World's Ugliest Airports

Flying through these airports? Don’t bother looking around.

From February 2010 By Karrie Jacobs 

We know, we know: about 90 percent of the world’s airports - from jam-packed hubs like Frankfurt to dusty outposts like Muscat, Oman - could easily compete for the title of world’s ugliest. After all, while each beautiful airport is beautiful in its own way, the ugly ones blend together in a fog of beige paint and low-hanging acoustic-tile ceilings. Some airports, however, stand out as particularly egregious. And in the course of narrowing our list - with help from an unscientific survey of design-savvy frequent fliers - a few things became clear. First, the worst offenders are ugly by choice rather than necessity: certain airports, like those in Bali and Sofia, Bulgaria, seem to have gone out of their way to acquire the uncanny placelessness that typifies the modern airport.

Second, pretty much everyone loathes the airport they use the most. For New Yorkers, that’s JFK. “I am sure there are worse airports, but New York should have one of the best,” argues Paola Antonelli, design curator for the Museum of Modern Art. For Angelenos, it’s LAX: “spread out, incoherent, and mean,” complains Silver Lake–based photo rep Maren Levinson. Frederico Duarte, a tastemaker from Lisbon, decries the faux granite and giant Martini & Rossi ads of his hometown airport, while architect Johanna Grawunder, who regularly commutes between San Francisco and Milan, issued a cri de coeur about Milan’s Linate. This local loathing makes sense. Not only do travelers hate returning time and again to such chronic dysfunctionality and overwhelming dinginess, they’re also embarrassed that this is how others first encounter their beloved cities.

The Beauty Of Motherhood In The Animal Kingdom

Wonderful pictures. Human could learn from them....

Bizzare Insect - The Golden Tortoise Beetle

Shown here is the golden tortoise beetle - a tiny, metallic North American insect that belongs to the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, which includes the flea beetles, asparagus beetles and longhorn beetles

World's Most Beautiful Airports

Flight delays are less painful inside a gorgeous, well-designed airport.

From January 2010 By Karrie Jacobs

Envision a majestic space, two miles long, shaped like a dragon. Above, a flurry of reds and yellows color a dizzying mesh ceiling, backlit by the sun, and below, 50 million people pass each year. This building, one of the world's largest, is no palace or museum - it's Terminal 3 at Beijing International Airport.

Airports, of course, aren't always so glorious. Most often, they're merely utilitarian entry and exit points for travelers who may be too harried to notice the design. But a growing number of cities have spent lavishly, hiring starchitects to elevate the basic terminal-and-tower structure into a city's captivating gateway. This is especially true in Asia. Eager to demonstrate their affluence and technological mastery, countries like China and South Korea have led the world in the construction of gargantuan new facilities that are unparalleled in their architectural style and engineering. "Airports are a national symbol, therefore no expense is spared to make sure mine is better than yours," says architect Ron Steinert, an airport expert with the international architecture firm Gensler.

Cool DoorStops

A door may be stopped by a door stop which is simply a heavy solid object, such as a rubber, placed in the path of the door. These stops are predominantly improvised. Historically, lead bricks have been popular choices when available. However, as the toxic nature of lead has been revealed, this use has been strongly discouraged.

Mount Roraima: An Island Forgotten By Time

Deep within the heart of Venezuela’s dark and mysterious jungle lie islands, not islands that have coconut laden palm trees swaying in the warm summer breeze or crystaline blue water lapping backwards and forwards onto white sandy beaches, but isolated islands of sandstone forgotten by time. The majestic Mount Roraima is the highest mountain in the Pacaraima Mountains. Roraima lies on the three borders of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana. The mountain is part of Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Angels Falls is also part of this beautiful park. Mount Roraima’s highest point is Maverick Rock at 2,810 meters (9,219 feet), and the whole of Mount Roraima’s fairly flat top surface area is surrounded by 400+ meter (1,312+ feet) high sheer cliffs. Mount Roraima can be climbed, though all routes besides the Paraitepui route require technical climbing gear. Visitors can get a stunning view of Mount Roraima and the greater Canaima National Park from a memorable helicopter ride.

5 Strange Technologies That Might Have Been Covered Up

Ever hear about the many water-powered vehicles? Or, what about the General Motors EV1, the world's first mass produced electric car that made its debut in 1996? Those are just two of the strange technologies that are alleged to have been suppressed by powerful person(s), companies, government, etc. Continue reading to see more.

Drunk People Yoga Positions

By Ramon

Beauties Before They Were Famous

Stars in the making

Most celebrities seem like they were born to be famous, so it’s hard to imagine them before they embarked on the road to stardom. But as these pictures show, some have undergone a major transformation along the way.

Charlize Theron

Actress Charlize Theron’s yearbook photo and attending the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.

Happy New Year 2013

To my friends and followers, I wish you all a Happy New year 2013.

It's time to welcome the new year with fresh hopes and fresh expectations. Forget the past; let those be history and lessons to us to improve ourselves in the coming year. Think ahead and plan your success...

Most-Complained-About International Airlines

This is a continuation of the previous article which discussed the most-complained-about US airlines. Here we’d be looking into the International carriers

From August 2011 By Everett Potter  

No. 1 - British Airways

65 complaints

Passengers were most annoyed about issues with baggage (22 complaints) and then refunds. The number is up from 61 complaints over the same period in 2010.

Most-Complained-About US Airlines

From August 2011 By Everett Potter

Lost luggage and rude attendants may make you want to scream. Here are the U.S. airlines that people complained about the most.

When Andrew Schrage discovered that his seatback TV wasn’t working on his JetBlue flight from Chicago to Boston, he didn’t wait until he landed to complain to the airline. Schrage, an editor at the website MoneyCrashers.com, tweeted @JetBlue before the plane took off, and the airline responded - with a $50 voucher.

Twitter may be changing how we complain to the airlines, but there’s still a lot to complain about. According to the latest Department of Transportation (DOT) report, the agency received nearly 3,600 complaints about airlines from January to June, 2011. That’s a lot of complaints, even if it is an improvement from the nearly 4,000 received over the same period last year. Not surprisingly, complaints about flight delays and cancellations, rude or incompetent service, and baggage handling led the list.

But what these stats don’t tell you is that legions of consumers are now voicing their complaints directly with the airlines via Twitter. And the airlines - or at least some of them - are listening, responding, and in some cases being proactive and fixing the issues. Stephanie Dressler, a senior associate at Manhattan-based Montieth & Company, missed her Delta flight to Miami in August 2011 because of an exceptionally slow-moving check-in line at New York’s JFK. So she tweeted pictures of the line to her followers. By the time she arrived in Miami, Delta had apologized to her via Twitter, and on her way home she was upgraded to Delta priority - and coveted exit-row seats.

Clearly, it’s faster to broadcast a complaint in 140 characters or less than to call customer service or log a complaint with the DOT. But not all airlines are listening - some, like Skywest, have Twitter pages that are mere bookmarks. Others, like American Airlines, have eight rotating community managers on Twitter and receive 30,000 tweets per month, according to the airline’s social media communications director, Jonathan Pierce. Of course, anyone can tweet anything; lodging an official complaint with the DOT means you have a serious gripe. Here are the U.S. airlines the DOT says have had the most - and least - complaints.

6 Weird Transportation Methods

by: Mark Hill

Driving your car around town is pretty tedious, walking takes forever to get anywhere, biking or skateboarding makes anyone who isn’t a teenager look weird and public transit is full of hobos. Is there no method of everyday transportation that’s both efficient and enjoyable? Nope, there isn’t. Trust us, we checked. However, there are plenty of extremely weird methods that make up for their inefficiency with their complete lunacy. So the next time you’re stuck in an hour long traffic jam and the stereo in the car next to you is blasting “Dinosaur” on repeat, you should consider one of these alternatives.

10 Tallest Buildings In The World

On a cloudy day, we feel like flying up to the sky and touching the clouds. Well that might not be so impossible to do anymore! You can just go and stand on the top floor of one of these skyscrapers. From Burj Khalifa to Kingkey 100, here is the latest list of the Tallest Skyscapers in the World! 

Amazing Restaurant Near Waterfall

On very hot days you might visit this amazing restaurant near waterfall. Location is in Villa Escudero plantations and resort in San Pablo City, Philippines. Here people can sit on bamboo chairs near the beautiful waterfall. Air is very clean and fresh and while you are eating your legs are in pleasantly cold water. This place is great tourist destination and it is worth of visit and refreshening up. Here are some pictures that we have for you.

Most Bizarre Earrings

Enter into the world of fashion where anything and everything can be considered art, if presented correctly and at an appropriate time. Clothes are no longer seen as just attire, but a fashion statement.  Moreover, accessories have become a rage and complete an outfit. Without further ado, below is a list of the top 10 most bizarre earrings.

Bizarre Schools of the Third World

Published on 3/12/2008

Afghan girls go back to school

An Afghan girl learns the letters of the Dari alphabet on a blackboard in an outdoor classroom, during a lesson on the first day of the official school year in Kabul March 23, 2002. For the first time in six years schoolgirls, who were banned by the Taliban from getting an education are attending classes. (Photo by Natalie Behring)

Only In Africa

A collection of pictures taken that can only happen in Africa; some bizarre, some funny and others weird.

Nissan Land Glider – Electric Concept Car

With the concept of Land Glider, Nissan was leader of the competition for the most advanced concept car at Tokyo Motor Show. Car is able to automatically lean into the turns at 17 degrees. Also the Land Glider “Dutchman” is an electric drive powered by lithium-ion batteries. The steering wheel has been replaced with a “flight yoke”. The rear view mirrors have been replaced by cameras and monitors. The dashboard looks like it’s from a vehicle of the future. It’s all digital and looks astonishing!

Top 10 Most Peculiar Places In The World

Sealand: a micronation on the waters of the North Sea

Sealand is a micronation located six miles (10 km) off the coast of Suffolk, England. Sealand is occupied by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates. The population of the facility rarely exceeds five, and its inhabitable area is 550 m².

Although Sealand's claims to sovereignty and legitimacy are not recognized by any country, it is probably the world's best-known micronation, and is sometimes cited in debates as an interesting case study of how various principles of international law can be applied to a territorial dispute.