Great-Circle Distance

One of the things that we learn at school when we study geometry is that the shortest distance between two points is always a straight line. That is true in plane geometry. But if we are talking about a sphere, that statement is not correct.

The first time I went to the United States, my curiosity led me to search for maps showing the routes that airplanes follow and the surprise was huge: airplanes do not follow straight lines!

I could not understand the reason why airlines would want to make flights longer and spend more on fuel.

Thus, I learned that representing the Earth on plain surfaces as maps entails some distortions. For instance, the Mercator projection, used by Google Maps, shows us Greenland being almost as big as Africa when in reality the latter is like 14 times bigger than the former. Likewise, in this type of projection, Alaska and Brazil seem to have a similar size, even though Brazil is five times bigger than Alaska.

Therefore, thinking automatically of a straight line that unites two airports is actually a mistake. Indeed, the shortest line on a sphere will always be the one that draws the greatest circle between two points. That circle is also known as an orthodromic line. Nonetheless, it is not always possible for airplanes to follow this pattern since there are zones that are restricted to civilian air traffic. Meteorological conditions or volcanic activity may also affect an air route.

The main source for this article is here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Vertigo

Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode, one of my favorite bands, started a band named Recoil in 1986.

In 2000, Recoil released "Liquid", an experimental electronica album that features a song titled "Vertigen" ("Vertigo" in Catalan). The song was written and narrated by Rosa Torras. It features some chanting by my beloved Diamanda Galas.

These are the original lyrics:

Aquell matí em vaig llevar. No recordo on ni tan sols el temps que fa. I tot havia canviat. Però jo no ho sabia encara. I més m'hagués valgut no saber-ho mai. El meu món era petit, però suficient, abans. Deixà de ser-ho. La meva vida: un cel particular, nul·la incertesa, dolça soledat.

Més tard: cau soterrat, previsibilitat maleïda, asfixiant aïllament. Mai res m'havia fet tanta falta. Ni la sang que per les venes em corre no necessitava amb la mateixa urgència. Mentre el dolor creixia, de sobte, aquell soroll estrepitós, insuportable. Cridant, plorant, vaig córrer.

Era incapaç de sentir els meus crits, de segur esgarrifosos. De sobte, l'abisme s'obrí sota els meus peus. Morir volia, recuperar el meu cau, la meva estimada soledat, els meus llimbs, la meva preuada illa. I vaig caure. Queia, sentint-me cada vegada més prop d'aquell horror, del meu propi dolor, del més terrorífic despertar dels meus sentits, tot just acabat de descobrir.

Ja no recordo quan va ser que vaig despertar aquell fatídic matí, aleshores salvador. No recordo quan fa que estic caient, que caic, veient la fi més propera cada vegada, però amb la incertesa de si mai arribarà. Ara el dolor sembla no tenir límits. El dolor i la por són tot el que sento. Tinc por de caure per sempre.

And this is my translation to English:

I woke up that morning. I don't remember where, nor how long ago. And everything had changed. But I didn't know it yet. And I wish I never knew. Before, my world was small, but enough. That ceased. My life: a private heaven, no uncertainty, sweet solitude.

Later: a buried shelter, cursed sureness, suffocating isolation. Nothing had ever felt so needful. Not even the blood that runs through my veins, I didn't need it so urgently. While the pain was growing, suddenly, that thunderous noise, unbearable. Shouting, crying, I ran.

I was incapable of feeling my own screaming, creepy for sure. Suddenly, the abyss broke under my feet. I wanted to die, get my shelter back, my beloved solitude, my limbo, my appraised island. And I fell. I was falling, feeling closer and closer to that horror, to my own pain, to the most terrifying awakening of my senses, that I had just discovered.

I don't remember anymore when I woke up that fateful morning, salvation back then. I don't remember when I started falling, for how long I'm falling, while I see the end closer and closer, but not knowing for sure if it will ever come. Now pain seems to have no limits. Pain and fear are all I feel. I am afraid to be falling forever.

You can listen to it here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Birthday

Since today is my birthday, I am going to introduce myself and talk a little about me.

My name is Antoni Maroto (Toni) and I was born on July 2nd, 1983. I live in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Catalonia – still a stateless nation.

Languages, music, reading, and writing are among my biggest passions in life. I am very grateful for being able to communicate, create and learn.

I live in three languages: English, Catalan, and Spanish. In addition, I have diverse levels of knowledge of French, German, Galician, Russian and Hebrew. This love for languages led me to complete a licentiate degree in Translation and Interpretation.

I consider myself an avid, creative and dynamic translator. I would love to get a full-time position as a digital & social media agent in the areas of content, communication and/or customer experience.

Currently, I have been working as a home banking agent for the past six years. There, I cover several channels on a 24/7 service: telephone, email, chat, and social networks. Indeed, social networks and digital media have been the areas in which I have excelled at.

I believe that my best quality is that I am highly decisive. I also execute my tasks quickly and handle them with great quality.