Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4498 mails)

[Darryl Gregorash <raven@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2006-11-29 12:49, Carl William Spitzer IV wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-11-26 at 15:24 -0500, James Knott wrote:
>
>   
>> <snip>
>> One huge advantage to the metric system is the abandonment of hoary,
>> arbitrary units in favour of a consistent and logical system.
>>
>>     
> Like the hunk of rock which is the basis of the kilo which is stored in
> switzerland since before WWII.
>   
Actually, it's a hunk of platinum-iridium, and it's always been in
Sèvres, France :-)

But I think James was referring to the strange numerical combinations
found in the Imperial system, such as 7000 grains in a pound (unless
it's a Troy pound, aka. apothecaries' pound, which is 5760 grains, but
those are different grains too), or 16 ounces in a pound (same caveat:
unless it's a Troy pound, and the ounces aren't the same there either),
or 12 inches in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile (unless it's a nautical
mile, at least they use the same foot)... etc etc.

:-)
> I agree about the french. 
>   
At least in Paris, you can say "bon weekend" and everyone will
understand you -- try that in Montreal, and they look at you funny :-)

-- 
The best way to accelerate a computer running Windows is at 9.81 m/s²

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