Best Practices for Beautiful and Effective Blog Design

Your blog is key to building brand credibility and online visibility. In fact, small businesses that blog get 126 percent more lead growth than those that don’t. Content is justifiably the main focus of any blog. However, many marketers forget that the design and structure of a blog can have a big impact on readability and engagement. Blog design will affect how visitors perceive your brand; when it’s good, it can convince people to stick around. Online, as in real life, first impressions count. In this post, we’ll break down some of the most important factors in good blog design and look at some of the latest blog design trends. The Most Important Design Elements of a Blog Each of these elements will impact user behavior and how visitors engage with your blog content, so keep these crucial design elements in mind. Custom Header The header is probably the first thing visitors will see, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. You could display your blog’s logo or name, or use graphics and photos. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s memorable. Use appropriate colors and fonts, and add a short description or tagline to summarize your blog. User-Friendly Navigation The navigation is the gateway to all your website content and is key to improving the user experience and driving traffic to other pages. Don’t have too many categories as this can confuse visitors. If necessary, use submenus for wider topics. Links to consider for your blog’s menu: An archive of previous blog posts. A â€Å"Most Popular Posts† section. An About page. A Contact page. Tip #1: Include internal links to your other blog posts in every post you write. This helps to increase visitor time on your site and boosts search rankings. Tags and Categories Help visitors find topics of interest by using tags and category links in every post. This improves the user experience, helps to boost the number of page views, and should decrease your blog bounce rate. Sidebar Many businesses opt to display the sidebar on the right-hand side of the page. This helps to focus attention on the actual blog content. Tip #2: Consider not having a sidebar on the pages you are trying to improve conversions on, so that people don’t get distracted. Elements you should consider including in your sidebar: A search box. An email subscription box. A search-by-tags option. A link to an author bio. A link to recent posts. A link to popular posts. Links to your social media accounts. Tip #3: Display a search bar in the header of every page to help users find what they’re looking for. Snippets on the Blog Homepage Most users don’t have time to hunt for relevant content. Showing snippets of blog posts on the homepage helps visitors quickly choose content that interests them. Show a paragraph or two of each recent post with a call to action such as â€Å"Continue reading,† â€Å"Read more,† or â€Å"Click to continue.† Email Subscription Button/Form To boost blog readership, aim to collect email addresses. You have different options to try: An opt-in button at the top of your sidebar. A pop-up form. A subscription button in the page header or footer. An opt-in form at the end of each post. Tip #4: Consider not asking for a user’s name. According to one study, you’ll get around 10 percent more opt-ins if you only ask for their email address. Social Sharing Buttons Including social sharing buttons on every page is a simple way to encourage content sharing and build brand awareness. Consider using scrolling social buttons with a tool like AddThis. Tip #5: To avoid user hesitation, only display three social networks that are most popular with your audience. Larger Fonts Text size affects readability and this impacts user engagement. Although 12 pixels is typical for internet content, according to writing expert D Bnonn Tennant, anything below 16 pixels could be a mistake: â€Å"Almost 1 in 10 of your readers has trouble with their eyes. Of the rest who don’t, most will still have to strain to read text smaller than 16 pixels.† Tip #6: Try increasing the font size of your blog content and use analytics to measure the impact on blog engagement. A Comments Section Give users the option to interact with your content by including a comments section. Receiving more comments means your pages will include more relevant keywords, which improves SEO. Possibly the best system is threaded comments, which allows for multiple responses from the author. Threaded comments can also increase the number of comments you receive per post by 16 to 33 percent. White Space Readers will appreciate your content more if it’s easier to read, and white space (simply the blank spaces around content) is one of the best ways to improve readability. Tip #7: Break up chunks of text with white space, images, and bulleted lists. Blog Design Trends for 2019 Minimalism The importance of white space, or negative space, in blog design is perhaps one of the reasons why minimalist blogs remain a popular design trend. Minimalist designs help users focus on your content and aid navigation. Help Scout, a customer service software company, uses a minimalist design on its blog, embracing white space and using less copy. It also uses bright blocks of color that catch your attention. Flat Design It might have been Apple that started the flat design trend, moving away from shadows and gradients and making design elements seem more user-friendly. An increasing number of blogs are using this style. Common elements that feature in flat design are: Contrasting bright colors. Clean, crisp edges on buttons. Lack of three-dimensional depth. Lots of white space. Illustrations. Simple geometric shapes. Simple typography. This Angle WordPress theme is a good example. Flat designs also improve page load times, which leads to another trend in blog design†¦ Speed According to an Akamai study, 40 percent of users will abandon a web page if it takes more than three seconds to load. Your blog design has that much time to convince a user to stay. Furthermore, Google’s Speed Update now affects search engine rankings. To address these issues, more bloggers are focusing on optimizing their blogs for speed. This is why minimalist designs have increased in popularity and why you should now do all you can to improve the speed of your blog. Unique Illustrations In 2017, brands like Dropbox began to use personalized illustrations to convey their messages. Since then, illustrations have become increasingly popular, and will continue to grow in 2019. Why? Illustrations are more memorable, help to convey information more quickly, and strengthen a brand’s image. It may involve hiring graphic designers or illustrators for personalized designs, but it will pay off. It’s a great way to stand out from the crowd, like this illustration shows from fundraising website Crowdrise. The Card Layout Card layouts, as used on Pinterest, are a great way to organize your blog posts and give users a sense of the breadth of your content without overwhelming them with information. They usually include an image, the publication date, the blog’s title, its author, and maybe an excerpt from the post. For Web Designer Depot’s mobile blog page, they keep it simple in order to fit more content on each page, displaying an image, the category, the title, and when the post first appeared. Apple’s newsroom blog also uses the card layout. Special Typography and Font Pairings Some marketers forget about the importance of typography in design, but font choices, letter sizes, and line spacing are key to readability. Pairing two distinct typefaces has become a popular way to improve the visual appeal of any blog, and many WordPress themes now use special font pairings. This example of font pairings from Anchor and Orbit is from the homepage, but they also use the font in blog content. Notice the use of an original illustration, which adds more personality to the page. In Summary It’s important to publish quality content on your blog, but if it looks uninspiring and is hard to navigate, it can detract from the value of your content. The solution is to place your content within an attractive framework that makes it more accessible and readable. This will naturally increase your credibility and encourage more people to return to your blog time after time. Attractive blogs are more likely to have longer life spans, so it’s worth the effort. Use these tips as general best practice, but remember that your brand is unique, so take this information as inspiration to make your own blog better. Constant Content takes the hassle out of finding, hiring, and managing a team of blog writers.

Mcbride Marketing Paper Essays

Mcbride Marketing Paper Essays Mcbride Marketing Paper Essay Mcbride Marketing Paper Essay McBride Marketing Paper Jarvis Jenkins BSA/310 12-10-10 Mona Ristovv McBride Marketing Paper Introduction McBride Financial Service is a mortgage lender based out of Boise, Idaho. The goal of the company is to develop into most brilliant cost mortgage contributor by utilizing modern technology while keeping interest rates low. McBride always wishes to increase its current growth by expanding into five additional states Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming. McBride will also strive toward improving the standard of the company with the traditional loans for purchasing and refinancing homes such as FHA and VA. The company has also plotted to actually make money with in its first year of business, they plan to achieve this by financially breaking even by the six month mark. Furthermore, McBride has also devised a plan that will reduce their cost as well as boost the work effectiveness to enhance practices at work and give excellent customer service. To assist in this matter, the company will depend upon the technology they will implement. Another plan the company has chosen to do is to provide helpful and useful assistance with mortgages from the commencement to termination to boost its good name in the market place. Discussion about Market Research Marketing research involves a course of action that calculates the methods and approaches that appeal to the consumers to use the goods and services of a company. It is an extremely helpful method to recognize what the customers expects and requires from a business. As like any other company it will more than likely be a test for McBride Financial Services to overcome to understand the traditions of the market, but with this understanding comes the ability to build a suitable customer database as well as clientele. It would be in McBride’s best interest to use a descriptive, research plan. By using this method of market research they can reduce the expense for operations as well as the time it takes to reach the portion of the market they are looking to target. One of the most important reasons for using the descriptive research plan is that you can assess the capability of the chosen market for the services rendered by the company and also examine the positions of the customers. By using this method of research it will allow McBride Financial Services to review its present sales and services, which would permit them to determine forthcoming market plans and the opportunity for growth. The descriptive marketing research will also assist McBride Financial Services because in using this process it is critical to also calculate the strategical approaches as well as the performance of the competitors. This will grant McBride the opportunity to stay away from future errors and build an economical advantage over their competitors. A survey analysis with existing customers could be performed by McBride to evaluate their interest with new offers and deals pertaining to mortgages, which would help them understand what there customers expect from them. This would require using the survey researcher method which would be beneficial because it will aid the company to become acquainted with customer’s preferences and the status of the company amongst the group that is being targeted. Thus, the market research would encourage McBride Financial Services to direct its focus on the customer’s who’s extent is great to gain the mortgage services offered and to calculate the opportunities in the market that are available to the company. Media Types that can be used Media sources are worthy outlets to generate consciousness among customers about the products and services that are offered. Following the market research, it is very important that McBride enhance the exposure of the company within the market. A mixture of media sources could help promote the services that the company is offering. By using the media, as well as advertising tactics in an effective manner it should help the company gain a reasonable advantage over their competition. By using online and offline media sources in cooperation, McBride can place advertising in both the local and international market. It would be to the advantage of the company to use television, as well as an electronic media source to advertise the services and conveniences that they are offering the customers. When it comes to offline media sources the company could use radio, newspapers, financial magazines, pamphlets, corporate magazines, etc. In addition McBride could use advertising campaigns in corporate fairs and events. Furthermore supplementary approaches and sources to be tapped could be public seminars, trade shows, or house shows. One of the biggest ways to get acknowledgment on the international level is through use of the internet and the World Wide Web. By implementing online marketing methods the company can reach out to customers that are beyond the native boundaries. McBride should also consider supplying grocery stores and shopping markets with brochures. By using all of these media tools the company can represent itself in an enhanced matter and leave a positive impression on customers. Target Market to be chose by McBrides McBride Financial Services’ primary focus should reside on families as well as persons who are qualified and that can clear the criteria to be awarded a mortgage loan. Additionally, the company can aim for retired individuals and other small business owners. Extra sources for the company to target would be first-time buyers, builders, or other realtors who wish to have a mortgage with low interest rate. These groups would be ideal for the improvement of the company. It should be rather easy for McBride to draw in these people, and they can effortlessly match the requirements and criteria for the loans. McBride’s Web Marketing Web marketing and advertising is another avenue that McBride Financial Services should consider traveling. By using web marketing and advertising the company can produce responsibility in the eyes of the consumer. Faith with the company and its services can be built because transparency about the services offered and the charges being assessed by the company are clearly stated. The customer would also be able to evaluate the prices and services offered by the company with their competition, which would generate a sensation of contentment that they will not be deceived by the company. Since McBride Financial Services function as a web based unit, they can exhibit their products and services on their website to drawn in more customers. The company could also have an agreement with online search engines, Google or Yahoo, to boost the reputation of the company. The online marketing method that will be implemented is fairly inexpensive and extremely helpful to reach out to a wider range of customers. The improved technology being used will give McBride the opportunity to persuade the opinion of customers and draw them into spend their money within the company. Conclusion As a result based on the discussion above it could be said that for McBride Financial Services to cause a definite impression within the market and bring in a large number of new customer, it is imperative that they research the target market that would produce the numbers they would like. By using the methods described earlier, survey and descriptive research methods, this will permit the company to recognize the views of the customers as well as the approval ratings current customers are giving them. References This is a hanging indent. To keep the hanging indent format, simply delete this line of text using the backspace key, and replace the information with your reference entry.

Government Bailouts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Government Bailouts - Essay Example If the government does not intervene and does not provide financial assistance to the financially unstable large corporations, unemployment and other related problems would further aggravate an economy. Already, the economy of United States of America is facing very severe and harsh waves of financial crisis, which showed their presence in the year of 2007 and they continued till the end of 2009. History of bailouts The finance history has sufficient record about the events of government bailouts. In the year of 1979, Chrysler had lost $ 1.1 billion. At that time, it was feared that this could negatively hit the entire US automotive industry. In order to avoid the subsequent impacts of this loss of Chrysler, the Feds had no option except to intervene and save the corporation. Instantly, in the year of 1980, the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act was discussed, approved and passed. In this Act, Chrysler was given a loan of $1.5 billion by the federal government (Gup, 4). Furthermore, in the year of 1989, savings and loan institutions became financially crippled. The failure of these savings and loan institutions was considerably spreading almost all companies working in this industry. At that time, then President George H.W. Bush and his Government were required to devise and determine a bailout plan to address and stop falling this entire industry. Consequently, The President Bush and Congress passed a bill and made it as the Financial Institutions Reforms, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in the year of 1989 (Rehm). But, this government bailout was only limited to save the savings and loan institutions. In the year of 2001, United States of America was attacked with some deadly terrorist attacks on many cities. In which, the terrorists used aeroplanes to carry out the attacks on the land of America. Due to the use of aeroplanes, the entire airline industry became a subject of economic and financial crisis. These financial crises became so severe that the Government had no other option except to play the role of saviour. As a result, the then President Bush discussed the issue with the Congress. And this discussion brought a bill and that bill was passed as the Air Transportation Safety and Stabilization Act. This Act mentioned some fundamental steps necessary to rescue the entire airline industry. The Act released $5 billion compensation and an additional amount of $10 billion in loan guarantees (Rehm, Barbara &Mandaro). The year of 2007 and 2008 were worst of all. The onslaught of financial crises was uncontrollable and heavily damaging the economy of America. In October 2008, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. This Act authorised the Treasury Department to spend the amount of $700 billion for the purpose of handling and tackling the problem of financial crisis of 2008. Government bailouts are not a wish but a necessity on the part of government. The government has no choice but to intervene and play the role of saviour. No government ever wants to use its own funds and money to provide financial assistance or extend a loan to a corporation under normal financial circumstances. Rather, the government ensures that the corporation must and should be financially well-equipped and financially strong enough to meet its expenses and its other financial and non-financial obligations. But, due to a variety of economic and political factors some corporations become unable to continue doing business

Oxygen releasing compounds in groundwater remediation Essay

Oxygen releasing compounds in groundwater remediation - Essay Example In the past, there have been methods enacted to treat the underground water, which in turn is used by the citizens after it gets treated. There have been many methods of treating this water for the benefit of the persons consumer; also, this water is used for irrigation of crops and also animals. Recently, there has been the physical method used to treat the water. Nevertheless, some people have been claiming that this is not appropriate water to use for consumption. The methods used, seems to be sufficient just like the biological methods too (Canadian petroleum products institute 1991, p. 88). I believe that all these methods are quite good, and many people believe that the use of the physical method is appropriate and commendable since there are not many chemicals used or none at all. Pump and rate have been the most commonly used method of treating the underground water. It has been the most globally used remediation technology. This method has been considered to be the most suitable among all and not expensive. It is not costly compared to other physical methods of the purifying underground water (Wheeler & Adams 1905, p. 55). This method involves the process of pumping the water from underground to the surface and later, the water gets treated using biological treatment. There is also another physical method that can be used, which is known as the air sparking method. It is a very interesting method whereby, the air is usually bowed directly to the ground water and as the bubbles rise, the impurities get removed from the water and the impunities are directed to the soil, which calls the to another work to treat the soil. There has been also another method that could be used as a physical method. The Dual vacuum extraction. To avoid people being infected with t he deadly contamination, they can be used with the bioaugmentation method that increases the enzyme reactive concentration in the system to fight the germs rate in the water.

Describe the importance of voting in the American system Essay

Describe the importance of voting in the American system - Essay Example The first reason why voting is important related to ethics. Many people have put their lives on the line, and have been maimed and killed in order to preserve the basic fundamental liberties we enjoy today. These sacrifices of precious lives have been made in several wars in which America has fought, as well as various social movements such as women's suffrage and the civil rights movement. Among the most important of the liberties that were preserved by these sacrifices is the right to have a voice in one's own government. Whether we like it or not, those sacrifices obligate us on an ethical and moral level to make sure they were not made in vain. The right to vote is a gift from them; and it would be in very bad form to throw that gift away considering its cost. The second reason why voting is important is because it is a prerequisite to legitimate expression of discontent with the performance and direction of the government. A person who was able to vote but did not loses any credible force of opinion when things are going badly. This is because they chose to abdicate their ultimate opportunity to exercise their voice in government. It becomes a credibility issue. For example, a person who failed to vote one way or the other in the 2004 Presidential Election should not complain about the current state of the economy or the loss of lives in Iraq. Even those who voted for Bush have the right to complain about the way things are going because they utilized their opportunity to express their voice in the government. Any easy way to redeem that right to complain would simply be to vote in the next election. Finally, the American system of government depends upon the peoples' involvement in the political process through voting. If there were a mass failure to vote, it would threaten the very nature of republican democracy that is the essence of American government. Thus, Americans have a responsibility to their country and their way of life to make sure they vote. 20% voter turnout is dangerous, because it enables a small fraction of the people to determine the composition and direction of the government. At some point, there may be a very real concern about the democratic legitimacy of the government. The obligation of every American is to vote to ensure that such legitimacy comes through loud and clear. Voting is perhaps the most important civic duty in America. It is both a right and a privilege that was purchased with the blood of countless Americans. Thus, the responsibility to vote is as much a moral obligation as it is a civic responsibility. Those who fail to exercise their vote relinquish the right to credibly express discontent regarding state of public affairs. Furthermore, because voting is the very foundation of American government, American citizens have a responsibility to ensure government legitimacy by turning out to vote in strong numbers. The public apathy that has resulted in poor voter turnout in several election is a dangerous development for America. People must be educated about the importance of enfranchisement in their every day lives as Americans so they do not take for granted that which indifference could easily take

Tiny Encryption Algorithm Tea Computer Science Essay

Tiny Encryption Algorithm Tea Computer Science Essay Today, security is an issue concern by everyone. Many ways of implementing encryption algorithms have been investigated in order to achieve better performance in terms of security level, speed, power consumption and cost. This project will discuss about implementing Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). FPGA are reconfigurable chips that the integrated circuit is designed meant for reconfigurable architecture. A FPGA chips is programmed using Hardware Description Language (HDL). TEA is an encryption algorithm or block cipher that consider fast, easy and used for many application. In this project, TEA will be implemented on Altera Cyclone II FPGA using Altera DE1 Board. Keyboard using PS2 or the SWITCH on the DE1 will be used as input. The output of the encryption and decryption data will be show on VGA monitor. The encrypted data will be store in memory. Specific Objectives In order to complete this project, there are few objectives have to be archieve. Program the Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) using verilog HDL (Hardware Description Language) Verifying the functionality of the implementation of the encryption in FPGA Perform simulation for timing analysis and the encryption process on the implementation of Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) in FPGA Experiment and test the project in practical Literature Research Cryptography Before the modern era, security communication is the primary concern in Government and Military[2]. Security communication become more important today as a result of the increasing use of the electronic communication for many daily activities such as internet banking, online shopping. Cryptography is a practical way of conveying information securely [1]. The main aim of cryptography is to allow authorized person to receive the message correctly while preventing eavesdroppers understanding the content of the message [1]. The original message is called plaintext t[1]. Plaintext will be encrypted using certain algorithms in the secure system in order to hide the meaning[1]. The output of this reversible mathematical process is called ciphertext and the algorithm used in this process is called cipher [1]. Ciphertext can be transmitted securely because ideally eavesdroppers that access to the ciphertext wont understand what the meaning is behind [1]. The reverse of this mathematical proce ss is to decrypt the ciphertext back to plaintext and this only can be done by the original recipients [1]. The processes of encryption and decryption are shown in Figure 1. Eavesdropper Plaintext Encryption Ciphertext Plaintext Decryption Figure 1 Encryption There are two types of encryption or cipher depends on the key used: Asymmetric key and Symmetric key. Symmetric key The encryption and decryption process use the same key [1]. The major problems and drawback of this key both sender and receiver must know the key prior to the transmissions [1]. If the key is transmitted then it will compromise the systems security [1]. The advantages of symmetric key is the process of encryption and decryption will be faster compare to asymmetric key, in another words it can encrypt or decrypt more data in shorter period of time [1]. Asymmetric key The encryption and decryption process use different key but both of the key are related mathematically [1]. It is very hard to obtain one from the other although they are mathematically related [1]. The public key is used for the encryption process and the private key is used for the decryption process [1]. The security of the system wont be compromised even though the public key is made available but the corresponding private key cannot be revealed to anyone [1]. Symmetric key Symmetric key is further divided into two types: Symmetric Cipher and Block Cipher. Stream Cipher Stream cipher that generates a keystream (a sequence of bits used as a key) [4]. The encryption process is usually done by combining the keystream with plaintext using bitwise XOR operation [4]. Keystream that generated is independent of the plaintext and ciphertext is called synchronous stream cipher while keystream that is generated is depent of plaintext is called self-synchronizing stream cipher [4]. Block Cipher Stream cipher that generates a keystream encrypt fixed length block of plaintext into block ciphertext that is same length [3]. The fix length is called block size. Block Cipher using same secret key for the encryption and decryption process [3]. Usually, the size of block cipher is 64 bits [3]. By increasing the size of block cipher to 128 bits will make the processors become more sophisticated [3]. Stream Cipher vs Block Cipher Stream cipher is a type of symmetric encryption algorithm that can be designed to be exceptionally fast and even much faster compare to block cipher [4]. Stream ciphers normally process on less bits while block ciphers can process large blocks of data [4]. Plaintext that encrypted using block cipher will result in the same ciphertext when the same key is used [4]. With a stream cipher, the transformation of thse smaller plaintext units will vary depending on when they are encountered during the encryption process [4]. Stream Cipher Block Cipher Block Size Depends Fixed Encryption/Decryption Speed Fast Slower Size of block data can be process Small Larger Figure 2: Comparison of Stream Cipher and Block Cipher Figure 3 below shows different type of algorithm table.jpgFigure 3 :Different type of encryption algorithm Tiny Encryption Algorithm is implemented in this project because it is one type of cipher encryption algorithm that encrypt 64 bits of plaintext using a 128 bits of key into a 64 bits ciphertext. TEA Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) is a Feistel type routine designed by David J. Wheeler and Roger M. Needham. It used addition and subtraction as the reversible operators [5]. XOR and ADD alternately used in the routine provide nonlinearity [5]. The Dual bit shifting in the routine cause all the bits and data mixed repeatedly [5]. The three XOR, ADD and SHIFT operation will provide Shannons properties of diffusion and confusion necessary for a secure block cipher without the need for P-boxes and S-boxes [6]. TEA is a feistel cipher that split the plaintext into halves [7]. A sub key will be applied to the one half of plaintext in the round function, F [8]. Then the output of the F will be XOR with other half before the two halves are swapped [8]. All same patterns applied to the entire round except the last round where there is often no swap [8]. Figure 2 below show a Feistel cipher diagram where 64 bits of plaintext is divided into halves which are equally 32 bits each part. 128 bits of key is used for the encryption and decryption process and it is spitted into 32 bits subkey [7]. TEA.png Figure 4: Two Fiestal round(one cycle) of TEA The encryption and decryption routine of Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) written in C language [5]. void encrypt (uint32_t* v, uint32_t* k, uint32_t* v1) { uint32_t v0=v[0], sum=0, i; /* set up */ uint32_t delta=0x9e3779b9; /* a key schedule constant */ uint32_t k0=k[0], k1=k[1], k2=k[2], k3=k[3]; /* cache key */ for (i=0; i sum += delta; v0 += ((v1>5) + k1); v1 += ((v0>5) + k3); } /* end cycle */ v[0]=v0; v[1]=v1; } void decrypt (uint32_t* v, uint32_t* k, uint32_t* v1) { uint32_t v0=v[0], sum=0xC6EF3720, i; /* set up */ uint32_t delta=0x9e3779b9; /* a key schedule constant */ uint32_t k0=k[0], k1=k[1], k2=k[2], k3=k[3]; /* cache key */ for (i=0; i v1 -= ((v0>5) + k3); v0 -= ((v1>5) + k1); sum -= delta; } /* end cycle */ v[0]=v0; v[1]=v1; } [5] delta is derived from the golden number where delta = Architectures Untitled.jpg Figure 5: TEA architectures TEA is implemented using three different architectures. The first architecture (Figure 3a) is a multiple 32 bit adders that simultaneously perform operations needed for one encryption cycle [6]. This parallel form structure should be quite large in terms of hardware area but will perform faster [6]. On the other hands, in order to reduce the area, the second architecture (Figure 3b) performs operations sequentially using a single 32 bit adder [6]. The last design (Figure 3c) is a 8 bit digit-serial adders that use advance architecture offered by application-specific hardware solution [6]. The latter two design are meant for low area solutions but in terms of control and data selection, the effectiveness remain confirmed [6]. Software vs Hardware Implementation of Encryption Implementation of encryption using software is easier to design and upgrade, it also portable and flexible [7]. One of the major problems of software implementation is in most typical personal computer have external memory out from the processor, the external memory is used to store raw data or instruction in unencrypted form so if an attacker gain access to the system, the key can be easier obtained [7]. One of the most common way used by the attacker is bruteforce, a special program can be easily design to bruteforce the algorithm. Besides this, reverse engineering method easier to apply on software implementation. So it can be concluded that software implementation is lack of physical security[7]. Implementation of encryption using hardware by naturally is physically more secure as they are hard to read and view by attacker [7]. Another advantage of hardware implementation is all the data in the encryption process is correlated according to an algorithm which usually perform operation on same data [7]. This will prevent computer technique such as out of order execution and cause hang to the system [7]. Hardware implementation also tend to be more parallel so more orders of magnitudes can be done at certain period of time [7]. Hardware implementation is will be better choice for encryption in terms of performance but the cost of implementation is higher compare to software implementation. Higher security level and better performance is the main concern in this project, so the encryption will be implemented on FPGA, one of the hardware implementation method. Microcontroller, Microprocessor, DSP Processor and FPGA Microprocessor The first microprocessors invented in the 1970s [10]. This is the first time where such an amazing devices put a computer CPU onto a single IC [10]. The significant processing was available at rather low cost, in comparatively small space [10]. At beginning stage, all other functions, like input/output interfacing and memory were outside the microprocessor [10]. Gradually all the other functions in embedded into a single chip [10]. At the same time, microprocessor becoming more powerful in terms on the speed, power consumption and so on [10]. Microprocessor is moving rapidly from 8 bits to 32 bits [10]. Microcontroller A microcontroller is an inexpensive single-chip computer [9]. The entire computer system lies within the confines of the integrated circuit chip, so it is called a single chip computer [9]. The microcontroller on the encapsulated sliver of silicon has features similar to those personal computers [9]. Mainly, the microcontroller is able to store and run a program [9]. The microcontroller contains a CPU (central processing unit), ROM (random-access memory), RAM (random-access memory), Input/Output lines, and oscillator, serial and parallel ports [9]. Some more advanced microcontroller also have other built in peripherals such as A/D (analog-to-digital) converter [9]. DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Processor DSP processor is a specialized microprocessor optimized to process digital signal [12][13]. Most of the DSP processors are commonly designed to have basic features such as high performance, repetitive and numerically intensive tasks so DSP processor often have advantage in terms of speed, cost and energy efficiency [11]. DSP processor have the avility to perform one or more multiply accumulate operations (often called MACs) in a single instruction cycle [14]. FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) Xilinx Co-Founders, Ross Freeman and Bernard Vonderschmitt, invented the first commercially viable field programmable gate array in 1985 the XC2064. FPGA is integrated circuit for reconfigurable purposes by user after manufacturer. FPGA is generally specified using Hardware Description language (HDL). FPGA can be programmed to perform logic function and due to this ability, FPGA become more popular. Using FPGA for design can lower non recurring Engineering cost and apply on many application. Hardware Architectures comparison The figure 6 below show the comparison of different architectures used for hardware implementation on encryption. Architecture Efficiency Performance Non recurring Engineering Cost Unit Cost Microprocessor Low Low Low Low Microcontroller Low Low Low Low DSP processor Moderate Moderate Low Moderate FPGA High High Low High Figure 6: Architectures Comparison Comparing the four architectures above, FPGA have the advantage in terms of the efficiency Performance but the unit cost is high. Since costing is not a major concern in this project, so FPGA is better choice for implementing Tiny Encryption Algorithm. Altera DE1 Development and Education Board Altera DE1 is a FPGA Development and Education Board that will be used for this project [17]. Below is the features of this board: DE1_intro_500x.png Figure 7: Altera DE1 Board Altera Cyclone II 2C20 FPGA with 20000 LEs Altera Serial Configuration deivices (EPCS4) for Cyclone II 2C20 USB Blaster built in on board for programming and user API controlling JTAG Mode and AS Mode are supported 8Mbyte (1M x 4 x 16) SDRAM 4Mbyte Flash Memory 512Kbyte(256Kx16) SRAM SD Card Socket 4 Push-button switches 10 DPDT switches 8 Green User LEDs 10 Red User LEDs 4 Seven-segment LED displays 50MHz oscillator ,24MHz oscillator ,27MHz oscillator and external clock sources 24-bit CD-Quality Audio CODEC with line-in, line-out, and microphone-in jacks VGA DAC (4-bit R-2R per channel) with VGA out connector RS-232 Transceiver and 9-pin connector PS/2 mouse/keyboard connector Two 40-pin Expansion Headers DE1 Lab CD-ROM which contains many examples with source code Size ¼Ã… ¡153*153 mm There are few features of DE1 Board will be used for this project. PS/2 mouse/keyboard connector PS/2 keyboard is used as input for the plaintext 4 Push button switches used as a reset button VGA DAC (4-bit R-2R per channel) with VGA out connector VGA monitor is connected to the DE1 board to show the input of plaintext and the output of the encryption, cipher text 4Mbyte Flash Memory Used to store the ciphertext VGA controller IBM introduce video display standard called VGA (video graphics array) in the late 1980s that widely supported by PC graphics hardware and monitors [18]. Figure 8: Simplified Block Diagram of VGA Controller The vga_sync circuit generates timing and synchronization signals [18]. The hsync and vsync signals are connected to the VGA port to control the horizontal and vertical scans of the monitor [18]. Two signals which are pixel_x and pixel_y are decoded from the internal counters [18]. The pixel_x and pixel_y signals indicate the relative positions of the scans and essentially specify the location of the current pixel [18]. Videl_on signal is generated from vga_sync to check whether the display is enable or disable [18]. The pixel generation circuit generate three video signal which is RGB signal [18]. The current coordinates of the pixel (pixel_x and pixel_y), external control and data signals determine the color value [18]. PS/2 Controller IBM introduced PS2 port in personal computers [18]. It is a widely used interface for keyboard and mouse to communicate with the host [18]. PS2 port consists of two wires for communication purposes [18]. One wire for transmitting data in serial stream while another wire is for the clock information which determine when the data is valid and can be retrieved [18]. The data is transmitted in 11 bit packet that contains 8 bits of data, an odd parity bit and stop bit [18]. Figure 9: Timing Diagram of a PS/2 port Quartus II Web Edition Quartus II Web Edition design software is a comprehensive environment available for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design developed by Altera [19]. This software is used in this project to program and implement the Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) on Altera DE1 Cyclone II FPGA [19]. This program also can be used for the simulation and timing analysis [19]. Hardware Description Language (HDL) Hard description language (HDL) is a type of programming languages used to program and describe digital logic or electronic circuits [20]. It can describe circuit operation, its design and organization [20]. Figure 10 below shows different type of Hardware Description Language commonly used. HDL Syntax Similarity AHDL Ada programming Language VHDL Ada Programming Language JHDL Java Verilog C Programming Language Figure 10 : Different type of HDL Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL) is used to program the FPGA in this project because it is a widely used HDL and it syntax is similar the C programming language. Methodology Block Diagram VGA Monitor PS/2 Keyboard VGA Controller Plaintext TEA Encryption Core Flash Memory 64 Bits Ciphertext PS/2 Controller Key 128 Bits 64 Bits Encryption/Decryption Acknowledge Key Update Request Busy Asynchronous Reset Clock Figure 11: Core Module The Blog Diagram above explains the design of this project. PS/2 keyboard used as input for the plaintext. All the data from the PS/2 keyboard will be sent into PS/2 controller to process. The processed data, 128 Bits or key or 64 Bits of plaintext will sent into the TEA encryption core for encryption. The output of the encryption, ciphertext will store inside the flash memory. All the plaintext and cipher text will send into VGA controller to process and show on the CRT monitor. The encryption/decryption will be connected to the DPDT switch to switch between encryption or decryption mode. Key Update Request also connected to the DPDT switch for the purpose of updating the key when the switch is on. Asynchronous reset is connected to the push button for the reset purpose. There are internal clock inside the DE1 board so no external clock is needed for this project. Algorithm and Implementation Verification The original Tiny Encryption Algorithm C source code by the author will be compiled or get a compiled executable program from other source to analyze the encryption of plaintext to ciphertext and decryption of ciphertext back to plaintext. A set of plaintext, ciphertext and key can generated from the program as a reference and compare with the encryption and decryption output implemented on FPGA. Figure 12 is an example of compiled executable program of Tiny Encryption Algorithm by Andreas Jonsson TEA.jpg Figure 12 Costing Estimation Components Quantity Price Altera De1 Board [17] 1 RM 512.84 Used 15 Samsung SyncMaster CRT monitor 1 RM50.00 Used PS/2 Keyboard 1 RM10.00 Total RM572.84 Gantt Chart ganchart.jpg Research analysis will be start from week 6 till week 8. Verilog coding on the implementation of TEA and module and test bench verification this 2 task must perform parallel because after finish a certain module, it should be test and simulate. If simulation or test is done after finish the whole coding, there will be a big problem in debugging the error. The synthesis of PS/2 keyboard, VGA monitor and FPGA start week 20 just before finish the coding. The functionality verification task also runs parallel with the synthesis optimization task. References and Figures Figures Figure 4: Tiny Encryption Algorithm .Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Encryption_Algorithm (Accessed: 30 October 2009) Figure 5: Israsena. P, Design and Implementation of Low Power Hardware Encryption for Low Cost Secure RFID Using TEA . Information, Communications and Signal Processing, 2005 Fifth International Conference on 0-0 0 Page(s):1402 1406, DOI 10.1109/ICICS.2005.1689288. Available at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=arnumber=1689288isnumber=35625 (Accessed : 26 October 2009) Figure 7: Available at: http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=EnglishNo=83 ( Accessed : 28 October 2009) Figure 8: Pong P. Chu (2008) FPGA Prototyping by Verilog Examples :John Wiley Sons Figure 9: Pong P. Chu (2008) FPGA Prototyping by Verilog Examples :John Wiley Sons

Physics Behind Basic Animation :: physics animation animate cartoon

Animation Animation is a series of images that are places one after another to produce the illusion of movement. Just like most art forms it takes practice to become really good at animating. Computers have helped to make animation a quicker and simpler process then it once was. Now computers have been used in almost every animated film that has come out in the last ten years. Because of this animation quality has improve dramatically to the point that animated characters are serving as major characters in many of the top movies today. This includes characters such as Ja-Ja Banks in Starwars, The many dinosaurs of the Jurassic Park movies, and Gollum in the Lord of the Ring movies. If any one has ever watched some of the really old animation such as Steamboat Willy done by Walt Disney Studios in the late 1920’s or some of the animations showing up on the Internet nowadays. They know that animation has come a long way and is still improving. Animation is found in early morning cartoons, computer games, movies, commercials and the Internet. We see it almost every day. Principles of Animation Around the 1930’s Walt Disney helped to set up drawing classes for his animators. The object of these classes was to teach the animators a new way to animate objects to make them more life like. The students studied the movements of the human figure and animals. They would play clips from live action movies over and over just to study the different aspects of the actions. Through time a set of procedures and principles were used to help teach the new methods to other animators. These principles are still used in animation today. They are: 1. Squash and Stretch 2. Timing 3. Anticipation 4. Staging 5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action 6.