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This paper examines the attitudes towards experience industries and tourism in the Gnosjö region of Sweden. The investigation is based on a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with politicians and chief executive officers (CEOs) within manufacturing industries. The results show that the politicians have more knowledge of experience industries and a more positive attitude towards these new types of industries than the CEOs. Both groups consider both these industries of significance for the region's future. While the politicians believe in experience industries as a whole, and particularly suggest more active work in favour of tourism and design, the second group just welcomes directly and indirectly a possible cooperation with design companies. A minor share of the CEOs is interested in either running businesses with features of experience industries or having a sense of it in their businesses. Despite differences, these attitudes facilitate cross-fertilisation between the manufacturing industry and experience industries in the future. The study suggests that the region needs to develop more knowledge and competence directed towards the experience industries, in particular tourism and design, and a cooperation between the manufacturing industry, local political parties, and enterprises within tourism, design and culture in this respect.
This study aims to investigate empirically what attitudes employees in tourism industry have towards participation in publicly funded competence development programmes. Such investigations are lacking in the research on Tourism industry. By competence development here means participation in personal competence development programmes that might have a positive impact on the staff's learning and on their work places. This impact will be found out through the employees' subjective perceptions. In this study the terms "competence development programmes" "training programmes" and "skills development programmes" are used as synonyms. Also in accordance with Statistics Sweden terms of "business" and "work place" are used as synonym. The methodological approach used in this study is email-interviews with 12 employees (four women, eight men) that have participated in these programmes during recent years. This includes CEOs, owners, employees and one instructor that also is a business owner himself. A majority of them have academic education and their average working years in the industry is 17. They represent various sub-industries. Their average age is 46 and they mostly come from small sized firms. They participated in different courses that were offered by public organizations for employees and employers, or by private organizations. The courses were paid either by public means, by the firm or by a combination of both. The courses were mostly organized by public organizations but in some cases also by private organizations or a mix of private and public. They expressed that their participation in general had a positive or very positive impact on their workplace, and among others resulted to better knowledge, to acquire a wider network, new ideas, new experiences and opportunities and gave more inspiration, motivation and self-confidence. Concerning effectiveness of courses offered by the public organization the opinions are different; some had no comments about it, some found them very effective, some believed that these courses are effective in some but not in all cases, and finally some believed that courses organized by private organizations are more effective. The largest problems for competence development in the industry are lack of time and money and lack of tailored courses.
Urban Ethnic festivals have positive impacts on the image of cities and countries (McClinchey, 2008) and create a sense of belonging among immigrant groups (Chacko, 2013). Every year, a Tuesday in the middle of March and after 17:00, Iranian Fire Festival is held outdoors in the center of Stockholm and Göteborg. It is financed and organized by Riksteatern (The Swedish National Theatre). In Stockholm it is held in the King's Garden park, 500 meters from the parliament, and it is used to be opened either by some Swedish ministers or by the Prime minister. This is not a big event in international comparison; it can be classified as local event and it is held when it is still very cold in Sweden. The event lasts in 4-5 hours but draws thousands of audiences (mostly from the same city region) to these two simultaneous arrangements. The audiences as well as the artists are mostly of Middle Eastern background (mostly Iranians, Kurds, Afghans) and there has been no report on ethnic Swedes among them over the years. This event, however, gets a huge attention from the Swedish media but also from some international media (Like Voice of America, Persian section) and Iranian diaspora media worldwide. In accordance with Getz et al (2007), many stakeholders are involved in this event; the Swedish governments, the event organization, municipality offices, many ethnic associations in Sweden, media, invited artists from Sweden and other countries, participants, sellers and volunteers.
The aim of this research is to get insight into this event, incentives behind it and the expected outcome of it from different stakeholders. Especially it is important to find out what interest different Swedish governments have since they support the event financially regardless of ideological belonging while the event's own preconditions are not the best one.
The purpose of this paper is to deal mainly with the participants' perception of their attendance in publicly funded training programmes in the tourism industry.
The investigation is based on e-mail interviews with 12 employees in the Swedish tourism industry who have actively participated in such courses as well as some courses offered by private organisations.
The results show that the interviewees have a positive perception of their participation and they believe that their attendance has had an overall positive impact on them or on their businesses. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether their participation has had an extraordinarily positive impact on business outcomes in terms of subsequent increased turnover, greater productivity or sales, or an expanded customer base. Lack of time and money and the prevalence of unsuitable courses prevent business owners and their employees from attending such courses.
This research is the first Swedish qualitative investigation on the issue.
Political crises, which have a known impact on the choice of tourism destination, can also negatively affect the choice of second-home destination and purchase. The purpose of this study is to investigate why some Swedish-Iranian second-home buyers prefer Spain to Turkey for political reasons. More than 30 short dialogues were conducted with Swedish-Iranian buyers at the exhibition "Buying Properties Abroad" in Kista, September 2015, following the start of a series of political crises in Turkey. A simple question was asked: Why are you choosing Spain rather than Turkey? The most important category of reasons were political factors, followed by cultural reasons. Political anxiety, instability, and insecurity in Turkey, the risk of civil war, a police society, lack of democratic order, the fact that Turkey is not a member of the European Union, the government's negative attitudes towards Kurds, and the emergence of Islamic State were the political reasons most mentioned. One conclusion that can be drawn is that political crises affect second-home tourism/tourists in the same way that they do ordinary tourism/tourists. The research has some important implications for Turkish policymakers, tourism stakeholders at a macrolevel, their competitors, especially in Spain, and potential buyers. Based on this research, some suggestions for future studies are also given.
The purpose of this paper is to gain more insight into the phenomenon of solo travel to city destinations and attain more knowledge on the topic.
The study employed a questionnaire consisting of qualitative and quantitative items. In all, 21 individuals (12 women, 9 men) responded.
The most important reason for solo travel was their own free choice and in some cases, difficulty finding companions. Their activities at the destinations were mostly visiting attractions followed by visiting friends, shopping, walking, eating at restaurants, learning the language, working, etc. They mostly mentioned advantages but also some disadvantages with solo travelling. Their experiences, especially with the people in the host destinations, have been positive and they show overall satisfaction with their visit. A predominant share of the interviewees showed a kind of loyalty to one or more specific city destinations and wished to revisit them again and again.
Practical implications
The current study might have some implications for city tourism developers/destination developers, travel agencies, national or regional tourism boards and tour operators in major urban areas and cities. Especially, this study has a practical contribution to the city tourism practitioners and gives them more insight in what values, attitudes, perceptions, expectations and motivations the solo travellers might have before or while they visit their cities. The study also has implications for potential solo travellers seeking more knowledge and information on the issue.
The phenomenon of solo travel to city destinations is an unresearched topic in Sweden. This exploratory study is the first in Sweden to focus on solo travellers visiting city destinations.
People travel solo to a destination due to different push–pull pre-travel motivators (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). Travel to a city destination brings a series of positive or negative experiences (Walls et al., 2011) and creates a sense of overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the destination and the travel itself. Also, several functional and psychosocial characteristics of a destination such as hosts, locals, services, prices (Echtner and Brent Ritchie, 1991; Philip, 2005), contribute to satisfaction with a trip, but also create destination loyalty among visitors (Chi and Qu, 2008; Zhang et al., 2014) and this loyalty in its turn leads to a return to the same destination. The phenomenon of solo travel to city destinations is an un-researched topic in Sweden. This exploratory study is the first in Sweden to focus on solo travellers visiting city destinations. The study aims to gain more insight into the phenomenon and attain more knowledge on the topic. The study employed a questionnaire consisting of qualitative and quantitative items. In all, 21 individuals (12 women, 9 men) responded. They were mostly well-educated, the majority were younger than 35, more than half were single and more than half reported travelling alone once or twice a year. The majority had a travel budget of SEK 10–20,000 per trip and the rest had a budget below SEK 10,000. They normally took flights and the majority went away for more than one week up to several weeks. The most important reason for solo travel was own free choice and in some cases difficulty finding companions. This result is coherent with earlier studies (e.g. Heimtun and Morgan, 2012; Mehmetoglu, 2004). Their loneliness gave rise to forced but positive socialization (e.g. Chiang and Jogaratnam, 2006; Laesser et al., 2009). Their activities at the destinations were mostly visiting attractions and they mostly mentioned advantages with solo travelling. They showed overall satisfaction with their travels, destination loyalty to one or several city destinations and wished to revisit them again and again. This finding is also partly or fully coherent with many earlier studies (e.g. Walls et al., 2011; Echtner and Brent Ritchie, 1991; Philip, 2005; Baloglu and McCleary, 1999; Beerli and Martin, 2004).
Political crises which have negative impact on the choice of a tourism destination can also affect the choice of a second-home destination negatively. The purpose of this study is to investigate why a part of Swedish-Iranian second home buyers prefer Spain than Turkey due to the politics. The group has shown interest in second-home purchase in the two countries during recent decade. More than 30 short dialogues were made with Swedish-Iranian buyers at the exhibition of "Buying Properties Abroad" in Kista, September 2015, after the start of a series of political crises in Turkey. A simple question was asked: Why do you choose Spain before Turkey? Most of the respondents gave more than three reasons.82The most important category of reasons were political factors followed by cultural factors. Political anxiety, instability and insecurity in Turkey, risk for civil war, police society, lack of democratic order, the fact that Turkey is not EU member, the government's negative attitude towards Kurds, and the origin of Islamic state were the most mentioned political reasons. Cheating among some shopkeepers, negative attitudes by authorities towards Iranians, general perception of foreign women/female tourists, lack of a modern culture in Turkey, and better mentality among Spanish people have been among the cultural reasons. Among the economic reasons they mentioned lack of good infrastructure in Turkey, insecurity for invested capital, lower living costs in Spain, it is safer to buy house in Spain as EU country. Other less mentioned reasons were natural preconditions and knowledge on Spanish language.
Every year, a Tuesday in the middle of March and after 5:00 pm the Iranian Fire Festival (Eldfesten in Swedish, Chaharshanbe Suri in Persian) is celebrated outdoors in the center of Stockholm and ends before 10:00 pm. This event has its roots in ancient Persia, but now it is celebrated by several nations in the Middle East, Caucasus, and Central Asia. The Stockholm festival is arranged and financed by The Swedish National Theatre and several times earlier it has been opened by Swedish ministers. The event visitors are mostly of Middle Eastern background coming from Stockholm area. Since 2016 it can also be watched live through Swedish and foreign TV stations and through Social media. During the earlier years the event was held in Kungsträdgården (The Royal Garden) but this year it was arranged in the amusement park of Skansen. Ethnic cultural events in major urban areas create good images for cities and countries but also for immigrants and their neighborhoods in the city of issue (McClinchey, 2008; Loukaitou-Sideris and Soureli, 2012), and a sense of belonging among immigrants (Chacko, 2013). Many stakeholders are involved in such events (Getz et al 2007; Getz And Andersson, 2010) but perhaps the most important stakeholder is the visitors of the event. Therefore, it is of high relevance to study the visitors' visit motivations, their perceived experience in terms of satisfaction level and their level of loyalty i.e. if they intend to visit the event next year (Savinovic et al, 2012). The aim of this research is to get insights on the visitors of the Fire Festival, their motives behind participation and how they perceive their participation afterwards. The main methods chosen in this research is participant observation and 257 completed surveys online until April 11th, 2019. Preliminary results The respondents are 63% men and 37% women, and they are mostly older than 40 (44% are older than 50). More than half of them have been living in Sweden less than 21 years of which 17% less than 5 years. 83% of the respondents call themselves Swedish-Iranians. More than 80% of the respondents have academic education (of which 7% with PhD education) and most of them are employed either by public or private sector. A considerable number of them are also either self- employed, students or retirees. They have come from different districts of Greater Stockholm while a minor part has come from municipalities outside the county. A pre-dominant majority of them have come there with friends and family members, and most of them have been participating in the festival for third times or more. Also, more than half of them have visited the Skansen park three or more times earlier. The main reasons why they celebrate the festival is to keep the old tradition and culture alive. The celebration creates feelings like happiness, pride, community, belonging, nostalgia, childhood, the Spring. Concerning the question what the place or arena means to you they either like Skansen or prefer other places in Greater Stockholm or do not care about the place but the festival and other issues such as security and safety. To the question "what do you think about celebrating the festival at Skansen" they give positive answers and to the question "are your expectations on the festival fulfilled" the majority are totally or partly agreed. They also believe that this event must be celebrated every year and give many improvement suggestions and additional critical comments such as more food trucks, better and cheaper food, more professional artists and happy songs and music.
This explorative study aims to gain more insight into Swedish-Iranians' purchase of second homes in Turkey. The study is based on 22 questionnaires (19 of them from owners and buyers), field observation, and participant observation. Motives behind owners' and buyers' purchases are: other Swedish-Iranian friends/relatives bought there; cultural proximity; absence of visa restriction for Iranian citizens; geographical proximity to Iran and relatives living in Iran; economic factors, including the low prices and costs and investment for retirement; and the climate. The respondents are well-integrated into Swedish society and have access to different types of resources which facilitate the purchase, but they also show the potential to partially become integrated socioculturally into their Turkish communities. A meaningful proportion of them are seriously planning to live permanently in Turkey after retirement, but the majority stay there for longer periods or semi-permanently. Despite some limitations, this study makes an important contribution to the area of diaspora second-home tourism and to the field of diaspora studies.
Second home tourism is often discussed in the context of the western world. Other groups and their motivations, in this case people of Iranian background who are a large ethnic group in Sweden, are often neglected, although the group has shown interest in purchase of second home in Turkey.The aim of this study is to get more insight on Swedish Iranians' purchase of second home in Turkey. 19 e-mail interviews (with Broker companies, owners, and potentially buyers) have been conducted. Also participant observation in Antalya region in June 2015 and at the exhibition of "Buying Properties Abroad" in Kista in September 2015 has been done.The interview results reveal that the Swedish Iranian second home buyers collect information through friends and relatives, various web sites, exhibitions, brokers, and real estate companies before buying apartment. Their motives have been: following other friends/relatives who bought apartments there, cultural proximity including the Turkish language and food, geographic proximity to Iran, relatives living in Iran do not need Turkish visa, economic factors including prices, the climate, and investment for the retirement. They stay in their apartments at least once a year up to 4 times a year and the duration of their stay each time is at least one week. A part of them might choose to live partly or permanently in Turkey after the retirement. Their motives are similar to many other second home owners elsewhere but there are also aspects related to the political context of this mobility.
Over-tourism has become a frequently used term in Urban Tourism research, during last years. By it means over-saturation of tourists (e.g. Stanchev, 2017) i.e. when the number of tourists at a certain time and at a certain place exceeds powerfully the number of locals in the place (see e.g. Artal-Tur et al, 2018). Such situation creates a series of problems for the host destinations (Postma and Schmuecker, 2017) because of the limited service facilities available (Butler, 2018). The pressure on the host destination results in conflict and tension among hosts and tourists, and in long term antagonism, and tourism phobia among locals (Alexis, 2017). The overall aim of this research is to get a deeper understanding of Dubrovnik's tourism employees' perception of Over-tourism in their town. The chosen method has been field observation during peak season (July 2018) and 18 email- interviews with local tourism employees between 2018-2019. Results The employees who answered to 14 questions have positions such as manager, receptionist, owner, and represent different tourism and hospitality sectors like hotels and restaurants, tourist bureaus, etc. They have been working within tourism industry between 3 and 30 years. They show small difference in their views on low- respectively high season of tourism in the town. They define Over- tourism in general, believe it exists in Dubrovnik in some short periods, and describe in detail how and when it happens there. The reason behind Over-tourism in Dubrovnik is summarized by them in big demand that exceeds the supply side i.e. too many tourists by ships, aircrafts, cars and buses arriving at the same time in peak season. They claim that the Over-tourism creates a series of problems such as traffic, damage and pollution, and confirm that the local authorities are aware of the problems. A powerful reduction of number of cruisers, better management, organization and schedule of arrivals, better information to tourists, reduction of taxis from rest of the country, forbid foreigners come by car to the city, etc. are among their own suggestions to solutions for the problems. Some of them talk about attracting quality/luxury/elite tourists instead of mass tourists. Several of them also confirm that the local tourism industry firstly tries to reduce the number of cruisers and partly flights, and then find a better coordination of activities, and other regulations for people coming by cars. The interviewees prefer mostly tourists coming by charter flights, then cruise tourists specially luxury such, and they believe that Dubrovnik and its surrounding region is not at all suitable for car transport and cartourists.
Over-tourism has become a new subject for research, particularly on urban sustainable tourism, during recent years (Novy, 2018). The term refers to when the number of tourists at a certain time in an extreme way exceeds the number of locals in the destination (Goodwin, 2017). This phenomenon creates a series of problems for the host destinations and puts pressure on them and their attractions, on the local service facilities and the genuine urban culture (Postma and Schmuecker, 2017; Trancoso Gonzalez, 2018; Weber et al, 2017; Montanari & Staniscias, 2010). Earlier research has shown how this phenomenon results in tension/conflict between locals and tourists and creates phobia among host people towards tourists(Postma and Schmuecker,2017; Martins, 2018; Milano et al, 2018). Recent research (Koens et al, 2018) shows that tourism stakeholders in many European cities show great awareness on the issue in their cities. Earlier research has mostly focused on locals while a focus on the visitors has beenlacking. The purpose of the research is to get more empirical insights in over-tourism in four European city centers, Dubrovnik, Visby, Stockholm, and Riga, from both perspectives of locals and visitors/tourists, and thereby get knowledge through the challenges to, and opportunities for, both constituencies that are created in this learning process. This is in consistence with earlier research with same purpose (Costa et al, 2018). The research is justified by the fact that the topic is still new, and there are not too many studies published as of now. The first common characteristic between these four cities is that they all are cruising ports. The two first cities are rather towns than cities, almost of same size and natural preconditions, while the latters are much larger, capital cities in the Baltic Sea region with almost similar preconditions i.e. Over-tourism in the downtown area during peakseason. The overall methodological approach in this project will be qualitative consisting of triangulation (mixed methods) based on comparative case studies. The data collection methods will consist of: field observations during the peak season in July-August in the four cities, face to face interviews and email interviews
This paper addresses a design exploration focusing on interactive jewellery and wearable computing that could affect sexual harassment in social contexts in everyday life. Drawing on a design inquiry study that lead to the creation of an interactive and digital necklace named Sunshine, which is a personal alarm connected to an emergency center, this paper focuses on how a piece of digital jewellery can contribute to women's empowerment in relation to sexual harassment. The functionality of Sunshine is based on a device that will be activated when the user presses a button on the necklace and an alert with the location of the user will be sent to an alarm center. The users press the button when in danger or exposed to violence and/or abuse. This study so forth addresses a design exploration of a piece of jewellery that can be seen as a symbol for women's safety, unity and equality. The combination of digital technology and fashion design demonstrate that people can be brought together and especially be empowering in social contexts where sexual harassment might be a part of women's everyday life.
The naked body is an entity that has always been present in both the "real" world and the media. The anatomy of our bodies isn't something we can avoid; today it reflects the reality that has developed partly from media. According to Instagram's guidelines users are not allowed to publish naked or semi-naked pictures but that does not stop certain users that are critical to how the body norms and censorship are portrait today. In our study, we take part of research regarding gender in multimedia settings and how they have affected our daily lives. As well as studies, which research the usage of hashtags and how to circumvent censorship. The focus for this study is to research what role Instagram and hashtags have in generating a public discussion as well to draw attention to various issues and causes that are based on norm critique. We have conducted two different observations, held interviews with activists and created an online-survey for users to answer what they think about the Instagram community guidelines. The results show that there is an underlying discrimination acceptance within Instagram and their community guidelines. We can also see that women and users who uses hashtags can spread their causes more effectively, although they are simultaneously at risk for being censored depending on the hashtag they use. According to our respondents from our research there is an agreement regarding the need of updating Instagram's community guidelines, which could help with eliminate the current discrimination against women and their breasts. At the end of this study we are giving a proposal to how Instagram can work with their censoring in a more critical way. This may contribute to an agenda to make social media platforms safer and less discriminating.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of the spread of NTDs but to also determine what is missing in the health interventions that are conducted in the countries affected by NTD.
Method and theory: The method used in this paper is the theory testing approach which is the Social Cognitive Theory. Development in the 1970s by A. Badura, it's based on the concept of interaction between personal, environmental and social factors.
Results: The results showed that both the previous research and today's health interventions lack the understanding of the roll social and personal factors play in the spread of NTD. They mainly target the environmental factors and medical. Therefore, the NTDs are still endemic despite the effort during many years.
Nu förtiden har det blivit allt vanligare att människor använder sig av smartphones. I denna uppsats har jag kartlagt smartphone-användares användningsvanor och mönster hos unga vuxna som antingen studerar eller arbetar. För att få fram den information jag behöver har jag valt att använda mig av dagböcker där sex stycken respondenter deltog under en fyra dagars period och även intervjuer där tre av de sex respondenterna var deltagande efter genomförandet av dagböckerna. Mina resultat visar fascinerande nog att smartphones används till största del på platser där användarna är relativt stillasittande som till exempel i hemmet. Dessutom har det visat sig att studenter har en stor användning av applikationer och där med smartphones, ofta i samband med deras studier, speciellt applikationer kopplade till molntjänster.
This report describes procedures and preparations made for developing a mobile application.Using a questionnaire and usability tests, I have developed a design document for a parkingapplication for the iPhone 4. The purpose of the application is to help drivers find allowedparking spaces thus making roads safer for everyone while the driver avoids parking tickets.
There is a need to create efficiency through digital technology within the elder care, as the elderly population of society is increasing. Existing IT-systems are considered incompatible with healthcare work, despite of Swedish investments in digital development in healthcare. Practices and the use of digital artefacts within an elder care home was therefore studied. Through an ethnographic qualitative method (consisting of field studies, video ethnography and interviews), the empirically driven study identified the healthcare workers existing interactions with- and use of digital technology, as well as the consequences that the use entailed. The study showed that the healthcare workers used the workplace's existing digital technology as well as personal digital artefacts to solve daily tasks. Furthermore, the results showed that the healthcare workers interactions with personal digital artefacts mediated new work situations, and the healthcare workers desire for new digital work tools.
We report a practical and modular approach to obtain two different types of 17-membered ring macrocyclic compounds through an intramolecular Heck reaction. These macrocyclic compounds are functionalized, that is, they contain two contiguous stereogenic hydroxy functional groups and an amino acid moiety in the macrocyclic ring skeleton. The macrocycles were then screened against a zebrafish assay to determine the antiangiogenesis activity of these small molecules. Macrocyclic compound 2.2a was identified as a potent inhibitor at 2.5 M, whereas its acyclic precursor and the other related macrocyclic compounds did not show any effect.
A highly practical and modular synthesis to obtain a diverse 14-membered ring-based macrocyclic toolbox is achieved. These compounds were further tested in zebrafish assays related to early embryonic development, angiogenesis, and neurogenesis, respectively. 1.4c was Identified as an antiangiogenesis agent.
The highly competitive environment in which businesses operate today requires a skilful workforce in every organisation in order to remain a successful player in the competitive game of the industry. One of the main problems which occur in the workplace is the lack of training. A large number of employees can appear dissatisfied (Heinemann and Greenberger, 2002) due to being assigned responsibilities without-having the right knowledge and skills in that area. Training is an essential process which should be cautiously designed and implemented within all firms. The overall aim of this dissertation is to assess the importance of training- in work field.For many years now human capital has been regarded as vital for the efficient functioning of an organisation because of its contribution in improving productivity, business performance and economic growth (Schultz, 1961). Therefore it is important to invest in human resources through training (Lucas, 1988) in order to improve the competitive position of the firm, and because of the enhanced quality, innovation, continual increased productivity and in turn improved profitability that can be achieved through this (Taylor and Davies, 2004).Throughout this research the training system in Hilton Hotel will be examined and appropriate recommendations for a more effective training system will be given where appropriate. The overall aim of this study is to assess the importance of training in hospitality industry.
To combat the rising global temperature Sweden have signed the Paris Agreement to limit the release of CO2 and keep the temperature to a minimum increase of 1,5 degrees. A transformation of today's energy system towards renewable energy is paramount to this endeavour, which in part relies on public acceptance where media plays an important role inshaping public acceptance. This study aims to map acceptance of renewable energy sources and draws on framing theory, which states that the media focuses attention on certain events and gives information meaning, in a sense how something is presented to the audience influences their choices in how to process said information. As this is a qualitative study, 49 articles about bio-, geothermal, solar, water and wind energy from Sweden's four major newspapers, Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet, have been gathered from the Svenska dagstidningar database and examined through frame analysis. Media framing contributing to public acceptance was bio- and solar energy while water subtracted from it. Wind energy were both contributing and subtracting from acceptance while geothermal lacked articles entirely, prohibiting it from entering public discourse altogether. Meanwhile the biggest deciding factor towards framing acceptance for renewable energy depended largely on the newspaper.
With online communication being increasingly integrated with our everyday lives, internet hate has become a growing problem. This is receiving growing attention in the media and research. In recent years, scientists have begun to shift their focus from the hate itself, to responses to these forms of violation. However, research has been mainly solution orientated and for example focused on legal aspects. Thus, we maintain that the field lacks a media technology based analysis, which this paper intends to contribute to. The aim of this study is to investigate what impact design and functionality in social media has on its users, with relation to user's counter-strategies on the reception of offensive content. Note that this study is restricted to social media, and not focused on digital media at large. Within the framework of this essay, we have conducted three focus-group interviews and nethnographic studies. The empirical data from our focus groups has determined which social media platforms we examined in the nethnographic study, and subsequently in our analysis. The collected data has been analysed in relation to previous research on social media and internet hate. We have also used theories on resistance, suppression techniques, space of possible actions, norms and the relationship between offline/online and front stage/back stage. The analysis has resulted in five themes that describe the following key findings: 1) social media's positive connotations are problematic in relation to offensive content, but the receivers of internet hate are inventive in working around embedded norms, 2) sometimes no response is the best defence, 3) the culture around the like-function has a significant role in the resistance to internet hate on social media, 4) the shrinking distance between the world online and offline, as well as public and private rooms, affects everyday resistance to violations on social media, and 5) production of positive content and interaction with help of built-in functions are perceived as ways to affect the climate and cooperative resistance. We do not purport to provide technical or design-related proposals for development. However, we believe that our results, among other things, can be used for future development and improvement of social media platforms, and as a basis for further research on resistance to violations on social media.
Design Thinking is a prototype-driven, solution-based and human-centered innovation approach and design process that has been receiving a growing amount of attention in both the industry and research during the last decade. In this paper we intend to evaluate Design Thinking in relation to the in-house design process of the digital transformation agency Mogul AB. Their process, called the Four Step Model, was developed by the design team as a result of years of experience and evaluation of best-practice. The aim of our study is to compare Design Thinking's initial phases Empathize and Define to the corresponding strategy phase in the Four Step Model. Using this comparison we aim to evaluate in what way Design Thinking could be integrated in the Mogul's Four Step Model in order to obtain a more human-centered process and result. This study is based on a) research on Design Thinking and human-centered design processes b) interviews with representatives from Mogul's design team, and c) documentation from our own work process, producing a recruitment site for Mogul, where we used Design thinking as our working method. Our study shows that Mogul's design process would benefit from integrating a number of tools and mindsets from Design Thinking. Our key findings suggest that the Four Step Model should be more iterative and include the end user in an extended degree during the whole design process, and especially during the initial stages of the process. The Four Step Model would also benefit from more tangible tools for obtaining a deeper understanding of the end user's needs. By embracing these mindsets from Design Thinking, the Four Step Model could become more useful, efficient and human-centered.
Purpose: The authors have found a common interest to investigate how the use and impact of reviews online can be applied within the subject of tourism. The purpose of the study is to investigate how consumers use reviews in their information search process. The purpose is also to investigate how and if consumers are influenced by online reviews regarding hotel stays.
Method: The study is based on a qualitative method in the form of ten semi structured interviews as primary collection. The study has a support from secondary data consisting of a literature review in the chapter of previous research.
Theory: The theoretical background is based on three theories. The theories are The PrePurchase-Information process, The Major Influences On Individual Travel Behaviour and the theory From Word-Of-Mouth to Electronic Word-Of-Mouth.
Empiricism: The empiricism consists of a presentation of ten semi structured interviews with anonymous respondents regarding their own experiences and beliefs about the topic of the study. The chapter also includes an overview of the previous research about the topic to support and enhance the primary empirical interview material.
Findings: The digital society has led to an increased online presence, critical thinking and interest on how consumers travel and what hotels they choose. Impact is constantly present in their contact with reviews and surroundings. The individuals own interpretation and perception of reality is based primarily on how they use and are influenced by reviews. In combination with critical thinking there is an insight that anyone, can write anything.
The purpose of this study is to examine how Viking Line, Tallink Silja and Birka Cruises work with economic and environmental sustainability, and also to see how they work with new environmental legislations. In 2015 a new environmental legislation will be introduced, by the name Sulphur directive. The Sulphur directive entails a reduction in Sulphur dioxide emissions from ships where the emissions cannot exceed 0,1 percent. There are three alternatives to achieve the new environmental legislation, the use of Marine Gas Oil, LNG or scrubbers. All three alternatives will lead to increasing costs for the shipping industry. The three companies exerts its shipping traffic in the Baltic Sea, a sea that is highly sensitive to external impacts. In the study qualitative methods were used, three personal interviews and five telephone interviews. Five theories were used to understand how the companies work, their estimations and their decisions: Strategic Tourism Planning Process, the Triple Bottom Line, the COSO model, The Decision-making Process and Responsible Cruise Tourism. The results of the study show that all three companies are facing an uncertain economic sustainable future and the deciding factors will be technological development, fuel prices and competitiveness.
One of the most essential parts of the tourism industry's are events. It is an industry that is constantly evolving and growing. This means that the event is susceptible to trends and continually need to work to develop and create attraction to its visitors. It is of great importance to create attraction strategies to maintain the attractiveness of events and define what category of events to be planned. There are many different types of events, and in this study a public and non-public event will be studied. The study's aim is to contribute to the understanding of the attraction strategies used to attract visitors for Melodifestivalen and Årets Kock. By gaining greater understanding of the event's strategies accordingly to contribute to determine the similarities and differences between a public and non-public events attraction strategies. The study has a qualitative approach with a combination of inductive and deductive research approach, used in which the authors sought a deeper understanding and compared the data collected from previous research and theories. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews and text analysis to also examine whether described strategies can be identified on social media and the Internet. The study concludes that it is important for event managers to define the category of the event, purpose and audience. Key strategies are to create an event dramaturgy that appeals to the target audience and create excitement and interest, and that there is an interaction between the event and the audience.
Digital platforms such as social media are big part of people's everyday life and social network. Recent studies shows that the ability to act anonymously on social media has increased harassment behaviors online. For marginalized groups, digital platforms are important for the act of freedom of speech and harassments online can limit these groups in the digital environment. Within the framework of this study we found, that there is a lack of studies that specifically research sexual harassments online and what different factors that may have an impact on the problem. Therefore, the aim for this study was to research what values, attitudes and emotions users of social media services experiences online. We wanted to research, from a user perspective, what existing counter-strategies options are provided on social media against sexual harassments online, and if there are other technical design solutions for social media interfaces. Within the framework of this essay we have conducted a focus group interview and a participatory design workshop. The empirical data that was collected has been analysed with different theories such as power, resistance, empowerment in design, master suppression techniques in social media, feminist HCI and social norms and participatory design. The study also use previous research on harassment on social media to further understand the empirical data for the analysis. In this study there are findings from the focus group that has been placed in three different themes. 1) The importance of social relationships for counter-strategies against sexual harassment online. 2) Social norms and normalization of sexual harassment online. 3) The importance of technical aspects for dealing with sexual harassment online. Our study shows that the counter-strategies options on social media services today are not sufficient enough for these different aspects. The participatory design workshop in this study resulted in eight possible technical design solutions. These solutions can be implications for design on social media interfaces and can work as counter-strategy tools against sexual harassments online. This study only research one focus group, therefore the study can be used as a basis for further research. By including users with participatory design methods, values made from users of social media in relation to sexual harassments online can unfold and hopefully decrease the problem.
Sweden has for many decades witnessed a decrease of the spread of tuberculosis (TB), but between the years of 2003-2012 a new pattern has emerged with refugees carrying TB entering the country and contributing to a situation where the infection has slowly begun to spread again. The communication between the refugees and the health professionals has been inefficient, which inevitably results in fewer refugees undergoing health examinations. This in turn can lead to an increase of infections and diseases.
The purpose of this study is to examine the current health communication between Swedish health professionals and immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and to give an overview of what type of health care currently exist for refugees with a high risk of TB. This is done to understand what is missing in the communication process, what has been done in order to improve the situation, and how it can be further improved in order to prevent TB. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, a qualitative method has been used combining text analysis of interviews and secondary sources.
This study has shown based on the interviews and secondary sources that the Swedish prevention work regarding TB is developing positively in general, but the communication between newly arrived refugees, health professionals and authorities in Sweden is lacking due to the fact that most of what is written and said in this communication process is in Swedish. This makes it difficult for the refugees to understand what is communicated and is stated as one of the main reasons why many refugees do not undergo health examinations, combined with the lack of awareness. Therefore a better functioning health communication between refugees, authorities and health professionals is required to support refugees seeking health care, as well as co-operating with health professionals to prevent the spread of not only TB but other infections and diseases in Sweden.
This is a study made by two students for their bachelor theses in Tourism at Södertörn University, Sweden. The study investigates weather the theoretical characteristic features of a sport tourist is inconsistent with reality. The study also investigates factors that sport tourist consider important during a football trip to achieve a satisfying experience. By identifying specific element of the phenomenon increase knowledge and development of sport tourism. The method chosen for the study was qualitative interviews which where performed with twenty respondents, each respondent travel to Lisbon, Portugal to attend the quarter- finals of Champions League between SL Benfica and FC Bayer München, 13 April 2016. The interview material was interpreted and later merges with previous research and theories in order to investigate and identify the phenomenon. The result of the study showed that the theoretical and previous research that have been presented on characteristic features of a sport tourist do not or partly match the respondents in this study. This study also showed that factors that sport tourist consider important as e.g. good seats, security, transport, good company, good atmosphere, other supporters and supporting their favourite football team, are the factors that contribute and makes a satisfying, memorable and positive experience trip.
This paper present a study where the case of the study is to examine how a selection of Swedish companies with a similar number of followers on Facebook can achieve an effective communication through a two-way communication with there followers. A survey to see which technical solutions Swedish companies need to achieve an effective communication. The main purpose is to examine how these companies work to achieve an effective two-way communication with their followers on the selected company's Facebook page.
Furthermore, the effects that caused by the means of communication and the technical solutions and how they are involved in the process. That constitutes of functions that Facebook provides in terms of share, like, comment and tag. The research is based on a content analysis of six Swedish companies' Facebook pages, that are linked to theories that are related to areas of Facebook, communication, interaction and eWOM. Which late in the paper will be compiled into a conclusion.
The study resulted in various forms of communication and interaction on account of the selected company's activity, purpose and on the company's adaptation after their business.
Because of the large supply of information is today's leisure travelers very enlightened and have firsthand knowledge of what can be demanded on a hotel stay. Along with business travelers, who are not price sensitive, they place higher demands on the standards and service they require. It has become increasingly important to attract the visitors in a unique way.
The purpose of this study is to reveal those aspects which hotels focus on in their business in order to keep their guests, despite the strong competition and the new demands of the changing hotel industry. The study has examined more closely if the hotels have specific concepts in their approach, if their servicescapes (the environment where the service is assembled) are designed in a unique way to attract visitors and if the hotels have special relationships with their guests.
The study is qualitative and in order to answer the purpose has observations of the selected hotels and interviews with managers and receptionists been made.
One of the conclusions that we reached is that the most important aspect in the hotels business is their relationship to the guests. Each respective hotel strives to have a special and unique relationship with its guests conveyed by its staff. But even if the hotels have the same purpose, they use different ways to create a unique relationship to their guests. As for concept, we have concluded that none of the hotels work with thematisation, but that they instead use various concepts to make their guests' experiences more positive. The servicescapes are valued not quite high by the hotels, however, they are designed in different ways that convey certain emotions.
Agricultural extension can play a major part in the development and adoption of sustainable agriculture practices. Local NGOs have a unique opportunity to serve as extension agents due to their acceptance and close relationship in communities. The paper argues that agricultural extension needs to adopt a holistic approach to the communities' development to achieve a lasting and sustainable agriculture. This study examines four NGOs in Tanzania to see 1) how they provide extension services; 2) if they have a holistic approach; and 3) if the holistic approach is a conscious strategy. The findings show that a mixture of extension methods is commonly used by all four of the NGOs. More over the NGOs offer a wide variety of projects, which focus on different issues. This results in a holistic approach, even though this probably is rather a result of funding practices than a conscious extension strategy.
The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude of potential customers towards marketing of tourism through virtual reality. Since it is considered a risk to purchase a service it was interesting to see if the implementation of VR could lower the uncertainty. The study was conducted through a qualitative methodology consisting of 15 user tests. The result shows that the market has a positive attitude towards the marketing method since it was considered an exciting way to get information and gave a more honest image of the destination. It was more appreciated to experience a hotel in VR than a destination. However, VR-marketing was not considered necessary but rather a pleasant complement. The result of the study led to a few recommendations to any touristic company aiming to produce a VR-video for marketing purposes.
The use of history is the concept of people using and analyzing history in the society for various purposes. Study in this area has largely emerged because there are many different reasons for people and societies to be interested in history. To investigate the use of history, a historical material needs to be present in some form. With this study, I intend to show how older tourist guidebooks can provide such materials of study and therefore I use travel guidebooks about Tallinn released under the USSR (Estonian SSR) between the years 1960 to 1990. The analysis is based on Klas-Göran Karlsson's (Professor of History) typology of seven different uses of history: scientific, existential, moral, ideological, political, educational, non-use of history and a commercial use of history. This paper has highlighted several different historical dimensions in travel guides and reasons why they can be analyzed. Results of this study show that the travel guides can act as a medium for existential orientation and that they can function as a communicational, educational and an interest raising tools. They can also develop a critical approach towards historical events and help to "sell" history through various commercial products. Thus, tourist guidebooks can be used and analyzed more systematically by professionals, interested individuals or a group who feel the need, desire or interest in the way history can be used in their practices.
Critical design is a research- and innovationarea under development. The critical design theory has been used in many design-related areas and intends to get consumers to become more critical when it comes to how their everyday lives are controlled by different beliefs, values, ideologies and behavioral patterns that are incorporated into design (Dunne & Raby, 2001). Since critical design is a theory that seeks to transform in practice the challenge today lies in creating practical examples that show how it can be done, which is a necessity for the theory to develop (Bardzell et al., 2012). This study intends to be method developing by creating a set of tools based on selected parts (theoretical methods and perspectives) from critical design. The goal of these tools are to function as an instrument enabling practical implementation of critical design in a design/production process. In this study we have tested our tools in a specific productionprocess of a music video to explore how to apply critical design practically. In doing so we used design-oriented research methods, in particular Daniel Fällmans triangelmodel for interactiondesign and design research (2008). By bringing together critical design perspectives and video production purposes, this study hopes to make a contribution to the method fulfilling work of bridging the existing gap between theory and practice in critical design.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how anonymous online players treat each other in the game environment in Counter Strike (CS GO), where the way they communicate can affect other people's gaming experience through cheating or "griefing". We have also sought to examine how issues of anonymity affected player's experiences. Data was collected through the use of qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations. Ten respondents participated in the interviews, five women and five men who had played Counter Strike for at least two years. The questions which they were asked related to attitudes, communication, gaming experience, trust, behavior, cheaters and griefers inCounter Strike.
The results were analyzed with the help of previous research and theory related to the problem of our study. The results showed that the anonymous players responded to each other positively or negatively depending on various factors such as performance, gender, experience, communication and trust. Positive attitudes gave a positive gaming experience that increased the teamwork and changed the anonymity to friendship, while negative attitudes gave negative gameplay experience that made players lose the desire to play for awhile, because they had high expectations of others.
In order to improve Counter Strike for anonymous players, we recommend that the game company improves its security, by blocking cheaters and griefers faster than they do at present, by changing blocking of a cheater from only a blocked account to a whole computersystem, and by making the game more expensive. We also recommend applying region or country functions when they people play anonymously to avoid linguistic misunderstandings and to ease communication by ensuring that players from the same country play with eachother and speak a common language.
Ett av de mest populära community:n på internet och en av världens mest populärastewebbplats i dag är videotjänsten YouTube. Strömmande tjänster blir alltmer efterfrågade i taktmed att tekniken utvecklas och bandbreddens prestationsförmåga inte längre är en begränsning.Inte minst har strömmande tjänster, i synnerhet YouTube, blivit populärt på grund av desskopierade innehåll av användare, i motsats till det egenskapade. Många av de uppladdadevideoklippen är upphovsrättsskyddade och just sådana videoklipp har visat sig tendera att varasärskilt efterfrågade bland användarna.I den här uppsatsen tittar jag på användarnas beteenden på YouTube i form av en observationnär de laddar upp upphovsrättsskyddat material. Jag undersöker hur användare ställer sig tillupphovsrätten och de regler som råder på YouTube genom en enkätundersökning. Slutligenintervjuar jag två advokater specialiserade inom området för att ta del av deras professionellasynsätt. Uppsatsen presenterar de observerade användarstrategierna och reflektionerna.
Denna rapport redovisar utvecklingen av en elektronisk portfolio som är avsedd att användas av personer verksamma inom eller med inriktning mot IT-branschen, till exempel webbutvecklare. Syftet med e-portfolion är att den skall representera en persons kunskaper och kompetens med hjälp av publicerat material som kan tänkas vara intressant för arbetsgivare. Tanken är att e-portfolion skall fungera som komplement till CV och personligt brev. För utvecklingen av e-portfolion har jag utnyttjat olika designprinciper och riktlinjer. Märkspråket HTML, CSS samt skriptspråken PHP och JavaScript har använts. Målet var att utveckla ett fullt fungerande förslag på en e-portfolio, designad för ett visst ändamål och strukturerad med olika typer av innehåll. Resultatet blev ett komplett förslag på en e-portfolio i form av en webbsida.
The Earth's permanently cold biosphere is known to harbour abundant microbial biomass and represents a rich resource for the discovery of novel cold-adapted microorganisms, many of which form part of the 'microbial dark matter' which cannot be analysed using traditional culture-dependent approaches. The recent development of metagenomics and related multi-omics strategies has provided a means by which entire microbial communities can be studied directly, without the prerequisite of culturing. The advancement of the 'omic' methods is directly linked to recent progress in high-throughput sequencing, robust data processing capabilities and the application of cutting-edge analytical tools for high-throughput detection of biomolecules. The combined application of these tools and strategies has provided an unprecedented access to the structure and potential function of microbial communities in cold environments, providing increasingly comprehensive insights into the taxonomic richness and functional capacity of the indigenous microorganisms. Applications of 'omic' strategies have enhanced our understanding of psychrophilic adaptation mechanisms, revealing the versatility and adaptability of life in the 'cryosphere'. In addition to the predicted roles of psychrophiles in biogeochemical cycling, recent multi-omic studies have further emphasised the importance of the 'cryosphere' in influencing global atmospheric conditions. Finally, metagenomic bioprospecting of cold environments has yielded a variety of novel bioactive molecules including novel 'psychrozymes', with a wide range of potential industrial and biotechnological applications. Here, we have provided an overview of recent developments in metagenomic technologies and their application in the study of the cold biosphere.
Over the past decades, a convergence between civil and political human rights non governmental organisations (NGOs) and development NGOs have occurred. The fusion of the two disciplines have led to the construction of so called 'Rights-Based approaches' (RBA). One principal concept for RBA's is the question of accountability. Functional accountability is no longer seen as sufficient and more focus on social accountability have advanced. In previous research NGOs are repeatedly questioned for their level of accountability. This comparative qualitative case study therefore aim to examine how three Swedish based NGOs perceive accountability, with the purpose to contribute to the academic discussion of NGO accountability.
By using grounded theory and selective coding, this study will contribute with new empirical data to the ongoing development of RBA theory. Empirical data is collected through interviews, NGOs official strategies documents and analysed in relation to the empirically grounded theory. The main findings in this comparative case study is that organisations different backgrounds and values influence how they perceive RBA and accountability, and which methods are used to reconcile with accountability claims. The collected empirical data concludes perceptions of accountability mostly focuses on four interconnected key principles; power relations, democracy, transparency and empowerment.
The increasing amount of information on the internet entails an increasing need for privacy protection. Information security is becoming a vital part of everyday lives due to digitization. There has been relatively little research on information security awareness, especially from a cultural, age- and knowledge perspective. This study aims to examine and to gain knowledge about information security awareness of users and their view of privacy online. By replicating the method of an israeli research paper by Halperin and Dror (2016), a comparison between Israel and Sweden is possible. Data were collected through surveys and the results show differences and similarities between Sweden and Israel. In particular when looking at age and knowledge.
The value and importance of lectures in higher education is part of a modern education discourse worldwide. This study aims to estimate the importance of lectures for prospective teachers of kindergarten, preschool and early primary school. We analysed academic achievements of prospective teachers who had either mandatorily or voluntarily attended lectures in the subject of teaching and learning mathematics. Students' examination grades in a maths course with mandatory or voluntary lecture attendance were analysed with a logistic model testing the association between lecture attendance requirement and grades. We show that mandatory lecture attendance (1) more than double the odds of students receiving a pass grade when their situated and tacit knowledge was examined and (2) quadrupled the odds of students achieving the highest grade (pass with distinction) when both their understanding of elementary mathematics and their situated and tacit knowledge of teaching and learning mathematics were examined. Our study provides evidence for a significant positive role of lecture attendance for students acquiring skills in Teaching and Learning Mathematics. While attending lectures students receive situated tacit knowledge of the subject which is otherwise difficult, if not impossible, for them to obtain in a different way. The observed improvement may have an additional positive effect in being a step towards overcoming a maths anxiety, which is otherwise relatively common among prospective teachers.
Purpose: In this study, we investigated how Tolv Stockholm uses sensory marketing to create an experience and if it has the desired effect.
Method: This qualitative study is based on primary and secondary data. We have interviewed those who work with Tolv Stockholm to get their perspective. Afterwards we performed observations to determine whether the visitor's experience is consistent with Tolv Stockholm's intentions.
Frame of reference: Previous research and theories argue that the senses play a huge role in our experiences. These can be influenced by those who produce experiences through, for example, lighting, music and scent.
Result & Conclusion: Many of the sensory inputs that Tolv Stockholm works with have the desired effect on their visitors. However, we feel that they have made an oversight when it comes to the interaction of music and lighting. This is also applies to the scent that they believe that they have designed, but was not noticed in the observations.
Although Georgia has experienced dramatic increases in the number of visitors over the past decade Swedish travellers are absent in the arrival statistics. Visitors from Eastern Europeans account for the majority of the increase in arrivals. This thesis attempts to understand what is missing in order for Swedish tourists to discover Georgia as a destination. This is done by interviewing Swedish tour operators and surveying Swedish visitors to Georgia. The results are analyzed in the framework of Leiper's theory of destination competitiveness. A SWOT analysis is also used to structure the analysis, and the thesis suggests some benchmark measures that could be used to implement a systematic effort to improve the destination. The thesis concludes that Georgia indeed has a strong attractiveness on Swedish tourists, but that the main problems are connected with low awareness and lack of convenient transportation options. It is argued that these problems can be solved through improved marketing and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the need for Georgian destination managers to make choices today in order to shape the image of the country in the future. Georgia has a challenge to strengthen the authenticity that many travellers associate with the country, but is in a position to modernize by preserving traditions. Finally, it is argued that the results from this study are generalizable to include preferences of travellers from Western Europe in general, and therefore the study points to some significant opportunities available to Georgia.


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Klosky v Morgan Keegan - $134,000 (RMH, RSF, RMA, RHY, MKHIX, MKIBX) Award
In June 2009, a FINRA arbitration panel in Memphis, TN ordered Morgan Keegan to pay $134,000 in damages after a hearing wherein the Claimants alleged Respondents breached contractual and fiduciary duties, violated Tennessee Blue Sky Laws and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and committed common law fraud and misrepresentation. The claims related to Claimants' investments in the RMK Intermediate Bond Fund (MKIBX). Dr. O'Neal testified on behalf of the Claimant.

subset: commoncrawl


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Discrimination is treating, or proposing to treat, someone unfavourably because of a personal characteristic protected by the law. This includes bullying someone because of a protected characteristic.
In Victoria it is against the law to discriminate against you because of your religious beliefs or activities, or what people think these might be.
Religious belief is about having, or not having, a religious belief or view that is not against the law. Religious activity is where you take part, choose not to take part or refuse to take part in a religious activity that is not against the law.
Examples of religious belief or activity discrimination
Mariam is a Muslim. At a job interview with an insurance company she is asked about her religious background. Even though Mariam is the best candidate, the HR manager tells her he cannot offer her the job because he thinks she will have to leave her workstation for prayer several times a day.
Gerry and Ian are best friends and golfing partners who both apply for membership at a prestigious golf club. During the selection interview one of the panellists asks Gerry if he always wears a yarmulke, a traditional Jewish head covering. Gerry says that he does and explains that the yarmulke is securely fastened and never comes free during play. Ian is accepted to the club but Gerry's application is refused.
Where can discrimination occur?
Discrimination is against the law when it occurs in an area of public life such as clubs, schools and shops, or in the workplace.
Find out more about general places of discrimination or learn more specifically about religious belief or activity discrimination in employment.
Racial and religious vilification
The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 makes it against the law to vilify a person or group of people because of their race or religion.
Vilification is behaviour that incites hatred, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of a person or group of people because of their race or religion.
Find out more about racial and religious vilification.
Are there any exceptions?
The Equal Opportunity Act 2010 includes some exceptions, which mean that discrimination will not be against the law in particular circumstances.
Positive steps can also be taken to help disadvantaged groups using special measures, which is not discrimination under the law.
If an exception or special measure does not apply, in some circumstances an exemption from the Act may be sought from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Religious bodies and schools can discriminate on the basis of several personal characteristics, including religious belief or activity, in circumstances where such discrimination is required to conform with religious belief or principles of the religion, or is reasonably necessary to avoid injury to the religious sensitivities of followers of the religion.
Discrimination may also be permitted in circumstances that involve:
- ordaining or appointing priests, ministers of religion or members of a religious order
- training or educating people who wish to be ordained as priests, ministers of religion or members of a religious order
- selecting or appointing people to perform or participate in a religious activity, observance or practice.
Examples of exceptions
A religious school advertises a position for a pastoral care coordinator, and specifies that the successful applicant must be of the same faith as that held and taught by the school.
A religious school prohibits same-sex couples attending school forums because it believes homosexuality is incompatible with the faith held and taught by the school.
Make a complaint to the Commission
If you think you have been discriminated against, sexually harassed, victimised or vilified, contact us and talk about your concerns. Our dispute resolution service is free and confidential. We can send you information about the complaint process and if we can't help you we will try to refer you to someone who can.
To make a complaint:
- contact us by phone, in person or email. We also have a free interpreter service
- submit your complaint online or download our complaint form (DOC, 230KB).
Find out more about making a complaint.


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January 6th, 2013
One of my favorite blogs, Margaret Roach's A Way To Garden inspired this post. She was writing about winter gardening chores in New England. Of course, it isn't the way we winter garden in Central Florida. Winter and summer…it doesn't mean the same to everyone.
While reading Margaret's blog about winter chores, I was struck by her request for suggestions about winter chores. Winter chores are so dramatically different here in the deep south from those in the northern climes.
In Florida, as well as South Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia it is planting and harvesting time. Summer eggplants are still producing…tomatoes planted in August beginning to bear fruit, not to mention the citrus trees are giving us their fruit for another fall, winter and spring. And, it is joy that we feel about all the vegetables and flowers we can plant that will give us harvest and color all winter long.
Ask me about summer, when you are harvesting the bounty of spring and early summer plantings, we are sweltering in the heat and humidity. I see pictures of your farmer's markets and roadside stands brimming with vegetables, flowers and the harvest of fall ripening fruit, the emotion I feel is nothing short of jealousy. But, everything to its season, they just aren't always the same.


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Check out this promotional video on YouTube.
Urania Speculative Fiction sure has something to offer every taste for the fantastical.
Also, please forgive my extended absences from this blog. Between work and school, I have not been able to keep it as up to date as it deserves.
--My best excuse, though, is my wife and I having twins a few weeks ago.--
That alone, as you might understand, keeps me rather busy.
Nevertheless, I hope all is going well for everyone and that you are enjoying whatever you may be reading.


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: Alois Gruber1713 16 Jan 2008
I am not sure that I can explain it correctly, but the idea consists of several elements that work together
1. add XSL as resource type to the database
2. add an event "Use XSL" similar to "HTML Body attributes" to the form that can contain a formula that results to a name of a xsl resource
3. add an event "Use XSL" to each Field, embedded element, section, table with the same behaviour as above (I know that tables and sections currently have no "events")
4. basically the same for views and columns
At runtime, if one of these forms or views is opened and the formula results to a XSL resource name, the web engine does not perform the standard rendering into html but instead reads the DXL of the form/view and applies the XSL to it. The XSL of fields or columns is "included" at the intended place resulting in a big XSL transformation and domino has no responsibility that there is any output at all but this gives XSL savvy users the possibility to override the standard transformation process of Notes Layout to HTML (or different XML, XUL or ...). And I think it would ease to implement intregation of any AJAX framework or things like Flex, OpenLaszlo and similar.
Those XSL elements would need some guidelines of how to match layout and content (e.g. for fields), but I think that is something to cope with, e.g. putting both DXL junks in a single stream. Or alternativly work similar to a 2005 Lotusphere presentation as a 2-step XSLT. Step1: Form DXL + XSL = generated XSL, Step 2: document DXL + generated XSL = output to browser
Sounds (and probably is) complicated and it would certainly need much more discussion if considered as a feature.


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One finally thing before I say good-bye to the Read-a-thon: Dewey's survey:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? At about hour 13 I just couldn't stay awake any longer.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Anything short and light, Sophie Kinsella's books would do.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Can't think of anything.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon? The Reader feed was awesome! So much easier than all the hopping around during the first Read-a-thon.
5. How many books did you read? 2 adult, 1 child
6. What were the names of the books you read? Summer, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Monkey See, Monkey Do
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Summer
8. Which did you enjoy least? They were all pretty good.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders? I wasn't a cheerleader this time around.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd definitely be a Reader again.


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November 09, 2017 ∙ by vmbernard ∙ in Education
Washington Adventist University Welcomes 22 Teams for Acrofest
Story by WAU Staff
Once every five years Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Md., opens its doors to young gymnasts from across the U.S., Canada, and the Dominican Republic for Acrofest. This year they welcomed 22 teams with more than 800 performers to our campus. Each participant will spend three days bonding with, and learning from other teams while being renewed spiritually. The theme, Building the Dream, will focus on how teams not only build their routines but how each member allows God to shape their lives.
One team, however, almost didn't make it. Antillean Adventist University (UAA), located in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico has a long track record of attending Acro Fest. After hurricane Maria ravaged the island, making the trip to Maryland appeared impossible. Due to the damage and lack of electricity, UAA students started classes in October, and the gymnasts practiced in different parking lots. When WAU Coach Ben Johnson received the news, he and his team decided to work on making the impossible possible.
"The two schools have always had a strong friendship, and we were moved when we learned of their situation," says Coach Johnson. I decided to look at our budget and move around whatever we could to make it possible for them to attend and thankfully we were able to waive about $6000 in fees for their team."
Currently in its 26th consecutive year, Acrofest started at Andrews University. It is held once a year and hosted by one of the five primary teams: Andrews University, Southern Adventist University, Southwestern Adventist University, Union College and Washington Adventist University. Participants come from as far as Ozark Adventist Academy in Arkansas to Kingsway College in Ontario.
WAU's Acro-Airs comprise 48 students in the junior varsity and varsity teams which have traveled the entire east coast performing at NBA halftime shows and every member on the staff is an alumnus of the school and the program.
Follow this link to purchase tickets to the show on Saturday, November 11.


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Nina Stemme is the new Turandot. It only makes sense. Here is her "big aria." From his brief participation in this scene, it sounds like Riccardo Massi is a smooth, powerhouse Calaf, too. Below the YT clip is a link to the complete performance at Sveriges Radio. I have not heard the whole performance yet, but I need to do so soon, and so do you. It will be online only for about 20 more days.
(Update, 08/14/2016 - this is from a 2015 performance at La Scala -- the Stockholm recording was "disappeared." This is actually better, since it's video!)
In questa reggio
Puccini: Turandot Live performance from the Royal Opera, Stockholm. Recorded February 16, 2013 on SverigeSRadio. Thank you, Sveriges Radio!
(also, hear the riddle scene)
(also, hear the riddle scene)


text:
Avenue 5
A respected Bankers Hill dining spot that opened in 2007, Avenue 5 closed its doors last weekend after the owners decided to sell. While business had improved since the lows of the recession, co-owner Chad MacLaggan said he wanted to avoid incurring more debt. And with the sale, he may be able to pursue another, more modest dining venture, he says. The new owner will be Gaslamp Quarter restaurateur Ingrid Croce, who is currently in escrow on the Fifth Avenue space. She's still working on licensing and exploring the possibility of having some musical entertainment, as she does at Croce's downtown. The new name will be Croce's Park West, with an opening likely this fall.
El Take It Easy
Opened three years ago as a tribute to Baja California cuisine, the North Park eatery is calling it quits April 22. Owner Jay Porter, who also owns The Linkery, was frank about his decision to close, saying the concept had run its course and while the venture had been fun, it was not financially successful. Porter expects to open a new restaurant at the same location by early May that will feature American cuisine, with no menu item more than $10.


text:
Publication Date
Technical Report: UTEP-CS-02-28a.
Published in Reliable Engineering and Systems Safety, 2004, Vol. 85, No. 1-3, pp. 267-279.
Uncertainty is very important in risk analysis. A natural way to describe this uncertainty is to describe a set of possible values of each unknown quantity (this set is usually an interval), plus any additional information that we may have about the probability of different values within this set. Traditional statistical techniques deal with the situations in which we have a complete information about the probabilities; in real life, however, we often have only partial information about them. We therefore need to describe methods of handling such partial information in risk analysis. Several such techniques have been presented, often on a heuristic basis. The main goal of this paper is to provide a justification for a general formalism for handling different types of uncertainty, and to describe a new black-box technique for processing this type of uncertainty.


text:
In the early '80s, Pepsi had begun seriously encroaching on sales of Coca-Cola, even outselling the latter in supermarkets.
In an effort to rejuvenate sales, Coke outright replaced its formula with what would be known as "New Coke" -- an "improved" version of the formula that would replace the original for 77 days before the company relented and re-introduced the old Coke as "Coke Classic."
As the new owners of Churchill's Pub, you're already running into a similar dilemma.
See also: Churchill's New Owners Abandoning Plans for 21-and-Over Policy
Perhaps what's most interesting about the New Coke story is that consumers in taste-tests actually favored the fresh formula -- and the initial sales jumped in most of the country. This wasn't an arbitrary decision made by their executives, who actually verified that most people thought it tasted better before launching it.
Unfortunately, the problem was not with "most people." A smaller but more vocal group of Coke aficionados loudly objected to the tampering with the old brand and taste, and managed to undermine "New Coke."
Coca-Cola's President Donald Keough at a press conference said: "The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people."
As for Churchill's Pub, Dave Daniels didn't just run a bar -- he ran a brand, and that brand involved a particular, anything-goes ethic that led to a cult-like following among its patrons. If there's one thing you can say about Churchill's fans, it's that they have a "deep and abiding emotional attachment" to the formula.
Dave's approach -- allowing the place to be an incubator of music without the frill or amenities of modern bars -- probably didn't look good on paper and cost some sales. Going to Churchill's has been an adventure, and not always in a good way. But every once in a while, you'd see the Best Show You've Ever Seen -- or the start of a band or artist that would go on to international fame. It was consistently unpredictable and sometimes explosively, outrageously cool.
The fact that he would allow Rat Bastard and others to promote (literal) noise on Thursdays -- two decades before he'd actually start to make money on the International Noise Conference -- was either amazingly prescient or crazy, depending on how you want to view the overall return on investment.
Most bars opened 30 years ago are long gone. Churchill's just sold for a boatload of money.
See also: Churchill's Pub Sale Finalized
New owners, I don't believe you would have bought Churchill's Pub if you didn't value the brand. We're hopeful that the Death of Churchill's is not nigh, and that you'll see this challenge as different than, say, a restaurant or bar on South Beach.
But at the same time, this could easily be one of those "New Coke" scenarios. I'm sure when you ran the numbers, you figured that if you make a few tweaks here or there -- increase turnout a few percent here, bump prices a buck or so there -- Churchill's started to look like a good business. Yeah, there'll be some backlash, but you'll make it up on the other end. And you may.
But that deep and abiding attachment among the small, vocal minority could also destroy your investment (and with it, the bar we love). Part of what is maintaining Churchill's brand is its enduring credibility among a few groups of thought leaders, including aging part-time punk rockers and some seemingly insane (but actually quite astute) promoters.
It would be easy to dismiss the negativity and criticisms that you're hearing from us in the same way that Facebook plods on, despite objections to every new format change. We'll get used to it, right? We might even think it's better. And sometimes it is.
That's certainly possible with Churchill's. You might masterfully thread the needle and maintain the purity of Churchill's brand while making modest tweaks that bring in more people. Dave gave us a stage -- and we have a deep love for Dave and his work -- but it's too early to rule out the possibility that the place (or its marketing) might actually be improved. People who love Churchill's should to be open to that possibility, remote as it may seem to us.
But any changes will have to satisfy more than a taste test. They will have to be perfect -- and that's a much harder lift than simply keeping the place going as it has been. It will mean making only the most essential modifications necessary to survival until the purists trust you.
We've been lucky to have Churchill's (and Dave and the staff's) support around as long as we have. We are thrilled to see Dave will get to comfortably enjoy his retirement. We really want you to succeed, because we love the place. Churchill's is where the Most Amazing Shit Happened.
But in the end, we're more than people who love the bar. We're people with decades of allegiance to the brand and the people who built it. So please, tread carefully.
Honestly, we're happy you're redoing the bathrooms. But there are only so many changes you'll be able to make without it becoming "New Churchills." The road is strewn with the corpses of brands that got tweaked too drastically, too quickly. And we're not sure you'll get the chance or have the resources to reintroduce "Churchill's Classic."
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-- Brian Franklin
Brian Franklin is a Democratic political consultant and co-writer with Rob Elba of Hearing Damage (AKA The Rat Opera), much of which is fictionally set in Churchill's Pub.
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