However if you use base 13, the answer is actually 42 :-)

When this was brought to Douglas Adam's attention his reply was "no one writes jokes in base 13" .

For those of you who haven't read "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy" you really should, especialy if you're a geek and appreciate the humor of Monty Python (silly, yet intelligent). It's one of the few books/series I've read through three times (the only other being LOTR).