Will Blogger let me put Ø in my title?

Architecture in authoritarian and Eastern regimes. The 105 Builiding in Pyongyang, North Korea is damn-near spooky. If it's not torn out of Orwell's 1984 then it's definately Blade Runner -esque. [link]. Second, Social Design Notes has an informative post about Rem Koolhaas and the Chinese TV project [link].

It's nice to see the Washington Post deal with zoning [link].

Saw a story about Found on Fox News at 10 [at ten it's news at eleven it's history]. Interesting enough to merit a [link].

"Labor and Materials is Iraq's answer to "Extreme Home Makeover" and the country's first reality TV show." Forget prisoner abuse, this is torture on a far larger scale. "On the way back to the station, the crew stops to look at a house whose roof was ripped off. As they film it, a blast rips through the air, and smoke billows from a nearby mosque. The next day, "Labor and Materials" shows footage of the blast, which killed a young boy, as well as of Kadhim's house." Oh, wait. No, I suppose the killing and such is still going on [link].

Spyros Capralos [and so much more]

is about to become either synomous with a development catastrophe of world-scale proportions or coming a hairsbreadth away from said catastrophe. [link].

"Tackled by Face the Facts presenter John Waite, the general secretary for the Olympic Games, Spyros Capralos, admitted he had no idea how many workers have died constructing the games."

Now for today's news. [a whole lotta links from all over the place]

More from the B. Blogging the DNC is hot now [link]. Revenge of the Sith [link] has been chosen as the title for the next Star Wars film.

Silly Duke, giving iPods to freshman isn't going to make them better students. Oh, wait. Did you say iPods? Really! Well, where do I apply. [link]

I've been half-heartedly tracking the stories about the marshes in Iraq. Well, here's some news, apparently the UN is going to get involved [link].

"The wetlands were drained as punishment after the Marsh Arabs gave sanctuary to rebels fighting the Saddam regime. About 250,000 Marsh Arabs now live in refugee camps and Iraqi cities. It is estimated that during the Saddam period, around 95% of the marshes dried out, largely due to the deliberate diversion of water."

At a loss for words: [link]

"At least 46 children in Peru have died during one of the coldest spells in the Andes Mountains in 30 years."

I saw this on CBS this morning [link]. A little historic preservation, a little peacekeeping, a little religous tolerance. Voila.

How can you read this and not laugh. [link] below.

"INDIA'S railways minister has absolved himself of blame for accidents plaguing the world's largest train network, saying the fate of its 13 million daily passengers rested with the Hindu god of machines, Vishwakarma."

Holy Cow [no pun intended], India has over 100,000 kilometers of rail lines [nearly 60,000 miles based on the rough 100km/h = 60 mph conversion I do in Canada]. They better get on their knees cause apparently it's all in Vish's hands now.

On the topic of leadership: What President Bush is Not. [You can google search any of these quotes and find where they came from.] Here are my picks, but you really have to read the whole list [link]. via Harpers.

"The President of the United States is not a fact-checker... I’m not a very good novelist... I’m not an emailer... I’m not an Iraqi citizen."

It doesn't get any easier than this. Censorship doesn't always come from the government: List of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks [link].

Quite possibly the most interesting single post I've read from Defective Yeti. The Pioneer 10 Plaque [link].

Fuel Cell Breakthrough in Houston [link]. 60+mph jet powered go-kart for sale [link].

Look Below You

Actually, scroll below you. Just use the damn wheel. Next to my obligitory I Power Blogger icon is a new link. It says ATOM Syndication. If you use a syndication reader or news-feed service odds are you can use this link [you all know who you are].

Beyond that mundane addition to Toponymy: some exciting news, Frank Ghery will be a guest voice on the Simpsons next season [link]. So will Warren Sapp, Yao Ming, LeBron James, Michelle Kwan, Ray Romano, Kim Catrall, James Caan, Joe Mantegna, 50 Cent, andThomas Pynchon.

I'm considering a side-blog. It would be a short term project highlighting photos of strange cities [not all necessarily real cities or current cities].

In case you haven't been keeping up on Chicago's new "Steel Bean" this is a good place to start [link]. Plus, Soldier Field will likely lose its National Historic Landmark status because of the recent rennovations [link].

The Shish Kebab [link].

The secret lives of ______.

It's an iPod. No, it's a walkman. No, it's ... RetroPod [link]. Only $100.00, or D-I-Y for approx. $20.00

My continuing collection of Chicago articles. Millennium Park is open [link] and it sounds excellent. Here is the full special secion from the Sun-Times with more articles than you can shake a blogger at [link].

Toronto. Bike vs. Auto vs. Subway. Who wins? [link]

"10 Stories the world needs to know more about." from the United Nations [link]. AIDS orphans and Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation were the most interesting to me.

Torgs and Slors

[Egon is running tests on Louis, who has been possessed by Gozer and is now the Keymaster]
Dr. Egon Spengler: Vinz, you said before you were waiting for a sign. What sign are you waiting for?
Louis Tully: Gozer the Traveler. He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!

I couldn't think of the names Louis mentions in his little speech. Well, now you know. [link]

I am a lightweight in the workplace rage department [link]. This link is not suitable for children. There are multiple descriptions of former employees killing their bosses and co-workers including one where a disgruntled man forces a crash landing killing himself, his boss and 41 others. "Many employers believe it can't happen to them."

Manditory Planning Stuff [lifted from planetizen]

Hey, fix your houses and your property values increase [link].

See ya Seoul. South Korea will move its capital city by 2030 [link]. " That appealed to the evaluation committee, which wanted to start from scratch to avoid the errors of urban planning made in Seoul."

I've noticed my summer posting is much less introspective than my school-year posting. I am finding more links and writing shorter descriptions. Ahh, who cares.


SRL vol. II update

[the recently finished]

+ Crime and Punishment
+ Batman: Year One
+ The Dark Knight Returns

[currenly reading]

+ Alias Grace

Angkor

"Reality and its mirror image" [link].

Hamster Opera

I don't like hamsters or operas. But I am fascinated by the artwork of Hamster Opera [link].

Also: Cool photographs of cities and buildings by Vincenzo Castella [link].

For lack of a description or witty quip I'll steal the first sentance of the article.

"MILWAUKEE -- A self-described minister was found guilty Friday of abusing an 8-year-old autistic boy who died in what prosecutors called an exorcism at a storefront church." [link].

Bloglines Rebuilt

I've been talking up Bloglines to anybody who will tolerate it for a few weeks now. But, if you read anything that is syndicated [it has the little XML or RSS button or says 'syndicated' then this it is] I really, really urge you to start using Bloglines [link]. Why, you ask. Well, they just made some huge improvements [so many I don't care to list them]. So get in on the ground floor. I'm going to investigate syndication of this site so then regular readers can check Toponymy, too.

What's the big deal if a site is syndicated? It means you can tell if something has been added without having to actually go there. The more blogs/news you read the bigger the advantage [my case].

Poppy Petal Ema Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue

She's the tall blonde Aussy actress on [CORRECTION] Without a Trace [link].

Scary Scary Scary [link]. I never want to visit Saudi Arabia. The article is from TMN, "If we happened to be at a Thai restaurant during a time for prayer, the waiters drew the curtains shut. We ate quietly in the dark as a mosque blared outside. During the fast of Ramadan, all the restaurants had to appear closed; they’d only let us in after making sure we weren’t Saudi policemen." It's actually comparing the author's childhood in that shithole to the story of a pair of run-away Hasidic girls.

Chicago: Numero Uno for bicycles [link]. "The mode of transportation once considered so lowly that only poor people used it now has its own valet service." Cool.

I like sushi. I like Twinkies. Why not make Twinkie Sushi. Before you check it out, guess what the wraping is.

[link]

I had some trouble with the interface [56K] and I'd like to see percentages as an option, BUT, the MLA Language Map is really interesting [link].

Are you a Demon Customer? Grab your halo next time you go into Best Buy while you quietly don't purchase items on sale [link].

Interesting article from NYTimes [link] about Grand Central Station's clock synchronization issues. Did I spell synchronization right?

Gmail Swap + Transport Technology

I've been trolling Gmail Swap [link] for two days now. I haven't made any swaps [but I do have a few invites]. Anyway, I'll give them away to anybody who is interested. Just post a comment with an e-mail and I'll get back to you.

More from Saturn [link] moons' gravity carves out rings. "'It almost looks like straw. I don't know what this is. I literally don't have a clue,' says Porco, who is an expert on Saturn's rings. 'It may be brand new, something nobody's predicted before. There may be processes going on that make the particles clump.'" New stuff found.

This is why I read Davezilla [link].

Russian, CIS and Baltic Railway Map [link]. This is one of the most complex transportation systems [in terms of links and nodes] that I have ever seen. The Map Room [link].

I already mentioned the LasVegas Monorail. This has Monorail in the title but is really something entirely different [link]. "The system that he began dreaming up while working on his graduate degree at the University of California-Berkeley would send riders scooting over the elevated track in 300 small, three-passenger monorail cars at 30 mph. The driverless electric cars would avoid delays by passing by intermediate stations, not stopping until they reached their destination, Raney said." This was proposed for silicon valley" Interesting, yes. Feasable, well, uh ... we'll see. Planetizen [link].

On the other hand. The first known self propelled vehicle design [link]. It's a daVinci design that was [probably] never built. Gizmodo [link].

The perils of air travel [link].

Traffic simulator predicts jams one hour in advance [link]. Of course, it's from the autobahn. "As the model runs, it moves vehicles according to rules that embody realistic rates of acceleration and deceleration. No infinite decelerations are allowed, for instance. The result is a software model that combines realistic driver behaviour with realistic physics."

Risky Buildings. Cool preservation site [link].

Sharapova wins Wimbledon [link].

BMW MiniCooper

Ancient runis now being examined in Utah [link]. The ruins have not been examined by archaeologists because the former land owner refused to allow any research. [In planner terms, the invoked his right to exclusion with extreme prejudice.] Strangely, the site has survived looting, typical to many similar sites, because of its inaccessability.

I had been watching Wimbledon mornings on NBC. I saw Sharapova play, just not the match that would get her the headlines [link].

Monorail - Monorail - MONORAIL! LasVegas map and schedule [link].

I am going to start a campaign to see more one-sided cell phone conversations posted on weblogs [link].

Because I don't know to paraphrase it: "The signatures of Stewart and Chuck Norris were among 616,400 that were copied onto a DVD and placed aboard the Saturn probe Cassini by The Planetary Society, a group dedicated to advancing space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life." [link]

STA 110 - baffled response to Rob, "I like art that makes me think..." I don't know what to think about 'King of the Cage" [link]

It comes from UMich, but I've given it a pass. Stalking Detroit [link].

New base station needed in Antarctia [link].

Just in time for the Fourth: build your own flamethrower using stuff from HomeDepot [link]. I had almost forgotten about Something Awful.

This post has nothing to do with the BMW MiniCooper.