The New Hacker’s Dictionary version 4.2.2 (page 16)

segment; this is because it is actually a noun shorthand that has been verbed.
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Node:segmentation fault, Next:[11986]segv, Previous:[11987]segment, Up:[11988]= S =

segmentation fault n.

[Unix] 1. [techspeak] An error in which a running program attempts to access memory not allocated to it and [11989]core dumps with a segmentation violation error. This is often caused by improper usage of pointers in the source code, dereferencing a null pointer, or (in C) inadvertently using a non-pointer variable as a pointer. The classic example is:
int i;
scanf (“%d”, i); /* should have used &i */

2. To lose a train of thought or a line of reasoning. Also uttered as an exclamation at the point of befuddlement. _________________________________________________________________
Node:segv, Next:[11990]self-reference, Previous:[11991]segmentation fault, Up:[11992]= S =

segv /seg’vee/ n.,vi.

Yet another synonym for [11993]segmentation fault (actually, in this case, `segmentation violation’).
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Node:self-reference, Next:[11994]selvage, Previous:[11995]segv, Up:[11996]= S =

self-reference n.

See [11997]self-reference.
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Node:selvage, Next:[11998]semi, Previous:[11999]self-reference, Up:[12000]= S =

selvage /sel’v*j/ n.

[from sewing and weaving] See [12001]chad (sense 1). _________________________________________________________________
Node:semi, Next:[12002]semi-automated, Previous:[12003]selvage, Up:[12004]= S =

semi /se’mee/ or /se’mi:/

1. n. Abbreviation for `semicolon’, when speaking. “Commands to [12005]grind are prefixed by semi-semi-star” means that the prefix is ;;*, not 1/4 of a star. 2. A prefix used with words such as `immediately’ as a qualifier. “When is the system coming up?” “Semi-immediately.” (That is, maybe not for an hour.) “We did consider that possibility semi-seriously.” See also [12006]infinite. _________________________________________________________________
Node:semi-automated, Next:[12007]semi-infinite, Previous:[12008]semi, Up:[12009]= S =

semi-automated adj.

[US Geological Survey] A procedure that has yet to be completely automated; it still requires a smidge of clueful human interaction. Semi-automated programs usually come with written-out operator instructions that are worth their weight in gold – without them, very nasty things can happen. At USGS semi-automated programs are often referred to as “semi-automated weapons”. _________________________________________________________________
Node:semi-infinite, Next:[12010]senior bit, Previous:[12011]semi-automated, Up:[12012]= S =
semi-infinite n.

See [12013]infinite.
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Node:senior bit, Next:[12014]September that never ended, Previous:[12015]semi-infinite, Up:[12016]= S =
senior bit n.

[IBM; rare] Syn. [12017]meta bit. _________________________________________________________________
Node:September that never ended, Next:[12018]server, Previous:[12019]senior bit, Up:[12020]= S =
September that never ended

All time since September 1993. One of the seasonal rhythms of the Usenet used to be the annual September influx of clueless newbies who, lacking any sense of [12021]netiquette, made a general nuisance of themselves. This coincided with people starting college, getting their first internet accounts, and plunging in without bothering to learn what was acceptable. These relatively small drafts of newbies could be assimilated within a few months. But in September 1993, AOL users became able to post to Usenet, nearly overwhelming the old-timers’ capacity to acculturate them; to those who nostalgically recall the period before hand, this triggered an inexorable decline in the quality of discussions on newsgroups. See also [12022]AOL!. _________________________________________________________________
Node:server, Next:[12023]SEX, Previous:[12024]September that never ended, Up:[12025]= S =

server n.

A kind of [12026]daemon that performs a service for the requester and which often runs on a computer other than the one on which the server runs. A particularly common term on the Internet, which is rife with `web servers’, `name servers’, `domain servers’, `news servers’, `finger servers’, and the like.
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Node:SEX, Next:[12027]sex changer, Previous:[12028]server, Up:[12029]= S =

SEX /seks/

[Sun Users’ Group & elsewhere] n. 1. Software EXchange. A technique invented by the blue-green algae hundreds of millions of years ago to speed up their evolution, which had been terribly slow up until then. Today, SEX parties are popular among hackers and others (of course, these are no longer limited to exchanges of genetic software). In general, SEX parties are a [12030]Good Thing, but unprotected SEX can propagate a [12031]virus. See also [12032]pubic directory. 2. The rather Freudian mnemonic often used for Sign EXtend, a machine instruction found in the PDP-11 and many other architectures. The RCA 1802 chip used in the early Elf and SuperElf personal computers had a `SEt X register’ SEX instruction, but this seems to have had little folkloric impact. The Data General instruction set also had SEX.
[12033]DEC’s engineers nearly got a PDP-11 assembler that used the SEX mnemonic out the door at one time, but (for once) marketing wasn’t asleep and forced a change. That wasn’t the last time this happened, either. The author of “The Intel 8086 Primer”, who was one of the original designers of the 8086, noted that there was originally a SEX instruction on that processor, too. He says that Intel management got cold feet and decreed that it be changed, and thus the instruction was renamed CBW and CWD (depending on what was being extended). Amusingly, the Intel 8048 (the microcontroller used in IBM PC keyboards) is also missing straight SEX but has logical-or and logical-and instructions ORL and ANL.

The Motorola 6809, used in the Radio Shack Color Computer and in U.K.’s `Dragon 32′ personal computer, actually had an official SEX instruction; the 6502 in the Apple II with which it competed did not. British hackers thought this made perfect mythic sense; after all, it was commonly observed, you could (on some theoretical level) have sex with a dragon, but you can’t have sex with an apple. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sex changer, Next:[12034]shambolic link, Previous:[12035]SEX, Up:[12036]= S =

sex changer n.

Syn. [12037]gender mender.
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Node:shambolic link, Next:[12038]shar file, Previous:[12039]sex changer, Up:[12040]= S =

shambolic link /sham-bol’ik link/ n.
A Unix symbolic link, particularly when it confuses you, points to nothing at all, or results in your ending up in some completely unexpected part of the filesystem….
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Node:shar file, Next:[12041]sharchive, Previous:[12042]shambolic link, Up:[12043]= S =

shar file /shar’ fi:l/ n.

Syn. [12044]sharchive.
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Node:sharchive, Next:[12045]Share and enjoy!, Previous:[12046]shar file, Up:[12047]= S =

sharchive /shar’ki:v/ n.

[Unix and Usenet; from /bin/sh archive] A [12048]flattened representation of a set of one or more files, with the unique property that it can be unflattened (the original files restored) by feeding it through a standard Unix shell; thus, a sharchive can be distributed to anyone running Unix, and no special unpacking software is required. Sharchives are also intriguing in that they are typically created by shell scripts; the script that produces sharchives is thus a script which produces self-unpacking scripts, which may themselves contain scripts. (The downsides of sharchives are that they are an ideal venue for [12049]Trojan horse attacks and that, for recipients not running Unix, no simple un-sharchiving program is possible; sharchives can and do make use of arbitrarily-powerful shell features.) Sharchives are also commonly referred to as `shar files’ after the name of the most common program for generating them.
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Node:Share and enjoy!, Next:[12050]shareware, Previous:[12051]sharchive, Up:[12052]= S =
Share and enjoy! imp.

1. Commonly found at the end of software release announcements and [12053]README files, this phrase indicates allegiance to the hacker ethic of free information sharing (see [12054]hacker ethic, sense 1). 2. The motto of the complaints division of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of incompetent [12055]suits) in Douglas Adams’s “Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. The irony of using this as a cultural recognition signal appeals to hackers. _________________________________________________________________
Node:shareware, Next:[12056]sharing violation, Previous:[12057]Share and enjoy!, Up:[12058]= S =

shareware /sheir’weir/ n.

A kind of [12059]freeware (sense 1) for which the author requests some payment, usually in the accompanying documentation files or in an announcement made by the software itself. Such payment may or may not buy additional support or functionality. See also [12060]careware, [12061]charityware, [12062]crippleware, [12063]FRS, [12064]guiltware, [12065]postcardware, and [12066]-ware; compare [12067]payware. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sharing violation, Next:[12068]shebang, Previous:[12069]shareware, Up:[12070]= S =
sharing violation

[From a file error common to several [12071]OSs] A response to receiving information, typically of an excessively personal nature, that you were probably happier not knowing. “You know those little noises that Pat makes in bed..?” “Whoa! Sharing violation!” In contrast to the original file error, which indicated that you were not being given data that you did want.
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Node:shebang, Next:[12072]shelfware, Previous:[12073]sharing violation, Up:[12074]= S =

shebang /sh*-bang/ n.

The character sequence “#!” that frequently begins executable shell scripts under Unix. Probably derived from “shell bang” under the influence of American slang “the whole shebang” (everything, the works).
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Node:shelfware, Next:[12075]shell, Previous:[12076]shebang, Up:[12077]= S =

shelfware /shelf’weir/ n.

Software purchased on a whim (by an individual user) or in accordance with policy (by a corporation or government agency), but not actually required for any particular use. Therefore, it often ends up on some shelf.
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Node:shell, Next:[12078]shell out, Previous:[12079]shelfware, Up:[12080]= S =

shell [orig. [12081]Multics n.

techspeak, widely propagated via Unix] 1. [techspeak] The command interpreter used to pass commands to an operating system; so called because it is the part of the operating system that interfaces with the outside world. 2. More generally, any interface program that mediates access to a special resource or [12082]server for convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for this meaning, the usage is usually `a shell around’ whatever. This sort of program is also called a `wrapper’. 3. A skeleton program, created by hand or by another program (like, say, a parser generator), which provides the necessary [12083]incantations to set up some task and the control flow to drive it (the term [12084]driver is sometimes used synonymously). The user is meant to fill in whatever code is needed to get real work done. This usage is common in the AI and Microsoft Windows worlds, and confuses Unix hackers.

Historical note: Apparently, the original Multics shell (sense 1) was so called because it was a shell (sense 3); it ran user programs not by starting up separate processes, but by dynamically linking the programs into its own code, calling them as subroutines, and then dynamically de-linking them on return. The VMS command interpreter still does something very like this.
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Node:shell out, Next:[12085]shift left (or right) logical, Previous:[12086]shell, Up:[12087]= S =
shell out vi.

[Unix] To [12088]spawn an interactive subshell from within a program (e.g., a mailer or editor). “Bang foo runs foo in a subshell, while bang alone shells out.”
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Node:shift left (or right) logical, Next:[12089]shim, Previous:[12090]shell out, Up:[12091]= S =
shift left (or right) logical

[from any of various machines’ instruction sets] 1. vi. To move oneself to the left (right). To move out of the way. 2. imper. “Get out of that (my) seat! You can shift to that empty one to the left (right).” Often used without the `logical’, or as `left shift’ instead of `shift left’. Sometimes heard as LSH /lish/, from the [12092]PDP-10 instruction set. See [12093]Programmer’s Cheer. _________________________________________________________________
Node:shim, Next:[12094]shitogram, Previous:[12095]shift left (or right) logical, Up:[12096]= S =

shim n.

A small piece of data inserted in order to achieve a desired memory alignment or other addressing property. For example, the PDP-11 Unix linker, in split I&D (instructions and data) mode, inserts a two-byte shim at location 0 in data space so that no data object will have an address of 0 (and be confused with the C null pointer). See also [12097]loose bytes.
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Node:shitogram, Next:[12098]short card, Previous:[12099]shim, Up:[12100]= S =

shitogram /shit’oh-gram/ n.

A really nasty piece of email. Compare [12101]nastygram, [12102]flame. _________________________________________________________________
Node:short card, Next:[12103]shotgun debugging, Previous:[12104]shitogram, Up:[12105]= S =
short card n.

A half-length IBM XT expansion card or adapter that will fit in one of the two short slots located towards the right rear of a standard chassis (tucked behind the floppy disk drives). See also [12106]tall card.
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Node:shotgun debugging, Next:[12107]shovelware, Previous:[12108]short card, Up:[12109]= S =

shotgun debugging n.

The software equivalent of [12110]Easter egging; the making of relatively undirected changes to software in the hope that a bug will be perturbed out of existence. This almost never works, and usually introduces more bugs.
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Node:shovelware, Next:[12111]showstopper, Previous:[12112]shotgun debugging, Up:[12113]= S =

shovelware /shuh’v*l-weir`/ n.

1. Extra software dumped onto a CD-ROM or tape to fill up the remaining space on the medium after the software distribution it’s intended to carry, but not integrated with the distribution. 2. A slipshod compilation of software dumped onto a CD-ROM without much care for organization or even usability. _________________________________________________________________
Node:showstopper, Next:[12114]shriek, Previous:[12115]shovelware, Up:[12116]= S =

showstopper n.

A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an implementation effectively unusable; one that absolutely has to be fixed before development can go on. Opposite in connotation from its original theatrical use, which refers to something stunningly good. _________________________________________________________________
Node:shriek, Next:[12117]Shub-Internet, Previous:[12118]showstopper, Up:[12119]= S =

shriek n.

See [12120]excl. Occasional CMU usage, also in common use among APL fans and mathematicians, especially category theorists. _________________________________________________________________
Node:Shub-Internet, Next:[12121]sidecar, Previous:[12122]shriek, Up:[12123]= S =

Shub-Internet /shuhb’ in’t*r-net/ n.
[MUD: from H. P. Lovecraft’s evil fictional deity Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat with a Thousand Young] The harsh personification of the Internet: Beast of a Thousand Processes, Eater of Characters, Avatar of Line Noise, and Imp of Call Waiting; the hideous multi-tendriled entity formed of all the manifold connections of the net. A sect of MUDders worships Shub-Internet, sacrificing objects and praying for good connections. To no avail — its purpose is malign and evil, and is the cause of all network slowdown. Often heard as in “Freela casts a tac nuke at Shub-Internet for slowing her down.” (A forged response often follows along the lines of: “Shub-Internet gulps down the tac nuke and burps happily.”) Also cursed by users of the Web, [12124]FTP and [12125]TELNET when the system slows down. The dread name of Shub-Internet is seldom spoken aloud, as it is said that repeating it three times will cause the being to wake, deep within its lair beneath the Pentagon. Compare [12126]Random Number God.
[January 1996: It develops that one of the computer administrators in the basement of the Pentagon read this entry and fell over laughing. As a result, you too can now poke Shub-Internet by [12127]pinging shub-internet.ims.disa.mil. See also [12128]kremvax. – ESR]
[April 1999: shub-internet.ims.disa.mil is no more, alas. But Shub-Internet lives o^$#$*^ – ESR]
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Node:sidecar, Next:[12129]SIG, Previous:[12130]Shub-Internet, Up:[12131]= S =

sidecar n.

1. Syn. [12132]slap on the side. Esp. used of add-ons for the late and unlamented IBM PCjr. 2. The IBM PC compatibility box that could be bolted onto the side of an Amiga. Designed and produced by Commodore, it broke all of the company’s own design rules. If it worked with any other peripherals, it was by [12133]magic. 3. More generally, any of various devices designed to be connected to the expansion slot on the left side of the Amiga 500 (and later, 600 & 1200), which included a hard drive controller, a hard drive, and additional memory. _________________________________________________________________
Node:SIG, Next:[12134]sig block, Previous:[12135]sidecar, Up:[12136]= S =

SIG /sig/ n.

(also common as a prefix in combining forms) A Special Interest Group, in one of several technical areas, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery; well-known ones include SIGPLAN (the Special Interest Group on Programming Languages), SIGARCH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics). Hackers, not surprisingly, like to overextend this naming convention to less formal associations like SIGBEER (at ACM conferences) and SIGFOOD (at University of Illinois). _________________________________________________________________
Node:sig block, Next:[12137]sig quote, Previous:[12138]SIG, Up:[12139]= S =

sig block /sig blok/ n.

[Unix; often written `.sig’ there] Short for `signature’, used specifically to refer to the electronic signature block that most Unix mail- and news-posting software will [12140]automagically append to outgoing mail and news. The composition of one’s sig can be quite an art form, including an ASCII logo or one’s choice of witty sayings (see [12141]sig quote, [12142]fool file); but many consider large sigs a waste of [12143]bandwidth, and it has been observed that the size of one’s sig block is usually inversely proportional to one’s longevity and level of prestige on the net. See also [12144]doubled sig. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sig quote, Next:[12145]sig virus, Previous:[12146]sig block, Up:[12147]= S =

sig quote /sig kwoht/ n.

[Usenet] A maxim, quote, proverb, joke, or slogan embedded in one’s [12148]sig block and intended to convey something of one’s philosophical stance, pet peeves, or sense of humor. “Calm down, it’s only ones and zeroes.”
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Node:sig virus, Next:[12149]signal-to-noise ratio, Previous:[12150]sig quote, Up:[12151]= S =

sig virus n.

A parasitic [12152]meme embedded in a [12153]sig block. There was a [12154]meme plague or fad for these on Usenet in late 1991. Most were equivalents of “I am a .sig virus. Please reproduce me in your .sig block.”. Of course, the .sig virus’s memetic hook is the giggle value of going along with the gag; this, however, was a self-limiting phenomenon as more and more people picked up on the idea. There were creative variants on it; some people stuck `sig virus antibody’ texts in their sigs, and there was at least one instance of a sig virus eater.
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Node:signal-to-noise ratio, Next:[12155]silicon, Previous:[12156]sig virus, Up:[12157]= S =

signal-to-noise ratio [from analog electronics] n.
Used by hackers in a generalization of its technical meaning. `Signal’ refers to useful information conveyed by some communications medium, and `noise’ to anything else on that medium. Hence a low ratio implies that it is not worth paying attention to the medium in question. Figures for such metaphorical ratios are never given. The term is most often applied to [12158]Usenet newsgroups during [12159]flame wars. Compare [12160]bandwidth. See also [12161]coefficient of X, [12162]lost in the noise.
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Node:silicon, Next:[12163]silly walk, Previous:[12164]signal-to-noise ratio, Up:[12165]= S =

silicon n.

Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer systems (compare [12166]iron). Contrasted with software. See also [12167]sandbender. _________________________________________________________________
Node:silly walk, Next:[12168]silo, Previous:[12169]silicon, Up:[12170]= S =

silly walk vi.

[from Monty Python’s Flying Circus] 1. A ridiculous procedure required to accomplish a task. Like [12171]grovel, but more [12172]random and humorous. “I had to silly-walk through half the /usr directories to find the maps file.” 2. Syn. [12173]fandango on core. _________________________________________________________________
Node:silo, Next:[12174]Silver Book, Previous:[12175]silly walk, Up:[12176]= S =

silo n.

The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line card. So called from [12177]DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards for the VAX and PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space for fungible stuff that went in at the top and came out at the bottom. _________________________________________________________________
Node:Silver Book, Next:[12178]since time T equals minus infinity, Previous:[12179]silo, Up:[12180]= S =

Silver Book n.

Jensen and Wirth’s infamous “Pascal User Manual and Report”, so called because of the silver cover of the widely distributed Springer-Verlag second edition of 1978 (ISBN 0-387-90144-2). See [12181]book titles, [12182]Pascal.
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Node:since time T equals minus infinity, Next:[12183]sitename, Previous:[12184]Silver Book, Up:[12185]= S =
since time T equals minus infinity adv.
A long time ago; for as long as anyone can remember; at the time that some particular frob was first designed. Usually the word `time’ is omitted. See also [12186]time T; contrast [12187]epoch. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sitename, Next:[12188]skrog, Previous:[12189]since time T equals minus infinity, Up:[12190]= S =

sitename /si:t’naym/ n.

[Unix/Internet] The unique electronic name of a computer system, used to identify it in UUCP mail, Usenet, or other forms of electronic information interchange. The folklore interest of sitenames stems from the creativity and humor they often display. Interpreting a sitename is not unlike interpreting a vanity license plate; one has to mentally unpack it, allowing for mono-case and length restrictions and the lack of whitespace. Hacker tradition deprecates dull, institutional-sounding names in favor of punchy, humorous, and clever coinages (except that it is considered appropriate for the official public gateway machine of an organization to bear the organization’s name or acronym). Mythological references, cartoon characters, animal names, and allusions to SF or fantasy literature are probably the most popular sources for sitenames (in roughly descending order). The obligatory comment when discussing these is Harris’s Lament: “All the good ones are taken!” See also [12191]network address. _________________________________________________________________
Node:skrog, Next:[12192]skulker, Previous:[12193]sitename, Up:[12194]= S =

skrog v.

Syn. [12195]scrog.
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Node:skulker, Next:[12196]slab, Previous:[12197]skrog, Up:[12198]= S =
skulker n.

Syn. [12199]prowler.
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Node:slab, Next:[12200]slack, Previous:[12201]skulker, Up:[12202]= S =
slab [Apple]

1. n. A continuous horizontal line of pixels, all with the same color. 2. vi. To paint a slab on an output device. Apple’s QuickDraw, like most other professional-level graphics systems, renders polygons and lines not with Bresenham’s algorithm, but by calculating `slab points’ for each scan line on the screen in succession, and then slabbing in the actual image pixels.
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Node:slack, Next:[12203]slap on the side, Previous:[12204]slab, Up:[12205]= S =

slack n.

1. Space allocated to a disk file but not actually used to store useful information. The techspeak equivalent is `internal fragmentation’. Antonym: [12206]hole. 2. In the theology of the [12207]Church of the SubGenius, a mystical substance or quality that is the prerequisite of all human happiness.
Since Unix files are stored compactly, except for the unavoidable wastage in the last block or fragment, it might be said that “Unix has no slack”. See [12208]ha ha only serious. _________________________________________________________________
Node:slap on the side, Next:[12209]slash, Previous:[12210]slack, Up:[12211]= S =

slap on the side n.

(also called a [12212]sidecar, or abbreviated `SOTS’.) A type of external expansion hardware marketed by computer manufacturers (e.g., Commodore for the Amiga 500/1000 series and IBM for the hideous failure called `PCjr’). Various SOTS boxes provided necessities such as memory, hard drive controllers, and conventional expansion slots. _________________________________________________________________
Node:slash, Next:[12213]slashdot effect, Previous:[12214]slap on the side, Up:[12215]= S =

slash n.

Common name for the slant (`/’, ASCII 0101111) character. See [12216]ASCII for other synonyms.
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Node:slashdot effect, Next:[12217]sleep, Previous:[12218]slash, Up:[12219]= S =

slashdot effect n.

1. Also spelled “/. effect”; what is said to have happened when a website being virtually unreachable because too many people are hitting it after the site was mentioned in an interesting article on the popular [12220]Slashdot news service. The term is quite widely used by /. readers, including variants like “That site has been slashdotted again!” 2. In a perhaps inevitable generation, the term is being used to describe any similar effect from being listed on a popular site. This would better be described as a [12221]flash crowd. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sleep, Next:[12222]slim, Previous:[12223]slashdot effect, Up:[12224]= S =

sleep vi.

1. [techspeak] To relinquish a claim (of a process on a multitasking system) for service; to indicate to the scheduler that a process may be deactivated until some given event occurs or a specified time delay elapses. 2. In jargon, used very similarly to v. [12225]block; also in `sleep on’, syn. with `block on’. Often used to indicate that the speaker has relinquished a demand for resources until some (possibly unspecified) external event: “They can’t get the fix I’ve been asking for into the next release, so I’m going to sleep on it until the release, then start hassling them again.” _________________________________________________________________
Node:slim, Next:[12226]slop, Previous:[12227]sleep, Up:[12228]= S =
slim n.

A small, derivative change (e.g., to code). _________________________________________________________________
Node:slop, Next:[12229]slopsucker, Previous:[12230]slim, Up:[12231]= S =

slop n.

1. A one-sided [12232]fudge factor, that is, an allowance for error but in only one of two directions. For example, if you need a piece of wire 10 feet long and have to guess when you cut it, you make very sure to cut it too long, by a large amount if necessary, rather than too short by even a little bit, because you can always cut off the slop but you can’t paste it back on again. When discrete quantities are involved, slop is often introduced to avoid the possibility of being on the losing side of a [12233]fencepost error. 2. The percentage of `extra’ code generated by a compiler over the size of equivalent assembler code produced by [12234]hand-hacking; i.e., the space (or maybe time) you lose because you didn’t do it yourself. This number is often used as a measure of the goodness of a compiler; slop below 5% is very good, and 10% is usually acceptable. With modern compiler technology, esp. on RISC machines, the compiler’s slop may actually be negative; that is, humans may be unable to generate code as good. This is one of the reasons assembler programming is no longer common.
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Node:slopsucker, Next:[12235]Slowlaris, Previous:[12236]slop, Up:[12237]= S =

slopsucker /slop’suhk-r/ n.

A lowest-priority task that waits around until everything else has `had its fill’ of machine resources. Only when the machine would otherwise be idle is the task allowed to `suck up the slop’. Also called a `hungry puppy’ or `bottom feeder’. One common variety of slopsucker hunts for large prime numbers. Compare [12238]background. _________________________________________________________________
Node:Slowlaris, Next:[12239]slurp, Previous:[12240]slopsucker, Up:[12241]= S =

Slowlaris /slo’-lahr-is/ n.

[Usenet; poss. from the variety of prosimian called a “slow loris”. The variant `Slowlartus’ is also common, related to [12242]LART] Common hackish term for Solaris, Sun’s System VR4 version of UNIX that came out of the standardization wars of the early 1990s. So named because especially on older hardware, responsiveness was much less crisp than under the preceding SunOS. Early releases of Solaris (that is, Solaris 2, as some [12243]marketroids at Sun retroactively rechristened SunOS as Solaris 1) were quite buggy, and Sun was forced by customer demand to support SunOS for quite some time. Newer versions are acknowledged to be among the best commercial UNIX variants in 1998, but still lose single-processor benchmarks to Sparc [12244]Linux. Compare [12245]AIDX, [12246]HP-SUX, [12247]Nominal Semidestructor, [12248]Telerat, [12249]sun-stools. _________________________________________________________________
Node:slurp, Next:[12250]smart, Previous:[12251]Slowlaris, Up:[12252]= S =

slurp vt.

To read a large data file entirely into [12253]core before working on it. This may be contrasted with the strategy of reading a small piece at a time, processing it, and then reading the next piece. “This program slurps in a 1K-by-1K matrix and does an FFT.” See also [12254]sponge.
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Node:smart, Next:[12255]smart terminal, Previous:[12256]slurp, Up:[12257]= S =

smart adj.

Said of a program that does the [12258]Right Thing in a wide variety of complicated circumstances. There is a difference between calling a program smart and calling it intelligent; in particular, there do not exist any intelligent programs (yet — see [12259]AI-complete). Compare [12260]robust (smart programs can be [12261]brittle). _________________________________________________________________
Node:smart terminal, Next:[12262]smash case, Previous:[12263]smart, Up:[12264]= S =

smart terminal n.

1. A terminal that has enough computing capability to render graphics or to offload some kind of front-end processing from the computer it talks to. The development of workstations and personal computers has made this term and the product it describes semi-obsolescent, but one may still hear variants of the phrase `act like a smart terminal’ used to describe the behavior of workstations or PCs with respect to programs that execute almost entirely out of a remote [12265]server’s storage, using local devices as displays. 2. obs. Any terminal with an addressable cursor; the opposite of a [12266]glass tty. Today, a terminal with merely an addressable cursor, but with none of the more-powerful features mentioned in sense 1, is called a [12267]dumb terminal.

There is a classic quote from Rob Pike (inventor of the [12268]blit terminal): “A smart terminal is not a smartass terminal, but rather a terminal you can educate.” This illustrates a common design problem: The attempt to make peripherals (or anything else) intelligent sometimes results in finicky, rigid `special features’ that become just so much dead weight if you try to use the device in any way the designer didn’t anticipate. Flexibility and programmability, on the other hand, are really smart. Compare [12269]hook. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smash case, Next:[12270]smash the stack, Previous:[12271]smart terminal, Up:[12272]= S =

smash case vi.

To lose or obliterate the uppercase/lowercase distinction in text input. “MS-DOS will automatically smash case in the names of all the files you create.” Compare [12273]fold case. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smash the stack, Next:[12274]smiley, Previous:[12275]smash case, Up:[12276]= S =

smash the stack n.

[C programming] To corrupt the execution stack by writing past the end of a local array or other data structure. Code that smashes the stack can cause a return from the routine to jump to a random address, resulting in some of the most insidious data-dependent bugs known to mankind. Variants include `trash’ the stack, [12277]scribble the stack, [12278]mangle the stack; the term **[12279]mung the stack is not used, as this is never done intentionally. See [12280]spam; see also [12281]aliasing bug, [12282]fandango on core, [12283]memory leak, [12284]memory smash, [12285]precedence lossage, [12286]overrun screw. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smiley, Next:[12287]smoke, Previous:[12288]smash the stack, Up:[12289]= S =

smiley n.

See [12290]emoticon.
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Node:smoke, Next:[12291]smoke and mirrors, Previous:[12292]smiley, Up:[12293]= S =

smoke vi.

1. To [12294]crash or blow up, usually spectacularly. “The new version smoked, just like the last one.” Used for both hardware (where it often describes an actual physical event), and software (where it’s merely colorful). 2. [from automotive slang] To be conspicuously fast. “That processor really smokes.” Compare [12295]magic smoke. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smoke and mirrors, Next:[12296]smoke test, Previous:[12297]smoke, Up:[12298]= S =

smoke and mirrors n.

Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it’s strongly associated with bogus demos and crocked [12299]benchmarks (see also [12300]MIPS, [12301]machoflops). “They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for under $5000, but didn’t specify the instruction mix — sounds like smoke and mirrors to me.” The phrase, popularized by newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin c.1975, has been said to derive from carnie slang for magic acts and `freak show’ displays that depend on `trompe l’oeil’ effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. “Smoking Mirror”) for whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened. See also [12302]stealth manager. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smoke test, Next:[12303]smoking clover, Previous:[12304]smoke and mirrors, Up:[12305]= S =

smoke test n.

1. A rudimentary form of testing applied to electronic equipment following repair or reconfiguration, in which power is applied and the tester checks for sparks, smoke, or other dramatic signs of fundamental failure. See [12306]magic smoke. 2. By extension, the first run of a piece of software after construction or a critical change. See and compare [12307]reality check.
There is an interesting semi-parallel to this term among typographers and printers: When new typefaces are being punch-cut by hand, a `smoke test’ (hold the letter in candle smoke, then press it onto paper) is used to check out new dies.
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Node:smoking clover, Next:[12308]smoot, Previous:[12309]smoke test, Up:[12310]= S =

smoking clover n.

[ITS] A [12311]display hack originally due to Bill Gosper. Many convergent lines are drawn on a color monitor in such a way that every pixel struck has its color incremented. The lines all have one endpoint in the middle of the screen; the other endpoints are spaced one pixel apart around the perimeter of a large square. The color map is then repeatedly rotated. This results in a striking, rainbow-hued, shimmering four-leaf clover. Gosper joked about keeping it hidden from the FDA (the U.S.’s Food and Drug Administration) lest its hallucinogenic properties cause it to be banned. _________________________________________________________________
Node:smoot, Next:[12312]SMOP, Previous:[12313]smoking clover, Up:[12314]= S =

smoot /smoot/ n.

[MIT] A unit of length equal five feet seven inches. The length of the Harvard Bridge in Boston is famously 364.4 smoots plus or minus an ear (the ear stands for [12315]epsilon). This legend began with a fraternity prank in 1958 during which the body length of Oliver Smoot (class of ’62) was actually used to measure out that distance. It is commemorated by smoot marks that MIT students repaint every few years; the tradition even survived the demolition and rebuilding of the bridge in the late 1980s. The Boston police have been known to use smoot markers to indicate accident locations on the bridge. _________________________________________________________________
Node:SMOP, Next:[12316]smurf, Previous:[12317]smoot, Up:[12318]= S =
SMOP /S-M-O-P/ n.

[Simple (or Small) Matter of Programming] 1. A piece of code, not yet written, whose anticipated length is significantly greater than its complexity. Used to refer to a program that could obviously be written, but is not worth the trouble. Also used ironically to imply that a difficult problem can be easily solved because a program can be written to do it; the irony is that it is very clear that writing such a program will be a great deal of work. “It’s easy to enhance a FORTRAN compiler to compile COBOL as well; it’s just an SMOP.” 2. Often used ironically by the intended victim when a suggestion for a program is made which seems easy to the suggester, but is obviously (to the victim) a lot of work.
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Node:smurf, Next:[12319]SNAFU principle, Previous:[12320]SMOP, Up:[12321]= S =

smurf /smerf/ n.

1. [from the soc.motss newsgroup on Usenet, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters] A newsgroup regular with a habitual style that is irreverent, silly, and cute. Like many other hackish terms for people, this one may be praise or insult depending on who uses it. In general, being referred to as a smurf is probably not going to make your day unless you’ve previously adopted the label yourself in a spirit of irony. Compare [12322]old fart. 2. [techspeak] A ping packet with a forged source address sent to some other network’s broadcast address. All the machines on the destination network will send a ping response to the forged source address (the victim). This both overloads the victim’s network and hides the location of the attacker. _________________________________________________________________
Node:SNAFU principle, Next:[12323]snail, Previous:[12324]smurf, Up:[12325]= S =

SNAFU principle /sna’foo prin’si-pl/ n.
[from a WWII Army acronym for `Situation Normal, All Fucked Up’] “True communication is possible only between equals, because inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth.” — a central tenet of [12326]Discordianism, often invoked by hackers to explain why authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. The effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfectly:
In the beginning was the plan,
and then the specification;
And the plan was without form,
and the specification was void.

And darkness
was on the faces of the implementors thereof; And they spake unto their leader,
saying:
“It is a crock of shit,
and smells as of a sewer.”

And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the project leader:
“It is a crock of excrement,
and none may abide the odor thereof.”
And the project leader
spake unto his section head, saying: “It is a container of excrement,
and it is very strong, such that none may abide it.”
The section head then hurried to his department manager, and informed him thus:
“It is a vessel of fertilizer,
and none may abide its strength.”
The department manager carried these words to his general manager,
and spoke unto him
saying:
“It containeth that which aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong.”

And so it was that the general manager rejoiced and delivered the good news unto the Vice President. “It promoteth growth,
and it is very powerful.”

The Vice President rushed to the President’s side, and joyously exclaimed:
“This powerful new software product will promote the growth of the company!”
And the President looked upon the product, and saw that it was very good.

After the subsequent and inevitable disaster, the [12327]suits protect themselves by saying “I was misinformed!”, and the implementors are demoted or fired. Compare [12328]Conway’s Law. _________________________________________________________________
Node:snail, Next:[12329]snail-mail, Previous:[12330]SNAFU principle, Up:[12331]= S =

snail vt.

To [12332]snail-mail something. “Snail me a copy of those graphics, will you?”
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Node:snail-mail, Next:[12333]snap, Previous:[12334]snail, Up:[12335]= S =

snail-mail n.

Paper mail, as opposed to electronic. Sometimes written as the single word `SnailMail’. One’s postal address is, correspondingly, a `snail address’. Derives from earlier coinage `USnail’ (from `U.S. Mail’), for which there have even been parody posters and stamps made. Also (less commonly) called `P-mail’, from `paper mail’ or `physical mail’. Oppose [12336]email.
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Node:snap, Next:[12337]snarf, Previous:[12338]snail-mail, Up:[12339]= S =

snap v.

To replace a pointer to a pointer with a direct pointer; to replace an old address with the forwarding address found there. If you telephone the main number for an institution and ask for a particular person by name, the operator may tell you that person’s extension before connecting you, in the hopes that you will `snap your pointer’ and dial direct next time. The underlying metaphor may be that of a rubber band stretched through a number of intermediate points; if you remove all the thumbtacks in the middle, it snaps into a straight line from first to last. See [12340]chase pointers.
Often, the behavior of a [12341]trampoline is to perform an error check once and then snap the pointer that invoked it so as henceforth to bypass the trampoline (and its one-shot error check). In this context one also speaks of `snapping links’. For example, in a LISP implementation, a function interface trampoline might check to make sure that the caller is passing the correct number of arguments; if it is, and if the caller and the callee are both compiled, then snapping the link allows that particular path to use a direct procedure-call instruction with no further overhead.
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Node:snarf, Next:[12342]snarf & barf, Previous:[12343]snap, Up:[12344]= S =

snarf /snarf/ vt.

1. To grab, esp. to grab a large document or file for the purpose of using it with or without the author’s permission. See also [12345]BLT. 2. [in the Unix community] To fetch a file or set of files across a network. See also [12346]blast. This term was mainstream in the late 1960s, meaning `to eat piggishly’. It may still have this connotation in context. “He’s in the snarfing phase of hacking — [12347]FTPing megs of stuff a day.” 3. To acquire, with little concern for legal forms or politesse (but not quite by stealing). “They were giving away samples, so I snarfed a bunch of them.” 4. Syn. for [12348]slurp. “This program starts by snarfing the entire database into core, then….” 5. [GEnie] To spray food or [12349]programming fluids due to laughing at the wrong moment. “I was drinking coffee, and when I read your post I snarfed all over my desk.” “If I keep reading this topic, I think I’ll have to snarf-proof my computer with a keyboard [12350]condom.” [This sense appears to be widespread among mundane teenagers –ESR]
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Node:snarf & barf, Next:[12351]snarf down, Previous:[12352]snarf, Up:[12353]= S =

snarf & barf /snarf’n-barf`/ n.
Under a [12354]WIMP environment, the act of grabbing a region of text and then stuffing the contents of that region into another region (or the same one) to avoid retyping a command line. In the late 1960s, this was a mainstream expression for an `eat now, regret it later’ cheap-restaurant expedition.
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Node:snarf down, Next:[12355]snark, Previous:[12356]snarf & barf, Up:[12357]= S =

snarf down v.

To [12358]snarf, with the connotation of absorbing, processing, or understanding. “I’ll snarf down the latest version of the [12359]nethack user’s guide — it’s been a while since I played last and I don’t know what’s changed recently.” _________________________________________________________________
Node:snark, Next:[12360]sneaker, Previous:[12361]snarf down, Up:[12362]= S =

snark n.

[Lewis Carroll, via the Michigan Terminal System] 1. A system failure. When a user’s process bombed, the operator would get the message “Help, Help, Snark in MTS!” 2. More generally, any kind of unexplained or threatening event on a computer (especially if it might be a boojum). Often used to refer to an event or a log file entry that might indicate an attempted security violation. See [12363]snivitz. 3. UUCP name of snark.thyrsus.com, home site of the Jargon File versions from 2.*.* on (i.e., this lexicon).
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Node:sneaker, Next:[12364]sneakernet, Previous:[12365]snark, Up:[12366]= S =

sneaker n.

An individual hired to break into places in order to test their security; analogous to [12367]tiger team. Compare [12368]samurai. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sneakernet, Next:[12369]sniff, Previous:[12370]sneaker, Up:[12371]= S =

sneakernet /snee’ker-net/ n.

Term used (generally with ironic intent) for transfer of electronic information by physically carrying tape, disks, or some other media from one machine to another. “Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with magtape, or a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.” Also called `Tennis-Net’, `Armpit-Net’, `Floppy-Net’ or `Shoenet’; in the 1990s, `Nike network’ after a well-known sneaker brand. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sniff, Next:[12372]snivitz, Previous:[12373]sneakernet, Up:[12374]= S =

sniff v.,n.

1. To watch IP packets traversing a local network. Most often in the phrase `packet sniffer’, a program for doing same. 2.Synonym for [12375]poll.
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Node:snivitz, Next:[12376]’Snooze, Previous:[12377]sniff, Up:[12378]= S =

snivitz /sniv’itz/ n.

A hiccup in hardware or software; a small, transient problem of unknown origin (less serious than a [12379]snark). Compare [12380]glitch.
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Node:’Snooze, Next:[12381]SO, Previous:[12382]snivitz, Up:[12383]= S =
‘Snooze /snooz/ [FidoNet] n.

Fidonews, the weekly official on-line newsletter of FidoNet. As the editorial policy of Fidonews is “anything that arrives, we print”, there are often large articles completely unrelated to FidoNet, which in turn tend to elicit [12384]flamage in subsequent issues. _________________________________________________________________
Node:SO, Next:[12385]social engineering, Previous:[12386]’Snooze, Up:[12387]= S =

SO /S-O/ n.

1. (also `S.O.’) Abbrev. for Significant Other, almost invariably written abbreviated and pronounced /S-O/ by hackers. Used to refer to one’s primary relationship, esp. a live-in to whom one is not married. See [12388]MOTAS, [12389]MOTOS, [12390]MOTSS. 2. [techspeak] The Shift Out control character in ASCII (Control-N, 0001110). _________________________________________________________________
Node:social engineering, Next:[12391]social science number, Previous:[12392]SO, Up:[12393]= S =

social engineering n.

Term used among [12394]crackers and [12395]samurai for cracking techniques that rely on weaknesses in [12396]wetware rather than software; the aim is to trick people into revealing passwords or other information that compromises a target system’s security. Classic scams include phoning up a mark who has the required information and posing as a field service tech or a fellow employee with an urgent access problem. See also the [12397]tiger team story in the [12398]patch entry.
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Node:social science number, Next:[12399]sock puppet, Previous:[12400]social engineering, Up:[12401]= S =
social science number n. //

[IBM] A statistic that is [12402]content-free, or nearly so. A measure derived via methods of questionable validity from data of a dubious and vague nature. Predictively, having a social science number in hand is seldom much better than nothing, and can be considerably worse. As a rule, [12403]management loves them. See also [12404]numbers, [12405]math-out, [12406]pretty pictures. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sock puppet, Next:[12407]sodium substrate, Previous:[12408]social science number, Up:[12409]= S =

sock puppet n.

[Usenet: from the act of placing a sock over your hand and talking to it and pretending it’s talking back] In Usenet parlance, a [12410]pseudo through which the puppeteer posts follow-ups to their own original message to give the appearance that a number of people support the views held in the original message. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sodium substrate, Next:[12411]soft boot, Previous:[12412]sock puppet, Up:[12413]= S =

sodium substrate n.

Syn [12414]salt substrate.
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Node:soft boot, Next:[12415]softcopy, Previous:[12416]sodium substrate, Up:[12417]= S =

soft boot n.

See [12418]boot.
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Node:softcopy, Next:[12419]software bloat, Previous:[12420]soft boot, Up:[12421]= S =

softcopy /soft’kop-ee/ n.

[by analogy with `hardcopy’] A machine-readable form of corresponding hardcopy. See [12422]bits, [12423]machinable. _________________________________________________________________
Node:software bloat, Next:[12424]software hoarding, Previous:[12425]softcopy, Up:[12426]= S =
software bloat n.

The results of [12427]second-system effect or [12428]creeping featuritis. Commonly cited examples include ls(1), [12429]X, [12430]BSD, [12431]Missed’em-five, and [12432]OS/2. _________________________________________________________________
Node:software hoarding, Next:[12433]software laser, Previous:[12434]software bloat, Up:[12435]= S =
software hoarding n.

Pejorative term employed by members and adherents of the [12436]GNU project to describe the act of holding software proprietary, keeping it under trade secret or license terms which prohibit free redistribution and modification. Used primarily in Free Software Foundation propaganda. For a summary of related issues, see [12437]GNU.
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Node:software laser, Next:[12438]software rot, Previous:[12439]software hoarding, Up:[12440]= S =
software laser n.

An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and forth between two mirrors, one totally reflective and one partially reflective. If the lasing material (usually a crystal) has the right properties, photons scattering off the atoms in the crystal will excite cascades of more photons, all in lockstep. Eventually the beam will escape through the partially-reflective mirror. One kind of [12441]sorcerer’s apprentice mode involving [12442]bounce messages can produce closely analogous results, with a [12443]cascade of messages escaping to flood nearby systems. By mid-1993 there had been at least two publicized incidents of this kind.
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Node:software rot, Next:[12444]softwarily, Previous:[12445]software laser, Up:[12446]= S =

software rot n.

Term used to describe the tendency of software that has not been used in a while to [12447]lose; such failure may be semi-humorously ascribed to [12448]bit rot. More commonly, `software rot’ strikes when a program’s assumptions become out of date. If the design was insufficiently [12449]robust, this may cause it to fail in mysterious ways. Syn. `code rot’. See also [12450]link rot.
For example, owing to endemic shortsightedness in the design of COBOL programs, a good number of them succumbed to software rot when their 2-digit year counters underwent [12451]wrap around at the beginning of the year 2000. Actually, related lossages often afflict centenarians who have to deal with computer software designed by unimaginative clods. One such incident became the focus of a minor public flap in 1990, when a gentleman born in 1889 applied for a driver’s license renewal in Raleigh, North Carolina. The new system refused to issue the card, probably because with 2-digit years the ages 101 and 1 cannot be distinguished.

Historical note: Software rot in an even funnier sense than the mythical one was a real problem on early research computers (e.g., the R1; see [12452]grind crank). If a program that depended on a peculiar instruction hadn’t been run in quite a while, the user might discover that the opcodes no longer did the same things they once did. (“Hey, so-and-so needs an instruction to do such-and-such. We can [12453]snarf this opcode, right? No one uses it.”)
Another classic example of this sprang from the time an MIT hacker found a simple way to double the speed of the unconditional jump instruction on a PDP-6, so he patched the hardware. Unfortunately, this broke some fragile timing software in a music-playing program, throwing its output out of tune. This was fixed by adding a defensive initialization routine to compare the speed of a timing loop with the real-time clock; in other words, it figured out how fast the PDP-6 was that day, and corrected appropriately.
Compare [12454]bit rot.
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Node:softwarily, Next:[12455]softy, Previous:[12456]software rot, Up:[12457]= S =

softwarily /soft-weir’i-lee/ adv.
In a way pertaining to software. “The system is softwarily unreliable.” The adjective **`softwary’ is not used. See [12458]hardwarily.
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Node:softy, Next:[12459]some random X, Previous:[12460]softwarily, Up:[12461]= S =

softy n.

[IBM] Hardware hackers’ term for a software expert who is largely ignorant of the mysteries of hardware. _________________________________________________________________
Node:some random X, Next:[12462]sorcerer’s apprentice mode, Previous:[12463]softy, Up:[12464]= S =
some random X adj.

Used to indicate a member of class X, with the implication that Xs are interchangeable. “I think some random cracker tripped over the guest timeout last night.” See also [12465]J. Random. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sorcerer’s apprentice mode, Next:[12466]SOS, Previous:[12467]some random X, Up:[12468]= S =

sorcerer’s apprentice mode n.

[from Goethe’s “Der Zauberlehrling” via Paul Dukas’s “L’apprenti sorcier” the film “Fantasia”] A bug in a protocol where, under some circumstances, the receipt of a message causes multiple messages to be sent, each of which, when received, triggers the same bug. Used esp. of such behavior caused by [12469]bounce message loops in [12470]email software. Compare [12471]broadcast storm, [12472]network meltdown, [12473]software laser, [12474]ARMM.
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Node:SOS, Next:[12475]source, Previous:[12476]sorcerer’s apprentice mode, Up:[12477]= S =

SOS /S-O-S/

n.,obs. An infamously [12478]losing text editor. Once, back in the 1960s, when a text editor was needed for the PDP-6, a hacker crufted together a [12479]quick-and-dirty `stopgap editor’ to be used until a better one was written. Unfortunately, the old one was never really discarded when new ones came along. SOS is a descendant (`Son of Stopgap’) of that editor, and many PDP-10 users gained the dubious pleasure of its acquaintance. Since then other programs similar in style to SOS have been written, notably the early font editor BILOS /bye’lohs/, the Brother-In-Law Of Stopgap (the alternate expansion `Bastard Issue, Loins of Stopgap’ has been proposed). _________________________________________________________________
Node:source, Next:[12480]source of all good bits, Previous:[12481]SOS, Up:[12482]= S =

source n.

[very common] In reference to software, `source’ is invariably shorthand for `source code’, the preferred human-readable and human-modifiable form of the program. This is as opposed to object code, the derived binary executable form of a program. This shorthand readily takes derivative forms; one may speak of “the sources of a system” or of “having source”.
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Node:source of all good bits, Next:[12483]space-cadet keyboard, Previous:[12484]source, Up:[12485]= S =
source of all good bits n.

A person from whom (or a place from which) useful information may be obtained. If you need to know about a program, a [12486]guru might be the source of all good bits. The title is often applied to a particularly competent secretary.
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Node:space-cadet keyboard, Next:[12487]spaceship operator, Previous:[12488]source of all good bits, Up:[12489]= S =
space-cadet keyboard n.

A now-legendary device used on MIT LISP machines, which inspired several still-current jargon terms and influenced the design of [12490]EMACS. It was equipped with no fewer than seven shift keys: four keys for [12491]bucky bits (`control’, `meta’, `hyper’, and `super’) and three like regular shift keys, called `shift’, `top’, and `front’. Many keys had three symbols on them: a letter and a symbol on the top, and a Greek letter on the front. For example, the `L’ key had an `L’ and a two-way arrow on the top, and the Greek letter lambda on the front. By pressing this key with the right hand while playing an appropriate `chord’ with the left hand on the shift keys, you could get the following results:

L
lowercase l

shift-L
uppercase L

front-L
lowercase lambda

front-shift-L
uppercase lambda

top-L
two-way arrow (front and shift are ignored)
And of course each of these might also be typed with any combination of the control, meta, hyper, and super keys. On this keyboard, you could type over 8000 different characters! This allowed the user to type very complicated mathematical text, and also to have thousands of single-character commands at his disposal. Many hackers were actually willing to memorize the command meanings of that many characters if it reduced typing time (this attitude obviously shaped the interface of EMACS). Other hackers, however, thought having that many bucky bits was overkill, and objected that such a keyboard can require three or four hands to operate. See [12492]bucky bits, [12493]cokebottle, [12494]double bucky, [12495]meta bit, [12496]quadruple bucky.
Note: early versions of this entry incorrectly identified the space-cadet keyboard with the `Knight keyboard’. Though both were designed by Tom Knight, the latter term was properly applied only to a keyboard used for ITS on the PDP-10 and modeled on the Stanford keyboard (as described under [12497]bucky bits). The true space-cadet keyboard evolved from the first Knight keyboard. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spaceship operator, Next:[12498]SPACEWAR, Previous:[12499]space-cadet keyboard, Up:[12500]= S =
spaceship operator n.

The glyph <=>, so-called apparently because in the low-resolution constant-width font used on many terminals it vaguely resembles a flying saucer. [12501]Perl uses this to denote the signum-of-difference operation.
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Node:SPACEWAR, Next:[12502]spaghetti code, Previous:[12503]spaceship operator, Up:[12504]= S =

SPACEWAR n.

A space-combat simulation game, inspired by E. E. “Doc” Smith’s “Lensman” books, in which two spaceships duel around a central sun, shooting torpedoes at each other and jumping through hyperspace. This game was first implemented on the PDP-1 at MIT in 1962. In 1968-69, a descendant of the game motivated Ken Thompson to build, in his spare time on a scavenged PDP-7, the operating system that became [12505]Unix. Less than nine years after that, SPACEWAR was commercialized as one of the first video games; descendants are still [12506]feeping in video arcades everywhere. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spaghetti code, Next:[12507]spaghetti inheritance, Previous:[12508]SPACEWAR, Up:[12509]= S =
spaghetti code n.

Code with a complex and tangled control structure, esp. one using many GOTOs, exceptions, or other `unstructured’ branching constructs. Pejorative. The synonym `kangaroo code’ has been reported, doubtless because such code has so many jumps in it. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spaghetti inheritance, Next:[12510]spam, Previous:[12511]spaghetti code, Up:[12512]= S =
spaghetti inheritance n.

[encountered among users of object-oriented languages that use inheritance, such as Smalltalk] A convoluted class-subclass graph, often resulting from carelessly deriving subclasses from other classes just for the sake of reusing their code. Coined in a (successful) attempt to discourage such practice, through guilt-by-association with [12513]spaghetti code.
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Node:spam, Next:[12514]spam bait, Previous:[12515]spaghetti inheritance, Up:[12516]= S =

spam vt.,vi.,n.

[from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”] 1. To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively large input data. See also [12517]buffer overflow, [12518]overrun screw, [12519]smash the stack. 2. To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages. You can spam a newsgroup with as little as one well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g. asking “What do you think of abortion?” on soc.women). This is often done with [12520]cross-posting (e.g. any message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both groups). This overlaps with [12521]troll behavior; the latter more specific term has become more common. 3. To send many identical or nearly-identical messages separately to a large number of Usenet newsgroups. This is more specifically called `ECP’, Excessive Cross-Posting. This is one sure way to infuriate nearly everyone on the Net. See also [12522]velveeta and [12523]jello. 4. To bombard a newsgroup with multiple copies of a message. This is more specifically called `EMP’, Excessive Multi-Posting. 5. To mass-mail unrequested identical or nearly-identical email messages, particularly those containing advertising. Especially used when the mail addresses have been culled from network traffic or databases without the consent of the recipients. Synonyms include [12524]UCE, [12525]UBE. 6. Any large, annoying, quantity of output. For instance, someone on IRC who walks away from their screen and comes back to find 200 lines of text might say “Oh no, spam”.

The later definitions have become much more prevalent as the Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to most people senses 3 4 and 5 are now primary. All three behaviors are considered abuse of the net, and are almost universally grounds for termination of the originator’s email account or network connection. In these senses the term `spam’ has gone mainstream, though without its original sense or folkloric freight – there is apparently a widespread myth among [12526]lusers that “spamming” is what happens when you dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan.
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Node:spam bait, Next:[12527]spamblock, Previous:[12528]spam, Up:[12529]= S =

spam bait n.

Email addresses included in, or comprising the entirety of, a usenet message so that spammers mining a newsgroup with an [12530]address harvester will collect them. These addresses can be people who have offended or annoyed the poster, or who are included so that a spammer will spam an official, thereby causing himself trouble. One particularly effective form of spam bait is the address of a [12531]teergrube.
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Node:spamblock, Next:[12532]spamhaus, Previous:[12533]spam bait, Up:[12534]= S =

spamblock /spam’blok/ n.

[poss. by analogy to sunblock] Text inserted in an email address to render it invalid and thus useless to spammers. For example, the address `jrandom@hacker.org’ might be transformed to `jrandom@NOSPAM.hacker.org’. Adding spamblock to an address is often referred to as `munging’ it (see [12535]munge)-. This evasion tactic depends on the fact that most spammers collect names with some sort of [12536]address harvester on volumes too high to de-mung by hand, but individual humans reading an email message can readily spot and remove a spamblock in the from address.

Note: This is not actually a very effective tactic, and may already be passing out of use in early 1999 after about two years of life. In both mail and news, it’s essentially impossible to keep a smart address harvester from mining out the addresses in the message header and trace lines. Therefore the only people who can be protected are third parties mentioned by email address in the message – not a common enough case to interest spammers.
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Node:spamhaus, Next:[12537]spamvertize, Previous:[12538]spamblock, Up:[12539]= S =

spamhaus spam’hows n.

Pejorative term for an internet service provider that permits or even encourages [12540]spam mailings from its systems. The plural is `spamhausen’. There is a web page devoted to [12541]tracking spamhausen.

The most notorious of the spamhausen was Sanford Wallace’s Cyber Promotions Inc., shut down by a lawsuit on 16 October 1997. The anniversary of the shutdown is celebrated on Usenet as Spam Freedom Day, but lesser imitators of the Spamford still infest various murky corners of the net. Since prosecution of spammers became routine under the junk-fax laws and statues specifically targeting spam, spamhausen have declined in relative importance; today, hit-and-run attacks by spammers using [12542]relay rape and [12543]throwaway accounts on reputable ISPs seem to account for most of the flow. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spamvertize, Next:[12544]spangle, Previous:[12545]spamhaus, Up:[12546]= S =

spamvertize v.

To advertise using [12547]spam. Pejorative. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spangle, Next:[12548]spawn, Previous:[12549]spamvertize, Up:[12550]= S =

spangle n.

[UK] The singular of [12551]bells and whistles. See also [12552]spungle.
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Node:spawn, Next:[12553]special-case, Previous:[12554]spangle, Up:[12555]= S =

spawn n.,vi.

1. [techspeak] In UNIX parlance, to create a child process from within a process. Technically this is a `fork’; the term `spawn’ is a bit more general and is used for threads (lightweight processes) as well as traditional heavyweight processes. 2. In gaming, meant to indicate where (`spawn-point’) and when a player comes to life (or `re-spawns’) after being killed. Opposite of [12556]frag. _________________________________________________________________
Node:special-case, Next:[12557]speedometer, Previous:[12558]spawn, Up:[12559]= S =

special-case vt.

To write unique code to handle input to or situations arising in a program that are somehow distinguished from normal processing. This would be used for processing of mode switches or interrupt characters in an interactive interface (as opposed, say, to text entry or normal commands), or for processing of [12560]hidden flags in the input of a batch program or [12561]filter.
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Node:speedometer, Next:[12562]spell, Previous:[12563]special-case, Up:[12564]= S =

speedometer n.

A pattern of lights displayed on a linear set of LEDs (today) or nixie tubes (yesterday, on ancient mainframes). The pattern is shifted left every N times the operating system goes through its [12565]main loop. A swiftly moving pattern indicates that the system is mostly idle; the speedometer slows down as the system becomes overloaded. The speedometer on Sun Microsystems hardware bounces back and forth like the eyes on one of the Cylons from the wretched “Battlestar Galactica” TV series.

Historical note: One computer, the GE 600 (later Honeywell 6000) actually had an analog speedometer on the front panel, calibrated in instructions executed per second.
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Node:spell, Next:[12566]spelling flame, Previous:[12567]speedometer, Up:[12568]= S =

spell n.

Syn. [12569]incantation.
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Node:spelling flame, Next:[12570]spider, Previous:[12571]spell, Up:[12572]= S =

spelling flame n. //

[Usenet] A posting ostentatiously correcting a previous article’s spelling as a way of casting scorn on the point the article was trying to make, instead of actually responding to that point (compare [12573]dictionary flame). Of course, people who are more than usually slovenly spellers are prone to think any correction is a spelling flame. It’s an amusing comment on human nature that spelling flames themselves often contain spelling errors. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spider, Next:[12574]spider food, Previous:[12575]spelling flame, Up:[12576]= S =

spider

The Web-walking part of a search engine that collects pages for indexing in the search engine’s database. Also called a [12577]bot. The best-known spider is Scooter, the web-walker for the Alta Vista search engine.
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Node:spider food, Next:[12578]spiffy, Previous:[12579]spider, Up:[12580]= S =

spider food n.

Keywords embedded (usually invisibly) into a web page to attract search engines (spiders). The intended result of including spider food in one’s web page is to insure that the page appears high on the list of matching entries to a search engine query. There are right and wrong ways to do this; the right way is a discreet `meta keywords’ tag, the wrong way is to embed many repeats of a keyword in comments (and many search engines now detect and ignore the latter). _________________________________________________________________
Node:spiffy, Next:[12581]spike, Previous:[12582]spider food, Up:[12583]= S =

spiffy /spi’fee/ adj.

1. Said of programs having a pretty, clever, or exceptionally well-designed interface. “Have you seen the spiffy [12584]X version of [12585]empire yet?” 2. Said sarcastically of a program that is perceived to have little more than a flashy interface going for it. Which meaning should be drawn depends delicately on tone of voice and context. This word was common mainstream slang during the 1940s, in a sense close to 1.
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Node:spike, Next:[12586]spin, Previous:[12587]spiffy, Up:[12588]= S =
spike v.

To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result. The word is used in several industries; telephone engineers refer to spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the relay in either the closed or open state, and railroaders refer to spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved. In programming environments it normally refers to a temporary change, usually for testing purposes (as opposed to a permanent change, which would be called [12589]hardwired). _________________________________________________________________
Node:spin, Next:[12590]spl, Previous:[12591]spike, Up:[12592]= S =
spin vi.

Equivalent to [12593]buzz. More common among C and Unix programmers. See the discussion of `spinlock’ under [12594]busy-wait. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spl, Next:[12595]splash screen, Previous:[12596]spin, Up:[12597]= S =

spl /S-P-L/

[abbrev, from Set Priority Level] The way traditional Unix kernels implement mutual exclusion by running code at high interrupt levels. Used in jargon to describe the act of tuning in or tuning out ordinary communication. Classically, spl levels run from 1 to 7; “Fred’s at spl 6 today” would mean that he is very hard to interrupt. “Wait till I finish this; I’ll spl down then.” See also [12598]interrupts locked out.
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Node:splash screen, Next:[12599]splat, Previous:[12600]spl, Up:[12601]= S =

splash screen n.

[Mac users] Syn. [12602]banner, sense 3. _________________________________________________________________
Node:splat, Next:[12603]splat out, Previous:[12604]splash screen, Up:[12605]= S =

splat n.

1. Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and others) for the asterisk (*) character (ASCII 0101010). This may derive from the `squashed-bug’ appearance of the asterisk on many early line printers. 2. [MIT] Name used by some people for the # character (ASCII 0100011). 3. The [12606]feature key on a Mac (same as [12607]alt, sense 2). 4. obs. Name used by some people for the Stanford/ITS extended ASCII circle-x character. This character is also called `blobby’ and `frob’, among other names; it is sometimes used by mathematicians as a notation for `tensor product’. 5. obs. Name for the semi-mythical Stanford extended ASCII circle-plus character. See also [12608]ASCII. _________________________________________________________________
Node:splat out, Next:[12609]spod, Previous:[12610]splat, Up:[12611]= S =

splat out v.

[Usenet] To partially obscure a potentially provocative word by substituting [12612]splat characters for some of its letters (usually, but not always, the vowels). The purpose is not to make the word unrecognizable but to make it a mention rather than a use, so that no flamewar ensues. Words often splatted out include N*z* (see [12613]Godwin’s Law), *v*l*t**n (anywhere fundamentalists might be lurking), *b*rt**n, and g*n c*ntr*l. Compare [12614]UN*X. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spod, Next:[12615]spoiler, Previous:[12616]splat out, Up:[12617]= S =

spod n.

[UK] 1. A lower form of life found on [12618]talker systems and [12619]MUDs. The spod has few friends in [12620]RL and uses talkers instead, finding communication easier and preferable over the net. He has all the negative traits of the [12621]computer geek without having any interest in computers per se. Lacking any knowledge of or interest in how networks work, and considering his access a God-given right, he is a major irritant to sysadmins, clogging up lines in order to reach new MUDs, following passed-on instructions on how to sneak his way onto Internet (“Wow! It’s in America!”) and complaining when he is not allowed to use busy routes. A true spod will start any conversation with “Are you male or female?” (and follow it up with “Got any good numbers/IDs/passwords?”) and will not talk to someone physically present in the same terminal room until they log onto the same machine that he is using and enter talk mode. Compare [12622]newbie, [12623]tourist, [12624]weenie, [12625]twink, [12626]terminal junkie, [12627]warez d00dz. 2. A [12628]backronym for “Sole Purpose, Obtain a Degree”; according to some self-described spods, this term is used by indifferent students to condemn their harder-working fellows. Compare the defiant adoption of the term `geek’ in the mid-1990s by people who would previously have been stigmatized by it (see [12629]computer geek). 3. [obs.] An ordinary person; a [12630]random. This is the meaning with which the term was coined, but the inventor informs us he has himself accepted sense 1.
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Node:spoiler, Next:[12631]spoiler space, Previous:[12632]spod, Up:[12633]= S =

spoiler n.

[Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the article) the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the movie. 2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of working out the correct answer (see also [12634]interesting). Either sense readily forms compounds like `total spoiler’, `quasi-spoiler’ and even `pseudo-spoiler’.
By convention, articles which are spoilers in either sense should contain the word `spoiler’ in the Subject: line, or guarantee via various tricks that the answer appears only after several screens-full of warning, or conceal the sensitive information via [12635]rot13, [12636]spoiler space or some combination of these techniques. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spoiler space, Next:[12637]sponge, Previous:[12638]spoiler, Up:[12639]= S =

spoiler space

[also `spoiler spoo’] A screenful of blank lines (and, often, form-feeds) deliberately inserted in a message following a [12640]spoiler warning, so the actual spoiler can’t be seen without hitting a key.
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Node:sponge, Next:[12641]spoof, Previous:[12642]spoiler space, Up:[12643]= S =

sponge n.

[Unix] A special case of a [12644]filter that reads its entire input before writing any output; the canonical example is a sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently overwrite the input file with the output data stream. If a file system has versioning (as ITS did and VMS does now) the sponge/filter distinction loses its usefulness, because directing filter output would just write a new version. See also [12645]slurp.
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Node:spoof, Next:[12646]spool, Previous:[12647]sponge, Up:[12648]= S =
spoof vi.

To capture, alter, and retransmit a communication stream in a way that misleads the recipient. As used by hackers, refers especially to altering TCP/IP packet source addresses or other packet-header data in order to masquerade as a trusted machine. This term has become very widespread and is borderline techspeak. _________________________________________________________________
Node:spool, Next:[12649]spool file, Previous:[12650]spoof, Up:[12651]= S =

spool vi.

[from early IBM `Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On-Line’, but is widely thought to be a [12652]backronym] To send files to some device or program (a `spooler’) that queues them up and does something useful with them later. Without qualification, the spooler is the `print spooler’ controlling output of jobs to a printer; but the term has been used in connection with other peripherals (especially plotters and graphics devices) and occasionally even for input devices. See also [12653]demon.
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Node:spool file, Next:[12654]spungle, Previous:[12655]spool, Up:[12656]= S =

spool file n.

Any file to which data is [12657]spooled to await the next stage of processing. Especially used in circumstances where spooling the data copes with a mismatch between speeds in two devices or pieces of software. For example, when you send mail under Unix, it’s typically copied to a spool file to await a transport [12658]demon’s attentions. This is borderline techspeak.
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Node:spungle, Next:[12659]square tape, Previous:[12660]spool file, Up:[12661]= S =

spungle n.

[Durham, UK; portmanteau, [12662]spangle + bungle] A [12663]spangle of no actual usefulness. Example: Roger the Bent Paperclip in Microsoft Word ’98. A spungle’s only virtue is that it looks pretty, unless you find creeping featurism ugly.
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Node:square tape, Next:[12664]squirrelcide, Previous:[12665]spungle, Up:[12666]= S =

square tape n.

Mainframe magnetic tape cartridges for use with IBM 3480 or compatible tape drives; or QIC tapes used on workstations and micros. The term comes from the square (actually rectangular) shape of the cartridges; contrast [12667]round tape.
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Node:squirrelcide, Next:[12668]stack, Previous:[12669]square tape, Up:[12670]= S =

squirrelcide n.

[common on Usenet’s comp.risks newsgroup.] (alt. `squirrelicide’) What all too frequently happens when a squirrel decides to exercise its species’s unfortunate penchant for shorting out power lines with their little furry bodies. Result: one dead squirrel, one down computer installation. In this situation, the computer system is said to have been squirrelcided.
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Node:stack, Next:[12671]stack puke, Previous:[12672]squirrelcide, Up:[12673]= S =

stack n.

The set of things a person has to do in the future. One speaks of the next project to be attacked as having risen to the top of the stack. “I’m afraid I’ve got real work to do, so this’ll have to be pushed way down on my stack.” “I haven’t done it yet because every time I pop my stack something new gets pushed.” If you are interrupted several times in the middle of a conversation, “My stack overflowed” means “I forget what we were talking about.” The implication is that more items were pushed onto the stack than could be remembered, so the least recent items were lost. The usual physical example of a stack is to be found in a cafeteria: a pile of plates or trays sitting on a spring in a well, so that when you put one on the top they all sink down, and when you take one off the top the rest spring up a bit. See also [12674]push and [12675]pop.

At MIT, [12676]PDL used to be a more common synonym for [12677]stack in all these contexts, and this may still be true. Everywhere else [12678]stack seems to be the preferred term. [12679]Knuth (“The Art of Computer Programming”, second edition, vol. 1, p. 236) says:
Many people who realized the importance of stacks and queues independently have given other names to these structures: stacks have been called push-down lists, reversion storages, cellars, nesting stores, piles, last-in-first-out (“LIFO”) lists, and even yo-yo lists!
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Node:stack puke, Next:[12680]stale pointer bug, Previous:[12681]stack, Up:[12682]= S =