There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand trinary, those who don't, and those who don't give a damn.

Trinary computers could potentially pack more performance into the same chip space than binary computers. Each junction would represent three states instead of two. Each chip would have positive and negative voltage supplied, instead of just one polarity as in conventional computers.

Then why not?

1. Inertia.

2. Installed base.

3. Operating systems are coded for binary.

4. Performance improvements have been easier in the past by going to smaller feature sizes.

However, it is conceivable that some space alien group with trinary computing as their installed base might some day visit Earth.

Didn't H.G. Wells' Martian machines have three legs? Was he trying to tell us something? Talking of aliens, I'm just reading The Night of the Triffids. The Day of the Triffids was the first book I purchased from the (compulsory) book club on my first day at Grammar School, aged 11 years. That was a couple of years ago, but The Triffids, War of the Worlds and the Time Machine certainly made an impression on me. Wells was an awesome character, full of strong and weird politics, unlike Wyndham who was a pensmith, seemingly homosexual (although eventually married) and rather enigmatic. They shared the interest in apocalyptica, the world at war turning into The War of The Worlds and Triffids. I still think that most aliens won't be friendly and we will have to suffer pain, cos they won't understand what it is! Anyway, if I see any three legged critters coming my way, I'm off!

I liked the movie Day of the Triffids but I didn't read the book. How do you like the Night of the Triffids?

Wells' politics show through in his book The Time Machine. He takes the elitist (Republican) urge to its ultimate extreme in the Morlocks.

Many people believe that intelligent aliens will also understand altruism because of supposed parallels in evolutionary paths, but when it comes to alien life, all bets are off. The precautionary principle suggests that we should assume the worst until there is evidence otherwise. Therefore, proposed schemes to broadcast powerful radio or laser messages to other stars announcing our presence may be a bit foolhardy.

I read the "Day" again (brilliant) and just watched the 1981 BBC serialization (that I also enjoyed) prior to starting the "Night". Of course, different authors, but it is a sequel and Simon Clark had the go-ahead from the Wyndham Estate. I'm reading it last thing at night, in bed, with the cocoa and dunking biscuits, like I remember when I first read the "Day" in 1964. Sad, I know, but it seems to be working and I'm finding it really exciting! I've had to leave it for a couple of nights due to exam marking through the night, but it has just turned midnight and I'm off for another hour or two's childhood simulation! See you tomorrow .....

When I was teaching computer science at USC I found I was spending weekends grading papers. USC is the University of Southern California (go Trojans), not to be confused with the University of South Carolina.

Weekends are too important to grade papers!

funny

That's one of the reasons I quit teaching professionally.