_v0LLeyBaLL gAmE_

Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.

Origin of Volleyball

  On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (USA), William G Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.

  The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25×50 ft (7.6×15.2 m) court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents’ court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve.

  After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball"). Volleyball rules were slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to various YMCAs.

The court

  The game is played on a volleyball court 18 meters (59 feet) long and 9 meters (29.5 feet) wide, divided into two 9 m × 9 m halves by a one-meter (40-inch) wide net placed so that the top of the net is 2.43 meters (7 feet 11 5/8 inches) above the center of the court for men's competition, and 2.24 meters (7 feet 4 1/8 inches) for women's competition (these heights are varied for veterans and junior competitions).

  There is a line 3 meters from and parallel to the net in each team court which is considered the "attack line". This "3 meter" (or 10 foot) line divides the court into "back row" and "front row" areas (also back court and front court). These are in turn divided into 3 areas each: these are numbered as follows, starting from area "1", which is the position of the serving player.

  After a team gains the serve (also known as siding out), its members must rotate in a clockwise direction, with the player previously in area "2" moving to area "1" and so on, with the player from area "1" moving to area "6".

  The team courts are surrounded by an area called the free zone which is a minimum of 3 meters wide and which the players may enter and play within after the service of the ball. All lines denoting the boundaries of the team court and the attack zone are drawn or painted within the dimensions of the area and are therefore a part of the court or zone. If a ball comes in contact with the line, the ball is considered to be "in". An antenna is placed on each side of the net perpendicular to the sideline and is a vertical extension of the side boundary of the court. A ball passing over the net must pass completely between the antennae (or their theoretical extensions to the ceiling) without contacting them.

The Ball

  FIVB regulations state that the ball must be spherical, made of leather or synthetic leather, have a circumference of 65–67 cm, a weight of 260–280 g and an inside pressure of 0.30–0.325 kg/cm2.

Libero

  The libero may function as a setter only under certain restrictions. If she/he makes an overhand set, she/he must be standing behind (and not stepping on) the 3-meter line; otherwise, the ball cannot be attacked above the net in front of the 3-meter line. An underhand pass is allowed from any part of the court.

  The libero is, generally, the most skilled defensive player on the team. There is also a libero tracking sheet, where the referees or officiating team must keep track of who the libero subs in and out for. There may only be one libero per set (game), although there may be a different libero in the beginning of any new set (game).

SKILLS:

Serve

  A player stands behind the inline and serves the ball, in an attempt to drive it into the opponent's court. His or her main objective is to make it land inside the court; it is also desirable to set the ball's direction, speed and acceleration so that it becomes difficult for the receiver to handle it properly. A serve is called an "ace" when the ball lands directly onto the court or travels outside the court after being touched by an opponent.

Types of Serves


 -Sky Ball Serve: a specific type of underhand serve occasionally used in beach volleyball, where the ball is hit so high it comes down almost in a straight line. This serve was invented and employed almost exclusively by the Brazilian team in the early 1980s and is now considered outdated. In Brazil, this serve is called Jornada nas Estrelas (Star Trek).

 -Line and Cross-Court Serve: refers to whether the ball flies in a straight trajectory parallel to the side lines, or crosses through the court in an angle.

 -Top Spin: an overhand serve where the ball gains topspin through wrist snapping.

 -Floater: an overhand serve where the ball is hit with no spin so that its path becomes unpredictable.

 -Jump Serve: an overhand serve where the ball is first tossed high in the air, then the player makes a timed approach and jumps to make contact with the ball. This is the most popular serve.

 -Jump Float: This is a serve like the jump serve and the floater.

 -Round-House Serve: the player stands with one shoulder facing the net, tosses the ball high and hits it with a fast circular movement of the arm.

 -Hybrid Serve: An overhand serve delivered similarly to a top spin serve; however, it has more pace than a floater, but has a similar unpredictable path

 . -Underhand and Overhand Serve: refers to whether the player strikes the ball from below, at waist level, or first tosses the ball in the air and then hits it above shoulder level.

Pass

  The skill of passing involves fundamentally two specific techniques: underarm pass, or bump, where the ball touches the inside part of the joined forearms or platform, at waist line; and overhand pass, where it is handled with the fingertips, like a set, above the head. Either form (joined forearm or overhand pass) are acceptable in professional and beach volleyball, however there are much tighter regulations on the overhand pass in beach volleyball.

Set

  The set is usually the second contact that a team makes with the ball. The main goal of setting is to put the ball in the air in such a way that it can be driven by an attack into the opponent's court. The setter coordinates the offensive movements of a team, and is the player who ultimately decides which player will actually attack the ball.

Attack

  The attack (or spike, the slang term) is usually the third contact a team makes with the ball. The object of attacking is to handle the ball so that it lands on the opponent's court and cannot be defended. A player makes a series of steps (the "approach"), jumps, and swings at the ball.

  Ideally the contact with the ball is made at the apex of the hitter's jump. At the moment of contact, the hitter's arm is fully extended above his or her head and slightly forward, making the highest possible contact while maintaining the ability to deliver a powerful hit. The hitter uses arm swing, wrist snap, and a rapid forward contraction of the entire body to drive the ball. A 'bounce' is a slang term for a very hard/loud spike that follows an almost straight trajectory steeply downward into the opponent's court and bounces very high into the air. A "kill" is the slang term for an attack that is not returned by the other team thus resulting in a point.

Block 

  Blocking refers to the actions taken by players standing at the net to stop or alter an opponent's attack.

  A block that is aimed at completely stopping an attack, thus making the ball remain in the opponent's court, is called offensive. A well-executed offensive block is performed by jumping and reaching to penetrate with one's arms and hands over the net and into the opponent's area. It requires anticipating the direction the ball will go once the attack takes place. It may also require calculating the best foot work to executing the "perfect" block.

Dig

  Digging is the ability to prevent the ball from touching one's court after a spike or attack, particularly a ball that is nearly touching the ground. In many aspects, this skill is similar to passing, or bumping: overhand dig and bump are also used to distinguish between defensive actions taken with fingertips or with joined arms.

COACHING

  Coaching for volleyball can be classified under two main categories: match coaching and developmental coaching. The objective of match coaching is to win a match by managing a team's strategy. Developmental coaching emphasizes player development through the reinforcement of basic skills during exercises known as "drills." Drills promote repetition and refinement of volleyball movements, particularly in footwork patterns, body positioning relative to others, and ball contact. A coach will construct drills that simulate match situations thereby encouraging speed of movement, anticipation, timing, communication, and team-work. At the various stages of a player's career, a coach will tailor drills to meet the strategic requirements of the team. The American Volleyball Coaches Association is the largest organization in the world dedicated exclusively to volleyball coaching.

PLAYER SPECIALIZATION

  There are 5 positions filled on every volleyball team at the elite level. Setter, Outside Hitter/Left Side Hitter, Middle Hitter, Opposite Hitter/Right Side Hitter and Libero/Defensive Specialist. Each of these positions plays a specific, key role in winning a volleyball match.

=Setters have the task for orchestrating the offense of the team. They aim for second touch and their main responsibility is to place the ball in the air where the attackers can place the ball into the opponents' court for a point. They have to be able to operate with the hitters, manage the tempo of their side of the court and choose the right attackers to set. Setters need to have swift and skillful appraisal and tactical accuracy, and must be quick at moving around the court.

=Liberos are defensive players who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve. They are usually the players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing skills. Libero means 'free' as they have the ability to substitute for any other player on the court during each play. They do not necessarily need to be tall, as they never play at the net, which allows shorter players with strong passing and defensive skills to excel in the position and play an important role in the team's success. A player designated as a libero for a match may not play other roles during that match. Liberos wear a different color jersey than their teammates.

=Middle blockers or Middle hitters are players that can perform very fast attacks that usually take place near the setter. They are specialized in blocking, since they must attempt to stop equally fast plays from their opponents and then quickly set up a double block at the sides of the court. In non-beginners play, every team will have two middle hitters.

=Outside hitters or Left side hitters attack from near the left antenna. The outside hitter is usually the most consistent hitter on the team and gets the most sets. Inaccurate first passes usually result in a set to the outside hitter rather than middle or opposite. Since most sets to the outside are high, the outside hitter may take a longer approach, always starting from outside the court sideline. In non-beginners play, there are again two outside hitters on every team in every match.

=Opposite hitters or Right side hitters carry the defensive workload for a volleyball team in the front row. Their primary responsibilities are to put up a well formed block against the opponents Outside Hitters and serve as a backup setter. Sets to the opposite usually go to the right side of the antennae.

^.^fUtUre oF a m0b!lE coNNecTi0n^.^

FUTURE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

The future of mobile technology - How mobile devices of the future will save your life???

  Over the next 10 years, Henry Banks, Product Manager for Mobiles, is predicting some rather dramatic changes in mobile technology including resolution of the LTE (Long Term Evolution) vs. WiMAX debate with a glimpse into how mobile technology might save your life.

The next 3 years…

  In the coming years we’re going to see the dramatic evolution of the 3G network into 3GPP or Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE will have the advantage over WiMAX because it’s anticipated that about 80% of carriers world wide will choose LTE technology over the open developed WiMax, largely for the better network performance.

  Vodafone will be starting rolling out LTE on a global scale in 2010, however the service probably won’t achieve wider adoption till about 2012 with businesses taking the lead as the need for workforce mobility heightens and network capacity needs increase.

In the next 4-6 years…

  We’re also going to see the development of ad-hoc networks and Multihop relay networks which can be deployed anywhere quickly and with little infrastructure. These networks, like the internet, will alter the route of the data depending on network conditions and change path based on the best transmission mode.

  These networks rely on the use of femtocells and picocells. A femtocells and picocells look a bit like a Wi-Fi router but performs the same function in the home or office as cellular base stations that sit in brick buildings at the base of cell towers. Think of the handset as being the network, and when I say ‘handset’ this could be a mobile device, a watch, and earring or an implanted chip in your tooth.

  Less power hungry devices in combination with flawless speech recognition will allow mobile devices so small they can reside in your ear or mouth and can be activated by your voice. Tomorrows mobile chips are going to combine multiple radios including Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX on a single chip.

  I can even see a time when a device could be connected to your brain waves in order to operate it. But that is probably a thought belonging in the following section.

In the next 7-10 years…

  This takes us to an important trend that is going to emerge, which is the mobile device as a personal assistant. They will be able to do things for you because you tell it to, or because it thinks it’s a good idea. It will have a customised personality and also be able to learn about how you communicate and change its behaviour based on that knowledge. As outlandish as this sounds, Google already changes the results they deliver to you in Search Engines based on your previous search behaviour.

  Your mobile device is going to be responsible for all the current phone features like appointments, address book and music, but the mobile devices of the future are also going to monitor your health, manage and book your travel just by entering a date into a calendar, manage your bank accounts, and even send flowers to a loved one on a special day. The device itself will just be the access point which will log into your personal network which might be hosted at your home but really could be anywhere.

  So imagine then, if you will, the unfortunate event that you find yourself in a car accident. Your mobile device, connected to diagnostics in the car, calls the ambulance to let emergency crews know you’ve had a heart attack and been involved in a crash. You arrive at hospital where the physician treating you has access to all your medical history, the administration has access to all your health insurance information and while you’re recovering you access all your favourite ‘get well’ music. As futuristic as it sounds, the technology that supports this scenario is already in development.

  When you have a situation where access to this kind of information could hold incredible power over someone, security as well as privacy is going to be a key concern. The technical aspect will probably be resolved with a combination of software (as opposed to complete reliance on the network) and biometrics, so a combined eye scan, voice activation and password. As usual, it will probably take regulations a little longer to resolve some of the social implications of the technology.

FUTURE OF MOBILE PHONES

  Growth in the usage of mobile phones has been fast and unabated since their initial conception. This was perfectly understandable initially. Here was a product that nobody had, and eventually everybody would need, so over a period of just a few years, everyone bought one. However, once everybody had a mobile, how could that upward sales trend continue? This was achieved firstly by making smaller phones. Not only was it more convenient to have a small phone, but it became incredibly unfashionable to be seen talking on a phone the size of a brick. Reducing the size of phones could only go so far before the practical limit was reached, so this could not continue to fuel sales indefinitely. Most recently the craving to upgrade handsets at regular intervals has been fed by increasing the number of features that phones have. As technology has developed the mobile phone has consumed the functionality of other devices such as digital cameras, portable media players, PDAs, and game consoles.

  Nowadays, if you have the latest mobile phone, you basically have a computer in your pocket. These smartphones far exceed the functionality of the humble phone. Along with the camera that will take photos of comparable quality to a compact digital camera and the music player that will come with enough memory to store thousands of songs, comes the ability to view and edit office documents, send and receive email, and access the internet. These functions are not added as a random collection, but instead have been integrated to complement each other, such that they make the whole more than just the sum of its parts. For example, there are special applications for uploading photos taken with the phone`s camera directly onto Facebook, or for videos to be immediately posted on YouTube. Music can be purchased and downloaded directly onto the phone, and instantly enjoyed using the in-built music player. The same is true of games, many of which now have a competitive element, where scores can be uploaded from the phone to an online leaderboard. Furthermore, there is an enormous array of small applications available to download, which range from the practical to the bizarre.

  The way we interact with our mobile phones is also changing rapidly. The numeric keypad is firmly on its way out, and is being replaced by touchscreens and qwerty keyboards. The most modern phones are also including accelerometers, so our phones know their orientation and can alter the screen accordingly, as well as allowing us to control some functions by shaking or rotating the handset. Many of the features of new mobile phones depend heavily on the internet. It was the third generation (3G) network technology that allowed these new features to work at reasonable speeds. In the future we will see 4G networks, and it is possible that this will have a similar effect on the mobile internet as broadband had on home internet use.

                          

                            

~wiReLesS dEviCeS~

What is your favorite device??? Why is this device sinificant to you???

  My favorite device is an iphone because it is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphone which was designed by Apple Incorporation.

  Apple announced the iPhone on January 9, 2007,after months of rumors and speculation. The (retroactively labelled) original iPhone was introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007 before being marketed in Europe. Time magazine named it the Invention of the Year in 2007. Released July 11, 2008, the iPhone 3G supports faster 3G data speeds and assisted GPS. On March 17, 2009, Apple announced version 3.0 of the iPhone OS for the iPhone (and iPod Touch), released on June 17, 2009. The iPhone 3GS was announced on June 8, 2009, and has improved performance, a camera with higher resolution and video capability, and voice control. It was released in the U.S., Canada and six European countries on June 19, 2009, in Australia and Japan on June 26, and saw international release in July and August 2009.

  The iPhone functions as a camera phone (also including text messaging and visual voicemail), a portable media player (equivalent to a video iPod), and an Internet client (with e-mail, web browsing, and Wi-Fi connectivity)-using the phone's multi-touch screen to provide a virtual keyboard in lieu of a physical keyboard.

  This device is significant to me because it helps me communicate with my father in other country and it also helps me in doing researches for my assignments and projects instead of using computer. Iphone is a small device, and because it is small, I can bring it anywhere i go...!

Other wireless devices...

=videocamera- It is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition.

=mobilephone- It is an electronic device used for mobile telecommunications.

=laptop(chargable)- It is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on a person's lap while in use.

=walkie-talkie- It is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver.

=iphone- It is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Incorporation.

=playstation portable- It is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.

=gameboy- It is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo.

Imagine the world where there are no wireless device. What are the significant implications of this scenario???

 
  Without these wireless devices, it would be to hard for us to communicate and contact our love ones. And that's the thing I don't wanna happen!!!

**FieLd tRiP**

Dolphins are regarded as one of the most intelligent animals. They are also social animals and they love to play.

  Play is an important part of dolphin culture. Dolphins play with seaweed and with other dolphins. At times, they harass other local creatures like seabirds and turtles. Occasionally, they playfully interact with swimmers.

  Dolphins also occasionally leaped above the water surface and sometimes perform acrobatic figures.

  I've watched how they played and performed tricks with their trainers when my classmates and I went to Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. I had fun watching them leap simultaneously, swims on water, walk over sea, dance, whistle and clicks. They seem to enjoy everything especially getting their rewards (fish, of course) after a trick or a performance.