So in the Spam Assassin settings for my new hosting provider I saw the following text:
Set the number of hits required before a mail is considered spam. “n.nn” can be an integer or a real number. 5.0 is the default setting, and is quite aggressive; it would be suitable for a single-user setup, but if you’re an ISP installing SpamAssassin, you should probably set the default to be more conservative, like 8.0 or 10.0
(my bold)
So here’s the problem: real numbers include both the rationals and the irrationals. Irrationals (real numbers that can’t be represented by the ratio of two integers… examples are the square root of 2 and pi) can’t be represented by a finite decimal… i.e. they can’t be entered as an “n.nn” or “n.nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn” or in any way that would be remotely useful for something like this. You *could* represent an irrational in computer memory, but it would have to be rather more abstract than a float (or similar).
On a brighter note, the “VH1 Classics” channel on Rhapsody is stunningly good:
- When Doves Cry
- Cardiac Arrest (Madness) (I skipped this one)
- What’s Going On
- Something So Strong
- Don’t Bring Me Down (ELO! When’s the last time you listened to ELO??)
- I Can See For Miles (The Who! Ditto!)
- Can’t Help Falling in Love (UB40, of course)
- You’re in My Heart (Rod Stewart)
- Private Eyes
- Come Sail Away
- Jack & Diane
- Faith
And the hits keep rolling…
