The Martian - Andy Weir

Yep. I read this again. Then I made a map.

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Same same but different

I have done a bit more digging into issues I have been having with the places API and discovered that Google has deprecated (as of 24th June) the reference property of autocomplete responses (and place detail requests) and moved to a new place_id parameter. The semantics of these parameters are the same so I didn't have to modify much code (just change the names) and it looks like the new ids are working better than the old ones.

I hoped that all the problems I have been seeing would go away with the new ids, and some certainly have (Bridge St Sydney seems to work now), but have found there are still erroneous suggestions coming back in autocomplete.

If you search for "60 Pitt St" while in the Sydney CBD the first suggestion you get back is "60 Pitt St, Sydney" followed by "60 Pitt St, Parramatta" and then "60 Pitt St, Redfern". There are a couple of issues with this:

• - Why is Parramatta (23 km) presented before Redfern (3km)?
• - When I resolve the place_id for the first result, I would expect 60 Pitt St in Sydney CBD. Instead, I get the location in Redfern (same lat, lng as the third result).

So still somewhat dissatisfied with the data I am getting back from the Places API, but getting closer.

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The Martian - Andy Weir

So freaking good. Most enjoyable SciFi (or novel in general) I have read for some time

So many awesome quotes, but here are a few I paused to write down:

"It's Hydrogenville in the hab"

How come Aquaman can control whales, they're mammals. Makes no sense

To them, equipment failure is terrifying, for me it's Tuesday

Ironman commander! Ironman

( this was Watney telling Lewis about the 'poking a hole in EVA suit' idea)

they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out

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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - Jack Weatherford

Fascinating stuff. Challenges all the pre-conceived ideas about the Mongol horde.

It might go a little two far when it compares Subutai's tactical withdrawal at the battle of Kalka river in 1223 with the Soviet collapse in 1941-42. O_o

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George St and St George

Time to post another bug in the autocomplete data. This one happens when you do an autocomplete request for "George St" when you are in the Sydney CBD.

As you can see here, the first prediction you get back from autocomplete is "George Street, Sydney, New South Wales". Seems legit:

Unfortunately when you go to resolve this location reference id, you get the center of the St George region. Definitely not the place I was looking for.

The predictions that follow St George in the array are George Streets in Redfern, Parramatta, North Strathfield and Liverpool, but not George Street in the Sydney CBD.

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