Talk:Minneapolis NW, Minnesota

I don't suppose we could agree to move our graticule, to center it on the Science Museum, say? Geohashing is a clever idea and sounds like fun, but I wouldn't drive very far to a meetup. If others would, fine, have fun. I'll wait until one hits close to home. -- Ford

No; the whole idea is to base the coordinates on integral degrees. I'd like to as well, but for the time being, moving the entire coordinate system for Minneapolis wouldn't be very considerate of the rest of the entire planet. Ironiridis 18:29, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Obviously no region can expect anyone else to change for their convenience, but what's the point of a wiki if regions can't adapt to local conditions? We could, for example, agree to meet at the nearest bar or coffeehouse to the target location, especially in winter. Or we could subtract half a degree from the target latitude to center more on Twin Cities. Or maybe EVERYONE would agree that half-degree graticules would save gas. I recognize that any departure from the "standard" could cause confusion, especially for out-of-graticule or first-time visitors. On the other hand, I don't see integral degrees as key. Who decided there should be 360 degrees in a circle, anyway? Radians are less arbitrary. -- Ford

But the concept behind the generation of the positions is what is key here. What Randall designed was a universal rule that worked no matter where you are, and there isn't a significant enough reason to change it. We could have a local rendition, but then you create a division among those who want to follow what Randall designed (eg me) and what ends up being more convenient (eg you). I see your point, and it's valid, but the integral degree system that he created unifies people into doing something consistent and predictable. Ironiridis 17:09, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

First arrivers can always set up a "geocache" with the location of the meetup. (And second arrivers can always alter it, and notify the first arrivers.) Redsai 21:56, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that's a good idea either. My suggestion is: go to the ones that are reachable, no matter which graticule that it is in. Obviously you live close enough to the other graticule in order to claim local-ness to it at least. I plan on going to NW or SW ones (and maybe even St Paul ones) given how split our Twin Cities are. Jamuraa 18:35, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Total agreement--Why not join the results of the 4 graticules into a mega-graticule? We could then list the four results in order of proximity to some elected "Midpoint". There's probably a clever proof one could construct to explain the maximum minimum-driving-distance from the average of these four (or two) joined graticules. Redsai 21:56, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I like both of Redsai's ideas. Results so far show that occasionally hashes will happen at places I can reach and times I'm free. The advantage of a finer grid size (or generating more hashes per day, or an algorithm that would let us predict hashes further in the future, or...) would be the ability to plan around other trips and activities. (Wow, that hash would be an interesting challenge, but I can't get away on that date, etc.) Others may see loss of spontaneity as a disadvantage, but we aren't rats pulling levers! -- Ford

"Who decided there should be 360 degrees in a circle, anyway? Radians are less arbitrary. -- Ford" It's because A) 365 days in a year and B) Greeks can't count. Also forgive them for not seeing that OBVIOUSLY a circle is 6.2831853 radians, not 360 degrees. They should have realized that their abacus's "float" data point was there for a reason. I've actually been thinking that graticules could conceivably be split by .5 degrees, and the decimals could just be added on the same way they are now, except that the drives would be less of a hassle. That said, today's SE was amazing. --Mark

Split city??

While I'm not a local to the area, I'd like to make a suggestion that both Minneapolis graticules combine. Reference Split city for examples of already existing split city pages.

There's no discussion there yet, where are people thinking about the solution to this? Redsai 21:56, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and built a Twin Cities, Minnesota split city page, using Adelaide, Australia as a template. Redsai 21:58, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Daily updates

I really like what you have going here, ironiridis. One thought might be to put the daily locations in reverse chronological order - easier for people to find today's location, as well as to pitch in with updates.--Joel 20:10, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Noted. :) I'll reverse them with today's update. Ironiridis 20:54, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I've added an "Attempts" section to preserve actual/documented attempts separately from the daily updates, which are proving difficult to maintain anyways. Trying to think how this is going to work over the next year or so.--Joel 16:03, 2 June 2008 (UTC)