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The relevant Wikipedia articles are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measur...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measu...

That page has a link to the World Snail Racing Championships as a reference. The web is marvellous.

It always makes me happy that Smoot ended up being the ISO president.

He retired from the ANSI in 2005, and did an NPR interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5043041; I made sure to wander across town and across the Harvard Bridge the next day, in honor. It’s great that they still repaint the numbers from time to time (annually?).

Thanks for the link! I'm surprised how many of the unusual measurements I take for granted, even though they're imprecise.

Ha... "New York Second

Theoretically the shortest period possible in Quantum Time, this is the time that elapses between a Manhattan traffic light turning green and the taxi behind you honking its horn"