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“Why It’s So Hard to Find an Affordable Apartment in New York” by Mihir Zaveri

New York’s rental market has surged across the city. The median rent in Manhattan has jumped by 25% within a single year. When the pandemic first emerged in early 2020, people received deals on rents where suddenly one bedroom apartments were affordable, but a year later they were getting huge $2000 rent increase. For the first time in New York’s history, the average rent surged to above$ 5,000 a month. People always view New York as a metropolis city with lots of population and big buildings but they have been lagging in job growth and population growth for years which is contributing to the crisis and affordability.

The inflaming crisis in the affordability of houses in New York is fuelled by a longstanding shortage and constraints in city planning. More than a century ago, city planners had predicted that New York had the potential to develop into a monster city with more than 55 million people (Zaveri, 1). The city recommended a significant overhaul of zoning guidelines to get around this fate in 1961. The move was meant to restrict the size of buildings as well as the number of people that could stay in them. It feels counterintuitive that the biggest city in America faces a housing problem. Construction crews and cranes seem to be in constant motion always developing new residential condos, apartment buildings and tall skyscrapers. However worth noting New York’s housing problem is a reflection of a national issue only that it is fueled by the city’s popularity. The fact remains that the more people desire to live in New York rather than in other cities that they can accommodate, the more the housing prices will skyrocket for the available ones.

Works Cited

Zaveri, Mihir. “Why It’s So Hard to Find an Affordable Apartment in New York.” The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos, 4 Aug. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/nyregion/nyc-affordable-apartment-rent.html.

HOW TO SET UP A MIXER FOR A PODCAST;MIX MINUS MIXER SETUP

INTRODUCTION

One does not need a mixer to have a podcast, one can use audio and microphone create a working podcast. A good mixer adds quality to the podcast sound and the creator can control how the podcast sounds.

CONCEPT

Sounds that come through the mixer are called the mix, the voice of the podcast host and the voice of the guest. There is mixer one and mixer 2, the voice of the host and the guest go in and out of two different mixes. The host or creator of the podcast must know how to handle the mixer if they do not have a personal sound engineer, any person who is handling the mixer need to know about the channels and the fx cord to eliminate the loop in the voices. The guest needs to hear the voice of the host without the low quality loop sound of their own voice and viceversa, they are in the mix minus their own voices.

Even with a mixer microphones are very necessary, dynamic bulletproof microphones. Rest assured portable podcast euipments are an added advantage, euipments such as shock mount made of rubber sound insulators and absorbers. The portable equipment such as the microphones range from prices between 50 to 100 dollars. A hard recorder is required to avoid loss of data incase of connection problem since the internet can be very unpredictable. The Zoom H6 is a very good recorder and very portable and can be used to record away from the studio, the hard recorder device is a multipurpose euipment that can be used both inside and outside; imagine a noisy concert.

Headphones are also required in your list of podcast equipment, headphones are used to monitor sound and upgrade your audio sound. Microphone port and audio microphone port combined called a Griffin Imic, it has an in and an out both connected to a computer.

First connect microphone to mixer to stay connected, the mixer will light up as it receives audio. The computer will then be the 2nd mixer and the pluged into the out of the i mac, the process of plugging the mixer is quite technical. The audio has to go from the computer to mixer then mixer to computer using the 8inch plug then into the Imac.

You may be looking to have more people in the studio and that is where quality mixers prove useful, you do not need to pass the microphone back and forth from guest to guest the quality of your sound might be affected. A mixer uses mono tracks and stereo tracks and they can be used to input or output audio signals. where there are multiple microphones, a mixer will allow you to adjust the audio levels of multiple inputs independently so they sound even.

The knobs on the mixing board are the ones that control your volume levels as your board labels. The higher the levels the more input signal your voice gains when recording. The mixer like your computer needs power supply in order to work well, so find a cord and plug it in first.

CONCLUSION

As we all know quality matter and technology has enables such quality to be better than before. Mixers were seen to be used in large events such as concerts but now podcast hosts have found a way to get their passions to a higher level and reach a wider audience efficiently. Podcasts have become very popular among jounalists, artists and even entertainers, the guest list has grown and the technology of usb mixers expanded with the demand and supply curve.

While you plug in your computer do not forget to turn it off and on again when the whole equipment is ready to use.

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Human Resource Management Final Exam

Employee Training, Development and Orientation

There are three approaches towards the preparation of employees for success in their respective workplaces, and they include orientation, training, and development. Employee orientation is the first step of human resource activity, and it involves the introduction of new employees in an organization. With orientation, all new employees are familiarized to the organization with relation to the organization’s vision, mission, as well as, objectives. Employee training refers to an organization’s planned effort aimed at ensuring that employees learn their respective duties and responsibilities. Training is necessary for the assurance of work competency, which in turn translates to excellent performance by employees. Development, on the other hand, refers to an organization’s planned effort aimed at assuring growth and development of employees in the work place. In essence, development emphasizes the need for employee growth through a sequence of progressive changes with relation to duties and responsibilities.

Alternate Work Arrangements

Alternative work arrangements are a recent trend in most organizations’ human resource activities. Also referred to as flexible work arrangements, alternative work arrangements, refer to employee working schedules that are different from the normal eight-to-five, five-days-a-week working schedules that most organizations utilize. With the provision of alternate work arrangements, organizations allow their employees to choose a work schedule that favors their personal needs. There exist three main types of alternate work arrangements including staggered shifts, flextime, and compressed workweek. Staggered shifts are a type of alternate work arrangements that is aimed at reducing the number of employees arriving and leaving a workstation at a particular time. Flextime, on the other hand, is a type of alternate work arrangement whereby employees are allowed flexibility from their routine time of reporting. Instead of coming in at 8 am and leaving and 5pm, employees can be allowed to check in earlier or later but still work for the expected eight hours. The last type of alternate work arrangement is compressed workweek, whereby employees work fewer but longer days, as opposed to, the normal days in a week.

Compensation Costs

Fixed compensation costs refer to the cash and non-cash compensations that organizations grant their employees. Examples of these include basic salaries, allowances and additional cash reward compensations. Variable compensation costs refer to compensation granted to employees based on their qualifications, and renditions of services to the organization. Most organizations prefer variable compensation plans because they reduce cost per unit of output and increase the quality and quantity of output by employees.

Health and Safety

Health and safety in the workplace has increasingly received attention with relation to human resource management. The reasons for this is because employee health and safety has a direct impact on the success of the organization. Not only does it affect productivity, health and safety in the workplace also carries financial implications. Accordingly, current health and safety organizations have focused their activities on the health and safety right of employees during their course of duty. Three specific areas that have been of interest with regards to employee health and safety include hazards, risks and their outcomes. For that reason employers are focusing their activities on the reduction and control of these risks.

Case Study

CCI’s initial incentive system was a merit based incentive system, which saw the division of employees into teams who competed against each other for merit. Accordingly, the different teams that CCI employed focused more on achieving merit for their performance instead of the attainment of organizational goals. For that reason, the teams failed because they concentrated more on competing and gaining merit instead of performing their duties towards the fulfillment of organizational goals. However, by changing their incentive focus to goal-oriented efforts, open communication systems and extensive training, CCI managed to empower their employees to work towards organizational objectives. This is because these three plan strategy pushed employees to focus on the goals of the organization through proper training and the emphasis of overall organizational team work. With this, CCI employees stopped thinking of themselves as separate teams and instead as one organizational team.

Health Care Services

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc377467358” Introduction PAGEREF _Toc377467358 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377467359” 1. How would your plan provide coverage for currently uninsured citizens? PAGEREF _Toc377467359 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377467360” 2. How would your plan deal with economic issues? PAGEREF _Toc377467360 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377467361” 3. How would your plan avoid fraud and abuse of health care services? PAGEREF _Toc377467361 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377467362” 4. How would your plan deal with the need to allocate services given the limited resources and increasing demand and a population which is both aging and increasingly poor? PAGEREF _Toc377467362 h 6

IntroductionThe United States is perhaps the largest economy in the world which implies that it is a leader in nearly every important service delivery systems in the economy. Among the vital service delivery systems that an economy with such a stature is expected to flawlessly take care of ahead of other economies is healthcare. Despite the sensitivity with which healthcare has in defining the success of relevant institutions and departments, the American authorities have struggled with efficiency in the sector. It has not only been extremely expensive for the government to provide sustainable healthcare to its citizenry but is has also become a yardstick and critic tool against the political class. The impact of politics and financial players’ manipulation to healthcare policy setting and implementation seems to be a complex cycle that only radical surgery can intervene to provide the needed realignment. When compared to the best standards in healthcare provision, the US performance is not a reflection of its capacity in a number of aspects which need urgent addressing if equity among the poor and rich populations is to be achieved. It could be ironical for the country to lead in assisting other poor countries in meeting sustainable economic performance characterized by efficient systems such as healthcare provision while it continues to suffer with poor results in such areas due to poor strategy and planning.

Many challenges facing the sector present an important policy and managerial headache to the involved stakeholders in a way that many agree that it could be avoided. Borrowing a leaf from major performers in the industry could assist in formulation of appropriate mechanisms to deal with the healthcare condition in the US, although some interventions would require extensive consideration due to inherent differences between various countries (Johnson, para.5). Other solutions could be improvised from available practices in other sectors with equal importance such as food security and homeland security. This discourse interrogates the unprecedented poor performance by the US healthcare system while compared with a number of other world leading economies. The outline of the paper is as guided by the questions under consideration giving possible interventions that can be incorporated to improve the situation.

1. How would your plan provide coverage for currently uninsured citizens?There is a huge proportion of the American population without healthcare coverage due to the traditional policy of health care insurance. Due to the financial complexity of meeting the insurance coverage, a huge section of the population amounting to over 47 million people cannot afford healthcare. This makes the implemented healthcare system inefficient in covering the entire population, despite the heavy spending by the federal government. Taking sides with the UK healthcare system, I would provide healthcare provision to the uncovered population through provision of affordable financing for the low income earners. This financing would require realignment of major government spending needs for proper priority needs. In the realignment, the most important aspect of policy targets would include political and management contributions.

In terms of political involvement in the healthcare provision realignment for the uninsured, focus will be paid to the legal hurdles involved in making radical changes in the healthcare sector. High level lobbying is usually involved in the modern healthcare provision systems to such an extent that the political class makes political mileage on healthcare debates. Incorporating healthcare within the seriousness that national security framework has would be important for the country. Political integration for a policy that would ensure a fundamental change from the current ineffective system will ensure that the political bureaucracy is handled with accuracy. Perhaps the most potent hindrance for a complete overhaul to the ineffective regime is due to the inability of the government and political process to take healthcare delivery seriously.

Managing the healthcare in the new system will be realigned to eliminate excesses in the staff requirements, which contributes to excessively expensive regime. Ensuring that the state owned system takes charge of the healthcare industry does not necessarily mean that the private sector will be locked out of business. However, facilitating protection of the populations whether insured or uninsured while maintaining high quality delivery will need government contribution in terms of management and other controls. Whichever the cost the government would incur in the beginning by implementing such firm grip on the policy guideline, it will pay off in the end. The cost of such realignment may necessitate changes in liberalization terms in the industry such creating a boundary in the role of public and private policy in the sector (Chantrill, para. 6).

2. How would your plan deal with economic issues?

In terms of the above mentioned input in handling excessive spending in the healthcare service delivery, the government will ensure that specific steps are taken to avoid destabilizing the public and private sector partnership. Firstly, government spending which appears to be insufficient may prove to be more than sufficient if the funding priorities are redefined. In redefining funding priorities, the government will need to overhaul the current service delivery arrangement where individuals take care of their own expenses. A significant of the heavy spending is directed to administration, which is only incidental to the real spending needs. While it would be important to directly fund the most definitive healthcare needs such as drugs, facilities and research, paying the personnel handsomely seems a priority in the US. Training nurses and doctors in the US is one of the most expensive aspects of the healthcare system, which becomes even complex in their pay packages that are higher than anywhere in the world.

Secondly, the source of funds may be the cause of the confusion in the healthcare sector in the US. While the UK funds its healthcare sector directly, it seems that the spending is not as bloated as it is with the US spending with regard to the national economic performance. Adopting the format in the UK, the government must take care of the spending which is characterized by a mixed up conflict of interests between the government and the private sector. Without destroying the partnership with the private service sector, the government can define the role of the private sector in service delivery while funding could be conducted by the government through arrangements such as taxation. The insurance system is heavily considered than it should be in the US while it is expensive to run for the individual healthcare seeker and the government. Reducing its effective portion in the US healthcare market would prove to be efficient since it only caters for the healthcare of only a few people who can afford the payment demands. Thirdly, introduction of funds to take care of the poor and needy people in the uninsured population would act as a short term move to cushion those who cannot afford healthcare against the impacts of inequitable service provision from the system. By assisting the poor in healthcare, it will ensure a significant proportion of the uninsured population will shift the burden of spending from the expensive insurance coverage. Enhancing activities of government agencies involved in healthcare will lower costs of operation due to less bureaucracy and waivers thereby making healthcare less expensive for the populations. This will further ensure that the poor are able to afford meeting healthcare through government shielding.

3. How would your plan avoid fraud and abuse of health care services?

Perhaps one of the most disturbing loopholes in the management of healthcare in an inefficient system is the management of funds allocated for such systems. In a complex healthcare system with many players as the US case, there are inevitable challenges in the correct application of healthcare funds to the rightfully intended projects. It therefore follows that input must be made in order to improve the situation of accountability and transparency in the use of funds made available for the system to improve healthcare service delivery. Among the most basic accountability inputs that the involved stakeholders need to implement is the basic planning for accountability structures. In the proposed system, structures for funds control which include internal control standards and audit systems will be emphasized. The primary challenge in the setting of the structures is the authenticity of the process where political and financial players would want to make their authority to be felt in key structure positions at both institutional, state and national level. Perhaps one of the most advisable approaches to deal with accountability is ensuring that a standard institutional design exists and is followed at the different levels of implementation. Standardization of the institutional structures for accountability purposes will ensure that financial offices are given the importance that it deserves (Chantrill, para.3).

In dealing with fraud, internal control standards set out in professional accounting and audit requirements for public and private institutions will be emphasized. In the standards, processes involving funds handling will be formulated in line with efficient financial management practices. It will be important that handling of funds is conducted with professionalism from petty cash transactions authorization, authentication and documentation to medium transactions and large multimillion transactions. Requirements for overall accountability at the institutional level will be rolled out in the other higher levels of service delivery to complement the national outlook for funds management. Internal controls will require constant reviews and enhancement programs rolled out across the country just as it happens in other sectors such as the education sector. Involvement of financial professionals and experts in the building up of the necessary structures for accountability will be sought, since the medical staff may not competitively deal with financial challenges with the required concentration.

In dealing with abuse of healthcare services, strong system implementation oversight teams will be incorporated in checking management and authorities in implementing the proposed healthcare system. It is perhaps important to implement a unique management initiative that will ensure that irregularities in the management of healthcare resources are avoided or firmly dealt with. Ensuring that the control of the resources is followed up to the last detail will ensure that the loopholes involved in accountability are also appropriately dealt with. Among the most important deterrent measures in dealing with misuse of funds is formulation of severe punitive actions such as harsh fines and jail terms or both. It therefore implies that legislative input must be sought in various capacities.

4. How would your plan deal with the need to allocate services given the limited resources and increasing demand and a population which is both aging and increasingly poor?Limited resources funding the massive needs in the healthcare service delivery is perhaps a creation of the complexity of the system in the US. To ensure that the resources become available for various needs of the health sector as mentioned above, it will be important to facilitate a complete overhaul in the setting up of priorities. The most important aspects of the healthcare system are underfunded while subsidiary and support services are not proportionally taken care of with regard to the quality and actual delivery of the services. In terms of unlocking the development of activities in the healthcare sector in terms of redirecting funding from the less important channeling to the fundamental needs of healthcare elements, it is important to carry out an analysis of the actual breakdown of funding. After defining the funding units and areas in the industry, it will be possible to formulate policy in order to facilitate discriminative shifting of funding to the appropriate areas. Just as in flexible budgeting which realigns itself with the most pressing needs as a priority, it will ensure that the limited funds are applied in the most important areas of spending.

The limitation of funding in the US healthcare system is mainly represented by the fact that the administrative costs of the complicated system outweigh the benefits of healthcare to the population. Management of public resources in such a scenario will necessitate a different approach in allocation of funds for the various areas of concern in the system. One of the most important interventions in management is total quality management which applies principles of maximum production and quality while targeting the most minimum of costs and excesses. In such a management system, the bloated wage and remuneration element of the healthcare system would be found to be the hindrance to delivery of results.

Increasing demand in healthcare would be facilitated by ensuring that the healthcare system is funded to meet the numerous numbers by raising the number of nurses and doctors per unit population. This can be achieved in line with the total quality management which will save on excesses in the system and spare them for such elements in the healthcare delivery systems. The state of the US number of healthcare attendants taking care of a unit population figure is poor than that of the UK. For midwives and nurses, the US has 94 per 10000 while the UK has 128 per 10000 respectively. Bearing in mind that the US has an expansive geographical coverage, it is a poor score when compare with the UK. In terms of beds for the same population, the US has 31 while the UK has 39, which shows a huge disparity in coverage of the entire population in the two economies. This may be the explanation for the score in life expectancy at birth difference in the two economies with the US scoring 78 against UK’s 80. This is a stunning contrast in terms of per capita spending between the two countries which stands at $6719 (0ver 15 per cent of GDP) for US and $2815 (slightly over 8 per cent of GDP) for UK which is not represented in the results (Heslop, para. 4).

An increase in the aged population healthcare seekers implies that the number of people dependent on the government is also likely to exceed. While the heavy spending in the government budgetary allocation patterns regarding healthcare is not likely to fully support the aged, it implies that the aged population will increasingly face difficulties if the above outlined measures are not taken. The most important move in this scenario is to lay down the infrastructure to ensure that funding for healthcare of the aged, the poor and children is sustainably supported by the excessive funding of an inefficient system. Borrowing a leaf from the case of healthcare in the UK, healthcare provision for such vulnerable groups should be conducted in a different approach. Pensionable individuals should make savings towards their retired days needs among them being healthcare which should be under the control of the government. Subjecting these populations to cheaper healthcare services funded by sustainable programs will ensure that the other vibrant population finds it possible to meet their own healthcare since the dependants are fewer (usa-vs-uk.com, para.2). Alternatively, providing healthcare to the aged will ensure that they don not continue to work past their working days in order to meet their own healthcare expenditure. Such a move will facilitate the creation of job opportunities for the young generation raising economic benefits through employment, which can be used as a source of funding for government healthcare systems through income taxation.

Works Cited

“USA Vs UK Healthcare,” us-vs-uk.com, 2005. Web. HYPERLINK “http://www.usa-vs-uk.com/healthcare.html” http://www.usa-vs-uk.com/healthcare.html (Accessed 3 September 2011)

Chantrill, Christopher. “US Healthcare Spending,” usgovernmentspending.com, 2011. Web. HYPERLINK “http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_health_care_spending_10.html” http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_health_care_spending_10.html (Accessed 3 September 2011)

Heslop, Katy. “How Does US Healthcare Compare to the Rest of the World?” guardian.co.uk, 2010. Web. HYPERLINK “http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/mar/22/us-healthcare-bill-rest-of-world-obama” http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/mar/22/us-healthcare-bill-rest-of-world-obama (Accessed 3 September 2011)

Johnson, Toni. “Healthcare Costs and US Competitiveness,” 2010. Web. HYPERLINK “http://www.cfr.org/health-science-and-technology/healthcare-costs-us-competitiveness/p13325” http://www.cfr.org/health-science-and-technology/healthcare-costs-us-competitiveness/p13325 (Accessed 3 September 2011)

Human-Computer Interaction Analysis- Topic: Mobile Phones

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Human-Computer Interaction Analysis- Mobile Phones

Introduction

The concept of human and computer interaction is concerned with the various ways a user communicates or interacts with a computer system. The common type’s human and computer interactions are use of command language, menu selection, direct manipulation, and filling in form. These styles of interactions can be described as the medium of communication between the machine and the human being, in this case the user.

The way people interact with devices defines their success, with many up coming technologies, with increased processing power, the way the technology interacts with the user is very vital. There is a general perception that most users are not that technologically savvy to understand the complexities associated with computers. People depending on the demographic variables, culture, situational context, and the expected goal use many computing devices. These computing devices include mobile phones, PDAs, and other hand held devices (Benyon, 2001).

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Mobile phones

There are many types of hand held mobile phones available in the market possessing different applications ranging from multimedia, texting, voice calls, gaming, and many other types of applications. The way the user will interact with this form of technology will definitely affect whether the user will like it or not. Apparently, interaction techniques are limited with the available technology. Users will always choose a use a device with a user friendly interface.

Command Language

Command language or command entry was the first method of computer human interaction style to be used, and is still being used in certain situations. The main operating systems that applied this style Linux and UNIX. In this particular style the user have to type in the commands and parameters at the command line for that particular command to be executed. In this style the user had to know all the required commands and parameters by heart, therefore it placed a lot of cognitive burden on the user to remember all the needed commands. This style thus relied a lot on the users’ memory to be able to recall the commands by their names. It is not very easy to learn all the commands

Form Filling

This style involves the fill-in in of forms, and is not targeted to expert users as in command style. The user interface is form based, in which all the data can be entered in the predefined form fields. Validation of the data input was enabled by a separation mode. This style is still in use today, mainly combined by other styles, especially for those tasks that need a lot of data entry. For example pay roll systems, financial systems software, video rental software, and many other types of systems and software that is data entry oriented.

Menu selection

Menu selection gives the user a set of options which are displayed on the screen, where the user can select the desired menu to execute a command. Once the selection has been done and the command executed, the cascade changes the state of the interface. Here, the user selects a command from the predefined command options available on the menu list. In most cases a group of related commands are put near each other for ease of selection, identification, and use. Users do not have to learn or memorize the commands to be able to execute them, provided the commands are arranged in an orderly manner. These menus are generally arranged or clustered in a pop up or pull down menus (Bøgh, 2001)

Direct Manipulation

Direct manipulation is the latest form of computer interaction with humans. In this style the of directly manipulating an object of interest is entailed, this implies that the object of interest is represented as a unique object in the user interface, and then manipulated directly. This interaction style posses the following characteristics: visibility of the object of interest; rapid, reversible, and incremental actions; replacement of complex commands language syntax by direct manipulation of objects of interest. For example dragging and dropping files in say windows explorer (de Haan, 2000).

Analysis of Interaction Styles

These different interaction styles have their advantages and disadvantages. A user will prefer a particular method depending on its usability, benefits, implementation, and the implications of the tool being represented. Adaptability of a particular style is exemplified by the use cases of the navigation systems available in the mobile phone, and the differences in the interaction behaviors depends on the users attitude, preference, skill, and cultural values.

Command Language

The reasons why a user would prefer the command language interaction style on his or her mobile phone are; the style is flexible as only the require command is inputted. The style appeals to expert users, it supports the use of macros that supports the creation of user defied commands or scripts, in cases where there is low bandwidth it is very useful for interacting with computers that are networked.

The style does not appeal to most users since retention of commands in the human memory is always very poor. It takes a long time and effort to learn all the required commands, and a high rate of making errors is always registered. It is definitely not suitable for users who are not experts; error messages and assistance are very hard to be provided in this interaction style. This is because of the diversities and complexities of relating the various tasks to the interface concepts and syntaxes.

Form Fill-in

This interaction style simplifies data entry to a great deal, and shortens the learning time of commands found in the command style. The fields are always predefined and the user only needs to recognize it and not to memorize it. The system also guides the user through the data entry exercise. This style does not lack disadvantages such as consuming screen space, and it is very rigid as it is set for a much formalized business process ( HYPERLINK “http://www.interaction-design.org/references/authors/scott_sherwood.html” o “Scott Sherwood: Publications, homepage, mini-biography etc;” Sherwood, et al, 2009).

Menu selection

This style is very suitable for novice users, intermittent users, or those people who are very new to the technology. It also appeals to expert users if selection mechanisms and display are fast with appropriate shortcuts. The user do not have to remember the name of a command, he or she just needs to explore around the menus for the appropriate command. It supports decision making, easy error handling since users inputs do not have to be parsed. The limitations include the fact that it is not suitable for small user graphic displays, and may be slow for frequent users. So many menus may give rise to complexity of discouraging proportions, and may lead to information overload (Roto, 2009).

Direct Manipulation

The advantages of direct manipulation are that it is very easy to learn, encourages exploration, errors are easily avoided, use of recognition memory, satisfaction is highly subjective, and task concepts are represented visually. Its limitations are: It may be difficult to programme, it is not suitable for small graphic displays, visual or spatial representation is not always preferred, and compact notations only appeal to expert users.

Mobile Phones and Direct Manipulation

Mobile phone usage is increasing at exponential growth globally, and with the ever changing technology, their use is diversified and versatile. Especially, internet access on mobile phones emerged from the mid 1990s with thriving activities. Smart phone sales peaked 1.18 billion users in 2008, with consumers aware of the services they can offer, but are not ready to use them. Direct manipulation is common in many mobile phones and smart phones because of ease of use. This versatility makes internet usage on mobile phones enjoyable, and therefore, factors and perspectives should be identified to improve the understanding of users preferences and the various usage contexts (Koblentz, 2009; Prates, de Souza, &, Barbosa , 2000).

Some of the problems related to the service should be tackled by giving location based access, and by using visual cues embedded into that environment so as to help in discovering services and content. Today’s mobile phones solve this problem by touch screens where users do not have to memorize user resource locators, thus eliminating the need to type via the keypad. The touch screen provides a semantic convergence between the mobile internet experience and the physical context of the user. The users experience finds a bridge seamlessly with the physical context intone where the physical context and the digital world play a significant role.

Improving user experience is of the essence to facilitate the relationship between technology and people. Therefore, the design and evaluation of a technique that improves users experience is the direct pointer. This enables the users to interact with mobile phones and other hand held devices with large displays. Direct manipulation of the pointer position provides continuous feedback. This technique does not require many types of equipment. The user only needs to have an electronic display, a mobile phone, and a connection between the user and the mobile phone. It does not need any visual markers

Electronic large displays are designed for cameras equipped with mobile phones, which enable direct selection of objects on the electronic display by just pointing at the particular object of interest. This kind of interaction is very beneficial in public environments, subway stations, and shopping malls. These phones use a visual movement detection algorithm that incrementally drags the desired objects across the screen.

These camera based mobile phones is giving rise to unimaginable possibilities in this area of direct manipulation. The camera gives the versatile input and the phone can be connected to other situational displays through Bluetooth. People are generally at ease using their own devices, and this may explain the widespread use. The main application areas of direct manipulation are found in gaming, interactive arts, advertisement, digital bulletins, and entertainment.

Conclusion

Of all the interaction techniques that technology can offer, direct manipulation is based on visual code sensing and relative object movement based on optical flow detection. Direct manipulation allows for selection, dragging, and rotation of object. It enchants the user as it provides a communication channels between the user and technology in a manner that it provides greater opportunities.

References

Prates R, de Souza C, and Barbosa S. (2000) A method for evaluating the communicability of User Interfaces, Interactions Jan/Feb, pp.31-38.

de Haan, G. (2000). ETAG, a Formal Model of Competence Knowledge for User Interface

Design. Free University Amsterdam, October 2000.

Benyon, D, (2001). The new HCI. Navigation of information space, Knowledge-Based Systems, Volume 14, Issue 8, 1 December 2001, Pages 425-430.

Bøgh A, (2001) What Semiotics can and cannot do for HCI, Knowledge-Based Systems, Volume 14, Issue 8, 1 December 2001, Pages 419-424

HYPERLINK “http://www.interaction-design.org/references/authors/scott_sherwood.html” o “Scott Sherwood: Publications, homepage, mini-biography etc;” Sherwood, et al (2009). Adapting evaluation to study behaviour in context. In International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction.

Roto, V. (2009): Guest editorial Preface Mobile internet User experience: introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction, 1 (4) pp. i-v.

Koblentz, E, (2009): How It Started Mobile Internet Devices of the Previous Millennium. International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction, 1 (4) pp. 1-3.

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“The New Trend in Healthcare: Do-it-Yourself” by Betsy Morris

In the wake of the post-pandemic era which strained healthcare systems and made it nearly impossible to book a doctor’s appointment, patients are now providing themselves with care in the comfort of their home. One such patient is Elizabeth Ditty who narrates her struggle to get doctor’s attention when she felt lethargic and could not lose weight. This pushed her to order do-it-yourself medical kits to measure cholesterol and hormone levels and keep track of food sensitivities. The 39-year-old screenwriter, then used the results to add supplements, adjust diet, and eliminate eggs, a move that helped her lose weight and feel better.

Taking matters into her own hands, places Miss Ditty in the do-it-yourself movement that boomed during the pandemic as industry analysts and doctors point out. People were getting frustrated with the burdened system pushing them to turn to home kits, gadgets, monitors, and apps for tests and tasks that were previously carried out by trained medical professionals (Morris, 2). Consumers are conducting EKGs, monitoring own blood pressure, keeping track of their cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and pricking their fingers for blood tests conducted by doctors in hospitals. While the majority of the doctors are in support of consumers taking more responsibility of their healthcare, they warn that too much overdependence on DIY without guidance from an expert could cause major health problems. Despite these concerns, doctors are still recommending that patients take on some additional work citing worker burnouts and staff shortages that cause long wait times for doctor appointments.

Works Cited HYPERLINK “https://www.citefast.com/?s=MLA” o “Edit”

Morris, Betsy. “The New Trend in Healthcare: Do-It-Yourself.” WSJ, 11 Jan. 2022, www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-trend-in-healthcare-do-it-yourself-11641906002.

Open Forum Discussion

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Tittle

Professor’s Name

Date

Reflection on What I Found Interesting

In the past week, I learned something that I find interesting. It made me understand an issue differently. I learned about using critical thinking to expand and engage my thinking skills. I realized that critical thinking relates to nearly all tasks, topics, challenges, careers, opportunities, situations, and environments. It found it significant to apply critical thinking to complete my course work. It is a “domain-general” thinking proficiency, not precise to a specific subject area. In my experience, as an undergraduate learner, I usually tend to be naïve and take information devoid of much analysis. Learning about applying critical thinking in the course work made me understand issues differently.

What struck me was how information on comprehending the literacy skills helps an individual to learn. In the future, having critical thinking skills will be essential to allow me to think quickly on my feet, assess problems, and get the best solutions. I had been struggling with misunderstanding, lack of detailed knowledge, and wanting to know the answer before applying critical thinking. I have picked the following tips that will always be helpful: becoming more self-aware, developing foresight, practicing active listening, and evaluating existing evidence.

Professors name:

Course detail

Name

date

“The veldt” and the character being the nursery

I have learnt that George and Lydia Hadley think something isn’t right with the “nursery” in their costly Happy Life Home. The Happy Life Home is an advanced house that robotizes relatively every human schedule: it cooks and cleans, turns lights on and off, transports the Hadley’s to their rooms through an “air storeroom,” and even shakes them to rest (American Literature (2010). As the kitchen naturally makes supper for them, Lydia requests that George choose investigate the nursery, or call a clinician to look at it.

The initial couple of lines build up the setting as an innovative eventual fate of bounty, revolved around an easeful home life in which the family truly doesn’t need to do any work of their own. In the meantime, I think the marked “Cheerful life Home” recommends the consumerism behind this appearing heaven and the say of the requirement for an analyst proposes all really isn’t as great as it appears. “Investigating” the “nursery” utilizes dialect that influences the nursery to seem like an auto or machine, and influences it to clear that even kid raising in this world has been “outsourced” to innovation (Dramatic Publishing, 1972). As I would like to think, the storyteller calls attention to how costly the nursery is with a specific end goal to delineate the degree to which George and Lydia have ruined their youngsters. Yet, my desires of what a nursery should look like is completely overturned by the terrifying veldt that it really introduces. That this veldt reality shows up “too genuine” builds up the charm of fabricated reality, how it can be more empowering than real reality. Then, it’s fascinating that the scene the youngsters have made is one of primitive nature, as opposed to a cartoonish dream.

George’s shock at the nursery’s virtual reality validates this present room’s status as the pinnacle of human power and innovation. Bradbury’s depiction of the nursery “what a good time for everybody” takes after an ad for an amusement stop or motion picture. The way that the nursery now and again feels excessively genuine again references the overstimulation of mass diversion for Bradbury the nursery speaks to a sensible expansion of TV. Here, Lydia think and feels the line amongst reality and virtual reality starting to obscure. The Hadley guardians’ misery isn’t caused by the way that they are working too hard rather, it’s that they don’t have anything to do. The Happy Life Home has assumed control over the majority of their everyday assignments, with the end goal that they never again feel helpful and important in their own particular home. Lydia’s want to cook and clean by and by recommends the possibility that machines that satisfy each impulse don’t make genuine joy (Dramatic Publishing, 1972). The Home has taken away the Hadley’s’ feeling of reason: they need to feel like they have a place on the planet, and keeping in mind the end goal to have a place on the planet they should feel like they matter, which requires that there be work that they need to do.

George’s appearance that the kids have been investing excessively energy in the nursery raises the idea that Wendy and Peter may be dependent on their innovation. Also, for this situation, George perceives that the nursery is particularly unsafe on the grounds that it gives the kids such a great amount of energy with so little obligation. He understands that the veldt is a declaration of his kids’ darkest contemplations. George comprehends that it is normal for kids to wish demise or decimation on others, before they even know the results of such a desire, yet fears that Wendy and Peter, by playing out their contemplations of death in the nursery, may fortify this regular inclination in a way that leads toward real brutality.

Bradbury depicts the view utilizing words that infer cunning: the truth is introduced similarly as an artwork or a motion picture. This further hazy spots the lines amongst reality and the nursery’s “simulated reality”, and proposes that reality relies upon where you stand. The picture likewise shows a flawless juxtaposition between a human eating and of the lions encouraging, another editorial on the major creature ness or brutality of human impulses and wants.

The Hadley kids are indecent in their control of their folks. In the meantime, Bradbury’s depiction of them influences them to show up relatively mechanical. The majority of their activities and articulations are portrayed as one: one can envision them talking together in a level, emotionless voice. The Hadley’s seem to live ideal lives in their Happy Life Home, yet in truth the guardians feel futile, while the youngsters are un-feeling (Foreshadowing makes the Reader have an Opinion.” (2010). The grisly wallet is another trace of what the kids have been doing – an insight George appears to at any rate halfway comprehend when he bolts the nursery entryway. The lion’s thunder and the resulting shout appear right now to show that his worries are precise.

“The lions were coming. Furthermore, again George Hadley was loaded with esteem for the mechanical virtuoso who had imagined this room. A supernatural occurrence of effectiveness offering at a preposterously minimal effort. Each home ought to have one. Goodness, periodically they scared you with their clinical exactness, they startled you, gave you a twinge, however more often than not what a good time for everybody, your own particular child and girl, as well as for yourself when you felt like a fast side trip to a remote land, a speedy difference in landscape”.

George and Lydia’s evaluation of their kids is basically exact; be that as it may, in the meantime, the guardians don’t perceive the degree of the issue. The way that Wendy and Peter have so effectively crushed spirit into the nursery, and that George and Lydia don’t attempt to make a move, shows how little power the guardians really have over their kids George and Lydia’s mechanical infantilization causes them disregard. Innovation inside the story is both the issue and the cure, which may be the meaning of any fixation.

The way that Peter does not take a gander at his dad delineates how antagonized the kids are from their folks, and from human communication all in all. Diminish does not appear to feel any sort of affection or tend to his dad; he goes so far as to undermine George’s life (American Literature (2010). Dwindles desire to do nothing aside from “look and tune in and smell” exhibits indeed how the Happy Life Home has lessened the Hadley family to creatures who are both latent buyers of amusement and creature like to their greatest advantage.

After reading out the story of “the veldt” and the character being the nursery I have learnt that the George Hadley is a typical husband and father for the 1950s.I think of him as Mr. Cleaver, only not so winsome. He wants his family to have nice stuff. But he’s too busy working to really see what’s going on at home. he spent a lot of his time in his study rather than, to stay with his family. I also learnt that He’s less nervous than his wife. For example, when the nursery isn’t working, George says that it’s probably broken, while Lydia worries that the kids did something to it because they’re dangerous kids and they sleep in separate beds. But George is also, in many ways, the worst father that the 1950s could imagine. He’s weak and ineffective. His kids are in control of the house and they’re an inch away from being juvenile delinquents.

WORK CITED

Larson, Matthew. “American Literature Sarah Pierson Wolff 25 October 2010 Foreshadowing makes the Reader have an Opinion.” (2010).

Acharya, Maya. “Sarah Pierson Wolff American Literature 25 October 2010 The Futility of Ignorance.” American Literature (2010).

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015.

Bradbury, Ray. The veldt. Dramatic Publishing, 1972.

Bradbury, Ray. The veldt. Dramatic Publishing, 1972.

For Problem 1’s Solution: a 12-month plan

Target Audience Objective Action/ Activity Responsibility Time

Organizations Ensure the professional communication approach to different organizations Share Content via Facebook about the organization’s programs Marketing Department:

Digital Manager 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

Individual members Improve members’’ loyalty Open up a group account for particular social media sites such as WhatsApp and Facebook

Members are also required to engage in conversations while using these social media sites Content Creator

& Digital Manager 1/6/2020-30/6/2020

Businesses Creating a communication network that could catapult potential investors to support various initiatives and projects within the community. Joining forces with community businesses to drive messages across their social media platforms and their followers Social Specialist 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

Volunteers/ Non-membership targets Just like in the case of business, creation of a digital network or community that is ready to support initiatives in the community irrespective of one being a member or not Use of social media campaigns to recruit volunteers to help in various programs. Content Creator

& Digital Manager 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

(Depends also on the timeline of the project or program)

For Problem 2’s Solution:

Target Audience Objective Action/ Activity Responsibility Time

Business To develop well-established business relationships, which would eventually enable the organization to save on cost while broadening their outreach. Forming business partnerships with other non-profit organizations such as the Multi-Cultural Network(MTN) organization.

Through this, the organization can come up with a project proposal that could require a partnership from a similar organization with a similar objective Marketing Department & The general manager 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

Organizations Ensure that while partnering with other businesses and organizations, IWMN can use the advertising positions of these organizations to gain more exposure. As a result, more members would be recruited as well as developing viable projects and programs within the western Sydney community. Engaging in similar activities which are inclusive of all the members of the collaborating organizations The marketing department, Content creator & Digital manager 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

Individual Members Forming partnerships at the membership level IWMN should provide free lectures as well as organize fun community events All departments 1/6/2020 -1/6/2021

Volunteers/ Non-membership targets To recruit more members who would end up creating funds that would supplement the marketing strategy budget

For non-members to engage in social media With the nation currently in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making use of online platforms would prove to be essential.

Through social media, more members are recruited as well as joining in on the conversation of the provision of various services to the community. IWMN members, all departments most especially the digital and social media team. 1/6/2020 -1/3/2021

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1-CONFLICT MANGEMENT

UMUC HRMN365 WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1

Instructions: Locate an article describing the resolution of a recent business conflict. This article must be from a newspaper, academic journal, or credible online news source.

Cite the complete and proper APA reference for the article(s).

Use proper APA citations within the text as well as on a References page.

Explain what is meant by “the costs of conflict”?

From the viewpoint of the participants, what were the costs of this specific conflict?

If resolved, what strategies were used in the resolution?

If not resolved, what strategies would you recommend?

In responding, you must cite a minimum of three sources, one of which you identify as your key source for this recent business conflict. The other two sources support your discussion and responses to the assignment requirement

Small family-owned and operated businesses generate over 80 percent of the US gross domestic product (Garkovich et al.,1995). Subsequently, more than 600,000 new businesses are small business. Of the 600,000 new businesses, family owned business make up ninety percent of this figure. Family owned co-entrepreneurship is one of the factors that make them unique. The concept of family and firm is different from conventional or non-family- owned small business but family owned business has very challenging conflicts in contrast to non-family owned businesses. One company in particular, American harness racing industry had to overcome challenges of occupational sex segregation, interpersonal conflict and gender neutral work position struggles.

Harness racing industries early on were mostly male dominated business. The trainers, drivers and racehorse owners were primarily men with the exception of a few independent women workers. As standard-bred horses increased and more race tracks opened over the decades, positions such as trainer, driver and race horse owner became more and more gender neutral. Harness racing family businesses usually started out as co-trainer partnership between married couples and progressed to a co-owner hierarchy. Conflicts are prevalent in husband and wife occupational relationships, the further they succeed the hierarchy the difficult it was to avoid conflicts.

During stages of co-trainer amongst married partners, conflict can become severe, seemingly because of unresolved family or firm disagreements. The attempt to minimize conflict results in working on different task or different places to avoid conflict. Depending on how partnerships are segregated, vertically (same occupation but different stages of the career ladder) or horizontal (different occupations) are factors that led to conflicts as well as occupational sex segregation. American harness racing industries actively has conflicts as a result of occupational sex segregation. Females are giving jobs that aren’t as predominant as their male counterparts and the pay inequalities of martial co-trainers (male vs. female in general) are disparities that cause conflicts. Harness racing industries weren’t considered gender neutral positions decades earlier and that unchanged mindset still causes friction between marital owners today.

Each of the gender neutral positions such as trainer, breeder, driver, and horse race owner are seen as masculine position with wives helping or assisting their husbands as a separate entity. Although, husband and wife are equal partners and owners, the consensus was that males are seen as the decision-maker and sole proprietor by most customers and employees. Often times the harness racing male owner would make important decision without collaborating with his co-partner and this led to turmoil. The concept is typically accepted by males and manifested by those that prefer being the authority figurehead with their spouses in charge of decisions made at home. In some co-owner relationships the spouses would concede to the idea of positional power to avoid conflicts. Adjustments of some spouse’s to the idea of their husbands being the key decision aren’t welcomed. Majority of women were essentially dominant in their home lives which transferred over to business and the perceived power they had over their marital partners. A common ground could be found for those relationships with exceptional interpersonal skills but partners without good interpersonal skillsets struggled with conflict resolution.

Family owned and operated businesses have greater challenges of maintaining great interpersonal relationships. As with, American harness racing industry tumultuous work, social and family home environments are often times the cause conflicts. Disagreements about the direction of the business, financial stability, and depression and family arguments are common occurrences in this family owned business. Without the separation of family and firm weak interpersonal skills typically are disastrous for these entities.

The cost of conflict examines the economic, social, developmental, strategic and environmental costs associated in respects to parties involved in the conflict. Cost conflicts of occupational sex segregation facilitated unequal treatment, contributed to lower wages for women and lesser authority with less responsibility. This division of sexes further complicated work dynamics and home relationship which incited stressful environments for employees of harness racing industry. Gender neutral issues often made employees feel incompetent, isolated and not accepted which stifled decision making. Their commitment levels were lower which led to poor performance and none productivity. Harness racing lacked interpersonal skills this resulted to lack in communication, communication breakdown, in fighting, aggressive attitudes and occupational sabotage. The business was on a decline until the American harness industry found ways to manage conflicts.

American harness racing industry used effective conflict resolution techniques to resolve occupational sex segregation, gender neutrality and interpersonal issues. Mediation or third party assistance was used to resolve issues between husband and wife co-ownership disputes. Clear and concise duties and responsibilities were outlined and payment matched job responsibilities. An influx of female employees were hired which balanced out the male to female ratio workforce. A comprehensive human resources element was adopted to handle employee grievances and customer complaints. Effective communication training techniques were incorporated and a life consultant was added to the staff. This gave management and employees an outlet to discuss work or relationships issues without retribution. Instead of segregating by sex, more of the upper management duties were divided evenly by management experience.

Reference:

Garkovich, L., Bokemeier, J.L. and Foote, B. (1995) Harvest of Hope: Family Farming/

Farming Families. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky.

Larsen, E. A. (2006). The Impact of Occupational Sex Segregation on Family Businesses: The Case of American Harness Racing. Gender, Work & Organization, 13(4), 359-382. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0432.2006.00312.

Marchand, J. F., & Hock, E. (2000). Avoidance and Attacking Conflict-Resolution Strategies among Married Couples: Relations to Depressive Symptoms and Marital Satisfaction. Family Relations, (2). 201.