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Share The Pi!

Posted by Hemos on from the 'merica-mom-and-apple-pi dept.

freedumb writes "From this article in Nature: "Two mathematicians have now taken the first step towards proving that pi contains not a single message but every conceivable message, meaningful or not."" Actually, it's a discussion concerning whether "that all strings of the same length appear in pi with the same frequency: 87,435 appears as often as 30,752, and 451 as often as 862, a property known as normality."

10 of 380 comments (clear)

  1. Badass compression algorithm? by defile · · Score: 5

    Soo.. if pi contained every possible message (ie, was truly random), couldn't you in theory find a specific position where pi prints out say, the Max Payne ISO, and distribute that position to friends?

    Then, said friends, start calculating pi from that offset (wasn't there a story on slashdot about calculating any N digit of pi without having to calculate the first N-1 digits). Voila, kickass compression.

    Of course, the small snags here are:

    • Searching pi until you find that right position that matches your Max Payne ISO, which could be located on the far end of infinity.
    • Distributing what could be a multi-trillion digit number to your friends.

    But once you get over these boring details, pi-based-compression can make for some very neat applications

    1. Re:Badass compression algorithm? by The+Raven · · Score: 4

      It wouldn't work. With a completely random (normal) data set, the address of any particular string of numbers is of equal length to... the particular string of numbers! Thus, the average distance into pi of a four digit number... is a four digit number. I don't really care to do the exact math, but the end result is that the number of bits you wish to find and encode the address of would, on average, require an address with an equal number of bits.

      Raven


      And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

      --
      "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
    2. Re:Badass compression algorithm? by localman · · Score: 4
      Distributing what could be a multi-trillion digit number to your friends.

      Easy! All you have to do then is search pi for the multi-trillion digit number and then send it's offset. If that offset is still to long you can just do it again until you ended up with, like, a single digit!

  2. source code for windows? by ankit · · Score: 5

    this is the latest : microsoft sues pi for containing the complete source code to windoze.
    btw, the code starts at position 4200394298 (in the binary expansion of pi), and continues for well, as long as anyone ccan read the stuff...

    --
    Don't Panic
    1. Re:source code for windows? by glebite · · Score: 4

      So, the ancients were right - there are no new things under the sun!

      All messages in PI exist as the ultimate expression of prior art...

      Coolness...

      --
      I donate all spillover Karma to the charity of my choice... Ada was still a babe despite what people may say...
  3. Re:New cult... by BlueUnderwear · · Score: 5
    With your username, you should know one egregious example of funny strings in Pi at funny positions:

    42424242 at position 242424.

    Oddly enough, according to the pi search page, the same string can be found again at position 1404114, which is also below 100000000. On a normal pi, you'd expect a single occurrance of 42424242 below 100000000, and at a completely random position...

    --
    Say no to software patents.
  4. Re:Normality by BlueUnderwear · · Score: 5
    > I was always taught that because pi is infinite (i.e. never ends), it must repeat itself somewhere in itself

    Cannot be, or else it would repeat itself an infinite number of times, cyclically, which would make it a rational number.

    --
    Say no to software patents.
  5. Re:Every message? by junklight · · Score: 4
    If thats the case then the DeCSS algorithum can be denoted by the formula for PI and the decimal position.

    Who they going to sue then - the universe. Or perhaps they are going to require licenses to use PI instead...

  6. Ban the circle! by Telal · · Score: 5

    If pi has all conceivable messages, pi must contain all of the US military's secrets, DeCSS, kiddie pr0n, violent and explicit sexual films beyond anyone's imagination and much much more. It must therefore be banned. When you get the death penalty for circle possession, don't say I didn't warn you...

  7. roll your own PI by beanerspace · · Score: 5
    For those of you with a spare machine and time on your hands, here are some links that show you how to calculate your own value for PI:
    --

    healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?