Who doesn’t like shopping? Whether you are a teen, an adult or an aged person, shopping is for all. It can be books, movies, dresses, shoes, bags, accessories, electronics, cars, gadgets etc. that people run after. You cannot go to any place for shopping if you want quality products; the place has to be a high end shopping city for this purpose. In this article, I am going to tell you about world’s top 3 cities best for shopping that offer you best available products and items. It is really difficult to rank all those cities as the competition is tough between them. I have chosen three cities from three different continents; from Europe, America and Asia.

1. London
2. New York
3. Dubai

Though there are a lot of shopping hubs in Asia and Europe, but I wanted to give you one city from each continent. Do not forget that in their respective continents, these cities are the best shopping centers. Europe has great shopping spots like Milan, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin and Copenhagen; America has Buenos Aires and Los Angeles; and Asia has Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Let us look at detailed description of the chosen top three shopping cities.

London:

London is the top option for a shopoholic. This city hosts more than half of whole world’s top retailers; why go anywhere else (or even consider going elsewhere)? As I said, London has the highest percentage of top retailers worldwide which is 59.26%.

If your interests revolve around sports and technology, there are many places in London for you. “Decathlon” is an international store and offers equipment for almost 60 sports. In addition to buying items, one can also get their sports equipments repaired. “Run and Become” is a specialized footwear store with trained staff that tries its best to offer the best fitting shoe to customer (after taking complete history of past injuries etc). For Football, Cricket and Tennis, go to United Sports. As far as technology products are concerned, you can go to Bose-Samsung. For high end tech shopping, there is world’s biggest Apple store in London.

For shoes, “Kurt Geiger” must be your first choice as it offers own as well as world famous brands. “Lollipop” won’t only give you best brands, but also a very posh environment. “The Old Curiosity Shop” is the oldest shop in town and these days it hosts shoes for sale. Other noteworthy shoe stores include Georgina Goodman, Sniff, Church’s Shoes, John Lobb and Black Truffle.

London has uncountable high streets. Shops located at the high streets offer best stuff, and best stuff demands bucks. Go to “Topshop” for high end and designer wear. “Topman” is yet another such place. Best picks are Gap, Banana Republic, H&M and Primark.

Regarding home ware and furniture, London has to be your first choice. “Twentytwentyone” is home to elegant furniture, but you will need to shed many monetary pounds. “Aria” offers uniquely designed furniture, so does “SCP”. For home accessories and nice furniture, some of the best names in London include Labour&Wait, Mint, Paul Smith, Heal’s, The Cloth Shop, James Worrall Antiques and Treacle.

For vintage clothes, go to Beyond Retro, Palette London, Marcos and Trump, Annie’s, Vintage Hart, Old Hat Vintage and Rellik. Top fashion boutiques are KJ’s Laundry, Start, Browns Boutique, Hub, Labour of Love and Diverse. For jewelry and Accessories, London offers you countless options. Best accessories can be found at EC One, Kirt Holmes, Jigsaw Accessories, Pickett and Tatty Devine. Last of all, I will talk about departmental stores located in the greatest shopping hub; London. Selfridges, John Lewis, Dover Street market, Fortnum and Mason and Liberty are few of the many options.

New York:

My second favorite city for shopping is none other than New York. This city is dreamland for many people; whether it is about job, living, visit or shopping. Whether you want men’s wear or feminine dresses, furniture or home accessories, shoes and bags or perfumes and sunglasses, jewelry or cosmetics; you can fine everything in this city.

For best sports footwear, tracksuits and accessories; go to “Adidas Original Store”. Your second choice can be “Puma store”, too. For high end tech shopping, there is “Apple Store SoHo” which is indeed one of the most stunning buildings. If you are not Apple-ish, then “Sony Style” is your destination. “Barneys New York” is perfect for posh designer wears as well as casual wear. “Bergdorf Goodman” is bound to attract every single woman due to the beautiful and huge collection of shoes and bags. For branded nice lingerie, one can visit “Bloomingdale’s”. Children will love going to “FAO Schwarz” as the place is filled with toys, stuffed toys and candies.

“Macy’s” hosts world top brands like Donna, Ralph and Calvin. “Tiffany & Co.” hosts best available personal accessories.

Dubai:

Dubai is my 3rd favorite city in the world for awesome shopping experience. The city is famous for its skyscrapers, hotels, beautiful architecture, job opportunities and shopping malls.

“Deira City Center” is one of the biggest stores in Dubai, and perhaps the most famous too. This is one of the City Center Store chains by Majid Al Futtaim. It has a free car parking for 6000 vehicles. The mall hosts 300 shops. You can find almost every kind of item that you want including furniture and antiques, books and gifts, entertainment items and children products, ladies and men’s wear, sports and electronics, fragrances and other accessories as well as big departmental stores. It has hotel as well as cinemas.

“BurJuman Center” is yet another big shopping hub. It hosts 190 international stores as well as cafes and restaurants. “Mercato Mall” is a uniquely designed shopping mall and is named after Italian for Market. If quality is what matters most to you, then this has to be your destination in Dubai. You can find a complete range of home accessories and furniture here.

“Wafi Mall” has over 200 stores, restaurants, 60 international brand retail outlets, family entertainment center and two floors of covered parking. “Al Ghurair City” hosts 250 stores, 350 apartments and an 8-screen cinema. “Lamcy Plaza” not only has 150 retail outlets, but also hosts a cinema and a hypermarket.

I hope that this article proved helpful for you in your search for a city most suitable for shopping.

Hollywood has produced some of the most wonderful movies ever this year. Best examples are Extraordinary Measures, Wolfman, Percy Jackson, Shutter Island, How to Train your Dragon, Clash of the Titans etc. 2010 has really been great for Hollywood as great movies have been made and they have been highly praised, too. In this article, I will tell you about the best movies of 2010 so far, according to plot, direction, production and rating.

5. Knight and Day:

• Director: James Mangold
• Writer: Patrick O’Neil
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
• Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jack O’Connell

This movie was formerly titled as “Witchita” and “Trouble Man”, but finally it was named “Knight and Day.” This film went through many phases where both lead roles were set for many other actors and actresses (Adam Sandler, Gerard Butler, Chris Tucker and Eva Mendes) before finally settling at Cruise and Diaz. Major part of filming took place in Massachusetts, Spain and Austria.

Tom cruise plays Roy Miller and Diaz plays June Havens. The whole story revolves around adventures of both the lead characters. Havens is stuck into situations because of Miller; she undergoes plane crash, kidnapping, retrieval, being drugged, and a lot more. It comes to her knowledge later that Miller’s real name is Matthew Knight and he is a former Army Sergeant and Eagle Scout.

Adam Sandler refused the offer by saying, “I just don’t see me with a gun.” “Black Eyed Peas” recorded the sound track for Knight and Day, with title of “Someday.” The film did not do good business the day it was released and in few coming days. It has remained at 5th place in its second week at box office.

4. Toy Story 3:

• Director: Lee Unkrich
• Writers: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
• Release date: 18th June 2010
• Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
• Tagline: The Breakout Comedy Of The Summer
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack

This is the final chapter of Toy Story series (yet), and is a 3D computer animated film. It is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and is released by Walt Disney Pictures. Most of the voice-over roles are played by the actors who had previously given their voice in part 1 and 2. it broke the record made by “Shrek the Third” for biggest single day gross for an animated movie. It has become the highest grossing Pixar film to date with in just four weeks of its release in US.

Andy has grown up and is moving to the college; thus he packs up his old toys to put them in the attic except for Woody which he intends to take along with him to college. Mistakenly, Andy’s mom puts the bag on curb. Toys are heartbroken and think that Andy no longer needs them, thus they get into a box which is going to be donated to Sunnyside Daycare. Woody tries to clarify the matter but no one listens. Toys are mishandled and abused by kids at Sunnyside but they can’t get out of the place as it is a toy prison. Woody has already left them to get back to Andy. Story develops and in the end, toys move to Bonnie’s place who is a little girl as they think attic is not where they deserve to live.

3. Iron Man 2:

• Director: John Favreau
• Writers: Justin Theroux, Stan Lee
• Release date: 7th May 2010
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Thriller
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson

In the planned trilogy, Iron Man 2 is the second film as sequel to Iron Man of 2008. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, this move is based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark reveals to the world his real identity as Iron Man. Ivan Vanko begins to build similar weapon after watching this on Russian television. In six months, Stark gives the world peaceful environment and begins with his Stark Industries again. He refuses to hand over his technology to the government. Things change as the plot develops and story builds.

This film grossed $128,122,480 at 4380 theatres in the opening weekend and has the highest opening for a movie in 2010. Iron Man 3 will be in theatres by 2013, most probably.

2. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse:

• Director: David Slade
• Writers: Melissa Rosenberg, Stephenie Meyer
• Release date: 30th June, 2010
• Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
• Tagline: It All Begins…With A Choice
• Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

This is the third episode of Twilight Series based in Stephenie Meyer’s novel series. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse followed the 2008 movie Twilight and 2009 movie New Moon. It has set a new record for biggest midnight opening in USA and Canada (in box office history) grossing $30 million in over 4 thousand theatre. The vampire story goes on, develops and reaches a nice ending of Bella and Edward’s engagement. But who knows what comes next, as the 3rd sequel is coming soon.

Howard Shore composed Eclipse’s score.

1. Despicable Me:

• Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
• Writers: Ken Daurio, Sergio Pablos
• Release date: 9th July 2010
• Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
• Tagline: Superbad. Superdad.
• Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett

This is a computer animated 3D feature film from Illumination Entertainment that was distributed by Universal Pictures. The movie is set in a peaceful, green, and full of flowers and picket fences happy suburban locality which has a strange black house that has a dead lawn. Inside, there is basement where lives Gru surrounded by a lot of impish gofers. A super villain steals the Great Pyramid of Giza and as a result, Gru plans to do something even bigger and greater; he plans to steal the Moon. Now, the fight begins.

It is the third highest opening grossing for an animated movie of 2010 with $60.1 million.

With this ranking and reviews, today’s article comes to an end. These are the highest ranking movies at box office as well as in the eyes of audiences.

Nature has a healing effect in it that heals and restores people’s mental health and tranquility of mind. When you are in the midst of a pile of worries and tensions, a soft breeze or a raindrop can make you smile. You will notice that when you are living in the metropolitan, life is full of worries even when you have huge bungalow and lavish cars. The moment you think of getting a vacation and going to hill stations or beaches, your worries seem to fly away. Time that you spent in mountains, under rain, in snowfall, between flowers and near sea is indeed the best time of your life.

Flowers are the symbol of colors and life. Their beauty takes stress away from one’s mind and fills it with beauty of nature and serenity. Fragrance offers such peace of mind that cannot be attained with all world wealth. Watching various colors of flowers and inhaling inspirational odors is certainly best experience in one’s life after hectic routines of everyday life.

Our world is not just a hub for skyscrapers and personified lavishness; we still have some spots on planet where we can find serenity and beauty of nature. There are a lot of flower gardens all over the globe which are iconic due to their immense beauty. In this article, I will discuss some of the most exotic flower gardens well known for their exquisiteness and splendor.

1. Keukenhof:

This flower garden is located near Lisse in Netherlands. It is usually called “Kitchen Garden” or “Garden of Europe.” As the name suggest, this is an exotic place full of natural beauty and elegance. Keukenhof is world’s largest flower garden.

Photo by BSKaran

This garden is not open all the year, but only from March to May. This might be so because of the seasonal flowers. Once you enter the place, your breath is taken away by out of the ordinary magnificence of flowers.

History:

Once, it was a hunting area which was also used for collecting different herbs for the castle. This is why it was called Keukenhof i.e. Kitchen Garden. When the Baron and Baroness died, new owners created an English style landscape garden around the castle with help of architects J.D. and L.F. Zocher. Now, a corporation owns the place. An open air flower exhibition was organized for the first time in 1949. Since then, over 7 million flower bulbs are planted in Keukenhof every year for this striking spring flower show.

Netherlands is world’s largest exporter of flowers, and Keukenhof has added immensely to its present status. If you are a tulip-lover, visit the garden near mid-April. You can find most beautiful flowers here including amaryllis, hydrangeas, narcissi, asters and lilies.

2. Great Dixter Garden:

This is a house in Northiam, East Sussex near the South Coast of England. Importance of the house is basically due to a beautiful garden it owns. This garden is regarded as the personification of English craftsmanship of planting trees and flowers.

Photo by serialplantfetishist

History:

Nathaniel Lloyd, the owner of the house and a well known businessman worked together with the architect Edwin Lutyens to create this beautiful garden. Lloyd’s son, Christopher Lloyd gave worldwide fame and popularity to the garden. He was an author, columnist, lecturer on gardens and television personality.

One season’s planting flows impeccably to the nest season in order to hide the dying flowers under the mask of new ones. The garden has been built in “arts and crafts” style. Main features include an orchard, a long border, topiary and a meadow filled with wild flowers. This garden is open to public as well as for study tours.

3. Butchart Gardens:

This isn’t a single garden but a whole group of floral gardens which are situated in Brentwood Bay, British Colombia, Canada. The Vancouver Island (where the gardens are actually situated) receives a large number of tourists and visitors; more than a million visitors every year.

Photo by WisDoc

History:

Robert Pim Butchart was s cement manufacturer who came to the west coast of Canada with his wife Jennie Butchart. West coast was rich in limestone deposits and thus attracted the manufacturer. In 1904, the couple built their home near Robert’s quarry. In 1909, the quarry exhausted and all the land became useless. But the vision of Jennie converted the deserted land into extremely beautiful and exotic gardens. She began with Sunken Garden and when it was completed, they began receiving visitors to their garden. Afterwards, they replaced their kitchen garden with a Rose Garden and their tennis court with an Italian Garden.

In 1953, the gardens were illuminated via underground wiring for lighting at night time. In 1964, an ever changing Ross fountain was installed there. The Canadian Heraldic Authority granted a coat of arms to the gardens in 1994. The 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2004, when Butchart Gardens were delegated as national historic site. Also, two totem poles (each 30 feet long) were mounted in the gardens.

You can see many bronze statues situated at different spots in the gardens.

4. Bodnant Garden:

This garden is situated in the county of Conwy, Wales; above the River Conwy. It is a traditional flower garden of an ancestral family home in the United Kingdom.

History:

This garden is a national trust property. It covers huge area of over 80 acres and surrounds the Bodnant House.

Photo by jetbluestone

This garden can be classified into two main parts; a formal terrace garden and a spring woodland garden. There is plenty of running water and lots of trees in the garden. There is a large lily pond which has stone boundaries. To enhance the beauty of this garden, there is a nice waterfall, too. Best time to visit the place is May when the whole garden is filled with rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, woodland spring flowers and roses.

5. Bagatelle:

This castle was originally just a house, and now it is known for the exquisite rose gardens. There are two rosaries in Bagatelle; one is used for display of classic traditional rose specimens, whereas the other shows evolutionary process of roses. You can find complete information about the rose you like as they are labeled by class, origin, year of introduction and their names.

Photo by gabrilu

]]> http://www.elegantdirectory.com/articles/top-5-flower-gardens-in-the-world.html/feed 0 http://www.elegantdirectory.com/articles/how-to-choose-best-suitable-health-insurance-plan.html http://www.elegantdirectory.com/articles/how-to-choose-best-suitable-health-insurance-plan.html#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:44:35 +0000 UshaBhavani http://www.elegantdirectory.com/articles/?p=539 Best Health Insurance Plan

Health of family is (and has to be) the top priority of head of the family. No one knows what kind of health issue arises at what time, so there has to be a backup plan that can relieve us of health related financial matters. For such purposes, a health insurance plan is usually foremost priority of most of the families all over the world.

What is a Health Insurance Plan?

A health insurance plan, as the name suggest, is an insurance plan associated with health issues and financial matters related thereto. The person who gets this insurance pays monthly premium (in most cases) for being able of getting the insured amount or the promised health care when the right time arrives. Usually we get short of money when we need it for instantaneous health related incidences. Health insurances keep us away from such worries.

How to Choose the Best Suitable Insurance Plan:

This is yet another big issue. Of course, nobody knows what kind of health issue will arise in the future and how much amount will be required for that purpose. All I can say is that you have to make the right GUESS! Yes, a guess! There are few tips in the following lines that will aid you in choosing the right health insurance plan for your family.

1. If you are an employee, best option for you is to opt for the insurance that your employer has offered to you. It will be the cheapest health insurance you can ever find, and usually it will cover most of your needs. If you have been provided with insurance plan options (from the employer) to choose from, find out the relation between your needs and your budget.
2. Now, in case you are self-employed or your employer does not offer you health insurance, you will have to look for one from the huge pile of options and choices. Formula is the same; know the relation between your needs and budget.
3. Find out whether the plan will cover dependents, too? If you are single, you will need an entirely different plan from a person who is a father of four kids.
4. How often do you or your family member get sick? Are you under a treatment where you have to visit the doc weekly, or monthly? These things are important to know in order to get the best suitable health insurance plan for your family.
5. Asking questions is a healthy habit, especially while finding out the best health insurance plan. Included (on the panel) hospitals and institutes, referrals for specialist visits, changing doctors, emergency rooms treatment etc. are the most frequently asked questions.
6. Find out whether they cover pre-existing ailments.
7. If the company denies your treatment, there must be a fair appeal process.
8. As the prices are increasing day by day, it will become difficult for elderly to get themselves treated out of their pocket. Therefore, it is better to go for long term care insurance if you are above 40.
9. If you have a specific doctor or clinic where you go for treatment, make sure that is on your insurance plan panel.
10. Start saving!

Everyone around us is busy; whether it’s the Mom performing household chores, Dad going to the office, Grandpa watering lawn or two years old little brother watching cartoons. In this busy atmosphere, who has the time for checking all the 200,000 Apple iPhone apps to choose the best suitable ones? Obviously no one does. This is why I am here with yet another article on iPhone apps that are related to work and office. I hope that you will like this article as much as previous ones.

I know that you are certainly not going to begin working on your iPhone. The sole purpose for these work and office apps is to get you a backup system in case your relied-upon systems refuse to work. At least this phone is going to save you your precious time.

1. Bump for iPhone:

Are you an executive with a job that demands great deal of public relation-making and meeting people with similar interests? Then this is the right app for you. Also, if you need to share photos and images with a friend of yours, get this app on your iPhone as soon as possible (both of you!).

Get your initial and necessary info filled up in the setup and you are ready to bump hands with others running the very app on their iPhones. Start sharing your contact info with others as well as your photos. You can have a check on your bump history too. Though this is a usual task, but it has turned into fun by Bumping!

2. ProOnGo Expense:

Concerned about your expenses? Go for this expense tracking app for your iPhone in order to keep a check on your expenditures. Whether it’s you or your employees, whether it’s about business or personal expenses, this app is going to help you big time. One can export the data to QuickBooks, an Excel spreadsheet, a CSV file, or in XML format. Also, the data can be exported to any text-based application. Receipt Reader is an awesome feature that deciphers your data on a scanned or photographed receipt.

3. SurePayroll Mobile Payroll:

This application will help employers calculate wages and salaries of their employees with ease and comfort and with a single finger tip. Indeed this can save you expense of a separate payroll manager. The top notch features include calculation of wages, deduction of wages, issuance of checks to employees, direct deposits to employees, management of payroll taxes, 24/7 online access to the files, offering labor law information, sending alerts, employee self service options, strict security protocols, accounting software integration with Peachtree, QuickBooks and MYOB.

4. Workday:

Human resource department is of vital importance in any company. This app can benefit the HR staff in managing the tasks of hiring, termination, requisition, purchase orders etc. remote workers can use this app for attaining approval on any document.

5. Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite:

This is a nice application that lest you open Microsoft Office files on the iPhone. One can view, edit and create MS Office files with the help of this app. It can really benefit one in situations where one doesn’t have access to laptop and the task is of urgent nature.

All these apps are helpful in their respective fields. They enable iPhone-rs to get the most out of their iPhone.

Architecture is the science (as well as art) of designing and constructing buildings. Every architect with a sense of competition and passion to excel in his/her field tries to be unique in his/her architectural designs and concepts. Uniqueness makes buildings attractive and architects know this fact well. Today’s world is filled with great architectural designs of buildings. In this article, I am going to tell you about some internationally famous unique and beautifully designed buildings. As there are innumerable matchless architectural designs spread in whole world, therefore it is difficult to choose few. Anyhow, I have chosen those with great architectural designs as well as beautiful looks.

1. Beijing National Stadium:

The National Stadium of Beijing was opened in 2008 and was especially designed for 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The construction cost of this building was $423 million. It has capacity for 80000 people. The architects that designed this wonderful building were China Architectural Design & Research Group, ArupSport, Herzog & de Meuron and AiWeiwei. Arup did the structural engineering.

This building is also known as Bird’s Nest. It is considered as world’s largest enclosed place as well as world’s largest steel structure for there is 26 km of unwrapped steel used in there. This building is constructed over 3 million cubic meters. As it is located in a high seismic zone, designers have worked hard to make it less prone to earthquake damages and distructions.

Photo by Where is Michi?

2. Burj Khalifa (former Burj Dubai):

As we all know, Dubai is filled with great architectural designs and eye catching buildings. Burj Dubai, dancing towers, metropolis etc are all examples of this dynamic architecture that is shown all over Dubai.

Burj Khalifa which was formerly known as Burj Dubai is world’s tallest building currently. This slim building is a great piece of extraordinary architecture. Adrian Smith designed this building. It was opened in January 2010.

The building’s overall cost was $ 1.5 billion. Burj Khalifa has made many records like tallest structure ever built, tallest free standing structure, world’s fastest and highest elevators, world’s highest mosque, world’s highest swimming pool and building with most floors etc.

This building has residential area, too. It has 160 floors.

3. Dancing House Prague:

It was completed in 1996 and possesses a strange design that makes it look like a house in dancing position. Vlado Miluni? and Frank Gehry were the architects for this unique building. The actual name of this building is Nationale-Nederlanden but has been named as Dancing House (and it is also called Drunk House).

Photo by jaime.silva

It was a controversial design, but the then president of Czech Republic supported it strongly hoping that it becomes a cultural activity hub. Inside, there are offices of multinational firms and on the roof rests a restaurant called Celeste Restaurant. Sitting in this restaurant, one can enjoy awesome view of the river as well as the city up to the Prague Castle. It is built by the river Vltava. The building looks like a dancing couple, and this is why the architects thought of naming it Astaire and Rogers Building after their celebrated dance duo.

4. Burj al Arab Dubai:

This is world only 7 star hotel located in Dubai, UAE. Tom Atkins designed the place and it is world second tallest hotel with height of 321 meters. It has 60 floors with 18 elevators.

According to the architect, the client needed a building that would be iconic for Dubai. Burj al Arab seems like sail of a sea vessel, only that it is huge. Another important fact about this building is that it is constructed on an artificial island which is 280 meters offshore. For safety and security purposes, 230 concrete piles with 40 meters length were drove into the sand.

202 bedroom suites have been constructed o 28 double storey floors. The restaurant Al Muntaha is situated 200 meters above the Persian Gulf. It offers a great view of the whole city of Dubai. Its chef (who also owns the restaurant) was awarded Chef of the Year in 2006. A replicated sub marine trip takes guests to Al Mahara which is another restaurant. This eating place features a great aquarium which adds to the beauty of the restaurant.

5. Sydney Opera House:

This is a performing arts complex situated in Sydney, Australia. It was constructed in 1973 in Expressionist architectural style. Jorn Utzon designed this world famous beautiful building.

This is one of the busiest performing arts centers globally. Over 1500 performances are hosted by Sydney Opera House every year. Around seven million visitors visit the place every year.

6. Walt Disney Concert Hall:

This uniquely designed concert hall was built in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. It has capacity for 2265 spectators. The overall construction cost for this concert hall was $240 million. Some outer portions were designed with highly polished mirror like panels, which were sanded afterwards due to complaints of unwanted glare and heat by neighboring residents. Patina; the restaurant serves Californian and French cuisine.

Photo en.wikipedia.org

7. 30 St. Mary Axe:

Located in the city of London, this building is also known as Gherkin and Swiss Re Building. The construction was completed in 2003. The building is 180 meters tall and has 40 floors. Foster and Partners designed it whereas structural engineering was done by Arup. Swiss Re (a global reinsurance company) uses most of the building and this is the reason the building is also called Swiss Re Building.

8. Turning Torso:

Located in Malmo, Sweden, this residential building was completed in 2006 with 54 floors. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and contractor was NCC. It is 190 meters tall and is the tallest residential building in European Union. Its architecture is based upon torso of a twisted human being. There are nine segments of five storey pentagons and the top segment has been twisted 90 degrees clockwise in respect to the ground floor. This is a private residential building featuring apartments.

Photo By Ronald Scherpenisse

There are a lot more buildings with nice and unique architectural designs in the world. Keep on seeking such entertaining information.

Half of the world has tuned its televisions to sports channels in order to witness the minutest advancement and update in the FIFA World Cup 2010 going on in South Africa. In football, role of a goalkeeper is of vital importance as he is the player who is bound to defend each and every goal attempt from the opponent team. If a team lacks a good and capable goalkeeper, it is not considered as a good football team. To be the best team out there, a team’s goalkeeper ought to be a great player.

In this article, I am going to discuss top 5 goalkeepers that are able of making history in FIFA World Cup 2010. These keepers might not turn out to b the best in world cup; I am only suggesting it on the basis of their past performances, career history and playing strategies.

1. Iker Casillas (Spain):

This youngster is thought of as the best goalkeeper in the world these days. Known as San Iker (means Saint Iker) in his club Real Madrid, he is a fast and cool minded goalkeeper.

1. Age: 29 years
2. Height: 184 cm
3. Shirt number: 1
4. Current club: Real Madrid
5. International Caps: 109
6. First International: Sweden – Spain (3rd June 2000)

He was called at the Real Madrid at the age of 17. Since then, he has been a consistent good goalkeeper. His achievement list is long; victory in 1999-2000 UEFA Champions League, victory in FIFA U-20 World Cup 1999 edition, victory of Madrid in 2001 – 2002 Champions League etc.

Photo By trumpetflickr

In 2000, this great player was voted Europe’s Best Player under the age of 21. Since 2002, Casillas has maintained the number 1 shirt in his club team. Real Madrid reclaimed the 31st La Liga title in 2007-08 with the great aid of this brilliant player, who did not let the opponent teams’ goal attempts succeed. He allowed only 32 goals in 36 games. He has signed contract with Real Madrid that will keep him at the cub till 2017. Though there have been made real high bids for him by the clubs; the loyal goalkeeper has ‘no intentions of leaving his boyhood club’.

He began his international career in under-17 team. Later, he became the captain of under-17 team, and then moved forward to the national team. IFFHS named him world’s best goalkeeper in 2008. His award list is as follows:

Individual Awards:

• Bravo award (2000)
• Don Balon Award for breakthrough player of the year (2000)
• IFFHS Best goalkeeper (2008-09)
• LFP Best goalkeeper (2008-09)
• FIFA/Fifpro World’s best goalkeeper (2008-09)
• Royal Order gold medal for Sports Merit

2. Julio Cesar (Brazil):

This Brazilian goalkeeper is on top of the favorite list of Brazilian coach. Brazil is a brilliant football playing country and has produced some of the greatest footballers in the history. Julio Cesar Soares de Espindola is commonly known as Julio Cesar.

1. DOB: 3rd September 1979
2. Height: 186 cm
3. Shirt number: 1
4. Current club: Inter (ITA)
5. International Caps: 53
6. First international: Brazil – Chile (8th July 2004)

He started his career with Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in 1997. He eventually made himself able of being considered the first choice goalkeeper for 2004 Copa America. In 2005, he signed an official contract of three years with Internazionale. In 2009, he was named the best player of 2008-09 by ESPN Brasil. In 2009, he signed a contract with Inter which will expire in 2014.

Photo By Escola de Goleiros Camisa 1

His international career began in 2003 as a backup to Dida. He has a lot of goalkeepers ahead of him which were given priority over him in international games, but his hard luck made everyone believe that only he should be the number one choice goalkeeper for Brazil.

3. Gigi Buffon (Italy):

This Italian goalkeeper is one of the best keepers this country ever had. Great performance in FIFA World Cup 2010 is expected of him.

1. DOB: 28th January, 1978
2. Height: 190 cm
3. Shirt number: 1
4. Current club: Juventus (ITS)
5. International caps: 102
6. First international: Russia – Italy (29th October 1997)

He started his club career at a very young age with the youth system of Parma in 1991. He was only 13 then. Due to his consistent good performance, the world renowned Italian club Juventus offered him a world record goal keeper transfer fee of £32.6 million, which was happily accepted. In March 2004, he was named one of the top 125 greatest living footballers by Pele.

Photo By blastedpersona

He started his international career in 1997 when he was called up as an injury replacement at the age of 19. He was there in World Cup 1998 but as a second choice, and did not play a single match. In world cup 2006, he conceded only 2 goals; outstanding indeed.

Individual Awards:

• Bravo Award (1999)
• UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player (2003)
• UEFA Club Football Awards: Best Goalkeeper (2003)
• FIFA 100
• Yashin Award (2006)
• 2006 FIFA world cup All Star Team
• European Footballer of the year (Silver Ball) (2006)
• Serie A Goalkeeper of the year (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008)
• IFFHS Best Goalkeeper (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007)

4. Hugo Lloris (France):

This 23 years old French goalkeeper is the number 1 choice not only for his club but also for the country.

1. DOB: 26th December 1986
2. Height: 188 cm
3. Shirt number: 1
4. Current club: Lyon
5. International caps: 14
6. First international: France – Uruguay (19th November 2008)

He began his career at the age of 6 at CEDAC which was a cultural center that offered various activities. Coached suggested to him to switch to goalkeeping, and he did so. When he was 10, he joined Nice’s youth academy. Afterwards, he joined Lyon and is there since then. He made his debut his international career being in under-18 team in 2004.

Photo By charentelibre

Individual Awards:

• Ligue 1 goalkeeper of the year (2008-09, 2009-10)
• UNFP player of the month (April 2008, September 2009)

5. Mark Schwarzer (Australia):

He is in the team for years, and has been considered the number 1 choice for national team since long.

1. DOB: 6th October 1972
2. Height: 196 cm
3. Shirt number: 1
4. Current club: Fulham
5. First international: Canada – Australia (31st July 1993)

He started his career at the age of 19 and played with many clubs like Marconi Stallions, Dynamo Dresden, FC Kaiserslautern, Middlesbrough and Fulham. His international career began in 1994 world cup qualifier. He has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Though he is aging with time, his reflexes are still sharp and quick.

Photo By krmcguire

All of these 5 goalkeepers are expected of showing iconic performances. Let us see how their performance goes in FIFA World cup 2010.

The world cup football is just going to be started and the atmosphere is getting intensified, every country is bringing its team with some new ambitions and strategies plus the crowd is also excited to see their heroes again into the action. When it comes to the Heroes of football then the lists ends up with four to five names which have got the international fame and fan followings but there are also some future super stars in the world of football that are absolutely amazing in their game but are coming with less famous teams.

Come let me show you some ultimate heroes of this world cup who have got all the capabilities to smash the ground with their skills and make you feel totally impressed with them, tough coming from lesser famous teams yet there is lot more left in their career that can make them rock their world.

1. Marek Hamsik (Slovakia)

This guy is an absolutely terrific midfielder of the Slovak football team who is just 23 years old.  Currently he plays for Series A club Napoli and the Slovakia National Team. Hamsik is one of those players who came out of the national level game to the international level game within few days and despite being quite young he has become the heart of Slovakian team because of his great gaming abilities. This boy has got all the skills to become a world champion and be a super hero that can win the hearts of football fans.

Photo by Azz...hurra

2. Neven Subotic (Serbia)

You might have heard about some strong defenders of the Serbian team like Nemanja Vidic but this 21 years old boy is going to break up their records as he has got guts to do that. This young defender of the Serbian football team had received the honor of being the best Serbian defender at just the start of his career. Subotic was earlier a strong player of US National Team but then after some issues he left that team and joined the Serbian team in the last year. This boy is called the multinational and multicultural stopper and he is quite brilliant in air in 193cmand with that pretty much adorable on the ground as well.

Photo by konijiwa

3. Takayuki Morimoto (Japan)

This is another strongest contender for the status of future world cup hero, he is the best Japanese players in series A and he also owns the honor of being the youngest player who has made the professional debut in the J. league history. He first represent his country in the under 20 championships that were 2004 AFC Youth Championship and the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, later he took part in the Olympic team of 2008 and then made his senior debut in 2009. His capabilities in this game can easily make him a hero in the coming days.

Photo by acpika1221

4. Ki Sung-Yong (South Korea)

This is another younger South Korean professional association football player who currently plays as centerla mid fielder in Scottish Premier League club Celtic FC. He is claimed to be one of the most interesting footballer of Asia specific and during the FIFA under 20 world cup in 2007, Manchester United kept a very keen eye on this boy. Many of the football experts of the world calls him the best every midfielder of his region and as he is standing just at the start of his career so there is lot more to go in future.

Photo by Enter Key

5. Sotiris Ninis (Greece)

The list of achievements of this boy starts with the designated Geek footballer of the year 2007 and he was the youngest ever in history to be getting this award. Sotiris is the youngest Geek footballer who is nowadays playing for Panathinaikos. This boy is equipped with a really amazing technique and a shot of considerable power, these and other qualities of him makes him the perfect midfield attacker. As he is also quite young and energetic player so the future is also quite bright for him and he has got all the guts to become the future hero of the whole world.

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Photo by Dreamon [blackflute.blogspot.co m

So this was a random list of some very energetic young footballers of the world cup teams, these boys are really amazing in their records of this game and they can easily become future football heroes even in the upcoming World Cup football.

This is the era of competition and survival of the fittest. People with solid determination and passion for hard work can succeed in all walks of life as hard work is the key to success and prosperity. These days, we are surrounded by a whole lot of universities with big names, but the sad truth is that there are only few that really give preference to good educational system and leadership.

Business Management is one of the top disciplines that are being pursued by world’s most genius minds. Students from all around the world prefer business management degrees over any other subject as this is one field which offers great career opportunities. Yes, this is right that one must seek education for the purpose of getting knowledge and wisdom, but to earn and provide for family is equally important and vital. This is why professional field must be chosen with great care and after ample scrutiny of all fields. Business Management is one such field that gives wisdom as well as best career opportunities to the students.

In this article, I am going to discuss with you internationally fame best Business management schools in order to help those who are on the lookout for best institution for them.

What does a student demand from his/her school? That it offers nice class environment, good administration, good fee structure, best available faculty members, hard competition, top campus facilities and encouragement from teachers. Though all these features cannot be found in a single institution, but we can at least find some with few of these characteristics. This is exactly what I intend to do in the following paragraphs. Let us hope that this article help you people positively.

Worldwide Business Management Schools Ranking:

Following are global top 5 Business Management schools which offer best facilities and give great results.

1. Harvard Business School:

Situated in Boston, Massachusetts, this business school has been working under Harvard University since 1908. The school offers full time MBA programs, Executive education programs and Doctorate in business management. It is one of the Ivy League business schools and is always ranked among the top business schools worldwide.

The Baker Scholar designation is the top academic honor given to an MBA student at HBS. This is given to top 5% of the graduating class of MBA. The top 20% of an MBA class student (in both years) receive the degree with distinction. A Ford scholar is such student who receives Henry ford II scholarship for attaining top grades in each academic year of the program. Other awards and scholarships include Thomas M. and Edna E. Wolfe Award for scholastic excellence and Loeb prize for exceptional performance in the subject of finance.

There are 75 clubs available for students at HBS to become a member of. These clubs organize social events, usually.  Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship is the key element for successful research. The school also publishes well known Harvard Business Review which is published by Harvard Business School Publishing (owned by HBS) every month.

2. INSEAD:

INSEAD or European Institute of Business Administration is an international business school for executive, graduate and post graduate programs, with its campus in multiple countries. This way, it is an international business school. It was established in 1957 and has three campuses at France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi respectively. Also, the school holds a research centre in Israel and an office in NYC USA. It has always been ranked among top business schools of the world.

Teaching method at INSEAD includes lectures, tutorials, group work, peer to peer learning, role plays, case studies and simulations. English is the educational language there. Students from 80 different nationalities study in this school. Getting into the school is not easy, except for those with excellent educational background and overall performance. There are many clubs for students too.

Research is the specialty here, with 17 Research Centers working worldwide. INSEAD Knowledge is the web portal for showing the research and interviews. Other stupendous features of the school include business simulation games (most of which are created by the INSEAD faculty), INSEAD eLab and INSEAD Libraries.

3. London Business School:

As the name suggests, this business school is situated in London, UK. It is affiliated with the University of London. Established in 1964, this school has been showing excellent performance and is ranked among the top business schools of world. Here, graduate, executive and post graduate programs are offered. Students from 130 countries come here to seek knowledge. Getting into this business school is anything but easy; one can’t get admitted to the school unless one possesses exceptional educational record and GMAT score. This features shows how wonderful the school is as the selection process is really tough.

International Exchange Program lets students spend a term at any of the 30 partner schools which not only gives them a whole new environment, but also let them see completely different aspect of business studies. There are 16 research centers working under the LBS.

4. Stanford Graduate School of Business:

One of the leading business schools in world, Stanford GSB was founded in 1925. It is located in Stanford, California and is affiliated with Stanford University. Three Nobel Prizes have been awarded to its faculty members. The school is highly and extremely selective as per admissions.

The school has wondrous faculty with 15 members of American Academy of Arts and Science, two recipients of John Bates Clark Award and 3 members of National Academy of Science. it is closely linked with the Silicon Valley, too. This is America’s second wealthiest business school.

5. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania:

This is America’s oldest business school established in 1881. It is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton offers most elective subjects in MBA than any of its competitor. It offers under graduate, graduate and post graduate programs. The admittance process is extremely tough and competitive, with a percentage of only 7%. This is lower than Stanford GSB, Harvard and Princeton.

Wharton has 20 initiatives and research centers. The Wharton School is one amongst the six Ivy League Business Schools.

I hope that this article helps you finding out the best place for your business studies.

The software giant Microsoft must be called as a specialist of bringing the web services for its users that tends for connecting people and diminishing the distances that are caused due to geographical limitations. To keep up its position in the internet world, Microsoft is bringing some very exciting stuff for its users like different web application, mapping tools, some desktop productivity software and others.

Let’s talk about the giant product of this software giant ‘the Windows Live Messenger’, I don’t think so there is any need to formally introduce what actually is the windows messenger, after getting a new PC the first software which is mostly installed on the Windows is the Live Messenger which is the thought to be the basic mode of communication over the world of internet.

Have you ever viewed the complete list of facilities which Microsoft has brought for you in Windows live messenger?  If not then you have reached the right place as here I am going to show you the facilities which have been provided along with just simple chatting with your friends. The Windows live messenger is not just software for chatting with your friends but it’s a whole world of sharing your stuff with whom you want to share.

The below mentioned bullets are showing you some of those facilities which the world of Windows live messenger are bringing for you.

• One of the most exciting facilities of Windows Live Messenger is that it has ended up the boundaries of who is the yahoo friend and who is from the hotmail as now you can also chat with your Yahoo friends on the Windows Live messenger. While talking especially about the Windows Messenger 2010 we can say that it is the one which brings lots of ease for chatting with a new stylish and easy user interface.
• The Windows Live messenger has received a great rating of one of its facility and that is the video calling, it’s so easy and the quality is so perfect that you feel like talking to your friends actually, as if you are sitting in front of each other. For this facility goodness is that you are not required to wait for a long time to set up a video call, just attach your cam with the computer and in just moments you and your friend will get connected.
• The photo gallery is another nice feature that is not particularly a member of Windows Live messenger but it comes from the world of Windows Live, it not only lets your share your photos with your friends but with that it also enables photo editing with which you can make good photos look adorable, live uploading facility on Facebook and also sorting plus finding your photos by date or ratings.
• You can also add your favorite sites like Facebook or Twitter on the Windows Live Messenger and then your updates will go directly to your social network that is being created on those platforms. So there is now need to inform your friends about your updates by either messaging them or using the IMs.
• On the new Windows Live Messenger 2010 the contact list layout is also made better and you can also change the size and placement of the contacts being displayed according to your own will.
• The ‘What’s New feed’ of this messenger also keeps you always updated from your friends, the Windows Live network is that highly advance network which will automatically tell you what’s new in the life of your friends and there is no need to visit their profiles on the daily basis.

So these were some really good excitements which are brought available for the Windows live messenger and that are really making your world of communication faster and well enhanced.