Viewer that uses feet and inches

I'm definitely not meeting with the idea negatively; I just don't see it being important enough for someone doing it for open source to bang it out. Someone who is feeling generous may eventually get around to it, but most open source programmers are into fixing bugs and adding cool new techie gee-whiz gizmos and stuff that will get them noticed by their peers.

It's one of the problems with the open-source culture. People work on what they want for themselves, most often. It is also one of the great strengths of open-source software; if you want it bad enough, there's the source; make it happen!

It is why bug and feature "bounties" get notice, too. If someone is willing to pay for a particular bug fix or a feature implementation, you'll find someone whose primary motivator is income, and will take on the project for the money.

As a US resident, at first read, I took offense. But after thinking about it for a second...that is soooooo true. The metric system has reason and consistency. The way that we in the US measure is just ridiculous.

Programmers in the virtual world use meters. It isn't just Linden or LSL. 3ft = 1m - works well. Welcome to the 3D world.

Most graphic artists use pixels for their work until they have to print something out. This doesn't include typesetters who DO have to use whatever local standard is.

If this is your biggest setback to make a script then I envy you.

Count my vote for metrics. I remember the big push in the 70s too and I was apprehensive about the metric system until it was time to learn how to divide and multiply fractions! OMFG! With numerators and denominators and the reciprocal goes where above the what? Give me the power of 10 baby!
Still though, I think Americans cling to the yard as a distance of measurement because of football (American Football). Most Americans have stood at one end of a football field or at least seen a football field and know that 100 yards is a big distance but small enough distance to get our brains around. I can certainly picture what 30 yrds looks like and 4 times around that football field on the track is 1 mile. Or that I’m happy if I can smack a golf ball the distance of 2 football fields with a diver and stay out of the rough.

I like the metric system as much as the next guy, but for a builder, feet and inches have one great advantage. At least for a real life builder. In another time I built cabinets and furniture to make a few bucks on the side. A significant amount of the time, you are dividing by 2 when you work out your measurements. It's just how things tend to work out. If you use metric, you quickly get into weird decimals that aren't on any of your measuring tools. With inches, you just double the bottom number - 1/2 inch, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, etc. Those measurements are all on your tapes and rulers. 2.5 mm is not.

I like the metric system for a lot of things, and I don't really care what people use, but to act like you are a superior intellect or more culturally advanced because you use the metric system is out of line.

I'm with Trout here. Lighten up, folks.

It's just what you are used to, an american RL builder isn't used to dealing with metric fractions whereas a mainland european (uk uses emperial) builders and designers get confused when having to deal with base 12 measurments, we do have rulers that have 2.5 mm but non that have 1/2 inch on them. I don't doubt there is a demand for at least an option to switch between metric and emperial, all RL CAD systems have that option.

This is true with me. I used to think "10 football fields" when someone said kilometer. Now I think, "1/5 of my morning run." It's like Lindal said if you just start using it you get the feel for metric quite quickly. For instance all U.S.ers know how big a 2 liter bottle is.

Thanks Brenda I probably needed that. I actually have no objection at all if someone who is capable of it gives
Suezanne what she wants.

I wasn't pointing at you, sweetie. No need to spank yourself.

Unless you want to do so. hehe

As an aside: I have Yosef making me hungry with bacon in his sig, and Brenda has nipples in her sig. What a world, what a world . . .

But the bacon on your nipples. Then give me a call, we'll do lunch.

Is there another way to eat bacon?

Yeah. Not really into it so I'm glad she let me off the hook.

Just hold the Mayo,please.

There's a report in the Jira comments of a patch nearing completion allowing one to do simple math in numeric entry fields.

The Jira issue is https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-675 , "Ability to do simple math in numeric edit fields"

The comment is from November 12 is by Aimee Trescothick, saying
"Have had this working nicely for a while now, just need to find time to clean it up and make the patch, RL keeps getting in the way "

Big thanks to Aimee, I hope to see the patch soon.

I hate that YARDS usage in the media, I also hate that dumbed-down housewife/little old lady two year old child terminology used in the media to describe the size/distances of things in terms of;

"As big as a refrigerator"

No, it's around 5 FEET high

"Hail as big as grapefruit came down"

No, it was around 5" in diameter

"It was as big as a compact car"

No, it was around 12 FEET long

"It was two football fields in length"

I don't "do" football, so a football field in length tells me exactly zero useful information

"It was 30 yard high"

No, it was 90 FEET high

The CAD software I use has the ability to set measure ment units to metric, decimals or fractions. I use metric at work but fractions everywhere else because despite using metric for 11 years I still can't get hold of just how big 1290 milimeters is in visualized length, you tell me something like 39-1/2 inches, or 8 feet 3 inches and I know exactly what it is.

I don't like the "15/16th of an inch" stuff either but it's easier to visualise in my head almost one inch whereas 24 milimeters is not.

Basic measurement, like telling time on a clock with hands is what you learn in grade school, it's pretty well "set" in a person's way of doing things like a spoken/written language is.
By the same token, seeing an analog clock has greater reference points for me than seeing red numbers on a little screen that say 9:32, as such I prefer and only have analogue clocks and watches.

The meters system in SL just doesn't seem real, I can be standing away from someone and my hud says they are 10 meters away but they always look much further- more like 50 feet

;0 anyone make a 'stonehenge' joke yet? ;0 ('no we're not gonna effin' do 'stone'enge'!!')

:0 have to admit being somewhat metric-ly disabled; i stick to farmer's scale when buildin' something... 'oh 'bout yeh long, so wide.' (holds up hands squaring off an area ;0)

the scientific world uses metric, but that's beside the point.

After reading all this stuff here, I am tempted to make my next building on a real scale, meaning using the meters of my house in an SL building.

To give you a few ideas: the average ceiling height here in my country is 2.3 meters.
The average doorway is 2 meters high.
my livingroom (average size house) is 7x4 meters roughly, the master bedroom is 3.5 x 5 meters. The smallest bedroom measures 3x3.5

Translate that in an SL building and people would probably think I build for lepracons

Once you realize the 'meter' in SL is arbitrary and doesn't relate to anything, you realize feet vs meters doesn't mean anything either. They should have just called them 'units' so people wouldn't place real-world conceptions on the measurements.

But then again I've seen these arguments going on for years and years in the Poser world, where they do use 'units', so I guess it probably wouldn't solve anything. I remember one epic thread where Dr. Geep and someone else had a lengthy battle over who's 'units to feet' yardstick was the 'right' one. Gotta love the Internet.

QFT Everyone has eyes and they are the only measuring device that really means anything in SL.