Miyerkules, Agosto 24, 2011

MICROSOFT OPEN OFFICE
MS Word- Writer (.odt)
MS Excel- Calc (.ods)MS Paint- Draw (.odg)
MS Powerpoint- Impress (.odp)
MS Publisher- Base (.odb)

Miyerkules, Agosto 10, 2011

ICT ASSIGNMENT

VIRUS
(VITAL INFORMATION RESOURCES UNDER SIEGE)

ICT ASSIGNMENT

How to take care of your PC.
1. They need to be placed in a cool and dry place
2. All the cables and connectors must be tied together.
3.Refrain from eating in front of a computer.
4. Always use an AVR (automatic voltage regulator).
5. Do not bump or drop the computer peripherals or components.
6. Avoid clutter around your computer
7.Always scan for computer viruses.

USER'S HEALTH RISK AND PREVENTION
PC's are said to be "user-friendly,". Although there isn't any conclusive evidence that radiation from computers can harm us. Instead the damage to health may include eye strain, wrist injury, pains in the head. shoulder, back and neck due to prolonged use of computers.

GOOD WORKING HABITS

  • Tap on the keys and mouse buttons gently
  • Avoid long, uninterrupted periods of typing.
  • Avoid staring at the monitor for long periods
PROPER WORK STATION DESIGN

  • Position in a well-ventilated, comfortable room
  • Use an adjustable workstation and an ergonomic computer chair
  • Place the monitor 16 to 24 inches away, at eye level or slightly at a lower angle. Tilt the monitor or adjust the light source. Adjust the brightness and control settings.
  • Use extendable/retractable legs of the keyboard.
  •  Place mouse where it is easily accessible by your dominant hand.
  • Use a document holder to minimize vertical head movements.

Lunes, Hulyo 25, 2011

Different types of Computers

Based on the operational principle of computers, they are categorized as analog computers and hybrid computers.

Analog Computers: These are almost extinct today. These are different from a digital computer because an analog computer can perform several mathematical operations simultaneously. It uses continuous variables for mathematical operations and utilizes mechanical or electrical energy.

Hybrid Computers: These computers are a combination of both digital and analog computers. In this type of computers, the digital segments perform process control by conversion of analog signals to digital ones.

Following are some of the other important types of computers.

Mainframe Computers: Large organizations use mainframes for highly critical applications such as bulk data processing and ERP. Most of the mainframe computers have the capacities to host multiple operating systems and operate as a number of virtual machines and can thus substitute for several small servers.

Microcomputers: A computer with a microprocessor and its central processing unit is known as a microcomputer. They do not occupy space as much as mainframes. When supplemented with a keyboard and a mouse, microcomputers can be called as personal computers. A monitor, a keyboard and other similar input output devices, computer memory in the form of RAM and a power supply unit come packaged in a microcomputer. These computers can fit on desks or tables and serve as the best choices for single-user tasks.

Personal computers come in a variety of forms such as desktops, laptops and personal digital assistants. Let us look at each of these types of computers.

Desktops: A desktop is intended to be used on a single location. The spare parts of a desktop computer are readily available at relative lower costs. Power consumption is not as critical as that in laptops. Desktops are widely popular for daily use in workplaces and households.

Laptops: Similar in operation to desktops, laptop computers are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use. Laptops run on a single battery or an external adapter that charges the computer batteries. They are enabled with an inbuilt keyboard, touch pad acting as a mouse and a liquid crystal display. Its portability and capacity to operate on battery power have served as a boon for mobile users.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs): It is a handheld computer and popularly known as a palmtop. It has a touch screen and a memory card for storage of data. PDAs can also be effectively used as portable audio players, web browsers and smart phones. Most of them can access the Internet by means of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi communication.

Minicomputers: In terms of size and processing capacity, minicomputers lie in between mainframes and microcomputers. Minicomputers are also called mid-range systems or workstations. The term began to be popularly used in the 1960s to refer to relatively smaller third generation computers. They took up the space that would be needed for a refrigerator or two and used transistor and core memory technologies. The 12-bit PDP-8 minicomputer of the Digital Equipment Corporation was the first successful minicomputer.

Supercomputers: The highly calculation-intensive tasks can be effectively performed by means of supercomputers. Quantum physics, mechanics, weather forecasting, molecular theory are best studied by means of supercomputers. Their ability of parallel processing and their well-designed memory hierarchy give the supercomputers, large transaction processing powers.


Wearable Computers: A record-setting step in the evolution of computers was the creation of wearable computers. These computers can be worn on the body and are often used in the study of behavior modeling and human health. Military and health professionals have incorporated wearable computers into their daily routine, as a part of such studies. When the users’ hands and sensory organs are engaged in other activities, wearable computers are of great help in tracking human actions. Wearable computers are consistently in operation as they do not have to be turned on and off and are constantly interacting with the user.

These were some of the different types of computers available today. Looking at the rate of the advancement in technology, we can definitely look forward to many more types of computers in the near future.

History Of Computers

Computers have been around for quite a few years.  Some of your parents were probably around in 1951 when the first computer was bought by a business firm.  Computers have changed so rapidly many people can not keep up with changes.
One newspaper tried to relate how the fast changes in computer technology would look to a similar pace in the auto industry:
"Had the automobile developed at a pace (equal) to that of the computer during the past twenty years, today a Rolls Royce would cost less than $3.00, get 3 million miles to the gallon, deliver enough power to drive (the ship) the Queen Elizabeth II, and six of them would fit on the head of a pin!"
These changes have occurred so rapidly that many people do not know how our modern computer got its start.The First Computing Machines "Computers"
Since ancient times, people have had ways to deal with data and numbers.  Early people tied knots in rope and carved marks on clay tablets to keep track of livestock and trade.  Some people considered the 5000 year old ABACUS-- a frame with beads strung on wires to be the first true computing aid.
As trade and tax system grew in complexity, people saw that faster, more reliable and exact tools were needed for doing math and keeping records.
In the mid-1600's, Blaise Pascal and his father, who was a tax officer himself, were working on taxes for the French government in Paris.  The two spent hours figuring and refiguring taxes that each citizen owed.  Young Blaise decided in 1642 to build an adding and subtraction machine that could aide in such a tedious and time consuming process.  The machine Blaise made had a set of eight gears that worked together much like an odometer keeps track of a car's mileage.  His machine encountered many of problems.  For one, it was alwaysbreaking down.  Second, the machine was slow and extremely costly.  And third, people were afraid to use the machine thinking it might replace their jobs.  Pascal later became famous for math and philosophy, but he is still remember for his role in computer technology.  In his honor, there is a computer language named Pascal.
The next big step for computers arrived in the 1830's when Charles Babbage decided to build a machine to help him complete and print mathematical tables.  Babbage was a mathematician who taught at Cambridge University in England.  He began planning his calculating machine calling it the Analytical Engine.  The idea for this machine was amazingly like the computer we know today.  It was to read a program from punched cards, figure and store the answers to different problems, and print the answer on paper.  Babbage died before he could complete the machine.  However because of his remarkable ideas and work, Babbage is know as the Father of Computers.
The next huge step for computers came when Herman Hollerith entered a contest given by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The contest was to see who could build a machine that would count and record information faster.  Hollerith, a young man working for the Bureau built a machine called the Tabulating Machine that read and sorted data from punched cards.  The holes punched in the cards matched each person's answers to questions.  For example, married, single, and divorces were answers on the cards.  The Tabulator read the punched cards as they passed over tiny brushes.  Each time a brush found a hole, it completed an electrical circuit.  This caused special counting dials to increase the data for that answer.
Thanks to Hollerith's machine, instead of taking seven and a half years to count the census information it only took three years, even with 13 million more people since the last census.  Happy with his success, Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896.  The company later was sold in 1911.  And in 1912 his company became the International Business Machines Corporation, better know today as IBM.
The First Electric Powered Computer
What is considered to be the first computer was made in 1944 by Harvard's Professor Howard Aiken.  The Mark I computer was very much like the design of Charles Babbage's having mainly mechanical parts, but with some electronic parts.  His machine was designed to be programmed to do many computer jobs.  This all-purpose machine is what we now know as the PC or personal computer.  The Mark I was the first computer financed by IBM and was about 50 feet long and 8 feet tall.  It used mechanical switches to open and close its electric circuits.  It contained over 500 miles of wire and 750,000 parts.
The First All Electronic Computer
The first all electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer).  ENIAC was a general purpose digital computer built in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.  The ENIAC contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes (used instead of the mechanical switches of the Mark I) and was 1000 times faster than the Mark I.  In twenty seconds, ENIAC could do a math problem that would have taken 40 hours for one person to finish.  The ENIAC was built the time of World War II had as its first job to calculate the feasibility of a design for the hydrogen bomb.  The ENIAC was 100 feet long and 10 feet tall.
M ore Modern Computers
more modern type computer began with John von Neumann's development of software written in binary code.  It was von Neumann who began the practice of storing data and instructions in binary code and initiated the use of memory to store data, as well as programs.  A computer called the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Computer) was built using binary code in 1950.  Before the EDVAC, computers like the ENIAC could do only one task then they had to be rewired to perform a different task or program.  The EDVAC's concept of storing different programs on punched cards instead of rewiring computers led to the computers that we know today.
While the modern computer is far better and faster than the EDVAC of its time, computers of today would not have been possible with the knowledge and work of many great inventors and pioneers.

Linggo, Hulyo 10, 2011

My multiple intelligence

Linguistic intelligence/ word smart 
I love reading stories that interest me and I love learning new things through reading
I also love writing when I'm inspired or I just want to express my feelings.

Bodily Kinesthetic intelligence/ body smart 
I love participating in sports and doing physical activities

Miyerkules, Hulyo 6, 2011

Howard Gardner

Howard Earl Gardner (born July 11, 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania) is an Americandevelopmental psychologist who is a professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences.

Miyerkules, Hunyo 22, 2011

Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs


Manuel V Pangilinan (born July 14, 1946 in Manila, Philippines), also known as Manny Pangilinan and MVP, is a Filipino businessman. He is the Chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, from 1998 up to the present. Pangilinan spent his elementary and high school days at San Beda College. He graduated cum laude from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He received his MBA degree in 1968 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[2] He is also the owner of ABC/TV5network, Cignal Digital TV and Smart Communications. He was the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ateneo de Manila University.

Lucio Tan (simplified Chinese: 陈永栽; traditional Chinese: 陳永栽; pinyin: Chén Yǒngzāi) (born July 17, 1934) is a prominent Chinese Filipino business magnate and is one of the most prominent business magnates in the Philippines. He, as of 2011, is currently the second richest businessman in the country, holding a networth of $2.3billion.[1]

Diosdado Banatao born May 23, 1946, Iguig, Cagayan, Philippines), popularly known by his nickname Dado, is a well-known Filipino serial entrepreneur and engineer working in high-tech industry. A three-time start-up veteran, he co-founded Mostron (PC Motherboards), Chips and Technologies (PC Chip Sets, eventually acquired by Intel), and S3 Graphics (originally 2D graphics chips, renamed to SonicBLUE). It isSilicon Valley folklore that he chose the company name S3 to mean "Start-up number 3".

Miyerkules, Hunyo 15, 2011

Can you understand P.15

Q:
1. Evaluate the different entrepreneurial characteristics under PECs. How does applying similar characteristics help us succeed in other areas of life? Explain your answer by giving examples.
2. Explain how having the Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies can help you become a successful entrepreneur.

A:
1. It helps us become more organized and more hard working it also boosts our self-confidence
an example of this is:  Zhan Ye Chen 


IAIN MCGREGOR/Waikato Times
TOP SCORERS: Hillcrest High's Shiang Ye, left, and Hamilton Boys High's Zhan Ye Chen are ecstatic over their recent Cambridge exam results.
Two Hamilton students are on top of the world. Hillcrest High School's and Hamilton Boys' High School's Zhan Ye Chen found out this week they were the top students in the world for a single Cambridge exam subject.
Shiang was top in AS Level Literature in English, while Zhan was top in IGCSE Level Economics.
University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) are becoming a popular alternative to NCEA. Six thousand schools in 150 countries around the world offer CIE.
Thirty-seven students in New Zealand over three exam levels scored top in the world.
Zhan, 16, said he was told about the award in class on Monday and was "totally blown away" by it. "It came out of nowhere, I was so surprised."
Now in Year 12, he plans to possibly go into commercial science, like pharmaceuticals, where could combine economics and science.



2.Having the PECs will make you more efficient in your business. By having the PECs you have a chance at success but there's not a 100% chance that you will succeed, these traits have to work with other good qualities to make your enterprise work.

Lunes, Hunyo 13, 2011

Enrichment Activity p.10

If I were an entrepreneur, i would be in the ____________ business because.
I would be in the Music industry because I've always been very fond of music and I would like to make OPM (original Pilipino music) something we can all be proud of. There are a lot of risks in this kind of business especially in making record companies. But I am confident in the talent of my fellow Pilipino men they just need the right marketing and the right exposure once they have that I'm sure they would be successful and they will make music that is worth buying and listening too.

Linggo, Hunyo 12, 2011

Assignment no.3

Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECs) 

For reference, I'm posting here the ten Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECs) which seems to be used in the Business Technology/Entrepreneurship programs of the Technology and Livelihood Education (T.L.E.) subject.

The original research by McClelland and McBer identified 14 PECs; the EMPRETEC [a UN program for small businesses; from the Spanish words emprendedores (entrepreneurs) and tecnología (technology)] clustered these into just 10:

Achievement Cluster
I. Opportunity Seeking and Initiative
* Does things before asked or forced to by events
* Acts to extend the business into new areas, products or services
* Seizes unusual opportunities to start a new business, obtain financing, equipment, land work space or assistance

II. Risk Taking
* Deliberately calculates risks and evaluates alternatives
* Takes action to reduce risks or control outcomes
* Places self in situations involving a challenge or moderate risk

III. Demand for Efficiency and Quality
* Finds ways to do things better, faster, or cheaper
* Acts to do things that meet or exceed standards of excellence
* Develops or uses procedures to ensure work is completed on time or that work meets agreed upon standards of quality

IV. Persistence
* Takes action in the face of a significant obstacle
* Takes repeated actions or switches to an alternative strategy to meet a challenge or overcome an obstacle
* Takes personal responsibility for the performance necessary to achieve goals and objectives

V. Commitment to the Work Contract
* Makes a personal sacrifice or expends extraordinary effort to complete a job
* Pitches in with workers or in their place to get a job done
* Strives to keep customers satisfied and places long term good will over short term gain

Planning Cluster
VI. Information Seeking
* Personally seeks information from clients, suppliers or competitors
* Does personal research on how to provide a product or service
* Consults experts for business or technical advice

VII. Goal setting
* Sets goals and objectives that are personally meaningful and challenging
* Articulates clear and specific long range goals
* Sets measurable short term objectives

VIII. Systematic Planning and Monitoring
* Plans by breaking large tasks down into time-constrained sub-tasks
* Revises plans in light of feedback on performance or changing circumstances
* Keeps financial records and uses them to make business decisions

Power Cluster
IX. Persuasion and Networking
* Uses deliberate strategies to influence or persuade others
* Uses key people as agents to accomplish own objectives
* Acts to develop and maintain business contracts

X. Independence and self-confidence
* Seeks autonomy from the rules or control of others
* Sticks with own judgement in the face of opposition or early lack of success
* Expresses confidence in own ability to complete a difficult task or meet a challenge

Assignment no. 2

                          History of the flush toilet and
                                      How it works
A gleaming tribute to human ingenuity stands silent and ready for use at a moment's notice. This invention is now largely ignored, or taken for granted, but it has done as much to revolutionize the health of the world as any vaccine. This marvelous invention is the flush toilet.

We don't like to think about what our lives would be like without modern conveniences such as electricity, automobiles, and appliances. Could you imagine what your life would be like if you did not have modern plumbing? Most of us cannot imagine life without a toilet, but until the 1800's, disposal of human waste was a daily struggle, and a disgusting task.

The earliest written reference to the disposal of human waste is more than 3600 years old and is found in The Holy Bible. "And you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and cover your refuse . . . " For hundreds of thousands of years before the bible was written, human beings simply squatted when they had the urge to relieve themselves.

As the world became more populated, disposal of human wastes became a bit more difficult. In ancient Egypt, cities began to spring up from the desert. By 2500 B.C., the Egyptians had solved the waste disposal dilemma, and had constructed bathrooms with latrines which were flushed by hand with buckets of water. The latrines emptied into earthenware pipes, many of which are still functional today. Rome also had a public sewage system called cloxa maxima. It was constructed to prevent the streets from filling up with rain water and human waste. Public latrines were erected over channels of water. The latrines had stone seats with a hole in the center of them, much like the modern toilet seat that is in use today. Much of this forward- thinking technology had not spread to Europe, however, and the Europeans struggled with sanitation for centuries to come before they realized that something needed to be done.

By 1189, the city of London was an absolute mess. The population had grown rapidly, and many of its inhabitants lived in squalor. London did have public and private facilities called garderobes. A garderobe was a toilet, or bank of toilets, either in a private castle or public hall. It was connected to a pipe through the side of the building that housed it. The waste emptied directly into a pit, moat, or river directly outside the building. A huge public garderobe emptied directly into the Thames river, causing stench and disease for the entire population of London. The Thames river was squalid and ripe with the smell of rotting sewage. A public law, written in 1189 by the London Health Board, stated that garderobes must be walled in, or at least 5 1/2 feet from the nearest neighbor. The law did little to improve sanitary conditions.

The garderobe was no longer built by the year 1530, and the close stool was the newest modern convenience. The close stool was simply a chair with a hole cut into the seat, and a porcelain or metal pot underneath, which needed to be removed and emptied. The stool was often equipped with handles for traveling. This was a great invention for Kings and Queens, Noblemen and Ladies. The poor still relieved themselves in the street, or in a bucket or cistern inside their homes called a chamber pot.

What did these people do with the waste? They threw it out into the street, of course. They would shout "gardez l'eau" (watch out for the water) before tossing the contents of their chamber pot out an open window or door, usually to the dismay of the passers by on the street. In the early 1800's, Londoners would rather live with the stench and filth than pay higher taxes to have underground sewer systems installed. The public had not yet made the association with sewage and disease.

R.H Mottram, in 1830, stated in a public report regarding the streets of Leeds, England: "568 streets were taken in for examination . . . Whole streets were flooded with sewage . . . The death rate in the clean streets was 1 in 36; and in the dirty streets; 1 in 24." Children seemed to be dying at an amazing rate. Death rates for children were 480 per thousand in the city, while in the country, the death rate for children was 240 per thousand. The rulers, as well as the public, knew that something must be done. Cholera was rampant and the smell was unbearable. Louis Pasteur, a noted scientist, convinced Europe that if drinking water came from a well, it may be contaminated from any number of nearby cesspits, and if it came from a river, it was most certainly contaminated. The Cholera epidemic between 1844-1855 claimed 20,000 lives, and something had to be done, so London built a sewer system. With the new sewer system came the need for a toilet that flushed with water in order to prevent the future spread of disease, so the flush toilet was born.

Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth I, was a writer by trade. In 1596 he penned a tongue- in- cheek article named "Plan Plots of a Privy of Perfection." In the article, he described in detail his invention, the first flushing water closet. He erected one at Kelston, near Bath, England. The water closet, for the most part, worked, and the Queen had Sir John install a water closet in the Royal Palace. One of the many problems with Sir John's water closet was that it was inadequately vented, and sewer gas constantly leaked into the Royal powder room. The Queen remedied this problem by placing bowls of herbs and fragrances around the room. The flush toilet, however, would not be deemed "popular" for several hundred years.

Many years earlier, Leornardo DaVinci drew plans for a number of flushing water closets for the castle of Francis I at Ambrose. The plans included flushing channels inside the walls, and a ventilating system which reached through the roof. Unfortunately, like DaVinci's plans for flying machines and military tanks, the project was scrapped and considered nonsense.

The belief that Thomas Crapper invented the first patented flushing water closet is untrue . The first patent for the flushing water closet was actually issued to Alexander Cummings in 1775. A watchmaker by trade, Cummings designed a toilet in which the water supply was brought low into the bowl, and some water remained after each flush. "The advantage of this water closet," he stated, "depends upon the shape of the bowl." The Cummings water closet was generally made of copper. It was a great improvement, but the seal at the bottom of the toilet leaked, continually emitting sewer gases into the home. No one was aware at that time that sewer gases were highly explosive, as well as great bacteria carriers. Other inventors sought to change both of those problems.

Joseph Bramah, a cabinetmaker who regularly "fitted-up" water closets, sought to improve Cummings' original idea, and a patent was issued to him in 1778. Bramah discovered that by replacing Cummings' string valve closure with a crank-type mechanism, he would essentially get an air tight seal between the toilet and whatever offending odors may be lurking beneath it. There were some problems with this new toilet, however. The flushing action failed quite often, it was incredibly noisy, and the seal would dry up if the toilet was not used often enough. Although Bramah installed more than 6,000 toilets by 1797, without a tight seal, the sewer gas problem remained.

By 1860, people around Europe were tired of the odor from the sewer gases escaping into their homes. Inventor Henry Moule impressed the world with his patented Earth Closet. This wonderful commode dispensed dirt or ashes onto the offensive materials, rendering them odorless. The problem with Moule's invention was that the contents had to be emptied by hand. People bought the earth closet in great numbers though, because they could hardly stand the stench in their own homes from their previous toilet experiences.

Thomas Crapper, an industrious plumber, opened his shop on Marlborough Street in London in 1861, and aptly named it The Marlboro' Works of Thomas Crapper & Company. Crapper continuously tested toilets at Marlboro Works, so much so that he had a 250-gallon water tank installed on the roof of his building. Crapper's claim to fame is the improvements that he made to the water closet. He invented a pull-chain system for powerful flushing, and an air tight seal between the toilet and the floor. He also patented several venting systems for venting the sewer gas by way of a pipe through the roof.

Crapper also teamed up with Thomas Twyford, the pottery maker. Twyford changed his pottery assembly lines from turning out tableware to turning out toilets, with Crapper supplying the inner-workings. Twyford also made toilets into art pieces, by molding them into many shapes including dolphins. The fine porcelain makers Wedgewood and Royal Doulton soon followed suit. None of the porcelain manufacturers were opposed to the free advertising, as the names of their firms were emblazoned on the toilet, in a conspicuous place.

Across the Atlantic, Americans were still using chamber pots, but only in the event of an emergency such as illness or bad weather. Other than that, people used the outhouse, a small building constructed over an open pit with a bench inside into which several holes were fashioned. The user would sit over the hole and relieve himself. The flush toilet did not gain popularity in the United States until after World War I, when American troops came home from England full of talk about a "mighty slick invention called the crapper." The American slang term for the toilet, "the john," is said to be derived from the flushing water closets at Harvard university installed in 1735, and emblazoned with the manufacturer's name, Rev. Edward Johns.

The flush toilet is an invention of which humanity can be very proud. Without this marvelous contraption, disease would still be rampant and water supplies throughout the world would be undrinkable. The next time you see a toilet, standing at attention in a bathroom, remember the many inventors and plumbers that made it a clean, simple, easy-to-use device that makes our lives a little easier.









Leornardo da Vinci drew plans for a number of flushing water closets for the castle of Francis I at Ambrose, including flushing channels inside the walls, and a ventilating system which reached through the roof. Unfortunately, like DaVinci's plans for flying machines and military tanks, the project was scrapped and considered nonsense ( 54-55). For the actual invention of the flush toilet, the credit must go to Sir John Harrington.
Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth I, was a writer by trade. In 1596 he penned a tongue- in- cheek article named "Plan Plots of a Privy of Perfection." In the article, he described in detail his invention, the first flushing water closet. He erected one at Kelston, near Bath, England. The water closet, for the most part, worked, and the Queen had Sir John install a water closet in the Royal Palace. The Queen was so pleased with her new convenience, that she had his article bound, and hung it next to her water closet. One of the many problems with Sir John's water closet was that it was inadequately vented, and sewer gas constantly leaked into the Royal powder room. The Queen remedied this problem by placing bowls of herbs and fragrances around the room (71). The flush toilet, however, would not be deemed "popular" for several hundred years.
The belief that Thomas Crapper invented the first patented flushing water closet is untrue (Kerr Daisy 63). The first patent for the flushing water closet was actually issued to Alexander Cummings in 1775. A watchmaker by trade, Cummings designed a toilet in which the water supply was brought low into the bowl, and some water remained after each flush. "The advantage of this water closet," he stated, "depends upon the shape of the bowl." The Cummings water closet was generally made of copper. It was a great improvement, but the seal at the bottom of the toilet leaked, continually emitting sewer gases into the home (Wright 107). No one was aware at that time, that sewer gases were highly explosive, as well as great bacteria carriers. Other inventors sought to change both of those problems. Joseph Bramah, a cabinetmaker who regularly "fitted-up" water closets, sought to improve Cummings original idea, and a patent was issued to him in 1778. Bramah discovered that by replacing Cumming's string valve closure with a crank-type mechanism, he would essentially get an air tight seal between the toilet and what ever offending odors may be lurking beneath it. There were some problems with this new toilet, however. The flushing action failed quite often, it was incredibly noisy, and the seal would dry up if the toilet was not used often enough. Although Bramah installed over 6,000 toilets by 1797, without a tight seal, the sewer gas problem remained (107).
By 1860, people around Europe were tired of the odor from the sewer gases escaping into their homes. Along came the inventor Henry Moule, with his patented Earth Closet. This wonderful commode dispensed dirt or ashes on to the offensive materials, rendering them odorless. The problem with Moule's invention was that the contents had to be emptied by hand. People bought the earth closet in great numbers though, because they could hardly stand the stench in their own homes from their previous toilet experiences (208).
Thomas Crapper, an industrious plumber, opened his shop on Marlborough Street in London in 1861, and aptly named it The Marlboro' Works of Thomas Crapper & Company (Reyburn Wallace 11). Crapper continuously tested toilets at Marlboro Works, so much so that he had a 250 gallon water tank installed on the roof of his building (17). Crapper's claim to fame is the improvements that he made to the water closet. He invented a pull- chain system for powerful flushing, and an air tight seal between the toilet and the floor. He also patented several venting systems for venting the sewer gas by way of a pipe through the roof (50).
Crapper also teamed up with Thomas Twyford, the pottery maker. Twyford changed his pottery assembly lines from turning out tableware to turning out toilets, with Crapper supplying the inner-workings. Twyford also made toilets into art pieces, by molding them into many shapes including dolphins ( 40). The fine porcelain makers Wedgewood and Royal Doulton soon followed suit (Stein Rod). None of the porcelain manufacturers were opposed to the free advertising, as the names of their firms were emblazoned on the toilet, in a conspicuous place (Barlow Ronald 2).
Across the Atlantic, Americans were still using chamber pots, but only in the event of an emergency such as illness or bad weather. Other than that, people used the outhouse, a small building constructed over an open pit with a bench inside into which several holes were fashioned. The user would sit over the hole and relieve himself (Barlow 1). The flush toilet did not gain popularity in the United States until after World War I, when American troops came home from England full of talk about a "mighty slick invention called the crapper." The American slang term for the toilet, "the john," is said to be derived from the flushing water closets at Harvard university installed in 1735, and emblazoned with the manufacturer's name, Rev. Edward Johns (Reyburn 76).
The flush toilet is an invention of which humanity can be very proud. Without this marvelous contraption, disease would still be rampant and water supplies throughout the world would be undrinkable. The next time you see a toilet, standing at attention in a bathroom, remember the many inventors and plumbers that made it a clean, simple, easy to use device that makes our lives a little easier.

SOURCES: 
http://www.masterplumber
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http://www.plumbingsupply.com/