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10 Ways To Celebrate International Pi Day

Posted by timothy on from the meteor-tail-pink dept.

We'd like to wish you a happy Pi Day. It may be just as arbitrary as some other holidays (though perhaps easier to schedule than some), but any excuse for some delicious food is one I'll take. Reader alphadogg writes with a few suggestions of ways to take part in this convenient celebration of both rationality and irrationality. (And lead your comment with the number of digits you can recite offhand ...)

180 comments

  1. Party! by bidule · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Go to bed at 3:08:30 AM, not 3:14:16 as heretics would do.

    --
    ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
    1. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pi day doesn't come for another two years. Pi isn't 3.1413, you know.

    2. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pi day already happened over four hundred years ago. It was on March 14, 1592, you know.

    3. Re:Party! by icensnow · · Score: 1

      Considering where any mathematicians who used this calendar were at the time, I suggest that it was actually 31 April 1592.

    4. Re:Party! by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

      I'm getting married at 1:59.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    5. Re:Party! by Zalbik · · Score: 1

      Uhh...the 31st of April? Don't you see a small problem with that?

    6. Re:Party! by icensnow · · Score: 1

      OK, caught me with too little coffee. My main point is that this is not an "international" pi day because seeing it as 3/14 is not necessarily a majority point of view. I was also trying to remember what the months were in Julian, which would have been in force outside of Catholic countries at the time. If you want it totally nerded out, a pi day existed best when there was a leap month in the old roman calendar, in which 31 March would have been 31st day of 4th month, except it wouldn't have existed unless the Romans were using decimal notation. Then it would have been more special by being every four years.

    7. Re:Party! by Internetuser1248 · · Score: 1

      Thank you for pointing that out. International is a major lie here. The US is the only country I know of that uses the absurd mm/dd/yy date format. I am so sick of people from the US tagging 'international' onto things that are entirely national. It is almost as bad as the miss universe pageant. For me it is international 'I am only wearing one sock while posting this' day. You better damn well celebrate with me it is international because I am the world.

    8. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even less heretical. If the circumference corresponded to the cycle of the year (365 days, ignoring that pesky 1/4 day extra in a solar year) and you divided that by pi, then pi day would be something like the 116th day of the year, or April 26, 4:23:41 AM

    9. Re:Party! by Q-Hack! · · Score: 2

      Personally, I am waiting on Tau day; June 28, 3185

      On a side note, does anybody know a good cryogenics lab?

      --
      Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    10. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is getting really confusing. I propose a compromise:

      Pi is a constant, correct? So how about we say that it is constantly Pi Day? All day, every day is Pi day and it never ends and it is never repetitive. And if people happen to gather or congregate and celebrate on any particular Pi Day then that's fine. Deal?

    11. Re:Party! by t4ng* · · Score: 1

      To me, the only truly international format is yyyy-mm-dd. All the operating systems and databases in the world can't be wrong. Makes sorting easier too. ;-)

    12. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm really getting tired of people saying that the mm/dd/yy format is "absurd" or "doesn't make sense". I can understand if you claim that it's absurd for the US to use a format that no one else uses; that's fine. I can't argue against that. In the unlikely event that the US decided to adopt the dd/mm/yy format for the sake of international uniformity then I recognize that as a prudent move and I would adjust to it.

      But the format itself is not absurd. It's just as arbitrary as any other format and makes just as much "sense" as any other format.

      Yes, I realize that months are longer than days so the idea of arranging a date from shortest span of time to longest span of time makes sense to people but that is not the only way to think about this. A date, after all, is merely a series of numbers.

      People claim that the mm/dd/yy format is "not in the right order" but I propose that it is. It may not be in order of shortest to longest time span but it is in order of smallest to largest potential maximum values. As in, "mm" will be 01-12, "dd" will be 01-31, and "yy" will be 00-99. From that standpoint, 01-13 / 01-31 / 00-99 appears to "make sense" whereas 01-31 / 01-12 / 00-99 appears to "not make sense" because after all, why should the second highest max value come first? I mean, putting the second largest value first is just "absurd", right?

    13. Re:Party! by bidule · · Score: 1

      Obligatory xkcd reference: http://xkcd.com/1179/

      --
      ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
    14. Re:Party! by bidule · · Score: 1

      I mean, putting the second largest value first is just "absurd", right?

      Well then, a full date/time should look like "AM 12-12-31-59-59-99".

      --
      ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
    15. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pfft, more like 12-12-31-59-59-99 AM, idiot! Everyone knows that numbers come before letters, newb! :P

    16. Re:Party! by thetrueCipher · · Score: 1

      Uhh...the 31st of April? Don't you see a small problem with that?

      Was the gregorian Calendar in use then? No? Oh, maybe that explains it...

    17. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I do not believe you get AM/PM on a 24hr clock. :D

    18. Re:Party! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then it must be American Pi Day.

    19. Re:Party! by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      Surely, it would have been March 14, 285? The best approximation to the actual value of in use for a long time was our kindergarten value of 22/7 (equal to 3.1428571428571... with the sequence "142857" repeating infinitely).

      If I wanted to draw this out, I'd make up a series of jokes following on from the successive "best approximations" listed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_computation_of_%CF%80 .

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    20. Re:Party! by tolkienfan · · Score: 1

      mm/dd/yyyy is absurd.

  2. 3.1415926 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    that's all I got ...

  3. Celebrate Pi by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Funny

    Put a tiger in your tank

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  4. I prefer tau day by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I prefer tau day as it gives me an excuse to get 2 pies instead of just one.

    For the record I only know pi out to 5 significant digits 3.14159

    --
    Time to offend someone
    1. Re:I prefer tau day by mike.mondy · · Score: 2

      I prefer tau day as it gives me an excuse to get 2 pies instead of just one.

      For the record I only know pi out to 5 significant digits 3.14159

      Fourteen digits are given by a mnemonic I learned in grade school:

      How I wish I could recollect of circle round the exact relation Archimede(s) unwound.

      Just count the letters in each word.

    2. Re:I prefer tau day by iapetus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wish I could determine pi
      "Eureka!" cried the great inventor.
      Christmas pudding, Christmas pie
      To the problem's very center.

      Twenty digits (omitting the 3, which everyone can remember anyway), and I find it very memorable.

      --
      ++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
      Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
    3. Re:I prefer tau day by sosume · · Score: 1

      My favorite is 'steak and blowjob day' .. which is, coincidentally, today..

    4. Re:I prefer tau day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      omitting the 3, which everyone can remember anyway

      Just name it 'Pie', and there you have your starting 3 :)

    5. Re:I prefer tau day by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Happy Birthday!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:I prefer tau day by lbmouse · · Score: 1

      It is also Nation Potato Chip day. Trifecta!

    7. Re:I prefer tau day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3.1415926535897923284626433...

      That's all I can remember.

      For the guys that did more than a trillion digits on some serious PC (or super PC) based hardware see this

      http://www.numberworld.org/misc_runs/pi-10t/details.html

    8. Re:I prefer tau day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How I want a drink--alcoholic of course--after the heavy courses involving quantum mechanics!

    9. Re:I prefer tau day by tehcyder · · Score: 1
      By the time you've memorised the not-exactly memorable mnemonic, made a mental note about the (s) and learned how to translate the number of letters in a word into a number instantaneously [*] (and so on) you might as well just learn the actual digits by heart. A 14 long sequence of numbers is really not that hard to remember, it's not like you're going to have thousands of other irrational numbers to remember.

      [*] You're going to look pretty stupid if you have to write the thing out and count the letters with your finger...

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    10. Re:I prefer tau day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oops! Supposed to be "lectures" instead of "courses".

    11. Re:I prefer tau day by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Just start it with "How I wish..."

      Unfortunately, Pi is deprecated.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    12. Re:I prefer tau day by Zalbik · · Score: 1

      Agreed. In my younger years, I memorized the first 50 digits of pi on a bet that I couldn't do it in an hour.

      I thought I'd long forgotten them, but to my surprise when I tried writing it down the first 17 digits were still there. Only took me 20 minutes to be able to recite the remaining 33 as well

      In any case, two far better ways to remember long digits are the major system or the method of loci.

    13. Re:I prefer tau day by WhiteDragon · · Score: 1

      How I wish I could recollect of circle round the exact relation Archimede(s) unwound.

      Just count the letters in each word.

      The one I learned is
      How I need a drink, alcoholic of course after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics

      --
      Did you mount a military-grade, variable-focus MASER on an unlicensed artificial intelligence?
    14. Re:I prefer tau day by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      I never understood this holiday. It was intended as some sort of reaction to valentine's day, but it makes me think that the people who came up with it are somehow doing valentine's day all wrong if this needs to be a separate holiday...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    15. Re:I prefer tau day by mk1004 · · Score: 1

      The one I learned, to the 20th decimal place: Sir, I send a rhyme excelling, in sacred truth and rigid spelling. Numerical sprites elucidate, for me the lexicon's dull weight.

      --
      I can mend the break of day, heal a broken heart, and provide temporary relief to nymphomaniacs.
    16. Re:I prefer tau day by stefpe · · Score: 1

      3.14159 26535 89792 32846 26433...

      Pretty sure that bold part should be 323 ;)

  5. I know the whooole thing by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can recite all the digits of pi - just not necessarily in the right order.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:I know the whooole thing by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Informative

      I can recite all the digits of pi, but only in Indiana: 3.2.

    2. Re:I know the whooole thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Duh.

    3. Re:I know the whooole thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like Chuck Norris, I can recite pi... backwards.

    4. Re:I know the whooole thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you manage to get past the bit where you have to reincarnate?

  6. Get stuffed on delicious raspberry pies :-) by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

    (n/t)

    1. Re:Get stuffed on delicious raspberry pies :-) by drosboro · · Score: 1

      Just finished teaching my pre-calculus class we've made kind of a week out of it a bunch of students were going away for Spring Break a little early, so we had several pies (coconut cream and strawberry rhubarb were among the standouts) on Tuesday then we went back to it today with a couple of apple pies for the few kids I've got left :)

      Now if only there could be a mathematical constant called "poutine", I'd really be set.

  7. Real PI day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The real PI day is on 2015.
    3.14.15 to be exact.

    1. Re:Real PI day by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

      22/7

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Real PI day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      not exactly

    3. Re:Real PI day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually, the realy Pi day was in 1592

      3.14.1592

    4. Re:Real PI day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      there's no 14th month

  8. Best way by Hsien-Ko · · Score: 1

    Watch Life of Pi, starting it at 3:14PM, while eating pie.

    1. Re:Best way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't you start at 1:59 pm?

    2. Re:Best way by slinches · · Score: 1

      Or you can watch Pi, which actually has some math in it. (okay, so it's more numerology than actual math, but at least there's numbers in there).

      --
      Knowledge Brings Fear
    3. Re:Best way by skywhale · · Score: 1

      Watch Life of Pi streamed from a Raspberry Pi, starting it at 3:14PM, while eating pie.

      --
      :wq!
    4. Re:Best way by leptechie · · Score: 1
      Make a chart to illustrate how much time you spent making pie and then eating it while watching Life of Pi, which started at 3.14pm, on International Pi Day

      Oh, and I've always remembered 3.141592653589. My mother's phone number is a complete mystery...

    5. Re:Best way by wile_e_wonka · · Score: 1

      Seriously--that movie annoyed me very much. My wife was like "you'll like this movie because it's about math." Which turned out to be false. (my expectations were apparently unreasonably high)

  9. My digits are all on-hand by DougOtto · · Score: 1

    Do I still need to recite them?

    --
    Solving Unix problems since 1989...
  10. Samhain? by Phrogman · · Score: 0

    Why pick Samhain as being difficult to determine? Whats hard about Oct 31st-Nov 1st? Its celebrated as one day changes to the next (the start of the Celtic new year), and as far as I know never wavers. Its an old Pagan festival.

    Easter on the other hand is calculated by some obscure and much more complex system ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter ). Also an old Pagan festival suborned by Christianity quite possibly, but then thats true of a lot of them :P

    Very odd choice for the summary, although as we all know the /. summary sometimes bears only a passing resemblance to the actual subject :P

    --
    "The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
    1. Re:Samhain? by Hey_bob · · Score: 1

      Perhaps by "easier to schedule" Tim meant that with trick-or-treaters(kids) or various the costume parties, those of us celebrating Samhain have to figure out how to schedule around those things. :-) Cause, really.. I'm not going to be the one to tell the gf's kids that they can't go out in costume, because "your mommy and I want to go do ritual." :-P

    2. Re:Samhain? by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1
      How is this relevant to the story? You might have a point about Halloween be co-opted and maybe if you had mentioned the date of christmas and some of the trappings of modern christmas but the content of the christmas festival celebrated by bible believing christians has nothing to do with the "yule". The church, in that case chose December 25th for its symbolism. It fit well with the idea that the christ child was the "light" coming into a world of darkness. The fact that the placement of the date could be used to snuff out the old pagan holidays was an added bonus.

      Now as for "Easter", I followed that link and I found nothing there other than some objections by some groups suggesting it had pagan roots but the date is tied to the Jewish festival of Passover. That is biblically established. The only thing you could argue is that name "Easter" may have been co-opted by the church and some of the secular trappings resemble elements from pagan traditions that the church tried to stamp out but the festival within the church bares no relation to the old pagan celebration.

      In the end, what's in a name? What actually counts is how you celebrate it and what it means to you.

      PS. Christmas means "Christ" "mass" incase you did not see that. It is a celebration of the birth of christ.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    3. Re:Samhain? by Phrogman · · Score: 1

      I am well aware of the meaning of Christmas, I am not that fucking stupid. Because its not the same day - or name - as Yule, I didn't mention it. Also it has a fixed date.
      Easter on the otherhand does not have a fixed date. The only reasons I mentioned it is because Samhain has a fixed date, and Easter does not. I also jokingly mentioned it had been coopted solely because of the name Easter which might come from a European Pagan Horse goddess named Eostre and that made it a tad relevant.
      My point was that Samhain was an idiotic festival to include as an example, and that Easter might have been a better and more logical choice.
      You seem to have missed that though in your zeal to slam me over something I didn't say :P

      --
      "The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
    4. Re:Samhain? by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Easter does not have a fixed date because the festival of Passover is also not a fixed date. Anything else you would like to say genius? I suggest that you read the page you linked to. It explains how Easter, as celebrated by christians, is tied to the Passover festival in Judaism. It has nothing to do with bunny rabbits, easter eggs or any other such silliness.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    5. Re:Samhain? by Phrogman · · Score: 1

      Your missing the point that the reason we associate bunny rabbits and easter eggs and all that is due to the original pagan influences for the pagan celebration held at the same time roughly. Thats all I meant by that.

      --
      "The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
  11. Where's the link... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to the Three Stooges "pi" throwing episode with the well dressed guests?

  12. *International* Pi day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I wasn't aware that Pi was now defined as 14.3

    1. Re:*International* Pi day? by sarysa · · Score: 1

      Then no pi(e) for you!

      --
      Charisma is the measure of someone's ability to lie with a straight face.
    2. Re:*International* Pi day? by sarysa · · Score: 2

      P.s. I prefer yyyymmdd as the standard and I'm still not poohpoohing this. I'm an atheist and I use xmas as a present day. People yearn for excuses to celebrate, so just roll with it.

      --
      Charisma is the measure of someone's ability to lie with a straight face.
  13. Watch the life of Pi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    followed by Pi: Faith in Chaos. Have a Magnum PI marathon. Eat a slice of pie. Finish the day by giving my girlfriend a creampie.

  14. What about 22/7? by uncle+slacky · · Score: 1

    July 22nd would seem to be a more accurate value for Pi day, shirley?

    --
    Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.
    1. Re:What about 22/7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      22/7 = 3.142857143
      pi ~= 3.1415

      I would say that 3.14 is closer to 3.142 than it is to 3.143

      Therefore, 3.142 is a closer approximation than 22/7, and anyone using 22/7 for an approximation for pi, is in fact, an idiot.

      Thank you.

    2. Re:What about 22/7? by Lithdren · · Score: 1

      I'm celebrating pi every day I can... and stop calling me Shirley!

    3. Re:What about 22/7? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What?

      pi - 3.14 = .00159265...
      22/7 - pi = .001264489...

      Anyone rounding numbers before performing calculations on them is, in fact, an idiot.

    4. Re:What about 22/7? by almitydave · · Score: 2

      pi - 3.14 = .00159265...
      22/7 - pi = .001264489...

      I prefer to use 355/113 for a fractional approximation (~3.14159292).
      355/113 - pi = 0.000000266764...

      I once wrote a TI-85 program to calculate fractional approximations of pi to arbitrary # of digits. You have to go quite a ways to get better than 355/113.

      I read once that 10 digits of pi was enough to approximate the diameter of the universe to within 1 atom. Not sure that's true, and I'm too lazy to do the math.

      As far as digits from memory, I once set out to memorize pi 5 digits at a time but only got as far as 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399... and then I could never for the life of me remember the next five... 51973? something like that? Like my dad always said, "close enough for government work."

      Also fun: I once downloaded a text file with the first 10 million digits of pi (exactly 10 MB, how about that!), opened it with Word, shrunk the whole thing down to 1pt font, and printed page one on a high-end company printer. It took about 5 minutes to spool the job, and the result was what appeared to be a gray rectangle, but was actually the first 400,000 or so digits of pi, which were actually legible with a magnifying glass.

      --
      my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
      I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
  15. Pi Pi Pi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can use Pi correctly in a sentence.

  16. 3.1415926535 by gQuigs · · Score: 0

    I'm out of practice... was "playing" https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=de.komola.pi

  17. Eating pie! by Zaatxe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's the only way! ONLY WAY!

    --
    So say we all
  18. *NATIONAL* pi day by ljw1004 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This can't be an "International" pi day. It's a US-specific pi day (Month-Day-Year). It might also extend to Japan and ISO8601 (Year-Month-Day).

    Little-endian (Day-Month-Year) is common to the vast majority of the world's countries. And 3-14 doesn't exist.

    1. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Every coder should write the date in the yyyymmddhhnnss format (which would give you 03-14) simply because it sorts properly.

    2. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      International would obviously be according the date format set forth by the Internation Standards Organization, Hence, 3-14 does indeed exist for both inside and outside of the US.

    3. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever considered what the I in ISO 8601 stands for.

    4. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by martica · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "International" means "national" in the US. They assume that anything that applies to them, applies to everyone else, and if it doesn't, it doesn't for a reason that doesn't concern them, being as they are clearly foreigners and are just being different for the sake of being different.

    5. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      Also, no matter how you write it, consider the significant figures. 3 is the most significant figure in both 3.14 and 14th of March.

      However, the problem with this logic is that it's less than 3 months since the beginning of the year, while pi is more than 3 after zero....

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    6. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      22/7 is the international pi day as far as I know.

    7. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      USA actually helps us teaching it.

      The concepts of 'inches', 'miles' and 'pounds' with all those funny digits, when described in metric system, makes it, next year in school, a lot easier to grasp the concept of 'PI'. It's just a ratio, after all.

    8. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Pi Day only can exist in one calendar format. And that is precisely why it's international. If it could exist in multiple formats, everybody else would have their own Pi Day. But since there's only one, everbody gets to either celebrate it on the same day, or not have a Pi Day at all.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    9. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Reaper9889 · · Score: 1

      I think some uses 21/7 (It is even a better approximation than 3.14). Wikipedia calls it Pi Approximation Day.

    10. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Reaper9889 · · Score: 1

      Well, just a test: clearly it should be 22/7

    11. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ISO8601 is a national standard in most of the countries :-)

    12. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congratulations, pedant! You managed to bring up the same stupid complaint that comes up every single year. Truly insightful!

      In all seriousness, at least you didn't make this complain in the usual manner: "What? Pie isn't 14.3. I don't get it. Oh wait, I'm just being a smug asshole and I thought it would be cute to take a jab at the US over something as simple and stupid as a date format. For my next trick, I'll complain about how people in the US shower too often (everyday!? WTF?!) and how things like personal space are overrated"

    13. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Zalbik · · Score: 1

      "International" means "national" in the US. They assume that anything that applies to them, applies to everyone else, and if it doesn't, it doesn't for a reason that doesn't concern them, being as they are clearly foreigners and are just being different for the sake of being different.

      Yes, if only there were some sort of international date format. Perhaps one agreed to by some sort of International Standards Organization. And if only that date format had the month prior to the day ....then we could rightly call this International Pi Day.

      Well, it's a good thing nothing like that exists. I wouldn't want it to get in the way of some childish US bashing.

    14. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by sootman · · Score: 1

      > 3-14 doesn't exist.

      Sure it does. Just keep waiting...

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    15. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by hermitdev · · Score: 1
      In Indiana

      , Pi day could have been March 2nd.

    16. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the only *international* standard writes down dates as YYYY-MM-DD.

    17. Re:*NATIONAL* pi day by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 1

      I was worried that I'd missed all of the Pi Day fun. Little did I know that there was a C programmer lurking nearby, waiting to output it as April 15th for display purposes.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  19. Uhm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The date notation here would be 14/3/2013, which makes this not pi day. And seeing that 31/4 doesn't exist, we'll never have pi day.

    1. Re:Uhm... by minogully · · Score: 1

      The date notation you use isn't the date notation everyone uses. Also, using the slash as a separator with the year at the end, can be ambiguous on its own, since it can mean dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy, depending on your region. Therefore, you shouldn't base the date of the holiday on date notation. Instead, it makes the most sense to match up larger quantifier in the date with the larger quantifier in the number, so month=3, day=14.

      That said, it's just an excuse to make a day more fun. So, if it makes you happier to argue that it shouldn't happen, then it's fulfilling its purpose anyway!

  20. Pi is wrong by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 2

    Tau Day

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    1. Re:Pi is wrong by readin · · Score: 1

      Tau Day

      That would be April 2, right?

      Oh? Sorry, I thought you said "towell day".

      --
      I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
    2. Re:Pi is wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tau is a great concept, but personally, I think it is mistaken. Tau should be pi/2, not 2*pi.

  21. Pie Party by ossuary · · Score: 1

    People from my work bring various kinds of pies from home and we have a sampling at 3:14 in the afternoon. Corny, but tasty! My favorite are the small fried apple pies. Yuuuummmmmmm.

  22. Repeat that please? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    "Oh, thought it was 'pee' day. Silly me. Really sorry about your shoes, ma'am."

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  23. integer ratio by Skapare · · Score: 1

    To celebrate Pi day, try performing this division:

    4427007044615115050034854648525685871587 / 1409160108506276783085718440252375099653

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    1. Re:integer ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice: using bc, that's almost exact to 50 digits:

      (4*a(1))-(4427007044615115050034854648525685871587 / 1409160108506276783085718440252375099653)
      -.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002

    2. Re:integer ratio by zeugma-amp · · Score: 1

      ~ :) bc
      bc 1.06.95
      Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
      This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
      For details type `warranty'.
      4427007044615115050034854648525685871587 / 1409160108506276783085718440252375099653
      3
      ^D

      See, it really is 3!

      --
      This is an ex-parrot!
  24. Party like it's 636.6! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    3.141592653589793238462643383279502884
    I memorized it for bonus marks on a math exam many years ago, and I haven't been able to kick it out since. is sticky!
    Since it's the ratio of a circle's radius to circumference, I propose we pay hommage to the Benz logo, or Pacman. Or keep it simple and bow your head before the celestial orb of your choosing.

  25. Circle the square by c0lo · · Score: 1

    Squaring the circle was demonstrated impossible 131 years ago... all you can do now is to walk around the square.

    --
    Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    1. Re:Circle the square by magarity · · Score: 1

      Squaring the circle was demonstrated impossible 131 years ago... all you can do now is to walk around the square.

      Pie aren't square. Pie are round.

  26. 3.14159265357898 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    15 digits; going to the store soon to get a nice fresh (maybe even still warm!) apple pie!

  27. pi = what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pi = 1.3032013????

    Even the state of Indiana was closer than that.

  28. not overly impressed with movie by peter303 · · Score: 1

    I found myself checking the time a lot. Perhaps it was the lack of dialog during the majority of the movie when there was just one human. Castaway had a similar problem.

    I was shocked to hear Rhythm & Hues who got an effects Oscar for this movie had gone bankrupt. They had a real nice 25th anniversary presentation at 2012 SIGGRAPH.

  29. Pizza! by chocapix · · Score: 1

    Just remind everyone that the volume of a pizza of radius z and thickness a is pi z z a.

    1. Re:Pizza! by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Just remind everyone that the volume of a pizza of radius z and thickness a is pi z z a.

      I like that.

  30. Why SETI Failed by camperdave · · Score: 2

    Do you recognize this famous number?: 1.3591409142295226176801437356763...

    That's right. It's e/2. Why e/2, you ask? Well, let me ask a similar question. Why celebrate Tau/2?

    A circle is the locus of all points equidistant from a single point. Circles are defined by their radius. The natural circle constant is the relationship between the length of the radius and the circumference of the circle: Tau. No alien culture is going to be beaming 3.14159... into space. They will be sending 6.28318...

    It's no wonder aliens don't want to contact us. We can't do basic math. We must be the laughing stock of the galaxy.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Why SETI Failed by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      Excuse me, aliens haven't contacted us yet because we don't yet have warp technology, so they're prevented by the Prime Directive.

      And you call yourself a geek.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    2. Re:Why SETI Failed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Prime Directive was a Federation construct, Earth was a charter member of the Federation.


      I'll just place your geek card here in my wallet next to this condom that will never be used...

    3. Re:Why SETI Failed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, so you think you're a geek? "...because we don't yet have warp technology..."

      You obviously did not get a copy of the last IBM-supported version of OS/2.

    4. Re:Why SETI Failed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you beaming a number in base 10? Try writing e, e/2, tau, and tau/2 in binary, and see why tau/2 isn't a problem.

    5. Re:Why SETI Failed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have a point, but you haven't gone far enough. The fundamental unifying idea in geometry is about angles, and the only angle that stands out as distinctive is the right angle, as the only angle that allows a dot product of zero. So, tau should be based upon a right angle, not 4 times a right angle, which is almost just as arbitrary as 2 times a right angle. Instead, tau should be based on the arc length of a circular quadrant.

    6. Re:Why SETI Failed by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      I was just about to go to Memory Alpha to see if the Vulcans used the Prime Directive (or something like it) prior to the Federation's existence, as Star Trek: First Contact would seem to suggest, but then I remembered that that might have been taking this a bit far.

      *steals back the geek card, and the condom for good measure*

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
  31. Summer solstice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the date is expressed in radians.

  32. I eat my pi[e] by jetcityorange · · Score: 1

    The "e" is silent, right? Then my pi[e] counts too: http://www.jetcityorange.com/pi/pi-crust.jpg

  33. not pi day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone knows that today is Steak and BJ Day.

    1. Re:not pi day by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      The only people who celebrate Steak&BJ Day are those who are too dumb to know it's Pi Day.

      Wait for it.

      Keep thinking...

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  34. 3.141595658979 by show+me+altoids · · Score: 1

    That's as far as I can go. We have a pizzeria named Pi in St. Louis (it's famous because President Obama had one delivered to the White House) and they are running specials today.

    --
    I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
    1. Re:3.141595658979 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3.141592658979

    2. Re:3.141595658979 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its actually 3.14159265358979.
      thats as far as i know too (up to 979) which i think is cool because it is 3 and 14 decimal places.

    3. Re:3.141595658979 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmmm.. shouldn't that be 3.14159265358979323 ... and that's as far as I can go (I know I'm pitiful) without further browsing

  35. Correct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The movie was not about math. The main character was a fictitious mathematician, but the show was actually about his neurological disorders and involvement with a religious group and a criminal group.

    Your wife simply didn't understand the movie. If she had understood it, she might not have misguided your expectations.

    I thought it was a good movie on its own merits, but I never expected it to be about math.

  36. "International" Pi Day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How the hell is the 14th of March Pi day? 1403? 0314? 20130314? 14032013? Nope, not working for me.

    Is this like the "World" Series?

    1. Re:"International" Pi Day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We do this just so you eurofucks can get your displaced anger exercise for the day.

    2. Re:"International" Pi Day by lolococo · · Score: 1

      You insensitive clod!

  37. Why just today? by 327 · · Score: 1

    Pi is constant.

  38. Works in China! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Today's date: 2013314

  39. Perhaps it's Pie Day? by Blymie · · Score: 1

    Pie day?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayo9PoZgrMU

  40. International? by betso.net · · Score: 0

    Being an American, I feel ashamed by the ignorance a lot of Americans show despite of their pretensions to be (oh-so-cool-)"geeks". The "Month-Day-Year" format is used almost exclusively in the US. And this is basic knowledge! How should this day be then an "International" Pi day? How is it possible for this to make it to the Slashdot index without being corrected??

    --
    xoda.org
    1. Re:International? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No mixed-endian dates for me, and most-significant first, please. I don't care how wrong the world is.

      As for Pi Day, as a subset of an ISO 8601 date, it's as international as they come, but you already knew that. (Why the vitriol? Did a clown throw a pie in your face years ago?)

    2. Re:International? by betso.net · · Score: 0

      Most significant should be the month? Like the Sunday we call start of the week and at the same time part of the week end? Or... the "World Series"? That kind of the {arr,ign}ogance I was talking about! You, pipe throwing clown. :)

      --
      xoda.org
  41. Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    Seriously--that movie annoyed me very much.

    For a far better movie about math, watch Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. When I was in 4th grade, my teacher was sick, so the substitute show that film to the class. I learned more from Donald Duck than I learned in the whole rest of the year. I saw that math could be fun and entertaining, and not just drills and word problems. To this day, I still remember the Golden Ratio, and the Fibonacci Sequence, and how they are related.

    1. Re:Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've read an article before that suggested that Alice in Wonderland was actually Lewis Carrol's commentary on the state of mathematics of the time.

  42. practical applications? by martyb · · Score: 1

    FWIW, as requested: 120 digits (was 200 at one time, in competition with a dormmate in college. Hi Rob!)

    That experience lead me to question how many digits are useful? Of course, that depends on how you define useful. Computer burn-in testing, theory of algorithms and optimizations thereof notwithstanding, I was thinking more along the lines of physical applications.

    Question:What is the largest circular body that I could conceivable try to calculate the circumference of, and what is the finest measurable precision with which I could imagine measuring that with?

    Circular body: observable universe : approximately 8.8x10^26m in diameter.

    Minimal length: Planck Length : approximately 1.616x10^-35m.

    Answer: Let's ask Wolfram Alpha to compute and confirm that for us using: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=convert+diameter+of+the+observable+universe+to+planck+lengths which produces a result of: 5.4x10^61.

    Conclusion: *IF* we could measure the diameter of the universe to within +/- one Planck length, then, within significant digits of accuracy, we would need no more than 61 digits of Pi to compute its circumference.

    If you've followed this far, I now have a question for you: what is the largest actual number of digits of i you have actually seen needed and in what context?

    1. Re:practical applications? by femtobyte · · Score: 1

      For testing compiler optimization and computer speeds, and validating numerical libraries, a few billion digits.

    2. Re:practical applications? by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      I have heard NASA uses 32 digits, but I have no citation for that.

      I can only remember 27 digits now, used to be a few more. Competition with a cousin (Hi Matt!), and I lost. Turns our I was mentally using groups of 2, he was using groups of 4.

  43. Stupidity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, we have came down to have international days for numbers...wonderful.

  44. Two's Day by seven+of+five · · Score: 1

    Ratio of circle's diameter to its radius. Yipee.

  45. Re:3.14159265358979323846264338327950288 by srmalloy · · Score: 1

    I memorized pi out to 35 digits back in high school; I wasn't as interested in e, which I only memorized as 2.71828182845904523536

  46. Do not open until Xmas by tepples · · Score: 1

    the content of the christmas festival celebrated by bible believing christians has nothing to do with the "yule".

    Then what's with the Christmas trees? (Jeremiah 10:1-5) And what's with the "do not open until Xmas" spirit of holding back of gift-giving in the months leading up to the date? Learn why one Christian denomination believes origins matter:

    Maybe you feel that the origins of holidays have little to do with how they are celebrated today. Do origins really matter? Yes! To illustrate: Suppose you saw a piece of candy lying in the gutter. Would you pick up that candy and eat it? Of course not! That candy is unclean. Like that candy, holidays may seem sweet, but they have been picked up from unclean places. To take a stand for true worship, we need to have a viewpoint like that of the prophet Isaiah, who told true worshipers: "Touch nothing unclean."--Isaiah 52:11.

    You wrote:

    The only thing you could argue is that name "Easter" may have been co-opted by the church and some of the secular trappings resemble elements from pagan traditions that the church tried to stamp out but the festival within the church bares no relation to the old pagan celebration.

    In what way are rabbits and eggs resurrection of the Christ? They're fertility symbols associated with Ishtar/Astarte/Eostre.

    It is a celebration of the birth of christ.

    For one thing, Jesus was probably born in the early fall; the Church chose the winter solstice out of a superstitious belief that he was conceived on the same day he died, and Yule was the closest holiday to nine months after Nisan 14. For another, did Jesus ever ask for his birth to be celebrated? Jesus was raised a Jew, and Jews were far more likely to celebrate a death anniversary: "A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s being born." (Ecclesiastes 7:1) That's why Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, celebrate Good Friday on the eve of Nisan 14 but don't celebrate Christmas. Only two birthdays are ever mentioned in the Bible, and in both cases, the birthday boy had someone put to death as his gift.--Genesis 40:16-23; Mark 6:14-29.

    I've written more about birthdays and the commercialized holiday posing as Christmas.

    1. Re:Do not open until Xmas by RoccamOccam · · Score: 1

      Only two birthdays are ever mentioned in the Bible, and in both cases, the birthday boy had someone put to death as his gift.--Genesis 40:16-23; Mark 6:14-29.

      At first, I couldn't figure out what you were talking about -- I'd imagine that several birthdays are mentioned in the Bible (Moses and Jesus come to mind). Then I realized that you were talking about birthday anniversaries.

  47. The "do not open until Xmas" mentality by tepples · · Score: 1

    I'm an atheist and I use xmas as a present day.

    I'm a Christian, and I don't really celebrate Christmas anymore. I prefer to give gifts when gifts are most needed rather than holding them back for several weeks.

    1. Re:The "do not open until Xmas" mentality by sarysa · · Score: 1

      I should correct myself: Present day (for nieces/nephews) and excuse for partying. (me)

      --
      Charisma is the measure of someone's ability to lie with a straight face.
  48. Obligatory xkcd by tepples · · Score: 1

    Little-endian (Day-Month-Year) is common to the vast majority of the world's countries.

    xkcd #1179: ISO 8601

    1. Re:Obligatory xkcd by rsborg · · Score: 1

      Little-endian (Day-Month-Year) is common to the vast majority of the world's countries.

      xkcd #1179: ISO 8601

      I personally preferred the military method 27FEB2013 - no delimiters necessary as the numeric/alpha boundary is adequate. Of course, in other languages this varies (ie, francais = 27FEV2013).

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  49. Other days aren't as significant... by lvxferre · · Score: 1

    ...when you remember March 14th is also Einstein's anniversary. Of course, the anniversary of a Mathematician would be better suited, but maybe a physicist is already good enough?

    --
    Nerdy news for your nerdy needs? http://www.soylentnews.org Soylent News is people!
  50. Call Don McLean by MobileC · · Score: 1

    It's American Pi day.

    --

    Fran
    :):):)
    1st 1st Poster of the new Millennium!

  51. Working hard for my engineering degree. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I finally decided to go out and become a "Fat Controller". Thomas the Tank Engine Geeks will know exactly what I mean.

  52. Why have pi when you can have steak & BJ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I prefer to observe "steak and blowjob day" on 3/14.

  53. 1:59 as well by slothman32 · · Score: 1

    Last year on PI day I went out to lunch at 1pm
    It took about an hour to eat - I could have film developed or glasses made.
    Being Pi day I of course got the wonderful gooey food.
    It was delivered to my table at 1:58 so I waited a minute to eat it.
    I started at 3-14 1:59.
    It just coincindence though.

    Unfortuately there are no more Perkins near me anymore. :(

    --
    Why don't you guys have friends or journals?
  54. What about 10 ways to celebrate ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... International Binary Day?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  55. Down with pi, long live Tau !!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's only one true number, and it's tau !!!

  56. Steak & BJ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is wrong with all of you nerds? Today is Steak & BJ day! Oh, wait, I think I understand why most of you choose to celebrate Pi instead...

  57. 3.14.15. + 6 digits by Dripdry · · Score: 1

    THAT's when we should party it down for Pi day.

    Also, I'm going to a maker space for the first time to learn about El Wire and scarf me some pie. Yay!

    3.141592

    --
    -
  58. Ugh, again? by sootman · · Score: 1

    How will I spend Pi Day? Probably by reading the same story from previous years.

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  59. Re:3.141592658979 by show+me+altoids · · Score: 1

    Yeah, Gah! I mistyped a 5 instead of a 2. Fixed, and thanks everyone.

    --
    I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
  60. Don't forget to go out carolling tonight! by RevWaldo · · Score: 1

    Family Guy - The Pi Song

    Kate Bush - Pi (short version)

    Michael Blake - What Pi Sounds Like

    Blood, Sweat, and Tears - Spinning Wheel

    Billy Preston - Will It Go Around In Circles

    Beach Boys - I Get Around

    .

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  61. I'll see you in July by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll wish you happy pi day on 22/7, as all right thinking geeks should do. Unless you celebrate tau day, of course.

  62. Re:3.141592658979 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Still wrong. 3.1415926*535*8979

    3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716 is as much as I remember confidently.

  63. Now I need a drink, alcoholic, of course! by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    And it just happens the subject-line mnemonic is how many digits I've memorized: 3.1415926.

    My favorite for inputting an approximate pi into a calculator is the 11 33 55 hack: 355/113 is close enough to pi for most practical purposes: It's high by about one part in ten million. You can check against the above mnemonic: The approximation fails on the eighth digit, producing 9, rather than 6.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  64. Sigh by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1
    No, March 14 is White Day. You know, the holiday one month after Valentine's Day, but reversed so that women can pursue men they like instead of waiting around?

    What the hell? An internationally aware website like Slashdot (always one for a good metric flame) has no idea what today is to most of the world? Instead "celebrating" this "holiday" that only makes sense if you use non-SI units?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sad thing is that you're not trolling. You really are that stupid.

  65. Activity Number One by macraig · · Score: 1

    Don't go to Marie Callender's.

  66. 0x27FEB2013 by tepples · · Score: 1

    Of course, in other languages this varies

    That's one of the problems. The other is that FEB is all hexadecimal digits: 0x27FEB2013 = 10,736,050,195.

  67. Egyptian Pi: Squaring The Circle: Validated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the real Pi based on the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus value of 256/81 and the following is the real MS ME MIT 1960 PE validated Alphebetized Geometric Construct with cross-referenced Enumerated Proof by ancient rules of compass and straight edge.

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicsleuth/promote-validated-squaring-the-circle-as-a-paintin

  68. Digits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From memorizing over 100 back in 1999, what I can recall is...

    3.1415926535897932 (can't remember, have a momentary lapse of memory), but I should be able to get up to 5028841971 as I usually do, which is a far cry from 100 by the way.

  69. Pi day was yesterday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I live on the other side of the international date line. Pi day was yesterday, you insensitive clod.

  70. Passover has a fixed date: Nisan 14 by tepples · · Score: 1

    Yeah, Easter does not have a fixed date because the festival of Passover is also not a fixed date.

    Of course Passover has a fixed date: Nisan 14 every year, as Jehovah's Witnesses sing every year at their Memorial service. It's just that the solar calendar used throughout the majority of the diaspora doesn't start on a fixed date relative to the Hebrew lunar calendar under which Passover was instituted.

  71. Mathematician here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and I only remember pi as 3.1415926... Guess that's only seven digits. Same percentage of the digits as everyone else: 0%

    Pi is interesting from many points of view. But memorizing digits is mostly a dick-measuring competition that I don't care to participate in.

  72. Pi is wrong by Forty-3 · · Score: 1

    http://tauday.com/

    --
    http://tinyurl.com/42geekcode