General Discussion Thread

[Noodles]

For deka/hekto most people just use 10/100 meters. The need for dedicated units for those isn't really there. Same goes for weight, people call it "100 grams" rather than "1 hekto".

yes, I know, you're totally right ... but obscure units! I couldn't just *not include them*! Although, I agree with BreezeLouise -- as an American, I would say that we really need to get it together and switch over to metric. I mean, seriously.

[BreezeLouise]

Centimeters and millimeters are ubiquitous units, everyone uses them. Using meters for anything smaller than a meter is really situational. Like "a 0.8 m plank". More decimals than that would be utterly pointless.

Most people I've known use inches instead of centimeters whenever they can, and feet instead of meters. You are right, though, we do use metric for a lot of things, especially millimeters and centimeters. Just not for the majority of things. So...if you're talking about nations in general when you say "everyone", sure. Imperial is used for a lot of stuff here, though, there are plenty of people that have probably never even seen metric used outside of school.

On paper, though, I tend to work almost entirely in meters. Even for small decimals. It's just part of my training from physics, I think. In the physics I've studied, it would be pointless to use anything but meters in most cases. You'd just end up switching right back, anyway.

yes, I know, you're totally right ... but obscure units! I couldn't just *not include them*! Although, I agree with BreezeLouise -- as an American, I would say that we really need to get it together and switch over to metric. I mean, seriously.

Yeah, our system is messy and horrible. I get that it would be hard to completely switch over, but ugh. If you ask me, it'd be soooo worth it.

[Fimbulvarg]

Most people I've known use inches instead of centimeters whenever they can, and feet instead of meters. You are right, though, we do use metric for a lot of things, especially millimeters and centimeters. Just not for the majority of things. So...if you're talking about nations in general when you say "everyone", sure. Imperial is used for a lot of stuff here, though, there are plenty of people that have probably never even seen metric used outside of school.

Nah, I'm talking about popular usage conventions in metric countries. I know the US uses imperial units for most things-- and in all seriousness it's about time you guys got with the times 

[Noodles]

[...] it's about time you guys got with the times 

Not to stereotype, but I suspect that the people who read SSSS are probably not the same people who vehemently oppose metric.

[Koeshi]

Try living in the UK, you are basically expected to know both.  Distance=imperial, measurements=metric, building height=imperial, a person's height=imperial, a person's weight=imperial/metric, food weights=metric, liquid volume=metric (except beer by the tap which has to be imperial), room volume=imperial/metric, temperature=metric and so on...  It is a fun game

If we are still talking about studying music, I used to put on long playlists of dark d'n'b and similar music when I was pulling all nighters (so about once a week).  The constant fast beat helps prevent dozing, while it is not distracting enough to draw you away from the work.  Also used to listen to a lot of Saltillo (which is the opposite of d'n'b but f*** it), problem is that now when I listen to Saltillo it makes me rather morose as my mind goes back to those nights of heavy smoking and exhausted frustration.  Which is a shame because the music is lovely.

As for the tuition fees, I am in about £20,000 of debt after three years of uni (roughly $30,300).  It is going to take me years to pay that off, if my fees were as high as $60k per year, I probably wouldn't have gone.

[JoB]

So the only thing I did was mispell dekameter?

IMHO you want to forget about "-meter" for the moment and learn SI prefixes in their own right, once and for all. Apart from some combinations being more common than others, they apply to all SI base units the same, and even the binary prefixes used in computing essentially just mirror them.

Having that said, the few prefixes outside the "1000-fold" raster are essentially for old units of measurement (UOMs) that were to be grandfathered in to the SI system. You brew beer by the hectoliter, cultivate fields by the hectare, measure the ingredients for a recipe or cocktail by the deciliter and your handiwork by the centimeter, but industrial manufacturing and science stay away from them.

(If it weren't for the fact that airport runways are "numbered" by the "decadegrees" of their compass direction, I wouldn't know a single application case for that prefix anymore. And when you buy, e.g., furniture, they will tell you that the desktop is (say) at 80 cm height but any blueprints they have will say 800 (mm).)

[P__]

(except beer by the tap which has to be imperial)

heh. In Portugal, "imperial" is what you call beer by the tap (though maybe it refers only to the half-pint and/or pint, I don't remember

I like (or not) how there's a difference between "US" and "imperial" volumes which all differ by a factor of 0.832 (ie: google tells me 1 US gallon = 0.83 Imperial gallon), except for the ounce, which is 4% smaller in the US...

edit:

Having that said, the few prefixes outside the "1000-fold" raster are essentially for old units of measurement (UOMs)

except Centi- (and deci- but less so) that are pretty useful for volumes and distances: the standard wine-bottle is 75cl, and cooking is also mostly in cl and liters; and people usually measure things in cm unless they want to get precise
also, an hectare (ha) is 10'000m² (so, like 1 square hectometer if you want the SI prefix). As Job said, you'll use it for fields, or any types of land-surface that's between a house and a city in size.
as for Deca- you might find "decameter", but rarely (last time I saw it was in PE, when we used 10- or 20-meter stripes to see how far we could throw things). That and the runways is pretty much all the use you'll have for it

[BreezeLouise]

Nah, I'm talking about popular usage conventions in metric countries. I know the US uses imperial units for most things-- and in all seriousness it's about time you guys got with the times 

Oh! Gotcha, I totally misunderstood. My mistake! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, I can't picture anyone using triple decimals for, like, a drill bit or something. Exactly like you said, that'd be so unnecessary. xD

Try living in the UK, you are basically expected to know both.  Distance=imperial, measurements=metric, building height=imperial, a person's height=imperial, a person's weight=imperial/metric, food weights=metric, liquid volume=metric (except beer by the tap which has to be imperial), room volume=imperial/metric, temperature=metric and so on...  It is a fun game

I'm so sorry to hear that, you have my sympathy. Here at least, you only really need to know both if you plan on doing a lot of science as well as actually making stuff. Or, you know, if you plan on being an aeronautical engineer and a pilot. *Fistshake*

I like (or not) how there's a difference between "US" and "imperial" volumes which all differ by a factor of 0.832 (ie: google tells me 1 US gallon = 0.83 Imperial gallon), except for the ounce, which is 4% smaller in the US...

Yeah, that confused me for a long time. I grew up thinking we used imperial, and nobody really explained otherwise. After mixing things up for a while, I finally looked it up. I still say "imperial" though, partially from habit and partially because they're so similar and everyone knows what you mean.

[Divra]

Speaking of metric/imperial differences... Storytime!

When I was very young, my dad owned a car. It was Swedish, a SAAB 9-5, but the engine was a British one (Triumph, I think) since SAAB's engine production wasn't up to snuff. This meant that all the nuts and bolts in the car were metric EXCEPT the ones in the engine, which were in Imperial sizes. Dad still reckons I learned most of the bad language I know "helping" him swap the exhaust system with only metric spanners...

[mithrysc]

Guyssss this is so cool -> Moon Drawings (Basically, draw something and it'll be etched on a disk and sent to the mooooon and maybe even traced on it if/when Carnegie Mellon University sends their rover). Highly tempted to do something related to SSSS.

Okay, back to working on the essay which I need to get down in an hour. Only six more pages to go...

[DancingRanger]

Guyssss this is so cool -> Moon Drawings (Basically, draw something and it'll be etched on a disk and sent to the mooooon and maybe even traced on it if/when Carnegie Mellon University sends their rover). Highly tempted to do something related to SSSS.

Okay, back to working on the essay which I need to get down in an hour. Only six more pages to go...

This is awesome! I think I'm gonna do it!

[KicknRun]

Today was a day
First off,

• met a archbishop
• had to actually say "your excellency" to an actual person

Then,

• punched someone in the stomach,because hey, i wasn't going to get a better chance
• i  scare/annoy someone so much i got 10$ to go away

Actually,i have more,but later.

[Vafhudr]

Did you punch the archbishop?

[Daéa Reina]

Today was a day
First off,

• met a archbishop
• had to actually say "your excellency" to an actual person

Then,

• punched someone in the stomach,because hey, i wasn't going to get a better chance
• i  scare/annoy someone so much i got 10$ to go away

Actually,i have more,but later.

Did you punch the archbishop?

I need to read the whole story. NOW.

Please?

[Haiz]

Today was a day
First off,

• met a archbishop
• had to actually say "your excellency" to an actual person

Then,

• punched someone in the stomach,because hey, i wasn't going to get a better chance
• i  scare/annoy someone so much i got 10$ to go away

Actually,i have more,but later.

You have my attention, please continue


(I'm reminded of the time (8th grade?) my friend punched our fellow arch-enemy in the face one day i was sick at home. to this day I'm still annoyed I missed the entire spectacle. I mean i don't advocate for violence or anything, but the teacher took me to the side when I came back and informed me about it because apparently, he had done it for my sake as much as his. and I didn't even have the decency to be disappointed in him. I might even have said "good." woops)