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Wow. I though the answer would be BlackAdder Send a noteboard - 10/05/2010 09:22:15 PM
1, 3, 7, f, 7, /, DEL, ???

Probably much easier to catch if you were told the sequence written entirely in base 10 is 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127 if you don't know different bases, if you are used to lot's of different bases then it's easier as written because you'll notice that they were all the last of the characters for a given common (or not so common) base.

The clue on that one is gonna catch the eye probably for those who are used to hexadecimal, were one counts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f, 10 and so on. The / and DEL might then catch the eyes of those used to older computer coding, those all represent the last number before ten of a given base, in this case binary, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128, or 2^n, so that the numbers are 2^n -1 in base 2^n, where n is the position of each clue.

1 ----> 2^1 - 1 in base 2^1 or binary
3 ----> 2^2 - 1 in base 2^2 or 4
7 ----> 2^3 - 1 in base 2^3 or 8
f ----> 2^4 - 1 in base 2^4 or 16

7 ----> 2^5 - 1 in base 2^5 or 32 - Whuh? Yeah base 32 counts 7 as it's last number, which wants a unique character for every number between 0-31, with 32 to be written as 10, goes alphabetically for 26 letters than uses numbers. This character serves more for completeness and to allow confirmation, Base32 is not commonly used.

/ ----> 2^6 - 1 in base 2^6 or 64 - Much like the other, in base64 / is the last unique character used.
DEL----> 2^7 - 1 in base 2^7 or 128 - ASCII, this las tone is actually the best clue, if you see it and have some familiarity with ASCII and hex, you'll take the f and the DEL and realize someone is using increasing bases, which let's you solve backwards and realize what is going on - with tables presumably, I doubt anyone has all those bases memorized though often the last digit of them, their '9' tends to be somewhat familiar

So of course the last is 255, and proceeds 511, 1023, 2047, etc. Extended ASCII (base 256) would probably be the preferred format for the unique character but there are several versions. Personally I consider a pretty good example of why I dislike these sorts of problems. You'd never guess them if you weren't familiar with that sort of thing, and while weird computer bases in powers of 2 were pretty common braniac knowledge for the earlier computer days, it's mostly redundant now. To me it's sort of like measuring intelligence by asking what color a Sith Lord's lightsaber is, you will probably find those who answered red or crimson are above average IQ, but you can't say much about those who said 'Huh?' and those who just guess and guess right probably would make up a big chunk of the right answers.

Edit: By the way the 'somewhat humorous' answer I alluded to in the original question hinges on one of the more common Extended ASCII version using the space character as it's last symbol, so a big blank for an answer, another common one uses a box or square, vaguely alluding to base 2 exponential answers. So, RdrR sort of funny ;)


F2 - help! :P

I know nothing about these other bases.
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A Logic Problem - 09/05/2010 09:24:36 PM 1113 Views
I despise these sorts of problems (spoiler) - 09/05/2010 09:38:41 PM 830 Views
that is correct (now no looking ahead, cheaters ) *NM* - 09/05/2010 09:43:35 PM 375 Views
Based on the view count I would say at least half the people have decided to cheat *NM* - 09/05/2010 09:52:42 PM 373 Views
Totally cheated - 10/05/2010 04:05:30 AM 702 Views
Took me a moment - 09/05/2010 09:48:09 PM 634 Views
Re: A Logic Problem - 09/05/2010 09:54:52 PM 643 Views
Oh yeah. - 09/05/2010 10:08:48 PM 761 Views
Not bad. Try this one. - 09/05/2010 10:21:42 PM 792 Views
i couldn't begin to tell you - 09/05/2010 10:29:09 PM 752 Views
That's going to bug me for ages now. - 09/05/2010 11:48:07 PM 709 Views
It is a lot harder, and you probably are . - 09/05/2010 11:53:26 PM 734 Views
You would need a good base in math to figure it out. *NM* - 10/05/2010 12:03:09 AM 393 Views
That... that was either brilliant or terrible. *NM* - 10/05/2010 12:10:12 AM 333 Views
It was a definite hint. - 10/05/2010 12:26:41 AM 733 Views
*NM* - 10/05/2010 12:25:03 AM 355 Views
Yeah, probably 99.9% of people won't get this, but it has less to do with patterns I think (spoiler) - 10/05/2010 12:21:06 AM 727 Views
This is correct. (spoiler obviously) - 10/05/2010 12:25:02 AM 699 Views
Right. I guess I might've found that eventually. - 10/05/2010 12:29:57 AM 734 Views
I never like base change ones, let me see if I can remember one... - 10/05/2010 01:28:06 AM 763 Views
To save confusion, anyone who gets that just give it in base 10 *NM* - 10/05/2010 01:52:45 AM 382 Views
Answer (Spoiler) - 10/05/2010 03:09:18 PM 742 Views
Wow. I though the answer would be - 10/05/2010 09:22:15 PM 699 Views
Re: I hated this stuff in school, and always skipped it. - 10/05/2010 06:59:02 PM 736 Views
The one you got was poorly written. - 10/05/2010 01:37:26 AM 773 Views
I agree - 10/05/2010 01:59:15 AM 727 Views
Cake. - 10/05/2010 01:53:32 AM 719 Views
I cheated. - 10/05/2010 02:54:58 AM 757 Views
Heh, that's what I did too - 10/05/2010 05:20:47 PM 684 Views
Re: I might for Tim's. - 10/05/2010 06:55:12 PM 694 Views
Easy stuff - 10/05/2010 03:15:55 AM 909 Views
Ths is not a logic problem. It's a puzzle. - 10/05/2010 02:33:19 PM 622 Views
Re: No no, there's a definite pattern. - 10/05/2010 06:50:01 PM 640 Views
ok, how do you analyze the problem? - 10/05/2010 08:08:21 PM 756 Views
Re: ok, how do you analyze the problem? - 10/05/2010 09:14:48 PM 655 Views
Here's how I thought of it. - 10/05/2010 10:20:10 PM 740 Views
thanks for the explanation. and a reminder that I LOATHE that kind of stuff. *NM* - 10/05/2010 10:26:32 PM 392 Views
no problem - 10/05/2010 10:28:29 PM 723 Views
Thanks for the tip! *NM* - 10/05/2010 10:39:02 PM 368 Views
Re: Mine's fairly similar. - 10/05/2010 10:51:13 PM 712 Views
I got that. - 10/05/2010 11:07:11 PM 684 Views
yah yah i know i know - 11/05/2010 12:07:58 AM 747 Views
orly? - 11/05/2010 01:44:23 AM 800 Views
Umm... okay. - 11/05/2010 05:27:37 PM 704 Views

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