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2.4 KiB
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12 lines
2.4 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>signal-to-noise ratio</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../S.html" title="S"/><link rel="previous" href="sigmonster.html" title="sigmonster"/><link rel="next" href="silicon.html" title="silicon"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">signal-to-noise ratio</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="sigmonster.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">S</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="silicon.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="signal-to-noise-ratio"/><dt xmlns="" id="signal-to-noise-ratio"><b>signal-to-noise ratio</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [from analog electronics] Used by hackers in a generalization of its
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technical meaning. ‘Signal’ refers to useful information
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conveyed by some communications medium, and ‘noise’ to anything
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else on that medium. Hence a low ratio implies that it is not worth paying
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attention to the medium in question. Figures for such metaphorical ratios
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are never given. The term is most often applied to
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<a href="../U/Usenet.html"><i class="glossterm">Usenet</i></a> newsgroups during
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<a href="../F/flame-war.html"><i class="glossterm">flame war</i></a>s. Compare <a href="../B/bandwidth.html"><i class="glossterm">bandwidth</i></a>. See also
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<a href="../C/coefficient-of-X.html"><i class="glossterm">coefficient of X</i></a>,
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<a href="../L/lost-in-the-noise.html"><i class="glossterm">lost in the noise</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="sigmonster.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../S.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="silicon.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">sigmonster<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>silicon</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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