Portland Government Plans 200-ft. Tall Energy-Saving Plant Wall

Portland, Oregon is so into the green movement that they're going to cover their federal building from ground floor to rooftop with a 200-ft. wall made from living, breathing vegetation.

The living wall is more than just a pretty facade, however, as city officials claim it will lead to savings of about $280,000 per year in energy costs. Add in some solar panels (also part of the overall $133 million plan), and the building will use about 60-65% less energy than a similar-sized office.

And, being a plant, the multi-fin wall is seasonal. Designers say that in the summer its foliage will provide cooling shade; in the winter months the wall will thin, providing light when the weather cooperates.

One issue yet to be tackled by architects is irrigation. Rainwater from the roof is one suggestion, while water recycled from the building's plumbing is another.

Another issue is cost. Senators John McCain of Arizona and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma have both criticized the project for being a complete waste of economic stimulus money (see also: The Bridge to Nowhere). Even so, the project is on track for completion in 2013.

Jahil Online

am sure you all must know of our famous MNA cum TV personality Dr. Aamir Liaqat Hussain. For the past few months rumors have been circulating that he is a fake doctor finally I have evidence. In a detailed investigation conducted by a local newspaper ‘Ummat‘ and recently published in South Asia Tribune, some really interesting fact have indeed come forth surely worth a NAB ‘chappa’.

Dr. Aamir appears to be one of the biggest local scams of Pakistan. For the past couple years he has been the host of ‘Aalim Online‘ on Geo TV where he brings together Islamic Scholars to shed light on the religion of Islam. I have always disliked watching the show as it always appeared as a scam, a snazzy looking Dr. Aamir preaching Islam some how irritated me, but that’s just me, I have for sometime labeled his show as Jahil Online. It now appears to be entirely true. Dr. Aamir had been preaching Islam with such authority that it had the nation fooled for years including our General who has appointed him as a Minister of Religious Affairs (probably in a deal with MQM)

He has graduated from ‘Trinity College and University‘ with a Bachelors of Arts in Islamic Studies (conferred on March 17, 1995). The next degree that he allegedly pursued was a Masters of Arts in Islamic Studies (conferred on March 15, 2002) and amazingly 20 days later was awarded a doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies (conferred on April 5, 2002). All these degrees were awarded by Trinity College based out of Spain. The going rate for these ‘degrees by mail’ as published on the Trinity College website (link) is
Bachelors = $ 212
Masters = $ 332
Doctorate= $ 500
Or a one time deal all three degrees for a bumper price of $ 850

Trinity College on its webpage claims the following slogans "providing degrees based on your previous life" and the best slogan "No Residency or Attendance is required in Spain Everything by Mail"

Dr. (Fake) Aamir Liaquat Hussain contested the National Assembly elections based on these degrees and successfully won, he stands to be disqualified for providing fake degrees to support his candidacy (which as you all recall was strictly limited to graduates). The Higher Education Commission Pakistan has also declare in a letter that Trinity College is not a authorized degree awarding university. How can it be since its just one of those online stores that awards these degrees. Check these pictures out as they sure are incriminating evidence.

Copy of his Bachelors of Arts in Islamic Studies degree
Copy of his Masters of Arts in Islamic Studies degree
Copy of his Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies
Election Commissioner ‘provisionally’ accepting his degrees
Higher Education Commission declaring Trinity College as a fake
A sample degree issued by Trinity College (Side-by-Side)
Detailed report on SA Tribune
Get your fake degree –> Trinity College Website
I leave you with considerable evidence, for you to decide
Update 13th March: In a Google search of our fake Aalim I came across this interview from Daily Times


Daily Times: What are your predictions about the Pakistani politics?

Aamir Liaqat: I am really disappointed with the Pakistani politics. The biggest despondency is the involvement of Maulvis in the mainstream politics, who are raising local issues at national levels. I am not hopeful with the national politics. The politicians of my country fight only for their own interests. I request General Musharraf to give me a chartered plane, and I would take all the politicians to Iraq. Then I would ask all those who claim to be great Muslims to come out and fight against the anti-Islam forces. If I could not take the airplane to Iraq, then I will destroy it in the sea. I would sacrifice my own life for this noble cause.

I am foreseeing a bloody revolution. Sorry to say, the democracy would bring nothing better in this country. Pakistan needs a bloody revolution. A person is required here, who will eliminate all the politicians once for all, and then intelligent and young people of Pakistan will come forward to lead the nation. I fear that in revolution the geographical situation might also change.

Alexa Global Rankings – Yahoo Down – FaceBook Up

Alexa is known to be authentic source of website’s rank as per traffic basis. People look forward to alexa to reckon the performance of a site. Yahoo was ruling as World’s No. 1 site on visitor’s basis and Google was 2nd, but earlier Google Conquered the battle and came to No. 1 by pushing Yahoo to 2. This time Yahoo faces another fall and Facebook defeats yahoo to attain number 3 and FaceBook owns number 2.

Alexa stats are updated on regular basis, and are thought to be authentic. For a long time the usual stats were, Yahoo at First, Google Second, YouTube Third and MSN was at number four. These stats were thought be maintained for a long time, perceeding other famous sites as Orkut, WikiPedia, Myspace and Facebook.

But then we seen a jump when Google jumped to Number One, Pushing Yahoo to Two and Number three was for YouTube.

This is the time when we must say – Real defaet to Yahoo by Facebook.

Complete list of Top 500 websites can be found here.

Facebook progresses to number 2 kicking Yahoo to 3. And other giant MSN on number 9 and a Big defeat to Orkut by Facebook, Orkut was previously at 7, 8 but now see Orkut not even in Top 100 Most Visited sites – more precisely, having a rank of 112.

Now this is what we must say real Work and Progress . Facebook is now everywhere on net, even almost all sites think it as a must to have FaceBook fan page. Facebook is currently ruling the stage.

Call Me via VoIP on Facebook – A New App

8×8 Inc., a Voice over Internet Protocol service provider, has released a new point-and-click VoIP calling application dubbed 8×8 Connect. It allows Facebook users to add a “Call Me” button to their home page, thereby enabling other users to call them without revealing their actual phone number.

“The application asks the person making the call to enter the phone number they wish to place the call from, calls that number and then automatically rings the Facebook user at a number they previously set as their preferred contact number,” the company explained in a press release.

Facebook app can be accessed here.

This app could be especially helpful for small business owners and consultants, who could use it as a way to generate interest in the products/services they’re selling.

FaceBook to Build it’s Own Data Center

Facebook to build its first data center, a 147,000-square-foot server farm to be located in Prineville, Ore. The social networking company didn’t disclose what it will cost to build, but according to public records dug up by The Bend Bulletin, the project would be valued at $188 million and employ 200 people during its 12-month construction before leveling out at 35 full-time employees.

By choosing Prineville, Facebook avoids paying about $2.8 million a year in taxes for 15 years, and can apply for other waivers as well. In addition, now Facebook has the cachet that comes with owning its own data center. And by spending a lot in up-front costs, it will be able to enjoy the benefits of a lower cost of ownership on whatever servers it places in the data center, thanks to the ability to control the entire environment. Over time, this saves Facebook money and could help it innovate to deliver a faster experience for end users.

Much like buying your own home rather than renting, becoming large enough to build your own data center is a big step in the life of a tech firm. However, Facebook could also be signaling that its wild growth over the last six years may be reaching a predictable and less torrid phase. It’s hard to commit to constructing a permanent data center if a company doesn’t know if it will need 50 or 500 new servers within the next year, but as growth becomes predictable it makes it easier to justify laying out the funds for permanent infrastructure and figuring out how much of that infrastructure the company needs. Sure a growing business could always add another data center, but building a single 100,000-square-foot data center costs far less than building two data centers of 50,000 square feet each.

Microsoft plans to expand Natal technology to TV

Earlier this year Microsoft unveiled the Project Natal at the E3, a gesture-recognition technology built for gamers of the Xbox 360 to give them a controller-free gaming and entertainment experience.

It wasn't long until Bill Gates expressed his views on this technology being incorporated into Windows PCs which would let users operate and work in the same gesture-based environment as seen in the movie 'Minority Report' for the very first time.

But that's perhaps not even a little of what Microsoft has in mind for Natal. According to Marc Whitten, the General Manager of Xbox Live, the Project Natal is expected to “be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control".



I don't believe we are currently in the golden age of the television or the golden age of the game console or the golden age of the Internet; frankly, five years from now I don't know that you'll be able to tell the difference between those worlds.

Microsoft aims to make it easier for the users to find and share video content through their Xbox. The plan is to build a technology that is smart enough to recognize a user using appearance or voice and hence allow them to switch channels with the flick of a finger. No price of release date for Project Natal has been announced yet, but it will be available somewhere in the late 2010.

‘Missing’ persons

The Supreme Court has directed the government to furnish details of
Pakistanis handed over to the US. The court has been informed that
1,600 persons were missing in 2008 — of whom, 1,300 had been missing
since 2006-07.

Through
the columns of this newspaper, I would request the honourable chief
justice of Pakistan to trace two ‘missing’ persons who are very close
and dear to the people of this country. Our beloved ex-president Pervez
Musharraf and the ex-banker-cum-prime minister Shaukat Aziz have been
missing since long. Last time the ex-president was seen singing the
song “Lage re tou say lage, sajan sayan lage” (the clip can be watched
on YouTube) while the ex-prime minister enjoyed the melody sitting
among the audience.

Islamabad.