david
you are right & thanx for being here
m
>Sorry if, as a newcomer to this list, I am out of touch, but why not
>PRONOUNCE and use the full names of the countires involved?? The 6-letter
>codes are handy for databases or file names, but they do not communicate
>very well. Especially if Namibia is WA and Botswana is BC! Country names
>change a lot, I guess the FIPS codes do not, but then they are out of step
>with the current names of countries. It does not take all that long to
>type or say the Finland/Russia/Norway point. This same issue comes up in
>birding, some birders like to use 4-letter codes for each bird species
>when taking notes, but I object strenuously when they post notes to the
>birding internet lists using these standardized yet obscure and arcane
>short-hands. And sometimes get into arguments. But communication is more
>important than brevity, and coded communication will turn off newbies and
>inhibit communication with non-specialists.
>
>David
>dmark@...
>
>On Sun, 11 Jun 2000, michael donner wrote:
>
>> the iso diglyph list is looking pretty good at
>> http://www.din.de/gremien/nas/nabd/iso3166ma/codlstp1/en_listp1.html
>> & i would have just moved forward right away & adopted it out of hand
>> except for a few drawbacks i have just realized it holds for me
>>
>> 1
>> it has a substantially lower vowel to consonant ratio than the fips list
>>
>> & since these mostly 6 & 8letter names i am creating need to be utterable
>> & since the iso vowel shortfall should square or cube the difficulty of iso
>> pronunciation
>> well that is a real setback
>>
>> for example the lovely & even sort of african sounding bcwazazi of fips
>> becomes the bwnazmzw point in iso
>>
>> happily this orthographic disaster could be pronounced
>> bwanas zoom zoo or bwanas mzoo
>> pertinent & memorable observations for that particular locale
>>
>> but the real deficit is that bwnazmzw & the iso names as a class are bound
>> to look & feel far more unspeakable & forbidding than the fips
>>
>>
>> 2
>> i would have to undo a lot of stuff already done & possibly also ask brian
>> to revamp our multinational section at the corner corner
>> all which is based on fips
>>
>>
>> 3
>> it seems as tho the fips roster is less fickle than the iso
>> so a fips based naming system promises to be easier to maintain
>>
>> 4
>> etc
>>
>> hmmm
>>
>>
>>
>> but wait
>> why not simply make no basic changes & yet adopt both systems
>>
>> would that be so confusing
>>
>> as indexers we are almost bound to do it anyway
>>
>>
>> & we will be forgiven for seeming too anglo or yankocentric when it is
>> realized that the game was hatched & developed in north america as was
>> inevitable where cool tripoints are so rampant & easy
>>
>>
>> just thinking out loud while inviting your thought before proceeding
>> m
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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