Re: New EPG and kids and more

"Malcolm H" <malcolmh@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:M9NUl.27072$oi1.18816@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ian F." <wowfabgroovy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:78hfo8F1m4lapU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Malcolm H" <malcolmh@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:fCLUl.268019$Ec5.267951@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The only thing which really annoys me is the continuing use of the 12 hour clock. Surely the completely unambiguous 24 hour clock could have been a 'Settings' option?

This is the UK, not continental Europe! ;-)

Ian

My inference from your comment is that you believe the UK to be a land of
confusion and ambiguity (and I would not disagree!).

This planet rotates on its axis to create a complete day/night cycle every
24 hours. The arbitrary definition of noon as 12:00pm and midnight as
12:00am results in ludicrous ambiguities and confusion. To set a 10 minute
manual recording from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after 01:00am the
settings are:

Start time 12:55am
Stop time 01:05am

Is 01:05 minus 12:55 really 00:10 ?? Confusing or what?

If we could get this right then perhaps we should start on properly
eliminating pounds and ounces. Then all that remains is to convert the
Americans, but perhaps this is too difficult to contemplate!


Too many of our measures have been devalued and it is bad enough for shops to sell beer in 500 ml bottles (500 ml = 0.88 Imperial Pints). However, American measures would be even worse (1 US fluid pint = 0.83 Imperial pints).

In the UK, we use the the 24-hour clock for bus and railway timetables. It avoids confusion and for the same reason, I would welcome an option of using the 24-hour clock with the Sky EPG.

With regard to time, you have missed another crucial point.

a.m. stands for "Ante meridiem" - Latin words, which translate as "Before midday".
p.m. stands for "Post meridiem" - Latin words, which translate as "After midday".

It follows that Midday is neither a.m. nor p.m. And by implication, it is ridiculous to refer to midnight as 12:00 a.m., because midnight occurs exactly 12 hours before AND exactly 12 hours after midday.

Programme schedules, which show times as 12:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. are most confusing - and provide further proof of creeping Americanisation. Such terms are almost as silly as describing American Budweiser as beer!







.

Relevant Pages

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