Monday, May 10, 2010

The Petronas Twin Towers




Situated in the Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia sits the Petronas Twin Towers. The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world. Designed by Argentine architects César Pelli and Djay Cerico under the consultancy of Julius Gold, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after a seven year build and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion

The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements) Due to a lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation than a comparable steel building. The overall cost of this building was 1.6 billion dollars

The towers feature a skybridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world. It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds. The bridge is 170 meters above the ground and 58 meters long, weighing 750 tons. The same floor is also known as the podium, since visitors desiring to go to higher levels have to change elevators here. The skybridge is open to all visitors, but free passes (limited to 1700 people per day) must be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors are only allowed on the 41st floor as the 42nd floor can only be used by the tenants of the building. The skybridge also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower

Next to the Petronas Twin Towers is the premier shopping mall of Kuala Lumpur City Center - Suria KLCC. The design of the mall utilizes maximum skylight form the spacious center court for natural lighting, to befit the name Suria KLCC (Suria means sunshine). Its huge 6-level crescent shaped shopping mall contains over 200 shops of specialty stores, 3 departmental stores, fashion boutiques, cinemas, a 1200-seat food court on the second floor and a 300-seat local food court and theme restaurants on the fourth floor. At the ground floor of Suria KLCC there are several cafes facing the beautiful KLCC Park

Outside Suria KLCC is the 20-hectare KLCC Park. The KLCC Park includes a Symphony Lake with its 2 playful musical fountains at the esplanade just outside Suria KLCC. A 2-acre kiddie playground with colourful child-safe play equipment, a public wadding pool, patterned footpaths and a soft and well design jogging track. Close to 2000 indigenous trees from 74 species are planted in the KLCC park.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Wireless Electricity: The Wave of The Future.



I'm sure many of you have heard of the latest PowerMat which is a product that charges your cellphones and electronics without plugging it in but just placing it on the mat but the technology has actually found a wider range and more significant place in the future of our lives. I actually stumbled upon it when i was looking for possible things to invest in should the chance come up.

Wireless electricity or WiTricity as christened by the MIT developers is a new method of delivering electricity. It works like your wireless internet router. The router/wireless unit sends out the signal/electricity to the receiver/appliance. Marin Soljačić an assistant professor at MIT actually developed the idea when one night he couldn't sleep because his wife's cellphone wouldn't stop beeping because it was low on battery. He thought to himself wouldn't it be wonderful if the phone could charge itself? So he set out to find out ways he could make his idea come to life.

But the idea isn't something new, in the early 20th century inventor Nikola Tesla experimented with wireless electricity with success by transmitting energy over a 20 mile radius to various light bulbs along the way. The idea was shot down as at the time people didn't know the effects of the transmission on the health of people. Tesla is known as the father of electricity and is credited with the AC power that we use today. He had also invented the first radio but a court awarded the patent rights to Marconi. Tesla had worked on a wide range of invention that we use today but died a broke man.

Coming back to WiTiricity, it's concept is not based on long distance transmission but as of now works in the confines of our homes. The inventors are working on hiding the transmitters in the ceilings and walls of our houses and it will charge our electric cars, appliances and more. They have already successfully done it and it will only be a matter of time before it is available for mass consumers. Watch the video for a demonstration.

Here's what you missed at Matthew Boo Live



Well the gig was awesome and i'm happy that everyone there had a good time. I saw some really good acts so many talented people out there then i also saw some really bad acts. Some people need to know when to give up.

How'd i feel after taking the sage after a long time? I didn't get nervous because i thought i would but i remained calm and made sure i knew my stuff. Kinda miss those butterflies in my stomach. It's like the first time you rob someone. The first time always gets the adrenaline rushing it's almost like a high. Then after a few more robberies and a few arrests later you don't feel the adrenaline anymore thats when you know you have to move up to armed robbery so to speak.

All in it was a great experience and i had a good time. One funny thing did happen though. One of my friends said she heard someone "boo" me but i had to explain that it was another one of my friends that was actually calling out my last name. LOL.
I hope you enjoy the video.