Ron Dyck1d ago
Canadians think Canada should join the EU: poll https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2026/04/06/canada-in-the-european-union-poll-suggests-broad-openness-to-the-idea/
Canada in the European Union? Poll suggests broad openness to the idea

New polling suggests a majority of Canadians think Canada ought to explore joining the European Union at a fraught time for geopolitical relations.

BNN Bloomberg
Show threadRay McCarthy1d ago

@dyckron
Donegal in Ireland is maybe closer to Newfoundland than to Greece.

Check a globe. Canada isn't as far away as it looks. Greenland used to be in the EU and Iceland might join.
Vikings probably visited.

Show threadmaya_b 🇨🇦1d ago

@raymaccarthy

we seriously need to bring back globes. so many people have no idea how things are related because of projection maps

@dyckron

Show threadRon Dyck1d ago
@maya_b @raymaccarthy the time has come to fix it! Whatever navigational purpose the Mercator projection had is surely long deprecated
Show threadChris Moorehead 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇱1d ago
@dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy The Mercator projection is still the best for local navigation at the city or street level, because a straight line in Mercator corresponds to a straight line in reality (which is why it’s always been used for maritime navigation). Google Maps uses it, as do the other navigation apps. It’s only at the global level that it’s a monstrosity. But so is the Gall-Peters projection. (BTW, I did teach wayfinding and navigation at OCAD for 13 years.)
Show threaddragonfrog1d ago

@cjmoorehead @dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy
For city navigation all projections are effectively the same IMO - no city covers enough of the globe for the differences between the distortion this projection produces and the distortion that other one produces to make much difference.

In my sprawling prairie city a fair number of "15 foot" lots are actually 14 foot 8 inches wide because two links in a surveying chain were twisted together - a 2% difference from one lot to the next.

Show threaddragonfrog1d ago

@cjmoorehead @dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy ... Meanwhile from the south to the north edge of the city is 17 miles - over which distance two north-south lines that start 1 mile apart, get closer together by 12 yards - a 1% difference over 17 miles.

If a 2% difference from one lot to the next is good enough for city planning, a 1% difference over the whole 17 mile span of the city doesn't make much difference to how a map should be printed.

Show threadChris Moorehead 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇱
@dragonfrog @dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy Indeed. In theory, every city should have its own unique projection, but it really doesn’t make much difference to navigation at that level of detail.
Apr 7 at 12:06amWeb
Show threadBob Thomson16h ago

@cjmoorehead @dragonfrog @dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy

Inevitable TWW clip

https://youtu.be/eLqC3FNNOaI?is=qElvF-6mgGse1cg5

(1 min 30 in)

Why are we changing maps? (from The West Wing)

YouTube
Show threadChris Moorehead 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇱13h ago
@bobthomson70 @dragonfrog @dyckron @maya_b @raymaccarthy You beat me to it! This is every cartographer's favourite television moment.
Show threadChris Mackay 🇨🇦9h ago
@bobthomson70 @dyckron @cjmoorehead @dragonfrog @maya_b @raymaccarthy I am physically incapable of not boosting this clip any time it crosses under my nose.
Show threadBob Thomson9h ago
@tantramar @dyckron @cjmoorehead @dragonfrog @maya_b @raymaccarthy there is a sad dearth of TWW clips and gifs. No Leo on laws and sausages in John Spencer’s magnificent New Jersey accent for example. Jeez, just realised he was only a couple of years older than me when he died. RIP Leo.
Show threadJoe Crofts7h ago

@bobthomson70 @tantramar @dyckron @cjmoorehead @dragonfrog @maya_b @raymaccarthy

I have a small, but growing folder of TWW gifs I've had to make myself. The one I reach for most often is: