Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#121
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 11:18:23 AM UTC, dennis@home wrote:
On 12/01/2019 02:09, Fredxx wrote: Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. You mean wickets not pitches. A cricket oval is somewhat larger than a chain. Just shows how confusing the old stuff was. Terry Pratchett says in a footnote in 'Good Omens'*: "NOTE TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: Two Farthings = One Ha'penny. Two Ha'pennies = One Penny. Three Pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea. The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated." * - co-written by Neil Gaiman but I can recognise a Pratchett footnote at 100 chains... |
#122
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
Rod Speed wrote:
If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in Partly because despite the huge number of posts you send you arent that good at it so it isnt worth paying much attention and as a foreigner posting to a UK group even less reason to take much notice of your comments even if you think they are important. Space below left free for preprogrammed Speed response. Must be time for a paper bag again, you foreigners are so predictable. GH |
#123
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
Halmyre wrote:
On Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 11:18:23 AM UTC, dennis@home wrote: On 12/01/2019 02:09, Fredxx wrote: Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. You mean wickets not pitches. A cricket oval is somewhat larger than a chain. Just shows how confusing the old stuff was. Terry Pratchett says in a footnote in 'Good Omens'*: "NOTE TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: Two Farthings = One Ha'penny. Two Ha'pennies = One Penny. Three Pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea. The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated." The Florin was intended as a decimal coin. The Victorians intended to introduce a decimal coin system with 10 Florins to the pound. Only the Florin was introduced before the idea was dropped. GH |
#124
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
Marland wrote: The Florin was intended as a decimal coin. The Victorians intended to introduce a decimal coin system with 10 Florins to the pound. Only the Florin was introduced before the idea was dropped. Interesting that the dollar is metric - yet they have a quarter. -- *"I am " is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. * Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#125
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Saturday, 12 January 2019 11:18:59 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. I use metres feet and inches :-) This house, probably like most in the UK, was built Imperial. Especially the electric and plumbing stuff. Owain |
#126
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 13:45, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , wrote: On Saturday, 12 January 2019 11:18:59 UTC, Dave Plowman (News)Â* wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. It interfaces with the human *body* better. The foot is about the length of your, errm, foot, and the French for inch is the pouce, or thumb. The yard is supposedly the stride length of your Roman soldier. The only body related unit I find of any use is 9" for my span. And that isn't even a unit. -- Max Demian |
#127
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
"Tim Streater" wrote in message
.. . In article , wrote: On Saturday, 12 January 2019 11:18:59 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. It interfaces with the human *body* better. The foot is about the length of your, errm, foot, and the French for inch is the pouce, or thumb. The yard is supposedly the stride length of your Roman soldier. Contrast this with metric which is based on arbitrary units: divide the distance equator-pole into 10,000 to get the kilometre, then successively divide down by 1000 and 100 for the metre and centimetre. Its only real asset is that it's what everyone (almost) uses. Yes: two conflicting needs - human-sized folk units and scientific engineering units which are designed for ease of calculation and conversion, and which have one meaning worldwide (ie not three different ounces for jewellery, pharmacy and general use, not a UK and a UK definition of gallon (and pint and fluid ounce) and ton (and hundredweight). For me, ease of calculation trumps everything else, but for other people it's the other way round - everyone's different. |
#128
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 11:33, Roger Hayter wrote:
dennis@home wrote: On 11/01/2019 22:53, Steve Walker wrote: a stew, etc.). Imperial also divides up nicely into 1/4s and 1/3s. SteveW What's different about 1/3 kg and 1/3 pound? You should be able to handle either with ease. Ones 333.333333* grams and the other is 6.6666* ounces. You seem to be thinking of pints rather than pounds! shows how bad it was. |
#129
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 06:34, Rod Speed wrote:
"Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:59, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:12, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 01:41, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 10/01/2019 21:23, Jethro_uk wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 21:08:43 +0000, ARW wrote: On 10/01/2019 19:55, T i m wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 19:15:24 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote: On 10/01/19 19:10, ARW wrote: Third year apprentice (one of the best we have had) was having trouble putting the meter tails into the mains isolator on some new builds. He was having difficulty tightening up the hex screws. One answer in the office was "You have a **** set of Allen keys" In his defence he replied "They are brand new I only got them on Saturday and I paid for the most expensive of the two pairs available as I don't want **** tools" Anyone care to guess what went wrong:-)? Imperial vs metric? +1 Indeed. But at least he came in and said he had a problem. And the problem is now sorted. Obviously never heard of the word imperial before and was amazed at the markings on the tool that he had never noticed. Oh dear, how will he cope when £sd and feet inches and roods come back ? Why should they come back? If a reference to Brexit; decimalisation was before entry into the EEC and even countries like the USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units. Not really with the units the general public uses. And they dont have much in the way of the weirder ones like roods, perches, bushels, furlongs etc.Â* Really just grains with ammunition and bullets etc. Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. They dont have cricket pitches, stupid. You probably don't, however this is a UK group and we do. Pity that post is discussing what the USA does units wise. Are you ****ed? No point in asking you if you are ****ed and drug crazed. the answer is obvious. The discussion was about a UK apprentice using Allen/hex keys bought in the UK used on metric equipment and then some kind of reversion to £sd and feet inches and roods. If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in the USA. Any reference to the USA was made by me where I said "USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units." I had not moved the conversation away from UK classification of sizes. What a plonker. Your sig is sposed to have a line with just -- on it in front of it, ****wit. reams of your even sillier ****wit **** flushed where it belongs Finally, the sign you have lost your argument. |
#130
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
"Marland" wrote in message ... Rod Speed wrote: If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in Partly because despite the huge number of posts you send you arent that good at it so it isnt worth paying much attention and as a foreigner posting to a UK group even less reason to take much notice of your comments even if you think they are important. Even sillier than you usually manage, and thats saying something. That drug crazed terminal ****wit chose to comment on a comment I made, you silly little drug crazed terminal ****wit. |
#131
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote:
"bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. The odd thing is that there were 20 people watching the demo, and no one at the time spotted the fact that the readings being taken ever ten secs seems to be happening a bit quick! Its only when doing the sums later that nothing made sense. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#132
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
"Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 06:34, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:59, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:12, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 01:41, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 10/01/2019 21:23, Jethro_uk wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 21:08:43 +0000, ARW wrote: On 10/01/2019 19:55, T i m wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 19:15:24 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote: On 10/01/19 19:10, ARW wrote: Third year apprentice (one of the best we have had) was having trouble putting the meter tails into the mains isolator on some new builds. He was having difficulty tightening up the hex screws. One answer in the office was "You have a **** set of Allen keys" In his defence he replied "They are brand new I only got them on Saturday and I paid for the most expensive of the two pairs available as I don't want **** tools" Anyone care to guess what went wrong:-)? Imperial vs metric? +1 Indeed. But at least he came in and said he had a problem. And the problem is now sorted. Obviously never heard of the word imperial before and was amazed at the markings on the tool that he had never noticed. Oh dear, how will he cope when £sd and feet inches and roods come back ? Why should they come back? If a reference to Brexit; decimalisation was before entry into the EEC and even countries like the USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units. Not really with the units the general public uses. And they dont have much in the way of the weirder ones like roods, perches, bushels, furlongs etc. Really just grains with ammunition and bullets etc. Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. They dont have cricket pitches, stupid. You probably don't, however this is a UK group and we do. Pity that post is discussing what the USA does units wise. Are you ****ed? No point in asking you if you are ****ed and drug crazed. the answer is obvious. The discussion was about a UK apprentice using Allen/hex keys bought in the UK used on metric equipment and then some kind of reversion to £sd and feet inches and roods. If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in the USA. Any reference to the USA was made by me where I said "USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units." And thats what I was commenting on, ****wit. What a plonker. Your sig is sposed to have a line with just -- on it in front of it, ****wit. reams of your even sillier ****wit **** flushed where it belongs |
#133
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 18:00, Rod Speed wrote:
"Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 06:34, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:59, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:12, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 01:41, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 10/01/2019 21:23, Jethro_uk wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 21:08:43 +0000, ARW wrote: On 10/01/2019 19:55, T i m wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 19:15:24 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote: On 10/01/19 19:10, ARW wrote: Third year apprentice (one of the best we have had) was having trouble putting the meter tails into the mains isolator on some new builds. He was having difficulty tightening up the hex screws. One answer in the office was "You have a **** set of Allen keys" In his defence he replied "They are brand new I only got them on Saturday and I paid for the most expensive of the two pairs available as I don't want **** tools" Anyone care to guess what went wrong:-)? Imperial vs metric? +1 Indeed. But at least he came in and said he had a problem. And the problem is now sorted. Obviously never heard of the word imperial before and was amazed at the markings on the tool that he had never noticed. Oh dear, how will he cope when £sd and feet inches and roods come back ? Why should they come back? If a reference to Brexit; decimalisation was before entry into the EEC and even countries like the USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units. Not really with the units the general public uses. And they dont have much in the way of the weirder ones like roods, perches, bushels, furlongs etc.Â* Really just grains with ammunition and bullets etc. Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. They dont have cricket pitches, stupid. You probably don't, however this is a UK group and we do. Pity that post is discussing what the USA does units wise. Are you ****ed? No point in asking you if you are ****ed and drug crazed. the answer is obvious. The discussion was about a UK apprentice using Allen/hex keys bought in the UK used on metric equipment and then some kind of reversion to £sd and feet inches and roods. If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in the USA. Any reference to the USA was made by me where I said "USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units." And thats what I was commenting on, ****wit. Next time reply to the corresponding post, not one that had moved by several posts onto 'general public'. What a plonker. Your sig is sposed to have a line with just -- on it in front of it, ****wit. reams of your even sillier ****wit **** flushed where it belongs Yet another example of a lost cause. You're not very bright, are you. |
#134
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
"Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 18:00, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 06:34, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:59, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 03:12, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 12/01/2019 01:41, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 10/01/2019 21:23, Jethro_uk wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 21:08:43 +0000, ARW wrote: On 10/01/2019 19:55, T i m wrote: On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 19:15:24 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote: On 10/01/19 19:10, ARW wrote: Third year apprentice (one of the best we have had) was having trouble putting the meter tails into the mains isolator on some new builds. He was having difficulty tightening up the hex screws. One answer in the office was "You have a **** set of Allen keys" In his defence he replied "They are brand new I only got them on Saturday and I paid for the most expensive of the two pairs available as I don't want **** tools" Anyone care to guess what went wrong:-)? Imperial vs metric? +1 Indeed. But at least he came in and said he had a problem. And the problem is now sorted. Obviously never heard of the word imperial before and was amazed at the markings on the tool that he had never noticed. Oh dear, how will he cope when £sd and feet inches and roods come back ? Why should they come back? If a reference to Brexit; decimalisation was before entry into the EEC and even countries like the USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units. Not really with the units the general public uses. And they dont have much in the way of the weirder ones like roods, perches, bushels, furlongs etc. Really just grains with ammunition and bullets etc. Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. They dont have cricket pitches, stupid. You probably don't, however this is a UK group and we do. Pity that post is discussing what the USA does units wise. Are you ****ed? No point in asking you if you are ****ed and drug crazed. the answer is obvious. The discussion was about a UK apprentice using Allen/hex keys bought in the UK used on metric equipment and then some kind of reversion to £sd and feet inches and roods. If you werent actually ****ed and drug crazed, even a terminal ****wit such as yourself should have noticed that the particular post I chose to comment on had moved on from that to discussing what happens in the USA. Any reference to the USA was made by me where I said "USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units." And thats what I was commenting on, ****wit. Next time reply to the corresponding post, I did. What a plonker. Your sig is sposed to have a line with just -- on it in front of it, ****wit. reams of your even sillier ****wit **** flushed where it belongs |
#136
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote:
On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). |
#137
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article , newshound
wrote: On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote: On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). fairly close to a second, but I've never done the arithmetic -- from KT24 in Surrey, England "I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle |
#138
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
"charles" wrote in message
... In article , newshound wrote: On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote: On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). fairly close to a second, but I've never done the arithmetic Was that a guess? If so, I'm impressed. It actually works out as 1.2 seconds. |
#139
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 02:08, Fredxx wrote:
On 11/01/2019 23:14, Tim Streater wrote: In article , Steve Walker wrote: On 11/01/2019 12:36, bert wrote: Well they even get their dates wrong way round Yes. There are two sensible ways to do it: dd/mm/yy - as that give the probably most relevent unit first and the later ones can be ignored if not required. This is a human-oriented date. Use for any human interaction. yy/mm/dd - as that sorts properly on a computer. A computer oriented date. Use internally if you must, personally I store all computer generated dates as seconds since the epoch. Why on earth would mm/dd/yy make any sense at all? It doesn't. It does if you say a date like July 5th. Have you never used such a written format. Mind, I haven't for a long time, but hey. I'd always say or write 5th July and possibly add a comma and the year. We were always taught at school to date letters and the like in that format. My preferred format for computer files is yy-mm-dd Agreed. SteveW |
#140
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 21:54, newshound wrote:
On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote: On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). One of our old physics books (published by Mills & Boon oddly enough) mentioned a process that used a measurement of a foot-pound per pennyweight fortnight! SteveW |
#141
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , Steve Walker wrote: I was taught only metric at school, but use both. I prefer metric for calculations, but imperial for real-world measurements. I can visualise imperial measurements better than metric and they match everyday life better (a pint or half-pint to drink, a pound of meat for a stew, etc.). Imperial also divides up nicely into 1/4s and 1/3s. Quite. Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isnt any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. Of course those who've only ever used metric wouldn't understand this. |
#142
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Friday, 11 January 2019 23:25:09 UTC, Max Demian wrote:
On 11/01/2019 22:21, tabbypurr wrote: On Friday, 11 January 2019 13:24:41 UTC, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... I read an article recently arguing that base 12 would be better than 10 because it has more factors. Definitely. If we'd been born with 12 digits, we'd have learned to count in base 12, and we'd have invented two extra symbols for what in base 10 we write as 11 and 12. I can do base 16 arithmetic more easily than base 12, and that's partly because there's only ever one digit (numeric or letter) in each column. Decimal is trivial to divide by 2 or 5. Base 12 is trivial to divide by 6, 4, 3, 2. And that's why humans have used base 12 so much. Nothing to do with number of digits, it's not as if counting to 12 presents any difficulty to anyone. It does if you count on your fingers. If you're so innumerate that you need to use your fingers to count then the finer points of imperial v metric are immaterial. What percentage of people can't count without using their fingers anyway? NT |
#143
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Saturday, 12 January 2019 02:09:32 UTC, Fredxx wrote:
On 12/01/2019 01:41, Rod Speed wrote: "Fredxx" wrote in message ... On 10/01/2019 21:23, Jethro_uk wrote: Oh dear, how will he cope when £sd and feet inches and roods come back ? Why should they come back? If a reference to Brexit; decimalisation was before entry into the EEC and even countries like the USA are steadily moving towards metrification and SI units. Not really with the units the general public uses. And they dont have much in the way of the weirder ones like roods, perches, bushels, furlongs etc.Â* Really just grains with ammunition and bullets etc. Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong.. How long can a cricket pitch anyway? NT |
#144
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Sunday, 13 January 2019 02:34:48 UTC, BillD wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isnt any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. there's the metric foot or 30cm NT |
#145
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article , NY
wrote: "charles" wrote in message ... In article , newshound wrote: On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote: On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). fairly close to a second, but I've never done the arithmetic Was that a guess? If so, I'm impressed. It actually works out as 1.2 seconds. No - a memory of a conversation in the late 1960s. -- from KT24 in Surrey, England "I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle |
#146
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote: On 12/01/2019 21:54, newshound wrote: On 12/01/2019 17:18, John Rumm wrote: On 11/01/2019 13:51, NY wrote: "bert" wrote in message ... SO why isn't the clock metric? I still have my Casio calculator from the 70s which could work in hrs and mins. I remember seeing articles in magazines which discussed in all seriousness whether the world should devise new units of 50 metric seconds in a metric minute, 50 of those minutes in a metric hour and 25 metric hours in a day. Or some such calculation which resulted in a metric second being *reasonably* close to a real second. I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... Basically it meant when it said what we thought was ten seconds had passed, it had actually only been six. In my research days, when we were typically running experiments for a week or two, one of my colleagues suggested that we should use the microfortnight as a unit of time. (Check out what it corresponds to). One of our old physics books (published by Mills & Boon oddly enough) mentioned a process that used a measurement of a foot-pound per pennyweight fortnight! On of our university lecturers suggested we measure viscosity in "Acres per year" (L^2/T) -- from KT24 in Surrey, England "I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle |
#147
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Saturday, 12 January 2019 23:52:43 UTC, Steve Walker wrote:
One of our old physics books (published by Mills & Boon oddly enough) mentioned a process that used a measurement of a foot-pound per pennyweight fortnight! Page 133 onwards of this gives tables of so many obscure measurements my head hurts, and it's intended to be *helpful* https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=..._toc_r&ca d=4 Owain |
#148
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
More Heavy Trolling by Senile Nym-Shifting Rot Speed!
On 13 Jan 2019 02:34:45 GMT, BillDcantankerous trolling geezer Rot Speed,
the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isn¢t any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. It's just a problem with seniles like you and him, senile Rot! |
#149
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Troll-feeding Senile IDIOT Alert!
|
#150
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Sunday, 13 January 2019 03:40:26 UTC, wrote:
What percentage of people can't count without using their fingers anyway? Quite a lot. 22% of fifteen year olds in this country are functionally innumerate. https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...in-mathematics This is one reason why pound shops are popular with poor, and poorly-educated, people. They find it easier to work out how many things they can buy with this week's "giro". Owain |
#151
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
John Rumm wrote: I remember an A level physics practical demo that was screwed up by some kind of centi minute stopwatch the lab tech gave out... WhiskyDave gets around a bit. ;-) -- *Why don't sheep shrink when it rains? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#152
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
Terry Casey wrote: As a kid, I was always fascinated when I saw my mother add up a column of prices. It wasn't just pounds, shillings and pence - we still had farthings! Remember when I used to do the shopping for my mum on a Saturday morning. In the days when you bought most things fresh - and didn't go by car to shop. And she used to give me the exact money. For a large shopping bag of mixed groceries. -- *Eat well, stay fit, die anyway Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#153
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 02:34:48 UTC, BillD wrote: Dave Plowman (News) wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isn‘t any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. there's the metric foot or 30cm Which rather proves the point that going from a centimetre to metre is too big a change for practical use. -- *Ever stop to think and forget to start again? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#154
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 03:40:26 UTC, wrote: What percentage of people can't count without using their fingers anyway? Quite a lot. 22% of fifteen year olds in this country are functionally innumerate. https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...in-mathematics This is one reason why pound shops are popular with poor, and poorly-educated, people. They find it easier to work out how many things they can buy with this week's "giro". In which case there would only be pound shops in the poorer towns, or parts of a town? -- *I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway through. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#155
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 02:34:48 UTC, BillD wrote: Dave Plowman (News) wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isn¼t any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. there's the metric foot or 30cm Which rather proves the point that going from a centimetre to metre is too big a change for practical use. I think the decimetre gets used quite a lot, at least in France. We don't seem to use it at all. -- Roger Hayter |
#156
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On Sunday, 13 January 2019 10:12:49 UTC, wrote:
On Sunday, 13 January 2019 03:40:26 UTC, tabby wrote: What percentage of people can't count without using their fingers anyway? Quite a lot. 22% of fifteen year olds in this country are functionally innumerate. https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...in-mathematics This is one reason why pound shops are popular with poor, and poorly-educated, people. They find it easier to work out how many things they can buy with this week's "giro". Owain What an indictment of the school system & our national culture. NT |
#157
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 13/01/2019 12:35, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote: In article , wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 02:34:48 UTC, BillD wrote: Dave Plowman (News) wrote: Despite trying to convert, I still find yards feet and inches easier to use for DIY round the house than metric. I reckon it interfaces with the human brain better. Yes, the metre is fine, close enough to a yard to allow easy visualisation but there isn¼t any foot like equivalent and the cm is a bit of a bodge. there's the metric foot or 30cm Which rather proves the point that going from a centimetre to metre is too big a change for practical use. I think the decimetre gets used quite a lot, at least in France. We don't seem to use it at all. yes, which is odd when it's such a handy unit -- Robin reply-to address is (intended to be) valid |
#158
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
In article ,
wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 10:12:49 UTC, wrote: On Sunday, 13 January 2019 03:40:26 UTC, tabby wrote: What percentage of people can't count without using their fingers anyway? Quite a lot. 22% of fifteen year olds in this country are functionally innumerate. https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...in-mathematics This is one reason why pound shops are popular with poor, and poorly-educated, people. They find it easier to work out how many things they can buy with this week's "giro". Owain What an indictment of the school system & our national culture. More a view of why so many think being poor is down to the individual being feckless. Plenty use pound shops because the pack sizes are often smaller for some things. And the odd bargain. -- *Life is hard; then you nap Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#159
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 12/01/2019 11:18, dennis@home wrote:
On 12/01/2019 02:09, Fredxx wrote: Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. You mean wickets not pitches. No, I meant pitch as per: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_pitch If you disagree you could edit the wiki article. Cricket wickets are 22 yards apart according this and other articles. A cricket oval is somewhat larger than a chain. An oval certainly is. Just shows how confusing the old stuff was. The relationship between measurements was well defined. The issue I have with the SI system is that a none native measurement of kg is used. Why should 1,000 of a native measurement, ie grammes be a referenced quantity. I would have preferred a mgs system over mks or even cgs. |
#160
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Apprentice and Hex keys
On 13/01/2019 14:17, Fredxx wrote:
On 12/01/2019 11:18, dennis@home wrote: On 12/01/2019 02:09, Fredxx wrote: Furlongs? I thought everyone knew you get 10 cricket pitches in a furlong. You mean wickets not pitches. No, I meant pitch as per: Â* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_pitch If you disagree you could edit the wiki article. I think not. Cricket wickets are 22 yards apart according this and other articles. but thats not a pitch according to the article as there is a minimum of 1.2m additional at each end. so at best nine pitches but who really cares? |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
New site for Nod32 keys and kaspersky keys | UK diy | |||
Hex head vs hex socket head | Metalworking | |||
American hex key, Indian hex socket screw | Metalworking | |||
Hex Allen Keys for drills? | UK diy | |||
Why are hex head bolts hex rather than Octagonal (or square?) | Metalworking |