Urban Life in Local Neighborhood Essay Example for Free

Urban Life in Local Neighborhood Essay Community Board 3 of Manhattan is a part of Chinatown, covering the Lower East Side of the town. It is a largely diverse community, with variety of races, languages, culture, and customs protecting the uniqueness of the district. Today, economy remains to be a major concern. Portion of the population thrive on assistance, others are homeless, and most of what makes up the population are of immigrant status. The district was a foundation on mixed cultures through the many immigrants who settled in the area. This is not surprising though. It is a frontier to immigration, an entryway. Therefore, it is not surprising if immigrants would opt to stay. Population Then and Now The population of the community is in a constant rise. In 1980, the recorded population is 154, 848. With this figure as a base rate, there was a 4. 4% increase in 1990 where the population recorded increased to 161,617. In the turn of the millennium in 2000, Manhattan Community Board 3 is home to 164,407 people, a 1. 7% increase from the 1990 figure. (Manhattan Community District 3, nd) Between 2000 and 2004, an interesting tabulation of births, deaths, and infant mortality has been recorded. In 2000, 14. 1 (2,320) per 1000 are being born. The rate decreased in 2004 where there are only 13. 7 (2,255) births in every 1000. In terms of death, the statistics were not too far apart. There were 7. 9 deaths in every 1000 in 2000, while there were 7. 7 incidences per 1000 in 2004. (Manhattan Community District 3, nd) Alarmingly, infant mortality is on a rise. In 2004, there were eight incidences of infant mortality. This embodies 3. 4 in every 1000 infants. In 2004, there became 13 deaths. This shows that there are 5. 8 deaths for every 1000 infants in the area. (Manhattan Community District 3, nd) Neighborhood Amenities The community offers several income support to its constituents. In 2000, there were more than 8,000 aids given as public assistance. There were more than 5,000 last year. Medicaid use increased from 16,012 cases to a whopping 54,727. The income support of the community has helped 23. 4 of the total population in 2000. In 2006, 74,609 or 45. 4%, almost half of the population, received help. (Manhattan Community District 3, nd) The community also features structural amenities for its constituents. It has about seven schools offering public education for elementary and secondary school students. There are more than 15 private and parochial schools for elementary and high school as well. There are also two college or post-secondary institutions. Apart from this education structures, the community also has libraries, museums, parks, playgrounds and other cultural spots. The community also enjoys hospital services, nursing homes, and other patient health services. Mental health institutions also exist in the community. The same goes with special treatment facility such as special children services and daycare services. Public safety is also not overlooked. Precincts, fire stations, narcotics unit, and battalion forces are available for the service of the people in Community District 3. Most especially, alcohol and drug abuse is being watched as the community knows that it can pose serious risks to the safety and interest of their people. Neighborhood changes Manhattan Community District 3 is a diverse community. Today, the community is undergoing a shift in its environment, dubbed as gentrification. As the community maintained a small locale atmosphere, many small establishments mostly owned by families have started closing down. They were replaced with bars and restaurants which were bigger or plainly just more commercialized. The changes in the environment still reap fruits. Nightlife has drastically increased, bringing jobs to many. (Manhattan Community District 3, nd) Neighborhood needs A primary problem in the community is homelessness. While prosperity is evident at some point, Manhattan Community Board 3 still is on the edge of everyday survival. As an example, many people were being displaced off their homes because the rents were becoming to high to afford. Alcohol is also fast becoming a problem. As more people get chances of frolicking, more establishments are acquiring licenses to sell alcoholic drinks. On the other hand, licensing is not strictly monitored. (District needs, n. d. ) Residential spaces are also fast becoming commercialized. Thus, the community needs stricter zoning monitoring and regulations. In effect, the authorities should also protect the smaller economy. The community also needs better transport system. Bus and subway systems of the community are pathetic. Traffic itself is bad with illegal parkings, sidewalk disturbances and reroutings. Sanitation is likewise unacceptable at some point as there is no real comprehensive recycling program in the area. (District needs, n. d. ) References Manhattan community district 3.. n. d. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from http://nyc. gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/mn3profile. pdf District needs. n. d. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from http://www. nyc. gov/html/mancb3/html/district/needs. shtml

Music as Substance and Form in Grace Notes :: Grace Notes

Music as Substance and Form in Grace Notes In the novel Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty, Catherine's growth as an artist through the story provides both substance and form to the story. Early on in Catherine's life, she was taught and influenced by the people close to her. Miss Bingham was her first formal teacher. She taught Catherine things she seemed to have known beforehand: "Miss Bingham says it's all inside her head and all she has to do is draw it out" (99). Miss Bingham also gave Catherine her first manuscript jotter, taking her on her way to becoming a composer. Catherine's family was also a big influence. Granny Boyd taught Catherine songs they would sing in "the rounds of the kitchen" (145). In contrast to Miss Bingham and Granny Boyd, it seems as if her father wanted to have more control over her music interest. When listening to the Lambeg drums, her father called it "Sheer bloody bigotry" (258), yet Catherine thought it interesting with the complex rhythms. The strongest influences on Catherine, as with most children, come at an early age, and for Catherine this all happens in her home town. There are also outside influences on Catherine's development as an artist. Catherine first saw Huang Xiao Gang at a composition workshop at the university. Huang talked about "pre-hearing and inner hearing" (33), and other ways of thinking of music in very non-western methods. Catherine remembers the 'pre-hearing' and 'inner hearing' quite a few times later, when she has ideas about music. Catherine also learns while visiting the composer Anatoli Melnichuck in Kiev. She does not actually learn directly from Melnichuck, but learns about things when she is there. When she visits the Refectory church she hears the bells in the bell tower, making a reverberating "Tintinnabulation" (124). Catherine as well hears the monks in the church singing. The singing came without warning, "it was not sacred singing - there was a lightness to it" (125). The singing there at the Refectory church reminded her of Granny Boyd singing 'The Bell Doth Toll'. The outside influences in Catherine's life gave s ome contrast and some interesting aspects to her music. The influences and teachings in her life all come together to create Vernicle, which is played for the BBC at the end of the novel. Her music comes in two parts, like "the bilateral symmetry of a scallop shell" (273).

IT Changes Work Environments

Initially there Was some debate as to how large Of a processor was needed to improve liability and also increase the service life of the system, we, the working group decided that mezzo upgrade should be sufficient for the systems roles and responsibilities, I know a mezzo processor. Mr.. Moor's law has and technological advances have really improved the corporate world. These advances have steam-lined international business as well as domestic. Communications have been made simpler with conference calls, emails and even online chat rooms.A company that may have a great IT concept may develop it and introduce it to a market but it will only be a short time before a impetigo company will be working on a similar concept. This has had a hand in the growth of Technology as well; it is those competitive natures that keep pushing new ideas and concepts. The main thing took away from the stages of growth is that timing is everything. If you enter too soon it can be very costly because you a re the first one to try it so you will make mistakes and to fix those mistakes can be very expensive.Not only can it be very expensive but as you are pioneering new technology everyone else is sitting back learning from your mistakes and successes at a fraction of the price. They save money and you pay the price. However if you get in too late your technology becomes out dated and you lose consumers who want a company on the cutting edge of technology. I work for US Bank and we were one of the last major banks to upgrade our Tam's with the image scan of the checks and money. We got so many complaints about why aren't our Tam's up to date.We probably lost a lot of customers over it as well. Every business wants as much market share as possible because more market share means more profit, more control, and less competition. Time ND experience have shown that standardization will bring more consumers to the market. No matter what the business is, it needs a way to operate and communica te with other businesses and consumers. According to an article by The International Journal Of Electronic Commerce, standardization in IT is critical in order for a business to make the most out of its time and resources.This article goes on to explain how â€Å"proprietary' and â€Å"open† standardization zone in on whether a business is more concerned with increasing its market share (proprietary) or more concerned with keeping its fixed share (open) but t the same time, increasing the size of the whole market. Cloud computing was a major thing for me to learn and was able to understand it more after a while. Cloud computing is the ability to store and access data and programs over the internet. Everyone wants access to their data and have immediate access to their files anytime and nap. Here. At a previous employer, our network was shared by all of our divisions in California as well as associated companies. Telecommuters were also able to share equally in the network. T his network of computers made up the cloud. When the web browser was own, we had limited or no access to our files let alone the internet. I tried not to work from home, but sometimes I was able to access my Web e-mail. Web email as well as yahoo, hotmail, and g-mail are forms of cloud computing. Organizations can rent software instead of purchasing the product.A business and their employees can run their computer tools online and process their work and file saving using their web browser. The benefit is the reduced cost for everyone involved. The downside of this concept is that the organization has to place trust in this software vendor. While reading arioso articles about AAAS, realized the software that currently use fall into this category. Sharpening is used to store and track electronic documents and images by different users. It is also password protected preventing access to people outside the organization.We search for the news in a particular manner, we seek information i n a faster method for today's standards and the internet has changed our way of discovering the news. Most of the news today is delivered through various outlets and news medias that changed the way they see the world. In the past, the world depended on the news from newspapers or word of mouth, UT primarily they would try to find information from the source. It time people found this inefficient and troublesome to their way of managing information as we see the future developed in a different manner.Information now is provided in an instant with such APS as twitter or news cast feeds that can be shared by a simple text. It is a new world of technology that has inevitably changed the way we live and see the material world at an instant. As life has see a major change we see that the news and other hard books have changed. Now we get books from Kindles and other material such s being Pads provided the information as the facts that change how we get information that we can changed the world of people, and the information as seen as being drastic change.It is important to see that you can view the aspiration of others. Learning and being part of something the can guide information towards the right direction you are able to see a good point and see that you can make it better. The data mining point of view comes from the aspect that certain changes in data are always developed. I see that certain changes in data come from different companies such as Amazon, Google, faceable, and other operating systems that use search as a primary source of work.I see that certain changes of the group of people come from the different areas of changes that can be ineffective in certain changes. In having read the article of Big Data we see that the new ways of collecting it comes from an easier method-?the consumer. When we go online our best way to find things are to search and find the best way through various inputs such as realizing the inclination of things and seeing that c ertain materials can be found through various inputs, as we will see that Google began this improvement of search engines that ignited the idea of advertising.Now business see that been able to utilize the information to have business grow their volume in the production of things, but we will see that changes in the person can have a big understanding in the aspect of learning. In retrospect, the interesting parts of this course was able to recognize the different changes in the technology world and how IT is making efficient work but scarce labor. The way see technology trending is how can we make our lives more convenient while saving time and money?Convenience to most people is how We can be productive on our smart phones and laptops by utilizing the internet. Some examples include cloud computing, online banking and depositing checks with a picture, shopping online, working from home, communicating with friends and family through social media, taking classes online, sending emai ls, games, movies, TV shows, etc. Time is money, so many people are willing to pay a premium for hi-tech devices. With Artificial Intelligence, people can rely on robots to get work done. Although robots are very expensive to buy, they can be cheaper than paying labor costs.

Sturmgewehr 44 Assault Rifle - World War II Weaponry

The Sturmgewehr 44 was the first assault rifle to see deployment on a large scale. Developed by Nazi Germany, it was introduced in 1943 and first saw service on the Eastern Front. Though far from perfect, the StG44 proved a versatile weapon for German forces. Specifications Cartridge: 7.92 x 33mm KurzCapacity: 30 roundsMuzzle Velocity: 2,247 ft./sec.Effective Range: 325 yds.Weight: Approx. 11.5 lbs.Length: 37 in.Barrel Length: 16.5 in.Sights: Adjustable sights - Rear: V-notch, Front: hooded postAction: Gas-operated, tilting boltNumber Built: 425,977 Design Development At the beginning of World War II, German forces were equipped bolt-action rifles such as the Karabiner 98k, and a variety of light and medium machine guns. Problems soon arose as the standard rifles proved too large and unwieldy for use by mechanized troops. As a result, the Wehrmacht issued several smaller submachine guns, such as the MP40, to augment those weapons in the field. While these were easier to handle and increased the individual firepower of each soldier, they had a limited range and were inaccurate beyond 110 yards. While these issues existed, they were not pressing until the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Encountering increasing numbers of Soviet troops equipped with semi-automatic rifles like the Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40, as well as the PPSh-41 submachine gun, German infantry officers began to reassess their weapons needs. While development progressed on the Gewehr 41 series of semi-automatic rifles, they proved problematic in the field and German industry was not capable of producing them in the numbers needed. Efforts were made to fill the void with light machine guns, however, the recoil of the 7.92 mm Mauser round limited accuracy during automatic fire. The solution to this issue was the creation of an intermediate round that was more powerful than pistol ammunition, but less than a rifle round. While work on such a round had been ongoing since the mid-1930s, the Wehrmacht has previously rejected it adoption. Re-examining the project, the army selected the Polte 7.92 x 33mm Kurzpatrone and began soliciting weapon designs for the ammunition. Issued under the designation Maschinenkarabiner 1942 (MKb 42), development contracts were issued to Haenel and Walther. Both companies responded with gas-operated prototypes that were capable of either semi-automatic or fully-automatic fire. In testing, the Hugo Schmeisser-designed Haenel MKb 42(H) out-performed the Walther and was selected by the Wehrmacht with some minor changes. A short production run of the MKb 42(H) was field tested in November 1942 and received strong recommendations from German troops. Moving forward, 11,833 MKb 42(H)s were produced for field trials in late 1942 and early 1943. Assessing the data from these trials, it was determined that the weapon would perform better with a hammer firing system operating from a closed bolt, rather than the open bolt, striker system initially designed by Haenel. As work moved forward to incorporate this new firing system, development temporarily came to halt when Hitler suspended all new rifle programs due to administrative infighting within the Third Reich. To keep the MKb 42(H) alive, it was re-designated Maschinenpistole 43 (MP43) and billed as an upgrade to existing submachine guns. This deception was eventually discovered by Hitler, who again had the program halted. In March 1943, he permitted it to recommence for evaluation purposes only. Running for six months, the evaluation produced positive results and Hitler allowed the MP43 program to continue. In April 1944, he ordered it redesignated MP44. Three months later, when Hitler consulted his commanders regarding the Eastern Front he was told that the men needed more of the new rifle. Shortly thereafter, Hitler was given the opportunity to test fire the MP44. Highly impressed, he dubbed it the Sturmgewehr, meaning storm rifle. Seeking to enhance the propaganda value of the new weapon, Hitler ordered it re-designated StG44 (Assault Rifle, Model 1944), giving the rifle its own class. Production soon began with the first batches of the new rifle being shipped to troops on the Eastern Front. A total of 425,977 StG44s were produced by the end of the war and work had commenced on a follow-on rifle, the StG45. Among the attachments available for the StG44 was the Krummlauf, a bent barrel that permitted firing around corners. These were most commonly made with 30Â ° and 45Â ° bends. Operational History Arriving on the Eastern Front, the StG44 was used to counter Soviet troops equipped with the PPS and PPSh-41 submachine guns. While the StG44 had a shorter range than the Karabiner 98k rifle, it was more effective at close quarters and could out-range both Soviet weapons. Though the default setting on the StG44 was semi-automatic, it was surprisingly accurate in full-automatic as it possessed a relatively slow rate of fire. In use on both fronts by wars end, the StG44 also proved effective at providing covering fire in place of light machine guns. The worlds first true assault rifle, the StG44 arrived too late to significantly affect the outcome of the war, but it gave birth to an entire class of infantry weapons that include famous names such as the AK-47 and the M16. After World War II, the StG44 was retained for use by the East German Nationale Volksarmee (Peoples Army) until it was replaced by the AK-47. The East German Volkspolizei utilized the weapon through 1962. In addition, the Soviet Union exported captured StG44s to its client states including Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as well as supplied the rifle to friendly guerrilla and insurgent groups. In the latter case, the StG44 has equipped elements of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hezbollah. American forces have also confiscated StG44s from militia units in Iraq. Selected Sources World Guns: Sturmgewehr