{"updatedFeeds":{"updatedFeed":[{"feedTitle":"petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:51:28 GMT","item":[{"title":"links-aiml-2026-08","link":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-aiml-2026-08","body":"

links-aiml-2026-08 with AIML Links from August 2026

\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:51:28 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/links-aiml-2026-08.html#1786312288974"}]},{"feedTitle":"found.ward.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/found.ward.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from found.ward.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:21:37 GMT","item":[{"title":"The pdxFedi Meetup","link":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/the-pdxfedi-meetup","body":"pdxFedi is a periodic, in-person gathering of cool people in the greater Portland, OR area. We use the decentralized social network called the Fediverse to chat and plan our gatherings. Come join us. site","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:21:37 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/the-pdxfedi-meetup.html#1786306897317"}]},{"feedTitle":"petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 18:16:04 GMT","item":[{"title":"links-2026-08","link":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-08","body":"

links-2026-08 some raw links from August 2026

\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 18:16:04 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/links-2026-08.html#1786299364276"}]},{"feedTitle":"andrew.shll.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/andrew.shll.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://andrew.shll.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from andrew.shll.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:51:10 GMT","item":[{"title":"Interesting Links","link":"http://andrew.shll.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/interesting-links","body":"Pasted URLs transformed to wiki pages","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:51:10 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://andrew.shll.wiki/interesting-links.html#1786297870377"}]},{"feedTitle":"ccru.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/ccru.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://ccru.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from ccru.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:48:46 GMT","item":[{"title":"Cybernetic Culture Research Unit","link":"http://ccru.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/cybernetic-culture-research-unit","body":"hi","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:48:46 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://ccru.wiki/cybernetic-culture-research-unit.html#1786297726423"}]},{"feedTitle":"meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/","feedDescription":"Updates from meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:06:55 GMT","item":[{"title":"Typescript Transcripts","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-transcripts","body":"A reverse chronological list of the formatted transcripts, suggested by Robert Sterbal, as link into the formatted chat log.","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:06:55 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-transcripts.html#1786270015199"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-31","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-31","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:55 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-31.html#1786269895873"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-31","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-31","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:55 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-31.html#1786269895873"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-31","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-31","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:55 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-31.html#1786269895871"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-27","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-27","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:25 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-27.html#1786269865013"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-27","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-27","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:25 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-27.html#1786269865012"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-27","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-27","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:04:25 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-27.html#1786269865012"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-24","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-24","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:52 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-24.html#1786269832692"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-24","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-24","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:52 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-24.html#1786269832691"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-24","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-24","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:52 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-24.html#1786269832691"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-20","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-20","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:19 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-20.html#1786269799870"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-20","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-20","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:19 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-20.html#1786269799870"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-20","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-20","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:03:19 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-20.html#1786269799870"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-17","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-17","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:02:33 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-17.html#1786269753543"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-17","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-17","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:02:33 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-17.html#1786269753542"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-17","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-17","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:02:33 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-17.html#1786269753541"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-13","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-13","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:49 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-13.html#1786269709904"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-13","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-13","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:49 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-13.html#1786269709904"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-13","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-13","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:49 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-13.html#1786269709904"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-10","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-10","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:13 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-10.html#1786269673564"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-10","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-10","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:13 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-10.html#1786269673564"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-10","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-10","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:01:13 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-10.html#1786269673564"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-06","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-06","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:45 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-06.html#1786269645466"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-06","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-06","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:45 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-06.html#1786269645465"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-06","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-06","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:45 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-06.html#1786269645465"},{"title":"Keywords 2026-05-03","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/keywords-2026-05-03","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:20 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/keywords-2026-05-03.html#1786269620735"},{"title":"Links 2026-05-03","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/links-2026-05-03","body":"

Keyword Index. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:20 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/links-2026-05-03.html#1786269620735"},{"title":"Typescript 2026-05-03","link":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/view/welcome-visitors/view/typescript-2026-05-03","body":"

Text extraction. See:

\n\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:00:20 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://meeting-notes.wiki.rodwell.me/typescript-2026-05-03.html#1786269620734"}]},{"feedTitle":"marc.relocalizecreativity.net","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/marc.relocalizecreativity.net/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/","feedDescription":"Updates from marc.relocalizecreativity.net fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 02:17:18 GMT","item":[{"title":"Story Structure","link":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/view/welcome-visitors/view/story-structure","body":"

Here we represent the simplest most abstract version of a story. Characters in a place and time who take action that has consequences.

\n","pubDate":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 02:17:18 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/story-structure.html#1786241838205"}]},{"feedTitle":"peter.viki.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/peter.viki.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://peter.viki.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from peter.viki.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 20:50:36 GMT","item":[{"title":"sundial","link":"http://peter.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/sundial","body":"sculpture of a sundial from 6th century Kemet/Misr/Egypt 2012","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 20:50:36 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://peter.viki.wiki/sundial.html#1786222236200"}]},{"feedTitle":"petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","item":[{"title":"Lively Kernel","link":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/lively-kernel","body":"The Lively Kernel is a graphical composition and integrated programming environment written fully in the programming language JavaScript using standard browser graphics (W3C Canvas or SVG). It is thus accessible to any browser as a web page, and it begins operating as soon as the web page is loaded. wikipedia, site","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://petedaguru.dojo.fed.wiki/lively-kernel.html#1786218342108"}]},{"feedTitle":"marc.relocalizecreativity.net","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/marc.relocalizecreativity.net/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/","feedDescription":"Updates from marc.relocalizecreativity.net fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","item":[{"title":"Lively Kernel","link":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/view/welcome-visitors/view/lively-kernel","body":"The Lively Kernel is a graphical composition and integrated programming environment written fully in the programming language JavaScript using standard browser graphics (W3C Canvas or SVG). It is thus accessible to any browser as a web page, and it begins operating as soon as the web page is loaded. wikipedia, site","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://marc.relocalizecreativity.net/lively-kernel.html#1786218342108"}]},{"feedTitle":"found.ward.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/found.ward.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from found.ward.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","item":[{"title":"Lively Kernel","link":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/lively-kernel","body":"The Lively Kernel is a graphical composition and integrated programming environment written fully in the programming language JavaScript using standard browser graphics (W3C Canvas or SVG). It is thus accessible to any browser as a web page, and it begins operating as soon as the web page is loaded. wikipedia, site","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:45:42 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://found.ward.fed.wiki/lively-kernel.html#1786218342108"}]},{"feedTitle":"peter.viki.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/peter.viki.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://peter.viki.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from peter.viki.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:23:47 GMT","item":[{"title":"Peoples Map (The)","link":"http://peter.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/peoples-map-the","body":"A map created by the community with powerful educational tools and outreach opportunities. Currently only in Cozumel. The word to enter the gate is passed around by word of mouth. If you are not on the island you may request the word from the developer.\n\nThe Peoples Map\n\n\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:23:47 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://peter.viki.wiki/peoples-map-the.html#1786217027004"}]},{"feedTitle":"thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:56:59 GMT","item":[{"title":"Free Energy Principle and the Golden Ratio","link":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/free-energy-principle-and-the-golden-ratio","body":"What is the free energy principle and how might that relate to beauty in the context of the Golden Ratio?","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:56:59 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/free-energy-principle-and-the-golden-ratio.html#1786208219437"},{"title":"Beauty and Essential Form","link":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beauty-and-essential-form","body":"What is beauty and how might it relate to the golden ratio as the essential form for the unfolding of organic systems? ","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:55:01 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/beauty-and-essential-form.html#1786208101362"},{"title":"Beautiful Longevity and FedWiki","link":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beautiful-longevity-and-fedwiki","body":"What is beautiful longevity and how might it relate to the federated wiki?","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:53:02 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/beautiful-longevity-and-fedwiki.html#1786207982409"},{"title":"Coding Instrument and FedWiki Mechs","link":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/coding-instrument-and-fedwiki-mechs","body":"What is a coding instrument and how might that relate to FedWiki mechs?","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:51:41 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.forage.ustawi.wiki/coding-instrument-and-fedwiki-mechs.html#1786207901002"}]},{"feedTitle":"ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net/","feedDescription":"Updates from ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:47:07 GMT","item":[{"title":"Customized Diagramming Tool","link":"http://ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net/view/welcome-visitors/view/customized-diagramming-tool","body":"

CLICK HERE for the lightweight html tool that you can open in any browser. Be sure to save your work as JSON exports otherwise it will be lost.

\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:47:07 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://ndcgroup.relocalizecreativity.net/customized-diagramming-tool.html#1786207627046"}]},{"feedTitle":"thompson.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/thompson.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://thompson.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from thompson.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:45:07 GMT","item":[{"title":"Conduit Metaphor","link":"http://thompson.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/conduit-metaphor","body":"In linguistics, the conduit metaphor is a dominant class of figurative expressions invoked when linguists discuss communication itself (metalanguage). It operates whenever people speak or write as if they \"insert\" their mental contents (feelings, meanings, thoughts, concepts, etc.) into \"containers\" (words, phrases, sentences, etc.) whose contents are then \"extracted\" by listeners and readers. Thus, in this model, language is viewed as a \"conduit\" conveying mental content between people.

The conduit metaphor was first defined and described by linguist Michael J. Reddy in 1979. Reddy's proposal of this conceptual metaphor refocused debate within and outside the linguistic community on the importance of metaphorical language.","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:45:07 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.fed.wiki/conduit-metaphor.html#1786207507444"},{"title":"Adam Rutherford","link":"http://thompson.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/adam-rutherford","body":"Adam David Rutherford (born 16 January 1975) is an English geneticist and science communicator. He was an audio-visual content editor for the journal Nature for a decade, and is a frequent contributor to the newspaper The Guardian. He formerly hosted the BBC Radio 4 programmes Inside Science and (with Hannah Fry) The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry; has produced several science documentaries; and has published books related to genetics and the origin of life.","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:44:47 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://thompson.fed.wiki/adam-rutherford.html#1786207487536"}]},{"feedTitle":"viki.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/viki.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://viki.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from viki.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:14:25 GMT","item":[{"title":"You Read Best What You Read Most — A Standards Guide for Type Design, Layout & Composition","link":"http://viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/you-read-best-what-you-read-most--a-standards-guide-for-type-design-layout--composition","body":"

You Read Best What You Read Most — A Standards Guide for Type Design, Layout & Composition

\n

\"You read best what you read most.\"
— Zuzana Licko, interview, Emigre (quoted in Filipović & Ivanković, PMC study; Graphéine)

\n
\n
\n

Legibility Is Use, Not Form

\"Legibility is not an intrinsic quality of a typeface, but something acquired through use\" (Graphéine).

\n

This position was not academic for Licko — it was forged directly by the tools she worked with. Co-founder of Emigre Fonts with her husband Rudy VanderLans, she began designing bitmap fonts on the earliest Macintosh in 1984, when the machine's coarse resolution made faithful reproduction of classic typefaces literally impossible: \"it was physically impossible to adapt 8-point Goudy Old Style to 72 dots to the inch. In the end you couldn't tell Goudy Old Style from Times Roman or any other serif text face\" (Wikipedia). Rather than treat this as a problem to disguise, she treated it as the design brief itself.

\n

Notably, her rejection of traditional type practice also has a personal origin: as a left-handed student forced to write with her right hand in a Berkeley calligraphy class, she found the experience alienating enough to reject much of inherited type-design orthodoxy in favor of exploring what the Macintosh could newly do (Wikipedia).

\n
\n

Part I — Standards of Legibility

1.1 Familiarity, not form, produces legibility

\n

1.2 Match the typeface to the specific medium's real constraints

\n
\n

Part II — Standards of Type Construction

2.1 Build from modular, combinable elements

\n

2.2 Design paired families for coordinated screen and print output

\n

2.3 Let simultaneous roman/italic development create formal resonance

\n
\n

Part III — Standards for Historical Revival

3.1 Draw from memory and impression, not mechanical tracing

\n

3.2 Invented details are legitimate, even without historical precedent

\n

3.3 Adapt historical proportion to contemporary use

\n
\n

Part IV — Standards for Naming, Authorship, and Credit

4.1 A name should connect to the design's history or character, but need not be literal

\n

4.2 Typefaces deserve the same authorial credit as other design contributions

\n
\n

Part V — Standards for Experimentation and Originality

5.1 Every era's technology poses a genuinely new design problem

\n

5.2 Distinguish genuine experimentation from mere destruction

\n

5.3 New tools democratize design but do not replace design knowledge

\n
\n

Part VI — Standards Summary Table

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DomainStandardSource practice
LegibilityFamiliarity through repeated use produces legibility, not fixed letterform properties\"You read best what you read most\"
Medium fitDesign specifically for a medium's real constraints rather than degrading a classic form to fit itBitmap fonts for 72-dpi Macintosh screens/printers, 1984
ConstructionBuild typefaces (and other work) from modular, combinable elements; start with simple rulesBuilding-block bitmap approach; later ceramic sculpture systems
Cross-resolution designDesign paired low-/high-resolution families from one integrated conceptBase Nine / Base Twelve, 1995
Roman/italicDevelop roman and italic simultaneously for formal resonanceTarzana, 1998
RevivalsDraw from memory/impression, not mechanical tracing of a single historical specimenMrs Eaves (1996), Filosofia (1996)
Revival detailsInvented details without historical precedent are legitimate when they serve internal design logicFilosofia's rounded lowercase \"s\" terminals
Revival tuningAdjust historical proportions for contemporary use context (contrast, spacing, case ratio)Mrs Eaves vs. original Baskerville
NamingNames may reference history, technique, or overlooked contributors — literalism is optionalFilosofia, Mrs Eaves
CreditTypefaces and their designers deserve the same authorial credit as other design contributorsRecurring critique in Licko's writing
OriginalityEach new technology poses a genuinely new design problem; repeating old solutions grows staleGeneral design philosophy, Emigre FAQ
ExperimentationDistinguish deliberate experimentation from destructive \"grunge\" gestures that communicate little beyond disruptionCritique of cut-and-paste font culture
Tool literacyEasier tools increase design choices without automatically increasing design understandingReflection on desktop publishing democratization
\n
\n

Sources

\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:14:25 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://viki.wiki/you-read-best-what-you-read-most--a-standards-guide-for-type-design-layout--composition.html#1786202065847"},{"title":"Viki.wiki","link":"http://viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/vikiwiki","body":"DOT strict digraph

rankdir=LR

node [style=filled fillcolor=lightyellow]
HERE NODE

node [style=filled fillcolor=lightblue]
WHERE /^Next/
LINKS HERE -> NODE
HERE NODE
WHERE /^Next/
LINKS HERE -> NODE

node [style=filled fillcolor=white]
LINKS HERE -> NODE
HERE NODE
LINKS HERE -> NODE
","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:08:25 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://viki.wiki/vikiwiki.html#1786201705070"},{"title":"Art System (Kunstsystem)","link":"http://viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/art-system-kunstsystem","body":"

The operations of the art system are observations oriented to works of art.

\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:59:37 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://viki.wiki/art-system-kunstsystem.html#1786193977421"}]},{"feedTitle":"forge.viki.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/forge.viki.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://forge.viki.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from forge.viki.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:28:46 GMT","item":[{"title":"It's not X, it's Y Template","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/its-not-x-its-y-template","body":"doom.viki.wiki
word.viki.wiki
notnick.viki.wiki
exit.viki.wiki","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:28:46 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/its-not-x-its-y-template.html#1786192126047"},{"title":"Whole Earth Catalogue, not Whole Foods","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/whole-earth-catalogue-not-whole-foods","body":"It's not X, it's Y Template","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:18:12 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/whole-earth-catalogue-not-whole-foods.html#1786191492648"},{"title":"Victoria Campbell","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/victoria-campbell","body":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:17:49 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/victoria-campbell.html#1786191469329"},{"title":"Big History","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/big-history","body":"The mecca of antique markets, the Alameda Point Antiques Faire, which only opens the 1st Sunday of every month at 6am, will be the denouement of our quest. We may allocate part of the budget for custom furniture work, such as a curio cabinet, and around 1k for lighting.","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:17:01 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/big-history.html#1786191421549"},{"title":"Design Kickoff","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/design-kickoff","body":"Why do you think it's a good idea to get a house for your team instead of an office?","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:16:15 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/design-kickoff.html#1786191375770"},{"title":"Lightning Round","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/lightning-round","body":"Small","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:15:17 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/lightning-round.html#1786191317032"},{"title":"Forge House","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/forge-house","body":"A house is not an act or a series of acts; it is not an object but an experience; it is not a commodity to be bought and sold but an activity essential to life.

","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:15:08 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/forge-house.html#1786191308221"},{"title":"Lineup Diagram","link":"http://forge.viki.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/lineup-diagram","body":"We look back over the lineup to see where else we might have browsed. Search for this page when wanted.","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:14:37 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://forge.viki.wiki/lineup-diagram.html#1786191277230"}]},{"feedTitle":"ccru.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/ccru.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://ccru.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from ccru.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:04:41 GMT","item":[{"title":"(x,y)","link":"http://ccru.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/xy","body":"

July 2026 with seeds. Hover here to pull up and away.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
260701260702260703260704
260705260706260707260708260709260710260711
260712260713260714260715260716260717260718
260719260720260721260722260723260724260725
260726260727260728260729260730260731
\n","pubDate":"Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:04:41 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://ccru.wiki/xy.html#1786190681052"}]},{"feedTitle":"jargon.fed.wiki","feedUrl":"https://feeds.fedwikiriver.com/jargon.fed.wiki/rss.xml","websiteUrl":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/","feedDescription":"Updates from jargon.fed.wiki fedwiki","whenLastUpdate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 22:30:37 GMT","item":[{"title":"Jargon File","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/jargon-file","body":"The Jargon File is a glossary and usage dictionary of slang used by computer programmers. The original Jargon File was a collection of terms from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities. wikipedia","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 22:30:37 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/jargon-file.html#1786141837239"},{"title":"me","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/me","body":" [IRC; common] Under most IRC, /me is the “pose” command; if you are logged on as Foonly and type “/me laughs”, others watching the channel will see “* Joe Foonly laughs”. This usage has been carried over to mail and news, where the reader is expected to perform the same expansion in his or her head.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/me.html#1786139962386"},{"title":"code 404 compliant","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/code-404-compliant","body":" The status of a website which has been completely removed, usually by the administrators of the hosting site as a result of net abuse by the website operators. The term is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the standard “301 compliant” Murkowski Bill disclaimer used by spammers. See also: spam, spamvertize.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/code-404-compliant.html#1786139962385"},{"title":"infix 2","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/infix-2","body":" In translation software written by hackers, infix 2 often represents the syllable to with the connotation ‘translate to’: as in dvi2ps (DVI to PostScript), int2string (integer to string), and texi2roff (Texinfo to [nt]roff). Several versions of a joke have floated around the internet in which some idiot programmer fixes the Y2K bug by changing all the Y's in something to K's, as in Januark, Februark, etc.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/infix-2.html#1786139962384"},{"title":"one TBS","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/one-tbs","body":" The “One True Brace Style”; see indent style.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/one-tbs.html#1786139962383"},{"title":"dev null","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/dev-null","body":" [from the Unix null device, used as a data sink] A notional ‘black hole’ in any information space being discussed, used, or referred to. A controversial posting, for example, might end “Kudos to rasputin@kremlin.org, flames to /dev/null”. See bit bucket.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/dev-null.html#1786139962382"},{"title":"TM","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/tm","body":" [Usenet] ASCII rendition of the ™ appended to phrases that the author feels should be recorded for posterity, perhaps in future editions of this lexicon. Sometimes used ironically as a form of protest against the recent spate of software and algorithm patents and look and feel lawsuits. See also UN*X.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/tm.html#1786139962381"},{"title":"code 404","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/code-404","body":" [from the HTTP error “file not found on server”] Extended to humans to convey that the subject has no idea or no clue -- sapience not found. May be used reflexively; “Uh, I'm 404ing” means “I'm drawing a blank”. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/code-404.html#1786139962380"},{"title":"numeral zero","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/numeral-zero","body":" Numeric zero, as opposed to the letter ‘O’ (the 15th letter of the English alphabet). In their unmodified forms they look a lot alike, and various kluges invented to make them visually distinct have compounded the confusion. If your zero is center-dotted and letter-O is not, or if letter-O looks almost rectangular but zero looks more like an American football stood on end (or the reverse), you're probably looking at a modern character display (though the dotted zero seems to have originated as an option on IBM 3270 controllers). If your zero is slashed but letter-O is not, you're probably looking at an old-style ASCII graphic set descended from the default typewheel on the venerable ASR-33 Teletype (Scandinavians, for whom � is a letter, curse this arrangement). (Interestingly, the slashed zero long predates computers; Florian Cajori's monumental A History of Mathematical Notations notes that it was used in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.) If letter-O has a slash across it and the zero does not, your display is tuned for a very old convention used at IBM and a few other early mainframe makers (Scandinavians curse this arrangement even more, because it means two of their letters collide). Some Burroughs/Unisys equipment displays a zero with a reversed slash. Old CDC computers rendered letter O as an unbroken oval and 0 as an oval broken at upper right and lower left. And yet another convention common on early line printers left zero unornamented but added a tail or hook to the letter-O so that it resembled an inverted Q or cursive capital letter-O (this was endorsed by a draft ANSI standard for how to draw ASCII characters, but the final standard changed the distinguisher to a tick-mark in the upper-left corner). Are we sufficiently confused yet?","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/numeral-zero.html#1786139962379"},{"title":"at party","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/at-party","body":" [from the @-sign in an Internet address] (alt.: ‘@-sign party’ /at�si:n par`tee/) A semi-closed party thrown for hackers at a science-fiction convention (esp. the annual World Science Fiction Convention or “Worldcon”); one must have a network address to get in, or at least be in company with someone who does. One of the most reliable opportunities for hackers to meet face to face with people who might otherwise be represented by mere phosphor dots on their screens. Compare boink.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/at-party.html#1786139962378"},{"title":"ambimouseterous","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ambimouseterous","body":" [modeled on ambidextrous] Able to use a mouse with either hand.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ambimouseterous.html#1786139962377"},{"title":"ASCII","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ascii","body":" [originally an acronym (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) but now merely conventional] The predominant character set encoding of present-day computers. The standard version uses 7 bits for each character, whereas most earlier codes (including early drafts of ASCII prior to June 1961) used fewer. This change allowed the inclusion of lowercase letters — a major win — but it did not provide for accented letters or any other letterforms not used in English (such as the German sharp-S �. or the ae-ligature � which is a letter in, for example, Norwegian). It could be worse, though. It could be much worse. See EBCDIC to understand how. A history of ASCII and its ancestors is at www.wps.com.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ascii.html#1786139962376"},{"title":"aliasing bug","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/aliasing-bug","body":" A class of subtle programming errors that can arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via malloc(3) or equivalent. If several pointers address (are aliases for) a given hunk of storage, it may happen that the storage is freed or reallocated (and thus moved) through one alias and then referenced through another, which may lead to subtle (and possibly intermittent) lossage depending on the state and the allocation history of the malloc arena. Avoidable by use of allocation strategies that never alias allocated core, or by use of higher-level languages, such as LISP, which employ a garbage collector (see GC). Also called a stale pointer bug. See also precedence lossage, smash the stack, fandango on core, memory leak, memory smash, overrun screw, spam.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/aliasing-bug.html#1786139962375"},{"title":"arg","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/arg","body":" Abbreviation for ‘argument’ (to a function), used so often as to have become a new word (like ‘piano’ from ‘pianoforte’). “The sine function takes 1 arg, but the arc-tangent function can take either 1 or 2 args.” Compare param, parm, var.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/arg.html#1786139962374"},{"title":"asbestos","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/asbestos","body":" [common] Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect one from flames; also in other highly flame-suggestive usages. See, for example, asbestos longjohns and asbestos cork award.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/asbestos.html#1786139962373"},{"title":"All hardware sucks all software sucks","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/all-hardware-sucks--all-software-sucks","body":"[from scary devil monastery] A general recognition of the fallibility of any computer system, ritually intoned as an attempt to quell incipient holy wars. It is a common response to any sort of bigot. When discussing Wintel systems, however, it is often snidely appended with, ‘but some suck more than others.’","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/all-hardware-sucks--all-software-sucks.html#1786139962372"},{"title":"alt","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alt","body":" 1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or clone keyboard; see bucky bits, sense 2 (though typical PC usage does not simply set the 0200 bit).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alt.html#1786139962371"},{"title":"address harvester","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/address-harvester","body":" A robot that searches web pages and/or filters netnews traffic looking for valid email addresses. Some address harvesters are benign, used only for compiling address directories. Most, unfortunately, are run by miscreants compiling address lists to spam. Address harvesters can be foiled by a teergrube. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/address-harvester.html#1786139962370"},{"title":"adger","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/adger","body":" [UCLA mutant of nadger, poss. also from the middle name of an infamous tenured graduate student] To make a bonehead move with consequences that could have been foreseen with even slight mental effort. E.g., “He started removing files and promptly adgered the whole project”. Compare dumbass attack.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/adger.html#1786139962369"},{"title":"admin","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/admin","body":" Short for ‘administrator’; very commonly used in speech or on-line to refer to the systems person in charge on a computer. Common constructions on this include sysadmin and site admin (emphasizing the administrator's role as a site contact for email and news) or newsadmin (focusing specifically on news). Compare postmaster, sysop, system mangler.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/admin.html#1786139962368"},{"title":"Acme","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/acme","body":" [from Greek akme highest point of perfection or achievement] The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry — where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything. (In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the early 1900s.) Describing some X as an “Acme X” either means “This is insanely great”, or, more likely, “This looks insanely great on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with it.” Compare pistol.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/acme.html#1786139962367"},{"title":"asbestos longjohns","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/asbestos-longjohns","body":" Notional garments donned by Usenet posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit flamage. This is the most common of the asbestos coinages. Also asbestos underwear, asbestos overcoat, etc.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/asbestos-longjohns.html#1786139962366"},{"title":"alt bit","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alt-bit","body":" See meta bit.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alt-bit.html#1786139962365"},{"title":"AOL","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/aol","body":" [Usenet] Common synonym for “Me, too!” alluding to the legendary propensity of America Online users to utter contentless “Me, too!” postings. The number of exclamation points following varies from zero to five or so. The pseudo-HTML","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/aol.html#1786139962364"},{"title":"avatar","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/avatar","body":" [in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of a god] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/avatar.html#1786139962363"},{"title":"ARMM","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/armm","body":" [acronym, ‘Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation’] A Usenet cancelbot created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls, Ohio. ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts from anonymous-posting sites. Unfortunately, the robot's recognizer for anonymous postings triggered on its own automatically-generated control messages! Transformed by this stroke of programming ineptitude into a monster of Frankensteinian proportions, it broke loose on the night of March 30, 1993 and proceeded to spam news.admin.policy with a recursive explosion of over 200 messages.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/armm.html#1786139962362"},{"title":"Archimedes","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/archimedes","body":" The world's first RISC microcomputer, available only in the British Commonwealth and europe. Built in 1987 in Great Britain by Acorn Computers, it was legendary for its use of the ARM-2 microprocessor as a CPU. Many a novice hacker in the Commonwealth first learnt his or her skills on the Archimedes, since it was specifically designed for use in schools and educational institutions. Owners of Archimedes machines are often still treated with awe and reverence. Familiarly, “archi”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/archimedes.html#1786139962361"},{"title":"angle brackets","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/angle-brackets","body":" Either of the characters < (ASCII 0111100) and > (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or greater-than signs). Typographers in the Real World use angle brackets which are either taller and slimmer (the ISO lang 〈 and rang 〉 characters), or significantly smaller (single or double guillemets) than the less-than and greater-than signs. See broket, ASCII.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/angle-brackets.html#1786139962360"},{"title":"Amiga","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/amiga","body":" A series of personal computer models originally sold by Commodore, based on 680x0 processors, custom support chips and an operating system that combined some of the best features of Macintosh and Unix with compatibility with neither.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/amiga.html#1786139962359"},{"title":"autoconfiscate","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/autoconfiscate","body":" To set up or modify a source-code distribution so that it configures and builds using the GNU project's autoconf/automake/libtools suite. Among open-source hackers, a mere running binary of a program is not considered a full release; what's interesting is a source tree that can be built into binaries using standard tools. Since the mid-1990s, autoconf and friends been the standard way to adapt a distribution for portability so that it can be built on multiple operating systems without change.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/autoconfiscate.html#1786139962358"},{"title":"alpha particles","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alpha-particles","body":" See bit rot.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alpha-particles.html#1786139962357"},{"title":"ANSI standard pizza","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ansi-standard-pizza","body":" [CMU] Pepperoni and mushroom pizza. Coined allegedly because most pizzas ordered by CMU hackers during some period leading up to mid-1990 were of that flavor. See also rotary debugger; compare ISO standard cup of tea.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ansi-standard-pizza.html#1786139962356"},{"title":"annoyware","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/annoyware","body":" A type of shareware that frequently disrupts normal program operation to display requests for payment to the author in return for the ability to disable the request messages. (Also called nagware) The requests generally require user action to acknowledge the message before normal operation is resumed and are often tied to the most frequently used features of the software. See also careware, charityware, crippleware, freeware, FRS, guiltware, postcardware, and -ware; compare payware.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/annoyware.html#1786139962355"},{"title":"alpha geek","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alpha-geek","body":" [from animal ethologists' alpha male] The most technically accomplished or skillful person in some implied context. “Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek here.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alpha-geek.html#1786139962354"},{"title":"automagically","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/automagically","body":" Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too trivial), the speaker doesn't feel like explaining to you. See magic. “The C-INTERCAL compiler generates C, then automagically invokes cc(1) to produce an executable.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/automagically.html#1786139962353"},{"title":"asbestos cork award","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/asbestos-cork-award","body":" Once, long ago at MIT, there was a flamer so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed, had made, and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had been nominated for the asbestos cork award. (Any reader in doubt as to the intended application of the cork should consult the etymology under flame.) Since then, it is agreed that only a select few have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn this dubious dignity — but there is no agreement on which few.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/asbestos-cork-award.html#1786139962352"},{"title":"awk","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/awk","body":" 1. n. [Unix techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan (the name derives from their initials). It is characterized by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach to variable typing and declarations, associative arrays, and field-oriented text processing. See also Perl. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/awk.html#1786139962351"},{"title":"astroturfing","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/astroturfing","body":" 1. The use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular movement, through means like letters to newspapers from soi-disant ‘concerned citizens’, paid opinion pieces, and the formation of grass-roots lobbying groups that are actually funded by a PR group (AstroTurf is fake grass; hence the term). See also sock puppet, tentacle.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/astroturfing.html#1786139962350"},{"title":"ADVENT","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/advent","body":" The prototypical computer adventure game, first designed by Will Crowther on the PDP-10 in the mid-1970s as an attempt at computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and expanded into a puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods at Stanford in 1976. (Woods had been one of the authors of INTERCAL.) Now better known as Adventure or Colossal Cave Adventure, but the TOPS-10 operating system permitted only six-letter filenames in uppercase. See also vadding, Zork, and Infocom.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/advent.html#1786139962349"},{"title":"armor plated","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/armor-plated","body":" Syn. for bulletproof.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/armor-plated.html#1786139962348"},{"title":"ASCIIbetical order","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/asciibetical-order","body":" Used to indicate that data is sorted in ASCII collated order rather than alphabetical order. This lexicon is sorted in something close to ASCIIbetical order, but with case ignored and entries beginning with non-alphabetic characters moved to the beginning.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/asciibetical-order.html#1786139962347"},{"title":"accumulator","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/accumulator","body":" 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it as a synonym for register is a fairly reliable indication that the user has been around for quite a while and/or that the architecture under discussion is quite old. The term in full is almost never used of microprocessor registers, for example, though symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in ‘A’ derive from historical use of the term accumulator (and not, actually, from ‘arithmetic’). Confusingly, though, an ‘A’ register name prefix may also stand for address, as for example on the Motorola 680x0 family. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/accumulator.html#1786139962346"},{"title":"AFJ","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/afj","body":" Written-only abbreviation for “April Fool's Joke”. Elaborate April Fool's hoaxes are a long-established tradition on Usenet and Internet; see kremvax for an example. In fact, April Fool's Day is the only seasonal holiday consistently marked by customary observances on Internet and other hacker networks.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/afj.html#1786139962345"},{"title":"Aluminum Book","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/aluminum-book","body":" [MIT] Common LISP: The Language, by Guy L. Steele Jr. (Digital Press, first edition 1984, second edition 1990). Note that due to a technical screwup some printings of the second edition are actually of a color the author describes succinctly as “yucky green”. See also book titles.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/aluminum-book.html#1786139962344"},{"title":"Alice and Bob","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alice-and-bob","body":" The archetypal individuals used as examples in discussions of cryptographic protocols. Originally, theorists would say something like: “A communicates with someone who claims to be B, So to be sure, A tests that B knows a secret number K. So A sends to B a random number X. B then forms Y by encrypting X under key K and sends Y back to A” Because this sort of thing is quite hard to follow, theorists stopped using the unadorned letters A and B to represent the main players and started calling them Alice and Bob. So now we say “Alice communicates with someone claiming to be Bob, and to be sure, Alice tests that Bob knows a secret number K. Alice sends to Bob a random number X. Bob then forms Y by encrypting X under key K and sends Y back to Alice”. A whole mythology rapidly grew up around the metasyntactic names; see www.conceptlabs.co.uk.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alice-and-bob.html#1786139962343"},{"title":"arena","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/arena","body":" [common; Unix] The area of memory attached to a process by brk(2) and sbrk(2) and used by malloc(3) as dynamic storage. So named from a malloc: corrupt arena message emitted when some early versions detected an impossible value in the free block list. See overrun screw, aliasing bug, memory leak, memory smash, smash the stack.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/arena.html#1786139962342"},{"title":"AI complete","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ai-complete","body":" [MIT, Stanford: by analogy with NP-complete (see NP-)] Used to describe problems or subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution presupposes a solution to the ‘strong AI problem’ (that is, the synthesis of a human-level intelligence). A problem that is AI-complete is, in other words, just too hard.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ai-complete.html#1786139962341"},{"title":"ASCII art","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ascii-art","body":" The fine art of drawing diagrams using the ASCII character set (mainly |, -, /, \\, and +). Also known as character graphics or ASCII graphics; see also boxology. Here is a serious example:","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ascii-art.html#1786139962340"},{"title":"anti idiotarianism","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/anti-idiotarianism","body":"[very common] Opposition to idiots of all political stripes. First coined in the blog named www.littlegreenfootballs.com as part of a post expressing disgust with inane responses to post-9/11 Islamic terrorism. Anti-idiotarian wrath has focused on Islamic terrorists and their sympathizers in the Western political left, but also routinely excoriated right-wing politicians backing repressive ’anti-terror‘ legislation and Christian religious figures who (in the blogosphere's view of the matter) have descended nearly to the level of jihad themselves.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/anti-idiotarianism.html#1786139962339"},{"title":"amper","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/amper","body":" Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand (‘&’, ASCII 0100110) character. See ASCII for other synonyms.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/amper.html#1786139962338"},{"title":"AUP","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/aup","body":" Abbreviation, “Acceptable Use Policy”. The policy of a given ISP which sets out what the ISP considers to be (un)acceptable uses of its Internet resources.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/aup.html#1786139962337"},{"title":"Alderson loop","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/alderson-loop","body":" [Intel] A special version of an infinite loop where there is an exit condition available, but inaccessible in the current implementation of the code. Typically this is created while debugging user interface code. An example would be when there is a menu stating, “Select 1-3 or 9 to quit” and 9 is not allowed by the function that takes the selection from the user.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/alderson-loop.html#1786139962336"},{"title":"annoybot","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/annoybot","body":" [IRC] See bot.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/annoybot.html#1786139962335"},{"title":"ANSI standard","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ansi-standard","body":" The ANSI standard usage of ANSI standard refers to any practice which is typical or broadly done. It's most appropriately applied to things that everyone does that are not quite regulation. For example: ANSI standard shaking of a laser printer cartridge to get extra life from it, or the ANSI standard word tripling in names of usenet alt groups.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ansi-standard.html#1786139962334"},{"title":"autobogotiphobia","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/autobogotiphobia","body":" n. See bogotify.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/autobogotiphobia.html#1786139962333"},{"title":"ad hockery","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ad-hockery","body":" [Purdue] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ad-hockery.html#1786139962332"},{"title":"AFK","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/afk","body":" [MUD] Abbrev. for “Away From Keyboard”. Used to notify others that you will be momentarily unavailable online. eg. “Let's not go kill that frost giant yet, I need to go AFK to make a phone call”. Often MUDs will have a command to politely inform others of your absence when they try to talk with you. The term is not restricted to MUDs, however, and has become common in many chat situations, from IRC to Unix talk.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/afk.html#1786139962331"},{"title":"atomic","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/atomic","body":" [from Gk. atomos, indivisible]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/atomic.html#1786139962330"},{"title":"ABEND","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/abend","body":" [ABnormal END]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/abend.html#1786139962329"},{"title":"Angband","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/angband","body":" Like nethack, moria, and rogue, one of the large freely distributed Dungeons-and-Dragons-like simulation games, available for a wide range of machines and operating systems. The name is from Tolkien's Pits of Angband (compare elder days, elvish). Has been described as “Moria on steroids”; but, unlike Moria, many aspects of the game are customizable. This leads many hackers and would-be hackers into fooling with these instead of doing productive work. There are many Angband variants, of which the most notorious is probably the rather whimsical Zangband. In this game, when a key that does not correspond to a command is pressed, the game will display “Type ? for help” 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, random error messages including “An error has occurred because an error of type 42 has occurred” and “Windows 95 uninstalled successfully” will be displayed. Zangband also allows the player to kill Santa Claus (who has some really good stuff, but also has a lot of friends), “Bull Gates”, and Barney the Dinosaur (but be watchful; Barney has a nasty case of halitosis). There is an official angband home page at thangorodrim.angband.org and a zangband one at www.zangband.org. See also Random Number God.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/angband.html#1786139962328"},{"title":"abbrev","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/abbrev","body":" Common abbreviation for ‘abbreviation’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/abbrev.html#1786139962327"},{"title":"Aunt Tillie","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/aunt-tillie","body":" [linux-kernel mailing list] The archetypal non-technical user, one's elderly and scatterbrained maiden aunt. Invoked in discussions of usability for people who are not hackers and geeks; one sees references to the “Aunt Tillie test”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/aunt-tillie.html#1786139962326"},{"title":"AI","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ai","body":" Abbreviation for ‘Artificial Intelligence’, so common that the full form is almost never written or spoken among hackers.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ai.html#1786139962325"},{"title":"adware","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/adware","body":"Software which is free to download and use but includes pop-up banner ads somewhere. See also -ware.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/adware.html#1786139962324"},{"title":"app","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/app","body":" Short for ‘application program’, as opposed to a systems program. Apps are what systems vendors are forever chasing developers to create for their environments so they can sell more boxes. Hackers tend not to think of the things they themselves run as apps; thus, in hacker parlance the term excludes compilers, program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a user would consider all those to be apps. (Broadly, an app is often a self-contained environment for performing some well-defined task such as ‘word processing’; hackers tend to prefer more general-purpose tools.) See killer app; oppose tool, operating system.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/app.html#1786139962323"},{"title":"Amiga Persecution Complex","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/amiga-persecution-complex","body":" The disorder suffered by a particularly egregious variety of bigot, those who believe that the marginality of their preferred machine is the result of some kind of industry-wide conspiracy (for without a conspiracy of some kind, the eminent superiority of their beloved shining jewel of a platform would obviously win over all, market pressures be damned!) Those afflicted are prone to engaging in flame wars and calling for boycotts and mailbombings. Amiga Persecution Complex is by no means limited to Amiga users; NeXT, NeWS, OS/2, Macintosh, LISP, and GNU users are also common victims. Linux users used to display symptoms very frequently before Linux started winning; some still do. See also newbie, troll, holy wars, weenie, Get a life!.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/amiga-persecution-complex.html#1786139962322"},{"title":"all your base are belong to us","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us","body":" A declaration of victory or superiority. The phrase stems from a 1991 adaptation of Toaplan's “Zero Wing” shoot-'em-up arcade game for the Sega Genesis game console. A brief introduction was added to the opening screen, and it has what many consider to be the worst Japanese-to-English translation in video game history. The introduction shows the bridge of a starship in chaos as a Borg-like figure named CATS materializes and says, “How are you gentlemen!! All your base are belong to us.” [sic] In 2001, this amusing mistranslation spread virally through the Internet, bringing with it a slew of JPEGs and a movie of hacked photographs, each showing a street sign, store front, package label, etc. hacked to read “All your base are belong to us” or one of the other many supremely dopey lines from the game (such as “Somebody set up usthe bomb!!!” or “What happen?”). When these phrases are used properly, the overall effect is both screamingly funny and somewhat chilling, reminiscent of the B movie “They Live”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us.html#1786139962321"},{"title":"ACK","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/ack","body":" 1. [common; from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110] Acknowledge. Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream Yo!). An appropriate response to ping or ENQ. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/ack.html#1786139962320"},{"title":"and there was much rejoicing","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/and-there-was-much-rejoicing","body":"[from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/and-there-was-much-rejoicing.html#1786139962319"},{"title":"amp off","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/amp-off","body":" [Purdue] To run in background. From the Unix shell ‘&’ operator.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/amp-off.html#1786139962318"},{"title":"angry fruit salad","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/angry-fruit-salad","body":" A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colors. (This term derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad.) Too often one sees similar effects from interface designers using color window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/angry-fruit-salad.html#1786139962317"},{"title":"attoparsec","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/attoparsec","body":" About an inch. atto- is the standard SI prefix for multiplication by 10-18. A parsec (parallax-second) is 3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus 3.26 � 10-18 light years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1 attoparsec/microfortnight equals about 1 inch/sec). This unit is reported to be in use (though probably not very seriously) among hackers in the U.K. See micro-.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/attoparsec.html#1786139962316"},{"title":"AFAIK","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/afaik","body":" [Usenet; common] Abbrev. for “As Far As I Know”. There is a variant AFAICT “As Far As I Can Tell”; where AFAIK suggests that the writer knows his knowledge is limited, AFAICT suggests that he feels his knowledge is as complete as anybody else's but that the best available knowledge does not support firm conclusions.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/afaik.html#1786139962315"},{"title":"airplane rule","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/airplane-rule","body":" “Complexity increases the possibility of failure; a twin-engine airplane has twice as many engine problems as a single-engine airplane.” By analogy, in both software and electronics, the rule that simplicity increases robustness. It is correspondingly argued that the right way to build reliable systems is to put all your eggs in one basket, after making sure that you've built a really good basket. See also KISS Principle, elegant.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/airplane-rule.html#1786139962314"},{"title":"BASIC","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/basic","body":" A programming language, originally designed for Dartmouth's experimental timesharing system in the early 1960s, which for many years was the leading cause of brain damage in proto-hackers. Edsger W. Dijkstra observed in Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective that “It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.” This is another case (like Pascal) of the cascading lossage that happens when a language deliberately designed as an educational toy gets taken too seriously. A novice can write short BASIC programs (on the order of 10-20 lines) very easily; writing anything longer (a) is very painful, and (b) encourages bad habits that will make it harder to use more powerful languages well. This wouldn't be so bad if historical accidents hadn't made BASIC so common on low-end micros in the 1980s. As it is, it probably ruined tens of thousands of potential wizards.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/basic.html#1786139962313"},{"title":"BBS","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bbs","body":" [common; abbreviation, “Bulletin Board System”] An electronic bulletin board system; that is, a message database where people can log in and leave broadcast messages for others grouped (typically) into topic groups. The term was especially applied to the thousands of local BBS systems that operated during the pre-Internet microcomputer era of roughly 1980 to 1995, typically run by amateurs for fun out of their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each. Fans of Usenet and Internet or the big commercial timesharing bboards such as CompuServe and GEnie tended to consider local BBSes the low-rent district of the hacker culture, but they served a valuable function by knitting together lots of hackers and users in the personal-micro world who would otherwise have been unable to exchange code at all. Post-Internet, BBSs are likely to be local newsgroups on an ISP; efficiency has increased but a certain flavor has been lost. See also bboard.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bbs.html#1786139962312"},{"title":"big win","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/big-win","body":" 1. [common] Major success. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/big-win.html#1786139962311"},{"title":"bounce","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bounce","body":" 1. [common; perhaps by analogy to a bouncing check] An electronic mail message that is undeliverable and returns an error notification to the sender is said to bounce. See also bounce message. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bounce.html#1786139962310"},{"title":"barfmail","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barfmail","body":" Multiple bounce messages accumulating to the level of serious annoyance, or worse. The sort of thing that happens when an inter-network mail gateway goes down or wonky.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barfmail.html#1786139962309"},{"title":"bletcherous","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bletcherous","body":" Disgusting in design or function; esthetically unappealing. This word is seldom used of people. “This keyboard is bletcherous!” (Perhaps the keys don't work very well, or are misplaced.) See losing, cretinous, bagbiting, bogus, and random. The term bletcherous applies to the esthetics of the thing so described; similarly for cretinous. By contrast, something that is losing or bagbiting may be failing to meet objective criteria. See also bogus and random, which have richer and wider shades of meaning than any of the above.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bletcherous.html#1786139962308"},{"title":"B1FF","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/b1ff","body":" The most famous pseudo, and the prototypical newbie. Articles from B1FF feature all uppercase letters sprinkled liberally with bangs, typos, ‘cute’ misspellings (EVRY BUDY LUVS GOOD OLD BIFF CUZ K��L DOOD AN HE RITES REEL AWESUM THINGZ IN CAPITULL LETTRS LIKE THIS!!!), use (and often misuse) of fragments of talk mode abbreviations, a long sig block (sometimes even a doubled sig), and unbounded naivete. B1FF posts articles using his elder brother's VIC-20. B1FF's location is a mystery, as his articles appear to come from a variety of sites. However, BITNET seems to be the most frequent origin. The theory that B1FF is a denizen of BITNET is supported by B1FF's (unfortunately invalid) electronic mail address: B1FF@BIT.NET.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/b1ff.html#1786139962307"},{"title":"backreference","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/backreference","body":" 1. In a regular expression or pattern match, the text which was matched within grouping parentheses","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/backreference.html#1786139962306"},{"title":"bagbiter","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bagbiter","body":" 1. Something, such as a program or a computer, that fails to work, or works in a remarkably clumsy manner. “This text editor won't let me make a file with a line longer than 80 characters! What a bagbiter!” ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bagbiter.html#1786139962305"},{"title":"bomb","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bomb","body":" 1. v. General synonym for crash (sense 1) except that it is not used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS failures. “Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb.” ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bomb.html#1786139962304"},{"title":"bytesexual","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bytesexual","body":" [rare] Said of hardware, denotes willingness to compute or pass data in either big-endian or little-endian format (depending, presumably, on a mode bit somewhere). See also NUXI problem.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bytesexual.html#1786139962303"},{"title":"brain dead","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brain-dead","body":" [common] Brain-damaged in the extreme. It tends to imply terminal design failure rather than malfunction or simple stupidity. “This comm program doesn't know how to send a break — how brain-dead!”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brain-dead.html#1786139962302"},{"title":"backronym","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/backronym","body":" [portmanteau of back + acronym] A word interpreted as an acronym that was not originally so intended. This is a special case of what linguists call back formation. Examples are given under recursive acronym (Cygnus), Acme, and mung. Discovering backronyms is a common form of wordplay among hackers. Compare retcon.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/backronym.html#1786139962301"},{"title":"Blue Screen of Death","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blue-screen-of-death","body":" [common] This term is closely related to the older Black Screen of Death but much more common (many non-hackers have picked it up). Due to the extreme fragility and bugginess of Microsoft Windows, misbehaving applications can readily crash the OS (and the OS sometimes crashes itself spontaneously). The Blue Screen of Death, sometimes decorated with hex error codes, is what you get when this happens. (Commonly abbreviated BSOD.) The following entry from the archive.salon.com, seems to have predated popular use of the term:","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blue-screen-of-death.html#1786139962300"},{"title":"bazaar","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bazaar","body":" In 1997, after meditating on the success of Linux for three years, the Jargon File's own editor ESR wrote an analytical paper on hacker culture and development models titled www.catb.org. The main argument of the paper was that Brooks's Law is not the whole story; given the right social machinery, debugging can be efficiently parallelized across large numbers of programmers. The title metaphor caught on (see also cathedral), and the style of development typical in the Linux community is now often referred to as the bazaar mode. Its characteristics include releasing code early and often, and actively seeking the largest possible pool of peer reviewers. After 1998, the evident success of this way of doing things became one of the strongest arguments for open source.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bazaar.html#1786139962299"},{"title":"barn","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barn","body":" [uncommon; prob. from the nuclear military] An unexpectedly large quantity of something: a unit of measurement. “Why is /var/adm taking up so much space?” “The logs have grown to several barns.” The source of this is clear: when physicists were first studying nuclear interactions, the probability was thought to be proportional to the cross-sectional area of the nucleus (this probability is still called the cross-section). Upon experimenting, they discovered the interactions were far more probable than expected; the nuclei were “as big as a barn”. The units for cross-sections were christened Barns, (10-24 cm2) and the book containing cross-sections has a picture of a barn on the cover.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barn.html#1786139962298"},{"title":"Bohr bug","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bohr-bug","body":" [from quantum physics] A repeatable bug; one that manifests reliably under a possibly unknown but well-defined set of conditions. Antonym of heisenbug; see also mandelbug, schroedinbug.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bohr-bug.html#1786139962297"},{"title":"Batman factor","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/batman-factor","body":" 1. An integer number representing the number of items hanging from a batbelt. In most settings, a Batman factor of more than 3 is not acceptable without odd stares and whispering. This encourages the hacker in question to choose items for the batbelt carefully to avoid awkward social situations, usually amongst non-hackers. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/batman-factor.html#1786139962296"},{"title":"browser","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/browser","body":" A program specifically designed to help users view and navigate hypertext, on-line documentation, or a database. While this general sense has been present in jargon for a long time, the proliferation of browsers for the World Wide Web after 1992 has made it much more popular and provided a central or default techspeak meaning of the word previously lacking in hacker usage. Nowadays, if someone mentions using a ‘browser’ without qualification, one may assume it is a Web browser.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/browser.html#1786139962295"},{"title":"BSD","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bsd","body":" [abbreviation for ‘Berkeley Software Distribution’] a family of Unix versions for the DEC VAX and PDP-11 developed by Bill Joy and others at Berzerkeley starting around 1977, incorporating paged virtual memory, TCP/IP networking enhancements, and many other features. The BSD versions (4.1, 4.2, and 4.3) and the commercial versions derived from them (SunOS, ULTRIX, and Mt. Xinu) held the technical lead in the Unix world until AT&T's successful standardization efforts after about 1986; descendants including Free/Open/NetBSD, BSD/OS and MacOS X are still widely popular. Note that BSD versions going back to 2.9 are often referred to by their version numbers alone, without the BSD prefix. See also Unix.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bsd.html#1786139962294"},{"title":"blog","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blog","body":" [common] Short for weblog, an on-line web-zine or diary (usually with facilities for reader comments and discussion threads) made accessible through the World Wide Web. This term is widespread and readily forms derivatives, of which the best known may be blogosphere.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blog.html#1786139962293"},{"title":"blast","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blast","body":" 1. v.,n. Synonym for BLT, used esp. for large data sends over a network or comm line. Opposite of snarf. Usage: uncommon. The variant ‘blat’ has been reported. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blast.html#1786139962292"},{"title":"baroque","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/baroque","body":" [common] Feature-encrusted; complex; gaudy; verging on excessive. Said of hardware or (esp.) software designs, this has many of the connotations of elephantine or monstrosity but is less extreme and not pejorative in itself. In the absence of other, more negative descriptions this term suggests that the software is trembling on the edge of bad taste but has not quite tipped over into it. “Metafont even has features to introduce random variations to its letterform output. Now that is baroque!” See also rococo.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/baroque.html#1786139962291"},{"title":"bottom up implementation","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bottom-up-implementation","body":" Hackish opposite of the techspeak term top-down design. It has been received wisdom in most programming cultures that it is best to design from higher levels of abstraction down to lower, specifying sequences of action in increasing detail until you get to actual code. Hackers often find (especially in exploratory designs that cannot be closely specified in advance) that it works best to build things in the opposite order, by writing and testing a clean set of primitive operations and then knitting them together. Naively applied, this leads to hacked-together bottom-up implementations; a more sophisticated response is middle-out implementation, in which scratch code within primitives at the mid-level of the system is gradually replaced with a more polished version of the lowest level at the same time the structure above the midlevel is being built. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bottom-up-implementation.html#1786139962290"},{"title":"blivet","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blivet","body":" [allegedly from a World War II military term meaning “ten pounds of manure in a five-pound bag”]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blivet.html#1786139962289"},{"title":"Blue Glue","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blue-glue","body":" [IBM; obs.] IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture), an incredibly losing and bletcherous communications protocol once widely favored at commercial shops that didn't know any better (like other proprietary networking protocols, it became obsolete and effectively disappeared after the Internet explosion c.1994). The official IBM definition is “that which binds blue boxes together.” See fear and loathing. It may not be irrelevant that Blue Glue is the trade name of a 3M product that is commonly used to hold down the carpet squares to the removable panel floors common in dinosaur pens. A correspondent at U. Minn. reports that the CS department there has about 80 bottles of the stuff hanging about, so they often refer to any messy work to be done as using the blue glue.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blue-glue.html#1786139962288"},{"title":"back door","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/back-door","body":" [common] A hole in the security of a system deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers. The motivation for such holes is not always sinister; some operating systems, for example, come out of the box with privileged accounts intended for use by field service technicians or the vendor's maintenance programmers. Syn. trap door; may also be called a wormhole. See also iron box, cracker, worm, logic bomb.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/back-door.html#1786139962287"},{"title":"baud","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/baud","body":" [simplified from its technical meaning] n. Bits per second. Hence kilobaud or Kbaud, thousands of bits per second. The technical meaning is level transitions per second; this coincides with bps only for two-level modulation with no framing or stop bits. Most hackers are aware of these nuances but blithely ignore them.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/baud.html#1786139962286"},{"title":"batbelt","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/batbelt","body":" Many hackers routinely hang numerous devices such as pagers, cell-phones, personal organizers, leatherman multitools, pocket knives, flashlights, walkie-talkies, even miniature computers from their belts. When many of these devices are worn at once, the hacker's belt somewhat resembles Batman's utility belt; hence it is referred to as a batbelt.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/batbelt.html#1786139962285"},{"title":"banner site","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/banner-site","body":" [warez d00dz] An FTP site storing pirated files where one must first click on several banners and/or subscribe to various ‘free’ services, usually generating some form of revenues for the site owner, to be able to access the site. More often than not, the username/password painfully obtained by clicking on banners and subscribing to bogus services or mailing lists turns out to be non-working or gives access to a site that always responds busy. See ratio site, leech mode.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/banner-site.html#1786139962284"},{"title":"barfulation","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barfulation","body":" Variation of barf used around the Stanford area. An exclamation, expressing disgust. On seeing some particularly bad code one might exclaim, “Barfulation! Who wrote this, Quux?”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barfulation.html#1786139962283"},{"title":"Black Screen of Death","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/black-screen-of-death","body":" [prob.: related to the Floating Head of Death in a famous Far Side cartoon.] A failure mode of Microsloth Windows. On an attempt to launch a DOS box, a networked Windows system not uncommonly blanks the screen and locks up the PC so hard that it requires a cold boot to recover. This unhappy phenomenon is known as The Black Screen of Death. See also Blue Screen of Death, which has become rather more common.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/black-screen-of-death.html#1786139962282"},{"title":"BSOD","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bsod","body":" Very common abbreviation for Blue Screen of Death. Both spoken and written.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bsod.html#1786139962281"},{"title":"byte sex","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/byte-sex","body":" [common] The byte sex of hardware is big-endian or little-endian; see those entries.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/byte-sex.html#1786139962280"},{"title":"bells whistles and gongs","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bells-whistles-and-gongs","body":" A standard elaborated form of bells and whistles; typically said with a pronounced and ironic accent on the ‘gongs’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bells-whistles-and-gongs.html#1786139962279"},{"title":"buffer chuck","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buffer-chuck","body":" Shorter and ruder syn. for buffer overflow.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buffer-chuck.html#1786139962278"},{"title":"baggy pantsing","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/baggy-pantsing","body":" [Georgia Tech] A “baggy pantsing” is used to reprimand hackers who incautiously leave their terminals unlocked. The affected user will come back to find a post from them on internal newsgroups discussing exactly how baggy their pants are, an accepted stand-in for “unattentive user who left their work unprotected in the clusters”. A properly-done baggy pantsing is highly mocking and humorous. It is considered bad form to post a baggy pantsing to off-campus newsgroups or the more technical, serious groups. A particularly nice baggy pantsing may be “claimed” by immediately quoting the message in full, followed by your sig block; this has the added benefit of keeping the embarassed victim from being able to delete the post. Interesting baggy-pantsings have been done involving adding commands to login scripts to repost the message every time the unlucky user logs in; Unix boxes on the residential network, when cracked, oftentimes have their homepages replaced (after being politely backed-up to another file) with a baggy-pants message; .plan files are also occasionally targeted. Usage: “Prof. Greenlee fell asleep in the Solaris cluster again; we baggy-pantsed him to git.cc.class.2430.flame.” Compare derf.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/baggy-pantsing.html#1786139962277"},{"title":"bug of the month club","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bug-of-the-month-club","body":" [from “book-of-the-month club”, a time-honored mail-order-marketing technique in the U.S.] A mythical club which users of sendmail(8) (the Unix mail daemon) belong to; this was coined on the Usenet newsgroup comp.security.unix at a time when sendmail security holes, which allowed outside crackers access to the system, were being uncovered at an alarming rate, forcing sysadmins to update very often. Also, more completely, fatal security bug-of-the-month club. See also kernel-of-the-week club.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bug-of-the-month-club.html#1786139962276"},{"title":"Brookss Law","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brookss-law","body":" “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later” — a result of the fact that the expected advantage from splitting development work among N programmers is O(N) (that is, proportional to N), but the complexity and communications cost associated with coordinating and then merging their work is O(N^2) (that is, proportional to the square of N). The quote is from Fred Brooks, a manager of IBM's OS/360 project and author of The Mythical Man-Month (Addison-Wesley, 1975, ISBN 0-201-00650-2), an excellent early book on software engineering. The myth in question has been most tersely expressed as “Programmer time is fungible” and Brooks established conclusively that it is not. Hackers have never forgotten his advice (though it's not the whole story; see bazaar); too often, management still does. See also creationism, second-system effect, optimism.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brookss-law.html#1786139962275"},{"title":"bogon filter","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogon-filter","body":" Any device, software or hardware, that limits or suppresses the flow and/or emission of bogons. “Engineering hacked a bogon filter between the Cray and the VAXen, and now we're getting fewer dropped packets.” See also bogosity, bogus.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogon-filter.html#1786139962274"},{"title":"BWQ","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bwq","body":" [IBM: abbreviation, `Buzz Word Quotient'] The percentage of buzzwords in a speech or documents. Usually roughly proportional to bogosity. See TLA.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bwq.html#1786139962273"},{"title":"blinkenlights","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blinkenlights","body":" [common] Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer, esp. a dinosaur. Now that dinosaurs are rare, this term usually refers to status lights on a modem, network hub, or the like.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blinkenlights.html#1786139962272"},{"title":"BrokenWindows","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brokenwindows","body":" Abusive hackerism for the crufty and elephantine X environment on Sun machines; properly called ‘OpenWindows’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brokenwindows.html#1786139962271"},{"title":"bagbiting","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bagbiting","body":" [MIT; now rare] Having the quality of a bagbiter. “This bagbiting system won't let me compute the factorial of a negative number.” Compare losing, cretinous, bletcherous, barfucious (under barfulous) and chomping (under chomp).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bagbiting.html#1786139962270"},{"title":"borken","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/borken","body":" (also borked) Common deliberate typo for ‘broken’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/borken.html#1786139962269"},{"title":"bit bucket","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-bucket","body":" [very common] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-bucket.html#1786139962268"},{"title":"break even point","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/break-even-point","body":" In the process of implementing a new computer language, the point at which the language is sufficiently effective that one can implement the language in itself. That is, for a new language called, hypothetically, FOOGOL, one has reached break-even when one can write a demonstration compiler for FOOGOL in FOOGOL, discard the original implementation language, and thereafter use working versions of FOOGOL to develop newer ones. This is an important milestone; see MFTL.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/break-even-point.html#1786139962267"},{"title":"bob","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bob","body":" At www.demon.net, all tech support personnel are called “Bob”. (Female support personnel have an option on “Bobette”). This has nothing to do with Bob the divine drilling-equipment salesman of the Church of the SubGenius. Nor is it acronymized from “Brother Of BOFH”, though all parties agree it could have been. Rather, it was triggered by an unusually large draft of new tech-support people in 1995. It was observed that there would be much duplication of names. To ease the confusion, it was decided that all support techs would henceforth be known as “Bob”, and identity badges were created labelled “Bob 1” and “Bob 2”. (“No, we never got any further” reports a witness).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bob.html#1786139962266"},{"title":"buffer overflow","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buffer-overflow","body":" What happens when you try to stuff more data into a buffer (holding area) than it can handle. This problem is commonly exploited by crackers to get arbitrary commands executed by a program running with root permissions. This may be due to a mismatch in the processing rates of the producing and consuming processes (see overrun and firehose syndrome), or because the buffer is simply too small to hold all the data that must accumulate before a piece of it can be processed. For example, in a text-processing tool that crunches a line at a time, a short line buffer can result in lossage as input from a long line overflows the buffer and trashes data beyond it. Good defensive programming would check for overflow on each character and stop accepting data when the buffer is full up. The term is used of and by humans in a metaphorical sense. “What time did I agree to meet you? My buffer must have overflowed.” Or “If I answer that phone my buffer is going to overflow.” See also spam, overrun screw.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buffer-overflow.html#1786139962265"},{"title":"bondage and discipline language","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bondage-and-discipline-language","body":" A language (such as Pascal, Ada, APL, or Prolog) that, though ostensibly general-purpose, is designed so as to enforce an author's theory of ‘right programming’ even though said theory is demonstrably inadequate for systems hacking or even vanilla general-purpose programming. Often abbreviated ‘B&D’; thus, one may speak of things “having the B&D nature”. See Pascal; oppose languages of choice.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bondage-and-discipline-language.html#1786139962264"},{"title":"bogue out","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogue-out","body":" To become bogus, suddenly and unexpectedly. “His talk was relatively sane until somebody asked him a trick question; then he bogued out and did nothing but flame afterwards.” See also bogosity, bogus.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogue-out.html#1786139962263"},{"title":"Big Red Switch","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/big-red-switch","body":" [IBM] The power switch on a computer, esp. the ‘Emergency Pull’ switch on an IBM mainframe or the power switch on an IBM PC where it really is large and red. “This !@%$% bitty box is hung again; time to hit the Big Red Switch.” Sources at IBM report that, in tune with the company's passion for TLAs, this is often abbreviated as BRS (this has also become established on FidoNet and in the PC clone world). It is alleged that the emergency pull switch on an IBM 360/91 actually fired a non-conducting bolt into the main power feed; the BRSes on more recent mainframes physically drop a block into place so that they can't be pushed back in. People get fired for pulling them, especially inappropriately (see also molly-guard). Compare power cycle, three-finger salute; see also scram switch.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/big-red-switch.html#1786139962262"},{"title":"biff","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/biff","body":" [now rare] To notify someone of incoming mail. From the BSD utility biff(1), which was in turn named after a friendly dog who used to chase frisbees in the halls at UCB while 4.2BSD was in development. There was a legend that it had a habit of barking whenever the mailman came, but the author of biff says this is not true. No relation to B1FF.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/biff.html#1786139962261"},{"title":"bells and whistles","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bells-and-whistles","body":" [common] Features added to a program or system to make it more flavorful from a hacker's point of view, without necessarily adding to its utility for its primary function. Distinguished from chrome, which is intended to attract users. “Now that we've got the basic program working, let's go back and add some bells and whistles.” No one seems to know what distinguishes a bell from a whistle. The recognized emphatic form is “bells, whistles, and gongs”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bells-and-whistles.html#1786139962260"},{"title":"buzzword compliant","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buzzword-compliant","body":" [also buzzword-enabled] Used (disparagingly) of products that seem to have been specified to incorporate all of this month's trendy technologies. Key buzzwords that often show up in buzzword-compliant specifications as of 2001 include ‘XML’, ‘Java’, ‘peer-to-peer’, ‘distributed’, and ‘open’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buzzword-compliant.html#1786139962259"},{"title":"byte","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/byte","body":" [techspeak] A unit of memory or data equal to the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures this is invariably 8 bits. Some older architectures used byte for quantities of 6, 7, or (especially) 9 bits, and the PDP-10 supported bytes that were actually bitfields of 1 to 36 bits! These usages are now obsolete, killed off by universal adoption of power-of-2 word sizes.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/byte.html#1786139962258"},{"title":"bounce message","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bounce-message","body":" [common] Notification message returned to sender by a site unable to relay email to the intended Internet address recipient or the next link in a bang path (see bounce, sense 1). Reasons might include a nonexistent or misspelled username or a down relay site. Bounce messages can themselves fail, with occasionally ugly results; see sorcerer's apprentice mode and software laser. The terms bounce mail and barfmail are also common.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bounce-message.html#1786139962257"},{"title":"bubble sort","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bubble-sort","body":" Techspeak for a particular sorting technique in which pairs of adjacent values in the list to be sorted are compared and interchanged if they are out of order; thus, list entries ‘bubble upward’ in the list until they bump into one with a lower sort value. Because it is not very good relative to other methods and is the one typically stumbled on by naive and untutored programmers, hackers consider it the canonical example of a naive algorithm. (However, it's been shown by repeated experiment that below about 5000 records bubble-sort is OK anyway.) The canonical example of a really bad algorithm is bogo-sort. A bubble sort might be used out of ignorance, but any use of bogo-sort could issue only from brain damage or willful perversity.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bubble-sort.html#1786139962256"},{"title":"beam","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beam","body":" [from Star Trek Classic's “Beam me up, Scotty!”] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/beam.html#1786139962255"},{"title":"bloatware","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bloatware","body":" [common] Software that provides minimal functionality while requiring a disproportionate amount of diskspace and memory. Especially used for application and OS upgrades. This term is very common in the Windows/NT world. So is its cause.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bloatware.html#1786139962254"},{"title":"boink","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/boink","body":" 1. [Usenet: variously ascribed to the TV series Cheers, Moonlighting, and Soap]v. To have sex with; compare bounce, sense 2. (This is mainstream slang.) In Commonwealth hackish the variant ‘bonk’ is more common. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/boink.html#1786139962253"},{"title":"bump","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bump","body":" Synonym for increment. Has the same meaning as C's ++ operator. Used esp. of counter variables, pointers, and index dummies in for, while, and do-while loops.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bump.html#1786139962252"},{"title":"BUAF","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buaf","body":" [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] Big Ugly ASCII Font — a special form of ASCII art. Various programs exist for rendering text strings into block, bloob, and pseudo-script fonts in cells between four and six character cells on a side; this is smaller than the letters generated by older banner (sense 2) programs. These are sometimes used to render one's name in a sig block, and are critically referred to as BUAFs. See warlording.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buaf.html#1786139962251"},{"title":"broken ring network","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/broken-ring-network","body":" Pejorative hackerism for “token-ring network”, an early and very slow LAN technology from IBM that lost the standards war to Ethernet. Though token-ring survives in a few niche markets (such as factory automation) that put a high premium on resistance to electrical noise, the term is now (2000) primarily historical.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/broken-ring-network.html#1786139962250"},{"title":"Bad and Wrong","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bad-and-wrong","body":" [Durham, UK] Said of something that is both badly designed and wrongly executed. This common term is the prototype of, and is used by contrast with, three less common terms — Bad and Right (a kludge, something ugly but functional); Good and Wrong (an overblown GUI or other attractive nuisance); and (rare praise) Good and Right. These terms entered common use at Durham c.1994 and may have been imported from elsewhere; they are also in use at Oxford, and the emphatic form “Evil and Bad and Wrong” (abbreviated EBW) is reported from there. There are standard abbreviations: they start with B&R, a typo for “Bad and Wrong”. Consequently, B&W is actually “Bad and Right”, G&R = “Good and Wrong”, and G&W = “Good and Right”. Compare evil and rude, Good Thing, Bad Thing.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bad-and-wrong.html#1786139962249"},{"title":"blow an EPROM","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blow-an-eprom","body":" (alt.: blast an EPROM, burn an EPROM) To program a read-only memory, e.g.: for use with an embedded system. This term arose because the programming process for the Programmable Read-Only Memories (PROMs) that preceded present-day Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memories (EPROMs) involved intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on the chip. The usage lives on (it's too vivid and expressive to discard) even though the write process on EPROMs is nondestructive.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blow-an-eprom.html#1786139962248"},{"title":"brute force and ignorance","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brute-force-and-ignorance","body":" A popular design technique at many software houses — brute force coding unrelieved by any knowledge of how problems have been previously solved in elegant ways. Dogmatic adherence to design methodologies tends to encourage this sort of thing. Characteristic of early larval stage programming; unfortunately, many never outgrow it. Often abbreviated BFI: “Gak, they used a bubble sort! That's strictly from BFI.” Compare bogosity. A very similar usage is said to be mainstream in Great Britain.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brute-force-and-ignorance.html#1786139962247"},{"title":"bletch","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bletch","body":" [very common; from Yiddish/German ‘brechen’, to vomit, poss. via comic-strip exclamation ‘blech’] Term of disgust. Often used in “Ugh, bletch”. Compare barf.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bletch.html#1786139962246"},{"title":"bogus","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogus","body":" 1. Non-functional. “Your patches are bogus.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogus.html#1786139962245"},{"title":"banner ad","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/banner-ad","body":" Any of the annoying graphical advertisements that span the tops of way too many Web pages.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/banner-ad.html#1786139962244"},{"title":"bug compatible","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bug-compatible","body":" [common] Said of a design or revision that has been badly compromised by a requirement to be compatible with fossils or misfeatures in other programs or (esp.) previous releases of itself. “MS-DOS 2.0 used \\ as a path separator to be bug-compatible with some cretin's choice of / as an option character in 1.0.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bug-compatible.html#1786139962243"},{"title":"blit","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blit","body":" 1. [common] To copy a large array of bits from one part of a computer's memory to another part, particularly when the memory is being used to determine what is shown on a display screen. “The storage allocator picks through the table and copies the good parts up into high memory, and then blits it all back down again.” See bitblt, BLT, dd, cat, blast, snarf. More generally, to perform some operation (such as toggling) on a large array of bits while moving them. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blit.html#1786139962242"},{"title":"blue wire","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blue-wire","body":" [IBM] Patch wires (esp. 30 AWG gauge) added to circuit boards at the factory to correct design or fabrication problems. Blue wire is not necessarily blue, the term describes function rather than color. These may be necessary if there hasn't been time to design and qualify another board version. In Great Britain this can be bodge wire, after mainstream slang bodge for a clumsy improvisation or sloppy job of work. Compare purple wire, red wire, yellow wire, pink wire.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blue-wire.html#1786139962241"},{"title":"backward combatability","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/backward-combatability","body":"[CMU, Tektronix: from backward compatibility] A property of hardware or software revisions in which previous protocols, formats, layouts, etc. are irrevocably discarded in favor of ‘new and improved’ protocols, formats, and layouts, leaving the previous ones not merely deprecated but actively defeated. (Too often, the old and new versions cannot definitively be distinguished, such that lingering instances of the previous ones yield crashes or other infelicitous effects, as opposed to a simple “version mismatch” message.) A backwards compatible change, on the other hand, allows old versions to coexist without crashes or error messages, but too many major changes incorporating elaborate backwards compatibility processing can lead to extreme software bloat. See also flag day.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/backward-combatability.html#1786139962240"},{"title":"batch","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/batch","body":" 1. Non-interactive. Hackers use this somewhat more loosely than the traditional technical definitions justify; in particular, switches on a normally interactive program that prepare it to receive non-interactive command input are often referred to as batch mode switches. A batch file is a series of instructions written to be handed to an interactive program running in batch mode. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/batch.html#1786139962239"},{"title":"bogosity","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogosity","body":" 1. [orig. CMU, now very common] The degree to which something is bogus. Bogosity is measured with a bogometer; in a seminar, when a speaker says something bogus, a listener might raise his hand and say “My bogometer just triggered”. More extremely, “You just pinned my bogometer” means you just said or did something so outrageously bogus that it is off the scale, pinning the bogometer needle at the highest possible reading (one might also say “You just redlined my bogometer”). The agreed-upon unit of bogosity is the microLenat. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogosity.html#1786139962238"},{"title":"breedle","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/breedle","body":" See feep.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/breedle.html#1786139962237"},{"title":"blurgle","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blurgle","body":" [UK] Spoken metasyntactic variable, to indicate some text that is obvious from context, or which is already known. If several words are to be replaced, blurgle may well be doubled or tripled. “To look for something in several files use ‘grep string blurgle blurgle’.” In each case, “blurgle blurgle” would be understood to be replaced by the file you wished to search. Compare mumble, sense 7.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blurgle.html#1786139962236"},{"title":"BogoMIPS","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogomips","body":" The number of million times a second a processor can do absolutely nothing. The Linux OS measures BogoMIPS at startup in order to calibrate some soft timing loops that will be used later on; details at the BogoMIPS mini-HOWTO. The name Linus chose, of course, is an ironic comment on the uselessness of all other MIPS figures.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogomips.html#1786139962235"},{"title":"bogotify","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogotify","body":" To make or become bogus. A program that has been changed so many times as to become completely disorganized has become bogotified. If you tighten a nut too hard and strip the threads on the bolt, the bolt has become bogotified and you had better not use it any more. This coinage led to the notional autobogotiphobia defined as ‘the fear of becoming bogotified’; but is not clear that the latter has ever been ‘live’ jargon rather than a self-conscious joke in jargon about jargon. See also bogosity, bogus.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogotify.html#1786139962234"},{"title":"barfulous","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barfulous","body":" (alt.: barfucious, /bar-fyoo-sh@s/) Said of something that would make anyone barf, if only for esthetic reasons.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barfulous.html#1786139962233"},{"title":"brain fart","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brain-fart","body":" The actual result of a braino, as opposed to the mental glitch that is the braino itself. E.g., typing dir on a Unix box after a session with DOS.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brain-fart.html#1786139962232"},{"title":"burst page","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/burst-page","body":" Syn. banner, sense 1.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/burst-page.html#1786139962231"},{"title":"BUAG","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buag","body":" [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord] Big Ugly ASCII Graphic. Pejorative term for ugly ASCII art, especially as found in sig blocks. For some reason, mutations of the head of Bart Simpson are particularly common in the least imaginative sig blocks. See warlording.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buag.html#1786139962230"},{"title":"Bad Thing","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bad-thing","body":" [very common; always pronounced as if capitalized. Orig. fr. the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody of British history 1066 And All That, but well-established among hackers in the U.S. as well.] Something that can't possibly result in improvement of the subject. This term is always capitalized, as in “Replacing all of the DSL links with bicycle couriers would be a Bad Thing”. Oppose Good Thing. British correspondents confirm that Bad Thing and Good Thing (and prob. therefore Right Thing and Wrong Thing) come from the book referenced in the etymology, which discusses rulers who were Good Kings but Bad Things. This has apparently created a mainstream idiom on the British side of the pond. It is very common among American hackers, but not in mainstream usage in the U.S. Compare Bad and Wrong.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bad-thing.html#1786139962229"},{"title":"bottom post","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bottom-post","body":" In a news or mail reply, to put the response to a news or email message after the quoted content from the parent message. This is correct form, and until around 2000 was so universal on the Internet that neither the term ‘bottom-post’ nor its antonym top-post existed. Hackers consider that the best practice is actually to excerpt only the relevent portions of the parent message, then intersperse the poster's response in such a way that each section of response appears directly after the excerpt it applies to. This reduces message bulk, keeps thread content in a logical order, and facilitates reading.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bottom-post.html#1786139962228"},{"title":"broket","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/broket","body":" [rare; by analogy with ‘bracket’: a ‘broken bracket’] Either of the characters < and >, when used as paired enclosing delimiters. This word originated as a contraction of the phrase ‘broken bracket’, that is, a bracket that is bent in the middle. (At MIT, and apparently in the Real World as well, these are usually called angle brackets.)","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/broket.html#1786139962227"},{"title":"bit rot","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-rot","body":" [common] Also bit decay. Hypothetical disease the existence of which has been deduced from the observation that unused programs or features will often stop working after sufficient time has passed, even if ‘nothing has changed’. The theory explains that bits decay as if they were radioactive. As time passes, the contents of a file or the code in a program will become increasingly garbled.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-rot.html#1786139962226"},{"title":"Big Room","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/big-room","body":" (Also Big Blue Room) The extremely large room with the blue ceiling and intensely bright light (during the day) or black ceiling with lots of tiny night-lights (during the night) found outside all computer installations. “He can't come to the phone right now, he's somewhere out in the Big Room.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/big-room.html#1786139962225"},{"title":"blogosphere","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blogosphere","body":"The totality of all blogs. A culture heavily overlapping with but not coincident with hackerdom; a few of its key coinages (blogrolling, fisking, anti-idiotarianism) are recorded in this lexicon for flavor. Bloggers often divide themselves into warbloggers and techbloggers. The techbloggers write about technology and technology policy, while the warbloggers are more politically focused and tend to be preoccupied with U.S. and world response to the post-9/11 war against terrorism. The overlap with hackerdom is heaviest among the techbloggers, but several of the most prominent warbloggers are also hackers. Bloggers in general tend to be aware of and sympathetic to the hacker culture.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blogosphere.html#1786139962224"},{"title":"bitblt","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bitblt","body":" [from BLT, q.v.:]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bitblt.html#1786139962223"},{"title":"bar","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bar","body":" 1. [very common] The second metasyntactic variable, after foo and before baz. “Suppose we have two functions: FOO and BAR. FOO calls BAR....” ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bar.html#1786139962222"},{"title":"brainwidth","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brainwidth","body":" [Great Britain] Analagous to bandwidth but used strictly for human capacity to process information and especially to multitask. “Writing email is taking up most of my brainwidth right now, I can't look at that Flash animation.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brainwidth.html#1786139962221"},{"title":"Befunge","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/befunge","body":" A worthy companion to INTERCAL; a computer language family which escapes the quotidian limitation of linear control flow and embraces program counters flying through multiple dimensions with exotic topologies. The Befunge home page is at www.catseye.mb.ca.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/befunge.html#1786139962220"},{"title":"Berkeley Quality Software","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/berkeley-quality-software","body":" (often abbreviated “BQS”) Term used in a pejorative sense to refer to software that was apparently created by rather spaced-out hackers late at night to solve some unique problem. It usually has nonexistent, incomplete, or incorrect documentation, has been tested on at least two examples, and core dumps when anyone else attempts to use it. This term was frequently applied to early versions of the dbx(1) debugger. See also Berzerkeley.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/berkeley-quality-software.html#1786139962219"},{"title":"bitty box","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bitty-box","body":" 1. A computer sufficiently small, primitive, or incapable as to cause a hacker acute claustrophobia at the thought of developing software on or for it. Especially used of small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only personal machines such as the Atari 800, Osborne, Sinclair, VIC-20, TRS-80, or IBM PC. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bitty-box.html#1786139962218"},{"title":"beanie key","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beanie-key","body":"[Mac users] See command key.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/beanie-key.html#1786139962217"},{"title":"blow up","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blow-up","body":" 1. [scientific computation] To become unstable. Suggests that the computation is diverging so rapidly that it will soon overflow or at least go nonlinear. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blow-up.html#1786139962216"},{"title":"Bzzzt Wrong","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bzzzt-wrong","body":" [common; Usenet/Internet; punctuation varies] From a Robin Williams routine in the movie Dead Poets Society spoofing radio or TV quiz programs, such as Truth or Consequences, where an incorrect answer earns one a blast from the buzzer and condolences from the interlocutor. A way of expressing mock-rude disagreement, usually immediately following an included quote from another poster. The less abbreviated “*Bzzzzt*, wrong, but thank you for playing” is also common; capitalization and emphasis of the buzzer sound varies.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bzzzt-wrong.html#1786139962215"},{"title":"blow out","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blow-out","body":" [prob.: from mining and tunneling jargon] Of software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious as crash and burn. See blow past, blow up, die horribly.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blow-out.html#1786139962214"},{"title":"buried treasure","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/buried-treasure","body":" A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and has lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Used sarcastically, because what is found is anything but treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed. “I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using bubble sort! Buried treasure!”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/buried-treasure.html#1786139962213"},{"title":"bit twiddling","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-twiddling","body":" [very common] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-twiddling.html#1786139962212"},{"title":"bboard","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bboard","body":" [contraction of ‘bulletin board’]","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bboard.html#1786139962211"},{"title":"brown paper bag bug","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brown-paper-bag-bug","body":" A bug in a public software release that is so embarrassing that the author notionally wears a brown paper bag over his head for a while so he won't be recognized on the net. Entered popular usage after the early-1999 release of the first Linux 2.2, which had one. The phrase was used in Linus Torvalds's apology posting.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brown-paper-bag-bug.html#1786139962210"},{"title":"blue box","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blue-box","body":" n. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blue-box.html#1786139962209"},{"title":"bit bang","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-bang","body":" Transmission of data on a serial line, when accomplished by rapidly tweaking a single output bit, in software, at the appropriate times. The technique is a simple loop with eight OUT and SHIFT instruction pairs for each byte. Input is more interesting. And full duplex (doing input and output at the same time) is one way to separate the real hackers from the wannabees.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-bang.html#1786139962208"},{"title":"BiCapitalization","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bicapitalization","body":" The act said to have been performed on trademarks (such as PostScript, NeXT, NeWS, VisiCalc, FrameMaker, TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the ruck of common coinage by nonstandard capitalization. Too many marketroid types think this sort of thing is really cute, even the 2,317th time they do it. Compare studlycaps, InterCaps.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bicapitalization.html#1786139962207"},{"title":"brain damaged","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brain-damaged","body":" 1. [common; generalization of “Honeywell Brain Damage” (HBD), a theoretical disease invented to explain certain utter cretinisms in Honeywell Multics] adj. Obviously wrong; cretinous; demented. There is an implication that the person responsible must have suffered brain damage, because he should have known better. Calling something brain-damaged is really bad; it also implies it is unusable, and that its failure to work is due to poor design rather than some accident. “Only six monocase characters per file name? Now that's brain-damaged!” ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brain-damaged.html#1786139962206"},{"title":"BAD","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bad","body":" [IBM: acronym, “Broken As Designed”] Said of a program that is bogus because of bad design and misfeatures rather than because of bugginess. See working as designed. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bad.html#1786139962205"},{"title":"bucky bits","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bucky-bits","body":" 1. [obs.] The bits produced by the CONTROL and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard (octal 200 and 400 respectively), resulting in a 9-bit keyboard character set. The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this with TOP and separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a 12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see space-cadet keyboard). ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bucky-bits.html#1786139962204"},{"title":"bogon","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogon","body":" [very common; by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas Adams's ‘Vogons’; see the Bibliography in Appendix C and note that Arthur Dent actually mispronounces ‘Vogons’ as ‘Bogons’ at one point] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogon.html#1786139962203"},{"title":"bit decay","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-decay","body":" See bit rot. People with a physics background tend to prefer this variant for the analogy with particle decay. See also computron, quantum bogodynamics.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-decay.html#1786139962202"},{"title":"BI","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bi","body":" Common written abbreviation for Breidbart Index.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bi.html#1786139962201"},{"title":"BLT","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blt","body":" Synonym for blit. This is the original form of blit and the ancestor of bitblt. It referred to any large bit-field copy or move operation (one resource-intensive memory-shuffling operation done on pre-paged versions of ITS, WAITS, and TOPS-10 was sardonically referred to as “The Big BLT”). The jargon usage has outlasted the PDP-10 BLock Transfer instruction from which BLT derives; nowadays, the assembler mnemonic BLT almost always means “Branch if Less Than zero”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blt.html#1786139962200"},{"title":"BRS","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brs","body":" Syn. Big Red Switch. This abbreviation is fairly common on-line.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brs.html#1786139962199"},{"title":"blammo","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blammo","body":" [Oxford Brookes University and alumni, UK] To forcibly remove someone from any interactive system, especially talker systems. The operators, who may remain hidden, may “blammo” a user who is misbehaving. Very similar to archaic MIT gun; in fact, the blammo-gun is a notional device used to “blammo” someone. While in actual fact the only incarnation of the blammo-gun is the command used to forcibly eject a user, operators speak of different levels of blammo-gun fire; e.g., a blammo-gun to ‘stun’ will temporarily remove someone, but a blammo-gun set to ‘maim’ will stop someone coming back on for a while.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blammo.html#1786139962198"},{"title":"braino","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/braino","body":" Syn. for thinko. See also brain fart.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/braino.html#1786139962197"},{"title":"Borg","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/borg","body":" In Star Trek: The Next Generation the Borg is a species of cyborg that ruthlessly seeks to incorporate all sentient life into itself; their slogan is “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” In hacker parlance, the Borg is usually Microsoft, which is thought to be trying just as ruthlessly to assimilate all computers and the entire Internet to itself (there is a widely circulated image of Bill Gates as a Borg). Being forced to use Windows or NT is often referred to as being “Borged”. Interestingly, the Halloween Documents reveal that this jargon is live within Microsoft itself. See also Evil Empire, Internet Exploiter.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/borg.html#1786139962196"},{"title":"beige toaster","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beige-toaster","body":" [obs.] An original Macintosh in the boxy beige case. See toaster; compare Macintrash, maggotbox.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/beige-toaster.html#1786139962195"},{"title":"boustrophedon","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/boustrophedon","body":" [from a Greek word for turning like an ox while plowing] An ancient method of writing using alternate left-to-right and right-to-left lines. This term is actually philologists' techspeak and typesetters' jargon. Erudite hackers use it for an optimization performed by some computer typesetting software and moving-head printers. The adverbial form ‘boustrophedonically’ is also found (hackers purely love constructions like this).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/boustrophedon.html#1786139962194"},{"title":"black hole","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/black-hole","body":" [common] What data (a piece of email or netnews, or a stream of TCP/IP packets) has fallen into if it disappears mysteriously between its origin and destination sites (that is, without returning a bounce message). “I think there's a black hole at foovax!” conveys suspicion that site foovax has been dropping a lot of stuff on the floor lately (see drop on the floor). The implied metaphor of email as interstellar travel is interesting in itself. Readily verbed as blackhole: “That router is blackholing IDP packets.” Compare bit bucket and see RBL.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/black-hole.html#1786139962193"},{"title":"benchmark","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/benchmark","body":" [techspeak] An inaccurate measure of computer performance. “In the computer industry, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and benchmarks.” Well-known ones include Whetstone, Dhrystone, Rhealstone (see h), the Gabriel LISP benchmarks, the SPECmark suite, and LINPACK. See also machoflops, MIPS, smoke and mirrors.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/benchmark.html#1786139962192"},{"title":"boxen","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/boxen","body":" [very common; by analogy with VAXen] Fanciful plural of box often encountered in the phrase ‘Unix boxen’, used to describe commodity Unix hardware. The connotation is that any two Unix boxen are interchangeable.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/boxen.html#1786139962191"},{"title":"Breidbart Index","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/breidbart-index","body":" A measurement of the severity of spam invented by long-time hacker Seth Breidbart, used for programming cancelbots. The Breidbart Index takes into account the fact that excessive multi-posting EMP is worse than excessive cross-posting ECP. The Breidbart Index is computed as follows: For each article in a spam, take the square-root of the number of newsgroups to which the article is posted. The Breidbart Index is the sum of the square roots of all of the posts in the spam. For example, one article posted to nine newsgroups and again to sixteen would have BI = sqrt(9) + sqrt(16) = 7. It is generally agreed that a spam is cancelable if the Breidbart Index exceeds 20.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/breidbart-index.html#1786139962190"},{"title":"broken","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/broken","body":" 1. Not working according to design (of programs). This is the mainstream sense. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/broken.html#1786139962189"},{"title":"BDFL","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bdfl","body":" [Python; common] Benevolent Dictator For Life. Guido, considered in his role as the project leader of Python. People who are feeling temporarily cheesed off by one of his decisions sometimes leave off the B. The mental image that goes with this, of a cigar-chomping caudillo in gold braid and sunglasses, is extremely funny to anyone who has ever met Guido in person.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bdfl.html#1786139962188"},{"title":"barf","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barf","body":" [common; from mainstream slang meaning ‘vomit’] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barf.html#1786139962187"},{"title":"bodge","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bodge","body":" [Commonwealth hackish] Syn. kludge or hack (sense 1). “I'll bodge this in now and fix it later”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bodge.html#1786139962186"},{"title":"bogometer","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bogometer","body":" A notional instrument for measuring bogosity. Compare the Troll-O-Meter and the ‘wankometer’ described in the wank entry; see also bogus.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bogometer.html#1786139962185"},{"title":"black magic","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/black-magic","body":" [common] A technique that works, though nobody really understands why. More obscure than voodoo programming, which may be done by cookbook. Compare also black art, deep magic, and magic number (sense 2). ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/black-magic.html#1786139962184"},{"title":"bathtub curve","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bathtub-curve","body":" Common term for the curve (resembling an end-to-end section of one of those claw-footed antique bathtubs) that describes the expected failure rate of electronics with time: initially high, dropping to near 0 for most of the system's lifetime, then rising again as it ‘tires out’. See also burn-in period, infant mortality.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bathtub-curve.html#1786139962183"},{"title":"brain dump","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brain-dump","body":" [common] The act of telling someone everything one knows about a particular topic or project. Typically used when someone is going to let a new party maintain a piece of code. Conceptually analogous to an operating system core dump in that it saves a lot of useful state before an exit. “You'll have to give me a brain dump on FOOBAR before you start your new job at HackerCorp.” See core dump (sense 4). At Sun, this is also known as TOI (transfer of information).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brain-dump.html#1786139962182"},{"title":"blat","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blat","body":" 1. Syn. blast, sense 1. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blat.html#1786139962181"},{"title":"BOF","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bof","body":" 1. [common] Abbreviation for the phrase “Birds Of a Feather” (flocking together), an informal discussion group and/or bull session scheduled on a conference program. It is not clear where or when this term originated, but it is now associated with the USENIX conferences for Unix techies and was already established there by 1984. It was used earlier than that at DECUS conferences and is reported to have been common at SHARE meetings as far back as the early 1960s.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bof.html#1786139962180"},{"title":"bamf","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bamf","body":" 1. [from X-Men comics; originally “bampf”] interj. Notional sound made by a person or object teleporting in or out of the hearer's vicinity. Often used in virtual reality (esp. MUD) electronic fora when a character wishes to make a dramatic entrance or exit. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bamf.html#1786139962179"},{"title":"binary four","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/binary-four","body":" [Usenet] The finger, in the sense of digitus impudicus. This comes from an analogy between binary and the hand, i.e. 1=00001=thumb, 2=00010=index finger, 3=00011=index and thumb, 4=00100. Considered silly. Prob. from humorous derivative of finger, sense 4.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/binary-four.html#1786139962178"},{"title":"banner","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/banner","body":" 1. A top-centered graphic on a web page. Esp. used in banner ad.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/banner.html#1786139962177"},{"title":"Berzerkeley","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/berzerkeley","body":" [from ‘berserk’, via the name of a now-deceased record label; poss. originated by famed columnist Herb Caen] Humorous distortion of “Berkeley” used esp. to refer to the practices or products of the BSD Unix hackers. See software bloat, Berkeley Quality Software.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/berzerkeley.html#1786139962176"},{"title":"bring X to its knees","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bring-x-to-its-knees","body":" [common] To present a machine, operating system, piece of software, or algorithm with a load so extreme or pathological that it grinds to a halt.: “To bring a MicroVAX to its knees, try twenty users running vi — or four running EMACS.” Compare hog.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bring-x-to-its-knees.html#1786139962175"},{"title":"bit paired keyboard","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-paired-keyboard","body":" (alt.: bit-shift keyboard) A non-standard keyboard layout that seems to have originated with the Teletype ASR-33 and remained common for several years on early computer equipment. The ASR-33 was a mechanical device (see EOU), so the only way to generate the character codes from keystrokes was by some physical linkage. The design of the ASR-33 assigned each character key a basic pattern that could be modified by flipping bits if the SHIFT or the CTRL key was pressed. In order to avoid making the thing even more of a kluge than it already was, the design had to group characters that shared the same basic bit pattern on one key.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-paired-keyboard.html#1786139962174"},{"title":"bandwidth","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bandwidth","body":" 1. [common] Used by hackers (in a generalization of its technical meaning) as the volume of information per unit time that a computer, person, or transmission medium can handle. “Those are amazing graphics, but I missed some of the detail — not enough bandwidth, I guess.” Compare low-bandwidth; see also brainwidth. This generalized usage began to go mainstream after the Internet population explosion of 1993-1994. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bandwidth.html#1786139962173"},{"title":"bit bashing","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bit-bashing","body":" (alt.: bit diddling or bit twiddling) Term used to describe any of several kinds of low-level programming characterized by manipulation of bit, flag, nybble, and other smaller-than-character-sized pieces of data; these include low-level device control, encryption algorithms, checksum and error-correcting codes, hash functions, some flavors of graphics programming (see bitblt), and assembler/compiler code generation. May connote either tedium or a real technical challenge (more usually the former). “The command decoding for the new tape driver looks pretty solid but the bit-bashing for the control registers still has bugs.” See also mode bit.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bit-bashing.html#1786139962172"},{"title":"blow past","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blow-past","body":" To blow out despite a safeguard. “The server blew past the 5K reserve buffer.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blow-past.html#1786139962171"},{"title":"backbone site","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/backbone-site","body":" Formerly, a key Usenet and email site, one that processes a large amount of third-party traffic, especially if it is the home site of any of the regional coordinators for the Usenet maps. Notable backbone sites as of early 1993, when this sense of the term was beginning to pass out of general use due to wide availability of cheap Internet connections, included uunet and the mail machines at Rutgers University, UC Berkeley, DEC's Western Research Laboratories, Ohio State University, and the University of Texas. Compare leaf site.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/backbone-site.html#1786139962170"},{"title":"bixie","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bixie","body":" Variant emoticons used BIX (the BIX Information eXchange); the term survived the demise of BIX itself. The most common (smiley) bixie is <@_@>, representing two cartoon eyes and a mouth. These were originally invented in an SF fanzine called APA-L and imported to BIX by one of the earliest users.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bixie.html#1786139962169"},{"title":"bonk oif","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bonk-oif","body":" In the U.S. MUD community, it has become traditional to express pique or censure by bonking the offending person. Convention holds that one should acknowledge a bonk by saying “oif!” and there is a myth to the effect that failing to do so upsets the cosmic bonk/oif balance, causing much trouble in the universe. Some MUDs have implemented special commands for bonking and oifing. Note: in parts of the U.K. ‘bonk’ is a sexually loaded slang term; care is advised in transatlantic conversations (see boink). Commonwealth hackers report a similar convention involving the ‘fish/bang’ balance. See also talk mode.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bonk-oif.html#1786139962168"},{"title":"blue goo","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blue-goo","body":" Term for ‘police’ nanobots intended to prevent gray goo, denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, put ozone back into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and promote truth, justice, and the American way, etc. The term “Blue Goo” can be found in Dr. Seuss's Fox In Socks to refer to a substance much like bubblegum. ‘Would you like to chew blue goo, sir?’. See nanotechnology.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blue-goo.html#1786139962167"},{"title":"bang path","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bang-path","body":" [now historical] An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address specifying hops to get from some assumed-reachable location to the addressee, so called because each hop is signified by a bang sign. Thus, for example, the path ...!bigsite!foovax!barbox!me directs people to route their mail to machine bigsite (presumably a well-known location accessible to everybody) and from there through the machine foovax to the account of user me on barbox.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bang-path.html#1786139962166"},{"title":"bang on","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bang-on","body":" To stress-test a piece of hardware or software: “I banged on the new version of the simulator all day yesterday and it didn't crash once. I guess it is ready for release.” The term pound on is synonymous.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bang-on.html#1786139962165"},{"title":"board","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/board","body":" 1. In-context synonym for bboard; sometimes used even for Usenet newsgroups (but see usage note under bboard, sense 1). ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/board.html#1786139962164"},{"title":"brittle","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brittle","body":" Said of software that is functional but easily broken by changes in operating environment or configuration, or by any minor tweak to the software itself. Also, any system that responds inappropriately and disastrously to abnormal but expected external stimuli; e.g., a file system that is usually totally scrambled by a power failure is said to be brittle. This term is often used to describe the results of a research effort that were never intended to be robust, but it can be applied to commercial software, which (due to closed-source development) displays the quality far more often than it ought to. Oppose robust.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brittle.html#1786139962163"},{"title":"bozotic","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bozotic","body":" [from the name of a TV clown even more losing than Ronald McDonald] Resembling or having the quality of a bozo; that is, clownish, ludicrously wrong, unintentionally humorous. Compare wonky, demented. Note that the noun ‘bozo’ occurs in slang, but the mainstream adjectival form would be ‘bozo-like’ or (in New England) ‘bozoish’.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bozotic.html#1786139962162"},{"title":"brute force","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brute-force","body":" Describes a primitive programming style, one in which the programmer relies on the computer's processing power instead of using his or her own intelligence to simplify the problem, often ignoring problems of scale and applying naive methods suited to small problems directly to large ones. The term can also be used in reference to programming style: brute-force programs are written in a heavyhanded, tedious way, full of repetition and devoid of any elegance or useful abstraction (see also brute force and ignorance).","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brute-force.html#1786139962161"},{"title":"bug for bug compatible","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bug-for-bug-compatible","body":" Same as bug-compatible, with the additional implication that much tedious effort went into ensuring that each (known) bug was replicated.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bug-for-bug-compatible.html#1786139962160"},{"title":"BLOB","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/blob","body":" 1. n. [acronym: Binary Large OBject] Used by database people to refer to any random large block of bits that needs to be stored in a database, such as a picture or sound file. The essential point about a BLOB is that it's an object that cannot be interpreted within the database itself. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/blob.html#1786139962159"},{"title":"beta","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/beta","body":" 1. Mostly working, but still under test; usu. used with “in”: in beta. In the Real World, hardware or software systems often go through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and Beta (out-house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of lucky (or unlucky) trusted customers. ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/beta.html#1786139962158"},{"title":"busy wait","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/busy-wait","body":" Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is busy waiting for someone or something, intends to move instantly as soon as it shows up, and thus cannot do anything else at the moment. “Can't talk now, I'm busy-waiting till Bill gets off the phone.”","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/busy-wait.html#1786139962157"},{"title":"burble","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/burble","body":" [from Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky] Like flame, but connotes that the source is truly clueless and ineffectual (mere flamers can be competent). A term of deep contempt. “There's some guy on the phone burbling about how he got a DISK FULL error and it's all our comm software's fault.” This is mainstream slang in some parts of England.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/burble.html#1786139962156"},{"title":"brick","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/brick","body":"1. A piece of equipment that has been programmed or configured into a hung, wedged,unusable state. Especially used to describe what happens to devices like routers or PDAs that run from firmware when the firmware image is damaged or its settings are somehow patched to impossible values. This term usually implies irreversibility, but equipment can sometimes be unbricked by performing a hard reset or some other drastic operation. Sometimes verbed: “Yeah, I bricked the router because I forgot about adding in the new access-list.”.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/brick.html#1786139962155"},{"title":"BOFH","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bofh","body":" [common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system administrator with absolutely no tolerance for lusers. “You say you need more filespace? <massive-global-delete> Seems to me you have plenty left...” Many BOFHs (and others who would be BOFHs if they could get away with it) hang out in the newsgroup alt.sysadmin.recovery, although there has also been created a top-level newsgroup hierarchy (bofh.*) of their own.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bofh.html#1786139962154"},{"title":"backbone cabal","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/backbone-cabal","body":" A group of large-site administrators who pushed through the Great Renaming and reined in the chaos of Usenet during most of the 1980s. During most of its lifetime, the Cabal (as it was sometimes capitalized) steadfastly denied its own existence; it was almost obligatory for anyone privy to their secrets to respond “There is no Cabal” whenever the existence or activities of the group were speculated on in public.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/backbone-cabal.html#1786139962153"},{"title":"bikeshedding","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bikeshedding","body":"[originally BSD, now common] Technical disputes over minor, marginal issues conducted while more serious ones are being overlooked. The implied image is of people arguing over what color to paint the bicycle shed while the house is not finished.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bikeshedding.html#1786139962152"},{"title":"bot","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bot","body":" [common on IRC, MUD and among gamers; from “robot”] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bot.html#1786139962151"},{"title":"barney","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/barney","body":" In Commonwealth hackish, barney is to fred (sense #1) as bar is to foo. That is, people who commonly use fred as their first metasyntactic variable will often use barney second. The reference is, of course, to Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in the Flintstones cartoons.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/barney.html#1786139962150"},{"title":"bigot","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/bigot","body":" [common] A person who is religiously attached to a particular computer, language, operating system, editor, or other tool (see religious issues). Usually found with a specifier; thus, Cray bigot, ITS bigot, APL bigot, VMS bigot, Berkeley bigot. Real bigots can be distinguished from mere partisans or zealots by the fact that they refuse to learn alternatives even when the march of time and/or technology is threatening to obsolete the favored tool. It is truly said “You can tell a bigot, but you can't tell him much.” Compare weenie, Amiga Persecution Complex.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/bigot.html#1786139962149"},{"title":"boat anchor","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/boat-anchor","body":" [common; from ham radio] ","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/boat-anchor.html#1786139962148"},{"title":"boxology","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/boxology","body":" Syn. ASCII art. This term implies a more restricted domain, that of box-and-arrow drawings. “His report has a lot of boxology in it.” Compare macrology.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/boxology.html#1786139962147"},{"title":"background","link":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/view/welcome-visitors/view/background","body":" [common] To do a task in background is to do it whenever foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attention, and to background something means to relegate it to a lower priority. “For now, we'll just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on the graph-printing problem in background.” Note that this implies ongoing activity but at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast to mainstream ‘back burner’ (which connotes benign neglect until some future resumption of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for processing that they have queued up for their unconscious minds (a tack that one can often fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work). Compare amp off, slopsucker.","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:22 GMT","permaLink":"","id":"http://jargon.fed.wiki/background.html#1786139962146"}]}]},"metadata":{"name":"Federated Wiki River","docs":"http://scripting.com/stories/2010/12/06/innovationRiverOfNewsInJso.html","secs":0,"ctBuilds":0,"ctDuplicatesSkipped":0,"whenGMT":"Sun, 09 Aug 2026 22:59:05 GMT","whenLocal":"8/9/2026, 10:59:05 PM","aggregator":"fedwikifeeds 0.9.0"}}