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The Dozenal Society of America Vol. 1, Iss. 1
Official Newsletter 7 Mar 11E9
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= http://www.dozenal.org =
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==========================CONTENTS==========================
1. The DSA Newscast
2. Dozenal News
December 11E8
January 11E9
February 11E9
3. Backmatter
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= The DSA Newscast =
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This is the first issue of the DSA Newscast, the new
(hopefully) monthly publication of the Dozenal Society of
America. There are two things which need to be explained
here: our name, and our purpose.
The name, the DSA Newscast, is a nod to the publication
of our British brethren at the Dozenal Society of
Great Britain, who published their flagship journal _The
Duodecimal Newscast_ from 1173 (1959.) to 117X (1966.),
before they began publishing a more formal journal.
Our purpose is similarly simple: to provide a more regular
and more down-to-earth publication for the world of
dozenals than is currently available. The Newscast is *not*
intended as a substitute or replacement for _The Duodecimal
Bulletin_; the purposes of the two publications are quite
different. As explained in our namesake's first issue by
Brian Bishop:
Until we can start a regular magazine I shall keep
members informed of activities in the world of
duodecimals by means of such circular letters as
this. I should also like members to use it to air
their views.
This little newsletter is for minor things, things too
small or brief or inconsequential for the _Bulletin_; or,
conversely, things too time-sensitive or urgent to wait for
the next _Bulletin_. It's perfectly suited for:
- An announcement of a dozenal-related gathering; e.g.,
a meetup in a given city at a certain time;
- You've found an opportunity to speak on dozenals at a
conference, school, or other venue, and you want to
invite dozenalists to show support;
- You've seen a dozenal article somewhere (or written
one) and want to draw fellow dozenalists' attention to
it;
- There's a discussion on dozenalism occurring
somewhere, and you want to enlist the aid and wisdom of
other dozenalists in it;
- You've seen some curious use of dozenalism not worth a
real academic article but still interesting enough to
tell others about;
- Anything else of this nature.
Please, make liberal use of this newsletter for these types
of purposes; our goal is to ensure it becomes a useful
resource, and with this purpose, it can only be useful if it
is actually used.
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= NEWS =
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DECEMBER 11E8
December was a landmark month for dozenals; because although
it was merely the year 11E8, an number unremarkable except
for its closeness to 1200, in decimal it was the year 2012.,
which caused December to contain the date (in decimal)
12/12/12. Although this date was really unremarkable in
dozenal, it caused a watershed of interest in dozenal, and
we had the publicity to match.
- "Dozenalists of the world unite! Rise up against the
tyranny of ten!" Alex Bellos, author of the popular math
book _Here's Looking at Euclid_ (an excellent read,
by the way), had already interviewed your _Bulletin_
editor and past president, Mike deVlieger, at some
length; for this occasion, he wrote an article for the
_Guardian_ blog with the above title. He interviewed
your president and Mr. deVlieger again, eventually
producing a wonderful article on dozens. You can read it
at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2012/dec/12/dozenalists-world-unite-tyranny-ten
- The above article was translated many times into
many languages, most interestingly into Hebrew, at:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/science/1.1885049
- Janice Lloyd wrote briefly about us in _USA Today_:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/11/121212-twelve-weddings-bruce-magic/1761127
- The Danbury _News-Times_, originally on the front page
but later moved to "Weird News" (!):
http://newstimes.com/news/us/article/Americans-finding-dozens-of-ways-tomark-12-12-12-4109223.php
- James Grime, the Internet's "Numberphile," produced a
very enthusiastic 9-minute introductory video on dozenal
on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DU6xJfP7-HCc&list=3DUUoxcjq-8xIDTYp3uz647V5A
- Mike deVlieger was interviewed by ABC Australia
Pacific Radio.
As Mr. deVlieger wrote in his summary of the publicity to
the officers of the DSA:
The Society's Founder F. Emerson Andrews reached
many through the Atlantic Monthly, and touched off
the Society. In the 1970s, ABC showed the "Little
Twelvetoes" animated short on Saturday mornings
throughout the 70s and 80s. Gene was interviewed on
NPR in 1994. This event stands alongside these as a
significant publicity event. We can be sure that we
all participated in furthering the aim of our
Society to educate the public on the benefits of the
twelve system! We do hope Mr. Emerson, Beard,
Churchman, and the many others that followed and
contributed do smile upon this day as the day the
world marveled at twelve.
Further comment hardly seems necessary.
Dr. Paul Rapoport (#230) of McMaster University, Hamilton,
ON, CA, who many years ago produced physical dozenal digital
clocks, has produced a set of dozenal analog computer
clocks, which an be customized in a variety of ways. Find
them at:
http://dozenal.ae-web.ca
This adds to the existing set of dozenal analog computer
clocks:
http://www.gingerbill.org/dozenal/demo.html
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/uncialclock/
http://gorpub.freeshell.org/dozenal/blosxom.cgi/clock.html
Thanks to Dr. Rapoport for sponsoring this project, which is
discussed at the DozensOnline forum.
JANUARY 11E9
Treisaran, on the DozensOnline forum, has developed a
difficult but still usable test for divisibility by seven;
it works with modifications in both decimal and dozenal.
http://z13.invisionfree.com/DozensOnline/index.php?showtopic=840
He calls it the Abbreviated Power-alpha Test; it is related
to, though more complicated than, his SPD (Split, Promote,
Discard) test for divisibility by five:
http://treisaran.deviantart.com/art/SPD-Test-Guide-large-font-fast-version-310345329
Both of these are well worth a read; and SPD in particular,
as it fills a rare lacuna in dozenal divisibility tests.
The Internet website io9, which bills itself as "a daily
publication that covers science, science fiction, and the
future," has published an article on dozenal:
http://io9.com/5977095/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base+12-counting-system
It's an excellent article, which plainly borrows from some
earlier articles (right down to cribbing some graphics from
them wholesale), but which is nevertheless worth a read.
George Dvorsky, the author, has written a wonderful little
piece for explaining "why we should have adopted a base-12
counting system --- and how we could still make it work."
FEBRUARY 11E9
Your officers and board have begun the job of cleaning up
the formalities of the Society, and have made significant
progress this month. For example, we have begun the process
of restoring our tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue
Service (lost several years ago due to some rather esoteric
regulation changes). We will keep members updated on
this matter in the _Newscast_ (and, of course, in the
_Bulletin_).
This month, the DSA launched its newly engineered and
improved web site, still at the same domain, dozenal.org.
The new website includes:
- A complete set of digital copies of past _Bulletins_.
- A list of resources for using dozenal, including
calculators, measurement converters, and fonts.
- The same set of digital articles, plus a few additions
and improvements.
- Remastered version of the Aspirant's Tests and
answers, with links between them.
- Remastered version of F. Emerson Andrews's
landmark "An Excursion in Numbers."
- Remastered version of A. C. Aitken's "Twelves and
Tens."
- Remastered version of Ralph Beard's Esperanto
disposition on dozenalism, "Antipatio al
Aritmetiko."
- A completely updated exposition of Tom
Pendlebury's landmark TGM dozenal metric system.
- Social networking links, both for sharing and for
tapping into the DSA's network.
- New digital membership forms, both web-based and
fillable pdf.
- A complete search fuction.
- The ability to pay dues entirely online, available for
any registered member.
Go ahead and explore! You're sure to find the same great
resources you've always known from dozenal.org, plus some
helpful new additions, as well.
Please, apply for a user account if you are a DSA member;
this is an easy process, and will enable you to pay your
dues online (no more sending in checks, unless you wish), as
well as access some member-only materials we have available.
Click on "Login" at the new website, then on "I want to
create an account," and you'll be on your way.
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= BACKMATTER =
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_The DSA Newscast_ is a production of the Dozenal Society of
America. If you have received this publication in error, or
otherwise do not wish to receive it anymore, please unscribe
by mailing a message containing the string "UNSUBSCRIBE DSA
NEWSCAST", exactly as typed, in its body, to the Reply-To
address of this message.
For questions, comments, submissions, or other communication
with the _Newscast_, please write to:
newscast@dozenal.org