10 Most Beautiful Sacred Places in the World

In recent years, religious tourism is becoming increasingly popular. There are more and more of believers and the interest in religion is waking up. Religious places are very adorable, regardless of beliefs and religions that are being promoted out there. People come to these places to get closer to God, find faith, or cure for whatever ails them.

Beautiful nature

Top 10 Typography Crimes

Graphic design is a burgeoning industry. With the rise and ubiquity of the Internet in the last decade, web design especially has become prevalent. Other forms of graphic design include print, mobile, illustration, and typography. Typography refers to any design involving the arrangement of letters or alphabetical symbols in a space. Every design geek has taken a course in typography and knows the vast importance of it, yet basic type-crimes (errors or faux-pas in typography design) can still be seen virtually everywhere. While many are quick to dismiss the rules of graphic design, Ron L. Peters in his book Do Good Design emphasizes just how important good design is in our society: “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future. Design is therefore responsible for the world our children will live in.” Practicing good design is of utmost importance, and good typography is crucial to good design as a whole. This list takes a look at 10 commonly occurring type-crimes:

(Note: to clear up further confusion, a “font” is a specific weight or style such as Arial 16 Bold, whereas “typeface” refers to the broader, all-encompassing Arial).

The Pros and Cons of Freelancing

The graphic, made as a collaboration between JESS3 and 24Seven, gives a good idea as to what potential freelancers can expect coming into this particular field, both the good and the bad.

The main reason many freelancers gave for their job happiness is the salary, which is not surprising since freelancers are expecting a 55% increase in pay this year. That pay bump combined with the freedom of their schedule and other benefits adds up to a pretty sweet-sounding job.

On the other hand, many freelancers also find it difficult to stay relevant, and it’s not like they’re totally off the hook on their schedule; they still have the same grueling deadlines as folks with traditional writing occupations. Thanks to these factors, writers who are in their first year of freelance work are often more likely to accept traditional employment versus people who have been freelancing for many years.

So if you’re a writer, freelancing could be a great experience for you or it might not be so great, but either way it definitely sounds like quite an experience and something you’ll remember for a long time.

For more info on the ups and downs of freelance writing refer to the infographic below. [Via]

The Widest Street in the World

9 de Julio Avenue (or Avenida 9 de Julio, in the local tongue) in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, is not just any street. Nine lanes wide, with gardened medians between the opposing flow of traffic, this is the widest street in the world. Only those with a quick pace and long legs will be lucky to get to the other side before the traffic lights at the intersection changes. A pedestrian crossing this street usually requires a few extra minutes and two to three traffic light rotations. 9 de Julio Avenue is only 1 km long but 110 meters wide.

The avenue's unusual width is because it spans an entire city block, the distance between two streets in the checkerboard pattern used in Buenos Aires. The avenue runs to the west of the Río de la Plata waterfront, from the Retiro district in the north to Constitución station in the south. It has up to seven lanes in each direction and is flanked on either side by parallel streets of two lanes each.

The street runs far in both directions and connects the unique sections of the metropolis. Some of Buenos Aires’ main landmarks can be seen along the way; most notably, the Obelisk, that sits in the middle of 9 de Julio, the original French Embassy, the statue of Don Quixote, the Teatro Colon and the former Ministry of Communications building - the only building that sits on the avenue itself at the intersection with Moreno street.

The Most Confusing Traffic Junction

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England, constructed in 1972, is the most brilliant and at the same time, the most confusing roundabout ever built. The roundabout, named after the popular children's television series by the same name, is located near the County Ground and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. At first sight, it might appear to confuse or amuse new visitors and certainly baffle tourists but once you understand how the roundabout works you will realize how revolutionary the idea is.

Before the roundabout was built, the area had been a motorist's nightmare which routinely failed to handle the volume of traffic which converged on it from five directions. The British Transport and Road Research Laboratory then came up with a brilliant solution.

All they did was combine two roundabouts in one - the first roundabout sends traffic rotating clockwise and the second roundabout, which revolves inside the first, sends traffic anti-clockwise. Vehicles can enter or exit the inner roundabout using any of the five mini roundabouts placed at appropriate positions. The Magic Roundabout is so efficient that the average Swindonian can find his or her passage through one of the town's busiest junctions with ease even at peak times. Forty years on, the Magic Roundabout still works, despite ever-increasing volumes of traffic.

Beautiful Black & White Storm Photography by Mitch Dobrowner

California-based photographer Mitch Dobrowner began shooting “Storms” in 2009 as an experiment to photograph the dramatic thunderstorms happening across the Great Plains and what is known as Tornado Alley. Dobrowner has since traveled more than 19,000 miles over 14 different states in the pursuit of the most extreme weather he can find.

“The goal is to capture the structure of supercell thunderstorms, the feeling of standing in wind gusts breaching 50 MPH, the lightning, the rumble of hail. I’ve never seen anything like these storms before. . . . They are born everyday, they fight against their environment to stay alive, change their form as they age, they lose their strength, and eventually they die. The hope is that the images presented communicate how I feel while standing in front of these amazing forces of nature.”

Mitch Dobrowner has just won the 2012 Sony’s World Photographer of the Year award with his stunning Storms series. Dobrowner’s extraordinary black and white photos of brooding skylines pregnant with impending storms defeated over 112,000 rival images that were submitted from 171 different countries.

One Rupee Note Rare Image In 1917

HOW TO THINK ?

Moishe the Carpenter, returning home with his week’s wages,
was accosted by an armed robber on a deserted street.

“Take my money,” said Moishe, “but do me a favour: “Shoot a bullet through
 my hat otherwise my wife won’t believe I was robbed.”

The robber obliged. 
  
He threw Moishe’s hat into the air and put a bullet through it.

“Let’s make it look as if I ran into a gang of robbers,” said Moishe,
 “otherwise my wife will call me a coward! Please shoot a number
of holes through my coat.”

So the robber shot a number of holes through the carpenter’s coat.
“And now…” continued Moishe.

“Sorry,” interrupted the robber. 
  
“No more holes. I’m out of bullets.”

“That’s all I wanted to know!” said Moishe. 

“Now hand me back my money and some more for the hat and coat that you’ve ruined or
 I’ll beat you black and blue!”

The robber threw down the money and ran.

Moral: 

It's never too late to use our brains to get out of a difficult situation!! 

World's Most Expensive License Plate

This No. plate is not made of solid gold - just ordinary aluminum. But it does come with the swagger of being labeled no. "1". And that's evidently worth a record $14.3 million.

India's Lake Palace lost its lake

Once it was one of the most beautiful hotels in the world.
A lot of celebrities have visited the Lake Palace over the years.
But now the lake is gone and the owners of the hotel have no idea how to fix it.

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Green Natural Wallpaper

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amazing melanistic animals

What exactly does melanistic mean when it comes to animals? The word melanistic comes from the word melanosis Dark coloration of the skin, hair, fur, or feathers because of a high concentration of melanin. Therefore, these animals have dark fur and feathers what is not common among their species. These are some of the most amazing melanistic animals.

The Universe Top To Bottom: The Scale of Our Solar System

I’ve been taking summer school courses in Astronomy this summer and boy has it been an eye-opener. Learning about the composition of stars, planets, and pretty much everything in the known universe has been fascinating to me. It’s hard to imagine and put into perspective just how vast (and mostly empty) our entire universe is, but this infographic at least sheds some light on just how big our solar system is.

From the rocky terrestrial Planets – heated craters of Mercury, hellish Venus, familiar Earth, and the faded glory of Mars – to the Gaseous Jovian Planets – giant Jupiter, beautiful Saturn, sideways Uranus and lonely Neptune – all the way out toward the Dwarf Planets – the club member Pluto all the way out to Eris, our furthest reaching planet orbiting the sun (taking almost 557 Earth years to complete one full orbit!). Our Solar System in itself is quite a journey. Launched almost 35 years ago, the Voyager 1 probe has traveled past our planets and beyond, but not even come close to one light-year away (distance at which light travels in one year) from Earth. Though, with probes like Voyager and it’s subsequent companions, we are now able to scan much more of the universe than ever before. It’ll only a matter of time before we finally find an extraterrestrial planet like our own. [Via]

Only for U

anti asthama foods

TOP 12 ANTI-ASTHMA FOODS

There might not be a perfect cure for asthma, but we can find many superfoods with a nutrient profile that is particularly well suited for preventing and alleviating asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing and chest tightness. Let’s take a look at 12 such foods and their asthma fighting qualities.

“Team Work”

Prettiest City Halls Of The World

In local government, a city hall, town hall or (more rarely) a municipal building or civic center, is the chief administrative building of a city town or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments, and their employees. It also usually functions as the base of the mayor of a city, town, borough, or county. As symbols of local government, city and town halls have distinctive architecture, and the buildings may have great historical significance – for example the Guildhall, London. City hall buildings may also serve as cultural icons that symbolize their cities as is the case with Toronto City Hall, Brussels Town Hall, Philadelphia City Hall, and Los Angeles City Hall, that have been featured in Hollywood films.

Valencia City Hall

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'नग्नता' में पवित्रता

भारत को मंदिरों का देश कहा जाता है। यहां पूरी दुनिया में सबसे ज्यादा हिन्दुओं की आबादी रहती है। धर्म में आस्था रखने वाले लोगों के लिए मंदिर पूज्यनीय होते हैं। परंपरा के मुताबिक हर मंदिर में एक भगवान की प्रतिमा होती है, जिसकी पूजा श्रद्घालु करते हैं। 
 
मंदिरों की इस श्रृखंला के बीच कई ऐसे भी मंदिर हैं जो मंदिर के परंपरागत स्वरूप को तोड़ते हैं। ये सभी मंदिर परंपरा और इतिहास से भिन्न हैं। कहीं नग्नता को ही पवित्रता माना जाता है, तो कहीं परंपरा से परे आस्था को तरहीज दी जाती है।
 
आइए ऐसे ही कुछ भारतीय मंदिरों पर नजर डालते हैं-
 1- खजुराहो मंदिर, मध्यप्रदेश 
2- वाइटल ड्यूल मंदिर, उड़ीसा 
3- दशानन रावण मंदिर, कानपुर, यूपी 
4- डॉग टेम्पल, कर्नाटक 
5- सहसराक्षी मेरु मंदिर, आंध्र प्रदेश 
6- राजारानी मंदिर, भुवनेश्वर

रहस्य, रोमांच और कौतूहल से भरी 10 गुफाएं

इंसान जब सभ्य होने लगा तो उसे रहने की चिंता सताई। कभी पड़ों पर रहने वाले इंसानों ने पहाड़ों में बने गुफाओं को अपना घर बनाना शुरू किया। प्राकृतिक रूप से बनी ये गुफाएं उन्हें रोमांचित करती रहती थी। इसकी खोज में भटकते-भटकते उन्होंने कई गुफाओं की खोज कर ली। इनमें रहने के अलावा अपनी आस्था के मुताबिक मंदिर स्थापित किए। उनमें चित्रकारी की। इसका प्रमाण आज भी मौजूद है। 
रहस्य, रोमांच और आध्यात्म को प्रदर्शित करती ये गुफाएं आज भी इंसानों को लुभाती हैं। यही कारण है कि प्राकृतिक गुफाओं के अलावा कृत्रिम गुफाओं का भी निर्माण किया गया है। प्रमाणों के मुताबिक, सर्वप्रथम मानव निर्मित गुफाओं का निर्माण दूसरी शताब्दी ई.पू. के आसपास हुआ था।
आइए रहस्य, रोमांच और आध्यात्म को प्रदर्शित करती ऐसे ही कुछ गुफाओं को तस्वीरों के माध्यम से जानते और समझते हैं-
 

1- अजंता और एलोरा की गुफाएं, महाराष्ट्र
2- एलिफैंट आइसलैंड केव, महाराष्ट्र
3- बादामी, कर्नाटक
4- उदयगिरि और खंदागिरी की गुफाएं, उड़ीसा
5- ताबू गुफाएं, हिमाचल प्रदेश
6- मेघालय की गुफाएं
7- अमरनाथ गुफा, जम्मू और कश्मीर की गुफाएं
8- अंदावली और मोगलाराजपुरम की गुफाएं, आंध्र प्रदेश
9- त्रिची रॉक फोर्ट और पल्लवा की गुफाएं, तमिलनाडू
10- दुंगेश्वर गुफा मंदिर, बिहार

प्रकृति के 5 अद्भुत चमत्कार

पूरी दुनिया में प्राकृतिक नजारों को देख कर बरबस ऐसा लगता है कि इस धरती से परे कोई शक्ति हमें संचालित करती है। हमारा ख्याल रखती है। दुनिया के कोने-कोने में हमें यह अद्भुत नजारा देखने को मिलता है। पेड़-पौधे, पत्तियां, नदीं, झील, झरने और पहाड़ सबकुछ प्रकृति का दिया अनमोल तोहफा है।

भारत के सभी राज्यों में प्रकृति की छटा देखने को मिलती है।
1- मनीकरन, हिमाचल
2- बोर्रा गुफा, आंध्र प्रदेश
3- मैगनेटिक हिल, लद्दाख 
4- अमरनाथ मंदिर, जम्मू-कश्मीर 
5- लिविंग रूट ब्रिज, चेरापूंजी

टाट वाले बाबा

गठा हुआ लंबा शरीर। धरती को छूते लंबे-लंबे भूरे बाल। ओज से चमकता चेहरा। बुढ़ापे में भी जवानी जैसा जोश। जी हां, हम बात कर रहे हैं टाट वाले बाबा की। उनकी योग शक्ति से आज दुनिया भले ही अनजान है, लेकिन उनकी उपलब्धियां और शक्तियां बहुत महत्वपूर्ण थीं। टाट वाले बाबा का जन्म पंजाब के एक मध्यवर्गीय परिवार में हुआ था। बचपन में परिवारिक परिस्थितियों के कारण वह अधिक शिक्षा ग्रहण नहीं कर पाए थे। 9 साल की उम्र में वह योग और ध्यान करने लगे। बड़े होने पर उनकी शारीरिक बनावट देख कर मित्रों ने आर्मी ज्वाइन करने का सुझाव दिया। वह मान गए और आर्मी ज्वाइन कर ली, लेकिन उनको आर्मी का जीवन रास नहीं आया। उन्होंने दो महीने बाद ही इस्तीफा दे दिया और साधुओं की तरह जीवन जीने लगे।

अजीबो-गरीब मंदिर

भारत के ये सात आश्चर्य

 पर्यटन मंत्रालय द्वारा पिछले साल कराए गए एक राष्ट्रव्यापी सर्वेक्षण के तहत सूर्य मंदिर, मीनाक्षी मंदिर, तवांग मठ, जैसलमेर दुर्ग और नालंदा विश्वविद्यालय को भारत के सात आश्चर्यजनक स्थलों के रूप में चिह्नित किया गया था। पर्यटन मंत्रालय के अतुल्य भारत अभियान के तहत इन सात आश्चर्यजनक स्थलों की घोषणा की गई थी।

डरावने टूरिस्ट स्पॉट्स

हिल ऑफ क्रॉसेस (लिथुआनिया) - द हिल ऑफ क्रॉसेस लिथुआनियन के छोटे औद्योगिक शहर सियाउलई से 12 किलोमीटर की दूरी पर स्थित है। छोटी पहाड़ी पर हजारों की सख्या में लगे हुए क्रॉस यहां की पहचान हैं। यह बता पाना मुश्किल है कि यहां पहला क्रॉस किसने लगाया था। यह कहा जाता है कि 20वीं शताब्दी मे कम्युनिस्टों द्वारा इस पहाड़ी को नष्ट करने की कोशिश की गई थी और सभी क्रॉस हटा दिए गए थे, लेकिन जल्द ही हजारों की संख्या में क्रॉस फिर से लगा दिए गए। यहां का दृश्य काफी खौफनाक और डरावना लगता है

मथुरा में यमुना तीरे रहने वाले देवराहा बाबा

 

मथुरा में यमुना तीरे रहने वाले देवराहा बाबा को एक चमत्कारी और अवतारी व्यक्ति के रूप में जाना जाता है। कहा जाता है कि जून सन् 1990 में समाधि पर जाने से पहले इस सिद्ध बाबा ने 500 साल तक अपना जीवन जीया था। उनका संभावित जन्म सन् 1477 में हुआ था।