>>>>> "C" == Carl Mueller <cmlr / poincare.math.rochester.edu> writes: C> 2 C> -2 = -4 pigeon% /usr/bin/ruby -ve 'p(-2**2)' ruby 1.6.1 (2000-09-27) [i686-linux] 4 pigeon% ruby -ve 'p(-2**2)' ruby 1.4.6 (2000-08-16) [i686-linux] -4 pigeon% You can look at (FRAME version) http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/vframe.rb/~poffice/mail/ruby-talk/1162?1005-1212 or (if your browser don't support FRAME) http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/1162 I think this is related to this subject. Guy Decoux