From bob@RATTLESNAKE.COM Mon May 08 04:45:51 2000 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 15539 invoked from network); 8 May 2000 11:45:48 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by m2.onelist.org with QMQP; 8 May 2000 11:45:48 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO megalith.rattlesnake.com) (140.186.114.245) by mta3 with SMTP; 8 May 2000 11:45:46 -0000 Received: by rattlesnake.com via sendmail from stdin id (Debian Smail3.2.0.102) for lojban@egroups.com; Mon, 8 May 2000 07:45:45 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 07:45:45 -0400 (EDT) To: lojban@egroups.com In-reply-to: <8f62oe+a6h5@eGroups.com> (lalo@hackandroll.org) Subject: Re: [lojban] Date format (Re: Lojban / Most translated Web Page) Reply-to: bob@rattlesnake.com References: <8f62oe+a6h5@eGroups.com> From: "Robert J. Chassell" X-Yahoo-Message-Num: 2576 Without entering the debate over date format, let me relay my recent odd experience with date formats. I have ended up doing what I never expected. I use an Emacs Lisp function to insert the current date into a variety of documents. This turns out to be very useful. For example, here is how I keep track of changes to a shell script: # for v4.72, 2000 Apr 27 # for v4.61, 1999 Dec 29 A year and a half, or so, ago, I changed the format from 8 May 2000 to 2000 May 8 However, I still write dates for checks and letters in the format 8 May 2000 Here is what happened: I found that I have a combined visual/auditory mechanism for reading text. When I see a date written 8 May I read it as the `Eighth of May', which takes quite a bit of time, even if I don't move my lips. :-) On the other, I read May 8 as `May Eighth'. This flows better in my head. Since I like the smooth flow of a month --> day sequence, and since I also like to know the year at which I dated something, I found I wanted a year --> month --> day sequence. When I actually read the text, I usually do not pronounce to myself the year at all; I elide it. So when I see `2000 May 8', I usually read it as `May Eighth'. Also, with an argument, the date function prints the time and day of week, like this: Mon, 2000 May 8 11:39 GMT and I like this sequence. (I use GMT, technically UTC, for time stamps since it is less confusing than local time.) On the other hand, as I said, I write addresses in letters and on checks in the day month year format. I must add that I used the day-month-year format for years (I have never like the US civilian practice of writing month-day-year); and I never expected I would change to the reverse format, but I have. Most surprising. -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com