view release on metacpan or search on metacpan
Amethyst/Brain/Infobot/Module/Excuse.pm view on Meta::CPAN
344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364Change your language to Finnish.
Flourescent lights are generating negative ions. If turning them off doesn't work, take them out and put tin foil on the ends.
High nuclear activity in your area.
What office are you in? Oh, that one. Did you know that your building was built over the universities first nuclear research site? And wow, aren't you the lucky one, your office is right over where the core is buried!
The MGs ran out of gas.
The UPS doesn't have a battery backup.
Recursivity. Call back
if
it happens again.
Someone thought The Big Red Button was a light switch.
The mainframe needs to rest. It's getting old, you know.
I
'm not sure. Try calling the Internet'
s head office -- it's in the book.
The lines are all busy (busied out, that is -- why let them in to begin
with
?).
Jan 9 16:41:27 huber su:
'su root'
succeeded
for
.... on /dev/pts/1
It's those computer people in X {city of world}. They keep stuffing things up.
A star wars satellite accidently blew up the WAN.
Fatal error right in front of screen
That function is not currently supported, but Bill Gates assures us it will be featured in the
next
upgrade.
wrong polarity of neutron flow
Lusers learning curve appears to be fractal
We had to turn off that service to comply
with
the CDA Bill.
Ionisation from the air-conditioning
TCP/IP UDP
alarm
threshold is set too low.
Amethyst/Brain/Infobot/Module/Excuse.pm view on Meta::CPAN
539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559Computers under water due to SYN flooding.
The vulcan-death-grip ping
has
been applied.
Electrical conduits in machine room are melting.
Traffic jam on the Information Superhighway.
Radial Telemetry Infiltration
Cow-tippers tipped a cow onto the server.
tachyon emissions overloading the
system
Maintence window broken
We're out of slots on the server
Computer room being moved. Our systems are down
for
the weekend.
Sysadmins busy fighting SPAM.
Repeated reboots of the
system
failed to solve problem
Feature was not beta tested
Domain controler not responding
Someone
else
stole your IP address, call the Internet detectives!
It's not RFC-822 compliant.
operation failed because: there is
no
message
for
this error (
#1014)
stop bit received
internet is needed to
catch
the etherbunny
network down, IP packets delivered via UPS
Firmware update in the coffee machine
Amethyst/Brain/Infobot/Module/Excuse.pm view on Meta::CPAN
567568569570571572573574575576577578579580581582Daemon escaped from pentagram
crop circles in the corn shell
sticky bit
has
come loose
Hot Java
has
gone cold
Cache miss - please take better aim
next
time
Hash table
has
woodworm
Trojan horse ran out of hay
Zombie processess detected, machine is haunted.
overflow error in /dev/null
Browser
's cookie is corrupted -- someone'
s been nibbling on it.
Mailer-daemon is busy burning your message in hell.
According to Microsoft, it's by design
vi needs to be upgraded to vii
greenpeace free'd the mallocs
Terorists crashed an airplane into the server room, have to remove /bin/laden. (rm -rf /bin/laden)
astropneumatic oscillations in the water-cooling
Amethyst/Brain/Infobot/Module/Zippy.pm view on Meta::CPAN
8990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI-BI- ... bleakness ... desolation ... plastic forks ...
Bo Derek ruined
my
life!
Boy, am I glad it's only 1971...
Boys, you have ALL been selected to LEAVE th' PLANET in 15 minutes!!
But they went to MARS
around
1953!!
But was he mature enough
last
night at the lesbian masquerade?
Can I have an IMPULSE ITEM instead?
Can you MAIL a BEAN CAKE?
Catsup and Mustard all over the place! It's the Human Hamburger!
CHUBBY CHECKER just had a CHICKEN SANDWICH in downtown DULUTH!
Civilization is fun! Anyway, it keeps me busy!!
Clear the laundromat!! This whirl-o-matic just had a nuclear meltdown!!
Concentrate on th
'cute, li'
l CARTOON GUYS! Remember the SERIAL NUMBERS!! Follow the WHIPPLE AVE. EXIT!! Have a FREE PEPSI!! Turn LEFT at th'HOLIDAY INN!! JOIN the CREDIT WORLD!! MAKE me an OFFER!!!
CONGRATULATIONS! Now should I make thinly veiled comments about DIGNITY, self-esteem and finding TRUE FUN in your RIGHT VENTRICLE??
Content: 80% POLYESTER, 20% DACRONi ... The waitress's UNIFORM sheds TARTAR SAUCE like an 8
" by 10"
GLOSSY ...
Could I have a drug overdose?
Did an Italian CRANE OPERATOR just experience uninhibited sensations in a MALIBU HOT TUB?
Did I
do
an INCORRECT THING??
Did I
say
I was a sardine? Or a bus???
Did I SELL OUT yet??
Did YOU find a DIGITAL WATCH in YOUR box of VELVEETA?
factpacks/Linux.fact view on Meta::CPAN
460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480BuildIT! => <reply>
$who
, GUI creator
for
the Java 1.1 components set. URL: http://www.mat.uni.torun.pl/~scisly/buildit/
Buildkernel
=> <reply>
$who
, Automates the task of building a Linux kernel. URL: http://www.pobox.com/~wstearns/buildkernel/
Bulli
=> <reply>
$who
, Parquet Deformation Toolkit. URL: http://www.andrewcooke.free-online.co.uk/jara/bulli/
index
.html
BullSoft Enterprise Java
Beans
=> <reply>
$who
, Open Source implementation of the EJB specification. URL: http://www.bullsoft.com/ejb/
burch
=> <reply>
$who
, The beginnings of a portable i8086 emulator library. URL: http://www.mdstud.chalmers.se/~md8reftl/burch.html
burn_baby_burn
=> <reply>
$who
, A set of utilities
for
burning to CD-R and CD-RW media.. URL: http://www.flyn.org/
BusyBox
=> <reply>
$who
, A suite of tiny Unix utilities,
for
building rescue disks and embedded systems.. URL: http://perens.com/FreeSoftware/
Busycursor
=> <reply>
$who
, Change mouse cursor during X-application startup. URL: ftp://j250.ryd.student.liu.se/pub/linux/madebyme/busycursor-0.3.tgz
Buz/Linux
driver
=> <reply>
$who
, Hardware driver
for
Iomega Buz video hardware. URL: http://www.munich-vision.de/buz/
Buzzer Electronic
Notebook
=> <reply>
$who
, A note and to-
do
list program
for
X.. URL: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~glenn/notebook/
buz_tools
=> <reply>
$who
, MJPEG video capturing tools. URL: http://www.lysator.liu.se/~gz/buz/buz_tools/
bvi
=> <reply>
$who
, Editor
for
binary files using common vi commands. URL: http://bvi.linuxbox.com/
Bynari
TradeMail
=> <reply>
$who
, Enteprise email, information management
for
Linux. URL: http://cobra.bynari.net/
bzexe
=> <reply>
$who
, bzexe permits you to compress you binaries
with
bzip2 keeping them executable. URL: http://linux-mandrake.com/lem/lem_tools.html
factpacks/Linux.fact view on Meta::CPAN
423842394240424142424243424442454246424742484249425042514252425342544255425642574258Rabbit
Selector
=> <reply>
$who
, A happy restaurant selector. URL: http://eclipse.knight-rider.org/rabbit/
Rabid Squirrel
Linux
=> <reply>
$who
, A Linux distribution
for
power users and sysadmins. URL: http://www.rabid.de
Radio
Jockey
=> <reply>
$who
, Random multi-
format
player
for
mp3
's, au'
s, wav's and pictures. URL: http://www.acorn.net/~ajalics/
radio
-spase
=> <reply>
$who
, SPASE PCRadio V4L device driver. URL: http://www.elis.rug.ac.be/~ronsse/mr/radio-spase.c
RadioActive
=> <reply>
$who
, Radio tuner
for
X11 and Video4Linux. URL: http://cactus.rulez.org/radioactive/
Radius
=> <reply>
$who
, Remote Authentication Dial In User Service. URL: http://www.livingston.com/tech/docs/radius/
radiusclient
=> <reply>
$who
, framework and library
for
writing RADIUS clients. URL: http://www.cityline.net/~lf/radius/
radiusContext
=> <reply>
$who
, A RADIUS accounting
log
analysis
package
. URL: http://www.tummy.com/radiusContext/
radiusd
-sql
=> <reply>
$who
, RADIUS server modified to store accounting in a MySQL database. URL: http://www.mindrot.org/code/radiusd-sql.php3
radkill
=> <reply>
$who
, BASH script
for
ISP's that wish to guarantee
no
busy signals. URL: ftp://ftp.nmo.net/pub/radkill/
Rael's Binary
Grabber
=> <reply>
$who
, Automated tool
for
downloading binaries from UseNet newsgroups.. URL: http://thelamb.dhs.org/~rael/bgrab/
Rain's PPP
scripts
=> <reply>
$who
, Scripts to simplify the
use
and setup of pppd. URL: http://www.bluecherry.net/~rain/rppp-2.9.fix.tar.gz
rainbow
=> <reply>
$who
, OpenGL visualization plugin
for
xmms, based on pulsating rainbows. URL: http://horizon.pair.com/linux/
Ramp Music
Player
=> <reply>
$who
, A front end to mpg123
with
next
-generation playlist capabilities. URL: http://www.brilligsys.com/ramp/
Random line
selector
=> <reply>
$who
, Selects random line from STDIN. URL: http://artho.com/randline.html
Random
TagLine
=> <reply>
$who
, Pick a random line from a text file and output it to a HTML page. URL: http://kspoon.tsx.org/
Randsig
=> <reply>
$who
, Small random signature generator using taglines.. URL: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/sromero/prog/randsig.html
randtype
=> <reply>
$who
, Displays text at random intervals.. URL: http://cutlet.linuxbox.com/utilities/
factpacks/MacErrorCodes.fact view on Meta::CPAN
888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108Mac Error
-38
=> ( fnOpnErr ) File not
open
*
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-39
=> ( eofErr ) End of file;
no
additional data in the
format
*
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-40
=> ( posErr ) Tried to position to
before
start of file (r/w) *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-41
=> ( mFulErr ) Memory full (
open
) or file won't fit (load) *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-42
=> ( tmfoErr ) too many files
open
*
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-43
=> ( fnfErr ) File not found; Folder not found; Edition container not found; Target not found *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-44
=> ( wPrErr ) Diskette is
write
protected; Volume is locked through hardware *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-45
=> ( fLckdErr ) File is locked *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-45
=> ( fLckedErr ) Publisher writing to an edition *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-46
=> ( vLckdErr ) Volume is locked through software *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-47
=> ( fBsyErr ) File is busy (
delete
); Section doing I/O *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-48
=> ( dupFNErr ) Duplicate filename (
rename
); File found instead of folder *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-49
=> ( opWrErr ) File already
open
with
with
write
permission *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-50
=> ( paramErr ) Error in user parameter list *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-51
=> ( rfNumErr ) Reference number invalid *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-52
=> ( gfpErr ) Get file position error *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-53
=> ( volOffLinErr ) Volume is off line *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-54
=> ( permErr ) Software
lock
on file; Not a subscriber [permissions error on file
open
] *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-55
=> ( volOnLinErr ) drive volume already on-line at MountVol *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-56
=> ( nsDrvErr )
no
such drive (tried to mount a bad drive num) *
*File
System Error**
Mac Error
-57
=> ( noMacDskErr ) not a mac diskette (sig bytes are wrong) *
*File
System Error**
factpacks/MacErrorCodes.fact view on Meta::CPAN
197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229Mac Error
-198
=> ( resAttrErr ) Attribute inconsistent
with
operation *
*Resource
Manager Errors (other than I/O)**
Mac Error
-199
=> ( mapReadErr ) Map inconsistent
with
operation *
*Resource
Manager Errors (other than I/O)**
Mac Error
-200
=> ( noHardware ) Required sound hardware not available [
no
hardware support
for
the specified synthesizer] *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-201
=> ( notEnoughHardware ) Insufficient hardware available [
no
more channels
for
the specified synthesizer] *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-203
=> ( queueFull ) No room in the queue *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-204
=> ( resProblem ) Problem loading the resource *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-205
=> ( badChannel ) Channel is corrupt or unusable [invalid channel queue
length
] *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-206
=> ( badFormat ) Resource is corrupt or unusable [handle to
'snd '
resource was invalid] *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-207
=> ( notEnoughBufferSpace ) Insufficient memory available *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-208
=> ( badFileFormat ) File is corrupt or unusable, or not AIFF or AIFF-C *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-209
=> ( channel ) Channel is busy *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-210
=> ( buffersTooSmall ) Buffer is too small *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-211
=> ( channelNotBusy ) Channel not currently used *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-212
=> ( noMoreRealTime ) Not enough CPU
time
available *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-213
=> ( badParam ) A parameter is incorrect *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-220
=> ( siNoSoundInHardware ) No sound input hardware available *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-221
=> ( siBadSoundInDevice ) Invalid sound input device *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-222
=> ( siNoBufferSpecified ) No buffer specified *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-223
=> ( siInvalidCompression ) Invalid compression type *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-224
=> ( siHardDiskTooSlow ) Hard drive too slow to record *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-225
=> ( siInvalidSampleRate ) Invalid sample rate *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-226
=> ( siInvalidSampleSize ) Invalid sample size *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-227
=> ( siDeviceBusyErr ) Sound input device is busy *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-228
=> ( siBadDeviceName ) Invalid device name *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-229
=> ( siBadRefNum ) Invalid reference number *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-230
=> ( siInputDeviceErr ) Input device hardware failure *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-231
=> ( siUnknownInfoType ) Unknown type of information *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-232
=> ( siUnknownQuality ) Unknown quality *
*Sound
Manager Errors**
Mac Error
-250
=> ( midiNoClientErr )
no
client
with
that ID found *
*MIDI
Manager Error**
Mac Error
-251
=> ( midiNoPortErr )
no
port
with
that ID found *
*MIDI
Manager Error**
Mac Error
-252
=> ( midiTooManyPortsErr ) too many ports already installed in the
system
*
*MIDI
Manager Error**
Mac Error
-253
=> ( midiTooManyConsErr ) too many connections made *
*MIDI
Manager Error**
Mac Error
-254
=> ( midiVConnectErr ) pending virtual connection created *
*MIDI
Manager Error**
factpacks/dos.fact view on Meta::CPAN
8081828384858687888990919293949596979899100MOVE
=> (Internal) MOVE [/Y|/-Y] [d:][path]filename[,[d:][path]filename[...]] destination Moves one or more files to the location you specify. Can also be used to
rename
directories.
MSAV
=> (External) MSAV [d:] [/S|/C][/R][/A][/L][/N][/P][/F][/video][/mouse] SAV /video Scans your computer
for
known viruses.
MSBACKUP
=> External) MSBACKUP [setupfile] [/BW|/LCD|/MDA] Used to backup or restore one or more files from one disk to another.
MSCDEX
=> (External) MSCDEX /D:driver [/D:driver2. . .] [/E][/K][/S][/V][/L:letter] [/M:number] Used to gain access to CD-ROM drives (new
with
DOS Version 6).
MSD
=> (External) MSD [/B][/I] BSD [/I] [/F[d:][path]filename [/P[d:][path]filename [/S[d:][path]filename Provides detailed technical information about your computer.
NLSFUNC
=> (External) NLSFUNC [d:][path]filename Used to load a file
with
country-specific information.
NUMLOCK
=> (Internal) NUMLOCK=on|off Used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify the state of the NumLock key.
PATH
=> (Internal) PATH; PATH [d:]path[;][d:]path[...] Sets or displays directories that will be searched
for
programs not in the current directory.
PAUSE
=> (Internal) PAUSE [comment] Suspends execution of a batch file
until
a key is pressed.
POWER
=> (External) POWER [adv:max|reg|min]|std|off] Used to turn power management on and off, report the status of power management, and set levels of power conservation.
=> (External) PRINT [/B:(buffersize)] [/D:(device)] [/M:(maxtick)] [/Q:(value] [/S:(timeslice)][/U:(busytick)] [/C][/P][/T] [d:][path][filename] [...] Queues and prints data files.
PROMPT
=> (Internal) PROMPT [prompt text] [options] Changes the DOS command prompt.
RECOVER
=> (External) RECOVER [d:][path]filename RECOVER d: Resolves sector problems on a file or a disk. (Beginning
with
DOS Version 6, RECOVER is
no
longer available ).
REM
=> (Internal) REM [comment] Used in batch files and in the CONFIG.SYS file to insert remarks (that will not be acted on).
RENAME
=> (REN) (Internal) RENAME (REN) [d:][path]filename [d:][path]filename Changes the filename under which a file is stored.
REPLACE
=> (External) REPLACE [d:][path]filename [d:][path] [/A][/P][/R][/S][/U][/W] Replaces stored files
with
files of the same name from a different storage location.
RESTORE
=> (External) RESTORE d: [d:][path]filename [/P][/S][/B:mm-dd-yy] [/A:mm-dd-yy][/E:hh:mm:ss] [/L:hh:mm:ss] [/M][/N][/D] Restores to standard disk storage
format
files previously stored using the BACKUP command.
RMDIR
=> (RD) (Internal) RMDIR (RD) [d:]path Removes a subdirectory.
SCANDISK
=> (External) Starts the Microsoft ScanDisk program which is a disk analysis and repair tool used to check a drive
for
errors and correct any problems that it finds.
SELECT
=> (External) SELECT [d:] [d:][path] [country code][keyboard code] Formats a disk and installs country-specific information and keyboard codes (starting
with
DOS Version 6, this command is
no
longer available).
SET
=> (Internal) SET (string1)=(string2) Inserts strings into the command environment. The set
values
can be used later by programs.
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300blinkenlights7 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-...
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467bum is 1. vt. To make highly efficient, either in
time
or space, often at the expense of clarity.
"I managed to bum three more instructions out of that code."
"I spent half the night bumming the interrupt code."
2. To squeeze out excess; to...
bum2 is whatever it was removed from (without changing function; this distinguishes the process from a {featurectomy}). 3. n. A small change to an algorithm, program, or hardware device to make it more efficient. "This hardware bum makes t...
bum3 is uncommon, largely superseded by v. {tune} (and n. {tweak}, {hack}), though none of these exactly capture sense 2. All these uses are rare in Commonwealth hackish, because in the parent dialects of English `bum' is a rude synonym
for
...
bump is vt. Synonym
for
increment. Has the same meaning as C
's ++ operator. Used esp. of counter variables, pointers, and index dummies in `for'
, `
while
', and `do-while'
loops.
burble is [from Lewis Carroll
's "Jabberwocky"] v. Like {flame}, but connotes that the source is truly clueless and ineffectual (mere flamers can be competent). A term of deep contempt. "There'
s some guy on the phone burbling about how he got ...
buried treasure is n. A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from {crufty} to {bletcherous}, and
has
lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Use...
buried treasure2 is anything
*but
* treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed.
"I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using {bubble sort}! Buried treasure!"
burn-in period is n. 1. A factory test designed to
catch
systems
with
{marginal} components
before
they get out the door; the theory is that burn-in will protect customers by outwaiting the steepest part of the {bathtub curve} (see {infant m...
burn-in period2 is
length
in which a person using a computer is so intensely involved in his project that he forgets basic needs such as food, drink,
sleep
, etc. Warning Excessive burn-in can lead to burn-out. See {hack mode}, {larval stag...
burst page is n. Syn. {banner}, sense 1.
busy-
wait
is vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is busy waiting
for
someone or something, intends to move instantly as soon as it shows up, and thus cannot
do
anything
else
at the moment. "Can
't talk now, I'
m busy-waiting ti...
busy-wait2 is `busy-
wait
' means to
wait
on an event by {spin}ning through a tight or timed-delay loop that polls
for
the event on
each
pass, as opposed to setting up an interrupt handler and continuing execution on another part of the task. T...
busy-wait3 is
time
-sharing systems where a busy-waiting program may {hog} the processor.
buzz is vi. 1. Of a program, to run
with
no
indication of progress and perhaps without guarantee of ever finishing; esp. said of programs thought to be executing tight loops of code. A program that is buzzing appears to be {catatonic}, but yo...
buzz2 is buzzing loop may eventually end of its own accord.
"The program buzzes for about 10 seconds trying to sort all the names into order."
See {spin}; see also {grovel}. 2. [ETA Systems] To test a wire or printed circuit trace
for
cont...
buzz3 is Some wire faults will pass DC tests but fail a buzz test. 3. To process an array or list in sequence, doing the same thing to
each
element.
"This loop buzzes through the tz array looking for a terminator type."
BWQ is /B-W-Q/ [IBM acronym, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents. Usually roughly proportional to {bogosity}. See {TLA}.
by hand is adv. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive, trivial, and/or tedious one) that ought to be performed automatically by the computer, but which a hacker instead
has
to step tediously through. "My mailer doesn't have a command ...
by hand2 is replying to, so I have to
do
it by hand." This does not necessarily mean the speaker
has
to retype a copy of the message; it might refer to,
say
, dropping into a {subshell} from the mailer, making a copy of one's mailbox file, r...
by hand3 is and bottom of the message in question, deleting the rest of the file, inserting `>' characters on
each
line, writing the file, leaving the editor, returning to the mailer, reading the file in, and later remembering to
delete
the ...
byte is /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit machines. Some older architectures used `byte'
for
quantities of...
byte2 is `bytes' that were actually bitfields of 1 to 36 bits! These usages are now obsolete, and even 9-bit bytes have become rare in the general trend toward power-of-2 word sizes. Historical note The term originated in 1956 during the earl...
byte3 is originally it was described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment of the period used 6-bit chunks of information). The move to an 8-bit byte happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and promulgated as a standard by th...
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
163716381639164016411642164316441645164616471648164916501651165216531654165516561657hop is n. One file transmission in a series required to get a file from point A to point B on a store-and-forward network. On such networks (including {UUCPNET} and {FidoNet}), the important inter-machine metric is the number of hops in the s...
hop2 is geographical separation. See {bang path}.
hose is 1. vt. To make non-functional or greatly degraded in performance.
"That big ray-tracing program really hoses the system."
See {hosed}. 2. n. A narrow channel through which data flows under pressure. Generally denotes data paths tha...
hose2 is Cabling, especially thick Ethernet cable. This is sometimes called `bit hose
' or `hosery'
(play on `hosiery
') or `etherhose'
. See also {washing machine}.
hosed is adj. Same as {down}. Used primarily by UNIX hackers. Humorous also implies a condition thought to be relatively easy to
reverse
. Probably derived from the Canadian slang `hoser' popularized by the Bob and Doug Mackenzie skits on SCT...
hosed2 is people in the mainstream sense of `in an extremely unfortunate situation'. Once upon a
time
, a Cray that had been experiencing periodic difficulties crashed, and it was announced to have been hosed. It was discovered that the crash...
hosed3 is hoses. The problem was corrected, and users were then assured that everything was OK because the
system
had been rehosed. See also {dehose}.
hot spot is n. 1. [primarily used by C/UNIX programmers, but spreading] It is received wisdom that in most programs, less than 10% of the code eats 90% of the execution
time
;
if
one were to graph instruction visits versus code addresses, one w...
hot spot2 is a lot of low-level noise. Such spikes are called `hot spots
' and are good candidates for heavy optimization or {hand-hacking}. The term is especially used of tight loops and recursions in the code'
s central algorithm, as oppos...
hot spot3 is infrequent I/O operations. See {tune}, {bum}, {hand-hacking}. 2. The active location of a cursor on a bit-
map
display.
"Put the mouse's hot spot on the `ON' widget and click the left button."
3. In a massively parallel comput...
hot spot4 is all 10,000 processors are trying to
read
or
write
at once (perhaps because they are all doing a {busy-
wait
} on the same
lock
).
house wizard is [prob. from ad-agency lingo, `house freak'] n. A hacker occupying a technical-specialist, R
&D
, or systems position at a commercial shop. A really effective house wizard can have influence out of all proportion to his/her osten...
house wizard2 is suit. Used esp. of UNIX wizards. The term `house guru' is equivalent.
HP-SUX is /H-P suhks/ n. Unflattering hackerism
for
HP-UX, Hewlett-Packard's UNIX port. Features some truly unique bogosities in the filesystem internals and elsewhere which occasionally create portability problems. HP-UX is often referred t...
HP-SUX2 is respondent claims that the proper pronunciation is /H-P ukkkhhhh/ as though one were about to spit. Another such alternate spelling and pronunciation is
"H-PUX"
/H-puhks/. Hackers at HP/Apollo (the former Apollo Computers which was...
HP-SUX3 is complain that Mr. Packard should have pushed to have his name first,
if
for
no
other reason than the greater eloquence of the resulting acronym. Compare {buglix}. See also {Telerat}, {sun-stools}, {terminak}.
huff is v. To compress data using a Huffman code. Various programs that
use
such methods have been called `HUFF' or some variant thereof. Oppose {puff}. Compare {crunch}, {compress}.
humma is // excl. A filler word used on various `chat
' and `talk'
programs
when
you had nothing to
say
but felt that it was important to
say
something. The word apparently originated (at least
with
this definition) on the MECC Timeshare Syste...
humma2 is
time
-sharing
system
running in Minnesota during the 1970s and the early 1980s) but was later sighted on early UNIX systems.
Humor, Hacker is n. A distinctive style of shared intellectual humor found among hackers, having the following distinctive characteristics 1. Fascination
with
form-vs.-content jokes, paradoxes, and humor having to
do
with
confusion of metale...
Humor, Hacker2 is laugh hold a red
index
card in front of him/her
with
"https://metacpan.org/pod/GREEN">GREEN"
written on it, or vice-versa (note, however, that this is funny only the first
time
). 2. Elaborate deadpan parodies of large intellectual constructs, such as spec...
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
234423452346234723482349235023512352235323542355235623572358235923602361236223632364patch space2 is The widening
use
of HLLs
has
made this term rare; it is now primarily historical outside IBM shops. See {patch} (sense 4), {zap} (sense 4), {hook}.
path is n. 1. A {bang path} or explicitly routed {{Internet address}}; a node-by-node specification of a
link
between two machines. 2. [UNIX] A filename, fully specified relative to the root directory (as opposed to relative to the current di...
path2 is `relative path
'). This is also called a `pathname'
. 3. [UNIX and MS-DOS] The `search path', an environment variable specifying the directories in which the {shell} (COMMAND.COM, under MS-DOS) should look
for
commands. Other, simila...
path3 is the C preprocessor
has
a `search path
' it uses in looking for `#include'
files).
pathological is adj. 1. [scientific computation] Used of a data set that is grossly atypical of normal expected input, esp. one that exposes a weakness or bug in whatever algorithm one is using. An algorithm that can be broken by pathological...
pathological2 is are very unlikely to occur in practice. 2. When used of test input, implies that it was purposefully engineered as a worst case. The implication in both senses is that the data is spectacularly ill-conditioned or that someone...
pathological3 is algorithm in order to come up
with
such a crazy example. 3. Also said of an unlikely collection of circumstances. "If the network is down and comes up halfway through the execution of that command by root, the
system
may j...
pathological4 is case." Often used to dismiss the case from discussion,
with
the implication that the consequences are acceptable since that they will happen so infrequently (
if
at all) that there is
no
justification
for
going to extra trou...
payware is /pay'weir/ n. Commercial software. Oppose {shareware} or {freeware}.
PBD is /P-B-D/ [abbrev. of `Programmer Brain Damage'] n. Applied to bug reports revealing places where the program was obviously broken by an incompetent or short-sighted programmer. Compare {UBD}; see also {brain-damaged}.
PC-ism is /P-C-izm/ n. A piece of code or coding technique that takes advantage of the unprotected single-tasking environment in IBM PCs and the like, e.g., by busy-waiting on a hardware register, direct diddling of screen memory, or using har...
PC-ism2 is {vaxism}, {unixism}. Also, `PC-ware' n., a program full of PC-isms on a machine
with
a more capable operating
system
. Pejorative.
PD is /P-D/ adj. Common abbreviation
for
`public domain', applied to software distributed over {USENET} and from Internet archive sites. Much of this software is not in fact public domain in the legal sense but travels under various copyright...
PD2 is anyone who can {snarf} a copy. See {copyleft}.
pdl is /pid
'l/ or /puhd'
l/ [acronym
for
`Push Down List'] 1. In ITS days, the preferred MITism
for
{stack}. 2. Dave Lebling, one of the co-authors of {Zork}; (his {network address} on the ITS machines was at one
time
pdl
@dms
). 3. `Program De...
pdl2 is formal and profoundly useless pseudo-languages in which {management} forces one to design programs. {Management} often expects it to be maintained in parallel
with
the code. See also {{flowchart}}. 4. To design using a program des...
pdl3 is eyes won't focus beyond 2 feet."
PDP-10 is [Programmed Data Processor model 10] n. The machine that made timesharing real. It looms large in hacker folklore because of its adoption in the mid-1970s by many university computing facilities and research labs, including the MIT ...
PDP-102 is the instruction set (most notably the bit-field instructions) are still considered unsurpassed. The 10 was eventually eclipsed by the VAX machines (descendants of the PDP-11)
when
DEC recognized that the 10 and VAX product lines we...
PDP-103 is concentrate its software development effort on the more profitable VAX. The machine was
finally
dropped from DEC's line in 1983, following the failure of the Jupiter Project at DEC to build a viable new model. (Some attempts by o...
PDP-104 is nothing; see {Foonly}) This event spelled the doom of {{ITS}} and the technical cultures that had spawned the original Jargon File, but by mid-1991 it had become something of a badge of honorable old-timerhood among hackers to hav...
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
328932903291329232933294329532963297329832993300330133023303330433053306330733083309virus2 is thus propagating the `infection'. This normally happens invisibly to the user. Unlike a {worm}, a virus cannot infect other computers without assistance. It is propagated by vectors such as humans trading programs
with
their fri...
virus3 is propagate itself and then allow the program to run normally. Usually, however,
after
propagating silently
for
a
while
, it starts doing things like writing cute messages on the terminal or playing strange tricks
with
your display (...
virus4 is Many nasty viruses, written by particularly perversely minded {cracker}s,
do
irreversible damage, like nuking all the user's files. In the 1990s, viruses have become a serious problem, especially among IBM PC and Macintosh users (t...
virus5 is viruses to spread easily, even infecting the operating
system
). The production of special anti-virus software
has
become an industry, and a number of exaggerated media reports have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among users; many...
virus6 is doesn
't work as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of `virus'
has
passed not only into techspeak but into also popular usage (where it is often incorrectly used to denote a {worm} or even a {Trojan horse})...
visionary is n. 1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of getting computers to `see
' things using TV cameras. (There isn'
t any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a...
visionary2 is computer be programmed to make
use
of the camera information? See {SMOP}, {AI-complete}.) 2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. At IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed
with
awe and wonder.
VMS is /V-M-S/ n. DEC
's proprietary operating system for its VAX minicomputer; one of the seven or so environments that loom largest in hacker folklore. Many UNIX fans generously concede that VMS would probably be the hacker'
s favorite commer...
VMS2 is this makes VMS fans furious. One major hacker gripe
with
VMS concerns its slowness --- thus the following limerick There once was a
system
called VMS Of cycles by
no
means abstemious. It's chock-full of hacks ...
VMS3 is
my
poor stomach all squeamious. --- The Great Quux See also {VAX}, {{TOPS-10}}, {{TOPS-20}}, {{UNIX}}, {runic}.
voice is vt. To phone someone, as opposed to emailing them or connecting in talk mode.
"I'm busy now; I'll voice you later."
voice-net is n. Hackish way of referring to the telephone
system
, analogizing it to a digital network. USENET {sig block}s not uncommonly include the sender's phone
next
to a
"Voice"
or
"Voice-Net"
header; common variants of this are "Voicene...
voodoo programming is [from George Bush's
"voodoo economics"
] n. The
use
by guess or cookbook of an {obscure} or {hairy}
system
, feature, or algorithm that one does not truly understand. The implication is that the technique may not work, and...
voodoo programming2 is Almost synonymous
with
{black magic}, except that black magic typically isn't documented and
*nobody
* understands it. Compare {magic}, {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}, {rain dance}, {cargo cult programming}, {wave a de...
VR is // [MUD] n. On-line abbrev
for
{virtual reality}, as opposed to {RL}.
Vulcan nerve pinch is n. [from the old
"Star Trek"
TV series via Commodore Amiga hackers] The keyboard combination that forces a soft-boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature). On many micros this is Ctrl-Alt-Del; ...
Vulcan nerve pinch2 is <Cmd>-<Power switch>! Also called {three-finger salute}. Compare {quadruple bucky}.
vulture capitalist is n. Pejorative hackerism
for
`venture capitalist', deriving from the common practice of pushing contracts that deprive inventors of control over their own innovations and most of the money they ought to have made from them...
vulture capitalist2 is Fudd's immortal line
"You wascawwy wabbit!"
] n. 1. A legendary early hack reported on a System/360 at RPI and elsewhere
around
1978. The program would make two copies of itself every
time
it was run, eventually crashi...
vulture capitalist3 is includes infinite self-replication but is not a {virus} or {worm}. See also {cookie monster}.
WAITS is /wayts/ n. The mutant cousin of {{TOPS-10}} used on a handful of systems at {{SAIL}} up to 1990. There was never an `official' expansion of WAITS (the name itself having been arrived at by a rather sideways process), but it was frequ...
factpacks/jargon-split.fact view on Meta::CPAN
340334043405340634073408340934103411341234133414341534163417341834193420342134223423winged comments is n. Comments set on the same line as code, as opposed to {boxed comments}. In C,
for
example d =
sqrt
(x
*x
+ y
*y
); /* distance from origin */ Generally these refer only to the action(s) taken on that line.
winkey is n. (alt. `winkey face') See {emoticon}.
winnage is /win'
*j
/ n. The situation
when
a lossage is corrected, or
when
something is winning.
winner is 1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer, or person.
"So it turned out I could use a {lexer} generator instead of hand-coding my own pattern recognizer. What a win!"
2. `real winner' Often sarcastic, but also used ...
winner2 is {user}).
"He's a real winner --- never reports a bug till he can duplicate it and send in an example."
winnitude is /win
'*-t[y]ood/ n. The quality of winning (as opposed to {winnage}, which is the result of winning). "Guess what? They tweaked the microcode and now the LISP interpreter runs twice as fast as it used to." "That'
s really great! B...
winnitude2 is a half-hour
's winnage on the next run of my program." Perhaps curiously, the obvious antonym `lossitude'
is rare.
wired is n. See {hardwired}.
wirehead is /wir'hed/ n. [prob. from SF slang
for
an electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1. A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on communications hardware. 2. An expert in
local
-area networks. A wirehead can be a network so...
wirehead2 is ability to deal
with
network hardware, down to the smallest component. Wireheads are known
for
their ability to lash up an Ethernet terminator from spare resistors,
for
example.
wish list is n. A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably won
't get done for a long time, usually because the person responsible for the code is too busy or can'
t think of a clean way to
do
it. "OK, I'll add automatic filename com...
wish list2 is interface." Compare {tick-list features}.
within delta of is adj. See {delta}.
within epsilon of is adj. See {epsilon}.
wizard is n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software or hardware works (that is, who {grok}s it); esp. someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone is a {hacker}
if
he or she
has
general hacking ability, bu...
wizard2 is
if
he or she
has
specific detailed knowledge of that thing. A good hacker could become a wizard
for
something
given
the
time
to
study
it. 2. A person who is permitted to
do
things forbidden to ordinary people; one who
has
{wheel} ...
wizard3 is esp. a UNIX systems programmer. This usage is well enough established that `UNIX Wizard' is a recognized job title at some corporations and to most headhunters. See {guru}, {lord high fixer}. See also {deep magic}, {heavy wizar...
wizard4 is dance}, {voodoo programming}, {wave a dead chicken}.
Wizard Book is n. Hal Abelson and Jerry Sussman
's `Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs'
(MIT Press, 1984; ISBN 0-262-01077-1, an excellent computer science text used in introductory courses at MIT. So called because of the wizar...
Wizard Book2 is LISP/Scheme world.
wizard mode is [from {rogue}] n. A special access mode of a program or
system
, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike privileges. Generally not used
for
operating systems themselves (`root mode
' or `wheel mode'
would be used inst...
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188black
hole2
=> 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
=> 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
=> 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 the message `Unable ...
blat
=> n. 1. Syn. blast, sense 1. 2. See thud.
bletch
=> /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
=> /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, cretinous, bagbit...
blinkenlights
=> /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 in the English-...
blit
=> /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 table and co...
blitter
=> /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 away from the...
blivet
=> /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
has
been ha...
block
=> [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). "Lunch is blocked ...
block transfer
computations
=> 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 an alg...
blow an
EPROM
=> /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 (PROMs) that ...
blow an
EPROM2
=> 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 EPROMs is...
blow
away
=> 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
=> vi. Of software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious as {crash and burn}. See {blow past}, {blow up}.
blow
past
=> vt. To {blow out} despite a safeguard.
"The server blew past the 5K reserve buffer."
blow
up
=> 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
=> /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 operation done on pre-...
Blue
Book
=> 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 0-201-10179-3...
Blue
Book2
=> 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 0-201-11371-63 ...
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306buglix
=> /buhg
'liks/ n. Pejorative term referring to DEC'
s ULTRIX operating
system
in its earlier
*severely
* buggy versions. Still used to describe ULTRIX, but without venom. Compare HP-SUX.
bulletproof
=> adj. Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extremely robust; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly recovering from any imaginable exception condition. This is a rare and valued quality. Syn. armor-plated.
bum
=> 1. vt. To make highly efficient, either in
time
or space, often at the expense of clarity.
"I managed to bum three more instructions out of that code."
"I spent half the night bumming the interrupt code."
2. To squeeze out excess; to remove so...
bump
=> vt. Synonym
for
increment. Has the same meaning as C
's ++ operator. Used esp. of counter variables, pointers, and index dummies in `for'
, `
while
', and `do-while'
loops.
burble
=> [from Lewis Carroll
's "Jabberwocky"] v. Like flame, but connotes that the source is truly clueless and ineffectual (mere flamers can be competent). A term of deep contempt. "There'
s some guy on the phone burbling about how he got a DISK FUL...
buried
treasure
=> n. A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and
has
lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Used sarcastical...
buried
treasure2
=> anything
*but
* treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed.
"I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using {bubble sort}! Buried treasure!"
burn-in
period
=> n. 1. A factory test designed to
catch
systems
with
marginal components
before
they get out the door; the theory is that burn-in will protect customers by outwaiting the steepest part of the {bathtub curve} (see {infant mortality})....
burn-in
period2
=>
length
in which a person using a computer is so intensely involved in his project that he forgets basic needs such as food, drink,
sleep
, etc. Warning Excessive burn-in can lead to burn-out. See {hack mode}, {larval stage}.
burst
page
=> n. Syn. banner, sense 1.
busy
-wait
=> vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is busy waiting
for
someone or something, intends to move instantly as soon as it shows up, and thus cannot
do
anything
else
at the moment. "Can
't talk now, I'
m busy-waiting till Bill ...
buzz
=> vi. 1. Of a program, to run
with
no
indication of progress and perhaps without guarantee of ever finishing; esp. said of programs thought to be executing tight loops of code. A program that is buzzing appears to be catatonic, but you never ge...
BWQ
=> /B-W-Q/ [IBM acronym, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents. Usually roughly proportional to bogosity. See TLA.
by
hand
=> adv. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive, trivial, and/or tedious one) that ought to be performed automatically by the computer, but which a hacker instead
has
to step tediously through. "My mailer doesn't have a command to inclu...
by
hand2
=> replying to, so I have to
do
it by hand." This does not necessarily mean the speaker
has
to retype a copy of the message; it might refer to,
say
, dropping into a subshell from the mailer, making a copy of one's mailbox file, reading that ...
by
hand3
=> and bottom of the message in question, deleting the rest of the file, inserting `>' characters on
each
line, writing the file, leaving the editor, returning to the mailer, reading the file in, and later remembering to
delete
the file. Com...
byte
=> /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit machines. Some older architectures used `byte'
for
quantities of 6 or 7 ...
bytesexual
=> /bit`sek'shu-
*l
/ adj. Said of hardware, denotes willingness to compute or pass data in either big-endian or little-endian
format
(depending, presumably, on a {mode bit} somewhere). See also {NUXI problem}.
*C
n. 1. The third letter of th...
calculator
=> [Cambridge] n. Syn.
for
{bitty box}.
can
=> vt. To abort a job on a
time
-sharing
system
. Used esp.
when
the person doing the deed is an operator, as in
"canned from the {console}"
. Frequently used in an imperative sense, as in
"Can that print job, the LPT just popped a sprocket!"
Synony...
canonical
=> [historically, `according to religious law'] adj. The usual or standard state or manner of something. This word
has
a somewhat more technical meaning in mathematics. Two formulas such as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent because ...
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
108310841085108610871088108910901091109210931094109510961097109810991100110111021103holy
wars2
=> perennial Holy Wars have included EMACS vs. vi,
my
personal computer vs. everyone
else
's personal computer, {ITS} vs. {UNIX}, {UNIX} vs. VMS, BSD UNIX vs. {USG UNIX}, C vs. {Pascal}, C vs. LISP, etc., ad nauseam. The characteristic that...
holy
wars3
=> distinguishes {holy wars} from normal technical disputes is that in a holy wars most of the participants spend their
time
trying to pass off personal value choices and cultural attachments as objective technical evaluations. See also th...
home
box
=> n. A hacker's personal machine, especially one he or she owns.
"Yeah? Well, *my* home box runs a full 4.2 BSD, so there!"
hook
=> n. A software or hardware feature included in order to simplify later additions or changes by a user. For example, a simple program that prints numbers might always
them in base 10, but a more flexible version would let a variable deter...
hop
=> n. One file transmission in a series required to get a file from point A to point B on a store-and-forward network. On such networks (including UUCPNET and FidoNet), the important inter-machine metric is the number of hops in the shortest path...
hose
=> 1. vt. To make non-functional or greatly degraded in performance.
"That big ray-tracing program really hoses the system."
See hosed. 2. n. A narrow channel through which data flows under pressure. Generally denotes data paths that represent p...
hosed
=> adj. Same as down. Used primarily by UNIX hackers. Humorous also implies a condition thought to be relatively easy to
reverse
. Probably derived from the Canadian slang `hoser' popularized by the Bob and Doug Mackenzie skits on SCTV. See hose...
hot
spot
=> n. 1. [primarily used by C/UNIX programmers, but spreading] It is received wisdom that in most programs, less than 10% of the code eats 90% of the execution
time
;
if
one were to graph instruction visits versus code addresses, one would ty...
hot
spot2
=> a lot of low-level noise. Such spikes are called `hot spots
' and are good candidates for heavy optimization or hand-hacking. The term is especially used of tight loops and recursions in the code'
s central algorithm, as opposed to (
say
) i...
hot
spot3
=> infrequent I/O operations. See tune, bum, hand-hacking. 2. The active location of a cursor on a bit-
map
display.
"Put the mouse's hot spot on the `ON' widget and click the left button."
3. In a massively parallel computer
with
shared mem...
hot
spot4
=> all 10,000 processors are trying to
read
or
write
at once (perhaps because they are all doing a busy-
wait
on the same
lock
).
house
wizard
=> [prob. from ad-agency lingo, `house freak'] n. A hacker occupying a technical-specialist, R
&D
, or systems position at a commercial shop. A really effective house wizard can have influence out of all proportion to his/her ostensible ra...
house
wizard2
=> suit. Used esp. of UNIX wizards. The term `house guru' is equivalent.
HP
-SUX
=> /H-P suhks/ n. Unflattering hackerism
for
HP-UX, Hewlett-Packard's UNIX port. Features some truly unique bogosities in the filesystem internals and elsewhere which occasionally create portability problems. HP-UX is often referred to as `hoc...
huff
=> v. To compress data using a Huffman code. Various programs that
use
such methods have been called `HUFF' or some variant thereof. Oppose puff. Compare crunch, compress.
humma
=> // excl. A filler word used on various `chat
' and `talk'
programs
when
you had nothing to
say
but felt that it was important to
say
something. The word apparently originated (at least
with
this definition) on the MECC Timeshare System (MTS, ...
Humor,
Hacker
=> n. A distinctive style of shared intellectual humor found among hackers, having the following distinctive characteristics 1. Fascination
with
form-vs.-content jokes, paradoxes, and humor having to
do
with
confusion of metalevels (see...
Humor,
Hacker2
=> laugh hold a red
index
card in front of him/her
with
"https://metacpan.org/pod/GREEN">GREEN"
written on it, or vice-versa (note, however, that this is funny only the first
time
). 2. Elaborate deadpan parodies of large intellectual constructs, such as specification...
Humor,
Hacker3
=> documents, language descriptions (see INTERCAL), and even entire scientific theories (see {quantum bogodynamics}, computron). 3. Jokes that involve screwily precise reasoning from bizarre, ludicrous, or just grossly counter-intuitiv...
Humor,
Hacker4
=> puns and wordplay. 5. A fondness
for
apparently mindless humor
with
subversive currents of intelligence in it ---
for
example, old Warner Brothers and Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons, the Marx brothers, the early B-52s, and Monty Python...
Humor,
Hacker5
=> this trait
with
elements of high camp and slapstick is especially favored. 6. References to the symbol-object antinomies and associated ideas in Zen Buddhism and (less often) Taoism. See {
has
the X nature}, Discordianism, zen, {ha h...
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
155015511552155315541555155615571558155915601561156215631564156515661567156815691570parm
=> /parm/ n. Further-compressed form of param. This term is an IBMism, and written
use
is almost unknown outside IBM shops; spoken /parm/ is more widely distributed, but the synonym arg is favored among hackers. Compare arg, var.
parse
=> [from linguistic terminology] vt. 1. To determine the syntactic structure of a sentence or other utterance (
close
to the standard English meaning).
"That was the one I saw you."
"I can't parse that."
2. More generally, to understand or compr...
Pascal
=> n. An Algol-descended language designed by Niklaus Wirth on the CDC 6600
around
1967--68 as an instructional tool
for
elementary programming. This language, designed primarily to keep students from shooting themselves in the foot and thus e...
patch
=> 1. n. A temporary addition to a piece of code, usually as a quick-and-dirty remedy to an existing bug or misfeature. A patch may or may not work, and may or may not eventually be incorporated permanently into the program. Distinguished from ...
patch
space
=> n. An unused block of bits left in a binary so that it can later be modified by insertion of machine-language instructions there (typically, the patch space is modified to contain new code, and the superseded code is patched to contain...
patch
space2
=> The widening
use
of HLLs
has
made this term rare; it is now primarily historical outside IBM shops. See patch (sense 4), zap (sense 4), hook.
path
=> n. 1. A {bang path} or explicitly routed {{Internet address}}; a node-by-node specification of a
link
between two machines. 2. [UNIX] A filename, fully specified relative to the root directory (as opposed to relative to the current directory;...
pathological
=> adj. 1. [scientific computation] Used of a data set that is grossly atypical of normal expected input, esp. one that exposes a weakness or bug in whatever algorithm one is using. An algorithm that can be broken by pathological inputs ...
payware
=> /pay'weir/ n. Commercial software. Oppose shareware or freeware.
PBD
=> /P-B-D/ [abbrev. of `Programmer Brain Damage'] n. Applied to bug reports revealing places where the program was obviously broken by an incompetent or short-sighted programmer. Compare UBD; see also brain-damaged.
PC
-ism
=> /P-C-izm/ n. A piece of code or coding technique that takes advantage of the unprotected single-tasking environment in IBM PCs and the like, e.g., by busy-waiting on a hardware register, direct diddling of screen memory, or using hard timin...
PD
=> /P-D/ adj. Common abbreviation
for
`public domain', applied to software distributed over USENET and from Internet archive sites. Much of this software is not in fact public domain in the legal sense but travels under various copyrights granting...
pdl
=> /pid
'l/ or /puhd'
l/ [acronym
for
`Push Down List'] 1. In ITS days, the preferred MITism
for
stack. 2. Dave Lebling, one of the co-authors of Zork; (his {network address} on the ITS machines was at one
time
pdl
@dms
). 3. `Program Design Language...
PDP
-10
=> [Programmed Data Processor model 10] n. The machine that made timesharing real. It looms large in hacker folklore because of its adoption in the mid-1970s by many university computing facilities and research labs, including the MIT AI Lab, ...
PDP
-20
=> n. The most famous computer that never was. PDP-10 computers running the {TOPS-10} operating
system
were labeled `DECsystem-10' as a way of differentiating them from the PDP-11. Later on, those systems running TOPS-20 were labeled `DECSYSTE...
peek
=> n.,vt. (and poke) The commands in most microcomputer BASICs
for
directly accessing memory contents at an absolute address; often extended to mean the corresponding constructs in any HLL (peek reads memory, poke modifies it). Much hacking on s...
pencil and
paper
=> n. An archaic information storage and transmission device that works by depositing smears of graphite on bleached wood pulp. More recent developments in paper-based technology include improved `
write
-once' update devices which
use
...
pencil and
paper2
=> balls to deposit colored pigment. All these devices
require
an operator skilled at so-called `handwriting' technique. These technologies are ubiquitous outside hackerdom, but nearly forgotten inside it. Most hackers had terrible ...
pencil and
paper3
=> years of keyboarding tend to have encouraged it to degrade further. Perhaps
for
this reason, hackers deprecate pencil-and-paper technology and often resist using it in any but the most trivial contexts. See also appendix B.
peon
=> n. A person
with
no
special (root or wheel) privileges on a computer
system
.
"I can't create an account on *foovax* for you; I'm only a peon there."
percent
-S
=> /per-sent
' es'
/ [From the code in C
's `printf(3)'
library function used to insert an arbitrary string argument] n. An unspecified person or object.
"I was just talking to some percent-s in administration."
Compare random.
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
218221832184218521862187218821892190219121922193219421952196219721982199220022012202virtual
=> [via the technical term `virtual memory
', prob. from the term `virtual image'
in optics] adj. 1. Common alternative to logical. 2. Simulated; performing the functions of something that isn
't really there. An imaginative child'
s doll may be...
virtual
Friday
=> n. The
last
day
before
an extended weekend,
if
that day is not a `real' Friday. For example, the U.S. holiday Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. The
next
day is often also a holiday or taken as an extra day off, in which case Wed...
virtual
Friday2
=> Friday (and Thursday is a virtual Saturday, as is Friday). There are also `virtual Mondays' that are actually Tuesdays,
after
the three-day weekends associated
with
many national holidays in the U.S.
virtual
reality
=> n. 1. Computer simulations that
use
3-D graphics and devices such as the Dataglove to allow the user to interact
with
the simulation. See cyberspace. 2. A form of network interaction incorporating aspects of role-playing games,
int
...
virtual
reality2
=> comedy, and `true confessions
' magazines. In a virtual reality forum (such as USENET'
s alt.callahans newsgroup or the MUD experiments on Internet), interaction between the participants is written like a shared novel complete
with
...
virtual
reality3
=> that may be personae utterly unlike the people who
write
them, and common `background characters' manipulable by all parties. The one iron law is that you may not
write
irreversible changes to a character without the consent of th...
virtual
reality4
=> anything goes. See bamf, cyberspace.
virus
=> [from the obvious analogy
with
biological viruses, via SF] n. A cracker program that searches out other programs and `infects' them by embedding a copy of itself in them, so that they become {Trojan Horse}s. When these programs are executed,...
visionary
=> n. 1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of getting computers to `see
' things using TV cameras. (There isn'
t any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a compute...
VMS
=> /V-M-S/ n. DEC
's proprietary operating system for its VAX minicomputer; one of the seven or so environments that loom largest in hacker folklore. Many UNIX fans generously concede that VMS would probably be the hacker'
s favorite commercial OS ...
voice
=> vt. To phone someone, as opposed to emailing them or connecting in talk mode.
"I'm busy now; I'll voice you later."
voice
-net
=> n. Hackish way of referring to the telephone
system
, analogizing it to a digital network. USENET {sig block}s not uncommonly include the sender's phone
next
to a
"Voice"
or
"Voice-Net"
header; common variants of this are
"Voicenet"
and "...
voodoo
programming
=> [from George Bush's
"voodoo economics"
] n. The
use
by guess or cookbook of an obscure or hairy
system
, feature, or algorithm that one does not truly understand. The implication is that the technique may not work, and
if
it doesn...
voodoo
programming2
=> Almost synonymous
with
{black magic}, except that black magic typically isn't documented and
*nobody
* understands it. Compare magic, {deep magic}, {heavy wizardry}, {rain dance}, {cargo cult programming}, {wave a dead chicken}....
VR
=> // [MUD] n. On-line abbrev
for
{virtual reality}, as opposed to RL.
Vulcan nerve
pinch
=> n. [from the old
"Star Trek"
TV series via Commodore Amiga hackers] The keyboard combination that forces a soft-boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature). On many micros this is Ctrl-Alt-Del; on Suns,...
Vulcan nerve
pinch2
=> <Cmd>-<Power switch>! Also called {three-finger salute}. Compare {quadruple bucky}.
vulture
capitalist
=> n. Pejorative hackerism
for
`venture capitalist', deriving from the common practice of pushing contracts that deprive inventors of control over their own innovations and most of the money they ought to have made from them.
*wabbi
...
vulture
capitalist2
=> Fudd's immortal line
"You wascawwy wabbit!"
] n. 1. A legendary early hack reported on a System/360 at RPI and elsewhere
around
1978. The program would make two copies of itself every
time
it was run, eventually crashing the sys...
vulture
capitalist3
=> includes infinite self-replication but is not a virus or worm. See also {cookie monster}.
WAITS
=> /wayts/ n. The mutant cousin of {TOPS-10} used on a handful of systems at {SAIL} up to 1990. There was never an `official' expansion of WAITS (the name itself having been arrived at by a rather sideways process), but it was frequently glosse...
factpacks/jargon.fact view on Meta::CPAN
225422552256225722582259226022612262226322642265226622672268226922702271227222732274win
big
=> vi. To experience serendipity.
"I went shopping and won big; there was a 2-for-1 sale."
See {big win}.
win
win
=> interj. Expresses pleasure at a win.
Winchester
=> n. Informal generic term
for
`floating-head' magnetic-disk drives in which the
read
-
write
head planes over the disk surface on an air cushion. The name arose because the original 1973 engineering
prototype
for
what later became the IBM ...
winged
comments
=> n. Comments set on the same line as code, as opposed to {boxed comments}. In C,
for
example d =
sqrt
(x
*x
+ y
*y
); /* distance from origin */ Generally these refer only to the action(s) taken on that line.
winkey
=> n. (alt. `winkey face') See emoticon.
winnage
=> /win'
*j
/ n. The situation
when
a lossage is corrected, or
when
something is winning.
winner
=> 1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer, or person.
"So it turned out I could use a lexer generator instead of hand-coding my own pattern recognizer. What a win!"
2. `real winner' Often sarcastic, but also used as high pra...
winnitude
=> /win
'*-t[y]ood/ n. The quality of winning (as opposed to winnage, which is the result of winning). "Guess what? They tweaked the microcode and now the LISP interpreter runs twice as fast as it used to." "That'
s really great! Boy, what wi...
wired
=> n. See hardwired.
wirehead
=> /wir'hed/ n. [prob. from SF slang
for
an electrical-brain-stimulation addict] 1. A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on communications hardware. 2. An expert in
local
-area networks. A wirehead can be a network software wiza...
wish
list
=> n. A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably won
't get done for a long time, usually because the person responsible for the code is too busy or can'
t think of a clean way to
do
it. "OK, I'll add automatic filename completion ...
wish
list2
=> interface." Compare {tick-list features}.
within delta
of
=> adj. See delta.
within epsilon
of
=> adj. See epsilon.
wizard
=> n. 1. A person who knows how a complex piece of software or hardware works (that is, who groks it); esp. someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone is a hacker
if
he or she
has
general hacking ability, but is a wizar...
Wizard
Book
=> n. Hal Abelson and Jerry Sussman
's `Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs'
(MIT Press, 1984; ISBN 0-262-01077-1, an excellent computer science text used in introductory courses at MIT. So called because of the wizard on the...
Wizard
Book2
=> LISP/Scheme world.
wizard
mode
=> [from rogue] n. A special access mode of a program or
system
, usually passworded, that permits some users godlike privileges. Generally not used
for
operating systems themselves (`root mode
' or `wheel mode'
would be used instead).
wizardly
=> adj. Pertaining to wizards. A wizardly feature is one that only a wizard could understand or
use
properly.
womb
box
=> n. 1. [TMRC] Storage space
for
equipment. 2. [proposed] A variety of hard-shell equipment case
with
heavy interior padding and/or shaped carrier cutouts in a foam-rubber matrix; mundanely called a `flight case'. Used
for
delicate test equ...
WOMBAT
=> [Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time] adj. Applied to problems which are both profoundly uninteresting in themselves and unlikely to benefit anyone interesting even
if
solved. Often used in fanciful constructions such as `wrestling
with
a womb...