Ever since 2002, and the first time I laid eyes on OEIS.org – the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, (an online database of integer sequences) – I have loved reading a few sequences now and then on a regular basis. I usually only read the numbers, and almost never the formulas (not sure what that tells about me?). I like to read the sequences slow and spell the numbers out silently, almost like tasting them? Sometimes I type a few numbers that I like and see if there is a sequence made already, and often there is – since the database contains almost 350.000 entries, accumulated since 1964, the largest database in the world of its kind.
Last year, Hugo Angulo and I, stepped up our commitment to OEIS and got a sequence published, and if you’re like us and interested in math and sequences, it is an experience well worth pursuing and highly recommended. You get to know some of all the work involved to get a sequence published, and you get to talk to some of the sites highly skilled and amazing moderators, (albeit, chit-chat is not encouraged at all, so keep any discussion short and to the point).
The sequence in context that we got published is A338920. The sequences counts the number of times it takes for a number to reduce itself to the smallest possible number, larger or equal to zero, by using the suffix of itself, a non-zero number equal or smaller than the remainder of itself. The resulting sequence is surprisingly structured and has a really nice audio representation.
It is possible to make an entry at OEIS with a friend, just like me and Hugo did, and I recommend that as a first time poster on the site. The standard is high and each entry is viewed as a scientific work and will be treated accordingly by the moderators.
