My Favorite Number

Do you have a favorite number? It may seem like a weird question to ask, but think about it a minute. Is it any stranger than asking if you have a favorite color? Or favorite food? It may, at first, and I suspect that's because most of us don't live in a culture that attributes the same amount of pleasure to numbers as that which one derives from, say, a big slice of New York-style pepperoni pizza.

Image is (C) Adam Cole/NPR

Recently, at his blog "Krulwich Wonders" Robert Krulwich (who co-hosts Radiolab, one of my favorite public radio shows) wrote about a "unique experiment" thought up by Alex Bellos. Bellos, who Krulwich describes as, "a writer, math enthusiast, and nut," came up with a deceptively simple idea: to ask the public to tell him their favorite number, and list the reasons why. Krulwich's article explains the experiment and talks about some of the responses Bellos has received so far. You can take a look (and if you haven't listened to Radiolab, grab a podcast while you're at it) but my reason for writing here is to talk about my favorite number, 808.

Here's what I wrote on the Favourite Number site:

808 is my favorite number, because it's a big, round-y, friendly-looking number. Seriously, take a look at 808. Doesn't it look like a guy giving you a double-thumbs-up? 808 thinks you're doing fine! So positive!

In "1337-speak" 808 would translate to "BOB" which is about as friendly a name as I can think of. Remember the funny little robot in Disney's "The Black Hole?" Guess what his name was? It sure wasn't 37.

Also, there's the Roland TR-808 drum machine, which is super-great and still very popular with musicians. Invite 808 to your next party and get ready to get funky!

I posted a copy of my response on my Google+ page and my friend Brian quickly replied that he too was a fan of 808, citing his own reasons:


Might I add that 808 is also my favorite number! Adding to your reasons, which I agree with, here is another reason you might have forgotten: 808 is the area code of Hawaii. 808 State was also an electronic band that loved that number.



He's right, of course, and there are a host of other reasons we love that number. I'd be interested to know if any other readers out there (hi Mom!) have a favorite number of their own. If not, go out and get one! Think of it as doing your share to make maths a more vital part of our culture.

Checkers Solved! Can Mouse Trap Be Far Behind?

19:00 19 July 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Justin Mullins

The ancient game of checkers (or draughts) has been pronounced dead. The game was killed by the publication of a mathematical proof showing that draughts always results in a draw when neither player makes a mistake. For computer-game aficionados, the game is now "solved"

Draughts is merely the latest in a steady stream of games to have been solved using computers, following games such as Connect Four, which was solved more than 10 years ago.

The computer proof took Jonathan Schaeffer, a computer-games expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, 18 years to complete and is one of the longest running computations in history.

In honor of his achievements, Mr. Schaeffer has been appointed to the University's prestigious Cracker Barrel Chair as Professor of Jes' Sitting on the Front Porch Playin' Checkers, Y'all.

In related news, how the heck do I get a job where I play checkers for 18 years?!

link via Boing Boing