Hallowell, Maine – As an acknowledgment of the diversity of opinions that have recently been expressed about the shape and structure of the earth, Blue Marble is pleased to announce that it is updating its flagship geodetic software, Geographic Calculator, to incorporate flat earth coordinate system parameters. Sharing its extensive core database of coordinate system definitions with GeoCalc, the application’s SDK, Geographic Calculator will now allow flat earth geodesists to perform the same accurate coordinate conversions and transformations that have traditionally been only available to their spherical counterparts.
Recently highlighted by noted geodetic scholars, Kyrie Irving and Shaquille O’Neal, the flat earth approach to planetary geomatics is based on the age-old idea that the planet is not, as conventionally assumed, a pseudo-spheroid, but is instead, a pseudo-disk. This realization has taken the geodetic world by storm as it significantly simplifies the management of location-based data.
Working with flat earth-based coordinate systems eliminates the need for projection and the inevitable distortion and inaccuracy that this process entails. Any Cartesian system can be quickly and easily applied anywhere on the surface of the planet without the need for artificial flattening. So, for instance, it is now feasible for New Zealand to borrow the British National Grid when it needs it.
“The recent reemergence of the flat-earth approach to geodesy has been a godsend for us,” stated Blue Marble President, Patrick Cunningham. “If the truth be told, we have always wondered why Shaq’s free-throws didn’t have a better arc. Hopefully flattening our mapping systems will assist with his free-throw shooting, although unfortunately it is probably too late for that.”
With the shift in focus to a flattened planetary model, the simplification of the Geographic Calculator is not the only consequence for the company. The name Blue Marble Geographics is now obsolete. On April 1st the company will be renamed Blue Frisbee Geographics.
###
About Blue Frisbee Geographics: Blue Frisbee Geographics of Hallowell, Maine is a leading developer and provider of software products and services for highly accurate geospatial data conversion solutions. Blue Frisbee is known for their coordinate conversion and file format expertise and is the developer of the Geographic Calculator, GeoCalc SDK, Global Mapper, LiDAR Module for Global Mapper and Global Mapper SDK. The company has been writing GIS software tools and solutions for over twenty years and currently serves hundreds of thousands of users worldwide.
