A review is an evaluation of a publication, a product, a service or a company such as a movie (a movie review), video game, musical composition (music review of a composition or recording), book (book review); a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indicate its relative merit. More loosely, an author may review current events, trends, or items in the news. A compilation of reviews may itself be called a review. ''The New York Review of Books'', for instance, is a collection of essays on literature, culture, and current affairs. ''National Review'', founded by William F. Buckley, Jr., is an influential conservative magazine, and ''Monthly Review'' is a long-running socialist periodical.

In the scientific literature, review articles are a category of scientific paper, which provides a synthesis of research on a topic at that moment in time. A compilation of these reviews forms the core content of a 'secondary' scientific journal, with examples including Annual Reviews, the Nature Reviews series of journals and Trends. A ''peer review'' is the process by which scientists assess the work of their colleagues that has been submitted for publication in the scientific literature. A ''software review'' is also a form of peer review, by the co-workers.

A ''consumer review'' refers to a review written by the owner of a product or the user of a service who has sufficient experience to comment on reliability and whether or not the product or service delivers on its promises, otherwise known as product reviews.. An ''expert review'' usually refers to a review written by someone who has tested several peer products or services to identify which offers the best value for money or the best set of features. A ''bought review'' is the system where the creator (usually a company) of a new product pays a reviewer to review his new product.

Book review

A book review (or book report) is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. It is often carried out in periodicals, as school work, or online. Its length may vary from a single paragraph to a substantial essay. Such a review often contains evaluations of the book on the basis of personal taste. Reviewers, in literary periodicals, often use the occasion of a book review for a display of learning or to promulgate their own ideas on the topic of a fiction or non-fiction work. At the other end of the spectrum, some book reviews resemble simple plot summaries.

Music reviews

Performance reviews

Reviews of live music performances are typically short articles that tell readers about the performers or group(s) that were involved and the pieces or songs that were performed. The comments made by reviewers fall, roughly into two categories: technical comments and subjective/artistic comments. The elements in the "technical" category include rhythmic "togetherness", intonation, errors or slip-ups, and so on. These elements are fairly "black and white"; a pianist playing a concerto either played the right notes on a climactic scale run, or she missed it. The subjective comments refer to elements which are a matter of taste. The balance between the different elements in a review (information about the performer or group; information about the pieces/songs; commentary about the technical and subjective elements of the performance) depends on the audience that a music critic is writing for. Music reviewers writing in local newspapers or general-interest magazines may not be able to assume that the readers will be familiar with music performers and pieces/songs, so they may decide to include a great deal of "background" information.

Recording reviews

Music critics and music writers also review recordings of music, including individual songs or pieces or entire albums. In the case of a review of an entire album, the reviewer will not only judge the individual songs or pieces; they will also judge how well all of the songs or pieces work together or go together.

The age of digital downloads may considerably change the album review. Where previously albums were purchased as collections of songs, often with a common theme, the rise of individual song downloads may have significant impact on consumers' exposure to an artist's music. Die-hard fans will most likely continue to explore an artist's complete work; but individuals will most likely make significantly different choices and "cherry-pick" songs they have been exposed to. The concept of "singles" or individual hits marked for retail has been around for long time; however the price for a single in the days of CDs or 45's was much closer to the complete album price. When you consider that each song on an artist's album is often priced at the same amount, the odds of the average consumer purchase the entire album instead of selecting the "hit" songs decreases significantly.

Composition reviews

In Classical music, music critics may also do reviews of compositions, even if the piece or song has never been performed and it only exists on manuscript paper in a score. To review a composition in this fashion, the critic will use music theory skills such as harmonic analysis and thematic analysis, along with their knowledge of idioms and compositional practices.

Bought review

A ''bought review'' is the system where the creator (usually a company) of a new product pays a reviewer to review his new product. Primarily used in the car, movie and game industry this system creates a kind of undercover advertising. Bought reviews tend to be biased due to the financial relationship the reviewer has with the makers of the product or item that is being evaluated—although exceptions occur. Nielsen (2009) proposes a framework for scholarly or academic reviews of dictionaries, but this framework may also be extended to other types of reviews. In particular, the requirement that reviews must provide useful information to the intended audience and the requirements to the informative value of reviews. In some cases, a bought review may be independent, if the person that is hired to do the review has a strong reputation for independence and integrity. Even if a "bought review" from a respected critic is actually independent, the perception of potential bias will remain, due to the financial relationship between the company and the critic.

A similar type of review that may be biased is the so-called "puff piece", a review of a product, film, or event that is written by a sympathetic reviewer or by an individual who has a connection to the product or event in question, either in terms of an employment relationship or other links. For example, a major media conglomerate that owns both print media and record companies may instruct one of its employees in one of its newspapers to do a review of an album which is being released by the conglomerate's record company. Although some journalists may assert their professional independence and integrity, and insist on producing an unbiased review, in other cases, writers may succumb to the pressure and pen a biased "puff piece" which praises the product or event while omitting any discussion of any shortcomings. In some cases, "puff pieces" purport to provide a review of the product or event, but instead merely provide "peacock words" ("An amazing recording"); "weasel words" ("probably one of the most important albums of the 2000s") and tabloid-style filler which is peripheral or irrelevant to assessing the qualities of the product or event ("During the filming, there were rumours that romantic sparks flew between the two co-leads, who were often seen talking together on the set").

See also

Review site

Book review

Concert review

Music criticism

Music journalism

References

Nielsen, S. (2009), “Reviewing printed and electronic dictionaries: A theoretical and practical framework”, in S. Nielsen/S. Tarp (eds.): ''Lexicography in the 21st Century''. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins 2009, 23-41.

Category:Writing occupations Category:Review websites Category:Evaluation

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Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur, founding and/or part of 8 startup companies in California’s Silicon Valley. A prolific educator, thought leader and writer on Customer Development for Startups, Blank teaches, refines, writes and blogs on “Customer Development,” a rigorous methodology he developed to bring the “scientific method” to the typically chaotic, seemingly disorganized startup process.

Now teaching Entrepreneurship at three major Universities and the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps), Blank co-founded his first of eight startups after several years repairing fighter plane electronics in Thailand during the Vietnam War, followed by several years of defense electronics work for U.S. intelligence agencies in “undisclosed locations.”

Blank's first book, "The Four Steps to the Epiphany," detailed the Customer Development process and remains required reading among entrepreneurs, investors, and established companies alike, when the focus is optimizing a startup’s chances for scalability and success. Blank views entrepreneurship as a practice that can be managed rather than purely an art form to be experienced.

"The Startup Owner’s Manual" was Blank's second book and is a step-by-step guide to building a successful startup, offering practical advice for any startup founder, entrepreneur, investor or educator.

His Customer Development methodology launched the lean startup movement. It is rooted on startups "getting out of the building," talking to customers and using that feedback to develop and refine their product.

Business career

Subsequent to dropping out of the University of Michigan, Steve Blank arrived in Silicon Valley in 1978, as boom times began. His early startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers (now MIPS Technologies); Convergent Technologies; a consulting stint for Pixar; a supercomputer firm, Ardent Computer; peripheral supplier, SuperMac Technologies; a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL; Rocket Science Games. Steve co-founded startup number eight, E.piphany, in his living room in 1996. After retiring from E.piphany the day before its IPO in September 1999, Blank served on two public boards (Macrovision and Immersion) and several private companies. He continues to selectively invest and advise Silicon Valley startups such as Votizen.

Teaching

After 21 years driving 8 high technology startups, today Steve teaches entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Stanford University Graduate School of Engineering, and a joint MBA class with Berkeley Haas and Columbia Business School. His “Customer Development” teaching and writing coalesce and codify his experiences and observations of entrepreneurs in action, including his own and those he advises.

In 2009, he earned the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in Management Science and Engineering. The same year, The San Jose Mercury News listed him as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. In 2010, he was earned the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.

In January 2011, he launched a new class at Stanford University, The Lean LaunchPad. It teaches aspiring entrepreneurs all aspects of building a business, including business model design, customer and agile development, and design thinking. In July 2011, the National Science Foundation adopted the Lean Launchpad as the curriculum for its Innovation-Corps, an incubator for 100 science and engineering teams each year.

In May 2011, Blank was the commencement speaker at Philadelphia University

In 2012, The Harvard Business Review named Blank one of 12 Masters of Innovation in recognition of his work in bringing the “greatest clarity to the field of innovation.”

Blank has collected an informal history of Silicon Valley, which was presented as a Google TechTalk and a talk at the Computer History Museum called The Secret History of Silicon Valley.

Public service

Blank is the past Chairman of Audubon California. And has been on the board of Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). And was a trustee of U.C. Santa Cruz. Blank is currently on the board of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV). In 2007 he was appointed to the California Coastal Commission. He has made major gifts to preserve the California Coast, including funding the visitors center at Año Nuevo State Reserve.

Books

References

External links

Steven Gary Blank's blog

Steve Blank Coastal Commissioner

Steve Blank Stanford Lecturer

Steve Blank Haas Lecturer

Steve Blank's "Secret History of Silicon Valley"

Steve Blank speaking at Stanford University

Steve Blank's Customer Development podcast

Category:American computer businesspeople Category:Living people

Name	Tom Elliott
Honorific-suffix	MLA
office1	Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
term start1	22 September 2010
term end1	31 March 2012
predecessor1	Reg Empey
successor1	Mike Nesbitt
Office2	Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh & South Tyrone
Assembly2	Northern Ireland
Term start2	26 November 2003
Predecessor2	Sam Foster
Birth date	December 11, 1963
Birth place	Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Party	Ulster Unionist Party
Religion	Anglicanism (Church of Ireland)
Website	http://www.tomelliottmla.net
Footnotes	}}

Tom Elliott MLA (born 11 December 1963) is a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist MLA, the former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and a former UDR member. He beat Basil McCrea 643 votes to 296 in a leadership contest after the 2010 UK general election. In March 2012 he announced his intention to quit as leader and on 31 March was replaced by Mike Nesbitt.

Education

Elliott was educated at Ballinamallard Primary School and Duke of Westminster High School, Ballinamallard & Kesh before attending the Enniskillen College of Agriculture where he earned a College Certificate in Agriculture.

Political

Elliott has been an activist in the Ballinamallard Ward Ulster Unionist committee for many years and is Chairman of that committee. He has also benn Honorary Secretary of the Fermanagh Divisional Unionist Association since 1998 and was Chairman of the internal Ulster Unionist ad-hoc Review Group for its duration.

Elliott was the election agent for James Cooper in 2001 Westminster campaign and in June of the same year was elected an Ulster Unionist Councillor on Fermanagh District Council representing Erne North. He was re-elected May 2005 but resigned to allow a Co-option in August 2010. In November 2003 he was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly representing Fermanagh & South Tyrone, a position to which he was re-elected in March 2007 and May 2011. In this role he served as Ulster Unionist Assembly spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Currently Vice Chair of the Agricultural Committee in Stormont and also sits as a member of the Committee of the Office of the First and deputy First Minister.

Elliott was selected as the UUP candidate for Fermanagh and South Tyrone UK Parliament constituency in the 2005 general election but was not elected. He was selected again for the 2010 general election, but stood down in favour of independent Unionist candidate Rodney Connor.

Party leadership

In June 2010, Elliott announced his intention to run in the Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, 2010. He was elected although not without some controversy. It emerged shortly before the leadership election that a quarter of the UUP membership came from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, a disproportionately high figure. The Irish political magazine, the Phoenix, described Elliott as a "blast from the past" and that his election signified "a significant shift to the right" by the UUP

Elliott resigned in March 2012, triggering another leadership election.

Membership of the Loyal Orders

Elliott is a Past County Grand Master of the Orange Order within Fermanagh and Assistant Secretary to the Grand Lodge of Ireland. He is also a member of the Royal Black Preceptory.

Personal life

He is married to Anne and has one daughter and one son. They live on the family farm near Ballinamallard. He is a member of the Church of Ireland Magheracross Parish Church. He also has a strong interest in local soccer at Ballinamallard Football Club. He served part-time in the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Regiment for 18 years.

Controversies

Elliott caused controversy while campaigning for the UUP leadership when he stated publicly that he wouldn't attend gay pride parades or Gaelic Athletic Association matches.

After he was elected in the 2011 Assembly election, in his victory speech Elliott referred to the Irish tricolour as a "flag of a foreign nation". When he started to receive heckles from the audience, he went on to describe nationalist supporters holding Irish flags as "the scum of Sinn Féin" causing the Independent Unionist MLA David McClarty to quip that he "made Jim Allister sound like the Dalai Lama'. Although initially refusing to retract his comments he later issued an apology.

External links

NI Assembly profile

Tom Elliott MLA Website

References

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Councillors in Northern Ireland Category:Farmers from Northern Ireland Category:Leaders of the Ulster Unionist Party Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2011– Category:Orangemen Category:People from County Fermanagh Category:Royal Irish Regiment (formed 1992) soldiers Category:Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers