Xyz edit

In 1832 Carl-Friedrich Gauss made the first absolute measurements of the Earth's magnetic field using a decimal system based using the millimetre, milligram, and second as the base unit of time.[1]: 109  In his paper, he also presented his results using the metre and gram instead of the millimetre and milligram, also using the Parisian line and the Berlin pound[Note 1]instead of the millimetre and milligram.[2]

  1. ^ The Parisian line = 1144 of a Parisian pied or foot or 1.066 English lines. The Berlin (or Prussian) pfund or pound was 468 g or about 1.032 imperial pounds.
  1. ^ International Bureau of Weights and Measures (2006), The International System of Units (SI) (PDF) (8th ed.), ISBN 92-822-2213-6, archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-04, retrieved 2021-12-16
  2. ^ Gauss, Carl Friedrich (15 December 1832). "The intensity of the Earth's magnetic force reduced to absolute measurement" (PDF). translated by Johnson, Susan P (July 1995). Retrieved 16 October 2013.

There have recently been a number of debates in WP:MOSNUM that ended in an edit-war in the article United Kingdom regarding the primary units of measure UK Geographic articles.

A few years ago, all MOS-type pages relating to regional articles were moved to the WP:MOS tree so that regional recommendations were visible to all. Although units of measure style guide has been centralised at WP:UNITS, there has been little or no input from WP:UKGEO in respect of which units of measure should be the primary units in UK Geographical article. I propose a new mechanism to ensure that WP:UNITS reflects the views of all editors. The process will be that each section of WP:UNITS will be associated with one or another Wikiproject and that debates regarding that section will take place on the talk pages of the Wikiproject concerned. Those editors connected with WP:UNITS rather than the project will have a responsibility for coordinating various inputs and ensuring a consistent format of the WP:UNITS page.

I propose therefore that WP:UNITS be amended as follows:

  • The following section is inserted between the subsections "UK engineering-related articles" and "Other articles":
UK geographical-related articles
Although Geography is usually classed a science at times it has been classed as a humanity. In order to cover both these aspects, geographic measurements that are specific to the United Kingdom should use SI units as the primary unit of measure (as per scientific articles) followed by, where appropriate, the equivalent alternative (imperial) unit in brackets (as per non-science articles). All changes to this definition are to be debated at WP:UKGEO.
  • In the sub-section "Other articles", the text
In non-science and non-engineering UK-related articles: the main quantity is generally ...
is replaced by
In other UK-related articles: the main quantity is generally ...
This is a general maintenance change.


Survey edit

*Support

This proposal will maintain the status quo in all UK articles that I have looked at (apart from United Kingdom where an edit war broke out when User:Wee Curry Monster changed the ordering of units of measure in that article). It also follows the normal usage of units of measure in scholastic, educational and public administration circles and is therefore appropriate for use in an encyclopaedia. Martinvl (talk) 14:31, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Threaded discussion edit

RFC

There have recently been a number of debates in WP:MOSNUM and edit-warring regarding units of measure UK Geographic articles. To date there has been little or no input from WP:UKGEO. A few years ago, all MOS-type pages relating to regional article were moved to the WP:MOS tree. I propose ensuring that the current consensus regarding units of measure in UK Geographic articles is likewise moved into the WP:MOS tree. The most approriate place to record current practice is at WP:UNITS. In order to ensire what appears to be current consensus is perpetuated, I propose that WP:Units be amended as follows:

  • The following section is inserted between the subsections "UK engineering-related articles" and "Other articles":
UK geographical-related articles
Although Geography is usually classed a science it has at times been classed as a humanity. In order to cover both these aspects, geographic measurements that are specific to the United Kingdom should use SI units as the primary unit of measure (as per scientific articles) followed by, where appropriate, the equivalent alternative (imperial) unit in brackets (as per non-science articles).
A hidden comment will be added to this section stating that it should not be changed unless debated at WT:UKGEO.
  • In the sub-section "Other articles", the text
In non-science and non-engineering UK-related articles: the main quantity is generally ...
is replaced by
In other UK-related articles: the main quantity is generally ...


Survey edit

*Support

This proposal will maintain the status quo in all UK articles that I have looked at (apart from United Kingdom where an edit war broke out when User:Wee Curry Monster changed the ordering of units of measure in that article). It also follows the normal usage of units of measure in scholastic, educational and public administration circles and is therefore appropriate for use in an encyclopeadia. Martinvl (talk) 17:06, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Threaded discussion edit

The question of measurement reform in France was placed in the hands of the French Academy of Sciences who appointed a commission chaired by Jean-Charles de Borda. Borda could be said to have been a fanatic for decimalization: he had designed the repeating circle, a surveying instrument which allowed a much-improved precision in the measurement of angles between landmarks, but insisted that it be calibrated in "grades" (1100 of a quarter-circle) rather than degrees, with 100 minutes to a grade and 100 seconds to a minute.[7] The instrument was manufactured by Étienne Lenoir.[8] For Borda, the seconds pendulum was a poor choice for a standard because the second (as a unit of time) was insufficiently decimal: he preferred the new system of 10 hours to the day, 100 minutes to the hour and 100 seconds to the minute.

Instead, the commission – whose members included Lagrange, Laplace, Monge and Condorcet – decided that the new measure should be equal to one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator (the quadrant of the Earth's circumference), measured along the meridian passing through Paris.[2] Apart from the obvious nationalistic considerations, the Paris meridian was also a sound choice for practical scientific reasons: a portion of the quadrant from Dunkerque to Barcelona (about 1000 km, or one-tenth of the total) could be surveyed with start- and end-points at sea level, and that portion was roughly in the middle of the quadrant, where the effects of the Earth's oblateness were expected to be the largest.[2]

 
The north and south sections of the meridianal survey met at Rodez cathederal, seen here dominating the Rodez skyline

The task of surveying the meridian arc, which was authorized by Louis XVI[3]: 21–33  and which was estimated to take two years, fell to Pierre Méchain and Jean-Baptiste Delambre. The task eventually took more than six years (1792–98) with delays caused not only by unforeseen technical difficulties but also by the convulsed period of the aftermath of the Revolution.[3] In the meantime, the commission calculated a provisional value from older surveys of 443.44 lignes.[Note 1]

The project was split into two parts – the northern section of 742.7 km from the Belfry, Dunkirk to Rodez Cathederal which was surveyed by Delambre and the southern section of 333.0 km from Rodez to the Montjuïc Fortress, Barcelona which was surveyed by Méchain.[3]: 227–230 [Note 2]

Delambre used a baseline of about 10 km in length along a straight road, located close to Melun. In an operation taking six weeks, the baseline was accurately measured using four platinum rods, each of length two toise (about 3.9 m).[3]: 227–230  Thereafter he used, where possible, the triangulation points used by Cassini in his 1744 survey of France. Méchain's baseline, of a similar length, and also on a straight section of road was in the Perpignan area.[3]: 240–241  Although Méchain's sector was half the length of Delambre, it included the Pyrenees and hitherto unsurveyed parts of Spain. After the two surveyors met, each computed the other's baseline in order to cross-check their results and they then recomputed the kilometre. Their result came out at 0.144 lignes shorter than the provisional value, a difference of about 0.03%.[2]


References

  1. ^ pg 20
  2. ^ a b c d Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f Alder
  4. ^ Naugthin
  5. ^ Barbara
  6. ^ Mouton
  7. ^ Jean Charles de Borda, MacTutor, retrieved 2010-08-13
  8. ^ Smeaton, William A. (2000). "The Foundation of the Metric System in France in the 1790s: The importance of Etienne Lenoir's platinum measuring instruments". Platinum Metals Rev. 44 (3). Ely, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom: 125–134. Retrieved 2013-06-18.


It is in fact User:Kahastok who is Gaming the system.

  • He is showing contempt of the Wikipedia process for publishing guidelines. I request that he be instructed to revert this change.

In 2010 he was the principal editor of the page WP:FALKLANDSUNITS which he claims to be based on consensus within the Falkland Islands work group was published. My contesting of this on assertion and off over the years has been the source of considerable conflict, the most recent of which in this thread and associated discussions at WP:ANI. During the past ferw days I realised that this page had never been been subject to a"high level of consensus from the entire community for promotion to guideline or policy" as specified by WP:PROPOSAL, so in order to get clarification as to whether this was a proper guideline or not, I formally submitted it as a Wikipedia Guideline as per WP:PROPOSAL. Amongst other things, WP:PROCESS says "... The {{proposed}} template should be placed at the top of the proposed page ...". I have added this template to the page but Kahastok removed the template here, here and after I issued a vandalism warning here.

  • He claims that I

 

Martinvl (talk) 13:50, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Metrology author

Prior to this, the strength earth’s magnetic field had only been described in relative terms. The technique used by Gauss was to compare the torque induced on a suspended magnet of known mass by the earth’s magnetic field with the torque induced on an equivalent system under gravity, thereby equating mechanical and magnetic forces.[1]

Publisher

Gauss references

Brian Leonard


1830 German handbook of weights and measures[2]: §1.6 & §1.10 


Legendre and the French Reform of Weights and Measures[3]


This is done at the cost of losing the simplicity associated with many traditional systems of units where division by 3 or 4 does not result in awkward fractions; for example one third of a foot is four inches, a simplicity that in 1790 was debated, but rejected by the originators of the metric system.[4]

Prototype edit

Standard (metrology) - introduce etalon, prototype, standard. OED

étalon - Etymology: French étalon (Fabry & Pérot 1902, in Ann. de Chimie et Physique XXV. 107), lit. ‘a standard (of weights, measures, etc.)’

prototype - Etymology: Middle French, French prototype first or primary type, exemplar (1552) or its etymon post-classical Latin prototypum, prototypon prototypon n

The first or primary type of a person or thing; an original on which something is modelled or from which it is derived; an exemplar, an archetype.

1552 - "... may be resembled to a paterne, or prothotipe newly inuented ..."

In model-making: a full-size original of which a model is a representation on a reduced scale


Standard - The authorized exemplar of a unit of measure or weight; e.g. a measuring rod of unit length; a vessel of unit capacity, or a mass of metal of unit weight, preserved in the custody of public officers as a permanent evidence of the legally prescribed magnitude of the unit.

In abstract sense: The legal magnitude of a unit of measure or weight

The substance or thing which is chosen to afford the unit measure of any physical quantity, such as specific gravity.

An authoritative or recognized exemplar of correctness, perfection, or some definite degree of any quality.

A rule, principle, or means of judgement or estimation; a criterion, measure

Special - Old French especial (see especial adj.) or Latin speciālis individual, particular

Metre Convention (http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/documents/official/metre-convention.pdf) étalon - translated as "standard" prototype - translated as "prototype"



Table 9 edit

Name Symbol Quantity Equivalent SI unit
Other non-SI units
ångström, angstrom Å length 1 Å = 0.1 nm = 10−10 m
are a area 1 a = 1 dam2 = 100 m2
barn b area 1 b = 10−28 m2
bar bar pressure 1 bar = 105 Pa
millibar mbar pressure 1 mbar = 1 hPa = 100 Pa
atmosphere atm pressure 1 atm = 1013.25 mbar = 1013.25 hPa = 101325 Pa exactly (commonly used in atmospheric meteorology, in oceanography and for pressures within liquids, or in the industry for pressures within containers of liquefied gas)
dyne per square centimetre (barye) Ba pressure 1 Ba = 0.1 Pa = 0.1 N/m2 = 100 g·cm−1·s−2
millimetre of mercury mmHg pressure 1 mmHg = 133.322387415 Pa at 0 °C = 133.322387415 N/m2 at 0 °C = 133.322387415 kg·cm−1·s−2 at 0 °C
torr Torr pressure 1 Torr = 1/760 atm = 133.322368421... Pa = 133.322368421... N/m2 = 133.322368421... kg·cm−1·s−2
Non-SI units associated with the CGS and the CGS-Gaussian system of units
erg[Note 3] erg energy 1 erg = 10–7 J
dyne[Note 3] dyn force 1 dyn = 10–5 N
poise[Note 3] P dynamic viscosity 1 P = 1 dyn s cm–2 = 0.1 Pa s
stokes St kinematic viscosity 1 St = 1 cm2 s–1 = 10–4 m2 s–1
stilb[Note 3] sb luminance 1 sb = 1 cd cm–2 = 104 cd m–2
phot ph illuminance 1 ph = 1 cd sr cm–2 = 104 lx
gal[Note 4] Gal acceleration 1 Gal = 1 cm s–2 = 10–2 m s–2
Maxwell[Note 5] Mx magnetic flux 1 Mx = 1 G cm2 = 10–8 Wb
gauss[Note 5] G magnetic flux density 1 G = 1 Mx cm–2 = 10–4 T
œrsted, oersted[Note 5] Oe magnetic field 1 Oe corresponds to (103/4π) A m–1

Notes

  1. ^ All values in lignes are referred to the toise de Pérou, not to the later value in mesures usuelles. 1 toise = 6 pieds; 1 pied = 12 pouces; 1 pouce = 12 lignes; so 864 lignes = 1 toise.
  2. ^ Distances measured using Google Earth. The coordinates are:
    51°02′08″N 2°22′34″E / 51.03556°N 2.37611°E / 51.03556; 2.37611 (Belfry, Dunkirk) - Belfry, Dunkirk
    44°25′57″N 2°34′24″E / 44.43250°N 2.57333°E / 44.43250; 2.57333 (Rodez Cathederal) - Rodez Cathederal
    41°21′48″N 2°10′01″E / 41.36333°N 2.16694°E / 41.36333; 2.16694 (Montjuïc, Barcelona) - Montjuïc, Barcelona
  3. ^ a b c d This unit and its symbol were included in Resolution 7 of the 9th CGPM (1948).
  4. ^ The gal is a special unit of acceleration employed in geodesy and geophysics to express acceleration due to gravity.
  5. ^ a b c These units are part of the so-called "electromagnetic" three-dimensional CGS system based on unrationalized quantity equations, and must be compared with care to the corresponding unit of the International System which is based on rationalized equations involving four dimensions and four quantities for electromagnetic theory. The magnetic flux, φ, and the magnetic flux density, B, are defined by similar equations in the CGS system and the SI, so that the corresponding units can be related as in the table. However, the unrationalized magnetic field, H (unrationalized) = 4πH (rationalized). The equivalence symbol corresponds to is used to indicate that when H (unrationalized) = 1 Oe, H (rationalized) = (103/4π) A m–1.

Wuppertal edit

Wuppertal Suspension Railway
Wuppertaler Schwebebahn
 
Depot and turning loop
 
0.0
Oberbarmen
 
0.7
Wupperfeld
 
1.3
Werther Brücke
 
2.0
Alter Mark]
 
2.8
Adlerbrücke
 
3.3
Loher Brücke
 
4.1
Völklinger Straße
 
5.1
Landgericht
 
5.8
Kluse/Schauspielhaus
 
6.3
Hauptbahnhof
 
6.8
Ohligsmühle
 
7.4
Robert-Daum-Platz
 
8.2
Pestalozzistraße
 
8.8
Westende
 
9.7
Varresbecker Straße
 
10.3
 
10.4
Zoo/Stadion
 
10.5
former Wendeschleife Zoo
 
10.6
Start of the Overland section
 
11.0
Sonnborner Straße
 
11.3
Viaduct over the Sonnborner Kreuz
 
11.7
Hammerstein
 
12.5
Bruch
 
13.3
Vohwinkel Schwebebahn
 
Main workshops, depot and turning loop

United Kingdom and the former Empire edit

Even though the use of metric units were legalised for trade in 1864, the United Kingdom had signed the Metre Convention in 1884 and Parliament had defined the yard and the pound in terms of the metre and the kilogram in 1897, the United Kingdom continued to use the imperial system of measure[5] and to export the imperial system of units to the Empire.[Note 1] In 1932, the system of Imperial Preference was set up at the Ottawa Conference. Although Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1948 and South Africa in 1961,[6] both continued their close economic ties with the Commonwealth.[7]

Image here

When the SI standard was published in 1960, the only major Commonwealth country to have adopted the metric system was India. In 1965, after numerous false starts the then Federation of British Industry informed the British Government that its members favoured the adoption of the metric system. The rationale behind the request was that 80% of British exports were to countries that used the metric system or that were considering changing to the metric system. The Board of Trade, on behalf of the Government, agreed to support a ten-year metrication programme. The government agreed to a voluntary policy requiring minimal legislation and costs being to be borne where they fell. SI would be used from the outset.[8] The rest of the Commonwealth, South Africa and Ireland followed within a few years; in some counties such as South Africa and Australia metrication was mandatory rather than voluntary.[9][10]

Industries who stood to reduce costs metricated quickly, but those sectors that were to incur high costs with little return, particularly the retail sector, opposed metrication. In December 1970, a full year before the publication of the Government White Paper on Metrication, the Department of Transport postponed the metrication of road speed limits indefinitely.[11][12]

By 1980 all apart from the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland had effectively completed their programs. In the United Kingdom the breakdown of voluntary metrication in the mid-1970s coincided with the United Kingdom's obligations as part of the EEC to adopt the metric system, resulting in legislation to force metrication in certain areas. The Eurosceptic movement adopted an anti-metrication stance while the United Kingdom Government sought a number of derogations from the relevant EEC directives. By 1980 when the Metrication Board was wound up, Britain effectively had two systems of measurement—"one for the housewife and one for the businessman".[13] When, in 2000, an EU directive made it mandatory to use metric units when weighing goods in front of the customer, most aspects of British life, especially in government, commerce and industry used SI[14] though this caused a backlash resulting in the Metric Martyrs court case in which the Eurosceptic movement used metrication challenge the supremacy of European Community law over UK domestic statutes.[15]

Although SI or units approved for use alongside SI are used in most areas where units of measure are regulated[Note 2] imperial units are widely encountered in unregulated areas such as the press and everyday speech. Canada has adopted it for most purposes, but imperial units are still legally permitted and remain in common use throughout a few sectors of Canadian society, particularly in the buildings, trades and railways sectors.[16][17] The situation in Ireland, apart from road signs which were metricated in the early 2000s,[18] is similar to that in the United Kingdom.[19]

Notes edit

  1. ^ In the context of this article, the word "Empire" excludes the United States.
  2. ^ High-profile exceptions include road signs in the United Kingdom, (Irish road signs were converted to metric units during the first decade of the 21st century) the sale of draught beer and the sale of milk in returnable containers

References edit

  1. ^ Gauss' original paper on magnetism "The intensity of the Earth's magnetic force reduced to absolute measurement". {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ Niemann, Friedrich (1830) Vollständiges Handbuch der Münzen, Masse, und Gewichte aller Länder der Erde fur Kaufleute, Banquiers ... : in alphabetischer Ordnung. Quedlinburg und Leipzig, G. Basse. p. 33, pp.231–2, p. 286
  3. ^ "Legendre and the French Reform of Weights and Measures". Osiris. 1. University of Chicago Press: 314–340. January 1936.
  4. ^ Glaser, Anton (1981) [1971]. History of Binary and other Nondecimal Numeration (PDF) (Revised ed.). Tomash. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-938228-00-5. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  5. ^ "White Paper on Metrication (1972) – Summary and Conclusions" (PDF). London: Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate. para 19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Cinchon, Deborah (1996). "APPENDIX B -- Guyana and Belize: The Commonwealth of Nations". Country studies. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  7. ^ Fram, Nicholas (17 May 2006). Decolonization, the Commonwealth, and British Trade, 1945-2004 (PDF) (BA (Hons) thesis). Stanford University.
  8. ^ "White Paper on Metrication (1972) – Summary and Conclusions" (PDF). London: Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate. para 42–45. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "South Africa Metrication". South African Government. 15 September 1977. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  10. ^ "Final Annual Report (1980-1981) of the (Australian) Metric Conversion Board (MCB)". Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  11. ^ "White Paper on Metrication (1972) – Summary and Conclusions" (Document). London: Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate. para 107. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  12. ^ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1970/dec/09/roads-speed-limit-signs. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 808. House of Commons. 9 December 1970. col. 417–418. Retrieved 25 March 2012. {{cite book}}: |chapter-url= missing title (help)
  13. ^ "Final Report of the Metrication Board (1980)" (Document). London: Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate. para 1/12. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Final Report of the Metrication Board (1980)" (PDF). London: Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate. para 1.6 and para 1.10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ Drewry, Gavin (December 2007). "The jurisprudence of British Euroscepticism: A strange banquet of fish and vegetables". Utrecht Law Review. 3 (2). Universiteit Utrecht. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  16. ^ "Weights and Measures Act". Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  17. ^ Weights and Measures Act, Retrieved 2012-09-18, Act current to 18 September 2012. "Canadian units (5) The Canadian units of measurement are as set out and defined in Schedule II, and the symbols and abbreviations therefor are as added pursuant to subparagraph 6(1)(b)(ii)."
  18. ^ "Roads go metric across country today". RTÉ News. 20 January 2005. p. 9. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  19. ^ "National Plan to Improve Literacy and Numeracy in Schools: Submission to the Department of Education and Skills" (PDF). Irish Business and Employers Confederation. February 2011. p. 9. Retrieved 2013-02-16.

Ancestry edit

George's four grandparents represent four different strata of British society—royalty, the aristocracy, the untitled establishment and the working class.

At the time of George's birth, his paternal grandfather, Charles, Prince of Wales was heir to the throne of the United Kingdom. Charles' is patrilineal descent is from the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his paternal ancestry includes George I of Greece, Nicholas I of Russia. Charles' maternal descent, and many and the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. In addition to the British royal line, Charles' was descended from Christian IX of Denmark on both his paternal and maternal sides and also counted many German dukes and grand dukes among his ancestors.[1]

George's paternal grandmother was Diana, Princess of Wales, daughter of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer whose ancestors included Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn and the Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan. In addition, her maternal grandfather was the Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy.[2]

George's maternal grandfather was Michael Middleton whose own grandfathers Richard Middleton and Frederick Glassborow were described as a solicitor and a bank manager respectively. Michael Middleton's grandmother was Olive Lupton, a member of the Lupton woollen manufacturing family. George's maternal grandmother was Carole Middleton ((née Goldsmith) who two grandfathers were described as a builder's labourer and a carpenter respectively.[2]

Cobulator edit

I request that this merger proposal be speedily closed with the decision "Rejected". I believe that this is a malicious proposal by a banned editor. The rational is as follows:

  1. The merge proposal was made at about 22:00 on 11 July 2013 by an unregistered user
  2. The IP addressed used by that was 212.183.140.15, a dynamic address owned by Vodafone.
  3. Earlier that day User:Cobulator was banned as a sock-puppet of User:DeFacto
  4. User:DeFacto has used IP addresses from Vodafone in the past – here and here
  5. Sockpuppets of User:DeFacto proposed a similar merge of the article Metrication of British Transport back into Metrication in the United Kingdom shortly after the new article was created – see here.

The case for writing the article in the first place is Talk:Imperial and US customary measurement systems#here.

Martinvl (talk) 06:30, 12 July 2013 (UTC)


I believe that User:Cobulator is a sock-puppet of the banned user User:DeFacto, operating from a sleeper account set up before DeFacto was banned. User:DeFacto was banned as a result of his continued disruption to the article Metrication in the United Kingdom. Cobulator has shown signs of becoming disruptive to the article History of the metric system

Disruption to article History of the metric system

Creating and abandoning stubs I checked Cobulator's record further

  • DeFacto: DeFacto too had a track-record of creating stubs on road-related topics and never progressing them. When he was appealing against his block, DeFacto wrote that he had created 138 artciles. Rather than work through all his articles, I checked the first 18 articles that he wrote. My findings were that of the 18 articles, he only made significant contributions to one of the - Shared space:
DeFacto's first 18 articles, mostly road-related stubs

Anti-metric editing

These three similarities appear to me to be shouting WP:QUACK.


  • The name "Cobulator" is interesting - is it a corruption of "Corroborator", a word that is similar to "de Facto"?

I believe that these other similarities make the small WP:QUACK into a large WP:QUACK.

The Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/DeFacto/Archive#28 May 2013 SPI case against User:Up and in was rejected with a note from the clerk "I think the similarity in edits is uncanny, but I'm not sure if that alone is enough to block on in this case." In particular,

Since then further evidence has emerged - both User:Up and in and User:Cobulator have shown their ignorance in respect of ecclesiastical affairs by being pedantic about matters which they clearly have little or no knowledge - User:Cobulator in making indirect reference to the Reformation in inappropriate places starting with Lincoln Cathedral here, and then moving on to Wells Cathedral here, Winchester Cathederal here, Worcester Cathedral here. Many others are listed in his list of contributions. User:Up and in is equally pedantic in respect of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa


. *Oppose ratification Does ENGVAR go beyond language?

Does the policy of WP:ENGVAR apply only to the choice of language or does it go beyond just linguistic matters. My current argument involves the layout of junction or exit lists associated with major roads such as the M1 (in the UK) or the I70. Ever since Wikipedia articles started including junction lists, British and American practice diverged. Certain editors are trying to get a convergence of the two styles, but a dispute has broken out over, amongst other things, the headings of the junction lists. I have copied the headings from the teo items mentioned earlier below:


CountyLocationmikmExitDestinationsNotes
St. ClairEast St. Louis 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I-70 west / I-55 south / I-64 west / US 40 west – St. Louis, Kansas City
Western terminus of I-70 in Illinois; Missouri state line on the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
and
M1 motorway junctions
mile km Southbound exits (B carriageway) Junction Northbound exits (A carriageway) Coordinates}}
7.0 11.3 North Circular (West), Brent Cross A406 J1
Southern terminus
Start of motorway 51°34′31″N 0°14′05″W / 51.57515°N 0.23471°W / 51.57515; -0.23471 (M1, Junction 1)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi


Apart from the column layout (which is outside the scope of my question), it will be noticed that the M1 junction list header has a title in the colours that correspond to the colours used on British motorways. The I70 has no equivalent title.

My Question

Is it appropriate to prohibit the use of the blue title on the British junction list on grounds of uniformity across Wikipedia, or does WP:ENGVAR implicitly cover linguistic as well as non-linguistic matters thereby permitting the use of colours that are specific to the United Kingdom to be used on junction lists relating to British roads.

iPhone-friendly example edit

I have prepared an iPhone-friendly example of the M5 motorway. I took the data from the example proposed in the current RJL project page and made the following changes:

  • For purposes of illustration of concept
  • Discarded the "Locations" column
  • Merged the data in the "Notes" column into the "Destinations" column
The effect of this was to reduce the screen width where data wrapped for the first time from 1440px to 1030px (29% reduction) and to reduce the width of the smallest screen needed to display the table without any need for left-right scrolling from 760px to 590px (23% reduction).
  • For purposes of illustration of features, I made the following changes:
  • I assumed that the motorway south of Junction 7 was the A5.
  • I assumed that the county boundary passed through the middle of the Frankley Services.
  • I assumed that Junction 5 was a limited access junction.
  • I added a number of new features:
  • The distances are the exit distances in both directions.
  • I have reinstated the table title using UK-specific colours.
  • I gave greater detail about the continuation of the motorway after its termini.
  • I reduced the coordinate suffix from "coord" to "c".

I am happy to accept something based on this layout. Of course, this is only a first draft and many details need to be hammered out. For example, the handling of coordinates is outside the scope of this discussion, though as a thought, they could be in an automatically generated list below the main table with a hide/show option. (Just a thought)

M5 motorway junctions
County Mile km Junctions Destinations
West Midlands 0.0 0.0 Terminus
M6, J8[c 1]
The motorway splits into two

(N):   M6 - The North West, Wolverhampton, Walsall
(W:)  M6 Birmingham (north & east)

2.7
3.3
4.3
5.3
1   A41 - West Bromwich, Birmingham (north west)
5.2
5.8
8.4
9.3
2   A4123 - Dudley, Wolverhampton, Birmingham (west)
8.6
9.0
13.8
14.5
3   A456 - Birmingham (south west), Kidderminster
- - Services[c 2] Frankley services
Worcestershire
14.0
14.4
22.5
23.2
4   A38 - Birmingham (south);
  A491 Stourbridge
16.1
16.6
25.9
26.7
4a[c 3]   M42 - Birmingham (south & east), NEC, Birmingham Airport, London, the North East, Redditch
21.4
-
34.5
-
5   A38 - Droitwich, Bromsgrove
 · No access from the south
27.0
27.5
43.5
44.2
6   A449 - Worcester (north), Kidderminster;
  A4538 - Evesham
30.2
30.7
48.6
49.4
7
Terminus
  A44 - Worcester (south), Evesham
Continues as the A5 to the South West and South Wales
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Martinvl (talk) 14:16, 1 July 2013 (UTC)


M5 motorway junctions
County Mile km Jcnt Destinations
West Midlands 0.0 0.0   (N):   M6 - The North West, Wolverhampton, Walsall
(W:)  M6 Birmingham (north & east)
2.7
3.3
4.3
5.3
1   A41 - West Bromwich, Birmingham (north west)
- -   Frankley services
Worcestershire
27.0
27.5
43.5
44.2
6   A449 - Worcester (north), Kidderminster;
  A4538 - Evesham
30.2
30.7
48.6
49.4
7
 
  A44 - Worcester (south), Evesham
Continues as the A5 to the South West and South Wales
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

SH-88 edit

The entire route is in Rogers County.

Locationmi[3]kmDestinationsNotes
Inola0.00.0Commercial St.[4]Southern terminus
0.91.4  US 412Partial cloverleaf interchange[4]
Claremore13.020.9  SH-66Southern end of SH-66 concurrency
13.121.1  SH-20Southern end of SH-20 concurrency
13.221.2  SH-66Northern end of SH-66 concurrency
14.022.5  SH-20Northern end of SH-20 concurrency
Oologah26.041.8  US 169Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
Item 1 (Oppose)
Every style guide that I have seen, both in industry and at university, has either demanded or at least recommended that every table and chart should have a title. It does not matter whether the title is above or below the chart as long it is there. I notice that none of the examples in WP:RJL have titles, something that I rate as a deficiency. Part of the British culture is to use specified colours for specified classes of roads.
The only objection that I can see to using colour is that which is outlined in WP:COLOR. That page references this document. The colour schemes used by British Road Engineers satisfy the contrasts defined in the document.
I therefore oppose this proposal on the grounds that headings are general good practice, the RJL is deficient in omitting headings from its examples that to require the removal of traditional British colours from British RJL:s is an unwitting assault on British culture.
Item 2 (Reservations)
I have given the matter serious consideration over the past few weeks, and have made a point in listening to traffic reports on British radio, in particular Classic FM. In view of this, I am happy to include ceremonial county names, but am opposed to have a second column for location on the following grounds:
  • There is no consistency in the United Kingdom regarding the identification at levels lower than ceremonial county.
  • Some descriptions, particular where a road follows a boundary can become verbose. This is particularly the case where the boundary in question is a county boundary.
  • WP:Accessibility councils that all output should be designed for small screens. That page identifies 1024x768 pixels as a lower limit. However, since that page was written, iPhones have become very popular - they have a screen size of 640 x 960 pixels. This means that RJLs in general should be looking at the need for the second column. In the case of the UK, that column, in my opinion, serve no purpose other to waste space on a small screen.
Item 3 (Reservations)
I am open to discussion about a single destination column, but as explained above, a "notes" column can be a liability. Most of the text that goes into the notes column can be handled elsewhere - the start and end points of the road in the destinations column and notes about limited access in small letters above the destination list.
Item 4 (Reservation)
My reservations about this section are covered above.
Item 5 (Redundant Question)
This item is redundant. It is self-evident that the examples should reflect the policy.
Further points
  • All the documentation look American and feels American. For example, in respect of British roads, the documentation for template:jct states "Not all A roads have an svg shield. Use a lowercase a to show a png shield." British roads do not have shields. Please do us (and others) the couresy of using the correct terminology. The documentation for jctint, when dealing with the "location" parameter makes a reference to "the Northeast". As far as I am concerned, the principal ciies in the Northeast are Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and Middlesborough. If you meant the "New England States", please say so.
  • The road numbers, as created by templatge:jct look awful. Why are they all different sizes? Why does the "chopstick" symbol appear on the motorway signs? If you consult the TSRGD, you will see that the "chopsticks" are used to denote the entry point to the motorway from the Queen's highway, not the motorway itself.
  • In the United Kingdom, the use of the coloured road identifiers (not shields) depends on the road concerned. They are not used on motorways themselves, but are used on motorway access roads and on primary roads. As a rule of thumb, once you pass the "chopsticks" sign, coloured road identifiers are not used - See TSRGD for more details. Furthermore, am road can be a primary route for part of its length, in which case it is designated by gold lettering on a green background, while on another part of its route it can be a secondary road in which case it is denoted by black lettering on a white background. An example is the A38 at Junction 5 of the M5. this picture and this picture are about 200 metres apart looking in opposite directions.
  • Looking through the examples, I get the feeling that the templates in question were designed by Americans for use in America. Using them outside America requires adaptations and adaptations require proper testing. If changes are made to the templates, are they regression tested? If not, then I do not believe it safe to entrust the UK road junction lists to templates that were not designed with the UK in mind (for example the A38 changing from being a primary to a secondary road at either side of a motorway junction).
Finally
If this is accpeted, will those who supported the proposal be willing to do the grunt work of the conversions. If you are not willing to do the grunt work, please be honest and mark your statement accordingly.

Alternative Proposition edit

  • 'Strong Oppose
  • The promoters of this proposition have not even done the British users the courtesy of removing blanant US terminology such as "shields" instead of "route identifiers" and "North East" when the mean "New England" from their documentation.
  • The promoters have misused the colour schemes used for road identifiers. The A38. for example, should be green on gold north of J5 on the M5 where it is a primary route, but black on white south of that junction where it is a secondary route.
  • The non-UK RJL, as it stands does not have a title line. In many style guides for technical subjects, such title lines are mandatory. The UK RJL has gone a step further and used the colours that are standard and are well-understood throughout the UK. Do the promoters want this removed? If they do this, do they realize that these colours are now part of Britain's cultural heritage.
I agree with Richie333 about the use of mobile devices and look forward to this proposition being thrown out and the UK producing a version of the RJL which is suited to use in the UK and to use on I-phones (see Wikipedia:ACCESSIBILITY). I personally am not so arrogant to think that what is suitable for the UK is suitable for other countries in the world, I have lived in South Africa long enough to realize that there are fundamental differences in British and South African motorways/freeways. I have also spent enough time developing software to realize that writing a single-all embracing set of specifications/program suite can have numerous side-effects and requires endless regression tests every time that it is updated to accommodate a new scenario - it is often best to built a second set of specifications/program suite which can build on the lessons learned from the first without having to compromise either. Martinvl (talk) 16:54, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

I would like to make an alternative proposition:

Given that

  1. The RJL as currently worded makes no provision for a table title, even though the current UK layout has a title and most good style guides require that tables (and charts) have a title.
  2. The RJL as currently worded often required that text be folded in order to accommodate a screen of width 1024 pixels (as per WP:ACCESSABILITY)
  3. Since WP:ACCESSABILITY was written, iPhones with a screen width of 960 pixels have become popular
  4. Cannot accommodate that certain roads, for example the A38 at Junction 5 of the M5, can change from being a primary route to being a secondary route as it traverses the junction.
  5. All documentation associated with the current RJL is strongly US-oriented. Examples include the text "road shields" rather than "road indicators" and "the Northeast" when referring to New England; in the UK, "the Northeast" refers to the area around Newcastrle-upon-Tyne.

It is proposed that a UK-specific format for RJLs be developed which

  1. Makes a title a mandatory part of the table
  2. Seeks to minimize the table width
  3. Allows for road types to be changed either side of a junction.

Sandbox misc edit

PAIN (AT), PAIN (DE)

moderatuur description

 ,  ,  ,  ,

 ,  

 

Correspondence regarding royal marriages


Active articles sort out this citation

Falklands were a single island in pre-glacial times

British road junction terminology.[5]

Berry Versfeld
Personal information
Full name
Berry John Versfeld
Born (1943-09-26) 26 September 1943 (age 80)
Ladybrand, South Africa
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm leg break
RoleAll-rounder
International information
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1961–1970Natal
1961–1965South African Universities
Career statistics
Competition FC LA
Matches 46 2
Runs scored 2272 31
Batting average 31.44 15.5
100s/50s 4/10 0/0
Top score 201* 31
Balls bowled 222 36
Wickets 3 3
Bowling average 41.33 8.66
5 wickets in innings
10 wickets in match
Best bowling 2/35 2/13
Catches/stumpings 38/– 0/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 2 January 2011

BIPM/OIML merger Quinn's book

A55/131.7/132.5/136.6/137.1/138.8/139.3/140.7 - check border

ERT[6]

Leeming Barton

Role of OIML vis-a-vis other organisations, also another publication (GUM)

Stamboom

...Add years to metric prefixes and to SI...

German conversion book dated 1830

New SI paper

Italian book of measures - Milan 1860

Look at Template:Rp for SI article[7]

US Metrication thesis, US course notes[8]

Track MeasureIT's changes regarding "first". Check here. Hexagonal metric weights

In addition 10 km of the MPA road was to be capped

Falklands census 2012

New Driver location sign picture from http://www.dft.gov.uk/ha/standards/ians/pdfs/ian93r1.pdf

Metric in Falklands[9]

Update Provincial politics in the Netherlands

Up to date Admirtalty chart - all metric

Falklands rainfall map

Falklands flora from Kew

Permission from UK Government to drill in FAlklands waters

Falklands to start producing oil by 2017

- cfc

EU Coastline report[10]

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ADDENDUM FOR DARWIN EAST – 1 AND STEBBING – 3 OFFSHORE FALKLAND ISLANDS EXPLORATION DRILLING

trees on south western shores - chiefly birch[11]

[Koppen] ... Based on the concept that natural vegetation is the best expression of cliamte, climate zones have been deliminated with vegetation distribution in mind[12]

- Treeline on islands

Administrators, climatologists, ecologists view of arctic

Koppen classification[13]

File:C:\Users\Martin\Documents\Wikipedia\981ms2a.png

French arithmetic book 1794 - very metric ... Also saved in Wikipedia folder

- paper on SI

SI Version marked as B-class

gondwanaland & patagonia

Yale Law Report - Falklands

Falklands Current[14]

Antarctic Coastal Current[15]

Metric conference 1962

[good overview of SI]

short summary of ancient French measurements]

Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society "How to simplify British Weights and Measures" - 1903

kennet & avon markers - km 91 to km 120

Sydney Northern Beaches - GOOD PHOT OF GOLF COURSE


Falklands Oil/Conservation (copied to My Documents/Wikipeidia)

Royal Society - development of metric system

http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/contenu/functions/dc/attached/FRSHD_PUB_00000221_dc/FRSHD_PUB_00000221_dc_att-FRSHD_PUB_00000221.pdf Maps of Algeria - km used from about 1850 onwards]

Some French maps

Dutch law of 1869 regulating use of metric terminology[16]

1769 - French (from foot (unit)) - 2400 toise pour une heure (pg 9)

1853 map of the Netherlands

myriametres par heure: Page 90 - Physique d'Emile: ou, Principes de la science de la nature. v. 1, Volume 1 By Emmanuel Develey (1802) Paris - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AFsIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=vitesse+myriametre&source=bl&ots=i526jH4oL3&sig=WQa8sQ57eShj-YCGVpC0-Y2CVtw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RClaUKe5JIit0QXp5IHgBg&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=myriam%C3%A8tres&f=false

George Stevephenson Rainhill Trials - [1] mph

Paper on Argentine Geographical nationalism[17]

Tidy up changes to History of the metre (23 August)

Check changes Atomic mass unit (23 August))

Check changes Foot (unit) 23 August

met office metrication - pg 354; linked to AIr Ministry

Use of millibar discussed before 1914

Met office makes extensive use of metrication - 1969


Metrication Singapore

Estonian view of IBAN

Tonne / ton conversion
1 tonne = 1000 kg
1 tonne = 0.984 long tons
1 tonne = 1.102 short tons
1 tonne = 2204 lbs

Units in use temporarily - 6th SI brochure pg 13

References edit

Chyla[18]


Mills et al - full paper

Full paper - BArry Taylor, NIST

Leonard

Work these into discussion:

The Mole is Not an Ordinary Measurement Unit - Ingvar Johansson

The Background and Implications of the "New SI" for Analytical Chemists - D Thorburn Burns and EH Korte - Good discussion re Avagadro number


  1. ^ Reitwiesner, William Addams (2003). "The Ethnic ancestry of Prince William (b. 1982)". wargs.com. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b David White, Somerset Herald, College of Arms (23 July 2013). "The Windsors & the Middletons - A family tree". The Times. Pull-out supplement.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference okhighways was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Google (2007-07-06). "Martinvl" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
  5. ^ "Layout of Grade Separated Junctions" (Document). Department for Transport. 2006. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |version= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |volume= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |work= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Guidance on policing motorways". Assocation of Chief Police Officers. 2006. p. 13. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  7. ^ Traffic Signs Manual (PDF). Department of Transport / An Roinn Iompair. November 2010. Page 1/13. Retrieved 16 July 2012. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Threevithayanon, Wutthikorn (28 May 2012). "EE3606 Electrical Instruments and Measurements" (PDF). Faculty of Engineering, Assumption University. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Field Development Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines" (Document). Falkland Islands Government Department Of Mineral Resources. 27 June 2012. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Pichon, Hervé; Rolland, Nicolas; Lombardo, Stéphane (2002). "D2.1.1 Inventory Report". European Coastal Erosion database. European Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2012. {{cite web}}: |first3= missing |last3= (help)
  11. ^ "[letter] Sulivan, B.J. to Darwin - 2 Feb". Darwin Correspondence Project. 1855. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  12. ^ Huddart, David; Stott, Tim (2010). Earth Environments: Past, Present and Future. Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-471-48532-2. {{cite book}}: More than one of |at= and |page= specified (help)
  13. ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon1, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. (11). Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union: 1633–1644. Retrieved 18 November 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Gyory, Joanna; Mariano, Arthur J; Ryan, Edward H (2008). "Surface Currents in the Atlantic Ocean : The Malvinas Current". National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  15. ^ Gyory, Joanna; Cangialosi, John; Jo, Ieng; Mariano, Arthur J; Ryan, Edward H (2008). "Surface Currents in the Southern Ocean: The Antarctic Coastal Current". National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Samerang" (PDF). De Locomotief. Nieuws, handels en Advertentie-blad. 12 August 1869. p. 1.
  17. ^ Benwell, Matthew C.; Dodds, Klaus (November 2011). "Argentine territorial nationalism revisited: The Malvinas/Falklands dispute andgeographies of everyday nationalism". Political Geography. 30 (8). Elsevir: 441–449. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2011.09.006.
  18. ^ Chyla, W.T. (17 June 2011). "Evolution of the International Metric System of Units SI" (PDF). ACTA PHYSICA POLONICA A. 120 (6): 998–1011. Retrieved 22 June 2013.

Abraham Faure edit

Abraham Faure

- Thesis, lots of Faure stuff

Genealogy

SJ du Toit edit

Reverend Stephanus Jacobus du Toit (9 October 1847 – 29 May 1911) was a South African who pioneered the recognition of the Afrikaans language. As a young man he did much to promote the Afrikaans language, both on a literary and a political platform, but disillusionment with the Kruger regime led him to moderate his views in later life.

He was born in 1847 near Paarl in the Cape Colony at Plaas Kleinbos, a farm that had been in the family's possession since their arrival in the Cape as Hugenot refugees in 1688. He studied theology at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch, completing his studies in 1872.[1]

At the time, the better-educated Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony regarded the Afrikaans language as a patois that was used by the less-educated.[1] Du Toit however regarded the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner Nationalism.[2]

Good biography - publisher unknown.

Academic paper - African Journals Online[3]

Short biography - authoritative

He was the leader and one of the founder members of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners) which later merged with the Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging (South African Farmers' Protection Association) to form the Afrikaner Bond.

S.J. du Toit was editor of one of the earliest Afrikaans-English dictionaries[4] and was editor of the first Afrikaans newspaper Die Afrikaanse Patriot. In 1905Die Afrikaanse Patriot became the Paarl Post.[5]

His son Jakob Daniël du Toit, known by the pseudonym Totius, was also a pioneer of the Afrikaans language and the first to translate the Bible into Afrikaans.

Bible translation fragment edit

At the time, the better-educated Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony regarded the Afrikaans language as a patois that was used by the less-educated.[1] Du Toit however regarded the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner Nationalism.[2]

In the early 1870s two Dutch schoolteachers Arnoldus Pannevis and C.P. Hoogenhout made a number of pleas in the Zuid Afrikaan that, for the benefit of the Cape Coloured community and also for the lesser-educated Afrikaner community, the Bible should be translated into Dutch. In 1874 Pannevis addressed his concerns to the British and Foreign Bible Society while du Toit's articles in Die Zuid Afrikaan added support to Pannevis and Hoogenhout.[6][7]

On 14 August 1875 Hoogenhour, Du Toit and others established the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners) which has as its objectives the promotion of the Afrikaans language, nation and country. Initially this was to be achieved by the publication a monthly journal and as soon as was possible, a dictionary and grammatical rules (spraakkuns).[8]

The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners later merged with the Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging (South African Farmers' Protection Association) to form the Afrikaner Bond.

Other base units edit

None of the other base units rely on a prototype - all are based on phenomena that are directly observable and had been in use for many years before formally becoming part of the metric system.

The second first became a de facto base unit within the metric system when, in 1832, Gauss used it, the centimetre and the gram to express the units associated with values of absolute measurements of the Earth's magnetic field.[9] The second, if based on the Earth's rotation, is not a constant as the Earth's rotation is slowing down—in 2008 the solar day was 0.002 s longer than in 1820.[10] This had been known for many years; consequently in 1952 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined the second in terms of the Earth's rotation in the year 1900. Measurements of time were made using extrapolation from readings based on astronomy. With the launch of SI in 1960, the 11th CGPM adopted the IAU definition.[11] In the years that followed, atomic clocks became significantly more reliable and precise and in 1968 the 13th CGPM redefined the second in terms of the frequency of a specific frequency from the emission spectrum of the caesium 133 atom, a component of atomic clocks. This provided the means to measure the time associated with astronomical phenomena rather than using astronomical phenomena as the basis from which time measurements were made.[12][13]

The cgs absolute unit of electric current, the abampere, had been defined in terms of the force between two parallel current-carrying wires in 1881.[14] In the 1940s, the International Electrotechnical Commission adopted an MKS variant of this definition for the ampere which was adopted in 1946 the CIPM.[15][16]

Temperature has always been based on observable phenomena—in 1744 the degree Centigrade[Note 1] was based on the freezing and boiling points of water.[17] In 1948 the CGPM adopted the Centigrade scale, renamed it the "Celsius" temperature scale name and defined it in terms of the triple point of water.[18]

When the mole and the candela were accepted by the GCPM in 1971 and 1975 respectively, both had been defined by third parties by reference to phenomena rather than artefacts.[19]


Reference sources

RJL edit

 
1888 Map of the US

I have been giving the matter of location columns some thought – I was able to contribute to Imzaldi’s merger of the articles Motorway and Freeway without any problems, yet we are having problems over the inclusion of the “location” column in road junction lists. In looking at the differences between the UK and US perceptions of local government, I noticed one very important fact – if you look at the 1888 map of the US you will see that the state boundaries are virtually as they are today - I am not qualified to comment on how static the county boundaries have been over the last 125 years or what changes have been made to local government structure.

In contrast, local government in the United Kingdom was overhauled in 1975 – a number of country boundaries were redrawn while sub-county local government was totally reorganised. There were further major changes in 1986, 1992 and 2010 - four sets of changes in living memory. As a result, local government areas, apart from the one that you live in, are meaningless to most people. Even the country boundaries are confusing – Middlesex ceased to exist as a county council in 1965, but the Post Office continued to use it in postal addresses until 1996, while the postal address of many localities does not reflect the county in which they are situated – for example the postal address of Blackwater, Hampshire is officially “Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey” (the reason being that letters to Blackwater are handled by the post office in Camberley and Camberley is in Surrey.

I contrast this further with the situation in France. The French local government structure was overhauled during the French Revolution and by Napoleon with a strict [[|Departments of France|Department]]-Arrondissement hierarchy. The departments were numbered – for example Calvados was department number 14 – at one stage car registrations, telephone number and post codes all started with “14” – on holiday, I noticed that even the number on a milk carton of the hygiene certification centre started with “14”. When I contrasted this with the United Kingdom, I understood the difference in perception of local government. I trust that this discourse will illustrate the differences between the United Kingdom and the United States in their perception of local area names and why I am opposed to including them in British road junction lists – they just clutter up the list without adding value. However during the past month I have found the inclusion of coordinates very useful – they have enabled me to home in on a map and find the information that I want to find without being told by the editor what sort of information I should be looking for.

2nd Severn Crossing history edit

Good reference

Environmental concerns

SSI - many local parties

Marine considerations [20]

Zostera Biotope Monitoring

turbidity

Study by FSB on tolls

  54.1234 N2.3456 W

Environmental concerns edit

 
A Dunlin feeding, one of the many waders that winter on the Severen Estuary

Prior to the bridge's construction environmentalists raised numerous concerns and criticisms, chiefly about the immediate damage from construction work and the effects of long-term pollution from a projected increase in car traffic.

The crossing passes over mudflats in the Severn Estuary with part of the eastern approach viaduct sited on the English Stones, a rocky outcrop uncovered at low tide. The wetlands are home to both migrating birds such as the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), Redshank (Tringa totanus) and Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) while the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata), Dunlin (Calidris alpina) and Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) winter in the area. The birds feed on ragworm, lugworm (Arenicola marina) and other invertebrates. Saltmarsh is found along the fringes of the coast. Beds of eelgrass (Zostera marina) occur on the more sheltered mud and sand-banks.[21]

The construction of the approach roads and toll plaza have resulted in the loss of wet pasture land.[22] The actual construction process resulted in an increase in turbidity of the Severn’s waters. Although eelgrass is reasonably tolerant to short terms high turbidity (and consequent loss of light), the bed of eelgrass in the Severn was observed to greatly decline during the period of construction.[23]

 
Nereididae or ragworm, one of the many invertebrates that inhabit the Severn mudflats.

In 1976, in recognition of the importance of the estuary as a wetland used by migrating birds, an area of 247 square kilometres was desginated a Ramsar site[24] In 1988, the same year that tenders were invited for the building of the bridge, the Severn Estuary was designated a Special Protection Area. The same year an area of 99 square kilometres was notified as a SSSI designated as such the following year.[21] In 1995, was extended to cover an area of 247 square kilometres. [25]

Field surveys carried out in 2003 and 2004 reported that the bridge had little effect on the flight paths of the various birds - it was noted that when Curlew, Dunlin and Lapwings approached the bridge, they would change course to gain height and fly over the bridge, but that Oystercatchers and Turnstone would fly under the bridge. The survey showed that the bridge had minimal impact on the roosting habits of most birds, though a flock of Mallard were seen to be roosting directly under the bridge with many positioning themselves on the dry concrete base on one of the pillars. Likewise, it was noted that the bridge had little impact on the bird’s feeding habits - Turnstone and Lapwing being recorded as feeding on mudflats directly under the bridge while the absence of other waders was attributed to the rocky nature of the foreshore. [21]

Units edit

Conversion between SI and legacy units edit

During its evolution, the metric system has adopted many units of measure. The introduction of SI rationalised both the way in which units of measure were defined and also the list of units in use. These are now catalogued in the official SI Brochure.[26] The table below lists the units of measure in this catalogue and shows the conversion factors connecting them with the equivalent units that were in use on the eve of the adoption of SI.

Quantity Dimension SI unit and symbol Legacy unit and symbol Conversion
factor[27][28][29][30]
Time   second (s) second (s) 1
Length   metre (m) centimetre (cm)
ångström (Å)
0.01
10−10
Mass   kilogram (kg) gram (g) 0.001
Plane angle   degree (°)
minute (ʹ)
second (″)
(π180) rad
(π10800) rad
(π648000) rad

Other base units edit

None of the other base units rely on a prototype - all are based on phenomena that are directly observable and had been in use for many years before formally becoming part of the metric system.

The second first became a de facto base unit within the metric system when, in 1832, Gauss used it, the centimetre and the gram to express the values of absolute measurements of the Earth's magnetic field.[9] The second, if based on the Earth's rotation, is not a constant as the the Earth's rotation is slowing down—in 2008 the solar day was 0.002 s longer than in 1820.[31] This had been known for many years, consequently in 1952 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined the second in terms of the Earth's rotation in the year 1900. Measurements of time were made using extrapolation from readings based on astronomy. With the launch of SI in 1960, the 11th CGPM adopted the IAU definition.[32] In the years that followed, atomic clocks became significantly more reliable and precise and in 1968 the 13th CGPM redefined the second in terms of the frequency of a specific frequency from the emission spectrum of the caesium 133 atom, a component of atomic clocks. This provided the means to measure the time associated with astronomical phenomena rather than using astronomical phenomena as the basis from which time measurements were made.[33][34]

The unit of electric current has been defined in terms of the force between two parallel current-carrying wires since 1861. Temperature has also been based on observable phenomena—in 1744 the degree Centigrade[Note 2] was based on the freezing and boiling points of water.[35] In 1946 the CIPM adopted the accepted definiton of current and in 1948 the CGPM adopted the Centigrade scale, renamed it the "Celsius" temperature scale name and defined it in terms of the triple point of water.[36]

  1. ^ a b c Giliomee, Hermann (2003). "The" Afrikaners: Biography of a People. London: C Hurst & Co. p. 215. ISBN 1-85065-714-9.
  2. ^ a b {{ |url = http://www.dacb.org/stories/southafrica/dutoit_stephanus.html |title = Du Toit, Stephanus Jacobus - 1847 to 1911 - Reformed - South Africa |first1 = Norbert C. |last1 = Brockman |publisher = Dictionary of African Christian Biography/An African Biographical Dictionary |year = 1994 |location = Santa Barbara, California |accessdate = 23 May 2013}}
  3. ^ d’Assonville, V.E. (2004). "Drie geslagte Du Toit-Bybelvertalers" [Three du Toit generations as translators of the Bible into Afrikaans]. Acta Theologica Supplementum 5 (in Afrikaans). African Journals Online. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  4. ^ du Toit, S.J. (1968) [1902]. van der Merwe (ed.). Patriot woordeboek: Afrikaans-Engels (in Afrikaans). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik. Retrieved 17 May 2013. {{cite book}}: |editor1-first= missing |editor1-last= (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ van Niekerk, L.E. "du Toit, Stephanus Jacobus - 1867 to 1911 - Dutch Reformed Church - South Africa". Dictionary of African Christian Biography. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  6. ^ Giliomee, Hermann (1989). "The Beginnings of Afrikaner Ethnic Consciousness". In Vail, LeRoy (ed.). The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa. Berkeley and Los Angles, California: University of California Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-520-07420-3. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  7. ^ "C.P. Hoogenhout and S.J. du Toit". Literatur im Kontext. Vienna: Universität Wien. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference vNiekerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b c SI Brochure - §1.8 Historical Note - p 109
  10. ^ "Leap Seconds". Washington, DC: Time Service Dept., U.S. Naval Observatory. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  11. ^ Nelson, R.A; McCarthy, D.D; Malys, S; Levine, J; Guinot, B; Fliegel, H.F; Beard, R.L; Bartholomew, T.R (2001). "The leap second: its history and possible future" (PDF). Metrologia (38): 509–529. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  12. ^ SI Brochure - Appendix 1 - p 112
  13. ^ "Caesium Atoms at Work". Time Service Department—U.S. Naval Observatory—Department of the Navy. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  14. ^ McKenzie, A.E.E (1961). Magnetism and Electricity. Cambridge University Press. p. 322.
  15. ^ Wandmacher, Cornelius; Johnson, Arnold Ivan (1995). Metric Units in Engineering: Going SI (Revised ed.). American Society of Civil Engineers. pp. 225–226. ISBN 0-7844-0070-9.
  16. ^ SI brochure - pg 113, 114 and 144}}
  17. ^ Mopberg, Roland, ed. (2008). "Linnaeus' thermometer". Uppsala Universitet. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  18. ^ SI brochure - pg 113, 114 and 144}}
  19. ^ Page, Chester H; Vigoureux, Paul, eds. (20 May 1975). The International Bureau of Weights and Measures 1875–1975: NBS Special Publication 420. Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards. pp. 238–244.
  20. ^ Langston, WJ; Cheesman, BS; Burt, GR; Hawkins, SJ; Readman, J; Worsfold, P (April 2003). "The Severn Estuary: (possible) Special Area of Conservation - Special Protection Area - Marine Biologial Occasional publication No 13" (Document). Plymouth Marine Laboratory, University of Plymouth. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |series= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  21. ^ a b c "The Mersey Gateway Project - Chapter 10 Terrestrial and Avian ecology" (Document). March 2008. Appendix 10.22 - The Impact on Wading Birds of the M4 Severn Road Bridge: Literature Review and Field Surveys (January 2006). {{cite document}}: Cite document requires |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  22. ^ Davidson, N.C. (1996.). "Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 11 The Western Approaches: Falmouth Bay to Kenfig," (Document). Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee. p. 56. {{cite document}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); More than one of |at= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |editor1-first= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor1-last= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor2-first= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor2-last= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor3-first= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor3-last= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor4-first= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor4-last= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor5-first= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editor5-last= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |isbn= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |series= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  23. ^ {{ |publisher = UK Marine SACs Project |year = 2001 |title = Dredging and disposal: Suspended sediments and turbidity |url = http://www.ukmarinesac.org.uk/activities/ports/ph5_2_3.htm |accessdate = 19 March 2013}}
  24. ^ "The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands". Ramsar. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  25. ^ "Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands (RIS)" (Document). Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 13 July 1995. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  26. ^ SI brochure - §2 SI Units - p 94–102
  27. ^ "Index to Units & Systems of Units". sizes.com. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  28. ^ "Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically". NIST Guide to the SI. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  29. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1993). Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell Science. ISBN 0-632-03583-8. pp. 110-116. Electronic version..
  30. ^ Fenna, Donald (2002). Oxford Dictionary of Weights, Measures and Units. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860522-6.
  31. ^ "Leap Seconds". Washington, DC: Time Service Dept., U.S. Naval Observatory. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  32. ^ Nelson, R.A; McCarthy, D.D; Malys,, S; Levine, J; Guinot, B; Fliegel, H.F; Beard, R.L; Bartholomew, T.R (2001). "The leap second: its history and possible future" (PDF). Metrologia (38): 509–529. Retrieved 4 April 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  33. ^ SI Brochure - Appendix 1 - p 112
  34. ^ "Cesium Atoms at Work". Time Service Department—U.S. Naval Observatory—Department of the Navy. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  35. ^ Mopberg, Roland, ed. (2008). "Linnaeus' thermometer". Uppsala Universitet. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  36. ^ SI brochure - pg 113, 114 and 144}}

More edit

1. The account User:Up and in was created at 06:16, 1 May 2013 - about 24 hours after a sockpuppet of Defacto was banned. The account remained dormant until 26 May 2013.

2. User:Up and in is obviously familiar with Wikipedia as is shown by this change. (This change was his seventh change) User:Up and in has contributed to five articles in three totally unrelated areas:

All of the edits in the above list follow an edit made by me. Given the diversity of subject matter, it is obvious that User:Up and in is hounding me – something that many of DeFacto’s Sockpuppets have done.

3. Although both DeFacto and User:Up and in made a few minor improvements to articles, both have the same clumsy style of asserting themselves when trying to prove a point:

Up and in – the following sequence appeared in Stephanus_Jacobus_du_Toit#Legacy. The original text in question was followed by a citation which was in Afrikaans.
  • [Original text] - his tombstone describes him as "The father of the Afrikaans language" …
  • [ User:Up and in – Change 1] - the author of the epitaph on his tombstone described him as "The father of the Afrikaans language” …
  • Original text reinstated by me—an explanation on the Talk Page gave quotes from the original citation.
  • [ User:Up and in – Change 2] - the anonymous author of the epitaph on his tombstone described him as "The father of the Afrikaans language" …
This last change adds absolutely nothing to the article.
DeFacto
The change made by DeFacto here not only converted an already clumsy sentence into one that was more clumsy, but also cast doubt on the judge’s finding—The reference itself states "The law judge found that the aircraft had landed overweight".

4. Both DeFacto and Up and in have the same style of detracting from statements:

Up and in:
In the article Paarl, User:Up and in changed the wording "Father of the Afrikaans Language" to "Proponent of the Afrikaans Language". For the record, du Toit complied the first Afrikaans dictionary and grammar - some academics rank du Toit as the father of the language, others ranks him with two of his contemporaries - Hoogenhout and Pannevis.
DeFacto
In the article [in this example DeFacto replaced the words "The civil service is bound by law to follow EU directives relating to public administration" with the words "civil servants might be constrained by standards and procedures which dictate the measures to be used".

I believe it beyond reasonable doubt that User:Up and in has been WP:HOUNDING me. Moreover the evidence suggest that User:Up and in is not the new editor that (s)he appears to be. Given the similarity between User:Up and in and User:DeFacto given above is sufficient to pass the WP:QUACK test - in other words, that User:Up and in is a sockpuppet of DeFacto.

Weights and Measures Act edit

Permitted units of measure edit

The Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act of 1897 made the provision that metric units could be used, in addition to the traditional imperial units, for trade.[1][2] In practice the actual choice of units was restricted by price marking orders which catalogued packaging size and pricing structure that may be used in specific circumstances. For example, as of April 2012, wine for consumption on premises may only be sold in 125, 175 and 250 ml glasses while draught beer may only be sold in 13, 12, 23 and one pint glasses. Prior to 1973 (the year that the United Kingdom joined the EEC) such restrictions were almost all in imperial units.

As part of the EEC attempt to harmonise units of measure between the member states of its internal market, the EC issued directive 80/181/EEC which catalogued the units of measure that should be used for what it called "economic, public health, public safety and administrative" purposes. In order to comply with this directive, the Weights and Measures Act of 1986 extended the scope of the trading standards responsibilities from just matters related to trade to all aspects of the directive. For example, it was the trading standards office who criticised the use of sub-standard weighing machines in NHS hospitals.[3]

In 1971, as part of its trade harmonisation process, the EEC issued Directive 71/354/EEC in respect of "economic, public health, public safety and administrative" purposes. This directive, which the United Kingdom agreed to adopt within five years of joining the EEC (1 January 1973) required that member states adopt the SI and proscribed a number of cgs-based units of measure. In 1973, the United Kingdom in the process of a voluntary metrication process, but by 1987 this process had stalled and the United Kingdom negotiated Directive 80/181/EEC which granted a number of derogations in respect of untis of measure used in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland.


To help ease the EEC's desired transition from sole use of imperial units to sole use of metric units, the EC directive permitted the use of what were termed "supplementary indicators" - the continued use of imperial units alongside the metric units catalogued by the directive (dual labelling). The initial intention was to prohibit dual labelling after the end of 1989, with metric units only being allowed after that date. This deadline was later extended; first to the end of 1999, then to the end of 2009 and finally abolished in 2007, after an EU-wide consultation, following which the, by then European Union (EU) and its commission (EC), confirmed that the UK would be able to continue to use imperial units such as pints, miles, pounds and ounces as at present, forever.[4] Gloucestershire County Council trading standards department confirmed the EU ruling that the previous deadline for ending dual-labelling had been abolished.[5]

As of 24 April 2012, there are still a few cases where imperial units are required to be used and where metric units are optional within the scope of the Weights and Measures Act. These are the pint for the sale of draught beer and cider and of milk in returnable containers, the use of miles, yards, feet and inches for roads signs and distances and the use of troy ounces for the sale of precious metals. In addition, British legislation specifies which imperial units may be used with dual labelling (for example the imperial gallon is catalogued, but not the US gallon).[6]



stone & hundredweight catalogued in 1976 W&M legislation


1835 Act legalised the use of the stone of 14 lbs & the hundredweight of 112 lbs. [7]

1837 weights and measure (US) [8][9][10]

Good stats report

COnsolidated road stats

Road type definitions

Strategic Road Network

Next Section edit

Details of Falklands climate

Falkalnds weather study here

Paper about Koppen system]

METAR and TAF reports

Mount Pleasant data

Burdwood Bank edit

The Burdwood Bank is an undersea plateau with a prominence of approximately 200 m (100 fathoms), part of the Scotia Arc projecting some 600 kilometres (370 mi) from Cape Horn in the South Atlantic Ocean and located some 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of the Falkland Islands.[11] 54°15′00″S 59°00′00″W / 54.25000°S 59.00000°W / -54.25000; -59.00000 The Argentine claims economic rights over the whole of the bank, while the United Kingdom has designated about half of the bank as part of the Falklands Outer Economic Zone.[12]

The Burdwood Bank is one of the four morophologic features defined by the 200 m isobath off the coast of the Argentine - the other three being the Patagonian Shelf (Argentine Coastal Shelf), Isla de los Estados and the Falkland Islands. It forms a barrier to the northward flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Bank itself (as defined by the 200 m isobath) is some 300 kilometres (190 mi) from east to west and some 60 kilometres (37 mi) from north to south. The channel to the west of the bank is about 80 km wide and 400 m deep while the channel to the east of the bank is 130 kilometres (81 mi) wide ands has a depth of up to 1800 m (1000 fathoms) deep.[13]

Salinity and ocean characteristics.

Sort out map

gravity measurement paper

geological paper - good description for Patagonian Shelf

Geographical description

es:Banco burdwood

Economic zone definition

Investigate "Burdwood Bank National Marine Park" (Look at Spanish as well)

http://en.mercopress.com/2008/06/21/argentina-bans-all-fishing-in-s-atlantic-burwood-bank


Geology paper edit

TECTONICS, VOL. 23, TC4011, doi:10.1029/2002TC001482, 2004 Anatomy and formation of oblique continental collision: South Falkland basin Madeleine Bry,1 Nicky White,1,2 Satish Singh,3 Richard England,4 and Carl Trowell5 Received 27 November 2002; revised 10 February 2004; accepted 7 May 2004; published 17 August 2004.

Working on 250 m isobaths, West channel - 90 km, 500<depth<250; Burdwood Bank 370 km; East Channel 190 km; 2000 < depth <500 from Fuigure 2

Island list edit

This is not really a big deal. WP:MOSNUM states "In non-science UK-related articles: the main unit is generally a metric unit (44 kilograms (97 lb)), but imperial units are still used as the main units in some contexts ...". I have checked the units of measure that came first in a number of similar "UK-related" Wikipedia articles. In order to avoid cherry-picking and also to keep the lists as short as possible, I chose sets of articles and looked at all articles in the set concerend. My findings were:

British Overseas Territories

Islands off UK coast

United Kingdom - mainly metric

As can be seen, the Falkland Islands and the Isle of Wight are the two "odd men out". The general trend has been that in most of these artciles, geographical measurements are quoted in metric units while in some articles, transportation measurements are given inm meric units and in others, are given in imperial units.

Overview - Climate of the Falkand Islands edit

The Falkland Islands have a Maritime Subarctic climate (Koppen Cfc) that is very much influenced by the cool South Atlantic ocean and its northerly Patagonian current. This climatic type is characterised by both low seasonal and diurnal temperature ranges with the average monthly maximum exceeding 10°C for no more than three months of the year and the average monthly minimum not dropping below -3°C. There is no marked wet and dry season. In addition to the Falklands (and the southern tip of South America), this climatic condition is typically found on the north-eastern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - the Scottish Atlantic coastline, the Norwegian coast, southern Iceland and the Alaskan panhandle.[14]

... giving it a narrow annual temperature range. The January average maximum temperature is about 13°C (55°F), and the July maximum average temperature is about 4°C (39°F). The average annual rainfall is 573.6 millimetres (22.58 inches) with East Falkland being generally wetter than West Falkland.[15] Humidity and winds are however constantly high. Snow and sleet are frequent in winter, although snowfall is rarely deep. Gales are very frequent, particularly in winter.[16]


A comparison of climatic conditions in the Falklands (51S) with those in the United Kingdom indicates that the Falklands has a climate[17] comparable to that found in the Hebrides or in Shetland (60N),[18] although drier and with a more severe winter[19] but has more hours of sunlight than the South of England (51N).[20][21]

Patagonian shelf edit

EoE width = 850 km;

Falkland CUrrent & Brazil current confluence zone - 39S

Falkland current - nutrient -rich, less slaine than the Brazikian current significant seabird and marien mammal populations

Post 1982: Argenine shifted from hake to squid FICZ established 1986 - 100 nm; extended to FOCZ (200 nm)

Rio de la Plata (220 km wide) discharges fresh water, sediments & pollutants into the area.


XVI-55 760 km East to West Rio de la lata - 3.2 million km^s basin



Notes - shelf 760 km wide; ecosysmte 850 km shelf 1.2 M km%^2, ecosystem 2.7 M km ^2


- Atlas of the Patagonian Sea defined as 50W to 75W; 60S to Brazil/Uruguay coast, include Tierra del Fuego.

Tides - shelf-width matches diurnal resonance frequency -

UN-sponsored fuile

Tides Defines shelf around 300m isobath.

biodiversity - Patgonain shelf

The page WP:FALKLANDSUNITS was written between March and July 2010. Its opening paragraph is in my view a piece of text book WP:SYN written to justify a piece of WP:POV. (I will justify this in a later posting if necessary, but at the moment I see no justification for the page and I think that it can be discarded without looking at its detail).

A check on its [2] and page will show that WP:FALKLANDSUNITS (written March to July 2010) was not an act of consensus, but really an act of bullying by is principal author User:Pfainuk aka User:Kahastok backed up by User:Justin A Kuntz aka User:Wee Curry Monster. :The reason that Michael and I stepped back for a bit in mid-2010 was to avoid the Gibraltar situation later when Wee Curry Monster (along with others) received sanctions for edit warring in December 2010 and both Kahastok and Wee Curry Monster received sanctions in April/May 2011 (filed under the name of Imalbornoz). (These sanctions were lifted on a trial basis in October 2012). Kahastok has creditied WP:FALKLANDSUNITS with the name "rules". Insofar as they exist, Wikipedia "rules" come in four flovours - pillars, policies, guidelines and essays, each with their own protocol. WP:FALKANDSUNITS does not fit into any of these categories - so what is it? Martinvl (talk) 08:19, 20 December 2012 (UTC)


Since then centralisation of all MOS-type pages into MOS-space was agreed by the Wikipedia community at large. The arguments used for this merger were essentially the same arguments that I used when to merge the WP:FALKLANDSUNITS page into WP:MOSNUM but was shouted down by Pfainuk and Justin Kuntz.

I see absolutely no reason that the page WP:FALKALNDSUNITS should exist outside MOS-space - it contains MOS-type content that impinges not only to the Falkland Islands work group, but to other groups and project, including, but not limited to the islands group/project, the UK group/project, the fisheries group/project, the Argentine group/project and the geology group/project. In October this year I revisited WP:FALKLANDSUNITS and tried to regularise the situation. As I saw it, there were three options:

  • Merge the text into MOSNUM.
  • Move the page into MOS space and leave a reference in MOSNUM to this page
  • Redirect this page to MOSNUM on grounds that it adds nothing new.

I believed that the last of these was the only practical choose which is why I redirected it.

I now ask Wee Curry Monster (or anybody else) to justify the continued existence of the page WP:FALKLANDSUNITS in Falkland Islands work group-space rather MOS-space. If he can’t justify its existence in Falkland Islands work group-space, how does he propose incorporating it into MOS-space? Martinvl (talk) 15:03, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

Armoured train references edit

King George has conferred the Albert medal upon Charles Wagner, the driver, and Alexander Stewart, the fire man, for gallantry on November 16, 1899, in connection with the Boer at- tack on the armoured train nearFix this text Chieveley, in Natal. Both Wagner and Stewart aro now living at Pietermaritzburg.[22]


[23]

File:Abraham Faure.jpg
Dr. Abraham Faure.

Abraham Faure (29 August 1795 &nash; 28 March 1875) was a clergyman and author from Cape Colony. Faure was educated in both England and the Netherlands and, with a strong Calvanist background, in 1818 he ordained as a dominie (minister) in the Dutch Reformed Church in Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony. In 1822 he was called to be dominie of the Groote Kerk in Cape Town (af), where he played a significant role in the first synod there in 1824. He remained a member of the church executive for 43 years.[24] Politically he remained loyal to the British Crown on grounds that the Crown was part of the God-willed social order, expressing disapproval of the Dutch farmers who left the Cape Colony at the time of the Great Trek. His sermon on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Dutch settlers under van Riebeeck reflected social responsibility, this time the responsibility of the Dutch Reformed Church for bringing the gospel to the [former] slaves and the indigenous population. [25] He however

Notes edit

  1. ^ Now called the degree Celsius
  2. ^ Now called the degree Celsius

Links etc edit

Material from this point onwards is included for compatibility purposes only.

  • Biography of scientists.[26]

MOS reference edit

Moving all MOS articles to MOS-space

Sockpuppet requested an article merge edit

A sockpuppet of a banned user requested that an article on which I am working be merged back into the article from which it was spawned. When the sockpuppetry was uncovered, the views on the merger were:

Supported the merger:
Opposed the merger:

I tried to close this merge request on grounds that as it was opened by a sock-puppet, it was null and void. Kahastok disagreed on grounds that he supported the merge. Since he and I are the only editors of good standing who have expressed views on this merge request, which take precedence - my view that as a request made by a sockpuppet should be declared null and void ab initio or Kahastok's view that since there is support (his) for the merge that the request should stand even though Pother has been identified as a sockpuppet.

and more edit

I believe that User:AnnieLess is a sockpuppet of User:DeFacto.

  1. The name "AnnieLess" looks like a play on the words "Any Less", similar to the play on words by other sockpuppets of DeFacto - for example User:Bill le Conquérant and User:Cap-Saint-Martin (Cap Martinvl’s edits).
  2. AnnieLess appears to be a new Wikipedia user. The edits and approach taken on talk pages and the way in which (s)he avoided a 3RR warming suggests that AnnieLess seems conversant with Wikipedia procedures. On the other hand AnnieLess had avoided any references to any WP: pages, something that one woudl expect form a new user. Taking these two together, one cannot rule out that AnnieLess is really DeFacto and that (s)he is avoiding the traps that caught him/her out in the past, but slipped up by splashing this banner accross the article.
  3. DeFacto and his Sockpuppets have been hounding me on the topic of metrication for over a year. His contribution list shows an interest in, amongst others, Metrication in the United Kingdom, Tonne, Litre, Metric Martyrs and Metrication. The bulk of AnnieLess’ changes are connected with metrication – his/her contribution list shows Metric system and Kilogram while the changes in United States customary units were related to metrication.
  4. DeFacto had an editing style of watering down statements of fact – in this example he replaced the words "The civil service is bound by law to follow EU directives relating to public administration" with the words "civil servants might be constrained by standards and procedures which dictate the measures to be used" while in this example, AnnieLess added the words "may have" when replacing the sizes of those units varied as did their relationship with the sizes of those units may have varied and the relationships.
  5. DeFacto would add inappropriate banners to blow his point out of proportion – for example here (citations might not be 100% perfect, but the article has still not been to be rated for quality) while AnnieLess added this banner because (s)he was not satisfied with the notability of the paragraph even though two different reviewers in a Peer Review made no comment about this quotation.
  6. When adding this flag, DeFacto described terminology that was taken straight from a source as "ambiguity, jargon, and vague or unnecessarily complex". AnnieLess used the words "highly ambiguous " in this talk section where (s)he disputes the use of the words "realisation", "prototype", "phenomena" and "artefact", even though all four are taken straight from the SI Brochure (the metrication "bible"), albeit with UK rather than US spellings. This is a classic way of attacking an article when the article cannot be attacked on any other grounds.

My view is that these points, when considered together, say WP:QUACK.

References edit

  1. ^ "Tuesday, August 10, 1897" (PDF). The London Gazette: 4481. 10 August 1897.
  2. ^ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1897/jul/22/use-of-metric-weights-and-measures-in#S4V0051P0_18970722_HOL_28. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. 22 July 1897. col. 695–696. {{cite book}}: |chapter-url= missing title (help)
  3. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100225-0001.htm. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 25 February 2010. col. 1081–1083. {{cite book}}: |chapter-url= missing title (help)
  4. ^ Verheugen, Günter (11 September 2007). "Exclusive: Your pint safe in EU hands". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  5. ^ "Clearing Up the Metric Muddle". Gloucestershire Trading Standards. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  6. ^ "The Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations (2006)", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2006/659
  7. ^ Poppy, TG (4 Jubne 1957). "The Development of Weights and Measures Control in the United Kingdom". Report of the National Conference on Weights and Measures, Volumes 41-45. Forty-second National COnfernce on Weights and Measures. Washingtion DC: US Department of Commerce - National Institute of Standards (NIST). pp. 22–34. {{cite conference}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Joseoh Blunt (1837). The shipmaster's assistant, and commercial digest: containing information useful to merchants, owners and masters of ships. New York: E & GW Blunt.
  9. ^ Joseph Archer (1801). Statistical survey of the county Dublin: with observations on the means of improvement;. Royal Dublin Society.
  10. ^ Edward Wakefield (1812). An account of Ireland, statistical and political. Vol. II. London: Longman, Husrts, Rees, Orme and Brown.
  11. ^ "Burdwood Bank: Undersea Features". Geographical Names. Bethesda, Maryland: National Geospatial‐Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Claims and potential claims to maritime jurisdiction in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans by Argentina and the UK" (PDF). International Boundaries Research Unit, Durham University. 24 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accerssdate= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Guerrero, Raúl; Baldoni, Ana; Benavides, Hugo (1999). "Oceanographic Conditions at the Southern End of the Argentine Continental Slope" (PDF). INIDEP Documento Cientifico. 5. Mar del Plata, Argentina: National Insitute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP): 7–22. INIDEP Contribution Nº 1083. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  14. ^ "Common Expressions: Oceanic Climate". Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference visitorfalklands was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Falkland Islands". BBC News. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Stanley, Falkland Islands". climatetemp.info. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  18. ^ "Shetland Climate". climatetemp.info. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Falkland Islands". BBC Weather. BBC. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  20. ^ "Location". The Falkland Islands Government. 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  21. ^ "the UK Climate". climatetemp.info. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Echo of the Boer War: Albert Medal". The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954). Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 16 June 1910. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2012. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |newspaper= at position 23 (help)
  23. ^ The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 16 June 1910. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ "Abraham Faure". South African History Online. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  25. ^ Giliomee, Hermann (2003). "The" Afrikaners: Biography of a People. London: C Hurst & Co. p. 204. ISBN 1-85065-714-9.
  26. ^ Gupta, S. V. (2009-11-19). "Louis Harold Gray". Units of Measurement: Past, Present and Future : International System of Units. Springer. p. 144. ISBN 978-3-642-00737-8. Retrieved 2012-05-14.

I believe that User:Stevengriffiths is a sockpuppet of User:DeFacto and a “twin” of User:MeasureIT. DeFacto was banned for on-going disruptive editing on 18 March 2012 and MeasureIT on 9 January 2013 a a sock-puppet of DeFacto.

Both Stevengriffiths and MeasureIT show a surprising similarity – the accounts were opened within three days of each other with a small amount of activity on each. Apart from one edit by Stevengriffiths in June and a flurry of edits by MeasureIT in late August, both account remained inactive until recently. On 30 December, MeasureIT “launched an attack on John Wilkins”, which resulted in him being exposed as a sockpuppet of DeFacto. Two days after MeasureIT was banned, Stevengriffiths’ account became active and it appears to be a continuation of MeasureIT’s account.

  • AccountCreation Date
MeasureIT: 29 May 2012, Stevengriffiths: 26 May 2012
MeasureIT added a "weasel word" flag to the words "Modern writers …" even though the rest of the sentence put the meaning of the phrase into context.(diff) On checking WP:MOSNUM, I thought that the phrase "in modern times" belonged with "now" and "soon" rather than "the sixties". And after going through the correct procedure, I made the appropriate changes. [3] Stevengriffiths revoked the change on grounds of "no consensus”" [4] and later challenged me why I had made the change. (diff – paragraph starting "If we look at each separate element of the") The confrontational nature of his challenge was similar to that used by MeasureIT. (diff).
This raises the questions as to why a relatively new user is spending time looking at MOSNUM and why he is aware of "consensus". Also why did he follow me so quickly? Why is the direct style of his question so similar to MeasureIT’s style?
  • Scouring for John Wilkins sources
Background history
  • In 1668 John Wilkins published a work in which he proposed a system of measurement very similar to that which became the original metric system.
  • In 1670 Gabriel Mouton published a work which many writers take t be the basis of the metric system.
  • In 2007 the blogger Pat Naughtin drew Wilkins’ work to attention asking why nobody mentioned him. Naughtin suggested that he might have been "airbrushed" from history, but had no proof.
  • In the last few years, a number of Wikipedia articles have drawn attention to Wilkins.
The sequence of event in respect of this SPI investigation:
  • On 30 December 2012, MeasureIT launched an attack against Wilkins in Wikipedia when made the following edits (links to diffs): International System of units, Metric system, metre, History of the metric system, List of British inventions, England and Kilogram. In the subsequent discussion, MeasureIT demanded evidence that Reliable Sources now recognise Wilkin’s work. In a matter of a day or two I was able to dig up a number while other editors found a few more. MeasureIT had meanwhile logged this as an Fringe Theory (here), something that was forcibly rebuffed.
  • On 9 January 2013, MeasureIT was exposed as a sockpuppet of DeFacto and banned.
  • On 11 January 2013, after making only one edit in the preceding six months, Stevengriffiths became involved in various edits.
  • On 18 January, Stevengriffiths wrote "The impression that I get from reading it is that you are scouring Google to find references that promote the work of Wilkins, …" (diff).
Apart from tidying up some edits, Stevengriffiths seems to have taken over MeasureIT’s mantle in trying to banish Wilkins from Wikipedia, and is peeved that my attention was drawn to a reference dated 1805 which all but accussed the editors of the French publication Encyclopédie of trying to airbrush all English development of the metric system from history.
Why, after six months of inactivity, does Stevengriffiths, like MeasureIT have this interest in Wilkins without making any other real contribution to Wikipedia?
  • De-emphasising text
Both MeasureIT and Stevengriffiths de-emphasise text:
  • MeasureIT made this change even though it was crystal clear that Wilkins had proposed a system similar to the metric system.
  • Stevengriffiths made this change even though I told him that McGreevy had written “The originator of the metric system might be said to be Gabriel Mouton”.
  • 3RR baiting
MeasureIT trapped me into a 3RR block, even though the fourth reversion was outside the 24 hour limit, but he gave me no warning.
I believe that Stevengriffiths was trying to do the same thing. The sequence was:
  • My first change – This was a perfectly normal change.
  • My second change – A rewrite of a subsection that needed rewriting
  • My third change – The original text had "Twentieth century writers such Bigourdan (France, 1901) and McGreevy (United Kingdom, 1995) regarded the French cleric Gabriel Mouton (1670) … ". It is obvious that the years refer the year of publication. Stevengriffiths changed "Gabriel Mouton (1670)" to "Gabriel Mouton (1618-1694)" so I changed it back. After I explained the reason, Stevengriffiths made this clumsy change. I cannot rule out the possibility that this was a 3RR bait.

I am convinced that MeasureIT and Stevengriffiths are one and the same person - there is just too much similarity between them for it to be otherwise. This makes Stevengriffiths a sockpuppet of DeFacto.