Alien maths
December 15, 2009 11:22 PM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Pretty weak post. I mean I get it and all but a single comic has to be better than this. -- vacapinta
what
posted by dunkadunc at 11:25 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by dunkadunc at 11:25 PM on December 15, 2009 [2 favorites]
I thought about that once.
posted by roll truck roll at 11:27 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by roll truck roll at 11:27 PM on December 15, 2009
Go to bed, dad, you're drunk.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:28 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:28 PM on December 15, 2009
I was confused at first, but in case anyone's confused: the digit 1 followed by 0 is i.e. 210 in binary, 410 in base 4, 1010 in base 10, etc.
The problem here (because I'm a humorless pedant) is it assumes aliens would use an equally weighted base system (i.e. the 3rd digit is weighted (base)^3). You could consider a number system that assigns the 3rd digit the same weight as the first digit. Or they could think in residues...
posted by spiderskull at 11:31 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
The problem here (because I'm a humorless pedant) is it assumes aliens would use an equally weighted base system (i.e. the 3rd digit is weighted (base)^3). You could consider a number system that assigns the 3rd digit the same weight as the first digit. Or they could think in residues...
posted by spiderskull at 11:31 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
So what do people think about pie? I made some pretty awesome squash pie the other night. It was made with butternut squash and tasted like pumpkin pie, but with way better texture.
posted by dunkadunc at 11:32 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by dunkadunc at 11:32 PM on December 15, 2009
There is a pretty terrible post, but for the record, this is the explanation
2 is written as 10 in binary (base 2)
16 is written as 10 in hexidecimal (base 16), etc.
It really only make sense written out.
posted by empath at 11:33 PM on December 15, 2009
2 is written as 10 in binary (base 2)
16 is written as 10 in hexidecimal (base 16), etc.
It really only make sense written out.
posted by empath at 11:33 PM on December 15, 2009
So, I just watched Caprica... what do you guys think of it?
posted by qvantamon at 11:34 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by qvantamon at 11:34 PM on December 15, 2009
delmoi -- technically, any base <= 0.
posted by spiderskull at 11:40 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by spiderskull at 11:40 PM on December 15, 2009
Pokey-the-Penguin-like. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
posted by Pseudoephedrine at 11:40 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by Pseudoephedrine at 11:40 PM on December 15, 2009
Taken by itself it might be a bad post, but as an introduction to a web comic, it is not so bad. I liked this one.
posted by eye of newt at 11:42 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by eye of newt at 11:42 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]
Since we're here, anyone got any Waffle invites?
posted by june made him a gemini at 11:48 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by june made him a gemini at 11:48 PM on December 15, 2009
Soon this post may be 57,005 in hexadecimal.
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:49 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:49 PM on December 15, 2009
Whats the confusion over? Is it that the base corresponding to the decimal 'mantissa' is ambiguous? Well thats just great,...really great...
posted by kuatto at 11:51 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by kuatto at 11:51 PM on December 15, 2009
Waffles? I love waffles! I've been looking for a good waffle recipe for quite some time now but nobody's got one. I blame Joe Lieberman.
posted by dunkadunc at 11:56 PM on December 15, 2009
posted by dunkadunc at 11:56 PM on December 15, 2009
This will be very reassuring to a guy I know who lost three fingers...
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:04 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:04 AM on December 16, 2009
I see some people don't like thinkin'. Oooh, makes the heady hurt!
posted by Jimmy Havok at 12:05 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by Jimmy Havok at 12:05 AM on December 16, 2009
I blame Joe Lieberman.
Joe Liberman isn't base 10. He's just base.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:10 AM on December 16, 2009
Joe Liberman isn't base 10. He's just base.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:10 AM on December 16, 2009
Ah, blew the punch line with poor spelling.
I, of course, meant Joe Conservativeman.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:10 AM on December 16, 2009
I, of course, meant Joe Conservativeman.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:10 AM on December 16, 2009
I see you're an expert in bases, sir. Kind of like an Ace of Base.
posted by qvantamon at 12:12 AM on December 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by qvantamon at 12:12 AM on December 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
By the way, Moorooka, you're probably not going to get your five dollars back when they ban you for posting your own site to the front page. Sorry about that.
posted by Grangousier at 12:19 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by Grangousier at 12:19 AM on December 16, 2009
I paid for my registration in hexadecimal dollars, suckers.
posted by zippy at 12:26 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by zippy at 12:26 AM on December 16, 2009
I doubt it. The OP is Australian, the cartoonist is from Pennsylvania.
posted by dunkadunc at 12:28 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by dunkadunc at 12:28 AM on December 16, 2009
zippy -- Sucker. I paid for my registration in octal dollars.
posted by spiderskull at 12:32 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by spiderskull at 12:32 AM on December 16, 2009
Fuck! I thought that was today's comic, so I looked at that 43 and thought "well, I guess I can just read them all since I'm here". Then I notice there's a 44, and the latest one is fucking 712. And now I read up to 43, dammit, I'm invested on that!
posted by qvantamon at 12:34 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by qvantamon at 12:34 AM on December 16, 2009
I doubt it. The OP is Australian, the cartoonist is from Pennsylvania.
I don't know man. Cow Bird. Moo Rook a
I sense a conspiracy!
posted by eyeballkid at 12:50 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
I don't know man. Cow Bird. Moo Rook a
I sense a conspiracy!
posted by eyeballkid at 12:50 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
By the way, Moorooka, you're probably not going to get your five dollars back when they ban you for posting your own site to the front page. Sorry about that.
I don't actually have my own site. So they'll have to wait for me to make one, and then post it to the front page, before banning me.
posted by moorooka at 1:16 AM on December 16, 2009
I don't actually have my own site. So they'll have to wait for me to make one, and then post it to the front page, before banning me.
posted by moorooka at 1:16 AM on December 16, 2009
I don't actually have my own site. So they'll have to wait for me to make one, and then post it to the front page, before banning me.
One thing they are is patient.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:42 AM on December 16, 2009
One thing they are is patient.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:42 AM on December 16, 2009
Kind of like an Ace of Base.
I saw the sine.
posted by Pseudonumb at 1:43 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
I saw the sine.
posted by Pseudonumb at 1:43 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
And it opened up my i ' s
posted by sien at 2:05 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by sien at 2:05 AM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who think this is funny, and those that don't understand base 2.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:18 AM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:18 AM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
The ancients used base-16, because that's how much you could count up to on one hand, using the thumb-touching-fingertips-plus-joints method. So base-10 isn't evem a human standard.
posted by Slap*Happy at 3:45 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by Slap*Happy at 3:45 AM on December 16, 2009
Having read 50 or so strips at random, I'm liking this way more than I expected. But then I think puns are funny. Thanks moo.
posted by Ella Fynoe at 3:47 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by Ella Fynoe at 3:47 AM on December 16, 2009
I read 5 of these at random, and each of them were funnier to me than the strip selected for this FPP. That's the problem with single-link comix FPP's... you're banking that your favorite bit will be everyone's favorite bit. If it hadn't been for Ella Fynoe's comment, I wouldn't have given this a second click. Thanks, though, for posting it.
posted by not_on_display at 4:14 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by not_on_display at 4:14 AM on December 16, 2009
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posted by kuatto at 11:24 PM on December 15, 2009