Brexit at the next junction: Verity's guide to key post-vote skills Pay attention, campers. I have conducted an impartial analysis of the post-Brexit landscape and identified a list of concrete, must-have programming skills for your edification. Impartial? That's pretty rich, coming from you, Verity, considering what I have heard about your activities since Referendum Night. I don't know what …
As overheard in a pub over the weekend
"All that [redacted] metric stuff was forced on us by the [redacted] EU. Brexit means going back to feet, inches, pounds and ounces and even pounds shillings and pence."
The three young people looked at the older man with amazement.
TBH, anyone born since 1970 would be mad to want to go back to the old Imperial Units.
The Daily Express and Daily Mail have a lot to answer for (IMHO).
While I embrace proposal to return to using proper Imperial units wholeheartedly, I do think that any sudden switch from SI units to Imperial might prove disruptive.
Instead, I propose a gradual change-over with a period of a few years using MKS units, and then another few years using cgs units, before finally returning to the stability of Imperial.
Proper Imperial, of course -- 20 fluid ounces in a pint, 2240lbs in a Ton -- anything else would just be confusing.
"I'd rather pull my toenails out with a rusty pair of blacksmiths tongs than have to work in Imperial though. "
As a child I spent about two years of maths lessons at school just learning how to use, add, subtract multiply and [sob] divide Imperial units. If a stone of apples costs 1s 51/2d, how much does a pound of apples cost to the nearest farthing? (Extra marks for writing apple's).
This learning is nowadays as much use as knowing how to use log tables. Are we going to go back to them to and forget all this "computer" nonsense?
As a child I spent about two years of maths lessons at school just learning how to use, add, subtract multiply and [sob] divide Imperial units
I once had a discussion with someone over the use of Imperial versus metric units in building (given that he was a Leftpondian he probably meant Colonial units, with their shrunken gallon and other abominations). He persisted in the notion that Imperial was easier to use, as it was divisible by 2. Demonstrating that one centimeter divided by 2 yielded 5mm which then could be added or subtracted or multiplied with whatever value yielding a new value which would again be equally divisible by 2 just didn't penetrate his two-plank thickness.
Later it occurred to me that he might have meant Imperial timber sizes specifically, but given that a 2x4 is not at all 2 inches high and 4 inches wide, going from the nominal sizes instead of measuring will trip you up anyway, sooner or later.
I'm sure old weights, measures, and currencies will be on the curriculum in May's grammar schools.
You know, the new PM who on her first day talked about not leaving anyone behind and opportunities for all, goes on holiday, comes back, and announces she wants to bring back grammar schools.
Obviously following in the footsteps of Cameron and his one nation conservatism, where the government keeps holding referendums* to divide the country.
Rant over.
* or referenda if you must.
One of the champagne companies (Pol Roger?) said they were going to bring back the pint bottle of bubbles - apparenlty it was Churchill's favourite.
Perhaps the wine makers of Kent and Sussex can start claiming theirs is champagne as well now? Then get it behind the bar in pubs. "Mine's a pint of Bubbley ole Bishop please, and some pork scratchings."
Nope, that's an international law. Hence, you can't buy California Champagne or Champinsky any more.
What it could mean is that the UK has wine laws that separate from those of the EU (rose made from mix of red and white for example). Not likely to happen as the French-style wine laws are one of the few good things to come out of the EU.
The Europeans have steadfastly hung onto a billion as 1012. There was (still is) a perfectly good word for 109 - milliard*, an ancient text book in my possession describes a light-year as "six thousand milliard miles". The French press describe Bill Gates as un milliardaire.
* Would that make 1015 a billiard?
> The Europeans have steadfastly hung onto a billion as 10^12. ...
There is a nice regularity in that: bi-, tri-, quad-, ... -illion respectively have 2*6, 3*6, 4*6 (etc.) zeros. Hence recalling which is which is trivial up to decillion (10*6 = 60 zeros). And that should be enough for most practical purposes.
Mit besten Grüssen, GrumpenKraut
Ich sprechen deutsch, auch, ein bitschen (aber meine deutsch ist shrecklich). I've never given up on proper billions (10^12) due to my interest in the sciences. And also due to that interest, as soon as I learnt about metric units I stopped trying to get my head around the Imperial ones, which never made much sense to me,
I can't recall ever using Imperial units to actually measure anything except short distances (up to a few feet), and then only because whomever I was communicatig with at the time demanded Imperial measure. Pounds and pints were more a visual approximation - that looks to be roughly a pint of liquid, this feels like roughly a couple of pounds of spuds. As for temperature, Centigrade is simply SO much easier in day to day life than Fahrenheit that I don't really understand why the latter ever took hold (except for a short period in the scietific community, oddly enough, when they were trying to get a grip on temperatures below the freezing point of water).
Metric is so much easier you'd have to be braindead to want to return to it IMHO. And I'm 59. Oh,
sure, retain some Imperial units in cases where a bit of tradition is involved, if you want - like the pint of beer - but in everday use?
Can we revisit another ancient tradition - sadly given up in pursuit of political correctness gorn mad?
Henry V died in 1422 taking England's chance to rule France with him. Mary 1st lost our last bit, Calais, in 1558 - yet Kings of England were still crowned as King of France until George III gave the title up in 1800.
I say we should bring it back. George III was literally mad to do it...
Just because some bloke in a wig with blue wee-wee says we don't own the place, doesn't make it so!
I think we could revolutionize our credit-based economy by going back to the system where a bad debt must be collected by a "bum" (or "push-arse") who has to touch you with a wooden stave. As long as he doesn't touch you with his stick, you are allowed to run away. And they may not chase you if you stay in the Savoy for some reason.
We could combine payday loans with reality TV and LEAD THE WORLD.
"I bet there's an off-the-shelf module for it somewhere."
I'm not sure there is but you could always create your own type for it. Working with old maps, land valuations etc it's an irritant that spreadsheets don't have a type for acres, roods & perches. Metric measures, or at least only having metric, just complicates things..
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