Interesting stuff Mark, I like the random threads that spring up here. Funnily enough yesterday I was reading an interesting article on arstechnica "The Shard's bleeding edge: anatomy of a 21st century skyscraper" that anyone who is interested vaguely in this thread would enjoy.
I have to say arstechnica is really a fascinating site - probably my second most visited on the web (after OtD, of course); here's the article:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/12/the-shards-bleeding-edge-anatomy-of-a-21st-century-skyscraper.ars
Actually would that be an interesting thread, even if a little OT - what's your "other" favourite watch site and favourite non-watch website?