As nations, the USA and Russia have often found themselves on different sides of various socio-political philosophies. And at times, an uneasy peace seems to exist between the two greatest nuclear powers the world has ever known. But despite all obstacles, the people of Russia reached out to Americans with a gesture of hope and kindness when President Putin dedicated an extraordinary monument as a gift in honor of those who perished in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“To The Struggle Against World Terrorism” is a 100 foot high, bronze sculpture conceived of by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli. Zurab is the President of the Russian Academy of Arts and Director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (among other things).

I suppose that only a man in a position such as this wields the necessary power to convince a government and it’s people to get behind a gift of this magnitude. Its certainly akin to the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France.
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Thanks to Peggy for sending me this video of a stunt pulled off by Improv Everywhere, whose slogan is “we cause scenes”. The setup is that 207 people all walking through Grand Central Station in New York all freeze in place at the exact same second, and hold still for a full 5 minutes.

Most interestingly, it’s inspired people in 28 other cities in 13 countries to stage their own freeze mission. Thousands people worldwide in places like Romania, Poland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand have come together to make time stop for five short minutes. Below is a roundup of all of the videos of the various global freeze events.
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This week’s Links of the Week theme is… pictures.

• Bush’s Historical Approval Ratings
• Toys manufacture in China
• Awesome Military Photos of the Twin Towers
• Pictures of Walls
• US Poverty Map

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According to producer Louie Schwartzberg, John Yacobellis is the undisputed King of Bike Messengers.

Louie produced this neat little 5 minute video that covers what it’s like to fight traffic and deliver packages in the busiest city in America.

Oh, and if you didn’t see it previously check out my post on the NYC Bike Messenger Race.
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Only on the Internet can you get a glimpse of an amazing street drummer without leaving the warmth and comfort of your own home!

So, all the way from New York City, please give it up for Larry Wright, the famous street performer and his 5 gallon paint buckets.
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Wow, Panoramas.dk is one of the greatest sites I’ve ever come across. It features a number of three dimensional panoramas which allow you to virtually look around a given space. This is a technology that can only flourish on the Web since you cannot move around inside a static photograph.

There are virtual reality panoramas of the Eiffel Tower, Carnival in Rio, a Camel Carts in Bikaner India, a human Zoo, an ariel view of Sydney Australia and even the Apollo Moon Landings.

The site can be a little difficult to navigate so I compiled the following list of several I enjoyed.
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I’m a big fan of Google Earth because frankly it lets you do things that no other software has ever allowed before. That, and the fact that it’s completely FREE! (Thanks Google!)

Google Earth will allow you to plan trips, see the planet from a satelite view, and generally waste time. It is also required for some of the posts on my blog which offer a virtual tour of famous places.

Here are a few quick videos that demonstrate exactly why you should download and install this free software if you haven’t already!
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I love New York! It is truly one of the world’s greatest cities, but I must say there are some of the worst drivers in the country clogging up the roads in Manhattan (yeah, I’ve driven there). So, its a little surprising that anyone would willingly get on a bicycle and fling themself infront of cars there!

I know the NYC bike messengers have a reputation as being the bad boys of the messaging business, but you just have to see how many traffic violations they can cram into an 8 minute trip.

This find is once again courtesy of Jimbo!
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So, after all my talk about Global Warming, including the movie An Inconvenient Truth, wouldn’t you like to know what’s going to happen to your piece of real estate if (and when) global sea levels rise over the coming decades? For example, just look at the image here… if seas rise just 10 feet the Holland tunnel in New York will be under water! :-)

Well, Alex Tingle now brings us the Flood Maps Website which allows you to see a visual representation of what will happen at varying levels of rising sea.
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