Thread: The Vent and Rant Thread
View Single Post
Old 03-09-2011, 04:39 AM   #16343
GeoffC
Chocolate Grasshopper ...
GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GeoffC ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
GeoffC's Avatar
 
Posts: 27,599
Karma: 20821184
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Scotland
Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
Why, when converting from one measurement to another, do people use a ridiculous amount of precision?

The example that prompted this rant is a news report about the earthquake off Japan early this morning.

"The quake occurred about 8.8 miles below the earth's surface, the USGS said. The expected height of the tsunami was only expected to be 0.5 meters (19.6 inches)." link

Oh yes, I'm sure the USGS expect the tsumani to be 19.6 inches exactly. Why translate an obviously rounded estimate (half a metre) to a value exact to +/- 2 mm? Call it twenty inches, or even a foot and a half. 19.6 inches? Ridiculous!
I agree ...

Whilst I'd also want them to use metres ....
GeoffC is offline   Reply With Quote