Palindromes Not Allowed
Posted on September 18, 2009
I informed a customer yesterday that it was not possible to name his new server “BOB_BOB” because, for technical reasons, Microsoft operating systems do not allow for the use of palindromic names with an odd number of characters.
”This is why,” I told him, “you have never seen a Microsoft Exchange server named ‘MADAMIMADAM’.”
”It would be better,” I continued, “to name the server ‘BOBBOB’, as this is an even number of characters and would not result in the irrevocable loss of all your business data.”
Comments
Ah, baloney. The binary ASCII code for BOB_BOB is 01000010 01001111 01000010 01011111 01000010 01001111 01000010.
It’s not a palindrome in machine language. Explain that, Mr. Smarty!
I once named a server ‘NEVERODDOREVEN’, which was alright as it contains an even number of letters, oddly. Problem was the server promptly vanished.
The other problem was is that the data didn’t vanish.
Arth:Baloney mahoney! I never said I told the man the truth! Sometimes it takes a fib to raise a child.
Davecat: So what did that look like?
Well, I could try to describe it, but in grand H.P Lovecraft style, the very description itself might well drive you mad, and I don’t want to be held responsible for you becoming a gibbering wreck of your former self.