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Archive for August, 2010

There are a multitude of risks facing your precious stored data; viruses that can wipe out entire hard drives, physical damage to your machine or even an accidental deletion. Thank fully there are also several options for backing up your data in a secondary location giving you peace of mind. Now lets talk about them.

CDs and DVDs:

Very affordable, especially if bought in bulk. CDs can store approximately from 650MB to 900MB. An average DVD can store about 4.7GB and up to 17GB for a double layer, double sided DVD. You will need a drive capable of writing such as a dual layer drive for dual layer DVDs and CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R can only be written to once while RW varieties allow multiple recordings. Nowadays with ever expanding movie and music libraries, you may need several discs to fit all your data, especially if you’re using CDs. Optical discs are also slower than flash drives and external hard drives and are prone to scratching damage.

USB Flash Drives:

These handy little drives can store data ranging from 64MB to 64GB and plug into your USB port. They differ from external hard drives in that they do not have any moving mechanical parts. They are low power devices and won’t require external power adapters like certain external hard drives. Prices are lowering and sizes increasing at a staggering pace every year also. Being so small you may need to take extra care not to lose them though.

The world of robots

Robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.

Early modern developments

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) sketched plans for a humanoid robot around 1495. Da Vinci’s notebooks, rediscovered in the 1950s, contain detailed drawings of a mechanical knight now known as Leonardo’s robot, able to sit up, wave its arms and move its head and jaw. The design was probably based on anatomical research recorded in his Vitruvian Man. It is not known whether he attempted to build it.

In 1738 and 1739, Jacques de Vaucanson exhibited several life-sized automatons: a flute player, a pipe player and a duck. The mechanical duck could flap its wings, crane its neck, and swallow food from the exhibitor’s hand, and it gave the illusion of digesting its food by excreting matter stored in a hidden compartment.Complex mechanical toys and animals built in Japan in the 1700s were described in the Karakuri zui (Illustrated Machinery, 1796)

Modern developments

The Japanese craftsman Hisashige Tanaka (1799–1881), known as “Japan’s Edison” or “Karakuri Giemon”, created an array of extremely complex mechanical toys, some of which served tea, fired arrows drawn from a quiver, and even painted a Japanese kanji character.[39] In 1898 Nikola Tesla publicly demonstrated a radio-controlled torpedo.Based on patents for “teleautomation”, Tesla hoped to develop it into a weapon system for the US Navy.

In 1926, Westinghouse Electric Corporation created Televox, the first robot put to useful work. They followed Televox with a number of other simple robots, including one called Rastus, made in the crude image of a black man. In the 1930s, they created a humanoid robot known as Elektro for exhibition purposes, including the 1939 and 1940 World’s Fairs. In 1928, Japan’s first robot, Gakutensoku, was designed and constructed by biologist Makoto Nishimura.

The first electronic autonomous robots were created by William Grey Walter of the Burden Neurological Institute at Bristol, England in 1948 and 1949. They were named Elmer and Elsie. These robots could sense light and contact with external objects, and use these stimuli to navigate.

The first truly modern robot, digitally operated and programmable, was invented by George Devol in 1954 and was ultimately called the Unimate. Devol sold the first Unimate to General Motors in 1960, and it was installed in 1961 in a plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.

Future trends and technological development

Japan hopes to have full-scale commercialization of service robots by 2025. Much technological research in Japan is led by Japanese government agencies, particularly the Trade Ministry.

As robots become more advanced, eventually there may be a standard computer operating system designed mainly for robots. Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source set of programs being developed at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Technical University of Munich, Germany, among others. ROS provides ways to program a robot’s navigation and limbs regardless of the specific hardware involved. It also provides high-level commands for items like image recognition and even opening doors. When ROS boots up on a robot’s computer, it would obtain data on attributes such as the length and movement of robots’ limbs. It would relay this data to higher-level algorithms. Microsoft is also developing a a “Windows for robots” system with its Robotics Developer Studio, which has been available since 2007.

Preventive maintenance is also known as Time-based or Calendar based maintenance. Maintenance activities are performed on a calendar or fix operating schedule in order to extend the life of the equipment and prevent failures. In preventive maintenance, maintenance is performed without regard to equipment condition. It assumes that the condition of the machine and the need for maintenance is correlated with time which means that the item can be expected to operate reliably for an amount of time and is expected to wear out. A failure rate and history records are used to established the best frequency. Therefore, a preventive maintenance is simply performing maintenance on a fixed interval which may in the form of time, number of strokes or frequency.

Stress can cause an asset to deteriorate by lowering its resistance, exposure to stress includes output, distance traveled, operating cyscles, calendar time and running time. When the part or component wears out directly with respect to its operating age, these parts will survive this defined age (example, 98% of impelers were replaced after the end of 2 years). The part or component will have a normal rate of wear, TPM term will be normal fatigue. Fatigue happens when stress exceeds the strength of the material of the spare part or component. Application of Preventive Maintenance task will only be worth doing and feasible to parts that will have a normal wear or deterioration.

Preventive maintenance will include regular checking, cleaning and inspecting, scheduled parts replacement and controlling, regular routine lubrication, regular calibration, periodic preventive maintenance schedule and monitoring activities. Replacement of parts or overhauls is either based on time-dominated frequency number of strokes or running hours. There is a high probability of failure at the end of the period and failure will survive up to this point, then Preventive Maintenance is worth doing.

But, preventive maintenance is limited when founded on the belief that a given history of failures of a given components failing after a certain number of hours used or other measurements. But most parts based on the averages. Preventive Maintenance carry out the maintenance work at regular intervals, problems with this practice is that since most tasks are based on the average maintenance may carry out work that is not required and probability of replacing parts which are still in working conditions. Since this is a Time-based Maintenance, studies have shown that most of equipment failures are not related to the number of hours.

Introduction

It is the government’s job to protect U.S. citizens from outside threats and this is where national security comes into play. Not only is it their job to protect individual people, but there is also many companies in the U.S. that need more protection. Such industries may include anything that has to do with advanced technology, aerospace, chemical producers, or even companies that make weaponry. The National Security Agency always has to be aware of any potential threats that could happen on a daily basis. They have a large team of highly trained and specialized employees to make sure that the job gets done.

The Idea in a Nutshell

National security did not originate in the United States. It actually originated in European countries because they were the first to have a concept of maintaining a stable nation with the concept of security. National security, as a term, was first introduced in the United States not until after World War II.  The National Security Agency was then founded in 1952 by presidential order, which was an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Defense. The primary function of this agency is to “encode and decode communications intelligence and to protect U.S. signals and information systems.”  The headquarters of the National Security Agency is located in Fort Meade, MD and it is the largest employer in the country of mathematicians. This agency was unknown for many years and so was their large budget. It wasn’t until recently that they were actually acknowledged.

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know About National Security:

National security did not become a concept until the National Security Act of 1947 was signed by the U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Even though this act was signed on July 26, 1947, it did not take effect until September 18, 1947, which was the “the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense.

The National Security Act was amended in 1949. With his amendment the act created a few others forms of security, which include the National Military Establishment (also known as Department of Defense), Department of the Air Force, Secretary of Defense, and established a National Security Council.

National Security is the “requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy.” There are several factors that are taken into account when it comes to national security which include making sure that armed forces remain effective, classified information is always protected, and that there is a prepared plan for emergencies such as terrorism.  Although these are just a few factors listed, it is highly important that the government makes sure the tasks are carried out effectively.

The government branch that is responsible for coordinating the policies on national security issues is the National Security Council.  This was created by the National Security Act in 1947.  The President uses this council when considering national security and foreign policy issues, which is what the National Security Council was mainly created to do.

5.             In order for a nation to have national security they must possess economic security, energy security, environmental security, etc. There are many security threats that not only involve the usually enemies such as nation-states but they also involve non-state enemies such as terrorist organizations, narcotic interest groups and some multi-national organizations.

6.            This nation as a whole is very competitive and national security for countries with high amounts of resources and value is mainly based on technical measures and operational processes.  This can include anything that involves information protection, state secrets, weaponry, and negotiations with other nation states. They basically depend on “management practices, technical capabilities, the projection of images on both internally and externally, and the capacity to gain enough of the will of the people to gather taxes and spend them on useful efforts.”

Some argue that it is necessary to protect certain industries through national security.  Some industries that require protection is aerospace, advanced electronics, and semiconductors.  Usually, companies that are involved with foreign competition seek national security because “it would be dangerous to rely primarily on foreign producers for them.” An example of a company that is protected by national security because of this is the semiconductor industry.

The semiconductor industry is highly protected by national security. Semiconductors are the technology that makes many products work such as computers, cell phones, medical devices, digital cameras and TVs. They also play an important role in defense systems that are used to ensure national security. The reason this industry is significant to national security is because we cannot rely on foreign producers for them since they are used primarily in our defense systems.

Another industry that is protected by national security is any type of chemical company.  There are over 2,000 tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium that exist in several countries around the world. There have been 18 documented cases of theft or loss of the enriched uranium or plutonium that have yet to be discovered. There are terrorists and other groups that are searching for nuclear weapons or the experience to make them. The consequences of nuclear explosion anywhere in the world would be devastating. Not only could any country be a target, but whoever the target may be, every country around the world would feel the effects.

10.            The aerospace industry is a strong defense that helps strengthen America’s national security. “The aerospace and defense industrial base produces the weapons that protect our country, boost out economic strength, support our allies and promote U.S. interests around the world.”

The Video Lounge

This video tells a little about the history of the National Security Agency and how it first started. It also explains some of the daily tasks they do and how they are the largest firm of code breakers in America.

National security is very important not only in the U.S., but all over the world. Although some people may oppose of it and feel that individual rights are more important, national security is the reason why most citizens are even alive and able to have freedom because it is the government’s job to protect them from outside threats.  Whether it may be a semiconductor, aerospace, or chemical industry, national security should be equally important in all industries because they are all a major part of our society and they all need to be protected.

Introduction

             Exploring people’s behavior when they try to work together to accomplish a goal gives excellent insight into the role of a leader.  How well a leader understands himself and those he wishes to lead can differentiate an effective leader from an impotent one.  Leadership skills are especially valuable to those in charge large groups of people, especially in business.  A theory, Situational Leadership Theory, was developed specifically to define and illustrate this practice.  The theory examines the role of the follower and his capability and willingness to accomplish a task.

The Idea in a Nutshell

Situational leadership is a theory that looks at a group of people at different degrees of maturity and how each degree should be approached and handled from a position of leadership.  It illustrates how involved the leader will have to be depending on the follower’s stage of ability and willingness. The theory was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard during the mid 1970’s.   They recognized that there was a connection in task behavior and relationship behavior, then determined that there were four distinct leadership styles.  The styles include: Telling, Selling, Participating, and Delegating. When determining which leadership style to apply, you will have to look at the distinct level of maturity that will be appropriate for a specific follower.  When examining a well rounded manager, consideration of the manager’s ability to analyze the situation and apply various leadership styles to shifting environmental position will determine the specific leadership style being applied.

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Situational Leadership Theory

1.            Situational Leadership Theory brings attention to the role of the follower.   A leader’s success is dependent on the willingness of the follower to affirm or abandon the leader.  A leader is only as effective as the followers behind him, thus making a focus on the follower a true mark of a good leader.

2.            The second dimension of the Situational Leadership Theory is the ability and willingness of the followers to perform a task.   Exploring and defining the follower’s maturity is paramount in the decision of how to lead the followers toward a particular goal.

3.            The Telling style is a high task-low relationship in which the leader explains the roles and assignments for each follower.  There is a one way communication between leader and follower whereas the leader informs the follower of what task needs to be performed.

4.            The Selling style is a high task-high relationship that deals with the leader still explaining the roles and assignments but asking for the follower’s insight.  This uses a two-way communication, giving reinforcement so the follower will adopt the leader’s idea.

5.            The Participating style is a low task-high relationship, in which the decision making process is shared.  The leader takes part in the decision, but leaves it to the followers to make the choice on how the task will be performed.

6.            In the Delegating style, the leader has a low task-low relationship with the follower.  The follower makes the decisions and chooses the way in which he or she believes will create the best results.  The leader is involved with the decisions, but mainly oversees the process.

7.            The first Maturity level is a person that is unable and unwilling, meaning the individual might not have the skills to perform the task or the courage to take charge of the project.  To get the response that the leader wants the Telling style would work best in this situation.

8.            In the second Maturity level, the person is unable but willing.  The person is not skilled to take on the task, but has a good work ethic and will attempt to take on the work anyway.  A  Selling style would be appropriate when attempting to convince the follower to gain the skill needed to complete the task.

9.            Maturity level three will consist of people that are able but unwilling to do the task by themselves.  The person has the experience and skills to complete the task, but lacks the confidence.  The Participating style should be applied here by the leader.  The leader needs to help motivate the follower to complete the task.

10.            The most advanced Maturity level is a person who is able and willing.  The person is experienced and highly skilled. The individual will be confident in completing the task.  This type of person adapts to change.  The Delegating style is used when the leader only needs to oversee the situation.

The Video Lounge

This video is of Dr. Paul Hersey speaking of how and why he came up with his theory.  He focuses on how relevant this theory is in today’s marketplace with leaders being found at a variety of levels.

This clip is of Aubrey Warren discussing his use of Situational Leadership Theory in his leadership program.  He draws attention to the benefits of this leadership style.

My Take

The Situational Leadership Theory is very easy to apply to all types of leadership challenges.  The theory is adaptable and simple to use.  This theory’s greatest strength being available to anyone with basic training and can be used immediately.  The basic skill is identifying and diagnosing a follower’s capabilities, then applying the appropriate level of leader involvement.  The obvious benefit is the flexibility to change as the staff changes.  The theory is highly practical, and can be used at high level leadership, lower level leadership, and even parental leadership.  The theory’s flexibility makes it even more relevant today due to the absolute certainty of change.