Dates
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I'm still struggling from the changes in gradient signs. A gradient of 1 in 7 is easy to visualise, but 14% ? I blame the French, but then I'm English.
CCC solved so far: 2 (including a Hard One!)
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keefb wrote:
and then realise why you are all speaking English.
Not every day that someone from the UK acknowledges that the language spoken here is "English" :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com linkActually, I meant the Americans, rather than posters on CP. The English use "Bl**dy Colonials" to refer to Americans, especially when we are shocked/appalled/dismayed/joking about the antics/attitiudes of our cousins from across the pond.
CCC solved so far: 2 (including a Hard One!)
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Richard MacCutchan wrote:
we use dd/mm/yyyy in the UK.
I know, and the OP was asking my Americans use MM-DD-YYYY. The reason is same as why you guys use MPH :-) Clearly KMPH is superior to MPH, but you use a system you are familiar with. And while dd-mm-yyyy is a tad better than mm-dd-yyyy, yyyy-mm-dd is clearly superior to both - yet both in the UK and US, people use formats they are familiar with. What do you guys use for temperature? F or C?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com linkKelvin.
CCC solved so far: 2 (including a Hard One!)
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So today is 20th of October 2009. In UK format that is 20/10/2009. Kinda makes sense right, smallest to biggest. Logical. In US format it's 10/20/2009. Now to me that's totally illogical. Why would you do that. Can any Americans explain to me why this makes sense. (lets try to forget about patriotism). I don't understand why it would ever be useful to break the logical order. It's like writing the time in HH:SS:MM. [As a developer I obviously recognise that the superior format is neither of the above but is in fact YYYY-MM-DD as it maintains correct sort order and digit significance]
Simon
I agree their reasoning is the way it's spoken (by them). However, for clarity, YYYY-MM-DD sould always be used in applications. 1) no confusion. 2) ease of sorting by date. 3) would have prevented that !@#$% SQL Query "rewrite the query with wrong date format" bug.
"The activity of 'debugging', or removing bugs from a program, ends when people get tired of doing it, not when the bugs are removed." - "Datamation", January 15, 1984
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
imperial progeny
I suggest you read your own history, figure out who you were trying to gain Independance from in the War of Independance (which by the way, at the time was considered a civil war) and then realise why you are all speaking English. Bl**dy colonials :-)
CCC solved so far: 2 (including a Hard One!)
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That's sort of asking for a flame war, eh eh. But, well, let's go: Writing MM-DD-YYYY is about as silly as still using inches, feet and whatever clumsy measurement units while everybody else with a bit of common sense in the world use the metric system.
Why do we buy petrol in litres & measure its consumption in gallons? There must be loads of other instances where we measure the same thing using two different units based on the context...
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind"
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To say nothing about driving on the wrong side. What's with that? Isn't that a bit extreme, even if you don't want to do what the French do? :)
Best wishes, Hans
We drive on the left side, you drive on the wrong side. The only reason mainland Europe ended up driving on the right was that England instituted the laws first, and France wanted to do whatever we didn't do.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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That's sort of asking for a flame war, eh eh. But, well, let's go: Writing MM-DD-YYYY is about as silly as still using inches, feet and whatever clumsy measurement units while everybody else with a bit of common sense in the world use the metric system.
When measuring timber/wood, I use either mm or inches -- depending on which one has a line precisely where the piece of wood ends. If I'm stuck with a tape that has only mm, I work to the quarter millimetre; tapes with inches have 32nds and 64ths, which are usually preferable.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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keefb wrote:
I think we should just use ticks.
Or stardates.
Michael Schubert wrote:
Or stardates.
I've dated stars. It ain't what it's cut out to be.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You should try living in Canada where officially it's dd/mm/yy, but practically, because of that country next door, it's sometimes mm/dd/yy. Yet the locals never get confused! I, on the other hand, have no idea. None. And don't get me started about their "Best Before" dates on food. They only use 2 letters for months, so you can have 11JU09. Is that June or July? Are you feeling lucky, punk?
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
the locals never get confused!
I keep wondering what happened on 9th November.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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keefb wrote:
Or four Gills.
Hence drinking like a fish? :rolleyes:
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Fish don't drink a lot. They don't have to.
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And pints! What the hell is a pint? :-D
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe - but not a personality. - Charlie Brooker My Photos/CP Flickr Group - ScrewTurn Wiki v3
Well in fact a belgian will understand that as it means a (normal) beer, be it that we use 25cl glasses.
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
I read a while ago that while driving on the wrong side, that to begin with your chance of having a crash is less because you are concentrating a lot, it's only later when you relax a bit that you risk letting your normal reflexes take over and go to your usual side.
I hope you realise that hamsters are very creative when it comes to revenge. - Elaine
I can vouch for that... (luckily without accidents ;-))
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
That's sort of asking for a flame war, eh eh. But, well, let's go: Writing MM-DD-YYYY is about as silly as still using inches, feet and whatever clumsy measurement units while everybody else with a bit of common sense in the world use the metric system.
And even when they use imperial measurements they feel the need to balls the thing up by having different versions of the gallon. Next up they'll be redefining a chain as the distance between two bases on a rounders pitch.
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Actually it is the safer side. Human brains have a tendency to turn left to avoid a crash, (this is standard in aviation), and in UK this means going up the embankment or hitting a wall. In the US this means crossing into the oncoming traffic, very nasty. And this is not Nationalistic BS...many studies will show this, also there is a five out of six chance you are right handed, and where better to keep you dominant hand than on the wheel. Samoa recently changed from right to left.
------------------------------------ To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day. W. Somerset Maugham 1925
Dalek Dave wrote:
And this is not Nationalistic BS...many studies will show this
Citation needed
Dalek Dave wrote:
Samoa recently changed from right to left.
Only so they could import cheaper cars from Australia instead of shipping them from the US. Also, it caused major problems with buses that have doors that now open into oncoming traffic :wtf:
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
imperial progeny
I suggest you read your own history, figure out who you were trying to gain Independance from in the War of Independance (which by the way, at the time was considered a civil war) and then realise why you are all speaking English. Bl**dy colonials :-)
CCC solved so far: 2 (including a Hard One!)
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Apparently, in Europe, you'd have to say that backwards - 10" 5'. And they still measure weight with stones over there.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
That's sort of asking for a flame war, eh eh. But, well, let's go: Writing MM-DD-YYYY is about as silly as still using inches, feet and whatever clumsy measurement units while everybody else with a bit of common sense in the world use the metric system.
Rage wrote:
about as silly as still using inches, feet and whatever clumsy measurement units while everybody else with a bit of common sense in the world use the metric system
Reluctantly, I have to disagree: inches are more precise! Don't believe me? Look at a normal ruler - metric scale is per millimeter, imperial scale is normally per 1/32nd of an inch (some are 1/64th). Since there are 25.4 millimeters to the inch, the imperial scale is clearly more accurate! Ducks for cover!
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So today is 20th of October 2009. In UK format that is 20/10/2009. Kinda makes sense right, smallest to biggest. Logical. In US format it's 10/20/2009. Now to me that's totally illogical. Why would you do that. Can any Americans explain to me why this makes sense. (lets try to forget about patriotism). I don't understand why it would ever be useful to break the logical order. It's like writing the time in HH:SS:MM. [As a developer I obviously recognise that the superior format is neither of the above but is in fact YYYY-MM-DD as it maintains correct sort order and digit significance]
Simon
as someone else has stated, I personally prefer 10/20/2009 because thats the way I say it in casual conversation "October Twentieth". I don't say "Twentieth of October" very frequently if at all. However, from a programming point of view (and the way I ALWAYS do dates if it is up to me), the form 2009/10/20 makes the most sense. Or usually when programming I leave out the separators so that it is in the format CCYYMMDD. I use this format because sorting by date actually works.
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Apparently, in Europe, you'd have to say that backwards - 10" 5'. And they still measure weight with stones over there.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
And they still measure weight with stones over there.
Only the Brits and the Irish, as far as I know.
