Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!umd5!brl-adm!cmcl2!phri!roy From: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,sci.astro,comp.dcom.modems,comp.misc,rec.ham-radio Subject: Re: N.B.S. Time Service Message-ID: <3348@phri.UUCP> Date: 12 Jun 88 00:03:29 GMT References: <455@trane.UUCP> <4691@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <585@otto.COM> <3335@phri.UUCP> <20041@beta.UUCP> <2799@calmasd.GE.COM> Reply-To: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) Organization: Public Health Research Inst. (NY, NY) Lines: 24 Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:3087 sci.astro:2216 comp.dcom.modems:1968 comp.misc:2576 rec.ham-radio:5065 I wrote: > If I call Colorado from New York and get a land line, I'm going over > maybe 3-4000 miles of path which caused jnp@calmasd.GE.COM (John Pantone) to flame me: > 3-4000 miles! WHAT? [...] NYC to Boulder is 2000+ miles. [...] > Will we ever start teaching geography again in this country? Not only was I using round numbers, but it is indeed possible that the length of a terrestrial phone circuit from NYC to Boulder is 4000 miles. Calls get routed in strange ways sometimes if the direct trunks are overloaded. NYC->LA->Boulder might very well be 4000 miles as the electron flows. Jeeze! I posted what I thought was a reasonably informed answer to somebody's question. The result is that I've been roasted for using the wrong units by mistake, taken to task for saying that geosynchronous orbit was 23,000 miles instead of 22,400, and now I get accused of not knowing my geography. This net sure is a rough place; they don't let you get away with anything! -- Roy Smith, System Administrator Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net