Are the shape changes accurate, as you drag north/south? I would expect horizontal borders (like the north border of the USA, which is along the 49th parallel) to stay horizontal as you drag. But in the tool the border becomes more concave as you drag it further south. Why is this?
The True Size of Countries
61–68 of 68 posts
Re: The True Size of Countries
#62Re: The True Size of Countries
#63Everyone knows the ONE TRUE MAP PROJECTION is the Fuller Map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Fuller_p... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map
After looking at this I just realized why maps showing airline routes always show arched lines.
It's a combination of map projections and airplanes using "great circles"[1] to navigate shortest distance between two points on a sphere.
Re: The True Size of Countries
#64Doesn't work anymore. Apparently they exceeded their google maps request quota: "You have exceeded your daily request quota for this API. To request more than 25,000 map loads per day, you must use an API key and enable billing: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/...
That's a pretty great problem to have. Not the limit, but getting 25k daily views.
Re: The True Size of Countries
#65I feel it is my duty to link to a very relevant xkcd:
What Your Favorite Map Projection Says About You
Re: The True Size of Countries
#66It is surprising that a lot of educated folks don't know about this. I always run into folks who think Greenland is the biggest island. Edit: on Australia being continent - now I come across as a fool. But I hope people understood what I meant. Also, I have had to argue against folks who said Greenland should also be a continent since it is bigger than Australia.
Greenland is the biggest island. Australia is a continent.
Actually Australia is a dwarf continentoid.
Re: The True Size of Countries
#67Everyone knows the ONE TRUE MAP PROJECTION is the Fuller Map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Fuller_p... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map
Re: The True Size of Countries
#68Cool!
One suggestion and one complaint.
I'd like to be able to select countries by clicking, rather than text input.
After a couple minutes playing, the site filled firefox history with tens of entries, and I could not return to HN even after hitting back several dosen times.