In India, the construction and real estate is seeing a positive boom. The focus has shifted from just basic functionality to aesthetics, comfort, luxury and style. Hence, the demand for good architects is also on the rise. Architecture involves planning and designing of building and structures. A good architect can create marvels that remain as a testimony to his talent for ages. Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, pyramids of Egypt, Hotel Burj Al Arab, and many more like these are masterpieces of ancient and modern architecture. Today, architects need to blend their vision and dreams with materials to come up with structures that are high quality, with good functionality and environmentally friendly too.

Architects are required to design a variety of structures such as houses, apartments and colonies, shopping and commercial complexes, offices and industrial complexes, hospitals, hotels, airport terminals, schools etc. They are also required if a building has to be renovated or repaired. Thus, the demand for architects will never dwindle.

All those who are looking to make a career in this field have a few things to keep in mind. Ideally, students good at physics and mathematics are better suited to study architecture. To become an architect, one should have creativity with an interest towards designing. It is beneficial if one can also sketch and draw with a free hand. One should be socially and environmentally aware apart from being technically and mathematically sound to become a good architect. Of course, good communication skills, physical ability to work on the site, high concentration level, flexibility, patience, team spirit, responsibility and accountability can take one a long way in this field.

There are good training courses in architecture offered by institutes across India. To apply for a course, one should have completed higher secondary education with physics, chemistry, mechanical/ engineering drawing and mathematics, with a minimum of 60 percent marks. Most of the schools conduct entrance tests through national and state level entrance examinations. For entry to undergraduate programmes in government and private institutes, national level entrance examination is conducted by the Council of Architecture. However, there are separate state level tests too, such as one conducted by Tamil Nadu. Indian Institutes of Technology also offer architecture programmes. Entrance to these programmes is through the Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) held in May each year. Other than theses, one has to appear for an aptitude test to ensure admission.

The degree course B.Arch is a 5 year course. After the graduate course, one can also study architecture at the post graduate course which varies from 18 months to 2 years.

There are various good institutes that offer courses in architecture. School of Planning & Architecture in New Delhi offers two Undergraduate Programmes leading to Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and Planning. The Bachelor of Architecture is a five-year programme. The school also offers the Master’s and Doctoral Programmes in Architecture. SPA offers a 4-year programme in Bachelor of Planning. 

Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA) is another good institute. The college conducts a five year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) The admission is made on the basis of the Common Entrance Test (CET) and Architecture Aptitude Test conducted by the Punjab University.

Based in Mumbai, the Sir J J School of Art conducts a 5-year course in Bachelor Of Architecture (B Arch). and a 3-year Master Of Architecture Degree. The institute also offers short term courses in computer education relevant to architecture after college hours.

Apart from these, there are other good schools like School of Architecture CEPT, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad; Lucknow University, Govt. College of Architecture; Goa University, College of Architecture; Indian Education Society’s College of Architecture, Mumbai; Pune University, Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Architecture; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, School of Planning & Architecture, Hyderabad; Kerala University, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthpuram; Anna University, School of Architecture & Planning., Chennai; IPS Academy, School of Architecture, Indore; Bengal Engineering College, West Bengal; Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon; Vastu Kala Academy, School of Architecture & Interior Designing, New Delhi.

Some architects go in for specialization in India and abroad. The fiels of specialization could be urban designing, regional planning, building engineering and management, architectural conservation, industrial design, landscape arhitecture, naval architecture, architecture concerning traffic and transport planning etc.

There are a lot of avenues to choose from for architects. There are opportunities available in government as well as private sectors. The government organisations include Public Works Department, the Archaeological Department, Ministry of Defence, Departments of Railways, Post and Telegraphs, Public Sector Undertakings, National Building Organisation, Town and Country Planning Organisation, National Institute of Urban Affairs, Housing and Urban Development Corporation, National Building Construction Corporation Ltd., City Development Authorities etc. One can also go or private practice and start own firm and become a successful architect. After all, it requires dreams and good vision to make a mark in this industry.

To own an home security surveillance system can be cheaper and more readily then ever before. You don’t need to rely on the big company product, spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on a set of equipments that you are not familiar with. Build your own security surveillance system at home and watch almost everything you can from anywhere you want.

DVR, digital video recorder system, is the perfect way to build a computer and Internet based home surveillance system. All you need are a home computer with adequate Internet connection, surveillance cameras and DVR card with software. You can set up your system with a computer where various home surveillance cameras are connected together threading your surveillance system to survey surrounding areas, record visuals to the HDD (hard disk drive).

Computer and Internet request. A host computer, not need to be much advanced, is the core of the system. Your computer records and plays captured video via monitor, and streams videos to Internet. Make sure there are enough free hard drive space for the record data. If you want scheduled recording, or motion activated recording, a large capacity hard drive is essential for data store and later evidence proving. Also, a reliable high speed Internet connection is a must-have. Note that a dial-up Internet connection definitely won’t work because you’ll need faster speed for video streaming and remote Internet controlling.

Types of camera and other issues. A security camera can come in many different styles including dome, bullet, infrared. The security camera that will work best for your application will depend on several factors such as whether you will use the security cameras inside or out, during the day, nighttime, or both. Bullet style security cameras are the most popular. They can be used inside or out. These security cameras come in relative small size and the camera casings are weather resistant and don’t require added external protection. Infrared security cameras are also very popular as they allow an image to be seen in little or no lighting conditions. Most infrared security cameras are bullet style and can be used inside or out. The cameras have infrared lighting which allows the security camera to see in no light for up to 25 feet – even further with a little bit of light (like street lighting or an outside light.) Whichever your choose, these cameras are quite cheap, around 20 dollars, even cheaper if you buy from an online store.

DVR card and software. Install a DVR card and its software in your PC to begin building your surveillance system. In the market, most popular ones are 4 channels, 8 channels and 12 channels, which need the same numbers of cameras. The latest software features motion activated recording, remote surveillance, automatically notifications to your cell phone, home or office when motion is detected, scheduled recording, 24/7 full-time recording and more. The prices range from dozens to two or three hundreds dollars. So choose a software that best fit your needs and home conditions.

With the NFL season just around the corner, now is the time to start thinking of maybe building your own personal archive of sports games and footage. DirecTV has everything that you need to get started, because not only are they number one sports programming service provider, but they also have all the best satellite TV components with all the features that you need.

If you are interested in high definition sports programming, then DirecTV has a great Hughes high definition receiver that has your choice of standard DVR or DVR Powered by TiVo. This receiver will receive and record both standard and high definition programming and has a huge one-hundred and twenty-five hour memory in its DVR and that adds up to well over five solid days of recording time.

This of course doesn’t mean that you have to spend five days sitting in front of the TV doing the recording, because with the Hughes DVR receiver it’s so easy to program it to do all you’re recording automatically. You simply find the game you are interested in on the schedule by using the programming guide, or the programming search function that also comes in this receiver.

After you have located the game, simply give the DVR button on the remote a click and it is set to record automatically. If the game is rescheduled due to weather, or any other reason, then the computer in the DVR automatically reschedules the recording time also, so the game still gets recorded when it comes on.

The TiVo function is a great feature for sports enthusiasts, because it allows the viewer to do all their own slow motion instant replays. TiVo also allows the viewer to skip right past any annoying commercials in mere seconds and get right back to the game. The third trick that TiVo performs is that it allows a viewer to stop a game at any point to leave the TV area and then restart the game right where it left off when the viewer returns to the TV.

DirecTV has two great ultra-premium sports channels that only DirecTV has exclusive broadcasting rights to and this means that you can’t get them from any other programming service provider. They are called NFL Sunday Ticket and NCAA Mega March Madness. These two channels don’t come in any of their programming packages, so they have to be added on if you are interested in receiving them.

The NFL Sunday Ticket channel is just the channel for someone who is interested in recording some great football footage this upcoming NFL season. The NCAA Mega March Madness channel is similarly laden with a wide variety of top rated NCAA college sports.

If you aren’t interested in high definition programming then DirecTV has the Hughes Executive receiver that also comes loaded with features and also has the option of adding DVR, or DVR Powered by TiVo. To find out more about DirecTV sports programming and Hughes receivers you can contact DirecTV online.

Written by David Johnson. Find more information on a direct tv promotion