From: elein@varlena.com
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Cc: Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org>
Cc: Merlin Moncure <merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com>
Cc: pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: allballs
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:08:54 -0800
Message-ID: <20050124210853.GD15269@varlena.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <24526.1106597936@sss.pgh.pa.us>
References: <6EE64EF3AB31D5448D0007DD34EEB3412A75D9@Herge.rcsinc.local>
<20050124200645.GA6126@winnie.fuhr.org>
<24526.1106597936@sss.pgh.pa.us>
On Mon, Jan 24, 2005 at 03:18:56PM -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
> Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org> writes:
> > "Allballs" is slang for "all zeros" because zeros look like balls.
> > You hear it sometimes in environments that use a 24-hour clock
> > (communications, military, etc.). Here's an example:
>
> > http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf2-3.html
>
> > I don't know that "allballs" is specified in any standard, so I
> > suspect that somebody who used the term added it to PostgreSQL
> > (or whatever it was called at the time) for convenience.
>
> I'm sure it isn't in any SQL standard ;-). Tom Lockhart is doubtless
> responsible for it being in our code; I suppose he put it in because it
> is in reasonably common use at JPL.
>
> regards, tom lane
Actually I think all of the weird psuedonyms for 000000 were in
postgres very early on. I remember seeing them in illustra
and we branched postgres in 1992. So I blame funky grad students.
--elein
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To: pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Cc: elein@varlena.com, tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us, mike@fuhr.org, merlin.moncure@rcsonline.com
Subject: Re: allballs
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