I wrote an article a few months ago, maybe more, about having to use the metric system living here in the Philippines. I’ve lived here long enough that I am pretty comfortable using the metric system now, but for an American, it took a while to gain that comfort!
Over the years, one of the tools that I have used to help me in figuring out the differences between metric and the English system that is used in the USA is a piece of software called Convert. Convert is a free program that can be downloaded from the Internet. The program was written by Josh Madison, and if you like it, you can leave him a donation on his website.
With Convert Software you can convert a LOT of different kinds of measurements. Just take a look in the picture above and you can get an idea of how many different kinds of measurements are convertible!
So, if you are like I used to be, and you need a little extra helping hand in getting used to the metric system, go download Convert! I recommend it highly!
Hi Bob – your screen shot has piqued my curiosity. Wonder what the English-to-Metric (& vice versa) conversion for "time" might be? 🙄
Could it possibly be associated with "Philippine Time"? 😆
(A fine article, btw – something we all need as we transcend our culturally related challenges!)
I just Google it. E.g. try putting something like the following into your google search box:
2 km = ? miles
Hi Paul – You are quite observant! I've been using Convert for years already, and I never even noticed the "Time" conversions! I just checked it out and though I would not call this section metric to standard, it converts different time measurements into others. For example, I can convert milliseconds into centuries! Did you know that 1 millisecond is 3.170979e-013 centuries? 😆
Hi Nick Nichols – Yep, I do that too.
I haven't had to convert too much between the two but that is a handy thing to have. I've rather gotten used to Km again and really my only concern is distance… ie how much do I have to pay the jeepny driver lol.
Hi BrSpiritus – Yeah, it's a cool tool to have! I find it handy for converting temperatures, although I have a good idea of the relative differences in Celsius and Fahrenheit nowadays.
Bob,
This is great. I have used one on the net and have a converter on my Igoogle home page but this is nice if not online.
If I ever get a drafting position I think I will be forced to learn metric faster, but who knows.
hi bob , i wonder if the peso is tied into the metric system. joke only.
Hi Bruce – I'm glad that you found the tool helpful! I know that for me it was a real godsend! I don't use it much anymore, but it used to get daily use from me.
Hi jerry smith – What most Americans fail to realize is that the metric system is set up just like the dollar of the peso. It is in decimal places, tenths, hundredths and such, just like currency is calculated! It's easy if you think about it, and just learn a few standards.
i dont understand why the us school system droped the metric system when i was a kid. the first job i landed out of high school all my readings i had to work with were in metric. its hard i agree. i was able to find conversion charts that realy helped me at the time. long sence forgoton, thanks for your new information.
Hi jerry smith – yes, I really agree. I remember having metric system in school for a few years, and then it just disappeared. I think that US students are getting the short end of the stick by not learning the system that almost the entire world uses!
bob , by the way, i like the new layout on your site. i was wondering one thing , how meny minets between adds until your photo blog comes up again? i realy enjoy seeing phe philippines through your pictures.
Hi Jerry Smith – Not sure I understand your question. Do you mean my Mindanao Photo Blog? Or do you mean the Gallery of Photos here on LiP? On my Mindanao Photo Blog, 2 new photos come up each day.
the mindano photo blog. from where i am i used to scrool down and bring it up any time. but now it has changed. i have to wate untill the photo blog box comes up in the add spot and then click on to it to see the daily photos.
Hi jerry smith – Hmm… I really don't understand. It has been well over a year since I have made any kind of changes on the Mindanao Photo Blog. It is still exactly the same. There are no additional advertisements than before either. I really don't understand.
Just to make sure you are visiting the correct URL:
http://www.mindanao.com/photoblog
just now the photo blog came up . it came up in the spot where the german adds where
OK, Jerry, now I understand. That is not the Photoblog that came up, it is an ad for the photoblog! There are a bunch of ads that rotate in random order, and the ad for the photoblog is one of the ads. Just go to the URL that I posted in comment #14 and you can visit the photoblog anytime you want!
now it switched to making money on line, i dont realy understand ether
Hi Jerry – Those are just advertisements! The ad for the photoblog is linked to the Photoblog. The ad for the make money online is linked to one of my other blogs! You don't have to wait for the ads to come up to visit those sites, just go visit them!
if you want to visit the photoblog just go to:
http://www.Mindanao.com/photoblog
If you want to visit the site for earning money online, just go to:
http://business.auctiontopia.com
thank you bob.
Happy to assist, Jerry!
What can I say? THANK YOU BOB!!!
Nice conversion tool. And also nice that someone pointed out that Google does some of this automatically … many don't relaize how many things the Google search window does sutomaticall … type in a phone numbe ror a ZipCode for an example.
NASA has lost multi-billion-dollar soace probes in recent years because of American engineers ignorance of the metric system .. I really do not know why the US is such a holdout. It does help to keep a couple 'crutches in mind though, for when you are away from computer … or cell phone which is now my watch, notebook, calculator and converter …
28=82 for Celsius to Fahrenheit… it's almost always close to 28 here in the Philippines … 28=82=28
Square meters vice Square feet … in small quantities, 10 to 1, so a 100 sq meter house is about 1,000 sq feet … 1067 to be exact, but 10 to 1 gets you in the ball park.
Hectares vice acres. A hectare is 10,000 sq m or 2.4 acres so a typical US home lot, 1/4 acre is 1,000 sm meters. 400 and 500 sq m lots are very common in the Philippines so they are equal to a low-end US subdivision lot of ~ 1/8 of an acre
Hi Klaus – Being from Germany, I doubt you need much help on the metric system! 😆
Hi Dave – thanks for adding those thoughts!
Hi Bob,
The best thing for any one to do is to forget about the imperial system of measurement altogether. During my apprenticeship in the early 60's as a mechanical engineer and living in a country that invented the imperial system we also had to learn the ISO metric system of measurement. Apart from being very symple as it works out in units of 10 it is used by 60 plus % of the worlds population.
The UK thankfully converted over to the metric system after many years of debate as to what was best for us.
You Americans must be the only nation left on earth that still use the old imperial system of measurement and its about time you fell in line and stopped using a duel system that requires conversion tables that we stopped using around 25 years ago.
All you acheive with hanging on to this outdated system is to confuse yourselves and anyone who visits your country.
No offence intended but it must be murder baking a cake in the Philippines using an American receipy book. LOL.
Hi Jim – No offense at all, I wholeheartedly agree with you! I just want to make one thing clear, though – there are two other powerhouse economies that also still use the Imperial system:
Myanmar
Liberia
Now, with the USA, Myanmar and Liberia holding out, there must be some merit! 😆
Hi Bob,
Does that make it 3 dictatorships?
Hi Jim – I think I'm gonna pass on that one… 😕
haa haa and two out of the three of those powerhouse countries use the same currency … there's a message there I do believe 😉
Hi Dave Starr – Yep, I didn't think about that point!
Hi bob im a high school student in luzon, when did the metric system arrive in the philippines its not in my textbook
Short history on Philippine metrication:
Pre-1858 Measurement systems in Philippines reflects diversity of regional inhabitants.
~1858 Spain adopts metric system and introduces the metric system to the Philippines.
~1865 Philippine monetary system shifts to decimal.
~1905 Philippines lightly shifts to English system introduced by USA.
8/29/1916 Philippines adopts metric system after Philippine Autonomy Act signed.
1916-1975 Various measurement systems employed with metric system being prominent.
1/1/1975 Date set for sole metric system use via Presidential Decree No. 187.
7/16/1975 Presidential Decree No. 748 amends PD No. 187 to extend metrication efforts.
1/1/1983 Philippines officially adopts the metric system via Batas Pambansa Bilang 8.
4/13/1992 Philippine use of metric system reinforced via Republic Act 7394.