Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The True Size of Africa (2015)

kai.sub.blue

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 226 posts

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#101

Post by bombcar »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #99
runarberg wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone from Scandinavia I was surprised to to find out that there is even homogeneity in brand names. In Scandinavia if you from Denmark to Norway, you will likely stop shopping at Netto and instead shop at REMA 1000 , if you travel to Iceland, you might find your self shopping at Nettó again, but it is a whole different chain (more likely you will shop at Bónus ). In the USA you will probably shop at Safeway in…

Actually, the one example you've picked there (grocery stores/supermarkets) is quite a bad one. There are very few national supermarkets in the US. Ironically, Whole Foods Market (now owned by Amazon) is as close as any to this title. Safeway may once have been widespread, but in terms of stores bearing that brand (as opposed to be owned by the company), there are not many Safeways anymore. Instead, there are regiona…

And there are regional brands in many areas - just below Subway and McDonalds you’ll find things like Culver’s or Jack in the Box or In-n-Out - regional. Gas stations and restaurants are often regional, especially as cuisine varies.

Of course you can find McDonalds everywhere but you’ll find those in Europe, also.

I think the main thing that makes it feel superficially homogeneous is the shared language - which is now even more shared since the advent of Hollywood and national entertainment.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#103

Post by bombcar »

vmception wrote: post #100
Tade0 wrote: post #94

One of my early childhood toys was a little globe and I'll make sure my kid has one too.

Globes are great for inquisitiveness, but they are often outdated, with globes providers in certain regions simply never updating them. Many globes in the US still have Czechoslovakia as a country, let alone not having South Sudan on it, for example. And let's not get started about all the globes being Made in China and what that means for getting a perception of that region of the world. Owning a globe and giving it…

I have a soft-spot for USSR globes - though ones before that are now arguably more accurate than the ones from the 80s.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#104

Post by mgerullis »

joshuaengler wrote: post #86
mgerullis wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language, currency, jurisdiction (to large extends), media… An American from Idaho will be able to communicate, trade and watch the same tv as someone in Vermont, whereas a person from Malawi will not be able to do any of these things with a person in Guinea

You're comparing a continent with a country. A person in Canada has very little in common with those in Mexico and/or Panama, etc. The same could be said about most continents.

I was answering the question how the USA are considered homogenous, not how the Americas are.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#105

Post by robocat »

idatum wrote: post #3

Projections can be tricky. Early memory I have in college: I walked into my professor's office and she had a curious looking map on her wall. It had Australia at the center and the US was distorted and upside down. As someone from North America (US) this was a nice lesson in perspective.

A good page of examples with xcellent historical background: https://www.flourish.org/upsidedownmap/

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#106

Post by k__ »

init wrote: post #35

Africa has 54 countries, thousands of languages and 1.2 billion people. As an African, whenever I see this map I'm more astonished by how densely populated Europe and India are, how big and populated China is and how homogeneous the US is compared to its size.

This is especially funny when I look at my home country Germany.

It's one of EU countries with the densest population, but it doesn't feel that way. Especially the east is very empty in the countryside.

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#107

Post by [deleted] »

init wrote: post #73
JackFr wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say the US is homogenous for it’s size, are you referring to the physical geography or the demographic make up of the population, or something else entirely? (I think I would disagree, but good faith requires I actually try to understand what you meant before I take issue with it.)

As the other commenter responded, I'm referring to the linguistic, socioeconomic and judicial homogeneity. Even though the US is culturally diverse, it still has a single currency, a single dominant language and a single jurisdiction (with minor state specific legal requirements). I only need one US visa to travel to all 52 states. A software company taking payments in the US has access to all 52 states. A peach cobb…

[deleted]

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#108

Post by RcouF1uZ4gsC »

boraoztunc wrote: post #77

>> The Good Design Grand Award, arguably Japan’s most prestigious award for design, went out to architect Hajime Narukawa’s completely groundbreaking design for a map of the world. His map, the AuthaGraph World Map, isn’t your average map of the globe: It’s a near-perfect representation of the continents and oceans as they exist on our spherical planet, all laid out on a two-dimensional surface. https://totravelistol…

Really cool. The shapes of the contents and countries seem like what I am used to. Except for Brazil.

Brazil really looks like it bulges out from South America compared to what I have seen on globes and other projections.

Does anyone know why that happens?

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#109

Post by yurishimo »

js2 wrote: post #79
init wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the other commenter responded, I'm referring to the linguistic, socioeconomic and judicial homogeneity. Even though the US is culturally diverse, it still has a single currency, a single dominant language and a single jurisdiction (with minor state specific legal requirements). I only need one US visa to travel to all 52 states. A software company taking payments in the US has access to all 52 states. A peach cobb…

Do you have any idea how many different kinds of sandwiches we have in this country? You're just not looking at the right things for diversity! :-) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/14/dining/field-...

I love this! As an American, I think I've had most of the sandwiches on this list at one point or another in my life :)

Re: The True Size of Africa (2015)

#110

Post by wtallis »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #108
boraoztunc wrote: post #77

>> The Good Design Grand Award, arguably Japan’s most prestigious award for design, went out to architect Hajime Narukawa’s completely groundbreaking design for a map of the world. His map, the AuthaGraph World Map, isn’t your average map of the globe: It’s a near-perfect representation of the continents and oceans as they exist on our spherical planet, all laid out on a two-dimensional surface. https://totravelistol…

Really cool. The shapes of the contents and countries seem like what I am used to. Except for Brazil. Brazil really looks like it bulges out from South America compared to what I have seen on globes and other projections. Does anyone know why that happens?

Any comparison of map projections should include Tissot's indicatrix [0] as a visualization of how distortion varies across the map. I find that it's easier to understand than looking at stretched and bent lines of latitude and longitude.

For AuthaGraph: https://kunimune.home.blog/2017/11/23/the-secrets-of-the-aut...

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissot%27s_indicatrix

Post reply on HN