The feisty number zero

Some blog post topics appear out of nothing.

The number 0.

There is nothing like 0, and 0 may mean nothing to some people.

Other numbers may be imbued with positive or negative sentiments and connotations, such as 3 or 7, or 4 in some cultures.

Zero is the most versatile, most positive and most negative number out there, if you think about it.

Even its shape has meaning. There is the roundish, rolly polly 0 of some fonts and cultures. There is the slender, almost angular zero of the Calvinist font called "Helvetica", and there is the Pam Anderson zero which we call 8.

Zero can mean cultural perfection, as in the dress size 0, or in the shoe size 0 of Chinese foot binding. The latter reveals the dark, cruel side of zero. If your food budget for the rest of this month is 0, you are seeing the cruel side. If you have zero hope or zero friends, the number 0 spells depression.

Zero can spell true peace in such sentences as "the number of stupid politicians in this country is zero", or when no one was murdered last year in your city.

Zero is a number used to trap and bait. Zero down, zero interest can eventually cost you your house, your family, or even your life.

Zero day exploits can not only pierce your online privacy, there too, the zero can make the difference between rich and poor.

Zero customer complaints in the last month is perfect.

Unless the number of customers was also zero, of course.

Zero, together with its really awkward cousin 1, has made this post possible because these two run the internet and the world.

Zero is the number of zen, of choice, of free will. You can go either way, you have not embarked on a journey yet.

Or the number of boredom. I have zero interest in working some more on this post.