view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

bit rot3 is  change the contents of a computer memory   unpredictably, and various kinds of subtle media failures can   corrupt files in mass storage), but they are quite rare (and   computers are built with error-detecting circuitry to compensate   ...
bit rot4 is  hackers that cosmic   rays are among the causes of such events turns out to be a myth;   see the {cosmic rays} entry for details.   The term {software rot} is almost synonymous.  Software rot is   the effect, bit rot the notional cause. 
bit twiddling is  n. 1. (pejorative) An exercise in {tuning} in   which incredible amounts of time and effort go to produce little   noticeable improvement, often with the result that the code has   become incomprehensible.  2. Aimless small modifica...
bit twiddling2 is  goal.  3. Approx. syn. for {bit   bashing}; esp. used for the act of frobbing the device control   register of a peripheral in an attempt to get it back to a known   state. 
bit-paired keyboard is  n. obs. (alt. `bit-shift keyboard') A   non-standard keyboard layout that seems to have originated with   the Teletype ASR-33 and remained common for several years on early   computer equipment.  The ASR-33 was a mechanical de...
bit-paired keyboard2 is  generate the character codes from   keystrokes was by some physical linkage.  The design of the ASR-33   assigned each character key a basic pattern that could be modified   by flipping bits if the SHIFT or the CTRL key was p...
bit-paired keyboard3 is  more of a Rube Goldberg kluge than it   already was, the design had to group characters that shared the   same basic bit pattern on one key.   This is why the characters !"#$%&'() appear where they do on a   Teletype (thankfu...
bit-paired keyboard4 is  was   *not* the weirdest variant of the {QWERTY} layout widely   seen, by the way; that prize should probably go to one of several   (differing) arrangements on IBM's even clunkier 026 and 029 card   punches.   When electroni...
bit-paired keyboard5 is  there   was no agreement in the industry over how the keyboards should be   laid out.  Some vendors opted to emulate the Teletype keyboard,   while others used the flexibility of electronic circuitry to make   their product l...
bit-paired keyboard6 is  alternatives   became known as `bit-paired' and `typewriter-paired' keyboards.  To   a hacker, the bit-paired keyboard seemed far more logical --- and   because most hackers in those days had never learned to touch-type,   th...
bit-paired keyboard7 is  users to adapt   keyboards to the typewriter standard.   The doom of the bit-paired keyboard was the large-scale   introduction of the computer terminal into the normal office   environment, where out-and-out technophobes wer...
bit-paired keyboard8 is  `typewriter-paired' standard became universal,   `bit-paired' hardware was quickly junked or relegated to dusty   corners, and both terms passed into disuse. 
bitblt is  /bit'blit/ n. [from {BLT}, q.v.] 1. Any of a family   of closely related algorithms for moving and copying rectangles of   bits between main and display memory on a bit-mapped device, or   between two areas of either main or display memory...
bitblt2 is  the case of overlapping source and   destination rectangles is what makes BitBlt tricky).  2. Synonym   for {blit} or {BLT}.  Both uses are borderline techspeak. 
BITNET is  /bit'net/ [acronym Because It's Time NETwork] n.   Everybody's least favorite piece of the network (see {network,   the}).  The BITNET hosts are a collection of IBM dinosaurs and   VAXen (the latter with lobotomized comm hardware) that com...
BITNET2 is  images (see {eighty-column   mind}); thus, they tend to mangle the headers and text of   third-party traffic from the rest of the ASCII/RFC-822 world with   annoying regularity.  BITNET is also notorious as the apparent home   of {BIFF}. 
bits is  n.pl. 1. Information.  Examples "I need some bits about file   formats."  ("I need to know about file formats.")  Compare {core   dump}, sense 4.  2. Machine-readable representation of a document,   specifically as contrasted with paper  "I ...
bits2 is  does anyone know where I can get the bits?".   See {softcopy}, {source of all good bits} See also {bit}. 
bitty box is  /bit'ee boks/ n. 1. A computer sufficiently small,   primitive, or incapable as to cause a hacker acute claustrophobia   at the thought of developing software for it.  Especially used of   small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only persona...
bitty box2 is  Sinclair, VIC-20, TRS-80, or IBM PC.   2. [Pejorative]  More generally, the opposite of `real computer'   (see {Get a real computer!}).  See also {mess-dos},   {toaster}, and {toy}. 
bixie is  /bik'see/ n. Variant {emoticon}s used on BIX (the Byte   Information eXchange).  The {smiley} bixie is <@_@>, apparently   intending to represent two cartoon eyes and a mouth.  A few others   have been reported.
black art is  n. A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by   implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular   application or systems area (compare {black magic}).  VLSI design   and compiler code optimization were (in their begin...
black art2 is  art; as theory developed they   became {deep magic}, and once standard textbooks had been written,   became merely {heavy wizardry}.  The huge proliferation of formal   and informal channels for spreading around new computer-related   ...
black art3 is  made both the term   `black art' and what it describes less common than formerly.  See   also {voodoo programming}. 
black hole is  n. When a piece of email or netnews disappears   mysteriously between its origin and destination sites (that is,   without returning a {bounce message}) it is commonly said to have   `fallen into a black hole'.  "I think there's a blac...
black hole2 is  site foovax has been dropping   a lot of stuff on the floor lately (see {drop on the floor}).   The implied metaphor of email as interstellar travel is interesting   in itself.  Compare {bit bucket}. 
black magic is  n. A technique that works, though nobody really   understands why.  More obscure than {voodoo programming}, which   may be done by cookbook.  Compare also {black art}, {deep   magic}, and {magic number} (sense 2).
blast is  1. vt.,n. Synonym for {BLT}, used esp. for large data   sends over a network or comm line.  Opposite of {snarf}.  Usage   uncommon.  The variant `blat' has been reported.  2. vt.   [HP/Apollo] Synonymous with {nuke} (sense 3).  Sometimes th...
blast2 is  Blast them (y/n)?' would   appear in the command window upon logout. 
blat is  n. 1. Syn. {blast}, sense 1.  2. See {thud}.
bletch is  /blech/ [from Yiddish/German `brechen', to vomit, poss.   via comic-strip exclamation `blech'] interj.  Term of disgust.   Often used in "Ugh, bletch".  Compare {barf}.
bletcherous is  /blech'*-r*s/ adj. Disgusting in design or function;   esthetically unappealing.  This word is seldom used of people.   "This keyboard is bletcherous!" (Perhaps the keys don't work very   well, or are misplaced.)  See {losing}, {creti...
bletcherous2 is  The term {bletcherous}   applies to the esthetics of the thing so described; similarly for   {cretinous}.  By contrast, something that is `losing' or   `bagbiting' may be failing to meet objective criteria.  See also   {bogus} and {r...
bletcherous3 is  meaning than any of the above. 
blinkenlights is  /blink'*n-litz/ n. Front-panel diagnostic lights   on a computer, esp. a {dinosaur}.  Derives from the last word of   the famous   blackletter-Gothic   sign in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the   computer rooms i...
blinkenlights2 is  in   its entirety as follows                   ACHTUNG!  ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!        Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.        Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken     ...
blinkenlights3 is  bei das dumpkopfen.        Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das        pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.   This silliness dates back at least as far as 1959 at Stanford   Universit...
blinkenlights4 is  early 1960s,   when it was reported at London University's ATLAS computing site.   There are several variants of it in circulation, some of which   actually do end with the word `blinkenlights'.   In an amusing example of turnabout...
blinkenlights5 is  their own versions of the blinkenlights poster in   fractured English, one of which is reproduced here                               ATTENTION        This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment.        Fingergrabbi...
blinkenlights6 is  computers is        allowed for die experts only!  So all the "lefthanders" stay away        and do not disturben the brainstorming von here working        intelligencies.  Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked        andersw...
blinkenlights7 is  astaunished        the blinkenlights.   See also {geef}. 
blit is  /blit/ vt. 1. To copy a large array of bits from one part   of a computer's memory to another part, particularly when the   memory is being used to determine what is shown on a display   screen.  "The storage allocator picks through the tabl...
blit2 is  memory, and then blits it all back   down again."  See {bitblt}, {BLT}, {dd}, {cat},   {blast}, {snarf}.  More generally, to perform some operation   (such as toggling) on a large array of bits while moving them.   2. All-capitalized as `BL...
blit3 is  designed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as   the AT&T 5620.  (The folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent   Terminal' is incorrect.) 
blitter is  /blit'r/ n. A special-purpose chip or hardware system   built to perform {blit} operations, esp. used for fast   implementation of bit-mapped graphics.  The Commodore Amiga and a   few other micros have these, but in 1991 the trend is awa...
blitter2 is  reincarnation}).  Syn. {raster   blaster}. 
blivet is  /bliv'*t/ [allegedly from a World War II military term   meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] n. 1. An   intractable problem.  2. A crucial piece of hardware that can't be   fixed or replaced if it breaks.  3. A tool that ha...
blivet2 is  programmers that it has become an   unmaintainable tissue of hacks.  4. An out-of-control but   unkillable development effort.  5. An embarrassing bug that pops up   during a customer demo.   This term has other meanings in other technica...
blivet3 is  hardware engineers of various kinds it   seems to mean any random object of unknown purpose (similar to   hackish use of {frob}).  It has also been used to describe an   amusing trick-the-eye drawing resembling a three-pronged fork that  ...
blivet4 is  until one realizes that   the parts fit together in an impossible way. 
block is  [from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1. vi.   To delay or sit idle while waiting for something.  "We're blocking   until everyone gets here."  Compare {busy-wait}.  2. `block   on' vt. To block, waiting for (something).  "Lunc...
block transfer computations is  n. From the television series   "Dr. Who", in which it referred to computations so fiendishly   subtle and complex that they could not be performed by machines.   Used to refer to any task that should be expressible as...
blow an EPROM is  /bloh *n ee'prom/ v. (alt. `blast an EPROM',   `burn an EPROM') To program a read-only memory, e.g. for use   with an embedded system.  This term arises because the programming   process for the Programmable Read-Only Memories (PROM...
blow an EPROM2 is  Programmable Read-Only Memories   (EPROMs) involved intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on   the chip.  Thus, one was said to `blow' (or `blast') a PROM, and   the terminology carried over even though the write process on  ...
blow away is  vt. To remove (files and directories) from permanent   storage, generally by accident.  "He reformatted the wrong   partition and blew away last night's netnews."  Oppose {nuke}.
blow out is  vi. Of software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious   as {crash and burn}.  See {blow past}, {blow up}.
blow past is  vt. To {blow out} despite a safeguard.  "The server blew   past the 5K reserve buffer."
blow up is  vi. 1. [scientific computation] To become unstable.  Suggests   that the computation is diverging so rapidly that it will soon   overflow or at least go {nonlinear}.  2.  Syn. {blow out}.
BLT is  /B-L-T/, /bl*t/ or (rarely) /belt/ n.,vt. Synonym for   {blit}.  This is the original form of {blit} and the ancestor   of {bitblt}.  It referred to any large bit-field copy or move   operation (one resource-intensive memory-shuffling operati...
BLT2 is  and TOPS-10 was sardonically   referred to as `The Big BLT').  The jargon usage has outlasted the   {PDP-10} BLock Transfer instruction from which {BLT} derives;   nowadays, the assembler mnemonic {BLT} almost always means   `Branch if Less ...
Blue Book is  n. 1. Informal name for one of the three standard   references on the page-layout and graphics-control language   PostScript (`PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook', Adobe   Systems, Addison-Wesley 1985, QA76.73.P67P68, ISBN 0-201-...
Blue Book2 is  known as the {Green Book} and   {Red Book}.  2. Informal name for one of the three standard   references on Smalltalk `Smalltalk-80 The Language and its   Implementation', David Robson, Addison-Wesley 1983, QA76.8.S635G64,   ISBN 0-201...
Blue Book3 is  and red   books).  3. Any of the 1988 standards issued by the CCITT's   ninth plenary assembly.  Until now, they have changed color each review   cycle (1984 was {Red Book}, 1992 would be {Green Book}); however,   it is rumored that th...
Blue Book4 is  1992.   These include, among other things, the X.400 email spec and   the Group 1 through 4 fax standards.  See also {{book titles}}. 
Blue Glue is  [IBM] n. IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture), an   incredibly {losing} and {bletcherous} communications protocol   widely favored at commercial shops that don't know any better.  The   official IBM definition is "that which binds b...
Blue Glue2 is  loathing}.  It may not be irrelevant   that {Blue Glue} is the trade name of a 3M product that is   commonly used to hold down the carpet squares to the removable   panel floors common in {dinosaur pens}.  A correspondent at   U. Minn....
Blue Glue3 is  80 bottles   of the stuff hanging about, so they often refer to any messy work   to be done as `using the blue glue'. 
blue goo is  n. Term for `police' {nanobot}s intended to prevent   {gray goo}, denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, put   ozone back into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and promote   truth, justice, and the American way, etc.  See   {{n...
BNF is  /B-N-F/ n. 1. [techspeak] Acronym for `Backus-Naur Form', a   metasyntactic notation used to specify the syntax of programming   languages, command sets, and the like.  Widely used for language   descriptions but seldom documented anywhere, s...
BNF2 is  from other hackers.  2. In   {{science-fiction fandom}}, BNF means `Big-Name Fan'   (someone famous or notorious).  Years ago a fan started handing out   black-on-green BNF buttons at SF conventions; this confused the   hacker contingent ter...
boa is  [IBM] n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor   in a {dinosaur pen}.  Possibly so called because they display a   ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them straight and   flat after they have been coiled for some tim...
boa2 is  cables for the 370 are limited to 200 feet   because beyond that length the boas get dangerous --- and it is   worth noting that one of the major cable makers uses the trademark   `Anaconda'. 
board is  n. 1. In-context synonym for {bboard}; sometimes used   even for USENET newsgroups.  2. An electronic circuit board   (compare {card}).
boat anchor is  n. 1. Like {doorstop} but more severe; implies that   the offending hardware is irreversibly dead or useless.  "That was   a working motherboard once.  One lightning strike later, instant   boat anchor!"  2. A person who just takes up...
bogo-sort is  /boh`goh-sort'/ n. (var. `stupid-sort') The   archetypical perversely awful algorithm (as opposed to {bubble   sort}, which is merely the generic *bad* algorithm).   Bogo-sort is equivalent to repeatedly throwing a deck of cards in   th...
bogo-sort2 is  testing whether they   are in order.  It serves as a sort of canonical example of   awfulness.  Looking at a program and seeing a dumb algorithm, one   might say "Oh, I see, this program uses bogo-sort."  Compare   {bogus}, {brute forc...
bogometer is  /boh-gom'-*t-er/ n. See {bogosity}.  Compare the   `wankometer' described in the {wank} entry; see also   {bogus}.
bogon is  /boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but   doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas   Adams's `Vogons'; see the Bibliography] n. 1. The elementary particle of   bogosity (see {quantum bogodynamics}).  For ...
bogon2 is  again" means that it is broken or   acting in an erratic or bogus fashion.  2. A query packet sent from   a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root server, having the reply bit set   instead of the query bit.  3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed  ...
bogon3 is  used to refer to any   bogus thing, as in "I'd like to go to lunch with you but I've got   to go to the weekly staff bogon".  5. A person who is bogus or who   says bogus things.  This was historically the original usage, but   has been ov...
bogon4 is  also {bogosity}, {bogus}; compare {psyton}. 
bogon filter is  /boh'gon fil'tr/ n. Any device, software or hardware,   that limits or suppresses the flow and/or emission of bogons.   "Engineering hacked a bogon filter between the Cray and   the VAXen, and now we're getting fewer dropped packets....
bogon flux is  /boh'gon fluhks/ n. A measure of a supposed field of   {bogosity} emitted by a speaker, measured by a {bogometer};   as a speaker starts to wander into increasing bogosity a listener   might say "Warning, warning, bogon flux is rising"...
bogosity is  /boh-go's*-tee/ n. 1. The degree to which something is   {bogus}.  At CMU, bogosity is measured with a {bogometer}; in   a seminar, when a speaker says something bogus, a listener might   raise his hand and say "My bogometer just trigger...
bogosity2 is  bogometer"  means you just said   or did something so outrageously bogus that it is off the scale,   pinning the bogometer needle at the highest possible reading (one   might also say "You just redlined my bogometer").  The   agreed-upo...
bogosity3 is  /mik`roh-len'*t/   (uL).   The consensus is that this is the largest unit practical   for everyday use.  2. The potential field generated by a {bogon   flux}; see {quantum bogodynamics}.  See also {bogon flux},   {bogon filter}, {bogus}...
bogosity4 is  as a attack against   noted computer scientist Doug Lenat by a {tenured graduate   student}.  Doug had failed the student on an important exam for   giving only "AI is bogus" as his answer to the questions.  The   slur is generally cons...
bogosity5 is  gag nevertheless.  Some of Doug's friends argue that *of   course* a microLenat is bogus, since it is only one millionth of a   Lenat.  Others have suggested that the unit should be redesignated   after the grad student, as the microRei...
bogotify is  /boh-go't*-fi/ vt. To make or become bogus.  A   program that has been changed so many times as to become completely   disorganized has become bogotified.  If you tighten a nut too hard   and strip the threads on the bolt, the bolt has b...
bogotify2 is  it any more.  This coinage led to the   notional `autobogotiphobia' defined as `the fear of becoming   bogotified'; but is not clear that the latter has ever been   `live' jargon rather than a self-conscious joke in jargon about   jargo...
bogue out is  /bohg owt/ vi. To become bogus, suddenly and   unexpectedly.  "His talk was relatively sane until somebody asked   him a trick question; then he bogued out and did nothing but   {flame} afterwards."  See also {bogosity}, {bogus}.
bogus is  adj. 1. Non-functional.  "Your patches are bogus."   2. Useless.  "OPCON is a bogus program."  3. False.  "Your   arguments are bogus."  4. Incorrect.  "That algorithm is bogus."   5. Unbelievable.  "You claim to have solved the halting pro...
bogus2 is  bogus."  6. Silly.  "Stop   writing those bogus sagas."   Astrology is bogus.  So is a bolt that is obviously about to break.   So is someone who makes blatantly false claims to have solved a   scientific problem.  (This word seems to have...
bogus3 is  {random} --- mostly the negative ones.)   It is claimed that `bogus' was originally used in the hackish sense   at Princeton in the late 1960s.  It was spread to CMU and Yale by   Michael Shamos, a migratory Princeton alumnus.  A glossary ...
bogus4 is  word was first popularized (see   {autobogotiphobia} under {bogotify}). The word spread into   hackerdom from CMU and MIT.  By the early 1980s it was also   current in something like the hackish sense in West Coast teen   slang, and it had...
bogus5 is    Cambridge reports, by contrast, that these uses of `bogus' grate on   British nerves; in Britain the word means, rather specifically,   `counterfeit', as in "a bogus 10-pound note". 
Bohr bug is  /bohr buhg/ [from quantum physics] n. A repeatable   {bug}; one that manifests reliably under a possibly unknown but   well-defined set of conditions.  Antonym of {heisenbug}; see also   {mandelbug}.
boink is  /boynk/ [USENET ascribed there to the TV series   "Cheers" and "Moonlighting"] 1. To have sex with;   compare {bounce}, sense 3. (This is mainstream slang.) In   Commonwealth hackish the variant `bonk' is more common.  2. After   the origin...
boink2 is  for   almost any net social gathering, e.g., Miniboink, a small boink   held by Nancy Gillett in 1988; Minniboink, a Boinkcon in Minnesota   in 1989; Humpdayboinks, Wednesday get-togethers held in the San   Francisco Bay Area.  Compare {@-...
bomb is  1. v. General synonym for {crash} (sense 1) except that it   is not used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS failures.   "Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb."   2. n.,v. Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a UNIX `pan...
bomb2 is  of little black-powder bombs   or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died.   On the Mac, this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally   hexadecimal) number indicating what went wrong, similar to the   Ami...
bomb3 is  {{MS-DOS}} machines   tend to get {locked up} in this situation. 
bondage-and-discipline language is  A language (such as Pascal, Ada,   APL, or Prolog) that, though ostensibly general-purpose, is designed   so as to enforce an author's theory of `right programming' even   though said theory is demonstrably inadequ...
bondage-and-discipline language2 is  general-purpose programming.  Often abbreviated   `B&D'; thus, one may speak of things "having the B&D nature".   See {{Pascal}}; oppose {languages of choice}. 
bonk/oif is  /bonk/, /oyf/ interj. In the {MUD} community, it has   become traditional to express pique or censure by `bonking' the   offending person.  There is a convention that one should   acknowledge a bonk by saying `oif!' and a myth to the eff...
bonk/oif2 is  bonk/oif balance, causing much   trouble in the universe.  Some MUDs have implemented special   commands for bonking and oifing.  See also {talk mode},   {posing}. 
book titles is  There is a tradition in hackerdom of informally   tagging important textbooks and standards documents with the   dominant color of their covers or with some other conspicuous   feature of the cover.  Many of these are described in thi...
book titles2 is  {Aluminum Book}, {Blue Book},   {Cinderella Book}, {Devil Book}, {Dragon Book}, {Green   Book}, {Orange Book}, {Pink-Shirt Book}, {Purple Book},   {Red Book}, {Silver Book}, {White Book}, {Wizard Book},   {Yellow Book}, and {bible}.b...
book titles3 is  v.,n. To load and   initialize the operating system on a machine.  This usage is no   longer jargon (having passed into techspeak) but has given rise to   some derivatives that are still jargon.   The derivative `reboot' implies that...
book titles4 is  that the boot is a {bounce} intended to clear   some state of {wedgitude}.  This is sometimes used of human   thought processes, as in the following exchange "You've lost   me." "OK, reboot.  Here's the theory...."   This term is als...
book titles5 is  power-off condition) and `warm boot' (with the CPU and all   devices already powered up, as after a hardware reset or software   crash).   Another variant `soft boot', reinitialization of only part of a   system, under control of oth...
book titles6 is  the {mess-dos} emulator, control-alt-insert will   cause a soft-boot of the emulator, while leaving the rest of the   system running."   Opposed to this there is `hard boot', which connotes hostility   towards or frustration with the...
book titles7 is  hard-boot this losing Sun." "I recommend booting it hard."   Historical note this term derives from `bootstrap loader', a short   program that was read in from cards or paper tape, or toggled in   from the front panel switches.  This...
book titles8 is  were expended on making it short in order to   minimize the labor and chance of error involved in toggling it in),   but was just smart enough to read in a slightly more complex   program (usually from a card or paper tape reader), t...
book titles9 is  turn was smart enough to read the   application or operating system from a magnetic tape drive or disk   drive.  Thus, in successive steps, the computer `pulled itself up   by its bootstraps' to a useful operating state.  Nowadays th...
book titles10 is  and reads the first   stage in from a fixed location on the disk, called the `boot   block'.  When this program gains control, it is powerful enough to   load the actual OS and hand control over to it. 
bottom-up implementation is  n. Hackish opposite of the techspeak term   `top-down design'.  It is now received wisdom in most   programming cultures that it is best to design from higher levels   of abstraction down to lower, specifying sequences of...
bottom-up implementation2 is  to actual code.  Hackers often find   (especially in exploratory designs that cannot be closely   specified in advance) that it works best to *build* things in   the opposite order, by writing and testing a clean set of ...
bounce is  v. 1. [perhaps from the image of a thrown ball bouncing   off a wall] An electronic mail message that is undeliverable and   returns an error notification to the sender is said to `bounce'.   See also {bounce message}.  2. [Stanford] To pl...
bounce2 is  Power Lab} building used by the   Stanford AI Lab in the 1970s, there was a volleyball court on the   front lawn.  From 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. was the scheduled   maintenance time for the computer, so every afternoon at 5 the   computer would b...
bounce3 is  voice   would cry, "Now hear this bounce, bounce!" followed by Brian   McCune loudly bouncing a volleyball on the floor outside the   offices of known volleyballers.  3. To engage in sexual   intercourse; prob. from the expression `bounci...

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

COME FROM6 is  statement labeled 10.   (This is particularly surprising because the label doesn't appear   to have anything to do with the flow of control at all!)   While sufficiently astonishing to the unsuspecting reader, this   form of `COME FROM...
COME FROM7 is  all,   control will eventually pass to the following statement.  The   implementation of the general form was left to Univac FORTRAN,   ca. 1975.  The statement `AT 100' would perform a `COME   FROM 100'.  It was intended strictly as a...
COME FROM8 is  promised to anyone so deranged as to use it in   production code.  More horrible things had already been perpetrated   in production languages, however; doubters need only contemplate   the `ALTER' verb in {COBOL}.   `COME FROM' was su...
COME FROM9 is  15 years later, in C-INTERCAL (see {INTERCAL},   {retrocomputing}); knowledgeable observers are still reeling   from the shock. 
comm mode is  /kom mohd/ [ITS from the feature supporting on-line   chat; the term may spelled with one or two m's] Syn. for {talk   mode}.
command key is  [Mac users] n. The Macintosh key with the cloverleaf   graphic on its keytop; sometimes referred to as `flower',   `pretzel', `clover', `propeller', `beanie' (an apparent   reference to the major feature of a propeller beanie), or   {...
command key2 is   The   proliferation of terms for this creature may illustrate one subtle   peril of iconic interfaces. 
comment out is  vt. To surround a section of code with comment   delimiters or to prefix every line in the section with a comment   marker; this prevents it from being compiled or interpreted.  Often   done when the code is redundant or obsolete, but...
comment out2 is  the intent of the active code clearer;   also when the code in that section is broken and you want to bypass   it in order to debug some other part of the code.  Compare   {condition out}, usually the preferred technique in languages...
Commonwealth Hackish is  n. Hacker jargon as spoken outside   the U.S., esp. in the British Commonwealth.  It is reported that   Commonwealth speakers are more likely to pronounce truncations like   `char' and `soc', etc., as spelled (/char/, /sok/),...
Commonwealth Hackish2 is  Dots in {newsgroup}   names tend to be pronounced more often (so soc.wibble is /sok dot   wib'l/ rather than /sohsh wib'l/).  The prefix {meta} may be   pronounced /mee't*/; similarly, Greek letter beta is often   /bee't*/, ...
Commonwealth Hackish3 is  Preferred   metasyntactic variables include `eek', `ook',   `frodo', and `bilbo'; `wibble', `wobble', and   in emergencies `wubble'; `banana', `wombat',   `frog', {fish}, and so on and on (see {foo}, sense 4).   Alternatives...
Commonwealth Hackish4 is  `frenzy' (as in feeding frenzy), and `city' (examples "barf   city!" "hack-o-rama!" "core dump frenzy!").  Finally, note   that the American terms `parens', `brackets', and `braces' for (),   [], and {} are uncommon; Commonw...
Commonwealth Hackish5 is  brackets', and `curly brackets'.  Also, the   use of `pling' for {bang} is common outside the United States.   See also {attoparsec}, {calculator}, {chemist}, {console   jockey}, {fish}, {go-faster stripes}, {grunge}, {haksp...
Commonwealth Hackish6 is  fixer}, {noddy},   {psychedelicware}, {plingnet}, {raster blaster}, {seggie},   {terminal junkie}, {tick-list features}, {weeble},   {weasel}, {YABA}, and notes or definitions under {Bad Thing},   {barf}, {bogus}, {bum}, {ch...
Commonwealth Hackish7 is  {crunch}, {dodgy}, {gonk}, {hamster},   {hardwarily}, {mess-dos}, {nybble}, {proglet}, {root},   {SEX}, {tweak}, and {xyzzy}. 
compact is  adj. Of a design, describes the valuable property that it   can all be apprehended at once in one's head.  This generally means   the thing created from the design can be used with greater facility   and fewer errors than an equivalent to...
compact2 is  imply triviality or lack of power; for   example, C is compact and FORTRAN is not, but C is more powerful   than FORTRAN.  Designs become non-compact through accreting   {feature}s and {cruft} that don't merge cleanly into the   overall ...
compact3 is  maintain   that ANSI C is no longer compact). 
compiler jock is  n. See {jock} (sense 2).
compress is  [UNIX] vt. When used without a qualifier, generally   refers to {crunch}ing of a file using a particular   C implementation of Lempel-Ziv compression by James A. Woods et al. and   widely circulated via {USENET}.  Use of {crunch} itself ...
Compu$erve is  n. See {CI$}.
computer confetti is  n. Syn. {chad}.  Though this term is common,   this use of the punched-card chad is not a good idea, as the pieces   are stiff and have sharp corners that could injure the eyes.  GLS   reports that he once attended a wedding at ...
computer confetti2 is  enthusiastically threw chad instead of rice. The   groom later grumbled that he and his bride had spent most of the   evening trying to get the stuff out of their hair. 
computer geek is  n. One who eats (computer) bugs for a living.  One   who fulfills all the dreariest negative stereotypes about hackers   an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the   personality of a cheese grater.  Cannot be used b...
computer geek2 is  hackers; compare black-on-black usage   of `nigger'.  A computer geek may be either a fundamentally   clueless individual or a proto-hacker in {larval stage}.  Also   called `turbo nerd', `turbo geek'.  See also   {clustergeeking},...
computron is  /kom'pyoo-tron`/ n. 1. A notional unit of computing   power combining instruction speed and storage capacity, dimensioned   roughly in instructions-per-second times megabytes-of-main-store   times megabytes-of-mass-storage.  "That machi...
computron2 is  enough computrons!"  This usage is usually   found in metaphors that treat computing power as a fungible   commodity good, like a crop yield or diesel horsepower.  See   {bitty box}, {Get a real computer!}, {toy}, {crank}.   2. A mythi...
computron3 is  quantity of   computation or information, in much the same way that an electron   bears one unit of electric charge (see also {bogon}).  An   elaborate pseudo-scientific theory of computrons has been developed   based on the physical f...
computron4 is  more rapidly as it is heated.  It is argued that an object   melts because the molecules have lost their information about where   they are supposed to be (that is, they have emitted computrons).   This explains why computers get so ho...
computron5 is  computrons.  Conversely, it should be   possible to cool down an object by placing it in the path of a   computron beam.  It is believed that this may also explain why   machines that work at the factory fail in the computer room the  ...
computron6 is  other hardware.   (This theory probably owes something to the "Warlock" stories   by Larry Niven, the best known being "What Good is a Glass   Dagger?", in which magic is fueled by an exhaustible natural   resource called `mana'.) 
condition out is  vt. To prevent a section of code from being compiled   by surrounding it with a conditional-compilation directive whose   condition is always false.  The {canonical} examples are `#if   0' (or `#ifdef notdef', though some find this ...
condom is  n. 1. The protective plastic bag that accompanies 3.5-inch   microfloppy diskettes.  Rarely, also used of (paper) disk envelopes.   Unlike the write protect tab, the condom (when left on) not only   impedes the practice of {SEX} but has al...
condom2 is  drive mechanisms attempt to access the disk --- and   can even fatally frustrate insertion.  2. The protective cladding   on a {light pipe}. 
connector conspiracy is  [probably came into prominence with the   appearance of the KL-10 (one model of the {PDP-10}), none of   whose connectors matched anything else] n. The tendency of   manufacturers (or, by extension, programmers or purveyors o...
connector conspiracy2 is  that don't fit together   with the old stuff, thereby making you buy either all new stuff or   expensive interface devices.  The KL-10 Massbus connector was   actually *patented* by DEC, which reputedly refused to license   ...
connector conspiracy3 is  parties out of   competition for the lucrative Massbus peripherals market.  This is   a source of never-ending frustration for the diehards who maintain   older PDP-10 or VAX systems.  Their CPUs work fine, but they are   st...
connector conspiracy4 is  drives with low   capacity and high power requirements.   In these latter days of open-systems computing this term has fallen   somewhat into disuse, to be replaced by the observation that   "Standards are great!  There are ...
cons is  /konz/ or /kons/ [from LISP] 1. vt. To add a new element   to a specified list, esp. at the top.  "OK, cons picking a   replacement for the console TTY onto the agenda."  2. `cons up'   vt. To synthesize from smaller pieces "to cons up an ex...
cons2 is  fundamental operation for   building structures.  It takes any two objects and returns a   `dot-pair' or two-branched tree with one object hanging from each   branch.  Because the result of a cons is an object, it can be used   to build bin...
cons3 is  think   of it as a sort of universal constructor, and that is where the   jargon meanings spring from. 
considered harmful is  adj. Edsger W. Dijkstra's note in the   March 1968 `Communications of the ACM', "Goto Statement   Considered Harmful", fired the first salvo in the structured   programming wars.  Amusingly, the ACM considered the resulting   a...
considered harmful2 is  policy) no longer   print an article taking so assertive a position against a coding   practice.  In the ensuing decades, a large number of both serious   papers and parodies have borne titles of the form "X   considered Y".  ...
considered harmful3 is    over with the realization that both sides were wrong, but use of   such titles has remained as a persistent minor in-joke (the   `considered silly' found at various places in this lexicon is   related). 
console is  n. 1. The operator's station of a {mainframe}.  In   times past, this was a privileged location that conveyed godlike   powers to anyone with fingers on its keys.  Under UNIX and other   modern timesharing OSes, such privileges are guarde...
console2 is  just the {tty} the system was booted   from.  Some of the mystique remains, however, and it is traditional   for sysadmins to post urgent messages to all users from the console   (on UNIX, /dev/console).  2. On microcomputer UNIX boxes, ...
console3 is  character-only terminals talking   to a serial port).  Typically only the console can do real graphics   or run {X}.  See also {CTY}. 
console jockey is  n. See {terminal junkie}.
content-free is  [by analogy with techspeak `context-free'] adj.   Used of a message that adds nothing to the recipient's knowledge.   Though this adjective is sometimes applied to {flamage}, it more   usually connotes derision for communication styl...
content-free2 is  centered on concerns irrelevant to the   subject ostensibly at hand.  Perhaps most used with reference to   speeches by company presidents and other professional manipulators.   "Content-free?  Uh...that's anything printed on glossy...
content-free3 is  "He gave a talk on   the implications of electronic networks for postmodernism and the   fin-de-siecle aesthetic.  It was content-free." 
control-C is  vi. 1. "Stop whatever you are doing."  From the   interrupt character used on many operating systems to abort a   running program.  Considered silly.  2. interj. Among BSD UNIX   hackers, the canonical humorous response to "Give me a br...
control-O is  vi. "Stop talking."  From the character used on some   operating systems to abort output but allow the program to keep on   running.  Generally means that you are not interested in hearing   anything more from that person, at least on t...
control-O2 is  who is flaming.  Considered silly. 
control-Q is  vi. "Resume."  From the ASCII XON character used to   undo a previous control-S (in fact it is also pronounced   XON /X-on/).
control-S is  vi. "Stop talking for a second."  From the ASCII XOFF   character (this is also pronounced XOFF /X-of/).  Control-S   differs from {control-O} in that the person is asked to stop   talking (perhaps because you are on the phone) but will...
control-S2 is  listen to him --- as opposed to   control-O, which has more of the meaning of "Shut up."  Considered   silly. 
Conway's Law is  prov. The rule that the organization of the software and   the organization of the software team will be congruent; originally   stated as "If you have four groups working on a compiler, you'll   get a 4-pass compiler".   This was or...
Conway's Law2 is  early   proto-hacker who wrote an assembler for the Burroughs 220 called   SAVE.  The name `SAVE' didn't stand for anything; it was just that   you lost fewer card decks and listings because they all had SAVE   written on them. 
cookbook is  [from amateur electronics and radio] n. A book of small   code segments that the reader can use to do various {magic}   things in programs.  One current example is the `PostScript   Language Tutorial and Cookbook' by Adobe Systems, Inc  ...
cookbook2 is  has recipes for things   like wrapping text around arbitrary curves and making 3D fonts.   Cookbooks, slavishly followed, can lead one into {voodoo   programming}, but are useful for hackers trying to {monkey up}   small programs in unk...
cookbook3 is   of phrasebooks in human languages. 
cookie is  n. A handle, transaction ID, or other token of agreement   between cooperating programs.  "I give him a packet, he gives me   back a cookie."  The claim check you get from a dry-cleaning shop   is a perfect mundane example of a cookie; the...
cookie2 is  later transaction to this one (so you get   the same clothes back).  Compare {magic cookie}; see also   {fortune cookie}. 
cookie bear is  n. Syn. {cookie monster}.
cookie file is  n. A collection of {fortune cookie}s in a format   that facilitates retrieval by a fortune program.  There are several   different ones in public distribution, and site admins often   assemble their own from various sources including ...
cookie monster is  [from "Sesame Street"] n. Any of a family of   early (1970s) hacks reported on {{TOPS-10}}, {{ITS}}, {{Multics}},   and elsewhere that would lock up either the victim's terminal (on a   time-sharing machine) or the {{console}} (on ...
cookie monster2 is  "I WANT A COOKIE".  The   required responses ranged in complexity from "COOKIE" through   "HAVE A COOKIE" and upward.  See also {wabbit}. 
copper is  n. Conventional electron-carrying network cable with a   core conductor of copper --- or aluminum!  Opposed to {light   pipe} or, say, a short-range microwave link.
copy protection is  n. A class of clever methods for preventing   incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers   from using it.  Considered silly.
copybroke is  /ko'pee-brohk/ adj. [play on `copyright'] Used to   describe an instance of a copy-protected program that has been   `broken'; that is, a copy with the copy-protection scheme disabled.   Syn.  {copywronged}.
copyleft is  /kop'ee-left/ [play on `copyright'] n. 1. The   copyright notice (`General Public License') carried by {GNU}   {EMACS} and other Free Software Foundation software, granting reuse   and reproduction rights to all comers (but see also {Gen...
copyleft2 is  copyright notice intended to   achieve similar aims. 
copywronged is  /ko'pee-rongd/ [play on `copyright'] adj. Syn. for   {copybroke}.
core is  n. Main storage or RAM.  Dates from the days of ferrite-core   memory; now archaic as techspeak most places outside IBM, but also   still used in the UNIX community and by old-time hackers or those   who would sound like them.  Some derived ...
core2 is  example, means `in memory' (as opposed to `on   disk'), and both {core dump} and the `core image' or `core   file' produced by one are terms in favor.  Commonwealth hackish   prefers {store}. 
core dump is  n. [common {Iron Age} jargon, preserved by UNIX]   1. [techspeak] A copy of the contents of {core}, produced when a   process is aborted by certain kinds of internal error.  2. By   extension, used for humans passing out, vomiting, or r...
core dump2 is  All over the floor.  What a   mess."  "He heard about X and dumped core."  3. Occasionally   used for a human rambling on pointlessly at great length; esp. in   apology "Sorry, I dumped core on you".  4. A recapitulation of   knowledge...
core dump3 is  one   knows about a topic, esp. in a lecture or answer to an exam   question.  "Short, concise answers are better than core dumps"   (from the instructions to an exam at Columbia; syn.  {brain   dump}).  See {core}. 
core leak is  n. Syn. {memory leak}.
Core Wars is  n. A game between `assembler' programs in a   simulated machine, where the objective is to kill your opponent's   program by overwriting it.  Popularized by A. K. Dewdney's column   in `Scientific American' magazine, this was actually  ...
Core Wars2 is  and Dennis Ritchie in   the early 1960s (their original game was called `Darwin' and ran on   a PDP-1 at Bell Labs).  See {core}. 
corge is  /korj/ [originally, the name of a cat] n. Yet another   meta-syntactic variable, invented by Mike Gallaher and propagated   by the {GOSMACS} documentation.  See {grault}.
cosmic rays is  n. Notionally, the cause of {bit rot}.  However, this is   a semi-independent usage that may be invoked as a humorous way to   {handwave} away any minor {randomness} that doesn't seem worth the   bother of investigating.  "Hey, Eric -...
cosmic rays2 is  {tube}, where did that come from?"  "Cosmic rays, I   guess."  Compare {sunspots}, {phase of the moon}.  The British seem   to prefer the usage `cosmic showers'; `alpha particles' is also   heard, because stray alpha particles passin...
cosmic rays3 is  errors (this becomes increasingly more likely   as memory sizes and densities increase).   Factual note Alpha particles cause bit rot, cosmic rays do not   (except occasionally in spaceborne computers).  Intel could not   explain ran...
cosmic rays4 is  hypothesis   was cosmic rays.  So they created the World's Largest Lead Safe,   using 25 tons of the stuff, and used two identical boards for   testing.  One was placed in the safe, one outside.  The hypothesis   was that if cosmic r...
cosmic rays5 is    a statistically significant difference between the error rates on   the two boards.  They did not observe such a difference.  Further   investigation demonstrated conclusively that the bit drops were due   to alpha particle emissio...
cosmic rays6 is  uranium) in the encapsulation material.  Since it is   impossible to eliminate these radioactives (they are uniformly   distributed through the earth's crust, with the statistically   insignificant exception of uranium lodes) it beca...
cosmic rays7 is  to withstand these hits. 
cough and die is  v. Syn. {barf}.  Connotes that the program is   throwing its hands up by design rather than because of a bug or   oversight.  "The parser saw a control-A in its input where it was   looking for a printable, so it coughed and died."
cowboy is  [Sun, from William Gibson's {cyberpunk} SF] n. Synonym   for {hacker}.  It is reported that at Sun this word is often   said with reverence.
CP/M is  /C-P-M/ n. [Control Program for Microcomputers] An   early microcomputer {OS} written by hacker Gary Kildall for   8080- and Z80-based machines, very popular in the late 1970s but   virtually wiped out by MS-DOS after the release of the IBM ...
CP/M2 is  company blew its chance to   write the OS for the IBM PC because Kildall decided to spend a day   IBM's reps wanted to meet with him enjoying the perfect flying   weather in his private plane.  Many of CP/M's features and conventions   stro...
CP/M3 is  systems such as   {{TOPS-10}}, OS/8, RSTS, and RSX-11.  See {{MS-DOS}},   {operating system}. 
CPU Wars is  /C-P-U worz/ n. A 1979 large-format comic by Chas   Andres chronicling the attempts of the brainwashed androids of IPM   (Impossible to Program Machines) to conquer and destroy the   peaceful denizens of HEC (Human Engineered Computers)....
CPU Wars2 is  many references to {ADVENT} and   the immortal line "Eat flaming death, minicomputer mongrels!"   (uttered, of course, by an IPM stormtrooper).  It is alleged that   the author subsequently received a letter of appreciation on IBM   com...
CPU Wars3 is  J. Watson Research   Laboratories (then, as now, one of the few islands of true   hackerdom in the IBM archipelago).  The lower loop of the B in the   IBM logo, it is said, had been carefully whited out.  See {eat   flaming death}. 
cracker is  n. One who breaks security on a system.  Coined ca. 1985   by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of {hacker}   (q.v., sense 8).  An earlier attempt to establish `worm' in this   sense around 1981--82 on USENET was largely a fa...
crank is  [from automotive slang] vt. Verb used to describe the   performance of a machine, especially sustained performance.  "This   box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 {megaflops}, with a burst mode   of twice that on vectorized operations."
crash is  1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure.  Most often said   of the {system} (q.v., sense 1), sometimes of magnetic disk   drives.  "Three {luser}s lost their files in last night's disk   crash."  A disk crash that involves the read/write he...
crash2 is  and scraping off the oxide may also   be referred to as a `head crash', whereas the term `system   crash' usually, though not always, implies that the operating   system or other software was at fault.  2. v. To fail suddenly.   "Has the s...
crash3 is  OS!" See   {down}.  Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the   crash (usually a person or a program, or both).  "Those idiots   playing {SPACEWAR} crashed the system." 3. vi. Sometimes said   of people hitting the sack after a l...
crash and burn is  vi.,n. A spectacular crash, in the mode of the   conclusion of the car-chase scene in the movie "Bullitt" and   many subsequent imitators.  Sun-3 monitors losing the flyback   transformer and lightning strikes on VAX-11/780 backpla...
crash and burn2 is  The construction   `crash-and-burn machine' is reported for a computer used   exclusively for alpha or {beta} testing, or reproducing bugs   (i.e., not for development).  The implication is that it wouldn't   be such a disaster if...
crash and burn3 is  would be inconvenienced. 
crawling horror is  n. Ancient crufty hardware or software that is   kept obstinately alive by forces beyond the control of the hackers   at a site.  Like {dusty deck} or {gonkulator}, but connotes   that the thing described is not just an irritation...
crawling horror2 is  "Mostly we code new stuff in C, but   they pay us to maintain one big FORTRAN II application from   nineteen-sixty-X that's a real crawling horror...."  Compare   {WOMBAT}. 
cray is  /kray/ n. 1. (properly, capitalized) One of the line of   supercomputers designed by Cray Research.  2. Any supercomputer at   all.  3. The {canonical} {number-crunching} machine.   The term is actually the lowercased last name of Seymour Cr...
cray2 is  co-founder of the company.  Numerous   vivid legends surround him, some true and some admittedly invented   by Cray Research brass to shape their corporate culture and image. 
cray instability is  n. A shortcoming of a program or algorithm that   manifests itself only when a large problem is being run on a powerful   machine (see {cray}).  Generally more subtle than bugs that can   be detected in smaller problems running o...
crayola is  /kray-oh'l*/ n. A super-mini or -micro computer that   provides some reasonable percentage of supercomputer performance   for an unreasonably low price.  Might also be a {killer micro}.
crayon is  n. 1. Someone who works on Cray supercomputers.  More   specifically, it implies a programmer, probably of the CDC ilk,   probably male, and almost certainly wearing a tie (irrespective of   gender).  Systems types who have a UNIX backgrou...
crayon2 is  A {computron} (sense 2) that   participates only in {number-crunching}.  3. A unit of   computational power equal to that of a single Cray-1.  There is a   standard joke about this that derives from an old Crayola crayon   promotional gim...
creationism is  n. The (false) belief that large, innovative designs   can be completely specified in advance and then painlessly magicked   out of the void by the normal efforts of a team of normally   talented programmers.  In fact, experience has ...
creationism2 is  only from evolutionary, exploratory   interaction between one (or at most a small handful of)   exceptionally able designer(s) and an active user population ---   and that the first try at a big new idea is always wrong.   Unfortunat...
creationism3 is  planning models   beloved of {management}, they are generally ignored. 
creeping elegance is  n. Describes a tendency for parts of a design to   become {elegant} past the point of diminishing return.  This   often happens at the expense of the less interesting parts of the   design, the schedule, and other things deemed ...
creeping elegance2 is  {creeping featurism}, {second-system   effect}, {tense}. 
creeping featurism is  /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ n. 1. Describes a   systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and {feature}s onto   systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed   when originally designed.  See also {feeping crea...
creeping featurism2 is  {BSD} UNIX has always been creeping   featurism."  2. More generally, the tendency for anything   complicated to become even more complicated because people keep   saying "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature   ...