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Personality and Attitudes

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Presentation on theme: "Personality and Attitudes"— Presentation transcript:

1 Personality and Attitudes
Section 4: Personality and Attitudes

2 Leaders are Readers Peter Drucker (1974)- Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices “An employer has no business with a man’s personality. It is immoral as well as an illegal intrusion of privacy. It is an abuse of power. Employment is a specific contract calling for a specific performance…an employee owes no “loyalty”, he owes no “love” and no “attitudes”—he owes performance and nothing else.”

3 The Meaning of Personality
Definition: The unique qualities of an individual and how those qualities affect understanding of themselves and others The Role of Heredity and the Brain External appearance – due to genetics Internal characteristics – nature vs. nurture – Twin Studies show that 40% are fixed…60% developable

4 What is Personality? How would you describe it? Is it inherited?
Are you more like your mom or dad? Does it change over time? Does it change depending on who you are with?

5 Personality Theories Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking down behavior patterns into observable traits Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the unconscious determinants of behavior Humanistic Theory - emphasizes individual growth and improvement Integrative Approach - describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological processes 7 7 7 7

6 Personality- Summary The Four Perspectives on Personality
Perspective Behavior Springs From Assessment Techniques Evaluation Psychoanalytic Unconscious conflicts Projective tests aimed at A speculative, hard-to-test between pleasure-seeking revealing unconscious theory with enormous cul- impulses and social restraints motivations tural impact Trait Expressing biologically (a)Personality inventories A descriptive approach crit- influenced dispositions, such that assess the strengths icized as sometimes under- as extraversion or introversion of different traits estimating the variability (b)Peer ratings of behavior of behavior from situation patterns to situation Humanistic Processing conscious feelings (a)Questionnaire A humane theory that about oneself in the light of assessments reinvigorated contemporary one’s experiences (b)Empathic interviews interest in the self; criticized as subjective and sometimes naively self-centered and optimistic Social-cognitive Reciprocal influences between (a)Questionnaire assessments Art interactive theory that in- people and their situation, of people’s feelings of control tegrates research on learning, colored by perceptions of (b) Observations of people’s cognition, and social behavior, control behavior in particular criticized as underestimating situations the importance of emotions and enduring traits

7 Start with Nature, Then Add Nurture
How much of personality is based on genetics? How much of your personality was developed, learned, strengthened over time? Socialization trains us how to act in relationship to others. Parents are our first teachers.

8 Is Personality Changeable?

9 Socialization Tactics that Change Personality
Challenging jobs Relevant Training Timely and consistent feedback Mentoring relationships Orientation programs Work group morale Socialization does have a long run impact, but not on everything.

10 Introduction to Personality Traits
Thousands of “Traits” Significant Overlap Futile to Study Personality Barrick and Mount Propose the “Big 5” Big 5 now Widely Accepted and Used Other Personality Traits or “Individual Differences” Still Researched

11 Big Five Personality Traits
Sources: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 8 8 8

12 Core Self Evaluation Traits
Self-Esteem Your belief as to your competence and your image High self-esteem – positive attitudes, feelings, and satisfaction Locus of Control Generalized Self Efficacy Neuroticism (emotional stability)

13 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Self-Esteem Feelings of Self Worth Success tends to increase self-esteem Failure tends to decrease self-esteem 10 11 11 11

14 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Locus of Control Internal External People and circumstances control my fate! I control what happens to me! 8 9 9 9

15 Outcomes of Personal Control
Learned Helplessness Uncontrollable bad events Perceived lack of control Generalized helpless behavior Important Issue Nursing Homes Prisons Colleges

16 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Generalized Self-Efficacy - beliefs and expectations about one’s ability to accomplish a specific task effectively Sources of self-efficacy Prior experiences and prior success Behavior models (observing success) Persuasion Assessment of current physical & emotional capabilities 9 10 10 10

17 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Self-Monitoring Behavior based on cues from people & situations High self monitors flexible: adjust behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others can appear unpredictable & inconsistent Low self monitors act from internal states rather than from situational cues show consistency less likely to respond to work group norms or supervisory feedback 11 12 12 12

18 Make a job-related geographic move
Who Is Most Likely to . . . Low-self monitors High-self monitors Get promoted Accomplish tasks, meet other’s expectations, seek out central positions in social networks Change employers Self-promote Make a job-related geographic move Demonstrate higher levels of managerial self-awareness; base behavior on other’s cues and the situation

19 Leaders are Readers Swim with Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
Harvey B. Mackay (2005) “…to connect with celebrities you need to avoid the “fan syndrome” and instead talk to them about their interests.”

20 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Positive Affect - an individual’s tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general Negative Affect - an individual’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general 12 13 13 13

21 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
A strong situation can overwhelm the effects of individual personalities by providing strong cues for appropriate behavior 13 14 14 14

22 Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Strong personalities will dominate in a weak situation 14 15 15 15

23 How is Personality Measured?
Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to abstract stimuli Behavioral Measures - personality assessments that involve observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving an individual’s responses to questions Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences. 16 16 16

24 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Based on Carl Jung’s work People are fundamentally different People are fundamentally alike People have preference combinations for extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand individual differences 17 17 17

25 MBTI Preferences 18 18

26 Does Personality Matter?
Big 5, CSET, MBTI Matter in: Certain jobs (sales, QA, leadership) At certain times (e.g., status quo, crisis) More than performance? Honesty Theft Absenteeism Turnover Commitment/Satisfaction

27 Discussion Questions Do you feel organizations should hire people based upon their personality characteristics? What are the issues with this? When people are hired into a job (e.g., engineering) do you think the personality is attracted to the job, or the job shapes the personality? Why? “I didn’t used to me this way until I started working here.”

28 Today’s Learning Objectives
Describe the meaning of attitudes and their emotional, informational, and behavioral components. Explain the antecedents of work-related attitudes, the functions they perform, and how they are changed.

29 The Nature and Dimensions of Attitudes
Persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object Characteristics of Attitudes They tend to persist unless something is done to change them. They can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable. They are directed toward some object about which a person has feelings and beliefs.

30 Attitude Model genetics Informational/ Cognitive (i.e. beliefs)
Behavior socialization Affective (i.e. emotions) Measurable in the brain with fMRI observable learning

31 Job Attitudes and Actual Behavior
The belief, attitude, intention sequence is presumably followed by actual behavior. This traditional model suggests that behaviors (including job performance) are largely influenced by job attitudes. (e.g., absenteeism) Recently, this traditional model has been questioned as being too simple and some more comprehensive alternatives have been developed.

32 The Nature and Dimensions of Attitudes
Components of Attitudes Emotional – feelings about an object Informational – beliefs and information about the object Behavioral – tendencies to behave in a particular manner towards an object (usually behavioral intentions) Only behavioral can be directly observed

33 The Nature and Dimensions of Attitudes
(Continued) Antecedents of Work-Related Attitudes: PA/NA Positive affect – overall sense of well-being, engaged, and experience positive attitudes Negative affect – nervous, tense, anxious, and distressed

34 History of Job Satisfaction
Based in history of Job Satisfaction Formal research began in mid-1930’s 1932 I/O textbooks had no mention of job satisfaction or organizational commitment By 1972 over 3000 articles published specifically exploring worker attitudes Why interest developed Methodological breakthroughs Survey methods Statistical techniques

35 How do Americans feel about going to work?
Most Americans like their jobs overall People are relatively satisfied with the nature of the work itself: How interesting it is Having lots of contact with people People less happy with rewards Pay Benefits Chances for promotion

36 Determinants of Job Satisfaction
Copyright 1999 by Brent Smith, Ph.D.

37 Job Satisfaction Influences on Job Satisfaction
Mental challenge in the work itself Pay Promotions Supervision Work Group Working Conditions

38 Why all the fuss? Cultural interest Functional (practical) reasons
Something most of us believe we are entitled to or at least desire from our work Functional (practical) reasons Link to important organizational outcomes Performance…sometimes Turnover Absenteeism Counterproductive behaviors

39 Job Satisfaction Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
(Continued) Outcomes of Job Satisfaction Satisfaction and Performance Satisfaction and Turnover Satisfaction and Absenteeism Other Effects and Ways to Enhance Satisfaction

40 Job Satisfaction and Performance
Is a happy worker a productive worker? Correlations positive and low to moderate .16 with overall satisfaction in individual studies .30 with overall satisfaction in meta-analytic studies .10 with specific facets Why is the association not larger?

41 Organizational Commitment
The Meaning of Organizational Commitment Affective Continuance Normative

42 Organizational Commitment
Organizational Commitment has been related to many different job outcomes Organizational Commitment Overall job satisfaction .53 Performance (depends on financial need) .11 Turnover -.28 Conscientiousness .67 Job involvement .50

43 Organizational Commitment
Guidelines to Enhance Organizational Commitment People-first Communication Mission Org. Justice Create a community Support employee development Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs)

44 Managing Employee Turnover through Attitudes
Satisfaction Commitment Embeddedness

45 Psychological Ownership
Multi-dimensional Construct self-efficacy accountability belongingness self identity Negatively loaded “territoriality”  Correlates Leadership Empowerment Performance

46 Psychological Ownership
Measurement I feel I need to protect my ideas from being used by others in my organization. I am confident in my ability to contribute to my organization’s success. I would challenge anyone in my organization if I thought something was done wrong. I feel I belong in this organization. I feel this organization’s success is my success.

47 Discussion Do we care if employees are satisfied as long as they do their job well? Describe your current job: what steps could be taken to enhance job satisfaction?

48 Questions ?

49 Review What is personality? What are some common personality traits?
Why should knowledge of personality matter to today’s managers? Would you say it is better to train personality or to select for personality? Describe Big 5, CSET, MBTI, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment What are the components of an attitude? What is self monitoring and why is it important?

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Choreographer Sandra Organ agrees with Ecclesiastes 3: There is a time to dance.

That's why she selected the late José Limón's 1956 masterwork based on these famous Bible passages as the centerpiece of her upcoming 10th anniversary performance.

There Is a Time begins and ends with the performers holding hands in a circle — a perfect metaphor for a decade of dance for this small but dedicated company.

Organ founded the Sandra Organ Dance Company in 1998 shortly after leaving her post as a soloist with Houston Ballet, where she was the first African-American in the company. Since then, she has created work around themes of black history, and this concert also will feature a retrospective of selected works.

In an expansive move, she turned to the work of the dance legend Limón, who was born in Mexico.

"He was a man of color, and with the Limón centennial and our 10th anniversary happening in the same year, it just seemed to make sense," Organ says. "This is a time to come around and look at older works as well."

Organ brought in Alice Condodina, a principal dancer with the Limón Dance Company from 1959 to 1968, to teach a portion of the choreography from Limón's classic dance. Condodina performed several roles in the piece and has helped companies throughout the United States to prepare.

"Limón's choreography is highly detailed, but you need to make it look spontaneous," Condodina says. "He was a visual artist, and his father was a musician. Every count of Norman Dello Joio's music is important." (Joio won the Pulitzer Prize for this score in 1957.)

Organ's dancers have had to learn Limón's distinct style.

"There is tension in the absence of movement," Condodina told the dancers. "Let the audience experience what you are experiencing. Build a bridge with your dancing."

Limón's choreography — famous for its off-balance movements — can be trying for ballet dancers. "The shape of the hands is particularly difficult," says Organ, who will perform the "There is a time for peace" solo.

"Limón used very natural-looking hands. I have to train my ballet fingers to look like regular fingers."

Scarlett Barnes will dance the fiery war solo with her long hair flying in front of her face.

"It's aggressive but not harsh," says Barnes, 21, who is in her second year at SODC. "And I have to use my breath to survive and remember that the spirit of war is not the same as evil; I have to believe in my cause."

Jan Simonds, a member of Limón's original company, came to watch rehearsals and give feedback. It was the first time she had seen Condodina since 1961. Both dancers have ideas about the longevity of the work.

"These are universal truths," says Simonds, a retired University of Houston-Clear Lake professor. "We still have war; we still have a need to reach out and heal; and we still need peace."

Although Simonds never danced in this work, she spent many hours watching from the wings and is an expert on Limón's technique.

Condodina says the work holds its place in history because of its tight structure, archetypal themes and the timelessness of its content.

"I keep discovering new things," she says.

"Each time I find another compositional truth. That's amazing to me."


Q: What are the effects of hurricanes on the marine life in the paths of the storms? Along with this, how do the dolphins, turtles, seals and whales deal with these violent waves, especially when they must come to the surface to breathe?

— Biology class at
Andrew High School
in Tinley Park, Ill.

A: Dolphins, whales, seals, penguins and sea turtles (air-breathing marine vertebrates) feed below the surface but need the ocean surface for breath-sustaining life. While we have much to learn about behavior of these animals in different weather, we know that whales and dolphins use surface calms to rest, and turbulent waves to play and socialize at and near the surface. However, when hurricanes or typhoons strike, they can be in trouble. If near islands, they will swim to the lee, or protected, side.

If caught in a storm in the open ocean, however, they increase their dive times and come to the surface only for quick series of breaths before submerging below the turbulent waves again. We also know that these marine vertebrates strand more often during and after storms, and we assume that the storms blow them off course and onto shore.

We have seen young dolphins and whales in turbulent white-water, recently born and not very adept at swimming, struggle as they overshoot the surface to get a breath. We can only assume that this behavior becomes ever-more desperate as the storm gains force, but to my knowledge, no one has yet described their surfacing behaviors during a full-blown storm or hurricane.

But it is clear that they, as do humans, can have a difficult time in a storm.

— Bernd Würsig,
Professor of Marine Biology,
Texas A&M University
at Galveston

Local experts answer your common (or uncommon) questions about science. Please send them to:eric.berger@chron.comor Eric Berger, City Desk, Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210.


Icelanders begin taking steps to sell of High Street trophy assets

Retailers owned by Icelandic banks are reorganising their ownership structures before a possible sell-off.

The Iceland food chain, Karen Millen owner Aurora Fashions, Warehouse and House of Fraser have each agreed to trigger a number of arrangements to simplify their businesses.

These have included proposals to dispose of several shell vehicles by Iceland and the creation and transfer of new shares by House of Fraser and Aurora.

Revamp: The Warehouse fashion chain is among those facing disposal

The firms have been quick to play down rumours of plans by Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir to sell their stakes, but it is acknowledged that the Icelandic government will at some point seek to capitalise on the assets.

Approaches are known to have been made to acquire the stakeholdings in Iceland, House of Fraser and Icelandic-owned toy shop Hamleys, but none as yet has progressed from the early stages.


Distance from to

Distance from Portugal to Trinidad and Tobago

Distance from Portugal to Trinidad and Tobago is 6,108 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 3,795 miles.

The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Portugal and Trinidad and Tobago is 6,108 km= 3,795 miles.

If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Portugal to Trinidad and Tobago, It takes 6.78 hours to arrive.

GPS Coordinates (DMS)39° 23´ 59.5320'' N
8° 13´ 28.0200'' W
Altitude167 m

Portugal Distances to Countries

Distance from Lebanon to Portugal3,943 km
Distance from Portugal to Slovakia2,440 km
Distance from Kosovo to Portugal2,458 km

Trinidad and Tobago

GPS Coordinates10° 41´ 30.4800'' N
61° 13´ 21.0000'' W
Altitude220 m
CountryTrinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago Distances to Countries

Trinidad and TobagoDistance
Distance from Mauritania to Trinidad and Tobago5,477 km
Distance from Austria to Trinidad and Tobago8,067 km
Distance from Guinea-Bissau to Trinidad and Tobago5,017 km


Did You Know?

Silicones have a proven track record for their long term resistance to rain, sleet, snow, acid rain and damage from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.

When gutters leak, it’s often from their joints, usually due to poorly draining or standing water. Seamsil® 300 cures this by creating a new external joint seal that stays flexible enough to withstand normal gutter movement and remains unaffected by weathering conditions such as UV, rain, and snow.

Delglaze provides a tough, clear elastomeric coating with crack bridging capabilities that was originally developed as a shatter proof coating for Georgian wired glass above railway stations.

Asbestos cement sheets are vapour permeable with high moisture content. Coatings which are a vapour barrier will trap the moisture and blister.

Delcote® is a fully breathing membrane that will not crack or blister, allowing the sheet to ‘sweat’ & keeping rainwater out.

Exposure to UV makes coatings hard and brittle. They peel off when they can no longer expand and contract with the substrate.

Silicone is naturally resistant to UV radiation, staying adherent and flexible and able to move with the substrate without cracking or lift.

Moisture accelerates corrosion at the cut edges of a metal sheet. A roof lap joint will be destroyed by capillary held water unless it’s sealed.

SEAMSIL® overcomes this problem by providing an external seal flexible enough to withstand any deflection and movement without the need to lift and reset the roof sheets.


Indian envoy confirms rocket hit his house in Kabul

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 6 (ANI): Indian Ambassador in Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra on Tuesday confirmed that a rocket had hit his house in Kabul this morning, adding that there were no casualties in the incident and an investigation is underway.
"A rocket landed in the India House compound at 10.25 am this morning. There were no casualties. Investigations are ongoing," Vohra told ANI.
Earlier, reports emerged saying that a rocket had landed on the tennis court of the Indian Ambassador's house in Kabul after it was fired off in the city.
The incident has occurred in the heavily fortified diplomatic quarter in Kabul which houses a number of embassies, guesthouses and Resolute Support headquarters, Tolo News reported.
The incident came at the time when Afghanistan is hosting Kabul Process summit amid extremely tight security days after the capital city was hit by terror attacks that resulted into political stability in the country.
Representatives from at least 23 countries are participating in the summit aimed at establishing peace in the country.(ANI)


Konstruktion Kuldrag Huddig : Konstruktion av kuldrag till Huddig 1260 grävlastare

Detta är en Uppsats för yrkesexamina på grundnivå från Umeå universitet/Institutionen för tillämpad fysik och elektronik

Författare: Jonas Persson; [2015]

Nyckelord: ;

This report describes the construction of a ball connection structure with ball hitch to Huddig AB Backhoe, 1260. As will be used to pull heavy trailers at work. The reason for the project is that people often tend to make their own solutions to this problem, which is often made using modifications of the rear frame, where laws and regulations are unclear on what is legal and what is not. In this report. The laws and regulations will be examined, to see what actually comes to the construction of towing devices for backhoe loaders. These laws will then be the basis for the construction. A prototype construction will be made in SolidWorks and then calculate the strength through finite element analysis to ensure that the construction has good strength. As well as a choice of ball hitch from other manufacturers will be investigated. The construction is made to withstand 15 ton traction and 3 tons vertical load on the towing ball. The structure must use existing anchor points on the machine where normally the train set is mounted on the "rail" models, and where a tow hook is mounted on the standard models. This report addresses only the construction and not the prototype manufacturing process. The idea is that it will later be included a hydraulic design to open and close the ball connector.


Carli Lloyd, the USWNT’s captain netted her 8th career Olympic goal, 11th goal in 2016 and her 80th career international goal in her team’s 1-0 win over France to take control of their group in the Rio group stages. Since Pia Sundhage, who stepped down after the 2012 Olympics to take over in her home country of Sweden, made comments ripping Lloyd calling her a pain to coach among other things, Lloyd and the USWNT have won. A lot. They have been nothing short of dominant actually. And in this span, Lloyd has been on FIRE. Lloyd was named captain in 2015 and since that time the US is 23-1-2 (all losses and ties took place in friendlies). Her aforementioned stats are undeniably great, so why is Lloyd not more widely considered Captain America? She is undoubtedly the best captain we have in any sport. The USWNT is by and far the most successful team the United States has in any team sport (if/when the Women’s gymnastics dominates Rio they would also be in the discussion) and Lloyd has continued the tradition and captained them in one of the best stretches in the team’s history. She is dominant on the field, a fantastic defender, so strong on the ball and just simply makes her teammates better. I’m just going to get ahead of everyone else that will say it once she leads the US to another Gold Medal, but Carli Lloyd is Captain America. Lloyd has truly embodied American ideologies by showing poise, resilience and balls in the biggest moments for her country. Lest we forget her goal from midfield in the World Cup Final that gave her a hat-trick in the first 16 minutes.


What is county government?

The middle level of government between the state and the municipality.

County government traces its origin to British settlers to the new world who brought with them the concept of the county as a unit of local government and with it the idea that only “freeholders” – those who owned land free of any debt – were eligible to vote and hold public office.

New Jersey is the only state where the members of a county’s elected governing body are called freeholders.  In other states, they may be called commissioners or county legislators.

How many counties are there?

There are 21 county governments in New Jersey.

Do all counties run the same way?

No, five counties in New Jersey are managed by an elected County Executive, and one is managed by an appointed County Manager. The others, including Morris, are governed by an elected Board of Chosen Freeholders. Morris County has seven freeholders elected at-large to serve staggered three-year terms. During the freeholder board’s first meeting in January, the members select a director and deputy director from among themselves.

What do Morris County Freeholders do?

The freeholder board is an elected administrative body that sets policies for the operation of all county services.  That includes six county government departments and their divisions plus authorities, commissions, boards and study committees.

What are the authorities, commissions, boards and study committees?

Authorities, boards and commissions have their members appointed and budgets approved by the freeholders, but may act independently of the freeholder board. Study committees are also appointed by the freeholder board to advise the freeholders on a wide range of issues.

Are there other elected or appointed officials at the county level?

  • The County Clerk is elected for a five-year term.
  • The Surrogate is elected for a five-year term.
  • The Sheriff is elected for a three-year term.
  • The Prosecutor is appointed by the governor for a five-year term.

How does the county operate on a day to day basis?

The actual day-to-day operation of the county government departments (Employee Resources, Finance, Human Services, Law & Public Safety, Planning & Public Works) is supervised by the county administrator.  However, each of the seven freeholders serves as a liaison to one of those departments and to other areas of county government.


Thursday, January 22, 2015

The Effects of Epilepsy

I have been contacted by and asked if I would share the following information with my readers.  They had seen my post on Epilepy and thought that it would be a great resource for An Arkie's Musings readers.

You can read this article in it's original format here.

The article was written by Ann Pietrangelo and medically Reviewed by George Krucik, MD, MBA

The Effects of Epilepsy on the Body

Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain that causes recurring seizures. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, almost three million Americans are living with epilepsy. Epilepsy can be triggered by illness or injury, but most of the time, there is no known cause. Because it is a disorder of the central nervous system, effects can be felt throughout the body. Due to the unpredictability of seizures, there can also be a great emotional toll.

Central Nervous System
The brain is the central hub for all voluntary and involuntary movements in your body. Electrical activity running through nerve cells help your brain tell your body what to do. When abnormal signals interrupt the brain’s normal functioning, you can have a seizure. There are several different types of seizures.

Focal/Partial Seizures
Focal seizures, also called partial seizures, are when abnormal electrical functions happen on only one side of the brain. Some people feel an aura, or a feeling of euphoria or doom, right before having a seizure. Other pre-seizure symptoms include changes to sight, hearing, or smell perception.

In a simple focal seizure, symptoms depend on which area of the brain is involved. The seizure may be accompanied by nausea or sweating. A complex focal seizure happens in the temporal lobe, which affects memory and emotion. This type of seizure usually involves loss of consciousness or lack of awareness of what’s happening. Symptoms may include screaming, crying, laughing, or lip smacking. There’s usually a feeling of sleepiness following a complex focal seizure.

Generalized Seizures
When both sides of the brain are involved, it’s called a generalized seizure, which may cause loss of consciousness. Absence seizures, or petit mal seizures, are short, usually lasting half a minute or less. A person having an absence seizure may appear to be staring and will have no awareness of what happened. There may be some facial twitching or rapid blinking. In atonic seizures, or drop attacks, there’s a sudden loss of muscle tone, causing you to fall without warning.

In a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, or grand mal seizure, the body and limbs contract and extend. This is followed by tremor, after which the muscles relax. Other symptoms include fatigue, severe headache, and body aches. Sometimes there are speech and vision disturbances. People who have numerous tonic-clonic seizures are at increased risk of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Myoclonic seizures involve sudden, jerky muscle movements. This type of seizure usually happens multiple times a day over several days.

Status epilepticus describes a seizure that lasts for an extended time – usually from 5 to 30 minutes. It can also mean you’re having multiple seizures without coming to consciousness in between. Status epilepticus increases the risk of permanent damage to the brain.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation Michigan, about 30 percent of people with epilepsy eventually develop clinical depression. Epileptic seizures can also make you more prone to falls and injuries. There’s a common misconception that you can swallow your tongue when you’re having a seizure, but that’s not possible.

Circulatory and Respiratory Systems
Epileptic seizures can interfere with your heart rhythm and breathing. Symptoms include shortness of breath and coughing. In rare cases, choking occurs. Over the long term, epilepsy increases risk of heart disease and stroke. Some cases of SUDEP are thought to be due to heart and breathing problems.

Muscular and Digestive Systems
During a seizure, misfires from the brain can tell your muscles to contract and relax. A seizure may cause muscles to jerk uncontrollably. In some cases, you can lose muscle tone so quickly that you fall down. When muscles surrounding your vocal cords seize up, it pushes out air. It sounds like a cry or a scream.

Epilepsy, and some of the drugs used to treat it, can cause digestive problems like heartburn, nausea, and vomiting. Constipation and diarrhea can also be problematic. In children, epileptic seizures can cause abdominal pain. During a seizure, or immediately following one, you may lose bowel or bladder control.

Reproductive System
Although epilepsy doesn’t affect the reproductive system directly, it can have an impact on pregnancy. Among women with epilepsy, about 25 to 40 percent experience a higher number of seizures during pregnancy, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Most women with epilepsy have healthy pregnancies and deliver healthy babies. However, there is a higher risk of hypertension, delivering an underweight baby, and stillbirth. Pregnant women with epilepsy should be closely monitored.

See more at

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Pay It Forward Weekend

I have pledged to participate in the Pay It Forward Weekend. During the weekend of Friday Jan. 16 through Sunday Jan. 18, we are encouraging everyone to "Pay It Forward". We are asking everyone to do at least one random act of kindness (more than one is even better). All you have to do is do something for someone or some organization without expecting anything in return. Pay for a strangers meal, send someone a card, volunteer some time. The ideas are endless. All it takes is a spark to get a fire going. By taking part, you can make a difference and who knows, maybe change someone's life. Get on board, and let's see if we can change someone's world this weekend. Who knows, it might be your life that gets changed. Remember, it doesn't take people doing a lot, just a lot of people doing a little. WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!

If you are on Facebook you can sign up for the event here.

My wife's cousin, Jerry Patton, spent 37 years as the second tenor of The King's Heralds Quartet, the oldest continuous gospel quartet in America.

One of my favorite songs that he sang was titled One Little Candle. The lyrics are great.

It's better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far that you light just one little candle
All you need's a tiny spark

If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn of the new day we'll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be

Will you pledge to participate in the Pay It Forward Weekend with me? We can light a candle and make the world a better place. If you are on Facebook please consider going to the "Pay It Forward" Weekend.  Over 249,000 people already have!


Super Users to the Rescue!

Disaster Recovery Planning: Know Your RTO and RPO

5 Ways to Improve Your IT Department's Reputation

Let's face it. We all know IT doesn't have the greatest reputation in many companies. We can be considered aloof, obstructive, or even rude. Most of the time that is simply due to a lack of resources (both time and money) or a difference in personalities. Despite that, here are five ways to improve the image and reputation of IT in your organization with just a little bit of time and patience.

How To Setup Home Directories on a Windows File Server

Responsible Disclosure

Outlook Synchronization of SharePoint Document Library Results in 0x80004005 Error

We recently came across an issue when trying to connect a large document library in SharePoint 2007 to Outlook 2007.  Outlook would throw out the following error when attempting the sync:

After some additional troubleshooting, I determined that this only happened when trying to synchronize a sub-folder of the library (with the amount of data in this library, synchronizing sub-folders was the common practice). Eventually a call to Microsoft PSS was required to troubleshoot this further.

In the end, we determined that parts of the folder structure used characters that Outlook considered invalid for synchronization.  Specifically, Outlook would not sync a folder with "--" in the name or folder path (in our case, the root folders were all named "A---", "B---", etc.)  The support engineer did mention that there may be other characters which Outlook won't sychronize, but luckily we did not run into those.

If you are running in to this Outlook error when connecting to a SharePoint document library, try looking in to the folder names and see if something looks abnormal.

Implementing ITIL in Small IT Organizations

It my previous post, I described what ITIL® is, and from that you can see that it is not something you can just do.  Now, I am hardly an expert on ITIL, but I will try to use my understanding of the framework to see how it can be applied to smaller shops to improve their IT services.

I believe there are four mains areas that can be targeted for implementing ITIL in a smaller IT organization.  The four areas are best summarized by the questions they strive to answer - How are we doing? Where does the business want us to be? How do we get there? How do we keep improving?

What is ITIL?

If so, what is ITIL?

Ethics and Regulations for System Administrators

With the recent news of Bernie Madoff's programmers being indicted, it got me thinking about ethics in IT.  The SAGE/LOPSA System Administrators' Code of Ethics does a good job of outlining ethical concerns for system administrators, and related to the Madoff case it has this point:
Laws and Policies


NASA and Disney have signed a Space Act Agreement for a series of and public outreach activities related to Disney-Pixar's new movie, WALL-E, opening in theaters nationwide on June 27, 2008.

This collaboration highlights the similarities between the movie's storyline and NASA's real-life work in robot technology, propulsion systems and astrophysics. Disney-Pixar's WALL-E is set 700 years in the future. The film's main character is the only rover-robot left on Earth. He meets a new robot named Eve, and together they take a journey through the universe.

"Great ideas for future exploration of the universe start with the imagination," said Robert Hopkins, chief of strategic communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We hope that with the help of our new robot friend WALL-E, NASA can encourage young people to learn about science and technology and become the explorers of tomorrow." (link)

Visit WALL-E's web site here, the NASA site here, and the Disney page for the movie here.

There are several posts on the VNOG blog (written by Victor Navone, the animator for WALL-E) about the development of WALL-E)

Wall-E Spotted in LA! from Blink on Vimeo.

Is there life on....?

This morning one of our Year 6 students asked me if I thought there might be life on another planet. His class had been talking about it, using this web site for a reference. I had recently heard this podcast from The Naked Scientists (Cambridge University) about life on Mars.

In one portion of the podcast, Chris Smith says
"Writing in this week's Science, Cornell researcher Steven Squyers and his colleagues describe how the movement of their rover, Spirit, which has a broken wheel, carved a furrow into the Martian surface, revealing a layer of very white-coloured material. Intrigued, the team turned the rover's instruments on the light coloured layer and identified it as silicate, a mineral which forms around structures such as hydrothermal vents and fumaroles when hot mineral-laden water emerges, cools and drops its cargo of salts.

"On Earth, environments like this contain abundant forms of life, and silica turns out to be extremely good at preserving them. So this discovery, say the researchers, is important for two key reasons. First it confirms that Mars had significant water in the past, but second it also pinpoints an important place to look for life in future."

Later in the show, he interviews Susan Conway, of the Open University, about what shaped the surface of Mars. Here's a bit of their conversation from the end of the interview:

(Chris has asked Susan her opinion about what formed the gullies visible on Mars in recent photographs. She explains that there are several hypotheses.)

Chris - What's your gut feeling at the moment?

Susan - I think it's water, personally. It's all up for debate, we'll have to see

Chris - If it is water, looking at the terrain, when do you think water last ran?

Susan - It could be anything in the last 100,000 years.

Chris - Which is very recent, isn't it?

Susan - it is very recent, yes.

Chris - Which means, if there was life there it could still have been viable up until 100,000 years ago which is a blink of an eye isn't it?

Susan - Yeah. If the water formed these features and then has gone back into the ground and we still have liquid water beneath the ground little micros still could be living there in the rock, eating the rock, eating the water and still sitting there waiting for us to discover them."
You can subscribe to the Naked Scientist podcast through iTunes, or on the program's web site.

You can download the Life on Mars episode below:
MP3 Podcast
Enhanced Podcast, with pictures and chapters.

If you want to read more about the concept of life, go to this Wikipedia for Schools page. There is an interesting article about extra-terrestrial life at this page of the Wikipedia for Schools,

Ulysses - freezing to death is the Sun? How does it work? What's Solar Wind? What's the heliosphere? What's a gravity-assist manoeuvre? What is "space weather"?

The mission will end because of "dwindling electrical power on-board the spacecraft, especially to power the internal heaters required to prevent the attitude control fuel from freezing. Once this fuel freezes, the spacecraft can longer be manoeuvred to keep it pointing at the Earth to maintain its data downlink". (Ulysses Mission Operations Team)

Go to Cold Peril: The Continuing Adventures of Ulysses to read the script of a podcast about the Ulysses Mission
Listen to this story via streaming audio, a downloadable file.

Read more about the Sun and the Ulysses Mission on these pages:

Ulysses Mission overview from ESA

How the Sun affects us on Earth

The Ulysses Space Craft

Click on the picture below to see it full size. It is a screen shot of the ESA's Space Science Missions web site display of information about 10 ESA missions by using a comprehensive 3D model Solar System environment. It shows where the 10 ESA satellites were at the moment I took the shot. Click on this link, then on the Space Science Missions choice, and then Solar System View. (There are other interesting views at that page, too. Go investigate it!)

Buzz Lightyear has finally made it into space!

Buzz Lightyear is on the ST124 Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station. Visit this page for an interactive page of games, "live transmissions" and videos from Buzz.

(You could also read what the humans are doing on the flight...)

Life on Mars?

NASA's Phoenix Mission has landed in the northern polar region of Mars, and there has been lots of exciting pictures, podcasts and articles about the new findings.

Visit this page at the Naked Scientists web site, and listen to - or download - their podcast about "how looking in valleys (of the Martian landscape) could tell us what shaped the Martian surface, and how probing Martian mud could reveal signs of life past and present."

You can listen to a podcast about the countdown for the mission at this link.

Visit the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander web page for the live pictures, videos, statistics and stories about the project.

Background on the mission is at this page.

There is an Odysen start page on the Mission here, which includes a news search widget for Mars, a news search widget for the Phoenix Mars Lander, a website bookmarker widget with links to NASA, and Movies on Mars, a Flickr photo widget, and a YouTube widget with Mars video clips.

Human Space Exploration

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

The European Space Agency has a story about Human Space exploration in the future (Think about it! You might be the explorer!)
"What is the overall concept of a human mission to Mars? And what is the right mix of human/robotic missions and international partners for future missions to the Moon and Mars?

To land, first, on the Moon and, later, on Mars - in the 2030 timeframe - scientists need a mix of human and robotic missions to know in advance what challenges must be met - to know how humans can survive for years under microgravity, to scout landing zones and to develop precise navigation and artificial intelligence techniques."

You can watch a video about the story at this link.


Begell House Atomization and Sprays Atomization and Sprays 1044-5110 8 1 1998
THE EFFECTS OF THE HARTMAN CAVITY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE USGA NOZZLE USED FOR ALUMINUM SPRAY FORMING This article addresses the effects of the Hartman cavity on the performance of the ultrasonic gas atomizer (USGA) used for spray forming. Numerical simulations of the gas flow field have been performed with the aim of establishing the effects of the Hartman cavity on flow development both inside and outside the air nozzles. Phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) measurements have been made of gas velocity and turbulence intensity, drop mean and fluctuating velocity and drop size across planes at various distances downstream. Highspeed imaging is used in the flow region near the orifice exit where recirculation zones are generated, and there is concern about drop deposition on atomizer surfaces. Shadowgraphic photographs show the presence of shock waves and cells in the emerging gas jets. It is shown that the nozzles with the Hartman cavity are able to sustain supersonic gas jets to lengths beyond those sustained with nozzles without the cavity. It is also found that, within the range of experimental conditions studied ( 100 кРа < air nozzle stagnation pressure < 500 kPa ), the Hartman cavity has little effect on the drop sizes generated. The Hartman cavity also has little effect on spray development. The rectangular slit orifices for the two gas jets and the liquid jet generate a spray, after impingement, that is somewhat rectangular in cross section. As the spray develops downstream, it changes shape under the influence of entrainment from the gas surrounding the spray. After a distance of 254 mm from the nozzle exit, the width and breadth of the jet are equal, but significant shape changes occur farther downstream. Gaussian velocity distributions result in liquid flux distributions and metal deposits with Gaussian shapes, instead of deposits with uniform thickness. Adel Mansour Spray Systems Technology Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Norman Chigier Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Tom I-P. Shih Spray Systems Technology Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Robert L. Kozarek Aluminum Company of America, Chemical Systems Division, Alcoa Technical Center, Alcoa Center, Pennsylvania, USA 1-24
LOW-TEMPERATURE VAPORIZATION OF JP-4 AND JP-8 FUEL DROPLETS This work summarizes an experimental investigation of the low-temperature (−15°C to 24°C), ambient pressure vaporization of suspended single and multicomponent liquid droplets in an air stream moving at relative velocities between 1 and 3 m/s. The work was motivated by the consideration of droplet vaporization during fuel jettisoning from aircraft, and the majority of data was collected using JP-4 and JP-8 fuels. The results showed preferential vaporization of the lighter components. A simple semiempirical predictive approach based on spherical symmetric vaporization and rapid mixing within the droplets was in good agreement with the experimental data. T. Runge Continuum Dynamics, Inc., Princeton , New Jersey, USA Milton E. Teske Continuum Dynamics, Inc., Ewing, New Jersey, 08543, USA C. E. Polymeropoulos Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA 25-44
ABSOLUTE AND CONVECTIVE INSTABILITY OF CYLINDRICAL LIQUID JETS IN CO-FLOWING GAS STREAMS This article reports the absolute and convective instability of a cylindrical liquid jet in a co-flowing inviscid gas stream. An efficient mesh-searching method is developed to determine the absolute instability and the critical Weber number which separates the region of absolute from that of convective instability. It is found that both gas velocity and density may increase or decrease the critical Weber number and may promote or suppress the absolute instability, depending on flow conditions, and that it is the absolute rather than the relative velocity that governs the absolute instability. For Weber numbers larger than the critical values, the instability of liquid jets becomes convective. The absolute gas and liquid velocity at low Weber numbers and the relative velocity between the liquid and gas at high Weber numbers control the spatial growth rate, and may enhance significantly jet breakup process at high gas velocities. Surface tension has both stabilizing ( for short waves ) and destabilizing ( for long waves ) effects on the convective growth rate whenever there exists velocity discontinuity across the liquid-gas interface. Otherwise, it always promotes the jet instability. The gas-to-liquid density ratio shows a completely opposite effect for equal and unequal gas and liquid velocities, while liquid viscosity always has a damping effect. Xianguo Li University of Waterloo Jihua Shen Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada 45-62
NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF GAS TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATION ON A TURBULENT EVAPORATING SPRAY Computational study of a turbulent evaporating spray was conducted using a Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid model. Eulerian computation of the turbulent gas phase consists of the second-moment closure for the momentum equations and the heat-flux transport closure for the energy equation. Lagrangian computation of the droplet phase consists of an anisotropic droplet dispersion model for the motion of droplets in turbulent gas flow. Complete initial conditions from experimental measurements were used to investigate the effects of gas temperature fluctuation on droplet evaporation. Numerical results for the droplet phase obtained by including and excluding gas temperature fluctuation in the droplet Lagrangian equations were compared with each other, together with the experimental measurements. It was found that the inclusion of the gas temperature fluctuation has a strong effect on the vaporization of individual droplets, but has a negligible effect on global spray properties of ensemble-averaged droplet properties such as the velocity, diameter, and mass flux. X.-Q. Chen Section of Applied Thermodynamics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico/Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal Jose C. F. Pereira Mechanical Engineering Department Instituto Superior Tecnico Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa Portugal 63-82
CHARACTERIZATION OF HIGH-INJECTION-PRESSURE DIESEL SPRAYS WITH RELATION TO PARTICULATE AND NOx EMISSIONS The transient characteristics of high-injection-pressure diesel fuel sprays have been investigated by high-speed photography. An off-engine fuel injection system with a hydraulic unit injector was designed for spray visualization experiments. Experiments were conducted using different geometry nozzles under different operating conditions to investigate the effects of injection pressure, nozzle inlet condition, nozzle injection angle, and nozzle hole size on spray characteristics. Measurement of spray tip penetration length and spray angle were made based on the spray images. The Sauter mean diameter (SMD) averaged over the spray was measured using a light extinction method. The results of these experiments show that spray geometry ( penetration length and cone angle) is sensitive to small changes in operating conditions and injector geometry. Higher injection pressures produced larger penetration, smaller spray cone angles, and smaller overall average SMD. Smaller nozzle hole sizes and smaller injection angle nozzles also produced smaller droplet sizes.Previous results from engine emissions tests using the same injector under similar operating conditions were examined in light of the observed spray characteristics. While the engine emission results are affected by many parameters related to the fuel injection system as well as many which are unrelated to the injection system, the results of these comparisons indicate that spray SMD and spatial distribution have a significant effect on engine emissions for the conditions tested. T. F. Su Engine Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA Patrick V. Farrell Engine Research Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 83-107
ATOMIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF BITUMEN CRUDE-WATER EMULSION Measurements of the angular patterns of scattered light were carried out on sprays of an emulsion of bitumen crude (70% by weight) in water produced by a home-built air-assisted atomizer at different air flow rates. The size distribution of the bitumen droplets was previously measured by optical microscopy. A quantitative comparison of the scattering measurements in terms of the polarization ratio with the Lorenz-Mie theory allows the identification of the nature of spray and its droplets size distribution (DSD). For all the atomization conditions, the patterns show the influence of a large amount of small droplets that might have been stripped from the emulsion rather than produced during atomization. On the other hand, an increase of the amount of the large droplets was observed compared with the parent emulsion. The satellite water droplets number increases with the atomization energy. M. Romano Instituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione, C.N.R., Naples, Italy C. Allouis Instituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione, C.N.R., Naples, Italy F. Beretta Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione, C.N.R., Napoli, Italy A. D'Alessio Departimento di Ingegneria Chimica — Universita di Napoli "Federico II" Piazza V. Tecchio, 80-80125 Napoli, ITALY 109-121


Practices To Becoming A Great Leader!

Maybe you’re leading a team, in charge of a large organization or you’re just trying to lead your own life. What is it that leaders actually do?

Great leaders envision a compelling and vibrant future. They have an alternative, clear view of what the world could be like. They have a shared purpose that they believe others would be compelled by, interested in, inspired by and want to work toward.

As you’re developing this vision, remember that it’s not just your vision. Enlist other people to share their voices, their perspective, their dreams and desires. The most important leadership lesson in the world is that people support what they create.

Leaders stand for something. There is a congruence between who they are, the behaviors they’re enacting into the world, how they treat people, what they’re working toward and what they say is important. It’s integrity. There’s nothing more important is there? You don’t believe the message unless you believe the messenger.

Strong confident woman.

Empowerment means giving people the decision-making authority and trust to be able to work toward this vision. It means allowing them the autonomy, strength and input. It means equipping them with the knowledge, skills, abilities, technology, tools and training to allow them to succeed as they march with us to achieve something extraordinary and phenomenal.

Evaluation is one of the hardest things we do in leadership. To evaluate the key people who are with us, their contributions. To evaluate their skills, needs and the ethics that are going on in our organization, in our team.

Be the champion. Be the cheerleader. Be the person always motivating, inspiring and uplifting. You need to encourage on a continual basis and light people up.

Never stop being the voice of positivity. Always turn a negative into a positive and champion people, the mission and the cause.

That’s leadership. The six E’s: Envision, Enlist, Embody, Empower, Evaluate, Encourage.

How to Become A Risk Taker

Even if you’re not contemplating a risky new move, you’ve probably taken a few risks, and chances are you’re not done taking them.

Fight the negativity bias.

Every decision, including the decision to do nothing, carries some element of risk. The problem is the negativity bias—we tend to exaggerate the riskiness of certain moves and underestimate the opportunities of others.

Build self-efficacy.

Small, measured risk-taking behaviors can increase confidence and self-efficacy. The “I think I can” positive psychology that enhances goal achievement. The more risks you take, the more positive your risk experiences become. Try to increase your comfort level by taking a small risk before embarking on a bigger one.

Be intelligent with your risks.

It’s OK to “fail.”

Expecting failure could actually be seen as a method for success. In a gambling experiment in which some participants were told that losses were completely inevitable and acceptable, while others weren’t given the same pep talk. At the end of the study, participants who expected losses didn’t become dejected when losses occurred, and they were able to outperform their peers by taking more intelligent risks.

Just do it.

Stop Trying To Be Superwoman

Let’s be honest. We all know her. The high powered mom who sends her perfectly spotless children to school with a homemade lunch full of pinterest creations, before delivering her hand knitted hats to the homeless and qualifying for her 10th marathon. Yes, she is perfect…

Do you want to know the truth? That lady hiding behind the gluten free snacks is just as much a hot mess as the rest of the moms sliding into the pull-up lane, kids full of store bought goodies and sporting unbrushed hair.

The secret? As they pull into the drop off and let their sparkling angels out of their newly polished SUV, they are reveling in the fact that Monday, is in fact, their Saturday. That’s right! The day when they leave their kiddos for someone else to manage while they head into the office to rest and recharge, collapsing at their desk with a cup of coffee and a sigh. For, you see, while they always look perfect heading for their corporate jobs Monday through Friday, they are just as stressed as the rest of the Moms on the weekends, when someone is constantly tugging on their sleeves or catching their sister’s hair on fire, and they don’t have time to shower because there is cleaning and laundry and soccer games.

The dangers of holding yourself to that impossible standard is that it is easy to find things that simply don’t measure up. Make more money, teach your children Chinese on the way to the Elite private school…there will always be someone better, a better way, something we forget. So, moms walk around with guilt at not being superwoman all the time. So- STOP. Let the kids eat cupcakes once in a blue moon. Let Suzie’s mom have a turn as team mom. OR better yet, sleep in on the weekends and just focus on spending time with your kids. Time is better than all of the Tofu brownies in the world. So, drop your cape and enjoy the simple pleasures in your imperfect, capeless, life.

7 Free Ideas For Your Time Off

Entertaining can be extremely expensive, for your alone time or with family.  To help, we have created a list to help you enjoy your time without spending a dime!

Books are a great way to spend your leisure time, however, try something different. Read your local paper or other publications. Look for community calendars with a list of events happening in your area. Concerts, food festivals and more! Look for that one word: Free! Step outside your comfort zone and try something new!

Host a movie night.

Let your friends come to you. Host a movie night and potluck- maybe themed based on the movie choice! Game nights are also a great free way to spend fun times with family or friends.

Head outside.

Go for a walk, hike, run or bike ride. Make a day of it with a stop for a picnic in the park and let your family soak up that much needed Vitamin D.

Volunteering for a local charity or organization is good for your soul (and your wallet)

Treasure Hunting.

Check out yard sales in your area— you never know when an antique could be worth more than what you bought it for, or you find the perfect gift for someone special.

Many museums have free days, so spend an afternoon learning something new. Your friends will think you’re so cultured for going to a museum, and it’ll cost you nothing.

Head downtown and just walk around. Maybe you’ll find a free event or some captivating wall art. Window shopping is also fun and free!

No matter what you choose, find something entertaining, health conscious and free so that your fun day doesn’t break the bank!

What Makes A Practice “Best”

Best practices, by requirement, are old practices.

For a practice to become a “best” practice, it has to be originated, utilized and documented. The practice spreads, being utilized more frequently until it is the most used practice. Eventually, with documented results, it becomes the norm.

It is not just the what…

The internet is full of stories of business success, and in our haste we strive to take what others did and try to repeat it without ever understanding the why. Unless we understand the complexities of how they arrived at the solution, we cannot implement an appropriate solution of our own. The best practice in this instance is to constantly ask WHY.

Aren’t best practices good?

Best practices are not always good. It may be a useful approach or solution, but that does not mean it is the best practice for your situation.

The label itself has made us lazy, always referring to the best practice without asking if it truly fits our situation. We use the intellect of others to find a simple way out.

Push back.

Breaking free from the use of best practice is the first step in making our organizations more innovative. To do this, here are some simple places to start:

1. Ask why.

Don’t know why a process or practice is in place, ask why and keep asking until you find a valid reason or toss it out.

2. Get clear on the problem first.

Often, we go looking for a place to apply a best practice instead of focusing first on gaining clarity of what we are trying to solve. Work to find a solution that makes sense.

3. If it is called a best practice, push back.

Start by asking questions like:

A) Who says this is a best practice?

B) What makes it a best practice (i.e. where’s the evidence)?

C)How do you know this is right for our situation?

Remember, there is no such thing as a “best practice.” There are only practices. Deciding if it’s best is a decision you should make for yourself.


Heather Yenawine is proud to have started her first business, HAY DJ, in the place where she was born, Louisville, Kentucky. With a strong background as both an instrumentalist and actor, Yenawine decided to take her passion for music and parlay it into an innovative and eclectic specialty DJ service.

Heather is a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in Policy Studies and African American Studies. While in college, she traveled around the world, with extended stays in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. Throughout her journey she was exposed to vibrantly different cultures and musical traditions, which inform her work now.

Since returning to Louisville, Yenawine has been the Advertising Director of Bejeezus Magazine, as well as a freelance writer for the LEO, Velocity and Louisville Magazine. In radio, Yenawine has worked as a writer for WFPL’s “State of Affairs,” and simultaneously interned with WFPK, where her intense interest in music was fostered.

In 2005 she partnered with Randell Bolton and together they established HAY DJ.

Randy Bolton was born and raised in Louisville and has worked in the record store industry for the last 17 years. Bolton spent most of his career as one of the managers of ear X-tacy Records on Bardstown Road. For years before it’s closing, Bolton bought over 30% of the stores music, and as such, his musical knowledge is vast. Throughout his career he has accumulated a superior music collection, which serves as a primary resource for HAY DJ.

Largely self-taught, Bolton has also worked a special music writer to the Courier Journal. Though never a musician himself, Randy is an ardent fan with an insatiable hunger for musical knowledge.


Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Format: PDF / Kindle / ePub

Size: 12.29 MB

Downloadable formats: PDF

The most significant difference between these two theories is where each theory finds value. Inspired by William Morris’s groundbreaking recliner, the bare wood design became the Red/blue Chair of 1918 and fit beautifully into its new home, where it became one of the most famous chairs of all time. That has its usefulness in architecture in a way that it doesn’t, say, in literary criticism. Lewis, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, is a practicing architect and urban planner; a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Maryland College Park; and an author and journalist 'Critique has long been considered a vital force in driving architectural excellence.

Pages: 512

Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers (July 1994)

ISBN: 0879056274

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Jharia Coal Mines and Pollution Control

bout India’s Jharia Coal Mines

It is surprising and also disturbing to note that what offers scope for huge commercial profits is also an immense source of pollution and the worst health ailments that mankind has ever known. We are talking about the Jharia coalfields.  It consists of 23 mines that lay underground and 9 large open ones, all now burning with high flames.

Jharia and its fire underground
Jharia and its fire underground

Jharia coalfield fire started 100 years ago

The fires raging in Jharia’s coal mines have been going on an astounding hundred years. It’s very difficult to put out any of them because once a coal seam has been ignited, unless it is snuffed early, it will go on for tens to even hundreds of years. So, though the abundant coal fields of Jharia are the most productive in the country, yielding very high quality coal, they are also the source of the worst pollutants.

Jharia coal Fire

Jharia Coal Mines and Pollution Control
Jharia Coal Mines and Pollution Control

A huge amount of poisonous gases are let into the atmosphere from mines on the surface. Furthermore, fires burning in the underground mines here have also created massive sinkholes that have taken the lives of many. Emissions from these fires are highly toxic as tests show that they have 40 to 50 hydrocarbons mentioned in britannica.com, many of which are carcinogenic. No steps were taken in the past on pollution and environment control here.

Impact of coal mining on the environment and people living close by

Coal contains sulfur and many dangerous metals such as lead, arsenic and mercury, which get released into the air when it is burnt and this is great risk for our health . As coal is largely made up of carbon, it releases a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is known to increase the greenhouse effect and cause global warming. When coal is extracted on the subsurface area, the mines have a tendency to collapse thus trapping miners.

People living closely the mines get black lung disease from pollutants arising from burning coal and coal particles. They can also get lung inflammation and respiratory problems. Coal that is removed from mountains results in removal of layers from the mountain top, which changes the landscape and disrupts the fragile ecosystem in the area. The smoke can also affect water bodies, contaminate them and increase their acidity levels. Land around the coal mine is unfertile and no vegetation grows in it. The temperature of the area increases and this combined with smoke can cause suffocation.

Here is the report by New York Times

“Dr. S. K. Bhagania in his private clinic in Jharia, holding up an X-ray for a coal-mining patient revealing a mass in the lungs. Many of those working in the coal industry and living near the open fires suffer from severe respiratory ailments including tuberculosis, pneumoconiosis and asthma. Credit Souvid Datta”

Jharia People suffer from severe respiratory ailments
Jharia People suffer from severe respiratory ailments

If The Environment and Health Problems Due To Coal Mining Are So Bad, Why Are We Still Relying On Jharia Coal Mines as a Source of Energy?

The Jharia coal mines were initiated in the late 1800s. The first fire broke out in 1916 and till today, it continues to rage, thus contributing to global warming. The question arises… why any action is not taken by the government to stop work in these mines completely.

The answer is simple. These coal mines provide the highest quality coal in the country and mining coal from them fuels the country’s rapid economic growth.  It also stops the country from importing this grade of coal for energy purposes. While countries in the West are now thriving because of their huge technological advancement, developing nations like India, still really on coal resources for energy supply. Though the Modi Government has given hopes of making heavy investment into Solar energy, still it is not possible to move right away into it.

Furthermore, Jharia coal fields have not been used to their complete potential as a huge amount of coal is lost to burning fires. Before taking action on how to put out the fires, we must learn how much is financial lost by the burning fires. It is estimated that 37 million tons of coal, with could have fetched billions of dollars if they had been mined has been lost to the fires.

Adding to this is another 1.4 billion metric tons of coal which cannot be accessed anymore as raging fires are blocking them. These huge figures make it imperative for them to be put down right away so that their potential can be turned into a huge economical gain for the country.

By putting out the fires huge profits can be gained from them. Hence talks are in progress to have them put out for this purpose… the question is when will that happen completely?

What Is The Government Doing About The Health And Environmental Issues Of Coal Mining?

The first step taken by the government towards this is seen in efforts to relocate villages and settlements at a further distance from the mines, so that the fires can be extinguished. This is also protecting people from the pollution caused by their flames. These activities are expensive and the estimated cost is 1 billion dollars.

The next step is initiation of activities that put out the fires. In case of near surface fires, the area above the fire has to be smoothened out so that heavy equipment can be taken over it. The entire fire zone is then cordoned into a grid structure and holes are drilled in it about 20 meters apart.

Water is injected into the holes and this process must go on for one or two years. The area should be then covered by silt. Underground fires can be extinguished by first isolating the affected area with dam constructions and then feeding an inert gas like nitrogen through pipelines into the area for a period of time to douse flames. These methods should be followed to put out Jharia coal field fires and make them usable again.

I have taken some photographs which has been used in Sabji Patti Jharia Durga Puja Pandal to show the truth about Jharia. Have a look:

Share your comments and opinions in the comment section to discuss about the Jharia Coal Mines and Pollution control.


Tuesday 23 June 2009
Legislative Council
Estimates Committee B  (David Bartlett)

Mr FINCH - This question too is probably going over ground that you have covered before about the National Broadband Network, but can you give Tasmanians in rural areas an assurance that they will have access to broadband when the national and other schemes are rolled out.

Mr BARTLETT - I can give you an assurance that at the completion of the rollout of the National Broadband Network in Tasmania a far greater proportion of Tasmanians will have access to the best broadband in the world than any other place on the planet.

Mr FINCH - That is a good assurance, because there are a lot of people in smaller rural communities particularly who are so disadvantaged at the moment.

Mr BARTLETT - Absolutely.  I have said it plenty of times, and I have been quoted plenty of times so the journalists in the room don't have to rewrite it, but I have said that I don't think Telstra has been a friend to Tasmania and that is not denigrating the people who work for Telstra in Tasmania because most of them are my friends - I used to work with them there.  They do a great job, but when the privatisation and the deregulation of telecommunications happened in Australia, it did not favour Tasmania.


Insurance Co. and Strategic BCP Prepare for the Challenges of Growth

The BCM team operates like a consultancy to provide a deep awareness as to why we do what we do and incorporate planning into daily work. Senior Risk Manager

A Team that Knows the Importance of Risk Management

An insurance company's products include car insurance, a magazine, and a roadside service program that includes a host of benefits for car owners. They have regional offices throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Their Business Continuity Management begins with a Senior Risk Manager and a Business Continuity Management Program Coordinator. They collaborate with individuals from different business units to create, support, and maintain plans that address the needs of every department. As insurance is their business, they know the importance of threat assessment, damage mitigation, and risk management. That is why they such value on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery—and why they chose ResilienceONE® from Strategic BCP.

Company-Wide and Cross-Team Collaboration

Their team develops and maintains strong relationships with 40 individuals from across the organization. They also involve a number of subject-matter experts as needs dictate. This collaboration allows them to time their efforts for maximum effectiveness. When the team brings departments into BC planning, they focus on growth strategy and encourage each department to consider how easily an "incident" can grow into a "crisis." To reinforce this, external consultants—including experts from Strategic BCP—frequently present real-world case studies.

Using the collaborative tools that are a cornerstone of ResilienceONE, the team operates like a consultancy to provide a broader understanding of the importance of business continuity. When the team trains personnel, they do not just say, "We must plan." They provide awareness as to why—allowing each department to incorporate BC planning into their daily work."

Preparing for Growth Requires Specialized Efforts

Unlike other organizations, they operate the BC program within the arena of Enterprise Risk and Compliance on the business side of the organization. Under the management of General Council, the program receives guidance from the Board via our Audit and Enterprise Risk Management committees. They are expanding very quickly. With this in-mind, one of their primary challenges is to scale the BCM program to both their current rate of growth and their operational budget. As they grow, they strive to embed the right behavior throughout their organization—that BC is "everyone's business."

The company's use of ResilienceONE goes a very long way toward making collaboration effective. With the tools found in ResilienceONE, they communicate across departments in a common language, using one common interface. As planners pull information from many various departments, they have found that having a standardized platform is necessary. As a bonus, having different business units speaking one common language has helped each unit develop trust in what it is that BCM does.


Former Piston Okur Retires From NBA

Former Detroit Piston Mehmet Okur has retired from the NBA after 10 seasons at the age of 33. Okur is a native of Turkey. He played for the Pistons' NBA championship team in 2004. Okur was a key reserve off the bench and helped on the front line with his 6-11 size.


Bird Allergy Solutions—5 Ways To Manage Allergies Caused By Pet Birds

It can be devastating to realize that your pet bird triggers your allergies. But here are 5 ways you can manage your allergies and enjoy your pet bird as well.

Choice of Bird—This is a “Johnny come lately” idea if you’re already adopted a bird. But if you are still in the process of choosing a bird this will help. All birds are not created equal in terms of the pollutants they create. All warm-blooded animals produced dander (dead skin flakes) and birds are no exception.

However, some birds create a white powder in addition to dander which increases the number of airborne pollutants exponentially. These powder down birds include African Greys, Cockatoos, Cockatiels, and Amazons. And while these birds are absolute gorgeous creatures, they will produce more particulates than other birds.

Number of Birds—-Keeping the numbers low will obviously reduce the number of particles produced. Because some birds are more social than others, your bird may have a higher quality of life if it is one of a pair. But having large numbers in captivity is sure to lead to problems for those who are allergic.

Easy to Clean Surfaces—-You can make cleaning so much easier by making smart choices about how your aviary is furnished. Tile, wood, and linoleum are all easier to clean than carpet and rugs.

Furniture that can be wiped down with a damp cloth will prevent particles that have fallen becoming airborne again. And blinds, shades, and shutters are easier to keep clean than draperies. These may seem like small choices but they make a big difference in keeping the air clearer and reducing the symptoms that result from allergies.

Clean Smarter—-When it’s time to clean, here are several things to keep in mind. Using damp mops and cloths for the floor, walls, and cage will trap more particles and send fewer into the air.

A vacuum that has a special bag to trap pollutants and prevent them from going airborne again is best. When it’s time to clean the cage, taking it outside and hosing it down will send particles in the outdoor air rather than the air inside your home.

Clean the Air—-Each time your bird flies from one perch to another, or tugs at a toy, or preens itself some particles will be released into the air. That’s just part of having a feathered friend as part of your life. The only way to continually reduce the number of airborne particulates is to filter the air.

The most effective type of cleaner for clearing particulates from the air is a HEPA (or high efficiency particle arresting) air purifier. It is able to remove particles down to.3 microns with a micron being defined as one millionth of a meter. And its efficiency is such that for every 10,000 airborne particles in the air, it will remove 99,997 of them with 99.97% efficiency.


Archive for May, 2008

A unique contribution of Geertz, in terms of religious perspective, is his focus on how religions function in people’s lives. In this article I will focus precisely on how Geertz understands religious symbols to be a link of belief & ethos,  that mutually confirms one another and makes ethos justifiable.  I will also relate the use of religious symbols to Scripturalism, as a counter-tradition against maraboutism and illuminationism.  Geertz shows how religion helps the society and culture function as a whole.  Furthermore, from Geertz’s perspective, religion can be seen as a process, in face of changing patterns of belief and ethos.

Geertz describes the heart of religious perspective as:

“the conviction that values one holds are grounded in the inherent structure of reality, that between the way one ought to live and the way things really are there is an unbreakable inner connection.” (Geertz, 1968, 97)

The unbreakable inner connection that Geertz refers to, is achieved by means of sacred religious symbols.  What sacred symbols do for people (who maintain the symbols as sacred) is firstly to “formulate an image of the world’s construction” (97) and secondly they provide a “program for human conduct” (97).  The two aspects of sacred symbols mutually confirm one another.  The sacred symbols are “mere reflexes” (97) of one another and make the way people do things justifiable.  Such sacred symbols:

“render the world view believable and the ethos justifiable and they do it by involving each in support of the other” (97)

The framework to perceive reality is believable in response to the ethos it has been formed from.  The ethos is justifiable because the world view or framework is considered true.

One can see that in response to the above description, one of Geertz’s unique strengths (as a consequence from the study of religion) is delineating religious patterns.  The belief system acts as a symbolic sacred framework through which the truth of reality is understood.  The sacred symbol of belief also provides a guide for action and conduct in everyday life.

Geertz relates the sacred symbol, to the Indonesian and Moroccan Islamic cultures.  In doing so Geertz reveals religious patterns and social  process in both of these cultures.  According to Geertz, Indonesian illuminationism portrays a reality that is “an aesthetic hierarchy culminating in a void, and projects a style of life celebrating mental poise” (98).

In contrast, Gertz portrays Moroccan maraboutism with a conception of reality as “a field of spiritual energies nucleating in persons of individual men, and it projects a lifestyle of moral passion” (98).

According to the study by Anthony F. Wallace on The Prophetic Personality, in a situation of cultural crisis, a prophet will arise to lead the human community into a revitalization movement culminating in social and religious progress.  Geertz’s model of Moroccan maraboutism portrays Lyusi as the prophetic hero who arises and promotes progress in face of crisis, by means of confrontation, “strong-man politics” and the pious “virtue of a saint” (33).

In contrast, Indonesian illuminationism portrays a prophetic hero, who would be considered unmanly in Morocco.  Kalidaga is the Indonesian prophet who resolves the cultural crisis of Indonesia by means of stillness.  Geertz’s unique strength in the study of religion surfaces in the above examples.  He shows that religion does work; that religion is a process that creates change, progress and growth, that religion modifies, to try to help make society work.  In relation to the Indonesian and Moroccan culture, the sacred symbol of the prophet changed, because those types of forces were necessary to bring about progress in their specific cultures, even though both cultures were Islamic.  Geertz shows a concrete example of how sacred symbol, even though changing, links religious belief  (ie. the image of the prophet) to ethos (the type of action a people deem justifiable in order to achieve progress and resolution of cultural crisis).

Another of Geertz’s unique contributions to the study of religion is, understanding of religion as a pattern, an unconscious process of selection and absorption and re-working.  Geertz contrasts two quite different civilizations, the Moroccan and Indonesian in terms of a micro-level of study, by means of his own experiential research.  He then uses what is found in the micro-level study and applies it to the macro-level for an overall view of the process and patterns of religion–in terms of the analysis of culture and how religion grows out of and ultimately beyond  that culture (94).  A religious pattern according to Geertz, is a dialectic or religion transcending culture (and common sense) and vice versa.  Thus, Geertz leads one to understand religion and ethos (common sense action) in terms of one another.

The Scripturalist interlude is an example of a changing pattern at work in both the Indonesian and Moroccan civilizations.

The three forces whose impact is found (during the Scripturalist interlude) in both civiliztions are “the establishment of Western domination, the increasing influence of scholastic doctrinal…scriptural Islam, and the crystallization of the activist nation-state. These three processes of cultural, social change together have changed the “old-order” Indonesia and Morocco.  ‘A step backward often emerges before a leap itself is taken’ ” (69).  Both civiliztions have responded to social changes by stepping back into a re-discovery of the Scripture.  Scripturalism surfaces as the adaptive change of religion in response to the impact of social change.  Sacred symbols once again link the new frameworks of belief and ethos.  Through the altered social situation sacred symbols have transformed from:

“religious symbols of imagistic revelations of the Divine, evidences of God, to ideological assertions of the Divine’s importance, badges of piety …” (61)

This process has been common to both the Indonesian and Moroccan culture, as has been the “loss of spiritual self-confidence” (62)

As a result the attractiveness of the religions of Kalidaga and Lyusi is still present, but the certitude these traditions used to produce is not present, since social conditions have changed over time.  The Islamic Scripturalist Interlude has been an attempt to re-establish the “original” religious beliefs, while simultaneously being progressive and modern (63).

The Indonesian general scripturalist movement has been mostly associated with the word santri (religious student).  In Morocco it has centered around the same type of figure called a taleb. The movements were not highly organized.  What became of these movements, or shift back to ‘orthodox belief’ created the new ethos of pilgrimage to Mecca, the Muslim boarding school,  and the internal market system (67).  These three newly adapted ways of human action became sacred symbols, linking belief to action or ethos.  The Scripturalist interlude was the Islamic attempt to adapt religion in order to solve a situation of social response to:

“the industrial revolution, Western intrusion and domination, the decline of the aristocractic principle of government, and the triumph of radical nationalism” (57).

The classical religious styles, illuminationism and maraboutism, no longer have the definition they once had.  Geertz shows, through his description of the Scripturalist interlude, the changing pattern of religion, as an interplay with a changing culture.

The result is described by Geertz as “radical fundamentalism and determined  modernism” (69).  Islam then becomes a “justification for modernity without itself actually becoming modern” (69).  The new figures of spirituality surface, during the scripturalist interlude, as President Sukarno and the Sultan Muhammed V. (instead of Kalidjaga and Lyusi of classical times).

Once again, we can see the emerging pattern of the prophet leader who tries to establish order out of a cultural crisis and change.  Sukarno promotes nationalism, humanitarianism, Democracy, Social Justice and Belief in God (85).  Mohammed V seemed to be of genuine piety and became a popular hero, leading an independent Morocco (80).  The Scripturalist Interlude reinforces Geertz’s religious perspective of religion as process.

In conclusion I have discussed a few of Geertz’s strengths in relation to the study of religion.  Geertz combines phenomenology, with social historical, and anthropological approaches to the study of religion.  Unique is his micro-level method of anthropological field research, applied to a macro-level understanding of the emerging patterns of religion.

Geertz has shown how religious symbols link belief with ethos and how Scripturalism has acted to further the process of religious and social change in Morocco and Indonesia.  The emerging process of changing religious patterns in mutual confirmation with social change, readily coalesce with the function of religion (within any civilization) as progressive, even though passing through a series of vicissitudes.

Works Cited

Geertz, Clifford.  Islam Observed, 1968, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

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Civil Engineering (2018)

Civil engineers design, plan, oversee, construct and operate infrastructure and services that help shape natural and man-made environments. They work in many fields, including structures, dams, bridges, gas and water supply systems, sewerage systems, transportation systems and roads. The Civil Engineering programme gives the student knowledge and expertise to work as a professional civil engineer. Prospective careers include local and regional government, engineering consultancies, construction companies and suppliers. Civil Engineering is available as a specified programme for the BE(Hons). To complete the specified programme in Civil Engineering, students must complete the following programme.

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To everyone at Pulkovo Airlines

Dear Colleagues,

The staff and management at Sibir Airlines would all like to express their deepest condolences in connection with the tragic crash of Flight 612. The death of the aircraft’s passengers and crew is an irreparable loss, and we mourn with you. The skies can be cruel. Be strong and do not lose courage. Much now depends on your fortitude and resilience, and we are ready to provide whatever support and assistance we can as the situation develops.

V. F. Filyov,

General Director, Sibir Airlines JSC