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A rule with byte

May 28, 2008, 04:37 AM
Authors : Daniel
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Post date : May 28, 2008, 04:37 AM
One of the best things about computers is that they can be blamed for cock-ups (in a technical equivalent of denouncing the dog for that nasty smell you just made).
Here are HMRC citing a 'programming error' as the reason for up to 100,000 low-income families failing to receive their £250 child trust fund vouchers.
Hmmmm...
I learned about computing at school in the '80s, using those clunky BBC Micro machines built by Acorn and the programming language of BASIC.
'10 print Hello,' I'd type. '20 goto 10'.
And then the black screen would fill with a non-stop stream of lurid green hellos.
All the while, the teacher would repeatedly remind the class of the number one rule: garbage in, garbage out.

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