Definition of a Computer

And, to a first, second, and even third approximation, with no errors. "I really hate this damn machine I wish that they would sell it It never does quite what I want But only what I tell it." We'd be ecstatic if practically anything else had error rates well under one in 1e9[%]. But most computers, if they failed one instruction in 1e9 - never mind one clock cycle in 1e9 - wouldn't last even long enough to boot; it's not only common but *expected* that they do exactly what they're told to do, to within ten, eleven, twelve nines of "always". It's really pretty impressive. [%] Given our population demographics, I hesitate to say "billion" no matter what number I mean by it. :) /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents.montreal.qc.ca / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B