starkzarn Mar 10
Nanoraptor

I came across a functioning coder today asking if a kilogram was 1000 or 1024 grams.

Yes they did ask, yes they verified, yes they accepted 1000 grams.

I swear ten thousand years in the future some fucker will 'oops, black hole!' 'cos they began in comp sci and learned kilo = 1024 first and NOBODY WILL CATCH IT. Humanity will be WIPED OUT because YOU LOT KEPT THIS SHIT UP.

Mar 10 at 10:00amWeb
Show threadTony HoyleMar 10
@NanoRaptor Now ask a TV manufacturer..
Show thread💡 a problematic moth on fediMar 10
@NanoRaptor we should meet in the middle with kilo = 1012
Show threadAndrocatMar 10

@16af93 @NanoRaptor

It's worse the other way:

0000010000000000 g flour
0000001000000000 g sugar
0000001000000000 g butter

Show threadCuboci 🏳️‍🌈   Mar 10
@androcat @16af93 @NanoRaptor That's big cake! 😅
Show threadTommiMar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor That's it, straight to hell with you :D
Show threadAlanna 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Mar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor ah, the "Irish Gauge" solution. Also well known in parts of Australia.
Show threadRevK Mar 10
@16af93 always an xkcd
Show threadLars BrinkhoffMar 10
@revk @16af93 Megabyte is 1024000 or 1000024 bytes.
Show threadnLupo  Mar 10
@revk @16af93 There are two kinds of kilobytes, 1024 bytes and liarbytes.
Show threadLuna LacteaMar 10
@revk @16af93 The Nintendo 64 has 4MBa. of RAM!
Show threadTursiaeMar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor What if SI units were designed by the ITU ATM committee
Show threadHenryk PlötzMar 10

@16af93 @NanoRaptor Since this is a multiplicative measure, the geometric mean would be more appropriate, yes?

1011.9288512...

An infinite decimal expansion will also make the weirdos with their 1/3rd inches per square tree stem feel more at home.

Show threadbicebird Mar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor
kolo = 988
kilo = 1000
kibo = 1012
kibi = 1024
Show threadbicebird Mar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor oh and a koala gram should be 4,000 to 15,000 grams
Show threadWitek KowalikMar 10

@bicebird
A bit different in Poland:
Koło = 314
Około = 988

( #PolishForForeigners Koło means circle and około means round about but sometimes koło is used as około and also in terms of space koło meaning near )

@16af93 @NanoRaptor

Show threadP.D. MagnusMar 13
@bicebird @16af93 @NanoRaptor A koala gram is a marsupial who shows up at your door and delivers a message.
Show threadnikoMar 10
@bicebird @16af93 @NanoRaptor @UkeleleEric a bakers kilo 1013
Show threadkubiMar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor =... kiblibyte etc?
Show threadKarl BaronMar 10
@bikubi @16af93 @NanoRaptor kebabbite 🍖
Show threadtripleman, a 🇨🇦 in 🇩🇪Mar 10
@16af93 This is how wars are started.
Show threadTim ChaseMar 10

@16af93

K is the 11th letter of the alphabet, so I'd also be willing to go with 1011 😛

@NanoRaptor

Show threadPseudo NymMar 10

@16af93 @NanoRaptor

You choose violence. :-)

Show threadJonathan Z SimonMar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor Because kilo is a multiplicative prefix, i.e., we want a kilo of kilos to be a mega, I think we’d be better off with the geometric mean: sqrt(1024*1000)=1,011.929.
Show threadSpacewizard! (Ed H)Mar 10
@16af93 @NanoRaptor a proposal that was rejected without, I feel, due consideration
Show threadJen, The UnhingedMar 10
@NanoRaptor every time i have to convert between Megabit, Megabyte, and Mebibyte i lose that much more will to live.
Show threadWebber-e-bopMar 10
@Jenetrix @NanoRaptor wasn't it like Microsoft that made it a thing to not be 1000?
Show threadWillem JanssenMar 10
@webbop @Jenetrix @NanoRaptor No, the 1024 thing predates Microsoft afaik. Microsoft’s claim to fame is the “diskette is 1.44 MB”, where their Mega was 1000x1024 🤯.
Show threadWebber-e-bopMar 10
@Wlm @Jenetrix @NanoRaptor So that's why I remember their name in this mess.
Show threadNicolaMar 10
@Wlm @webbop @Jenetrix @NanoRaptor Pretty sure it was Sony that marketted them as 1.44MB on PCs
Show threadtruhMar 10
@Jenetrix @NanoRaptor and there is at least a small chance that it's actually 1000 * 1024
Show threadfdrMar 10
@NanoRaptor https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/kilobyte.png
Show threadNot The LBC GuyMar 10
@NanoRaptor and you’re sure they weren’t asking about kibigrams?
Show threadHywelMar 10
@NotTheLBCGuy @NanoRaptor looked at the replies to see if someone made this joke. 👏
Show threadyetztMar 10
@NotTheLBCGuy @NanoRaptor came to suggest this cursed unit.
Show threadFritz AdalisMar 10
@NanoRaptor
We should switch to kibigrams.
Show threadBernard SheppardMar 10
@FritzAdalis was waiting for this reply, not disappointed @NanoRaptor
Show threadelsa sloth-ringenMar 10
@NanoRaptor 1024 grams is a kibigram, everyone should know this 🙄
Show threadyoshMar 10

@NanoRaptor

1024 grams would be a "kibigram" I think. I really wish us computer folk would start consistently using the right prefixes for binary units because 💯 we should be doing better.

Show threadThumptastic3Mar 10
@NanoRaptor I admire your optimism.
Show threadIrenes (many)Mar 10

@NanoRaptor and this is the point at which we should mention that "kibi" is an existing international standard that really ought to be more popular, for this exact reason

(the "bi" stands for "binary")

Show threadPhilippa CowderoyMar 10

@ireneista @NanoRaptor i'll admit to not being an SI person by default here because... well, that old.

but the moment SI is in play (so any SI unit rather than bits and bytes which technically aren't), i absolutely deserve kicking around over it until i knock it off.

Show threadGeoffMar 10
@NanoRaptor conversation never to have at your cartel meeting for $1024 please.
Is that with or without the plastic wrap? Send them to pick up a metric crescent wrench.
Is that the actual or nominal kilo?
Show threadthomas bohnMar 10
@NanoRaptor we are cooked
Show threadWillem JanssenMar 10
@NanoRaptor It’s kibi and Mebi now! And I am making sure everybody at work knows! And on the internet! And on the subway! And at increasingly awkward family dinners!
Show threadNanoraptorMar 10
@Wlm You will be part of what saves us!
Show threadJxPet✔️Mar 10
@Wlm @NanoRaptor there oughtta be a Nobel prize for this initiative 👍🏆
Show threadΣ(i³) = (Σi)²Mar 11
@jxpet
Or at least a FIFA prize ...
@Wlm @NanoRaptor
Show threadCosmoMar 10
@Wlm @NanoRaptor "For today's dinner, I bought 1,5 kibigrams of pork…" would be an interesting TED Talk starter…
Show threadWillem JanssenMar 10
@NanoRaptor I’m still disappointed that an otherwise details-and-standards-obsessed group of people did this, to the most establishedest of standards.
Then again, they (and me?) also like getting too clever about names and acronyms.
Show threadFlorianMar 10
@guilevi @NanoRaptor are you sure it wouldn't be in 1024 years? ;(
Show threadAdmiral MemoMar 10
@NanoRaptor Mainly because no one but people hard into computing knows what "kibi" means.
Show threadSylvhemMar 10

@AdmiralMemo To be fair, no one but people into computing would think a kilo could mean 1024 in the first place.

@NanoRaptor

Show threaddownbeatdanMar 10
@NanoRaptor @Sylvhem @AdmiralMemo To be fair, anyone growing up with the US imperial system would be conditioned that none of the conversions of anything into anything are nice round numbers. Anyone growing up with the metric system knows it's all 10, 100, 1000.
Show threadDaniel SilverstoneMar 10
@NanoRaptor Time to teach them "kibi-" "mibi-" "gibi-" etc. prefixes?
Show threadBart-Jan VrielinkMar 10
@NanoRaptor
Show threadDavid PMar 10

@NanoRaptor

Is this someone who has no experience in science or engineering? As in outside of the very narrow world of computing?

Show threadChris LMar 10
@pewnack @NanoRaptor I am all for science and certainly no one can get thru their morning without the fruits of knowledge, but at this time it is difficult to claim that computing is more niche than a solid understanding of SI units (mich less dimensional analysis).
Show threadDavid PMar 10

@jayalane

Huh?

"I'm all for science"

You do know you wouldn't have computers or smartphones without centuries of science and scientists.

Anyhow, a fundamental knowledge of SI units is necessary for other fields (but clearly not for computing), such cooking, shopping, understanding your medication doses etc. Well at least it is in every country other than the archaic USA.

@NanoRaptor

Show threadChris LMar 10
@pewnack @NanoRaptor my point was small: pretty sure one can squeeze off 50 mls of medicine and not really understand SI units and yet that most city kids around the world will understand networks, delayed replication, the idea of eventual consistency, 1/2