Ethiopian tribesmen can only double or halve numbers - by using pebbles as counters. By halving and doubling, they take any two numbers, multiply them and come out with the right answer.

For example, if a tribesman wants to buy 13 sheep at 15 Ethiopian dollars each, here's how he works it out...

Put 13 in a left column, and 15 in a right column. Halve the left figure - you get 6 1/2... ignore the 1/2 (Ethiopians don't know anything about fractions). Double the right-hand figure. Keep this up until the left-hand figure is 1. You should now have:

13 15
6 30
3 60
1 120

Even numbers in the left column are evil to the superstitious tribesmen, and must be destroyed - together with their guilty partners. So scratch out 6 and its partner 30. Now add the right-hand column and you have the correct answer: 195. Try this with any two numbers - it doesn't matter which side is halved or doubled - the answer is always right!

 

12 hours at work today, slaving over the Windows kernel debugger...

I definitely haven't got it in me to figure this one out tonight, Ninh... Maybe tomorrow.

 

And that shouldn't matter since both are a factor of two in opposite directions.

If I had Excel on this computer I would spend some time with this. I'm more an Excel geek than a math geek.

 

"pretty cool"


"math"

 

Y'know, I spent an entire year in college deriving theorems and eventually proving that 5th degree polynomials have no general solution.

Yup, pretty cool.

 

so, if aliens don't use binary or primes they probably think we are spewing jibberish....




guess that's no too far off.....

 

I like 13 and 16. I don't like 7.

I can only use numbers that are those numbers divided by 2 or raised to the power of 4.

if any of those numbers are divisible by two then I must eat bacon.

 

They would indubitably speak Momish.

 

17 is my favorite number.

I don't have a good mathematical reason -- other than it being prime -- but I just dig it.

 

float b=13 or 16
if 2((7-7)=2/b)
then [eat bacon]
return to start