= A =
=====

   :abbrev: /*-breev'/, /*-brev'/ n.  Common abbreviation for
`abbreviation'.

   :ABEND: /a'bend/, /*-bend'/ n.  [ABnormal END]    1. Abnormal
termination (of software); {crash}; {lossage}.     Derives from an
error message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by    hackers but seriously
mainly by {code grinder}s.  Usually    capitalized, but may appear as
`abend'.  Hackers will try to    persuade you that ABEND is called
`abend' because it is what    system operators do to the machine late
on Friday when they want to    call it a day, and hence is from the
German `Abend' = `Evening'.     2. [alt.callahans] Absent By Enforced
Net Deprivation -    used in the subject lines of postings warning
friends of an    imminent loss of Internet access.  (This can be
because of computer    downtime, loss of provider, moving or illness.)
Variants of this    also appear: ABVND = `Absent By Voluntary Net
Deprivation' and    ABSEND = `Absent By Self-Enforced Net Deprivation'
have been    sighted.

   :accumulator: n. obs.  1. Archaic term for a register.  On-line
use of it as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable
indication that the user has been around for quite a while and/or
that the architecture under discussion is quite old.  The term in
full is almost never used of microprocessor registers, for example,
though symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in `A'
derive from historical use of the term `accumulator' (and not,
actually, from `arithmetic').  Confusingly, though, an `A'    register
name prefix may also stand for `address', as for    example on the
Motorola 680x0 family.  2. A register being used for    arithmetic or
logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index),    especially one
being used to accumulate a sum or count of many    items.  This use is
in context of a particular routine or stretch    of code.  "The FOOBAZ
routine uses A3 as an accumulator."     3. One's in-basket (esp. among
old-timers who might use sense 1).     "You want this reviewed?  Sure,
just put it in the accumulator."     (See {stack}.)

   :ACK: /ak/ interj.  1. [common; from the ASCII mnemonic    for
0000110] Acknowledge.  Used to register one's presence (compare
mainstream _Yo!_).  An appropriate response to {ping} or    {ENQ}.  2.
[from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An    exclamation of surprised
disgust, esp. in "Ack pffft!"     Semi-humorous.  Generally this sense
is not spelled in caps (ACK)    and is distinguished by a following
exclamation point.  3. Used to    politely interrupt someone to tell
them you understand their point    (see {NAK}).  Thus, for example, you
might cut off an overly    long explanation with "Ack.  Ack.  Ack.  I
get it now".

   There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you
there?", often used in email when earlier mail has produced no
reply, or during a lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has    gone
away (the standard humorous response is of course {NAK}    (sense 2),
i.e., "I'm not here").

   :Acme: n.  The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate,    and
non-functional gadgetry - where Rube Goldberg and Heath    Robinson
(two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate    contraptions) shop.
The name has been humorously expanded as A    Company Making
Everything.  Describing some X as an "Acme X"    either means "This is
{insanely great}", or, more likely,    "This looks {insanely great} on
paper, but in practice it's    really easy to shoot yourself in the
foot with it."  Compare    {pistol}.

   This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained
here for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the    Warner
Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons.  In these    cartoons, the
famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to    catch up with,
trap, and eat the Roadrunner.  His attempts usually    involved one or
more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices -    rocket jetpacks,
catapults, magnetic traps, high-powered    slingshots, etc.  These were
usually delivered in large cardboard    boxes, labeled prominently with
the Acme name.  These devices    invariably malfunctioned in improbable
and violent ways.

   :acolyte: n. obs.  [TMRC] An {OSU} privileged enough to    submit
data and programs to a member of the {priesthood}.

   :ad-hockery: /ad-hok'*r-ee/ n.  [Purdue] 1. Gratuitous
assumptions made inside certain programs, esp. expert systems,    which
lead to the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are    in fact
entirely arbitrary.  For example, fuzzy-matching of    input tokens
that might be typing errors against a symbol table can    make it look
as though a program knows how to spell.     2. Special-case code to
cope with some awkward input that would    otherwise cause a program to
{choke}, presuming normal inputs    are dealt with in some cleaner and
more regular way.  Also called    `ad-hackery', `ad-hocity'
(/ad-hos'*-tee/), `ad-crockery'.     See also {ELIZA effect}.

   :Ada:: n.  A {{Pascal}}-descended language that has been made
mandatory for Department of Defense software projects by the
Pentagon.  Hackers are nearly unanimous in observing that,
technically, it is precisely what one might expect given that kind
of endorsement by fiat; designed by committee, crockish, difficult
to use, and overall a disastrous, multi-billion-dollar boondoggle
(one common description is "The PL/I of the 1980s").  Hackers    find
Ada's exception-handling and inter-process communication    features
particularly hilarious.  Ada Lovelace (the daughter of    Lord Byron
who became the world's first programmer while    cooperating with
Charles Babbage on the design of his mechanical    computing engines in
the mid-1800s) would almost certainly blanch    at the use to which her
name has latterly been put; the kindest    thing that has been said
about it is that there is probably a good    small language screaming
to get out from inside its vast,    {elephantine} bulk.

   :address harvester: n.  A robot that searches web pages    and/or
filters netnews traffic looking for valid email addresses.     Some
address harvesters are benign, used only for compiling address
directories.  Most, unfortunately, are run by miscreants compiling
address lists to {spam}.  Address harvesters can be foiled by    a
{teergrube}.

   :adger: /aj'r/ vt.  [UCLA mutant of {nadger}, poss. from    the
middle name of an infamous {tenured graduate student}] To    make a
bonehead move with consequences that could have been    foreseen with
even slight mental effort.  E.g., "He started    removing files and
promptly adgered the whole project".  Compare    {dumbass attack}.

   :admin: /ad-min'/ n.  Short for `administrator'; very    commonly
used in speech or on-line to refer to the systems person    in charge
on a computer.  Common constructions on this include    `sysadmin' and
`site admin' (emphasizing the administrator's    role as a site contact
for email and news) or `newsadmin'    (focusing specifically on news).
Compare {postmaster},    {sysop}, {system mangler}.

   :ADVENT: /ad'vent/ n.  The prototypical computer    adventure game,
first designed by Will Crowther on the {PDP-10}    in the mid-1970s as
an attempt at computer-refereed fantasy gaming,    and expanded into a
puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods at Stanford    in 1976. (Crowther
went on to write the first core software for the    first TCP/IP
router.) Now better known as Adventure, but the    {{TOPS-10}}
operating system permitted only six-letter filenames.     See also
{vadding}, {Zork}, and {Infocom}.

   This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style since expected in
 text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have
become fixtures of hacker-speak:  "A huge green fierce snake bars
the way!"  "I see no X here" (for some noun X).  "You are in a    maze
of twisty little passages, all alike."  "You are in a little    maze of
twisty passages, all different."  The `magic words'    {xyzzy} and
{plugh} also derive from this game.

   Crowther, by the way, participated in the exploration of the
Mammoth & Flint Ridge cave system; it actually _has_ a    `Colossal
Cave' and a `Bedquilt' as in the game, and the `Y2' that    also turns
up is cavers' jargon for a map reference to a secondary    entrance.

   ADVENT sources are available for FTP at
`ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/doc/misc/if-archive/games/source/advent.tar.Z'.

   :AFAIK: // n.  [Usenet] Abbrev. for "As Far As I Know".

   :AFJ: // n.  Written-only abbreviation for "April Fool's    Joke".
Elaborate April Fool's hoaxes are a long-established    tradition on
Usenet and Internet; see {kremvax} for an example.     In fact, April
Fool's Day is the _only_ seasonal holiday    consistently marked by
customary observances on Internet and other    hacker networks.

   :AI: /A-I/ n.  Abbreviation for `Artificial Intelligence',    so
common that the full form is almost never written or spoken    among
hackers.

   :AI-complete: /A-I k*m-pleet'/ adj.  [MIT, Stanford: by    analogy
with `NP-complete' (see {NP-})] Used to describe    problems or
subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution    presupposes a
solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the    synthesis of a
human-level intelligence).  A problem that is    AI-complete is, in
other words, just too hard.

   Examples of AI-complete problems are `The Vision Problem'
(building a system that can see as well as a human) and `The    Natural
Language Problem' (building a system that can understand    and speak a
natural language as well as a human).  These may appear    to be
modular, but all attempts so far (1999) to solve them have    foundered
on the amount of context information and `intelligence'    they seem to
require. See also {gedanken}.

   :AI koans: /A-I koh'anz/ pl.n.  A series of pastiches of Zen
teaching riddles created by Danny Hillis at the MIT AI Lab around
various major figures of the Lab's culture (several are included
under {AI Koans} in Appendix A).  See also {ha ha    only serious},
{mu}, and {{hacker humor}}.

   :AIDS: /aydz/ n.  Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*'    is a
{glob} pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple    or Amiga),
this condition is quite often the result of practicing    unsafe {SEX}.
See {virus}, {worm}, {Trojan horse},    {virgin}.

   :AIDX: /ayd'k*z/ n.  Derogatory term for IBM's perverted    version
of Unix, AIX, especially for the AIX 3.? used in the IBM    RS/6000
series (some hackers think it is funnier just to pronounce    "AIX" as
"aches").  A victim of the dreaded "hybridism"    disease, this attempt
to combine the two main currents of the Unix    stream ({BSD} and {USG
Unix}) became a {monstrosity} to    haunt system administrators'
dreams.  For example, if new accounts    are created while many users
are logged on, the load average jumps    quickly over 20 due to silly
implementation of the user databases.     For a quite similar disease,
compare {HP-SUX}.  Also, compare    {Macintrash}, {Nominal
Semidestructor}, {ScumOS},    {sun-stools}.

   :airplane rule: n.  "Complexity increases the possibility of
failure; a twin-engine airplane has twice as many engine problems    as
a single-engine airplane."  By analogy, in both software and
electronics, the rule that simplicity increases robustness.  It is
correspondingly argued that the right way to build reliable systems
is to put all your eggs in one basket, after making sure that    you've
built a really _good_ basket.  See also {KISS    Principle}.

   :Alderson loop: n.  [Intel] A special version of an    {infinite
loop} where there is an exit condition available, but    inaccessible
in the current implementation of the code.  Typically    this is
created while debugging user interface code.  An example    would be
when there is a menu stating, "Select 1-3 or 9 to quit"    and 9 is not
allowed by the function that takes the selection from    the user.

   This term received its name from a programmer who had coded a modal
 message box in MSAccess with no Ok or Cancel buttons, thereby
disabling the entire program whenever the box came up.  The message
box had the proper code for dismissal and even was set up so that
when the non-existent Ok button was pressed the proper code would    be
called.

   :aliasing bug: n.  A class of subtle programming errors that    can
arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via    `malloc(3)' or
equivalent.  If several pointers address    (`aliases for') a given
hunk of storage, it may happen that the    storage is freed or
reallocated (and thus moved) through one alias    and then referenced
through another, which may lead to subtle (and    possibly
intermittent) lossage depending on the state and the    allocation
history of the malloc {arena}.  Avoidable by use of    allocation
strategies that never alias allocated core, or by use of
higher-level languages, such as {LISP}, which employ a garbage
collector (see {GC}).  Also called a {stale pointer bug}.     See also
{precedence lossage}, {smash the stack},    {fandango on core}, {memory
leak}, {memory smash},    {overrun screw}, {spam}.

   Historical note: Though this term is nowadays associated with    C
programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the
Algol-60 and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s.

   :all-elbows: adj.  [MS-DOS] Of a TSR
(terminate-and-stay-resident) IBM PC program, such as the N    pop-up
calendar and calculator utilities that circulate on {BBS}    systems:
unsociable.  Used to describe a program that rudely steals    the
resources that it needs without considering that other TSRs may    also
be resident.  One particularly common form of rudeness is    lock-up
due to programs fighting over the keyboard interrupt.  See    {rude},
also {mess-dos}.

   :alpha geek: n.  [from animal ethologists' `alpha    male'] The most
technically accomplished or skillful person in some    implied context.
"Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek here."

   :alpha particles: n.  See {bit rot}.

   :alt: /awlt/  1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or    {clone}
keyboard; see {bucky bits}, sense 2 (though typical    PC usage does
not simply set the 0200 bit).  2. n. The `option'    key on a
Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the    speaker hacked
PCs before coming to the Mac (see also {feature    key}, which is
sometimes _incorrectly_ called `alt').     3. n.,obs.  [PDP-10; often
capitalized to ALT] Alternate name    for the ASCII ESC character
(ASCII 0011011), after the keycap    labeling on some older terminals;
also `altmode' (/awlt'mohd/).     This character was almost never
pronounced `escape' on an ITS    system, in {TECO}, or under TOPS-10 --
always alt, as in "Type    alt alt to end a TECO command" or "alt-U
onto the system" (for    "log onto the [ITS] system").  This usage
probably arose because    alt is more convenient to say than `escape',
especially when    followed by another alt or a character (or another
alt _and_ a    character, for that matter).  4. The alt hierarchy on
Usenet,    the tree of newsgroups created by users without a formal
vote and    approval procedure.  There is a myth, not entirely
implausible,    that alt is acronymic for "anarchists, lunatics, and
terrorists"; but in fact it is simply short for "alternative".

   :alt bit: /awlt bit/ [from alternate] adj.  See {meta    bit}.

   :Aluminum Book: n.  [MIT] "Common LISP: The Language", by    Guy L.
Steele Jr. (Digital Press, first edition 1984, second    edition 1990).
Note that due to a technical screwup some printings    of the second
edition are actually of a color the author describes    succinctly as
"yucky green".  See also {{book titles}}.

   :ambimouseterous: /am-b*-mows'ter-us/ or /am-b*-mows'trus/    adj.
[modeled on ambidextrous]     Able to use a mouse with either hand.

   :Amiga: n  A series of personal computer models originally    sold
by Commodore, based on 680x0 processors, custom support chips    and an
operating system that combined some of the best features of
Macintosh and Unix with compatibility with neither.

   The Amiga was released just as the personal computing world
standardized on IBM-PC clones. This prevented it from gaining
serious market share, despite the fact that the first Amigas had a
substantial technological lead on the IBM XTs of the time. Instead,
it acquired a small but zealous population of enthusiastic hackers
who dreamt of one day unseating the clones (see {Amiga    Persecution
Complex}).  The traits of this culture are both spoofed    and
illuminated in    The BLAZE Humor Viewer
(http://www-ccsl.cs.umass.edu/~barrett/bm/Viewer_Sections/Main.HTML).
The strength of the Amiga platform seeded a    small industry of
companies building software and hardware for the    platform,
especially in graphics and video applications (see    {video toaster}).

   Due to spectacular mismanagement, Commodore did hardly any R&D,
allowing the competition to close Amiga's technological lead.     After
Commodore went bankrupt in 1994 the technology passed through
several hands, none of whom did much with it.  However, the Amiga    is
still being produced in Europe under license and has a    substantial
number of fans, which will probably extend the    platform's life
considerably.

   :Amiga Persecution Complex: n.  The disorder suffered by a
particularly egregious variety of {bigot}, those who believe    that
the marginality of their preferred machine is the result of    some
kind of industry-wide conspiracy (for without a conspiracy of    some
kind, the eminent superiority of their beloved shining jewel    of a
platform would obviously win over all, market pressures be    damned!)
Those afflicted are prone to engaging in {flame war}s    and calling
for boycotts and mailbombings.  Amiga Persecution    Complex is by no
means limited to Amiga users; NeXT, {NeWS},    {OS/2}, Macintosh,
{LISP}, and {GNU} users are also common    victims. {Linux} users used
to display symptoms very frequently    before Linux started winning;
some still do.  See also {newbie},    {troll}, {holy wars}, {weenie},
{Get a life!}.

   :amoeba: n.  Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal
computer.

   :amp off: vt.  [Purdue] To run in {background}.  From the    Unix
shell `&' operator.

   :amper: n.  Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand
(`&', ASCII 0100110) character.  See {{ASCII}} for other synonyms.

   :angle brackets: n.  Either of the characters `<' (ASCII    0111100)
and `>' (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or    greater-than signs).
Typographers in the {Real World} use angle    brackets which are either
taller and slimmer (the ISO `Bra' and    `Ket' characters), or
significantly smaller (single or double    guillemets) than the
less-than and greater-than signs.     See {broket}, {{ASCII}}.

   :angry fruit salad: n.  A bad visual-interface design that    uses
too many colors.  (This term derives, of course, from the    bizarre
day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad.)  Too often one    sees
similar effects from interface designers using color window    systems
such as {X}; there is a tendency to create displays that    are flashy
and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term    use.

   :annoybot: /*-noy-bot/ n.  [IRC] See {robot}.

   :annoyware: n.  A type of {shareware} that frequently    disrupts
normal program operation to display requests for payment    to the
author in return for the ability to disable the request    messages.
(Also called `nagware') The requests generally require    user action
to acknowledge the message before normal operation is    resumed and
are often tied to the most frequently used features of    the software.
See also {careware}, {charityware},    {crippleware}, {freeware},
{FRS}, {guiltware},    {postcardware}, and {-ware}; compare {payware}.

   :ANSI: /an'see/  1. n. [techspeak] The American National
Standards Institute. ANSI, along with the International Organization
for Standards (ISO), standardized the C programming language (see
{K&R}, {Classic C}), and promulgates many other important    software
standards.  2. n. [techspeak] A terminal may be said to be    `ANSI' if
it meets the ANSI X.364 standard for terminal control.
Unfortunately, this standard was both over-complicated and too
permissive.  It has been retired and replaced by the ECMA-48
standard, which shares both flaws.  3. n. [BBS jargon] The set of
screen-painting codes that most MS-DOS and Amiga computers accept.
This comes from the ANSI.SYS device driver that must be loaded on    an
MS-DOS computer to view such codes.  Unfortunately, neither DOS    ANSI
nor the BBS ANSIs derived from it exactly match the ANSI X.364
terminal standard.  For example, the ESC-[1m code turns on the bold
highlight on large machines, but in IBM PC/MS-DOS ANSI, it turns on
`intense' (bright) colors.  Also, in BBS-land, the term `ANSI' is
often used to imply that a particular computer uses or can emulate
the IBM high-half character set from MS-DOS.  Particular use    depends
on context. Occasionally, the vanilla ASCII character set    is used
with the color codes, but on BBSs, ANSI and `IBM    characters' tend to
go together.

   :ANSI standard pizza: /an'see stan'd*rd peet'z*/  [CMU]    Pepperoni
and mushroom pizza.  Coined allegedly because most pizzas    ordered by
CMU hackers during some period leading up to mid-1990    were of that
flavor.  See also {rotary debugger}; compare    {ISO standard cup of
tea}.

   :AOL!: n.  [Usenet] Common synonym for "Me, too!"     alluding to
the legendary propensity of America Online users to    utter
contentless "Me, too!" postings.  The number of exclamation    points
following varies from zero to five or so.  The pseudo-HTML

        <AOL>Me, too!</AOL>

is also frequently seen. See also {September that never ended}.

   :app: /ap/ n.  Short for `application program', as opposed    to a
systems program.  Apps are what systems vendors are forever    chasing
developers to create for their environments so they can    sell more
boxes.  Hackers tend not to think of the things they    themselves run
as apps; thus, in hacker parlance the term excludes    compilers,
program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a    user would
consider all those to be apps.  (Broadly, an app is    often a
self-contained environment for performing some well-defined    task
such as `word processing'; hackers tend to prefer more
general-purpose tools.) See {killer app}; oppose {tool},    {operating
system}.

   :arena: [common; Unix] n.  The area of memory attached to a
process by `brk(2)' and `sbrk(2)' and used by    `malloc(3)' as dynamic
storage.  So named from a `malloc:    corrupt arena' message emitted
when some early versions detected an    impossible value in the free
block list.  See {overrun screw},    {aliasing bug}, {memory leak},
{memory smash}, {smash    the stack}.

   :arg: /arg/ n.  Abbreviation for `argument' (to a    function), used
so often as to have become a new word (like    `piano' from
`pianoforte').  "The sine function takes 1 arg,    but the arc-tangent
function can take either 1 or 2 args."     Compare {param}, {parm},
{var}.

   :ARMM: n.  [acronym, `Automated Retroactive Minimal    Moderation']
A Usenet {cancelbot} created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls,    Ohio.
ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts from
anonymous-posting sites.  Unfortunately, the robot's recognizer for
anonymous postings triggered on its own automatically-generated
control messages!  Transformed by this stroke of programming
ineptitude into a monster of Frankensteinian proportions, it broke
loose on the night of March 31, 1993 and proceeded to {spam}
news.admin.policy with a recursive explosion of over 200    messages.

   ARMM's bug produced a recursive {cascade} of messages each of which
 mechanically added text to the ID and Subject and some other
headers of its parent.  This produced a flood of messages in which
each header took up several screens and each message ID and subject
line got longer and longer and longer.

   Reactions varied from amusement to outrage.  The pathological
messages crashed at least one mail system, and upset people paying
line charges for their Usenet feeds.  One poster described the ARMM
debacle as "instant Usenet history" (also establishing the term
{despew}), and it has since been widely cited as a cautionary
example of the havoc the combination of good intentions and
incompetence can wreak on a network.  Compare {Great Worm};
{sorcerer's apprentice mode}.  See also {software laser},    {network
meltdown}.

   :armor-plated: n.  Syn. for {bulletproof}.

   :asbestos: adj.  [common] Used as a modifier to anything    intended
to protect one from {flame}s; also in other highly
{flame}-suggestive usages.  See, for example, {asbestos    longjohns}
and {asbestos cork award}.

   :asbestos cork award: n.  Once, long ago at MIT, there was a
{flamer} so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed,    had
made, and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had    been
nominated for the `asbestos cork award'.  (Any reader in    doubt as to
the intended application of the cork should consult the    etymology
under {flame}.)  Since then, it is agreed that only a    select few
have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn    this dubious
dignity -- but there is no agreement on _which_    few.

   :asbestos longjohns: n.  Notional garments donned by    {Usenet}
posters just before emitting a remark they expect will    elicit
{flamage}.  This is the most common of the {asbestos}    coinages.
Also `asbestos underwear', `asbestos overcoat', etc.

   :ASCII:: /as'kee/ n.  [acronym: American Standard Code for
Information Interchange] The predominant character set encoding of
present-day computers.  The modern version uses 7 bits for each
character, whereas most earlier codes (including an early version    of
ASCII) used fewer.  This change allowed the inclusion of    lowercase
letters -- a major {win} -- but it did not provide    for accented
letters or any other letterforms not used in English    (such as the
German sharp-S    or the ae-ligature    which is a letter in, for
example, Norwegian).  It could be worse,    though.  It could be much
worse.  See {{EBCDIC}} to understand how.

   Computers are much pickier and less flexible about spelling than
humans; thus, hackers need to be very precise when talking about
characters, and have developed a considerable amount of verbal
shorthand for them.  Every character has one or more names -- some
formal, some concise, some silly.  Common jargon names for ASCII
characters are collected here.  See also individual entries for
{bang}, {excl}, {open}, {ques}, {semi}, {shriek},    {splat},
{twiddle}, and {Yu-Shiang Whole Fish}.

   This list derives from revision 2.3 of the Usenet ASCII
pronunciation guide.  Single characters are listed in ASCII order;
character pairs are sorted in by first member.  For each character,
common names are given in rough order of popularity, followed by
names that are reported but rarely seen; official ANSI/CCITT names
are surrounded by brokets: <>.  Square brackets mark the
particularly silly names introduced by {INTERCAL}.  The
abbreviations "l/r" and "o/c" stand for left/right and    "open/close"
respectively.  Ordinary parentheticals provide some    usage
information.

!
     Common: {bang}; pling; excl; shriek; <exclamation mark>.  Rare:
     factorial; exclam; smash; cuss; boing; yell; wow; hey; wham;
     eureka; [spark-spot]; soldier, control.

"
     Common: double quote; quote.  Rare: literal mark; double-glitch;
     <quotation marks>; <dieresis>; dirk; [rabbit-ears]; double prime.

#
     Common: number sign; pound; pound sign; hash; sharp; {crunch}; hex;
     [mesh].  Rare: grid; crosshatch; octothorpe; flash; <square>,
     pig-pen; tictactoe; scratchmark; thud; thump; {splat}.

$
     Common: dollar; <dollar sign>.  Rare: currency symbol; buck; cash;
     string (from BASIC); escape (when used as the echo of ASCII ESC);
     ding; cache; [big money].

%
     Common: percent; <percent sign>; mod; grapes.  Rare:
     [double-oh-seven].

&
     Common: <ampersand>; amper; and.  Rare: address (from C); reference
     (from C++); andpersand; bitand; background (from `sh(1)');
     pretzel; amp.  [INTERCAL called this `ampersand'; what could be
     sillier?]

'
     Common: single quote; quote; <apostrophe>.  Rare: prime; glitch;
     tick; irk; pop; [spark]; <closing single quotation mark>; <acute
     accent>.

( )
     Common: l/r paren; l/r parenthesis; left/right; open/close;
     paren/thesis; o/c paren; o/c parenthesis; l/r parenthesis; l/r
     banana.  Rare: so/already; lparen/rparen; <opening/closing
     parenthesis>; o/c round bracket, l/r round bracket, [wax/wane];
     parenthisey/unparenthisey; l/r ear.

*
     Common: star; [{splat}]; <asterisk>.  Rare: wildcard; gear; dingle;
     mult; spider; aster; times; twinkle; glob (see {glob}); {Nathan
     Hale}.

+
     Common: <plus>; add.  Rare: cross; [intersection].

,
     Common: <comma>.  Rare: <cedilla>; [tail].

-
     Common: dash; <hyphen>; <minus>.  Rare: [worm]; option; dak;
     bithorpe.

.
     Common: dot; point; <period>; <decimal point>.  Rare: radix point;
     full stop; [spot].

/
     Common: slash; stroke; <slant>; forward slash.  Rare: diagonal;
     solidus; over; slak; virgule; [slat].

:
     Common: <colon>.  Rare: dots; [two-spot].

;
     Common: <semicolon>; semi.  Rare: weenie; [hybrid], pit-thwong.

< >
     Common: <less/greater than>; bra/ket; l/r angle; l/r angle
     bracket; l/r broket.  Rare: from/{into, towards}; read from/write
     to; suck/blow; comes-from/gozinta; in/out; crunch/zap (all from
     UNIX); [angle/right angle].

=
     Common: <equals>; gets; takes.  Rare: quadrathorpe; [half-mesh].

?
     Common: query; <question mark>; {ques}.  Rare: whatmark; [what];
     wildchar; huh; hook; buttonhook; hunchback.

@
     Common: at sign; at; strudel.  Rare: each; vortex; whorl;
     [whirlpool]; cyclone; snail; ape; cat; rose; cabbage; <commercial
     at>.

V
     Rare: [book].

[ ]
     Common: l/r square bracket; l/r bracket; <opening/closing
     bracket>; bracket/unbracket.  Rare: square/unsquare; [U turn/U
     turn back].

\
     Common: backslash, hack, whack; escape (from C/UNIX); reverse
     slash; slosh; backslant; backwhack.  Rare: bash; <reverse slant>;
     reversed virgule; [backslat].

^
     Common: hat; control; uparrow; caret; <circumflex>.  Rare: chevron;
     [shark (or shark-fin)]; to the (`to the power of'); fang; pointer
     (in Pascal).

_
     Common: <underline>; underscore; underbar; under.  Rare: score;
     backarrow; skid; [flatworm].

`
     Common: backquote; left quote; left single quote; open quote;
     <grave accent>; grave.  Rare: backprime; [backspark];
     unapostrophe; birk; blugle; back tick; back glitch; push; <opening
     single quotation mark>; quasiquote.

{ }
     Common: o/c brace; l/r brace; l/r squiggly; l/r squiggly
     bracket/brace; l/r curly bracket/brace; <opening/closing brace>.
     Rare: brace/unbrace; curly/uncurly; leftit/rytit; l/r squirrelly;
     [embrace/bracelet].

|
     Common: bar; or; or-bar; v-bar; pipe; vertical bar.  Rare:
     <vertical line>; gozinta; thru; pipesinta (last three from UNIX);
     [spike].

~
     Common: <tilde>; squiggle; {twiddle}; not.  Rare: approx; wiggle;
     swung dash; enyay; [sqiggle (sic)].

The pronunciation of `#' as `pound' is common in the U.S.     but a bad
idea; {{Commonwealth Hackish}} has its own, rather more    apposite use
of `pound sign' (confusingly, on British keyboards    the pound graphic
  happens to replace `#'; thus Britishers sometimes call    `#' on a
U.S.-ASCII keyboard `pound', compounding the    American error).  The
U.S. usage derives from an old-fashioned    commercial practice of
using a `#' suffix to tag pound weights    on bills of lading.  The
character is usually pronounced `hash'    outside the U.S.  There are
more culture wars over the correct    pronunciation of this character
than any other, which has led to    the {ha ha only serious} suggestion
that it be pronounced    `shibboleth' (see Judges 12.6 in an Old
Testament or    Torah).

   The `uparrow' name for circumflex and `leftarrow' name for
underline are historical relics from archaic ASCII (the 1963
version), which had these graphics in those character positions
rather than the modern punctuation characters.

   The `swung dash' or `approximation' sign is not quite the same    as
tilde in typeset material    but the ASCII tilde serves for both
(compare {angle    brackets}).

   Some other common usages cause odd overlaps.  The `#',    `$', `>',
and `&' characters, for example, are all    pronounced "hex" in
different communities because various    assemblers use them as a
prefix tag for hexadecimal constants (in    particular, `#' in many
assembler-programming cultures,    `$' in the 6502 world, `>' at Texas
Instruments, and    `&' on the BBC Micro, Sinclair, and some Z80
machines).  See    also {splat}.

   The inability of ASCII text to correctly represent any of the
world's other major languages makes the designers' choice of 7 bits
look more and more like a serious {misfeature} as the use of
international networks continues to increase (see {software    rot}).
Hardware and software from the U.S. still tends to embody    the
assumption that ASCII is the universal character set and that
characters have 7 bits; this is a major irritant to people who    want
to use a character set suited to their own languages.     Perversely,
though, efforts to solve this problem by proliferating    `national'
character sets produce an evolutionary pressure to use    a _smaller_
subset common to all those in use.

   :ASCII art: n.  The fine art of drawing diagrams using the    ASCII
character set (mainly `|', `-', `/', `\',    and `+').  Also known as
`character graphics' or `ASCII    graphics'; see also {boxology}.  Here
is a serious    example:

         o----)||(--+--|<----+   +---------o + D O
           L  )||(  |        |   |             C U
         A I  )||(  +-->|-+  |   +-\/\/-+--o -   T
         C N  )||(        |  |   |      |        P
           E  )||(  +-->|-+--)---+--|(--+-o      U
              )||(  |        |          | GND    T
         o----)||(--+--|<----+----------+

         A power supply consisting of a full wave rectifier circuit
         feeding a capacitor input filter circuit

And here are some very silly examples:

       |\/\/\/|     ____/|              ___    |\_/|    ___
       |      |     \ o.O|   ACK!      /   \_  |` '|  _/   \
       |      |      =(_)=  THPHTH!   /      \/     \/      \
       | (o)(o)        U             /                       \
       C      _)  (__)                \/\/\/\  _____  /\/\/\/
       | ,___|    (oo)                       \/     \/
       |   /       \/-------\         U                  (__)
      /____\        ||     | \    /---V  `v'-            oo )
     /      \       ||---W||  *  * |--|   || |`.         |_/\

                    //-o-\\
             ____---=======---____
         ====___\   /.. ..\   /___====      Klingons rule OK!
       //        ---\__O__/---        \\
       \_\                           /_/

There is an important subgenre of ASCII art that puns on the
standard character names in the fashion of a rebus.

     +--------------------------------------------------------+
     |      ^^^^^^^^^^^^                                      |
     | ^^^^^^^^^^^            ^^^^^^^^^                       |
     |                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
     |        ^^^^^^^         B       ^^^^^^^^^               |
     |  ^^^^^^^^^          ^^^            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^      |
     +--------------------------------------------------------+
                  " A Bee in the Carrot Patch "

Within humorous ASCII art, there is for some reason an entire
flourishing subgenre of pictures of silly cows.  Four of these are
reproduced in the silly examples above, here are three more:

              (__)              (__)              (__)
              (\/)              ($$)              (**)
       /-------\/        /-------\/        /-------\/
      / | 666 ||        / |=====||        / |     ||
     *  ||----||       *  ||----||       *  ||----||
        ~~    ~~          ~~    ~~          ~~    ~~
     Satanic cow    This cow is a Yuppie   Cow in love

   Finally, here's a magnificent example of ASCII art depicting an
Edwardian train station in Dunedin, New Zealand:

                                       .-.
                                      /___\
                                      |___|
                                      |]_[|
                                      / I \
                                   JL/  |  \JL
        .-.                    i   ()   |   ()   i                    .-.
        |_|     .^.           /_\  LJ=======LJ  /_\           .^.     |_|
     ._/___\._./___\_._._._._.L_J_/.-.     .-.\_L_J._._._._._/___\._./___\._._._
            ., |-,-| .,       L_J  |_| [I] |_|  L_J       ., |-,-| .,        .,
            JL |-O-| JL       L_J%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%L_J       JL |-O-| JL        JL
     IIIIII_HH_'-'-'_HH_IIIIII|_|=======H=======|_|IIIIII_HH_'-'-'_HH_IIIIII_HH_
     -------[]-------[]-------[_]----\.=I=./----[_]-------[]-------[]--------[]-
      _/\_  ||\\_I_//||  _/\_ [_] []_/_L_J_\_[] [_] _/\_  ||\\_I_//||  _/\_  ||\
      |__|  ||=/_|_\=||  |__|_|_|   _L_L_J_J_   |_|_|__|  ||=/_|_\=||  |__|  ||-
      |__|  |||__|__|||  |__[___]__--__===__--__[___]__|  |||__|__|||  |__|  |||
     IIIIIII[_]IIIII[_]IIIIIL___J__II__|_|__II__L___JIIIII[_]IIIII[_]IIIIIIII[_]
      \_I_/ [_]\_I_/[_] \_I_[_]\II/[]\_\I/_/[]\II/[_]\_I_/ [_]\_I_/[_] \_I_/ [_]
     ./   \.L_J/   \L_J./   L_JI  I[]/     \[]I  IL_J    \.L_J/   \L_J./   \.L_J
     |     |L_J|   |L_J|    L_J|  |[]|     |[]|  |L_J     |L_J|   |L_J|     |L_J
     |_____JL_JL___JL_JL____|-||  |[]|     |[]|  ||-|_____JL_JL___JL_JL_____JL_J

There is a newsgroup, rec.arts.ascii, devoted to this    genre;
however, see also {warlording}.

   :ASCIIbetical order: /as'kee-be'-t*-kl or'dr/ adj.,n.     Used to
indicate that data is sorted in ASCII collated order rather    than
alphabetical order.  This lexicon is sorted in something close    to
ASCIIbetical order, but with case ignored and entries beginning    with
non-alphabetic characters moved to the end.  "At my video    store,
they used their computer to sort the videos into    ASCIIbetical order,
so I couldn't find `"Crocodile" Dundee' until I    thought to look
before `2001' and `48 HRS.'!"

   :astroturfing: n.  The use of paid shills to create the
impression of a popular movement, through means like letters to
newspapers from soi-disant `concerned citizens', paid opinion
pieces, and the formation of grass-roots lobbying groups that are
actually funded by a PR group (astroturf is fake grass; hence the
term).  This term became common among hackers after it came to    light
in early 1998 that Microsoft had attempted to use such    tactics to
forestall the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust    action against
the company.

   This backfired horribly, angering a number of state
attorneys-general enough to induce them to go public with plans to
join the Federal suit.  It also set anybody defending Microsoft on
the net for the accusation "You're just astroturfing!".

   :atomic: adj.  [from Gk. `atomos', indivisible]    1. Indivisible;
cannot be split up.  For example, an instruction    may be said to do
several things `atomically', i.e., all the    things are done
immediately, and there is no chance of the    instruction being
half-completed or of another being interspersed.     Used esp. to
convey that an operation cannot be screwed up by    interrupts.  "This
routine locks the file and increments the    file's semaphore
atomically."  2. [primarily techspeak] Guaranteed    to complete
successfully or not at all, usu. refers to database    transactions.
If an error prevents a partially-performed    transaction from
proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out,"    as the database
must not be left in an inconsistent state.

   Computer usage, in either of the above senses, has none of the
connotations that `atomic' has in mainstream English (i.e.  of
particles of matter, nuclear explosions etc.).

   :attoparsec: n.  About an inch.  `atto-' is the standard SI
prefix for multiplication by 10^(-18).  A parsec    (parallax-second)
is 3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus    3.26 * 10^(-18) light
years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1    attoparsec/{microfortnight} equals
about 1 inch/sec).  This unit    is reported to be in use (though
probably not very seriously) among    hackers in the U.K.  See
{micro-}.

   :AUP: /A-U-P/  Abbreviation, "Acceptable Use Policy".  The    policy
of a given ISP which sets out what the ISP considers to be
(un)acceptable uses of its Internet resources.

   :autobogotiphobia: /aw'toh-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/  n. See
{bogotify}.

   :automagically: /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ adv.  Automatically, but    in a
way that, for some reason (typically because it is too    complicated,
or too ugly, or perhaps even too trivial), the speaker    doesn't feel
like explaining to you.  See {magic}.  "The    C-INTERCAL compiler
generates C, then automagically invokes    `cc(1)' to produce an
executable."

   This term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s in
jargon and probably much earlier.  The word `automagic' occurred in
advertising (for a shirt-ironing gadget) as far back as the late
1940s.

   :avatar: n. Syn.  [in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of    a god]
1. Among people working on virtual reality and    {cyberspace}
interfaces, an "avatar" is an icon or    representation of a user in a
shared virtual reality.  The term is    sometimes used on {MUD}s.  2.
[CMU, Tektronix] {root},    {superuser}.  There are quite a few Unix
machines on which the    name of the superuser account is `avatar'
rather than `root'.     This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who
found the terms    `root' and  `superuser' unimaginative, and thought
`avatar'    might better impress people with the responsibility they
were    accepting.

   :awk: /awk/  1. n. [Unix techspeak] An interpreted language    for
massaging text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger,    and
Brian Kernighan (the name derives from their initials).  It is
characterized by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach to
variable typing and declarations, associative arrays, and
field-oriented text processing.  See also {Perl}.  2. n.     Editing
term for an expression awkward to manipulate through normal    {regexp}
facilities (for example, one containing a    {newline}).  3. vt. To
process data using `awk(1)'.

= B =
=====

   :B5: //  [common] Abbreviation for "Babylon 5", a    science-fiction
TV series as revered among hackers as was the    original Star Trek.

   :back door: n.  [common] A hole in the security of a    system
deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers.  The
motivation for such holes is not always sinister; some operating
systems, for example, come out of the box with privileged accounts
intended for use by field service technicians or the vendor's
maintenance programmers.  Syn. {trap door}; may also be called a
`wormhole'.  See also {iron box}, {cracker}, {worm},    {logic bomb}.

   Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than
anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known.     Ken
Thompson's 1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM admitted the
existence of a back door in early Unix versions that may have
qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time.
In this scheme, the C compiler contained code that would recognize
when the `login' command was being recompiled and insert some    code
recognizing a password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to    the
system whether or not an account had been created for him.

   Normally such a back door could be removed by removing it from the
source code for the compiler and recompiling the compiler.  But to
recompile the compiler, you have to _use_ the compiler -- so
Thompson also arranged that the compiler would _recognize when    it
was compiling a version of itself_, and insert into the    recompiled
compiler the code to insert into the recompiled    `login' the code to
allow Thompson entry -- and, of course, the    code to recognize itself
and do the whole thing again the next time    around!  And having done
this once, he was then able to recompile    the compiler from the
original sources; the hack perpetuated itself    invisibly, leaving the
back door in place and active but with no    trace in the sources.

   The talk that suggested this truly moby hack was published as
"Reflections on Trusting Trust", "Communications of the ACM    27", 8
(August 1984), pp. 761-763 (text available at
`http://www.acm.org/classics').  Ken Thompson has since    confirmed
that this hack was implemented and that the Trojan Horse    code did
appear in the login binary of a Unix Support group    machine.  Ken
says the crocked compiler was never distributed.     Your editor has
heard two separate reports that suggest that the    crocked login did
make it out of Bell Labs, notably to BBN, and    that it enabled at
least one late-night login across the network by    someone using the
login name `kt'.

   :backbone cabal: n.  A group of large-site administrators who
pushed through the {Great Renaming} and reined in the chaos of
{Usenet} during most of the 1980s.  During most of its lifetime,    the
Cabal (as it was sometimes capitalized) steadfastly denied its    own
existence; it was almost obligatory for anyone privy to their
secrets to respond "There is no Cabal" whenever the existence or
activities of the group were speculated on in public.

   The result of this policy was an attractive aura of mystery.  Even
a decade after the cabal {mailing list} disbanded in late 1988
following a bitter internal catfight, many people believed (or
claimed to believe) that it had not actually disbanded but only    gone
deeper underground with its power intact.

   This belief became a model for various paranoid theories about
various Cabals with dark nefarious objectives beginning with taking
over the Usenet or Internet.  These paranoias were later satirized
in ways that took on a life of their own.  See {Eric Conspiracy}    for
one example.

   See {NANA} for the subsequent history of "the Cabal".

   :backbone site: n.,obs.  Formerly, a key Usenet and email    site,
one that processes a large amount of third-party traffic,    especially
if it is the home site of any of the regional    coordinators for the
Usenet maps.  Notable backbone sites as of    early 1993, when this
sense of the term was beginning to pass out    of general use due to
wide availability of cheap Internet    connections, included uunet and
the mail machines at Rutgers    University, UC Berkeley, {DEC}'s
Western Research Laboratories,    Ohio State University, and the
University of Texas.  Compare    {rib site}, {leaf site}.

   [1996 update: This term is seldom heard any more.  The UUCP network
 world that gave it meaning has nearly disappeared; everyone is on
the Internet now and network traffic is distributed in very
different patterns.  Today one might see references to a `backbone
router' instead --ESR]

   :backgammon::  See {bignum} (sense 3), {moby} (sense 4),    and
{pseudoprime}.

   :background: n.,adj.,vt.  [common] To do a task `in    background'
is to do it whenever {foreground} matters are not    claiming your
undivided attention, and `to background' something    means to relegate
it to a lower priority.  "For now, we'll just    print a list of nodes
and links; I'm working on the graph-printing    problem in background."
Note that this implies ongoing activity    but at a reduced level or
in spare time, in contrast to mainstream    `back burner' (which
connotes benign neglect until some future    resumption of activity).
Some people prefer to use the term for    processing that they have
queued up for their unconscious minds (a    tack that one can often
fruitfully take upon encountering an    obstacle in creative work).
Compare {amp off}, {slopsucker}.

   Technically, a task running in background is detached from the
terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower
priority); oppose {foreground}.  Nowadays this term is primarily
associated with {{Unix}}, but it appears to have been first used    in
this sense on OS/360.

   :backreference: n.  1. In a regular expression or pattern    match,
the text which was matched within grouping parentheses    parentheses.
2. The part of the pattern which refers back to the    matched text. 3.
By extension, anything which refers back to    something which has been
seen or discussed before.  "When you said    `she' just now, who were
you backreferencing?"

   :backronym: n.  [portmanteau of back + acronym] A word
interpreted as an acronym that was not originally so intended.
Examples are given under {BASIC}, {recursive acronym}    (Cygnus),
{Acme}, and {mung}.  Discovering backronyms is a    common form of
wordplay among hackers.

   :backspace and overstrike: interj.  [rare] Whoa!  Back up.     Used
to suggest that someone just said or did something wrong.     Once
common among APL programmers; may now be obsolete.

   :backward combatability: /bak'w*rd k*m-bat'*-bil'*-tee/ n.     [CMU,
Tektronix: from `backward compatibility'] A property of    hardware or
software revisions in which previous protocols,    formats, layouts,
etc. are irrevocably discarded in favor of `new    and improved'
protocols, formats, and layouts, leaving the previous    ones not
merely deprecated but actively defeated.  (Too often, the    old and
new versions cannot definitively be distinguished, such    that
lingering instances of the previous ones yield crashes or    other
infelicitous effects, as opposed to a simple "version    mismatch"
message.)  A backwards compatible change, on the other    hand, allows
old versions to coexist without crashes or error    messages, but too
many major changes incorporating elaborate    backwards compatibility
processing can lead to extreme {software    bloat}.  See also {flag
day}.

   :BAD: /B-A-D/ adj.  [IBM: acronym, `Broken As Designed']    Said of
a program that is {bogus} because of bad design and    misfeatures
rather than because of bugginess.  See {working as    designed}.

   :Bad and Wrong: adj.  [Durham, UK] Said of something that    is both
badly designed and wrongly executed. This common term is    the
prototype of, and is used by contrast with, three less common    terms
- Bad and Right (a kludge, something ugly but functional);    Good and
Wrong (an overblown GUI or other attractive nuisance); and    (rare
praise) Good and Right.  These terms entered common use at    Durham
c.1994 and may have been imported from elsewhere.  There are
standard abbreviations: they start with B&R, a typo for "Bad and
Wrong".  Consequently, B&W is actually "Bad and Right", G&R =    "Good
and Wrong", and G&W = "Good and Right". Compare    {evil and rude},
{Good Thing}, {Bad Thing}.

   :Bad Thing: n.  [very common; from the 1930 Sellar &    Yeatman
parody "1066 And All That"] Something that can't    possibly result in
improvement of the subject.  This term is always    capitalized, as in
"Replacing all of the 9600-baud modems with    bicycle couriers would
be a Bad Thing".  Oppose {Good Thing}.     British correspondents
confirm that {Bad Thing} and {Good    Thing} (and prob. therefore
{Right Thing} and {Wrong    Thing}) come from the book referenced in
the etymology, which    discusses rulers who were Good Kings but Bad
Things.  This has    apparently created a mainstream idiom on the
British side of the    pond.  It is very common among American hackers,
but not in    mainstream usage here. Compare {Bad and Wrong}.

   :bag on the side: n.  [prob. originally related to a    colostomy
bag] An extension to an established hack that    is supposed to add
some functionality to the original.  Usually    derogatory, implying
that the original was being overextended and    should have been thrown
away, and the new product is ugly,    inelegant, or bloated.  Also v.
phrase, `to hang a bag on the side    [of]'.  "C++?  That's just a bag
on the side of C ...."     "They want me to hang a bag on the side of
the accounting    system."

   :bagbiter: /bag'bi:t-*r/ n.  1. Something, such as a    program or a
computer, that fails to work, or works in a remarkably    clumsy
manner.  "This text editor won't let me make a file with a    line
longer than 80 characters!  What a bagbiter!"  2. A person    who has
caused you some trouble, inadvertently or otherwise,    typically by
failing to program the computer properly.  Synonyms:    {loser},
{cretin}, {chomper}.  3. `bite the bag' vi.     To fail in some manner.
"The computer keeps crashing every five    minutes."  "Yes, the disk
controller is really biting the bag."

   The original loading of these terms was almost undoubtedly obscene,
 possibly referring to a douche bag or the scrotum (we have reports
of "Bite the douche bag!" being used as an insult at MIT    1970-1976),
but in their current usage they have become almost    completely
sanitized.

   ITS's `lexiphage' program was the first and to date only known
example of a program _intended_ to be a bagbiter.

   :bagbiting: adj.  Having the quality of a {bagbiter}.     "This
bagbiting system won't let me compute the factorial of a    negative
number."  Compare {losing}, {cretinous},    {bletcherous}, `barfucious'
(under {barfulous}) and    `chomping' (under {chomp}).

   :balloonian variable: n.  [Commodore users; perh. a deliberate
phonetic mangling of `boolean variable'?] Any variable that    doesn't
actually hold or control state, but must nevertheless be    declared,
checked, or set.  A typical balloonian variable started    out as a
flag attached to some environment feature that either    became
obsolete or was planned but never implemented.     Compatibility
concerns (or politics attached to same) may require    that such a flag
be treated as though it were {live}.

   :bamf: /bamf/  1. [from X-Men comics; originally "bampf"]    interj.
Notional sound made by a person or object teleporting in or    out of
the hearer's vicinity.  Often used in {virtual reality}    (esp. {MUD})
electronic {fora} when a character wishes to    make a dramatic
entrance or exit.  2. The sound of magical    transformation, used in
virtual reality {fora} like MUDs. 3. In    MUD circles, "bamf" is also
used to refer to the act by which a    MUD server sends a special
notification to the MUD client to switch    its connection to another
server ("I'll set up the old site to    just bamf people over to our
new location.").  4. Used by MUDders    on occasion in a more general
sense related to sense 3, to refer to    directing someone to another
location or resource ("A user was    asking about some technobabble so
I bamfed them to    http://www.tuxedo.org/jargon/jargon.html.")

   :banana label: n.  The labels often used on the sides of
{macrotape} reels, so called because they are shaped roughly    like
blunt-ended bananas.  This term, like macrotapes themselves,    is
still current but visibly headed for obsolescence.

   :banana problem: n.  [from the story of the little girl who    said
"I know how to spell `banana', but I don't know when to    stop"].  Not
knowing where or when to bring a production to a    close (compare
{fencepost error}).  One may say `there is a    banana problem' of an
algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect    termination conditions,
or in discussing the evolution of a design    that may be succumbing to
featuritis (see also {creeping    elegance}, {creeping featuritis}).
See item 176 under    {HAKMEM}, which describes a banana problem in a
{Dissociated    Press} implementation.  Also, see {one-banana problem}
for a    superficially similar but unrelated usage.

   :binary four: n.  [Usenet] The finger, in the sense of    `digitus
impudicus'.  This comes from an analogy between binary    and the hand,
i.e. 1=00001=thumb, 2=00010=index finger,    3=00011=index and thumb,
4=00100.  Considered silly.  Prob. from    humorous derivative of
{finger}, sense 4.

   :bandwidth: n.  1. [common] Used by hackers (in a    generalization
of its technical meaning) as the volume of    information per unit time
that a computer, person, or transmission    medium can handle.  "Those
are amazing graphics, but I missed some    of the detail -- not enough
bandwidth, I guess."  Compare    {low-bandwidth}.  This generalized
usage began to go mainstream    after the Internet population explosion
of 1993-1994.  2. Attention    span.  3. On {Usenet}, a measure of
network capacity that is    often wasted by people complaining about
how items posted by others    are a waste of bandwidth.

   :bang:  1. n. Common spoken name for `!' (ASCII 0100001),
especially when used in pronouncing a {bang path} in spoken    hackish.
In {elder days} this was considered a CMUish usage,    with MIT and
Stanford hackers preferring {excl} or {shriek};    but the spread of
Unix has carried `bang' with it (esp. via the    term {bang path}) and
it is now certainly the most common spoken    name for `!'.  Note that
it is used exclusively for    non-emphatic written `!'; one would not
say "Congratulations    bang" (except possibly for humorous purposes),
but if one wanted    to specify the exact characters `foo!' one would
speak "Eff oh oh    bang".  See {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.  2. interj. An
exclamation    signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or
"The    dynamite has cleared out my brain!"  Often used to acknowledge
 that one has perpetrated a {thinko} immediately after one has    been
called on it.

   :bang on: vt.  To stress-test a piece of hardware or software:    "I
banged on the new version of the simulator all day yesterday    and it
didn't crash once.  I guess it is ready for release."  The    term
{pound on} is synonymous.

   :bang path: n.  [now historical] An old-style UUCP
electronic-mail address specifying hops to get from some
assumed-reachable location to the addressee, so called because each
{hop} is signified by a {bang} sign.  Thus, for example, the    path
...!bigsite!foovax!barbox!me directs people to route their    mail to
machine bigsite (presumably a well-known location    accessible to
everybody) and from there through the machine    foovax to the account
of user me on barbox.

   In the bad old days of not so long ago, before autorouting mailers
became commonplace, people often published compound bang addresses
using the { } convention (see {glob}) to give paths from    _several_
big machines, in the hopes that one's correspondent    might be able to
get mail to one of them reliably (example:    ...!{seismo, ut-sally,
ihnp4}!rice!beta!gamma!me).  Bang paths    of 8 to 10 hops were not
uncommon in 1981.  Late-night dial-up    UUCP links would cause
week-long transmission times.  Bang paths    were often selected by
both transmission time and reliability, as    messages would often get
lost.  See {{Internet address}},    {the network}, and {sitename}.

   :banner: n.  1. The title page added to printouts by most    print
spoolers (see {spool}).  Typically includes user or    account ID
information in very large character-graphics capitals.     Also called
a `burst page', because it indicates where to burst    (tear apart)
fanfold paper to separate one user's printout from the    next.  2. A
similar printout generated (typically on multiple pages    of fan-fold
paper) from user-specified text, e.g., by a program    such as Unix's
`banner({1,6})'.  3. On interactive software,    a first screen
containing a logo and/or author credits and/or a    copyright notice.
This is probably now the commonest sense.

   :banner ad: n.  Any of the annoying advertisements that span    the
tops of way too many Web pages.

   :bar: /bar/ n.  1. [very common] The second    {metasyntactic
variable}, after {foo} and before {baz}.     "Suppose we have two
functions: FOO and BAR.  FOO calls    BAR...." 2. Often appended to
{foo} to produce    {foobar}.

   :bare metal: n.  1. [common] New computer hardware,    unadorned
with such snares and delusions as an {operating    system}, an {HLL},
or even assembler.  Commonly used in the    phrase `programming on the
bare metal', which refers to the    arduous work of {bit bashing}
needed to create these basic tools    for a new machine.  Real
bare-metal programming involves things    like building boot proms and
BIOS chips, implementing basic    monitors used to test device drivers,
and writing the assemblers    that will be used to write the compiler
back ends that will give    the new machine a real development
environment.  2. `Programming on    the bare metal' is also used to
describe a style of    {hand-hacking} that relies on bit-level
peculiarities of a    particular hardware design, esp. tricks for speed
and space    optimization that rely on crocks such as overlapping
instructions    (or, as in the famous case described in {The Story of
Mel} (in    Appendix A), interleaving of opcodes on a magnetic drum to
minimize    fetch delays due to the device's rotational latency).  This
sort of    thing has become less common as the relative costs of
programming    time and machine resources have changed, but is still
found in    heavily constrained environments such as industrial embedded
  systems, and in the code of hackers who just can't let go of that
low-level control.  See {Real Programmer}.

   In the world of personal computing, bare metal programming
(especially in sense 1 but sometimes also in sense 2) is often
considered a {Good Thing}, or at least a necessary evil    (because
these machines have often been sufficiently slow and    poorly designed
to make it necessary; see {ill-behaved}).     There, the term usually
refers to bypassing the BIOS or OS    interface and writing the
application to directly access device    registers and machine
addresses.  "To get 19.2 kilobaud on the    serial port, you need to
get down to the bare metal."  People who    can do this sort of thing
well are held in high regard.

   :barf: /barf/ n.,v.  [common; from mainstream slang    meaning
`vomit'] 1. interj.  Term of disgust.  This is the    closest hackish
equivalent of the Valspeak "gag me with a    spoon". (Like, euwww!)
See {bletch}.  2. vi. To say    "Barf!" or emit some similar expression
of disgust.  "I showed    him my latest hack and he barfed" means only
that he complained    about it, not that he literally vomited.  3. vi.
To fail to    work because of unacceptable input, perhaps with a
suitable error    message, perhaps not.  Examples: "The division
operation barfs if    you try to divide by 0."  (That is, the division
operation checks    for an attempt to divide by zero, and if one is
encountered it    causes the operation to fail in some unspecified, but
generally    obvious, manner.) "The text editor barfs if you try to
read in a    new file before writing out the old one."  See {choke},
{gag}.  In Commonwealth Hackish, `barf' is generally replaced    by
`puke' or `vom'.  {barf} is sometimes also used as a    {metasyntactic
variable}, like {foo} or {bar}.

   :barfmail: n.  Multiple {bounce message}s accumulating to    the
level of serious annoyance, or worse.  The sort of thing that
happens when an inter-network mail gateway goes down or wonky.

   :barfulation: /bar`fyoo-lay'sh*n/ interj.  Variation of    {barf}
used around the Stanford area.  An exclamation,    expressing disgust.
On seeing some particularly bad code one might    exclaim,
"Barfulation!  Who wrote this, Quux?"

   :barfulous: /bar'fyoo-l*s/ adj.  (alt. `barfucious',
/bar-fyoo-sh*s/)  Said of something that would make anyone    barf, if
only for esthetic reasons.

   :barn: n.  [uncommon; prob. from the nuclear military] An
unexpectedly large quantity of something: a unit of measurement.
"Why is /var/adm taking up so much space?"  "The logs have grown    to
several barns."  The source of this is clear: when physicists    were
first studying nuclear interactions, the probability was    thought to
be proportional to the cross-sectional area of the    nucleus (this
probability is still called the cross-section).  Upon    experimenting,
they discovered the interactions were far more    probable than
expected; the nuclei were `as big as a barn'.  The    units for
cross-sections were christened Barns, (10^-24 cm^2) and    the book
containing cross-sections has a picture    of a barn on the cover.

   :barney: n.  In Commonwealth hackish, `barney' is to    {fred}
(sense #1) as {bar} is to {foo}.  That is, people    who commonly use
`fred' as their first metasyntactic variable    will often use `barney'
second.  The reference is, of course, to    Fred Flintstone and Barney
Rubble in the Flintstones cartoons.

   :baroque: adj.  [common] Feature-encrusted; complex;    gaudy;
verging on excessive.  Said of hardware or (esp.) software    designs,
this has many of the connotations of {elephantine} or    {monstrosity}
but is less extreme and not pejorative in itself.     "Metafont even
has features to introduce random variations to its    letterform
output.  Now _that_ is baroque!"  See also    {rococo}.

   :BASIC: /bay'-sic/ n.  A programming language,    originally
designed for Dartmouth's experimental timesharing system    in the
early 1960s, which for many years was the leading cause of    brain
damage in proto-hackers.  Edsger W. Dijkstra observed in    "Selected
Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective" that    "It is
practically impossible to teach good programming style to    students
that have had prior exposure to BASIC: as potential    programmers they
are mentally mutilated beyond hope of    regeneration."  This is
another case (like {Pascal}) of the    cascading {lossage} that happens
when a language deliberately    designed as an educational toy gets
taken too seriously.  A novice    can write short BASIC programs (on
the order of 10-20 lines) very    easily; writing anything longer (a)
is very painful, and (b)    encourages bad habits that will make it
harder to use more powerful    languages well.  This wouldn't be so bad
if historical accidents    hadn't made BASIC so common on low-end
micros in the 1980s.  As it    is, it probably ruined tens of thousands
of potential wizards.

   [1995: Some languages called `BASIC' aren't quite this nasty any
more, having acquired Pascal- and C-like procedures and control
structures and shed their line numbers. --ESR]

   Note: the name is commonly parsed as Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic
  Instruction Code, but this is a {backronym}. BASIC was    originally
named Basic, simply because it was a simple and basic    programming
language.  Because most programming language names were    in fact
acronyms, BASIC was often capitalized just out of habit or    to be
silly.  No acronym for BASIC originally existed or was    intended (as
one can verify by reading texts through the early    1970s). Later,
around the mid-1970s, people began to make up    backronyms for BASIC
because they weren't sure.  Beginner's    All-purpose Symbolic
Instruction Code is the one that caught    on.

   :batbelt: n.  Many hackers routinely hang numerous devices    such
as pagers, cell-phones, personal organizers, leatherman    multitools,
pocket knives, flashlights, walkie-talkies, even    miniature computers
from their belts. When many of these devices    are worn at once, the
hacker's belt somewhat resembles Batman's    utility belt; hence it is
referred to as a batbelt.

   :batch: adj.  1. Non-interactive.  Hackers use this somewhat    more
loosely than the traditional technical definitions justify; in
particular, switches on a normally interactive program that prepare
it to receive non-interactive command input are often referred to    as
`batch mode' switches.  A `batch file' is a series of    instructions
written to be handed to an interactive program running    in batch
mode.  2. Performance of dreary tasks all at one sitting.     "I
finally sat down in batch mode and wrote out checks for all    those
bills; I guess they'll turn the electricity back on next    week..." 3.
`batching up': Accumulation of a number of small    tasks that can be
lumped together for greater efficiency.  "I'm    batching up those
letters to send sometime" "I'm batching up    bottles to take to the
recycling center."

   :bathtub curve: n.  Common term for the curve (resembling an
end-to-end section of one of those claw-footed antique bathtubs)
that describes the expected failure rate of electronics with time:
initially high, dropping to near 0 for most of the system's
lifetime, then rising again as it `tires out'.  See also    {burn-in
period}, {infant mortality}.

   :baud: /bawd/ n.  [simplified from its technical meaning]    n. Bits
per second.  Hence kilobaud or Kbaud, thousands of bits per    second.
The technical meaning is `level transitions per    second'; this
coincides with bps only for two-level modulation with    no framing or
stop bits.  Most hackers are aware of these nuances    but blithely
ignore them.

   Historical note: `baud' was originally a unit of telegraph
signalling speed, set at one pulse per second.  It was proposed at
the International Telegraph Conference of 1927, and named after
J.M.E.  Baudot (1845-1903), the French engineer who constructed    the
first successful teleprinter.

   :baud barf: /bawd barf/ n.  The garbage one gets on the    monitor
when using a modem connection with some protocol setting    (esp. line
speed) incorrect, or when someone picks up a voice    extension on the
same line, or when really bad line noise disrupts    the connection.
Baud barf is not completely {random}, by the    way; hackers with a lot
of serial-line experience can usually tell    whether the device at the
other end is expecting a higher or lower    speed than the terminal is
set to.  _Really_ experienced ones    can identify particular speeds.

   :baz: /baz/ n.  1. [common] The third {metasyntactic    variable}
"Suppose we have three functions: FOO, BAR, and BAZ.     FOO calls BAR,
which calls BAZ...." (See also {fum})    2. interj. A term of mild
annoyance.  In this usage the term is    often drawn out for 2 or 3
seconds, producing an effect not unlike    the bleating of a sheep;
/baaaaaaz/.  3. Occasionally appended to    {foo} to produce `foobaz'.

   Earlier versions of this lexicon derived `baz' as a Stanford
corruption of {bar}.  However, Pete Samson (compiler of the    {TMRC}
lexicon) reports it was already current when he joined TMRC    in 1958.
He says "It came from "Pogo".  Albert the Alligator,    when vexed or
outraged, would shout `Bazz Fazz!' or `Rowrbazzle!'     The club layout
was said to model the (mythical) New England    counties of Rowrfolk
and Bassex (Rowrbazzle mingled with
(Norfolk/Suffolk/Middlesex/Essex)."

   :bazaar: n.,adj.  In 1997, after contemplating the success of
{Linux} for three years, the Jargon File's own editor ESR wrote    an
analytical paper on hacker culture and development models titled    The
Cathedral and the Bazaar
(http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/).  The title
metaphor caught on (see also    {cathedral}), and the style of
development typical in the Linux    community is now often referred to
as the bazaar mode.  Its    characteristics include releasing code
early and often, and actively    seeking the largest possible pool of
peer reviewers.

   :bboard: /bee'bord/ n.  [contraction of `bulletin board']    1. Any
electronic bulletin board; esp. used of {BBS} systems    running on
personal micros, less frequently of a Usenet    {newsgroup} (in fact,
use of this term for a newsgroup generally    marks one either as a
{newbie} fresh in from the BBS world or as    a real old-timer
predating Usenet).  2. At CMU and other colleges    with similar
facilities, refers to campus-wide electronic bulletin    boards.  3.
The term `physical bboard' is sometimes used to refer    to an
old-fashioned, non-electronic cork-and-thumbtack memo board.     At
CMU, it refers to a particular one outside the CS Lounge.

   In either of senses 1 or 2, the term is usually prefixed by the
name of the intended board (`the Moonlight Casino bboard' or    `market
bboard'); however, if the context is clear, the better-read    bboards
may be referred to by name alone, as in (at CMU) "Don't    post
for-sale ads on general".

   :BBS: /B-B-S/ n.  [common; abbreviation, `Bulletin Board    System']
An electronic bulletin board system; that is, a message    database
where people can log in and leave broadcast messages for    others
grouped (typically) into {topic group}s.  The term was    especially
applied tto the thousands of local BBS systems that    operated during
the pre-Internet microcomputer era of roughly 1980    to 1995.,
typically run by amateurs for fun out of their homes on    MS-DOS boxes
with a single modem line each.  Fans of Usenet and    Internet or the
big commercial timesharing bboards such as    CompuServe and GEnie
tended to consider local BBSes the low-rent    district of the hacker
culture, but they served a valuable function    by knitting together
lots of hackers and users in the    personal-micro world who would
otherwise have been unable to    exchange code at all.  Post-Internet,
BBSs are likely to be local    newsgroups on an ISP; efficiency has
increased but a certain flavor    has been lost.  See also {bboard}.

   :BCPL: // n.  [abbreviation, `Basic Combined Programming
Language') A programming language developed by Martin Richards in
Cambridge in 1967. It is remarkable for its rich syntax, small size
of compiler (it can be run in 16k) and extreme portability. It
reached break-even point at a very early stage, and was the    language
in which the original {hello world} program was    written. It has been
ported to so many different systems that its    creator confesses to
having lost count. It has only one data type    (a machine word) which
can be used as an integer, a character, a    floating point number, a
pointer, or almost anything else,    depending on context.  BCPL was a
precursor of C, which inherited    some of its features.

   :beam: vt.  [from Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"]     1.
To transfer {softcopy} of a file electronically; most often    in
combining forms such as `beam me a copy' or `beam that over    to his
site'.  2. Palm Pilot users very commonly use this term for    the act
of exchanging bits via the infrared links on their machines.
Compare {blast}, {snarf}, {BLT}.

   :beanie key: n.  [Mac users] See {command key}.

   :beep: n.,v.  Syn. {feep}.  This term is techspeak under    MS-DOS
and OS/2, and seems to be generally preferred among micro    hobbyists.

   :Befunge: n.  A worthy companion to {INTERCAL}; a    computer
language family which escapes the quotidian limitation of linear
control flow and embraces program counters flying through multiple
dimensions with exotic topologies. For details, see the Befunge    home
page at `http://www.cats-eye.com/cet/soft/lang/befunge/'.

   :beige toaster: n.  A Macintosh. See {toaster}; compare
{Macintrash}, {maggotbox}.

   :bells and whistles: n.  [common] Features added to a    program or
system to make it more {flavorful} from a hacker's    point of view,
without necessarily adding to its utility for its    primary function.
Distinguished from {chrome}, which is    intended to attract users.
"Now that we've got the basic program    working, let's go back and add
some bells and whistles."  No one    seems to know what distinguishes a
bell from a whistle.  The    recognized emphatic form is "bells,
whistles, and gongs".

   It used to be thought that this term derived from the toyboxes on
theater organs.  However, the "and gongs" strongly suggests a
different origin, at sea.  Before powered horns, ships routinely
used bells, whistles, and gongs to signal each other over longer
distances than voice can carry.

   :bells whistles and gongs: n.  A standard elaborated form of
{bells and whistles}; typically said with a pronounced and    ironic
accent on the `gongs'.

   :benchmark: [techspeak] n.  An inaccurate measure of computer
performance.  "In the computer industry, there are three kinds of
lies: lies, damn lies, and benchmarks."  Well-known ones include
Whetstone, Dhrystone, Rhealstone (see {h}), the Gabriel LISP
benchmarks (see {gabriel}), the SPECmark suite, and LINPACK.     See
also {machoflops}, {MIPS}, {smoke and mirrors}.

   :Berkeley Quality Software: adj.  (often abbreviated `BQS')    Term
used in a pejorative sense to refer to software that was    apparently
created by rather spaced-out hackers late at night to    solve some
unique problem.  It usually has nonexistent, incomplete,    or
incorrect documentation, has been tested on at least two    examples,
and core dumps when anyone else attempts to use it.  This    term was
frequently applied to early versions of the `dbx(1)'    debugger.  See
also {Berzerkeley}.

   Note to British and Commonwealth readers: that's /berk'lee/, not
/bark'lee/ as in British Received Pronunciation.

   :berklix: /berk'liks/ n.,adj.  [contraction of `Berkeley    Unix']
See {BSD}.  Not used at Berkeley itself.  May be more    common among
{suit}s attempting to sound like cognoscenti than    among hackers, who
usually just say `BSD'.

   :Berzerkeley: /b*r-zer'klee/ n.  [from `berserk', via    the name of
a now-deceased record label; poss. originated by famed    columnist
Herb Caen] Humorous distortion of `Berkeley' used esp.     to refer to
the practices or products of the {BSD} Unix hackers.     See {software
bloat}, {Missed'em-five}, {Berkeley Quality    Software}.

   Mainstream use of this term in reference to the cultural and
political peculiarities of UC Berkeley as a whole has been reported
from as far back as the 1960s.

   :beta: /bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n.     1. Mostly
working, but still under test; usu. used with `in': `in    beta'.  In
the {Real World}, systems (hardware or software)    software often go
through two stages of release testing: Alpha    (in-house) and Beta
(out-house?).  Beta releases are generally made    to a group of lucky
(or unlucky) trusted customers.     2. Anything that is new and
experimental.  "His girlfriend is in    beta" means that he is still
testing for compatibility and    reserving judgment.  3. Flaky;
dubious; suspect (since beta    software is notoriously buggy).

   Historical note: More formally, to beta-test is to test a
pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software
by making it available to selected (or self-selected) customers and
users.  This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product
cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout
the industry.  `Alpha Test' was the unit, module, or component test
phase; `Beta Test' was initial system test.  These themselves came
from earlier A- and B-tests for hardware.  The A-test was a
feasibility and manufacturability evaluation done before any
commitment to design and development.  The B-test was a
demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified.
The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed
on early samples of the production design, and the D test was the C
test repeated after the model had been in production a while.

   :BFI: /B-F-I/ n.  See {brute force and ignorance}.  Also
encountered in the variants `BFMI', `brute force and    _massive_
ignorance' and `BFBI' `brute force and bloody    ignorance'.

   :bible: n.  1. One of a small number of fundamental source    books
such as {Knuth} and {K&R}.  2. The most detailed and    authoritative
reference for a particular language, operating    system, or other
complex software system.

   :BiCapitalization: n.  The act said to have been performed on
trademarks (such as {PostScript}, NeXT, {NeWS}, VisiCalc,
FrameMaker, TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the
ruck of common coinage by nonstandard capitalization.  Too many
{marketroid} types think this sort of thing is really cute, even    the
2,317th time they do it.  Compare {studlycaps}.

   :B1FF: /bif/ [Usenet] (alt. `BIFF') n.  The most famous    {pseudo},
and the prototypical {newbie}.  Articles from B1FF    feature all
uppercase letters sprinkled liberally with bangs,    typos, `cute'
misspellings (EVRY BUDY LUVS GOOD OLD BIFF CUZ    HE"S A K00L DOOD AN
HE RITES REEL AWESUM THINGZ IN CAPITULL LETTRS    LIKE THIS!!!), use
(and often misuse) of fragments of {talk mode}    abbreviations, a long
{sig block} (sometimes even a {doubled    sig}), and unbounded naivete.
B1FF posts articles using his    elder brother's VIC-20.  B1FF's
location is a mystery, as his    articles appear to come from a variety
of sites.  However,    {BITNET} seems to be the most frequent origin.
The theory that    B1FF is a denizen of BITNET is supported by B1FF's
(unfortunately    invalid) electronic mail address: B1FF@BIT.NET.

   [1993: Now It Can Be Told!  My spies inform me that B1FF was
originally created by Joe Talmadge <jat@cup.hp.com>, also the    author
of the infamous and much-plagiarized "Flamer's Bible".     The BIFF
filter he wrote was later passed to Richard Sexton, who    posted
BIFFisms much more widely.  Versions have since been posted    for the
amusement of the net at large. --ESR]

   :BI: //  Common written abbreviation for {Breidbart    Index}.

   :biff: /bif/ vt.  To notify someone of incoming mail.  From    the
BSD utility `biff(1)', which was in turn named after a    friendly dog
who used to chase frisbees in the halls at    UCB while 4.2BSD was in
development.  There was a legend that it    had a habit of barking
whenever the mailman came, but the author of    `biff' says this is not
true.  No relation to {B1FF}.

   :Big Gray Wall: n.  What faces a {VMS} user searching for
documentation.  A full VMS kit comes on a pallet, the documentation
taking up around 15 feet of shelf space before the addition of
layered products such as compilers, databases, multivendor
networking, and programming tools.  Recent (since VMS version 5)
documentation comes with gray binders; under VMS version 4 the
binders were orange (`big orange wall'), and under version 3 they
were blue.  See {VMS}.  Often contracted to `Gray Wall'.

   :big iron: n.  [common] Large, expensive, ultra-fast    computers.
Used generally of {number-crunching} supercomputers    such as Crays,
but can include more conventional big commercial    IBMish mainframes.
Term of approval; compare {heavy metal},    oppose {dinosaur}.

   :Big Red Switch: n.  [IBM] The power switch on a computer,    esp.
the `Emergency Pull' switch on an IBM {mainframe} or the    power
switch on an IBM PC where it really is large and red.  "This    !@%$%
{bitty box} is hung again; time to hit the Big Red    Switch."  Sources
at IBM report that, in tune with the company's    passion for {TLA}s,
this is often abbreviated as `BRS' (this    has also become established
on FidoNet and in the PC {clone}    world).  It is alleged that the
emergency pull switch on an IBM    360/91 actually fired a
non-conducting bolt into the main power    feed; the BRSes on more
recent mainframes physically drop a block    into place so that they
can't be pushed back in.  People get fired    for pulling them,
especially inappropriately (see also    {molly-guard}).  Compare {power
cycle}, {three-finger    salute}, {120 reset}; see also {scram switch}.

   :Big Room: n.  (Also `Big Blue Room') The extremely    large room
with the blue ceiling and intensely bright light (during    the day) or
black ceiling with lots of tiny night-lights (during    the night)
found outside all computer installations.  "He can't    come to the
phone right now, he's somewhere out in the Big Room."

   :big win: n.  1. [common] Major success.  2. [MIT]    Serendipity.
"Yes, those two physicists discovered    high-temperature
superconductivity in a batch of ceramic that had    been prepared
incorrectly according to their experimental schedule.     Small
mistake; big win!" See {win big}.

   :big-endian: adj.  [common; From Swift's "Gulliver's    Travels" via
the famous paper "On Holy Wars and a Plea for    Peace" by Danny Cohen,
USC/ISI IEN 137, dated April 1, 1980]    1. Describes a computer
architecture in which, within a given    multi-byte numeric
representation, the most significant byte has    the lowest address
(the word is stored `big-end-first').  Most    processors, including
the IBM 370 family, the {PDP-10}, the    Motorola microprocessor
families, and most of the various RISC    designs are big-endian.
Big-endian byte order is also sometimes    called `network order'. See
{little-endian},    {middle-endian}, {NUXI problem}, {swab}.  2. An
{{Internet address}} the wrong way round.  Most of the world    follows
the Internet standard and writes email addresses starting    with the
name of the computer and ending up with the name of the    country.  In
the U.K. the Joint Networking Team had decided to do    it the other
way round before the Internet domain standard was    established.  Most
gateway sites have {ad-hockery} in their    mailers to handle this, but
can still be confused.  In particular,    the address
me@uk.ac.bris.pys.as could be interpreted in    JANET's big-endian way
as one in the U.K. (domain uk) or in the    standard little-endian way
as one in the domain as (American    Samoa) on the opposite side of the
world.

   :bignum: /big'nuhm/ n.  [common; orig. from MIT MacLISP]    1.
[techspeak] A multiple-precision computer representation for    very
large integers.  2. More generally, any very large number.     "Have
you ever looked at the United States Budget?  There's    bignums for
you!"  3. [Stanford] In backgammon, large numbers on    the dice
especially a roll of double fives or double sixes (compare    {moby},
sense 4).  See also {El Camino Bignum}.

   Sense 1 may require some explanation.  Most computer languages
provide a kind of data called `integer', but such computer    integers
are usually very limited in size; usually they must be    smaller than
2^(31) (2,147,483,648) or (on a    {bitty box}) 2^(15) (32,768).  If
you want to work    with numbers larger than that, you have to use
floating-point    numbers, which are usually accurate to only six or
seven decimal    places.  Computer languages that provide bignums can
perform exact    calculations on very large numbers, such as 1000! (the
factorial    of 1000, which is 1000 times 999 times 998 times ... times
2    times 1).  For example, this value for 1000!  was computed by the
 MacLISP system using bignums:

     40238726007709377354370243392300398571937486421071
     46325437999104299385123986290205920442084869694048
     00479988610197196058631666872994808558901323829669
     94459099742450408707375991882362772718873251977950
     59509952761208749754624970436014182780946464962910
     56393887437886487337119181045825783647849977012476
     63288983595573543251318532395846307555740911426241
     74743493475534286465766116677973966688202912073791
     43853719588249808126867838374559731746136085379534
     52422158659320192809087829730843139284440328123155
     86110369768013573042161687476096758713483120254785
     89320767169132448426236131412508780208000261683151
     02734182797770478463586817016436502415369139828126
     48102130927612448963599287051149649754199093422215
     66832572080821333186116811553615836546984046708975
     60290095053761647584772842188967964624494516076535
     34081989013854424879849599533191017233555566021394
     50399736280750137837615307127761926849034352625200
     01588853514733161170210396817592151090778801939317
     81141945452572238655414610628921879602238389714760
     88506276862967146674697562911234082439208160153780
     88989396451826324367161676217916890977991190375403
     12746222899880051954444142820121873617459926429565
     81746628302955570299024324153181617210465832036786
     90611726015878352075151628422554026517048330422614
     39742869330616908979684825901254583271682264580665
     26769958652682272807075781391858178889652208164348
     34482599326604336766017699961283186078838615027946
     59551311565520360939881806121385586003014356945272
     24206344631797460594682573103790084024432438465657
     24501440282188525247093519062092902313649327349756
     55139587205596542287497740114133469627154228458623
     77387538230483865688976461927383814900140767310446
     64025989949022222176590433990188601856652648506179
     97023561938970178600408118897299183110211712298459
     01641921068884387121855646124960798722908519296819
     37238864261483965738229112312502418664935314397013
     74285319266498753372189406942814341185201580141233
     44828015051399694290153483077644569099073152433278
     28826986460278986432113908350621709500259738986355
     42771967428222487575867657523442202075736305694988
     25087968928162753848863396909959826280956121450994
     87170124451646126037902930912088908694202851064018
     21543994571568059418727489980942547421735824010636
     77404595741785160829230135358081840096996372524230
     56085590370062427124341690900415369010593398383577
     79394109700277534720000000000000000000000000000000
     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
     000000000000000000.

   :bigot: n.  [common] A person who is religiously attached to a
particular computer, language, operating system, editor, or other
tool (see {religious issues}).  Usually found with a specifier;
thus, `cray bigot', `ITS bigot', `APL bigot', `VMS bigot',    `Berkeley
bigot'.  Real bigots can be distinguished from mere    partisans or
zealots by the fact that they refuse to learn    alternatives even when
the march of time and/or technology is    threatening to obsolete the
favored tool.  It is truly said "You    can tell a bigot, but you can't
tell him much."  Compare    {weenie}, {Amiga Persecution Complex}.

   :bit: n.  [from the mainstream meaning and `Binary digIT']    1.
[techspeak] The unit of information; the amount of information
obtained by asking a yes-or-no question for which the two outcomes
are equally probable.  2. [techspeak] A computational quantity that
can take on one of two values, such as true and false or 0 and 1.
3. A mental flag: a reminder that something should be done
eventually.  "I have a bit set for you."  (I haven't seen you for    a
while, and I'm supposed to tell or ask you something.)  4. More
generally, a (possibly incorrect) mental state of belief.  "I have    a
bit set that says that you were the last guy to hack on EMACS."
(Meaning "I think you were the last guy to hack on EMACS, and what    I
am about to say is predicated on this, so please stop me if this
isn't true.")

   "I just need one bit from you" is a polite way of indicating that
you intend only a short interruption for a question that can
presumably be answered yes or no.

   A bit is said to be `set' if its value is true or 1, and    `reset'
or `clear' if its value is false or 0.  One speaks of    setting and
clearing bits.  To {toggle} or `invert' a bit is    to change it,
either from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0.  See also    {flag}, {trit}, {mode
bit}.

   The term `bit' first appeared in print in the computer-science
sense in 1949, and seems to have been coined by early computer
scientist John Tukey.  Tukey records that it evolved over a lunch
table as a handier alternative to `bigit' or `binit'.

   :bit bang: n.  Transmission of data on a serial line, when
accomplished by rapidly tweaking a single output bit, in software,
at the appropriate times.  The technique is a simple loop with    eight
OUT and SHIFT instruction pairs for each byte.  Input is more
interesting.  And full duplex (doing input and output at the same
time) is one way to separate the real hackers from the    {wannabee}s.

   Bit bang was used on certain early models of Prime computers,
presumably when UARTs were too expensive, and on archaic Z80 micros
with a Zilog PIO but no SIO.  In an interesting instance of the
{cycle of reincarnation}, this technique returned to use in the
early 1990s on some RISC architectures because it consumes such    an
infinitesimal part of the processor that it actually makes sense    not
to have a UART.  Compare {cycle of reincarnation}.

   :bit bashing: n.  (alt. `bit diddling' or {bit    twiddling}) Term
used to describe any of several kinds of low-level    programming
characterized by manipulation of {bit}, {flag},    {nybble}, and other
smaller-than-character-sized pieces of data;    these include low-level
device control, encryption algorithms,    checksum and error-correcting
codes, hash functions, some flavors    of graphics programming (see
{bitblt}), and assembler/compiler    code generation.  May connote
either tedium or a real technical    challenge (more usually the
former).  "The command decoding for    the new tape driver looks pretty
solid but the bit-bashing for the    control registers still has bugs."
See also {bit bang},    {mode bit}.

   :bit bucket: n.  [very common] 1. The universal data sink
(originally, the mythical receptacle used to catch bits when they
fall off the end of a register during a shift instruction).
Discarded, lost, or destroyed data is said to have `gone to the    bit
bucket'.  On {{Unix}}, often used for {/dev/null}.     Sometimes
amplified as `the Great Bit Bucket in the Sky'.  2. The    place where
all lost mail and news messages eventually go.  The    selection is
performed according to {Finagle's Law}; important    mail is much more
likely to end up in the bit bucket than junk    mail, which has an
almost 100% probability of getting delivered.     Routing to the bit
bucket is automatically performed by    mail-transfer agents, news
systems, and the lower layers of the    network.  3. The ideal location
for all unwanted mail responses:    "Flames about this article to the
bit bucket."  Such a request is    guaranteed to overflow one's mailbox
with flames.  4. Excuse for    all mail that has not been sent.  "I
mailed you those figures last    week; they must have landed in the bit
bucket."  Compare {black    hole}.

   This term is used purely in jest.  It is based on the fanciful
notion that bits are objects that are not destroyed but only
misplaced.  This appears to have been a mutation of an earlier term
`bit box', about which the same legend was current; old-time    hackers
also report that trainees used to be told that when the CPU    stored
bits into memory it was actually pulling them `out of the    bit box'.
See also {chad box}.

   Another variant of this legend has it that, as a consequence of the
 `parity preservation law', the number of 1 bits that go to the bit
bucket must equal the number of 0 bits.  Any imbalance results in
bits filling up the bit bucket.  A qualified computer technician    can
empty a full bit bucket as part of scheduled maintenance.

   :bit decay: n.  See {bit rot}.  People with a physics    background
tend to prefer this variant for the analogy with    particle decay.
See also {computron}, {quantum    bogodynamics}.

   :bit rot: n.  [common] Also {bit decay}.  Hypothetical    disease
the existence of which has been deduced from the    observation that
unused programs or features will often stop    working after sufficient
time has passed, even if `nothing has    changed'.  The theory explains
that bits decay as if they were    radioactive.  As time passes, the
contents of a file or the code in    a program will become increasingly
garbled.

   There actually are physical processes that produce such effects
(alpha particles generated by trace radionuclides in ceramic chip
packages, for example, can 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    for
them).  The notion long favored among 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: n.  [very common] 1. (pejorative) An    exercise in
tuning (see {tune}) in which incredible amounts of    time and effort
go to produce little noticeable improvement, often    with the result
that the code becomes incomprehensible.  2. Aimless    small
modification to a program, esp. for some pointless 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: 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    device (see {EOU}),
so the only way to 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    pressed.  In order to avoid
making the thing even more of a kluge    than it already was, the
design had to group characters that shared    the same basic bit
pattern on one key.

   Looking at the ASCII chart, we find:

     high  low bits
     bits  0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001
      010        !    "    #    $    %    &    '    (    )
      011   0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9

This is why the characters !"#$%&'() appear where they do on a
Teletype (thankfully, they didn't use shift-0 for space).  This 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 electronic terminals became popular, in the early 1970s, 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 look like an office typewriter.  These 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,
there was little pressure from the pioneering 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 were expected to use    the
equipment.  The `typewriter-paired' standard became universal,
`bit-paired' hardware was quickly junked or relegated to dusty
corners, and both terms passed into disuse.

   However, in countries without a long history of touch typing, the
argument against the bit-paired keyboard layout was weak or
nonexistent. As a result, the standard Japanese keyboard, used on
PC's, Unix boxen etc. still has all of the !"#$%&'() characters
above the numbers in the ASR-33 layout.

   :bitblt: /bit'blit/ n.  [from {BLT}, q.v.]     1. [common] 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 (the
requirement to do the {Right Thing} in    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: /bit'net/ n., obs.  [acronym: Because It's Time    NETwork]
Everybody's least favorite piece of the network (see    {the network})
- until AOL happened.  The BITNET hosts were a    collection of IBM
dinosaurs and VAXen (the latter with lobotomized    comm hardware) that
communicate using 80-character {{EBCDIC}} card    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 was also    notorious as the
apparent home of {B1FF}.  By 1995 it had, much    to everyone's relief,
been obsolesced and absorbed into the    Internet. Unfortunately,
around this time we also got AOL.

   :bits: pl.n.  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 have only a
photocopy of the Jargon File; does anyone    know where I can get the
bits?".  See {softcopy}, {source of    all good bits} See also {bit}.

   :bitty box: /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 on or for it.     Especially used of
small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only personal    machines such as
the Atari 800, Osborne, 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}.

   :bixen: pl.n.  Users of BIX (the BIX Information eXchange,
formerly the Byte Information eXchange). Parallels other plurals
like vixen, {VAXen}, oxen.

   :bixie: /bik'see/ n.  Variant {emoticon}s used on BIX    (the Byte
Information eXchange).  The most common ({smiley})    bixie is <@_@>,
representing two cartoon eyes and a mouth.  These    were originally
invented in an SF fanzine called APA-L and imported    to BIX by one of
the earliest users.

   :black art: n.  [common] 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 beginnings) considered
classic examples of black 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 technologies
during the last twenty    years has made both the term `black art' and
what it describes    less common than formerly.  See also {voodoo
programming}.

   :black hole: n.,vt.  [common] What data (a piece of email    or
netnews, or a stream of TCP/IP packets) has fallen into if it
disappears mysteriously between its origin and destination sites
(that is, without returning a {bounce message}).  "I think    there's a
black hole at foovax!" conveys suspicion that 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.  Readily verbed as    `blackhole': "That router
is blackholing IDP packets."  Compare    {bit bucket}.

   :black magic: n.  [common] 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).

   :Black Screen of Death: n.  [prob. related to the    Floating Head
of Death in a famous "Far Side" cartoon.] A    failure mode of
{Microsloth Windows}.  On an attempt to launch a    DOS box, a
networked Windows system not uncommonly blanks the    screen and locks
up the PC so hard that it requires a cold    {boot} to recover. This
unhappy phenomenon is known as The Black    Screen of Death.  See also
{Blue Screen of Death}, which has    become rather more common.

   :Black Thursday: n.  February 8th, 1996 - the day of the    signing
into law of the {CDA}, so called by analogy with the    catastrophic
"Black Friday" in 1929 that began the Great    Depression.

   :blammo: v.  [Oxford Brookes University and alumni, UK] To
forcibly remove someone from any interactive system, especially
talker systems. The operators, who may remain hidden, may `blammo'    a
user who is misbehaving.  Very similar to MIT {gun}; in fact,    the
`blammo-gun' is a notional device used to `blammo' someone.     While
in actual fact the only incarnation of the blammo-gun is the    command
used to forcibly eject a user, operators speak of different    levels
of blammo-gun fire; e.g., a blammo-gun to `stun' will    temporarily
remove someone, but a blammo-gun set to `maim' will    stop someone
coming back on for a while.

   :blargh: /blarg/ n.  [MIT; now common] The opposite of    {ping},
sense 5; an exclamation indicating that one has absorbed    or is
emitting a quantum of unhappiness.  Less common than    {ping}.

   :blast: 1. v.,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 to kill all processes.  Blast them (y/n)?'    would appear in
the command window upon logout.

   :blat: n.  1. Syn. {blast}, sense 1.  2. See {thud}.

   :bletch: /blech/ interj.  [very common; from    Yiddish/German
`brechen', to vomit, poss.  via comic-strip    exclamation `blech']
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},
{bagbiting}, {bogus}, and {random}.  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
{random}, which    have richer and wider shades of meaning than any of
the above.

   :blink: vi.,n.  To use a navigator or off-line message reader    to
minimize time spent on-line to a commercial network service.     As of
late 1994, this term was said to be in wide use in the UK,    but is
rare or unknown in the US.

   :blinkenlights: /blink'*n-li:tz/ n.  [common] Front-panel
diagnostic lights on a computer, esp. a {dinosaur}.  Now that
dinosaurs are rare, this term usually refers to status lights on a
modem, network hub, or the like.

   This term 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-speaking world.  One
version ran in its entirety as follows:

                    ACHTUNG!  ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!

     Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.
     Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken
     mit spitzensparken.  Ist nicht fuer gewerken 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
University and had already gone international by the 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-is-fair-play, German hackers
have developed 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.
     Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the 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
     anderswhere!  Also: please keep still and only watchen astaunished
     the blinkenlights.

See also {geef}.

   Old-time hackers sometimes get nostalgic for blinkenlights because
they were so much more fun to look at than a blank panel.  Sadly,
very few computers still have them (the three LEDs on a PC keyboard
certainly don't count). The obvious reasons (cost of wiring, cost    of
front-panel cutouts, almost nobody needs or wants to interpret
machine-register states on the fly anymore) are only part of the
story.  Another part of it is that radio-frequency leakage from the
lamp wiring was beginning to be a problem as far back as transistor
machines.  But the most fundamental fact is that there are very few
signals slow enough to blink an LED these days!  With slow CPUs,    you
could watch the bus register or instruction counter tick, but    at
33/66/150MHz it's all a blur.

   Finally, a version updated for the Internet has been seen on
news.admin.net-abuse.email:

                    ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!

     Das Internet is nicht fuer gefingerclicken und giffengrabben. Ist
     easy droppenpacket der routers und overloaden der backbone mit der
     spammen und der me-tooen.  Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das
     dumpkopfen. Das mausklicken sichtseeren keepen das bandwit-spewin
     hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das cursorblinken.

   :blit: /blit/ vt.  1. [common] 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 copies
the good parts up into high 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. [historical, rare] Sometimes
all-capitalized    as `BLIT': an early experimental bit-mapped terminal
designed by    Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as the AT&T
5620.  (The    folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent Terminal' is
incorrect.     Its creators liked to claim that "Blit" stood for the
Bacon,    Lettuce, and Interactive Tomato.)

   :blitter: /blit'r/ n.  [common] 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 since 1990 the trend    has been
away from them (however, see {cycle of reincarnation}).     Syn.
{raster blaster}.

   :blivet: /bliv'*t/ n.  [allegedly from a World War II    military
term meaning "ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"]    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    hacked over
by so many incompetent 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.  6. In the subjargon of computer security
specialists, a denial-of-service attack performed by hogging    limited
resources that have no access controls (for example, shared    spool
space on a multi-user system).

   This term has other meanings in other technical cultures; among
experimental physicists and 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
appears to depict a three-dimensional object until one realizes    that
the parts fit together in an impossible way.

   :bloatware: n.  [common] Software that provides minimal
functionality while requiring a disproportionate amount of    diskspace
and memory.  Especially used for application and OS upgrades.     This
term is very common in the Windows/NT world.  So is its    cause.

   :BLOB:  1. n. [acronym: Binary Large OBject] Used by database
people to refer to any random large block of bits that needs to be
stored in a database, such as a picture or sound file.  The
essential point about a BLOB is that it's an object that cannot be
interpreted within the database itself.  2. v. To {mailbomb}    someone
by sending a BLOB to him/her; esp. used as a mild threat.     "If that
program crashes again, I'm going to BLOB the core dump to    you."

   :block: v.  [common; 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
on Phil's arrival."

   :block transfer computations: n.  [from the television series
"Dr. Who"] 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 algorithm in theory, but isn't.     (The
Z80's LDIR instruction, "Computed Block Transfer with    increment",
may also be relevant.)

   :Bloggs Family: n.  An imaginary family consisting of    Fred and
Mary Bloggs and their children.  Used as a standard    example in
knowledge representation to show the difference between    extensional
and intensional objects.  For example, every occurrence    of "Fred
Bloggs" is the same unique person, whereas occurrences    of "person"
may refer to different people.  Members of the Bloggs    family have
been known to pop up in bizarre places such as the old    {DEC}
Telephone Directory.  Compare {Dr. Fred Mbogo};    {J. Random Hacker};
{Fred Foobar}.

   :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 arose because the    programming process
for the Programmable Read-Only Memories (PROMs)    that preceded
present-day Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memories    (EPROMs)
involved intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on    the chip.
The usage lives on (it's too vivid and expressive to    discard) even
though the write process on EPROMs is nondestructive.

   :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.  [prob. from mining and tunneling jargon] Of
software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious as {crash and
burn}.  See {blow past}, {blow up}, {die horribly}.

   :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-paged
versions of ITS, WAITS, 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 Than
zero'.

   :Blue Book: n.  1. Informal name for one of the four 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);
the other three official guides are known as the    {Green Book}, the
{Red Book}, and the {White Book} (sense    2).  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 (this book also has green
and red siblings).     3. Any of the 1988 standards issued by the
CCITT's ninth plenary    assembly.  These include, among other things,
the X.400 email spec    and the Group 1 through 4 fax standards.  See
also {{book    titles}}.

   :blue box:  n. 1. obs. Once upon a time, before    all-digital
switches made it possible for the phone companies to    move them out
of band, one could actually hear the switching tones    used to route
long-distance calls.  Early {phreaker}s built    devices called `blue
boxes' that could reproduce these tones,    which could be used to
commandeer portions of the phone network.     (This was not as hard as
it may sound; one early phreak acquired    the sobriquet `Captain
Crunch' after he proved that he could    generate switching tones with
a plastic whistle pulled out of a box    of Captain Crunch cereal!)
There were other colors of box with more    specialized phreaking uses;
red boxes, black boxes, silver boxes,    etc.  2. n. An {IBM} machine,
especially a large (non-PC)    one.

   :Blue Glue: n.  [IBM] 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 blue boxes together."
See {fear and 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
pen}s.  A    correspondent at U. Minn. reports that the CS department
there has    about 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: 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.  The term    `Blue Goo' can be
found in Dr. Seuss's "Fox In Socks" to    refer to a substance much
like bubblegum.  `Would you like to    chew blue goo, sir?'.  See
{{nanotechnology}}.

   :Blue Screen of Death: n.  [common] This term is closely    related
to the older {Black Screen of Death} but much more    common (many
non-hackers have picked it up).  Due to the extreme    fragility and
bugginess of Microsoft Windows (3.1/95/NT versions),    misbehaving
applications can crash the OS.  The Blue Screen of    Death, sometimes
decorated with hex error codes, is what you get    when this happens.
(Commonly abbreviated {BSOD}.)  This event    is sufficiently common to
have inspired the following haiku from    Alan Tuplin:

             Your system which soared
             So freely on gliding wings
             now hangs, frozen and blue

   The following entry from the    Salon Haiku Contest
(http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/chal/1998/02/10chal2.html), seems to
have predated popular use of the    term (and may indeed have inspired
it):

             Windows NT crashed.
             I am the Blue Screen of Death
             No one hears your screams.

   :blue wire: n.  [IBM] Patch wires added to circuit boards at    the
factory to correct design or fabrication problems.  These may    be
necessary if there hasn't been time to design and qualify    another
board version.  Compare {purple wire}, {red wire},    {yellow wire},
{pink wire}.

   :blurgle: /bler'gl/ n.  [UK] Spoken {metasyntactic    variable}, to
indicate some text that is obvious from context, or    which is already
known. If several words are to be replaced,    blurgle may well be
doubled or tripled. "To look for something in    several files use
`grep string blurgle blurgle'."  In each case,    "blurgle blurgle"
would be understood to be replaced by the file    you wished to search.
Compare {mumble}, sense 7.

   :BNF: /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, so that it    must usually
be learned by osmosis from other hackers.  Consider    this BNF for a
U.S. postal address:

      <postal-address> ::= <name-part> <street-address> <zip-part>

      <personal-part> ::= <name> | <initial> "."

      <name-part> ::= <personal-part> <last-name> [<jr-part>] <EOL>
                    | <personal-part> <name-part>

      <street-address> ::= [<apt>] <house-num> <street-name> <EOL>

      <zip-part> ::= <town-name> "," <state-code> <ZIP-code> <EOL>

This translates into English as: "A postal-address consists of a
name-part, followed by a street-address part, followed by a    zip-code
part.  A personal-part consists of either a first name or    an initial
followed by a dot.  A name-part consists of either: a    personal-part
followed by a last name followed by an optional    `jr-part' (Jr., Sr.,
or dynastic number) and end-of-line, or a    personal part followed by
a name part (this rule illustrates the    use of recursion in BNFs,
covering the case of people who use    multiple first and middle names
and/or initials).  A street address    consists of an optional
apartment specifier, followed by a street    number, followed by a
street name.  A zip-part consists of a    town-name, followed by a
comma, followed by a state code, followed    by a ZIP-code followed by
an end-of-line."  Note that many things    (such as the format of a
personal-part, apartment specifier, or    ZIP-code) are left
unspecified.  These are presumed to be obvious    from context or
detailed somewhere nearby.  See also {parse}.     2. Any of a number of
variants and extensions of BNF proper,    possibly containing some or
all of the {regexp} wildcards such    as `*' or `+'.  In fact the
example above isn't the pure    form invented for the Algol-60 report;
it uses `[]', which was    introduced a few years later in IBM's PL/I
definition but is now    universally recognized.  3. In
{{science-fiction fandom}}, a    `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
terribly.

   :boa: [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 time.  It is    rumored
within IBM that channel 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: n.  1. In-context synonym for {bboard}; sometimes    used
even for Usenet newsgroups (but see usage note under    {bboard}, sense
1).  2. An electronic circuit board.

   :boat anchor: n.  [common; from ham radio] 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 space.   3. Obsolete but still    working hardware, especially
when used of an old S100-bus hobbyist    system; originally a term of
annoyance, but became more and more    affectionate as the hardware
became more and more obsolete.

   :bob: n.  At Demon Internet, all tech support personal are    called
"Bob".  (Female support personnel have an option on    "Bobette").
This has nothing to do with Bob the divine    drilling-equipment
salesman of the {Church of the SubGenius}.     Nor is it acronymized
from "Brother Of {BOFH}", though all    parties agree it could have
been.  Rather, it was triggered by an    unusually large draft of new
tech-support people in 1995.  It was    observed that there would be
much duplication of names.  To ease    the confusion, it was decided
that all support techs would    henceforth be known as "Bob", and
identity badges were created    labelled "Bob 1" and "Bob 2".  (No, we
never got any further).

   The reason for "Bob" rather than anything else is due to a
{luser} calling and asking to speak to "Bob", despite the fact    that
no "Bob" was currently working for Tech Support.  Since we    all know
"the customer is always right", it was decided that    there had to be
at least one "Bob" on duty at all times, just in    case.

   This sillyness inexorably snowballed.  Shift leaders and managers
began to refer to their groups of "bobs".  Whole ranks of support
machines were set up (and still exist in the DNS as of 1999) as    bob1
through bobN. Then came alt.tech-support.recovery, and    it was filled
with Demon support personnel.  They    all referred to themselves, and
to others, as `bob', and after a while it    caught on.   There is now a
  Bob Code (http://bob.bob.bofh.org/~giolla/bobcode.html)
describing the Bob nature.

   :bodysurf code: n.  A program or segment of code written    quickly
in the heat of inspiration without the benefit of formal    design or
deep thought.  Like its namesake sport, the result is    too often a
wipeout that leaves the programmer eating sand.

   :BOF: /B-O-F/ or /bof/ n.  1. [common] Abbreviation    for the
phrase "Birds Of a Feather" (flocking together), an    informal
discussion group and/or bull session scheduled on a    conference
program.  It is not clear where or when this term    originated, but it
is now associated with the USENIX conferences    for Unix techies and
was already established there by 1984.  It was    used earlier than
that at DECUS conferences and is reported to have    been common at
SHARE meetings as far back as the early 1960s.     2. Acronym,
`Beginning of File'.

   :BOFH: // n.  [common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From    Hell.  A
system administrator with absolutely no tolerance for    {luser}s.
"You say you need more filespace?     <massive-global-delete> Seems to
me you have plenty left..."  Many    BOFHs (and others who would be
BOFHs if they could get away with    it) hang out in the newsgroup
alt.sysadmin.recovery,    although there has also been created a
top-level newsgroup    hierarchy (bofh.*) of their own.

   Several people have written stories about BOFHs. The set usually
considered canonical is by Simon Travaglia and may be found at the
Bastard Home Page,
`http://prime-mover.cc.waikato.ac.nz/Bastard.html'. BOFHs and    BOFH
wannabes hang out on {scary devil monastery} and wield    {LART}s.

   :bogo-sort: /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 the air,
picking them up at random, and then 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."  Esp.  appropriate for
algorithms with factorial or    super-exponential running time in the
average case and    probabilistically infinite worst-case running time.
Compare    {bogus}, {brute force}, {Lasherism}.

   A spectacular variant of bogo-sort has been proposed which has the
interesting property that, if the Many Worlds interpretation of
quantum mechanics is true, it can sort an arbitrarily large array    in
constant time.  (In the Many-Worlds model, the result of any    quantum
action is to split the universe-before into a sheaf of
universes-after, one for each possible way the state vector can
collapse; in any one of the universes-after the result appears random.)
  The steps are: 1. Permute the array randomly using a quantum
process, 2. If the array is not sorted, destroy the universe.
Implementation of step 2 is left as an exercise for the    reader.

   :bogometer: /boh-gom'-*t-er/ n.  A notional instrument    for
measuring {bogosity}.  Compare the {Troll-O-Meter} and    the
`wankometer' described in the {wank} entry; see also    {bogus}.

   :bogon: /boh'gon/ n.  [very common; by analogy with
proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the
similarity to Douglas Adams's `Vogons'; see the {Bibliography}    in
Appendix C and note that Arthur Dent actually mispronounces    `Vogons'
as `Bogons' at one point] 1. The elementary particle of    bogosity
(see {quantum bogodynamics}).  For instance, "the    Ethernet is
emitting bogons 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    packet sent on
a network.  4. By synecdoche, 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
overtaken by its derivative senses 1-4.  See also    {bogosity},
{bogus}; compare {psyton}, {fat electrons},    {magic smoke}.

   The bogon has become the type case for a whole bestiary of nonce
particle names, including the `clutron' or `cluon' (indivisible
particle of cluefulness, obviously the antiparticle of the bogon)
and the futon (elementary particle of {randomness}, or sometimes    of
lameness).  These are not so much live usages in themselves as
examples of a live meta-usage: that is, it has become a standard
joke or linguistic maneuver to "explain" otherwise mysterious
circumstances by inventing nonce particle names.  And these imply
nonce particle t