World’s Tallest Skyscraper?

Well the title is a bit premature… because it has not built yet… but said that it would be the World’s Tallest Skyscraper in the future.  Well, the source says it wont happen until 2020.  How tall ? It would be 1228 meters and 300 floors! Where will it be at? Shanghai, China, the eighth largest in the world, and also becoming the most important city by the twentieth century.

300 Floors? Man, that is scary! I have to admit that I have a great fear with heights when it comes to very high heights.  I still would go up there that high, but I will always have that fear and I am being very cautious. Sometimes, I get dizzy when I try to look down. I felt that when I was at Seattle Space Needle Tower, but with the rails, it helped me feel safe and able to enjoy the view. I love scenic views.  Oddly, I grew up in the mountains, I don’t feel fear when it comes to the top of the mountain. I guess I am used to the mountains, but not the skyscrapers. I am a mother nature’s boy!

The pic what it is going to look like below:

I tried to find the exact source where it says that Shanghai is planning, but I only found this through this link (that is how I know), where it talks about cool skyscrapers over the world here.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to find that exact source after a few hours of searching. I am out of luck. If you can find that source, I would like to read about it. Thanks. Of course, 2020 is ahead of the time.  I am sure Shanghai is working on planning that skyscraper now and then.

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Australia Day

In Australia, they celebrate the Australia Day, their official national day, on Jan 26th. I was curious what Australia Day is about. So I researched a bit. Ahh, I would say it is similiar to our official national day, Fourth of July, but, of course, we celebrate for different reasons. We were liberated from England while Austrialia had their first British settlement there.

Australia Day – 26 January, the anniversary of the beginning of British settlement. On that day in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip became Governor of the Colony of New South Wales. The Australian Natives’ Association promoted the use of patriotic symbols such as an Australian coat of arms, wattle blossom as a national emblem, and ‘Foundation Day’, first celebrated on 26 January in the centenary year of 1888. The colonies agreed to celebrate this annually as a national holiday, which eventually acquired the name of Australia Day.

I was stumbling upon photos on Internet and found an interesting photo. I was awed by this photo. It was taken on Australia Day, not sure what year, but you will see two different things at the same time! It is an amazing photo. All I say WOW. Click the photo here.

You can check more about Australia Day here. Also you can learn more about Australia Day on wikipedia here.

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Stop Mountaintop Removal

I saw those ads on Metro’s subway for some time… It is sad to see the Appalachian mountain destroyed…the ads are by stopmountaintopremoval.org. They remove mountantop to build new coal mines, new roads (like highways), and land for more projects and developments. The removal mining usually happens in West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and Eastern Tennessee.

The coal mine company did ask my dad if they would want to buy his land… Our backyard of the house is the mountain and beyond. But my dad did not sell to them. That land has been passing for two generations for more than 80 years. My great-grandparents lived that land, too. We have a very rich soil, that we used about 40 feet by 40 feet vegetable garden but now about 7 feet by 5 feet. That is my best estimation. It is not a big garden but it is enough to survive through the winter. With that garden (40 by 40), my parents cannot do the job alone. It takes a family to do the job. When I grow up, my brother and I helped them the job. We used to have a lot of corns and potatoes every year. We had 30 to 40 jars of green beans and pickles. We have some onions, cabbages, lettuces, carrots and different of beans. But now we probably have 40 to 60 corns, 10 to 20 jars of each. They still do them every summer and store during the winter.

Note: After a careful consideration, I realized that it is not 40 feet by 40 feet because most master bedrooms are usually between 12 to 20 feet long… and in that case, it doubles that size; I realize that is not that what we had. It is definitely more than 40 feet.  Honestly, I never am good at measurement. I thought it is best to ask my dad for accurate information. I will post when I find out.

I am glad that he did not sell it to them. The beautify of land and mountain of ours would probably end up ugly like this (maybe not big like this, but the coal mining company can do much damage):

I know that my uncle did sell his house and land to one company, so they can build a new highway to somewhere else. I am not sure where it is going. It is sad. I used to grow up that area when I was young. I never did not want to move … but my dad wants to be close to his parents and great grandparents. Oh well… I am not sure what is the update of the highway project. I will have to ask my dad about it.

I knew that Pikeville did the same thing to make a new highway and 390 acre of land for the expansion and development. It took 14 years to complete the project. It finished in 1987. It called Cut-Thru. That project is the hemisphere’s largest engineering and earth-moving achievements, second only to the Panama Canal. But it turned out not bad, not like the picture above. I mentioned that once on my blog here.

Back to mountaintop removal, I hope they will come to realize how much damage they have done to the families, neighborhoods, schools, and importantly the wildlife animals. It can create more threatening crisises, like landslides, floods, and poisoned water supplies. It has to stop because it hurts me so much. I feel for them. I grow up in the Appalachian mountains. I have a mountain soul in me.

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Cool Fire Station!

You know most Fire Stations usually have brick buildings with big garages. Typical, right? Boring.

Well, the Netherlands has outdoned it. There it goes an amazing Fire Station below. It is different and cool! I like it! I am very impressed. No more Traditional building! This one is in Houten, Netherlands.

To be honest with you, every time I see a design of things outside the US, I envy of them. I wish we had great designers like them here. I might have been blinded. I am sure we have great designers… but often, I see the designs has been done other countries… For example, in my recent entry on subway and spa… I dont see such beautiful designs here… Well I may speak too soon because I don’t travel well enough… but I have kept an open eye across Internet. I am a very heavy Internet user. I explore and surf on Internet every day. I don’t see greatness in design here here. Sure, there are very few great designs here, like Apple Store in New York. It is different and unique. But remember, Apple is filled with creativity. That is what they are good at.

via [thecoolhunter]

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Spa and Subway

I was surfing on the coolhunter.com today, and I absolutely love that site. It is filled with creativity and cool stuff, that we would never thought of. There are many wonderful designers out there really did amazing jobs! I found two today that really blew me away… I would love to visit those places…

1. Therma Spa

Forget the City Spa. Go to Switzerland and have a relaxing time there. I love the landscape and view. It is beautiful! Now I want to go to SWITZERALAND now! The link.

2. Cool Subway

Designers have worked on a few subway all over the world! Toyko. Los Angeles. London. Munich. Zurich. Moscow. Berlin. There are more. The designs are very amazing. I need to save money and go all over the world and sit in every beautifully designed subway and enjoy the superfragilisticexpialidocious place. The link.

Those photos are from the coolhunter.com.

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Update on Sidekick III

Remember I mentioned about Sidekick III a while ago… I said that the rumor was that the device would come out on June 26th, or was it 23rd – around at that time. Well, Engadget said that it will be launched on July 10th. Is it official?

I heard that Sidekick III may be sold at Cingular, too.

15 Top and Best Skylines in the World

It finds me relaxing to watch skylines from the top of the building. I think skylines are beautiful. It builts in different designs. Some are odd, some are cool, some are WOW…some that I would not ever thought of it…

I was stumbling upon one site that tells you which city have best skylines… A few cities really amaze me… Wow. One city surely looks like an outer space, but really it is on our land, Earth! Wow, I will let you view those skylines all over the world in a bit.

Can you guess which city is that?

Please allow me list 15 best and top skylines in the world…

1. Hong Kong, China
2. Chicago, USA
3. Shanghai, China
4. New York City, USA
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Singapore
7. Toronto, Canada
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
9. Shenzhen, China
10. Seoul, South Korea
11. Sao Paolo, Brazil
12. Sydney, Australia
13. Frankfurt, Germany
14. Dubai, United Arab Emirate
15. Seattle, USA

Wait, there are more… but they are Honorable Mentions…

16. Pittsburgh, USA
17. Guangzhou, China
18. Dallas, USA

Now you can go to that site and enjoy the view…

Hat tip to diserio.com

Eiffel Tower

I have been longed for the visit of Paris. I always want to go there. I want to see the Eiffel Tower. But I am very happy that I have already been to Paris’s Eiffel Tower. Tonight! Yeah, that is right. It is very beautiful. You can see from there, too. You know that? Feel free to go the full view on the top of Effel Tower any time. Have a great visit.

P.S. Of course, it is much better to view in person.

P.S.S. You need a Quicktime program.

Gone on Vacation!!

I will ge gone on vacation… I am going to Pittsboro, NC, that has a population of 2,226 whereas my hometown, Elkhorn City, has 1,026, to visit my brother. My parents will come to NC as well. We will have our early Christmas gathering. I won't be home for Christmas because of my dog, Cha Cha. My roommate will be out of town during the Holidays…

I may be blogging, or not. Just let you know it will be a slow week next week. I shall be back on Wedneday evening.

Have a great week!

P.S. This pic is a courthouse in Pittsboro, NC.

.::Hurricane Rita May Come Back to Galveston, TX::.

According to the hurricane history, the dealiest and worst hurricane happened right in Galveston, TX. The year is 1900. It killed between 8,000 to 12,000 people. The hurricane category was 4. However, it was the second dealiest hurricane in the history. The October 1780 hurricane is the dealiest one, killing about 20,000 and hit the area of Martinique, St. Eustatius, and Barbados. Today, it said that Rita Category 4 may hit Galveston, TX. We do not know what serious damages the Rita can do to the town. I believe Katrina was Category 4, and it did severely damage New Orleans. We will see what happens tonight or tomorrow. I hope the people of Galveston will be ok. I mean, I hope it will not kill more people like one in 1900 and Katrina.

Excerpt from http://www.livescience.com:
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The great storm

Early on the evening of Sept. 8, 1900, a powerful hurricane roared ashore, leaving somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 dead. It was a Category 4 storm with sustained winds over 130 mph.

Storm surges of 8 to 15 feet swamped the entire Galveston Island and inundated other parts of the nearby Texas coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Most of the deaths were due to the surge.

Half the homes on Galveston Island were swept away, according to NOAA, the hurricane center’s parent organization.
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It is said that the 1900 tracked-hurricane aparently is simliar to where the Rita Hurricane may go in next a few days … of course, back then, there were no satelites to see where the hurricane headed. If you look at the 1900 hurricane went and today’s Rita may lead …

The Fact: The hurricane has hit Texas 38 times since 1900. Of course, Florida has been hit more than Texas. It hit 64 times.

I found interesting that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) create 21 names per year. We have 26 letters. Well, an usual hurricane season has between 18 to 20. The letters are not used, such as: q, u, x, y and z. I am not sure why. The most numbered hurricanes had occurred in a year was 1933 with 21. Now, since the recent hurricane dubbed Rita as the 17th, which means we have four to go. The Hurricane season is not over until Nov (the hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30), I believe. What would happen if we are out of names?

I found out the next four names may happen in the near future, but allow me list all 2005 hurricanes that has happened this year:

Hurricane names which already happened since July:

1. Arlene
2. Bret
3. Cindy
4. Dennis
5. Emily
6. Franklin
7. Gert
8. Harvey
9. Irene
10. Jose
11. Katrina
12. Lee
13. Maria
14. Nate
15. Ophelia
16. Philippe
17. Rita

Future Hurricane names if any new hurricanes come in the near future:

18. Stan
19. Tammy
20. Vance
21. Wilma

I also learned that we cannot use Hugo and Andrew again. They are retired. They said that Katrina may be the next retired name. When a name is retired, The WMO chooses a new name to replace it.

You can see the link from Mary’s blog where hurricanes had hit since 1950.