Retailers are constantly looking for new ways to attract customers. Having a store in a really cool shopping mall is one way to do this. Shopping malls are no longer just buildings that house shops, they are fantastically designed works of art. Some shopping malls are more like amusement parks than places to shop. Many of these malls attract visitors just because the buildings are so cool. You might think you can just drop and and purchase an item that you need but you will have trouble tearing yourself away! Here are the Top 10 Most Amazing Shopping Malls in the world.

1. Mall of America (Minnesota, USA) boasts 4200 200 square feet of retail space. It is huge! There is a theme park and a wedding chapel in this giant mall.

 

2. The Mall of the Emirates (Dubai) is a shopping resort that also features entertainment attractions. It is home to Ski Dubai which is the first indoor ski destination located in the area.

3. The Grand Canal Shoppes (Las Vegas, USA) feature indoor canals and Venitian style Gondalas to transport visitors around the mall.

4. The Wafi Mall (Dubai) features over 350 stores. It offers the worlds most unique and valued brands some of the products are not available anywhere else in the world.

5. West Edmonton Mall (Alberta, Canada) is the largest mall in North America. It is home to a water park featuring the largest wave pool in the world.

 

 6. The Dubai Mall (Dubai) occupies more area than any other shopping mall in the world. There is an aquarium in the mall which features the world’s largest acrylic panel.

7. The Istanbul Cevahir (Istanbul, Turkey) is the biggest shopping mall in Europe. Featuring 50 restaurants, 12 cinemas and much more.

8. The Zlote Tarasy Mall (Warsaw, Poland) is a complex housing commercial, office and entertainment. 9. The Westfield London Shopping Centre (England) was listed as being the 3rd largest in the UK when it opened in 2008.

 

9. The Westfield London Shopping Centre (England) was listed as being the 3rd largest in the UK .

10. The Beijing Mall (Beijing, China) is one of the biggest in the world and also one of the most luxurious.

 

Bought a camera and still clicking the stray cats and neighborly crows? You better latch on to some holiday packages and breeze through destinations where your eyes (and camera) will do all the talking.
Here is a small teeny tiny list of top 10 places for photography in India:

Ladakh

It touches the cloud, it has a sensational landscape, the air has a nip to it, the windows are misty all the time, the birds sing across the Pangong Lake and the silence of the monks at Buddhist monasteries inspires.
Best time to photograph: July- September

Rajasthan

From the palaces of Udaipur to the forts of Jaipur, from the markets at Jodhpur to the dunes at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan is replete with click-worthy places.
Most photogenic attractions: Amer Fort (Jaipur), Mehrangarh Fort (Jodhpur), Thar Desert

Taj Mahal, Agra

For using that wide angle, Taj Mahal is your perfect model. Most India holiday packages include Agra in their itineraries. This 17^th century monument, built by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz, is one of the most photographed monuments in the world.
Some vantage points for capturing the Taj: The Taj Mahal complex, Mehtab Bagh (situated nearby), from a boat or ferry on the River Yamuna

Varanasi

Varanasi (or Benares) with its spiritual and vintage charm gives you some unique photographs. Uttar Pradesh’s biggest draw gets our votes for its deluge of 80 river Ghats along the River Ganga.

Best spot to take pictures: Manikarnika Ghat

Madurai

Tamil Nadu’s small town Madurai is a must-visit for a photo spam of temples. Meenakshi Temple, counted amongst the best temples in India, is situated here.
Best time to visit: In April during the 12-day Chithirai Festival

Golden Temple, Amritsar

Situated in Amritsar in the middle of a water tank, it offers a sight that deserves to be captured. The gold surface of the temple reflects in the waters of the sarovar and the whole place is bathed in resplendent golden light.
Trivia: Golden Temple is also known as Har Mandir Sahib

Caves of Maharashtra

Maharashtra houses some historic caves whose artistic and archaic beauty cannot be expressed through words. You will tire of clicking but the sculptures wont tire of posing.
Most photogenic caves: Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta (in Mumbai)

Hampi

For photographers who revel in ruins, South India’s Hampi should be an idyllic destination. With rocks, boulders and bits of old monuments strewn about everywhere, Hampi is a charmer.
What you should know: This Karnataka town can look spooky and you will find it hard to get fast food here. The ruins and the Hampi Bazaar should whet your camera’s appetite, though.

Kerala

With backwaters, forts, beaches, palm trees, fishermen, hamlets and churches, Kerala is one of the most photogenic things God ever made (they call it God’s Own Country). You should be there with your camera dangling across your neck and vouchers of India tour packages clutched firmly in your hands.
Best in Kerala in terms of photography: Cochin (especially Fort Kochi), Munnar and Alleppey

Kolkata

Also known as Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal is your best getaway for capturing hand-drawn rickshaw pullers, old buildings from the Raj era and the snail-paced trams. Plus, there are beggars (always a favorite with the photographers).
Must-visit places for photography: Esplanade, Park Street, Kalighat Temple, Howrah Bridge

There is an app for pretty much everything, including ones that exercise your gray cells and make you smarter. You use your mobile phone and tablet for just about every purpose, so why not do it to stimulate your mind? These 10 awesome apps will help not only strengthen your neural networks and improve your cognitive function, but it will reduce your risk of developing memory loss. Here goes!

NY Times Crosswords
The NY Times Crosswords is one of the most legendary crosswords of all time. A crossword in itself is a challenging puzzle that improves your intelligence and stimulates your brain power. With the NY Times Crossword app, you can solve the same crossword puzzle that is published each day in the newspaper. Subscribers also get to solve the next day's crossword puzzle one day prior. This app is free to download and comes with a one-week free trial of the official everyday puzzles from The New York Times.

Lumosity
Want to hone your memory and train your attention? Let Lumosity be your guide! This app, created by neuroscientists, is especially designed to help you train your brain in specific areas. All you have to do is choose an area that you would like to challenge yourself on, such as memory or problem-solving, and let the app decide on which training sessions it thinks you need. When a person is using the app, it tracks alterations in their memory, attention, speed, flexibility, and problem-solving scores. This is a pretty addictive app and you will be sure to love it!

7 Little Words
7 Little Words is a fun, challenging, interesting app that is unbelievably easy to learn. There are seven clues, seven mystery words, and 20 letter groups in each puzzle. At times, you might find yourself upon a roadblock, but so addictive is this puzzle that you won't be able to put it down until you solve it. Frustrating and fun! Is there anything better?

Owl
Owls are known to be the wisest of God's creatures, and this app is rightly called so. Everyday your Owl app will offer you facts that are both useful and interesting. Each of the facts is handpicked from Reddit, meaning that users get to learn something new every single day. You can customize when your facts are delivered to your device, and whether you would like to be notified about it or not.

Duolingo
Duolingo is fabulous if you are planning to learn a new language like French, Spanish, German, Portuguese or Italian. One of the best things about Duolingo is that it is free, without any ads or hidden charges. The app allows users to translate a phrase into the language they are trying to learn. Users can also invite their friends to interesting language challenges with Duolingo. A study funded by the makers of the app revealed that just 34 hours spent on Duolingo was equivalent to around 11 weeks or one semester of a college language course.

Quora
Once you start using Quora, there will be no going back. Quora is a great source of knowledge that allows you to ask questions about different topics and get answers from people from all over the world. You can even blog about stuff you know. The app is a powerhouse of all kinds of information.

Georeader
Most of us tend to follow a set routine everyday that doesn't leave us enough time to stop and take notice of all the important markers around us. With the Georeader app, any point of interest or historical marker is automatically reads out loud to you as you walk or drive by. There are more than 120,000 points of interest loaded on the app, which makes it an ideal companion for a road trip.

QuizUp
The popularity of QuizUp needs no testament, mainly because every single person in the world seems to have downloaded it. When the app released, it was one of the most downloaded. It is a lot of fun to test your skills against strangers and friends and earn quirky titles, but also be prepared for a couple of glitches that most often show up, just when you are about to win a challenge, that might make you consider joining an anger management class. QuizUp has tons of categories to choose from, right like history, geography, science, arts, languages, food, television, books etc. and is a great place to hone your general knowledge skills.

HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks gives users access to over 30,000 educational videos and articles from both the HowStuffWorks archives as well as the Discovery Channel. The categories range from history and technology to 'Stuff Your Mom Never Told You'. You can also test your knowledge through quizzes, questionnaires, facts and quotes.

Charge Your Brain
If you are a fan of logic games, then you will love the Charge Your Brain app. This colorful mind-teaser is loaded with tons of mini-games that improve your cognitive abilities and train your mind. The app is designed to make your brain work more efficiently as each of the mini-games are known to train different types of memory as well as different parts of the brain. There are three modes (easy, normal, and hard), and 13 mini-games so you will always be entertained.

Modern travel would not be complete without bridges to get us where we need to go. There are many interesting bridges all over the world. Here are 10 Cool Bridges for you to check out.
1. Magdeburg Water Bridge located in Germany.
- See more at: http://welldonestuff.com/10-cool-bridges/#sthash.t2ifnkT8.dpufModern travel would not be complete without bridges to get us where we need to go. There are many interesting bridges all over the world. Here are 10 Cool Bridges for you to check out.

1. Magdeburg Water Bridge located in Germany. photo via wikipedia.com

2. The Bloukrans Bridge in Africa was recorded as being the worlds highest single span arch bridge in the world (2011).photo via portelizabethdailyphoto.blogspot.com

3. The Rialto Bridge spans Venice’s Grand Canal. It was built in 1951. An amazing, historical masterpiece.



 4. This bridge is located in Norway and it is called The Bridge To Nowhere. It is 8kms long and earned it’s name because as you approach to bridge it appears as though it leads into the sea.

photo via indianaspeedy.blogspot.com

5. The Sky Bridge in Malaysia was built as a pedestrian only bridge. It provides awesome views and is approximately 125 meters long.



6. Singapore’s Henderson Wave Bridge is a very creative structure featuring amazing lighting. This a pedestrian bridge, the longest one in Singapore.



photo via news.travel.aol.com

7. The Aiola Bridge  was designed by an artist named Vito Acconci. It is located in Graz Austria. The central part of the bridge houses a bar, a cafe and an area for sunbathing.



8. The Banpo Bridge in Taiwan is a pedestrian bridge that becomes a shimmering rainbow at night.



9. The Millau Bridge in France is the tallest bridge in the world that is built for vehicles. Amazingly is rises 1,125 above the Tarn Valley.



10. The Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong was the second longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in 1991. It features two decks to carry railroad traffic and road vehicles.

Nowadays there are so many companies with instantly recognizable logos, but few people actually know the meaning behind these corporate symbols. Here are 10 modern day examples of company logos and the meanings behind them:
1. Amazon

The arrow which looks like a smiling face in Amazon’s logo has another meaning behind it. It is a representation of the wide range of items available for retail by Amazon, from A to Z.

2. Apple

The Apple logo is derived from the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. The bitten apple represents the fruit from the “Tree of Knowledge”.

3. IBM

IBM’s logo has a hidden message for the whole world hidden in the Big Blue logo that represents it’s company. The white lines passing through give the appearance of the equal sign in the lower right corner, representing equality.

4. Mobil

Mobil’s logo itself does not represent anything, but the colors do. The red represents strength while the blue in the logo represents faithfulness and security.

5. FedEx

The FedEx logo looks simple and it’s hard to see what could be hidden within it. But looking closely at the space between the ‘E’ and ‘X’ in the orange Ex shows an arrow pointing forward. This arrow represents moving forward toward to the future.

6. Audi

Many have wondered what the four circles in this automaker’s logo mean. Well the four circles represent the 4 companies that were a part of the Auto-Union Consortium in 1932, namely, DKW, Horch, Wanderer and Audi.

7. BMW

BMW’s logo is a tribute to the company’s history in aviation. The logo shows a propeller in motion with the blue part representing the sky. This is due to the company’s role of building aircraft engines for the German military during World War II.

8. Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes’ tri-star represents the companies dominance over land, sea and air.

9. Toyota

There are three ellipses visible in the company’s logo. Each ellipse represents the heart of the customer, the heart of the product and the heart of technological progress.

10. Volkswagen

The Volkswagen logo simply shows the letter of the company’s initials. The word “Volks” is German for people, while “Wagen” is German for car.

Buying a smartphone that’s right for you can be a major hassle. Everyone uses their smartphones differently and hence prioritize the features they want from their new phone. Here is a list of Top 10 Smartphones that have been released in 2013 to guide you through your journey of choosing and purchasing your next smartphone.

10. Sony Xperia z1

What makes this Xperia so famous is it’s waterproof and dust resistant casing, a first for smartphones. The high powered 20.7 megapixel camera, along with the 2.2 GHz quadcore processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage along with a microSD slot make this a heavy performer. The downside is the 5 inch display which could be of better quality considering the high-end nature of the phone. The Sony Xperia Z1 can be bought from a Sony Store without a contract for $649.99 and is available in black, white and purple colors.
You can get one here

9. Motorola Droid Maxx

With a 3500 mAh battery, the Droid Maxx is one of the longer lasting smartphones in terms of battery life. Some of the exclusive Motorola features found in this phone include active notifications, always-on listening and Motorola Assist. The Motorola X8 processor and 32 GB internal storage allow for heavy data usage and processing. The 5-inch AMOLED display and Qi wireless charging capability make it standout from the other smartphones and the 10 megapixel camera is adequate for everyday use. The cost of the phone without contract is $499.99, which means the Droid Maxx is reasonably priced too. You can get one here

8. Samsung Galaxy S4

The Samsung Galaxy is one of the most popular smartphones nowadays, and is an amazing all-rounder. The 5-inch display is amazing and huge yet the phone feels compact in one’s hand. Samsung have also offered flexibility by including a microSD slot and a removable battery. The S4 also has many software enhancements which make it standout from all the other android smartphones in the market. The popularity of the phone means there is a large variety of accessories available for the phone. The Samsung Galaxy S4 costs $627.99 without a contract. You can get one here

 

7. LG G2

The G2 is slightly minimal, but the performance and the more than adequate camera make it a decent phone. The 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display looks amazing and the phone comes with Android 4.2.2 (a common software for LG phones nowadays). The downside of this phone is the placement of the power and volume keys on the backside of the phone which takes some time to get used to. The glossy finish of the phone may put off those of us who tend to have smudgy or sweaty hands. The LG G2 is available for $603.99 at full retail price. You can get one here

6. Moto X

The Moto X not only feels good in your hand, but it also has one of the best voice control functionality and active notifications display on the lock screen. The specifications for the Moto X are not the highest in today’s market and the camera had some issues at first (which were later fixed by an update). However, The Moto X has a very decent battery life and and feels good in your hands. The price of the 16 GB model without contract is $499, making it a great choice for those of us with a limited budget looking for a smartphone. You can get one here

5. Google Nexus 5

The Nexus 5 is the first phone to be released with the latest Android KitKat 4.4 software. With a Snapdragon 800 quadcore processor and 2 GB RAM, the Nexus 5′s performance is one of the best. The 8 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization means you can take decent photographs whenever needed. The phone comes with a lot of other features including Qi wireless charging. The price for all this performance is amazing value for money, with the the 16 GB version costing $349 and the 32 GB costing $399 (both prices are for SIM-unlocked phones). The Nexus 5 is amazing performance at a low price. You can get one here

4. Nokia Lumia 1020

With the best camera in any mobile phone to date, the Lumia 1020 is the phone of choice for those of us who use their smartphones primarily for photography. The 41 (not 14) megapixel camera with enhanced Carl Zeiss optics allows you to take the most high definition pictures out of any phone on or off this list. The only drawback is that there are limitations when it comes to compatibility of certain devices with Windows Phones (such as smartwatches), but Nokia has provided its own host of apps in an attempt to make up for the shortcoming. The Lumia 1020 can be yours, without contract, for $851. You can get one here

3. Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Samsung has put everything into the Galaxy Note 3, which is both incredible and frustrating at times. The Note 3 is the most powerful and capable Android device available in the market today with a 1.6 GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor and 3 GB RAM. The display is an amazing 5.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display. With a 13 megapixel camera, a storage capability of up to 64 GB (including microSD) and a 3200 mAh removable battery which allows you to go longer without having to charge, the Note 3 is a heavyweight in the world of smartphones. The non-contract price of the Note 3 is a reasonable $699.99. A small price for such a heavy performer. You can get one here

2. HTC One

With Android 4.3 software and a beautiful, well-built body, the HTC One is one of the best phones to come out this year. The 4.7-inch Super LCD display is something other manufacturers have been trying to replicate for years. The phone can perform too, with a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. The phone comes in 32 and 64 GB versions with no microSD slot. Dual mics, front-facing speakers and a camera with optical image stabilization are just some of the features of the HTC One. The only downside to the phone is the lack of depth in the photos taken from the 4 megapixel camera (which is very low for such a high-end phone). The HTC One costs $550 at full price. You can get one here

1. Apple iPhone 5S

The iPhone 5S has the same body as the iPhone 5, but comes with an improved 64-bit A7 processor and a home button which acts as a fingerprint reader. The Touch ID central home button makes it easy to unlock your phone and purchase apps. The already popular iPhone camera has been upgraded for the 5S along with improved iOS 7 software. The plus point of the iPhone is that most apps are released first for the iOS platform and with Apple’s hardware regulations, users are guaranteed consistent performance no matter which app they use. The high price is the only downside here, but with a non-contract cost of $849 for the top model, the iPhone 5S is well worth the extra dollars. You can get one here