Scanning the planet at 1000km height

[avram]

Back in 1989, when that big quake hit San Francisco, I called up drcpunk, who was then at UCLA, because I was a lifelong New Yorker, and had no idea that San Francisco and Los Angeles were 300+ miles apart.

Now I’ve got Google Earth to reassure me that Jakarta and Rembang are likewise 300+ miles apart, so I probably shouldn’t worry that tinpan might have been on that ferry.

Though actually, the ferry was traveling between Semarang (near Rembang) and Borneo, an entirely different island. So even less reason to worry.

See, twenty minutes ago, I had no idea of any of that. I didn’t even know that Borneo was a (partly) Indonesian island. Thanks to the Internet, I can go from total ignoramus to looking like I know what I’m talking about in mere minutes!