Possibilities
Here’s something that I’ve been playing with in my mind for a while, but so far I never really found the time/will to write the article. Click the more link to see the full article; I have decided to make it into a separate page because the numbers are fucking up the layout of the homepage otherwise.
As we all know, CD-ROM discs are used for endless numbers of applications. They can contain pretty much anything – as long as it fits on them – music, videos, backups, games, applications, instructions to build a nuclear warhead accompanied with a guide title ‘World Domination for Dummies’, the secret collection of private pictures from your neighbor, and so on.
The amount of data that a CD can hold, however, is limited, and each byte can only have a limited number of values. This automatically means that there is a limited number of possible combinations of that data. From that results my, purely hypothetical question:
What if you had enormous amounts of storage space (and too much time on your hands), and wrote a program that generates every possible combination of bits that can fit on a standard 700 MB CD-ROM?
(any other size or medium will do, but for the purposes of this article, I’m going with CD’s).
It would mean you had everything, if you can filter out the garbage. You would have every piece of music that can possibly exist, every videogame, every movie, every application, every version of every operating system Microsoft is ever going to create, every book, every last top secret government document, all the deepest secrets of mathematics and physics, and so on – and in every possible data format mankind could ever come up with. And if any of those things won’t fit on a single CD-ROM, then you’ll have multiple discs over which it is split or it’s compressed in one way or another. You’d even find the program that generated the files on many different copies, as well as the contents of your ‘My Documents’ folder. You’d find all the work you’re ever gonna need to do on one of the discs. Yes, if possessing information equals power, you’d be the most powerful person in the galaxy.
There’s one problem though. Or two, actually. First, the number of possible combinations is huge, which leads to number two: you’d need to filter out everything that’s just garbage, incorrect (there’d probably a copy of the United States constitution proclaiming that all humans who do not think like microwave ovens are to be drowned in solid rock, for instance), or otherwise useless.
A standard CD-ROM holds 700 megabytes of data. That is 71680 kilobytes, 73400320 bytes, or 75161927680 bits. Each bit can have two different value (1 or 0, or any combination of those if you start taking quantum computing into account). That leads to the following number of possible options (there are 2270 digits here):
41560048263861436654475508679796312052029218009913182562367006418669795133738677325303829283902099461683768394190770980283679635078751063822618386805812838838303804835247879766315166734455333535683358814434813663349102246666424981806460601928318569109854576954786119818448542312867993682137144435507290928098755647875003380853428300895596305593559299463478439540154542790952888179033834007520623513696748661147784926411675672345265415386421907369222580620580057964638871826899236684237846333319010115476041297070325851814982604002774773195585007201934813928941921904876472888434797815496460083517021451032132295669827602759661947035120120846618273540692805492960805094224448593026845599970027471939253922696047034668721591021344726827328131712537809367433079518384287605426291625425313041643768023912646929874041007720315988047687254633130795234177820761430309126055836770489514373931510971271792353296548877968241515974272875989782334657937031437501105704222162508125649071619599383296535137824001280615579884391211228601106105314564462541137989320753754255409337080898983919658187473289919882724301755391103464565652949062361680312937710052112856600316200094257405362631948684541214867146409424988250903963596233902404930669255343019463762208367648031571737057549700712046659157023806395507915616404070200018132701062721506830784625613311912694266673404330491387200073314684893248919524749048959153777871149991948500487185581730754185937873866203878251168734737587231326488641050598094861683470605896398593085319761830045089436004138466391521325214416958909455885921153196657959245081430996240154174079623421680565937289117542211340227166129132811906252486650841319323086523661297193645306243775007007485050498324647562243944659365996157620321456643217817600000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Let’s say that at least, the CD should have a correct structure. I don’t know the exact specifications of the CDFS file system, but I’ll presume that the first two bytes are ‘CD’. At that point, we’re down to the following number (still 2270 digits, but at least the number got a whole lot smaller):
41560019273882484721350366560533047580828429594256717527864863052271508084842596992950908379448089285142417669909616427292121947211555590165431463671900568144138997203812069279949973107406716032251730399281413324702860191957409234442734041280086708423684325442504979677019087941286897320973599686657670655098282295781732036010808800532769077252570412047411348234670231942044243795186594340164899748720953936465695617000314878647766056113239640983974671445912647758548162275659893980045917669035850682325483732657717339710098587418717576870866662655604822817431160764683043737585385867502107884498713945018997191265874967478747209642473729268451187893433221656171314211009627035218024646034095772795903048201166276142097522590829427103680190235947930980554967958567417965789988678435183111300305779237598205610810957895777257155022262701137726446304182142443697383720882330271742296308558472662166485159144135393856709949427038847026856924016221048757489940746263741899303393311349867922331686721150913967220524065404198861547866344304500665210897615356980528516508894133435871481519430135098893031451954262440861157361929671519651166721454073599914465149412625713249597893086209783150594388008469457177837953416991616705826231056399956938405253947784331106471956937753167217860677792536721429817137834582298283848391328989169191363102004971487142281952406179263495704582339189610726486197473357284778084563848670175545858631197146422363532953483639551087292336803161147327499601731014172535101598730700528251674278631424499440653386736447992504293420544979557813680448657739822089086852051675335465310825717015262488711808177973767459617767248675892989823345041908355108643311355628768188101882677515614248647618611631799563873060304086856011242045518722531483835603758008209329214600308575455009307287668229066165792067103881536904235290976894148521128308730756190301866381682454034763721563103249035460309040579155810247706901992390584624513409777632212755149760150803817076772939092313735123383574578468067313279614617052152562259545374712492378678130559714927615995623637983197197885945530177234651495726317453122988274137393085827767335064774149790169707884128961444470947322453114444647353687182873888418942684934210427902987294845892877825580776702245520682254336
A CD is 1.2 millimeters thick, so if you would actually create all those discs and stack them up, the height of the stack needs to be measured in parsecs (which is over 3 lightyears) at the lack of a bigger unit of measurement. The stack would go to the edge of the visible universe and back, probably millions of times over (that is 92×10^26 light years per trip). Unfortunately there are some practical issues involved with building such a stack, not to mention that it’d be a real bummer if it toppled over when you’re almost done building it, but you get the idea. It’s a lot.
Obviously, 700 MB would be a bit much. Let’s use a different subject: a 100 kilobyte bitmap image. Bitmaps are very simple in terms of file structure and very predictable when it comes to the relation between file size and picture size. The header for each file would be the same except for the image dimensions, which means that the value of 46 out of 102400 bytes are already known, leaving 102354 for image data. As a result, the number of possible 100kb bitmap images is (1283 digits this time):
38621915839819383776156980391709084941306067905143183265687961723080821305959590283401753598149727655197260685817493781836969325569604238581869156726602582950591384531818001345164220862260151747139603901744837097758576456302408942470762097063662706223836899801655007423182729973906008437261806550861923880433213326410624122666374422645631842424830712955324974618930377986368719271695955930216205502621029530051031074336241029308510873363146995803614386296599126309651274804630620379142113354752832984747473807269286033400590488478235440819467647773905724739497484798460906196419869672879762636210764794461958544247051445638670685323456393171623453281428476884841064799493452728311545224032434346174947095287625574547402827389736516533868114375804758906699820893083624953883705124160618575740530335787016139854614684706089327960579462214730514550399804309799011615108890763596994973149176222389617422254313574524607629907964248596999780882071628151782363938411426973124973565685960396785160836599828592474298355586905321031050981271098976722213717998766600992378789562291893869070678567964811385084928768960998832087321001816188802048207700599654878194647595770156826363500059354296838325190350669647834306755266222657031034230439413380266682086613584051011187524325029691123874922496
Burn each of those on a CD, and the stack will span the diameter of the Milky Way 46×10^1260 times. And I’m talking about the galaxy, not the candy.
Obviously, doing such a thing wouldn’t be very practical. But just imagine what you would have… 
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dude, dont you have Anything.. and I mean Anything better to do O.o?