Numeric errors due to locales with comma as radix char

```
There seem to be some inconsistencies when running under non-English locales. 

The system should give feedback as to which locale is being used, and
possibly even force a locale (although this could lead to much more grief).


```

Original issue reported on code.google.com by `shawnlaffan` on 3 Feb 2010 at 10:04
