Digital Commons Network^™

Barriers To Creativity In The Conceptual Phase Of Engineering Design : Perceptions Of Designers At Rolls Royce Aerospace (Bristol) In New Projects Engineering, Rachel Amanda Jane Carkett

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Anecdotal evidence from experienced engineers suggest that barriers to creativity are often due to the limitations of current technology, methods and support systems (Baird, Moore, & Jagodzinski, 2000). The aim of this research was to explore what the perceived barriers to creativity are and how they are circumvented by design engineers working in New Projects Engineering (NPE), Rolls-Royce Aerospace (Bristol). Semi-structured interviews with four employees working in engineering design comprised a Scoping Study. This provided a general overview of the major issues perceived by the design engineers regarding barriers to creativity and resulted in six themes being identified. These themes …

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Frank Keating

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Factors For Effective Learning Groups In Face-To-Face And Virtual Environments, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

Group work has been a powerful instructional method used in face-to-face learning environments. To date, group work has not reached the same prominence in distance learning environments where there is a strong emphasis on independent or individualistic learning. This may be due in part to the perceived difficulty of engaging students in working together at a distance, as well as a general lack of knowledge about the factors that contribute to effective virtual group work. This paper reviews the literature related to creating effective learning groups in face-to-face and virtual environments. Research from the following four areas was used: cooperative …

Tourism Destination Planning, Neil Andrews, Sheila Flanagan, Joseph Ruddy

Books

No abstract provided.

The Cultural Economy Of Dublin, Ellen Hazelkorn, Colm Murphy

Books/Book chapters

This article examines the growth between 1990 to 2000 of the interactive media industry in the Dublin area. In this period it became a world leader in the development of electronic leading companies. The article assesses the role the state played in the development of this cluster.

Reasonable Expectations And The Erosion Of Privacy, Shaun B. Spencer

San Diego Law Review

This Article examines how the prevailing legal conception of privacy facilitates the erosion of privacy. The law generally measures privacy by reference to society’s reasonable expectation of privacy. If we think of the universe of legally private matters as a sphere, the sphere will contract or (at least in theory) expand in accordance with changing social expectations. This expectation-driven conception of privacy in effect establishes a privacy marketplace, analogous in both a literal and metaphorical sense to a marketplace of ideas. In this marketplace, societal expectations of privacy fluctuate in response to changing social practices. For this reason, privacy is …

Pavlovich V. Superior Court: Spinning A World Wide Web For California Personal Jurisdiction*

San Diego Law Review

This Casenote questions the Pavlovich court’s holding. More

specifically, it argues that the exercise of personal jurisdiction in this case violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and that the court erred when it failed to quash service of process. Further, this Casenote posits that exercise of jurisdiction here not only eviscerates the mandates of International Shoe Co. v. Washington and its progeny, but also extends California jurisdiction to cover Internet users everywhere.

The Purloined Personality: Consumer Profiling In Financial Services

San Diego Law Review

Although almost every sector of the U.S. economy practices consumer profiling,perhaps the most substantive challenge to consumer privacy is found in the activities surrounding the use and disclosure of consumer transaction data by the financial services industry. For that reason, this Comment focuses exclusively on consumer profiling in the context of the financial services sector, defined as banks, credit card issuers, brokerages, and insurance companies.

Into Contract’S Undiscovered Country: A Defense Of Browse-Wrap Licenses

San Diego Law Review

The Internet is important not only because of its popularity, but also because of its power for innovation. The Internet has caused an explosion of new services and innovative types of commerce. The Internet has also changed the contours of the marketplace, creating a connected economy in which anyone with a computer and a phone line can do business directly with a maker of goods anywhere in the world and at any time. The Internet has even changed consumers themselves, empowering them with unlimited information about products. The Internet has also changed the relationship that consumers have with products created …

Violence, Video Games, And A Voice Of Reason: Judge Posner To The Defense Of Kids' Culture And The First Amendment, Clay Calvert

San Diego Law Review

"We are in the world of kids' popular culture. But it is not lightly to be suppressed."' So wrote Judge Richard A. Posner on behalf of a unanimous three judge panel for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2001 in striking down, on First Amendment grounds, an Indianapolis ordinance that blocked minors' access to video games depicting violence. Judge Posner's erudite opinion could not have come at a more important time-a time when the entertainment industries in the United States seemingly are under government siege and when the media blame game is peaking. The judge's cogent reasoning and …

Spouses Need Not Apply: The Legality Of Antinepotism And No-Spouse Rules, Timothy D. Chandler, Rafael Gely, Jack Howard, Robin Cheramie

San Diego Law Review

Over the last three decades, there have been significant increases in labor force participation by women. Initially, this increase was fueled by the entry of single, childless women into the labor market. Married women primarily dedicated their efforts to home care concerns. However, in recent years, a new trend has emerged as "the levels of market work undertaken by married women have increased relative to those of unmarried women."

Internet Gambling: Should Fantasy Sports Leagues Be Prohibited?

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will examine fantasy sports leagues as a form of gambling. Part II considers various federal restrictions on gambling. State perspectives on gambling are addressed in Part III. Policy arguments are presented in Part IV, and practical issues are explored in Part V. Part VI concludes that Internet fantasy sports leagues violate gambling prohibitions. Finally, the Appendix sets out the gambling laws of each state.

Public Defender's Conundrum: Signaling Professionalism And Quality In The Absence Of Price, Robert J. Aalberts, Thomas Boyt, Lorne H. Seidman

San Diego Law Review

This Essay, the result of an

extensive empirical study in the state of Nevada, attempts to ascertain factors among criminal defendants that may predict how they perceive a level of quality and satisfaction with their lawyers as service providers, as well as policy proposals for improving the perceptions of public defenders.

To Breathe, Or Not To Breathe: Passive Alcohol Sensors And The Fourth Amendment

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing: A New Tool For Automobile Inspection And Maintenance, Donald H. Stedman

Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test Publications

Federally-mandated emissions testing of automobiles in Colorado has decreased emissions, albeit much less than predicted. Recent breakthroughs in manufacturing low emitting vehicles and in remote sensing of a moving car’s exhaust could enable Colorado to phase out or drastically increase the efficiency of treadmill-style testing centers. Remote sensing technology now allows a piece of equipment small enough to fit in a van to assess the mass of pollutants per gallon of fuel emitted by a passing car. Once an emissions scofflaw is identified, a number of options exist:

· immediate pullover and ticketing by a police officer;

· a “smart …

Multiple And Symbol Operators: The Battle For Market Leadership In The Irish Grocery Market, Edmund O'Callaghan, Mary Wilcox

Case Studies

The Irish grocery retailing market, one of the most competitive in Europe, has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. The demise of many small grocers, an increased concentration of multiples and the galvanization of the independent sector through symbol group participation has intensified competitive rivalry. The two largest multiples ie. Tesco Ireland and Dunnes Stores continually vie for number one position nationally. In recent years, Musgrave have galvanised the independent sector and are now in a position to challenge the top multiples for the prized pole position in the market. Recent results show that sales were up 15% vear-on-year, on …

Dynamic Characterisation Of The Head-Media Interface In Hard Disk Drives Using Novel Sensor Systems, Glen Alan Tunstall

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Hard disk drives function perfectly satisfactorily when used in a stable environment, but in certain applications they are subjected to shock and vibration. During the work reported in this thesis it has been found that when typical hard disk drives are subjected lo vibration, data transfer failure is found to be significant at frequencies between 440Hz and 700Hz, at an extreme, failing at only Ig of sinusoidal vibration. These failures can largely be attributed to two key components: the suspension arm and the hard disk. At non-critical frequencies of vibration the typical hard disk drive can reliably transfer data whilst …

Digital Watermarking For Compact Discs And Their Effect On The Error Correction System, Kay Rydyger

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A new technique, based on current compact disc technology, to image the transparent surface of a compact disc, or additionally the reflective information layer, has been designed, implemented and evaluated. This technique (image capture technique) has been tested and successfully applied to the detection of mechanically introduced compact disc watermarks and biometrical information with a resolution of 1.6um x l4um. Software has been written which, when used with the image capture technique, recognises a compact disc based on its error distribution. The software detects digital watermarks which cause either laser signal distortions or decoding error events. Watermarks serve as secure …

A Generic Network And System Management Framework, Martin Hans Knahl

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Networks and distributed systems have formed the basis of an ongoing communications revolution that has led to the genesis of a wide variety of services. The constantly increasing size and complexity of these systems does not come without problems. In some organisations, the deployment of Information Technology has reached a state where the benefits from downsizing and rightsizing by adding new services are undermined by the effort required to keep the system running. Management of networks and distributed systems in general has a straightforward goal: to provide a productive environment in which work can be performed effectively. The work required …

The Development Of A Novel Suspension Arm With 2-Dimensional Actuation, For Use In Advanced Hard Disk Drives, Chibesa Chilumbu

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

As magnetic computer disks are developed to ever-greater data storage densities, the accuracy required for head positioning is moving beyond the accuracy provided by present technology using single-stage voice-coil motors in hard disk drives. This thesis details work to develop a novel active suspension arm with 2-dimensional actuation for use in advanced hard disk drives. The arm developed is capable of high-bandwidth data tracking as well as precision head flying height control motion. High-bandwidth data tracking is facilitated by the use of piezoelectric stack actuator, positioned closer to the head. The suspension arm is also capable of motion in the …

The Development Of Party Systems And The Determinants Of Partisan Voting In English Local Government Elections 1973-1998, Lawrence Ware

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This thesis takes a quantitative approach to the study of the development of party systems in English local government following its reorganisation in the early 1970s. Aggregate data, including local election results and census information, are used to identify the determinants of partisan support and the subsequent effects upon variations in local party systems. The study develops the first major classification of local party systems between 1973 and 1998, focussing principally upon factors accounting for variations in the evolution of such systems. This study provides the first clear evidence that the operation of local electoral systems contributes towards the production …

The Process Of Design Is Almost Like Writing An Essay, Susan Orr, Margo Blythman

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Addressing Racial Diversity In A Writing Center: Stories And Lessons From Two Beginners, Nancy Barron, Nancy Grimm

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Information For Authors

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

The Development Of A Novel Electro-Magnetic Force Microscope, James Frederick Charles Windmill

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis describes the development of a new type of Magnetic Force Microscope (MFM) probe based on a unique electromagnetic design. In addition the design, construction and testing of a new MFM system, complete in both hardware and software, is also described. The MFM allowed initial tests on prototypes of the new probe, and is to provide a base for future new probe integration. The microscope uses standard MFM micro-cantilever probes in static modes of imaging. A new computer hosted DSP control system, software, and its various interfaces with the MFM have been integrated into the system. The system has …

Development Of Improved Head-Disk Spacing Measurement Methods For Magnetic Disk Drives, Xinqun Liu

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A detailed review of existing flying height or head disk spacing testing techniques has been made, and in-depth analyses of the working principles of the currently popular optical interferometry flying height testing methods are presented with simulation results. A new dual-beam normal incidence polarisation inteferometry method is then proposed. One advantage of this dual-beam polarisation interferometry is that it can be used for both the direct spacing measurement (DSM) method and relative displacement measuring (RDM) method. The RDM method is a good way to measure the head-disk spacing and the slider pitch or roll when a real magnetic disk is …

Spread Spectrum-Based Video Watermarking Algorithms For Copyright Protection, Cristian Vasile Serdean

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Digital technologies know an unprecedented expansion in the last years. The consumer can now benefit from hardware and software which was considered state-of-the-art several years ago. The advantages offered by the digital technologies are major but the same digital technology opens the door for unlimited piracy. Copying an analogue VCR tape was certainly possible and relatively easy, in spite of various forms of protection, but due to the analogue environment, the subsequent copies had an inherent loss in quality. This was a natural way of limiting the multiple copying of a video material. With digital technology, this barrier disappears, being …

A Meeting Of Minds Across The Workspace: Common Ground In Collaborative Design, Susan Elizabeth Reed

School of Psychology Theses

This thesis reports an exploration of how the use and construction of external representations through methods of signalling and conversational grounding, support the sharing of ideas for spatial design tasks and how that support changes as a function of access to a shared works pace, external representations and memory support. Further aims of the study were to develop a coding scheme to identify the use of language in establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between collaborators. Pilot studies identified appropriate tasks relating to visual problem-solving design tasks for use in the main studies. For the main studies, video recordings were obtained, …

An Antidote For Testosterone Poisoning: Ya Books Girls—And Boys—Should Read, Chris Crowe

Faculty Publications

Today's world is loaded with dangers and dangerous people; it's a place where kids-good and bad, naive and worldly, cautious and reckless-are at risk. The sources of these risks are sometimes masked in the mixed messages children learn from society-messages about gender roles, about behavior, about what's right and what's not.

Some of the fuzzy messages that concern me most are the ones that influence the behavior of young adult males. All teachers know that teenage boys can be some of the most obnoxious creatures on earth. I know this from personal experience as a former obnoxious boy and as …

Using A Toolkit To Support Practioner Evaluation, Jen Harvey, Grainne Conole, Ed Crew, Martin Oliver

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.