In case you have not already seen it:

We are trying to set up a new newsgroup

misc.metric-system

dedicated to discussions about the metric system and its introduction
in areas where it is not yet widely used.

Related threads have flared up in this group in the past. So if you
are interested in this topic and group, please participate in this
ballot. (At least ~150 votes are necessary before a group has a
realistic chance of being created.)

The "Call for Votes" with a description of the proposed group and
exact instructions on how to vote has just been posted to

news.announce.newgroups

It is also available by sending an email to



and it can be downloaded from the USENET Volunteer Votetakers website
on

http://www.uvv.org/cgi-bin/getmsg/2440

Votes have to be submitted by email, formatted exactly according to
the instructions given in the "Call for Votes". Your vote has been
counted only if you receive a confirmation reply.

The ballot closes 25 November 2003.

Thanks for your time,

--
Phil McKerracher
www.mckerracher.org

Phil McKerracher on 05.11.03 19:23 wrote:

We are trying to set up a new newsgroup

misc.metric-system

snip

The "Call for Votes" with a description of the proposed group and
exact instructions on how to vote has just been posted to

http://www.uvv.org/cgi-bin/getmsg/2440

I just voted.

--
Peter Lairo

"Phil McKerracher" wrote in message
...
In case you have not already seen it:

We are trying to set up a new newsgroup

misc.metric-system

dedicated to discussions about the metric system and its introduction
in areas where it is not yet widely used.

I propose that the metric system should be introduced into one specific area
where it isn't yet widely used: time. While we *do* have decades, centuries,
and millennia, we also have seasons, months, hours, minutes, and seconds.
Until we can figure out how to force the year to be 100 days long, we should
concentrate on the smaller units. Get people to stop using "hours", and
instead use "decidays". Replace the use of "minutes" with "millidays". Etc.
Alternatively, we could simply use the day, forbid all named subdivisions,
and represent partial days with decimal numbers.
It's time we stopped using such an illogical, nonsensical system for what is
an integral part of our daily lives.

So did I



Op Thu, 06 Nov 2003 14:40:36 +0100 schreef Peter Lairo
:

Phil McKerracher on 05.11.03 19:23 wrote:

We are trying to set up a new newsgroup

misc.metric-system

snip

The "Call for Votes" with a description of the proposed group and
exact instructions on how to vote has just been posted to

http://www.uvv.org/cgi-bin/getmsg/2440

I just voted.

"Gordon L. Richard" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 16:44:02 GMT, "BruceS"
wrote:


"Phil McKerracher" wrote in message
...
In case you have not already seen it:

We are trying to set up a new newsgroup

misc.metric-system

dedicated to discussions about the metric system and its introduction
in areas where it is not yet widely used.

I propose that the metric system should be introduced into one specific
area
where it isn't yet widely used: time. While we *do* have decades,
centuries,
and millennia, we also have seasons, months, hours, minutes, and seconds.
Until we can figure out how to force the year to be 100 days long, we
should
concentrate on the smaller units. Get people to stop using "hours", and
instead use "decidays". Replace the use of "minutes" with "millidays".
Etc.
Alternatively, we could simply use the day, forbid all named
subdivisions,
and represent partial days with decimal numbers.
It's time we stopped using such an illogical, nonsensical system for what
is
an integral part of our daily lives.

We could force the year to be 300 days long, then throw in a
bunch of leap days at the end, to bring it back in sync with the
seasons. That's the way they used to do it.

As for the length of a day, and the periods of time about equal
to our week and month, we could use any set of measures. Nothing
comes out even, as it is.

A bigger problem would be converting all the structures that are
now in existence, to the metric system. How should we convert a
one mile square of land (a section) consisting of 640 acres, into
something metric? How could we change all the street and building
architecture into something metric? I surely do wish those early
pioneers had not used the British system of measures to start
with.

I think that the biggest problem is changing people. The schools in the U.S.
attempt to convert us to metric, but we resist. As long as we keep thinking
in terms of miles-per-gallon, 9/16" bolts, and quarter pound burgers, metric
will be a second language here. It is slowly seeping in, though. Maybe when
my daughter is a senior citizen, miles and gallons will be as popular as
leagues and scruples are now.

"BruceS" wrote in message k.net...
I propose that the metric system should be introduced into one specific area
where it isn't yet widely used: time. While we *do* have decades, centuries,
and millennia, we also have seasons, months, hours, minutes, and seconds.
Until we can figure out how to force the year to be 100 days long, we should
concentrate on the smaller units. Get people to stop using "hours", and
instead use "decidays". Replace the use of "minutes" with "millidays". Etc.
Alternatively, we could simply use the day, forbid all named subdivisions,
and represent partial days with decimal numbers.
It's time we stopped using such an illogical, nonsensical system for what is
an integral part of our daily lives.

time (in terms of days and nights and hours and minutes) will be
easily converted to a decimal system if there would be a nice decimal
system to measure the angles. i mean, circle has 360 degrees, and not
100.

cheers,

I think the discussion about converting everything to the metric
system is a bit premature . Let's start with a less ambitious plan :
convincing countries which are still using the imperial system to
switch to the metric sysytem as it is now .That in itself is already
an uphill battle imo.




Op 6 Nov 2003 19:07:09 -0800 schreef (Gjergj
Kastrioti):

"BruceS" wrote in message k.net...
I propose that the metric system should be introduced into one specific area
where it isn't yet widely used: time. While we *do* have decades, centuries,
and millennia, we also have seasons, months, hours, minutes, and seconds.
Until we can figure out how to force the year to be 100 days long, we should
concentrate on the smaller units. Get people to stop using "hours", and
instead use "decidays". Replace the use of "minutes" with "millidays". Etc.
Alternatively, we could simply use the day, forbid all named subdivisions,
and represent partial days with decimal numbers.
It's time we stopped using such an illogical, nonsensical system for what is
an integral part of our daily lives.

time (in terms of days and nights and hours and minutes) will be
easily converted to a decimal system if there would be a nice decimal
system to measure the angles. i mean, circle has 360 degrees, and not
100.

cheers,

(Gjergj Kastrioti) wrote in message . com...
"BruceS" wrote in message k.net...
I propose that the metric system should be introduced into one specific area
where it isn't yet widely used: time. While we *do* have decades, centuries,
and millennia, we also have seasons, months, hours, minutes, and seconds.
Until we can figure out how to force the year to be 100 days long, we should
concentrate on the smaller units. Get people to stop using "hours", and
instead use "decidays". Replace the use of "minutes" with "millidays". Etc.
Alternatively, we could simply use the day, forbid all named subdivisions,
and represent partial days with decimal numbers.
It's time we stopped using such an illogical, nonsensical system for what is
an integral part of our daily lives.

time (in terms of days and nights and hours and minutes) will be
easily converted to a decimal system if there would be a nice decimal
system to measure the angles. i mean, circle has 360 degrees, and not
100.

A right angle has 100 grads. Apparently you haven't noticed those
units available for trig calculations on most scientific calculators,
including the one that comes with Windows.

I think you two, and anybody else who thinks you need some other place
to discuss this, better get your butts over and figure out how to vote
for this new group.

Gene Nygaard

In article in
netscape.public.mozilla.general, rikkie
wrote:
I think the discussion about converting everything to the metric
system is a bit premature . Let's start with a less ambitious plan :
convincing countries which are still using the imperial system to
switch to the metric sysytem as it is now .That in itself is already
an uphill battle imo.

Which countries would those be?

Back in the 1970s, Isaac Asimov wrote "The two largest countries
that don't use the metric system are, in order, the United States
and Liberia." Liberia has switched since then.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Address munging may or may not reduce the spam you get; it surely
reduces the number of useful answers you get.
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/laws.html

BruceS wrote:

[snip]

I think that the biggest problem is changing people. The schools in the U.S.
attempt to convert us to metric, but we resist. As long as we keep thinking
in terms of miles-per-gallon, 9/16" bolts, and quarter pound burgers, metric
will be a second language here. It is slowly seeping in, though. Maybe when
my daughter is a senior citizen, miles and gallons will be as popular as
leagues and scruples are now.

In the meantime, we'll sit and wonder why the rest of the world won't
buy our manufactured goods if they have an alternative. US manufacturing
lobbyists have fought the change based on the argument that it will cost
them too much to retool. Better that they just go out of business and,
after a few generations, the next industrial revolution gets it right.

Back when I used to work for Boeing, as they were lamenting their
continuing loss of market share to Airbus, someone asked a highly placed
member of management when we were going to adopt the metric system. His
response was, "Over my dead body." He's right.

--
Paul Hovnanian
note to spammers: a Washington State resident
--------------------------------------------------------------------
c (velocity of light in a vacuum) = 1.8x10^12 furlongs per fortnight