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Late one night some years ago, I excitedly typed off a an email to Professor Knuth, demonstrating a problem in one of his books. I was thrilled to receive a le
by tjr 19y ago
Late one night some years ago, I excitedly typed off a an email to Professor Knuth, demonstrating a problem in one of his books. I was thrilled to receive a letter from him a few months later... the contents of which was a printout of my email, on which he wrote an explanation as to why I was incorrect.
Since he found a problem in my calculations, I promptly wrote him another letter (on the same paper he sent me), and mailed him a check for $2.56. And he cashed it!
While I have yet to win a prized check from Knuth, this was a fun exchange no less.
- bootload 19y ago"... I excitedly typed off a an email to Professor Knuth, demonstrating a problem in one of his books. ..." Hunting for bugs :) Knuth has a standing offer of for anyone who finds defective code: From the preface of Fundamental Algorythms - "... I will cheerfully pay $2.56 to the first finder of each technical, typographical, or historical error ..."
- sant0sk1 19y agoa few months (90 days) of grading / $2.56 = $.35 a day. You ungrateful bastard!! JK, that is frickin' awesome. You got your money's worth.