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An Engineering Masterpiece

There was a show on the building of that structure on Discovery Channel I believe.

The thing is AMAZING.

I forget how much they said the electric bill is for the thing to keep it below freezing inside to make snow.
 
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Engineers' Conversion Table

Scientific types will especially appreciate this one; it is pretty heavy scientific stuff...converting units:
1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
8. Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon
9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower
11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line
12. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone
14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
17. 52 cards = 1 decacards
18. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
20. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
21. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
22. 10 rations = 1 decoration
23. 100 rations = 1 C-ration
24. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
25. 4 nickels = 2 paradigms
26. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League
27. 100 Senators = Not 1 decision

:biggrin:
 
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ScriptOhio;1990620; said:
Engineers' Conversion Table

Scientific types will especially appreciate this one; it is pretty heavy scientific stuff...converting units:
1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
8. Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon
9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower
11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line
12. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone
14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
17. 52 cards = 1 decacards
18. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
20. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
21. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
22. 10 rations = 1 decoration
23. 100 rations = 1 C-ration
24. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
25. 4 nickels = 2 paradigms
26. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League
27. 100 Senators = Not 1 decision

:biggrin:

Woo engineers! What's your industry?
 
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Might as well post an actual engineering monstrosity in Saudi...the Abraj Al-Bait.

41488740355a99d3c373o.jpg

makkah-clock-royal-tower-hotel.jpg


The clock tower is taller than the Empire State Building
 
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FCollinsBuckeye;1990779; said:
Are they really building that? It looks like something you'd see in Vegas, not Islam's epicenter.

Yes. The top pic is an actual photo from a year or so ago. The tower was completed this summer.

One of the goals of the clock (the largest clock tower in the world obviously) is to try & make it the default world time instead of Zulu/GMT.

BTW that's the Ka'aba (the black cube...Islam's holiest site) that it overlooks.
 
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Muck;1990780; said:
Yes. The top pic is an actual photo from a year or so ago. The tower was completed this summer.

One of the goals of the clock (the largest clock tower in the world obviously) is to try & make it the default world time instead of Zulu/GMT.

BTW that's the Ka'aba (the black cube...Islam's holiest site) that it overlooks.

So in other words, they expect the world to move their time standard based on having a big-ass clock tower? :lol:
 
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scarletmike;1990947; said:
So in other words, they expect the world to move their time standard based on having a big-ass clock tower? :lol:

Well to be honest they expect the world to move it's time standard because they feel Islam should dominate said world...the clock tower is just a symbol.

BTW when I said it was taller than the Empire State Building...to put it into perspective:

meccamarch25.jpg
 
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Basically what Poe said. I've always been extremely skeptical of Dubai's building orgasm and how viable it really is 25+ years out. I think there will be a massive realization of how excessive it was even 10-15 years out. I've already seen a lot of shakeup and uncertainty in investments there in the industry I follow closely. I don't know the real details in terms of economic demographic breakdowns of the region, but what I do know makes me think the building glut will result in some interesting urban abandonment across that region.

So apart from a possible upscale, close hotel for the Hajj and a pipe-dream to be the time-set for the world, I wonder what other purpose this serves? I guess the Saudis could be financing this themselves, but I don't find that very likely. It doesn't seem to have much economy or industry outside of the Hajj, so this is a head-scratcher for me. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the city/region could clue me in?
 
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scarletmike;1991082; said:
Basically what Poe said. I've always been extremely skeptical of Dubai's building orgasm and how viable it really is 25+ years out. I think there will be a massive realization of how excessive it was even 10-15 years out.

I do know that they were having problems selling a lot of the properties on the newest cluster of artificial islands they've been building like crazy.

So apart from a possible upscale, close hotel for the Hajj and a pipe-dream to be the time-set for the world, I wonder what other purpose this serves? I guess the Saudis could be financing this themselves, but I don't find that very likely. It doesn't seem to have much economy or industry outside of the Hajj, so this is a head-scratcher for me. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the city/region could clue me in?

It's primary purpose was to service pilgrims. Between the Hajj & Umrah something like 4 million foreigners visit Mecca each year...not counting Saudi nationals or visitors during Ramadan & other times of the year.

Outside of that like many such projects it was meant as a source of national/ethnic/religious prestige.
 
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