Whatever is happening on the side of the street here in Chicago, a large amount of money is definitely changing hands between this man and the driver of the car.

Submitter Sean suggested that there may be some sinister activity going on here, and his statement isn’t without basis, as this rather nifty site shows all the crime data for the area, and there do appear to be a lot of drugs offences.

Perhaps you can suggest a more legitimate explanation?

Thanks to Sean.

Update: Google has since removed this image from their database.

Originally conceived by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1785, the panopticon was intended to be a type of prison that allowed the guard to observe any of the inmates without them knowing if and when they were being watched. The design features a central platform surrounded by a ring of cells – thus enabling a clear view of every prisoner.

A panopticon was never built in Bentham’s lifetime, but the idea was revived many years later for the design of Statesville Correctional Centre in Crest Hill, Illinois. Opened in 1925 it has two ’roundhouses’, and is the only working example of a panopticon in the United States. Here’s a great photo which clearly illustrates what the interior is like.

Although genuine panopticons are very rare, outside of the US there are a few more for us to see.

The Presidio Modelo on the Isla de la Juventud in Cuba was directly inspired by Statesville, completed in 1931, and remains one of the best examples of Bentham’s concept. Originally holding up to 6000 prisoners, its most famous inmate was probably the current President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, who was held here between 1953 and 1955. The last prisoner was released in 1967 however, and it is now a national museum – this photo shows how it looks inside today.

Chi Hoa prison in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is an outdoor version of the panopticon, but still has the central observation tower and cells ringed round it. During the Vietnam War, the prison was used to hold Viet Cong members, and still serves as the main correctional facility for the city.

Finally, Holland actually has three panopticons – in Haarlem, Breda and Arnhem. Designed by Willem C. Metzelaar, Haarlem’s domed prison has four floors of cells, and was completed in 1901.

Merzelaar’s father was the architect for Breda and Arnhem, which perhaps explains the similar style of the three buildings. The Dutch government refurbished these prisons in 1979, choosing to remove the central observation platforms, but keeping the rings of cells intact.

Wikipedia has more on panopticons, Jeremy Bentham and the Separate System.

As so often seems to be the way with claims of “World’s Largest”, there’s a certain amount of jostling for the top slot – regardless of who should rightfully be in it.

Most often described as the World’s Largest Cross is the one in Effingham, Illinois. Unfortunately it isn’t covered on Google Maps, but Microsoft have a view of the area.¹ Bizarrely, on the day this image was taken the cross appears to have donned some sort of invisibility cloak, but take my word for it, at 60.3 m high it just ain’t that big.

Over in Groom, Texas, they also have a very large cross, and we can actually see it this time. Dubbed “The second largest cross in the western hemisphere“, it used to be the largest in the western hemisphere (until they built the Effingham cross to be 2.4 m taller). Anyway, it’s a dubious claim-to-fame either way.

Never fear though, as there’s a truly spectacular large cross to see near Madrid, Spain. The Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) contains one of the world’s largest basilicas, which was hewn out of a granite ridge by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco – to honour those who fell during the Spanish Civil War.² Absolutely towering above the basilica is the tallest memorial cross in the world, a 152.4 metre high stone cross that took 18 years to complete.³

Not to be outdone, in Nazereth plans are underway to build the true “World’s largest cross” – but at a proposed 60 metres they’re not even going to come close.

More on Effingham, Groom and the Valle de los Caídos at Wikipedia, and in our own original post on the Valle de los Caídos (the imagery of it has been updated since then).

Thanks to Jan & michael woodruff

Has anyone ever seen the Sandra Bullock / Keanu Reeves chick-flick The Lake House?

I’ve not, but I watched the trailer, and the movie seems to be based around a lake house where both characters live, years apart, yet can communicate via a mailbox TARDIS.

The house was actually a temporary structure built purely for filming. But in the Google Earth aerial photo it can still be seen on the banks of Maple Lake. Look closely and you’ll also see a camera boom, trailers, a blue pick-up truck (driven by Reeves’ character), and fake snow around the building.

Soon after filming was completed the lake house was destroyed.

Thanks: Charlie Koerner, Dave & knouff

Today is Groundhog Day, a North American festival which reckons that:

if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks.

So in celebration, we’re posting Woodstock, Illinois, the location where most of the scenes from the excellent Bill Murray comedy of the same name were filmed (although it was actually set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania). And yes, in our thumbnail of the town square you can actually see “Gobbler’s Knob”…

For fans of the movie, the official Woodstock website has a PDF map which identifies all the locations used.

Thanks to Nev, Arthur and Pat.