ECONOMIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ECONOMIC - Essay Example s, property, unemployment, crime, money and corruption are leading indicator of measuring the state of macroeconomics in Sierra Leone (Todaro & Stephen, 2009). This paper reflects the relationship between human capital, income inequality and poverty, and how it affects development in context of EG and HD linkages. Human capital defines the growth rate of nation as evident in the context of Sierra Leone’s economic growth. The absence of subsequent investment in human capital and low level of investment in physical capital affect the rates of return in form human capital, especially education (Todaro & Stephen, 2009). If human and physical capitals mutually affect each other, then the policy problem enables both to increase rapidly. Acute shortages of medicine, skilled healthcare professional, robust power system, hygienic water and such basic amenities as sterilized gloves; Sierra Leone finds the adequate strategy to resolve the health issues of inhabitants. The poor health and education of Sierra Leone’s workers explains low income of the citizen as statistics of pregnancy death showing one in every eight cases in comparison to the United States figure of one in 4,800 and life expectancy of 41 years in not welcome figure (Scott Craft). The coverage of health services remains cau se of concern. Transportation difficulties to avail public services increases the opportunity cost. Cultural barriers further add the woes in accessing health services, especially for women, the lower class, and other vulnerable groups. Infrastructure development and government policies for basic health services will pay substantial dividends as better health will contribute to growth of Sierra Leone. The country depends on the sixty percent of its public expenditure from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations approximately exceeding the figure of $1 billion in aid (Scott Craft). The complex relationship between human capital and economic development needs optimistic approach

Information Use Essay Example for Free

Information Use Essay In today’s business environment information is the most important asset a business has, this information helps to support, maintain, develop and track its daily activities. The next logical step is implementing a system that is conducive and geared towards this goal. With the help of its information system, and its information technology department, managers, sales people, the operations department and others with access to this information have a handy tool to help them do their work on a daily basis. The structure of the information system is paramount on how accessible this information is to the people that depend upon it to complete their normal workday. The managers and IT department work closely together to agree upon and decide on an information system that will be feasible to the business itself, thus setting up a system that will be beneficial to the business itself. In my previous workplace, this was a real estate company that focused on short sales and loan modifications. Our information was provided by the homeowner, this information consisted of their mortgage statement, bank records, hardship letters describing why they needed the short sales or the loan modification, and a list of their debt-income ratio and any foreclosure information. The database we worked on was a system called Salesforce; this system enabled us to keep track of the calls we had to make and document all details of that call. It contained all of the information we needed to accomplish this task, it held clients pertinent data, the banks that we dealt with and a method to track the goals we had to accomplish each week. This system was also an ERM (electronic records management database) we had the ability to scan and upload pertinent client information such as three months of bank statements, paystubs, and hardship letters, foreclosure notices and current mortgage statements. It was very user friendly and had the ability to be modified towards the needs of the company using it. That being said management asked us to make suggestions on what additions we saw or felt that would help make our jobs easy and more efficient. The short sale team made several suggestions to add to Salesforce, thereby making it more specified for our daily tasks. The short sale team was not the only ones using Salesforce, our sales team that generated the leads or clients were the first line of defense; they had to enter the client’s information into Salesforce and scan all the documents related to a homeowner’s situation. The sales team was also responsible for contacting the homeowners to send updated and current documents pertinent to their short sales or loan modifications. In essence Salesforce was also used as a data management system, it had the ability to store all data, generate sales reports, processing, integrating, distributing, securing, and archiving data effectively for current and future use. Accessing Salesforce was readily available if we were out of the office as well, we had the capability to log in and view reports, or if a new client was added, and if we needed information to set up an appraisal that was requested by the bank before the short sale was approved. This ability was very handy for the real estate agent and the processor handling the account, the ability to access the main database with all pertinent information about the client away from the office was an excellent tool that Salesforce offered. Maintenance of Salesforce was managed by our small IT staff, any problems with the system was corrected or fixed very quickly, as the licenses held by Salesforce enabled the IT staff to manage the database as an in-house system, therefore they did not have to contact anyone with any issues. At the same time the permissions on Salesforce were very strict, a person’s user id and password only allowed access to certain parts, the short sales team could not modify or change anything, especially any client information or access the sales departments input and vice versa. This made sense, because there was very important information on the database, the client’s financial data and mortgage information, very sensitive information. In essence, the database that the company used in my opinion was user friendly and seemed to address the needs of the business, in this case a real estate office that held important and sensitive financial data, credit reports and mortgage information. The system enabled us to handle the flow of information and daily activities easy, made access to running reports quickly and efficiently. Further, management was able to view and track completion of daily tasks and weekly goals to generate reports quickly.

Movement Techniques In Casablanca Film Studies Essay

Movement Techniques In Casablanca Film Studies Essay Casablanca, the movie which was presented in 1943, was written by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison and was directed by Michael Curtiz. Its an American romantic drama black and white movie by Hollywood. As for the awards that Casablanca won; it won three academy awards. It was and has always been up till now one of the most excellent films ever and had a complete accomplishment. Mainly the film is about a man who is cut out between his love and his good quality manner feature. The dilemma was that he had to pick one of the two hard choices. Its either he choose to be with the love of his life and help her out or to help her husband to get away from the Moroccan city (Casablanca) to carry on with his fight against the Nazis. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) owns a nightclub in Casablanca, the city, called Ricks Cafà © Amà ©ricain. While the World War II was on, this cafe was like a home for all refugees who are trying to escape to America, they were obtaining illegal letters for that getaway. Shockingly, one day Rick came across the well-known revolt Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), which was the woman he used to love before she left him behind when the Nazis attacked Paris. Ilsa begin again to love Rick and wants to stay with him in Casablanca, but she also wants Victor to escape to America. So she made Rick decide, and by tha t was the story of the film. The Movement Technique: Movement in filmmaking is a very important yet hard technique to achieve. Therefore, its not about what happens in a scene; rather its about how to show what is happening in the scene. There are many different ways to apply movement techniques in a film. An excellent director will want to show how indicative and significant are the movements in a dramatic scene for instance. And how can he/she make the scene effective by using the right form of movements to display and demonstrate the idea (Giannetti, 2010). Any film that doesnt use movement techniques is subjected to be static. Nevertheless, movement doesnt mean drama. There are many action movies that consists movements without having drama thread. Moreover, it is  a matter of the least possible means having the greatest effect so that when violent movement is at last triggered off, it has the desired effect. (Foss, 1992). Camera Movements: Camera movements have two major types: movements that follow a moving subject and the ones that are not detected by movements on the plane of actions. The first kind is mainly about following the dramatic action. On the contrary, the second kind has a significant function; where a connection is made between the items and the events. Each film has a different number of camera movements; that relies upon the time between the cuts in the movie. The shorter the time between the cuts, the fewer camera movements are needed and vice versa. Tracking is a form of camera movements, which has an extremely enormous control to generate feel and atmosphere. Zooming and tracking in are slightly different than one another. Tracking pulls the watcher into the picture in a manner that feels nearly physical and raise the sense of presence and realism. Zooming simply brings out the detail and raises the sense that the director is playing for effects. Another approach of raising the feeling of realism in a movie is to use hand-held camera. It is frequently used to do documentary films and it gives the watcher the illusion of looking at the reality (Foss, 1992). Camera movement is one of the main techniques any filmmaker should study and know really well in order to be able to produce a successful movie. People tend to remember what happens in a general scene more, so using different kinds of camera movement techniques in doing a film correctly will probably help more in making a better movie. In any movie, the director usually moves the camera during all the scenes for many different reasons. Camera movements could most likely means emphasizing on whats happening in the scene or might be to catch people attention for the coming up scene. The director can use a lot of methods such as: long shots, slow-paced action, or high angles to stress a movement. Camera movements could be: smooth, choppy, lyrical, or disorienting. Besides, the movements in a scene possibly will be: naturalistic, stylized, literal, or symbolic (Giannetti, 2010). Camera Angle: Composition can be influenced by the angle of the shot. Cameras can be placed over or underneath the scene, to either produce high-angle-shot or a low-angle-shot. Usually, the shot that is looking down weakens the character (the object). On the contrary, the shot that is likely to be appearing upwards emphasizes the authority or control of the subject or character. The framing of a shot could be directed by the degree to which the framing is level with the horizon. Both the high angle and low angle shots are resulting from the context of the film, and not from the dictionary of camera aesthetics (Gross Ward, 2007). Cinematic Techniques: The fundamentals of cinematic techniques are pan, tilt, and dolly. First, Pan: is the horizontal movement of a camera, it looks through an absolutely broad landscape which doesnt fit a regular camera border. Second, Tilt: is the vertical movement of a camera, by pivoting up and down. Those two techniques are referred to as re-framing the shot and are usually used to track the characters in the movement of action. Finally, Dolly: is the way the camera usually moves normally horizontally throughout the space. Another camera technique is: pulling focus; which is basically a normal technique that applies looking at items that are in diverse ranges. Focal length of a camera is mainly the zoom of the cameras lenses. Zoom, an unnatural technique which is probably used to make effects, is the move of a framework from a wide shot to a close up without moving the camera. There are two types of zooming: slow zoom and fast zoom. The shift from one picture to another in filmmaking is called trans ition. For example: cut is the easiest method of transitions, which are regularly used to have harsh jumps in the moment and on space. There are three main types of transitions. First: dissolve layer, which is used to have soft transition, is having the new picture over the old one by raising the darkness of the old one until the transition is done. Second: fades, which is a type of explosive transition, usually starts and ends the scenes by shifting the colored screen or the picture gradually to a color. Finally: effects transitions are the structure of transmitting an image into another one. Some general framing expressions that could be relevant to either characters or objects are: master shot, full shot, medium shot, medium close up, close up, and an extreme close up (Vineyard). Applying the Movement technique in the movie (Casablanca): At the start of the movie, there was a scene that starts right after the sound of the two German messengers who were killed as they were carrying letters to transfer the MacGuffin of Casablanca. We can see how the police arrested some suspicious characters who were on the street. One of those people where a man who had papers which were not in order, so he tried to escape from the police, but was shot and killed right away. The police officer bends down to the man to look at those papers that were compressed in his hands, then passes them to the other police officer and also closer to the camera so that people can see, the papers showed that the man was a free France propaganda. We can notice how the camera had a close-up to the police officers hand when he was holding the papers. The papers were also on a slope of the camera, where the police cannot see them as well as we (watchers) do. That scene indicates how important it is to keep in mind the relation between the characters in t he movie and the film viewers, who are watching the movie, who are the most important ones in this case. Another scene in Casablanca demonstrates Ricks Cafà © Amà ©ricain, the shot at first shows the cafà © as a whole and then the shot transfers to be only towards people who are in the cafà © talking about escaping to America. Next, the image goes to a woman who was asking about Rick. After that, a man goes up to Rick asking him to sign an empty check, then the camera takes a closer shot at Rick while he is signing the check and then another closer shot at Rick himself. This shot emphasizes that Rick is the main character and the owner of the cafà ©. In one of the scenes of Casablanca, right after the flash from the past of Paris, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) where talking with Rick when she first moved to Casablanca. The following shot of the movie had a right to left camera movement from the image of Ricks face to the image of his hands, when they were tipping above the glass. The next shot was also a camera movement but here it was from the left side to the right side, where the camera was following the small walk till the right border of the frame of Sam (Dooley Wilsons). Hence, in the middle of that shot there was an open space between Sam and Rick. The set of this scene had a door that was framed by the vaulted roof which is a double aperture framing. After that, the director prepares the watcher with a visual staging when Ilsa enters the room. Immediately before she enters, the shot was on the object that was centered in front of Rick which was the bottle; he removes the bottle to pour a drink for himself thus making a clear view of the entrance. In this scene, the aim of the director of the movie was to transfer peoples attention to the entrance of the other character. Then, with having a musical background sound, Rick and Sam looks at the door while the shot was gloomy right away before Ilsa enters. After she has entered, the lighting stresses how she is enclosed with the door. How this (movement technique) was closely connected to another technique: Although, Casablanca is a striking example of the movement technique used in the film, cinematography technique had also a huge great part of the movie. The central concentration and all the focus of attention was directed to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). Most of the shots were taken from her left side with a catch lights, so that her eyes can look like they are shining and mainly the entire propose was to make her face looks gloomy, gentle, and unforgettable. As for the rest of the characters and the setting, bars of shade and darkness were indicating isolation. Moreover, the crucifix, which is the cross with Jesus body, is a symbol of emotional confusion and of the free French forces; which were the French soldiers during the WWII who agreed to carry on the fight and never give up. In nearly all of the scenes, mostly at the last part there was a dim film noir; which stresses the sexual desire and cynical behavior. All of those kinds of lighting equipments and shadow shades that were used in the film were classic ones. Also, the way of applying the background surroundings as a frame of the scenes made the film seems more professional (Kemp). Conclusion: In conclusion, movement techniques usually try to emphasize an important point of the movie to the audience in an indirect way. Moreover, some close-ups and pauses in a film mean that the film director is trying to highlight some major and valuable concepts of the movie. Successful filmmakers use movement techniques correctly and effectively in a film. Word Count: 1956

The Safety Of Seafarers Going To Sea Engineering Essay

The Safety Of Seafarers Going To Sea Engineering Essay This report aims to educate readers about the safety of seafarers going to sea and the possible dangers that they face. The report will also elaborate about the ongoing issues and measures taken to ensure the safety of the seafarers. Marine Industry has been a major platform for investment and income since the ancient times. Seafarers face possible dangers from collision of ships, fire and weather conditions. Therefore, the casualties onboard a ship have been increasing due to lack of awareness towards safety on board the ship. The International Maritime Organisation( IMO) took steps to prevent such disasters from happening. Rules have been set up to make sure the equipments onboard the ship are up to date, certified and are regularly inspected. Workers onboard must be well trained in the safety aspects. According to the International Maritime Organisation(2009),ship safety is a subject that is currently receiving high attention by most countries. The International Maritime Organisation(2009) said that this was due to a number of serious vessel casualties that have occurred in recent years. 1.3 Methodology The information for this report was obtained from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974 edition, reference books, research about shipping companies and the internet. Case studies were taken from online news articles. 1.4 Scope As there are many possibilities that could happen onboard a ship, this report will investigate solely about the possible cause of fire at sea, preventive measures, consequences of fire, actual events that took place due to fire, types of fire and much more. 2.Fire Hazards onboard the Ship 2.1 Causes of Fire According to John G. Antherson (2000),the causes of fire on a ship arent a lot different than the causes of fires in any urban setting. As there are electrical circuits onboard the ship, there is a chance for an electrical fire is to occur. Machinery onboard a ship can get hot when its operating. An overheating bearing could cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Ships uses combustion systems to generating steam, and internal combustion engines are used generate electricity. These combustion system will get very hot and can cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Closed machinery spaces and the volatility of fuel, lubricants and hydraulic fluids around the hot machinery can lead to a fire or an explosion. A collision at sea could initiate a fire. The galley where food is prepared is another fire hazard on board a ship.(John G. Antherson 2000) During ship repairing, metal cutting and welding equipment is carried and used to faulty equipment. Sparks from this equipments could also start a fire. There are some more possible ways fires could be started. Fire hazards in the cabin could also cause fire to occur. An article (Anon: Fires In Ships 2002) states that careless smoking is the main cause of fires in ships. In one case scenario, sixteen Chinese nationals have been taken to the hospital after a fire broke out in their ship(APL Columbia) at port Botany on 5 January 2010.A crew member onboard the 45,000 tonne APL Columbia(IMO:9252242) noticed a fire in his cabin about 1.30am.The man tried to put out the fire but was unsuccessful.The crew members had suffered from smoke inhalation and the fire was put out about 5.30 am using the ships own firefighting equipment. In another case scenario, a fire broke out in the engine room. A Maersk container ship (Maersk Duffield) crossed Brisbanes Moreton Bay with its engine room on fire and the Emergency Management Queensland helicopter is en route to assist. One crew member required treatment. Shipping Database,2009-2010[Online] Available from: http://www.shippingdatabase.com/ [Accessed 31 January 2010] Figure 1 [International Maritime Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 15] Figure 2 [International Maritime Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 16] According to the chart ( figure 1) made by the Maritime Institute in Gdansk(2007), most fire accidents occur during ship repairs. Fire caused from ship repairs take up 79.3% of most fire accidents in their case study. Meanwhile, figure 2 showed that 24.11% of fire occurring on board a ship is located at the Cargo holds and tanks. 2.2 Classes of Fire There are 4 types of fire that might occur onboard a ship. There are Class A , Class B , Class C and Class D fires. The U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service(2007) said that Ordinary combustible fires are the most common type of fire, and are designated under Class A fire . These occur when a solid, organic material such as wood, cloth, rubber, or plastic become heated to their flash point and ignite. This class of fire is fairly simple to combat and contain .According to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 2008),the most common way to do this is by spraying the burning material with water, oxygen can also be removed by smothering the fire with foam from a fire extinguisher. Meanwhile, flammable liquid are categorized under Class B fire. The National Fire Protection Association(2008) reports that this fire follow the same basic fire tetrahedron (heat, fuel, oxygen, chemical reaction) as ordinary combustible fires, except that the fuel in question is a flammable liquid such as gasoline, or gas such as natural gas. An efficient way to extinguish a liquid or gas fueled fire is to disrupt the chemical chain reaction of the fire, which is done by dry chemical and Halon extinguishing agents. According to an extract from Industrial Hygiene and Information Management (2008): ESH Manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, class D fire are fires that are caused by flammable or combustible metals. Examples given by the ESH manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, of such metals are titanium , sodium ,magnesium, potassium, uranium and calcium. Generally, metal fire risks occur when sawdust, machine shavings and other metal are present. These fires can be ignited by the same types of ignition sources that would start other common fires. Wikipedia, Fire Classes [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_classes [Accessed 1 February 2010] A crew onboard a fishing vessel said that If a fire was to start onboard a ship, crew members onboard must know what type of fire it is. If a wrong extinguisher or method is being used, the fire might spread even more. ( Florida Sport Fishing Crew 2002) 3. Consequences of fire 3.1 Loss of Revenue and Marine Environment The International Maritime Organisation (2009) said that most accidents onboard a ship will result in a loss of revenue. Cargos onboard a ship might be damaged and millions of dollars worth of cargos and resources will be affected. Fire onboard a tanker ship will have a high chance of causing an explosion and fuel leaked into the sea will cause water pollution and that will affect the marine environment. Thousands of dollar will be used to clean up the oil spill. A case study given by the Port State Information exchange (2006) was that of Hyundai Fortune where an accidental fire broke out on 21st March 2006. The combined cost of the ship and damaged cargo is estimated at over 300 million US dollars. According to an online article by Brisbane Times, oil spill clean-up can be rather costly. In a case study by the article, an insurer of a Hong Kong-based cargo ship had to foot the bill for a 20 tonnes of diesel fuel into waters off Stradbroke Island. Authorities announced that the estimated cost of the clean-up will reach about $100,000 a day and take seven days to complete. Daniel Hurst 2009 , Oil spill clean-up to cost $100,000 a day[Online] Brisbane times Available from: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/oil-spill-cleanup-to-cost-100000-a-day/2009/03/12/1236447368184.html [Accessed on 7th February 2010] 3.2 Political Fallout Political fallout might also occur if swift action is not taken. Political fallout will cause the reputation of the government or authority to be at stake.(M.Masellis and S.W.A.  Gunn 1992) The disasters that occur within the Maritime Industries can be used as an example for opposition parties to blame the government and this might change the mindset of the society towards the government. According to an online article by BBC news, an oil well in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia caught fire. The oil rig had been leaking oil and marine fire fighters were struggling for ten weeks to stop the leak. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help combat the fire and other teams such as the Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby. However, an opposition spokesman accused the Environment Minister of Australia of doing nothing to stop the oil leak. BBC News 2009 , Australia well catches fire [Online] Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8336564.stm 3.3 Human Casualties Accidents onboard a ship will also cause human casualties to occur. Fire especially will be life threatening onboard a passenger ship and it will cause chaos and panic among passengers. ( L.M. Collins 1999) A good way to ensure that human life is not lost is for the crew and passengers to follow instructions given by the Captain. If the passengers follow the instructions swiftly, they will be able to escape from the ship safely.( L.M. Collins 1999) One of the major events that had many human casualties was that of RMS Titanic. According to David G , Titanic was struck by an iceberg and sank in two hours and forty minutes on 15 April 1912. The sinking of the Titanic resulted in 1517 deaths out of the 2223 people on board. The high casualty rate was due to the fact that the ship was not carrying enough lifeboats for everyone onboard. Brown, David G. (2000). The Last Log of the Titanic. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071364471. Most fire cases are quickly dealt with and the only losses that the crew face are the cargos or raw materials onboard. Up to this day, passenger ship have not faced any fire incidents that resulted in major human casualties. 4.Fire Safety Measures 4.1 Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS) M.  Masellis and S.W.A.  Gunn(1992) said that fire casualties on ships lead almost certainly to disastrous results because of the limited and isolated areas of the vessels and the lack of immediate and easy access for the rescue team. Preventive measures are therefore much more effective in the effort to avoid such casualties than rescue and fire-extinguishing procedures or devices. [Marine fire casualties in merchant ships: the Greek statistics 1992 Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h8362077847j9127/] In 1914, The International Maritime Organisation had a convention among international leaders and maritime leaders to talk about maritime safety. Of all the international conventions dealing with maritime safety, the most important is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS). There have been many versions of SOLAS adopted by the International Maritime Organisation but the present version was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980.The SOLAS conventions have all covered many aspects of safety at sea. The convention in 1914 included chapters on safety of navigation, construction, fire protection and life-saving appliances.(International Maritime Organisation 2009) This shows that the International Maritime Organisation is constantly trying to find ways to improve the aspects of safety at sea to ensure the safety of seafarers life by introducing the Safety Of Life at Sea(SOLAS) and updating it. 4.2 Fire Safety Test and Safety Equipment One of the fire safety measures is to conduct fire safety test for the ship. Fire safety of ships is an extremely important area. Before any material can be used onboard a ship, it must have successfully passed strict tests and have been certified for use. This is to ensure that the material or equipment does not pose a fire hazard onboard the ship. (SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden 2008) Another safety measure is to install safety equipments on the ship. Equipments such as fire extinguisher, sprinkler system , gas monitor and other safety equipments are being implemented. The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) is taking steps to introduce new and more sophisticated equipments onboard the ships. IMO hope to reduce the amount of accidents from occurring onboard the ship and will rely on this new equipments to combat the problem more efficiently. 4.3 Service of ships and Equipments According to The Safety of Life At Sea 1974 edition, the ship and its safety equipments have to undergo service once every few years. Safety equipments include components that can deteriorate over time. Therefore, this can decrease the effectiveness of the equipment. Examples of such equipments stated in the Safety Of Life At Sea 1974 edition (SOLAS) are fire extinguishers, EPIRBs, flares, life jackets, life rafts and smoke signals. Servicing of the equipment must be done by the manufacturer or an authorised agent by the expiry date. The expiry date must be clearly marked on the equipment. Most life raft needs to be serviced every two or three years. Equipment that cannot be serviced or no longer works must be replaced if it is to be carried as part of the safety equipment onboard the ship.(The International Maritime Organisation 2009) In the event that an emergency were to occur and the safety equipments were to be faulty as they were not sent for servicing, the manufacturer should not be blamed as the expiry date have been stated clearly on the equipment. It is the duty of the crew onboard and its owner to send the equipments for servicing once the expiry date is over. According to the IMO 2009, maintenance and inspections of equipments must be recorded to provide objective evidence that these work have been carried out according to the manufacturers instructions. 4.4 Proper training for the crew According to the Maritime Port Authority Singapore(MPA) 2010, Seafarers working on board a ship must have the valid certification or endorsements. In Singapore, these are issued by the Training Standards Department of MPA. Seafarers working on board a ship are required to have a valid Certificate of Competency (CoC) or endorsement, which comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The crew must also be well trained in fire fighting and First Aid. Those who wish to work onboard a ship must have an Advance Fire Fighting Course certificate and Elementary First Aid certificate as well before they are qualified to work onboard (Maritime Port Authority Singapore 2010). The crew will also conduct regular safety drills after each departure from port. The crew are to follow their duty that had been assigned on the Muster List. By having proper trained crews onboard a ship, this will minimise the chance of human error and accidents from occurring. Furthermore, the crew are well trained to handle any emergencies such as fire . The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) 2009 once said that the quality and familiarisation are directly affected by the frequency and quality of the drills carried out. IMO added that a crew debrief after each drill is essential to emphasise lessons learned and to give additional training where necessary. 5. Conclusion 5.1 Further Improvements Every year, the International Maritime Organisation and other Maritime Body are working hand in hand to improve a seafarers life in terms of their living condition and to ensure that they are working in a safe environment. The organisation are trying to find constant improvement to reduce marine casualties, loss in revenue due to unwanted accidents. One improvement that can be introduce to the ship is the All-in-One fire extinguisher. This extinguisher would be able to combat any types of fire such as Class A , Class B, Class C or Class D fires. By having this fire extinguisher onboard the ship, the crew will not need to waste time to find different methods to combat different types of fire. Another improvement that could be introduced is the fire isolating system. This system will isolate the fire from spreading to other rooms and this will reduce the damage caused towards the ship. The Maritime Port Authority said that this new inventions will further improve the safety aspects but it still needs to undergo more tests before it can be implemented towards the ships. 5.2 Human Error is still the Main Cause The International Maritime Organisation have taken steps to ensure that the technology and safety equipments being implemented are up to date. Even thought this is so, nothing can be done if the accident caused is by human error. Even if the crew had gone for proper training, human error will still occur. An article by B.S Dhillon(2007), human error costs the Maritime Industry $541 million per year and a study of 6091 major accident claims revealed that 62% of the claims were attributed to human error. B.S Dhillion(2007) added that human error contributes to 84% to 88% of tanker accidents. [B.S Dhillon 2007. Human Reliability and Error in Transportation Systems, Springer Series in Reliability Engineering . Page 1.] These incidents will result in crew injuries or death and the ship will be delayed or damaged. Even if there is mechanical failure, human error can play a role in terms of lack of maintenance , monitoring or a breakdown in communication. The Bahamas Maritime Authority added that crew fatigue and complacency can be a major factor in this incident. The Bahamas Maritime Authority said that Good equipment can cost more, but safety should be accorded a higher priority because a ship cannot be operated safely without the seafarer.

Wireless LAN :: Internet Technology Computers Essays

Wireless LAN discovery through the use of applications such as NetStumbler, DStumbler, Wellenreiter and others is an increasingly popular technique for network penetration. The discovery of a wireless LAN might be used for seemingly innocuous Internet access, or to be used as a "backdoor" into a network to stage an attack. This paper reviews some of the tactics used in wireless LAN network discovery and attempts to identify some of the fingerprints left by wireless LAN discovery applications, focusing on the MAC and LLC layers. This fingerprint information can then be incorporated into intrusion detection tools capable of analyzing data-link layer traffic. Introduction The growth of 802.11 networks has been met with the development of several wireless local area network (WLAN) discovery applications. These applications are designed to identify WLAN activity and network characteristics, providing enough information for an unauthorized user to gain access to the target network. For obvious reasons, WLAN administrators should be concerned about unauthorized access to their networks and therefore should attempt to identify the applications used to discover their networks. WLAN intrusion analysis is not entirely unlike traditional intrusion analysis; we are primarily concerned about the identification of traffic signatures or fingerprints that are unique to the applications we want to detect. Unlike traditional intrusion analysis however, we have additional challenges that are unique to wireless networks: 1. Location of trafic capture station Where traditional intrusion detection systems can be location in a functional area (DMZ, inside a firewall, outside a firewall, etc), a data collection agent (agent) capturing 802.11 frames must be installed in the same service area of each wireless LAN we wish to monitor. The improper location of a wireless LAN agent will inevitably lead to false positive results. If the receive sensitivity of the agent exceeds that of the monitored network, traffic may be characterized as WLAN discovery while being outside the cell range of the monitored network. Another interesting challenge is monitoring "hidden node" IBSS stations where the last wireless station to generate a beacon is responsible to reply to probe requests (ANSI/IEEE, 126). In these cases, the wireless LAN agent may not be within the coverage area necessary to collect responses or further solicitation of management information from the responding â€Å"hidden node† station. 2. Identifying anomalous trafic In order for wireless clients to locate a network to join, the IEEE 802.11 specification made an accommodation for clients to broadcast requests for available networks.

Hazards from the Universe :: Ecology Ecological Papers

Hazards from the Universe There are several perilous conditions that exist in our vast universe that could directly impact life as we know it on Earth. These hazards include meteors, asteroids, emission of charged solar particles, supernovas, and problems caused by man. Although the odds of these dangers directly harming Earth’s population are extremely low, if not impossible altogether, something about pending apocalypse seems to excite the human mind. The possibility of a meteorite or asteroid of significant size colliding into Earth poses as a legitimate threat to our planet. Most meteorites are miniscule and cause little harm. In fact, as many as four billion meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere every day. However, only the larger meteors reach the earth because smaller ones burn up in the atmosphere. A large meteor impact, while rare, should still cause some concern. Barringer Crater in Arizona was formed from an iron meteor approximately 30-50 meters in diameter. Other such large meteors ar e often held accountable for the seemingly sudden extinction of dinosaurs. Based upon scientific calculations, three craters of at least 10 km are expected to form on the earth every million years. While these larger meteors are rare, any oncoming asteroid could be pushed off course by the use of rockets or explosives (Bray, 1999). Meteorites are dangerous, but the asteroids which they come from are even worse. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, the scientists at the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Project recently detected an asteroid 2km wide which was originally predicted to collide with the Earth on February 1, 2019, with possible catastrophic implications. Fortunately, it is believed that this particular asteroid threat will disappear. Still, the public is aware of how threatening an asteroid could be. Hollywood has added to the apocalyptic hysteria surrounding asteroids by releasing movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact. While there is no reason to panic right now, asteroids should be feared because an impact would cause extreme and possibly fatal destruction. Violent eruptions of gas on the Sun’s surface called solar flares can send solar charged particles towards Earth and appear to be possible threats to the safety of mankind. These expulsions of charged particles come from the sun flares’ relationship with sun spots. Sun spots are cooler and darker regions of the Sun where the solar magnetic field extends off of the Sun’s surface. When the charged particles ejected from the sun reach Earth and enter its upper atmosphere, they react with present atoms and can cause major disturbances to satellites and terrestrial communications systems such as T.

Psychological Analysis of Lee Harvey Oswald Essay -- Psychological Cap

On November 22nd, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was concluded by The Warren Commission that the man who assassinated President Kennedy was 24 year old, Lee Harvey Oswald. Less than 48 hours after Kennedy was shot, while Oswald was being transferred to the county jail, he was assassinated. Lee Harvey Oswald was killed before he could undergo any psychological or psychiatric analysis, so it is impossible to know for certain what his mental state was at the time of President Kennedy's assassination. The Warren Commission states that they were unable â€Å"to reach any definite conclusions as to whether or not he (Lee Harvey Oswald) was ‘sane’ under prevailing legal standards (Warren et al., 1964, p. 375).† I do not believe that human behavior can ever fully be predicted. However, an analysis of Oswald’s childhood, as well as, his actions leading up to the assassination help us to understand the type of person Lee Harvey Oswald w as and give us an insight into his psychological state. Oswald had a troubling childhood to say the least. His father died two months before he was born in 1939 leaving him with no father figure in his life. Not only did the death of Oswald’s father leave him with without a father-figure, it â€Å"robbed him of a home and family life with constant parental figures (Abrahamsen, 1967, p. 869).† The death of Oswald’s father forced his mother to go to work, essentially leaving him without a mother as well. His mother sent Oswald, his older brother, Robert Oswald, and his older half-brother, John Pic, to an orphanage. Oswald stayed at the orphanage for thirteen months, until his mother married her third husband (Ewing & McCann, 2006, p. 22). Now that Oswald’s mother was remarried there w... ...brahamsen, David. (1967). A Study of Lee Harvey Oswald: Psychological Capability of Murder. Bulletin of The New York Academy of Medicine, 43, 861-888. Ewing, C.P., & McCann J.T. (2006). Minds on Trial: Great Cases in Law and Psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. McAdams, John. (1995). Lee Harvey Oswald: Troubled Youth - Oswald Assessed by Psychiatrist Renatus Hartogs. Retrived from http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ hartogs.htm. Simon, Jonathan. (1998). Ghosts of the Disciplinary Machine: Lee Harvey Oswald, Life-History, and the Truth of Crime. Yale Journal of Law and Humanities, 10, 75-113. Warren, E., Russell, R. B., Ford, G. R., Cooper, J. S., Dulles, A. W., Boggs, A., McCloy, J. J. (1964). The Warren Commission Report: Reports of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.