On Fri, 20 Jul 2001, Tushar Samant wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 20, 2001 at 11:49:04AM -0400, Kevin Reid wrote:
> > Can you come up with a sort() comparison function which:
> > 1. Is horrendously complex.
> I vaguely remember that there is a protocol by which two people
> can play this game: they both think of a number (say between
> 1 and 100), and pass messages back and forth three or four
> time, and find out who had the greater number. And that's
> the only "knowledge" generated by the algorithm.
And I recall (offering a use, well, a vector toward a usefulness) an
article (in Dr. Dobbs?) on the hat color/indian poker (no offense)
problem - it implied a usefulness to the solving/optomizing the process
of guessing what color one's own hat was by the fact that others were
only able to say something about the hats they saw on the rest of us,
something like 'pass' or 'same' or 'different' ... er, I'm sure Abagail
has heard of it, the (if I'm not mushing 2 articles from the same bus
ride) process was deemed worthwhile by the inventor of Mathematica??
a
Andy Bach, Sys. Mangler
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] VOICE: (608) 264-5178 ex 5738, FAX 264-510
So, the Buddha walks into a pizza parlor and says,
"Make me one with everything."
