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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

I'd forgotten all about that - I voted ages and ages ago. So long ago, in fact, that I can't remember what I voted for!

Not Stonehenge, anyway, for two reasons:

1) It's older than all of the original 7 wonders, and
2) It's rubbish anyway. Far more impressive, and less busy, stone arrangements up here.

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I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Ditto. I wish the Pyramids weren't an option, as they are indeed one of the old wonders, and the only one still standing at that. (As I recall, when I voted, they weren't, more sort of an honourable mention thing.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

The Pyramids are no longer an option. They've been included as an honorary wonder.

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

Where are the predecessors: Woodhenge and Strawhenge?

There are few places called Woodhenge, as it happens. The one in England is actually near to Stonehenge.

Perhaps some of the (many) plain, earth bank and ditch henges have simply had their straw blown away.......

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I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

It was an Eddie Izzard joke.

EDIT: From his stand-up routine "Dress to Kill"

Yes, I know. My sister in law thinks he's great.

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I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Well, there's always Carhenge:

I'd go for the Alhambra. It is really breathtaking, much "moor" so than the rest of the wonders.

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude

Macchu Picchu is a fantastic place. Did the trail to it last year. It was a let down at first that after 4 days walk in good conditions it rained as we got there but then seeing the clouds pass below the settlement and the drop offs in most directions its an impressive place to be.

Wow, I just realized I've seen (personally) 10 out of the 21 up for grabs. I feel good...

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude

I've seen the Eiffel tower from a large distance (from the highway near Charles de Gaulle IIRC), and Stonehenge also from the highway. So that's not a lot .

However, there are many very impressive structures. When I first entered the (still unfinished atm) renewed Antwerp Central Station I said to my SO: "it doesn't hurt people when they build something slightly over the top from time to time". And that's the feeling I get with anything that IMO would form a candidate for "wonder of the world": something really impressive, more than strictly necessary or than the easiest solution, something that makes you think about the effort/creativity it cost to create it and/or design it and makes you proud that humans created this.

I can't really pick 7 from the 21 candidates, never mind from every candidate I could come up with.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

I wonder where socks lost in the laundry go?

I wonder why the grass is always greener on the other side?

I wonder if the U.S. was the only country to be hit by the Pet Rock epidemic?

I wonder what women really want

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PW -- Plant Whisperer

I've been in 4, and seen another.
My sentiments too:
Basically; I consider a wonder of the world to be: "I wonder how they were able to do that considering..."

Now for this particular "contest", I think there should be a better description of what the list is supposed to convey.
There is no definition as to what a wonder should be. There is an exclusion for technology, and they don't make it clear what the word "new" refers to.
Is it a new list (therefore the pyramid applies)
Is it for new things (like things built after the original list - apparently not)
Is it for new things that were not considered for the original list.
There is no knowledgable authoritative sponsor.
They also say it should be "universally recognizable"... Why? If it is a little known wonder, then why not nominate it?

The original list was a "must see" list. Now, in that vain, it fits to be a popularity contest. But; why take that intermediate step of having a panel of "experts" take it from 77 places down to 21?

I have heard people say ancient stuff is not applicable because it's not new.

I can't really pick 7 from the 21 candidates, never mind from every candidate I could come up with.[/quote]

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

To be asked?

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

The question is not what women really want, the question is who women really want.

The answer involves an astronomy board and over 10.000 posts, or so I hope

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

1) The Chunnel (Britain/France)
2) Eiffel Tower (France)
3) The Palm Islands (Dubai)
4) Golden Gate Bridge (USA)
5) Panama Canal (Panama)
6) Three Gorges Dam (China)
7) International Space Station (various, pending completion)


To heck with the old crap. The wonders of the old world were living breathing parts of their era. As should the modern wonders be.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I couldn't handle it unless one of us were willing to move to the other's country, Nicolas. I hate long-distance relationships!

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I couldn't handle it unless your current boyfriend wasn't in the military

Seriously though, for 5 years my SO has been living at a distance that allowed us to only see each other in the weekends, and I'm quite tired of that. Working on the problem though, in a few months time I'm moving!

I can only praise myself lucky there's fully open borders and the same currency now, so moving across the border is no different than traveling inside the country. But still, it's time I have 1 living place instead of 3. I go across the border like some people go to the mall .

edit: erm just how far off topic are we!

To get this back on topic: traveling that much means that I visit the earlier mentioned Antwerp Central Station twice a week on average. There you have it, back to a minor Wonder of the World.

I hope they'll put some good pics online when it's completely finished. On one hand you've got the old station which is very impressive. It used to have more metal ornaments on the main train hall than nowadays and two clock towers, but other than that it's still in original condition, and the access bridge including all towers is being completely renovated. On the other hand you've got a new section involving 3 underground levels, two of which have train platforms (seeing large trains at 3 levels on top of each other is impressive!). And all that in a visually stunning way: you can see from the bottom of the lowest level train platforms upto the top of the "cathedral" hangar, and the internal facade of the station building.

Even the original (over 100 years old IIRC) bumpers at the end of the top level platforms are a mini wonder. They're huge bumpers with hydraulic dampers, massively strong and extremely well anchored into the floor, and their purpose is to slow down and preferably stop a train that would enter the station and not break enough. Because if that happens on the top level and the train isn't stopped, it goes straight inside the main station building and with enough speed, may end up in front of the entrance of the Zoo ; .

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

I completely agree!! Where are the Hubble Space Telescope and the Large Hadron Collider? What about the Human Genome Project? What about the Space Shuttle?

Where are the natural wonders? Where are the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon Rainforest?

All the objects on that list are rehashed from old world wonders. Yes, they are wonderful, but let's get some new blood in the list. Bah!

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Your take on it only underlines my point that I could come up with so many small and large "wonders of the world", even when sticking to buildings/monuments.

The Saturn V on display. The VAB. Nuclear power plants with huge cooling towers. That beautiful new bridge in France. The Chrysler building (because its prrrrrrrrrrretty!!). etcetcetc.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

But that's not really the point. It's like making a list of the greatest cars on the planet (theoretically). Then, someone jumps out of the the (theoretical) audience and yells "Hey, what about boats, why not include them in the list?"

The Wonders of the World are meant to be HUMAN-made, and to impress the Average Joe. I doubt ol' Joey knows what the Large Hadron Collider does. And he definitely doesn't care for the HST, 'cause hey, it's just a friggin' big piece of glass, right?

I do agree that it has become more of a popularity contest than a thorough judging of "inspiration" (Latin: in + spiro = in + breath: given breath)

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Alex

Dark Comedy Theory. Where c is coffee, s is spew, v is velocity, and w is how much windex used to clean LCD monitor. When I put the sentence through the equation, it unified all 4 forces above. I'm hoping someone here can help me express the precise mathematics into an elegant, simple equation. My next step is to post it in ATM, and then hopefully submit if for refereeing.
-Serenitude

The wonders tended to be physical objects, so the HGP is out, the shuttles aren't singular objects. The Discovery alone might qualify, considering that its lead something of a charmed life having flown us back into space after both critical setbacks in the program.

Aircraft are tough in that regard, at least to me. Maybe one would be the Wright Flyer.

Hubble would certainly be an interesting entry, but the ISS trumps it in my mind because of its more intrinsically human element. Seeing the edge of space is one thing, actually putting humans into space full time with cooperation across so many borders, that's impressive. But then again, here comes Bigelow Aerospace with the first privately financed space stations coming up. So there again, we have another REALLY extraordinary achievement.

The big problem with the modern world is so few things are permanent enough to qualify. Buildings are kinda trite, because they're going up so fast, with newer technology, what was once a monumental undertaking is just another day at the office. To qualify as a wonder, you've really got to go over the top.

Ships? Again, hardly unique, even if monumental. Big ships are just another part of our lives, so none really stand out.

As far as the ones I selected, considering them "modern" wonders, I've limited myself to 1900 on.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I didn't see any space exploration rockets or telescopes in there, or dams, freighters, skyscrapers, computers, PET scan equipment, etc., (just a lot of churches and so on), so I didn't vote for any of them.

Makes you wonder.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

I have a cartoon from The New Yorker that answers that question.

It shows two guys at a bar. One is listening while the other is talking. He's saying

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Something they don't have. Whatever they have, they want something else.

Closely related to grass-is-greener issue.

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Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Yeah. I want my boyfriend to come home.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

1] a budding flower
2] every newborn child
3] the rainbow
4] a lover's kiss
5] the stars in the nightsky
6] human's ability to admire beauty
7] love

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I think, therefore I write... I think

Spoil sport.

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.