Things to consider before you buy AC

Today there are variety of Air Conditioners available in the market. Choosing a correct AC is very important. Incorrect choice will simply eat away your pockets with huge electricity bills. Through this article, I want to highlight some of the basic points which each one of us should consider before buying an AC.

Air conditioners come in four main types: window AC, through the wall AC, portable AC and central AC. Window AC are best for smaller places like residential units whereas for offices and bigger complexes, one should go for large central units.

Features to Consider:

1. It should have an adjustable thermostat.
2. At least two cooling speeds and two fan speeds.
3. Should be energy efficient. The fan should stop automatically when the unit is not cooling.
4. It should have an adjustable vent, and an exhaust vent setting which allows fresh air from outside.
5. Filters should be easy to remove and clean.
6. Warranty period.
7. Star Rating. Maximum star rating ensures best performance and cooling.
8. Higher EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio).
9. Room size where AC has to be installed. Choosing a high cooling capacity AC for a small room will only result in power wastage.
10. Location within the room where AC will be installed. This is also equally important as AC will offer much better cooling if placed in shady areas.

Technical terms One should be aware of:

• BTU - Energy is measured in British Thermal Unit (BTU). In context of AC, it signifies the amount of heat an AC unit can remove from the room. Generally for room AC, it varies from 5000 to 24000 BTUs.
• EER - The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) is calculated by dividing the BTUs by the number of watts consumed by the unit. High value means more efficient unit.
• Thermostat - It adjusts the temperature of the air that is being dispensed from the unit.

10 Tips to write Effective Articles on Blog

Many people ask me about how to write effective articles on Blog. Based on my personal experience and extensive search on internet, here are the basic tips one should follow while writing articles:

1. Choose a suitable Title. The title should clearly highlight the content of the blog. Not many people would read your article if title is not clear.
2. Choose topics which would interest your readers and not you. Try to choose topics which are constantly searched on the net.Once your blog appears in any search engine, no one can stop your blog to be famous. Read my article "5 Simple Tips to Drive traffic to your blog".
3. Keep important points in the beginning. This keeps the readers interested and glued to your article.
4. Keep the article simple and in point wise fashion. Make sure that the language used is simple. Don't try to show your language skills here.
5. Paragraphs should be short. No one is interested in reading long paragraphs. 2-3 sentences should be enough.
6. Provide as much information as possible to the readers. Provide other site's URL where readers can find related information.
7. Give specific examples and personal experiences to backup your points.
8. Use keywords which are more searched on the net. try to use them at as many places as you can.This will help your blog to appear in search engines.
9. Get opinion on your articles from your friends and colleagues.They are your best critics.
10. Involve your readers by asking opinions and suggestions from them.

I am sure if you follow these simple steps, you will be able to produce effective content for your blog/site.

Animation In Education

Animation has got a big role to play in Education field specially for kids/students. Its a well known fact that you learn things fast if learned through practicals or animations. A kid would understand a story better through a animation movie rather than reading through a book. A student would understand science fundamentals much better if learned through some animation rather than just cramming books. Also animation generates interest in students to  learn more.

Anything learned through animation has a long lasting effect and can be remembered for a long time. I am sure most of the students would forget what they learn through books soon after thier exams are over.  I have given very simple examples here. Animation can be even used to study difficult topics like VLSI, analog electronics or any other higher study course.

Recently I came to know about the various simulation applets on the University of Buffalo's site.
http://jas.eng.buffalo.edu/. It has various simulation applets related to semiconductor domain and once can learn all about semiconductor here through these wonderful animations. Animation makes things so easy to learn and remember.

There can be numerous fields where animation is being used . Still there is a huge scope in education especially for young kids who find very difficult to understand various scientific theorems and other basic fundamentals in their schools and they end up just cramming the things. This also has other negative effects like losing interest in studies which is really harmful for the young generation.

I would request my readers to share with us the various sources/links which can really help the kids and students in learning. Learning should be fun not a burden.

5 Simple Tips to Drive traffic to your Blog

There are thousands of articles available on the internet on this topic on various sites and each of them redirects you to other links to read articles and other stuff on SEO optimization etc. Based on my personal experience here are the 5 simple ways to drive traffic to your website/blog.

• Incoming Links: Let the search engine recognize your site. The idea is to make the search engine crawler find your site in some way. Leave your links on other popular sites. Let the traffic come to your site via popular sites.If the crawler finds the URL of your site while crawling a website, it will come to your site. More popular the site is, more relevant your site/blog becomes to the crawler. More the number of sources, more popular your site will become.
• Outgoing links: Have links to external world on your site. Crawler will decrease your ranking if it finds a dead end at your site. Make the user explore other sites as well by introducing external links.
• Appropriate/Freshness of Content:

              a) URL name should be unique.
              b) Provide a lot of metadata to the blog.
              c) Provide category to the blog.
              d) Use the keyword that you expect the user to search on net, at many places in your blog like Title, body, headings, category etc.
              e) Have interesting contents on your site to generate interest in people.

             Read my article 10 Tips to Write Effective Articles on Blog.

• Images : If you intend to put images, don't forget to provide alternate text for images.
• Exchange Links: Network with other bloggers to exchange links with each other to drive traffic on your blog. Networking really helps.

Don't be disheartened if you don't find traffic to your site initially. Making a site popular is not an easy task. It requires regular involvement and takes around 6-12 months to actually get the desired traffic on your site.So, have patience.

Just follow these 5 simple tips religiously and you will see increased traffic on your site.

Jaypee Aman, Noida

This is a township developed by Jaypee Greens in sector 151, Noida. Located along the Experssway and close to Greater Noida. They are first one in NCR to come up with the concept of Affordable Housing.

Personally, i didnt like anything in this project. I can only highlight the negative points here :)

• Location wise weird. Only village can be seen behind this project. Other than that, you will not find anything near this project. Totally inhabitable.Better buy something in Greater Noida.
• Room Sizes are really very small. All 10*10 or 10 *11 sizes.
• The launch price was very competitive (Rs2100 per sq ft). But considering its location, it does not deserve a higher price tag.
• The builder claims to have sold all the flats in one single day. Highly absurd talk.You talk with any property dealer and they will provide you as many options as you want.
• All bookings are done through property dealers. Direct dealing not possible.

If anyone has something to share, kindly leave a comment so that others are also benefitted.

Divine Meadows, Noida

This project is located in sector 108, Noida along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and developed  by Divine Meadows. I have never heard of this company before so I am assuming its their first ever project.

They are giving various options when it comes to floorplan.(980-1655 sq ft area). Here are few points which I would like to mention about this project according to my view:

• Location wise very good. Right along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.
• Few schools also nearby like Mayur School etc.
• Good connectivity with Delhi but only if you have your own vehicle. Forget about public transportation here.
• The builder is providing these flats at the rate of Rs. 3300 per sq ft and he claims it to be very Affordable.
• In few layouts, kitchen is right in front of the Toilet. Not compliant with Vastu .
• All rooms look decent enough in size. But one thing which one should not ignore is that in many rooms wardrobes are also included within the size mentioned. So, actual room size after wardrobe construction will be very less.
• Specifications wise doesnt look very attractive. All rooms have vitrified tiles flooring.Marble or wooden flooring in some would have been better.
• No woodwork provided in any of the rooms and kitchen. So, add this cost in your budget as well.
• Carpet to Super Area ratio not very good.
• Miscellaneous costs are really high.

Readers are welcome to post their views/comments.

Latest Property rates In Delhi-NCR

Last one year has seen a global recession in all sectors leave alone Realty. In USA, property rates have fallen by over 50%. Even in India, effects of recession could be witnessed and a considerable decline could be clearly seen in commercial/residential properties. Rentals of Commercial shops declined sharply and many shopkeepers decided to move their shops from expensive malls to affordable areas.

Inspite of the global meltdown, one area which has been more or less immune to the changes in Delhi-NCR. Not much change has  been witnessed in the property prices here. Its true that the rates have not increased but they have not fallen either. The rates have been stable for over a year now.

I have seen news channels reporting crash in property prices and lots of stuff about Affordable Housing. When you go out in the market, you dont see any change in the prices. There is no change in the rates of ready to move in properties. The rates have dropped only for new projects and that too are located in inhabitable areas. New societies are being developed along the Noida-Gr. Noida Expressway with the tag of Affordable Housing. If you see the present situation, they are completely isolated and totally inhabited. Either there is nothing around or you will see villages around the society.

I do not see these areas being fully developed and comfortable for living even in the next five years. Let the state government change and you will see less activities in this region. There is hardly any means of transport here.There is no means to cross the killer expressway. I agree that this will be a good region to invest in long term. But how Long? Noone knows.

The current rates along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway is 2700-3000 per sq ft. Add to this all the miscellaneous charges like car parking, EEC, etc . This will amount to around 5-6 lakhs.

In Greater Noida, few projects have been launched at reduced rates, the latest being King's park by Todays Homes. They are offering flats at 2600 per sq ft. Ready to move in flats can be purchased at around 2600-2800 per sq ft (total package). In few projects you can get even in 2100 per sq ft,e.g(Plumeria Garden developed by Uppal Chaddha).

In Indirapuram, the latest rates are also almost the same. You can get complete package between 2700-3100 per sq ft. Even new launch projects are offering the same rates. This area ia already developed and the rates are not going to fall. It has huge advantages as it is connected to whole NCR.

In Noida too, few projects have been launched in sector 61 and they too are in the same price range.

Important:

•  Check the quality of materials being used by the builders. They are making a huge profit by giving low quality fixtures, tiles etc. e.g, just using ceramic tiles in place of vitrified tiles saves them a lot of money.Builders have started using inferior materials at these reduced rates.Check everything and bargain hard.
• Check for the credibility of the builder. Many builders have run away with our hard earned money.
• People with good bargaining skills will get the benefit. I have seen builders giving the same flat in different terms and conditions to different buyers.
• Builders will always say that there are only few flats left. Infact, they save the best located flats to sell in the end at higher prices. Only if you remain firm on your choice, they will get back to you in a day or two and offer you the same flat. I myself have experienced this.

When you can bargain for each and everything in the roadside market, why can't for a property which is your life time investment.? The property rates have gone out of reach of common man. Its time that we get value for money. Eldeco Utopia residents (Sector 93-A, Noida) have decided to fight against the builder after he failed to deliver what he promised. Look out for my article on this in coming days.

One thing that we fail to realise is that the rates will fall automatically if the builders do not  get any buyers. Let us restrain ourselves for few more months and see the price fall ourselves. Many builders are under huge cash debt and they are launching new projects to gather money and complete their old projects.Only God knows the future of such projects. Its better to go for ready to move in projects. So, think before you invest.