[HN Gopher] Man ran 700 miles to make 'insanely impressive' art ...
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       Man ran 700 miles to make 'insanely impressive' art on GPS fitness
       app
        
       Author : bookofjoe
       Score  : 209 points
       Date   : 2024-12-11 22:42 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.washingtonpost.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.washingtonpost.com)
        
       | bookofjoe wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/ocmAK
        
       | hprotagonist wrote:
       | but how about an entire city? http://pac.tom7.org/
        
         | caseyohara wrote:
         | I highly recommend tom7's YouTube channel
         | https://www.youtube.com/suckerpinch
         | 
         | His videos are ambitious, nerdy/technical, and really funny.
        
           | cmehdy wrote:
           | He also appears immensely intelligent, motivated and kind,
           | which makes for great content. I'm glad I discovered his
           | channel here in the past.
        
             | egeozcan wrote:
             | I'm actually a bit jealous of his intelligence, motivation,
             | creativity, and personality. Maybe letting go of that
             | jealousy could be a good first step toward becoming a bit
             | more like him, even if just a little :)
             | 
             | Seriously though, for me, it's like Christmas when he
             | releases a new video.
        
               | caseyohara wrote:
               | It's one of the few channels that I'm glad doesn't
               | release more than one or two videos per year. When a new
               | one comes out, you know it's going to be extremely high
               | quality. It's clear he puts a lot of effort into them;
               | every video is such a treat.
        
         | precommunicator wrote:
         | If you want to do it for yourself, https://wandrer.earth/ (not
         | affiliated)
        
       | gnabgib wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _World's largest (7 countries, 7,237km) Strava art is finally
       | finished_ (2 points, 2 years ago, no comments)
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32523588
       | 
       |  _Strava artist draws pictures with his bike and GPS_ (2 points,
       | 9 years ago, no comments)
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11138751
       | 
       |  _US teacher tracks his bike rides by GPS - and creates some
       | stunning artwork_ (14 points, 13 years ago, 4 comments)
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3518331
       | 
       |  _Swedish artist ships GPS to make world 's biggest sketch_ (4
       | points, 17 years ago, 3 comments)
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=201026
        
       | eth0up wrote:
       | I used to, back in the better days whence I ran, keep gps records
       | of most of my trajectories.
       | 
       | None ever made significant art, but it's not an unpleasant
       | exercise in itself to mentally revisit the paths while attempting
       | to remember as many details as possible.
       | 
       | There's so much think-time on distance runs, so much to take in,
       | if the discomfort doesn't lower the proverbial brow beneath the
       | shoe into the gutters of the mind, which it often did for me.
        
         | nakedneuron wrote:
         | Sometimes I enjoy doing this, too. Makes one wonder about
         | memory..
        
       | bretpiatt wrote:
       | Direct link to the TikTok video:
       | https://www.tiktok.com/@duncan77mccabe/video/743836674477690...
        
         | omoikane wrote:
         | Also on youtube: https://youtu.be/fO--TM4_6hw
        
           | yapyap wrote:
           | appreciate it, also wow his min/km is very good
        
             | solardev wrote:
             | Art can't wait
        
             | notatoad wrote:
             | running 1hr/day will do that to you
        
       | jashper wrote:
       | I need to meet this individual -- amazing!
        
       | krisoft wrote:
       | Can someone who is familiar with Toronto say if this feels
       | realistic to them? I understand the bits where the lines stick to
       | the street grid, but some of the lines appear to be crossing
       | blocks in a very clean and straight way.
       | 
       | Not saying it is not real but it is just a bit too clean to me.
       | Even with extremely good planning i would expect that the lines
       | would need to compromise sometimes to avoid buildings.
        
         | mkonecny wrote:
         | For the diagonal lines the runner turned his GPS off at some
         | points, and turned back on at another, causing Strava to fill
         | in the missing data with a diagonal line
        
           | throw0101b wrote:
           | > _For the diagonal lines the runner turned his GPS off at
           | some points, and turned back on at another, causing Strava to
           | fill in the missing data with a diagonal line_
           | 
           | This part of Toronto also has laneways, so if you use the
           | above feature, in combination with crossing through laneways
           | that don't show up as streets at this level of zoom, you can
           | perhaps get diagonal interpretation from Strava.
        
         | canucker2016 wrote:
         | from his twitter/x acct,
         | https://x.com/mccabedj/status/1860191515349504467 and
         | https://x.com/mccabedj/status/1860192166561349753
         | People were generally understanding when I walked through
         | homes. But when it got inconvenient I just stoped/started the
         | app to get Strava to draw B-line between the points
         | Strava requires a run to be continuous. So I do the full run.
         | And in post I trim off the extra bits to get the hat in the air
        
         | neom wrote:
         | Doable for sure, however an incredibly boring running route.
        
           | throw0101b wrote:
           | > _Doable for sure, however an incredibly boring running
           | route._
           | 
           | The green patch in the head when the video starts is Christie
           | Pits:
           | 
           | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christie_Pits
           | 
           | The green patch by the right leg is:
           | 
           | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Bellwoods_Park
           | 
           | Both are nice, but the run would is done via Ossington on the
           | left of the body:
           | 
           | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossington_Avenue
           | 
           | And Gorve Vale/Grace on the right of the body. Ossington
           | would probably have decent street life.
        
             | mikebowman wrote:
             | Ossington has basically no street life from Bloor to
             | Dundas. Once you get south of Dundas it gets very lively,
             | but the northern stretch of Ossington is a bit bleak, as
             | someone who has also run a lot in that neighbourhood.
        
         | mcpherrinm wrote:
         | I live in Toronto and know who Duncan is. I can vouch he did
         | this for real.
         | 
         | Toggling Strava pauses to get nice straight lines is definitely
         | a bit of a trick to make it nicer.
        
         | paulcole wrote:
         | This is literally in the article.
         | 
         | > When there are buildings in the way of a line he needs to
         | draw, "I pause the app, then when I get to the desired
         | destination, I resume," he said. "When you un-pause, Strava
         | runs a direct line between the two points."
        
         | szundi wrote:
         | may be just missing position samples from corners, end result
         | is a shortcut line
        
       | vunderba wrote:
       | Now Niantic just needs to integrate this idea into huge
       | pentagrams or other complex shapes that you have to physically
       | trace by walking vast distances in order to capture certain rare
       | pokemon.
        
         | Crespyl wrote:
         | Pretty sure they sort of did this with their prior game, the
         | name of which escapes me at the moment.
         | 
         | You'd basically draw giant triangles by visiting the vertices
         | (or coordinating with remote team members) to control
         | territory.
         | 
         | It'd be neat to see it explored more.
        
           | fffffssscbnjiu wrote:
           | Ingress is what you are thinking of.
        
       | mgkimsal wrote:
       | A friend of mine did something similar-but-smaller a few years
       | back. Told me he had the idea and mapped it out, but didn't
       | estimate it well. Rough estimate was maybe 10 or so miles, but it
       | turned out to be over 20, but halfway through he didn't want to
       | give up.
       | 
       | https://wdet.org/2020/05/15/this-detroiter-ran-21-miles-to-s...
        
         | bch wrote:
         | Don't break the chain! [0]
         | 
         | [0] https://lifehacker.com/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-
         | secret-2...
        
       | NotYourLawyer wrote:
       | Thought this was gonna be tom7.
        
       | pablonhess wrote:
       | "And I would walk 700 miles, then I would walk 700 more..." :-)
       | The Proclaimers
        
       | smel wrote:
       | I do not understand all those links behind paywall here. what's
       | the point
        
       | bch wrote:
       | Airplanes are in on this action too. [0][1]
       | 
       | [0]
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10r3k9p/...
       | 
       | [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34616511
        
         | iancmceachern wrote:
         | My favorite one of these was the last 747 delivery flight
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | My dad got bored in the peak of the pandemic and wrote a name
         | over Kentucky. https://imgur.com/a/ZBu2EYT
        
         | t0mas88 wrote:
         | It's quite a common trick in airplanes. Someone drew a "50"
         | over half of the Netherlands for the 50th anniversary of the
         | flight school I teach at.
         | 
         | In airplanes it's not that hard. You can draw the route on your
         | iPad on the ground, then load those GPS points into the plane
         | via Bluetooth and fly it. A modern autopilot could even fly it
         | for you, but you'd have to sit there being bored for a few
         | hours.
         | 
         | If you do it at low altitude in uncontrolled airspace you're
         | free to draw whatever you want. In controlled airspace you may
         | get ATC interfering with your drawing. But even that can be
         | coordinated, mapping companies do that all the time, fly very
         | specific patterns in coordination with ATC.
        
       | meindnoch wrote:
       | From the scare quotes I thought it would be a giant penis. Alas
       | it's not.
        
         | JimDabell wrote:
         | Don't worry, from just six weeks ago:
         | 
         | https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welshman-says-...
        
           | petepete wrote:
           | It should be in the national gallery.
        
       | Oarch wrote:
       | Finally, a solid theory for what those giant petroglyphs were
       | for!
        
       | nxpnsv wrote:
       | That's many things, but is it insanely impressive art? I don't
       | think so.
        
         | lyime wrote:
         | The whole thing is art. Doesnt have to impress anyone.
        
           | geoduck14 wrote:
           | The title claims it is "insanely impressive." While the art
           | doesn't need to be "insanely impressive," if the title uses
           | that phrase, we would expect it to be impressive.
           | 
           | I, my self, haven't looked at the article yet, but I would
           | imagine the criticism is on a "click baitish title" - not on
           | the art
           | 
           | Update: I have watched the video. That is damn impressive
        
             | nxpnsv wrote:
             | I only looked at the stills before, but I agree that the
             | animation really is an impressive achievment. However,
             | there is nothing below the surface here. The stick figure
             | takes a few steps and lifts its hat. The medium is
             | impressive, the art not so much.
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | Well, it's more impressive than this "artwork" that sold for
         | $6M:
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedian_(artwork)
        
           | nxpnsv wrote:
           | You are not wrong.
        
           | DiscourseFan wrote:
           | "The real value is the concept."
           | 
           | Insipidly Hegelian.
        
       | sathishmanohar wrote:
       | If only he knew how to zoom. He could've made this in less than 7
       | miles in a day. -\\_(tsu)_/-
        
       | Dwedit wrote:
       | There was Pac-Man played by GPS a long time ago.
        
       | Simon_ORourke wrote:
       | The only thing he's missing is that he did this "for charity".
        
         | lifestyleguru wrote:
         | Next he goes to fight poor children in Africa.
        
           | xyzzy123 wrote:
           | He'll probably win, poor children are actually not such good
           | fighters.
        
       | curiousgal wrote:
       | You don't have to run a single mile to produce such routes. You
       | can easily fake the runs.
        
         | ta8903 wrote:
         | It is possible to draw on a map in other ways, yes.
        
       | hshshshshsh wrote:
       | This is a prime example of why we are universe goofing around for
       | eternity under disguise of fake seperation using make believe
       | personalities and genes.
        
       | kleiba wrote:
       | Why not drive (at least part of the way if one-ways are an
       | issue)?
        
         | buran77 wrote:
         | He was probably actually exercising and injected some extra
         | fun. Cycling could have been an acceptable faster method.
         | Driving is right there with using Paint to do the whole thing,
         | only less convenient.
        
           | driscoll42 wrote:
           | This, if your workout plan for the day has you running is six
           | miles a day, rather than just running the same path over and
           | over again, might as well have fun with it and add a bit more
           | fun to your workout.
        
       | xyst wrote:
       | This is what you call "iron will"
        
       | svag wrote:
       | All those GPS art pieces reminded me of Nazca lines in Peru,
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines. Are the GPS art pieces
       | a modern version of Nazca lines?
        
         | DiscourseFan wrote:
         | Presumably the peoples who made that art couldn't see it from
         | above. Unless it was aliens
        
       | adonovan wrote:
       | It's the IMAX version of
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_and_His_Atom!
        
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