24 May 2023

Two geography quiz questions


I missed two on my first read of the cartoon.  Answers are in the reader comments at the GoComics source.

Part two:  
Name the world capital closest to "Null Island" (0 degrees north, 0 degrees east) (five letters).
The number of letters is specified, because I encountered this while working the most recent Sunday NYT crossword puzzle.  Since I was on the clock, trying to finish in 20 minutes, I didn't take time to reason it out and wound up having to back into the answer via crossing clues.

More on Null Island.  You learn something every day.

11 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 24, 2023 at 4:36 PM

    Null Island? No island. We got no island. We don’t need no stinkin’ island!
    0°N, 0°E = nothing. It’s a made up point on the map, 350 miles from land, in 16k deep Atlantic ocean.
    What do you do for a living? I wake up... necessary for function, but redundant, useless information.
    xoxoxoBruce

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marco McCleanMay 24, 2023 at 11:41 PM

    Rockapella - Capital.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MikeMay 25, 2023 at 12:49 AM

    I'm changing my last name to Null. Looks like it could be fun messing with the computer nerds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gary KMay 26, 2023 at 10:45 AM

      A 2018 story in Wired explains why this would be an unfun idea. A guy bought California vanity plate "Null," and found himself inundated with tickets for parking and traffic violations from all over the state. It took years to straighten it out.

      Delete
  4. rockyMay 25, 2023 at 8:33 AM

    Sadly I was never required to learn the state's capitals so I don't know all of them but I managed to get 11 .

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  5. DrabkikkerMay 25, 2023 at 1:02 PM

    Found 'em all! I never thought learning state capitals was going to be useful, but there you go.

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  6. scouter573May 25, 2023 at 3:49 PM

    Google Maps does not know about Null Island and you must enter "0, 0" as the coordinates. A restaurant is listed nearby - ေလး ရာသီစားေသာက္ဆိုင္四季啤酒烧烤.

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    1. MinnesotastanMay 25, 2023 at 4:44 PM

      But if you enter "null null" it takes you to an Italian restaurant on the Kongens Gate in Oslo

      Delete
  7. AnonymousMay 25, 2023 at 4:05 PM

    So all the time spent committing the state capitals to memory results in the success of winning against a Stephan Pastis challenge. That's in addition to making you a more knowledgeable person, unlike we google dependent masses. Kudos.
    xoxoxoBruce

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  8. AnonymousMay 25, 2023 at 4:10 PM

    The geo displays would sometimes default to 'zero zero'. Of course, that was not obvious. So there you are, trying to set up a missile strike plan, and you would always be 'out of range'. It was a solid "WTF?" until you figured out the display was at default.

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  9. AnonymousJune 9, 2023 at 10:59 AM

    Accra, Ghana

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