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  • Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    From Lynn McGuire@3:633/10 to All on Fri Oct 31 22:58:17 2025
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    Lynn


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Kaz Kylheku@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 04:31:59 2025
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    --
    TXR Programming Language: http://nongnu.org/txr
    Cygnal: Cygwin Native Application Library: http://kylheku.com/cygnal
    Mastodon: @Kazinator@mstdn.ca

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Richard Heathfield@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 09:22:52 2025
    On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Cf 'The Family Man', in Isaac Asimov's 'Casebook', 1976

    I said, ?Yes, I have always thought that, were it not for the
    enormous commercial overweighting of the Yuletide, a child?s
    spontaneous reaction would be to treat Halloween with the full
    excitement of Christmas.?

    ?And, surprisingly, my quarry spoke up. As though overwhelmed by
    an emotion that forced his naturally quiet personality into the
    limelight, he said, with a warm smile that lightened and almost
    transfigured his face, ?You are quite right. In a way, Halloween
    may be considered precisely equal to Christmas.? Those were his
    exact words, gentlemen, for I noted them at the time with
    particular care.?


    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Keith Thompson@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 03:47:25 2025
    Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> writes:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I had a trick-or-treater call me Santa.

    "Ho ho ho *ahem* no, no, no!"

    --
    Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
    void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Mike Terry@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 17:05:24 2025
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard. I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX
    programmer for sure! He probably started on a PDP-11. :)

    Mike.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Richard Heathfield@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 17:43:41 2025
    On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the
    key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for
    why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard.ÿ I knew it! - one of those "octal
    beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!ÿ He probably
    started on a PDP-11.ÿ :)

    "Here's a nickel, kid; get yourself a real computer."

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Tristan Wibberley@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 18:20:12 2025
    On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    Hooray \o/

    Hamper of green sweets and eggs on the summer solstice for Lynn


    --
    Tristan Wibberley

    The message body is Copyright (C) 2025 Tristan Wibberley except
    citations and quotations noted. All Rights Reserved except that you may,
    of course, cite it academically giving credit to me, distribute it
    verbatim as part of a usenet system or its archives, and use it to
    promote my greatness and general superiority without misrepresentation
    of my opinions other than my opinion of my greatness and general
    superiority which you _may_ misrepresent. You definitely MAY NOT train
    any production AI system with it but you may train experimental AI that
    will only be used for evaluation of the AI methods it implements.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Bill Davy@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 18:36:11 2025
    On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard.ÿ I knew it! - one of those "octal
    beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!ÿ He probably started on
    a PDP-11.ÿ :)

    Mike.

    Never understood PDP11 using octal. 16 bits / 3? Old habits die hard.

    Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3). Fortran compiler "G 2 544237" (or
    something like that).

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Janis Papanagnou@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 19:51:25 2025
    On 01.11.2025 19:36, Bill Davy wrote:

    Never understood PDP11 using octal.

    You can represent binary information in a compact form with decimal
    digits (and without the discontinuity when introducing alpha digits
    for hexadecimal representation).

    16 bits / 3? Old habits die hard.

    Octal had also been used on other systems, like various mainframes
    back these days. (I recall to have got a thick stack of paper with
    an octal memory dump when I exceeded my 10 page print output quota
    limit by one single page.)

    Janis

    [...]


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Jim Jackson@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 19:53:34 2025
    On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard. I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX
    programmer for sure! He probably started on a PDP-11. :)

    Real grey hairs use hex!

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Chris M. Thomasson@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 12:59:35 2025
    On 10/31/2025 9:31 PM, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!


    Haha! :^)

    No Krampus? ;^)


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Keith Thompson@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 14:28:05 2025
    Bill Davy <Bill@XchelSys.co.uk> writes:
    On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard.ÿ I knew it! - one of those "octal
    beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!ÿ He probably
    started on a PDP-11.ÿ :)
    Mike.

    Never understood PDP11 using octal. 16 bits / 3? Old habits die hard.

    A word on a PDP-11 is 16 bits, but it's often logically divided into
    3-bit chunks. CPU instructions have 3-bit fields to denote one of the 8 registers, and 3-bit fields to denote a mode.

    Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3). Fortran compiler "G 2 544237" (or
    something like that).

    --
    Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
    void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Tristan Wibberley@3:633/10 to All on Sat Nov 1 22:40:13 2025
    On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    Imagine the dystopia in which a major religion /and/ calendar system
    were designed to provide a minor joke for mathematicians.

    --
    Tristan Wibberley

    The message body is Copyright (C) 2025 Tristan Wibberley except
    citations and quotations noted. All Rights Reserved except that you may,
    of course, cite it academically giving credit to me, distribute it
    verbatim as part of a usenet system or its archives, and use it to
    promote my greatness and general superiority without misrepresentation
    of my opinions other than my opinion of my greatness and general
    superiority which you _may_ misrepresent. You definitely MAY NOT train
    any production AI system with it but you may train experimental AI that
    will only be used for evaluation of the AI methods it implements.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lawrence D?Oliveiro@3:633/10 to All on Sun Nov 2 07:18:50 2025
    On Sat, 1 Nov 2025 18:36:11 +0000, Bill Davy wrote:

    Never understood PDP11 using octal. 16 bits / 3? Old habits die hard.

    Ah, but the addressing-mode and register fields in the instructions lined
    up nicely with octal digits.

    Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3).

    All DEC?s prior machines (before the PDP-11) had word lengths which were multiples of 3 (12, 18, 36). There is even an internal DEC memo at
    Bitsavers arguing that the PDP-11 (still in gestation at that point)
    should be an 18-bit machine.

    But I guess the pull of powers of 2 just proved irresistible ...

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From candycanearter07@3:633/10 to All on Mon Nov 3 16:50:05 2025
    Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote at 19:53 this Saturday (GMT):
    On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
    the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard. I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX
    programmer for sure! He probably started on a PDP-11. :)

    Real grey hairs use hex!


    I thought hexes were reserved for halloween
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Scott Lurndal@3:633/10 to All on Mon Nov 3 17:16:20 2025
    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> writes:
    Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote at 19:53 this Saturday (GMT):
    On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
    On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
    On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

    Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

    It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to >>>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
    Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

    I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
    a Santa suit!

    I bet you he had a long beard. I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX
    programmer for sure! He probably started on a PDP-11. :)

    Real grey hairs use hex!

    REAL grey hairs use BCD.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)