[Year 12 IT Apps] Data type for postcode

Mon Jun 3 20:31:11 EST 2013

Now I am curious .. wondering out aloud if countries insist upon anything other than traditional alphanumeric characters? 

From memory in London, the two letters at the end of the postcode numbers were only used to help divide up the mail for the postal delivery routes. Nothing special but I may be wrong.

Regards Roland

Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader 
Keysborough College DEECD
http://about.me/rgesthuizen

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

On 03/06/2013, at 2:20 PM, Andrew Shortell <shortell at get2me.net> wrote:

> also in USA there are ZIP codes that begin with two leading zeros  
> 
> Quote: 
> many of the lowest ZIP codes, which begin with '0', are in the New England region. Also in the '0' region are New Jersey (non-contiguous with the remainder of the '0' area), Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and APO/FPO military addresses for personnel stationed in Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia and aboard vessels based in the waters adjoining those lands; APO/FPO addresses are also used by U.S. diplomatic and consulary facilities. The lowest ZIP code is in Holtsville, New York (00501, a ZIP code exclusively for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service center there). 
> 
> source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_Codes
> 
> Also they too have postcodes/zip codes that cross state boundaries for post office convenience
> 
> This has certainly become esoteric and thus fascinating!
> Andrew 
> 
> Andrew Shortell
> Educator
> CRC Melton
> 
> 
> shortell at get2me.net (This List)
> @acsbear8 (twitter)
> VITTA CoM Member
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 03/06/2013, at 1:17 PM, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> The town of Barooga, NSW has the postcode of 3644 as it uses the Cobram, VIC postoffice on the other side of the Murray River
>> 
>> There is more! Here is a nice table of exceptions to the postcode database validation rule that many are probably thinking of building. It is a fascinating share to me by Paul Cowan from Google who I met at a CS4HS workshop
>> 
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcodes_in_Australia#Allocation
>> 
>> I like the original thought that Mark shared .. if you do maths with it, then it is probably a number. If not, then play safe and leave it as a text field.
>> 
>> Regards Roland
>> 
>> Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader 
>> Keysborough College DEECD
>> http://about.me/rgesthuizen
>> 
>> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
>> 
>> On 03/06/2013, at 10:50 AM, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Also OT.  
>>> 
>>> An interesting read about memory tricks is "Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer. It does destroy the romance of eidetic memory, somewhat, but if you've ever needed to memorise the position of every card in 54 packs, it's very good reading.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 2 June 2013 23:40, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Warning, off topic.
>>> 
>>> During a tour of the USA our family heard a human memory chip at a street show who was guessing the location of places when people suggested to him a random town or postcode. My kids thought to toss him a wild one by shouting out our postcode. He grinned and politely asked if there were Australian. When they indicated yes he grinned and after a moments hesitation, correctly quoted the name of our suburb. Later as he counted coins from his cat-in-the-hat prop he explained that Australians made it really easy to memorise postcodes with some basic rules and algorithms that have already been mentioned.
>>> 
>>> I'm still not sure, Learning Klingon still seems easier by comparison.
>>> 
>>> If you have nothing better to do whilst marking tests or reports this Monday evening, join Amanda and I with another ACCELN Hangout. You can register interest or listen in at http://acceln.wikispaces.com
>>> 
>>> Regards Roland
>>> 
>>> Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader 
>>> Keysborough College DEECD
>>> http://about.me/rgesthuizen
>>> 
>>> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
>>> 
>>> On 30/05/2013, at 11:57 AM, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Phone numbers will never have arithmetic done to them, but I'm sure postcodes will - to find neighbouring regions, for example, for mailouts.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 30 May 2013 09:18, Mark Scott <msc at luther.vic.edu.au> wrote:
>>>> There is a quite simple rule that I teach my students
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> 
>>>> Data is formatted as a number only if it might be used in a formula.
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> 
>>>> Postcodes and phone numbers won’t ever be used in a formula so they are text.
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> 
>>>> Mark Scott
>>>> 
>>>> Luther College
>>>> 
>>>>  
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Mark Kelly
>>>> mark AT vceit DOT com
>>>> http://vceit.com
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Mark Kelly
>>> mark AT vceit DOT com
>>> http://vceit.com
>>> 
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