ASL Math For Insomniacs

Tuomo

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At one time or another, you've probably woken up in the middle of the night, checked the clock, and noted whatever MMC Time it was - whether it be 337, 448, or whatever. You grunt the satisfied grunt of the true ASL Aficionado, roll over, and go to sleep.

Seems like this happens a lot. But.... how often does it REALLY happen? What are the odds?

Fear not, my brothers, for I Have Done The Math.

Only counting official (ie, not TPM) infantry units with three digits since that's the minimum that a digital clock will display, it turns out there's 46 unique triads that are also possible times, from the mighty 838 down to the lowly 106, and even counting the ML10 leaders and Heroes, wounded and non.

Over the course of a 12-hour cycle, we of course have 720 separate times, and I sure hope they're all unique, because otherwise we'll have to redo the math.

So, 46/720 = 6.38888...%, which is interesting because there's actually no 638s in the game.

So there you have it. One out of every 15.5 times, it's Infantry Time. Now go get some sleep.
 

Honza

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I love it when my clock shows the properties of an infantry unit. 548 is my favourite. Keep my eye out for those MMC on the clock.
 

waltu

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I vaguely remember seeing 638's in an ASL Annual for the original Squad Leader. Now if that's stuck in your brain, you are getting old (sigh!).
 

Old Noob

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If your clock reads '768', run away. The computer has infested it with a time-released virus!
 

Chris_Riches

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For the REAL maths aficionado, re-do the maths using the metric clock that Napoleon tried to foist on everyone (like the metric system)… 10 hours per day of 100 minutes … where even 768 is feasible.
 

waltu

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Interesting. I hadn't heard about that. Apparently, it was part of an effort during the 1790's to standardize all measurements to some form of decimal system (i.e., the metric system). Interesting how some things caught on, and others did not. The Wikipedia article I read states that both LaPlace and LaGrange favored the new time system, but others argued that a decimal hour (roughly the length of 2.4 of our hours) was too long a time unit. So, they backed it out of the French law which established the metric system. A few decades earlier, the Centigrade temperature scale had caught on (except here in the US). Thanks for that tidbit. That will help with the insomnia.
 

Chris_Riches

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Not to prolong the thread beyond its value, but there is a decimal clock in Cambridge (UK) in the Fitzwilliam museum, for anyone geeky enough to want to see it.
 
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