Monthly Archives: June 2019

Vocabulary Building – Common Mistakes to Avoid

Building your vocabulary is an important part of learning. Many wish to get there; but very few manage to. The reason is mostly one of these common mistakes that they end up doing:

Learning words only to pass an exam

No matter how much time and money you spend on taking English lessons; if you cannot remember any of them, it is of no use. Building your vocabulary is not something you need to do just to pass an exam. In fact vocabulary is something that will be of use to you throughout your life, at each and every phase. Understand the real purpose of building your vocabulary and keep it in your mind.

Memorizing words without practicing

Many people try and learn at least 10 words on a daily basis. They write them down in their notebooks again and again. Yet they hardly get there when it comes to building vocabulary. The reason is because they don’t use them. You can memorize words perfectly; but unless you start using them again and again, you cannot expect them to get registered in your mind.

Practicing words before understanding them

What do you do when you come across a new word? Read stories that have that word? Sing songs about it? Play games with that word? Bad idea! These things might give you an explanation; but they won’t really help in making you understand the word. The main purpose of practicing words is to increase your understanding. Without any idea about the meaning of the word that you learn, such practicing it would be of no use.

Don’t just rely upon understanding the context

Many teachers feel that it is always better to understand words from their context. However, it may not work always. At times, this might make you end up with too many new words, the meanings of which you have no idea about. For instance, what would you make out by the sentence – “Marta has a parasol.” You can sit and guess the meaning all day long; but would it lead you to the right answer? Probably not! There is an easier way of understanding this. Look it up on the dictionary. Once you understand the meaning of the word, it starts to make better sense.

Knowing words is not going to help build your vocabulary.  You have to understand their meaning and figure out ways to use them during your conversation. You can’t just invent new meanings to words. The guessing game hardly works when it comes to building vocabulary. The secret lies in understanding the words and then practicing them again and again. With time, you will be amazed to see how far you have gone.

Thankfully technology has brought to light many options such as Vocabulary builder app and Vocabulary quiz, which can help you understand the new words that you learn, efficiently. Make sure you choose the best option make the most out of it.

Remember – it is not just to pass your exams that you should build your vocabulary. Make sure you understand the purpose of building vocabulary before you give it a try.

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E-cycle Waste Management: The Door to a Cleaner Future

We live in the world of IoT, where manufacturers are continuously investing in how everything shall be done using mobile devices. This means the next generation of mobile devices are becoming increasingly complex, and at the same time, older generation devices such as laptops are suffering from a lower product lifecycle. We tend to buy new gadgets, and sometimes either keep the older ones or discard them in thrash.

This is particularly dangerous because older gadgets have dangerous metals like Mercury, lead, cadmium, lithium, copper, and arsenic, which if not disposed of properly, has harmful effects not only to you but also to the environment. Many manufacturers have initiated a buy-back recycle program, where the buyer is given discounts on new purchases of their products. But that is just roughly 1% of the manufacturers who have dedicatedly worked towards e-waste recycling. In developing countries, there is hardly any incentive to recycle e-waste, which causes a deluge of the unorganized sector for e-waste management, which in turn does more harm than good.

However, there are some important points to consider before you think to dispose off your old laptops.

  1. Wipe off all Your Personal Data:

Before discarding your laptops, do make sure that the hard-disk is erased completely. You do not want your personal photos/videos to land in the hands of anyone else.

  1. Do Not Discard Laptop Battery in the Thrash-Can

Laptop batteries are made up of Lithium-ion, which in the wrong hands, is an explosive device. Hence, before discarding, do make sure that the battery is properly disposed off separately.

  1. Reuse is Better than Recycle:

Rather than discarding the laptop completely, you can reuse the working components to build your own personal desktop or just an extended monitor device.

  1. Do Not Attempt to Disassemble Old Laptops without Proper Training:

Laptops contain harmful carcinogenic chemicals and metals in components, which may adversely harm you if you do not have proper training of the correct and safe way of disassembly. You can recycle old laptop by selling it to companies and make a profit of your old useless laptop easily.

Laptops also contain precious metals such as copper, aluminum and even gold in the housings. Hence, one can separate them to be given back to the government, so that precious metal mining can be reduced. E-waste recycling reduces the waste in the landfill, thus making landfill maintenance cheaper. The main reason as to why people avoid recycling e-waste is because it is time-consuming and tedious. Critical components recycling such as power-ICs and step-down transformer are universal in all gadgets. These need to be recycled and re-used in other components.

Mandatory regulations with respect to recycling of e-waste needs to be implemented. This would force manufacturers to follow important regulations and safety guidelines while processing e-waste. This would not only reduce the chances of accidentally poisoning of an individual but also make sure that there is proper recycling and re-use of the essential products. This would, in turn, bring down the overall cost of the manufacturing of new gadgets by re-using old components in it.

The Unexpected Environmental Consequences of the Cannabis Industry

As you probably know, the liberalization of laws on cannabis use has been speeding up in recent years. Towards the end of 2018, Canada’s administration took the momentous step of legalizing the recreational use of cannabis. Just a few months later, the US Congress voted in favor of the farm bill, thus legalizing medicinal cannabis across the country.

These two important events, in particular, caused the cannabis market to expand rapidly. Since then, people up and down the continent have been growing, purchasing, and using cannabis at unprecedented rates.

In light of this, a lot of attention has been directed at the potential consequences that this widespread adoption of cannabis can have on people.

For example, billboards across Canada have been erected warning people not to drive after smoking or eating cannabis. Meanwhile, policymakers in the US are paying close attention to medical research and using it to inform regulations on how medicinal cannabis can and can’t be used and sold.

However, it’s not just people that the cannabis industry can have consequences for – it’s the environment too. Unfortunately, far less attention has been directed towards this important topic.

Energy Consumption: A Cause For Concern

The biggest cause for environmental concern in this area relates to the cultivation of cannabis. Regulations and policies on cannabis cultivation in the US favor indoor operations, which is pushing many farmers to grow their cannabis plants indoors.

The problem with this is that cultivating cannabis indoors really isn’t all that energy efficient. According to a study by the International Cannabis Farmers Association, just half an acre of indoor cannabis production uses the same amount of energy as 298 households would use across a whole year.

The reason energy consumption is so high is that artificial lighting and heating is required to maintain the right climate for the plants to grow. If these farmers were to grow their plants using the sun’s light instead, operations would be much more energy efficient.

In fact, data shows that four season greenhouses use as much energy as 82 households, whereas greenhouses that rely on the sunlight use as much as just 15 households – that’s more than 5 times less.

Energy consumption is the driving force behind climate change, and reducing national energy use should be a key goal of all environmentally conscious nations. The US and Canada need to do more to address this pressing concern and encourage more sustainable farming practices if they want to meet the energy consumption targets set by the Paris Accords.

The Impact of Cannabis on Fresh Water Supplies

The effects of the cannabis industry on the environment extends beyond energy consumption. Another area of concern is how it may affect our fresh water supplies. The problem is that all pharmaceuticals can potentially have a significant impact on the freshwater environment by contaminating bodies of water.

More governmental discussion is needed to ensure that this doesn’t become a problem, especially seeing ass North America’s lakes account for a huge portion of the world’s freshwater supplies, and millions of citizens are dependent on them for clean, safe drinking water.

15 Questions You Should Ask Your Wedding Baker

Your Wedding Cake will be one of the major decoration pieces on your wedding day hence you need to be very careful about the design and the flavors. The cake industry has progressed so well in the past few years that you can get any damn cake you have dreamed about on your wedding day. There are hundreds of bakers out there and you can easily shortlist a few of them who fit your requirements from Wedding Cakes – Styckie.

Before you make your first deposit, ask these basic questions to the baker as it is important to clear all points before you finally hire them;

  1. Are You Available to Bake the Cake on My Wedding Date?

This should probably be the first question you need to ask as there is no point of further discussion if the baker is unavailable on your wedding day.

  1. How are your Cakes Priced?

This is another important question you need to ask as it is essential to know beforehand if you could afford that baker. Roughly tell the baker your requirements and ask them to provide approximate pricing before you proceed.

  1. Does the Price Include the Cake’s Top Tier?

Many couples like to save the top tier for their first anniversary, but few bakers do not include the pricing of the top tier in the overall price hence make it clear beforehand.

  1. Where can I View the Gallery of Your Work?

It is no use talking in detail with a baker if you are not convinced by their baking skills hence view a gallery of their work first to decide if you like what they have to offer.

  1. Is Your Speciality Fondant or Buttercream?

Different bakers work with different frosting. If you have a particular frosting in mind, make sure that the baker has already worked with it.

  1. What are the Filling Options?

Again, there are multiple filling options and you may be hell-bent to include a few particular fillings in your wedding cake. Discuss beforehand the filling they do.

  1. Can You Make Sugar Ornaments? 

The cake has become more of a wedding ornament nowadays hence cake decoration is really important. The latest trend going around in the wedding cake business is sugar flowers and jewels. Make sure the baker knows to make these elements.

  1. Is There a Sample Tasting Before I Place a Deposit?

Make sure that the baker is letting you taste the flavors to choose from before you make a payment as at the end of the day apart from decoration, the taste of the cake is also important.

  1. How Many Days Prior to My Wedding the Cake Will be Prepared?

Do not be surprised to know that the bakers complete baking and decorating a wedding cake 3-4 days prior to the wedding if they have multiple orders. This should not be a problem but make sure that it is not too many days prior to the wedding as you do not want the cake to taste stale.

  1. Who is Going to Bake my Cake?

Do not talk to the assistant or accountant but talk directly to the person who is baking your cake as you do not need a third person specifying your requirements to the baker.

  1. Will You Provide the Cake Stand?

Many bakers let you rent a stand for a day. They will have multiple options hence choose a cake stand for your cake.

  1. How do You Deliver?

Make sure that the pricing includes delivery charges as well. Plan beforehand the time they will arrive at the venue, how long they need to set it up, if they need a refrigerator at the venue and how much space they need for setting up and arranging the cake on the venue.

  1. How many Years have You Been in This Business?

You will not want to hire a newbie on your wedding day. Know clearly how many years they have been baking wedding cakes to feel assured that you have hired a baking company which knows how to do its job.

 

How To Choose The Best Paint For Your Home?

There are different varieties of paints available in the market to paint the home or any other building. There are paints for interior surfaces, paints for the exterior areas, there are acrylic matt finish paints, there are water resistant and water repellent paints etc. It is necessary to select the best paint for your need carefully, if you want it to give the appropriate look to your home to last for a long time. It is necessary to consider various things when you are buying the paint online.

Reputable Online Dealers

It is necessary to shop paint and other materials for painting like putty, seals etc from a reputable dealer. Look for online sites with e-commerce certificate. These websites ensure safety for online shopping. Look for quality products from good dealers. The reputed companies will be able to offer the fairest price for the paints you need.  Select companies with easy payment option and prompt shipping of the items. It is also necessary to select online dealers who offer 24 hour customer service to clear your doubts regarding the pain or the shipping of the item ordered.  Reputable companies will haves widest choice of types as well as colors of paints to suit your rooms, wet areas, exterior walls etc.  You can get all the information needed about the different varieties of paints they are dealing by visiting their website. Check out here to know more about the online purchase of best paints.

Selecting The Paint

You should select the pain according to the climate of your area, the type of the house, the environment etc. if you get regular rains it is necessary to use water resistant paints for the exterior. You can use washable paints for your interiors and water repellent paints for bathroom areas. It is necessary to select bright shades for interiors if you want to make them look more spacious. Darker shades can be used for large halls or open areas.  The paint you select should match with the furniture and other décor of the rooms. Sometimes the experts in the paint company will help you to select the paint colors for the different rooms in your house.  It is necessary to get the best painting services to achieve perfection in the painting work of any home.

7 Ways to Stay Healthy on the Go

Busy professionals cannot afford to lose a single minute in a day. they are always on the go hence to be able to incorporate a healthy lifestyle in such a busy schedule seems to be extremely difficult, but it is not an impossible task.

By being smart and making simple changes, you can easily stay healthy on the go;

1. Start Your Day with Health Boosting Drinks:

Starting your day with body rejuvenation drink such as hot lemon water and honey or metabolism boosting drink such as Apple Cider Vinegar just takes a few minutes, but the health benefits provided by them lasts the entire day. Apple Cider Vinegar also aids in digestion, lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and controls the insulin levels in the blood which adds on to its many advantages

2. Keep the Breakfast Simple:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and you should never skip it. Remember skipping breakfast will cause lowering of your body metabolism hence without fail, eat the first meal of your day and follow the same routine every day. Planning complex breakfast will consume a lot of your time and will eventually lead to missing it a few days. Instead, plan simple meals such as boiled eggs and bread, or just a simple sandwich with some fruits, this will make sure that you do not skip this meal.

3. Pre-Pack Snacks for the Entire Day:

When you are busy at work, you may forget to eat regular snacks timely hence packing the snacks every morning so that you can just grab the snack from your bag and eat it within minutes would encourage you to maintain a healthy diet which will improve your overall health.

4. Buy Grocery for the Entire Week:

Busy executives do not have the time to visit the supermarket every day to purchase one or two items. Make a list of food items you will require the entire week and shop ahead during the weekend so that ingredients for your entire week’s meal is readily available.

5. Carry a Water Bottle:

Drinking water is essential to maintain healthy digestion, high metabolism, and controlled weight but most of us forget to drink water while being busy at work and even if we remember, we postpone it just because we tend to concentrate on completing the assignment first. A simple solution is to keep a bottle of water on your desk and keep sipping water from it. You can refill it during lunch hours, this will help you to keep your body plenty hydrated.

6. Walk and Talk:

Incorporating an active lifestyle is also important to maintain fitness but most of us who have a desk job have a sedentary lifestyle. Just to break this trend, start walking more in the office. Take calls on your mobile so that you can walk and talk. Conduct standing meetings, if possible, stand and work in between so that you get more active during the daytime in office.

7. Conduct Work Discussion in the Office Fitness Area:

Many executives are so busy that they work for 8-10 hours every day which practically gives them no time to work-out. A new trend can be created in the workspace where long discussions can be held in fitness and gym area. Working out moderately and engaging in the discussion will help you stay active as well which will increase the blood flow to the brain and make you more productive. And you can also look for Kratom for sale.It is a win-win.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle while being super-busy is not impossible if you can plan your meals well ahead and commit to moving whenever you can.