interstice: (Default)
interstice ([personal profile] interstice) wrote2008-12-06 12:07 am

inconsistently prescient

"Can the reader say what two numbers multiplied together will produce the number 8616460799? I think it unlikely that anyone but myself will ever know."

Jevons; The Principles of Science, 1874.

I can't help myself:

random_walker@homeless:~$ time factor 8616460799
8616460799: 89681 96079

real 0m0.006s
user 0m0.004s
sys 0m0.000s

[identity profile] suicide-sam-e.livejournal.com 2008-12-06 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
You're bad.

[identity profile] hfwolfe.livejournal.com 2008-12-07 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Snap! In your face, Jevons!

[identity profile] nof.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
heh, never knew of that command before... I just logged into a box and fat fingered some random eight digit integer and it turned out prime :-P

I think I'll go buy a lottery ticket now.

[identity profile] random-walker.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That was about a 1/18 chance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number_theorem. Don't go betting the farm. :)

My favorite obscure 'nix command is ddate.

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