Shopping 'online' is the new trend

Shopping 'online' is the new trend - Online shopping has come of age, says Norbert Rego.

Today, Net-savvy customers are going online like never before to buy goods and services. Until recently, it was to reserve hotel rooms and buy air, rail or movie tickets, books and gadgets and gizmos, but now clothes - saris, kurtis, T-shirts - shoes, and designer lingerie as well.

Bangalore-based Amit Roy, who earlier shopped for electronics goods and books, was extremely disappointed as the products were not as described online, delivery was delayed and payment methods were not secure and the choice was limited. But over the last three years, he has extensively shopped online, mainly for clothes, shoes and books. "Now they are very professional with delivery dates, quality of products and customer support. The payment methods are also secure, with some offering cash on delivery. Some companies let me zoom in on the product image and offer a 360 degree view. Products are delivered at the door with all custom duties, formalities, etc, done by them."

Shopping 'online' is the new trend

V Sathyamoorthy of an online agency dealing with beauty and wellness products says, "We have various kinds of customers, ranging from individuals looking for premium grooming and skincare products which are not readily available in India to customers looking for good deals on premium beauty brands."

Buyer-seller relationships

Online shopping was earlier associated with uncertainty, anonymity and lack of control. Shailen Amin, an online retailer for shoes says, "Trust is an important factor in the buyer-seller relationships. The customer cannot 'touch and feel' a product, and hence it is the retailer's responsibility to ensure multiple quality checks that promise uniformity and build trust."

But the lack of touch and feel problem in online shopping has to be addressed effectively. Aashish Bhinde of Avendus Capital says, "The solutions being identification of categories, where the need for product touch is minimal (and standardisation is high), and incentivising the consumer through other means, such as discounts to compensate."

The number of Indian online shoppers is currently estimated at 14 per cent of the total Internet users; and has been increasing at a rate of 35 per cent over the last three years. At these growth rates, the number of online shoppers is likely to reach 38 million by 2015.

Interactive 3D images

Now with the advent of 3D technologies, online shopping is on the verge of a radical transformation. In order to sell in 3D, businesses need to create digital 3D versions of their products. Interactive 3D images are the next best thing to actually holding an object in your hand. Keshav Bajaj feels, "With the use of 3D technologies, the user interface will be taken to the next level, with more e-commerce models, which is a critical part of the decision-making process."

Ankur Dinesh of an online retail consulting and research firm says, "Experts across the world are working towards replicating the experience of offline shopping in online world. From high resolution images to video displays, the technology is being exploited to create a marvel for online customers and help them feel the product just as they can do it offline. However, these technologies are bandwidth-intensive and would need more 'G' to be added to Internet distribution on devices." Vivek Gaur of a fashion online portal agrees, "The 3 D tech / java-based apps are heavy on bandwidth."

Kunal Bahl, online professional, says, "Given the growth of Internet penetration and the number of credit card holders, the e-commerce industry will continue to see explosive growth in the future as well. There are approximately 100 million Internet users in India and a substantial number out of these users would be shopping online for various products and services." One of the risks in online shopping is sharing credit card details over the Internet, but 'cash on delivery' module can help the buyer pay once he has received the product. ( indiatimes.com )

READ MORE - Shopping 'online' is the new trend

'Strong' Black Friday Spending Hits Record High

'Strong' Black Friday Spending Hits Record High - Shoppers hungry for Black Friday deals came out in droves, creating more mayhem than anyone can remember, but thankfully for retailers, they also spent at record levels, according to retail analysts.

"We were expecting Black Friday openings to be very strong. I don't know anybody was expected that they were going to be this strong," National Retail Federation vice president Ellen Davis told ABC News Radio.

According to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation, a combined 226 million people visited brick-and-mortar and online stores during the four-day Black Friday shopping window, which is an increase of 14 million shoppers from last year.

Shoppers vie for copies of video games at a Black Friday sale at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. store in Mentor, Ohio, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011

Consumers cumulatively spent an estimated $52 billion during the holiday shopping rush, which kicked off on Thanksgiving Day at some retailers, according to the survey, which was conducted by online market research firm BIGresearch.

"Consumers are clearly demonstrating their desire to spend this holiday season, and shopping early and often seem to be their new mantra as they seek the best value for all their holiday purchases," BIGresearch executive vice president Phil Rist said in a statement.

The average holiday shopper spent $398.62 this weekend. up from $365.34 last year.

Online consumers spent an average of $150.53 on Black Friday deals, something that is expected to increase into Cyber Monday, when online retailers traditionally offer deep discounts and other incentives, such as free shipping.

Shoppers broke almost every record for Thanksgiving weekend, but retail expert Marshal Cohen said what's important is what people bought.

"Forty-four percent of consumers told us that they've only really bought for themselves so far, that leaves a lot of gift shopping still to be had," Cohen said.

"When the consumer psyche is positive, they go out and they buy more product. They go beyond their gift list. They buy more product for themselves," he said.

More than half of shoppers purchased clothing and nearly four out of 10 shoppers bought electronic items, including gaming systems such as the XBox, which allegedly caused a Los Angeles woman to pepper spray her fellow shoppers to ensure she scored one of the discounted gaming consoles.

The survey, which was conducted from Nov. 24-26, polled 3,826 consumers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percent. ( abcnews.go.com )

READ MORE - 'Strong' Black Friday Spending Hits Record High

Beauty sleep, for your body and your brain

Beauty sleep, for your body and your brain - We are all familiar with the unpleasant effects of sleep deprivation: fatigue, lack of energy, inattention and irritability. Most of us should really get more sleep -- it would make us feel and perform much better and can even help us lose weight. But did you know it's also possible to get too much sleep?

It turns out that sleep is sort of like Goldilocks -- you don't want too little, and you don't want too much.

What number is just right? The answer is really a range: somewhere between six and eight hours. Any more or less than that may do more than just make you sleepy -- it may cause your brain to age prematurely.

According to one study, both men and women who averaged seven hours of sleep per night performed better on reasoning tests than both people who slept fewer than six hours per night as well as people who slept more than eight. Most interesting, the researchers involved think that the findings show that consistent sleep routines that include sleeping for around seven hours a night can help reduce the regular cognitive decline that happens to all of us as we get older:

• The study tracked men and women over the course of five years and consistently asked them to perform memory, vocabulary and logic tests.
• The study suggested that people who got too little or too much sleep showed a loss in brain function that was like aging four to seven years!
• People tend to sleep less when they age, so maintaining six to eight hours of sleep a night may be a great natural way to prevent some of that natural memory loss that occurs with aging.

You might be surprised by the fact that too much sleep could be bad for you, and you wouldn't be alone -- the researchers in the study were surprised as well. They think it may be that these people aren't actually sleeping more than eight hours -- they may be lying in bed battling insomnia, or they may be getting poor-quality sleep. Being in bed doesn't count -- you need around seven hours of quality sleep each night in order to function at your best and keep your brain young.

Beauty sleep, for your body and your brain. ( huffingtonpost.com )

READ MORE - Beauty sleep, for your body and your brain

Russia marks Victory Day with vast parade

Russia marks Victory Day with vast parade – Tens of thousands of granite-faced soldiers marched in lockstep across Red Square Monday in Russia's annual Victory Day display of military might, while President Dmitry Medvedev said the country is committed to peace and global stability.

The parade, marking the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II, is the centerpiece of Russia's most solemn secular holiday, both commemorating the Soviet Union's enormous sacrifices in the war and asserting the potency of its modern military.

The 20,000 troops who strode in precision formation through the vast square outside the Kremlin were followed by more than 100 pieces of mobile military hardware, from armored personnel carriers to lumbering Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile launchers. It concluded with a squadron of helicopters carrying flags over the square but, unusually for recent years, did not include warplanes.

Although Russian armed forces suffered from severe funding shortages and morale problems in the early years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the parade put forth the image of a spit-and-polish and vigorous military, with an emphasis on discipline and precision. The parade announcer even praised the "maximal synchronization" with which the cars carrying Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Moscow Military District commander Col.-Gen. Valery Gerasimov approached each other in the center of the square.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, walk along the Kremlin wall prior to the beginning of the Victory Day parade in Moscow, on Monday May 9, 2011.

Medvedev told the crowd, which included many war veterans festooned with medals and ribbons, that restoring the military would continue.

"The state will continue to do everything to guarantee the dignity of military service. to actively upgrade the armed forces so that the troops will have have the most modern equipment," said.

"Today Russia firmly upholds the principles of peaceful cooperation, consistently advocates for a security system and contributes to the overall effort to maintain global stability in the world," he said in the speech from a tribune set up in front of the Lenin Mausoleum.

The mausoleum, the focal point of the square, was hidden behind an elaborate scrim painted to mark the holiday, reflecting the symbolic delicacy of comemorating a victory achieved by the Soviet regime that is now largely discredited. Some of the marching military units carried period flags bearing the Communist hammer-and-sickel emblem.

Last year's Victory Day period was marked by repeated complaints from Medvedev and other officials that some countries denigrate the Soviet Union's contribution in WWII, in which some 26 million Soviets died, according to some estimates.

But Medvedev made no reference to the issue this year and made of a point of noting the efforts of the other Allies.

"Now, new generations are reinforcing the traditions of friendship and cooperation with those nations who together with us celebrate victory. And I sincerely congratulate the veterans of all countries," he said. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Russia marks Victory Day with vast parade

Prince William heading back to work after wedding

Prince William heading back to work after wedding - Prince William was expected back at work on Tuesday after he and his new wife Catherine headed back to their secluded island home following a secret weekend break in Britain.

The new duke and duchess of Cambridge were due to return late Monday to Anglesey, northwest Wales, where William was to go back to his day job as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Their fairytale wedding on Friday was watched by an estimated one million people on the streets of London and two billion on television around the world.

"The chances are if he's back at work on Tuesday he'll be getting in to Anglesey on Monday evening," a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.

"It will be a normal day at work for him after the wedding, nothing special planned."

Like Friday, Monday was a public holiday in Britain, making for an extra-long weekend.

William's colleagues at RAF Valley on Anglesey were in action on the wedding day, airlifting to hospital a 12-year-old boy who was rescued by a lifeboat crew after drifting a mile out to sea in a rubber ring.

The newlyweds spent the weekend at a private location, having flown out of Buckingham Palace by helicopter on Saturday.

Prince William heading back to work after wedding

Prince William heading back to work after wedding

The couple chose not to depart immediately for their honeymoon -- details of which which will not be announced in advance -- though royal officials have said it will be abroad.

The newlyweds "planned the honeymoon together", said a spokeswoman for Clarence House, the office of William's father Prince Charles.

While William gets back to work in Wales, London is still abuzz with royal wedding fever.

Three-hour queues to get into the Westminster Abbey wedding venue stretched around the block, with well-wishers keen to get a glimpse before it is reconfigured back to normal.

Jane Thompson travelled from Windsor, west of London for a look around the historic church, which costs £16 ($27, 18 euros) to enter.

"I just thought it would be a lovely day to come up to town and hopefully to go in the abbey and see the flowers and feel part of everything," she told AFP.

She thought the wedding gave Britain a boost.

"I thought it was beautiful. Every bit of it. Everything was perfect," she said.

"From the words that were said in the abbey, you felt as if everybody was being included. We're all part of the family!"

Carol Lowe and her daughter Rachel went to the abbey together.

"I would like to see the flowers because I am a florist so that's an interest to me, but just to have the whole atmosphere of the abbey so soon after the wedding," said Rachel.

"It will probably take a day just to get in," she added.

Singer Ellie Goulding, who performed at the evening party, told the BBC's The One Show that singing for the couple had been a "very surreal, incredible experience".

According to reports, party organiser and best man Prince Harry had a secret pocket sewn into his Blues and Royals military wedding outfit in order to make sure he didn't lose the all-important wedding ring before the service.

While the couple's honeymoon dates will not be released, they are due to visit Canada from June 30 to July 8 for their first official overseas visit.

The tour will include Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and the capital Ottawa.

Meanwhile a Clarence House spokeswoman denied a report that William would be posted to Britain's remote Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean in September, saying there were "no plans" for such a deployment. ( AFP )

READ MORE - Prince William heading back to work after wedding

You're next down the aisle, Harry told Chelsy

Royal wedding: You're next down the aisle, Harry told Chelsy - With Prince William’s wedding completed in such spectacular style, attention has already shifted to whether Prince Harry will soon follow his brother down the aisle.

The 26-year-old Prince is back together with his long-term girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and is reported to have signalled his intentions at the royal wedding party by telling her: “You're next.”

Miss Davy, whose on-off romance with the Prince began in 2004, was the Prince’s guest at the wedding and at the all-night party at Buckingham Palace, where the couple were never far apart.

The Prince visited Miss Davy the day before the wedding, spending an hour inside her flat in west London before returning to Clarence House to help with preparations for the ceremony.

Although the couple left Buckingham Palace separately in the early hours of Saturday, they met up again at the Middleton family’s party at the Goring Hotel in Belgravia.

Miss Davy, 25, is reported to have giggled and kissed Prince Harry when he made his off-the-cuff remark about getting married. The couple’s relationship appeared to have ended last year when Zimbabwean-born Miss Davy, having graduated from Leeds University, moved to South Africa to begin a legal career.

Prince Harry is reported to have told Miss Davy 'you're next' at his brother's wedding party

Earlier this year, however, she set up home in London, where she is due to start work as a trainee solicitor at the law firm Allen & Overy.

Friends of Miss Davy have suggested that it is she, not Prince Harry, who is reluctant to stage another royal wedding.

She has reportedly told them that she is determined to have her own career and freedom to determine her own future, and has deep-rooted reservations about the sacrifices that joining the Royal family would entail.

Prince Harry, meanwhile, will spend the rest of the year based at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk, where his training on Apache helicopters continues, and is then likely to be deployed to Afghanistan next year. ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - You're next down the aisle, Harry told Chelsy

Will William and Kate Make Up for Charles and Di?

Will William and Kate Make Up for Charles and Di? - As the royal wedding approaches, I find myself thinking back to the other wedding 30 years ago that I helped cover as a young reporter in London and wondering from afar (in Iowa, where I now live) how the extravaganza on April 29 - and, beyond that ritual, the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton - will differ.

During the summer of 1981, all of England seemed to have wedding fever - even my socialist pals. And as an intern working in the London bureau of an American newspaper, I was swept up in the excitement of covering a big story in great detail - which is how I learned all about organza.

"So organza is the name of the designer?" was my clueless follow-up question during an interview with Lady so-and-so for a fashion story on what wedding guests would be wearing.

"No, dear, it's the name of the fabric," the lady responded, turning fabric into a four-syllable word.

Still, as a 22-year-old Yank who couldn't imagine marrying, let alone into that family, I wondered if 20-year-old Diana Spencer knew what she was getting into. So did the feminists who distributed sadly prescient buttons that read, "Don't Do It Di." Lady Di seemed so young and naive. Prince Charles made me shudder, especially with his "Whatever love is" response to a reporter's question about whether the couple was in love.

Union Flags are hung along Regent Street - The Union Flags are hung along Regent Street in London in celebration of the forthcoming royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton Tuesday, April 19, 2011.

Flash forward to Kate the commoner, who at 29 is an older bride than Diana was and surely wiser and worldlier. And William - a groom at 28, not 32 like Charles - surely has learned a thing or two from the horror-story marriage that followed his parents' fairytale wedding. Am I the only one, this time around, who is less pumped about the wedding but more optimistic about the marriage? Not judging from conversations with British and American friends. (All female. The guys I know claim to not give a hoot.)

This is a couple who appear to have a relatively normal relationship, who've had rough patches over the years, who know that marriages can fail - and, in the case of Kate's parents, succeed (or at least endure). "They're going into it with their eyes wide open," observes Peggi, my 50-something hairstylist.

At the very least, the son of the People's Princess seems more certain than his dad about whatever love is. "Just compare the engagement photos," says my 26-year-old stepdaughter Emma, a single career gal in Chicago. On the face of it, the cuddly Wills-and-Kate pose is chillingly like the Charles-and-Di pose, down to Diana's engagement ring that Kate now wears. But William and Kate look like they like each other, my stepdaughter thinks. William's arms are wrapped snuggly, even protectively, around Kate.

My British friends report that this wedding is drawing less attention there than the 1981 wedding but is widely welcomed as a happy story, especially given all the other gloomy news (wars, uprisings, natural disasters, nuclear peril, economic belt-tightening). After the Charles-and-Di disaster, we may be less likely to believe in weddings stage-managed by Buckingham Palace. But we still want a happily-ever-after outcome for this attractive couple, especially this duty-bound young man who, as a boy, loved and lost his mother.

Yet so much has changed since 1981. Today, the British monarchy seems like even more of an anachronism, notes my friend Merida, a London bureau friend now living in New York. And with all that's going on in the world, it's hard to imagine the press (or at least the "old media") committing the resources lavished on Charles and Diana's wedding. In 1981, thousands of Brits camped out along the wedding-procession route (prompting me to bunk in our bureau near Fleet Street the night before so I didn't have to fight the crowds during my morning commute).

Will they do the same this month on the "happy day," as Prime Minister David Cameron described it? Will many Brits again celebrate with neighborhood street parties? (My London friend Francine has been invited to an unusual bash - a republican, i.e., antimonarchist, lunch with red-colored food and no telly watching allowed.) Will Americans get up in the wee hours of the morning on April 29, 2011 - as many did on July 29, 1981 - to watch the wedding live on TV or, now, the Internet? Will we stock up on commemorative tchotchkes?

I confess I want a little Wills-and-Kate plate. For years, a little Charles-and-Di plate has sat atop my bedroom dresser, beside a smaller plate marking Diana's 1997 death. What I don't think I want is a "Don't Do It Kate" button. So far, my London friends report there are none to be found. ( time.com )

READ MORE - Will William and Kate Make Up for Charles and Di?

Russian leader dances to “American Boy”

Russian leader dances to “American Boy” - A video of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev getting down to the 1990s Russian pop hit "American Boy" (sadly, not the Estelle/Kayne version with which most American viewers are familiar) has gone viral since being posted to YouTube Tuesday:

"Sporting a form-fitting silver jacket ... Medvedev somewhat awkwardly wiggles his hips and kicks up his heels with other party guests in the half-minute clip posted late Tuesday," Reuters reported, noting one commenter's review of the Russian leader's restrained performance: "It looks like Medvedev's swallowed a stick."

Undeterred by the judges, the dancing machine himself was quick to claim his moves: "We're rocking out last year at a reunion with my (university) class," Medvedev explained on his Twitter feed. "The dances/music are those, from the past," he wrote, punctuating with smiley signs.

Both Medvedev, who casts himself as a clean-cut, Twitter-adept moderate, and his more hard-line predecessor, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former KGB colonel and two-term Russian president who oversaw Russia's 2008 invasion of U.S.-ally Georgia, are teetotalers and exercise buffs. But Kremlin watchers have long wondered the degree to which the two men represent competing power centers in Moscow so much as a good cop/bad cop routine with Putin still pulling many of the strings.

They may soon get a chance to find out. With Russia scheduled to have presidential elections next March 2012, there are signs Putin may be exploring a campaign. Among them: Putin unveiled a plan to Russia's Duma Wednesday to spend $53 billion on programs to try to boost the former superpower's declining birthrate, which has fallen 6% since the 1990s, the BBC reported.

Is Medvedev's newly-posted "American boy" dance video then a sign he may be exploring a run against the man largely thought to have installed him in the Kremlin as an acceptable proxy when Putin himself was barred from seeking a third consecutive term as Russian president?

We shall see. For now anyhow, Medvedev has gone some way to "reset" the Kremlin's public image from both the chilly Cold War-reminiscent days of the Putin presidency, as well as from the corrupt and chaotic, vodka-swilling, early Glasnost era of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who amazed onlookers when he emerged from his usual stupor to bust a move during his own 1996 re-election campaign: ( yahoo.com )

READ MORE - Russian leader dances to “American Boy”

Queen consents to royal wedding

Queen consents to royal wedding – Queen Elizabeth has given her formal consent to the marriage of grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton in the form of a historic hand written legal document made of vellum and elaborately illuminated.

Under the terms of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, the British monarch must formally approve the marriage of her children and of most direct descendants of King George II, who reigned in the 18th century, before their wedding.

The Instrument of Consent, images of which were made available by William's office on Thursday, bears the queen's signature "Elizabeth R" and is sealed with the Great Seal of the Realm.

It reads: "NOW KNOW YE that We have consented and do by these Presents signify Our Consent to the contracting of Matrimony between Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, K.G., and Our Trusty and Well-beloved Catherine Elizabeth Middleton."

The Instrument of Consent is one of a very few instruments that pass under the Great Seal which bear the monarch's signature. It will be given to William and Middleton after their wedding on April 29.

The document was illuminated by one of a panel of scrivener/artists retained by the Crown Office.

William - The Instrument of Consent, which is the Queen's formal consent to Prince William's forthcoming marriage to Kate Middleton, is seen at the Crown Office at the House of Lords in London April 20, 2011. Britain's Queen Elizabeth has given her formal consent to the marriage of grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton in the form of a historic hand written legal document made of vellum and elaborately illuminated. Photograph taken April 20, 2011

William - A detail from the Instrument of Consent, which is the Queen's formal consent to Prince William's forthcoming marriage to Kate Middleton, is seen at the Crown Office at the House of Lords in London April 20, 2011. Britain's Queen Elizabeth has given her formal consent to the marriage of grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton in the form of a historic hand written legal document made of vellum and elaborately illuminated. Photograph taken April 20, 2011

According to William's office, vellum is used only for the most important state documents.

The queen turned 85 on Thursday and attended the traditional Maundy Service at Westminster Abbey in London, also the venue for the royal wedding.

During the service, which dates back to the Middle Ages, she handed out Maundy money to people in recognition of services to the church and community. ( Reuters )

READ MORE - Queen consents to royal wedding

Kung fu compulsory for Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew

Kung fu compulsory for Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew - Hong Kong Airlines finds Bruce Lee-style kung fu is perfect for dealing with drunk passengers on board

Hong Kong Airlines is teaching its cabin crew kung fu so they can deal with unruly passengers, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

The airline has ordered its 23 new cabin crew to master wing chun -- a form of kung fu practiced by martial arts legends Bruce Lee and Ip Man -- which is characterized by sharp movements and close-range combat.

While the prospect of female flight attendants busting slick kung fu moves may seem like pure anime fanboy fantasy, the training proved invaluable in a sticky situation on a recent flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, claims Eva Chan, the airline's deputy general manager of corporate communications.

Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew demonstrating why it's a good idea to fasten your safety belt when you're told to do so.

"One of the passengers was sick but he was probably drunk and felt unwell -- the crew member attended to him and she realised her fitness was helping her especially because the guy was quite heavy," Chan told South China Morning Post.

"Normally, a female cabin crew can't handle a fat guy, especially if he's drunk, but because of the training, she can handle it quite easily."

The idea of compulsory martial arts training came about after the airline's top brass watched some crew members demonstrate wing chun and dance during a company function last year.

Katherine Cheung, one of the kung fu instructors, said wing chun is well-suited for cabin crew as it can be performed in small, confined places.

Lumpy Tang, a 22-year-old flight attendant trainee, said wing chun is good for her job because it is fast and "you cannot predict what will happen on the plane."

Chan reportedly said that on average cabin crew have to deal with disruptive passengers three times a week. ( cnngo.com )

READ MORE - Kung fu compulsory for Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew

What Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William could do for Britain

What Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William could do for Britain – The most anticipated wedding since that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer takes place exactly two weeks from today at 11 a.m., when the eldest son from that marriage, Prince William, ties the knot.

British Prime Minister David Cameron declared April 29 a bank holiday, and the nation seems awash in both wedding euphoria and skepticism.

After years of scandal and tragedy around Buckingham Palace, the Kate and William royal wedding is, especially for a global media audience, trending towards a modern fairy tale in an era when dreams and charm are often in short supply. Yet it’s also a wedding in an era of austerity and looming massive budget cuts in Britain. And it comes at a time of diminishing awe over royal trappings, nobles, lords, family crests, polo horses, limousines, and so on, especially among the young.

Still, the betrothed claim an inspiring story line: A handsome prince and military officer will give his hand and title of princess to a lovely commoner with an art history degree. His mother was a celebrity mourned by the world; her mother was an airline stewardess. After eight years William proposed on his knee next to a lake on Mount Kenya last fall with the diamond-and-sapphire ring Diana once wore.

So the opportunity for a royal rapprochement with Britain’s middle class is perfect: The bride’s name is even Middleton.

After years of fuddy-duddy misbehavior, airing of dirty royal laundry, the tragic Charles and Di sagas, and scandals among aristocrats – the royal monarchy has a chance to rebrand its devalued image when the the Archbishop of Canterbury weds the couple at Westminster Abbey on April 29.

The requisite glamor, poiseTo brighten the story, there seems to be genuine public sympathy for both Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

He’s the boy-now-man that Brits watched grow up as son of the beloved Princess Diana; he doesn’t appear in sordid scandals and acquits himself with dignity. Brits see him and his brother Prince Harry as having inherited their mother’s desire to be one of the people, genuine, not a stuffy royal. In a break with tradition, William named his brother Harry "best man" rather than just a "supporter."

“We like the boys, and we like Diana,” says Timothy Strap, a livery driver from East London. “She protected those boys from royal ways. It used to be royals were raised by nannies, but Di was a close, kind, and loving mother even if she was a bit mixed-up, poor girl.”

Kate Middleton, for her part, has got the requisite stately glamor, remains calm, is punctual, polite, poised, and properly deferential. These are all elements, in British eyes, that are commendably opposite from those of Sarah Ferguson. “Fergie,” whose commoner status was highly unusual, proved to be rough around the edges and a never-ending source of tabloid catnip, before divorcing Prince Andrew.

Want to keep up with the best Monitor stories? Sign up for our daily World Editor's Picks newsletter.

If William ascends to the throne, Middleton will be known as Queen Catherine – the fifth in British history, but the only queen by any name with a college degree, which she obtained at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Brits skeptical of the fairy tale, while Americans love itIs the wedding hyped, commercialized, sold in the street? Are there Kate and William saucers, stamps, jellies, coins and cakes? Yes, and much more. There is even a limited edition of commemorative red, white, and blue seed potatoes for patriotic British gardeners to mark the marriage.

Hasn’t the couple been together eight years already? Does taking seriously an ornamental future king and a Cinderella bride require some willing suspension of disbelief? Yes.

In fact, the fairy tale aspect of the wedding -- two relatively drama-free young people who appear to love each other, with castles in the background – is seen skeptically among many Brits. Nor are early predictions of a lucrative commercial bonanza off the wedding still being claimed.

“There’s a large amount of talk and activity in the media and companies that stands to profit. But only a small number of people in Britain are really interested,” says Jasmine Birtles, a London commentator who runs a personal finance website. “In America the wedding is a huge deal, much more so than here. I only know two people who are going to sit at the telly with cake and watch this. It’s the older middle-aged British outside London who will watch and wave the flag.”

In polls at the end of 2010 a majority of Brits said they either “didn’t care” about the wedding (31 percent) or were indifferent (28 percent).

A recent spate of articles and studies indicate that the wedding is likely to be a net loss for Britain due to the holiday and cost of services – rather than a gain.

Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec services in London said this week that for the “inflow of tourism and, arguably, a 'feel good’ factor as well, the Royal wedding will be good for the economy. But in terms of the effect on the headline GDP, it’s very likely to be negative.”

“I don’t want the day off – I have to earn a living don’t I?” says a taxi driver in London who did not give his name.

7 percent of Brits 'embarrassed' to buy souvenirsNor are wedding souvenirs or memorabilia being snatched up at anything like the rate in 1982 at the Charles and Diana wedding.

The Lancashire Evening Post this week quoted studies showing that 70 percent of Brits are “embarrassed to admit” that they either may or intend to buy a wedding souvenir since it is seen as “tacky” or a “waste of money.”

Ms. Birtles says that most younger Brits are not only are embarrassed to admit they may watch the wedding, but in fact a great number of Londoners are going to deliberately leave to take advantage of Friday-Monday holiday weekends in consecutive weeks of Easter, wedding, and bank holidays.

At Fortnum and Mason, a well-known specialty shop on Piccadilly Street, most of the royal wedding shortbread has sold out, says a sales manager who declined to be quoted because he was not authorized to speak with the media. He added that he would like to have had more time to prepare a special wedding line of goods but the engagement was only made public in November.

Along with “sweet William” soaps and royal wedding chocolates and porcelain there is a royal wedding rose petal jelly. A large section of royal wedding foods has been reduced to one aisle. The store today was mainly full of tourists from outside Britain. ( csmoitor.com )

READ MORE - What Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William could do for Britain

Bored with the Royal Wedding? No Way

Bored with the Royal Wedding? No Way - Recent polls in the U.S. and Britain tell us Americans and Brits are bored with the upcoming royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Fully 65 percent of Americans and 59 percent of Brits say they could not care less. The media have taken up the cause asking "who cares?" and proclaiming "enough already!"

To all the party poopers out there, may we kindly suggest, bugger off! That leaves approximately 108 million Americans and 25 million Brits who are interested, and we wish you wouldn't rain on our parade, thank you.

This is one of the most exciting real-world events to occur for true romantics since, well, Charles and Diana's wedding 30 years ago. True, that marriage didn't turn out too well, but who can forget the beauty and majesty of Diana entering the church in her exquisite gown with its 25-foot train, the huge crowds lining the streets in London, or the spectacular views of Westminster Abbey?

There really is nothing else like an English royal wedding in our modern world. Here in the United States, we don't buy into the idea of meritocracy in America, and we're proud to proclaim ourselves commoners. Perhaps we can no longer admit we are dreamers who believe in fairy tales in our oh, so cynical modern world.

This year, my sister and I have plans to travel to our parent's house and watch every single moment of the festivities from beginning to end. If we have to get up in the middle of night to do that, so be it. The whole family is excited to get together again, and we cannot wait.

The last time, 30 years ago, we all arose at 3 a.m. to watch Diana and Charles' wedding, and we definitely were not alone. Even if our neighbors had said they were not the least bit interested, we'd have known they were lying. How could we know? My father, my sister and I peeked through the curtains in the wee hours of the morning to find out.

We learned that fully 100 percent of the houses surrounding us had their lights turned on at that hour. Sure, they wouldn't admit it, but we will see how many turn on their lights in the morning April 29, and just like last time, we shall know the truth, the polls be damned. ( news.yahoo.com )

READ MORE - Bored with the Royal Wedding? No Way

The sketches of Hitler's official artist who erased his name from files in shame after WWII

The sketches of Hitler's official artist who erased his name from files in shame after WWII - Works by one of Adolf Hitler's official artists - who erased his own name from the records after the war - have finally been revealed by his family.

Austrian artist Roman Zenzinger's works portray German soldiers, but he was never a Nazi and was ashamed of his role in the regime.

After hostilities ended he locked up all his sketches, drawings and oil paintings and tried to remove all references of himself from the files.

Official artist: Roman Zenzinger depicted the lives of ordinary German soldiers stationed in northern Italy and Austria during WWII

Day to day: Zenzinger tried to capture the humdrum existence of soldiers who probably opposed the fighting as much as any Allied conscript

His works have since remained concealed by his family in Vienna; but now they are to sell some of them at a British auction house in a bid to restore their relative's reputation.

Richard Westwood-Brookes, from Shropshire-based Mullock's auction house, where the paintings are to be sold, said: 'In the latter stages of the war, with Germany lying in ruins, Zenzinger turned his personal hatred on the Nazis.'

'He showed in stark reality what the Nazis had achieved - millions dead, destroyed cities and decimated people.'

After the war ended Zenzinger continued to work as a commercial artist; no one ever knew about his wartime past apart from his immediate family.

He had been attached to a police unit based in northern Italy and Austria and had first-hand contact with the German soldiers he drew and painted.

Write caption here

But Zenzinger's work was not Nazi propaganda of the type he might have been expected to produce. He tried to obscure Nazi symbolism in his pictures, and give truthful accounts of the lives of the soldiers whose lives he chronicled.

'Rather than paint an idealised Aryan super race who were conquering the world under Hitler's evil doctrines, Zenzinger portrayed the ordinary soldiers,' said Mr Westwood-Brookes.

'He showed them going about their tasks under orders in much the same way as any soldier from allied nations - and probably hating the war just as much.'

Sixty-five years on, three of Zenzinger's pencil drawings are now on auction and are expected to sell for £3,000 each.

They show a soldier in the act of throwing a grenade, a soldier mending his motorcycle side-car and a soldier wearing all his army kit.

Mr Westwood-Brookes said: 'In the hope that his [Zenzinger's] achievements as a war artist will finally be recognised and the wartime record put straight, his surviving family have agreed to allow us to offer the first of what we hope will be many examples of his wartime art.'

He added: 'Zenzinger's pictures certainly stand as historical documents from a different perspective to those we are used to.

'This sale will provide a unique opportunity to obtain work by a hitherto unknown artist whose importance will doubtless grow as more information emerges about him. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - The sketches of Hitler's official artist who erased his name from files in shame after WWII

A property with character

A property with character: Hitler House tweet sparks Internet fad of matching buildings with celebrities - The foundations were laid by a simple tweet - and now the the fad of matching houses with their celebrities doppelgängers is growing at a frightening rate. Grab your hard hat and get involved!

Originally Charli Dickenson, 22, uploaded the picture of a house in Port Tennant, Swansea, on to his Twitter account because he thought it was the spitting image of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The picture, in which the sloping, angular roof and the thin brown door depict the famous fringe and moustache of the Führer, has become an Internet sensation.

Scroll down to see a video about the 'Hitler House'

Spot the different: The Hitler House (right) has a striking similarity to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. And after Charli Dickenson tweeted about the property in Port Tennant, house-a-like has become a popular craze

And now many more users of the popular microblogging site have come up with some other interesting candidates for house-a-likes - and they are not all flattering!

From politicians - both male and female - to sportsmen and famous actors: no one is safe now from being compared to an inanimate object.

Ironically estate agents, wanting to hoodwink prospective buyers, might say that a place has 'character'. Well these properties genuinely can be linked to a personality.

This house has a similar smile and eyes to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Harriet Harman, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, has been linked to this house

With most of the houses using round windows to depict the famous people's eyes, one is reminded of the bible phase 'the eyes are the windows to the soul'.

Well, if that were true, in this case most of these house-a-likes would have a pretty vacant spirit!

It is perhaps little coincidence that a number of politicians, then, have been compared to bricks and mortar.

With it's down facing bottom window this building has a remarkable similarity with ex-PM Gordon Brown

Former prime minister Tony Blair is known for his odd facial expressions - and here is a building to match

This bizarre house has a round window, and has been likened to the face of current PM David Cameron

Britain's reigning prime minister, David Cameron, is shown to be similar to what appears to be a science building.

With a peculiar chimney system and saucer-like eyes - as well as a small transparent door area - this building looks very similar to the Old Etonian.

And his predecessor, Labour's Gordon Brown's famous upturned smile is cleverly depicted in another house.

Being Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague needs to keep his mouth more closed than his house-a-like

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's teeth are not pretty - and that's mirrored in this building

Tony Blair, who ruled Britain between 1997 and 2007 before his chancellor Brown took over, was famed for his wide, wild-eyed enthusiasm, and he, too, does not escape the punishment.

Another member of the Labour party, Harriet Harman, has distinctive red hair and that is winked at in her house-a-like.

And the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is similarly mirrored. The former First Lady has a wide smile and the house that has been paired with her has a huge grin.

This unkempt, rugged house is the splitting image of famous British actor Brian Blessed

Here a futuristic property is lined up similarly to teenage mutant ninja turtle Leonardo

Away from politics there is a property with what look like chipped teeth offering a toothy smile, akin to former heavyweight world champions 'Iron' Mike Tyson's gappy grin.

And famous booming Shakespearian actor Brian Blessed, with his bushy, unkempt beard, has been brilliantly depicted by a house which has ivy mischievously creeping up the walls.

Finally a futuristic property has what looks like eye slits and a wide mouth, very much like a teenage mutant ninja turtle, such as Leonardo here. Cowabunga! ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - A property with character

A commentary on kids' caffeine consumption

Kids Are Getting Amped on Caffeine, Even at Age 5 - A commentary on kids' caffeine consumption

Most school-age children drink caffeinated drinks, and many of them are imbibing enough caffeine to give adults the jitters. And their sleep is suffering. That's the news from the Journal of Pediatrics, which surveyed parents on their children's caffeine habits.
Click here to find out more!

It turns out that 5- to 7-year-olds on average drink 52 milligrams of caffeine daily, or the caffeine equivalent of one Coke. That may not sound too bad, but the 228 parents in the new study admitted their 8- to 12-year-olds drink the caffeine equivalent of almost three Cokes daily. And the more caffeine the kids took in, the less they slept.

It's hard to imagine parents thinking double lattes are a good choice for kids, but the fact is that 75 percent of the 228 parents surveyed by the researchers, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, said their kids down caffeinated drinks daily. Soft drinks are the biggest culprit; they're also a bad choice for kids because they're high in sugar, with zero nutritional value. Schools don't always help on this. A recent study found that 14 percent of public elementary school students and 38 percent of private elementary school students can buy sugar-sweetened beverages at school. And kids often don't realize that Gatorade and other sports drinks are just soft drinks in disguise.

Here are three ways that parents can cut back on children's caffeine consumption, and increase their odds of a good night's sleep:

• Take soft drinks off the menu, at home and in restaurants. They're bad nutritional choices, and many contain caffeine.

• Beware of hidden caffeine. Many orange sodas have caffeine, but you'd never guess it from the taste. Indeed, not all caffeinated drinks are brown. One can of Mountain Dew has 55 mg of caffeine, which beats the amount in a can of Coke or Pepsi.

• Explain that energy drinks aren't the right kind of energy for kids. A 16-ounce Arizona Green Tea Energy has 200 mg of caffeine; that's four Cokes! Clearly this green tea is not a healthy choice.

The fact that so many high-caffeine drinks are also sugary makes them more attractive to children; think of it as training wheels for a caffeine addiction. That's not a lesson that grade-schoolers need to learn. ( usnews.com )

READ MORE - A commentary on kids' caffeine consumption

Five signs to know he's cheating

Five signs to know he's cheating - So you have been losing sleep over it but not sure how to find out if your guy is innocent or guilty?

Well, here's some help. We give you five visible signs to know if your partner is really cheating on you...

Five signs to know he's cheating! (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

When you have been having less sex

This could be a tell tale sign that your guy is indulging in bed romps outside. However, another reason could be his porn addiction. Sudden drop in libido definitely indicates a serious underlying issue. Deal with it before it's too late.


When he gets too protective about his mobile phone

Is he avoiding calls in your presence or quickly replying to messages when he's with you? Reason could be that he wants to give you quality time, but make sure there's nothing more to it. If he's not comfortable in taking calls in your presence or prefers to move away from your audible/hearing range to catch up on a call, means there is something that he is trying to hide.


When he talks about someone from the opposite sex

When you meet someone new, you have a rush of emotions. You want to talk about that person with everyone. For obvious reasons, he will avoid that with you. But does he suddenly bring up someone in a conversation and then try to skirt it with other discussion?


When his friends act weird

Well, most of the friends will stay loyal to him and ensure that you are not let in to this secret. No matter how annoying it might get for you, the signs of guilt will be evident enough on their face.


When he disappears too much

Today he's out for team dinner; tomorrow he is packing off to a destination. And is this all happening in a pattern that seems too odd? Listen to the warning signs in your head.

Time to take control! (.indiatimes.com )

READ MORE - Five signs to know he's cheating