to reality is left unanswered in this space you are currently at. As you explore the space, you stumble upon another staircase hidden behind this massive structure, leading you to the ground floor. You decide to proceed down the staircase. You are back to reality and proceed on with your daily life. Conclusion Various views on impact of globalization and gaming have been presented. It shows how gaming can change ones culture and behaviour but ultimately, the gaming experience one indulge in is nothing compare to reality. It helps escape reality for that spur moment. This let one rejuvenate themselves and continue on with life, just like how gaming enable us to restart a game when we failed to complete certain task. This design will help to create awareness of the existence of gaming and its impact on a physical stand. Thus, helps both gamers and production companies establish a more prominent relationship with its consumers. It is not the impression; it is the experience that counts.

System PIR Detector

System PIR Detector In my design i would be designing an alarm system which would have three possible forms of sensing in order to prevent crime and for protection, having a combination of a systems that can be used to prevent a home and the industrial areas as well ,which would be able to detect, motion, smoke and heat along to protect the home and making use of arduino in order to implement the working of the systems. 2.1 Proximity Sensor These are sensor that can on there own detect objects or obstructions on their path or way without physical contact, they often emit electron beam and detects or notice changes in the field or environment, proximity sensor targets or demand different sensors, a capacitive or a photoelectric sensor or an inductive proximity sensor can also be used which might require a metal target ,looking at capacitive proximity sensor the object in question changes the dielectric constant between the two plates within a range in some cases which is relatively close to water, because sudden changes in capacitance of objects sometimes takes relatively long time to switch range within the 50Hertz,a normal capacitive proximity sensor do have about 10-12mm sensing range and about 30 mm in diameter, in most cases setting the output of a proximity sensor is quite difficult, hence proximity sensor designers always add hysteresis, excitation voltage etc.most capacitance proximity sensor can make measurement s in 100u sec with resolution of 10⠁ ¶,probes put into use in capacitive proximity sensor have either flat disc or rectangular sensing element, the main advantage of capacitive proximity sensor is that they are mostly unaffected by containers, allowing them to be replaced by optical devices. 2.2 Passive infrared sensor (PIR). In most security systems ,motion is required to be detected in a monitored environment, in most cases the passive infrared motion sensor is preferred to detect changes and upon detection motion sensors generally transmit a notification or indication to the systems host then an intrusion or activation of an alarm system to perform various operations ,in order to monitor a large space with only one or two detector ,most PIR sensor is designed with numerous optical components (mirror or lenses) then each component of such compound optics focuses the infrared radiation from objects within a respective sub-volume of the monitored space into an image appearing over the detector then monitored sub-volume can be interleaved with non-monitored sub-volumes and then radiation producing target (human) passing from the sub-volume to sub-volume causes a target radiation or background radiation /target radiation pattern in detector for humans the pattern leads to a change in the IR radiation in det ector . For PIR sensor there is the need to reduce false alarms and then minimizing processing requirement ,the PIR sensor using a minimal number of detector could generate false alarm from time to time ,definitely a radiation of wavelength outside the required micron band as a result false alarm would triggered in order to reduce false alarms from triggering ,optical filters could be added as detector windows to screen out white light and IR light then coating for mirrors and additives for lenses would be added to prevent focusing of white and near infrared light on detectors hence reducing the chances of motion ,PIR sensor producing false alarms when detectors include pairs of equally sized elements of opposing polarities, Non focused out of band radiation is equally incident on both elements ,then causing signals from equal and opposite elements to roughly cancel one another ,equal elements of opposite polarity reduce false alarms from shock and temperature change, there are chances that PIR sensors can be improved upon to reject interferences and determination of motion direction and detecting a moving object in a monitored space from a non-moving object characterized by non-constant radiation includes receiving a first frequency from the first passive PIR detector then receiving the second frequency from a second passive IR detector, hence the first and second frequencies not being equal ,this method involves outputting a signal are received simultaneously then signal indicate the presence of object is not output. The PIR (passive infrared Red) is a low cost PIR detector used for motion or human detection which can be a simple pyroelectric detector because the detector can be a significant part of the cost (5-10%) of a typical PIR motion sensor, most PIR motion sensor would only employ just one or two of such detectors ,normally the human body radiates infrared waves ranging between 8 to 12 micrometers, as a result should anyone move in any direction ,there will be a change in the quantity of infrared energy providing a low frequency and small amplitude signal, there are possibilities that the same signal can be amplified and decoded using microcontroller, ideally PIR sensor can detect changes in the quantity of infrared energy in small ranges of distance approximately 10-13 inches, in order to detect motions at larger distance, infrared radiation will have to be focused, the focusing is done with the use of a Fresnel lens in most cases usually divide the whole area into different zones hence any movement within the zones already divided into will certainly lead to a change in the infrared energy received by the sensor, Fresnel lenses depends on the range (distance) and basically coverage angle looking at volumetric lenses and certain then the PIR sensor unit will then decide whether the infrared light is from a warm moving body or not ,it is always a lot better when PIR sensor could have one or more inner sensing elements so that with relevant electronics and Fresnel lens, it could sense direction from up to down and right to left and show required output signal. 2.2.1 Uses of PIR Sensor They are basically used for automatic security lightning say when human moves across its path or view or sensor for instance a floodlight is switched on automatically and left on for a fixed period of time say 90 seconds and can provide light when you arrive at home. 2.2.2 Advantages of PIR PIR sensor does not require any form of maintenance, however should in case of any form of fault, it can be easily replaced so for optimum performance, it is advisable to remove any accumulated dust with low power cleaners. 2.2.3 Weakness of PIR sensor. PIR sensor do have its own limitation and these limitations in a way does let it work properly.PIR sensor would not detect stationery or slowly moving body or object in most cases the environment change in terms of cooling off of a nearby wall could actually activate the sensitivity of a sensor and when someone walk straight pass or towards a PIR it would not detect them until close by, they are actually temperature sensitive and work optimally at ambient air temperature of around 16-21 degrees celcius,in most cases when the temperature raises is about 32 degrees ,the field of view narrows and the sensor becomes less sensitive and vice-versa should the temperature drop below 12 degrees, the field view widens up and smaller or more at a distance object might activate the sensor . 2.3 MULTIPLE PIR SENSOR CIRCUIT Situations or scenarios will arise that you would require to use one or more PIR sensor within a system, where one could be at the front and the other at the end or the rear, it is virtually not possible to join them together the output from more than one PIR sensor, in a case like this an AND gate logic is deployed, in logic high voltage is shown by 1 and low voltage by 0 hence the output from a PIR sensor upon detecting motion shows 0 and is 1,the rest of the time, we want an output of 0 when either of the PIR sensor is output is 0,that can be shown in the truth table below . PIR # 1 PIR # 2 PIR # 1 PIR # 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 These truth table is exactly the same as that for an AND gate, basically a logic device that gives an output of 1 only when its two output are both 1, the basic symbol for an AND gate is below. In order to make use of the output signal from a PIR sensor we would need to invert it turn a 12v output to 0 v and a 0 v output into 12v,when motion is detected by a PIR sensor, the 0 v sensor signal is inverted to 12v signal . 2.3.1 NAND GATE Looking at putting two or more PIR sensor together in a circuit, it is not required to put PIR sensor signals through an AND gate ,then through a NOT gate rather i would use a NAND gate, the truth table for it could be seen below . PIR # 1 PIR # 2 PIR # 1 PIR # 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 Setting the signal of the sensor from two or more PIR sensor through a NAND gate will result to a 12v output unless both PIR sensor signal is 12v in a case where neither is detected in terms of motion then the output is 0v that is what we need. The basic diagram of an NAND gate can be seen below How NAND gate is physically connected to a PIR sensor in a circuit, AND gates could be gotten from integrated circuits with the 4000 series applicable to the 12 volt DC system as shown below, the schematic diagram of a Quad 2 input NAND gate with chip 4 NAND gates, each collecting two inputs, that can be seen in the diagram below. The maximum output current from the 4000 series is about 4 to 10 mA, slightly enough to light an LED, hence we might require it to amplified through a transistor so that it can power light couple of hundred mA or perhaps energise a coil of a relay, below a schematic diagram showing how the PIR sensor output could be put through a NAND gate and the result amplified through a transistor (NPN). In conclusion as regards to motion detection,PIR sensor is the most sensitive and advanced option that i am aware of and their light options makes it ideal for security systems . 2.4 Arduino The arduino platform is based on making things work using simple electronics, it is all about tinkering and creating something with the board with its functions defined below. Just above is the diagram of the arduino board and what each element of the board does will be defined below as well. 14 Digital IO (pins 0-13,) can be inputs or outputs as set in software 6 Analogue out (pins 0-5) are dedicated analogue input pins, these take analogue values (voltage readings) and convert it to numbers between 0 and 1023. 3 Analogue out (pins 9, 10, 11) this is just 3 of the digital pins and can be reassigned to do analogue output. The board could be powered through the USB port or from any power socket around, this arrangement could be changed with a jumper marked SV1 in the diagram, if the jumper is closest to the USB plug then the board is powered from there but if the jumper is on 2 pins closest to the DC connector then it is powered from there. 2.5 Interaction Design The essence of interactive design is all about creativity, being able to express your own design in a form of experience to create something between humans and artifacts, making designs through an interactive process based on prototypes of ever increasing fidelity, there are chances that design in future could be extended to include phototypes in technology with reference to electronics, basically interacting with each other as long as humans have been a species, so having interactive design has been applied to development of different solutions, creating or exploring ideals between human and technology, it involves creating products and systems which users can interact with individually, in order to achieve the ideals that you would like to realize within complex technology, systems making use of basic or simple electronics components like software packages and mobile devices, which can be applicable to several other devices and services, since interactive design defines behaviour t hough some principles of cognitive psychology shows how prepared the ground is for interactive design in terms of mental models and mapping etc and there are chances of creating human computer interaction (HCI),which is the methods of describing and testing the usability of communicating with interfaces, in most cases design are emphasized in users goals and experience, one of the essence of interactive design is to improve usability then the experience of the end product by understanding what is required to implement the design in question, after a system on has been designed by getting users involved on frequent basics, only then will designers be able to optimize and properly tailor the usability, it is quite an essence that the users that the designer is designing for is fully aware of the system capabilities from the onset in order to contain expectations from users, interactive design makes use of various photo type techniques to check variety of areas of design, ideas could b e grouped into three, testing the role of the artifact itself ,test of its implementation ,prototype could be physical or digital ,high or low fidelity . 2.6 Physical Computing In previous years making use of basic electronics makes dealing with engineers always kept systems designers from playing directly or indirectly with the medium, almost all tools require good understanding and was meant for engineers, physical computing involves putting together interactive physical components making use of software and hardware components and then having to get a respond the analog settings, could be reffered to as a framework to understand human relationship with the digital world, system using sensor and microcontroller to actualize analog input to a software system and to control several mechanical devices such as motors etc and variety of hardware applications, physical computing is used in various areas and applications making interesting link between the physical world and computer world, understanding the way or pattern in which humans communicate putting their expressions within their design, mini computers like the microcontroller have become cheap and easi er allowing the making of better tools and the arduino making use of the physical computing and system designer getting to know the elementary of electronics and get to know that you can construct phototypes with little investment . 2.7 SERIAL COMMUNICATION. Looking at the arduino diagram below, the USB connection that is used by the IDE to pass across codes into the processor and exciting news is that the connection will be used by programmer to communicate with the arduino to send data back to the computer and receive commands from it. 2.8 Bread board From the diagram below what a bread board looks like can be seen, it is just a plastic board filled up with holes and each contains spring loaded contact and component required leg could be put into the holes, each hole is about 2.53 mm distance from each other and then all components have their own legs, though not all contact on the board are equally created, the top and bottom row are connected horizontally and are used to carry power across the board so when power is required, there is always a hole or gap in the middle as wide as a chip, showing the vertical line of holes so pin will not be short circuited ,the essence of the breadboard is to allow you to alter connections between components in the fastest and most practical and non destructive way possible. 2.9 MICROCONTROLLER The micro controller are constantly used in automatically controlled products and devices, they fit into design well because of one of its advantages which is low power consumption, they consume relatively low power in mill watts and do have the ability to sleep when waiting for an input like pressing a button before it carrys out the operation so while sleeping it might be using just nanowatts,the micro controller allows you to integrate additional elements like read-write memory for data storage ,peripheral devices and input/output interfaces ,they also operate at very low speed compared to todays microprocessors. 2.10 Driving Bigger Loads The pins of an arduino board will only power devices that use up to 20 milliamps, though that is quite small which barely light an LED, trying to drive some else with far much more power will definitely stop the systems from working and definitely burn out the processor, in order to drive larger loads like coils etc, an external component that can switch such things ON and OFF by an arduino pin, a mosfet transistor will be required, which is an electronic switch that can be seen that the motor takes its power system having different power supply from the one used by arduino which is purely an advantage and the mosfet connected to pin 9 . 2.11 Analogue Input circuit could be reffered to as quantized electrical signal with a certain range and can generated by a sensor and received by a controller it changes constantly a definite manner in relation to a property, analogue signals produced by some sensors could be conditioned by converting higher-level standard signal which would be transmitted over wires to the receiving controller. Analogue inputs are converted to digital signals by the analogue to digital converter, in most cases located at the controller, in most cases limited to a small range of DC voltage. The three type of analogue input signals are current, resistance, voltages used in controls are within 1-5 volts and direct convert (VDC), 2-10 VDC as regards to current the 4-20 MA signal has become the industry standard convert signal for use with analogue and digital controllers, resistance are mostly associated with direct inputs from temperature sensing devices. A basic circuit diagram below is a typical example of analogue inp uts configurations. The arduino can sense voltage out across to one or any of its pins and shows it through digital real functions, this is used by the arduino in lots of applications, in most cases we need to know exactly what the amount of voltage we are putting across, hence in order to determine the exact voltage across and we would need a different type of pin. The lower right part of the arduino board has 6 sets of pins marked analogue in. These set of pins would not only tell u the voltage applied to them or not but also its value making use of the analogue read function. Voltage applied to one of the set of pins can be read using the scale, the function returns a number between 0 and 1023 representing voltages between 0 and 5 volts, hence if a voltage of 2.5 volts is applied to pin 0. The analogue read (0) will return 512 etc, hence constructing a circuit using 10k or 4.7k resistor and putting the codes through. You find the lead blinking at the rate that depends on the amount of light that hits it. 2.12 Pulse Width Modulation Pulse width modulation of the power source or signal involves the modulation of its duty cycle to carry messages over a communication link or rather control the amount of power sent to a load,PWM makes use of square wave, whose pulse width is constantly modulated resulting in variation of average value of the waveform, the best method to generate PWM signal is intersective method which requires a saw tooth or a triangle waveform which can be generated PWM signals e.g. micro controller, making use of a counter that increments periodically connected directly or indirectly to the clock of the circuit and sets back after the end of every period of PWM, there are three types of PWM signals -(leading edge modulation) the pulse lead edge can be held at the lead edge of the window and tail edge (trailing edge modulation) the pulse center may be fixed in the center of time window and both edges of the pulse moved to compress or expand the width. -the tail edge can be fixed and lead edge modulated. PWM could be used to reduce the total amount of power delivered to a load without losses due to the fact that the average power delivered is proportional to modulation duty cycle, PWM are used in controlling electrical power supply to other system like speed control in electric motors, PWM is used in efficient voltage regulators by switching voltage to the load with required duty cycle In conclusion the PWM is a way of digitally encoding analog signal level the diagram below shows the three possible PWM signals, the first figure showing the PWM outputs at 10% duty cycle and the other figures showing the PWM outputs at 50% and 90% duty cycle respectively, hence the three PWM outputs encode three different analog signal values at 10%, 50% and 90% of the full strength, the supply is 7v and the duty cycle is 10%, a 0.7 v analog signal result. Below a simple Pulse Width Modulation circuit can be shown. References. http://www.reuk.co.uk/Multiple-PIR-Sensor-Circuits.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor 3. http://www.sensors-transducers.machinedesign.com/guiedits/content/bdeee4/bdeee4_7.aspx 4. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6163025.html 5. http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Policy 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_design 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_computing 8. http://www.ddc-online.org/inout/inout_chapt01_analogin.aspx 9. http://www.netrino.com/Embedded-Systems/How-To/PWM-Pulse-Width-Modulation 10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller 11. Arduino booklet (2002), Massimo banzi, Erica calogero, David Guartielles, Jeff Gray, Tom Igoe, David Mellis 12. Barr .Michael, embedded systems Programming, September 2001, pp. 103-104 13. Making things talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects by Tom Igoe (Paperback -September 28, 2007) 14. Physical Computing: sensing and controlling the physical world with computers by Tom Igoe, Dan O Sullivan. Thomson Course Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, May 2004