mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) (04/08/88)
In article <0WG23wy00W07M9LkhH@andrew.cmu.edu>, jk3k+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joe Keane) writes: > In article <1988Mar14.193330.488@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >> Since octal is the way God meant programmers to count (the thumbs >> are parity bits) :-), this is clearly a Good Thing. > Right reason, wrong answer. Your hands can of course hold 10 bits. > Since you say the thumbs are parity bits, that means they hold a > byte. That means each hand stores - get this - a hex digit. Down > with octal! That was my reaction too, until I thought about it. When we count normally on our fingers, we count to ten, not 1024 (or at least I do; I don't know how many fingers you have :-). So Henry would have us count to eight, and the parity bit bit is just confusing in that it suggests that each finger represents one bit. der Mouse uucp: mouse@mcgill-vision.uucp arpa: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu
gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch) (04/16/88)
In article <1034@mcgill-vision.UUCP> mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes: }In article <0WG23wy00W07M9LkhH@andrew.cmu.edu>, jk3k+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joe Keane) writes: }> In article <1988Mar14.193330.488@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: }>> Since octal is the way God meant programmers to count (the thumbs }>> are parity bits) :-), this is clearly a Good Thing. }> Right reason, wrong answer. Your hands can of course hold 10 bits. }> Since you say the thumbs are parity bits, that means they hold a }> byte. That means each hand stores - get this - a hex digit. Down }> with octal! } }That was my reaction too, until I thought about it. When we count }normally on our fingers, we count to ten, not 1024 (or at least I do; I }don't know how many fingers you have :-). So Henry would have us count }to eight, and the parity bit bit is just confusing in that it suggests }that each finger represents one bit. You can also count using the joints of the fingers; you have 12 on your four fingers, and you use the thumb as an indicator. Using both hands, you can count to 144. A certain amount of arithmetic is available. But you don't get any parity bits unless you have six fingers. This is the origin of the duodecimal system, which preceded decimal in many cultures and has left traces in our own. In any case, death to octal.