Re: measuring systems (was: Selenites)

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Kissane <jilba@...>
To: Multiple recipients of list CONLANG <CONLANG@...>
Date: Sunday, September 27, 1998 7:23 AM
Subject: Re: measuring systems (was: Selenites)


>Nik Taylor wrote:
>>
>> Tom Wier wrote:
>> > The fact is, there is no way to make a *perfectly* nonarbitrary
>> > measurement system.
>>
>> But, to have 1000 meters in a kilometer is less arbitrary than to have
>> 5000+ feet in a mile!
>>
>> But, one problem I see with switching to the metric system is highway
>> exits.  Some states number them by miles, so that exit 37 is on mile 37
>> of the highway.  In those states, you'd either have to change all the
>> exit numbers, or admit a numbering system that seems totally arbitrary.
>It would be possible to develop a system that is based on American
>measurements but uses metric prefixes. Like in the metric system we have
>kilometres and micrometres, we could use milimiles, micromiles,
>kilomiles,
>etc.
>
>(I think, if I remember, it was proposed in US Congress back in the
>1800s to have a measurement system based on tens, hundreds and
>thousands of rods...)
>
>Simon Kissane
>
A square mile is 102400 square rods.  A kilobyte is 1024 bytes -- not 1000
bytes -- for the same reason: It's very practical to some extra bytes (or
some extra square rods) because not all of the bytes (or square rods) are
going to be available for consumers to use.  In the case of bytes, the
computer has to use some for systemic purposes.  In the case of square rods,
the government has to use some for roads (and other non-taxable systemic
purposes).

When your computer tells you that you have a kilobyte of memory left, you'd
better suppose that you have only 1000 bytes left, because the computer will
probably use the other 24 bytes for its own purposes.  Likewise, the
government should only count on collecting taxes on 100000 of the 102400
square rods in a rural square mile, because it probably uses the other 2400
square rods for untaxable roads, etc.

Also, the easiest way to subdivide amounts is by dividing them in half, and
1024 is 2 to the 10th power, which makes it perfect for that.

-- Tommie