If you ever get lost in the galaxy and need to find your way back home, use the handy table on a 20 CHF bill to adjust your location until you are the proper light-distance from everything. Once you're back on earth, use google maps or something.
Per the article, the astronomers were able to determine that the distances were measured on 23 February 1987 at 8:52 CET (which was confirmed by the issuing national bank). This wouldn’t correspond with the issue date of the banknote, unfortunately.
I guess there it doesn't really make a difference, but Pixabay pictures are most of the time included in the search results of similar search engines: therefore I feel it is more easy to find them on the internet.
In the end the platform (IMHO) doesn't really matter, but Wikimedia Commons doesn't always hold public domain pictures. I actually realized that the picture I posted was licensed CC-BY-SA on Wikimedia: I immeditely changed that to CC0 as soon as I noticed (:
The non-CC0 license at least dictates that your name should in some way follow the photo, and that's nice (though inconvenient and of course, ignored widely).
Me too have been pleasantly surprised to see my images still in use, for example 10 years after uploading them to wikipedia.
By the way, what kind of camera do you use for that kind of close-up?
I love to see my pictures online! Sometimes my CC0 pictures are used for news articles and such and I'm really happy to help out with my pictures . I also apply the same ideas when I develop: I always try to use the most open license where applicable.
I feel like sharing is caring - I use open source softwares myself and in turn I try to produce the same high quality software for the world to use.
Btw, the camera is a Canon 70D with a 18-135mm, f/3.5-5.6 lens :)
I have a lot of respect for people who invest their time educating people on Wikipedia. Such a useful contribution to society, at least among the options of content creation online.
afaict the bridges were only designed for the notes (or unbuilt designs were used because they had a certain european aesthetic), and then the designs were used to build real bridges in the netherlands. it's just a tourist spot, similar to las vegas' wonders of the world.
After reading the title I honestly expected to see photos from some Chinese fake European town. That would actually be quite funny.
Actually, I find it quite embarrassing that Europe, who often refers to its "European culture" cannot decide on real life people or architectural landmarks to be printed on its bank notes, because some country may feel devaluated with it's national symbol only being on the 10 Euro note.
That's such a weird perspective - I think you're adding a narrative where there isn't one. Of course Europe could have decided on a set of landmarks but decided that using non-existent landmarks represents us better - the currency is just that, currency. Why should it have landmarks or people? In fact I find it weird that some countries print their famous people on their money - it just seems so pretentious.
> Countries have an ongoing [propaganda] angle often called patriotism to build their stockpile of goodwill for spending on questionable things.
Let's call it what it is. Just because propaganda is a scary word that "We would never do!" doesn't make it not propaganda.
Edit: I should be more clear. Patriotism is not in and of itself bad. However, when it crosses from "I am proud of my country" to "My country is always right", that is no longer a good thing.
I'm under the impression that propaganda was the original term, and after it got burned by overuse in WWI[1], the commercial side rebranded itself as "public relations" during the 1920s.
Also, who would be on the notes? European history is rather complex and people are seen either as a positive or negative depending on (local) history and culture.
It would have set off endless moaning by nationalist loons, and presumably some sort of awkward shuffling any time someone joined. Far simpler this way.
Countries are allowed put people on their coins if they so wish, and some do.
Meanwhile, in the UK we get Winnie The Pooh 50p coins. Take that, Europe, with your lofty ideals of building bridges! Bridges are for burning if you want to live in a tax haven small island!
Why would that be stupid? I actually think it's kind of stupid for only one country to have the bridges shown on EU currency.
I was just thinking it would be cool if a bunch of the EU countries each started building these bridges. You could see it as a symbol of unity. Maybe they could do something interesting with it like each country adding their own personal touches to the design. Or using the bridges to bring attention to lesser-known, interesting cities in the country.
Interesting concept, I would have considered leaving the bridges their natural colors and installing small, tinted panes of glass at photo spots along the walkway. Would allow photos to show a more immersive 'banknote world,' while maintaining design consistency for area residents.
I haven't seen a banknote in months and certainly never anything above €50- hell I think the only they ever accepted are the €10 and €20 bills.
Which is just as well because damn are they ugly. Thats globalism for you. Can't celebrate people, buildings or even animals for fear of giving offense to someone.
Pictures of the bridges.[1] Some look OK, some are kind of silly in small scale. The suspension bridge looks like something from a miniature golf course.
A bit of forgotten history is that the first set of bill designs were supposed to be fictional but in fact the designer(s) had copied existing bridges. Oops. AFAIK the EU never pursued the matter, they just forgot about the fraud and paid for the set of definitely-fictional designs that are now on the bills.
The relevant parts of the NYT article are: "For his central motif, Mr. Kalina chose a bridge — not Pont Neuf in Paris or Venice's Bridge of Sighs. Mr. Kalina's was a bridge that no European had ever crossed. The ground rules for the design strictly prohibited displaying any recognizable national monuments or heroes that risked giving greater prominence to one country over another. So Mr. Kalina took bits and pieces of Europe's great bridges and with the help of his computer melded them into a neutered bridge presumably acceptable to all. "Hopefully," Mr. Kalina said with a grin, "no one will recognize the old places" incorporated in the design." and "He began the design process by scanning in architectural images from library books and toying with them on his Apple Macintosh. The initial landmarks included known sites such as the Rialto bridge in Venice and Pont de Neuilly just outside Paris. But Mr. Kalina, guided by the need to stress a European identity over any national loyalties, painstakingly eradicated all recognizable vestiges of each image, pixel by pixel."
This doesn't sound to me like "the initial designs were of actual bridges", like Wikipedia says. And especially not like "copying" and "fraud" like you said.
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 137 ms ] threadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_franc#/media/File:20_CHF...
https://nccr-planets.ch/blog/2017/12/07/astronomy-in-your-wa... (Scroll to the last paragraph)
On a side note, if you are a photographer / love to take pictures, consider posting them with a CC0 license on Pixabay!
In the end the platform (IMHO) doesn't really matter, but Wikimedia Commons doesn't always hold public domain pictures. I actually realized that the picture I posted was licensed CC-BY-SA on Wikimedia: I immeditely changed that to CC0 as soon as I noticed (:
Me too have been pleasantly surprised to see my images still in use, for example 10 years after uploading them to wikipedia.
By the way, what kind of camera do you use for that kind of close-up?
I feel like sharing is caring - I use open source softwares myself and in turn I try to produce the same high quality software for the world to use.
Btw, the camera is a Canon 70D with a 18-135mm, f/3.5-5.6 lens :)
NL Wikipedia [1] has some more info on them. It also provides a source for the bridges opening date.
[1] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spijkenisser_Eurobruggen
[1] https://youtu.be/S9E1wsxOSzM
Actually, I find it quite embarrassing that Europe, who often refers to its "European culture" cannot decide on real life people or architectural landmarks to be printed on its bank notes, because some country may feel devaluated with it's national symbol only being on the 10 Euro note.
Let's call it what it is. Just because propaganda is a scary word that "We would never do!" doesn't make it not propaganda.
Edit: I should be more clear. Patriotism is not in and of itself bad. However, when it crosses from "I am proud of my country" to "My country is always right", that is no longer a good thing.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23895444
I'll add the book listed there to my reading list.
It would seem unfair if only the original set of countries were represented on the bills.
Countries are allowed put people on their coins if they so wish, and some do.
Oh they built the bridges in jersey? Hell yeah we can do it in NYC
I was just thinking it would be cool if a bunch of the EU countries each started building these bridges. You could see it as a symbol of unity. Maybe they could do something interesting with it like each country adding their own personal touches to the design. Or using the bridges to bring attention to lesser-known, interesting cities in the country.
There are many fake towns that became real because it was imagined on paper (usually to catch copyright) :)
Which is just as well because damn are they ugly. Thats globalism for you. Can't celebrate people, buildings or even animals for fear of giving offense to someone.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12193352
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8769509
[1] http://www.robinstam.nl/#/bruggen-van-europa/
EDIT: For whatever it's worth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes#Design says "The initial designs by Robert Kalina were of actual bridges, including the Rialto Bridge in Venice and the Pont de Neuilly in Paris, and were subsequently rendered more generic.", citing https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/03/news/etching-the-notes-of.... This is a much weaker claim than what you wrote, and even this isn't supported by the article.
The relevant parts of the NYT article are: "For his central motif, Mr. Kalina chose a bridge — not Pont Neuf in Paris or Venice's Bridge of Sighs. Mr. Kalina's was a bridge that no European had ever crossed. The ground rules for the design strictly prohibited displaying any recognizable national monuments or heroes that risked giving greater prominence to one country over another. So Mr. Kalina took bits and pieces of Europe's great bridges and with the help of his computer melded them into a neutered bridge presumably acceptable to all. "Hopefully," Mr. Kalina said with a grin, "no one will recognize the old places" incorporated in the design." and "He began the design process by scanning in architectural images from library books and toying with them on his Apple Macintosh. The initial landmarks included known sites such as the Rialto bridge in Venice and Pont de Neuilly just outside Paris. But Mr. Kalina, guided by the need to stress a European identity over any national loyalties, painstakingly eradicated all recognizable vestiges of each image, pixel by pixel."
This doesn't sound to me like "the initial designs were of actual bridges", like Wikipedia says. And especially not like "copying" and "fraud" like you said.