Television advertisement

A commercial advertisement on television (usually abbreviated to TV commercial, ad, ad-film, and known in UK as advert, or TV advert) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization, which conveys a message, typically to market a product or service.

Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes (as well as program.length infomercials). 

Advertisements of this sort have been used to promote a wide variety of goods, services and ideas since the dawn of television. The effects of television advertising upon the viewing public (and the effects of mass media in general) have been the subject of philosophical discourse by such luminaries as Marshall Mcluhan. The viewership of television programming, as measured by companies such as Nielsen Media Research, is often used as a metric for television advertisement placement, and consequently, for the rates charged to advertisers to air within a given network, television program, or time of day (called a "day-part").

In many countries, including the United States, television campaign advertisements are considered indispensable for a political campaign. In other countries, such as France, political advertising on television is heavily restricted, while some countries, such as Norway, completely ban political ads. The first official, paid television advertisement was broadcast in the United States on July 1, 1941 over New York station WNBT (now WNBC) before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. The announcement for Bulova watches, for which the company paid anywhere from $4.00 to $9.00 (reports vary), displayed a WNBT test pattern modified to look like a clock with the hands showing the time.

The Bulova logo, with the phrase "Bulova Watch Time", as shown in the lower right-hand quadrant of the test pattern while the second hand swept around the dial for one minute. The first TV ad broadcast in Asia was on Nippon TV in Tokio on August 28, 1953, advertising Seikosha (now Seiko), with also displayed a clock with the current time. The first TV ad broadcast in the UK was on ITV on 22 September 1955, advertising Gibbs SR toothpaste.

Smart TV

A Smart TV, sometimes referred to as connected TV or hibrid TV, (not to be confused with IPTV, Internet TV, or with Web TV) is a television set or set-top box with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 features, and is an example of technological convergence between computers and television sets and set-top boxes.

Besides the traditional functions of television sets and set-top boxes provided through traditional broadcasting media, these devices can also provide online interactive media, Internet TV, over-the-top content, as well as on-demand streaming media, and home networking access.

The software that runs smart TVs can be preloaded into the device, or updated or installed on demand via on app store or app marketplace, in a similar manner to how the Internet, Web widgets, and software applications (in this context commonly just referred to as "apps") are integrated in modern smartphones.

The technology that enables smart TVs is also incorporated in devices such as set-top boxes, digital media players, Blu-ray players, game consoles, digital signage hotel television systems, and other network connected interactive devices that utilize television type display outputs. 

Welcome to the future of the TV.

Television or TV.

Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium that is used for transmiting and receiving moving images and sound. Television can transmit images that are monochrome (black and white), in color, or in three dimensions.

The word "television" comes from Ancient Greek (tele = far),  and Latin (visio = sight). Television may also refer specifically to a television set, television program, or television transmission. First commercially available in very crude form on an experimental basis in the late 1920s, then popularized in greatly improved form shortly after World War II, the television set has become commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions, particularly as a vehicle for entertainment, adevertising, and news. During the 1950s, tv became the primary medium for molding public opinion.

In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting and sales of color tv sets surged in the US and began in most other developed countries. The availability of storage media such as video cassettes (mid 1970s), laserdiscs (1978), DVDs (1997), and highdefinition Blu-ray discs (2006) enabled viewers to use the television set to watch recorder material such as movies and broadcast material. 

Internet TV has seen the rise of television programming available via the Internet through services such as iPlayer, Hulu, and Netflix. In 2009, 78% of the word´s households owned at least one television set, an increase of 5% from 2003. The replacement of bulky, high-voltage cathode ray tuve (CRT) screen displays with compact, energy-efficient, flat-panel alternatives such as LCDs (both fluorescentbacklit and LED-backlit), plasma displays, and OLED displays was a major hardware revolution that began penetrating the consumer computer monitor market in the late 1990s and soon spread to TV sets. In 2013, 87% of televisions sold had color LCD screens.

Ebola virus

Ebola virus (EBOV, formerly designated Zaire ebolavirus) is the sole member of the Zaire ebolavirus species, and the most dangerous of the five known viruses within the genus Ebolavirus. Four of the five known ebolaviruses cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals, known as Ebola virus disease. The virus and its species were both originally named for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), the country where it was first described, and was at first suspected to be a new "strain" of the closely related Marburg virus; the virus (but not its species) was renamed to "Ebola virus" in 2010 to avoid confusion.

The EBOV genome is approximately 19.000 base pairs long. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerse cofactor (VP35), (VP40), GP, transcription activator (VP30), VP24, and RNA polymerase (L). It is difficult to study due to the virulent nature of the virus. Ebola virus is one of the four ebolaviruses known to cause disease in humans. It has the higest case-fatality rate of these ebolaviruses, averaging 83% since first described in 1976, although fatality rates up to 90% have been recorded in one epidemic (2002-03).

Amsterdam to Wacken 2014

Wacken Open Air (W.O.A) is a summer open air metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. With 80.000 festival visitors, and including personnel a total of roughly 86.000 attendees in 2011, it attracts all kinds of metal music fans, such as fans of black, death, power, trash, gothic, folk, metalcore, nu and hard rock from around the world.

The festival was first held in 1990 as a small event for local German bands. W.O.A. is usually held at the beginning of August and lasts three days. Since 2002, the Wacken Firefighters, the local volunteer fire department band, opens the festival. This year the confirmed bands Death Angel and Iced Earth canceled their summer shows including Wacken Open Air.

Double Main Stage, Thursday 31st July:

- Letz-Zep

- Skyline

- Bülent

- Ceylan

- Hammerfall

- Steel Panther

- Saxon

- Accept

- Masterplan

Friday, 1st August:

- Chthonic

- Skid Row

- Endstille

- Five Finger Death Punch

- Bring me the horizon

- Heaven shall burn

- Children of Bodom

- Apocalyptica

- Motörhead

- Slayer

- King Diamond

- WASP

Saturday, 2nd August:

- Arch Enemy
- Sodom
- Behemonth
- Devin Townsend Project
- Emperor
- Amon Amarth
- Megadeth
- Avantasia
- Kreator
- Van Canto

This journey was amazing and my favourite place was Alkmaar, it´s a municipaly and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it´s a popular cultural destination.

Thanks to: Victor Van Canto, Hector Our Destiny, Lu of the North, Melanie the Croatian, Alfa Romeo Mito,  Joacim Cans, Oscar Dronjak, Michael Starr, Biff Byford, Mark Tornillo, Roland Grapow, Jorn Lande, Ivan Moody, Alexi Lahilo, Eicca Toppinen, Lemmy Kilmister, Johan Hegg, Dave Mustaine, Tobias Sammet, Michael Kiske, Amanda Somerville, Stefan and Ross "Rakkataka", Holland and Germany for putting up with us. Someday we will come back to another adventure.

Long live to Rock and may the force be with you...only time will tell.

Mental health

Mental health or behavioral health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of a mental disorder; it is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment". From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual´s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one´s intellectual and emotional potencial, among others." WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the realization of their abilities, coping with normal stresses of life, productive work and contribution to their community.

Hygiene and Health

Hygiene is a set of practices performed for the preservation of health. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between different cultures, genders and etarian groups.

Some regular hygienic practices may be considered good habits by a society while the neglect of hygiene can be considered disgusting, disrespecful or even threatening. Sanitation involves the hygienic disposal and treatment by the civic authority of potentially unhealthy human waste, such as sewerage and drainage.

Medical hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of, and medical care, that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease.

Medical hygiene practices include:

- Isolation or quarantine of infectious persons or materials to prevent spread of infection.

- Sterilization or instruments used in surgical procedures.

- Use of protective clothing and barriers, such as masks, gowns, caps, eyewear and gloves.

- Proper bandaging and dressing of injuries.

- Safe disposal of medical waste.

- Disinfection of reusables (i.e. linen, pads, uniforms).

-Scrubbing up, had-washing, especially in a operating room, but in more general health-care setting as well, where diseases can be transmitted.

Most of these practices were developed in the 19th century and were well established by the mid-20th century. Some procedures (such as disposal of medical waste) were refined in response to late-20th century disease outbreaks, notably AIDS and Ebola.

Dieting and Health

Dieting is often in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some people, however, follow a diet to gain weight (usually in the form of muscle). Diets can also be used to maintain a stable body weight.

Diets to promote weight loss are generally divided into four categories: low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, and very low calorie. A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials found no difference between the main diet types (low calorie, low carbohydrate, and low fat), with a 2-4 kilogram weight loss in all studies. At two years, all calorie-reduced diet types cause equal weight loss irrespective of the macronutrients emphasized.

The energy intake from food is limited by the efficiency of digestion and efficiency of utilization. The efficiency of digestion is largely dependent on the type of food being eaten, while efficiency of utilization is affected by a variety of factors, including age, gender, body weight, hormone levels, and many more.

European Parliament election 2014

Between 22 and 25 Mayo 2014 elections to the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU). The date was decided unanimously by the Council of the European Union. It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.

The 2014 elections will be held in late May instead or early June as had been the case with previous European Parlament elections. The elections were brought forward in order to provide more time for the election of a president of the European Commision, and because they would otherwise have coincided with the Pentecost weekend wich falls during school holidays in many member states.

The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, provides that the European Parliament shall elect the president of the European Commision on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council, taking into account the European elections (article 17, paragraph 7 of the Treaty on European Union). This provision will apply for the first time for the 2014 elections.

Nevertheless, major EU politicians such as European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former Commission president Jacques Delors have questioned the aspiration of European political parties to link the presidency of the European Commission with the result of the European elections and insist that the future Commission president has to suit Member States expectations first.

No pan-European opinion polls are carried out, however several institutes have compiled predictions of the outcome of the elections based on national polls. Finally, the article 14 of the Treaty of Lisbon lays down that "The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union´s citizens. They shall not exceed serven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimun threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats."

Ukranian conflict 2014

Russia-Ukraine relations were established in 1991 immediately upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union of which both were founding constituent republics. Russia has an embassy in Kiev and consulates in Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa and Simferopol. Ukraine has an embassy in Moscow and consulates in Rostov-on Don, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen and Vladivostok.

Relations between the two country´s Governments are complex. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allegedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that, if Ukraine were to join NATO, his country could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea. Some analysts believe that the current Russian leadership is determined to prevent an equivalent of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in Russia. This perspective is supposed to explain not only Russian domestic policy but its sensitivity to events abroad.

Many Ukraine and beyond believe that Russia has periodically used its vast energy resources to bully its smaller, dependent neighbour, but the Russian Government argues insted that it was the internal squabbling amongst Ukraine´s political elite that is to blame for the deadlock. Since the election of Pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as Ukrainian President in early 2010 the relations between the two nations had improved.

On may 14, 2013 an unknown veteran of unknown intelligence service (officially-Ukrainian, in reality-Soviet) Sergei Razumovsky, leader of the All-Ukrainian Association of Homeless Officers, who resides in Ukraine under the Ukrainian flag calls on creation of Ukrainian-Russian international volunteer brigades in support of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria to fight rebels.

The 2014 Crimean crisis is unfolding in the autonomous region of Crimea, Ukraine, in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, in which the gobernment of President Victor Yanukovych was ousted. Protests were staged by groups of mainly ethnic Russians who opposed the events in Kiev and wanted close ties or integration with Russia, in addition to expanded autonomy or possible independence for Crimea.

Other groups, including Crimean Tartars, protested in support of the revolution. On 27 February, armed men wearing masks seized a number of important buildings in Crimea, including the parliament building and two airports. They destroyed almost all phone and internet service between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine. Under seige, the Supreme Council of Crimea dismissed the autonomous republic´s government and replaced chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, Anatolii Mohyliov with Sergey Aksyonov. Kiev accused Russia of intervening in Ukraine´s internal affairs, while the Russian side officially denied such claims.  

On 1 March, the Russian parliament granted President Vladimir Putin the authority to use military force in Ukraine, following a plea for help from unofficial pro-Moscow leader, Sergey Aksyonov. On the same day, the acting president of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov decreed the appointment of the Prime Minister of Crimea as unconstitutional. He said, "we consider the behavior of the Russian Federation to be direct aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine."

The Rajoy´s crisis

Mariano Rajoy Brey is the Prime Minister of Spain, elected on 20 November 2011. He has been leader of the People´s Party since 2004. In November 2011, Rajoy´s right-wing People´s Party won its biggest majority since the country´s return to representative democracy in the 1970s, securing 186 out of the 350 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Voters turned to him in hopes of alleviating the pain of Europe´s debt crisis. Following the general election held in 2011. Rajoy was elected Prime Minister by the Congress of Deputies on 21 December 2011.

Corruption in Spain 2014

There are many political corruption legal processes in the post Franco years of democratic Spain indicates coth a social intolerance of the Ancien Régime and a villingness to investigate allegations by a largely young and independent judiciary, despite its senior judges being appintees of parliamentary committees.

Transparency International rated Spain between 2001 to 2012. The average value for Spain during that period was 66,67 points with a maximum of 70 points in 2001 and minimum of 61 points in 2009 and (100 being no corruption). In 2011 it was rated 30th least corrupt country in the world.

 

Political corruption is a large concern in Spain. Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2013 shows that the surveyed households consider political parties. Parliament and the judiciary the most corrupt institutions. However, the occurrence of petty corruption is rare in Spain, according the Barometer 2013. Several other sources, including World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 and Ernst & Young Fraud Survey 2013, show that bribery and corrupt practises are widespread in businesses in Spain. As sugguested in Business Anti-Corruption Portal, anti-corruption strategies should be significantly strengthened at all levels of the government. One example could be to strengthen investigative and prosecution efforts in foreign bribery cases and enforcing existing laws.