0-9),
the base 36 system has 36 different digits (0-9, A-Z).
Base 36 numbers are used to represent the year, month, and day, which
are then concatenated to create the date.
Example: My birthday this year was November 14, 1994. In RickDate,
it is expressed as EBE. The first digit (E) represents
the year (1994). The second digit (B) represents the
eleventh month (November). The third digit (E) represents
the fourteenth day of the month (14).
We'll come back to how E represents the year 1994 in a bit.
First, we'll look at why B represents November.
When counting in base 36, you count as follows:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, 10For those familiar with hexadecimal numbers (
0-F),
this should be quite easy to grasp. The number after 8 is
9, and the number after 9 is A.
The twelve months are thus represented as follows:
1 = January 2 = February 3 = March 4 = April 5 = May 6 = June 7 = July 8 = August 9 = September A = October B = November C = DecemberAs you can see, B = November. The day of the month works the same way:
(base36) (base10) 1 = 1 2 = 2 3 = 3 4 = 4 5 = 5 6 = 6 7 = 7 8 = 8 9 = 9 A = 10 B = 11 C = 12 D = 13 E = 14 F = 15 G = 16 H = 17 I = 18 J = 19 K = 20 L = 21 M = 22 N = 23 O = 24 P = 25 Q = 26 R = 27 S = 28 T = 29 U = 30 V = 31The chart shows us that the 14th day of the month is E. The year works the same way, except that the numbers are larger. If we extend the above chart, we get the following:
(base36) (base10) W = 32 X = 33 Y = 34 Imagine that we have two gasoline pumps. Z = 35 The left pump uses base 36, and the right pump 10 = 36 uses base 10. When the one's digit on the right 11 = 37 pump reaches 9, it rolls over to 0 and the ten's 12 = 38 digit is increased by one. Similarly, when the 13 = 39 one's digit on the left pump reaches Z, it rolls 14 = 40 over to 0 and the ten's digit is increased by one. 15 = 41 ...and skipping some lines... 1Y = 70 1Z = 71 20 = 72 21 = 73 ...and skipping some more lines... 2Z = 107 30 = 108 ...and skipping a bunch more lines... 99 = 333 9A = 334 ...remember we're in base 36 on the left... 9Z = 359 A0 = 360 A1 = 361 ...and jumping way ahead... ZX = 1293 ZY = 1294 ZZ = 1295 100 = 1296 101 = 1297 ...and shooting forward a bit more... 1H0 = 1908 ... 1I0 = 1944 ... 1J0 = 1980 1J1 = 1981 1J2 = 1982 ... 1J9 = 1989 1JA = 1990 1JB = 1991 1JC = 1992 1JD = 1993 1JE = 1994 1JF = 1995We see that 1994 is 1JE in base 36. So, the full form of my birthday this year would be 1JEBE. However, for most cases, it's sufficient to shorten the year to just the last digit, especially when talking about the current year, next year, or a year recently past. So, 1994 becomes E, and 1995 becomes F.
Walker and I also use RickDate liberally in naming computer files. It's easy to see that RésuméE95 is more recent than RésuméD34, plus the files are sorted automatically for users with a decent file operating system.
Since Walker is an IT contractor, computer companies throughout Silicon Valley are now being infiltrated with RickDate.
I, of course, use RickDate everywhere, from time sheets to even tacking it onto the end of my signature (so that everything I sign is also dated--it makes it much easier to sort those credit card receipts, for example).
Last updated: I5M