One of the ways that we can promote proper SI usage is to correct errors
in that usage when used in public. Many emails have been posted to this
list telling of efforts, many successful, to do so.
One such set of public documents are those that appear on Wikipedia.
This system allows public editors who can then correct errors
themselves. I have just done so.
A Wikipedia page on Mk 16 torpedoes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_16_torpedo
gave rated the explosive energy content in its warhead in units of
joules per gigameter. The author intended, I'm sure, to express that as
joules per gram, but he or she used "J/Gm" as the unit symbol instead of
"J/g".
Besides fixing that, I also did some editing on replacing inappropriate
hyphens and commas with spaces, non-breaking spaces ( ), or nothing
at all. A few other non-breaking spaces were inserted where needed.
Unfortunately, Wikipedia provides its authors with a conversion program.
So, for example, an author can provide the information "15 ft 6 in" with
the appropriate convert command and a parenthetical metric value will be
added following the original "15 ft 6 in". Another webpage I had hope to
tweak used this, preventing direct action by me. That conversion program
automatically inserts a comma in 4-digit numbers. I would prefer making
that an option of the author's, as the page cited above did.
A few years ago that conversion program would convert speeds to "kph" if
the authors told it to. I lobbied successfully, it seems. Now,
apparently, when the author's coding tells the program to provide speed
conversions to "kph" it automatically changes that to "km/h". Yes, it's
a small victory, but one that I savor.
I encourage those who are so inclined to register as Wikipedia editors.
It's easy to do. And it's gratifying to see your corrections take effect
on the Web almost immediately! The Wikipedia pages will tell you how to
register.
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
