prime numbers

[yo]

anyone else think this is cool?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20020809/ap_on_sc/india_prime_numbers_1

[Troy McClure]

Yeah, cool.

When I first saw the story, I thought it was about a way to factor into primes, which would be tres bad for cryptographers.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

There is a common definition error in that story.

Rajesh say:
A three-member team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technolgy in the northern Indian city of Kanpur have devised a method that will make no mistake in quickly determining a prime number — those that are divisible only by themselves and 1.
(end)

Issue with this definition is that it includes 1 as prime.

A more exact definition would be "those that have exactly two distinct factors."
A minor point, but important for the dweeb in us.

[Troy McClure]

There is a common definition error in that story.

Rajesh say:
A three-member team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technolgy in the northern Indian city of Kanpur have devised a method that will make no mistake in quickly determining a prime number — those that are divisible only by themselves and 1.
(end)

Issue with this definition is that it includes 1 as prime.

A more exact definition would be "those that have exactly two distinct factors."
A minor point, but important for the dweeb in us.


:roll:

[Pi Man]

i'm not a geek! if i were, i wouldn't have forgotten that two 'unique' factors part of the definition!! i'm not a geek!! :roll: :D

[Ben Kenobi]

Dweeb, not geek. Your avatar proves you're still a geek (like I have room to talk).