Re: OT-ish: txt - Could it replace Standard Written English?
From: | Tristan McLeay <kesuari@...> |
Date: | Friday, March 7, 2003, 15:24 |
--- "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...> wrote:
> Well, doing stuff with other bases are very easy.
> After all, base 8 is
> just like base 10, if you're missing two fingers.
> ;-)
Indeed, but doing maths in Base 16 is a lot harder. In
bases below 10, I can easily mentally switch into the
base I'm learning, and it's plainly obvious to me that
7+1=10 (or 15+33=50). But it makes me so dizzy to add
the extra six things to work in 16. (And no, I don't
count on my fingers. I think with the digits on a
piece of paper, but when doing something like 15+33, I
would actually do (4+4)+(10+30).)
The *really* confusing thing, though, is is '15 base
16' fifteen, fifsixeteen /"fIfsaikstijn/, or
twenty-one? (I like the middle one best, I think (no
conversions needed but it won't cofuse you with
fifteen), but its likely to greet me with blank
stares.) Oh, and is 'one hundred'='100 base 10' or
'100 base whatever' etc.?
The things they never teach you because no-one ever
cares.
Tristan
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