Unit Expression, "kB"

Have you ever tried the Email CSV Data function? It's a new function and it's on the General Settings & Tools menu. When you create a csv file with this function, you will see a message like the one below.

During the design process, I saw this message and felt that there was something funny about the unit expression "kB". I thought it should be "KB" or "kb". So I asked one of our engineers who wrote that message.

His answer was that it should be "kB" according to "SI". He explained that SI stands for "Systeme International d'unites"(in English, "International System of Units"), and it's the world's most widely used system of measurement.

According to SI, the prefix for 1,000 is "k" and "K" is for Kelvin. In the same manner, "b" stands for bit and "B" is for byte. Therefore, "kilobytes" should be written "kB".

I understood what he said but he continued his explanation and asked me, "if most of the users would think that "kB" looks funny and should be "KB", should we go with "KB"?"

I replied that we should go with "kB" because he really wanted to be accurate about it and I liked it.

Though you might think that it's a tiny thing and it wouldn't really matter, I take this seriously and I am personally proud of it. Because I believe that this way of thinking makes the quality of application a lot better.

By the way, the engineer I talked about graduated school and joined us this Spring. Though he is fresh out of school, he already works like an experienced engineer. We have many engineers like him in our company, and I consider myself very lucky to work with them.

Time Management, Productivity, GTD... MyStats
Available on the App Store (For FREE!)

WIKIPEDIA: International System of Units

A Self-Management Competition, "Master of Self-Management"

Now we are holding a self-management competition, called "Master of Self-Management" in Japan.

In this competition, contestants apply and tell us how they are managing themselves with MyStats. The judge committee will select four individuals as Masters of Self-Management. Those masters will be gathered at Apple Store Ginza in Tokyo this December. It's going to be a talk event. In this event, masters will display their methods and techniques for their own self-managements, and one of them will be selected as the Great Master of Self-Management.

The prize for the Great Master is a MacBook Air. The winner will also receive a chance to be in newspapers, magazines, news sites and so on.

To be a contestant, there are very little conditions. There are no conditions on nationality, gender, age, occupation, etc. Only if you can manage yourself with MyStats very well, you can be selected as the Master.

However, if you are selected, you have to come to Tokyo for the talk event on your own. Therefore, if you are not living in Japan, it could be difficult to participate in this competition.

In the future, although I don't know when it will be, I want to hold similar competitions not only in one country but in multiple countries throughout the world. In future competitions, we will pay travel expenses for selected masters and we will gather them in places like San Francisco, London, Cologne, Beijing, Mumbai, Cape Town, or Cayman Islands.

My dream is that one day, a ticket will be delivered to somebody who has been trying things very hard and is very good at self-management. He or she is not wealthy nor famous at all, but the ticket will open a door and that person will walk through it, take a chance, and make great achievements.

If you can come to Tokyo, be a contestant. If you cannot, but are still interested, tell us where you live and let's think about how we can hold the competition in your country.

Let's one day hold the International Self-Management Competition, together.

Kenji Komai

Executive Vice President

NEOREX Co., Ltd.

Master of Self-Management official page.

(Japanese Only)

Time Management, Productivity, GTD... MyStats
Available on the App Store (For FREE!)