Ronnie Cohen wonders why at least one budget airline flying from the UK targets its flight information at continental and American passengers.
Continue reading “No flight information please – we’re British”
Category: Technical
Smart meters, or not?
Readers may have seen a recent TV programme that was highly critical of the energy smart meter “roll out”. Some of you may now be wondering why a nation that made a mess of the simple task of adopting a modern measurement system is now embarking on a complex and expensive technology project of questionable value.
The euro – decimal all ways
It has now been 15 years since the launch of euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. While UKMA takes no position on the euro, the anniversary of the introduction of euro notes and coins gives an opportunity to emphasise the role of measurement in their production.
Planned upgrades to the SI
We kick off 2017 with an article for metric geeks.
Quirks of US Customary Units
Some would argue that the decline of manufacturing industry in the USA contributed to Mr Trump’s surprising victory in the Presidential election*. Others might say that manufacturing’s decline was due in part to the tardy adoption of the international system of measures. Here we look at some of the quirks of ‘English measures’, a throw back to the USA’s colonial past and still widely used in America today.
The curse of conversion factors
In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at lists of plausible conversions in both directions between imperial units still in use in the UK and metric units.
Review of The Official Highway Code 2015 Edition
Ronnie Cohen reviews the 2015 Edition of the The Official Highway Code to comment on what has changed since the last edition and what has remained the same.
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Modular metric magic
OR A Tale of Over Forty Years of Dimensional Co-ordination in UK Kitchens
An article in the recent UKMA newsletter by the Editor on renovating his kitchen has prompted one of our regular contributors, John Frewen-Lord, to relate his own recent experiences doing the same thing, and how the use of metric units has saved enormous amounts of time and money in the process.
An anniversary for the US Metric Conversion Act
The 1975 Metric Conversion Act (MCA) was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on December 23, 1975. To mark the 40th anniversary of this event, Ronnie Cohen looks at the introduction of the Act and its effect on metrication in the USA.
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The Worboys Committee Report revisited
Ronnie Cohen looks back at the 1963 Worboys Committee report and reviews how well the current version of the TSRGD addresses the main criticisms of the earlier traffic signs system and the Committee’s findings and recommendations. He suggests ways that current signage can be improved to meet the Worboys ideals.
Metric Views 