c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"for my $s (qq{\t     \t  \t    \t }, '1000001001000010', 'qpppppqppqppppqp') {
   my $p = pack 'b*', $s;
   print qq{'$s' -> '$p'};
   }
"
'                                ' -> 'AB'
'1000001001000010' -> 'AB'
'qpppppqppqppppqp' -> 'AB'