4 ms·

Man AND the ruler isnt the same size every time. I kept getting wrong answer after wrong answer despite the fact that I was CONVINCED I was triangulating prope

Man AND the ruler isnt the same size every time. I kept getting wrong answer after wrong answer despite the fact that I was CONVINCED I was triangulating properly..... But no! The size of the ruler kept changing!! I was using a constant 80px for it, and it was changing by as much as 30px as you zoomed in and out. What a waste of time. However I did get within 7mi once despite this terrible UX, because I saw a pic and was like "goddamn if that's not in non-Chicago Illinois" so I was within 200mi on my first guess and knew how to constrain my further guesses.

LeafItAlone 3y ago
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but that’s exactly how I would expect it to work and how it does work with Apple Maps and Google Maps. You can zoom at different increments than the scale label shows. Without changing the ruler size, how could this work? Am I misunderstanding you?
- RheingoldRiver 3y ago
  What I mean is like: I expected the different zooms to be specifically normalized so that at the most zoomed-out, 80px = 800mi, then 80px = 500mi, then 80px = 300mi, then 80px = 200mi, then 80px = 50mi, etc. But instead it was like.... 90px = 800mi, and 80px = 500mi, and 60px = 50mi, etc. So not only do you have to account for the changed scale, but you also have to measure the scale ruler at every increment.
  - LeafItAlone 3y ago
    Ah, you want more distinct zoom levels. On my mobile device, for example, the ruler for, for example, 1,000 miles can be different lengths depending on if I am slightly more or less zoomed in (via pinch). Which might be related to the choice of projection, because even just moving around the map changes the ruler length for me, for the same labeled distance.
    - RheingoldRiver 3y ago
      Hmm for me I did have very distinct zoom levels here; I was only able to scroll in one tick or out one tick with my mouse wheel, it wasn't freeform. That's why I expected these quanta with a constant 80px-long ruler. Maybe on mobile it was a different experience.

LeafItAlone 3y ago

Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but that’s exactly how I would expect it to work and how it does work with Apple Maps and Google Maps. You can zoom at different increments than the scale label shows. Without changing the ruler size, how could this work? Am I misunderstanding you?

RheingoldRiver 3y ago
What I mean is like: I expected the different zooms to be specifically normalized so that at the most zoomed-out, 80px = 800mi, then 80px = 500mi, then 80px = 300mi, then 80px = 200mi, then 80px = 50mi, etc. But instead it was like.... 90px = 800mi, and 80px = 500mi, and 60px = 50mi, etc. So not only do you have to account for the changed scale, but you also have to measure the scale ruler at every increment.
- LeafItAlone 3y ago
  Ah, you want more distinct zoom levels. On my mobile device, for example, the ruler for, for example, 1,000 miles can be different lengths depending on if I am slightly more or less zoomed in (via pinch). Which might be related to the choice of projection, because even just moving around the map changes the ruler length for me, for the same labeled distance.
  - RheingoldRiver 3y ago
    Hmm for me I did have very distinct zoom levels here; I was only able to scroll in one tick or out one tick with my mouse wheel, it wasn't freeform. That's why I expected these quanta with a constant 80px-long ruler. Maybe on mobile it was a different experience.