Dear All,

I have been looking at new U.K. educational
website which has a whole category devoted
to sundials.  Early on, there is section
"Finding True North".  See:

  http://wiki.dtonline.org/index.php/Finding_True_North

This is what it asserts:

  The Sun can be used to find True North
  quite simply by placing a vertical stake
  in the ground and noting which direction
  the longest shadow points to.

You may now take a two-minute break while
you recover from rolling on the floor in
a state of helpless laughter.

When you have recovered, ponder this puzzle:

  Where on the planet would you have to
  be, and at what time of year, for these
  instructions to give the correct result?

Moral:

  It is better to learn from other people's
  mistakes than from your own.

Frank King
Cambridge, U.K.

P.S. The home page of the website is:

  http://wiki.dtonline.org/index.php/Category:Sundials

It won't take long before you notice other
erroneous assertions :-)

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