US surveyors have used decimal feet to hundredths since they abandoned chains. Given their projects, I would expect a heavy surveying background. Surveyors HATE feet and inches (or any mixed units)
________________________________ From: Patrick Moore <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, May 10, 2011 2:57:51 PM Subject: [USMA:50448] Re: AP slowly metricating? A decifoot? Is that because we have ten toes? This is confusing. ________________________________ From: "John M. Steele" <[email protected]> Reply-To: <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 11:54:52 -0700 To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:50447] Re: AP slowly metricating? I thought perhaps the media was getting metric data from the Army Corps of Engineers, but they appear to work in decimal feet. Their press releases are to a tenth foot resolution, and their flood level gauges to a hundredth of a foot, as shown in the example links below. (I'm not sure about reading "raging waters" to 0.01 ft) http://www.mvm.usace.army.mil/publicaffairs/News/press_releases/2011_Releases/11_08.pdf http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/new/layout.cfm The corresponding metric resolutions are about 3 cm and 3 mm. In both cases it is a matter of no "just right"," choose either a little more or a little less resolution ________________________________ From: James R. Frysinger <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, May 9, 2011 8:36:43 PM Subject: [USMA:50444] AP slowly metricating? It may be my imagination, but it seems to me that Associated Press is slowly -- very, very slowly -- metricating. AP line feeds about events in the U.S. that are liable to find international audiences now often include metric equivalents in parentheses for distances and heights. And their rounding seems to be appropriate most of the time. The article that prompted my thoughts here is at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/09/residents-cling-homes-mississippi-keeps-rising/?test=latestnews Jim -- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (C) 931.212.0267 (H) 931.657.3107 (F) 931.657.3108
