David

David (/ˈdeɪvɪd/; Hebrew: דָּוִד, Modern David, Tiberian Dāwîḏ;ISO 259-3 Dawid; Arabic: داوُد‎ Dāwūd; Syriac: ܕܘܝܕ‎ Dawid; Ancient Greek: Δαυίδ; Latin: Davidus, David; Strong's: Daveed) was, according to the Books of Samuel, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel, and according to the New Testament, an ancestor of Jesus. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040 – 970 BCE, his reign over Judah c. 1010–970 BCE.

The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only Old Testament sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan Stele (dated c. 850–835 BCE) contains the phrase בית דוד (bytdwd), read as "House of David", which many scholars confirm to be a likely plausible match to the existence in the mid-9th century BCE of a Judean royal dynasty called the House of David.

Depicted as a valorous warrior of great renown, and a poet and musician credited for composing much of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms, King David is widely viewed as a righteous and effective king in battle and civil justice. He is described as a man after God's own heart in 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22.

Prem Joshua

Prem Joshua (Hindi: प्रेम जोशुआ) is a German musician, active since 1991.

Born in Germany, Joshua learned the flute at the age of five and played the flute and the saxophone for various local bands. At the age of 18, he traveled overland to India studying the indigenous folk music of countries along the way. Joshua was the name his parents gave him, he later added Prem to it, dropping the family name, to remind him of the essence of love (Prem means love in Hindi).

On reaching India, Joshua learned to play the sitar from Ustad Usman Khan and Osho. Osho inspired him and his music. His website states that "In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor, he came in touch with the art of the “inner music” - Silence. This was really coming home!"

Throughout his career, he has experimented with various forms of music, creating a blend of the East and the West. He has also worked extensively with other producers, making remixes of his own songs and infusing traditional Hindustani acoustic instruments with lounge and trance beats. His music has immensely contributed to the Asian Underground and fusion scene.

Paul Speer

Paul Speer (born 1952 in Lewiston, Idaho) is a Grammy nominated guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has released several solo albums, music video albums, and collaborations with other artists such as pianist David Lanz, drummer Scott Rockenfield of Queensrÿche, Paul Lawler, and vocalist Satine Orient.

Early years

Paul Speer took up guitar at the age of nine and played his first paid gig at age twelve in a trio with brothers Neal and Gary. In 1969, the expanded group now known as the Stone Garden, recorded the single "Oceans Inside Me" and pressed 300 copies, a rare collector item today.

Speer attended music school at the University of Idaho in Moscow before moving to Seattle to play in nightclub bands. In the mid 1970s, he took up residence in Los Angeles where his interest expanded into audio production and engineering. Speer returned to Seattle in the late 1970s and began producing records in local recording studios and in his own studio.

Career highlights

Catero Records (Fred Catero) of San Francisco signed Speer and released his first solo album Collection 983: Spectral Voyages in 1984. That was followed by two very successful music and video collaborations with David Lanz and director Jan Nickman, for the films Natural States (1985) and Desert Vision (1987).

The Trace (video game)

The Trace (officially The Trace: Murder Mystery Game) is a 2015 dark immersive murder mystery adventure game developed by British developer Relentless Software. The whodunnit game, which sees the player assume the role of a detective out to solve a series of murder cases by examining the crime scenes, has been described as "part escape-the-room and part hidden-object, with a bit of puzzle-solving mixed in". The game is available for iOS devices.

Production

Prior to this game, the developers worked on the Blue Toad Murder Files series, which is thematically similar to the subject matter of this game. Relentless Software CEO Andrew Eades explained that while Blue Toad Murder Files was originally conceived as a PlayStation 3 DualShock game, it translated well to a touch pad interface. Becoming the No.1 app on iPad demonstrated to the company a market for puzzle adventure murder mystery games on these devices. The developers wanted to swap that game's cartoony family-targeted style for something more gritty, dramatic, and adult; therefore the franchise was split in two, becoming Murder Files: The Enigma Express and The Trace. Eades explained "The Trace’s origins can be found in a prototype from 2010 called Blue Toad Crime Scenes". This "small" prototype was developed as a result of a series of discussions regarding how Relentless Software could further develop the Blue Toad franchise. Crime Scenes "experimented with ways to provide a more detailed crime exploration experience, where you'd take a much more hands-on approach to finding evidence". The game was not the basis of The Trace, but it provided the team with an opportunity to "create a really tactile investigation-based game" and see future potential in the genre.

Ganges

The Ganga (Hindustani: [ˈɡəŋɡaː]) , also Ganges (/ˈɡændʒiːz/ GAN-jeez) is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the third largest river by discharge.

The Ganga is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. It is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also been important historically, with many former provincial or imperial capitals (such as Pataliputra,Kannauj,Kara, Kashi, Patna, Hajipur, Munger, Bhagalpur, Murshidabad, Baharampur, Kampilya, and Calcutta) located on its banks.

The Ganga was ranked as the fifth most polluted river of the world in 2007. Pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganga river dolphin. The Ganga Action Plan, an environmental initiative to clean up the river, has been a major failure thus far, due to corruption, lack of technical expertise, poor environmental planning, and lack of support from religious authorities.