(Sprry Spike, I mistyped the list address the first time on the copy i
sent to you)
On Sun, 22 Apr 2001 20:37:11 -0700, Spike Jones wrote:
>Nathan Russell wrote:
>
>>
>http://www.half-empty.org/servlet/LoadPage?pageID=idea&ideaid=1644&sortmode=3&viewmode=3
>>
>> I thought the prime community might want to stop by and take a look at
>> what's been said.
>
>Nathan I liked your comment about the largest genuine composite:
>a number known to be composite but for which none of the factors
>are known. I suppose we could set up a computer to arbitrarily
>generate a few million 20 digit primes by factoring, then multiply
>them all together to get the largest known composite number for
>which none of the factors would be "known", eh? spike
That's an interesting thought - and perhaps I was speaking too
quickly.
For that matter, pick fifty of the top hundred numbers on the Prime
Pages and then multiply them together using calc, maple or some such
software (and plenty of swap space!). There's no way you'll remember
which numbers you originally chose.
Perhaps I should have said something like "have ever been known"? Of
course, then we get into a debate over whether a computer can 'know'
something....
Nathan
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