Fuel Saving Tips by Raj

Fuel Saving Tips

Small changes to your driving habits can mean big savings.

1. Fuel Matters All fuels are not the same.  Your fuel economy can be improved through a combination of good driving habits and using the right fuel. When combined with the Shell FuelSave Tips, Shell fuels with fuel economy formula (such as Shell FuelSave) can help you reduce your consumption and fuel costs by helping you get more out of every drop.

2. Avoid carrying excess weight You may be surprised, but every extra pound or kilogram matters and affects your fuel efficiency.  So keep your boot and back seat clear of unnecessary items that just add weight to your vehicle (e.g. golf clubs).

3. Use the correct oil Always use the recommended grade of motor oil. Using the manufacturer’s recommended lubricant can improve fuel efficiency. Higher quality motor oils such as Shell Helix Ultra can also help your engine operate more efficiently.

4. Tune and service your engine and follow the guidance in your vehicle handbook A well-tuned engine can improve fuel economy, so change your oil and follow your car manufacturer’s recommendation on servicing. For example, replacing a clogged air filter can improve fuel economy and will help protect your engine.

5. Keep your tyres at the right pressure Correctly inflated tyres are safer and last longer. A tyre that is under inflated by 10% can reduce fuel economy.  An under or over inflated tyre is also more susceptible to failing.

6. Drive smoothly Aggressive driving can use as much as a third more fuel than smooth driving. Avoid accelerating or braking too hard and try to keep your steering as smooth as possible

7. Avoid excess idling  Idling gets you nowhere but still burns fuel. Turn the engine off when you’re in a queue, or waiting for someone. As a rule if you think you will be stopped for more than 10 seconds, switch off your engine.

8. Plan trips carefully and avoid the rush hour Cutting down on the time spent in the car is the easiest way to conserve fuel. To reduce driving time, combine all your short trips and errands into a single journey. Plus, if you can travel outside of peak times, you’ll spend less time stuck in traffic and consume less fuel as a result.

9. Use higher gears and avoid over revving
The higher the gear you drive in, the lower your engine speed, which can improve fuel efficiency. So change up a gear whenever you can, without labouring the engine. Change gear in good time when you pull away or when you’re accelerating. Never ‘redline’ the rev counter.

10. Conserve momentum and keep your distance Think ahead when you’re driving. For example, slow down early to let traffic lights change, rather than stopping completely, or speed up a little before you reach the foot of a hill. Leave a sensible distance between yourself and the car ahead to give you ample time to brake evenly.

11. Use cruise control Using cruise control on major roads helps you maintain a constant speed and, in many cases, will improve fuel consumption.

12. Avoid high speeds The faster you go the more wind resistance you’ll encounter and the more fuel your vehicle will consume just to maintain speed. Driving just a few miles per hour under the motorway or national speed limit can improve fuel economy.

13. Use air conditioning sparingly Air conditioning puts added load on the engine and uses fuel to operate, so limit use to particularly hot days. On high temperate days consider using the fan instead.

14. Keep the windows closed Wind blowing through an open window will slow you down. To compensate, you may put your foot down harder, using more fuel.

15. Take the roof rack off  If you’re not using your roof rack then remove it. They affect the aerodynamic efficiency of your vehicle by creating extra drag, reducing fuel economy.

10 ways to write a book review by reggad

10 ways to write a book review and what to do when the book sucks

Book reviews. They’re where I found my start as a writer. They’re where many of us find our starts as bloggers. They’re a great way to spread the word about good books, bad books, and everything in between.
They can also be a challenge to write.
One of the most frequent questions I get from other writers is “how can I write a book review?” Luckily, it’s not that tough once you hit your reviewing stride. It may take a while to figure out your style, but once you have it, you have it.
Allow me to offer some assistance. Here are the points I try to hit in most reviews. As you develop your own style, you may find that you prefer to stick to one major element like characterization, plotting, or literary merit—that’s perfectly fine. Find what works for you, and do it.
1. Provide a synopsis—I always start by grounding my review with a synopsis. In a way, I offer my own version of a back cover teaser. I want the reader to know what’s going on, who the key players are and what is at stake before I dive deep into analyzing the writing style or the deeper meaning.
2. Don’t give anything away—Don’t spoil the excitement for future readers by giving away the ending. How many times has a book or movie been ruined for you by a mouthy friend or sibling? If you find it’s impossible to talk about the book without divulging all of the details, come up with an alternate review style. I know one very talented blogger who knows this is a weakness of hers and instead of offering straight reviews asks very insightful interview questions. And it works for her.
3. Talk about the key characters—I’ve seen many reviews which are conducted primarily as character studies, and they are really quite effective. Give a run down of each of the key players, his or her motivations, unique quirks and importance within the story. Perhaps add in an intro to explain how the characters are connected to one another or work their descriptions into your synopsis. Another fun tactic you could employ would be doing the review from a character’s point-of-view. I have yet to write a review this way, but I have written a few book trailer scripts, and I find it quite enjoyable. Authors tend to enjoy the fresh perspective as well.
4. Analyze the deeper meaning—Why was this book important? What does it have to say about society at large? How does it reflect upon the human condition? Break it down for the readers. Most books will have at least some deeper meaning hidden within them. If the one you’re reviewing doesn’t or it’s just too difficult to find, analyze the entertainment value. Let the reader know what the book meant to you and why you decided to read it in the first place.
5. Keep your balance—Overly negative or unconditionally positive reviews suck. They just do. Why bash your fellow writer (especially when you know how time-consuming and emotionally wrought the entire process is)? Alternately, over-enthusiasm may come across as bias. “What does this reviewer have to gain?” A reader may ask. I make it a practice to only review books that I like, which means I may sometimes sway to the over zealous side of things. Providing my interpretation of the book’s synopsis definitely provides some balance. I also have created a device that I use in some of my reviews that gives a list of reasons why a reader may like a particular book and why she’ll dislike it. I’ve gotten very positive feedback on this method but find it hard to provide might not likes for contemporary authors.
6. Ask questions—I like asking questions, both in real life and in writing life. Questions are fun. They set the reader thinking. They draw people in. Maybe others have the same questions nagging in the backs of their minds but don’t realize it until you set fingers to keyboard and get those questions out there. I especially like asking questions at the end of reviews to give the reader something to think about after the fact. Hopefully, my questions haunt them enough to encourage some book sales. Search through the reviews on my site and find one without a question in it—seriously, I challenge you!

7. Provide links—Give the reader somewhere to go for more information. Link to the author’s site, the book sale page on Amazon, an interview the author did about the book, something to do with the book’s setting or theme—whatever—just link! Links also help with your SEO, which brings more traffic to your blog.

8. Introduce the author—Yes, yes, the focus of a book review is the book, but I still like to make mention of the author and his or her possible motivations and personal tie-ins. Sometimes you may want to integrate an interview into your review. Ask poignant questions and then craft the best answers into a cohesive article-style post rather than a structured Q & A. Let people know if more books are coming soon or if the author has given up society to go live in the woods and carve her stories into tree trunks. It’s interesting.
9. Bring your own unique flair—Every writer is unique. Every book is unique. Therefore, every book review is unique. Perhaps you’ll develop a format that you use for every single review, and that’s fine. Sometimes a certain book will refuse to fit into your review mold (see my write-up of Ulysses linked below), and you’ll have to work with it. Whatever you decide to do, don’t lose your you-ness. Don’t try to write like the reviewer at the New Yorker or USA Today. I promise something about you is exciting and interesting. If you bring that into your reviews, they’ll be much stronger.
10. If you don’t like the book…Eek. More than “how do I write a book review” I am asked “what do I do when I’ve agreed to review a book but find I don’t like it?” This is very tricky indeed. I have a tendency to review only books I do enjoy to avoid being negative. But sometimes you’re stuck. Either you’ve agreed to review a book for a gig or because you have a personal connection to the author. You can’t back out.
Well, I wouldn’t recommend tearing into a book when you have a personal connection to the author. It’s just not worth it. I also don’t recommend lying in your review and risking credibility. Even reneging on your offer of a review can be very hurtful. But there are a few things you can do.
You can choose to interview the author instead—give him a chance to talk about his book’s merits without having to proclaim your adoration. You can focus on the synopsis technique outlined above—present the facts without providing your personal opinion. You can focus on the positive and fail to discuss areas that don’t work. Just don’t lie; it’s a mistake. With a little creative thinking, you’ll be able to figure out a way to provide an honest review or interview while preserving your relationship with the author. If you don’t have a personal tie to the author—no problem. Just remember point #5 above:  keep your balance.

lionel messi by khalid

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Lionel Messi is the heir apparent to the throne left vacant by Diego Armando Maradona. The waters are divided between those who consider him to be far from being the best No. 10, and those who believe that Messi will be even better than Maradona.
Born in Rosario, he cut his teeth in the youth ranks of Newell's Old Boys, until a hormonal problem that affected his growth changed the plans of his family and, of course, his personal future. Facing expensive treatment for their son, Messi's parents moved to Spain as Newell's were not able to afford the medical costs related to his condition, and even the wealthiest Argentine teams, such as River Plate, refused to foot the bill.
After his first trial with Barcelona, the Catalan coaches had no doubts. They decided to sign Messi and pay for his medical treatment. His growth was noticeable within Barca, and in little time he came to be considered one of the great talents at the club. He made his debut in the first division in October 2004, against Espanyol, and Barcelona have since adopted him as one of their greatest idols.
His first championship would come in the Liga season of 2004-05. Since then, and playing a more prominent role every season, he has won every major club trophy at Camp Nou - including a stunning haul of six in 2008-09 - and claimed the World Player of the Year award three times in three years, leaving many in little doubt as to the fact that Messi is the best player of his generation; possibly of all-time.
That idea was given further weight in March 2012 when, at the age of 24, he became the all-time top scorer at Barcelona - beating the 232 goals of Cesar Rodriguez.
Strengths: His ball skills are second to none, his runs from midfield are usually lethal and he is almost impossible to tackle when he gets his head down. His balance when running at speed is incredible.
Weaknesses: Too often he searches for a way to finish moves by himself without looking for team-mates in a better position to shoot at goal.
Career high: Winning the 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Player of the Year awards.
Career low: He was unable to perform to his best in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals with Messi looking on from the bench.
Style: Quick, incisive, balanced, a stylish runner with the ball.
Quotes: "Messi is my Maradona," said Maradona himself, as the head coach of the Argentine national team.
Trivia: His debut with the national team against Hungary was a disaster: he entered the game in the 18th minute of the second half, and 47 seconds later was sent off.

Star Wars - Daryl Luke Terry

Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise consisting of a film series created by George Lucas. The film series has spawned a media franchise outside the film series called the Expanded Universe including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. These media kept the franchise active in the interim between the film trilogies. The franchise portrays a universe which is in a galaxy that is described as far, far away. It commonly portrays Jedi as a representation of good, in conflict with the Sith, their evil counterpart. Their weapon of choice, the lightsaber, is commonly recognized in popular culture. The fictional universe also contains many themes, especially influences of philosophy and religion.

The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released. The three prequel films were also released at three-year intervals, with the final film of that particular series released on May 19, 2005. In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion and announced that it would produce three new films, with the first planned for release in 2015. 20th Century Fox still retains the distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original film Episode IV: A New Hope, while holding the rights to Episodes I-III, V and VI until May 2020.
Reactions to the original trilogy were mostly positive, with the last film being considered the weakest, while the prequel trilogy received a more mixed reaction, with most of the praise being for the final movie, according to most review aggregator websites. All six of the main films in the series were also nominated for or won Academy Awards.
All of the main films have been a box office success, with the overall box office revenue generated by the Star Wars films (including the theatrical Star Wars: The Clone Wars) totalling $4.49 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing film series. The success has also led to multiple re-releases in theaters for the series.

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by GOMATHI SELVARAJ

I would like to share with you about a novel that I had read which is The Time Traveler's Wife.This novel was a hit until it was remake as a movie in 2009.Using alternating first-person perspectives, the novel tells the stories of Henry DeTamble (born 1963), a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and his wife, Clare Anne Abshire (born 1971), an artist who makes paper sculptures. Henry has a rare genetic disorder, which comes to be known as Chrono-Displacement, that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. When 20-year-old Clare meets 28-year-old Henry at the Newberry Library in 1991 at the opening of the novel, he has never seen her before, although she has known him most of her life.
Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward relative to his own timeline. When he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trips will last are all beyond his control. His destinations are tied to his subconscious—he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. He also seeks the advice of a geneticist, Dr. Kendrick. Henry cannot take anything with him into the future or the past; he always arrives naked and then struggles to find clothing, shelter, and food. He amasses a number of survival skills including lock-picking, self-defense, and pickpocketing. Much of this he learns from older versions of himself.
Once their timelines converge "naturally" at the library—their first meeting in his chronology—Henry starts to travel to Clare's childhood and adolescence in South Haven, Michigan, beginning in 1977 when she is six years old. On one of his early visits (from her perspective), Henry gives her a list of the dates he will appear and she writes them in a diary so she will remember to provide him with clothes and food when he arrives. During another visit, he inadvertently reveals that they will be married in the future. Over time they develop a close relationship. At one point, Henry helps Clare frighten and humiliate a boy who abused her. Clare is last visited in her youth by Henry in 1989, on her eighteenth birthday, during which they make love for the first time. They are then separated for two years until their meeting at the library.
Clare and Henry marry, but Clare has trouble bringing a pregnancy to term because of the genetic anomaly Henry may presumably be passing on to the fetus. After six miscarriages, Henry wishes to save Clare further pain and has a vasectomy. However a version of Henry from the past visits Clare one night and they make love; she subsequently gives birth to a daughter, Alba. Alba is diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement as well but, unlike Henry, she has some control over her destinations when she time travels. Before she is born, Henry travels to the future and meets his ten-year-old daughter on a school field trip and learns that he died when she is five years old.
When he is 43, during what is to be his last year of life, Henry time travels to a Chicago parking garage on a frigid winter night where he is unable to find shelter. As a result of the hypothermia andfrostbite he suffers, his feet are amputated when he returns to the present. Henry and Clare both know that without the ability to escape when he time travels, Henry will certainly die within his next few jumps. On New Year's Eve 2006 Henry time travels into the middle of the Michigan woods in 1984 and is accidentally shot by Clare's brother, a scene foreshadowed earlier in the novel. Henry returns to the present and dies in Clare's arms.
Clare is devastated by Henry's death. She later finds a letter from Henry asking her to "stop waiting" for him, but which describes a moment in her future when she will see him again. The last scene in the book takes place when Clare is 82 years old and Henry is 43. She is waiting for Henry, as she has done most of her life, and when he arrives they clasp each other for what may or may not be the last time.

HOW TO AVOID SLEEP WHILE STUDYING by GOMATHI SELVARAJ

I can still remember when I was in college, studying during exams was like hell and what used to make it worst was my falling asleep.

Exams are near and to get good grades, we decide to study for long hours. We decide that the best time to study is the night time, but we cannot stop ourselves from sleeping while we are studying. (Especially in subjects like History, Science, Biology, etc.) These subjects are too boring to keep us awake. Then we feel the need to be awake to learn the subject. So, we are in a dilemma. Let me guide you how to avoid sleep by these simple tips.

1. Sit on a chair with flat back.
2. Drink tea or coffee, whichever you like before the same.
3. Change topic if not interesting.
4. Keep all the lights on of your room.
5. Study while walking. That is, take rounds of your room and keep studying.
6. Drink water so that you have to go to bathroom every now and then. Believe me it works.
7. Try to study hard topics at high energy levels of your body, when your mind is fresh read tough      subject.
8. If possible study in groups, for students who live in hostels.
9. Try to read aloud, it helps when you make sounds. If you read in your mind, there are chances that you fall asleep sooner.
10. Don’t eat a lot before studying. This makes you feel sleepy.
11. Don't eat rice before starting studying. This, too, is going to make you doze.
12. Don't study with a fan blowing in your face as it will dry out your eyes and make you fall asleep.
13. Even after trying all these tips if you feel sleepy, and then go for short ‘Cat naps’ but not more than 60 minutes, otherwise you will end up wasting your important time of study.

Bathing by Kishodarran Rajaderan

BATHING

One of the most important ways of taking care of your body is to have a good bath. There is no doubt that a good bath cleans and refreshes your body but it can be relaxing for the mind as well. It is important to have a bath everyday in order to maintain good hygiene as well. A bath in the evening or night removes all the dust, grime and sweat that you have gathered throughout day. A bath early in the morning refreshes you and makes you ready for the whole day. Bathing can be made a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Making the right kind of arrangements in the bathroom and adding the right kind accessories in the bathroom can make your bath refreshing and soothing.

Here are a few bathroom ideas to create a luxurious bathing experience:

* Keep a stock of soft fluffy bath towels. Use a heated towel rail to warm them. This will make you feel nice and pampered after your bath.
* Invest in a good bath pillow, as it will help you relax while soaking in the bath.
* Create a soothing and relaxing environment in the bathroom by using tea lights and scented candles, as it will create a peaceful environment.
* Spoil yourself with luxurious, fragrant soaps and bath oils.
* Turn off the phone and switch of the answering machine and your mobile and anything else that can disturb your bath.
* Play some calming music that will help you relax better.