No Flight of Fancy, the Jetpack Is Coming

As standard gear for James Bond and Buzz Lightyear, jetpacks have long captured the public imagination as a way to dodge traffic jams and Cold War villains.

Among the world's aviation regulators, they have been dismissed as a flight of fancy that didn't require any special rules. But a planned launch of a jetpack in New Zealand next year has bureaucrats scratching their heads, particularly as the machine's makers say the thing can travel up to 7,000 feet in the air at speeds of 50 miles an hour. 

"Think of it like a motorcycle in the sky," says Peter Coker, chief executive of Martin Aircraft Co. Ltd., which has spent 30 years developing the Martin Jetpack here. The Martin jetpack is unique in that it is not rocket powered but has a gasoline engine driving twin-ducted fans. The latest P12 prototype, a far sleeker and shinier model than the earlier versions, will allow a pilot to fly for up to half an hour.

New Zealand is taking the prospect of jetpacks in its airspace seriously, even though the product's price - more than $150,000 - means that just a few dozen have been reserved. Most of those are going to overseas customers.

Rex Kenny is manager for special flight operations and recreational aviation at the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. It is pretty much up to him to decide whether jetpacks should be allowed. Part of the debate took off when the aviation official tried to fit jetpacks neatly into existing categories. Is it a helicopter? Is it an aircraft? Mr. Kenny studied the rule book and concluded it is neither. "It's a misnomer to call it a jetpack because it is a ducted fan," says Mr. Kenny. "It's a lift device really. When we looked at our rules, microlight was the closest," referring to a lightweight craft for one or two passengers. 
 

The name game was simple, though, compared with navigating through other issues, ranging from the safety of jetpack pilots to what happens if one crashes into a building or makes an emergency landing on a nearby farm.

"If you land in someone's paddock, you will always land on their prime sheep," Mr. Kenny says, stressing that liability insurance for pilots is a must.

Classifying the jetpack as a microlight aircraft means owners will have to be licensed and submit to regular testing. 

Still up in the air is whether they will eventually be allowed to fly over built-up areas. The latest prototype has been certified for manned test flights in New Zealand, but it can't be flown more than 20 feet above ground or more than 25 feet above water.

In New Zealand, a mountainous nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, finding new ways to get around has become a national pastime. Zorbs - giant balls that spin down hills at up to 30 mph and a personal pedal-powered monorail system known as the Shweeb, were conceived by amateur inventors. 

Source :

• Jetpack 
• http://www.gunadarma.ac.id

Asus Launches World's Thinnest Notebook

Asus finally launching a netbook product called the thinnest and lightest in the world. With a thickness of 17.6 millimeters and weighs 920 grams totaled, X101 series product is challenging thin laptops that are already on the market without sacrificing functionality.

This product has actually been exhibited in celebration of International Computer, Computex 2011, Taipei, Taiwan, a few months ago. The design is lightweight and slim netbook is meant to fit easily into a briefcase and can be carried easily anywhere.

This netbook allegedly deliberately made ​​for cloud computing to boost the ability to surf the internet. The proof lies in the use of Solid State Drives at 8 Gigabit without any harddisks.

The operating system used is MeeGo which basically has the functionality to work through the cloud computing as well as access to exclusive services such as Asus Vibe Asus, Asus AppStore, until online file storage facility that is Dropbox.

Specifications X101 is also not lost though initially targeted for netbook users and people who want to have a secondary computer. Processor which is embedded in this netbook is the Intel Atom, 1 Gb RAM, 2 USB 2.0 plugs, a micro SD slot, and a webcam. Innovations such as the Asus Super Hybrid Engine proud ensure the continued efficient performance of netbook so that it can save battery usage.

Source : Asus Launches World's Thinnest Notebook

How to Become a Teaching Assistant

Many people are scared of job search process. Well, this page will provide you with straightforward instructions to help you become a teaching assistant!

First, you must decide where you want to work. What state/city do you want to work in? Do you want to become a teacher’s aide at a suburban, rural, or urban school? Do you care about whether you are working at a high school, middle school, or elementary school? Although you should not limit your options, it is a good idea to give yourself a general direction as you begin the job search.

Second, you must find out what job openings there are for TAs. This is usually an easy task, as most school districts have a Regional Office of Education website that lists all the openings for the district. The specific category you should be looking for is “Non-Certified: Support Staff.” This category should contain all the openings for teacher’s aides. If you can’t find this category, try to find a similar category, such as “Paraprofessionals.”

Third, you will apply for the open positions. An effective application will include a good resume and cover letter. On this site, you can also find information for how to create a good resume and cover letter for a teaching assistant position.

Fourth, you will apply for more positions. Obviously, the more positions you apply for, the greater your chances of getting called for an interview. The good news is that many schools are often looking for teacher’s aides. Furthermore, applications for teaching assistants often are very similar, so it should not take much extra work to apply for many more openings.

Fifth, you will wait to be called for an interview. However, while you wait, you should constantly be checking if positions have opened up, or if there are other positions open in nearby school districts. On this site, you will also find information for how to interview effectively for a teacher’s aide position.

Sixth, and finally, you will accept a job offer! This is always a satisfying moment, and if you follow the steps above, as well as check out the pages with information about writing good resumes and interviewing well, then you should have a lot of confidence as you seek to enter into this profession.

To become a teaching assistant requires hard work and commitment, but if you keep working at it, I am absolutely confident that you will be able to receive a job offer. Remember, it’s not about if-it’s about when. Be patient, confident, and just keep on searching and applying.

Source :  How To Become A Teaching Assistant

Cyber Crime

There is a very old and correct saying that goes on to say that a coin has two sides. Like a coin almost every aspect of life has two sides. For example the most common example can be taken of the advent of technology and the crime associated with it. With the advent of time and technology, computers have formed an integral part of the working society. Computers along with them have brought greater work and time efficiency in the working circle of the society as a whole. But there comes the twist. Along with all the benefits that computers and technology have brought, there also comes the rising and alarming threat of cyber crime.

Cyber crime in recent times has been credited along with a lot of attention by the general public, thanks to the almost impossible crimes committed by the hackers. The dangers that cyber crime is posing to computers and information in computers has been acknowledged by almost all the countries. Serious concern and alarm have been raised against the growing threat of cyber crime and its potential threat to the information possessed in the computers. The reason that cyber crime is posing a serious threat, is because of the reason that most countries around the world have no existing law that they can exert against cyber crimes. This leaves the businessmen and their business at the mere mercy of the technology that is being used by the businessmen in their business.

 

The only resort that the individuals have or can take against cyber crime is the way of self protection. Although self protection is the one step that people can take against cyber crimes, but still unfortunately it’s not a full proof safe step. As hackers can easily hack through the computers of others, this makes the information stored in the computer more vulnerable to information leakage. One main reason why cyber crime has been gathering so much of attention, is because of the fact that cyber crime has no boundaries of working or occurring. Cyber crime have been reportedly breaching national barriers at ease there by jeopardizing the political and the defense strategies of the country in front of the other nations, as it has been reported that after committing the crime the hackers sell the leaked information to the rival countries for money.

The other reason as to why cyber crime is posing a serious threat is because of the fact that it is usually very hard to track the hackers as they operate together but from far and different places, making it harder for the law enforcers to track and find them. These hackers usually operate from different and far off places, sometimes even different countries making it almost impossible for anyone to track them.

Thus national bodies and governments should operate together to make a legal framework and structure through which no hackers can slip through after committing cyber crime.

 

Source : http://www.techterms.com/definition/cybercrime

 

 

 

Virtual Worlds are Useful for Children

A research report says that virtual worlds can be important places where children practice what they will do in real life. They are also a powerful and attractive alternative to more passive adventures like watching TV. The research was done with children using the BBC’s Adventure Rock virtual world, aimed at those aged 6-12. It surveyed and interviewed children who were the first to test the game.

The online world is a theme island built for the BBC’s children channel by Belgian game maker Larian. Children explore the world alone but they use message boards to share what they find and what they do in the different creative studios they find around the virtual space.

At times children were explorers and at others they were social climbers eager to connect with other players. Some were power users looking for more information about how the virtual space really worked. The children could try all kinds of things without having to be afraid of the consequences that would follow if they tried them in the real world. They learned many useful social skills and played around with their identity in ways that would be much more difficult in real life. According to the study what children liked about virtual worlds was the chance to create content such as music, cartoons and videos.

The publishers of the report say that virtual worlds can be a powerful, engaging and real interactive alternative to more passive media. They urged creators of virtual spaces for children to get young people involved very early on because they really do have good ideas to add and they are very good critical friends.

Source : www.gunadarma.ac.id 

Pronouns

A pronoun is used in place of a noun or nouns. Common pronouns include he, her, him, I, it, me, she, them, they, us, and we. Here are some examples:

INSTEAD OF: Luma is a good athlete.

She is a good athlete. (The pronoun she replaces Luma.)

INSTEAD OF: The beans and tomatoes are fresh-picked.

They are fresh-picked. (The pronoun they replaces the beans and tomatoes.)

Often a pronoun takes the place of a particular noun. This noun is known as the antecedent. A pronoun "refers to," or directs your thoughts toward, its antecedent.

Let's call Luma and ask her to join the team. (Her is a pronoun; Luma is its antecedent.)

To find a pronoun's antecedent, ask yourself what that pronoun refers to. What does her refer to in the sentence above—that is, who is the her? The her in the sentence is Luma; therefore, Luma is the antecedent.

Subjective Pronouns

A subjective pronoun acts as the subject of a sentence—it performs the action of the verb. The subjective pronouns are he, I, it, she, they, we, and you.

He spends ages looking out the window.

After lunch, she and I went to the planetarium.

Objective Pronouns

An objective pronoun acts as the object of a sentence—it receives the action of the verb. The objective pronouns are her, him, it, me, them, us, and you.

Cousin Eldred gave me a trombone.

Take a picture of him, not us!

Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun tells you who owns something. The possessive pronouns are hers, his, its, mine, ours, theirs, and yours.

The red basket is mine.

Yours is on the coffee table.

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun points out a noun. The demonstrative pronouns are that, these, this, and those.

That is a good idea.

These are hilarious cartoons.

A demonstrative pronoun may look like a demonstrative adjective, but it is used differently in a sentence: it acts as a pronoun, taking the place of a noun.

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is used in a question. It helps to ask about something. The interrogative pronouns are what, which, who, whom, and compound words ending in "ever," such as whatever, whichever, whoever, and whomever.

What on earth is that?

Who ate the last Fig Newton?

An interrogative pronoun may look like an interrogative adjective, but it is used differently in a sentence: it acts as a pronoun, taking the place of a noun.

Indefinite Pronouns

An indefinite pronoun refers to an indefinite, or general, person or thing. Indefinite pronouns include all, any, both, each, everyone, few, many, neither, none, nothing, several, some, and somebody.

Something smells good.

Many like salsa with their chips.

An indefinite pronoun may look like an indefinite adjective, but it is used differently in a sentence: it acts as a pronoun, taking the place of a noun.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun introduces a clause, or part of a sentence, that describes a noun. The relative pronouns are that, which, who, and whom.

You should bring the book that you love most.

That introduces "you love most," which describes the book.

Hector is a photographer who does great work.

Who introduces "does great work," which describes Hector.

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of a sentence. The reflexive pronouns are herself, himself, itself, myself, ourselves, themselves, and yourselves. Each of these words can also act as an intensive pronoun (see below).

I learned a lot about myself at summer camp. (Myself refers back to I.)

They should divide the berries among themselves. (Themselves refers back to they.)

Intensive Pronouns

An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent (the noun that comes before it). The intensive pronouns are herself, himself, itself, myself, ourselves, themselves, and yourselves. Each of these words can also act as a reflective pronoun (see above).

I myself don't like eggs.

The queen herself visited our class.

Source :

• http://www.gunadarma.ac.id
• http://www.towson.edu/ows/pronouns.htm

Assignment (English Business II)

SUBJECT

Definition: The subject of a sentence is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that precedes and governs the main verb. The subject is the part of the sentence that performs an action or which is associated with the action.

For example:

* He is a really nice guy.
* "He" is the subject of the sentence, controlling the verb and the complement.
* My dog attacked the burglar.
* "My dog" is the subject, controlling the verb and the rest of the sentence.
* David plays the piano
* The subject "David" performs the action of "playing the piano".
* The police interviewed all the witnesses.
* The subject the police performs the action of interviewing all the witnesses.

To determine the subject of a sentence, first isolate the verb and then make a question by placing "who?" or "what?" before it. Having identified the Subject, we can see that the remainder of the sentence tells us what the Subject does or did. We refer to this string as the "predicate" of the sentence.

For example:

* Who plays the piano?
=> "David" ( = Subject)
=> "plays the piano" ( = predicate) tells us what David does.
* Who interviewed all the witnesses?
=> "The police" (= Subject)
=> "interviewed all the witnesses" ( = predicate) tell us what the police did.

Subjects can either be "simple", "compound" or "complex"

Simple Subject
Composed of a single pronoun, noun or noun phrase.

Complex Subject
A complex subject consists of a noun phrase and any words, phrases, or clauses that modify it.

For example:

* The man who had followed us inside walked over to the telephone.
=> central noun: man
=> complex subject: the man who had followed us inside
* The superior performance of La Traviata pleased the wealthy audience.
=> central noun: performance
=> complex subject: the superior performance of La Traviata

Compound Subject
A compound subject consists of two or more noun phrases (and their modifiers if any) joined together with a coordinating conjunction.

For example:

* The man and the woman walked over to the telephone.
=> The compound subject here is the whole phrase, "the man and the woman."
* Neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission pleased the wealthy audience.
=> Again, the whole phrase, "neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission," is the subject. The phrase answers the question, "What pleased the wealthy audience?"

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VERBS

Definition: Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an action (do, throw, run), existence (be), possession (have), or state (know, love) of a subject. To put it simply a verb shows what something or someone does.

For example:

* Paul rides a bicycle.
* Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Paul performs - the action of riding a bicycle.
* We buy some books to learn English verbs.
* In this example, the action word is "to buy". It tells us that the subject "we", that is the person who performs the action of the verb is "buying some books".

The verb tense shows the time of the action or state. Aspect shows whether the action or state is completed or not. Voice is used to show relationships between the action and the people affected by it. Mood shows the attitude of the speaker about the verb, whether it is a declaration or an order. Verbs can be affected by person and number to show agreement with the subject.

Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb. These verbs are expressed in "tenses" which place everything in a point in time.

Verbs are conjugated (inflected) to reflect how they are used. There are two general areas in which conjugation occurs; for person and for tense.

Conjugation for tense
Conjugation for tense is carried out on all verbs. All conjugations start with the infinitive form of the verb.
The infinitive is simply the to form of the verb For example, to begin.
The present participle form (the -ing form), is formed by adding ing to the bare infinitive. For example, to begin - beginning.
There are two other forms that the verb can take, depending on the tense type and time, the simple past form and the past participle.

The form of the verb or its tense can tell when events take place.
For example, the verb kiss:

Present Simple: kiss/kisses
Past Simple: kissed
Future Simple: will kiss
Present Perfect: has/have kissed
Past Perfect: had kissed
Future Perfect: will have kissed
Present Continuous (Progressive): is/am/are kissing
Past Continuous (Progressive): was kissing
Future Continuous (Progressive): will be kissing
Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive): has/have been kissing
Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive): had been kissing
Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive): will have been kissing

Conjugation for person
Conjugation for person occurs when the verb changes form, depending on whether it is governed by a first, second, or third person subject. This gives three conjugations for any verb depending on who is acting as the subject of the verb. For example: we have I begin, you begin , and he begins. Note that only the third conjunction really shows a difference.

In English, we distinguish between regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs are those ones which form their past simple and past participle just by adding "-ed" to the base of the verb. The rest are irregular.

Examples:

* Dracula bites his victims on the neck.
* In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip bulbs.
* She travels to work by train.
* We walked five miles to a garage.




======================================================

COMPLEMENT

A complement completes the verb. It is similar to the subject because it's usually a noun or noun phrase, However, it generally follows the verb when the sentence in the active voice.
Note : Every sentence doesn't require a complement
The complement can't begin with a preposition
Example : He was smoking a cigarette
John bought a cake yesterday

Subject complements are defined as words, phrases, and clauses that follow a copular or linking verb and refer back to modify or describe the subject. Subject complements are grammatical constituents embedded in the predicate of clauses.
Noun Phrases as Subject Complements

The first grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of subject complement is the noun phrase. Noun phrases are defined as phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun plus any modifiers or complements. For example, the following italicized noun phrases function as subject complements:

* My favorite subject is grammar.
* The professor is an exceptionally intelligent person.
* My sister became a mother last night.

======================================================

MODIFIER

tells the time, place or manner of the action. Very often it's a prepositional phrase. Prepotional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun.
Note : A modifier of time usually comes last if more than one modifier is present.
Example of prepositional phrases :
In the morning, at university, on the table
A modifier can also be an adverb or an adverbial phrase :
Last night, hurriedly, next year, outdoors, yesterday
Example : John bought a book at the bookstore
(modifier place)
Jill was swimming in the pool yesterday
(modifier of place)(modifier of time)
Note :
The modifier normally follows the complement, but not always. However, the modifier, especially when it's a prepositional phrase, usually can't separate the verb and the complement.
Example : She drove the car on the street
(verb) (complement)

======================================================

Example :

1.   George     is cooking         dinner                tonight

     Subject   Verb Phrase   Complement     Modifier of Time

2.   Henry and Marcia   have visited       the president

            Subject                    Verb Phrase       Complement    

3.   We           can eat            lunch            in this restaurant            today

    Subject      Verb         Complement     Modifier of Place    Modifier of Time

4.   Pat           should have bought     gasoline                yesterday

    Subject          Verb Phrase          Complement       Modifier of Time

5.   Tress          grow

    Subject      Verb

6.   It              was raining     at seven o’clock this morning

    Subject    Verb Phrase            Modifier of Time

7.  She            opened      a checking account         at the bank                last week

    Subject        Verb            Complement         Modifier of Place     Modifier of Time

8.   Harry          is washing         dishes                right now

    Subject     Verb Phrase    Complement    Modifier of Time

9.   She            opened        her book

     Subject        Verb       Complement

10.  Paul, William and Mary   were watching       television        a few minutes ago

                  Subject                 Verb Phrase         Complement     Modifier of Time

Source : 

• http://www.gunadarma.ac.id
• http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subjectcomplement.htm