HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ctalbott@mksol.dseg.ti.com (christopher j talbott)
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Organization: Texas Instruments
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 14:26:49 GMT

I should be staying out of this...

I really should...

But I've been pushed to the breaking point...

RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION MODE ON

Get OVER it!  You people are worse than the folks over on alt.tv.simpsons
who spend most of their natural lives trying to figure out which state of
union the obviously mythical town of Springfield resides in!!  For all anyone
knows, the question may have been incomplete...yeah...that's the ticket...
the real question should have been something like "what do you get when
you multiply six by nine and subtract TWELVE"...NOT!

I am reminded at this point by the brilliant Saturday Night Live sketch with
William Shatner, wherein Mr. Shatner is at a Star Trek convention fielding
questions about safe combinations in episode 53 from 30 year old nerds who
still live in their parent's basements.  My advice is the same... GET A LIFE!

You know, it's almost worth posting something daily, to the effect of:

"Yes, 6(13) X 9(13) = 42(13) ... so what?"

RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION MODE OFF

I'm really quite sorry...

Really, I am...

But I had to say this...

-- 
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// Chris Talbott     ///////// ctalbott@mksol.dseg.ti.com ///////
/// Software Designer ///////// chris@ews7.dseg.ti.com     ///////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// "There are very few personal problems that cannot be        //
///  solved through a suitable application of high explosives." //
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
From: maudl@warwick.ac.uk (Mark Graham)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: You're all a load of useless bloody loonies.
Date: 31 Aug 92 04:25:25 GMT
Organization: Computing Services, Warwick University, UK



Why not have a new news group called alt."fan".douglas-adams.analyze.to.death
so that those of us who just wanna hear about the new book or interesting
relevent information about Hitch-Hikers or Dirk Gently related stuff don't
have to wade through your mind-bogglingly boring waffle?

Van the signatureless.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: jpg7@po.CWRU.Edu (Joseph P. Graves)
Subject: Great song
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 03:24:34 GMT


There is a great song called Journey of the Sorrceror I'm listening to right now, it's by the Eagles and off the album (1 of these nights). It's the theme song
for the HGTTG TV series. Great song.
JPG7@po.cwru.edu
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Date: Wed,  2 Sep 1992 15:05:56 -0400 
From: Geoffrey Spear <gs32+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
	<1992Sep02.121719.28984@hplb.hpl.hp.com>

	Personally, I've always seen the 6*9 = 42 thing as a bit of irony: 
Even when the planet first started trying to find the question of Life,
The Universe, and Everything, there was a problem with the question, so
the whole existence of the Earth was pointless, as it would have
returned the wrong answer in the end.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: bjornts@ii.uib.no (Bjoern Tore Sund)
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Bergen
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 17:08:08 GMT

I always assumed that there was no "deeper meaning" to 6*9=42 apart
from what Arthur said (at least in the TV series), when he had
just drawn the scrabble-pieces out of the bag: "Oh. I always knew 
there was something fundamentally wrong about the Universe." I sort
of assumed that this was all the deeper meaning that DA intended.
I might have been wrong though... :-(

Bjoern Tore Sund
Department of Informatics
University of Bergen
bjornts@ii.uib.no
From: heinz@rene.ma.utexas.edu (Martin Heinz)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: You're all a load of useless bloody loonies.
Date: 31 Aug 92 19:13:41 GMT
Organization: University of Texas at Austin Mathematics

maudl@warwick.ac.uk (Mark Graham) writes:



>Why not have a new news group called alt."fan".douglas-adams.analyze.to.death
>so that those of us who just wanna hear about the new book or interesting
>relevent information about Hitch-Hikers or Dirk Gently related stuff don't
>have to wade through your mind-bogglingly boring waffle?

>Van the signatureless.


So why don't you go ahead and create alt.fan.douglas.adams.but.just.the.new.
book.or.interesting.relevant.information.about.Hitch-Hikers.or.Dirk.Gently.
related.stuff ?????????

According to the name, you can talk about ANYTHING having to do with Douglas
Adams. So what do you want? Can't you read the subject lines?

-- 
Martin Heinz
University of Texas at Austin
heinz@math.utexas.edu
*****************************************************************************

                           I HATE car-alarms

******************************************************************************
From: torsten@cwis.unomaha.edu (Torsten Wesley Adair)
Subject: Re: New Book by Adams?
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 00:50:16 GMT

markw@cltr.uq.oz.au  writes:
> Apologies if this is OLD news, but I'm not a regular reader....
> 
> I just saw a posting in rec.arts.books to the effect the DA had written
> yet another HHGTTG book (a trilogy in _five_ parts :) called "Mostly
> Harmless", and it's due out in October.
> 
> Is this common knowledge, or has it been known for some time?  I had
> no idea a further book was in the wind.....
> --
> Mark White                                        | 
> National Centre for Studies in Travel and Tourism | EMail: markw@cltr.uq.oz.au
> James Cook University of North Queensland         | Fax:   +61 7 371 8485
> P.O. Box 705 Indooroopilly QLD 4068  AUSTRALIA    | Phone: +61 7 870 9212

According to one of the May issues of Publisher's Weekly, Mostly Harmless is due 
out in November 1992 for about US$20.  However, since Mr. Adams himself has 
said that he readjusts deadlines, I would not be surprised if it comes out 
later.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
From: gibbs2@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Alex R. Gibbs)
Date: 26 Aug 92 17:37:07 MST
Distribution: world,local
Organization: U of A Optical Sciences

In article <92Aug26.121503edt.262@smoke.cs.toronto.edu>, pedmonds@cs.toronto.edu ("Philip G. Edmonds") writes:
> In article <17fl0qINNpnu@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> keeper@deeptht.armory.com writes:
>>
>>   The fact that 6 x 9 = 42 base 13 means nothing with regard to
>>   this series, because the Answer is written and spoken `forty-two'.
> 
> You can't speak in letters or digits.  The great computer Deep Thought
> SAID `42' or `forty-two' which you can interpret any way you like.  Ford
> and Arthur might have seen FORTY TWO written on the scrabble board but
> that's only because there are no digits in a scrabble set (the medium
> available was used).
> 
> Besides, it's the meaning that counts not the way you write or speak it.

I'm not sure I should step in the middle of this, because I agree with
your last statement.  I think what Ron was saying was that 42 base 13
should be said "four two" because the word "forty" implies base 10.  For
example.... 1010 base 2 is not said as "one thousand ten".  Likewise,
42 base 13 is not "forty two" but "four two (base thirteen)" or even
"four two (base thirteen (base ten (base ten (...))))".  "I think
I'll just have a little lie down now." (or some such)

Alex Gibbs
-- 
|\| | (~, ]-[ ~|~ ]-[ /-\ \/\/ ]<  gibbs2@ccit.arizona.edu  KT 42
From: johri@odalix.ida.liu.se (Johan Ringstrom)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: 6 times 9
Keywords: 42, adams, 6 times 9
Date: 26 Aug 92 04:43:44 GMT
Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden

cbrasted@physics.adelaide.edu.au (Charles) writes:

>>... From listening to
>>the radio plays, it sound as if arthur is the one taking the scrabble
>>peices out of the bag.  Put all this togeth now, Arthur who is not part of
>>the program, as it was interupted by the arival of the others, pulls out
>>the scabble letters.  It's bound to be wrong, he not part of it, the whole
>>program was bothced up when the others arrived.  Any  other ideas?

I'm quoting from memory, but I think it goes something like this:
(from the sixth episode of the radio series)

Arthur: But we have to encourage them to evolve! Can you imagine what
        the Earth whould be like in two million years if we let them 
        take over?
Ford: We don't have to imagine it, we've already seen it, and there is
      nothing you can do to stop it. Let's face it Arthur, those zeebs
      over there are your ancestors and not these cavemen.
Caveman: Ugh!
Arthur: Right!

...more which I can't remember

Arthur: It's sad though, what a life to look forward to for a
        young planet.
Ford: Better than some.. I read of one planet that got pot down in
      a black hole in a game of galactic billiards.
Arthur: What a waste!
Ford: Yes.. only scored thirty points too.
Arthur: Where did you read that?
Ford: In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Arthur: Oh, that thing.

Another favourite quote of mine is from the Captain of Arc B:

... I wouldn't overstress that angle you know. I mean one's never
alone with a rubber duck.

Greetings...
--
"Why stop now, just when I'm hating it ?" -- Marvin the paranoid android

Per-Otto Arntzen                        Ryds Alle' 9:200
johri@und.ida.liu.se                    S-58251 Linkoping
johri@lysator.liu.se                    SWEDEN
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: 11432918@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (AMIR SHIRAZIRAD)
Subject: American University of Cairo
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:09:58 GMT

Hi, does anybody know the address (email) of the
American University of Cairo?

Could you please reply via email to
11432918@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au

Ta Muchly dudes
From: tsmaster@media.mit.edu (David LeCompte)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: Young Zaphod
Date: 28 Aug 92 17:22:59 GMT
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory

In article <1992Aug28.112838.14202@alf.uib.no> bjornts@ii.uib.no (Bjoern Tore Sund) writes:
>Now, as you might remember, Slartibartfast actualle mucked around in a 
>space-ship much more advanced than the ones based on infinite
>improbability. I can`t remember the exact name of it (shame on me!)

I'd believe that the ship was the starship Bistromath, and the branch of
mathematics would be (stop me any time) Bistromathics. 

I think that I'll take my next exam in a bistro, or maybe get my TA to
move through one while grading the test. :)

					-Dave



-- 
Your Mom!       The Carburator!         |I'm not paid to HAVE opinions.
Your Shoes!     A gardenhose!           |
You got to got to got to got to ...     |This sig can be yours; send $15 to
SCUD MISSILE!!!	-"Scud Missile", Grunge |tsmaster@athena.mit.edu
From: navsaria@bass.bu.edu (Dipesh Navsaria)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: "Fortune" failure...
Date: 27 Aug 92 18:03:41 GMT
Organization: Boston University


    Look what the "fortune" program on our Sun 4/470 said:

Fortune for the Day:
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly
disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and
inexplicable.  There is another theory which states that this has
already happened.
                -- Donald Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"


   Look at that name!!!!  I say we lynch them!  8)

					
						Dipesh
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: pedmonds@cs.toronto.edu ("Philip G. Edmonds")
Subject: The universe is in a jujubeflop situation
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Distribution: alt
Date: 2 Sep 92 16:17:24 GMT

In light of the talk about the answer to life the universe and
everything (42) and the question to the same ("What do you get when you
multiply six by nine"), I would like to put forth the following:

The answer is NOT supposed to match the question.
Why?
Because Adams may be making a comment on the way people expend a 
huge amount of effort, time, and expense, on enormous projects (Deep
Thought, The Earth) that are fundamentally flawed from the beginning
(the arrival of the Golgafrinchans), and which are unlikely to produce
interesting or meaningful results even if they weren't flawed.
In short: people waste time on frivolous endeavours.

People can talk all they want about the meaning of the answer and the
question but the problem is that they just don't have any meaning,
which is to say that the universe has no meaning and is just a fucked up
place.  Someone else has already mentioned the numerous references to the
fundamental wrongness of the universe.  This seems to be a basic theme 
and philosophy in HGG.

On another plane, Adams writes about a different philosophy in his
Dirk Gently books, that of holism.  This philosophy gives a bit more
meaning to life, the universe and everything.  (Come to think of it there
are many coincidences that occur in HGG that show Adams' interest in
holism.)  At least in Dirk Gently the universe is not seen as flawed,
but as being elegantly perfect.

Philosophically,
Phil.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: bpostow@occs.cs.oberlin.edu (Brian Postow)
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Organization: Oberlin College Computer Science
	<marc.714911571@vieta.math.uni-sb.de> <1992Aug27.101056.7174@ac.dal.ca>
	<marc.715004528@vieta.math.uni-sb.de>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 02:57:10 GMT
X-Posted-From: occs.cs.oberlin.edu
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

actually, the probablilty isn't about .25, it is EXACTLY .25.

any number thta is of the form 4k + 2 is going to be 42 in some base,
because that is what a base is, 42 in base 10 is 4 (10) + 2, etc. and
since 1 of every 4 numbers is 4k +2, .25 of all numbers will be 42 in
some base.


this is a simpler proof, or actually just a simpler way of writing the
proof above...

[Math majors UNITE!]

--
Brian Postow :: The Pasta Knight - that noodle head in shiny armour

Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?
	And I'm STAAANGER than you are!
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: rjlov@ecr.mu.oz.au (Richard J. Lovejoy)
Subject: Re: Golgafrinchams
Organization: Dept. Engineering Computer Resources, Melbourne Uni.
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 04:02:53 GMT

In article <1992Aug28.171346.23356@msc12.msc12.comlab> leaver@msc12.comlab (Andrew Leaver) writes:
>My guess (and it is only a guess) is that DNA meant us to assume that
>the real Question was in fact `What do you get if you multiply six by
>seven'. Why do I think that? Well, it just seems to fit - the answer
>in Arthur's brainwaves is then a corrupted version of the real
>question (and don't forget the Earth had had 8 million years of
>computing by the time the Golgafrinchams arrived, so it could well
>have got a good way towards the question). And also, DNA likes writing
>jokes. I certainly find it quite amusing that after keeping us in
>suspense about the Question, and after the mice have spent a large
>amount of money and 17 1/2 million years on the problem of the
>Question and Answer, the result turns out to be:
>`What do you get if you multiply six by seven?' - `Fourty-two'.

	I have always thought that maybe the last 2 million years was just to refine
the basics of the question into the true form, which gives 42. Following this
line of thinking, the Golgafrinchams had none of of the question built into
them, so they only got 2 million years of refinement on a bogus question.
	Richard

|---------------------------------------------------------|      ///
| Richard Lovejoy, Sci/Elec Eng, Melbourne Uni, Australia |     ///
| Email: rjlov@ecr.mu.oz.au or rjlov@munagin.ee.mu.oz.au  | \\\///
|---------------------------------------------------------|  \XX/
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: bjornts@ii.uib.no (Bjoern Tore Sund)
Subject: Re: Young Zaphod
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Bergen
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 11:28:38 GMT

In article <Bto0GI.MHz@acsu.buffalo.edu>, v120qldp@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (PATRICK FERREL) writes:
|> In article <1992Aug27.140638.25102@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, Virginia.A.Reed@dartmouth.edu (Virginia A. Reed) writes...
|> >>Actually, if I'm not wrong, there are only six:  Zaphod, Zaphod's
|> >>great-grandfather, Yooden Vranx, Zarniwoop, Roosta and someone whom I can't
|> >>remember.
|> > 
|> >I belive that the seventh is Slartibartfast.
|> 
|> How is Slartibartfast supposed to know?  He slept for five million years.  He
|> probably wouldn't have a clue if you talked about Improbability Physics.

Now, as you might remember, Slartibartfast actualle mucked around in a space-ship
much more advanced than the ones based on infinite improbability. I can`t remember
the exact name of it (shame on me!), but it was based on the tremendously advanced
maths of restaurant bill calculation. Besides, remember that the equipment used
to keep Slartibartfast and the rest of his people alive were indexed linked to
the galactic stock-market. Slartibartfast probably had his means of aquiring info.
on that and other subjects....

Bjoern Tore Sund
Department of Informatics
University of Bergen
bjornts@ii.uib.no

From: garden@hpltoad.hpl.hp.com
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 08:04:17 GMT
Subject: Tea.
Organization: I'm not sure about that
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Reply-To: above


	Erm.....Does anyone out there know how to make tea ?
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: dz@mohawk.desktalk.com (Dave Zobel)
Subject: Re: "Fortune" failure...
Summary: What did Doug do?  He used -- sarcasm.
Keywords: Donald fortune
Organization: Desktalk Systems Inc.
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 19:34:40 GMT

In article <94756@bu.edu> navsaria@bass.bu.edu (Dipesh Navsaria) writes:
>    Look what the "fortune" program on our Sun 4/470 said:
> There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly
> what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly
> disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and
> inexplicable.  There is another theory which states that this has
> already happened.
>                -- Donald Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
>   Look at that name!!!!  I say we lynch them!  8)

That typo was carried over from an earlier version of the same quote, which
is also in the "fortune" database:

    There is a theory that states: "If anyone finds out what the universe
    is for it will disappear and be replaced by something more bazaarly
    inexplicable."
    There is another theory that states: "This has already happened ...."
                   -- Donald Adams, "Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy"

This earlier version, barely recognized as DNA's writing, or indeed as
English, was in fact entered into the database not by an Adams fanatic,
or even by a casual Adams reader, but by an infinite number of monkeys.

-- Dave Zobel
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: rjlov@ecr.mu.oz.au (Richard J. Lovejoy)
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Organization: Dept. Engineering Computer Resources, Melbourne Uni.
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 03:50:02 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.100718.7173@ac.dal.ca> aproden@ac.dal.ca (Andrew P. Rodenhiser) writes:
>
>Regardless, DNA chose `The Answer' as 42 because he thought it was a 
>boring, featureless number, and he liked how it was not a prime or
>a factorial or a perfect square or anything else distinguishing.  He
>thought it was an average, uninteresting number.  Obviously, he was
>wrong!! :)
>

	I believe that he chose forty two because it was not only divisible by
two, but also six and seven: as such he thought it was an _interesting_ number.
	Richard

|---------------------------------------------------------|      ///
| Richard Lovejoy, Sci/Elec Eng, Melbourne Uni, Australia |     ///
| Email: rjlov@ecr.mu.oz.au or rjlov@munagin.ee.mu.oz.au  | \\\///
|---------------------------------------------------------|  \XX/
From: hermit@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Ron O\'Dell)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Date: 30 Aug 1992 06:00:17 GMT
Organization: The Pen
Reply-To: keeper@deeptht.armory.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucscb.ucsc.edu


In article <1992Aug27.100718.7173@ac.dal.ca> aproden@ac.dal.ca (Andrew P. Rodenhiser) writes:
>> So, in base thirteen, the answer to six times nine is represented by 42,
>> but that is not forty-two.  It is fifty-four -- five tens and four.
>But when represented in base 13 as `42', the number reads `Four Thirteens
>and Two', not `Forty-Two' or `Fifty-four'

It can be read as `fifty-four' ... it's just a weird way of going about
it.  As I wrote in another paragraph in the same article, we'd need to
make up names for numbers higher than nine in base thirteen.

I did that, actually, the last time this idiocy sprang up here.


-- 
--- keeper@deeptht.armory.com (Ron O'Dell)   Do >not< mail hermit!
					     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: jdeddy@rodan.acs.syr.edu (The Really Confused One)
Subject: Re: 6*9=42(13)
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 21:35:39 EDT

In article <715060051snx@klaatu.demon.co.uk> Steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft) writes:
>I don't suppose anyone really wanted to hear this, but it's not actually
>possible to make the sentence 'what do you get if you multiply six by
>nine' from a standard scrabble set.  But then maybe Arthur's 'home made'
>set wasn't standard....
>
>Steve
>|  Steve Loft                                  steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk   |
>|  Doncaster,                                                             |
>|  South Yorks.                                                           |


	I hate to sound stupid, but what letter is the offending one?
	I mean, i just checked and the only letters which i would think
	would cause a prob would be I and Y, but i'd like to think that
	there are at least 4 I's and Y's in a scrabble set...

						jD
*****************************************************************************
John D. Eddy   *  "My Head Hurts, My feet stink, and I don't love Jesus"    *
aka Jayde      *                                              -j. buffett   *
 jdeddy@rodan. *  "Life sucks...Then You Die."        -The Fools            *
  syr.edu      *  "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful." -J. Buffett
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams