In a message dated 9/13/2001 8:29:28 PM Central Daylight Time, nicholas@uci.edu writes:
(After all, if it wasn't for the braindamage of MM-DD-YY, do you think the Probably true, which makes me wonder when the Brits and their pups switched, since they were clearly still using the one we inherited from them in the 19th century. <The YY-MM-DD format which the ISO has prescribes is what I've been using for the past ten years; I was taught it as an engineering student. There's a lot of it about. The kind of "noone else is doing it, quasigovernmental whim" stuff pc brings up is (a) bogus (though characteristically libertarian :-) ), and (b) the reason why the metric system will never happen in the States. It's nonsense, but it's you guys' loss.> As yes, engineers probably do use it -- its a nice geeky thing. What I meant, of course, was that no national government or major organization with similar clout has officially adopted it, so far as I can find (Burkina Faso and the Society of Civil Engineers (possible a double oxymoron) don't count). And I do resent "libertarian," a good term ruined by bad people, as most are. As for the joys of the metric system, it is odd to see it raised in that area where will not and never can be applied. If God had meant us to have neat ways of numbering things, he would have made a couple of natural measures fit together. None do. (I wouldn't mind a nice rational metric system, but so long as we remain decimal rather than duodecimal, that ain't gonna happen either.) |