On 3/30/07, Brown, Warren <warrenbrown / aquire.com> wrote:
> James,
>
> > # 120 seconds is 2 minutes, and 200 is slightly less
> > movement than 120
> > microwave(120) => 200
> >
> > # 123 seconds is 2:03, but 203 is a lot more distance
> > microwave(123) => 123
>
>     How is the microwave supposed to know that "120" is 120 seconds but
> "200" is two minutes?  My experience is that microwaves will interpret
> two-digit numbers as seconds and three-digit numbers as minutes and
> seconds.  Therefore, "99" is 99 seconds, but "120" is one minute, twenty
> seconds.  Am I missing something?

The input is always "desired seconds", so 200 as input means 3 mins,
20 secs, and 120 as input means 2 mins.

The output is always "buttons to press", so 200 as output always means
2:00, and 120 _as output_ means 1:20.

And the convention for this quiz (not well specified, sorry) is that
if the buttons I press on the microwave are 170, the microwave will
treat that as 1:70...  it will first countdown 70 seconds to 1:00,
then 0:59, 0:58... etc.