Raw: Natural Artists promote artists’ work

Posted on February 3, 2014 by singhkev

RAW: Natural Born Artists is an international community made up of creative individuals from across the globe. They welcome all genres of art and encourage the creative success of the many up and coming artists of our generation. This organization operates in over 60 cities, including Australia, Canada, and recently in London, England! Their mission is to provide artists within the first 10 years of their career all the tools, resources, and exposure needed to launch them into a successful and lifelong career.

Directors of the organization handpick and spotlight local artist talent each year. Their events come together to form a one-night “circus of creativity.” These events occur once a month in city locations all across the globe. Their events run from Feburary to October and end with their indie arts awards show, RAWards in Hollywood, California!

Smallbiz Orlando Studio will kickoff the 2014 season and the featured artist is Kathryn McHenry. Since being chosen as a RAW:Orlando artist in March of 2013, she has catapaulted her career and has won several awards and accomplishments. She loves to walk around the downtown/Thornton park district for inspiration, which comes from the developing city and the new plans for it in 2014. Her passion is capturing those developing moments through photography to document this progession. On a personal level, what makes her world go round is being surrounded by the peaceful nature, laughter shared with her family and friends, meeting new people and the joy that her dogs bring each day.

Yellow Bird Photography was created by a woman named Sarah from Ohio. She first started out as a Visual Communications student at Columbus state, but then moved to MA and attended the Hallmark Institute of Photography, from which she graduated in 2005. After graduation she moved to Orlando and has since worked with many bands and artists, as well as companies and private clients.

John Currie first started drawing at the age of two. It was intended to be a distraction for when his parents were tending to his new baby sister, and it has now turned into a full time passion. He drew on everything he could get his hands on, and when he finished middle school, he realized that it was kind of overkill, so he turned to playing the guitar instead. After playing and practicing all through high school and thinking about college, he decided on a major in art. Today, his two passions balance each other, so whether he is drawing or playing the guitar, he could not be happier with where he is.

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Illegal Drug Trade in Central America has Devastating Consequences on Local Forests.

Posted on February 3, 2014 by jsjones

The Science magazine has recently published findings indicating a somber future for the forests of Central America.

Researchers are stating that the heavy amounts of drug trafficking which is present in that area are causing the forests in such countries as Nicaragua and Honduras to grow incredibly sparse.

Unfortunately, the previously abundant and diverse trees are being cut down as drug traffickers make room for trails, roads, and room to land their planes. Reports describe that the surge in drug trafficking within Central America came about after the United States put pressure on Mexico’s drug cartels. In order to evade law enforcement, many of the smugglers moved their businesses further south.

The devastating consequences of this illegal drug trade are becoming increasingly apparent as forests are depleted causing not only damage to the lands but to wildlife as well. As more trees are removed, the negative environmental impact these actions are causing is leading some conservationists to call for a reformation of current drug policies in the United States as what they have done is to push the drug smuggling into southern regions.

Additionally, in certain areas, drug smugglers are buying off local officials in Central American countries so that they are able to get away with conducting their drug trading. Therefore, not only must work be done to rid the local areas of the crimes but within the governments as well.

Without a doubt, it is clear that more conservation efforts need to be made in order to end the deforestation occurring in these areas.

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Lost in Translation Over Social Media

Posted on February 3, 2014 by ljthom

Here in the year 2014, there are more means of communication now than ever before. Mostly through computers and wireless devices.
How many ways to communicate are necessary in this day in age? I’m not proud of it, but I have three email accounts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and a Tumblr blog to communicate with people all over the world. It is such a hassle to maintain all seven accounts. They distract me from my homework, spiritual upbringing, and time spent with family and friends. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t delete my accounts because they are helpful when networking. Social media accounts are designed to bring or world together, as a sense of community. They are not intended to misconstrue opinions and tear one another apart.
An unfortunate negative, to social media is when people’s posts aren’t perceived how the author intended. This recently happened to me when I posted a picture after I attended an event, of which I didn’t think was so controversial. One of my family members decided to Facebook message me in response to my picture and they completely misunderstood my intentions, and in return I misunderstood theirs as well.
When do we recognize how to communicate over the phone, so these situations don’t occur over social media? If I could have heard their tone of voice, or seen their body language, our conversation could have translated how it intended.
A few concepts I learned from this situation are:
1. Analyze every post in relation to anyone who may read it.
2. When responding to someone’s post, recognize the best way to communicate with him or her, even if it is through another medium of communication.

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Yoani Sanchez: The Independent Reporter of Cuba

Posted on February 3, 2014 by samsheres

After many years of the long “Castrist” domination in Cuba, there have been many individuals that raised up in order to get a voice out of the country itself. The reason why these voices were born was the demand and need to report about the lack of liberty that have been predominating in Cuba during the past years.

Nowadays the most famous out of these voices is Yoani Sanchez. A Cuban journalist and blogger who decided to narrow the world about all these things through her blog: Generation Y. Through Generation Y, this young-middle age philologist has take the role of demanding the Cuban government to change some political and economical aspects in order to allow the Cubans to have a well-being and the availability to been treated as persons according to the human rights. Which are actually being violated by the Cuban homeland.

Regarding Yoani’s background, she was born in La Habana in 1975, and had her parents had communist ideology. Her father worked in the railway however when the sector dropped in a deep crisis he changed his job to a bike repairer. While her mother worked in a taxi headquarter.

In 2007, her blog was successfully a reality, and nowadays have a wide audience counting with thousands of readers. However Yoani also collaborates with international means of communications such as newspapers around the globe. For example, The Huffington Post, El Pais (Spain), Clarin (Argentina), and The Miami Herald.

Yoani’s success has been recognized around the globe by influential people such as Barack Obama. She has also received the award Ortega y Gasset by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, and Time chose her blog as within the top 25 of the world.

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Can SeaWorld Get a Break From Blackfish?

Posted on February 3, 2014 by alyssakelly

In the past year SeaWorld has taken a beating from the premier of Blackfish.  This film takes you through the story of Tilikum and how keeping killer whales in captivity is a danger to the whales and people.  On the Blackfish Official Film Site, they describe Blackfish as “A mesmerizing psychological thriller with a killer whale at its centre, Blackfish is the first film since Grizzly Man to show how nature can get revenge on man when pushed to its limits.”

This month SeaWorld hosts their Bands, Brews, and BBQ at the park.  This event has well-known artists performing every weekend.  But because of all the Blackfish backlash, many performers have backed out.  Even though SeaWorld is holding their own, anti-SeaWorld activists are still trying to deter people from the parks.

Up until this past week the public, and employees of SeaWorld, did not know who was going to perform for their first weekend of the event let alone the rest of them.  After releasing the performers Wednesday,  There were already people protesting and petitioning these artists by Thursday.

It seems like SeaWorld is going to keep their lineup a secret to avoid having their guests and performers being harassed and petitioned against.  Many other big names that were released in advanced have backed out of performing so that they aren’t in the middle of a controversy and other reasons.  Anti-SeaWorld activists are going to be around for a long time and SeaWorld has a long road to recovery.  What’s their next move?  Can they shake the given reputation as harming animals?  I personally don’t believe the reputation given to SeaWorld from Blackfish, but I am interested in what SeaWorld is going to do to fix this.

Blackfish Official Film Site

SeaWorld’s “Truth About Blackfish”

 

 

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Man Robbed of His $50,000 Twitter Account

Posted on February 3, 2014 by rhinopm

Naoki Hiroshima has been a Twitter user under the handle “@N” since 2007. Apparently, this is a well sought-after screen name and Hiroshima has been contacted for years by people begging him to give up or sell his username. Someone even offered him $50,000 for his twitter name, which he declined. One computer hacker was determined to obtain the name at all costs. Using an elaborate scheme to trick a PayPal employee into divulging personal information about Hiroshima, he gained access to his Go Daddy account, and through this was able to commandeer his email and website, holding them hostage until Hiroshima relinquished the username.

Thankfully, all this hacker wanted was a screen name and not money or classified information. It’s very scary to think that with a couple phone calls, and a decent amount of computer skills, someone can have access to all of your online accounts, from Facebook, to online banking. With constantly growing technologies, online security is increasingly important. PayPal and Go Daddy are both denying any fault in the situation, though investigators are looking further into the details of the hack. If no one can admit responsibility, this is setting an example for any potential hacker that if they trick enough people, no one will want to admit fault and they can get away with anything. Who can be held accountable for Hiroshima’s potential losses? If Twitter were to attempt to solve the problem, and restore the account to Hiroshima, what would stop the hacker from a repeat performance? Is there any way to guarantee secure online usage, or are we always vulnerable to a cyber attack? It will be interesting to see what will come of this.

 

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Philip Seymour Hoffman Dies At 46

Posted on February 2, 2014 by mpabian

Philip Seymour Hoffman, possibly the one of the most widely admired and unforgettable American actors of this or any generation, died on Sunday in his apartment in Greenwich Village he was using as an office. He was 46.

Hoffman gave depth to a vast array of sidekicks, villains and lead roles on screen and TV. He embraced some of the theater’s most cumbersome roles on Broadway as well.

His death was from an apparent drug overdose, which has been confirmed by police. Mr. Hoffman was found in the office by a friend, screenwriter David Katz, who had become concerned after not being able to reach him. Hoffman had recently been working on a project with Katz. Detectives found a syringe in his arm and a nearby envelope containing what seemed to be heroin.

Hoffman has been long known to struggle with addiction. In 2006, he mentioned in an interview with “60 Minutes” that he had stopped using drugs and alcohol years earlier, when he was 22. Last year he checked into a rehab for about a week and a half after a addiction to prescription pills. This may have resulted in his briefly turning again to heroin.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone,” says Hoffman’s family. “This is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grieving. Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers.”

Here is a link to a touching tribute by The A.V. Club

——->http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-philip-seymour-hoffman-201004

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Diesel Promotes Diversity in Latest Ad Campaign

Posted on February 2, 2014 by kmart239

In an age where body image is plummeting and society’s emphasis on appearance is skyrocketing Diesel, a clothing brand, has taken a huge step in a positive direction. Most major ad campaigns focus on an unrealistic image of beauty. Young girls are flooded with images of size zero models with flawless skin and perfect bodies. Somehow these images are intended to persuade viewers to buy the products being advertised despite the unrealistic and sometimes harmful advertising. Take for example Urban Outfitters, a popular retailer that just got a lot of backlash after the release of t-shirt that simply stated ‘eat less.’ What kind of message is that sending to viewers?

Diesel is being praised for their most recent ad campaign showing a male model posing with blogger Jillian Mercado, who must use a wheelchair because she suffers from spastic muscular dystrophy. A daring move by the clothing brand to show that anyone can wear their clothes. Mercado raves about the photos stating, “Every photo that they release, someone can relate to it. And that’s rare in the fashion industry, to be able to relate and say, ‘You know that’s me in that photo, through that person.”

Other companies are following in Diesel’s footsteps. The popular brand Aerie recently released a campaign for their bras and underwear with completely untouched photos of their models. They keep their stretch marks, tattoos, and true figures for advertising that truly conveys a real image that viewers can relate to. If the fashion industry can keep this up young girls and guys can look at images in the media with positive outlooks.

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Textbooks are getting more expensive and its hurting students.

Posted on February 2, 2014 by keegan.kennedy

College is a rough time for many students who move out to experience lives on their own. For many of us its the first time we have to deal with serious responsibilities, bills and expenses. On top of what we need to survive (housing and food) we have to deal with the rising price of tuition and textbooks. The cost of textbooks has increased by 82% in the last decade, making it harder and harder for students to be able to afford them. Another issue is the fact that a new, more expensive edition of a book( many times with just an extra chapter or paragraph) comes out practically every year. This makes it so if you buy a book, you cant even resell it; by the time you are done with it, theres another edition out.

Professors almost always “require” a textbook for their classes, even though often the textbook is rarely used. My guess is professors do this to cover themselves; You cant blame them for failing if you had bought the book. These circumstances leave students guessing wether the book will be used in their class or not. When we’re talking about a book that’s close to 200$, many of us think about it. The problem is its hard to tell wether or not you need a book for a class; usually once you fail a test you wish you would have bought it, but by then you may be a little late.

Lawmakers in California have started trying to enact open-textbook laws that allow for free access to select textbooks. The programs have been progressing slowly due to funding problems and getting university faculties to go along with it. However, in my opinion this a great step towards ensuring that education stays affordable and accessible to everyone.

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Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead

Posted on February 2, 2014 by alicia mitchell

Philip Seymour Hoffman (46) was found dead in his apartment in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. The cause of death is not official but it has been determined as an overdose. The actor was found with a needle in his arm. A screenwriter found him dead in his bathroom around 11:15 a.m. who then called 911.

Hoffman was shooting the “Hunger Games” follow-ups “Mockingjay Part 1 and 2” in Atlanta, Georgia, for his role as Plutarch Heavensbee. He is also known for winning best actor Oscar for “Capote” in 2005. His last appearance was at the Sundance Film Festival where he was promoting his new films “God’s Pocket” and Anton Corbin’s “A Most Wanted Man.”

I’m sad that he has passed away, but I’m disappointed on the way it happened. Should we feel sad for another actor that passes away from an overdose? Maybe it was from the pressure of Big Hollywood or personal problems that lead him to drugs, but should that make us feel sorry for him? Most people think overdosing is something bad and look down on it when it involves random people, but when an actor dies from it we feel sorry for them. Maybe we don’t feel sad about the passing, but our greediness of not being able to see that person perform on screen again?

I will always remember Hoffman by the great films he worked on: “Boogie Nights”, “The Big Lebowski”, “Magnolia”, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “25th Hour”, “Capote”, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” and “Moneyball”. I don’t know what demons Hoffman was running away from, but I hope he found peace at the end.

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