3 ms·

It doesn't mean anything unless you specify the maximum allowed distance to the coast (or the average distance to the coast along your ride, or the median dista

It doesn't mean anything unless you specify the maximum allowed distance to the coast (or the average distance to the coast along your ride, or the median distance to the coast). Notice that you probably want to define the distance of each point of the coast to some point in your traject, and not the other way round (which would make your endeavor trivial). Really, it seems a very complicated concept to define precisely, and it would entail a lot of seemingly arbitrary parameters.

chrisseaton 6y ago
But why do you need to define it? What are you trying to achieve? Any reasonable person already understand what it means to walk around an island.
- enriquto 6y ago
  > But why do you need to define i Wait, isn't this Hacker news? I want to be given a definition and analyze it deeply. For instance, looking at the wikipedia page it seems that the closest that De Brune got to Cape York Tip (the northernmost point of Australia) was about one thousand kilometers. If this "counts" as a complete tour, he might as well had walked consistently 1000km inland for a much shorter tour (but maybe harder, due to the desert?).
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > I want to be given a definition and analyze it deeply. Well that's anti-social and not welcome here. Please check the guidelines for the site for how to communicate. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says > don't cross-examine
    - enriquto 6y ago
      Dude, what the fuck. Mathematics is pretty much on topic here. I made a valid point, just for fun, that giving a precise mathematical definition of "walking around an island" is a tricky issue. Of course everybody knows what does it mean roughly, but making that point, about a mathematical definition cannot be construed as anti-social. Unless you consider mathematics anti-social.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        > Of course everybody knows what does it mean roughly So you know this goes against > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says But you've generated such a strong negative reaction that you've been flagged and the comment has been removed, so it's a lot of people saying it, not just my random opinion!
ceejayoz 6y ago
You are confusing “it is complicated” with “I am over complicating it”.
n4r9 6y ago
I think the following definition is well-defined and would be acceptable to the vast majority of people: A minimal-length, non-intersecting loop for which every point on the coast is within d metres of at least one point on the loop. The only parameter is d, which I think most people would happily set to 5 or 10 km for a country the size of Australia. It may not be unique, but I think anything obeying this would count.
- enriquto 6y ago
  I like this definition. Not sure that the "non-intersecting" condition is necessary. I was thinking about a different one, given by the condition that the path never goes farther than d meters from the sea (while encircling the part of the land that is farther than d meters).

chrisseaton 6y ago

But why do you need to define it? What are you trying to achieve? Any reasonable person already understand what it means to walk around an island.

enriquto 6y ago
> But why do you need to define i Wait, isn't this Hacker news? I want to be given a definition and analyze it deeply. For instance, looking at the wikipedia page it seems that the closest that De Brune got to Cape York Tip (the northernmost point of Australia) was about one thousand kilometers. If this "counts" as a complete tour, he might as well had walked consistently 1000km inland for a much shorter tour (but maybe harder, due to the desert?).
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > I want to be given a definition and analyze it deeply. Well that's anti-social and not welcome here. Please check the guidelines for the site for how to communicate. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says > don't cross-examine
  - enriquto 6y ago
    Dude, what the fuck. Mathematics is pretty much on topic here. I made a valid point, just for fun, that giving a precise mathematical definition of "walking around an island" is a tricky issue. Of course everybody knows what does it mean roughly, but making that point, about a mathematical definition cannot be construed as anti-social. Unless you consider mathematics anti-social.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      > Of course everybody knows what does it mean roughly So you know this goes against > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says But you've generated such a strong negative reaction that you've been flagged and the comment has been removed, so it's a lot of people saying it, not just my random opinion!

ceejayoz 6y ago

You are confusing “it is complicated” with “I am over complicating it”.

n4r9 6y ago

I think the following definition is well-defined and would be acceptable to the vast majority of people: A minimal-length, non-intersecting loop for which every point on the coast is within d metres of at least one point on the loop. The only parameter is d, which I think most people would happily set to 5 or 10 km for a country the size of Australia. It may not be unique, but I think anything obeying this would count.

enriquto 6y ago
I like this definition. Not sure that the "non-intersecting" condition is necessary. I was thinking about a different one, given by the condition that the path never goes farther than d meters from the sea (while encircling the part of the land that is farther than d meters).