Brexit, for once some facts.

[flecc]

There were so many oddities about non-metric measurements!

Like units of less than an inch being barleycorn (if anyone remembered it existed) and fractions or thous. That is, either using a system which was somewhat awkward or dumping you into metric. How many, even of us who went through it all, could readily recite the measurements from zero to one as sixty-fourths, thirty-seconds, sixteenths, eighths, quarters and halfs of an inch?

Those are not needed in the lives of most.

In the day to day lives of ordinary people, the Imperial system is vastly superior to the metric one. That's simply because it was created on a human scale to suit the lives of most, not from an entirely arbitrary measure of the earths circumference, the outcomes unrelated to day to day needs and very inconvenient as a result.

Even now, we see major corporations, such as Apple, referring to their 12.9 inch screen iPad! A good mix of non-metric and decimal in one measurement.

Good for them, though saying 13 inches would have been better. Much more sensible than 32.8 cm, or 32.766 if one wanted to be precise.

I've used both systems freely and interchangeably throughout almost all my life, using the one most suited to the purpose, in terms of ending with single numbers from 1 to 9.

That suits humans best.
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[oyster]

Those are not needed in the lives of most.

In the day to day lives of ordinary people, the Imperial system is vastly superior to the metric one. That's simply because it was created on a human scale to suit the lives of most, not from an entirely arbitrary measure of the earths circumference, the outcomes unrelated to day to day needs and very inconvenient as a result.



Good for them, though saying 13 inches would have been better. Much more sensible than 32.8 cm, or 32.766 if one wanted to be precise.

I've used both systems freely and interchangeably throughout almost all my life, using the one most suited to the purpose, in terms of ending with single numbers from 1 to 9.

That suits humans best.
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The new iMac is referred to as 24" though the screen is actually 23.5" - 57 or 58 cm would have been fine within a similar "tolerance".

I'd have preferred 12 9/10" if they are going to stick to inches. Or 13" as you suggest.

 

[oyster]

Given the uselessness of the NHS Covid-19 app, I have just deleted it.

From the start, they confused, delayed, went down dead ends, used ludicrously huge QR codes, failed to clarify use and practice, had the midnight tickover issue, etc.

I retained it for the extremely rare check-in and out and some degree of interest. But now they are playing about with it, I see absolutely zero point in retaining it. Just maybe, my deleting it will register with those responsible? (Along with many, many others also dumping it.)

The final straw was that they are agreeing they are making changes but not giving us details. And, specifically, not a single mention of whether the changes have been agreed by Wales or will affect Wales. And if they are different, how that will affect those crossing the border.

 

[jonathan.agnew]

Given the uselessness of the NHS Covid-19 app, I have just deleted it.

From the start, they confused, delayed, went down dead ends, used ludicrously huge QR codes, failed to clarify use and practice, had the midnight tickover issue, etc.

I retained it for the extremely rare check-in and out of some degree of interest. But now they are playing about with it, I see absolutely zero point in retaining it. Just maybe, my deleting it will register with those responsible? (Along with many, many others also dumping it.)

The final straw was that they are agreeing they are making changes but not giving us details. And, specifically, not a single mention of whether the changes have been agreed by Wales or will affect Wales. And if they are different, how that will affect those crossing the border.

I can see where you're coming from ( and as someone who occasionally work in the nhs and "wont have to isolate" for some ungodly reason feel tha same). But I'm afraid as you say many will delete the app - but also as part of relaxing social distancing, mask wearing as part of the next Boris induced spike with all the damage that will bring.

 

[Danidl]

Those are not needed in the lives of most.

In the day to day lives of ordinary people, the Imperial system is vastly superior to the metric one. That's simply because it was created on a human scale to suit the lives of most, not from an entirely arbitrary measure of the earths circumference, the outcomes unrelated to day to day needs and very inconvenient as a result.



Good for them, though saying 13 inches would have been better. Much more sensible than 32.8 cm, or 32.766 if one wanted to be precise.

I've used both systems freely and interchangeably throughout almost all my life, using the one most suited to the purpose, in terms of ending with single numbers from 1 to 9.

That suits humans best.
.

Yes the units used should relate on human terms .. and the Km is just as much human as the mile. And the yard and metre are basically the same. The litre is just as human as the pint. But really it all depends on what you learned by age 12 . I still find myself using my weight in stones ,my height in inches . We used measures based on halves, thirds and quarters because without numeracy, we couldn't do fifths or tenths. .. the old method of ..one for you one for me , gets division by two

 

[wheeler]

And the loss of the $125 million Mars climate orbiter, due to the mixing of imperial with metric:

Information Link
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Closer to Earth, the Gimli Glider incident.

 

[wheeler]

.. That's just the Civils ,.. they never die, just smell that way.

Not all of them, the roads guys tend to smell of bitumenous products.

 

[oyster]

I can see where you're coming from ( and as someone who occasionally work in the nhs and "wont have to isolate" for some ungodly reason feel tha same). But I'm afraid as you say many will delete the app - but also as part of relaxing social distancing, mask wearing as part of the next Boris induced spike with all the damage that will bring.

The fans without tickets yesterday just showed how utterly incapable the government is of managing distancing.

And the people who are most likely to infect me are also, I suspect, the ones least likely to have the app installed and active.

 

[flecc]

Yes the units used should relate on human terms .. and the Km is just as much human as the mile. And the yard and metre are basically the same. The litre is just as human as the pint. But really it all depends on what you learned by age 12 . I still find myself using my weight in stones ,my height in inches . We used measures based on halves, thirds and quarters because without numeracy, we couldn't do fifths or tenths. .. the old method of ..one for you one for me , gets division by two

There's no should about it, the Imperial measures are based on common human needs, the metric are not.

the Km is just as much human as the mile - No, it's arbitrary and you avoid the fact that the equivalent of the very useful foot in linear measure is missing in metric.

The litre is just as human as the pint - No it most certainly is not, try drinking a litre of water or beer at a time.

it all depends on what you learned by age 12 - Not so, as you and I demonstrate by using what is most convenient, old or new, rather than just sticking with what we first learnt.

We used measures based on halves, thirds and quarters - Which is better since it gives more divisibility, by 2, 3 or 4, rather than just by 2 or 5.

The metric system is riddled with silliness to try to make it suit humans better, such measures as the decimetre and decilitre which almost never get used. People just struggle on with huge numbers of centimetres and millilitres, or for those who know it, revert to the more human suited Imperial measures.

For scientific and engineering purposes the metric system is undoubtedly far superior for mathematical reasons, but for day to day life for the majority it's lacking in usefulness.
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[flecc]

Not sure that follows. A vast proportion of infectious diseases cause an elevated temperature, tiredness and headache. But the likelihood of vaccinations for any one of them helping with all the others seems low, to me. Or at least, not predicated on similarity of those symptoms.

I haven't mentioned any of those three and agree with you on those. I can suffer those without catching anything!

But you've ignored the respiratory symptoms that are common to Covid and Influenza. That was what I was referring to where the vaccine for 'flu might well help with Covid symptoms. Indeed some are apparently observing that.
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[oyster]

There's no should about it, the Imperial measures are based on common human needs, the metric are not.

the Km is just as much human as the mile - No, it's arbitrary and you avoid the fact that the equivalent of the very useful foot in linear measure is missing.

The litre is just as human as the pint - No it most certainly is not, try drinking a litre of water or beer at a time.

it all depends on what you learned by age 12 - Not so, as you and I demonstrate by using what is most convenient, old or new, rather than just sticking with what we first learnt.

We used measures based on halves, thirds and quarters - Which is better since it gives more divisibility, by 2, 3 or 4, rather than just by 2 or 5.

The metric system is riddled with silliness to try to make it suit humans better, such measures as the decimetre and decilitre which almost never get used. People just struggle on with huge numbers of centimetres and millilitres or for those who know it, revert to the more human suited Imperial measures.

For scientific and engineering purposes the metric system is undoubtedly far superior for mathematical reasons, but for day to day life for the majority it's lacking in usefulness.
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The most annoying single feature of SI/metric was the choice of mu / μ as the symbol for micro.

So often perverted to "u" or "mc" and/or confused with m for milli.

Might have been fine for handwriting, for Greeks, and the small number who had extended character keyboards. But for the rest of the world it has been dire.

But looking at non-metric measures reveals how dreadfully difficult to use some of them were.

An ounce? Well, what are you measuring? Similarly for stone.

A mile? Depends where you are measuring. In Wales we see signs showing milltir - which was originally 6.17 km! 9000 Welsh feet of nine inches. Now used as a simple translation of the English.

I can't even think of non-metric measures for some things such as current. We have done pretty darned well with using watts, kilowatts, megawatts, etc. (and subdivisions).

 

[oyster]

An interesting turnup for brexit:

Apple Threatens to Leave UK Market Due to $7 Billion Patent Dispute

Apple Threatens to Leave UK Market Due to $7 Billion Patent Dispute

Lawyers representing Apple have suggested that the company could exit the UK market if the terms of an ongoing patent dispute are "commercially unacceptable" (via This is Money). UK patent holder Optis Cellular Technology is suing Apple for patent infringement after it refused to pay license...

forums.macrumors.com

One comment:

"How dare the ECJ have jurisdiction over anything British".

UK court: the UK Supreme Court ruled that a UK court can set the rate Apple should pay for all of its patents worldwide

Never a dull day with the British.​

 

[flecc]

An ounce? Well, what are you measuring?

You just aren't getting it, this isn't about science or mathematics.

It doesn't matter what it is, only that it is a useful size in common life. A gram isn't.

Remember single numbers suit humans best.

We have done pretty darned well with using watts, kilowatts, megawatts, etc. (and subdivisions).

You've got to be kidding! Huge numbers of ordinary people simply don't understand these terms. We see that clearly even in here with the frequent confusion about Watts and Watt/hours. Amps and A/h.

Mention MilliWatt and they'll think it's some bird from down the street.
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[oyster]

You just aren't getting it, this isn't about science or mathematics.

It doesn't matter what it is, only that it is a useful size in common life. A gram isn't.

Remember single numbers suit humans best.



You've got to be kidding! Huge numbers of ordinary people simply don't understand these terms. We see that clearly even in here with the frequent confusion about Watts and Watt/hours. Amps and A/h.

Mention MilliWatt and they'll think it's some bird from down the street.
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People were suitably annoyed when the EU started to impose limits on wattage of vacuum cleaners. Of course they knew they were going to end up with Bissel sweepers...

 

[flecc]

People were suitably annoyed when the EU started to impose limits on wattage of vacuum cleaners. Of course they knew they were going to end up with Bissel sweepers...

Only people who liked big numbers.

The widespread switch to battery powered vacuum cleaners has killed that nonsense, try designing a 2000 Watt battery powered cleaner using a typical small 20 volt battery!
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[oyster]

Only people who liked big numbers.

The widespread switch to battery powered vacuum cleaners has killed that nonsense, try designing a 2000 Watt battery powered cleaner!
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Hence the use of air watts...

 

[flecc]

Hence the use of air watts...

Which leave the general public utterly baffled, reduced to guessing that more is probably better.
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[wheeler]

Mention MilliWatt and they'll think it's some bird from down the street.
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I knew her mum.

 

[Woosh]

what do you think 'living with covid' will be like a year from now?
what if the economy requires that people who are infected without symptoms are allowed or required to continue working?

 

[flecc]

what do you think 'living with covid' will be like a year from now?
what if the economy requires that people who are infected without symptom are allowed or required to continue working?

It will work, Sweden has shown that with much better outcomes than us, albeit not as good as their neighbours.

If left to their own devices just with advice but without being bossed around or threatened with punishment, they as individuals and their companies will work out what brings the best outcome, with the threats of infection and death as the drivers of their defensive actions.

If we'd done that from the outset as I've always maintained, we wouldn't have an army of people insisting Covid doesn't exist and is just a conspiracy to control us. It was the police actions and government threats of punishment with huge fines that helped convince them of a conspiracy.
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