Info War

If you are one of those people who dreads having to make small talk to strangers or even being in a room with a few hundred people - then you are probably an introvert. Introverts make up 25% of the population, and you probably like to be alone, enjoy the quiet, while being around others can be quite tiring and is a least preferred activity.

Making small talk for you is probably as enjoyable as having teeth removed. However, you do not have much of a choice, unless you choose to live on a secluded island. Eventually, you will have to talk to people you do not know. So, here are a few ways to make it easier for you:

Most people you meet are probably extroverts and probably have something to say. So let them talk all they want. You probably have the special gift of listening - so go head, listen and nod your head. It is time you became skilful at your game, so let the extrovert do all the talking while you do all the listening.

One of the best ways to get about it is to find an extremely chatty extrovert and pose a rather vague question that could lead to a lot of talking or explaining. Once they start, let them keep talking.

If the person chatting to you is talking about personal matters, do not fret. You are not expected to share too much of your personal matters in return. Instead, just act pleasant, be polite and look interested. In most cases, the other person might not even notice that you have barely said two words.

It is also important to keep smiling. For one thing, you owe it to the hosts of the event. There is no need to be rude and unpleasant, no matter how much you want to mope around, be unapproachable and look glum.

Smoking fish is a fabulous method of preserving fish and ensuring it stays fresh for as long as possible. Ireland is well known for its smoked fish. Smoked salmon and mackerel are the top ’smoked fish’ buys in Ireland.

Smoked fish gives has exquisite taste and has been cooked this way for centuries. You can smoke salmon using two different methods: cold and hot smoking. If you are cold smoking salmon, then you have to cook it for about a day or so at low temperatures while hot smoking obviously involves high temperatures and less cooking time. Before you begin the smoking process, the salmon must be cured with salt for a considerable amount of time. This lets the salt work its magic on the salmon and kill any bacteria present while letting out moisture. Once the meat is cured, it must be washed before the smoking can begin.

Keep in mind that hot smoked fish cannot be cut thin, as this will cause it to fall apart and crumble. It will last longer than fresh fish, but should be cooked and consumed in a few days.

Smoking salmon cold is the best way to retain its moisture and cut it thin without having to worry about it crumbling. Smoked mackerel is generally vacuum-packed and sold whole. Smoked salmon is expensive and a delicacy due to its unique flavor. Smoked mackerel on the other hand is rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids as are most fish that are smoked.

Some of the best food in the world is in New York City (NYC). Packed with a wide range of cuisine, NYC has a number of restaurants that work around the clock. When you visit NYC, the temptation of its spread of food is irresistible. One of the ‘must-try’ items is one that has hit Manhattan with a bang: burgers. Almost every neighborhood in the city has a burger joint - and the options are huge.

Four places that you must visit when in New York City are listed below. They have some of the best burgers in town and you must sample them.
Shake Shack - An establishment located in Madison Square Park and known to have the best burgers in the city, this burger joint quickly rose to fame. The five-year old place also has branches on the Upper West Side and at Citi Field.

BLT Burger - This restaurant is part of the famed BLT upscale restaurant chain. Opened a few years ago, they are located on Sixth Avenue and Twelfth Street. The burgers are fabulous as are their French fries and milkshakes. A must try is the ‘fluffernutter’ milkshake.

Fresh ‘N Fast - This is one of the newer burger joints located on 23rd Street. The names of the burgers are of much interest while the look and feel of the place has made it very popular. The restaurant more or less imitates the style of In-N-Out Burger.

Black Shack Burger - Their Whopper burger is well known for its taste, which will leave you wanting more. It is located at 38th and Lexington.

Most people drink a lot of soda. This of course is not a healthy habit and must not be encouraged. However, the wide range of sodas in the market is worth trying. It is true that fruit juices are really the healthier option, but you will be amazed at the amount of flavored sodas available. The most popular ones tend to overshadow the others - with most of them being more or less unknown. Here are a few underrated sodas that must be sampled:

Virgil’s Root Beer - If you like root beer, then you should not miss this offering by Virgil. It is by far, one of the best root beers and has quite an impressive haul of awards to its name.

Virgil’s Black Cherry Vanilla Cream Soda - This is also a fantastic flavored soda and once you have tasted this, you might not be able to decide which one of Virgil’s products is better.

Boylan’s Sugar Cane Cola - Are you a fan of cola? Then this one must not be missed. Not only is it produced using pure cane sugar, it also tastes like a normal cola. The soda is produced entirely from natural ingredients making it taste better and healthier.

Steaz Green Tea Sodas - This green tea soda range comes in a variety of flavors. They include raspberry, orange, lemon, lime and root beer. Interestingly, this soda has a lot more health benefits than a traditional soda does. So go ahead and try it. You will love it!

Are you missing teeth because of an accident or damage to the roots of the teeth or gum line? If so, you might think that getting a healthy and natural smile back is impossible. However, there is a secret that dentists in Toronto have known for years to deal with the missing teeth of famous hockey players — dental implants.

Dental implants are small prosthetics that are attached to the bone of the upper or lower jaw. They provide the foundation for a repaired smile by creating anchor points for prosthetic teeth along with replacements for damaged or missing root portions of teeth. Like porcelain veneers, dental implants are designed to be long-term fixes instead of temporary solutions — this is a permanent way to regain lost teeth and add confidence to a person’s smile.

If you are missing teeth and are interested in doing something about it, contact a cosmetic dentist for a consultation and see if dental implants are the right choice for you.

Bacteria in the oral cavity are one of the main causes for bad breath. Attributed to Hydrogen Sulfide, likened to the stink of rotten eggs, is one of the main volatile Sulfur compounds also referred to as VSCs. The technical jargon, however, is unimportant. Curing bad breath is not as complicated as you think it is…try the following three foods - it might just solve your embarrassing problem:

Herbs - Parsley is a great way to countering bad breath. The high level of chlorophyll contained in parsley will do the trick. Simply chew on a bit of parsley and your breath will smell better and fresher. If you take the time to read the fine print, you will notice that most breath fresheners include parsley in their ingredients. Another herb that helps eliminate bad breath is mint leaves, also a big ingredient used with the production of breath-fresheners. You could also try peppermint oil, fennel seeds, cloves, rosemary, thyme and even sage.

Lemon - Suck on a small slice of lemon to get rid of bad breath. You might need to repeat if necessary, or even dilute some lemon juice in water and rinse your mouth with it. However, this must be used with care as lemon contains sugar, which of course promotes the growth of bacteria. Therefore, resort to this solution only once or twice a month.
Yoghurt - Try eating plain, sugarless yoghurt for around six weeks. It will lessen bacteria in your mouth by as much as 80%. Buy yoghurts that contain live cultures of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermopholis and eat it every day. Make sure that the yoghurts you eat do not contain sugar.

The best way to ring in the New Year is with a flute of bubbling champagne. Call it what you will - prosecco, Asti or champagne - the sparkly, bubbly beverage is raised to celebrate the New Year.

Champagne is also an area in France known for producing the best sparkling wine. The Treaty of Madrid calls for labelling any bottle of sparkling wine ‘champagne’ an outright taboo, unless produced from that very region.

High-end champagnes such as Dom Perignon only use grapes harvested from a single year, whereas the norm in preparing champagne can be either from an amalgamation of grapes gathered from several vintages or from crops during a specific year.

Bubbly Terms 101

Prestige cuvee: A proprietary blended wine, which is the best of a producer’s range of champagne.

Blanc de noirs: It is, essentially, a white wine. The champagne uses black grapes entirely in its preparation.

Blanc de Blancs: This type of champagne uses Chardonnay grapes in its preparation.

Rose champagne: Pink champagne is another name for this type of champagne, and gets its distinct flavour from soaking the skins of black grapes in the wine and/or blending it with tiny amounts of red wine.

The cost factor is the main motivation for people to celebrate only special occasions such as the New Year, with Champagne. If you are not familiar with sparkling wines, choosing the right one can be a daunting task. The choices are endless and most people, unfamiliar with the basics, end up choosing one only because of the attractively packaged bottle.

Making Champagne

The production process is no different to any other type of wine. Prior to preliminary fermentation, it is important to press the grapes, after which the acidic yield is then blended and bottled along with yeast and sugar which creates bubbles via carbonation. This creates a secondary fermentation inside the bottle.

Developed by Patek Phillips in 1868, the wrist watch has certainly had its round of developments over the years. From the cheapest plastic wrist watch to the most expensive designer watches - the progress technologically has been phenomenal.

After Phillips made the first watch, 1888, Louis Cartier made the first ladies wrist watch encrusted in diamonds. It also had a gold bracelet. The watch, a Santos-Dumont became fabulously popular and in 1911 was available to the mass market.

Early styles of wrist watches were commonly round shaped. With time, the shape and style of watches began to change, with Movado launching the ‘Polypan’ shaped watched. The watch introduced by Phillips was commonly known as ‘clock reference n. 1593′ in the market. 1913 saw more watches than ever being sold while the sizes and shapes of the watches being manufactured and sold differed.
The growing popularity of wrist watches led to more manufacturers jumping onto the bandwagon - leading to more changes in wrist watch design. Watches by Constantin, Patek Phillips and Cartier were the most sought after at the time.

1912 saw Movado producing the first army wrist watch, complete with a strong, protective grid over the glass to make it more durable, Eterna unveiled the first alarm watch in 1914.

Along came Rolex in 1920 leaving all the other watch companies in its dust. Revolutionizing the wrist watch industry, Role introduced ‘Rolex Prince’ which contained a ‘dual time’ feature, which was then followed by ‘Rolex Oyster’, the company’s first water resistant wrist watch.

Other milestones in the industry include:
‘Reverse’ by Jaegar Le Coultre; could be turned a 180 degrees within its case
1923 - Invention of the first automatic wrist watch by John Hardwood
1953 - Manufacture of the first battery powered watch by Lips.
1957 - Production of first electric watch by Hamilton

When shopping for sunglasses, deciding what you like does take a while. But remember, it does not simply boil down to just that. It is important that you buy one that suits the shape of your face. Here are a few guidelines:

Oval face - practically all styles suit an oval face. Go ahead and experiment with the latest in fashion. What looks ultra good? Square shaped frames with slightly rounded edges.

Round face - choose sunglasses that make your face look longer and thinner. Try on frames that are slightly wider than the broadest part of your face or even equal in width. Not only will they minimize curves, but choose frames with higher temples to make your face look longer. Opt for frames with angular or rectangular styles.

Diamond shape - this means you have high cheekbones, a narrow forehead and chin - for which oval sunglasses are perfect. You could also try on gently curved square sunglasses that might also do the trick. The sunglasses you settle for must not be wider than your cheekbones.

Square face - choose sunglasses with curvy contours to even out the angles on your face. Cat-eye styles and even oval shapes will work with a square shaped face.

Oblong face - go for frames with round or square shapes - either would look really good on an oblong face. Try out temples that are decorative or even those that bear a contrasting colour.

Triangle shape - with a narrow jaw line and a wide forehead you would need to soften out the lower part of your face. Cat-eyes should do the trick or even frames will rimless bottoms and metal frames.

Always dry clean or hand wash any cashmere fabric based clothing. Not only does hand washing make the cashmere softer, but it also makes its warmth better. You might opt out of giving your precious cashmere to the laundry for washing - and yes, you wash it by yourself. However, you must know how. Cashmere is a very delicate, fragile fabric, and you must not use too much force when washing as that might damage the fibres. Do not leave it in the sun to dry, as this will make it go out of shape.

Before you wash your cashmere, check the label and read the instructions to ensure hand washing is safe. You can wash it if it is a knitted fabric. However, woven cashmeres should never be hand washed, but should be dry-cleaned instead. Remember: do not use just any detergent when washing your cashmere. Make sure it is especially for cashmere or any such delicate fabric, otherwise you risk ruining the fabric.

Method:

Add detergent to lukewarm water and mix.

Roll out the cashmere and place on a dry towel and air dry.
Do not dry in direct sunlight.