The metric system sucks
in [Math]
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From: Michael Press on 7 Feb 2010 05:10 In article <hke41p$n19$15(a)reader2.panix.com>, nospam(a)nospam.com (Paul Ciszek) wrote: > In article <7e4ca67f-208b-48e5-827f-b7380357befd(a)s12g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>, > Andrew Usher <k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > >that are officially metric. But so what of the numbers? The US clearly > >has a heck of a lot of power to impose its will on the rest of the > >world. > > But not as much as it thinks it has. > > Sometimes I think it would do the US a world of good if the rest of > the world would stage an "intervention" and stop loaning us money > or selling us oil until we admitted our addiction to both. Heh. All your base are belong to us. I am with Bart on this. I do all technical calculations in SI, and am perfectly at home with conventional USA units. A bushel is about the amount of agricultural produce you can expect to be able to hump around all day. As noted elsewhere in this thread anyone doing trade in the USA must accept metric when asked. This law was instituted in 1866. The USA based its units on metric before Great Britain did. 1 inch = 0.0254 meter 1 grain = 0.0648 gram. 1 pound avoirdupois = 7000 grain. There is one item of trade that went metric in the USA some time ago. Do you know what it is? || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || \ / \/ Distilled spirits. -- Michael Press
From: Michael Press on 7 Feb 2010 05:27 In article <cb00defa-3550-47a8-8d3a-82fb8f1ac9b0(a)j31g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>, "Ken S. Tucker" <dynamics(a)vianet.on.ca> wrote: > On Feb 4, 7:22 pm, Michael Press <rub...(a)pacbell.net> wrote: > > In article > > <69011e79-866e-43f3-b01f-bca8a8428...(a)19g2000yql.googlegroups.com>, > > "Ken S. Tucker" <dynam...(a)vianet.on.ca> wrote: > > > > > Yeah, 0F is cold and 100F is hot. > > > (there are 180 degrees between 32F and 212F, that's how > > > temperature was unitized, later Celius plagurized the degree, > > > and screwed it all up. > > > > 100 deg F was supposed to be human body temperature. > > > > Wait until the clock goes metric. > > > > The USA gallon aka Queen Anne gallon aka wine gallon > > started life as a cylinder 7 inch in diameter by 6 inch high. > > So why is it exactly 231 inch^3? > > > > A mile is a thousand double paces. > > > > Canoe voyagers measure portages in rods. > > When we were kids we'd measure time in smokes, like > how long does it take to walk from here to there, oh maybe > 2 or 3 smokes. Smokes being the number of cig's consumed > in the hike. Some of the kids smoked cigars that burned > longer, so we went to the standard cigarette. > Strange, we'd convey the length by how many smokes you'll > need to walk that distance. Kool. I should mention that a rod is a trifle longer than a canoe, offering a ready to hand measuring rod for the length of a portage. -- Michael Press
From: Ken S. Tucker on 7 Feb 2010 07:47 On Feb 7, 2:27 am, Michael Press <rub...(a)pacbell.net> wrote: > In article > <cb00defa-3550-47a8-8d3a-82fb8f1ac...(a)j31g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>, > "Ken S. Tucker" <dynam...(a)vianet.on.ca> wrote: > > > > > > > > > On Feb 4, 7:22 pm, Michael Press <rub...(a)pacbell.net> wrote: > > > In article > > > <69011e79-866e-43f3-b01f-bca8a8428...(a)19g2000yql.googlegroups.com>, > > > "Ken S. Tucker" <dynam...(a)vianet.on.ca> wrote: > > > > > Yeah, 0F is cold and 100F is hot. > > > > (there are 180 degrees between 32F and 212F, that's how > > > > temperature was unitized, later Celius plagurized the degree, > > > > and screwed it all up. > > > > 100 deg F was supposed to be human body temperature. > > > > Wait until the clock goes metric. > > > > The USA gallon aka Queen Anne gallon aka wine gallon > > > started life as a cylinder 7 inch in diameter by 6 inch high. > > > So why is it exactly 231 inch^3? > > > > A mile is a thousand double paces. > > > > Canoe voyagers measure portages in rods. > > > When we were kids we'd measure time in smokes, like > > how long does it take to walk from here to there, oh maybe > > 2 or 3 smokes. Smokes being the number of cig's consumed > > in the hike. Some of the kids smoked cigars that burned > > longer, so we went to the standard cigarette. > > Strange, we'd convey the length by how many smokes you'll > > need to walk that distance. > > Kool. > > I should mention that a rod is a trifle longer than a > canoe, offering a ready to hand measuring rod for the > length of a portage. Had a friend visit, who argued Imperial was retarded, so I dropped the subject, because he was a guest, only MeTric for him. About 15 minutes later I admired how tall he was and asked him how tall he was and without hesitation he says 6 foot 4. Wife and I look at each other, smiled, the dope didn't know he just lost the argument, he's a nice guy but works for the govmonks so he's a bit fucked up, mentally. What's 6 foot 4 in mm's? Ken
From: jmfbahciv on 7 Feb 2010 08:45 Bart Goddard wrote: > jmfbahciv <jmfbahciv(a)aol> wrote in news:hkjoki21g80(a)news1.newsguy.com: > >>> If there's a compelling reason for the US to switch to >>> metric, I have yet to hear it. >> If you have a business which wants to sell widgets to >> people in countries who use metric, you should manufacture >> your products using screws and bolts and things which >> are metric. >> > > Hypothetically. But note two things: The US doesn't sell > widgets, it buys widgets. So your "if-then" is vacuously > true. Second, other countries sell stuff to the US > all the time with parts that don't fit our official > measuring system. Hmmm..... There's still a gap > in your philosophy. > ARe you really claiming that the US doesn't export anything? /BAH
From: jmfbahciv on 7 Feb 2010 08:47
Paul Ciszek wrote: > In article <3q1nm554bvd9j4iidr32paag2e6hi425er(a)4ax.com>, > Matt <30days(a)net.net> wrote: >> On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 17:18:26 +0000 (UTC), Paul Ciszek wrote: >> >>> In article <Xns9D15464AACB40goddardbenetscapenet(a)74.209.136.93>, >>> Bart Goddard <goddardbe(a)netscape.net> wrote: >>>> nospam(a)nospam.com (Paul Ciszek) wrote in >>>> news:hke1bi$n19$6(a)reader2.panix.com: >>>> >>>>> What is the density of water in pounds per cubic foot? >>>> As usual, the decimaphile offers us a calculation that >>>> 1. is already known and 2. nobody ever does. Against >>> If you mean non-technical people, they get through most of their >>> lives without doing any calculations at all. Engineers, on the >>> other hand, have to deal with the density of water quite a bit. Things >>> get submerged in it, containers are built empty and later filled >>> with it, it can end up standing on the roofs of buildings if you >>> didn't design them right, etc. >> I think you ascribe too much apathy about units of measure to >> non-technical people. They outnumber techies by a large factor. >> >> And they have need to calculate for various reasons: cost per unit >> weight, fuel per unit distance, cost per unit of household energy, >> etc. > > "That's MATH. I was told there would be no math!" > > In the popular world view, math is considered slightly less useful > than latin. > Until they see all the deductions from their paycheck and have to submit an income report to the IRS. /BAH |