[Techtalk] kb KB kB Kb etc!

[Dominik Schramm]

Hi Hamster,

Hamster wrote:

 > I know that the units byte and bit are shortened to the letter "b", one
 > using a capital "B", the other using a lower case "b". But which one is
 > which?

Capital B means Byte, small letter b means bit (because a bit is smaller 
than
a byte, so to speak). To avoid misunderstandings one often writes "bit" 
instead
of just "b".

 > I know that "K" and "k" refer to the SI prefix "kilo", one letter 
defining
 > kilo as being 1000, the other defining kilo as 1024. Which one is which??

In natural sciences (small letter) k means 10^3 = 1000. M(ega) means 
10^6 = 1,000,000 etc.
in general 10^(n*3)

In computer science (capital) K means 2^10 = 1024, M(ega)
means 2^20 = 1,048,576 etc. in general 2^(n*10)

...where n is 1 for kilo, 2 for mega, 3 for giga etc.

Note that kilo is the only prefix which differs in case between 
general-technical
and computer-technical usage. All other (higher) prefixes are ambiguous, 
and the
context decides about the meaning.

Here's a nice explanation of all this stuff:
http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?prefix

hope this helps
regards
dominik