• Unknown (unregistered)

    Cheeses H. The story was written by an American so he used the temperature units he was most familiar with. If I read a story about a university in Buckinghamshire, I would not expect there to be parenthetical Fahrenheit temperatures included. People here always seem to need something to complain about.

  • FreakBurrito (unregistered) in reply to Taz
    Taz:
    mikko:
    The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    If mentor is Canadian his/her country kicked US ass and burned its capital to the ground at least once. Hehe.

    That would be the British..... genius.

    Granted Canada was a colony of Britain the time, but I don't think any "Canadian" troops were among the ones that ventured up the Potomac. And Ironically enough America managed to do pretty well with it's second encounter with Britain, despite all of the things Britain had going for it.

    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.

  • Look at me! I'm on the internets! (unregistered) in reply to robbak
    robbak:
    Hey, 20°C is still woolly jumper weather about these parts.

    At least put the word "sweater" in brackets so that the rest of the world, which has moved on from your archaic language can understand.

  • Look at me! I'm on the internets! (unregistered) in reply to FreakBurrito
    FreakBurrito:

    That would be the British..... genius.

    Granted Canada was a colony of Britain the time, but I don't think any "Canadian" troops were among the ones that ventured up the Potomac. And Ironically enough America managed to do pretty well with it's second encounter with Britain, despite all of the things Britain had going for it.

    "Canadian" troops were mostly militias used in the defensive. It was profesional British soldiers who burned Washington.

    That war was pretty much a wash as far as battles go. We each seemed to attack each other where the lines were weakest, winning there, losing somewhere else.

    However, the Americans should have done better, as Britain was tied up fighting Napoleon in Europe. Fighting two wars at the same time is not easy.

    Marginal victory goes to the Brits as the Americans set out to annex The Canadas, got tired, and went home.

  • Richard (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw

    Hold an umbrella and a blow dryer???? Sound like you were close to being published in the Darwin awards!

  • (cs)

    I enjoyed this one. I can't wait until the next one comes out! Hopefully if there ever is a Part III it won't be as bad as Back to the Future Part III...

  • Miksu (unregistered) in reply to mikko
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    Let's see, Times US whooped Finland's ass: 0 Times US bailed Finland out of some mess: 0

    And we use the SI units instead of archaic and arbitrary ones.

  • (cs) in reply to Richard
    Richard:
    Hold an umbrella and a blow dryer???? Sound like you were close to being published in the Darwin awards!
    Yep. Sorry to have cheated both death and you.
  • (cs) in reply to FreakBurrito
    FreakBurrito:
    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.
    I just wish Washington had listened to the United Nations, the people of the world, and the majority of the population of the country it supposedly represents, in the early 21st century.
  • Ross (unregistered) in reply to ac

    Well this sounds like the perfect job for the OMGWTF calculator. I think that there even was one that did do a Google search and returned the result.

  • Ross (unregistered) in reply to ac
    ac:
    standgale:
    ac:
    "a cool 70°" wasn't enough of a hint that it's not in Celsius?

    but what is a "cool 70°"? I have no idea what that temperature is. Rather than having large amounts of people have to work it out, someone writing or editing the story could work it out, saving work for everyone. Do it once only! Good programming practice even.

    Oh dear lord, because Googling 70 F in C is too much work for you? The context clearly explains that he's talking about a cold day followed by a warm one. The numbers are actually extraneous hyperbole meant only to reinforce "a big change in a short time", which is evident by the size of the numbers even if you're not familiar with Fahrenheit. The exact temperature is completely irrelevant to the story and most likely not true anyway.

    Well this sounds like the perfect job for the OMGWTF calculator. I think that there even was one that did do a Google search and returned the result. And I think that I need to learn how to use the quote buttons.

  • Abraham Simpson (unregistered) in reply to mentor
    mentor:
    "20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.
    My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it.
  • Hunter (unregistered) in reply to mikko
    mikko:
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    <the_rest_of_America> We don't know that guy. </the_rest_of_America>

  • (cs) in reply to Miksu
    Miksu:
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    Let's see, Times US whooped Finland's ass: 0 Times US bailed Finland out of some mess: 0

    And we use the SI units instead of archaic and arbitrary ones.

    Perkele Suomalainen...

    It's hard to bail out a country with such as pacifist history.

    Also, the US hasn't whooped your ass true... but you have no oil and already kicked out the Russions and Germans. :P

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    FreakBurrito:
    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.
    I just wish Washington had listened to the United Nations, the people of the world, and the majority of the population of the country it supposedly represents, in the early 21st century.

    He was refering to Washington the man, not Washington the seat of government, dumbass.

  • (cs) in reply to Unknown

    The Google ads were for Schlage locks, and similar ads. Probably due to the "Securing the server room" title. Interesting!

  • (cs) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    FredSaw:
    FreakBurrito:
    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.
    I just wish Washington had listened to the United Nations, the people of the world, and the majority of the population of the country it supposedly represents, in the early 21st century.

    He was refering to Washington the man, not Washington the seat of government, dumbass.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_play

  • murphy (unregistered) in reply to mikko

    Ignorance is bliss

    mikko:
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!
    Check http://www.jamesoberg.com/mars/loss.html scroll down to "Mars's two measurement systems"

    have fun

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Mcoder:
    Those leaves would fall somewhere else, creating other kind of problems.
    Yep. The yard crew's machinery is calibrated to handle the exact amount of leaves that fell in previous years. The additional burden of leaves that had previously stayed in the AC would cause untold ruination.

    You've made my day!!

  • nobody (unregistered) in reply to Joe
    Joe:
    vt_mruhlin:
    One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

    You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

    Virginia? Sounds more like Boston to me. It was 95 the other day. Yesterday it was barely 70.

    Only in New England can you get all 4 seasons in one night.

    Captcha - Smile - It's only thunder and snow. Heck, that's part of the charm of NE.

    Except you never know if it will be 80F in April or June. Most years, May is warm, but sometimes we get snow then, too.

  • john (unregistered) in reply to mikko
    mikko:
    mentor:
    "20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.

    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    You know what you are doing, huh?

  • Look at me! I'm on the internets! (unregistered) in reply to Abraham Simpson
    Abraham Simpson:
    mentor:
    "20°F" and "70°F" at the very least, please; "-5°C" and "20°C" in brackets would be even better. The rest of the world has moved on from Imperial measurements and still wants to read your site.
    My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it.

    40 (rods / hogshead) = 0.00198412698 miles per gallon

    Sucks to be driving your car

  • anon (unregistered) in reply to Look at me! I'm on the internets!
    Look at me! I'm on the internets!:
    FreakBurrito:

    That would be the British..... genius.

    Granted Canada was a colony of Britain the time, but I don't think any "Canadian" troops were among the ones that ventured up the Potomac. And Ironically enough America managed to do pretty well with it's second encounter with Britain, despite all of the things Britain had going for it.

    "Canadian" troops were mostly militias used in the defensive. It was profesional British soldiers who burned Washington.

    That war was pretty much a wash as far as battles go. We each seemed to attack each other where the lines were weakest, winning there, losing somewhere else.

    However, the Americans should have done better, as Britain was tied up fighting Napoleon in Europe. Fighting two wars at the same time is not easy.

    Marginal victory goes to the Brits as the Americans set out to annex The Canadas, got tired, and went home.

    IIRC, the idea to annex Canada came after the British started the war by pressing American sailors. And, as soon as we found out they put gravy on their Freedom Fries, we turned around and went home.

  • (cs) in reply to Miksu
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    Ah yes... I must've forgot about all us Canadians that rallied around to help out after the disaster of 9/11... that was the US bailing us out, wasn't it?

    I'm so glad most Americans aren't like you sir. You might want to shut your trap... you're giving them a bad name and I like my American friends to not get a worse reputation because of wankers like you.

    -- Seejay

  • nony (unregistered) in reply to Taz
    Taz:
    mikko:
    The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    If mentor is Canadian his/her country kicked US ass and burned its capital to the ground at least once. Hehe.

    True, but the US did the same to them, so it's a wash.

  • Harrow (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    FredSaw:
    FreakBurrito:
    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.
    I just wish Washington had listened to the United Nations, the people of the world, and the majority of the population of the country it supposedly represents, in the early 21st century.

    He was refering to Washington the man, not Washington the seat of government, dumbass.

    That's the way I read it, too. But I can't recall what it was that Washington the man said in the early 20th centuary.

    -Harrow.

  • TLB (unregistered) in reply to Harrow
    Harrow:
    Anon:
    FredSaw:
    FreakBurrito:
    Sometimes I really wish we had listened to Washington, and minded our own business in the early 20th centuary.
    I just wish Washington had listened to the United Nations, the people of the world, and the majority of the population of the country it supposedly represents, in the early 21st century.

    He was refering to Washington the man, not Washington the seat of government, dumbass.

    That's the way I read it, too. But I can't recall what it was that Washington the man said in the early 20th centuary.

    -Harrow.

    He didn't say anything in the early 20th Century, having been dead for some time. But he did say things in the late 18th Century which could have made useful advice in the early 20th. Mainly about keeping to our own business.

  • sewiv (unregistered)

    We actually have this same problem, where our outside condensers fill with cottonwood fluff and leaves. After the first time it happened, we scheduled a bimonthly (biweekly? Every two weeks? Fortnightly, that's it.) cleaning during the summer months.

  • Spoon (unregistered) in reply to Miksu
    Miksu:
    You want it different, YOU change it. Metric units are for dummies who have to count on their fingers, and who don't know that there are other number systems besides base ten. The USA either kicked the shit out of your country or bailed your ass out more than once, and we did it without SI units, so PISS OFF!

    Let's see, Times US whooped Finland's ass: 0 Times US bailed Finland out of some mess: 0

    And we use the SI units instead of archaic and arbitrary ones.

    how are the SI units not arbitrary? and how are used imperial measurements archaic when they continue to be widely used?

    congradulations on feeding the troll though, you really showed him!

  • (cs) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    He was refering to Washington the man, not Washington the seat of government, dumbass.
    Haven't had a lot of exposure to subtlety, have you. Did you have a point to make?
  • houser2112 (unregistered) in reply to standgale
    standgale:
    ac:
    "a cool 70°" wasn't enough of a hint that it's not in Celsius?

    but what is a "cool 70°"? I have no idea what that temperature is. Rather than having large amounts of people have to work it out, someone writing or editing the story could work it out, saving work for everyone. Do it once only! Good programming practice even.

    Or you could take the time to memorize a few key points in both scales (0C = 32F, 37C = 98.6F, 100C = 212F) and interpolate/extrapolate as needed.

  • (cs)

    By the way, breaking in to the server room, even if the goal is to get the computers back up and get the business functioning, is not ok and is a very foolish move. This guy who used a pen to get past the door lock could have found himself criminally prosecuted for that. I know a lot of sysadmin types reading this forum and I implore you, don't expose yourself to criminal liability even if you are doing it to save the company. I guarantee you that there are places where that kind of thing would result in a long and painful legal process, no matter what the guy's intentions were.

    Same thing goes for defeating any type of electronic access control. Don't do it without a written authorization from a company officer. And even then, better to let someone else have that job.

  • M L (unregistered)

    Let's see what we can figure out about GRG....

    1. The man can't seem to hold a job for very long. He has all these stories from a very wide range of companies and industries, and never two stories from the same place. Even if he's a contractor, he doesn't seem to be able to hold a contract for very long either.

    2. No matter where he goes, he's always the smart one, and the client/employer is the dumb one.

    3. Crap always seems to happen whereever he goes, but its always the client/employer's fault.

    I've worked with people with these characteristics in the past. People who fuck up all the time and can't hold a job/contract, but manages to always twist it so that its everyone ELSE who is the REAL incompetent one.

    Either that, or GRG is just making all this crap up. In either case, I'm pretty sure there's a WTF in GRG himself.

  • (cs) in reply to Unknown
    Unknown:
    If I read a story about a university in Buckinghamshire, I would not expect there to be parenthetical Fahrenheit temperatures included.
    I'm glad to hear you have such low expectations, but providing temperature conversions is such a simple thing - taking maybe 30 seconds at most - that I think it's reasonable to hope for.

    (Speaking as someone who uses Celcius, but would still expect conversions to be provided to Fahrenheit for the benefit of USians if someone from a modern country submitted a WTF.)

  • grg (unregistered) in reply to M L
    1. The man can't seem to hold a job for very long.

    34 years, three employers. 11.333 yrs/job average.

    1. No matter where he goes, he's always the smart one, and the client/employer is the dumb one.

    The employers are usually smart in their area of expertise, I'm more than adequate in mine. What's so unusual about that?

    1. Crap always seems to happen wherever he goes, but its always the client/employer's fault.

    I goof up every day, but it's more fun to relate other's boo-boos.

    but manages to always twist it so that its everyone ELSE who is the REAL incompetent one.

    Please explain how it can be my fault the servers down the hall and behind locked doors are my responsibility and I dump the leaves in the cooling tower.

  • Luds (unregistered) in reply to Atario

    I concur!

  • Luds (unregistered) in reply to Luds
    Luds:
    I concur!

    That last comment was to a much earlier post... can someone explain what the reply button is "suppose" to do than?

  • Simmo (unregistered) in reply to mrprogguy
    mrprogguy:
    "...with the aide of a giant floor fan..."

    The giant floor fan had an assistant?

    Quality!

  • Jean Naimard (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    I replaced my house's archaic AC with a heat pump a few years back.

    A peek out the window revealed a freezing rain storm, with water running off the roof and straight down into the heat pump, where it hit the fan blades, splattered into the surrounding coils, and froze.

    I spent the next two hours standing outside, holding an umbrella with one hand and a blow dryer with the other, trying to melt enough ice to get the heat going again.

    Why didn’t you briefly switch it to cooling? The coils would have been heating-up, melting the ice, letting you bundle up inside and be cozy instead of freezing in the rain…

  • Spoon (unregistered) in reply to Iago
    Iago:
    Unknown:
    If I read a story about a university in Buckinghamshire, I would not expect there to be parenthetical Fahrenheit temperatures included.
    I'm glad to hear you have such low expectations, but providing temperature conversions is such a simple thing - taking maybe 30 seconds at most - that I think it's reasonable to hope for.

    (Speaking as someone who uses Celcius, but would still expect conversions to be provided to Fahrenheit for the benefit of USians if someone from a modern country submitted a WTF.)

    What is with people and proclaiming what is 'modern'? It's terrible insulting to me as I've never seen 'Celcius' used or mentioned in any of the books we used when I was growing up. I can only assume it's closely related to the 'Celsius' system. What country are you from anyway? I assume your scale is just as arbitrary as the rest of them, but I'm curious why it was developed and which two arbitrary points where used and why.

  • moo (unregistered) in reply to Spoon
    Spoon:
    Iago:
    Unknown:
    If I read a story about a university in Buckinghamshire, I would not expect there to be parenthetical Fahrenheit temperatures included.
    I'm glad to hear you have such low expectations, but providing temperature conversions is such a simple thing - taking maybe 30 seconds at most - that I think it's reasonable to hope for.

    (Speaking as someone who uses Celcius, but would still expect conversions to be provided to Fahrenheit for the benefit of USians if someone from a modern country submitted a WTF.)

    What is with people and proclaiming what is 'modern'? It's terrible insulting to me as I've never seen 'Celcius' used or mentioned in any of the books we used when I was growing up. I can only assume it's closely related to the 'Celsius' system. What country are you from anyway? I assume your scale is just as arbitrary as the rest of them, but I'm curious why it was developed and which two arbitrary points where used and why.

    Americans == Imperial system !Americans == Metric system Special case: Canadians == Generally familiar with both (what's -15 C in F? Who cares, it's cold, eh?)

    0 Celcius is the freezing point of water. 100 C is the boiling point of water. Explain the arbitrary points used in Fahrenheit please.

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to moo

    Distilled water anyway, at one atmosphere (sea level).

  • ac (unregistered) in reply to moo
    moo:
    Americans == Imperial system !Americans == Metric system Special case: Canadians == Generally familiar with both (what's -15 C in F? Who cares, it's cold, eh?)

    0 Celcius is the freezing point of water. 100 C is the boiling point of water. Explain the arbitrary points used in Fahrenheit please.

    The ends of the Fahrenheit scale are most definitely not arbitrary. Fahrenheit chose them for a reason. Since you can find Wikipedia just as easily as I can, I won't bother to copy it here.

    And it's not like the US doesn't use SI units. They're taught in schools. Some places that work internationally or where precision is important use them.

  • cd (unregistered) in reply to ac

    Ok, so the decisions of the end points aren't (but that is probably not what he meant anyway), but the reason for the decisions almost are:

    Q: So what is 0 F? A: Oh, that defined by the coldest temperature a polish 17th century scientist could measure on an inaccurate thermometer.

    Q: So what is 96 F? A: Oh, thats the body temperature of a polish 17th century scientist.

    Q: But normal human body temperature isn't 96 F? A: No, as I said, his thermometer was inaccurate.

    Q: But why wasn't that set to 100 F? A: Ah, but it makes it easier to divide in your head, since the difference is 180.

    Q: But what is the point of that? A: ?

  • russ (unregistered)

    woo hoo - apr 6 is my birthday!

  • Saemus Heaney (unregistered) in reply to atari
    atari:
    Joe:
    vt_mruhlin:
    One thing to keep in mind about this certain university, is that it’s located within in a certain geography known for its rapid transitions from Winter to Spring. On April 5th, there’s snow on the ground and the mercury reads a brisk 20°; on April 6th, it’s a cool 70° and everyone’s walking around in shorts.

    You don't work at Virginia Tech, do you GRG?

    Virginia? Sounds more like Boston to me. It was 95 the other day. Yesterday it was barely 70.

    Only in New England can you get all 4 seasons in one night.

    Nope, old England as well. We call that day "summer".

    So true.. I've been here for 3 months. Not once have I before seen a bright sunny 24 degree celsius day turn into blustery thunderstorm and amazing rain like I have so many times in this short time period.. I look forward to my first Ol' English Winter.

  • Saemus Heaney (unregistered)

    Quote Wikipedia: "In the United States the Fahrenheit system continues to be the accepted standard for non-scientific use. All other countries have adopted Celsius as the primary scale in use. Fahrenheit is sometimes used by older generations in English speaking countries, especially for measurement of higher temperatures."

    I've no doubt its in common use in many places around the globe, but the fantastically pro-american who posted his tripe would certainly be wrong in suggestings its the standard..

    To tell you the truth, I can't believe there are countries (like England/UK) which use half imperial/half metric. I'd rather it's all or nothing. Especially considering the fact I see road signs expressing brige height in feet, and max speed in mph, yet commonly see KM/CM/M measures in day to day life. Thank god fruit&veg isn't sold pound/pound, as that would just be too confusing :P

    CAPTCHA GYGAX because thats my middle name

  • (cs) in reply to moo
    moo:
    Americans == Imperial system !Americans == Metric system

    I think it's worth noting that neither of these statements is actually correct.

    Not all Americans use the Imperial system. For most scientific and medical applications we use SI. Almost every food product has its volume listed in both systems' units.

    Not all non-Americans use the metric system. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually three countries that have not adopted the metric system as a standard; Imperial units are also used for specific applications in several countries (e.g., the UK, where distances between cities are in miles, and glasses of beer are in pints).

  • Saemus Heaney (unregistered) in reply to Someone You Know

    [quote user="Someone You Know"][quote user="moo"] Imperial units are also used for specific applications in several countries (e.g., the UK, where distances between cities are in miles, and glasses of beer are in pints). [/quote]

    This is another interesting point though.. I come from a completely metric country (Australia), yet there are certain things which are always expressed in imperial units. For intance, its always a pint of beer, I've never ordered 568ml of beer, nor do I plan too, though I'll complain loudly when you order a pint and are given a full beer in a 500, 530 or 540ml glass, thats just cheating. This seems to happen an awful lot in Australian pubs (I'm not sure about elsewhere), but we need to shake this notion that a pint, the standard unit of beer, is still a real unit of measure, and not just a big glass that beer goes into.

    I'm also always six-foot-two, 188cm just doesn't sound right, and I've noticed it doesn't matter if your in a metric speaking country, quantities of contraband is almost always measured in ounces, pounds etc, not that I care at all though.

    CAPTCHA pirates;;; YAARRR

  • (cs) in reply to Harrow
    Harrow:
    But I can't recall what it was that Washington the man said in the early 20th centuary.

    -Harrow.

    "Help! Help! Let me out of this coffin!"
    Saemus Heaney:
    Quote Wikipedia: "In the United States the Fahrenheit system continues to be the accepted standard for non-scientific use.All other countries have adopted Celsius as the primary scale in use. Fahrenheit is sometimes used by older generations in English speaking countries, especially for measurement of higher temperatures."

    I've no doubt its in common use in many places around the globe, but the fantastically pro-american who posted his tripe would certainly be wrong in suggestings its the standard..

    You don't read very well. I assure you that within the United States, it is indeed the standard for non-scientific use, though many weather forecasts give both, and many thermometers (especially digital ones) can give results in either.

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