JargonFile/entries/black hole.txt

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2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
black hole
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
n.,vt. [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.