"kilopascal" wrote on 2002-07-23 04:14 UTC: > Weather Reporting: Since the info is already available from the sources in > SI, and converted somewhere down the line, all that need be done is the > converting to FFU stopped. This should be a cost savings as there must be a > cost to convert to FFU, so not doing it is a cost savings.
Last time I contacted NOAA about this, they replied that their internal software is capable of producing products in both FFU and SI units, it is merely a configuration option. However, they also noted that practically none of their media customers asks for the SI data. So the only way forward I see here is a federal directive that instructs federal agencies like the NOAA to stop providing FFU products. This would put the burden of conversion on the media editors, and at least some might start not to bother any more and just pass on the Celsius temperatures an millimeters of precipitation as reported. So the way forward with weather reports is a stronger version of Executive Order 12770 should be signed by the president, one that provides a new deadline, explicitely requires exclusive use of metric units in communication of federal agencies with the public and industry partners, and one that is legally enforceable. A suitable start might be if the NIST metric program office with the help of USMA could write a report "Federal Metrication: 10 years later" that shows in detail how Executive Order 12770 has not yet been implemented in practice ten years after the 1992 deadline and that the matter needs again executive attention and clarification. > Gasoline pumps & grocery scales: Most of these are digital by now and all > capable of being converted. No need to buy new equipment. These devices > can be switched over simply by either a hardware switch internal to the > device or a software code. The only reason why gas stations and grocery stores would ever change would be a change in federal law. Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution gives Congress the power to "fix the standard of weights and measures" for the nation, but they have never used this right fully. Declaring a system of units the preferred choice is more of a joke and smokescreen rather than anything resembling an effective policy. The metric system has to be declared the only acceptable system of measurement by Congress, and little will change before that has happened. So how can this process be initiated and supported? Markus -- Markus G. Kuhn, Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK Email: mkuhn at acm.org, WWW: <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/>
