Appliances are built to deliver hassle free performance. They work hard, year after year, usually without too many problems. They're easy to be taken for granted. Therefore when an appliance breaks down, we are completely at a loss -- we have absolutely no knowledge about its mechanisms, we have no idea why it stopped working, and we certainly don't know how to fix it.
Before informing a professional repair agency, we can always try to pull apart any appliance and repair it and further assemble it, only if we have a little working knowledge about the particular appliance.
Most appliances operate with the help of the electrical system: They use AC current from the circuit wiring of our house. Small appliances work on 110-120-volt circuits, and the plugs on their cords have two pins. Large or major appliances, such as air conditioners, dryers, and ranges, usually require 220-240-volt wiring and cannot be operated on 110-120-volt circuits. Large appliances are wired with a grounding wire; their plugs have two blades and a prong. This type of appliance must be plugged into a grounded outlet. All appliances are labeled -- either on a metal plate or on the appliance casing -- with their power requirements in watts and volts, and sometimes in amps.
Small appliances are usually simple machines and their working mechanism is simple. They may consist of a simple heating element, a fan, a set of blades, or rotating beaters attached to a drive shaft; or may have two or three simple mechanical linkages. Repairs to these appliances are comparatively simple. Large appliances are more complex - any major appliance, such as a washing machine, may have a motor, a timer, and a pump, as well as various valves, switches, and solenoids. With such a complex type of appliance, problems can occur in any part, either the control devices or the mechanical or power components. Failure of a control device may affect one operation or the functioning of the entire appliance; failure of a mechanical or power device usually affects only the functions that depend on that device. When a major appliance breaks down, the first step to fix the appliance is by trying to analyze the problem.
There are three basic rules that have to be followed during the repair of any appliance. Firstly the power should be turned off during any repair. If the parts of an appliance are held together with screws, bolts, plugs, and other take-apart fasteners, then repair can be done at home. But if the parts are held together by wields and rivets, they should not be repaired at home. It is wiser to call for a professional. The new parts to be fitted in should be from a good company and should have some sort of guarantee. It is advisable to go for a moderately expensive part than a cheaper one.
Appliance parts are available from appliance service centers, appliance-repair dealers, and appliance-parts stores.
In most of the cases, lack of power is the major cause of the failure of the appliance to work. Therefore certain tests to check whether the power supply is uninterrupted should be made. Check to make sure that the appliance is properly and firmly plugged in and that the cord, the plug, and the outlet are working properly. To determine whether an outlet is working, test it with a voltage tester. Check to make sure the fuses and circuit breakers that control the circuit have not blown or tripped. Then check to make sure fuses and breakers in the appliance itself are not blown or tripped. If the appliance uses gas or water, check to make sure it is receiving an adequate supply.
At times the owner’s manual can be a helpful guide to sort out a problem. So after performing the preliminary check-up of the appliance, a technician should be called for, to repair the mal-functioning appliance.
Politics in India
A Brief History:
India has been ruled by “foreigners” for over three thousand years, and the clashes and interactions between the rulers and the ruled, and the lessons each have learnt from the other, form the backdrop against which indigenous democracy in Modern India should be studied. Therefore, though a study of the history of politics in Modern India should technically begin with 15th August, 1947, when India overthrew British domination to take birth as an independent nation, the actual tendencies that persist in Indian politics even today can be traced back to the period of British rule and even further. Thus, to understand the politics of religion, one needs to understand the period of Muslim rule in India, and to appreciate the strange and ubiquitous caste-politics and the pressures it exerts on the Indian political system, one needs to go as far back as the Vedic ages, when the noble Aryans were ruling India from behind the fortress of the caste system.
Politics in India has been shaped by the following factors :
The British ruled India for a period of ninety years, from 1857 – 1947. During that time, they brought together the various warring Indian provinces under a strong and central rule. They introduced some processes through which the Indians could get themselves elected to local bodies, which gave the latter some practice in self-government. From the British, the Indians also inherited a civil service, which had the expertise and training to take over the administrative functions of the new-born nation.
Religion and politics are CLOSE ly inter-twined in India, and many historians locate the source of this relationship in the policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ introduced by the British in 1909. It was this policy that instigated the Partition of the country during the time of the Independence, and it is with a slightly altered version of this policy that the political parties still choose to sway the vote bank. The Congress has always tried to maintain a secular appearance; at the same time, it has also been castigated for pandering to the Muslims. The Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to mobilize the Hindus of the country with the slogan of Hindutva. Riots between the Hindus and the Muslims tear the country apart at regular intervals, and serve as a grim reminder of the nefarious connection between politics and religion.
Caste is another powerful weapon in the armory of the politicians. Caste is a hierarchical form of oppression, and since the Indian Constitution recognizes the stratification of the Indian society into castes, politicians have used it to mobilize various classes of people. Parties like the BSP and the RJD are the strongholds of particular castes. Unfortunately, after obtaining power, their leaders do everything they can to further their personal aims, and nothing to improve the lives of their people. Seat reservations and quotas for the people of socially backward classes and tribes have been adopted, but primarily for the purpose of political gains.
Key Government Institutions:
The framers of the Indian Constitution chose the form of constitutional democracy for themselves, in accordance with the British model of government. In the Indian model, there is the President/Prime Minister duo, the Parliament, and the Supreme Court, that between themselves carry out executive, legislative and judiciary functions of the state respectively. There are two distinct heads in the system, the President and the Prime Minister. The latter is the elected head of the government, while the former is selected by elected representatives of the people.
The President is the titular head of the state of India. In theory, the President enjoys considerable power; in practice, however, the council of elected ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, carries out executive, legislative, financial, judicial and emergency powers. The President is the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. She or he has the right to appoint the Prime Minister of the country, and the members of the Council of Ministers, the Governors of States, the judges of the Supreme and High Courts, etc. However, in all these cases, the President is bound by the constitution to follow the advice of the Prime Minister. The President of India is therefore only a formal and constitutional head and does not have any real power.
The real executive power lies with the Prime Minister who is the administrative head of the state. While the President is the nominal leader of the country, the Prime Minister of India is the leader of the government; the de facto person in power that runs the government. He or she is generally the leader of the majority party in the Lok Sabha, or Lower House of the Parliament. Every five years, national elections are held all over India to elect a party to the government. Usually a party puts up a prime ministerial candidate before the election. But this is not always so, and is not mandatory. For example, before the 2004 election, the Congress party implicitly focused on Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party and an Italian by birth, as the prime ministerial candidate. But post election, Manmohan Singh was made the Prime Minister, because it was perceived that the country was not ready for a foreign-born Prime Minister. The Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers, and, in that capacity, is in charge of supervising the work of all the ministers. It is mandatory to refer matters such as defense, judicial and diplomatic appointments, all policy and administrative issues to the Prime Minister for her or his consideration.
Election in India follows the British system of first-past-the-post or FPTP. In this system, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins. There is no necessity to reach a majority in this system. In India, the effect of this system is seen in the very small margin with which some Prime Ministers have been elected. The downside of this system is that smaller, regional parties tend to have undeserved power. For example, Trinamool and AIDMK, two regional parties from Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively, gained enormous power in the last election because Congress got elected by a small margin only through their support. The result is that these regional parties tend to uphold their own regional agendas over the greater good of the nation, and the resultant coalition government becomes a messy affair. Following Duverger’s law , however, such systems tend to turn into bipartite system in the long run, which removes this particular evil.
The Prime Minister enjoys many powers, but is always answerable to the Parliament. The Parliament is a legislative body composed of two houses, the Rajya Sabha or the upper house, comprising of 250 members, and the Lok Sabha or the lower house comprising of 543 members. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of the state legislatures. The members of the Lok Sabha, along with the Prime Minister, are elected by the direct vote of the people. The Lok Sabha is a more powerful body than the Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are answerable to and responsible to only the Lok Sabha. Money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha does not have the right to refuse its consent to a money bill. Similarly, the budget needs to be approved only in the Lok Sabha.
The Parliament is the supreme legislative body of India. Together, its two Houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, perform all kinds of legislative functions. They supervise and control the administrative functions of the country and they pass the budget. All bills, in order to become laws, have to be passed in both house of Parliament. The Parliament also has the power to suggest amendments to the Constitution. They are the body before which public grievances are aired and where issues of national and international importance are debated. The Parliament also has the power to impeach the President and other key government officials like the judges of the Supreme and the High Courts, the Election Commissioner, etc.
The Indian Constitution envisages a clear distinction of the legislative, the executive and the judicial powers of the state. The legislative powers are vested in the Parliament, the executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, while the judicial powers are vested in the Supreme Court and the high courts and the lower courts that are under its jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in India. The Constitution of India has stated that the Supreme Court is a federal court; it is a guardian of the Constitution; and it is the highest court of appeal. The Supreme Court enjoys original jurisdiction in any dispute between the federal and the state governments, or any two state governments. It also enjoys original jurisdiction when the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution are violated. The Supreme Court enjoys appellate jurisdiction in the sense that it takes up appeals against the judgments of the High Courts. The President may ask the Supreme Court for its recommendations on certain matters, and that allows the Supreme Court to exercise advisory jurisdiction.
The Nature of the Indian Political Culture :
The factors referred to in the introduction have combined to create a political culture that is unique to India.
The political culture of India is firstly marked by the ideals that the founders of India engraved in the Preamble to the Constitution of India. The Preamble seeks to establish India as a ‘sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic.’ The traditions of sovereignty and republic are guaranteed by the Constitution in the sense that they are givens; there is no need to strive towards them. However, the traditions of socialism, secularism and democracy are things that the people of the country have to work to attain and maintain.
When one refers to India as a socialist democracy, one means that
In order to uphold the socialist tradition, the Constitution of India earmarks certain provisions, known as the Directive Principles of State Policy. Some of the principles state that equal pay should be provided for equal work to men and women, children under the age of 14 should not be allowed to work in hazardous places, primary education should be compulsory for all, protection should be extended to historical monuments and the natural environment, etc. A few of these Directive Principles have been implemented, for example, the one providing free and compulsory education to all children under the age of 14, the one that ensure minimum wages to prevent the exploitation of workers, but most of them still lie in the sphere of visions.
There is no doubt about the fact that India is a functioning democracy. Elections are held at the national, state at local levels at regular intervals. To a large extent, they are free, fair and impartial. At the same time, there are a few ways in which the way the Indian electorate behaves that sets it apart from the rest of the world. In India it is the lower castes, the poor, the illiterate and the rural population that cast votes in larger numbers than their upper class, poor, literate, urban counterparts. This looks good on the outside, but the downside is that an illiterate electorate is easier to influence and to usurp, and political parties are not against taking advantage of this situation.
The attitude of the common Indians towards their political representatives is marked by growing suspicion. They are demanding greater accountability and a reformation of the electoral process. Thousands of NGOs and citizens's groups came together before the 2009 elections to vocalize the following demands:
Strangely enough, the Indian Constitution does not allow those awaiting trial to vote but does not bar people facing criminal charges from contesting in elections. This has allowed a situation whereby almost 50% of the Lok Sabha candidates have criminal records. The High Court has provided a positive outlook by ruling that candidates with criminal records and undergoing imprisonment cannot contest elections. The debate on this unsavory aspect of Indian politics seems destined to continue because of the mild or non-committal response from most political parties.
Patterns of Interaction:
Politics in India is undergoing changes in many other ways. The Congress is no longer the party of the majority. The country is now witnessing the sway of coalition politics. Most of the registered parties of the country (there are hundreds of political parties registered in India; of them, seven are registered as national parties, and approximately 43 of them have representatives in the Lok Sabha) have gathered under the banner of either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Communist Party of India, after breaking away from the Congress-coalition as a result of disagreement over the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal, is currently operating on its own.
There was a time in the early days of the Indian democracy when India was almost a single-party democracy, if that is not an oxymoron. The Congress party alone held sway, and except for a few regional parties, there was literally no opposition party in the system. That has changed in the last 25 years, with the rise of the Hindu nationalist BJP , and the emergence of the Communist Party as a more-than-regional player in the political milieu of India. From time to time and from election year to election year, other regional parties arise and become king-makers; the AIDMK, the RJD and other names come to mind. But these are basically regional parties; the three parties mentioned earlier are the only three parties that can rightly be called national parties.
Opposition works in peculiar oriental fashion, with modern avatars of erstwhile palace intrigues and factionalisms. Issues become paramount not by themselves, but because every issue can have distinct and conflicting sides. It is not solving an issue that is important, but to take sides that are different from the party in power and thereby proclaim ones existence. This peculiar defensive opposition mechanism may be traced back to the longterm sway of the Congress party, which made the other, smaller parties want to differentiate themselves from the behemoth and gain some recognition. This trend, one hopes, will discontinue when even smaller parties have proven to themselves and to the people that they too can win elections and form governments.
Citizen-speak: What do Indians argue about as a nation?
Public debate and intellectual pluralism are the hallmarks of Indian culture. The Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen has brilliantly showcased the Indian addiction to contention and disputes in his book The Argumentative Indian. In his analysis, democracy has flourished in India because debate and skepticism are an integral part of the Indian national temper .
Some of the hotly debated topics of the moment among Indians are the country’s relations with Pakistan; corruption in politics and the ascending role played by the sons and daughters of renowned politicians in Indian politics; the Indo-US nuclear deal; and the meltdown of the US economy and its effect on India.
The country’s relations with Pakistan have always been a source of angst for the ordinary Indian. The Himalayan state of Kashmir has been the bone of contention ever since Independence, and Indians accuse Pakistanis of sheltering and training terrorists to attack India. The Mumbai-terrorist attacks of November 2008 have further exacerbated matters. The rampage that began on November 26, 2008, lasted for three days, and led to the deaths of 173 persons. Today, Indians believe that Pakistan will never fulfill the promise it made at the SAARC summit of 2007 to dismantle the training camps for terrorists in its country. They feel that the Pakistanis have betrayed them again and again (infiltration by the Pakistan troops in 1965, skirmishes during the 1980s in the Siachen glacier, violation of the Line-Of-Control in 1999). Their angst has deepened to the extent that, today, most Indians would gladly approve of a military excursion into Pakistan.
With its large middle-class population, Indians must always keep a vigilant eye on the economy. The condition is particularly critical at this moment because of the meltdown of the US financial system. India has not been directly hit by the sub-prime crisis. However, Obama’s pronouncements on outsourcing has threatened to shake the financial security of an emerging upper-middle class, whose dreams of luxury are financed by the lucrative salaries they earn from MNCs that have either opened offices in India or have outsourced part of their operations to India. To make matters worse, inflation has soared to 11.4%, interest rates are rising and there are large government deficits. Economic growth is expected to slow to 7%. At the same time, the Indians are reluctant to allow their government to adopt the necessary measures like cutting subsidies. This is one topic of discussion that seems to lead the Indian nowhere because he or she cannot strike a balance between his or her needs and the needs of the country.
The overwhelming presence of the scions of the prominent political families of India in the Parliament is currently drawing the attention of the Indian public. The Gandhi-Nehru family is the begetter of this tradition: Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and his grandson Rajiv Gandhi have served as Prime Ministers to the country. Today many people forecast that Rajiv’s son Rahul is being groomed for the post of Prime Minister. Another Gandhi descendant serving in the Parliament is Varun Gandhi, son of Sanjay Gandhi and grandson of Indira Gandhi. He, however, belongs to the BJP, which is the Opposition party. Jyotiraditya Scindia is the third-generation of Scindias to participate in politics after his grandmother Vijayraje Scindia and his father, the late Madhavrao Scindia. Omar Abdullah’s family has dominated Kashmiri politics from the beginning: his grandfather played an important role in the accession of Kashmir to India and his father was the Chief Minister of Kashmir for a long period. Politics has therefore taken on the form of a family business. Many Indians are apprehensive that democracy itself is being adversely affected by this tendency to defer to family name, and the appurtenances of power and wealth. They fear that this system is crowding out the grassroots political workers who have only their individual qualities and their mettle to thrust them forward.
Conclusion:
India is one of the most important experiments in democracy, where a motley crowd of languages, regions, factions, religions, castes and colors have been brought under the rule of one single Constitution that itself is a heady mixture of constitutions and political ideologues from around the world. It is a wonder of democracy that something as diverse as an ancient and non-unified country like India can be effectively run under one law, one government, and one system.
References
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Travel : Macau Musings - The game is on!
Put together two great civilizations, skyscrapers, sun and sand. And top it off with loads and loads of money. What have you got? Macau. Yes, the inimitable Macau, also known as the Las Vegas of the Orient..
Macau Musings - The game is on!
Put together two great civilizations, skyscrapers, sun and sand. And top it off with loads and loads of money. What have you got? Macau. Yes, the inimitable Macau, also known as the Las Vegas of the Orient.
Simply put, Macau is a heady cocktail of glamour, glitz and moolah, flavored with dollops of Chinese and Portuguese culture. Wherever you go, you see skyscrapers, grand hotels, glitzy restaurants and glamorous casinos. In fact, Macau is defined by its casinos. Though the gambling industry started in the 60s, it didn't really take off until 2002, when the government ended the monopoly and several Las Vegas based casinos set up shop. And now, Macau is supposed to have surpassed even Las Vegas in terms of revenue generated. Oh yes, Macau is rich, and growing richer by the day!
The casinos of Macau are brands unto themselves. Take Sands Macau for instance, the largest casino in the world in term of game tables. The casino comes with 51 VIP suits, customized to give you the best in luxury. Rest your gambling weary nerves in the exotic spa or feast your senses on their entertainment assortment consisting of Glamour Girls, the Yes Group, Sands Angels or Philip; there's always a lot to do in Sands Macau.
The Wynn Macau, in contrast, is the first Las Vegas style integrated resort in Macau. It not only offers gaming, but also a deluxe hotel, restaurants, spa, designer shops and a choreographed performance lake! The atrium is a must-see, featuring a golden 'tree of prosperity'.
The Venetian Macau Resort Hotel is supposed to be Asia's largest casino. With 3,000 suits a 15,000 seats sports arena, it truly is a magnificent construction. With Venetian squares and indoor canals replete with gondola rides, it is perhaps the only place on Earth where Venice meets China!
Located directly opposite the Venetian Macau is the City of Dreams. Well, literally, it truly is the city of anyone's dreams, combining fantasy and art in an unforgettable manner. The second largest property in Macau comprises of a giant podium and four towers, namely the Hard Rock Hotel, Crown Towers, The Grand Hyatt Macau, and a 47 story luxury apartment block. The three story podium houses a mega casino, a shopping mall and hotel guest facilities in addition to two theatres, The Bubble and the upcoming Dragon Theatre.
Other casinos of repute include the Emperor Palace Casinos. Fans of Jackie Chan might be interested to know that their star has a minority stake in this casino located within the Grand Emperor Hotel. The Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino is currently the tallest casino in Macau. Its 38 floors present an incomparable view of the goings-on at Macau.
Basically, all the 30 casinos in operation offer a unique experience in gaming. No wonder, tourism is big in Macau, with visitors to Hong Kong frequenting the peninsula for a memorable break.
When gaming has made you hungry, head to the Gourmet Place. Your taste buds will definitely get excited by the vaireties of meals and buffets comprising of Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Sushi options. Local cooking is a blend of Portuguese and Cantonese cuisines. Try the MacanShilli Shrimps, Galinha a Portuguesa or the Portuguese styled egg tart. You will not be disappointed.
In all, Macau is guaranteed to be a memorable getaway. The inimitable mix of Chinese and portuguese cultures has given rise to an array of colourful festivals, cuisines and art. And of course, there are the delights of whimsical abandonment in gaming. Las Vegas can wait... it's time to head to Macau!
Interior Design : History of Area Rugs
Wool area rugs, and area rugs in general, have been with us since the dawn of human civilization. From the first reed and animal skin rugs used by Paleolithic men, to modern machine-loomed wool area rugs decorating multi-million dollar homes, area rugs have been prized possessions of many a household. In the days of Jesus, sheep was reared, their wool sheared and made into wool area rugs, one or two of which He probably might have used; 500 years earlier, it was not unusual for another such man, Buddha, to sit on a coarse woolen area rug and talk to his disciples. Both were eastern men, and oriental rugs were an important part of the life of the Orient.
Wool area rugs, and area rugs in general, have been with us since the dawn of human civilization. From the first reed and animal skin rugs used by Paleolithic men, to modern machine-loomed wool area rugs decorating multi-million dollar homes, area rugs have been prized possessions of many a household. In the days of Jesus, sheep was reared, their wool sheared and made into wool area rugs, one or two of which He probably might have used; 500 years earlier, it was not unusual for another such man, Buddha, to sit on a coarse woolen area rug and talk to his disciples. Both were eastern men, and oriental rugs were an important part of the life of the Orient.
The earliest area rug was discovered by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in a Russian archaeological exploration in 1949. Made of hand-woven wool, the Pazyryk area rug’s exquisite design, texture and its rich colors were remarkably well-preserved in the frozen Siberian burial site where it had laid hidden under the earth for 25 long centuries. This wool area rug is an exceptional example of Saka art, featuring a hand-knotting technique still used in modern times.
Another famous wool area rug from the ancient times is the legendary “Spring of Khosrau,” an enormous and richly decorated hand-knotted area rug belonging to the King of Persia. Made about 550 BC, this area rug was made of wool, silk, gold, silver and gemstones. It had beautiful springtime sceneries woven into its texture, and its “flowers in bloom”, birds, green meadows and other carpet art are wonders of Persian carpentry. No wonder the King spent many a long winter evening wandering along its four hundred thousand square feet area, and admiring the exquisite art of his carpeteers.
Carpetmaking is an ancient household tradition in Turkey as well. A group of eighteen carpets, called the Konya carpets, is the oldest surviving knotted pile area rug in the world. Woven in the 13th century, in the Anatolia peninsula, these wool area rugs were produced under the Seljuc dynasty and had calligraphy borders called kufi, as well as symmetrical geometrical designs repeated at the center field.
The Indus Valley civilization in modern day India and Pakistan shows signs of some of the earliest area rug manufacture. A wide variety of spindles and weaving material has been discovered in these ruins. Four thousand years later, the Mughal conquerors brought to this very same region the art of area rug-making, an art that was developed in India into the exquisite perfection that it has today.
Oriental area rugs first entered Europe with the returning Crusaders. But these were mainly used on walls and table tapestries, and were considered too precious to be actually used as area rugs. With the colonization of the Orient, a large importing of oriental area rugs began to take place.
The earliest known European-made area rugs began to be produced in Spain around the time of the Moorish invasion. A lot of these were wool area rugs. These had the distinct impact of the conquering Islamic civilization; they had the same floral motifs, geometrical patterns, delicacy of color and lack of any human figures as had the Persian and Turkish area rugs and other Oriental rugs.
From Spain, the art of rug-manufacturing spread to France. During the seventeenth century onwards, important battles fought by France were gloriously depicted on area rugs of that era. The art slowly spread to England and other areas of the Continent; in England, the earliest surviving rugs, called the Bayes rug, are to be found in the Cathedral of the city of that name. They have exquisite designs and depictions of battles against France.
Area Rugs in the West
The art of area rug making and the taste for wool area rugs spread across Europe with her contact with Islamic civilization. The earliest European rugs were made in Spain, and some of these pre-date the Muslim invasion. The Synagogue rug, a wool area rug dating from the 14th century, is the earliest extant example of this ancient style. The Armorial carpets, another well-known remnant of this style, has birds and flowers motifs and depictions of Spanish Christian families. This style gave way to the Renaissance style with its silk designs and wreath and pomegranate motifs as the land was re-conquered from the Moors.
Flying Carpet
In early seventeenth century, France began producing wool area rugs at Savonnerie in the style of Persian rugs. These were densely ornamented with flowers, and were characterized by architectural framing and mythological scenes. The most famous of these were a set of 105 carpets produced under the direction of Charles Le Brun for the palace at Louvre.
Area rug making came to England in late 16th century AD. The 14 extant specimens are called “Norwich carpets” after the town in Northern England where they were produced. These are adaptations of Oriental rug making, especially of the Indo-Persian art. In the coming centuries, the carpet manufacturers Exeter, Moorfields and Axminster became prominent in England. The heart of English area rug manufacture was at Kiddernminster in Worcestershire, where, to this day, a majority of the population is engaged in the industry.
1791 saw the beginning of area rug manufacturing in the United States with William Sprague’s first woven carpet mill in Philadelphia. Other such manufacturers sprung up in New England, and the Beattie Manufacturing Company in New Jersey of that era lasted until 1979.
The revolutionary power loom was invented by Erastus Bigelow in 1839. Area rug making doubled and then tripled in the next few years due to the impact of the power loom. Various enhancements and modifications began to be made, and new companies sprung up based on each such modification. Alexander Smith and sons, which was based on the Skinner powerloom, was founded in 1845 and grew to become the largest manufacturer of area rugs in the world by 1929.
At around the same time, in 1926, Marshall Fields, the well-known Chicago retailer, had a traditional Axminster loom modified to create an unprecedented area rug – a wool rug that was woven through the back like Oriental carpets and with the same sort of color variations as an Oriental. These area rugs were called Karastan rugs, and they are still widely manufactured and fawned upon by carpet-lovers.
Another development took place in Dalton, Northern Georgia, where a young woman named Catherine Evans Whitener invented a new method for weaving wool area rugs – this was called tufting and mainly used for making bedspreads. This became widely popular throughout the US and elsewhere, and Dalton became known as the Bedspread Capital of the World.
Meanwhile, wool area rugs also began to mature as an industry. Various new finishing processes were invented by manufacturers in a bid to give their area rugs a more antique, oriental quality. The creation of a faded, vintage patina, much like the grayed photographs of old days, began to gain a sophistication which made it hard to tell an ancient oriental area rug from a present-day rug manufactured by the likes of Karastan. Using chemical dyes, wool area rugs made in present day USA could be given the same texture and appearance that a fabulously ancient Persian rug using vegetable dye could have. The ancient industry seemed to have come full circle.
Appliances are built to deliver hassle free performance. They work hard, year after year, usually without too many problems. They're easy to be taken for granted. Therefore when an appliance breaks down, we are completely at a loss -- we have absolutely no knowledge about its mechanisms, we have no idea why it stopped working, and we certainly don't know how to fix it.