Some might be tempted to accuse detail sticklers (like Mark) of straining
at gnats and swallowing camels. Others might prefer to accuse people with a
more relaxed approach (like Brian) of embracing a chaotic disregard for
uniformity. I am happy that we have sticklers for detail AND people who are
a little toward the other end of that spectrum in our colorful world. It is
a hard job to strike a balance. I hope the sticklers for detail continue to
try and keep us on track. I also hope when we as individuals try to teach
and convince other Americans to adopt SI that we not push too many details
if that would kill the moment, but we should indeed mention those details
if we are talking with a person who would appreciate those details. It is
all a matter of accurately judging the personality of the person we are
trying to convince. So who is right and who is wrong? Mark or Brian? In any
given conversation, it is just as important what you say as what you
refrain from saying. There is no right and wrong. There is only kind and
hurtful behavior. Two people having a conversation is way different than
this group email, so no matter what anybody says, somebody is bound to feel
rubbed the wrong way.
----- Message from [email protected] ---------
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 10:42:16 -0700
From: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: [USMA:54132] RE: Don't be a dunce!
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
There is no incorrect pronunciation. Come on people. Seriously.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [USMA:54131] RE: Don't be a dunce!
From: Mark Henschel <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, July 14, 2014 10:40 am
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Be careful using Wikipedia as a source. Wikipedia also
recommends the incorrect pronunciation of kilometer.
Mark
On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 10:25 AM, <[email protected]>
wrote:
The beauty of the International System of units or SI after its French
initials is that one has the option to dispense with ever having to
use any word for any number higher than thousand on the scale, which
thankfully has only one definition everywhere on Earth. See snippet in
context here:
http://metricpioneer.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/long-scale-and-short-scale-how-much-is-a-billion-it-depends-where-you-live/
----- Message from "John M. Steele" <[email protected]>
---------
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 06:55:17 -0700
From: "John M. Steele" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: "John M. Steele" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:54128] RE: Don't be a dunce!
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
On groupings, I see Wikipedia specifies the comma as a thousands
separator but allows the space in scientific/engineering articles.
Nowhere do they require the space as a thousands separator with SI
units. In my opinion, the comma should NOT be used as a thousands
separator with SI units.
I further notice down in the SI section they allow the
word micron as a name for 10^-6 m, although they do require the
correct symbol.
-------------------------
FROM: Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]>
TO: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
SENT: Monday, July 14, 2014 8:33 AM
SUBJECT: [USMA:54126] RE: Don't be a dunce!
The
Wikipedia standards can be seen at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Mosnum. Leading zeros are
required except for gun calibres and [baseball] averages.
FROM: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] ON BEHALF OF Michael Payne
SENT: 14 July 2014 06:19
TO: U.S. Metric Association
CC: USMA
SUBJECT: [USMA:54122] RE: Don't be a dunce!
I’m not saying you should change formats in your
job, but it would be good if an organization like Wikipedia which is
read worldwide, could adhere to what is an internationally
recommended standard instead of the de-facto US format for numbers.
If this were
done companies like your may adapt to this standard in the future.
Mike Payne
On
14 Jul 2014, at 07:03, [email protected] wrote:
I would be fired from my
job if I were to insist that we change commas to spaces. Get a
real-world perspective once in a while. I would LOVE to live in a
clean, tidy world with uniformity in such matters. I think we would
do well to pick our battles carefully. This battle is akin to Harold
insisting that Americans spell metre instead of meter.
----- Message from Michael Payne <[email protected]> ---------
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 06:45:05 +0200
From: Michael Payne <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: [USMA:54120] RE: Don't be a dunce!
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
I can only speak about the English language Wikipedia. Many English
speaking nations use the comma as the decimal, South Africa is one,
So do the French and probably most Europeans. It’s a cleaner way of
writing and it works for the digits on the right side of the decimal.
Claiming Americans
like their freedom is the same as saying we’ll stick with American
Customary because we’re free to. It does not help in international
trade! We need standardisation and this is one standard recommended
by NIST.
Mike Payne
On 14 Jul 2014, at 06:34, Harold_Potsdamer
<[email protected]> wrote:
Try checking an authoritative source, like the BIPM before insisting
Americans has some sort of derogation based on their claimed
exceptionalism.
Here is a
style guide from the US construction industry:
https://www.wbdg.org/ccb/VA/VAMETRIC/guide.pdf
Rules for
Writing Numbers
-
Always use
decimals, not fractions (write 0.75 g, not ¾g).
-
Use a zero
before the decimal marker for values less than one (write 0.45
g, not .45
g).
-
Use spaces
instead of commas to separate blocks of three digits for any
number over
four digits (write 45 138 kg or 0.004 46 kg or 4371 kg). Note
that this
does not apply to the expression of amounts of money.
-
In the
United States, the decimal marker is a period; in other countries a
comma usually is used
See also
5.3.4 from the NIST guide:
http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP330/sp330.pdf
Under what
authority do you operate under that gives you the right to break the
rules? Those who want to do things their way and think they are
exceptional are the real dunces.
FROM: [email protected]
SENT:
Sunday, 2014-07-13 22:51
TO:
U.S. Metric Association[1]
SUBJECT: [USMA:54114] RE: Don't be a dunce!
Harold.
Americans use commas or spaces. We love our freedom.
----- Message from Harold_Potsdamer <[email protected]>
---------
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 20:07:41 -0400
From: Harold_Potsdamer <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: [USMA:54113] RE: Don't be a dunce!
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Not only that, commas dividing thousands which should be spaces.
FROM: [email protected]
SENT: Sunday, 2014-07-13 14:26
TO: U.S. Metric Association[1]
SUBJECT: [USMA:54111] RE: Don't be a dunce!
No zeroes on the leading decimals?
Tsk tsk tsk. :)
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [USMA:54110] Don't be a dunce!
From: [email protected]
Date: Sun, July 13, 2014 11:22 am
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Posted on Facebook and Twitter today:
Don't be a dunce! http://MetricPioneer.com/Metrication-America[2]
David Pearl www.MetricPioneer.com[3] 503-428-4917
----- End message from Harold_Potsdamer <[email protected]>
-----
David
Pearl www.MetricPioneer.com[3] 503-428-4917
----- End message from Michael Payne <[email protected]> -----
David Pearl
www.MetricPioneer.com[3] 503-428-4917
----- End message from "John M. Steele" <[email protected]>
-----
David Pearl www.MetricPioneer.com[4] 503-428-4917
----- End message from [email protected] -----
Links:
------
[1] mailto:[email protected]
[2] http://metricpioneer.com/Metrication-America
[3] http://www.metricpioneer.com/
[4] http://www.MetricPioneer.com
David Pearl www.MetricPioneer.com 503-428-4917
