This dissertation presents a practical theological evaluation of Bible study materials which incorporate the video medium as part of their package. I begin by establishing a focus of practical theology which emphasises the importance of the development of an active reflective sojourning of the practical theologian. I conclude that: <ul> Practical theology is concerned with establishing and cultivating the rhythm of action and reflection within the experience of the Christian community of faith. This is a process of listening to the Word of God and discerning to address the community of faith through proposing change, with all these tasks operating within a current context of the Christian faith and for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community.</ul> Following this, I present the established rhythm of action and reflection by drawing on a narrative of my experience and arrive at a perceived problem with the current development of Bible study materials that incorporate the video medium. The following thesis is proposed: <ul> The Church has a responsibility to train and equip believers within the context of the relational community interacting with the Word of God so the community may grow in discernment and maturity. The Church has, and continues, to utilise different media to provide teaching and training on a mass scale. The current products being developed as Bible study materials (especially those incorporating the video medium) are failing to meet this responsibility.</ul> From this position the study then presents a continuing sojourning through a theoretical and empirical investigation to explore the validity of the thesis and cultivate further my active reflection. The theoretical investigation provides three complimentary perspectives for evaluation: Cultural Value Systems; Communication Theories; and Pedagogical Approaches. The empirical exploration includes a Qualitative Document Analysis of the Bible Study Products which is supplemented by Qualitative Interviews of small group leaders from a local church setting. In conclusion, the thesis is re-evaluated against the outcomes of the study and a proposed change is presented for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community. This draws attention to the tension between established cultures and the introduction of new technologies; the importance of a production focussed informed by a theology of small groups; the need for new media to be continually evaluated in their utilisation; and the need to recognise the dominant ‘message’ communicated by the combination of content and the medium. A closing narrative reflection of my experience is also included to illustrate the ongoing cultivation of the rhythm of action and reflection which this study has encouraged. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This independent work includes refactoring a website application. In simpler sense, it means modernizing existing code by increasing its quality and making it more understandable; to exchange old knowledge of methods and concepts into something that is more relevant to its time. This refactoring has also meant to transform the UI into something that is more appealing, and more userfriendly. The website that has gone through the refactoring is Nordyr (”https://nordyr.com/”). Nordyr is a Nordic Film &amp; Series Database that shares information about Nordic films and tv-series, and everyone involved. They also offer social tools such as user profiles and various tools to simplify the exploration and interaction between Nordic movies and consumers. This was made possible by using vanilla PHP, JavaScript/jQuery, and the MariaDB database for information storage and management. The implementation of the refactoring meant retaining PHP for the backend, but applying the Laravel framework, and likewise for JavaScript, but applying ReactJS (a powerful JavaScript library). Nordyr retains MariaDB for its information storage and management, however, its SQL queries have been adapted to Laravel’s query-builder and Eloquent ORM, which means that the majority of SQL queries have been rewritten and the majority of data tables are now represented by models. The restructuring of Nordyr has shown that the website now has the ability to scale better, and the development environment will also be more pleasant for those involved. / Det här självständiga arbetet har innefattat att omstrukturera en hemsida. Det innebär i enklare mening att modernisera kod och öka dess kvalité; att byta ut äldre kunskaper om metoder och koncept till något som anses vara av mer relevans för sin tid. Refaktoreringen har också inneburit att dess UI gjorts om till att bli mer tilltalande och användarvänlig. Hemsidan som gått igenom refaktoreringen är Nordyr (”https://nordyr.com/”). Nordyr är en Nordisk Film- &amp; Serie-databas som delar information om nordiska filmer och tv-serier och alla inblandade. De erbjuder även sociala verktyg som användarprofiler och diverse verktyg för att förenkla upptäckandet och interaktionen mellan nordiska titlar och konsumenter. Detta gjordes möjligt med hjälp av vanilj PHP, JavaScript/jQuery, och databasen MariaDB för informationslagring och hantering. Genomförandet av refaktoreringen innebar att behålla PHP för backend men tillämpa ramverket Laravel, och likaså för frontend, JavaScript stod kvar men ReactJS (”JavaScript bibliotek”) tillämpades. Nordyr behåller MariaDB, men dess förfrågningar i SQL har anpassats till Laravels query-builder och Eloquent ORM, vilket innebar att majoriteten av SQL frågor skrivits om och majoriteten av tabeller representeras nu av modeller (”Models”). Omstruktureringen av Nordyr har visat på att hemsidan nu har förmågan att skala bättre, och utvecklingsmiljön kommer även bli mer behaglig för de inblandade.

DNA graph structures can self-assemble from branched junction molecules to yield solutions to computational problems. Self-assembly of graphs have previously been shown to give polynomial time solutions to hard computational problems such as 3-SAT and k-colorability problems. Jonoska et al. have proposed studying self-assembly of graphs topologically, considering the boundary components of their thickened graphs, which allows for reading the solutions to computational problems through reporter strands. We discuss weighting algorithms and consider applications of self-assembly of graphs and the boundary components of their thickened graphs to problems involving minimal weight Eulerian walks such as the Chinese Postman Problem and the Windy Postman Problem.

Today’s massive usage of smartphones has put a high demand on all application developers in the matter of security. For us to be able to keep using all existing and new applications, a process that removes significant security vulnerabilities is essential. To remove these vulnerabilities, the applications have to be tested. In this thesis, we identify six methods for functional and security testing of client-server applications running Android and Python Flask. Regarding functional testing, we implement Espresso testing and RESTful API testing. In regards to the security testing of the system, we do not only implement fuzz testing, sniffing, reverse engineering and SQL injection testing on a system developed by a student group in a parallel project, but also discover a significant security vulnerability that directly affects the integrity and reliability of this system. Out of the six identified testing techniques, reverse engineering exposed the vulnerability. In conjunction with this, we verified that the system’s functionality works as it is supposed to.

Does the individual really matter in the post-modern world, brimming with countless signs and signifiers? My main objective in this writing is to demonstrate how this happens in Verhoeven's films, exploring his central themes and subtext and doing what science fiction does: hold a mirror up to the contemporary world and critique it, asking whether our species' current trajectory is beneficial or hazardous.; Dutch director Paul Verhoeven is a polarizing figure. Although many of his American made films have received considerable praise and financial success, he has been lambasted on countless occasions for his gratuitous use of sex, violence, and contentious symbolism--1995s Showgirls was overwhelmingly dubbed the worst film of all time and 1997s Starship Troopers earned him a reputation as a fascist. Regardless of the controversy surrounding him, his science fiction films are a move beyond the conventions of the big blockbuster science fiction films of the 1980s (E.T. and the Star Wars trilogy are prime examples), revealing a deeper exploration of both sociopolitical issues and the human condition. Much like the novels of Philip K. Dick (and Verhoeven's 1990 film Total Recall--an adaptation of a Dick short story), Verhoeven's science fiction work explores worlds where paranoia is a constant and determining whether an individual maintains any liberty is regularly questionable. In this thesis I am basically exploring issues regarding power. Although I barely bring up the term power in it, I feel it is central. Power is an ambiguous term; are we discussing physical power, state power, objective power, subjective power, or any of the other possible manifestations of the word? The original Anglo-French version of power means "to be able," asking whether it is possible for one to do something. In relation to Verhoeven's science fiction work each demonstrates the limitations placed upon an individual's autonomy, asking are the protagonists capable of independent agency or rather just environmental constructs reflecting the myriad influences surrounding them.