> What ought we do call folks who are metric zealots, people who are
pro-metric, people who are in favor of metrication? Metricationist does not
sound like a very perky word. I want something that sounds good, that has a
postive and optimistic and fighter connotation. Give me some help.
>
> Andy
> Come check in with us at
> http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricAmerica
> right away.
>
> This is 2001, the turn of the millennium.
>
> 1. Help us think of ways to connect
> metrication with the turn of the millennium.
>
> 2. Help us think of a word for folks who
> are zealots about metricatio
Speaking of IEEE Spectrum, I always look forward to the excellent
January (Technology Analysis and Forecast) issue... But I was a little
nervous on reading this month's contribution "The Myth, the Law, and
the Spectrum" (by Martin Cooper, pp. 62-63)...
"The first transatlantic transmission in
I've just gone to my IEEE online site and scanned the articles found by
searching on "Bluetooth" and that I had access to. That amounted to two
Spectrum articles in the last several months. I scanned each of those
for "foot", "feet", and "yard" with null results. Other journals were
listed but I'm
Jay Leno's quip about this was "So what. The power companies in
California bring light to a halt in whole sections of a city at a time!"
No, the "old" definition is still good. That hinges on the speed of
light in a vacuum, not in a material substance as this experiment used.
Jim
Gregory Peters
I don't get a feeling of IEEE backing away. The Wall Street Journal
regularly talks about Bluetooth, and I'm pretty sure I remember a lot of
obvious "33 feet" translations appearing in the text. And occasionally the
WSJ is starting to quote things in hard metric.
Nat
>
> A colleague has just
A colleague has just got hold of an IEEE Guide to Bluetooth. I was
somewhat surprised and very disappointed to see references to the
range of the system to '30 feet' and '300 feet'.
In another IEEE Proceedings I saw references to pounds in one of the
research papers.
I thought the IEEE required
I was pleasantly surprised to find the following at the weekend. The
Spectator is renowned for its right-wing views (it's part of the
Telegraph group), so it was unexpected:
IMPERIAL MADNESS
Ross Clark will shed no tears for the metric martyrs in their defence
of a system that helped destroy t
My understanding of this term is that it is from a nautical origin. A
traditional square-rigger would have three sails, with as much as three
yards each, so that when all the sails are out, you've got the whole nine
yards.
It's amazing how many "origins" there are. Does the OED have an etymo
At one point I heard, but can not confirm, that this was a WWII term. It
stems from the fact(?) that the ammo belts on the fighter planes were 9
yards long. To give someone the "whole nine yards" meant to unload the
magazine on them.
Scott C
> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTE
Hi, folks,
Wouldn't it be time that some (or all!...) of us get in touch with TABD to inquire
about the status of the FPLA legislation update effort?
After all, they claimed they'd support a change in this piece of legislation to allow
for metric-only labels in the US!...
Marcus
PS: BTW, how
>My wife heard a comment on the origin of the saying "the whole nine yards."
>
>Apparently it is the amount of fabric needed to make a complete formal
>Scottish kilt, sporran, and plaid and not a reference to American/Canadian
>football as I had always suspected.
>
>Thus the "proper" SI translat
On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, Gregory Peterson wrote:
>
> ... could this now mean a new definition for the metre is required?
No. The "group velocity" of the pulse was slowed.
The "phase velocity" of each component was still c (in vac).
Gene.
isn't the definition of a meter based on the speed of light IN A VACUUM?
paul
-Original Message-
From: Gregory Peterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 1:51 PM
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:10613] slowing down the speed of light
This was in Mo
I've actually heard it came from the shipping insurance industry referring
to
the number of yard arms a sailing ship had. I vaguely remember that nine
yards was the maximum of any ship hence the most that could be insured.
Gary Vigen
> --
> From: Gregory Peterson[SMTP:[EMAIL PRO
We have discussed the expression "the whole nine yards" before, and no one
had a definitive source on its origin. But in construction, the volume of a
standard ready-mixed concrete truck was traditionally 9 [cubic] yards (=7
m3) and I have personally heard builders say "the whole nine yards" meani
This was in Monday's Globe and Mail.
The tongue and cheek nature of the article aside: If this is true, could this now mean
a new definition for the metre is required?
greg
Lights! Inaction!
Monday, January 22, 2001
What's the world coming to if
A few weeks ago on The West Wing (an NBC show about a Democratic
administration in the Whitehouse, and all the goings-on there), the
president's daughter, complaining about her father's concern for her
security, said something like, "A stranger can't come within a hundred
meters of me without you
The Home Depot [ http://www.homedepot.com ], [ http://www.homedepot.ca ] has a number
of calculators available to determine how much supplies are need for a project of a
given size.
They provided a metric input option, however there were a number of glaring errors:
1) they had two blanks for
>Well, here we are in 2001 and only months away from the latest date to
>convert speed limit signs in the Republic. Probably a safe bet it won't
>happen in June, but is it looking like there will simply be another
>two-year extension and nothing more done to actually pepare for the
>conversion (as
Checked my supermarket in Austin, Texas. 7-UP was in 500 mL, 2 L, and 3 L
bottles. I then checked other brands. Virtually everything was metric
except Pepsi.
Baron Carter
Excellent, John! This is a well-written letter. Hopefully with enough
drops of water we can turn this pothole into a scenic canyon. The
Smithsonian magazine is another favorite, old target of mine and if
you're a subscriber (I dropped them in protest) I urge you to write a
similar letter to them.
Dear Editors of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC -
The map and other images of Mars in your most recent issue are stunning,
and I was entranced as I explored the red planet through these images and
the accompanying story. The article suffered from one drawback, however,
in its presentation of units of dis
We've had the 600 ml bottles (Coca-Cola, and Pepsi/7-UP) in Canada for some time.
Occasionally we do see 591 ml bottles of "speciality" products from Coca-Cola such as
their new bottled-water line and "sports" drinks.
I'll let the List know when I see a 500 ml bottle. Incidentally I was in an
My wife heard a comment on the origin of the saying "the whole nine yards."
Apparently it is the amount of fabric needed to make a complete formal Scottish kilt,
sporran, and plaid and not a reference to American/Canadian football as I had always
suspected.
Thus the "proper" SI translation wou
I was flipping through the channels last night and I heard two rather surprising (and
pleasing) references to metric on US network TV.
1) "Ali McBeal" (Fox Network). A reference was made by a supposedly overweigth witness
to "lose 5". When questioned she stated "it could have been kilos or poun
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