E-books

With the growing arenas in technology , even the traditional habit and activity of reading has upgraded itself to a completely new level.Electronic books , popularly known as e-books are basically electronically displayed copies of regular printed books.There are devices ie- e-book readers are specially designed only for the purpose of reading such books. However e-books can also be read on laptops , computers , tablets etc.

Advantages of E-books
1)  Portability
With the help of an eBook reader , laptop etc it is possible to read multiple books on a single device. It gets rid of the problem of trying to accommodate  multiple books in limited space while travelling or even for storage purposes.

2)  Lighting conditions
In the case of an e-book , it is possible to read it under all lighting conditions especially in the absence of light because of the prevailing background  light in the electronic device which contains the e-book.

3)  Easily Readable
It is easier to adjust the e-books according to your convenience like adjusting the fonts , page size , zoom functions etc.

4)  Great for new releases
E-books are a great option in the case of new book releases. Not only are they available for cheaper but you can also avoid the problem of sold out copies which are often prevalent during the initial launch of the book.

Disadvantages of E-books
1)  Strain to eyes
Looking at the screen of an e-book for long hours can be a huge strain on the eyes. Apart from causing temporary irritation , constant and prolonged  exposure can lead to more serious eye problems.

2)  Power
Ebook readers , laptops,tablets or other devices have a power of maximum 2-3 hours and you may not always have access to power supply. This is a negative point considering how the paper books does not require any other supplementary device.

3) E book formats
A wide variety of ebook formats are available.Many of them are specific to certain ebook readers only whereas one particular book may not be available in all formats.

4)  Destroys the novelty of books
Many argue that no technology can replace the pleasure of flipping through pages of the book .The smell of pages and the feeling of printed paper holds a special place in the hearts of many and it’s hard for such people to change their reading habits.

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Ways to kill creativity

With every passing day, creativity seems to be at the highest and lowest pinnacle at the same time. On one side you see completely new and innovative ideas while on the other hand you get to see the same mundane things being repeated. The latter side is due to the dying creativity. These are some of the ways because of which creativity is killed.

Restrictions and control - When we restrict people, we’re actually pulling some of their options off the table.We’re setting up boundaries around their thinking arena and limiting their ideas.It’s as good as imposing our ideas on people. We should allow their minds to prance and wander about freely to ensure the most effective train of thought.

Deadlines - Deadlines are one of the top reasons that kill creativity. Asking someone to come up with the most creative piece he/she can do within a limited span of time is unreasonable. Sometimes the thinking process needs time to move from one point to another and make connections. Setting time frames (especially short ones) fails the purpose of creativity.

Competition – Healthy competition to an extent always fuels up your spirit and desire to work to the best of your potential .However aggressive competition may sometimes pull down your creativity and imagination.In the attempt of trying to come up with something better than the other , you end up messing up with your creativity.

Distractions - When you are continuing a train of thought, where new ideas are storming in, any distraction big or small might interrupt this line and the nature of thoughts might just completely change overtime in a matter of few seconds or minutes.

Surveillance - When you know you’re being watched or observed and have limited personal space, your consciousness tends to get in the way of your thought process. Flow of ideas maybe restricted and you might be influenced under the idea of pleasing the particular person in charge.

Lack of enthusiasm and motivation - Without the will to accomplish the particular goal / task, your brain remains idle and dull.You need the spark and enthusiasm to come up with new ideas and thoughts.

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How to write effective content for a website???

All of us admire a myriad websites. According to some reliable research analyses, it has been proved that approx. 85% of people fall in love with these websites by virtue of their content. Very rightly said, “Content is the king”, it must be taken into consideration that writing effective content for a website is the key to the success and fan following of that website.

We must be well-acquainted with a fact by now that it’s not the quantity that matters but the quality. There may be huge chunks of information on the webpage but what counts for the USP of the webpage is not the length of the information, but the relevance and uniqueness of the content matter.

The story doesn’t end here! The recipe of a successful website still has a lot of ingredients like correct grammar usage, clear typography, and easy navigation, clean download, so on and so forth.

Having said that, it is also a matter of fact that writing effective content for a website ain’t no difficult, provided some genuine points are kept in mind while framing the same in accordance to the website’s requirements and subject.

Smile-bringing Factor: Your content mustn’t be plain and dry. Make it humorous and fluffy wherever possible. Put yourself in the readers’ shoe and make it so much so interesting that it leaves a smile on his/her face.

Pyramid style: Know it for a fact that people usually don’t read the entire page unless it’s too grabby to keep them from leaving the page. So, follow the pyramid style of writing, i.e. structure your content in a descending order of importance.

Grammar and Spell Check: It is usually a matter of great disgrace for the website to have incorrect grammar and spelling errors. It puts the readers off. So, make sure you proofread the content and edit it wherever necessary to make it clean.

Concise: Put across your point in the briefest manner possible so that the main subject of the topic is conveyed in the minimal words possible and the reader doesn’t have to go through an altogether different site to grab more info, merely because he doesn’t want to go through the entire content of your website by virtue of its length.

White Space: Have a good amount of white space in your piece of writing in order to give a chance to the reader to breathe through the content. “Reverse” type of writing can also be followed for the same purpose, besides many others.

Response Generating: Make your content aligned in a proper formatting system and it is always a good idea to make at least one small portion of the entire website that fetches a genuine feedback, either by virtue of polls or simply a suggestion box.

Plagiarism free: Most importantly, it must be made sure that the content is purely original. Not just that, but it should be so unique that one must not feel that he has already read something on the same lines before. Non-repetitiveness of words in the same page must also be avoided.

Get started with the wonderful game play of words. Let them dance around you! Happy generating effective content for a website!

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Must Read Novels of all Time

Some people find it a real daunting task to read novels, as reading if the one thing which requires love, patience and passion. Although the internet has become a replacement for many things today, online reading still doesn’t stand a match to the same feeling and enjoyment which a novel lover derives out of reading a physical hard cover book. Right from suspense to romantic comedy, novels still till date stand for knowledge and wisdom as the art of book reading is still alive today. Here is a list of some best novels, which I believe, is a must read for any person involved in the art of reading.

• Tale of Two Cities: A classic novel by one of the most famous classic novelist, Charles Dickens, this book is set in the backdrop of before and during the French Revolution in London and Paris. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry during and after the French revolution, giving a clear description as to how this strong revolution changed and affected the lives of many. With well over 200 million copies sold, this novel stands out as one of the best fictional books one must read.
• The Da Vinci Code: It is a mystery detective novel written by Dan Brown.It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu who investigate a murder in Paris’s Louvre Museum and later find the victim’s body posed and framed like Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man with a cryptic message written beside his body. This book was not well reviewed by critics because of its negative appraisals concerning its literary value and its portrayal of history.  The novel nonetheless became one of the bestselling novels in 2009, selling about 80 million copies worldwide.
• Lolita: A novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, this novel became best known for its writing style in the year 1955 and in other part of the world in 1958. It became very notable for the controversial lines it was based on wherein a middle aged literature professor Humbert becomes obsessed with the 12 year old Dolores Haze (Lolita) with whom he gets intimately involved after Lolita ends up being his stepdaughter. Lolita became one of the most controversial pieces of literature of the 2oth century, being one of the famous classic novels of all time.
• Angels and Demons: The bestselling novel of the year 2000, written by Dan Brown, it became one of the best fictional mystery suspense novels of all time. The novel tells about a Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon, of how he works to solve a murder and prevent the city of Vatican against a dangerous terrorist attack.
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: This is one powerful, simple and inspiring novel for people all across the world. This book has been successful in inspiring a devoted crowd in many part of the world. A truly life=-changing novel, Paulo Coelho’s writing and imagination would make you change your perspective to look at things, making the book an eternal testament to the transformation power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
• Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer:This Novel talks of two men and their lust for power and success. They are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fueled by their all consuming hatred.  Born in two different environments and living totally different lifestyles, after many glorious years they find each other fighting and battling for the success and triumph only one man can have.

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Effects of Media Sensationalism

In today’s society Journalism is a profession which is losing its credibility. One such profession which is under close scrutiny has a deep impact on the audience and reporters. Sensationalism of news is that part of Journalism where a reporter/journalist faces a serious conventional dilemma of reporting objectively and reporting what sells, because sensationalism is all about creating what sells to profit! It has got to do more with a strategist plan of profit making rather than information generation to people. Sensationalism still remains a strong force in today’s media centric society. This type of media sensationalism takes various forms of picture tabloid magazines, celebrity journalism, or the violence infested media known as television and movies. But the bare fact which remains true till date is the fact that it sells. There will be a constant and uninterrupted supply if such unethical journalism is encouraged and their market is flourished.

Over the years, public has depended on the media for its information on current events and it has been their prime source for any general query. Also, these days, people too are becoming less and less confident in the objectivity of the news that is reported. Surveys show that about 80% people believe that sensationalized news receive a lot of media coverage because they are exciting, being equally unimportant. Consequently, the acts of needlessly and uselessly sensationalizing news by the media are their own cause for the demise of their credibility. The effects of sensationalism are very damaging to the public, and harms and ruins the integrity of a profession like Journalism.

Sensationalism affects public in a large way because what the effects of what we see, what we read and what we hear has on our thoughts. Sensationalism leads to developing positive and negative feelings, which direct our actions. Our whole perspective of an issue becomes flexible to be changed; such is the power of sensationalism. It forms a clear cut situation of dilemma for many journalists. Sensationalism sells, and thus journalists do not really mind breaking all the ethical values and principles that the profession, Journalism, was founded on. A responsible journalist is always less attached, and more accurate. They value the difference between opinion and the truth. Sensationalism has destroyed these qualities of a responsible journalist, and thus they get more concerned about promoting themselves and their newspaper rather than providing information about the story covered.

It is pretty evident that sensationalism has become deeply rooted in the media, leaving the public distraught at their loss of credible sources of news, which they once totally relied upon. In turn, journalists are also paying a high price by sacrificing their ethical standards selfishly, succumbing to the temptations of sensationalism just for the sake of some extra money. It is an impossible task to eliminate media sensationalism.  However, the public need to be well advised to actively consider their sources of information. People should have at least this bit of knowledge to discourage and reject those blatantly formed news disregarding objectivity and credibility for shallow glitter.

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True Blood!!

All this talk about blood these days is bound to make everyb(lo)ody a little queasy… with Sachin Tendulkar marking his biography with his blood in a bid to increase sales of the book, my image of him being the chocolate boy-demi god is slightly in the red. (pun intended!!)

Blood has always been a mysterious, dark yet somewhat sacred symbol. Its been used time and again in literature and other media to signify a variety of emotions, ranging from violence to love, from life to death. Here are a few examples that might interest you…

• The newfound fascination for vampires and the sheer romance in the idea of your ‘Love’ thirsting for your blood ( attention Twilight fans), has been well received and is indicative of a slightly darker shade in today’s youth’s mindset.
• Angelina Jolie promised everlasting love to her (ex!!!) husband Billy Bob Thornton by supposedly wearing a vial with his blood around her neck!!
• The term ‘blood brothers’ is an old term, derived from the act of two friends creating a ‘blood’ relationship by mixing a drop of each one’s blood together. It was a mutual contract assuring everlasting loyalty and brotherly love between the two.
• In Malaysia, a ceratin sect of people believe that drinking the blood of an angry serpent while it is still partially alive will give them a longer life and increase their virility.
• In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the symbol of blood is used to represent honor, bravery,treason, murder and guilt! The symbol of blood is continuously developed until it becomes the dominating theme of the play.
• In March 2010, Thailand’s Red Shirt activists protested against the government by splashing almost 300 litres of collected blood on the Government house gates and the headquarters of the ruling party. Though the act was symbolically powerful, it was deeply condemned by the Red Cross and other health organisations as it wasted a resource so precious in today’s world.
• Blood is a symbol of vitality. In pre-Christian cultures, it was thought that blood had the power of fertilization and contained part of divine energy. Blood (later replaced with red ochre) was rubbed on the foreheads of the gravely ill and women in labor to boost vitality.
• The act of receiving Holy Communion in Christianity by drinking wine and eating bread, symbolises coming closer to Jesus by taking his ‘blood’ and ‘flesh’ into ourselves.

The list of blood related trivia can go on…from scientific, symbolic, religious to the absurd!

For you and me, however, the only practical association with blood, ought to be it’s donation. Us, of able body and sensible mind, should try to donate our blood often, without waiting for a calamity. Our blood banks often fall short of rare blood groups and donating blood can be a small contribution from us towards possibly saving somebody’s life.

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The Art of Candle Creation

Whether it is to enliven a special occasion or simply to embellish the decor of your home, there is no other accessory as exotic as a candle. Candles of different shapes, sizes and kinds are available nowadays. Even so, making them at home is more fun! To create your own customised candle, all you need is:

1. Paraffin wax
2. Wax Melting Pot
3. Vessel/Saucepan
4. Stirring spoon
5. Mould: A container of any heat resistant material, such as steel, tin etc. will serve the purpose. Ensure though that it is smooth and does not have sharp edges.
6. Thermometer
7. Cotton Wick
8. A small stick/pencil

You can add: Candle scent/fragrance oil and Colour (wax soluble colours or poster colours will do)

*Things to Remember before you begin:

• Handle Hot Wax with Care
• Do not wash any wax stuff in the sink unless you want your drain irreversibly clogged!

Preparing the Mould
Grease the inner surface of the mould with cooking oil.
Preparing the Wax
Cut the paraffin wax (so it melts faster) and put the wax pieces into the wax melting pot. Place the pot in a saucepan or vessel filled with water and heat the water on a low flame. (DO NOT heat the wax directly. There is a chance of it burning. Heating it in boiled water in this manner is mandatory). Clip a thermometer to the side of the vessel or then check the temperature periodically. Keep stirring the wax as it melts. When it starts liquefying, you can add the colour and only A DROP OR TWO of candle scent. Don’t forget to keep stirring so that the contents blend together uniformly. Heat until the temperature reaches about 160 F. (Do not let the temperature exceed this point). If you have not added candle scent, heat only till the temperature reaches 135 F.
Making the Candle
Cut a piece of cotton wick such that it is longer than the height of the mould by an inch or so. Tie the top end of the wick to a stick or a pencil and dip it into the molten wax a few times until it somewhat hardens (so that it stands stiff in the mould while you pour the wax). Now suspend it into the mould.

Pour the molten wax into the mould. Make sure the surface doesn’t look undulating and that the wax is evenly distributed. Untie the stick and cut the extra wick off, leaving only a short end sticking out of the wax. Let the wax cool overnight. Once this is done, overturn the mould and tap it gently, to release the hardened wax.
Your candle is Ready!
You could further wrap it with ‘fancy’ paper or adorn it in any other way that appeals to you. You can now present your work of art to someone or place it in your living room, to be admired!

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Romanticism v/s Realism

The field of arts, music and literature has offered us a lot over time. Newer genres are created even today. And they keep us totally engaged with the new and utterly creative people and art around us. Two such assets or properties are romanticism and realism! Moreover, they have similar subjects in their work but the way they portray selves differs greatly! Hence, it is really important that we should compare both and get the differences clear!

Realism, it was like a movement which followed Romanticism. As the situation suggests, the era of romanticism is market by the supernatural and people that were perfect, out of this world. On the other hand realism is much grounded and much like the name suggests, opines reality with events that are inspired from real life. Other than the basic differences there’s much more to Romanticism and Realism. Here’s the overview of both.

Romanticism went against realism in early eighteenth century as realism is clearly based on practicality and grounded on logical approaches. Some individual characteristics of romanticism are

• Romanticism deal with a very idealistic way of life. And al characters in romanticism are moreover extreme. Like a hero has all positive qualities and a villain has all negative qualities. So, extremes!
• Romanticism deals with vague approach towards things and difficult to deal with its depths of real meaning.
• Most of every romantic work we enjoy has a happy ending.

Realism, as the name suggests is more practical and real truth of life. Some of the characteristics are

• Realism picks experiences from real life, be it art, literature or music.
• The concept of everything in realism is obvious and not metamorphic and moreover everything is evident by its very nature.
• Realism is based on life experiences and doesn’t glorify itself with embellishments, which might be perceived bad or good.
• This one may not always have happy ending.

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Art v/s Real Life

We generally feel a temptation of investigation of an artiste’s personal life in order to grab up certain information but it is not morally correct at first point. The role of most art works is to create a huge impressive perception of fictional, imaginary universe and most of them are successful enough to depict that. But are we lost in the reality of art which is actually unreal or fictional? We shall find out!

Though art is away from reality or real life, it is one of the prime things that inspires a man to get going and in intensifies any human to embellish a beautiful life. One may be or may not be able to relate art with real life, in this case the diversion and exaggeration or luxury might be represented that may suggest that the personality of that human lacks in that painting. That is how different and unreal could art be.
The artiste tends to pour and show his feelings in certain molds and the artiste is likely to indulge into this state pretty often. And most probably, the subject only means for the work of art created. We may feel that the artistes are not doing justice by portraying things in the paintings which are new and creative but actually many of them might have put their real stories and inspirations in that painting. That is how art and realism are. Varied perceptions, contradicting!

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Fine art photography

Fine-art photography refers to images and photographs that have been created by a photographer using his/her own creative vision as an artist. Fine-art photography is completely different from photojournalism. Photojournalism provides photography for news, events, and includes commercial photography with the primary purpose of advertising products and services whereas in Fine art photography the purpose of the activity will shape itself from the purpose of the photographer.

The art of photography is also a steady career for those who are really good at it and they sell their photos in exhibitions for a very good profit. It is quite a big accomplishment to for a photographer to have a photo gallery where they can exhibit their work.

This Art is considered to have a very controversial history as in 1950s it was completely unacceptable to keep a photo in a gallery. But after the 1950s people slowly started to accept photography as fine-arts.

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20 Uncommon Words in English

English is an alluring language that embraces a massive word collection. Many of them have almost been eliminated from daily usage. A language so rich and exotic is confined to a corral, surviving with just a few common words in circulation. The exquisiteness of a language surfaces with the use of resonant and mellifluous words it encompasses. Let’s have a look at the not-so-often-used words in day-to-day spoken English.

1.  CHATOYANT
Meaning: Shiny or glossy
Sentence: The ‘chatoyant’ party place left the guests awestruck.

2. DEMUR
Meaning: Shy and reserved
Sentence: The ‘demur’ boy next door never came out of his room.

3. EVANESCENT
Meaning: Short lived or fading
Sentence: Delivering an ‘evanescent’ speech, the orator left in a hurry.

4. TINTINNABULATION
Meaning: Loud ringing or clanging
Sentence: The ‘tintinnabulation’ of her cell phone distracted the class.

5. BUCOLIC
Meaning: Rural
Sentence: Brought up in a ‘bucolic’ backdrop, Jane could not survive the city buzz.

6.DESUETUDE
Meaning: Inactive
Sentence: Being ‘desuetude’ can bring unforeseen health complications.

7. EBULLIENCE
Meaning: Enthusiasm
Sentence: New Year was celebrated with extreme ‘ebullience’ at her residence.

8. HALCYON
Meaning: Calm and peaceful
Sentence: One longs for the ‘halcyon’ of the pristine countryside.

9. INURE
Meaning: Accustom or familiarize
Sentence: ‘Inure’ yourself to regular exercise and healthy eating.

10. SUSURRUS
Meaning: Murmur or whisper
Sentence: The ‘susurrus’ in class silenced on Principal’s arrival.

11.WAFTURE
Meaning: Act of waving
Sentence: His ‘wafture’ while departing showed how bereaved he was to leave his parents and work abroad.

12. EMOLLIENT
Meaning: Soothing or healing
Sentence: ‘Emollient’ words from the doctor cured him completely.

13. WOEBEGONE
Meaning: Depressed or troubled
Sentence: ‘Woebegone’ over his High school scores, Tom decided to discontinue his studies.

14. CACHINNATION
Meaning: Laugh or cackle
Sentence: There was a loud ‘cachinnation’ over the participant’s poem recital.

15. REDOLENT
Meaning: Aromatic
Sentence: His aunt’s kitchen was ‘redolent’ with an aperitive dish cooking in the oven.

16. SCINTILLA
Meaning: Trace
Sentence: The killer left no ‘scintilla’ of his heinous crime.

17. DELVE
Meaning: Search deeply
Sentence: Archeologists ‘delved’ into the age-old remains of Harappa and Mohenjodaro.

18. PROVENDER
Meaning: To feed
Sentence: To ‘provender’ the poor is the highest service to mankind.

19. TRAMMEL
Meaning: Hamper
Sentence: Justin’s stern attitude ‘trammeled‘ his professional growth.

20. CRUCIVERBALIST
Meaning: Crossword or word game enthusiast
Sentence: Being a staunch ‘cruciverbalist’, he is perpetually stuck to the morning newspapers.

The hues of English can be mostly seen in writing. Conversations usually lack the usage of uncommon English words. Add life to your spoken English by making use of these near-to-extinct vivacious words that form an integral part of this comprehensive language.

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