Of course, Gizmodo reader Gerald Donovan didn't send the photo itself, as it would have broken the entire internet. He created a video zooming in and out of his image in Photoshop. It's like magic. Or an episode of CSI. I just can't believe the level of detail in this photo. It's stunning to see such a titanic structure in this way.

The largest skyscraper in the world will officially open in 13 days.

Well, not all the time, since storms aren't exactly a daily occurrence in Dubai. In a way, though, that makes the sheer number of occasions this has been caught on film all the more impressive. Cue neck hair standing on end...now:

A proposal: When the hotel finally opens in January, this should be their advertising campaign. --Thanks, Cuyler!

The Dubai Fountain—which was recently finished by the Burj Dubai—can reach 492 feet up in the air.

It was built for $217 million by WET Design, which is the same company that created the one at the Bellagio Hotel, in Las Vegas. The 900-foot long water show uses 6,600 lights, 50 colored projectors, and hundreds of servos, all computer controlled and synchronized with music to offer some of the most sophisticated water entertainment since Zeus decided to impregnate Danaë. [Wikipedia and Dark Roasted Blend]

Yep, pretty big. [Kottke]

Oh, wow. Apparently, in May, a Brit and a Frenchman snuck on to the under-construction Burj Dubai and BASE jumped from it at 650 meters up. Now, there's video available of their infiltration, jump and subsequent escape. The footage from up top and the jump is just incredible stuff. I wish I had the cajones to do something like this. Although my favorite part of the video may be the footnote at the end; wait for it, it's worth it. [Current via Neatorama]

The reason was simple: distance. At the beginning of the construction they used walkie-talkies—which are light, durable, and have a long battery life—across the site. However, these stopped working after some time, as the tower kept raising over the desert. With unreliable communications, Samsung Corporation—the main contractor—had to turn to a different kind of link between workers to avoid misunderstandings that may have jeopardized the safety of workers (even more, because plenty of people have had fatal accidents in the tower) and delayed the project.

Fortunately for them, they turned to mesh networks, which are similar to the ones used in mobiles, but local. For that they used a company called Firetide, using several Wi-Fi-enabled VoIP phones over a HotPort wireless mesh, which also serves as the transport for the security video in the site.

Absolutely crazy. [Thanks David!]

I took these photos from a bell helicopter last week on a trip to see this amazing building in Dubai with my son. They were taken on a 45 degree bank over the tower on a canon 1Ds mark 3 digital camera NO GOOD FOR THOSE AFRAID OF HIGHTS !! The interior shot however is not the Burge Dubai but the Arab Emirates Towers shot from the 10th floor bar looking up to the upper floors also took the attached shot looking out from the window across the street with the reflection of the interior in the window cool.

Here are more photos of the Arab Emirates Towers:

[Burj Dubai Skyscraper via Dark Roasted Blend]

It's flat on one side and looks like a ship's bow on the other, and in the thickest part of the middle there's an atrium area that brings light into the interior portions of the building.

This is a great-looking building, but look how it sticks out like a sore thumb among its surroundings. Mexico City will just need to start building a lot more tall buildings to accompany this one.

To put this building's height into context, even though it'll be the tallest building in Latin America, it's dwarfed by the tallest building in the U.S., the Sears Tower at 1450 feet, which is itself dwarfed by the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, to be completed next year, and whose height will be over 2000 feet (its exact height is still a secret). [Yanko Design]

The Taipei 101, in Taiwan, was the previous titleholder standing at 508m high and resided above the rest of the architectural world since its opening in 2004. The developers of the Burj Dubai, Emaar properties, declined to comment on how tall the completed structure would be. What is for sure—it will be large—as large as my penis if it were a building. [Reuters image via Burj Dubai Skyscraper]