You are correct in fostering the use of the ISO date format; however, I prefer to use a dash (-) rather than a slash (/) as a separator in the date format. For example 20009-03-10. A dash makes it better readable. Stan Doore
----- Original Message ----- From: John Frewen-Lord To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:49 AM Subject: [USMA:43628] Re: 24 hour time The best way for the US to change its date format is to go straight to the ISO format of YYYY/MM/DD. When Canada converted in the late '70s, this was the official format at the time, and all Canadian Federal and Provincial government documentation at the time had to follow this format. Regretfully, and primarily thanks to Mr Gates, this seems to have been abandoned, due in no small part to Windows defaulting to the US-only format, regardless of which country it is sold in. This is not merely of academic interest. I bank with HSBC, and have both UK and Canadian bank accounts, including something called Global View, where I can view on line (and switch money on line between) my accounts in both countries simultaneously. The UK accounts are shown in DD/MM/YY format. The Canadian ones are shown in MM/DD/YY format when looking at statement summaries or selecting a date range to view a statement - but the individual entries in that statement are shown in DD/MM/YY format! Needless to say this is infuriating and confusing, and I wonder why HSBC do this, as they are UK-based. However, my printed Canadian statements are postmarked in NY State with US postage, so there must be a US connection in there somewhere. If anyone does online currency trading, all the trading platforms are in YYYY/MM/DD format, and various online videos I receive from US-based gurus and experts are also usually shown in this format. This does save a lot of confusion. ----- Original Message ----- From: David To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:07 AM Subject: [USMA:43625] 24 hour time What are the changes of the United States adopting 24 hour time instead of the AM/PM thing? Would there be some kind of law (which would probably occur after metrication) or would it just be one of those things people just adopt? What about date standards? I would like to see America start using DD/MM/YY instead of MM/DD/YY. What does it take for a country to adopt a date/time standard?