We thought a crossword will make the site more interactive. The crossword is expected to come out every Saturday(or every other Saturday) in the cryptic form, the direct clues will be revealed on Sundays and then the answers finally on Monday morning. The crossword here is a cryptic crossword. However, I have not stuck to the hard and fast rules of framing crossword clues. I assure you that most of them are crackable and fun. While some may have you flummoxed, most are directed at people who haven’t necessarily tried out crosswords earlier nevertheless are interested. If you feel cryptic clues is not your cup of tea, then wait for another day and you will have the direct ones to work with.Looking forward to comments claiming you have finished the grid in no time. Cheers!!

Karthik

This crossword is about homes in general. Look around to find a few answers.   

Across

1. A bash was in progress? [4, 5]

3. The hen woke you up not the clocks tick? [7]

4. A mathematical function to restrict the value to some upper limit with an alcoholic drink? A small parasitic wingless insect (pl) with an alcoholic drink? [7]

7. To scatter over land for growth with a stream of air in natural motion.(pl) [7]

9. An automobile that is domesticated or tamed ? [6]

13. I let to solve it? [6]

14. Also a cricket shot where you scoop the ball up high. [4]

15. Where you would be if you were ROFL [5]

16. Torn cloth that is old angered the general assembly? [6]

Down

2. A hereditary social group limited to persons of the same rank, occupation, economic position with manifestation of pride or vanity and assumed haughtiness? [9]

5. Wireless local area network that needs shortening? [4]

6. To annoy by complaining until rouge. [6]

8. A minor placed under the care of a guardian dressed in a long loose flowing gown? [8]

10. The fiber obtained from the husk of a coconut lands in a round cooking vessel? [7]

11. After a hat? [4]

12. Catch it!! goes the cry when the ball soars roof high. [5]

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In the last post we briefly touched upon the various brands that are available in Indian television market. Most names like Onida, Videocon, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and Philips are probably the most famous ones in India. The other brands mentioned like BPL Sanyo, Haier, TCL, Hyundai, Akai, Hitachi, Sansui, Sharp, Toshiba, Benq and Viewsonic are perhaps not as popular because either they offer premium solutions which are not meant for masses or they are a recent entrant into the market.

We are not here to make a judgement (yet) on which is the best TV out there. As we mentioned in our last  post , it depends on a whole lot of factors. This post aims to give you some insight on the various things you need to check before purchasing a television for your home.

Image Courtesy : jupiterimages.com

So here goes:

• Operating Voltage - If you are importing a TV , it could be operating at 110V. Please check this.
• Screen Size - Make sure you select an optimum screen size based on the space of the room. It makes no sense to have too small or too large a screen.
• Inputs - Today most Indians need (still) a coaxial input for their cable broadcast. And most TV also have the composite input (yellow in color) to receive content either from a set top box or a DVD player. But if you are investing in a LCD or Plasma screen, your TV would have additional component input, PC (VGA) input and perhaps more. You may want to have a HDMI input to support a Blueray or HD DVD player down the line.
• Audio Output - Check the output levels and make sure the volume levels satisfy you. Try and get a demo to see if the speakers blare at high volumes.
• Futuristic options - Some TV today come with USB slot or even memory card readers. These enable you to watch your photos, videos from the drive or memory card on your TV. Some televisions even play audio from the removable drives.
• Type of TV - We need not cover this again. You can choose from a traditional CRT TV which offers excellent value for money. In CRT you have the option of a curved (regular) screen or a full flat screen. There are also slim CRT TV which occupy less space. Then there is the LCD and Plasma TV which are inches wide. These can be wall mounted. There is also another category called “Rear Projection TV“.
• Remote Control Unit - Make sure the remote feels good in your hand and is not built in such a way that it would shatter into pieces if dropped. Too small remotes or too large ones are a pain to operate.
• COST- Last but not the least, make sure it fits your budget. We can see many schemes which offer attractive EMI and what not. But do not indulge in a model if you really do not need it. Do your research and be prepared while listening to the sales pitch in the showroom.

In the coming days, we would cover details of each brand mentioned on Aavaas. This way, our site would be a one stop information portal for your television needs.

Have fun!

PS : Make sure that your room light is well organized to prevent unwanted glare and discomfort. Selecting a suitable spot for your TV is as critical as buying the right one.

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We first covered televisions on 19 August ‘07. That was more of a curtain raiser. A few days ago we discussed our ambition to cover brand specific information. In today’s post we are just going to see the tip of the iceberg - brand names of television sets sold in India.

Image Courtesy : www.createyourhometheater.com

The market is overflowing with TV sets. There are all sorts of manufacturers out there. Let us classify them based on their country of origin.

Indian Television Brands

  

Chinese Television Brands

  

Korean Television Brands

  

Japanese Television Brands

  

Other Country brands

  - Taiwan

 - Holland

 - USA

Click here to read more

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Check this link for information on how much emissions you are personally responsible for. The average figure for Americans is 7.5 tons every year. Now if you want to offset this by some carbon absorbing activity, pretty much the only thing you can do is to plant more trees. Unfortunately, the average tree can absorb only one ton of emissions in its lifetime (and that lifetime is usually very long, which means the offset is not done in the present time but in the future).

This leaves really leaves us in a corner as far as turning carbon neutral goes, leave alone the dreams of carbon negative. One has to plant something like 10 trees every year one is alive to offset our present modern lifestyle! This is too much to ask for, considering the fact that most people don’t have enough land to plant that many trees for even couple of years. Besides, ensuring that those trees grow correctly for the next 5-10 years is probably too paintstaking a task.

The other option is to drastically reduce our travels & power consumption patterns. However, even if we were to do that I doubt whether the 7.5 ton figure will more than halve, which leaves us with the same problem.

So the only way out appears to be in the use of clean energy like from wind turbines (nuclear as well?) and in the development of vehicles with hybrid fuels or biofuel. Indian market is not yet giving people these options, unlike in US where both these options are already being marketed. Let’s hope we catch up soon. 

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In an earlier post, we had briefly touched upon some activities that one can do in order to keep one’s home as environment friendly as possible. At that time, we didn’t know the exact carbon emissions due to household activities and had hoped to research it later. Well, now we have come across some interesting statistics at http://www.climatecrisis.net, which I am summarising below.

It is basically 9 simple things ordinary people can do in their day-to-day lives to help combat global warming.

1. Change lights - Replace regular light  bulbs with CFL bulbs. One such move alone will save 150 pounds of Carbon Dioxide in a year.
2. Drive less- One pound of CO2 saved for every mile you don’t drive. We don’t have to cut down on our travel; rather we should use car pooling, bikes or even buses more than usual.
3. Recycle more - Recycle 50% of household waste will save 2400 pounds per year. Not sure whether we can recycle stuff easily in India. Anyone with knowhow on this, please feel free to comment.
4. Check tires frequently - Proper inflation of tires save 3% on mileage. 1 gallon of gasoline saved means 20 pounds of CO2 emissions saved.
5. Use less hot water - It takes a lot of energy to heat hot water. So use less of it by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of CO2 emissions saved in a year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds of  CO2 saved in a year)
6. Avoid products with lot of packaging - 1200 pounds of CO2 is saved by cutting garbage by 10%. This probably assumes some garbage disposal mechanism requiring power consumption. Again, unsure whether this is true for India as well.
7. Adjust your thermostat - If you place it 2 degrees from its usual spot, it will save 2000 pounds of CO2 in a year.
8. Plant trees - A single tree will absorb one ton of CO2 from the atmosphere in its lifetime. I know.., that figure seems dissappointingly low compared to the earlier emission figures. And to think, trees are such huge creatures.
9. Turn off electronic devices - Turning off your television, computer etc. when you are not using them will save 1000s of pounds in emssions every year.

There now.. we can’t claim ignorance about what we have to do, so that earth remains habitable.

Err.. hope that didn’t sound too fanatical…

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