Conflict

1) What is Conflict?


According to the book "Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships" it is stated that “contrary to popular belief, conflict is not a bad thing. It is, in fact, a healthy display of each individual’s uniqueness, free will and boundaries.” [1] It is also believed that conflict helps us learn and grow! [2] Studies also show according to the book that unlike to conventional wisdom, “happiness is not the absence of conflict. Happiness is the ability to handle conflict in a positive way. [3]


(2) How to be understood;

The way a person communicates with another can be misunderstood and it all comes with the reason that the way you communicate may not get through to the person you are talking to as their way of receiving information in their brain is different to how you receive and absorb information. In the book “Peace Talk” it has an example, ‘if you are talking to person X and s/he seems to be listening. Don’t be fooled.
Even if s/he is paying attention, there are chances are your way of expressing
yourself is not hinted to the way his/her mind processes information’.
According to these studies ‘there might be an even bigger gap between your ‘sending’ and X’s ‘receiving’ abilities if the message also contains certain emotional components.’[4] This means ‘the person you are talking to may not be in sync with your communication technique’. [5]

There is a way to help X really ‘hear’ you, and ‘avoid any misunderstanding
or partial understanding, you need to find out first what ‘language’ (i.e. thinking and communication style) makes the most sense to him/her.’ [6] this means you need to change words around that they can understand, make it more simple, maybe they are visual learners and its best to show visual examples or even make comparisons and metaphorical examples to help them understand, and asking them for a basic summery of what they understood can also help clarification.

In this book, it states that even spend ‘just a few minutes listening to person X (i.e. playing ‘mind detective’), it won’t be necessary to spend many hours of possible miscommunication, urging, and other nasty goings-on later.
While listening to person X during those few minutes, you will find out what
form of communication s/he is most comfortable with.’ [7]
There are many types of ways people choose to communicate ‘some people express themselves through stories or sketch. Some prefer to ‘cut to the chase’ straight away. Then there are those who like to analyze every thought like myself, or go off on tangents. Others prefer to hear ‘just the facts,’ and ask questions later.’ Therefore, you need to listen to person X first, you will be able to talk to him/her in a way you can e heard and understood. [8]


So as you are trying to work out and "mirroring" person X's communication style,
you are also listening to his/her explanation for being in conflict with you.
This information, combined with your Peace Talk™ problem-solving
skills, leads to prolific brainstorming and this way you improve relations. [9]


3) Essential Communication Skills

Have conflict avoidance through understandable, confident communication.
Be secure, successful, truthful, have non-threatening, and blame-free confrontation.
Both people have to listen and be a mind detective.
It takes two to tango so it needs to be two-way problem resolving communication. [10]


4) Preparation is the key to managing conflict well and resolving it successfully.

• Conflict always spawns anxiety. It’s best to expect it, accept it, and resolve it by focusing on your conflict resolution skills, not your emotions or on
imagined undesirable outcomes. [11]

• Conflicts can only be resolved, by just facing them and adopting safe confrontation skills first. [12]

• It does take courage and resolution to start confrontation. Some people like to postpone it. Others feel frozen at the prospect of confronting either a person or a situation. [13]

• Keep in mind: Anxiety and fear restrain both thought and communication. [14]

• It is important, therefore, to prepare well previous to opening a conflict resolution process.[15]

• To avoid ‘choking up,’ ‘blowing up,’ or ‘giving up,’ you need to be
focused, patient and have communication and conflict resolution skills. Above all, you need to be
READY!
REHEARSED!
RELAXED! [16]






References:

Picture was taken by google under ‘conflict’ on page 1: http://www.shelbycounselingassociates.org/clientimages/33040/conflict.jpg

[1] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[2] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[3] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[4] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[5] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[6] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[7] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[8] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[9] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[10] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[11] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[12] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[13] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[14] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[15] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.
[16] http://peace-talk.com/_wsn/page3.html : Excerpted from the book
"Peace Talk™-- A Guide to Harmonious Relationships"
by Dina Eliash Robinson.

Picture of two men shaking hands is taken from google under “conflict resolved” on page 1
http://www.bianchi-group.com/images/handshake1.jpg

Remuneration

In the class presentation the topic “remuneration” was presented and it gave us a clear understanding of what remuneration essentially was, in my further research of this topic I decided to elaborate on the topic in general in the work force. So what is Remuneration? It’s a form of payment, a salary, a wage or even a reward. The wage is something that remunerates; "wages were paid by check"; "he wasted his pay on drink"; "they saved a quarter of all their earnings". [1] It is also defined as the act of paying for goods or services or to recompense for losses; "adequate remuneration for his work". [2] Remuneration can also be a pay or a salary which is normally monetary payment for services rendered, in an employment. [3]

This can include a base salary or fees, assured and/or anticipated bonus and earning a commission, inducement payments, allowances, sometimes even the advantage of receiving a company car and all other payments and taxable. [4] It could also be a payment for service. [5] It can be a payment prepared for services rendered to a company. Remuneration includes the following; Commission for seeking for an applicant for each applicant, whose request is subject to commission according to the above information, a company is obliged to pay the due expenses according to the following system, except if it is agreed in individual cases. [6] It is frequently called ‘payroll’. Includes wages, commission, bonus, it can be a pay for holidays, vacations, overtime pay and sickness and even payment for section of work. [7]

Remuneration can also be identified as the sum of all direct and indirect cash payments to an employee. It can consist of cash and non-cash rewards such as base pay, health insurance, allowances, childcare allowance, personal use of a company car, superannuation contributions and bonus payments. [8] Also it can actually depend on the professional background of an employee, perhaps even the experience and family circumstances, a competitive compensation and benefits package is obtainable. [9]
Remuneration also means base salary or hourly rate. [10]

The remuneration I have gained in this class is definitely the experience with working with groups, the advantages, the challenges and how to compromise; also the skill gained using Ut3 is one of the biggest rewards I could ever receive.











Reference:
[1] wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
[2] wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
[3] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remuneration
[4] www.dinosaursunlimited.co.uk/terms.php
[5] www.maine.gov/labor/unemployment/taxglossary.html
[6] www.amazon.de/b
[7] www.safeco.com/safeco/for_your_business/Premium_Audit_Services/prem_audit_glossary.asp
[8] www.workinsight.govt.nz/services/PayAndEmploymentEquity/resources/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-5.asp
[9] unjobs.org/vacancies/1180094507303
[10] www.beautyrecruitment.ie/timesheet/TOB%20Temp.doc

Context

Context is often referred to the environment, a milieu, scenery. It is a Latin origin “contextus” the surroundings, circumstances, background or settings which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event. [1] Context in an UT3 can be changed by using lighting, furniture, building materials, topology, sound and color. In our fabrication, our project “The Wombarra house” is situated in a context is beach/bush landscape and applying that environment to our UT3 design is the ultimate goal in creating the concept. If our context is changed, then our concept changes too. The word concept is often referred to the idea, the notion of our project, or the perception of the context.
Researching and site seeing has given our group members an understanding of the context we strive to produce. We are working on our fabrication to recreate the context of the existing location of where the site is situated, if by any means the correct context is not provided in our project we might generate the wrong context and therefore have a misinterpretation of the environment of the project which will change the concept of our assignment.

Using UT3 can be a device to recreate the feeling, the environment, the style of the Wombarra House, using certain textures, sounds that match the environment of the mountain or bush land such as bird sounds as well as the beach which would be waves crashing and the sound of seagulls can make a large impact on the project as it sets the mood of the context. This is the concept we are trying to create. Another way we can express the mood of this environment is using lighting to set an atmosphere, preferably of a soothing, calm, home-like environment. Bringing that feeling in the project is our aim, as our project may not be the most interesting or grandiose and well-known building, Therefore we must use the strength of the building which is the context, so we are effectively recreating the feeling which is the most important part of our house that will capture the audience’s attention as the house will offer a sense of warmth that will steal the audience away with the emotion that this building will provide.

Reference;

[1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/context

Planning

Explain the principle roles/aims of statutory planning with regards to the built environment?

Introduction

Statutory planning is more commonly known as town planning and the control and development within an area [1] it aims to cater for the general public and ensure well-organized and resourceful planning. To minimize negative effects on other people, properties or the environment while helping communities and individuals achieve their development aims [2].
Urban planning is concerned with the ordering and design of settlements, from the smallest towns to the world's largest cities and it doesn’t just deal with the making of plans but also deals with managing development to correspond with planning objectives [3] such as certain codes and regulations abided by councils and made by higher planning authorities which could even be governed by planning law [4].
Planning has a large role in arranging and structuring the disciplines of the built environment. E.g. before landscapers, architects or designers branch out and work on their appointed area, planners acknowledge the project as a whole. This keeps the project contained and managed.
Statutory planning history: in the 18th century in Britain where town planning laws didn’t exist, population was increasing and people were migrating from farming areas to more structured city living and the houses developed had low amenities and didn’t cater very well for daily living and this is why the British government at the time decided to introduce the Town Planning Act 1909, which was the first planning statute to be enacted. This act was limited it provided a new beginning to organized town planning and development [5]
“Picture” I just prepared a quick layout of the area of our unbuilt project just to show what type or urban planning was in involved in the small town of Wombarra.
As we can see the Wombarra house is situated in a developed urban residential area with a hospital down south, neighboring restaurants sporting facilities such as surf club and also has cottages to accommodate for tourists.
You may now see in the picture but looking at the residences nearby and our unbuilt residence; you get the idea that the building designers wanted to build the houses taking advantage of the local natural environment, such as using the beach views.
This was their aim, to plan an environment to take advantage and for the benefit of the community, it aims to provide for the general public and ensure well-organized and resourceful planning. To reduce negative effects on other people, properties or the environment while helping communities and individuals achieve their development intend [6 ] which is to manage an effective functioning of the built environment. [7].
Reference:
[1] http://www.reference.com/search?q=statutory%20planning
(Google search on Definition of statutory planning)
[2] http://www.kaikoura.govt.nz/our_services/regulatory_services/statutory_planning/
(Google search for Aim of statutory planning)
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning
(Wikipedia search on urban planning)
[4] http://www.reference.com/search?q=statutory%20planning
(Google search on the law on planning)
[5] http://www.reference.com/search?q=statutory%20planning
(Google search on history of statutory planning)
[6] http://www.kaikoura.govt.nz/our_services/regulatory_services/statutory_planning/
(Google search on aims for built environment)
[7] ] http://www.reference.com/search?q=statutory%20planning
(Google search for managing effective built environment)
Reference for picture: Google earth on the location of the Wombarra house taken on 25/5/2008)

Cettina's Record Presentation

Hey guys, my blog is different to my presentation, I decided to post it so everyone in my group can comment on my presentation which I will paste below..
I am hoping to get this down in point form so I will be able to remember it all and in oder..I will be talking a little then Showing the video and them talking some more and then in the end answer the question so have a look at that and see what you think.

Presentation on Record..

I have found a video on keeping good records and the importance in keeping records in the work place. It is an OH&S video called “Stop chasing your tail” [1] which is based on safety in a construction site but it relates to our discussion today on the topic record.

With the help of my group members they were able to help me cut the important scenes that we needed that were relevant we created our own simple video for you guys to view.
This 3 minuet video helps you understand what happens if you don’t have records in the workplace and what could happen if it goes to court; it also shows that if you communication and collaboration of coworkers it can help prevent problems in the future. Also this video shows how workers are using job diaries and writing everything down as they go day to day and they are also getting it signed off.

PLAY VIDEO

This video shows how coworkers are communicating with one another and how they learned to keep records in the simplest way by compromising with one another and that’s what working together is all about. If you have everything documented, if it reaches the court you will be protected financially and reputation too.

Therefore it is important to keep records from day one, so as we document properly we are able to deliver exactly what is expected of us, record everything, don’t be afraid to write everything down its all a matter of getting it out of your head and into paper, if it was a situation where you have a client you hand back the record to the him/her in a contract form so the client can sign it. How are you going to protect your financial benefits, how are you going to get the client to pay off what you’ve done? You have to have a record. Write the minuets in the clients need brief, send a contract that client signs and keep one with your signature. Everything has to be clearly documented, from what the client has stated from day one. Also writing records before you meet with your group or the client is important because it clarifies things and be able to clearly communicate and agree with the group or client.

For our group project we have been keeping records from day one on what has to be done and we have been communication with one another on face to face meetings as well as emails which we always send to everyone so everyone has a record. In a situation where we are in a class and we are working in groups, we take records and confirm it in emails and they sent back what we agreed to do or disagreed before we commence doing any work we commutate with one another as we would if we were in the workforce.




So how did we select what elements to place on records? The elements we choose to go on record are things like our set time frame and planning. Also any changes we have made throughout our fabrication while modeling our building we chose which is the Wombarra house also we have documented what has changed in our progress like all the problems we were having while putting the max file into UT3.

I think the things that we have left out was a record on our progression weekly or fortnightly such as record dates and descriptions of work and who took the minuets on that day or who produced that work. We have not documented what we have contributed to the project in written form nor signed off on what we have submitted or produced weekly; in terms of the inbuilt project and for our presentations. We also found that we didn’t need our recorded history of our conversations on msn, even though it’s a good chat site we found that not everyone was on at the same time and other group members didn’t particularly like using it, so we decided that we could benefit from out recorded emails and note taking during meetings.

End of Cettina's Presentation.

RECORD

Record

I have found a video on keeping good records and the importance in keeping records in the work place. It is an OH&S video called “Stop chasing your tail” [1] which is based on safety in a construction site but it relates to our discussion today on the topic record.

With the help of my group members they were able to help me cut the important scenes that we needed that were relevant we created our own simple video for you guys to view.
This 3 minuet video helps you understand what happens if you don’t have records in the workplace and what could happen if it goes to court; it also shows that if you communication and collaboration of coworkers it can help prevent problems in the future. Also this video shows how workers are using job diaries and writing everything down as they go day to day and they are also getting it signed off.

This video shows how coworkers are communicating with one another and how they learned to keep records in the simplest way by compromising with one another and that’s what working together is all about. If you have everything documented, if it reaches the court you will be protected financially and reputation too.

The term Record refers to keeping good records, to deliver what the project needs, the project managers has to make sure the client has everything so keeping good records is extremely important.

The principles are all exactly the same; the process is much the same, “He who writes the minuets controls the project” [2]. “Why do we need to write minuets? Will you ever have a client who doesn’t change his/her mind? The client is not always entirely sure of what they want and can frequently change their mind, they don’t have a brief, the client can always disagree and say that its not what they wanted, the lack of communication with the client becomes a major factor when we undertake a project and there was no record taken then there is no evidence” [3]. “Therefore it is important to keep records from day one, so as we document properly we are able to deliver exactly what the client wants, record everything, don’t be afraid to write everything, hand it back to the client in a contract form so the client can sign it. How are you going to protect your financial benefits, how are you going to get the client to pay off what you’ve done? You have to have a record. Write the minuets in the clients need brief, send a contract that client signs and keep one with your signature” [4] everything has to be clearly documented, from what the client has stated from day one. ‘This is what you have asked for, it is all in the minuets Mr. Client’ and ‘we have delivered exactly what you want as it was all recorded. This proves clearly that the needs have all been delivered and through record management we receive our financial gain from client. “We manage the project, we write it down and throw it back to them, if you cant write it, walk away, Everything ahs to be documented like ‘what your going to do’ ‘what its going to look like’ and ‘how your going to get paid’. If you have all that documented, if it reaches the court you will be protected financially and reputation too” [5}.


“How do you protect yourself? You present something to the client; the client accepts it and agrees with you, you send it back to them on paper, your record. Get a job diary-update it ever morning you do the contract on the notes you take. Using memos or faxes or emails always do the contract and send to them ASAP, so no matter what everything is in contract”[6].

Also try to write the minuets before a meeting to clarify things and be able to clearly communicate and agree with the client, this will help the designer and the client to understand what is happening with the project and it’s all a matter of the client to sign it once it’s in contract.

So how did we select what elements to place on records? The elements we choose to go on record are things like our set time frame and planning. Also any changes we have made throughout our fabrication while modeling our building we chose which is the Wombarra house also we have documented what has changed in our progress like all the problems we were having while putting the max file into UT3.

I think the things that we have left out was a record on our progression weekly or fortnightly such as record dates and descriptions of work and who took the minuets on that day or who produced that work. We have not documented what we have contributed to the project in written form nor signed off on what we have submitted or produced weekly; in terms of the inbuilt project and for our presentations. We also found that we didn’t need our recorded history of our conversations on msn, even though it’s a good chat site we found that not everyone was on at the same time and other group members didn’t particularly like using it, so we decided that we could benefit from out recorded emails and note taking during meetings.


References:

[1] Video “Stop chasing your tail” provided by the master builders association, video workshop used from BLDG2280 class OH&S in the built environment Lectures Victor Lin.
[2] Guest speaker on record in week 5, notes recorded on Wednesday 16-4-2008 in class.
[3] Guest speaker on record in week 5, notes recorded on Wednesday 16-4-2008 in class.
[4] Guest speaker on record in week 5, notes recorded on Wednesday 16-4-2008 in class.
[5] Guest speaker on record in week 5, notes recorded on Wednesday 16-4-2008 in class.
[6] Guest speaker on record in week 5, notes recorded on Wednesday 16-4-2008 in class.

INTENT

Intent

What is intent? Intent is when you are intending on doing something, is someone’s intending to finish that project, and they intend to show that this is a floral theme or in a different example someone’s intent of this painting was to be an abstract piece... There is so many ways in explaining what intent is although it always has the same intent!

What is intent? The intension is “we intent to create a classical auditorium”[1]
“The intent is to make a certain building relate…the intent to have a new facility”[2]. The intent must be clear, what is the intent of making this building? “We want to make it enjoyable, to preserve the old building and unite with the new”[3]. Intent is what is your intension what do you want to communicate to your audience or with your client? “The design has to talk to you, what is it trying to communicate? We want it to fulfill your intent! We have to communicate to clients, lawyers, consultants, men on site who will build this building. The intent to communicate with a universal language that speaks to all” [4]. Architects can build a model to display what they intend to build.

The guest speaker we had in week seven explained about intent and he also made examples using a project that has been built on campus ground called ‘Project X’ which was a giant serpent which was traveling through the stairs and towards the Scienta at the engineering faculty. The people involved in this project has an intent to design it and build by the deadline, they built a model to show their intent, they worked out a work flow, they also realized theory were not going to make a deadline, so their intension was to focus as their intention was to finish it in real life and they did. The peoples intention was to work together, communicate with one another to find the best way on how it could be built and how they could show their intent in the best possible way, the guest speaker said “they also had an intension to be disrespectful using the serpent that was traveling to the Scienta which was designed by an Architect who they believed his designs were too restrictive” [5].
The serpent was completed in July 2007. One thing that was brought to my attention was what the guest speaker said “ when a person has an intension to do something, it doesn’t matter what your intention is, if people are not collaborating and working equally and doing their job properly and they stuff up then the intend you wanted doesn’t happen”[6]. Therefore it is very important to have an intension on what has to be done, its important that you communicate your intent and that you communicate it to the workers and everyone that is involved, to have communication and then collaboration sets in so then the intension can be fulfilled.

Reference:
[1] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April
[2] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April
[3] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April
[4] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April
[5] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April
[6] Guest speaker on week 7 talk on “Intent” Wednesday the 30th of April

knowledge

According to Oxford English Dictionary, the term 'knowledge' is defined variously as "expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject"[1] It is "known in a particular field or in total" [2] Its also " facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation".[3] Although there has been Philosophical debates in general start with "Plato's formulation of knowledge as 'justified true belief'"[4}. "There's no single agreed definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories” [5].
Knowledge gaining involves complex cognitive processes; these are perception, “learning, communication, association and reasoning. The word knowledge is also used to mean; the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a particular reason if suitable” [6].
“The definition of knowledge is a matter of on-going debate among philosophers in the field of epistemology. “The classical definition is described, but not ultimately endorsed by the Philosopher ‘Plato’ has it that in order for there to be knowledge at least three criteria must be fulfilled; that in order to count as knowledge, a statement must be justified true, and believed. Some claim that these conditions are not sufficient, as Gettier case examples allegedly demonstrate. There are a number of alternatives proposed, including Robert Nozick’s arguments for a requirement that knowledge 'tracks the truth' and Simons additional requirement that we do not want to say that those who meet any of these conditions 'through a defect, flaw, or failure' have knowledge. Richard Kirkham suggests that our definition of knowledge requires that the believer's evidence is such that it logically necessitates the truth of the belief.” [7]
‘”Plato was a Greek philosopher who together with his teacher, Socrates and students, Aristotle, helped to lay the philosophical foundations of the Western Culture” [8].
“ Robert Nozick was an American Philosopher, Pellegrino University professor at Harvard University, He did additional but less influential work in such subjects as decision theory and Epistemology” [9].
“Simon Blackburn is a British academic atheist philosopher known for his efforts to popularize philosophy” [10]
“Richard Kirkham was an American philosopher, his published works are ‘Theories of Truth’ and ‘Does the Gettier problem Rest on a mistake? ‘” [11]

Reference:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nozick

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Blackburn

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kirkham

Hierarchy Task

What is hierarchy? "Hierarchy is a Greek word which hieros means "sacred" and arcko meaning "rule". Its a system of ranking and organising people or things, where each element of the system excluding the top element is a subordinate to a single other element. "[1]
According to Professor Timothy.F.Allan "The Hierarchy theory is a dialect of general systems theory. It has emerged as part of a movement toward a general science of complexity. Rooted in the work of economist, Herbert Simon, chemist, Ilya Prigogine, and psychologist, Jean Piaget, hierarchy theory focuses upon levels of organization and issues of scale. There is significant emphasis upon the observer in the system. Hierarchies occur in social systems, biological structures, and in the biological
taxonomies. Since scholars and laypersons use hierarchy and hierarchical concepts commonly, it would seem reasonable to have a theory of hierarchies." [2]
The definition of Hierarchy " A ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it, A body of persons in authority, The classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing; also : the group so classified, A graded or ranked series hierarchy of values." [3]

How is hierarchy used in collaboration? By the teams embodying a structural organisation chart that distinguishes each task and the importance of each segment and showing how it is all joins together with a visual tree diagram it allocates jobs and indicates the importance of each piece of the project from least important to most important, it separates the project in sections which will be used by all the team members which will collaborate together through organisation and structure.

How is it used in our project? Hierarchy will be incorporated in our project by dividing each task according what needs to be done, how soon and how will it all work as it will be divided and illustrated with diagram indicating how the project will me dealt with and how it will be distributed according to time limit and balanced between each team member.

How are we working together with the project? The team is collaborating by allocating equal amount of tasks according to our strengths and qualities, technical and personal. Each team member has communicated with one another and are able to share vital information through Google doc, email, Google calendar (helps us see time limit to meet deadlines) Blogger and other forms of social networks, we also schedule face to face meeting and use text, instant messaging and telephones. By having a team leader we are able to have a guide that helps us with our daily tasks.

What are we building in unreal tournament? We have chosen to build Azizes building.
It is located in Wollongong, between the mountains and the sea. We wanted to build it because it was interesting and local, knowing we can do physical research on the environment is a bonus, the plan it self is simple & interesting.

We feel that Azize Ceylan Is a great leader because she is well organised, and has worked previously as a leader and this is one of her qualities.
who is doing what and there strengths? We have allocated tasks in the group Azize and I are researchers and editors, Chivon and Rachel have skills in multimedia, Jeff is working on the video. We are all Working to help one another, we take over at any given time and give others time to rest and vice versa
We can relate our project to Hierarchy as having a leader which has allocated tasks according to our Strengths and qualities, technical and social, in a solid structure through solid organisation the project has been distributed.
It works to have a hierarchical figure or in other words leader in our team as it gives us direction, Someone to look up to when problems arise in the project. Due to this we have organisation.



REFERENCE:
[1] www.wikipedia.com, Search on Hierarchy (April 9 2008)

[2] http://www.isss.org/hierarchy.htm - Google search (April 9 2008) , author Timothy F. Allen, Professor of Botany.

[3]Reference: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy (April 8 2008, www.wikipedia.com

Disciplines..

Disciplines in the work place refer to different roles in the workplace, such disciplines include "Architects, Project Managers, engineers such as structural, hydraulic, electrical, Municipal, Mechanical/Electrical, Chemical and civil engineers, there are cad operators, landscape architects, interior architects, thermal analysis operator and sustainability, cost estimator, bricklayers and builders, plumbers surveyors"[1].
In my opinion, all these disciplines work together in collaboration in the project, everyone has a certain specialization and strengths that when combined together while working as a team, produce a design.
Along with these disciplines there are "Finance consultants which deal with Public finance, Financial analysis, Auditing, Risk management, Asset management and Accounting, with that comes the legal disciple and they are used for Constitutional law, Common law, Land reform/restitution, Litigation, International law and Contracts".[2]
According to the website 'The language of Science' the definition for 'discipline' means "a branch of knowledge" [3], and 'disciplinary' means "relating to a specific field of academic study". [4]

How do Disciplines make use of collaboration in the workplace? In my opinion, each professional Discipline contributes with their knowledge of their selected line of work as they can all put in ideas together and therefore create a prosperous creation that functions as desired. How do we learn from this and collaborate in our project? When are all placed in group each team member takes a discipline according to their strengths and knowledge and put in their contribution in the project all collaborating together as we would in a real circumstance if we were to be in an office working with other disciplines. It educates us and prepares us for the work place when we receive real plans.

In our Architectural Collaboration class we are working together in our group , each working on separate parts of the project and all together we are producing a project, We have a leader who is like the project managers who updates us with information and distributes work to each person in the group, we also have a reminder which by using synchronized messaging and unsynchronized messaging and the like, it lets us know how we are progressing and reminding us of our deadlines which is important to meet deadlines in a real situation at work, we also have group members experienced in different fields such as programmer, 3D operator and even cad operator as well as other roles that each person has chosen to take responsibility for, every group member is accountable for adding their ideas as well as the production of the work. All together we are all Disciplines Collaborating in the production of our Assignment just like we would in the work force.









Reference
[1] Google search on Disciplines in the workplace, www.acpsec.org/registry/ReferenceSheet.doc (searched on 7 April 08)

[2] Google search on Disciplines in the workplace, www.acpsec.org/registry/ReferenceSheet.doc (searched on 7 April 08)

[3] Google Search on Disciplines in the work place,
Language of Science, Dictionary and Research Guide,
http://www.123exp-science.com/t/01554599967/ (searched on the 8 April 08)

[4] Google Search on Disciplines in the work place,
Language of Science, Dictionary and Research Guide,
http://www.123exp-science.com/t/01554599967/ (searched on the 8 April 08)

Brainstorming ways we can do Our presentaion on Hierarchy..

Ok so I was thinking that we should make our presentation interesting, we can all sit there talking one by one and bore the hell out of everyone, but we can do something to keep the audience awake. We can do things like engage the audience by asking them questions about what hierarchy means to them, and after we have asked a few people we can begin doing our lil talks on hierarchy and what it means to us plus all the research, find a really good shot of it and put it up so people focus on the intriguing picture as they listen to us, if we make it complex people with doze off but by engaging the audience and even dressing up maybe we can make it more fun.
How do you guys feel about dressing up? wearing crowns? making examples by doing a re-enactment of someone been in charge and everyone under them? Azize suggested to me when i asked about the crowns..that maybe she can bring a tiara, and when ever someone one speaks they can wear the tiara, i thought azizes idea was great! we both agreed that its a good idea. Hey maybe when we are not talking that we can all stand underneath the person who is the hierarchy (doing the talking) of corse all this will have to be talked about with the rest of the group but please do comment i would really appreciate your comments, questions and complaints haha ;)

Hierarchy- some research Idid last week..

Hierarchy..
What does it mean? where does it come from?

I've just been Wikipedia Searching information that will be edited later on. (Cettina)

Reference: www.wikipedia.com

Hierarchy is a Greek word which hieros means "sacred" and arcko meaning "rule". Its a system of ranking and organising people or things, where each element of the system excluding the top element is a subordinate to a single other element. The word Hierarchy sited by the Oxford dictionary was in 1880, when it was used in reference to the three orders of three angels as depicted by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite which
used the word both in reference to the celestial hierarchy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. His term is derived from the Greek for 'Bishop' (hierarch), and Dionysius is credited with first use of it as an abstract noun. Since hierarchical churches such as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, had tables of organization that were "hierarchical" in the modern sense of the word (traditionally with GOD as the pinnacle of the hierarchy), the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in more general settings.
A hierarchy can link entities either directly or indirectly, and either vertically or horizontally. The only direct links in a hierarchy, insofar as they are hierarchical, are to one's immediate superior or to one of one's subordinates, although a system that is largely hierarchical can also incorporate other organizational patterns. Indirect hierarchical links can extend "vertically" upwards or downwards via multiple links in the same direction. All parts of the hierarchy which are not vertically linked to one another can nevertheless be "horizontally" linked by traveling up the hierarchy to find a common direct or indirect superior, and then down again. This is akin to two co-workers, neither of whom is the other's boss, but both of whose chains of command will eventually meet.

Definition For Hierarchy
Reference: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy

• A ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it; especially : the bishops of a province or nation church government by a hierarchy.
• A body of persons in authority
• The classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing; also : the group so classified
• A graded or ranked series hierarchy of values>

The Pyramid
When referring to the term hierarchy it is normally portrayed in a pyramid, below is an example on how a hierarchy actually works when shown in a diagram. The most favoured option goes at the top and the least amount goes to the bottom.

My strengths...

Well...in the past couple of weeks in the class we have been discussing what our strengths are and what we bring to the table...to start off with id like to talk about the obvious to most of my friends and that is...my social Qualities. I have very good communication skills and I'm very verbal, I will always try to express my self as much as possible as I like other peoples suggestions and opinions, even if I'm not understood at first i will come up with as many examples, philosophical or not and prove my point and i believe this is a good quality in me, those of you that know me well, do comment your thoughts please...

What is been social good for? a number of things and when collaborating it is essential that you communicate when working together, how do you share tasks and come up with answers or solutions without communication? you cant. And how do we share tasks and manage to share them equally without someone getting the end crap of the stick? you share ideas and be ready for criticism and suggestions. I'm very open to new suggestions and I'm very easy going in the group and the majority of the time I will work together with people with determination and satisfaction providing they will do the same, I believe in balance and been fair, so these are my first qualities.

The other strength i have..I'm very imaginative, I'm very creative I come up with alot of ideas, I'm the thinker of the group and of coarse I always get the others opinion and try to come up with as many ideas and bring them all together, fuse them all together to come up with a brilliant idea.

What else..
Well I do have skills in communicating sights such as facebook and the like and it comes easy for me to write blogs or email my ideas of questions or even just comment so i stay in touch with is important in a group.
I do have knowledge of software's and I can use a number of them which is needed for this class but also one thing that I can bring to the table is my flexibility, If I'm told to do something I almost never refuse it and do anything in my power to get there/get it done what ever it is, also I think people can always count on me and I wish for the same in others too.
Now i think Ive come up with enough strengths for one day..Oh did i mention I like to write alot?
Cettina

Week 3...

On Wednesday the second of April we discussed on how we were going to do our presentation on Hierarchy, since we have to present it on Wednesday week 5 we discussed that we could go into google groups and we can find information about the term Hierarchy, post them with reference and add a picture or two that we find, the gathering of the information is the longest process in the end we will edit it and have enough im hoping.

Social networks

Social Network, Facebook & MySpace

Facebook and MySpace a social networks which helps with communication and file sharing. This technology has taken over the world; many people use it from a high school kid to large companies in the work force. Facebook and MySpace are websites that can now be used without cost and anyone can join by simply making a profile, inserting a picture and adding other member. These websites are utilized to network, to make or maintain friendships. ‘Facebook is a social network website that began on february 4, 2004 This website is owned and operated by Facebook, Inc., the parent company of the website and a privately help company. It allows users to join one or more networks, such as a place of employment, a school, or geographic region connecting people and making them interact.’[1] ‘The name of the website refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a Campus community that some American colleges and Preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff they do this so they all get to know each other’.[2] So who found Facebook? ‘Mark Zuckerberg, while still a student at Harvard University. At the beginning this website membership was initially limited to only Harvard students, but was later expanded to include any university student, then high school students, and finally to anyone aged 13 and over.’[3]

MySpace is a ‘social network website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, USA, where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, Fox interactive Media; which is owned by News Corporation, which has its headquarters in New York City’[4] According to ‘Alexa Internet, MySpace is at present the world's fifth most popular website, and the third most popular website in the USA, though it has topped the chart on various weeks.’[5] The service ‘gradually gained more popularity than similar websites to achieve nearly 80% of visits to online social networking websites in 2006. Today its traffic is similar to that of Facebook, a competing social network.’[6] MySpace allows you to create a web page and design it to your taste’, ‘profiles contain two standards "blurbs:" "About Me" and "Who I'd Like to Meet" sections. Profiles also contain an "Interests" section and a "Details" section. In the "Details" section, "Status" and "Zodiac Sign" can be added [7]. Users have the advantage to express them selves by adding interests and allow other people to view their profile. ‘There are features such as ‘Bulletins’ which are posts that are posted on to a "bulletin board" for everyone on a MySpace user's friends list to see. Bulletins can be useful for contacting an entire friends list without resorting to messaging users individually.’[8] Facebook has similar attributes as you are able to see other peoples friends and you may add, poke or even just view their profile or even photos without even been their friends, there is less privacy in facebook as it allows you to view what others write to their friends so everyone is informed. Both these sites allow you to message other people through composing a message in the inbox but also display messages as you can leave a comment on their page or on a picture they have chosen to upload.

There are other similar forms of social networks that are arguably similar to facebook and myspace, these are; “bebo” and “hi five”, these network work similar when it come to messaging leaving a comment on profiles or photos, you can add your age star sign or even occupation, relationship status, whether your female or male and even annual income.

How does this technology help us with our collaboration project? With networking we are communicating, we are sharing information, we are upload and downloading, we are file sharing and leaving comments of what we have done and how we have done it and what will be done next, we are able to see the progress of ones work and vice versa, collaboration is made using these websites as the group uses pages such as Facebook, MySpace, bebo, hi5 or even blogger which is used to communicate in this class, it is all used to collaborate together, assisting one another and this is how it is helping us with our project by file sharing therefore file viewing and also communicating ideas for the project and with regular updates this technology helps us cooperate with each other.

There is evidence that people in the work force use these lets works to collaborate and communicate studies shown through Microsoft, among the highlights of the study: 66 percent of Millennials regularly access social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace at work, vs.13 percent of other workers.’[9] ‘less than half (45 percent) of Millennials stick to company-issued devices or software as opposed to nearly 70 percent of other workers.’[10] This shows that these social networks are used for collaboration during work.

Reference:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

Facebook layout picture taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace

MySpace layout picture taken from: http://www.wired.com/news/images/full/myspace1_f.jpg

Bebo picture taken from: http://mashable.com/images/bebo.PNG

Hi5 picture taken from: http://mashable.com/images/hi5large2.png

[9] http://mikeg.typepad.com/perceptions/social_networking_collaboration/index.html

[10]http://mikeg.typepad.com/perceptions/social_networking_collaboration/index.html

The building I have chosen is the House of Magnolia which I have found in mwworks in Seattle under projects in progress but have not been built yet. This unconstructed project is located on the sloping Magnolia site of South Alki and Elliot Bay in Seattle. The Magnolia House has Views from Queen Anne and the Seattle Skyline. The house is a contemporary, tall timber clad design which provides seclusion on the northern side from the neighbours and extends down the hill to maximise the sight. The reason why I chose this design was because of the simplicity of the house, the style and also the surrounding land around it, Its modern yet comfortable and appealing, the landscape has privacy and it is located on a inclined land which has the advantage over other buildings to view the city of Seattle located in the United States of America. The house has a slightly elevated timber walkway which is somewhat elevated and has a cadaverous landscape courtyard. As you walk in the front door the path opens up to a double height space flanked by the two main volumes of the home and then follows to the end where the living room is located where it becomes more spacious. A glassy corner adjacent to the fireplace looks over the house opening a broad vision underneath Magnolia.
I have chosen this building because it isn’t very large and its not too small either, its attractive both on the inside as well as on the outside, I wanted a residential house as I am more used to designing them more so then commercial buildings, its uncomplicated yet effective, eye-catching and innovative yet a comfortable and hospitable dwelling. This can be a good design for my assignment as I only have a short amount of time to complete it and would like to have the time to do the detailing and not just hand in a finished project.
Any way sees you all on Wednesday!

Reference: Quotes from website http://www.mwworks.net/index.htmlPicture taken form website http://www.mwworks.net/index.html