Ken, You are wasting your time with Stephen. You will never get a straight answer with him. I was recently directed in a private email to a web site that Stephen posts to quite frequently using the name Stimpy. This is the website:
http://metric-versus-imperial.com/ If you take a few minutes and read the posts by Stephen you will see that man is in total denial about the use of metric in the UK. All he has to cling to is road signs and pints. The person he is up against by the name of Glenn is very knowledgeable on the situation and constantly provides proof to Stephens claims to which Stephen is unable and unwilling to provide any proof himself. A third poster there named Ametrica usually agrees with Glenn but is more often then not there to antagonize Stephen. If I ever want to know what is the reality of metric usage in the UK I would trust Glenn's comments completely. So don't be surprised if Stephen returns with a response bordering on doublespeak. Jerry ________________________________ From: Ken Cooper <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:07:45 PM Subject: [USMA:43206] RE: Worthing Herald letter Stephen said A 1/2 litre pint would look very obviously wrong On what basis do you say this, Stephen? Have you ever measured this, or are you just speculating? If you take a stamped pint brim measure with a 10cm diameter at the brim and fill it with with beer & a 9mm head, how much liquid is in the glass? It's easy to work out. Pi times the square of the radius gives the area of the top of the glass, then multiply by 0.9 to get the volume in square centimetres (millilitres) So, 5 x 5 x 3.1416 x 0.9 = 70.7ml Are you suggesting that you've never seen a 9mm head on a pint of beer? In the example I've given, there's less than a half-litre of beer in the glass. The same would apply to a stamped pint brim measure with an 8cm diameter at the brim filled with beer & a 1.4cm head. Are you suggesting that you've never seen a 14mm head on a pint?In addition, who's to say that the glasses in use are actually pint measures? Have a look at the attached picture (taken at a Polish restaurant in Doncaster) Without referring to the markings on the glass, how could you tell it was not a pint glass? It looks like one to me. A customer has the right to go back and have a 'top up' to reduce the head. That's not strictly true. There is no legal right to a top-up. There's a code of practice that says that it's good practice to give a top-up if asked, but there's no compulsion for any pub to follow the code of practice. Anyway, why should a customer have to specifically ask the barman to serve correct measure? In the throws of a night's session in the pub most if not all would avoid contemplating court decisions. Yeah. They would be likely to complain to their local Weights & Measures Inspector instead. I'm not aware of any customers ever taking a private prosecution under the Weights & Measures Act. Do you have knowledge regarding this area yourself? Do you have any background info regarding Trading Standards in the UK? http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/ It would be useful if you know this since it would clarify what constitutes a reasonable pint in the UK (after all, a lot of real ale officianados accept that a dense head should be part of a pint - just not too much of it). That would really depend on individual Trading Standards Departments policies. As you will no doubt be aware, a head that would be considered acceptable in one part of the UK would not be acceptable elsewhere.. My own viewpoint would be that a 95% pint is acceptable. I believe that the pub would be warned if they delivered between 90-95%, and prosecuted for short measure below 90%. That's reasonable, yes? --- On Sat, 2/21/09, Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> wrote: From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:43108] RE: Worthing Herald letter To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 1:35 AM LKen, A 1/2 litre pint would look very obviously wrong. Especially if it's something like cider.. A customer has the right to go back and have a 'top up' to reduce the head. In the throws of a night's session in the pub most if not all would avoid contemplating court decisions. That would be far too pedantic. Do you have knowledge regarding this area yourself? Do you have any background info regarding Trading Standards in the UK? It would be useful if you know this since it would clarify what constitutes a reasonable pint in the UK (after all, a lot of real ale officianados accept that a dense head should be part of a pint - just not too much of it). ________________________________ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:45:31 -0800 From: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:43105] RE: Worthing Herald letter To: [email protected] Stephen Can you please tell the group at exactly which point a "pint" becomes short measure in the UK? You appear to suggest that a 500ml "pint" would be illegal. If so, can you tell everyone how a UK court would deal with an attempted prosecution for a "pint" that actually measured:- 1) 510ml 2) 520ml 3) 530ml 4) 540ml 5) 550ml 6) 560ml In addition, if possible, can you explain the rationale behind a "legal" & an "illegal" short measure pint with reference to decisions of relevant UK courts. Thanks in advance. Kenny --- On Fri, 2/20/09, Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> wrote: From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:43103] RE: Worthing Herald letter To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 2:46 PM The article tends to back up the myth that such a 'pint' in the UK would actually be legal. Fortunately I've yet to see such a short measure ;-) ________________________________ From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:43094] Worthing Herald letter Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:52:54 +1100 Dear All, You might be interested in this: http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/worthing-letters/The-amusing-gyrations-of-the.4671586.jp Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected] or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe. ________________________________ Share your photos with Windows Live Photos – Free Find out more! ________________________________ Beyond Hotmail — see what else you can do with Windows Live Find out more!
