TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017

Joined Munna Michael to overcome fear of dancing, says Nawazuddin

CAMPUS | 3 HEALTH | 9 BOLLYWOOD | 11DPS-MIS wins

CBSE Qatar Cluster Basketball Competition

Parent’s obesity may delay development

in kids

GETTING A

RIGHT JOBAs the New Year rolls around and people start to talk resolutions, it’s a timely moment to ask ourselves if we’re doing what we really want to be doing.

P | 4-5

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

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ael toancing,

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CAMPUSTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 03

QC acknowledges work of SIS Social Welfare Club

The Social Science Depart-ment of Shantiniketan Indian School (SIS), offi-cially launched its Social

Welfare Club in a function held in school. The Club is set up by the students of class IX to extend sup-port to the poor and the needy people of the world.

As a first step, the students col-lected used clothes and handed it over to Qatar Charity. During the function, the Principal, Dr Subhash Nair, handed out the collected material to Ali Ibrahim Al Ghareeb, Qatar Charity Branches Manager. The programme was also attended by K C Abdul Lateef, President of SIS and Habib, Director FCC.

Speaking on the Occasion, Al Ghareeb expressed his pleasure on the participation of SIS in so

many community outreach pro-grammes. He wished the students

should continue in this noble endeavour and keep alive the

spirit of charity to humanity around the world.

DPS-MIS wins CBSE Qatar Cluster Basketball Competition

The energetic basketball players of DPS-Modern Indian School once again proved their dominance,

bagging the overall Championship in the CBSE Qatar Cluster Basketball Compe-tition 2016 -17 held at Al Khor International School.

The competition in Under-19 group was conducted for both boys and girls.DPS-MIS Under –19 boys team exhib-ited their extraordinary grit and team-spirit that led them to be the indomitable champions. The team was cheered with thunderous applause on winning the title for the fifth consecu-tive year. DPS MIS Under – 19 girls’ team secured the runner up position. Princi-pal Asna Nafees lauded the participants for their amazing performance.

COVER STORY TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 201704

Stephanie Merry The Washington Post

Dan Nicholson tried to do the 9-to-5 thing. In 2007, armed with a physics degree from Purdue, he secured a

job as a laser engineer. He had a salary and health insurance, plus he was using his degree, which is more than almost every English major can say.

But every day he was going through the motions; checking off boxes; adhering to strict protocols.

“And I was just thinking: If I do this for 20 years, I will be able to talk to

.01 percent of the population about this useless thing I’m doing,” he said.

He couldn’t hide his disillusion-ment and lost his job.

But subconsciously, he had a backup plan: All day at the lab he fantasised about working on houses. And that’s how he became Handy-Dan - a guy who specializes in fixing anything that might go wrong with your home.

As the new year rolls around and people start to talk resolutions, it’s a timely moment to ask our-selves if we’re doing what we really want to be doing. Like HandyDan, many people have alter egos — if only in their imaginations — living

a more fulfilled life in some paral-lel universe.

These dream lives tend to fall under two umbrellas. Ask a random sample anywhere and you’ll find that many want to be closer to nature.

They want to settle somewhere in the Caribbean and manage a store or restaurant. Maybe rent

paddle boards to tourists. Or sit on a sailboat and just float around.

The second category of people want to create something tangible. The pharmaceutical researcher vis-iting from Columbus, Ohio, who hoped to turn his carpentry hobby into a full-time gig; a guy who does tech support but would rather be making movies; a legal fellow who

dreams of being a full-time writer. She can even imagine her office: a room of her own somewhere remote, probably Iowa.

Some people will tell you, with-out the briefest contemplation, that they’re living the dream. (Especially lawyers.) But for everyone else, what does it say that these dream lives are so at odds with reality?

The New Year is the time to ask:

Do I have the job I really want?

COVER STORYTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 05It turns out there’s an explana-

tion. Let’s start with nature. When we’re overtaxed mentally, an urge to surround ourselves with plants and oceans grows. In “The Myths of Happiness,” psychology profes-sor Sonja Lyubomirsky explains that sitting on a tree stump in the forest or reclining on the sand listening to the waves frees us up mentally to experience life through all our senses.

Flipping constantly between Facebook friend requests and Twit-ter notifications and the little email alert window isn’t natural. Just look at the 2014 Stanford University study that found multitasking to be both counterproductive and poten-tially damaging to our brains. Meanwhile, boredom has been shown to have positive effects. It leaves space for creative thinking.

Jenniffer Green, a life coach, says our hankering for the outdoors comes from the same place as our longing to be creative.

“Most of my clients have this overwhelming desire to create or be in nature,” she said. “And I think that that’s due to the fact that peo-ple are craving that connection with themselves.”

One of Green’s solutions is hav-ing her clients schedule “play time”: no-stakes activities that give peo-ple the chance to slow down and use their brains in ways that they haven’t in a while.

When the burdens of modern life weigh people down, a huge life change is tempting. Rather than making incremental adjustments, better to just quit your job, flush your cellphone and move to an island.

Or maybe there’s a way to find compromise.

Think of the nine-to-fivers whose crafty hobbies become another income stream, thanks to Etsy. Sometimes technology, though it hobbles us, also helps.

Telecommuting was the trick for government consultant Andrew MacDonald. The New Zealand native works for a company he loves, but something wasn’t right. Maybe it was Washington D.C.’s career-first attitude and the limit-less appetite for getting ahead.

“It can’t all be work,” he said. “I absolutely refuse to live my life

being defined only by my job.”So he made a deal with his boss.

Now he works in Washington for one week a month and does his job remotely from Austin the other three, which is more conducive to pursuing his musical interests.

To his friends in Texas, he’s not a consultant. He’s the guy playing banjo and guitar.

The recent craze for all things artisanal has been a siren song for office workers who want to leave cubicle life and work with their hands. That’s what Yael Krigman did in 2011 when she quit her job as an international trade lawyer to bake cake pops. (They’re exactly what they sound like: balls of cake covered in frosting served on a stick.) Five years later, Baked by Yael has graduated from a one-woman operation based in a synagogue to an airy, colourful brick-and-mortar shop across from the National Zoo in Washington.

In her past life, Krigman wanted nothing more than to become an associate. But when she finally reached that point, it wasn’t all she thought it would be. She was work-ing in abstractions, writing briefs for people she’d never even meet. Now she creates something tangi-ble (not to mention delicious), and she gets to see her customers’ delight firsthand. “When you’re a lawyer, no one’s really happy to see you,” she said. “Typically it’s because you’re in trouble or you might be in trouble or you want to avoid being in trouble. It’s not usu-ally a happy experience.”

For HandyDan, his current gig

as the one-man operation behind his company Savings del Sol plays to his strengths. Curious and ener-getic, the 32-year-old likes the fact that every day is different. He says it suits his ADHD.

“I’ve done things as simple as cutting a woman’s roast in half so she could cook it to redoing some-one’s basement,” he said.

He’s constantly problem-solv-ing for his Washington-area clients, figuring out how to create a more sustainable house (geothermal heating and cooling) or the best way to install a new staircase. Plus he gets a workout while he does it.

Not that it’s been easy. He’s had to tutor, rent out rooms in his house and work constantly to stay afloat.

Being self-employed may seem like a solution, but it isn’t easy. A lot of small businesses fail. Just like the 9-to-5 thing, it’s not for everyone.

Emily Robins left a high-stress,

good-paying office job to start Gold-ilocks Goodies, a gluten-free baked goods company. She baked in Penn-sylvania, and sold her products in D.C. shops and farmers’ markets. Her friends thought her life was all pink frosting and perfectly domed cupcakes, when in reality, it was physically demanding and “not glamorous by any means,” she said.

She used to sleep about three hours a night, and when she had a 30-minute gap in her schedule, she wondered whether to shower, nap or eat. She missed paid vacations. She missed sleep.

In April, she shut down produc-tion after 4 1/2 years.

There’s no one right path for everyone, and each one has its own risks. So, for those who aren’t liv-ing their dream lives, what’s the best next step? You might start by sitting on a beach. Just leave your phone at home.

Shafia Binte Awal

Nadira Islam Rafa

Imam Al Arian

Anas Ahmmed

Tahmina Newaz

Nusrat Jahan Nawrin

Jabid Siddiquee

Arafat Hossain

Tasnim Binte Azim

Raisa Sumaiya Fazal

Zarrif Intijer Rahman

Ayesha

Tisha Rani Ray

Sadia Alam

Mohammed Minhadul Islam

Duriya Alisha

Bangladesh MHM School & College excels in PEC exam

The result of Primary Education Completion (PEC) under the Pri-mary Education, Dhaka, Bangladesh, was pub-

lished on December 29. Bangladesh MHM School & Col-lege, Doha, has kept its remarkable position in this pub-lic exam.

A total of 16 students got GPA

5.00 out of 58 Primary Education Completion Examination-2016. The pass percentage of PEC exam is 100%.

Among the PEC examinees Arafat Hossain, Zarrif Intijer Rah-man, Mohammed Minhadul Islam, Anas Ahmmed, Imam Al Arian, Jabid Siddiquee, Tasnim Binte Azim, Duriya Alisha, Sadia Alam, Tisha Rani Ray, Nadira Islam Rafa,

Raisa Sumaiya Fazal, Tahmina Newaz, Nusrat Jahan Nawrin, Sha-fia Binte Awal, Ayesha were the toppers securing GPA-5.00 while 29 students got GPA-4.00 and above.

Principal Md. Jashim Uddin hailed the scholars who had bagged the highest score GPA 5.

In his short speech he thanked all the students for bringing a

great success and asked to keep up the spirit for future public exams.

He also expressed his grati-tude to Ambassador of Bangladesh Ashud Ahmed, who is the Chair-man of Governing Body, for his overall cooperation as well as teachers and guardians for their support and service to make a great success.

CAMPUS TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 201706

Ahsanur Rahman Noor

Fathia Maesha

Larisa Tajin

Nahin Kabir

Anindita Biswas

Hasnat Mustafa

Mahir Daiyan

Safin Mahmud

Md. Soib Bin Awal

Fatima Noor Bhuiyan

Md. Ikbal Hussain

Mariya Abu Bakar

Sazidur Rahman

Momtahin Nahiyan Taise

Fatema Tasneem

Jabor Bin Abdul Noor

Nafisa Nirjhor

Sakib Shahriar

Md. Tasnim Bin Akbar

MHM School & College students excel in JSC exam

The result of JSC (Junior Cer-tificate Examination)-2016 under the Board of Interme-

diate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, was published on Decem-ber 29 and Bangladesh MHM School & College has kept its remarkable position in this public exam. A total of 20 students got GPA 5.00 out of 78 in JSC Examination-2016.

CAMPUSTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 07

FOOD TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 201708

Infant cereals don’t have nutritional consistency everywhere

New York

IANS

Premixed complementary foods sold in lower-income countries lack consistency in their nutritional content, a

global analysis of infant cereals has revealed.

The findings suggest that there is a need for basic quality assur-ance services to improve nutritional consistency and healthy growth of infants from 6 to 24 months age.

Premixed infant cereals or complementary foods can be a vital source of the solid food needed for

healthy child growth after the age of six months, when infants out-grow the nutrients provided by breast milk alone.

This conclusion was reached after researchers from Tufts Uni-versity in the US analysed 108 commercially available premixed complementary foods from 22 low-and-middle-income countries.

The findings, published in the journal Maternal and Child Nutri-tion, said premixed complementary foods can be extremely effective at protecting infants against malnu-trition and stunted growth.

“In countries where we sampled, some products can readily meet

children’s needs, but others fall far below requirements for both macro and micro-nutrients,” said William Masters from Tufts University.

“Our results are a call to action for establishing and enforcing nutritional quality standards, which would help ensure access to lower-cost, higher-quality prod-ucts and enable parents to meet their infants’ needs more easily,” he added.

Researchers said that child-hood malnutrition was the main cause of stunted growth, that may lead to delayed mental develop-ment and poor school performance

— a serious and irreversible condi-tion that affects individuals with greater risk for illness and death throughout their lives.

According to Unicef, nearly half of all deaths in children under age five are related to undernutrition, which is particularly widespread in Africa and Asia. “A healthy child consuming breast milk alongside the average sampled complemen-tary food would experience zinc and iron deficiency from six to nine months, and dietary fat deficiency at 12 months,” the study said.

The study noted that nutritional content claims on packaging labels did not meet their reported caloric content.

“Slightly more than half of the products misreported protein, and two thirds misreported fat content. For zinc and iron, products exceeded labelled values about as often as they fell short,” the study further added.

Premixed infant cereals or complementary foods can be a vital source of the solid food needed for healthy child growth after the age of six months, when infants outgrow the nutrients provided by breast milk alone.

HEALTHTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 09

Why obese individuals lack

motivation to exercise?New York

IANS

Feeling too lazy to hit the gym or follow an exercise routine? Your altered dopamine receptors — critical for movement — may be the reason behind your lack of motivation rather

than excess body weight, a new study has sug-gested. The study challenged a common belief that obese animals do less physical activity, because carrying extra body weight is physically disabling.

“We know that physical activity is linked to overall good health, but not much is known about why people or animals with obesity are less active,” said Alexxai V Kravitz from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) — a part of the National Insti-tutes of Health in the US.

For the study, mice were fed either a stand-ard or a high-fat diet for 18 weeks. Beginning in the second week, the mice on the unhealthy diet had higher body weight. By the fourth week, these mice spent less time moving and got around much more slowly when they did move.

The results showed that the high-fat diet mice slowed down their activity, but they did it before they actually got fat instead of after, suggesting that the excess weight alone was not responsi-ble for the reduced movements. The reason the mice were inactive was due to dysfunction in their dopamine systems. They had deficits in the D2 dopamine receptors, the researchers said.

“There are probably other factors involved as well, but the deficit in D2 is sufficient to explain the lack of activity,” said Danielle Friend, postdoctoral student at NIDDK.

The study appeared in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Parent’s obesity may delay development in kidsNew York

IANS

Are your toddler’s fingers and hands movement slow? Is his/her ability to relate to

and interact with others as well as problem-solving skills delayed? Blame it on your obesity, research-ers say.

The findings showed that apart from health related issues, chil-dren of obese mothers were nearly 70 per cent more likely to fail tests of fine motor skill — the ability to control movement of small mus-cles, such as those in the fingers and hands — by age 3, when com-pared to children of normal-weight mothers.

Children with obese fathers were 75 per cent more likely to fail measures of social compe-tence — an indicator of how well they were able to relate to and interact with others by age 3. Those born to extremely obese

couples were nearly three times more likely to fail tests of prob-lem-solving ability by age three.

“Our study is one of the few

that also includes information about fathers, and our results sug-gest that dad’s weight also has significant influence on child

development,” said lead author, Edwina Yeung, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Insti-tute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in the US.

However, it is not yet known how parental obesity might increase children’s risk for devel-opmental delay.

Animal studies have indicated that obesity during pregnancy may promote inflammation, which could affect the foetal brain and could also affect the expression of genes in sperm.

If the link between parental obesity and developmental delays is confirmed, physicians may need to take parental weight into account when screening young children for delays and early inter-ventional services, the researchers said. For the study, appearing in the journal Pediatrics, the team examined more than 5,000 women in US, roughly four months after giving birth.

LIFESTYLE TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 201710

Leather jackets emphasise your personality and if chosen correctly, they are capable of refreshing your image. Don’t shy away

from experimenting with colours of your jacket but also avoid dressing in one colour from head to toe, says an expert. Harkirat Singh, Managing Director at Woodland Worldwide, has rolled out a few tips on styling your leather jacket:

* Dressing in just one colour from head to toe does not appear very flattering. Break the monotony by pairing blue jeans with a black leather jacket. A white T-shirt peek-ing out from beneath the shirt and a thick woollen scarf will ramp up the sophistication.

* To soften the look of the sturdy looking leather jackets, pair them with light coloured cotton shirts. Team them with a grey trouser and tan shoes for a smart formal look.

* Don’t shy away from

experimenting with colours of your jacket. As long as you get the right colour and cut, feel free to experi-ment with different masculine hues such as tan or grey. If you want to go for a brighter shade, make sure that you carry it confidently.

* For a weekend lunch with friends, wear a black leather biker jacket with a grey T-shirt and black jeans to look cool and casual.

* If your style preference is a lit-tle more on the preppy side, reach out for a plain jacket with leather sleeves. It will add an edge to your look. Add some slim blue jeans and fingerless gloves to complete the look.

* Try teaming a black leather jacket with distressed grey jeans for a polished yet off-duty look. Uplift this ensemble with brown leather brogues.

* To get a laid-back yet stylish look, reach out for a leather bomber with camel jeans.

Make your make-up kit multi-purposeIf you don’t wish to spend too much on an

exhaustive make-up kit, you can always go the multi-purpose way with limited

items to get a makeover, suggests an expert.Beauty expert Ishika Taneja, who is also

Executive Director of ALPS Group, has shared tips on managing make-up within a budget:

* Gel based kohl: You can create a smokey look with a smudged gel-based kohl on your eyes. Another benefit is that it can also be used as mascara to magnify the lashes to look long and thick. Define your eyes by using gel based kohl on water line as well as to line the lashes.

* Lipsticks: Your everyday brown lipsticks can double up as your bronzers and can help you do up your face in a jiffy.

A lip-gloss can be used to highlight your cheekbone. For this, take a pink and peach coloured lipstick on your fingers and tap it on your cheekbones. If you don’t have a

matching eye-shadow with the dress you want to wear, you not need worry -- choose a lip-stick by matching your outfits and skin tone, and then apply on your eyes as eye-shadow.

A lipstick can also be great substitute of vermilion (sindoor) and bindi as well.

* Eyeliner: An eyeliner is not only to define your eyes and make them attractive, but it can even be used as a good optional make-up product. Kohl has for long been believed to be protection of your beauty from evil eyes. It can be used as an eyeliner, and now as so many brands of pencils are available in the market, these too easily work for kohl and liner both.

Eyeliner can be a good substitute of mas-cara also. For this, you need to apply eyeliner on eye lashes from down to up direction as you use mascara. But you need to keep it in mind to curl your lashes with a eyelash curler before using eyeliner as mascara.

Wear your leather jacket stylishly

BOLLYWOODTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 11

Very fond of Katrina & Anushka, says Deepika PadukoneMumbai IANS

Actress Deepika Padu-kone says she is professionally and per-sonally very fond of Katrina Kaif and

Anushka Sharma.Recently, Anushka and Katrina

were asked on a chat show if they ever considered the “Piku” actress a “good friend”. They said “no”, but Deepika had later tweeted that she had “fun” watching the episode.

On Sunday, Deepika was asked by the media if there’s always competition between actresses rather than friendship.

The 30-year-old said: “I wouldn’t say it is a competition. But sometimes you have a certain

feeling for other people and they don’t necessarily feel the same way about you. But that’s okay.”

“I am extremely fond of Katrina and Anushka professionally and personally. I wish them all the best.”

As for the work front, Deepika is gearing up for the release of her first Hollywood venture “xXx: Return of Xander Cage”.

Talking about it, she said: “I want to be known as a good person and an actor. That is more important to me. But I feel very proud that I get to represent my country. I am very excited for this action franchise and also very sure that the content of the film will entertain all.”

“There is a lot of action and adventure in the film which we haven’t seen in Indian movies

before. I am very excited that we will be presenting the movie here,” she added.

Besides that, Deepika is currently shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical drama

“Padmavati” along with Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

For the New Year, she hopes for more family time.

“My resolution for the New Year is to spend maximum time with my family. I miss my family a lot.”

Joined Munna Michael to overcome

fear of dancing, says NawazuddinNew Delhi IANS

National Award winning actor Nawazuddin Sid-diqui says he took up a

role in “Munna Michael” — in which actor Tiger Shroff pays tribute to his dancing icon Michael Jackson — to over-come his fear of dancing.

Nawazuddin says he has never attempted to dance in front of the camera, despite being in the industry for over 15 years.

“I will be seen dancing in ‘Munna Michael’. I signed that film because I was scared of

dancing and wanted to over-come that fear. So, I took it as

a challenge. I have never danced on screen. In fact, I have never danced in my real life too... like in parties,” Nawazuddin said.

“I used to think how these actors can dance onscreen. But I wanted to overcome that fear, so I joined that film,” he added.

“Munna Michael”, which will be directed by Sabbir Khan, will also feature Ronit Roy and Nidhhi Agerwal.

Nawazuddin will next be seen in “Haraamkhor”, which has been directed by Shlok Sharma and is slated to release on January 13.

HOLLYWOOD TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 201712

Adam Minter Bloomberg

For movie moguls, it probably seemed like an irresistible idea: Pair a Hollywood star

with China’s most famous director, add a preposterous story about monsters attacking the most rec-ognisable Chinese landmark, and mix in $150m to make the magic happen. The result was “The Great Wall,” the most expensive Holly-wood-Chinese collaboration ever

— and a colossal cultural flop.Despite financial backing from

China’s largest cinema operator, possibly the biggest marketing cam-paign in the country’s history, and a plum holiday-weekend slot, “The Great Wall” was only the third-big-gest opening of the year, lagging a Chinese rom-com and a US video-game film. Its $67m weekend box office didn’t even top the $95m made last Christmas by “Mojin: The Lost Legend.” Reviews were terri-ble, social media scorn was widespread and prospects for future ticket sales are grim.

Not even Matt Damon, the film’s top star, could save the day. One online ticketing portal ranks actors

by the number of tickets their self-identified fans have bought, and Damon so far ranks sixth, selling just one-fifth the tickets that Lu Han, a supporting actor in the film, is credited with.

Yet even this obscures how big a disappointment “The Great Wall” is. Its producers, and those hoping to emulate them in future projects, had much bigger ambitions. They wanted the film to serve as a model for how cross-cultural collabora-tion could lead to box office glory in China, the world’s second-big-gest movie market.

As Wang Jianlin, whose com-pany owns one of the production studios behind “The Great Wall,” baldly put it: “More Chinese ele-ments means more profits.”

The problem with that approach is that audiences are apt to view

“Chinese elements” as tokenism and pandering. Increasingly, China’s moviegoers and news media have taken to mocking Hollywood’s over-the-top efforts to insert Chi-nese actors and products into films

— such as “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Independence Day: Resurgence” — for no other reason than to expand market share.

That’s partly why audiences haven’t been interested in what happens when Hollywood and China team up. In 2011, Zhang Yimou — director of “The Great Wall” — cast Christian Bale as the male lead in “The Flowers of War,” a turgid epic about the Nanjing Mas-sacre. Despite strong government support, the film barely broke even in China, completely flopped over-seas and hasn’t cracked China’s 50 top-grossing films, placing well behind several American superhero movies and Chinese comedies.

“The Great Wall” has suffered from some of the same criticism, with reviewers expressing irrita-tion at one scene featuring women beating on drums and another in which a traditional folk opera is clumsily recreated. One critic com-plained that the film’s “Chinese content comes down to lanterns, Chinese-style armour, the Great Wall and other common symbols.” Another said it shows that Zhang’s career “is dead,” a fairly sweeping verdict for one of China’s most revered artists.

The irony is that foreign block-busters still do fine in China. They accounted for 38 percent of its box

office in 2015, even though the gov-ernment allows only 34 non-Chinese films in its theatres each year.

Domestic productions have also done well lately, especially gang-ster films, historical epics and comedies tuned to local tastes. Chi-nese filmgoers, as discerning and sophisticated as any, are happy to watch good Chinese films or good American ones. What they don’t want to see are “Chinese elements” cynically grafted onto Western action-adventure films.

If Hollywood wants to partner with Chinese filmmakers, it should give up on awkward and patronis-ing co-productions. The better approach is to create an interna-tional studio in China to nurture young Chinese filmmakers and writers, and help them dream up films that will appeal to Chinese audiences. DreamWorks Anima-tion followed this approach when it set up Oriental DreamWorks with Chinese partners in 2012. The early results — including “Kung Fu Panda 3” — have been both stellar and profitable. That’s a durable recipe for making hits, in China and around the world.

Great Wall shows the limits of panderingto China

TECHNOLOGYTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 13

Hayley Tsukayama The Washington Post

Home hubs, or smart speakers that you can order around with voice commands, are expected to be a top

gift this season. But it can be a lit-tle hard getting used to having a disembodied voice in your house, and figuring out what to use it for. We’re here to help.

Focusing on Amazon’s Echo (or the smaller Echo Dot) and Google’s Home devices, we’ve put together a few basic tips to help you go beyond the setup menu and get the most from these gadgets:

— Location is everything. One of the first things you should figure out is where it’s best to place them. The ability to set timers makes them useful in the kitchen. Their function as speakers makes them good for the living room. Being able to set alarms makes them pretty handy on your nightstand. Think carefully about how you think you’ll use the home hub in your everyday life and place accordingly.

If, in a couple of days, you find

you aren’t using the gadget that much, consider moving it to another location where you might get more use from it. You may find it’s almost useless by your bed, but becomes incredibly useful once you move it to your kitchen - or vice versa. (Amazon makes the Echo and Echo Dot; Jeffrey P. Bezos is the chief executive of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post.)

—Think about links. While both the Echo and the Google Home are pretty cool on their own, the real magic happens when you start link-ing them to other devices. For example, you can yell out requests to the Home to turn on your tele-vision if you link it to Google’s Chromecast streaming device. You can link your Netflix account to Google Home now, as well as YouTube. Many other services including Uber and Domino’s Pizza also work with the Home.

The Echo can link with Uber, Domino’s Pizza and some music services. It also directly links with your Amazon account, making it possible to ask Echo to add things to your wish list for the site or even order some products. It doubles as a Bluetooth speaker if you want to

play your audio through the Echo, but it lacks the video controls that the Home has with Netflix and YouTube.

Both home hubs can link with smart lights and the Nest thermo-stat, as well as other smart home products. If you’ve taken the plunge into the smart home, these hubs can prove enormously convenient for turning “the lights off in the bed-room” or bringing your house’s temperature down for bedtime.

The bottom line is that if you want to get your money’s worth, then you should connect the smart speakers to an Amazon or Google account if you have one. But if you are worried about privacy - partic-ularly your voice history - there is a way to delete queries the home hubs have heard from your device. For Echo, the “Home” feed will dis-play everything you’ve asked Echo to do; to delete any individual request, tap on the “More” in the lower right-hand corner and hit

“Remove card.” On Home, go into your device’s settings and scroll down to “My Activity.” From there you will be able to delete requests by hitting the icon that looks like three dots in a vertical line at the

top of the screen.—Really dive into those apps.

After testing out your smart hub for some time, you may start to wonder,

“What am I really going to use this thing for?” It’s a good question. Once the novelty of asking your home hub what time it is wears off, you may wonder what it’s really capable of. So before you fall out of love, dive into the apps that link your home hub to your phone and dig around for the most useful applications. You may find that you really want daily news briefings, a summary of your schedule for the day or the option to play a round of

“Jeopardy!”On Google Home, head into the

settings menu for the hub and tap “More” to get a full list of the things your hub can do and the services with which it can connect. (One of my favorites is to get recipes emailed from the Food Network.) On the Echo’s Alexa app — named for the voice assistant — this list is tucked into the “Things to Try” category, which tells you more about the basic operation of your Echo, or head to the “Skills” section to get a long list of the things the Echo can do.

Did you just open a brand new home hub?

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Story of a wealthy grandmother who helps to change her daughter’s

older mother in law’s repressed behaviour by fulfilling her bucket list.

Later, they start an online group to fulfill wishes of elderly people.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

ORU MUTHASI GADHA

NOVO ROYAL PLAZA

ASIAN TOWN

MALL

LANDMARK

La La Land (2D/Romantic) 10:30am, 1:10, 1:15, 3:50, 6:30, 9:10, 11:30 & 11:55pmAssassin’s Creed (Action) 3D 10:30am, 3:00 & 7:30pm 2D 11:00am, 12:45, 4:15, 5:15, 9:15, 9:45pm & 12:00midnightSing (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00 & 5:00pmPassengers (2D/Drama) 7:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm Snow Queen 3: Fire And Ice (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pm Within (2D/Horror) 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnightMoana (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:15, 2:30 & 4:45pmFebruary (2D/Thriller) 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00pm Dangal (2D/Hindi) 11:30am, 5:15 & 11:00pm Allied (2D/Action) 2:45 & 8:30pm Collateral Beauty (2D/Drama) 11:30am, 3:30, 7:30 & 11:30pm The Monster (2D/Horror) 1:30, 5:30 & 9:30pmThe Last King (2D/Action) 11:00am, 3:10, 7:20 & 11:40pmOffice Christmas Party (2D/Comedy) 1:00, 5:10 & 9:30pmRogue One: A Star Wars Story (3D IMAX/Adventure) 10:15am, 1:00, 3:45, 6:30, 9:15pm & 12:00midnight

Oru Muthasi Gadha (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Dangal (2D/Hindi) 2:30, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm Snow Queen 3: Fire & Ice (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 6:15pm The Monster (2D/Horror) 3:00pm Moana (2D/Animation) 4:15pm La La Land (2D/Comedy) 5:15pm Assassin’g Creed (2D/Action) 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Vice & Kath & James (2D/Tagalog) 8:00pm Within (2D/Horror) 10:00pmFebruary (2D/Thriller) 11:30pm

Oru Muthasi Gadha (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Sing (Animation) 3:00pm Moana (2D/Animation) 2:30pm February (2D/Thriller) 4:30pm Snow Queen 3: Fire & Ice (2D/Animation) 4:30 & 6:15pm Assassin’g Creed (2D/Action) 5:15 & 9:30pm Vice & Kath & James (2D/Tagalog) 6:15pmLa La Land (2D/Comedy) 7:15pm Within (2D/Horror) 8:15 & 11:30pm Dangal (2D/Hindi) 8:00 & 11:00pm The Monster (2D/Horror) 10:00pmPassengers (2D/Adventure) 11:30pm

Oru Muthasi Gadha (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Moana (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Sing (Animation) 3:00pm Snow Queen 3: Fire & Ice (2D/Animation) 4:30 & 6:15pm February (2D/Thriller) 4:30pm Passengers (2D/Adventure) 5:00pm Dangal (2D/Hindi) 8:00 & 11:00pm La La Land(2D/Comedy) 7:00pm Vice & Kath & James (2D/Tagalog) 8:00pmWithin (2D/Horror) 6:15 & 10:00pm Assassin’s Creed (2D/Action) 9:15 & 11:30pm The Monster (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

Dangal (Hindi) 7:00 & 10:15pm Katapana (Malayalam) 8:30pmOru Muthasi Gadha (Malayalam) 6:30 & 9:30pm 10 Kalapanakal (Malayalam) 5:30, 8:00 & 10:30pm Oru Mukham (Malayalam) 6:00pm

TUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

ROXYSnow Queen 3: Fire & Ice (2D/Animation) 2:15, 4:15 & 6:15pm 10 Kalppanakal (Malayalam) 2:00 & 10:45pm La La Land (Romantic) 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm Dangal (Hindi) 8:15 & 11:45pm Oru Muthasi Gadha (Malayalam) 4:45 & 7:45pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 Counting the Cost09:00 Crusades: An

Arab Perspective10:00 News10:30 Inside Story11:30 The Stream12:30 Rebel Education 13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 World War One

Through Arab Eyes16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 The Stream18:00 newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Viewfinder Asia20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Al Jazeera World

09:45 Ultimate Wheels

11:00 Mountain Men

17:40 Hunting Hitler

18:30 Aussie Pickers

19:20 Ax Men 20:10 American

Pickers 21:00 Mountain

Men 22:40 Ozzy &

Jack’s World Detour

23:30 American Pickers

00:20 Time Team 01:10 Mountain Men 02:00 Ozzy &

Jack’s World Detour

02:50 Storage Wars

13:20 Bondi Vet13:50 Dr. Dee:

Alaska Vet14:45 Gator Boys15:40 Mutant

Planet16:35 Tanked17:30 Tigers

Attack18:25 Big Fish

Man19:20 Lone Star

Law20:15 Tanked21:10 Tigers

Attack22:05 Mutant

Planet23:00 Lone Star

Law23:55 Gator Boys00:50 Big Fish

Man02:10 Bondi Vet

13:05 How Do They Do It?

13:30 Storage Hunters UK

13:55 Liquidator14:20 Alaska: The

Last Frontier15:10 The Weapon

Hunter16:00 Deadliest

Catch19:20 The Weapon

Hunter20:10 Storage

Hunters UK21:00 Still Alive21:50 Kings Of

The Wild22:40 Venom

Hunters23:30 Fat N’

Furious: Rolling Thunder

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSTUESDAY 3 JANUARY 2017 15

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is

a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number only

once.

AIRBED, BACKPACK, BATTERIES,

BINOCULARS, CAMPFIRE,

CAN OPENER, CANVAS,

COMPASS, FIRELIGHTER,

FIRST AID KIT, FLASK, FOOD,

FUEL, GRIDDLE, GROUNDSHEET,

HIKING BOOTS, KINDLING,

LANTERN, MAPS, MOSQUITO

NET, PANS, PEDOMETER, POTS,

ROPE, STOVE, TENT, TINDER,

TOOLS, TORCH, WATER.