The new trivia thread.
- Thread starter Ceiling Cat
- Start date
As a programmer, not sure I would call it "in computing" but it is the last cell in Excel. The letters are the last column header and the number is the last row number. I remember struggling with Excel when it only had 16384 rows instead of the 1M plus today. I was obliged to do 95% of my analysis in SQL server or MS Access. And still do.
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Nicely done. I think the product of the value of XFD times 1, 048, 576, (ie:the maximum number of cells in an Excel spreadsheet), is probably equal to 4, 8, 10, or 16 x 10, 000, 000, in hexadecimal.
In Excel 2000, the last cell was IV65536. 1, 048, 576 is 16 times 65, 536, so XFD is likely 4, 8, or 16 times the value of IV, (256), (my guess would be 8. The maximum number of cells in an Excel 2000 spreadsheet was 16, 777, 216, (2^8 x 2^16), which is 1, 000, 000 in hexadecimal.
I'm not a programmer, and I haven't used hexadecimal since 1984, when learning Assembler!
For the readers who don't know what hexadecimal is, it's the "base 16" numbering system used to condense binary numbers.
Binary numbers as exclusively 0's and 1's. A bit is a binary digit, ie: a zero or a one. Eight bits is $2 to your grandfather or a Spanish pirate, but it's called a byte in computing. An hexadecimal number represents the value of half of a byte, (4 bits).
The ^ symbol represents exponent. The byte is read right to left as:
2^0, 2^1, 2^2, 2^3, 2^4, 2^5, 2^6, 2^7
2^0: Any number to "the power of 0" has a value of 1, so the rightmost digit is 0 or 1, (ie: 1x1 or 0x1)
2^1: Any number "to the power of 1" is equal to itself, so the second digit from the right is equal to 2 or 0 (1x2, or 0x2)
2^2 is, 2x2, ie:4, etc.
The possible values of half of a byte range from 0 - 15, (2^4 minus 1), and the range of a byte is from 0 - 255, (2^8 minus 1).
Hexadecimal numbers, (often abbreviated to "HEX), include the numerals 0-9, plus the numbers A to F. This chart explains the range for a half byte :
Binary: 0000 - 1111
Base 10/ (Decimal): 0 - 15
HEX: 0 - F
1111 in binary is 15 in decimal because it is the sum of:
1x 2^0, (1) + 1x 2^1, (2), + 1x2^2, (4), plus 1x2^3, (8) =15.
The letters A-F are used in HEX for the decimal numbers 10 - 15, so that all potential values between 0 and 15 can be expressed with a single character.
The decimal number 16 would be 0001 0000 in binary, and 10 in Hex, as both the binary and the HEX require a second half byte to display the value.
If the value of a byte is 1001 1110 in binary, it's HEX equivalent would be 9E, and it's decimal value would be 126, (9xE, where E =14, in decimal).
Anyone who has downloaded torrents or from P2P will have seen HEX in use many times, for HASH codes. Only numerals 0-9 and letters A-F appear in HASH codes, and there is always an even number of HEX digits.
Sounds like dialogue from Big Bang Theory except there would have been a punchline.
Bob, as a programmer I know this stuff, but I was groaning with agony as I dusted off the memory and read through and digested it. But kudos for "assembling" the info and pounding out the script.
@shack: I'll have to take your word for it. One episode of BBT was enough for me. I sat there wanting to squeeze that skinny-guy-that-looks-like-a-Dr-Seuss-character by the neck, until his brains came out his ears.
@Celticman: If you didn't know HEX, you wouldn't have been able to identify "XFD". I don't know if they teach that stuff in school, other than in a programming course. Trivia doesn't need to be about trivial things that don't matter, like the cost per pound of lard, in 1848.
@Celticman: If you didn't know HEX, you wouldn't have been able to identify "XFD". I don't know if they teach that stuff in school, other than in a programming course. Trivia doesn't need to be about trivial things that don't matter, like the cost per pound of lard, in 1848.
It took me a while to appreciate the show but it's actually pretty intelligent humour.
The actor Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper looks like a dead ringer for a young David Byrne. I can see him doing Psycho Killer right now.
Actually I simply knew the cell reference XFD1048576 at a glance just as well as I know cell ref A1 at the other end of the scale. When the new pre-release version of Excel was in beta, the increased file format was of great interest to my organisation. We are one of Microsoft's largest world wide customers, and over the years MS have asked me to beta test Access and Excel because of some advanved app-dev that I have built. I have created many automated data exports from SAP ERP system via VB and ABAPs. Some were too big for Excel, which is a handicap for the user audience. There are a couple of reports with close to 1M records, so that is terrific to now have them in Excel. But I have no idea what sort of an organisation would use the new column capability in Excel. You can populate 18278 columns for heavens sakes. (26+(26*26)+(26*26*26))............................so we can conclude that the number of cells in the new Excel is (26+(26*26)+(26*26*26)) x 1,048,576 = 19,165,872,128................ and who cares anyway
I don't watch any of the CBS comedies. I can't stand a laugh track, or studio audience laughter, during a show. I also despise the band Barenaked Ladies, who do the theme. I've always though of them as The Globe and Mail and The CBC's idea of what's 'with it', the new Moxy Fruvous, who sucked king sized donkey cock musically in the late 80's and shortly beyond.
My older sister loves BBF, but her idea of funny is Corner Gas. When she says she thinks a show is funny, I generally avoid it myself.
Your math for calculating the number of columns is wrong. It would be correct, if the last column was ZZZ. I'm up too early in the morning to be bang on with my math, but the correct number of columns should be something likeActually I simply knew the cell reference XFD1048576 at a glance just as well as I know cell ref A1 at the other end of the scale. When the new pre-release version of Excel was in beta, the increased file format was of great interest to my organisation. We are one of Microsoft's largest world wide customers, and over the years MS have asked me to beta test Access and Excel because of some advanved app-dev that I have built. I have created many automated data exports from SAP ERP system via VB and ABAPs. Some were too big for Excel, which is a handicap for the user audience. There are a couple of reports with close to 1M records, so that is terrific to now have them in Excel. But I have no idea what sort of an organisation would use the new column capability in Excel. You can populate 18278 columns for heavens sakes. (26+(26*26)+(26*26*26))............................so we can conclude that the number of cells in the new Excel is (26+(26*26)+(26*26*26)) x 1,048,576 = 19,165,872,128................ and who cares anyway
26 → A-Z
+ 676 -> (26 x 26) - AA - ZZ
+ 15, 548 (23 x 26 x 26) AAA - WZZ
+ 134 (XAA - XDF)
= 16, 384
I'm not awake enough to formulate the equation for XAA - XDF, but I knew it wouldn't be very much. I added the first three sums to get 16, 250. I divided 16,250 by 256, to get 63.4765625. I then knew that XAA - XDF must be equal to [(64 x 256) - (16, 250)] = 134. I just can't formulate the 134 calculation this early in the morning.
Am I saying that 8:38 AM is way too early for bobistheowl? Not exactly, but that's when the post was finished. It took a while to write it, and I did something else part of the way through. I don't deal with higher maths on a day to day basis, but that gives you an idea of how my mind figures things out.
So, the total number of cells would be 17, 179, 869, 184 by my calculation, (16, 384 X 1, 048, 576). I'm not sure what 17, 179, 869, 184 is in HEX, but my guess would be 1, 000, 000, 000. That's the sort of calculation I would delegate to a subordinate, if I was working in the maths world.
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Explain in words how to reproduce the red smiling face symbol below in a forum post, without including a left or right bracket in your explanation:
Test your theory in Go Advanced, to see if it worked, before replying. You may not quote my post as part of the explanation.
Test your theory in Go Advanced, to see if it worked, before replying. You may not quote my post as part of the explanation.
What well known fictional character had* a father named Attichitcuk, a wife named Mallatobuck, and a son named Lumpawarrump?
*I say 'had', because this was a long, long time ago.
*I say 'had', because this was a long, long time ago.
