From Japan to China.. how exactly?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Go to Google Maps. Go to 'get directions'. Type in from Japan to China. Look at point 43 of itinerary

It made me chuckle at work anyway

(this has probably done the rounds already so forgive me for repeating)

[Brendan]

?ell oh ?ell

[HAL9000]

Very funny.

It's rather odd how the program seems to pick arbitrary starting and finishing points for vaguely specified journeys: from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere, in this case.

Also, it doesn?t seem to know how to get from Japan to Korea or Russia.

[VeryBerryCherry]

Oh this is a fun little piece of cheekiness, isn't it!

[Narnia]

Very funny. Given the 'bus' thread I tried Brixton to East Dulwich. You would never guess where you end up!

[Jeremy]

Hal - are your powers of logical computation fading? I don't think the points are arbitrary, I think they are geographically (geometrically?) central. Try - for instance - France to Spain, it also picks points which appear to be slap-bang in the middle.

Presumably it cannot do other journeys separated by sea, because the Japan to China trip is a specially implemented novelty feature... an easter egg of sorts.

[katie1997]

Narnia Wrote:

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> Very funny. Given the 'bus' thread I tried Brixton

> to East Dulwich. You would never guess where you

> end up!

Narnia?

PS. Sean, thanks. Soooo funny.

[david_carnell]

Try Honalulu to Los Angeles for an even more extreme version.

The googlemappers must be having some fun.

[Narnia]

Try it Katie. It's not Narnia.

[Pickle]

Love it, second chuckle of the day courtesy of the EDF :)

[HAL9000]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> I think they are geographically (geometrically?) central.

I did think of that - it looks about right for China and Japan - but when I tried a few others, for example Great Britain to France, the journey starts near Glasgow, which didn't seem particularly central although, on second thoughts, it might be if all the tiny islands to the north are taken into account - it's a difficult one to call.

On balance, I think you may be right.

[katie1997]

HAL9000 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Jeremy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I think they are geographically (geometrically?)

> central.

>

> I did think of that - it looks about right for

> China and Japan - but when I tried a few others,

> for example Great Britain to France, the journey

> starts near Glasgow, which didn't seem

> particularly central although, on second thoughts,

> it might be if all the tiny islands to the north

> are taken into account - it's a difficult one to

> call.

>

> On balance, I think you may be right.

haha.

There must be a geodesy joke in there somewhere. P'raps not. :)

[katie1997]

Narnia Wrote:

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> Try it Katie. It's not Narnia.

Peckham Rye then Forest Hill? :))

[Loz]

david_carnell Wrote:

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> Try Honalulu to Los Angeles for an even more

> extreme version.

>

> The googlemappers must be having some fun.

That's rather bizarre - why would you kayak to Seattle? Is the map playing tricks and that is actually the closest point to Hawaii?

[Jeremy]

Loz Wrote:

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> That's rather bizarre - why would you kayak to

> Seattle? Is the map playing tricks and that is

> actually the closest point to Hawaii?

Any crossing from Hawaii to mainland goes via Seattle... they obviously just added the kayaking route into their database as a fixed point-to-point crossing.

[HAL9000]

katie1997 Wrote:

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> There must be a geodesy joke in there somewhere.

I'm glad someone got it! You obviously know how to determine the centre of an irregular shape - well done.

[Moos]

There used to be a good one in London - New York but now there's only a prim message saying that they can't calculate the directions.

[karter]

That's funny. At least point 43 is in English and you would know exactly what to do.:))