Describe how to count up to 1023 on 10 fingers. :)
That's easy to describe, but a whole lot more difficult to use :-).
I remember seeing Doug Engelbart (inventor of the computer mouse, etc) <http://tinyurl.com/9km7> using a one-handed chorded keyboard <http://tinyurl.com/3ajld> that worked like your suggestion. Imagine having to learn the binary representation of ASCII characters and repeat it reliably! He claimed that it only took a couple of hours to learn. But then again, he was Doug Engelbart.
Towards the more day-to-day end of the scale, I learned a very usable way to count to 100 on two hands. It's interesting in that it mixes bases 5 and 10 to work its magic.
Poise your hands just above a surface, as over a piano keyboard.
In this position, your hands represent that famous Arabic contribution to mathematics, the invaluable zero.
Starting with your pinky and moving towards your index finger, count off 1-2-3-4 by lowering each successive finger to the surface (and keeping it there), as you might when drumming your fingers.
Next, lift all four fingers and drop your thumb for 5.
Repeat steps 1-2-3-4 (with your thumb down) to represent 6-7-8-9.
Here's where base 10 comes in.
Raise all five fingers and drop your other pinky to represent 10.
Repeat as necessary. I think you can take it from there.
It's really fast -- I've used it when I had to "count noses" of people coming into a room.
Dave
------------------------------------------------------------------------ David M. Land [EMAIL PROTECTED] 408-551-0427
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