sOCIAL NETWORK IMPACT ON YOUTH

Online social media have gained astounding worldwide growth and popularity which has led to attracting attention from variety of researchers globally. Although with time all generations have come to embrace the changes social network has brought about, teenagers and young adults are the most fanatic users of these sites. According to various research studies in the field of online social networks, it has been revealed that these sites are impacting the lives of the youth greatly. When using these sites such as Twitter, Facebook or MySpace, there are both positive and negative effects on the youth.

POSITIVE IMPACTS

It is inevitable to ignore the fact that nowadays social network plays an essential role in teenagers’ lives. Most youths are spending at least an hour in these popular social media sites. Generally, 1 out of 7 minutes which are spent online by most of those who can access internet is spent on Facebook according to Shea Bennett. One may ask how spending all that time on the social media sites may have a positive impact on them. Well, social media helps the youth and any other user updated with what is happening around the world, help the teenagers stay connected and interact with each other even if they are many miles apart. This strengthens their relationship even if they finished school and moved to different locations they stay connected and update one another.

In addition, social media sites have provided a platform whereby the youth can create groups and pages based on their common discipline and end up building connections and opportunities for their respective careers by updating various topics to discuss. Youth who have been interviewed they say that social media has become their lifestyle and it makes their lives easier and efficient.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS

While on one hand social network sites seems to bring people together and connected on the other hand it creates social isolation in regard to BBC News report. As the youth tend to spend many hours on these sites, they rarely have face-to-face interaction. According various studies, scientists’ evaluation determined that social isolation can lead to a host of emotional, psychological, physical and mental problems which include anxiety, depression and somatic complaints among many others.

Other negative effects of social networking various people suggested included encouraging poor spelling and grammar, exposing underage to online predators, allowing spread of misinformation that is perceived as fact, decreasing productivity as those who are supposed to be working spend time in the sites to chat, provide a perfect platform for cyber bullying and providing details that increase risks of identity theft.

Social networking clearly portrays both positive and negative effects on the youth. It is decision of an individual to make whether to continue using the sites or not.

pasta

Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, with the first reference dating to 1154 in Sicily It is also commonly used to refer to the variety of pasta dishes. Typically, pasta is a noodle made from an unleavened dough of a durum wheat flour mixed with water and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked and served in any number of dishes. It can be made with flour from other cereals or grains, and eggs may be used instead of water. Pastas may be divided into two broad categories, dried (pasta secca) and fresh (pasta fresca). Chicken eggs frequently dominate as the source of the liquid component in fresh pasta

Most dried pasta is commercially produced via an extrusion process. Fresh pasta was traditionally produced by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple machines, but today many varieties of fresh pasta are also commercially produced by large-scale machines, and the products are widely available in supermarkets.

Both dried and fresh pasta come in a number of shapes and varieties, with 310 specific forms known variably by over 1300 names having been documented. In Italy the names of specific pasta shapes or types often vary with locale. For example the form cavatelli is known by 28 different names depending on region and town. Common forms of pasta include long shapes, short shapes, tubes, flat shapes and sheets, miniature soup shapes, filled or stuffed, and specialty or decorative shapes.

As a category in Italian cuisine, both fresh and dried pastas are classically used in one of three kinds of prepared dishes. As pasta asciutta (or pastasciutta) cooked pasta is plated and served with a complementary sauce or condiment. A second classification of pasta dishes is pasta in brodo in which the pasta is part of a soup-type dish. A third category is pasta al forno in which the pasta incorporated into a dish that is subsequently baked.

Pasta is generally a simple dish, but comes in large varieties because it is a versatile food item. Some pasta dishes are served as a first course in Italy because the portion sizes are small and simple. Pasta is also prepared in light lunches, such as salads or large portion sizes for dinner. It can be prepared by hand or food processor and served hot or cold. Pasta sauces vary in taste, color and texture. When choosing which type of pasta and sauce to serve together, there is a general rule that must be observed. Simple sauces like pesto are ideal for long and thin strands of pasta while tomato sauce combines well with thicker pastas. Thicker and chunkier sauces have the better ability to cling onto the holes and cuts of short, tubular, twisted pastas. The ratio of sauce to pasta varies according to taste and texture, however traditionally the sauce should not be excessive as the pasta itself must still be tasted. The extra sauce left on the plate after all of the pasta is eaten is often mopped up with a piece of bread.

Ingredients

Since the time of Cato, basic pasta dough has been made mostly of wheat flour or semolina, with durum wheat used predominantly in the South of Italy and soft wheat in the North. Regionally other grains have been used, including those from barley, buckwheat, rye, rice, and maize, as well as chestnut and chickpea flours. In modern times to meet the demands of both health conscious and sufferers the use of rice, maize and whole durum wheat has become commercially significant. Grain flours may also be supplemented with cooked potatoes.

Beyond hens' eggs and water, liquids have included duck eggs, milk or cream, olive or walnut oil, wine, ink from octopus, squid or cuttlefish, and even pigs' blood. Other additions to the basic flour-liquid mixture may include vegetables purees such as spinach or tomato, mushrooms, cheeses, herbs, spices and other seasonings. While pastas are, most typically, made from unleavened dough’s, the use of yeast-raised dough’s are also known for at least nine different pasta forms.

Production

Ingredients to make pasta dough include semolina flour, egg, salt and water. Flour is first mounded on a flat surface and then a well in the pile of flour is created. Egg is then poured into the well and a fork is used to mix the egg and flour. There are a variety of ways to shape the sheets of pasta depending on the type required. The most popular types include penne, spaghetti, and macaroni.

Kitchen pasta machines, also called pasta makers, are popular with cooks who make large amounts of fresh pasta. The cook feeds sheets of pasta dough into the machine by hand, and by turning a hand crank, extrudes the pasta through a machine 'comb' that shapes the pasta noodles as they are extruded.

Storage

The storage of pasta depends on how far along it is processed. Uncooked pasta is kept dry and can sit in the cupboard for a year if airtight and stored in a cool, dry area. Cooked pasta is stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of five days in an airtight container. Adding a couple teaspoons of oil helps keep the food from sticking to each other and the container. If the cooked pasta is not used in the five days it may be frozen for up to two or three months. The pasta will start to dry after a period of time, but it varies with the type of pasta. Should the pasta be dried completely, it can be placed back in the cupboard.

Factory-manufactured

The ingredients to make dried pasta usually include water, semolina flour, egg for colour and richness, vegetable juice (such as spinach, beet, tomato, carrot) for colour and taste, and herbs or spices for flavour; however, ingredients may vary. Semolina flour is piled in silos that will transfer the semolina through a pipe and into a mixing machine. Warm water is poured into the machine to mix with the semolina flour. The machine kneads it until the mixture becomes firm and dry. If pasta is to be flavoured, eggs, vegetable juices, and herbs are added to the mixture. The dough is then passed into the laminator to be flattened into sheets. It is then further compressed by the vacuum mixer-machine to clear out air bubbles and excess water from the dough until the moisture content is reduced to 12%. Next, the dough is processed in the steamer to kill any existing bacteria it may contain.

After steaming, the dough is ready to be cut. Depending on the type of pasta to be made, the dough can either be cut or extruded through dies. Then the pasta is set in a drying tank so that it can be dried under specific conditions of heat, moisture, and time depending on the type of pasta that is being dried. The final step is to package the pasta properly. Fresh pasta is sealed in a clear, airtight plastic container. During the sealing process air is sucked out of the container and replaced with carbon dioxide and nitrogen mixture. This slows microbial growth and prolongs its shelf life. Dried pastas are packaged differently from fresh pasta. It is placed in stainless steel buckets that are transferred to appropriate packaging stations to be portioned and sealed in plastic or cardboard packages. 

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation, generally known as Starbucks Coffee, is an American global coffee company and coffeehouse chainbased in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world ahead of UK rival Costa Coffee, with 21,160 stores in 63 countries and territories, including 12,067 in the United States, 1,570 in China, 1,451 in Canada, 1,070 inJapan and 793 in the United Kingdom. Starbucks locations serve hot and cold beverages, whole-bean coffee, microground instant coffee, full-leaf teas, pastries, and snacks. Most stores also sell pre-packaged food items, hot and cold sandwiches, and items such as mugs and tumblers. Starbucks Evenings locations also offer a variety of beers, wines, and appetizers after 4pm. Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also offered at grocery stores.

From Starbucks' founding in 1971 as a Seattle coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has expanded rapidly. Since 1987, Starbucks has opened on average two new stores every day. Starbucks had been profitable as a local company in Seattle in the early 1980s but lost money on its late 1980s expansion into the Midwest and British Columbia. Its fortunes did not reverse until the fiscal year of 1989-1990, when it registered a small profit of $812,000. By the time it expanded into California in 1991 it had become trendy. The first store outside the United States or Canada opened in Tokyo in 1996, and overseas stores now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. The company planned to open a net of 900 new stores outside of the United States in 2009, but has announced 300 store closures in the United States since 2008.

Founding

The first Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971, by three partners who met while they were students at theUniversity of San Francisco:English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment by coffee roasting entrepreneur Alfred Peet after he taught them his style of roasting beans. Originally the company was to be called Pequod, after a whaling ship from Moby-Dick, but this name was rejected by some of the co-founders. The company was instead named after the chief mate on the Pequod, Starbuck.

However, Bowker has a different recollection of how the company got its name. He recalls that the co-founders were desperately close to naming the company "Cargo House" until Heckler mentioned that he thought words that began with "st" were powerful ones. That led Bowker to make a list of "st" words, and somebody somehow saw the old mining town of Starbo in an old mining map.

The first Starbucks cafe was located at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971–1976. This cafe was later moved to 1912 Pike Place Market; never to be relocated again. During this time, the company only sold roasted whole coffee beans and did not yet brew coffee to sell The only brewed coffee served in the store were free samples. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers.

Products

In June 2009, the company announced that it would be overhauling its menu and selling salads and baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial ingredients.^[53] This move was expected to attract health- and cost-conscious consumers and will not affect prices.

Starbucks introduced a new line of instant coffee packets, called VIA "Ready Brew", in March 2009. It was first unveiled in New York City with subsequent testing of the product also in Seattle, Chicago and London. The first two VIA flavors include Italian Roast and Colombia, which were then rolled out in October 2009, across the U.S. and Canada with Starbucks stores promoting the product with a blind "taste challenge" of the instant versus fresh roast, in which many people could not tell the difference between the instant and fresh brewed coffee. Analysts^[who?] speculated that by introducing instant coffee, Starbucks would devalue its own brand.

Starbucks began selling beer and wine at some US stores in 2010. As of April 2012, it is available at seven locations and others have applied for licenses.

In 2011, Starbucks introduced its largest cup size, the Trenta, which can hold 31 ounces. In September 2012, Starbucks announced the Verismo, a consumer-grade single-serve coffee machine that uses sealed plastic cups of coffee grounds, and a "milk pod" for lattes.

On November 10, 2011, Starbucks Corporation announced that it had bought juice company Evolution Fresh for $30 million in cash and plans to start a chain of juice bars starting in around middle of 2012, venturing into territory staked out by Jamba Inc. Its first store released in San Bernardino, California and plans for a store in San Francisco will be launched in early 2013.

In 2012, Starbucks began selling a line of iced Starbucks Refresher beverages in its stores which contain an extract from green arabica coffee beans. The beverages are fruit flavored and contain caffeine but are known for great taste with "none of the coffee flavor". Starbucks' green coffee extraction process involves soaking the beans in water.

On June 25, 2013, Starbucks began to post calorie counts on menus for drinks and pastries in all of their U.S. stores.

In 2014, Starbucks began producing their own line of "handcrafted" sodas, dubbed "Fizzio".

Tea

Starbucks entered the tea business in 1999 when it acquired the Tazo brand for US$8.1 million. In late 2012, Starbucks paid US$620 million to buy Teavana. As of November 2012, there is no intention of marketing Starbucks' products in Teavana stores, though the acquisition will allow the expansion of Teavana beyond its current main footprint in shopping malls.

Coffee quality[

Kevin Knox, who was in charge of coffee quality at Starbucks from 1987 to 1993, recalled on his blog in 2010 how George Howell, coffee veteran and founder of the Cup of Excellence, had been appalled at the dark roasted beans that Starbucks was selling in 1990. Talking to the New York Times in 2008, Howell stated his opinion that the dark roast used by Starbucks does not deepen the flavor of coffee, but instead can destroy purported nuances of flavor. The March 2007 issue of Consumer Reports compared American fast-food chain coffees and ranked Starbucks behind McDonald's Premium Roast. The magazine called Starbucks coffee "strong, but burnt and bitter enough to make your eyes water instead of open".

Other products

In 2012, Starbucks introduced Starbucks Verismo, a line of coffee makers that brew espresso and regular coffee from coffee capsules, a type of pre-apportioned single-use container of ground coffee and flavorings utilizing the K-Fee pod system.^[67] In a brief review of the 580 model, Consumer Reports described the results of a comparative test of the Verismo 580 against two competitive brands: "Because you have to conduct a rinse cycle between each cup, the Verismo wasn't among the most convenient of single-serve machines in our coffeemaker tests. Other machines we've tested have more flexibility in adjusting brew strength—the Verismo has buttons for coffee, espresso, and latte with no strength variation for any type. And since Starbucks has limited its coffee selection to its own brand, there are only eight varieties so far plus a milk pod for the latte

Taj Mahal

India has many wonderful monuments of exquisite beauty and great artistic charm. Among these, the greatest and the most fascinating is the monument called Taj Mahal. It can be regarded as a love story written in marble. Rabindranath Tagore called it, “A Dream in Marble”. For many others, it is a “poem written in marble” and “symphony in stone”. Today, it is reckoned as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

This great monument built in pure white marble was erected by Shahjahan, the Mughal emperor in memory of his beloved queen Mumtaz Mahal. He had loved her deeply while she was alive and when she died he wanted to perpetuate his eternal love for her by erecting a spectacular tomb.

He took more than seventeen years to complete this splendid edifice in memory of his beloved wife. Therefore, this historical monument stands as a monument of love between Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

Taj Mahal stands on the banks of river Yamuna, in the city of Agra. The monument has an arched doorway which opens a panorama of awe-inspiring view of Taj Mahal. The entire monument has a fine layout each fitting to the overall majestic setup.

A beautiful footpath surrounded by a lawn with green tufts of grass and a line of sky-high cyprus trees on both sides lead to a raised rectangular shaped platform called the mausoleum. A series of enchanting water fountains in the middle of the paved footpath make the entry to the main mausoleum, a memorable experience of pomp and show.

The raised platform has four tall minarets or towers at its four corners. These four minarets stands like four sentinels guarding the precious enclosure. Within the enclosure lie the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan.

The tombs within are enclosed by sculptured walls of pure white marble, artistically painted and inlaid with precious stones. Couplets from the holy book of Quran, written on the sidewalls give a divine touch to the monument.

The whole structure shines like a dream in the backdrop of calm Yamuna. No wonder why thousands of people flock to this wonderful monument of eternal love carved on stone. It is the best legacy left behind by the Great Mughals who once ruled our land.

The Taj Mahal has been described as “a dream in marble, designed by fairies and finished by jewellers”. The closer one examines it, the more one realises its splendid charm.

The reflection of the whole structure in the still waters of the Yamuna, on a moonlit night is said to be an unforgettable sight unseen anywhere else in the world. Taj Mahal is a relic of India’s glorious past. Let us, therefore, preserve this noble monument of love in its original charm and splendour for our future generations.

Oprah Winfrey

“Oprah Winfrey” The Famous American media proprietor gained immense popularity owing to her talk show titled” The Oprah Winfrey Show” which made records of most rated T.V. program in the history. She has also been a great actress, philanthropist besides being an excellent producer. Her African-American identity accompanied by her billionaire status is why she outshines as an influential person.

Oprah Winfrey’s life was not a smooth track to begin with. Her childhood was full of hardships including being raped at an early age of nine. She was born in a poor family and it is even said that her mother was a single teenager who had not enough resources to provide her basic amenities like food and clothing. Her mother worked as a housemaid and her father was a barber, who previously worked as a coal miner.

Even though male relatives had molested Winfrey when she was nine, her family didn’t believe her. Her mother gave birth to 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy after Winfrey’s birth two of which died with severe illness. Winfrey was pregnant at the age of 14 after she had run away from home tired of the abuse. Poverty didn’t change for any good even after she started attending the London High School.

After moving to her father, Vernon, she joined the State University of Tennessee and began working at a radio station where she co-anchored an evening local news program. She had such a potential that a third grade Chicago talk show which she hosted became top rated in a very short period of time. Her other early achievements included winning a beauty pageant at the age of 17.The interest and focus of the tabloid talk show shifted from encouraging the LGBT people into the mainstream to promoting literature, spirituality and teaching self-improvement.

Oprah Winfrey considers her grandmother to have a key influence in encouraging her towards public speaking. Becoming the first youngest as well as first black female anchor at the local news channel showcased her excellent interviewing and vocal skills. Winfrey didn’t only make her mark as an influential person in the media industry but her announcement of the Oprah Winfrey Network in collaboration with the Discovery Communications was another significant achievement. OWN earned billions of revenue through the talk show hosted by Winfrey with American cyclist, Lance Armstrong who had admitted his use of performance improving substances openly on the show after all his seven titles had been taken back in 2012 due to doping and the show was aired.

Oprah was declared as the richest African American who was a billionaire for three decades by the Forbes Magazine. Even the Business Week magazine acclaimed her as the greatest philanthropist amongst the Blacks in year 2008.

Charity has been motivated towards doing charity and staying a devoted activist for child rights. She moved a proposal to the Congress which was enforced into a law by Clinton in 1994 in order to create a database of all child abusers in the nation. Oprah is a woman who has earned great respect and fame as a media giant in spite of hardships that she faced as a child and teenager.