Focus…

Bernard Edwards, Jr., better known as Focus..., is an Atlanta-based record producer who first rose to fame when signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Since then he has produced tracks for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Jadakiss, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Bishop Lamont, Tony Yayo, Stat Quo, Outlawz, The Game, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Mac Dre, Ice Cube, Anderson Paak, Jon Connor, Joe, Marsha Ambrosius , Slum Village amongst many others.

Biography

Focus... is the son of the late Bernard Edwards, co-founder of disco and R&B band Chic. He was born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in the Tri-State Region. Edwards, Jr credits his father with his love for the production side of music, which he developed from an early age, attending numerous studio sessions with his father.

Focus...'s production talents were first recognized by Dr. Dre when an artist Edwards, Jr had produced, Daks, greatly impressed the Aftermath label head. signed Focus... so that the two could then continue working together.

Focus (Holly Starr album)

Focus is the second studio album from the Christian singer-songwriter Holly Starr. The album released on October 2, 2012 via Save the City Records. The producers on the album were Chuck Butler, David Garcia and Christopher Stevens. The album received critical acclamation from music critics, yet it did not get much commercial success because it failed to chart.

Background

The album released on October 2, 2012 by Save the City Records, and the producers on the album were Chuck Butler, David Garcia and Christopher Stevens. This was the second studio album from the songstress Holly Starr.

Critical reception

Focus garnered critical acclaim from eight music critics. Robert Ham of Allmusic rated the album four stars, calling it a "pleasant surprise" because it kept up with contemporary musical trends. At Cross Rhythms, Matthew Cordle rated the album a perfect ten, noting how the album comes "with a cleaner, tighter, more stripped-back sound, less electric and more acoustic" than its predecessor, and it is "Impeccably produced, this is a thoroughly modern pop sound conveying a thoroughly ancient message." Christian Music Zine's Joshua Andre rated the album four-and-three-fourths, saying that this is a "brilliant" release on which "Holly's poignant lyrics and well-crafted pop melodies and ballads is sure to propel her soon, if not already, into the same league and caliber of songwriting as Nichole Nordeman and Jason Ingram." Grace Thorson of CM Addict rated the album four-and-a-half stars, affirming that the release is "well-rounded".

The churches of Christ (non-institutional)

The label "non-institutional" refers to a distinct fellowship within the Churches of Christ who do not agree with the support of para-church organizations (colleges, orphans' homes, organized mission efforts, etc.) by local congregations. They contend that the New Testament includes no authority for churches' support of such institutions. Instead they feel that it is a responsibility and duty of the individual to assist those in need. These local churches became separated from "mainline" (pro-institutional) churches of Christ because of these viewpoints, developing into a distinct segment of congregations by the 1960s. Whether a congregation supports the "sponsoring church" custom is one way to distinguish between the "non-institutional" and "mainstream" congregations. The congregations that advocate financial support or the pooling of resources for the benefit of other entities or organized external evangelical efforts are sometimes called "sponsoring churches" and identified as "mainstream."

Focus (computing)

In computing, the focus indicates the component of the graphical user interface which is selected to receive input. Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which has the focus. Moving the focus away from a specific user interface element is known as a blur event in relation to this element. Typically, the focus is withdrawn from an element by giving another element the focus. This means that focus and blur events typically both occur virtually simultaneously, but in relation to different user interface elements, one that gets the focus and one that gets blurred.

The concept is similar to a cursor in a text-based environment. However, when considering a graphical interface, there is also a mouse pointer involved. Moving the mouse will typically move the mouse pointer without changing the focus. The focus can usually be changed by clicking on a component that can receive focus with the mouse. Many desktops also allow the focus to be changed with the keyboard. By convention, the Tab ↹ key is used to move the focus to the next focusable component and ⇧ Shift+Tab ↹ to the previous one. When graphical interfaces were first introduced, many computers did not have mice, so this alternative was necessary. This feature makes it easier for people that have a hard time using a mouse to use the user interface. In certain circumstances, the arrow keys can also be used to move focus.

Focus (board game)

Focus is an abstract strategy board game, designed by Sid Sackson and first published in 1964 by Kosmos. The game has been re-published many times since, sometimes under the titles Domination or Dominio. Focus won the 1981 Spiel des Jahres and Essen Feather awards. The game appears in Sackson's A Gamut of Games in the section New Battles on an Old Battlefield.

Gameplay

Two to four players move stacks of one to five pieces around a checkerboard with the three squares in each corner removed, thus forming a 6×6 board with 1×4 extensions on each side. Stacks may move as many spaces as there are pieces in the stack. Players may only move a stack if the topmost piece in the stack is one of their pieces. When a stack lands on another stack, the two stacks merge; if the new stack contains more than five pieces, then pieces are removed from the bottom to bring it down to five. If a player's own piece is removed, they are kept and may be placed on the board later in lieu of moving a stack. If an opponent's piece is removed, it is captured. The last player who is able to move a stack wins.

Focus (2001 film)

Focus is a 2001 film, starring William H. Macy, Laura Dern, David Paymer, and Meat Loaf based on a 1945 novel by playwright Arthur Miller.

Plot

In the waning months of World War II, a man is mistakenly identified as a Jew by his antisemitic Brooklyn neighbors. Suddenly the victims of religious and racial persecution, he finds himself aligned with a local Jewish immigrant in a struggle for dignity and survival.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 56% based on 81 reviews, with the site's consensus "Though full of good intentions, Focus somehow feels dated, and pounds away its points with a heavy hand."