There is Hidden and Coded Evidence in Windows Software that Bill Gates May Be the Anti-Christ-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This email talks suspiciously about the success of Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. It also says that the ASCII code numbers for his name add up to “666,” a significant number in the book of Revelation in the Bible related to a leader that will rise to power at the close of human history. It also talks about a sinister-looking and hidden program in Windows that, the writer claims, can be used by Bill Gates to control the world.
The Truth:
This email is a hoax.
1. It talks about the fact that the name, “Bill Gates III” adds up to “666” in ASCII code. Let’s start there. (This may get a little complex). Every letter, number, and symbol on a computer has a corresponding numerical ASCII code. It’s not only the way a computer communicates behind the scenes, but a standardized way that computers can speak the same language to each another. Also, each letter or number on the keyboard has two different versions of the ASCII code, one called a decimal code and one called a hexadecimal equivalent. For a capital “A”, for example, the ASCII decimal is 65 and the hexadecimal equivalent is 41. In the email, all the ASCII codes for “Bill Gates” are correct if you use the decimal ASCII codes for capital letters. When it comes to “III”, however, nothing adds up. The email claims that the ASCII code for each of characters in “III” is 1, but that is not the case. If you use lower case “L” for the “III”, the decimal ASCII code is 108. If you use upper case “i”, the decimal code is 73. If you use the number “1”, the decimal code is 49. There isn’t any instance in the ASCII code in which any of the visible letters or numerals that would be used for “III” has a decimal or hexadecimal number that equates to “1.”
2. The writer of the email tries to emphasize the point by saying that if you go to Windows 95 or MS-DOS, you’ll get the same result. That’s meaningless because the ASCII code is a standardized one and is the same on each computer that uses it. There is not one ASCII code for Windows 95, then another for Windows 98, then another for the various version of MS-DOS.
3. Regarding THE HALL OF TORTURED SOULS, there is nothing sinister about it and it has nothing to do with Bill Gates or Microsoft controlling any other computers, much more the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The HALL OF TORTURED SOULS is what’s known among computer buffs as an “Easter Egg.” Software programmers routinely include fun stuff in their programs that is hidden from normal view. That’s why they’re called “Easter Eggs,” because they are hidden and you have to find them. One website that catalogs Easter Eggs has accumulated a list of nearly four thousand of them in thousands of different software programs. Some of them are humorous pictures. Others are clever games. Many Easter Eggs display a list of all of the names of programmers who created the program. THE HALL OF TORTURED SOULS is a game of sorts that the programmers included in Microsoft Excel 95. It results in your finding a list of the creators as well as some pictures.