[R] Completely off topic, but amusing?

[Peter Dalgaard]

Bert Gunter wrote:
> Folks:
>
> Thought that many on this list might find this amusing, perhaps even a bit
> relevant. Hope it's OK:
>
> ************
> WASHINGTON - The government's estimate of the number of Americans without
> health insurance fell by nearly 2 million Friday, but not because anyone got
> health coverage. 
> 	
> The Census Bureau
> <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Census+Bureau>  said it has
> been overstating the number of people without health insurance since 1995.
> The bureau blamed the inflated numbers on a **12-year-old computer
> programming error**.[emphasis added -- BG]
> **************
>
> So what does "validated software" really mean? (Rhetorical question -- no
> reply sought). 
>
>   
Details of what went wrong are at

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/usernote/usernote3-21rev.html

(executive summary: They imputed coverage for some people who were 
actually covered by another household member's policy).

Looks like a mistake you can make in any programming language...

> Cheers to all,
>
> Bert Gunter
> Genentech Nonclinical Statistics
> South San Francisco, CA 94404
>
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