I’m sure we’ve all heard of some of the crazy-ass mega projects going on in Dubai (the palm-tree islands, the gigantically tall buildings, the indoor ski hill, etc.)

Here’s a gallery of how Dubai looked a few years ago, how it looks today, and how it will look in the future. (The server’s probably getting pounded by Digg right now; so maybe check it out tomorrow if it doesn’t work right now…)

Supposedly, Dubai has some 15-20% of the world’s cranes, and there are more construction workers in the city then actual people living there.

I’d also heard that a lot of this buildup is to turn Dubai into a tourist centre - so when the oil dries up; they’ll have a long-term source of money.

I don’t think I’d go there, though. Apparently just recently one man was arrested for “drug possession” when he arrived at the airport in Dubai (he’s a German citizen) - he had on him anti-nausea drugs. This, apparently, triggered their standardized drug responses, which includes a urine test. Any drugs found within urine result in a charge of possession, which carries with it a mandatory 4 year sentence (apparently codeine is an illegal drug). Now, I know it’s a bit lax to not be relying on the mainstream press, but there’s a Facebook group friends have started up. It reeks of desperation; but the latest comment stands out:

Spoke to Cat this morning - he’s been in court today but was unable to tell me what had happened/how it went because he didn’t understand a word of what was said… unfortunately it was a very short call…. 17/02/2008

Note that the guy’s been detained since January 26th, and they don’t appear to have been offered the services of a translator…

I was unable to find Canada’s policy with regard to translation services - but I’m fairly certain that with regard to criminal cases, you have a right to be properly informed of your charges and rights, and you probably have a right to a translator during the court process.

In the interest of having more food products in cans, may I present the “batter blaster”

CNET posted a video “taste test review”… basically they said that they’re decent. Interestingly, the Batter Blaster is organic; and the can is recyclable.

Apparently they’ve managed to put cookies and muffins into the Batter Blaster can as well; so I suppose that’s what we’ll see in the near future.

It’s only available in the western US right now. Apparently the price is comparable to home made pancakes (I saw a post somewhere that Costco is selling them at 3 cans for 10 bucks; and apparently you get like 20 pancakes from a tin).

If I wanted to eat pancakes before going off to class; I just might consider something like this - heat pan, add mix, consume. Of course, if I wanted pancakes on a weekend; I’d probably go and do it the old fashioned way (or from a regular mix).

Leave your comments, and masturbation jokes, in the comments.

If you want to live like this; that’s fine… just have the good sense to feel ashamed of yourselves…

“In school, my nickname is Blondie. I don’t know where it comes from… just jokin’…my hair.”

I need some ice on my head. I feel like someone just stabbed my frontal lobe.

That’s probably my favorite quote on the Digg talk page for this thing…

The general consensus seems to be that she’ll marry someone rich and old; or end up in the porn industry.

As I’ve probably said before, I get quotes on my Google homepage. These are some pretty nice ones that’re up right now:

Ask a deeply religious Christian if he’d rather live next to a bearded Muslim that may or may not be plotting a terror attack, or an atheist that may or may not show him how to set up a wireless network in his house. On the scale of prejudice, atheists don’t seem so bad lately. - Scott Adams

Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. - George Carlin

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. - Charles Caleb Colton

Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author? - Philip G. Hamerton

I’m not sure I really like the first Scott Adams quote… it’s not quite funny enough to be funny, and not quite deep enough to be deep. But, it has atheists in it; so it must be posted.

I thought that the third quote was exceptionally appropriate, with midterms here and finals only 6 weeks (!!!!!!!) away.

An entire apartment’s worth of furniture, in a single box:

Check it out.

Pretty neat! I mean, it’s not the best stuff… but it’s probably about the same amount/grade of furniture that I’m using right now in rez.

Here’s hoping IKEA becomes the North American distributor… should be pretty cheap that way…

It’s an attempt to programatically decide if a comment is, or is not, stupid.

Mainly, it’s catching “LOLLL UR SO DUMMM!” - misspellings, total lack of punctuation, over use of capitalization. I assume aging mems will end up in there sooner or later as well.

And yes, I ran through a half dozen comments from you guys. They were deemed not stupid. Maybe they’ll fix the errors in their detection code by the next version… :P