Look Ma! No Hands! Auto-Pilot for Hands-Free Driving

by

CellPlaza

Volkswagen has just announced their new hands-free driving technology, called the Temporary Auto Pilot (TAP) technology. According to an article written by Andrew Couts, Digital Trends, Volkswagens newly announced TAP system allows drivers to drive semi-automatically up to about 80 MPH with full supervision, of course. Volkswagen believes TAP serves as a stepping stone between the assistant systems that already help drivers in todays cars, and the fully-automatic driving cars of the future.

Above all, what we have achieved today is an important milestone on the path towards accident-free car driving, said Prof. Dr. Jrgen Leohold, Executive Director Volkswagen Group Research, during a presentation of TAP in Sweden.

VW is ahead of the other manufacturers. BMW and Mercedes are including Bluetooth cell phone devices in their cars to promote hands-free talking, but as far as I know, neither has an auto-pilot function for driving their cars. Can you imagine where this auto-pilot technology is going to take us (literally)? With GPS guiding us, hands-free driving may be here sooner than you think.

How does this new hands-free driving technology work? According to Couts article, When put into full Pilot Mode, TAP maintains a speed set by the driver, but then uses lasers, cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors to safely slow the vehicle when it approaches a bend in the road, or another car. TAP also combines with Volkswagens Lane Assist feature, which keeps the car centered in its lane. TAP will observe all speed limits and passing rules, says Volkswagen, and can automatically perform stop and start maneuvers in a traffic jam.

Does this new technology appeal to you? Are you ready to trust your life to it? Personally I would rather wait for hands-free driving until the cars are more like hover-crafts. Theres something a bit eerie about trusting a machine to know the road conditions, curves and traffic. At least if the vehicles were airborne some of those hazards would be eliminated.

Luckily, this new technology isnt ready to be implemented on a wide basis. So in the meantime, to free up your hands for actual driving, remember to get a Bluetooth headset. More and more states are passing hands-free cell phone laws. At the very least, even if it isnt illegal in your state, it is a much safer way to drive and use your cell phone.

Support for technewscorner.com is provided by batteries4less.com, the leading online retailer of cordless phone batteries,

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, camera replacement batteries,

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Look Ma! No Hands! Auto-Pilot for Hands-Free Driving

3 Secrets of Every Great Public Speaker

by

the good writer

Not everyone has the courage to speak in public, certainly not everyone is born ready to do it straight away. Unfortunately, public speaking is something you cannot fully escape from. Eventually you will be asked to stand in front of an audience and speak.

It may be as simple as a social occasion speech. It may as well be a big presentation to an important prospect. Or that unavoidable sales call or even a night out with friends during which you will have to make an opinion about something.

Luckily, public speaking is a skill you can learn. You don’t have to be born with it, or inherit in your genes. You can learn and master how to become a great and confident speaker and the best part is, it is not even difficult to do.

Of course, it requires a lot of practice, also in real situations. You will also have to learn a lot about speaking technique to overcome your fear of public speaking, nonetheless as hard as it all sounds, it is quite easy to do.

The best place to start is finding out what makes a good speaker, and what are the secrets of a successful public speaker.

Secret 1. Passion

Passion is like laughter, it s contagious. Showing passion in a speech may mesmerize listeners and turn them into raving fans. On the contrary, speaking in a monotonous voice at a steady pace will not capture anyone in the audience.

Secret 2. Humor

Humor makes all the difference in a presentation. It makes people relax but also listen at the same time. It creates an atmosphere on which it is easier for a speaker to build trust in himself and his message. By making the audience laugh, usually at his own expense a speaker breaks the curtain between him and his listeners. He becomes one of them but at the same time he is in the spotlight and he is the one with the message to convey.

Secret 3. Dynamics

Using gestures and dynamics is another technique public speakers use to capture their listeners attention. Let’s face it, no one enjoys listening to a speaker who is standing completely still. By adding theatricals speakers are able to bring life to their speech, mark important parts of it or highlight most important thoughts. A professional speaker has a set of gestures he would use to achieve that effect (leaning towards the audience, pointing at his listeners an so on).

But what if you are afraid of going in front of an audience? .What if your legs tremble, your voice breaks and you breath heavily only at a slightest thought of speaking in public? As I mentioned earlier, public speaking is not something you have to be born with nor you had to know those public speaking secrets from the start. With a bit of work, you can overcome your fear of public speaking and become a confident speaker. You can become better than all those who used to outshine you. And finally, you can learn how to voice your ideas and opinions so that everyone listens.

The good writer is a blogger and publisher but most of all, he is a public speaker and speaking mentor helping others to

overcome fear of public speaking

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com

By Louise Yates

Can you answer the question what is coaching? or, like thousands of others are you just confused? Coaching is a fast growing industry with thousands of people training to become coaches each year and even more people paying for the services of coaches. But with this coaching explosion has also come confusionnot least confusion as to what coaching really is, how it differs from other interventions such as mentoring or counseling and how it can actually benefit you or your organisations.

There are many definitions of coaching however there is a common theme around helping individuals improve either themselves or what they do and helping them reach their full potential. The term coaching was originally associated with sports coaching where sports people have employed coaches to help them improve their performance. The terms coaching however has more latterly has been applied to the development of leaders (leadership coaching), senior personnel within organisations (executive coaching), people who want to develop their business (business coaching), people who want to develop their confidence (confidence coaching) and people who want to address all aspects of their life (life coaching)to name but a few.

The other consensus seems to be that by using the services of a good coach you can achieve results far quicker than if you go it alone.

Beyond these commonalities there is a wide variance as to how coaching can actually help. Some of the ways in which coaching can benefit you include increasing your self-awareness, developing specific skills, increasing your confidence, helping you gaining clarity of thought about a situation or problem, developing your creative thinking and exploring options, initiating and accelerating action, creating a safe and confidential place in which to share your thoughts and feelings with a trusted individual or providing you with an impartial sounding board.

Some coaches specialise in particular areas, others help clients across a broad spectrum.

Directive versus non-directive coaching

Some of the biggest debates centre around whether true coaching involves giving advice. Some argue ferociously that coaching is strictly about helping the client find their own solutions for moving forward with the coaches role being one of asking intuitive and powerful questions. This is a hugely empowering process which recognizes that the client has the answers within and their full resourcefulness is released by the skill of the coach asking the right questions. When this approach is taken coaches dont necessarily need to have experience in the area in which they are coaching and often it is an advantage if coaches dont as they may be less inclined to offer their own opinions.

Others argue that a client does not always have the answers and coaching necessitates guidance through imparting of suggestions, ideas, advice and tools. The implication here is that a coach need to have knowledge or experience specific to the person they are coaching. A more directive approach is often taken by many business coaches.

Instead of arguing about which is true coaching it is perhaps better to accept that both approaches are forms of coaching, the former being termed non-directive coaching and the latter directive coaching. Each has its place and advantages. For example sports coaching, which used to be solely about the coach imparting their own skills and experience to develop the player, increasingly nowadays many top sports people also have non-directive coaches (who may not technically be experienced in that particular sport) who through their skillful questioning can help them develop their skills and well as help them work on their psychology and motivation.

Coaching versus Mentoring

Another area of confusion is the difference between coaching and mentoring and unfortunately there are no definitive cut and dried definitions accepted by all. In the UK increasingly coaching tends to be associated more with a non-directive approach to developing people where as most people think of mentoring as being the development of people through the passing on of knowledge and experience by a mentor. In the States the opposite seems to apply although increasingly coaching is being recognized as a non-directive relationship. There are also various academic writers who also consider additional dimensions such as the duration of the relationship and the nature of the area to be developed in forming their definition.

Coaching versus Counseling (or therapy)

Finally lets just consider the differences between coaching and counseling (or therapy). Whilst there are certainly similarities between counseling and non-directive coaching in terms of the skills involved (a focus on questioning and listening versus telling) and the intentions ultimately the same (to help you move forward) the approaches are very different. Many forms of counseling (but not all) delve into the clients past, establishing reasons for the clients present state.

Coaching on the other hand doesnt touch the past and has no interest in the reasons why, instead focuses only on your present and future. Increasingly coaching is being used as a positive alternative to therapy, one example being the healing of relationship issues. However there are certain areas where counseling still seems to predominate where it is used to address deep-seated long term underlying issues and in the treatment of addictions.

About the Author: Louise Yates runs a website explaining the different

types of coaching

and the required

qualities of a coach

. She is also a qualified

personal motivation coach

.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=751090&ca=Self+Help

Submitted by: Milena MJ Kim

There are many things you have to consider when purchasing art glass for investment. Here is the top 7 list for beginning collectors.

1. Scratches or nicks

Granted, some artists may rough up the surface of the glass intentionally. But in such cases, their intention is usually obvious. Otherwise, there should be no scratches or nicks. If you think that you may at a later time want to resell the piece and you see it as an investment, you will want to talk to the seller about such problems and get a perfect piece without such flaws. But even if you know you will definitely keep the piece and the scratch does not bother you much, still talk to the seller and you may actually get a discount.

2. Bubbles

During glassblowing, some bubbles cannot always be avoided. If you see small bubbles that do not break the surface of the glass, it is alright in most cases. Sometimes such imperfections are what make the piece unique and prove that they are handmade. However, if you believe that the bubbles are too large, do not invest in such pieces.

3. Colo

Streaks in color unrelated to any pattern are imperfections.

4. Signature

The general rule is to make sure that the piece is signed. You will want it especially in case you want to resell it. However, do keep in mind that in some time periods or some regions, masters of blown glass rarely signed the glass. So if you are purchasing antique glass and you see a signature, it could be scam. Do your homework and research the artist and his/her characteristics or the specific time period and area before buying.

5. The reputation or exposure of the artists themselves

It is usually a good thing when the artist is widely recognized; a lot of people will want to buy their piece from you. On the other hand, if they have too many studios and have produced too many pieces, there is no rarity to their pieces. People may not need to buy from you they will just buy directly from the artist or buy from other people. If artists are overexposed like this, it is hard to call their pieces collectibles. Thus, a certain limit to exposure is good.

6. Are the artworks of the artist collected in any museums or did he/she win awards?

If you are a beginning collector, sometimes it is a wise decision to listen to what other people say. Besides, general acknowledgement and appreciation of the artist increases the likelihood that you will be able to sell their piece in the future.

7. Your own judgment and taste

Artistic perfection and craftsmanship, the artist, and others opinions are all very important but your satisfaction is probably the most important thing to consider when investing in art glass. Always buy something you love.

By keeping these things in mind, you will be able to select the perfect piece of art glass for both your own enjoyment and future returns!

About the Author: Visit

mirakkulglassware.com

for exquisite hand blown glassware. These products are owned by the nation’s leading museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Corning Museum. Each piece is signed, dated, and registered to verify its authenticity, protecting its value for the future.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=730427&ca=Arts+and+Crafts