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Many products are highly competitive and will have many stores and internet sites that will try to give you the best quality at the lowest prices. In the furniture world, you can sometimes find that all the furniture stores are right next to each other or down the street. Often you will find furniture stores right outside the city limits so they can save some money on their real estate costs. These furniture locations want to be able to provide you with the best options when it comes to furniture. Most of the furniture places you will come across have sales people who are commissioned based. So they do not get paid unless they sell you furniture. For every customer that comes in looking for furniture that could be also used as storage, they will do their best to serve them.

What many people are attempting to do is to find a way to save as much space in their rooms so they will find bedroom storage furniture that they can store some things into. You will see that the furniture storage bed seems to be the piece of choice for the room of your child because there are drawers built into the bed. Children have so many toys and other things to keep them busy so they sometimes do not know where to store all of it. Some people invest in children’s storage furniture to keep the room de cluttered. You can find children’s furniture storage at most of your furniture locations or even your supermarkets. Sometimes you might be surprised at who is selling childrens furniture storage because it seems to be a hot commodity. For some families it is not just the room of their children that is in need of some furniture storage, parents will look for playroom storage furniture so they can easily put things away after everyone is done playing.

There is more of a need for built in storage all over the house. You can find bath storage furniture to hold all of your toiletries and such. Sometimes the bathrooms are not big enough to get a big cabinet in there so people will have to get creative. They will also use basket storage furniture to use in conjunction with other furniture storage. Other needs could be for the home theater room and the person will need DVD and VHS storage furniture to keep things organized. When they need a movie, they know where to find it. When venturing into the garage, you can see some pretty elaborate garage storage furniture in there because if the home owner does not keep it organized, the garage can turn into a place to throw what you do not need.

For those people who have a need for office furniture storage at their homes or in their offices located off site, no one wants to have a cluttered office space. Sitting in a cluttered office will sometimes distract you from you goals. On the other hand some people appreciate the organized chaos. Many offices space is clean and well kept without so much as a speck of dust on the desktops while other offices, have paperwork stacked to the ceiling. Filing cabinets or desks with drawers can come in handy for these types of office spaces that could use the assistance to clean up and organize their areas.

To learn more about bedroom storage furniture visit us at: http://www.royaltyuniverse.com/

The question of how to play tennis is often one that is a challenge to new players learning the game. Tennis is a great sport with many different personalities. In this article, we will reveal the basics of how to play tennis. It has 3 forms hard, lawn and clay tennis.

Tennis is played by people over the world as a great form of exercise and recreation. There are also many levels of professional play in tournaments around the world. There are four top tournaments called the Grand Slam Tournaments. These are Wimbledon, the US Open, The Australian Open, and the French Open. Millions of people watch these tournaments making tennis a great spectator sport as well. Recently, tennis was added to the Olympics as an official sport.

Tennis is a sport that is playable by all age groups and is enjoyed by players at all levels from kids to senior citizens.

The basic area where tennis is played is call the court. This is a rectangular flat surface of varying types including concrete, grass, and clay. The standard tennis court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles matches. For doubles matches the width of the court is increased to 36 feet. A 3 feet 6 inch high net is stretched across the court, dividing the court in half. Tennis courts can be found in public parks, schools, and country clubs throughout the world. They can be outside or inside allowing for fresh air when the weather is good and year round play when the weather is bad.

There are three main types of tennis court surfaces. Each surface allows for a different style of play to excel as the bounce and speed of the ball can vary dramatically. These surfaces are:

A hard court surface are generally fast courts that have a good consistent bounce of the ball. Hardcourts are the most popular type of courts in America and most likely the court most tennis players utilize. A clay court is much different than a hard court. It is usually much slower as a surface and tennis balls often lose speed when they hit the court. This surface also causes the ball to bounce higher than on other surfaces. This allows for longer groundstrokes rallies. We see players like Nadal and Federer grind it out all day on the Clay Courts at Rolland Garros.

The third type of tennis court is the oldest form of a tennis court as tennis was originally played on grass. Grass is considered fast court, faster than a hard court. However, the grass court can be uneven and cause the ball to bounce awkward making it hard to return fast shots.

Tennis is a unique game that involves a tennis ball and a racket. Play will be based on a rectangular court, including a net in the center of the court. The tennis court should measures 78 ft by 27 ft, which is divided in half by a net 3 ft (91 cm) high in the middle and 3.5 ft (1.1 m) high at the end posts. The type of tennis balls used to play is used with a felt covered tennis ball that allows for optimum bounce on the court. The tennis ball is served from behind the baseline into the opposite service court.

Once a successful serve is made, players may hit it into any part of the opponent’s court until a point is scored. Rallies won by either player score points. A tennis match is divided into sets. In a tournament, men have to win three out of five sets to win the match and women have to win two out of three. In order to win a tennis match, six total games must be won ahead of his or her opponent. The game of tennis can be fun, exciting and enjoyable.

Coach Ed is a former nationally ranked tennis player and coach. Optimum Tennis offers tennis instruction and tennis tips at Optimum Tennis.

Click here to find out How to Play Tennis.

As one of the oldest children in a family of nine, I know that cooking for a crowd can almost be a full-time job. Once-a-month-cooking has been a lifesaver for our family. In the beginning though, when we first heard of cooking 30 meals in one day, it sounded rather impossible. It was not until we had tried it, though, that we found it is not only possible, but it can even be quite simple and fun!

Blessings

If you are skeptical about taking on what might seem like an overwhelming task to you, let me first share some of the blessings which have resulted for our family from once-a-month-cooking.

o It has saved us many hours of trying to figure out what to have for dinner and answered the infamous question, “What’s for dinner?”

o We have been more readily able to show hospitality to other families when the main dish is already made and in the freezer. (We usually plan ahead for this by doubling or tripling seven to ten of the recipes on cooking day to use as “company meals.”) In like manner, it is much easier to being meals to needy families when you have casseroles in the freezer ready to be pulled out and heated at the drop of a hat. (We also plan for this by preparing many of the dishes in disposable pans.)

o It saves time (You only have to do mountains of dishes one day a month, not every day! You also don’t have to start dinner at 4:30 p.m. or earlier everyday… just pull dinner out to thaw in the morning.) and money (You can usually save quite a bit by buying in bulk).

o We are brought closer together as we spend a special day as a family cooking these meals.

o This is an excellent lesson in Home Economics for your children. Mom always has the oldest girls plan the menu, grocery list, and strategy for the cooking day. She often has us do the grocery shopping, as well.

Planning

Proper planning is essential for a successful cooking day. I usually start planning at least a week in advance. First, pick which day will be your cooking day. Clear your schedule that day. You will want to focus your energies entirely on cooking.

Menu Planning: After you have chosen your cooking day, begin menu planning. Go through your cookbooks and find recipes suitable for freezing. Strive for variety. My list usually includes: one-dish dinners, meatloaf, meatballs, layered casseroles, soups, chili, hamburgers, meatless dishes, and so on. Make sure that you include a number of family favorites, in addition to any new recipes you may be trying out. You do not want to fill your freezer with meals your family won’t find appetizing! When you write down your menu, make sure and write down the cookbook and page number the recipe came from. In addition, mark whether you are planning to double or triple the recipe.

Make Your Grocery List: Using your menu list, write down the quantities of ingredients needed for each recipe. I like to categorize like ingredients on five to seven different lists (meats, vegetables, cheese, pasta, spices, etc.). Take these lists and combine all like ingredients onto a final list. For example, if there are fifteen recipes calling for one pound of ground beef, you will write “15 pounds ground beef” on your final grocery list.

After you have made your final grocery list, make sure and check your cupboards to see what you might already have on hand. You probably have most of the seasonings. But be sure that if you need four teaspoons of garlic powder, you actually have that much in the jar. I have not checked thoroughly before, and it has been real headache.

I have found it most helpful to keep a separate “food preparation list” along with my grocery list which states what is to be done with the items which I need large quantities (Such as, if one the items on your list is “20 pounds of chicken breasts,” note beside that item how many cups need to be cooked and diced, how many chicken breasts need to be cooked and left whole, how many need to be left frozen, etc.).

You will also want to make sure you have plenty of freezer bags and foil on hand. These will be essential on your cooking day.

Cooking Day Strategy: It is wise to develop a basic cooking day strategy of what you will do when. This does not need to be an exhaustive list, but it will save you time and effort if you have planned the basic order of what you will be cooking when. If you are going to be working together as a family on cooking, plan who is responsible for what tasks. Although everyone will need to be flexible, it will definitely save hassle to have most of the schedule worked out ahead of time.

Shopping: The day before you begin cooking, do your grocery shopping. Make sure you do not rush through this. Read your list thoroughly and check to get the best deal.

Cooking

The sooner you can start in the morning, the better. Begin by cooking the meats, grating the cheese, chopping the onions, or whatever bulk preparations your “food preparation list” says you need to do. If you have planned to make soups, you should start these early on, as they usually need to cook for longer.

Cooking the meat is one of the most time-consuming projects and you will probably find you end up browning ground beef and boiling chicken most of the day! As much as is possible, use all of the burners on your stove at the same time.

Keep soapy water in the sink at all times and take turns being on “dish duty.” As soon as a dish is used, wash it. This will save you from having an enormous mess at the end of the day. You might also find it helpful to take a five-minute kitchen cleaning break every hour or so to wipe down the counters and put things away which you are no longer using.

Freezing

What do you do with the completed dishes? Here are some guidelines for freezing:

o We always designate the kitchen table as our “finished recipe” zone. We often have someone who is specifically just working on labeling things and taking them to the freezer from the kitchen table.

o Proper labeling is a key factor in making sure you know what you have in freezer. Make sure you label the containers with the recipe, the cookbook it came from, the page number, how many it serves, and any additional instructions for the dish. Also write out a list with all of the recipes you make and freeze and how many they serve on the outside of your freezer.

o Transfer soup to a big bowl and cool for about an hour. You can either place the soup in plastic freezer bags or plastic containers with lids (32 oz. cottage cheese and yogurt containers work well for this).

o Most other recipes can be transferred to plastic freezer bags. Do not fill the bags very full, as foods expand when frozen. Do not put anything which is still hot into bags. You will likely split the bag at the seams and have a gigantic mess to deal with!

o Use smaller labeled bags for cheese or anything else to be sprinkled on top once the dish is cooked. Make sure you keep these in a very accessible place in the freezer.

o If the recipe is something like lasagna which cannot be frozen in a plastic bag, freeze it in the size of pan the recipe calls for, cover with foil, and label.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to give once-a-month-cooking a try. If you are like us, you will soon wonder how you ever lived without cooking this way! You could also simplify this plan and just cook for two weeks at a time to start.

For further information, ideas, and recipes, I highly recommend you read Once-A-Month-Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg and Dinner’s in the Freezer by Jill Bond.

Happy Cooking!

Crystal Paine is a 23-year-old homeschool graduate and the owner of Covenant Wedding Source, LLC (an online retail bridal business). She writes articles on a variety of topics and recently authored her first booklet for young women, The Merchant Maiden: Earning an Income Without Compromising Convictions. She lives with her husband in Topeka, KS. They are expecting their fist child in January. For more information on her business and booklet, visit her website: http://www.covenantweddingsource.com.

If you’re like me, When you crank up that BBQ grill for the season it’s all about cooking perfect steak. I love all kinds of foods cooked on an outside bbq grill, but none says summer quite like that sweet smell of steak on the grill. For me, the results are always predictable and always pretty close to perfect. This is because I use the same process every time and I start with the end result in mind. So that’s my first tip: cooking perfect steak starts with identifying what that means to you and then learning about the basic cooking method so that you can navigate to that desired point. You’ll have to decide on the definition of perfection for yourself – that’s the fun part. But the next few paragraphs should help with the second part – learning the process and the basic cooking method that helps get you to your perfection.

It All Starts BEFORE Cooking Tenderloin!

For most carnivores, the beginning of the process towards steak nirvana is when you actually start cooking tenderloin. Unfortunately, this approach leaves out one of my best secrets for cooking perfect steak: start with the whole tenderloin. There are so many advantages to buying a whole tenderloin and breaking it down yourself. You can definitely save some money learning how to do this, and it is a lot easier than you think. When you buy the whole tenderloin, the first thing you have to do before cooking tenderloin is to remove the “chain”. The chain is the side muscle; it contains a lot of the fat and is great for use later in stews, chilis or even my favorite treat: Tenderloin Philly cheese steak. But that’s a whole other way for cooking tenderloin and beyond the scope of this article! Once you’ve removed the chain, you must remove the thick top end of the tenderloin – “the head”. This, too can be set aside and used later. What you are left with is a long tenderloin from which to cut your steaks. The most important thing to remember is to try to cut the steaks of consistent size by weight. Consistent size equals consistent cooking, which equals reliable cooking! Use a scale and aim for a consistent size somewhere between 3 and 5 oz per steak, depending on who you’re cooking for.

Do you Really Know How to Grill Beef?

If you believe most people, grilling takes no skill at all. It’s so much easier than cooking and anyone can do this with little advance planning or common knowledge. Right? This is actually one of my favorite cooking myths! Knowing correctly how to grill beef (or anything else) is essential to outdoor cooking success. Grilling is direct source conductive heat. Cooking is to grilling as driving is to flying a rocket ship. Everything happens quickly and intensely with grilling and that includes mistakes. So, let’s begin with the simple process:

1. First, get the grill as hot as possible. Keep the lid down while heating the grill, but open when cooking. This is another common grilling mistake. If you close the lid while cooking, the method you are applying is similar to that of oven cooking. Why bother doing it outside on the grill?
2. Brush the steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You can use any other kind of seasoning or rub here, but I find that the true steak flavor comes from a good cut of meat and you don’t need anything else. You might have a different opinion so season as you see fit.
3. Place the steak on the hot grill “show side” down – meaning the side you’d want to display on the plate goes down on the grill first.
4. Now observe for signs of done-ness. When the steak is 75% done on one side, flip it over and cook the rest of the way.

Knowing how to grill beef is a simple process, but most people still go into it blindly. By following the steps, you will always be working towards cooking the perfect steak, rather than just cooking a steak until it has reached a safe to eat temperature and texture. The fine line of difference between acceptable and perfection make all of the difference, and with perfection so reliably reachable, why not aim high?

How Long Should the Meat Cook? Until It’s Done!

So, here we are. We always arrive at the same question. In travel, it’s: are we there yet?; and in cooking, it’s: how long should the meat cook?. Well, I have one answer to all of the how long questions: until it’s done. Yes, it really is that simple. Let the meat cook until it’s done. And now we get into the more interesting question: how do I know when it’s done? I often say that cooking is a journey – so you are a tourist, an observer on that journey. As you observe what happens to the steak during the cooking process, you will notice some predictable things happen. First, at 165 degrees, proteins coagulate. What you will see when this happens is that the steak will stiffen and shrink. You will see the sides of the tenderloin start to get brownish gray. At 320 degrees, the sugars caramelize. If you lift a side of the steak up slightly and look underneath, you will see the formation of grill marks to indicate this is happening. You will also begin to smell that nice, sweet, smell – telling you that you are cooking perfect steak and all is happening as it should. When the steak is 50-75% cooked on one side, it reaches what is termed in French culinary as “a point”. You will observe the juices start to bubble up to the red top. This indicates it is time to flip the steak, allowing it to finish its cooking on the other side. The last observation you will make to determine done-ness is the most quantitative because you will use a thermometer. Don’t cut open your steak to peer into the middle! Don’t stab at it with a fork! Both of these activities will release all of the juiciness you just worked so hard to achieve! 125-135 degrees is rare; 145-150 is medium and 160-165 is well done. So pick your temperature and remove the steak from the grill. But before serving it, let it rest for 5-10 minutes so that the juices can redistribute and run off onto the non-serving plate.

Just by understanding these simple facts about grilling, cooking perfect steak is almost a guaranteed result. Go ahead and get your own whole tenderloin today and get ready for some great outdoor eating!

Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, cooking educator and founder of WebCookingClasses. You CAN learn to cook without written recipes by taking his FREE cooking class that will change the way you think about cooking forever!

We’ve all been there – you’re heading out for a day of lawn work and your lawn mower won’t start. The big question before you now, should you try to fix the lawn mower yourself or should you call the experts? Here are a few scenarios to help you decide whether you should attempt the lawn mower repair at home or bring it to an authorized repair person.

My Lawn Mower Won’t Start

If your lawn mower will not start, check the gas tank first. Did you put the mower away for a long period of time without draining the gas tank? If so, you probably have a tank full of bad gas. Drain the tank and fill it with new gas. Check to make sure you have enough gas in the tank to get the mower running and that it is the correct kind of gas.

The Lawn Mower Starts Slowly, but Stops and becomes Difficult to Start

This is a pretty good sign that the engine is not getting enough air. Don’t worry, this is not going to require a costly lawn mower engine repair! Start by checking the air filter; a clogged or dirty filter can be cleaned with a little hot water and dish detergent. Simply scrub the filter and replace it.

You also may have a bad spark plug. The mower engine will not start up if the spark plug is bad or dirty. This fix may be as simple as pulling out the old spark plugs, cleaning them and replacing them.

My Lawn Mower Is Dead

Start by unplugging the spark plugs and turning the mower over. It is extremely important to make sure the mower is not able to start up while it is turned upside down. Check various mower parts, including the blades. You are looking for string, long grass, plastic or metal stuck between the blades, as any of these items will stop the blades from working and automatically incapacitate the mower.

Look in the gas tank, at the spark plugs and at the air filter. Make sure there is gas in the tank, the spark plugs are working and the air filter is clog free.

If the mower is still not working, take off the mower engine cover. Look at how the gas flows into the engine by removing the pump cover and pushing on the rubber pump. This will show you how gas is flowing into the engine and whether there are any problems with the hose. You may just need to take a clean rag and wipe down the hose or use a small pin to clean out the injector hole.

The last place to check is the automatic shut-off connected to the accelerator, as it may have lost a spring. Look for a metal line from the shut-off mechanism to the choke; you should see a small spring that attaches to the body of the lawn mower. If it fell off, you will see two small holes where the spring used to be. You can find a replacement spring at any hardware store.

These are all relatively easy repairs that you can make at home. The rule of thumb about calling an authorized repair person is you have reached a point in the project where you no longer feel comfortable doing it on your own. No matter when you reach this point, whether it comes after you checked the gas tank or after you take off the engine cover, it’s time to call a repair person.

Do not get in over your head in a repair project. When you are unsure of how to proceed but go ahead anyway, you can make the problem worse; and this only means a bigger repair bill!

Sundar K is is the author of this article about lawn mower repair, lawn mower parts and lawn mower engine repair. THDRepair is one of the largest authorized repair specialists in the U.S., has held a number of positions within the company over the past 10 years, previously as Director of Operations and Director of Business Development.

College student retention is always on the forefront of the minds of college student advisors, deans, and administrators. Rightfully so, because without college students, colleges and universities cease to exist and the advisors and deans are without a job.

Therefore retention and academic success is hugely important to ensure the success of a college or university. As a former college student and lifelong learner who frequents college campuses speaking on this topic and occasionally taking some professional development coursework myself, I have observed and come to know a few reasons why colleges fail at retention and why college students become discouraged and leave college.

1. College students are tolerated rather than celebrated.

When the higher-ups in a college take a hierarchical approach to education and treat students like they are beneath them, students feel alienated and become disgruntled. Nobody likes to be mistreated, particularly college students paying high fees to attend a college.

When bureaucrats within college administration, the transcript office, and the student union treat college students disrespectfully rather than serving them gladly, it frustrates college students and tells them the college or university does not care about them.

When colleges treat their students like another number, eventually students opt for a different approach to pursue their career. Students like to be respected too and not made to stand in line excessively to collect documents, books, parking decals and trivial things that to them are meaningless.

2. College students get angry at being nickled and dimed by colleges.

College students quite frankly don’t like paying high tuition fees to attend college, only to later by charged for parking, and than get ticketed for parking in the wrong place when they were running late to class and there was inadequate parking to begin with.

Let’s face the facts. Professors themselves on many college campuses have a hard time finding a place to park. Yet colleges continue to profit by issuing parking tickets. Making students pay $50 to $100 a semester to park is bad enough. Colleges run their parking lots like Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios in Orlando, profiting handsomely along the way.

Even worse is when the college intentionally and purposefully pursues issuing parking tickets night and day to collect more revenue for the college. Robbing Peter (or your college students who are already challenged financially) to pay Paul (this being the college) doesn’t endear college students to the academic institution and university. On the contrary, it makes the burning mad and eventually mad enough to consider attending college elsewhere.

3. College students get demoralized when they approach their professor for help and the professor doesn’t give them the time of day, nor an adequate explanation for their problem.

Professors at colleges and universities just working to further their career, collect a paycheck, and publish their latest dissertation or book who don’t give students the time of day leave students feeling demoralized when they are struggling with a class.

Class assignments and college level material comes easier for some students than others. Therefore when a student is struggling and needs some additional time or help, the professor should make himself or herself available to help the student.

Unfortunately many times nowadays college professors just want to communicate via email, that is if they even check their email and reply in time to help the struggling student and answer their questions. Online forums are another method by which professors try to punt and shun students in need of help.

What colleges fail to realize however is students go to college for hands on instruction and interaction with professors, not to be alienated through an online course or partial net based course that keeps professors and college students at arms length.

4. Financial challenges and constraints cause students to withdraw from college.

Colleges aren’t free and students cannot always obtain financial aid. Scholarships are wonderful if a student can get one to go to college, but many students are forced to work a part-time job to survive financially and put themselves through college.

I know I worked a part-time job to put myself through college and rode a bicycle to and from school and work. The sacrifices I made to complete my college education were many.

With the current economic downturn and rising unemployment level, many college students are being laid off from part-time jobs and struggling financially to sustain themselves and pay for their college education.

5. Students withdraw from college when they don’t feel socially connected.

A solid social life wherein a student feels connected to other students on his or her college campus is vital to ensure their success. Emotional support and the comradery of friends who understand them and their struggles empower students to persevere with their college education.

When student advisors, deans, and college administration fail to account for and proactively facilitate the necessary social element that sustains students’ morale, they do themselves and their college a great disservice. Undeniably and undoubtedly, college students want to feel connected and a part of something larger than themselves. Yet it is not a connection to an academic institution per say that they desire as much as it is to their fellow students journeying with them through this season of college life.

Successful colleges therefore don’t just suggest and make social activities and associations available for students, but proactively facilitate and incorporate this into their college’s approach to education early on. By doing so, successful colleges provide every student, including those more shy students with less social initiative the opportunity to be actively engaged and socially interact with other students. This opens the door for meaningful interaction, communication, and the establishing of meaningful friendships among college students on campus. Without such students just fall through the cracks socially, tend to become isolated, and often disappear as they become disillusioned with the whole college experience.

These five reasons are the biggest reasons retention efforts among college students are not succeeding and students are withdrawing from college.

The good news is students and professionals desire to attend college. Most of us value and uphold education. The struggles along the way en route to obtaining a college education and further professional development however when a student steps on a college campus can be irritating and downright frustrating.

Retention coordinators and specialists on college campuses therefore need to urgently and wholeheartedly attend to these matters lest they be the next ones standing in the unemployment line, when college students walk out and say they have had enough.

Invite worldwide speaker and life-changing author Paul F. Davis to speak to your college students about success secrets, breakthrough leadership & overcoming adversity!
http://www.PaulFDavis.com
info@PaulFDavis.com
407-967-7553

Paul is an exceptional and frequently requested speaker for college student success, leadership, orientations, and to kickoff college events.

Paul’s 17 life-changing books have landed him celebrity guest appearances on Fox News Radio, Investor’s Business Daily, and 3 times on Oprah & Friends.

After a 45 minute interview on Playboy Radio, Afternoon Advice host Tiffany Granath calls Paul an awesome relational coach and recommends his books on love, dating, and sexuality.

Paul’s academic success & leadership secrets for college students are unparalleled and greatly empowering. Paul has a history of overcoming adversity, building bridges cross-culturally, cultivating diversity awareness, while empowering college students to discover their destiny and live their dreams.

A master in NLP & life coaching; Paul’s humorous, fun, playful and transformative messages challenge college students to ask themselves hard questions & be their personal best.

As a former high-school senior class teacher, Paul understands the challenges facing incoming college students. Paul personally knows what transfer students go through as he himself attended a community college where he graduated with a 3.8 GPA before entering UCF, where he graduated Cum Laude. As a worldwide professional speaker Paul has touched more than 55 countries & 6 continents, greatly inspiring international students throughout the world. Paul worked at Ground Zero in NYC during 9/11; helped rebuild a home at the tsunami epicenter; comforted victims of genocide in Rwanda; spoke to leaders in East Timor during the war; inspired students & monks in Myanmar; promoted peace & reconciliation in Pakistan & has been deep into Africa where villagers had never before seen a white man. Paul empowers people to love passionately, work together globally & live their dreams fearlessly.

I. Overview of Topic

How to blog is a question on many people’s minds these days. Blogging has taken the world by storm. Since 2004, when it first made its appearance, this popular medium of having your own little corner of the world to express yourself has turned into a veritable deluge. Today there are more than 120 million blogs that are currently tracked by the Tecnorati blog search engine. No wonder then, that owning and maintaining a blog has become almost a fashion statement, especially in the U.S.

When first embarking on a blogging journey, there are some knotty questions that usually beset one’s mind regarding how to blog. Let’s start with the basics.

What kinds of topics can be the subjects of blogs?

Just about anything. Simply put, a blog is an online personal diary on just about any topic you care to write about, ranging from politics to sports and fitness to religion, health, freelancing, literature, or whatever suits your fancy. But picking a subject you have solid experience in will enable you to write meaningful content that will pull in an audience for your blog. Without an audience you’ll soon tire of your blog and it will join the millions of abandoned blogs lost in cyberspace.

How are blogs categorized in blog search engines?

Blog search engines like Technorati and IceRocket categorize them by subject. The most general categorization, though, is personal vs. business-oriented blogs. Yours will probably fit into the former of these categories.

Are blogs only text or can they have other features as well?

Though basically consisting of text, many blog users make their web pages more attractive by adding pictures, audio and video files.

How can I make my blog easy to navigate and attractive to readers?

A successful blog usually follows a clear simple format with its articles plainly delineated, archives (in a sidebar), and a place at the bottom for visitors to leave comments. Some also include blogrolls, which are just lists of links to other similar blogs. The best bloggers are usually people who are able to connect with their visitors’ emotions, by means of artistic expression in many cases. To learn how to blog with the winners your number one teacher is other blogs – read and study a lot of them before starting your own. A good place to research blogs on your topic is Icerocket.com.

What are some tips for setting up a blog?

- First, remember your blog is a reflection of your personality. Pick a theme or a topic close to your heart or one you know something about. Correction, one you know a lot about.

- Be consistent. If you want your blog to get really popular you need to connect with your visitors on a regular, predictable schedule. Plan on publishing at least twice a week. If that sounds like too much work, once a week is the absolute lowest you can go, say blog gurus.

- Connect/network. Connect with other blog writers by leaving comments on their posts and by providing links to their blogs on your website. This kind of networking will do wonders for your traffic.

- Keep it simple. Don’t clutter up your blog with meaningless details. Select a simple clean appealing design. Use fonts and colors which increase text visibility. Add videos, audios, photographs and music files only if these make your blog more attractive and/or useful.

- Don’t stick your neck out – or not too far anyway. Blogs can get opinionated, which is fine, but don’t put yourself at risk of a heavy-duty defamation suit. It’s fine to express your opinions – so long as you make it clear they’re just that, your opinions — and always be sure that your blog is not defaming somebody, divulging sensitive information, or giving away corporate secrets.

Okay, I get the feel about how to blog. Now where do I go from here?

To get started, you first need to select suitable weblog software. This is necessary in order to create and manage your blog. There’s quite an assortment of blogging software out there. Some offer ease of design and development while other programs offer more elaborate features, for example, allowing you to add discussion forums, message boards etc. Some weblogs can be downloaded and installed directly on your system. Freeware and open source software are available, though these programs are not as feature-rich as some of the paid proprietary software. Here’s a rundown of the most popular blogging software:

Wordpress

Wordpress is the number one blog publishing software. Why? — because it’s freeware, easy to install, and has a minimal learning curve. Its extensive documentation and step-by-step installation guide make it a cakewalk even for a novice user. Among its most salient features are –

Easy installation – Even a newbie can get Wordpress up and going in 5 minutes. Moreover, web pages are generated dynamically by using thousands of built-in templates thereby greatly reducing your time and effort.

User Management – Restricts access to users while you’re making modifications in your weblog. So in effect you have separate access for readers and administrative users.

Saves precious bandwidth through its Gzip feature, which reduces blog transmission size.

Enables you to place RSS feeds into your blogs and also aids in inter-blog communication by providing features like pingback and trackback.

Comes with lots of plugins making it possible for you to incorporate any feature you want. You can also integrate Wordpress with Akismet, a popular anti-spam software program used to protect blogs from spammers.

Other useful features include a database of visitors, capability to save previous drafts, blog previews, and easy formatting.

Want to see some popular blogs that use Wordpress. Two to start with are: Ilovetypography and Problogger.

OTHER WEBLOG SOFTWARE

Typepad

Created and owned by Six Apart Limited, Typepad is a blog hosting website currently used by many large organizations in the US, such as Sky News, BBC, and MSNBC for hosting their weblogs. Launched in October 2003, Typepad today can boast that it’s the number one paid blogging service worldwide. Available in multiple languages in different parts of the world, users have three different subscription options: $4.50/month for a basic subscription to $14.50/month for the pro edition. Among its features: The software enables you to associate each article in your blog with a URL, and easy uploading and sharing photo albums from multiple authors have made this a vox populi among professional bloggers. So if writing is your passion and you want to make it a profession, you can start by signing up for Typepad.

Movable Type

The first blogging system developed by Six Apart Limited in 2001, Movable Type hosts some of the world’s top blogs, such as Huffington Post and Boing Boing. Developed using Perl, Movable Type supports LDAP protocol for efficient user management and automatic provisioning of blogs. This blogging system is extremely useful if you want to run multiple blogs using a single installation. The system is enriched with all possible features you could possibly think of, such as a customizable template library, ability to create categories and sub categories of articles, efficient user management directory servers and hordes of independent plugins that can be used to support different services, like creating discussion forums. This blogging system is an attractive choice if you have a technical bent.

Text Pattern

Developed by Dean Allen as an open source content management system, this is one of the simplest blogging systems available today. The most useful feature of Text Pattern is textile that helps in converting simple text documents into stylish HTML web pages using built-in style sheets. Text Pattern has a built-in CSS editor that simplifies the task of changing your web site’s designs, fonts, position of the text and the background color. You can also password-protect certain sections of your blogs and keep regular track of visitors and their comments. The date and time stamp of each article is adjustable and you can save drafts of your blogs for future publication. What makes it most attractive is that Text Pattern provides a built-in search engine and the users can also link XML feeds into their blogs. The simplicity of Text Pattern is its USP. For most beginners choosing this service is almost a nobrainer.

Blogger

Developed by Pyra Systems and bought by Google in 2003, Blogger is one of the most popular blogging systems to date. Google subsequently acquired Picasa in 2004 and integrated the latter’s photo sharing feature ‘Hello’ into Blogger. Alexa ranks Blogger as the 9th most visited site worldwide, indicating its enormous popularity. Blogger offers multiple author support allowing the user to create group blogs. Bloggers can even earn revenue from Google AdSense by integrating it into their blogs. Another interesting feature provided by Blogger is a free add-in for Microsoft Word called “Blogger for Word” that helps blog users save their blogs directly in Blogger from their Word document. Bloggers can also customize their blog templates as per personal preferences. For users having a Google email account, it is a pretty simple matter to link to Blogger and then start writing and maybe earning some extra income.

In addition to the above five blogging systems there are a number of up-and-coming lesser-known blog systems which include all the aforementioned features but don’t require any plugins for extending their feature list. Some of the best of these second-line blogging systems are:

Habari

Habari, meaning ‘news’ in Swahili, is one of the most promising new blogging platforms and one of the finalists in the ‘Best New Projects in 2008′ Sourceforge Community Choice Award. Habari allows the user to launch multiple blogs using a single installation, supports multiple writers and has a modular structure for easy extendibility. All these features will make Habari a formidable competitor in blog publishing.

Symphony

Created for ultra-serious bloggers, Symphony has been developed in XML and XSLT. This is a blogging system for web developers and has an MVC architecture which gives the blogger full control over their website. An extremely versatile system, Symphony can be customized to a high level making it popular among bloggers who want to keep a tight grip on all aspects of their website.

Pixie

Positioning itself as a small, simple website maker, Pixie is also a great blogging platform for all of you who are new to the world of blogging. Ease of installation, lots of creative CSS themes, search engine optimized clean URLs for your website, spam protection, a file manager which supports tags for easy sorting of files and a small memory requirement of just 1 MB are some of the features which explain

Pixie’s fast-rising popularity.

That’s it, our ten minutes are up (okay, maybe eleven or twelve). Below are additional resources on How to Blog.

II. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Following are additional research resources on “How to Blog.”

Tumblr

Tumblr is a popular micro-blogging site where users create and share small posts of about 140 words or less. What makes these micro-blogs, popularly known as tumblelogs, all the rage is their ease of customization and the freedom they provide for posting everything from photos to quotes, to emails, and even links. Moreover, signing up for Tumblr really does take only about 10 seconds. More and more people are attracted to micro-blogging due to its capability for posting short, incisive and hopefully witty messages about the poster’s latest doings, inventions, discoveries, observations, misadventures, etc. Tumblelogs even make it possible for people to post their art works and music audios and videos for public viewing.

Clubmom

If you are a homemaker who loves sharing recipes, health tips, beauty secrets and child care advice and also love getting similar words of wisdom from others, Clubmom is the place for you. It’s a blogging site/forum where moms can meet and share their experiences while at the same time having a chance at winning exciting gifts. From family anecdotes to home remedies, careers to kids, this is a bonding place for moms of all age groups. Joining Clubmom means connecting with individuals at a personal level and sharing information which benefits all.

Joseph Ryan is editor of Web Search Guides (http://www.websearchguides.com), which provides 10-minute guides on how to conduct online research on a wide variety of topics of current interest.

“Reading competence is foundational, not only for school- based learning, but also for children’s behavioural and psychosocial wellbeing, further education and training, occupational success, productive and fulfilling participation in social and economic activity, as well as for the nation’s social and economic future.”

AU National Inquiry into the Teaching of Reading 2005

When I first began specialising in child behaviour management over a decade ago I quickly recognised a correlation between poor literacy achievement and delinquency I was not surprised therefore, in recent year, to read of some US states actually predicting future prison populations based on year 3 and 4 reading scores. And yet when I have suggested to some Head Teachers that if they would like to see improved behaviour throughout the school that should look at how reading was being taught within Prep, Year 1 and 2 I have been looked at as if I were suggesting something really bizarre. Despite the lack of accurate estimates on the overlap between literacy under-achievement and crime, the associated links however are well documented (e.g., McNee, 2004; Mayhew, 2003). So teaching all children to read early on- using methods that work for all – is more important to society than many people seem to appreciate.

For the purposes of this article I will presume that the reader is interested in the initial stage of learning to read- however systematic phonics instruction is critical if children are to be taught to read well, whether or not they are beginning to learn to read, or experiencing reading difficulties.

Within our current education system we are often so focussed on ‘child based learning’ and on constructivism (an established theory of knowing and learning rather than a theory of teaching) and teachers often do not realise that there is a serious lack of supporting evidence for its effectiveness in teaching children to read. Unfortunately one ‘method’ of teaching reading- the ‘whole-language’ approach to teaching and learning – reflects this philosophy of learning, and has been the predominant approach for early literacy teaching and learning throughout English- speaking countries (Pearson, 2000; Westwood, 1999, 2004). This approach assumes that children are inherently active, self-regulating learners who construct knowledge for themselves, with teachers needing to give little or no explicit decoding instruction. While this may be ok for many children, the ones we focus on at Read Australia(TM) are those who struggle. This also includes children who are from disadvantaged backgrounds who often do not have rich phonological knowledge and phonemic awareness upon which to base new learning. Being taught using this ‘whole language’ method has the effect of compounding their disadvantage once they begin school. This is particularly the case for children from non-English speaking backgrounds, including Indigenous children where English may be their second or third language.

So why use it?

The sounds in our language existed long before the letters. The written symbols of our language were invented to represent the sounds we have been speaking for centuries. Teaching children these sounds is easy when they are speaking- as they know those sounds- they are using them in words pretty much all day (don’t we know it!) So we need to teach them how the sounds we use (when we speak) are represented on paper ie how to de-code the written word.

While in Australia I have been astounded by how often children are sent home during their first year with ’sight words’ and also with ‘readers’ that they cant possible de-code. If we teach children ‘whole words’ we aren’t teaching children that these words are based on the sounds in words- but rather, we are relying on memory.

Perhaps this puts in into perspective- a typical person can only retain around 2000 – 3000 words- enough to perform at year 1 level. However by memorising children will soon start forgetting those words, and run out of ways to guess and memorise. It will become harder for them to distinguish ‘horse’ from ‘house’ etc because they are trying to remember the whole word and it’s becoming more difficult as more words are introduced and used. So instead we should do it the simple way and teach children the individual sounds that make up words- of which there are just 134. If they are going to be given ’sight’ words to learn we’d rather it be the handful of words that can’t be de-coded eg yacht’. There are 55 words in the English language that they won’t be able to de-code. The other 19,950 that we use daily are predictable and decodable however! – if the ‘code’ is understood. So it’s important we teach children that way round.

To put this into practice we need teachers to understand why this method is most effective for the highest number of children. There needs to be a focus on explicit teaching of the structure and function of written and oral language in ways that allow children, regardless of their backgrounds, to reflect on and consciously manipulate the language. This involves an awareness of phonemes, syllables and morphology- and this requires a high degree of teacher-centred presentation of learning material, with an emphasis on explicit instruction, scheduled practice and feedback (e.g., Center, 2005; Westwood, 2003, 2004). This method asks more of our teachers- and provides children with a greater chance of success.

A great learning environment for young children is one where the focus in on the sounds of letters and not their names. So the words they see around the classroom as whole words will be written using bold and non bold type face. The parts of words that are in bold are where the sounds in the words we are speaking are represented by two or more sounds (that change when put together) eg this – the th is in bold as the ‘t’ and ‘h’ together are how we represent the ‘th’ sound. ‘i’ and ’s’ are separate. So teachers will tell the children that the word this is written using 3 sounds th + i + s

When the children have learned even 6 sounds they can start to read and spell words! Initial ‘readers’ would be books that have text that doesn’t have many words that have bolded text- eg ‘a fat rat ran past’ (which as you will see is a sentence created using just 7 sounds). All words other than ‘the’ should be de-coded in these early ‘readers- so the children are actually reading the text. Early readers find this way of viewing text much easier- it makes sense to them! -so these fantastic teachers would create their own resources or order them from our online resources page. Ideally resources created are also personal to the children- making them more meaningful- starting from a selection of 6 sounds and working on the concepts required so that they can start to crack the ‘written code’.

When confident with the basic level children would be given a mixture of books as ‘readers’- because their success rate (de-coding, not guessing) will still be good. Initially however children in these ‘ideal classrooms’ would only be given ‘readers’ that they can de-code. They should of course share ‘real’ books – or books that have not been developed using phonics- with older children, parents etc- however to learn to actually read children would be taught the skills to do so- and part of that is actually understanding why we write words as we do, and why we spell them as we do.

If we look at the AU Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy 2005 (or Rose Report, UK etc) we see that recommendations support this. Parents can use the summaries to get the idea of what teachers should be doing. ‘Read Australia(TM)’ was created to empower parents so that they can be more effectively and proactively involved in their children’s literacy development. Governments have been researching this topic because children were (and still are) failing- and teachers needed clearer direction. Teachers can no longer get away with using their own preferred method – or systems they’ve been using for years because research and clinical studies show us these aren’t meeting the needs of our children. Some teachers of course ARE providing opportunities for children – and ensuring that all children are being taught explicitly- however many still aren’t- and children shouldn’t suffer because of this. If children in the early years see letters and say the name instead of the sound- eg pronouncing ‘a’ as ‘ay’ instead of ‘a’- as in the sound we hear when we say ‘cat’ parents should be worried. Why? We don’t say see-aye-tee when we say cat! They need to know the sounds of the alphabet- not their names- as their names are meaningless with regards to spelling and reading the English language.

Good readers start by learning the code (they had teachers or parents that taught it to them) so that when they come across words they have never seen before they actually break them down. Some pick it up quickly even if not being taught well- however there are many others that don’t- especially boys. They need to be carefully monitored! If children are great at spelling words- not just from memory- its because they understand how words are broken down and also understand how the sounds we use to speak- to form words- are created. For example they will give you all the versions when asked to spell the word ‘brown’. They wont just give the ‘correct’ spelling- they will also tell you that it could have been written ‘broun’ if we were to put the other ‘ow’ sounds within the word- or if asked to write ’same’ they would give ’saym, sayme, saim, saime,’ etc – or ‘fur’ would also be written ‘fir or fer’. We do lots of work with children using ‘real’ and also nonsense words as we want to know they really do ‘get’ the code.

The written word relates to our spoken word- so children must become aware of the sounds in words – as they hear them. Many children we assess for example will have difficulty hearing that there are 4 sounds in ‘frog’-or knowing what the word would be if we said ‘frog’ without the ‘r’. They haven’t practised listening to the words we are speaking- and knowing how to written them down, with the individual sounds in the correct order.

Something many teachers do unfortunately- not realising this makes it really difficult for children who aren’t picking this up quickly- is that they put two sounds together that should stay separate. So children put for example ‘fr’ instead of ‘f’ and ‘r’. We need to keep it simple – if the two sounds change when put together then that’s fine – if not keep them separate. So ’shop’ has 3 sounds – sh o p – but frog has 4 sounds ie f + r +o + g

Children should be tested when they start school- and this should be on-going, to assess individual progress. Objective, standardised diagnostic tests that assess the essential alphabetic, decoding skills required for reading proficiency are available to teachers- however seem not to be fully utilised. In order to meet the needs of all children we need to use methods that meet the needs of all children from the beginning- not give them phonics instruction when they are failing at 7 or 8. We KNOW what to do- reports are readily available – and in addition to actually doing this we also need to pay much more attention to individual children- and in knowing how each child is developing in all aspects of reading and spelling, from their first day at Prep!

So please join us and ensure all children are able to read and spell quickly- we owe them this as parents, carers and educators.

Emma Hartnell-Baker BEd Hons. MA Special Educational Needs. Cert Life Coaching

Online Resources – http://www.readaustralia.com/teaching-children-to-read-and-spell.htm

http://www.The-Child-Listener.com ‘Learning to Listen and to Lead’

Many families across the country own at least one pet. Regardless of what type of pet it is the pet in a way becomes a member of the family. There are some families that take extra care of their pets with pampering them with pet gifts or pet supplies. Pet owners have a number of options when it comes to buying pet supplies.

Perhaps the most common way that a pet owner purchases pet supplies for their family pet is by visiting their local pet store. Most cities in America have a pet store and large cities may even be home to multiple pet stores. One of the reasons why pet stores are so popular is because a shopper can physically examine each item before purchasing it. This gives many pet owners the opportunity to study the quality of an item before bringing it into their home.

While storefront pet stores are a great place to purchase pet supplies there is another option that may be more convenient for many pet owners. Online pet stores are similar to storefront locations; however, they do not require leaving home. There are millions of Americans who currently purchase their pet supplies over the internet and there is absolutely no reason why more shouldn’t be because purchasing pet supplies online has an unlimited number of benefits.

As previously mentioned online shoppers looking to purchase pet supplies do not have to leave their home if they are shopping at an online pet store. Purchasing pet supplies online is all about convenience. Pet owners can purchase their much needed pet supplies all in a matter of minutes. This option is very convenient for pet owners or families who may not have the time to regularly visit a pet store.

In addition to convenience, purchasing pet supplies online can also save pet owners money. America has recently been experiencing a major problem with the increase in gasoline prices. Many shoppers are finding it to expensive to drive to their local pet store. This problem is being especially felt in country areas where a large number of pet owners are located. Many cities have a pet store; however, not all towns do. This may mean that a pet owner living in a rural area could be driving a half an hour or more to their local pet store which could cost a decent amount of money in gasoline.

Online shoppers will have to pay shipping costs on the pet supplies that they purchase. This shipping cost can easily be lower than the cost of gas for a trip to a pet store. There are many shoppers who are successful at finding online pet stores who offer free shipping or reduced price shipping on all of their pet supplies. This would make online shopping for pet supplies even more beneficial.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits to purchasing pet supplies online is the selection of products available. Most retail stores are limited on the amount of floor space that they have which limits the amount of product that they can carry. Online pet stores do not have the same problem because they do not have to physically display all of the pet supplies that they are selling. Most pet owners find it easier to purchase pet supplies online especially when looking for hard to find products.

Of course pet owners can shop wherever they want to; however, pet owners are encouraged to at least give online shopping a try. The selection of pet supplies that can be purchased online for a low cost is amazing and to top it off those items can be delivered directly to your door.

Grant Morrison is a writer for Brothers Pets where you can find more information about pet supplies [http://www.brotherspets.com/sitemap.htm]

When the first human being, in Eden or on earth, covered his body with leaves, or later with an animal skin, the fashion industry was founded at that time. Though we are not familiar with the style and attire of that time until the ancient civilizations preserved few images in the solidity of rocks, through cave paintings and through rock-cut sculptures.

Terra Cotta figurines of the oldest Harappan Age show interesting headdresses that can be compared with any modern hairstyle with a heavy look. The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo Daro with bangles in her arms is not behind any fashion sculpt of any age. While no one can deny the allure and glamour of Cleopatra; a woman with great political skills and a long nose, who crafted many fashion styles from jewelry to outfits of the great Egyptian Empire of Scissors.

But fashion is not only associated to women always! In ancient times of Cleopatra, Scissors always wore clothes that were royal, expensive, stylistic, attractive and special. At the same Egyptian soil, the Pharaohs were never behind. The great Biblical Character of Moses, if taken as an Egyptian Prince, was always a portrayed, in tales and later in movies, in a charismatic outfit.

While in the Western part of the globe, the Greeks and Romans not only marked high standards in Art, Architecture, and Warfare, but their unique and intricate concepts of a perfect and godlike human body, especially of males, supported the appealing army uniforms and court-wears.

The supernatural characters of illustrious Greek, Egyptian and Indian Mythologies did provide extraordinary range of apparel; well preserved in the form of painting and sculpture.

These ancient models are still the greatest sources of inspiration for modern day fashion designers and the origins of the evolved form of cultural trends prevailed through continents from Australia to America and from Asia to Africa.

Cultural influences are stronger when we consider the economic aspect of the fashion industry. Business needs market where it can present fresh ideas and products in every new day. Although in this global age, acculturation is very much on. But even then there are many cultural aspects that can instigate or impede certain trends. A colorful bikini is a great fashion market item in Western or secular and modern cultures, but it is almost a taboo in some rigid and fundamental areas. Contrary to that, a veil is popular in fundamental countries, but has no market in secular or modern world. However, so many fashion articles could get the status of cross-cultural ambition. Especially in ornaments, there is not much difference across the globe with exception of little diversity in shape, material and style. Earrings, bracelets, pendants, bangles and rings are always, and everywhere, in fashion since ages having big market scope in all societies and cultures.

On the individual level, fashion is not just a simple word or an uncomplicated attitude, or even an overwhelming desire. Fashion is a multifarious dogma that can influence an individual in many ways.

“As process it is [fashion] sustained through some complex amalgamation of inspiration, imitation and institutionalization, all of which seem necessary, even though the nature and degree of their fusion is, as we can infer from fashion history, quite variable.” (Fred Davis. Fashion, Culture and Identity. P. 123)

Therefore, the multifaceted incorporation of fashion, where force an individual at the same time, it also institutionalize itself on many grounds. This institutionalization is not only at the academic level, but due to its capacity of holding an individual, society, or even the whole world has created a huge market for investors.

This feature has made fashion, throughout past decades, an industry with small to bulk product possibility that can be marketed all around the world. It attracted many business tycoons and groups of companies to invest in fashion industry, or to label some of their products as fashion products. This idea initially covered the clothes brand but soon after, it encompassed every utility of everyday life. From earrings to pendants, from watches to glasses, from shoes to wallets, from perfumes to hairstyles, everything was produced and marketed, exported and imported on such a huge scale that it actually influenced the economy of various countries. Apart from the individual fashion, bathroom accessories, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom décor, landscaping of gardens and lawns, furniture, automobiles, electronics or even language accents, everything got under the broad term of fashion. Products singularly and brands collectively helped and polished lifestyle across the continents. So, inevitably fashion market got vitality.

Despite quality, comfort and durability the exclusivity of a product and its luxurious look are the reasons that produce scope for a product to be marketed. That is the market policy of almost every fashion company revolves around these features.

Simultaneously, the marketing and availability of various products have developed the customers’ sense of selection and exposure with a comparative buying power. Fashion is not always brand conscious; it is item based as well. Sometime, the need for a particular item may force us to go beyond the brand-range and select something less popular. This is a challenge all the famous brands have to cope with. Ian Griffiths and Nicola White, in their edited work: The Fashion Business- Theory, Practice, Image, commented on item shopping as:

“Item shopping is still very much part of our lives, but market saturation has taken its toll and replacement purchases of core product continue to decline. Added to this is the changing profile of the customer, who, through constant exposure, is becoming wiser, more astute, more confident in mixing products and consequently, likely to be less brand loyal.”

The customer satisfaction is very important in the fashion industry; either it is attained by making customer needful for an upcoming product through advertising, or by providing him what he is striving for. The former caused the creative and design department to experiment with new ideas and shapes while the latter forced the quality controlled production with maintained standards.

Modern day fashion is rapid, short lived, more corporate in its structure, and psychological than ever before. Due to better and quick sources of communication and information, the international or external markets are open for every fashion company to do business, multinational companies can be found with variety of products in all the continents with complex network and appropriate marketing policies according to the socio-cultural requirements of a certain country. Especially, when we talk about the couture and cosmetics, contemporary trends are getting more and more cross-cultural due to viewership of various fashion channels on TV. This is far quicker source than the print media. So, the skills and concepts are also crossing the geographical and ideological boundaries of different parts of the world regardless of ethnic rigidity and conventionalism. That is one reason that fashion is also taken as the reflection of the progress in some developing countries. Fred Divis described clothing as a visual metaphor in his compilation; Fashion, Culture and Identity:

“As visual metaphor the clothing that is dress (one should perhaps distinguish between the two) is capable of communicating many things including something as subtle, for example, as the wearer’s reflexive awareness…”

This is what has made fashion companies responsible for customer care at the same time, when they were thinking to be profitable. You can find friendly policies of such companies towards its employees, suppliers and customers. Together with the advertising campaigns, Fashion Weeks with new designs and colors, serve additionally to promote new concepts. These Fashion Weeks not only display an array of new products, but also serve to communicate with the audience visually. Dresses and accessories worn by models doing catwalk, are more lively and enthralling than the mere display on mannequins. Normally with a range of Fall, Spring, Summer and Winter collection, Fashion Weeks boost market demands and promote its associated businesses as well. Fashion Shows now have become cultural events which are happily sponsored by the corporate sector.

At modern day fashion companies, there is an underlying and long standing commitment to ethical trading, based upon the belief, that business can be both profitable and responsible. So, fashion companies believe that building meaningful long term relationships with employees, suppliers and communities is good business practice for them and is what the customers expect popular brands. This is, and always has been, the founding principle of different brands as Corporate-Social responsibility.

Fashion is not only a phenomenon for luxurious life, but this concept deals with humanity as well. True meaning of fashion is to put life at ease and to facilitate humanity with its respective life style. That is why, modern fashion companies are conscious for the fact of supporting special people of society with special needs. This phenomenon is causing fashion to be responsive towards special people.

Therefore, the market and its demands may vary from community to community. For example, the range may get different in a London store in comparison with the variety at a Singapore or China store. No doubt, in the modern world, ‘East meets West’ but climate, culture, sociology and psychological needs can force fashion designers and companies to provide a vast canvas for the diversity of customers worldwide. But there are few items that are evergreen. Jeans and Bags are such commodities that are always in demand and ask for the latest styles and comfort at the same time.

Modern day fashion is global, human, culture and society friendly. At one end it emphasizes collective psychology and trends of a society, and at the other end, it deals with the individual needs of customer care. Healthy trends, balanced life, and busy lifestyle are, what the modern fashion companies have to consider deeply. It is no more a matter of looking good and attractive, true fashion and accessories join comfort and trend together. Fashion companies are somehow, have become institutes that are shaping behaviors, psychology and healthy and innovative thinking. The concept of being relaxed and making others too, by wearing good looking, comfortable, trendy and eye-catching outfits in soothing or energetic colors, is the order of the modern day.

“The obstacles to recognition which they [elements] interpose give an extra fillip to the process of the recognition and increase our pleasure by providing a chain of difficulties to be overcome.”

(Carl Thurston. The Structure of Art.p 39)