This link to AP is working again, I just posted my suggestion to include metric units in all articles.
Mike Payne ----- Original Message ----- From: Pat Naughtin To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Friday, 11 June 2010 05:50 Subject: [USMA:47691] Re: Bravo RE: Re: Oil Spill Technical Team Using SI Dear Carleton and All, Maybe it's time to visit the AP suggestions page at http://www.apstylebook.com/?do=social_media_responses to add your thoughts. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY 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. On 2010/06/11, at 13:57 , Carleton MacDonald wrote: Someone in my company’s Corporate Communications Department wrote an internal document about high speed services and use “kph”. When I pointed out to him that this was wrong, he said, “It’s OK in the AP Stylebook.” The AP is absolutely clueless. Carleton From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John M. Steele Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 21:57 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:47676] Re: Bravo RE: Re: Oil Spill Technical Team Using SI I'm not defending it, but AP written policy is to convert everything, unless literally, the metric IS the story. In my opinion, they convert EVEN when the metric is part of the story, for example an Olympic record, or another country's law. If the story includes a measurement, and you want "real" news, you should look for an AFP story. They use metric primary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, June 10, 2010 9:48:39 PM Subject: [USMA:47671] Re: Bravo RE: Re: Oil Spill Technical Team Using SI Dear Brij, The issue is that they did any conversion at all and not whether it was a hard or a soft conversion. If they measure 1000 metres why did they not report it as 1000 metres? As I have said before on this list, I have never observed a smooth, neat, effective, and perhaps more importantly, fast metrication process that used 'metric conversion' as one of its components. From my observations 'metric conversion' only has the effect of slowing down the whole metrication process. I have put this thought into rhyme as follows: Oh, how our minds we do pervert, When first we practice to convert. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, seehttp://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY 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/ to subscribe. On 2010/06/11, at 01:27 , Brij Bhushan Vij wrote: Gene, Pat, sirs: >.....probably reported at 1 000 meters. i.e. 3 300 x 0.3048 = 1 005.84 meters. Note the >discrepancy of 5.84 meters between the value reported ... by the Associated Press. >Shame on the AP distortion! I must congratulate 'AP' reporting staff that did the right job of using 'soft conversion' as the man on street would want; rather than 'hard accurate to mm conversion", as that learning teaching experience. This shall go well with 'lady in the four walls' and tiny learners/and school teachers making her little student understand the 'metric system'. Simolarly, 10 feet is around 3 metre and 11 yards is around 10 metre. To popularise the use and understanding of the Metric System, I have often stressed the distance between wickets on the 'Cricket Pitch' be STANDARDISED to 20 metre - which is 20.1168 yards, thereby ignoring 0.1168 yard. Distance between towns need not be measured in mm! Regards, Brij Bhushan Vij (MJD 55357)/1726+D-172W24-04 (G. Thursday, 2010 June 10H11:44 (decimal) EST Aa Nau Bhadra Kritvo Yantu Vishwatah -Rg Veda The Astronomical Poem (revised number of days in any month) "30 days has July,September, April, June, November and December all the rest have 31 except February which has 29 except on years divisible evenly by 4; except when YEAR divisible by 128 and 3200 - as long as you remember that "October (meaning 8) is the 10th month; and December (meaning 10) is the 12th BUT has 30 days & ONE OUTSIDE of calendar-format" Jan:31; Feb:29; Mar:31; Apr:30; May:31; Jun:30 Jul:30; Aug:31; Sep:30; Oct:31; Nov:30; Dec:30 (365th day of Year is World Day) ******As per Kali V-GRhymeCalendaar***** "Koi bhi cheshtha vayarth nahin hoti, purshaarth karne mein hai" My Profile - http://www.brijvij.com/bbv_2col-vipBrief.pdf Author had NO interaction with The World Calendar Association except via Media & Organisations to who I contributed for A Possible World Calendar, since 1971. HOME PAGE: http://www.brijvij.com/ Contact via E-mail: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Subject: [USMA:47640] Re: Oil Spill Technical Team Using SI > To: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:00:56 -0500 > > > Pat, > > In my local newspaper I read that an oil plume was located at a depth of "3 300 feet" which was probably reported at 1 000 meters. i.e. 3 300 x 0.3048 = 1 005.84 meters. Note the discrepancy of 5.84 meters between the value reported and the numbed down value disseminated by the Associated Press. > > Shame on the AP distortion! > > Gene, > Censor of Deviations from SI > > ---- Original message ---- > >Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:29:29 +1000 > >From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> > >Subject: [USMA:47625] Re: Oil Spill Technical Team Using SI > >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > > > > Dear Gene, > > You might be interested in this article in our local > > newspaper, 'The > > Age': http://www.theage.com.au/world/experts-at-loggerheads-over-oil-leak-rate-20100608-xtlj.html > > Since each of the sources has their own > > 'down-dumber' I don't suppose we can have any > > confidence whether the original data (kilograms, > > litres, cubic metres, metres per minute, metres per > > hour, gallons UK, gallons USA, feet per minute, etc, > > ) is being reported reliable given the possibility > > of multiple conversion errors. > > Cheers, > > > > Pat Naughtin > >... > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New Busy is not the old busy. 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