Happy Pi Day 341
I just wanted take a break to wish everyone a Happy Pi Day. It's 3/14, so I hope you are all enjoying your day off, and remember not to bother checking your mailbox.
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Happy Pi Day
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As the trials of life continue to take their toll, remember that there is always a future in Computer Maintenance. -- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata"
Tacoooo (Score:2)
Where's my pi cake?
Re:Tacoooo (Score:5, Funny)
The cake is a pi.
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Re:Tacoooo (Score:5, Funny)
You know, a pizza with a height of a and a radius of z has a volume of pi*z*z*a.
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Pi are not Square Pi are round. Cake are square.
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So I guess everyone below is concentrating on whether it's 14/3 or 3/14 or whatever instead of realizing that today is ALSO another special holiday: Steak and a Blowjob Day! http://www.steakandbjday.com/ [steakandbjday.com] I guess they'll find out when they're done arguing over semantics.
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What are you talking about? Everyone knows Pi Day is clearly 21 July or March 1, depending on where you are. That's what the Indiana state legislature told me!
Happy Pi Day Everyone... (Score:4, Funny)
And here's a festive image I created for the occasion
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5665/28362805.jpg [imageshack.us]
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I should have known better than to put a (what I would think is a) limited bandwidth imagine on /.
Its a visual depiction of uh... meta-pi
Is it Twelvember yet? (Score:3, Insightful)
3/14 is the third day in the fourteenth month.
Oh, I see, they are using middle-endian notation.
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3/14 is the third day in the fourteenth month.
Oh, I see, they are using middle-endian notation.
In hex its E/3 or E-3 which has a nice symmetry
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3/14 is the third day in the fourteenth month.
Oh, I see, they are using middle-endian notation.
In hex its E/3 or E-3 which has a nice symmetry
And in binary its 1110-11 which is also quite nice
Re:Is it Twelvember yet? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Is it Twelvember yet? (Score:5, Funny)
For fuck's sake, can we all please stop insisting that a particular arbitrary way to represent dates is better? It's pretty asinine how this gets brought up so much.
Sure. We can argue over which way the toilet paper goes or 'vi vs. emacs' or any number of pointless, non-winnable arguments that fuel the growth of civilisation.
Your choice.
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Not if you have a cat.
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Indeed. And let's go with a non-arbitrary way, like YYYYMMDD, which is never ambiguous and actually _sorts_.
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The reason why date representations suck so much is partially inherent, and partially human-created.
The inherent part: There are at least 4 naturally occurring measurements of time that have been used as the basis - the day, the month, the year, and the second (measured via an atomic clock). None of them can be fully defined in terms of the others.
The human-created part: Differing base systems for each piece of the time that we tried to create. While the 12-13 months per year and the 365.25... days per year
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One of the reasons the French calendar failed was that it only allowed for one day off in 10. If they had gone with a five-day week (still evenly divides into a 30-day month), with one day off each week, the people of France probably would've accepted it more readily.
Kind of ironic considering the French now have three days off in seven....
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French-made standards often suck
That's a tough case to argue, given that the standards originally developed by the French have been the international and scientific norm for a very very long time. The Revolutionary calendar has its faults, but it's a significant improvement over the Gregorian calendar with all its inconsistencies and references to long-dead political squabbles.
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For fuck's sake, can we all please stop insisting that a particular arbitrary way to represent dates is better? It's pretty asinine how this gets brought up so much.
It gets brought up so much because a certain country is still living in the past. You know, the one that threw off the yoke of British dominance, but still insists on using pounds and feet and miles.
So, is 01/02/03: January 2nd, 2003, February 1st, 2003, or February 3rd, 2001?
2001-02-03 is unambiguous, and always sorts properly.
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3/14 is the third day in the fourteenth month.
Oh, I see, they are using middle-endian notation.
Hey. If you don't like it, just wait until the 22nd day of July, which is close enough.
[patiently waits for math geeks to mod him up]
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"3/14 is the third day in the fourteenth month".
Why would you assume the European notation or little endian order?
Note that European notation is inconsistent as well.
(Otherwise you would have 59:59:23 14-03-2011, for little endian order, or 95:95:32 41-30-1102 for real little endian)
This is slashdot, so perhaps the international scientific notation should be assumed.
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss
I live in the U.S., and only use this form.
03-14 (MM-DD) is not middle-endian, BTW.
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It's simple to say that it's a matter of being difficult, but for most purposes of person-to-person communication, isn't the month often more relevant than the day of month when conveying information?
"Which year?" is solved for most purposes by assuming the current year and getting a sense of tense for correction.
"Which month?" gives me an idea of the sense of urgency for paying attention to your story. If something's happening this month or next, or happened last month, it's likely more significant than i
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"Which day?" without the month ends up making one scramble for context.
And here's me thinking that most people, when given a day, will assume that you mean either the current month, or the next if that day has already passed. Using your logic, you're telling us that somebody saying "Fancy going to the cinema on Saturday?" would only serve to confuse people as they would then wonder what week you're talking about.
I don't buy it.
Re:Is it Twelvember yet? (Score:4, Insightful)
isn't the month often more relevant than the day of month when conveying information?
No. Seeing as we're right in the middle of the month it's a bit redundant to refer to tomorrow as "March 15th". Tomorrow is most easily communicated as "The 15th" (day of March).
If I were to say "The 15th ..." you'd have only 12 options, whereas "March ..." has 31 options. So I put it to you that the date is more important than the month.
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Care giving some examples of "most countries"? I thought most of them used day-month-year...
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It is only improved by the Long Now Foundations's leading digit.
02011-03-14
You know, to avoid the Y10K problem. (Or, less facetiously, to remind us that there's a lot of future to come).
31st April (Score:2)
Not in the real world it's not.
Oh come on - in the real world we celebrate pi day on the 31st April ;-)
And just as important. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'd also like to wish everybody (and also remind them) a happy steak and BJ day. It's exactly one month after V-day which we all know is for the women. This holiday evens out the universe.
I'm guessing the BJ Day is for men then ...
Re:And just as important. (Score:5, Informative)
This "holiday" [steak & BJ day?], which does not exist on any calendar...seems sexist and homophobic.
Why that? You haven't been very often to a gay bathhouse or to a park at night, have you?
We gays like a good BJ as much (if not more...) than any other man!
Almost there... (Score:4, Insightful)
Only 4 more years until 3/14/15. That's the big one and I expect math departments the world over to go overboard on the candy and soda that day.
Re:Almost there... (Score:5, Insightful)
We could easily extend that to
3/14/15 9:26:53 am
And have a real big bash.
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I'm gonna chug a Mountain Dew at that exact moment.
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We could easily extend that to
3/14/15 9:26:53 am
And have a real big bash.
You'll be more than a half second early!
Wait a sec, and you'd be more accurate.
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Well, half a second.
I stand by my statement:
Waiting a second would be more accurate:
3/14/15 9:26:54 am is more accurate than
3/14/15 9:26:53 am
Waiting a half second would be more precise.
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Unfortunately, it's really 2015-3-14. If prefere e day: 2718-2-8
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Dates (Score:2)
Except that 'the world over doesnt use mm/dd/yy
in Commonwealth countries we use dd/mm/yy
in europe they use yyyy/mm/dd
Islamic countries use a completely different calendar
But its less than a week until Naw-Ruz (persian new year
At sunset on 20th March all 'The Friends' can stop fasting
Don't forget to 'wear the green' on the 17th for St Pats day
And it would be cute to 'wear purple' tomorrow (15th) to signify that
"the Ides of March have come'
'Aye Caesar, but not gone'
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The one in 2016 would be more precise.
rj
Here in Europe, it's on a different day (Score:2)
Since we write Day-Month-Year, I am personally looking forward to 31.4.15...
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That would be nice, except for the annoying fact that April only has 30 days...
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That would be nice, except for the annoying fact that April only has 30 days...
Maybe they're expecting the months to be renumbered sometime in the next four years?
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I think you mean 3/14/16. The next digit is a nine, so you round up.
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Candy and soda? Why? I let my students bring in as much pie as they want, and we share it around the class. Usually, we also pull out the string and the rulers, and we see who can calculate the closest value for pi from their pie. And if they're lucky, they get a special lecture from me on the historical importance of the value of pi. And pie.
Of course, nothing stops me from doing that at other times in the semester, either. I love pie! :)
(Looking forward to my class later today!)
3/14?? (Score:2)
Shouldn't Pi day be the 22th of July?
-dZ.
2011-03-14 (Score:2)
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No, that's Approximate Pi day.
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Yeah. 3/14 is *exact* pi day.
Steak and BJ Day (Score:2)
Actually, I think you'll find that today is Steak and BJ Day
http://www.steakandbjday.com/ [steakandbjday.com]
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Actually, I've just had a better idea
Steak and Pi Day
(Come on, this is /. after all)
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Actually, I've just had a better idea
Steak and Pi Day
(Come on, this is /. after all)
Of course. Slashdotters are not interested in a beej, just math.
interesting note: (Score:5, Interesting)
also albert einstein's birthday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein [wikipedia.org]
March 14, 1879
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Re:interesting note: (Score:4, Funny)
for slashdotters they have black day [wikipedia.org]
oh my god, a pron actress bio on wikipedia (Score:2)
i used to look up pron actresses on wikipedia all the time, then at some point a few years ago, they just stop showing up
that's the real reason wikipedia deletionists suck
hey arrogant wikipedia adequacy trolls: give me back my Lily Thai page
assholes
Only in America! (Score:4, Interesting)
It is only Pi Day if you use the date format of mm/dd. In countries that use dd/mm date format, it lands on 22/7. If you think about it, Pi Day makes more sense in that format.
My subject line says "Only in America", but in reality Basque Country, Hungary, Korea, and Mongolia use mm.dd which makes the more ideal 3.14
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3.14159 is drilled into scientist heads from day 1. 22/7 is a uniquely rough approximation used by creationists and other types who cannot get through their heads that irrational numbers exist. But the 22/7 thing is NOT American, and 3/14 IS, so that by definition self-justifies, if only because anything anti-American is intrinsically good.
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belt tightening in the USA (Score:4, Funny)
In most states, there are no longer separate holidays for pi and e but rather a combined "Transcendentals Day".
"Come on down, our prices for this one day event are just irrational".
International (Score:2)
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Drink for the occasion (Score:2)
Tau instead of Pi... Wait a few months (Score:5, Informative)
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Ultimate Pi Moment (Score:4, Interesting)
Waiting for 3/14/15 at 9:26 AM.
Just before it flips to 9:27 we'll have an ultimate Pi moment.
A Special Mention for Indiana (Score:2)
You can celebrate two Pi days per year... (Score:2)
By varying the notation.
3/14
31.4.
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(Okay, so the second one would require a slight redefinition in the calendar.)
To the Ivy League engineers out there (Score:2)
We should celebrate Tau day instead (Score:5, Insightful)
We should free ourselves of the tyranny of Pi, and celebrate Tau.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7vhMMXagQ [youtube.com]
Not 3/14 for everyone! (Score:2, Informative)
Here day comes before month. It's 14/3 you insensitive clod!
Pi Day carols! (Score:2)
Kate Bush - Pi [youtube.com] (short version)
Michael Blake - What Pi Sounds Like [youtube.com]
Blood, Sweat, and Tears - Spinning Wheel [youtube.com]
Billy Preston - Will It Go Around In Circles [youtube.com]
Beach Boys - I Get Around [youtube.com]
.
How dare you (Score:2, Funny)
My date format is DD/MM/YYYY, you insensitive clod !
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Only the US and Canadia do MM/DD/YYYY these days. DD/MM/YYYY if you have to, but YYYY-MM-DD ftw.
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Only the US and Canadia do MM/DD/YYYY these days. DD/MM/YYYY if you have to, but YYYY-MM-DD ftw.
Sorry, but I'm in Kanuckistan, and haven't seen anyone use mmddyyyy for ... gee, not any time this century.
People avoid ambiguity by using mmm dd yyyy (Mar 14 2011) or dd mmm yyyy (14 Mar 2011).
If I have to use numbers only, I do use yyyy mm dd - it just makes sense.
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Ah! I've never visited your fine country, I was going off the wikipedia article.
Damn you, wikipedia! They told me not to trust you, I should have listened! I should have listened *sob*
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2011-03-14
FTFY
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You insensitive clod (Score:2)
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Seems more like a true waste of your life.
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Seems a lot of us are in true love.
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No we just have it slightly later on the 31st of april
Let me know how that works out for you.
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Re:Actually it is 14/3 (Score:4, Insightful)
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Oh, please... shut your PI HOLE!
Re:Americans... (Score:4, Informative)
I wouldn't hold my breath for 31st of April.
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It comes from saying "March 14, 2011" in formal writing and oral communication. 3/14/11 is an informal abbreviation of that, and is in that order because it comports with how the formal, unabbreviated version is written. In other words, the purpose for which dates were abbreviated results in the manner in which they were abbreviated. Computerized sorting by date was not a consideration when this date format came into standard use.
I don't know why we say "March 14, 2011" instead of "14 March, 2011", but a
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Efficiency.
"Hey Bob, what's today?"
"It's the 14th of March"
vs
"It's March 14th"
There are two fewer words to say :)
[John]
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You don't support your sorting argument very well, when you mention 22/7.
Taking a string and reversing it and then sorting it will not achieve your desired sort order (i.e. taking strings holding dates such as "22/7/2011" or "22/7"). "22/7/2011" in reverse is "1102/7/22". "30/12/2009" in reverse is "9002/21/03". So all the dates from 2009 will be after all the year 2011 dates. Years will be all confused. Ten's place of day-of-month is to the left of the one's place. There are so many issues with this, y
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I say it's twenty past three. Doesn't mean I write 20:3pm. It's not an explanation of why, it's just a statement of fact that you do.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_that_22/7_exceeds_%CF%80 [wikipedia.org]
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Ah, so 3-14 is -11, yes?
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