At Random

Chit-chat, current events
jdb1

Re: At Random

Post by jdb1 »

La-di-dah, Mr. Chi -- Annie Hall is one of my least favorite movies in the history of the world (or, at least, my world). If those are the tribulations of a woman, then the rest of us have been complaining about all the wrong things. I should be so tribulated.

Honestly -- Who makes up these movie lists? When do they have time, what with their dayspa visits, venti lattes, various waxes and pluckings, silver spoons and all?

Well, here's a telling incident showing you shouldn't believe everything (or is it anything?) you read on the Internet.

The little spoiled prince of a kid who shares my cube was marvelling that he walks a mile twice a day to and from the subway station. "How do you walk a mile?" says I. "Which station are you going to?"

"Well," says he, "I use the Lexington Avenue station at 51st Street, and according to GoogleMaps, it's a mile from here."

"Matt," I answer as kindly as I can, "it's only about four blocks from the office; it can't be a mile."

"Gee," he says. "I don't know what to tell you. It says here on the Net that it's a mile."

"Kid," I say, beginning to get a bit annoyed, "four New York City blocks is not a mile. Twenty city blocks usually equal a mile, depending on the length of the blocks."

"I don't know what to tell you," he says again, "GoogleMaps lists the trip as a mile. Look --- "

"You look," I counter. "There is no way we walk two miles every day back and forth from the train. Haven't you ever walked one mile -- does this daily walk feel like two miles to you?" (I mentally added "to you, Stupid?" but I forebore to say it out loud.)

"Besides," I add, "the island of Manhattan is only two miles wide at its widest point. Are you saying you walk halfway across Manhattan every day in those mere four blocks?

"But look," he whines, "it's right here -- it says it's a mile."

"Matt," I say, "let this be a life lesson: most of what's on the Internet is not only crap, it's false crap. There are better places to get information."

"I get all my information from the Internet," he says, rather proudly.

I'm still sighing, even though this happened yesterday. That kid would try anyone's patience. He's definitely a child of the present Know-Nothing Era. I've already yelled at him for his jerkitude; it's only a matter of time before I slug him.
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movieman1957
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Re: At Random

Post by movieman1957 »

It must be the mom in you taking over dealing with him.

My bride works at Starbucks where she is almost twice the age of everyone, including her manager. She is often baffled at the way these younger ones not only handle the store operations but just deal with things in general. They, too, think they know it all. One thing they are right about is they think my bride is cool. On that we agree.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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bryce
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Re: At Random

Post by bryce »

I'd think twice before questioning GoogleMaps data, especially in regards to a location as hot as Manhattan. Not only are the maps and information supplied by (at least) two independent sources at a time - many of which our own government rely on - but the data is continuously fact-checked by the world's largest mapping community and the world's largest fleet of map-and-route verifying photo-taking vehicles.

You are right, the internet is mostly full of misinformation and bad opinions masquerading as fact. Sadly, so is real life. I'd wager that conversation was half him having his information incorrect, half you being unwilling to admit he might be right. The idea that Google, Microsoft Live, MapsQuest and RandMcNally might all have their information incorrect about the single most populated and (self-)important city in the United States is simply unthinkable - not impossible, merely astronomically unlikely. The idea that the both of you, mere humans that probably share a dislike of one another, might have gotten some information incorrect during an argument over petty bullshit, is a far more likely scenario.

Wikipedia, a website created, written and edited by humans can get all the trivia wrong about Wolverine and the Smashing Pumpkins it wants. Most mapping websites, which gather their data from the GPS system and a monstrous fleet of vehicles that drive around all day doing nothing but mapping data, are certainly prone to errors, but you'd be hard-pressed to point one out that doesn't involve driving into some backwater river or telling you to cross a nonexistent bridge across the Atlantic.

I understand what you were getting at. It's just sad that you are probably incorrect in your own assertion, too.
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Birdy
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Re: At Random

Post by Birdy »

Judith
This must be checked. Have you a pedometer that records miles? Around here we just use the mileage gauge on the car, but I have a feeling that's not real easy to do.

And please, do not lay hands on anyone, no matter how jerkified.
I recommend an axe.
B
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Birdy
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Re: At Random

Post by Birdy »

And how annoying are search tools on the internet?

Our professional and very expensively licensed search engine for our catalog at work can't distinguish juvenile fiction from adult. How lame.

And the real estate search engine I'm using let's you limit 5, 10, 20 miles radius etc. but clearly has no idea where anything is. When I put in 10 miles it goes about 50 miles.
B

(And Judith- hope you know I was kidding.
I know, if you have to explain you're funny, you're not.)
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bryce
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Re: At Random

Post by bryce »

Birdy wrote:can't distinguish juvenile fiction from adult
Sounds like most of my customers. :cry:
jdb1

Re: At Random

Post by jdb1 »

bryce wrote:I'd think twice before questioning GoogleMaps data, especially in regards to a location as hot as Manhattan. Not only are the maps and information supplied by (at least) two independent sources at a time - many of which our own government rely on - but the data is continuously fact-checked by the world's largest mapping community and the world's largest fleet of map-and-route verifying photo-taking vehicles.

You are right, the internet is mostly full of misinformation and bad opinions masquerading as fact. Sadly, so is real life. I'd wager that conversation was half him having his information incorrect, half you being unwilling to admit he might be right. The idea that Google, Microsoft Live, MapsQuest and RandMcNally might all have their information incorrect about the single most populated and (self-)important city in the United States is simply unthinkable - not impossible, merely astronomically unlikely. The idea that the both of you, mere humans that probably share a dislike of one another, might have gotten some information incorrect during an argument over petty bullshit, is a far more likely scenario.

Wikipedia, a website created, written and edited by humans can get all the trivia wrong about Wolverine and the Smashing Pumpkins it wants. Most mapping websites, which gather their data from the GPS system and a monstrous fleet of vehicles that drive around all day doing nothing but mapping data, are certainly prone to errors, but you'd be hard-pressed to point one out that doesn't involve driving into some backwater river or telling you to cross a nonexistent bridge across the Atlantic.

I understand what you were getting at. It's just sad that you are probably incorrect in your own assertion, too.
Bryce, I defy you take the 5-8 minute walk from First Avenue and East 49th Street to Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street, and cover a mile. Unless -- you go by cab, on the meter, in which case the trip will probably cover 6 or 7 miles, and take three hours, to boot.

The GoogleMaps of my own neighborhood in Brooklyn were indeed inaccurate the last time I looked. But then again, non-New Yorkers and newcomers to this City don't consider anything outside of Manhattan to be Real New York, so maybe someone lavished a bit more attention on the Manhattan maps, but apparently not enough.

The point of my tirade was only incidentally that online maps can be wrong. The point was that there are people in this world who assume that anything put in writing must be right, and in terms of today's generation, that means anything on the Internet. And too right, my friend --- I was royally peeved by this callow youth, who just got here from Smallville, and tried to tell me that he knows more about my City than I do on the basis of something written on the Internet which defies common sense. Bryce, I invite you to come on down here and walk the walk (with a pedometer) before you talk the talk.
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ChiO
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Re: At Random

Post by ChiO »

Marshaling all of my lawyerly tricks, I went to Google Maps, plugged in the coordinates provided by Judith, asked for the distance by "Walking", and the result is...

0.5 miles

Possible choices:
(a) The young man misremembered the distance.
(b) The young man was intending to refer to the roundtrip distance.
(c) Judith misunderstood him.
(d) Judith misreported the coordinates just to fool us all.
(e) Standard rules for measurement do not apply on Manhattan.
(f) Google Maps is just (1) wrong, (2) stupid, (3) run by hayseeds from Queens who have never been to Manhattan, or (4) all of the foregoing.

Your Honor, I rest my case (as soon as I find out who I'm representing, which is Lawyerspeak for who's paying my *&%#^@ bill?).
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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srowley75
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Re: At Random

Post by srowley75 »

jdb1 wrote: And by the way, I thought it was well-known among Royal-watchers that the Queen owns an iPod, and uses it enthusiastically. So why was Fox News getting so tied in knots about the Obamas' customized iPod gift? I thought it was perfectly appropriate, and rather thoughtful. For pity's sake, the woman is over 80 -- what were they going to give her -- capri pants? baseball bats? Gee, I guess Fox News just didn't think it through, or bother to research it --- what a surprise.
In one news story posted on their website, Fox headlined that Obama's Ipod gift came loaded with some of his own speeches, but I scanned the article twice and saw nothing specific about that in the actual story. The story did state that the Ipod contained footage of her visit, which might've included some of Obama's speeches, but to headline the story in that way struck me as a particularly blatant example of fairly unbalanced spin.

For people who despise pretension in whatever form, I suppose nothing is more nauseating than these "private audiences" given by the queer old dean. Personally, I give the Obamas credit just for being able to keep a straight face for any length of time. If I ever met Elizabeth II in person, my brain would immediately recall scenes of Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman as Elizabeth and Philip (respectively) and I'd be biting my tongue to keep from giggling.

-Stephen
jdb1

Re: At Random

Post by jdb1 »

ChiO wrote:Marshaling all of my lawyerly tricks, I went to Google Maps, plugged in the coordinates provided by Judith, asked for the distance by "Walking", and the result is...

0.5 miles

Possible choices:
(a) The young man misremembered the distance.
(b) The young man was intending to refer to the roundtrip distance.
(c) Judith misunderstood him.
(d) Judith misreported the coordinates just to fool us all.
(e) Standard rules for measurement do not apply on Manhattan.
(f) Google Maps is just (1) wrong, (2) stupid, (3) run by hayseeds from Queens who have never been to Manhattan, or (4) all of the foregoing.

Your Honor, I rest my case (as soon as I find out who I'm representing, which is Lawyerspeak for who's paying my *&%#^@ bill?).
Didn't you know? All time spent here is unbillable, pro bono, and may not be cited as precedent.

I'm tired of talking about this, but I will say that:

(a) The young man has the mental acuity of a hamster.
(b) He meant 1 mile each way.
(c) The kid is so gormless and ingenuous, it would be very hard to misundertand him.
(d) Ha!
(e) Standard rules of just about everything are completely plastic in Manhattan, and people get goldarned rich bending them.
(f) GoogleMaps, just like every other reference source, online or in books, are probably a useful tool, but it doesn't matter how many times something is checked and re-checked if its basis is erroneous and the checkers don't realize it.

PS -- I don't think .5 miles is accurate either; it's less, but the time involved is long because of the red lights.
melwalton
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Re: At Random

Post by melwalton »

Question, JUDY??
My spotty memory tells me that in Manhattan, the city blocks running east _ west are noticeably longer than thuse running north _ south. Am I wrong? I never bothered much with maps and it's been a long time.
Of course, out of towners know more about NYC than the people who live there.

Your AT RANDOM posts show more of the old ( pardon, Young ) fighting spirit. BRAVO!. Much moore interesting, ,,, mel
jdb1

Re: At Random

Post by jdb1 »

melwalton wrote:Question, JUDY??
My spotty memory tells me that in Manhattan, the city blocks running east _ west are noticeably longer than thuse running north _ south. Am I wrong? I never bothered much with maps and it's been a long time.
Of course, out of towners know more about NYC than the people who live there.

Your AT RANDOM posts show more of the old ( pardon, Young ) fighting spirit. BRAVO!. Much moore interesting, ,,, mel
It does seem that way to me, Mel. The "streets" do seem to be longer than the "avenues," but again, it depends on where in Manhattan. In Midtown, where the ground has been leveled, the blocks are much longer (and straighter, being deliberately laid out on a grid) than they are Downtown and the northernmost points. There, many of the streets still follow pre-20th Century routes. Because so many of the streets can be very winding, the blocks are shorter, and sometimes very confusing. On the extreme East and West sides, away from Midtown, there are so many hills that the blocks may seem long as you are walking them, but in reality they are not as long as the blocks in Midtown.
melwalton
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Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

Re: At Random

Post by melwalton »

Thanks, JUDY.
I never paid much attention when I lived there but the recent posts here made me curious. ... mel
Hollis
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Re: At Random

Post by Hollis »

All I know is that once upon a time (which appropriately enough is how most fairy tales begin) William Randolph Hearst almost singlehandedly drew us into the Spanish American War with an all too accurate description of how the USS Maine was sunk in Havana harbor. "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!" And without an ounce of truth or accuracy to base the story upon. Do we really need an accurate description of what the First Couple was (or wasn't) wearing? A better tag line might be "Obama Nation or Abomination?" We're one step closer to socialism as I see it. First the banks, then the automobile industry and maybe tomorrow, Rodeo Drive?"

Goodnight,

Hollis
melwalton
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Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

Re: At Random

Post by melwalton »

Hi, HOLLIS.
I think you're giving Hearst too much credit. SINGLEHANDIDLY??? Teddy helped somewhat. And Teddy was one of our five top presidents.
Don't pick up BURRESS, HE'S TROUBLE ... MEL
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