Development of Peer-to-Peer Network System

Development of Peer-to-Peer Network System Procedures which we are followed to success this project. Task 01 Familiarizing with the equipments preparing an action plan. Task 02 Prepare the work area. Task 03 Fixed the hardware equipments and assemble three PCs. Task 04 Install NICs for each and every PC. Task 05 Cabling three computers and configure the peer to peer network with using hub or switch. Task 06 Install Windows operating system to each and every PC. Task 07 Install and configure the printer on one of the PCs. Task 08 Share printer with other PCs in the LAN. Task 09 Establish one shared folder Task 10 Create a test document on one of the PCs and copy the files to each of the other PCs in network. Task 11 Test the printer by getting the test document from each of the networked PCs. Time allocation for the tasks. Task No. Time allocation Task 01 1 hour Task 02 30 minutes Task 03 1  ½ hour Task 04 1  ½ hour Task 05 1  ½ hour Task 06 3 hour Task 07 15 minutes Task 08 15 minutes Task 09 15 minutes Task 10 10 minutes Task 11 05 minutes Total time allocation 10 hours Physical structure of proposed Peer to Peer network system. In peer to peer network there are no dedicated servers or hierarchy among the computers. The user must take the decisions about who access this network. Processors In 1945, the idea of the first computer with a processing unit capable of performing different tasks was published by John von Neumann. The computer was called the EDVAC and was finished in 1949. These first primitive computer processors, such as the EDVAC and the Harvard Mark I, were incredibly bulky and large. Hundreds of CPUs were built into the machine to perform the computers tasks. Starting in the 1950s, the transistor was introduced for the CPU. This was a vital improvement because they helped remove much of the bulky material and wiring and allowed for more intricate and reliable CPUs. The 1960s and 1970s brought about the advent of microprocessors. These were very small, as the length would usually be recorded in nanometers, and were much more powerful. Microprocessors helped this technology become much more available to the public due to their size and affordability. Eventually, companies like Intel and IBM helped alter microprocessor technology into what we see today. The computer processor has evolved from a big bulky contraption to a minuscule chip. Computer processors are responsible for four basic operations. Their first job is to fetch the information from a memory source. Subsequently, the CPU is to decode the information to make it usable for the device in question. The third step is the execution of the information, which is when the CPU acts upon the information it has received. The fourth and final step is the write back. In this step, the CPU makes a report of the activity and stores it in a log. Two companies are responsible for a vast majority of CPUs sold all around the world. Intel Corporation is the largest CPU manufacturer in the world and is the maker of a majority of the CPUs found in personal computers. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., known as AMD, has in recent years been the main competitor for Intel in the CPU industry. The CPU has greatly helped the world progress into the digital age. It has allowed a number of computers and other machines to be produced that are very important and essential to our global society. For example, many of the medical advances made today are a direct result of the ability of computer processors. As CPUs improve, the devices they are used in will also improve and their significance will become even greater. VGA The term Video Graphics Array (VGA) refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987,[1] but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analogue computer display standard, the 15-pin D-sub miniature VGA connector or the 640Ãâ€"480 resolution itself. While this resolution has been superseded in the personal computer market, it is becoming a popular resolution on mobile devices. Video Graphics Array (VGA) was the last graphical standard introduced by IBM that the majority of PC clone manufacturers conformed to, making it today (as of 2009) the lowest common denominator that all PC graphics hardware supports, before a device-specific driver is loaded into the computer. For example, the MS-Windows splash screen appears while the machine is still operating in VGA mode, which is the reason that this screen always appears in reduced resolution and colour depth. VGA was officially superseded by IBMs XGA standard, but in reality it was superseded by numerous slightly different extensions to VGA made by clone manufacturers that came to be known collectively as Super VGA. VGA is referred to as an array instead of an adapter because it was implemented from the start as a single chip (an ASIC), replacing the Motorola 6845 and dozens of discrete logic chips that covered the full-length ISA boards of the MDA, CGA, and EGA. Its single-chip implementation also allowed the VGA to be placed directly on a PCs motherboard with a minimum of difficulty (it only required video memory, timing crystals and an external RAMDAC), and the first IBM PS/2 models were equipped with VGA on the motherboard. RAM Random-access memory (usually known by its acronym, RAM) is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order (i.e., at random). The word random thus refers to the fact that any piece of data can be returned in a constant time, regardless of its physical location and whether or not it is related to the previous piece of data. By contrast, storage devices such as tapes, magnetic discs and optical discs rely on the physical movement of the recording medium or a reading head. In these devices, the movement takes longer than data transfer, and the retrieval time varies based on the physical location of the next item. The word RAM is often associated with volatile types of memory (such as DRAM memory modules), where the information is lost after the power is switched off. Many other types of memory are RAM, too, including most types of ROM and flash memory called NOR-Flash. An early type of widespread writable random-access memory was the magnetic core memory, developed from 1949 to 1952, and subsequently used in most computers up until the development of the static and dynamic integrated RAM circuits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before this, computers used relays, delay line memory, or various kinds of vacuum tube arrangements to implement main memory functions (i.e., hundreds or thousands of bits); some of which were random access, some not. Latches built out of vacuum tube triodes, and later, out of discrete transistors, were used for smaller and faster memories such as registers and random-access register banks. Modern types of writable RAM generally store a bit of data in either the state of a flip-flop, as in SRAM (static RAM), or as a charge in a capacitor (or transistor gate), as in DRAM (dynamic RAM), EPROM, EEPROM and Flash. Some types have circuitry to detect and/or correct random faults called memory errors in the stored data, using pa rity bits or error correction codes. RAM of the read-only type, ROM, instead uses a metal mask to permanently enable/disable selected transistors, instead of storing a charge in them. As both SRAM and DRAM are volatile, other forms of computer storage, such as disks and magnetic tapes, have been used as persistent storage in traditional computers. Many newer products instead rely on flash memory to maintain data when not in use, such as PDAs or small music players. Certain personal computers, such as many rugged computers and net books, have also replaced magnetic disks with flash drives. With flash memory, only the NOR type is capable of true random access, allowing direct code execution, and is therefore often used instead of ROM; the lower cost NAND type is commonly used for bulk storage in memory cards and solid-state drives. Similar to a microprocessor, a memory chip is an integrated circuit (IC) made of millions of transistors and capacitors. In the most common form of computer memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a transistor and a capacitor are paired to create a memory cell, which represents a single bit of data. The transistor acts as a switch that lets the control circuitry on the memory chip read the capacitor or change its state. Types of RAM Top L-R, DDR2 with heat-spreader, DDR2 without heat-spreader, Laptop DDR2, DDR, Laptop DDR 1 Megabit chip one of the last models developed by VEB Carl Zeiss Jena in 1989 Many computer systems have a memory hierarchy consisting of CPU registers, on-die SRAM caches, external caches, DRAM, paging systems, and virtual memory or swap space on a hard drive. This entire pool of memory may be referred to as RAM by many developers, even though the various subsystems can have very different access times, violating the original concept behind the random access term in RAM. Even within a hierarchy level such as DRAM, the specific row, column, bank, rank, channel, or interleave organization of the components make the access time variable, although not to the extent that rotating storage media or a tape is variable. The overall goal of using a memory hierarchy is to obtain the higher possible average access performance while minimizing the total cost of entire memory system. (Generally, the memory hierarchy follows the access time with the fast CPU registers at the top and the slow hard drive at the bottom.) In many modern personal computers, the RAM comes in an easily upgraded form of modules called memory modules or DRAM modules about the size of a few sticks of chewing gum. These can quickly be replaced should they become damaged or too small for current purposes. As suggested above, smaller amounts of RAM (mostly SRAM) are also integrated in the CPU and other ICs on the motherboard, as well as in hard-drives, CD-ROMs, and several other parts of the computer system. Hard Disk A hard disk drive (often shortened as hard disk, hard drive, or HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, drive refers to the motorized mechanical aspect that is distinct from its medium, such as a tape drive and its tape, or a floppy disk drive and its floppy disk. Early HDDs had removable media; however, an HDD today is typically a sealed unit (except for a filtered vent hole to equalize air pressure) with fixed media. HDDs (introduced in 1956 as data storage for an IBM accounting computer) were originally developed for use with general purpose computers. During the 1990s, the need for large-scale, reliable storage, independent of a particular device, led to the introduction of embedded systems such as RAIDs, network attached storage (NAS) systems, and storage area network (SAN) systems that provide efficient and reliable access to large volumes of data. In the 21st century, HDD usage expanded into consumer applications such as camcorders, cell phones (e.g. the Nokia N91), digital audio players, digital video players, digital video recorders, personal digital assistants and video game consoles. HDDs record data by magnetizing ferromagnetic material directionally, to represent either a 0 or a 1 binary digit. They read the data back by detecting the magnetization of the material. A typical HDD design consists of a spindle that holds one or more flat circular disks called platters, onto which the data are recorded. The platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminium alloy or glass, and are coated with a thin layer of magnetic material, typically 10-20 nm in thickness with an outer layer of carbon for protection. Older disks used iron (III) oxide as the magnetic material, but current disks use a cobalt-based alloy. The platters are spun at very high speeds. Information is written to a platter as it rotates past devices called read-and-write heads that operate very close (tens of nanometres in new drives) over the magnetic surface. The read-and-write head is used to detect and modify the magnetization of the material immediately under it. There is one head for each magnetic platter surface on the spindle, mounted on a common arm. An actuator arm (or access arm) moves the heads on an arc (roughly radially) across the platters as they spin, allowing each head to access almost the entire surface of the platter as it spins. The arm is moved using a voice coil actuator or in some older designs a stepper motor. The magnetic surface of each platter is conceptually divided into many small sub-micrometre-sized magnetic regions, each of which is used to encode a single binary unit of information. Initially the regions were oriented horizontally, but beginning about 2005, the orientation was changed to perpendicular. Due to the polycrystalline nature of the magnetic material each of these magnetic regions is composed of a few hundred magnetic grains. Magnetic grains are typically 10 nm in size and each form a single magnetic domain. Each magnetic region in total forms a magnetic dipole which generates a highly localized magnetic field nearby. A write head magnetizes a region by generating a strong local magnetic field. Early HDDs used an electromagnet both to magnetize the region and to then read its magnetic field by using electromagnetic induction. Later versions of inductive heads included metal in Gap (MIG) heads and thin film heads. As data density increased, read heads using magnetoresista nce (MR) came into use; the electrical resistance of the head changed according to the strength of the magnetism from the platter. Later development made use of spintronics; in these heads, the magnetoresistive effect was much greater than in earlier types, and was dubbed giant magnetoresistance (GMR). In todays heads, the read and write elements are separate, but in close proximity, on the head portion of an actuator arm. The read element is typically magneto-resistive while the write element is typically thin-film inductive.[8] HD heads are kept from contacting the platter surface by the air that is extremely close to the platter; that air moves at, or close to, the platter speed. The record and playback head are mounted on a block called a slider, and the surface next to the platter is shaped to keep it just barely out of contact. Its a type of air bearing. In modern drives, the small size of the magnetic regions creates the danger that their magnetic state might be lost because of thermal effects. To counter this, the platters are coated with two parallel magnetic layers, separated by a 3-atom-thick layer of the non-magnetic element ruthenium, and the two layers are magnetized in opposite orientation, thus reinforcing each other.[9] Another technology used to overcome thermal effects to allow greater recording densities is perpendicular recording, first shipped in 2005,[10] as of 2007 the technology was used in many HDDs. The grain boundaries turn out to be very important in HDD design. The reason is that, the grains are very small and close to each other, so the coupling between adjacent grains is very strong. When one grain is magnetized, the adjacent grains tend to be aligned parallel to it or demagnetized. Then both the stability of the data and signal-to-noise ratio will be sabotaged. A clear grain perpendicular boundary can weaken the coupling of the grains and subsequently increase the signal-to-noise ratio. In longitudinal recording, the single-domain grains have uniaxial anisotropy with easy axes lying in the film plane. The consequence of this arrangement is that adjacent magnets repel each other. Therefore the magnetostatic energy is so large that it is difficult to increase areal density. Perpendicular recording media, on the other hand, has the easy axis of the grains oriented to the disk plane. Adjacent magnets attract to each other and magnetostatic energy are much lower. So, much highe r areal density can be achieved in perpendicular recording. Another unique feature in perpendicular recording is that a soft magnetic underlayer are incorporated into the recording disk.This underlayer is used to conduct writing magnetic flux so that the writing is more efficient. This will be discussed in writing process. Therefore, a higher anisotropy medium film, such as L10-FePt and rare-earth magnets, can be used. Opened hard drive with top magnet removed, showing copper head actuator coil (top right). A hard disk drive with the platters and motor hub removed showing the copper colored stator coils surrounding a bearing at the center of the spindle motor. The orange stripe along the side of the arm is a thin printed-circuit cable. The spindle bearing is in the center. A typical hard drive has two electric motors, one to spin the disks and one to position the read/write head assembly. The disk motor has an external rotor attached to the platters; the stator windings are fixed in place. The actuator has a read-write head under the tip of its very end (near center); a thin printed-circuit cable connects the read-write head to the hub of the actuator. A flexible, somewhat U-shaped, ribbon cable, seen edge-on below and to the left of the actuator arm in the first image and more clearly in the second, continues the connection from the head to the controller board on the opposite side. The head support arm is very light, but also rigid; in modern drives, acceleration at the head reaches 250 Gs. The silver-colored structure at the upper left of the first image is the top plate of the permanent-magnet and moving coil motor that swings the heads to the desired position (it is shown removed in the second image). The plate supports a thin neodymium-iron-boron (NIB) high-flux magnet. Beneath this plate is the moving coil, often referred to as the voice coil by analogy to the coil in loudspeakers, which is attached to the actuator hub, and beneath that is a second NIB magnet, mounted on the bottom plate of the motor (some drives only have one magnet). The voice coil, itself, is shaped rather like an arrowhead, and made of doubly-coated copper magnet wire. The inner layer is insulation, and the outer is thermoplastic, which bonds the coil together after its wound on a form, making it self-supporting. The portions of the coil along the two sides of the arrowhead (which point to the actuator bearing center) interact with the magnetic field, developing a tangential force that rotates the actuator. Current flowing racially outward along one side of the arrowhead and racially inward on the other produces the tangential force. (See magnetic field Force on a charged particle.) If the magnetic field were uniform, each side would generate opposing forces that would cancel each other out. Therefore the surface of the magnet is half N pole, half S pole, with the radial dividing line in the middle, causing the two sides of the coil to see opposite magnetic fields and produce forces that add instead of canceling. Currents along the top and bott om of the coil produce radial forces that do not rotate the head. Floppy disk A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD, the initials of which should not be confused with fixed disk drive, which is another term for a (non removable) type of hard disk drive. Invented by IBM, floppy disks in 8-inch (200mm), 5 ¼-inch (133.35mm), and 3 ½-inch (90mm) formats enjoyed many years as a popular and ubiquitous form of data storage and exchange, from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. While floppy disk drives still have some limited uses, especially with legacy industrial computer equipment,[2] they have now been largely superseded by USB flash drives, external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and memory cards (such as Secure Digital). 5 ¼-inch disk had a large circular hole in the center for the spindle of the drive and a small oval aperture in both sides of the plastic to allow the heads of the drive to read and write the data. The magnetic medium could be spun by rotating it from the middle hole. A small notch on the right hand side of the disk would identify whether the disk was read-only or writable, detected by a mechanical switch or photo transistor above it. Another LED/phototransistor pair located near the center of the disk could detect a small hole once per rotation, called the index hole, in the magnetic disk. It was used to detect the start of each track, and whether or not the disk rotated at the correct speed; some operating systems, such as Apple DOS, did not use index sync, and often the drives designed for such systems lacked the index hole sensor. Disks of this type were said to be soft sector disks. Very early 8-inch and 5 ¼-inch disks also had physical holes for each sector, and were termed hard sector disks. Inside the disk were two layers of fabric designed to reduce friction between the medium and the outer casing, with the medium sandwiched in the middle. The outer casing was usually a one-part sheet, folded double with flaps glued or spot-welded together. A catch was lowered into position in front of the drive to prevent the disk from emerging, as well as to raise or lower the spindle (and, in two-sided drives, the upper read/write head). The 8-inch disk was very similar in structure to the 5 ¼-inch disk, with the exception that the read-only logic was in reverse: the slot on the side had to be taped over to allow writing. The 3 ½-inch disk is made of two pieces of rigid plastic, with the fabric-medium-fabric sandwich in the middle to remove dust and dirt. The front has only a label and a small aperture for reading and writing data, protected by a spring-loaded metal or plastic cover, which is pushed back on entry into the drive. Newer 5 ¼-inch drives and all 3 ½-inch drives automatically engages when the user inserts a disk, and disengages and ejects with the press of the eject button. On Apple Macintosh computers with built-in floppy drives, the disk is ejected by a motor (similar to a VCR) instead of manually; there is no eject button. The disks desktop icon is dragged onto the Trash icon to eject a disk. The reverse has a similar covered aperture, as well as a hole to allow the spindle to connect into a metal plate glued to the medium. Two holes bottom left and right, indicate the write-protect status and high-density disk correspondingly, a hole meaning protected or high density, and a covered gap meaning write-enabled or low density. A notch top right ensures that the disk is inserted correctly, and an arrow top left indicates the direction of insertion. The drive usually has a button that, when pressed, will spring the disk out at varying degrees of force. Some would barely make it out of the disk drive; others would shoot out at a fairly high speed. In a majority of drives, the ejection force is provided by the spring that holds the cover shut, and therefore the ejection speed is dependent on this spring. In PC-type machines, a floppy disk can be inserted or ejected manually at any time (evoking an error message or even lost data in some cases), as the drive is not continuously m onitored for status and so programs can make assumptions that do not match actual status. With Apple Macintosh computers, disk drives are continuously monitored by the OS; a disk inserted is automatically searched for content, and one is ejected only when the software agrees the disk should be ejected. This kind of disk drive (starting with the slim Twiggy drives of the late Apple Lisa) does not have an eject button, but uses a motorized mechanism to eject disks; this action is triggered by the OS software (e.g., the user dragged the drive icon to the trash can icon). Should this not work (as in the case of a power failure or drive malfunction), one can insert a straightened paper clip into a small hole at the drives front, there by forcing the disk to eject (similar to that found on CD/DVD drives). Some other computer designs (such as the Commodore Amiga) monitor for a new disk continuously but still have push-button eject mechanisms. The 3-inch disk, widely used on Amstrad CPC machines, bears much similarity to the 3 ½-inch type, with some unique and somewhat curious features. One example is the rectangular-shaped plastic casing, almost taller than a 3 ½-inch disk, but narrower, and more than twice as thick, almost the size of a standard compact audio cassette. This made the disk look more like a greatly oversized present day memory card or a standard PC card notebook expansion card rather than a floppy disk. Despite the size, the actual 3-inch magnetic-coated disk occupied less than 50% of the space inside the casing, the rest being used by the complex protection and sealing mechanisms implemented on the disks. Such mechanisms were largely responsible for the thickness, length and high costs of the 3-inch disks. On the Amstrad machines the disks were typically flipped over to use both sides, as opposed to being truly double-sided. Double-sided mechanisms were available but rare. USB Ports Universal Serial Bus connectors on the back. These USB connectors let you attach everything from mice to printers to your computer quickly and easily. The operating system supports USB as well, so the installation of the device drivers is quick and easy, too. Compared to other ways of connecting devices to your computer, USB devices are incredibly simple we will look at USB ports from both a user and a technical standpoint. You will learn why the USB system is so flexible and how it is able to support so many devices so easily Anyone who has been around computers for more than two or three years know the problem that the Universal Serial Bus is trying to solve in the past, connecting devices to computers has been a real headache! Printers connected to parallel printer ports, and most computers only came with one. Things like Zip drives, which need a high-speed connection into the computer, would use the parallel port as well, often with limited success and not much speed. Modems used the serial port, but so did some printers and a variety of odd things like Palm Pilots and digital cameras. Most computers have at most two serial ports, and they are very slow in most cases. Devices that needed faster connections came with their own cards, which had to fit in a card slot inside the computers case. Unfortunately, the number of card slots is limited and you needed a Ph.D. to install the software for some of the cards. The goal of USB is to end all of these headaches. The Universal Serial Bus gives you a single, standardized, easy-to-use way to connect up to 127 devices to a computer. Just about every peripheral made now comes in a USB version. A sample list of USB devices that you can buy today includes: Printers Scanners Mice Joysticks Flight yokes Digital cameras Webcams Scientific data acquisition devices Modems Speakers Telephones Video phones Storage devices such as Zip drives Network connections In the next section, well look at the USB cables and connectors that allow your computer to communicate with these devices. Parallel port A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers (personal and otherwise) for connecting various peripherals. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port. The IEEE 1284 standard defines the bi-directional version of the port. Before the advent of USB, the parallel interface was adapted to access a number of peripheral devices other than printers. Probably one of the earliest devices to use parallel were dongles used as a hardware key form of software copy protection. Zip drives and scanners were early implementations followed by external modems, sound cards, webcams, gamepads, joysticks and external hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives. Adapters were available to run SCSI devices via parallel. Other devices such as EPROM programmers and hardware controllers could be connected parallel. At the consumer level, the USB interface—and in some cases Ethernet—has effectively replaced the parallel printer port. Many manufacturers of personal computers and laptops consider parallel to be a legacy port and no longer include the parallel interface. USB to parallel adapters are available to use parallel-only printers with USB-only systems. However, due to the simplicity of its implementation, it is often used for interfacing with custom-made peripherals. In versions of Windows that did not use the Windows NT kernel (as well as DOS and some other operating systems) Keyboard Keyboard, in computer science, a keypad device with buttons or keys that a user presses to enter data characters and commands into a computer. They are one of the fundamental pieces of personal computer (PC) hardware, along with the central processing unit (CPU), the monitor or screen, and the mouse or other cursor device. The most common English-language key pattern for typewriters and keyboards is called QWERTY, after the layout of the first six letters in the top row of its keys (from left to right). In the late 1860s, American inventor and printer Christopher Shoals invented the modern form of the typewriter. Shoals created the QWERTY keyboard layout by separating commonly used letters so that typists would type slower and not jam their mechanical typewriters. Subsequent generations of typists have learned to type using QWERTY keyboards, prompting manufacturers to maintain this key orientation on typewriters. Computer keyboards copied the QWERTY key layout and have followed the precedent set by typewriter manufacturers of keeping this convention. Modern keyboards connect with the computer CPU by cable or by infrared transmitter. When a key on the keyboard is pressed, a numeric code is sent to the keyboards driver software and to the computers operating system software. The driver translates this data into a specialized command that the computers CPU and application programs understand. In this way, users may enter text, commands, numbers, or other data. The term character is generally reserved for letters, numbers, and punctuation, but may also include control codes, graphical symbols, mathematical symbols, and graphic images. Almost all standard English-language keyboards have keys for each character of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) character set, as well as various function keys. Most computers and applications today use seven or eight data bits for each character. For example, ASCII code 65 is equal to the letter A. The function keys generate short, fixed sequences of character codes that instruct application programs running on the computer to perform certain actions. Often, keyboards also have directional buttons for moving the screen cursor, separate numeric pads for entering numeric and arithmetic data, and a switch for turning the computer on and off. Some keyboards, including most for laptop computers, also incorporate a trackball, mouse pad, or other cursor-directing device. No standard exists for positioning the function, numeric, and other buttons on a keyboard relative to the QWERTY and other typewriting keys. Thus layouts vary on keyboards. In the 1930s, American educators August Dvorak and William Dearly designed this key set so that the letters th

The Use of Stanislavskis Ideas to Guide Actors During the Rehearsal Process :: Konstantin Stanislavski Acting Theatre Essays

The Use of Stanislavski's Ideas to Guide Actors During the Rehearsal Process Stanislavski's ideas on relaxation, concentration of attention and tempo-rhythm went into great detail. He had very distinct, yet simple to follow ideas on each three, which actors still use and study to this day. Stanislavski dwelled on concentration of attention to a great extent. The use of attention when playing a role was considered very important. Concentrating on the attention was a skill that came from practise and focus, beginning in rehearsal and continuing into the final performance. The theory of concentration of attention is being able to concentrate on a particular part of the scene, which could be an object, a physical move or listening to the speech. This allows the actor to concentrate on the part of the play and know what is going on and happening around him, so there are no free moments. This means that each performance is similar, as the same objects of attention will aid the same actions, movements and speech. It keeps the performance consistent. Taking the theory of concentration a step further, Stanislavski devised the 'circles of attention'. This was where an actor would create a 'circle' in his or her own performance where they would devote their entire attention. Anything outside the circle would cease to exist. This would mean the performance would be totally dedicated, without any disruption from anything else, like a noise from the audience, or anything out of the ordinary. Not all performances allow for this approach to attention, as some may require the need to monitor the audience and connect with them. This would be the case when a speech is delivered directly to the audience. Or in the case of a comedy, an actor needs to observe the audience reaction and alter the performance. This is where concentration of attention becomes more complex. A performer must be able to split the mind into two. The first part being committed to the act, the second being able to take into account any external conditions. As a director, the use of concentration of attention is important to allow the performers to act at their best ability. The relevant use of concentration would be essential. For instance, when playing a singular, solitary part, like that of Davoren at times in 'The Shadow of a Gunman', the use of circles of attention would be very useful. Sitting at his typewriter, attempting to write poetry, he has no interaction with any other characters, and requires no audience response. Therefore, he can devote his entire concentration into the role and the scene around himself. However, if playing the role Mrs.

Tom Sawyer :: essays research papers

Tom Sawyer Tom Sawyer is a boy who is full of adventures. In his world there is an adventure around every corner. Some of his adventures have lead him into some bad situations but with his good heart and bright mind he has gotten out of them. Tom lives with his aunt Polly, his cousin Mary and his bother Sid. One of the first things to happen in the book is a memorable one, the painting of the fence.   Tom's aunt Polly made Tom paint her fence on a Saturday as a punishment.   Tom just hated the idea of having to work on a Saturday while all of the neighborhood could make fun of and harass him.   After Tom tried to trade some of his possessions for a few hours of freedom he had a stroke of genius, instead of him paying people to work for him, he made people pay him to paint.   Tom managed this by telling people that it isn't every day that you get a chance to paint a fence and he thought it was fun.   He had people begging him to paint by the time that he was finished his story. He would have taken every boy in the town's wealth if he had not run out of paint. On June 17th about the hour of midnight, Tom and his best friend Huck were out in the grave yard trying to get rid of warts, when they witnessed a murder by Injun Joe. At the time Muff Potter was drunk and asleep so Injun Joe blamed the murder him (Muff Potter). They knew if crazy Injun Joe found out they knew, he would for sure kill them.   Tom wrote on a   wooden board "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swear to keep mum about this and they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot", then in their own blood they signed their initials TS and HF. A few days after that incident Tom, Huck and Joe decided to go and become pirates because no one cared for their company anymore.   They stole some food and supplies and then they stole a raft and paddled to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River.   They stayed and pirated for several days, then they all became so home sick that they could not bear it anymore.   The next day Tom, Huck, and Joe showed up for their own funerals and there was much thanks and praise. The next big event in the town was the trial of Muff Potter for the

HR Trends and Challenges Essay

Every job, organization and industry is going to have trends. These trends dictate the direction that the job, organization or industry is heading whether it is technology driven, psychologically driven, or financially driven. The variables that impact these trends can change very quickly, and are results of needs that are fulfilled by the trends. Some examples are personal computers, cell phones and many other technologies that allow organizations to conduct business faster and easier. Many times a there are multiple trends that are on opposite sides of an idea, and an organization must decide which trend or trends are the correct trends for future success. When organizations face challenges of this nature at the speeds the current business environment changes, forces them to become knowledgeable of the  industry trends very quickly. The organizations must then use this knowledge to make quick decisions on their future direction. The following is an exploration and analysis of the trends that human resource departments and managers are facing in today’s businesses, and why they are important for organizational success today and in the future. Performance Management and Performance Appraisals Good management is always analyzing the performance of the organization and its employees. There are several ways to do this, and depending on the organization and its objectives some methods are more effective than others. A complete performance management system is different from an annual performance appraisal system in several ways. In most cases a complete performance appraisal system is an ongoing evaluation. It uses several factors to determine the productivity of the employees of the organization. Management has to decide what the primary objectives of the organization are. Once this is decided they need to figure out how each department is contributing to the main objectives of the origination. These become sub-goals for the entire company and each department can concentrate on each goal. From here, each employee in that department can be responsible for a goal. The managers in that department can divide the tasks to individual employees. Good performance management systems will allow the managers in each department to evaluate the performance of employee and to see the effectiveness of that employee to complete the required tasks and objectives. Managers then need to figure out a performance reward system which can award the employees for completing their primary objectives. Managers can choose to reward employees on several factors. Competition, quality and content are some of the factors which rewards can be based on. The most important factor is to make sure that rewards are given when the primary objective is met. For example, it would not make since to reward employees on completion, when quality of the product is more important. A good performance management system is a dynamic system which is always changing and adapting to the current needs of the organization. An effective system can motivate employees and allow them to improve the quality of the work the put out. Annual performance rewards concentrate more on the output of the organization as a whole. These rewards are geared more towards the profits and the output of the organizations. Annual performance rewards are important in an organization because they set goals and standards for the organization to achieve in the course of one year. In order to set effective annual performance rewards, management needs to consider its goals for the year. Effective performance rewards can break the year down into three quarts. Doing this makes it more tangible to achieve goals because they the time frame is reduced. Management can look at historical performance of the organization. For example, they can look at the amount of sale of the previous year to set goals for the upcoming year. They can also look at the trends in the industry and project goals for the upcoming year. For example, if trends in a certain quarter are showing improved sales, management can set a higher goal to try and improve sales for the upcoming year or quarter. It is also very important not to set these goals too high as to not discourage the employees. Once these goals are set, performance rewards need to be determined. Management needs to decide what type of rewards can be given out. Monetary rewards, days off and stock options are some examples of rewards. In order to determine the best rewards, management needs to detriment the needs of the employees and find out what would be most beneficial to them. They also need to make sure that the rewards won’t be too costly to the organization. Once the type of reward is determined, the payouts also need to be analyzed. Management can choose to pay out employees based on the amount of profits made within a certain quarter, or on the amount of sales. An effective payout method is one which again concentrates on the primary objective. For example if revenue is more important to an organization, then they may choose to reward employees based on total profits of the organization. Management also needs to decide how they are going to divide the profits. Profits can be divided evenly or based on employee position, or longevity in the organization. An effective annual performance rewards system is similar to a complete performance reward system because it will also reward employee for reaching pre-determined objectives, and it will also motivate individuals within the organization to improve the quality of work. It is important to keep in mind that just like  a good complete performance management system, an effective annual per formance appraisal systems is dynamic an is always changing and adapting to the needs of the organizations and its employees. Managing Turnover Managing turnover is one of the most recent human resources trends in today’s business environment and many organizations have found that managing their turnover effectively has helped with the organizations bottom line, which has resulted in many different success stories. Human resource departments in all organizations would consider managing turnover a very important aspect or the departments overall goals for the organizations they work for, but what does managing turnover really mean? Turnover in any organization is inevitable and the term managing turnover in its simplest form is to deal with the loss of the organization’s human capital and in most cases includes minimizing unwanted turnover in the organization. All organizations will deal with turnover and some of this turnover will be the result of decisions by the organization to part ways with an employee. In this instance the role of the human resource department is to manage the dismissal of these employees and to do so while limiting liabilities. This is an important aspect of the human resources departments’ role in managing turnover, but this is something that has happened in organizations for a long time and is a role that has not and will not change significantly. The major trend in managing turnover falls in the arena of preventing unwanted turnover for an organization. When an organization loses an employee that decides on his or her own accord to leave will result in the loss of many of the costs they incurred in hiring, training and employing the individual. In today’s incredibly competitive business environment organizations cannot afford to lose quality human capital or the resources spent on the employee they are losing. To make matters worse these costs must then be added to the cost of the resources required to hire and train a new employee and all these costs added together becomes very costly for organizations that do not manage turnover effectively. When an organization loses an employee to unwanted turnover the losses that are incurred are a result of many different aspects of the turnover. First and foremost will be the loss of the individual that has decided to leave the organization. This individual produces in some way or form for the organization and when he or she is gone everything that the individual helps to produce will be lost, along with the expertise he or she has gained in his or her current position. The expertise that the individual has can also be part of a team expertise, and the loss of one part of the team can also slow down or stop production of the whole team as well, depending on the ability for others to step in and takeover for the individual leaving. As soon as the turnover is recognized the human resource department will hopefully begin the process of hiring a new employee to step in for the loss, but these processes are sometimes difficult and time consuming because it is important to find a quality candidate. Hiring the wrong candidate could create future problems in managing turnover, which is why the hiring process is an important component in the overall picture of managing turnover, and finding the right person for the job the first time will hopefully result in fewer turnovers. Unfortunately, the losses do no end there because the organization must now train this newly hired employee to do what the employee that left was doing. The lack of expertise in the position, the organization, and the specific team usually means that production will suffer until the new employee gains the expertise and experience that is necessary to complete his or her job efficiently and effectively. This is a threat that all organizations must deal with, and the organizations that manage turnover effectively will be able to take these set backs in stride, while those that do not fall further behind, which is why the managing turnover trend has become so important to so many organizations. Organizations know why managing turnover is so important, but what do human resource departments do to combat unwanted turnover? As stated in the paragraph above it all begins with the hiring process. Hiring qualified, intelligent, and hardworking individuals is a goal that most organizations have, but to achieve these goals the organization must find, recruit, and retain these employees. To find and recruit these gifted individuals the  organization must market itself well and have something to differentiate their organization from all the others. Companies achieve this by having a good name, and offering benefits and perks that their competition does not. Once these individuals are discovered and recruited the organization must then retain the services of these employees. An employee that goes to work each day happy will be less likely to leave the organization, so the human resource department must keep these employees happy to effectively manage his or her organizations turnover. Each individual will find different aspects of his or her working life to be important, but overall human resources should strive to make each employee feel safe and happy at work. Additionally, the organization should create challenging and interesting job positions but most of all employees want to be treated fairly and with respect. The trend of managing turnover is not easy to ascertain, but is a goal that most organizations should implement with the help of its human resources department. Safety and Health Management Along the lines of creating a process where the turnovers of employees are managed are the safety and health issues associated within an organization. Safety and health are of particular concern for all working individuals and the United States government saw it fit for laws to be enacted to protect these rights by establishing the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Workers Rights Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, n.d.). These rights are: Get training from your employer as required by OSHA standards. Request information from your employer about OSHA standards, worker injuries and illnesses, job hazards and workers’ rights. Request action from your employer to correct hazards or violations. File a complaint with OSHA if you believe that there are either violations of OSHA standards or serious workplace hazards. Be involved in OSHA’s inspection of your workplace. Find out results of an OSHA inspection. (Workers Rights, n.d.) With these rights and applicable laws established, a worker is armed with the proper tools to establish a safe working place, furthering his or her job satisfaction to improve retention. While discussing the aspects of health and safety in the workplace, it is important to not one of the most influential laws established in the United States concerning this topic, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Duties of this act are stated as follows: Each employer – shall furnish to each of his employee employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees; shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act. Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct. (OSH act of 1970, January 1, 2004) We can see from this passage of the OSH act that specific laws will be applied to all private work practices to ensure the rights of the workers are protected, with respect to health and safety. It is in the best interest, then, for the organization to adhere to specific laws and regulations to keep a safe working environment for employees. The costs of litigation again show how employers will gain more from safe working environments and provide for healthy productive employees. The trend shown here is for government to provide the necessary controls over private  businesses to ensure health and safety practices are implemented and adhered to. While the trend for employers is to provide for healthy and safe working environments, industrial accidents are products of unsafe behavior and not unsafe working conditions (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2004). The culture of an organization’s safety consciousness is still a concern which human resources needs to address. The need to address the safety culture of an organization is paramount in establishing a healthy safety record for a company. Safety records can be used as bargaining tools for companies vying for contracts within other organizations. This incentive for an organization can produce a culture that provides for individual employees in a long-term basis, promoting a culture that is safety conscious. Long-term job exposure in a tight-knit organization promotes a culture that is conducive to safety (as discussed in Dunn, 2001). But human resources provide the spearhead group that initiates the programs to promote the health and safety of an organization’s personnel. With programs such as mandatory safety training and different qualification requirements, a company can show how determined it is to foster safety and health within the workplace. Incentives such as safety awards, safety bingo, and safety presentation awards can reinforce the culture established within an organization (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2004). Healthiness of employees encourages a productive workforce. We have already discussed the controls of government within the private business. Next we discuss the costs of safety and health of employees to an organization. Indeed, â€Å"addressing safety and health issues in the workplace saves the employer money and adds value to the business (Kautz, 2007).† Estimates of around $170 million of expenditures by businesses arising from occupational injuries (as discussed in Kautz, 2007) are costing employers more than profits. Employees who work for organizations that are conscientious about safety and health of its employees enjoy less stress, less impact on family from impact of injuries, and less impact on their incomes due to injury (Kautz, 2007). Therefore, indirect costs added by improved health and safety can revolve around the programs implemented by companies. Such indirect  costs include: increased productivity, higher quality products, increased morale, better labor/management relations, reduced turnover, and better use of human resources (Kautz, 2007). Employers need to see intangibles such as these presented in order to fully appreciate the costs associated with implementing safety programs and health benefits. Intangible items are key to running a business efficiently and effectively. The value added to businesses by continued concern for safety and health of everyone in the organization contributes to the welfare of not only the workers, but of the families and communities where the organization does its commerce. Future Trends and Challenges _Globalization_ â€Å"The world has never been so interdependent. All trends point to cooperation as a fundamental, growing force in business† (Lewis 1991). The past ten years has seen a shift in the business world towards a more global economy. No longer are businesses confined to their home borders, they are expanding into other countries and continents. This shift has had a significant impact on human resources management. Globalization has fueled growth, cooperation between business and government, and created an abundance of new jobs. Companies looking for a competitive edge in the U.S. may open an office in Asia and leverage a cheaper work force to handle responsibilities such as development, manufacturing, or support. Because of this, human resources managers may find themselves staffing a project with members spread out across the globe. This presents a relatively new and challenging issue that must be tackled in order to successfully manage projects and requires managers to be more c ulturally aware. _Challenges of Managing a Virtual Team_ Many organizations are also implementing schedules where their team may work remotely at home or even abroad. Profound systemic changes have been seen in the way companies are structured. The concepts of leadership and managing people gave undergone a radical rethink. â€Å"Cubicles, hierarchies and rigid  organization structures of the past, have now given way to open work environment, flat structure with informality being a general rule and empowerment of individuals† (Shivakumar, 2007). Today work itself is centered around projects, which have virtual teams working on them. This work structure has led to a culture of flexi time, round the clock accessibility to the workplace. Also catching up fast is the trend of workstations at home, remote access, video-conferencing and reporting by exception (Shivakumar, 2007). For effective human resources management to occur, managers must first establish lines of communication between the members. E-mail and faxes are great for communicating facts however, there lacks feelings behind the facts. They also do not allow for real-time communication. Conference calls and project chat rooms can help, but they also have their limitations. Videoconferencing is a significant improvement over non-visual electronic forms of communication. Still, it is a very expensive medium, and real-time interaction is available on only the most advanced and expensive systems. Even with the best system, managers have to overcome the problem of time zone differences, cultural nuances, and finding a convenient time for people to conference (Gray 2003). By establishing primary and secondary windows of time for meetings, a human resources manager can begin to build trust between the members without the face-to-face meetings. Once trust and accountability have been established among employees, it will be able to build synergy and employees will be focused on achieving their goals. _Challenges with Multiple Ethnic and Sociopolitical Backgrounds_ Human resources management also includes facing the challenge of managing teams with members from multiple ethnic and sociopolitical backgrounds. It is important for managers to do their homework and become familiar with the customs and habits of the host country they are going to be working in or the diversity within the team they are working with. Sensitive issues may cause conflict between team members working together on the project. It is the manager’s responsibility to become the mediator and resolve the issue between the conflicting members. Although this is easier said than done, the  manager must keep the staff going in the right direction. _Technology Enhancements_ Over the past few years, human resources training software has gone through many changes. Current global trends and telecommuting requires training that can be accessible via any computer connected to the internet. The development and use of electronic learning is also seen as a major area of potential change as individuals both in and outside the workplace increasingly gain access to online education (Schramm 2007). With electronic mail and interconnectivity of mail systems there is less regard for the geographic location of the employees. Training can also be conducted via teleconference or web- conference. Other enhancements in technology include things such as online reviews, schedule management, and benefits enrollment. Many human resources related functions are done electronically through an organizations intranet. _Work/Life Balance_ Companies today are constantly striving towards enhancing the quality of work life and the personal life of its employees and this does not stop with the employee buts gets extended to his / her family as well (Shivakumar, 2007). Many organizations are adopting benefits such as on-site health clubs, aerobics and yoga classes, sports and cultural activities, employee get-togethers with families invited, day care centers and onsite weight-loss groups. Other benefits are geared towards the family such as extended paid time off for new mothers, paid bonding time for fathers, additional paid time off monthly for parents to attend schools functions with their children, and flexible spending accounts for childcare and healthcare. Additional benefits to create work and life balance help retain good  employees. In addition, it increases productivity because workers are less stressed; they have increased morale, get sick less, and ultimately save organizations money. In the long run, organizations have to spend less money on hiring new employees and on things such as loss of time because of decreased productivity. References Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2004). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Gray, Clifford F. & Larson, Erik W (2003) _Project Management: The Managerial_ _Process._ New York: McGraw-Hill Lewis, Jordan. (2001). _Competitive Alliances Redefine Companies._ Retrieved December 20, 2007 from University of Phoenix Info Trac database Schramm. HR Magazine. _HR Trends._ Retrieved December 20, 2007 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_10_49/ai_n6254361 Shivakumar, Radha_. Emerging Trends in Managing Human Resources._ Retrieved December 20, 2007 from http://www.humanlinks.com/manres/articles/trends_hr.htm OSH act of 1970. (January 1, 2004). Retrieved December 24, 2007, from U.S. Department of Labor web site: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=OSHACT&p_id=2743#5. Workers Rights Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2007, from www.osha.gov U.S. Department of Labor web site: http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/rights.html. Dunn, D. (June 18, 2001). Technical Security maintenance team marks 20 years with no lost-time injury. Retrieved December 24, 2007, from web site: http://www.hanford.gov/reach/viewpdf.cfm?aid=81. Kautz, J. (2007). Employee Health and Safety. Retrieved December 24, 2007, from Small Business Notes web site: http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/operating/hr/safety.html.

Duty of Care in Health and Social Care

Duty of care is a legal obligation for each individual in the health and social care setting that requires them to adhere to a standard of reasonable care. Ensuring they don’t put their service users or themselves in any danger.In the workplace there are policies and procedures, agreed standards, codes of practice and other legislation a care worker should follow.In a care workers job role you would be responsible for making sure the service users’ needs are met to the best of your ability making sure the service user does not come to any harm and also making sure they are involved in their care plan. Promoting services user’s choice and rights to the best of your ability. You would be responsible for assessing possible risks.You must remain professional throughout you role making sure you are ad-hearing to confidentiality, keeping up to date and accurate records of the care you have or are providing to service users.If you are not sure about any part of your wor k you or have concerns then you must speak to the manager straight away to make sure that no mistakes are made.Duty of care is central to all that you do at work, it is not something extra.Q 1.2 Explain how duty of care contributes to the safeguarding or protection of individuals?A 1.2Duty of care contributes to the safeguarding or protection of individuals by keeping individuals safe whether it is illness, abuse, harm or injury. We can do this by involving families, health care professionals and other external agencies into the individuals care plan.Duty of care is a legal requirement and there are policies, procedures, code of conduct and legislation around safeguarding and protecting your service users. Following these guidelines is showing that we are providing the best care possible.If you are doing activities with service user you should always do risk assessments making sure that the service user is aware of any risks also.Q 2.1 Describe potential conflicts or dilemmas that m ay arise between the duty of care and an individual’s rights?A 2.1Potential conflicts or dilemma’s between the duty of care and individual rights is about enabling service users rights to do what they want to do but making them aware of risks and the harm to others. You cannot stop the service user from making a choice. We all take risks in everyday life for example walking across the road.When there are concerns about and service user’s capacity to understand risks and consequences of their actions there is an â€Å"Incapacity Test† to assess the capacity. If the service user does not have the capacity then it is down to the people caring for the service user to make decisions. It is easy to assume that a service user does not have the capacity to make decisions based on their disabilities.A potential conflict or dilemma that may arise is if a service user wishes to smoke. The service user has the right to smoke and for an area to be set up for them to s moke but you can also make them aware of the risks involved or  harm to others that can be caused.Another conflict or dilemma which may arise is if a mental health patient is refusing to take medication. The patient has the right to refuse to take medication but as a care worker your duty of care is to try and explain the risks and harm that can be caused by the patient not taking their medication. You can seek help from other professionals i.e. Psychologist, GP, Mental health nurse, Family members (as they may listen to the family more than professionals because they may feel that professionals are trying to harm them.).When dealing with dilemmas or conflicts it helps to seek advice and guidance from other people such as colleagues, manager, service users family members, and other professionals connected with the individual.Q 2.2 Describe how to manage risks associated with conflicts or dilemmas between an individual’s rights and duty of care?A 2.2You can carry out a risk assessment that involves the service user so they fully understand the risk/s they are taking. If the service user still wishes to take the risk then you have to try and make it as safe as possible for them to do so, by doing this you are meeting your obligation to provide duty of care. Update care plans and paperwork to show that you have explained the risks to the service user.Q 2.3 Explain where to get additional support and advice about conflicts and dilemmas?A 2.3There are many different ways to receive extra support to help with dilemmas and conflicts. You can ask colleagues as they might have had to deal with a similar situation or may have other ways to help. Line manager as they are  more experienced, other professionals working with your service user i.e. doctor, social services, schools or colleges, counselling service who may know how to . You are never alone in making a decision where there are conflicts or dilemmas.Q 3.1 Describe how to respond to complaints?A 3.1Exp lain to the service user the procedure for making a complaint.Listen to what the individual is saying without interruption and assure the client that you are interested in their concern.Reassure the person that you are willing to do something about their complaint and are glad that they have brought it to your attention.Never make excuses, get angry or blame other staff.Provide the service user with information and advice on how you are going to deal with the complaint and in what time scales. Making written details of this also.Report the complaint to your line manager and reflect on the complaint to improve your professional development.Q 3.2 Explain the main points of agreed procedures for handling complaints?A 3.2There are two ways to make a complaint verbal and non-verbal. If a complaint is made verbally you should usually deal with this complaint straight away unless you are unable to do so, at this point you would ask you line manager or another colleague for help to deal wit h the complaint.If someone makes a non-verbal complaint there is usually a procedure in place to respond to the complaint within a certain timescale usually 2-3 days. Usually the manager will respond to these type of complaint. However it is important to find out what went wrong and how, this is usually done in a meeting with the complainant and the investigating manager. The next phase would be about putting the complaint right and making sure that they do not occur again. When complaints are handled in this way it is referred to as local Resolution.If the complainant is not satisfied with how the complaint has been resolved they can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman to be investigated further. Complainants can also complain to the care quality commission.As a care worker you will be given a policy and procedure on how to handle complaints this is usually in your code of practice.

Energy Efficiency – a Replacement to Load Shedding

Load shedding is one of the biggest problem faced by everyone in Pakistan, no matter they are domestic or commercial consumers. Pakistan is facing a serious energy crises and it may get worse if not addressed seriously and promptly. Everyone is curious about the role of government in dealing with this issue and relieving consumers through immediate supply side solutions such as new power sources. Government is playing its role in establishing new power plants and potential of utilizing unleashed sources such as coal and renewable resources i. e. ind, solar etc. Domestic and commercial consumers contribute more than 60% in the total electrical energy requirement of Pakistan. Currently, maximum energy deficit is 5500 MW in summers and immediate solutions are unable to meet this deficit in near future. It is not recommended to a consumer to compromise on comfort by not operating some of the high priority appliances but slight change in behavior may contribute much more than expected. Main electricity demand contributors are cooling and heating appliances used by domestic and commercial users. In order to quantify the impacts of such appliances, research has been carried regarding the usage of air conditioners in Pakistan. Consumers have been suffering from crises in form of load shedding for hours in a day no immediate solution seems to be viable in extended summers. They tend to blame government and utility companies for not reducing load shedding. Energy could be made available for extended hours but a mass level awareness about efficient usage of energy is required. Illegal connections, usage of inefficient and unnecessary appliances at peak demand time has worsened the situation and utility companies seem helpless about it. They are not left with any other option to reduce demand except through load shedding. Air conditioners are one of the major contributors in peak load in summer. They comprise 15% of the total peak load requiring at least 3000 MW for the country. A survey regarding usage of air conditioners was floated as a part of this research and 300 domestic and commercial consumers responded to the survey. One of the conclusions of the survey indicated that 21 0C is the average control temperature for AC in households. From the same survey consumers were asked about the maximum control temperature used in household. The maximum average temperature was found to be 26 0C. In order to investigate the influence of this control temperature on household energy consumption and peak load demand, an experiment was carried out on two similar buildings in Karachi. Two rooms of the dimension of 12 X 16 X 12 ft were used for this purpose. One room was operated at 21 0C control temperature for 24 hours period while other at 26 0C. Observations and results indicated that a total of 0. 45 KWhr saving was recorded in the room having AC operating at 26 0C. If this saving is extrapolated to expected number of air conditioners in Pakistan, then a total of 14. 5 GWhr of electrical energy could be saved in a single day. In terms of power this can easily curtail a total of 607 MW out of peak demand, which is equivalent to some of the largest power plants in the country. If similar energy conservation techniques are applied for refrigerators and other cooling appliances then savings could be of much significant level. Due to ongoing gas load shedding scenario, consumers may start turning towards electrical heating appliances, which may potentially add up in electrical energy demand in near future. Large scale awareness is required at each level of consumption. Peak load shifting, discouraging illegal connections and utilizing energy in efficient way are our few life lines. A single consumer contribution may seem insignificant but as a whole it can contribute towards reduction of significant peak load.

Dinner With Friends

Within the field of psychology there are branches that explore different types of human behaviour. Some of those branches turn their attention to hidden aspects of the human nature, like for example research into our linguistic faculties, other deal with modeling of various situations to better investigate our individual or group modes of action.But perhaps one of the fields of psychology that deals with the realm of human life which is most familiar to us in our everyday goings-on is the branch investigating interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication can be most generally defined as our communication with another person or within a group of persons. However, this overall description hides the true complexity and variety of the forms that interpersonal communication can take.Indeed, to this aspect of our social life we can attribute such fundamental elements of out interaction with people as ability to initiate and maintain conversations or arguments, to listen, to spea k privately and publicly, to generate and interpret patterns of nonverbal communication, manifest our unconscious modes of communication, and any other skills that actually enable us to be active members of society. At this point, considering the proximity of the phenomenon of interpersonal communication to our everyday life, we may wonder what are the proper ways of study of forms of interpersonal communication?Of course, psychology as a strict science has its own standards and methods of investigation. But at the same time I think that we can find a lot of examples of interpersonal communication happening on a regular basis right before our eyes. To see this we may turn to the film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† (2001) directed by Norman Jewison, which provides a lot of interesting aspects relevant to the theory of interpersonal communication. Let us take a closer look and discuss such aspects.The film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† tells a story of two married couples †“ Gabe and Karen, and Beth and Tom – that have been close friends for 12 years, and were spending their time over dinners discussing their relationships, their children, and other matters and interests that friends can share. However, when unexpectedly for Gabe and Karen Beth declares that she and Tom had decided to separate, this event inflicts a profound change in the pattern of their relationships.As both couples undergo emotional turmoils it turns out that, ironically, their mutual love of cooking may be the only thing that remains between them, while their former friendship is gone. â€Å"Dinner with Friends† is mostly built upon conversations as the vehicle to unfold the story. The personages talk a lot about different things, from their love of food to their ideas about the meaning of life, and the director managed to make dialogues in the film very life-like, akin to those that we would expect from really good friends.In this way, touching upon the theme of t he complexity of human relations that is familiar and important to most of us, the film provides very subtle insights into the nuances of friendship, marriage as a very delicate union between people, and divorce as a force that can have profound impact on lives of people. Now, speaking about interpersonal communication we may immediately begin to find examples of it in the film.Being the direct and the most personal form of interaction, interpersonal communication helps people learn about each other in an intimate way. We can see this in the film, which depicts communication between two people, also called dyadic communication. Dyadic communication occurs in privacy between Gabe and Karen, and Beth and Tom, and also between Karen and Beth, and Tom and Gabe, when due to the break-up of their traditional relations tensions develop between these women and men.In this regard, it is interesting to point out that as Gabe and Karen perceived their friendship with Beth and Tom as a close on e, after learning about the alleged betrayal of Beth by Tom Karen is angry that she had been unaware of the brewing troubles in their marriage. Thus, the previous apparent intimacy of relations between the couples was not completely true, and it could hardly be such. As Karen bitterly says, one can spend the whole life with another person, and in the end it may turn out that the person you fully entrusted your fate to is an impostor.To this, Gabe thoughtfully responds: â€Å"But it can`t be as simple as that†. Indeed, in accordance with the developmental view of interpersonal communication, with time communicators get to know more details about each another, develop ability to partly predict their behavior, and create their own rules of communication. But in the case of the couples from the movie, it seems that their established rules of communication at some point began to lag behind the changing nature of relationships within couples themselves, as most notably was the case with Beth and Tom.At the same time, being influenced and disturbed by the divorce of friends Gabe and Karen also had to reevaluate their seemingly healthy marriage. This fact hints about another quality of interpersonal communication, which lies in its effect on formation of our self-concepts through confirmation and gradual transformation of our identities. In application to the characters from the film, this can be evidenced by the belief of Gabe and Karen that they knew their friends very well, while in reality this was not the case.And when tensions between couples develop, Beth reevaluates the nature of gifts that Karen, who considered Beth to be â€Å"a mess†, had presented to her. In the scene where Beth declares that she has a new lover and Karen advises her to slow down, Beth observes: â€Å". . . you love it when I'm a mess. Every Karen needs a Beth. † It is not wonder that such aggressive stance of the person who had been your close friend can surely influe nce our self-perception. We also may interpret the interrelations between the characters of the film as representative of the small group communication aspect of interpersonal communication.While it is somewhat difficult to define a small group, some researches propose to consider as small such a group in which each participant can immediately sense and remember the presence of other participants. This definition suits the situations of the personages of the film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† very well. Judging from this viewpoint, small group communication between the couples can be interpreted as a dynamical process of receiving inputs, processing the information, and outputting certain behavioral modes.Input factors are present even before a group forms, and in our case it is the mutual background of the two couples, as Beth and Tom were in the first place introduced to each other by Gabe and Karen; process factors are developments that emerge in the process of communication within group, as exemplified in the film by rapid change of the format of individual relations between the personages themselves, and, consequently, between the couples in the aftermath of the break-up between Beth and Tom; finally, output factors are end results of the communication, and for Gabe, Karen, Beth, and Tom the end results were different, but in all cases prominent.For Beth and Tom the divorce meant the transformation of their lives, and for Gabe and Karen the separation of their friends from their small group serves as an impetus to come to conscious conclusion that â€Å"practical matters outweigh abandon† when it comes to their own family chores. On ground of what we have discussed, we can see that in the end of the film all its personages are deeply affected by the changes in the disposition of their dyadic relations and relations within their small group. In this way, it becomes clear that interpersonal communication has a very important role for all of us be cause it can influence the most important aspects of our life, friendship and marriage among them.