This valuable tips for dog lovers from the Google Knol by Brian Webbe gives you top 10 dog training mistakes to avoid.

Here is the summary:

1. Expecting too much, too soon: Understand that your dog will need time to learn. So be patient.
2. Introducing corrections too soon: If the dog fails to perform the command, many dog owners will issue a correction. This harms the progress of the dog.
3. Giving up: Dog training takes time, patience, and consistency. No dog is “untrainable”.
4. Inconsistency: When training a dog to behave in the manner you want, you need to make him consistently behave like that.
5. Reinforcing bad behavior: Affection is a reward. Whatever your dog is doing at the moment you reward (or correct) your dog is what he will associate that with.
6. Failure to practice: Since patience and consistency are the hallmarks of a good training program, dog training quickly can become tedious and boring.
7. Correcting for good behavior :When you reward or correct a dog, he will associate the reward or correction with the act that immediately preceeded it.
8. The wrong state of mind: Since you’re their pack leader, they take their cues from you. If you’re anxious, so are they. If you’re excited, so are they. If you’re calm and confident, so are they.
9. Not enough exercise: Walk your dog daily. This provides exercise and helps to establish and maintain your position as pack leader.
10. Not establishing dominance as the pack leader: In order to connect with them on their level, we need to understand the mechanics of dominance in the pack.

You can learn more by visiting Brian’s knol.

I guess you understand that although seems easy, planning your weekly food menu for a ‘regular visit’ is challenging.

Fear not, a knol by Von Cook titled “Planning a Food Menu at Home” shows you exactly how to plan for your meal menu for a week – mainly to entertain guests – hassle-free.

Here’s the food menu planning, in short:

1. Get your pen and pencil – Write things off your mind
2. Analyze food science and trends
3. Be different
4. Head on to the Wet Market and be a Regular
5. Plan your menu ahead
6. Consider leftovers – Or make a dish out of it

For more detailed tips, please visit the excellent knol.

The character Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese game designer in 1981 for the game Donkey Kong.  After this game, in 1983, the game Mario Bros was released.  This game was the first game where the actual name of our hero, Mario, was used.  Moreover, a new character Luigi who was the brother of Mario was added to the game.  Mario Brothers did not became popular until 1985 when Nintendo released the game for its well known video console.

Super Mario Bros and Nintendo were a huge success.  Mario was an Italian plummer in the game and a resident of the Mushroom Kingdom.  Just like many computer games of that period, a princess was kidnapped by a bad guy and Mario was trying to save her to have a romantic relation with the princess:)

Super Mario Bros sold about 40 million copies.  Many copycats of the game was created.  Super Mario Bros still holds the Guinness World Record for the best selling video game of all times.

After this success,  followers of Super Maro Bros were released; Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988 and Super Mario Bros 3 in 1990.

After many versions of Marios releases, in 1996, Nintendo released the Super Mario 3-D on its Nintendo 64 video game console.  The game was the first platform game that supported 3-D and allowed for free roaming in large open environments.  The theme, however, was quite romantic and heroic aiming to save the captured princess.

Super Mario Bros was released for GameCube (Super Mario SunShine) and Wii (Super Mario Galaxy) , successful game consoles of Nintendo with greater details and technology.

This was a very short summary of the knol written by Kevin Spaulding.  Full knol can be read here.

A knol written by Bobbie7 lists the best articles about dogs on Google Knol.

The knol list articles in categories, helping readers to browse for articles painlessly. Some of the categories are: Adoption, allergies, behavior, breeds and breeding, caring for your dog, diseases and conditions, health, history, hunting dogs, how-to, and many more.

The knol is updated regularly and I think the author of this knol deserves a credit for putting up such a great resource. Please visit the knol for vast information on dogs, courtesy of Google Knol.

Unlike other recipe articles that come with the ingredients list and step-by-step how-to-cook, this knol explains the reason why should we make the pancakes from scratch, instead of buying them off-the-store-shelf. The main motivation Scott Jenson wrote this knol is to encourage people who can’t cook to try making pancakes.

Why? Because it’s easy to make the ultimate pancake.

The knol will help you from the preparation of equipments and ingredients to enjoying and being fun with the pancakes – Reading Scott’s knol is like reading a how-to-cook as an art!

The basic recipe

You need 2 bowls:

The wets

1.5 cups (350ml) buttermilk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons (50g) melted butter – use microwave
2 Teaspoons (10ml) Vanilla (add 1 more for kids!)

The drys

1 cup (125g) white flour
3 Tbsp (40g) sugar
1/2 tsp (3g) baking soda (make sure it’s not 3 years old…
1/2 tsp (2g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (4g) salt

Whisk each one lightly. Add roughly half of the dry mix into the wet and whisk smooth, not too long. Add the remainder of the dry mix and barely whisk together. Make sure all of the flour is mixed in.

If possible, let the batter rest for a few minutes to allow the baking soda and baking powder ‘work’ – this will make for airier pancakes.

Cooking the pancakes

Use non-stick pan (important.) Heavier is better as it spreads the heat, prevents burning, and browns the pancakes nicely. Heat the pan on the lowest setting on your stove top to avoid burning the pancakes. For an electric skillet, set it to 325°F.

Drop a 1/4 cup scoop of batter onto the pan. You might need to spread it around just a bit if the batter is extra thick.

The most important point is to cook the pancakes slowly. A good rule of thumb is 90-120 seconds per side. When you flip, you’ve got to do it quickly so it doesn’t splash across the pan.

I suggest you to visit Scott’s knol for a more detailed how-to-cook, including some tips and tricks.

Andros writes a very interesting knol (it’s still in under construction) that showcases the important ships in Star Trek, including some background stories to accompany them.

Here’s one example:

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D is one of the Galaxy Class – the largest and most complex Starfleet starship built to date as the result of an ambitious development program at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D is probably the most notable Galaxy class starship under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Very interesting, indeed. For more ships and the story behind them, I suggest you to visit the knol.

Images by Andros.

If you want to learn more on the basics of orchids and how to care for ones, please visit Marc Cohen’s knol, offering comprehensive guide to orchids for beginners.

Marc explained that orchids are of the largest, most diverse, and most ancient families of flowering plants on earth. There are approximately 25,000-30,000 species and 120,000 hybrids of orchids. Once available only to a select view due to their high value, technological advances, such as cloning, have significantly lowered orchids’ prices and made available worldwide – Either to enthusiasts and to budding entrepreneurs.

Here are some basics that can be found in the knol.

Where do orchids grow?

Orchids grow everywhere except in the driest and coldest place. Commonly, orchids originate in tropical rain forests, as most are native to tropical climate. There are some species that are grown in Europe and US with smaller and less colorful than their tropical counterparts – Thus, they are not commonly cultivated.

Orchids’ uses

Orchids are most commonly used as cut flowers, corsages and houseplants. As a business, orchids industry contributes millions of dollars annually. Some countries that have strong orchids industry presence are the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA (especially in Hawaii, California and Florida.)

As delicacies or food products, some orchids do have commercial value. Vanilla is one of the examples – The natural vanilla flavoring comes from vanilla beans, the cured seedpods of the tropical orchid. Another example: In Mediterranean, several species of orchids are used to make salep drink, pudding and even ice cream.

For more on orchids basics, please visit Marc’s orchids knol.

I guess you would’ve been trying hard to land those top MBA programs. Or, are you even giving up?

No worries, because I found a knol that might help you to get into a top MBA Program from top university with a low GPA.

William Hohman, the knol writer, explained in his knol that there are 4 secrets to simply do just that. Here are the excerpts:

1. Ace the GMAT – An above-average GMAT score will help make up for a low GPA on your application – especially on the quantitative section.
2. Build an Alternate Transcript – An alternative transcript is a series of classes (usually just 3 or 4) that you choose to take of your own accord.
3. Highlight Relevant Quantitative Work – On-the-job quantitative experience can be an important part of your GPA mitigation strategy, as long as you make the most of it.
4. Supplemental Essay – It may also help your case if you attach a brief, optional essay to your application, addressing why your GPA is not higher. Don’t be a whiner, though.

There you go – for more details, please visit the knol.

A knol written by a well-known What Digital Camera Magazine of UK offers ideas on how to save money and make your own camera accessories.

The tips – that are claimed to get you photography tips for less than $10 – are as follow:

1. Make your own soft-focus filter: Make your own by smearing a small amount of Vaseline onto an old skylight filter. Use a tiny blob to begin with and increase the amount to increase the softness.
2. Use free software: Try Adobe Photoshop Album SE 3.2, Corel MediaOne, Google Picasa, Kodak EasyShare, MAGIX Photo Manager 2007, Gimp, IrfanView, or Picturenaut 2.12.
3. Make your own reflector: Tape some foil to a piece of card, and your home studio has an instant reflector.
4. Make your own flash diffuser: Make your own flash diffuser with nothing more than a light tissue over the flash head.
5. Buy second-hand: You can save a packet by buying your next piece of kit second-hand. Whether on eBay, your local free ads paper or your local photo retailer, savings can be substantial.
6. Make your own beanbag: Stitch two small bits of cloth together and fill it with dried beans, lentils, polystyrene balls, marbles, pea shingle or whatever you can find. Seal it up (if you’re really good with a needle and thread, you can even put in a zip!) to produce your very own pocket beanbag.
7. Economic printing: If buying inkjet paper, try to make the most of it by printing only what you need and fitting what you can onto one sheet. Or, try print online.
8. Make your own string tripod: Simply cut a 2m length of string, tie one end to a tripod quick-release plate (and screw this into your tripod bush). Stand on the other end to make the string taut.
9. Buy discontinued stock: There’s nothing wrong with these older models. Sometimes the models that replace them have only minor enhancements, and if you’re prepared to forsake those you can make big savings.
10. Enter photo competitions: Enter your work into one of the plethora of online, or magazine, competitions (including What Digital Camera competitions, or if you’re feeling adventurous the Amateur Photographer of the Year competition ).
11. Rechargeable batteries: Why do some people still buy disposable AA batteries when rechargeables work out so much cheaper and are so much better for the environment?

To learn more on the valuable money saving tips, make sure you visit the knol, including the images to better explain the how-to.

Jess wrote a knol that list styles of dance today, along with the description and video of the dance style.

Jess list as follow:

1. classical ballet – a very popular form of dance, which involves quite rigorious training of the body. It originates in France, thus the French name for the style.
2. contemporary/modern – this is often described as very ‘interpretive’.
3. jazz ballet – often associated with popular culture songs or music and is slightly less rigorious that ballet, but non-the-less requires lots of energy and stamina.
4. lyrical jazz – is an appropriation of ballet and jazz ballet, and can carry influences from contemporary or modern styles of dance.
5. tap – involves creating rhythms and sound with metal taps attached to the bottom of a shoe.
6. hip hop/street/streetfunk – this group is often described as ‘urban’, and is influenced by many different cultures and histories.
7. JFH (jazz-funk-hip hop) – this is a fusion of jazz, funk and hip-hop, and is typically performed to RnB/Hip-Hop/Rap and pop music.
8. pop and lock – often associated with hip hop/street/street funk but involves very strong and controlled movements of the body. Isolation is vital in this genre.
9. breakdancing – this style requires lots of physical strength, particularly strength to hold your own weight and often keep your entire body up off the ground.

For the details on each of the dance styles, please visit Jess’ knol.