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Re:Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border by capableweb on Tuesday May 04, 2021 @11:42AM (#27038812)
Where I was brought up, I was taught how to estimate/measure meters in steps when in school, so everyone had a specific gait that measures a meter. 100 of those steps ~= 100 meters. No phone needed :)
Re:Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border by csunbird on Tuesday May 04, 2021 @12:52PM (#27039689)
I do not think that steps have that good of a precision (2.29%) over 100 steps for measuring distance. Can a human achieve that?
Re:Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border by capableweb on Tuesday May 04, 2021 @02:10PM (#27040669)
I was thinking more that he somehow discovered there might be an issue when measuring without good precision, and later came back to verify with a proper method.
Re:Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border by saalweachter on Tuesday May 04, 2021 @03:21PM (#27041744)
Honestly, given the roundness of 7.5 ft, I would assume that 7.5 ft was the estimate and it was improperly converted to 2.29m as a precise measure.

With the unusualness of a European measuring something in feet.

It always irks me when I see signs saying "keep 6 ft (1.8288 m) apart", because 6 feet is just a round number of the approximate distance, and it's fine to just say "keep 6 ft (2 m) apart", for all that you'll get weirdos going "Well which is it??? 6 feet or 2 meters????"