The metric system sucks
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From: J. Clarke on 11 Feb 2010 17:54 Mark Borgerson wrote: > In article <hl162u0173l(a)news4.newsguy.com>, jmfbahciv(a)aol says... >> Bob Myers wrote: >>> jmfbahciv wrote: >>>> Bob Myers wrote: >>>>> Darwin123 wrote: >>>>>> How about removing all regulations concerning units and see >>>>>> what individuals and companies would do? >>>>> That's the most sensible solution I've seen here yet - which, >>>>> of course, is why it will probably never happen! >>>>> >>>> The only reason you are able to read these posts is because >>>> we introduced and developed standards. don't throw the >>>> bath water out with the babies. >>> >>> While (as noted earlier) my original comment was at least >>> half in jest, I am prompted to ask re this one: who is this >>> "we" you're talking about? >> >> People who wrote the code to make the hardware work. >> >>> Many - probably most - of the >>> most successful standards in use today were developed by >>> industry groups responding to market needs, not through >>> government regulation. >> >> The government regulation happened after the standards >> were made. This is what creates unique standards rather >> than forcing the buyers of the products to choose between >> a dozen, or dozens, of standards. >> >>> >>> I've spent more than my fair share of time working in such >>> groups, and would MUCH rather deal with industry >>> standardization efforts than government or quasi-governmental >>> regulation. >>> >> But the it's the governments' choices of which standard will >> be used when deciding procurements. After that, the laws >> about regulations happen if the industry isn't adept to >> changing needs of the populace. A good example is >> the telephone industry ;-). Another one is the airplane >> business. >> > I think it will take something between a 60mm mortar and > a 155mm howitzer shell to budge Andrew from his position! > ;-) 16 inch, for when you care enough to give only the very best.
From: Bob Myers on 11 Feb 2010 17:55 Andrew Usher wrote: > On Feb 10, 1:25 pm, "Bob Myers" <nospample...(a)address.invalid> wrote: >> Androcles wrote: >>>> So, you'll want to export your "inched" equipment and machines to >>>> where? Are you taking into account the clients' will in your sales >>>> dpt? >> >>> Machines today are CNC, so you can have both. >> >> Wow, and you say the drills and other tooling will also >> automagically change to the system in use without having >> to produce/stock/maintain both types? Imagine that... > > Drills already have interchangeable bits, Ah, another person who's never seen the inside of a machine shop... FYI, a "drill" in this context is a rod of metal with a sharp end and a helical cutting surface machined into it, useful in creating holes in metal; a "bit" is something wordworkers use in conjunction with a device called a "brace." You might get more of a clue about this through a consideration of terms such as "drill press" and "drill index." Bob M.
From: Michael Press on 11 Feb 2010 20:55 In article <hkvs6q$324$1(a)news-int2.gatech.edu>, Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18(a)verizon.invalid> wrote: > On 02/05/2010 10:05 PM, Bart Goddard wrote: > > adamk<adamk(a)adamk.net> wrote in > > news:752291235.119340.1265419992761.JavaMail.root(a)gallium.mathforum.org: > > > >> Wrong. Chinese and Hindi are the most spoken. > > > > Not wrong. If you google and wiki about, you'll > > see that the numbers of speakers of various > > languages vary widely. You may fail to see, > > however, that the number rarely include India > > among English-speaking nation, yet English is > > the official language of India. Once you add > > the population of India to that number (which > > you should for the purposes of this discussion, > > which is about trades between nations) then > > English slaughters all other languages. > > Just because a language is the official language does not mean that most > people in the country can speak it. For example, Afrikaans was (and > still is) an official language of South Africa. However, Wikipedia lists > that just 13.3% of South Africans can speak it. I don't know the extent > to which English is known in India, but I'd be surprised if even half of > the Indians could speak it to a workable degree, let alone demonstrate > fluency. Let me google that for you. Official languages: Hindi Subsidiary official language: English Twenty two recognized subsidiary languages. Probably 3 percent are literate in English, and probably for the purposes of international commerce, academics, professionals, and diplomacy. Probably more than 3 percent understand or speak English. Data is scarce on the ground. English serves as lingua franca in a country with 22 regional languages. <http://www.indianchild.com/english_in_india.ht> ______ I was listening to Shekhar Kapur (a Pakistani) give his commentary on a DVD recording of his movie Elizabeth [1998]. As I listened closely I could pick out a distinct Irish brogue. -- Michael Press
From: Andrew Usher on 12 Feb 2010 00:46 Bob Myers wrote: > > Drills already have interchangeable bits, > > Ah, another person who's never seen the inside of > a machine shop... OK, perhaps I didn't use the right terminology; I used that which I am familiar. Nevertheless, my point stands that you don't normally need a different machine for each different size of drilling. And honestly you must know that. Andrew Usher
From: Andrew Usher on 12 Feb 2010 00:49
Darwin123 wrote: > > > The truth is, the leftist machine has gotten people's minds to feel > > sorry for our measuring system, just like they've gotten white men to > > feel sorry for being white and male. > > Your metaphors are gang raping the English language. My assertion is not a metaphor here. It's entirely literal: Americans now feel they must apologise for having a 'backward' system of measure. Andrew Usher |