Quite amusing, indeed. Why not take the Japanese (or simply Oriental) solution and wear a surgical mask when baking? ;)

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Thanks, "Round half down" was the term I was looking for. :)

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

All values are positive, due to the nature of the application. "Round half down" was the term I was looking for. Thanks for your help. :cool:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Cheers. I think "round half down" is the term I needed. :thumbsup:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

My understanding of rounding to N significant figure is like this:

1234 to 3 significant figures = 1230
1235 to 3 significant figures = 1240
1236 to 3 significant figures = 1240

The trouble is, I need

1234 to 3 significant figures = 1230
1235 to 3 significant figures = 1230
1236 to 3 significant figures = 1240

The point is, rather than rounding up or down depending on whether the N+1th digit is 4 or 5, but whether it is 5 or 6.

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

OK, bad example...

123 would be 120.
125 would be 120.
126 would be 130.

etc. etc.

The point not being the number of significant digits you end up with, but the fact that the rounding is happening at 5 and 6 rather than the more usual 4 and 5.

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

I'm not able to disclose application details, but let's just say, the said behaviour already exists. The trouble is how I would go about explaining what it's doing to the users. Writing in the Help that "it rounds to the nearest integer" or "it rounds to the nearest 100" automatically suggests it does this:

1.4 turns into 1.
1.5 turns into 2.
1.6 turns into 2.

140 turns into 100.
150 turns into 200.
160 turns into 200.

etc. etc.

which isn't what happens. Sure, I can explain this long hand, but I just wanted to know if there was a proper terminology to explain this.

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

If only! ;P

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

A very random question, but CPians' answers may possibly be useful for me... Is there a word or a phrase describing this:

1.5 gets rounded to 1.
1.6 gets rounded to 2.

150 gets rounded to 100.
160 gets rounded to 200.

and any other similar effects...

:confused: Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Now who said wives don't go out to have tea with her friends to bitch about what terrible things her husband has done? :) It works both ways. You can't joke or tell stories about someone you don't have a strong connection with for the fear of breaking it with what you say. I'm not afraid to laugh about my husband's beer belly with my mates because I know he won't get upset. And if he goes around telling his mates about my big arse, I'm prepared to laugh that off too. ;)

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Well done, Google Translate...? :rolleyes: Or is that Griff hard at work? ;P

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

I didn't think you could count such things as Gin and Tonic so I wouldn't have thought there was a plural form for it. The best you could say is "Two glasses of/servings of gin and tonic". As for Fish and Chips, since plural of fish is still fish (although you can say "fishes"), plural of Fish and Chips would still be Fish and Chips. :)

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Umm... how is this "nearly impossible"...? :doh:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

I think I used to know all the states in the US, but I don't now. True, brain storage space is better spent on other important things. But there is some use in knowing the "big picture" in all the subjects you get taught at school. In history, you don't need to remember to the date when some historical event happened, but it's kind of nice to know whether Henry VIII was before or after King Arthur. Similarly, it's nice to know whereabouts on the globe some countries, cities and regions that turn up regularly on the news are. It's nice to know where Washington D.C. is, for example, and the fact that it's on the opposite side of a continent from the Washington state. String everything together and you get a better understanding of the world around you in general. You watch some sports on TV and you understand why cricket is very popular in some countries and hardly ever heard of in others. You read books like the Disc World novels and understand what the stories are parodies of. You see some unfamiliar foodstuff on a menu with an explanation that says "in Vietnamese style" and you are able to guess roughly what to expect. Not absolutely essential in life, but helps you live a more interesting and rich life, I think... :rolleyes:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Roger Wright wrote:

as functional as the wings on a penguin

Um... wings on penguins are VERY functional... Have you seen them swim? :) Also, I think a slap from an Emperor penguin can break your bone. So I think humans forgetting how to walk are less useful than penguins forgetting how to fly. :rolleyes:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

I know what you mean. Internal sites at my workplace do weird things too. Some use employee IDs as log-ins, some use email addresses and there's another that seems to use some randomly generated number as the log-in ID. The restrictions on the passwords all seem to be different too! My pet hate is the "secret question" thing. If they let you design your own question, fine. But when you can only select from a list comprising "What is your favourite colour?", "What is you favourite music artist?" and all similar, I have a problem. My "favourate" X Y Z change from time to time. Why can't they ask factual questions like "What is your mother's maiden name?" or "Which country were you born in?". Having said that, I still have a problem because my non-English answers can be spelled in a few different ways when put into alphabets... :doh:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Manfred R. Bihy wrote:

11th of December '13

Oops! My mistake! :-O

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

Depends on where you are in the world, doesn't it? The US-ians have had their fun with "November 12th 2013". UK-ians are about to get 11th of November 2013. The Japanese are a bit stuck because we have either 25th year of Heisei November 12th or 2013 November 12th, neither of which work particularly well...

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

I've suggested working from home but hasn't happened yet. Personally, I like coming to the office as I get to see friends that way. It also forces me to part from distcractions and put my mind into work mode properly. But there are times when I think the option to work from home from time to time would be useful. Say, the workman fixing the roof isn't sure when he's arriving, then rather than taking a paid day's leave, I can choose to work at home and save the holiday for something more exciting. As for dress code, we have extreme dress code called a uniform! It's not as bad as it sounds. It's made of durable material so you can crawl all over the lab to put down cables and never worry about wearing out the knees. The kit is formally "on loan" from the company so you can trade it in for new ones if the current one gets too worn out. And because we use uniforms at work, we are free to travel to and from work in whatever gear we want.

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...

As can be seen from someone's Wikipedia link, traffic flow (and jams) make good research material. It's that interesting and it's that important. While it is interesting to come up with a scientific (mathematical) solution to the problem, I think part of the problem is how people interact with others. At least a good proportion of the problem is undeniably caused by the "me me me!" attitude. Things like people pushing into queues, blocking people entering the major route at merge points, changing lanes frequently in slow moving traffic or driving on the hard shoulder then pushing into the main traffic must be playing some part in congestion creation. I tend to take the attitude that slow moving traffic is better than not moving traffic so I think people should work with the other drivers so we can all get through at a reasonable pace rather than one person pushing through while causing everyone else to stop. On a practical note, here in Japan, many A-roads and motorways are on hilly locations so a heavy truck travelling uphill can easily clog up a major transport artery. Again, I think it's just tough luck. Live with it.:cool:

Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...