Maybe I'm picking nits here that need not be picked, but isn't it better to use chomp rather than chop after getting input data if all he wants to do is remove the \n?

Not that I can think of a case right off the top of my head that it would cause this particular example to fail, but that's the way I leared it. :)

If I'm somehow having a mental lapse here, please tell me.

Some people fall from grace. I prefer a running start...