Distributed.net Finds Optimal 25-Mark Golomb Ruler

kpearson writes "Distributed.net's 8-year-old OGR-25 distributed computing project has just proven conclusively that the predicted shortest 25-mark Golomb ruler is optimal. 'The total length of the ruler is 480, with marks at positions: 0 12 29 39 72 91 146 157 160 161 166 191 207 214 258 290 316 354 372 394 396 431 459 467 480. (This ruler may alternatively be expressed in terms of the distance between those positions, which is how dnetc displays them: 12-17-10-33-19-...).' 124,387 people participated in the project and two people found the shortest ruler, one on October 10, 2007 and the other on March 24, 2008."

What

[Anonymous Coward]

What

Re:Not Bush?

[tepples]

It means the optimum ruler is Gollum.

whatcouldpossiblygowrong

[IceCreamGuy]

I like how this is tagged "whatcouldpossiblygowrong," as if building a better radio antenna is going to bring about the end of the world. Oh, wait, I forgot that the movie "Pulse" was a documentary...

Re:proved?

[philspear]

But you can't prove that, which proves his point.

I can do better than that...

[pottymouth]

My new yumiz ruler is perfectly calibrated in emh's and is 14.667 long. Now I'm going to go measure something like the how many pins can fit on one you guy's heads...

Re:proved?

[Merls the Sneaky]

You just reminded me of......

Ah, Kryten; just thinking. [Rapidly] Assuming of course we're not dealing with five-dimensional objects in a basic Euclidean geometric universe and given the essential premise that all geo-mathematics is based on the hideously limiting notion that one plus one equals two, and not as Astemeyer correctly postulates that one and two are in fact the same thing observed from different precepts, (Pulls a "nerdy" grimace, and loudly exhales through his nose.) the theoretical shape described by Siddus must therefore be a poly-dri-doc-deca-wee-hedron-a-hexa-sexa-hedro-adicon-a-di-bi-dolly-he-deca-dodron. (Pulls the same face, exhales a second time.) Everything else is poppycock. Isn't that so?

Re:cool!

[Dermah]

I was expecting you to measure the shit with a Golomb ruler. Oh well.

Re:wtf

[kestasjk]

Pfff, 25-mark. Wake me up when they get the 26-mark. </unimpressedslashdotuser>

Why the hell does Gollum need a ruler anyway?

[unassimilatible]

The sumbitch spends most of his time in a dark cave.

And what the hell would he measure anyway? Not like he has any windows for drapes, my precious.

Re:Story

[Todd Fisher]

A forum!? You can take your fancy Web 2.0 "community" fad elsewhere. We've got Golomb rulers to discuss here!

Re:Why the hell does Gollum need a ruler anyway?

[Bruce Perens]

They should call them Precious Gollum Rulers.

Re:Hello, context???

[this great guy]

The words "Golomb ruler" are displayed in a dark green color by your browser. Placing the mouse pointer over them usually transforms it in a hand. This is called an "hyperlink", or more commonly, "link". By clicking on it, you are redirected to a page from a site called "Wikipedia", a free, multilingual online encyclopedia project. This page explains what a Golomb ruler is. HTH.

Re:proved?

[Dzimas]

LISTER: "Don't give me any of that 'Star Trek' crap. It's too early in the morning."

Re:can someone please tell me which #s aren't incl

[JustOK]

a few lines from Python would say

Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.

Re:That's enough of a proof

[adavies42]

I am sorry, but listing out all possibilities (assuming that's what they did) and showing one is the minimum IS a valid proof for that minimum in that particular case.

For example, to prove "7 is a prime number", listing out 1,2,3,4,5,6 and then showing all are not a factor of 7 is a valid proof that "7 is a prime number". If you think this is not a proof, tell me which step in the proof is wrong.

The one where you claim 1 is not a factor of 7....

Re:Story

[glwtta]

If you mouse over it (and have JavaScript enabled), you'll be informed that it's the "type tag."

Actually, when I mouse over tags I get an incomprehensible mess of overlapping elements. It's probably my fault for using something as obscure as Firefox, though; I'm sure it works perfectly on IE6.

had to be said

[waltlaw]

I for one welcome our new Golomb Ruler!