SUN 16 AUG 1998

WEEKLY WHINE

Sixteen reasons why 16 is better than 10

If you're like most people, you probably feel that 10 is the universal standard for numbers. It's the base for our number system, the base of the metric system, and, of course, it's the number of items on those wretched Top Ten Lists* that everyone seems to hack off. As you know, though, those of us here on GoobNet prefer sixteen, which is definitely not ten. So, on this, the sixteenth day of the eighth month of the third year of the IA, here is why we use sixteen.

* Top Ten Lists is a registered trademark of Worldwide Pants, Inc or something, just because David Letterman thinks he owns the concept and conveniently "ignores" the fact that pretty much the entire rest of the planet also produces Top Ten Lists. Except, of course, those of us here on GoobNet, for reasons that are about to be explained.

	Which makes a better Roman numeral, XVI or X? I thought so
	If you keep halving 10, the closest you get to one is 1.25
	There are ten-lane expressways, but no sixteen-lane expressways [okay, there might be sixteen lanes at the toll booths]
	In years, it's the driving age in most US states
	If someone can pitch another perfect game before 2001, there will have been sixteen of them in the majors this century
	Ever hear of a film called Ten Candles? I think not
	It's how many points the Jets scored to win Super Bowl III
	The most common isotope of oxygen has a mass number of sixteen
	It's the number of colors you get in DOS or on a Commodore 64
	Trouble with a capital T which rhymes with P and that's the sixteenth letter of the English alphabet
	In binary, it's %00010000
	Roger Maris sez, "16 backwards is 61, my favorite number"
	We give you 60% more list than everyone else
	It's the base for hexadecimal, the most important system for programmers
	Hexadecimal is signified by a dollar sign! How cool is that?
	It's the most important power of two, of course

And by the way, for more fun facts about sixteen, ten, and all the other integers from 0 to 100, check out Numbers, the GoobNet Exclusive.