The Shortest Distance

The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Seldom Paved.

A good number of years ago now I came up with the statement:

The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Seldom Paved.

Today on Slashdot I saw something similar along the lines of "The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Under Construction."

Unfortunately I close the page before deciding to write this and I don't recall who gets attribution. Perhaps a search on Alta Vista will find it for you... <grin>

In any case it made me recall my long ago invented cousin and got me to thinking...

Pick two points on earth in the following ways and say what are the chances that the shortest distance between them is paved.

1. Pick any two random points on earth.
2. Pick any two random points on earth such that both are on land.
3. Pick any two random points on the same random land mass on earth.
4. Pick any two random points on the same random land mass such that the points are 100 miles from each other.
5. Pick any two random points on the same random land mass such that the points are 100 yards from each other.
6. Pick any two random points on the same random land mass such that the points are 30 feet from each other.
7. Pick any two random points on the same random land mass such that the points are 3 feet from each other.

Can you think of how you would approach writing a program to do this for you? What assets would make the job easier? What language do you think might make the job simpler?

Any other questions you think might be interesting in this game?