In article <[log in to unmask]>, dated Thu, 10 Sep
1998 at 09:14:56, Phil Dunlap <[log in to unmask]> writes
>There seems to be an 'English vs. American' problem here... What y'all
>call the hash sign (#) is referred to here as the pound sign - not just
>by programmers but in common usage as a symbol for the pound unit of
>weight.
Although I cannot recall the detailed history, there is some connection
with the above and the original decision to use the # character position
for the UK pound monetary unit symbol, both on keyboards and the
character sets of the time (e.g. EBCDIC). Although the character sets we
use today in the UK have both symbols, the UK pound sign has held its
keyboard position i.e. where you would expect to find the # on a
standard US ascii keyboard.
--
Chris Salter (Vice Chairman) Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network
Registered Charity No. 1064177
<URL:http://www.zynet.co.uk/ott/polio/lincolnshire/>
Web Site & Vice Chairman Email: [log in to unmask]
Honorary Secretary Email: [log in to unmask]
Member of the British Healthcare Internet Association
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