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IWETHEY Home / IWETHEY Board / Open Forum / You think counting in furlongs per fortnight is a good idea.
Post #289,193
by CRConrad
7/17/07 6:20:12 AM
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New You think counting in furlongs per fortnight is a good idea.
Post #289,206
by boxley
7/17/07 8:35:17 AM
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New maybe so but at least it aint french
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep

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Post #289,226
by folkert
Picture of folkert
7/17/07 10:22:48 AM
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New So... where is the Metric equivalent of...
Time?

Come on, 60 Second, 60 Minutes, 24 hours, 7 days in a week, 28-31 days of length in a Month, 12 months a year? Then we get to Decades and Centuries and so on...

WTF?
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Post #289,229
by Andrew Grygus
Picture of Andrew Grygus
7/17/07 10:35:43 AM
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New Well, the decades and centuries are based on 10 . . .
. . but they long predate the metric system.

The biggest problem with 10 compared to 12 is 10 can only be divided evenly into halves fifths and tenths. Tenths are just too small for most off-hand human calculation and fifths aren't too convenient either - unless you're talking about bottles. 12 provides even halves, quarters and thirds.

When you get beyond human scale, either larger or smaller, 10 works well enough, thus the decimal inch we used in the aerospace industry. 1/1000 inch is a lot more convenient than the equivalent 1/20 mm too - metric sizes are all awkward.

Of course all this is beyond the comprehension of someone who's known only metric.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
Post #289,301
by static
7/17/07 8:42:12 PM
Reply
New There's more inertia than most people realize.
Changing a time or date system is Hard. People use that far more than they use linear measurements. Over the ages, several governments have tried to meddle with calendars. In the end, the only changes that worked are the ones that were heading towards our current Gregorian system.

Measurement of Time would have a bigger problem! There was an electronics kit many years ago from one of the hobby stores in Australia which displayed Decimal Time. It was clear that this was nothing more than a noveltty, though in typical electrical engineering fashion, was a fully working novelty. I believe it gave a day 10 hours, an hour 100 minutes and a minute 100 seconds. Such seconds were 0.864 of a traditional second.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
 
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please



-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

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Post #289,302
by Andrew Grygus
Picture of Andrew Grygus
7/17/07 9:06:08 PM
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New The metrification nuts were once powerful here . . .
When I was in college back in the early '60s we were taught to use metric for everything and that soon the whole country would. Out of college I found it a very hard sell - and eventually realized why.

Basically we've added some things like soda bottles that are metric, and most things stay as they always were. We can measure in millimeters if we want to or inches if we want to - usually we want inches. In weights, if it's smaller than 1/4 ounce we tend to shift to grams (our electronic scales switch back and forth at the touch of a button).

Highway signs no longer bother with metric and recent cookbooks have pretty much given up on metric. I get the sense that even in metric countries people are settling on cups and spoons.

But what's this business with Australia having a 4 teaspoon Tablespoon when it's three t to a T everywhere else in the world, including New Zealand? Somebody must've been kicked in the head by a kangaroo.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
Post #289,303
by static
7/17/07 9:18:16 PM
Reply
New That, I don't know.
But I'm certainly aware of it. I couldn't even begin to speculate why it's odd.

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
 
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please



-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

· my ·
· [link|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/|blog] ·
· [link|http://yceran.org/|website] ·
Post #289,311
by CRConrad
7/18/07 1:44:13 AM
Reply
New Because Australian spoons are, of course, made to fit...
...Australian mouths!

:-)


   [link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Ah, the Germans: Masters of Convoluted Simplification. — [link|http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=1603|Jehovah]
     From the "What the? Department" - (folkert) - (15) - July 16, 2007, 02:42:55 PM EDT
         (I think it's the BBC tax...) -NT - (Another Scott) - July 16, 2007, 02:43:20 PM EDT
         It's called the TV license - (warmachine) - July 16, 2007, 03:10:39 PM EDT
         What Matthew said. - (static) - (2) - July 16, 2007, 09:03:55 PM EDT
             we have 2, one is called PBS, public broadcasting system - (boxley) - (1) - July 16, 2007, 09:43:39 PM EDT
                 That's not really the same. - (static) - July 16, 2007, 09:51:27 PM EDT
         Most "What the...?" here, IMO, is that you didn't know this. - (CRConrad) - (9) - July 17, 2007, 02:21:48 AM EDT
             Fa! I've known about that for near unto 40 years . . . - (Andrew Grygus) - (8) - July 17, 2007, 03:42:55 AM EDT
                 You think counting in furlongs per fortnight is a good idea. -NT - (CRConrad) - (7) - July 17, 2007, 06:20:12 AM EDT
                     maybe so but at least it aint french -NT - (boxley) - July 17, 2007, 08:35:17 AM EDT
                     So... where is the Metric equivalent of... - (folkert) - (5) - July 17, 2007, 10:22:48 AM EDT
                         Well, the decades and centuries are based on 10 . . . - (Andrew Grygus) - July 17, 2007, 10:35:43 AM EDT
                         There's more inertia than most people realize. - (static) - (3) - July 17, 2007, 08:42:12 PM EDT
                             The metrification nuts were once powerful here . . . - (Andrew Grygus) - (2) - July 17, 2007, 09:06:08 PM EDT
                                 That, I don't know. - (static) - July 17, 2007, 09:18:16 PM EDT
                                 Because Australian spoons are, of course, made to fit... - (CRConrad) - July 18, 2007, 01:44:13 AM EDT

The universe is 98 percent hydrogen and helium... and I'm rather fond of the other 2 percent.
110 ms