ArtScience Museum:
Arty and LUCKY?
Source: AsiaOne
TO MANY fengshui practitioners, the new ArtScience Museum – one of the projects by the US$5.5 billion (S$7 billion) Marina Integrated Resort – which has three floors of gallery space and opens on Feb 17, may just be the luckiest place in Singapore. The New Paper spoke to five practitioners, who agreed that the design, which has a roof that collects rainwater, symbolises a collection of wealth.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
“The Lotus primarily absorbs wealth and water,” said Master Hui Jie of Hui Master International Geomancy. “Coincidentally, the casino and convention centre are behind the structure. That means that wealth is pouring in to these places.”
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
However, the fengshui master consulted on the project, Mrs Louisa Ong-Lee, had a different spin for the design. In comments made last year in The Straits Times, she said: “The museum is shaped like a lotus, appearing like an open palm with fingers representing a gesture of welcome as well as a gesture of giving back to society through opportunities, generosity and charity. The lotus is a flower with auspicious and divine meaning.”
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
OCULUS - Dish-like roof channels rainwater through the central atrium, creating a 35m waterfall into the reflecting pool at the lowest level of the building. Water is redirected through the water feature to create a continuous waterfall.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
LOBBY - Ground level: Surrounded by the 4,000 sq m lily pond, the glass- encased entrance on the ground level houses the ticketing booths.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
MAIN GALLERIES: Basement two - This level holds 8 main galleries and has the largest exhibition space (2,715 sq m) of any level in the museum.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
UPPER GALLERIES: On the 1,435 sq m third level, 10 galleries provide a walk-around viewing experience for travelling exhibitions.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
ARTSCIENCE GALLERIES: Fourth level (651 sq m) - The Museum’s largest “finger” extends 60m above ground. It will house the museum’s permanent exhibition: “A Journey Through Creativity"
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
"A Journey Through Creativity", found in the fourth level gallery, will allow visitors to follow the journeys of great artists and scientists across time and culture in a multimedia gallery, complete with lighting effects, sound and moving images.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
"A Journey Through Creativity", found in the fourth level gallery. will also feature an interactive gallery themed "Inspiration" with large suspended artifacts representing inventions that bridge art and science. Displays include Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine, a Kongming Lantern and a molecular model of a "Bucky-ball".Guests can recreate design projects on interactive touch screens and share them over the internet.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
GREEN FINGERS: Air stratification - Air-conditioning grills are built into the floor to cool only the air at the visitor's height, rather than the entire space.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
Natural lighting: Skylight at the finger tips illuminates interior walls without using too much electricity.
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen 
ADMISSION CHARGES: Adult - $30, Senior (65 years and above) - $27, Child (2-12 years) - $17
Infographics: Fadzil Hamzah, Simon Ang & Celestino Gulapa, Photos: ST, TNP / Text: TNP, Clarence Chen
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez
Catch Some NBA Finals Action
Written by Alicia on Jun-9-11 12:23am
Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks - Game Four (L-R) Kenny Hamilton and Singers Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez attend Game Four of the 2011 NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat at American Airlines Center on June 7, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. (Getty Images)
Some stars prefer to sit courtside when they catch NBA games, but not Justin Bieber. The Canadian pop phenom went the low-key route Tuesday evening in Dallas, choosing to watch Game Four of the 2011 NBA Finals from the relative privacy of a luxury suite. Girlfriend Selena Gomez — who is originally from Dallas — was in tow, of course.
The pair were photographed sharing a smooch or two during the game, even if Justin looked completely focused on the court. A source told People, "They were kissing and laughing while Selena sat on Justin's lap drinking a bottle of water. She was wildly cheering on the Mavericks while Justin pointed out great plays to her. They were very cute."
A few days ago, Selena admitted to E! Online's Marc Malkin that she's no fan of all the media attention she and Justin get: "It's horrible. It's just horrible." It's nice to see she's not letting her frustration get in the way of her PDA!(zimbio.com)
Kim Kardashian Steps Out with Her New Man!
Looks like Kim Kardashian has wasted no time nabbing herself a new man after calling it quits with model (and Halle Berry ex) Gabriel Aubry. The reality star was spotted out with NBA player Kris Humphries in NYC last night!
On the left: Kris Humphries (Getty) They partied together at Provocateur lounge in the Big Apple after Kim made an appearance at the Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden, where she canoodled with Justin Bieber backstage! Then it was off for some adult fun at the swanky NYC hotspot, where Kim K and Mr. Humphries apparently partied until 2am!
They tried hard not to be photographed together, but were unable to avoid the cameras as they were stepping foot into Kim's hotel after the evening's festivities drew to a close.
After splitting with on-again, off-again beau Reggie Bush earlier this year, Kim's dating a handful of gentleman, including NFL star Miles Austin. Looks like she's back on the pro athlete circuit after dating the model with Humphries, a 25-year-old player for the New Jersey Nets. However, Kim says she's not specifically looking for athletes, "I'd rather date someone with a good heart," she told Us magazine.
Source: zimbio
A Stylish Handset
ORIGINALLY released in December 2009, the Nokia 7020 combines a range of functionality with a flip style case. With features such as a built in digital camera and MSN Messenger, it's easy to see the appeal of this handset. The handset is now available in a sophisticated Graphite colour scheme.
Measuring 91.2x46.7x17.3mm, the 7020 weighs in at just 86.2 grams. Its light weight makes it comfortable to hold and use when the handset is opened to reveal the screen and keypad.
The 2.2 inch TFT screen is capable of displaying up to 256,000 colours ensuring bright, vibrant display of on screen content. A second display is located on the front of the handset whereby users can see information such as incoming caller info and the time without opening the screen.
Users are alerted to incoming calls and messages by vibration and ringing with the option to download polyphonic ringtones as well as utilizing MP3 music files as ringtones. A useful speaker phone system is included allowing hands free communication.
Internal memory is 45MB as standard; however a microSD slot is also present. This can be used to accommodate a memory card of up to 16 GB allowing plenty of extra storage of media files and other data.
The primary means of network connection with the Nokia 7020 Graphite is via class 32 versions of both GPRS and EDGE. Bluetooth Version 2.1 is installed as standard allowing direct transfer of files and data with other compatible handsets in the same vicinity.
The 7020 Graphite is equipped with a built in digital camera boasting 2MP. This operates at a pixel resolution of 1600x1200 pixels allowing photos of a reasonably high quality to be taken. As well as the ability to take still images, it can also shoot video in QVGA quality at a rate of 30 frames per second.
A media player is included which can play music and video files in MP3 and MP4 file formats respectively. Media files can easily be transferred to and from a computer by utilizing the built in micro USB (v2.0) port. Extra entertainment options include stereo FM radio playback and 9 pre-installed games with the option to download extra games if required.
Additional applications include an organizer, voice memo recorder, Nokia Maps, Windows Live Messenger and T9 predictive text input.
As well as the Graphite colour variant, Hot Pink, Silver and Blue versions complete the range so there is sure to be a colour to suit most tastes, especially amongst those who see their mobile phone as a fashion statement. While the Nokia 7020 is certainly no Smartphone, its range of features makes it ideal for everyday use, appealing to a wide range of users.
Compact Shadow Of The X10
The recently concluded 2010 Mobile World Congress had Sony Ericsson showcasing its latest Android smartphones starting with the miniaturized XPERIA X10 handsets. One of them, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini Pro, sports a QWERTY slider form factor that should live up to its "pro" designation albeit with a diminished feature seat we've known from the delayed X10.
Miniature Features
Nothing best exemplifies what a Mini is than the watered-down features of its Android derivatives.
Your 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon used in the X10 is now just 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 running the same Android Cupcake version with the UX user interface.
Sony could have done its markets a favour by using the later Android 2.0/2.1 Éclair.
Imaging resolution gets axed from a defining 8 megapixel camera to a plebeian 5 megapixel snapper with no image stabilization and touchfocus features on the X10. You still get autofocus, LED flash, geo tagging and video light. Its press release it is silent on the video recording details but it can't possibly be of the same WVGA resolution as that in the X10.
That's because you only get a QVGA 2.55-inch display, down from the X10's glorious 4-inch Wide-VGA display. At least you now get 16 million colors against the 64k colors on the X10, a gravity accelerometer and scratch resistant surface.
Phone memory almost disappears from a generous 1GB to just 128 MB in the Mini Pro but you still have microSD expandability of up to 16 GB.
Apart from those grossly diminished X10 features, the Mini Pro shares many other hardware and software goodies with the X10.
It's the same quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE on the 2G network and a 3G with dual band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA. Data connectivity gets WiFi 82.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP and microUSB 2,0. There's a built-in A-GPS, stereo FM receiver with RDS, Bluetooth A2DP and 3.5mm headphone jack for either wireless or wired headset listening.
On the software front, the Mini Pro has Timescape that aggregates all your communications and SNS updates on Facebook and Twitter in one location as well as Mediascape that draws together all your handset media content and those from the PlayNow music store and YouTube.
Conclusion
Sony Ericsson may have started a product strategy trend to affix the "pro" to create models with QWERTY sliders. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini Pro is just the first with the Vivaz Pro as second. Admittedly, its unabashed pretense to being a pro with a simple "pro" appended to the X10 Mini name is more of a caricature with a next to useless QWERTY keyboard.
Good of Sony to retain the virtual on screen QWERTY using a stylus for a faster keying of data. But admittedly, even a diminished X10 feature set makes the Minis a capable smartphone by any definition. It should attract a younger crowd who prefer smaller and more pocket-friendly.
Be A Rider With Affordable Slider
Samsung B3310 has come to relieve the people who have a desire to carry a gadget with stylish slider casing and QWERTY keypad. It has been launched by other name Samsung B3313 Corby Mate also and it has brought beautiful choices of Black, Pink, Blue & Green attires.
Let's know something more about this:
17 mm is the thickness of this pocket friendly tool in casing dimensions 91 x 54 mm and weight 101 grams. Slide out keypad is covered by the upper casing having 2.0 inches TFT display. Samsung B3310 is comfortable with the contents of 256K colors and can resolve them at 240 x 320 pixels to show you. This is a nice source for bringing happiness to the home and miles long smile through 2 MP camera with the functionality of video and image capturing. The camera is good for diversifying the objects at 1600x1200 pixels resolution efficiency.
More music more fun will be always in your pocket so enjoy the music on MP3 player and stereo FM radio that will keep you away from all problems. MP4, H.263 & H.264 videos on your Samsung B3310 will become live and you can have fun with games too.This affordable companion is really nice to other compatible sources and become more social by sharing data through GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth and USB resources. SMS, MMS and Email trio will be always there to transport your message with care. Moreover, Samsung B3310 is an intelligent tool as it can serve you the information of the world through WAP 2.0/xHTML web Browser.
Users will be glad to know that Samsung B3310 supports microSD so they can expand the memory according to the requirement while 40 MB internal memory is enough for the built-in applications. Li-Ion 800 mAh standard battery has been made to provide required power up to 5 hours for communication and for almost 380 hours on standby mode.
Noah's Ark Found in Turkey? 
Near the top of Mount Ararat (file photo) in Turkey, explorers claim to have found Noah's ark. (Photograph by Martin Gray, National Geographic)
A TEAM of evangelical Christian explorers claim they've found the remains of Noah's ark beneath snow and volcanic debris on Turkey's Mount Ararat.
But some archaeologists and historians are taking the latest claim that Noah's ark has been found about as seriously as they have past ones—which is to say not very.
"I don't know of any expedition that ever went looking for the ark and didn't find it," said Paul Zimansky, an archaeologist specializing in the Middle East at Stony Brook University in New York State.
Turkish and Chinese explorers from a group called Noah's Ark Ministries International made the latest discovery claim Monday in Hong Kong, where the group is based.
"It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it," Yeung Wing-cheung, a filmmaker accompanying the explorers, told The Daily Mail.
Noah's Ark Location in Turkey a Secret
The team claims to have found in 2007 and 2008 seven large wooden compartments buried at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, near the peak of Mount Ararat. They returned to the site with a film crew in October 2009.
Many Christians believe the mountain in Turkey is the final resting place of Noah's ark, which the Bible says protected Noah, his family, and pairs of every animal species on Earth during a divine deluge that wiped out most of humanity.
"The structure is partitioned into different spaces," said Noah's Ark Ministries International team member Man-fai Yuen in a statement. "We believe that the wooden structure we entered is the same structure recorded in historical accounts. ... "
The team says radiocarbon-dated wood taken from the discovery site—whose location they're keeping secret for now—shows the purported ark is about 4,800 years old, which coincides roughly with the time of Noah's flood implied by the Bible.
Ker Than
for National Geographic News
