Gizmodo: kazakhstan

Kazakhstan Getting Futuristic Architectural Overhaul

Sean Fallon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:40:00 EST

Jak sie masz! My name-a Borat. You see building on top? That is where I pick up many prostitute in Kazakhstan. Building maker Eric Owen Moss take down this special place to put up his crazy space building. Now where do the prostitutes go? How my sister find job? What they think this is? Dubai?

[Eric Owen via DVICE via io9]

Soviet Outpost In Kazakhstan Slated To Be America's Spaceport For Four Years Or More

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EDT

Baikonur is the former Soviet spaceport that put Yuri Gagarin into space and—despite regime change and an uncomfortable proximity to Borat—is still active. This year it provided the launch pad for American billionaire Charles Simonyi and the first Malaysian cosmonaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. According to the AP, once the US space shuttle program ends in 2010, we're going to run all of our missions through the former enemy territory, a town that hasn't changed a whole lot since 1961. Here's a gallery of the quirky spacetown, plus some more wacky fun facts:

• The town of 70,000 suffers extra-hot summers and freezing winters, constantly covered in dust from the surrounding hundreds of miles of scrubland, the weather extremes due to poorly planned Soviet irrigation projects of the early 20th century.

• In 1991, the Soviet collapse stranded Baikonur in the newly independent country of Kazakhstan. A local says: "We did not know what country we belonged to, but we kept on launching rockets." Russia now "rents" the cosmodrome from the Kazakhs for $105 million a year.

• Thanks to increased Russian oil money, Baikonur has seen new investment. It's a "magnet" for job-seekers, and there's a socialist system in place, with free healthcare and housing reserved for employees of the city or launch complex.

• Launch crews are a paragon of efficiency and ability, even today, to the amazement of outsiders. Mark Bowman, deputy director of the NASA Human Space Flight Program at Baikonur, told AP: "Rain or shine or sleet or snow don't matter."

We'll see you in Baikonur! (At least, we will when we score a spare $25 million for some good old-fashioned space tourism.) [AP]

Photo credits: Wikipedia, Space-Travellers.com, GlobalSecurity.org, Leuband.de, FAS, WDR 2, Space.Huerz.ch, US Centennial of Flight Commission

FYI: Kazakhstani Internet Starting At The Low, Low Price Of $3,350...Per Month.

Adrian Covert — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:59:04 EDT

Yes, you read that right. In Borat's beloved homeland of Kazakhstan, the national internet service provider is charging $3,350 per month for DSL service. If you're ever in Kazakhstan and that seems a little pricey, dial-up is availible for $111 per month. If you need more speed, you can go all out and pay $22,032 for a 6Mbps cable connection. Rest assured that Borat has the 6Mbps connection while Nursultan Tulyakbay only has the dial-up...because he's still asshole. [Ars Technica]

Capital of Kazakhstan to be Covered in Gigantic Tent; Gizmodo HQ Moving to Kazakhstan

www.gizmodo.com — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:37:42 EST

Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, will soon become one of the coolest cities in the world. Why, you ask? Because they're planning to build a 500-foot-high "tent" over the entire metropolis to keep it warm in the winter. It'll be made from a special material that absorbs sunlight to give the effect of summer year-round, allowing lucky Kazaks to play tennis and go swimming while the rest of Eastern Europe is stuck bundling up and trudging through snow.

This isn't just a pipe dream, either; UK architect Norman Foster plans to have the project completed in about a year. This is officially the coolest architectural project ever. All of the sudden Kazakhstan just jumped up from about #7,834 of places I want to visit to somewhere in the top 3.

Quoting Borat in the comments will, if not get you an execution, will at least earn you my scorn. Tread lightly. –Adam Frucci

Project Page [via BBC and Trendhunter]