How instant photographs work

Instant photography is remarkable because it encompasses every individual step of photography, from the actual taking of a photograph to the developing process. The instant camera has basically a built in dark room, where traditionally the photographs are developed. The film in the instant camera is a piece of plastic paper with many layers, containing light-sensitive grains. Every layer reacts to another color. While regular film has only the layers with the light-sensitive grains, instant film contains every necessary chemical substance required for developing the photograph. First there are additional layers of developing chemicals between every light-sensitive layer. These layers are all placed on a base layer or also called black layer.  Above these light-sensitive layers is the image layer the timing layer, the acid layer and a clear plastic layer that covers up the whole picture. The arrangement of the layers is crucial for the chemical reaction to be set in motion. The reagent chemical is the essential component that causes the reaction. It  is  collected in a bulb on the side of the paper. When taking a picture, the light-sensitive layers absorb the light energy. When this happened, the film is pushed through two stainless steel rolls that break the bulb and spreads the reagent across the picture. The reagent is pressed in right between the image layer and the light-sensitive layer. This reagent contains opacifiers and alkali, which both react with the light-sensitive layer and the layers above. It starts the chemical reaction in the light-sensitive layers by changing the particles into metallic silver. Then the particles that were struck by the light, travel up into the image layer. After the film was tossed through the rolls, it comes out of the camera but the image is not visible yet. This is because the chemical reaction has not ended yet. The opacifiers in the reagent allows the film to be exposed to light because it blocks the light from reaching the other layers. The acid layer in reaction with alkali will make the opacifiers become clear. The timing layer is responsible for slowing down the reagent, to give the film enough time to develop. This is the reason why it takes some time until the image becomes visible on the film.

[374 words]

GROUP Instructional text - camera lucida

http://orsolyagabriella.blogspot.co.at/2014/05/group-instructional-text-camera-lucida.html

a day in the life of a touring hardcore-punk band

A day in the life of a touring hardcore-punk band begins usually with confusion. Sleeping every night in a different flat can cause disorientation in the first minutes of wakefullness. After having realized where they are, the band asks for a cup of coffee and depending on the environment for a hot shower. After everyone had a coffee and the hangover subsided, the band gets in the van and types in the address where it is supposed to play that evening. What follows is a long-distance drive to another city or even another country. Playing board-games or listening to music helps the band to kill boredom but after four, five days on tour, nothing seems to help. So the hours spent in the van are usually the longest. First thing the band asks for after having arrived at the destination is a short sightseeing-tour. After hours spent in the van the band really enjoys stretching their legs and having a walk in an unknown city. If they are particularly lucky they have even the opportunity to see the ocean and spend some time watching the waves clashing with the shore.

Happy and refreshed from the walk it is time to see the place where they will play in the evening. Then the band gets served excellent vegan dinner and free beer. This part of the day is the best because except breakfast they haven't eaten anything for the whole day. When enough people turned up, the promoter asks the band to get ready to play.

Excitement grows as the people gather around the stage and the band can't wait to shock the audience with their 15 minutes of angry, noisy "music". Those 15 minutes per day are the reason why the band exists and in that short time they try to give their best. After the show they enjoy the company of totally unknown people and in some cases these small-talks are the beginning of a long lasting friendship. At the end of the day the sleeping bags get rolled out and the band tries to sleep as much and as fast as possible, as the following day will again be long and eventful. 

[367 words]

Why the European Union schould intervene to stop Hungary from a dictatorship

First draft: The purpose of the European Union is to establish and maintain a strong connection between its member states and to develop their economy.  The EU balances and governs many countries that all have a different political direction and economic condition and also provides guidelines and regulations that have to be implemented by the member states in order to enjoy the benefits of being a part of the Union. For example, the EU lends money to its member states at a low interest rate so they can enhance their economy.The problem arises when not all of the member states are eager to participate. The black sheep of the Union is in this case Hungary. Since 2010, Hungary suffers from the consequences of a very bad decision, namely electing the political party FIDESZ with a two third majority. Due to this, Hungarian people empowered one party that is allowed to make decisions and implement laws without having to deal with and actual opposition party. The president of the FIDESZ and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. He is the person who holds every string in his hands and leads the country into an economic catastrophe. He, being the most influential person in Hungary, misused his power and caused the country to slide into bankruptcy. Apart from the creating the economic catastrophe, he is known for his strict policies against Roma, Jews and other minorities.

Shortly after the election of FIDESZ, the party immediately abandoned Hungary’s constitution and wrote an entirely new one within two weeks. With the new constitution the party reinforced their position and created a strong base for their rulership. The new constitution inhibits the political independence of the central bank. Apart from this, the new institution has caused many other negative economic changes, like the imposition of a new bank tax, which mainly affects foreign companies which have their seats in Hungary. This new tax helped on the one hand to improve the revenue but on the other hand it caused that many firms had to dismiss their employees or were even forced to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has risen even more.  

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After being neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his controversial behaviour and critical statements, the situation deteriorated. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of working together with the IMF who usually offers a loan for a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money for such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding.These actions all contribute to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors fear investing in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable economic future. Feedback summary The other group provided us with very useful and corrective suggestions that we. They discovered that our topic sentences often only introduce one part of the paragraph so that much information is missing that could be relevant for the reader. The other problem they discovered was that our first paragraph needed a clear thesis and a topic. We partly resolved the problem. As the title clearly introduces the topic we did not feel the need to write it explicitly in the first paragraph. Concerning our thesis, we tried to write the text according to our opinion and we think the way it is written clearly reflects our opinion. In the second paragraph the concluding sentence did not conclude the paragraph. Without their constructive feedback our text would lack cohesion and it would not be what we want it to be.

 Revised version:

Although the main goal of the European Union is to maintain and consolidate democracy among its member states, over the past three years, events occuring in Hungary have demonstated a developing shift of Hungarian government form from democracy to dictatorship, induced by FIDESZ, a national-conservative party. With winning over a two third majority in 2010’s governmental elections, Hungarian people empowered one sole party. Since then, FIDESZ can make all the crucial decisions and implement laws without having to deal with an actual opposition party. The president of FIDESZ and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. He, being the most powerful person of Hungary, has been abusing his power and caused the country to slide into bankruptcy However, the EU has done almost nothing to prevent Hungary, which is an EU member since 2004, from sliding into dictatorship.

Shortly after the election of FIDESZ, the party abandoned Hungary’s previous constitution and wrote an entirely new one within two weeks, causing damage to the country’s economy and democracy. With the new constitution the party reinforced their position and created a strong base for their rulership. The constitution inhibits the political power of opposition parties and the independence of the MNB, the Hungarian National Bank.  The new law on the MNB was adopted without taking into account all the observations of the European Central Bank. In addition, the MNB’s rate-setting panel, the Monetary Council, is made up entirely of members chosen by the ruling FIDESZ party.

Apart from this, the new institution has caused many other negative economic changes, like the imposition of a new bank tax, which mainly affects foreign companies which have their seats in Hungary. This new tax helped on the one hand to raise the governmental revenue but on the other hand it caused that many firms had to dismiss their employees or were even forced to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has reached more than 10 % and many blame Orbán for this.

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After being neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his controversial behaviour and critical statements, the situation deteriorated. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of working together(cooperating) with the IMF who(that) usually offers a loan for a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money for such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding. These actions all contribute to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors fear investing in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable economic future.  

The most controversial issue that awakened the EU’s attention was the changes regarding Hungary’s media law. The media law forces TV channels, radio stations and newspapers to only publish news that have been approved by the party. By this, many aspects of democracy are hurt since no other opinions concerning politics are tolerated at the main broadcasting channels. Opposition parties have therefore almost no opportunity to present themselves in the media or to attract voters. In addition to this, FIDESZ and its various subsidiary organisations have the power to decide which journalists are being employed. If a journalist does not comply with the party’s ideology or expresses criticism, he or she will be dismissed immediately and will be very unlikely to find a new job in the media industry.

Hungary’s future would affect not only Hungary on its own but the whole EU. Therefore, the EU needs to intervene as it is responsible for maintaining economic stability and democracy in Europe. For doing so, the EU has certain tools. As Hungary has signed the membership agreement, they have to follow the provided guidelines. However, in case a member country fails to come up to the requirements, the EU has the right to suspend their voting rights in the EU commision. If this happened, Hungary would not be able to cast its vote when deciding about the EU budget or putting forward legislative proposal to the EU parliament. Suspending Hungary from its voting rights would be a severe punishment, but if the Hungarian government did not react to it and continued violating fundamental democratic rights, the EU could apply penalties with which Hungary would be excluded from the European market. If this happened, Hungary would have no other chance but obey the EU. Although this would be an extremely radical measurement, which has never been implemented in the history of the EU, it is the only hope for Hungary. Only the international pressure will help Hungary, because domestically the country is already lost. The EU needs to come up to its original purpose of maintaining democracy and freedom in order to prevent Europe from a new era of dictatorship, even if it is only in a small country like Hungary.

[815 words]

Teresa Brenner

http://brennerteresa.blogspot.co.at/

Sonja Haunschmid

http://sonyessusurrus.blogspot.co.at/

Artur Schefer

http://arturshefer.blogspot.co.at/

Harald Pasch

Corrected version:

The main goal of the European Union is to maintain and consolidate democracy among its member states. Nevertheless, events occurring in Hungary over the past three years have demonstrated a developing shift in Hungarian government form from democracy to dictatorship, induced by FIDESZ, a national-conservative party. During the governmental
elections of 2010, it managed to defeat other parties by winning a two thirds
majority. Thereupon, FIDESZ can make all the crucial decisions and implement
laws without having to deal with an opposition party. The president of FIDESZ
and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. As the most powerful
person in Hungary, he has been abusing his power and has caused the country to
slide into bankruptcy. Despite all the controversial adjustments implemented in
Hungary, the EU has done almost nothing to prevent its government form slowly turning
into dictatorship.

Two weeks after the election of FIDESZ, the party abandoned Hungary’s previous constitution and wrote an entirely new one, causing damage to the country by  paralyzing economy and undermining democracy. With the new constitution, the party cemented its position in public institutions and created a strong base for their regiment. The new constitution lessens the political power of opposition parties and limits the independence of the MNB, the Hungarian National Bank. The new law on the MNB was adopted without taking into account serious concerns of the European Central Bank whether this could be used to influence decisions to the detriment of central bank independence. In addition, the MNB’s rate-setting panel, the Monetary Council, is made up entirely of members chosen by FIDESZ.

Apart from this, the new constitution has caused many other negative economic changes, such as the imposition of a new bank tax that mainly affects foreign companies which have settled in Hungary. This new tax helped to increase governmental revenue but caused many firms to dismiss their employees or even to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has reached more than 10% and many blame Orbán for this.

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After he was neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his EU-critical statements, the economic situation of Hungary got worse. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of cooperating with the IMF, which usually offers loans at a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money at such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding. These actions have all contributed to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors are afraid to invest in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable future.  

The most controversial issue the EU paid attention to was the changes regarding Hungary’s media law. The media law forces TV channels, radio stations and newspapers to only publish news that has been approved by the party. By this law, many aspects of democracy are undermined since no other opinions concerning politics are tolerated on the main broadcasting channels. Opposition parties have therefore almost no opportunity to present themselves in the media or to attract voters. In addition to this, FIDESZ and its various subsidiary organisations have the power to decide which journalists are employed. If a journalist does not comply with the party’s ideology or expresses criticism, he or she will be dismissed immediately and will be very unlikely to find a new job in this occupational area.

Hungary’s future not only affects Hungary on its own but the whole EU, as the Union’s well-being depends on every member country. As it is responsible for maintaining economic stability and democracy in Europe, the EU needs to intervene. For doing so, the EU has certain methods. As Hungary has signed the membership agreement, they have to follow the guidelines. If a member country fails to meet the requirements, the EU has the right to suspend their voting rights in the EU commission. If this happened, Hungary would not be able to cast its vote when the EU is deciding about the budget and it could not put forward a legislative proposal to the EU parliament. Suspending Hungary’s voting rights would be a severe punishment, but if the Hungarian government did not react to this and continued violating fundamental democratic rights, the EU could apply penalties which would exclude Hungary from the European market. If this happened, Hungary would have no other choice but to adhere to the EU. Although this would be an extremely radical measure, which has never been implemented in the history of the EU, it would save the Hungarian democracy. Only the international pressure will help Hungary, because domestically the country is already lost. The EU needs to remind itself of its original purpose of maintaining democracy and freedom in order to prevent Europe from a new era of dictatorship, even if it is only in a small country like Hungary.

Revised paragraph: EU citizenship

http://brennerteresa.blogspot.co.at/2013/11/eu-project-european-citizenship.html

individual paragraph

2013 is the European Year of Citizens for a very valid reason. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European Citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the EU is to inform EU citizens of their rights and to promote the many advantages of being a Citizen. For example, the right to move and reside freely in any European country. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a Citizen of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can only be achieved if more people vote actively. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.



Feedback: I got some very good suggestions from my colleagues and also Melissa, that help me in improving my text and make it more interesting to read. One of them is that I should place the emphasis more on the reason than on the Year. So the topic sentence would reflect more the actual topic of the supporting sentences. Another point that was rather a mistake they found than a suggestion on improvement is that I wrote citizens capitalized. What's more,  they suggested to give a further explanation on how voting changes the EU. All in all, I very much appreciate the constructive feedback.




There is a very valid reason why 2013 is chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the EU is to inform EU citizens of their rights and to promote the many advantages of being a citizen. For example, the right to move and reside freely in any European country. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a citizen of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can only be achieved if more people vote actively. Because voting is the best method to participate in changing the EU into something people want it to be. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.


Feedback: Again I got some very useful suggestions from my colleagues concerning cohesion and register. It was especially annoying for me that the word EU and citizen appear too often. So I mentioned this to the person who was so kind to proofread my text. The suggestion he gave me was that I should rephrase some sentences or replace the word in order to make it more cohesive. All in all, I am very happy with my text, especially after utilizing the suggestions I received.


There is a very valid reason why 2013 is chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the European Union is to inform their citizens about their rights and to promote the advantages that are for many unknown. For example, the recent regulations concerning mobile roaming. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a part of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can be achieved if more people vote actively. Because, voting is the best method to participate in changing the EU into something people want it to be. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.

Final version 2:

There is a very valid reason why 2013 was chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to a lack of public awareness, many people do not know about their rights as  European citizens thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the European Union is to inform citizens about their rights and to promote the advantages that are for many unknown, for example, the recent regulations concerning mobile roaming. By raising public awareness, the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a part of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects the citizen`s own goals. In order to do so they try to encourage people to vote because voting is the best means to change the EU into something people want it to be. After all, creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the focus of 2013 is the individual citizen.