Wandering Wikipedia can swallow up hours at a time, but throws up some oddities. For instance, the Donegal TD Joe McHugh has had his Wikipedia entry vandalised:
The people who have enough time on their hands to deface this are clearly sadder than I for ferreting it out.
The Moroccan cities of Rabat and Salé are inching ever close to becoming one, a project 800 years in the making if you’re feeling poetic, two years if you’re feeling realistic.
Either way, it’s a fairly huge undertaking and an indication of how urban sprawl and economic necessity can bring about major changes in the demographic and political spheres. It isn’t one absorbing the other through growth and authority — I’m sure we all know at least suburb that has become part of a city proper in our lifetimes — but an indication of how highly the government considers having a capital that’s big enough to compete on both economic and prestige fronts.
And what interests me as well is that Morocco either had an inkling of a global recession, or were simply prudent enough to cover the possibility: it has a $3.25bn emergency fund in case investors pull out of the project.
Morocco broke ground on the US$4 billion Bouregreg project in 2006 and plans to complete major work in 2010. New breakwaters have appeared, the estuary sports a new marina and corniche, and the grinding of heavy machinery echoes through Rabat as workers lay rails for a tram system spanning the river.
The river flats will be covered in swish new houses and business parks, and resort hotels will stud the coastline. UAE firms Sama Dubai and Sorouh Real Estate are supplying investment and building expertise, but the government promises Moroccans that their capital will not become a Gulf-style megalopolis.
I’m not sure if it will be called Rabat or Bouregreg, after the river that flows between the two cities. I’m just fascinated by urban transformation.
It’s not the first example of cities merging — there’s Budapest — but it’s one of the bigger ones in recent history, perhaps even the biggest if my memory is accurate. I also like motivation behind it; whereas Budapest was formed from three cities to be the capital of Hungary, in Morocco it is a natural progression, as the two cities are quite intertwined as it is.
Sarah Winterburn wonders why Roy Keane is immune from criticism despite spending £30m on players and still being mid-table.
Rick O’Shea has links to 10 divinely designed churches.
Get your hands on a piece of dictatorial luxury: Saddam’s rocket-launching yacht is for sale.
It’s going to take over from Vista and you know Microsoft is going to give it a major push, so best take a look at Windows 7’s features (with video). And don’t forget Windows Azure.
It seems like a trivial quibble, but boot times are just too long in a world accustomed to instant gratification.
Tell Paulo what you think the world will be like in 12 months’ time.
I’m rapidly running out of energy.
Ireland is facing disciplinary proceedings for its declining public finances. WTF? Why just us?
I meant to do more substantial blogging stuff this weekend but life had other plans. This is interesting though, if a little sad:
Gene scientists delving into the 5,300-year-old remains of Oetzi the Iceman, the mysterious mummified man found high in the Alps, say he most likely has no modern-day relatives.
Italian and British experts looked into the mitochondrial DNA — genetic material handed on down the maternal line — teased from Oetzi’s body at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is very stable, changing only gradually as it is handed down the generations, which means it is an excellent yardstick for genealogy.
Oetzi’s mtDNA belonged to a broad genetic category called K1, which is still common in Europe today, the investigators reported on Thursday.
However, modern Europeans today belong to three sub-lineages of K1, whereas Oetzi’s sub-lineage has most probably petered out.