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Why the heck does America still use outdated measurement and date units?
- Thread starter garirry
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Teams offers versioning, so no need for having a file name with a date, that was not available 20 years agoBecause you'll never mind anything regardless of what you name it?
And back in the days with 8 character limit for the file name…
This is the least useful format of all when dealing with data. It only makes sense to you because you are accustomed to it.
Imagine having a column of dates but sorted first by day, then month, then year.
You can have list of dates sorted like this:
01012024
01021995
01031979
02012003
03102024
….
YYYYMMDD works better as the date is treated as you would a number. With most significant digits to the left. No need for special knowledge on how to parse the text.
Years ago when living in NY there were bars and pubs in both the Italian and Irish neighborhoods. I remember seeing entire families where the adult members would consume alcoholic and other drinks, but all would eat the various foods served. I have no idea if those places exist any longer.
That's a matter of opinion, and I suspect the system one has grown accustomed to and internalized.
To me July 4th, 2025 makes sense. Often the year is presumed to be the current year unless stated otherwise, and the time of year is important (e.g.: seasons, holidays - such as Independence Day in the U.S. being July 4th), and giving the 'day of' before the month is confusing because I don't know what month it's the day of.
So to me, identifying the month first helps me mentally localize roughly when we're talking about, then the 'day of' fine tunes it, and the year is presumed current unless specified otherwise.
But if you're accustomed to a different format and you 'think' in that format, it may not make sense to you. Our frame of reference differs.
Maybe younger Americans, specially no alcohol drinking ones, wouldn't know what a pint is. As a young man lots of people knew what a pint of liquor was. I remember numerous "drinkers" who would carry a pint of liquor in one of the pants back pockets
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About the date format: it is not an issue for one to argue about. All one has to do is to write the month, regardless of format.
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I would argue that most of us would know what a pint is, even if it's only subsconsciously. No matter the ageMaybe younger Americans, specially no alcohol drinking ones, wouldn't know what a pint is. As a young man lots of people knew what a pint of liquor was. I remember numerous "drinkers" who would carry a pint of liquor in one of the pants back pockets
If you have attended almost any school in America since the 1940s (I think), you'd find this in any cafeteria. And it's still there.
Half-pint. This is where I learned about pints in the 1970s.
For people who insist on using DMY I recommend to convert and store it in ISO but return it to them in Julian or hex.
😁 Quite true. I forgot about that!
I also agree with you about subconsciously figuring measure units like this. In reality, most of us can easily adapt after putting aside one's biases and putting some effort into getting along with others.
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Nah. You're smartz because you can--like the rest of us--transcribe units on-the-fly
Back in the day (some ways back in a previous century...) when doing any sort of calculations with dates I would convert to Julian Day Numbers, do the calculations, then convert back. Simple and quick, even on a 64k RAM 4 Mhz Z80 CPU.
Wut?Nah. You're smartz because you can--like the rest of us--transcribe units on-the-fly
Which makes sense: 12:10 a.m. or 12:10 p.m. are the most confusing times to catch a train. There is a reason why they use a 24 hr system in timetables.
Some young family members and their friends were in Portugal and decided to spend a few days in Porto. Took the train from Lisbon, booked the return for 6 and were surprised to discover it was 6 am, not pm when the got to the station at 1700.
Why anyone would want to leave Lisbon for Porto is another story.
Our students, mostly American, have had that particular issue to deal with as well when taking trains here in Europe.
BTW what's wrong with Porto? I spent part of my summer holiday in Lisbon and loved it.
BTW what's wrong with Porto? I spent part of my summer holiday in Lisbon and loved it.
We use the 24 hour system so yes, it's in the morning.
Orally we can use both but in time tables and similar documents you will only find 24 hour schedules.
Although different from Lisbon, I find Porto lovely and better in many ways. If you are travelling by train you can see one of the most beautiful train stations in the world, São Bento (Saint Benedict) station, particularly if you enjoy Portuguese tiling works. But the train from Lisboa would stop at Campanhã.
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Yes, anyone leaving Lisbon for Porto woulld be in mourning. (Sorry, I couldn't resist).
Porto is a lovely city, and the port wines...
Funny story, they were there (Lisbon) for a destination wedding and the bride, in the wedding announcement, used a cityscape of Porto by mistake. Needless to say, she took some heavy flak for that.
Looks beautiful. I do love the Portuguese tile, it's a shame a lot of the craftsman that make them are not being replaced by younger ones. You can see some of the most beautiful handwork in many buildings, even if the outside is rather plain.
Portugal was one of the most underrated countries in Europe, but recently has been overrun by tourists, especially in the summer and when the cruise ships dock.
I work near this nice building (and others)
It used to be in middle of the river and was built the keep pirates away but nowadays it only attracts people
My father used to say that the nicest thing about Lisbon was the A1 (the main highway heading out)
Maybe they should return it to it's original purpose for cruise ships...It used to be in middle of the river and was built the keep pirates away but nowadays it only attracts people
If I worked near there the Pastel de nata would be the death of me.
LOL.
When we have foreign visitors/meetings we usually get a few tubes (6 box) from the original pastry shop. Always a nice treat for coffee breaks.
Of all the things to worry about, the USA ways of measuring, weighing, telling time, etc. is the least of them. I am just fine with it and have never lost sleep over it, not an O dark thirty minute. I can also easily convert from one system to the other and had no issues during a recent trip to Europe other than driving on the wrong side of the road.
This is funny though.
www.instagram.com
This is funny though
.
Peacock on Instagram: "All extremely simple and easy to remember. #SaturdayNightLive is streaming now on Peacock."
764K likes, 6,699 comments - peacock on October 5, 2024: "All extremely simple and easy to remember. #SaturdayNightLive is streaming now on Peacock.".
www.instagram.com
Your photo? That’s beautiful.I work near this nice building (and others)
It used to be in middle of the river and was built the keep pirates away but nowadays it only attracts people
My father used to say that the nicest thing about Lisbon was the A1 (the main highway heading out)