Re: Abbreviation of measures

["Ridder, Fred" <F -dot- Ridder -at- DIALOGIC -dot- COM>]

Well, I don't know if it's the _official_ reason for capping the "G",
but
one common rationale is that in the binary world "Giga" is the prefix
for 2^30=1,073,741,824, while the scientific "giga" is the prefix for
10^9=1,000,000,000.  This same rationale/distinction applies to 
the use of "Kilo" or "K" for 2^10=1024 in relation to computers vs. 
the scientific "kilo", which indicates 10^3=1000.  "M" for "mega",
though, is inherently ambiguous without knowing the specific 
context;  it could stand for either the computer (binary) mega or 
the scientific (decimal) mega. 

And Rikki shouldn't be so concerned about capital letters in
abbreviations
for units of measure because there are lots of precedents:
   A=ampere (electrical current, named after Andre-Marie Ampere)
   MHz=megahertz (frequency, after Heinrich Hertz)
   MW=megawatt (power, after James Watt)
   pF=picofarad (capacitance, after Michael Faraday)
   dB=decibel (loudness, after Alexander Graham Bell)
   °C=degrees Celsius (temperature, after Anders Celsius)
   K=kelvins (degrees above absolute zero, after Lord Kelvin)
   VU=volume units (used on recording level meters)
   Tbsp=tablespoon (capped for more differentiation from "tsp")

Fred Ridder  (f -dot- ridder -at- dialogic -dot- com)
Senior Technical Writer
Dialogic Coproration, Parsippany, NJ

And to keep our marketing people happy:
Get the Dialogic Edge at:  http://www.dialogic.com
	

>-----Original Message-----
>From:  Jeanette Feldhousen [SMTP:jeanette_feldhousen -at- MENTORG -dot- COM]
>Sent:  Friday, June 06, 1997 12:25 PM
>Subject:       Re: Abbreviation of measures
>
>On Jun 6,  8:45am, Mitman, Rikki wrote:
>> Subject: Abbreviation of measures
>> I'm looking for consensus on the abbreviation of things like megabyte
>> and gigabyte, which are typically represented as mb and gb (or, to my
>> dismay, MB, Mb GB, and Gb). To me, these are abbreviations, *not*
>> acronyms, and should not be capped.
>
>In scientific circles, "M" means mega, while "m" means milli, so the capital
>M is correct. Unfortunately I don't have the reference here, so I can't
>give you an answer on giga.
>
>--Jeanette
>
>--
>Jeanette Feldhousen                        jeanette_feldhousen -at- mentorg -dot- com
>Mentor Graphics Corporation
>8005 SW Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, OR  97070
>

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html