c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le "print qq{\x01} & 1; print qq{\cA} & 1; print qq{\x31} & 1; print '1' & 1; " Argument "^A" isn't numeric in bitwise and (&) at -e line 1. 0 Argument "^A" isn't numeric in bitwise and (&) at -e line 1. 0 1 1