The newest and most exclusive residential tower for this city’s superrich is a cantilevered sheath of steel and glass soaring 27 floors into the sky. The parking garage fills six levels. Three helipads are on the roof. There are terraces upon terraces, airborne swimming pools and hanging gardens in a Blade Runner-meets-Babylon edifice overlooking India’s most dynamic city. There are nine elevators, a spa, a 50-seat theater and a grand ballroom. Hundreds of servants and staff are expected to work inside. And now, finally, after several years of planning and construction, the residents are about to move in. All five of them. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Oct 29, 2010 -
84 comments
Last year, Yang Youde learned that his land had been requisitioned. Since the compensation terms for breaking the contract had not been settled, he has refused to move out. "The evictors said many times that they will move on me." Earlier this year, Yang took measures to protect himself. He took a hand-truck and removed the front. Then he put in a set of rockets for use as an artillery battery.
posted by Artw
on Jun 8, 2010 -
34 comments
The fire tower, or fire lookout, was one of the main wildfire-fighting tools of forest services across the world for
much of the 20th century. Most are
small cabins,
alone or placed on
80-foot steel towers; these are then placed on top of peaks, giving them an unobstructed
view of the surrounding countryside. (There are
some exceptions, of course.) Operators in the towers, equipped with binoculars and
firefinders, spent their days searching for smoke or lightning strikes, which would be pinpointed and radioed in for firefighters. (The lookout operators, who staff the towers for a season at a time straight, have a life that is generally pretty
solitary and
quiet, though sometimes rather
intense.) At peak, there were thousands of fire towers across North America; while most of these no longer exist,
a few hundred are still active.
[more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good
on Mar 2, 2009 -
35 comments
The žižkov television tower in Prague
was pretty weird looking to begin with, since 2000 it's gotten
much stranger...
posted by Artw
on Jul 19, 2008 -
42 comments
GemCraft Flash Tower Defense goodness. Neat little rpg/upgrading touches in between maps. Lots of maps with some epic bosses thrown in every once in a while.
[more inside]
posted by juv3nal
on Jun 14, 2008 -
32 comments
In October 1947, the directors of
J. Lyons & Co (think - teashops, nippies, bakeries, ice-creams, steakhouses, hotels, Wimpy Bars and Dunkin' Donuts), decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers.
In 1951 the
LEO I computer was operational and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.
posted by tellurian
on Oct 1, 2007 -
13 comments
