Archive for January, 2008
What doesn’t make a blog interesting…
by Flossie on Jan.07, 2008, under Random
The post below. Unless you’re an absolute geek like me, of course.
I really need to read my own posts a bit, I mean where did I say that obscure mathematical functions are interesting? Cats and angst, cats and angst…
So anyway, I discovered a new TV show just the other day on an obscure TV channel (in the UK at least). It’s called Dexter and it’s about a forensic blood-spatter analyst who also happens to be a serial killer.
From the couple of episodes I’ve seen so far the characters are interesting, the plots are well written and have a really dark humour that somehow appeals to me (who’d have thought?) and it shows promise (at least until House gets back from his holiday, then we shall have to re-evaluate).
No cats in this post, sorry.
Really big numbers
by Flossie on Jan.07, 2008, under Random
Think of the biggest number you can. Yup that’s right, a really, really big number (no, infinity doesn’t count…)
Then try to get your head around an Ackermann function. These things are big. Really big.
A relatively simple and early Ackermann function gives the following result:
A(4, 2) = This incredibly large string of digits!
Wow!
And I thought Double exponentials were big. Even 9^9^9 contains more numbers than there are particles in the entire universe (don’t believe me? Work out the number then count the particles, get back to me when you’re done). But that doesn’t even come close to the mind-boggling insanity that is the Ackermann function of A(9,9). Sometimes maths can just blow my head away…
To make this post slightly more reader friendly and less number filled, I’m including a cat.
