Wow. This is really really good stuff. This one is my favourite, even if that isn't the point of these at all. posted by Elmore at 11:59 AM on January 20, 2011
One of my professors in college was working on this stuff. Apparently, there is quite a lively discussion in part of the mathematical community about what makes the "best" map, given that transforming a curved surface into a flat one will always cause some distortion. Kind of wish I'd asked him more about it now. posted by Hactar at 12:03 PM on January 20, 2011
My takeaway from the world of projections link is that all map projections are horrible. Also, this West Wing clip probably belongs in here as well. posted by BuddhaInABucket at 12:28 PM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]
Mmm, maps. Can't wait to check this out at home. posted by desjardins at 12:32 PM on January 20, 2011
Oh man, thanks. I love this. All my various inner nerds bow to my inner cartography nerd.
If I only had a penny for every time I ruined a casual conversation by trying to explain the difference between a projected and a geographic coordinate system or enthusiastically decribing the origins of the 1927 North American Datum (NAD ha ha ha) I would probably have enough to upgrade to ArcGIS 10 etc. etc. posted by gordie at 12:49 PM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]
Seconding the "dizzy" ... this one gave me an idea of what a friend was talking about when he described to me what it felt like to take peyote. posted by not_on_display at 1:08 PM on January 20, 2011
"I would probably have enough to upgrade to ArcGIS 10 etc. etc."
Don't worry, I'm sure ArcGIS 10 is actually a downgrade, like all their other releases. I still need 3.2 to get certain tasks completed in a timely manner.
I'm a bit of a camera noob, but are these images manipulated during image processing or are the distortions created as part of the camera's functionality? posted by Beardsley Klamm at 1:36 PM on January 20, 2011
Neat, but his subject matter seems to be biased towards the tropics (in earth-speak), with the high/low latitudes being filled with ceiling and carpet. The problem with earth projections seems to be representing the landmasses of the northern and southern hemispheres correctly, both of which predominantly lie above/below the tropics. I think. posted by chebucto at 2:25 PM on January 20, 2011
So I click the link expecting to be challenged and inspired by the mysteries of graphical projection, and I've ended up falling in love with a French kitchen... posted by Jazz.bot at 8:19 PM on January 20, 2011
Hmm, maps maps. Can't wait to check this out at home. posted by chimik8 at 8:31 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
From a different part of his Flickr stream, here's my favourite, for the clever and endearing way it relates the shape to its image. posted by arm's-length at 8:18 AM on January 23, 2011
« Older Cow Clicker distilled social games to their essenc... | Hu Jintao, premier of China, i... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:19 AM on January 20, 2011 [5 favorites]