xkcd #2920: Survey Marker

Submitted ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨randomaccount43543@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨xkcd@lemmy.world⁩

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/survey_marker_2x.png

Alt text:

Fun fact: The standard North American NAD83 coordinate system is misaligned from the actual Earth, off-center by about 7 feet. Someone knows where I am, and I’m in the wrong place.

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Bye@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

datums

Come on Randall 🫠

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- ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Datums isn’t the problem as it’s correctly pluralized in the context of the jargon because they are two different types of datums. The problem is that expanding the acronym breaks the sentence, “But the North American Datum of 1983 and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 datums are getting replaced soon.” It’s redundant, like saying ATM machine.
  
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- tal@lemmy.today ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I think it’s fine.
  
  www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/datums
  
  1: plural data ˈdā-tə ˈda-
  
  also
  
  ˈdä- : something given or admitted especially as a basis for reasoning or inference
  
  an important historical datum
  
  This enormous expense—and considerable risk—to pick up a datum or two about geriatrics?—
  
  Charles Krauthammer
  
  2: plural datums, mathematics : something used as a basis for calculating or measuring
  
  measuring the distance between datum points
  
  … make things more efficient for those of us whose work requires a time datum.—
  
  Robert Steinbrunn
  
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randomaccount43543@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
explainxkcd.com/2920

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- EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  In reality, updating a database to change the coordinates of a location would not physically move items at the location. Arguably, if they did, no-one would much notice, since everything surrounding them should similarly move simultaneously to its corrected position as well.
  
  That’s very reassuring, guess I can take my ground harness off then
  
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