Saturday, June 25, 2005

Started brushing up

on my XML and Python knowledge this weekend, which has largely been unused since college. Maybe I'll post some mindless samples here as I go.

I was comparing some world maps this week and came upon some interesting distinctions between two methods of projecting a spherical map on a 2-dimensional plane; Mercator Projection and Cylindrical Equidistant projection.

Mercator projection uses the latitude and longitude coordinates (φ and λ, respectively) of a point/location to determine the x and y coordinates on the map using the following equation:


Cylindrical Equidistant projection is more simple, with linear functions (lat == y, lon == x).

Like most map projection methods, Mercator projection suffers the fate of stretching or distortion of land-mass far from the equator (ultimately, geographic accuracy diminishes as you get closer to the poles). As a result, Russia looks ginormous.

On a completely unrelated note, I saw Batman Begins last weekend. Great movie. Go watch it in IMAX at Metreon (SF) if you can. One thing I noticed; while the new Batmobile is pretty badass, what's up with the styling? Aesthetically, it goes against Batman's persona: sleek and stealth. A quick contrast and comparison between the new Batmobile and the original:

New:
- Looks like a desert storm tank
- Can bash through concrete walls
- Despite it's un-stealth frame, it has a "stealth mode"
- Like the original, it has a jet-turbine engine

Original:
- Powered by a jet-turbine engine
- Can't bash through concrete walls
- Is the perfect extension to Batman himself

Verdict: Bring back the old Batmobile.

I think I need a vacation. Location suggestions welcome. Maybe Venezia again, but this time for more than three days. Tokyo sounds nice right now too.

(w00t: fully indexed).

4 comments:

Regina said...

if you're going to go to Tokyo stop by Okinawa-

Anonymous said...

eh confusing formulas..anywayz i heard tokyo's fun

erika

Anonymous said...

i love that you're a bigger nerd than i am... =P ~04 FACTORIAL

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.