Cycle of Kolb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cycle of Kolb - Essay Example According to the theory, concrete experience is followed by reflection of the experience on a personal level. Based on the reflection, one may try to conceptualise some general rules followed by an attempt to see if the rules are logic. This leads to the next concrete experience. When I joined the OB team, I had a lot of expectations and hopes about my performance in the team. I dreamt of getting a good reputation the team, and I hoped to be happy as I always loved to be cared and appreciated by others. However, after joining the team, I realized that things were not exactly the same as I imagined. I was hardly getting any attention nor was I able to perform well as I had many areas in my work where I was weak. However, I was reluctant to seek others’ help as I thought it would make my position more vulnerable. In addition, as I was too sensitive to comments, even the slightest hints of neglect and negative comments depressed me. Soon, team activities became a nightmare for me . I became too conscious to avoid any mistake. In addition, I had a rather poor relation with other members of the team. The bitter experience that made me reflect upon my own nature took place in March 2011. There was a meeting of my team to develop a plan to handle a serious case. To my utter surprise and dismay, I found that I was given no important role to play in the case. Though removing me was not directly discussed, many members were indicating the need of bringing someone with proficiency and experience. This was much beyond my expectations and control. So, at tea time, I left the meeting. On reaching home, I analysed as to what went so seriously wrong in my case because things were moving further and further away from my hands, and if something was not done, the situation was going to ruin my career and life. I tried to analyze the problem from a neutral view point. As West (172) observes, there are three types of conflict in teams; conflict about the task, conflict about team processes, and interpersonal conflict. In my team, everyone seemed happy working together and I could not find any conflict about tasks. On the other hand, successful completion of each task made the members growing closer in their relations, though I was growing more and more disappointed about my poor contribution. Moreover, there was no conflict about team process, and even personal relations. I was the only element in the team that was feeling detached and disappointed. When I looked into my faults, I could find that the first problem about me was my introverted nature. It did not allow me to be a good team player. As Thomas and Kilman (as cited in West, 2004) identified, there are five personality styles. They are: (1) competitive- taking a firm stand, and is useful when defending against a malicious motive, (2) collaborative- cooperative and takes into consideration the view point of all, (3) compromising- trying to reach a solution that at least partially satisfy all, (4 ) accommodating- trying to accommodate the interests of the other group, often surrendering ones own, and (5) avoiding- trying to evade the conflict entirely. (Source: Conflict Resolution, Mindtools). When I looked into my own position, I found that it was more of an avoiding type. Though I was well aware about my abilities, my attitude was ‘good for nothing’ most of the time, giving me a non- competent image in the team. Yet another serious issue I could identify with me was my egocentric nature. As I mentioned, I had lack of knowledge in certain fields but my hesitation to ask others only exaggerated the problem. If I asked someone in my team, they would only be happy to offer a solution at any time I prefer. It was unwise from my part to cover up the issues. I seemed seriously erred in not

A research on the issues of the black urban experience according to steven gregory Essay Example for Free

A research on the issues of the black urban experience according to steven gregory Essay Critical Reading Assignment #3 Chapter 5: Race and the Politics of Place Gregory, Steven (1999) Chapter 5: Race and the Politics of Place, in Black Corona, Princeton, NJ:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Princeton University Press, 109-138. The researchers conducted this study in order to challenge the depictions of the black urban experience in the media, academics, and public policy debates, which the author does frequently throughout the study. In this portion of the study, Gregory focuses on the struggles that black Lefrak City residents to disrupt the lingering stereotypes alluding to race, crime, and space in everyday politics. To conduct this research, Steven Gregory, an anthropologist, uses ethnography methods including open-ended interviews, participant observation in neighborhoods and political meetings, and archival research to collect the data used in this study. He interviews various residents and political members from this area and attends a meeting involving the Neighborhood Stabilization Committee and Community Board 4. The study takes place in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York, specifically in the Lefrak City are home to many African Americans residents as well as people from many other backgrounds. In this study, Gregory points out the struggles that Black Lefrak City residents had in disrupting the lingering stereotypes about, race, crime, and space in everyday politics. He explains how this area of Corona was viewed as a threat to the quality of life in the surrounding areas, which provides a link to urban decline and crime to black welfare dependency (Gregory 111: 1999). He focuses on struggles in the representation of identity and the meaning of place with the distribution of political power. As evidence, Gregory interviews and observes Edna Baskin, an African American woman eager to get involved and create a political organization to counteract these stereotypes and give black citizens from this area representation in the local politics. She establishes the organization called the Concerned Community Adults, where she would help inform residents of neighborhood issues. She faced many struggles in doing this, however, and was said to be â€Å"rubbing against the grain† (Gregory 118: 1999) while trying to promote her organization and get involved with the Community Board, made up of mostly white participants. Gregory talks about other problems this organizations faced, and the successes it achieved later on. This research has strengths in its overall comprehensiveness of the issues that Gregory is discussing. The topic he tries to tackle is very complex, and he does a good job at trying to try to explain the overall issues of the research. However, Gregory could organize his work in a fashion that is easier to comprehend that helps understand the overall concepts and issues he is focusing on in the research. He also only discusses in depth one example of the struggles that one area of this community faces. I believe that it would be interesting to instead compare the many different struggles that different areas of the community have and relate them to one another. It would be interesting to see the similarities and the differences between the different areas of this community.

Brake Caliper: Part and Functionality

Brake Caliper: Part and Functionality Caliper is inarguably the most crucial part of a braking system in any kind of Brake assembly, be it a traditional Drum Brake setup or the more modern Disc Brake assembly. The caliper acts as an interface between the drivers action to stop a moving vehicle and the reaction of the vehicles wheel to this action. Hence, a caliper sees both- The action and the reaction. The of using the are as follows: High corrosion resistance, Good machinability, Good flow characteristics, Lower density The caliper in itself does not stop a moving wheel but it houses a set of brake shoes which press against the rotors of a wheel and stop them by creating friction. The pressing of the brake shoes takes place due to a hydraulic set-up consisting of pistons on the caliper which push the brake fluid which in turn pressurises the brake shoes. As the primary purpose of the caliper is to transfer load onto the brake shoes and to load them, it is essential that the caliper be a rigid part. As a result, calipers have been following the usage of traditional load bearing materials like Cast Iron, Forged steel, etc. However as every rigid part in an automobile comes with an opportunity to save weight, some research is being carried out in order to reduce the weight of the caliper while retaining its characteristic to carry and transfer sufficient load. Brake Caliper Current Material: In this direction of weight save, Aluminium is being employed in the devise and development of a brake caliper. By nature, aluminium has lower density (2.7 g/cm3) as compared to ductile Iron (7.8 g/cm3). This conversion to aluminium has saved weight upto 40 percent. Comparison between Traditional Vs Current Material The design and performance criteria for the caliper castings are stiffness, dimensional rigidity and temperature and fatigue life. The aluminium alloys which are mainly considered for calipers are A354 and A357 alloys.The calipers in the brake system are currently made of Aluminium alloys consisting 7-10% Silicon, 0.15-0.2 % Ferrous, 0.05-2% Copper, 0.03-0.1% Manganese, 0.4-0.6% Magnesium, 0.1% Zinc, 0.2% Titanium. Table: Composition of Aluminium Alloys (A354A357) Aluminium 354 has higher copper percentage when compared to Aluminium 357 hence so eutectic change. The rate of corrosion of the Aluminium 354 is higher as compared to Aluminium 357. Both the alloys undergo Boron Nitride Coating where A354 show higher elongation over A357.This means that choosing 357 over 354 is a better choice for our desired part: Brake Caliper. Drawbacks of the Current Material: One main drawback of using this material for automotive applications is its low Fatigue strength which is of extreme importance in a load bearing part like Caliper. This issue has to be addressed while selecting a new material. Proposed material Magnesium Alloy (AZ91) Magnesium is one of the lightest materials with density 1.74g/cm3, compared to Aluminium and Ductile Iron. Magnesium is the most commonly used alloying element as sea water has 0.3% which is considered as the major source. The major alloying materials used for the proposed material AZ91 are 8.5-9.5% Aluminium,0-45-1%, Zinc,0.05-0.1%,Silicon, upto 0.03% Copper,0.02%Nickel and 0.05%Ferrous. Chemical Composition of Magnesium Alloy AZ91 Minimizing the weight of a caliper leads to the reduction of unsprung weight of the car therefore improving the fuel efficiency and heat dissipation. As the alloy is softer, it has high damping capacity and good impact resistance. Physical Properties of AZ91 Mechanical Properties of AZ91 Fig.Thermal Conductivity The thermal conductivity of AZ91 is comparatively low with the other Magnesium alloys which reduces overheating of the brake fluid decreasing the problems associated with it. Fig. Ultimate Tensile Strength Vs Strain Rate Comparison chart of Specific Stiffness and strength of the materials The specific stiffness of Magnesium is considerably equal to that of Aluminium whereas the specific strength is higher in Magnesium. Due to the increase in strength, fatigue resistance increases due to high Magnesium content. Brake Caliper needs high Bending stiffness which is greater in AZ91 because of high elastic modulus.ÂÂ   Low melting temperature of Magnesium leads to longer die life. Magnesium displays higher corrosion resistance than aluminium when it is coated with Phosphate-Permanganate and Zinc-Nickel alloys. Though the cost is more than the former, it can be used because of high bending stiffness as well as lighter mass which results in good functioning of the vehicle. Magnesium Alloy (AZ91) is lower in density than Aluminium Alloy (AL3XX) thereby reducing the weight (33% lighter) and improving the efficiency of the vehicle. It displays high strength, modulus of elasticity, heat dissipation and castability when compared to AL3XX. Magnesium alloys also exhibit better nature when exposed to physical loading like better damping capability and lesser elongation at failure loading.

The Dark Side of A Streetcar Named Desire :: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, the characters presented represent Williams' own view of society.   In Streetcar, Williams has created a medium to observe and reflect upon the darkest aspects of society and the result of these societal downfalls. Williams has portrayed numerous societal downfalls, such as the idea that he (or she) who tries to hide his true self and lie to the world ends up, above all, hurting himself. This statement, which lies just below the surface in Streetcar, reflects the difficulties Williams had in finding his own place in life. Williams created that this play as a sort of "slap" toward a society which rejected Williams and his way of telling the world, "If you keep behaving like this, the whole place will go stark-raving mad!" This is distinctly seen in both the suicide of Blanche's young husband and her own decent into madness. Another collapse highlighted by Williams is the idea of the "macho-male," which extends to homophobia. Stanley is obviously Williams' characterization of this type of personality, and it is his brutality and chauvinism that lead Blanche to sink completely into the depths of insanity. By raping Blanche, Stanley is not only exerting his physical power over this disruptive woman in his life, but is attempting to show the world (and himself) that he is not a homosexual. In the character of Stella, the reader's primary reaction is to support and identify with her, but in reality she represents the type of person who has given up on the ideals she once knew and has, in a sense, joined forces with the enemy. She deserted Blanche at Belle Reve and has now settled for mediocrity. By the end of the play, our sympathies lie with Blanche because she was searching the world for security and ended up alone and mad. Williams is reminding the reader that, in this world, everyone is striving for a security and it was this natural desire that brought upon Blanche's descent into madness.

Gate log system using rf-id reader

Chapter oneGATE LOG SYSTEM USING RF-ID READER1.1 What is RFIDShort for wireless frequence designation, RFID is a dedicated short scope communicating ( DSRC ) engineering. The term RFID is used to depict assorted engineerings that use wireless moving ridges to automatically place people or objects. RFID engineering is similar to the saloon codification designation systems we see in retail shops everyday ; nevertheless one large difference between RFID and saloon codification engineering RFID does non trust on the line-of-sight reading that saloon codification scanning requires to work. 1.2 Why RFIDIn an progressively disconnected, regulated, and unsure universe, Texas Instruments ‘ ( TI ) RFID engineering gives concerns, authoritiess, and consumers a safe, private, and unnoticeable manner to maintain path of it all. Consumers benefit from shorter lines at check-out procedure counters, in infirmaries, libraries, and gas Stationss because RFID fast-tracks them to the forepart of the waiting line. They can besides profit from lower monetary values because of the efficiencies RFID brings to the supply concatenation. Business and establishments are turning to RFID engineering as they comply with authorities product-tracking ordinances, seeking to restrict larceny, cut down out-of-stock losingss, strengthen trade name trueness, and do interaction with clients a more positive experience. RFID is a mature, exhaustively tested engineering. In most RFID applications, the period of tests, proving, and economic feasibleness surveies is over. Large-scale RFID system rollouts are underway. 1.3 RFID Application OverviewThere are about as many RFID applications as there are concern types. Titanium has established a leading place in these basic classs:Automotive– Auto-makers have added security and convenience into an car by utilizing RFID engineering for anti-theft immobilizers and passive-entry systems.Animal Tracking– Ranchers and farm animal manufacturers use RFID engineering to run into export ordinances and optimise farm animal value. Wild animate beings are tracked in ecological surveies, and many pets that are tagged are returned to their proprietors.Asset Tracking– Hospitals and pharmaceuticss meet tough merchandise answerability statute law with RFID ; libraries limit larceny and maintain books in circulation more expeditiously ; and athleticss and amusement enterprisers find that â€Å" smart tickets † are their ticket to a better underside line and happier clients.Contact less Payments– Blue-chip companies such as American Ex press, Exxon Mobil, and MasterCard use advanced signifier factors enabled by TI RFID engineering to beef up trade name trueness and encouragement gross per client.Supply Chain– WalMart, Target, BestBuy, and other retail merchants have discovered that RFID engineering can maintain stock lists at the optimum degree, cut down out-of-stock losingss, bound shrinkage, and velocity clients through check-out lines.About from the beginning, TI was there: assisting set up criterions ; back uping the RFID supply concatenation of inlay and label makers ; and systematically using leading-edge semiconducting material engineering to the nucleus of RFID, the transponder. 1.4 Why this undertaking is of importWhat we are be aftering to make is a gate log system based on the new engineering which is the RF-ID READER, the user will hold a CARD that will let him to come in the gate, when he acquire near to the gate the receiving system will observe the card and read the informations stored on the card wirelessly by mean of the rf-id reader. The microcontroller on the receiving system will read the informations from the RF-ID reader and if the user is allowed to come in the microcontroller will give the signal to open the motor ( gate ) .else a message will look on the LCD and the motor will non open. An of import portion of our undertaking is the Personal computer interfacing so all of the operations and the event will be displayed on a log tabular array. 1.5 System block diagram: –The chief constituents that will be usedmovie microcontroller ( pic16f876A )DC-motor ( little motor for simulate open/close )Consecutive interface bit ( this bit will manage the electromotive force degrees between the microcontroller and the personal computer )RF ID-readerH-bridge this is a will known circuit which have two inputs from the microcontroller to drive the motor clock wise or counter clock wiseLCD ( liquid crystal show ) that will be used to expose the user figure and any coveted notes such as ( non known user )1.6 Features that leads to take ID-12d as the rf-id reader for this undertaking:It requires 5V supply ( it can be supplied from the same supply as movie )125kHz read frequence ( compatible with most sorts of releasing factor cards )EM4001 64-bit RFID ticket compatible9600bps TTL and RS232 end product ( can be connected straight to pic microcontroller utilizing the usart faculty )100mm read scope ( good reading distance )1.7 Method of operationThe end product of the rf-id reader is consecutive which will be connected straight to pic microcontroller, when the reader detects any rf-cards in scope it will read it and direct the ruddy informations ( 64-bit ) serially, the microcontroller will have those bytes and hive away them in a twine, so it will compare whether this Idaho is existed or non, this action will be displayed on the liquid crystal display. If the user is allowed to come in the gate so the microcontroller will publish the bid to the h-bridge to open the dc_motor, wait certain clip so publish the shutting bid. Besides the microcontroller will direct the information to the personal computer ( serially ) to be stored in a log tabular array Needed packagemikrobasic compiler, this will be used to compose the codification for the microcontrollerocular basic.NET, this package will be used to compose the plan that will have the information from the microcontroller and show it on a tabular array.

Ethical language is meaningless Essay

Ethics is concerned with what is right and what is wrong. Meta-ethics however looks at the language, it asks â€Å"What does it mean to say that something is right or wrong†. In the words of Pojman, â€Å"normative ethics is a philosophical examination of morality, meta-ethics is philosophising about ethics -that is, about the very terms and structure of ethical theories.† I aim to explore the claim that all ethical language is meaningless by looking at some of the common statements used in the ethical language and what they actually mean. Firstly let me take the question itself- what exactly is ethical language? Dr Richard Paul defines ethics as â€Å"a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behaviour helps or harms sentient creatures†. Paul also states that most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with people’s religious beliefs and the law, and don’t treat ethics as a stand-alone concept. However, according to the dictionary ethics is defined as the â€Å"study of morality’s effect on conduct: the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct†. With people defining ‘ethics’ in different ways, ethical statements would have contrasting meanings depending on how you viewed the actual term ‘ethical’. This idea of looking into the language of a statement before determining whether the outcome/notion would be right or wrong is called meta-ethics. This view of language limits its meaning to something that can be verified by sense experience (i.e. proven true or false). This view can be found in the works of Wittgenstein in ‘Tractatus’ (1921). This initial view went on to influence a group of philosophers known as the ‘Vienna Circle’ who developed the idea of ‘positivism’. This then influenced A J Ayer who claimed in his publication of ‘Language, Truth and Logic’ that there are only two kinds of proposition being the truths known by definition, and the truths known by reference to sense experience. For example, to Ayer ‘all bachelors are unmarried’ would be known as a tautology because this is correct by definition and thus claims nothing. However, ‘That man is a bachelor’ can be either proven false or true by using external facts (i.e. does he wear a wedding ring etc.). To  Ayer both these statements would be meaningful as they can be proven true. However, an ethical statement such as ‘abortion is wrong’ cannot be verified analytically or synthetically (like the examples before could be) and so aren’t meaningful. On the other hand, F H Bradley argued that the supreme good for mankind was self-realisation, meaning that we choose to go one way or another in life, so that we can join the wider community. Morality to Bradley is about the actions you take which express the character that you are. This is known as metaphysical ethics and is often referred to as depending on two abstract ideas. The first being the world as a whole and the second being self-realisation. Neither of these ideas can be reduced to the sort of empirical evidence that the logical positivists such as Ayer would say, can determine whether it has meaning. Therefore Bradley would say that ethical statements are meaningful. I agree with Bradley in that I can see how you can investigate the world as a whole and individual people’s inner characters I have to disagree with the overall opinion that for a statement to have meaning it must fit into one of two categories. Not everything can be proven through science or experien ce, but that is not to say it does not have meaning to some people. R M Hare agreed with my thoughts as he put forward his approach of ‘Prescriptivism’. He argued that an ethical statement ‘prescribes’ a course of action and tells you what one ought to do. It is stronger than just a suggestion of how to behave, but at the same time is more than a command because commands are related to specific things at specific times, i.e. ‘you should tidy your room’ would have meaning. An ethical statement is a general command of how to behave, making it both prescriptive and universalisable. Therefore one can apply logic to the statement and can deduce whether they should follow the statement or not. Hare would not make the decision so black and white that the statement is either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but would instead say ‘yes I think I agree with the statement and I intend to follow what it says’. Therefore these statements are full of meaning as they prescribe how one should act. Having said that, many people would not be happy with the above outcome as it is down to the individual and could arguably make excuses for actions that people may do. By following Ayer’s argument it is much simpler and universal as it is not down to the individual, it is either right or wrong through science and facts. Ayer, an emotivist, also felt that ethical statements are not just expressions of the individual person’s emotion but also of their attitude towards the situation. A good example to use- if I say capital punishment is wrong, it’s because I have an attitude opposed to capital punishment which is formed due to my beliefs. Therefore Ayer compared these ethical statements to the ‘laughs’ and ‘boos and hisses’ the ‘cheers’ and the ‘screams’ that people may voice in the audience of a debate. The statements are meaningless and add no weight to the situation. For example, saying that charity is good you are saying â€Å"hoorah for charity work† and nothing more. We would simply be expressing our attitude towards that topic or situation, and in the words of Ayer â€Å"I am not making any factual statement†¦ I am merely expressing certain moral sentiments.† Moral and ethical arguments serve no real purpose as everyone has their own opinion but who are we to say which opinion is right? We cannot know from people’s own expressions whether a moral statement is right or wrong, and therefore will come to no outcome so all ethical statements are meaningless. C.L Stevenson took this further and developed Ayer’s emotivism. Stevenson felt that whilst People’s subjective opinions are often based on objective facts so meaningful ethical discourse could take place. For example; if I say war is wrong it is my opinion and purely subjective. However if we say that war is wrong because 10000 people were killed innocently that is objective and factual evidence as to why so many people believe war is wrong. Therefore ethical statements can be meaningful. Ethical statements also include a persuasive element, which encourages other people to adopt the same attitudes/beliefs as us. Here Stevenson bridges both prescriptivism and emotivism together, and believes that ethical statements are meaningful. My opinion, however, would be that most people in society would be able to recognise that an ethical statement such as â€Å"It is wrong to murder† is prescribing a course of action that will benefit the rest of society. I  agree with R M Hare that an ethical statement is meaningful as it provides a guide as to how you should go about your daily lives. Language in general can have several meanings, but this still means each has a meaning. Ethical statements are made up of language, therefore each statement in my opinion is meaningful. You cannot make the decision of whether ethical language has meaning purely based on logic and evidence through experience- some things cannot be reduced to these categories, but that does not mean some people don’t consider this language as meaningless.