Photography

Flying Mega -Yacht …. Nicest Plane Ever !!!

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(Photo: Greenpoint)(Photo: Greenpoint)

TSA guards with cold hands who insist on patting you down. Babies who spend the entire flight screaming in a piercing five-octave range. Flight delays so long you actually could have saved time walking.

All of those indignities we would happily bear, if only we could take all of our flights on this plane.

A ridiculously tricked-out Boeing 747-8, whose interior was refurbished by Washington-based Greenpoint Technologies, has just been delivered to an unidentified private owner. According to the Robb Report, it’s the first Boeing 747-8 (which is Boeing’s largest passenger jet) to receive Greenpoint’s VIP treatment.  And it is stunningly luxurious.

 

While Greenpoint hasn’t released many details about what Luxury Launches calls a “flying mega-yacht,” its website is full of digital art that give a hint as to what you’ll find aboard. It includes:

A conference room from which you and your enforcers can plot world domination:

(Photo: Greenpoint)(Photo: Greenpoint)

A luxurious office from which you can call everyone you’ve ever known and brag about your new plane:

(Photo: Greenpoint)(Photo: Greenpoint)

A master bedroom so large that allows you to scoff at the lie-flat first class seats in which “the paupers” are forced to recline:

(Photo: Greenpoint)(Photo: Greenpoint)

A pair of airy and spacious lounge areas in which to sit down with a drink and contemplate how awesome your life is that you can fly on a plane like this:

(Photo: Greenpoint)(Photo: Greenpoint)

How much does a flying palace like this cost? No one’s saying. But the Boeing 747-8, the world’s largest passenger jet, goes for about $350 million and the price tag for this VIP customization has been ball-parked at an additional $250 million

But if you have the means, this is just the plane to make you love flying again — where the worst part of the flight would be having to land.

SOURCE:::::  www.in.news.yahoo.com

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How an 11 Year old Girl got to Name the Planet Pluto … !!!

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An 11-year-old British girl is responsible naming the planet Pluto, the once ninth planet of our solar system, after her grandfather read about the dwarf planet’s discovery at the family breakfast table.

pluto

The girl, Venetia Burney, recalled the event in an interview with NASA in 2006,

Venetia_Burney

“I think it was on March the 14th, 1930 and I was having breakfast with my mother and my grandfather. And my grandfather read out at breakfast the great news and said he wondered what it would be called. And for some reason, I after a short pause, said, “Why not call it Pluto?” I did know, I was fairly familiar with Greek and Roman legends from various children’s books that I had read, and of course I did know about the solar system and the names the other planets have. And so I suppose I just thought that this was a name that hadn’t’t been used. And there it was. The rest was entirely my grandfather’s work.”

Burney’s grandfather, Falconer Madan, the ex-head librarian at the Bodleian at Oxford, was so pleased by his granddaughter’s proposed name that he suggested it to Herbert Hall Turner, a retired astronomer who held the title of Astronomer Royal.

Turner immediately wired the idea to American astronomers at Lowell Observatory. The planet was officially named a in May 1930.

 

Despite many rumors that Burney named the planet Pluto after the Greek god of the underworld or that the first two letter “PL” are in honor of Percival Lowell, the founder of Lowell Observatory, Burney seems to have named the planet Pluto because it sounded good to her. “I just thought it was a name that hadn’t been used so far, and might be an obvious one to have,” Burney told NASA.

There was also a rumor that the planet was named after Pluto the dog because both, the cartoon and the planet, came out in 1930. However, Pluto the dog was originally named Rover in 1930. It wasn’t until 1931 that the beloved cartoon dog took the name Pluto, meaning that the dog took the name of the planet.
This article originally appeared at Modern Notion. Copyright 2015. Follow Modern Notion on Twitter
Read more: http://modernnotion.com/little-girl-named-pluto/#ixzz3SELJkgOQ

SOURCE::::

http://www.businessinsider.com

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3 Indian Airports Among the World’s Best….

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Three airports from India have bagged the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Awards.

Photograph, courtesy: Ramesh NG/Wikimedia Commons

The Indira Gandhi International Airport has been ranked as the best airport in the world in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category.

The survey rates each airport’s performance in 34 key service areas under eight major categories including access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage providers.

Seoul’s Incheon airport is ranked as the world’s best airport in the above 40 million passengers’ category.

Two Indian airports won the award in the 25-40 million passengers’ category, while one bagged the third place in the 5-15 million category…

Take a look at the world’s best airports…

Photograph, courtesy: Krokodyl/ Wikimedia Commons

Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi

Rank: 1

Indira Gandhi International Airport is the busiest airport in India.

The airport is managed by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a joint venture between the AAI and GMR Group-led consortium.

“The journey was never easy especially after holding the No 2 mark for last three years. We can now justifiably claim to be the world’s best,” Prabhakara Rao, chief executive, DIAL said in a statement.

With the new Terminal 3, the Delhi international airport has become South Asia’s largest aviation hub.

Photograph, courtesy: Kaichinshih/Wikimedia Commons

Taipei Taoyuan, Taiwan

Rank: 2

One of five airports in the country, Taipei Taoyuan is the largest airport in Taiwan.

Last year also, it bagged the world’s second best airport award from ACI.

“Airports are more than simply points of departure and arrival. At the end of the day, good business acumen comes down to a simple equation: better service, improved traffic and a healthier bottom line,” said Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World.

Photograph, courtesy: Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, China

Rank: 3

One of the busiest airports in the world, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport has been regularly winning award for its best services.

Photograph, courtesy: Baycrest/ Wikimedia Commons

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, China

Rank: 4 

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is a hub for China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines.

It is one of the busiest airports in China.

Photograph: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai

Rank: 5

It is the second busiest airport in India, after Delhi airport.

The airport has five operating terminals spread over an operational area of 8 square kilometers.

A world class terminal T2 was recently opened last year for international operations at the Mumbai airport.

The airport is run by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), a joint venture between the AAI and GVK group-led consortium.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad has bagged the third position in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category.

The Hyderabad airport was ranked as the best airport in 2009 and 2010, third-best in 2011, and second-best in 2012.

Tags: Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Airports Council International, Wikimedia Commons,Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
SOURCE:::: http://www.rediff.com
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Have you Heard about these Aircraft Designs … ?

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The 20th century saw an amazing array of new vehicles – from cars to ships to submarines and airplanes. Some of these designs are still used today, their basic premise being so dead on. However, some designs were less than ideal, and what follows are the aircraft designs that just weren’t as good as the rest, but are still fascinating to see. Enjoy this collection of strangely designed planes.

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weird planes

weird planes

SOURCE:::: http://www.ba-bamail.com

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A Frozen Niagara Falls …. Now a Winter Wonderland !!!

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Frozen niagra falls

Frigid temperatures and wicked wind chills have been ravaging the northeast over the past week and the prolonged below-freezing temperatures have turned Niagara Falls into a winter wonderland.

The above image shows the American side of the famous falls on Tuesday when temperatures dropped to 6 degrees Fahrenheit around the Great Lakes. The American side of the Niagara Falls is much more likely to freeze than the more iconic shoehorn-shaped Canadian side.

Still, the American side is far from frozen solid. Water is still flowing, but layers of ice sheets have built up around the water.

The crazy temperatures haven’t kept tourists away. Last year when the falls partially froze, the site got more visitors than any other winter day on record, according to USA Today.

Frozen niagra fallsTourists visit the frozen falls on Feb. 17.

The sheer volume and speed of the water plummeting over the falls makes it impossible to completely freeze over. However, the mist that constantly wafts up from the rushing water can freeze into sheets of ice during the winter. Those ice sheets combined with frozen slush flowing down from Lake Eerie can make the falls look frozen:

Frozen niagra fallsA rainbow appears over Niagara Falls on Feb. 17.

Here’s what the American side of the falls looks like when it’s not frozen over:

Niagara falls

Bitter cold temperatures over President’s Day weekend also froze the Bryant Park fountain in New York City. Central Park hovered around 3 degrees — the coldest it’s been in over a decade.

Frozen bryant park fountainThe Bryant Park fountain frozen over  
SOURCE:::: http://www.businessinsiderselect.com .au
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Image of the Day…. ” Selfie with Venus and Mars…” !!!

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Selfie with Venus and Mars

The planets Venus and Mars are about to be amazing in the western sky after sunset. Watch for them. Cool selfie from Jean-Baptiste Feldmann in France!

Selfie by EarthSky Facebook friend Jean-Baptiste Feldmann in France. Thank you, Jean-Baptiste!

Isn’t this a cool image of the planets Venus (brighter) and Mars (above) in the western twilight sky? French photographer Jean-Baptiste Feldmann posted it at EarthSky Facebookover this past weekend (February 14-15, 2015).

It’s a beauty in and of itself and also because Venus and Mars are about to be amazing in the western sky after sunset. By this coming weekend, these two worlds will be at their closest since 2008. They won’t be this close again until 2017. What’s more, the moon is now coming back to the evening sky, and Venus and Mars and the waxing crescent moon will create some amazing sky scenes in the west after sunset, especially on February 20. Watch for them!

SOURCE:::: http://www.earhskynews.org

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” Excuse Me… There is a Lion Near my Wine …” !!!

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A brand-new hotel located in Canberra, Australia’s National Zoo and Aquarium offers an experience unlike another.

The list of strangest hotels in the world has just got a new entrant.

Australia’s Jamala Wildlife Lodge offers you the opportunity to share a room with its four-legged inhabitants.

Situated on the banks of the Molonglo River inside the National Zoo and Aquarium, home to animals, fish and reptiles, the Jamala Wildlife Lodge has some 18 rooms that offer guests a one-of-its-kind experience.

The zoo is home to Bengal tigers, lions, cheetahs, giraffes, Malayan sun bears, black and white colobus monkeys, European brown bears, ring-tailed lemurs, hyenas, and snow leopards.

There are three types of residences all of which are located adjacent to an animal enclosure.

Giraffe Treehouses are exactly what their name suggests, and offer you the opportunity to feed their resident giraffe from the comfort of your balcony.

uShaka Lodge that has seven suites featuring, wait for it, shark tank in your lounge room.

But it’s the jungle bungalows that are for the bravehearts.

With just a glass screen standing between you and a pride of lions or bears, do expect a few peeping toms, you know the usual suspects… 🙂

The hotel opened its doors mid-December and the room tariff is pretty steep starting at $400 per person, per night with the profits going back to the zoo for animal welfare and reproduction programmes.

So, will you book?

SOURCE:::: http://www.rediff.com

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Image of the Day… Wind Sculpted Frozen Sand…!!!

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Wind sculpted this frozen sand in Michigan

It was cold in the upper U.S this weekend, when Joshua Nowicki noticed and captured these cool frozen sand formations.

View larger. | Photo by Joshua Nowicki.

It was fiercely cold in the U.S. state of Michigan this past weekend, when Joshua Nowicki posted this cool photo at EarthSky Facebook. He said these interesting formations were created by the wind eroding the frozen sand at Silver Beach County Park in Saint Joseph, Michigan on February 14, 2015. The largest one, he wrote, was about 12 inches (30 cm) tall.

Thank you, Joshua!

How cold was it in Michigan? Dangerously cold. Mlive.com/weather wrote that – at 7 a.m. Sunday morning, February 15, 2015 – every reporting site except Port Hope and Munising was below zero Fahrenheit.

SOURCE:::: http://www.earthskynews.org

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Meet Sudhir and Bashir @ Adelaid Oval Today …!!!

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Sudhir and Bashir, who have become national icons for their enthusiasm for cricket, can well sum up the essence of India-Pakistan sporting rivalry
  • Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary and Mohammed Bashir at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday

You will struggle to find a pair of fans who can sum up the essence of India-Pakistanrivalry more emphatically than Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary and Mohammed Bashir.

You know of Sudhir — Muzaffarpur native, Sachin Tendulkar devotee, painted face, painted body, conch shell and all that. Bashir, on the other hand, is from Chicago. His family runs a very successful restaurant, Ghareeb Nawaz, on Devon Avenue. He has suffered three heart attacks. He is also diabetic and carries a plethora of medicines with him at all times.

Both made their presence felt at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Sudhir was the first to arrive. No sooner than the Indian team started its match-eve preparations the 34-year-old made his way to the enclosure right below the Sir Donald Bradman pavilion. Within seconds, he took off his shirt

and revealed his extremely lean, well-toned physique replete with tri-colours and an emotional ‘Miss-u Tendulkar 10’ message on his back. Out came the flag and that conch shell too. Basically, Sudhir was in his element.
“India khele aur hum nahin aaye; kya kabhi aisa ho sakta hai? (India playing and me not coming; has it happened ever?)” he asks with a wink. The subject of dna’s JBM cover story (A decade of worship: Sachin Tendulkar’s biggest fan…) in October 2013, Sudhir then took out a letter from his bag. “See this! Boss wrote a letter on my behalf,” he said. The ‘boss’ in question was Tendulkar. And the letter was addressed to the visa officer of the Australian embassy in New Delhi.

“Dear Sir, I am writing to confirm that Mr Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary has been an ardent supporter of the Indian Cricket Team and has become a national icon due to his enthusiasm,” Tendulkar wrote. Providing details of Sudhir’s sponsors, he requested the officer to provide his biggest fan with a visa for the entire duration of the tournament. “I got visa in just one day,” Sudhir said. Soon, he was the most wanted man at the Adelaide Oval. The Indian team took a backseat.

About an hour later, Bashir appeared out of nowhere. Sporting a free-flowing green jubba with the words “Jis desh mein Ganga behti hai, us desh ki meri biwi hai (My wife hails from the land where river Ganga flows). Bashir took short, painful steps towards the practice area. “Has Dhoni arrived?” he enquired. When one answered in the affirmative, he said, “He is the one who gives me tickets. Everytime. He has been blessed with a baby girl. God willing he will win lead India to World Cup win again. Par kal toh jeetega bhai jeetaga, Pakistan jeetega (But tomorrow Pakistan will win),” It was a lesson in voice modulation.

Soon, the enclosure was brimming with fans of both countries. Mothers, grandmothers, children, grandchildren, boys, men… there was everyone. It was sloganeering at its intense best.

Luckily, no one was hurt.

Bashir then spoke about his wife, who hails from Hyderabad. “She is everything to me. But she keeps telling me “why do you get embarrassed. Every time India will win,” he said.

Bashir and Sudhir then joined the rest of the fans outside the stadium where they celebrated with dhols and what not. “This time there will be Diwali in Pakistan,” Bashir said.

“Yeah sure, but next year. Is baar toh jeetega bhai jeetega India jeetega (this time India will win),” Sudhir retorted.

A hug sealed the issue.

SOURCE:::: Derek Abraham in www .dnaindia.com

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