stack puke n.
Some processor architectures are said to `puke their guts onto the stack’ to save their internal state during exception processing. The Motorola 68020, for example, regurgitates up to 92 bytes on a bus fault. On a pipelined machine, this can take a while. _________________________________________________________________
Node:stale pointer bug, Next:[12683]star out, Previous:[12684]stack puke, Up:[12685]= S =
stale pointer bug n.
Synonym for [12686]aliasing bug used esp. among microcomputer hackers. _________________________________________________________________
Node:star out, Next:[12687]state, Previous:[12688]stale pointer bug, Up:[12689]= S =
star out v.
[University of York, England] To replace a user’s encrypted password in /etc/passwd with a single asterisk. Under Unix this is not a legal encryption of any password; hence the user is not permitted to log in. In general, accounts like adm, news, and daemon are permanently “starred out”; occasionally a real user might have the this inflicted upon him/her as a punishment, e.g. “Graham was starred out for playing Omega in working hours”. Also occasionally known as The Order Of The Gold Star in this context. “Don’t do that, or you’ll be awarded the Order of the Gold Star…” Compare [12690]disusered. _________________________________________________________________
Node:state, Next:[12691]stealth manager, Previous:[12692]star out, Up:[12693]= S =
state n.
1. Condition, situation. “What’s the state of your latest hack?” “It’s winning away.” “The system tried to read and write the disk simultaneously and got into a totally [12694]wedged state.” The standard question “What’s your state?” means “What are you doing?” or “What are you about to do?” Typical answers are “about to gronk out”, or “hungry”. Another standard question is “What’s the state of the world?”, meaning “What’s new?” or “What’s going on?”. The more terse and humorous way of asking these questions would be “State-p?”. Another way of phrasing the first question under sense 1 would be “state-p latest hack?”. 2. Information being maintained in non-permanent memory (electronic or human). _________________________________________________________________
Node:stealth manager, Next:[12695]steam-powered, Previous:[12696]state, Up:[12697]= S =
stealth manager n.
[Corporate DP] A manager that appears out of nowhere, promises undeliverable software to unknown end users, and vanishes before the programming staff realizes what has happened. See [12698]smoke and mirrors.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:steam-powered, Next:[12699]STFW, Previous:[12700]stealth manager, Up:[12701]= S =
steam-powered adj.
Old-fashioned or underpowered; archaic. This term does not have a strong negative loading and may even be used semi-affectionately for something that clanks and wheezes a lot but hangs in there doing the job.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:STFW, Next:[12702]stiffy, Previous:[12703]steam-powered, Up:[12704]= S =
STFW imp. /S-T-F-W/
[Usenet] Commmon abbreviation for “Search The Fucking Web”, a suggestion that what you’re asking for is a query better handled by a search engine than a human being. Usage is common and exactly parallel to both senses of [12705]RTFM.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:stiffy, Next:[12706]stir-fried random, Previous:[12707]STFW, Up:[12708]= S =
stiffy n.
3.5-inch [12709]microfloppies, so called because their jackets are more rigid than those of the 5.25-inch and the (now totally obsolete) 8-inch floppy. Elsewhere this might be called a `firmy’. For some odd reason, several sources have taken the trouble to inform us that this term is widespread in South Africa.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:stir-fried random, Next:[12710]stomp on, Previous:[12711]stiffy, Up:[12712]= S =
stir-fried random n.
(alt. `stir-fried mumble’) Term used for the best dish of many of those hackers who can cook. Consists of random fresh veggies and meat wokked with random spices. Tasty and economical. See [12713]random, [12714]great-wall, [12715]ravs, [12716]laser chicken, [12717]oriental food; see also [12718]mumble.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:stomp on, Next:[12719]Stone Age, Previous:[12720]stir-fried random, Up:[12721]= S =
stomp on vt.
To inadvertently overwrite something important, usually automatically. “All the work I did this weekend got stomped on last night by the nightly server script.” Compare [12722]scribble, [12723]mangle, [12724]trash, [12725]scrog, [12726]roach. _________________________________________________________________
Node:Stone Age, Next:[12727]stone knives and bearskins, Previous:[12728]stomp on, Up:[12729]= S =
Stone Age n.,adj.
1. In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of electromechanical [12730]dinosaurs. Sometimes used for the entire period up to 1960-61 (see [12731]Iron Age); however, it is funnier and more descriptive to characterize the latter period in terms of a `Bronze Age’ era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite-[12732]core machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury delay lines and/or relays). See also [12733]Iron Age. 2. More generally, a pejorative for any crufty, ancient piece of hardware or software technology. Note that this is used even by people who were there for the [12734]Stone Age (sense 1). _________________________________________________________________
Node:stone knives and bearskins, Next:[12735]stoppage, Previous:[12736]Stone Age, Up:[12737]= S =
stone knives and bearskins n.
[from the Star Trek Classic episode “The City on the Edge of Forever”] A term traditionally used to describe (and deprecate) computing environments that are grotesquely primitive in light of what is known about good ways to design things. As in “Don’t get too used to the facilities here. Once you leave SAIL it’s stone knives and bearskins as far as the eye can see”. Compare [12738]steam-powered. _________________________________________________________________
Node:stoppage, Next:[12739]store, Previous:[12740]stone knives and bearskins, Up:[12741]= S =
stoppage /sto’p*j/ n.
Extreme [12742]lossage that renders something (usually something vital) completely unusable. “The recent system stoppage was caused by a [12743]fried transformer.”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:store, Next:[12744]strided, Previous:[12745]stoppage, Up:[12746]= S =
store n.
[prob. from techspeak `main store’] In some varieties of Commonwealth hackish, the preferred synonym for [12747]core. Thus, `bringing a program into store’ means not that one is returning shrink-wrapped software but that a program is being [12748]swapped in. _________________________________________________________________
Node:strided, Next:[12749]stroke, Previous:[12750]store, Up:[12751]= S =
strided /stri:’d*d/ adj.
[scientific computing] Said of a sequence of memory reads and writes to addresses, each of which is separated from the last by a constant interval called the `stride length’. These can be a worst-case access pattern for the standard memory-caching schemes when the stride length is a multiple of the cache line size. Strided references are often generated by loops through an array, and (if your data is large enough that access-time is significant) it can be worthwhile to tune for better locality by inverting double loops or by partially unrolling the outer loop of a loop nest. This usage is borderline techspeak; the related term `memory stride’ is definitely techspeak. _________________________________________________________________
Node:stroke, Next:[12752]strudel, Previous:[12753]strided, Up:[12754]= S =
stroke n.
Common name for the slant (`/’, ASCII 0101111) character. See [12755]ASCII for other synonyms.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:strudel, Next:[12756]stubroutine, Previous:[12757]stroke, Up:[12758]= S =
strudel n.
Common (spoken) name for the at-sign (`@’, ASCII 1000000) character. See [12759]ASCII for other synonyms.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:stubroutine, Next:[12760]studly, Previous:[12761]strudel, Up:[12762]= S =
stubroutine /stuhb’roo-teen/ n.
[contraction of `stub subroutine’] Tiny, often vacuous placeholder for a subroutine that is to be written or fleshed out later. _________________________________________________________________
Node:studly, Next:[12763]studlycaps, Previous:[12764]stubroutine, Up:[12765]= S =
studly adj.
Impressive; powerful. Said of code and designs which exhibit both complexity and a virtuoso flair. Has connotations similar to [12766]hairy but is more positive in tone. Often in the emphatic `most studly’ or as noun-form `studliness’. “Smail 3.0’s configuration parser is most studly.”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:studlycaps, Next:[12767]stunning, Previous:[12768]studly, Up:[12769]= S =
studlycaps /stuhd’lee-kaps/ n.
A hackish form of silliness similar to [12770]BiCapitalization for trademarks, but applied randomly and to arbitrary text rather than to trademarks. ThE oRigiN and SigNificaNce of thIs pRacTicE iS oBscuRe. _________________________________________________________________
Node:stunning, Next:[12771]stupid-sort, Previous:[12772]studlycaps, Up:[12773]= S =
stunning adj.
Mind-bogglingly stupid. Usually used in sarcasm. “You want to code what in ADA? That’s a … stunning idea!” _________________________________________________________________
Node:stupid-sort, Next:[12774]Stupids, Previous:[12775]stunning, Up:[12776]= S =
stupid-sort n.
Syn. [12777]bogo-sort.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:Stupids, Next:[12778]Sturgeon’s Law, Previous:[12779]stupid-sort, Up:[12780]= S =
Stupids n.
Term used by [12781]samurai for the [12782]suits who employ them; succinctly expresses an attitude at least as common, though usually better disguised, among other subcultures of hackers. There may be intended reference here to an SF story originally published in 1952 but much anthologized since, Mark Clifton’s “Star, Bright”. In it, a super-genius child classifies humans into a very few `Brights’ like herself, a huge majority of `Stupids’, and a minority of `Tweens’, the merely ordinary geniuses.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:Sturgeon’s Law, Next:[12783]sucking mud, Previous:[12784]Stupids, Up:[12785]= S =
Sturgeon’s Law prov.
“Ninety percent of everything is crap”. Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, “Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That’s because 90% of everything is crud.” Oddly, when Sturgeon’s Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to `crap’. Compare [12786]Hanlon’s Razor, [12787]Ninety-Ninety Rule. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognize it and are all too aware of its truth. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sucking mud, Next:[12788]sufficiently small, Previous:[12789]Sturgeon’s Law, Up:[12790]= S =
sucking mud adj.
[Applied Data Research] (also `pumping mud’) Crashed or [12791]wedged. Usually said of a machine that provides some service to a network, such as a file server. This Dallas regionalism derives from the East Texas oilfield lament, “Shut ‘er down, Ma, she’s a-suckin’ mud”. Often used as a query. “We are going to reconfigure the network, are you ready to suck mud?”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sufficiently small, Next:[12792]suit, Previous:[12793]sucking mud, Up:[12794]= S =
sufficiently small adj.
Syn. [12795]suitably small.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:suit, Next:[12796]suitable win, Previous:[12797]sufficiently small, Up:[12798]= S =
suit n.
1. Ugly and uncomfortable `business clothing’ often worn by non-hackers. Invariably worn with a `tie’, a strangulation device that partially cuts off the blood supply to the brain. It is thought that this explains much about the behavior of suit-wearers. Compare [12799]droid. 2. A person who habitually wears suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker. See [12800]pointy-haired, [12801]burble, [12802]management, [12803]Stupids, [12804]SNAFU principle, [12805]PHB, and [12806]brain-damaged.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:suitable win, Next:[12807]suitably small, Previous:[12808]suit, Up:[12809]= S =
suitable win n.
See [12810]win.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:suitably small, Next:[12811]Sun, Previous:[12812]suitable win, Up:[12813]= S =
suitably small adj.
[perverted from mathematical jargon]
An expression used ironically to characterize unquantifiable behavior that differs from expected or required behavior. For example, suppose a newly created program came up with a correct full-screen display, and one publicly exclaimed: “It works!” Then, if the program dumped core on the first mouse click, one might add: “Well, for suitably small values of `works’.” Compare the characterization of pi under [12814]random numbers.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:Sun, Next:[12815]sun lounge, Previous:[12816]suitably small, Up:[12817]= S =
Sun n.
Sun Microsystems. Hackers remember that the name was originally an acronym, Stanford University Network. Sun started out around 1980 with some hardware hackers (mainly) from Stanford talking to some software hackers (mainly) from UC Berkeley; Sun’s original technology concept married a clever board design based on the Motorola 68000 to [12818]BSD Unix. Sun went on to lead the worstation industry through the 1980s, and for years afterwards remained an engineering-driven company and a good place for hackers to work. Though Sun drifted away from its techie origins after 1990 and has since made some strategic moves that disappointed and annoyed many hackers (especially by maintaining proprietary control of Java and rejecting Linux), it’s still considered within the family in much the same way [12819]DEC was in the 1970s and early 1980s.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sun lounge, Next:[12820]sun-stools, Previous:[12821]Sun, Up:[12822]= S =
sun lounge n.
[UK] The room where all the Sun workstations live. The humor in this term comes from the fact that it’s also in mainstream use to describe a solarium, and all those Sun workstations clustered together give off an amazing amount of heat.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sun-stools, Next:[12823]sunspots, Previous:[12824]sun lounge, Up:[12825]= S =
sun-stools n.
Unflattering hackerism for SunTools, a pre-X windowing environment notorious in its day for size, slowness, and misfeatures. [12826]X, however, is larger and (some claim) slower; see [12827]second-system effect.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sunspots, Next:[12828]super source quench, Previous:[12829]sun-stools, Up:[12830]= S =
sunspots n.
1. Notional cause of an odd error. “Why did the program suddenly turn the screen blue?” “Sunspots, I guess.” 2. Also the cause of [12831]bit rot — from the myth that sunspots will increase [12832]cosmic rays, which can flip single bits in memory. See also [12833]phase of the moon.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:super source quench, Next:[12834]superloser, Previous:[12835]sunspots, Up:[12836]= S =
super source quench n.
A special packet designed to shut up an Internet host. The Internet Protocol (IP) has a control message called Source Quench that asks a host to transmit more slowly on a particular connection to avoid congestion. It also has a Redirect control message intended to instruct a host to send certain packets to a different local router. A “super source quench” is actually a redirect control packet, forged to look like it came from a local router, that instructs a host to send all packets to its own local loopback address. This will effectively tie many Internet hosts up in knots. Compare [12837]Godzillagram, [12838]breath-of-life packet.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:superloser, Next:[12839]superprogrammer, Previous:[12840]super source quench, Up:[12841]= S =
superloser n.
[Unix] A superuser with no clue – someone with root privileges on a Unix system and no idea what he/she is doing, the moral equivalent of a three-year-old with an unsafetied Uzi. Anyone who thinks this is an uncommon situation reckons without the territorial urges of [12842]management.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:superprogrammer, Next:[12843]superuser, Previous:[12844]superloser, Up:[12845]= S =
superprogrammer n.
A prolific programmer; one who can code exceedingly well and quickly. Not all hackers are superprogrammers, but many are. (Productivity can vary from one programmer to another by three orders of magnitude. For example, one programmer might be able to write an average of 3 lines of working code in one day, while another, with the proper tools, might be able to write 3,000. This range is astonishing; it is matched in very few other areas of human endeavor.) The term `superprogrammer’ is more commonly used within such places as IBM than in the hacker community. It tends to stress naive measures of productivity and to underweight creativity, ingenuity, and getting the job done — and to sidestep the question of whether the 3,000 lines of code do more or less useful work than three lines that do the [12846]Right Thing. Hackers tend to prefer the terms [12847]hacker and [12848]wizard. _________________________________________________________________
Node:superuser, Next:[12849]support, Previous:[12850]superprogrammer, Up:[12851]= S =
superuser n.
[Unix] Syn. [12852]root, [12853]avatar. This usage has spread to non-Unix environments; the superuser is any account with all [12854]wheel bits on. A more specific term than [12855]wheel. _________________________________________________________________
Node:support, Next:[12856]surf, Previous:[12857]superuser, Up:[12858]= S =
support n.
After-sale handholding; something many software vendors promise but few deliver. To hackers, most support people are useless — because by the time a hacker calls support he or she will usually know the software and the relevant manuals better than the support people (sadly, this is not a joke or exaggeration). A hacker’s idea of `support’ is a tête-à-tête with the software’s designer. _________________________________________________________________
Node:surf, Next:[12859]Suzie COBOL, Previous:[12860]support, Up:[12861]= S =
surf v.
[from the `surf’ idiom for rapidly flipping TV channels] To traverse the Internet in search of interesting stuff, used esp. if one is doing so with a World Wide Web browser. It is also common to speak of `surfing in’ to a particular resource.
Hackers adopted this term early, but many have stopped using it since it went completely mainstream around 1995. The passive, couch-potato connotations that go with TV channel surfing were never pleasant, and hearing non-hackers wax enthusiastic about “surfing the net” tends to make hackers feel a bit as though their home is being overrun by ignorami.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:Suzie COBOL, Next:[12862]swab, Previous:[12863]surf, Up:[12864]= S =
Suzie COBOL /soo’zee koh’bol/
1. [IBM: prob. from Frank Zappa’s `Suzy Creamcheese’] n. A coder straight out of training school who knows everything except the value of comments in plain English. Also (fashionable among personkind wishing to avoid accusations of sexism) `Sammy Cobol’ or (in some non-IBM circles) `Cobol Charlie’. 2. [proposed] Meta-name for any [12865]code grinder, analogous to [12866]J. Random Hacker. _________________________________________________________________
Node:swab, Next:[12867]swap, Previous:[12868]Suzie COBOL, Up:[12869]= S =
swab /swob/
[From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 `SWAp Byte’ instruction, as immortalized in the dd(1) option conv=swab (see [12870]dd)] 1. vt. To solve the [12871]NUXI problem by swapping bytes in a file. 2. n. The program in V7 Unix used to perform this action, or anything functionally equivalent to it. See also [12872]big-endian, [12873]little-endian, [12874]middle-endian, [12875]bytesexual. _________________________________________________________________
Node:swap, Next:[12876]swap space, Previous:[12877]swab, Up:[12878]= S =
swap vt.
1. [techspeak] To move information from a fast-access memory to a slow-access memory (`swap out’), or vice versa (`swap in’). Often refers specifically to the use of disks as `virtual memory’. As pieces of data or program are needed, they are swapped into [12879]core for processing; when they are no longer needed they may be swapped out again. 2. The jargon use of these terms analogizes people’s short-term memories with core. Cramming for an exam might be spoken of as swapping in. If you temporarily forget someone’s name, but then remember it, your excuse is that it was swapped out. To `keep something swapped in’ means to keep it fresh in your memory: “I reread the TECO manual every few months to keep it swapped in.” If someone interrupts you just as you got a good idea, you might say “Wait a moment while I swap this out”, implying that a piece of paper is your extra-somatic memory and that if you don’t swap the idea out by writing it down it will get overwritten and lost as you talk. Compare [12880]page in, [12881]page out.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:swap space, Next:[12882]swapped in, Previous:[12883]swap, Up:[12884]= S =
swap space n.
Storage space, especially temporary storage space used during a move or reconfiguration. “I’m just using that corner of the machine room for swap space.”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:swapped in, Next:[12885]swapped out, Previous:[12886]swap space, Up:[12887]= S =
swapped in n.
See [12888]swap. See also [12889]page in. _________________________________________________________________
Node:swapped out, Next:[12890]swizzle, Previous:[12891]swapped in, Up:[12892]= S =
swapped out n.
See [12893]swap. See also [12894]page out. _________________________________________________________________
Node:swizzle, Next:[12895]sync, Previous:[12896]swapped out, Up:[12897]= S =
swizzle v.
To convert external names, array indices, or references within a data structure into address pointers when the data structure is brought into main memory from external storage (also called `pointer swizzling’); this may be done for speed in chasing references or to simplify code (e.g., by turning lots of name lookups into pointer dereferences). The converse operation is sometimes termed `unswizzling’. See also [12898]snap.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sync, Next:[12899]syntactic salt, Previous:[12900]swizzle, Up:[12901]= S =
sync /sink/ n., vi.
(var. `synch’) 1. To synchronize, to bring into synchronization. 2. [techspeak] To force all pending I/O to the disk; see [12902]flush, sense 2. 3. More generally, to force a number of competing processes or agents to a state that would be `safe’ if the system were to crash; thus, to checkpoint (in the database-theory sense). _________________________________________________________________
Node:syntactic salt, Next:[12903]syntactic sugar, Previous:[12904]sync, Up:[12905]= S =
syntactic salt n.
The opposite of [12906]syntactic sugar, a feature designed to make it harder to write bad code. Specifically, syntactic salt is a hoop the programmer must jump through just to prove that he knows what’s going on, rather than to express a program action. Some programmers consider required type declarations to be syntactic salt. A requirement to write end if, end while, end do, etc. to terminate the last block controlled by a control construct (as opposed to just end) would definitely be syntactic salt. Syntactic salt is like the real thing in that it tends to raise hackers’ blood pressures in an unhealthy way. Compare [12907]candygrammar.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:syntactic sugar, Next:[12908]sys-frog, Previous:[12909]syntactic salt, Up:[12910]= S =
syntactic sugar n.
[coined by Peter Landin] Features added to a language or other formalism to make it `sweeter’ for humans, features which do not affect the expressiveness of the formalism (compare [12911]chrome). Used esp. when there is an obvious and trivial translation of the `sugar’ feature into other constructs already present in the notation. C’s a[i] notation is syntactic sugar for *(a + i). “Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.” — Alan Perlis.
The variants `syntactic saccharin’ and `syntactic syrup’ are also recorded. These denote something even more gratuitous, in that syntactic sugar serves a purpose (making something more acceptable to humans), but syntactic saccharin or syrup serve no purpose at all. Compare [12912]candygrammar, [12913]syntactic salt. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sys-frog, Next:[12914]sysadmin, Previous:[12915]syntactic sugar, Up:[12916]= S =
sys-frog /sis’frog/ n.
[the PLATO system] Playful variant of `sysprog’, which is in turn short for `systems programmer’.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:sysadmin, Next:[12917]sysape, Previous:[12918]sys-frog, Up:[12919]= S =
sysadmin /sis’ad-min/ n.
Common contraction of `system admin’; see [12920]admin. _________________________________________________________________
Node:sysape, Next:[12921]sysop, Previous:[12922]sysadmin, Up:[12923]= S =
sysape /sys’ayp/ n.
A rather derogatory term for a computer operator; a play on [12924]sysop common at sites that use the banana hierarchy of problem complexity (see [12925]one-banana problem). _________________________________________________________________
Node:sysop, Next:[12926]system, Previous:[12927]sysape, Up:[12928]= S =
sysop /sis’op/ n.
[esp. in the BBS world] The operator (and usually the owner) of a bulletin-board system. A common neophyte mistake on [12929]FidoNet is to address a message to `sysop’ in an international [12930]echo, thus sending it to hundreds of sysops around the world. _________________________________________________________________
Node:system, Next:[12931]systems jock, Previous:[12932]sysop, Up:[12933]= S =
system n.
1. The supervisor program or OS on a computer. 2. The entire computer system, including input/output devices, the supervisor program or OS, and possibly other software. 3. Any large-scale program. 4. Any method or algorithm. 5. `System hacker’: one who hacks the system (in senses 1 and 2 only; for sense 3 one mentions the particular program: e.g., `LISP hacker’)
_________________________________________________________________
Node:systems jock, Next:[12934]system mangler, Previous:[12935]system, Up:[12936]= S =
systems jock n.
See [12937]jock, sense 2.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:system mangler, Next:[12938]SysVile, Previous:[12939]systems jock, Up:[12940]= S =
system mangler n.
Humorous synonym for `system manager’, poss. from the fact that one major IBM OS had a [12941]root account called SYSMANGR. Refers specifically to a systems programmer in charge of administration, software maintenance, and updates at some site. Unlike [12942]admin, this term emphasizes the technical end of the skills involved. _________________________________________________________________
Node:SysVile, Next:[12943]T, Previous:[12944]system mangler, Up:[12945]= S =
SysVile /sis-vi:l’/ n.
See [12946]Missed’em-five.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:= T =, Next:[12947]= U =, Previous:[12948]= S =, Up:[12949]The Jargon Lexicon
= T =
* [12950]T:
* [12951]tail recursion:
* [12952]talk mode:
* [12953]talker system:
* [12954]tall card:
* [12955]tanked:
* [12956]TANSTAAFL:
* [12957]tape monkey:
* [12958]tar and feather:
* [12959]tarball:
* [12960]tardegy:
* [12961]taste:
* [12962]tayste:
* [12963]TCB:
* [12964]TCP/IP:
* [12965]TechRef:
* [12966]TECO:
* [12967]tee:
* [12968]teergrube:
* [12969]teledildonics:
* [12970]Telerat:
* [12971]TELNET:
* [12972]ten-finger interface:
* [12973]tense:
* [12974]tentacle:
* [12975]tenured graduate student: * [12976]tera-:
* [12977]teraflop club:
* [12978]terminak:
* [12979]terminal brain death:
* [12980]terminal illness:
* [12981]terminal junkie:
* [12982]terpri:
* [12983]test:
* [12984]TeX:
* [12985]text:
* [12986]thanks in advance:
* [12987]That’s not a bug that’s a feature!: * [12988]the literature:
* [12989]the network:
* [12990]the X that can be Y is not the true X: * [12991]theology:
* [12992]theory:
* [12993]thinko:
* [12994]This can’t happen:
* [12995]This time for sure!:
* [12996]thrash:
* [12997]thread:
* [12998]three-finger salute:
* [12999]throwaway account:
* [13000]thud:
* [13001]thumb:
* [13002]thundering herd problem: * [13003]thunk:
* [13004]tick:
* [13005]tick-list features:
* [13006]tickle a bug:
* [13007]tiger team:
* [13008]time bomb:
* [13009]time sink:
* [13010]time T:
* [13011]times-or-divided-by:
* [13012]TINC:
* [13013]Tinkerbell program:
* [13014]TINLC:
* [13015]tip of the ice-cube:
* [13016]tired iron:
* [13017]tits on a keyboard:
* [13018]TLA:
* [13019](TM):
* [13020]TMRC:
* [13021]TMRCie:
* [13022]TMTOWTDI:
* [13023]to a first approximation: * [13024]to a zeroth approximation:
* [13025]toad:
* [13026]toast:
* [13027]toaster:
* [13028]toeprint:
* [13029]toggle:
* [13030]tool:
* [13031]toolsmith:
* [13032]toor:
* [13033]topic drift:
* [13034]topic group:
* [13035]TOPS-10:
* [13036]TOPS-20:
* [13037]tourist:
* [13038]tourist information:
* [13039]touristic:
* [13040]toy:
* [13041]toy language:
* [13042]toy problem:
* [13043]toy program:
* [13044]trampoline:
* [13045]trap:
* [13046]trap door:
* [13047]trash:
* [13048]trawl:
* [13049]tree-killer:
* [13050]treeware:
* [13051]trit:
* [13052]trivial:
* [13053]troff:
* [13054]troglodyte:
* [13055]troglodyte mode:
* [13056]Trojan horse:
* [13057]troll:
* [13058]Troll-O-Meter:
* [13059]tron:
* [13060]true-hacker:
* [13061]tty:
* [13062]tube:
* [13063]tube time:
* [13064]tunafish:
* [13065]tune:
* [13066]turbo nerd:
* [13067]Turing tar-pit:
* [13068]turist:
* [13069]Tux:
* [13070]tweak:
* [13071]tweeter:
* [13072]TWENEX:
* [13073]twiddle:
* [13074]twiddle:
* [13075]twilight zone:
* [13076]twink:
* [13077]twirling baton:
* [13078]two pi:
* [13079]two-to-the-N:
* [13080]twonkie:
_________________________________________________________________
Node:T, Next:[13081]tail recursion, Previous:[13082]SysVile, Up:[13083]= T =
T /T/
1. [from LISP terminology for `true’] Yes. Used in reply to a question (particularly one asked using [13084]The -P convention). In LISP, the constant T means `true’, among other things. Some Lisp hackers use `T’ and `NIL’ instead of `Yes’ and `No’ almost reflexively. This sometimes causes misunderstandings. When a waiter or flight attendant asks whether a hacker wants coffee, he may absently respond `T’, meaning that he wants coffee; but of course he will be brought a cup of tea instead. Fortunately, most hackers (particularly those who frequent Chinese restaurants) like tea at least as well as coffee — so it is not that big a problem. 2. See [13085]time T (also [13086]since time T equals minus infinity). 3. [techspeak] In transaction-processing circles, an abbreviation for the noun `transaction’. 4. [Purdue] Alternate spelling of [13087]tee. 5. A dialect of [13088]LISP developed at Yale. (There is an intended allusion to NIL, “New Implementation of Lisp”, another dialect of Lisp developed for the [13089]VAX)
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tail recursion, Next:[13090]talk mode, Previous:[13091]T, Up:[13092]= T =
tail recursion n.
If you aren’t sick of it already, see [13093]tail recursion. _________________________________________________________________
Node:talk mode, Next:[13094]talker system, Previous:[13095]tail recursion, Up:[13096]= T =
talk mode n.
A feature supported by Unix, ITS, and some other OSes that allows two or more logged-in users to set up a real-time on-line conversation. It combines the immediacy of talking with all the precision (and verbosity) that written language entails. It is difficult to communicate inflection, though conventions have arisen for some of these (see the section on writing style in the Prependices for details).
Talk mode has a special set of jargon words, used to save typing, which are not used orally. Some of these are identical to (and probably derived from) Morse-code jargon used by ham-radio amateurs since the 1920s.
AFAIAC
as far as I am concerned
AFAIK
as far as I know
BCNU
be seeing you
BTW
by the way
BYE?
are you ready to unlink? (this is the standard way to end a talk-mode conversation; the other person types BYE to confirm, or else continues the conversation)
CUL
see you later
ENQ?
are you busy? (expects ACK or NAK in return)
FOO?
are you there? (often used on unexpected links, meaning also “Sorry if I butted in …” (linker) or “What’s up?” (linkee))
FWIW
for what it’s worth
FYI
for your information
FYA
for your amusement
GA
go ahead (used when two people have tried to type simultaneously; this cedes the right to type to the other)
GRMBL
grumble (expresses disquiet or disagreement)
HELLOP
hello? (an instance of the `-P’ convention)
IIRC
if I recall correctly
JAM
just a minute (equivalent to SEC….)
MIN
same as JAM
NIL
no (see [13097]NIL)
NP
no problem
O
over to you
OO
over and out
/
another form of “over to you” (from x/y as “x over y”)
\
lambda (used in discussing LISPy things)
OBTW
oh, by the way
OTOH
on the other hand
R U THERE?
are you there?
SEC
wait a second (sometimes written SEC…)
SYN
Are you busy? (expects ACK, SYN|ACK, or RST in return; this is modeled on the TCP/IP handshake sequence)
T
yes (see the main entry for [13098]T)
TNX
thanks
TNX 1.0E6
thanks a million (humorous)
TNXE6
another form of “thanks a million”
WRT
with regard to, or with respect to.
WTF
the universal interrogative particle; WTF knows what it means?
WTH
what the hell?
When the typing party has finished, he/she types two newlines to signal that he/she is done; this leaves a blank line between `speeches’ in the conversation, making it easier to reread the preceding text.
When three or more terminals are linked, it is conventional for each typist to [13099]prepend his/her login name or handle and a colon (or a hyphen) to each line to indicate who is typing (some conferencing facilities do this automatically). The login name is often shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a single letter) during a very long conversation.
/\/\/\
A giggle or chuckle. On a MUD, this usually means `earthquake fault’.
Most of the above sub-jargon is used at both Stanford and MIT. Several of these expressions are also common in [13100]email, esp. FYI, FYA, BTW, BCNU, WTF, and CUL. A few other abbreviations have been reported from commercial networks, such as GEnie and CompuServe, where on-line `live’ chat including more than two people is common and usually involves a more `social’ context, notably the following:
grin
grinning, ducking, and running
BBL
be back later
BRB
be right back
HHOJ
ha ha only joking
HHOK
ha ha only kidding
HHOS
[13101]ha ha only serious
IMHO
in my humble opinion (see [13102]IMHO)
LOL
laughing out loud
NHOH
Never Heard of Him/Her (often used in [13103]initgame)
ROTF
rolling on the floor
ROTFL
rolling on the floor laughing
AFK
away from keyboard
b4
before
CU l8tr
see you later
MORF
male or female?
TTFN
ta-ta for now
TTYL
talk to you later
OIC
oh, I see
rehi
hello again
Most of these are not used at universities or in the Unix world, though ROTF and TTFN have gained some currency there and IMHO is common; conversely, most of the people who know these are unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, [13104]NIL, and [13105]T.
The [13106]MUD community uses a mixture of Usenet/Internet emoticons, a few of the more natural of the old-style talk-mode abbrevs, and some of the `social’ list above; specifically, MUD respondents report use of BBL, BRB, LOL, b4, BTW, WTF, TTFN, and WTH. The use of `rehi’ is also common; in fact, mudders are fond of re- compounds and will frequently `rehug’ or `rebonk’ (see [13107]bonk/oif) people. The word `re’ by itself is taken as `regreet’. In general, though, MUDders express a preference for typing things out in full rather than using abbreviations; this may be due to the relative youth of the MUD cultures, which tend to include many touch typists and to assume high-speed links. The following uses specific to MUDs are reported:
CU l8er
see you later (mutant of CU l8tr)
FOAD
fuck off and die (use of this is generally OTT)
OTT
over the top (excessive, uncalled for)
ppl
abbrev for “people”
THX
thanks (mutant of TNX; clearly this comes in batches of 1138 (the Lucasian K)).
UOK?
are you OK?
Some [13108]B1FFisms (notably the variant spelling d00d) appear to be passing into wider use among some subgroups of MUDders.
One final note on talk mode style: neophytes, when in talk mode, often seem to think they must produce letter-perfect prose because they are typing rather than speaking. This is not the best approach. It can be very frustrating to wait while your partner pauses to think of a word, or repeatedly makes the same spelling error and backs up to fix it. It is usually best just to leave typographical errors behind and plunge forward, unless severe confusion may result; in that case it is often fastest just to type “xxx” and start over from before the mistake.
See also [13109]hakspek, [13110]emoticon. _________________________________________________________________
Node:talker system, Next:[13111]tall card, Previous:[13112]talk mode, Up:[13113]= T =
talker system n.
British hackerism for software that enables real-time chat or [13114]talk mode.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tall card, Next:[13115]tanked, Previous:[13116]talker system, Up:[13117]= T =
tall card n.
A PC/AT-size expansion card (these can be larger than IBM PC or XT cards because the AT case is bigger). See also [13118]short card. When IBM introduced the PS/2 model 30 (its last gasp at supporting the ISA) they made the case lower and many industry-standard tall cards wouldn’t fit; this was felt to be a reincarnation of the [13119]connector conspiracy, done with less style. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tanked, Next:[13120]TANSTAAFL, Previous:[13121]tall card, Up:[13122]= T =
tanked adj.
Same as [13123]down, used primarily by Unix hackers. See also [13124]hosed. Popularized as a synonym for `drunk’ by Steve Dallas in the late lamented “Bloom County” comic strip. _________________________________________________________________
Node:TANSTAAFL, Next:[13125]tape monkey, Previous:[13126]tanked, Up:[13127]= T =
TANSTAAFL /tan’stah-fl/
[acronym, from Robert Heinlein’s classic “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”.] “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”, often invoked when someone is balking at the prospect of using an unpleasantly [13128]heavyweight technique, or at the poor quality of some piece of software, or at the [13129]signal-to-noise ratio of unmoderated Usenet newsgroups. “What? Don’t tell me I have to implement a database back end to get my address book program to work!” “Well, TANSTAAFL you know.” This phrase owes some of its popularity to the high concentration of science-fiction fans and political libertarians in hackerdom (see [13130]Appendix B for discussion). _________________________________________________________________
Node:tape monkey, Next:[13131]tar and feather, Previous:[13132]TANSTAAFL, Up:[13133]= T =
tape monkey n.
A junior system administrator, one who might plausibly be assigned to do physical swapping of tapes and subsequent storage. When a backup needs to be restored, one might holler “Tape monkey!” (Compare [13134]one-banana problem) Also used to dismiss jobs not worthy of a highly trained sysadmin’s ineffable talents: “Cable up her PC? You must be joking – I’m no tape monkey.”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tar and feather, Next:[13135]tarball, Previous:[13136]tape monkey, Up:[13137]= T =
tar and feather vi.
[from Unix tar(1)] To create a transportable archive from a group of files by first sticking them together with tar(1) (the Tape ARchiver) and then compressing the result (see [13138]compress). The latter action is dubbed `feathering’ partly for euphony and (if only for contrived effect) by analogy to what you do with an airplane propeller to decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to reduce water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip through comm links more easily. Compare the more common [13139]tarball. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tarball, Next:[13140]tardegy, Previous:[13141]tar and feather, Up:[13142]= T =
tarball n.
[very common; prob. based on the “tar baby” in the Uncle Remus folk tales] An archive, created with the Unix tar(1) utility, containing myriad related files. “Here, I’ll just ftp you a tarball of the whole project.” Tarballs have been the standard way to ship around source-code distributions since the mid-1980s; in retrospect it seems odd that this term did not enter common usage until the late 1990s. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tardegy, Next:[13143]taste, Previous:[13144]tarball, Up:[13145]= T =
tardegy
n. [deliberate mangling of `tragedy’] An incident in which someone who clearly deserves to be selected out of the gene pool on grounds of extreme stupidity meets with a messy end. Coined on the Darwin list, which is dedicated to chronicling such incidents; but almost all hackers would instantly recognize the intention of the term and laugh. _________________________________________________________________
Node:taste, Next:[13146]tayste, Previous:[13147]tardegy, Up:[13148]= T =
taste [primarily MIT] n.
1. The quality in a program that tends to be inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges programmed into it. Also `tasty’, `tasteful’, `tastefulness’. “This feature comes in N tasty flavors.” Although `tasty’ and `flavorful’ are essentially synonyms, `taste’ and [13149]flavor are not. Taste refers to sound judgment on the part of the creator; a program or feature can exhibit taste but cannot have taste. On the other hand, a feature can have [13150]flavor. Also, [13151]flavor has the additional meaning of `kind’ or `variety’ not shared by `taste’. The marked sense of [13152]flavor is more popular than `taste’, though both are widely used. See also [13153]elegant. 2. Alt. sp. of [13154]tayste. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tayste, Next:[13155]TCB, Previous:[13156]taste, Up:[13157]= T =
tayste /tayst/
n. Two bits; also as [13158]taste. Syn. [13159]crumb, [13160]quarter. See [13161]nybble.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:TCB, Next:[13162]TCP/IP, Previous:[13163]tayste, Up:[13164]= T =
TCB /T-C-B/ n.
[IBM] 1. Trouble Came Back. An intermittent or difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to respond to neglect or [13165]shotgun debugging. Compare [13166]heisenbug. Not to be confused with: 2. Trusted Computing Base, an `official’ jargon term from the [13167]Orange Book.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:TCP/IP, Next:[13168]TechRef, Previous:[13169]TCB, Up:[13170]= T =
TCP/IP /T’C-P I’P/ n.
1. [Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol] The wide-area-networking protocol that makes the Internet work, and the only one most hackers can speak the name of without laughing or retching. Unlike such allegedly `standard’ competitors such as X.25, DECnet, and the ISO 7-layer stack, TCP/IP evolved primarily by actually being used, rather than being handed down from on high by a vendor or a heavily-politicized standards committee. Consequently, it (a) works, (b) actually promotes cheap cross-platform connectivity, and (c) annoys the hell out of corporate and governmental empire-builders everywhere. Hackers value all three of these properties. See [13171]creationism. 2. [Amateur Packet Radio] Formerly expanded as “The Crap Phil Is Pushing”. The reference is to Phil Karn, KA9Q, and the context was an ongoing technical/political war between the majority of sites still running AX.25 and the TCP/IP relays. TCP/IP won.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:TechRef, Next:[13172]TECO, Previous:[13173]TCP/IP, Up:[13174]= T =
TechRef /tek’ref/ n.
[MS-DOS] The original “IBM PC Technical Reference Manual”, including the BIOS listing and complete schematics for the PC. The only PC documentation in the original-issue package that was considered serious by real hackers.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:TECO, Next:[13175]tee, Previous:[13176]TechRef, Up:[13177]= T =
TECO /tee’koh/ n.,v. obs.
1. [originally an acronym for `[paper] Tape Editor and COrrector’; later, `Text Editor and COrrector’] n. A text editor developed at MIT and modified by just about everybody. With all the dialects included, TECO may have been the most prolific editor in use before [13178]EMACS, to which it was directly ancestral. Noted for its powerful programming-language-like features and its unspeakably hairy syntax. It is literally the case that every string of characters is a valid TECO program (though probably not a useful one); one common game used to be mentally working out what the TECO commands corresponding to human names did. 2. vt. Originally, to edit using the TECO editor in one of its infinite variations (see below). 3. vt.,obs. To edit even when TECO is not the editor being used! This usage is rare and now primarily historical.
As an example of TECO’s obscurity, here is a TECO program that takes a list of names such as:
Loser, J. Random
Quux, The Great
Dick, Moby
sorts them alphabetically according to surname, and then puts the surname last, removing the comma, to produce the following: Moby Dick
J. Random Loser
The Great Quux
The program is
[1 J^P$L$$
J $$
(where ^B means `Control-B’ (ASCII 0000010) and $ is actually an [13179]alt or escape (ASCII 0011011) character).
In fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted list from the first list. The first hack at it had a [13180]bug: GLS (the author) had accidentally omitted the @ in front of F^B, which as anyone can see is clearly the [13181]Wrong Thing. It worked fine the second time. There is no space to describe all the features of TECO, but it may be of interest that ^P means `sort’ and J<.-Z; ... L> is an
idiomatic series of commands for `do once for every line’.
In mid-1991, TECO is pretty much one with the dust of history, having been replaced in the affections of hackerdom by [13182]EMACS. Descendants of an early (and somewhat lobotomized) version adopted by DEC can still be found lurking on VMS and a couple of crufty PDP-11 operating systems, however, and ports of the more advanced MIT versions remain the focus of some antiquarian interest. See also [13183]retrocomputing, [13184]write-only language. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tee, Next:[13185]teergrube, Previous:[13186]TECO, Up:[13187]= T =
tee n.,vt.
[Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic transmission. “Oh, you’re sending him the [13188]bits to that? Slap on a tee for me.” From the Unix command tee(1), itself named after a pipe fitting (see [13189]plumbing). Can also mean `save one for me’, as in “Tee a slice for me!” Also spelled `T’.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:teergrube, Next:[13190]teledildonics, Previous:[13191]tee, Up:[13192]= T =
teergrube /teer’groob/ n.
[German for `tar pit’] A trap set to punish spammers who use an [13193]address harvester; a mail server deliberately set up to be really, really slow. To activate it, scatter addresses that look like users on the teergrube’s host in places where the address harvester will be trolling (one popular way is to embed the fake address in a Usenet sig block next to a human-readable warning not to send mail to it). The address harvester will dutifully collect the address. When the spammer tries to mailbomb it, his mailer will get stuck. _________________________________________________________________
Node:teledildonics, Next:[13194]Telerat, Previous:[13195]teergrube, Up:[13196]= T =
teledildonics /tel`*-dil-do’-niks/ n.
Sex in a computer simulated virtual reality, esp. computer-mediated sexual interaction between the [13197]VR presences of two humans. This practice is not yet possible except in the rather limited form of erotic conversation on [13198]MUDs and the like. The term, however, is widely recognized in the VR community as a [13199]ha ha only serious projection of things to come. “When we can sustain a multi-sensory surround good enough for teledildonics, then we’ll know we’re getting somewhere.” See also [13200]hot chat.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:Telerat, Next:[13201]TELNET, Previous:[13202]teledildonics, Up:[13203]= T =
Telerat /tel’*-rat/ n. obs.
Unflattering hackerism for `Teleray’, a now-extinct line of extremely losing terminals. Compare [13204]AIDX, [13205]Macintrash [13206]Nominal Semidestructor, [13207]ScumOS, [13208]sun-stools, [13209]HP-SUX, [13210]Slowlaris.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:TELNET, Next:[13211]ten-finger interface, Previous:[13212]Telerat, Up:[13213]= T =
TELNET /tel’net/ vt.
(also commonly lowercased as `telnet’) To communicate with another Internet host using the TELNET ([13214]RFC 854) protocol (usually using a program of the same name). TOPS-10 people used the word IMPCOM, since that was the program name for them. Sometimes abbreviated to TN /T-N/. “I usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News.”
_________________________________________________________________
Node:ten-finger interface, Next:[13215]tense, Previous:[13216]TELNET, Up:[13217]= T =
ten-finger interface n.
The interface between two networks that cannot be directly connected for security reasons; refers to the practice of placing two terminals side by side and having an operator read from one and type into the other.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tense, Next:[13218]tentacle, Previous:[13219]ten-finger interface, Up:[13220]= T =
tense adj.
Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of code often got that way because it was highly [13221]bummed, but sometimes it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a clever routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student hacker at CMU: “This routine is so tense it will bring tears to your eyes.” A tense programmer is one who produces tense code.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tentacle, Next:[13222]tenured graduate student, Previous:[13223]tense, Up:[13224]= T =
tentacle n.
A covert [13225]pseudo, sense 1. An artificial identity created in cyberspace for nefarious and deceptive purposes. The implication is that a single person may have multiple tentacles. This term was originally floated in some paranoid ravings on the cypherpunks list (see [13226]cypherpunk), and adopted in a spirit of irony by other, saner members. It has since shown up, used seriously, in the documentation for some remailer software, and is now (1994) widely recognized on the net.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tenured graduate student, Next:[13227]tera-, Previous:[13228]tentacle, Up:[13229]= T =
tenured graduate student n.
One who has been in graduate school for 10 years (the usual maximum is 5 or 6): a `ten-yeared’ student (get it?). Actually, this term may be used of any grad student beginning in his seventh year. Students don’t really get tenure, of course, the way professors do, but a tenth-year graduate student has probably been around the university longer than any untenured professor.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:tera-, Next:[13230]teraflop club, Previous:[13231]tenured graduate student, Up:[13232]= T =
tera- /te’r*/ pref.
[SI] See [13233]quantifiers.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:teraflop club, Next:[13234]terminak, Previous:[13235]tera-, Up:[13236]= T =
teraflop club /te’r*-flop kluhb/ n.
[FLOP = Floating Point Operation] A mythical association of people who consume outrageous amounts of computer time in order to produce a few simple pictures of glass balls with intricate ray-tracing techniques. Caltech professor James Kajiya is said to have been the founder. Compare [13237]Knights of the Lambda Calculus. _________________________________________________________________
Node:terminak, Next:[13238]terminal brain death, Previous:[13239]teraflop club, Up:[13240]= T =
terminak /ter’mi-nak`/ n.
[Caltech, ca. 1979] Any malfunctioning computer terminal. A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM 3a terminals caused the `L’ key to produce the `K’ code instead; complaints about this tended to look like “Terminak #3 has a bad keyboard. Pkease fix.” Compare [13241]dread high-bit disease, [13242]frogging; see also [13243]AIDX, [13244]Nominal Semidestructor, [13245]ScumOS, [13246]sun-stools, [13247]Telerat, [13248]HP-SUX, [13249]Slowlaris. _________________________________________________________________
Node:terminal brain death, Next:[13250]terminal illness, Previous:[13251]terminak, Up:[13252]= T =
terminal brain death n.
The extreme form of [13253]terminal illness (sense 1). What someone who has obviously been hacking continuously for far too long is said to be suffering from.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:terminal illness, Next:[13254]terminal junkie, Previous:[13255]terminal brain death, Up:[13256]= T =
terminal illness n.
1. Syn. [13257]raster burn. 2. The `burn-in’ condition your CRT tends to get if you don’t have a screen saver. _________________________________________________________________
Node:terminal junkie, Next:[13258]terpri, Previous:[13259]terminal illness, Up:[13260]= T =
terminal junkie n.
[UK] A [13261]wannabee or early [13262]larval stage hacker who spends most of his or her time wandering the directory tree and writing [13263]noddy programs just to get a fix of computer time. Variants include `terminal jockey’, `console junkie’, and [13264]console jockey. The term `console jockey’ seems to imply more expertise than the other three (possibly because of the exalted status of the [13265]console relative to an ordinary terminal). See also [13266]twink, [13267]read-only user. Appropriately, this term was used in the works of William S. Burroughs to describe a heroin addict with an unlimited supply.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:terpri, Next:[13268]test, Previous:[13269]terminal junkie, Up:[13270]= T =
terpri /ter’pree/ vi.
[from LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP)] To output a [13271]newline. Now rare as jargon, though still used as techspeak in Common LISP. It is a contraction of `TERminate PRInt line’, named for the fact that, on some early OSes and hardware, no characters would be printed until a complete line was formed, so this operation terminated the line and emitted the output.
_________________________________________________________________
Node:test, Next:[13272]TeX, Previous:[13273]terpri, Up:[13274]= T =
test n.
1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to get thoroughly acquainted with it, with careful monitoring and followup of the results. 2. Some bored random user trying a couple of the simpler features with a developer looking over his or her shoulder, ready to pounce on mistakes. Judging by the quality of most software, the second definition is far more prevalent. See also [13275]demo. _________________________________________________________________
Node:TeX, Next:[13276]text, Previous:[13277]test, Up:[13278]= T =
TeX /tekh/ n.
An extremely powerful [13279]macro-based text formatter written by Donald E. [13280]Knuth, very popular in the computer-science community (it is good enough to have displaced Unix [13281]troff, the other favored formatter, even at many Unix installations). TeX fans insist on the correct (guttural) pronunciation, and the correct spelling (all caps, squished together, with the E depressed below the baseline; the mixed-case `TeX’ is considered an acceptable kluge on ASCII-only devices). Fans like to proliferate names from the word `TeX’ — such as TeXnician (TeX user), TeXhacker (TeX programmer), TeXmaster (competent TeX programmer), TeXhax, and TeXnique. See also [13282]CrApTeX.
Knuth began TeX because he had become annoyed at the declining quality of the typesetting in volumes I-III of his monumental “Art of Computer Programming” (see [13283]Knuth, also [13284]bible). In a manifestation of the typical hackish urge to solve the problem at hand once and for all, he began to design his own typesetting language. He thought he would finish it on his sabbatical in 1978; he was wrong by only about 8 years. The language was finally frozen around 1985, but volume IV of “The Art of Computer Programming” is not expected to appear until 2002. The impact and influence of TeX’s design has been such that nobody minds this very much. Many grand hackish projects have started as a bit of [13285]toolsmithing on the way to something else; Knuth’s diversion was simply on a grander scale than most.
TeX has also been a noteworthy example of free, shared, but high-quality software. Knuth offers a monetary awards to anyone who found and reported bugs dating from before the 1989 code freeze; as the years wore on and the few remaining bugs were fixed (and new ones even harder to find), the bribe went up. Though well-written, TeX is so large (and so full of cutting edge technique) that it is said to have unearthed at least one bug in every Pascal system it has been compiled with.
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Node:text, Next:[13286]thanks in advance, Previous:[13287]TeX, Up:[13288]= T =
text n.
1. [techspeak] Executable code, esp. a `pure code’ portion shared between multiple instances of a program running in a multitasking OS. Compare [13289]English. 2. Textual material in the mainstream sense; data in ordinary [13290]ASCII or [13291]EBCDIC representation (see [13292]flat-ASCII). “Those are text files; you can review them using the editor.” These two contradictory senses confuse hackers, too. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thanks in advance, Next:[13293]That’s not a bug that’s a feature!, Previous:[13294]text, Up:[13295]= T =
thanks in advance
[Usenet] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted request for information or assistance. Sometimes written `advTHANKSance’ or `aTdHvAaNnKcSe’ or abbreviated `TIA’. See [13296]net.-, [13297]netiquette.
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Node:That’s not a bug that’s a feature!, Next:[13298]the literature, Previous:[13299]thanks in advance, Up:[13300]= T =
That’s not a bug, that’s a feature!
The [13301]canonical first parry in a debate about a purported bug. The complainant, if unconvinced, is likely to retort that the bug is then at best a [13302]misfeature. See also [13303]feature. _________________________________________________________________
Node:the literature, Next:[13304]the network, Previous:[13305]That’s not a bug that’s a feature!, Up:[13306]= T =
the literature n.
Computer-science journals and other publications, vaguely gestured at to answer a question that the speaker believes is [13307]trivial. Thus, one might answer an annoying question by saying “It’s in the literature.” Oppose [13308]Knuth, which has no connotation of triviality.
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Node:the network, Next:[13309]the X that can be Y is not the true X, Previous:[13310]the literature, Up:[13311]= T =
the network n.
1. Historicaslly, the union of all the major noncommercial, academic, and hacker-oriented networks, such as Internet, the pre-1990 ARPANET, NSFnet, [13312]BITNET, and the virtual UUCP and [13313]Usenet `networks’, plus the corporate in-house networks and commercial time-sharing services (such as CompuServe, GEnie and AOL) that gateway to them. A site is generally considered `on the network’ if it can be reached through some combination of Internet-style (@-sign) and UUCP (bang-path) addresses. See [13314]Internet, [13315]bang path, [13316]Internet address, [13317]network address. 2. Following the mass-culture discovery of the Internet in 1994 and subsequent proliferation of cheap TCP/IP connections, “the network” is increasingly synonymous with the Internet itself (as it was before the second wave of wide-area computer networking began around 1980). 3. A fictional conspiracy of libertarian hacker-subversives and anti-authoritarian monkeywrenchers described in Robert Anton Wilson’s novel “Schrödinger’s Cat”, to which many hackers have subsequently decided they belong (this is an example of [13318]ha ha only serious).
In sense 1, `the network’ is often abbreviated to `the net’. “Are you on the net?” is a frequent question when hackers first meet face to face, and “See you on the net!” is a frequent goodbye. _________________________________________________________________
Node:the X that can be Y is not the true X, Next:[13319]theology, Previous:[13320]the network, Up:[13321]= T =
the X that can be Y is not the true X
Yet another instance of hackerdom’s peculiar attraction to mystical references — a common humorous way of making exclusive statements about a class of things. The template is from the “Tao te Ching”: “The Tao which can be spoken of is not the true Tao.” The implication is often that the X is a mystery accessible only to the enlightened. See the [13322]trampoline entry for an example, and compare [13323]has the X nature.
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Node:theology, Next:[13324]theory, Previous:[13325]the X that can be Y is not the true X, Up:[13326]= T =
theology n.
1. Ironically or humorously used to refer to [13327]religious issues. 2. Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the resolution is of theoretical interest but is relatively [13328]marginal with respect to actual use of a design or system. Used esp. around software issues with a heavy AI or language-design component, such as the smart-data vs. smart-programs dispute in AI. _________________________________________________________________
Node:theory, Next:[13329]thinko, Previous:[13330]theology, Up:[13331]= T =
theory n.
The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that is currently being used to inform a behavior. This usage is a generalization and (deliberate) abuse of the technical meaning. “What’s the theory on fixing this TECO loss?” “What’s the theory on dinner tonight?” (“Chinatown, I guess.”) “What’s the current theory on letting lusers on during the day?” “The theory behind this change is to fix the following well-known screw….”
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Node:thinko, Next:[13332]This can’t happen, Previous:[13333]theory, Up:[13334]= T =
thinko /thing’koh/ n.
[by analogy with `typo’] A momentary, correctable glitch in mental processing, especially one involving recall of information learned by rote; a bubble in the stream of consciousness. Syn. [13335]braino; see also [13336]brain fart. Compare [13337]mouso. _________________________________________________________________
Node:This can’t happen, Next:[13338]This time for sure!, Previous:[13339]thinko, Up:[13340]= T =
This can’t happen
Less clipped variant of [13341]can’t happen. _________________________________________________________________
Node:This time for sure!, Next:[13342]thrash, Previous:[13343]This can’t happen, Up:[13344]= T =
This time, for sure! excl.
Ritual affirmation frequently uttered during protracted debugging sessions involving numerous small obstacles (e.g., attempts to bring up a UUCP connection). For the proper effect, this must be uttered in a fruity imitation of Bullwinkle J. Moose. Also heard: “Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!” The [13345]canonical response is, of course, “But that trick never works!” See [13346]hacker humor. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thrash, Next:[13347]thread, Previous:[13348]This time for sure!, Up:[13349]= T =
thrash vi.
To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything useful. Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than performing useful computation) and are therefore said to thrash. Someone who keeps changing his mind (esp. about what to work on next) is said to be thrashing. A person frantically trying to execute too many tasks at once (and not spending enough time on any single task) may also be described as thrashing. Compare [13350]multitask. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thread, Next:[13351]three-finger salute, Previous:[13352]thrash, Up:[13353]= T =
thread n.
[Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of `topic thread’, a more or less continuous chain of postings on a single topic. To `follow a thread’ is to read a series of Usenet postings sharing a common subject or (more correctly) which are connected by Reference headers. The better newsreaders can present news in thread order automatically. Not to be confused with the techspeak sense of `thread’, e.g. a lightweight process.
Interestingly, this is far from a neologism. The OED says: “That which connects the successive points in anything, esp. a narrative, train of thought, or the like; the sequence of events or ideas continuing throughout the whole course of anything;” Citations are given going back to 1642!
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Node:three-finger salute, Next:[13354]throwaway account, Previous:[13355]thread, Up:[13356]= T =
three-finger salute n.
Syn. [13357]Vulcan nerve pinch.
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Node:throwaway account, Next:[13358]thud, Previous:[13359]three-finger salute, Up:[13360]= T =
throwaway account n.
1. An inexpensive Internet account purchased on a legitimate [13361]ISP for the the sole purpose of spewing [13362]spam. 2. An inexpensive Internet account obtained for the sole purpose of doing something which requires a valid email address but being able to ignore spam since the user will not look at the account again. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thud, Next:[13363]thumb, Previous:[13364]throwaway account, Up:[13365]= T =
thud n.
1. Yet another [13366]metasyntactic variable (see [13367]foo). It is reported that at CMU from the mid-1970s the canonical series of these was `foo’, `bar’, `thud’, `blat’. 2. Rare term for the hash character, `#’ (ASCII 0100011). See [13368]ASCII for other synonyms. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thumb, Next:[13369]thundering herd problem, Previous:[13370]thud, Up:[13371]= T =
thumb n.
The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So called because moving it allows you to browse through the contents of a text window in a way analogous to thumbing through a book.
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Node:thundering herd problem, Next:[13372]thunk, Previous:[13373]thumb, Up:[13374]= T =
thundering herd problem
Scheduler thrashing. This can happen under Unix when you have a number of processes that are waiting on a single event. When that event (a connection to the web server, say) happens, every process which could possibly handle the event is awakened. In the end, only one of those processes will actually be able to do the work, but, in the meantime, all the others wake up and contend for CPU time before being put back to sleep. Thus the system thrashes briefly while a herd of processes thunders through. If this starts to happen many times per second, the performance impact can be significant. _________________________________________________________________
Node:thunk, Next:[13375]tick, Previous:[13376]thundering herd problem, Up:[13377]= T =
thunk /thuhnk/ n.
1. [obs.]”A piece of coding which provides an address”, according to P. Z. Ingerman, who invented thunks in 1961 as a way of binding actual parameters to their formal definitions in Algol-60 procedure calls. If a procedure is called with an expression in the place of a formal parameter, the compiler generates a thunk which computes the expression and leaves the address of the result in some standard location. 2. Later generalized into: an expression, frozen together with its environment, for later evaluation if and when needed (similar to what in techspeak is called a `closure’). The process of unfreezing these thunks is called `forcing’. 3. A [13378]stubroutine, in an overlay programming environment, that loads and jumps to the correct overlay. Compare [13379]trampoline. 4. People and activities scheduled in a thunklike manner. “It occurred to me the other day that I am rather accurately modeled by a thunk — I frequently need to be forced to completion.” — paraphrased from a [13380]plan file.
Historical note: There are a couple of onomatopoeic myths circulating about the origin of this term. The most common is that it is the sound made by data hitting the stack; another holds that the sound is that of the data hitting an accumulator. Yet another suggests that it is the sound of the expression being unfrozen at argument-evaluation time. In fact, according to the inventors, it was coined after they realized (in the wee hours after hours of discussion) that the type of an argument in Algol-60 could be figured out in advance with a little compile-time thought, simplifying the evaluation machinery. In other words, it had `already been thought of’; thus it was christened a `thunk’, which is “the past tense of `think’ at two in the morning”. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tick, Next:[13381]tick-list features, Previous:[13382]thunk, Up:[13383]= T =
tick n.
1. A [13384]jiffy (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the discrete unit of time that passes between iterations of the simulation mechanism. In AI applications, this amount of time is often left unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is the ordering of events. This sort of AI simulation is often pejoratively referred to as `tick-tick-tick’ simulation, especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long, independent chains of causes is [13385]handwaved. 3. In the FORTH language, a single quote character. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tick-list features, Next:[13386]tickle a bug, Previous:[13387]tick, Up:[13388]= T =
tick-list features n.
[Acorn Computers] Features in software or hardware that customers insist on but never use (calculators in desktop TSRs and that sort of thing). The American equivalent would be `checklist features’, but this jargon sense of the phrase has not been reported. _________________________________________________________________
Node:tickle a bug, Next:[13389]tiger team, Previous:[13390]tick-list features, Up:[13391]= T =
tickle a bug vt.
To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest itself through some known series of inputs or operations. “You can tickle the bug in the Paradise VGA card’s highlight handling by trying to set bright yellow reverse video.”
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Node:tiger team, Next:[13392]time bomb, Previous:[13393]tickle a bug, Up:[13394]= T =
tiger team n.
[U.S. military jargon] 1. Originally, a team (of [13395]sneakers) whose purpose is to penetrate security, and thus test security measures. These people are paid professionals who do hacker-type tricks, e.g., leave cardboard signs saying “bomb” in critical defense installations, hand-lettered notes saying “Your codebooks have been stolen” (they usually haven’t been) inside safes, etc. After a successful penetration, some high-ranking security type shows up the next morning for a `security review’ and finds the sign, note, etc., and all hell breaks loose. Serious successes of tiger teams sometimes lead to early retirement for base commanders and security officers (see the [13396]patch entry for an example). 2. Recently, and more generally, any official inspection team or special [13397]firefighting group called in to look at a problem.
A subset of tiger teams are professional [13398]crackers, testing the security of military computer installations by attempting remote attacks via networks or supposedly `secure’ comm channels. Some of their escapades, if declassified, would probably rank among the greatest hacks of all times. The term has been adopted in commercial computer-security circles in this more specific sense. _________________________________________________________________
Node:time bomb, Next:[13399]time sink, Previous:[13400]tiger team, Up:[13401]= T =
time bomb n.
A subspecies of [13402]logic bomb that is triggered by reaching some preset time, either once or periodically. There are numerous legends about time bombs set up by programmers in their employers’ machines, to go off if the programmer is fired or laid off and is not present to perform the appropriate suppressing action periodically.
Interestingly, the only such incident for which we have been pointed to documentary evidence took place in the Soviet Union in 1986! A disgruntled programmer at the Volga Automobile Plant (where the Fiat clones called Ladas were manufactured) planted a time bomb which, a week after he’d left on vacation, stopped the entire main assembly line for a day. The case attracted lots of attention in the Soviet Union because it was the first cracking case to make it to court there. The perpetrator got a suspended sentence of 3 years in jail and was barred from future work as a programmer. _________________________________________________________________
Node:time sink, Next:[13403]time T, Previous:[13404]time bomb, Up:[13405]= T =
time sink n.
[poss. by analogy with `heat sink’ or `current sink’] A project that consumes unbounded amounts of time.
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Node:time T, Next:[13406]times-or-divided-by, Previous:[13407]time sink, Up:[13408]= T =
time T /ti:m T/ n.
1. An unspecified but usually well-understood time, often used in conjunction with a later time T+1. “We’ll meet on campus at time T or at Louie’s at time T+1” means, in the context of going out for dinner: “We can meet on campus and go to Louie’s, or we can meet at Louie’s itself a bit later.” (Louie’s was a Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto that was a favorite with hackers.) Had the number 30 been used instead of the number 1, it would have implied that the travel time from campus to Louie’s is 30 minutes; whatever time T is (and that hasn’t been decided on yet), you can meet half an hour later at Louie’s than you could on campus and end up eating at the same time. See also [13409]since time T equals minus infinity. _________________________________________________________________
Node:times-or-divided-by, Next:[13410]TINC, Previous:[13411]time T, Up:[13412]= T =