BabelSearch

Search for arbitrary strings or phrases in the digits of Pi. Inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's [1] short story, "La Biblioteca de Babel". [2]

Dependencies

libgmp >= 5.0.2

Installation / Usage

$ make # compiles pi utility
$ make install # installs pi utility to /usr/local/bin (optional)
$ ./BabelSearch.sh <phrase> # Search for 'phrase' in the digits of Pi
$ pi <digits> <base> | tr <table> # Uses BabelSearch.sh reported values to generate output

Examples

Ex. 1

Search for "Hello, world!" in the digits of Pi

$ ./BabelSearch.sh Hello, world!
Hello, world!
10
Perlre : s/.*?(.)(?!\1)(.)(?!\1|\2)(.)(?!\1|\2)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\6|\7|\8)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9)(.)(?!\1|\2|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12)(.).*/$1$2$3$4$5$6$7$8$9$10$11$12$13/
Digits : 274656
Base   : 10
Key    : 9788046502813
Command: ./pi 274656 10 | tr 0-9 odr\!,w\ elH
$ pi 274656 10 | tr 0-9 odr\!,w\ elH
...
...
...
r,re,!!,H,!eHor!lr,H,H,,welwd ,H! dreo!r ,r!!HoH,w,,lol roorl!w!wr r dewrHldl!wwrwrHello, world!
$

Ex. 2

Search for a random phrase like 'scallop shells are cool'

$ ./BabelSearch.sh scallop shells are cool
scallop shells are cool
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Perlre : s/.*?(.)(?!\1)(.)(?!\1|\2)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7)(.)(?!\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11)(.)(?!\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\10|\11|\12|\13)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14)(.)(?!\1|\2|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\15)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\15|\16)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\12|\13|\14|\15|\16|\17)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\16|\17|\18)(.)(?!\1|\3|\4|\5|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\15|\16|\17|\18|\19)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\15|\16|\17|\18|\19|\20)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\4|\5|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\12|\13|\14|\15|\16|\17|\18|\19|\20)(.)(?!\1|\2|\3|\6|\7|\8|\9|\10|\11|\14|\15|\16|\17|\18|\19|\20|\21|\22)(.).*/$1$2$3$4$5$6$7$8$9$10$11$12$13$14$15$16$17$18$19$20$21$22$23/
Digits : 600070
Base   : 21
Key    : KCHAF4I2G3BFD9256EJ1048
Command: ./pi 600070 21 | tr 0-9A-K oc\ hoar7lsleclelsap\ s
$ pi 600070 21 | tr 0-9A-K oc\ hoar7lsleclelsap\ s
...
...
...
csocle lshpe7 c7po els7  lcpelccoc7lhsleerpsl sscallop shells are cool
$

Ex. 3

Michael's full name is first encoded starting at the digit 483967, in base 26

$ pi 483989 26 | tr 0-9A-P 0norpl6hsei\ hbloaeKJmc\ MuP
...
...
...
0ocrimK6bhieorcJnis chhKiPhplmlPmKebbr oespb eMichael Joseph Kornblum
$

Ex. 4

Share a secret

$ pi 184145 32 | tr 0-9A-V ua\ \ aodlmc\ rblelGm\ teLoNcoQgsTau
...
...
...

Applications

As far as I know, there are none! And that's one of the things I particularly like about it. Perhaps a nice T-shirt can be built based on the output results.

In any case, it's a fun little program to play around with. Feel free to create an issue if you have any questions or comments.

maurolacy/Babel