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i just found this while trying to find the meaning of life on wikipedia:
gave me a giggleQuote:
It was later pointed out by readers that 6 × 9 = 42 if the calculations are performed in base 13, not base 10. Douglas Adams has averred that he was not aware of this at the time, and repeatedly dismissed this as an irrelevant concoction, saying that "nobody writes jokes in base 13 [...] I may be a pretty sad person, but I don't make jokes in base 13."[/b]
heh.
i just finished hitchiker last week for the first time...only book in ages that made me laugh aloud dozens of times..can't wait to read the rest of the 'trilogy'...
I read his books as they came out. Re-read many times over the years.
I just bought the FIRST DIGITAL WATCH I have EVER owned last week... just so I'd have an alarm watch to play with for RCs. And believe me... I thought about Doug Adams scowling at me as I did it.
Don't bother with the movie. It may be all right if you don't consider where it came from and could have been... but in the face of Adams' masterpieces, it totally sucks and insults his brilliance and memory.
IMHO.
:cheers:Quote:
Originally posted by pj
Don't bother with the movie. It may be all right if you don't consider where it came from and could have been... but in the face of Adams' masterpieces, it totally sucks and insults his brilliance and memory.
.
when i rented it, i watched 20 minutes before i shut it off. my way of imagining it is much better
I was sad about the movie. I was really hoping they'd do a good job, but after all the negative reviews it got I decided not to go see it and leave my impression of the books in my head. I've read the trilogy but I know there are... two more books... I think.
I'm just glad that I fully understand the miracle and wonder that is.... 42.
Even if he WERE writing jokes with respects to base 13, there's not really any humor nor cleverness in nor even allusionin to "6 * 9" so what's the point
huh? thats the question that's supposed to yield 42..Quote:
Originally posted by OpheliaBlue
Even if he WERE writing jokes with respects to base 13, there's not really any humor nor cleverness in nor even allusionin to "6 * 9" so what's the point
Back in high school, my geometry teacher (who was far too intelligent and far too bored to be teaching high school math) solved that same problem graphically by drawing a rectangle nine units long by six units wide. Then, instead of drawing straight, perpendicular lines to divide the rectangle into 54 squares, he drew curved lines (arcs) and found that doing so created 42 units. Go figure.