random numbers
n.
When one wishes to specify a large but random number of things, and the
context is inappropriate for N, certain numbers are preferred by hacker
tradition (that is, easily recognized as placeholders). These include the
following:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |Long described at MIT as ?the least random number?; see also 23. This|
|17 |may be Discordian in origin, or it may be related to some in-jokes |
| |about 17 and ?yellow pig? propagated by the mathematician Michael |
| |Spivak. |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|23 |Sacred number of Eris, Goddess of Discord (along with 17 and 5). |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |The most random two-digit number is 37, When groups of people are |
|37 |polled to pick a ?random number between 1 and 100?, the most commonly|
| |chosen number is 37. |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and |
|42 |Everything (?what is 6 times 9?, correct in base 13). (This answer is|
| |perhaps not completely fortuitous; in Kabbalism, the true unspeakable|
| |name of God is said to have 42 characters.) |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|69 |From the sexual act. This one was favored in MIT's ITS culture. |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|105|69 hex = 105 decimal, and 69 decimal = 105 octal. |
|---+---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|666|In Christian mythology, the Number of the Beast. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
For further enlightenment, study the Principia Discordia, The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, The Joy of Sex, and the Christian Bible (Revelation
13:18). See also Discordianism or consult your pineal gland. See also
for values of.
|