text:
User:Dick Chan/Disce Peur Virtutem ex me verunquc laborem Fontunam ex aliis

2009 Chinese Year
【二○○九己丑年肖鼠運程】 去年屬鼠的朋友命犯太歲，若無喜事臨，必有禍事憂，事業運程難免不順意，身體也容易出現問題. 踏入牛年，雖然年初時運勢仍然有點不順，但春季以後，漸入佳境，命宮更見眾多吉神拱護，大有一洗鼠年的霉氣之勢. 【事業】 今年在命宮出現「陌越」和「玉堂」星，主有地位突破和大貴人助運，故能將你的工作帶進新局面. 凡流年得「陌越」坐命，事業地位必可更上一層樓. 打工的朋友，在公司裏將得到上司貴人提拔，給予你發揮所長，甚至獨當一面的良機，如果你希望自己能在眾同事中突圍而出，奠定升職的基礎，就要好好把握這個難得的機會了. 【財運】 鼠人踏入牛年，財運未可言吉. 雖然表面看是相合年，但卻暗藏隱憂. 受薪的你，今年會有加薪的機會，但加幅並不理想；一向有投資習慣的朋友，小心高買低賣輸掉財富，即使在部份投資項目上賺得微利，但全年計下來也是輸多贏少；做生意的你，雖有客似雲來，但總見旺丁不旺財. 總之，今年求財宜守不宜攻，可免重大破耗. 【愛情】 肖鼠的你，踏進牛年，子丑相合，主有喜悅的事情發生，但可惜同時見到一顆令你孤單、空虛的「孤虛」星飛臨命宮，預兆今年你的感情有喜有憂. 未有對象的你，今年有機會遇上心儀的異性，但愛情路上波折重重，難享甜蜜；已有對象或配偶的你，雖然兩人仍然恩愛，但今年大家將會聚少離多，令你在大部份時間都要感到空虛寂寞. 【健康】 「病符」是一顆主小病的凶星，在牛年出現於肖鼠朋友的命宮之中，表示你的健康狀況較差，抵抗力弱，容易受到疾病侵擾，老人家更要特別注意身體健康. 今年注意多吸收有營養的食物，每天保持充足睡眠，便可抵抗病魔. 另外，「病符」入命，易犯凶煞，所以流年不宜探病問喪，喪家食物也不宜吃，以免負面磁場影響個人運氣. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 屬鼠的朋友在己丑年的運程尚算理想. 事業得到貴人和吉星之助，宜好好把握，發揮自己的長處，勿讓此難得機遇白白流失. 如果你是有伴侶的鼠人，今年最好平衡一下工作和愛情的比重，不要令愛侶常常孤枕獨眠. 整體看來，今年你只是在財運方面的表現稍欠理想，但情況不算太壞，只要你能保持積極的工作態度，緊守自己的崗位，便有機會扭轉逆勢，最終得到合理的回報. 【二○○九己丑年肖牛運程】 屬牛的你，去年運勢強勁，可說一時無兩，事事稱心順意. 但希望你知道要居安思危，不會因為好運降臨而樂極忘形，因為踏入牛年，你犯上本命年，命宮有眾多凶星埋伏，缺乏吉星解救、助運，所以全年的運程都會反覆不定，做事波折重重、危機四伏，必須要小心應付. 【事業】 流年命犯太歲，人事關係和事業發展都不能順心隨意，加上今年命宮見「劍鋒」，而由於這顆凶星主有刀光和鬥爭，因此在牛年中，你在公司裏必然與同事之間有一番龍爭虎鬥；而不幸的是，你將會是失敗者. 另外，「黃旛」凶星加臨，令你時常失魂落魄，做事不能集中精神，影響工作表現. 不過，流年又見一顆「華蓋」星，表示從事藝術創作、出版文化和娛樂事業的牛人，將有機會發揮才華，邁向事業高峰. 【財運】 肖牛的你，由於事業表現未如理想，正財收入難以增添，加上今年有「破碎」星出現，令你無法積聚錢財，即使賺得財富，也會因某些原因而令你完全耗掉，以致財來財去一場空. 投資者避免短炒概念，在下注之前更要考慮再三；當然，沒有十足把握的話，最好忍手. 另外，你缺乏理財之道，不懂管理金錢，以致收支更難達到平衡. 【愛情】 由於「華蓋」的出現，故此今年你在感情路上大都是孤單一人，原因是「華蓋」既主才華，也主孤獨. 已婚的你，容易與配偶因家庭瑣事或兒女問題發生爭執；蜜運中的牛人與愛侶聚少離多，令兩人感情由濃轉淡；年長者更防老伴身體欠安，要進醫院診治調理；至於未有對象的你，今年不宜追求觸摸不到的霧水情緣，努力工作才是上策. 【健康】 流年犯太歲，所謂「太歲當頭坐，無喜必有禍」，主牛人今年多憂心之事，也多心理壓力問題，加上有「伏屍」在旁，情況更加嚴重，所以你必須隨時留意身體的變化，健康問題不可掉以輕心. 另外，「黃旛」凶星令你失魂落魄，駕車人士或行人過馬路時，容易發生交通意外，不可不防. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 你在己丑年正犯太歲，無論是事業、錢財、愛情、家庭或健康等方面的運程都並不理想，但你毋須過份氣餒. 今年只要你能緊守工作崗位，作風低調；做好理財計劃，減少不必要開支；對伴侶和家人要處處關懷，主動溝通；處理健康問題要緊記病向淺中醫，自然可以減低太歲帶來的禍害，平穩過渡這個太歲年了.

【二○○九己丑年肖虎運程】 屬虎的朋友，去年事業和錢財有一顆中級的「驛馬」星照命，發展半吉半凶，又見一些影響健康和愛情運的小凶星出現，故全年的表現普普通通，並無重大突破，可算是乏善足陳. 踏入牛年，你的事業和財運續向下滑，情況開始令人擔心，加上命宮出現不少凶星，做事更要格外留神，否則稍一不慎，便會跌入眾凶星所佈的陷阱了. 【事業】 流年命宮得見「太陽」星. 「太陽」是一顆一級貴人星，能在你的事業前途上發揮重大助力，而由於這顆吉星屬陽性，所以流年的貴人多是男性. 今年公司內的男性上司或老闆非常欣賞你的工作表現，有機會委派你擔任重要項目的負責人. 機會來臨，你當然是全力以赴，但可惜的是，流年出現在命宮的另一顆「劫煞」星將會在此時作祟，影響你的工作情緒及阻撓你的工作進度，最後，你的一番努力變成徒勞無功，而吉星帶來的機遇，也白白地流失. 【財運】 屬虎的你沒有財星助運，加上命宮出現「天空」和「吞陷」兩顆凶星，所以今年你的錢財收入極難達到理想了. 「天空」主虛花不聚財，而「吞陷」主受騙，代表在牛年中，你會因為一些突發事情而要耗用大筆金錢；同時，你的購買慾戰勝了理智，時常會將收入花費於一些沒用的東西，以致無法累積儲蓄. 另外，今年會有陌生人甚至友人設計欺騙你的錢財，會否應劫，則全看你的意志力和分析力了. 【愛情】 無論是單身、正在蜜運中或已婚的朋友，今年愛情路上桃花明現，，原因是流年命宮出現一顆「紅鸞」星. 「紅鸞」星動，單身的你將會在今年遇上理想伴侶，甚至會火速結成佳偶. 蜜運中的男女，愛情生活十分愜意稱心，部份虎人會在牛年中締結良緣，部份則繼續享受拍拖的樂趣. 已婚的你，與配偶的感情與日俱增，但自己要注意跟其他異性保持適當距離，以免惹起配偶誤會. 【健康】 雖然流年有一顆「晦氣」星影響著你，但幸好沒有病星降臨騷擾，所以整年看來，除了因為事業不順意而偶然間感到悶悶不樂外，不論老人家或是年輕人，健康大致良好，若能減少無謂壓力，避免不必要的擔憂，則身體及精神狀況更理想. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 全年來說，屬虎的人在牛年的運程也是吉凶參半. 今年凶星作祟，因此事業和財運的表現都不太理想，而眾凶星主要是衝著你的性格弱點而來，如果你能夠以堅定的意志力和謙虛的心態迎接工作挑戰的話，成功機會較大. 年初時應要做好理財計劃，定下每月的收支預算，嚴格遵守，便可避免亂花無謂錢了. 至於愛情和健康方面，今年的運勢可說是銳不可擋，幾乎無人能及，但已有對象和已婚的你，切記不可有越軌行為；年輕人也不可過份流連夜店，才可保全年平安.

【二○○九己丑年肖兔運程】 肖兔的朋友，在鼠年得到「太陰」貴人的助力，在事業方面平穩進步，而愛情又得到「紅鸞」星的照顧，因而與伴侶相處甜蜜，但因凶星纏繞，健康方面的表現就較為遜色了，希望你能夠保重身體，不受病魔的困擾，以應付牛年的種種挑戰. 兔人踏入牛年，凶險重重，一方面沒有吉星之助，另方面又見眾多凶星潛伏，蓄勢以待，固此流年必須步步為營，處處小心. 【事業】 由於今年命宮欠缺吉星守護，四處皆無助力，令屬兔的你在工作上不單難有突破，甚至阻礙重重，做事事半功倍. 在牛年裏，只見「囚獄」、「災煞」等凶星坐守命宮，肆無忌憚. 「囚獄」主有官非、刑罰事件，代表你今年將會因為公事出錯而招來麻煩，輕者受上司責罰，重則惹起訴訟事件，須以法律途徑解決. 而「災煞」主有意外破損，做事徒勞無功，換句話說，無論你今年如何辛勞，都難有重要收穫. 【財運】 由於事業出現重重阻滯，正財也就無法強求有突破進賬，唯有希望保持往年水平已經算不錯了. 今年命宮欠財星，偏財、橫財欠奉，故投資者必須要謹慎，千萬不可貪求短線利益而獨注一擲，否則一塗敗地，後悔莫及. 流年不利，賭博必要避之而吉，以防辛苦積蓄，付諸一炬. 【愛情】 已婚人士與配偶相處，時有爭端，為子女，也為家庭開支；蜜運中的兔人，與愛侶常因小事而陷於冷戰之中，聚少離多，甚至有鬧分手的危機；未有對象的你，感情仍然一片空白，唯有繼續等待良緣吧. 【健康】 今年命宮逢「披頭」、「喪門」、「災煞」及「地喪」等凶星，每一顆都影響著你，以至你家人的健康. 「披頭」和「地喪」都是主家人、近親患病，代表今年你家中的老人家身體欠安，嚴重者需要進醫院治理；「喪門」則影響著屬兔的長者，令你健康受損，而「災煞」除了破壞你的工作表現外，也令年輕的你容易受手腳之傷. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 雖然有凶煞在旁，工作難望有美好收成，但也不可因此而自暴自棄，相反，你應該要加倍用功，守好崗位，希望累積更多經驗和實際知識，以求在好運降臨時，能發揮最大的潛能，振翅高飛. 此外，健康無價，流年凶星群出，令你身心遭受困擾，連帶家人也受到影響，所以在牛年裏，你除了要預防意外受傷之外，也要多抽時間照顧家人健康，希望一家人可以有驚無險，平安過渡牛年.

【二○○九己丑年肖龍運程】 龍人在鼠年的運程吉多於凶，相信憑著個人的意志和魄力，你在各方面都有不錯的表現. 踏入牛年，你的運勢稍為有點下滑，除了健康有所提升外，無論在事業或金錢方面，都比較去年遜色，這都是因為「天煞」、「歲煞」、「貫索」、「勾神」等凶星作祟，架設了重重障礙，打擊你的士氣，幸好今年命宮得見「太陰」貴人相助，能讓你在對抗逆境時獲得片刻喘息的機會. 【事業】 屬龍的你，在牛年得到「太陰」星坐命，代表工作上有女性貴人提拔，給予你發揮才幹的機會. 不過，流年並見「貫索」、「卒暴」和「勾神」等凶星，發展恐怕難如人意. 「貫索」有被動和消極的特性，「卒暴」易招是非謠言，而「勾神」則使麻煩事情更加糾纏不清，這幾顆凶星將令你陷入事業困局，需要你以堅強的毅力衝出難關. 【財運】 今年你得到「太陰」星的扶助，錢財運本應有賴事業進步而有所增添，可惜，流年命宮所見另一顆「羊刃」，卻令你的財運大受打擊. 「羊刃」既主血光，也主破財，換句話說，即使你能夠賺到財富，這顆凶星也會製造禍端消耗你的金錢，令你財來財去一場空. 流年財運反覆不定，求財不易，令你容易求諸賭博，祈求以小博大，但結果當然難從心願. 【愛情】 龍人在牛年的愛情運跟去年差不多，但幸好「華蓋」已去，所以情況略見好轉. 已婚的你，與丈夫或太太相聚的時間增加，只要兩人能夠以真心、愛意互相關心，婚姻仍然可以保持幸福. 未婚而有愛侶的你，約會的時間比去年多，相處也比較融洽、愉快，雙方感情也甜蜜、溫馨. 不過，仍然未有戀愛對象的你，今年良緣未到，愛情路上依舊孤單一人. 【健康】 基本上，你在牛年的健康並無嚴重問題，全年平平安安、無災無病. 不過，龍人長者在農曆八月和十一月身體抵抗力較差，時常感到心神不安，也易染上傷風感冒，雖是小問題，但仍然需要好幾個星期才能徹底痊癒. 年輕的龍睡眠嚴重不足，以致日間工作時精神難以集中，影響表現，若不知檢討改善，下半年健康將會變差. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 雖然龍人在牛年的運程並非鯉躍龍門，但也算中規中矩. 雖然你的事業受到眾多凶星干擾，但因為你有「太陰」貴人之助，所以，如果你能夠努力做好自己的本份，把握貴人給予的機會，專心做事，不理是非，則事業理應有不錯的發展. 此外，又有凶星帶來血光，兼且令你損財，不過，煩惱皆因強出頭，今年只要作風低調，並能緊守信念，不貪不賭，則流年仍可保身心平安、收支平衡.

【二○○九己丑年肖蛇運程】 屬蛇的朋友，去年各方面的運勢只算一般，踏入牛年，地支巳酉丑三合，運程稍見起色. 首先得吉星扶助，你的事業明顯有進步，而財運更是在眾生肖朋友中數一數二，大有鯉躍龍門之勢；不過，流年又見凶星雲集，影響了愛情和健康的發展. 聰明者宜把握先機，掌握運程起伏，便能進退有據，增加各方面的成功機會. 【事業】 流年「三台」、「金輿」兩大吉星相逢，大有求名得名，求利得利的凌厲勢頭. 「三台」主謀事可成，大利事業，今年上班一族若向老闆獻上滿腹發展大計，定能得到認同，並且獲得公司裏各部門互相配合，計劃得以貫徹實行，任務完成之後，升職加薪自然有望. 不過，命宮同時見「官符」和「飛符」凶星，將影響你的判斷力，令你在工作上出錯，輕則受老闆責罵，重則惹上不測之官非，不可不防. 【財運】 「金輿」是一顆財帛福星，既然「三台」為你創造事業良機，那麼，「金輿」財星也就能順理成章地為你創造財富，但蛇人不可不知，無論你是打工一族或是老闆級，這兩顆吉星都不會主動給你帶來金銀財寶，它們需要你來主導，先付出努力和恆心，才能發揮作用，所以你千萬不可疏懶做事，守株待兔，否則白白辜負了吉星附帶的財氣. 【愛情】 今年凶星群集，加上你外冷內熱的性格、愛保護自己的心態，時常害怕受感情傷害而對愛情卻步，所以單身的你，在牛年也難有機會遇到拍拖對象，唯有繼續等待吧. 已婚或者在戀愛中的你，流年兩人感情一般，未見突破，甚至經常因小事爭拗，互不理睬，影響了彼此工作和日常的心情. 已婚人士家庭運更差，需注意配偶健康可能起變化. 【健康】 流年見「天哭」，主有孤獨、寂寞的事情，情緒也容易受環境影響，所以必須盡量保持心情輕鬆. 今年你時常會在工作或愛情上遇到困擾，令你鬱鬱不悶，連帶身體健康也受到影響，最常見的就是失眠. 凶星也主有流淚事件，與長輩同住的蛇人，今年老人家身體欠佳，時常感覺不舒適，你切不可掉以輕心、馬虎處理，否則小病變大病，也就應了流淚的災煞了. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 蛇人在牛年全年表現有起有落，基本來說，你的事業和財運都有明顯的進步，當中特別以金錢的運勢更見突破，應好好把握之餘，也要有居安思危的想法，做好儲蓄的預算，以備不時之需. 至於愛情方面，你必需檢討一下自己的個性，多主動與伴侶溝通，才能減少兩人之間的誤解，而單身者則有助提高自己的吸引力，增強異性緣分，或許有機會在牛年中得遇新的戀愛對象.

【二○○九己丑年肖馬運程】 馬人去年沖犯太歲，所遇的傷害非同小同，希望你能以無比的鬥志和耐力克服重重障礙，安穩過渡鼠年. 踏入牛年，太歲帶來的衝擊逐漸消減，但並未完全除去，所以上半年各方面仍須以穩守為策略，避免與凶星的遺禍正面衝突，直至下半年開始，你的事業和財運才稍為緩和，但你仍未能樂觀，因為你的運勢依然徘徊在失落與穩定之間. 【事業】 流年遇「年煞」、「死符」、「六害」等凶星，並見「月德」貴人，可以預測今年工作時經常無法集中精神，加上公司裏的人事鬥爭仍未平息，各人都不肯互相配合，做好自己崗位上的工作，結果「年煞」便有機可乘，先使你的事業陷於停滯狀態，再帶出你上司的不滿情緒，所以馬人註定要受到責備. 幸好在事情惡化之前，你的流年貴人及時出現，為你解決糾纏不休的問題，將你的工作重新納入正常軌道. 【財運】 雖然「大耗」已去，但又有「小耗」臨門，所以馬人在牛年的財運仍然不濟. 首先事業未順，不單不可奢望正財收入增加，更恐去年的晦氣未去，今年出現減薪的情況，故只能寄望保得住職位，每月有糧出便好了；其次橫財不可求，即使小注也註定要賠本. 收入開源無望，而你又控制不了你的購買慾，當有推銷員向你美言幾句，你就會抵受不住誘惑，將並沒有急切需要的東西買下來，致令今年你的財政總無法達到平衡. 【愛情】 今年馬人的命宮出現「咸池」，的確會有點異性緣，但要注意，這顆星宿帶來的桃花並非真正的姻緣，而是會令你意亂情迷的劫數，所以單身的你，即使在牛年結識到你認為不錯的對象，結果也只是霧水之情，情花驟開驟落，不會長久. 已婚或已有對象的你，也有異性主動接近，在你的愛情路上帶來一點新的刺激，但如何取捨，還看你的意志和自制能力了. 【健康】 「死符」、「六害」同臨，所以今年仍未見進步，前者既主爭鬥，也主疾厄，後者則主精神倦怠，也就是說，馬人由於長時間睡眠不足，以致經常精神不振，抵抗力弱，故容易受病菌侵擾，另一方面，你受「咸池」的附帶影響，夜生活甚多，時常飲酒，再加上不懂節制飲食，致令腸胃和頭部常感不適，健康也就更差了. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 屬馬的人，雖然度過了沖太歲的年份，但到牛年的運勢仍然差強人意，所以仍要步步小心，以防犯錯. 幸運的是，即使今年在命宮出現的凶星凶猛異常，你仍得到一級「月德」貴人星為你排難解紛，化險呈祥，因此你並非全無還抗之力，事實上，只要你能夠堅持正確的原則做事，不與小人為伍，再多做善事，積德積福，流年自然可以如履平地，無災無厄.

【二○○九己丑年肖羊運程】 羊人去年運勢凌厲，各方面都有很好的表現，希望你能把握好時機，為自己的事業闖出一片天，賺取豐厚的收入，與愛侶相處融洽，身體健康平安，度過了不平凡的鼠年. 另外，更希望你沒有在順風順水的時年得意忘形，任性揮霍，令身邊沒有隔宿糧，因為踏入牛年，你與太歲相沖，運程動盪不堪，需要你以很大的努力，才可平伏風波，克服太歲帶來的障礙. 【事業】 流年沖太歲，事業難望有大成就，而且命宮沒有吉星助運，兼見凶星重重包圍，情況更加驚險. 今年影響事業的凶星主要有「歲破」和「闌干」，顯示你的工作出現嚴重阻滯，除了個人做事欠順利，常常遭到困難或不獲上司信任外，在公司裏更有人事不和的問題，加深了工作的難度. 另外，「豹尾」星令你間中失魂落魄，無法集中精神處理事務，影響表現. 部分打工的羊人，今年會被老闆辭退，宜用心做事，及早防範. 【財運】 丑未相沖，諸事不順，事業難成，正財也不可奢望有重要進帳，更悲觀的想法是部分人連正職也失掉！今年你的命宮出現了一顆「破碎」凶星，也就是說，你將全法積聚財富，即使賺到金錢，也會因故耗掉，當然可能是你自己買東西花掉，但也有可能是因賭彩輸掉，或者其他意想不到的事故用去. 總之流年財運不利，小心為盼！ 【愛情】 流年沒有桃花星，但也沒有衝繫愛情的凶星，所以羊人在牛年的愛情運並不算太差，只是由於今年你經常表現心神恍惚，即使與伴侶相處時，也仿似魂遊太虛，令伴侶強烈不滿，因而影響大家感情. 本來羊人的性格十分溫馴，但因為今年受到太歲的影響，所以脾氣變得較差，令人感覺不易相處，也令伴侶產生埋怨，宜檢討. 【健康】 在沖太歲的年頭，健康也屬一般. 年紀較大的羊人，必須注意身體變化，不要以為小毛病不足為患，這可能是大病的先兆，所以有病要馬上看醫生，千萬不可拖延. 如果你的年紀尚輕，則今年多見睡眠不足或睡眠質素欠佳，即使睡在床上也難入眠，致令日間精神不振，影響工作效率之餘，也令抵抗力下降. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 由於今年你正沖太歲，故此事業運和財運都非常動盪. 在牛年裏，你最好保持低調作風，凡事忍耐，緊守工作崗位，避免轉工，也不宜遠行、探病、問喪，無論是公司或家居都不宜動土，如果無法控制前者，可考慮在公司裝修時申請放大假，便可避免觸動壞磁場，影響自己的運程. 流年身體狀況平平，但長期病患者則須留意出現併發症，令健康惡化. 羊人在牛年若能夠咬緊牙關，少說話，多做事，則不難順利過渡，流年平穩無災.

【二○○九己丑年肖猴運程】 屬猴的你，在鼠年裏並無驚喜收穫，做事時甚至更有被縛手縛腳、才華無處發揮的感覺. 不過，踏入牛年，你的命宮裏有眾多吉星聚集，主有富貴吉祥、貴人指路、地位提升、家宅喜慶等美好事情發生. 不過，你千萬不要驕傲自滿，因為在吉星的旁邊，仍有不少凶星窺伺，意圖在你得意忘形之時發動攻勢，令你陷入破敗之中. 【事業】 今年你得到「紫微」、「龍德」和「貴人」等大吉星照臨命宮，事業的發展將是眾生肖人士之冠，無人能及. 打工的你向上司獻計，獲得接納，有機會發揮所長，做出令人刮目相看的成績，奠定了升職的基礎，可是，你的成就卻招來旁人妒忌，甚至有小人在你背後製造事端，阻礙你工作的進度，幸好你有敏捷的反應和異乎常人的洞察力，能夠在事故發生之前做好部署，令自己安然度過危機. 【財運】 吉星獻瑞，事業順遂，正財收入十分理想，打工的猴人甚至有額外的花紅獎金，可算是意料之外的喜訊；如果你是做生意的，今年的營業額可以錄得不錯的升幅. 不過，吉星只利正財，而且流年命宮未有橫財星，所以你不宜寄望有天降橫財，只宜在喜慶日子小注耍麻雀或六合彩怡情，但賭博則萬萬不可，以防有失. 另外，流年主猴人有失物和意料不及的破財事件，所以必須緊記財不可露眼. 【愛情】 除了「紫微」星主流年吉祥，為你帶來喜悅和順利的事情之外，另外又有一顆「天喜」星，主有喜慶事情. 已婚的你，今年家宅興旺，將有添丁之喜，但男性猴人卻會陷於酒色的誘惑，也會因此而與丈夫或妻子發生爭執、意見. 蜜運中的你，與愛侶相處十分和睦，溫馨甜蜜，令旁人羨慕，假如雙方戀愛成熟，可以考慮締結婚姻，一起組織家庭. 如果你仍是單身的話，恭喜你！你將在今年找到理想的對象，享受愉快的愛情生活. 【健康】 雖然你有一級大吉星坐守牛年，但無奈凶星數目不少，部份更會衝擊健康，加上今年工作忙碌，身體容易感到疲累；部份男性猴人，因夜生活過多致令休息不足，以及因煙酒過多而使呼吸道抵抗力減弱，易受細菌感染，若能預早洞識問題，便要採取適當措施，減少無謂應酬，保持飲食均衡，盡量安排時間做運動，則患病機會自然降低，身體就更加安康了. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 工作順利，做事得心應手、事半功倍，對於猴人來說，牛年可說是洗脫霉氣、送舊迎新的好年頭，實在值得高興. 不過，善用吉星者吉，反之卻會帶來厄運，所以今年你必須言行謙虛正直，規行矩步，若能多做善事，更可錦上添花，福祿多增，遇吉更吉，遇凶減凶.

【二○○九己丑年肖雞運程】 屬雞的你，去年運程仿如順水行舟，氣勢如虹，一時無兩，各方面都有很好的表現，尤其在工作和金錢的收穫，令你最為滿意. 踏入牛年，你仍得到眾吉的保護和助力，令你做事可收事半功倍之效，可是，今年的凶星數目也有所增加，所以阻礙和困難也比去年多，做事必須小心籌謀，處處提防. 【事業】 由於得到「將星」和「八座」值年，屬雞的你在牛年的事業發展仍然保持穩定姿態，兩者都有利權力和地位的提升，故此你的工作仍然有進步機會，若能配合「將星」這顆武將星宿的特質，善用謀略，努力求成，自然可以在聲望上凌駕他人，創造更理想的成績，但因為流年有「大煞」、「飛廉」、「浮沉」等凶星在旁趁機發難，意圖削弱你的判斷力和工作表現，所以你必須行藏小心，以防行差踏錯，令凶星有機可乘，將你帶入厄運之中. 【財運】 雖然「八座」只利升遷，不能為你帶來財富，但「將星」卻有升官發財、有名有利的推動力，加上掌管財帛的「金匱」吉星同時出現在雞人的命宮之中，意味著無論你在賺錢或開源方面，都有很順利的發展，也就是說，今年你毋須刻意求財，但卻財來自有方. 不過，你必須檢討你追求享受的性格，以防因過度虛榮和奢侈而花掉辛苦賺來的財富. 【愛情】 肖雞的人感情豐富，很容易對異性動心，時常主動表現慇勤，但有些時候，這種態度卻會將對方嚇跑. 今年你所遇的「飛廉」星，就是一顆誘使別人誤會你的凶星，而單身的你正因為這顆凶星作祟，令你今年仍然無緣入情關. 已有親蜜戀人的你，感情受到考驗，因為將有小人在你的愛人面前搬弄是非，引起愛人對你誤會，這段感情能否持續，還須看你倆的緣份了. 至於已有家室的你，今年將有第三者介入婚姻，應要好好處理這個問題. 【健康】 由於「血刃」當前，「大煞」坐命，故此雞人在牛年的健康容易發生問題. 前者主有流血、破損事件，後者主有突如其來的意外，所以今年使用利器時必須特別小心，乘坐交通工具或過馬路時要打醒精神，駕車人士更要格外留神，即使在街上行走時，也會有滑倒或遭高空擲物所傷，必須小心. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 肖雞的朋友遇牛年，是巳酉丑半合之格局，除了健康較差，愛情其次之外，事業和財運的運程仍屬中上，當中更以金錢的勢度最強，甚稱眾生肖人士之冠，希望你能把握這賺錢的好年頭，並戒掉胡亂花錢的習慣，多儲點錢，以備財運受阻時有錢可用. 感情上，對愛人坦白，態度真誠，可減少遭人誤會的機會. 另外，流年多爭取休息時間，出入謹傎，小心家居安全，有助改善健康運.

【二○○九己丑年肖狗運程】 屬狗的人，剛過了一個十分不錯的鼠年，相信對自己的成績甚為滿意，甚至連身邊人也會為你感到高興. 踏入牛年，你仍然得到吉星的助佑，但凶星的傷害卻比去年厲害得多，所以比較去年來說，運程難免有點滑落，不過，由於你的性格忠誠、勤奮，做事不會使詐，不會計算別人，故此縱觀整年來說，情況也不至於太差. 【事業】 「天德」和「扳鞍」同時出現在流年命宮之中，再配合狗人本身勤奮、堅毅的性格，意味著你在今年縱遇困難、險阻，仍能順利克服，突破障礙. 不過，這兩顆吉星主要的功能都在解厄扶危，對於提升運程的助力卻不算太大，再加上「卷舌」帶來的是是非非和口舌之爭，以及「三刑」惹來的恩恩怨怨和矛盾事件，令你更加煩惱不堪，所以，在牛年裏，你必須憑著不屈不撓的精神對抗面前的禍患，才能順利度過難關. 【財運】 由於流年事業發展不錯，又得到「福星」貴人照耀，代表你的正財運十分不錯，不過，事業上的阻滯也會影響到你的財政狀況，特別對於工作收入不穩定的你更加靈驗，也就是說，當吉星大放光明時（農曆正月、四月、七月和八月），你的金錢運會比較順利，但當凶星橫行時（農曆二月、五月、六月和十二月），你的財運就有點麻煩了，因此，你必須緊記在順遂的日子多勞多獲，在蹇運時緊守工作崗位，就可以在全年立於不敗之地了. 【愛情】 肖狗的你流年命宮欠缺桃花星，也不見喜慶星，卻出現一顆「寡宿」星，這顆星主有孤獨感覺，預兆今年你的愛情道路並不平坦. 年紀大的狗人，今年你的老伴經常感到身體不適，嚴重者需要送院治理. 已婚的你，與丈夫或妻子時常發生爭執，影響婚姻和諧. 戀愛中人，與愛侶溝通不足，甚至有第三者出現，介入你們的感情關係之中，觸發分手危機. 至於單身的你，今年會有一兩段霧水情緣，但對方並不是你的真命天子. 【健康】 今年的工作量不少，需要你以很大的精神和體力去應付，所承受的心理壓力也不輕，嚴重影響睡眠質素，偶然間更會失眠，以致休息不足，令身體狀況變差，抵抗力不足，增加患病機會. 另外，由於感情運不理想，連帶情緒也受到影響，經常感到悶悶不樂，幸好這純粹是心理毛病，若能自我鬆弛，問題便可迎刃而解. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 肖狗人士在牛年的整體運程半吉半凶，既有大吉星扶助，也有大凶星擾命，所以全年做事總無法一帆風順. 不過，你毋須為此而苦惱或氣餒，須知七分由天，三分由人，今年若你能加倍努力，便有機會在劣境中找到出路，扭轉乾坤. 工作方面，你必須遠離製造謠言的小人，低調做事，避免與小人爭執. 錢財方面，不可貪，不可賭，專心工作，賺取回報. 愛情方面，多關懷愛侶，多主動溝通，感情自然有增無減. 至於健康方面，就要靠你自己減少應酬，多爭取休息時間，才能改善問題.

【二○○九己丑年肖豬運程】 屬豬的朋友在鼠年得「陌越」吉星扶助你的事業發展，但另一方面卻有幾顆不利健康與財富的凶星不斷纏繞你，以致運程無法一帆風順，希望你能夠憑著自己的堅持、努力和智慧，度過困難，做出理想成績. 踏入牛年，命宮只現一顆力量不太強勁的「天馬」吉星，但卻有影響深遠的「弔客」和「天狗」騷擾，故此流年運勢不可言吉. 【事業】 流年見「天馬」，主有出國觀光或遠地旅行之事. 肖豬的你，今年有被派到國外出差的機會，但工作辛苦，卻沒有額外報酬. 雖然如此，但上司派下來的工作，你仍然要努力完成，做好自己的工作，守好自己的崗位，才可免招人話柄. 須知你在牛年裏沒有吉星照護，令身邊的小人更易得逞，對你作出諸多留難，但只要你做事堅持十足定力，便不會有太大問題了. 【財運】 流年在命宮見「天狗」. 「天狗」是一顆影響你金錢開支的凶星，它會令你金錢超支，失掉財政預算. 今年你將有很多意外支出，首先是家中有水電工程問題，要花錢修理；其次是自己或家中老人家患病，需要急錢治病；也有親友向你借貸，之後「劉備借荊州，一去不回頭」；當然也有因為要到外地旅遊而需支付旅費. 總之，各種各樣的支出，大部份都在你的預算之外，令你全年的財政失去平衡. 【愛情】 屬豬的你性格熱情，對人親切，與異性的關係都很好. 不過，今年你的感情運卻未見有驚喜. 已婚的你，今年因為金錢問題時常與配偶發生小爭執；蜜運中的男女愛情無增無減，平淡而過；如果你仍是單身而未有對象，在農曆正月和二月份有機會結識到新異性，若不能把握時機，則今年將繼續交白卷，需要耐心等待下一年了. 【健康】 由於「天狗」入命，主有損傷、車禍、疾病和開刀. 今年老人家易因病患而要入院檢查及醫治；牛女易因婦科疾病而需要動手術；駕車人士易生交通意外，輕則車損人安，重則身體受創，須住院一段短時期. 另外，今年你的睡眠嚴重不足，以致時常感到疲倦不堪，影響健康之餘，也影響日間工作表現. 【二○○九己丑年天同錦囊】 豬人在牛年裏沒有吉星幫助，工作上諸多阻滯，做事很難成功，金錢運程令人失望，愛情和健康也未見稱心如意. 今年可算是一個運勢比較低沉的年頭. 不過，你毋須為此而氣餒，甚至自暴自棄，事實上，只要你稍為改掉過份熱情的性格，在公司裏保持低調作風，少說話，多做事；不投機，不炒賣；主動關心愛侶和家人，則流年自然可以平平安安，無災無禍了.

十二生肖流年運程積分排行榜 事業 	財運 	愛情 	健康 鼠 	80	50	70	70 牛 	40	40	50	50 虎 	60	60	90	90 兔 	40	50	40	40 龍 	60	60	80	60 蛇 	70	80	50	50 馬 	60	40	50	60 羊 	40	30	50	50 猴 	90	70	60	80 雞 	70	90	40	50 狗 	60	60	50	40 豬 	50	50	60	50

1. What is the objective of eCommerce?It is to save numbers of traveling time and reach potential clients at different geographic regions via state-of-art Internet technologies.

2. What are the benefits of implementing eCRM? It provides 24 hours high quality of customer services and promotes new company products & alert customers. It provides a platform reply and feedback of company products.

3. What are the difference of B2B and B2C in system design and interface design?

The major difference between B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Customer) in internet terms is the role of the B2B website. B2B concerns itself primarily with supply chain management. These are portals that allow businesses to deal directly with their suppliers and distributors online. Allowing electronic transfer of orders, invoicing and even payments. Wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers fall in this category.

Interface design use dynamic web design and online shop technology.

B2C websites are intermediary portals to link customers to suppliers. Some of the major ones are ebay, an auction site. Yell, an internet version of yellow pages and ZDNet a technology market place. All of these businesses exist primarily on the internet. B2C concerns itself with selling to the end user.

4.Which parts are important in web-site development? a) web hosting, internet marketing, promotion your web site via link to different search engines. B) additional coding techniques, such as using CSS (Cascading style sheets) and JavaScipt.

5) What things are important in Web-site maintenance? •	Complete backup of your website •	Easy to upload data and photos •	Security for any change of website information. •	Economical and convenient

Credit Crises
From tainted Loans to a Global Economic Meltdown

By jochen Felsenheimer & Philip Gisdakis

Credit Instruments The problem was that the underlying risk – the probability of joint defaults – is conceptually quite complex. Apart form market-implied default correlations, there are no reliable models out there that help portfolio managers to quantify this risk. Hence, investors and rating agencies used historical time series in order to assess the new structures. But recent history did not contain any period with similar exaggerations in terms of leverage in the market. Hence, the whole system was extremely vulnerable to external events. And what investors should never forget about credit risk is that it is an event risk!

But what investors need to understand is how their portfolios perform given contain scenarios. A prerequisite for this is to understand the involved products in details.

Bonds The concept of credit risk applies to various products and instruments. However, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about credit risk will most probably be cash instruments, such as corporate bonds, here, a borrower receives money form the lender and has to make interest and principal payments on the borrowed amounts. However, debt instruments vary in many different ways. Examples for important characteristics are the seniority level (i.e. senior versus sub), the coupon payment mechanism (i.e. fixed versus floating) and the amortization mechanism.

A quite common classification of cash credit instruments is the coupon payment style. Basically, the instrument can involve fixed-coupon payments, variable-coupon payments, or no coupon payment at all. The latter is usually called a zero-coupon bond. While these instruments are well known from the so-called government bond strip, they recently also arrived in the credit arena in the form of so-called pay-in-kind (PIK) notes.

We elaborate a bid more on this instrument, because it highlights the reduced risk aversion of investors ahead of the crisis. In PIK notes, the coupon is not paid in cash but accrues until maturity of the bond or until the issuer calls the security.

In a default case, however, the investor may receive equity in case the company emerges from bankruptcy. Hence, the involved credit risk for the investor is quite high for this type of security, as the outstanding notional amount and the coupon payments for the whole lending period are at risk. In case the issuer defaults on such a security, the investor not only incurs a loss with respect to all future cash flows, but also with respect to the accrued coupon in the past.

While for a fixed coupon payment the structure is quite clear – the counterparties agree upon a specified coupon which is then paid on a regular basis – floating rate notes are more complicated, as the coupon is linked to an interest rate index. Very common indices are the Libor (London interbank Offered Rate, provided by the British Bankers Association, BBA) and Euribor (Euro interbank Offered Rate) interest indices, which are available on a daily basis covering coupon payment periods from one week up to twelve months. Both indices are derived based on the rate at which banks borrow money in the interbanking market. While the Libor is available in several currencies (including USD, GBP, JPY, CHF and EUR), the Euribor is the major index for EUR-denominated variable debt. As an example, a variable-rate security denominated in EUR, which pays its coupon quarterly, may be linked to the 3M-Euribor. Following one coupon payment, the rate for the next coupon payment will be reset according to the level of interest rates derived by the interbanking market. Since the Libor and Euribor rates are derived from short-term borrowing rates from bank to bank (remaining time to maturity twelve months and below), they are also called money market rates.

Usually, the term structure of the money market rates (i.e the rates as a function of the remaining time to maturity) is driven by the market’s expectation of the future development of the overnight lending rate, or in other words, by the expectation of central bank rates.

This risk-free rate is usually measured by referencing an Eonia-swap contract with the same maturity date.

The major advantage of a floating rate note is that the price sensitivity with respect ot the underlying interest rate risk is fairly small.

Another important factor of credit-risky instruments is the difference between bonds and loans. Although these two instruments differ in many ways (structure, investor, accounting rules, etc), the main difference is the transferability of the claim. While loans are usually private transactions, originated by banks and held to maturity, bonds are public and tradable securities; they can be acquired and sold without restrictions. Bonds are usually standardized and listed instruments that involve simple coupon mechanisms (either fixed or variable coupons); bullet redemptions (no amortization payments during life-time), are publicly rated and refer to a standardized documentation (such as a medium-term note program). Although bonds are an important pillar of the capital structure of larger companies, they are usually an more costly type of debt, as they involve fee payments to the arranging banks in addition to the coupon payments to their investors. Moreover, due to the standardized structures and the more complex marketing procedures, bonds are less flexible and it takes more time to raise the funds. There is also a regional difference.

Central Banks Entire books have been written on central bank action in order to combat a crisis. And much has been said about the responsibility of the fed for the subprime crisis, as it blew the housing bubble by flooding markets with liquidity in order to fight the impacts of 9/11 and the Enron crisis. In this book, we do not want to participate in this admittedly interesting and important discussion.

In December 2007, the difference between the 3M-Euribor and the 3M-Eonia swap contract had reached almost 100bp, compared to a normal level of about 5-6 bp. Such levels haven’t been seen before, even in the aftermath of 9/11.


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Technical writing/Overview EE

 * back to Technical Writing Level 1

Introduction
This overview module and the following modules have been written intentionally in the style of a technical document. This is so that the reader sees the type of content needed for technical documents from the outset. The language of the document has been kept simple to allow easy translation. Wherever possible, the modules conform to the rules they state.

These modules have been taught to small, eight-student classes. Each module takes 1 hour to teach. Additional examples and exercises were used.

Technical writing is a discipline.

Technical writing is not difficult.

In this module and the modules that follow, there are a set of rules that must be applied.

Most of these rules apply to all technical writing, some rules only apply to certain types of documents.

Most of the rules are independent of the style used.

If you learn the rules and apply them, then you will write better documents.

It is easier to write using a rigid set of rules than to have no rules.

The rules also help people like:

 * Business (System) Analysts
 * Project and Product Managers
 * Solution (System) Architects

Technical writing rules
The basic rules are the following
 * Write simple sentences.
 * Use words that your reader will understand.
 * Use lists.
 * Use pictures (sparingly, if localizing the documentation).
 * Use consistent terminology.
 * Do not waste your reader's time by explaining things they already know (e.g., copy and paste procedures).
 * Make it simple.
 * Use active voice.
 * Avoid logical fallacies.
 * Use clear and concise language.
 * Keep paragraphs coherent.

The difference between a technical writer and a technical communicator

 * A technical writer writes documents (user guides, administrator guides, online help, etc.)
 * A technical communicator is a newer term for the same job acknowledging that the writer needs to do more than simply write documents, but also needs to understand the intricacies of systems, processes, business flows, and can develop content that includes more technical reference and information.

Technical writers produce written and visual information for customers.

To design and improve the product

 * Requirement specifications, document the features required in the product
 * Development requests, that document tasks for developers
 * Change requests, that document new features that the customer wants
 * Design specs, what a product should look like when it is manufactured

To sell the product

 * Technical and product briefs
 * Product brochures
 * Web site content
 * Press releases

To help the customer administer the product

 * User guides
 * Configuration guides
 * Application guides
 * Administration guides
 * Data sheets
 * Maintenance and trouble shooting guides that show the administrator and experienced user how to configure and troubleshoot the product

To help the staff or the customer operate the product

 * Use case-based tutorials
 * Step-by-step task lists
 * Online help in CHM or HTML

To test and install the product

 * Test Cases:  To test the product and detail its required functionality
 * User Acceptance Test (UAT):  Run test cases for the customer in order to confirm that each function that is required for the product to run properly is, in fact, doing so
 * Installation Guides: To ensure that the product will be safely installed by the customer
 * Technical Writing Requirements and Functional Specifications (TWRFS):    Document the needs, goals, and environment of the target product user, and then explain how these elements can be translated into functions within the product in order to satisfy said items.
 * Design Documents:    Describe the workings and interactions of the system.
 * Control Documents:   Communicates project standards, configuration, schedule and work tasks.

Management documentation
Management documentation includes:

 * Cost and Schedule Estimates
 * Complex Project Administration
 * Standards and Procedures
 * Information Management

What tools do technical writers use?
A technical writer's primary tool is language. A technical writer also uses
 * Word processors (MS Word, Open Office, iWork Suite)
 * Web tools
 * Graphics packages
 * Content management systems (CMS)
 * ClickHelp
 * Wiki
 * Confluence
 * Madcap Flare
 * Author IT
 * Docbook
 * Robo Help
 * Adobe FrameMaker
 * Screen shot capturing tools
 * MWSnap (Free-ware)

The essential skills of a technical writer
These skills are important:

1.	The ability to use a computer

It is possible to write manuals with just paper and a pen but most people don't.

Most products include software that require screen-shots to explain fully, screen-shots require a computer.

2. The ability to write clearly

Technical writers
 * 1) Study complicated things
 * 2) Remove all doubt about a subject
 * 3) Explain complex topics in simple terms
 * 4) Add diagrams or screenshots
 * 5) Define abbreviations
 * 6) Avoid
 * 7) * Passive sentences (e.g. "Mistakes have been made.")
 * 8) * Long sentences

3. The ability to show ideas graphically

If you show an idea with a picture or diagram, then the reader understands the concepts better.

4. The ability to listen

Technical writers must listen carefully to the experts and then translate their concepts in layman's terms.

5. Interviewing Skills

Technical writers need to know how to ask questions and who is the best person to approach (e.g. Subject Matter Experts)

Basic technical writing
The process of writing:
 * Plan the document
 * Collect and organize your information. (Consult the experts on the subject if necessary)
 * Find out who will be reading the document - your audience
 * Draft the document
 * Revise it
 * Have a colleague review and edit it for style and language
 * Have one of your experts review and edit it to validate the accuracy of the information that was included
 * Publish the document

The Wikipedia definition of technical communication:

 * 1) Personas (EE) How to identify and analyse your readers

Explore how Wiki can be used for delivering user-oriented instructions.

Test

 * 1) What does a technical writer do? Researches, interviews, plans and creates a variety of technical documents that are meant to be used by a particular audience.
 * 2) What sort of documents do technical writers write? Work instructions, User manuals, feasibility studies, specifications.
 * 3) What skills does a technical writer need? Computer literate with a great attention to detail and excellent active listening skills. Must be able to write well and convey complex ideas in a manner easily understood for the reader.
 * 4) What sort of people become technical writers? People who enjoy learning and sharing what they have learned with others. They know how to ask questions to gather the information they require for their project. They work and communicate well with others.
 * 5) Why are you taking this course? (unmarked supplementary question) To hone my technical writing skills and to learn new things I don’t just want to be good at what I do, I want to be better than I am now. I want to grow my skills.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Technical writing/Overview EE


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Domain Name System

The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed database system that serves to translate string queries (such as http://www.wikipedia.org) into an IP address which a host may connect to. DNS is also utilised in email, where email address lookups are performed, and the relevant IP addresses returned.

To perform a lookup, a program known as a resolver is passed the string as a parameter. The resolver then sends a UDP packet to the local DNS server, which returns the IP address mapped to the string. Once the IP address is received, a TCP connection to the host may be established.

Background
In the days of ARPANET, when the internet was in its infancy, a file known as hosts.txt contained a list of hosts and their corresponding IP addresses. Every night, all hosts connected to ARPANET would fetch an updated copy of this file from a central site. As the internet began to grow larger and larger, it became apparent that it was infeasible to continue with this approach.

Top Level Domains
To begin a search for an IP address, we can choose to narrow our search down according to the type of website we are looking at. Common domain names include  (commercial),   (educational) and   (non-profit organisation). We can also seek a specific server by its country domain. For example,  belongs to the United Kingdom and   belongs to Australia.

Resource Records
These are the records that are handed back to the resolver based on the request it makes. The records are kept in ASCII text, and are presented with the following fields:

 * Domain Name : The domain to which the record applies. Multiple domains may exist, and they are all returned together to the resolver
 * Time to Live
 * A general indication of how long a record has before it can be considered out of date. Actual dates are not used here, rather, a value (678000 for example) is assigned to indicate how stable the record is. The lower the value, the more likely it would have changed recently.

 * Type : What kind of record we are looking at. More information will be provided below
 * Class
 * Value

Activities

 * 1) Check your DNS configuration in Ubuntu with systemd:

title: Domain Name System


text:
User talk:Lysander89

 Hello Lysander89, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! SB_Johnny talk 12:50, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Welcome
I appreciate your stated intentions about improving School:Computer Science and Portal:Computer Science and advancing Wikiversity. All such efforts are needed and welcome. If you wish to collaborate with others, be sure to study SB_Johnny's welcome card above thoroughly. Take full advantage of the associated talk pages and join appropriate content development groups usually found in Topic: or School: namespaces. You're right about Wikiversity's lack of structure, but it's coming along. I'm sometimes in #wikiversity-en on IRC as yeoman or tractor if you'ld like to try real-time collaboration. Let me know if I can help! Welcome! CQ 03:50, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Sorry I keep missing you on IRC... today makes it twice now that I've sat down at the keyboard a few minutes after you logged off. :-/.
 * Structure has long been an issue for us. You might want to open a thread on WV:C to get a bit more about the history of it and the options. --SB_Johnny talk 10:40, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Some help required
Hi! I am setting up a new discussion forum on wikiversity for highschool students at HHF. I require some assistance in setting up pages and doing some writeups. The part on asking questions and tracking them in the order of latest reply is complete, thankfully! I was asking CQ for help and he directed me to you.

Please reply on my talk page if you are willing to help! Thanks! --Dharav talk 04:55, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Hi there. Thanks for the reply. I know all the problems with this wiki acting as a forum. It'll be very lousy. And thanks for suggesting all the stuff that you did, especially liquidthreads. Did you have a look at http://blog.werdn.us/2009/06/discussion-threading-on-wikimedia-sites-with-liquidthreads/ ? It is a liquid thread implementation.

 * Yes indeed the present forum system has it's problems. It's clumsy and patchy. I don't think anyone will resist any imporovements. If we can get an actual forum working, well and good. My suggestion is, let's run that in the background. Let's just make HHF operational the way it is, and then add liquidthreads when it becomes a suitable substitution for phpBB3.

 * I have a question - can phpBB3 be installed on mediawiki? Or can the source code be modified and included in mediawiki software? I am up for anything that makes sense. Can you give me more details on the possibilities with the two software working on wikiversity? The liquidthreads extension and phpBB3?

 * What's the chance that we can run a software on sandboxserver.org [Let's say phpBB3] and make it edit/create pages on wikiversity?

 * My suggestion - we let HHF stay as it is right now, except changing the forum "Looks" and keeping the tracking system as-is. Side by side, we work on the liquidthreads extension. When it's finally done, we implement it on HHF and elsewhere.

 * is it worth the effort? Will liquid threads allow forums, sub forums, tracking and displaying of threads in chornological order according to last edits, flag some posts and all that jazz? Or is it just the discussion that'll be jazzified? Is it only meant for talk pages?

 * I know there are many complications on HHF right now and the templates/categories system I've used is pretty primitive, but it can be used AT THE MOMENT to make the forum work and changed later on! I would not be able to collaborate on liquid threads with full commitment, but no way in hell I won't help anyone trying to help HHF. If we go with this, then HHF requires a makeover rightnow. We'll keep the overhaul of the system in the pipeline, working on both of them simultaneously.

 * Thanks for the help, and let's continue the discussion on Talk:HHF
 * --Dharav talk 06:16, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Network Computers, Clusters and Clouds
Do you think you will have room in your Computer Networks topic to include Clusters and Clouds as a sub-topic?

I am currently trying to develop a Charity Souper Computer (Heterogeneous Cluster of Donated Components) and I am sure that considerations of which cluster operating system to use, might be of interest to others. --Graeme E. Smith 13:20, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Miss You!
We all appreciate your contributions to the School of Computer Science and we'd love to see you back. Hope to hear from you. --AFriedman 16:10, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Best of luck with your assignments! Thanks for letting us know about your absence, and looking forward to seeing you back.  Yes, Computer Science is very time consuming :).  My own courses start on the 8th of September and will probably keep me up at night :(.  --AFriedman 04:06, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Keep up the good work
Your contributions to Introduction to Computers are great. Hereby receive a personal award from me as a sign of appreciation. --Gbaor 17:33, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Lysander89


text:
User talk:Omg.itsmatthewhicks

 Hello Omg.itsmatthewhicks, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! SB_Johnny talk 12:52, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Omg.itsmatthewhicks


text:
Joint Entrance Examination/AIEEE 2009/Q084 work done by electrostatic field

Original Question by 203.199.213.66

 * Here's the question...

What's Up?

 * Latest discussions on the forum

Electricity-And-Magnetism-Help

Physics-Help

Reply![]

Thread post

Additional notes

 * These comments, along with the notes on the left, were contributed by Dharav talk 19:21, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]


text:
Ethics/Nonkilling/Arts

 * This Course is based mainly on "Nonkilling Arts", chapter prepared by Olivier Urbain for Toward a Nonkilling Paradigm (Honolulu: Center for Global Nonkilling, 2009). The Course is part of the Interdisciplinary Program on Nonkilling Studies at the School of Nonkilling Studies.

The main question that motivated me to write this chapter is “What is the role of the arts in making a nonkilling society possible?” As a first attempt to touch upon this vast and complex issue, three answers are provided here. First, Glenn Paige offers several hints in his seminal Nonkilling Global Political Science (2009). Second, I offer the results of some free brainstorming concerning the roles of the arts. The third section invites the reader to an exploration of the human qualities enhanced by the arts. Finally in the conclusion, some avenues for further discoveries are suggested.

If we agree to consider the hypothesis that a nonkilling society can be imagined, and that concrete steps towards its realization can be taken, then there is no limit to what can be imagined concerning “nonkilling arts.” It is to be hoped that a powerful stream of creativity, new ideas, works of arts, and networks will soon irrigate our global human civilization still in the grips of a culture of violence. The ambition of this chapter is to add a few drops to this current towards a society that respects life, and towards governance at all levels that functions effectively with much less, or ideally no more, killing. In this chapter I will express myself as an individual, making highly subjective and personal statements, and my views do not automatically represent, nor are they necessarily incompatible, with the official stance of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, of which I am currently the director. I wrote this piece from the point of view of an amateur blues pianist, hoping to inspire an endless series of free improvisations around similar themes.

Glenn Paige on the Role of the Arts in the Nonkilling Society Project
Before starting our explorations of the role of the arts in creating a nonkilling society, we need to go back to Glenn Paige’s original set of questions: “Is a nonkilling society possible? If not, why not? If yes, why?” (Paige, 2009: 21), and especially to the numerous answers provided in his book to the last question: “If yes, why?” The following passage can serve as a starting point to affirm the crucial role of the arts in endeavors to build a nonkilling society:

Whereas “equitable distribution” might not be easily enhanced through the arts, everything else on this list—consciousness, reason, creativity, productivity—can be directly inspired by artistic means. Moreover creativity and the arts have a crucial role to play in “education” and the “provision of a proper social atmosphere.” There are many other statements dispersed throughout Paige’s book letting us know that he is a strong believer in the power of the arts for the nonkilling society project. Only a few are presented here, and the ambition of this paper is not to offer an exhaustive list. The reader is invited to find many other hints in Nonkilling Global Political Science.

The Uplifting, Philosophical and Normative Power of the Arts
Every day we are influenced by the arts, music, dance, films, literature, photography, theatre, painting and sculpture, the use of arts in the media, and more, and the collective power of these artistic energies both expresses and contributes to the overall culture of our human societies. The fact that we need to move towards a “culture of peace” immediately tells us where we are right now when it comes to the level of humanity with which we treat each other. On 10 November 1998, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed the period 2001-2010 as the “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World” (UNAC 2009).

What should be the ethical axis of such a “culture of peace,” and more specifically of a “culture of nonkilling?” Paige gives an example of the importance of beliefs and values in the shaping of such a culture. He reports findings comparing two Mexican Zapotec villages (emphasis added):

What could be a key concept at the basis of “nonkilling beliefs and values?” One such normative center, fundamental to a nonkilling culture, is “Respect for Life.” The phrase appears eight times throughout Paige’s book, as for instance when he affirms that (emphasis added) “The reality of respect for life in religious and humanist faiths provides a strong spiritual basis for confidence that a nonkilling global society is possible” (Paige, 2009: 41), or that a nonkilling department of political science should try to express the desired traits of a nonkilling society by affirming “nonsectarian but multi-faith spritual and humanist respect for life” (p. 132). Paige also uses expressions such as “uncompromising respect for life” (p. 78) and “unambiguous respect for life” (p. 121).

Based on the above reaffirmation of the seminal importance of Paige’s original explorations, the question at the center of this chapter then becomes: “How can the arts contribute to the development of a nonkilling society, pervaded by a nonkilling culture, which would be based on an uncompromising respect for life?” First let us take a look at the answers provided by Paige himself throughout his work. Three proposals stand out as part of a coherent plan: using cultural resources, establishing centers, and developing four pillars for nonkilling transformation.

Cultural resources
Paige offers a list of works of art which he includes in the category “social institutions.” It seems to me that the main point here is to use what we already have to be inspired to do more (italics added).

Nonkilling cultural resources are creations of art and intellect that uplift the human spirit and inspire advances toward realization of a nonkilling society. These include folk songs (“We Shall Overcome”), opera (Philip Glass, “Satyagraha”), novels (Bertha von Suttner, Lay Down Your Arms); poetry (Steve Mason, Johnny’s Song), art (Käthe Kollwitz, Seed for the planting must not be ground); and films (Richard Attenborough, Gandhi). The Centre for Nonviolence through the Arts, founded in 1995 by Mallika Sarabhai in Ahmedabad, India, seeks to synergize nonkilling creativity for social transformation in the visual, performing, and literary arts (Paige, 2009: 60).

A systematic exploration of works of art that “uplift the human spirit” would be fascinating, and we would like to invite the reader to join us in continuing this task.

Centers for creativity and the arts
More concrete than “cultural resources,” Paige’s next proposals advocate the establishment of institutions, promoting a range of positive societal reinforcements from simple celebrations to global recognition of the role of artists (italics added).

One institutional model—patterned after private centers that sponsor creative communities among the seven arts or among painters, poets, and writers—is to provide opportunities for artists of every inspiration to come together to celebrate transformative nonkilling creativity in response to human lethality. (…) Synergistic nonkilling creativity among the arts can uplift the human spirit and imagination for the crucial transformational tasks ahead. For global recognition, benefactors should establish awards for nonkilling contributions to the arts no less significant than encouragement provided by the various Nobel prizes (Paige, 2009: 123).

In the two passages above, Paige mentions the power of the arts to “uplift the human spirit.” This is very difficult to evaluate, and most of the time the positive impact of the arts cannot be verified empirically. To make this concept more palatable, Paige provides the example of how Thoreau and Tolstoi as literary artists have inspired the major leaders of nonviolent movements, Gandhi and King: “Nonkilling Americans, such as Adin Ballou and Henry David Thoreau inspire Tolstoy (…); Tolstoy inspires Gandhi; Gandhi inspires King; all inspire German Green Party founder Petra Kelly (…) and many others in a cumulative global diffusion process of emulation and innovation” (Paige, 2009: 70). Along the same lines, the transformative power of the arts can be empirically evaluated in professional fields such as music and arts therapy.

The four elements of nonkilling transformation: the Four S’s
The principal elements that need to be combined for nonkilling transformation are clear. Spirit (S1), profound commitments not to kill derived from each and all faiths and philosophies. Science (S2), knowledge from all the arts, sciences, and professions that bear upon the causes of killing and nonkilling transformation. Skills (S3), individual and group methods for expressing spirit and science in transformative action. Song (S4), the inspiration of music and all the arts, making the science and practice of nonkilling politics neither dismal nor deadly but a powerful celebration of life (Paige, 2009: 130).

The fourth element, Song (S4), clearly represents the power of creativity and the arts in transformational processes. In addition, music and the arts also have major roles to play in the other three S’s, namely Spirit, Science and Skill as defined above. My personal conclusion after this brief textual analysis of Nonkilling Global Political Science, is that there is no question that for Glenn Paige, nonkilling arts is an integral and major part of the nonkilling society project. This exercise has only confirmed the content of two long, fascinating and warm personal exchanges between this author and the founder of the Nonkilling movement, in Honolulu on 15 November 2008 and 21 July 2009.

Exploring the Countless Roles of the Arts towards a Nonkilling World
For the possitility of “nonkilling arts” to make sense, there must be such a thing as “killing arts.” This might be counter-intuitive, but it is important to recognize that music and the arts have been widely used, and are still used today, to encourage people to kill as many “enemies” as possible. Hitler, Stalin and other dictators have used the arts systematically to encourage their people to commit mass atrocities through propaganda and other means of indoctrination. Marching songs have given the courage and enthusiasm to soldiers in most historical periods and civilizations to go and kill, and not fear being killed. In the collective volume entitled Music and Conflict Transformation (Urbain, 2008), George Kent dedicates one chapter, “Unpeaceful Music,” to this issue. He writes:

We invite the reader to continue exploring this topic, which might provide interesting answers to the first part of Glenn Paige’s original set of questions mentioned above: “Is a nonkilling society possible? If not, why not?” For instance, one possible answer is: “It is impossible, because even the arts are used for killing!” In this paper, I will continue focusing on the “If yes, why?” part of the equation.

A personal brainstorming session has yielded the following short list of the positive roles the arts can play in the construction of a nonkilling society:

 * To praise the dignity of life, explicitly or not
 * To expose, denounce or condemn atrocities and killing
 * To promote a cause or an issue conducive to a more humane society
 * To empower people in extremely difficult situations, so they can avoid having to kill or being killed
 * To enhance positive human qualities that enable people to work towards the development of a less violent society (see next section)

First each of the first four statements will be illustrated by a few examples, and the last one will be more thoroughly explored in the next section. The evaluation of works of art is eminently subjective, and endless debates can be triggered by people’s differing tastes and choices. In order to avoid making broad statements that would do not make much sense to anybody else, I will simply state my own likes and dislikes throughout the series of examples examined below. There is no doubt that the reader will easily provide other illustrations, expressing different experiences and a unique appreciation of esthetics and human creativity.

To praise the dignity of life, explicitly or not
For me, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is a very moving piece, and I will focus on the “Ode to Joy” here. Even though evaluation of works of art are entirely subjective as mentioned above, I find comfort in the fact that it is appreciated all over the world, if not unanimously. It became the anthem of the European Union, it is played in Japan throughout Christmas every year, and is regularly performed on all continents. For countless people with various backgrounds, listening to the “Ode to Joy” brings out love for life and people, and for the power of human creativity. Once we know that Beethoven had become hearing impaired when he wrote this piece, our admiration knows no bounds. When transported by the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth, I feel the importance of life, of people, and a great enthusiasm for being alive. This can lead me, and surely others, to treasure human life, and to deepen our commitment to “respect for life.” Of course there can be racist or Eurocentric interpretations, but it seems to me that there is a large consensus that the “Ode to Joy” is an uplifting piece that brings out hope and love for humanity in the listeners and performers.

The power of “Ode to Joy” to inspire people to work towards a nonkilling society is implicit and indirect. The voices, sounds, rhythms and timbres do not say “no more killing,” nor do they say “violence is bad.” The lyrics, based on a poem by Friedrich von Schiller written in 1785, with additions by Beethoven, do not talk about peace or nonviolence, but about joy and unity, as in this excerpt: “Joy, bright spark of divinity, Daughter of Elysium, Fire-inspired we tread Thy sanctuary. Thy magic power re-unites All that custom has divided, All men become brothers, Under the sway of thy gentle wings” (classicalmusic.about.com, 2009). Here I want to use the “Ode to Joy” as an example of a work of art that implicitly provides a message towards the imperative of creating a nonkilling society. The music and the lyrics do not say so directly, but this is the conclusion that most people can draw when enjoying a transformative experience as listeners, spectators, or performers.

I would like to state that art that inspires us to praise the dignity of life, even if the message is not explicit, can contribute to the nonkilling society project. Which work of art inspires whom to feel what is an entirely different question. Other musical pieces that have the same effect on me are most of Beethoven’s other symphonies, Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the “Four seasons,” Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” from the “Requiem,” and many other Western classical works. Taken at random from other repertoires are Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon” from Head Hunters, Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” and Shinji Harada’s “Calling.” None of these songs are about the theme of nonkilling, but do bring out, in at least one listener, an appreciation of life and people that is conducive to the search for ways to realize a nonkilling society.

Sometimes the message can be more explicit, as in Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” in the famous scene when music has the power to avoid bloodshed, or in John Lennon’s “Imagine.” However the problem remains the same. The arts can inspire us to work for the realization of a nonkilling society, but it is hard to define what artwork has what effect on whom. There is also the question of “bad” art explicitely praising the dignity of life, and spelling out the necessity for a more humane world. Would these have a negative effect on the possibilities of a nonkilling society?

To conclude this section, I would simply say that if I were asked whether or not listening to or performing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” can contribute to the realization of a nonkilling society, the reader now knows what my answer would be, and is invited to explore his or her own.

To expose, denounce or condemn atrocities and killing
Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is the best example for me, and the most famous anti-war symbol in Western painting. When I saw the original in Madrid in 2005, I did not feel tremendous “joy” at being alive, but it did make me think about the dark side of human existence, about the absurdity of war and the omnipresence of killing in our world. The 1937 painting depicts the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by Italian and German warplanes on 26 April of the same year. Innocent civilians and animals are being slaughtered in this navy blue, black and white mural-size composition. On the right, a desperate person has both arms thrown up in supplication. This detail is reminiscent of one of Francisco de Goya’s most famous paintings, The Third of May, painted in 1814 to illustrate the events of that took place in 1808 in Madrid, Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. It shows a man about to be killed by a firing squad, throwing up his arms just like the figure in Picasso’s Guernica. Nowhere do these two paintings say: “stop all wars!” or “no more killing,” but the viewer is invited to reflect, or avoid thinking, about the issue. There is no guarantee that the sheer number of such works of art describing atrocities and killings will lead to a nonkilling society, but let us imagine their absence for a while. If nobody produces anything describing the dark side any more, that would be a severe impediment towards consciousness raising and education towards a nonkilling society.

Other examples of works of art depicting human suffering, death and killing are Victor Hugo’s 19th century novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Les Miserables and Ninety-Three, Stephen Spielberg’s 1993 movie Schindler’s List based on the 1982 biographic novel by Thomas Keneally, and a series of sculptures by Danish artist Jens Galschiot, each called Pillar of Shame. These 8-metre tall statues represent people suffering from oppression and have been erected in major cities throughout the world since 1997. The “VII Photo Agency” was established by a group of photographers in 2001 in order to produce a record of the injustices created and experienced by people across the world. Some of their themes are Genocide, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The reader is invited to complete the list, starting with Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and Oliver Stone’s Platoon…

Fulfilling a role quite different from praise for the dignity of life or the uplifting of the human spirit, I believe that art that exposes, denounces or condemns attacks on human dignity has a crucial role to play in the realization of a nonkilling society.

To promote a cause or an issue conducive to a more humane society
Paris-based painter and designer Lida Sherafatmand does not believe that art is only for art’s sake. She has published the “Humanitarian Art Manifesto” in 2004, and has held events to promote its message throughout the world every year, with support and popularity increasing steadily. The “Introduction” to the Manifesto states:

Some of Sherafatmand’s paintings have a title explicitly referring to a cause or an issue: “Children’s Hope,” “Working for Peace,” “Let’s Protect our Children from Wars,” “Stop Child Labor.” Whereas in Beethoven’s Ninth and Picasso’s Guernica the message in favor of the dignity of life is implicit, the Humanitarian Art Manifesto promotes the creation of art with an explicit message. A question that comes to mind immediately upon reading the Humanitarian Art Manifesto concerns the necessity of a Nonkilling Arts Manifesto. What would it look like? Would it be radically different from the above manifesto? Or should the nonkilling movement support the Humanitarian Art Manifesto and add a specific component for nonkilling arts?

In our list of examples of the way the arts can help promote a cause or an issue, we must of course add here the theme of nonkilling itself. Paige asks a fascinating question: “What kind of art will be created when artists are inspired by the belief that a killing-free world is possible and that their art can help to bring it about?” (2009b). Two examples of artists who have already started answering this question are Anis Hamadeh and Francisco Gomes de Matos.

Hamadeh is a German Palestinian musician and writer who wrote the song “No More Killing” in May 2009 to commemorate Glenn Paige’s birthday (28 June 2009). The song can be downloaded for free from the Internet (Hamadeh, 2009). The first verse goes:

Gomes de Matos is a prolific Brazilian poet who explicitely states the source of inspiration for his recent volume: Nurturing Nonkilling. A Poetic Plantation (2009). An excerpt from “A Nonkilling Song” follows.

To close this section, I would like to suggest another interesting project along these lines, exploring the activities of famous artists who have made a commitment to a cause. Some of the most well-known include the organizer of the Band Aid and Live Aid projects, Irish rock band Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof (humanitarian relief for Africa), Colombian rock musician Juanes (victims of anti-personnel mines), US actress Angelina Jolie (refugees), and Irish rock band U2’s lead singer Bono (poverty and hunger). They are part of a very long list of accomplished artists who have used their art, their fame, or both, in the service of a cause or an issue.

To empower people in extremely difficult situations, so they can avoid having to kill or being killed
If you were born and raised in the hills surrounding Caracas, your chances of having to kill to survive, or to be killed in the process, would be extremely high. An article dated 16 July 2006 described the barrios (districts, neighborhoods or more accurately, shantytowns) of Caracas as follows:

How could the arts possibly alleviate the suffering of the millions of people caught in these appalling circumstances? What could music for instance, offer to people who have to battle every day against destitution, poverty and crime? Actually music was able to work out nothing less than a miracle:

This extraordinary success story is symbolized by the young Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, considered today as one of the best conductors in the world, who has risen from the barrios of Caracas thanks to an organization called El Sistema:

The contrast between a life of poverty and crime on the one hand, and the empowerment provided by music on the other, is striking:

Among thousands of testimonies, one more will suffice to make the point:

What is amazing here is not so much that El Sistema has saved thousands of young people in Venezuela, but rather that music has not been used yet in most countries in similar ways to prevent countless precious lives from having to kill to survive or be killed in the process. There are many other examples of the tremendous power of the arts to save lives, and because of lack of space, I will only mention two illustrations of the benefits of music and arts therapy for child soldiers and refugees.

One unique story of musical healing is told by Sudanese hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier of the civil war, who is using his music and a documentary called War Child to share his experiences of violence and poverty, and to promote peace and education. At the age of six, Jal was trained as a child soldier by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, to fight and kill his Arab Muslim compatriots. After years in a training camp, followed by rehabilitation, study and hard work in Kenya and Britain, he became a famous artist. He says:

In 2005, he collaborated with Abdel Gadir Salim for his Ceasefire album, the first to bring together representatives of the opposing sides of the war, a young hip-hop Christian artist and a traditional Muslim Arab singer. Jal already has produced a CD, a book and a documentary, all entitled War Child, and he is making preparations to build a school in his hometown.

Esther Feagan wrote a thesis for her Master of Arts in Arts Therapy at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago, entitled Plotting Transition: Refugees and Survivors of Torture Search for Meaning through Visual and Written Narratives.

Her research question was: “Do personal narratives related through visuals, text, and sound enable refugees and survivors of torture who struggle with feelings of futility to recover a sense of meaning in life after migration?” (Feagan, 2009) She worked with adults who had emigrated because of trauma, and helped them to tell their stories through a combination of narrative and art therapies. The conclusion of her research was as follows:

The above section is just a small sample of the very different roles the arts can play for the development of a nonkilling society. For those who want to find answers to the question “If yes, why?” the arts provide a welcome relief from the tough contemplation of death, maiming, killing and destruction affecting humankind, but more importantly, offer pathways towards the transformation of the structural conditions and cultural predispositions of our world.

Human Qualities Promoted by the Arts
In the first section, a Korean professor was quoted as mentioning the qualities of “consciousness, reason, creativity, productivity” as conducive to a nonkilling society. One of the founder of peace studies, Johan Galtung recommends creativity, nonviolence, empathy as essential for peaceful conflict transformation. There are many other ways to systematize the importance of human qualities for peace, and another example is the Buddhist leader and peace philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, who recommends courage, wisdom and compassion. The psychologist Martin Seligman has identified six different categories of human qualities leading to happiness and fulfillment. First, Galtung, Ikeda and Seligman’s systems are explored briefly, then examples of how the arts do enhance positive human qualities are given.

Why did Galtung choose creativity, nonviolence and empathy? This is linked to his explanation of why conflicts arise. For him it is important to know the attitude, behavior and contradictions (ABC) characterizing the parties to a conflict. Throughout a career that spans decades and has produced more than 1000 articles and 100 books, and countless workshops and successful conflict transformation sessions, Galtung has affirmed that in order to transform conflicts successfully without violence, the best attitude was empathy, the most appropriate behavior nonviolence, and the most effective way to deal with contradictions, creativity (Galtung, 1996). Galtung often uses the arts in his work for peace. For instance, A Flying Orange Tells its Tale is a children’s book about conflict transformation published in several languages, and illustrated by his son Andreas (Galtung, 2007). He often plays the flute to indicate the start and end of his lectures at universities. Galtung has also written a chapter entitled “Peace, Music and the Arts: in Search of Interconnections” in the volume Music and Conflict Transformation mentioned earlier (Urbain, 2008).

Daisaku Ikeda is the leader of one of the largest lay Buddhist movements in the world, the Soka Gakkai International. He is also a man of dialogue and a philosopher of peace, who has established numerous educational, cultural and research institutions throughout the world, including a fine arts museum and a concert association. The three qualities of courage, wisdom and compassion he recommends as leading towards peace and happiness, are those traditionally characterizing the “Buddha,” a human being having reached “enlightenment” (Ikeda, 2002: 10). He is a firm believer in the power of culture and the arts to connect people and enhance peace and nonviolence, and is himself a poet, novelist and photographer. Two online exhibitions of his photographs, entitled “Dialogue with Nature” and “This Beautiful Earth” can be found on a website dedicated to his work (Ikeda, 2009).

The qualities of courage, wisdom and compassion emphasized by Ikeda are also found in most other religions and humanist philosophies. Among the six human qualities most conducive to a fulfilling and enjoyable life (and by extension, hopefully, to a life of nonkilling…), according to Martin Seligman, the founder of the positive psychology movement, the first three are the same as those recommended by Ikeda: wisdom, courage, love, a sense of justice, temperance and spirituality or transcendence (Seligman, 2002: 132-133).

There is some overlap between the three lists offered by Galtung, Ikeda and Seligman above, and by adding them up we obtain with the following list of qualities: “consciousness, reason, creativity, productivity, empathy, nonviolence, courage, wisdom, compassion, love, justice, temperance, spirituality or transcendence…” We could easily add hope, kindness, generosity, imagination, ingenuity… The point of briefly describing the respective systems of the three thinkers above is to show that human qualities are not floating abstractions, but concrete behavioral structures that are at the basis of entire philosophical and educational endeavors. In this context, the collective level of human qualities displayed by people at a certain point in time determines the quality of the culture of a society. If we want to move towards a nonkilling society, one of the most crucial elements will be the fostering of positive qualities in ourselves and others.

The potential of the arts to promote these qualities is tremendous, more accurately, boundless. In the volume Music and Conflict Transformation mentioned earlier, Felicity Laurence devotes an entire chapter to the power of music to enhance empathy. Most people have tasted the personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that accompanies the simplest artistic task. Creating art collectively has been a way to develop social cohesion for thousands of years. Visual artist Bert Monterona has become an expert at bringing people together through the joint creation of mural paintings, even people caught in opposing sides of violent conflicts.

Music and arts therapy are now recognized for their beneficial power to heal all sorts of physical and mental illnesses, and scientific research has now started into the potential of group music therapy, as in the groundbreaking research of Pavlicevic and Ansdell entitled Community Music Therapy (2004).

There are many more examples that show the amazing power of the arts to enhance human qualities conducive to peace, happiness, and collectively, to a nonkilling society.

Conclusion
Before suggesting some avenues for further explorations, I would like to end with a challenging question: if the appreciation of the arts depends on the subjectivity of the beholders, and if progress towards a nonkilling society is a question of commitment, where does the process start then? Will the arts influence people to make that commitment, or does it all depend on people’s commitment from the beginning?

Personally, I think commitments are made as a result of millions of small internal and external events, and are not simply the product of the rational use of our neocortex at some precise point in time. I find it crucial to promote a nonkilling society by any means possible, and especially through the arts. With the impending threats of accelerating global climate change, resource scarcity including peak oil and water shortages, it is of the utmost urgency for us to learn how to get along and organize our societies on a better basis than killing or the threat to kill. To end this chapter, I would like to suggest a few avenues for further research or explorations, compiled with the help of some friends.

 * How do we conduct a systematic exploration of works of art that “uplift the human spirit” contributing to a nonkilling society?
 * What would a Nonkilling Arts Manifesto look like? What would be the best way to optimize the impact of both this new manifesto and the Humanitarian Art Manifesto mentioned earlier?
 * Continue the list of artists that have used their art for a cause or an issue, people like Bob Geldof, Juanes, Angelina Jolie and Bono.
 * Peter van den Dungen is professor of peace studies at the University of Bradford, UK. He is the founder (1992) and general coordinator of the International Network of Museums for Peace and editor of Peace Museums Worldwide. He believes that peace museums have a major role to play in the development of a culture of peace. He also promotes peace tourism. For instance, he questions the fact that whereas most cities in Europe exhibit on their town squares an equestrian statue of a weapon wielding man, symbolizing the greatness of local heroes, very few have a scuplture of one person (or more) accomplishing some heroically compassionate actions (Van den Dungen, 2002). What would nonkilling museums and nonkilling tourism look like?
 * How can we evaluate if the use of nonkilling arts makes a difference? Is there any way to collect evidence that people who are exposed to nonkilling arts become more peaceful and less violent? This research can provide new avenues on the links between social psychology and the arts.
 * Once people start producing nonkilling arts all over the world, how do we find out which societies create more nonkilling arts (of the explicit type)? Would those be the less violent societies (showing that people express the overall culture of their societies), or the more violent ones (showing that people need the arts to express their most urgent needs)?
 * What could be the role of educational institutions such as music conservatories, fine arts institutes, departments of (for instance) peace studies or ethics at universities, in the promotion of nonkilling arts?
 * Certain states have funding for the arts. From a policy perspective, how do we encourage states to sponsor public programs that promote nonkilling arts?
 * Explore the use of nonkilling arts at all levels, from elementary to university. What would be the use of integrating such a topic in the regular curricula in different countries? Would there be a difference between the countries considered as democratic, and those less so? This could contribute to the Democratic Peace Theory if we broaden its scope to include the hypothesis that democracies do not fight each other because their people share a common human heritage of arts and culture, value creativity and the arts, and even focus on nonkilling arts. A related question is: would countries that introduce nonkilling arts in their regular curricula become more democratic as a result? Or more peaceful without any increase in the democratic level?
 * What can international organizations such as UNESCO do to promote nonkilling arts or to do research on nonkilling arts?
 * In his speech at Amherst College on 26 October 1963, John F. Kennedy mentioned the links established by Robert Frost between poetry and power. How could decision-makers and people in positions of power in general become more sensitive to the centrality of the arts and poetry, especially nonkilling arts, to effective and humane governance? The relevant excerpt from Kennedy’s speech follows:

 * The reader is hereby invited to continue the list…

As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Glenn Paige did not invent nonkilling. This concept is at least a few tens of thousands of years old, as old as humanity. Moreover, before there were any human beings on the planet to even think about it, we can assume that animals refused to kill every day, based on recent research (see Bekoff; Pierce, 2009). What Glenn Paige has provided to humanity is a way to think about the issue in a systematic way. This set of questions is a pure stroke of genius: “Is a nonkilling society possible? If no, why not? If yes, why?” For this he deserves our eternal gratitude, which can also be expressed through numerous works of art…

title: Ethics/Nonkilling/Arts


text: Talk:Airplane Flying Handbook/Basic flight maneuvers


text:
Strap-on quad roller skates

A pair of strap-on roller skates allows a person to quickly equip himself with a cheap method and faster than walking-type of transportation, which is usable on streets within the city. The pair of skates would be posted on strategic locations around the city (eg just outside the home, outside at the workplace, ...) As the roller skates would be a strap-on version, the shoes themselves do not need to be switched, allowing to quickly pull the roller skates on while on the street.

Another method to use the skates would be to carry them in a backpack. This method would be useful for people not following a standard route (ie work-home), or in cities that do not have a locker on strategic places, to secure the skates in. This method would also allow people to carry them on (public) vehicles, ie trams, trains, ...

Properties

 * Buildable in low-tech workshop
 * Cheap to construct
 * Made from materials approved by the cradle-to-cradle concept
 * Containing rigid structure, so as to allow use with non-rigid shoes. Non-rigid strap-on roller skates (eg Dualz skates, ... ) are thus not allowed.

Design
The overall design would be quite similar to the Scorpion & Quadline Urban Street Skates. It would however be made somewhat more simple and out of less different types of materials.!

Alternative
A alternative would be the use of strap-on jumping stilts.

title: Strap-on quad roller skates


text:
User:John Bessa/Load-bearing body armor

Steps involved in fighting are registering an attack, self=protection from incoming fire, preparing and positioning weapons, returning fire, and finally chasing the enemy when they start feeling the return firepower.

 * Under these conditions, a soldier might want to unload unnecessary gear such as sleeping gear and food, but will want to keep ammunition clipped on for returning fire, and may need other supplies such as water, and first aid.

 * This implies two layers, a "permanent" layer with the ammo that might also include body armor, and the less critical layer with supplies.

 * The load-bearing component of a military pack system has to be body armor. Weapons, water, ammo, and short rations need to clip to that, and the load bearing body armor components need to conform closely to the body, like an exoskeleton, to properly distribute the weight.  It also needs to extend the original ALICE system so that the loads can be carried w/o the body armor.

 * The pack itself with long-term supplies has to clip to the body armor with quick release clips at the shoulders and the small of the back where weight is transferred to the body armor.

=Pack designs=

Frame pack

 * Hip belt transfers the weight to the front
 * Frame transfers the weight downwards to the hip belt
 * Straps hold the frame to the back

Advantages
 * Weight is transferred to where it is best supported
 * Frame acts as a column to support weight
 * Pack load can extend upwards where carrying is most efficient
 * Straps or mesh across the back allow for air circulation
 * Sacks or bulky objects can be lashed or strapped to the frame

Rucksack

 * Weight pulls downwards from the straps

Advantages
 * Low center of gravity
 * Easy to organize

Tube pack

 * Bag is tube-shaped, or "D-shaped"
 * Structure can be a stiff foam sleeping pad the circumference of the bag
 * Weight is divided between straps and belt
 * With a small load, the pack resembles a rucksack where the top is folded inwards.
 * The sack can be increased in height above where the straps meet and connect to the bag
 * Side pockets can be added

Advantages

 * Physical maneuverability of a rucksack
 * Extensible from small to large
 * Light weight as it uses existing equipment for structure
 * Unbreakable

=Weight-bearing Components=

 * Shoulder straps
 * Hip belt

=Weight distribution=

 * Shoulders
 * Back
 * Hips
 * Combined distribution

=Layers= These parallel the ALICE design, which uses a commonly accepted load-bearing strategies

Short (inner layer)
Fighting and survival equipment
 * Weapon
 * Ammunition
 * Water
 * Short rations
 * First aid
 * Radio communication
 * Compass and maps

Long (outer layer)
Supplies
 * Tent
 * Sleeping bag
 * Long rations
 * Medical supplies
 * More Ammunition

Outer layer connectors
The sack needs at most four quick-release connectors and possibly only three to connect to the body armor, or the short layer.

Shoulders
Straps, if continued along their vector, meet just below the should blades. In strap designs where the straps meet at a central location, often attaching to a ring, the top of the pack is pulled forward with straps that meet the should straps over or just in front of the shoulder.

Back triangle
This is the area below the small of the back where the hips meet the back. In the back, this area is called the sacrum, but since the load is distributed across the entire area, and the term "triangle" is appropriate.

Development and body armor simulation
The LBBA model, through vector analysis, seems to support a solid-body, perhaps "old school," version of armor, as the weight from the pack, or correctly, the sack, pulls (or pushes):

 * Downwards to the "triangle" just below the small of the back
 * Backwards from the shoulders
 * Downwards and backwards on the muscle in front of the hips.

The ideal body armor is for distributing weight purely equally is solid, and it seems that a single piece model would provide both the most protection.

It should be noted that the frame-pack model does not necessarily have to distribute weight equally, as its load distribution can be optionally shifted between the shoulders and the hip belt.

The frame pack model also allows air circulation, which would be a challenge to provide for this single piece armor model.

The single-piece body model has been well-developed for the curing of extreme injuries to the back, and these kinds of body braces are available for every body type. It seems that they could easily be modified for this development, and the molds could probably be adapted for actual body armor manufacturing. As an advantage, this kind of armor would be specifically peace-keeping in nature, as it only benefits load-bearing soldiers, and will probably have no benefit for para-militaries or criminal enforcers.

Here is a page of images collected from the web (that are outside of this wiki's scope) that show the practicality of using existing medical technology for modeling LBBA, and possibly producing single piece "old school" body armor from this existing technology.

Single-piece body armor design challenges
Another design challenge is so obvious as to be ignored: how does a soldier put on a unified piece of body armor? The answer may lie in the back brace technology, or may be influenced by the weight vectors created by the outer layer, the sack. The inner layer design is less complicated, either relying on clips or straps to attach "short" items. The inner layer is still significant as it is the fighting, and not carrying, layer. Item location will influence the soldiers' fighting abilities.

The best design strategy may be to attempt to reach all the benefits of the frame pack, which include load type flexibility, air circulation, and load adjustment between lower and upper body through the "column."

Since the underlying model is the traditional ALICE design, then it may make sense to create a parallel pack design that replaces the body armor for safer environments, and perhaps training. This parallel equipment may also create a civilian market.

My ALICE pack
In 1984, I joined a nearly comical yet heroic journey around the United States called the Rock Against Racism Tour, where Racism was sometimes Reagan. On a school bus I found a mail bag filled with the radical paper, the Yipster Times, and I put my tools in it. A year later I found an ALICE suspender set in a dump in Woodstock, NY, and attached it to the mail bag. I have been using the pack continously since then, as no rucksack I can find is more practical. I used to to recycle discarded computers while riding my bicycle all through the 1990s, as it was "bag enough" for AT-sized computers, which were big and heavy.

The advantages of it were also that it does not cause perspiration to form on the back (more important in cold than hot because perspiration in cold causes hypothermia), comfort, and a low center of gravity.

title: User:John Bessa/Load-bearing body armor


text:
User talk:Iowaguy

 Hello Iowaguy, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --mikeu talk 21:28, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Iowaguy


text:
User:Iowaguy

Finally getting around to contribute...a little.

title: User:Iowaguy


text:
User:Dooleyhelp

Who is Dooleyhelp?
Keira Dooley

Lecturer California State University, Long Beach College of Education Website: www.keirabytes.com

Projects Accessible Technology Wiki

title: User:Dooleyhelp


text:
Medical Ethics Topics

This is a repository of medical ethics resources created by John Orlando and the students of the Medical Ethics course at Norwich University in Vermont.

Syllabus
Medical Ethics Syllabus Fall 2009

Topics
History of Medical Ethics

Privacy

Informed Consent

Surrogate Decision-making

Human and Animal Testing

Death

Euthanasia

Healthcare Rationing

Organ Donation

Surrogate motherhood and IVF

Genetics

 * Szaszian studies - professor emeritus and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz wrote a great deal about ethics in psychiatry and psychology

Debates/Discourse/Dialogues

 * Should suicide be legal?

Articles

 * Medical School Pressure--JohnOrlando 13:22, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Medical Ethics in the Media
Books, TV shows, Videos, Movies, and other media with medical ethics themes.

Medical Ethics Class Blog

 * Medical Ethics Class Blog

Just for Fun

 * Diagnosis Wenckebach--JohnOrlando 13:22, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Waking Up Is Hard To Do--JohnOrlando 13:22, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * UAB Emergency Room Rap--JohnOrlando 13:22, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

title: Medical Ethics Topics


text:
User talk:Dooleyhelp

 Hello Dooleyhelp, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 00:20, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dooleyhelp


text:
User:Renddslow~enwikiversity/monobook.css

body, #globalwrapper { font-family: serif; }


text:
User:Lysander89

About Me
I am a student studying a Bachelor Of Computer Science in Australia, and aspire to become a systems administrator upon graduating from university. I chanced across wikiversity while looking up information on performing floating point arithmetic for my microprocessors course. I work as an IT assistant in a small engineering firm running their IT equipment, and am always seeking to experiment with new ways to enhance productivity in the office.

First Impressions
My initial perception of this website was that there was a great mass of knowledge that could be harvested, but incompleteness, a lack of structure and few participants is what is keeping this project from moving forward. I have had a knack in the past for writing guides for younger students and I will be happy to draw upon this impulse again. But I believe the first thing that needs to be done is raise awareness of this project. Before coming here my initial sources of information were wikipedia, but even then the sheer verboseness and heavy formal structure were barriers to me finding the information and knowledge I was seeking.

To raise awareness, we could start by telling other people (such as my fellow students) about this project. However if they were to come here and be overwhelmed by the lack of structure in say the area of computing, then we will not have gained much. While I am not encumbered by my studies and other commitments, I hope to restructure the computer science/networking portal into a more guided and welcoming place. Once we have succeeded in this area, people will be able to work with some sort of idea as to how we want to teach networking. From here it depends on the number of people who will happily contribute their knowledge into the predefined areas that we have built.

Appreciate your concern for the technology and updating the link. Aftabs.

title: User:Lysander89


text:
Technical writing/Audience EE

back to Technical Writing Level 1

Picture Copyright SitronicsTS 2007 text by kind permission of Sitronics TS Czech republic

Personas
It is vital that you do not waste your reader's time. It is also important that you do not waste your own time by explaining things that the reader already knows. The reader usually starts reading your document because there is a problem with the equipment or software. The reader must get the equipment or software working again quickly.

This module introduces the use of a typical reader or persona to help make writing more consistent. The best way to save your reader's time is to only tell them information that they do not already know. Always focus on the task the user wants to complete, and describe it simply and directly.

Definitions
A reader is a person who will use your documents. A persona is a theoretical person who matches a typical example of the people who will use your documents.

How can you select the correct information if you do not know who you are writing for?
You do not need to do research yourself. The marketing department can tell you a lot about the customer. If there is no information then you can make some assumptions based on the type of document.

Questions to ask your marketing department

 * 1) What type of education does the reader have?
 * 2) *An engineer will have a degree with some computer studies included
 * 3) *A call center operator or shop employee may only have basic education to explain more basic concepts
 * 4) If the software is an upgrade then the reader has used a similar product before. Point out the differences between the two versions first. This may save the reader time
 * 5) Create a persona based on this research
 * 6) Write an introduction to a product for your persona

For the exercise
You need:

 * A picture of a typical document user. You can cut out a photo from a trade magazine
 * A product to write about
 * A new page on Wiki or Confluence

Exercise 1
Write "How to make coffee" in steps for a teenage relative with no experience

Materials: Ground coffee Water Coffee cup Percolator Milk (optional) Sugar (optional)

1. Fill the bottom of the Percolator with water

2. Measure the ground coffee (one spoon per cup) and add to the percolator basket and close the percolator

3. Place the Percolator on a lit stove and heat the coffee gently until it begins perking (bubbling)

4. Allow it to bubble for 7-10 mins and then take off the heat and stand for a couple of mins to allow the ground coffee to settle.

5. Pour the coffee into your coffee cup and if desired add milk and/or sugar

Exercise 2
Write "How to make coffee" in steps for a 45 year old Aunt.

1. Fill the bottom of the Percolator with water

2. Measure the ground coffee and add to the percolator basket

3. Place the Percolator on a lit stove and heat the coffee gently until it begins perking (bubbling)

4. Allow it to bubble for 7-10 mins and then take off the heat and stand for a couple of mins to allow the ground coffee to settle.

5. Pour the coffee into your coffee cup and if desired add milk and/or sugar

Exercise 3
Write "How to make coffee" in steps for a 28-year-old assistant.

1. Fill the bottom of the Percolator with water

2. Measure the ground coffee and add to the percolator basket

3. Place the Percolator on a lit stove and heat the coffee gently until it begins perking (bubbling)

4. Allow it to bubble for 7-10 mins and then take off the heat and stand for a couple of mins to allow the ground coffee to settle.

5. Pour the coffee into your coffee cup and if desired add milk and/or sugar

For answers to the questions, contact snuzprague@yahoo.co.uk.

Exercise 4
Create a persona. Make the Persona as close as possible to your real average reader. For the exercise you need:
 * A picture of a typical document reader. You can cut out a photo from a trade magazine
 * A product to write about

There are two basic questions:
 * 1) What information does your reader need?
 * 2) Where will they use this information? (in a call centre, in a shop, in an equipment room)

Hint for Exercise 1
Write "How to make coffee" in steps for a teenage relative. Perhaps some pictures of the items and locations would help.

End of Lesson Questions

 * 1) What influences the information that your reader needs? The knowledge, the awareness of the topic, the lifestyle, familiarity with technologies.
 * 2) What is the difference in the amount of detail required in Exercises 2, 3, and 4? The 28-year-old assistant should be given less details because s/he knows about coffee brewing and simple steps does not need to be explained.
 * 3) Do you have to give the same level of information to your Aunt as the teenager? No, because mostly all adult people are familiar with coffee brewing and the teenager does not know anything about it.
 * 4) Why do you have to give more details to the teenage relative? Because s/he has no experience in coffee brewing.

Next Module
Researching and interviewing(EE) How to interview experts (SMEs)

Previous Module
back to Technical writing Overview (EE)

General
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title: Technical writing/Audience EE