2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
|
|
|
twirling baton
|
|
|
|
|
|
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
|
|
|
n. [PLATO] The overstrike sequence -/|\-/|\- which produces an animated
|
|
|
|
|
twirling baton. If you output it with a single backspace between characters,
|
|
|
|
|
the baton spins in place. If you output the sequence BS SP between
|
|
|
|
|
characters, the baton spins from left to right. If you output BS SP BS BS
|
|
|
|
|
between characters, the baton spins from right to left. This is also
|
|
|
|
|
occasionally called a twiddle prompt. The twirling baton was a popular
|
|
|
|
|
component of animated signature files on the pioneering PLATO educational
|
|
|
|
|
timesharing system. The archie Internet service is perhaps the best-known
|
|
|
|
|
baton program today; it uses the twirling baton as an idler indicating that
|
|
|
|
|
the program is working on a query. The twirling baton is also used as a boot
|
|
|
|
|
progress indicator on several BSD variants of Unix; if it stops, you're
|
|
|
|
|
probably going to have a long and trying day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
