Tachyon wrote:
> No big deal, semantics.

Actually proper units and attention to detail in engineering IS a big deal,
partly because there are far too many sloppy people out there.  This sort of
thing needs get squashed whenever it emerges.  Ask NASA about a Mars probe
if you think this is just a nit picking argument.

> Half of the magazine reviews and even some sales
> literature make that mistake.

Yes, there are a lot of sloppy and dumb people in the world, but that
doesn't make what they write correct.  Do you really think the best
engineers chose to become full time maganzine editors?  I bet you won't find
this kind of sloppiness in magazines that are carefully reviewed, like
Circuit Cellar for example.  I rather doubt Dave Tweed would let something
like that get by.

> Foot Pounds or ft-lbs is the correct unit. But I'm quit sure that no one
> reading these things even cares about the units being correct because
> they all know what is really meant.

WRONG!  It's one thing to make a mistake, but it's far worse to justify bad
engineering as being right.  A simple "Oops, sorry." would have been the
correct response and would have ended the discussion.  Your attitude is both
irresponsible and indefensible.

> And given that all engines are rated
> in these same units when listed in imperial units, it's really only the
> number that matters anyway.

The worst kind of units are the ones "everyone knows".  Of course orbit
height is measured in feet.  Oops.

> In fact my error came from pasting from a
> very large and popular automotive review magazine's site.

Large and popular are poor ground for correctness.  Copying an error like
this is an understandable mistake, but you should be ashamed of yourself for
trying to defend it.


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