[time-nuts] Misuse of word "decimate" (was Re: Short term 10MHz source)

[Mark Sims]

Yes, my use of "decimate" was not a good one.   I was going to use "round", but the previous discussion sort of implied to me that the least significant data values were just going to be chopped off and not rounded.  "Truncate" would have been better, but the word eluded me at the time.  Since it was mentioned to get the data to 10 ps resolution, the word "decimate" sprang from my addled mind to my finger tips.

Anyway,  I am a great fan of reporting sensor data to the full resolution/values that the device/calculations generate and not massaging it further.  You never know if anything useful might be hiding in the "grass".   Report the data as collected and let the users process/filter/truncate/modify/smash/bash it as they see fit.