> On 2011/01/12, at 08:30 , Stephen Humphreys wrote: > >> I heard the tragic news about the torrential rain in Australia, >> >> However- a little note which will probably annoy you- or at least disappoint >> They were broadcasting from Australia (BBC) via a feed from an Aussie channel >> >> The only use of measures was when someone said (in an strong Aussie accent) >> 'the water was over 12 foot deep....'
This is a common feature of BBC broadcasts. They interview a number of people then select the interview to suit their audience. If the BBC audience is in the UK then "feet" will be chosen from the several interviews available. Fox News was having the same trouble here http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/10/dead-new-flood-australias-crisis-worsens/?test=latestnews when one kind soul translated 2 to 3 metres to 6 to 10 feet for the poor foreign interviewer who didn't seem to know his metres from his elbows. Translating for foreigners from the UK or the USA is often a matter of politeness and courtesy. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Geelong, Australia On 2011/01/12, at 08:30 , Stephen Humphreys wrote: > I heard the tragic news about the torrential rain in Australia, > > However- a little note which will probably annoy you- or at least disappoint > They were broadcasting from Australia (BBC) via a feed from an Aussie channel > > The only use of measures was when someone said (in an strong Aussie accent) > 'the water was over 12 foot deep....' > This is not a rarity in Aus. I asked an Australian colleague and he said > that feet were commonly used as they were very tangible and handy. Worth > passing on? If I have time I can try to find the wav excerpt. > > From: pat.naugh...@metricationmatters.com > Subject: [USMA:49475] RE: Floods in Germany -- AP Reporting > Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:02:23 +1100 > To: usma@colostate.edu > > Dear John, > > In Australia, flood reports are given with one decimal place. This applies to > predictions and to actual observations. For instance the current floods were > predicted to go to 8.5 metres and then they were reported (with a great deal > of relief) as peaking at 8.3 metres. In two weeks of flood reporting I have > not seen nor heard a single "metric conversion" from the Australian media. > > I have to say that the calculations for the flood level forecasters are now a > whole lot easier. They know that if (say) 45 millimetres of rain fall on a > square metre then there will be 45 litres of water that will flow somewhere > (and we have had so much recent rain that the soils can be assumed to be > waterlogged). It follows that the same 45 millimetres of rain will produce > 450 000 litres from a hectare or 45 000 000 from a square kilometre. As a > side issue, in the latter two examples we would say 450 kilolitres and 45 > megalitres. > > And for comparison: > Now le'ssee, 1 and 3/4 inches of rain on one acre = … gallons, and that rain > spread over a square mile = … cubic yards. Where's my pencil? > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > Geelong, Australia > > On 2011/01/11, at 10:44 , John M. Steele wrote: > > Allow me to disagree. I am quite sure the underlying data from Germany was > 7.70 m and the BBC got it essentially right, the AP showed their fundamental > and total lack of understanding of metric, and inability to use it properly. > (Note the BBC, as it usually does, omitted the space between the number and > the unit. Also if Germany takes data to the centimeter, as indicated by a > datapoint for another town, it should have been 7.70 m, not 7.7 m, the zero > has significance. I admit that is a pretty petty point.) > > From: "a-bruie...@lycos.com" <a-bruie...@lycos.com> > To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> > Sent: Mon, January 10, 2011 5:52:14 PM > Subject: [USMA:49465] RE: Floods in Germany -- AP Reporting > > 25' 4" or 304" is 7.7216 m They were trying to do an American Standard > notation 7 m 72 cm > > Id put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope > we dont have to wait til oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I > had a few more years left. -- Thomas Edison♽☯♑ > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Vlietstra" <vliets...@btinternet.com> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> > Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 2:00:05 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [USMA:49459] RE: Floods in Germany -- AP Reporting > > > > > A pity that AP cant do their times table either – when I went to school, 7 > metres equaled 700 centimetres, not 70! > > > > > > > From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of > John M. Steele > Sent: 10 January 2011 17:02 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:49457] Floods in Germany -- AP Reporting > > > > > > Germany is experiencing river flooding from a quick thaw and heavy snow melt. > > > > > > AP and the Washington Post do a typically terrible summary of the water > level: > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011000658.html > > > > Officials were watching flood levels on the Rhine river in the city of > Koblenz on Monday that were expected to peak at 25 feet, 4 inches (7 meters, > 70 centimeters), and some low-lying parts of the city were under water. > > > > The BBC does better: > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12149935 > > Some low-lying areas of Koblenz are already under water and officials expect > the waters to reach 7.7m (25ft) on Monday afternoon. The normal level is > around 2.4m, reports say. > > > > A German news source (English service) describes the water level in another > town as 8.19 m, so they apparently work to the nearest centimeter. > > > > AP, you have a few things wrong: > > 1) Since Germany is metric and obviously the source of the data, shouldn't > the metric come first? > > 2) Metric doesn't use mixed units, 7 m, 70 cm is wrong. Use 7.7 m or 770 cm. > > 3) Assuming 7.70 m, 25 ft 4in is wrong. It rounds to 25 ft 3in, "about 25 > feet" is better yet > > > Pat Naughtin LCAMS > Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, > seehttp://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html > Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped > thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric > system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands > each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat > provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and > professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in > Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian > Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the > UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication > information, contact Pat at pat.naugh...@metricationmatters.com or to get the > free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: > http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe. > > Pat Naughtin LCAMS Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication information, contact Pat at pat.naugh...@metricationmatters.com or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.
