Significance Of The Masdar City Project Environmental Sciences Essay

Significance Of The Masdar City Project Environmental Sciences Essay Masdar is a project developed in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. The core of Masdar is a well-planned city. It is constructed by the construction builder Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which is a branch of the Mubadala Development Company. The major part of capital finance is given by the government of Abu Dhabi. The project is designed and planned by the Foster and its Partners, which is British architectural firm. Masdar city will sustain completely on sources of renewable sources for example, solar energy and various other resources which has a sustainable, zero-waste and zero-carbon ecology. The city is stretches about 17  kilometres (11 miles) in the east-south-east of Abu Dhabi, alongside Abu Dhabi International Airport. It would be the host for the headquarters of the (IRENA) International Renewable Energy Agency. Masdar has faith in capability of humankind for development of cheaper, cleaner, and efficient sources of energies for usage in order to overpower the climatic and environmental changes in a responsible and effective manner. It was established in April of 2006 as Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, a multifarious organization making development towards the commercialization and full functioning deployment of all possible renewable energy and providing solutions regarding cleaner ecological technologies. It combines the idea of the full renewable sources of energy with a clean technology lifecycle taking it from research point of view to the level of commercial deployment trying to fulfill the ultimate objective of developing a scalable and clean technology of renewable sources of energy. (Masdar Carbon, 2010) Importance of topic: Masdar City Project will not utilize any zero gas or oil resources. Hence it can be said that contribution to causing greenhouse gases would be minimal. Masdar is the central piece of Emirates and Abu Dhabis plans of having a market for renewable energy sources, a measure against the time when the oil wells and resources situated there run dry. An animated depiction of the design shows narrow streets covered with buildings which are modern still capture the essence of an ancient city of Arab. It appears that making plans identical to those of historic designs of ancient times will help designers reach their aim of energy goals they wish to accomplish. Recycling Water The city planners say that 80% of water used in city would be recycled. This needs a change of thinking. According to Peter Sharratt, who is working with WSP a British energy consulting firm, they normally have a linear process. They take in water through the taps, use it. And then it further goes down straight in the drain. In this way it gets to be used once only. But the design of Masdar City would be reusing water for as many times as it is possible. For example, one of the ideas involves capture of the leftover of water of crops which is known as irrigation recovery. The method works like as follows: After irrigation of crops water goes down through the top 2 or 3 feet layers of soil and then meets plants requirements and underground water collection system recovers whatever amount of water is left. This water can then be used for irrigation again on some another occasion or redirected for another purpose. (Masdar Introduction, 2010) Emissions of gases Related to Construction The basic idea behind Masdar City is to construct a place where is no carbon footprint. Owing to the fact a lot of construction site equipment use gas, it can be said that some carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere while construction, which will result in having an adverse effect on eco system. This can be an offset putting extra solar energy or by growing trees or back into national power grid of Abu Dhabi. But evaluation of a carbon footprint is more complicated than this according to Liz Darley. She works with Bioregional, the British firm which will be assessing Masdar Citys carbon footprint calculations. She further added that what they are planning to do is deciding where to draw lines for the boundary which in itself is a complex job as it could include the entire expenditure of carbon even when the project team is travelling between Europe and Middle East. Hence it is very tough to estimate the overall carbon cost incurred on building the Masdar city as it will depend upon where you will draw you boundaries. (Palca, 2008) A Goal to Curb Energy Use One of the major goals of Masdar City plan would be to become the first city where emission of carbon is zero. Shaded walks and narrow streets would be helpful in reducing the need of air conditioning. The city will be oriented northeast direction to minimize and reduce the amount of sunlight directed on buildings windows and sides. Solar collectors and solar panels on the roofs and at remaining places would be helpful in generation of sufficient electricity in order to fulfill the requirement of Masdar City. Another aim of Masdar City is to prohibit cars in the city. But city is not small enough for its inhabitants to cover by walking. Hence designers are planning for a system called a (PRT) personal rapid transit system. According to Scott McGuigan of the CH2M Hill, it is really a car. It can be seen as a simple vehicle for six passengers. It is designed in shape of a car, but is powered by solar energy and with batteries. These cars powered by solar power would be running under th e city just in ways like a subway system. But these cars would not run on fixed roads and routes, rather they can be taken anywhere a passenger wishes to go. He further adds that PRTs show an energy-efficient manner of moving around people among 1,500 stations approximately. The passenger can program the station they wish to go and the vehicle will transport them to that station. Handling of Waste Management One of the major aims Masdar City is going to deal with is to become the first city to manage waste in such a manner that waste is converted into energy and is possibly reduced to zero. In real facts, waste could be reduced to be very close to zero, as some material cannot be transformed to energy or be recycled. But as far as human waste is concerned, it would all be repurposed. The nutrients would be recovered and then used to generate soil which can be further used as component of the requirement of landscaping. The part of the sewer sludge would again be processed in waste-to-power plan. This plan to recycle or reuse as much as it is possible would permeate the strategy. According to Mc Guigan, they are constantly in search for materials which can be reused or recycled. He further added that they are looking at recyclable plastic so as to use to it for construction of site fencing. Later on that fencing could be sold to the manufacturer and be again recycled for reselling it agai n. So it has a purpose at the end. Designers are even beginning to plan, how could the concrete, used for building Masdar City, be recycled so as to reuse it the for purposes such as construction of road when the city is torn down. (Masdar Carbon, 2010) Achieving the Reality According to some skeptics reducing total carbon contents and footprints to zero would not be easily possible. They also say that Masdar will not cover the huge amount of guzzling gas of the United Arab Emirates. Khaled Awad, person in charge for making the plans into a real city say he has heard such people but is sure of its success. But he invited the suggestions on how to improve the City and what can be done. He also explained saying that they are serious about the city and its aspirations and are putting lots of resources to build it correctly and make it right. He expects it to be an ideal place at a meaningful scale. The intended plan is also to complete the Masdar City in a record time. Literature Review: The Masdar City project is being steered by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC). It was started in 2006 and the project was estimated to cost about US$ 22 billion and expected to take about 8 years to complete construction. The first phase of building was scheduled to be completed and would be habitable by 2009. Due to the effect of the economic crisis, now the Phase 1 of the Masdar City would be finished by 2015 and the completion of whole complex by 2020-2025. The estimated cost of complex has been reduced by 10 to 15 percent, hence the complete development cost ranging from US$18.7 and 19.8 billion. Masdar city is projected to cover an area of six  square kilometers (2.3 sq  miles) and would provide residency to about 45,000 to 50,000 people and home to 1,500 businesses, majorly manufacturing and commercial facilities having expertise in the environment friendly and eco-friendly products, and an expected to have around 60,000 workers. It would also be having university , (MIST) Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which would be helped by (MIT) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Automobiles and vehicles would be prohibited within the city. Transportation would be carried out with the help of personal rapid transit and public mass transit systems with the already existing railways and roads providing connection to outside. As there are no vehicles and automobiles inside the Masdars perimeter wall, it is planned such as to prevent the hot desert air to enter the complex along with shaded and narrow streets allows suitable condition funnel cooler breezes across the Masdar City. (Palca, 2008) Masdar City is thought to be the most advanced technology among the small number of well and highly planned, technology-intensive research specialized municipalities that also assimilate a living hospitable environment as those of Tsukuba Science City, Japan or Novosibirk, Russia. (Masdar Carbon, 2010) Masdar Clean Tech Fund is a diversified vehicle of $250 million venture capital. It used to create a portfolio of joint venture investments, clean technology funds and direct co-investments. Others partners of Clean Tech Fund include Siemens Venture Capital, Credit Suisse and Consensus Business Group. CH2M HILL is the company responsible for constructing the first phase of the project. Construction of infrastructure of the city is being managed by Al Jaber Group. The central headquarters of Masdar City are being by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture. As pointed out earlier, the Fund is having commitments with the from the following organizations: (i) Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), (ii) Credit Suisse (CS), (iii) Consensus Business Group (CBG) and (iv) Siemens AG. (Masdar Introduction, 2010) It is expected to develop a portfolio of investments in funds and having a commitment of around $60 million to 3-5 fund managers. Rest of the Fund capital would be invested in co-investments beside fund managers and in the direct investments by companies which are being sourced by the Fund. The Fund would invest in organizations that have technologies which are favorable for commercialization in U.A.E. Credit Suisse, one of the leading organizations for managers of co-investments and private equity fund of funds and also the General Partners will handle the Fund along with its partners. The Fund will take to advantage Credit Suisses and its partners expertise on investment along with Credit Suisses vast investment banking and private equity platform for sourcing, adding value and selecting investment opportunities in favors of the Fund. Moreover, the Fund will also take an initiative towards Abu Dhabis larger alternative energy resource, also known as the Masdar initiative which was started in March 2006. The Masdar initiative is response of Abu Dhabi to the global requirement of conservation of diminishing resources and the need of alternative energy sectors. It is planned to make sure that in the long-term Abu Dhabi retains its energy resources and flourishes even more, and also maintains its share in the global energy market. The main focus of the Fund would be on the commercialization and development of technologies involving renewable energy, their energy efficiency, management of carbon and its monetization, desalination and usage of water. It is the hope of the government of U.A.E. that Masdar initiative and other governmental organizations should be used to support portfolio managers, joint venture participants and companies of Fund and participants who are wish for the commercialization of products in the UAE. (Masdar City, 2010) Conclusion and Recommendation: Masdar City is going to deal with is to become the first city to manage waste in such a manner that waste is converted into energy and is possibly reduced to zero. In real facts, waste could be reduced to be very close to zero, as some material cannot be transformed to energy or be recycled. According to some skeptics reducing total carbon contents and footprints to zero would not be easily possible. It is very tough to estimate the overall carbon cost incurred on building the Masdar city as it will depend upon where you will draw you boundaries. Despite all the speculation being, it could be said that all these are worth a try so as to conserve the ecological system. It can be seen as a an innovative effort making development towards the commercialization and full functioning deployment of all possible renewable energy and providing solutions regarding cleaner ecological technologies. It combines the idea of the full renewable sources of energy with a clean technology lifecycle taki ng it from research point of view to the level of commercial deployment trying to fulfill the ultimate objective of developing a scalable and clean technology of renewable sources of energy. The key recommendation for the city is to create awareness among the people towards the waste and carbon issue so that the project can figure out as a classical example of green energy and waste management using technology.

Postponement in Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Postponement in Manufacturing and Supply Chain In general production process, many of the end products shares some common process and some of them in the initial stages. At some specific point in the process, specialized processes or components are used to customize the work-in-process, which was a common (generic) product up to that point in the process, into the different end-products. This point is referred as point of product differentiation. Postponement refers to redesigning the process to delay the point of differentiation. The point of differentiation may occur in two stages of supply chain, first it may occur in early stage which is referred as early level of postponement and in the other case it may occur in the late in the supply chain which is referred as late level of postponement. This concept had actually been mostly used in the logistics business (Shapiro and Haskett, 1985). Even consumer products industries started using this type of concepts in their process to improve their service for customers orders. In every scenario we need to follow a special strategy for effective results. In Manufacturing and distribution of products, we need to use the following structure, which describes the process in which product variety is proliferated. Lets go through the five important steps of a product in its supply chain: Manufacturing (2) Integration (3) Customization (4) Localization (5) Packaging Here these sequence of steps matches to most of the process flow in the industries. Manufacturing: This is the initial step where the core of the product is made. Usually small numbers of products or a single generic product are made at this stage. Integration: This is the step where all the main core products are assembled with the sub assemblies. For example in the case of computers, the body will be made in the manufacturing stage and it will be assembled with the Mother board and circuits in this integration stage. Customization: This stage refers to the further assembly of the product with different accessories to form distinct product choices. For example in the case of computers, this is the stage where they insert all the necessary I/O cards, install all necessary softwares and accessory boards constitute different end product options. Localization: Here all the products are localized to suit the local requirements of different regions or countries. For example different countries may have different power supply requirements and different languages for their manuals. We can imagine that each of the product options gets raised into more different end products for different places. Packaging: This step sounds meaningful only for the few products, those requires some special kind of packing. For example in the case of Computers, monitors need to be packed properly so that they dont damage when they are in transit. Here the below figure shows the product variety proliferation tree that branches out at various stages: Diag from pg 6 http://e3associates.com/files/Article%2520-%2520Designing%2520Products%2520and%2520Processes%2520for%2520Postponement.pdf In this context of product variety structure, postponement as a strategy to defer, it can be of two types: Time Postponement and Form Postponement. Time Postponement: This refers to delaying the various product differentiation tasks as late as possible. It is something like switching from Build-to-Stock to a Build-to- order mode (Zinn 1990).One more great advantage of this time postponement implementation is related to the geographical location in which the differentiating tasks are performed. Usually these tasks will be performed at manufacturing factory, Distribution centers or distribution channels and customer sites. Here the earliest level of postponement refers to the case, when all the tasks are performed at the manufacturing factory. And the latest level of postponement refers to those, where the tasks are performed at the customer sites. This strategy is usually helpful in the case where delivery or distribution of a product is delayed until customer demand is known. This allows inventory to be reduced as it reduces the necessity to maintain inventories or stocks at distribution centers. Lets go through some case, which can give a clear idea of this strategy being used. Whirlpool, washing machine manufacturer has implemented this strategy very effectively in their US operations (Waller, et al, 2000).By one of their market research, they have found that most of the consumers dont expect their order to be delivered immediately, as most of them will be ordering for their new houses, into which they cannot move immediately. So they redesigned their supply chain in such a way that the inventories in the department stores are kept to minimum and this delayed delivery until the orders have been received. This reduces the need for cross docking to a great extent and reduces inventory and transportation costs dramatically. In overall it improves customer service and decreases stock outs. Form Postponement: This strategy delays certain stages in manufacturing process of a product until a customers order has been received (Zinn and Bowersox, 1988). This mainly aims at standardizing the upstream stages to the maximum extent. Here they follow a different kind of manufacturing strategy. At first, parts or components that are common to more than a model are used to build a generic platform. Now these semi finished items will be shipped to separate markets and specific countries or items are added when a customer order is received. Most of the computer manufacturers use this strategy in their operations. Most of the components of a computer are relatively generic and common to many markets (e.g. casing, mouse, board), while other components restricted to certain markets (e.g. power supply, differs from one country to the other) (Aviv and Federgruen, 1999).Usually demand in few places may be stable, demand in specific places may be difficult to predict. Thus using Form postponement strategy, all the basic components of a computer are assembled at a central location. As these components have longer life cycle, compared to other components, the inventory risk is reduced at this stage. Then modules are sent to different markets and country specific or high value components are inserted, once the customer orders are received. Markets leader Dell is a classic example of this. By taking up a build to order (BTO) approach, the company started maintaining very low levels of inventory (Radstaak, 1998). This strategy allowed the company to improve their customer service, as their products can be customized on demand. Place Postponement: This strategy is used to redesign the location of process, in order to postpone the product differentiation. HP had used this strategy in their operations; in this case they put off their final assembling activities and made the final product at the distribution centre. This reduces the Inventory costs and response time to the customer. This strategy can be implemented in seven different ways. The first one focuses on delaying the differentiation tasks to downstream in the final processing and manufacturing.Zinn and Bowserox 1988(manufacturing, labeling, assembly, packaging) postponement, Lee and Billingtons(1994) time postponement, Lee and Tangs (1997) operations postponement, Lees (1998) Logistics postponement and van hoeks (1999) Place postponement all deals with the same strategy. Here are some places, where these strategies are implemented successfully. European computer manufacturer implemented this strategy; they started assembling all their personal computers in their local distribution centre to the response of customers order, instead of completing in the factory. Then their focus turned in delaying the downstream movement of goods which is discussed by time and place postponement. Logistics postponement discusses about the movement of goods, which is a delay in deployment of inventory. Rover car manufacturer had implemented this strategy, which centralized the inventory from all his dealers, so that he can respond to customers quickly. If a company does not start manufacturing or assembly before customers order is received then it is existed the highest possible level of postponement. On the other hand if company is able to meet customer requirement as close as end user then it is the lowest possible level of postponement where maximum flexibility is existed. Decoupling Point http://www3.unicatt.it/unicattolica/centriricerca/cersi/allegati/wp12009.pdf Applications of Postponement Inventory reduction Better forecast accuracy Logistics Cost reduction Improved Customer service levels Inventory Cost reduction More Variety Risk minimization Procurement cost reduction Transportation cost reduction Manufacturing and procurement cost reduction Challenges in Postponement Product Modularity Ability to quantify benefits Misperception with risks, costs, benefits and general lack of understanding Competing Interest Visibility into Supply Chain Change Management Which signifies Top-down support Ability to recognize Postponement Opportunity Fundamental changes to manufacturing and logistics processes Too costly to implement Complex to implement Consumes too much of management time Too difficult to align organizationally Critical Success Factors Business process reengineering Product design standardization Enabling supply chain technology Collaboration with Customers / Suppliers Organizational design and accountability Enabling collaborative internet technology Internal cross-functional collaboration Issues relating to Postponement Conclusion Case study: When we think of postponement and their advantages, Auto industry is the one which strikes the mind first for many reasons. Firstly a car can be described as a modular system of components. This shows that there is an opportunity for commonality by producing a platform and adding modular subassemblies customized according to the customers demand. Then secondly, individually customized vehicles have higher forecast variability. Since this case shows that there are too many varieties to be forecasted accurately of each combination, there is typically disagreement on the forecast within the different divisions of a company. Finally is high inventory holding costs. It is much riskier to hold a finished vehicle in the showroom floor than to hold a partly finished one waiting for final customization because of high forecast variability for end products and high obsolescence. General Motors (GM) offers over 600 million combinations, when different combinations are considered. Because of these many options, forecasting becomes very difficult. Excess inventory on the field is evidence of this. So they started to search for a way to create variety and mass customize beyond the idea of the platforms, GM looked at software configuration as a different way to use postponement. From software view, each of the systems in a vehicle can be considered as central processing unit (CPU) made up of several electronic control units (ECUs).At present they are using 30-35 ECUs per vehicle because software is becoming essential in automobiles for many reasons. Before postponement, GM faced many problems regarding product variety proliferation and higher inventory costs of storing ECUs for individual models. Usually these ECUs come to GM in finished form with all the softwares pre-loaded. And each of this is assigned to a specific vehicle but they all looked same from outsid e. Suppliers charged GM for custom software installation which not only raised the price but also resulted in problems with repair and maintenance. Then GM decided to assume the responsibility for software configurations and postpone the installations till the latest possible point in the assembly process. Foe this to be executed, GM had to redesign both assembly process and the ECU hardware. Then in mid 1990s they achieved to install the custom softwares for individual orders at the end of the assembly process. Now the ECUs come from suppliers to GM in a generic form. After realizing that even software can be postponed, they started looking for other systems that could be delayed until purchase. Now GM offers 99 % guarantee to deliver the vehicle within one day of the projected delivery day to a dealer closer to the customer. In a study done by GM to measure the benefits of postponement, they have projected inventory cost savings to be 10-15 percent and even maintenance cost saving s. . . Here GM has taken benefits of both outsourcing and postponement. All the subassemblies are outsourced to suppliers with the comparative advantage of expertise and quality. As auto industries go with predominately build-to-order manufacturing system, their suppliers need to commit to the increase demand for customized features instead of aggregate orders.

Macbeths Power Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout reading the play, Macbeth changes a lot from being a man of loyalty and honesty, to a man of whom is power hungry and greedy. This shows how the more power you receive the more power you want; which in many cases, such as this one leads to destruction. Many of the choices that Macbeth made were influenced by the power that he had, and this power began to take over him. This then lead to greed and destruction of not only others, but himself as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is not in a position of authority yet still receives praise. Although Macbeth is not in a place of power, he is truly content with his life. Macbeth is looked up to and admired for begin so brave and courageous. In the beginning of the play Macbeth comes off as a genuine man who is admired by many people. This is demonstrated by a member of Macbeth’s battalion who refers to Macbeth as â€Å"the great Macbeth.† This man is covered in blood and hurt, yet he still speaks of how noble Macbeth is. This really shows how respected and faithful the citizens are to Macbeth. â€Å"For brave Macbeth he is the one to whom oh so many praise.† (1.2.18), said by the man. Hearing this news of Macbeth is very pleasing to the king, he now sees how noble and commendable Macbeth is, he then decided to give Macbeth the power of being Thane of Cawdor; by doing so he did not know what this decision was going to lead to in the fu ture. The king gave him this power because he saw how fine...

Wireless Network Security Essay -- Wireless Networks Technology Essays

Introduction Wireless networks have grown in popularity. This is largely due to the increase in the value of a network as more users are attached to it. The value added to a network by nature of connecting more devices to it, is summarized in 'Metcalf's law.' Metcalf's law states that if you 'connect any number, 'n,' of machines - whether computers, phones or even cars - and you get 'n' squared potential value.'[1] The incredible growth of the Internet seems to validate Metcalf's law. It then seems reasonable that eliminating physical constraints to connecting to a network would provide value by allowing more devices to be connected to a network regardless of physical location. Wireless networks provide that ability. Wireless networks operate over the full spectrum of network topographies. These topographies include: Personal, Local, Controller, Metropolitan, and Wide area networks. A Personal Area Network (PAN) is the interconnection of information technology devices within the range of an individual person, typically within a range of 10 meters.?[2] A Local Area Network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building).?[2] A Campus Area Network (CAN) is a fiber-optic network that physically interconnects entire buildings into one giant network. While each building may have several discrete LANs within it, each building represents a single node on the CAN. [3] A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is ?a network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than t hat covered by even a large [LAN] but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN [- explained next]).?[2] A Wide Area Network (WAN) is ?a geographically dispersed telecommunications network.?[2] Wireless networks come in many configurations and use many technologies. Figure 1 depicts an example of the wireless technologies and standards used for each of the networks types defined above. The figure indicates two major categories of wireless technologies: fixed and mobile. The figure also indicates 10 technologies in use: Bluetooth, irDA, 802.11, IR LAN, IR Bridge, Ricochet, RF Bridge, Cellular, MCS and Satellite. Virtually all of these tec... ...e issues addressed in the 802.11i standard, third party software vendors are rapidly creating and marketing wireless security services and third-party solutions. As the wireless market matures, it will become increasingly difficult to ?crack? wireless network security. References [1] http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~gaj1/metgg.html - Metcalf?s Law and Legacy [2] http://www.whatis.com - Whatis?com [3] http://www.lib.siu.edu/faq/network1.faq.html - LAN FAQ1 [4] http://local.cips.ca/queencity/Events/archivedEvents/2000-01/SpringSeminar01/kentonjanzen/sld003.htm - Canadian Information Processing Society [5] http://www.tml.hut.fi/Studies/T-110.557/2002/papers/zahed_iqbal.pdf - Wireless LAN Technology: Current State and Future Trends [6] http://www.athenasemi.com/market/index.html - [Wireless] Market Overview [7] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/columns/cableguy/cg0302.asp - Microsoft TechNet [8] http://csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/publications/drafts/draft-sp800-48.pdf - Wireless Network Security [9] http://www.whatis.com (war driving) ? Whatis?com [10] http://www.netgear.com/pdf_docs/10StepsWirelessSecurity.pdf - Ten Easy Steps for Wireless LAN Security Wireless Network Security Essay -- Wireless Networks Technology Essays Introduction Wireless networks have grown in popularity. This is largely due to the increase in the value of a network as more users are attached to it. The value added to a network by nature of connecting more devices to it, is summarized in 'Metcalf's law.' Metcalf's law states that if you 'connect any number, 'n,' of machines - whether computers, phones or even cars - and you get 'n' squared potential value.'[1] The incredible growth of the Internet seems to validate Metcalf's law. It then seems reasonable that eliminating physical constraints to connecting to a network would provide value by allowing more devices to be connected to a network regardless of physical location. Wireless networks provide that ability. Wireless networks operate over the full spectrum of network topographies. These topographies include: Personal, Local, Controller, Metropolitan, and Wide area networks. A Personal Area Network (PAN) is the interconnection of information technology devices within the range of an individual person, typically within a range of 10 meters.?[2] A Local Area Network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building).?[2] A Campus Area Network (CAN) is a fiber-optic network that physically interconnects entire buildings into one giant network. While each building may have several discrete LANs within it, each building represents a single node on the CAN. [3] A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is ?a network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than t hat covered by even a large [LAN] but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN [- explained next]).?[2] A Wide Area Network (WAN) is ?a geographically dispersed telecommunications network.?[2] Wireless networks come in many configurations and use many technologies. Figure 1 depicts an example of the wireless technologies and standards used for each of the networks types defined above. The figure indicates two major categories of wireless technologies: fixed and mobile. The figure also indicates 10 technologies in use: Bluetooth, irDA, 802.11, IR LAN, IR Bridge, Ricochet, RF Bridge, Cellular, MCS and Satellite. Virtually all of these tec... ...e issues addressed in the 802.11i standard, third party software vendors are rapidly creating and marketing wireless security services and third-party solutions. As the wireless market matures, it will become increasingly difficult to ?crack? wireless network security. References [1] http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~gaj1/metgg.html - Metcalf?s Law and Legacy [2] http://www.whatis.com - Whatis?com [3] http://www.lib.siu.edu/faq/network1.faq.html - LAN FAQ1 [4] http://local.cips.ca/queencity/Events/archivedEvents/2000-01/SpringSeminar01/kentonjanzen/sld003.htm - Canadian Information Processing Society [5] http://www.tml.hut.fi/Studies/T-110.557/2002/papers/zahed_iqbal.pdf - Wireless LAN Technology: Current State and Future Trends [6] http://www.athenasemi.com/market/index.html - [Wireless] Market Overview [7] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/columns/cableguy/cg0302.asp - Microsoft TechNet [8] http://csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/publications/drafts/draft-sp800-48.pdf - Wireless Network Security [9] http://www.whatis.com (war driving) ? Whatis?com [10] http://www.netgear.com/pdf_docs/10StepsWirelessSecurity.pdf - Ten Easy Steps for Wireless LAN Security

Triple X :: Movie Film Essays

Triple X Original Budget $50,000,000, or the annual per capita income of 250,000 people in Nepal. Who owns it: Sony Number of Sony plugs: about a half dozen, if you include Tony Hawk, who is more or less owned by Sony Number of total plugs: enough to make my ass hurt. Twice. Length: 2:04 or long enough to make you seriously wander what the hell is point to go on living. Before sitting down and spending 2 hours of my life to watch "Triple X", I had previously heard a few friends, acquaintances, and others describe the action movies of Vin Diesel, including "Triple X" as "cool", "sexy", "fun", "good", and, perhaps above all, "exciting" (ok, Pitch Black is almost watchable). If you happen to be one of these individuals, I would like to kindly ask that in the future, you actually take the time to watch a movie before speaking positively about it to me. It is pure intellectual dishonesty to do otherwise, which is what obviously happened regarding "Triple X", a movie which could only be spoken positively of by those who haven't seen it. Or, as a friend of mine commented, "Triple X" acts as a good retard test, because if you really do like this movie, you're retarded. The movie has some problems. These include plot, acting, script, dialogue, and pacing. But we will forgive all those. This is a mindless action movie after all, and being a bad movie is par for the action genre course. "Triple X" isn't just a bad movie, it is a *terrible* action flick, ranking in wretchedness with the likes of Rambo III. Why? Several reasons follow, in no particular order. Middle class skate/punk/psuedo-rebel/"extreme"/hardcore-straightedge/wanker niche market This movie tries so hard to hit this target audience I actually felt like someone was trying to molest a child while watching this. This movie might score the highest corporate plug per scene ratio of any movie I've ever seen. And, unlike say Austin Powers, it does it completely straight-forward, even writing in plugs at key parts (insofar as they can exist) of the movie directly into the dialogue. Most notably here is the "Stop thinking secret agent and start think playstation" (at least something very close to that) towards the end of the movie when he picks up the random heat seeking bazooka which, when fired, targets *the heat from a burning cigarette* as opposed to the collected body heat of Diesel and company.

If Nas Ruled The World Essay

We have all fantasized about ruling the world In our free time. Whether you ruled wit an Iron fist or gave free Ice cream to your followers, everybody has rules differently. I n the song â€Å"If I Ruled The World† by Nas featuring Lauren Hill, Nas Imagines a world that ca n only be classified as â€Å"ghetto fabulous†. Although this song ideally disagrees with everything believe in, I support Nas idea of unity.The world that NAS speaks of is a place where y o can smoke weed â€Å"in the streets without the cops harassing†, â€Å"court without trial† and people e â€Å"more conscious of the way we raise our daughters†. This may sound like anarchy for the m cost part, but Nas speaks of a place like paradise for some. Nanas, formally known as Nas, was r eased in Queens, New York. This is shown evident from the song alone. Nas speaks of problem s that you would not find many other places other than the slums of New York.In the song he peaks of â€Å"W elfare†, â€Å"weed†, cocaine, â€Å"parole†, undercover cops, and the list continues. These Ideas may seem foreign, but Queens alone feels like a different world from the close by New York City. This is why I like this song. He did not attempt to speak politics or economy values when he showed us a glimpse of his hierarchy but he spoke of a world that Queens k new nothing about. Nanas spoke of a peaceful place. This song was an effective persuasive audio essay because he clearly stated his mall Idea, supported It, and reached the targeted audience.

Identify Four Possible Consequences Essay

1. Identify four possible consequences of inadequate training or training that does not meet an organisation’s needs or requirements. Answers might include but are not limited to: Leads to people feeling ill-equipped to do their jobs, leading to stress Reduced productivity Decreased flexibility/ adaptability to workplace demands Failure to enhance people’s skills Can lead to a failure to meet statutory requirements relating to providing a safe and healthy working environment Reduced motivation Reduced satisfaction Failure to offer career development Increased employee turnover 2. Carry out your own TNA identifying the learning and development needs you could use to be able to do your current job more successfully. If you are not currently employed, carry out a TNA that relates to the skills and knowledge you will need in a job that you hope to secure in the future. There is no definitive response to this activity; however, participants should demonstrate an understanding that a TNA is used to clearly identify the requirements of a job, the current capabilities of participants and whether there are any gaps between the two. 3. Training needs should be considered at five levels. State what these levels are and give an example for each. Identifying learning needs must be done at five levels: 1. Compliance and statutory-all employees must adhere to national privacy principles, therefore they need to be trained on what these principles are what they mean for the business. 2. Business strategies and goals-the vision of the organisation is to become the largest provider of personalised stationery, therefore training might be needed in sales and marketing. 3. Departmental and team-the accounts team might need training on a new finance IT package in order to efficiently handle the higher volume of invoices. 4.  Job roles-the specific learning needs of each job or group of jobs. All the employees responsible for creating new stationery designs are likely to need training on the market segments that are being actively targeted by the sales team. 5. Individual-the competencies that each person must hold in order to perform their job effectively. The person responsible for maintaining the organisation’s website might require training on the new look of the website propose d by the marketing team. Activity 2 1. Why is employee consultation a necessary process when determining learning needs and addressing change? Consultation enables you to: Identify employee needs and expectations Identify real skills gaps Gather a range of ideas and suggestions regarding training If employees are consulted they are more likely to be motivated and commit to training. 2. What are the likely repercussions if employees are not consulted and involved in the design, development and targeting of training or learning opportunities? Employees who are not consulted will possibly resist training-not be happy about involvement. So they might not attend, or might sabotage the training. The training will not necessarily be correctly targeted. Activity 3 1. Evaluating competencies and continually improving one’s skills is the responsibility of everyone in an organisation. Comment on this statement. If organisations are to be learning organisations they need everybody to take a proactive stance in learning, growing and improving. 2. What advantages are there when an individual self-evaluates their competence and identifies what is needed to learn, grow and improve knowledge and skills? When an individual is involved in the process of examining their current performance against set standards they are becoming actively involved and are therefore taking ownership for continual improvement. When a person is actively engaged in identifying the issues they are more likely to positively embrace  solutions to improve the performance. 3. Technical skills can be taught, but attitude implies habits and habits are hard to change. What do you think this means? When we start work, or learn new tasks we find it easier to learn new competencies. We do not have to unlearn anything in order to develop the new skills. However, if we have been doing a task a certain way for a period of time, our method of approaching the tasks becomes habitual. Thus, if we need to make changes we actually have to unlearn the current habits and develop new ones. We all know that habitual behaviours are difficult to change (think, for instance, about how hard it is for people to give up smoking.) Habitual behaviours are those behaviours with which we are comfortable. We do not want to move out of our comfort zones to change our habits. Some people, however, demonstrate the attitude that they are happy to make changes or improvements as needed. They will take advantage of opportunities to improve, because they realise that it is important to do so. It is much harder to teach someone to develop this kind of attitude than tit is to teach someone, for instance, how to operate a machine. 4. How do you think attitude assessment does or should impact on an organisation’s performance evaluations, its recruitment and selection processes and on any training programs that might be implemented? High-performing organisations focus heavily, in their recruitment and selection procedures, on attitude assessment. Attitude is the component of employee behaviour that indicates motivation-support for organisational goals, potential for active involvement I improvement processes, and cooperation when required, Employees who: Do not want to learn Whose attitude is that they are simply there to earn a wage Who are afraid and resistant to change Or who simply do not care Can have destructive effects on the organisation-it’s culture and it’s productivity. They can affect the motivation and input of other employees. Thus employee attitude-willingness to participate, to be involved and to  self-monitor and self-manage should comprise integral parts of all evaluations-for recruitment, performance evaluation and as regards selection for training opportunities. Training truly will be wasted if employees who do not wish to learn, are not interested or for whatever reason do not want to be there, are coerced into attending training. Training will only be effective if the people who participate in it want to learn and to develop new skills and can see a purpose for learning-ie they have the right attitude. Activity 4 1. Comment on this statement: Effective managers do not wait for a defined time to gather feedback on their team members’ performance; they do it continually using formal and informal methods and relevant sources to build-up a complete picture of competence of the team as a whole and for each member of that team. Generally, this statement is true. Feedback that is gathered continuously provides a more complete picture of competence than feedback gathered in snapshots, as it provides a holistic picture encompassing differing situations and contingencies. A good manager is able to combine formal feedback mechanisms, such as production results together with informal methods such as comments made by team members. 2. You are the senior coach of the Windemere Wombats A Grade basketball team. You have been concerned lately that the team, although still winning matches, are not performing as well as they could be. You feel that they have the capability to win convincingly, but instead some players are making silly mistakes that are costing the team important points. You are unsure what is causing the performance issue and decide to pay closer attention in order to get to the bottom of it. What feedback processes could you use to uncover the problem? The coach could use feedback techniques such as: Examine play statistics Video the games and play them back to analyse them Have a team discussion where everybody is encouraged to provide feedback Hold one-on-one meetings with each player, assistant coaches and other administration employees Activity 5 1 Standards are set by industries, organisations and accrediting bodies. 2 Having clearly defined standards enables organisations and trainees to understand what is required and to structure training programs to ensure that workers gain the required competencies. 3. There are no definitive responses for this activity; howerver, participants should demonstrate an undersanding that: A goal is the expression of what is to be achieved as aresult of completing learning and development activities associated with the skill. Goals help specify the detail of what is to be achieved. Examples include: – provide better feedback to my employees – effectively chair monthly committee meetings – format complex reports better Each skill can have one or more learning objectives. Objectives contain a hight level of detail and shouuld be specific, measurable, and attainable. Examples include : – Provide better feedback to my employees: – provide feedback within 24 hours – provide feedback that results in improved employee performance – Effectively chair monthly committee meeting: – keep meetings to allocated timeframe – prevent domination of discussion by one or two people – Format complex reports: – use tables with 100% accuracy – use columns with 100% accuracy – use numbering with 100% accuracy 4. Competency list should be a comprehensive list of the steps required and the level to which they must be performed. For example, place one level scoop of washing powder into the middle compartment of the washing machine dispenser. Activities selected for inclusion in the learning plan should reflect the prior knowledge of the learner, the nature of the task and the most appropriate method. For examle, doing the laundry could be taught  through demonstration and verbal instruction. 5. Consultation with the employees and conducting training needs assessments. 6 Formal training can include : external courses, internal workshops, e-learning programs. Informal training can include reading, mentoring, coaching. Activity 7 1 Coaching is usually more task specific than mentoring. Coaches focus on helping and guiding development in a particular competency or area of growth. They are usually chosen for their technical expertise. Mentors, on the other hand, play a guiding or advisory role that is often less defined by competency boundaries. Mentoring often encompasses changes in thinking, attitudinal shifts and behavioural changes. 2 Learning opportunities can include, but are not limited to : – team building actibities – counselling of the players with the tension between them – strategy meeting to explain why working the ball in closer is desirable followed by a practice session to reinforce the theory – drill training on bounce passes 3 a. Is a critical response. b. Offers a positibe method of improving. Therefore b is the most helpful form of feedback. 4 There are no definitive responses for this activity; howerver, participants should demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the feedback hamburger. The feedback should start with something positive (howerver minor) and end with something positive/ constructive; acknowledging the things the learner has done correctly. Corrections that need to be made should be sandwiched in the middle. Activity 9 1 There is no definitive response for this activity; however, participants should demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the learning material. Activity10 2 There is no definitive answer for this activity; however, the participant’s response will need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the learning material. Answers will be specific to the participant. Activity 11 1 The example will be specific to the participant but must retain the integrity of the model. 2 The example will be specific to the participant but must retain the integrity of the model. 3 Additional support could include but is not limited to: – senior executives in head office: – poster reinforcing the customer centric culture in board room – customer centric statistics linked to business profitability placed on board meeting as a standard agenda – store management: – reinforcement training sessions at monthly staff meetings – additional training in the importance of role modelling – frontline sales staff: – reminder cards with phrases to use pinned up near the tills – poster reinforcing the customer centric culture in the stock room – role modelling by store and head office management