Top Ten List

Top 10 Patriotic Movies

2011-07-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Looking for some movies to watch this Independence Day that will make you fiercely proud to be an American? Well look no further, because these films will have you bursting with so much patriotism that you’ll barely have room for any of that all-American barbequed meat.

10. The Patriot

This one could have clawed its way onto this list based on its name alone. But The Patriot’s patriotic merit goes a lot deeper than the title: Mel Gibson plays his usual character, the Formerly Peace-loving Family Man Driven to Revenge by Murder of Family Members, but in this case, the family-member murder occurs during the American Revolution. Of course, Mel is inspired to take up arms against his oppressors. Australian actors and historical inaccuracy aside, this movie will have you seized with old-fashioned patriotic fervor. Remember to calm yourself down before you talk to any British friends afterward.

9. Top Gun

There category of ‘patriotic military movies’ obviously contains a lot of completion: pretty much any movie involving both Americans and Nazis is a surefire bet for a pro-USA spin. But if you’re looking for something a bit more cheery than Saving Private Ryan for your Fourth of July celebration, you can’t go past Top Gun. While it has its downer moments, this military-themed movie is less about the horrors of war and more about lots of really awesome planes flying around doing cool stuff. The flying scenes are so good, even the Chinese couldn’t help but steal a bit of footage for one of their Air Force-related news broadcasts earlier this year.

8. Iron Man

Unfortunately, Captain America doesn’t come out in time for Independence Day 2011, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for an uber-patriotic superhero movie. You could watch the old version of Captain America that came out in 1990, in which our hero must rescue the President before an Italian Nazi can implant a mind-control device in his brain and use him as a puppet. Unfortunately, that movie kind of sucks, so instead you might want to go for Iron Man, in which all-American Tony Stark flies around killing terrorists and bad guys all over the world. Surely Tony Stark is the epitome of the American Dream – whether that’s a good thing or not is up to you to decide.

7. Rambo III

The Rambo franchise might have started off as a statement about veterans traumatized by the Vietnam War, but by Rambo III, it’s about a world in which a single American can show up in Afghanistan and immediately have the locals fighting to the death by his side. Rambo is also gifted with America-based superpowers: he can bring down helicopters with a bow and arrow, and easily outruns large fiery explosions. Sure it’s not realistic, but it’s an escape. And if fantasy Afghanistan ain’t your thing, you can always go for Sylvester Stallone’s other ode to America, Rocky IV, in which Rocky beats up a Communist while dressed in stars-and-stripes-patterned shorts.

6. Team America: World Police

Team America, about an elite group of Americans that fights terrorism around the world, is definitely not for everyone: it features, among other things, a puppet love scene that has scarred many viewers for life. But fans of its brand of humor will enjoy a movie that spares no aspect of American society, and yet also manages to make you kind of fond of it all, too. Sure, it’s a spoof on America’s arrogance and dumb action movies, but it also managed to give modern American patriotism an entirely new official anthem and a catchy new slogan: ‘America, F**k Yeah!’

5. Red Dawn

A plucky team of small-town teenagers gang up to fight against an unlikely invasion of small-town America by the Soviet Union and its allies, using only their wits, bravery and outdoorsman skills. Sure, it’s easy to make fun of Red Dawn, especially the scene where Harry Dean Stanton starts shouting “Avenge me, son! Avenge me!” for no particular reason. But the movie’s also kind of touching, and its patriotic power is undeniable. Red Dawn is currently being remade for the modern era, with America’s new attackers consisting of… North Korea. How can a small country that barely manages to feed its own population get all the way to America and launch an invasion, you ask? Well, a better question is this: how many ticket sales will be lost if angry North Koreans refuse to see the film? Exactly.

4. 300

But this movie isn’t even set in America, you cry! Sure, but in this adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic, ancient Sparta is pretty much a thinly veiled US of A. Both the comic and the film use the fight of the 300 Spartans against the forces of the Persian Empire to showcase modern America values like bravery, liberty, friendship, equality, and impressively sculpted abs. Sure, the real Spartans might have had some beliefs and practices that we Americans really wouldn’t have liked, but it’s better if you forget all that and just sit back and enjoy the fancy fighting.

3. Air Force One

How could we leave out a movie that features a tough-talking, gun-toting president taking down a bunch of terrorists? Harrison Ford plays an American president whose plane is hijacked by evil Soviets. Being both the president and Harrison Ford, he knows that he has no choice but to hunt them all down himself. For reality to live up to this, President Obama would have had to fly into Pakistan himself and personally punch Osama bin Laden to death, perhaps while uttering some sort of badass line like “Jihad this.”

2. Letters from Iwo Jima

At first, this might seem like an odd movie to include: the Clint Eastwood-directed film about Japanese troops in World War II isn’t just in another language; it’s from the viewpoint of a country that was at war with America. Probably only Clint Eastwood, who had built up his patriotic credit over a lifetime of appearing in movies like Heartbreak Ridge, could have got away with making this one. And that’s the funny part, because if you watch the movie carefully, you’ll see that in many ways it’s really about America. The main characters are all exposed to American values, and by the end of the movie they’ve come to realize that these values are in fact superior to those of warlike Imperial Japan. And Mr. Eastwood manages to do all this without getting insulting or preachy. Team it up with its companion film, Flags of Our Fathers, for a double dose of nostalgic patriotism.

1. Independence Day

It’s highly unlikely that any movie will ever be able to beat the scene in which a Marine played by Will Smith punches out an invading alien life form with the words “Welcome to EARTH.” Sure, Independence Day is incredibly silly and full of plot holes, from Mac-compatible alien computer viruses to Jeff Goldblum driving from New York to Washington DC in under six hours during a full-scale traffic apocalypse. But look past all that, and you’ll find a story of Americans putting aside their differences in order to unite and lead the world in defeating a great evil. And this is something that almost every American still wants to believe that we can do.

Top 10 Tallest Buildings Of The World

2011-04-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

10. Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai)

The Jin Mao Tower is 10th tallest skyscraper of the world. Jin Mao Tower literally “Golden Prosperity Building” is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof height and the seventh tallest by pinnacle height.

Top ten highest skyscrapers of the world, this list is ranked by structural height as vertical elevation from the base to the highest architectural or integral structural element of the building.

9. Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is 9th highest building of the world. The Trump International Hotel and Tower, also known as Trump Tower Chicago and locally as the Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The building, named after real estate developer Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Bovis Lend Lease built the 92-story structure, which reached a height of 1,389 feet (423 m) including its spire, its roof topping out at 1,170 feet (360 m). It is adjacent to the main branch of the Chicago River, with a view of the entry to Lake Michigan beyond a series of bridges over the river. The building received publicity when the winner of the first season of The Apprentice television show, Bill Rancic, chose to manage the construction of the tower.

8. Guangzhou West Tower (Guangzhou)

Being 8th highest building Guangzhou West Tower is an extremely tall public building. The energy efficiency evaluation of its façade should be different than that of ordinary public buildings. Based on the national code GB50189-2005, “Design Standard for Energy efficiency of Public Buildings”, typical meteorological yearly data for Guangzhou were used and revised according to architectural character of Guangzhou West Tower. The energy efficiency design of a single skin facade and active airflow curtain wall was analyzed by a dynamic energy simulation tool and modified weather data. The payback period of initial investment in the facade system was evaluated based on simulation results. In addition, the results confirm the façade system scheme of Guangzhou West Tower.

7. The Sears Tower (Willis Tower) - Chicago

Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story 1,451 feet (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York. Currently, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof. Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. However, in March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building’s naming rights as part of the agreement. On July 16, 2009, at 10:00 am Central Time, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower.

6. Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China

The Nanjing Greenland Financial Center is a 89-story, 450 meter (1500 foot) tall skyscraper being constructed in Nanjing, China. The tower is the fifth tallest building in the world and second tallest in china behind the Shanghai World Financial Center.The 72nd-story observation floor, at 287 meters (940 feet) off the ground, will offer a panoramic view of the city of Nanjing as well as the Yangtze River, the Ningzheng Ridge mountains and two nearby lakes.

5. Petronas Twin Towers (Kuala Lumpur)

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are twin towers and were the world’s tallest buildings, before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world’s tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).

4. International Commerce Centre (Hong Kong)

International Commerce Centre is a 118 floor, 484 m (1,590 ft) skyscraper under construction in West Kowloon, Hong Kong; as part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong’s metro operator and largest property developer respectively.
Top 10 Tallest Buildings Of The World

3. Shanghai World Financial Center (Shanghai)

Shanghai World Financial Center is a super-tall skyscraper in Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is a mixed use skyscraper which consists of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and shopping malls on the ground floors. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the hotel component containing 174 rooms and suites. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, it is the highest hotel in the world, surpassing the Grand Hyatt Shanghai on the 53rd to 87th floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower.

2. Taipei Financial Center Taipei 101 (Taipei)

Taipei 101 also known as the Taipei Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was the tallest building in the world (with occupiable floors) until it was surpassed in height by the Burj Khalifa on July 21, 2007. The skyscraper was officially the tallest building until the opening of the Burj Khalifa on the 4 of January 2010.
Top 10 Tallest Buildings Of The World

1. Burj Khalifa (Dubai)

Burj Khalifa formerly known as Burj Dubai, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010. The building is part of the 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Burj Khalifa at the “First Interchange” along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai’s main business district. The total cost for the Burj Khalifa project was about US$1.5 billion. The tower’s architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago. Adrian Smith, who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill until 2006, was the chief architect, and Bill Baker was the chief structural engineer for the project. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea, who also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers.

Top 10 Earning Blogs

2011-04-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

10. Venturebeat

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Owner : Matt Marshall

Posts: Venture Capital and startups

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9. Lifehacker

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Owner : Gina Trapani

Posts: Software Downloads, Tips

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8. Gothamist

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7. TutsPlus

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6. Smashing Magazine

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5. Timothysykes

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4. Techcrunch

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3. Perez Hilton

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2. Mashable

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1. The Huffington Post

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Owner : Arianna Huffington

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Top 10 Alien Movies | Top Ten Alien Movies

2011-04-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

10. Independence Day (1996)

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy. Fighting superior technology, Man's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum

9. Men in Black (1997)

Two men who keep an eye on aliens in New York City must try to save the world after the aliens threaten to blow it up.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Lowell Cunningham (comic), Ed Solomon (screen story),
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Linda Fiorentino

8. Predator (1987)

A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan
Writers: Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Kevin Peter Hall

7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel
Writers: Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay), Jack Finney (Collier's magazine serial)
Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter and Larry Gates

6. John Carpenters The Thing (1982)

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.
Director: John Carpenter
Writers: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Bill Lancaster (screenplay)
Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David

5. Close Encounter of the Third Kind (1977)

After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut and Teri Garr

4. District 9 (2009)

An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Stars: Sharlto Copley, David James and Jason Cope

3. Alien (1979)

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Dan O'Bannon (story), Ronald Shusett (story), and 1 more credit »
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt

2. E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

A group of Earth children help a stranded alien botanist return home.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Melissa Mathison
Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Peter Coyote

1. Aliens (1986)

The planet from Alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?
Director: James Cameron
Writers: James Cameron (story), David Giler (story), and 4 more credits »
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn

Top 10 Deadliest Creatures

2011-04-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

10. Poison Dart Frog

These pint sized frogs aren’t for kissing. Their backs ooze a slimy neurotoxin that is meant to keep predators away. Each frog produces enough of the toxin to kill 10 humans.

09. Cape Buffalo

When faced with a predator, cape buffalos charge head on. That’s 1,500 pounds of beast topped off with two big, sharp horns. You’re lucky if there’s only one – the real danger comes when a herd of thousands stampedes in your direction.

08. Polar Bear

Sure they might look cuddly at the zoo, but in the wild they eat elephant seals for breakfast. Get between one and its cub and it could easily rip off your head with one swipe of its giant paw.

07. Elephant

Not every elephant is as friendly as Dumbo. Elephants kill more than 500 people a year worldwide. African elephants generally weigh in around 16,000 pounds – all the better to stomp you with – not to mention their sharp tusks.

06. Australian Saltwater Crocodile

Don’t mistake this croc for a log! It can lay still in the water, waiting for passers by. Then, in the blink of an eye, it’ll lunge at prey, pulling it under water to drown and dismember

05. African Lion

Giant fangs? Check. Lightning quick? That too. Razor sharp claws? You betcha. Hungry? You better hope not. These big cats are near perfect hunters.

04. Great White Shark

Blood in the water can excite these sharks into a feeding frenzy, where they’ll use all 3,000 of their teeth to bite anything that moves

03. Australian Box Jellyfish

lso known as the sea wasp, this salad-bowl sized jellyfish can have up to 60 tentacles each 15 feet long. Each tentacle has 5,000 stinging cells and enough toxin to kill 60 humans

02. Asian Cobra

While the Asian Cobra doesn’t hold the title of most venomous snake, it does the most with what it has. Of the 50,000 deaths by snakebite a year, Asian Cobras are responsible for the largest chunk.

01. Mosquito

Most skeeter bites just make you itch. But some mosquitoes carry and transfer malaria causing parasites. As a result, these little pests are responsible for the deaths of more than two million people a year. So The Winner is Mosquito