2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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ping
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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1. n. Slang term for a small network message (ICMP ECHO) sent by a computer
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to check for the presence and alertness of another. The Unix command ping
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(8) can be used to do this manually (note that ping (8) 's author denies the
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widespread folk etymology that the name was ever intended as an acronym for
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Packet INternet Groper ). Occasionally used as a phone greeting. See ACK ,
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also ENQ. 2. vt. To verify the presence of. 3. vt. To get the attention of.
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4. vt. To send a message to all members of a mailing list requesting an ACK
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(in order to verify that everybody's addresses are reachable). We haven't
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heard much of anything from Geoff, but he did respond with an ACK both times
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I pinged jargon-friends. 5. n. A quantum packet of happiness. People who are
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very happy tend to exude pings; furthermore, one can intentionally create
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pings and aim them at a needy party (e.g., a depressed person). This sense
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of ping may appear as an exclamation; Ping! (I'm happy; I am emitting a
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quantum of happiness; I have been struck by a quantum of happiness). The
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form pingfulness , which is used to describe people who exude pings, also
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occurs. (In the standard abuse of language, pingfulness can also be used as
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an exclamation, in which case it's a much stronger exclamation than just
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ping !). Oppose blargh. The funniest use of ping to date was described in
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January 1991 by Steve Hayman on the Usenet group comp.sys.next. He was
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trying to isolate a faulty cable segment on a TCP/IP Ethernet hooked up to a
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NeXT machine, and got tired of having to run back to his console after each
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cabling tweak to see if the ping packets were getting through. So he used
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the sound-recording feature on the NeXT, then wrote a script that repeatedly
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invoked ping (8) , listened for an echo, and played back the recording on
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each returned packet. Result? A program that caused the machine to repeat,
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over and over, Ping. .. ping. .. ping. .. as long as the network was up. He
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turned the volume to maximum, ferreted through the building with one ear
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cocked, and found a faulty tee connector in no time.
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