ATV docks with ISS

ATV Docks With ISS

The European Space Agency periodically sends an Automated Transfer Vehicle to the International Space Station to reload the astronauts with supplies. On March 28, ATV-3, named Edoardo Amaldi, docked with the ISS. Astronauts on the station took this unbelievable picture of it as it approached: Wow. You can see the thrusters on the ATV burning to control its approach, like it’s right out of Star Trek! The stars, the green and brown aerosol layer over the Earth’s limb, the city lights slightly blurred from the ISS velocity of 8 km/sec – it gives such an eerie and unearthly feel to the picture!

As, I suppose, it should.

The ATV is amazing: this uncrewed machine can dock with the ISS using just GPS and star trackers — telescopes that can determine position and orientation by watching the stars… like ancient mariners did. [Update/correction: The ATV doesn't dock with ISS using just GPS and star trackers; it makes its approach using those. Once it's close enough, a more sophisticated laser guidance system is used.] This mission carried oxygen, water, hardware, spare parts, food, and even clothing for the astronauts.

While it’s docked, it may also be used as a booster, gently pushing the station into a new orbit to avoid space junk, or to boost the orbit higher. Although there’s almost no air up there, there’s some. Over time, as the ISS plows through these rarefied molecules, it loses orbital energy and drops into a lower orbit. Periodic reboosts are necessary, and the ATV can be used for the job.

The ATV can stay docked for up to six months or so. After that, it undocks, de-orbits, and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, making a spectacular fireball. A blaze of glory, you might say, for a machine that helps keep humans in space.

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Volcano

Volcano Has Been Active in 36 Years

In late November 2012, Tolbachik Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula began erupting, the first time the volcano has been active in 36 years, according to Denison University volcanologist Erik Klemetti. Several days later, the volcano remained restless. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured two views of Tolbachik on December 1, 2012.

The top image is natural-color and shows what our eyes would see from the sky; the bottom image is made from a combination of visible and infrared light. Both images show volcanic plumes and a lava flow. In the bottom image, parts of the lava flow glow bright red, an indication of high surface temperatures. Gaps in the volcanic plumes allow glimpses of the lava flow underneath.

Klemetti reported that the eruption in late November occurred along two fissures. In these images, volcanic plumes—likely a combination of ash, water vapor, and other gases—apparently emerge from an east-west crack on the volcano surface. South of the plumes and the lava flow, multiple volcanic cones litter the surface of Tolbachik, casting shadows to the north in the low-angled sunlight.

Tolbachik is a shield volcano—a low-profile, broad structure with a shape resembling an ancient warrior shield. The volcano has a complex configuration, and the eruptive activity in late November reportedly occurred around the southern cone.

References

Global Volcanism Program. Tolbachik. Smithsonian Institution. Accessed December 4, 2012.

Klemetti, E. (2012, November 27) Russia’s Tolbachik erupts for first time in 36 years. Eruptions Blog. Wired Magazine. Accessed December 4, 2012.

Klemetti, E. (2012, November 28) First images of the Tolbachik fissure eruption. Eruptions Blog. Wired Magazine. Accessed December 4, 2012.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team and the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: 

EO-1 - ALI

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Employee Selection

Employee Selection

Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money.
SCREENING PROCESS FOR SELECTION OF A COLLEGE LECTURER IN PSYCHOLOGY
The screening process will only then be started when there are vacancies available for the post. The process of screening for the selection of a lecturer in Psychology is described below:
JOB DESCRIPTION 
• A copy of transcript showing master’s in Psychology & other degrees (matriculation to masters).
• Only those candidates can apply who are in the age range of 21 to 28 years.
• Candidates having research work and publications will be entertained with additional marks.
• Only those candidates can apply who is Pakistani national.
• A copy of national ID card will be attached with the documents.
• A copy of domicile mentioning the applicant’s district must also be attached.
• Pay = BS-17
Date of test and interview will be informed to potentially eligible candidates later via letter and it will also be uploaded on PPSC’s site. Any other information related to the job can be checked on PPSC’s site.
APPLICATION OF FILE PLACE 
Applicants who meet the above mentioned criteria must place their file to the office of PPSC with a complete filled form along with the photocopies of above mentioned documents. Only those forms will be considered for further considerations which are duly filled. Incomplete forms will not be considered further.
SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process consists of the following steps:
Initial Screening
All applicants’ files will be checked and only those applicants’ files will be further entertained which are duly filled and are attached with the photocopies of required documents. Incomplete forms will not be considered further.
Call Letter for Test
Those candidates who will be selected after initial screening will be informed through a letter about the date and time of test which will be conducted for the selection process and the result of the test will be uploaded on PPSC’ site.
Comprehensive Interview
  Those candidates who will pass the test will be informed through a letter about the time and date of the interview. The names of the candidates who will clear the interview will be uploaded on the PPSC’s site.
Background Investigation
A background investigation will be done in order to confirm the bio data and the information given by the candidate. Background investigation will be done in order to eradicate the chances of negligence hiring.
Conditional Job Offer
A job on conditional basis will be offered to the candidates who will clear the all above mentioned steps. The job will be conditioned to employee’s performance for a specific period of time. Only those employees who will perform better and will be able to produce good results in the probationary period will be offered permanent job.


Medical 
A complete medical examination is must and job will be offered to only those candidates who will be declared medically fit for the job by the medical board.
Permanent Job Offer
If the employee’s performance and attitude in the probationary period will be found satisfactory then a permanent job will be offered to the employee and the employee can entertain himself/.herself with all the benefits and allowances attached to the job.

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Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation.

Findings of the research articles on the topic “Relationship between organizational attitude and behavior (job satisfaction, job involvement and organization commitment) and work motivation.

Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation.

Administered questionnaires to 291 scientists working in research and development laboratories. Results of a factor analysis indicate that job-involvement attitudes, higher order need-satisfaction attitudes, and intrinsic-motivation attitudes should be thought of as separate and distinct kinds of attitudes toward a job. These 3 types of attitudes related differentially to job design factors and to job behavior. Satisfaction proved to be related to such job characteristics as the amount of control the job allowed the holder and the degree to which it is seen to be relevant to the holder's valued abilities. Satisfaction was not related to either self-rated effort or performance. Job involvement, like satisfaction, bore a significant relationship to certain job characteristics; unlike satisfaction, however, involvement was positively related to self-rated effort. Intrinsic motivation was less strongly related to the job characteristics measured, but was more strongly related to both effort and performance than was either satisfaction or involvement. 

Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover.

The relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is significant and consistent, but not particularly strong.

Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians.

Studied changes across time in measures of organizational commitment and job satisfaction as each related to subsequent turnover among 60 recently employed psychiatric technician trainees. A longitudinal study across a 101/2-mo period was conducted, with attitude measures (Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Job Descriptive Index) collected at 4 points in time. Results of a discriminant analysis indicate that significant relationships existed between certain attitudes held by employees and turnover. Relationships between attitudes and turnover were found in the last 2 time periods only, suggesting that such relationships are strongest at points in time closest to when an individual leaves the organization. Organizational commitment discriminated better between stayers and leavers than did the various components of job satisfaction.

Work Motivation and Performance: A Social Identity Perspective

Work motivation and performance were analysed from the perspective of social identity theory and self-categorisation theory. Central in this analysis is the relation of organisational identification with the motivation to exert effort on behalf of the collective. A theoretical analysis as well as a review of empirical studies of the relationship of organisational identification with motivation and performance leads to the conclusion that identification is positively related to work motivation, task performance, and contextual performance to the extent that (a) social identity is salient, and (b) high performance is perceived to be in the group’s or organisation’s interest.

Are Employee Motivation, Commitment and Job Involvement Inter-related: Evidence from Banking Sector of Pakistan.

Well motivated and committed employees with high levels of  job  involvement are considered to be the most important asset for any organization which serves as key to quality and productivity improvements. The current research study attempts to find the association among three important job related behavior of employees i.e. motivation, commitment and job involvement. Present study was conducted in banking sector of Pakistan. 400 banking personnel were randomly selected and responses were sought out from them by means of questionnaire. Out of total 400 distributed questionnaires, 305 were received back and 285 were considered as valid and then analyzed using SPSS 16. A significant but somewhat weak positive relationship of motivation, commitment and job involvement was found with each other.  Some important implications for future research are also derived from the study.

The relationship between employee motivation and job involvement.
The study aims to assess the current level of, and relationship between, employee motivation and job involvement.  This cross-sectional study was undertaken in a financial institution from which 145 employees were drawn using a simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using the Employee Motivation Questionnaire (Fourie, 1989) and the Job Involvement Questionnaire (Lodahl and Kejner, 1965) and, was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.  The results indicate that significant intercorrelations exist amongst the majority of dimensions and sub-dimensions of employee motivation and job involvement.

Job motivation and organizational commitment among the health professionals: A questionnaire survey

The objective of this study is to investigate the level of organizational commitment and motivation as well as the relationship between health staff’s organizational commitment and motivation within state hospitals. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the relationships between the organizational commitment and motivation were examined. Data for this study were obtained through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was applied to health professionals working in state hospitals by using the “Organizational Commitment Questionnaire” and the “Motivation Questionnaire”. Within this scope, the organizational commitment levels of the health professionals were analyzed in three dimensions which are emotional commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment and the motivation levels of the health professionals were examined in two dimensions: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The results indicated that intrinsic motivation of health professionals was explained mostly by affective and normative commitment. Also affective and normative commitment impact on intrinsic motivation was more than continuance commitment. The most effective factor on extrinsic motivation was normative commitment. Continuance commitment had effect on extrinsic motivation less than normative commitment. Also it was seen that the affective commitment had the lowest effect on external motivation. 

References

Edward, L. & Douglas, H. (1970). Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation.  Journal of Applied Psychology, 54, 305-312.

William, M. H. Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. (1970). Journal of Applied Psychology, 55, 411-418.

Porter, L. W.; Steers, R, M.; Mowday, R. T. & Boulian, P. V. (1977). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62,  237-240.

Knippenberg, D. V. (2000). Work Motivation and Performance: A Social Identity Perspective.  Applied Psychology, 49, 357-371.

Mohsin, F.; Nawaz, M.; Khan, S.; Shoukat, Z. & Aslam, N. (2004). Are Employee Motivation, Commitment and Job Involvement Inter-related: Evidence from Banking Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2, 217-226.

Govender, S. & Sanjana, B. (2010). The relationship between employee motivation and job involvement. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 13, 513-519.

Altindis, S. (2011). Job motivation and organizational commitment among the health professionals: A questionnaire survey. African Journal of Business Management, 5(21),8601-8609.  

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Check Out the New Blog + Reference Animation Tips & Tricks

Check Out the New Blog + Reference Animation Tips & Tricks

A few weeks ago, we launched our new Animation Mentor blog at

Now even though we’ve given our blog a whole new look — you can be sure that it will still be THE stop for all things animation (think tips and tricks, industry news, general chatter) and all things Animation Mentor (new offerings, updates, events).

Animation Tips & Tricks Is Still a Great Reference
We’re also excited to announce that the Animation Tips & Tricks resource is still available. That way, you can check out the great posts and fantastic animation references. Think of it as the best of both worlds.

We look forward to sharing our new blog — and our ongoing love of animation — with all of you.

— The Animation Mentor Crew

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Wi-Fi in Your Life

Wi-Fi in Your Life

No matter what your lifestyle is, Wi-Fi technology can play an important role in making it more productive, convenient and fun.   Wi-Fi uses radio waves - just like cellular phones, TV and radio - to create reliable high-speed connections between computers, printers, gaming devices, cameras phones and home entertainment systems. You can use Wi-Fi in your home, at work or on-the-go at hotspots worldwide.

Wi-Fi connects you ... to your office, your family, your entertainment, to the world.  It's available in thousands of devices and millions of locations, and it's easy to set up and use.

Wi-Fi has something for everyone.  If you are new to the technology, you'll love how it enables you to connect on the go and share an internet connection at home.  And if you have used Wi-Fi for a while now, you might like to find out more about how it can connect a huge variety of productivity and entertainment tools.

Make the Wi-Fi Alliance your trusted resource for Wi-Fi information.  Here are some good starting points:

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