South Stream or Renewable Energy

Diversification of gas transportation routes and the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline are in line with present-day international trends, Austrian Minister of Economy Reinhold Mitterlehner said.
“The current international trends indicate that in the long term we should diversify not only the sources of energy but also its supply routes. We will come closer to this goal when the South Stream gas pipeline comes to Baumgartner. The project will not only ensure Austria’s energy security but will also strengthen its positions as a European energy hub, which is provided for in our energy strategy,” he said after signing a memorandum on the construction of a section of the pipeline in Austria.
Austria is already the fourth largest producer and consumer of renewable energy in the European Union, but it takes time to restructure the energy sector. Gas will serve as a transitional fuel. Over the past several years, additional gas pipelines such as Nord Stream were built and underground gas storage facilities increased their capacities. But in order to become less dependent on non-renewable energy in the future, Austria has to improve energy efficiency and keep developing renewable energy production, the minister said.
Austria has made the decision to rejoin the South Stream project. Initially, in 2010, Austrian OMV signed a basic agreement on cooperation with Russia’s Gazprom. Subsequently it was reported that OMV was engaged in negotiations with Gazprom on a contract for the supply of gas by the South Stream pipeline in the amount of 6 billion cubic metres a year.
However later OMV joined the alternative Nabucco project, which was supposed to bring gas to Austria and Germany from CIS countries. When the project was suspended, Gazprom began considering Austria’s participation in it again, but Italy remains the final destination for the time being.

Russian South Stream Gas Pipeline will Ensure Energy Security in Serbia

Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic said he was interested in intensifying work on the South Stream project plans to pipe gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and then ashore for onward transit to Greece, Italy and Austria.
“This is a project which should ensure Serbia’s long-term energy security and enable substantial progress in the national economy," Nikolic said on Tuesday at a meeting with the speaker of Russia’s State Duma Sergei Naryshkin.
The meeting with Nikolic became the last venue in the program of Naryshkin’s two-day visit to Serbia. Nikolic and Naryshkin “expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Serbia and Russia, particularly with respect to joint economic projects”, the Serbian president’s press service said.
“Russia has a correct understanding of Serbia’s position on the Ukraine crisis,” President Nikolic said. Russia also understood Serbia’s willingness to become a European Union member, since the EU was the most significant trade partner for Russia as well, the press service quoted Naryshkin as saying.
Belgrad, May 06

South Stream Pipeline

The South Stream Offshore Pipeline will run through the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria and have a total length of 930 kilometres. An environment impact assessment (EIA) in accordance with national environmental legislation is being conducted in Russia, Turkey and Bulgaria. In addition, South Stream Transport is undertaking an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in alignment with the standards and guidelines of international finance institutions. This will involve an ESIA Report for each Sector of the Project and a consolidated document for the entire South Stream Offshore Pipeline to ensure a consistent approach.
South Stream, initially conceived ENI and Gazprom, later joined by Electricite de France and German Wintershall AG, will eventually take 30 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas a year to southern Europe.
The project stipulates for the offshore gas pipeline section to run under the Black Sea from the Russkaya compressor station on the Russian coast to the Bulgarian coast. The total length of the offshore section will be around 900 kilometres, the maximum depth - over two kilometres and the design capacity - 63 billion cubic metres. There are two optional routes for the onshore gas pipeline section: either northwestward or southwestward from Bulgaria.
In order to feed the required amount of gas to South Stream, Russia’s gas transmission system throughput will be increased through the construction of additional 2,446 kilometres of line-pipe and 10 compressor stations with the total capacity of 1,473 MW. This project has been named South Corridor and will be implemented in two phases before December 2019.
The construction of South Stream started on December 7, 2012 is scheduled to be completed by 2015. The overall capacity of the marine section of the pipeline will be 63 billion cubic metres a year. Its cost is about 16 billion euro.

Writing a Book. 3 Self-Publishing Options

Self-publishing is no longer for fringe projects. With the mega-success of self-published books such as James Altucher’s Choose Yourself and even the Fifty Shades Of Grey series, self-publishing has gained support and respect worldwide. This is also because of the advances in the self-publishing world over the last few years. Now all you need to self-publish is the time it takes to write and set up your project. 

Being an author gives you credibility as an expert in your field. This doesn’t mean throw any old words on the page and expect success. If you truly have the time and experience to be an expert, writing a book will give you a competitive advantage.
If you’re thinking about writing a book, self-publishing will help you save time and money. You can create your book and set it up for printing quickly. No writing query letters or filing rejections -- just you writing and marketing your book. 

If you really have the social network to support it and your book is valuable, you’ll also make a lot more money going the self-publishing route, as the cost-split between author and self-publishing printers is much more favorable for you than the financial arrangements common to traditional publishing. 

If you're considering this route, here are a few of the major self-publish options you’ll want to check out along with what’s good and bad about each.

1. CreateSpace allows you to set up a self-published, print-on-demand book for free, if you’re willing to do the work. It’s an Amazon company, so once your book is loaded and ready to go, it’ll assign you an ISBN number and get you set up with your own Amazon page where fans can buy a paperback copy of your book. For the tech savvy, this can be a great option. It’s not particularly hard to use, as CreateSpace offers templates and free customizable covers, but it does require patience to format and edit your own work. The great thing about CreateSpace is at the basic level, it is entirely free of set-up costs for paperback. If you decide you want a Kindle edition, that’ll cost you $69 to set up, but then everything else is taken care of. The cost of printing and shipping comes out of each book’s price at the point of sale, but the profit margin split is favorable and varies depending on the price you set for your own book.
2. Author House is a nicely supported self-publishing option. For those that don’t want to go it totally alone, the Author House team has copy editors, graphic artists and other experts who can help tailor your manuscript to the right audience, catch any grammatical errors and provide support. However, that support will cost you. Currently, an e-book-only version package starts at $799 up front and 50 percent royalties from all books sold. A bookstore version of your book in soft or hard copy will start at $1,299 up front and requires a 25 percent royalty for each copy sold online or 10 percent royalty for every copy sold in brick-and-mortar stores. The costs are higher, but the support is there for those who want expert help.
3. Xlibris is the global leader in self-publishing. Like Author House, it operates on a hybrid model of self-publishing freedom with traditional-publisher support. Its basic e-book packages start at $499 for set-up costs with the same standard 50 percent royalty payment on each copy sold. From there, Xlibris provides many types of packages to choose from, ranging from black-and-white soft-copy printed books for around $699 and 25 percent royalty splits, all the way up to a fully-designed, color-printed and professionally-marketed platinum-level package for your book starting at $15,249. Xlibris definitely has the most variety to choose from to accommodate any budget and desired amount of support.
A few other things to keep in mind when you’re self-publishing are first, to be aware of the printing costs. For platforms such as CreateSpace, printing is on-demand, which means copies are only printed when paid for, so there are no up-front costs to you. That is not exclusively the case with Author House or Xlibris, so check with your self-publishing choice ahead of time to find out what paying for the books up front might cost.
Also, bear in mind if you go the CreateSpace route, you won’t have any cover design, copy editing or professional feedback about your book from the basic, free option - so consider the additional costs of hiring help for those services carefully when factoring in the true cost of your decision.
Finally, most self-publishers require an EIN number from the IRS for tax purposes.

Self-Made Billionaires Who Remain Grounded

 Remaining humble and grounded might be just as challenging as obtaining riches and success. In life, most of us seek out wealth and power, but if we can remain humble and wise along the journey, then that is the true reflection of successful life. There are many success stories, but few who have chosen to be humble and show the world that status symbols are not the real definition of their achievement. Here are self-made billionaires who remain grounded and humble with their feet planted firmly on the ground:
Warren Buffett - The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s net worth may be $46 billion dollars, but he still lives in his 50-year old home he paid $31,500 for in Omaha, Nebraska. Known as one of the wealthiest individuals in the world and possibly the most successful investor of the 20th century, he has managed to stay grounded and humble. He has made giving an art form and recently donated a great portion of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be used for philanthropic purposes.
Tony Hsieh - CEO of Zappos. Hsiesh cares more about people than he does money. After selling a company to Microsoft for a reported $265 million, he didn’t set his sights on retirement, but rather he turned his focus on investing $350 million of his own worth into his online business to vitalize a tech hub in Las Vegas.
Karl Albrecht - Worth $25 billion, the founder of Aldi, a discount supermarket chain in Europe came from a working class family where his frugal upbringing provided him and his brother Theo, co-founder of Aldi, the foundation for living a modest lifestyle regardless of success and riches. At the age of 93, Albrecht attributes his humble beginnings to working at their mother’s corner grocery store after World War II, transforming it into a large retail chain with low prices and no frills.
Alexander Lebedev - This former street fighter turned Russian businessman is worth $1.1 billion. He is notorious for being frugal, but ever since September 2011, he has been in the spotlight for punching a fellow guest, billionaire property developer Sergei Polonsky on a Russian television program. Since the incident he has been been charged with hooliganism.
David Cheriton - With a wealth of $1.3 billion, this Stanford professor capitalized on his early investments in Google, but that doesn’t mean he is driving around in high-class style…he prefers his 2012 Honda Odyssey and favors comfort over luxury. He told the Edmonton Journal in a 2006 interview. “These people who build houses with 13 bathrooms and so on, there’s something wrong with them.” Instead of hanging his hat in an obscene mansion, he’d rather have his name on the side of a building, contributing to the education of others. On November 18, 2005, the University of Waterloo announced that Cheriton had donated $25 million to support graduate studies and research in its School of Computer Science. In recognition of his contribution, the school was renamed the “David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science.” Chuck Feeney - This Irish-American businessman and philanthropist made his fortune as a co-founder, with Robert Warren Miller, of the Duty Free Shoppers Group. Born in New Jersey during the Great Depression, Feeney came from a modest background of blue-collar Irish-American parents. When he sold DSF Group, he set aside $26 million to give to 2,400 long-term staff. Having given away most of his wealth, he is only worth about $2 million. Feeney has said, “I had one idea that never changed in my mind—that you should use your wealth to help people. I try to live a normal life, the way I grew up.”
Amancio Ortega - The founder of Zara is doing quite well with a net worth of $57.5 billion. In early 2013, Forbes ranked him as the third richest person in the world. The youngest of four children, Ortega was born in Busdongo de Arbás, León, Spain. His father was a railway worker and Ortega didn’t shy away from helping out his family financially. In his early teens, Ortega found a job as a shop hand for a local shirt maker called Gala, which still sits on the same corner in downtown A Coruña. This experience would lead him down the road to riches, founding Confecciones Goa, which crafted quilted bathrobes in 1972. Ortega gets around in his Global Express BD-700, a private jet designed by Bombardier that carries a price tag of $45 million, but considering his humble apartment in Spain and modest Audi A8, why not splurge when traveling?
Azim Premji - The fourth wealthiest Indian, Azim Premji is a business tycoon and philanthropist worth $17.2 billion. The chairman of Wipro Limited, founded Azim Premji Foundation in 2001, a non-profit organization whose vision is to significantly contribute to achieving quality universal education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane, and sustainable society. In December 2010, he pledged to donate $2 billion for improving school education in India. How does he have the ability to give so much? He keeps a tight rein on employees at the Wipro headquarters by demanding that staff conserve essentials such as toilet paper and electricity.
Tim Cook - Following Steve Job’s resignation from the position of CEO in August 2011, Tim Cook became the face of Apple. Cook has an estimated net worth of $400 million. Living modestly in Palo Alto, Ca. he bought his 2,400 square foot condo for $1.9 million in 2010. In the book, Inside Apple, he was quoted as saying, “I like to be reminded of where I came from, and putting myself in modest surroundings helps me do that. Money is not a motivator for me.” Son of a shipyard worker father and homemaker mother, he stays true to his philosophy of living grounded and humble regardless of his success and wealth.
Ingvar Kamprad - The founder of IKEA, as of March 2007, Ingvar Kamprad was the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine. He has an estimated net worth of $33 billion. According to an interview with TSR, the French-language Swiss TV broadcaster, Kamprad drives a 1993Volvo 240, flies only economy class, and encourages IKEA employees always to write on both sides of a piece of paper. He reportedly recycles tea bags and is known to pocket the salt and pepper packets at restaurants.” He was quoted in his view of social philosophy: “It is not only for cost reasons that we avoid the luxury hotels. We don’t need flashy cars, impressive titles, uniforms or other status symbols. We rely on our strength and our will!”
The question remains, how are the wealthy viewed by average society? If the self-made billionaires of our time have the ability to use their wealth for the good of others, people tend not to begrudge the rich if they can see diligence and generosity in their story. The moral of the story is that money can win you friends, but greed will only buy you enemies.

Futuristic Concept Hotels

We live in a dynamic world. In this fast moving world, only those will thrive who will out-power others. The designers of the hotels of tomorrow, perhaps, have kept this in mind while creating futuristic concept hotels to lure the global nomads. Futuristic concept hotels, fully equipped with hi-technology are not exceptional. Based on the science, novels, and fiction stories, will hopefully providing the luxurious environment to their customers.
Futuristic concept hotels in the world, which are a living proof of the remarkable change we are witnessing.

The Inflatable Space Hotel, Russia

Designed by Bigelow Aerospace, Las Vegas, The Inflatable Space Hotel is expected to be completed by 2015. It would be a Commercial Space Station Skywalker and inflatable hotel that will be located – else where – In space! It will be full fully equipped for other future technology such as moon cruisers, space yachts and an estimated $1 million a night price tag. The preliminary phase launched in 2007, with a few cockroaches and several Mexican jumping beans, the first guests to skitter around a 4-metre-wide watermelon-shaped hostelry, 550 kilometres above Earth.

Aeroscraft: The flying luxury hotel of tomorrow

Designed by Worldwide Aeros Corporation, it is a flying hotel, hangs in air with 14 million cubic feet of helium which equal to two football fields. It would be able to accommodate 250 passengers. It will be travelling at a speed of 174 miles per hour. The airship would provide tourists with a host of amenities including a casino, restaurants, and staterooms. It simply means that, this hotel would be similar to a cruise liner in the air.

The Apeiron Island Hotel Dubai

The Apeiron Island Hotel is a concept hotel of 7 stars in Dubai. If the plans ever get funding, The Apeiron Hotel would be the second self awarded 7 star hotel to be built in Dubai. The futuristic hotel includes a private lagoon, beaches, restaurants, cinemas, shopping, an art gallery, spas, and conference facilities with a jungle theme in the 350 luxury apartment suites.

The Lunatic Hotel Moon

The Lunatic Hotel Moon is actually futuristic because it is expected to be completed in 2050. Water and steel will have to be launched to the moon for this exercise. The designer, Hans-Jurgen Rombaut from Rotterdam, says that, the existing minerals and ore can comfortably supply most of the building materials. In specially designed towers, guests will experience low gravity.

Hydropolis Dubai

The Hydropolis Underwater Hotel and Resort is a proposed to be the world’s first underwater luxury resort in Dubai. The hotel design was created by Joachim Hauser and Professor Roland Dieterle, and is planned to be composed of three segments: a land station, a connecting train, and the underwater hotel. A self acclaimed 10 star hotel will be located 66 feet below sea level inthe Persian Gulf. It will cost an estimated $300 million.

Hotel Pods

Hotel Pods – A Holiday Odyssey – Fully foldable and transportable hotel. The idea of the pod hotels is that it will contain foldable pods built on stilts offering all of the luxurious amenities of a traditional hotel. In addition, guests can actually design their own rooms.

The Diamond Ring Hotel

Also known as Voyager V1, the Diamond Ring Hotel located in Abu Dhabi. There is very little information available about hotel, but in the shape 185 metre ferris wheel, it is a hotel of the future.

Waterworld Hotel

Waterworld hotel is located in lagoon in Songjiang, China. It was designed by Atkin’s Architecture Group, which won the first prize award of last year’s in an international design competition. The 400 bed resort hotel is uniquely constructed within the natural elements of the quarry. Underwater public areas and guest rooms add to the uniqueness, but the resort also boasts cafes, restaurants and sporting facilities. It also includes bungee jumping and rock climbing

Different Levels of #Happiness

Happiness is not just one feeling, just look in any thesaurus. Have you noticed that each synonym reveals different levels of happiness? It's useful to know these when we're learning #howtobehappy. Which 'happy' are we aiming for?
 

Starting from the bottom
Here is my list of the different levels of #happiness. I'm starting with the lowest level of happiness, that hopefully we've all experienced some time in our lives.
•    Well being is a state of being comfortable, healthy and happy,
•    satisfaction is the pleasure derived from the fulfillment of our wishes, expectations, or needs,
•    tranquility is being free from disturbance, being calm,
•    whilst contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction,
•    and serenity is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
 

Is this Normal for you?
Having read that list, do you think, "Hmm, I wish I felt like that!" or maybe "Hey, that's not what I call happiness!" It's interesting that one person's normal level of happiness is on another person's wish list. Or are you thinking that these states of being are so normal and commonplace that you didn't consider them to be states of happiness at all?
 

Moving Higher
Well, the list continues and I'm taking the happiness up a notch with these feelings. Take a look and see if you ever feel these emotions?
•    pleasure can be described as a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment,
•    when you're in good spirits you're feeling cheerful,
•    and cheerfulness is being noticeably happy and optimistic,
•    lightheartedness and gaiety are both cheerful and carefree,
•    merriment is gaiety mixed with fun,
•    and gladness is being happy about good fortune,
•    jollity is being cheerful,
•    whilst joviality is being cheerful and friendly.
So, have you noticed the levels of happiness getting more jolly? Well they get even jollier in this next section.
 

Higher Still
•    joy is the feeling, and joyfulness is the expression of great pleasure and happiness,
•    enjoyment is to take delight or pleasure in something,
•    and delight is a feeling of great pleasure,
•    whilst glee is a great delight.
I do hope you've felt some of those emotions at some time in your life. Now, lets move on to happy emotions that contain more excitement.
 

Feeling Excitement
•    exuberance is being filled with a lively energy and excitement,
•    exhilaration is feeling very happy, animated, or elated,
•    and elation is great happiness and exhilaration,
•    jubilation is a feeling of great happiness and triumph,
•    and felicity is a feeling of intense happiness,
Have you ever felt those emotions? I doubt if anyone feels like this all the time. They are emotions we feel at certain stages and events in our lives like getting married, going on holiday or giving birth.
 

The Icing on the Cake
And now we're going up the top! Or, as some may say, over the top.
•    ecstasy is an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement,
•    delirium is wild excitement or ecstasy,
•    and rapture is a feeling of intense pleasure or joy,
•    blissfulness is being extremely happy and full of joy,
•    euphoria is a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness
•    whilst transports of delight is totally being carried away by euphoria,
•    and bliss is perfect happiness; great joy; a state of spiritual blessedness (typically that reached after death!)
So there we have them: the different levels of happiness. As we get further up the levels, the emotions are not something we sustain for long. For those people who are basically happy, these emotions are the icing on the cake.