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Burj Al Arab

5:44 AM | Labels:



Set in a sail-shaped 300 metre building, Burj Al Arab offers luxurious suites with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Dubai coastline. It features a full-service spa and 6 restaurants.
Decorated in warm colours and rich fabrics, each suite has panoramic views of the Arabic Gulf. Each one has a spacious dining area which can seat 4-6 people.
The Oyster Shell, which has an expansive glass wall looking into the aquarium, serves seafood specialities. Light snacks, whiskey tastings and a selection of cigars are available at Juna Lounge.
The property has access to its own beach which is fitted with parasols and comfortable sun loungers. It also offers unlimited access to the watersports activities at Wild Wadi Waterpark.
Guests can make use of the 24-hour butler service which caters to their various needs. Burj Al Arab provides a private shopping assistant to all its guests.
Burj Al Arab is a 5-minute walk away from Wild Wadi Park. It is a 15-minute walk away from Souk Madinat.
Hotel Rooms: 202. Hotel Chain: Jumeirah.

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Posted by zahid abbas

10 Inventions That Changed Your World

8:53 PM | Labels:


Apple II computer; Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
“Necessity is the mother of invention,” someone, possibly Plato, once said. And, in a new article for Britannica, the science writer and documentary producer James Burke, describes the variable characteristics of inventors.
They are observant, as in George de Mestral seeing tiny hooks on the burrs clinging to his hunting jacket and then inventing Velcro. They do it for money. They solve puzzles. They stumble upon it by chance or it may be unintended. But, most of all, “inventors are dogged,” says Burke, who goes on to say:
The American inventor Thomas Edison, who tested thousands of materials before he chose bamboo to make the carbon filament for his incandescent lightbulb, described his work as “one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” At his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J., Edison’s approach was to identify a potential gap in the market and fill it with an invention. His workers were told, “There’s a way to do it better. Find it.”
Everyone has their own list of great inventors and inventions, but here are 10 of the top inventions of all time that changed the world, according to Rob Curley, Britannica’s senior science editor, who compiled a mammoth table of inventions in Britannica that lists many other inventors and inventions.
1. Stone tools, by Homo habilis some 2 million years ago
2. Dageurreotype (the first successful photograph), by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in 1839
3. Saxophone (combining a reed mouthpiece with a brass bell),  by Antoine-Joseph Sax in 1842
4. Bessemer process ( made steel cheap and plentiful), by Henry Bessemer in 1856
5. Celluloid (the first plastic), by John Wesley Hyatt in 1870
6. Edison cylinder phonograph (brought music to the masses), by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877
7. Wright flyer of 1903 (showed flight could be controlled), by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903
8. Iconoscope television camera and Kinescope receiver (made electronic television possible), byVladimir Kosma Zworykin in the 1920s
9. Integrated circuit (made modern electronics possible), by Jack Kilby in 1958
10. Apple II personal computer (started the PC revolution), by Stephen Wozniak in 1977
Some pretty lofty achievements—the step pyramid, the automobile, Pasteurization, the Internet, and even basketball, just to name a few—didn’t make the cut. What would be in your top 10?
And, incidentally, no single table can list all the inventions of the world. But if you notice any we’ve missed that you think ought to make the grade, let us know, and we can consider it for inclusion.

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Posted by zahid abbas

Israeli Invention Helps Elderly Vision

8:48 PM | Labels:


Visioncare, an Israeli science company has once again brought the State of Israel to the forefront in technological development by creating the only solution for end-stage AMD, the most common form of blindness found in the elderly. Visioncare has invented a tiny pea-sized telescope implant that is placed inside the patient’s eye, which in return enlarges the central vision images over the damaged area allowing the patient to use the eye to provide peripheral vision for mobility. This development in technology has been described by an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Kathryn A. Colby, as “a breakthrough technology” and will be introduced in both the United States and UK in the near future. (Israel21c.org)

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Drill Baby Drill!

8:47 PM | Labels:

Who would of ever thought that Israel, a tiny country the size of New Jersey, which was bereft of all
natural resources would be in the process of becoming not just self sufficient in the energy sector but
an exporter as well in the beginning of 21st century. Besides some Christians (the Bible states that Israel
has large amounts of petroleum deposits which the finding of will cause attacks on Israel and create the
final battle of Armageddon) no one thought it would be possible. However Israel proves ones again what
genius and innovative Jewish brain can accomplish.

I am speaking of the natural gas reserves found off shore of Haifa (a major city in Israel). This discovery
was made by a Texas based oil and gas producer called Noble Energy along with 3 other Israeli
companies which are Delek Drilling, Avner Oil and Gas and Ratio Oil Exploration. The first natural gas
reserve that was found in 2009 was Tamar. Tamar is 56 miles off shore of Haifa. It was thought that it
contained 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas but the later findings proved that it contained even more,
8.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Everyone involved and Israel supporters were quite thrilled with
this finding however there were more grand surprises to come especially when the Leviathan field was
discovered. The Leviathan gas field is 81 miles out to sea from Israel and the findings there were of
astounding amounts, 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to be exact. These findings were the largest
that the world has seen in a decade.

To put this into perspective we have to realize that Israel spends 5% of its GDP on importing natural
resources. It is surrounded by countries which are overflowing with natural resources which in theory
they can provide to this small but mighty Jewish state but because they view it as an enemy they refuse
to supply it. Therefore Israel has to go through other countries/continents to acquire the resources it
requires which obviously adds on to the cost and time. It is interesting to note a point in time in history
when Israel did not have to spend this chunk of its GDP on natural resources, that was during Israel’s
rule over the Sinai Peninsula. Israel had control over the Sinai Peninsula after the 6 Day War, in 1967,
until the peace Treaty that it signed with Egypt in 1979. By giving up Sinai Peninsula for peace (which is
shaky and can end at any moment in time) Israel gave up approximately over 100 billion dollars in oil.
Needless to say, the Sinai Peninsula has an exuberant amount of oil reserves.

It is estimated that the time needed to build the pipelines to on shore facilities will take a few years.
Tamar is scheduled to start producing gas in the year 2013, while Leviathan is scheduled to start
production in 2016. However full scale production is set to take place in 2020. This will not only make
Israel self sufficient but it will become an exporter of natural gas. Experts have predicted that these
incredible discoveries will add 300 billion dollars to the Israeli economy overtime which is 150% of its
GDP which will double Israel’s account surplus.

Another major issue to be decided by the Israeli government is the amount of taxes to be levied on the
energy companies involved. When this discovery was found Israel’s taxes on oil was just at 30%, the
same that it has been since 1952. This percentage was extremely low compared to what other countries

in the OECD charged. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu created a committee called the Sheshinski
committee (headed by Eytan Sheshinksi who is a distinguished economist) to come to a conclusion as to
what tax percentage Israel should charge for drilling the reserves. The final decision was a tax hike to
62%, the average tax levied by other OECD counties. This tax was approved by the Israeli cabinet.

We should rejoice in this phenomenal discovery. This will minimize Israel’s reliance on other countries
and it will increase its wealth. What a phenomenal country that is just 62 years old. In the words of
Sarah Palin “Drill baby drill!”

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Posted by zahid abbas

66 YEARS AGO TODAY - Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated

8:46 PM | Labels:


The Auschwitz main camp, the Birkenau death camp and the Monowitz labor camp were liberated by soldiers of the Soviet Union in the First Army of the Ukrainian Front, under the command of Marshal Koniev, on January 27, 1945. 
 
May we do everything in our power to keep this in our memory and never let such an atrocity happen again.
 
 
EACH OF US HAS A NAME - ZELDA
 
Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parents

Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear

Each of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our walls

Each of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors

Each of us has a name
given by our sins
and given by our longing

Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love
 
Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work

Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness

Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death.

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Muslim Mothers of Invention

8:43 PM | Labels:


I was going to write an essay about the Muslim inventors showcase 1001 Inventions–the big, splashy exhibit at the New York Hall of Science till April–but then there was a massacre in Tucson. Since the attempt onCongresswoman Giffords’ life called to mind the ghastly and vicious intolerance that has come to describe American political discourse (no, I’m not blaming Caribou Barbie’s insane target map, though there’s a reason why she popped into everyone’s head when the catastrophe happened), I thought I might use the public’s positive reaction to 1001 Inventions as an example of tolerance. How long that tolerance is going to last I don’t know.
According to 1001 Inventions, while Europe was weltering in what they call the Dark Ages, Muslims from Spain to China were inventing just about everything. Then, for some reason, everyone forgot this, and a few centuries later Europeans reinvented the same stuff.
Some of the Muslim inventors were women, as back in the day the thorough education of boys and girls was encouraged.
  • Fatima Al Fihri founded Al Qarawiyin, one of the great universities in Fes, Morocco. The university is still in existence.
  • Merriam al-Ijliyah al-Astrulabi hand-crafted astrolabes for the ruler of Aleppo in northern Syria, so necessary for navigation and to keep track of prayer times.
  • Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wasn’t a Muslim, but she learned about rudimentary inoculations against smallpox in Turkey, where her husband was ambassador, and brought the technique back to England. There’s a reproduction of Charles Jervas’ quirky portrait of her, where she wears what she might have interpreted as harem threads.
Best of all, the exhibit is giddily interactive. Actors, dressed in traditional Muslim costumes, walk around and gently waylay visitors, relating their stories and answering questions. Videos of the various inventors, played by some of the same actors, beckon the viewer like vendors in a market till you mash a button, pick up the telephone and listen to their stories.
Best of all, there are no anti-Muslim picketers, much less wingnut Islamaphobes. Only fascinated children and their parents, who might just learn something. All’s well.

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American Innovation: 13 Born-in-the-USA inventions

8:39 PM | Labels:


There is a long history of innovation in America's relatively short existence; from lone inventors experimenting in garages to collaborating and competing with international scientists. Many of the following 13 inventions have become fixtures in daily life.
- Geoff Johnson, Contributor, Leigh Montgomery, Staff
Enlarge
A wood engraving from 1865, showing Eli Whitney's 'saw-gin' for cleaning cotton. (Newscom)

Cotton Gin

On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney patented his invention, the cotton gin (“gin” being short for engine). The machine succeeded in making the growing of cotton profitable for farmers in the south by speeding up the separation of the cotton bolls (the fluffy part) from the seeds.
The unforeseen side effect of Whitney’s invention was that it made Southerners want to grow more cotton on larger plantations, and thus, bring more African slaves in to pick it. Between 1790 and 1808, when it became illegal to import African slaves, 80,000 slaves were brought to the American South.

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