[time-nuts] time-nuts Digest, Vol 61, Issue 77

[paul at greenrover.demon.co.uk]

Dave Ackrill wrote:
> Mark Sims wrote:
> 
>>  the femtofortnight.
> 
> 
> uk.rec.sheds lives!
> 
> For those that don't remember back to Usenet, this was in the days 
> before forums, when every discussion group had to get approval before it 
> was accepted on the system and uk.rec.sheds was a hip and happening 
> (sic) place to be if you were into a strange underworld of culture in 
> the UK.
> 
> See http://www.uk-rec-sheds.org.uk
> 
> Where was born the international standard unit of time - the fortnight...

Not everything can be attributed to the "modern" computer world.

A long time before Usenet I recall from the railway industry the testing 
of signalling relays. As young technicians refurbishing relays we would 
sometimes get rejected units returned from the very stringent testing lab.

Return notes referencing contact bounce and closure times in derogatory 
terms of fractions of fortnights were often used to put us in our place.

I am certain that this wasn't a new term at the time and the lab testers 
would probably not be accurately described as hip and happening :-)


-- 
73 de Paul GW8IZR IO73TI
http://www.gw8izr.com