Unwarranted precision
Sunday, 10 September 2006 14:26I just read an article (in German) which mentioned that a spammer had to pay 10.000 US-Dollar (7777 Euro)
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That made me feel a bit meh. I mean, the number 7777 is cute, but it seems to imply that all four digits of the figure is are accurate. But while the original figure is quite possibly accurate to the cent (10,000.00 dollars exactly), exchange rates vary so much that I doubt anything more accurate than, say, 7800 or 7750 euros is warranted. (And besides, the original figure was probably chosen as a round number, so not all of its digits are significant—perhaps only two or three, but not five or seven.)