Comma and Decimal Confusion
Responding to comments:
Dad: That is really interesting about the Badminton shaped shuttlecraft. I don’t have time to read about it now, but I will take a look later.
Erin: Nice to hear from you. I am having a great time, but look forward to coming back home to America about Aug. 8th.
Official blog entry:
Yesterday I went to the local park at 6:00 PM. It is a very nice clean park, and it is full of people at that time. Many of them are doing aerobics to the music blaring out of speakers nearby, and others are jogging, or just walking around the park. Some people stand by the river to talk with their friends and others kick around a football (aka soccer) with their children.
I went to get some pictures of a sunset on the Mekong. Unfortunately the clouds were not cooperating, so I think I will try again tonight. I did stay and enjoy the park though, before I left, I saw my favorite “star” Earendil (did I spell that correctly Christy) a beautiful silver pinprick of light shining out in the evening sky before any of the other stars come out.
I have found that I have used my spelling skills a whole lot this summer. It is a good thing they improved from when I was in elementary and high school, or I would be in trouble. (I used to spell atrociously) When talking with people, they will sometimes ask me to spell a word that they don’t recognize, and in class, I often have to write words on the board for them to see. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well I am doing with this spelling thing. There are occasions when I don’t know how to spell a word, but I have a dictionary right in front of me in class, and I can check that pretty quickly. (sometimes, I even find that I DID spell it correctly, and I don’t have to make any changes)
An interesting thing I learned the other day is that the commas and periods used in numbers mean different things here. I had thought that numbers were exactly the same everywhere in the world, but that is not true.
In America, we would write 1,000 days and 3.14 = PI but here they would be confused by that because they would write 1.000 days and 3,14 = PI. Isn’t that funny? This difference has caused some confusion a number of times in class.
-Luke
Postscript: http://www.webmath.com/k8metric.html This is a really useful web page for calculating conversions of metric and US systems of measurment.
Dad: That is really interesting about the Badminton shaped shuttlecraft. I don’t have time to read about it now, but I will take a look later.
Erin: Nice to hear from you. I am having a great time, but look forward to coming back home to America about Aug. 8th.
Official blog entry:
Yesterday I went to the local park at 6:00 PM. It is a very nice clean park, and it is full of people at that time. Many of them are doing aerobics to the music blaring out of speakers nearby, and others are jogging, or just walking around the park. Some people stand by the river to talk with their friends and others kick around a football (aka soccer) with their children.
I went to get some pictures of a sunset on the Mekong. Unfortunately the clouds were not cooperating, so I think I will try again tonight. I did stay and enjoy the park though, before I left, I saw my favorite “star” Earendil (did I spell that correctly Christy) a beautiful silver pinprick of light shining out in the evening sky before any of the other stars come out.
I have found that I have used my spelling skills a whole lot this summer. It is a good thing they improved from when I was in elementary and high school, or I would be in trouble. (I used to spell atrociously) When talking with people, they will sometimes ask me to spell a word that they don’t recognize, and in class, I often have to write words on the board for them to see. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well I am doing with this spelling thing. There are occasions when I don’t know how to spell a word, but I have a dictionary right in front of me in class, and I can check that pretty quickly. (sometimes, I even find that I DID spell it correctly, and I don’t have to make any changes)
An interesting thing I learned the other day is that the commas and periods used in numbers mean different things here. I had thought that numbers were exactly the same everywhere in the world, but that is not true.
In America, we would write 1,000 days and 3.14 = PI but here they would be confused by that because they would write 1.000 days and 3,14 = PI. Isn’t that funny? This difference has caused some confusion a number of times in class.
-Luke
Postscript: http://www.webmath.com/k8metric.html This is a really useful web page for calculating conversions of metric and US systems of measurment.
5 Comments:
It's actually a space-capable airplane, not a shuttle craft. It was the most fascinating thing. It attaches to another plane that gets it up pretty high in the sky, and then its engines kick in, I think, or else it uses the impetus provided by the thing it was attached to, and it goes up until it loses power, and hopefully by that time it's high enough. Something like that. When it lands, the shuttlecock wings (they're actually called the Feather) reduce its rate of fall so that it glides in and lands neatly rather than falling. And it's all controlled by the pilot, rather than by the ground control. The chap who built it wants to make an affordable way for civilians to go into space, and he even has plans for a hotel in space. I would go. Can you imagine swimming at a quarter G? which is about what it would be if he made it like a wheel with centrifugal force creating an artifical gravity. I can't wait until he does it.
Yes, it is Earendil, though if your computer or blog program or whatever has the capability, you should put an umlaut over the A. Two little sideways dots, achieved by pressing the shift, control, and colon keys all at the same time, and then pressing the A after you have let up. You can also see Jupiter, which is the second largest silver dot. If you stand looking at Earendil, turn to your left about a quarter of a full circle or a little less, and it's a very bright dot about a hand's breadth above the horizon. That is, you can see it in Missouri and North Dakota, but I imagine that if you can see Earendil, you should be able to see Jupiter.
Commas and periods: they do the same thing in Europe. At least in Austria. Most interesting.
By
Anonymous, at 10:01 AM
I am shamelessly taking over Luke's blog (or at least this comment box) to electronically wave at Christy. Christy, I don't know if I have a correct email for you, so could you email me sometime? (shovesc03@crown.edu) Do you still watch the Scarlet Pimpernel? Did you know you inspired me to become a coffee drinker while at Trinity? I just thought you should know. I even grind my own coffee now.
Oh.....hi, Luke, by the way :) Since it is your blog and all that.... ;)
By
Anonymous, at 2:10 PM
The craft I mentioned does not LOOK like a shuttlecock but it has an aspect that was inspired by a creative association to the shuttlecock that the designer realized in the middle of the night. The design works like the shuttlecock. No matter how the craft falls back into the atmosphere, it penetrates safely. Later the feather (as it is called) is articulated back down in the manner of a wing. So much for that...
- dopad
By
Anonymous, at 11:43 AM
In Brasil I noticed the same comma decimal switch. It did take a little bit to get used to. It just seemed wrong.
By
Micah and Kim Storer, at 1:56 PM
Marvelous astronomy, Christy!
My dad knows Mike Melville, the guy who flew Space Ship One.
By
Maggi, at 10:26 PM
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