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To all Americans: about measure units

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Steve Jacob said:
still no change. Since the US more or less invented the computer
industry, we still have drive bay sizes and platter dimensions in
inches...
Click to expand...
But JIS screws hold them together (Japanese Industy Standard, a redesigned Phillips).
  • Scott
 
spackard said:
Steve Jacob said:
still no change. Since the US more or less invented the computer
industry, we still have drive bay sizes and platter dimensions in
inches...
Click to expand...
But JIS screws hold them together (Japanese Industy Standard, a
redesigned Phillips).
  • Scott
Click to expand...
Boy , this thread is now over 100.
How long is a piece of string,in your views?
Merry Xmas,
Dave.
 
Jim Coffey said:
Perhaps, instead off learning English they should study a language
that has strict, logical, easy to fllow and understand rules of
grammer and conjugation?
Click to expand...
I wondered how long it would be before someone mentioned a logical language. Well, Jim it was you!

Of course Esperanto is the one, but this idea died the death in America. (Apparently it was mistaken for yet another Communist plot!)

Regards,
Baz
 
toughluck said:
Could everyone PLEASE state whether they are using Imperial, or
Metric units in their posts? Just a moment ago, I've read a post
that stated temperature in 'degrees' - 24 to be exact. Now,
Americans already get shivers, and Europeans feel that's a quite
nice temperature, sure beats winter, anyway.
AFAIK, Phil Askey is British, and this site is (somewhat) British
as well. I'm not about to dwell into American vs. British spelling,
as that would be perceived as more of a flame bait than the above
question. Returning to the subject: since this site is based in UK,
we should either use SI measure units, or at least clearly state
that you are using the Imperial unit. Be wary that there are 400
million people using Imperial MS (and then some, in Liberia), but
the remaining 6,600,000,000 (six billion six hundred million)
people use SI units. Scientists in USA also use SI in their work,
taking some off the 400 million figure.
So, use SI. If not, state that you are using Imperial units, for
example: 24 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not saying you should convert
units, switching over to SI, or providing both figures.

So, to Americans: what is clear to you, may be unclear to the rest
of forum members here. Even your fellow Americans may wonder what
MS you have on your mind. Take that into consideration, please.
Click to expand...
--
gsjaa

 
Barrie Davis said:
Jim Coffey said:
Perhaps, instead off learning English they should study a language
that has strict, logical, easy to fllow and understand rules of
grammer and conjugation?
Click to expand...
I wondered how long it would be before someone mentioned a logical
language. Well, Jim it was you!
Click to expand...
Yes, I was think of Esperanto, in fact.
Barrie Davis said:
Of course Esperanto is the one, but this idea died the death in
America. (Apparently it was mistaken for yet another Communist
plot!)
Click to expand...
It apparently died the death everywhere, considering it isn't the offical language of any country, as far as I can tell.
 
Jim Coffey said:
Barrie Davis said:
Of course Esperanto is the one, but this idea died the death in
America. (Apparently it was mistaken for yet another Communist
plot!)
Click to expand...
It apparently died the death everywhere, considering it isn't the
offical language of any country, as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
--

Esperanto was never designed to be a national language at all. Anything but, in fact.

As I recall, it was all about providing a second language for purposes of accurate communication; the same idea of accurate communication that prompted the original poster of this thread.

The Esperanto language did used to be one of the available translations at the United Nations, but I'm really not sure that it still is.... ??

(Hmmmm... come to think of it, the UN is another 'good idea' that has taken a bit of a beating in America, just lately!)

Anyone see a pattern?

Regards,
Baz
 
It can be explained with angles.
12*60*60=120*360. 360 degrees being full circle, 120 being 120 full circles.

Or: One second is 6 degrees, Once 360 degrees are achieved, a minute passes (another 6 degrees). Once there are 60 minutes, one hour, which is 30 degrees (sin(30deg)=1/2) passes.

More, one hour is 30 degrees, one minute is 1/60 of an hour (30 angular minutes), one second is 1/60 of a minute (1/3600 angular degree, 1/2 angular minute, 30 angular seconds).

All very simple, and applies the 'rule of thirds,' all photographers should be acquainted with.
DavidP said:
toughluck said:
You mean seconds?
Click to expand...
--
http://www.outboundmusic.com
Your link to independent music!
Click to expand...
 
DMillier said:
For example, in the UK we now buy petrol in litres; we used to buy
it in gallons. But if you compare a US gallon to an old UK gallon
it seems to come up short. UK gallon is 8 pints whilst the US
gallon is something else (6 pints??).
Click to expand...
Is a gallon in the UK 5 quarts, like it is in Canada?

In the US, I believe it's 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 points = 16 cups = 256 tablespoons = 768 teaspoons.

I never found a need to worry about converting from cubic feet to gallons, because most people would not use them to measure the same thing, even if they both are units of volume (cubic feet for rooms and gallons for liquids, for example).

Although I have to admit, I'd like to see the US switch to SI...

Jesse
 
Huh... While we're at being unit ****'s it appears that you've missed the boat on another issue, namely, billion. Some places a billion is 10^9, where as other places it is 10^12. I think in kooky places like that 10^9 is called a millard or some such non-sense.

(similar issue with trillion, 10^12 some places and 10^18 others)

Anyway, to eliminate ambiguity you should have said "Six-thousand six-hundred million".

And, if we're on an SI kick the correct measure would be 6.6 giga-people.

Cheers...
toughluck said:
Could everyone PLEASE state whether they are using Imperial, or
Metric units in their posts? Just a moment ago, I've read a post
that stated temperature in 'degrees' - 24 to be exact. Now,
Americans already get shivers, and Europeans feel that's a quite
nice temperature, sure beats winter, anyway.
AFAIK, Phil Askey is British, and this site is (somewhat) British
as well. I'm not about to dwell into American vs. British spelling,
as that would be perceived as more of a flame bait than the above
question. Returning to the subject: since this site is based in UK,
we should either use SI measure units, or at least clearly state
that you are using the Imperial unit. Be wary that there are 400
million people using Imperial MS (and then some, in Liberia), but
the remaining 6,600,000,000 (six billion six hundred million)
people use SI units. Scientists in USA also use SI in their work,
taking some off the 400 million figure.
So, use SI. If not, state that you are using Imperial units, for
example: 24 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not saying you should convert
units, switching over to SI, or providing both figures.

So, to Americans: what is clear to you, may be unclear to the rest
of forum members here. Even your fellow Americans may wonder what
MS you have on your mind. Take that into consideration, please.
Click to expand...
--
---------------------------
Ken W
Sony DSC-S85
& lots of 35mm and 4x5 in the closet
 
In the UK:

1 UK pint = 20 fluid ounces = 0.65 litres

1 uk quart = 2 pints = 1.14 litres

8 UK pints = 4 uk quarts = 1 UK gallon = 4.56 litres.

According to my pocket dictionary a US gallon = 3.78 litres so the US gallon is about 83% of a UK gallon (worth remembering when comparing petrol/gas prices).

Looks like metric is really the way to go from the point of view of logic, consistency, ease of calculation...just about everything really other than familiarity and tradition!
mrhooks said:
DMillier said:
For example, in the UK we now buy petrol in litres; we used to buy
it in gallons. But if you compare a US gallon to an old UK gallon
it seems to come up short. UK gallon is 8 pints whilst the US
gallon is something else (6 pints??).
Click to expand...
Is a gallon in the UK 5 quarts, like it is in Canada?

In the US, I believe it's 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 points = 16 cups
= 256 tablespoons = 768 teaspoons.

I never found a need to worry about converting from cubic feet to
gallons, because most people would not use them to measure the same
thing, even if they both are units of volume (cubic feet for rooms
and gallons for liquids, for example).

Although I have to admit, I'd like to see the US switch to SI...

Jesse
Click to expand...
 
In money terms, isn't a US billion a hundred million (10^8)?
kenw said:
(similar issue with trillion, 10^12 some places and 10^18 others)

Anyway, to eliminate ambiguity you should have said "Six-thousand
six-hundred million".

And, if we're on an SI kick the correct measure would be 6.6
giga-people.

Cheers...
toughluck said:
Could everyone PLEASE state whether they are using Imperial, or
Metric units in their posts? Just a moment ago, I've read a post
that stated temperature in 'degrees' - 24 to be exact. Now,
Americans already get shivers, and Europeans feel that's a quite
nice temperature, sure beats winter, anyway.
AFAIK, Phil Askey is British, and this site is (somewhat) British
as well. I'm not about to dwell into American vs. British spelling,
as that would be perceived as more of a flame bait than the above
question. Returning to the subject: since this site is based in UK,
we should either use SI measure units, or at least clearly state
that you are using the Imperial unit. Be wary that there are 400
million people using Imperial MS (and then some, in Liberia), but
the remaining 6,600,000,000 (six billion six hundred million)
people use SI units. Scientists in USA also use SI in their work,
taking some off the 400 million figure.
So, use SI. If not, state that you are using Imperial units, for
example: 24 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not saying you should convert
units, switching over to SI, or providing both figures.

So, to Americans: what is clear to you, may be unclear to the rest
of forum members here. Even your fellow Americans may wonder what
MS you have on your mind. Take that into consideration, please.
Click to expand...
--
---------------------------
Ken W
Sony DSC-S85
& lots of 35mm and 4x5 in the closet
Click to expand...
 
Metric = "factor of 10"

For angular measurements, I'd think that radians would actually be the metric way of doing it, not degrees and seconds. But it hardly matters, as angular seconds aren't the same as time seconds.
toughluck said:
It can be explained with angles.
12*60*60=120*360. 360 degrees being full circle, 120 being 120 full
circles.
Or: One second is 6 degrees, Once 360 degrees are achieved, a
minute passes (another 6 degrees). Once there are 60 minutes, one
hour, which is 30 degrees (sin(30deg)=1/2) passes.
More, one hour is 30 degrees, one minute is 1/60 of an hour (30
angular minutes), one second is 1/60 of a minute (1/3600 angular
degree, 1/2 angular minute, 30 angular seconds).
All very simple, and applies the 'rule of thirds,' all
photographers should be acquainted with.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.outboundmusic.com
Your link to independent music!
 
In the US petroleum industry, it's standard to use M$ to mean thousands of dollars, and MM$ to be millions of dollars.

A few companies (esp. Exxon and BP) prefer to use K$ for thousands of dollars and M$ for millions of dollars.

Same thing for gas rates.

kcfpd vs. mcfpd

mcpfd vs. mmcfpd

(cfpd = cubic feet per day)

As long as you can remember which few companies are the oddballs, it's no big deal. LOL.

--
http://www.outboundmusic.com
Your link to independent music!
 
Try figuring out what year you were born in according to the Japanese calander. The Japanese calander resets with every change of the Emporer. On many if not most official documents the year is listed as the Japanese date. Then to keep track who came before who is a real pain in the butt. Showa, Meiji, Heiwa, etc.

BTW, Doesn't the whole world measure TV/Computer displays in inches? They certainly do in Japan.
toughluck said:
Could everyone PLEASE state whether they are using Imperial, or
Metric units in their posts? Just a moment ago, I've read a post
that stated temperature in 'degrees' - 24 to be exact. Now,
Americans already get shivers, and Europeans feel that's a quite
nice temperature, sure beats winter, anyway.
AFAIK, Phil Askey is British, and this site is (somewhat) British
as well. I'm not about to dwell into American vs. British spelling,
as that would be perceived as more of a flame bait than the above
question. Returning to the subject: since this site is based in UK,
we should either use SI measure units, or at least clearly state
that you are using the Imperial unit. Be wary that there are 400
million people using Imperial MS (and then some, in Liberia), but
the remaining 6,600,000,000 (six billion six hundred million)
people use SI units. Scientists in USA also use SI in their work,
taking some off the 400 million figure.
So, use SI. If not, state that you are using Imperial units, for
example: 24 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not saying you should convert
units, switching over to SI, or providing both figures.

So, to Americans: what is clear to you, may be unclear to the rest
of forum members here. Even your fellow Americans may wonder what
MS you have on your mind. Take that into consideration, please.
Click to expand...
--
Brian
  • C-7OO, and some other stuff
 
Brian said:
Try figuring out what year you were born in according to the
Japanese calander. The Japanese calander resets with every change
of the Emporer. On many if not most official documents the year is
listed as the Japanese date. Then to keep track who came before
who is a real pain in the butt. Showa, Meiji, Heiwa, etc.
Click to expand...
"Counters" are fun, too. Different words for "three" depending on if it's three stones, three pieces of fruit, three fish, or three yards of cloth. And then you have to translate the "counters" to modern devices, are computer chips "stones" or "fruit"?
Brian said:
BTW, Doesn't the whole world measure TV/Computer displays in
inches? They certainly do in Japan.
Click to expand...
Yes, but they use several different types of "inches". There are flat inches, curved inches, inches across the diagonal of the visible portion of the CRT, or inches across the portion that is hidden beneath the display bezel.

My 21 inch Trinitron only actually lets me look at 19.5 of those 21 inches.

--
Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
Barrie Davis said:
Of course Esperanto is the one, but this idea died the death in
America. (Apparently it was mistaken for yet another Communist
plot!)
Click to expand...
Never seen what's so special about Esperanto. It's just simplified Spanish.

Might as well use Hungarian or Finnish, at least there's a few million already speaking those (similarly simplified and revised) languages.
 
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