Significance of '11001001' in STAR TREK
Dave Id Green
The Next Generation (which I think is from the first series, after which
it apparently gets a lot better). In this episode, the ship's computer
gets 'fixed' by some aliens which communicate only in binary; for various
reasons the 8-bit number '11001001' is particularly significant in this
episode. Now, if my calculations are correct, this is equivalent to 201
decimal (C9 hex) which used to be real important to me since it's the
'return' instruction in Z80 assembler. Could this be coincidence? Were the
ST:TNG writers all Sinclair programmers in their youth? Or could this
figure have some other particular significance in other languages?
Frankly I'm losing a lot of sleep over this one... :-)
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pa_h...@merrimack.edu
> Here in the UK, we've just seen the '11001001' episode of Star Trek:
> The Next Generation (which I think is from the first series, after which
> it apparently gets a lot better). In this episode, the ship's computer
> gets 'fixed' by some aliens which communicate only in binary; for various
> reasons the 8-bit number '11001001' is particularly significant in this
> episode. Now, if my calculations are correct, this is equivalent to 201
> decimal (C9 hex) which used to be real important to me since it's the
> 'return' instruction in Z80 assembler. Could this be coincidence? Were the
> ST:TNG writers all Sinclair programmers in their youth? Or could this
> figure have some other particular significance in other languages?
>
> Frankly I'm losing a lot of sleep over this one... :-)
>
If Mike Brown's (Vidiot's) program guide is as accurate as usual, the only
significance is that there is a clock which reads 2:01 at the beginning of
the show.
-Henway
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Nik Conwell
|> The Next Generation (which I think is from the first series, after which
|> it apparently gets a lot better). In this episode, the ship's computer
|> gets 'fixed' by some aliens which communicate only in binary; for various
|> reasons the 8-bit number '11001001' is particularly significant in this
|> episode. Now, if my calculations are correct, this is equivalent to 201
|> decimal (C9 hex) which used to be real important to me since it's the
|> 'return' instruction in Z80 assembler. Could this be coincidence? Were the
Actually, 11001001 ($c9 - dec 201) is EBCDIC for 'I'. Proving beyond any
doubts that the ship's computer is in fact an IBM 3090 180E. You can also tell
that it is running MVSXA/JES2, due to the fact that it is a capital (I), and not
a lower case (i).
-nik
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Internet: n...@bu-it.bu.edu. Bitnet: ccnc@buacca Nik Conwell
John Daly
|> The Next Generation (which I think is from the first series, after which
|> it apparently gets a lot better). In this episode, the ship's computer
|> gets 'fixed' by some aliens which communicate only in binary; for various
|> reasons the 8-bit number '11001001' is particularly significant in this
|> episode. Now, if my calculations are correct, this is equivalent to 201
|> decimal (C9 hex) which used to be real important to me since it's the
|> 'return' instruction in Z80 assembler. Could this be coincidence? Were the
|> ST:TNG writers all Sinclair programmers in their youth? Or could this
|> figure have some other particular significance in other languages?
I have not seen the episode for a long time so I cannot confirm any of this,
but a friend pointed out that '11001001' should be read as '11','00','10', and
'01'. These are the permutations of a two bit number which, according to my
friend, correspond to the "names" of the four Binars in the episode.
Hope that helps... (Hope it's accurate!)
Steven King, aka Chelloveck
>Here in the UK, we've just seen the '11001001' episode of Star Trek:
>
>Frankly I'm losing a lot of sleep over this one... :-)
Don't lose TOO much sleep. Remember, these are Hollywood script writers
we're talking about. The significance is much less than you think. You
see, in the episode each of the Binars had a two-digit name. (Yes, that
does leave darned few names to choose from.) There were four Binars on
the ship, named 11, 00, 10, and 01. 11 00 10 01. 11001001. Simple,
no? But not nearly as romantic as some of the other responses I've seen
here. :-)
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Paul Hardy
> I have not seen the episode for a long time so I cannot confirm any of
> this, but a friend pointed out that '11001001' should be read as '11','00',
> '10', and '01'. These are the permutations of a two bit number which,
> according to my friend, correspond to the "names" of the four Binars in
> the episode.
Hmmm... just thought of a new word for old (digital) computers: binasoars.
--Paul
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Lig Lury Jr.
>Don't lose TOO much sleep. Remember, these are Hollywood script writers
>we're talking about. The significance is much less than you think. You
>see, in the episode each of the Binars had a two-digit name. (Yes, that
>does leave darned few names to choose from.) There were four Binars on
>the ship, named 11, 00, 10, and 01. 11 00 10 01. 11001001. Simple,
>no? But not nearly as romantic as some of the other responses I've seen
>here. :-)
Well, perhaps when you only have four of them around, two bits are enough
to distinguish them apart from each other. Their full bit-string names
may be quite long, but for simplicity's sake, they go by the two bit
version, or however number of bits is necessary for uniqueness.
>--
>-----------------------------------------------------+------------------------
>So Bill, tell us about holographic food. | Steven King
> | Software Archaeologist
> | ve...@ddsw1.MCS.COM
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W.B. Carss (519) 438-0344
>... ve...@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Steven King, aka Chelloveck) writes:
>
Because I didn't see the beginning of this discussion I wondered if anyone had
mentioned that the names are 3, 0, 2 and 1 respectively? Probably there is
no more significance than they wanted to give each of the characters a
different binary name and those just happen to be the first four available.
Bill Carss
bi...@braille.uwo.ca
Billy Khan
Also...with that starbase in the Binars episode, it seemed the
same size as the one in ST3, yet the new enterprise easily fitted through
the doors when its supposed t be a lot larger than the old Enterprise,
continuity error?
Gym Z. Quirk
Not at all, Spacedock (ST-III/IV) was orbiting Terra. Starbase 74(?)
was around some other planet. Therefore, it is a (much) larger
version of Spacedock.
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Henry Polard
Henry Polard Reality
he...@maspar.com (408) 736-3300 is an allusion.
Eric Kuhnen
>11001001 is 201 decimal. Isn't the Enterprise's number NGC 201?
If you are referring to the number on the Enterprise's hull, it's NCC 1701
with the optional letter attached, depending on which Enterprise you're
referring to. If you're thinking of yet another number, then you've got me.
Incidentally, I wonder if chasing down the hidden meaning in 11001001 is
not unlike ". . .following an untamed ornithoid. . . ."
"Q"
Robert A Seace
Close, but no cigar! :-) The Enterprise's registry number is
NCC-1701 (or NCC-1701-A, NCC-1701-D depending on whether you are talking
about TOS, movies, or TNG). I don't really know what significance 11001001
has. A friend and I tried to figure it out a long time ago, but we were
unsuccessful. It was probably just a random combo of 1's and 0's to
represent binary.
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|| Robert A. Seace || Sophomore at UNH || Email: ras...@unhd.unh.edu ||
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Live long and prosper.
Local Violator
>not unlike ". . .following an untamed ornithoid. . . ."
Weren't the four Binars' names 11, 00, 10, and 01?? Put 'em together
and you've got... 11001001. Wow!! Just like magic!! That's why Riker said
"Could it be that easy??" when he looked at the four of them lying there. Of
course, how he got them in the right order on the first try can only be
attributed to Riker's studliness...
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