[GeoStL] Re: Diabolical cache idea
- From: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 16:59:05 -0500
-
> I didn't know there was a web page to do this. And, you're right, it
> was 13,567.
>
> Maybe I'll have to base it on 1/pi or the square root of 2.
Well, if it's any consolation, I'm a webhead and mathgeek, so my first
instinct is to try and find something online, and it actually took me a little
while to find the relevant page. Not just that, but because
of the bug in his program (which I have reported to him), had I not known
the digits I was searching for, I would have been way off and not noticed
the bug :)
I like the idea and it should be fun.
As for square root of 2, I've found a page that has it to 1 Million digits,
but no search program, so it would need some careful counting to get there.
I've not found a page with 1/pi
So, in terms of difficulty, assuming the bug is corrected, basing it
on pi is the easiest of the three, as long as someone figures to search for
it online. If the bug is not corrected, it would be fiendishly difficult
using the page I found, unless someone noticed the error, and made the
correction to find the right digits.
Root 2 would be the next hardest, as the information is easily found, but
accurately counting would be time consuming.
1/pi would be the hardest, because you'd have to generate the digits somehow
with sufficient accuracy. Personally, I suspect this would be too much
for most people. Unless the cache was really tasty.
Curiously, most methods of finding pi are found by first finding 1/pi
and then using Newton-Raphson method for the reciprocal, but as most
people are interested in pi rather than 1/pi, it is pi that is much
easier to find online.
Further, given that people on this list consider dividing by 60 to be
advanced maths, using pi as your basis may not be such a bad idea.
I must admit, when thinking about cache hiding, knowing I have a devious mind,
I have a hard time deciding if I want simplicity (and thus the enjoyment of
seeing lots of hits) or difficulty (and thus the satisfaction that someone
took the trouble to find it). Considering that I cannot afford
to make a difficult cache tempting in terms of FTF prizes, someone would
have to be really dedicated to find a difficult cache I placed :)
Just a few random thoughts :)
Timothy
****************************************************************************
Our WebPage! Http://WWW.GeoStL.com
Mail List Info. //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/list?list_id=geocaching
Mail List FAQ's: //www.freelists.org/help/questions.html
****************************************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list:
send an email to geocaching-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the
Subject field
Other related posts:
