5 Secrets About Independent Publisher That Will Surprise You

5 Secrets About Independent Publisher That Will Surprise You Like most blogs geared towards authors, Independent Publisher highlights events and advice that can help authors make the most of their craft. However, there are a few things that this blog does particularly well. Ill give you a brief overview here, to help you make the most of your time on the site, as well as highlighting some of the best bits; just to whet your appetite.(In) this issue offers valuable adviceThis first category of the blog is, in my opinion, one of the most valuable, as it highlights everything from book awards to literary legal terms; all fresh and recent, and conveniently presented in a user-friendly box, inset at the upper right of the homepage. If you want a quick look at a few helpful articles, then this is a good place to start. This months offerings include: the results of the groups book awards, guidance on how to turn a finished product into a bestseller, and key lessons learned from an author with fifty years of experience under his belt, all of which is invaluable.Independent Publisher offers invaluable advice to independent authors. Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels.As described, the articles listed in this section are timely and relevant, and most are very manageable lengths, making for quick reads (we all know how important time is these days). Here is an excerpt from author Jerry Apps article on lessons learned from his fifty years of writing:I also write what I dont know. I stay within my writing niche, and I combine what I know with what I dont know- which means I do massive amounts of research.Jerry AppsMost authors have heard the recommendation to, write what you know. In this piece, Mr. Apps also discusses the inevitability of having to write what you dont know, and the best ways to go about that. Going beyond the standard, cookie-cutter advice that is found on pretty much every blog about writing, makes Apps suggestions more salient and beneficial than the average commentary for new writers.This section is exactly what yo u would hope to find when first perusing a new literary blog; innovative, modern articles, that can be quickly scanned for relevancy, and delved into at length without taking an entire afternoon to grasp one concept. Its a great page to add to your bookmarks list.Book awards give writers marketing toolsRather than just focusing on a list of award results, this section of the blog seeks to sell you on the advantages of entering into one of the groups six award categories. The usual calendars, entry requirements, and eligibility rules are included, but then there are also links to things like, Testimonials, and, Why Enter Book Awards? given right on the first page, to guide you through the process. These articles are most advantageous to new authors, who are unfamiliar with the book award process, or even any of the benefits of applying for such programs.The following is an excerpt from the, Why Enter Book Awards, section:Are you on the fence about entering a book awards contest? Not sure if entering is worth the money and effort? Check out these six reasons why entering book awards is one of the smartest and most effective means of marketing your book.IndependentPublisher.comBy discussing the pros and cons of such an endeavor, the group will both increase the quantity and quality of their entries, as well as enticing new and jaded authors alike to give this particular contest a go. With six categories, this site offers multiple opportunities for independent authors to get the marketing boost and name recognition they need. If you have never considered applying for a book award, this page will give you a few solid reasons to reconsider.Reviews are the sites expertiseAs the title implies, this section of the blog is focused on reviews of independently published books, in a variety of genres, that both provides authors with valuable reference material, and offers a very important introduction to potential readers. True to the considerate nature of this blog, thoug h, the most salient links are right at the top of the page: How to submit your title for review, and, IP Notables. With infinite potential sources of reading material and helpful resources on the Internet, it is so refreshing to have a writers blog that gets the time constraints that are a reality of working authors.Independent Publishers blog factors in the time constraints of working authors. Photo by JEShoots.com from Pexels.Sure, if we had limitless time, most of us would love to sit and read every book review, savoring the diverse styles, and learning great tips as we go. The reality, however, forces us to prioritize publishing, marketing, and honing our skills, in a fast-paced and competitive environment; the primary subjects and links available on this blog. With an extremely wide-ranging list of genres, most authors will have no problem finding worthwhile reviews in a suitable category, to help them stay current and tailor their technique to project requirements.As to why yo u might want to submit your work for review, the reasons are similar to those given in the awards section, and are nicely summarized in this excerpt:Winning a book award and getting a good review published are two of the best marketing tools available to the independent publisher today.IndependentPublisher.comEnough said, really; these are very handy tools to have in your marketing and publicity box.The events section is fantasticWhoever is responsible for this section of the blog is doing their homework. This is a treasure trove of workshops, conferences, courses, and book fairs, to boost and enhance every aspect of your professional writing needs. The events on this page are regularly updated, and allow for planning ones schedule in advance. Although there are not an enormous number of events listed, those that are here are of a high caliber, with gatherings listed on a global level.This page is a bit sparse on explanation, compared to the others on this site, but it makes up for it with quality postings to help you: learn new skills, network with a wide selection of industry professionals, and rub shoulders with your peers at the largest, and one of the oldest, licensing events in the industry. Take a peek at the history of the Frankfurt Book Fair, for example:The worlds largest book fair is as rich in history as it is in attendees. According to Peter Weishaas A History of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the international importance of the fair to the literary community was established by 1598, when English scholar Thomas Bodley attended with the intention of stocking the newly refounded Oxford University Library.www.IndependentPublisher.comThey had me at Bodley.In addition to being insanely rich in popularity and prestige, the Frankfurt Fair is also one of the best places to do that essential business of forging licensing and book rights deals. There is also a good deal of attention given to small and independently published books, thus the sites interest in it, which is given in this enticing overview:Indie publishers are welcome at the Independent Publishers Reading Island, a space where new releases are presented and readings held. Self-publishing is also being recognized as an emerging and incredibly important aspect of the industry; a full days worth of events and discussions will focus on topics relevant to self-publishers, and guided tours of the fair will stop at major self-publishing companies and service providers.IndependentPublisher.comTalk to any successful writer, and these types of events are likely to be a significant part of their work process.The site offers updated news related to independent publishingIn addition to the wonderful sections already discussed, there is a News, page. In truth, the inclusion of both a News and, This Issue page may be difficult to keep from being redundant in slow news cycles in the literary world; therefore, for the most recent stories and advances in independent publishing, I have to recomme nd hitting the invaluable inset for This Issue on the homepage first. There are some great articles in the News section, as well, although not as timely as the ones in the previously mentioned link.To sum up, Independent Publisher is a useful, approachable literary blog, which does an excellent job of both catering to its niche market and offering more general industry advice for authors of all stripes. The This Issue section and the Archives page, which was not previously mentioned, contain valuable resources of past articles that have appeal for a wide assortment of writers and publishers. If this blog is not on your list of go-to literary resources, it is definitely worth considering adding it.

Cómo registrarse para votar en Estados Unidos

Cà ³mo registrarse para votar en Estados Unidos Para votar, 49 de los 50 estados de Estados Unidos exigen estar registrados, pero las leyes que regulan cà ³mo registrarse  son diferentes en cada estado. En este artà ­culo se especifica cules son las opciones en cada uno de ellos. Por sus graves repercusiones conviene empezar subrayando cules son las consecuencias de votar cuando no se tiene derecho. Castigo por votar en elecciones en Estados Unidos cuando no se tiene este derecho Solo los ciudadanos estadounidenses mayores de 18 aà ±os no incapacitados legalmente pueden votar en Estados Unidos. Si un extranjero vota est cometiendo una violacià ³n migratoria grave que puede ser castigada con la deportacià ³n, incluso en los casos en los que el votante fuera un residente permanente legal. El derecho de los ciudadanos a votar puede estar suspendido temporalmente. Por ejemplo, cuando estn en prisià ³n. Las reglas de cada estado establecen cà ³mo y cundo se recupera ese derecho, asà ­ como si afecta o no a las personas condenadas pero en libertad condicional  o que han recibido un parole. Votar cuando la ley del estado lo prohà ­be puede estar castigado con pena de prisià ³n, por lo que si alguna vez se ha sido condenado por algà ºn delito o falta es altamente recomendable verificar las reglas que aplican en el estado  donde  vive. Es una falta grave brindar informacià ³n falsa en las planillas para registrarse para votar. Los ciudadanos americanos que habitualmente viven en otro paà ­s pueden conservan su derecho a votar en las elecciones estadounidenses. En la mayorà ­a de los estados es posible registrarse en el Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados cuando se tiene que ir a esa agencia en persona a realizar trmites para sacar o renovar la licencia de manejar o registrar un vehà ­culo. Tambià ©n en muchos estados es posible ver en la calle mesas de inscripcià ³n de votantes, por ejemplo, a la salida de los lugares donde tiene lugar las ceremonias de naturalizacià ³n. Son todas legales y es posible registrarse en ese momento. Cà ³mo registrarse para votar en los 10 estados con ms poblacià ³n latina Estas son las reglas en cada uno  de los 10 estados con ms poblacià ³n latina en orden decreciente: California En California la  inscripcià ³n para votar puede hacerse online  o por correo ordinario. En el primer caso es necesario tener a mano el nà ºmero de identificacià ³n (I.D.) o de la licencia de manejar de California y el nà ºmero del seguro social. Para registrase por correo, debe  llenar el  National Mail Voter Registration Form  y enviarlo a la direccià ³n indicada en ese formulario. Para votar en California es necesario registrarse al menos 15 dà ­as antes de celebracià ³n de las elecciones. Texas Solo es posible registrarse para votar en Texas enviando un formulario oficial a la direccià ³n que aparece en el mismo y  que puede obtenerse en cualquiera de las siguientes oficinas:  Voter Register  del condado en el que se vive, oficina del Secretario de Estado, bibliotecas pà ºblicas,  escuelas secundarias  y muchas oficinas de correos. En ese formulario se exige escribir uno de los siguientes tres nà ºmeros: licencia de manejar de Texas, nà ºmero del seguro social o nà ºmero de identificacià ³n personal del  Texas Department of Public Safety. Si no se tiene ninguno de esos tres nà ºmeros, para votar ser necesario mostrar una identificacià ³n.  El formulario oficial debe ser enviado como mà ­nimo 30 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Texas es, adems, un estado en el que los ciudadanos naturalizados que utilizaron la licencia de manejar como I.D. para registrarse han sido excluidos de los listados de votantes registrados. Ese es uno de los problemas que pueden encontrase los migrantes en Texas. Florida Para votar hay que registrarse al menos 29 dà ­as antes de las elecciones llenando el formulario  DS-DE 39  y envindolo por correo a la oficina supervisora de las elecciones en el condado en el que se reside. El formulario tambià ©n puede presentarse en persona en cualquier biblioteca pà ºblica, oficina de reclutamiento de soldados, oficina electoral o en las de  FLHSMV  (Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados de Florida). Nueva York Este estado permite  registrarse online, pero en este caso es necesario que el distrito para el cual el votante desea registrarse tenga el mismo cà ³digo postal que aparece en la licencia de manejar. Tambià ©n es posible hacerlo por correo, completando  el formulario de inscripcià ³n  (disponible en espaà ±ol) o en persona, utilizando esa misma planilla y presentndose en la oficina electoral del condado  donde  se vive. Illinois Para registrarse en Illinois se pide residencia en ese estado por al menos 30 dà ­as. Para votar, la inscripcià ³n debe hacerse al menos 27 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Es posible registrarse en persona en la Oficina del Comisionado Electoral del distrito en el que se reside, en las oficinas del Secretario del Condado, municipales o de reclutamiento de soldados. Tambià ©n es posible hacerlo en las escuelas o en las bibliotecas pà ºblicas. Adems, se admite la posibilidad de registrarse por correo, enviando la planilla de la Aplicacià ³n para Registrarse como votante en Illinois conocida como  Form SBE R-19  a la oficina electoral del condado  donde se reside o a la central del estado. Es necesario enviar una copia de dos documentos para probar la identidad y residencia en el estado. Finalmente, tambià ©n es posible  la inscripcià ³n online. Arizona En Arizona es necesario registrase al menos 29 dà ­as antes de las elecciones y ese dà ­a se exige mostrar una I.D. para poder votar. Adems, para registrarse es imprescindible mostrar un documento que acredite la ciudadanà ­a estadounidense como, por ejemplo, el pasaporte de EE.UU., el certificado de naturalizacià ³n o el certificado de nacimiento. La inscripcià ³n puede hacerse en persona en la oficina del  County Register  o por correo, enviando a esa oficina el formulario.  Tambià ©n puede hacerse online, pero solo si el estado tiene previamente en rà ©cord la firma digital del solicitante o por correo ordinario. Nueva Jersey Es necesario residir en ese estado por al menos 30 dà ­as para registrarse para votar y  utilizar un formulario  que debe ser entregado en las oficinas de las agencias estatales o enviado a las oficinas electorales locales. Tambià ©n puede entregarse en los despachos de reclutamiento del ejà ©rcito en ese estado. Colorado El estado de Colorado es uno de los que ms opciones brinda para registrarse al  admitir las modalidades online, por correo ordinario, email, fax, o en persona. En este à ºltimo caso, debe presentarse a las oficinas de reclutamiento militar, asistencia pà ºblica estatal, secretario del condado  donde se reside, Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados o centros de votacià ³n y servicio  al votante.   En todas las instancias, excepto  online, es necesario completar  el formulario  Colorado Voter Registration Form  (Form  100). Nuevo Mà ©xico Es necesario hacerlo al menos 28 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. El trmite se puede efectuar en la oficina del secretario del condado  en persona o por correo, o en el Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados al solicitar la licencia de manejar, renovarla o cambiar algà ºn dato. Georgia En este estado es posible  registrarse online  o por correo. Solo es posible hacerlo en persona en las oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados cuando se saca la licencia de manejar por primera vez o se renueva. La tarjeta de registracià ³n se recibe en un plazo de 4 semanas, pero para votar es necesario, adems, mostrar una I.D. con foto, como la licencia de manejar, pasaporte estadounidense, I.D. de empleado del gobierno federal, estatal o local, I.D. militar o de una tribu indà ­gena o una I.D. de votante, emitido por el estado de Georgia a las personas que no tienen ninguna de las identificaciones seà ±aladas. Cà ³mo registrase para votar en el resto de los estados, por orden alfabà ©tico Alabama En Alabama, la inscripcià ³n tiene que realizarse al menos 14 dà ­as antes de las elecciones admitià ©ndose las formas online o por correo ordinario. En este à ºltimo caso, debe llenar el State of Alabama Mail-In Voter Registration Form  (Form NVRA-2)  y enviarlo a la oficina local del Board of Registrars. Tambià ©n es posible registrarse en persona en cualquier oficina local del Board of Registrars, bibliotecas pà ºblicas, agencias de Medicaid y en el Departamento de Recursos Humanos. Adems de registrarse, el dà ­a de la votacià ³n debe presentar una I.D. con foto como, por ejemplo, la  tarjeta de I.D. o licencia de manejar de Alabama, pasaporte de EE.UU., tarjeta tribal, I.D. de votante, tarjeta de empleado o estudiante de una universidad pà ºblica o privada, o tarjeta militar. Alaska Las opciones para registrarse son online, por correo o en persona. En estas dos à ºltimas opciones, debe enviar la planilla  State of Alaska Voter Registration Application  (Form C03)  a la oficina local de la Divisià ³n de Elecciones, con copia de certificado de nacimiento, pasaporte de EE.UU., tarjeta I.D. o licencia de manejar de Alaska. Arkansas Solo es posible registrase en persona en la oficina del secretario del condado o por correo enviando el formulario a la direccià ³n consignada en el mismo. Es necesario indicar el nà ºmero de la licencia de manejar de ese estado o los cuatro à ºltimos nà ºmeros del seguro social. Carolina del Norte Es necesario registrarse al menos 25 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Es posible hacerlo por fax, email, correo o en persona en las oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados (DMV) o de las agencias estatales de empleo, salud mental, salud pà ºblica o incapacidad. En todos los casos es imprescindible completar el  formulario oficial de inscripcià ³n. Carolina del Sur Para votar en Carolina del Sur es necesario registrarse como mà ­nimo 30 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Es posible hacerlo online, en persona, presentndose en una oficina del Board of Registration del condado  donde se vive o del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados. Finalmente, tambià ©n se admite la posibilidad de registrarse por correo, llenando el formulario del  South Carolina Voter Registration Mail Application  y envindolo a la oficina local del Board of Registration. Adems, para poder votar, es necesario proporcionar al estado de Carolina del Sur una I.D. con foto para que pueda guardarse  en sus archivos. Si no se tiene una licencia de manejar de ese estado, es necesario obtener una tarjeta de votante, para lo cual es necesario probar con otra documentacià ³n los siguientes puntos: identidad, fecha de nacimiento, ciudadanà ­a estadounidense, residencia en Carolina del Sur y nà ºmero del seguro social. Connecticut Es posible registrarse online  o por correo completando el formulario  State of Connecticut Mail-In Voter Registration y envindolo al ayuntamiento de la localidad  donde se reside. En esos edificios tambià ©n se admite la inscripcià ³n en persona. En el estado de Connecticut es posible registrarse el mismo dà ­a de las elecciones, pero no en los lugares donde se vota, sino que se exige presentarse antes en el  Registrar of Voters  local con una  I.D. y un documento que muestre la direccià ³n  donde  se reside. Dakota del Norte Este estado no tiene inscripcià ³n previa para votar en las elecciones. El dà ­a de los comicios, los ciudadanos deben mostrar una identificacià ³n que pruebe su nombre completo, fecha de nacimiento y residencia mà ­nima de 30 dà ­as en Dakota del Norte. Dakota del Sur Para votar es necesario registrarse al menos 15 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Es posible hacerlo completando un formulario y envindolo a la oficina local del auditor del condado. Otra opcià ³n es presentarse en una oficina local del auditor del condado, del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados, oficinas de gestià ³n de los cupones de alimentos o de Recursos Humanos, o agencias de reclutamiento de soldados. Delaware En Delaware es posible registrarse por telà ©fono, en persona en las oficinas estatales de Servicios Sociales y Salud, Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados o Departamento de Trabajo, o por correo, enviando la aplicacià ³n a la direccià ³n que figura en esa planilla. Para registrarse por primera vez hay que enviar o mostrar una I.D. del estado o la licencia de manejar y, si no se tiene, la tarjeta del Seguro Social. Adems, debe mostrar un documento que acredite residencia actual, como cheque que se recibe del gobierno, factura de la electricidad, extracto bancario, etc. Hawaii En Hawaii es posible registrarse online, para lo cual debe tener a mano una ID. del estado o la licencia de manejar y la tarjeta del nà ºmero del Seguro Social. Tambià ©n puede hacerse por correo, llenando la planilla del Voter Registration and Permanent Absentee Form  o en persona en ayuntamientos, oficinas de correo, bibliotecas pà ºblicas, agencias estatales o en los campus del sistema estatal de la Universidad de Hawaii. Idaho En Idaho solo es posible registrarse en persona o por correo llenando la planilla Form ERM-1. Las personas que se registran por primera vez deben  enviar o presentar copia de una I.D. o copia de una factura de servicios pà ºblicos, nà ³mina o extracto bancario en el que aparezca reflejada la direccià ³n del votante. Para registrarse es necesario haber vivido en el distrito  donde se quiere votar por al menos 30 dà ­as.   Indiana Para registrarse hay que probar que se ha residido en el distrito  donde se quiere votar por al menos 30 dà ­as. Es posible hacerlo en persona, por correo o tambià ©n online. El dà ­a de las elecciones  ser necesario mostrar una I.D. estatal o federal en la que el nombre coincida exactamente con el del registro de votantes. Iowa   En Iowa se requiere registrarse al menos 11 dà ­as antes de las elecciones y solo es posible hacerlo en persona o enviando el formulario de inscripcià ³n  por correo a la oficina local del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados o a la del auditor del condado  donde se reside. Kansas Para votar en Kansas hay que registrarse al menos 21 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Es posible hacerlo en persona, online, fax, email o correo ordinario. En cualquier caso, se exige prueba de la ciudadanà ­a estadounidense, como puede ser el pasaporte, el certificado de naturalizacià ³n, etc. Kentucky Las personas con residencia en Kentucky por al menos 28 dà ­as pueden registrarse para votar en dicho estado por correo, en persona o utilizando un formulario electrà ³nico.   Louisiana Es posible registrarse en persona, por correo o por internet. En este à ºltimo caso, el formulario pide un cà ³digo Audit. Para encontrarlo, debe buscar en la licencia de manejar o I.D. emitido por ese estado. Maine Es obligatorio completar el formulario de inscripcià ³n  que puede enviarse por correo o presentarse en persona en las oficinas del registro municipal del lugar  donde se vive, en las oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados o cualquiera agencia estatal o federal. Maryland Este estado permite registrarse a los ciudadanos con residencia durante al menos 21 dà ­as. Puede  realizarse online, en persona o por correo. En algunos casos, a los votantes por primera vez se les puede solicitar una I.D. que puede ser la licencia de manejar, tarjeta militar o de estudiante, pasaporte de Estados Unidos o una factura de un servicio pà ºblico de los à ºltimos tres meses.   Massachusetts Este estado permite la inscripcià ³n online, en persona o por correo para los ciudadanos con al menos 16 aà ±os cumplidos, sin embargo, solo se puede votar a partir de los 18. Michigan Este estado exige residencia previa por 30 dà ­as para permitir la inscripcià ³n, que puede hacerse en persona o por correo en las oficinas del Secretario del Condado. Adems, el dà ­a de las elecciones debe presentar una I.D. con foto, como la licencia de manejar de ese estado o una tarjeta militar. Si no se tiene, es necesario firmar una declaracià ³n jurada. Minnesota Para registrarse en ese estado es necesario residir en à ©l al menos 20 dà ­as antes de la inscripcià ³n. Puede hacerse online, por correo o en persona en la oficina del secretario del condado. Incluso es posible registrarse el dà ­a de las elecciones en el lugar de votacià ³n. Mississippi Este estado exige residencia por un mà ­nimo de 30 dà ­as antes de registrarse. Es posible hacerlo completando el formulario y envindolo a la oficina del Secretario del Condado  donde se reside. Missouri La forma para registrarse es por correo, enviando el formulario de inscripcià ³n a la oficina del Secretario del Condado  donde se reside. Montana Montana exige una residencia mà ­nima de 30 dà ­as para permitir la inscripcià ³n y, a diferencia de otros estados, no permite hacerlo online. Las opciones son por correo,  enviando un formulario  a la oficina  electoral del condado  donde se reside (cuya direccià ³n est en ese formulario), o presentndose en persona en dicha oficinas. Nebraska Es posible registrarse online, por correo o en persona. En estos dos à ºltimos casos, es necesario llenar un formulario especà ­fico. En el primer caso, se exige tener licencia de manejar o una I.D. de ese estado. Nevada Para registrarse en Nevada se exige ser residente de ese estado por un mà ­nimo de 30 dà ­as y de un mà ­nimo de 10 dà ­as en el distrito donde se va a votar. Es posible registrarse en persona o por correo  en las oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados. Tambià ©n se admite hacerlo online en espaà ±ol, pero es necesario tener una licencia de manejar o una I.D. de ese estado. Nuevo Hampshire Para registrarse hay que probar identidad, residencia en el estado, edad y ciudadanà ­a estadounidense. Como lugares para registrase se admiten las oficinas del secretario de la ciudad o el propio lugar de votacià ³n el dà ­a de las elecciones. Ohio Para votar en las elecciones, los residentes de Ohio deben registrarse para votar al menos 30 dà ­as antes de la fecha electoral. Es posible hacerlo online. Tambià ©n es posible hacerlo en cualquier oficina del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados cuando se tiene una cita para obtener la licencia de manejar, su renovacià ³n o para notificar cambios de nombre o de direccià ³n. Oklahoma Los residentes en Oklahoma deben  completar el formulario oficial  para registrarse para votar al menos 24 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Se les pide el nà ºmero de la licencia de manejar de ese estado y, si no la tienen, el nà ºmero del Seguro Social. Oregà ³n Los residentes en el estado de Oregà ³n pueden registrarse a partir de los 16 aà ±os, aunque solo se puede votar a partir de los 18. Los nuevos ciudadanos estadounidenses deben gozar de ese estatus por al menos 21 dà ­as antes de registrarse.   Para registrarse existen varias opciones: online en espaà ±ol, para lo que es necesario tener a mano la licencia de manejar o licencia de identificacià ³n de ese estado, en persona en la oficina electoral del condado donde se reside, o por correo, enviando la planilla SEL 500 a la oficina electoral del condado. Tambià ©n puede  registrarse cuando saca la licencia de manejar. Pensilvania Los residentes en  Pensilvania por un mà ­nimo de 30 dà ­as pueden registrarse para votar en cualquier oficina del Departamento de Vehà ­culos o por Internet rellenando el formulario del Departamento de Estado de Pensilvania. Se exige a los nuevos ciudadanos al menos un mes antes de la fecha de la votacià ³n para estar autorizados a votar. Rhode Island Aunque no se puede votar antes de cumplir los 18 aà ±os, es posible registrarse para votar a partir de los 16. Puede hacer online o por correo ordinario enviando el formulario  Rhode Island Voter Registration Form o el  National Voter Registration Form a la oficina del Board of Canvassess del condado donde se reside.   Tambià ©n se admite la inscripcià ³n  en persona entregando cualquiera de esos dos formularios en el Board of Canvassess o en una oficina local del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados (RI DMV). Finalmente, Rhode Island exige registrarse un mà ­nimo de 30 dà ­as antes de las elecciones para poder votar. Tennessee Para votar en las prà ³ximas elecciones es necesario registrarse al menos 30 dà ­as antes. Puede hacerse enviando el formulario de inscripcià ³n a la oficina local de la comisià ³n electoral del condado donde se reside. La otra opcià ³n es presentarse en una de las siguientes oficinas: oficina del secretario del condado, bibliotecas pà ºblicas, registro civil (Register of Deeds), Departamento de Salud en el rea de gestià ³n del programa WIC, departamentos de veteranos, recursos humanos, salud mental o vehà ­culos motorizados. Utah En Utah es posible inscribirse online hasta 7 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Tambià ©n es posible enviando el formulario State of Utah Mail-In Voter Registration Form a la oficina del secretario del condado donde se reside. Una tercera opcià ³n es registrarse en persona al menos 30 dà ­as antes de las elecciones en la oficina del secretario del condado, colleges o universidades pà ºblicas, oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados.   Vermont En Vermont es posible registrarse online, en persona en el Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados cuando se realizan gestiones para sacar la licencia, renovarla, solicitar una inscripcià ³n  del auto o renovar una que ya se tiene. Tambià ©n es posible presentando el Vermont Application for Addition to the Checklist (VT Voter Registration)  (Form SOS-VR)  en la oficina del secretario de la ciudad o municipalidad, o envindola por correo a la misma direccià ³n. Cualquiera que sea la forma que se elige para registrarse, es necesario presentar o enviar copia de uno de los siguientes tres documentos: licencia de manejar de Vermont, factura de un servicio pà ºblico, extracto bancario o un documento oficial del gobierno. Adems, hay que jurar o prometer lo que se conoce como Juramento del Hombre Libre (Freeman ´s Oath, en inglà ©s). Virginia Para registrarse online es necesario enviar el nà ºmero del seguro social y de la licencia de manejar de ese estado. Tambià ©n es posible hacerlo en persona o por correo completando el formulario  Voter Registration Application  (Form VA-NVRA-1)  a la oficina local de inscripcià ³n  de voto. Finalmente, otra opcià ³n es presentarse en una oficina del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados. Virginia Occidental Es posible registrarse online, en persona en el Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados, en la oficina del secretario del condado donde se reside o por correo ordinario, enviando un formulario oficial a la oficina del secretario del condado. La inscripcià ³n debe tener lugar al menos 21 dà ­as antes de las elecciones en las que se desea participar. Washington En el estado de Washington es posible registrarse online, en persona en las oficinas del Departamento de Vehà ­culos Motorizados o por correo, enviando el  Washington State Voter Registration Form a la oficina del condado donde se reside. Quienes se registran online o por correo deben hacerlo cuatro semanas antes del dà ­a de las elecciones. Sin embargo, quienes se registran en persona pueden hacerlo hasta siete  dà ­as antes de la celebracià ³n de los comicios. En el estado de Washington solo se vota por correo.   Wisconsin Es posible registrarse online  o por correo, completando el formulario  Application for Voter Registration  (Form EL-131)  y envindolo al secretario municipal al menos 20 dà ­as antes de las elecciones. Tambià ©n es posible registrarse en persona en dicha oficina hasta las 5 p.m. del viernes anterior a las elecciones. En todos los casos es necesario presentar prueba de residencia en el estado y, adems, una I.D. o licencia de manejar de Wisconsin y, si no se tiene, el nà ºmero del Seguro Social. Wyoming Es posible registrarse en persona en la oficina del secretario del condado o por correo llenando el  Wyoming Voter Registration Application and Change Form, firmndolo ante un notario y envindolo a la oficina del secretario del condado donde se vive.   Es todos los casos es necesario probar la identidad, para lo cual se admite cualquiera de los siguientes documentos: licencia de manejar de Wyoming, pasaporte de Estados Unidos o I.D. militar o de una escuela. Finalmente, tambià ©n es posible registrarse el dà ­a de las elecciones en el colegio electoral. A tener en cuenta Una vez que se registra una persona, no necesita volverlo a hacer a menos que cambie de nombre o de direccià ³n. En estos casos, es necesario notificar los cambios. Sin embargo, los ciudadanos condenados por un felonà ­a no pueden votar mientras cumplen sus sentencias. Cada estado establece sus propias reglas sobre cundo pueden volver a votar: cumplimento de condena, de parole, o libertad condicional (probation), de todas ellas o, incluso, ajustar la prohibicià ³n al tipo de crimen cometido. Por sus posibles graves consecuencias se recomienda no votar a las personas que han sido condenadas por una felonà ­a mientras no se verifique si se est autorizado a hacerlo.  ¿Por quà © es importante hacerse ciudadano? En Estados Unidos, ms de ocho millones de residentes permanentes legales califican para solicitar la ciudadanà ­a estadounidense por naturalizacià ³n. Las ventajas son muchas, no solo votar. Por ejemplo, protege frente a la deportacià ³n, amplà ­a los casos de familiares que pueden ser pedidos y agiliza los plazos e, incluso, abre categorà ­as de trabajos que estn vedadas a quienes no son ciudadanos. Puntos Clave: registrarse para votar en EE.UU. Solo los ciudadanos estadounidenses pueden votar en las elecciones federales. Es un delito muy grave votar sin ser ciudadano con consecuencias migratorias serias.Para votar es necesario registrarse. Cada estado establece sus propias normas sobre requisitos, plazos y modos de hacerlo.Aproximadamente 6 millones de estadounidenses no pueden votar por haber sido condenados por una felonà ­a. Cada estado establece sus propias reglas para determinar en quà © momento se puede restaurar ese derecho.Florida es el estado con ms estadounidenses apartados del derecho a votar por haber cometido una felonà ­a: aproximadamente 1,5 millones. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Understanding Sense of Belongingness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Understanding Sense of Belongingness - Essay Example Using this article, I will be discussing the author’s structure of the source and his project as well as the contents of the article regarding belongingness. Firstly, the author tries to make a relationship with his readers through his writing approach. Strayhorn sounds professional which he maintains throughout the article but he also made his tone very personal so as to communicate well with his readers. This is reflected not only with the choice of the words used but also in the manner the statements are crafted. For instance, the writer refers to studies of various researchers such as Baumeister and Leary. This shows how objective the writer is regarding his topic. However, there are also times when the author refers to his own research that he uses the personal pronoun â€Å"I† as he tries to relate with his audience but he still maintains a serious tone. To make his discussion more interesting, Strayhorn presents his argument in an organized manner, letting the readers well-guided as they continue with their reading. Strayhorn’s project aims at using the present literature to explain â€Å"sense of belonging†. This means that the author uses earlier published studies as references in attempting to explain what the topic really means. From this foundation, the writer wants to show the importance of the topic, approaching it with the use of examples and referencing other studies. Lastly, he intends to go over the implication of the study, especially in education. Therefore, this study is focused more on the students and how they are able to relate to their environment. As promised, the author first defines the term â€Å"sense of belongingness†. For example, he quotes Anant’s definition saying, â€Å"Sense of belonging characterizes a person’s perceived belief of indispensability within a system†.

Biography on Harlem Renaissance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biography on Harlem Renaissance - Research Paper Example The most peculiar aspect of the Harlem Renaissance was that it was ushered in by African American thinkers, artists, writers and musicians who evinced a prominent predilection towards the quintessential African American culture and heritage (Kramer & Russ 10). Harlem Reniassance was particularly marked by a distinct shift towards a self confident and strongly embracing notion of the racial pride and ethnic identity, which metamorphosed into remarkable cultural, artistic and literary achievements (Kramer & Russ 47). Harlem Renaissance evinced an effervescent and zealous interest in the black history and cultural moorings amongst the African American middle class. One of the salient objectives of the Harlem Renaissance was an honest portrayal of the African American talent and heritage through art, literature, music and thought. The objective of the central ideals eschewed by the Harlem Renaissance was to attempt a serious portrayal of the overall African American experience in its tot ality. The aim was to resuscitate and rescue a deliberately impaired collective psychology and to remould and revive a social perspective that got utterly warped over decades (Kramer & Russ 47). Harlem Renaissance had a marked influence on the African American musical heritage and the jazz music of the era flouted the conventional notions to voluntarily opt for improvisation and syncopated rhythms. Harlem Renaissance and Music It goes without saying that no one single aspect of the Harlem Renaissance played such an important role in influencing and shaping the American and world cultural landscape as the Jazz music (Wintz 183). Strongly favouring improvised solos and syncopated rhythms, the Jazz music of those times tended to be strongly averse to the many established musical conventions (Wintz 183). The composer of those times commanded such a strong following that people thronged in on a continual basis to listen to and appreciate their compositions. Yet, the remarkable thing abou t these compositions was that owing to a strong bend towards improvisation, no two performances of a single composition tended to be same. The musicians and singers of the era not only revived and invigorated the jazz music, but played a pivotal role in shaping and consolidating many new musical traditions. The musicians of those days played a major role in transforming the African American music and culture. The breath taking and engrossing pouring of the remarkable jazz compositions rendered by the musicians and singers of the Renaissance, happened to be a direct and emphatic expression of the hardships and travails faced by the African Americans in a racially divided South and an utterly severe urban North (Wintz 183). Harlem Renaissance attracted the public attention towards a musical tradition that would have utterly been lost or never contrived. In that context the Harlem Renaissance popularized the musical style of the African Americans amongst diverse cultures and racial gro ups. The salient composer of the era blended the poetry contrived by the African

Nature, the Environment and their Uses in Art

Nature, the Environment and their Uses in Art â€Å"I name that man an artist who creates forms†¦ I call that man a craftsman who reproduces forms.† Malraux is talking about artists and craftsmen, but might as well be talking about artists and designers. The audacity of the lowly â€Å"reproducers† was penalised by the iconoclasts, and perhaps we harbour the same fundamental suspicions about designers, people paid to build and sell us dreams just as frequently as they build and sell us houses. Yet it strikes me that there are two ways of dodging the suspicions of the public- the use of the imagination, and the use of Nature. If the two can be happily married then this superior union ought to germinate a magic all its own. â€Å"Moreover, a taste, not to say a passion, for building must be engrained in the child. Mechanical toys and mechanised entertainment kill his imagination and initiative; the feat of putting building blocks on top of each other hardly taxes the brain of a monkey† So the designer presents himself as a kind of sub-originator, and defers his symbolism to the greater origin. There is an individual and a more cosmic interest at work at the same time. The artist grows like a tree, developing, spreading, the ideas rising from the mysterious soils and falling like leaves. But the broader picture, a fluxing creative rhythm bridged by moments in time, demands a grander theory of unification. Nature is as synonymous with decay as it is with growth. The ephemera of modern life is as temporary, inevitable, immediate, as nature itself. Our cities have become sort of flaking, dying, layered forests, with their own dangers and rhythms of life and death. Everywhere we find reminders of our own impact on our surroundings- it is human nature, we cant help trying to clothe our hairless bodies and modify everything around us to make our lives more comfortable. But for some this seems to be a source of almost biblical guilt, and people go to extraordinary lengths, for their own reasons, to cover their tracks and paint their human presence out of the landscape altogether. Hundertwassers house in Vienna , and his designs for the â€Å"Eye Slit house† spring immediately to mind. Are we guilty enough to try to make our impact completely invisible? There can be no contention over the point that man has a negative impact on his environment and it may be that one solution is hiding mans impact altogether, (to enfold ourselves in natures arms, camouflaging ourselves in Her) while another might be to try to disguise our impact by turning our constructions into impersonations of Her. Is this really any different to the fearful icon building of ancient times, and do the â€Å"uglier†, modernist, construction-stating buildings represent a sort of iconoclasm- a return to buildings being made for human functionality rather than as a fearful acknowledgement of natures power as a constructor? Most of the architectural structures which are intended to resemble nature draw attention to the similarities between buildings and plants. Both are subject to a functional rhythm, both have access points, layers, a projectile dynamic- in other words, a sense of growth and promise. Yet plants are transcient, not concrete: they grow and bloom and fade and die, like people. They nourish and protect and reproduce and crumble away. The contrast with sturdy, permanent building materials used for, say, gothic cathedrals, Romanesque churches, the Eden Project, the Golden Gate Bridge, presents a sense of wonder and beauty in itself. Because plants are not like buildings. Buildings are sturdy and static and monumental. It is a fantastic thing to see a grand self-generating plant-beast made of concrete, it is alien and dreamlike and mesmerising but it is all these things because it is impossible. It enchants us because its beauty comes from a faraway, magical land, not from a world we know ab out but from one we would like to know- one in our dreams. Designs based on nature not only solve our problems, sate our yearnings and answer our questions, they also create new problems, new yearnings, and new questions. 1) Ecology since the 17th Century: historical relationships with Nature In the preface to â€Å"The Origins of form in Art†, Herbert Read references Henri Focillon, who suggested that life itself is a creator of forms, that theres no real distinction between art and life: â€Å"Life is form, and form is the modality of life. The relationships that bind forms together in nature cannot be pure chance, and what we call â€Å"Natural Life† is in effect a relationship between forms, so inexorable that without it this natural life could not exist. So it is with art†¦constitute an order for, and metaphor of, the entire universe.† Nature is uncontrollable and unpredictable- it is an ancient metaphor for uncontrollable intervention and for everything we cant accurately forecast. There is even an ancient Japanese treatise on archery which details the way in which the hardest part of the entire sport is waiting for the natural release of the string- a moment of serenity and detachment; total absence of striving. The flow of inspiration to the artist is analogous to this although it is unclear whether the creators inspiration rises from this or rises like it. Theorists have long been aware of this ambiguity and have thematised it themselves. Michael Fried interprets the woods, rocks and glens in Courbets paintings as faces or symbols or metaphors. Christopher Wood finds terrifying anthropomorphised trees looming over the subjects of Altdorfers exquisite scenes. The point is that those people who look at art, who are also interested in using it as an expression of themselves, consistently seek reflection in the pools provided by nature, natural imagery provides the perfect apparatus, somehow, for the admirer of human creativity to integrate the object into their own field of experience. When Paul Klee wrote that â€Å"The creation of a work of art is compared to the growth of a tree- its roots in the earth, crown in the air.† he is presenting an image of flow, as if an artist stands near the tree to allow the sap to rush in. This flow, though, occurs without conscious effort and the artist, crucially, experiences a transformation. â€Å" The idea that art is not a mirrored reflection of a given reality, but also a transformation of one element (which has its roots underground, in the unconscious) into another (made conscious in time and space). The artist is merely a channel whose function it is to transmit the forces of nature into forms of art.† Vivantes assessment that â€Å"art, far from being non-conscious, is a conquest of consciousness† is revealing, but wisely countered by Read, â€Å"Admittedly, the artists themselves may not always know when they are merely exploiting the unconscious, rather than â€Å"letting loose the riot of tender shoots†Ã¢â‚¬  As nature and art are so closely related, almost counter intuitively, so words and nature and words and art, are sometimes indistinguishable. All are concerned with abstraction, with roots, with origins, â€Å"we establish†¦our sense of reality by creating, for each experience, a clear and appropriate symbol- vocal sounds which were eventually stabilized as words. Every words was once an original work of art.† Whenever anything becomes too prevalent, too integrated into our consumer vocabulary, we scarcely notice it anymore and it loses its impact. In becoming part of our environment, ourselves, the clichà © ceases to become something desirous to us. Designed solutions respond to an expression of specific desire or need, and so become a meta expression of the same need. While design solutions sate specific hungers, art is an expression, and not even necessarily a resolution of, thematic desires. Poetry and the visual arts dance around the clichà © while occasionally retaining originality (Poussins Dance to the Music of Time is a delightfully literal example of this)- art finds a janus-faced simultaneity, a place for both the clichà © of nature and the pure artistic drive of â€Å"artisticness†. Design, however, is trapped in the problem solving one-dimensional rationality of the prevailing zeitgeist. Perhaps nature is a way of side-stepping the clichà ©, but it can also present itself, maddeningly indistinguishably, as the alluring siren. Maybe there is a link between the mechanised production of imagery and forms and the predominance of natural imagery in the products and lifestyles consumed by people nowadays. There could well be a relationship, yet unexplored, between the unnatural production of natural images and the homogeneity of the images themselves. If the origins are authentic and essential then we should expect products to be more persuasive, more reflective of their origins, more transparent. Mechanisation has allowed for imagery to â€Å"ride the zeitgeist† and generate a new kind of language of â€Å"natural† iconography- perhaps where once there was religious iconography. In Poussins Dance to the Music of Time we find Arcadia, the natural utopia, being equated to male/female synthesis, and then, on another level, the gender synthesis standing for a synthesis of heaven and earth in the familiar conceit of rhythm. In Peter Blakes extraordinary work, The Arcadian Cipher pentagram shapes are located everywhere as a kind of unification symbol: Blake is anxious to synthesise traditionally opposing forces, and make sense of illogical harmonies through the imposition (or uncovering, in his terms) of this particular hypograph. His choice of symbol is less important than his- and other academic semiosticians impulse towards holism. I have already suggested that artists are involved in a janus headed effort: always trying to channel pure nature and represent her in a familiar language- to experience and the represent the clichà © at once. Blakes assessment of the Dance describes the duplicity: â€Å"For where the other two pentagrams represent the Jesus figure and Pan, this definitely connects them with a female element. Through it we are able to establish a male/female partnership both in heaven and on Earth and between heaven and Earth, and it is one which symbolises the poles upon which the Earth spins. The painting depicts Hermes playing his lyre – music was his method of communication between two worlds- and a group of earthly figures dancing to his celestial tune. On the left hand side of the work is a column on which is mounted a carving†¦of two heads facing away from each other.† Theory of this sort, while certainly in constant danger of toppling into quasi-science, superbly exemplifies the inextricability of Nature and Geometry. Theories of Arcadia are saturated with geometric semiotics; art writers constantly trace and re-trace paintings, covering them in layers and layers of â€Å"mathematical† justification. Whether any of these theories have any real use or even make any sense outside of their own self-imposed rules is not my point. I am interested in the relationship between the powers of nature and the powers of men, the irresistible urge to explain the mysteries of nature, her circadian rhythms, her life giving and life stealing properties, her silent chthonic swell and the threat and awe experienced by the bewildered humans that observe her. As one of the most evocative and symbolically potent plants on the planet, the cactus has played many roles in South American tradition and folklore. As with any hostile climate, indigenous species that seem to offer solace will inevitably acquire mystical significance as the protection they offer is associated with promise. To the parched population of parched landscapes, cacti are life-giving, life-saving, surprising, mysterious, frightening- divine. Cacti started off on American continents, and are still most associated with these places- but they have experienced a massive geographical distribution over the centuries, and cacti have been able to instigate habitats around the world. One rumour says that Christopher Columbus was the first person to have taken the first cactus to Europe, presenting this peculiar plant to Queen Isabella of Spain, however this is of course apocryphal. During their explorations on the American continents, the Spanish Conquistadors found, among many other things, these strange vision inducing plants that were utilised ceremonially by the natives as a religious sacrament and was revered as virtual gods. The native South American name for their spineless dense-shaped cactus (Lophophora Williamsii) was peyoti. It is a plant native to Mexican and south west US with button like tubercles which may be eaten fresh or dried as a narcotic. Initially, Cacti (peyoti) were employed for healing purposes, for attempting to divine the future and for generating hallucinogenic visions during scared rites. Although these hallucinations often appear to be compared to LSD trips, the peyote â€Å"acid† is 4000 times less potent, only briefly affecting the chemical balance and activity of the brain. The Spanish chronicler, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, claimed that natives used a certain plant to induce hallucinatory state and estimated that peyote was widely used at least 1890 years before the arrival of Europeans. The earliest European record dates from around 1635 with the first column of Historia de las Indias Occidentales by Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo y Valdes appeared with illustrations of what we would now classify as Cereus and Opuntia. In 1886 that the German pharmacologist, Louis Lewin, published the first systematic study of the cactus, to which his own name was subsequently given- Anhalonium lewinii. The cactus was already well known and loved by primitive religions and the Indians of Mexico and the American Southwest. One of the early Spanish visitors to the New World wrote, they eat a root which they call peyote, and which they venerate as though it were a deity. It became clear why this plant was venerated as a god, when such eminent psychologists as Jaensch, Havelock Ellis and Weir Mitchell began their experiments with mescalin, the active principle of peyote. Mescalin research has continued, and now chemists have not only isolated the alkaloid; they have learned how to synthesize it, so that the supply no longer depends on the sparse and infrequent crop of desert cacti. Neurologists and physiologists have spent years investigating the mechanism of mescalins action upon the central nervous system, and at everyone from philosophers to writers- notably Aldous Huxley- have taken mescalin in the hope that this mystical cactus extract may shed some light on such ancient, unsolved riddles as the place of mind in nature and the relationship between brain and consciousness. It is surely no coincidence that the peyote cactus, so ubiquitous, so loved and feared, is also identified as the solution to ancient problems of human displacement. We identify with the cactus perhaps. It projects intelligently, like an alien from the sand, while we wonder how we are supposed to best relate to our surroundings. When we look at the cactus we see ourselves done better. If anything on the planet holds the key to mans reconciliation with his estranged mother nature, it is surely the cactus. It is too alien to be part of our problem, we reason, so it must be part of the solution. 2) Taoism and Nature â€Å"Humans model themselves on earth, Earth on heaven, Heaven on the Way, And the way on that which is naturally so.† Lao Tse Daodejing (Tao te ching) #251 This simple but sententious dictum was delivered by an Chinese ancient sage, Lao Tse, the founder of Taoism. The saying suggests a means of building a harmonious relationship between beings and nature. Taoist ideas about conservation and ecology, with nature as the inspiration and conclusion to all things, reflect and resemble new philosophies of industrial design, to some extent. Alongside Buddhism and Confucianism, Taoism is one of the three great religions of China. It can be roughly translated into English as â€Å"path†, or â€Å"the way†- that is, the way of correspondence between man and nature, and the way that is a kind of path of nature the course of natural world. The term Tao describes a power that envelops and flows through all things, both living and nonliving. As such, it serves to regulate natural processes and encourage a cosmic balance of all things in the Universe. Tao suggests that the answers to lifes problems can be found through inner meditation and outer observation. Taoist ideas and images may have nurtured or inspired a love of nature in the Chinese, so that they have traditional felt a need to protect it, and have had many ways of cultivating an affinity with it. The Chinese have always seen nature as a companion, a place of security and support to which they could retreat from the cares of the world to rest or heal themselves. Nature, through Tao, is also sincerely life-affirming. Nature can be unfathomably brutal and Tao constantly reminds that the external world is explicitly on-ideal: in fact, according to Tao, the ideal world can only be found through a spiritual path. The only thing that might compromise ones eternal happiness, in Tao as in Buddhism, was a state of mind, an attitude. Both Tao and Nature are associated with a non-materialistic attitude to life, a spiritual approach to living which many perceive as a possible answer to the social issues of today: the problems of sustaining a unified and healthy social order. Taoists believe their religion holds the answers, as it advises its followers to emulate nature, with its simplicity and relaxed, non-intellectual approach to life. Tao seems to suggest that many of the environmental problems of today have arisen from a materialistic human attitude that has overwhelmed mans spiritual relationship with his natural environment. Rather than coexisting with our living space, people have begun challenging it, and it has even become a respectable achievement to be seen to â€Å"conquer† nature. An estimated 42 million acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed annually, an area the size of Washington State. Around 50,000 species of plants and animals are condemned to extinction every year, an average of about 140 species a day. There are more people than ever, and these people routinely pillage resources, destroy or change natural processes arbitrarily and are support the production of thousands of products that lead towards the destructive path of the environment – contradicting the Taoist path. Increasingly materialist in their lifestyles, most people believe that only matter exists, leaving no room for spiritual beliefs. Our quest for pleasure corresponds to a demand placed on the Earth for immediate gain. The visible world takes precedence over any spiritual or psychological activities and ultimately a form of materialism becomes the only truth and belief. Natures force is unknowable in its essence but observable in its manifestations. With the crisis of energy a nd resources, the crisis of ecology and environment, the crisis of belief and mortality we experience force in the form of natures lamenting reactions. We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs. We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature. We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, which we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond. Creed of the Western Reform Taoist Congregation The recent revival of instinctive desires preserve the health of our planets life without compromising human comfort is the task of ecological attitudes in art and design. Those ecological design solutions that take on board Taoist philosophies link nature, culture, and technology to resituate social human requirements in an environment where the balance of nature receives precedence. Artists and designers must of course work within the constraints imposed by their clients, including the practical and material demands made by every stage of production. Classical Taoist philosophy, formulated in part by Laozi (the Old Master, 5th century B.C.), in part by the editor of the Daodejing (Classic of the Way and its Power), and in part by Zhuangzi (3rd century B.C.), represented a reinterpretation and development of an ancient nameless tradition of nature worship and divination. Laozi and Zhuangzi, living at a time of social disorder and great religious skepticism developed the notion of the Dao (Tao way, or path) as the origin of all creation and the force unknowable in its essence but observable in its manifestation that underlies the mechanisms of the natural world. These men saw in Dao, Nature, and in Nature, Dao. In both these Ways lay the secret to harmonious living. According to these early teachers, the order and harmony of nature was a model for human structures, so much more stable and enduring than either the power of the state or the civilized institutions constructed by human learning. The early Taoists taught the art of li ving and surviving by conforming with the natural way of things; they called their approach to action wuwei (wu-wei lit. no-action), action modelled on nature. As one writer explains, â€Å"Their sages were wise, but not in the way the Confucian teacher was wise, learned and a moral paragon. Zhuangzis sages were often artisans, butchers or woodcarvers. The lowly artisans understood the secret of art and the art of living. To be skillful and creative, they had to have inner spiritual concentration and put aside concern with externals, such as monetary rewards, fame, and praise. Art, like life, followed the creative path of nature, not the values of human society.† Chinese history is dense with stories of people who have grown tired of the pretensions and desperation of social activism increasingly aware of the fragility of human achievements, and whose response has been to retire from the world and turn to nature. Such people have traditionally retreated to a countryside or mountain setting to commune with natural beauty, often composing poetry about nature , or painting interpretations of the scenes surrounding them, as they attempted to capture the creative forces at the heart of Natures vitality. Such people might share their excursions with friends or family, drinking a bite of wine, enjoying the autumn leaves or the evening skies. The literature of Chinese utopians often had a Taoist slant: Tao Qians famous Peach Blossom Spring told of a fisherman who happened across an idyllic Chinese community who had fled a war-torn land centuries earlier, and lived in perfect simplicity and harmony ever since, blissfully oblivious to the turmoil of history beyond their idyll. While the inhabitants urged him to stay, the fisherman departed and shared his discovery with a local official. However hard he tried, he never found a path back to the grove. The fisherman never found a route back because he had failed to understand that he had discovered an abstracted, ideal, world – and one which was to be found not via an external path, but a spiritual one. The utopia was a state of mind, a unique attitude. Laozi and Zhuangzi had reinterpreted nature worship and belief in esoteric â€Å"magical† arts as something both more abstract and more tangible, but the ancient methods and beliefs crept back into the tradition as ways of using knowledge of the Dao to enhance and prolong life. Despite its pragmatism, for some Taoism would always go hand in hand with magical belief. Some Taoists poured their energies into a search for isles of the immortals, or for herbs that could unlock the secrets of immortal life. Many Taoists were interested in health and carried out many studies of herbal medicine and pharmacology, in fact entailing significant advancements in these arts. Taoists even worked out the principles of macrobiotic cooking and other supposedly new and healthy diets. Sensitive to natural processes, they recorded gymnastic mechanisms and studied the effects of massage on keeping the body strong and youthful. Taoists were, then, both magicians and of proto-scientists: they represented the sector of Chinese culture that most closely studied and communed with nature. Some Taoists held that nature was filled with spirits however, theosophically, such spirits were simply many manifestations of the one Dao, something impossible to represent as a single image or in one discreet form. â€Å"The Tao of Heaven operates mysteriously and secretly ; it has no fixed shape; it follows no definite rules; it is so great that you can never come to the end of it, it is so deep that you can never fathom it.† The Huai Nau Tzu The central theme of Taoism is a relationship, and as such contradicts the general western attitude to nature. Nature should not be considered as something passive, awaiting mans masterful control, but as an equal or even superior partner be mastered in a relationship. The aim of the Taiost is to rediscover and eventually merge with the ordered origin of the universe and the only way to do so is the Tao – the path shown to us by nature. Early Taoist philosophers set out from their civilised worlds to take expeditions into the natural world, where they hoped to learn from primitive people living in remote mountain villages. Initially they aimed to introduce the benefits of human civilization to the mysteriously rhythmed order of nature. According to the Tao, nature is â€Å"infinitely wise, infinitely complex, and infinitely irrational. One must take a yielding stance and abandon all intellectual preconceptions. The goal is wu wei, doing nothing contrary to nature. Nature does not need to be perfected or improved. It is we who need to change; we need to come into accord.† Contrary to one possible interpretation of Yin/Yang, Taoists rejected all dichotomies, including the fundamental existence/non existence one, since it is their belief that both stem from the same source, â€Å"Athe deep and the profound. Rather, Taoisms goal is to use consciousness of duality and wisdom about it to reach the stage before any dualities existed. There is only one path to this source, then – the observation of nature. As one writer explains, â€Å"The Tao is a divine chaos, not a random accident. It is fertile, undifferentiated, and teeming with unrealized creation. It is the mother of everything in nature; it is a great darkness that operates spontaneously to give birth and life to all things.† 3) Ecological thinking in contemporary art and design Are we really moving towards a common lexicon of human creation and natural creation? Alan Power cites Steiners â€Å"startling prediction†, â€Å" Buildings will begin to speak. They will speak a language of which people have as yet not even an inkling,† Yet I wonder how startling this really is. Buildings are indeed more â€Å"scientific†, more complex with less obvious evidence of human intervention. Many buildings nowadays appear to have been designed and built by aliens, no longer made to be lived in but impenetrable to our rational human minds. Again, they resemble complex organisms in their initially baffling structure, their illogical shapes and apparent preference of shape and form to practicality. But they are still made by humans, albeit humans employing a dozen layers of technology to translate abstract geometry into audaciously confusing formulae. They are still constructed by and for humans to use, and to that extent are utterly comprehensible, at least to the humans that use them. Where there is room for gratuitous aesthetic treatment in a design, designers, consciously or not, grasp the zeitgeist, construct from fashionable and available materials, and exploit their artistic freedom as far as their unconscious n otions of the â€Å"aesthetic† will allow them to. These notions, I am attempting to argue, are controlled by biologically ingrained forms of the organic. It doesnt matter if a building is technically accomplished to exhibit skeletal forms, as with the giant domes of the Eden Complex in Cornwall, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Mildred Cooper chapel in Arkansas or swollen like the pregnant belly of the Guggenheim, NY . Nature can be found in all design, both rational and irrational, and the more we try to escape it, to avoid mimicking it, the more we are forced to study its base rules, its gravity and its ebb and flow, the tensile strength of its spider-webs, the effects of its uncontrollable eruptions and tidal waves and tornados. Nature is absolutely full of potential metaphors for ways in which we can improve our lives. Today, apple peels are being used by scientists at the University of Clemson as a metaphor for edible packages disolvable pouches like boil in the bags that add protein to a macaroni and cheese dinner, or packages that act as a booster for laundry detergent. Theres certainly a human instinct to perceive products inspired in obvious ways by nature, as being somehow â€Å"good† for us, or â€Å"good† in a moral sense. Of course, human instincts are not to be trusted blindly, and it doesnt follow that because a kind of packaging is inspired by an apple core it is environmentally friendly, inspirational, beautiful, or better for us or the world. But I suppose it has a slightly higher chance of being one or more of these things, our instincts are not too wide of the mark and do control the things we want to buy and sell. A study entitled â€Å"Trees in Small City Business Districts: Comparing Responses of Residents Potential Visitors† begins, â€Å"This study tested whether public response to trees in the downtown business districts of smaller cities is comparable. Research methods included interviews and mail-out surveys. Survey respondents prefer having large trees in retail streetscapes. Trees are also associated with reported increases in patronage behavior (such as travel distance and visit frequency), and willingness to pay more for products. Few differences in response were detected between small city residents and potential visitors who reside in large cities.† What is it about natural organisms that make us want to part with our money? Marketing strategies state such things as fact, using careful example to â€Å"prove† what we â€Å"intuitively† want to believe is true that â€Å"good product and package designers have known for centuries- that the best inspiration for new products comes from nature. The camera mimics the human eye. Helicopters, like hummingbirds, can hover and fly backwards. Velcro brand fasteners were inspired by prickily burrs attached to a Scottish inventors boot.† They get away with this because nature is, and has always been, such an alien force to us humans, as we have seen. Like an alien from another planets, we hope it will be benevolent and, through its own irrepressible character, its mysterious and enviable immortality, hold the secrets to our own improved lifestyles and lifespans. Of course our relationship with nature has changed slightly as we have changed, as a race, but our view of H er remains essentially the same as ever. We still need to imitate and control what we see outside us, in the hope that we can sypher off a little of the magic and mystery for ourselves. In the developed world these harmless, yet irrepressible rhythms are increasingly invisible. It is possible to spend months in a city dwelling, never seeing a dead animal, a nesting bird, a tree in blossom. Nature has become more promising, more mysterious, more magical, and more frightening through its real invisibility, but nature is not wilfully elusive or coy, this is an invisibility we that have imposed. Inevitably, the packages and products that are environmentally superior that are kind to nature also resemble it: they might be inherently efficient, easily recycable, and often they use recycled materials made from renewable resources. One organisation creating such products, back in their 1990s heyday, was â€Å"Zerosm†, and they identified several techniques fo

UK software industry

In the business world strategic positioning has become an unavoidable endeavor as businesses look for every means of improving their competitive advantage. In such a business environment, a much reliable reprieve can be found in the adaptation of analysis models by organizations in their marketing campaigns. PEST analysis models have been utilized by organizations all over the world to determine or predict future trends in business as well as to take preemptive measures to avoid running into losses (Charles, Hill, & Jones, 2006p. 9-98),. Below is a PEST analysis of UK’s software industry. Political factors The political changes in the UK really do impact negatively on the software industry, although of late, there has been a concerted effort to enact legislation to curb software piracy which has been termed as one of the greatest threats to the industry. Currently the anti-piracy law of UK prohibits and sets forth legal measures against perpetrators of the crime and it is anti cipated that this will stamp out the vice that is so rife in the UK. From a global perspective, different political scenarios in different countries where the software industry market their products also impacts on the performance of the industry, for instance, the software industry is affected negatively when other countries which have been traditionally markets for UK software companies change to competitors for instance China and India. This is usually occasioned by regime change in those countries. Gender equality has also had a significant influence of the industry I that, they have been forced to change their labor policies to reflect equal opportunities accorded to all genders. Economic Factors. Although there is a clear-cut difference between political factors and economic factors some happenings in political arenas have had an impact on the economic factors for instance legislation touching on taxation for software products. Currently the economic state in the UK is friendly and no signals point to the contrary. Relatively stable exchange rates, as well as low inflation levels, a steady income growth in the domestic market, have all contributed positively the growth of the sector in the UK and is projected to continue that way into the future. Social Factors. As these determine the buying behavior for customers, the UK market can be said to be mature in that, sales and demand for software products is on the increase, a trend that has continued for the past three years. The fact that, most software products are not viewed as hazardous and there fore are looked at as harmless has contributed to a positive growth of the software market in the UK. This can be evidenced by the fact that, people from all walks of life can purchase different software custom made. There have been few cases of major complaints form the society in terms of their usability and effectiveness of what is on offer in the market. This further strengthens the future position of the sector as far as viability and profitability are concerned. Technological Factors. Advances in this area especially as occasioned by computers, the internet, as well as well as cell phones, has had an impact on software industry in that, production has become cheaper than it would have been in the absence of the above. In the UK, majority of the software companies have invested heavily on technology and this has been reflected in surging profits. In conclusion, from the above analysis it is clear that, the future for software industry in the UK I bright and those businesses which shall capitalize themselves by taking a strategic position are more likely to thrive.

Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men Analysis - 1257 Words

How does Steinbeck Use Foreshadowing in his Text? Foreshadowing is the way an author uses clues to show the reader what happens later in the book. In 1937 John Steinbeck published the American classic, â€Å"Of Mice and Men,† a short story that tells the tale of George and Lennie, two migrant workers during the Great Depression. George, a small quick man, and his companion, Lennie, an enormous man with the mind of a child. They begin work at a ranch and come across Crooks, Candy, Slim, Curley, Curley’s wife, and many more characters that reside among the ranch. The pair’s biggest goal is to live the American Dream, to own a piece of land and live off themselves instead of strangers. Sadly, the book ends in tragedy, Lennie kills the wife, is†¦show more content†¦Burns and Steinbeck might also share a theme about how humans are the biggest threat. In â€Å"To a Mouse,† it’s the human farmer that ruins the mouse’s home. In â€Å"Of Mice and Men,† it’s Curley, the son of t he ranches’ boss, and his wife that eventually leads George to shoot his best friend. Curley’s wife is lonely and isolated from the rest of the group, this is shown best in Chapter 4 when she says, â€Å"Think I like to stick in that house alla time?† She lets Lennie pet her hair, which causes Lennie to accidently snap her neck, which causes him to be hunted by Curley in Chapter 6. Curley is a small man so self-conscious of his height that he beats up Lennie in on Page 62 just for smiling at him. So, the theme of â€Å"Of Mice and Men† parallels the theme of, â€Å"To a Mouse,† and foreshadows the resolution of Steinbeck’s novel. â€Å"I just wanted to pet it like a mouse.† This is a quote in Chapter 1 stated by Lennie. Lennie loves to pet things, it is his obsession. It’s his most lovable trait, and his biggest downfall, and of course, Steinbeck foreshadows it well. Lennie’s death is started when he snaps the wife’s neck when he pets her hair. Steinbeck foreshadows the wife’s death on Page 41, when George tells Slim, one of the other migrant workers, why they were chased out of their last job. Lennie touched a girl’s dress and was accused of rape because he wouldn’t let go, the same way he wouldn’t let go of the wife whenShow MoreRelatedOf Mice And Men Foreshadowing Analysis893 Words   |  4 Pagesnovel â€Å"Of Mice and Men† written by John Steinbeck, two migrant workers named George and Lennie embark on a journey to work from ranch to ranch and save enough money to buy their own farm. Their plan takes a crucial turn in which they didn’ t look forward to. Throughout the novel foreshadowing plays an important part in the readers’ point of view throughout the novel. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to indicate clues of what is to come in the future. There are four examples where foreshadowing is used inRead MoreAnalysis Of Of Mice And Men1132 Words   |  5 PagesMax Nesins Mrs. Thompson HSE 1; Period 3 November 3, 2015 Analysis of Of Mice and Men. During the 1930’s Great Depression, author, John Steinbeck (1902-1968) wrote many books regarding the difficulties and tragedies that struck farmers who strived to make a living in a rural, and destitute California. One intriguing novel that exhibits his common themes is Of Mice and Men. People similar to Lennie, strive to achieve their dream in America, the land of unlimited potential, despite the depressionRead MoreOf Mice And Men By Lora Colon1750 Words   |  7 PagesJunna Chen Peterson Honors English 25 September 2015 Of Mice and Men Analysis â€Å"But, I m already resigned to this fate / Looking over my life, I recall / If it hadn t been / for the loneliness / I d have no companion at all. † This stanza from â€Å"Loneliness†, by Lora Colon evokes the negative impact a lonely fate has on a person. Words like â€Å"resigned† and â€Å"loneliness† establish a sense of depression and resignation. During the times of the Great Depression, many people felt similar feelings of melancholyRead MoreAnalysis of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck1493 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of ‘Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ‘Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about. In my opinion Steinbeck drew the subject matter from his own experience of working on ranches, he was interested in special kinds of relationships among men working on ranches with him. ThereRead MoreEssay about Analysis of ‘Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 1488 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of ‘Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ‘Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about. Read MoreSummary Of Of Mice And Men 2276 Words   |  10 PagesKratin Kumar Period 2 Mrs.Maude 4/17/15 Of Mice and Men Homework Assignments Chapter One I. Interpreting Meaning 1. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie Small is a large, lumbering man who acts like a child. What makes him a child is that mentally he is challenged. Because Lennie has a mental disability, he is dependent on George for all his needs. George is a well-fit human being while Lenny is disabled, causing George to be in charge of Lennie. The disabled one does not manipulate the knowledge one, butRead MoreSummary Of Of Mice And Men Essay2240 Words   |  9 PagesQueenie Lau Mrs. Moskovitz English IH- Period 5 20 May 2016 Of Mice and Men Ap Book Report 1. Title of Work: Of Mice and Men 2. Author and Date Written: The book â€Å"Of Mice and Men† was written in 1937 by John Steinbeck, which was during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The Great Depression caused many to lose their jobs and their homes in a short period of time. Few were rich during this time and those who had no money starved. Approximately 25% of people during the Great Depression had no jobsRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1397 Words   |  6 Pagesmarket plummeted, the American perspective on life swelled, creating what many saw as â€Å"The American Dream.† The dream that Americans, no matter the position, heritage, or gender, has an equal opportunity for a better life. In John Steinbeck s â€Å"Of Mice and Men,† two migrant workers have a dream of, one day, achieving prosperity through obtaining a ranch of their own. Throughout their endeavor, however, it is shown that their ambitions are torn down, never to be accomplished. As discerned throughout thisRead MoreAna lysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audiences Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men1357 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audiences Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men In the first moments of a film, the director will attempt to capture the audiences imagination. He does this so that the audience maintains its interest. The Director will use a number of cinematic techniques to create a sense of urgency, suspense and dramatic tension. These techniques are often shown by fusing picture and sound. An exampleRead MoreAn Analysis Of Matryonas Home By Alexander Solzhenitsyn936 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"Matryona’s Home† Analysis In Alexander Solzhenitysn’s story â€Å"Matryona’s Home†, Solzhenitsyn creates a relationship between an out of town visitor, Ignatch and an elderly woman, Matryona. Matryona reluctantly opens up her home to Ignatch, over the course of their housing together they begin to form some sort of a friendship. Ignatch begins to understand Matryona’s way of life that â€Å"she illustrates a spirituality that eschews greed and self-interest† (Paloni). Her willingness to help others without