I’ve received several blogworthy tips from my good pal The Aussie (who – ironically, now that I’m living in Sydney – lives in London). This is the first of four daily posts thanks to him.

From the BBC:

A computer scientist claims to have computed the mathematical constant pi to nearly 2.7 trillion digits, some 123 billion more than the previous record.

Fabrice Bellard used a desktop computer to perform the calculation, taking a total of 131 days to complete and check the result.

Pi has served as more than just a simple but lengthy constant, however.

“People have used it as a vehicle for testing algorithms and for testing computers; pi has a precise sequence of digits, it’s exactly that, and if your computer isn’t operating flawlessly some of those digits will be wrong,” he explained.

Image from Flash Cafe