ORIGINAL: wsmalley

Plumber: your point is well made! Some of the time, I, too, build removable servo trays. Maybe I have too many 'builds' going at one time. Nevertheless, I still think a socket head screw is far easier to remove. As for JIS, I never heard of it-can someone verify this? If this is true, why don't they print that somewhere-or did I not read the instructions. There's Torx, allen, slotted, phillips and how many others. Come on, this is supposed to be a hobby.

TOKYO--Japan's trade ministry will start a quasi-governmental institute that will recommend to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and other global standards bodies that they adopt Japanese technological standards and oppose the creation of standards that discriminate against Japan, ministry officials said March 8.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will establish in April the International Standardization Support Center, a nonprofit entity backed jointly by the ministry and the private sector. The center, working closely with trade associations connected to industries, would urge the International Standards Organization, the United Nations, and other multilateral bodies to accept as global standards Japanese technologies in nanotechnology, digital electrical appliances, photosensitive catalyzers, and machinery, they said.

The center also would back up Japanese nationals in their efforts to run for executive positions in the ISO and other international bodies, they said.

Over the years, the ministry has been trying to sell Japanese technologies as global standards, but to date, only a fraction of technologies have been adopted, the officials said. They agreed that the results reflected weak Japanese influence in the international political theater and other countries' discrimination against Japan.

"The JIS [Japan Industrial Standard] standards on nuts and bolts were superior to ISO standards, but Japan lost the battle" and as a result, JIS screws and nuts have literally vanished from Japan,' one official said.

Thanks to its political clout, Europe historically has been savvy at making its standards the global standards, such as those for motor vehicles, electrical appliances, and the environment, the officials said.End of article graphic