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Obsessively Detailed Map Of Springfield
An anonymous reader writes "With all these stories going around about governments' abilities to pinpoint our location via various means, it's quite surprising that one group of people have avoided them for so long. That dastardly family, The Simpsons, have been hidden in Springfield for far too long. Which brings us to the following obsessively detailed map of Springfield. From Jerry Lerma and Terry Hogan: "The mapping of Springfield began in the Spring of 2001 when we realized that no adequate map of Springfield existed either online or in print.""
Before we get a swag of comments mentioning errors / omissions in the map - I read the following from the article:
...)
"Due to the many inconsistencies among episodes, the map will never be completely accurate. Although we'd like our map to be as accurate as a map to any imaginary place can be, our main intent is to preserve the comic spirit of Springfield, document its unique identity, and to have some fun at the same time."
IMO they did a great job! (although wasn't the Simpson's house in eyeshot of
Who knew they were interested in that kind of stuff
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot
One quick search could have prevented the repeat goodness...
f ie ld&author=&sort=1&op=stories
http://slashdot.org/search.pl?tid=&query=spring
NZ Electronics Enthusiasts: Check out my Trade Me Listings
how to get to Moe's
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them
Doing a map of new new york from futurama?
I emailed the editors to tell 'em it was a dupe, but I guess I wass too late. The original story had better info.
this is even better than the last time it was posted and I looked at it and read the replies and posted my own reply.
Why not just have a game of simpsons hit and run? Gives you a pretty detailed 3d look of springfield. And its from the makers, so more reliable.
I.O.U One Sig.
They beat Slashdot by about three months. That is, for the first time around...
I don't think there is any consistency to the locations in the series. The Simpsons' house alone has been located in a residential neighbourhood, beside Moe's Tavern and beside the nuclear power plant. How do you create a map where the locations are so fluid?
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
So how long till someone builds a real life Springfield?
If they do, I'll be a Moe's.
reruns of Simpsons on TV, and now reruns of Slasdot articles. Who'd have thought!!!
"I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
...the writers themselves have said on the DVD commentaries that although in the first few seasons a concious effort was made to keep geography accurate, after that they found it easier (and funnier) just to mess about with it, meaning the Simpsons' house is in many places (next to moes, next to the power plant, etc.).
Seriously, I love it. Yes, I understand that you can never have an accurate map of Springfield (there are contradictions across episodes) but this is about as good as you can get. BTW, wasn't the Michael Jackson Expressway (formerly the Dali Lama expressway) renamed to the Matlock Expressway ?
Can we give these guys some sort of award? Slashdot Medal of Honor or something? That's an impressive amount of nerdness, right there.
I would wager any criticism of the Simpsons on /. get's you troll modded regardless of post content. Feel free to test on your own.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
I fail to see how you could possibly find nearly anything on
The map was originally going to indicate what state Springfield is in. Unfortunately, the margins were too small to contain it.
Cheers,
IT
Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
there's no Flanders' house! What gives?
Even though you have a troll rating at the moment I write this I'd like to answer this question because I think it isn't trolling what you're doing... just a bit of missing the point ;).
The Simpsons are funny if you are the kind of person to understand and like the jokes. You don't have to like them. But others do for the humor, for the political and social critics na dfor many more reasons. Sure, it's fictional. But what is not ficitonal in one or another way today? The Simpsons bring fans together and make them DO something together.
So you can define this work as a way to waste your time or you can see it as a way to honor a piece of work that has brought and continues to bring people together.
That is the reason why I think this project is plain cool.
Even Google has headquarters in Springfield! (look on the big map, next to the Springfield mall)
Minus the Simpsons, Moes, etc (but *with* the nuclear
... and in 1986 at least it was one of the few places in England where the familiar "bobby" (policeman) carries serious fire power.
plant!). Springfields (or is it Spring Fields) in
Northern England (just outside Preston). They make
nuclear fuel rods.
(At least they did when I visited to do some consultancy work c.a. 1986).
Interesting place. Particularly the signs with "Danger! you are now entering a criticality evacuation area" , and the constant beep bop
of the alarm. You're supposed to panic if it changes from beep bop to god knows what...
Here's a new slasdot game for everyone...
Pick a day of the year. Perhaps your birthday. On that day of the year, you submit the aformentioned Simpson's site to Slashdot, and lets see how long the editor's memory lasts before they consider this 'news' and include it in Slashdot.
The Simpsons suck! That dude who created Futurama is so much cooler!
*wink*
I wonder if they used hit and run as a source of this.
I would love to make this a GTA3 map... mod characters, there is a great GTA modding community, damn fine programmers too.
Well, back to the map (they haven't got routing or landmarks sorted out, but I guess they are working on it)
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
Courtesy of map quest ;-)
Springfield, MA
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
it'll always be new to someone
:) ):
True. Even the type that Slashdot attracts can't read everything posted here. As a community service, here's some more news, should a reader have missed it the first 10**6 times around (
- holy cr*p. A meteor's going to smash into the Earth
- Bill Gates and anyone who looks like him is evil, evil, evil
- in Soviet Russia, the tin foil hat wears you
- there's a floating point bug in the Pentium processor
- Google's issuing an IPO
- Perl is illegible line-noise
- Python is for weenies
Hope I didn't miss anything.
If this doesn't get me some karma. I don't know what will.
Where's the only bridge out of town?
From the episode "Bart's Comet"
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F11.html
I see at least three bridges.
I see you've only got basic cable.
I don't see "123 Fake St." on the map.
It's a tiny beige square downtown, between Springfield Junior High and King Toots on Walnut Street.
D'oh!
As an aside, a theatre show that my sister worked on (she's a sound and lighting engineer) called for a very deep silence, just as you come into the last act. How do you come up with a silence sound effect? Well, from a minute or two before doors, right the way through, she had some white noise playing through the PA, very quietly but noticeably. Because it was there when you walked into the auditorium, you don't notice it. Then, when you drop it out...
A google search of Slashdot springfield map brings up the previous story as the first hit.
So, if I may be so bold as to suggest the following before posting slashdot stories from now on...
1. Find two or three of the most relevent keywords, you know, the kinds of words likely to repeat themselves in multiple submissions.
2. Go to google. You can find google at www.google.com. Here is a hyperlink to www.google.com. Here is a definition of the word "hyperlink".
3. Assuming you haven't forgotten the important keywords from step 1, proceed to step 4. Otherwise, return to step 1. If this is the third or fourth time reaching step 3, you might want to consider finding a paper and pencil. If you already had a paper and pencil, then you might want to consider using them to write down the keywords.
4. Now, with those words you've remembered (or written down) from step 1, go into the text box in the middle of that www.google.com webpage. Type in the following:
Slashdot Keyword1 Keyword2 Keyword3
5. If these are your search results, hit back on your web browser, and then type in the following:
Slashdot Keyword1 Keyword2 Keyword3
ONLY THIS TIME, replace the three keywords with the words that you remembered, or copied down, from step 1.
6. Finally, have a look at some of the results to see if a slashdot story has already been posted on the submission you've just gotten. If there is a story, do not post the submitted story unless there is some information in the new submission that makes it somehow more relevent.
Good luck, God speed, and don't forget to vote Republican.
That's what I was wondering. There are several episodes where they refer to the state, and even almost say the state name.
They don't only "almost" say it - in episode 248 they do say it. It's Kentucky.
In another episode there's a line about something being "south of the border", and Bart says "you mean Tennessee?" Which also supports the Kentucky answer - not that it needed to be, as again, it's specifically said in episode 248. But some people believe that episode to be entirely apocryphal - certainly some of it is (I mean the Simpsons are obviously not really a live-action, real-life family as the episode would have you believe), but it's just as obvious that some of it isn't. They did leave that opening for interpretation, but Kentucky is supported in other episodes.
There are definitely still other episodes that contradict this in various ways (Homer's driver's license lists his state abbreviation as "NT" in one episode, for example), but given that they actually say it in one episode, and support it in at least one other episode, I'm going to believe it really is supposed to be Kentucky.
There is a Shelbyville about 20 mi. north of Springfield in real-life Kentucky too, btw, which is more supporting evidence. So either the writers noticed this after the fact and finally settled on Kentucky as the series wore on, or it was the plan all along.
I just spent a half an hour trying to find Moe's...
:)
For those interested, it's in between 'Springfild Town Hall' and 'Springfild Junior High School'.
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.
No, they don't. They tell you where the actors playing "The Simpsons" live, but not where the show takes place. Let's see what SNPP has to say about it:
In the first airing of [BABF19], "Behind The Laughter", the narrator gave Springfield's location as Northern Kentucky. For the second and later airings, this changed to Southern Missouri. Neither of these are admissible locations for Springfield, for the many reasons listed later in this document.
What's the explanation? This episode is not canon. It portrays the show not as a cartoon created by Matt Groening, but as a live-action sitcom originally written by Homer and starring his own family. None of what happens is part of the main Simpsons continuity... just like any Halloween Special.
Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
Now it's just a matter of time until there is a massivly multiplayer game based on this map.
mitch
we realized that no adequate map of Springfield existed either online or in print
Now those are some geeks. Adequate for what??
Northern Kentucky.. They actually came out and told us in episode that looked like a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode.
This belongs under the definiton of "WAY WAY WAY too much free time on your hands" and "REALLY REALLY need to get a life".
I'd love to see the Stonecutters's secret tunnel shortcut, but then it wouldn't be secret anymore...
a) Too large
b) Very rarely do we see them actually travel in the city
c) No relation to Old New York, it's all buried below. Anything could be placed anywhere
Not that it'd stop anyone with too much time on their hands, like people replying to this article, like you, and me, heh.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
4. Now, with those words you've remembered (or written down) from step 1, go into the text box in the middle of that www.google.com webpage. Type in the following:
Slashdot Keyword1 Keyword2 Keyword3
Shouldn't that be "site:slashdot.org" ?
Like Keyword1 Keyword2 Keyword3 site:slashdot.org
or springfield site:slashdot.org
Am I the only one that thinks that now that a full map of Springfield is out there its only a matter of time before someone capitalizes and makes a Simpsons MMORPG. All of Springfield could be rendered 100% accurately now. Woo-wee!
which always makes me wonder.
Why has taco not touched slashcode to make real improvements for almost 5 years?
a simple modification to make the editor's side of the system to require a pull up query of all stories based on keywords in the headline would kill 90% of the dupes.
I know that slashdot is and never has claimed to be a journalism site, but the amount of dupes is getting way out of hand.
how about no ONE editor can publish a story but requires a second editor to approve the first approval?
Well, the editors could always use a tf*idf weighted keyword vector relevance system on articles posted to Slashdot, which has worked excellently for me in the past.
Or they could actually read Slashdot. Their choice.
We Build Beautiful Websites
It's evident that we need a company register of Springfield.
Why not a whole telephone book ?!
Now we just have to hope that this map doesn't get put to terrorist uses. Maybe Homer should moonlight for DHS, next season.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Homer: I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.
Scorpio: Hammocks! What an idea, why didn't I think of that? Hammocks! Homer, there's 4 places, there's Hammock hut, that's on 3rd, Hammocks are us, that's on 3rd too, you've got Put Your Butt There, that's on 3rd, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, as a matter of fact, they're all on the same complex, the Hammock complex, down on third.
Homer: Oh, the hammock district!
CmdrTaco knows that to improve slashcode that last thing he should do is cruft together a further mess. The way for slashcode to get better is to leave things to pudge. (although pudge seems to prefer to spend his time as a political news writer than hacking code.)
What I've always thought would be the easiest way of checking for Dups is to compare the URLs in an article to the URLs in previous articles. (ignoring ones that point to the main site index pages like http://www.nytimes.com/) The the URL has been used, warn that it might be a dup and show the editor the previous version.
The PS2 has 2 games now that are fairly detailed: "Crash & Burn" and "Hit & Run." While the maps are not the most accurate, perhaps, they are still immense in their scope and accuracy of detail. (at least in terms of buildings that have been featured in the show).
One of these?
Springfield, IL
Springfield, MO
Springfield, OH
Springfield, OR
Springfield, FL
Springfield, MI
Springfield, NJ
Springfield, PA
Springfield, TN
or how about Springfield, USA?
This text here is solely to get by the lameness filter. It won't let me post the above because of the minimum average line length filter; however, if I put it all on one line it automagically inserts line breaks and *still* kills the minimum average line length filter. Trying to put some line-widifiers down here causes the compression filter to fail. So, as you're reading through this offtopic and uninteresting drivel at the bottom of an otherwise simple post, remember -- you have the lameness filter to thank!!
The following sentence is true. The preceding sentence was false.
Anyone remember the last time we posted this link? :P
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/27/121423 1
Worst map ever!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Why has taco not touched slashcode to make real improvements for almost 5 years?
I think it's because slashcode is perl and who the hell wants to modify perl code of this size and age?
Just a guess though.
So where is the georeferencing information? I want a World File!!
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
You read the article. You get pissed. You get a little adrenelin rush writing your snarky post. The replies validate your views, and validate you as a person.
And your addiction to slashdot grows.
Slashdot wouldn't be nearly as addicting (and hence not as popular) if it were the type of site you think want. If you care so much, go read the New York Times technical section or something. If you get sick of the well written "real news", I bet we see you back here, making another snarky post.
You're missing the even more subtle joke: the episode says "...this kentucky/missouri family..." referring to their quote-unquote real life status, not the characters they supposedly portray in the show.
Remember, the show essentially posited that its not animated, but rather enacted by a real family. As such, wherever the 'real' family is located/from, the show they act in may be in a different location.
"Stumble before you crawl"
The first thing I thought when I looked at the overview map was that it looks *just* like I would imaging the pullout map of Grand Theft Auto: Springfield would look.
-"It seems like you're trying to exploit a security hole. Would you like help?"