Misunderstanding of Precision |
 If
you have a degree in engineering or science, chances are were instructed
on the proper method for reporting numbers in terms of precision and
accuracy. The government has long been the whipping boy for examples
of abuse. If you think that might have prompted corrective action, you
would be wrong. Our public science organizations like NASA, NIST, NOAA,
NIH, et al, do a respectable job of reporting, but the other agencies
display their ignorance on a regular basis. A couple days ago, DHS
(those fine folks who perform cavity searches
at airports) issued a solicitation for
bagpipes and assorted accessories (we have
evidently $ for bagpipes but not the Blue Angels). The document
mentions "a small business size standard of 500.00 employees." What
do the employees that comprise the decimal point portion of the number
look like? I think we can guess what will be done with this ordered
item: "Black waxed bagpipe hemp." Maybe they should add a few
bags of Doritos to the order for when the users inevitably get the munchies.
Posted April 2013 |