4 ms·

> Overall, is there really an efficiency gain to be had here? Not immediately. Any change from the status quo hurts businesses. There is no require change to c

> Overall, is there really an efficiency gain to be had here? Not immediately. Any change from the status quo hurts businesses. There is no require change to code, logic, data, etc. that "helps". You can, however, make changes that inflict serious pain but are good long-term. Here is the short list of those: * Everyone going fully metric and use ISO for everything not metric. This would help things not crash into Mars. * No timezones, no extra second for the year, no leap year, no daylight savings- just steady time. (Disclaimer: even you were to make all data migrations and/or logic changes required, this only eliminates some problems. You still can't depend on the server or client to have accurate time.) Similar to the Star Trek universe. * Single currency: Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin's not yet ready to be a universal currency, but it has a better chance than any other currency. * Single language: Inuktitut Inuinnaqtun. ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ. * Single font: Garamond. * Single color scheme: Polar. http://www.colorcombos.com/color-schemes/131/ColorCombo131.html http://www.colorcombos.com/color-schemes/131/ColorCombo131.h... * Single band/song/note: Chicago, If You Leave Me Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlKaVFqxERk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlKaVFqxERk , B. * Single stare: long, deep, soulful.

astrodust 10y ago
Metric is universal but for a few stubborn hold-outs.
- kleigenfreude 10y ago
  Stubborn is a bit harsh. The UK Metrication Association in 2006 estimated the cost of converting road signs to be £80 million. Only the road signs. Now consider UK and the US as a whole- all of the cost to the government, businesses, non-profits, etc.
  - astrodust 10y ago
    I've heard all the arguments before and they're all bullshit. Every country that metricized in the 1980s had to deal with this. Every country that did is better for it. I assure you that the UK spends that much or more on signs that were damaged by weather, were rendered incorrect by road changes, or needed updates due to new signage standards. When the US automotive industry looked at metric as a big push was being launched they realized that metic was cheaper and switched. Fewer bolt sizes, fewer tools required, simpler designs, easier math for machining. There was literally no reason to stick to the old system. Stubborn is not harsh. Stubborn is the truth. There's nothing sadder than watching some American mechanics struggle to add together things like 7/8, 3/16, 1/2 and 17/32 based on different bits of material they need to assemble together, except maybe watching the team on Mythbusters flail as they insist on using ridiculous units like inch-pounds and feet per second to try and do basic physics. How many feet per second is 66 miles per hour? What kind of inch-pound torque on a six pound weight at the end of a yard long arm through an eighty degree arc generates that kind of speed? The big perk of Metric is all the units are normalized and mostly interchangeable. The big nuisance of other systems is the units are all completely arbitrary and require conversion factors. Get with the program already. Metric might feel annoying, but that's only because change is difficult. It's natural for anyone living in a country that's flipped.
  - knz 10y ago
    And yet nearly every other major developed country has managed to make the switch... The issue of cost is not unique to America.
    - serge2k 10y ago
      The issue of some weirdos making it about freedom is probably pretty unique to america.
      - kleigenfreude 10y ago
        That's new to me. I work for a company that doesn't work in metric, and the reasons we haven't switched are: 1. The customers use inches. 2. The expensive machines we use are configured in inches. 3. The code we use uses inches.
        astrodust 10y ago
        1. Tradition. 2. Tradition. 3. Tradition. The same could be said for a fractional stock market back before decimalization.
- knz 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system#/media/File:Metric_system_adoption_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system#/media/File:Metr...
fsiefken 10y ago
Garamond I get, even though I think Quikscript would be even better. But what's to like about Inuinnaqtun that would make it suitable for an auxiliary or default languague? Wouldn't Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona or Ithkuil be better candidates?
- kleigenfreude 10y ago
  > Wouldn't Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona or Ithkuil be better candidates? I believe that we should use a language that has not only survived the test of time, but is still spoken by its native population and shows its expressiveness by its many words for forms of water. It also had 410 speakers according to a 2011 census, which is more than native speakers of Lojban (20-200), Elefen (30-100), Toki Pona (3-100), or Ithkuil (0-10). As an example of its practical use compared to Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona, or Ithkuil, here is a stop sign in Inuinnaqtun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuinnaqtun#/media/File:Nutqarrit_-_Stop_sign_in_CYCB.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuinnaqtun#/media/File:Nutqar... I've not seen a stop sign in Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona, or Ithkuil. How could that be safe?

astrodust 10y ago

Metric is universal but for a few stubborn hold-outs.

kleigenfreude 10y ago
Stubborn is a bit harsh. The UK Metrication Association in 2006 estimated the cost of converting road signs to be £80 million. Only the road signs. Now consider UK and the US as a whole- all of the cost to the government, businesses, non-profits, etc.
- astrodust 10y ago
  I've heard all the arguments before and they're all bullshit. Every country that metricized in the 1980s had to deal with this. Every country that did is better for it. I assure you that the UK spends that much or more on signs that were damaged by weather, were rendered incorrect by road changes, or needed updates due to new signage standards. When the US automotive industry looked at metric as a big push was being launched they realized that metic was cheaper and switched. Fewer bolt sizes, fewer tools required, simpler designs, easier math for machining. There was literally no reason to stick to the old system. Stubborn is not harsh. Stubborn is the truth. There's nothing sadder than watching some American mechanics struggle to add together things like 7/8, 3/16, 1/2 and 17/32 based on different bits of material they need to assemble together, except maybe watching the team on Mythbusters flail as they insist on using ridiculous units like inch-pounds and feet per second to try and do basic physics. How many feet per second is 66 miles per hour? What kind of inch-pound torque on a six pound weight at the end of a yard long arm through an eighty degree arc generates that kind of speed? The big perk of Metric is all the units are normalized and mostly interchangeable. The big nuisance of other systems is the units are all completely arbitrary and require conversion factors. Get with the program already. Metric might feel annoying, but that's only because change is difficult. It's natural for anyone living in a country that's flipped.
- knz 10y ago
  And yet nearly every other major developed country has managed to make the switch... The issue of cost is not unique to America.
  - serge2k 10y ago
    The issue of some weirdos making it about freedom is probably pretty unique to america.
    - kleigenfreude 10y ago
      That's new to me. I work for a company that doesn't work in metric, and the reasons we haven't switched are: 1. The customers use inches. 2. The expensive machines we use are configured in inches. 3. The code we use uses inches.
      - astrodust 10y ago
        1. Tradition. 2. Tradition. 3. Tradition. The same could be said for a fractional stock market back before decimalization.
knz 10y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system#/media/File:Metric_system_adoption_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system#/media/File:Metr...

fsiefken 10y ago

Garamond I get, even though I think Quikscript would be even better. But what's to like about Inuinnaqtun that would make it suitable for an auxiliary or default languague? Wouldn't Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona or Ithkuil be better candidates?

kleigenfreude 10y ago
> Wouldn't Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona or Ithkuil be better candidates? I believe that we should use a language that has not only survived the test of time, but is still spoken by its native population and shows its expressiveness by its many words for forms of water. It also had 410 speakers according to a 2011 census, which is more than native speakers of Lojban (20-200), Elefen (30-100), Toki Pona (3-100), or Ithkuil (0-10). As an example of its practical use compared to Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona, or Ithkuil, here is a stop sign in Inuinnaqtun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuinnaqtun#/media/File:Nutqarrit_-_Stop_sign_in_CYCB.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuinnaqtun#/media/File:Nutqar... I've not seen a stop sign in Lojban, Elefen, Toki Pona, or Ithkuil. How could that be safe?