Different Formats for Different Countries -- Variable Density B&W Film

On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 10:17:31 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:


I still say that if UC Berkeley corresponds with, say, the Universität
Bern, they still do so on US letter-size stationery. What, is there some
kind of "dimension police" who penalizes them for not using the proper
A4 paper? I don't think so.


Unless I'm mistaken...

There are standard envelope sizes used for
postage. And these vary between the US and
"rest of world." Envelope size in turn dictates
the size of the enclosed paper. [I may have
causality backwards, but the effect is the same.]

Anyway, if one is preparing a mass mailing (say,
tens or hundreds of thousands of letters) then
one might do well to consult the postal rates
and regulations when choosing the size of
the original.

Not because of the polizei but to save serious $$.

I remember when I was young there was a
standard "Par Avion" form that one could buy
at the post office for international air mail. It was
a super-lightweight blue-tinted sheet that formed
its own envelope.

You'd take it home, write or type your letter
onto it, fold it up and drop in the mailbox.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:21:06 -0500, Raphael Bustin
wrote:

And where do you suppose those obnoxious yellow
magnetic SUV-adorning "Support The Troops" things
were made? Duluth? Des Moines?

You mean like this one ?

http://www.killerantennaballs.com/sh...our_troops.asp

Gag !!! But I have to admit I really like some SUV's for their
incredibly bad aerodynamics. You see I ride a motorcycle and drafting
a RAV4 is easy. You just have to be within 100 feet of the rear door.
I mean there is almost no way that thing could ever spin out of
control given the drag on the rear end ! And my fuel economy increases
about 10mpg when I'm behind one.

==
John S. Douglas
Photographer & Webmaster
Legacy-photo.com - Xs750.net

"John" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 14:05:50 -0500, "rafe b" wrote:

-- made anywhere *but* the USA.

Did I ever relate my experience with American Eagle Outfitters ? Just
try finding one item in their stores that's made in America !


There's plenty there made in America--made in American protectorats, that
is!

John wrote:
[...] You see I ride a motorcycle and drafting
a RAV4 is easy. You just have to be within 100 feet of the rear door.

I didn't know you rode, John. I did too, for over 30 years until a few
years ago when some old-age issues came up.

Here's to you!
j

David Nebenzahl wrote:

Forgot the smaller one: that would be "invoice", which is 5-1/2" x 8-1/2".

That gives me a chuckle.
Everybody I know has always called it "math paper",
because that was the size of the buff-coloured sheets of paper
we were given in grade school on which to do math problems.

Nope. It's the engineers and machinists that are slowing down the
whole show. They would rather use what is loosely a base 8 system than
a more natural and precise base 10 system.

I don't see any basis for saying that the US system of measures is
"loosely a base 8" system, any more than it's a base 4 system or base 16
system.

I can only agree that measures based on things like the size of kernel
of corn
(however one happens to define corn), the width of somebody's finger, etc
is pretty arbitrary.

OTOH, the distance from the equator to the pole seems like a pretty
arbitrary
way to define a meter. (or is that "urban" legend?)

Anyway, while counting and dividing and multiplying things by 10 seems
natural
(unless, of course, you happen to be one of those people with a
different number
of "fingers" (in which definition we arbitrarily include thumbs, for
some reason)),
I would think that multiplying and dividing and ... yes ... counting by
2 is natural, too.
Most people I know are reasonably adept at cutting a piece of paper (or
wood) in half.
I don't know many people, though, who are very successful
at cutting a piece of paper (or wood) into 5 equal parts.

While we're at it, what's with this thing with 60 seconds per minute,
60 minutes per hour, and 24 hours o'clock?
Why not divide the day into 10 hours of 10 minutes apiece, each 10
seconds long, etc?
Oh, but then again, that's pretty arbitrary too ...
Maybe we should divide the *year* into a hundred (or maybe 1000?) equal
days.
Oh, except our planet doesn't turn around 100 or 1000 times
in the time it takes it to go around our star --
oh, dear, how *arbitrary* of the them not to behave in a metric fashion.

This started out as a question about the size of paper used by photo labs
in different parts of the world, or something like that, did it not? O_o

QUICK: What's the next standard drill size down from 13/64" ?

The next one down the line in my box of drill bits.

j wrote:

In fact at the moment there is talk of changing our road signs to
decimal here in the UK. that'll kick up a stink for about 10 years so
no giovernment wants to do it. Eventually all cars will have km/h
speedos and everyone'll forget how far a mile is anyway.

The nice thing about killometer is that it sounds so much grawnder than
"mile",
having four times as many syllables and all.
Now if the EU's (or is that ewes) could just come up with a
*ten*-syllable word
that meant the same thing, that would be even better.

In the meantime, we can condole ourselves with the fact
that it's so much easier to write poetry in the metric system --
all the sizes and distances end in meter and rhyme with Peter,
and all the weights end in gram and rhyme with d--n.

However, the picture (remember pictures, and photography, and stuff?)
of automobiles wearing metric bathing suits boggles my mind.

Scott Dorsey wrote:
From my standpoint, I'm happy with English or Metric, just as long as folks
make up their MIND about it. I have too much equipment with BOTH English
and metric parts....

Get used to it. Actually, don't.
Eventually, all those English (well, Amurricane) units will disappear
from your equipment,
to be replaced by everything written in *six* languages,
as they do in the civilized parts of the world.

Tom Phillips wrote:

John wrote:
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:00:57 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

In short the metric system is far more precise and natural than using
any other common set of measurements.

I would say it's more precise, but not more natural.
Listing my height as 1.8292682927 meters instead of
simply noting I'm 6 feet even seems rather clumsy..
In any case, I function perfectly well with both
systems (because I choose to...) and would always
resist any "one size fits all" system being forced
onto us citizens by any government.

Hurrah! On that last point, I'm with you.

(I considered posting that metric seems to me to be more natural
(what with 10 "fingers" (well, digits) on the "average" human being),
but not as precise.
A 10.375mm, or even a 10.5mm, or even a 10.1mm, socket wrench is a rare
item.