A Local Restaurant and Western Restaurant

When trying to decide where to dine, either at a local restaurant or at a western restaurant, patrons should consider several aspects that concern these dining places. Some of these aspects include the food selection, the service provided and the ambience of each restaurant. When we talk about the food selection, both the restaurant must have a variety of menus as this is one that captured the quality required to be on every restaurant. However, as we all know, Malaysian people are of different race.So, usually, we can find three types of food at local restaurant such as nasi lemak of Malay cuisine, Chinese cuisine such as Char Kway Teow and Indian cuisine like roti canai. For western restaurant, although their foods recently are influence by the local food but its main foods are usually steak, chicken chop and spaghetti. Besides that, the western restaurants usually are sequential in serving their foods which are the appetizer, main course and desserts.On the other hand, the local r estaurant is only having the main course and only some of the local restaurants provide dessert like cendol or ais kacang. Secondly, when going to restaurant, we usually are comparing the service of the restaurant with the others. So, when comparing local restaurant with western restaurant, western restaurant will give a good impression to us. Western restaurants usually employ more waiter and waitress that are trained well whereas the waiter and waitress of local restaurant are usually shorthanded and we even can find some of them act rude to the customers.Due to more number of waiters, the food service for western restaurant is better than local restaurant where we can experience of waiting for so long for our foods at local restaurant. Furthermore, the waiters of western are usually standardized with their own uniform as the badge for the restaurant while local restaurant’s waiters are not provided with uniform by the restaurant. As the conclusion, we can say that western restaurant give more efficient service than the local restaurant.Another difference between western restaurant and local restaurant is the ambience. Both western and local restaurant will provide a place with relaxed and soothing environment to the customers so that they will feel comfortable to dine. However, western restaurant have quiet ambience with soft music sets whereas the local restaurant is a bit noisy and usually not included with musical set instead some are included by a karaoke set. Furthermore, western restaurants are designed with modern and creative high class decorative ffects to attract attention and impress the customers. In contrast, local restaurants are simply decorated, but have so many atmospheres which are compatible with its modest budget. However, both are design and decorate well so that the customers can look around and find a new item and experience if they have to wait. Thus, to decide whether to dine at a local restaurant or western restaurant, facto rs such as the food selection, ambience of the restaurant and the service provided should be taken into consideration.

Abstract Expressionism

Melinda Alexander Abstract Expressionism In this essay, I will demonstrate a comparison of control and chaos in the painting methods between Jackson Pollock and Helen Fraternally. I consider both artists to operate at a type of controlled chaos. However, I find that Fraternally used more control in her painting method where she carefully applied colors to certain spaces. Pollock's painting is more a result of his actions than a specific thought as where to apply a certain color in an empty space. Jackson Pollock's drip-method is creative and original. No one before him had used this method of pouring and splattering paint.Artists normally brushed or pushed the color. His process was completely unique. He did not use an easel. The canvas was laid on the ground. Industrial paint, raw canvas, sticks, and other tools instead of brushes were all materials that make his art pieces so unique. Lavender Mist exhibits an energy that almost gives life to the painting. The colors contrast in a w ay that are bold but not overwhelming. The dark hue mixes with the light so that it is neither heavy nor airy. At 87 X 118 inches the scale is huge. Amongst the chaos there is an even distribution of pattern and colors throughout the pacing.This gives it unity, symmetry and balance. I think that is why I call it controlled chaos. He reminds me of sort of a maestro conducting an orchestra. Using his tools, paints and body the way a maestro would conduct a symphony. He is moving everywhere flinging paint around not knowing really what it will look like. The spontaneity and originality of his work is interesting and cool. Helen Freakishness's work with water color is also original. I think her action is more controlled than Pollock as she moves the color to fill certain spaces on the paper and she sketches some with charcoal.Chaos is demonstrated as well with her painting freely from nature or her memory of it. Like Pollock, she painted on the floor and at a large scale. Mountains and Sea gives a calm and soothing feel generally. The lines are implied with the shapes being organic and soft made from where the paint seeped into the weave. There is unity with some of the sketched lines suggesting a scene. Yet the shapes remain undefined. There is also unity and balance with the color hue of pale greens and blue giving a cool effect. The use of pale orange accent as a contrast warms up the picture Just enough to make it light and airy.This painting is nice. I found Pollock's methods and pieces more interesting. Overall, Jackson Pollock and Helen Fraternally used techniques including both chaos and control while creating their art pieces. Both artists worked freely being surprised with the end result not really knowing what they were creating while working. Both artists used techniques and tools that were original producing effects new to the art world during that time. Fraternally used more control or thought in that she moved color into certain spaces. I think she was also more controlled in that she painted from memory ND sketched some.

Advanced Practicing Nursing and Approaches to Measuring the Performanc Term Paper

Advanced Practicing Nursing and Approaches to Measuring the Performance of APNs Advanced Practicing Nursing Advanced Practicing Nursing Introduction Advance Practice Nurses (APNs) are obliged to perform various activities within a health institution after having completed advance training. APNs include nurse practitioners and nurse specialists. Other nurses who are under APNs include mid-wives and anesthetists. All of the APNs nurses are entitled to offer direct patient care. This means that they have the obligation of providing education and consultation to patients. They are also required to offer clinical leadership and in some cases conduct research in their respective areas of operations. This paper provides information that establishes the value of APNs in the medical fraternity. Reasons for measuring performance of APNs One of the main significant reasons for measuring performance of APNs is because there have been change in response to various circumstances and activities entitled to be performed by these nurses (Brook & Rushforth, 2011). These changes have occurred because of advancement in core skills, scopes of practice and professional boundaries associated with APNs (Brook & Rushforth, 2011). The other main reason for measuring performance of APNs is that there is a growing consensus that many of the APNs are embracing other roles and obligations like management and leadership (Brook & Rushforth, 2011). This means that in order to make sure that they can be able to carryout these roles within the recommended and outlined ways, there is a need to measure their performance. Another significant reason for measuring the performance of APNs is that they are referred to be distinct in the medical fraternity because of their hybrid and quasi-medical practice (Brook & Rushforth, 2011). This means tha t APNs are obliged to carryout various crucial and autonomous medical operations. In order to be able to perform all these demanding activities there is need to measure their performance with the aim and primary purpose being public protection (Brook & Rushforth, 2011). Approaches to measuring performance of APNs Kleinpell (2003) indicates that there is a need for measuring the outcome of APNs. In order to measure the performance of APNs in an effectively way, Kleinpell (2003) provides the best approaches that ought to be employed. Some of these approaches include physiological. On physiological approach, some of the recommended area to measure includes heart rate and weight (Kleinpell, 2003). The other approach is psychosocial. Areas that ought to be given the first priority in this approach include attitude and mood. Moreover, there is also the need to consider behavioral approach (Kleinpell, 2003). This entails measuring compliance and motivational of APNs. Other approaches include functional where activities of daily life can be measured and knowledge where the medical knowhow can also be measured (Kleinpell, 2003). Establishing the Value of Advanced Practice Nursing APN offer significant contribution in the medical fraternity through conducting various roles that in most cases require special attention and extensive medical practice knowledge. Some of the established value and role of APN include providing response to the increased medicals specialization (Furlong & Smith, 2005). APNs also assist in providing response to the inaccessibility of medical care. Moreover, APNs are expert in clinical practice and therefore, they can be able to enact various obligations in health institutions. They are also employed with ethical decision-making skills that tend to be of significant importance in the medical fraternity (Furlong & Smith, 2005). Conclusion The above information indicates that APNs are of significant importance in health institutions as they contribute much in giving the recommended help to patients. Moreover, apart from taking care of the patients, APNs are equipped with other skills as explained above that assists them in providing help to a wide scope of areas. This means APNs can serve the patients, other staff members in health institutions and the public. Reference Brook, S., & Rushforth, H. (2011). Why is the regulation of advanced practice essential?. British Journal Of Nursing (BJN), 20(16), 996-1000. https://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=116&sid=87df2816-02fe-4803-bfc4-d7d964729bdc%40sessionmgr13 Furlong, E., & Smith, R. (2005). Advanced nursing practice: policy, education and role development. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 14(9), 1059-1066. https://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&hid=120&sid=87df2816-02fe-4803-bfc4-d7d964729bdc%40sessionmgr13. Kleinpell, R. M. (2003). Measuring Advanced Practice Nursing Outcomes: Strategies and Resources. Critical Care Nurse, 236-10. https://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=5&sid=87df2816-02fe-4803-bfc4-d7d964729bdc%40sessionmgr13

Sensation and perception Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sensation and perception - Research Paper Example Sensation is passive whereas perception is an active phenomenon in that one does not consciously make an effort to sense the things while it is not possible to perceive things unconsciously. (AlleyDog.com, 2010). Since both are abstract terms, many people can not interpret the difference between the two as they know into words, despite being educated on the clear definition of both terms. Our way of life is based upon the way we perceive the world in which we live making use of the senses we are naturally blessed with. Sensation and perception have their own respective roles in composing our reactions to what we see and hear. One factor that particularly distinguishes sensation from perception is that sensation is common for everybody apart from those with disability, while perception varies from individual to individual. This is because sensation is an output of the natural senses that are invested in a human by nature. A person with a perfect body is naturally equipped with all the organs mentioned before that function rightly to produce their respective share of the sensations. Occasionally, people lack one or more of these organs or the organs’ ability to produce their sensation even if the body consists of them. This results in a temporary or permanent lack of sensation. However, the way a mind interprets the messages received from body organs has much to do with the many other personality traits that are not common among all people. Also, there is a big role of genes in the perception of sensation. Psychologists make use of the way an individual perceives a particular situation to tell wheth er the individual usually adopts an optimistic, pessimistic or neutral approach towards the matters of everyday life. Attainment of this information is fundamental to devising the most appropriate solution to a patient suffering from psychological disorders. Two children brought up in identical conditions sharing the same

Change Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Change Management - Research Paper Example sidering that the management behind McDonald’s has decided to implement the use of digital CCTV in some of the restaurants around the world, this study will describe how the organization has addressed each of Kotler’s eight (8) steps for leading organizational change. Eventually, justification will be provided as to whether or not the organization has already addressed each of the Kotler’s eight steps. Given that the organization failed to address a step, a proposed method that will enable McDonald’s to address the step will be tackled to avoid resistance to change. Prior to conclusion, the truth behind Kotler’s statement â€Å"†¦successful organizational change is 70 – 90% leadership and 10 – 30% management† (Chang & Chan, 2001, p. 616) will be uncovered. Since there are McDonald’s restaurant all over the world operates at night, McDonald’s becomes one of the commonly selected meeting place among the criminals. In line with this matter, Andy Lane – McDonald’s region security manager created the urgency for the need to invest on CCTV in each of the company owned restaurants by convincing the top management that the use of digital video recorders could effectively protect their staff and customers from becoming a victim of crime (Dallmeier, 2009). By making the people know that McDonald’s is using CCTV that is directed straight to nearby police stations, there is a higher possibility that people who would visit the restaurant would behave appropriately at all times. McDonald’s top management has been successful in creating urgency for the need to put up CCTV in some of the company-owned restaurants. Not only did Mr. Lane identify business opportunities and consequences out of using CCTV cameras, he also managed to provide the people with valid security reasons for the said investment. To ensure that McDonald’s will implement the plan on investing on CCTV cameras, southern area managers Andy Lane and Robbie Hawes worked together to

How k-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and Essay

How k-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables - Essay Example l kids growing their own food). Unhealthy food habits observed among the students of K-12 schools seem to cause many serious issues to them and to the schools as well. These problems could be solved by promoting fruit and vegetable gardens in schools. K-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables because it helps to keep their students healthy and fresh in order to produce better academic results and to inculcate social values in them. Health-related Benefits: Better nutritional food helps children to maintain good heath which is essential for their physical growth as well as to maintain mental readiness for the process of learning. An encouragement to healthy eating habits has been given by the Welch's Harvest Grand program which is a joint effort by the National Gardening Association and The Welch's magazine. They provide opportunities for students to learn the importance of a balanced diet, the role of vegetables and fruits in their food habits; the student s can also gain an understanding of what they eat and how the foods are cultivated. Fresh fruits and vegetables included in their diet made them healthy and brighter and as Holly Orians comments, "the food service only has to say 'This is from the garden' and the kids are lined up to get the veggies!† (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) Welch's observed the participation of parents, teachers and even other members of the communities who worked on the gardens, and the students showed immense interest in the foods of which they grew and harvested. K-12 schools are thus benefited by providing opportunities to their students to have food which is made up of their own hands in keeping them under good physical condition. Academic benefits: The fruit and vegetable gardens of the school provide a 'learning by doing' experience to the children in the field of agriculture, which otherwise would have bee n only a verbal experience to them. The result of Welch’s program as Holly Orians states â€Å"we’ve seen improved science scores across the board and also students' reactions to the outdoors" (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) was a great success and proved that the K-12 schools are benefited academically by the introduction of fruit and vegetable gardens in their premises. Seventeen percent of the participant schools of the program reported a remarkable improvement in the test results of their students. The successful story of The Welch's Harvest Grand program thus proves the relevance and importance of the necessity of such activities to be carried out in primary and secondary schools in order to bring about desirable changes in the eating habits of the children so as to make them ready to learn and to produce better academic outputs. The story of Martin Luther King Junior Middle School of

Photorealism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Photorealism - Essay Example Through photorealism, the use of sketches as the primary means of gathering information has been replaced with photography, with the photograph being the subject of the painting. Through this process, photorealism complicates the notion of realism by mixing the together the real and the unreal, making their canvas painting of the image look exactly as if they were made from actual observation. The author takes note of how Eddy, got fascinated by the double layer of information offered by the features of window panes, that of being reflective and at the same time transparent. While it was apparent that any ordinary painter would eliminate the reflective property of the window as being insignificant or worse still confusing in the resulting painting, the author points that Eddy found the apparent confusion as the major intriguing factor, thus worth maintaining in the painting. The resulting artwork also exposes the ability of photography to capture the dizzying amount of information that can, later on, be analyzed for magnificent effects that in the words of the author, some sort of hallucinatory super realism. The author also explores another parallel development to photorealism typical of the works of Duane Hanson, a type of realism based on sculptors. Hanson’s photorealism substituted casting from a live model, thereby molding artworks directly on the body of an individual, as opposed to the substitution of photography for traditional sketching, characterized by modeling in clay, plaster or wax.

Compare and contrast Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compare and contrast - Assignment Example A recent study demonstrates that Latin American countries are lagging behind many of the world’s education system, as most students are unable to receive a higher education. In fact, only one in three students manage to receive a secondary school education, with many countries in developing nations such as Ecuador struggling to maintain funding for secondary teachers and schools. Another major problem is the high level of students who repeat a grade or who drop out of school before completing sixth grade. Rural areas face the challenge of many students having to work during harvesting season, further taking them away from school. However, it was stressed that the real problem for the region is not access to education, rather its poor quality. While the United States faces many deficiencies in education, including high drop-out rates in low income areas and relatively poor teacher quality, the base test scores indicate that the United States outscores most Hispanic countries. Yet, the similarities aren’t as striking as one might imagine, particularly when considering the structure of the systems. For instance, both share a similar University and Community College structure. The majority of Latin American countries also provide free and mandated primary and secondary education for all

Revenue Recognition and Lucent Technologies, Inc Essay

Revenue Recognition and Lucent Technologies, Inc - Essay Example In the case of Lucent Technologies, Inc. ("Lucent"), the recognition policies proved to be unfortunate in light of the SEC action against them. Generally, one of the most reliable methods for revenue recognition is the critical event basis. When a critical event takes place within the operating cycle, such as a final sale, there are few questions regarding the recognition of the revenue. This more conservative method is "justified because the price of the product is then known with certainty; the exchange has been finalized by delivery of goods, leading to an objective knowledge of the costs incurred" which allows the revenue from the transaction to be accurately recorded (Riahi-Belkaoui 45). This results in a faithful representation of the company's underlying financial condition because it is unbiased and verifiable. In terms of relevance of the information, the company may take the position that, since investors use the data to make decisions regarding timely investments, they should be given information that presents the company in the best possible light. This approach can result in more aggressive methods, like the on es used by Lucent, via a scheme of issuing credits to recognize revenue as soon as possible. ... Revenue should be recognized at the final sale. In the case of Lucent, the company's actions demonstrate the worst aspects of ignoring conservative revenue recognition. They chose to use any means necessary to present investors with a positive picture. Lucent's management decided that it was more important to show higher levels of income than engage in a faithful representation of true financial condition. The problem for Lucent was that investors were relying on the overstated revenues as a basis for owning the company's shares, and when the true revenue numbers were revealed, the stock lost over five percent of its value. Management's decision to massage the numbers toward the higher revenue representation was a poor one. This case demonstrates the down-side of tampering with information to meet sales goals so that investors will be please. It is far better to use a reliable methodology. Lucent's aggressive revenue recognition policies ultimately hurt the company because they were dishonest and biased. When a vendor has an ownership interest in a customer, it is easier to engage in these practices. By using the leverage of customer ownership, Lucent could claim the revenues it originally reported while knowing that renegotiated terms would result in subsequent credits against that revenue. The issue is one of control. Rising to the level of collusion, Lucent could over-ship to its partner/customers, show the gross revenue on its financials, and then control the final customer cost through credits. The failure to book the impending credits, when management knew that such reporting would temporarily meet the sales targets but ultimately result in reduced revenues, was

Report on TETRA Technology in 5 Questions Essay

Report on TETRA Technology in 5 Questions - Essay Example (Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999; ET Industries, n.d.) â€Å"TETRA offers the automatic operation and frequency efficiency of trunking combined with the terminal autonomy of a conventional PMR1. TETRA has a multi-mode capability by combining these two modes, trunking and direct (conventional), into a single terminal equipment, and it also provides the standardised way of inter-working between these two modes.† (Net Resources International, 2011) TETRA is thus designed to provide bandwidth-on-demand by which a variable quantity of bandwidth can be allocated for the call duration as per the application conditions set. TETRA functions through reference points and functional configurations, and flexibility of standards is maintained inside the network environment. (Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999) TETRA has wide spectrum utilities and it is perhaps best suited to establish critical mobile radio networks capable to handle emergencies. Who use it and why is it used? The technical spec ifications provided by TETRA are actually guided by a comprehensive set of end user necessities. As a result â€Å"most of the potential user groups of this network technology have been identified from the inception of the standard. Communication features such as group call, Direct Mode Operation, and numerous emergency-oriented supplementary services are all driven by end user demands during the standardisation process.† (Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999) In such a state of affair, TETRA has scope for both the individual users and a wide variety of user groups. TETRA user groups are described below: Table – 1: TETRA User Groups Source: Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999, p. 162 Inclusion of so many user groups in the TETRA networking realm proves that TETRA is extremely useful, flexible and dynamic. The main reason of popularity and diverse usability of TETRA is its multiple application support. â€Å"TETRA supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications bot h through the TETRA infrastructure and by use of direct mode without infrastructure.† (Net Resources International, 2011) To this extent TETRA can use applications like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) too. For non-voice applications, the major application types of TETRA are video and multimedia application and data-oriented application. Moreover, it is interoperable with GSM, CDMA, UMTS, etc. network architectures. (Plans, Paradells and Gomez, 2006) What are the TETRA components systems? â€Å"Most system descriptions are based on a conceptual representation of functional configurations and reference points, which is a widely adopted methodology of describing the interconnections of components within a network system.† (Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999, p. 161) Using this approach, it becomes essential to understand the interfaces in the TETRA standard. These interfaces through which TETRA components systems inter-communicate are described below: Figure – 1: In terfaces in the TETRA Standard Source: Bekkers, 2001, p. 382 Moreover, the standards for TETRA are related only with the peripheral environment of a TETRA system, referred to in the standardisation guide as Switching and Management Infrastructure (SwMI). Figure – 2: Functional Network Configuration of a TETRA SwMI Dunlop, Girma and Irvine, 1999, p. 164 With the help of the above network configuration diagram, we can find out six principle TETRA

Social Educational Theories Essay Example for Free

Social Educational Theories Essay Education plays a major role in any society. But the specifics involved in this role are still subject to debate. That is, the methods of teaching, the strategies of handling students, the style of managing schools, and the goals and standards of the educational system have been the subject of deliberation and reflection among educators, psychologists and social theorists. Educational systems have also changed numerous times throughout history and such changes are often the results of the emergence of social theories that influence the decisions of policy makers. In this research paper, four social theories will be examined: functionalism, Marxism, interpretivism, and post-modernism. These four social theories will be compared and their strengths and weaknesses will be discussed. In doing so, this paper will to what extent do these social theories explain the function of education in American society and how do these theories compare with the realist theory. What is functionalism? Functionalism is believed to have been developed by several philosophers in the nineteenth century but it was only during the early part of the twentieth century, the 1930s, did this social theory take official form in the United States through the work of Talcott Parsons. Unlike the earlier social theories that treat society as one vaguely defined system, functionalism boasts of focusing on the parts of the system and how these parts interact and influence each other. The parts have needs that the other parts can meet and this is why the parts exist in a state of cooperation. The system is then considered to be in equilibrium. However, the functionalists also recognize the changing nature of this system and that the parts adjust to these changes towards a new equilibrium (Parsons, 1951). Strengths and weaknesses. In the field of education, the major strengths of functionalism lies on the emphasis of interdependence and a path of evolutionary change that is not dramatic or chaotic. This is because the functionalists shun conflict and believed that any conflict can be avoided because each individual is influenced by the society’s norms. If an individual scorns these norms, there would be consequences such as social disapproval or even imprisonment. Unfortunately, despite the discouraging presence of these consequences, and based on the history of the world, the history of the American society, and of American education, conflict seemed to be significantly present. This made the tenets of functionalism naive and incomplete. Within the classroom, a functionalist teacher may induce the students to behave in an equilibrium-producing manner by emphasizing the classroom norms and the consequences that are given if such norms are ignored. Some of the consequences might be time-out, lower grades, suspension, and other sanctions. Again, similar to the greater society, the classroom society may have a few students who are not deterred by the consequences. This is not because the student intends to create conflict but because there might be some needs of the students that were not met. In the same way, there would be dissent and revolutions if social problems, such as poverty and tyranny, persist and come to a point when they become unbearable (Ballantine, 1997). Functionalism and education in an American society. Within the American society, functionalism might propose that the whole education system is entrusted with the responsibility of meeting one particular need of the society – to produce responsible and productive citizens. From one perspective, this functionalist role of the educational system may explain the function of education in America. This is because one of the purposes of the current NCLB or No Child Left Behind Act is to produce highly skilled citizens, who will be competitive in the global market (U.  S. Department of Education, 2004). Another perspective of functionalist that can describe the changes in the educational system in America is the concept of equilibrium. For example, the American society realizes that it needed to have better teachers and better students. The educational system responds by establishing standards and a more extensive evaluation procedure for school performance. Unfortunately, these two perspectives seem to be the only obvious connection between functionalism and education in a modern American society. Functionalism and realism. In the same manner, the aims of functionalist education doe not agree with the educational aims of realism, which is to produce perfection in an individual. Despite this difference in stated goals, functionalism and realism indirectly agree on some aspects of pedagogical methodology, such as the use of positive rewards. Functionalists espouse negative consequences for misbehavior while realists applaud positive rewards for admirable behavior (Merton, 1968). What is Marxism? Marxism is essentially a critical theory, which means that it seeks to reveal the negative and detrimental characteristics of an existing system. In this case, Marxism critiques capitalism. The major criticism is the way capitalist societies prey on the people who are stricken by poverty or possess vulnerabilities (Kellner, 1989). For example, capitalists praise the industrial revolution, which brought about rapid economic progress. The Marxists reveal the other side of industrial revolution that is unpleasant, which is the exploitation of children. Children, who may be as young as three years old, are allowed to work in factories (Cody, 2002). Strengths and weaknesses. In the field of education, the major strength of Marxism is the emphasis on teaching methods that encourage critical thinking. Marxists teacher engage in teaching approaches that develop collaboration and independence. Marxists teachers are critical of methods that only demand emulation and passive listening. Thus, some of the preferred methods of the Marxist approach to education are hands-on activities, cooperative learning, and constructivist methods (Kellner, 1989). However the social theory developed by Karl Marx often deludes clear understanding among philosophers, psychologists, and educators. This is because the terms used by Marxists are interpreted in a different way by the largely dominant capitalist society. And here lies the major weakness of Marxism. It cannot be completely understood and its tenets are viewed negatively by the society. Marxism and education in an American society. Politically, the American society is primarily against Marxism. It might be because America is a capitalist country or because Marxism is vaguely understood. In the area of education, however, the aim of Marxism to have students who are capable of thinking independently and critically agrees with the aim of many American teachers. There is a campaign towards the creation of questions that encourage critical and creative thinking. There is also an emphasis towards the creation of activities that encourage collaboration. But, the other Marxist educational aim, which is to produce individuals who will lead radical changes in the society, does not agree with the function of education in the modern American society. The American society may welcome critical-thinking individuals but these individuals must conform to well-established norms. Marxism and realism. Some aspects of Marxism agree with realism – especially about the view on knowledge. One of the pillars of realism, Francis Bacon, cautioned people to be aware of factors that prevent the acquisition of truth, such as limited experience, popularity, religion, and prejudice. Being cautious about these conditions equates to thinking critically. Another tenet of realism, which is espoused by Russell, states that education must lead towards the solutions of the ills that the society has. This can be translated into the radical changes that Marxists wanted. Unfortunately, Marxism is too radical for many realists and these two schools of thoughts are difficult to merge (Grabb, 1990). What is interpretivism? Interpretivism is one of the lesser-known social theories that emphasize the convergence of truth and perception. That is, the truth is similar to what is perceived. Since there might be different perceptions among individuals, these individuals must agree to one level of perception that is unanimously accepted. Once accepted, the common perception becomes a reality. Essentially, the reality that interpretivists create is based on the perceptions of the individuals. Due to this nature of reality, interpretivism can be perceived as a process rather than a theory. That is, in the field of social research, a society’s reality is obtained through interpretivism. And in the field of law, individuals must agree upon the interpretation of practices, statutes, and legal duties (Brink, 2001). These individuals, therefore, must have another basis for their agreement on interpretations. The basis is the set of norms and values of the society. Stated in this way, interpretivism can be deemed similar to functionalism, in which individuals or the parts of the society must conform to norms. And with regards to norms, both interpretivism and functionalism are opposed to Marxism. Strengths and weaknesses. In the field of education, the major strength of interpretivism is that it attempts to develop creativity in the learners, teachers, and education researchers. An object does not remain a simple object but takes on other forms. For example, a chair is no longer a simple chair but a place of rest, a symbol of sentimental moments, or a private corner. All these and more can be the forms of the chair. In this manner, the students not only develop creativity but a degree of open mindedness that will be useful in a global community (Vrasidas, 2001). Unfortunately, interpretivism lacks the structure that many educators wanted. This lack of structure is probably due to the history of interpretivism – which is a critical theory of positivism. Thus, Marxism and interpretivism have one thing in common – both are critical theories that offer a contradiction to an existing and dominant theory. Interpretivism and education in an American society. In the modern American society, interpretivism has been limited to the area of research. Due to this, it cannot be reliably utilized to explain the function of education in the American society. Except for the goal of producing creative thinkers, the interpretivists do not offer much detail or position regarding the teaching and learning processes. At the same time, there are tenets of interpretivism that contradicts the present educational system. For example, Interpretivists, due to their interpretation of reality, may not agree to the presence of standards and curriculum. They may also want to change the predominant methods of evaluation. Interpretivism and realism. The concept of reality between interpretivism and realism are conflicting. The reality of interpretivism is based on the perceptions of people whereas the reality of realism exists even without the presence of any person who can perceive such reality. Due to the opposing nature of reality, there would also be opposing perceptions about the nature of knowledge, which leads to differences in curriculum (Shinn, 2004). What is post-modernism? Similar to Marxism and interpretivism, post-modernism rose at the heels of a dominant existing theory. In this case, that theory was modernism. But, unlike the two previously described social theories, post-modernism adopts many of the tenets of modernism, which are futuristic in nature. Both modernism and post-modernism see a world that is not categorized by labels but fused. For example, in literature, there are no genres that separate poems and stories. But, there is no existing and recognized unity because both modernists and post-modernist realize the fragmented nature of the world. The difference between modernism and post-modernism is the attitude that the proponents and followers have towards this fragmentation and ambiguity. The modernists are saddened by it while the post-modernist embrace it. For example, post-modernist artists display their delight and fascination with chaos and disorganization (Heartfield, 2002). Strengths and weaknesses. In the field of education, the major strength of post-modernism is its ability to embrace and utilize the rapidly changing, chip-driven world. The teachers who are influenced by post-modernism will have the needed flexibility and adaptability to maintain and create direction for the students. For example, the meteoric rise of computers and other electronic gadgets might drag a teacher from his comfort zone and make him less effective. The post-modernist teacher would embrace the changes and will become computer savvy, along with his students. However, the post-modernist approach to education might endanger other aspects of the teaching and learning process. This is because the learning process needed structure and order – a concept that is not respected by post-modernist (Klages, 2007). Post-modernism and education in an American society. The theory of post-modernism might be used to explain the function of education in a modern American society, which is to help the learners adapt to their changing world. Obviously, the world perceived by the learner will change constantly and continuously. But, many of the educators and policy-makers in the American society will have second thoughts regarding this eager attitude towards change. Embracing the change might not be the best action to take. However, post-modernism wanted the students to think less of subject but more of purpose (Sarup, 1993). For example, the student must first determine his reasons why he must get a college degree. In this manner, post-modernism is aligned with the other social theories. However, post-modernism, at this moment, could not be utilized to fully explain the function of education in American society. Post-modernism and realism. Post-modernism, in the field of education, is not compatible with realism. This is because realism values the influence of science whereas post-modernism shins the importance of science. However, post-modernism embraces technological advances. These technological advances will not be possible without science. This attitude might lead to some compromise with the attitude of realists towards science. Realists believe that science will influence philosophies and post-modernists recognize the influence of changes. The function of education in the contemporary American society cannot be described fully by using only one social theory. A composite of these social theories must be used because the present American society has an eclectic view of the function of education.

Media Violence and its Effect on Youths

Media Violence and its Effect on Youths Introduction Background of the Study Over the years, researchers have examined the effects of before and after the introduction of media to the community. The constant question which crops up on the effects of media is, will the exposure of youth to media violence cause increased levels of aggression and violent behavior. According to Huesmann (2001), he said that the young adults may behave aggressively if they are exposed to media violence since young. Ones characteristics can be formed when they are young due to the exposure of media such as television, can determine what kind of a person he/ she will grow up to be. Media violence is reputably hard to explain and define. Violence is the act of a threat in harming and hurting where it could end up with life being sacrificed. The exposure towards media violence may arouse the aggressiveness in the behavior of a person. The connection between media violence and aggressiveness is interrelated because whenever there is aggressiveness it can somehow be linked to media violence. How media violence affect youth nowadays is indeed very important in order to have a clearer view of the society because if this matter is not taking seriously eventually violence in youth might contributes to a major portion of the increasing crime rates. Thus, the media indeed plays an important and major role in developing of morals and values of youth. Numerous shooting cases have taken place in schools, colleges and universities all around the world for the past few years. Many innocent lives have been taken due to the aggressiveness in youths. A youth who grew up surrounded by violence may have the tendencies of getting themselves involved in crime and violence at a higher rate compared than those who were not exposed to the media (Huston and Wright, 1997). There are many things around the world will influence a youths behavior, but in this research we will only be focusing on entertainment that is media such as television, wrestling and video games. The reason for researching on this topic is due to the fact that youth nowadays tend to develop characteristics by imitating behaviors from the media. One of the main influences of mass media would be media violence, where the printing and writing of the mass media wont have a big impact, because it is only visual compared to the media which has audio and visual effects at the same time. In many cases, youths tend to develop a violent behavior through media, and violence among youths is growing exponentially. Therefore, this study will focus on the university students perceptions towards media violence and its effects on youth in Malaysia. The specifications of media violence in this study are television, video games, internet games, music videos and music lyrics. Problem Statement This research is trying to find out what is the university students perception towards media violence on youths in Malaysia is because the media has the capability of affecting youths in their development of individual characteristics. The uncontrolled media violence incidents could be the birth of a more violent community and society in the future. Besides that, people may confuse reality by observing violence on media and develop unrealistic fears. It is an undeniable fact that entertainment media plays an important role for the future generations. Take the television for example; it has grown from a black and white small image set to full high definition wide screen. Today, it is a constant companion to most youths. Its influential properties are indeed undeniable, and the effect of media violence on youths is consistent. With parents working most of the time, youths are left alone depending on media as the sole source of entertainment, this of course leads to the youths tending to believe that all the behaviors and results are real and logical. University students can be categorized as youths where youths are generally visual learners because students at the university level is able to visualize the information given whether is it true or not rather than just trust whatever the information given. Visual learners think in pictures rather than in words. At this stage, they learn better visually, and usually would see the big picture first before learning the minor details. Most media nowadays depends a lot on visual effects; this includes media violence as well. The false admiration of heroes or heroines will cause youths to imitate the actions and behaviors from the entertainment source, and apply it in the real world. Youths will draw a quick conclusion and perceive that aggression could solve problems in life directly and generate rewards easily. Definition of the Term Mass media is any medium used to convey mass communication, and the mass media sources, which includes books, newspapers, magazines, radio, movies, television, and internet. It is a fact that mass media has grown by leaps and bounds, and the importance of it has also grown significantly throughout the years. Therefore, the influences in todays society are an unquestionable fact. One of the main influences of mass media would be media violence. Media violence is the visual portrayal of acts of aggression, and the action could be portrayed by anyone or anything, from human beings to animals. In many cases, the highly influenced group would mainly be youths. Such aggression behaviors include damages to properties, verbal abuse, emotional or physical abuse. In an important study carried out in Canada, children were found to have become significantly more aggressive two years after television was introduced to their town for the first time (Kimball and Zabrack, 1986). Children who prefer violent television shows when they are young have been found to be more aggressive later on, and this may be associated with trouble with the law in adulthood (Huesmann, 1986). The increase of violence among youths would reflect the growing numbers in violence among adults as well. This would lead to a crisis in society where violence would wander freely. University students are the future leaders, where the practice of media violence is normal to them could lead the world to an unhealthy trend by using aggressiveness to settle problems instead of using a peaceful way such as negotiation and meetings. Many wars could be waged and innocent citizens could be the victims of the violent world. The foundation behavior of a person is important because how a person grows up really depends a lot from the condition a person being raised up. Purpose of Research The purpose of this research is to find out what are the university students perceptions towards the media violence effects on youth in Malaysia. The research purpose is to analyze media violence on youths in contributing to a negative impact on society. This research also includes about how university students perception about the seriousness of the media violence affecting the younger generation compare to the older generation in this century. Research Questions There are three research questions which will be conducted in this research, they are: What are the university students perceptions towards the media violence effect on youth? Does the media violence affect their lives? What are the impacts of media violence on youths? Theoretical Framework (Social Learning Theory) Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. (Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, 1977) The social learning theory is considered the most influential theory of learning and development which was proposed by Albert Bandura (1977). In many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning concepts such as observational learning, imitation, and identification. The theory are as follows, people learn by observing the behaviour of others and outcomes of it. Imitation is another direct mechanical reproduction of behaviour and learning can occur without a change in behaviour. Behaviourists say that learning has to be represented by a permanent change in behaviour. Social learning theorists say that because people can learn through observation alone, not necessarily to be shown in their performance. People can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. Known as observational learning (or modeling), this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors. The observational learning and modeling process involved are attention, retention, reproduction, motivation. Literature Review The importance of Media In the society nowadays, the media has become an essential need that everyone must have such as food and clothes where is it indeed true that media is playing an important role to play. With advance improvement in the field of science and technology today, the media has become a crucial part in our modern society. Media is a social device in our communication lives. The media can be obtained in everywhere such as newspaper, television, radio, films and internet. The society exposed to media everyday. In fact we seek knowledge through media (Tan, 2009). According to Devrani (2008), the duty of the media is to inform, entertain and also to educate the people in the society. Despite of that, the media help everyone to know what is going on in the world from time to time. Media shape lives and the societys lives will not be complete without media (Devrani, 2008). The medias impact is through psychological and intellectual where the media shape public opinion and help frame the society. The medias information is what we read, listen to and watch (Angel, 2008). According to Adedamola (2009), he explained that the media had always played the leading role in the way we think and do things, he also point out that the idea of perception is the central role of the media. Besides that, media also affects a persons perspectives not only through television but at the same time through radio, newspaper and the internet (Devrani, 2008). A person cannot rely completely with the media because a person has to filter and critically analyze the situation before judging on something. It is also important to know that the media is able to influence our thinking and minds. With this is also explaining the reason why the media is so powerful to manipulate one persons mind (Tan, 2009). In parallel, the media influence the people on making the decision, the product s to buy, questions to ask and choices to make in the daily life (Angel, 2008). It is often use by the leaders to make full usage of the media to influence people and by controlling the media means controlling the flow of the communication among the society. Media Violence It seems like that the violence among children is growing rapidly in our society today. It happen almost every parts of the world but the question still remains a mystery. How do children develop to be so violent? Is violence genetically programmed in them even before they are born? It is possible to ever change their attitude again? In many cases, researchers found that nowadays, the entertainment media plays a powerful role in the formation of values and morals in children. For a variety of reasons, it is now time for a new assessment of what is known scienti?cally about how media violence affects young people and what can be done to mitigate these adverse effects. (C. A. Anderson et al, 2003). In the past few years, there has been an onset of school shootings, and many teenagers had been sacrificed. One of the examples is the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999, which killed 13 people and wounded 23 others. The incident was committed by two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, which involved imitation of characters of video games. They both committed suicide after the tragedy. In other case, Cho Seung-Hui has been identified as the gunman responsible for the two Virginia Tech attacks that claimed 33 lives to become the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history in April 16, 2007. Chos inability to handle stress and the frightening prospect of being turned out into the world of work, finances, responsibilities, and a family, Cho chose to engage in a fantasy where he would be remembered as the savior of the oppressed, the downtrodden, the poor, and the rejected. The panel went further, stating that, His thought processes were so distor ted that he began arguing to himself that his evil plan was actually doing good. His destructive fantasy was now becoming an obsession (The Virginia Tech review panel, 2007). Media violence contributes in making the student to have such evil plan mentality with a heavy heart that this world is so terrible to live anymore. In many situations, it seems that minority groups are usually targeted. The teenagers who kill seem to feel that they are being shunned and made fun of by their fellow classmates. The feeling would soon developed into hatred and revenge, thus sparkle off any undesirable incidents. Some of these tragedies have led to the killers killing themselves at the end in search of peace of mind. Violence (homicide, suicide, and trauma) is a leading cause of death for children, adolescents and young adults, more prevalent than disease, cancer or congenital disorders (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). It is possible for those who are naturally aggressive to be the most affected by the media violent while the most vulnerable at the risk of increasing in aggressiveness (Gentile, 2004). Family history and background does contribute to the violence because when the children grow up in the aggressive family tends to behave more aggressive. Television Watching television is also one of the main factors contributing to the media violence on youth. By the time a child is eighteen years old, he or she will witness on television (with average viewing time) 200,000 acts of violence including 40,000 murders (Huston, et al, 1992). Williams (1970) have studied both before and after the television was introduced in a rural village in British Columbia where after two years the introduction of television, the violent incidents had increased by 160 percent. In?uences that promote aggressive behavior in young children can contribute to increasingly aggressive and ultimately violent behavior many years later. Therefore, it is important to recognize factors including media violence that, separately and together, may play a role in these outcomes in childhood (Huesmann Moise, 1998; Tremblay, 2000). In 2001, the Surgeon Generals conclude on youth violence that the media violence rises up youths physically and verbally aggressive behaviour in the short term rather than violent behaviour. According to the National Commission in 1969, television violence encourages violent forms of behavior that they do not propose that television is a primary cause of violence in society but they do propose that it is a causative factor. In 1993, American Psychological Association stated that there is totally no doubt that often watch violence on television are interconnected with increased of aggressive attitudes and increased aggressive behaviour. Other than that, in 1972, the Surgeon Generals Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior has set a television research impact on children. They have come out with the result that the evidence supports, a beginning and uncertain indication of a causal relation between viewing violence on television and aggressive behavior for some children who are prone to be aggressive. In July 2000, the, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and American Academy of Family Physicians stated with a joint statement that over 1,000 studies point overpoweringly to make a connection in some children between media violence and aggressive behaviour. Video Games and Internet Games Most video games and internet online games nowadays would consist of violence or sexually elements and characteristics on the games to increase sales and popularity. Most of the youths seem to be indulged in the video gaming world until they apply the gaming world into the real life situation. Violent video games can cause people to have more aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and lessen sympathetic, helpful behaviours with peers. (Anderson, 2004; Gentile, 2003). In video game industry, particularly violence in general and sexual violence, the current trend is for gamers to be the bad guys. It creates acting out criminal fantasies in order to earn points for attacking and killing innocent passerby in the game. Even though these games are targeted for mature audiences but it is common and popular to be played by the teenagers. In the recent research about the video gamers by Anderson and Bushman (2001) shows that although the youth who only play the video games just few hours daily would also behave aggressively in the real world. By just playing the video games it can affect the youth negatively. This is a serious fact that cannot be ignored. According to Funk, Flores, Buchman, Germann (1999), the ratings provided by the video-game industry do not match with those provided by other adults and game-playing youngsters. The youngster and the adults totally disagree with the industry that has classified the cartoonlike character in many games as appropriates for general audiences. A study by Anderson et al. (2001), about a 14-year-old boy arguing that he has even killed somebody even though he has been playing video games for many years is indeed correct. Example for the 45-year-old two packets a day cigarette smoker also argues that he still does not have lung cancer. According to Anderson et al., both of them are wrong because their exposure to their respective risk factors of media violence and cigarettes has not unintentionally increased the likelihood of the people around them in future that one day suffers the consequences. Anderson and Dill (2000) also stated that violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very interesting and require the player to classify with the attacker. Anderson (2000) says, One major concern is the active nature of the learning environment of the video game. The exposures of the video games are potentially more dangerous than the exposure to television violence to ha ve significant effects on aggression and violence. (Anderson and Dill, 2000). In other meaning, playing video games may bring more significant violence effects on youths as they have the opportunities to be in the character and do the task in the games. Music Videos and Music Lyrics According to Waite, Hillbrand, and Foster (1992) says after the removal of Music Television (MTV) show a significant decrease of aggressive behavoiur on a forensic impatient ward. In 2003, Gentile, Linder, Walsh conducted a study on the fifth grade children where the children who watch MTV regularly reported to be involved into more physical fights compare to the children who do not watch MTV regularly. The regular MTV watcher also rated by their teachers is radically more aggressive and less prosocial. Music videos are also concern because these videos are sometimes stuffed with violence. The assumption of attitudes, behaviour and values portrayed in lyrics of the music that influence the young listeners on how to think and react received the most criticism from the public. (Carey, 1969; Christenson Roberts, 1998; Fedler, Hall, Tanzi, 1982; Roberts, Henriksen, Christenson, 1999). The songs and lyrics in the older days is totally different from now and the fact of the youths mind set also have change according to the pace of the society. Other the other hand, a group of mice were trained to run mazes in a high school science-fair experiments in where the group of mice were to put to listen to classical music, hard rock or no music. According to the student who perform the study says that the classical mice became faster in running the maze, whereas the hard rock mice became slower because the hard rock mice is killing each other while none of the classical mice did that (Eaton, 1997; Health, Wealth, Happiness, n.d.). Other than that, according to Rubin, West, and Mitchell (2001) stated that the college students who prefer heavy metal, rap or hip hop music are more aggressive than other students who prefer music such as country and pop where this bring a connection between the types of music youth listen and a broad range of troublesome attitudes and behaviours. The effects of media violence on youths Youths that often expose to the media violence tend not only behave aggressively but are more prone to have attitudes that support violence and aggression as a way of solving conflicts because the youths dun trust people around them and they view the world as a aggressive place. According to New Scientist ( 2007), by the time the average U.S. child starts elementary school he or she will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,00 acts of violence on TV. Besides that, Cyber (2006) says that after 15 years the researchers followed 329 subjects, they found that those who as children were exposed to violent TV shows were much more likely to later be convicted of crime. Researchers also state that, any children from any family regardless of social class or parenting can be affected by media violence. There is no word of escaping in the exposure of media violence because it is widely spread among the society and communities with the world. Girls who watched and expose more than an average amount of violence tended to throw things at their future husbands. In parallel, boys who grew up watching violent TV shows were more likely to be violent with their future wives (Cyber, 2006). Every violent TV show increases a little-bit the chances of a child growing up to behave more aggressively in their life. In the same way after many years looking for accumulated data, the society is now recognizing a relationship between violence in the media and social problems. According to Barry (2002), the one of her study result shows that tracked 700 male and female youths over a seventeen-year period showed a definite relationship between TV viewing habits and acts of aggression and crime in the later life. Barry (2006) also states that the findings of this study help strengthen the link between TV, violence and youths. This shows a relevant result in between the violence is connected with the youths from watching television. Perception of University Students Towards Media Violence and its Effect on Youths Murray (2002) says that media violence is one of the factors in contributing to forming of aggressive and antisocial behavoiur when a young boy becomes a young man. In a study Anderson, Carnagey, and Eubanks (2003) has reported that among 500 university students that violent music and lyrics increased the students aggressive thoughts, behaviours and hostile feelings. There are now good conclusion and practical reasons to expect perception and effects of media violence among the university students. According to Mortimer, 2005 (as cited in Caez, E, 2006) the students thinks that they may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, they may become more fearful of the world around them, and they may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways towards others. According to Cantor and Harrison (1999), they found out that 138 university students have perceive frightening memories of media images still continued to disturb them after many years. Cantor and Harrison (1999) also states that over 90 percent of the university students have trouble to sleep and phobia in certain situations continued suffer due to the scary experience from images they viewed as a child. In a survey conducted by Gossellin, Guise and Paquette (1977) found out that among 360 university students perceive that the heavy television viewers are more likely to think and mostly believe that the world is a dangerous place and the viewers are not particularly scare of it. This shows that the students were not bothered by the violence around them and do not see there is anything wrong with the violence (Mortimer, 2005, as cited in Caez, E, 2006). In Mortimer, 2001(as cited in Caez, E, 2006) another research also found that the students who are fear of being a victim of violenc e would prefer to carry a weapon with them and has the mentality of behaving aggressively and plan to hurt the people before the people get hurt them. This shows that the universities students have the perception of protecting themselves is important rather than just sit there and wait for protection. Youths Media Violence in Malaysia There have been many reports of youth involved in the rapes, sex crimes, and extortion including stabbing of school childrens. In Malaysia, police statistics on these crimes indicate that they are on the rise (Loh, 2004). This media report arise the sense of panic, curious and anxiety among the citizens. The violence convicted by the youth in Malaysia becomes more serious nowadays. There are eight juveniles are charged in killing a 16 years old student in Seremban (Loh, 2004). In another case reported in The Star in 2004, a mother and her daughter were reportedly raped by two youths who had escaped from a nearby reform school in Jerantut. According to The Star (2010), mention that there is this article back in the year 2002, a 12 years old boy was charged for murdering his tuition teachers 11 years old daughter by hitting her with a hard object. As 12 years old boy, he might not even realize that his action can kill a girl. Other than that, The Star (2009) report that a 17 years old youth was charged in the Juvenile Court by intentionally hitting and attacking a policeman and two Rela officers. Besides that, there is also a 20 years old youth ran amok and stab his father to death while his elder brother with serious injuries in an article in The Star (2010). The Star (2007) review that the Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, it is very important for the youth and youngsters to know how to say no to violence at the National Youth Week. The media also hold an important role to play in investigating and reporting on media violence on youth. Moreover, the media is responsible to decrease the causes of crime but not contributing in increasing the media violence in Malaysia. Methodology Introduction Methodology can be explained as an appropriate method use to examine a field of study when conducting a research. Besides that, methodology also ensures that findings are relevant with the research questions in order to have discussion over the results before making a conclusion about the research. In this research, theoretical frameworks will be formed and tested, where as the quantitative research in primary research methods are planned. From there the methodology covers the research approach and preliminary layout of study that consists of the theoretical/conceptual framework, research questions, questionnaire design, statistic methods, analysis and finally with a conclusion. Quantitative Research Quantitative research is a category of research tools used when precise results are needed. The results are expressed in numbers or statistics form. There are two research form of quantitative which are survey questionnaire and content analysis. For this study, the survey questionnaire is designed to collect primary data. This method was chosen because survey questionnaire is more appropriate to be use in this research to find out the university students perception towards media violence and its effect on youths in Malaysia. Furthermore, this survey questioannaire method is not expensive, consuming less time, easy to collect data entry and the questionnaire can be design according to the research questions that at the same time suit to the target respondents mentality. The questionnaire will be printed out and send out to the target respondents for this study. Questionnaire Design The questionnaire is design according to the three research questions of this study. Each and every of the questions in the questionnaire must be able to relate back to the research questions which is about the perception of university students towards media violence and its effect on youths in Malaysia. It is important to know how the university students perceive this situation. Hence, this questionnaire is design to study the opinions, perceptions and experience of them on media violence. Structure of the questionnaire There will be four sections in this questionnaire where the section A consist of the target respondents demographics such as the gender, age, marital status and educational level while section B questions are on the university students perceptions, section C is about the media violence effects and the last section D emphasize on the impact of media violence on youths. Sampling Size The sample size of this research is 100 targeted to university students in Selangor state in Malaysia because there are quite a number of university in this area. All respondents are required to be honest with the answer and respond during the questionnaire is conduct to avoid inaccuracy of data collected. Methodological Limitation In this research study, there were few limitations in conducting this questionnaire survey. Limited time in conducting this survey has leads to the inaccurate of data collection. The small sample size due to time constraint has become one of the obstacles encountered because it is not representing the overall university students in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. In total, 100 questionnaires were distributed, a sum of 99 filled-out with valid responses was returned. Therefore, the effective response rate is 99%. Besides that, existing theories by the western researchers, might not be suitable apply into the Asian context. Findings and Analysis Introduction In this chapter, data collected from questionnaire are being converted into useful information to be interpreted. Findings and analyses are run to addressed the research objectives and answer the research questions. The intention of this chapter is to present the results of the questionnaire, as well as to offer interpretation of the findings and analysis related to the research questions. The findings is divided into three sections. Section A will be an overview of respondents profile. Section B reports the findings and analysis of the University students perception towards the effetcs of media violence on youths while the Section C report about the media violence affects on daily life among the respondents. Section D will be the impact of media violence on youths. The last part of this chapter is about analysis of the findings and comparison of the literature review with the data collected. Section A: Overview of Repondents Profile In total 100 copies of questionnaire has been distributed, total number of collection is 99 copies. This makes the response rate up to 99% of the solid respond from the respondents. There were total 99 were return, 53.5% of the respondents were male and 46.5% were female. With the total of 78 returned, 53.85% of the respondents were male and 46.15% were female. The result of the age population finding

High Speed Internet Access Information Technology Essay

High Speed Internet Access Information Technology Essay Computer technologies have evolved new generation in the system of life. Almost in everywhere the computer technologies has been used for several purposes. Even the smallest organizations are depending on the computer technologies to operate most of their activities. One of the most important computer technologies is the computer networking, which provides many advantages. Nowadays, the computer networking becomes very useful to share the information easily. As you know , the computer networking are used in the active organizations, but lately even the small houses have got a home networks. Home network can be two or more computers are connected to each other to share some functions. Having a network are so useful for many reasons such as, hardware sharing. The users on network can use one hardware at the same time instead of using more than one. For example, if we have more than one computer at home we can use one printer base on our home network. Not only does a home net work provi de the ability to share resources found locally , but the fact that the home network can be connected to other networks. Most home networks, big or small, are also now connected to the global network which is the internet. A high-speed Internet connection is suitable in order to connect all computers on the home network to the Internet. There are many different types of internet connection. The three primary ways for home users to obtain a fast connection to the Internet are Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL), cable, and satellite. DSL is provided by telephone companies, cable is provided by cable TV companies, and satellite connections are provided by satellite TV providers. DSL shares the same phone line as the telephone service, but it uses a different part of the phone lines bandwidth. It does not interfere with normal phone service because there is a significant amount of unused capacity in current phone wires. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, including the minimum and maximum speed of Internet access, cost, and availability. I am going to make an active home network in our resident place ,which is located in Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Jalil , Savanna condo block A, 13th floor. This network will be used for many purposes such as using one internet subscription and one printer as well by more than one user. Besides that, I will take the advantages of transferring Data between the network users. As I am going to have a home network for six users or more, I have to pass through some steps. Firstly, I should know which types of internet connection are available and get the information about them. Secondly, according to the information that I will get, I am going to decide and choose one of the internet connections which has suitable costs and speed. Then I will apply to get the chosen connection. After that, I will choose the way to connect the users of the networks which rather will be wireless connecting and cables at the same time, which means I have to provide a wireless router and switch. Finally, as it is ment ioned above, I need to get a printer to be used by the all the network users. If we could make these steps done we will have a useful home network to achieve the particular purposes that I mentioned before, obviously after we implement it correctly. High Speed Internet Access: * Digital Subscriber Line (DSL):- The telephone system in this country has been around for more than a fifty years. And when you think about the actual physical infrastructure that make up the telephone system , you can see why it made sense and still makes sense to take advantage of the long distance of copper wire to connect computers at different sites. The telephone system is a switched network. This means that as a connection is established on the telephone systems network, it can be switched along different paths. For example, when you make a phone call, your voice communication does not necessarily move along the same route, even though you dial the same phone number when you call a particular person. As far as the transfer of data is concerned, the telephone system offers more than one possibility for moving information from source destination. This includes dial- up connection, dedicated lease line, and different switching technologies. One of the newest technologies for data transfer over the telephone system is Digital Subscriber Line. Digital Subscriber Line DSL is one of several popular broadband internet connectivity options. -Types of DSL: DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line.   Your basic high-speed connection that shares space with your phone line. ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.   Has a slower upstream (upload speed) and a faster downstream (download speed).   Ideal for personal use like e-mail or surfing the Web. HDSL stands for High bit-rate DSL.   Has a modem on either end of one or more twisted pairs of wires that delivers T1 speeds.   This method requires two phone lines. IDSL stands for Integrated DSL.   IDSL combines ISDN transmission coding and ISDN channels on one circuit.   There are no dial up or per-call fees.   This is a better option for subscribers that may live too far for regular DSL. VDSL stands for Very high bit-rate DSL.   It offers the highest speeds in DSL connections right now.   At present, this method is only being used for limited commercial use.   DSL providers hope to make this form of DSL more common in the future. SDSL stands for Single Line DSL.   SDSL is symmetric, which means that information can be carried upstream and downstream at the same rate. How DSL works: DSL works with a twisted pair of copper wires, just like the kind that connects to your telephone from the telephone company. When you make a DSL connection, your normal phone line becomes the medium for all of your voice conversations and your Internet data requests.   Just like in a cable connection, the line is shared by the two connections and the information is kept separate, so that signals do not cross. The equipments that we need to get DSL connection: A modem (also known as a transceiver) on the subscribers side, this hooks up the computer to the phone line and processes all information and data. In more details, computers work with digital information, the digital data that is, the ones (1) and zeros (0) must be converted so that it can be carried by the analog phone line. This conversation from digital information to analog information is called modulation. When analog information is received on the modem connected to the destination computer, the data must be converted from analog back to digital. This process is called demodulation. You can see that the name for these devices, modem, is taken from modulation and demodulation. Access Multiplexer on the service providers side, stands for DSL Access Multiplexer and it takes requests from many customers and sends them into a single connection to the Internet. DSL filter a filter is sometimes used to separate the information coming from voice conversations and from the Internet.   All signals fewer than 4 KHz are voice signals, everything over 4 KHz is Internet data either being uploaded or downloaded.   The filter acts as a barrier so that signals never cross. Advantages and disadvantages of DSL: 1- Advantages of DSL: There are many advantages DSL such as:- DSL offers a fast connection. DSL allows you to use an open Internet connection and use your telephone line for phone calls at the same time. DSL speed is typically a lot faster than a traditional modem and doesnt require new wiring. Actually you can use the phone line that you have already installed in your home to get DSL up and running. You will be able to download and upload files faster. 2- Disadvantages of DSL: surely, there are disadvantages to anything as is the case with DSL:- The closer you are to the central office of the DSL provider the better your connection will work. For example, if your location is far away you may get more problems of connecting using DSL line. Typically connection speeds are faster when receiving information and data than when sending data using a DSL connection. DSL internet providers in KL: There are many available DSL service providers in KL: * TIME Broadband: Broadband Internet is high speed Internet access with speeds greater than 256Kbps. Costs and speeds of TIME Broadband: Features HomeNET 256 HomeNET 384 HomeNET Pro* Download Speed 256kbps 384kbps 448kbps Upload Speed 256kbps 384kbps 448kbps Monthly Charge RM 78 RM 98 RM 138 One-Time Installation RM 120 RM 120 RM 120 (Author/ unknown, Timebroadband.time.net.my, 2009) The coverage of TIME Broadband: Buildings Postcode Casa Vista Condominium 50480 Mont Kiara Astana 50480 Mont Kiara Mozart Tower 50480 Mont Kiara Damai 50480 Mont Kiara Palma 50480 Mont Kiara Pelangi 50480 Mont Kiara Pines 50480 Mont Kiara Sophia 50480 Sri Wangsaria Condominium 50480 Straits Court Condominium 75050 Suasana Sentral Condo 50470 (Author/ unknown, Timebroadband.time.net.my, 2009) * Giga broadband: Its another DSL technology known as Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) provides an incredible amount of bandwidth, with speeds up to about 54 megabits per second (Mbps). VDSL Network Sdn Bhd is ready to bring Giga broadband using VDSL technology to the end users to enjoy true broadband speed running internet applications such as business portal, video on demand, voice over broadband, video game and other contents that require high bandwidth. Costs and speeds of giga broadband: residential    (Author/ unknown, Vdslnetwork.com, 2009) The coverage buildings: AsiaLife Building Avenue K Bangunan MBSA, Shah Alam Casa Vista Condominium Chulan Tower Crowne Plaza Empire Tower Hotel Istana Kenanga International, KL Kompleks Antarabangsa KUB.Com Lee Rubber Mahsa College (Author/ unknown, Vdslnetwork.com, 2009) * TM streamyx: Streamyx is Malaysias premier broadband provider, hooking up Malaysians nationwide with the fast-paced online world. The bandwidth provided by Streamyx gives you an unsurpassed Internet experience. Audio and video stream consistently. And youre easily kept abreast with the complex applications and heavy websites that are now in vogue. With Streamyx broadband well be able to: perpetually online enjoying unlimited usage for a fixed rate, and Downloading data at lightning speeds of up to 4.0Mbps! Costs and speeds: Package Download Speed Upload Speed Monthly Price Streamyx 384kbps 384kbps 128kbps RM20 for 10hrs additional usage: 5 sen/min (without modem) Streamyx 512kbps 512kbps 256kbps RM44 for 60hrs additional usage: 1 sen/min (without modem) RM66 (without modem) RM77 (with modem) Streamyx 1.0Mbps 1.0Mbps 384kbps RM88 (without modem) RM99 (with modem) Streamyx 2.0Mbps 2.0Mbps 384kbps RM188 (with modem) Streamyx 4.0Mbps 4.0Mbps 512kbps RM268 (with modem) (Author/ unknown, streamyx.com.my, 2009) The coverage of TM streamyx: You can check if your area is under the coverage or not by these ways: -By going to this website: (http://www.streamyx.com.my) By SMS Message: STXFIXED LINE NUMBER (e.g.: STX 0355195560) Send it in to 33535 And wait for the reply Comparison between the three mentioned service providers: Referring to our case (home network for five users) we should have an internet connection with accomplishment of speed at least 2 Mbps, so that, we are not going to consider TIME Broadband because it does not accomplish the speed that we need in our home network. The attached table shows the comparison according to our needs of our home network. Service provider Speed Monthly costs Availability TM streamyx 2.0Mbps RM188 (with modem) Available in our building Giga broadband 2.0Mbps RM148 (with modem) Unavailable in our building As you can see in the table there is only choice, which is TM streamyx, because its the only available provider we can get in our building. Beside that, it is considered as the most known DSL provider in Malaysia. *Cable internet:- Cable Internet is one of the most used ways of having an internet connection. Cable broadband Internet allows you to have a connection that delivers considerably faster speeds than other types of internet connection without effecting with your ability to make and receive telephone calls. A lot of people prefer Cable Internet to other internet options, such as DSL, because it works the same wiring already used to provide cable television in their resident places. This typically makes installation easier and faster. According to the information mentioned, we can define cable internet as high speed Internet access through a cable line provides the customer with high speed data without using a telephone line. How cable internet works: Cable Internet works same as cable television works. Cable providers use a transportation of backbone optic wires to transfer television channels. These same lines are used to connect the user to the Internet. This is possible because each wire actually consists of multiple channels. Most of these channels are used for television transmission, but some are booked for data and information transfer. Those channels are used for accessing the Internet and separate ones are used for uploading and downloading. The speed, in part, depends upon the number of channels made available for users. The transmissions go to the cable providers local data center. This center is considered as the main port for all of the television and data transmissions for this particular area. From here, the transmissions will be sent out along the fiber optic lines to the Local Node Box. This box collects transmissions for all of the households in this particular area. Since you only have one wire getting cable into your home, it will need to be supplied so that one part can connect to your cable television receiver while the other goes into your cable modem. You will also need an Ethernet card if your computer does not already have one. When your cable modem receives the Internet transmission, it translates it into Ethernet data which will be converted by the Ethernet card into information your computer can understand. The process is also used when you send data from your computer to the Internet. http://www.internetservicedeals.com/faqs/cable-internet cable_setup2 (Author/ unknown, electricinternet.com, 2009) As a summary we can get cable internet connection if we have these equipments -Equipments that we need in order to have cable internet connection: TV cable (the main source). Supplier (to make the cable wire split into two parts, one connected to TV and another connected to cable modem). Cable modem (translate Internet transmission into Ethernet data). Ethernet card (convert the Ethernet data into understandable information). Advantages and disadvantages of cable internet: 1- Advantages of cable internet: Cable internet service is always working and you can watch your TV channels while you are connecting to the internet. It is much faster than dial-up service. Cable internet service can use the cable outlet you already have at your home or business. A Cable Modem is typically supplied to you by your Cable internet provider. The distance between you and your internet provider will not affect your internet speed. 2- Disadvantages of cable internet: Cable internet service is shared between you and other people on your network segment. Cable internet service is not symmetrical in that the upload (send) internet speed is slower than the download (receive) internet speed. Cable internet service is not available everywhere. -Cable internet Service providers: Cable internet service is not available in Malaysia. * Satellite: Satellite high speed internet service is a technology for getting high speed internet connection by using satellite dish connected to the orbiting system. Satellite internet service is one of always on service, this means we can access to internet without affecting on the telephone lines as well. So shortly we can define Satellite high speed internet service as a high speed internet connection to the global internet network by using satellite dish. -How satellite high speed internet service works : Actually, satellite high internet service is divided into two types:- One way satellite service / which must be provided with standard phone line to make the data traveling via this standard phone line obviously trough the phone modem. It is called one way service referring to that the upload speed is very low and the download speed is higher than upload speed. oneway (Author/ unknown, sinosathk.com, 2009) Two ways satellite service / Two-way satellite Internet service can provide both sending and receiving data from the remote very small aperture terminal (VSAT) site via satellite to a hub teleport, which then sends the data via the terrestrial Internet. The satellite dish at each location must be exactly pointed to avoid interference with other satellites. The attached picture gives more explanations. VSAT Star-shaped Networks Equipments that we need in order to have satellite internet connection: Approximately a two-foot by three-foot dish Two modems (uplink and downlink) Coaxial cables between dish and modem Advantages and disadvantages of satellite internet: Advantages of satellite internet connection : Satellite internet connection is faster than dial-up, it can provide up to 1.5Mbps. Satellite internet does not require a hard wired connection to the provider. Satellite internet is almost available anywhere, even in rural areas. Disadvantages of satellite internet connection: The upload speed is not as good as the download speed. Satellite connection is affected by inclement weather. The signals travel for long distance that causes some problems of delay known as latency, which causes problems when playing games online or when making internet phone calls. -Satellite Service providers in Malaysia: * SMART Company: There two satellite services provided by SMART: service availability available speeds approximate monthly cost Smart Ku band anywhere Up to 1512kbps Starts from 350RM per month Smart C band anywhere Up to 2Mbps Starts from 998RM per month (Author/ unknown, smartmalaysia.com, 2009) * Broadband over Power Line (BPL): Broadband over power line is a new technology that allows the users to access to the global network (internet) by plugging computers into any electrical outlet. This technology is almost similar to the other types of DSL in speed and costs. In short, the BPL is defined as a technology that allows Internet data to be transmitted over utility power lines. How BPL works: diagram (Author/ unknown, howstuffswork.com, 2007) BPL works by modulating high-frequency radio waves with the digital signals from the Internet. These radio waves will be fed into the utility grid at specific points. They travel via the wires and pass through the utility transformers to subscribers homes and businesses. Obviously, it needs some necessary modification to the utility grid to allow transmission of BPL. The purpose of using BPL is that the data can be transferred by bundling radio-frequency waves on the same line with a current electric line, so that, data can be transmitted without the need for a separate data line. Because the current electric power and radio waves are vibrated at different frequencies, the two dont interfere with each other. -Equipments that are needed in order to build up BPL connection: bpl1 (Author/ unknown, electricinternet.com, 2006) As you can see in the picture above, equipments are divided into two sections: -Equipments that the provider should install them (disappear to the user):- 1- router: supports the implementation and switches the customer access gateway. 2- Coaxial cable: connects the coupler and the gateway together. -Equipments that appear to the user:- 1- Electric outlet: the source of the power. 2- BPL Modem: makes the data understandable to the computer. -Advantages and disadvantages of BPL: 1- Advantages of BPL:- BPL connection is not affected by the long distance compared with other types of Broadband, as long as there is a power line, BPL can be installed. BPL is generally not limited by technical constraints. BPL is less costly to be deployed than cable and phone companies, because it does not require upgrading the current power lines. 2- Disadvantages of BPL:- BPL can affect to the other radio waves which have the same frequency rang. BPL unintentionally, send broadband signals as radio signals which make some troubles that affect on the radio signals receivers. BPL providers in Malaysia: *Relam BPL communication: BPL is still not implemented in Malaysia. It is still under testing. Soon this service will be launched. This poster has been scanned to show you the costs of this service after being implemented. user posted image(Author/unknown, www.et.net.my) -Comparison between all types of internet high speed connections: Referring to the information mentioned above, here is a table to summarize and recommend which one is more suitable to this particular home network. This table concentrates on the available types in the place that the particular network is going to be launched in (Savanna condo, block A, 13th floor). Name of the provider type speed Monthly subscription fees TM streamyx DSL 1.0 Mpbs 99 RM Smart Ku band Satellite 1.0 Mpbs 350 RM As it is clearly shown, the obvious suitable connection for this particular home network is TM Streamyx, because it has less costs and it is the most known provider in Malaysia as well. Wi-Fi technology: Computer networking is becoming more improved and much useful. Previously, the computer networking started with a traditional way of connecting the devices together by using wires. This way was just the beginning of this technical generation. Recently a new technology has been introduced which made a huge change in the computer networking. This technology is called wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi). Clearly, Wi-Fi technology has been used to give the users the freedom of being connected together without using any physical connectors. -Definition of Wi-Fi: (Wi-Fi is a wireless local area network technology that primarily provides short-rang wireless high speed data connection between mobile data devices and nearby Wi-Fi access point). (Author/ unknown, phonescoop.com, 2004) Description of the technologies involved: Wi-Fi is used for wireless local networking technology that uses 802.11standard. It comes as wireless router which is usually connected to DSL modem. This router transmit and receive the data by using radio frequency (RF) technology, this radio frequency goes through electromagnetic spectrum then it will be supplied to antenna which is usually Laptop or any device provided with Wi-Fi antenna. The wireless signal typically has a range of 300 feet. The connection speeds get slower as the distance the computer and the router increase. -Importance of Wi-Fi technology: Wi-Fi technology gives us much freedom of getting connected without any physical preclusion. It makes the networking much simple and easy, reliable. For example, the user of Wi-Fi networks can connect to the internet anywhere under the Wi-Fi coverage. Besides that, it makes transmitting the data faster compared to other types of wireless technologies. Wi-Fi implementation: There are many standards Wi-Fi technology but two of them are the most common nowadays, the first one is called 802.11b which provides a data transmission speed up to 11mbps, the other one is called 802.11g which provides a data transmission speed up to 54mbps. As it is mentioned the G one is faster, it is more popular and also support the B one devices so it will always be chosen for implementing Wi-Fi networks. Hardware that are needed in order to implement a Wi-Fi network: 1-ADSL modem: usually given by the internet service provider. 2-Wireless router (access point): usually comes with four RJ45 network ports.http://www.datapoint.com.mk/catalog/images/linksys%20wireless%20access%20point.jpg 3-Wireless adapter: in case if there is a computer desktop PC, this computer must have a wireless card to receive the Wi-Fi signal, there different type of Wireless adapter:- PCI card: means Peripheral Connect Interface, this is the name given to a type of port inside the pc, which enables the user to add thing such as network cards, modems, sounds cards. dlink_pci_dwl528 USB Wireless Dongle: any PC provided with USB ports can accept this type of wireless adapter. http://img.alibaba.com/photo/100641524/Wireless_USB_802_11g_Adapter_With_5_Dbi_Antenna.jpg Software: There is no specific software to implement Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi router can be installed and configured by using any internet browser such as internet explorer. In the other hand, there is some software to manage Wi-Fi networks. It makes managing the network easy and controllable. Costs of implementing Wi-Fi technology: According to the hardware needed for implementing a Wi-Fi home network, the costs will be as it is shown in the attached table. hardware Price Linksys wireless router WRT54G2 168RM DSL modem Provided by Strymex Wireless adapter Linksys USB dongle 140RM So the total costs of implementing Wi-Fi technology is 308RM. *operational requirements of Wi-Fi technology: -Safety: Wi-Fi technology could be harmful to the human-being. The high frequency of radio signals could cause some kind of cancers. Referring to the studies that have been done, no one could prove the negative effects of the radio waves; no one could prove that the Wi-Fi technology is harmless as well. However, to be more secure, we should not allow the children to use laptop for long time. Also we should not use laptops on our laps especially when we use the laptops for long period. Security * Security mechanisms: There are several mechanisms to secure any Wi-Fi network each mechanism has its own concept:- 1-SSID: SSID is the short form of Service Set ID. In other word, it can be considered as the name of the network. The purpose of SSID is connecting the clients to the access point. SSID will be broadcasting to be seen by the clients. Each access point has a name. In case if there is more than one access point with the same SSID, it will be shown as one access point which has the strongest signal. In the other side, SSID can be hidden for more security by changing the settings of the broadcast to be unviewed so that the client must know the SSID. Unfortunately, hiding the SSAD does not mean that the SSID is really invisible; there are some programs to find out the hidden SSID such as NetStumbler. 2-WEP: is the short form of Wireless Equivalency Protocol. When the user set up Wi-Fi network, there will be two options of encryption, one is WEP and the other is WAP. WEP provides lower level of protection. It uses 64bit and 128bit encryption by using RC4 logarithm. WEP uses a secret encryption key to encode data packets before a network client or an access point transmits them, and it uses the same key to decode the packets after they have been received, it also prevents unauthorized access to the network, it performs an integrity check on each packet, and it protects the data from eavesdroppers. Generally, WEP encryption can be easily broken compared to WAP encryption. 3-WPA/WPA2: is the short form of Wireless Protected Area. It was created as a partial solution to the weakness of WEP encryption. WPA is much better than WEP but that does not mean it is completely protected.WPA can be cracked but not as easy as WEP. WPA is more secure because it uses a method called Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to automatically change the encryption key after a specified period of time or after the system exchanges a specific number of packets. Obviously, there is a question has been on your mind, how does WPA actually can secure the network? Well, WAP works in two different ways. First, in large networks, (WPA uses an authentication server to verify the identity of each network user. The server uses Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service (RADIUS) and the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to exchange encryption keys with the computers and other devices that are connected to the wireless network.) Second, ((in home networks and smaller business networks that do not have a server, A method called pre-shared key (PSK) mode uses a passphrase stored in the access point in place of the authentication server. To connect to the network, users must enter the same passphrase on their computers or other network devices (or set their devices to automatically enter the passphrase). When you set up WPA encryption, you must specify whether the network uses a server or PSK mode.)) (Author/ John Ross, The book of wireless, 2004) WPA2 is the recent version of WAP. They almost have the same concepts. There are some differences between WPA and WPA2. WPA Personal- Authentication method is PSK, Encryption Method is TKIP