Wiki Construction

If you want a new house, this site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction) is helpful. When your house is being built, of course you would want to see it from start to finish. How the builders would make the foundation, what materials would be used, are some of the important things that you should know. Is your house be strong enough to withstand calamities, such as strong winds, rain, and earthquake? This link will give you ideas about building techniques that start form a house's foundation - light framing which includes, walls, joists, studs, trusses, etc.

You will find the links that showed detailed explanation and pictures of how your house is being built through the means of light framing. The explanation if translated in different languages in which yoou or your builders are comfortable with. When you already have an idea about this, you and your builders that work together to have a better framing of your house.

Sometimes we see a house being built with lots of woods nailed and attached to each other. We do not see the idea of how the house is formed. The woods that are nailed and attached to each other are the light framing where the walls shall be attached. This is how the links help you understand the building techniques.

The Book Report

The title of the book is Google Sites and Chrome for Dummies and the authors are Ryan Teeter and Karl Barksdale. Ryan Teeter served as the consultant of the National Business Education Association, businesses, and school districts on Google Apps implementation. He worked as an External Training Specialist at Google in Mountain View, California . Karl Barksdale previously worked as a Development Manager for the training and certification team at WordPerfect Corporation and a Marketing Manager in the Customer Products division. He is also an instructor at the Utah Academy of Sciences.

The book has 428 pages and the publisher was Wiley Publishing, Inc. Published in the year 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Number 1, Bestselling Computer Book Series.

Google Sites (http://sites.google.com/) is a free online service. It gives a great online information. Google Sites can help you, your friends, and your co-workers to communicate or collaborate to your activities. The Google Sites online services such as Google Calendar (http://calendar.google.com), keeps track of your events. You can easily add new calendar items and access them from anywhere, including your BlackBerry or iPhone. In Calendar, you can create separate calendars for your personal and team-related events and share them with other members of your team, Google Docs (http://docs.google.com), create, edit, and store documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. One of the good things about Docs is that you can share your documents with other team members and work on them at the same time. This way, any changes you make are automatically updated and everyone else can see them right away, Blogger (www.blogger.com), which lets you create your own blog, Picasa Web Albums (www.picasa.com), where you can share your photos online.

Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome) is a free Web Browser that can be downloaded to your computer and to access websites, including Google Sites. Chrome takes advantage of new technology, without using as much computer memory as other browsers, this means Chrome starts immediately after you open it and new tabs appear just as quickly. Gmail and Google Sites, run much faster in Chrome than in other browsers. One of the unique features of Chrome is the Omnibox. The Omnibox combines the browser's address bar, search bar, and search from other Web Sites into one location. Chrome even protects you from people who would steal your information or install bad sotfware onto your computer. Every time you use it, Chrome automatically downloads a list of Web Sites that Google knows are bad. They either try to get you to give up your personal information or load software to track your behavior. Whenever you come across a bad site, Google blocks the screen and helps you navigate away. If you're certain the site is legitimate, there's an option to continue at your own risk.

The strong points of this book are, it helps you understand and use the Google tools you need if you want to build your own site. It would be interesting to know that you can make your own website, and post any subject that you are interested in online. You can have new friends and acquaintances who would be interested to read and follow you blogs, and who may want to post some comments that may give you additional ideas or materials that can improve your subject.

Overall, this book is the best for me, having been explained by the authors clearly the Google tools step by step. I did not find any negative factors or weak points about it.

Magnetic Levitated Train

The Bullet Train or the California High-Speed Train Project is the only true 200+ MPH high-speed train project in America.

In November 2008, California voters passed a bond measure approving $9.95 billion to fund this project. The California High-Speed Rail Authority is responsible for building the state's high-speed train service covering 800 miles and reading speed up to 220 mph. It is envisioned as an electrically powered steel-wheel-on-steel rail intercity travel system linking the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Central Valley with Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. Rail construction through the Tehachapi Mountains will require 13 miles of tunnels, with one tunnel 3.4 miles in length. Cost per mile for tunnel construction is $96 million to $167 million.

The project will create nearly 160,000 construction-related jobs to plan, design and build the system with an additional 450,000 permanent jobs statewide coming online once the system is fully built out.

HOOVER DAM

Hoover Dam, previously known as Boulder Dam is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an important role in its construction, first as the Secretary of Commerce, and then later, as the President of the United States. Construction began in 1931, and was completed in 1936. Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, or the border between the U.S. States of Arizona and Nevada. When completed in 1936, it was both the world's largest hydroelectric power generating station and the world's 38th largest electric generating station. This huge dam was built to provide irrigation water flow, for flood control, and for hydroelectric power generation.

In the wake of the September 11 2001,terrorists attacks, there are significant security concerns. Because of the attack, the Hoover Dam Bypass was expedited. Traffic across Hoover Dam is presently restricted. Some types of vehicles are inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 ft. long are not allowed in the dam at all. That traffic was diverted south of Colorado river bridge at Laughlin, Nevada. To provide much more highway capacity, and better safety, the new Hoover Dam Bypass is scheduled to be completed in 2010 and it will divert the U.S. traffic 1,500 ft. downstream from the dam. Once the bypass is completed, through traffic will no longer be allowed across Hoover Dam.

Opening of the Golden Gate

The opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean is a suspension bridge known as the Golden Gate Bridge. It was completed in 1937 and is presently the longest suspension main span in the U.S. It has become a symbol of San Francisco and California which is recognized internationally. It is also the most photographed bridge in the world.

The Tallest Building in the World

The Burg Dubai, being the newly constructed tallest building in the world today, designed by the world renowned Giorgo Armani,is also now considered one of the famous tourists attractions in the world. The rich and famous may have already seen this building and experience of what it offers to its visitors, such as the comfort of its hotel, good foods of its restaurants, and its various boutiques that house several products of well known designers. See what an "oil-rich" country can do?

Plans and Specifications

"An architect works closely with a client or owner to determine building requirements, often developing sketches of the building or details to convey ideas to the client or owner. The sketches are developed into working drawings that contain the information necessary to complete the construction project. Working drawings are reproduced as prints and distributed to the contractors and subcontractors working on the project. The original working drawings are retained by the architect for safekeeping.
The architect is responsible for writing the specifications so they are consistent with the prints. New developments in construction materials and methods must be studied so an architect can recommend specific products to be used and building techniques to be followed. When preparing the specifications, an architect includes the exact materials to be used and lists the equipment by catalog numbers or suggests an alternative. This process requires experience acquired from specifying and observing the performance of materials and equipment and watching for new developments."


Proctor, Thomas and Toenjes, Leonard. Printreading (Part 2) for
Residential and Light Commercial Construction, Fourth Edition.
Homewood: American Technical Publishers, Inc., 2005. Print.