Why?

One Street: Market Square, Shipley #82

I discovered something new today about how numbers are written in different countries around the world. I actually feel rather ashamed to admit that I thought the use of the decimal point was universal. In my defence, why wouldn't I think that? The number system is pretty much universal so it made sense to assume that the use of a full stop to separate the integer from the fractional part of a number would also be universal. Is anyone else surprised to find out that this isn't the case? In turns out that more countries, including most of Europe, use a comma rather than a point.

This came to bite me today as we tested our software on a new server located on the continent. It was broken in just a few odd places. It took quite a while to pin the problem down to the fact that numbers were being formatted with commas instead of dots, breaking various interfaces. I couldn't believe it when I realised what was going on. That problem soaked up most of the day. All the urgent things that I had planned to do today remain left undone. Nothing is ever simple in this business.

Thanks for all the feedback on yesteday's Frizzy Tree. You lot are so knowledgeable. I think we can safely say that it is a Larch. Thanks to all those people who suggested that. I can never say the word "Larch" without putting "Mighty" in front of it and although this specimen high on the moor has become stunted and less recognisable as a result of taking the full brunt of the weather, I think it still qualifies as a Mighty Larch!

I hadn't noticed the little girl when I took this shot. It's amazing how often I choose a street shot on the strength of something I missed at the time I clicked the shutter. Of course, it could be that I did see her but just didn't register the fact consciously. I wonder.