Anyone Can Learn to Play This Guitar in Minutes

Anyone Can Learn to Play This Guitar in Minutes Practice, practice, practice. If you want to become good at anything, theres no getting  around those three words. Musicians, of course, know this all too well. Research has shown that trained violinists and pianists typically put in an average of 10,000 hours before they can be considered elite performers. For the rest of us with far less lofty aspirations, there are popular rhythm-based video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band that are much easier to pick up. The games also allow players to quickly get accustomed to rhythmic timing, notes as well as some of the dexterity necessary to play drums, bass, and other instruments. Still, making the leap over to, say, actually playing the guitar, is entirely different. There’s just simply no substitute for the hours upon hours of practice necessary to master the finer subtleties of things like finger positioning and different picking techniques. The learning curve can often feel so steep that about 90 percent of beginners quit within the first year, according to Fender, a leading guitar brand.    That’s where technologically-enhanced instruments such as the MI Guitar comes in. Pitched as the guitar anyone can learn to play in mere minutes, the rhythmic guitar is something of a novice’s dream. Similar to Guitar Hero, it features a tactile electronic interface along the fretboard but is capable of expressing a wide range of chords. At the top, the guitar’s force-sensitive strings also allow users to generate chords with varying degrees of loudness, much like a real guitar. The Crowdfunding Project That Could Originally launched as a crowdfunding project on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, the campaign raised a total of $412,286. The final product isn’t due to ship until late 2017, but early hands-on reviews of the latest prototype have generally been positive. A reviewer at Wired magazine praised the guitar as â€Å"totally fun and shockingly simple to use.† The Next Web echoed a similar sentiment, describing it as â€Å"great for quick jam sessions with friends, or using it to master the strumming portion first.† Brian Fan, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based startup Magic Instruments, came up with the idea after spending an entire summer trying to learn the guitar, with little progress. This despite having played the piano as a child and all the way through his musical training at The Juilliard School, one of the world’s most prestigious music conservatories. â€Å"I tried everything [to learn the guitar]. YouTube videos, learning guitars, gimmicks you name it,† he said. â€Å"The thing is you have to develop the motor skills and muscle memory for that particular instrument, which takes a lot of time. A lot of the time it felt like playing hand twister.† The first thing to know about the rhythmic guitar is that it bears only a superficial resemblance to a traditional string instrument. Like other sampler devices, users are limited to a series of pre-recorded digital sounds that play through the speaker. You won’t be able to perform hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, string bending, slides and other advanced techniques that are used to shape the sound and give it that distinction. â€Å"Intentionally, it’s geared towards people like me with limited or no experience and who want to just play, rather than guitar players,† Fan said. â€Å"So it behaves nothing like a guitar, but it’s still so much easier to play music since it’s not bound by the physics of vibrating strings.† Review of the MI Guitar Cradling the latest version on my lap, it did have the look and feel of an actual guitar, though lighter and admittedly much less intimidating. Despite not having much of a musical background beyond a piano class in high school, it still lends the player an air of confidence with its buttons in addition to strings considering we all press buttons on a computer keyboard every day, how can it not be intuitive? It also comes with an iOS app that displays the lyrics and chords to various songs. Sync it with the guitar and it’ll carefully guide you along Karaoke-style, scrolling forth as you play each chord. Its not hard to flub my first couple attempts at a Green Day song, either by pressing the wrong cord button or hesitating a beat too many. But by the third go around, its easier to pick up the pace a bit, stringing them together until lo and behold music. Joe Gore, a guitar player, music software developer and former editor for Guitar Player magazine, who has yet to try out the technology says that while he likes the notion of a guitar for that anyone can play, he doesn’t expect it to be well-received by those who’ve long put in their dues. â€Å"The guitar community is very conservative,† he explained. â€Å"And because theres a certain work ethic that goes into honing your craft, it’s natural to feel a bit scorned when they see someone cheat and take a shortcut instead of investing the time into something their completely passionate about.† And while Fan says he understands where the criticism comes from, particularly the barrage of â€Å"hate posts† his team has received on social media, he doesn’t see any reason for guitar purists to feel threatened. â€Å"We are not replacing the guitar, especially the expressiveness and sound,† Fan said. â€Å"But for those who’ve never learned it when they were young and have less time now, we’re saying here’s something that you can pick up and enjoy playing right away.† Where to Purchase Anyone interested in pricing information and purchasing the Rhythmic Guitar on pre-order can do so  by visiting ​Magic Instruments website.​

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Everyday Life

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Everyday Life GIS According to Canalys there were approximately 41 million GPS units sold in 2008, and in 2009 the number of GPS enabled cell phones in use had exceeded 27 million. Without even thinking, tens of millions of people access directions and look-up local businesses from these hand-held devices every day. Lets tie this back to our big picture here, GIS. The 24 GPS satellites orbiting earth are constantly broadcasting data about their location and exact time. Your GPS device or phone receives and process the signals from three to four of these satellites to figure out where it is located. Points of interest, addresses (lines or points), and aerial or road data is all stored in a database that is accessed by your device. When you submit data, such as posting a geo-Tweet (a location-based Tweet on Twitter), checking in on Foursquare, or rating a restaurant you are adding data to one or more GIS data sources. Popular GIS Applications Traditionally desktop GIS has dominated the GIS mindset. People think of ArcMap, MicroStation, or other enterprise-level GIS applications when they think desktop GIS. But the most prevalent desktop GIS application is free, and quiet powerful. With over 400 million total downloads (according to GeoWeb 2008 keynote speech by Michael Jones) Google Earth is by far the most used GIS application in the world. While many people use Google Earth to look for fun things such as a friends house, crop circles, and other oddities, Google Earth also allows you to add georeferenced images, view parcel data, and find routes. Georeferencing Photos Even before the average computer user was using GIS on a near daily basis, everyone has benefited from it. The government uses GIS to decide voting districts, analyze demographics, and even time street lights. The real power of GIS is that it is more than a map, it is a map that can show us exactly what we want to see. How has GIS become such an integral part of society almost seamlessly? Google, Garmin, and others were not creating products with Hey, the mass public needs GIS in mind, no, they were meeting needs. Humans think geographically. Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How those are the five Ws right? Place is extremely important to people. When studying how human populations have acted over the past millennia it is easy to see how geography dictated culture. Today, place still dictates much of our lives: property values, crime rates, education standards, these can all be classified by place. It is interesting to see when a technology has become so ingrained in a society that people dont consider it when they use it, they just use it; like with cell phones, cars, microwaves, etc. (that list could be very long). Personally, as someone who loves maps and loves computers and works in the GIS field I think it is great that an eight-year-old has the ability to look-up their friends address and sho w their parents exactly where they are going, or for family members to be able to see pictures of those they love where they were taken, and so many more cool things that GIS allows us to do without thinking. Kyle Souza is a GIS professional from Texas. He operates TractBuilder and can be reached at kyle.souzatractbuilder.com.

Hamilton summary Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hamilton summary - Term Paper Example The country has not been able to maintain commerce or command respect from other countries, which would be a major step towards safeguarding the country against encroachments (Hamilton, 298). Most significant is the poverty and disorder that threatens to tear the country apart, while it is endowed with great natural advantages. Therefore, the councils and maxims that hinder the adoption of the proposed constitution are the main obstacles towards the achievement of American union (Hamilton, 299). The maxims work towards denying US government the energy it requires, by advocating for the sovereignty of the member states. This is dangerous since it would create a situation of state alliances and rivalry against one another, demolishing the unity of the people and jeopardizing the achievements of togetherness (Hamilton, 296). There are many challenges associated with a federalist government. However, the only solution towards avoiding the creation of a League of Nations, and instead pres erve the union, is to adopt a government, which has the overall authority over the states (Hamilton,

B2C (Business to Consumer) case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

B2C (Business to Consumer) case study - Essay Example E-business provides communication between customers and organisations and they can exchange standard business transactions through online media (Yang & et. al., 2003). E-business in broad context can be stated as any business procedure that organisations carry out by computer networks, comprising internal and external communication flows. Through e-business, customers can make any transactions on the computer network, comprising transfer of proprietorship, or the right to use products and services. The transaction is performed within chosen e-business procedures and is considered to be completed upon agreement between purchasers and sellers regarding the use of products and services. Concerning the relationship between different participants, e-business can be classified into three categories namely B2C, B2B and C2C (Zakic & Mladenovic, 2011). Focusing on this aspect, the report describes a popular B2C application namely ‘Online Bookstore’ and its role in the respective industry. ... E-business opens the door to the notion of commercial activities without any border. Globally, it has also been observed that most popular products for online shopping are books, apparel and accessories (yStats, 2013). According to the report of Pitney Bowes (2013), online shopping is continuing to grow with e-business and is predicted to reach US$963 billion by 2013 in an international extent. The quickly expanding international digital community signifies a massive potential marketplace for any retail business with internet presence. Besides, the report of Pitney Bowes states that most common products which are purchased through internet are books, clothes and magazines. Wherein the overall market of physical books has declined, e-books sales have increased considerably. Indeed, popular e-book retailer Amazon has reported double-digit growth in the year 2011. The following figure demonstrates products purchased through internet in 2012. Fig 1: Products Purchased Through Internet So urce: (Pitney Bowes, 2013) From the above figure, it can be observed that online book shipping is regarded as the most popular item for a majority of online shoppers. According to the research of The Publishers Association, in the year 2012, the books sales in the United States were about ?3.3 billion, with 66% increase in online book sales. Online book sales represented about 12% of the total book sales in the United Kingdom (The Publishers Association, 2013). In the US, the revenue generated through book publishing had increased to about 3.1% in the year 2010 to a figure of US$27.9 billion. The percentage of sales of online book had increased to about 29.4 in 2009 and 38.9 in 2010 (German Book Office New York, 2010). According to the study of Nielsen (2010), books and

Political Order Essay Example for Free

Political Order Essay poTop 20 (+1) List of Political Ideologies You Should Know For APUSH 1. conservative – Generally a trend to maintain a traditional stance on an issue.? For example, if one was culturally conservative in the United States, they would probably be against an issue like girls wearing 6 inch tall pink mohawks to school because it is a traditionally unacceptable hairstyle. If one were fiscally conservative, they would probably be against an excess of government taxing and spending; they would want to? be â€Å"conservative† with their money. 2.liberalism – Only lately used as an opposite to the term conservative; historically, it means to hold individual liberties as the most important social or political goal.? For example, if one were culturally liberal, they would hold that girls could wear 6 inch tall pink mohawks to school because it is that person’s individual choice. If one were fiscally liberal, they would probably be for government spending on stuff like space exploration; even though it is not absolutely necessary for human survival, it is still culturally important. 3. right-wing – Are usually people or ideas that seek to uphold or return the traditional establishment of a civil society and the preservation of the domestic culture, usually in the face of external forces for change. For example, many right-wing thinkers believe that all people in America should legally have to learn English. 4. left-wing – Are usually people who wish to change or abolish the existing political or social order. Sometimes, under this category are people who try to promote equality in wealth and privilege. For example, many left-wing people believe that helping the poor at the expense of the rich is a good thing. 5. socialism – A broad term for any political ideology that promotes collective ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods and services, as opposed to private ownership (like we have in the U. S. , if your dad owns a car factory, he owns it, not the government). Communism is considered socialist. Traditionally, most trade unions can be seen as socialist because the workers â€Å"collectively own† the union. Also, social security can be seen as a socialist because it is a government organized and regulated system. 6. democratic – A system of government by which political control is retained by the people and exercised directly by citizens. Notice the little â€Å"d†. This does not mean the political party. 7. republic – A system of government by which at least some of the people have control over the government and monarchy does not exist. Notice the little â€Å"r†. This does not mean the political party. 8. fascism – A system of government that is heavily authoritarian and nationalistic. 9. authoritarian – describes a form of government that typically emphasizes the sole authority of the state in a republic or union. 10. nationalism – A political movement which holds that a nation, usually defined in terms of ethnicity or culture, has the right to constitute an independent political community based on a shared history and common destiny. 11. radicalism – Usually denotes a drastic shift from the traditional norm, usually to an extreme. 12. libertarianism – Usually a political philosophy which prioritize individual liberty and usually seeks to minimize the state. 13. communism – is a socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an equal, classless based on common ownership of the means of production and property in general. 14. populism – is a political ideology which promotes the common people above or versus the privileged. 15. progressivism – Usually seen as a political response to the Industrial Revolution, socialism, and anarchism; it is a political ideology that strives towards social justice, promotion of democracy, and government efficiency. See Progressive Party. 16. Marxism – A specific flavor of communism derived from the writings of Karl Marx. see communism. 17. federalism (Hamiltonianism) – Alexander Hamilton’s branch of political thought that promotes a strong central government composed of weaker states. This particular flavor also includes very strong governmental intervention in economic issues. 18. Jeffersonian Republicanism – In contrast to the above, a school of thought promoted by Thomas Jefferson that promotes states and individual rights over a strong central government. This flavor usually necessitates a virtuous populace. 19. Jacksonian Democracy – Usually seen as a mixture of the two above, promoted by Andrew Jackson, this system sees an increase of political involvement by the â€Å"common man† and an increase of the powers of a strong federal government. 20. localism – a political or economic philosophy that prioritizes local needs over most else. Example, a city passing a law that the only tomatoes that can be sold must be grown from a local farm is considered localism. 21. anarchism – the promotion of the abolition of all forms of government.

Parents Want Vouchers and School Choice :: Persuasive Argumentative Essay Examples

Parents Want School Choice Choice-based reforms, such as vouchers and charter schools, depend on the idea that schools will have to satisfy parents to keep their customers. Thus the wisdom of choice-based reforms depends on what parents want. If parents place a high priority on academics, then schools with strong academic programs will do well under school choice. If parents want their children to learn disciplined work habits, then schools that teach such habits will thrive under school choice. If parents choose schools based on their sports programs, then schools emphasizing sports will succeed. In short, the question "What would parents look for in schools?" is central to the debate on school choice. One way to answer this question is to survey parents. When surveyed, parents overwhelmingly say that their first priority is learning, especially in core areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. Parents also say that they want schools to uphold standards of hard work, honesty, courtesy, and responsibility. Although parents do not ignore extracurricular activities such as sports, they give them little weight compared to academics and standards of behavior. Many people in the education establishment are skeptical of parent surveys, saying that parents who do not care about academics are embarrassed to say so. They point out that it is not enough for parents to say that they want high standards for academics and behavior. What matters, they say, is how parents respond when their children get bad grades or face the consequences of breaking school rules. Another way to find out what parents want is to see what sorts of charter schools they choose. Most of the 1,700 charter schools in the nation emphasize academics, although their approach varies from back to basics to high technology. Charter schools also strive to create students who are upstanding human beings. No known charter schools so far have academics taking a back seat to sports. The same people who are skeptical of parent surveys, however, are skeptical of evidence based on charter schools. The movement is still in its infancy, they say, and today's charter school parents are atypical. So the toughest test of what parents want may be in areas where it is easy for parents to choose a school because there are so many public school districts. In some medium-sized metropolitan areas, such as Boston, there are more than one hundred school districts.

American School Versus Chinese school Essay

I am a Chinese girl, growing up and living in China for 18 years. Last year, I went to the United States. Although I have lived here less than two years, I found a lot of differences of two countries’ education style, such as the teaching style, the school life/rules, and the academic environment. The first difference is teaching style of two countries. In America, students are always divided by several groups. Each group has six or four students, and they can discuss questions during the class time, which can help students improve spoken skills and to learn dialogue and debate. After class, they probably have group homework which they need to finish together. Students need to prepare class presentations with a lot of PowerPoint every few week. That can help students improve their public speaking skill, confidence, share with knowledge, understand what they learned, and take a leadership role. The class lecture is delivered by teachers so that students can study by themselves first. In class they can answer questions anytime they want, and instructors will not be annoyed. Students call their instructors first name, and their instructors would like their students do that (Echo Lu, 1). Second, America school life is different from China school life. In American school, students take class at eight o’clock in the morning, and they finish at three o’clock. Students only have one hour to eat lunch and most of them take lunch from home. They have different classrooms when they take a different class. Students only have two big exams, excluding small tests in classes. They get A, B, C, D, or F as their final grade before the end of the semester, and Ding 2 it is according to homework, tests, participation, attendance, presentations, two or three big exams. After class, they can go home take school bus or drive by themselves. Some of them take part in clubs in school, such as sports (soccer, baseball etc. ), performing arts (dance, dram, band etc. ), outdoor education (scouting, campfire etc. ) and so on (Wikipedia). On weekends, students always hang out with friends, they can together with a boy and they allow to date with a boy, and are allowed sleepover in girl friends’ house. Furthermore, AmericaacademicenvironmentisdifferentfromChina’s. Itshowinfour different points: the curriculums and learning environments; class size and examination system. America students can choose their classes, and they have a lot of interesting classes to choose from core classes: Spanish or French, computer, marketing and so on (America High School). They are free and unrestrained (go to bathroom, drink water, laugh). The classroom atmosphere are natural, active and relaxed. American school, every class has 25-30 students, and teachers teach five or six classes. Students can take 7 times SAT exam or ACT exam each year. They can use the highest one to apply universities. However, a high grade is not the important point to enter a famous university. The university will consider very comprehensive and then decide whether you could be enrolled or not. First, they will consider your specialty, especially if you were good at P. E. then you will have more advantages. Second, they will think about social skills, such like part-time job experience, volunteering experience and so on. Also, they will think about what clubs or other activities you had ever taken part in in high school. In Chinese schools, every student has seat. Students cannot discuss questions in the class; they only have individual homework, and it is a lot. Teachers never ask students to prepare  presentations, and class lectures will not delivered. Students cannot answer the questions anytime they want; they must raise their hands first and get permission from teachers. They must say Ding 3 â€Å"Hello† to their teachers when they meet in school. Every time before students take class, they need to stand up and say† good morning† or† good afternoon† to teachers and can only sit down when teacher say they can. Students must respect their teachers very much and can† only call faculty members by their last name with a title like Mr, Ms, and Dr. It is thought to be rude to call their teachers’ first name. In Chinese schools, students go to school at 7 a. m. in high school and go home at 10 p. m. They have two hours to have a break at noon and go to school at two. They can eat lunch at school canteens or go home to eat lunch, but they eat dinner at school. Students will not change classrooms, and they have 8 minutes to go to bathroom each 45 minutes class. Most of them go home by themselves; schools will not provide school buses, but a few students will be picked up by their parents. They get a score before the end of the semester for each subject. Teachers will range students according to grades in class and year level. They even show the results to all students and send a text to their parents. Students have big exams every month in middle school and high school. They need to choose to learn art (Chinese, Math, English, History, Politic and geography) or science (Chinese, Math, English, physics, Chemistry, Biology) in grade 2. In China, students almost do not have any extracurricular activities. Some schools have clubs but only a few students take part in. Most student their teacher do not allow them to take part in clubs. On weekends, students usually stay at home do their homework, sometimes they  are allowed to hang out with friends. But girls cannot with a boy, similarly a boys cannot with a girl. Students are not permitted to date before they go to the university. In Chinese school, students only take normal classes; they even do not have art and music. Students use all the time to study, the learning environment in China is extremely Ding 4 competitive and demanding. Almost every student works hard, they are determined to be at the top of the class and to become straight-A students (Bohan). In China, each class has 60-70 students, and teachers teach 2 classes. The head teacher will stay in office all the time, you can ask questions anytime. Other subject’s teachers will go to your classroom during the self- studying time from 7p. m. to 9 p. m. Chinese students only have one time to take college entrance examination, which take place every June. Selection is based on each students scores in this exam (6 subjects), and due to the number of people sitting in exam. America and China are two different countries. Different culture, social system, history, population; therefore they have different education system. Nobody can say which one is better,  because for their own country it is the best one. But America or China still need to revolutionize the bad part, learning from each other and other countries. Ding 5 Citation work Lu, Echo. â€Å"3 Big Differences between Chinese and American Classroom Culture. † (2013): 1. WEAREIU. Web.

Family Culture Change Essay

The depression era family culture demonstrated a close knit community which spent large amounts of time together (Craig 2006). Many families used to gather around the same radio and listen to entertainment or news and the fire side chats then President Roosevelt gave provided reassurance for a worried public (Craig 2006). The lifestyle of a nuclear family with close contacts has developed to a fast paced world where family members frequently do not communicate regularly leading to alternative groups settings (Koesten, Miller, & Hummert 2001). Information on divergent lifestyles is now easily accessible to people which influences behavior (Koesten, Miller & Hummert 2001). The radio was introduced as a communication and entertainment medium during the great depression (Craig 2006). The radio provided instant access to news and weather in addition to the entertainment value it provided (Craig 2006). Entire families would gather around the radio during the evening and spend quality time together (Craig 2006). Businesses used the radio advertisements to lure the public in to considering buying purchases that were not considered prior to the advent of the radio (Craig 2006). Despite the economic hardships created by the great depression households who owned radios increased from 30% in 1930 to 70% in 1940 (Craig 2006). In 1940 the foundation had but formed for the future technology revolution that is present today (Craig 2006). This is where the perception of the current American consumer started that buying a product would solve all of one’s problems (Craig 2006). Today’s United States population now has a variety of electronic devices such as cell phones and computers enabling true access on demand to information and entertainment (Koesten, Miller, & Hummert 2001). The multiple methods of communication available to the average American today can foster unhealthy influences on behavior which can result in unhealthy consequences (Koesten, Miller, & Hummert 2001). People today spend more time communicating with others outside their immediate family with jobs, activities, and socialization than within the family unit (Koesten, Miller, & Humert 2001). The behavior of children from this generation will be influenced more by society than parentally which will impact the behavior displayed (Koesten, Miller, & Hummert 2001). The familial influence has been replaced by peer influence which has decreased the importance of family within today’s culture (Koesten, Miller & Hummer 2001).   This decreased emphasis on familial communication has lead to increased peer pressure which results in a greater likelihood of risk taking behaviors (Koesten, Miller, & Hummert 2001). This feeling of isolation has resulted in a dramatic increase in depression resulting from the loss of close family contact (Paxton, Valois, Watkins, Huebner, & Drane 2007). A depressed mood is different from clinical depression and is described as a feeling of sadness, lasting from a couple of hours to days (Paxton, Valois, Watkins, Huebner, & Drane 2007). Clinical depression is defined as sadness lasting at least two weeks that interferes with the activities of daily life (Paxton, Valois, Watkins, Huebner, & Drane 2007). People who are depressed are more likely to engage in behaviors that are hazardous to one’s health (Paxton, Valois, Watkins, Huebner, & Drane 2007). Due to this family isolation and depression unnatural death has become the leading cause of adolescents and has increased dramatically recently (Anonymous 1987). Substance abuse has become more prevalent which has resulted in significant morbidity in the adolescent and young adult population (Anonmyous 1987). These problems did not exist in the epidemic proportions they do today because despite the multiple modalities available to communicate with family society communicates less than in the depression era. References: Anonymous (1987). Health Risk Behaviors. Pediatrics. 80 (1) 144-147. Retrieved on December 20, 2008 from the ebscohost database. Craig, S. (2006). The More they Listen, The More They Buy. Agricultural History. 80 (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1-16. Retrieved on December 20, 2008 from the ebscohost database. Koesten, J., Miller, K. I., Hummert, M. L. (2001). Family Communication, Self Efficacy, and White Female Adolescent Risk Behavior. Journal of family Communication 2 (1) 7-27. Retrieved on December 20, 2008 from the ebscohost database. Paxton, R. J., Valois, R. F., Watkins, K. W., Huebner, E. S., Drane, J. W. (2007) Association Between Depressed Moods and Clusters of Health Risk Behaviors. American Journal of Health Behavior 31 (3) 272-283. Retrieved on December 20, 2008 from the ebscohost database.

Gershwin1 essays

Gershwin1 essays My primary goal for enrolling in music appreciation was to learn about the composers/musicians that have greatly contributed to modern music. Therefore, I decided to analyze a piece of music Rhapsody in Blue, which affected music in 1920s and still impacting the music world today. George Gershwins, Rhapsody in Blues, first performance was on February 12, 1924, and became an overnight success taking the music world by surprise. In this paper, I intend to analyze two very important versions of Rhapsody in Blue, and describe Gershwins life leading to his achievement. George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. The son of immigrant parents, George had two brothers, Arthur and Ira, and one sister Francis. Although, George is the most well know of the family, his brother Ira was also a successful lyricist. In fact, if it were not for Iras interest in music, Georges parents would have never purchased the familys first piano. George, took an immediate interest in the piano, and immediately began successfully playing by ear. His parents arranged for piano lessons, and George began to study seriously at the age of 12 years old. George began his professional career in Tin Pan Alley, Located in New York City were aspiring composers and songwriters would bring their music in hopes of selling them for a modest amount of cash. He became a song plugger for the Jerome Remick Company. There, he became exposed to thousands of songs, giving him a better idea on the quality of music. Two years after he started work for Jerome Remick, George had his first song published. When you Want Em You Cant Get Em this piece was not an instant success for George, but it attracted attention from other great composers. This composition shaped the foundation, for the success Georges futur...

Terrorism and Illegal Immigration

Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Not all illegal aliens crossing our borders are looking to take advantage of the American way of life; some are looking to destroy it. The uproar over Arizonas new immigration law leaves the impression that all immigrants illegally entering the state are Mexicans. But according to a 2006 report from the House Committee on Homeland Security, an increasing number of illegal immigrants from nations known to produce, train and harbor Islamic terrorists are using the Southwest border as a gateway to the United States.While the Committees report, A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border, focuses on criminal activity and violence taking place along the Southwest border of the United States between Texas and Mexico, it also brings to light the increasing frequency with which Other than Mexican (OTM) persons from 35 special interest countries known by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to harbor Islamic terrorists are illegally entering the United States. Based on U.S. Border Patrol statistics there were 30,147 OTMs apprehended in FY2003, 44,614 in FY2004, 165,178 in FY2005, and 108,025 in FY2006. Most of them were apprehended along the U.S. Southwest border.The sheer increase of OTMs coming across the border makes it more difficult for Border Patrol agents to readily identify and process each, thereby increasing the chances that a potential terrorist could slip through the system. Moreover, there is no concrete mechanism for determining how many OTMs evade apprehensions and successfully enter the country illegally. Where Do the OTMs Enter the United States? While most illegal immigrants of all nationalities are apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in the Tucson sector of Arizona, the vast majority of OTM and Special Interest Alien apprehensions take place along the Texas border - specifically in the McAllen sector. Since September 11, 2001, DHS has reported a 41percent increase in arrests along the Texas/Mexico border of Special Interest Aliens, states the report. From FY2001 to March 2005, 88 percent of Special Interest Alien apprehensions for both the Southwest and Northern borders occurred in Texas.   Where Do The OTMs Come From? According to the report, hundreds of OTM illegal aliens from special interest countries from countries including Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, China, Russia, Yemen, Albania, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan have been apprehended in the South Texas region alone since September 11, 2001. Just recently, U.S. intelligence officials report that seven Iraqis were found in Brownsville, Texas in June 2006. In August 2006, an Afghani man was found swimming across the Rio Grande River in Hidalgo, Texas; as recently as October 2006, seven Chinese were apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas. Evidence of Terrorist Ties Far from basing their ties to terrorism on the OTMs nation of origin alone, Border Patrol agents have, in many cases, found frightening physical evidence, according to the Committees report. A jacket with patches from countries where al Qaida is known to operate was found in Jim Hogg County, Texas by the Border Patrol. The patches on the jacket show an Arabic military badge with one depicting an airplane flying over a building and heading towards a tower, and another showing an image of a lions head with wings and a parachute emanating from the animal. The bottom of one patch read martyr, way to eternal life or way to immortality. Confirmed Terrorists Apprehended A few of the apprehended OTM illegal immigrants with confirmed ties to terrorist groups listed in the congressional report include: Neeran Zaia - arrested on September 8, 2004 - headed an organization responsible for smuggling more than 200 Iraqi, Jordanian, and Syrian nationals into the United States. When he was arrested, U.S. Customs agents discovered that Zaia had a prior conviction for human smuggling.Mahmoud Youssef Kourani pleaded guilty on March 1, 2005 to providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani is an illegal alien who had been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border after bribing a Mexican consular official in Beirut for a visa to travel to Mexico.Salim Boughader Mucharrafille - was arrested in December 2002 for illegally smuggling more than two hundred Lebanese, many believed to have ties to Hezbollah into the United States. The Problem of Getting OTMs Out of the US Prior to the Secure Border Initiative, the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had a real problem getting Other Than Mexican illegal immigrants out of the United States. Even though most OTMs enter the U.S. from Mexico, Mexico will not accept them. Instead, they may only be sent to their native country, or any third country that will accept them.According to the 2005 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, Border Security: Apprehensions of Other Than Mexican Aliens, the DRO lacks adequate bedding space to house every OTM apprehended by ICE. As a result of this, states the CRS report, the majority of OTMs apprehended by the USBP are released into the interior of the United States with notices to appear before an immigration judge. Most of these released OTMs fail to show up for their hearings and are not ultimately removed.Since going in to effect in November 2005, the Department of Homeland Securitys Secure Border Ini tiative (SBI) has employed an expedited removal process that enables ICE to remove OTM aliens to their home countries in from 15 to 30 days. When the Secure Border Initiative was first initiated, ICE inherited close to 4,000 OTM aliens awaiting removal from the United States. According to ICE, close to 3,000 of those OTMs have been removed from the country so far.

Modern Art Periods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Modern Art Periods - Assignment Example The paper "Modern Art Periods" investigates modern art and periods of it. Here will be discovered such movements as cubism, impressionism, and post-impressionism. The Stagecoach at Louveciennes is a painting which represents the impressionism. In essence, Impressionism transcended boundaries and traditions that had characterized art and pioneered the emergence of new and radical forms of art. The tendency by the impressionist artists to paint outdoors was also considered radical since most artists were used to painting indoors and then allowed the painting to dry gradually. However, impressionist artists preferred painting indoors. In addition, impressionism art avoided the use of symmetry in looking at most of the paintings of the landscapes one realizes that they preferred asymmetry but still managed to maintain balance. Figure 2 adapted from Impressionist Paintings shows an example of an impressionist’s depiction of a spring landscape. Impressionism redefined art through th e use of light and visual effects and the tendency to paint outdoors and a significant number of impressionism paintings depict landscapes. In depicting landscapes the impressionism artists employed asymmetry about an object like a tree. The utilization of space was done uniformly demonstrating a tendency to create balance. Figure 3 adapted from Impressionism Paintings, shows how the garden has been visually harmonized by the trees in the background. Manet’s painting style was always considered to be controversial. ... Perhaps one single impressionist artist that share many similarities with Manet is Edgar Degas. Both artists hailed from wealthy families and their paintings were often done luxuriously in places like racecourses. In fact when the two met Edgar influenced Manet to adopt a more impressionist approach in art. The artists share some similarities and difference in their style of painting. Figure 4: Daughter of Jephtha by Edgar Degas In figure 4 adopted from Blacksheep, one realizes that Degas occasionally painted from a historical perspective demonstrated by the Bibilical depiction in the painting. Degas also preferred the use of deep and dull colors. His paintings also brought about an important aspect of impressionism; depiction of movement. On the other hand as depicted in Figure 5 adopted from Blacksheep, Manet preferred the use of brigher and huge chunks of colors. Manet wlaso avoided historical paintings. Figure 5: The Absinthe Drinker Claude Monet contributed to suburban realism b y constantly providing a vivid depiction of the suburban places he had visited and the feelings the paintings had elicited within him. Monet’s depiction of the suburban areas was characterized by paintings indicating the simple pleasures of suburban areas where nature met with the emerging civilization. Figure 6 adapted from Claude Monet's Paintings, shows one of his paintings depicting pleasure boats at Argentueil. Monet uses light to depict the emerging civilization and its pleasures and dull colors to depict the tranquility of nature. In essence, the juxtaposition of nature and civilization as depicted by Monet provide new avenues of adventure by artists. Figure 6: Pleasure Boats at Argentueil

Intelligent Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Intelligent Life - Essay Example Thirdly, aliens may actually have a totally different type of sensory organs and thus build a different experience from humans (Gertz). Fourthly, aliens may positively respond to European classical music, although no clear reason was given by NASA regarding this (Coplan). Thus, because of the aforementioned considerations, the artifact must not be something made of sounds especially loud rock music. It must not be something that may crudely represent anger or conflict, and it must be unique and different from the surrounding environment so that it could be sensed. Moreover, according to NASA’s most recently published book entitled Archaeology, Anthropology and Interstellar Communication, communication between humans and extraterrestrials theoretically needs something like a â€Å"highly elaborated code† that will serve as an â€Å"abstract artificial mediation† (Lestel 231). Still, from the NASA book, one learns that it can be assumed that â€Å"brains are not completely isolated cognizers processing concepts in relation to sensory data [but] as spread out in space and time and among other cognizers† (Edmondson 239). Moreover, the best form of communication can be a â€Å"three-color image†¦arranged in a grid† and that one should think that other beings are â€Å"altruistic† (Edmondson 244). This means that the artifact must contain a code of any three colors, and Earth should hope that the aliens can perceive it and can perceive our need for this artifact to be perceived. Thus, firstly, based on all the aforementioned ideas regarding human and extraterrestrial communication, the artifact should be something like a piece of heavy metal that should be different from the rest of the metals in space. Perhaps, an alloy like steel should be used in order that it remains unique when compared with the rest of the material in space and so that the aliens can identify it. It could also be made up of a heavy Styrofoam if possible, as long as it is not too