2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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dongle
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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/donggl/ , n. 1. [now obs.] A security or copy protection device for
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proprietary software consisting of a serialized EPROM and some drivers in a
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D-25 connector shell, which must be connected to an I/O port of the computer
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while the program is run. Programs that use a dongle query the port at
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startup and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it does not
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respond with the dongle's programmed validation code. Thus, users can make
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as many copies of the program as they want but must pay for each dongle. The
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first sighting of a dongle was in 1984, associated with a software product
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called PaperClip. The idea was clever, but it was initially a failure, as
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users disliked tying up a serial port this way. By 1993, dongles would
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typically pass data through the port and monitor for magic codes (and
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combinations of status lines) with minimal if any interference with devices
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further down the line this innovation was necessary to allow daisy-chained
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dongles for multiple pieces of software. These devices have become rare as
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the industry has moved away from copy-protection schemes in general. 2. By
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extension, any physical electronic key or transferable ID required for a
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program to function. Common variations on this theme have used parallel or
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even joystick ports. See dongle-disk. 3. An adaptor cable mating a special
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edge-type connector on a PCMCIA or on-board Ethernet card to a standard 8p8c
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Ethernet jack. This usage seems to have surfaced in 1999 and is now
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dominant. Laptop owners curse these things because they're notoriously easy
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to lose and the vendors commonly charge extortionate prices for
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replacements. [Note: in early 1992, advertising copy from Rainbow
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Technologies (a manufacturer of dongles) included a claim that the word
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derived from Don Gall , allegedly the inventor of the device. The company's
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receptionist will cheerfully tell you that the story is a myth invented for
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the ad copy. Nevertheless, I expect it to haunt my life as a lexicographer
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for at least the next ten years.
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