A collision alert system is a part of automobile safety which is used to reduce the severity of an accident as much as possible. Such a system is also known commonly as the precash system, the forward collision warning system, and also the collision mitigating system. In order to determine a crash, the automobile makes use of laser, camera sensors and even radar in a perfect combination.Once it has been successfully established that a crash is imminent, either a warning is given to the driver, or the machine takes control of the automobile itself in order to take the required action and avoid the accident. The benefits of collision alert system are self-explanatory; however, following may be the conspicuous features of it which are required to be accentuated here.Features and Benefits Of Collision Alert SystemThere are a number of different kinds of collision alert systems, which are being utilized by different automobile companies in order to enable the driver to avoid as much of road accidents as they can, or at least reduce the severity of them. While the whole list of features, categories, and benefits of the collision alert system may be a huge one, some of the prominent ones may include and are not confined to the following:• The intersection collision warning system enables a driver to get warned of the incoming traffic. It does also warn the drivers if he happens to violate the right of way near the intersections• Obstacle detection systems, as the name suggest, informs the driver about all sorts of obstructions which may be on the way like vehicles, animals, road debris, or a projected pathway which are all detected using state of the art sensors• Lane change warning systems are specifically suitable for bus or truck drivers which alert them of the vehicles in the surrounding lanes as soon as they try to change the lane• Lane departure warning systems are also suitable for bus or truck drivers which alert them immediately if the vehicle is unintentionally going out of an appropriate lane• Rollover warning systems are specifically designed in order to alert the driver if he is moving too fast for an upcoming curve and there is a risk of rollover if he maintains the speed• Road departure warning systems inform a driver as soon as the vehicle is stepping out of the roadway or if the vehicle is moving too fast for an upcoming curve as well• Forward collision warning systems are also extremely useful since they enable a driver to get informed about an imminent crash since the leading vehicle has either stopped completely, or slowing down, and the speed of the vehicle at the back is in a conflict situation• Rear impact warning systems are essentially the same as the forward collision warning systems and is utilized for exactly the same purpose, however, the warning via this kind of collision alert system is given to the driver of the leading vehicle.It is indispensable to mention here that most of the above mentioned collision alert systems are still under performance testing, the lane control warning system as well as the forward collision warning systems have already started to hit the market and are being utilized by a number of different automobile companies.And with the aforementioned benefits that such collision alert systems have to offer, it is only fair to consider it a commendable option. There is no argument over the fact that collision alert systems tremendously reduce the number of road accidents or their severity to say the least.
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Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Disaster recovery planning and preventive measures ensure business continuity. The main question is “What if an attacker succeeds and renders an organization’s functions impossible?” Whether the break in business continuity is a short or long one, this is where an organization’s disaster recovery plans comes into play. The disaster recovery plans define the resources, actions, and data required to reinstate critical business processes that have been damaged or disabled because of a disaster. By focusing on disaster recovery plans and preventions, network managers can minimize the impact that catastrophic events may have in their environment. The recovery plan is the best way to insure that a business survives an IT emergency.The various potential disasters that security administrators need to be concerned about can be classified as human induced incidents, natural, internal, armed conflict, and external. Human induced incidents can include loss of power, transportation accidents, and chemical contaminations. Natural incidents can include flood, earthquake, and tornado. Internal incidents include sabotage, theft, and employee violence. Armed conflict can include acts of terrorism, like the 911 attacks, civil unrest, and war. External incidents include hacking, unauthorized use, and industrial espionage.Organizations identify potential threats and analyze what needs to be achieved in order to continue operating as though nothing had happened. After identifying these potential threats, security administrators can be in a better position to protect the mission-critical information systems.Data backup is an essential part of any disaster recovery plan. Data backup allows personnel to restore files and application software that is vital to continue business. An effective data backup strategy should address how often backups are run, type of backup medium, when the backups are run, are backups automated or manual, backup verification, storage, who is responsible for the backups, and the fallback person responsible for backups. Addressing the need for off-site storage may also be an important guideline for organizations with extensive business-critical data (Boswell…, 2003 p. 433).Organizations must include thorough planning and testing and include provisions for business continuity. Anticipating disasters is the first in the process. There is a lot to be learned and corrected from the testing phase and it needs to be taken very seriously. The testing exercise helps minimize losses during an actual attack. An effective disaster recovery plan should include the following documents: a list of covered disasters, a list of the disaster recovery team members, a business impact assessment, a business resumption and continuity plan, backup documentation, and restoration documentation.It has been said that the most important step in managing potential disasters is to have in place a well-trained and ready to respond team including a member from senior management, members of the IT department, representatives from facilities management, and representatives from the user community affected by the crisis. In a real crisis, the disaster recovery team meets to evaluate and determine the sources of the disaster and identify the critical components that are affected. The team than assesses the business impact of the disaster, estimating how long the disaster may disrupt business continuity. In this process the cost of the disaster is also ascertained. Exhaustively documenting changes that are implemented during the rush to solve the problem is also crucial.It is also important that organizations show their commitment to these plans that come from the IS department by adopting well-defined security policies and human resource policies that reflects their support to information security. A useful and well-written security policy should include sections on acceptable use, privacy, due care, separation of duties, “need-to-know” issues, password management, service-level agreements, and the destruction or disposal of information and storage media (Boswell…, 2003 p. 437). Human resources policy deals with personnel management. There should be thorough hiring practices including background, reference, and educational checks. To minimize a security risk, employees should have periodic reviews and rotate job functions and duties, which is beneficial in an emergency due to the more even distribution of information. Employee termination practices are also important in the protection and prevention of threats. Exit interviews should be conducted, individuals should be escorted off the property, and the terminated employee’s computer accounts and passwords should be deactivated and changed. A code of ethics should also be included in an organization’s human resources policy. This would help define and clarify the company’s stance on information security and provide a foundation built on ethics (Boswell…, 2003 p. 441).An incident response policy can also play a critical role. This policy covers how to deal with a security incident after it has occurred. Following a sound incident response methodology lessens the likelihood that incompetent and inefficient actions will occur and contributes to the practice of due care. An incident response policy should follow the steps of preparation (being ready before an incident occurs), detection (recognizing the presents of malicious code or whether files have been altered), containment (preventing further loss or disruption of services), eradication (removing viruses or malicious code along with cleaning and reformatting hard drives that were affected), recovery (restoring the system), and follow up (develop set of lessons learned) (Boswell…, 2003 p. 442).In conclusion, in is important to combine a disaster recovery plan with a well-defined and documented security policy, human resources policy, and incident response policy, which can minimize the effects of a catastrophic event and help assure business continuity. It is said, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”Works Cited
Boswell, S., Calvert, B., Campbell, P. (2003). Security + Guide to Network Security
Fundamentals. Boston, Massachusetts: Thomson Course Technology.
Financing Your Independent Film, Movie and Animation Via Tax Credits
Independent film, television and animation players in Canada are always, it is very safe to say, looking for financing for their productions. One of the best ways to compliment your overall financing strategy in the three sectors of this industry (film/movies; television; digital animation) is to utilize your tax credits in a unique and innovative manner. Let’s explore what that is being done more and more, and some of the how to’s in this very unique area of financing in the Canadian entertainment industry.The financing we are discussing is against the backdrop of very aggressive government assistant in this segment of the Canadian economy. Rather than back away from the sector after the 21008-2009 global economic turbulence provincial and government bodies stepped up to the bar, so to speak, and in fact increased their support in this area of the industry. Traditionally film and television were the focus of the tax credit assistance, and recently the government has included digital animation as another key vertical in this sector of the industry.Is there a simple explanation to the financing we are discussing? Yes there is – it is simply your ability to convert your tax credits, which have in fact significantly increased, into cash! The ability to generate cash flow and working capital from your tax credit assists you in of course completing your project successfully, and at the same time ensuring stakeholders such as owners, investors, and debt holders view the project as financial viable a mutually profitable for all stakeholders. That’s a good thing.Tax credits have been available in many countries, including the U.S. for years. We can surmise the governments have supported these strategies to help ensure the overall competitiveness of the industry. Clearly the revenues generated by the industry from box and gate receipts, let alone labour and production spending are very significant.So what does the strategy entail? Simply speaking you should ensure you are working with a trusted advisor in this area – someone with credibility, experience. At the same time you should ensure you are filing for eligibility under any one of 6 tax credit available, using the province of Ontario as an example. Tax credits are available of course in other provinces also, with B.C. and Quebec industry segments flourishing equally as well.Proper planning is the key to financing your tax credits, and if you can prove you have a solid budget and finance plan, along with management and operational capability you can even ‘ pre-finance ‘ your credits in most circumstances. Again, credibility is the key here, and a track record in the industry is not 100% mandatory, but certainly helps.Financing is made similar to the concept of ‘mortgage lending ‘i.e. on a loan to value basis. Typically you can expect to receive anywhere from 40-80% of your tax credit claim in cash. Factors that affect this amount are the timing of your filing, the quality of the filing, and of course the amount of the claim.Naturally the ‘pieces ‘of the complex film/ tv/animation financing puzzle can be complex – whether they are bank financing, gap financing, distribution sales, and of course our own tax credit financing strategy. Film, TV, and animation Tax credit financing is a great way to complement the other pieces of the entertainment financing conundrum.