#directions

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was walking around my local mall and found a new Rainforest Cafe. Then Ted Nivison came in asking for directions to a local convention and I told him about it.

[aeshnacyanea2000]

There used to be such simple directions, back in the days before they invented parallel universes – Up and Down, Right and Left, Backward and Forward, Past and Future … But normal directions don’t work in the multiverse, which has far too many dimensions for anyone to find their way. So new ones have to be invented so that the way can be found. Like: East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Or: Behind the North Wind. Or: At the Back of Beyond. Or: There and Back Again. Or: Beyond the Fields We Know. And sometimes there’s a short cut. A door or a gate. Some standing stones, a tree cleft by lightning, a filing cabinet. Maybe just a spot on some moorland somewhere … A place where there is very nearly here.

-- Terry Pratchett - Lords And Ladies

[grickle14]

Freddy finds himself on the wrong street.

[superlinguo]

New gesture Emoji in Unicode 15.1: Head Shaking Horizontally and Head Shaking Vertically (aka shake and nod!), and (finally) right facing emoji

Unicode 15.1 will be rolling out to phones and computers across this year. It will include lots of new CJK (Chinese Japanese Korean) ideographs, some new line-breaking rules for syllabic scripts, and a handfull of new emoji! There's a phoenix, a breaking chain, a lime and a brown mushroom, as well as new family silhouettes and a handful of existing emoji, but now facing rightward!

Below are illustrations of the set from a recent Emojipedia summary of the 15.1 update.

The two emoji I'm most excited about are Head Shaking Horizontally and Head Shaking Vertically. That's head shaking and head nodding to you! I wrote these proposals with Jennifer Daniel and the Unicode emoji subcomittee team.

Why the more elaborate names? Well, Unicode tend to describe emoji by form, not function. That's for very good reason, because a head nod might be agreement for you, but in other cultures a vertical movement of the head can mean disagreement. This has provided a double challenge for emoji designers, who have to both show movement and also facial features that aren't too positive or negative. Below are the Emojipedia pair. They've done a great job.

These two emoji are actually made by combining a classic emoji face wtih the horizontal (🙂‍↔️) or vertical arrows (🙂‍↕️ ) using a special Unicode character called a Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ, 'zwidge' to it's friends), which means that even though they're two characters they smoosh together to create one emoji. It's the same process that makes all the different flags, as well as the gender and skin tones.

In fact, all of the emoji in 15.1 are combinations using the ZWJ mechanism; including the phoenix (🐦‍🔥), lime (🍋‍🟩) and brown mushroom (🍄‍🟫 ). Those new right-facing emoji are a combination of the usual left-facing emoji and a rightward arrow🚶‍➡️ .

It's exciting that Unicode have decided to try this set of right-facing characters. Many emoji are left-facing, which is a legacy of their Japanese origins (the word order in Japan means that right-facing makes sense). I've been complaining about emoji directionality since 2015, and I'm glad that this update will mean that lil emoji dude can finally escape a burning building for those of us with a left-to-right writing system and Subject Verb Object word order. They've started with a bunch of people in motion. It will be interesting to see if this set is where it stops or not.

(no no buddy!! To the exit!!)

The use of the ZWJ is an elegant solution because it means that you don't have to make a whole new codepoint for the emoji, it just uses the old one. If someone doesn't have their phone or computer update to 15.1 then it should fall back to just showing 🚶‍➡️, which somewhat conveys the intent. That's the magic of a good ZWJ combination.

Earlier posts on emoji gesture

Gesture emoji: contributing to the Unicode standard

New Publication: The Past and Future of Hand Emoji

Gender Variations for Person in Suit Levitating Emoji - Emoji Proposal

New draft emoji include 3 proposals I co-wrote!

Emoji as Digital Gestures in Language@Internet [Open Access]

Earlier posts on emoji directionality

Emoji Deixis: When emoji don’t face the way you want them to

Don’t run towards the fire (the on-going problem with emoji directions)

[shepherds-of-haven]

what do the ROs think of an mc who has zero sense of direction? like me who still gets lost in the department store in the mall and has to follow the wall to find the exit lmao this is why i don't go to a new place by myself bc i will probably cry if i get lost even when i know i have gps 😭

Mild exasperation to outright worry, has to take this into consideration when giving them tasks/missions/assignments:

Blade

Riel

Has zero opinion on this/doesn't really register:

Trouble

Tallys

Shery

Finds it amusing/charming:

Chase

Red

Genuinely baffled or confused by how bad it is, like "What? How are you this bad at it lol weren't you traveling around before joining the Shepherds??"

Ayla

Halek

Lavinet

Omg same 🥺🤝 (relief that they're not the only one)

Briony

(Btw this is how the companions themselves are with directions, in case you're curious!)

[prep4tomoro]

Use an Analog Clock as a Compass:

Using a Watch to Find North: The watch method for navigation is useful for finding the cardinal directions of: north, south, east and west. While not being 100 percent accurate, it is handy for crude navigation when a compass is not available and can head you in the correct general direction in camping, bushcraft, backpacking and survival situations. It is also useful in combination with other natural navigation methods found in this link and other resources.

If Located in the Northern Hemisphere: Align a twig (pointing up) at the edge of your watch so that it casts a shadow onto the face of the watch from the Sun. Rotate the watch until the twig's shadow (the Sun) is cast directly onto the hour hand. The halfway point between the hour hand and the 12-oclock mark is your North-South line. Note that during Daylight Saving Time (or Summer Time), your watch is most likely one hour "off" from the "real" time. If this is the case, substitute 1 o'clock for 12 o'clock before finding your North-South line. The halfway imaginary line will point to South If only a digital clock is available, draw an analog/dial clock (with the correct time) on paper or in the dirt.

If Located in the Southern Hemisphere: Align a twig (pointing up) at the edge of your watch so that it casts a shadow onto the face of the watch from the Sun. Rotate the watch until the twig's shadow (the Sun) is cast directly onto the 12-oclock mark. The halfway point between 12-oclock and the hour hand is your North-South line. Note that during Daylight Saving Time (or Summer Time), your watch is most likely one hour "off" from the "real" time. If this is the case, substitute 1 o'clock for 12 o'clock before finding your North-South line. The halfway imaginary line will point to North. If only a digital clock is available, draw an analog/dial clock (with the correct time) on paper or in the dirt.

[Reference Link]

Related Resources: Survival Navigation - Find Your Way Out Wilderness Shelter Fire Building for Cooking, Heat and Light Finding, Collecting and Purifying Water in the Wilderness Handling Injuries, Illness and First Aid in the Wild

[14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [5six7 Menu]

[just4mekerby]

[jokingluna]

[hervoiceinthedark]

The night wind freezes the dying forest. Two figures push through it, heavily bundled up, one leading while the other frantically rushes to keep up.

"M—Miss! wait, please!" the one following whines, dodging branches, each step carefully placed to avoid any potential hazards.

The one leading doesn't seem to hear, pushing directly forward through the woods. She doesn't flinch or grunt as branches snap off around Her. She doesn't falter when She steps in mud, or brambles.

Despite this difference in method, the follower is keeping up quite well.

"Miss," the follower whines again, "please, it—"

"What." The one leading snaps without turning around or slowing. "You've been whining nonstop for an hour. What in all my realms could possibly be so important?"

The one following winces and, also without slowing, responds:

"S—so sorry, Miss, but," it stammers, looking awkwardly to the side, "we've been going the wrong way for an hour."

Without a single second of transition, the leader stops still in Her tracks.

The follower takes a moment to fully catch up. It smooths its rumpled dress silently.

They stand unmoving for another long moment before She sighs, deeply and heavily.

"I suppose that is why I brought you, isn't it," She grumbles.

It nods nervously. "this one apologizes for not keeping us better on track, Miss."

She scoffs. "I don't need an apology from you. Just do your job and tell me where to go."

A direction is indicated. She confirms, and instantly sets off again at the same pace as before.

"Oh, dear," the other one whispers before following.

The wind, which had paused momentarily as though waiting, starts blowing again.

[pratchettquotes]

The road, Hwel felt, had to go somewhere.

This geographical fiction has been the death of many people. Roads don't necessarily have to go anywhere, they just have to have somewhere to start.

Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters

[rumeko]

your course is clear

[nostalgia-mind-prison1995]

╮(-ิ_•ิ)╭

[opendirectories]

[aneverydaything]

Day 2075, 27 February 2024

[thaliasandy]

New hair☺️ It's a mix of direction tangerine and ebony...Not sure if I like it

And outfit of the day, unfortunately that pic is super blurry