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Writing Software for Worldwide Distribution Proves Difficult
lupa1420 writes "Insensitive computer programmers with little knowledge of geography have cost the giant Microsoft company hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business and led hapless company employees to be arrested by offended governments."
Re: the grandparent post, that quote from the article got me too. I was wondering if they were showing an upside down map or something...
Whenever I come across a globe that can be fully flipped upside down, I do so. It gives an interesting perspective on the world, especially considering "up" was chosen fairly arbitrarily...
(Yes, I know, "up" was chosen because that's where North is, but try to remember the whole polar reversal thing that happens from time to time)
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
in true slashdot bashing style. Haha!
i kinda wonder if linux offends accidentally or not tho.
Actually, the well-known Debian developer Herbert Xu resigned recently due to being offended by project members discussing (in the context of the new Debian installer) whether or not to refer to Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China" as it is officially designated in ISO 3166.
So this sort of problem is certainly not restricted to commercial or proprietary software.
- Kevin B. McCarty
My favorite stat is that %25 of US citizens think New Mexico is not a state.
Just imagine if someone invaded New Mexico and 25% of America were upset that we were sending troops there.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
Once people decided that the spin axis itself would be vertical, then N or S being up was a coin flip. In that sense, it was arbitrary, but one or the other had to be chosen; hence, not arbitrary, but inevitable.
... so that all the important geography (as far as your European heritage would be concerned) would be clearly seen from the room light falling from above.
... essentially perpendicular to the equator. There must be some sort of uppedness bias when reading a round object; perhaps linked to the orientation of ancient scrolls.
But let's say further that you were a globe-maker from the 1800s. Since we have gravity, hence mounts, and simple mounts at that, then your globes had to have a set orientation when placed in a room. Which way up would you have chosen? Yes, that's right, North
One thing which mystifies me is why the spin axis was chosen to be vertical. If the axis were horizontal, the light used in illuminating rooms would fall on the globe as the sun's rays do
[You have a stable society when some nut guns down a schoolyard and the law doesn't change.]
You kind of have to go visit there to really understand the distances, no matter where it's at. I understand how big Alaska is, but if I pointed at Juneau (sp?) and Nome on a map, I wouldn't know how long it'd take to go from one city to another.
But I've been to France and know that Paris to Lyon is a 6 hour drive, 2 hrs on the TGV. It's 7 hours from Columbus to Toronto, so it's easy enough to compare that way.
Quoth the poster: perhaps linked to the orientation of ancient scrolls.
....bad pun, but I couldn't resist
Funny you should say "orientation"
Early European maps had EAST at the top
Ever hear of "orienting" a map?
Point the way in front of you towards your destination (the orient)
(Of course on the way back I guess you had an "occident")
--MAB
You are very uninformed. East has often been used as the top of the map becasue it was the sacred direction from which the sun would rise. You may have heard of "the orient" it means the east and people would orient a map. It is of no small significance to europeans that Jerusalem was there.This goes back through many cultures.
North was also a common choice since the north star was a major navigational point and the only still part in the heavens. In many esoteric understandings the north star was the peak of the cosmic mountain where the Gods dwell. Refer to Isaiah's refereces to "Har Tzafon" or the mountain of the north. Since about 3/4 of the dry land on earth is north of the equator, particularly those areas that developed advanced cultures early, this was also a common model in many cultures.
In every ancient culture maps were designed around spiritual, navigational and astronomical conciderations not on lighting.
As much as slashdotters like to dismiss religon they should really learn to recognize its place in developing almost every aspect of our culture rather than thinking that people of the ancient world centered their lives on which way the light would look best.
I agree that it is a problem.
But, put yourself in their shoes and see how it looks. As trivial as a map may look, there are political implications behind it. For example, in this case, an area inhabited by a ethno-linguistic minority asserts its independance, although the de facto situation is that this is within the bounds of a soverign state. What is worse, is that they see this as a conspiracy from more powerful countries to assert the reverse of the status quo.
Some issues appear really trivial, but are really sensitive/contentious in other countries/cultures. Here are some examples:
Every culture has those "hot button" issues.
There are many other cases I am sure, but you get the idea ...
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Most Euro countries aren't 3000 x 1500 miles in size, made up of 48 separate states. Can you point out something other than London on a map of England? It's only the size of VA.
Even taking size into account, most americans have very poor skills. Russia is huge. Most Americans still can't point out where Moscow is, much less Saint Petersburg.
(And I'd be very impressed if they could find Volgograd, Novosibirsk or Vladivostok)
Size isn't a good metric. Montana is big, but only has around what, a million people?
Being an American with good geography skills, living in Europe, I can tell you that IMHO, more Europeans can find Ohio (or at least give its general area) than Americans can find, say, Yorkshire or Bavaria. (and they both have far greater populations than Montana)