Teachings of Life Through the River Essay -- Personal Experience, Autob

My father was always a man of infinite knowledge for those willing to listen. Unbeknownst to him, his knowledge extends beyond what he has to teach. For example, when asked how to clean a fish, he goes through the process in great detail. From where the incision is made to de-scaling the fish, he would always emphasize the care, attention to the smallest detail. With every lesson, the majority of his teachings show how no matter how long the task, any person will always have enough time to finish what they set out to do. As with most aspects of life the same principles apply. The most memorable time of my life was my father’s ecstatic look when I said I would love to learn how to fly fish. When camping as a child of eight years old, my parents, sister, our two dogs and I would go for a hike. During most hikes, we would trek near a small creek or tributary, my father would take off, on his own, to fly fish. I could only stand in awe as the fly line’s arc, still wet, would glisten over my father’s head during each cast. I wasn’t of age to learn the art quite yet. My mother would grab the back of my shirt and drag me back to the hiking trail for fear of me falling in. With every time she pulled me back, I would dig my heels into the ground and flail my arms violently to try and loosen her grip. All I wanted to do was watch and contemplate in my father’s love and splendor for fly fishing. The day eventually came when I was of age to learn the art of fly fishing. At the age of twelve or so, he popped the question, â€Å"do you want to learn how to fly fish† and all the heavy gates lifted. To me, learning how to fly fish would finally bring me that one step closer into the same graces of manhood where my father already stood, patience, ... ...re will always be a long, treacherous path ahead. This path is almost always a bumpy one and is most definitely not a straight one. In one class, a person may completely disagree with a teacher and never heed any of their advice. In others, the teacher could very well be one, if not the only reason for even attending that class. No matter what the circumstances, patience will play an extreme role in anyone’s successful journey through education. Now, patience is never the only thing that gets a person through, determination plays the role of perpetuating the patience, much like catching your dinner. For many, the determination is to attain a better, more fulfilled life. For some, the goal is merely to have fun with their career in the future. Whatever the case may be, patience, determination, and, if that person has it, a little bit of finesse will take anyone far.

Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Catalase Activity in a Potato

Effect of Temperature ( C ? ) on Enzyme Catalase Activity in potato Aim: To investigate the Effect of temperature (10, 37, 60) Celsius (C ? ) on enzyme catalase activity in potato using 2% of hydrogen peroxide (H202) as the substrate measuring the height (cm) of oxygen gas (bubbles) and calculating the volume of oxygen bubbles produced (cm3) Introduction: Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up metabolic reactions without being affected. They lower the activation energy needed to start a reaction. Enzymes are affected by several factors including PH, Substrate concentration; Temperature & other factors.Each enzyme has an optimum temperature at which its activity is the highest, below this optimum temp, the kinetic energy of molecules decrease , therefore the collisions between the active site of the enzyme and substrate decreases , as a result the enzyme activity will decrease , so decreasing the rate of the reaction If the temp. Exceeds the optimum temp. The kinetic energy be tween molecules increase therefore collisions increase leading to the change in the tertiary structure of the enzyme and in this case active site is lost and the enzymes will be denatured so the reaction will slow down &stops.Catalase is an enzyme, found basically in all living cells. It breaks down hydrogen peroxide (waste product) into water and oxygen. 2H? O? 2H2O+O2 As predicted, the enzyme catalase activity would be the highest at 37c ? (Optimum temp. )if increased to 60c ? then the enzyme would be denatured and if decreased to 10c ? (very low temp. ) then the reaction would be slow. Variables: Dependent: Height of oxygen bubbles (cm) using a ruler. Independent: Temperature (10c ? , 37c ? , 60c ? ) using three different water baths each adjusted to a specific temp . Controlled: 1.Number of potato cubes: 3 cubes of potatoes were used in each trial at each different temp. If changed, whether decrease or increase, then the number of enzymes (active site) available would change, th erefore affecting the rate of the reaction. 2. Size of potato cubes with dimensions 1cmx1cmx1. 5cm . This is controlled by cutting all potato cubes with same dimensions using a ruler & a cutter. If changed, then this would affect the rate of enzyme activity, therefore affecting the results. 3. Volume of hydrogen peroxide: 15cm3 of hydrogen peroxide was measured using graduated cylinder for each trial at different temp.If changed then the rate of enzyme activity would change, therefore results won’t be accurate. 4. Concentration of hydrogen peroxide: 2% of hydrogen peroxide was used through all trials this is prepared by adding 20cm3 of H2o2 to 1000cm3 of water. If changed it would affect the rate of enzyme activity since substrate concentration is one of the factors that affect enzyme activity. 5. Volume of liquid detergent: 2drops of liquid detergent were added to each test tube throughout the experiment. If changed, then this will affect the height of oxygen bubbles measure d cm3 therefore the results won’t be accurate. . Time: time was recorded for 2 minutes; if changed this will affect the results. Materials: * 27 cubes of potato each with dimensions 1cmx1cmx1. 5cm. * 15cm3 of 2% hydrogen peroxide for each trial. * 9 test tubes * Water adjusted to (60c ? ,37c ? &10c ? adding ice) * 2drops of liquid detergent in each test tube * Cutter * Ruler * 100cm3 graduated cylinder * Stopwatch * 1000cm3 volumetric flask * 50cm3 beaker Procedure: 1. Use the cutter, and ruler to cut 27 cubes of potato with dimensions 1cmx1cmx1. 5cm 2. Adjust the water bath temp one at 60c ? , the other one at 37c ? amp; last one at 10c ? adding ice. 3. Place 3 potato cubes in each of the three test tubes placed at 10c ?. 4. Leave the test tubes at 10c ? for 10min. 5. Add 2 drops of detergent for each test tube. 6. Measure 15cm3 of 2% hydrogen peroxide for each test tube using graduated cylinder. 7. Add 15cm3 of 2% H2o2 to each test tube, and immediately start the stop watch recording time for 2 min. 8. After 2 min exactly, use the ruler to measure the height of oxygen bubbles (cm). 9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 at a different temp (60c ? ,70c ? ). 10. Record all data in an organized table. Processing and Presenting Data: Table (1): Shows the height of oxygen bubbles produced (cm) at different temp. (C ? ) TemperatureC ?  ± 0. 05| Height of oxygen bubbles produced after 2 minutes (cm)| | Trial 1| Trial 2| Trial 3| 10. 00| 2. 00| 6. 00| 2. 00| 37. 00| 3. 00| 4. 50| 1. 50| 60. 00| 3. 00| 2. 00| 2. 00| Table (2): Shows mean height in (cm) for oxygen bubbles  ± 0. 05 and volume of oxygen bubbles (cm3) ±0. 05 at different temp (C ? ) Temperature C ?  ± 0. 05| Mean height (cm) for oxygen bubbles  ± 0. 05| Volume of mean height of oxygen bubbles cm3 0. 05| 10. 0| 3. 33| 16. 34| 37. 00| 4. 86| 23. 84| 60. 00| 2. 06| 10. 11| * Sample calculations 10c ? 1. Mean height of oxygen bubbles in cm. T1+T2+T33= 2+6+23= 3. 33cm 2. Volume of oxygen bubbles cm3 Volume o f cylinder: ? r2xh 3. 14x (1. 25)2Ãâ€"3. 33=16. 34cm3 Discussion: As shown in table (2) as temperature increased from 10c ? to 37c ? , the mean height in cm of oxygen bubbles increased from 3. 33cm to 4. 86cm. Aa temperature increase from 37c ? to 60c ? the mean height cm of oxygen bubbles decreased from 4. 86cm to 2. 06cm. Reffering to the table (2) and graph , as temp. ncreased from 10c ? to 37c ? the volume of oxygen bubbles (cm3) increased from 16. 34cm3 to 23. 84cm3. As temp increased from 37c ? to 60c ? the volume of oxygen bubbles produced (cm3) decreased from 23. 84cm3 to 10. 11cm3. Each enzyme has an optimum temp. at which the rate of enzyme activity is the highest. Above the optimum temp the kinetic energy of molecules increases therefore the collisions between the active site and the substrate increase and as a result the enzyme would lose its 3D structure and active site and the enzyme would be denatured.This is shown in the graph, as the volume of oxygen bubbles cm3 de creased from 23. 84cm3 to 10. 11cm3 at 60c ?. Below the optimum temp the kinetic energy of molecules decreases ,therefore the collisions decrease and the enzyme would slow down and the rate of energy decreases as it’s shown in table (2) the volume of oxygen bubble decrease from 37c ? to 10c ?. According to our results in table (2) and graph, the optimum temp was 37c ? at which rate of enzyme catalase activity was the highest as the highest volume of oxygen bubbles was produced 23. 84cm3.The results obtained matched the hypothesis which stated that 37c ? is the optimum temp for enzyme catalase to break hydrogen peroxide which is a toxic product into water & oxygen. Evaluation & Improvements: 1. Size of potato cubes . Potato cubes were cut into cubes of dimensions 1cmx1cmx1. 5cm using a ruler and a blade which was a source of error since all cubes vary slightly in size which means the concentration of catalase enzyme is different. A potato cutter that cut the potato into equal sizes . 2. Height of oxygen bubbles measured by a ruler. This was inaccurate method.Volume could be measured instead in height using gas Syringe which will give more accurate results 3. Volume of detergent. 2 drops of detergent were measured using a dropper. A pipette can be used which will give more accurate results. Done BY: JIHAN AL-BUKHARI 9A ——————————————– [ 1 ]. [ (Jones, 2009) ] [ 2 ]. â€Å"Introduction to Enzymes. †Ã‚  Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity (). N. p. , n. d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. . [ 3 ]. â€Å"Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity. †Ã‚  Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity. N. p. , n. d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. .

Marketing Strategy of Beeline Essay

INTRODUCTION GTEL Corporation and VimpelCom penetrated in Vietnamese telecommunication market in 8th July 2008 under the brand name Beeline VN to provide GSM/EDGE voice and data services to cover all Vietnam with over 86million people. Until now, Beeline wants to select more strategies in order to achieve their objective which is growing their market share to 30% like the three giants: Mobilephone, Vinaphone and Viettel. From the last study, IBD strategic counseling center have identified and analyzed Beeline’s strategy as well as the position of the company in Vietnamese market. Furthermore, some suggestions for improving were also given. This report, hence, will evaluate every possible strategy for Beeline in many aspects as well as propose a  plan for the most appropriate future strategies. MAJOR FINDINGS I. Possible alternative strategies for Beeline 1. Identify possible strategies. According to the last study, Beeline’s position in the BCG matrix is question mark due to the high growth rate of the industry while the market share of Beeline is relatively low (only 4%). Moreover, in the product life cycle, Beeline has launched and introduced their services not for long. As a result, for three others stages in the product life cycle (growth, mature and decline), Beeline can implement most of the substantive growth, limited growth and retrenchment strategies. In order to identify those strategies, the most effective tool is Space matrix. Figure 1. BCG matrix Figure 2. Product life cycle a. Environmental stability By using the information from the external environment, we can identify as well as score the options in this factor. First of all, telecommunication market in Vietnam especially mobile network services has recently rocketed significantly. From the limited network until now, most of the places in Vietnam are coverage by applying many new technologies and liquidate the outdated one (GSM/EDGE, IP utilizing the NGN technology with frequency band of 1800MHz) so as Beeline will not be lagged behind by the three giants. Secondly, according to many economists, the inflation rate of Vietnam is still a double digit (14%) and it is considered as really high compared to other developing country (in 1 digit). Now, the Vietnamese government is using ceiling and floor price as well as tariffs to modulate the inflation rate back to one digit. Furthermore, at the beginning, Beeline launched the most extraordinary cheap services (Big zero) to market while other three giants’ price is much higher than Beeline. Therefore, the price range of Beeline with the average price of the industry is really high. Nevertheless, the last thing belongs to the environmental stability is barrier to entry into the market. From the political factor in the previous study, Vietnamese government is encouraging investments from oversea to increase the FDI  (Foreign direct investment), so that the tariffs and policy are absolutely motivating every foreign business like Beeline. Moreover, telecommunication is the most vital service in the modern world and this is also an industry which gains the most attention from the politician. As a result, besides high initial investment, the barrier to entry of this industry can be scored 4. b. Financial strength Financial strength is a strong point of Beeline. According to the annual report of Beeline, the return on investment rate of Beeline remains in 4.2%for each billion of dollars invested after payback. Besides, the profitability ratio of Beeline always stands above 50% (50.4%) and nearly equal to Mobilephone (53%). In another aspect, Beeline has 16years of history in the telecommunication market which means Beeline has experience in the current market. Until now, Beeline has provided 86 million mobile subscribers in total and it is till increasing while the price of services become cheaper and cheaper. Thus, they are able to have a large economy of scale. If there is a potential plan, Beeline will not hesitate to invest because they have the capital required for most of the plan by extracting a part in the total revenue of $2.27 and from the huge capital of Beeline. In the future, Beeline can maintain this strength to obtain their objectives especially updating new technology. c. Industry strength In this aspect, we can concern on three main factors: Financial stability, resource utilization and capital intensity. Firstly, the demand of using telecommunication services is always stable in most of the time, so that the revenue and financial status of this industry will always in a stable position. In the modern world, telecommunication is no longer a demand but a need of every citizen in the world. Thus, 6 will be the score for this option. On the other hand, the utilization of resources can also be taken full advantages by every business not only capital but also human resources (think global, act local). For instance, Beeline hired a professional force from both oversea (Mr. Alexey Blyumin, CEO) and Vietnam (Mr. Nguyen The Binh, Deputy CEO) to administrate the company in Vietnamese market. From the professional force, they will propose the best way of utilizing the financial resource in the most economical way. Last but not least, Beeline  is a foreign group with a huge amount of capital available. Consequently, the capital intensity of Beeline deserves to receive the highest score. d. Competitive advantage As aforementioned, Beeline has the capacity of providing services for more than 86 million people which is equal to the population of Vietnam while other three giants are in the process of signal coverage for the whole country. For Beeline, this objective will be obtained more easily than competitors (5years while others may take 10 years). From the statistic above, Beeline market share at the moment remain in 4% which is not high compared to the three giants. However, the service of Beeline quality is quite acceptable according to the opinion of the students who are the target customers of Beeline. Moreover, the time for Beeline to launch a new service is quite short (about 3 months) whereas Viettel or Mobilephone takes 6 months or a whole year to release a new service (3G). To sum up, the whole information and analysis will be shown in the table below to identify the position of Beeline in Space matrix. Diagram 1. Space matrix of Beeline When Beeline takes market penetration into consideration, they should invest more on PR and marketing campaign to create awareness and reputation in the public. Moreover, improving after sales service will help Beeline gain customer loyalty for repeat purchasing. For market development, Beeline may find some other potential market in Vietnam especially in the rural areas but the living standard of the citizens at that place is at medium level (Dien Bien, Sapa, Tam Dao, etc). This strategy can be apply easily thanks to  the development of technology, so that Beeline just have to concern about human resource or others factors. However, Beeline still have to use other strategies as well at the rural area to compete with Viettel who have coverage most of the places in Vietnam. Next, product development strategy is about focusing on R&D. Beeline needs to create the new product line or add more value to the services like packaging, online counseling, etc. However, no matter what they do, they have to assemble to maintain their corporate image, their style (black and yellow) during the campaign. Finally, diversification will be the last secret weapon in the aggressive strategies. Specifically, Beeline can use forward , backward integration and horizontal integration like building more agencies throughout Vietnam or even providing mobile phone and internet, wireless, etc with the attractive price like Viettel sell Iphone 3, internet network Dcom 3G. Invest more on new technology| v| v| x| x| 13| 3rd | Table 3. Ranking and scoring From the table, it is noticeably that there are some tactics have the same score. Thus, it is depend on the manage board to decide which activities should do first or they need to have a strategic allocation of capital to do these activities simultaneously (find the critical path). If Beeline allocates the resource as well as schedule in the most effective way, they will not only minimize but also increase their profit and market share. The first thing they have to do is all about people. Hiring the right people is the most important for all business because it is the people who create the product, seek for customer and bring back profit for the company. This activity will lead to a good result of other activities of Beeline. That’s why, they hired a professional Vietnamese person to be the vice deputy of Beeline. It is obviously that when you do nothing, you gain nothing but sometimes during the economist crisis, do nothing is a good strategy unless the cost of doing nothing lower than making a new plan. II. Strategic plan of the most appropriate strategies for Beeline 1. Select the final strategies: At the end of the day, after analyzed and evaluated every available strategy, IBD agency will propose Beeline to apply market penetration and product development. Others strategies like market development or diversification are slightly risky according to some internal stakeholders. Moreover, the three giants have successfully applied market development and if Beeline do so, it is really hard to compete because even Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City which are the most potential market of Vietnam, Beeline have to endeavor to survive. For diversification, this kind of services play a role as a contributor only and most of the telecommunication company create their own supply, so that Beeline could hardly to do so. Making a new product seems to  be hard for Beeline because they have to maintain their style and corporate image. Thus, just do what you are best. At the moment, there are some strategies which is work for Beeline like Cost leadership or differentiation (for different services). However, when Beeline success like Viettel, cost leadership will not necessary like Viettel in the past, they launch out many cheap services but now it rarely has new promotion. 2. Strategic plan Implementation is most difficult part which every company faces. Making a plan is easy but when they implement it, they will face many unexpected problem like physical risks (an manager may got an accident, etc) or business risks, financial risks, natural risks, etc. As a result, there need to be a detail plan and closely control system. This plan will be taken charged by the management board as well as every departments of the company. a. Management board Management board is the head of the company, so that Beeline needs to hire a professional person to take charge this position. First of all, the senior manager have to make a clear vision and mission as well as objectives for every department to explain deeply for them to work in the right direction. This is called envisioning. Apart from that, controlling and encouraging will ensure every department especially Marketing and Financial Department support each other and the manager also have to support them not only for professional issues but also ratify their plan. By recognizing contribution with fair wages and salaries, Beeline’s manager will not only motivate them for increasing productivity but also gaining their respect. Last but not least, in order to implement well, Beeline need to apply both intended (deliberate) and emergent (realize) strategies because by doing so, they will not only have clear and reality mission from the information gather from functional department but other department also have a clear mind about their mission to implement the strategy. For the managers, by creating the responsibility charts will help Beeline manager have a clear and logistic plan. A clear objectives, sub-objectives, general program and make an assumption will set a mile stone for the employees to achieve and also make a competitive environment when the manager utilize with his/her motivation program. b. Departments Working as a team is not about in a inside but also among departments together. Marketing department will take charge of making plan to build reputation and promote the profit of Beeline. However, Beeline cannot use all of their money for advertising. This is the time for financial department, the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) will calculate the cost of advertising and ask the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) to adjust the plan to match with the budget of the company. However, in order to have such a professional labor to do so, the Human resource department has to ask other department for their demanded labor. Base on that, the manager of HR department will seek and find the right person for that position especially the labor force for PR activities. There are others department which Beeline needs to concern but as a telecommunication provider, those three departments are the most important. c. Allocate resources As a contributor of mobile network, the human resource of Beeline need to be allocate most in the sales department while other professional one will place in the vital position (manager, team leaders). Moreover, Beeline also needs to contribute the services fairly between the southern and northern of Vietnam so as not face the overload problem in one territory. About financial issue, minimize expense by hiring the local people and maximize the profit because the local people know their customers best. Moreover, always checking the budget will help Beeline have a timely adjustment. All of the resource are available in the society both HR (in the society or university) and financial (bank, issuing share, etc). When Beeline become the one of the heavenly king of Vietnamese telecommunications market, they can have another network system to allocate the resource not only the urban areas but also the entire country. CONCLUSION This report has made a comprehensive evaluation of many strategies available for beeline. However, the most effective strategies which Beeline needs to take into consideration are market penetration and product development. Furthermore, not only the management board of Beeline must envision but also make sure every department support and working together as a team. REFERENCES * Product life cycle: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product-life-cycle.html * Beeline VN information: * http://beeline.vn/vn/pages/news.aspx?id=72 * http://www.maivoo.com/2011/03/29/Suc-tang-truong-cua-thi-truong-vien-thong-manh-tro-lai-n324141.html * http://en.beeline.vn/en/pages/content.aspx?id=100 * http://ebrandium.com/thu-vien/marketing/mot-chien-luoc-tiep-thi-toan-dien-case-beeline-vietnam.html * http://vccinews.vn/?page=detail&folder=96&Id=276 http://vnexpress.net/gl/kinh-doanh/2009/08/3ba11ea3/ * Secondary data: * BPP Professional Education, 2004, Business Strategy, London: BPP Professional Education * BPP Professional Education, 2004, Business Environment, London: BPP Professional Education * Duc, Nguyen Anh (2010), â€Å"Marketing research of transmission and recommendations for VIETTEL† NEU’s MBA course. * Tuan, Doan Anh (2010), â€Å"Developing the services of Hanoi telecommunication company†, NEU’s MBA course. * General Statistic Office, 2011. Social – economic in 2010 [Online] Available at: http://www.gso.gov.vn/default.aspx?tabid=621&ItemID=10835 [Access: April 11, 2011] * Scribd.com, 2010. Beeline Vietnam marketing strategy [Online] http://www.scribd.com/doc/28790390/chi%E1%BA%BFn-l%C6%B0%E1%BB%A3c-markeeting-c%E1%BB%A7a-beeline * Binh, Vu Quoc (2011) â€Å"Bà ¡o cà ¡o vá »  tà ¬nh hà ¬nh và   nhá » ¯ng vá º ¥n Ä‘á »  Ä‘á º ·t ra trong phà ¡t triá »Æ'n kinh tá º ¿ xà £ há »â„¢i cá » §a thá » § Ä‘Ã ´ Hà   Ná »â„¢i và   cá º £ nÆ °Ã¡ »â€ºc nhá » ¯ng thà ¡ng Ä‘á º §u nÄÆ'm 2011; nhá » ¯ng kiá º ¿n nghá »â€¹, giá º £i phà ¡p† Hanoi researching socio-economic development study published. * Cuong, Vu Huy (2011) â€Å"Business strategy assignment 1† * Beeline strategies:

Sixteen Candles essays

Sixteen Candles essays The 1986 film Sixteen Candles tells a timeless tale of growing up in suburban America. The films star, Sam, played by Molly Ringwald, wakes up with big expectations on her sweet sixteenth birthday only to be completely disappointed. Not only does she find that she looks exactly the same as when she was fifteen, but her family is so preoccupied with her older sisters wedding that they forget her birthday altogether. The film opens with Sam on the phone with her best girlfriend Randy. She is examining herself in her full length mirror and is totally horrified to find that her body didnt magically transform overnight. She was hoping to wake up with a body just like Carolines. Caroline is the head cheerleader, prom queen, and girlfriend of the most popular boy in school, Jake Ryan. Sam is hopelessly in love with Jake and is convinced that he wont know she exists until she is more developed, more mature, more like Caroline. Little does she know, Jake does notice her. He is intrigued by a certain mispassed note containing some very personal information about Sams sex life (or lack of one). In this note, Sam confesses that she is a virgin (she has never done it) and is saving herself not for marriage, but for Jake Ryan. Jake finds himself wanting to get to know Sam and wanting a real relationship with someone like her, rather than with someone like Caroline. He knows Caroline doesnt love him, and he doesnt love her either. The only real reason theyre together is because hes the most popular boy at school and shes the most popular girl. Throughout the movie, Sam is preoccupied with becoming more like Caroline, while the real reason Jake is interested in her is because she is not like Caroline. By the end of the movie Sam learns a valuable lesson about being her own person and even gets the guy along the way. ...

Programming a Tic Tac Toe Game in Visual Basic

Programming a Tic Tac Toe Game in Visual Basic Programming computer games may be the most technically challenging (and possibly the best paying) job that a programmer can have. Top level games require the best from both programmers and computers. Visual Basic 6 has now been thoroughly bypassed as a platform for game programming. (It never really was one. Even in the good ol days, serious game programmers would never use a high-level language like VB 6 because you just couldnt get the cutting edge performance that most games require.) But the simple Tic Tac Toe game is a great introduction to programming that is a little more advanced than Hello World! This is a great introduction to many of the fundamental concepts of programming since it combines techniques including: The use of arrays. The X and O markers are kept in separate arrays and the entire arrays are passed between functions to keep track of the progress of the game.Using VB 6 level graphics: VB 6 doesnt offer great graphical capability, but the game is a good introduction to what is available. Much of the rest of this series is an exploration of how GDI, the next generation of Microsoft graphics, replaces the VB 6 level graphics.Using math calculations for program control: The program uses clever modulo (Mod) and integer division calculations using the two-game marker arrays to determine when a three-element win has occurred. The class of programming in this article is perhaps just a little past the beginning level but it should be good for intermediate programmers. But lets start at an elementary level to illustrate some of the concepts and get you started with your Visual Basic game programming career. Even students more advanced than that may find that its slightly challenging to get the objects in the form just right. How to Play Tic Tac Toe If youve never played Tic Tac Toe, here are the rules. Two players alternate at placing Xs and Os into 3 x 3 playing field. Before the game starts, both players have to agree about who will go first and who will mark his moves with which symbol. After the first move, the players alternately place their marks in any empty cell. The goal of the game is to be the first player with three marks in a horizontal, diagonal or vertical line. If there are no empty cells and neither player has a winning combination, the game is a draw. Starting the Program Before starting any actual coding, its always a good idea to change the names of any components you use. Once you start coding, the name will be used automatically by Visual Basic so you want it to be the right name. Well use the form name frmTicTacToe and well also change the caption to About Tic Tac Toe. With the form established, use the line toolbox control to draw a 3 x 3 grid. Click the line tool, then draw a line where you want it. Youll have to create four lines this way and adjust their length and position to make them look right. Visual Basic also has some convenient tools under the Format menu that will help. This is a great chance to practice with them. In addition to the playing grid, well need some objects for the X and O symbols that will be placed on the grid. Since there are nine spaces in the grid, well create an object array with nine spaces, called elements in Visual Basic. There are several ways to do just about everything in the Visual Basic development environment, and creating control arrays is is no exception. Probably the easiest way is to create the first label (click and draw just like the line tool), name it, set all of the attributes (such as Font and ForeColor), and then make copies of it. VB 6 will ask if you want to create a control array. Use the name lblPlayGround for the first label. To create the other eight elements of the grid, select the first label object, set the Index property to zero, and press CTRLC (copy). Now you can press CTRLV (paste) to create another label object. When you copy objects like this, each copy will inherit all properties except Index from the first one. Index will increase by one for each copy. This is a control array because they all have the same name, but different index values. If you create the array this way, all of the copies will be stacked on top of each other in the upper left corner of the form. Drag each label to one of the playing grid positions. Be sure that index values are sequential in the grid. The logic of the program depends on it. The label object with index value 0 should be in the top left corner, and the bottom right label should have index 8. If the labels cover the playing grid, select each label, right-click, and select Send to Back. Since there are eight possible ways to win the game, well need eight different lines to show the win on the playing grid. You will use the same technique to create another control array. First, draw the line, name it linWin, and set the Index property to zero. Then use copy-paste technique to produce seven more lines. The following illustration shows how to set the index numbers correctly. In addition to the label and line objects, you need some command buttons to play the game and more labels to keep score. The steps to create these are not detailed here, but these are the objects you need. Two button objects: cmdNewGamecmdResetScore Frame object fraPlayFirst containing two option buttons: optXPlayeroptOPlayer Frame object fraScoreBoard containing six labels. Only lblXScore and lblOScore are changed in the program code. lblXlblXScorelblOlblOScorelblMinuslblColon Finally, you also need the label object lblStartMsg to mask the cmdNewGame button when it shouldnt be clicked. This isnt visible in the illustration below because it occupies the same space in the form as the command button. You may have to move the command button temporarily to draw this label on the form. So far, no VB coding has been done, but were finally ready to do that. Initialization Now you get to finally start coding the program. If you havent already, you might want to download the source code to follow along as the operation of the program is explained. One of the first design decisions to make is how to keep track of the current state of the game. In other words, what are the current Xs and Os on the playing grid and who moves next. The concept of state is critical in a lot of programming, and in particular, its important in programming ASP and ASP.NET for the web There are several ways that this could be done, so its a critical step in the analysis. If you were solving this problem on your own, you might want to draw a flowchart and try out different options with scratch paper before starting any coding. Variables Our solution uses two two-dimensional arrays because that helps keep track of state by simply changing the array indexes in program loops. The state of the top-left corner will be in the array element with index (1, 1), the top-right corner will be in (1, 3), the bottom-right in (3,3), and so forth. The two arrays that do this are: iXPos(x, y) and iOPos(x, y) There are a lot of different ways this can be done and the final VB.NET solution in this series shows you how to do it with just a single one-dimensional array. The programming to translate these arrays into player win decisions and visible displays in the form are on the next page. You also need a few global variables as follows. Notice that these are in the General and Declarations code for the form. This makes them module level variables that can be referenced anywhere in the code for this form. For more on this, check Understanding the Scope of Variables in Visual Basic Help. There are two areas where variables are initialized in our program. First, a few variables are initialized while the form frmTicTacToe is loading. Private Sub Form_Load() Second, before each new game, all variables that need to be reset to starting values are assigned in an initialization subroutine. Sub InitPlayGround() Note that the form load initialization also calls the playground initialization. One of the critical skills of a programmer is the ability to use the debugging facilities to understand what the code is doing. You can use this program to try: Stepping through the code with the F8 keySetting a watch on key variables, such as sPlaySign or iMoveSetting a breakpoint and querying the value of variables. For example, in the inner loop of the initialization: lblPlayGround((i - 1) * 3 j - 1).Caption Note that this program clearly shows why its a good programming practice to keep data in arrays whenever possible. If you did not have arrays in this program, you would have to write code something like this: Line0.Visible FalseLine1.Visible FalseLine2.Visible FalseLine3.Visible FalseLine4.Visible FalseLine5.Visible FalseLine6.Visible FalseLine7.Visible False instead of this: For i 0 To 7linWin(i).Visible FalseNext i Making a Move If any part of the system can be thought of as the heart, its subroutine lblPlayGround_Click. This subroutine is called every time a player clicks the playing grid. (Clicks must be inside one of the nine lblPlayGround elements.) Notice that this subroutine has an argument: (Index As Integer). Most of the other event subroutines, like cmdNewGame_Click() do not. Index indicates which label object has been clicked. For example, index would contain the value zero for the top-left corner of the grid and the value eight for the bottom-right corner. After a player clicks a square in the game grid, the command button to start another game, cmdNewGame, is turned on by making it visible. The state of this command button does double duty because its also used as a boolean decision variable later in the program. Using a property value as a decision variable is usually discouraged because if it ever becomes necessary to change the program (say, for example, to make the cmdNewGame command button visible all the time), then the program will unexpectedly fail because you might not remember that its also used as part of the program logic. For this reason, its always a good idea to search through program code and check the use of anything you change when doing program maintenance, even property values. This program violates the rule partly to make this point and partly because this is a relatively simple piece of code where its easier to see what is being done and avoid problems later. A player selection of a game square is processed by calling the GamePlay subroutine with Index as the argument. Processing the Move First, you check to see if an unoccupied square was clicked. If lblPlayGround(xo_Move).Caption Then Once were sure this is a legitimate move, the move counter (iMove) is incremented. The next two lines are very interesting since they translate the coordinates from the one-dimensional If lblPlayGround component array to two-dimensional indexes that you can use in either iXPos or iOPos. Mod and integer division (the backslash) are mathematical operations that you dont use every day, but heres a great example showing how they can be very useful. Â  If lblPlayGround(xo_Move).Caption TheniMove iMove 1x Int(xo_Move / 3) 1y (xo_Move Mod 3) 1 The xo_Move value 0 will be translated to (1, 1), 1 to (1, 2) ... 3 to (2, 1) ... 8 to (3, 3). The value in sPlaySign, a variable with module scope, keeps track of which player made the move. Once the move arrays are updated, the label components in the playing grid can be updated with the appropriate sign. If sPlaySign O TheniOPos(x, y) 1iWin CheckWin(iOPos())ElseiXPos(x, y) 1iWin CheckWin(iXPos())End IflblPlayGround(xo_Move).Caption sPlaySign For example, when the X player clicks the top left corner of the grid, variables will have the following values: The user screen shows only an X in the upper left box, while the iXPos has a 1 in the upper left box and 0 in all of the others. The iOPos has 0 in every box. The values changes when the O player clicks the center square of the grid. Now th iOPos shows a 1 in the center box while the user screen shows an X in the upper left and an O in the center box. The iXPos shows only the 1 in the upper left corner, with 0 in all of the other boxes. Now that you know where a player clicked, and which player did the clicking (using the value in sPlaySign), all you have to do is find out if someone won a game and figure out how to show that in the display. Finding a Winner After each move, the CheckWin function checks for the winning combination. CheckWin works by adding down each row, across each column and through each diagonal. Tracing the steps through CheckWin using Visual Basics Debug feature can be very educational. Finding a win is a matter of first, checking whether three 1s were found in each of the individual checks in the variable iScore, and then returning a unique signature value in Checkwin that is used as the array index to change the Visible property of one element in the linWin component array. If there is no winner, CheckWin will contain the value -1. If there is a winner, the display is updated, the scoreboard is changed, a congratulation message is displayed, and the game is restarted. Lets go through one of the checks in detail to see how it works. The others are similar. Check Rows for 3For i 1 To 3iScore 0CheckWin CheckWin 1For j 1 To 3iScore iScore iPos(i, j)Next jIf iScore 3 ThenExit FunctionEnd IfNext i The first thing to notice is that the first index counter i counts down the rows while the second j counts across the columns. The outer loop, then simply moves from one row to the next. The inner loop counts the 1s in the current row. If there are three, then you have a winner. Notice that you also keep track of the total number of squares tested in the variable CheckWin, which is the value passed back when this function terminates. Each winning combination will end up with a unique value in CheckWin from 0 to 7 which is used to select one of the elements in the linWin() component array. This makes the order of the code in function CheckWin important too! If you moved one of the blocks of loop code (like the one above), the wrong line would be drawn on the playing grid when someone wins. Try it and see! Finishing Details The only code not yet discussed is the subroutine for a new game and the subroutine that will reset the score. The rest of the logic in the system makes creating these quite easy. To start a new game, you have only to call the InitPlayGround subroutine. As a convenience for players since the button could be clicked in the middle of a game, you ask for confirmation before going ahead. You also ask for confirmation before restarting the scoreboard.

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Nonverbal communication response - Assignment Example Furthermore, I decided even get rid of them in order to dance staying on the ground without my sticks. Moreover, even my jacket and T-shirt were skipped out; but, it was a crime according to Ankara administrative law and Muslim customs of how you must behave yourself in the central streets of the capital, and my behavior was evaluated as deviant one. From the other side, I learnt that such behavior --- dancing in the street without jacket and T-shirt --- is believed to be shameful in Ankara. So, this is one of real life examples of intercultural differences in use of space, touch, time, gestures, etc., because in most of Western cities such deviant behavior could be evaluated as principally normal one. Nevertheless, when you do not understand another cultures difference in nonverbal communication, a conflict may occur; that is why it may be regarded as very wise decision to accept the rules of foreign country with respect to inter-culturality. Therefore, in order to become more aware of how we communicate, it is necessary to at least respect customs of others that may be treated as stupid and idiotic from the other side of nonverbal communication. Moreover, identifying the examples that are above, we could state that a person become more aware of cultural differences when these differences are at least articulated; the more you are competent in intercultural communication, the more you know about these limitations, restrictions, borders, and discources of articulation. Fortunately, I consider myself as being competent in intercultural communication, and this situation from Ankara presumably proves this proclamation. To become more mindful, you need to be immersed into a foreign society to feel yourself totally liberated from the roots and also I must feel anxiety and danger to become more mindful in respect to multi-culturality. Additionally, as for the second paragraph, here in

Write about Maslow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write about Maslow - Essay Example He laid out five major classes of human needs; psychological needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging (social) needs, esteem needs and finally self-actualization. Psychological needs primarily entail the basic human needs, for example, water, air, sleep, rest, sex, and food nutrients among other needs. Maslow described these as individual needs. Safety and security needs are those that drive humans to search for safe living circumstances, protection from harm and stability. Love and belonging needs follow after the psychological and safety needs have been taken care of. These needs are characterized by a human feeling of the need for community and relationships with fellow humans. Esteem needs were categorized into two types by Maslow; low and high self-esteem. People with low self-esteem are characterized with need for respect and recognition of others, fame, and attention. Conversely, people with high esteem are characterized by their need for self-respect that is demonstrated by high confidence, independence, and freedom. Finally, Maslow described the highest level of human needs as self-actualization. Humans who have reached this level ar e described as having lower needs to take care about, and thus have all other needs in their life covered. The segment of the human population who are have reached this class are believed to be very small (Armstrong, 2007). After describing the hierarchy of needs, Maslow followed to assert that individuals at a certain level in the hierarchy pyramid are motivated by the unsatisfied needs in their life in order to move to the next level. According to him, the five needs categories can be grouped into two main groups; higher-order needs and the lower-order needs. Through these needs, managers in an organization can understand how to work with their human resources. For example, giving the employees appropriate salaries and