21 lines
3.7 KiB
HTML
21 lines
3.7 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>random numbers</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../R.html" title="R"/><link rel="previous" href="Random-Number-God.html" title="Random Number God"/><link rel="next" href="randomness.html" title="randomness"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">random numbers</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Random-Number-God.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">R</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="randomness.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="random-numbers"/><dt xmlns="" id="random-numbers"><b>random numbers</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> When one wishes to specify a large but random number of things, and
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the context is inappropriate for <a href="../N/N.html"><i class="glossterm">N</i></a>, certain numbers
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are preferred by hacker tradition (that is, easily recognized as
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placeholders). These include the following:</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col/><col/></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>17</td><td><p>Long described at MIT as ‘the least random number’; see also
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23. This may be Discordian in origin, or it may be related to some in-jokes
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about <a href="http://www.vinc17.org/yp17_eng.html" target="_top">17 and “<span class="quote">yellow
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pig</span>”</a> propagated by the mathematician Michael
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Spivak.</p></td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td><p>Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and 5).</p></td></tr><tr><td>37</td><td><p>The most random two-digit number is 37, When groups of people are polled
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to pick a “<span class="quote">random number between 1 and 100</span>”, the most commonly
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chosen number is 37.</p></td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td><p>The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and
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Everything (“<span class="quote">what is 6 times 9</span>”, correct in base 13). (This
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answer is perhaps not completely fortuitous; in Kabbalism, the true
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unspeakable name of God is said to have 42 characters.)
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</p></td></tr><tr><td>69</td><td><p>From the sexual act. This one was favored in MIT's ITS culture.</p></td></tr><tr><td>105</td><td><p>69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal.</p></td></tr><tr><td>666</td><td><p>In Christian mythology, the Number of the Beast.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>For further enlightenment, study the <i class="citetitle">Principia
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Discordia</i>, <i class="citetitle">
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>, <i class="citetitle">The Joy of Sex</i>, and
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the Christian Bible (Revelation 13:18). See also
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<a href="../D/Discordianism.html"><i class="glossterm">Discordianism</i></a> or consult your pineal gland. See
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also <a href="../F/for-values-of.html"><i class="glossterm">for values of</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Random-Number-God.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../R.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="randomness.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Random Number God </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> randomness</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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