Re: sizeof(arr[0])

From	David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: sizeof(arr[0])
Date	2015-06-17 14:10 +0200
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<mlro1k$v0f$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	(14 earlier) <lnd20vmmol.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org> <c9c28771-abc5-41df-8d09-7d7b004d0e3e@googlegroups.com> <mlq283$r93$1@dont-email.me> <mlq5io$833$1@dont-email.me> <78fbef8b-0f8b-48a3-bf5a-64ca25e2bded@googlegroups.com>

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On 16/06/15 23:58, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 5:49:37 PM UTC-4, David Brown wrote:
>> On 16/06/15 22:52, Richard Heathfield wrote:
>>> On 16/06/15 21:43, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
>>
>>>> BTW, 42 was Jackie Robinson's jersey number.  I've often wondered if
>>>> that wasn't Adams' impetus in using that number for the answer to
>>>> why the universe exists ... ie, breaking down barriers, working
>>>> together, and doing our best.
>>>
>>> He is on record as saying that he picked 42 merely because it was a
>>> perfectly ordinary number, a number that you could, without
>>> embarrassment, take home to meet your parents. I doubt whether he'd ever
>>> heard of Jackie Robinson, who retired from playing baseball when DNA was
>>> about 4 years old. In fact, it's probably fair to say that only a tiny
>>> minority of English people have ever heard of Jackie Robinson, of which
>>> minority I was not a member until just now.
>>>
>>
>> Although I am not English, I too had to look up Jackie Robinson - Rick's 
>> post made it look like he was someone important or famous.  It turns out 
>> he played in American-only sports.  I cannot imagine why anyone would 
>> think there was a connection here with Douglas Adams, especially as he 
>> liked the English bat-and-ball game, cricket.  DNA was famous for 
>> marvelling in the ordinary and everyday - people who did anything 
>> special or unusual he mostly found boring.
> 
> He was a significant person in common U.S. history. He broke down race
> barriers for the mainstream populace at a point in our history where
> race was a real issue.

Race is still a "real issue" in much of the USA.  But while I am sure he
made his mark here, he was just one of many black Americans who refused
to be treated as second-class humans - and he was not one that was
famous enough or important enough to be known outside the USA.  (I don't
mean to belittle the man or his achievements, but he simply is not
internationally known in the way Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Mohammed
Ali or Rosa Parks are.)

Perhaps this is because his sport, baseball, is hugely popular in the
USA and almost totally irrelevant elsewhere (in the UK, it is something
kids might play in the playground between classes - called "rounders" or
"softball" - it is not something people take seriously).

> 
> In 2013 they made a movie about him with a budget of $40 million:
> 
>     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_%28film%29
> 
> My thinking in Adams' using his number as that answer was because of
> what he had done -- brought people together in spite of adversity.

That is not something that DNA was especially interested in.  He liked
to tell entertaining stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary
things, and to let his imagination run wild.

(As a side note, the book which Douglas Adams wanted most to be
remembered for is not "The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy", but "Last
Chance to See" about endangered species.)

> It seems to be a good answer to why the universe exists.
> 

DNA was an atheist - he was never interested in finding out why the
universe exists, and certainly would not have thought it was something
revolving around humans.  A key concept of THGTTG was that the earth was
made by interstellar mice so that /they/ could find the real question to
fit the answer to life, the universe and everything.  He was interested
in the question and what people think of it, and was mocking those that
took the question too seriously - but he did not think that there was
any "answer" or any point in looking for an answer.

Thread

sizeof(arr[0]) kuznecov.alexey@gmail.com - 2015-06-10 12:38 -0700
  Re: sizeof(arr[0]) James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-06-10 16:00 -0400
    Re: sizeof(arr[0]) kuznecov.alexey@gmail.com - 2015-06-10 14:53 -0700
  Re: sizeof(arr[0]) kuznecov.alexey@gmail.com - 2015-06-10 13:11 -0700
  Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-10 21:21 +0100
    Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-10 22:08 +0100
      Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Andrew Cooper <amc96@cam.ac.uk> - 2015-06-11 00:27 +0100
        Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-11 00:34 +0100
          Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-11 00:38 +0100
          Re: writing code for people who don't know the language (was: sizeof(arr[0])) Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2015-06-10 21:16 -0400
          Re: writing code for people who don't know the language Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-11 02:35 +0100
            Re: writing code for people who don't know the language Bartc <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-06-11 11:16 +0100
          Re: writing code for people who don't know the language Bartc <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-06-11 11:29 +0100
            Re: writing code for people who don't know the language gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2015-06-11 11:43 +0000
          Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Paul N <gw7rib@aol.com> - 2015-06-14 13:13 -0700
            Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-06-14 17:52 -0700
          Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-06-15 14:26 -0400
            Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-15 19:34 +0100
              Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-06-15 14:55 -0400
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Melzzzzz <melz@zzzzz.com> - 2015-06-15 20:59 +0200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-15 20:11 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-06-15 15:22 -0400
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 09:51 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 10:51 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 19:14 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 11:43 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 20:03 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-16 19:15 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 11:34 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-16 20:28 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-06-16 15:42 -0400
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 13:35 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-06-16 16:59 -0400
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Dr Nick <nospam-4@temporary-address.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 22:05 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 14:27 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Dr Nick <nospam-4@temporary-address.org.uk> - 2015-06-17 07:07 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-17 01:22 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-06-16 19:45 +0000
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 13:03 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-17 10:58 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 05:58 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-17 15:46 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 08:14 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-17 17:58 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 10:07 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 10:09 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 10:46 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-17 11:13 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Nathan Wagner <nw@hydaspes.if.org> - 2015-06-18 07:14 +0000
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-18 09:54 +0200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-18 05:19 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-17 10:53 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 11:17 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 13:59 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-06-18 13:41 +1200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-18 10:04 +0200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 13:18 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 21:30 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 13:53 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 13:43 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 21:52 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 14:01 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-16 23:49 +0200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 14:58 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-17 14:10 +0200
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-17 13:20 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 14:16 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 14:39 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2015-06-16 18:38 +0000
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 11:45 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 13:22 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2015-06-16 21:25 +0000
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-16 11:05 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-06-16 14:15 -0400
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 10:07 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-17 11:16 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-18 10:22 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-06-18 10:42 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-18 11:41 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-06-16 00:12 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 10:12 +0100
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-06-16 09:12 -0700
                Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-16 17:32 +0100
    Re: sizeof(arr[0]) kuznecov.alexey@gmail.com - 2015-06-10 14:56 -0700
      Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-06-10 23:53 +0100
      Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Bartc <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-06-11 00:33 +0100
        Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-11 00:37 +0100
  Re: sizeof(arr[0]) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 06:05 -0700
    [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-17 16:07 +0200
      Re: [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 08:23 -0700
        Re: [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-18 10:21 +0200
      Re: [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 10:35 -0700
        Re: [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-06-18 10:18 +0200
          Re: [OT] The number 42 (was Re: sizeof(arr[0])) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-18 10:08 +0100
    Re: sizeof(arr[0]) Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-06-17 15:13 +0100
      Re: sizeof(arr[0]) raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-06-18 20:38 +0000

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