I think it was just an overly compressed jpeg photo and some "critical detail" was lost. It looks like the display has fixed digits and decimal points between each digit, They light up the segments (and points) they need. MSNBC had a more exact conversion 4 lb 12 oz, (very close to 2157 g)so I think the news services had a less compressed photo they could read, but didn't want to waste the bandwidth on the Internet.
--- On Thu, 3/22/12, Michael Payne <[email protected]> wrote: From: Michael Payne <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:51552] Re: Conversion error To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 8:31 PM I see the decimal point in yours, I had wondered if the larger space between the digits implied a decimal point I could not see. Mike On 22/03/2012, at 10:36 , John M. Steele wrote: Bad photo. This Brazilian source states 2,157 kg (using a comma as decimal marker) and has a better photograph clearly showing the decimal point, 2157.4 g. http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2012/03/nigeriana-e-presa-em-aeroporto-com-180-capsulas-de-heroina-no-estomago.html Although I read Brazilian Portuguese, the story is basically the same and, in fact, is attributed to AP, there is no need to Babelfish it. As a side note, US Customs tends to use grams for drugs othe than marijuana, and pounds or ounces for marijuana (not sure why) To be 21 574 g, each of 180 capsules would have been nearly 120 g, which I doubt could be swallowed. Of course, if you want measurements right, you should ignore AP and look for photographic evidence, or an AFP or Reuters story. AP will usually mangle any metric or convert to Customary and hide the real data. In this case, I'm pretty comfortable with the clearer photograph. --- On Thu, 3/22/12, Michael Payne <[email protected]> wrote: From: Michael Payne <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:51550] Conversion error To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 10:06 AM http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/21/2706274/customs-nigerian-woman-swallowed.html Shows a scale used by US Customs at Dulles airport, reads in grams only, shows over 21 kg (so easy to see and read in SI), yet the story says 5 lbs, seems nearer to 50 lbs, but the stuff on the scale does not look like 21 kg worth of drugs. It does not look like there is a decimal point in there? Any ideas? Mike Payne
