[ArtK78]

I thought I would pass along an article which appeared today on my firm's internal website, written by one of the more imaginitive attorneys in the office:



3.14159265…


Hard to believe, but Pi Day is here yet again!

March 14 (3.14, get it?) is of course the day universally recognized as the date for ceremonies and festivals celebrating π (Pi), the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Our beloved COO, Ken Calemmo, has in the past brought in several tasty pies for distribution on this holiday, though I’ve no information of whether that will happen this year.

I like to indulge in piphilology, not just on Pi Day, but year round. Please don’t think less of me for this, as society today is much more open-minded and forgiving of “alternate” life styles of this nature. I have gotten as high as 41, but the current record for memorizing the (endless) digits of π is 67,890. Another harmless pastime is pilish, that is, writing a story or poem where the lengths of the consecutive words make out the digits of π. A short, common example:

How I need a drink, alcoholic in nature, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics!

That of course comes to 314159265358979…

If you prefer a musical alternative, I strongly recommend the Physics Chanteuse, Professor Lynda Williams, who performs numerous songs concerning equations in which π figures prominently. See for example:

http://www.youtube.c...l?feature=watch

Which is all about Gauss’s law for the electrical field, in which pi is integral.

However you and your family choose to celebrate, no matter what your personal religious beliefs, have a safe and happy Pi Day!

[Lord Molyb]

The only digits of pi I know are
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582
23172535940812848111... I'm sure that people here know more.
sorry broke the format, fixed

[mikeh]

You might want to check out one of my favourite artists: Kate Bush. She does a song named Pi, a good part of which consists of her singing the individual numbers of Pi to about 150 decimal places. It is truly far better than it sounds, and is one of my favourite Kate Bush songs. It is far better, imo, than her latest album which includes Steven Fry reciting 50 synonyms for snow and a cut about making love to a snowman (who tragically, tho perhaps predictably, melts).

I am probably spoiling it for you, since you have memorized only the first 41 digits, but I have read that Kate is perfect for the first 55, but later screws up big time. It doesn't detract from the beauty of the song even now that I know about the mistakes.

[mikeh]

Lord Molyb, on 2013-March-13, 13:39, said:

The only digits of pi I know are
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582
23172535940812848111... I'm sure that people here know more.
sorry broke the format, fixed

Knowing all the digits is trivial. I can recite them for as long as you want. Here they are: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.


Oh, you want them in the correct order?

[broze]

Of course we should all really be celebrating June 28th instead.

[hrothgar]

Akamai gives us free pie on pi day

[ArtK78]

broze, on 2013-March-13, 15:41, said:

Of course we should all really be celebrating June 28th instead.

You can celebrate twice as much on June 28.

[GreenMan]

broze, on 2013-March-13, 15:41, said:

Of course we should all really be celebrating June 28th instead.

There will be celebrations all around.

[Hanoi5]

I learnt 3,1416 and that was it.

[barmar]

hrothgar, on 2013-March-13, 17:10, said:

Akamai gives us free pie on pi day

One of the things I miss about not working there any more.

[gwnn]

I'm still amazed by 355/113 and nobody will ever stop me from being amazed.

[GreenMan]

gwnn, on 2013-March-14, 01:18, said:

I'm still amazed by 355/113 and nobody will ever stop me from being amazed.

That used to fascinate me 24/7 but now it's just 22/7.

[Zelandakh]

gwnn, on 2013-March-14, 01:18, said:

I'm still amazed by 355/113 and nobody will ever stop me from being amazed.

Wait 'til you see 103993/33102 then - it will blow you away.

[gwnn]

Zelandakh, on 2013-March-14, 04:20, said:

Wait 'til you see 103993/33102 then - it will blow you away.

It does not, just as 314159265358979/100000000000000 does not.

[jjbrr]

so today is like reddit's 4/20?

[mr1303]

Should be 31st April, not 14th March...

Oh wait.

[el mister]

I was in the shop buying a dvd earlier - on the cover it said 3.141592 stars out of 5. Hang on, I said to myself, this dvd looks pirated.

[y66]

Pi

by Wisława Szymborska

The admirable number pi:
three point one four one.
All the following digits are also initial,
five nine two because it never ends.
It can’t be comprehended six five three five at a glance,
eight nine by calculation,
seven nine or imagination,
not even three two three eight by wit, that is, by comparison
four six to anything else
two six four three in the world.
The longest snake on earth calls it quits at about forty feet.
Likewise, snakes of myth and legend, though they may hold out a bit longer.
The pageant of digits comprising the number pi
doesn’t stop at the page’s edge.
It goes on across the table, through the air,
over a wall, a leaf, a bird’s nest, clouds, straight into the sky,
through all the bottomless, bloated heavens.
Oh how brief — a mouse tail, a pigtail — is the tail of a comet!
How feeble the star’s ray, bent by bumping up against space!
While here we have two three fifteen three hundred nineteen
my phone number your shirt size the year
nineteen hundred and seventy-three the sixth floor
the number of inhabitants sixty-five cents
hip measurement two fingers a charade, a code,
in which we find hail to thee, blithe spirit, bird thou never wert
alongside ladies and gentlemen, no cause for alarm,
as well as heaven and earth shall pass away,
but not the number pi, oh no, nothing doing,
it keeps right on with its rather remarkable five,
its uncommonly fine eight,
its far from final seven,
nudging, always nudging a sluggish eternity
to continue.

[Cyberyeti]

mikeh, on 2013-March-13, 13:51, said:

It is far better, imo, than her latest album which includes Steven Fry reciting 50 synonyms for snow and a cut about making love to a snowman (who tragically, tho perhaps predictably, melts).

Also probably better than the Bloodhound gang song "Foxtrot uniform charlie kilo" which is basically a number of euphemisms for something else, although does feature a cool car and some filthy banana eating in the video.