Effect of Technology on Our Lives

Technology is an improved route to an unimproved target. Technology is associated with innovation. It involves the transformation of ideas into something useful. Innovation is just not limited to creative people and organizations, but also involves the availability of technological and scientific talent. Technology and innovation are synergistic. Technology has definitely changed our lives and for the better.

Looking back in time, we realize how much our lives have changed due to the fruits of technology. It has provided us with freedom and less consumption of time and resources. Pointing out a particular technology for the drastic changes in one's life is simply not possible. A nation's economic growth can be measured according to the level of technology. This is because a number of factors are responsible for affecting an individual's life style. The most important factor for deciding the working of a particular technology is the presence of competition. One kind of technology seems beneficial only until a technological advancement does not occur.

The most effective piece of technology is the mobile phone, and now a days being equivalent to a civilization. Due to technological changes, the dependency upon technology has increased many folds. Some advancement occurs at such a pace that they become self-defeating. The ability to convert carbon dioxide into fuel energy is a breakthrough process and once well established in would change our dependency on nonrenewable and limited sources.

Effect of Technology on Our Lives

With time, the use of internet is rising rapidly. The World Wide Web literally connects over 700 million people round the globe. The state-of-the-art technology has improved our means of communication as well as our educational standards. Due to the innovations in technology, an individual can gain knowledge about any topic at any place and at any point of time in his/her life. It has allowed the ease of availability of education. It has also improvised upon ways to fulfill our needs and to meet our expectations. Innovations in today's tech-world can help us to solve urgent problems.

The revolution in technology has given rise to chat rooms, discussion rooms, personalized web pages and online databases. The IT sector has completely changed the outlook of human communication with e-mails, video conferencing and instant messaging. With the advent of technology, people are building bridges to decrease the distances in their mind. One basic drawback that has taken place is that people are becoming lethargic due to high trends in technology. It is shortening our ability to pay attention. Robotics, automation and computerization are on the go for changing our lives. Implementation of robotics will give higher efficiency and cheaper labor, thereby increasing unemployment rate.

Now the other side of technology is not so green. It is because of improvised technology only that we have seen nuclear and atomic wars. This has also leaded to increase in pollution as well as corruption. Hence, one must know how to balance between manpower and automation. In the world of automation, cars have created freedom as well as concrete jungle. Technology is affecting our near future so it becomes our responsibility to streamline it in the right direction.

Effect of Technology on Our Lives
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The Author is an expert Tech adviser who worked for several multinational corporates. Technology News - slimmest phone

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Face-to-Face Communication - Old Fashioned? Not!

It's unbelievable how dependent we've become as a society on electronic communication devices! E-mail, text messaging, PDA's, cell phones, video conferencing, blackberries, blueberries, rasberries, and more...have taken the place of good old fashioned, face-to-face communication leading to many interpersonal difficulties and miscommunications in today's workplace.

You may be thinking...Why improve my interpersonal skills when most businesses do 99% of communication by telephone, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, e-mail, and on rare occasions, snail mail. A popular way of thinking today...but, is it really the correct way? "Face-to-face communication remains the most powerful human interaction," says Kathleen Begley, Ed.D., author of Face-to-Face Communication, Making Human Connections in a Technology-Driven World. "As wonderful as electronic devices are, they can never fully replace the intimacy and immediacy of people conversing in the same room and it has worked for millions of years."

In business, we talk about "B2B" (business to business) and "B2C" (business to consumer) methods. I try to buck the trend (in a positive way!) to stress the importance of face-to-face communication. You'll hear me talk a lot about the "P2P" (people-to-people) connections and how important it is to get beyond technology and talk face-to-face with friends, family, colleagues, customers, vendors, and the like. You may think that's a bit old-fashioned, but in my opinion, there is no substitution for the human, up-close and personal contact. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for the terrific technology tools we have today and I use it regularly, but it's not always my first or best choice.

Face-to-Face Communication - Old Fashioned? Not!

Several decades ago, John Naisbitt, in his mega 1960's best-seller, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, brought a new concept to the forefront called "high tech, high touch." His idea was that "as human beings became capable of anonymous electronic communication, they would concurrently need more close-up personal interaction." Seems to me that he was right on target!

We live in a society when flocking to the local coffee shop or diner for coffee chats with business associates or friends is a testimony to our need for human togetherness, especially when most coffee lovers can make a latte or cappuccino right in their homes. Think about the fortunes coffee establishments are making on our need for face-to-face communication! The people-to-people connections...

We hear of the many children (and adults) who spend countless hours alone playing video games. However, The Game Manufacturing Association reported in 2003 that family board game sales (like Monopoly and Scrabble) are booming and growing at 20% per year. Cranium has recently come out with a whole new line of board games for our "little people" (ages 3+). The people-to-people connections start at an early age - if you haven't heard it, ask me to tell you my "Papa Zitto" story!

Even when disaster strikes and the news media bring these events into our homes and workplaces via TV, radio and the Internet, we seek out opportunities to share grief. I personally waited in line for almost three hours with hundreds of others to visit Ground Zero in New York when it opened to the public in December 2001. Many people also left makeshift shrines nearby to honor the victims of that tragedy. The people-to-people connections...

We lead hectic, multi-tasking lives both at home and in the workplace these days and we find the need for balance even more critical than in days gone by. We understand that technology can be impersonal, but it's quick! We know we need to make time for more people-to-people connections but, the reality of the hectic pace doesn't leave us much time for this more intimate form of communication. You may be thinking, isn't it much faster to make a quick phone call, send a brief e-mail, or hook up via video-conferencing to have a meeting of the minds? Yes and no. It's a communications paradox...faster is not always better.

So the better question may be, how can we make the best of both worlds - technology and face-to-face, people-to-people connections?

Just as fashions are redesigned and come back with a variation on a style from days-gone- by, I believe it is time for redesigning and revitalizing face-to-face (P2P) communication skills.

We need to get the balance right! People-to-people (P2P) communication skills remain one of the primary success factors in business, even in this age of technology. There are many situations - often those involving conflict, hurt feelings, high priority, or a large sum of money - that demand business people take the time and trouble to get in the same room to share information. Video-conferencing has become a good simulation and cost-effective method when individuals are in remote locations, but there is still no substitute for good, old-fashioned, face-to-face communication.

Don't take my word for it...Let's take a look at what some of the experts are saying.

Tom Peters, internationally known business guru, says without reservation that you should constantly attend to your face-to-face communication. Not to do so, will lead to career disaster. "We believe in high tech, high touch," Peters writes. "No question, technology is the Great Enabler. But, paradoxically, now the human bit is more, not less, important than ever before."

Sheila Hodge, author of Global Smarts: The Art of Communicating and Deal Making Anywhere in the World, says "The modern office is full of gadgets - computers and the Internet, uplinks and downlinks, videoconferencing, and online databases. Many people think they should let the fancy technology handle the messy task of interfacing with people."

Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, in her book Reading People, talks about how young, technically oriented employees tend to communicate mostly in computer chat rooms. "If you want to become a better communicator, you must make a conscious effort to engage other people (in person)," she writes. "Even the most entrenched Internet junkie can learn the true meaning of 'chat' if the desire is there, but you have to get off the couch and make it happen."

Gary McClain and Deborah Romaine in their book, The Everything Managing People Book, put it this way..."Consistent, daily face-to-face communication promotes more than just good feelings; it also promotes effective and collaborative teamwork."

"One of the most critical areas of communication to get right in business is the one-on-one situations - especially offering advice, constructive feedback, and annual performance appraisals," says Chris Roebuck in Effective Communication.

One of my favorite quotes stated very simply by Margaret Wheatley, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope for the Future, says "I can believe we can change the world if we start talking to one another again."

Sounds like we're on to something here...So, what can you do? Start out by taking an honest look at your communication methods and your attitude about technology vs. (P2P) face-to-face interaction. Are you e-mailing more and meeting less for financial reasons? Are you avoiding human contact mostly because of a lack of interpersonal skills? If the latter is true, you need to take action before it's too late.

The next time you are tempted to send an e-mail, text message or make a phone call for other than routine purposes, stop! Get back to basics. Go out of your comfort zone and, instead, send the e-mail, text message or make the call to set up a face-to-face, in person meeting with the person behind the technology! Why? Because it works!

Make the people-to-people connections... You and your business will be glad you did!

A Positive Workplace Means Business! TM

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Mary Jane (MJ) Paris, Founder and President of Positive Impact Consulting Services, LLC in Shelton, CT, brings a broad base of experience to her practice gained from more than 25 years in people management, sales, retail banking, training, recruiting, coaching, project management, event planning and community leadership.

With a focus on "The Positive Workplace," MJ and Positive Impact specialize in leadership and professional development programs, speaking engagements, and small business coaching that bring "Positive Energy" to your workplace. Engage employees, maximize productivity, improve customer service and business results...

mj@posimpact.net
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http://www.posimpact.net

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5 Benefits of A Call Center to Your Business

Your business is growing and so does your base clientèle. Customers no longer originate from your neighborhood nor in one city only but now spread
across state borders and countries. Your staff experiences heavy influx of telephone calls. The company's phones lines gradually get congested. Customer
transactions suffer because they could not reach your office. As the manager, you know you must implement solutions fast or your business will suffer.

Under these conditions, it's time you switch to call center services.

A call center, equipped with the right call center software, offers the following essential benefits:

5 Benefits of A Call Center to Your Business

1.)ENHANCE CUSTOMER RELATION

Because callers can immediately connect to your office, they can transact business with no more waiting time. It eliminates wasted calls. It gives your
customers quick access to the information they want and thus results in improve relationship with them. And too often, because clients can reach your office
immediately, it enhances their perception of your company. You getter more customers, more deals, more revenues.

2.)IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

A call center allows staff to deal with more customers at any a given time.
Richard Burgess, CEO of a large pharmaceutical company can attest to this. " The rapid growth of our company entails more doctors calling for prescription
drugs and customers asking for product description. Our staff cannot handle this increasing volume of callers. A call center services solved our dilemna.
Now, our personnel can take the growing calls and dispense the necessary services in less time, making customers happy. This translates to greater overall
efficiency."

3.)MINIMIZE EXPENSES
With call center that has the right call center software, the same number of staff will be able to handle more calls. Sarah Danitz, an insurance company
manager, has this to say, " We would have incurred large overhead expenses if we hire additional personnel to handle incoming calls. Instead, we turned to
call center. It satisfactorily meets our demand. And we were able to save money in the long run."
As you can see, you need not hire additional personnel or install extra phone lines to meet caller volumes.

4.)DISPLAY STATISTICS

In an ordinary helpdesk, your office can not track the number of calls you receive each day, how many of these calls were positively resolved, how many
callers turn away,etc. A call center makes these statistics available so you will know measures to take in order to improve your business.
"We didn't take any interests on our calls in the past, " says Michigan-based farm tools company owner Chris Laverdale. " But with a call center giving us
these data, we see some patterns and seek ways for improvement. These call center statistics are really helpful."

5.)BETTER OFFICE COMMUNICATION HANDLING

A call center, aside from handling live calls, can also process emails. In addition, it can handle fax, web-based queries, web-cam conferencing, Instant
Messaging, and other means of communication for the company.
" Our struggling staff could hardly deal with the number of calls we receive, and we hardly have time for incoming emails. A number of deals were lost
because we neglect emails. But now, we know better. Our call center which has an excellent call center software, processes our calls and emails. Now, we
receive favorable business transactions out of these emails."

These are just some of the many benefits your company can enjoy from a call center.

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Janine Fritzgerald is a call center administrator now for 5 years. She began as a call center agent and then worked her way up to the company's corporate hierarchy. She knows about call center software. She is a Psychology graduate with Business Administration as secondary course. She lectures on call center management. She is also prolific writer. Her first book, “The Real Deal on Call Centers” is a sell out. Janine lives in Connecticut with her husband and two kids.

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2 Ways Of Connecting To The Internet With The Samsung Galaxy Tab

If you have seen the Samsung Galaxy Tab, your initial reaction must be awe. You must be entranced with the sleek, slim, compact, and lightweight design. However, one of your concerns may be ways of connecting to the internet with this tablet. There are actually two ways to connect to the internet with the Tab. Here, you will find out more about the two ways to do so.

3G Internet Access

With 3G internet access, you can connect to the internet wherever you are. Depending if you have 3G coverage in your area, you can enjoy 5.76 mbps or uploads and 7.2 mbps of downloads. This simply means that you can enjoy more with broadband internet.

2 Ways Of Connecting To The Internet With The Samsung Galaxy Tab

With this much internet speed, there are so many things that you can do on the go. Checking your emails will be easy to do. Web browsing will be possible wherever you go. You can make use of instant messaging services from wherever. Video conferencing will be easy. Video streaming will be seamless. Uploading your multimedia on your favorite social network will be instant. Lastly, downloading anything from the internet will be lightning fast. Internet access on the go with the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be sheer pleasure.

Wi-Fi Internet Access

There will be instances when you do not have 3G coverage in an area, or you might want to connect to the internet in another way. In these cases, there is another way to connect with this compact tablet. You can make use of a wireless network through the tablet's Wi-Fi capabilities.

Setting this feature up is simple. If you have access to a home or office wireless network, you can easily connect to the internet. All you will need is the internet service provider and a wireless router. This will allow you to do anything from browsing, surfing, chatting, emailing, video streaming, downloading, and uploading via Wi-Fi.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab also allows you to access the internet via hot spots. These too are wireless networks. These hot spots can be found wherever you go. They can be found in the mall, cafés, restaurants, shops, and many more establishments. With these wireless networks offered, you are sure to gain another way to access the World Wide Web.

As you can see, there are two options you can make use of to access the web. You can use the device's 3G or Wi-Fi capabilities. These are the 2 ways of connecting to the internet with the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

2 Ways Of Connecting To The Internet With The Samsung Galaxy Tab
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How Skype Works

Skype is a software application that allows you to make free phone calls to more than 75 million people worldwide, and shockingly cheap calls to practically everywhere else on Earth! As a result of that, Skype has become the fastest growing service in the history of the Internet. Recently, the company was acquired by eBay, another step forward towards achieving the final goal of making Skype the world's largest communication company.

Skype is easy to install and use. It allows its users to make crystal clear calls, regardless of their location, send instant messages, switch seamlessly between text and voice communication, make video calls, conference calls, transfer files, call landlines and cell phones for a fraction of the cost of a traditional call. Skype is truly making a revolution in the way we communicate.

But how does it actually work? This article focuses on describing the Skype network and the technology behind it.

How Skype Works

Skype is a type of peer-to-peer Voice-Over-IP client, based on the Kazaa file sharing program. The developers of Skype claim that it provides better voice quality than similar applications like MSN and Yahoo Messenger. It also encrypts calls end-to-end.

There are two types of machines in the Skype network - ordinary host (Skype Client) and Super Node (SN). An ordinary host is the computer of a regular user who has the application installed and connects to the network in order to communicate with other users. The Super Nodes are the end-point of ordinary hosts in the network. In other words, ordinary hosts connect to the Super Nodes. Any computer with a public IP and proper hardware configuration can be a SN. An ordinary host must connect to a super node and must register itself with the Skype login server for a successful login. The Skype login server is the only central unit in the whole network. It stores the usernames and respective passwords of all Skype users. Nslookups have shown that this server is located in Denmark. All Super Nodes connect to the login server in attempt to verify the username password of the client. It stores your Skype Name, your e-mail address, and an encrypted representation of your password.

If you are a regular Skype user, then your computer is considered an 'ordinary host' that connects to a Super Node. The Super Nodes are servers, located in different parts of the world. But your Skype client, must know to which SN it has to connect. Therefore, every Skype client (SC) maintains a local table that contains the IPs and corresponding ports of Super Nodes. This is called a host cache and it stored in the Windows Registry of the given SC. So basically, every time you load up Skype, it reads the date from the host cache, takes the first IP and port from there and tries to connect to this SN. If the connection fails for some reason (the SN is offline; it is no longer part of the network, etc) then it reads the next line from the table. In case it fails to connect to any of the IPs listed, the Skype returns a login error upon start-up. Hence, the host cache must contain at least one valid entry in order for the application to connect to the network and work properly. Valid entry means an IP address and port number of an online Super Node. The path to the table in the Windows Registry is HKEY_CURRENT_USER / SOFTWARE / SKYPE / PHONE / LIB / CONNECTION / HOSTCACHE. You can verify that on your computer by opening the Start menu, then click Run and enter 'regedit', without the dashes. Of course, the exact path could be different in the next versions of the application.

As a concept, Super Nodes were introduced in the third-generation P2P networks. They allow improved search performance, reduced file-transfer latency, network scalability, and the ability to resume interrupted downloads and simultaneously download segments of one file from multiple peers. Basically, they help ordinary hosts connect to each other and guide efficiently the encrypted network traffic.

Super Nodes are also responsible for the 'Global Indexing'. This technology enables you to search for other users in the network. The company guarantees that it will find a user if he has registered and has logged in during the last 72 hours.

A very interesting moment about the Skype network is that it 'self-modifiable'. If you have the application installed, your computer may turn into a Super Node, without you even knowing it, because those capabilities don't have a noticeable impact on a computer's performance. SNs basically store the addresses of up to several hundred Skype users, without carrying any voice, text or file-transfer data. In that manner, the more Skype users come online, the more supernodes become available to expand the capacity of the network.

Skype routes the traffic intelligently by choosing the optimum data transfer path. Since it uses either TCP or UDP protocol, it breaks the whole data stream into separate packets, which can take different paths to the end destination. The final arrangement is done at the receiving end.

As far as safety and privacy are concerned, Skype uses Advanced Encryption Standard, known as Rijndel, used also by the U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive data. Skype uses 256-bit encryption.

The programmers of Skype have implemented wideband codecs which allows it to maintain a good sound quality at a bandwidth of 32kb/s and allow frequencies between 5-8,000Hz to pass trough.

Your list of contacts, the application stores in the Windows Registry. This is called the Buddy list and once again, it is digitally encrypted. So, the list is local for every machine, or in other words, it's not downloaded from the central server.

Let's briefly describe the tasks of the Skype client. First it connects to the network. It then listens on particular ports for incoming calls, refreshes the host cache table, uses wideband codecs, maintains the buddy list, encrypts messages and determines if there is a firewall or not.

The login process:

The login process is the most important one and it consists of several phases. As mentioned, SC must connect to a valid SN in order to authenticate the username and password with the Central Server.

Skype gets the fist IP from the host cache, sends it a UDP packet and waits for response. If there is no response after 5 seconds, it sends a TCP packet to the same IP. It tries to establish a TCP connection to the HC IP address and port 80 (HTTP port). If still unsuccessful, it tried to connect to IP address and port 443 (HTTPS port). If this does not work either, it reads the next address in the HC. If Skype is unable to connect to a SN, it will report a login failure.

The application comes with several build-in addresses of different nodes, called bootstrap super nodes.

If the connection attempt is successful, the client must authenticate the user name and password with the Skype login server, which holds all user names and passwords and makes sure they are unique across the whole network. When the application connects to an SN, it receives an up-to-date list of other active SNs, so it has the most current information.

The Media Transfer process:

The video/voice communication through Skype is established through UDP. The trick here is that quite often, one of the users is behind a firewall or a router, hence it doesn't have a real IP address. But if both Skype clients are on real IPs, then the media traffic flows directly between them over UDP. The size of the voice packet is 67 bytes, which is actually the size of UDP payload. One second conversation results in roughly 140 voice packets being exchanged both ways, or 3-16 kilobytes/s.

If one of the callee or both of them do not have a public IP, then they send voice traffic to another online Skype node over UDP or TCP. The developers of Skype have preferred to use UDP for voice transmission as much as possible.

An interesting fact is that even if both sides are not speaking, voice packets will still be flowing between them. The purpose of these so called 'silent packages' is to keep the connection alive.

Conclusion:

There are several factors responsible for the success of Skype. First of all, the voice quality is better compared to other applications. It works without a problem on computers with firewall. It is very easy to install and use. Skype's security is also a big advantage. Everything that is being transferred across the network is being encrypted to ensure privacy. As a result of that, even if hackers intercept the data being transferred, they won't be able to decode it.

The Skype application does not include any adware or spyware. But, there are cases when third parties have managed to add such functionalities (not only for Skype), so it's really important that you download it from the right place. Therefore, do it either from the official website, or from respected sites as http://www.freesecuredownloads.com/skype/index.html.

How Skype Works
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What is a Therapeutic Community?

I was a staff member at the Ovis Farm Project in Devon, England, for three years. The Project is run on the Therapeutic Community model.

The Therapeutic Community is a self help approach to treatment for people with addiction and related problems. It is a drug-free environment in which people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction are able to live together in an organized and structured way. The aim is to promote change and make possible a drug-free life in the community when they move on.

1. The values of a Therapeutic Community

What is a Therapeutic Community?

The Therapeutic Community believes that people can change and creates an environment that helps to facilitate change. The Therapeutic Community allows a person to grow by fostering an environment where people are valued and accepted.

A strong sense of belonging to a nurturing community in an atmosphere of trust and security, is a central tenet of the therapeutic community. Members of the therapeutic community need to take responsibility for themselves, others and their environment.

Members of the community must be positively motivated to change, and to accept the communitrules.
These rules uphold the values and norms of the community, which are a reflection
of those held by society.

Therapeutic Community principles can be applied to the therapeutic care of a wide range of people

2. The Physical Environment of a TC

Some Therapeutic Communities operate in closed systems like a prison or, say, a nursing home for people recovering from mental illnesses. The residents of these, and similar institutions, may not have a say in whether they enter in institution, but they are generally able to volunteer for the Therapeutic Community. In a prison that operates this model, a separate wing may be used.

Therapeutic Communities operate in purpose-built structures, as well as a range of converted buildings such as schools, churches, or a farm. The size, grounds and design of facilities also vary, but are generally adapted to the types of educational and vocational training offered by the Therapeutic Community. At Ovis Farm the residents were able to work with the farm manager on the work element of the programme. This probably represented one day each week. In its way, it was a unique feature that this project could offer because of its location.

The residential capacity of a Therapeutic Community program commonly ranges from 50 - 150 residents. An ideal size is often described to be in the range of 80 - 120 residents. This suits big institutions but in recent years the Therapeutic Community model has been applied to smaller groups, like Ovis Farm, of maybe a dozen residents.

Therapeutic communities are generally open environments where residents choose voluntarily to live for a period of 6 to 12 months, and in some cases, longer. Although strict limits are placed on residents' comings and goings, residents who comply with all house rules and programme requirements may gradually earn privileges to leave the facility through day, overnight or weekend passes, particularly to visit parents, partners or children.

The key interior spaces in a Therapeutic Community consist of areas where the operational, educational, and therapeutic activities of the program are held. Common spaces include lounges, training rooms, the dining room, and kitchen. Private spaces include administrative offices and conference rooms. The residents have their own private rooms, and some staff may live on site.

3. The Social Environment

Residents take on more responsibility as they learn the concepts of the Therapeutic Community and are able to help fellow residents. It is their understanding and application of the Therapeutic Community concepts that gives a resident more responsibility, not the length of their residency. In this way, the group or peer dynamic is a persuasive influence on residents' desire to become more responsible and accountable.

Residents take on supervisory responsibility in the different departments in the community. For example, one may oversee the kitchens to ensure that the necessary provisions are ordered each week to fill the menu requirements. They would also ensure that the hygiene standards are met, and to help others prepare meals for the community. Another resident may look after the grounds or maintenance work.

4. Resident Profile

Most residents of Therapeutic Communities are considered to have hit 'rock bottom' whether they voluntarily enter a community or arrive through the criminal justice system. Many residents have been drug addicted for years and have a history of criminal activity or other legal problems. Although many residents arrive with a host of health related problems, most Therapeutic Communities stipulate that residents must be healthy enough to undertake physical labour and participate in training programmes and other group-related activities.

The admission process for Therapeutic Community residents should be rigorous. It typically involves an initial visit or phone call, admission to a waiting list, an orientation process, one or more intake interviews, and in many cases, medical, legal and psychological assessments, and consent to treatment. A thorough initial assessment may help reduce the drop out rate which is most critical during the first 30 days.

5. Staff Profile

Staff participate as members of the community. Staff often share everyday tasks with the residents, as well as facilitate group meetings and one to one sessions. Staff are able to express their own reactions to events and situations, and accept challenge or criticism from residents. Many staff members in the smaller communities may have been former residents. In this way the traditional 'them and us' split between professionals and service users is broken down. This helps to develop a sense of trust and intimacy enabling residents to experience different relationships with authority or parental figures. Staff and senior residents are also able to act as role models, by being open and honest. This carries the risk of staff becoming over-involved, which makes staff supervision essential in this way of working.

6. Education and Training

The elements of treatment at the Therapeutic Community typically include addiction treatment, education, primary medical and dental care, vocational skills training (e.g. cooking skills, carpentry, general maintenance, and computer skills), on- and off-site job placement, and in rare cases, on-site resident-run businesses. Christian run Therapeutic Communities will give some opportunity for residents to address their spiritual needs but will not insist that residents are Christians when they enter, or that they become Christians during their stay.

7. The Daily Timetable

Residents can expect a highly structured and demanding daily routine within the Therapeutic Community. The typical day includes a 6:30 or 7:00 AM wake-up call, morning and evening house meetings, job functions, therapeutic groups, life skill seminars, vocational training sessions, some personal time, recreation, and individual counselling when necessary.

Weekend schedules are somewhat less demanding, although Saturday mornings may be taken with group meetings. A Christian run Therapeutic Community may have a commitment to attend a church service on Sundays. This is not just a spiritual consideration, it allows members of the Therapeutic Community an opportunity to increase their support network and generally meet positive people outside of their usual peer groups.

Structure and routine are integral to the daily running of the Therapeutic Community

8. Moving On

The most important part of any recovery programme is probably preparing the resident for 're-entry' into the community. This term sounds a bit like a space craft returning to the earth's atmosphere. In some ways, this is a sound metaphor. If this is not done correctly the resident can burn up and disintegrate rapidly.

Some Therapeutic Communities insist that no resident leaves the program without a full-time job including a place to live and a support network. Family reconciliation is often incorporated into re-entry. Maintaining a drug free lifestyle often means learning more coping skills so it is recognized that moving on is a transitional process. One of the supports most commonly identified as essential to resident success once they leave the Therapeutic Community is transitional housing (a half way house) and affordable longer term housing. This is a major obstacle in the UK (and many other countries) due to lack of good basic accommodation. Many Therapeutic Communities find creative ways of organizing this.

What is a Therapeutic Community?
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Alan J Butler is a Recovery Coach and has worked with recovering addicts and ex offenders for the last 10 years. He spent 3 years living on site as a staff member of the Ovis Farm Project in Devon, England. He is an Associate of Life for the World Trust, an organisation whose aim is to equip the church to reach marginalised people. He holds a Diploma in Coaching & Mentoring from the Institute of Counselling, Glasgow. He welcomes comments at http://www.therecoverycoach.co.uk

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Cell Phone Scanner - A Good Look Into Cell Phone Scanners and How They Work

People who are associated with law enforcement should be familiar with cell phone scanners. These essentially work as tapping devices, allowing the user to monitor phone calls made and received by people who are under surveillance. They intercept phone calls and normally use information from the scanner to further investigate on a suspect.

The mobile phone scanner is a device that is typically used for surveillance by authorities. The use or mere possession of this device by an unauthorized individual is punishable by law so you need to be very careful should you even consider getting one for yourself.

Interceptors and tapping services

Cell Phone Scanner - A Good Look Into Cell Phone Scanners and How They Work

The interceptor is a type of cell phone scanner that can pick up cellular frequencies so the user can listen in on calls that are made within a predetermined range. This device can easily be obtained via mail order. You just need to order the product from a reputable seller in Canada or England.

For cell phone scanners to work, they need a third-party company to provide them with the service. This will enable the devices to record conversations from a particular phone line, including mobile handsets at a given place and time. Scanner services are usually available as call cards that range from 250 to 500 minutes. Retrieving a recorded conversation is simply a matter of logging onto the internet and getting into the records through the access number. Scanner services and mobile phone scanners are useful for recording important calls such as conference calls with business contacts.

Heads-up

Before you purchase cell phone scanners for whatever purpose you might have, you need to verify the legality of even owning one in your state. This will ensure that you're not getting yourself into trouble. Product-wise, you want to go with a scanner that can record and play conversations back clearly.

Cell Phone Scanner - A Good Look Into Cell Phone Scanners and How They Work
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Important buying tips

More information on cell phone scanners is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

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