Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Happy Pi Day

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-we're-nerds dept.

mikejuk writes to let us know that today is Pi Day — 3/14 in American date notation. He writes, "This year, it feels as though we aren't celebrating alone. For the first time, it looks as if momentum has built up to the point where people have heard about Pi Day. There are even attempts to sell you Pi-related items as if it was a real holiday. But there is always some one to spoil the party so what ever you do to celebrate don't miss Vi Hart's Anti-Pi Rant video." Thus begins the yearly debate over Pi Day vs. Tau Day (June 28). Phil Plait has a post defending Pi Day's honor, and MIT isn't holding back their Pi Day celebrations. Large-scale celebration of Pi Day began in 1988, mostly through the efforts of physicists Larry Shaw and Ron Hipschmann at the San Francisco Exploratorium. The Exploratorium still runs Pi Day events 26 years later, including Pi-themed processions and pie for dessert. In 2009, Pi Day became semi-official through a vote by the House of Representatives. (They did a better job with Pi than did Indiana, who almost legislated it to be 3.2.)

The best way to celebrate Pi Day is to get together with some friends and talk math over a pie. You could even go for a pizza pie, since a pizza with radius 'z' and height 'a' has volume = pi * z * z * a. If you'd care for a game, head over to the Pi Day Challenge, which features a series of pi-related logic puzzles. Or just spend the day learning about pi.

Cool pi facts: Pi is currently known to about 10 billion decimal places. You can calculate pi using the Fibonacci sequence. A few years ago, Steven Rochen mapped the digits of pi to musical notes and turned it into a violin solo (video). Others have made music from pi as well. Mankind didn't know the first hundred digits of pi until the year 1701. How many digits of pi can you recite? The record for memorization currently stands at 67890 digits. The record for reciting pi while juggling three balls is just under 10,000.

218 comments

  1. I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    SO therefore it is not a real holiday...

    Damn it Hallmark, we demand Pi day greeting cards!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hallmark cards... can't wait for:

      Cover: 3.14159
      Inside: Hope your Pi Day is divine.

    2. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Dan+East · · Score: 1

      Surely there are cards out there that say "Thinking of you" that show a big slice of pie on the front.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    3. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      I want 3.14 pieces of it.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    4. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Even so, it's more of a holiday than Tau day. You can't eat a tau, but you can certainly eat pi(e)!

    5. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 3

      This is my one-year anniversary. The beauty if marrying an engineer is she didn't bat an eye when I suggested getting married 3/14 at 1:59 PM.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    6. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would contest that you can indeed, if you're a Tyranid...

    7. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by StripedCow · · Score: 1

      I wonder how many serious papers actually use tau instead of pi...

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    8. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      You can't eat a tau,

      There are Tyranids that would disagree with that statement.

    9. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      I want 3.14 pieces of it.

      If you measure in radians, that is exactly half.

    10. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by metlin · · Score: 1

      And the area of a unit circle is pi, not tau.

    11. Re:I cant buy Pi day greeting cards..... by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Pi day greeting cards. No, not from Hallmark, but you can still buy them.

  2. What about the UK? by agapeton · · Score: 1

    In the UK, it's Little Endian PI Day!

    1. Re: What about the UK? by NCG_Mike · · Score: 1

      We use 22/7 instead.

    2. Re: What about the UK? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Pi Day outside America is 31/4/2014. Next year will be the closest we have ever come to the perfect Pi Day as the date will be 31/4/15 in two digit year format.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re: What about the UK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pi Day outside America is 31/4/2014. Next year will be the closest we have ever come to the perfect Pi Day as the date will be 31/4/15 in two digit year format.

      30 days hath September, April, June and November...

    4. Re: What about the UK? by The+Grassy+Knoll · · Score: 1

      Pi Day outside America is 31/4/2014. Next year will be the closest we have ever come to the perfect Pi Day as the date will be 31/4/15 in two digit year format.

      Thirty days hath September,
      April, June and November

      So bad luck there

      --
      They will never know the simple pleasure of a monkey knife fight
    5. Re: What about the UK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Want to multiply your life savings? Lend them to me and I will pay you back tenfold the next of your pi days.

    6. Re: What about the UK? by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't Pi Day be when, if you see the year as a circle (which many do), you have passed the diameter's length of it?
      I.e. April 26th?

    7. Re: What about the UK? by Patch86 · · Score: 1

      In a maths-related discussion, that sort of mistake just has to sting.

    8. Re:What about the UK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Internet standard: 2014-03-14

    9. Re: What about the UK? by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't Pi Day be when, if you see the year as a circle (which many do), you have passed the diameter's length of it? I.e. April 26th?

      This is possibly the most interesting idea so far.

    10. Re: What about the UK? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Double WHOOSH. A personal best.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re: What about the UK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nice try bitch. You're not fooling anybody.

    12. Re: What about the UK? by braindrainbahrain · · Score: 2

      I agree with 22/7, which has been named Pi Approximation Day. It is a lot closer to Pi than 3/14!

    13. Re: What about the UK? by donscarletti · · Score: 1

      Even if April actually had 31 days, then the 31/4/16 would be closer since the next digit rounds up (3.1415 9 265358979323846).

      --
      When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
    14. Re: What about the UK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? If you normally make jokes without giving any indication that it is a joke, it shouldn't be hard to find two people who don't get it!

  3. steak & bj day too by i.r.id10t · · Score: 0

    To make up for Valentines day... it is steak & a blow job day as well.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    1. Re:steak & bj day too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To make up for Valentines day... it is steak & a blow job day as well.

      Enjoy your steak.

  4. Pi + Einstein + Life, The Universe, and Everything by Jason+Levine · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not only is today Pi day, but it is Albert Einstein's birthday also (he would've been 135 today). Also, 3 * 14 = 42 so today is also the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything!

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  5. next year will be better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    since it will be 3/14/15

    1. Re:next year will be better by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      I will celebrate this fact by eating a very slighly inaccurate pie this year.
      Next year though... it's gonna be perfect!

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    2. Re:next year will be better by camperdave · · Score: 1

      15? Did you miss the whole Y2K catastrophe? Next year will be 2015, not 15.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    3. Re:next year will be better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, it will be either 15/3/14 or 14/3/15. what an idiotic system is this american system ? least significant part of the date in the middle ????

  6. WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Seriously, I am so SICK of hearing of "pi day." It is arbitrary and r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d. Wee-todd-did gay at that. I already know that I will be modded down, so here's to rubbing it in. There is nearly NO mathematical significance of "3/14/2014." How about we have a European Pi day of 14 Feb? That would be the third day of the fourteenth month of the previous year. Or how about an e day? Oh wait, the people here who think that pi day is cute have never used either constant in a day-to-day basis.
     
    This is cute for elementary school students, sure, but WHY do you have to spew this drivel all over Slashdead?

    1. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AND BY 14 FEB, I mean 3 FEB. I am in SUCH A RAGE that I cannot even do arithmetic. DIAF, Slashdead!
       
      I saw my MISTAKE like as soon as I had posted, but this STUPID RESPAWN TIMER won't let me POST A CORRECTION.

    2. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by avandesande · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Pretty much every 'holiday' is arbitrary and somewhat retarded (read about the history of Valentine's day for an example). Nice to have a day for math and geeks!

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    3. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is cute for elementary school students, sure, but WHY do you have to spew this drivel all over Slashdead?

      Given the drivel that makes up most of the stories recently, at least this one is fun drivel. (and an excuse to buy a pie after work)

    4. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GO BAKE ME A PIE THEN, WOMAN!

    5. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ritalin

      its a hell of a drug

    6. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because Pie is delicious and any excuse to eat it is a good one. Scrooge.

    7. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by shentino · · Score: 1

      That's SUDO GO BAKE ME A PIE

    8. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You piece of trash. You waste of breath. No one said you were obligated to click on the story. It's not ruining your personal life. Let others have their fun.

      Goddamn, you suck.

    9. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eat my balls, Yoda!

    10. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You piece of trash. You waste of breath. No one said you were obligated to click on the story. It's not ruining your personal life. Let others have their fun.

      Goddamn, you suck.

      Like a vacuum cleaner. Burrrrrrrrnnnnn!!!

    11. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by davester666 · · Score: 1

      But doesn't everybody like pie?

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    12. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mostly because you are the actual retarded waste of breath. but we need someone to pint and and laugh at, so we keep you around.

    13. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      After that rant, I'm guessing that speak like a pirate day actually causes you to have a grand mal seizure each year.

    14. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly! I think Tau is the more significant ratio, but really, what can you eat on Tau day to celebrate?

      PIE is food. Give me a Tau food, and we might be in business.

    15. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1, Funny

      How about you nerds stop trying to co-opt Steak and a Blowjob Day?

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    16. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by sjames · · Score: 1

      It's an excuse to have pie. Pull the stick from your ass and have some Pi.

    17. Re:WHAT A RETARDED WASTE OF BREATH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because only losers who can't earn steaks and blowjobs on their own merits need the calendar to do the work for them.

  7. Rest of World by CodeArtisan · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the rest of the world, Pi Day is approximately 22/7.

    1. Re:Rest of World by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      I was going to guess it's the third day of whatever month comes after Smarch.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    2. Re:Rest of World by Nemetz · · Score: 1

      In the rest of the world, we have the Pi month. XX/3/14. Take that, ameridudes! Unfortunately, only every 1000 years

    3. Re:Rest of World by Idbar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Pretentious! Just as the Americans.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

      If you use the notation dd-mm, you'd get a mere 15 (22-7).

    4. Re:Rest of World by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 1

      This is the first Pi day that Americans can co-celebrate with their international brethren.
      03/14/14 Vs. 14/03/14

      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    5. Re:Rest of World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but it's mostly limited to their chinese, iranian, hungarian, japanese, korean lithuanian and mongolian brethren.

      The rest of us, little-endian daters will just have to wait a few months...summer, yay!

    6. Re:Rest of World by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Lets ignore that fact this is is 14/03/2014. oblig XKCD
      I just love it when we try to find meaning in something, after we choose to ignore aspects of it.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    7. Re:Rest of World by edxwelch · · Score: 1

      In Albama they use the bibical value for pi: http://www.nmsr.org/alabama.ht...

    8. Re:Rest of World by camperdave · · Score: 1

      In the rest of the world, we have the Pi month. XX/3/14. Take that, ameridudes! Unfortunately, only every 1000 years

      In the rest of the world, XX would be the year: Y/M/D

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    9. Re:Rest of World by s.petry · · Score: 1

      To very few of us it's "Happy 4 * atan(1) Day!"

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    10. Re:Rest of World by Livius · · Score: 1

      It's merely American Pi Day to the rest of the English-speaking world. The real Pi day isn't until the 31st of April.

    11. Re:Rest of World by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Despite that being a hoax, biblical pi is about the same as pi itself once you realize the wall of the bowl had thickness to it

      http://www.purplemath.com/modu...

    12. Re:Rest of World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      D/M/Y...

    13. Re:Rest of World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are we pretentios because we celebrate the 4th of July and Thanksgiving?.. You know, you can celebrate your contries / religions holiday...How about make your own special one up... call it "Fail Day"

    14. Re:Rest of World by smeg+for+brains · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, only every 1000 years

      100 years, surely

      --
      Watch out, there are Llamas!!
  8. bought a piece of pie this morning by swschrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    tasted like chalk dust. how'd math professors get a holiday, anyway?

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  9. A little late for Tau by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We would all love to go back in time and define electrons as the having a positive charge, not a negative one, but it's a little late for that. The same is true of tau.

  10. 3-14 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Geeks can keep their pi. For real men it's steak and blow job day

  11. 3/14/15 by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...will make a even better PI day next year...

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:3/14/15 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3/14/16 is even more accurate and thus the best pi day of all.

    2. Re:3/14/15 by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Nope, 3/14/15, then 0.92653589 of a day, i.e. 3/14/15 22:14:12

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    3. Re:3/14/15 by antdude · · Score: 1

      Not for the countries that don't use that date format. I wonder if people celebrated pi day back in 3/14/1592. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    4. Re: 3/14/15 by zoefff · · Score: 1

      Even better to wait another year, if you round the number correctly ;-)

    5. Re:3/14/15 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably not, because the decimal point hadn't been invented yet. The closest thing was Simon Stevin's notation, in which pi would be written 3(0)1(1)4(2)1(3)5(4)9(5)2(6)6(7)5(8)3(9)...

    6. Re:3/14/15 by Trogre · · Score: 1

      Especially at 9:26:53am

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  12. MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Also, why don't we have a European Pi Approximation Day of 22/7? Seriously, who makes this stupid stuff up?

    1. Re:MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      July 22nd IS PI day in Europe, approximately.

    2. Re:MOD PARENT UP by camperdave · · Score: 1

      July 22nd IS PI day in Europe, approximately.

      So if I am approximately in Europe, I can celebrate?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    3. Re:MOD PARENT UP by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      It should really be July 21st, but very very late in the day.

    4. Re:MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I forbid you from making my birthday Shitty Constant Day.

    5. Re:MOD PARENT UP by donscarletti · · Score: 1

      22/7 is slightly closer to pi than 3.14 is to it, so I don't see how it could be any worse of an approximation. Technically speaking, any rational number, no matter if it is expressed as a fraction or a decimal can only be an approximation of pi. You never seriously thought that a continent that almost exclusively uses the metric system would have a worse approximation to the US did you?

      But approximations aside, the most practical way we could really have a pi day is by expressing the date as an angle, most conveniently, the ecliptic longitude of the sun, measured in radians from the vernal equinox, which would naturally make pi day coincide with the autumnal equinox.

      --
      When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
  13. More like Vi Fart, amiright? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, I see the highly overrated Vi Hart finally jumped the shark, and jumped it hard.

  14. I'd only care if there was Pie involved. by MXB2001 · · Score: 0

    How silly is the culture getting anyways.

    --
    01/01/01
  15. Pi is wrong! by StripedCow · · Score: 1

    http://www.math.utah.edu/~pala...

    --
    If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    1. Re:Pi is wrong! by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      PI isn't wrong. They just think there's a better way to calculate the dimensions of circle. You can still use PI and it will still be correct.

  16. PI! by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Informative

    3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 82148 08651 32823 06647 09384 46095 50582 23172 53594 08128 48111 74502 84102 70193 85211 05559 64462 29489 54930 38196 44288 10975 66593 34461 28475 64823 37867 83165 27120 19091 45648 56692 34603 48610 45432 66482 13393 60726 02491 41273 72458 70066 06315 58817 48815 20920 96282 92540 91715 36436 78925 90360 01133 05305 48820 46652 13841 46951 94151 16094 33057 27036 57595 91953 09218 61173 81932 61179 31051 18548 07446 23799 62749 56735 18857 52724 89122 79381 83011 94912 98336 73362 44065 66430 86021 39494 63952 24737 19070 21798 60943 70277 05392 17176 29317 67523 84674 81846 76694 05132 00056 81271 45263 56082 77857 71342 75778 96091 73637 17872 14684 40901 22495 34301 46549 58537 10507 92279 68925 89235 42019 95611 21290 21960 86403 44181 59813 62977 47713 09960 51870 72113 49999 99837 29780 49951 05973 17328 16096 31859 50244 59455 34690 83026 42522 30825 33446 85035 26193 11881 71010 00313 78387 52886 58753 32083 81420 61717 76691 47303 59825 34904 28755 46873 11595 62863 88235 37875 93751 95778 18577 80532 17122 68066 13001 92787 66111 95909 21642 01989 38095 25720 10654 85863 27886 59361 53381 82796 82303 01952 03530 18529 68995 77362 25994 13891 24972 17752 83479 13151 55748 57242 45415 06959 50829 53311 68617 27855 88907 50983 81754 63746 49393 19255 06040 09277 01671 13900 98488 24012 85836 16035 63707 66010 47101 81942 95559 61989 46767 83744 94482 55379 77472 68471 04047 53464 62080 46684 25906 94912 93313 67702 89891 52104 75216 20569 66024 05803 81501 93511 25338 24300 35587 64024 74964 73263 91419 92726 04269 92279 67823 54781 63600 93417 21641 21992 45863 15030 28618 29745 55706 74983 85054 94588 58692 69956 90927 21079 75093 02955 32116 53449 87202 75596 02364 80665 49911 98818 34797 75356 63698 07426 54252 78625 51818 41757 46728 90977 77279 38000 81647 06001 61452 49192 17321 72147 72350 14144 19735 68548 16136 11573 52552 13347 57418 49468 43852 33239 07394 14333 45477 62416 86251 89835 69485 56209 92192 22184 27255 02542 56887 67179 04946 01653 46680 49886 27232 79178 60857 84383 82796 79766 81454 10095 38837 86360 95068 00642 25125 20511 73929 84896 08412 84886 26945 60424 19652 85022 21066 11863 06744 27862 20391 94945 04712 37137 86960 95636 43719 17287 46776 46575 73962 41389 08658 32645 99581 33904 78027 59009 94657 64078 95126 94683 98352 59570 98258 22620 52248 94077 26719 47826 84826 01476 99090 26401 36394 43745 53050 68203 49625 24517 49399 65143 14298 09190 65925 09372 21696 46151 57098 58387 41059 78859 59772 97549 89301 61753 92846 81382 68683 86894 27741 55991 85592 52459 53959 43104 99725 24680 84598 72736 44695 84865 38367 36222 62609 91246 08051 24388 43904 51244 13654 97627 80797 71569 14359 97700 12961 60894 41694 86855 58484 06353 42207 22258 28488 64815 84560 28506 01684 27394 52267 46767 88952 52138 52254 99546 66727 82398 64565 96116 35488 62305 77456 49803 55936 34568 17432 41125 15076 06947 94510 96596 09402 52288 79710 89314 56691 36867 22874 89405 60101 50330 86179 28680 92087 47609 17824 93858 90097 14909 67598 52613 65549 78189 31297 84821 68299 89487 22658 80485 75640 14270 47755 51323 79641 45152 37462 34364 54285 84447 95265 86782 10511 41354 73573 95231 13427 16610 21359 69536 23144 29524 84937 18711 01457 65403 59027 99344 03742 00731 05785 39062 19838 74478 08478 48968 33214 45713 86875 19435 06430 21845 31910 48481 00537 06146 80674 91927 81911 97939 95206 14196 63428 75444 06437 45123 71819 21799 98391 01591 95618 14675 14269 12397 48940 90718 64942 31961 56794 52080 95146 55022 52316 03881 93014 20937 62137 85595 66389 37787 08303 90697 92077 34672 21825 62599 66150 14215 03068 03844 77345 49202 60541 46659 25201 49744 28507 32518 66600 21324 34088 19071 04863 31734 64965 14539 05796 26856 10055 08106 65879 69981 63574 73638 40525 71459 10289 70641 40110 97120 62804 39039 75951 56771 57700 42033 78699 36007 23055 87631 76359 42187 31251 47120 53292 81918 26186 12586 73215 79198 41484 88291 64470 60957 52706 95722 09175 67116 72291 09816

    1. Re:PI! by bjoast · · Score: 2

      This is incomplete.

    2. Re:PI! by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      At least you know how to copy and paste

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    3. Re:PI! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      85
      6672279661988578279484885 5834397518744545512965634
      4348039664205579829368043 5220277098429423253302257
      6341807039476994159791594 5300697521482933665556615
      6787364005366656416547321 7043903521329543529169414
      5990416087532018683793702 3488868947915107163785290
      2345292440773659495630510 0742108714261349745956151
      3849871375704710178795731 0422969066670214498637464
      5952808243694457897723300 4876476524133907592043401
      9634039114732023380715095 2220106825634274716460243
      3544005152126693249341967 3977041595683753555166730
      2739007497297363549645332 8886984406119649616277344
      9518273695588220757355176 6515898551909866653935494
      8106887320685990754079234 2402300925900701731960362
      2547564789406475483466477 6041146323390565134330684
      4953979070903023460461470 9616968868850140834704054
      6074295869913829668246818 5710318879065287036650832
      4319744047718556789348230 8943106828702722809736248
      0939962706074726455399253 9944280811373694338872940
      6307926159599546262462970 7062594845569034711972996
      4090894180595343932512362 3550813494900436427852713
      8315912568989295196427287 5739469142725343669415323
      6100453730488198551706594 1217352462589548730167600
      2988659257866285612496655 2353382942878542534048308
      3307016537228563559152534 7844598183134112900199920
      5981352205117336585640782 6484942764411376393866924
      8031183644536985891754426 4739988228462184490087776
      9776312795722672655562596 2825427653183001340709223
      3436577916012809317940171 8598599933849235495640057
      0995585611349802524990669 8423301735035804408116855
      2653117099570899427328709 2584878944364600504108922
      6691783525870785951298344 1729535195378855345737426
      0859029081765155780390594 6408735061232261120093731
      0804854852635722825768203 4160504846627750450031262
      0080079980492548534694146 9775164932709504934639382
      4322271885159740547021482 8971117779237612257887347
      7188196825462981268685817 0507402725502633290449762
      7789442362167411918626943 9650671515779586756482399
      3917604260176338704549901 7614364120469218237076488
      7834196896861181558158736 0629386038101712158552726
      6830082383404656475880405 1380801633638874216371406
      4354955618689641122821407 5330265510042410489678352
      8588290243670904887118190 9094945331442182876618103
      1007354770549815968077200 9474696134360928614849417
      8501718077930681085469000 9445899527942439813921350
      5586422196483491512639012 8038320010977386806628779
      2397180146134324457264009 7374257007359210031541508
      9367930081699805365202760 0727749674584002836240534
      6037263416554259027601834 8403068113818551059797056
      6400750942608788573579603 7324514146786703688098806
      0971642584975951380693094 4940151542222194329130217
      3912538355915031003330325 1117491569691745027149433
      1515588540392216409722910 1129035521815762823283182
      3425483261119128009282525 6190205263016391147724733
      1485739107775874425387611 7465786711694147764214411
      1126358355387136101102326 7987756410246824032264834
      6417663698066378576813492 0453022408197278564719839
      6308781543221166912246415 9117767322532643356861461
      8654522268126887268445968 4424161078540167681420808
      8502800541436131462308210 2594173756238994207571362
      7516745731891894562835257 0441335437585753426986994
      7254703165661399199968262 8247270641336222178923903
      1760854289437339356188916 5125042440400895271983787
      3864805847268954624388234 3751788520143956005710481
      1949884239060613695734231 5590796703461491434478863
      6041031823507365027785908 9757827273130504889398900
      9923913503373250855982655 8670892426124294736701939
      0772713070686917092646254 8423240748550366080136046
      6895118400936686095463250 0214585293095000090715105
      8236267293264537382104938 7249966993394246855164832
      6113414611068026744663733 4375340764294026682973865
      2209357016263846485285149 0362932019919968828517183
      9536691345222444708045923 9660281715655156566611135
      9823112250628905854914509 7157553900243931535190902
      1071194573002438801766150 3527086260253788179751947
      80610137150044899

    4. Re:PI! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I heard from Carl Sagan that in base-11 the digits of pi eventually look like this:

      http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ACbSm4Vfw54/UaEnPHoBzmI/AAAAAAAAAss/HyYS1AKPOa8/s1600/Circle+w+0%27s+&+1%27s.jpg

    5. Re:PI! by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      If you need more than about 32 digits for your calculations, you grossly misunderstand something.

      Second, that's not a factorial.

    6. Re:PI! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All you really need is 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 4197

    7. Re:PI! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed, plus it would have been classier to truncate the number with an ellipsis and the last few digits of pi.

    8. Re:PI! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think you will find that pi! is actually ~7.18808272898.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:PI! by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      If you need more than about 32 digits for your calculations, you grossly misunderstand something.

      Actually, there is a practical limiting factor to the number of digits of Pi you actually need for calculations. 39 digits will get you the circumference of the observable universe within 1 hydrogen atom difference. That is, the approximation of the circumference of the observable universe when compared versus using more digits of pi, the difference is smaller than the size of a hydrogen atom. (The approximation is slightly larger because of the rounding up).

      That also sets the fundamental limit as once you get the error below the Planck limit, more digits are meaningless.

      For most practical calculations, a handful of digits is more than sufficient.

    10. Re:PI! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Contact spoiler!!!!!

      That's the actual end of Contact -- the aliens tell Ellie & Friends there are messages billions of digits out in transcendental numbers...things which could only be put there by an even higher power who created math and logic. It was what guided the aliens and inspired them to encode layers of messages for young civilizations.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    11. Re:PI! by Livius · · Score: 2

      TL; DR.

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

      How in the world did you get that past the filters?

    13. Re:PI! by NoOneInParticular · · Score: 1

      This is impressive. Unfortunately, you're off by a factor 2.

    14. Re:PI! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I was a bit disappointed by that. Good old "skeptical" Carl was so enchanted by the possibility of advanced aliens that he succumbed to ID hogwash, proposing that there's an "ultimate designer" who put meaning into the universe, and it's discoverable through natural science. I expected better from him, of all people.

  17. 3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by jopet · · Score: 0, Troll

    even more idiotic than using absurd units like F, inches, miles and ounces.
    You are embarrassing yourself, US.

    1. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not really.

      It better matches how it is spoken and written in other forms.. It March 14th (3/14). Saying it is14th of March (14/3) does is correct but more verbose and does not roll of the tongue as easy.

    2. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Collective+0-0009 · · Score: 1

      It really doesn't matter how you write the damn thing. When viewed in whole, it means the same thing. Also, that is how it is spoken; and it is spoken that way because the day of the month is absolutely useless with out context of a month. Even just a month can tell you if it was winter or summer, but 14 only tells you rent was due 13 days ago, unless they were talking about April.

      But thanks for giving me a reason to post at 00:10 AM, because I am leaving work at 30:3 PM today! Oh, what, smallest to largest doesn't work on that measurement... huh, seems arbitrary.

      --
      I finally updated my sig, but now it's lame.
    3. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It better matches how it is spoken IN AMERICA you tit. For the rest of the world, saying March 14th makes people think you are a retarded merkin.

    4. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by jopet · · Score: 1

      I guess that is also why you write down "seventeen" as 710? oh wait ...

    5. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by jopet · · Score: 1

      it matters in all contexts where it is not clear from the outset if the date was written following the dumb US convention or how nearly everyone else on this world does it.
      Although, personally I would actually even prefer the MM-DD convention when it would only be used with the ISO way to write dates: YYYY-MM-DD which should really be the only way how anyone writes down dates.

    6. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is spoken that way IN AMERICA you nob-end, not in the rest of the world!

    7. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's like saying English doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as Spanish (or any other language for that matter), simply because it's the way you are used to speaking.

      From my own personal experience, Spanish flows much more faster and effortlessly than English and "catorce de marzo" is quite easy to speak, while "marzo catorce" is just weird. Also, setting the threshold for verbose at just two letters in a single phoneme seems like overkill, if you were comparing "march 14th" to "the fourtheenth day of the third month by the gregorian calendar in the year of our lord two thousand and fourteen, two hundred and seventh after the independence of these here fine united states"...then yeah, verbose. But c'mon

    8. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by slapout · · Score: 1

      Why is this a bad way? You're writing the month first, which doesn't change often, then your writing down the day which does change often. It makes perfect sense.

      --
      Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
    9. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad there are so few pieces of Eurotrash that are worth talking to, otherwise that might be a good point.

    10. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's more to the RoW than Europe you prick.

    11. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or insisting on writing am and pm to disambiguate instead of being clear in the first place.

    12. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this a bad way? You're writing the month first, which doesn't change often, then your writing down the day which does change often. It makes perfect sense.

      Your logic is off, since it is then followed by a year, which is even less changed than the month. For real the best notion is then: YYYY/MM/DD (especially when sorting in code)

    13. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, the pain caused by people who name files not using standard date format. Relying on last modified date for directory sorting only takes you so far.

    14. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by jeremyp · · Score: 1

      Why is this a bad way? You're writing the month first, which doesn't change often, then your writing down the day which does change often. It makes perfect sense.

      So you Americans put the year first then... ... oh, wait, no you don't.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    15. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      True, but only Europeans are insecure enough to actually use a date format as a means of feeling better about themselves. How pathetic; they should see a psychiatrist about that massive inferiority complex that plagues them so.

    16. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same reason no intelligent person would write hour:seconds:minutes, you either do DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD, I understand the "we always did it this way 'round here" mentality, but saying it is a good idea in the first place is absurd.

    17. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by Tyler+Durden · · Score: 1

      You seem upset. You should eat some pie.

      --
      Happy people make bad consumers.
    18. Re:3/14 is an idiotic way to write down a date. by jopet · · Score: 1

      that would be true and I would fully agree if you would write the year before the month. I would immediately change my mind about this if everyone would write dates year, then month, then day, or just month, then day or just day.

  18. Radians are wrong by camperdave · · Score: 1

    If you want to use pi, then you should be using the angle subtended by the length of the diameter, not the radius, as the basis of your angle measurements. Be consistent.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Radians are wrong by dkf · · Score: 1

      If you want to use pi, then you should be using the angle subtended by the length of the diameter, not the radius, as the basis of your angle measurements. Be consistent.

      The reason why radians are what they are is because then the length of the arc (of a unit circle) that subtends the angle R is exactly R. That's really convenient. (You could use diameter, but in real work you've got the radius far more often than the diameter.)

      And any other ratio (especially tau!) doesn't satisfy the Eulerian identity, so can't be nearly so beautiful.

      --
      "Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
    2. Re:Radians are wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      e^(i*tau) = 1. Your move.

    3. Re:Radians are wrong by camperdave · · Score: 1

      The reason why radians are what they are is because then the length of the arc (of a unit circle) that subtends the angle R is exactly R.

      Yes, and how many radians are there in a circle? Tau.

      And any other ratio (especially tau!) doesn't satisfy the Eulerian identity, so can't be nearly so beautiful.

      e^i*tau=1 seems a lot more beautiful than e^i*pi=-1 to me. It gets rid of that ugly minus one.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    4. Re:Radians are wrong by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      e^i*tau=1 seems a lot more beautiful than e^i*pi=-1 to me. It gets rid of that ugly minus one.

      e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0 includes all "fundamental" numbers without doing anything redundant like 1+0, so arguably it is more beautiful.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    5. Re:Radians are wrong by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Pi isn't fundamental. It is Tau/2.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:Radians are wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tau isn't fundamental. It's Pi*2.

      See? Two can play this silly game. Only difference is, one of us realizes it's a silly game and the other doesn't.

    7. Re:Radians are wrong by camperdave · · Score: 2

      Yes, it is a silly game. Two of us know I am right, but only one of us is willing to admit it.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    8. Re:Radians are wrong by j-beda · · Score: 1

      well played sir, well played.

    9. Re:Radians are wrong by NoOneInParticular · · Score: 1
      e^{\pi i} + 1 = 0 is written simpler as e^{\pi i} = -1. So yes, Euler's formula is doing something redundant. And how come '0' is fundamental? It is just 1-1.

      e^{\tau i} = 1.

    10. Re:Radians are wrong by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      And how come '0' is fundamental? It is just 1-1.

      0 is the identity element for addition. You can't really define the concept of "-1" without the concept of zero. Of course, it's also nice to have multiplication, with its identity element 1. Now you have some basics for building an algebra, and you can eventually construct fields like rational, real and complex numbers, and beyond.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  19. ISO 8601 by ericloewe · · Score: 1

    I will take this opportunity to complain about the American way to write dates, which is pretty stupid, as it's neither big-endian or little-endian and leads to massive confusions for any day numbered 12 or less.

    ISO 8601 makes perfect sense as dates are represented in a big-endian format, like all other human-readable numbers (One thousand two hundred and thirty four is 1234, not 4321).

    I perfectly understand those who prefer little-endian dates (I used to until I learned of ISO 8601), but have a strong distaste for the crazy American way, which makes deciphering dates profoundly confusing.

    tl;dr It's PI month!

    1. Re:ISO 8601 by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      I also hate when people use slashes or dots to write dates.

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    2. Re:ISO 8601 by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Yes, this and putting the dollar/currency sign before the number. Some people, including the people in Quebec put the dollar sign after the number. Which makes a lot more sense, if you think of the $ (or other currency) as the units of measurement. Plus, it's the way we say it when read. We don't say "I have dollars 2". We say "I have 2 dollars" so it should be written 2$.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:ISO 8601 by Collective+0-0009 · · Score: 1

      Actually some cultures say it "1 dollar 99", which would be written 1$99, and could even replace using the decimal point! Imagine the bandwidth savings world wide!

      Seriously though, I like it in front. I like how Spanish puts the question/exclamation mark before the sentence so I know how to interpret it as I am reading. This is similar to the date. The day of the month has very little meaning without the context of the month, so instead of wonder how to process that 14 until you say March, I can already know you said March, it's spring time, my birthday is soon, and then when you put in the number I know it's Pi Day even without the year.

      --
      I finally updated my sig, but now it's lame.
    4. Re:ISO 8601 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which format commonly used in the US annoys you 2014-03-14 like on bank transactions and logs or 3-14-2014 on letters or when they spell out the entire month March 14th, 2014 on a formal document or contract. I'm confused, isn't there differences between formal and informal correspondences where you are?

    5. Re:ISO 8601 by munch117 · · Score: 2

      No no, it makes sense to base pi day on American date notation. After all, pi also is irrational!

    6. Re:ISO 8601 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The confusion in this method of picking Pi Day clearly comes from trying to assign an irrational number to a day on the Gregorian calendar, a process which is clearly flawed. The joy of Pi is that it describes the arc of a circle, which is rather close to the shape of the orbit of the Earth. That orbit, of course, defines the year. Therefore, using the solar year as the foundation, we can (somewhat arbitrarily) call the northern hemisphere's winter solstice Day 0. Once we do this, the spring equinox will therefore be Pi/2 Day, the vernal solstice is the actual Pi Day, and the fall equinox is 3/2 Pi Day. Then, of course, we start over.

      There's no need for silly dating conventions, when the universe defines the day for us!

      Happy week before Pi/2 Day!

    7. Re:ISO 8601 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also hate when people use slashes or dots to write dates.

      Perhaps this isn't the site for you, then.

    8. Re:ISO 8601 by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      I prefer ISO 8601 format because it's easy to sort and I use it all the time. On my bills it's spelled out like you would say it March 14th, 2014 at the top and the line items are in ISO 8601 format. My power bill is the one exception, but it's confusing all around not just the date format. We are moving away from the MMDDYYYY format that everyone outside the US appears to hate, at least in some areas.

    9. Re:ISO 8601 by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      Imagine the bandwidth savings world wide!

      Using your post as an example, 1/646... or approximately one and one half tenths of a percent bandwidth savings.

      I can feel the latencies dropping already.

    10. Re:ISO 8601 by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      The confusion in this method of picking Pi Day clearly comes from trying to assign an irrational number to a day on the Gregorian calenda

      Julian it is, then. Either November 9 or November 10, depending on leap years.

      Suck it, Tau day proponents.

    11. Re:ISO 8601 by ericloewe · · Score: 1

      That's far less horrible, though. At least the meaning isn't hard to decipher.

    12. Re:ISO 8601 by ericloewe · · Score: 1

      That one really bugs me too. Currency is a unit, units are to be placed after the least significant digit.

    13. Re:ISO 8601 by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Formal or informal, what there should not be is confusion. Take the date 12/8/10 for example. Is it in 2012, or 2010? August, or December? I am in Canada, and I see Y/M/D, M/D/Y, and D/M/Y formatted dates on receipts all the time. Is printing a three character month and a four digit year really all that hard?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    14. Re:ISO 8601 by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Here's a quick comparison:

      Fields in the correct position: European: 1; American: 0
      Fields in the correct order: European: 0; American: 2

      By that measure the American style gets two things correct; twice as many as the European.

      In addition, when the year is omitted (very common), the results are even more striking:

      Fields correctly ordered and placed: European: none; American: all.

      I don't think anyone has anything to brag about here, except perhaps the Chinese and Japanese. :)

    15. Re:ISO 8601 by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Formal or informal, what there should not be is confusion. Take the date 12/8/10 for example. Is it in 2012, or 2010? August, or December? I am in Canada, and I see Y/M/D, M/D/Y, and D/M/Y formatted dates on receipts all the time. Is printing a three character month and a four digit year really all that hard?

      Canada has officially moved to ISO 8601: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D... at least according to the Treasury Board and the Canadian Standards Association since 1997 it looks like.

      Man does it bug me when they don't use a four digit year! I can't wait until 2032 when that part at least will no longer be ambiguous.

    16. Re:ISO 8601 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would unfortunately coincide with the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

    17. Re:ISO 8601 by ericloewe · · Score: 1

      At least what you call the European style can be deciphered in the absence of the American style.

      And how the hell do you come up with two fields in the right position?

      ISO 8601: 2014-03-15
      American: 03/15/2014
      European: 15/03/2014

      Is see that American style has exactly zero overlap with ISO 8601, while the European style has one.

      And one final thing: under ISO 8601, you must only drop precision. This means, you can say 2014-03, but you can't say 03-15. While I could think of a few situation where this is a limitation, I have never run into any of them. You don't write 00004853 when you want a number around 98764853, you write 98760000, so why should dates be any different?

    18. Re:ISO 8601 by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      And how the hell do you come up with two fields in the right position?

      Your reading skills are weak. I said zero in the right position, but two (MD) in the right order.

      And one final thing: under ISO 8601, you must only drop precision. This means, you can say 2014-03, but you can't say 03-15.

      That's silly. How do I (someone who routinely uses ISO8601) describe my birthday, or any other annual event? Certainly not by reversing the order of MD from what ISO prescribes, even if ISO won't certify the result as a valid date. Christmas last year was 2013-12-25. Christmas in general is *-12-25, or 12-25 for short.

    19. Re:ISO 8601 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically, it's spelled out like YOU would say it, as an American. The RoW writes it differently and also says it differently.

  20. Tauism by tepples · · Score: 2

    The tau that can be eaten is not the true Tau.

    1. Re:Tauism by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 1

      The tau that are eaten become the true Tau.

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
    2. Re:Tauism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Liar, my girlfriend is named is Tau

    3. Re:Tauism by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Liar, you don't have a girlfriend and even if you did, i specifically heard you say "if i cannot fry it, i aint eating it" just the other day.

  21. Re:Pi + Einstein + Life, The Universe, and Everyth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That.

    And also, I love pi day because it makes nerds grumpy. And I loooooooooove grumpy nerds. They're very cute (and also potentially dangerous, hence the AC).

  22. 30 days hath September, April... by tepples · · Score: 1

    There is no 31st day of April. Europe uses 22 July.

  23. Waiting for 6/28/31 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm personally waiting for the full Tau Day.

    Unless Apophis crashes in to us, that is. God damned snakes.

  24. I would have clicked on the MIT link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would have clicked on the MIT link, but then thought of Aaron Schwartz, and thought, no. I don't care how 'good natured and fun' the seem, they aren't geeks over there, they are corporate rat bastards. That's burned karma you can't ever get back.

  25. lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thus begins the yearly debate over Pi Day vs. Tau Day (June 28).

    Proving once again that when you get past all the nonsense, we really just hate eachother.

  26. Re:Pi + Einstein + Life, The Universe, and Everyth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not only is today Pi day, Albert Einstein's birthday, and the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, but also Men's Valentines day AKA Steak and BJ day!

  27. Today is half Tau day by mtbink.com · · Score: 1

    I am waiting for Tau Day not Pi Day.

    1. Re:Today is half Tau day by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      I am waiting for Tau Day not Pi Day.

      Rho Rho!

      You made a punny!

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  28. Re:I thought the year had 12 months? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rtfs, it clearly says in American notation.

  29. isn't American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but standard date notation works: 2014-03-14

    (other people call it international notation but I don't believe in nations)

  30. Better in hexadecimal by gregor-e · · Score: 1

    You can calculate any arbitrary digit of pi in hexadecimal without calculating the preceding digits.

  31. Screw Pi Di by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Today is Steak and BJ day!

    1. Re:Screw Pi Di by scuzzlebutt · · Score: 1

      I'll have my steak medium rare and my BJ well done. Bazinga!

      --
      In C++, your friends can see your privates.
  32. Steak and BJ day by Winter · · Score: 3, Informative

    It also happens to be Steak and BJ day...
    http://www.officialsteakandblo...

    --
    main(i){putchar(177663314>>6*(i-1)&63|!!(i<5)<<6)&&main(++i);}
  33. Happy Pi Day! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eat pie today! Increase your circumference!

  34. Monoprice by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    Monoprice has a "3.14% off your next order" sale going on, only for today.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    1. Re:Monoprice by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Use code "Pi314".

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  35. King County Metro wished 3 and 14 bus Happy Pi Day by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    The King County Metro twitter account wished the bus routes 3 and 14 a Happy Pi Day today.

    You can probably read about on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website at Seattle PI is my guess.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  36. Re:I thought the year had 12 months? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know. Still irrational.

  37. How about defining an epoch from pi day? by sjbe · · Score: 2

    I always thought that the epoch on a computer should be measured from something like March 14, 1592 @ 6:53:59am (3.14159265359)

    Or January 6, 1803 @ 3:9:8am (golden ratio)
    Or Feb 7, 1828 @ 1:8:28am (e)
    etc

    1. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Month-Day-Year format is irrational. Year-Month-Day, or Day-Month-Year is what you want, with Year-Month-Day being preferred.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by s.petry · · Score: 1

      No offense, but I think you are missing the significance of Epoch time in thinking this. Even if you stated something like "math is related to computing" the number systems are different. Base 10 vs. Base 2 and all that.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    3. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Only if you ignore all the computers and calculators from befor electronics. Yes, i mean the people that used to fill calculation rooms and compute complexed math problems for sales drones, business processes, and loan officers.

      Its not like the term computer was born in the 70s.

    4. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by s.petry · · Score: 1

      Epoch has nothing to do with any of those things.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    5. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Exactly which is why the GP's point is just as valid as any in base 10 or base 2. Its an arbitrary point of reference.

    6. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by s.petry · · Score: 1

      I believe you are lost. Try reading the whole comment again and ponder. It's really not that complex.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    7. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      No, i am not lost.

    8. Re:How about defining an epoch from pi day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Month-Day-Year format is irrational.

      No, there is in fact a reason for it. Maybe it's not the best reason; maybe you don't like the reason. That doesn't mean it's not a reason.

  38. Pi Still Correct by apharmdq · · Score: 1

    As much as I've enjoyed Vi Hart's videos in the past, the whole tau movement always struck me as a bit of a hipster attempt to convert a system that works fine as it is.
    Yes, tau makes some of the more basic equations simpler, but it also makes some of the more complex equations messier when compared to pi.
    http://www.thepimanifesto.com/

    1. Re:Pi Still Correct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I especially liked the part where he described "A = n/2 sin 2pi/n" as "Clearly, another win for pi."

    2. Re:Pi Still Correct by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Yes, tau makes some of the more basic equations simpler, but it also makes some of the more complex equations messier when compared to pi.
      http://www.thepimanifesto.com/

      Often though, the "simpler" equation with the pi in it is masking the more illustrative tau/2 that arises from the structure of the relationship. The reason that the area of a circle is (1/2)(tau)(r^2) due to the same type of integration that gives us (1/2)(m)(v^2) for kinetic energy or (1/2)(k)(x^2) for energy of a spring for example.

      The fact that 2pi appears so very often in math and physics is a strong indication that it is a more "fundamental" quantity.

      If anything helps a larger fraction of the student body deal with trigonometry and radian angle measurement, it would be a great win, in my opinion.

      In any case, I have more hope that the US will go all in on the Metric System than Tau will make significant inroads against Pi in my lifetime.

  39. Ridiculous by shaitand · · Score: 1

    3/14 is Steak and Blowjob day.

  40. WHOOOSH! by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Month-Day-Year format is irrational.

    Explain to me any part of our date or time system that is actually rational. Months are inconsistent lengths, the number of seconds in a minute or minutes in an hour or hours in a day or days in a week is an arbitrary divisor, the SI unit of time (second) is arbitrary, the year is based on the birth of a mythical religious figurehead, etc ad nauseum. Because we insist on keeping time based on rotations of our planet and orbits of the sun we jump through all sorts of contortions to keep the calendar in sync with those.

    And you actually care whether the month or the year comes first in a whimsical choice of epoch? WHOOOOSHH!!!!

    Besides these are irrational numbers so for once it actually makes sense.

    1. Re:WHOOOSH! by camperdave · · Score: 1

      So we should use a format that makes no sense because the rest of the system makes no sense? In every other taxonomy we progress from largest group to the smallest, or from the smallest to the largest. Only in dates do people start in the middle.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:WHOOOSH! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "WHOOOSH!" - This doesn't mean what you think it means.

    3. Re:WHOOOSH! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Not really. It would be common to say on march 3rd 1980 something happened. Its more condensed then saying on the 3rd of march, 1980 something happened.

    4. Re:WHOOOSH! by camperdave · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter how you SAY it. What matters is how you WRITE it, and unless you write it in an unambiguous format, you are not communicating fully or properly.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    5. Re:WHOOOSH! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      I would think writing it as it is spoken would be the most unambiguous format possible. To insist otherwise is a lot like demanding 3 be pronounced as two or cat instead of as three.

    6. Re:WHOOOSH! by sjbe · · Score: 1

      So we should use a format that makes no sense because the rest of the system makes no sense?

      Dude, let it go. The fact that for whatever reason we use month first (which I agree is odd) isn't going to change. People have been doing it that way for a LONG time now and in practical terms it's not really a big problem. It's only confusing if you switch between formats. If you want to rail against something how about starting with getting the US to switch to metric or something else that is more than an occasional minor irritation.

    7. Re:WHOOOSH! by sjbe · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter how you SAY it. What matters is how you WRITE it, and unless you write it in an unambiguous format, you are not communicating fully or properly.

      The only time it is ambiguous is if you switch between formats. Big endian and little endian are just as arbitrary as m/d/y and potentially just as confusing if you aren't sure which of the three is being used. As long as the convention is understood it isn't a problem. I agree that m/d/y is kind of dumb but its here and isn't going to change anytime soon.

    8. Re:WHOOOSH! by camperdave · · Score: 1

      I would think writing it as it is spoken would be the most unambiguous format possible. To insist otherwise is a lot like demanding 3 be pronounced as two or cat instead of as three.

      But people aren't writing it as it is spoken, unless you are trying to argue that "2" is pronounced "February". Besides, just as many people say "third of April" as "April the third".

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    9. Re:WHOOOSH! by camperdave · · Score: 1

      The US is painfully self isolated. In Canada, you'll see all three of YMD, DMY and MDY. You'll see two digit years and 4 digit years. It is a mess and it would not surprise me if people have lost their lives over it. All I'm suggesting is that people use 4 digit years and alphabetic months. That would make it completely unambiguous no matter which endian you use.

      ... and don't get me started on the US and the metric system.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    10. Re:WHOOOSH! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Besides, just as many people say "third of April" as "April the third".

      I guess then both ways are just as valid and all this bickering is pedantic BS over personal preference rather than logic or anything of value.

      Hence we are back to the real world.

  41. pi is first letter in greek periphereia by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Means a circular line. Root of English word periphery. Mathematicians used the word peripheria, then abbreviated its first letter to describe the length of a circle.

  42. Re:Pi + Einstein + Life, The Universe, and Everyth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Among my circle of friends, we call this Pi-'N-'Stein Day and celebrate by eating meat pies with steins of our favorite beers.

  43. May Fourth by scuzzlebutt · · Score: 1

    I'm waiting for 5/4. May the Fourth be With You. Star Wars Day.

    --
    In C++, your friends can see your privates.
  44. The PI Song (Kate Bush) by fricc · · Score: 1

    Did you know that you could sing PI, in extended precision?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZSHr5E7fZY
      - Fabio

  45. Pi day is next year by arit · · Score: 2

    Pi day should be next year: 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.58 ...

  46. Next year: 03/14/15/9:26:53.59 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Next year is the real Pi Day 03/14/15/9:26:53.59

  47. Pi day is overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I prefer Tau day.

    1. Re:Pi day is overrated by j-beda · · Score: 1

      I prefer Tau day.

      Yeah, we get to eat TWO PIES!

  48. Reciting pi while juggling 3 balls? by madenglishbloke · · Score: 1

    I would be more impressed if they were juggling 3.14 balls...

  49. SXSW by smaddox · · Score: 1

    No mention of the smoke trails left in the sky by 5 planes writing out the digits of pi at SXSW yesterday? Given, they were a day early, but it was still freaking amazing!

  50. pizza and pi by yo303 · · Score: 1

    If you eat pie today, you will increase your circumference by 2*pi*dr.

    And if the volume of a pizza of radius z and thickness a is pi*z*z*a, and its density is p, and the Earth's mass times the gravitational constant is u and its distance from the center is l, the force pulling on that pizza is pi*z*z*a*p*u / l*l.

  51. Not only PI day ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The whole March is PI month this year

  52. Just over 364 days to prepare for the big one! by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 2

    Next year's Pi Day will make all other Pi Days any of us will experience pale in comparison. For it will be

    3-14-15!!?!

    Not only that, but it will contain TWO Pi minutes! The first at 9:26 in the morning, and the second at 9:26 in the evening.

    .

    So it is not yet too late to begin preparing for the momentous events. But do not delay! These precious minutes will never come around again!

    --
    Will
  53. More importantly PI Month!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Also remember it is PI Month: March 2014: 3.14, this celebration should ivertake any other "_____ history month" as is comes around once ever hundred years.

    Most of us will not be alive for abnther PI month, those of that will, will more than likely be Borg.

  54. Re:Pi + Einstein + Life, The Universe, and Everyth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So... the logical extension of to Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, is having 3 pies... I'm going to become all wise next year!

  55. Pi! - wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pi factorial would give a completely different answer

  56. i missed it by jaq1an · · Score: 1

    Can we do it again on the 22 July... 22/7 :)

  57. Pi month? by Dabido · · Score: 1

    March, 3rd month 2014 ... 3/14 . Every day is something divided by Pi, example 17/3/14 ... (except in USA).

    --
    Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)