Desktop conversion tool

[Mary Fisher]

A long time ago someone round here recommended a small but comprehensive program which could sit on a desktop. I lost it when the HD died, can anyone remember it or suggest a substitute?

Mary

[NOSPAMnet]

Programme for doing what ?

[JoeJoe]

Don't know which one you are after, but a quick google brought a few - e.g.

or

[Kevin]

conversions perhaps :-) Google will convert most things like Litres into gallons and feet inches into Metres type "12 gallons in litres" and you get the answer only works if you are on line though :-)

12 Imperial gallons = 54.5531025 litres

[NOSPAMnet]

Or converting a desktop perhaps :-) Well she did ask for a Desktop Conversion Tool . A bit more info would have helped

[Corporal Jones]

[Kevin]

it would have helped loads :-)

[Phil Addison]

Linux?

[Huge]

Indeed. What you need is the Unix "units" program;

[huge@anubis ~]: units you have: feet3 you want: litres * 2.831685e+01 / 3.531467e-02 you have: kiloparsec you want: nanometer * 3.085678e+28 / 3.240779e-29 you have: chain2 you want: hectare * 4.046856e-02 / 2.471054e+01 you have:

And so on ...

[whisky-dave]

If you add a leg to each corner depending on the length of those legs you can convert your desktop in to a coffee table or a full height dinning table :) Or even a computer table but make sure you know what operating system you're using otherwise it may well fall over.

[Bob Eager]

My favourite is attoparsecs per microfortnight...

[Huge]

Ooh, 'units' is cleverer than I thought;

[huge@anubis ~]: units you have: attoparsec/microfortnight you want: mph * 5.706402e-02 / 1.752418e+01

[Bob Eager]

Hmmm..yes. I just use it as (near as dammit) an inch per second..!

[PCPaul]

Same here. But Google is equally clever. I just filled up and zeroed the trip meter last time I filled up. My car has done 356.4miles in the meantime and I had to replace 53.5 litres of petrol.

In the Google search box: "356.4 miles per 53.5 litres in miles per imperial gallon"

answer: "(356.4 miles) per (53.5 litres) = 30.2846195 miles per Imperial gallon"

or even: Q: "(17 pi)^2 GBP in USD" A: "((17 * pi)^2) British pounds = 4 932.50949 U.S. dollars"

[Ron Lowe]

I seem to recall that some Kernel Tuning parameters on some minicomputer OS ( VMS, perhaps? ) was specified in microfortnights.

[Bob Eager]

That's correct (and where I got it from originally). Actually, it was only one of them...the delay for the system to wait for the operator to correct a time of day...

hang on...just start a VAX...here we are..

SYSBOOT>SH TIMEP TIMEPROMPTWAIT 65535 65535 0 65535 uFortnight

That's it..

[Ron Lowe]

I teach at the training centre of a multi-national oilfield service company. The units in common use in the oil industry are old Imperial Units ( depth in feet, pressures in PSI, diameters in inches, due to the US influence ).

There are, however, some units I've only ever seen in the oil industry:

Fluid Density: PPTF ( PSI per Thousand Feet ). Fluid Density: PPG ( Pounds per Gallon ) Fluid Viscosity: Seconds ( time to flow a US quart of fluid through a Marsh Funnel ). Pipe Weight: PPF ( pounds per foot ). are some that come immediately to mind.

It's always amusing to introduce new-hires to this strange world, when they are fresh out of SI-based education.

Sometimes, I introduce them jokingly to the fff system, and quote accelerations in "furlongs per square fortnight".

[Owain]

Telephone cables used to be measured in lb per mile

Owain