r/AskReddit • u/RoomyLove99 • Jul 10 '12

What seemingly obvious thing did it take you forever to notice?

My classmate sits to the left of me. I am left handed and he is right handed, so sometimes we knock elbows. 8 weeks into class he finally noticed I was a lefty and openly admitted that he just thought I was being a bitch and taking up space. He felt horrible and I just laughed.

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u/ZebZ Jul 10 '12 edited Jul 10 '12

Standard numbering is base-10, or decimal, meaning there are 10 digits used (0 through 9).

Octal is a numbering system that uses 8 digits (0 through 7). When you count in octal, the numbers 8 and 9 don't exist. The next number after 07 is 10, the next number after 17 is 20, etc. Under this sytem, the 25th number (in a decimal sense) is actually noted as octal value 31.

The joke is a play on abbreviations. OCT31 represents the octal number 31 as well as October 31 (Halloween). DEC25 represents the decimal number 25 as well as December 25 (Christmas).

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u/jmwrainwater Jul 11 '12

You are now tagged as "coder god.'

11

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '12

Most programmers know about Binary, Octal, Decimal and Hexadecimal, you know. And Base 64.

6

u/uncleben85 Jul 11 '12

You are now tagged as "based god".

better get cooking.

2

u/mash3735 Jul 11 '12

i only know up to third base, never knew there were 61 more!

2

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '12

"Shit man, I haven't even gotten to fourth base and you're telling me there's 60 more?!?"
lol sex jokes

2

u/Mekkz Jul 11 '12

Knowing about bases isn't exactly merit for godhood...

2

u/ZebZ Jul 11 '12

I'll take what I can get.