When Did Detroit Start Building Cars Like Japanese dSLRs????
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From: Neil Harrington on 13 Nov 2009 12:37 "Bill Graham" <weg9(a)comcast.net> wrote in message news:Y-qdnVjXHOA4V2HXnZ2dnUVZ_hadnZ2d(a)giganews.com... > >> > What makes me wonder is why we don't have 13 months of exactly 4 weeks > each? Actually, the twelve-month calendar Julius Caesar gave us was a huge improvement on the ten-month Roman calendar on which it was based, and served pretty well for many centuries. I think it was Pope Gregory who made the last adjustments including the leap year arrangement. > Any bridge player can tell you that 13 times 4 is 52. This would be a much > better system than the stupid 12 months in a year system we have now. We > would still need a leap year day once every 4 years, but otherwise, all > months would be the same. A leap year every 4 years wouldn't quite do it, though. Thirteen four-week months only gives you 364 days, which is about 1.24 days short of an actual year.
From: Neil Harrington on 13 Nov 2009 12:43 "J�rgen Exner" <jurgenex(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:bl9qf5tu8onp7ronv8qbgjbf6196k9v0an(a)4ax.com... > "Neil Harrington" <secret(a)illumnati.net> wrote: >>"J�rgen Exner" <jurgenex(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message >>> Then please explain _YOUR_ definition of 'metric'. >> >>Based on the meter, exactly as the term indicates. Units of length and >>volume are metric (or not) on that basis. Units of mass are metric when >>based on the mass of some metric volume of water under standard >>conditions. > > Well, that's too bad because if you restrict yourself to length only > then you are missing 6 of the 7 base units of the SI and thus the vast > majority of coherence and simplification that comes with that system. I'm not addressing SI, just the metric system. That the latter is incorporated in the former does not make them the same thing, any more than a transmission is the same thing as an automobile. > > Now, how come that doesn't surprise me? I don't know. Maybe you're not metric enough.
From: Neil Harrington on 13 Nov 2009 12:50 "R. Mark Clayton" <nospamclayton(a)btinternet.com> wrote in message news:6tKdnRMdR5dl4GDXnZ2dnUVZ8qydnZ2d(a)bt.com... > > "Neil Harrington" <secret(a)illumnati.net> wrote in message > news:muudnU7_3uQPqWbXnZ2dnUVZ_oSdnZ2d(a)giganews.com... >> >> "R. Mark Clayton" <nospamclayton(a)btinternet.com> wrote in message >> news:s72dnR0m5on4k2bXnZ2dnUVZ8sGdnZ2d(a)bt.com... > SNIP > >>>> And go metric, you mean? There'd be no point to it. Metric is silly for >>>> most ordinary purposes, and it would cost billions to change >>>> everything. >>> >>> Well what about the cost of not changing it? >>> >>> Item 1 Mars Climate Orbiter crashes and burns* >>> $327,600,000.00c >>> >>> So that's about one dollar per citizen - bad start! >> >> What has that to do with English vs. metric? >> > > Er because they mixed up the metric and imperial (well US) units and it > dodn't decelerate enough resulting in burn up... > > > > did you follow the link given? > > http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter%23The_metric.2Fimperial_mix-up&usg=AFQjCNHBbstCpB4S2gxZe2bJ9jJJGEClxw&ei=WH39SrDYMoWNjAeqmKWUCw&sa=X&oi=section_link&resnum=2&ct=legacy&ved=0CAwQygQ > > > "The metric/imperial mix-up > The metric/imperial mix-up that destroyed the craft was caused by a > software error back on Earth. The thrusters on the spacecraft, which were > intended to control its rate of rotation, were controlled by a computer > that underestimated the effect of the thrusters by a factor of 4.45. This > is the ratio between a pound force - the standard unit of force in the > imperial system - and a newton, the standard unit in the metric system. > The software was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft expected > figures in newtons; 1 pound force equals approximately 4.45 newtons. > > The software had been adapted from use on the earlier Mars Climate > Orbiter, and was not adequately tested before launch. The navigation data > provided by this software was also not cross-checked while in flight. The > Mars Climate Orbiter thus drifted off course during its voyage and entered > a much lower orbit than planned, and was destroyed by atmospheric > friction. > > " I understand, and I repeat the question: What does that have to do with English vs. metric? (In terms of one being preferable to the other.) The problem was that they mixed up two different measurement systems, not that one of them was better than the other. So you can say that it was just as much the fault of using the metric system as of anything else.
From: Neil Harrington on 13 Nov 2009 13:04 "Chris H" <chris(a)phaedsys.org> wrote in message news:Y$7wpfVEOY$KFAb8(a)phaedsys.demon.co.uk... > In message <W8-dnQ16jqYTl2fXnZ2dnUVZ_vSdnZ2d(a)giganews.com>, Neil > Harrington <secret(a)illumnati.net> writes >>> Even though the Yanks left the Empire they still won't join the rest of >>> the world. >> >>And go metric, you mean? There'd be no point to it. > > You may have no choice... In many places I see Global standards that are > used the whole world over except in the USA. Eventually the US is going > to have to fit in with the rest of the world. The two systems co-exist perfectly well in virtually all everyday applications. If you're expecting to see American mileage signs on the highways change to kilometers, neither you nor your great-grandchildren will see that happen in your entire lifetimes. And we'll still be buying our milk in quarts and our meat by the pound. There is simply no reason to change. The metric system seems to have started because Europeans squabbled over measurements, as Europeans always do over one thing or another. The English mile was different from the Italian mile, and neither would accept the standard of the other. English barrels came in different sizes for different liquids, confusing units of measure based on the barrel. And so on. Such problems neither had then nor have now nothing to do with us here.
From: Chris H on 13 Nov 2009 13:25
In message <Ba-dnXxPaOA3AmDXnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d(a)giganews.com>, Neil Harrington <secret(a)illumnati.net> writes > >"Chris H" <chris(a)phaedsys.org> wrote in message >news:Y$7wpfVEOY$KFAb8(a)phaedsys.demon.co.uk... >> In message <W8-dnQ16jqYTl2fXnZ2dnUVZ_vSdnZ2d(a)giganews.com>, Neil >> Harrington <secret(a)illumnati.net> writes >>>> Even though the Yanks left the Empire they still won't join the rest of >>>> the world. >>> >>>And go metric, you mean? There'd be no point to it. >> >> You may have no choice... In many places I see Global standards that are >> used the whole world over except in the USA. Eventually the US is going >> to have to fit in with the rest of the world. > >The two systems co-exist perfectly well in virtually all everyday >applications. If you're expecting to see American mileage signs on the >highways change to kilometers, neither you nor your great-grandchildren will >see that happen in your entire lifetimes. And we'll still be buying our milk >in quarts and our meat by the pound. There is simply no reason to change. I agree... but they are local things. Meat that is imported will be imported in Kilograms, Exports will also have to be in Metric units. But on the street you can convert to anything you like. >The metric system seems to have started because Europeans squabbled over >measurements, as Europeans always do over one thing or another. And the Americans developed a completely new set on their own and continue to squabble as Americans always do..... >The English >mile was different from the Italian mile, and neither would accept the >standard of the other. And American sizes are different again > English barrels came in different sizes for different >liquids, confusing units of measure based on the barrel. And so on. Yes so standards were developed. Then International standards used Globally except in the USA. >Such >problems neither had then nor have now nothing to do with us here. Only whilst the US stays within it's own boarders and does not trade with anyone else. The US will internally have a system that is different to the rest of the world. Except of course the multi nationals who will use Metric both around the world and inside the US. -- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ |