Electronics is the science of how to control electric energy, energy in which the electrons have a fundamental role. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive electrical components and interconnection technologies. Commonly, electronic devices contain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit.
The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals possible, and electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing. The ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information processing possible. Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed components into a regular working system.
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker.
An electronic instrument might include a user interface for controlling its sound, often by adjusting the pitch, frequency, or duration of each note. However, it is increasingly common to separate user interface and sound-generating functions into a music controller (input device) and a music synthesizer, respectively, with the two devices communicating through a musical performance description language such as MIDI or Open Sound Control.
All electronic musical instruments can be viewed as a subset of audio signal processing applications. Simple electronic musical instruments are sometimes called sound effects; the border between sound effects and actual musical instruments is often hazy.
Electronic musical instruments are now widely used in most styles of music. Development of new electronic musical instruments, controllers, and synthesizers continues to be a highly active and interdisciplinary field of research. Specialized conferences, notably the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, have organized to report cutting-edge work, as well as to provide a showcase for artists who perform or create music with new electronic music instruments, controllers, and synthesizers.
Electronics was an American trade journal that covered the radio industry and its later spin-offs in the mid-to-late 20th century. Its first issue was dated in April 1930. The periodical was published under the title Electronics until 1984, when it changed temporarily to the new title ElectronicsWeek, but then reverted again to the original title Electronics in 1985. The ISSN for the corresponding periods are: 0013-5070 for the 1930–1984 issues, 0748-3252 for the 1984–1985 issues with title ElectronicsWeek, and 0883-4989 for the 1985–1995 issues. It was published by McGraw-Hill until 1988, when it was sold to the Dutch company VNU. VNU sold its American electronics magazines to Penton Publishing the next year.
Generally a monthly magazine, its frequency and page count varied with the state of the industry, until its end in 1995. More than its principal rival Electronic News, it balanced its appeal to managerial and technical interests (at the time of its 1992 makeover, it described itself as a magazine for managers). The magazine was best known for publishing the April 19, 1965 article by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, in which he outlined what came to be known as Moore's Law.
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (pronounced [gəˈzɛlʃaft mɪt bəˈʃʁɛŋktɐ ˈhaftʊŋ], abbreviated GmbH [geː ʔɛm beː haː], in Austria also GesmbH or Ges.m.b.H.), which is German for "company with limited liability", is a type of legal entity very common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The name of the GmbH form emphasizes the fact that the owners (Gesellschafter, also known as members) of the entity are not personally liable for the company's debts.GmbHs are considered legal persons under German and Austrian law. Other variations include mbH (used when the term Gesellschaft is part of the company name itself), and gGmbH (gemeinnützige GmbH) for non-profit companies.
The GmbH has become the most common corporation form in Germany, since the AG (Aktiengesellschaft), the other major company form corresponding to a stock corporation, was much more complicated to form and operate until recently.
The laws governing this type of legal entity were adopted in Germany in 1892, and in Austria in 1906. The concept of limited liability created by these laws inspired the legal establishment of the limited liability company form in other countries, although the concept of a limited liability company already existed in the United Kingdom.