History Of Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History Of Human Rights - Essay Example Westminster School and at twelve years old was sent off to Oxford (Queen's College). From 1763, he examined law at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar in 1772. Jeremy Bentham was an English rationalist and political radical. In spite of the fact that he never provided legal counsel, he went through the greater part of his time on earth evaluating the current law and unequivocally upholding legitimate change. Bentham is essentially known today for his ethical way of thinking, particularly his standard of utilitarianism which assesses activities dependent on their outcomes, specifically the general bliss made for everybody influenced by the activity. He kept up that placing this guideline into steady practice would give support to social, political, and legitimate organizations. In spite of the fact that Bentham's impact was minor during his life, his effect was more noteworthy in later years as his thoughts were carried on by devotees, for example, John Stuart Mill, John Austin, a nd other consequentialists.During 1776, Bentham drew out his first significant work, A Fragment on Government.3 It was about this time Bentham was to turn into a companion with an incredible ruler, Lord Shelburne (1737-1805). Obviously, through the protection of Lord Shelburne, Bentham had the option to set aside effort, to venture out and to compose. He [Bentham] has lived for the last f... His eye is brisk and vivacious; yet it looks not from item to protest, yet from thought to thought. He is obviously a man busy with some train of fine and internal affiliation. He respects the individuals about him close to the flies of summer. He contemplates the coming age. He hears and sees just what suits his motivation, or some 'inevitable end product'; and pays special mind to realities and passing events so as to place them into his intelligent hardware and pound them into the residue and powder of some unpretentious hypothesis, as the mill operator pays special mind to grist to his factory! (William Hazlitt.) Bentham's Philosophy Jeremy Bentham calculated that laws ought to be socially helpful and not just mirror the state of affairs; and, that while he accepted that men unavoidably seek after delight and keep away from torment, Bentham believed it to be a holy truth that the best joy of the best number is the establishment of ethics and enactment. Bentham guessed that the entire of profound quality could be gotten from edified personal responsibility, and that an individual who consistently acted with a view to his own most extreme fulfillment over the long haul would consistently act appropriately. Bentham is to be contrasted with William Godwin: they looked like each other in their visually impaired scorn for the past. While each lectured the requirement for peaceful unrest, each had an alternate after. Bentham's unrest was to be affected by enactment, Godwin's by contention. French Revolution:- The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a significant period throughout the entire existence of French, European and Western human advancement. During this time, republicanism supplanted the supreme government in France, and the nation's Roman Catholic Church had to experience a radical rebuilding. While France would waver among republic, domain, and

What is succession planning?

Progression arranging can be viewed as a company’s identification to guaranteeing its supportability and business congruity. Associations, huge or little, have their capable and dedicated individuals as their spine. Without them, their prosperity won't be conceivable regardless of whether they put in a great deal of interest in high innovation and propelled apparatuses. It’s a certain something, however, to have a pool of qualified and high-potential ability; it’s something else to guarantee that they are in the correct situations to expand their gifts and continue their inspiration. The issue comes in when a worker who is as of now possessing a basic capacity gets incapable to play out their obligations out of the blue. The organization should then have the option to distinguish a key ability from inside the association who can top off the void, and this is the place progression arranging becomes an integral factor. Progression arranging is an activity that organizations do to learn that they have solid, experienced and proficient ranking directors who can fill in as coaches to promising junior officials who can (and will one day) take on progressively basic jobs and ideally lead the organization to more prominent achievement. Progression arranging is tied in with ensuring that there is a certified and able supervisor who can accept more noteworthy obligations as the need emerges and at some random time. Like in any games group, the mentor depends on a profound seat of â€Å"second team† individuals to supplant a â€Å"starter† player when important. What's more, progression arranging is tied down on the company’s key objectives. For example, if the organization chooses to extend its business past its present help region, top administration needs to distinguish qualified abilities who can involve new posts because of another arrangement shut or supplant ranking directors in the parent organization who will be supported to the auxiliary. This implies top administration should continually be keeping watch for potential changes inside the association and rapidly recognize the labor ramifications of these turns of events. Associations that have effectively standardized progression arranging in their association have coordinated it into their everyday business tasks. Progression arranging is a nonstop action and not only an occasional thing. Key Elements of Succession Planning The initial step to a fruitful progression arranging is having a complete and powerful ability mapping and appraisal framework. Here, the organization needs to characterize the abilities set and skills required for a specific position and/or work so as to assess if every one of its representatives are set in the position that is generally appropriate for them. Additionally, the organization ought to have the option to distinguish and give improvement openings and development territories for each key representative. Besides, the organization ought to characterize a worker as a high-potential ability, normal entertainer or one that is untrustworthy and unmotivated. This is to ensure that the organization assigns additional time and assets to build up the perfect individuals for the activity. This implies a high-potential ability will be given all the more preparing and advancement programs and will be presented to more development open doors contrasted and a normal entertainer. Another key component in progression arranging is to guarantee that there is a standard presentation assessment framework set up particularly for key and rising gifts in the association. For most organizations, this is done every year; for some semi-yearly or even quarterly. Whatever the case is, the organization should set clear, quantifiable, quantifiable and practical focuses against which a worker will be assessed. Through this, top administration will have the option to see who among their representatives are performing great against their expectations. On the off chance that there is a nonperforming worker, the organization should discover the fundamental reason for this since it may be an instance of befuddle between the employee’s aptitudes set and the job that the individual in question is being approached to perform. The organization at that point ought to rush to amend this issue by moving that representative to an increasingly fitting situation for him and locate a progressively appropriate ability who can assume their position. Organizations ought to likewise set up a coaching instrument and urge their ranking directors to consistently have an understudy who they think can expect their jobs later on. This understudy or disciple will shadow the ranking director and help that person perform basic assignments to build up the required authority and the board abilities. Also, organizations should encourage a workplace where there is stream of data from higher ranking than junior administrators and the other way around. Ability maintenance is additionally a significant component in progression arranging. Organizations ought to put resources into making their representatives cheerful and fulfilled by giving budgetary (e. g. prizes and impetuses) and non-money related â€Å"gifts† (e. g. representative acknowledgment programs, great social insurance plan, preparing and advancement projects, protected and solid workplace, and so forth ). This, at that point, permits more opportunity for prepared supervisors to move their insight and offer their experience to their more youthful partners with the goal that when the opportunity arrives, junior officials can step capable. Advantages of Effective Succession Planning A viable progression arranging can realize benefits both to the organization and the representatives. In the first place, the organization can be guaranteed of a steady business tied down on a solid senior supervisory crew and a similarly dependable pool of second stringers made out of prepared and prepped junior workers. This, thus, will make financial specialists and investors progressively certain about the eventual fate of the organization, which ideally prompts expanded investor esteem. With respect to the clients, they will likewise be guaranteed that their specialist co-op is in acceptable hands and will have the option to take into account their drawn out necessities. In addition, great progression arranging will spare the organization time and cash in remotely sourcing the ability who can best fill in the empty position. Outer abilities, regardless of how splendid they are, need plentiful time to comprehend the business and mix with the association. In a similar way, representatives will profit by a compelling progression arranging framework as this will meet their profession improvement prerequisites and make their current and future jobs more clear. High-potential representatives will likewise value the company’s paying heed to them and giving them increasingly top-level preparing and advancement programs. They will clearly feel that they are offered significance to by the organization. At long last, progression arranging gives workers a feeling of dependability, realizing that they have a drawn out profession way with the organization. This, thusly, will make the representatives increasingly inspired, hopeful and forward-looking.

Second Semester Senior

Second Semester Senior Hello Everyone! Firstly, I’d like to publicly apologize for not being as frequent as I normally am. I think last year, I set a goal of blogging once a week. Sophomore year, this has become decidedly more difficult. I’m sure you can guess what I’ve been doing.. (*drum roll*) That’s right! Studying! Or psetting, or various academic-related activities. Academically speaking, sophomore year is definitely a step up from freshman year, although, for many reasons, I still think freshman year overall was harder. There’s also a couple things I’ve been doing outside of academics, such as planning and executing a water project in Ethiopia, becoming a founder of a new FSILG, and playing with robots but that is all queued for a later post (in an attempt to spread out my blogging and be more frequent ^^”). What I actually want to talk about today is really not today at all, but rather two years ago. More precisely, senior year of high school, which I think many of you might be experiencing right now. It is nearing the end of November; the first round of applications have gone in (early action date was November 1st); the last-minute standardized tests and subject tests have been crammed for and taken; changes to creative portfolios have been finalized and made. Many of you probably have a few applications left to finish still (no worries, I myself did four of them in one weekend just before the Jan. 1 deadline) (but would not recommend, obviously). Even so, we are definitely entering that time when things are wrapping up, and (hopefully) calming down. This is also a time when a lot of people seem to enter a mindset of now what? You’ve prepared and prepared and prepared, written essays, had interviews. Now, everything is fully out of your control, and has been passed into the hands of these mysterious “admissions officers” (TBH I never thought of admissions officers as real people or even separate from universities until I met Chris Peterson, and read this excellent blog post by Ben Jones, whom I’ve never met https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/its_more_than_a_job) (It always just seemed, in my head, like the school itself had a brain, and was doing the deciding) I received a question that pretty much summed up all these feelings on tumblr the other day: As it turns out, there actually are still things you can do to most effectively prepare for college! So, here is what I did after submitting my application: Pick up a senioritis projectâ€"something to do in the time that you procrastinate all of your other work. Mine was learning to longboard, a couple friends of mine tried to learn elvish from LOTR. Search “things to eat __(your city)__” and go to all the places and eat the things :3 (I actually am doing this now, in Boston, not back in Denver, but I should have!!) Go to whatever downtown, small or large, that you have, or take public transportation to that stop you’ve never been to, and just waste time. Window shop. Get some ice cream. Whatever. Use a countdown app to countdown the remaining days until winter break/school ends/this one class you have ends Try to write a short story or a serial Invest more time than you previously would into extracurricularsâ€"I put extra effort into Robotics and Chinese Club : Write!! About anything and everything. Write badly. Laugh at it. Make a reading list. Try to finish it Read book recommendations from friends Ask your parents lots of questionsâ€"ask them things you have never asked before, however meaningful (“When you came to the U.S, did you plan on staying?”)* or totally random (“Ma, when you were a kid what was your favorite snack food”)** as you wish. ^same, but with your siblings and other family members Attempt art-ing. Listen to lots of different music Use whatever mode of transportation you have, and go everywhere. I didn’t have a car in high school, or a license for that matter, and I lived in Colorado, which has only-sort-of-decent public transportation. I took the light rail, and then longboarded or walked. I explored downtown Denver thoroughly, and took a road trip with my friends to go camping over the summer. In the winter months, binge-watch TV shows and movies with your favorite TV shows and movie watching partners. Have lunch by yourself on top of the school bleachers and wonder about life. Have coffee with a friend and wonder about life Realize that you sort of dislike much of existentialist philosophy. Have adventures with friends at night (e.g., suprising another friend at their music performance) Hang out at friends’ houses and wonder about life Talk to friends about wondering about life Mutually agonize over the future Eat pizza Pet dogs Hang out with little kids and tweens attempt exercising Cook something interesting (I made bao zi with my mom) Cook something interesting with friends (we made a buttercream cake!) Cook something interesting with friends part 2 (kim bap. So good.) Go to the movies! Realize that you’re so over your 12 year old self and some of his/her past interpersonal relationships. U don’t need them gurl. Realize that you wish you stayed in touch more with a friend who moved away. Get to know people completely different from you that you have never hung out with before Hang out with the freshmen (they are so cute~) and the underclassmen in general Vent to someone Be vented to, and comfort the vent-er Cry a little about things/academic and life pressure Stay up til 3AM just talking and playing games Be even better friends with your friends, or the people on the “fringes” of your friend group. Plan an extravagant senior trip, which may or may not happen Plan a much less extravagant senior trip that actually happens When I was a high school senior, I definitely had moments where I got so caught up in college and the future that I did not realize until I left or just before how much I would miss the presentor rather, that time which has now passed. And I did not even like high school, as some of you may not. But I did have friends, whom I liked a lot, and we were very close. I don’t think I even realized how close, until I came to a place where suddenly, I didn’t know anyone. I was (and still am, of course) very close with my family. I loved (and still love, of course) Colorado in and of itself, as a place. So, even though I did have those moments of antsy-ness, I am glad I took some time to really appreciate just being where I wasin high school, in Colorado, with my friends and family. After everything is submitted and signed and sealed and done, I’d encourage you to do the same. Even though I was never someone who believed in the “high school is the best time of your life!”, high school is still a time of your life, which will soon not be the present, and that is what’s important to realize. High school itself may not even be the defining characteristic of this time for you, but that’s the thing about timeit passes, regardless of what it holds. It’s a cliche, I know, but remember to enjoy the moment, whatever that moment is for you. (The feet of yours truly in the Platte River, which winds through part of downtown Denver) *Nope. **???(sa chi ma)

A Lot of Joy, Not so Much Fun A Book for Parents to Read

The 20th century was an epoch of a rapid evolution in various scientific fields as well as in the sphere of human relations. Among many other things, the concept of parenthood was completely and absolutely changed during this period of time. If earlier children usually weren’t the most honored members of the family and were rather viewed as additional sources of economic and moral prosperity of a household, it was at the end of the 20th century, when such attitude was switched to a whole different approach. Now one could put it this way: the family exists for the sake of children and not otherwise. No Guide to Follow There are many different books written on the topic of modern parenthood. There are professional psychological manuals as well as popular literature. And nevertheless, in spite of the great number of works about parenting and the tremendous amount of research, raising children is still a piece of hard work without any decent univocal guide to follow. No matter how many modern and relatively old books you have read, your interaction with a child will be a unique experience, and most possible, it will require an absolutely personal approach. Still, there are some works of modern literature that might give you a hint on difficulties and joy of parenthood. All Joy and no Fun In order to write her first book, Jennifer Senior, who is a contributing editor at New York magazine, interviewed diverse families: it’s impossible to call them typical, for families always vary somehow, at the same time there is nothing extraordinary about them. Her work, â€Å"All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood†, consists of snapshots rather than long-lasting musings and analysis, but these snapshots are what makes readers think and analyze. The writer has accomplished a thorough research from both psychological and philosophical points of view and thus summed up many interesting facts on parenting. In the End Nothing Else Matters So, in her work on raising children, Jennifer Senior remarks: Children are definitely disadvantageous economically, but they bring an astounding emotional experience to their parents, which exceeds anything they have ever lived through before. Children rather feel than think, and adults need to get used to it to make parenting process successful. Children influence relationships of adults more than anything else, including money, annoying habits, hobbies and sex. They might improve your relationship or destroy it – it all depends on your approach. At present, you may find many things that will be more interesting than communication with your child. But in the end, when you live your life through and look back, nothing matters more than children.

Issues in Education

Essay Race and Political Power in the Pre-Civil War Period

Race and Political Power in the Pre-Civil War Period How did race translate itself into political power during this period, and how did Blacks attempt to combat that power. Racism has been the most provocative topic in American history; it has seemed to transcend other struggles, and fester its way into almost every facet of American culture. It has grown like weeds in an unattended garden in to the ideology of America. Politicians use it as a tool for reelection, corporations use it as a way to exploit, and the media uses it as a way to control. But the underlying question is where did it come from, how did it translate itself into political power, and how and what did African Americans do to combat that power. Many of the answers to†¦show more content†¦Central to these laws was the provision that black slaves, and the children of slave women, would serve for life. This premise, combined with the natural population growth among the slaves, meant that slavery could survive and grow even after slave imports were outlawed in 1808. This was one of the first instances of race translating itself into political power in early colonial America. By the middle of the 18th century slavery was widely accepted in the colonies. There was no way to hide it, between 1680 and 1750 the proportion of slaves in America grew from 4.6 of the population to over 20 percent. In the southern colonies slavery went from about 5 percent to 40 percent of the population. Throughout most of the colonial period, opposition to slavery among white Americans was virtually nonexistent. Settlers in the 17th and early 18th centuries came from sharply stratified societies in which the wealthy savagely exploited members of the lower classes. Lacking a later generation’s belief in natural human equality, they saw little reason to question the enslavement of Africans. As they sought to mold a docile labor force, planters resorted to harsh, repressive measures that included liberal use of whipping and branding. That way of thinking would change, as the colonies would move toward war. The coming of the American Revolution would change the way Americans thought about slavery. In response to theirShow MoreRelatedThe American Civil War : Censorship And The Passage Of Time1603 Words   |  7 Pages The American Civil War has captured the popular imagination of the world for more than a hundred and fifty years. Academic scholars and neophyte history buffs alike have published thousands of books on the subject, adding to a growing canon of Civil War literature and knowledge. Little attention is paid, however, to the intimate personal lives and sexual intimacies of the people who lived during that crucial period in American history. Historians pay even less attention to those figures who existedRead MoreWoman Of Color And Privilege1166 Words   |  5 Pagesracial hierarchy were not strictly enforced, especially when it came to propertied and wealthy planters such as David Dickson who chose to raise his mixed-race daughter at home. Amanda Dickson’s experience s during Reconstruction demonstrate that she had much more freedom after slavery was abolished than may have been expected before the Civil War. Amanda Dickson’s experiences and those of her mother in particular do not fit the presumed mold of oppressed slave with no opportunity for a better lifeRead MoreJIM CORW LAWS Essay1524 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1865, four million Americans who were called slaves simply because they were born black, were now free with an expectation that they would enjoy all civil liberties. The post-Civil War period of Reconstruction provided freedmen with various rights, but in little over a decade, the promise of emancipation and equal rights was gone, replaced by rigid system of laws designed to keep blacks from experiencing any of their newly achieved rights, which is known as the era of Jim Crow, the American formRead MoreTerrorism Is A Modern Political And Economic Topic On America1376 Words   |  6 PagesTerrorism has become a modern politi cal and economic topic in America. It is the existence of Terrorists attacks in America that has changed the way people travels both domestic and foreign and also now viewed as an issue and conflicts that exist within the nation’s borders and domestically (Shemella, 373 ). 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Critics during that time found the portrayal of the white characters insulting, because they were too well balanced in comparison to the white citizens and slave owners in the 1800’s. I personally disagree with these critiques, and argue that the white characters Walker writes about before the Civil War, are given are given a balanced presentation in order to juxtapose the white characters she describes after the Civil War. Walker’s description of theRead MoreDiscrimination And The War At Appomattox Court House1486 Words   |  6 Pagesyears to come. American history has seen its share of discrimination, perhaps none more evident than the mid-19th century. Political tensions between northern and southern states concerning statesâ€⠄¢ rights and slavery sent the country into turmoil. The bloodiest battle in American history soon began and the country would never be the same again. However, after the conclusion of the war at Appomattox Court House, the definition of American citizenship and personal liberties would be changed forever. UnfortunatelyRead MoreEssay on Reconstruction After the Civil War934 Words   |  4 PagesThe period of Reconstruction began during the Civil War and ended in 1877. This era is known for the advancements made in favor of racial equality. These improvements included the fourteenth amendment (citizenship and equal protection under the law to blacks) and the fifteenth amendment (voting rights for blacks) of the Constitution. Yet, with the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Republican Party lost control of the southern governments and the Democratic Party took over. This shift in power wasRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy : Reasons For The Civil Rights Movement883 Words   |  4 PagesMinh P ham Mr. Robins Pre- AP U.S. History 20 October 2015 Kennedy: Reasons to Remember the Name John Fitzgerald Kennedy, born in 1917, was the youngest ever to be elected president in the United States history, also the youngest to leave office when he was assassinated 3 years after his election. Regardless of his short time in office, he left an astonishing impact on every single individual and on the country as a whole. As a president, John F. Kennedy was successful in managing the economy asRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1361 Words   |  6 PagesMichelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness The premise of the ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’ by Michelle Alexander, is to refute claims that racism is dead and argue that the War on Drugs and the federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping a large majority of black men of varying ages in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. The author proves that racism thrives by highlighting the African Americans

Nursing and conflict in Healthcare

Question: What tensions do you think you might experience arising from the differing worldviews of administrators, health care providers, and patients? Answer: Nursing and conflict in Healthcare The cultural competence and the patients centeredness are the approaches made to improve the quality of healthcare in the recent years. This early concept focused mainly on the healthcare providers and the patients who interact at the interpersonal levels and then later considered on how the patients are being treated by the healthcare systems on the whole (Coombs M. (2003). Then there is a comparison made for both the patient centeredness and the cultural competence at all the levels and thus the similarities and the differences are seen. Hence the direct patient contact health care employees such as the nurses and the physicians usually work in very stressful and complex environments that lead to conflicts and differences in the opinions. Although many times these conflicts result in positive outcomes sometimes the opposite also affects the concept. The dysfunctional conflict has the ability to affect the health care workplace in a negative way and on different levels that include the wellbeing of the employee, employee job satisfaction and also the impact of the quality of patient care. Therefore the hospital managers have to learn to recognize the conflicts so that there are no ill effects in the process of healthcare (Kreitner,R. Kinicki,A. (2010). Many of the leaders in the companies are faced by the issue of conflict in their workplaces and the healthcare leaders are certainly faced by the same problems that cannot be avoided. However it is believed that repeated avoidance of conflicts can lead to dysfunction and this often results in different forms of fears such as loss of relationships, anger, falling and rejection so therefore by maintaining a balance between conflict and the problems is the responsibility of the organizational leaders. Hence the elimination of dysfunctional conflict in the fields of healthcare is not possible the approach of poor management of the conflict can be attained. The managers thus must be aware of the work dynamics and mu st take care of the negative conflicts as soon as they see it (Leever, A. M et al (2010). References Coombs M. (2003). Power and conflict in intensive care clinical decision making. Intensive Critical Care Nursing. Kreitner,R. Kinicki,A. (2010). Organizational behavior (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Leever, A. M., Hulst, M. D., Berendsen, A. J., Boendemaker, P. M., Roodenburg, J. N., Pols, J. J. (2010). Conflicts and conflict management in the collaboration between nurses and physician A qualitative study. Journal Of Interprofessional Car

American History From the Beginning of the 19th Century

The document â€Å"Samson Occum’s Diary and the Brothertown Indians† is one of the primary sources used in the book The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America by Colin Calloway. The document offers extensive information on the history of the Americans from the beginning of the 19th century.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on American History From the Beginning of the 19th Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This book is one of the best documents about the history of America since it presents primary documents and articles written by the natives themselves (Calloway 123). The historical facts of the country form the thesis of this paper explaining how the country developed to become what it represents today. The reason I have selected the source is that it offers useful information on the American history between the years1800 and 1900 being a primary source that gives deta ils and ideas about the formation of the nation. The author presents the perspectives of the Native Americans on the unique events before and after the arrival of colonial powers (Calloway 123). It also explains the encounters between the Europeans and Indians during that period. The other reason I have chosen the document is that it analyzes the American Revolution in the most explicit, clear and detailed way. Having been set around the 19th century, the document is still a readable and informative historical piece of literature. The document highlights the fact that the arrival of the colonialists in America resulted in physical conflicts and instability in the region making the Native Americans suffer from the intrusion thereby resulting in a new political order. The geographical placement of the document is important because it explains the events that took place in the western areas where the Indians resided at that time (Calloway 125).Advertising Looking for assessment on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It gives primary information about the native tribes and the Europeans which is significant while offering a concrete analysis of the conflict between the natives and the Europeans powers. The information and ideas presented in the document are useful historical evidences about the development of the nation. The arrival of the Euro-American and European colonial powers in the country affected the stability of the native tribes. The newcomers attacked the natives thereby changing their social structure, economic activities, and political order. Further attacks by the colonialists affected the sovereignty of the Indians. Different historical articles and documents support the same idea that the European powers affected the structure of the land. They introduced new rules and economic activities such as trade and agriculture. We cannot explore the history of America without looking at the role of the colonial powers (Calloway 143). The other importance of this document is that it provides useful suggestions and ideas for further readings. The reader gets enough information about the history of the land. The document borrows first-hand information from speeches, diaries, letters and treaties written by the Native Americans. The author has also used various articles written by the Europeans. The reader gets an opportunity to get useful information about the encounter and its subsequent impacts on the Native Americans (Calloway 128). This document points out the issue about the history of America and the obstacles the Native Indians faced. While different documents and books have tried to explain the history of America in details, this particular book managed to examine the events and physical conflicts between the Native Americans and the Europeans powers in full. These events would eventually separate people and form a new political structure in the country. Works Cited C alloway, Colin. The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America. Boston: Bedford Books, 1994. Print.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on American History From the Beginning of the 19th Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This assessment on American History From the Beginning of the 19th Century was written and submitted by user D0m1n0 to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Exercise Your Editing with This Exercise

Exercise Your Editing with This Exercise Exercise Your Editing with This Exercise Exercise Your Editing with This Exercise By Mark Nichol Editing is as much an art as writing is. Whether you’re finessing your own writing or revising the work of another, the process requires simultaneous attention to multiple issues: spelling, grammar, style, accuracy, formality, and the subjective aspect of substance: providing context, assigning meaning and conveying value, and more. When I was a copyediting instructor, one of my favorite activities was creating error-ridden editing exercises for my students. (Sadistic, I know but they got their money’s worth.) Here, I inflict one such compositional concentration of calamity of on you free of charge. But before you read beyond the following paragraph, copy and paste it and give it your best editing effort, then come back and compare your revision with mine: â€Å"On Jan. 20th, 1960 then-President John Kennedy delivered his notorious Ask Not What You Can Do for Your Country Speech. Kennedy launched not only America’s Space Program that sent men to the moon, but stood up to Russia when they threatened the free world during the missile crisis. During his Presidency, Peace Corps was formed; the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the Soviets; and the Civil Rights Act was passed. (However, he stumbled when, in a speech in Berlin in 1963, he told the Germans, â€Å"Ich bin ein Berliner.† He intended to communicate â€Å"I am a Berliner,† but the way he said it meant, â€Å"I am a jelly doughnut.†) Only 42-years-old when elected, the youngest president, his legacy is a less than three year presidency compared with Camelot.† Here’s my quick fix, followed by annotations: â€Å"President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address on January 20, 1961, is memorable for the statement â€Å"Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country,† and he answered his own challenge. During his administration, he not only pressed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to achieve a manned landing on the Moon by the end of the 1960s but also confronted the Soviet Union over that country’s plan to install nuclear weapons in Cuba that would be aimed at the United States. Also, during Kennedy’s presidency, tragically abbreviated when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the Peace Corps was formed; the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legacy of Kennedy, only forty-two years old when he was elected, is of a brief period of peace and prosperity; indeed, his administration was compared to the glory of King Arthur’s Camelot.† Note the correction of the style of the month and date, and correction of the year itself. Our thirty-fifth president’s name is John F. Kennedy. If I had retained â€Å"then-President† before Kennedy’s name, I would omit the hyphen and lowercase the name of the office, which because of the modifier then becomes an epithet rather than a specific job title. Because Kennedy’s inaugural address is notable for other excerpts as well, I chose, in identifying it, to focus on the line giving it in its entirety and not on the speech. But if you do refer to a speech, style the reference as follows: â€Å"his ‘Ask not what you can for your country’ speech.† (Also, notorious is not an apt description for the address.) If I were editing someone else’s work, I would query for the writer’s approval of insertion of â€Å"he answered his own challenge,† which I think provides a transition to what would otherwise be merely a grocery list of accomplishments. I corrected the erroneous â€Å"not only . . . but also† construction. There is no such entity as â€Å"America’s Space Program,† so the latter two words should not have been capitalized. (And, whenever possible, use the more precise â€Å"United States† in place of America in reference to the nation.) In this context, moon is the formal name of an astronomical feature, rather than a generic word for such a phenomenon, and should therefore be capitalized. Although Russia is an informal alternative to â€Å"the Soviet Union,† it should be avoided in such usage. (â€Å"The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics† was the official name of the country during this period, but the two-word version is acceptable.) A nation is a singular entity and should not be referred to as â€Å"they.† â€Å"Free world† is subjective and provocative in this otherwise neutrally written passage. Because of the lack of specificity and capitalization, â€Å"the missile crisis† implies a previous reference to the incident. It should be referred to by its capitalized full name. As written, the sentence beginning â€Å"During his Presidency† (there is no reason to capitalize presidency, by the way) requires only commas, not semicolons. I retained the latter punctuation marks only because I rewrote the list of achievements in a complex form, with internal commas in the second item. I also revised the passive construction to active form. I inserted the phrase about his assassination to provide context. â€Å"Peace Corps,† like the similarly constructed names of most entities, should be preceded by the article the. Several nations signed the treaty, and if any are identified, all should be identified. The phrase â€Å"of 1964† is part of the formal name of the act. The â€Å"Ich bin ein Berliner† gaffe is a popular myth; residents of Berlin did not, and do not, call jelly doughnuts â€Å"Berliner.† (Beyond that, even if the story were true, the incident is minor when compared with the other highlights of Kennedy’s presidency listed here, and the passage provides insufficient context.) A person’s age, when not applied as a modifier, should not be hyphenated (except for linking ones-place and tens-place numbers, as in forty-two). Also, I prefer to follow The Chicago Manual of Style in spelling ages out. The first phrase of the last sentence is a dangling modifier; â€Å"the . . . president† is incorrectly identified as his own legacy. â€Å"The youngest president† is an awkwardly truncated interjection. My more extended parenthetical is only one of several possibilities. The phrase â€Å"less than three year,† as a modifier for presidency, should be hyphenated; I deleted the entire phrase because it seemed to distract from the point of the passage. Also, there was insufficient context for the reference to Camelot. This passage could be edited in as many versions as there are editors, and, given further context, would be further improved by additional changes. My effort attends to the deficiencies in the several categories I listed in the first paragraph of this post. Share in a comment below how and why your edits differ from mine and others. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Inquire vs EnquireHow to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsA "Diploma" is not a "Degree"

There Are No Children Here Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

There Are No Children Here - Assignment Example trating great unwillingness to leave the place at the high point in the city significantly related to my personal life and also affected me personally. Pharaoh is a young boy of only nine at that time when he goes with his brother and other boys to that high point in the city from where they could watch the downtown skyline. The children go there looking for snakes, but Pharaoh gets distracted by nature as they are about to leave when the night begins to fall. This small moment in Pharaoh’s life moved me on a personal level and made me feel nostalgic of my own childhood. When I was about nine or ten myself, I suffered the loss of my grandfather with whom I was really close emotionally and psychologically. He was the most influential figure in my life because he was there for me always when my parents due to their hectic working schedules could not make it. When I lost him to a case of heart disease, I became very gloomy and used to feel tired all the time. However, one day my parents took me for hiking at a hilly area which is known for boasting some very natural and beautiful views. I remember how being at that place made me feel exactly like Pharaoh felt in that scene from the story. That moment breaks my heart and reminisces of my own past when the little boy cannot bring himself to leave the place because he is so engrossed in the view of diving sparrows returning to their nests and the smell of wildflowers that the harsh realities of real life totally release him from their shackles for a while. Adolescents have raw minds which explains why they are so impressionable. They are highly receptive to what their surroundings have to offer which can be good or bad. For Pharaoh, the environment of the bad neighborhood in which destiny forced him to live offered him bad memories to escape which he longed to stay forever at the place which offered overwhelmingly beautiful views of birds and nature. Similarly, the death of my grandfather m ade me hung up on the time I

Why it is important to support the National Rifle Association Essay

Why it is important to support the National Rifle Association - Essay Example These groups constantly portray our organization as one that seeks to return this great country to the Wild West era as we continue to lobby for each individuals right to bear arms. . Irresponsible gun owners have given our organization a bum rap over the years. The time has come to finally show people that the National Rifle Association is not an enemy but rather an ally in the quest for peace and order when pertaining to certain settings. The National Rifle Association is not an advocate of violence. Rather, we advocate peaceful co-existence with the non-NRA groups that share similar beliefs with our organization. While these anti NRA groups constantly delve on the fact that we support gun ownership and the right to use it when a threat to ones physical well - being is imminent as being a negative aspect of the group, the reality is that our organization does a great service to our government since we in the private sector can worry about the possibility of fire arm misuse and its prevention with a much wider breadth of movement. Our organization has never been one to advocate gun violence. Having been founded in 1878, we have always advocated the use of proper use of guns in the quest for relaxation and the protection of life and private property. Our quest has always been to promote the proper handling and use of firearms in public settings. The NRA has not once ever advocated any course of action that could be deemed as an endorsement of gun violence. Rather, our 4.8 million member strong group has done its best to sponsor responsible gun ownership programs during a point in time when our police force is beginning to dwindle due to budgetary cuts and the option, or rather need, to protect ones self is of the utmost importance. With the spotlight once again zeroing in on our organization due in no small part to the Trayvon Martin shooting, it has become of the utmost

Changes in Holography

Changes in Holography 001 Looking Back, Moving Forward How was 2004 for you? For the industry as a whole, reviewing the developments that we covered last year in Holography News, we can conclude that it was a good year for most, with many positive developments that set the scene for 2005 and beyond, but with sufficient clouds on the horizon to prevent any complacency. In terms of markets, in the high security arena the growth of holograms on banknotes continues apace (see page 3) and this will continue to be key market notwithstanding the recent news that the new $100 and other denominations will not, in all likelihood, include a holographic feature. In other high security markets, passports took something of a back seat, for holograms at least not because of technology concerns but because of the current pre-occupation with biometrics. But elsewhere in document protection, AAMVAs specification of holograms on all US driving licences was a significant boost for the industry, while the tax stamp market continues provide significant high volume opportunities for suppliers. There were few major developments in brand protection although the use of holograms as the prime authentication feature on a new labelling program for pharmaceutical products in Malaysia, and the Olympics 2004 merchandising program demonstrated the continuing success of hologram s in these areas. On the downside, the FDAs controversial decision to adopt RFID-based track and trace as the solution to product safety and supply chain management for pharmaceuticals in the US could have unwelcome consequences for the industry should drug regulatory authorities elsewhere in the world follow its example. In packaging, meanwhile, as the Stock watch article in this issue (see page 6) points out, it is barely possible to go out nowadays without seeing holography embellishing shop shelves on all manner of goods from luxury high end to everyday items. Innovation and Development On the technology front, holography continued to demonstrate its inherent capacity for innovation and development. The integration of holograms with other technologies for enhanced security and functionality continued apace examples including Schreiners KeySecure technology, Securiketts Authentikett labels, combined hologram/DNA/RFID labels from ADNAS and Holomex and enhancements to teas scribos Holospot system (see page 8) to name but a few. In the banknote market, De La Rue, Louisenthal and Kurz all launched new security features during 2004 based on combinations of substrate, thread and foil technology. In terms of production, Newmec and Gidue both entered the market with foil applications systems, General Vacuum launched its new compact metalliser while Spatial Imagings new Lightspeed digital hologram printer marked the beginning of new era in large format hologram origination. Aside from the developments in the ‘conventional market for authentication and decorative devices, holography is also beginning to demonstrate its potential for use as a tool as well as a feature. Examples of this potential include Smart Holograms development of reflection holograms as medical diagnostic devices and holographic data storage systems from Optware. Publicly-listed companies were covered in detail in the December issue of Holography News. But there was news from many other qua rters as well, including the expansion plans announced by ABNH, ITW Covid, AFC and Holoshape, and AET Films move into wide embossing on the packaging front. Louisenthal, a major player in the banknote industry, revealed that it now offers full-scale hologram production, including origination, while its former strategic partner in foils, Hueck Folien, joined the ranks of banknote suppliers with its first order for stripes for the Thai currency, signalling a potentially significant new entrant to the market. Its arrival was partially offset by AOTs decision to abandon banknote foils, while the bankruptcy of another high security supplier, Mantegazza, was staved off by its acquisition by Italian security papermaker Fabriano. Outside of the traditional industry centres of Western Europe and North America, the Far East, India and Eastern Europe and the CIS countries continue to play an increasingly important role not just as markets for western companies but as major centres of developm ent in their own right. Russia, a hotbed of scientific innovation, held its first regional conference this year; the commitment amongst Indian companies to quality and industry standards is an inspiration to us all, while all eyes are currently on China, the location for the 2005 Holo-pack†¢Holo-print which will provide the first opportunity for many western hologram companies to witness the strength and scope of this massive market. 2004s Downside So much for the positive. On the downside, RFID continues to position itself, and be viewed in some quarters, as the ‘silver bullet antidote to counterfeiting and diversion, new technologies such as Nanoventions claim their superiority over diffractive features and high quality counterfeit holograms have been discovered on currency notably the euro. The latter, in particular, is leading to a perceptible sense of disenchantment with holograms in terms of their claimed security benefits, technology proliferation and lax standard s amongst suppliers. This topic has been covered exhaustively in recent issues of Holography News and was one of the main topics for discussion at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague, a positive outcome of which was the openness of debate and willingness amongst industry participants to work collectively to address the real issues that are causing concern and counter the misperceptions behind them. All in all, not a bad year for the industry. Provided the concerns leading to disenchantment in some sectors continues to be recognised and addressed with appropriate measures, and provided hologram companies continue to invest in the new products and techniques that form the lifeblood and future of this industry, 2005 could be even better. 002 A Watershed Year for the IHMA In his Chairmans report to the Annual General Meeting of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Hugues Souparis identified the launch of the Secure Hologram Producer Certification Scheme as a watershed for the Association (se HN Vol 18 No 3). This Scheme, run in co-operation with Intergraf, should make a significant contribution to improving procedures in the secure hologram field, and help to raise customer awareness of the need to source secure holograms from a qualified secure producer. Souparis company, Hologram Industries, was the first to be certified, but several others have now applied. Another important development during the year had been the negotiations with the Hologram Manufacturers Association of India (HoMAI), aimed at building a strong relationship between the two associations and serving as a model for the IHMAs relationship with other regional or national hologram associations. An important part of the planned relationship was that the IHMAs Hologram Image Register and HoMAIs Hologram Registry would be linked so that all searches for a hologram match on either database would cover both databases, improving the likelihood of identifying matches which resulted from attempts to source illicit copies of a hologram already in use. He reported that Despite the news that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is casting its net wider for security features (see page 1), banknotes continue to be a good market for the holography industry. A number of new banknotes have been introduced during 2004, including two major currencies the new Canadian dollar series which features a stripe and the two higher denominations of the newly-designed Japanese yen, each with a patch. Kurz was the supplier for both, the latter understood to be the largest single hologram order for banknotes in the industry. Other currencies that have introduced holograms to all or most of their the Board was in discussion with the China AntiCounterfeiting Technology As sociation (CATA) with a view to CATA establishing a hologram section, and that the IHMA was also in preliminary discussions with Russian producers interested in an industry organisation there. Souparis also reminded members of IHMAs links with Interpol and other international and national police organisations, saying that he hoped to build on these contacts in the coming year. New Board Members In the elections at the AGM, Souparis was re-elected Chairman a post he can hold for another two years. Wilfried Schipper (Hologram Company Rako) was elected as the European representative on the Board, with Alkis Lembessis (Cavomit and Taurus) as his deputy; Umendra Gupta (Holostik India) was re-elected as Asian representative, with Khalid Khanani (Metatex) as deputy. Randy James (Pacific Holographics) was elected as deputy North American representative and since the AGM the Board has co-opted John Halotek (ITW Covid) as the North American representative, there being no accepted nomination at the meeting. Alex Goncharsky (Computer Holography Centre, Moscow) and Ken Traub (ABNH) remain on the board for a second and fourth year respectively. Spreading the Word In addition to the objectives above, a key task for the IHMA in 2005 and thereafter will be to promote the positive benefits of holograms, particularly as authentication devices, as a counter to disenchantment with the technology in certain quarters, notably some parts of the high security sector. A proactive PR campaign, a greater presence at industry conferences, an improved website as a communications tool both for members and users, and a drive to increase the membership and the visibility of the IHMA are all currently underway. The hologram industry is one of the few in the authentication sector to have its own association and the IHMA is committed to building on this position and the strengths that a collective voice can provide for hologram companies. Contact: www.IHMA.org. 003 General Vacuums New Compact Metalliser (Pg # 5) General Vacuum, manufacturer of vacuum metallising equipment, unveiled further details of its new compact Holosecâ„ ¢ metalliser (see HN Vol 18 No 2) at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague. Vacuum metallisers have until now been supplied with production widths of 800-3000m, limiting their use both financially and for production purposes among small and narrow-web hologram producers and forcing these to buy in their film and foil pre-metallised from wide web suppliers. The Holosec was designed to fill this niche and enable narrow-web producers to bring metallising in-house, thereby increasing their security of production and enabling them to take advantage of the specialised treatments the system offers. The Holosec combines the vacuum chamber, unwind and rewind units, plasma pre-treatment, demetallization and evaporation source within one compact unit with a footprint of 2m x 3m. In addition to the conventional aluminium used for holographic films and foils, it can coat silicon oxide, chrome, silver and copper and zinc sulphide for high refractive index films. It also offers pattern demetallisation with in-line registration and plasma pre-treatment that enhances the sur face energy of the films to improve adhesion and hence quality. The run rate varies from 10m to a maximum of 200m per minute. General Vacuum, formerly Valmet and now part of the Bobst Group, declined to give prices for the Holosec, stating that these depend on specification. But it can assumed that they will be considerably lower than the prices for wide web systems. When questioned at Holopack.†¢ Holo-print about the risks of spreading low-cost secure hologram production technology in the market, Dr Nadir Ahmed, who gave the presentation on behalf of his former company, commented that the company would check the legitimacy of customers before supply. To date, two machines have been sold with other orders in the pipeline for early 2005. Contact: Andy Jack, General Vacuum Equipment. Tel: +44 1706 622442; [emailprotected] 004 Menzel Vision System for Web Guiding Menzel, a German company specialising in machinery for finishing and inspection machines for textiles, expanded into similar equipment for the plastic films industry in the late 1960s, and at Holopack†¢ Holo-print exhibited a machine vision system for control of web handling machines for holographic films. The system keeps web lines in register to improve the accuracy and quality of slitting, winding/re-winding, stamping and other hologram finishing processes. Based on the companys experience building textile and film web guiding systems, the hologram guiding system can be set to read the edge of the hologram film or a specific part of the pattern in the hologram the camera scans across the width of the film to record the edge position, the registration mark position or the position of a specified image element. Once programmed, it feeds the image data to a sensor and a controller, which in turn adjusts the web guides to maintain the position of the web. The Menzel vision system for holographic film costs around â‚ ¬17- 20,000, depending on the configuration required. Contact: www.menzel.net. 005 Optical Document Security The third edition of the reference book Optical Document Security is now available from publishers Artech House. Written by Rudolf van Renesse, an expert in the field and editor and co-author of the two previous editions (published in 1994 and 1998 respectively), the book provides a comprehensive and cohesive treatment of all aspects of optical document security, according to its publishers. The books contents have been substantially updated and revised from the previous edition, and expanded to include coverage of additional security features and evaluation. The introduction on the theory of colours is followed by chapters on light interference and diffraction, substrate-based security, printing inks and printing techniques, printed security patterns (including screen decoded images and digital watermarks), diffractive- and interference-based security features, security design and evaluation and an introduction to biometrics. The emphasis is on both the physics of security features and their value in resisting counterfeiting, while the chapter evaluating security design looks at the human factors of first line document inspection. The books 350 pages contain over 270 black and white illustrations, including live security documents, and an appendix with samples of important security features. In addition, a CD-ROM is included which contains all illustrations of the book in full-colour. Author Rudolf van Renesse was senior research engineer in the Optics Department of TNO Institute of Applied Physics in The Netherlands and is now an independent consultant on document security for government departments and banking and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in the areas of holography, optical inspection techniques, and the theory of colors and document security, and is the author of more than 80 publications in these areas, as well as a contributor to Holography News and its sister publications Authentication News and Currency News. Optical Document Security is available at the discounted price  £72/$118 from Artech House www.artech-house.com 006 Display Holography on the Rise Photopolymer is making progress winning projects that perhaps embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply We feel for Nick Hardy and Valerie Love of OpGraphics, the British company that has listed its DuPont photopolymer hologram production equipment for sale on eBay. Op has been producing display holograms for the gift and promotional trade since 1983, originally on Agfa silver halide films, then in the 1990s Nick Hardy started working with DuPonts holographic photopolymer, partly because Agfa ceased production of its holographic films, partly because the photopolymer reflection holograms had lower noise and were more light efficient. Unfortunately, when DuPont Authentication Systems was established as a joint venture with Label Systems Inc, the company decided to restrict the distribution of its unexposed photopolymer film to authorised security hologram producers. Op were among the hologram producers which were given notice of a cessation of supply. They tried to fight this under competition law in the UK, but despite their significant investment in DuPonts production equipment and the time to perfect their processes, this was to no avail. The result: holographic production kit being offered on eBay. The Year of Photopolymer? The timing could not be more poignant as there appears to be an upsurge of interest in photopolymer holograms could 2005 be the year of photopolymer? The year has started well for DAS with NASCARs announcement of its licensed product authentication label, a numbered photopolymer reflection hologram (see page 4). To date, the North American sports licensing authentication projects have been dominated by embossed holograms. NASCAR (the most popular motor sport organisation in North America) may not rival the big national sporting leagues in popularity, but big race meetings such as Daytona and Indianapolis attract large crowds of eager souvenir hunters. Last year, DAS released its izonâ„ ¢ advanced photopolymer holograms, offering instant holo portraits on the film, making it particularly suitable for ID documents. And across the Pacific, Dai Nippon and Nippon Paint Co announced that Teikoku Piston Ring Co had become the first major customer for authentication holograms on Secure I mageâ„ ¢ hot-stampable photopolymer. So photopolymer is making progress in the brand protection market, perhaps winning projects that embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply. Two announcements do not make a fully-fledged market, but do represent progress. Coming Full Circle And now, coming full circle, Liti Holographics has announced that it is shipping a new instant holographic film suitable for reflection holograms for the home and hobby market (see page 3). Meanwhile, silver halide display holograms remain a force in the marketplace. Slavich continues to find a market in Russia and beyond for its silver halide plates and films, and Colour Holographics, which took over the production and supply of HRT holographic plates, finds a steady if not spectacular market. The company is finding a ready market for its own large format co lour holograms, while other silver halide display hologram producers remain in steady production. The availability of compact LED lights which illuminate holograms at a very high quality, and the improved recognition by holographers that they have to deliver a complete, lit and framed installation, is boosting the readiness of display artists and interior designers to consider display holograms as a medium. As one who first got involved in holography because of the excitement of such 3D images, it is reassuring and somewhat surprising to see the continuing interest in full parallax holograms, complementing and supplementing the large volume market of embossed holograms. 007 Litis New Reflection Film Liti Holographics, which offers low cost portrait hologram kits selling for $99 (see HN Vol 18, No 9), has launched a new hologram film. According to the company, this film has all the ‘instant hologram qualities of its previous film but is now capable of making reflection as well as transmission holograms. The new film is red-sensitive, making it compatible with both the Litiholo and other hologram kits, as well as red laser diodes and even helium neon lasers. Contact: www.litiholo.com 008 Nigerias New Pharma Certificate NAFDAC, the Nigerian Food Drugs Agency, has introduced a new certificate to be issued to authorised imported and domestically produced pharmaceuticals. The new certificate is being produced by a security printer in the UK and includes a hologram among its security features. This follows participation by Dr Dora Akunyili, Director of NAFDAC in the first Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting, where she made contact with possible suppliers among the exhibitors. 009 Pharmaceuticals: a Hologram Market Expanding or Threatened? At the time of writing, the 2nd Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting has just finished in Paris, organised by Holography News publisher, Reconnaissance International. One of the themes to emerge during the course of the 21/2 day meeting was the importance of authentication of genuine products as part of the system to combat counterfeit medicines, heard from speakers from national drug regulatory agencies and from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Several of the speakers implied, but Dr Thomas Zimmer of Boehringer Ingelheim explicitly stated, that the ideal authentication device for pharmaceuticals is not yet available. As Dr Zimmer was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeit Group of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), his observations must be taken seriously by suppliers or aspiring suppliers of authentication products to the pharmaceutical sector. To date holograms have been the leading device used for overt authentication on pharmaceuticals, so the claim that the ideal device is not yet available can only be interpreted as a challenge to hologram suppliers. Either holograms have failed to deliver what the pharma sector requires or hologram manufacturers have not succeeded in persuading their customers to use all the levels of security that a hologram can offer; that is first, second and third levels overt, covert and machine read. To implement covert and machine read requires additional investment by customers in training, reading tools and for machine read infrastructure. Ideal Sector The pharmaceutical sector is ideal for the introduction of such an infrastructure. Another call at the Global Forum was for increased harmonisation of authentication and inspection systems. In a sector which is as regulated and as controlled as this one, where all medicines (at least, the legitimate ones) are distributed through a controlled system in a willing partnership between manufacturers, distributors, retailers and governments, training and equipping those who handle the goods to examine the authentication device should be feasible. As should the introduction of a machine-read infrastructure, assuming that there is commonality of what is to be read. The call for greater harmonisation results from the heterogeneity in the sector at present, which makes inpsection and examination a harder task for all involved. At present each hologram supplier offers its own proprietary method of encoding and reading hidden data. It is impractical for a warehouse or pharmacist to be equipped with numerous hologram reading systems, each one required to read the differently encoded information on the holograms from each of the many manufacturers whose medicines they provide. Equally, government inspectors are not able to carry around numerous handheld devices. But as the well-established precedent of credit cards and bar-codes shows, distributors and retailers will equip themselves to read standardised codes if the equipment footprint, cost and training required is minimal and the compatibility is maximal. Can the hologram industry achieve this for the pharmaceutical sector? That is to say, will the hologram industry recognise that here is a cause where collaboration on the adoption of a common approach to encoding and decoding could offer the industry the opportunity to capture that market for many years to come? Because once established, any competing technique has not just to prove itself superior, but must also overcome the inevitable reluctance of a whole sector to change the way it does things. Huge Advantage The hologram industry starts with a huge advantage because holograms have an established customer base in the Pharma sector. And holograms are perceived by the public as a mark of authentication the public may not know how to examine a hologram but its presence gives a level of comfort. Yet if the industry takes no coherent action to work together, it will squander this advantage. The Pharma sector (manufacturers, regulators, even patients groups) is making a case for the ideal authentication device, without perhaps realising that what is actually needed is an authentication system. That system could be built around holograms but it could alternatively be built around other types of device. There are many alternatives all seeking to usurp holograms from their number one spot. Recently, RFID has made the running, in lobbying and PR terms at least, but other technologies taggants, magnetics, complex bar-codes and others are all looking for their ‘killer application and see th e pharma sector as ripe for their efforts. The pharma sector is giving mixed signals about the use of holograms. On one side, Pfizer, in its current generation of product authentication, is currently using colour shift inks instead of holograms as the basis for its solution; on the positive side, Malaysias Meditag uses a three-level hologram (overt, covert and machine-read) at the heart of a system of registration and inspection. Can the hologram industry not individual suppliers, but the industry working together persuade the whole pharmaceutical sector that Malaysias is the way forward, not Pfizers? The RFID industry successfully lobbied the US Food Drugs Administration anticounterfeit task force so that it has identified RFID as the best way forward, although it has left the door open for other technologies by not mandating the use of RFID. This is the example the hologram industry needs to follow, because it has to persuade governments, distributors and manufacturers that the pharma sector can continue to use or even, needs to use holograms at the heart of an integrated system of authentication. The prize is immense, because other market sectors would follow the pharmaceuticals sector. There is no consolation prize, because surrendering this market sector to an alternative technology would give an unavoidable signal to other market sectors. 010 HoloTouch Progress HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, a development company based in Darien, Connecticut working in association with Atlantex Corp, has launched the BeamOne HoloTouch evaluation unit, a working demonstration of its noncontact control technique. HoloTouch was founded by R Douglas McPheters to exploit its patented process for projecting a real holographic image of a keypad or similar finger-tip control board such that passing a real item, such as a finger, through the image, activates the control (US Patent 6377238 see H N Vol 17 No 6). Atlantex specialises in helping bring new products to market, especially in the field of electronic controls and computer accessories . The BeamOne is a four-button box to issue instructions to a PC, to which it is connected by a USB cable. The holographic image of the buttons float about 4 (10 cm) above the BeamOne box and can be programmed to instruct the computer to perform the required functions. It is fully functional, priced at US$1995, but is characterised by Atlantex and HoloTouch as an evaluation device. Nonetheless, it has been chosen by readers of Control Engineering as ‘the most innovative human-machine interface featured in Control Engineering during the past year. McPheters identifies HoloTouch as suiting applications where non-contact is important, such as in a sterile environment, or where switches or buttons cannot be made rugged enough for the environment. The hologram image can also be larger than the keypad it mimics, making it suitable where the device is small or vision may require assistance, such as for sight impaired people or while driving a vehicle, where a quick glance at a small but ton can be dangerous. The hologram is also, of course, intrinsically illuminated, so it is useful for night time or dark environments. HoloTouch and Atlantex are looking for applications partners who will adapt the HoloTouch technique into their own control devices. www.HoloTouch.com HoloTouch Selected for FastTrack HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, the company that has developed a holographic interface for contactless control devices, has been selected for Connecticut Technology Councils FastTrack scheme for promising high-technology start-ups. FastTrack is an advisory and matching programme that helps start-ups with innovative ideas and rapid growth potential to gain seed-stage capital and business planning input through the mobilisation of a network of investors, advisors, professional service providers and industry contacts. Commenting on the scheme, HoloTouch founder and president R Douglas McPheters said: ‘FastTrack offers potentially valuable assistance in connecting us with mentors and advisors and can promote our partnering with companies who see value in our innovative touchless, holographic actuation and control technology. The company has already partnered with Atlantex Corp to launch the BeamOne HoloTouch unit. This enables operators of control boards such as keypads to enter commands simply by passing a finger through holographic images that represent these commands and float in front of the device (see HN Vol 19, No 3) and is suited for applications where non-contact is important for operability of hygiene, including consumer electronics, kiosks, ATMs and medical equipment. HoloTouch and Atlantex have also announced that the BeamOne is now available with relay output, extending the technologys reach to electronic equipment controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). BeamOne already offers communication with PCs through USB, serial and other ports. According to McPheters, this latest development means that the technology can now be used in a numerous industrial applications as well, such as factory floor equipment. McPheters will be presenting a paper on the HoloTouch technology at Holopack†¢ Holo-print 2005. Contact: www.holotouch.com 011 Holotek Doubles Sales and Profits Holotek Technologies Ltd, of Sanzao Zhuhai in China, has doubled its sales and profits in 2004 and is aiming to achieve at least 50% growth in 2005. Its 2003 audited sales of RMB103m ( ±US$12.5m) rose to RMB210M ( ±$25.5m) in 2004, with net profit climbing from RMB58m ( ±$7m) to RMB123.5m ( ±$15.2m), but note that the 2004 figures are not yet audited. Although the company was not liable to tax in its first years of operation (as a start-up in the Zhuhai Economic Zone), these margins of almost 60% make Holotek probably the most profitable holographic producer in the world, both by margin and in its dollar figure. 98% of these sales are for packaging, mainly for transfer metallising of cigarette liners and cartons; 85% is on OPP with the reminder on PET. Holotek has been through ownership changes since we first reported on the company (see HN Vol 17 No 6). It was set up by Fong Teng Technology of Taiwan, but government regulations limit the investment that can be put into a mai nland Chinese company from Taiwan. FT has accordingly sold its interest to four private shareholders, including the CEO Mark Chiang (as a minority owner), and Holotek operates as a subsidiary of Aimrich which is registered in Samoa. The company has also divested its former 49% holding in Yong Feng Tian Technology, a Shenzhen company that produces cigarette packaging materials. All these changes mean Holotek has also postponed its plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It had originally stated its aim was to float this year with a market capitalisation of US$150m, but it is now aiming for floatation in 2008 with a Changes in Holography Changes in Holography 001 Looking Back, Moving Forward How was 2004 for you? For the industry as a whole, reviewing the developments that we covered last year in Holography News, we can conclude that it was a good year for most, with many positive developments that set the scene for 2005 and beyond, but with sufficient clouds on the horizon to prevent any complacency. In terms of markets, in the high security arena the growth of holograms on banknotes continues apace (see page 3) and this will continue to be key market notwithstanding the recent news that the new $100 and other denominations will not, in all likelihood, include a holographic feature. In other high security markets, passports took something of a back seat, for holograms at least not because of technology concerns but because of the current pre-occupation with biometrics. But elsewhere in document protection, AAMVAs specification of holograms on all US driving licences was a significant boost for the industry, while the tax stamp market continues provide significant high volume opportunities for suppliers. There were few major developments in brand protection although the use of holograms as the prime authentication feature on a new labelling program for pharmaceutical products in Malaysia, and the Olympics 2004 merchandising program demonstrated the continuing success of hologram s in these areas. On the downside, the FDAs controversial decision to adopt RFID-based track and trace as the solution to product safety and supply chain management for pharmaceuticals in the US could have unwelcome consequences for the industry should drug regulatory authorities elsewhere in the world follow its example. In packaging, meanwhile, as the Stock watch article in this issue (see page 6) points out, it is barely possible to go out nowadays without seeing holography embellishing shop shelves on all manner of goods from luxury high end to everyday items. Innovation and Development On the technology front, holography continued to demonstrate its inherent capacity for innovation and development. The integration of holograms with other technologies for enhanced security and functionality continued apace examples including Schreiners KeySecure technology, Securiketts Authentikett labels, combined hologram/DNA/RFID labels from ADNAS and Holomex and enhancements to teas scribos Holospot system (see page 8) to name but a few. In the banknote market, De La Rue, Louisenthal and Kurz all launched new security features during 2004 based on combinations of substrate, thread and foil technology. In terms of production, Newmec and Gidue both entered the market with foil applications systems, General Vacuum launched its new compact metalliser while Spatial Imagings new Lightspeed digital hologram printer marked the beginning of new era in large format hologram origination. Aside from the developments in the ‘conventional market for authentication and decorative devices, holography is also beginning to demonstrate its potential for use as a tool as well as a feature. Examples of this potential include Smart Holograms development of reflection holograms as medical diagnostic devices and holographic data storage systems from Optware. Publicly-listed companies were covered in detail in the December issue of Holography News. But there was news from many other qua rters as well, including the expansion plans announced by ABNH, ITW Covid, AFC and Holoshape, and AET Films move into wide embossing on the packaging front. Louisenthal, a major player in the banknote industry, revealed that it now offers full-scale hologram production, including origination, while its former strategic partner in foils, Hueck Folien, joined the ranks of banknote suppliers with its first order for stripes for the Thai currency, signalling a potentially significant new entrant to the market. Its arrival was partially offset by AOTs decision to abandon banknote foils, while the bankruptcy of another high security supplier, Mantegazza, was staved off by its acquisition by Italian security papermaker Fabriano. Outside of the traditional industry centres of Western Europe and North America, the Far East, India and Eastern Europe and the CIS countries continue to play an increasingly important role not just as markets for western companies but as major centres of developm ent in their own right. Russia, a hotbed of scientific innovation, held its first regional conference this year; the commitment amongst Indian companies to quality and industry standards is an inspiration to us all, while all eyes are currently on China, the location for the 2005 Holo-pack†¢Holo-print which will provide the first opportunity for many western hologram companies to witness the strength and scope of this massive market. 2004s Downside So much for the positive. On the downside, RFID continues to position itself, and be viewed in some quarters, as the ‘silver bullet antidote to counterfeiting and diversion, new technologies such as Nanoventions claim their superiority over diffractive features and high quality counterfeit holograms have been discovered on currency notably the euro. The latter, in particular, is leading to a perceptible sense of disenchantment with holograms in terms of their claimed security benefits, technology proliferation and lax standard s amongst suppliers. This topic has been covered exhaustively in recent issues of Holography News and was one of the main topics for discussion at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague, a positive outcome of which was the openness of debate and willingness amongst industry participants to work collectively to address the real issues that are causing concern and counter the misperceptions behind them. All in all, not a bad year for the industry. Provided the concerns leading to disenchantment in some sectors continues to be recognised and addressed with appropriate measures, and provided hologram companies continue to invest in the new products and techniques that form the lifeblood and future of this industry, 2005 could be even better. 002 A Watershed Year for the IHMA In his Chairmans report to the Annual General Meeting of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Hugues Souparis identified the launch of the Secure Hologram Producer Certification Scheme as a watershed for the Association (se HN Vol 18 No 3). This Scheme, run in co-operation with Intergraf, should make a significant contribution to improving procedures in the secure hologram field, and help to raise customer awareness of the need to source secure holograms from a qualified secure producer. Souparis company, Hologram Industries, was the first to be certified, but several others have now applied. Another important development during the year had been the negotiations with the Hologram Manufacturers Association of India (HoMAI), aimed at building a strong relationship between the two associations and serving as a model for the IHMAs relationship with other regional or national hologram associations. An important part of the planned relationship was that the IHMAs Hologram Image Register and HoMAIs Hologram Registry would be linked so that all searches for a hologram match on either database would cover both databases, improving the likelihood of identifying matches which resulted from attempts to source illicit copies of a hologram already in use. He reported that Despite the news that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is casting its net wider for security features (see page 1), banknotes continue to be a good market for the holography industry. A number of new banknotes have been introduced during 2004, including two major currencies the new Canadian dollar series which features a stripe and the two higher denominations of the newly-designed Japanese yen, each with a patch. Kurz was the supplier for both, the latter understood to be the largest single hologram order for banknotes in the industry. Other currencies that have introduced holograms to all or most of their the Board was in discussion with the China AntiCounterfeiting Technology As sociation (CATA) with a view to CATA establishing a hologram section, and that the IHMA was also in preliminary discussions with Russian producers interested in an industry organisation there. Souparis also reminded members of IHMAs links with Interpol and other international and national police organisations, saying that he hoped to build on these contacts in the coming year. New Board Members In the elections at the AGM, Souparis was re-elected Chairman a post he can hold for another two years. Wilfried Schipper (Hologram Company Rako) was elected as the European representative on the Board, with Alkis Lembessis (Cavomit and Taurus) as his deputy; Umendra Gupta (Holostik India) was re-elected as Asian representative, with Khalid Khanani (Metatex) as deputy. Randy James (Pacific Holographics) was elected as deputy North American representative and since the AGM the Board has co-opted John Halotek (ITW Covid) as the North American representative, there being no accepted nomination at the meeting. Alex Goncharsky (Computer Holography Centre, Moscow) and Ken Traub (ABNH) remain on the board for a second and fourth year respectively. Spreading the Word In addition to the objectives above, a key task for the IHMA in 2005 and thereafter will be to promote the positive benefits of holograms, particularly as authentication devices, as a counter to disenchantment with the technology in certain quarters, notably some parts of the high security sector. A proactive PR campaign, a greater presence at industry conferences, an improved website as a communications tool both for members and users, and a drive to increase the membership and the visibility of the IHMA are all currently underway. The hologram industry is one of the few in the authentication sector to have its own association and the IHMA is committed to building on this position and the strengths that a collective voice can provide for hologram companies. Contact: www.IHMA.org. 003 General Vacuums New Compact Metalliser (Pg # 5) General Vacuum, manufacturer of vacuum metallising equipment, unveiled further details of its new compact Holosecâ„ ¢ metalliser (see HN Vol 18 No 2) at the recent Holo-pack†¢Holo-print conference in Prague. Vacuum metallisers have until now been supplied with production widths of 800-3000m, limiting their use both financially and for production purposes among small and narrow-web hologram producers and forcing these to buy in their film and foil pre-metallised from wide web suppliers. The Holosec was designed to fill this niche and enable narrow-web producers to bring metallising in-house, thereby increasing their security of production and enabling them to take advantage of the specialised treatments the system offers. The Holosec combines the vacuum chamber, unwind and rewind units, plasma pre-treatment, demetallization and evaporation source within one compact unit with a footprint of 2m x 3m. In addition to the conventional aluminium used for holographic films and foils, it can coat silicon oxide, chrome, silver and copper and zinc sulphide for high refractive index films. It also offers pattern demetallisation with in-line registration and plasma pre-treatment that enhances the sur face energy of the films to improve adhesion and hence quality. The run rate varies from 10m to a maximum of 200m per minute. General Vacuum, formerly Valmet and now part of the Bobst Group, declined to give prices for the Holosec, stating that these depend on specification. But it can assumed that they will be considerably lower than the prices for wide web systems. When questioned at Holopack.†¢ Holo-print about the risks of spreading low-cost secure hologram production technology in the market, Dr Nadir Ahmed, who gave the presentation on behalf of his former company, commented that the company would check the legitimacy of customers before supply. To date, two machines have been sold with other orders in the pipeline for early 2005. Contact: Andy Jack, General Vacuum Equipment. Tel: +44 1706 622442; [emailprotected] 004 Menzel Vision System for Web Guiding Menzel, a German company specialising in machinery for finishing and inspection machines for textiles, expanded into similar equipment for the plastic films industry in the late 1960s, and at Holopack†¢ Holo-print exhibited a machine vision system for control of web handling machines for holographic films. The system keeps web lines in register to improve the accuracy and quality of slitting, winding/re-winding, stamping and other hologram finishing processes. Based on the companys experience building textile and film web guiding systems, the hologram guiding system can be set to read the edge of the hologram film or a specific part of the pattern in the hologram the camera scans across the width of the film to record the edge position, the registration mark position or the position of a specified image element. Once programmed, it feeds the image data to a sensor and a controller, which in turn adjusts the web guides to maintain the position of the web. The Menzel vision system for holographic film costs around â‚ ¬17- 20,000, depending on the configuration required. Contact: www.menzel.net. 005 Optical Document Security The third edition of the reference book Optical Document Security is now available from publishers Artech House. Written by Rudolf van Renesse, an expert in the field and editor and co-author of the two previous editions (published in 1994 and 1998 respectively), the book provides a comprehensive and cohesive treatment of all aspects of optical document security, according to its publishers. The books contents have been substantially updated and revised from the previous edition, and expanded to include coverage of additional security features and evaluation. The introduction on the theory of colours is followed by chapters on light interference and diffraction, substrate-based security, printing inks and printing techniques, printed security patterns (including screen decoded images and digital watermarks), diffractive- and interference-based security features, security design and evaluation and an introduction to biometrics. The emphasis is on both the physics of security features and their value in resisting counterfeiting, while the chapter evaluating security design looks at the human factors of first line document inspection. The books 350 pages contain over 270 black and white illustrations, including live security documents, and an appendix with samples of important security features. In addition, a CD-ROM is included which contains all illustrations of the book in full-colour. Author Rudolf van Renesse was senior research engineer in the Optics Department of TNO Institute of Applied Physics in The Netherlands and is now an independent consultant on document security for government departments and banking and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in the areas of holography, optical inspection techniques, and the theory of colors and document security, and is the author of more than 80 publications in these areas, as well as a contributor to Holography News and its sister publications Authentication News and Currency News. Optical Document Security is available at the discounted price  £72/$118 from Artech House www.artech-house.com 006 Display Holography on the Rise Photopolymer is making progress winning projects that perhaps embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply We feel for Nick Hardy and Valerie Love of OpGraphics, the British company that has listed its DuPont photopolymer hologram production equipment for sale on eBay. Op has been producing display holograms for the gift and promotional trade since 1983, originally on Agfa silver halide films, then in the 1990s Nick Hardy started working with DuPonts holographic photopolymer, partly because Agfa ceased production of its holographic films, partly because the photopolymer reflection holograms had lower noise and were more light efficient. Unfortunately, when DuPont Authentication Systems was established as a joint venture with Label Systems Inc, the company decided to restrict the distribution of its unexposed photopolymer film to authorised security hologram producers. Op were among the hologram producers which were given notice of a cessation of supply. They tried to fight this under competition law in the UK, but despite their significant investment in DuPonts production equipment and the time to perfect their processes, this was to no avail. The result: holographic production kit being offered on eBay. The Year of Photopolymer? The timing could not be more poignant as there appears to be an upsurge of interest in photopolymer holograms could 2005 be the year of photopolymer? The year has started well for DAS with NASCARs announcement of its licensed product authentication label, a numbered photopolymer reflection hologram (see page 4). To date, the North American sports licensing authentication projects have been dominated by embossed holograms. NASCAR (the most popular motor sport organisation in North America) may not rival the big national sporting leagues in popularity, but big race meetings such as Daytona and Indianapolis attract large crowds of eager souvenir hunters. Last year, DAS released its izonâ„ ¢ advanced photopolymer holograms, offering instant holo portraits on the film, making it particularly suitable for ID documents. And across the Pacific, Dai Nippon and Nippon Paint Co announced that Teikoku Piston Ring Co had become the first major customer for authentication holograms on Secure I mageâ„ ¢ hot-stampable photopolymer. So photopolymer is making progress in the brand protection market, perhaps winning projects that embossed hologram producers might have expected to supply. Two announcements do not make a fully-fledged market, but do represent progress. Coming Full Circle And now, coming full circle, Liti Holographics has announced that it is shipping a new instant holographic film suitable for reflection holograms for the home and hobby market (see page 3). Meanwhile, silver halide display holograms remain a force in the marketplace. Slavich continues to find a market in Russia and beyond for its silver halide plates and films, and Colour Holographics, which took over the production and supply of HRT holographic plates, finds a steady if not spectacular market. The company is finding a ready market for its own large format co lour holograms, while other silver halide display hologram producers remain in steady production. The availability of compact LED lights which illuminate holograms at a very high quality, and the improved recognition by holographers that they have to deliver a complete, lit and framed installation, is boosting the readiness of display artists and interior designers to consider display holograms as a medium. As one who first got involved in holography because of the excitement of such 3D images, it is reassuring and somewhat surprising to see the continuing interest in full parallax holograms, complementing and supplementing the large volume market of embossed holograms. 007 Litis New Reflection Film Liti Holographics, which offers low cost portrait hologram kits selling for $99 (see HN Vol 18, No 9), has launched a new hologram film. According to the company, this film has all the ‘instant hologram qualities of its previous film but is now capable of making reflection as well as transmission holograms. The new film is red-sensitive, making it compatible with both the Litiholo and other hologram kits, as well as red laser diodes and even helium neon lasers. Contact: www.litiholo.com 008 Nigerias New Pharma Certificate NAFDAC, the Nigerian Food Drugs Agency, has introduced a new certificate to be issued to authorised imported and domestically produced pharmaceuticals. The new certificate is being produced by a security printer in the UK and includes a hologram among its security features. This follows participation by Dr Dora Akunyili, Director of NAFDAC in the first Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting, where she made contact with possible suppliers among the exhibitors. 009 Pharmaceuticals: a Hologram Market Expanding or Threatened? At the time of writing, the 2nd Global Forum on Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting has just finished in Paris, organised by Holography News publisher, Reconnaissance International. One of the themes to emerge during the course of the 21/2 day meeting was the importance of authentication of genuine products as part of the system to combat counterfeit medicines, heard from speakers from national drug regulatory agencies and from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Several of the speakers implied, but Dr Thomas Zimmer of Boehringer Ingelheim explicitly stated, that the ideal authentication device for pharmaceuticals is not yet available. As Dr Zimmer was speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeit Group of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), his observations must be taken seriously by suppliers or aspiring suppliers of authentication products to the pharmaceutical sector. To date holograms have been the leading device used for overt authentication on pharmaceuticals, so the claim that the ideal device is not yet available can only be interpreted as a challenge to hologram suppliers. Either holograms have failed to deliver what the pharma sector requires or hologram manufacturers have not succeeded in persuading their customers to use all the levels of security that a hologram can offer; that is first, second and third levels overt, covert and machine read. To implement covert and machine read requires additional investment by customers in training, reading tools and for machine read infrastructure. Ideal Sector The pharmaceutical sector is ideal for the introduction of such an infrastructure. Another call at the Global Forum was for increased harmonisation of authentication and inspection systems. In a sector which is as regulated and as controlled as this one, where all medicines (at least, the legitimate ones) are distributed through a controlled system in a willing partnership between manufacturers, distributors, retailers and governments, training and equipping those who handle the goods to examine the authentication device should be feasible. As should the introduction of a machine-read infrastructure, assuming that there is commonality of what is to be read. The call for greater harmonisation results from the heterogeneity in the sector at present, which makes inpsection and examination a harder task for all involved. At present each hologram supplier offers its own proprietary method of encoding and reading hidden data. It is impractical for a warehouse or pharmacist to be equipped with numerous hologram reading systems, each one required to read the differently encoded information on the holograms from each of the many manufacturers whose medicines they provide. Equally, government inspectors are not able to carry around numerous handheld devices. But as the well-established precedent of credit cards and bar-codes shows, distributors and retailers will equip themselves to read standardised codes if the equipment footprint, cost and training required is minimal and the compatibility is maximal. Can the hologram industry achieve this for the pharmaceutical sector? That is to say, will the hologram industry recognise that here is a cause where collaboration on the adoption of a common approach to encoding and decoding could offer the industry the opportunity to capture that market for many years to come? Because once established, any competing technique has not just to prove itself superior, but must also overcome the inevitable reluctance of a whole sector to change the way it does things. Huge Advantage The hologram industry starts with a huge advantage because holograms have an established customer base in the Pharma sector. And holograms are perceived by the public as a mark of authentication the public may not know how to examine a hologram but its presence gives a level of comfort. Yet if the industry takes no coherent action to work together, it will squander this advantage. The Pharma sector (manufacturers, regulators, even patients groups) is making a case for the ideal authentication device, without perhaps realising that what is actually needed is an authentication system. That system could be built around holograms but it could alternatively be built around other types of device. There are many alternatives all seeking to usurp holograms from their number one spot. Recently, RFID has made the running, in lobbying and PR terms at least, but other technologies taggants, magnetics, complex bar-codes and others are all looking for their ‘killer application and see th e pharma sector as ripe for their efforts. The pharma sector is giving mixed signals about the use of holograms. On one side, Pfizer, in its current generation of product authentication, is currently using colour shift inks instead of holograms as the basis for its solution; on the positive side, Malaysias Meditag uses a three-level hologram (overt, covert and machine-read) at the heart of a system of registration and inspection. Can the hologram industry not individual suppliers, but the industry working together persuade the whole pharmaceutical sector that Malaysias is the way forward, not Pfizers? The RFID industry successfully lobbied the US Food Drugs Administration anticounterfeit task force so that it has identified RFID as the best way forward, although it has left the door open for other technologies by not mandating the use of RFID. This is the example the hologram industry needs to follow, because it has to persuade governments, distributors and manufacturers that the pharma sector can continue to use or even, needs to use holograms at the heart of an integrated system of authentication. The prize is immense, because other market sectors would follow the pharmaceuticals sector. There is no consolation prize, because surrendering this market sector to an alternative technology would give an unavoidable signal to other market sectors. 010 HoloTouch Progress HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, a development company based in Darien, Connecticut working in association with Atlantex Corp, has launched the BeamOne HoloTouch evaluation unit, a working demonstration of its noncontact control technique. HoloTouch was founded by R Douglas McPheters to exploit its patented process for projecting a real holographic image of a keypad or similar finger-tip control board such that passing a real item, such as a finger, through the image, activates the control (US Patent 6377238 see H N Vol 17 No 6). Atlantex specialises in helping bring new products to market, especially in the field of electronic controls and computer accessories . The BeamOne is a four-button box to issue instructions to a PC, to which it is connected by a USB cable. The holographic image of the buttons float about 4 (10 cm) above the BeamOne box and can be programmed to instruct the computer to perform the required functions. It is fully functional, priced at US$1995, but is characterised by Atlantex and HoloTouch as an evaluation device. Nonetheless, it has been chosen by readers of Control Engineering as ‘the most innovative human-machine interface featured in Control Engineering during the past year. McPheters identifies HoloTouch as suiting applications where non-contact is important, such as in a sterile environment, or where switches or buttons cannot be made rugged enough for the environment. The hologram image can also be larger than the keypad it mimics, making it suitable where the device is small or vision may require assistance, such as for sight impaired people or while driving a vehicle, where a quick glance at a small but ton can be dangerous. The hologram is also, of course, intrinsically illuminated, so it is useful for night time or dark environments. HoloTouch and Atlantex are looking for applications partners who will adapt the HoloTouch technique into their own control devices. www.HoloTouch.com HoloTouch Selected for FastTrack HoloTouchâ„ ¢ Inc, the company that has developed a holographic interface for contactless control devices, has been selected for Connecticut Technology Councils FastTrack scheme for promising high-technology start-ups. FastTrack is an advisory and matching programme that helps start-ups with innovative ideas and rapid growth potential to gain seed-stage capital and business planning input through the mobilisation of a network of investors, advisors, professional service providers and industry contacts. Commenting on the scheme, HoloTouch founder and president R Douglas McPheters said: ‘FastTrack offers potentially valuable assistance in connecting us with mentors and advisors and can promote our partnering with companies who see value in our innovative touchless, holographic actuation and control technology. The company has already partnered with Atlantex Corp to launch the BeamOne HoloTouch unit. This enables operators of control boards such as keypads to enter commands simply by passing a finger through holographic images that represent these commands and float in front of the device (see HN Vol 19, No 3) and is suited for applications where non-contact is important for operability of hygiene, including consumer electronics, kiosks, ATMs and medical equipment. HoloTouch and Atlantex have also announced that the BeamOne is now available with relay output, extending the technologys reach to electronic equipment controlled by programmable logic controllers (PLCs). BeamOne already offers communication with PCs through USB, serial and other ports. According to McPheters, this latest development means that the technology can now be used in a numerous industrial applications as well, such as factory floor equipment. McPheters will be presenting a paper on the HoloTouch technology at Holopack†¢ Holo-print 2005. Contact: www.holotouch.com 011 Holotek Doubles Sales and Profits Holotek Technologies Ltd, of Sanzao Zhuhai in China, has doubled its sales and profits in 2004 and is aiming to achieve at least 50% growth in 2005. Its 2003 audited sales of RMB103m ( ±US$12.5m) rose to RMB210M ( ±$25.5m) in 2004, with net profit climbing from RMB58m ( ±$7m) to RMB123.5m ( ±$15.2m), but note that the 2004 figures are not yet audited. Although the company was not liable to tax in its first years of operation (as a start-up in the Zhuhai Economic Zone), these margins of almost 60% make Holotek probably the most profitable holographic producer in the world, both by margin and in its dollar figure. 98% of these sales are for packaging, mainly for transfer metallising of cigarette liners and cartons; 85% is on OPP with the reminder on PET. Holotek has been through ownership changes since we first reported on the company (see HN Vol 17 No 6). It was set up by Fong Teng Technology of Taiwan, but government regulations limit the investment that can be put into a mai nland Chinese company from Taiwan. FT has accordingly sold its interest to four private shareholders, including the CEO Mark Chiang (as a minority owner), and Holotek operates as a subsidiary of Aimrich which is registered in Samoa. The company has also divested its former 49% holding in Yong Feng Tian Technology, a Shenzhen company that produces cigarette packaging materials. All these changes mean Holotek has also postponed its plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It had originally stated its aim was to float this year with a market capitalisation of US$150m, but it is now aiming for floatation in 2008 with a