Business Trip Brussels Essay

My flight to Stockholm would be late landing. The pilot told us that we were in a ‘stack’ of planes circling above the snow clouds that were giving Brussels its first taste of winter. Air traffic control had closed the runways for a short period at dawn, and the early morning flights from all around Europe were now being allocated new landing slots along with the long-haul jumbos from the Far East and the US. After a 20-minute delay, we descended bumpily through the clouds, and landed on a recently cleared runway. Even then there was a further ‘hold’ on a taxiway; we were told that the de-icing of the apron was being completed so that planes could proceed to their allocated stands and airbridges. All around the airport I could see the scurrying flashing beacons of the snow-clearing vehicles, the catering suppliers’ vans, the aviation fuel trucks, the baggage trailers, buses transporting crews and passengers, security police cars, and an assortment of other vehicles all going purposefully about their work. Brussels airport always looks busy, with over 10 million passengers a year, but this morning the complexity and scale of the operations were particularly evident. Finally, about an hour late, we pulled up to the gate, the engines were turned off, and we disembarked into an icy-cold airbridge, leaving behind a particularly untidy plane strewn with litter from a full cabin of restless passengers. We passed the team of cleaners and maintenance staff waiting just outside. They will have a hard time this morning; more mess to clear and probably less time than usual to do it, as the airline will want a quick turnaround to get back on to schedule,’ I commented to my colleagues. We could just hear the sounds of frantic activities going on below the plane: baggage and cargo being unloaded, catering vehicles arriving, fuel being loaded, and technicians checking over the engines and control surfaces. Everyone trying to get their work completed quickly and correctly, not least so that they could get back indoors out of the biting cold wind! From the airbridge we walked past the crowded seating areas, where plane-sized groups were gathering anxiously awaiting the signal from the gate staff to board their much delayed flights. Then on to the moving walkways, conveyed leisurely past other departure lounges, equally overfilled with passengers. Anxious to get ahead of the crowd, we took to a running pace past the rows of cafes, bars and shops, hoping to avoid the usual morning queue for Passport Control. I should have remembered the old saying ‘more haste, less speed’ because my next journey was to the First Aid room! I had apparently slipped on some spilt coffee that had not been cleaned up in the haste of the morning, and had fallen awkwardly, straining my ankle and breaking my duty-free brandy. ‘At least they would clean the floor after that,’ I thought, sadly. Suitably patched up, I hobbled with my colleagues and joined the long queue for Passport Control, and eventually through to Baggage Reclaim. Even with the excellent new baggage-handling systems in Brussels, the passengers usually get there first, but the accident had changed all that! Scanning the video screens, we found no reference to our flight arrival; the remaining bags from our flight had apparently already been removed from the carousel and were stored in an adjacent office. After a simple signing ceremony, we were reunited with our belongings, and hastened (slowly in my case) to the taxi rank. Our hopes of a quick ride to the city were dispelled when we saw the long queue in the icy wind, so we made our way to the station below, where a dedicated ‘City Express’ train departs every 20 minutes for the Gare de Nord and Gare Centrale. We just missed one! After a busy and successful day at our Brussels office, a taxi was called, and we were back at the airport in the thick of the evening rush hour. The departures check-in area is the upper floor of a vast new terminal extension, and is very orderly and well equipped. Facing you on entry from the taxi drop-off point is a huge electronic display which lists all departures scheduled for the next few hours and showing the appropriate check-in desk number for each flight. The speed of the check-in systems has been improved dramatically, so there was no queue at our desk, and the three of us were issued with boarding passes in only a couple of minutes. Our baggage sped away on conveyors down to the new sorting hall two storeys below. Brochures explain that the new terminal extension was designed to make it possible to go from check-in to final boarding in only 20 minutes, which has involved investment in a state-of-the-art automated baggage-handling system. On my last visit, following traffic delays on the way to the airport, I found that this system works, but I doubt that it would if everyone arrived only 20 minutes before departure! It is no wonder that they advise checking in one hour before; it also gives passengers much more time to spend money in the duty-free shops, restaurants and bars! By this time, my injured leg had swollen up and was throbbing painfully. This seemed to be a routine situation for the check-in staff, who arranged for a wheelchair and attendant to take me through Border Control and security checks. While my colleagues travelled down to the departures hall by escalator, I took the slower route by lift, meeting just outside the duty-free shops where the attendant left them to take care of me. We had some time to spare, so we replenished the brandy, bought some Belgian chocolates and headed for a cafe-bar. While Brussels is renowned for its excellent cuisine, we didn’t expect to find high standards of food in the quick-service environment of an airport, but we were wrong! The delicious aromas of freshly prepared food attracted our custom, and we weren’t disappointed. After a welcome glass of speciality raspberry-flavoured beer to round off the meal, we headed for the airline’s executive lounge. The view across the airfield was not promising! After a bright, crisp day, more snow-laden clouds had arrived and a chill wind cut across the tarmac. De-icing crews were working on the parked aircraft and others were treating the runways, taking quick action between the aircraft movements. Concerned that we might be delayed and miss our connection at Oslo, we checked with the staff at the airline’s flight information desk. After some phoning, they confirmed that, although there could be some delays, Oslo had arranged to hold connecting flights, as many passengers originated from Brussels. Their professional and friendly advice made us feel much more at ease, and they even offered to allow us to send fax or phone messages to our destination. They couldn’t have been more helpful. Announcements of the minor delays were made over the speaker system, but it wasn’t long before we were directed to the departure lounge and were preparing to board. Outside, around the aircraft in the gloom, the baggage trucks were pulling away and the giant push-off tractor was being connected up to the nose-wheel. Ten minutes later, we were at the end of the runway, ready for take-off. ‘Today must have been a very busy one for everyone involved in keeping the airport open,’ I thought, ‘but perhaps every day has its own challenges in such a complex operation. ’

Tour-Guide: Providing Location-Based Tourist Information on Mobile Phones

Nowadays, people’s consumption structure is improving steadily. There has been a large increase in the number of people out on tours, for the sake of recreation and entertainment. Tourism is the strongest and largest industry in the global economy. It has played a significant role in boosting the city's economy and social employment. In the traditional tourism industry, tourist information is obtained mainly through newspaper, magazines, radio and other simple ways. It can not update and utilize timely. The poor situation of the real-time performance failed to meet people’s growing demand. The emergence of the Internet makes up for this shortfall. Detailed texts, pictures, videos and other guidance information are provided, so people can better understand the tourist attractions and make decision objectively. However, this approach also has some drawbacks. Since most people use personal computer to access Internet, they can not get information anywhere and anytime. People need intelligent, professional and personalized user-centric mobile information services. The integration of the Internet and mobile communication is the main tend of the information industry. With the development of the mobile communication technology, mobile telephone has been used not only as communication tool, but also as entertainment and office tools, providing ubiquitous information access, leisure and entertainment, helping people keep in contact with their friends and so on. With portable, wireless mobile devices to access Internet has become a new requirement. To use information technology to publicize and manage tourism, fully making use of mobile telephone to provide guidance information for people’s tour is becoming imperative equirement of modern tour. The prevalence of mobile phones and the pervasiveness of the wireless networks make mobile a promising platform for personal ubiquitous computing. Current mobile services are enhanced with location-aware features, providing the user with better use experience. A great number of mobile phone applications appeared recently, many of which are location-related [1, 2, 3]. Location-dependent services, which answer location-related queries, are an important class of context-aware applications. With kinds of promising pplications, like local information obtain (traffic condition, navigation messages and so on) and neighboring environment queries, such as finding the nearest restaurant, location-dependent query service will soon become an necessary part of our daily lives. We will describe the design, implementation and deployment of a location-based application, named Tour- Guide, with the mobile phone as a platform. This application permitted users to get tour guidance information they need anytime and anywhere. In particular, the tourist data could be browsed or queried through an Internet map service such as Google Maps

Ops 571 Statistical Process Control

Chase, Jacobs and Aquilano pose questions such as, â€Å"How many paint defects are there in the finish of a car? [and] Have we improved our painting process by installing a new sprayer? † These questions are meant to investigate and apply different techniques that we can use to improve the quality of life. Quality control not only applies to manufacturing techniques, it can also be applied to everyday life. This discussion will focus on a specific method of quality control called statistical process control that will ensure my morning process is effective.One method of quality control can be pursued through process control procedures like statistical process control or SPC. SPC â€Å"involves testing a random sample of output from a process to determine whether the process is producing items within a preselected range†. (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 354) SPC is a method that can be applied to a process in order to monitor or control that process. In week one, I described a personal process of waking up in the morning through to going to work.In addition to my process, I presented several bottlenecks that can slow my process down including the ability of my alarm clock working, weather impact on travel time, and availability of gym equipment. In the examples below, I will focus on how alarm failures have affected my morning process. SPC has shown how statistical data can be charted in order to see how my morning process is affected by my bottlenecks and whether or not it is a positive. Goods or services are observed not as variables but as attributes. Attributes are quality characteristics that are classified as either conforming or not conforming to specification. † (Chase, Jacobs & Anquilano, 354) In example one, a sample was taken 10 times over a 30 day period in which alarm failures were observed. In order to create a visual representation of the statistics, we must combine the data from the sample. Once the data is gathered, we can provide a solution to create a control chart. Control charts are used as a â€Å"component of total quality [in order to] monitor processes†. Green, Toms, Stinson, 37) First, we calculate the fraction of defective alarms from the sample in order to gain a total and a centerline for our graph. p = Total number of defects from all samples/Number of samples ? Sample size p = 25/ 10 ? 30 = . 08333 Next, we can calculate the standard deviation. Sp = vp (1 – p)/ n Sp = v . 08333 (1 – . 08333) / 30 = . 05050 Example 1Sample| Number of Days| Days Alarm Failed to Work| Fraction Defective| 1| 30| 2| . 06667| 2| 30| 2| . 06667| 3| 30| 3| . 10000| 4| 30| 3| . 10000| 5| 30| 2| . 06667| 6| 30| 4| . 13333| 7| 30| 3| . 10000| 8| 30| 2| . 06667| 9| 30| 2| . 6667| 10| 30| 2| . 06667| Total| 300| 25| . 08333| Sample Standard Deviation| . 05050| | | Finally, the control limits are used to measure attributes with a single decision of yes or no, good or bad, and positive or negative. This s imple decision can be translated into a graph with upper and lower control limits. If the sample is plotted and stays in between the limits, then the sample is considered good or working properly. â€Å"Should a sample mean or proportion fall outside the control limits or a series of mean or proportions exhibit a non-random pattern the process is deemed out-of-control. (Green, Toms, Stinson, 37) In order to turn the chart into a graph, we will need to calculate the upper control limits (UCL), the lower control limits (LCL) and z. â€Å"†¦z is the number of standard deviations for a specific confidence†. In this example, we will use the †z-value of 3 in order to represent a 99. 7% confidence† (Chase, Jacobs, & Anquilano, 356). This means that when that the confidence interval â€Å"falls outside the control limits, there is a 99. 7% chance that there is something wrong with the process that must be corrected†. Green, Toms, Stinson, 37) Though not perfe ct, a confidence of 99. 7% is useful. The SPC must also take into consideration the number of data points as well. The more data that is available the stronger your confidence intervals are. UCL = p + z Sp UCL = p + 3Sp UCL = . 08333 + 3(. 05050) = . 23483 LCL = p – z Sp LCL = p – 3Sp LCL = . 08333 ? 3(. 05050) = -. 06817 In the control chart, the data from the sample stays in between the controls. This means that my process in the morning is working properly and is effective.Now, it is important to look to the future trends in order to predict seasonal factors. â€Å"A seasonal factor is the amount of correction needed in a time series to adjust for the season of the year. † (Chase, Jacobs & Anquilano, 533) Seasonal factors may affect the samples by taking into consideration factor based on seasons or time periods. The alarm clock that is used to wake me up in the morning is not dependent on any factors of time or season. Statistical process control is one way to control quality and make sure goals are attained.Statistical methods show that the samples taken can create visual representations that conclude my alarm clock is an effective method to starting my morning process. This ensures that it is operating at its fullest potential. REFERENCES Chase, R. B. , Jacobs, F. R. , Aquilano, N. J. Operations management for competitive advantage (11th ed). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin. Green Jr. K, Toms L, Stinson T. STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL APPLIED WITHIN AN EDUCATION SERVICES ENVIRONMENT. Academy Of Educational Leadership Journal [serial online]. June 2012;16 (2):33-46.

Targeted Work Class Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Targeted Work Class - Research Paper Example Wal-Mart is capable of achieving these objectives while still maintaining and improving profitability and market share. This work processes will be met by the linking of work groups and their processes in the internal customer and supply chains (Dreher & Dougherty, 2001). Once this is achieved, this linked functional work processes will become the major cross functional processes by which Wal-Mart’s externally focused business objectives will be met. This paper will examine the work processes and key employees of Wal-Mart stores. It will further discuss the changes that Wal-Mart will make in line with the strategic challenges it might experience in the future. This will include the types of workforce needed, the knowledge, skills and appropriate abilities. The compensation and benefits of Wal-Mart Stores will also be given. It is worth noting that these key cross functional business processes will be highly dependent on the way in which the management at Wal-Mart will structur e these processes. This can be done in two ways; through the delivery processes and the support processes. Delivery processes, in this case, refers to the customer facing processes while the support processes are those that are required to sustain the delivery functions. The delivery processes, at Wal-Mart, will involve the product service development process, customer order process and product service maintenance process. The product service development process headed by the Products Development Manager will ensure the development of new product offerings from the concept, all the way through research, development, introduction and update, to the withdrawal from the market. The customer order process headed by the Customer Care Manager will involve the requirements of customers for products or services from the moment the customer enquires all through the distribution and sale. The product service maintenance process headed by the Product Development Manager will be the provision o f the after sale services and support (Dreher & Dougherty, 2001). One the other hand, the support processes will entail the human resource acquisition process and the business management process. The human resource acquisition process will be headed by the Human Resource Manager whose job will be to provide and maintain Wal-Mart’s personnel from manpower, planning, skills profile, recruitment, induction, training to development. The HRM will also be in charge of succession plans, motivation, appraisals, disciplinary actions, termination, retirement and pension administration (Andersen & Narus, 1999). The business management process headed by the Business Manager will be in charge of the process of managing the business operations from defining the future vision and mission of Wal-Mart to developing long term business plans, defining the business objectives, annual opportunities and financial planning. The Business Manager will also monitor performance and provide functional g uidance and direction to business plans review and revision. Wal-Mart will have to change in order to meet its strategic challenges in the future by being attentive to the customers and the market. Through information generated during the strategic management work process, they will be able to gather customer requirements related to the strategic challenges they face (Dreher & Dougher

Marketing strategies being implemented by Contiki Australia Case Study

Marketing strategies being implemented by Contiki Australia - Case Study Example Introduction Contiki Australia is a coach tour organization established in the year 1962. Major aim of the organization is to provide organised fun and adventurous tours targeted for the youth aged between 18 and 35. This part of the essay will determine the image of Contiki. Discussion The organization provides their target customers the value of an adventurous and organized trip enriched with tours, activities and flexible optional excursions. The image the organization portrays to its group of target customers is of an organization that provides young and energetic individual hassle free tours full of adventures and fun. The organization provides diversified services to its customers. Travel is known as high involvement activity. The company website of Contiki provides key information on its travel tips, tours, videos, FAQs, virtual community, newsletters and competitions. The organization reviewed several aspects in order to motivate and attract young travellers. Generation Y is considered as internet generation. Youth members of generation Y have a powerful sense of autonomy and independence. Therefore, the organization effectively implemented online marketing strategy in late 1970s to attract the young individuals. The company website is very popular with its specific niche market as they provide key information about several tour packages and services. The organization is popular among its target audiences. According to the young target audiences, the organization provides unforgettable travel experience. Contiki promises that the organization will help the customers to discover different cultures and meet with new individuals from all over the world. Effective value creation and lead management strategy helped the organization to fulfil the demand of target audiences. According to a survey, the travellers are motivated to experience different things from their home environment. The organization has successfully developed superior value for its target cu stomers. Rigorous understanding of motivation and needs helped the organization to attract young travellers in the highly competitive global marketplace. Major objective of the brand manager of Contiki is to build meaningful and strong bonds between the organizations and its target customers. The executives of the organization used to share several travel stories to captivate and inspire the target customers. These stories avail several common themes, such as fun, adventure and feel good factor. These stories are arbitrated from several travel videos that feature on several social networking sites and company website of Contiki. The organization incites their users to share the gravel experiences. According to the travellers, the organization provides customer oriented products and services to grab significant market share in this competitive global market place. Conclusion Contiki is one of the leading Australia based travel and tour organizations. The organization provides coach t our facilities to the young customers. The organization is very much popular due to several differentiated products and services. Contiki is a significant example of an organization that has developed superior value to the target customers. Question 2 Contiki tour is an Australia based organization that offers holiday and travel packages to several domestic and international customers. Introduction The organization effectively tried to create value for customers through several key marketing strategies and activities. It is true that the organizations need to develop unique strategies in order to sustain in the competitive global market place. This part of the essay will discuss about the marketing activities that have been practiced by Contiki to create value f

The Key Features of Islamic Banking Business in Dubai Research Paper

The Key Features of Islamic Banking Business in Dubai - Research Paper Example Among the two distinct trends of revivalism, modernism emphasized on the religious aspects substantiated by the Shari’a and debated the premise that interest can amount to Riba only if it is perceived as unfair, while neo-revivalism staunchly upheld its notion that interest in any form tantamount to Riba and hence should be abolished. During 1970s neo-revivalists, augmented by â€Å"the oil-wealth of the conservative Gulf countries† (Saeed, 1996, P. 15), were successful in establishing their interpretation that interest is equivalent to Riba. Consequently, Islamic banks were established across the globe with the primary aim of abolishing interest from the banking as well as financial systems. The Dubai chapter of Islamic banking has vital significance to the Islamic financial system. Though neo-revivalism had given rise to semi-Islamic banks in Egypt and Malaysia back in the 1960s, Dubai came up with the first Islamic bank per se in the form of the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), whose operations started simultaneously with that of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in 1975 (Shoult, 2006, P. 213). The banking sector as observed in Dubai is a prominent subset of that of the UAE and reflects most of the trends shown by the latter. UAE’s banking sector has benefitted immensely from the stupendous economic development and the factors that have contributed to its prosperity are low rates of interest coupled with high price bands of its most precious natural resource – oil. An important feature of UAE’s banking sector is that the government holds huge stakes in it which signifies its enhanced control over the oil based macroeconomy of the Gulf nations (Global Investment House, 2007, P. 7).

Financial Health of Al Rayan Bank of Britain Term Paper

Financial Health of Al Rayan Bank of Britain - Term Paper Example The bank offers high standard services (Report: Qatar, 2008). The bank has employed highly qualified personnel who are ready to serve their customers genuinely and acting with utmost good faith. This is the basis of their retail banking operations.The bank ventured in unique investment type. It invests n developing different types of infrastructure and human resource. The main objective of this kind of investment is to provide a unique state of the art of product to its clients.The bank has a strong asset base. Since it became a part of Masraf Al Rayan banks of Qatar it increased its asset size making money bank available for its customers. This means that the bank offers more products to its clients and can do more investment activities.WeaknessThe bank is faced with a big debt (Cornell, 2007). This debt accrues a lot of interest hence even if there is a lot of cash inflow realized there is still a huge amount of cash outflow that the bank therefore not realizing big returns from th e activitiesExisting credit risks affect the bank negatively. This arises from those customers who fail to meet their obligations. It may also arise from their counterparties. This hence affects adversely the banks financial condition, results and future prospects.The bank should expand in other geographic areas both locally and internationally to add up opportunities for the bank. It can introduce mobile banking to enhance efficiency and come up software application for android and IOS devices.

Discussion post Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Discussion post - Essay Example Common symptoms of acute bronchitis include; persistent cough which lasts for about 10 to 20 days which creates clear mucus. While for pneumonia includes; high fever, chest pains, and shortness of breath. The acute bronchitis affects the lower respiratory tract while pneumonia affects the upper respiratory tract (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2011). I agree with Christopher Johnson on the need for the patient to find someone to guide her through some positive lifestyle changes. The signs and symptoms by the patient indicate she is suffering from chronic bronchitis. The recommendations made after diagnosis will help the patient to get well soon and manage the sickness. I also agree the patient needs to be given lessons on antibiotics intake. The patient needs to be encouraged to take the flu and pneumonia vaccines (Cunha, 2014). I agree with Peng Anderson from the patient’s symptoms she has emphysema which is manifested by her history of tobacco use and physical examination (WebMD, 2014). The patient needs to know the severity of the condition and make changes. She needs to control her tobacco use in order to slow the progression of emphysema. I also agree a social worker would be of great help to the patient in locating and utilizing community

Delusional Disorders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Delusional Disorders - Research Paper Example DD is also known as psychosis or paranoid disorder and persists for at least one month (Bustillo, 2008). DD may be related to the patient’s life history or his experiences in the past and is seen in elder people normally who combine it with auditory hallucinations. However, DD patients do not show any abnormal or bizarre behavior when they socialize. DD is of various types depending upon the kind of delusions being experienced by the patient. According to the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (2010), these types include Erotomanic (the patient has the delusion that someone famous is in love with him which may cause the patient to stalk him); Grandiose (the patient thinks that he has great abilities that make him better than others); Jealous (the patient thinks that his partner is betraying him); Persecutory (where the person thinks that he is being spied or harrassed); Somatic (the patiemt thinks that he has some physical abnormality); and, Mixed (the patient may show multiple types of DD). Research has shown that DD patients do not act strange or weird when they are being social, and this is what makes this disorder different from other psychotic disorders (Schultz & Videbeck, 2008, p. 174). Unless the patient himself discusses the problem with the healthcare professionals, it is very difficult to tell whether a person is suffering from DD or not. However, the patient is apt to make choices and decisions depending on his delusions which he may not make otherwise. For example, if he believes that his spouse is betraying him, he may choose not expand his family which is a choice he would not have made otherwise. Another reason why DD are not obvious is that a DD patient sometimes holds so strong opinion that he does not even think that he is wrong in believing what he think is true no matter how troubled he feels about the situation (Sedler, 1995). Instead of detecting

Central Locking System Essay Example for Free

Central Locking System Essay Power door locks (also known as electric door locks or central locking) allow the driver or front passenger to simultaneously lock or unlock all the doors of an automobile or truck, by pressing a button or flipping a switch. Power door locks were introduced on the luxury Scripps-Booth in 1914, but were not common on luxury cars until Packard reintroduced them in 1956. Nearly every car model today offers this feature as at least optional equipment. Early systems locked and unlocked only the car doors. Many cars today also feature systems which can unlock such things as the luggage compartment or fuel filler cap door. It is also common on modern cars for the locks to activate automatically when the car is put into gear or reaches a certain speed. Remote and handsfree In 1980, Ford Motor Company introduced an external keypad-type keyless entry system, wherein the driver entered a numeric combination —either pre-programmed at the factory or one programmed by the owner— to unlock the car without the key. Early- to mid-1980s Nissan Maximas could also be installed with a keypad, which would also retract the windows and moonroof once the car was successfully unlocked by pushing a specific button on the keypad. During the 1990s the Subaru Legacy could also be opened by pulling the drivers external door handle a specific number of times to enter a passcode number that would unlock the drivers door only. Today, many cars with power door locks also have a radio frequency remote keyless system, which allows a person to press a button on a remote control key fob, the first being available on the French made Renault Fuego in 1982. [1] Currently, many luxury makers also allow the windows to be opened or closed by pressing and holding a button on the remote control key fob, or by inserting the ignition key and holding it in the lock or unlock osition in the external drivers door lock. The remote locking system confirms successful locking and unlocking through either a light or a horn signal, and usually offers an option to switch easily between these two variants. Both provide almost the same functionality, though light signals are more discreet while horn signals might create a nuisance in residential neighborhoods and other busy parking areas (e. g. short-term parking lots). Some manufacturers offer the ability to adjust the horn signal volume. Other cars have a proximity system that is triggered if a keylike transducer (Advanced Key or handsfree) is within a certain distance of the car. How Stuff Works Between the keypads, keyless entry systems and conventional locks, some cars today have four or five different ways to unlock the doors. How do cars keep track of all those different methods, and what exactly happens when the doors unlock? The mechanism that unlocks your car doors is actually quite interesting. It has to be very reliable because it is going to unlock your doors tens of thousands of times over the life of your car. In this edition of HowStuffWorks, well learn just whats inside your door that makes it unlock. Well take apart the actuator that does the work, and then well learn how the lock can be forced open. But first, lets see how the car keeps all its signals straight. Locking and Unlocking Here are some of the ways that you can unlock cardoors: †¢ With a key †¢ By pressing the unlock button inside the car †¢ By using the combination lock on the outside of the door †¢ By pulling up the knob on the inside of the door †¢ With a keyless-entry remote control †¢ By a signal from a control center In some cars that have power door locks, the lock/unlock switch actually sends power to the actuators that unlock the door. But in more complicated systems that have several ways to lock and unlock the doors, the body controller decides when to do the unlocking. The body controller is a computer in your car. It takes care of a lot of the little things that make your car friendlier for instance, it makes sure the interior lights stay on until you start the car, and it beeps at you if you leave your headlights on or leave the keys in the ignition. In the case of power door locks, the body controller monitors all of the possible sources of an unlock or lock signal. It monitors a door-mounted touchpad and unlocks the doors when the correct code is entered. It monitors a radio frequency and unlocks the doors when it receives the correct digital code from the radio transmitter in your key fob, and also monitors the switches inside the car. When it receives a signal from any of these sources, it provides power to the actuator that unlocks or locks the doors. Now, lets take a look inside an actual car door and see how everything is hooked up. Inside a Car Door In this car, the power-door-lock actuator is positioned below the latch. A rod connects the actuator to the latch, and another rod connects the latch to the knob that sticks up out of the top of the door. When the actuator moves the latch up, it connects the outside door handle to the opening mechanism. When the latch is down, the outside door handle is disconnected from the mechanism so that it cannot be opened. To unlock the door, the body controller supplies power to the door-lock actuator for a timed interval. Lets take a look inside the actuator. Inside the Actuator The power-door-lock actuator is a pretty straightforward device. [pic] Inside the power-door-lock actuator This system is quite simple. A smallelectric motor turns a series of spur gears that serve as a gear reduction. The last gear drives a rack-and-pinion gearset that is connected to the actuator rod. The rack converts therotational motion of the motor into the linear motion needed to move the lock. One interesting thing about this mechanism is that while the motor can turn the gears and move the latch, if you move the latch it will not turn the motor. This is accomplished by a neatcentrifugal clutch that is connected to the gear and engaged by the motor. [pic] Centrifugal clutch on the drive gear When the motor spins the gear, the clutch swings out and locks the small metal gear to the larger plastic gear, allowing the motor to drive the door latch. If you move the door latch yourself, all of the gears will turn except for the plastic gear with the clutch on it. Forcing the Lock If you have ever locked yourself out of your car and called the police or AAA to help you get back in, you know that the tool used is a thin metal strip with a flat hook on it. From this article you can now see how this strip works. A simple vertical motion from either the knob on the door or the power-lock actuator is all thats needed to turn the lock and open the door. What the officer is doing with the metal strip is fishing around until he or she hooks onto the point that the knob and actuator connect to. A quick pull on this point and the door is unlocked! For more information on power door locks and related topics, see the links on the next page.

Emergency Departments And Effects Of Non Urgent Cases

Emergency Departments And Effects Of Non Urgent Cases Emergency Departments (EDs) are under increasing pressure and increases in numbers of patients deemed inappropriate or some which could be seen by alternative providers are all a burden on the ED and the health service in general. Over recent years there has seen an increase of attendances at EDs of more than 20% with the majority being primary care cases. Recent changes to the GP contracts in 2003 have also had an impact on increases in attendance to EDs. There is a potential saving of in excess of  £120 million if patients attended the appropriate health service provider either GPs, walk in centres or by self treating and asking a pharmacist. Patient education and good promotion of the Choose Well campaign could reduce these numbers and therefore do away with the need to have to potentially turn away non-urgent cases. Introduction EDs are under increasing pressure to deliver high quality care due to rising attendances. Over the period from 2007-2010 there has been an overall increase in attendance at EDs of England of 20.9%. There was an increase of 10.7% in attendance between the period 07/08 to 08/09 (12,318,051 attendances in 07/08 and 13,794,072 in 08/09) 11.4% increase between 08/09 and 09/10 (15,569736 attendances in the period 09/10). There have been numerous attempts to try and stem the rise in ED attendances including offering patients guidance, making them aware of the consequences and informing them of the alternative health services available. A GP ED Triage Pilot conducted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield General Practitioner Collaborative in March 20101 which was conducted to ensure patients were seen in the most appropriate location and by the most appropriate health care professional found that cases deemed to be actual primary care cases amounted to 19%. From this study it could be said that approximately 20% of attendees could potentially have been seen by a general practitioner in primary care rather than attending the ED but this is very small sample and many more studies would need to be carried out looking at different departments to be able to draw a more definitive conclusion. Applying 20% would therefore estimate that for the year 2009/10 in England approximately 3 million attendees were candidates for primary care. The estimated cost of seeing these patient in the ED based on the cost of  £56 for treating a minor ailment and  £75 for a standard (average cost  £65.50) totals  £196.5 million. Doctors consultations in primary care settings are the most cost effective part of the medical component of the NHS at  £15- £30 (averaging  £22.50), GP consultations cost less than out-patients appointments, ED and ambulance calls (ambulance calls costing  £255 per patient). Therefore the cost of treating the 3 million potential primary care/GP patients in the GP setting would total  £67.5million which would save the NHS a potential  £129 million.2 These values are only for normal working hours. Most non-urgent cases actually occur out of hours which would actually increase this amount even further with even more potential savings. The above costings are currently being changed to new Health Care Resource (HRG) code costings which are slightly less which could reflect lower savings than those calculated.3,4 The choose well campaign North West estimated the national cost to the NHS of treating minor illnesses is  £2 billion a year.5 The new system will have 11 different HRG groups, opposed to the current three Groups. The new HRG codes mean you must code both investigations and treatments, as opposed to investigations alone6 (appendix 1). This review hopes to come to an understanding why these patients use the emergency department rather than GP surgeries, barriers to other forms of care and access to GP surgeries and therefore answering the question whether emergency departments should be able to turn away non-urgent cases. Other points which will be taken into account are the ethical dilemmas associated with potentially turning patients away and the potential repercussions of doing so. Method and literature review A search was performed using Lancaster Universitys metalib data base which searched Scopus, Springerlink, Science Direct and Ovid Medline and Pub Med data bases. After accounting for duplicates and reviewing titles and abstracts, papers were selected for review. Search criteria included the terms, non-urgent, emergency department, primary care. The date was initially limited to 1996 2010 but on further searches earlier articles were allowed in order to search for historical articles. The search was also limited to humans and English language. The Department of Health website and the Primary Care Foundation website were also used to find current legislation and data. Database Limits Results OVID Medline emergency department, non-urgent primary care year-1996-2010 humans, English 25 Pub Med 12 Springerlink 19 Science Direct 72 Why patients attend the emergency department There is no formal definition of what is deemed an appropriate attendee to the emergency department due to peoples own impressions of what they believe to be an emergency. This leads to inappropriate attenders who could have legitimately seen their own GP. The types of patient who attend inappropriately and their decisions to do so are complex and involve social, psychological and medical factors.7 Urgency is also a term which is difficult to define and to measure. Studies have been carried out which have measured urgency but there is such wide variation on what is deemed urgent the results are subjective. Due to this subjective nature when defining urgent it is important to be consistent and have appropriate and qualified medical professionals determining the urgency of a situation using set criteria. In an early study Lavenhar et al described an urgent problem as one that requires medical attention within a few hours.8 This definition is used in this review. It has also been found, what medical professionals deem as non-urgent is often not perceived the same in the patient and the urgency of the situation should be based on the presenting signs and symptoms and not the eventual final diagnosis.9 Patients have been seen to attend the ED for many reasons including, the following: They deemed their condition/illness to be appropriate for the ED They believed the GP would refer them anyway The GP surgery was too far to travel to The GP surgery was closed A friend or family member felt it appropriate For those patients who deemed their attendance to be appropriate for their illness or condition it would be very difficult to convince them otherwise and such patients generally attend the ED for reassurance that there condition is not serious and is not going to get any worse. Such patients also have high anxiety, and a sense of urgency and self diagnose yet have no formal medical knowledge.9-12 Those who believed that their GP would have referred them anyway thought they would cut out the middle man. The patients found to do this in a study carried out by Palmer et al deemed their condition to be bad enough and that their GP would refer them, and attending their GP prior to attending the ED would just be a waste of time13 this study also found that pain was a major factor patients took into consideration when deciding on where to attend. Pain itself being subjective and open to individual interpretation. Those that found the GP surgery to be too far to travel were patients who generally lived in rural areas where the distance to both GP and ED were significantly far away and patients therefore decided they may as well attend the ED rather than the GP to save time in the event that the GP would just refer them anyway. Those patients for whom the GP surgery was closed mainly attended out of hours or at weekends. These patients generally thought their condition was urgent and couldnt wait until the surgery reopened.11,12 For attendees who were advised by friends and family to attend the ED did so purely on this advice and the majority of which would not have done so without this advice. This included people advised by colleagues, first aiders and schools where responsibility for the patient was in someone elses hands and the person advising did so in order to protect themselves.12,13 Another major factor to consider when looking at why patients attend the ED is the decision making capabilities of the patients themselves. This would include social, psychosocial and medical factors. Padgett and Brodsky14 proposed a three stage model which outlined how the stages of decision making interacted between the three different stages within the model. The three factors were predisposing, enabling and need. The decision making stages being recognising the problem, deciding to seek treatment and the decision on where to get the treatment. Predisposing factors which are part of stage one included the age, sex, race, level of education, family and social support available. The enabling factors, stage 2 were the income of the patient, usual source of care, proximity of the source of care and the perceived accessibility of this care source and the factors contributing to the need, stage three, were symptom recognition, evaluation of need, level of distress and psychiatric co-morbidity. Padgett and Brodskys three stage model14 Barriers to Care The above predisposing factors are also forms of barriers to care and are dealt with by patients in many different ways. Patient education would be a major tool for breaking down such barriers.11 This is the aim of a local and national campaign called Choose Well. This is a campaign that is supported by the NHS and its staff and aims to ensure people who need advice and treatment for common complaints, get fast and expert care.5 The North West has seen an increase of 177,000 patients in the ED over the last two years and hoped the Choose Well campaign would reduce this over the winter of 2010/11. The North West NHS estimated that 1 in 4 ED attendances were due to patients who could have self treated or could have been seen by other health professionals elsewhere. Offering guidance in both GP surgeries and EDs would give patients the information for themselves to determine the urgency of their condition. This information could include what definitely should be seen at the ED and what definitely shouldnt. Where this is a good idea and has the potential to work well however it could potentially cause patients with urgent problems to believe that they are non-urgent therefore putting them at risk of harm. On the other hand it could also cause some patients to deem themselves urgent and attend the ED when they were initially happy to attend their GP practice adding to the non-urgent caseload. The Choose Well campaign briefly describes the types of conditions that should attend the ED as an emergency and gives contact numbers for patients to ring in order to get further information on where is best for them to attend. This may be difficult for some patients; particularly the elderly as navigating around a website may be difficult or impossible and at a time when you are not well or believe to be in an emergency situation this could be valuable time needed for treatment. It does however offer valuable advice for minor injuries and illnesses known not to be life or limb threatening and could possibly eliminate the need for these patients to enter the health service at all reducing overall numbers and costs. Does Choose Well make a difference? The Choose Well campaign North West sent out a survey (appendix 1) to determine the number of people who had made alternative decisions to attending the ED and whether the messages from the campaign had reached the local people. The survey results are not yet available but Merseyside NHS was successful in increasing the level of awareness amongst the people of Merseyside of the range of NHS services available to them over the winter of 2008 with 94,547 people using NHS Walk in centres in Merseyside, a rise of 18% from the year before and there was a drop in AE attendance of 6.4%, compared to the previous winter yet they still had high attendances to the ED with up to half of these potentially of the type that could have been treated by more appropriate NHS services.15   Many patients do not realise that there are cost implications and differences in cost between EDs and GPs and believe that it makes no difference whether they visit as all they want is a diagnosis regardless of who gives it to them.16 Many do not visit their GPs because of the appointment systems in place, and they are often unable to make an appointment and are therefore more willing to wait around in the ED where they are guaranteed to be seen rather than wait for an appointment at their GP practice. It has also been noted that when patients were unable to see their regular GP and were offered an appointment to see an alternative the decision was made to attend the ED rather than see the alternative.17,18 The opening hours of primary care facilities also do not satisfy the needs of some patients, those who work during the day may not be able to take time off from their daily activities to attend appointments which are set at the discretion of the GP practice rather than at the discretion of the patient such as in the evening, during the night and at weekends. Repeat attendees of the ED are found to make up a large proportion of cases. In a report by NHS Manchester19 who had registered 230,000 attendances per year at its three main sites showed that 13% of these attendances were frequent attendees (patients who attended the ED four or more times in a six month period) with the average number of times a frequent attender being 5.7 times. The report also suggested that this was inappropriate use of the ED and that patients needs were not being met by primary care providers. They decided to increase performance by putting in place best practice which was to include devising computer software that would identify the frequent attenders and allow GPs to see who they where so that they can make contact with the patients and inform them about their inappropriate use of the ED. The patients were sent letters stating key messages on the use of the ED and an information leaflet. The pro-forma letter which read An AE department is often not the best p lace to receive care for non-urgent problems or those that will need ongoing treatment. They do not have your medical records which included information about other medical problems both past and present, investigations, regular medication, and any allergies to medication. Not having this information can compromise the treatment you receive. The enclosed leaflet contains information about services other than AE departments which are available to you. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.AE departments should be used when the problem is an accident or requires emergency treatment. We would request that you contact the surgery first when you have a health problem that requires some advice and/or treatment.19 This intervention was found in one GP practice to reduce the number of repeat attenders by 20%19 even though studies have shown that this would be the number of frequent attenders that would over time stop attending anyway without any form of intervention.20,21 In order to validate the results found the intervention should be compared between surgeries with some surgeries having intervention and some not having the intervention. GP services within the ED There has been an increase in the number of primary care doctors in EDs or based closely to EDs over recent years. This has been found to decrease the numbers of non-urgent cases seeking ED treatment in favour of a GP and has also reduced the number of unnecessary admissions to hospital. This sort of initiative requires team work and close working partnerships with both EDs and GPs which at times has be proven to be tricky due to differences in culture and beliefs. The primary Care Foundation has carried out research commissioned by the Department of Health, the study, which was carried out in May 2009, looked at different models of primary care across England practising within and alongside EDs. The number of patients deemed to be primary care patients were identified. It found that around half of all EDs did in actual fact have some form of primary care presence working within the ED and that between 10% and 30% of attendees were classified as primary care candidates.22 Discussion Ethical dilemma of turning patients away The four principles of ethics developed by Beauchamp and Childress23 must be taken into account when coming to a decision as to whether to turn patients away from the ED. The 4 principles approach takes into account that whatever our personal beliefs, philosophy, moral theory or life stance the care of patients is the most important factor. It could be said that turning patients away from the ED was going against the ethics of the health service in that it is considered freely accessible to all at any time. The Four Ethical Principles Autonomy Patients must be respected and must not be deceived and must be given adequate information. If patients are turned away then they are not given all the required information regarding their condition. Even though they would be advised to see their GP they may not do so. Beneficence and non-maleficence It may be seen as causing the patient harm by turning them away, they may suffer further pain or psychological trauma by not being seen. Justice Justice or fairness may be breached if patients are turned away. The health service is free at the point of entry and patients that are turned away may feel as if they are being denied care or treatment, even though they would be offered it at their GP practice for some this may not be possible or an option therefore denying them any form of care at all. Conclusion From the articles and documents reviewed it can be seen that non-urgent attendees at the ED are a drain on public funds and a time of economic instability and when there is a keen focus on service cuts and delivering value for money. In spite of the evidence and from reviewing articles I feel that it could potentially be detrimental to the health and well being of patients if they were to be turned away from the ED for non-urgent or minor conditions that could be seen in general practice. Turning them away could make them stop seeking medical treatment and could make them lose faith in the health service altogether. I believe that more patient education and greater access to GPs and primary care health professionals is what is required in order to reduce the numbers and therefore the cost of treating such patients. It is not the duty of the treating professional to determine the perceived severity of illness or injury a patient attends with but to offer them the care and support they need in order for them to continue their lives as they would like to. It is however the duty of health professionals to educate their patients and offer support on how they should deal with such illnesses and injuries so as not to have to attend or re-attend the ED. This could come in the form of information leaflets or just by talking to the patients and finding out their reasons for attending the ED rather than GPs and how things can be put in to place and organised for future patients to overcome the barriers to other forms of care. In 2003/4 there was a change in the GP contracts, following this there was an increase in ED attendances. The new contracts made changes to the after-hours access to GPs and allowed GPs to opt out of this area of care, this then resulted in the increase of after-hours presentations to the ED of GP cases.24 So in order to increase access there would need to be more GPs not opting out of the after-hours work or changing the contracts to omit the option to opt out of such. Even though there are provisions such as walk in centres and out-of-hours services people attend the ED, this could be due to the unfamiliarity of such places and lack of knowledge of the facilities available. More patient education and promotion of such centres would be required to ensure they are made aware to everyone in the event of requiring such services. Also the integration of primary and secondary care could help improve services for everyone by bringing GPs into the EDs and from a closer working partnership. Appendix 1 HRG code HRG name Band AE tariff ( £) VB01Z Any investigation with category 5 treatment 1 183 VB02Z Category 3 investigation with category 4 treatment 1 183 VB03Z Category 3 investigation with category 1-3 treatment 2 133 VB04Z Category 2 investigation with category 4 treatment 2 133 VB05Z Category 2 investigation with category 3 treatment 2 133 VB06Z Category 1 investigation with category 3-4 treatment 3 78 VB07Z Category 2 investigation with category 2 treatment 4 110 VB08Z Category 2 investigation with category 1 treatment 4 110 VB09Z Category 1 investigation with category 1-2 treatment 3 78 VB10Z Dental Care 5 52 VB11Z No investigation with no significant treatment 5 52 HRG codes and tariffs6 Appendix 2 North West Choose Well Survey If you or a family member had a minor illness or injury (for example a sore throat, backache, cough or cold), which is the first NHS service you would use for advice and treatment? (Please select one answer) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below If your first choice service was unavailable, which other NHS service would you contact next? (Please select one answer) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below If you are a parent or carer for children under 16 years of age, please complete questions 3 4. Otherwise go straight to question 5. Which age group are your children in? Y/N Y/N 0 4 years 10 13 years 5 9 years 14 16 years If your children had a minor illness or injury (for example a temperature, a sore throat, cough or cold, a small cut or a sprain), which is the first NHS service you would use for advice and treatment? (Please select one) Y/N Y/N Pharmacy Minor Injuries Unit GP/Doctor Look for advice on the internet Phone NHS Direct or look on their website Dial 999 NHS Walk-in Centre Go to AE Urgent Care Centre None of the above, I would look after myself Other, please state below 5. If you have selected AE or 999 in answer to questions 1, 2 or 4 above, please answer this question. Otherwise go straight to question 6. If you have selected AE or 999 in answer to questions 1, 2 or 4 above, can you tell us why you would make this choice? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N You will receive the best quality care and advice You know that you are guaranteed to be treated You will be seen quicker than any other service The AE is closest to where you live You do not know where else to go In the past your GP sent you to your AE or told you to call 999 You would have chosen a GP, but are not registered with one In the past you were told to go to AE or to call 999 by another health service, e.g. pharmacy/NHS Direct You would have chosen a GP, but it is difficult to get an appointment Other, please state below Which of the following services do you currently use your local pharmacist store for? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Picking up a prescription Advice if your child has a high temperature Advice and treatment for a headache Advice and treatment for backache and other aches pains Advice and treatment for an upset stomach Advice and treatment for a urine infection Advice and treatment for treating coughs, colds flu Contraceptive advice Other, please state below Did you know that your local pharmacist store provides a confidential consultation area? Yes/No Did you know that your local pharmacist can offer you confidential advice and treatment without an appointment? Yes/No Would you consider using your local pharmacist for any of the following? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Contraceptive advice Advice if your child has a high temperature Advice and treatment for a headache Advice and treatment for backache and other aches pains Advice and treatment for an upset stomach Advice and treatment for a urine infection Advice and treatment for treating coughs, colds flu Other, please state below Do you know where to find information about late night and weekend opening hours for your local pharmacist? Yes/No Choose Well is an NHS campaign that aims to help people in the North West to understand which NHS service to use if they need fast and effective treatment for minor illnesses and ailments; and how to use 999 and AE services appropriately. Have you heard of the Choose Well campaign? Yes/No If yes go to Q 12; if no go to Q 13 Where have you seen or heard about the Choose Well campaign? (Select as many as apply) Y/N Y/N Local newspaper Local news websites PCT website Community radio Local radio Life Channel (GP TV) Bus advert Leaflet Signs on ambulances Other posters Word of mouth (someone mentioned it to you) Other, please state below Have you heard any of the following messages? Tick as many as appropriate. The number of people using AE and 999 services is continuing to rise One out of every four people who go to AE could have either treated themselves at home, or used another local NHS service You can get three free text messages, with details of your three nearest pharmacies by texting pharmacy to 64746 Your local pharmacy provides expert, convenient advice and treatment for minor ailments AE and 999 services are for life-threatening and serious conditions such as heart-attacks, strokes, breathing problems and serious accidents Get the right NHS treatment As a result of seeing these messages, if you or a member of your family has a minor illness or ailment are you less likely or more likely to use the following services (please select as appropriate). Less Likely More Likely Your local pharmacy Your local GP NHS Walk-in Centre or similar service Minor Injuries Unit Urgent Care Centre NHS Direct NHS Choices Website AE 999 To help us to get our campaign right, it would be really helpful if you could give us some information about yourself. Which age group do you fall in to? Y/N Y/N Y/N 16 19 40 49 70 79 20 29 50 59 80 89 30 39 60 69 90+ Gender please delete as appropriate Male Female Please could you tell us the first part of your postcode e.g. M22 or SK6 Ethnicity Please can you select the group that best describes your ethnic background White Y/N Y/N English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Irish Gypsy or Traveller Other, please give details Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups Y/N Y/N White and Black Caribbean White and Asian White and Black African Other, please give details Asian/Asian British Y/N Y/N Indian Bangladeshi Pakistani Chinese Other, please give details Black/African/Caribbean/Black British Y/N Y/N African Caribbean Other, please give details Other Ethnic Y/N Y/N Arab Other, please give details Thank you for your time we really appreciate your help. If you are willing to help us to develop this project further, please fill in your contact details below Name Address Tel. No. Email address Taken directly from the Choose Well questionnaire5

Sibling Rivalry :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every now and then, someone wishes for something without weighing out all of the pros and cons. We don’t usually hear someone say, â€Å" I wish I had to fight for a hot shower, hide brushes, hunt for clothes, and struggle to use the phone.† But, we do hear them say, â€Å" I wish I had some brothers and sisters.† Believe it or not, each of these statements means the exact same thing. I should know. I lived with four females in one house for seventeen years. Needless to say, each and every day was a war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every morning at five a.m., the alarm clock would sound to start the â€Å"Lowry House Derby.â€Å" Each of us would jump from our beds and flee to the bathroom. It was imperative to reach the shower first or at least be second in line because of the limited hot water supply. The other three were doomed to make a decision, an icy cold bath or no bath. Second was the always-dreaded task of finding a brush. We all bought brushes on a regular basis and even branded them with our names, but come morning time they had all grown legs and walked away. If one of us did find a brush the discovery was kept quiet until we finished using it. Then, the brush was given to whoever hadn’t, yet, stepped on our toes that morning. Next, we had the occasional borrowing-of-the-clothes-without-asking. This made getting dressed a time consuming and ill-mannered task. Spots, tears, and even color fading were blamed on the borrower. Finally, as each of us raced out the door, to s chool and work, the â€Å"Lowry House Derby† took a short break.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As we arrived back home from our eight-hour obligations, the derby would slowly resume its course. Now, it was time to flee toward the phone. We all had an emergency use for the phone that was, somehow, always more important than the other’s. Next, came time for homework. This was one of the few times we would pull together. We would each help with subjects that baffled the others. After our study time, the race to the bathroom would be on again. Though, this time it was to wash our faces and brush our teeth. This bathroom race took a lot longer than the morning shower pursuit. We all had to wash, exfoliate, mask, and moisturize our faces, not to mention floss, gargle, and brush our teeth.

The Bald Eagle Community :: essays research papers

The bald eagle was finally adopted as the emblem of the United States in 1787 because "its long life, great strength, and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist only on this continent." The bald eagle has survived for many years. It was almost lost at one point, and finally now is on its way back and the numbers are rising thanks to many efforts by various foundations. The Bald Eagle is more than a just a bird like every other species it too has a special part in keeping the food chain going. While driving On Rte10 through the town of Hamden what seems to be an ordinary ride can become a scenic view of our nation’s bird. On a tall skinny Birch tree over 40 ft in the air is lives a bald eagle in its natural habitat. In this nest lives a male adult and female adult with an Eaglet. The nest is located in a farming open field along a river bank. This field and river provides the eagles with a source of food. The eagles mostly eat fish, the adult eagle will swoop down to the water and grab a fish all in one motion flying the meal back to the nest to feed its family. The field is posted to prevent people from ruining the habitat, since the natural reproduction of this eagle is very important to its recovery from being endangered. I was able to view this community form the road and was able to watch the nest and occasionally watch the adult eagle fly away most likely looking for food to feed his family. The nest form my view was huge at least 3 feet in diameter perch ed up about 40 ft high on a birch tree. The surrounding area of the nest was clear of any branches or trees creating a clear access way for the birds to land. Below the nest was a large open field on the bank of an active river. I visited the site approximately 5 times each visit was a t a different time in hopes of observing a different activity. My first visit was around 10am one of the adults was perched on a branch nearby to the nest patiently staring at the surroundings. The eagle stayed for a while without moving. On my next visit at 12am I observed the whole family active inside the nest.

Masters, Slaves, and Subjects Essay -- Robert Olwell Charles Towne Ess

Masters, Slaves, and Subjects In his book â€Å"Masters, Slaves, and Subjects†, Robert Olwell examines the complex relationships and power structures of colonial-era Charles Towne. Charles Towne, as Charleston was known in the years between its founding and its independence from the British Empire, is portrayed by Olwell as dominated by a rigid agrarian slave society which served as an intermediary in a more complex power structure that extended from the royal halls of London to the plantation fields of the Lowcountry. In examining the complicated web of relationships between London and the colony, and Masters and Slaves, Olwell argues that the economic and political structure of Charles Towne was based upon a successive series of carefully-maintained power-based relationships. CHARLES TOWNE: A GATEWAY TO POWER Power in Charles Towne was centralized at what became known as the Four Corners of Law, at Broad and Meeting Streets, and radiated outward across the Lowcountry. The Four Corners were home to the State House, where the Colonial Assembly met, St. Michael’s Church, the heart of the Church of England in the colony, the Town Watch House, which kept the slave population in check, and the public marketplace, where the commerce that was vital to the colony’s economy took place (19). One could easily see power was centralized within Charleston, not just over the local area, but also statewide. Of the forty-eight members of the colonial Assembly, twenty-eight lived within a day’s horse ride of the city. Half of the justices of the colony, who took an oath to defend â€Å"King and Country†, were either sitting or former members of the Assembly, and all of the justices were slave owners (... ...constitution officially separated church and state, ending the power of the Anglican Church forever (282). With this, the last ties to Mother England were cast off, and the elite were secure as Masters of their world, and Subjects to none. CONCLUSION Colonial Charles Towne had evolved into a sort of fuedal city-state governed by power-based relationships, which established roles for everyone from the lowest slave to the economic and political elite who ruled the colony. These relationships were vital to the success and stability of the city and the lands and the people over which it held power. In his book, Robert Olwell clearly identified defines the roles of Master, Slave, and Subject, and made a strong argument that, right or wrong, this system of power-based relationships was the key to the success, prosperity, and security of the colony.

Business Proposal Checklist

Explain how energy evolved over time Into a consumable good. Does It still satisfy the original need for which It was created? Why or why not? How have our basic needs for energy changed? According to Breach (20061 the daily energy use per person has increased from 2,000 kcal when humans were just hunters to 244,526 kcal in 2000. From the beginning of the human race, we have used energy, First by setting wood and other materials on fire, using animals to assist In dally tasks, to using machinery, to finally evolving to the massive use of energy today.Today energy Is still needed to cook our DOD and make our daily lives easier thus satisfying the original need. Although energy is still necessary, I believe humans use too much Reference: Breach, A. J. (2006). Energy: Physical, environmental, and social Impact (3rd De. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall. WOK-Q: What is the connection between population growth and energy use? How are each interrelated to the supply and dema nd of energy consumption and creation? Explain your answer. The Increase In population Is supported by the steady increase of our use of energy.Modern society is dependent on a massive amount of energy. If that energy were not available or if it declined at any significant amount, it could have a detrimental effect on the population. Should energy supplies decline, price will increase, and the economic challenged population may have to go without needed fuel or electricity. If they are already below a sustaining level, this could be tragic. WOK-Q: Why is it more expensive to transmit electricity locally than over long distances? Please list various reasons for this. Why would an energy plant want to distribute electricity locally if there are fewer profit margins?According to Breach (2006), ten percent of electric energy Is lost In the transmission process. Of the ten percent, eight percent Is loss locally. There are higher losses of energy at very low distribution voltage. Therefor e, the cost to transmit electricity locally is more expensive. The increase in market share, market growth, and no way to storage unused energy, would be reasons why an energy plant would want to distribute electricity locally even though profit margins were less. Breach, A. J. (2006). Energy: Physical, environmental, and social impact (3rd De. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.WOK-Q: Explain what is meant by base load, intermediate load, and peak load. Why are these incepts important to understanding the production of electricity and energy management? How do these relate to the end users of the product? According to Breach, base load is the basic amount of electricity that is always required. Base load is generated by the utilities large facilities. Intermediate load is the amount of electricity that slowly cycles on and off. Peak load is the time in which demand for electricity is the greatest. Peak load is usually only a few hours a day.Utilities meet peak load de mand by using additional generators that can be stated quickly. Electricity cannot be easily stored. Therefore, demand has to be anticipated by the utility company. Season and time of day are the predominate drivers of consumption. Enough electricity needs to be supplied to meet demand on the hottest day of summer. Maintaining a reliable electric system without interrupting power to the consumer cannot be accomplished without the balance of supply and demand. Describe the extent of damage done to the power grid during Hurricane Strain in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana.

Energy Requirements In Post Combustion Environmental Sciences Essay

Recently there has been increased involvement in C gaining control engineerings. There are a figure of factors act uponing this increased consciousness. There is increased credence that important decreases in CO2 emanations are required to avoid earnestly impacting the planetary clime, these decreases are improbable to be achieved through decreases in planetary energy demand. Therefore capturing CO2 before it enters the ambiance becomes a feasible option to cut down emanations. Post-combustion CO2 gaining control ( PCC ) engineering is a promising engineering that has possible to significantly cut down CO2 emanations from big point beginnings such as power workss. The chief advantage that station burning gaining control engineerings have over other gaining control methods is that bing power workss can be retrofitted with the engineering leting for a more immediate decrease in C emanations than is possible with the other possible engineerings. This is an of import consideration as the typical lifetime of a coal fired power works is 25 old ages which means that merely PCC can efficaciously turn to emanations from most of the universes presently runing power Stationss. However, PCC incurs higher energy punishments than pre-combustion gaining control engineerings and because there are non sufficient fiscal and legislative punishments for CO2 emanations PCC has yet to be demonstrated on a full graduated table footing and hence these energy costs can merely be quantified on a theoretical footing. Coal holds the largest portion of worldwide electric power production by a broad border, accounting for 40 % of universe energy supply in 2008. With this figure merely expected to somewhat diminish to 37 % by 2035 [ 1 ] . Because of coals laterality of the energy production sector and the higher C emanations associated with the combustion of coal we will concentrate on the energy efficiencies associated with using PCC to these workss. Modern coal fired power workss operate by using powdered coal. This coal is assorted with air and so fire in a boiler. The steam generated is used to turn a turbine generator and the waste burning gases are released to the ambiance. These gases consist chiefly of nitrogen plus H2O and CO2. Additional merchandises, depending on the pureness of the coal used, can include sulphur dioxide and N oxides. A typical powdered coal power works emits about 743 g/kWhr of CO2 [ 2 ] . As CO2 typically merely accounts for 12.5-12.8 % of the entire flue gas volume the separation of this from the other constituents is non a simple undertaking and requires energy input to accomplish.Minimum Energy RequirementThe thermodynamic lower limit specific energy demand for CO2 gaining control is shown in Figure. If an mean provender gas mole fraction of 12 % is taken so we can see that about 20 % extra energy is required in order to accomplish 100 % CO2 separation. Figure: Minimum specific energy demand for separation as a map of molar fraction in the provender gas for different fractional remotion ( T= 313 K ) [ 3 ] . In add-on to being separated from the remainder of the fluke gases the CO2 besides needs to be compressed from atmospheric force per unit areas to force per unit areas of typically 15 MPa, which are more contributing for station burning storage or transit. The minimal energy demand in order to accomplish a compaction from 0.1MPa at a temperature of 313 K to 15 MPa is 0.068 kWh/kg CO2. Figure shows the minimal energy demand for separation both with and without compaction procedure, presuming a gas mole fraction of 12 % . If we take the Siemens system for PCC as a criterion ; it removes 90 % of CO2 [ 4 ] from the flue gases. This represents 0.114 kWh/kg CO2 theoretical lower limit energy demand. Figure: Minimum specific energy demand for CO2 gaining control and compaction ( 12 % molar fluke gas concentration ) as a map of fractional CO2 remotion: separation merely and separation with compaction to 15 MPa [ 3 ] .CO2 Absorption ProcessThere are a figure of different methods being developed to divide CO2 from the other end product flue gases. Currently absorption procedures appear to be the taking engineering so they will be the focal point of this treatment. Figure shows a typical schematic for a station burning CO2 soaking up procedure. First, the fluke gases are passed through a ice chest, which is required to cut down ammonium hydroxide release in the absorber and diminish the volume of the flue gases. A fan is so required to pump the gas through the absorber which contains the chemical absorbents. The absorbent stuff which now contains the chemically bound CO2 is pumped to the desorber via a lean-rich heat money changer. The desorber regenerates the chemical absorbent by utilizing an addition in temperature ( 370-410 K ) and pressures between 1 and 2 bara. Heat is besides supplied to the re-boiler to keep regeneration conditions for the chemical absorbent which means the procedure incurs an extra energy punishment as the heat is required for steam production which acts as a denudation agent to divide the CO2 from the chemical absorber. The steam is recovered and fed back into the stripper while the extremely pure CO2 gas ( & A ; gt ; 99 % pureness ) leaves the compressor. The absorber chemical, which has had the CO2 removed is fed back into the absorber [ 3 ] . Figure: Schematic of typical station burning gaining control procedure [ 5 ] . Clearly this procedure involves a serious energy punishment as the extra procedures add much greater losingss to the system than the theoretical lower limit energy demands calculated earlier. Table shows the important works efficiency punishment which is the cost of the C gaining control procedure. This efficiency bead is due to increasing resource ingestion per unit of electricity produced and additions in chilling H2O ingestion per unit of electricity produced. Power works and gaining control system type Internet works efficiency without CCS Internet works efficiency with CCS CCS Energy PenaltyAdditional energy input per cyberspace kWh end productDecrease in net kWh end product for a fixed energyinput.Existing subcritical Personal computer, post-combustion gaining control 33 % 23 % 43 % 30 % New supercritical Personal computer, post-combustion gaining control 40 % 31 % 29 % 23 % Table: Valuess for cyberspace pulverised coal power works efficiencies with and without CCS [ 6 ] . This lessening in efficiency means that more fuel is required in order to bring forth the same sum of electricity as before the PCC procedure was added. From Table it can be seen that newer, more efficient workss suffer lower energy punishments when PCC is applied. The bing subcritical powdered coal works a 43 % addition in energy input per kWh end product compared with 29 % for a new supercritical pulverised coal works. Thermal energy demands are the most important factor in the increased energy demands and are the chief challenge confronting efforts to diminish these losingss.Thermal Energy RequirementsChemical soaking up is normally used in industry to take gases and drosss from high value merchandises like H or methane. The issue that arises in using this engineering to the power coevals sector is that it consequences in much larger decreases in efficiencies. while taking H2S from H for illustration may merely take 2.5 % [ 2 ] of the energy content of the H, this loss is much lar ger in power coevals as antecedently shown.Binding Energy RequirementThe heat which is required to interrupt the bond between the CO2 and the absorbent is an of import factor to be taken into consideration. This can be reduced by the usage of aminoalkanes as they can possess a lower binding energy for CO2. Absorbent material Heat of soaking up ( GJ/tonnes CO2 ) MEA-H2O 1.92 DGA-H2O 1.91 DIPA-H2O 1.67 DEA-H2O 1.63 AMP-H2O 1.52 MIDEA-H2O 1.34 TEA -H2O 1.08 Water 0.39 Table: Typical Heat of Absorption for Common Liquid Absorbents [ 7 ] . Table shows the values for heat of soaking up for the most normally used liquid absorbents. MEA-H2O possesses the highest value for adhering energy to the CO2. If this value could be reduced the sum of energy which would be required to divide the CO2 from the absorbent could be significantly decreased. Future developments in chemical absorbents could see the debut of hydrogen carbonate formation, which has been shown to hold the lowest binding energy of any chemical absorbent [ 3 ] taking to important lessening in the energy punishments encountered by the system.Heating of Absorbent in DesorberThe energy consumed by the absorbent heating up in the stripper can be reduced by take downing the heat money changer attack temperature and diminishing the volume of dissolver flow through the desorber. This can be achieved through the usage of 2nd coevals sterically hindered aminoalkanes. This has possible to duplicate the molar capacity of the absorbent. This could take to a bead in energy d emand from 1.2 GJ/tonne CO2 to 0.8 GJ/tonne CO2 which represents two tierces of the first coevals demands. Further betterments in these countries could finally take to 0.08 GJ/tonne CO2 which is predicted for 4th coevals aminoalkanes and attack temperatures [ 3 ] .Reflux RatioDepriving steam in the desorber has to drive the CO2 through the desorption procedure and supply the heat demand of the overall desorber and releases this heat when condensed and this heat is lost in the chilling H2O. Typically the reflux ratio achieved, expressed as H2O/tonnes CO2, is 0.7. This can be improved through the usage of absorbents that posses a higher Carbon dioxide to H2O ratio at the desorber issue. With a 0.1 ratio seen as possible for 4th coevals absorbents.Entire Thermal Energy Requirement ReductionsTable shows how these factors could diminish the thermic energy demand as new coevalss of chemical absorbents are introduced. Decreases in entire thermic energy demand of up to 80 % may be possible if these engineerings can be implemented. Procedure Generation Status G1 G2 G3 G4 Binding Energy ( MJ/kmol CO2 ) 80 70 55 30 Desorber attack temperature ( K ) 15 10 5 3 Solvent Flow ( m3/tonnes CO2 ) 20 10 8 4 Reflux Ratio ( metric tons H2O/tonnes CO2 ) 0.7 0.6 0.4 0.1 Entire Thermal Energy Requirement ( GJ/tonnes CO2 ) 4.56 3.31 2.29 0.95 Table: Possible thermic energy demand betterments [ 3 ] .Power RequirementsPower is required to drive a figure of facets of the PCC procedure: Fan power demand which is determined by the flow rate required and per centum remotion of CO2 sought. Liquid absorbent pump power. Affected by the degree of absorptive regeneration and other such procedures Compaction power demands which depend on the CO2 belongingss and the degrees of compaction required. Current coevals power demand is 0.154 MWh/tonnes CO2 with the mentality for power economy outlined in Table. Procedure Generation Status G1 G2 G3 G4 Entire Power ( MWh/tonnes CO2 ) 0.154 0.138 0.122 0.105 Table: Possible power demand betterments [ 3 ] .DecisionWhile involvement and investing in research in the country of PCC has increased in recent times the procedure is still in the really early phases of development and at the minute the energy costs involved in using this engineering to char discharged power workss make it highly inefficient and economically impracticable. Table shows that in all cases PCC can take to enormous lessenings in the sum of CO2 which emanating from coal fired power workss. However, first coevals PCC engineerings lead to a 40 % lessening in the works efficiency ensuing in 65 % addition in coal ingestion to bring forth the same sum of electricity. PCC Generation Status G1 G2 G3 G4 Efficiency with no gaining control ( % ) 35 41 46 50 CO2 Emission ( No gaining control ) ( metric tons CO2/MWh ) 0.928 0.792 0.706 0.650 Efficiency with 90 % gaining control ( % ) 21.2 31.6 39.7 45.8 CO2 Emission ( with gaining control ) ( metric tons CO2/MWh ) 0.153 0.103 0.082 0.071 Increase in Coal usage due to Capture ( % ) 65 30 16 9 Table: Overall mentality for PCC [ 3 ] . Because these engineerings are in the really early phases of developments there is a immense range for efficiency betterments in both the thermic energy required and the power demands for the procedure. It is seen as an accomplishable end that as engineering is developed that PCC could ensue in every bit small as a 4.2 % lessening in overall works efficiency and a 9 % addition in coal ingestion. These decreases are cardinal to the future use of PCC engineering as if it is non economically feasible for the procedure to be used it will ne'er be adopted.

Reaction Paper: Mankind: Story of All of Us

Reaction Paper: Mankind: Story of all of us – History Channel The documentary that was assigned for us to watch is all about the beginning of mankind. Not exactly about the evolution of men (ape to human), but how men developed through times and what were the first inventions made by the human beings. It is said that it has been documented for 3 years, and it is such a privilege to be able to watch the episode. For me it was easy to understand. The story is illustrated well by the actors and you could also feel like going back in time together with the people who have been documenting these stories.I think it is educational and must be required in high school to watch the episodes in their world history class. The stories that’d been shown in the first episode are mostly discussed in my world history class during my high school years. With the illustration, it is easier for the students to understand what really happened at that time and it will surely remain in our min d just like a favorite movie that we once watched. The documentary started from when we were cavemen. We wandered around, looked for place to live and basic needs to survive. We can see from just that scene that men were created intelligent. Associated article: Reaction Paper About Stage PlayAnd from the discovery of fire, our developments as being a human have started. I actually started watching from the part where a woman discovers farming. If she didn’t discover the ways of farming, we wouldn’t be able to develop even greater inventions like we have in the present. The documentary explained that this was one of the biggest factor in the history; not only positively but negatively, It has also became the cause of crimes and wars. In the documentary, we could conclude that people are natural warriors. To be able to survive from what we think is a threat; we would fight with the other group of men or tribe.We will protect what we think is ours and to conquer others when we think they got more than what we have. Through the years, the development of the weapons has become the greatest part in our history. How the people discovered the material and made it into a sharp object. How they learned to exchange th ings and to market. In these times they discovered exporting and importing system. From the usage of stones for weapons, it became tin, and then another mineral, then learned to use iron. Which in modern days, iron is very important for building bridges and buildings. Chinese were really clever ever since.They have invented new kinds of weapons which are more accurate and more powerful. They are also the one who started the mass production in weapons. I think it somehow shows in the current economy of the China. What I really liked in the history that they’ve shown in the documentary are the building of the pyramid and the Great Wall of China. It is amazing how people managed to build such a gigantic architect during those times and without any help of our modern technology. Everything was calculated precisely. And writing was the biggest factor that has helped them in building those.I still wonder how and where they got the 2 million blocks for building the pyramid. And to t hink many people have sacrificed in making both of the architectural structure for 20 years for Pyramid and 118 years for the Great Wall of China (if I remembered correctly), it is really amazing. I don’t know if it’s still possible for modern men to build anything that is as amazing without the help of any machinery. Because of the high technological inventions, people have become more dependent and lazy. Even if there’re going to be an amazing new architect, I wouldn’t be as amazed as I do for those old architectural structure.But it doesn’t mean that the development and advancement in technology is bad. I think it is also important to appreciate the hard work that had been exerted by the men who have sacrificed their life in building it. The documentary has become a great reminder and a lesson to me. I would recommend other people to watch these episodes for it might change us in the way we see life in a positive ways. I hope there will be more great invention and not all those useless inventions made by idle scientists. People really should get a good example from the men in golden times. Not with the invention of weapons but inventions towards peace.

Aol Time Warner- What Went Wrong

In January 2000, AOL announced that it would be acquiring Time Warner through a complete stock deal to create the largest media company in the world. Not only was the merger the biggest ever in the media industry, it was also one of the biggest in the history of the corporate world. As per the merger agreement, AOL and Time Warner stock was converted to AOL Time Warner stock. AOL shareholders received one share of AOL Time Warner for each AOL share owned and Time Warner shareholders received 1. shares of AOL Time Warner for each Time Warner share they owned. While AOL shareholders owned 55% of the new company, the remaining was held by Time Warner. The merger was soon being talked of as the beginning of a new trend: the coming together of traditional and new media companies. According to a report, AOL was ‘a turbo-charged engine' that would bring old media giant, Time Warner, into the Internet century. The merger was expected to result in a 30% increase in profits, amounting to over US $ 40 billion in revenues in the first year itself. The new company had 100 million paid subscribers, which included the customers of AOL's dial-up service and subscribers of Time Warner's cable and magazine divisions. A major setback to the success of the merger was the bursting of the Internet bubble, which was expected to rule the media and entertainment industry in the 21st century. When the Internet bubble burst, there was a steep decline in subscriber growth for AOL, which led to a steep decline in its advertising revenues. Time Warner merged with America Online in 2001 at the height of the dot-com boom, with AOL using its inflated stock as a currency for the transaction. But the marriage of old and new media behemoths baptised quickly went sour as the benefits promised to shareholders failed to materialise. AOL was valued at more than $US150 billion when the ill-fated merger was announced, but its worth collapsed dramatically as the dot-com bubble burst. Time Warner was forced in 2002 to massively write down the value of the Internet unit and the AOL name was removed from the group's corporate title in 2003. As a consequence of this not only lost AOL subscribers to their Internet service but also their portal lost importance leading to a loss in opportunity to promote AOL Time Warner content. As a further consequence income from advertising is decreasing. 3. 0 BCG Matrix of AOL-TIME WARNER 4. 0 ALTERNATIVES REVIEW AND TURNAROUND STRATEGIES After the merger, AOL Time Warner was indeed the unquestioned number one worldwide media company, especially with the phenomenal box-office successes of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Some of the anticipated synergies have actually come about and the company has successfully met a number of its goals, according to industry observers. On the Internet side, AOL must prove it can maintain its paramount position by signing deals across the entire cable industry while it opens its Time Warner cable pipes to competitors. If it can’t, AOL’s position as the undisputed leader in the consumer Internet business could begin to slip. According to published reports, AOL has more than 33 million subscribers worldwide, 25 million in the U. S. and analysts expect AOL to sign 6. 2 million new members for the year. AOL’s Pittman believes that eventually between 90 million and 95 million U. S. homes will be connected to the Internet. In 2001, AOL Internet subscribers spent $33 billion online, 67% more than they spent the year before. America Online has thrived by making it cheap and easy for millions of people to get onto the Internet using a standard open-access phone line and modem. With all of the hype about broadband, nearly all of AOL’s current subscribers still use dial-up â€Å"narrowband† connections, which are far too slow to accommodate the growing demand for rich media that consumers increasingly want from the web. 4. 1 AOL-TIME WARNER TURNAROUND STRATEGY The problem faced by Time Warner after its merger with AOL is an issue which merits discussion. The AOL-Time Warner merger in 2001 resulted in the largest media company in the world. AOL joined hands with Time Warner to create synergy between its online businesses and Warner's media business. Two significant factors affected the post merger company. One, the dot-com burst meant adverse effect on AOL’s advertising revenues. And two, dial-up subscribers decreased thereby affecting revenues and overall profitability of AOL. A key element in the turnaround strategy should be to offer free content on its portal. This strategy will benefit AOL in attracting more online users and advertising revenues. When AOL began operations it soon became the leading company for-pay online subscriber service, bringing easy-to-use Internet service to more than 30 million users. AOL was mainly based on around its dial up business. With customers shifting to broadband, AOL was losing subscribers rapidly. The dial-up segment though profitable, was declining in revenues having lost 2. 6 million subscribers in a period of one year. The share price of AOL Time Warner fell by 60% after the merger. The merger was heavily criticized from all quarters. Growth in advertising business came with AOL establishing itself as a support service rather than an internet access provider. Seeing AOL’s success Google entered into a global advertising partnership with the AOL. Google acquired a 5% equity stake in AOL for US$ 1 billion. In broadband, to be able to beat the competition they should be the first organization to define the category of streaming broadband, bringing relevant content and relevant programming into the broadband household so as to let people search for the video and music they want to view and listen to. Provision of other a la carte and premium services, such as being a place for people to store pictures, documents and e-mails they create or receive while they're on the Web. It makes sense. What people want is all their assets available all the time, regardless of where they are. This is especially important for multichannel users, who will be a larger and larger portion of our customer base. Part of the day, people will need to access AOL from their laptops or at home on high-speed DSL or cable, or a smart phone or communication-enabled PDA. The organization should be re-energized. There should be a reaffirmed commitment, a new management team on the field. Positioning the brand and regaining trust are all smart things to do and it will serve as the litmus tests for the decisions to be made. Now, they must be able to recognize emerging trends and stake out our role in them before they take hold among consumers. The overall success of this business long-term will be their ability to integrate best-in-class technology and programming and create compelling value for each of its targeted customer segments. As a technologist, could you ask for a better role? Every decision matters. 5. 0 CONCLUSION The credo of the combined AOL Time Warner was synergy, the idea that the companies would be greater than the sum of their parts because each of the divisions would help market the others. But the dream never materialized. The fast-growing AOL online service was supposed to be the juggernaut that would cause the whole company to grow at 30 percent a year. It turned out that AOL was unable to sustain its own growth rate, much less carry Time Warner. In the end, however, the true success of the AOL Time Warner merger will be won or lost, on the company’s ability to leverage its promising collection of cable networks into something more than just a way to see the latest episode of miniseries. That will only be done by bringing AOL’s online expertise into alignment with Time Warner’s stable of media properties, and adding a broad vision of the next chapter of the Internet. This means being the first to create an invisible high-speed grid to deliver interactive services and entertainment to consumers without muss or fuss †¦ anywhere, anytime, over any device. If AOL Time Warner can do that, the company may be able to create the most ironclad and lucrative relationship with the consumers of the future. â€Å"