Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 818 m (2,684 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, and the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy on 4 January 2010.
The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion, and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US$20 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2).
Current records
Tallest structure: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast - 628.8 m (2,063 ft))
Tallest freestanding structure: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously CN Tower - 553.3 m (1,815 ft))
Building with most floors: 160 (previously both 1 & 2 World Trade Center - 110)
World's highest elevator installation
Worlds fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s)(previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 601 m (1,972 ft) (previously Taipei 101 - 449.2 m (1,474 ft))
Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 601 m (1,972 ft)(previously Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant - 532 m (1,745 ft))
The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
The vaccine - a combination of two earlier experimental vaccines - was given to 16,000 people in Thailand, in the largest ever such vaccine trial.
Researchers found that it reduced by nearly a third the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that leads to Aids.
It has been hailed as a significant, scientific breakthrough, but a global vaccine is still some way off.
The study was carried out by the US army and the Thai government over seven years on volunteers - all HIV-negative men and women aged between 18 and 30 - in parts of Thailand.
The vaccine was a combination of two older vaccines that on their own had not cut infection rates.
Half of the volunteers were given the vaccine, while the other half were given a placebo - and all were given counselling on HIV/Aids prevention.
Participants were tested for HIV infection every six months for three years.
The results found that the chances of catching HIV were 31.2% less for those who had taken the vaccine - with 74 people who did not get the vaccine infected and 51 of the vaccinated group infected.
The vaccine is based on B and E strains of HIV that most commonly circulate in Thailand not the C strain which predominates in Africa.
T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge their UK businesses, creating a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers.
The deal between Orange-owner France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK will see a business with sales of 9.4bn euros (£8.2bn; $13.5bn).
Holding about 37% of the mobile market it will be the UK's largest provider, overtaking Telefonica's O2.
It is the second large corporate deal in two days, after Kraft Food's £10.2bn takeover proposal for Cadbury.
Orange and T-Mobile said their deal - due to be signed by November - would "bring substantial benefits to UK customers", and promised expanded network coverage, better network quality and improved customer services.
However it is likely that competition authorities in the UK and EU will probe the deal.
'Efficiencies'
Both brands will remain separate for the first 18 months after the deal is completed while branding is reviewed.
Orange chief executive Tom Alexander will lead the new company, with T-Mobile's UK boss Richard Moat as chief operating officer.
Orange employs 12,500 people in the UK, while T-Mobile has UK workforce of 6,500.
A spokeswoman confirmed there would be "efficiencies" that could be made across both businesses - but said it was too early to give details of any impact on staff.
Integrating the business will cost between £600m and £800m, the firms said. This bill would include decommissioning mobile phone masts, cutting back the network of stores and streamlining other operations. Over time, savings should reach about £3.5bn, they added.
Mobile phone analyst Nigel Hawkins told the BBC that it was not unprecedented for a firm to have move than a third of a European country's mobile phone market.
"Over the next few weeks and months there will inevitably be some negotiation with regulators, and we could see some concessions from the operators," he added.
"If the deal goes ahead, then this merged firm, along with O2 and Vodafone will have more than 90% of the UK market and there will be concern that there remains plenty of competition and that this position is not abused."
Avoiding writedowns
Deutsche Telekom said earlier this year that it was considering its options for its UK business - which has struggled to win customers in the highly competitive market - which sees five operators and several smaller players compete.
Observers say that a joint venture allows the German firm to avoid the write downs it could face if forced to sell T-Mobile UK for less than it hoped.
Meanwhile, for France Telecom, the deal it is a way to strengthen its position in the UK market without paying cash or taking on vastly more debt.
T-Mobile is currently the fourth-largest mobile operator in the UK, with a 15% share of the market. O2 has a 27% share, followed by Vodafone (25%) and Orange (22%).
Michael Jackson, You are always the best in my heart! Rest in the peace you deserve.
Michael Jackson, singer, songwriter, performer, and perhaps the most famous pop star of modern times, died tonight less than a fortnight before he was due to start a record-breaking 50-concert tour in Britain.
Jackson was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles from his home in the Bel Air district while paramedics tried to restart his heart after he suffered what the coroner later described as a "full cardiac arrest".
However, Jackson was "unresponsive" to paramedics and died at the hospital at 2.25pm local time, Lieutenant Fred Corrall, of the LA coroner's investigations unit, said.
Lt Corrall confirmed that the coroner would perform a post-mortem on Jackson's body and conduct toxicology tests.
A member of Jackson’s staff placed an emergency call at about midday local time summoning paramedics to the $100,000-a-month rented mansion where Jackson had been living with his three children. Jackson's sister, La Toya, was seen running through the hospital weeping shortly after he arrived.
Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller sold 57 million copies, making it the biggest selling record of all time. The follow-up albums, Bad in 1987 and Dangerous in 1991, each sold 23 million copies. His total album sales by 2005 had passed 130 million.
The superstar had been due in Britain next month to play his first concert in London on July 13. On May 20, he delayed the opening four nights of his record-breaking 50 UK comeback concerts at the O2 Arena because he had needed more time for dress rehearsals.
However, rumours had swirled around the tour, including suggestions that Jackson was ill-prepared for such an exhausting schedule and that he was contracted to appear for only a matter of minutes each night. The tickets for the entire tour had sold out within hours.
Ill-health dogged his career, and his reputation was severely damaged by allegations of child abuse levelled in 1995 and 2004, yet his fan base remained devoted.
Manchester United's attempt to make history and become the first club to defend the Champions League ended in failure against Barcelona in Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi sink Manchester United in Champions League
I think Barcelona did took control of the game rhythm, they deserved a win!
A credit card with a built-in display is being tested by Visa with the aim of reducing online fraud.
The Emue Card generates and displays a unique code each time it is used.
Developers say that the new technology would make it very hard for fraudsters, as any transaction would require the pin to generate the code.
The card is currently being trialled by 500 employees of Deloitte with the aim of assessing the technology by the end of the year.
The new technology comes against a growing backdrop of fraud. While chip and pin technology has helped reduce crime at the tills, when it comes to phone, internet, and mail order fraud - known in the industry as card-not-present or CNP fraud - the figures are growing every year and now make up more than 50% of all credit card fraud.
These transactions ask for the 16-digit code on the front of the card, and expiry date and some also ask for the three digit security card on the back. All of these details are available to a criminal who has a stolen card.
I had some time yesterday, I designed a new look for my Homepage(portfolio page).
I use Jquery tabs for navigation which is another way of ajax.
What do you think of the new look?
The first exam didnt come that easy, 4 questions are all different from previous years, plus a "Bonus" question from one of the homework sheet which is not even in the notes.
Good news today, I got conditional offers from both UCL and Kings college computer science department.
Now, study hard harder harderer hardererer..............
