When the holiday season ends, thousands of gift boxes find their ways into trash bins and into the landfills. With governments and other organizations putting more emphasis on going green, it has become an essential part of life to recycle what one would normally consider waste. Jewellery boxes that are small and lightweight have several non-traditional uses, which can keep them from landfills and even save some money. One of the main and most common functions of jewelry gift boxes is act as storage space.

Since it is small, it is a perfect place to store small items. Some potential items that one can store in these boxes are collectible or foreign coins, loose keys, paper clips and buttons. One can then use a rubber band or string to shut securely the boxes. It is also wise to add a tag or label to specify contents in each box to find them quickly. When looking to buy them, one will come across a broad range of attractive and functional boxes. One is also likely to get more boxes that are decorative while traveling or when he or she receives gifts. Other alternative ways one can use these boxes, which include:

1. Store perfume- Many women and men at some point have a great assortment of small boxes of perfume in their bedrooms. Instead of putting them all over the room, one can keep his or her perfumes organized in one place such as in a jewelry box. This will also make it easier for one to access them each morning than waste time looking for them.

2. Manage stationary- One cannot miss a variety of papers and envelops, and a collection of pens at home. One can keep these items neatly arranged in a small jewelry chest. Not only are these boxes pretty to put on coffee tables, but they also help one to keep up a neat home.

3. Pin cushion- One can turn an ordinary jewelry gift box into a pincushion by simply filling its bottom with thin upholstery foam. One can cover the foam with a decorative fabric to make it more attractive. In that case, one should sew the material around the foam as one usually makes a throw pillow. One can place the cushion inside the jewelry gift box.

4. Store electronic accessories- In the modern home scene, cell phone chargers, and cables of other electronic gadgets are all over the place. This not only makes the house look untidy but can also cause serious accidents. Thus, one can use fashionable jewelry boxes to store these chargers and cables, keeping the house clean and safe. One can also use the boxes as watch winders. Watches are very sensitive gadgets thus needing protection when they are being stored. One can use turn a strong gift box into a watch winder instead of spending money to buy one.

The radio communication systems are built using a wide range of satellite communication electronic components. No matter, whether it is geosynchronous or low earth orbital communication satellite, information transmission is a common and very important application. Well, the communication or receiving and transmission of information here take place between the satellite and the earth station. The process where the information is transmitted to the satellite by the earth station is termed as ‘up-linking. On the other hand, the process where the information is re-transmitted by the satellite to the selected earth station is called ‘down-linking’. Since there is both up linking as well as down-linking involved in this type of communication, it is called two way radio communication. The term radio is included because the radio signals are the thing that make this way of communicating possible. Just go through this article in order to get to know about all important electronic components that are used.

Well, the radio communication systems of course use a huge list of communicating components, which is defined as satellite communication electronic components in order to make these things happen. The up-linking and down-linking processes are taken care by these components. Some well known components, which are commonly employed in all sorts of two radio communicating systems are such as a transmit antenna, a transmitter, a receiver antenna etc. If one of these electronic components fails to perform the assigned tasks, then it becomes quite difficult to achieve the task. In fact, the best way to grasp the picture of this type of communication system is be realizing the walkie-talkie. You would have noticed that in modern radio communicating systems, both receiving as well as transmitting the signals is carried out by a single antenna. In fact, receiving and transmitting radio signals is the basic and very much important function of radio satellite antennas.

In addition to these electronic components, there are also some simple components used for building radio communicating systems. These systems also use various types of electronic switches. The function of these switches is to switch on the down-linking, uplink signals. The switch on and off process will take place according to the destinations. The black-box is what helps the two way radio communication systems to identify the destinations. Those destinations with regard to the down-linking signals will also be identified by the black-box. All sorts of satellite communication systems will require electric energy to perform their functions. This is the reason why these systems are given with one or the other sources for continuous power supply. However, the structure or the format of arrangement of these electronic components will differ for each type of satellite communication system based on certain factors. One such major factor, which highly determines the structure of electronic components, is application i.e. for what purpose or where the satellite communication system is used. However, as mentioned before, in almost all cases, the component requirements for building satellite communicating systems will be the same.

You can refer various online web pages, which speak about the function of each satellite communication electronic component in order to get the detailed information.

There is a misconception going around that in order to keep cat litter box odor down with a multiple cat household you need to spend great sums of money on high-tech cat pans and tons of litter.

Listen, you have been misinformed, well, lied to in a way about cat pan odor. And that misinformation is keeping you in the pet store spending inordinate amounts of money looking for the ultimate cat litter box odor reducing solution. This is something you hear all the time.

Cat box odor is hard to manage. You need to buy electronic cat pans or many manual litter pans and scoops to stay ahead of your cats usage. It is probably impossible to get by without having one pan per cat and scooping constantly.

This is, unfortunately, just not true. And, this inaccuracy has probably kept you leaning over pans scooping and grumbling for years or spending hundreds of dollars for the electronic alternatives that don’t work consistently or over the long haul.

Imagine, if you will, for just a moment the number of cat lovers out there who are scooping cat poop on a daily or twice daily basis, bent over the pan wondering if their furry loved ones are worth all this hassle. Think about other cat people who make the $100 to $150 dollar investment in an electronic cat pan that last only a few months before breaking down under the strain.

You might know friends who have done this yourself!

As a matter of fact, I have a girlfriend, Harriet, who has been through the same struggles that you might be facing every day. She had those same frustrations and struggles with her multiple cat family. She tried the electronic cat pan, and went through three of them before giving up out of financial frustration. She was both embarrassed by the smell in her house, and the fact that she had to put an exact amount of cat litter in the electronic cat pan or it would get jammed and become useless. She would look at her friends with cats and wonder:

“How do they keep their house smelling fresh and clean? Why is it so hard for me to keep up with the cat litter box odor madness?

Harriet was lucky that she found an easy, new remedy that reduced the cat box odor in her house significantly, and it was something that her mother had told her about for odors back in the day.

So, what is the easy, quick remedy for cat box odor? Add Baking soda to your litter!

Now, I know that sounds silly, but it really works. It is also now comes prepackaged in some of the cat litter that’s being sold, although it does cost a little more than standard litter. However, when it comes to litter, spending a little more to get the litter with baking soda in it will go along way towards cutting the odors in your house.

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda is an environmentally safe mineral that has been around for about 150 years, and has been used in kitchens, to freshen up carpeting, in drains has been absorbing odors in refrigerators and freezers for decades. It takes the odors out of clothes, lifts out grease and is a very good cleaner. It is also great at reducing the odor of your cat litter pan.

This tip is powerful in its simplicity. Baking soda is a cheap and very effective way to keep cat litter box odor down in your house.

1. Introduction

Brainstorming is a group creativity activity designed to generate a large number of raw ideas in order to derive the solution to a problem.

1.1 Background: During the late 1930 ‘s and early 1940 ‘s, advertising director Alex Osborn developed a technique for generating new product slogans and ad campaign ideas amongst his employees. He would meet with his group around a table, outline the problem and then have them generate ideas willy-nilly. Out of the scores of ideas generated, a few would turn out to be real gems. This idea-generating activity evolved and became to know as “brainstorming” and top companies and creative individuals all around the world are still using it. In 1953 the method was well popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied Imagination. Osborn proposed that groups could double their creative output with brainstorming. ( Osborn A F, 1963)

1.2 Advantages: Some of the major advantages of the Brainstorming are as follows

(a) One can use it to generate superlative ideas for business or any other activity that one is involved in, either through traditional group brainstorming sessions or through solo ‘wildcatting’ brain storm sessions.

(b) Allows one to generate a large quantity of ideas in a short period of time.

(c) Aims to bypass the logical ‘censor’ mind and access the more creative parts of one’s brain.

1.3 Disadvantages of Brain Storming

Some of the disadvantages of the Brainstorming exercise are as follows:

(a) In a group, participants have to listen to others and may spend time repeating their ideas until they get sufficient attention.

(b) Advising participants to let others speak without making them feel offended or intimidated can be difficult.

(c) Participants, with the ability to express their ideas faster and more effective, gain the general attention of the group. Some form of leadership can be formed in this way within the group, which might make participants feel intimidated.

(e) On the one hand, people are not very skilled at controlling their non-verbal reactions and might influence the creativity of others with their posture, gestures or facial expressions. On the other hand, attempting to control their non-verbal behavior might inhibit their own creativity.

Numerous attempts have been made to improve brainstorming or use more effective variations of the basic technique. From these attempts to improve brainstorming, electronic brainstorming emerged out. Mainly through anonymization and parallelization of input, electronic brainstorming enforces the ground rules of effective brainstorming and thereby eliminates most of the deleterious or inhibitive effects of group work.

2. Electronic Brainstorming

In a sophisticated environment, Electronic brainstorming often employs special software that collects one’s ideas in a group and shares them with other group members to promote faster collaboration. Professor Alan Dennis and Bryan Reinicke, an Indiana University doctoral student in information systems, surveyed a group of managers and professionals enrolled in the Kelley School’s part-time MBA program in Indianapolis and asked them about how they prefer to brainstorm ideas. In that survey with a sample of 131 professionals, most did not see any qualitative benefits in using electronic brainstorming tools, including people who had used them. This finding provided the initial momentum towards yet another creative thinking. ( IU Homepages, Indiana University dated 20 Aug 2004).

3. An Innovative way of Electronic Brainstorming – A new Concept

Getting into innovative patterns of teaching and learning is an evolution. While numerous sessions of traditional brainstorming were undertaken since 2006 with different category of participants, be it defense personnel, Management students, Chartered Accountants or corporate professional, one very important issue that was observed was that of vociferousness. As brainstorming targets quantity rather than quality, the so called vociferousness is inevitable. Albeit, the situation has never been out of control, it was indeed a challenging situation at times. This provided the stimulation to think out of box and create a different pattern in the structure of traditional as well as Electronic Brainstorming. Thus evolved Electronic Brainstorming ( E-Brainstorming) with a difference. Here the technology that is implied is Grass root technology.

4. Grass root Technology

A Technology that has “low tech” and “low cost” could be possibly termed as Grassroot technology. In order to define a little bit more on the focus of Grassroots, here are some of its characteristics.

(a) All necessary materials are locally available,

(b) Only an Internet connectivity and the IP messaging system needs to be installed.

(c) People don’t need special or high tech knowledge,

(d) No or a few external resources are necessary,

(e) Users can apply and operate widely on their own,

(f) A very limited or no environmental impact is caused.

In fact, Many variations of creativity laboratories have been already experimented. Some of the prominent ones are

(a) Text messaging services like Google Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc.

(b) video/Web conferencing using Skype.

The primary objective was to generate creative thinking among the participants under a limited sophistication i.e unlike the actual E-Brainstorming where one makes use of specific Software and generate new ideas among the participants as indicated earlier or Brainstorming carried out on virtual basis where the participants could be net connected across locations. Ultimately generating ideas in real sense of originality without making use of worldly ideas which are easily available by a click of a button is the essence.

5. Shaping the Concept

Keeping in view the objectives such as Stimulating one’s thoughts towards specific issues, accelerating original thinking capabilities, providing opportunity for exploring creativity, avoiding vociferous situation, Inducing fun learning through effective use of Grass root technology, the innovative concept in the E-Brainstorming was framed and is a step towards achieving resource utilization and creating a benchmark in the discussion arena.

In order to give shape to the innovative concept, a pilot study of the first E- Brainstorming session was conducted for the General Management and Communication Skills ( G M C S) batch of Jan 2009 comprising of 50 practicing and potential Chartered Accountanta. And the response from this batch was phenomenal. It provided the author with the much needed fillip to proceed further. Two years down the line, the journey for the innovative E-Brainstorming activity was never ending but rather was given facelift in its facilitation based on the feedback generated. And if one start pondering on what all is that innovation in this brain stimulating but non storming session which normally goes anywhere between 90 minutes and 200 minutes, the answer is in the modus operandi that was formulated and appended below.

5.1 Initiation

The first step is to create an understanding of the requirement to think differently. In order to reach this to the participants, a short exercise such as the following could be given.

1

11

21

1211

111221

312211

13112221

1113213211

Following a specific pattern, What would be the next sequence?

The above exercise has been identified to get resolved by roughly about 2% of the participants which justified the primary objective of such an innovative session.

5.2 The Instrument

The Instrument that is being used to conduct the exercise is a technique called Internet Protocol (IP) Messaging System and this system has been the driver of this E- Brainstorming exercise. Let us know What exactly is this IP Messaging system.

5.3 IP Messaging System

Many of us must be familiar with the Instant Messaging (IM) services that are provided by various Internet portals. IM services have historically been PC based although they have begun to penetrate into wireless domain. For the rationale of this article, IP messaging refers primarily the IM like services that run over Internet Protocol networks.

5.4 Registration

As the entire structure of the session is woven around the technique involving IP messaging system, the first step towards the above mentioned exercise is creating a familiarization of the IP messaging concept along with registration method to all the participants in the Lecture hall before entering in to the modalities of the exercise to be carried out in a Computer Laboratory.

5.5 Creating Unique Identity

As a part of the registration, every participant segmented into different groups is required to create an unique identity in a specific format say the group 1 team leader creates the identity Group 1 TL and the first member as Group 1 A and so on. This creation of identity is utilized towards framing the user name and group name in the registration process. By following a specific format, the entire registration process is standardized and free of Conflicts in the IP system.

5.6 Demonstration and Instructions

Once the creation of identity is completed, a demonstration of the working is carried out in order to get a feel and familiarization of the entire exercise among the participants. Specific Instructions which are appended below are passed on to the participants at this point in time.

(a) Participant member of each group will only interact with the Group Team Leader and not with any one else.

(b) The Group Team Leaders will interact with their respective member participants only and with the Moderator.

(c) No participant will turn on to internet or the information available thereon. This is a mandatory rule in order to stimulate original thoughts among the participants.

(d) Each Participant member can keep sending the original thoughts to the Team Leader and in such case the Team Leader may create an open file to save those ideas or the Participant member himself/herself may create an open file and towards the end may transfer the open file with the ideas collated to the Team Leader.

5.7 Actual Working

After the demonstration and subsequent clarifications, if any, the participants are instructed to proceed to the Computer Lab and to take position one on one with a Personal Computer. Here care needs to be taken that the group members get the position at random and do not cluster at same place. As per the instruction, each participant completes the registration and confirms readiness for the exercise.

5.8 Silent Discussion Topics

Each group is provided with TWO DIFFERENT WORDS which each participant of the group along with the Group TL requires to associate in all possible creative ways using original thinking only. They are encouraged to think out of box. Say for example CAR & BALLOON, DIGITAL & PHYSICAL WORLD etc. The time duration for the exercise is stipulated as 20 minutes and within this time duration, each group collates the ideas through its Team Leader. In the mean time the moderator also registers and moderates the exercise through his interaction with the Team Leaders only. The entire exercise takes place in absolute pin drop silence. A Silent discussion intra group. Isn’t?

At the end of the stipulated time duration all the participants sans the Team Leaders are instructed to close the PC and proceed to the Lecture hall. An additional 5 minutes is allotted to all the Team Leaders to consolidate their respective collated ideas or the documented open file into a presentable format. This document is then forwarded to the moderator ( the author ) for record and evaluation.

5.9 Interaction

The moderator prepares two copies of the report submitted by the Team Leaders. One copy for the group and the other for the purpose of evaluation. Each group then takes turn to describe the ideas as generated by the member participants. In order to create a competitive environment, the description is subjected to defense and challenges and also subjected to peer evaluation. The group with highest evaluation rating is declared ultimate out of box thinkers.

5.10 Outcome

Upon successful interaction and ultimate thinking, quite a few innovative and out of box thinking have emerged such as Balloon lifting the Cars during traffic congestions ( based on the two words CAR & BALLOON), An artificial refrigerated closed beach ( based on the two words REFRIGERATION & BEACH) and the exercise of E-Brainstorming using IP messaging system ( using the words DIGITAL WORLD & PHYSICAL WORLD).

6. Limitations

The above described effort has a major limitation in the Technological front. As Internet Protocol (IP) system is completely dependent on the internal Network system, any technological failure or system break down will certainly lead to disruption and discontinuity in the E-Brainstorming exercise.

7. Conclusion

This exercise is motivated to fulfill the objectives such as Stimulating one’s thoughts towards specific issues, accelerating original thinking capabilities, providing opportunity for exploring creativity, avoiding vociferous situation which leads to the situation being uncontrollable at times, collation of quality ideas and thoughts which many a times give a slip during the traditional Brainstorming exercises and also Inducing fun learning through effective use of Grass root technology. This initiative is also a step towards achieving resource utilization and creating a benchmark in the discussion arena.

It is said that for a journey of 1000 miles commence with the first step. Let this initiative be the first step of the future prospects of such low cost and low tech method.

8. References

IU Homepages vide http://www.homepages.indiana.edu/082004/text/technology.shtml.

Osborn, A.F. (1963) Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving (3rd Ed.). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons

Installing an underground electric gate motor can be a very difficult job.

Only undertake this work if you have the necessary skills to complete the job.

Always read the safety and installation instructions before you start this task.

If you don’t understand anything in their instructions, contact the manufacture, to clarify the situation. This guide will show you how to install an underground gate motor kit to a pair of gates. Before you start digging holes I suggest that you check that the posts or pillars are strong enough to take the weight of the proposed gates. If they were recently constructed please wait for at least 2 weeks for the mortar or concrete to set properly.

Preliminary Checks

Before proceeding with the installation, make sure that the structure is suitable and that it complies with all the regulations in force. In particular, you need to make sure that:

• there are no points of friction in the opening and closing travel of the gate;

• the gate is well balanced, i.e., once it is stopped in any position it should not show a tendency to start moving again;

• the gate opens and closes smoothly and noiselessly;

• the area selected for gear motor installation enables easy and safe manual operation;

• make sure that the mounting area is compatible with the dimensions of the underground box

• provide a closing strike and, if possible, also an opening strike plate.

Installation of foundation casings.

1. Excavate the foundation hole based on the overall dimensions, add at least 100mm all round to give a strong bond; provide good drainage in order to prevent water stagnation.

2. Place the box inside the foundation hole; the stud must be aligned with the axis of the hinge

3. Provide a duct for the electrical cables and a large drainage pipe.

4. Bury the foundation box in concrete, leave a few mm.of the box above ground level; for a few days making sure it is set.

5. Mount the control bracket on the box’s stud along with the ball.

6. Set the gate leaf on the release lever, and weld them securely together.

7. Do not forget to grease the bearing using a suitable grease nozzle.

When installing the foundation box allow approximately 100mm around the box and 100mm underneath the box for concrete, ensure that the heel of the casing is packed with concrete as this is where all of the weight of the gate will sit.

This diagram details the basic cable layout for a pair of motors. The power supply to the control panel should be permanently live and protected in accordance with local electrical regulations. The supply should be rated at a minimum of 6 amps. When installing wires outdoors the cable approach to all devices must be from below to create a “drip-loop” and thereby avoid unnecessary water ingress.

Some modern motors are now low voltage d.c. which will give you a quieter and safer installation.

Hanging the gates

Before attaching the gates ensure that the gate pivot point are adequately greased. When hanging the gate ensure that they are square and level before welding the gate to the shoe.When hanging wooden gates it is necessary to create a U-shaped carrying shoe from mild steel which can be welded to the top surface of the shoe. Then the wooden gate can be bolted into position, with the U-shaped carrying shoe clamped to the bottom of the gates.

The electronics.

A detailed description of the electronic control board will be found in the instructions. Remember to remove the circuit board from the box before you drill any holes in the box for the cables. One slip and you could need to replace the whole board. Make the holes (3 usually 1 for the power in, 1 for the left small box and 1 for the right small box) large enough to take the tubing.

Power up the control card, make sure you have the correct low voltage output before you add the receiver and tune in the remote controls, or connect the safety photo-cells.

Consult the instructions for the full testing procedure and carry out all safety checks. When all the devises are working properly, and the gate is doing what it should, give yourself a huge pat on the back for undertaking and completing a very complicated job.

As a professional installer I would usually expect to make at least 4 visits to the clients property and spend about 8 hours fitting and testing etc.

I hope this has helped you install your gate automation system. This guide only covers the basic mechanical and electrical installation. If you would like more details you are very welcome to contact me through my website.

The demand for the latest and greatest technology continues to grow at lightning speed and as a result the task of sorting through the mass array of high-tech wizardry as it pertains to home technology systems such as home theatres, home automation, whole house audio and video, security and CCTV systems, wireless networking, smart wiring, and lighting control solutions can be a daunting task to say the least. So who do you turn to for advice on sorting through it all?

Enter the Electronic Systems Contractor (ESC). So what exactly is an ESC you ask? An Electronic Systems Contractor is a company that provides sales, installation, and service on life safety systems, sound communication, entertainment, and environmental control systems. These professionals are highly skilled, trained and certified in this specialized field.

After you’ve determined exactly what kind of home technology system you want to install and what you want to get out of your system, the second step is to hire a qualified ESC or more commonly called an Electronic Systems Integrator, who will help you establish a workable budget, listen to your primary objectives as it pertains to your project and your lifestyle, and then design a system that will surpass your greatest expectations

If you are building a new home, an ESC can be just as an important resource as your interior designer, architect, and/or builder. In fact, an ESC should be brought in early during the initial design phase of your new home to ensure optimum savings on your overall budget as it is much easier to pre-wire rooms prior to the drywall phase of construction than it is to go back and try to retrofit a room. Keep in mind that long-term dependability, reliability and quality in a home technology system are the most cost-effective attributes you can build into your new home.

Technology changes so fast and often times the electronic components some of the box stores purchase in large quantities quickly becomes out of date as it sits on warehouse shelves waiting to be sold. Whereas an ESC will always have the latest and greatest products to offer as everything is custom-to-order. So you can be sure you are getting the latest technology for your money.

Adding a home technology system to your home is a huge investment and by hiring a qualified Electronic Systems Contractor to design, install and maintain your system, you can take comfort in knowing that you’ll be in good hands from start to finish and well beyond the installation process.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to teaching electronics. The first school of thought is that it is important to develop a solid foundation in basic electronic theory before tackling any hands-on activities. The other school favors the hands-on approach that combines learning theory while conducting experiments and while building practical projects. Personally, I favor the latter approach and I have incorporated it in all the Adult Ed classes that I have taught over the years. Building simple electronics projects allows the student to see electronic theory in action, and it allows them to develop essential skills like soldering, disordering, working with pc (printed circuit) boards, etc.

Electronics is a hobby that the whole family can enjoy. Nevertheless, before tackling your dream project, you need to learn some basic theory, develop some practical skills, and build up your electronics workshop. One of the first skills you will need to learn is how to properly solder and unsolder electronic components because components and pc boards can be damaged if it is not done properly. Using excessive amounts of heat can loosen the copper traces on a pc board and destroy components like diodes and transistors. The good news is that soldering is an easy skill to master. Carl’s AK-100 Learn to Solder Kit is one of those simple electronics projects that not only teach you how to solder, it teaches you another essential skill, how to read color codes, while building a working electronic siren. This kit also provides you with all the tools and supplies you will need to handle any basic soldering job that you will encounter in assembling any electronic kit. The good news is that it will cost you less than $20 and applicable S & H costs.

After you have mastered the art of soldering and after having added a professional grade 30-watt soldering iron and a pair of diagonal pliers to your tool collection, you are ready to tackle another project. Why not surprise your lady with a custom-built music box for Christmas. Well you can buy the box and then install the electronic playback unit that you have built from a kit. Carl’s Music Box kit is another of those simple electronics projects that allows you to practice the skills that you have already learned while developing new skills and mastering new theory. You can select any one of a dozen romantic tunes for it to play when your loved one opens the box or you can set it to cycle through all twelve tunes. Again, you can build this kit for less than $20, of course that does not include the cost of the jewelry box that you install it in.

The fun has just begun. Enjoy your newfound hobby of building simple electronics projects. Carl’s is just one o many online sources for electronic kits, tools, and supplies. A simple Google search will turn up hundreds.