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ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World

38 points by bpierre 12y ago

maaku 12y ago
> ORBIS is designed for modern browsers and uses technology that works best in Chrome or Safari. This is on latest Firefox. Really? The only truly open browser is not "modern"?
- codezero 12y ago
  Does it not work properly on Firefox? If so, I bet they'd probably appreciate the feedback on what is broken so they can try to fix it.
  - jordanb 12y ago
    For me, on Firefox it immediately displays a splash screen recommending I switch to Chrome or Safari.
- aptwebapps 12y ago
  Doesn't work all that well on Chrome, either. Make the window narrow and the text goes below the fold but is unscrollable. Edit: Just on the first page, it seems.
- hackuser 12y ago
  All the other websites work well for me on Firefox. Either I'll have to switch browsers for one site, or switch websites ...
- elijahmeeks 12y ago
  SVG performance on Firefox is abysmal. Even MSIE10/11 handles it much better. Start a petition to get Firefox to handle SVG as well as all the other browsers.
coldcode 12y ago
This would make the core of an interesting game.
- javajosh 12y ago
  Yes. The mechanic could be a variant of "ticket to ride" where instead of different color trains you get donkey, ship, and horse cards.
bane 12y ago
I like how I posted this earlier, but the repost with the messed up URL gets the votes ;) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8001507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8001507
anigbrowl 12y ago
Most interesting. I picked up The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in a used bookstore recently and this seems like it will be a useful study aid.
evolve2k 12y ago
'Conventional maps that represent this world as it appears from space signally fail to capture the severe environmental constraints that governed the flows of people, goods and information. Cost, rather than distance, is the principal determinant of connectivity. For the first time, ORBIS allows us to express Roman communication costs in terms of both time and expense. By simulating movement along the principal routes of the Roman road network, the main navigable rivers, and hundreds of sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, this interactive model reconstructs the duration and financial cost of travel in antiquity.'
tempodox 12y ago
Too bad, it doesn't seem to work in Safari. I find what I see incomprehensible and unusable. Some shapes seem to be drawn much too large. In Chrome, it looks better.
- elijahmeeks 12y ago
  I'd love to see a screenshot, if you want to tweet or email me. I never had any problems testing it on Safari.

38 points by bpierre 12y ago

maaku 12y ago

> ORBIS is designed for modern browsers and uses technology that works best in Chrome or Safari. This is on latest Firefox. Really? The only truly open browser is not "modern"?

codezero 12y ago
Does it not work properly on Firefox? If so, I bet they'd probably appreciate the feedback on what is broken so they can try to fix it.
- jordanb 12y ago
  For me, on Firefox it immediately displays a splash screen recommending I switch to Chrome or Safari.
aptwebapps 12y ago
Doesn't work all that well on Chrome, either. Make the window narrow and the text goes below the fold but is unscrollable. Edit: Just on the first page, it seems.
hackuser 12y ago
All the other websites work well for me on Firefox. Either I'll have to switch browsers for one site, or switch websites ...
elijahmeeks 12y ago
SVG performance on Firefox is abysmal. Even MSIE10/11 handles it much better. Start a petition to get Firefox to handle SVG as well as all the other browsers.

coldcode 12y ago

This would make the core of an interesting game.

javajosh 12y ago
Yes. The mechanic could be a variant of "ticket to ride" where instead of different color trains you get donkey, ship, and horse cards.

bane 12y ago

I like how I posted this earlier, but the repost with the messed up URL gets the votes ;) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8001507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8001507

anigbrowl 12y ago

Most interesting. I picked up The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in a used bookstore recently and this seems like it will be a useful study aid.

evolve2k 12y ago

'Conventional maps that represent this world as it appears from space signally fail to capture the severe environmental constraints that governed the flows of people, goods and information. Cost, rather than distance, is the principal determinant of connectivity. For the first time, ORBIS allows us to express Roman communication costs in terms of both time and expense. By simulating movement along the principal routes of the Roman road network, the main navigable rivers, and hundreds of sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, this interactive model reconstructs the duration and financial cost of travel in antiquity.'

tempodox 12y ago

Too bad, it doesn't seem to work in Safari. I find what I see incomprehensible and unusable. Some shapes seem to be drawn much too large. In Chrome, it looks better.

elijahmeeks 12y ago
I'd love to see a screenshot, if you want to tweet or email me. I never had any problems testing it on Safari.