Between the spam label and the pope riddles and shell games, my brain is threatening a walkout.
Saffron: You just had a better hand of cards this time. Mal: It ain't a hand of cards. It's called a life.
'Trash'
Natter 34: Freak With No Name
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
sarameg - Apr 01, 2005 9:11:56 am PST #2323 of 10001
Jesse - Apr 01, 2005 9:12:01 am PST #2324 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Is there even any point to praying on behalf of a Pope? Since he's supposed to have a direct line and all?
If only God could know that LOTS AND LOTS of people want the Pope to keep living....
Sean K - Apr 01, 2005 9:12:06 am PST #2325 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
But every few years someone proves that these sequences are not really random, even though they are so close to random that it doesn't matter for anything other than high-level physics.
Which leads me to yet another mathy-ignorant question:
If even computers can't really create strings of random numbers, is it even possible to create long strings of truly random numbers? One presumes that people just rattling off digits is even less reliably random than a computer doing it.
DavidS - Apr 01, 2005 9:12:44 am PST #2326 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
is it even possible to create long strings of truly random numbers?
You mean like, Pi?
Hayden - Apr 01, 2005 9:13:22 am PST #2327 of 10001
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
One presumes that people just rattling off digits is even less reliably random than a computer doing it.
"1, 2, 3, 4... DAMMIT!"
Aims - Apr 01, 2005 9:13:27 am PST #2328 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Mmm....Pi.....
Betsy HP - Apr 01, 2005 9:13:39 am PST #2329 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
is it even possible to create long strings of truly random numbers?
Yip. The standard method used to be measuring radioactive decay; dunno what it is nowadays.
Nutty - Apr 01, 2005 9:13:59 am PST #2330 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
is it even possible to create long strings of truly random numbers?
I read a short story once where a guy, trying to talk to God, hooked up a letter-generating computer program to the random decay of Plutonium atoms. After a while, God called him up and told him to lay off with the pressure because it was annoying.
Sean K - Apr 01, 2005 9:14:02 am PST #2331 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Eh, he's an old man. Giving him a boost up is the polite thing to do.
Okay, now I'm wondering if this comment makes DX more hell-bound, or less....
Aims - Apr 01, 2005 9:14:46 am PST #2332 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
DX, you're Catholic, right?