#!/usr/bin/perl -w use Devel::Peek; $ptrUV = unpack('J',pack('P[12]',"Hello World")); $ptrIV = unpack('j',pack('P[12]',"Hello World")); print Dump($ptrUV); print Dump($ptrIV); $ptrUV += 2**31; print Dump($ptrUV);