Re: Map Sizes

On Fri, 10 Oct 1997 10:08:01 +0200 (EET), Mikko Kurki-Suonio
<maxxon@swob.dna.fi> wrote:

>Other simple approximations:
Status: RO

>
>2 pounds = 1 kilogram

That's not bad, though 2.25 lbs to the kilo is a little closer. Your
two pounds to the kilo, though, has an advantage: it means that when
you see a price in cents per kilogram you usually don't end up short
on money at the grocery store (I did that once, when I thought the
conversion was 2.5 to 1)!

>2 miles = 3 kilometers

This tends to run you into problems in North America, though. You're
safer with 6 miles = 10 kilometres. 100 km/hour speed limit in Ontario
means about 60 miles per hour, not 66 miles per hour (actually, we all
know that he police don't blink until you hit 120 km/hr anyway; it's
the only way anyone gets anywhere on the continent's second busiest
highway). For long North American drives, your conversion will show a
600 mile trip as 900 km, not the closer approximation of 1000 km.
That's an extra hour on the trip from Toronto to Milwaukee!

Allan Goodall  -  agoodall@sympatico.ca

"The secret rules of engagement are hard to endorse,
 when the appearance of conflict meets the appearance of force"
		       - The Tragically Hip