back to article O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Friday is Pi Day

At 1:59 in the morning on Friday, March 14 – or, for convenience, at 1:59 in the afternoon – take a moment to pause and contemplate π (aka pi), as, if you write your date US style, that's the moment to celebrate the universal glory that is Pi Day. Yes, one more year has come and and gone, and it's again time to continue a …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Erm...

    "Next year the celebration will be held on 3/14/15, commencing at exactly 9:26 and 53 seconds. ®"

    Should be "Next year the celebration will be held on 14/3/15, commencing at exactly 9:26 and 53 seconds. ®"

    Thank you very much indeed.

    Even if it does bugger it up!!!!

    1. Bert 1
      Trollface

      Re: Erm...

      Surely we should celebrate on 31st April ?

      For convenience this could be 1st May :-)

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. VinceH

        Re: Erm...

        3rd January, 4:15am/pm

      3. Simon Harris

        Re: Erm...

        on the 31st April we should wish each other a Happy i day or Happy j day (as per your personal preference) to celebrate imaginary numbers.

        1. Mark 85
          Pint

          Re: Erm...

          Oh hell.. we're IT so let's just celebrate them all.... just because we can and there's no slide rule icon ---------------->

      4. Michael Dunn
        Happy

        Re: Erm...@Bert 1

        Hey, I posted that last year, and was suitably corrected by a kind commentard who pointed out that 31st April was May Day.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Erm...

      Is it possible for you Brits to be any more provincial? Some folks denote dates in different ways than you do, y'now?

      Crikey...

      1. VinceH

        Re: Erm...

        Does not the same objection stand valid against Overpuddlians telling us that a date denoted their way is significant?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Erm...

        Not in the bloody UK they don't and as THIS is a UK site, then we win by default...

        Strewth, luv-a-duck etc.

      3. Down not across

        Re: Erm...

        "Is it possible for you Brits to be any more provincial? Some folks denote dates in different ways than you do, y'now?"

        First of all this site is british (.co.uk should be a giveaway). Sure some folks denotes dates in different way, however most of the world denotes in little-endian (DDMMYYYY), some with alternate big-endian (YYYYMMDD) notation. I think you will find that merkins are pretty much alone with the odd middle-endian notation.

  2. Allan George Dyer

    So Pi = 2.0140314

    I must remember that.

    Obligatory xkcd

  3. Michael Habel

    I'll just hold off any celebrations till the 28th of June thanks.

    1. smudge
      Coat

      So you'll celebrate Tau Day, not to-day? :)

    2. Michael Habel

      Actually that probably should be June 28th.... Now that I had my coffee...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

    Here in the uk it's 14/3 today. We could celebrate on 22/7, which is slightly more accurate than 3.14 anyway.

    1. EddieD

      Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

      And Belize, if you squint...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country

      1. Christoph
        Joke

        Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

        When do they celebrate in Indiana? (where pi = 3)

        1. jai

          Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

          When do they celebrate in Indiana? (where pi = 3)

          OMG you're right - that's crazymaddness!!!

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill

          1. Benchops

            Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

            If you define Pi to be the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter (which many people do) then all you need to do is significantly warp space-time (a singularity would do it) to alter the value of Pi (in the vicinity of the warp). Perhaps this is what they're aiming for in Indiana?

            If the universe is a hypersphere (debatable, the hyper torus looks more yummy) and you draw a circle big enough (imagine you're standing at the north pole and draw a circle around the equator) then Pi is equal to 2. Make the circle bigger (you standing at north pole and drawing a circle round the south pole) and Pi becomes less than 1 (the diameter is longer than the circumference), shrinking down to 0.

            Yep, you heard it here first -- Pi is variable and depends on the size of the circle and your locality.

            Oh wait, Euclidean geometry? balls.

          2. Brangdon

            Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

            Teach the controversy!

    2. Code Monkey
      Windows

      Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

      In America Pi is 14.3 ... IIRC ours is different because of the metric system.

    3. Don Dumb
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

      Especially as in the UK we are much smarter to make today Steak and BJ day.

      Paris - 'natch

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Like so many other web stories, this only applies to America.

      I bought my brothers a Raspberry Pi each a couple of Christmases ago. I told them that I'd set up an easy to remember password for them: 22/7. Cue blank looks all around until I explained that 22/7 is approximately Pi. What's worse is that one of them even took maths in uni :(

  5. tony2heads

    Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling. In mystic force and magic spelling. Celestial sprites elucidate. All my own striving can't relate

    Count the letters of each word

    335/113 is a pretty good approximation so why not celebrate at 03:55 on the 11th of March

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The Guardian has an article today on this literary form ... and in the comments section people have been attempting to follow it. One of the more popular attempts is

      "Get a life"

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    Silly Yanks; cant even get their days and months the right way round.

    (REMEMBER 11/9 DISASTER??)

    1. EddieD

      The Berlin Wall fell on 9/11, and it's nice of the Americans to remember

  7. frank ly
    Pint

    I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

    I decide when Pie day is. (As often as possible.)

    (beer: goes well with Pie, or pasties.)

    1. hplasm
      Thumb Up

      Re: I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

      Pi day? e! (by gum)

      1. kmac499

        Grim up North day

        e = 2nd July aba'ht half six... Just in time for tea

    2. billse10
      Pint

      Re: I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

      we should all support pie day ...

      1. Fink-Nottle

        Re: I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

        I celebrate Pie Day on William Foulke's birthday.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

      In the UK we have National Pie Week which, unfortunately, you've just missed... it ran from 3rd to 9th March this year;

      http://www.britishpieweek.co.uk/

      This seems to be one area where we Brits are better off than our cousins across the pond... they only get a National Pie Day in the US, which appears to coincide with Pi Day (i.e. today);

      http://www.piecouncil.org/Events/NationalPieDay

      Clearly the British have a much greater appreciation of this king of foods!

      1. Frumious Bandersnatch

        Re: I prefer to celebrate Pie day.

        But pi.e = 8.539734223, so I think they've got their maths wrong if they're celebrating from 3rd to 9th of March...

  8. Evil Auditor Silver badge
    Megaphone

    Soundtrack

    carrying a boom box playing PiTunes

    Pi* by Kate Bush, one would hope.

    *whether this can be regarded as a good song is a completely different question.

  9. Bitman

    We're getting 14 months next year?

    1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge
      Coat

      This is why we keep trying to ban leap seconds. It starts with a leap second here and a leap second there, and before you know it we're having leaps days every four years and then someone decides to insert two whole leap months.

      Mine's the one with IERS Bulletin C in the pocket, thanks.

  10. Bitman

    I prefer celebrating Pi Approximation Day - the 22nd of July (22/7).

  11. Isendel Steel

    Pi Day

    As long as it's Raspberry

  12. Crisp

    Pi Day? You mean Half Tau Day surely...

    Tau Manifesto

  13. Brent Longborough
    Unhappy

    Thank you for irritating me so early in the day

    Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world, the USAmerican way of writing the date and time must be in at least the top ten.

    Everyone knows that 3/14 is the Third of Novebruary.

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      IT Angle

      "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

      It's not exactly stupid - most people are more inclined to say "March 14th" than "the 14th of March", after all. It just isn't hierarchical to talk about March 14th 2014.

      On the other hand, when sorting objects by date it's much easier to use MMM-DD than DD-MMM. Take a look at the Register's own URLs - all today's articles are filed in subdirectory /2014/03/14/. So for IT purposes the American system of expressing dates is superior ... at least, when you don't do it half-assed.

      1. EddieD

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        I seem to remember that Tom Cruise was "born on the 4th of July...."

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        it's not exactly stupid - most people are more inclined to say "March 14th" than "the 14th of March"

        I'd definitely say "14th of March" rather than "March 14th" or even "March 14" as both of those sound American.

        Anyway, lets do it properly and refer to it as "pridie ides martius" as while it may be pie today it must be jam tomorrow as, after all, Caesar adsum iam forte!

      3. ISYS

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        "It's not exactly stupid - most people are more inclined to say "March 14th" than "the 14th of March", after all. It just isn't hierarchical to talk about March 14th 2014."

        Most people! You mean Americans and Radio 1 DJs

        March isn't the 14th of anything. However most people understand the 14th 'day' of March.

      4. sorry, what?
        Megaphone

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        If you want to sort in a lexical manner then you're right that it should be YYYYMMDD, but using MMDDYYYY doesn't help sort at all.

        1. Jedit Silver badge

          " using MMDDYYYY doesn't help sort at all"

          Which is exactly what I meant when I said "don't do it half-assed", so I have no idea why people are downthumbing me.

      5. Irongut

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        "On the other hand, when sorting objects by date it's much easier to use MMM-DD than DD-MMM. Take a look at the Register's own URLs - all today's articles are filed in subdirectory /2014/03/14/. So for IT purposes the American system of expressing dates is superior ... at least, when you don't do it half-assed."

        That is YYYY-MM-DD and yes it is superior for IT use but it is still not the stupid, brain dead, fucked up way of writing dates that yanks use.

      6. Brent Longborough

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        Thank you. +1

        I think you're referring to the Swiss system. I use it for almost everything (even in the UK, where we have it in order, but backwards).

        Of course, "America" (that is, the USA), is the spiritual home of the semi-buttock.

      7. MJI Silver badge

        Re: "Of all the many and varied stupid things in the world"

        YYYY-MM-DD is the other sensible way to do dates and the only indexible way.

        MDY is just stupid

  14. Mage Silver badge

    ISO?

    3,141 59 27 Doesn't work

    but 31,415 9 27 does,

    But I might be dead by the 31415

  15. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

    What, nothing for e?

    2.7182818...........?

    That does not seem right

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cretins

    14/3/14 is not "Pi" day.

    3.1415927 as a date...closest I can think of is "3/1/yy 4:15 GMT". The big Pi day will be "3/1/41" which isn't for a while yet.

    Just because the USAians can't write a date down correctly doesn't mean the rest of the world has to follow suit.

    (check domain)

    .co.uk! Go hang your heads in shame.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cretins

      Y'know, it's sad that your once world-leading culture now feels that such tiny, tiny redoubts are all which they can defend. Tragic, really.

  17. andy k O'Croydon

    Tributes

    "Pi has inspired other tributes as well, including iPhone apps, a feature film, T-shirts, and one pizza joint in San Francisco and a chain of them based in St Louis – and, of course, there's the Raspberry Pi."

    Not forgetting the Big Muff Pi and associated spin-offs.

  18. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
    Flame

    There's no such thing as Pi Day

    Since middle-endian dates are wrong and stupid.

    *Sits back and watches the downvotes from American readers*

  19. johnnytruant

    A day for the rest of the world

    I tried to find a date which would work in the more normal way of representing time, so I present to you, coming for the first time later this year: muon-proton mass ratio day

    It's the zeroth of November.

    Failing that, the first of August could be ζ(4) day.

  20. Gerry Doyle 1

    Happy 3rd of Quattordecember!

    Or not.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    FWIW...

    ..never found a use for it myself, but if you ever need to calculate the side 's' of a square having equal area to a circle of radius 'r' you would normally do...

    s= (pi * (r**2))**0.5

    ... which is a relatively heavy calculation if you have to do it a lot of times.

    Instead, you can reduce this overhead quite a bit by first precalculating an alternative constant 'k' to use instead...

    k= (pi**0.5) - 1

    ...which works out to 0.7724538509...

    The side 's' of the square can now be calculated by...

    s= r + (r * k)

    ...which is a fair bit easier to do.

    And while we're talking about Pi...

    To keep my daftness muscle in trim I once wrote some distributed(*) code to calculate Pi by using random numbers. Generate a pair of random numbers between 0.0 & 1.0, treat them as x/y coordinate vectors and sum them: if the sum of the two vectors is > 1.0 they fall outside a quadrant of circle radius 1.0 whereas if they sum to <= 1.0 they're inside the quadrant of circle.

    Do this a lot of times and keep track of the total number of pairs (t) and the the number of pairs that fall inside the circle (i)

    Pi = (i / t) * 4

    It's probably the least efficient way of calculating Pi but it works.

    (*) distributed because you really need to do trillions of pairs to get any accuracy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: FWIW...

      I'm confused.

      Why wouldn't you just calculate s = k' * r (where k' = pi**0.5 = 1.772454...) which is simpler yet, having only a single operation?

      1. Pigeon

        Re: FWIW...

        I, too, was confused. This method may be to reduce the multiplication of errors. If k is < 1, then the error in k is not magnified. There are other schemes for matrix operations and polynomial evaluation. None of them make *much* difference, except to boffins.

    2. Fink-Nottle

      Re: FWIW...

      > It's probably the least efficient way of calculating Pi but it works.

      I'd venture that the 'persuade a wounded soldier to do all the work' method is less efficient -

      "On June 5, 1872 Hall submitted an article entitled "On an Experimental Determination of Pi" to the journal Messenger of Mathematics. [...] In this article Hall reported the results of an experiment in random sampling that Hall had persuaded his friend, Captain O.C. Fox, to perform when Fox was recuperating from a wound received at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The experiment involved repetitively throwing at random a fine steel wire onto a plane wooden surface ruled with equidistant parallel lines."

  22. Alistair
    Pint

    MIssing theme music for the parade:

    Just because Its Friday and I'm grumpy still

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKGV2cTgqA

    (SFW)

    (its all new math)

  23. Paul 77

    More Pizza...

    Yet another pizza joint in Staten Island, New York on the corner of Victory Boulevard and Jewett Avenue.

  24. lambda_beta
    Linux

    Yes ... But

    What is pi in base pi?

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