[USMA:36415] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian
At 27 03 06, 07:48 PM, Pat Naughtin wrote: I also know that this is a difficult issue for any system, such as the metric system, which has as its basis the use of prefixes and units that are joined to form multiples and sub-multiples. By their nature such systems are at least duo but mostly multi-syllabic. In the metric system examples of the shortest are the words associated with the gram, such as microgram, milligram, and kilogram so even the simplest prefixed unit names have at least 3 syllables in the metric system. However, I can't let your statements, below, pass without offering at least some defence of the metric system. The metric system does not need defense, it merely needs its promoters to recognize that there are areas where it could be improved and made more usable. My examples of short/long names for measures were not intended to say that US customary measures are better in general -- they clearly are not. My point was that metric measures WILL be shortened for convenience (and other list members posted more examples). And if the BIPM/CGPM does not accommodate and formally accept this, they will simply be ignored where expedient. Another way of saying this is that Table 3 of BIPM's SI document (Derived Units with Special Names) should be expanded with reasonable expediency, to help control the proliferation of such names. The proliferation cannot be stopped by ignoring it; by embracing it there will be at least an international body trying to manage it. Let me count syllables in some length measures. I count, at the very least, 19 syllables in: quarter of an inch, half an inch, (a lot of other fractions go here), inch, link, foot, yard, rod, pole, perch, chain, furlong, mile. You are presuming no one will say half a kilometer or a quarter of a meter. And that is the same mistake as thinking people will not say klik rather than kilometer. Halves, quarters, eights are very convenient in every day use, and the SI standard discouraging their use is fruitless. 99.999% of the population of the world will never read the SI standards, and will merrily go on using quarter meter and half liter. And, one eight meter has 4 syllables, while two hundred fifty millimeters has 9 syllables. Jim Jim Elwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] 801-466-8770 www.qsicorp.com
[USMA:36416] RE: FMI Show 2006
Let's hope they pass a lobbyist influence bill soon. It is not really fair that one influential group gets to hold back progress for the rest of us.On 2006 Mar 18, at 12:16, Carleton MacDonald wrote:And, as the highway bill a few years ago proved, all it takes is one member of Congress to slip one little paragraph or one little word change into a bill, buried deep, to bring metrication to a screeching halt. cm From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Mike MilletSent: Friday, March 17, 2006 13:55To: U.S. Metric AssociationSubject: [USMA:36280] RE: FMI Show 2006 They may be way off base but they hold so much power in Washington it makes me wonder if we'll ever get this law passed :).Mike --Scott HudnallSan Francisco, CA USA[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[USMA:36417] metric system is no joke in Indiana
Dear Mr. Dickson, I read with interest the story on your radio station's pulling an Orson Welles-style announcement concerning the metric system in Indiana for April Fool's Day (http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/News01/60331008). True, the current orientation of the American public is to laugh at any possible changeover to the metric system of measurement, but I assure you that it is no joke. In 1988, federal law established the metric system as the preferred system of measurement for trade and commerce in the U.S. Also, your state is one of 46 states that now allow certain state-regulated products to be labeled in metric units only. And even our late president, Ronald Reagan, was thinking metric with some tongue-in-cheek accuracy when he said, I'm 75 years old, but that's only 24 Celsius. One day, Indiana will wake up to find itself a metric state, but only after the completion of a coordinated, national changeover period that will involve the other 49 states, too. Thank you for a clever radio event. Sincerely, Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Editor, Metric Today U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] There are two cardinal sins, from which all the others spring: impatience and laziness. ---Franz Kafka
[USMA:36418] Re: Units used in popular science books: buy Canadian
On 2006 Mar 31 , at 5:03 PM, Jim Elwell wrote:Another way of saying this is that Table 3 of BIPM's SI document (Derived Units with Special Names) should be expanded with reasonable expediency, to help control the proliferation of such names.Jim's point is well taken, but most of the rest of this discussion has had to do with the possibility that shorter names may be reasonable for multisyllabic unit names like millimetre (4 syllables), kilopascal (4 syllable), kilogram (3 syllable), megawatt (3 syllables), etc. This is not the same thing as developing shorter names for units that are combinations of other units, which is what Table 3 refers to in the document Jim cites.BOTH of these ideas are open to valid discussion, but they are not the same. One proposes to allows kilometres per hour to be called klicks; the other allows kilogram-metres per second squared to be called newtons. The one is arguing that we need shorter terms for any SI unit that has too many syllables (e.g. 3 or 4 or more) so that we would have to create special names for kilometres, cubic centimetres, kilopascals, etc. The other is arguing that we need special, shorter names for things like the kilogram-metre-squared per second-squared (there is one: it is the unit of energy, the joule) and the kilogram-metre per second (there is not one; this is a unit of momentum), etc.One can be for one of these ideas while being against the other. In any case, let us not confuse the discussion by mixing them together. Regards,Bill HooperFernandina Beach, Florida, USA== SImplification Begins With SI.==
[USMA:36419] All metric wine commercial
Has anyone seen the Cavit Wine commercial on television? It's ALL METRIC (no conversions, no dual-units). I've seen it on both the National Geographic Channel, and The Science Channel. The commercial can be viewed at http://www.cavitcollection.com/ . The television version has a narrator with an American accent, but no attempts are made to translate anything :) --Scott HudnallSan Francisco, CA USA[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[USMA:36420] More metric cheerleading with SSID
I found a clever way to increase metric visibility among wireless Internet users. I have the broadcast SSID on my wireless network set to display "GO METRIC!" as the network name. Since there are 2 cafes on the block, laptop users will see the GO METRIC! SSID whenever they search for a network connection. (This works well in crowded urban neighborhoods like mine where I can detect 7 wireless networks from my living room - probably not so well in suburbia). Anyone else with a wireless router in an urban area care to follow the lead? --Scott HudnallSan Francisco, CA USA[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[USMA:36421] Re: More metric cheerleading with SSID
As the Guiness brothers would say : BRILLIANT! :-) On Apr 1, 2006, at 00:54, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I found a clever way to increase metric visibility among wireless Internet users. I have the broadcast SSID on my wireless network set to display GO METRIC! as the network name. Since there are 2 cafes on the block, laptop users will see the GO METRIC! SSID whenever they search for a network connection. (This works well in crowded urban neighborhoods like mine where I can detect 7 wireless networks from my living room - probably not so well in suburbia). Anyone else with a wireless router in an urban area care to follow the lead? -- Scott Hudnall San Francisco, CA USA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
