Jerry 🖖

Principal Program Manager @Microsoft Data & AI / @AzureSQL. Professor @my_ccu. Husband, father & IXOYE #startrek

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@HOUSEPORN___ Mental health?

[Azure SQL @AzureSQL]

Try the new SqlClient and Retry connections seamlessly https://t.co/LzRLUZGYi6

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@KJisms @StateDept Yeah, this is how it will probably land in the end.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@GrandpaMike11 @StateDept catchy tune, honestly

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

Today, there are five oceans. But that's new. 👀

Listen, if you learned geography from National Geographic, there were only four as recently as 2021. It's true. Haven't you ever wondered why you struggle to list the oceans off the top of your head? The answer is partly that things changed.

The Southern Ocean has actually come and gone before. The International Hydrographic Organization recognized it in 1937, then dropped it in 1953 when countries couldn't agree on its boundaries. In 1999, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially adopted “Southern Ocean.” NOAA formally recognized it as distinct in February 2021 (22 years later!) and National Geographic changed its maps that June. 🤷 The IHO has not reached international consensus still today.

This feels strangely relevant given the recent U.S. federal renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and, just this week, Lake Ontario to Lake America. Those names may only apply to U.S. federal usage, but it's all a matter of time. Major things on a map really do change in meaningful ways, even if they don't physically change. Culture and convention are just unstoppable things.

Oceans are an interesting one. Let's dig in.

💦 Historically, “the seven seas” has meant different things in different cultures and periods. A common modern interpretation divides both the Pacific and Atlantic into northern and southern regions: the North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern oceans. That's seven.

Today, however, geographers recognize five oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern. Interestingly, NOAA still uses North and South Pacific as geographic subdivisions, but those are just regional helpers at this point.

This whole thing reminds me of how some consider North and South America to be one continent: America. This means that depending on where you grew up, you might have learned a different number of continents.

As an aside, continents are not actually delineated by tectonic plates. They should be, I think, but they are not. Europe and Asia, for example, form the single landmass Eurasia but are conventionally treated as separate continents. It's all culture and convention, and a worthwhile arm wrestle when you travel.

So, what about the oceans?

How do we delineate them? Good question and, spoiler alert, it's culture and convention again. The fact is, Earth really has one connected global ocean. Our divisions use continents, coastlines, straits, latitude, and other geographic and oceanographic boundaries.

The Southern Ocean is especially interesting because its northern limit is commonly defined at 60° south latitude rather than by land. It's beautifully perfect.

The Arctic Ocean, what we should have called the Northern Ocean but didn’t, is more jagged, mostly because the continents snug up so far north. That didn't allow for one neat southern latitudinal boundary. It's beautifully imperfect, I suppose.

🌠 “Arctic” hails ex astris.

“Arctic”, by the way, comes from Greek arktikos, meaning “of the Bear.” It refers to the northern constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, especially Polaris in Ursa Minor. So, literally, Antarctica is the region opposite the Bear, opposite the northern sky.

If you follow your finger along the map, you will the hydrographic definitions of the Arctic following coastlines, islands, straits, and lines drawn across the gaps.

Not the Northern Sea!

The Arctic Ocean has also been called the Northern Ocean, Arctic Sea, and Frozen Ocean in older maps and texts. Today, “Northern Sea” is less standard and could be confused with the North Sea, the specific sea east of Great Britain.

By the way, in case you started to wonder, the English Channel is south of Great Britain, separating England from France. The North Sea is east of Great Britain, between it and continental Europe and Scandinavia.

If you can picture the white cliffs of Dover on a map, basically due east of London, then you can visualize the separation point between the North Sea and the English Channel. Close enough.

North versus south?

The separations of the North and South Atlantic and the North and South Pacific are basically the Equator, with some geographic adjustments around islands and coastlines.

So, “sailing the seven seas” is, technically, still something you can do today. ⛵ If you want.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@way0utwest @costplusdrugs Maybe. I checked and they didn't carry my script.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

I checked out https://t.co/jiLtW8MeSj and, dang, that's cheap.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

Start here: Azure SQL Foundations series - Microsoft for Developers https://t.co/UObeEs7RnV @SqlServer @AzureSql

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

It's a sign of the times.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@samidip @KahuaInc @SkiaSharp @DenverDevDay I am sure attendance will now soar ;-)

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@larsklint @devinbgoble @yarboglobal Honestly? Reliable? Worth it?

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

Curious if anyone has this @yarboglobal snow blower.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@way0utwest @Starlink 15-21 down. Sometimes 2-5 up, which really hurts.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@timheuer You aren't the first to ask. And though this seems silly tied to this crazy video, I wish we could create a checkpoint in the game, add a voting test and see what happens, then return to here with some advice.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@jpalioto Pick & stick. The formula is so simple.

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

Sad to see Drop leaving @MicrosoftEdge. 😪
It was handy for me, at least, for a little while.

[Sam Basu @samidip]

Pragmatic AI in .NET Show coming up tomorrow:
My guest - Daren May from @KahuaInc!

We'll talk AI Setup🤖
And Beautiful UI/Games with @SkiaSharp!

Should be fun .. Join us live @ 11AM ET:
YouTube: https://t.co/N4RcVUGnYY
X: https://t.co/3Deq9d456n
LinkedIn: https://t.co/QcxQu2ALma

[David McCarter (Microsoft MVP) @realDotNetDave]

Boost your .NET apps with blazing-fast JSON! 🚀
Spargine’s JsonSerialization wraps System.Text.Json with smart validation, source-generated support, & rock-solid performance. Clean. Fast. Reliable.
#dotnet10 #Spargine #MVPBuzz #Serialization #JSON
https://t.co/s6kzuAz79c

[Jerry 🖖 @jerrynixon]

@linotadros This is exciting.