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As of
October 2001, Knuth reported having written more than 2,000 checks, with an average value exceeding $ 8 per check. By March 2005, the total value of the checks signed by Knuth was over $ 20,000. Very few of these checks were actually cashed, even the largest ones. More often they have been
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Knuth is often unable to answer immediately when a reader finds a mistake in one of his books or programs. In some cases, the delay has been several years. For example, on 1 July 1996, Knuth sent out more than 250 letters, 125 of which contained checks, for errors reported in
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checks to recipients. He stopped doing so in
October 2008 because of problems with check fraud. As a replacement, he started his own "Bank of San Serriffe", in the fictional nation of
102:) to the first person to find each error in his published books, whether it be technical, typographical, or historical. Knuth explains that $ 2.56, or 256 cents, corresponds to one
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Each check's memo field identifies the book and page number. 1.23 indicates an error on page 23 of Volume 1. (1.23) indicates a valuable suggestion on that page. The symbol
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the value of an error (0.2 hexadecimal dollars or 20 hexadecimal cents). In his earlier books a smaller reward was offered. For example, the 2nd edition of
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138:, starting at $ 2.56, and doubling every year until it reached $ 327.68. Recipients of this "sweepstakes" reward include Chris Thompson (Cambridge) and
68:, which keeps an account for everyone who found an error since 2006. Knuth now sends out "hexadecimal certificates" instead of negotiable checks.
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since the summer of 1981. A few of these remain unclaimed as of May 2006. When Knuth is not able to reply immediately, he adds 5% interest,
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One of Donald Knuth's personally-designed reward checks, with the recipient's name and design details censored to deter forgeries
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programs (as distinguished from errors in Knuth's books) followed an audacious scheme inspired by the
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Intelligence: Finding an error in a Knuth text. Stupidity: Cashing that $ 2.56 check you got.
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In the preface of each of his books and on his website, Knuth offers a reward of $ 2.56 (
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165:(by Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik), f1 denotes fascicle 1, CMT denotes the book
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describes the checks as "among computerdom's most prized trophies".
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159:(by Knuth, Larrabee, and Roberts), GKP and CM denote the book
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or check-like certificates awarded by computer scientist
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TUG'95: Questions and
Answers with Prof. Donald E. Knuth
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dollar. "Valuable suggestions" are worth 32 cents, or
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http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/boss.html
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MMIXware - A RISC Computer for the Third
Millennium
16:Awards issued by computer scientist Donald Knuth
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655:Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
152:Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
126:The reward for coding errors found in Knuth's
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179:The CWEB System of Structured Documentation
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72:framed and kept as "bragging rights".
528:What is your current mailing address?
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246:Rewriting the Bible in 0's and 1's
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772:KnuthâBendix completion algorithm
422:Books in Print by Donald E. Knuth
393:"Programming Quotes - stgray.com"
56:Bank of San Serriffe reward check
187:Selected Papers on Fun and Games
620:The Art of Computer Programming
403:from the original on 2021-04-17
331:from the original on 2018-04-03
222:List of computer-related awards
205:The Art of Computer Programming
119:The Art of Computer Programming
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136:wheat and chessboard problem
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440:Frequently Asked Questions
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634:Computers and Typesetting
167:Computer Modern Typefaces
88:, quoted by Tess O'Connor
550:The Bank of San Serriffe
177:, CWEB denotes the book
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627:The Complexity of Songs
537:on Don Knuth's website.
210:compounded continuously
155:, KLR denotes the book
662:Selected papers series
294:All questions answered
292:Donald Knuth (2002), "
185:, FG denotes the book
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844:Quater-imaginary base
568:National Public Radio
495:on November 20, 2005.
258:MIT Technology Review
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641:Concrete Mathematics
162:Concrete Mathematics
157:Mathematical Writing
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427:2006-09-01 at the
379:2011-08-07 at the
355:2006-06-04 at the
350:Love at First Byte
318:David Kestenbaum,
306:Notices of the AMS
299:2019-04-30 at the
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104:hexadecimal
869:Categories
759:Algorithms
564:Transcript
407:2021-10-17
335:2018-04-02
233:References
121:, Volume 1
81:Seen in a
62:negotiable
716:AMS Euler
560:RealVideo
556:Interview
473:MathWorld
86:signature
686:Metafont
673:Software
531:Archived
509:Archived
443:Archived
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401:Archived
377:Archived
353:Archived
329:Archived
297:Archived
274:Archived
249:Archived
216:See also
132:Metafont
83:Slashdot
79:â
849:-yllion
690:MIXAL (
325:NPR.org
111:⁄
48:History
197:Delays
94:Amount
32:checks
812:Other
708:Fonts
749:CWEB
697:MMIX
420:See
372:The
130:and
30:are
744:WEB
692:MIX
681:TeX
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
