[comp.sys.handhelds] Cute HP48 bug

jmorriso@ee.ubc.ca (John Paul Morrison) (01/12/91)

Try this on the command line:

:&:123 (enter)
then press EVAL.

you get the system binary for 123, ie <123d> or <7Bh>
This works for any number that is not a library in a port.

ps. BUG = unintended/unexpected results from normal operations.

John Paul Morrison

jpser@cup.portal.com (John Paul Serafin) (01/14/91)

For additional amusement try
101_34 (enter) 
and see: 3434
any x_y where x and y may be each be any sequence of digits
interpretable as real numbers.  x may be negative, y may not
have a negative sign.
Norm Lewis showed this to me yesterday.

gt9712a@prism.gatech.edu (SPENCER,JAMES LEWIS) (01/14/91)

sound way too cool.  ;-)

vaps0pb@prism.gatech.edu (Phillip Bridges) (01/14/91)

way too cool man.  Cant wait to check it out. (NOT)  :-)<--<

woody@nntp-server.caltech.edu (William Edward Woody) (01/14/91)

In article <37985@cup.portal.com> jpser@cup.portal.com (John Paul Serafin) writes:
>For additional amusement try
>101_34 (enter) 
>and see: 3434
>any x_y where x and y may be each be any sequence of digits
>interpretable as real numbers.  x may be negative, y may not
>have a negative sign.


Well, it may be an unexpected result, but I can see the logic behind it.
I mean, when you say  '10_ft', what you really mean is 10 * (1 foot),
where '1 foot' is a unit.

Thus, when you say '3_4' do you mean 3 * (4), where '4' is a "unitless unit?"
My experiments with this is when you say 'x_y', what you get is x*y.
This seems to work for any object x, when y is a positive real number.
Or at least for all the objects I've tried it with...

Curioser and Curioser...  A calculator with bugs!  (BTW, I have revision 'C'
ROMs...)
-- 
	William Edward Woody		   | Disclamer:
USNAIL	P.O.Box 50986; Pasadena, CA 91115  |
EMAIL	woody@tybalt.caltech.edu	   | The useful stuff in this message
ICBM	34 08' 44''N x 118 08' 41''W	   | was only line noise. 

jpser@cup.portal.com (John Paul Serafin) (01/15/91)

I agree with the units interpretatation of the x_y phenomenum, but I get
"too few arguments" when x is a matrix or vector and "bad argument type"
when x is a complex number.  So, what else can x be besides a real 
number (binary gives "bad arg..." also) ?
Is anybody else disappointed that complex numbers can not have electrical
units?
John Serafin
jpser@cup.portal.com