Well, I don't know anything about fortnights, but . . .

...but the other, the *measurement* system, is all about being based on simple naturally-occuring quantities, *inter-related* to each other.

Like, the definition of the meter (length) being based on the size of the Earth(*); the definition of the liter (volume) being based on the meter(+); the definition of the kilogram (weight) being based on the liter($), and so on and on.

The fact that the units *within* each realm then are sub-divided in whole powers of ten is incidental, chosen just because it's the most convenient when the numbering system we use -- but the main thing is, it makes for nice clean transitions *between* the realms.

As opposed to, say, "What's the mass-equivalent of the kinetic energy of one pint of lard, travelling at one million furlongs per fortnight", where you have a zillion weird and ARBITRARY unit-conversion factors to perform along the calculation.

Do you *finally* get the frigging difference, now?!?

Oh, well... Didn't think so. :-(

(*): Originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the poles.

(+): The size -- volume -- of a cube with sides one-tenth of a meter.

($): The weight -- uh, sorry, mass -- of one liter of water.

Post #76,316 by Andrew Grygus 1/23/03 9:59:05 AM Reply	Well, I don't know anything about fortnights, but . . . . . I get about 2 emailed a day and a bout two faxed a month. I liked it a lot better when they used snail mail 'caus I'd get a nice envelope with a Nigerian stamp on it, but that's way too expensive for the volume of business they're doing today. Recently, a 58 year old legal secretary at a high priced law office in the U.S. was found to have embezzled $12 million and sent it to Nigeria. Having worked so long in a law office she was probably no longer able to recognize either reality or ethics and probably just thought this time it was her turn. The lawyers didn't notice until a $35,000 check bounced. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #76,327 by pwhysall 1/23/03 10:32:44 AM Reply	Unit of time. 14 days. Sheesh. The American education system failed YOU, didn't it? :-) Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]
Post #76,333 by jb4 1/23/03 10:47:56 AM Reply	We don't do 'fortnights' here...it's simply 'two weeks' Sheesh! Manufactured time intervals...just what the world needs! jb4 "They lead. They don't manage. The carrot always wins over the stick. Ask your horse. You can lead your horse to water, but you can't manage him to drink." Richard Kerr, United Technologies Corporation, 1990
Post #76,336 by Another Scott 1/23/03 10:56:05 AM Reply	1/26th of a yahren. HTH. :-D
Post #76,343 by pwhysall 1/23/03 11:15:05 AM Reply	Manufactured.... ...just like a "week". YHL. HAND. Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]
Post #76,363 by jb4 1/23/03 1:05:48 PM Reply	Hey! A week is 1/52 of a year... ...rounded as a result of integer math, of course.... ;-\ufffd jb4 "They lead. They don't manage. The carrot always wins over the stick. Ask your horse. You can lead your horse to water, but you can't manage him to drink." Richard Kerr, United Technologies Corporation, 1990
Post #76,334 by boxley 1/23/03 10:54:32 AM Reply	yabbut whats fortnight in metric? 10 days will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
Post #76,421 by CRConrad 1/23/03 2:48:17 PM Reply	Do the words "metric" and "decimal" look IDENTICAL to you???
Post #76,425 by a6l6e6x 1/23/03 3:03:01 PM Reply	Re: "metric" and "decimal" [link\|http://zapatopi.net/metrictime.html\|French Revolutionary Metric Time] Amount Description 10 metric hours in a day 100 metric minutes in a metric hour 100 metric seconds in a metric minute 10 days in a metric week (called a dekade) We are simply stuck in Anglo-Babylonian Time. :) Alex "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."\t-- Mark Twain
Post #76,457 by boxley 1/23/03 5:06:17 PM Reply	both are base 10 will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
Post #76,465 by CRConrad 1/23/03 5:25:20 PM Reply	Nope - one, the numbering system, is... ...but the other, the measurement system, is all about being based on simple naturally-occuring quantities, inter-related to each other. Like, the definition of the meter (length) being based on the size of the Earth(); the definition of the liter (volume) being based on the meter(+); the definition of the kilogram (weight) being based on the liter($), and so on and on. The fact that the units within* each realm then are sub-divided in whole powers of ten is incidental, chosen just because it's the most convenient when the numbering system we use -- but the main thing is, it makes for nice clean transitions between the realms. As opposed to, say, "What's the mass-equivalent of the kinetic energy of one pint of lard, travelling at one million furlongs per fortnight", where you have a zillion weird and ARBITRARY unit-conversion factors to perform along the calculation. Do you finally get the frigging difference, now?!? Oh, well... Didn't think so. :-( (): Originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the poles. (+): The size -- volume -- of a cube with sides one-tenth of a meter. ($): The weight -- uh, sorry, mass -- of one liter of water. [link\|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode\|Christian R. Conrad]* (I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.) Your lies are of Microsoftian Scale and boring to boot. Your 'depression' may be the closest you ever come to recognizing truth: you have no 'inferiority complex', you are inferior - and something inside you recognizes this. - [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=71575\|Ashton Brown]
Post #76,468 by boxley 1/23/03 5:34:39 PM Reply	heh, naturally occuring quantities naturally a litre was defined as an ARBITRARY measurement of an INcorrectly based distance around the earth. So the premise was wrong and all you have left is a 10 based system of larger and smaller arbitrary measurements.So milli's become liters. Gils become quarts and the US gallon is smaller than the imperial but it doesnt matter. Metric measurement is a convenience not a law of nature. The ONLY reason it is convenient is because it is based 10 which is what most of the world can accurately add and subtract using their fingies. Bah, thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
Post #76,478 by CRConrad 1/23/03 6:23:30 PM Reply	Oh, for... See, I KNEW you wouldn't get it!!! (new thread) Created as new thread #76477 titled [link\|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=76477\|Oh, for... See, I KNEW you wouldn't get it!!!] [link\|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode\|Christian R. Conrad] (I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.) Your lies are of Microsoftian Scale and boring to boot. Your 'depression' may be the closest you ever come to recognizing truth: you have no 'inferiority complex', you are inferior - and something inside you recognizes this. - [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=71575\|Ashton Brown]
Post #76,540 by deSitter 1/23/03 10:03:38 PM Reply	You bitch! I'll see you when you get home! -drl
Post #76,824 by boxley 1/24/03 9:14:20 PM Reply	question, how far apart are the centers of wall studs in a metric society. In a frame building here we use either metal or wood evenly spaced uprights then cover and insulate them to build a wall. Do Finns use the same type of construction and if so what is the generally accepted spacing between them? Curious. thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
Post #77,189 by CRConrad 1/27/03 10:25:06 AM Reply	Dunno, sixty cm I think. Or eighty. Why? (And so what?)
Post #77,195 by boxley 1/27/03 10:31:47 AM Reply	Just curiousity Around here it is either 16inch or 24inch centers so in our measurement scheme it comes out somewhat even and being used to it, easy to calculate. Now an american based carpenter might have problems working in eaurope. thanx, Bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] "The Mafia was preferable to the state, because it survived by providing services people actually wanted" Murray Rothbard
Post #76,348 by deSitter 1/23/03 11:39:10 AM Reply	Thank God you're there to take up the slack -drl
Post #76,350 by Andrew Grygus 1/23/03 11:44:12 AM Reply	Yes, but, that unit is used here only by . . . . English spy novels and people pretending to be British. I got over that when I left college, so I deliberately do not know what a fortnight is. I was really good at it too. I had subscriptions to Punch and the Manchester Guardian and studdied them intently. I never did master localization though, so when English expatriots asked me, "I don't quite place your accent, what part of England did you come from?", I had to confess, "California". [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #76,351 by deSitter 1/23/03 11:52:32 AM Reply	..or Madonna -drl
Post #76,364 by jb4 1/23/03 1:06:58 PM Reply	ROFL! jb4 "They lead. They don't manage. The carrot always wins over the stick. Ask your horse. You can lead your horse to water, but you can't manage him to drink." Richard Kerr, United Technologies Corporation, 1990
Post #76,370 by a6l6e6x 1/23/03 1:23:52 PM Reply	Not in my education, In college we once used [link\|http://www.jardine-engineering.com/written/furlong1.html\|furlongs per fortnight]. We also use jiffies. A jiffy is 1/60 of a second being one cycle of the local electric power. So there! :) Alex "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."\t-- Mark Twain
Post #76,372 by deSitter 1/23/03 1:28:03 PM Reply	Jiffy This IIRC is also used to measure the time it takes light to cross a hydrogen atom (more precisely, 1 Bohr radius). Wonder if our nose-up-his-camera-tracked-ass Brit got that info in his superiour education? -drl
Post #76,374 by hnick 1/23/03 1:30:22 PM Reply	Thought that was a 'shake'
Post #76,377 by deSitter 1/23/03 1:38:08 PM 1/23/03 1:42:26 PM Reply	Conflicting defs A quick look also has a jiffy = 1 cm / speed of light and 1 Planck Length/speed of light. Never heard of a shake. According to this: [link\|http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html\|http://www.unc.edu/~.../units/dictS.html] ..a shake is 10 nanoseconds, about 10 feet. -drl Edited by deSitter Jan. 23, 2003, 01:42:26 PM EST Expand All History
Post #76,393 by pwhysall 1/23/03 2:04:43 PM Reply	No... but I can spell "superior". I must say, I don't measure an awful lot of hydrogen atoms these days. Must have slipped my mind. Peter [link\|http://www.debian.org\|Shill For Hire] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Blog]

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