bug-ddrescue
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [Bug-ddrescue] Math and Prefixes


From: Ariel
Subject: Re: [Bug-ddrescue] Math and Prefixes
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:45:36 -0500 (EST)


On Thu, 18 Jan 2007, Antonio Diaz Diaz wrote:

Hello Chris,

Sorry, but I am unable to see the "error in logic" here.
The Latin prefix "bi" means "two", so the most obvious meaning for "bi-llion" is "a million millions (million^2). The Latin prefix "tri" means "three", so the most obvious meaning for "tri-llion" is a million million millions (million^3).
And so on.

OTOH, I can't see why anybody would call "tri-llion" to a million millions (million^2). Where is the three here?

I don't see that is so obvious, you are just used to it.

To me it's obvious that it's 1000*1000^whatever

it's:

1000*1000^-1 one
1000*1000^0 thousand
1000*1000^1 million
1000*1000^2 billion
1000*1000^3 trillion
1000*1000^4 quadrillion

vs:

1000000^0 one
1000000^.5 thousand
1000000^1 million
1000000^2 billion
1000000^3 trillion
1000000^4 quadrillion

Your pattern breaks when it comes to thousand, so I think mine is more consistent and logical. Also your numbers grow too fast, and you needed to add milliard and billiard to compensate. (I suppose you could say thousand milliard and billiard are part of the same x.5 series, but really - two interleaving series is an improvement?)

But seriously, different places give things different names, and there is no reason to go nuts about it, as long as I know what you are talking about, I don't care what you call it.

Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales for all the details.

But, back to the subject at hand since we are talking about computers here, can't you just use K, M, G?

Oh, and BTW, it's interesting that the SI units grow at the same rate the american ones.

        -Ariel




reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]