Re: Reviving discussion on error code 451

On 17 December 2014 at 18:54, Stephane Bortzmeyer <bortzmeyer@nic.fr> wrote:

> On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 09:46:13AM +0100,
>  Willy Tarreau <w@1wt.eu> wrote
>  a message of 24 lines which said:
>
> > I'd turn the question the other way around : why pick a random code
>
> Is it a real question? Because 451 is not random
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400_%28number%29#450s
>
> 451 = 11 × 41; 451 is a Wedderburn–Etherington number and a centered
> decagonal number; its reciprocal has period 10; 451 is the smallest number
> with this period reciprocal length.
>
>     The novel Fahrenheit 451 refers to the temperature in Fahrenheit that
> author Ray Bradbury understood to be the autoignition point of paper.
>
>
​Yes, or with less bumf: "...a reference to the 1953 dystopian novel
*Fahrenheit
451*, where books are outlawed" [wikipedia] (in turn referencing [1].)

C.f. Twitter's 420 "Enhance Your Calm" -- derived from "4:20" as a code
term for smoking pot, although that one got shot down in standards land.

Personally I don't care either way. It either starts in popular culture, or
it ends up there. (Who here has never heard or used the term "404" outside
the context of HTTP/the web?)


[wikipedia]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_451​

[1]:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/22/ray-bradbury-internet-error-message-451


-- 
  Matthew Kerwin
  http://matthew.kerwin.net.au/