Remember the 80 story building proposed for the Nicollet Mall site? It was refused, of course, because its hubristic height would anger the gods, and they would bring down pestilence upon us. Or some such reason. The request for proposals had included the word "iconic" - an overused and practically meaningless term these days, but you know what the city meant. Important, distinctive, significant. Something that would command the area, provide a visual terminus for the Mall and tie together the loose elements scattered in the old Gateway district.

What we got was a short and ordinary building. And now it's shorter.

Oh it's there. There's just not enough of it.

Some say the site is too far from the core, and while it's true it's not cheek-to-jowl with the major buildings downtown, it's not as if it's a mile away on the other side of a deep trench. Others note that interest rate hikes and other new projects have changed the market - which means, once again,we'll go through a building-boom cycle without getting something taller than the IDS.

We will never get anything taller than the IDS.

SALVE, CITIZEN That's hello, not a healing ointment. If you suspected that was the usual, then you're an enthusiast of Roman History, and will enjoy this enormous map of the Empire at its height. It was featured by Brilliant Maps, a website about - well, you know. If your interest in Rome peters out towards its inglorious end, have you read the sequel? You know, the other Roman empire. The one that lasted until fifty years before Columbus sailed to America? Once you realize that the Byzantine Empire has been given the shortest of shrift in our culture, you'll start wondering why. You can start with this interview.

WOW Ready to start pawing through 187,000 public domain images from the New York Public Library? Prepare to encounter the very definition of "A daunting interface." Go!