RE: questions about bits and bytes
At 06:29 PM 4/10/96 -0700, Simon Spero wrote:
No, bytes are no always 8 bits - some machines use(d) 9-bit bytes.
I notice you gave no examples. Why is that?
Jim Bell jimbell@pacifier.com
In a past life I worked on a Honeywell DPS8 box that had 36 bit words and 9 bit bytes. -Blake (recalling the random evil flags that extra bit was used for)
In a past life I worked on a Honeywell DPS8 box that had 36 bit words and 9 bit bytes. -Blake (recalling the random evil flags that extra bit was used for) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ooo! Ooo! Let's go back to the 9-bit bytes! The ninth bit could be the adult/minor flag! Let's toss away all of our computers! Buy new equipment! Just to accomodate the CDA! The ninth bit would be perfect for this! Every single byte could be flagged as Adult or Minor! Every byte with a value > 255 would be only available to adults. If you use numbers > 255, then the 9th bit would be set, and we would know you're an adult since minors can't count to 256! Small print: The "9th bit adult/minor flag" is the intellectual property of Steve Reid. Unauthorized users of the "9th bit adult/minor flag" will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. ===================================================================== | Steve Reid - SysAdmin & Pres, EDM Web (http://www.edmweb.com/) | | Email: steve@edmweb.com Home Page: http://www.edmweb.com/steve/ | | Alternate email: sreid@edmbbs.iceonline.com sreid@sea-to-sky.net | | PGP Fingerprint: 11 C8 9D 1C D6 72 87 E6 8C 09 EC 52 44 3F 88 30 | | --- DISCLAIMER: JMHO, YMMV, IANAL. --- | =====================================================================
participants (2)
-
Blake Coverett -
Steve Reid