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Right now there is a great deal of emphasis on testing in our public schools. The No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government’s initiative to raise academic standards in public schools, is focused primarily on how well schools do and how much they improve on standardized tests. To the casual outsider this seems like pretty good policy. After all, kids need to know Math and English and Science in roughly the same proportions don’t they? If one school does consistently better on, say, Math, doesn’t that mean that they have received better instruction in Math? And shouldn’t we conversely assume that students not scoring high in Math are receiving poor instruction in Math? Further, this doesn’t live up to the ideal of equal opportunity for all, one of the formative pillars that America was built on. So what’s wrong with testing?

Everything.

Let’s start with the assumption of equal opportunity. Humans are the intersection of hundreds of thousands of variables. We carry this fact into every scenario of our lives. Further, these variables are interdependent not independent, meaning you can’t change one variable without effecting hundreds or thousands down the line, kind of like making a mistake half way through a math problem. Now, how this relates to schools and testing is pretty obvious. If you have 30 children sitting before you, you don’t have 30 clones, you have 30 intersections of thousands of variables. Sarah arrived having just ran multiplication tables with their dad. Joe didn’t sleep because his family spent the night in a homeless shelter. Jill is distracted because her stomach hurts. Even from moment to moment learners are on a continuum of equality. And some have such great advantages that others would take a far greater amount of time (yet another variable) than is available to match their lead. So now what happens when a teacher instructs the class to pull out their math books? Hundreds of things based on hundreds of thousands of things. I can guarantee you that Sarah will be just fine, Joe is going to have trouble and Jill needs to go to the nurse. And what now if you add the over-arching umbrella of problems that is introduced by the one variable of poverty?

But you could argue that even if students are on a continuum of equality they all should average out to about the same level since it’s not every day that Joe spends a night in a homeless shelter and some days Sarah will not be so prepared etc. But I come back to the assertion that this would be true given enough time and resources. Almost anything is possible given enough time and resources but our current educational system has neither. And even if it did you still could never make up for the glaring variable that all people are not created equal. Some understand numbers better than others, some have an easier time reading people’s emotions etc.

SO, to judge schools on a few simple variables (test scores) is reductionist and, to say the least, astonishing. And to further turn those judgments into the reduction of resources, which is how No Child Left Behind deals with under-performing schools, is antithetical to the goal of providing an equal education to all. But then again I’m assuming that that actually is the federal government’s goal. Hmm. If A=B and B=C then A must equal C. Right?

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com
www.Next2Friends.com

It’s obvious why good vocal technique is useful to singers but what many people don’t realize is that the use of good vocal technique can be helpful to many other professions, from public speakers to teachers to policeman. Basically any profession where people need to project their voice. While some of the suggestions I’m about to make may seem ridiculously obvious, they are often much harder to put into practice than they seem, as some of them are counter-intuitive to the way we ‘learn’ to speak. And even harder still is applying all of them at once. Alright, here goes.

Tip #1: Aim Low With Your Breath

Here is the obvious one I’m talking about. Of course you must breathe, but what most people do not know how to do is breathe into their diaphragm. Now, almost anyone who has been through grade school choir has heard that they should breathe with their diaphragm, but what does that mean and why should we do it?

In order to speak or sing without strain we need to release our breath evenly. As in nature and physics, objects always take the simplest path. Our diaphragms are one muscle. Releasing our breath using this one muscle is ultimately way simpler than using the hundreds of muscles in our chest and throat and back. So, this is why we do it. Now how do we accomplish this?

Everyone knows how to breathe into their diaphragm, we do it every night, but for some reason in our waking lives we ‘forget’ how to breathe this way. To activate your diaphragm lie down on your back. Unless you just ran three miles your stomach should naturally begin to rise and fall. This is breathing using your diaphragm. Now try to store that feeling in your mind and stand in front of a mirror. Take several deep breaths. If you’re like most people your chest will rise. This is not breathing into your diaphragm. Try again and watch to see that your chest remains completely out of the equation. I like to instruct people to imagine that their esophagus is a pole leading straight down to their belly. Let the air drop right past your chest and fill the ‘pot’ that is your belly. If this is still not working try bending over and put your hands on your knees. This should naturally disengage your chest muscles and allow your belly to ‘fill’ with air. This is “aiming low with your breath,” i.e. breathing into your diaphragm.

Tip #2: Relax Your Throat

Again, this seems like it’s obvious, but it’s stunning to me to watch and hear people speak with such unnecessary strain. All of that strain is muscles around the vocal chords literally fighting against their natural tendency to perform just fine. It’s almost like a metaphor for someone who is their worst enemy, who is actively fighting themselves. Relax your throat and your voice will come out just fine, it doesn’t need tension or tightness to project louder. I’ll explain how to project in a minute, but first, just relax your throat when you speak, you shouldn’t feel any tension or pain. Try saying the letter ‘O’. That openness that you must create in your throat to say the letter is a relaxed throat. Now, most other vowels and consonant sounds will feel like they are pulling you away from that openness but don’t let them induce you to strain. It is possible to create all of the sounds in the English language with a relaxed throat.

Tip #3: Project Using Your Natural Resonance

This one is easy to do but tricky to accomplish with a totally relaxed throat. Our heads have natural cavities particularly in our nasal passages that can serve as ‘amplifiers’ of sound. Indeed, it is the unique shape of our nasal passage that helps define the sound of our voice. So learning to project our voice in a totally relaxed manner is really just manipulating the use of our natural amplifier; the nasal passage.

Try saying the sound, “nee-ah” fast. Say it several times. You should feel a buzzing in your nose as repeat this. This is your voice resonating in your nasal cavity. Now, I understand that your voice may sound funny like this at first, kind of like someone doing a nerdy impression of you, but ultimately resonance is the safest way to project your voice. And sometimes you do it naturally without realizing it. Now, when someone lets out a blood curdling scream, granted, they are projecting their voice without resonance, but try screaming like that for 7 hours a day, it’s just not possible. They are accomplishing volume by stiffly holding the muscles around their vocal cords tight so that they can create as much pressure as possible, inducing them to vibrate hugely. But this violent ’slapping’ of your vocal cords together can eventually create tiny cuts in them which can heal into scars which can in turn have you sounding like Marge on the Simpsons. Sending your voice up through your nose and almost out of the top of your head is the safest way to gain volume because it does not depend on the muscles around your vocal cords at all.

I hope these tips to better vocal technique are helpful. As a part-time vocal coach and teacher I know that they work. In fact, there is no way to communicate with 7th grade boys without a little projection sometimes. Doing all three all of the time is not always possible and even someone who has studied voice for 10 years still gets it wrong, but I’m confident that if you strive to utilize even one of these suggestions you will have an easier time speaking for longer. And why not, you could practice all day, everyday! Good luck!

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@next2friends.com
www.Next2Friends.com

I don’t know when we started naming generations exactly, it seems the one I became aware of first were the ‘Baby Boomers’, the name given to my parents generation. Then I distinctly remember realizing that I was a part of this Generation ‘X’ that I kept reading about, though I related to less than half of it’s characteristics. And now I see the newest generation has begun to be called Generation ‘Y’, for better or for worse. But I’d like to wipe the slate clean and slap my own label on what is happening right now in society and culture. I’d like to call this time in history: Generation ‘i’. Make no mistakes, we are ALL members of Generation ‘i’ right now.

This idea springs from a conversation I had with another performing musician friend of mine. Being new to New York City, I was asking him about the music scene. He shrugged his shoulders and kind of laughed and said,

“No one wants to hear what we have to say right now, they all want to be the ones up there saying things!”

And indeed, this seemed to be true as I began performing at open mics to audiences full of other performers, some very skilled, others, not so much. The one binding thread between us all, though, was the fact that they were there, performing. Virtually no one in the audience was there just to take in some music.

The message today is very clear: With today’s technology people are the judge, jury and executioner of their creative lives. We no longer need video editors, we are video editors. We no longer need songwriters or musicians, we are songwriters and musicians. We no longer need writers, we are writers. And the list goes on.

I know I’m not the first to point this out (in fact I seem to remember Time Magazine naming everyone Person of the Year a few years ago for this very reason) but I’d like to comment on what I feel will be the undoing of Generation ‘i’: The loss of the expert.

I’m talking about people who, through the disciplined, daily pursuit of something, achieve a level of skill and understanding that far surpasses a casual understanding. I’m talking about that which natural talent can never make up for. To us in Generation ‘i’ there is no appreciation of experts, just a vague sense of entitlement that whatever we want to know and do should be readily available to us at the few clicks of a mouse.

This is quite a quandary we’re creating, we have unprecedented access to information and tools, but unprecedented time and attention to their mastery.

Oh well, maybe all this will just end in a cultural shift. Humans seem to be endlessly adept at reframing things and discarding that which doesn’t align. Look at how well the Punk movement has been integrated into pop culture. What once began as a hallmark of rebellion and do-it-yourself attitude has somehow transformed into ‘faux-hawks’ being cut at nearly every salon in the nation. Or look at Rock and Roll for that matter. Back in the 50’s musicians and music educators were bemoaning the loss of technical skill in music for the ‘new’ importance that young people were placing on the energy and emotion of Rock and Roll. It all worked out fine, now the study of Rock and Roll is a regular part of almost any educational institution.

So where is all this leading? Where will Generation ‘i’ meet it’s end?

In Generation ‘us’ of course.

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com
www.Next2Friends.com

So how did I find myself in the enviable position I’ve been describing the past few days? Poop-stained awnings, convicts, felons? Why, it was through my cheap health care of course. Now, I know the tone of my last few blogs has been a bit negative (and hopefully humorous), but I will say that I have sought cheap health care in two major cities and ultimately the service I end up with is as good as when I’ve had insurance through employers. It just takes a little more gumption or “stick-to-it-iveness” to get good service through cheap insurance or a government assisted program. Really, like in all things in life, you are your biggest advocate, so you have to put in a little work to make it work for you.

Luckily, (or sadly) with the rise of health care costs, the need for affordable health care has risen as well. When I first sought this out 10 years ago there weren’t nearly as many options. But today, the options seem to be multiplying.

Tip 1

When starting your search use keywords like, “government assisted” or “government subsidized” or the word “program.” If you merely type in, “affordable health care” or “cheap health care” thousands of options will come up that are advertising to be cheap or affordable but ultimately are not. You want to find and enroll in a government assisted program, not apply for cheap health care through a private company.

*Note* Often government assisted programs are delivered by private companies, making it the same as getting private health insurance but at a reduced cost.

Tip 2

When you find a program you are interested in, call it. Do not spend a ton of time filling out online applications. I’ve spent hours online listing medications and medical history only to get to the end to find I do not qualify. So to save yourself some time, get a live body on the phone and follow Tip 3.

Tip 3

Once you have the program you’re interested in on the telephone the first thing you should do is describe your financial situation to them. Even if they try to start getting your medical history first (which they will), assert yourself and ask them if their program is right for people making $xxxx.xx dollars a month. Some people get uncomfortable flapping their financials out in the breeze like this, but if you are going to succeed in getting cheap health care you have to be honest about your need. (If you don’t feel that you need it, you shouldn’t have read this far:) Most government programs have a cutoff for how much money you can make in a month or year, so save yourself some time and get it out up front.
Tip 4

If you do not qualify for a program ask the person where someone in your financial situation may try to get affordable health care. They often know. Be sure to ask about “programs” for people like you. Try to steer your search as far to the side of government as possible. This is almost always where the greatest amount of real help in affordable health care lies.

Tip 5

If you follow all leads to government programs and you still don’t make little enough money (funny to say isn’t it) then you might have to start looking into private health insurance companies. At this point you can go ahead and search the internet for “affordable health care” and “cheap health care”. Thousands of choices will come up and my advice would be to spend a little time learning about each one and then call them. Basically follow Tips 1-4 but in the private sector.

As I mentioned in my introduction, I have sought out government programs and cheap health care in two states now with quite a bit of luck. I hope my tips help and you find a situation that you can live with. Literally. Good luck and Happy Hunting!

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
www.Next2Friends.com
“Sign up now for a chance to win an iPod Touch or a Laptop!”

With the recent announcement from Apple regarding the release of an SDK for the IPhone that doesn’t limit us to Web Apps; Next2Friends plans for full support! This is quite exciting news, targeting some of the most advanced devices is quite natural for Next2Friends. All along we felt that one would be missing in the bunch. That is until the above announcement. So, the SDK comes out Feb 2008, we are hoping to be ready with Next2Friends support by early April. Be ready… The hottest services, for the hottest devices! If you haven’t pre-registered for our monthly Ipod touch giveaway and quarterly Dell laptop giveaway. (Simple by pre-registering for free) Get over there now.

Next2Friends

So there I stood, before a dirt-stained awning grazed with pigeon poop. I was late but relieved that I was at least in the right place. I walked in and the first thing I noticed was that the waiting room was a little disheveled and ‘felt’ dirty. It wasn’t that I saw dirt explicitly, it just that it gave me the feeling of uncleanliness. Stepping through those doors I realized that I was a long way from the Midwest where the last place in the universe that would seem unclean was a doctor’s office. Oh well, I thought, this is just how it is, so I took my place in the line that wound through the office right up to the door.

So it was here that I began to realize something was terribly wrong. There were two women working the front desk but only one was actually helping people. The other was talking frantically into the phone. I heard her say,

“No, that is not the plan I signed up for, if I have to tell you again I’m going to have to talk to your boss! I signed up for the Family Choice plan, the one with unlimited minutes for me and my family!”

Ok, I thought, I just got here, maybe she’s having some type of emergency. She got off the phone and turned to her co-worker and said,

“I don’t know who they’re hiring down at Verizon. You heard me, I was just on the phone for a half hour trying to get them to put me on the plan I signed up for in the first place!”

“I know girl,” said her coworker.

Wow, no wonder the line is to the door, well things should speed up now that she took care of that. But they didn’t. She turned to her computer and started searching for something. When she found it she picked up the office phone again and started talking…TO THE CABLE COMPANY!

Now, this was at ten in the morning so it wasn’t like she was on her lunch break. I looked incredulously at my fellow low-income health insurance consumers for some sign that this was crazy, but they just stood there like cattle going to slaughter. One part resigned and one part oblivious. So for the next 45 minutes or so, I watched this woman “run out for a quick cigarette” (10-15 minutes), mitigate a fight between her son and her daughter (15 minutes), and finally get the gas company to put her on an automatic payment plan (15 minutes). All the while people piled up throughout the waiting room like forgotten toys. Finally I was called into the office for my appointment, thankfully leaving the all-too-surreal scene.

Needless to say, I was never happier to get out of an appointment. As I walked home I caught glimpses of the downtown skyline down every street I passed. They looked like the dirty teeth of a giant grin. And I wasn’t sure if I was looking out from the belly of this beast or was about to be devoured. I guess time will tell.

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Next2Friends
http://www.Next2Friends.com

Maybe I should have taken it as a sign when I was visiting New York City two years ago. I was at a clothing store, had just picked out a few things to buy, brought them up to the counter and couldn’t get any of the three sales clerks who were standing not four feet from me to ring up my purchase. They laughed, and talked, and seemed quite self-satisfied. In fact life looked quite perfect if it weren’t for me, a mild irritation, that stood before them needing them to DO THEIR JOB!

Well, I didn’t take it as a sign. Three months ago my wife and I moved to New York City from the Midwest, truly believing that:

“It can’t be that different.”

“It’s going to be hard, but we’ll find our footing.”

and

“CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE SAME NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, RIGHT?”

Wrong. Since we’ve been here we’ve collected an astonishing catalogue of instances and interactions that prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:

CUSTOMER SERVICE IN NEW YORK CITY IS AN OXYMORON!

Exhibit A

I struggled for a while to find health insurance. Not making much money actually made the situation easier, New York has several programs for people making below a certain amount of money and while it took a while to find them, I applied and was quickly accepted. New York City: 1 point.

So I was quite happy as I walked to my first appointment at my new clinic. I walked into the building, went up to the second floor, signed in at the front desk and sat down. A few moments later the receptionist called me back up and asked who I was there to see. I told her and was met with a blank expression. Now, what I didn’t know, and what she DID know was that there was a clinic downstairs that shared their address. Being the case wouldn’t you think that people being in the wrong place was a pretty common phenomenon? Like, maybe a daily phenomenon? Well, the light didn’t go on for her. She twisted her face and called her coworker over.

“This man is here to see Doctor Blank, we don’t have a Doctor Blank here do we?”

They debated for perhaps 5 minutes, going back and forth about how there really wasn’t, and never was, a Doctor Blank who worked there. And further, if there was, he worked there before either of them had started over a year ago. Ha! Gotcha! They had both worked there for longer than a year. So insert more vacant expressions and much hemming and hawing for another 5 minutes while I just stood there and finally one of them lights up and says,

“Well, which program are you here for? Chemical Dependency or Felon Transitioning?”

I kind of laughed and said,

“Neither, I’m here to see my General Practice Physician for the first time.”

“OHHHH, you’re in the wrong place. Ok, there is a clinic downstairs and to the right that has the same street number as us, that’s where you want to be.”

Wow. Ok, well, at least these ladies were trying to help me, I don’t feel that I should take away anything from the fact that they were earnestly trying, even if it took around 10-15 minutes to get there, they persisted. Which is more than I can say for my new clinic downstairs.

Tune in tomorrow, it gets worse.

Hans Erik

Content Marketing Director
Next2Friends
http://www.next2friends.com

Social networking and mobile technology is set for a bit of a shakeup this December 24th with the launch of a fascinating service called Next2Friends. It is poised to become the next revolution in how we work, play, and maybe even avoid work! Perhaps the smallest side of this revolution is the way it will be changing MY life (hence the title).

My name is Hans Erik and I am pleased to be working with Next2Friends as the new Content Marketing Director. I am coming on to this project with a pretty diverse background and set of experiences. I have released and promoted 2 CD’s as an independent musical artist (look up HanZsolo and Hanz Erik and the Hims), have taught at-risk-youth the Recording Arts, have written courses on the Recording Arts, Music Business and Lyric Writing, as well as written music for national television commercials. I am excited by the potential that Next2Friends will hold not only for people like me, but anyone! More to come on that later though. I will be blogging daily on a pretty wide gamut of topics ranging from the future of Social Networking, Mobile Technology, the Arts, Music, Teaching, Life in New York City to virtually everything in between. I look forward to interacting with all of you and sharing this amazing new product with you!

Find out more about Next2Friends at

Stay tuned and remember: THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED!

Many of you may think that web 2.0 is over, social networking can’t be improved and now just waiting for the next big thing to hit. The next big hit is here, Social Networking is quite simply being redesigned and Next2Friends are the stylists.

Next2Friends is going to shock some, intrigue others and generally speaking, make most say. “Why didn’t I think of that?” By blending real-time and real-life with a proven SN platform all while extending it to some of the most pervasive technologies. Next2Friends will on December 24th, Turn Social Networking on its head.

We are all very excited, and soon you will understand why…

Can’t wait to see you on Next2Friends.com

P.S. Now we just have to update this blog more often on our development downtime!

In an effort to drive pre-registration Next2Friends runs two simultaneous drawings. Each month we give away an Ipod Touch and every quarter a Dell laptop. All you have to do is go to the Next2Friends site and pre-register for free. In fact, Next2Friends will enter your name in to the drawings as many times as friends you refer. Quite the deal!