World Trade Center Panorama

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Really enjoyed this panorama of the World Trade Center site via the New York Times website. The panorama allows you to look around the construction site (from a fixed point) within the location.

You can see newly planted white oak trees, and 1 World Trade Center beyond the South Memorial Pool that marks the site of the former South Tower.

Make sure you click on the ‘Full Screen’ button to view the panorama at its best. Also you can speed up or slow down the rotation by using your mouse to manoeuvre the panorama to all points of the compass: up, down, backwards, forwards, and every direction between.

Amazing stuff. All they need now is a permanent 360 degree camera providing the same panoramic view in real time, and you could watch the complex being built from anywhere in the world.

Since the panorama can’t be embedded on this page, you will need to go to the New York Times site to view it, but it is well worth the trip!

-o0o-

Here are a small selection of books and DVDs that mark the passing of the Twin Towers and commemmorate the momentous events of September 11, 2001. All are available directly from Amazon.Com. Simply click on one of the images to go to that items page on Amazon where you will find independent reviews and ordering information.

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The Week That Was #10

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Welcome to my weekly collection of the Odd, the Useful, and the often Bizarre.

The Odd: Finland Talks Trash: Finland has developed a series of talking trash cans to help keep their cities cleaner and make visitors more aware of carelessly tossing trash. The trash cans also have the added benefit of teaching visitors a bit of the Finnish language. The talking trash bins greet passers-by and encourage them to throw their trash away. They are never at a loss for words. Tourists will be delighted to hear that the talking trash bins speak not only Finnish and Swedish, but also Japanese, English, German, Polish and Russian. Tourists can also learn the basics of the Finnish language, such as: “One of the sure signs of summer in Finland is that the trash bins start talking.” Read more here… or Watch a video of the talking trash bins on YouTube…

The Useful: World Trade Center Transportation Center. Consumer Traveller reports that the first rib-like forms of Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Center (see image) are rising from the giant pit at the base of Ground Zero in Manhattan. This stunning structure is expected to cost more than US$3 billion and will not be completed for another four years. The building will be the transportation hub for the train station below the World Trade Center. Construction will involve miles of walkways for pedestrians below ground as well as facilities for repair and supply of the trains, and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space. Read more here…

The Bizarre: Naked Swiss Hikers Must Cover Up. No, I’m not suggesting it is bizarre that naked hikers cover up, I’m with the Swiss authorities on this one. It seems the tiny Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden has voted to prohibit the phenomenon of naked hiking. Anyone found wandering the Alps wearing nothing but a sturdy pair of hiking boots will now be fined. Apparently the locals have been outraged by an upsurge in hikers who think the best way to appreciate the mountains is with their clothes off. The vote, taken at Appenzell's annual Landsgemeinde (an open-air meeting of all registered voters held in the town square), showed there was a big majority in favour of prohibiting naked hiking, and introducing fines of Sfr 200 ($175). Read more here…

Photo courtesy of the Spanish Institute…