Olin Lathrop wrote:
> 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.
>
>   
Actually, that was because Americans are too stubborn to learn metric.
>> 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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>   
Whatever....
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