# 01:02:03 - 04/05/06



## JetwingX (Apr 5, 2006)

it was brought to my attention that earlier today, 01:02:03 - 04/05/06 occurred.

kind of an interesting Number event thing


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## Satcomer (Apr 5, 2006)

You WAY to much time on your hands.


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## powermac (Apr 5, 2006)

Thats is pretty cool.


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## CaptainQuark (Apr 5, 2006)

Doesn't work for us Brits, for whom it would be 01:02:03, 05/04/06.

We'll have that pleasure on the 4th of next month.


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## nixgeek (Apr 5, 2006)

Sorry, I was sleeping during the whole festivities.


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## Giaguara (Apr 5, 2006)

well also for japan .. would they have like 06/05/04? or 05/06 ....


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## fryke (Apr 5, 2006)

erh... 04 05 06? That's soooooooooo wacko. Month, day, year? What order is this in? Ah. American. Internationally, it was 06 04 05. Much less special, I guess. Or rather, it was 2006-04-05. Start using the international format, people. It really helps... *sigh*


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## Mikuro (Apr 5, 2006)

When you pronounce it non-numerically, what do you say? To me, it seems natural to say "April 5, 2006" &#8212; month, day, year. That's the only way I ever hear it where I'm from. So that's the order we use when we shorten it.

Do they say "2006 April 5" or "5 April 2006" in other countries?

I have to agree, though; I don't like the American shortening with numbers. Numerically, it only makes sense to go year, month, day. The most-significant digit is always on the left, and the least-significant is always on the right. It also makes alpha-numeric sorting with computers SO much easier! Alas, this standard was not made with math or computers in mind.


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## HateEternal (Apr 5, 2006)

Americans have this way of being stubborn about stupid things like date formats and measurements. I mean come on, what the hell is a foot any ways? And how illogical is the mile, most people can't even remember how many feet are in a mile. I guess basing everything on tens, one of the easiest numbers to work with, would just make _too_ much sense. To make things worse science in the states uses the metric system so then you have to deal with both. What the hell!? Someone dropped the ball on that one.

Stupid Americans!


- HateEternal, Stupid American (damn it) >_<


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## sgould (Apr 5, 2006)

I'm waiting for the 4th of May


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## Lt Major Burns (Apr 5, 2006)

my birthday was on the 2nd of april, 2006, mikuro 

02/04/2006

second of the fourth... i'm Briddish.


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## Lt Major Burns (Apr 5, 2006)

HateEternal said:
			
		

> Americans have this way of being stubborn about stupid things like date formats and measurements. I mean come on, what the hell is a foot any ways? And how illogical is the mile, most people can't even remember how many feet are in a mile. I guess basing everything on tens, one of the easiest numbers to work with, would just make _too_ much sense. To make things worse science in the states uses the metric system so then you have to deal with both. What the hell!? Someone dropped the ball on that one.
> 
> Stupid Americans!
> 
> ...



a mile is 1,760 yards.  3 ft in a yard.


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## Perseus (Apr 5, 2006)

Yeah don't even get me started on Quarts and Pints.....ugh


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## fryke (Apr 5, 2006)

Mikuro asked: "Do they say "2006 April 5" or "5 April 2006" in other countries?"

Yes. Feels very natural to call today "Sechster April Zweitausendsechs" (well, it's 02:29 here, so it's the 6th already...). I guess the alpha-numerically logical year-month-day is not often used when talking... I understand that the thing with dates is historically grown and a habit and hard to overcome, but as others have already said in this thread: It just makes so much sense - in computers more than ever. Whenever I write a news blurb on my short story webpage, I name the file "YYYYMMDD_title.txt", and when looking at the directory through FTP, sorted by name, I have the stories in the right order. Just as should be, no? (A "newer" date is always a higher number in the international date format, whereas with the American ordering, that's not the case.)


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## hawki18 (Apr 6, 2006)

We have used month day and year In my 54 years and see no need to go to the international format.


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## fryke (Apr 6, 2006)

Yeah. That attitude will one day save the, erh, no, not the world. Erh... What was it: Ah yeah - Traditions and sh*t.


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## scruffy (Apr 6, 2006)

Perseus said:
			
		

> Yeah don't even get me started on Quarts and Pints.....ugh



No please - let us start on Pints.  Specifically, the fact that there are 20 ounces in a real pint, not 16 as some weirdo nations maintain 

"A pint is a pound the world around," indeed!  Humbug!

"A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter."  Less catchy perhaps, but it has the benefit of being accurate in more than one country...


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## hawki18 (Apr 7, 2006)

what next you want the US to switch to the URO


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## Satcomer (Apr 7, 2006)

Our diversity is what makes us all special. I will never let the so called "world" (when will people learn the US or Western Europe is not the world) government ever rule over me. I dont know how Europeans can stand the European Union. I believe those countries are giving up their true identity for some intangible economic benefit.


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## fryke (Apr 7, 2006)

Bollocks... Believe me: I'm visiting France, Germany, Italy, Austria quite often and those countries have not lost "their true identity" so far, and are not going to. It's a similar process to what Switzerland (in a smaller scale) has gone through in the past several hundred years. We're 26 "cantons" - and they *still* have their own identities as well as being Swiss all the same. I guess you know the feeling: It's not the same to be a New Yorker or a Texan, right? Still: Both are US-citizens and feel as americans as well.

It can only _help_ to give Europeans the feeling that they belong together, because that way they won't try to conquer each other. I hope that one day, we'll find a way to unite the world in this feeling. Probably needs an outside danger or enemy.

"Our diversity is what makes us all special." Yes, exactly. The important thing is to see that the diversity does *not* have to negate the unity. Think families. Communities. Cities. Countries. Continents. And, yes!, the world.


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## bbloke (Apr 7, 2006)

fryke said:
			
		

> Bollocks...






			
				hawki18 said:
			
		

> what next you want the US to switch to the URO


I take it you mean the "Euro," but no one is asking the US to switch currencies.  Mind you, some other nations have been contemplating it, particularly with respect to dealing with oil (oh, and these countries tend to get invaded or threatened by the US).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro#The_euro_and_oil


			
				Wikipedia said:
			
		

> The eurozone consumes more imported petroleum than the United States. This would mean that more euros than US dollars would flow into the OPEC nations, but oil is priced by those nations in US dollars only. There have been frequent discussions at OPEC about pricing oil in euros, which would have various effects, among them, requiring nations to hold stores of euros to buy oil, rather than the US dollars that they hold now. Venezuela under Hugo Chávez has been a vocal proponent of this scheme, despite selling most of its own oil to the United States. Another proponent was Saddam Hussein of Iraq, which holds the world's second largest oil reserves. Since 2000 Iraq had used the euro as oil export currency. In 2002, Iraq changed its US dollars into euro, a few months prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. If implemented by the OPEC, the changeover to the euro would be a transfer of a 'float' that presently subsidises the United States to subsidise the European Union instead. Another effect would be that the price of oil in the eurozone would more closely follow the world price. When oil prices skyrocketed to almost 50 USD/barrel in August 2004, the oil price in euros didn't change nearly as much because of the concurrent rise in the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar (to an exchange rate of EUR 1.00 = USD 1.33 in December 2004). Similarly, should oil prices lower significantly, together with the USD/EUR exchange rate, the oil price in the eurozone would not fall as much. On the other hand, if the exchange rate and the oil price move in different directions, oil price changes are magnified. Pricing oil in euros would nullify this dependency of European oil prices on the USD/EUR exchange rate. On March 20, 2006, Iran is planning to open an International Oil Bourse (IOB, exchange) for the express purpose of trading oil priced in other currencies, including euros.


http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/10/10/001.html


			
				The Moscow Times said:
			
		

> President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia could switch its trade in oil from dollars to euros, a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for the global balance of power -- potentially hurting the U.S. dollar and economy and providing a massive boost to the euro zone.


But, anyway, we digress! 



			
				Satcomer said:
			
		

> Our diversity is what makes us all special. I will never let the so called "world" (when will people learn the US or Western Europe is not the world) government ever rule over me. I don&#8217;t know how Europeans can stand the European Union. I believe those countries are giving up their true identity for some intangible economic benefit.


I totally agree, we need to value diversity.  More so than we do currently.  I think people from all nations tend to put their own ways of doing things first, and tend to dislike "foreign"/alien ways of doing things.  It's human nature, alas.

I really don't think the EU is an example of something that shouldn't be put up with, because I think Americans take it for granted all the time.  For instance, a European could say "I don't know how you Californians can put up with a Federal government, your identity is completely different to that of a Texan."  Well, it's true, but it's also about finding things we have in common and working for the common good, while trying to maintain and value diversity.  Not always easy, sure, but not impossible. Believe me, if you go to France, it still feels like France, it's not part of a homogeneous "Eurozone" or something!


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## sgould (Apr 7, 2006)

I'm changing my name to Rod Poleorperch 

How many litres in a barrel of oil?  Or pints for that matter?


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## fryke (Apr 7, 2006)

"Pint of oil please over here!" (After all, we ARE in the café here...)


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## bbloke (Apr 7, 2006)

Hmm, a pint.  Shall we pay in Pounds Sterling?


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## JetwingX (Apr 7, 2006)

Giaguara said:
			
		

> well also for japan .. would they have like 06/05/04? or 05/06 ....



For the Japanese, It would have been 04/05/18 (Heisei) so... they are left out of the 123456 deal

P.S. i wish this board were unicode so i could use the proper Kanji >.<


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## CaptainQuark (Apr 7, 2006)

JetwingX said:
			
		

> For the Japanese, It would have been 04/05/18 (Heisei) so... they are left out of the 123456 deal


I wonder what the Ethiopians do on the Julian calendar.



			
				bbloke said:
			
		

> Hmm, a pint.  Shall we pay in Pounds Sterling?


Errr Euros, please! 



			
				Satcomer said:
			
		

> Our diversity is what makes us all special. I will never let the so called "world" (when will people learn the US or Western Europe is not the world) government ever rule over me. I dont know how Europeans can stand the European Union. I believe those countries are giving up their true identity for some intangible economic benefit.


But the USA is a federal state. Each state is a self-governing entity, that all collaborate of issues of mutual interest, such as defence, foreign policy, etc. Historically speaking, the states of the US were founded by many different nations  the British, the French, the Spanish, hell, there was even a small Swedish colony somewhere in Delaware, I believe. That the people of these colonies managed to overcome the traditional enmities of their founder colonies and united to form one united entity for the benefit of all is an example the whole world would do well to follow. And it wouldn't hurt for the US to look to its history books and follow its own examples. 

For better or for worse, depending on where you stand in the political spectrum, the format adopted by the US appears to be a successful one. And one that Europe should strive to emulate.

Apart from the obvious benefits of being able to compete with the US megalist, a Federal Europe would provide a forum for neighbours to discuss and resolve disputes on an everyday basis, before the situation spirals out of control and flare up into armed conflict, thus at least reducing, and hopefully eliminating, the recurrence of war in Europe.

As for the loss of cultural identity, well don't forget  that the threat to European national identities is most seriously under threat from the US. The French have the right idea, but the French are also one of the founders of the European Union.

Roll on a United States of Europe!


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## Satcomer (Apr 7, 2006)

CaptainQuark said:
			
		

> As for the loss of cultural identity, well don't forget that the threat to European national identities is most seriously under threat from the US.


 
How so? I tend to like the British the way that they are. They tend to keep the US government on the right path. The French is another story (only kidding).


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## Rhisiart (Apr 8, 2006)

Ten reasons why the world hates America:

 Insane gun laws
 Racism
 The death penalty
 Biggest polluters on the planet
 Biggest exploiter of the worlds wealth
 SUVs
 Immoral foreign policies
 The religious right
 Corporate greed
 Calling the World Series the World Series

Ten reasons why the world wants to be American:

 Avarice
 Fast food is convenient
 So they can have skyscrapers too 
 American accents are cool
 All the big blockbusters are made in Hollywood
 To be able to sue the ass off anyone and get rich quick
 To be able to legally own a semi-automatic and shoot anyone you like
 To own a house with a swimming pool
 To own an SUV
 Elvis


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## scruffy (Apr 8, 2006)

bbloke said:
			
		

> Hmm, a pint.  Shall we pay in Pounds Sterling?



I'll have a centifirkin of oil please, and I'll be paying in Mauritanian Ouguiya.


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## hawki18 (Apr 9, 2006)

rhisiart said:
			
		

> Ten reasons why the world hates America:
> 
> &#8226; Insane gun laws
> &#8226; Racism
> ...



I will keep our insane gun laws countries that took away that right has had crime increase the press may not talk about it but it true

I love my 4x4 pick up and I don't like somthing I got the right to say so

As far as baseball the world series, I guess a few other counties need to start teams and then the title will fit.

I have not been England or France for  may years wonder if it has change alot with the union?


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## easterhay (May 6, 2006)

fryke said:
			
		

> Start using the international format, people. It really helps... *sigh*


Yes, and henceforth this board shall be in Esperanto.
Hmmm, 'henceforth' isn't that an imperial unit of time?


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## JetwingX (May 7, 2006)

kial fari vi senti la bezoni al konduki up malnova fadeno? (Esperanto)


(why do you feel the need to bring up old threads?)


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## Giaguara (May 7, 2006)

Satcomer said:
			
		

> Our diversity is what makes us all special. I will never let the so called "world" (when will people learn the US or Western Europe is not the world) government ever rule over me. I dont know how Europeans can stand the European Union. I believe those countries are giving up their true identity for some intangible economic benefit.



Well, while the thread already was bumped up... would you say that _Texas lost its 'true identity' when they become part of USA? _ I think they are still quite special, and if any state of US gives the most love / hate among Americans (my ex from midwest hated everything Texan) and among abroad .... So would Texas be any more _true Texas_ if it was still a Republic? If people had a Texan passport (not those touristic kind but real), if they paid in Texan dollars or pesos ... ?

The 'true identity' of a country or a nation is stereotypes; the 'true identity' of people isn't based on what's printed on the money they use to pay. Or yes, the French had the Francs, but _did every single French person choose the Franc_ (or have any options?) while that currency was in use? No. Does a person lose 'his true identity' even when he lives somewhere else for longer times? No, he just becomes slowly free of the stereotypes (often). Did I lose something about MY true self when I started to pay in Euro? I don't care, it's just money, it's just a mean. At least it's one money, instead of having Liras, Pesetas, Pesos, Pounds, Marks, Crowns, etc etc of different kind. And I had been paid my salaries in Liras, Pesetas, Pesos, Reais, Crowns, Marks ..... if a _country_ feels like it lost something with the new currency, then it's nothing more than a (stereotype of a) nation that can't deal with changes.


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## easterhay (May 7, 2006)

It's not a need I have, I just never notice they're old.
I'm hopelessly unobservant, but will try and observe more.
I also got a bit carried away yesterday because I was having fun



> The 'true identity' of a country or a nation is stereotypes


 I kind of agree with Giaguara. I feel more English (or perhaps British, agh, confoozed) now I'm 14,000km away from that sceptred isle, and that fellow feeling manifests itself in some quite frankly clicheed nostalgia, almost, _almost_ bordering on the patriotic <shudder>. I pine for music, curry, mists, mellow fruitfulness and green pastures - all stereotypes in their own way.
And now I'm here I use kilos, km and litres - something people back 'home' fight against for all they're worth. But change is good for the soul.


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## Giaguara (May 7, 2006)

Oh wait I noticed only now that you are in Patagonia?? Cool, one of the weird places on earth I still want to see.  
You could always go to Malvinas to get more British food ...  err I mean Falkland. Whichever


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## easterhay (May 7, 2006)

Yep, Patagonia stole my soul. It's a fabulous place that belongs high on anyone's list of essential destinations, and at leisure, too, rather than in three high-impact weeks. Savour the flava!
Best not to mention those islands, though. Here there be demons.
But I could barf on at great and impassioned length about the awesomeness there is to see around here. If you go nowhere else, chesk out Ushuaia - southernmost city in the world and full of fantastic people. And crazy geography. And shipwrecks, and mad, ancient prisons, and the most enigmatic lighthouse in the world (after Barnegat, of course).
My god, I need to go travelling again.


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## Satcomer (May 7, 2006)

Giaguara my post meaning was about the European giving up some of there local laws to become part of central government. The money change was just the first step. I still feel it is a pipe dream of the small European countries that they will matter more if there is a central European government. The brutal truth is the European government is going to be a power tool for the French & German politicians, this is where the real power will be. These counties wouldn't have it any other way.


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## fryke (May 7, 2006)

I think it's rather the other way 'round. It's not that smaller countries hope to count more in a European Community. It's that some stuff should be easier to accomplish across European countries. I'm aware that Switzerland isn't part of it. Just shows that "our national identity" doesn't have to _exactly_ match my thinking. 

Btw.: Esperanto is not "the international language". And the thread should've been revived on 2006-05-04 already.


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## easterhay (May 7, 2006)

fryke said:
			
		

> And the thread should've been revived on 2006-05-04 already.



Damn - missed it.
Oh well, next month maybe. Who's up for a reunion on June 6? ::evil::


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