Open Loop Control Method For Conveyor Belt Transmission Engineering Essay

Open Loop Control Method For Conveyor Belt Transmission Engineering Essay Before the advent of modern automation techniques, factory workers often had to travel from project to project. The cumulative effect of all this physical motion was additional stress and inefficient use of the workers time. The development of conveyor belts allowed the project to come to the worker, instead of the worker to the project. Parts could then be transported by other conveyor belts to additional workers, and eventually to the shipping docks for delivery. Many conveyor belts work on the principle of variable speed control. If a particular belt moves too slowly, workers may find themselves waiting for parts. If a conveyor belt moves too quickly, parts may be damaged or workers may become overwhelmed. Much of a factory supervisors time is spent adjusting conveyor belts for maximum efficiency. This is especially important in food production factories, where conveyor belt speed and proper cooking time work hand in hand. Project objectives Modeling of a open-loop control method for conveyor belt transmission Modeling of a close-loop speed control method for conveyor belt transmission Research on the performance comparison for variable mass material input 1.2 Organization of thesis Chapter 2: This chapter thoroughly introduce what conveyor transmission system is and provides a brief history about it. Six categories of typical conveyor transmission system have been introduced. It also explains the sources and types of breakdowns in conveyor belt, as well as the effect of those breakdowns cause in the transmission line. Then, this chapter also discusses about the importance to have speed control for the conveyor belt transmission system. Chapter 3: This chapter mainly focus on different types of motors. It specifically explains about the AC asynchronous motor which is the most widely used in heavy industry. The different speed control methods of AC asynchronous motors have been compared in several aspects. Chapter 4: In this chapter, PID controller is discussed in details for process control, including its definition, history, applications, tuning method and implementation. Unlike other kinds of papers concerning PID control approach, the weakness and bad behaviour were brought about as well so that an objective picture of PID method could be completed. Chapter 5: At the outset, this chapter gives some key modeling process, and then provides the complete models for simulation both of open-loop control and close-loop speed control. With these models, simulation results can be get to make some comparisons. The close-loop results show the performance of different controller parameters on the transmission system with a variable mass material input on several discrete speed value, corresponding to the open-loop curves those seem not to be quite good. Chapter 6: This chapter summarizes discussion and conclusion about the performance of speed control on the transmission system, and then gives out some recommendations and future works that can be done in speed control for conveyor belt transmission system. 2.0 CONVEYOR BELT TRANSMISSION SYSTEM Conveyor belts are generally endless loops which move parts or materials from one location to another. Conveyor belts are often driven by variable speed electric motors or by other moving parts in a complex system. They are commonly found in factories, grocery stores, warehouses and public transportation centers. Further refinement of conveyor belts allowed factory managers to create automated or semi-automated production lines. Individual parts could be moved through automated machinery for routine processing, leaving workers free for quality control tasks or other higher responsibilities. Conveyor belts also proved useful for transporting heavy or hazardous products, reducing worker injuries. The use of conveyor belts is not restricted to factories. Bakeries and pizza shops often use a slow-moving wire conveyor belt to move their products through an oven. Grocery stores use conveyor belts in their check-out lines to bring items to the clerk and bagger. Airports and other public transportation systems use conveyor belts to deliver checked baggage to customers. Warehouses use long conveyor belts to offload products from incoming trucks or to load outgoing ones. Escalators found in department stores could also be considered conveyor belts, as are people movers in larger airports. 2.1 History Primitive conveyor belts were used since the 19th century. In 1892, Thomas Robins began a series of inventions which led to the development of a conveyor belt used for carrying coal, ores and other products.[6] In 1901, Sandvik invented and started the production of steel conveyor belts. In 1905 Richard Sutcliffe invented the first conveyor belts for use in coal mines which revolutionized the mining industry. In 1913, Henry Ford introduced conveyor-belt assembly lines at Ford Motor Companys Highland Park, Michigan factory.[7] In 1972, the French society REI created in New Caledonia the then longest straight-belt conveyor in the world, at a length of 13.8 km. Hyacynthe Marcel Bocchetti was the concept designer. In 1957, the B. F. Goodrich Company patented a conveyor belt that it went on to produce as the Turnover Conveyor Belt System. Incorporating a half-twist, it had the advantage over conventional belts of a longer life because it could expose all of its surface area to wear and te ar.Mà ¶bius strip belts are no longer manufactured because untwisted modern belts can be made more durable by constructing them from several layers of different materials.[8]. In 1970, Intralox, a Louisiana based company, registered the first patent for all plastic, modular belting. In 1963-64, First Indian Small Scale Industrial Unit with Japanese Plant for Rubber Belts for Conveyor / Elevator / Transmission was installed near National Capital Territory of Delhi and its MrBelts Conveyor Belting has been widely used in Steel, Cement, Fertilizer, Thermal Power, Sponge Iron Plants and Coal/Mineral establishments, Port Trusts and similar material handling applications of Industry for the last over 4 decades 2.2 Types of Conveyor System 2.2.1 Wheel Conveyor System A wheel conveyor systems setup consists of skate wheels that are mounted on an axle placed in a row. Depending on the weight of the material being transported, adjustment of both the wheel spacing and the slope for load movement is provided. Being simpler in construction, the system is flexible, scalable and more economical with light-duty applications as compared to a roller conveyor system. 2.2.2 Roller Conveyor System A roller conveyor system has two variants, but both utilize a minimum of three rollers that provide support to the smallest load all the time. Then there are tapered rollers that orient the load around a curved path. The gravity-type system is alternative to the wheel conveyor system that is used for heavy-duty applications. It utilizes a slope for load movement to facilitate the accumulation process. The powered variant utilizes a belt or chain drive for force-sensitive power transmission useful in merging and/or sorting applications. 2.2.3 Chain Conveyor System A chain conveyor system has one or more endless chains that directly carry the load. These chains are placed in a parallel chain manner that can be used in transporting pallets. One variant is the vertical chain conveyor that is used for transferring loads continuously in a vertical direction at high speeds. 2.2.4 Slat Conveyor System A slat conveyor system uses slats placed at discrete positions, and these slats are connected to a chain. Through drives that control orientation and positioning of the load, the transported unit is able to retain its position while being conveyed. The system is used in applications transporting heavy loads that might otherwise damage the belt as in bottling and canning plants. 2.2.5 Vibrating Conveyor System In vibrating conveyor systems, the main component is an elongated load-carrying structure called a trough, bed or tube, based on the application it is used for. A vibrating mechanism produces small amplitude vibrations at a high frequency. This conveys the individual product units and bulk materials. Due to its unique operational manner, it can be used to transport almost all kinds of granular as well as free-flowing materials. 2.2.6 Pneumatic Conveyor System A pneumatic conveyor system uses pipes or ducts known as transportation lines. These ducts carry material mixture along with an air stream. The load gets transported to various locations through pipe lines propelled by the high velocity air streams. 2.3 Components and Breakdowns The belt conveyor system (BCS) consists of (fig. 3): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ drive unit (electric motor, coupling multistage gearbox), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ pulleys (drive pulley and other), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ belts (textile or with steel cords) with their joints, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ idlers, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ other (belt cleaning systems, control system, etc.) Fig 2.3.1 Belt conveyor transmission system components In this section we will consider the type of faults that may appear in belt conveyor systems with reference to conveyor component s. The drive unit consist of electric motor, damping coupling, two or three stage gear-box and coupling that connect output shaft with pulley (fig. 8). A crucial object in this subsystem is gearbox. According to Matuszewski [5] in a considered lignite open cast mine even 14% of gearboxes may be replaced each year due to unexpected failures. These failures are related to the geared wheel wear or damages (broken tooth) and bearings (mainly over limit backlash due to environmental impact, also typical failures like outer/inner race, rolling element). The mining pulley consist of two bearings, shaft, shell and coating (special material in order to improve belt-pulley contact). The most frequent failures for pulleys are: bearings and shells. For gearboxes number of failures related to geared wheels is 50%. Other critical failure is the damage of input shafts (probably because of overloading) . It may be surprising that bearing faults are not so frequent in gearboxes. The failure analysis of idlers and belts are a bit different issue [7, 8, 11]. Idlers are used for supporting belts with transported materials. In some sense, idlers are similar to pulleys and consist of bearings and shells. One may expect similar types of failures. The support system for belt consists of three idlers. Because of different load for each idler usually side idlers are more subjected to damage. It needs to be added that in CM context of idlers change of condition is not the only one. Worn bearings in idlers will significantly increase external load for drive units so power consumption will increase. Damaged idlers and pulleys may be the reason of damage for belts. Depends on application, belts used in conveyor systems may be divided into two groups: textile belts and steel cords belts. In underground mines usually the textile belts are used. In lignite mines both types may be applied. Expected problems for belts are related to belt (tear, puncture, cut of belt and abrasion of bottom/top covers) and its joints (connected using glue, vulcanized or mechanical joint) [10, 11]. Because of dimension and weight of a belt it needs to be transported in rolls, pieces up to 100-400 m long, depends on a belt type. In order to replace damaged a gearbox or pulley heavy machinery is required. In some cases due to environmental impact (for example rain) it takes a few times longer time. If one consider the impact of damaged idlers it is another story. The idlers are quite small in comparison to pulleys; however, number of idlers is huge. Damaged idlers may cause failure of belt (the cut of a belt) or even may start fire (belt slipping on damaged idler may increase temperature up to 400 °C, 450 °C is the limit for so called difficult-to-burn belt) and as it was mentioned energy consumption is arising dramatically. Any of mentioned failure generates cost of breakdown of machines working in series. It as to be mentioned that a conveyor system, that with random material to be transferred the smoothness and stability of the conveyor belt transmisssion system should be guaranteed to extend all the components lifetime. 2.4 Significance of Research The belt conveyor is one of key components for most of manufacturing systems. Intelligent control of the conveyor leads to the feasibility of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). For most of the assembly lines in manufacturing systems, different processing works applied to products mainly come from workers who is sitting along the conveyor. The products are conveyed by the belt conveyor from one working area to the next. If the average number of products entering one working area is greater than the average number leaving that area, the manufacturing process stagnates. It means that conveying speed is too fast so that more products are conveyed to workers in that working area than the quantity they can handle. Therefore, the conveying speed of belt conveyor needs to be adaptively changed based on the stagnation condition at each working area. On the other hand, if the defective rate of products monitored at outlet of conveyor is too large even though no stagnation has occurred at e ach working area, the conveyor still needs to be adaptively slowed down so that workers have more time to give their processing works with more cares In the long run, maximum number of manufactured products conveyed to the outlet of conveyor is hoped to be achieved if the speed of belt conveyor can be intelligently controlled Since the conveyor is driven by a servo motor, adaptive control algorithm can be designed to control the motor speed based on stagnation conditions at working areas or the defective rate monitored at the conveyor outlet. In addition, belt conveyor is one of main electromechanical systems in heavy industry, especially in the coal transport system, its safe operation plays an important role in the whole coal output systems.Safety is an important aspect in our life, and coal mine still is a high-risk industry in the world. As one of main components in the coal transport system, the safe operation of belt conveyor plays an important role in the whole coal output systems. As the belt conveyors get longer, quicker and bulkier, it is often occurred that the belt rupture, coal vibration, belt slip on the drive pulley, uncontrolled running of the belt conveyor, belt fire and other safety accidents, which bring huge economical losses and threat miner life. In order to insure the miner safety and the normal production, it is significant to carry on safety investigation of the belt conveyor. Higher productivity and reliability are common goals for conveyor systems in mining operations. Key objectives include opt imized mass flows, reduced energy costs and a well-coordinated workflow between the conveying and transport processes.And the key to this problem is to make sure that the transmission system should be operating at a smooth and steady speed. In a word, the steady speed of the conveyor belt transmission system is vitally important.[wiki] 3.0 MOTORS FOR CONVEYOR 3.1 General Motors An electric motor is an electromechanical device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Electric motors are found in applications as diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household appliances, power tools, and disk drives. Electric motors may be classified by the source of electric power, by their internal construction, by their application, or by the type of motion they give. 3.1 Conveyor Motor Types For a conveyor transmission system, the drive unit develops with time. And the motors still using in this era come to the 4 main types: brushed DC motor; brushed DC motor; . The working mechanism of the 4 kinds are discussed as well as their merits and drawbacks. 3.2.1 Brushed DC motors A brushed DC motor has a set of rotating windings wound on an armature mounted on a rotating shaft. The shaft also carries the commutatora long-lasting rotary electrical switch that periodically reverses the flow of current in the rotor windings as the shaft rotates. The magnets field produced by the armature interacts with a stationary magnetic field produced by either permanent magnets or another winding a field coil, as part of the motor frame. The force between the two magnetic fields tends to rotate the motor shaft. Many of the limitations of the classic commutator DC motor are due to the need for brushes to press against the commutator. This creates friction. Sparks are created by the brushes making and breaking circuits through the rotor coils as the brushes cross the insulating gaps between commutator sections. Depending on the commutator design, this may include the brushes shorting together adjacent sections and hence coil ends momentarily while crossing the gaps. Furthermore, the inductance of the rotor coils causes the voltage across each to rise when its circuit is opened, increasing the sparking of the brushes. This sparking limits the maximum speed of the machine, as too-rapid sparking will overheat, erode, or even melt the commutator. The current density per unit area of the brushes, in combination with their resistivity, limits the output of the motor. The making and breaking of electric contact also generates electrical noise; sparking generates RFI. Brushes eventually wear out an d require replacement, and the commutator itself is subject to wear and maintenance (on larger motors) or replacement (on small motors). The commutator assembly on a large motor is a costly element, requiring precision assembly of many parts. On small motors, the commutator is usually permanently integrated into the rotor, so replacing it usually requires replacing the whole rotor. Therefore, DC motor brush design entails a trade-off between output power, speed, and efficiency/wear. 3.2.2 brushed DC motor In this motor, the mechanical rotating switch or commutator/brush gear assembly is replaced by an external electronic switch synchronized to the rotors position. Brushless motors are typically 85-90% efficient or more whereas DC motors with brush are typically 75-80% efficient. Brushless DC motors are commonly used where precise speed control is necessary. They have several advantages over conventional motors:they are very efficient, running much cooler than the other equivalent motors; without a commutator to wear out, the life of a DC brushless motor can be significantly longer compared to a DC motor using brushes and a commutator; brushless motors have no chance of sparking, unlike brushed motors, making them better suited to environments with volatile chemicals and fuels. Also, sparking generates ozone which can accumulate in poorly ventilated buildings risking harm to occupants health. Modern DC brushless motors range in power from a fraction of a watt to many kilowatts. Larger brushless motors up to about 100 kW rating are used in electric vehicles. There are numerous applications using a Brush DC Motor that could instead utilize the Brushless DC Motor. However a few factors might prevent the changeover. The first factor is start-up cost. Although the Brushless DC Motor is lower-maintenance than the Brush DC Motor, initial cost is more expensive, due to its advantageous construction. Second is complexity. A controller is required in order to operate a Brushless DC Motor, and is usually more convoluted than most controllers. A Brushless DC Motor also requires additional system wiring, in order to power the electronic commutation circuitry. 3.2.3 asynchronous AC motor An asynchronous AC motor is an induction motor where power is transferred to the rotor by electromagnetic induction, much like transformer action. . Polyphase induction motors are widely used in industry.The simple design of AC motor is simply a series of three windings in the exterior (stator) section with a simple rotating section (rotor). The changing field caused by the 50 or 60 Hertz AC line voltage causes the rotor to rotate around the axis of the ac motor. The AC motor has the advantage of being the lowest cost motor for applications which require more than about 1/2 hp (325 watts) of power. This is due to the simple design of ac motor. Meanwhile, the simple design of the AC motor results in extremely reliable, low maintenance operation. Unlike the DC motor, there are no brushes to replace for ac motors. If run in the appropriate environment for its enclosure, AC motor can expect to need new bearings after several years of operation. In fact if the application is well designed , an AC motor may not need new bearings for more than a decade. Although the most common and simple industrial motor is the three phase AC induction motor, there are still disadvantages of ac motor. Expensive speed control The electronics required to handle an AC inverter drive are considerably more expensive than those required to handle a DC motor. However, if performance requirements can be met meaning that the required speed range is over 1/3rd of base speed AC inverters and AC motors are usually more cost-effective than DC motors and DC drives for applications larger than about 10 horsepower, because of cost savings in the AC motor. Inability to operate at low speeds Standard AC motors should not be operated at speeds less than about 1/3rd of base speed. This is due to thermal considerations. In fact a DC motor should be considered for these applications. Poor positioning control Positioning control is also expensive and crude. Even a vector drive is very crude when controlling a standard AC motor. Servo motors are more appropriate for these applications. 3.2.4 Synchronous Electric Motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC motor distinguished by a rotor spinning with coils passing magnets at the same rate as the alternating current and resulting magnetic field which drives it. Another way of saying this is that it has zero slip under usual operating conditions. Contrast this with an induction motor, which must slip to produce torque. These motors can be made to operate at leading power factor and thereby improve the pf of an industrial plant from one that is normally lagging to one that is close to unity. And the key feature of a synchronous AC motor is it operates at a constant speed, irrespective of load, from no-load to full load. As well, electromagnetic power varies linearly with the applied voltage. These motors can be constructed with wider air gapes than induction motors making them mechanically better.Whats more, efficiency of operation is usually high, especially in the low speed and unity power factor ranges. However, the disadvantages are also quite obvious. These motors cannot be used for variable speed jobs as there is no possibility of speed adjustment. And it requires external source for supplying dc excitation, cannot be started under load, the starting torque being zero, may fall out of synchronism and stop when over-loaded and so on. In addition, for some applications these motors are not desirable as for driving shafts in small work-shops having no power available for starting and in cases where frequent starting or strong starting torque is required. 3.3 AC Motor for Conveyor Through the comparisons above, transmission system with AC motors are simple to make and can be reliable.And for the low cost, AC motors are overwhelmingly preferred for fixed speed applications in our industrial applications and for commercial and domestic applications where AC line power can be easily attached. In fact over 90% of all motors are AC induction motors. AC induction motors are found in air conditioners, washers, dryers, industrial machinery, fans, blowers, vacuum cleaners, and many, many other applications. Using an AC drive for conveyor control allows the speed to be adjusted to changing needs. A partly loaded conveyor with a higher speed than necessary wastes energy and causes unnecessary wear. In controlling conveyors, AC drives also improve process control by enabling the collection of measurement and supervision information. The soft start of the conveyor with AC drives reduces the stress on gearboxes when the conveyor is started. This paper mainly deals with the AC asynchronous motors, because for industry like coal mine, the asynchronous ones are the mainstream with many successful applications.In the design of the induction motor, operational characteristics can be determined through a series of calculations. Performing these calculations can help the engineer provide a motor that is best suited to a particular application. 3.3.1 SYNCHRONOUS SPEED The speed with which the stator magnetic field rotates, which will determine the speed of the rotor, is called the Synchronous Speed (SS). The SS is a function of the frequency of the power source and the number of poles (pole pairs) in the motor. The relationship to calculate the SS of an induction motor is: Where: SS = Synchronous Speed (RPM) f = frequency (cycles / second) = 60 P = number of poles (pole pairs) 3.3.2 MOTOR SLIP The rotor in an induction motor can not turn at the synchronous speed. In order to induce an EMF in the rotor, the rotor must move slower than the SS. If the rotor were to somehow turn at SS, the EMF could not be induced in the rotor and therefore the rotor would stop. However, if the rotor stopped or even if it slowed significantly, an EMF would once again be induced in the rotor bars and it would begin rotating at a speed less than the SS. The relationship between the rotor speed and the SS is called the Slip. Typically, the Slip is expressed as a percentage of the SS. The equation for the motor Slip is: Where: %S = Percent Slip SS = Synchronous Speed (RPM) RS = Rotor Speed (RPM) 3.3.3 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT To analyze the operating and performance characteristics of an induction motor, an Equivalent Circuit can be drawn. We will consider a 3-phase, Y connected machine, the Equivalent Circuit for the stator is as shown below: Fig 3.3.1 Equivalent Circuit Where: V1 = Stator Terminal Voltage I1 = Stator Current R1 = Stator Effective Resistance X1 = Stator Leakage Reactance Z1 = Stator Impedance (R1 + jX1) IX = Exciting Current (this is comprised of the core loss component = Ig, and a magnetizing current = Ib) E2 = Counter EMF (generated by the air gap flux) 3.4 Speed Control of AC Asynchronous Motor With respect to the use of AC asynchronous motor, when used with a load that has a torque curve that increases with speed, the motor will operate at the speed where the torque developed by the motor is equal to the load torque. Reducing the load will cause the motor to speed up, and increasing the load will cause the motor to slow down until the load and motor torque are equal. Operated in this manner, the slip losses are dissipated in the secondary resistors and can be very significant. So the speed control of an AC asynchronous motor in the industry world is quite important. From Equ.1 we can get the speed torque characteristic of the machine as Fig. 3.3.2. The curve is rather steep and goes from zero torque at synchronous speed to the stall torque at a value of %S. Normally Slip may be such that stall torque is about three times that of the rated operating torque of the machine, and hence may be about 0.3 or less. This means that in the entire loading range of the machine, the speed change is quite small. The machine speed is quite stiff with respect to load changes. The entire speed variation is only in the range SS to (1à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢%S)SS, SS being dependent on supply frequency and number of poles. Fig 3.3.2 Relationship between torque and speed of induction motor The coming discussion shows that the several speed control methods for induction machine, when operating from mains is essentially a constant speed machine. Many industrial drives, typically for conveyor in a belt transmission system, have typically constant speed requirements and hence the induction machine is ideally suited for these. However,the induction machine, especially the squirrel cage type, is quite rugged and has a simple construction. Therefore it is good candidate for variable speed applications if it can be achieved. 3.4.1 Applied voltage control One may note that if the applied voltage is reduced, the voltage across the magnetizing branch also comes down. This in turn means that the magnetizing current and hence flux level are reduced. Reduction in the flux level in the machine impairs torque production. If, however, the machine is running under lightly loaded conditions, then operating under rated flux levels is not required. Under such conditions, reduction in magnetizing current improves the power factor of operation. Some amount of energy saving may also be achieved.Voltage control may be achieved by adding series resistors (a lossy, inefficient proposition),or a series inductor/autotransformer (a bulky solution) ora more modern solution using semiconductor devices. A typical solid state circuit used for this purpose is the AC voltage controller or AC chopper. Another use of voltage control is in the so-called soft-start of the machine. 3.4.2 Rotor resistance control Clearly, the rotator speed is dependent on the rotor resistance. Further, the maximum value is independent of the rotor resistance. The slip at maximum torque is dependent on the rotor resistance. Therefore, we may expect that if the rotor resistance is changed, the maximum torque point shifts to higher slip values, while retaining a constant torque. Note that while the maximum torque and synchronous speed remain constant, the slip at which maximum torque occurs increases with increase in rotor resistance, and so does the starting torque. whether the load is of constant torque type or fan-type, it is evident that the speed control range is more with this method. Further, rotor resistance control could also be used as a means of generating high starting torque.For all its advantages, the scheme has two serious drawbacks. Firstly, in order to vary the rotor resistance, it is necessary to connect external variable resistors (winding resistance itself cannot be changed). This, therefore necessitates a slip-ring machine, since only in that case rotor terminals are available outside. For cage rotor machines, there are no rotor terminals. Secondly, the method is not very efficient since the additional resistance and operation at high slips entails dissipation.The resistors connected to the slip-ring brushes should have good power dissip ation capability. 3.4.3 Cascade control The power drawn from the rotor terminals could be spent more usefully. Apart from using the heat generated in meaning full ways, the slip ring output could be connected to another induction machine. The stator of the second machine would carry slip frequency currents of the first machine which would generate some useful mechanical power. A still better option would be to mechanically couple the shafts of the two machines together. This sort of a connection is called cascade connection and it gives some measure of speed control as shown below. Let the frequency of supply given to the first machine be f1, its number poles b

Crime and Punishment, Fathers and Sons, We Essay -- essays research pa

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brilliance surely comes with a price. Often a protagonist is, in his own right, an absolute genius, but for this gift of vision, he must remain isolated for eternity. Crime and Punishment (1886), by Fyodor Dostoevsky, depicts a poverty stricken young man who discovers a revolutionary theory of the mind of a criminal. Despite his psychological insight, Raskolnikov is alienated from society, and eventually forced to test his theory upon himself. Ivan Turgenev’s Bazarov, in Fathers and Sons (1862), pioneers the anarchistic philosophy of nihilism, depending entirely on science and reason, but ends up falling passionately in love and then cast out, through death, from the rigidity of thought he held so dear. D-503, the main character of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We (1921), discovers an immense and rigid counterculture and drowns himself in it, only to surface without anyone with whom to relate. Each author suggests the irony of a prophetic mind being wasted and outcast among ordinary men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Raskolnikov, a former student, forced to drop out of the university because he is unable to afford the tuition, is forced to work part-time with his friend Razumihin as a translator. Through this endeavor, Raskolnikov, or Rodya as his mother calls him, becomes well versed in the literature and existentialist philosophies of the time. Writing to a local newspaper, Rodya ventures to propose a superman theory similar to that of Nietzsche, made popular around the time Dostoevsky wrote the novel. â€Å"I only believe in my leading idea that men are in general divided by a law of nature into two categories, inferior (ordinary)†¦ and men who have the gift or the talent to utter a new word.† This principle, that man is simply either ordinary or extraordinary, limited by rules and boundaries or allowed to transgress these barriers en route to his planned greater goal for humanity, gains Raskolnikov little profit or renown. Though the extraordinary man theory co uld easily be applied to Napoleon, as is done in Rodya’s thesis, few of Dostoevsky’s characters accept its revolutionary psychological approach to criminal behavior. Only the lead detective, Porfiry Petrovich, comes to accept Raskolnikov’s approach. This parallel epiphany is ironic, indeed, because throughout the novel, Rodya and Porfiry are cast as foils. Even this revelation, though... ...ian author, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Zamyatin, alienates true visionaries from their natural place at the head of society and implies a theme of the perils of idealism. Raskolnikov discovers a rationale for committing crimes in the name of a greater good, only to also discover the theory’s incredibly difficult guidelines of extraordinary men through self-experimentation. Bazarov’s nihilism and rationality is entirely contradicted by his adoption of romanticism in some circumstances, and the impossibility of nihilism is shown through his ignorance of this contradiction. D-503 awakens within himself a long-absent human nature with unlimited creative potential, only to realize its dangerous, anarchistic possibilities. Each protagonist comes across a revolutionary idea, only to eventually be dismissed, and ultimately forgotten, by society. Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1981) 243. Dostoevsky 63. Dostoevsky 387. Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996) 18. Turgenev 138. Turgenev 148. Yevgeny Zamyatin, We (New York, NY: Avon Books, Inc., 1972) 56. Zamyatin 177. Zamyatin 231.

Cable and Internet Networks Essay -- AOL DSL Internet Connection Essay

Cable and Internet Networks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In most cases cable or DSL companies such as Comcast or DirectPC are just a single type of Internet connection company. But sometimes companies acquire these one-connection companies to make their companies bigger and better such as AOL buying Time Warner. As these companies get bigger and start to offer more types of connections they also start to have more security conflicts. AOL’s software for its dial up connection has a firewall built in to it, the firewall protects it users from hackers and unwanted programs from running. And the software works almost perfectly for keeping unwanted people or programs out, but the only catch is you have use their software. Road Runner, which is now part of AOL, is a cable company, which only provides high-speed Internet access, not full proof security. This problem leaves you open for hackers that are randomly barraging Internet connected PC’s with â€Å"pings† or â€Å"port scans†, probing to fin d unprotected PCs. Once found, a hacker can compromise your PC with a dangerous Internet threat such as a Trojan horse, spyware or even a malicious worm (Zone Labs).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since AOL doesn’t provide any type of firewall or hacker protection while you have a cable connection with them they do suggest certain types of firewall software to buy. For single end users they suggest you use firewall software like Norton’s Personal Firewall, which costs around $49.95, or NetBarrier 2.0 if you own a Macintosh. Both of these software packages include basic features for a single end user, for instance the ability to delete your cookies and the ability to set up filters or rules to a computer. For network users AOL suggest that you use firewall software such as ZoneAlarm Pro 3.0 which costs $49.95 for a one-user license and goes up from there. ZoneAlarm Pro 3.0 not only provides cookie control, pop-up ad control but also provides email protection and it can suspend 46 different file types. Unlike other personal firewalls, ZoneAlarm Pro includes Program Control to protect against known and unknown threats. With ZoneAlarm Pro, you can control the ability to specify which programs are trusted to access the Internet, by monitoring all outbound traffic. You can also block and make your computer invisible on the internet-â€Å"if you can’t be seen, you can’t be hacked† (Zone Labs). Another type of software that they sugge... ... cases like if you have nothing on your system now, but the only sure, secure way to know that your computer is going to be safe from hackers, when your on the network or working on your computer at home is to turn it off when your done with it. Works Cited Cable Modem and Mac Security Information. SercureMac.com 28 April 2002 Connections and Protections. SercureMac.com 28 April 2002 Current version of VisNetic Firewall is 1.03. C&C Software. 27 April 2002 How Do You Make a Open Network Trustworthy. SyGate.com 27 April 2002 Macintosh OS X Security. SercureMac.com 28 April 2002 Macintosh OS X Security 2. SercureMac.com 28 April 2002 Macintosh OS X Security 3. SercureMac.com 28 April 2002 Zone Alarm 3.0. Zone Labs 28 April 2002

Symptoms of ADD/ADHD Essay -- Disease, Disorders

You know that person; the one that can’t stay on subject, the one who will be talking then all of a sudden the conversation goes off in a totally different direction, like a squirrel searching for nuts that keeps dropping the one it is carrying because something else caught its eye. Chaotic, frazzled, impulsive, unorganized, daydreamer, procrastinator, inattentive, goof off and lazy are just a few descriptions of an adult that has Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). At one time ADD/ADHD was thought of as just childhood complications that did not affect adults, but since there is no cure for ADD/ADHD, adults are affected also. Most adults that have ADD/ADHD were not diagnosed with it as children, because ADD/ADHD wasn’t recognized except by a very few people that were aware of it at the time (Smith and Segal, 2012). Instead as children they were labeled as lazy, trouble makers, day dreamers and other labels and they grew into adults with those same labels and tendencies. They may have learned to adjust during the teen years but as they became adults and responsibilities and demands on their time grew, the challenges of dealing with ADD/ADHD also grew. ADD/ADHD affects 4-5 percent of all adults, more than 11 million in the United States (Barkley). When not diagnosed and treated it can impact all areas of life including work, home and social relationships. With treatment adults, and children, with ADD/ADHD can learn to compensate and overcome the symptoms and challenges they face with ADD/ADHD on a daily basis to lead productive lives. Symptoms of ADD/ADDHD aren’t the same in adults as in children and do not present themselves the same in each individual. Some common adult symptoms of A... ...d Treatment. Retrieved from www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult symptoms.htm (March 20,2012) Mayo Clinic Staff, (January 8, 2010). Adult ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder)- Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, diagnosis, treatment of adult ADHD. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adult-adhd/ds01161 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In Adults Adult ADHD- a Misunderstood Potential/Symptoms/Treatment/Self Help Adult ADHD copyright 2012 Retrieved from http://www.adultadhd.net (March 20, 2012) Reviewed by Amal Chakraburtty, MD March 1, 2010 for Webmd ADHD in Adults: Symptoms, Statsitics, Causes, Types, Treatments, and More Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: ADHD in Adults Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-adults (March 20, 2012)

Forward the Foundation Chapter 22

Part IV Wanda Seldon SELDON, WANDA-†¦ In the waning years of Hari Seldon's life, he grew most attached to (some say dependent upon) his granddaughter, Wanda. Orphaned in her teens, Wanda Seldon devoted herself to her grandfather's Psychohistory Project, filling the vacancy left by Yugo Amaryl†¦ The content of Wanda Seldon's work remains largely a mystery, for it was conducted in virtually total isolation. The only individuals allowed access to Wanda Seldon's research were Hari himself and a young man named Stettin Palver (whose descendant Preem would four hundred years later contribute to the rebirth of Trantor, as the planet rose from the ashes of the Great Sack [300 F.E.1). Although the full extent of Wanda Seldon's contribution to the Foundation is unknown, it was undoubtedly of the greatest magnitude†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica 1 Hari Seldon walked into the Galactic Library (limping a little, as he did more and more often these days) and made for the banks of skitters, the little vehicles that slid their way along the interminable corridors of the building complex. He was held up, however, by the sight of three men seated at one of the galactography alcoves, with the Galactograph showing the Galaxy in full three-dimensional representation and, of course, its worlds slowly pinwheeling around its core, spinning at right angles to that as well. From where Seldon stood he could see that the border Province of Anacreon was marked off in glowing red. It skirted the edge of the Galaxy and took up a great volume, but it was sparsely populated with stars. Anacreon was not remarkable for either wealth or culture but was remarkable for its distance from Trantor: ten thousand parsecs away. Seldon acting on impulse, took a seat at a computer console near the three and set up a random search he was sure would take an indefinite period. Some instinct told him that such an intense interest in Anacreon must be political in nature-its position in the Galaxy made it one of the least secure holdings of the current Imperial regime. His eyes remained on his screen, but Seldon's ears were open for the discussion near him. One didn't usually hear political discussions in the Library. They were, in point of fact, not supposed to take place. Seldon did not know any of the three men. That was not entirely surprising. There were habitues of the Library, quite a few, and Seldon knew most of them by sight-and some even to talk to-but the Library was open to all citizens. No qualifications. Anyone could enter and use its facilities. (For a limited period of time, of course. Only a select few, like Seldon were allowed to â€Å"set up shop† in the Library. Seldon had been granted the use of a locked private office and complete access to Library resources.) One of the men (Seldon thought of him as Hook Nose, for obvious reasons) spoke in a low urgent voice. â€Å"Let it go,† he said. â€Å"Let it go. It's costing us a mint to try to hold on and, even if we do, it will only be while they're there. They can't stay there forever and, as soon as they leave, the situation will revert to what it was.† Seldon knew what they were talking about. The news had come over TrantorVision only three days ago that the Imperial government had decided on a show of force to bring the obstreperous Governor of Anacreon into line. Seldon's own psychohistorical analysis had shown him that it was a useless procedure, but the government did not generally listen when its emotions were stirred. Seldon smiled slightly and grimly at hearing Hook Nose say what he himself had said-and the young man said it without the benefit of any knowledge of psychohistory. Hook Nose went on. â€Å"If we leave Anacreon alone, what do we lose? It's still there, right where it always was, right at the edge of the Empire. It can't pick up and go to Andromeda, can it? So it still has to trade with us and life continues. What's the difference if they salute the Emperor or not? You'll never be able to tell the difference.† The second man, whom Seldon had labeled Baldy, for even more obvious reasons, said, â€Å"Except this whole business doesn't exist in a vacuum. If Anacreon goes, the other border provinces will go. The Empire will break up.† â€Å"So what?† whispered Hook Nose fiercely. â€Å"The Empire can't run itself effectively anymore, anyway. It's too big. Let the border go and take care of itself-if it can. The Inner Worlds will be all the stronger and better off. The border doesn't have to be ours politically; it will still be ours economically.† And now the third man (Red Cheeks) said, â€Å"I wish you were right, but that's not the way it's going to work. If the border provinces establish their independence, the first thing each will do will be to try to increase its power at the expense of its neighbors. There'll be war and conflict and every one of the governors will dream of becoming Emperor at last. It will be like the old days before the Kingdom of Trantor-a dark age that will last for thousands of years.† Baldy said, â€Å"Surely things won't be that bad. The Empire may break up, but it will heal itself quickly when people find out that the breakup just means war and impoverishment. They'll look back on the golden days of the intact Empire and all will be well again. We're not barbarians, you know. We'll find a way.† â€Å"Absolutely,† said Hook Nose. â€Å"We've got to remember that the Empire has faced crisis after crisis in its history and has pulled through time and again.† But Red Cheeks shook his head as he said, â€Å"This is not just another crisis. This is something much worse. The Empire has been deteriorating for generations. Ten years' worth of the junta destroyed the economy and since the fall of the junta and the rise of this new Emperor, the Empire has been so weak that the governors on the Periphery don't have to do anything. It's going to fall of its own weight.† â€Å"And the allegiance to the Emperor-† began Hook Nose. â€Å"What allegiance?† said Red Cheeks. â€Å"We went for years without an Emperor after Cleon was assassinated and no one seemed to mind much. And this new Emperor is just a figurehead. There's nothing he can do. There's nothing anyone can do. This isn't a crisis. This is the end. â€Å" The other two stared at Red Cheeks, frowning. Baldy said, â€Å"You really believe it! You think that the Imperial government will just sit there and let it all happen?† â€Å"Yes! Like you two, they won't believe it is happening. That is, until it's too late.† â€Å"What would you want them to do if they did believe it?† asked Baldy. Red Cheeks stared into the Galactograph, as if he might find an answer there. â€Å"I don't know. Look, in due course of time I'll die; things won't be too bad by then. Afterward, as the situation gets worse, other people can worry about it. I'll be gone. And so will the good old days. Maybe forever. I'm not the only one who thinks this, by the way. Ever hear of someone named Hari Seldon?† â€Å"Sure,† said Hook Nose at once. â€Å"Wasn't he First Minister under Cleon?† â€Å"Yes,† said Red Cheeks. â€Å"He's some sort of scientist. I heard him give a talk a few months back. It felt good to know I'm not the only one who believes the Empire is falling apart. He said-â€Å" â€Å"And he said everything's going to pot and there's going to be a permanent dark age?† Baldy interjected. â€Å"Well no,† said Red Cheeks. â€Å"He's one of these real cautious types. Ire says it might happen, but he's wrong. It will happen.† Seldon had heard enough. He limped toward the table where the three men sat and touched Red Cheeks on the shoulder. â€Å"Sir,† he said, â€Å"may I speak to you for a moment?† Startled, Red Cheeks looked up and then he said, â€Å"Hey, aren't you Professor Seldon?† â€Å"I always have been,† said Seldon. He handed the man a reference tile bearing his photograph. â€Å"I would like to see you here in my Library office at 4 P.M., day after tomorrow. Can you manage that?† â€Å"I have to work.† â€Å"Call in sick if you have to. It's important.† â€Å"Well, I'm not sure, sir.† â€Å"Do it,† said Seldon. â€Å"If you get into any sort of trouble over it, I'll straighten it out. And meanwhile, gentlemen, do you mind if I study the Galaxy simulation for a moment? It's been a long time since I've looked at one.† They nodded mutely, apparently abashed at being in the presence of a former First Minister. One by one the men stepped back and allowed Seldon access to the Galactograph controls. Seldon's finger reached out to the controls and the red that had marked off the Province of Anacreon vanished. The Galaxy was unmarked, a glowing pinwheel of mist brightening into the spherical glow at the center, behind which was the Galactic black hole. Individual stars could not be made out, of course, unless the view were magnified, but then only one portion or another of the Galaxy would be shown on the screen and Seldon wanted to see the whole thing -to get a look at the Empire that was vanishing. He pushed a contact and a series of yellow dots appeared on the Galactic image. They represented the habitable planets-twenty-five million of them. They could be distinguished as individual dots in the thin fog that represented the outskirts of the Galaxy, but they were more and more thickly placed as one moved in toward the center. There was a belt of what seemed solid yellow (but which would separate into individual dots under magnification) around the central glow. The central glow itself remained white and unmarked, of course. No habitable planets could exist in the midst of the turbulent energies of the core. Despite the great density of yellow, not one star in ten thousand, Seldon knew, had a habitable planet circling it. This was true, despite the planet-molding and terraforming capacities of humanity. Not all the molding in the Galaxy could make most of the worlds into anything a human being could walk on in comfort and without the protection of a spacesuit. Seldon closed another contact. The yellow dots disappeared, but one tiny region glowed blue: Trantor and the various worlds directly dependent on it. As close as it could be to the central core and yet remaining insulated from its deadliness, it was commonly viewed as being located at the â€Å"center of the Galaxy,† which it wasn't-not truly. As usual, one had to be impressed by the smallness of the world of Trantor, a tiny place in the vast realm of the Galaxy, but within it was squeezed the largest concentration of wealth, culture, and governmental authority that humanity had ever seen. And even that was doomed to destruction. It was almost as though the men could read his mind or perhaps they interpreted the sad expression on his face. Baldy asked softly, â€Å"Is the Empire really going to be destroyed?† Seldon replied, softer still, â€Å"It might. It might. Anything might happen.† He rose, smiled at the men, and left, but in his thoughts he screamed: It will! It will! 2 Seldon sighed as he climbed into one of the skitters that were ranked side by side in the large alcove. There had been a time, just a few years ago, when he had gloried in walking briskly along the interminable corridors of the Library, telling himself that even though he was past sixty he could manage it. But now, at seventy, his legs gave way all too quickly and he had to take a skitter. Younger men took them all the time because skitters saved them trouble, but Seldon did it because he had to-and that made all the difference. After Seldon punched in the destination, he closed a contact and the skitter lifted a fraction of an inch above the floor. Off it went at a rather casual pace, very smoothly, very silently, and Seldon leaned back and watched the corridor walls, the other skitters, the occasional walkers. He passed a number of Librarians and, even after all these years, he still smiled when he saw them. They were the oldest Guild in the Empire, the one with the most revered traditions, and they clung to ways that were more appropriate centuries before-maybe millennia before. Their garments were silky and off-white and were loose enough to be almost gownlike, coming together at the neck and billowing out from there. Trantor, like all the worlds, oscillated, where the males were concerned, between facial hair and smoothness. The people of Trantor itself-or at least most of its sectors-were smooth-shaven and had been smooth-shaven for as far back as he knew-excepting such anomalies as the mustaches worn by Dahlites, such as his own foster son, Raych. The Librarians, however, clung to the beards of long ago. Every Librarian had a rather short neatly cultivated beard running from ear to ear but leaving bare the upper lip. That alone was enough to mark them for what they were and to make the smooth-shaven Seldon feel a little uncomfortable when surrounded by a crowd of them. Actually the most characteristic thing of all was the cap each wore (perhaps even when asleep, Seldon thought). Square, it was made of a velvety material, in four parts that came together with a button at the top. The caps came in an endless variety of colors and apparently each color had significance. If you were familiar with Librarian lore, you could tell a particular Librarian's length of service, area of expertise, grades of accomplishment, and so on. They helped fix a pecking order. Every Librarian could, by a glance at another's hat, tell whether to be respectful (and to what degree) or overbearing (and to what degree). The Galactic Library was the largest single structure on Trantor (possibly in the Galaxy), much larger than even the Imperial Palace, and it had once gleamed and glittered, as though boasting of its size and magnificence. However, like the Empire itself, it had faded and withered. It was like an old dowager still wearing the jewels of her youth but upon a body that was wrinkled and wattled. The skitter stopped in front of the ornate doorway of the Chief Librarian's office and Seldon climbed out. Las Zenow smiled as he greeted Seldon. â€Å"Welcome, my friend,† he said in his high-pitched voice. (Seldon wondered if he had ever sung tenor in his younger days but had never dared to ask. The Chief Librarian was a compound of dignity always and the question might have seemed offensive.) â€Å"Greetings,† said Seldon. Zenow had a gray beard, rather more than halfway to white, and he wore a pure white hat. Seldon understood that without any explanation. It was a case of reverse ostentation. The total absence of color represented the highest peak of position. Zenow rubbed his hands with what seemed to be an inner glee. â€Å"I've called you in, Hari, because I've got good news for you. We've found it! â€Å"By ‘it,' Las, you mean-â€Å" â€Å"A suitable world. You wanted one far out. I think we've located the ideal one.† His smile broadened. â€Å"You just leave it to the Library. Hari. We can find anything.† â€Å"I have no doubt, Las. Tell me about this world.† â€Å"Well, let me show you its location first.† A section of the wall slid aside, the lights in the room dimmed, and the Galaxy appeared in three-dimensional form, turning slowly. Again, red lines marked off the Province of Anacreon, so that Seldon could almost swear that the episode with the three men had been a rehearsal for this. And then a brilliant blue dot appeared at the far end of the province. â€Å"There it is,† said Zenow. â€Å"It's an ideal world. Sizable, well-watered, good oxygen atmosphere, vegetation, of course. A great deal of sea life. It's there just for the taking. No planet-molding or terraforming required-or, at least, none that cannot be done while it is actually occupied.† Seldon said, â€Å"Is it an unoccupied world, Las?† â€Å"Absolutely unoccupied. No one on it.† â€Å"But why-if it's so suitable? I presume that, if you have all the details about it, it must have been explored. Why wasn't it colonized?† â€Å"It was explored, but only by unmanned probes. And there was no colonization-presumably because it was so far from everything. The planet revolves around a star that is farther from the central black hole than that of any inhabited planet-farther by far. Too far, I suppose, for prospective colonists, but I think not too far for you. You said, ‘The farther, the better.' â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† said Seldon, nodding. â€Å"I still say so. Does it have a name or is there just a letter-number combination?† â€Å"Believe it or not, it has a name. Those who sent out the probes named it Terminus, an archaic word meaning ‘the end of the line.' Which it would seem to be.† Seldon said, â€Å"Is the world part of the territory of the Province of Anacreon?† â€Å"Not really,† said Zenow. â€Å"If you'll study the red line and the red shading, you will see that the blue dot of Terminus lies slightly outside it-fifty light-years outside it, in fact. Terminus belongs to nobody; it's not even part of the Empire, as a matter of fact.† â€Å"You're right, then, Las. It does seem like the ideal world I've been looking for.† â€Å"Of course,† said Zenow thoughtfully, â€Å"once you occupy Terminus, I imagine the Governor of Anacreon will claim it as being under his jurisdiction.† â€Å"That's possible,† said Seldon, â€Å"but we'll have to deal with that when 1 he matter comes up.† Zenow rubbed his hands again. â€Å"What a glorious conception. Setting up a huge project on a brand-new world, far away and entirely isolated, so that year by year and decade by decade a huge Encyclopedia of all human knowledge can be put together. An epitome of what is present in this Library. If I were only younger, I would love to join the expedition.† Seldon said sadly, â€Å"You're almost twenty years younger than I am.† (Almost everyone is far younger than I am, he thought, even more sadly.) Zenow said, â€Å"Ah yes, I heard that you just passed your seventieth birthday. I hope you enjoyed it and celebrated appropriately.† Seldon stirred. â€Å"I don't celebrate my birthdays.† â€Å"Oh, but you did. I remember the famous story of your sixtieth birthday.† Seldon felt the pain, as deeply as though the dearest loss in all the world had taken place the day before. â€Å"Please don't talk about it,† he said. Abashed, Zenow said, â€Å"I'm sorry. We'll talk about something else. If, indeed, Terminus is the world you want, I imagine that your work on the preliminaries to the Encyclopedia Project will be redoubled. As you know, the Library will be glad to help you in all respects.† â€Å"I'm aware of it, Las, and I am endlessly grateful. We will, indeed, keep working.† He rose, not yet able to smile after the sharp pang induced by the reference to his birthday celebration of ten years back. He said, â€Å"So I must go to continue my labors.† And as he left, he felt, as always, a pang of conscience over the deceit he was practicing. Las Zenow did not have the slightest idea of Seldon's true intentions. 3 Hari Seldon surveyed the comfortable suite that had been his personal office at the Galactic Library these past few years. It, like the rest of the Library, had a vague air of decay about it, a kind of weariness-something that had been too long in one place. And yet Seldon knew it might remain here, in the same place, for centuries more-with judicious rebuildings-for millennia even. How did he come to be here? Over and over again, he felt the past in his mind, ran his mental tendrils along the line of development of his life. It was part of growing older, no doubt. There was so much more in the past, so much less in the future, that the mind turned away from the looming shadow ahead to contemplate the safety of what had gone before. In his case, though, there was that change. For over thirty years psychohistory had developed in what might almost be considered a straight line-progress creepingly slow but moving straight ahead. Then six years ago there had been a right-angled turn-totally unexpected. And Seldon know exactly how it had happened, how a concatenation of events came together to make it possible. It was Wanda, of course, Seldon's granddaughter. Hari closed his eyes and settled into his chair to review the events of six years before. Twelve-year-old Wanda was bereft. Her mother, Manella, had had another child, another little girl, Bellis, and for a time the new baby was a total preoccupation. Her father, Raych, having finished his book on his home sector of Dahl, found it to be a minor success and himself a minor celebrity. He was called upon to talk on the subject, something he accepted with alacrity, for he was fiercely absorbed in the subject and, as he said to Hari with a grin, â€Å"When I talk about Dahl, I don't have to hide my Dahlite accent. In fact, the public expects it of me.† The net result, though, was that he was away from home a considerable amount of time and when he wasn't, it was the baby he wanted to see. As for Dors-Dors was gone-and to Hari Seldon that wound was ever-fresh, ever-painful. And he had reacted to it in an unfortunate manner. It had been Wanda's dream that had set in motion the current of events that had ended with the loss of Dors. Wanda had had nothing to do with it-Seldon knew that very well. And yet he found himself shrinking from her, so that he also failed her in the crisis brought about by the birth of the new baby. And Wanda wandered disconsolately to the one person who always seemed glad to see her, the one person she could always count on. That WAS Yugo Amaryl, second only to Hari Seldon in the development of psychohistory and first in his absolute round-the-clock devotion to it. Hari had had Dors and Raych, but psychohistory was Yugo's life; he had no wife and children. Yet whenever Wanda came into his presence, something within him recognized her as a child and he dimly felt-for just that moment-a sense of loss that seemed to be assuaged only by showing the child affection. To be sure, he tended to treat her as a rather undersized adult, but Wanda seemed to like that. It was six years ago that she had wandered into Yugo's office. Yugo looked up at her with his owlish reconstituted eyes and, as usual, took a moment or two to recognize her. Then he said, â€Å"Why, it's my dear friend Wanda. But why do you look so sad? Surely an attractive young woman like you should never feel sad.† And Wanda, her lower lip trembling, said, â€Å"Nobody loves me.† â€Å"Oh come, that's not true.† â€Å"They just love that new baby. They don't care about me anymore.† â€Å"I love you, Wanda.† â€Å"Well, you're the only one then, Uncle Yugo.† And even though she could no longer crawl onto his lap as she had when she was younger, she cradled her head on his shoulder and wept. Amaryl, totally unaware of what he should do, could only hug the girl and say, â€Å"Don't cry. Don't cry.† And out of sheer sympathy and because he had so little in his own life to weep about, he found that tears were trickling down his own cheeks as well. And then he said with sudden energy, â€Å"Wanda, would you like to see something pretty?† â€Å"What?† sniffled Wanda. Amaryl knew only one thing in life and the Universe that was pretty. He said, â€Å"Did you ever see the Prime Radiant?† â€Å"No. What is it?† â€Å"It's what your grandfather and I use to do our work. See? It's right here.† He pointed to the black cube on his desk and Wanda looked at it woefully. â€Å"That's not pretty,† she said. â€Å"Not now,† agreed Amaryl. â€Å"But watch when I turn it on.† He did so. The room darkened and filled with dots of light and flashes of different colors. â€Å"See? Now we can magnify it so all the dots become mathematical symbols.† And so they did. There seemed a rush of material toward them and there, in the air, were signs of all sorts, letters, numbers, arrows, and shapes that Wanda had never seen before. â€Å"Isn't it pretty?† asked Amaryl. â€Å"Yes, it is,† said Wanda, staring carefully at the equations that (she didn't know) represented possible futures. â€Å"I don't like that part, though. I think it's wrong.† She pointed at a colorful equation to her left. â€Å"Wrong? Why do you say it's wrong† said Amaryl, frowning. â€Å"Because it's not†¦ pretty. I'd do it a different way.† Amaryl cleared his throat. â€Å"Well, I'll try to fix it up.† And he moved closer to the equation in question, staring at it in his owlish fashion. Wanda said, â€Å"Thank you very much, Uncle Yugo, for showing me your pretty lights. Maybe someday I'll understand what they mean.† â€Å"That's all right,† said Amaryl. â€Å"I hope you feel better.† â€Å"A little, thanks,† and, after flashing the briefest of smiles, she left the room. Amaryl stood there, feeling a trifle hurt. He didn't like having the Prime Radiant's product criticized-not even by a twelve-year-old girl who knew no better. And as he stood there, he had no idea whatsoever that the psychohistorical revolution had begun. 4 That afternoon Amaryl went to Hari Seldon's office at Streeling University. That in itself was unusual, for Amaryl virtually never left his own office, even to speak with a colleague just down the hall. â€Å"Hari,† said Amaryl, frowning and looking puzzled. â€Å"Something very odd has happened. Very peculiar.† Seldon looked at Amaryl with deepest sorrow. He was only fifty-three, but he looked much older, bent, worn down to almost transparency. When forced, he had undergone doctors' examinations and the doctors had all recommended that he leave his work for a period of time (some said permanently) and rest. Only this, the doctors said, might improve his health. Otherwise-Seldon shook his head. â€Å"Take him away from his work and he'll die all the sooner-and unhappier. We have no choice.† And then Seldon realized that, lost in such thoughts, he was not hearing Amaryl speak. He said, â€Å"I'm sorry, Yugo. I'm a little distracted. Begin again.† Amaryl said, â€Å"I'm telling you that something very odd has happened. Very peculiar.† â€Å"What is it, Yugo?† â€Å"It was Wanda. She came in to see me-very sad, very upset.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Apparently it's the new baby.† â€Å"Oh yes,† Hari said with more than a trace of guilt in his voice. â€Å"So she said and cried on my shoulder-I actually cried a bit, too, Hari. And then I thought I'd cheer her up by showing her the Prime Radiant.† Here Amaryl hesitated, as if choosing his next words carefully. â€Å"Go on, Yugo. What happened?† â€Å"Well, she stared at all the lights and I magnified a portion, actually Section 428254. You're acquainted with that?† Seldon smiled. â€Å"No, Yugo, I haven't memorized the equations quite as well as you have.† â€Å"Well, you should,† said Amaryl severely. â€Å"How can you do a good job if-But never mind that. What I'm trying to say is that Wanda pointed to a part of it and said it was no good. It wasn't pretty. â€Å" â€Å"Why not? We all have our personal likes and dislikes.† â€Å"Yes, of course, but I brooded about it and I spent some time going over it and, Hari, there was something wrong with it. The programming was inexact and that area, the precise area to which Wanda pointed, was no good. And, really, it wasn't pretty.† Seldon sat up rather stiffly, frowning. â€Å"Let me get this straight, Yugo. She pointed to something at random, said it was no good, and she was right?† â€Å"Yes. She pointed, but it wasn't at random; she was very deliberate.† â€Å"But that's impossible.† â€Å"But it happened. I was there.† â€Å"I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm saying it was just a wild coincidence.† â€Å"Is it? Do you think, with all your knowledge of psychohistory, you could take one glance at a new set of equations and tell me that one portion is no good?† Seldon said, â€Å"Well then, Yugo, how did you come to expand that particular portion of the equations? What made you choose that piece for magnification?† Amaryl shrugged. â€Å"That was coincidence-if you like. I just fiddled with the controls.† â€Å"That couldn't be coincidence,† muttered Seldon. For a few moments he was lost in thought, then he asked the question that pushed forward the psychohistorical revolution that Wanda had begun. He said, â€Å"Yugo, did you have any suspicions about those equations beforehand? Did you have any reason to believe there was something wrong with them?† Amaryl fiddled with the sash of his unisuit and seemed embarrassed. â€Å"Yes, I think I did. You see-â€Å" â€Å"You think you did?† â€Å"I know I did. I seemed to recall when I was setting it up-it's a new section, you know-my fingers seemed to glitch on the programmer. It looked all right then, but I guess I kept worrying about it inside. I remember thinking it looked wrong, but I had other things to do and I just let it go. But then when Wanda happened to point to precisely the area I had been concerned about, I decided to check up on her-otherwise I would just have let it go as a childish statement.† â€Å"And you turned on that very fragment of the equations to show Wanda. As though it were haunting your unconscious mind.† Amaryl shrugged. â€Å"Who knows?† â€Å"And just before that, you were very close together, hugging, both crying.† Amaryl shrugged again, looking even more embarrassed. Seldon said, â€Å"I think I know what happened, Yugo. Wanda read your mind.† Amaryl jumped, as though he had been bitten. â€Å"That's impossible!† Slowly Seldon said, â€Å"I once knew someone who had unusual mental powers of that sort†-and he thought sadly of Eto Demerzel or, as Seldon had secretly known him, Daneel-â€Å"only he was somewhat more than human. But his ability to read minds, to sense other people's thoughts, to persuade people to act in a certain way-that was a mental ability. I think, somehow, that perhaps Wanda has that ability as well.† â€Å"I can't believe it,† said Amaryl stubbornly. â€Å"I can,† said Seldon â€Å"but I don't know what to do about it.† Dimly lie felt the rumblings of a revolution in psychohistorical research-but only dimly.

Inventory Management System Proposal

The goal over the course of the next three months is to implement a new Inventory Process that will allow Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. to create and deliver electric fans in a more efficient and accurate manner. The implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), inventory-tracking system will stream line throughput, increase productivity, and reduce production costs. In the current outdated design process, many problem areas in the assembly line process can occur, such as bottlenecks, mistakes, and inaccurate counts.The proposed system will address problem areas by introducing a just-in-time production strategy to improve return on investment. Tracking inventory in real-time as it moves through the supply chain process will ensure reduced overhead of raw material and made-to-stock product.The use of RFID technology will record customer orders, shipping of product, and tracking throughput in real-time. With the proposed RFID systems and wireless software, labor costs reductio n, and process efficiencies are the result. Area supervisors will have the opportunity to focus on tasks of greater importance.With the new process, production levels will increase and labor costs will decrease, drastically reducing the process of redundant tracking of material and customer products. Implementing an RFID system will also help reduce manufacturing mistakes by closely tracking all parts required for product assembly. With measurable success and improvement rates, the use of the new Inventory System Process will help in Riordan’s future growth. Thank you for your consideration for this proposal. Please feel free to contact if there are any questions.Successful companies manage inventory, labor, and other operational costs by closely tracking them. Failure to manage those items efficiently can cost businesses their bottom line with loss of profit, and ultimately, the risk going out of business. Inventory equates to cash and although it is not as liquid, there is still a cash value associated with each product in inventory (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). Riordan Manufacturing is in desperate need of updating their inventory system.Initially, when Riordan Manufacturing went into business, this process was efficient only because they were producing on a smaller scale. As a fortune 1000 company, trying to foster business growth, Riordan Manufacturing needs to incorporate innovative technologies for their inventory control processes.The inventory process Riordan uses, require many redundant activities necessary for tracking, throughout their supply chain. MRP Material Resource Planning, also known as MRP, software positively can affect a business that relies on efficiencies in manufacturing.â€Å"MRP helps enterprises control and streamline processes synonymous with order fulfillment. MRP Software is designed to analyze production demands from current sales orders, short and long term sales forecasts, and then procures the exact information for what is needed to manufacture each order† (Business Software, 2010, p. 1).MRP is a system that Learning Team D is proposing Riordan Manufacturing implements to improve productivity and efficiency. The MRP system will help to support the new inventory system of using Radio Frequency Identifiers, also known as RFID.The RFID tracking system will automate the process of entering data related to inventory. The MRP system will use the RFID system to track the inventory through the process from raw materials received, to molded, assembled, and shipment of the delivered product. In addition, the MRP system will use data from the sales department to calculate how much time required for producing the customer’s order. As part of the software, data is stored about delivery timelines for both how long it will take to receive raw materials and how long it will take to ship product to the customer.In addition, the system will calculate the materials needed for product assembly, a nd the timeframes to complete that assembly. By completing these calculations within the MRP system, manufacturing process optimization, limiting inventory on-hand and maximizing the inventory turnover time. Process Design Creating a new process design will allow Riordan to become more efficient, reducing the inventory on hand. The process design will have a direct and immediate effect on the customer (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006).One main metric that will identify the process is time because it calculates the work-in-process divided by the throughput rate. As a service provider of product, Riordan wants customers to have shorter wait times, and to reduce the organization’s investment cost by turning inventory over as quickly as possible. Riordan will fine-tune the inventory process by performing task at a parallel process. Most tasks can operate in sequence that will reduce the waiting time and improve production. Another change would be the order of the task in the inve ntory process.This will eliminate the back and forth transportation from machines, locations, and departments. In addition, fewer interruptions in the process will prepare purchase orders faster to avoid adding extra days to keeping inventory longer than needed. In these changes, the assembly line will increase productivity and reduce inventory cost.Applying the lean production process will achieve high volume production using minimal inventories of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished good (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). The use of RFID will play a significant role for optimizing Riordan’s inventory management system.The process will work efficiently when demands are at a high quality and builds stronger relationship with the vendors to create the demand for the product. Generally, Riordan will have these tools along with implementing the MRP system to manage inventory flow process. This will create the process of identifying any bottlenecks through the inventory, packaging, labeling, and shipping process. In addition to the MRP system, Riordan will also include the RFID scanning system to improve the technology aspect of the business. Supply ChainRiordan will benefit greatly by implementing an RFID scanning system. Converting the inventory system to implement newer technologies will increase process throughput. Transition to the RFID system will improve Riordan’s opportunity to compete in the global market.Tracking inventory on paper is not efficient, especially when information gathered needs updated in China by close of business each day. The use of RFID through the Internet, improves Riordan’s opportunity for growth, keeping track of every item in inventory. With an RFID system, real-time trending and forecasting will be possible.Computer software used in conjunction with hardware devices monitor the use of inventory more accurately by continually scanning and uploading data. With the use of RFID, Riordan will reduce loss o f inventory or wasted product by setting control limits.Ultimately, reducing labor costs and increasing profits. In most industries, labor is the one of their biggest expense. The inventory clerk positions could have a significant reduction of labor hours and even eliminate the position entirely with an electronic process. The amount of time spent tracking inventory goes from minutes to mere seconds because of RFID technology.As Riordan continues to grow, it is important to established centralized warehouses in key locations. The inventory software will help Riordan executives forecast how much inventory one particular warehouse could handle, more effectively than the current method used. Inventory management is the key focus for process improvement.This new inventory management system will reduce labor cost by streamlining data entry, therefore, speed transaction time, and ultimately, reduce the amount of inventory on-hand. Packaging, labeling, and shipping will involve incorporati ng a new inventory management process.Combining handheld computers, RFID readers, software, and a wireless infrastructure gives supervisors the ability to monitor inventory and track each activity within the manufacturing process. By connecting a wireless infrastructure, the application will operate in real-time.Supply chain design will enable Riordan to reduce stock on-hand and improve inventory throughput. Maintaining par levels through forecasting from the materials used, average inventory stock is projected. Demand and supply uncertainties associated with custom products will require a supply chain strategy that incorporates an agile supply chain.Supply chains using strategies aimed at responsiveness, and flexible, overcome the risks of supply shortages by pooling inventory and other capacity resources. As previously mentioned, the current steps for processing raw materials is labor intensive and in many ways, work against the company’s long-range strategy.The use of an R FID tracking system will allow more accurate and real-time information to be readily available. Forecast Forecasting the costs and expected benefits is critical to determining if the project is worthy of investment by a company. This forecast, completed for the implementation of both an RFID and MRP system.There are a number of salary costs for this type of project, including a project manager salary for one month ($3,333), an install technician for two months ($6,600). A trainer for 20 days ($1,640), salaries for 10 technical support agents to be trained over 10 days ($11,000), and salaries for 100 staff agents trained over 10 days.However, the largest cost for this project will be the technology itself. To install an RFID system the following will need purchasing; active tags at the price of $10 each for 100 in total, five $500 readers, and the middleware that coasts $100,000. The MRP software will bring the biggest price of $300,000.The total costs of implementing the project wil l be $536,139. Obviously, these costs are only beneficial to the company if they bring about a positive change to the company’s income. The implementation of the MRP and RFID system allow the elimination of the inventory clerk position, saving the company $45,000 annually.In addition, supervisors will be more effective as the labor intensive reports are eliminated, saving the supervisors 40 hours a month and the company $959 a month. The manufacturing team will also benefit from the elimination of these labor-intensive reports. It‘s estimated that the manufacturing team will save $574 a month. In addition, because of the expected efficiencies with managing inventory Learning Team D predicts that one facility, currently used to house supplies, is no longer needed saving the company $8,000 monthly, in leases.According to a survey of more than 600 companies, Riordan can expect a number of increased efficiencies. Perhaps the most telling increase to performance is that deli very times will be reduced from 71 days to 59 days on average (Schroeder, Anderson, Tupy, &White, 2012, p. 1). This means that Riordan will be able to improve order processing by 17%.With profits already at $1,956,371 (Apollo Group Inc.) annually, a 17% increase would result in an additional $163,031 monthly in profits. Keeping all of this information in mind Riordan would see a return on their investment in approximately 13 months.ConclusionThe new tracking system will help in supporting the principles in strategic capacity planning by allowing Riordan to decrease the waste of resources, such as ordering too many raw materials, using facilities as storage, and using labor hours for data entry. Improving Riordan’s inventory control process will produce a more efficient supply chain management, translating into increased customer satisfaction.Both strategic capacity planning and lean production play an integral part in the improved inventory system at Riordan. The strengths fo r Riordan’s new process will increase productivity, and enhance the products life cycle. Building a better strategy will open the door for further growth opportunities.It will take a team to develop the strengths and opportunities of the new inventory management process. Measures of changing the supply chain design by adding the new RFID to Riordan’s inventory system will become the reason for Riordan becoming the leader in the electric fan industry. (Note: see appendix A for Gant chart)

Shadow of a Vampire, Post Modernism

Vampire Essay The text Dracula was written in a time long before post-modernism, when Victorian values were considered important and issues relating gender were established. Nosferatu was also written in the time of modernism, where there was a sense in that western culture had lost its values. Shadow of a Vampire is a recent, post-modern text that focuses on the filming methods and techniques used to film Nosferatu. Using post-modern techniques that are comparable to satire in some scenes, Shadow of a Vampire combines the two gothic texts into a new text, using a film within a film technique.As previously noted, Dracula, Nosferatu and Shadow of a Vampire all incorporate a gothic sense as in they involve; a castle, shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness and the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure). All these are used in the three texts to use imagery on black and white as good and evil, for example Christian values are good and promiscuous w oman are bad in Dracula. Shadow of a Vampire contradicts this by making the text set in Berlin during a time of massive drug use (particular morphine which gives you an effect quite like Draculas bite) and promiscuous activity was large.Shadow of a Vampire uses pastiche to imitate the filming of the original Nosferatu text, but normally adds its own twist to the stereotypical vampire story. Such as the scene in the night, after the building of the makeshift ship on the set count Orlak sneaks up on the two film producers, making the audience think that he is about to attack and kill them. He ends up drinking and getting drunk with them, and even eating a vampire bat in front them. A symbolic factor in all vampire stories is the bat but Orlak shows he has no care for the traditional modernist view in this scene.When Orlak is asked about how he feels about the book this triggers a text within a text within a text, being a movie based on Nosferatu making a mention on Dracula. The consta nt attempt by the film industry to portray real life events and make them timeless is completed through Murnau’s quote during the time he is filming a real life vampire killing people, only for a good shot. â€Å"Time will no longer be a dark spot on our lungs. They will no longer say ‘you had to have been there', because the fact is, Albin, we were. An example of this is the scene where Count Orlak asked for make-up before his scene, this is ironic because Orlak wants make-up to increase the illusion that he is a vampire to the audience when he actually is a vampire. The parallel between the film world and the vampire world is portrayed through various quotes which foreshadow and depict how the film industry is similar to a vampire. Greta says, when describing the film industry to the theatre acting life â€Å"the audience gives me life! This thing *pointing at camera* takes it away from me. This foreshadows how in the end scene she is killed by count Orlak as a sacr ifice for a perfect scene, in the film industry. The camera taking the life away from her parallels a vampire sucking the blood from her. The parallel between the film world and the vampire world is practiced when the timelessness of film gives immortality in Shadow of a Vampire and Dracula representing immortality in the book Dracula. The timelessness of film is shown in the scene in which Murnau promises count Orlak â€Å"everlasting life† in exchange for playing the part in the movie.Everlasting life is through filming, it is always shown in Christianity as a reward but this time it is promised through the medium of filming. This scene relates back to the strong religious views found in the time setting in Dracula and is a great example of the transformation techniques used in Shadow of a Vampire. The end scene of the Shadow of a Vampire where Murnau puts morphine into Greta’s system to put her into a dreamy state mirrors the bite of Dracula in the original book.Thi s is another example that the dominant character is in-fact the director and not the vampire. This is another example of the parallel between the characters and situations in the vampire and film world. All these factors have contributed to the transformation nature of Shadow of a Vampire in combining the three texts. The conjunction of themes of the gothic and the use of pastiche to imitate, the parallel between the film and vampire world while still maintaining a post-modern view are easily displayed in the film Shadow of a Vampire.Arguments * Parallel between Film and Vampire world * Pastiche to imitate a film, filming a story based on a book. The constant attempt to portray real life events * Gothic mode used in all three texts, in Dracula to represent Christian values and science as good and evil and in Shadow of a Vampire this is contradicted in the setting of the text where excessive drug use and sex is acted on frequently