Link: http://totusterra.com/VESamples/InputtingACircle.htm

One notable gap in Virtual Earth's set of tools is the ability to draw circles. Points, lines, polygons -- they have those covered, but circles remain on the 'to do' list. That might seem odd - given that VE uses SVG to render the shapes, and SVG supports circles - but remember that we're not dealing with a flat surface here, and circles can end up being distinctly ellipsish after projection. So just exposing 'circle' as an SVG shape type wouldn't really solve the problem.

A reasonable work-around is to treat circles like a polygon, with points along the circumference calculated individually. This way any weirdness in shape is automatically calculated and accounted for. Today, then, I'm going to step through the logic behind it and build a fun little demo that not just draws a circle, but lets you use a 'click and drag' to interactively create one on the map. With SQL Server 2008 offering spatial queries, I can see this becoming a popular way of interacting with data.

So, let's get started.

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I love math. I really do. I'm honestly not as good at it as I would wish that I was -- I did some honors math classes at university and loved them, but they were always a struggle. I hung out with real mathematicians, and let me tell you -- there's something wrong with those guys. And whatever it is, it isn't what's wrong with me.

But, alas, I still have the fever, that's why announcements like this make my little heart sing. "DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of DARPA Mathematical Challenges, with the goal of dramatically revolutionizing mathematics and thereby strengthening DoD’s scientific and technological capabilities. To do so, the agency has identified twenty-three mathematical challenges, listed below, which were announced at DARPA Tech 2007."

I can't help it. Things like this just make me all tingly...which I suppose has to be the final nail in any coffin that hinted I might not be a total geek. Ah well.

The challenges include:

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