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From: jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: bit patterns of all ones
Message-ID: <408@hadron.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Jan-87 08:00:46 EST
Article-I.D.: hadron.408
Posted: Fri Jan  2 08:00:46 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Jan-87 21:00:03 EST
References: <1382@hoptoad.uucp> <690001@hplsla.HP.COM> <1527@hoptoad.uucp> <595@mrstve.UUCP> <406@hadron.UUCP>
Reply-To: jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao)
Organization: Hadron, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Lines: 14
Summary: 2^n-1 is (not always) all ones.

Forgot to mention why "usually" all ones.  On a ternary machine
(what???) which some "solder-crazed EE" (was it?) might construct,
2^n-1 will of course be some mix of 0's, 1's, and 2's (or -1's?).

Of course, lots of other things would break, too.  Divides by
shifting, and even the meaning (to most folk) of shifting.

Of course, that will never happen.  We will always have our
binary, transistorised, 16- and 18-bit Neumann minicomputers.
;-}?
-- 

	Joe Yao		hadron!jsdy@seismo.{CSS.GOV,ARPA,UUCP}
			jsdy@hadron.COM (not yet domainised)