VOIP etc > Voice Over IP - VOIP > VOIP Tech Chat > [General] Google voice going paid?

And if you think that people should be free to use whichever notation they feel like, go to Canada: today's date there can be expressed as 2012-12-09, 09/12/2012 and 12/09/2012. Canadians, eh? :-) Ever seen a couple of Canadian cheques from different Canadian banks? :-) I'm not even kidding: all three date formats are entirely valid! Check it out: »www.cdnpay.ca/imis15/eng/faqs/ch···te_Field

Where'd you get the quote that ISO8601 format was not used anywhere prior to being invented by the ISO?

They have translucent letters under each field that tells the user what kind of the date format they're supposed to use. And cheques by different banks have different kind of formats, no kidding there! I'm not sure if you can request a specific date format as a user; but I guess you can simply switch banks if you disagree with your bank's selection (or perhaps order custom cheques from an official printer?). :-) That's probably the Canadian way: quietly fix it yourself, instead of going around, complaining and petitioning.

If seriously, I do as you mentioned - the Canadian way. I switched all my computers to ISO date format as more practical for me. But when I sign a check, I use mm/dd/yy format.. But I still "complain", or rather try to educate people how important delimiters are, because it makes reading less ambiguous for everyone...

That's probably the Canadian way: quietly fix it yourself, instead of going around, complaining and petitioning.

Why would you not switch to ISO8601 on American cheques, which have a free-style date notation?

Because I'm afraid, that the clerk, who will use it, doesn't know abut ISO or any standards at all...

Just one reason why I like 09Dec2012 10Dec2012 better--no ambiguity.

Or any other "latin" language (for almost all of the months). Fortunately, more people in the world either speak or understand (well enough) English (including the months of the year) than any other single language (esp. for those who ever have the need to deal with some language other than their native language(s)). More importantly, though, I do--which is all I actually need to "worry" about. (And I'm not suggesting a new "standard" for the ISO and its minions, so... no worries.)

Ever hear of every other country in the world? ...English as a second language?

I stand by what I said. (And you should check some more sources.)

Chinese is a popular language because both the nation and the economy of China are so large.

But it is not useful as a lingua franca.

That is where English really shines.

If scientists from Kiev, Warsaw, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, and Buenos Aires, are meeting in Shanghai, they're going to converse in English. You know that.