diff --git a/entries/Amiga Persecution Complex.txt b/entries/Amiga Persecution Complex.txt index e7adb63..289c0fe 100644 --- a/entries/Amiga Persecution Complex.txt +++ b/entries/Amiga Persecution Complex.txt @@ -5,10 +5,9 @@ those who believe that the marginality of their preferred machine is the result of some kind of industry-wide conspiracy (for without a conspiracy of some kind, the eminent superiority of their beloved shining jewel of a platform would obviously win over all, market pressures be damned!) Those -afflicted are prone to engaging in flame war s and calling for boycotts and +afflicted are prone to engaging in flame wars and calling for boycotts and mailbombings. Amiga Persecution Complex is by no means limited to Amiga users; NeXT, NeWS , OS/2 , Macintosh, LISP , and GNU users are also common victims. Linux users used to display symptoms very frequently before Linux started winning; some still do. See also newbie , troll , holy wars , weenie , Get a life!. - diff --git a/entries/CDA.txt b/entries/CDA.txt index e828aa0..0217348 100644 --- a/entries/CDA.txt +++ b/entries/CDA.txt @@ -14,9 +14,8 @@ which intended to outlaw discussion of abortion on the Internet. To say that this direct attack on First Amendment free-speech rights was not well received on the Internet would be putting it mildly. A firestorm of protest followed, including a February 29th 1996 mass demonstration by thousands of -netters who turned their home page s black for 48 hours. Several +netters who turned their home pages black for 48 hours. Several civil-rights groups and computing/telecommunications companies mounted a constitutional challenge. The CDA was demolished by a strongly-worded decision handed down in 8th-circuit Federal court and subsequently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court on 26 June 1997 ( White Thursday ). See also Exon. - diff --git a/entries/COBOL.txt b/entries/COBOL.txt index cbb0551..cd0b0ed 100644 --- a/entries/COBOL.txt +++ b/entries/COBOL.txt @@ -1,13 +1,12 @@ COBOL /kohbol/ , n. [COmmon Business-Oriented Language] (Synonymous with evil. ) A -weak, verbose, and flabby language used by code grinder s to do boring +weak, verbose, and flabby language used by code grinders to do boring mindless things on dinosaur mainframes. Hackers believe that all COBOL -programmers are suit s or code grinder s, and no self-respecting hacker will +programmers are suits or code grinder s, and no self-respecting hacker will ever admit to having learned the language. Its very name is seldom uttered without ritual expressions of disgust or horror. One popular one is Edsger W. Dijkstra's famous observation that The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense. (from Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective ) See also fear and loathing , software rot. - diff --git a/entries/DDT.txt b/entries/DDT.txt index f00689a..5f1a23d 100644 --- a/entries/DDT.txt +++ b/entries/DDT.txt @@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ known pesticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane C 14 H 9 Cl 5 should be minimal since each attacks a different, and apparently mutually exclusive, class of bugs. (The tape referred to was, incidentally, not magnetic but paper.) Sadly, this quotation was removed from later editions of the -handbook after the suit s took over and DEC became much more businesslike. +handbook after the suits took over and DEC became much more businesslike. The history above is known to many old-time hackers. But there's more: Peter Samson, compiler of the original TMRC lexicon, reports that he named DDT after a similar tool on the TX-0 computer, the direct ancestor of the PDP-1 @@ -30,4 +30,3 @@ built at MIT's Lincoln Lab in 1957. The debugger on that ground-breaking machine (the first transistorized computer) rejoiced in the name FLIT (FLexowriter Interrogation Tape). Flit was for many years the trade-name of a popular insecticide. - diff --git a/entries/DEADBEEF.txt b/entries/DEADBEEF.txt index 54b29e9..9211e44 100644 --- a/entries/DEADBEEF.txt +++ b/entries/DEADBEEF.txt @@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ DEADBEEF /dedbeef/ , n. The hexadecimal word-fill pattern for freshly allocated memory under a number of IBM environments, including the RS/6000. Some modern debugging tools deliberately fill freed memory with this value as a -way of converting heisenbug s into Bohr bug s. As in Your program is +way of converting heisenbugs into Bohr bug s. As in Your program is DEADBEEF (meaning gone, aborted, flushed from memory); if you start from an odd half-word boundary, of course, you have BEEFDEAD. See also the anecdote under fool and dead beef attack. - diff --git a/entries/DED.txt b/entries/DED.txt index a4080c8..b16a063 100644 --- a/entries/DED.txt +++ b/entries/DED.txt @@ -2,6 +2,5 @@ DED /DED/ , n. Dark-Emitting Diode (that is, a burned-out LED). Compare SED , LER , write-only memory. In the early 1970s both Signetics and Texas -instruments released DED spec sheets as AFJ s (suggested uses included as a +instruments released DED spec sheets as AFJs (suggested uses included as a power-off indicator ). - diff --git a/entries/Datamation.txt b/entries/Datamation.txt index ff21bda..6b46f57 100644 --- a/entries/Datamation.txt +++ b/entries/Datamation.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ Datamation -/day`t@maysh@n/ , n. A magazine that many hackers assume all suit s read. +/day`t@maysh@n/ , n. A magazine that many hackers assume all suits read. Used to question an unbelieved quote, as in Did you read that in Datamation?. It used to publish something hackishly funny every once in a while, like the original paper on COME FROM in 1973, and Ed Post's Real @@ -9,4 +9,3 @@ it was much more exclusively suit -oriented and boring. Following a change of editorship in 1994, Datamation briefly tried for more the technical content and irreverent humor that marked its early days, but this did not last. - diff --git a/entries/Doom, X of.txt b/entries/Doom, X of.txt index 338b702..d36494b 100644 --- a/entries/Doom, X of.txt +++ b/entries/Doom, X of.txt @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ Doom, X of A construction similar to Death, X of , but derived rather from the Cracks -of Doom in J.R.R. Tolkien s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The connotations are +of Doom in J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy. The connotations are slightly different; a Foo of Death is mainly being held up to ridicule, but one would have to take a Foo of Doom a bit more seriously. - diff --git a/entries/EMACS.txt b/entries/EMACS.txt index 1116f7a..a804186 100644 --- a/entries/EMACS.txt +++ b/entries/EMACS.txt @@ -20,6 +20,5 @@ Indeed, some hackers find EMACS too heavyweight and baroque for their taste, and expand the name as Escape Meta Alt Control Shift to spoof its heavy reliance on keystrokes decorated with bucky bits. Other spoof expansions include Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping (from when that was a lot of -core ), Eventually malloc () s All Computer Storage , and EMACS Makes A +core ), Eventually malloc()s All Computer Storage , and EMACS Makes A Computer Slow (see recursive acronym ). See also vi. - diff --git a/entries/Exploder.txt b/entries/Exploder.txt index b8c00e3..13ce576 100644 --- a/entries/Exploder.txt +++ b/entries/Exploder.txt @@ -3,6 +3,5 @@ Exploder n. Used within Microsoft to refer to the Windows Explorer, the web-interface component of Windows 95 and WinNT 4. Our spies report that most of the heavy guns at MS came from a Unix background and use command line utilities; even -they are scornful of the over-gingerbreaded WIMP environment s that they +they are scornful of the over-gingerbreaded WIMP environments that they have been called upon to create. - diff --git a/entries/FOD.txt b/entries/FOD.txt index 16c94dd..6a91a73 100644 --- a/entries/FOD.txt +++ b/entries/FOD.txt @@ -2,11 +2,10 @@ FOD /fod/ , v. [Abbreviation for Finger of Death , originally a spell-name from fantasy gaming] To terminate with extreme prejudice and with no regard for -other people. From MUD s where the wizard command FOD player results in the +other people. From MUDs where the wizard command FOD player results in the immediate and total death of player , usually as punishment for obnoxious behavior. This usage migrated to other circumstances, such as I'm going to fod the process that is burning all the cycles. In aviation, FOD means Foreign Object Damage, e.g., what happens when a jet engine sucks up a rock on the runway or a bird in flight. Finger of Death is a distressingly apt description of what this generally does to the engine. - diff --git a/entries/GIGO.txt b/entries/GIGO.txt index efc847b..39178cd 100644 --- a/entries/GIGO.txt +++ b/entries/GIGO.txt @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ GIGO -/gi:goh/ 1. Garbage In, Garbage Out usually said in response to luser s who +/gi:goh/ 1. Garbage In, Garbage Out usually said in response to lusers who complain that a program didn't do the right thing when given imperfect input or otherwise mistreated in some way. Also commonly used to describe failures in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data. 2. - diff --git a/entries/GNU.txt b/entries/GNU.txt index 2003b05..d466cd6 100644 --- a/entries/GNU.txt +++ b/entries/GNU.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ GNU -/gnoo/ , not , /noo/ 1. [acronym: GNU s Not Unix!', see recursive acronym ] +/gnoo/ , not , /noo/ 1. [acronym: GNUs Not Unix!', see recursive acronym ] A Unix-workalike development effort of the Free Software Foundation headed by Richard Stallman. GNU EMACS and the GNU C compiler, two tools designed for this project, have become very popular in hackerdom and elsewhere. The @@ -15,4 +15,3 @@ Foundation's imprimatur. The GNU project has a web page at http://www.gnu.org/. See EMACS , copyleft , General Public Virus , Linux. 2. Noted Unix hacker John Gilmore gnu@toad.com }, founder of Usenet's anarchic alt.* hierarchy. - diff --git a/entries/General Public Virus.txt b/entries/General Public Virus.txt index b4be175..508a38b 100644 --- a/entries/General Public Virus.txt +++ b/entries/General Public Virus.txt @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ General Public Virus n. Pejorative name for some versions of the GNU project copyleft or General -Public License (GPL), which requires that any tools or app s incorporating +Public License (GPL), which requires that any tools or apps incorporating copylefted code must be source-distributed on the same anti-proprietary terms as GNU stuff. Thus it is alleged that the copyleft infects software generated with GNU tools, which may in turn infect other software that @@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ Nevertheless, widespread suspicion that the copyleft language is boobytrapped has caused many developers to avoid using GNU tools and the GPL. Changes in the language of the version 2.0 GPL did not eliminate this problem. - diff --git a/entries/Internet.txt b/entries/Internet.txt index 510a761..80dffbb 100644 --- a/entries/Internet.txt +++ b/entries/Internet.txt @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ communication between humans and linked up in steadily increasing numbers, connecting together a quirky mix of academics, techies, hippies, SF fans, hackers, and anarchists. The roots of this lexicon lie in those early years. Over the next quarter-century the Internet evolved in many ways. The typical -machine/OS combination moved from DEC PDP-10 s and PDP-20 s, running TOPS-10 +machine/OS combination moved from DEC PDP-10s and PDP-20 s, running TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 , to PDP-11s and VAX en and Suns running Unix , and in the 1990s to Unix on Intel microcomputers. The Internet's protocols grew more capable, most notably in the move from NCP/IP to TCP/IP in 1982 and the @@ -43,4 +43,3 @@ networking after 1980. By 1996 it had become a commonplace even in mainstream media to predict that a globally-extended Internet would become the key unifying communications technology of the next century. See also the network. - diff --git a/entries/Iron Age.txt b/entries/Iron Age.txt index af0d96a..d7b568c 100644 --- a/entries/Iron Age.txt +++ b/entries/Iron Age.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ Iron Age n. In the history of computing, 1961-1971 the formative era of commercial -mainframe technology, when ferrite-core dinosaur s ruled the earth. The Iron +mainframe technology, when ferrite-core dinosaurs ruled the earth. The Iron Age began, ironically enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the PDP-1) and ended with the introduction of the first commercial microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971. See also Stone Age ; compare elder days. - diff --git a/entries/LART.txt b/entries/LART.txt index 26afdaf..31d8654 100644 --- a/entries/LART.txt +++ b/entries/LART.txt @@ -10,6 +10,5 @@ knobkerries, automatic weapons, flamethrowers, and tactical nukes all have their partisans. Compare clue-by-four. 2. v. To use a LART. Some would add in malice , but some sysadmins do prefer to gently lart their users as a first (and sometimes final) warning. 3. interj. Calling for one's LART, much -as a surgeon might call Scalpel!. 4. interj. [rare] Used in flame s as a +as a surgeon might call Scalpel!. 4. interj. [rare] Used in flames as a rebuke. - diff --git a/entries/MIPS.txt b/entries/MIPS.txt index 6d95668..fa3d87a 100644 --- a/entries/MIPS.txt +++ b/entries/MIPS.txt @@ -6,11 +6,10 @@ rendered by hackers as Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed or in other unflattering ways, such as Meaningless Information Provided by Salesmen. This joke expresses an attitude nearly universal among hackers about the value of most benchmark claims, said attitude being one of the great -cultural divides between hackers and marketroid s (see also BogoMIPS ). The +cultural divides between hackers and marketroids (see also BogoMIPS ). The singular is sometimes 1 MIP even though this is clearly etymologically wrong. See also KIPS and GIPS. 2. Computers, especially large computers, considered abstractly as sources of computron s. This is just a workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement. 3. The corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company, later acquired by SGI. 4. Acronym for Meaningless Information per Second (a joke, prob.: from sense 1). - diff --git a/entries/OS-2.txt b/entries/OS-2.txt index 433ab5b..d91501c 100644 --- a/entries/OS-2.txt +++ b/entries/OS-2.txt @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ micros; proof that IBM/Microsoft couldn't get it right the second time, either. Often called Half-an-OS. Mentioning it is usually good for a cheap laugh among hackers the design was so baroque , and the implementation of 1.x so bad, that three years after introduction you could still count the -major app s shipping for it on the fingers of two hands in unary. The 2.x +major apps shipping for it on the fingers of two hands in unary. The 2.x versions were said to have improved somewhat, and informed hackers rated them superior to Microsoft Windows (an endorsement which, however, could easily be construed as damning with faint praise). In the mid-1990s IBM put @@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ OS/2 on life support, refraining from killing it outright purely for internal political reasons; by 1999 the success of Linux had effectively ended any possibility of a renaissance. See monstrosity , cretinous , second-system effect. - diff --git a/entries/PDP-11.txt b/entries/PDP-11.txt index d44ac5a..75d1b18 100644 --- a/entries/PDP-11.txt +++ b/entries/PDP-11.txt @@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ PDP-11 Possibly the single most successful minicomputer design in history, a favorite of hackers for many years, and the first major Unix machine, The -first s (the 11/15 and 11/20) shipped in 1970 from DEC ; the last (11/93 and +firsts (the 11/15 and 11/20) shipped in 1970 from DEC ; the last (11/93 and 11/94) in 1990. Along the way, the 11 gave birth to the VAX , strongly influenced the design of microprocessors such as the Motorola 6800 and Intel 386, and left a permanent imprint on the C language (which has an odd preference for octal embedded in its syntax because of the way machine instructions were formatted). There is a history site. - diff --git a/entries/RTFM.txt b/entries/RTFM.txt index bbe4032..772ad76 100644 --- a/entries/RTFM.txt +++ b/entries/RTFM.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ RTFM /RTFM/ , imp. [Unix] Abbreviation for Read The Fucking Manual. 1. Used by -guru s to brush off questions they consider trivial or annoying. Compare +gurus to brush off questions they consider trivial or annoying. Compare Don't do that then!. 2. Used when reporting a problem to indicate that you aren't just asking out of randomness. No, I can't figure out how to interface Unix to my toaster, and yes, I have RTFM. Unlike sense 1, this use is considered polite. See also FM , RTFAQ , RTFB , RTFS , STFW , RTM , all of which mutated from RTFM, and compare UTSL. - diff --git a/entries/SNAFU principle.txt b/entries/SNAFU principle.txt index abdfe0d..a19f428 100644 --- a/entries/SNAFU principle.txt +++ b/entries/SNAFU principle.txt @@ -1,31 +1,33 @@ SNAFU principle -/snafoo prinsipl/ , n. [from a WWII Army acronym for Situation Normal, All -Fucked Up ] True communication is possible only between equals, because -inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors -pleasant lies than for telling the truth.: a central tenet of Discordianism -, often invoked by hackers to explain why authoritarian hierarchies screw up -so reliably and systematically. The effect of the SNAFU principle is a -progressive disconnection of decision-makers from reality. This lightly -adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the -phenomenon perfectly: Inthebeginningwastheplan, andthenthespecification; -Andtheplanwaswithoutform, andthespecificationwasvoid. Anddarkness -wasonthefacesoftheimplementorsthereof; Andtheyspakeuntotheirleader, saying: -Itisacrockofshit, andsmellsasofasewer. Andtheleadertookpityonthem, -andspoketotheprojectleader: Itisacrockofexcrement, -andnonemayabidetheodorthereof. Andtheprojectleader -spakeuntohissectionhead,saying: Itisacontainerofexcrement, -anditisverystrong,suchthatnonemayabideit. -Thesectionheadthenhurriedtohisdepartmentmanager, andinformedhimthus: -Itisavesseloffertilizer, andnonemayabideitsstrength. -Thedepartmentmanagercarriedthesewords tohisgeneralmanager, andspokeuntohim -saying: Itcontaineththatwhichaideththegrowthofplants, anditisverystrong. -Andsoitwasthatthegeneralmanagerrejoiced -anddeliveredthegoodnewsuntotheVicePresident. Itpromotethgrowth, -anditisverypowerful. TheVicePresidentrushedtothePresident'sside, -andjoyouslyexclaimed: Thispowerfulnewsoftwareproduct -willpromotethegrowthofthecompany! AndthePresidentlookedupontheproduct, -andsawthatitwasverygood. After the subsequent and inevitable disaster, the -suit s protect themselves by saying I was misinformed! , and the -implementors are demoted or fired. Compare Conway's Law. +/snafoo prinsipl/ , n. [from a WWII Army acronym for Situation Normal, +All Fucked Up ] True communication is possible only between equals, +because inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their +superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth.: a central tenet +of Discordianism, often invoked by hackers to explain why +authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. The +effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of +decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable +dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfectly: +In the beginning was the plan, and then the specification; And the +plan was without form, and the specification was void. And darkness +was on the faces of the implementors thereof; And they spake unto +their leader, saying verily: It is a crock of shit, and smells as of a +sewer. And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the project +leader: It is a crock of excrement, and none may abide the odor +thereof. And the project leader spake unto his section head, saying: +It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none +may abide it. The section head then hurried to his department manager, +and informed him thus: It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may +abide its strength. The department manager carried these words to his +general manager, and spoke unto him saying: It containeth that which +aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong. And so it was that +the general manager rejoiced and delivered the good news unto the Vice +President. It promoteth growth, and it is very powerful. The Vice +President rushed to the President's side, and joyously exclaimed: This +powerful new software product will promote the growth of the company! +And the President looked upon the product, and saw that it was very +good. After the subsequent and inevitable disaster, the suits protect +themselves by saying I was misinformed!, and the implementors are +demoted or fired. Compare Conway's Law. diff --git a/entries/Stupids.txt b/entries/Stupids.txt index b26897b..2c9c3ac 100644 --- a/entries/Stupids.txt +++ b/entries/Stupids.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ Stupids -n. Term used by samurai for the suit s who employ them; succinctly expresses +n. Term used by samurai for the suits who employ them; succinctly expresses an attitude at least as common, though usually better disguised, among other subcultures of hackers. There may be intended reference here to an SF story originally published in 1952 but much anthologized since, Mark Clifton's Star, Bright. In it, a super-genius child classifies humans into a very few Brights like herself, a huge majority of Stupids , and a minority of Tweens , the merely ordinary geniuses. - diff --git a/entries/UTSL.txt b/entries/UTSL.txt index 30a5c8c..bec5968 100644 --- a/entries/UTSL.txt +++ b/entries/UTSL.txt @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Kenobi's Use the Force, Luke! in Star Wars ) analogous to RTFS (sense 1), but more polite. This is a common way of suggesting that someone would be better off reading the source code that supports whatever feature is causing confusion, rather than making yet another futile pass through the manuals, -or broadcasting questions on Usenet that haven't attracted wizard s to +or broadcasting questions on Usenet that haven't attracted wizards to answer them. Once upon a time in elder days , everyone running Unix had source. After 1978, AT T's policy tightened up, so this objurgation was in theory appropriately directed only at associates of some outfit with a Unix @@ -16,4 +16,3 @@ become widely enough distributed that anyone can read source legally. The most widely distributed is certainly Linux, with variants of the NET/2 and 4.4BSD distributions running second. Cheap commercial Unixes with source such as BSD/OS are accelerating this trend. - diff --git a/entries/Usenet.txt b/entries/Usenet.txt index e989957..24e207c 100644 --- a/entries/Usenet.txt +++ b/entries/Usenet.txt @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ implemented in 1979--1980 by Steve Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott, and Steve Daniel at Duke University and the University of North Carolina, it has swiftly grown to become international in scope and is now probably the largest decentralized information utility in existence. As of late 2002, it -hosts over 100,000 newsgroup s and an unguessably huge volume of new +hosts over 100,000 newsgroups and an unguessably huge volume of new technical articles, news, discussion, chatter, and flamage every day (and that leaves out the graphics...). By the year the Internet hit the mainstream (1994) the original UUCP transport for Usenet was fading out of @@ -15,4 +15,3 @@ use almost all Usenet connections were over Internet links. A lot of newbies and journalists began to refer to Internet newsgroups as though Usenet was and always had been just another Internet service. This ignorance greatly annoys experienced Usenetters. - diff --git a/entries/VAX.txt b/entries/VAX.txt index 7c02fe2..992b0ef 100644 --- a/entries/VAX.txt +++ b/entries/VAX.txt @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ VAX /vaks/ , n. 1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most successful minicomputer design in industry history, possibly excepting its immediate ancestor, the PDP-11. Between its release in 1978 and its eclipse by killer -micro s after about 1986, the VAX was probably the hacker's favorite machine +micros after about 1986, the VAX was probably the hacker's favorite machine of them all, esp. after the 1982 release of 4.2 BSD Unix (see BSD ). Especially noted for its large, assembler-programmer-friendly instruction set an asset that became a liability after the RISC revolution. It is worth @@ -25,4 +25,3 @@ the slogan a sufficiently good idea to copy it. Several British hackers report that VAX's promotions used it in 1986--1987, and we have one report from a New Zealander that the infamous slogan surfaced there in TV ads for the product in 1992. - diff --git a/entries/Wizard Book.txt b/entries/Wizard Book.txt index 505a834..a60b020 100644 --- a/entries/Wizard Book.txt +++ b/entries/Wizard Book.txt @@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ Wizard Book n. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (Hal Abelson, Jerry Sussman and Julie Sussman; MIT Press, 1984, 1996; ISBN 0-262-01153-0), an excellent computer science text used in introductory courses at MIT. So -called because of the wizard on the jacket. One of the bible s of the +called because of the wizard on the jacket. One of the bibles of the LISP/Scheme world. Also, less commonly, known as the Purple Book. Now available on the http://mitpress.mit. - diff --git a/entries/XEROX PARC.txt b/entries/XEROX PARC.txt index 9434eab..40016f0 100644 --- a/entries/XEROX PARC.txt +++ b/entries/XEROX PARC.txt @@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ machines anticipated the powerful personal computers of the 1980s by a decade. Sadly, the prophets at PARC were without honor in their own company, so much so that it became a standard joke to describe PARC as a place that specialized in developing brilliant ideas for everyone else. The stunning -shortsightedness and obtusity of XEROX's top-level suit s has been well +shortsightedness and obtusity of XEROX's top-level suits has been well anatomized in Fumbling The Future: How XEROX Invented, Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer by Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander (William Morrow Co., 1988, ISBN 0-688-09511-9). - diff --git a/entries/abbreviation.txt b/entries/abbreviation.txt index fd7c31e..86bb4a2 100644 --- a/entries/abbreviation.txt +++ b/entries/abbreviation.txt @@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) Usenet See the Usenet entry WPI Worcester Polytechnic Institute, site of a very active community of PDP-10 hackers during the 1970s WWW The World-Wide-Web. XEROX PARC XEROX's Palo Alto Research Center, site of much pioneering research in user -interface design and networking Yale Yale University Other etymology s such +interface design and networking Yale Yale University Other etymologys such as Unix and PDP-10 refer to technical cultures surrounding specific operating systems, processors, or other environments. The fact that a term -is labelled with any one of these s does not necessarily mean its use is +is labelled with any one of theses does not necessarily mean its use is confined to that culture. In particular, many terms labelled MIT and Stanford are in quite general use. We have tried to give some indication of the distribution of speakers in the usage notes; however, a number of @@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ entries are marked [proposed]. These are usually generalizations suggested by editors or Usenet respondents in the process of commenting on previous definitions of those entries. These are not represented as established jargon. Prev Up Next Chapter10.Pronunciation Guide Home Chapter12. - diff --git a/entries/app store.txt b/entries/app store.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04aad5b --- /dev/null +++ b/entries/app store.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +App Store + +n. An App Store, sometimes also known as a Software Center or Software +Manager, is a graphical user interface which allows the user to +conveniently download and install new applications onto their computer +or mobile device. App Stores can be very convenient but are often +proprietary and may enable a particular company to control and censor +what types of application non-technical users may run on their systems +- typically in accordance with an American west coast morality. App +stores have sometimes been described as a type of MITM attack on +software distribution, allowing companies to insert themselves as +rent-seeking trolls on a virtual toll bridge between the users and +producers of software. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/entries/barfmail.txt b/entries/barfmail.txt index 5ff5d42..5655c5d 100644 --- a/entries/barfmail.txt +++ b/entries/barfmail.txt @@ -1,6 +1,5 @@ barfmail -n. Multiple bounce message s accumulating to the level of serious annoyance, +n. Multiple bounce messages accumulating to the level of serious annoyance, or worse. The sort of thing that happens when an inter-network mail gateway goes down or wonky. - diff --git a/entries/bixie.txt b/entries/bixie.txt index c5176c1..40ea275 100644 --- a/entries/bixie.txt +++ b/entries/bixie.txt @@ -1,8 +1,7 @@ bixie -/biksee/ , n. Variant emoticon s used BIX (the BIX Information eXchange); +/biksee/ , n. Variant emoticons used BIX (the BIX Information eXchange); the term survived the demise of BIX itself. The most common ( smiley ) bixie is @_@ , representing two cartoon eyes and a mouth. These were originally invented in an SF fanzine called APA-L and imported to BIX by one of the earliest users. - diff --git a/entries/blue goo.txt b/entries/blue goo.txt index 93c108e..b7efd95 100644 --- a/entries/blue goo.txt +++ b/entries/blue goo.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ blue goo -n. Term for police nanobot s intended to prevent gray goo , denature +n. Term for police nanobots intended to prevent gray goo , denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, put ozone back into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and promote truth, justice, and the American way, etc. The term Blue Goo can be found in Dr. Seuss's Fox In Socks to refer to a substance much like bubblegum. Would you like to chew blue goo, sir?. See nanotechnology. - diff --git a/entries/bomb.txt b/entries/bomb.txt index c089092..e2ab1ca 100644 --- a/entries/bomb.txt +++ b/entries/bomb.txt @@ -3,9 +3,8 @@ bomb 1. v. General synonym for crash (sense 1) except that it is not used as a noun; esp. used of software or OS failures. Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll. 2. n.,v. Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a Unix -panic or Amiga guru meditation , in which icons of little black-powder s or +panic or Amiga guru meditation , in which icons of little black-powders or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died. On the Mac, this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga guru meditation number. MS-DOS machines tend to get locked up in this situation. - diff --git a/entries/bot.txt b/entries/bot.txt index 5a9b9cf..99509ac 100644 --- a/entries/bot.txt +++ b/entries/bot.txt @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ bot n [common on IRC, MUD and among gamers; from robot ] 1. An IRC or MUD user who is actually a program. On IRC, typically the robot provides some useful service. Examples are NickServ, which tries to prevent random users from -adopting nick s already claimed by others, and MsgServ, which allows one to +adopting nicks already claimed by others, and MsgServ, which allows one to send asynchronous messages to be delivered when the recipient signs on. Also common are annoybots , such as KissServ, which perform no useful function except to send cute messages to other people. Service bots are less common @@ -18,4 +18,3 @@ for a web spider. The file for controlling spider behavior on your site is officially the Robots Exclusion File and its URL is http:// somehost /robots.txt ) Note that bots in all senses were robots when the terms first appeared in the early 1990s, but the shortened form is now habitual. - diff --git a/entries/buffer overflow.txt b/entries/buffer overflow.txt index 9ab9f06..1d55bd3 100644 --- a/entries/buffer overflow.txt +++ b/entries/buffer overflow.txt @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ buffer overflow n. What happens when you try to stuff more data into a buffer (holding area) -than it can handle. This problem is commonly exploited by cracker s to get +than it can handle. This problem is commonly exploited by crackers to get arbitrary commands executed by a program running with root permissions. This may be due to a mismatch in the processing rates of the producing and consuming processes (see overrun and firehose syndrome ), or because the @@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ accepting data when the buffer is full up. The term is used of and by humans in a metaphorical sense. What time did I agree to meet you? My buffer must have overflowed. Or If I answer that phone my buffer is going to overflow. See also spam , overrun screw. - diff --git a/entries/bug-compatible.txt b/entries/bug-compatible.txt index f32a28b..4fac8c0 100644 --- a/entries/bug-compatible.txt +++ b/entries/bug-compatible.txt @@ -1,8 +1,7 @@ bug-compatible adj. [common] Said of a design or revision that has been badly compromised -by a requirement to be compatible with fossil s or misfeature s in other +by a requirement to be compatible with fossils or misfeatures in other programs or (esp.) previous releases of itself. MS-DOS 2.0 used \ as a path separator to be bug-compatible with some cretin's choice of / as an option character in 1.0. - diff --git a/entries/bug-of-the-month club.txt b/entries/bug-of-the-month club.txt index 8a3c4f7..3670f9b 100644 --- a/entries/bug-of-the-month club.txt +++ b/entries/bug-of-the-month club.txt @@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ n. [from book-of-the-month club , a time-honored mail-order-marketing technique in the U.S.] A mythical club which users of sendmail (8) (the Unix mail daemon) belong to; this was coined on the Usenet newsgroup comp.security.unix at a time when sendmail security holes, which allowed -outside cracker s access to the system, were being uncovered at an alarming +outside crackers access to the system, were being uncovered at an alarming rate, forcing sysadmins to update very often. Also, more completely, fatal security bug-of-the-month club. See also kernel-of-the-week club. - diff --git a/entries/code.txt b/entries/code.txt index 5752c3f..88f5ce2 100644 --- a/entries/code.txt +++ b/entries/code.txt @@ -5,11 +5,10 @@ translation by a compiler or assembler. Often used in opposition to data , which is the stuff that operates on. Among hackers this is a mass noun, as in How much does it take to do a bubble sort ? , or The is loaded at the high end of RAM. Among scientific programmers it is sometimes a count noun -equilvalent to program ; thus they may speak of s in the plural. Anyone -referring to software as the software s is probably a newbie or a suit. 2. +equilvalent to program ; thus they may speak of codes in the plural. Anyone +referring to software as the softwares is probably a newbie or a suit. 2. v. To write. In this sense, always refers to source rather than compiled. I d an Emacs clone in two hours! This verb is a bit of a cultural marker associated with the Unix and minicomputer traditions (and lately Linux); people within that culture prefer v. to v. program whereas outside it the reverse is normally true. - diff --git a/entries/compact.txt b/entries/compact.txt index 277086d..f84b82c 100644 --- a/entries/compact.txt +++ b/entries/compact.txt @@ -6,6 +6,5 @@ from the design can be used with greater facility and fewer errors than an equivalent tool that is not compact. Compactness does not imply triviality or lack of power; for example, C is compact and FORTRAN is not, but C is more powerful than FORTRAN. Designs become non-compact through accreting -feature s and cruft that don't merge cleanly into the overall design scheme +features and cruft that don't merge cleanly into the overall design scheme (thus, some fans of Classic C maintain that ANSI C is no longer compact). - diff --git a/entries/cookie file.txt b/entries/cookie file.txt index cbdf3ca..e0f6b3b 100644 --- a/entries/cookie file.txt +++ b/entries/cookie file.txt @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ cookie file -n. A collection of fortune cookie s in a format that facilitates retrieval +n. A collection of fortune cookies in a format that facilitates retrieval by a fortune program. There are several different cookie files in public distribution, and site admins often assemble their own from various sources including this lexicon. - diff --git a/entries/crash.txt b/entries/crash.txt index be6216a..6ec2ec1 100644 --- a/entries/crash.txt +++ b/entries/crash.txt @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ crash 1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure. Most often said of the system (q.v., sense 1), esp. of magnetic disk drives (the term originally described -what happens when the air gap of a hard disk collapses). Three luser s lost +what happens when the air gap of a hard disk collapses). Three lusers lost their files in last night's disk . A disk that involves the read/write heads dropping onto the surface of the disks and scraping off the oxide may also be referred to as a head , whereas the term system usually, though @@ -12,4 +12,3 @@ See down. Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the (usually a person or a program, or both). Those idiots playing SPACEWAR ed the system. 3. vi. Sometimes said of people hitting the sack after a long hacking run ; see gronk out. - diff --git a/entries/creeping featurism.txt b/entries/creeping featurism.txt index 024e1f9..04d768e 100644 --- a/entries/creeping featurism.txt +++ b/entries/creeping featurism.txt @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ creeping featurism /kreeping feechrizm/ , n. [common] 1. Describes a systematic tendency to -load more chrome and feature s onto systems at the expense of whatever +load more chrome and features onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed when originally designed. See also feeping creaturism. You know, the main problem with BSD Unix has always been creeping featurism. 2. More generally, the tendency for anything complicated @@ -18,4 +18,3 @@ describe computer programs, but it could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040 form, and new cars. A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts conscious redesigns; see second-system effect. See also creeping elegance. - diff --git a/entries/crufty.txt b/entries/crufty.txt index 01521d3..738cc23 100644 --- a/entries/crufty.txt +++ b/entries/crufty.txt @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ crufty ] 1. Poorly built, possibly over-complex. The canonical example is This is standard old crufty DEC software. In fact, one fanciful theory of the origin of crufty holds that was originally a mutation of crusty applied to DEC -software so old that the s characters were tall and skinny, looking more +software so old that thes characters were tall and skinny, looking more like f characters. 2. Unpleasant, especially to the touch, often with encrusted junk. Like spilled coffee smeared with peanut butter and catsup. 3. Generally unpleasant. 4. (sometimes spelled cruftie ) n. A small crufty @@ -17,4 +17,3 @@ it's said to have been the physics department's radar lab during WWII. To this day (early 1993) the windows appear to be full of random techno-junk. MIT or Lincoln Labs people may well have coined the term as a knock on the competition. - diff --git a/entries/cycle.txt b/entries/cycle.txt index 08eef3f..f1ffa92 100644 --- a/entries/cycle.txt +++ b/entries/cycle.txt @@ -5,14 +5,13 @@ hacker Bill Gosper described himself as a junkie ). One can describe an instruction as taking so many clock s. Often the computer can access its memory once on every clock , and so one speaks also of memory s. These are technical meanings of . The jargon meaning comes from the observation that -there are only so many s per second, and when you are sharing a computer the -s get divided up among the users. The more s the computer spends working on +there are only so manys per second, and when you are sharing a computer the +s get divided up among the users. The more cycles the computer spends working on your program rather than someone else's, the faster your program will run. That's why every hacker wants more s: so he can spend less time waiting for the computer to respond. 2. By extension, a notional unit of human thought power, emphasizing that lots of things compete for the typical hacker's think time. I refused to get involved with the Rubik's Cube back when it was -big. Knew I'd burn too many s on it if I let myself. 3. vt. Syn. bounce +big. Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if I let myself. 3. vt. Syn. bounce (sense 4), from the phrase power. Cycle the machine again, that serial port's still hung. - diff --git a/entries/demo mode.txt b/entries/demo mode.txt index d55c313..1907d11 100644 --- a/entries/demo mode.txt +++ b/entries/demo mode.txt @@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ demo mode n. 1. [Sun] The state of being heads down in order to finish code in time for a demo , usually due yesterday. 2. A mode in which video games sit by themselves running through a portion of the game, also known as attract -mode. Some serious app s have a demo mode they use as a screen saver, or may +mode. Some serious apps have a demo mode they use as a screen saver, or may go through a demo mode on startup (for example, the Microsoft Windows opening screen which lets you impress your neighbors without actually having to put up with Microsloth Windows ). - diff --git a/entries/demo.txt b/entries/demo.txt index d29822b..eb2f17f 100644 --- a/entries/demo.txt +++ b/entries/demo.txt @@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ demonstration purposes as long as the operator uses exactly the right commands and skirts its numerous bugs, deficiencies, and unimplemented portions, or to a special version of a program (frequently with some features crippled) which is distributed at little or no cost to the user for -enticement purposes. 4. [ demoscene ] A sequence of demoeffect s (usually) +enticement purposes. 4. [ demoscene ] A sequence of demoeffects (usually) combined with self-composed music and hand-drawn ( pixelated ) graphics. These days (1997) usually built to attend a compo. Often called eurodemos outside Europe, as most of the demoscene activity seems to have gathered in northern Europe and especially Scandinavia. See also intro , dentro. - diff --git a/entries/demoscene.txt b/entries/demoscene.txt index d42f10e..0739f0c 100644 --- a/entries/demoscene.txt +++ b/entries/demoscene.txt @@ -4,15 +4,15 @@ demoscene primarily in Scandinavia and northern Europe. Demoscene folklore recounts that when old-time warez d00dz cracked some piece of software they often added an advertisement in the beginning, usually containing colorful display -hack s with greetings to other cracking groups. The demoscene was born among +hacks with greetings to other cracking groups. The demoscene was born among people who decided building these display hacks is more interesting than hacking or anyway safer. Around 1990 there began to be very serious police pressure on cracking groups, including raids with SWAT teams crashing into bedrooms to confiscate computers. Whether in response to this or for esthetic reasons, crackers of that period began to build self-contained display hacks of considerable elaboration and beauty (within the culture -such a hack is called a demo ). As more of these demogroup s emerged, they -started to have compo s at copying parties (see copyparty ), which later +such a hack is called a demo ). As more of these demogroups emerged, they +started to have compos at copying parties (see copyparty ), which later evolved to standalone events (see demoparty ). The demoscene has retained some traits from the warez d00dz , including their style of handles and group names and some of their jargon. Traditionally demos were written in @@ -28,4 +28,3 @@ bigger demoparties. Older demosceners frown at this, but the majority think it's a good direction. Many demosceners end up working in the computer game industry. Demoscene resource pages are available at http://www.oldskool.org/demos/explained/ and http://www.scene.org/. - diff --git a/entries/elephantine.txt b/entries/elephantine.txt index e2f9959..5446702 100644 --- a/entries/elephantine.txt +++ b/entries/elephantine.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ elephantine -adj. Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous hog s (owing +adj. Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous hogs (owing perhaps to poor design founded on brute force and ignorance ) and exceedingly hairy in source form. An elephantine program may be functional and even friendly, but (as in the old joke about being in bed with an @@ -10,4 +10,3 @@ trumpeting sounds or perform expressive proboscatory mime at the mention of the offending program. Usage: semi-humorous. Compare has the elephant nature and the somewhat more pejorative monstrosity. See also second-system effect and baroque. - diff --git a/entries/epoch.txt b/entries/epoch.txt index 739a78d..7500701 100644 --- a/entries/epoch.txt +++ b/entries/epoch.txt @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ corresponding to 0 in an operating system's clock and timestamp values. Under most Unix versions the epoch is 00:00:00 GMT, January 1, 1970; under VMS, it's 00:00:00 of November 17, 1858 (base date of the U.S. Naval Observatory's ephemerides); on a Macintosh, it's the midnight beginning -January 1 1904. System time is measured in seconds or tick s past the epoch. +January 1 1904. System time is measured in seconds or ticks past the epoch. Weird problems may ensue when the clock wraps around (see wrap around ), which is not necessarily a rare event; on systems counting 10 ticks per second, a signed 32-bit count of ticks is good only for 6.8 years. The @@ -15,4 +15,3 @@ word lengths don't increase by then. See also wall time. Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, has an epoch problem every 49.7 days but this is seldom noticed as Windows is almost incapable of staying up continuously for that long. - diff --git a/entries/eye candy.txt b/entries/eye candy.txt index 88242f7..180a1f1 100644 --- a/entries/eye candy.txt +++ b/entries/eye candy.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ eye candy /i: kand`ee/ , n. [from mainstream slang ear candy ] A display of some sort -that's presented to luser s to keep them distracted while the program +that's presented to lusers to keep them distracted while the program performs necessary background tasks. Give 'em some eye candy while the -back-end slurp s that BLOB into core. Reported as mainstream usage among +back-end slurps that BLOB into core. Reported as mainstream usage among players of graphics-heavy computer games. We're also told this term is mainstream slang for soft pornography, but that sense does not appear to be live among hackers. - diff --git a/entries/fan.txt b/entries/fan.txt index 8f3a614..a978c49 100644 --- a/entries/fan.txt +++ b/entries/fan.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ fan n. Without qualification, indicates a fan of science fiction, especially one -who goes to con s and tends to hang out with other fans. Many hackers are +who goes to cons and tends to hang out with other fans. Many hackers are fans, so this term has been imported from fannish slang; however, unlike much fannish slang it is recognized by most non-fannish hackers. Among SF fans the plural is correctly fen , but this usage is not automatic to hackers. Laura reads the stuff occasionally but isn't really a fan. - diff --git a/entries/foo.txt b/entries/foo.txt index a8a4b17..dd00871 100644 --- a/entries/foo.txt +++ b/entries/foo.txt @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ foo /foo/ 1. interj. Term of disgust. 2. [very common] Used very generally as a sample name for absolutely anything, esp. programs and files (esp. scratch -files). 3. First on the standard list of metasyntactic variable s used in +files). 3. First on the standard list of metasyntactic variables used in syntax examples. See also bar , baz , qux , quux , garply , waldo , fred , plugh , xyzzy , thud. When foo is used in connection with bar it has generally traced to the WWII-era Army slang acronym FUBAR ( Fucked Up Beyond @@ -76,4 +76,3 @@ would find it difficult to resist elaborating a joke like that, and it is not likely 1959's were any less susceptible. Almost the entire staff of what later became the MIT AI Lab was involved with TMRC, and the word spread from there. - diff --git a/entries/fool file.txt b/entries/fool file.txt index dc6c811..96b5076 100644 --- a/entries/fool file.txt +++ b/entries/fool file.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ fool file n. [Usenet] A notional repository of all the most dramatically and abysmally -stupid utterances ever. An entire subgenre of sig block s consists of the +stupid utterances ever. An entire subgenre of sig blocks consists of the header From the fool file: followed by some quote the poster wishes to represent as an immortal gem of dimwittery; for this usage to be really effective, the quote has to be so obviously wrong as to be laughable. More than one Usenetter has achieved an unwanted notoriety by being quoted in this way. - diff --git a/entries/fork.txt b/entries/fork.txt index 46d6011..d2a4e45 100644 --- a/entries/fork.txt +++ b/entries/fork.txt @@ -11,5 +11,4 @@ that largely assembles pieces than can and will be used in other distributions without conflict. Forking is uncommon; in fact, it is so uncommon that individual instances loom large in hacker folklore. Notable in this class were the Emacs/XEmacs , the GCC/EGCS (later healed by a merger) -and the s among the FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD operating systems. - +and the forks among the FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD operating systems. diff --git a/entries/forum.txt b/entries/forum.txt index 53e3e01..43060bc 100644 --- a/entries/forum.txt +++ b/entries/forum.txt @@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ forum n. [Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. fora or forums ] Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in BBS , a mailing list , or a newsgroup (see the network ). -A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit posting s for all +A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit postings for all to read and discussion ensues. Contrast real-time chat via talk mode or point-to-point personal email. - diff --git a/entries/four-color glossies.txt b/entries/four-color glossies.txt index fa1751d..0c8f5bc 100644 --- a/entries/four-color glossies.txt +++ b/entries/four-color glossies.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ four-color glossies -n. 1. Literature created by marketroid s that allegedly contains technical +n. 1. Literature created by marketroids that allegedly contains technical specs but which is in fact as superficial as possible without being totally content-free. Forget the four-color glossies, give me the tech ref manuals. Often applied as an indication of superficiality even when the material is @@ -8,4 +8,3 @@ printed on ordinary paper in black and white. Four-color-glossy manuals are never useful for solving a problem. 2. [rare] Applied by extension to manual pages that don't contain enough information to diagnose why the program doesn't produce the expected or desired output. - diff --git a/entries/fum.txt b/entries/fum.txt index c70c43c..4ca9fd5 100644 --- a/entries/fum.txt +++ b/entries/fum.txt @@ -1,6 +1,5 @@ fum n. [XEROX PARC] At PARC, often the third of the standard metasyntactic -variable s (after foo and bar ). Competes with baz , which is more common +variables (after foo and bar ). Competes with baz , which is more common outside PARC. - diff --git a/entries/furrfu.txt b/entries/furrfu.txt index 74c00fd..64c6cf0 100644 --- a/entries/furrfu.txt +++ b/entries/furrfu.txt @@ -4,5 +4,4 @@ excl. [Usenet; written, only rarely spoken] Written-only equivalent of Sheesh! ; it is, in fact, sheesh modified by rot13. Evolved in mid-1992 as a response to notably silly postings repeating urban myths on the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban , after some posters complained that Sheesh! as -a response to newbie s was being overused. See also FOAF. - +a response to newbies was being overused. See also FOAF. diff --git a/entries/geek code.txt b/entries/geek code.txt index 804ba46..3a30985 100644 --- a/entries/geek code.txt +++ b/entries/geek code.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ geek code -n. (also Code of the Geeks ). A set of codes commonly used in sig block s to +n. (also Code of the Geeks ). A set of codes commonly used in sig blocks to broadcast the interests, skills, and aspirations of the poster. Features a G at the left margin followed by numerous letter codes, often suffixed with plusses or minuses. Because many net users are involved in computer science, @@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ geek code originated in 1993; it was inspired (according to the inventor) by previous bear , smurf and twink style-and-sexual-preference codes from lesbian and gay newsgroup s. It has in turn spawned imitators; there is now even a Saturn geek code for owners of the Saturn car. See also geek. - diff --git a/entries/gray goo.txt b/entries/gray goo.txt index c7b614f..dd0a852 100644 --- a/entries/gray goo.txt +++ b/entries/gray goo.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ gray goo -n. A hypothetical substance composed of sagan s of sub-micron-sized +n. A hypothetical substance composed of sagans of sub-micron-sized self-replicating robots programmed to make copies of themselves out of whatever is available. The image that goes with the term is one of the entire biosphere of Earth being eventually converted to robot goo. This is the simplest of the nanotechnology disaster scenarios, easily refuted by arguments from energy requirements and elemental abundances. Compare blue goo. - diff --git a/entries/hand-hacking.txt b/entries/hand-hacking.txt index 920b2f2..474478e 100644 --- a/entries/hand-hacking.txt +++ b/entries/hand-hacking.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ hand-hacking -n. 1. [rare] The practice of translating hot spot s from an HLL into +n. 1. [rare] The practice of translating hot spots from an HLL into hand-tuned assembler, as opposed to trying to coerce the compiler into generating better code. Both the term and the practice are becoming uncommon. See tune , by hand ; syn. with v. cruft. 2. [common] More generally, manual construction or patching of data sets that would normally be generated by a translation utility and interpreted by another program, and aren't really designed to be read or modified by humans. - diff --git a/entries/holy wars.txt b/entries/holy wars.txt index f754736..fdc8377 100644 --- a/entries/holy wars.txt +++ b/entries/holy wars.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ holy wars -n. [from Usenet , but may predate it; common] n. flame war s over religious +n. [from Usenet , but may predate it; common] n. flame wars over religious issues. The paper by Danny Cohen that popularized the terms big-endian and little-endian in connection with the LSB-first/MSB-first controversy was entitled On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace. Great holy wars of the past have @@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ participants spend their time trying to pass off personal value choices and cultural attachments as objective technical evaluations. This happens precisely because in a true holy war, the actual substantive differences between the sides are relatively minor. See also theology. - diff --git a/entries/honey pot.txt b/entries/honey pot.txt index f2be9b4..c1e94a9 100644 --- a/entries/honey pot.txt +++ b/entries/honey pot.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ honey pot -n. 1. A box designed to attract cracker s so that they can be observed in +n. 1. A box designed to attract crackers so that they can be observed in action. It is usually well isolated from the rest of the network, but has extensive logging (usually network layer, on a different machine). Different from an iron box in that its purpose is to attract, not merely observe. @@ -10,4 +10,3 @@ concept was presented in Cheswick Bellovin's book Firewalls and Internet Security. 2. A mail server that acts as an open relay when a single message is attempted to send through it, but discards or diverts for examination messages that are detected to be part of a spam run. - diff --git a/entries/include war.txt b/entries/include war.txt index 259dde8..ed5874f 100644 --- a/entries/include war.txt +++ b/entries/include war.txt @@ -2,5 +2,4 @@ include war n. Excessive multi-leveled inclusion within a discussion thread , a practice that tends to annoy readers. In a forum with high-traffic newsgroups, such -as Usenet, this can lead to flame s and the urge to start a kill file. - +as Usenet, this can lead to flames and the urge to start a kill file. diff --git a/entries/include.txt b/entries/include.txt index c0ad976..0b08750 100644 --- a/entries/include.txt +++ b/entries/include.txt @@ -4,5 +4,4 @@ vt. [Usenet] 1. To duplicate a portion (or whole) of another's message (typically with attribution to the source) in a reply or followup, for clarifying the context of one's response. See the discussion of inclusion styles under Hacker Writing Style. 2. [from C ] #include disclaimer.h has -appeared in sig block s to refer to a notional standard disclaimer file. - +appeared in sig blocks to refer to a notional standard disclaimer file. diff --git a/entries/indoctritainment.txt b/entries/indoctritainment.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9451339 --- /dev/null +++ b/entries/indoctritainment.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +indoctritainment + +What would in the 20th century have simply been known as "propaganda". +The combination of political indoctrination and popular entertainment +common within mainstream broadcast media, such as television or +tabloid newspapers. The indirect manner in which the typical person +forms their political views. diff --git a/entries/infinite loop.txt b/entries/infinite loop.txt index 0ec1210..390a9fd 100644 --- a/entries/infinite loop.txt +++ b/entries/infinite loop.txt @@ -1,5 +1,4 @@ infinite loop -n. One that never terminates (that is, the machine spin s or buzz es forever +n. One that never terminates (that is, the machine spins or buzz es forever and goes catatonic ). - diff --git a/entries/json.txt b/entries/json.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb01e27 --- /dev/null +++ b/entries/json.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +JSON + +Acronym. JavaScript Object Notation. A human readable data format +origially created by Douglas Crockford which is typically used to +transmit information between a browser and a web based server system. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/entries/kernel-of-the-week club.txt b/entries/kernel-of-the-week club.txt index 209e30c..c7448c6 100644 --- a/entries/kernel-of-the-week club.txt +++ b/entries/kernel-of-the-week club.txt @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ kernel-of-the-week club -The fictional society that BSD bigot s claim Linux users belong to, alluding +The fictional society that BSD bigots claim Linux users belong to, alluding to the release-early-release-often style preferred by the kernel maintainers. See bazaar. This was almost certainly inspired by the earlier bug-of-the-month club. - diff --git a/entries/kibozo.txt b/entries/kibozo.txt index 615197d..9142038 100644 --- a/entries/kibozo.txt +++ b/entries/kibozo.txt @@ -1,5 +1,4 @@ kibozo -/ki:bohzoh/ , n. [Usenet] One who kiboze s but is not Kibo (see KIBO , sense +/ki:bohzoh/ , n. [Usenet] One who kibozes but is not Kibo (see KIBO , sense 2). - diff --git a/entries/kluge.txt b/entries/kluge.txt index 4c74363..1683c8c 100644 --- a/entries/kluge.txt +++ b/entries/kluge.txt @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ and verges on being a crock. 3. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. vt. To insert a kluge into a program. I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way. 5. [WPI] n. A feature that is implemented in a rude manner. Nowadays this term is often -encountered in the variant spelling kludge. Reports from old fart s are +encountered in the variant spelling kludge. Reports from old farts are consistent that kluge was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as the mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of hardware kluges. In 1947, the New York Folklore Quarterly reported a classic @@ -62,4 +62,3 @@ orally, use it in a restricted negative sense and are at least consistent. European hackers have mostly learned the word from written American sources and tend to pronounce it /kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning! Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's meaning. - diff --git a/entries/languages of choice.txt b/entries/languages of choice.txt index 87a557b..32d91b7 100644 --- a/entries/languages of choice.txt +++ b/entries/languages of choice.txt @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ development. This list has changed over time, but slowly. Java bumped C++ off of it, and Python appears to be recruiting people who would otherwise gravitate to LISP (which used to be much more important than it is now). Smalltalk and Prolog are also popular in small but influential communities. -The Real Programmer s who loved FORTRAN and assembler have pretty much all +The Real Programmers who loved FORTRAN and assembler have pretty much all retired or died since 1990. Assembler is generally no longer considered interesting or appropriate for anything but HLL implementation, glue , and a few time-critical and hardware-specific uses in systems programs. FORTRAN @@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ frown on languages like Pascal and Ada, which don't give them the near-total freedom considered necessary for hacking (see bondage-and-discipline language ), and to regard everything even remotely connected with COBOL or other traditional DP languages as a total and unmitigated loss. - diff --git a/entries/letterbomb.txt b/entries/letterbomb.txt index 49b2a58..83d4f69 100644 --- a/entries/letterbomb.txt +++ b/entries/letterbomb.txt @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ letterbomb 1. n. A piece of email containing live data intended to do nefarious things to the recipient's machine or terminal. It used to be possible, for example, -to send s that would lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they are +to sends that would lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they are viewed, so thoroughly that the user must cycle power (see cycle , sense 3) to unwedge them. Under Unix, a can also try to get part of its contents interpreted as a shell command to the mailer. The results of this could @@ -11,4 +11,3 @@ the standard Unix/Internet mail software was vulnerable to such an attack (though, as the Melissa virus attack demonstrated in early 1999, Microsoft systems can have serious problems). See also Trojan horse ; compare nastygram. 2. Loosely, a mailbomb. - diff --git a/entries/live data.txt b/entries/live data.txt index f9675e9..420b892 100644 --- a/entries/live data.txt +++ b/entries/live data.txt @@ -9,6 +9,5 @@ security-breaking virus that is triggered the next time a hapless user strikes that key. For another, there are some well-known bugs in vi that allow certain texts to send arbitrary commands back to the machine when they are simply viewed. 2. In C code, data that includes pointers to function -hook s (executable code). 3. An object, such as a trampoline , that is +hooks (executable code). 3. An object, such as a trampoline , that is constructed on the fly by a program and intended to be executed as code. - diff --git a/entries/loose bytes.txt b/entries/loose bytes.txt index 2ec9d9e..9b65f26 100644 --- a/entries/loose bytes.txt +++ b/entries/loose bytes.txt @@ -1,6 +1,5 @@ loose bytes -n. Commonwealth hackish term for the padding bytes or shim s many compilers +n. Commonwealth hackish term for the padding bytes or shims many compilers insert between members of a record or structure to cope with alignment requirements imposed by the machine architecture. - diff --git a/entries/mainframe.txt b/entries/mainframe.txt index 2020a8a..333ca8b 100644 --- a/entries/mainframe.txt +++ b/entries/mainframe.txt @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ eventually just as mainframes. The term carries the connotation of a machine designed for batch rather than interactive use, though possibly with an interactive timesharing operating system retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of machines built by IBM, Unisys, and the other great -dinosaur s surviving from computing's Stone Age. It has been common wisdom +dinosaurs surviving from computing's Stone Age. It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s that the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead (outside of the tiny market for number-crunching supercomputers having been swamped by the recent huge @@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ assisted by IBM produced a resurgence of interest in mainframe computing as a way of providing huge quantities of easily maintainable, reliable virtual Linux servers, saving IBM's mainframe division from almost certain extinction. - diff --git a/entries/mitm attack.txt b/entries/mitm attack.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17cd340 --- /dev/null +++ b/entries/mitm attack.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +Man In The Middle (MITM) attack + +This is a type of malicious communications interception in which an +interloper inserts themselves between two communicating parties. The +motivation for conducting such an attack is typically in order to +obtain personal, financial or political gain. They may merely collect +data, or insert their own packets into the conversation. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/entries/newsgroup.txt b/entries/newsgroup.txt index 81006f1..44366a5 100644 --- a/entries/newsgroup.txt +++ b/entries/newsgroup.txt @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ newsgroup n. [Usenet] One of Usenet 's huge collection of topic groups or fora. Usenet groups can be unmoderated (anyone can post) or moderated (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts -the results). Some newsgroups have parallel mailing list s for Internet +the results). Some newsgroups have parallel mailing lists for Internet people with no netnews access, with postings to the group automatically propagated to the list and vice versa. Some moderated groups (especially those which are actually gatewayed Internet mailing lists) are distributed @@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ C-language forum), comp.arch (on computer architectures), comp.unix.wizards (for Unix wizards), rec.arts.sf.written and siblings (for science-fiction fans), and talk.politics.misc (miscellaneous political discussions and flamage ). - diff --git a/entries/old fart.txt b/entries/old fart.txt index c8cdca8..b3a92fe 100644 --- a/entries/old fart.txt +++ b/entries/old fart.txt @@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ old fart n. Tribal elder. A title self-assumed with remarkable frequency by (esp.) Usenetters who have been programming for more than about 25 years; often -appears in sig block s attached to Jargon File contributions of great +appears in sig blocks attached to Jargon File contributions of great archeological significance. This is a term of insult in the second or third person but one of pride in first person. - diff --git a/entries/one-banana problem.txt b/entries/one-banana problem.txt index 11d0020..efeaf4e 100644 --- a/entries/one-banana problem.txt +++ b/entries/one-banana problem.txt @@ -9,10 +9,9 @@ problem is simple; hence, It's only a one-banana job at the most; what's taking them so long? At IBM, folklore divides the world into one-, two-, and three-banana problems. Other cultures have different hierarchies and may divide them more finely; at ICL, for example, five grapes (a bunch) equals a -banana. Their upper limit for the in-house sysape s is said to be two +banana. Their upper limit for the in-house sysapes is said to be two bananas and three grapes (another source claims it's three bananas and one grape, but observes However, this is subject to local variations, cosmic rays and ISO ). At a complication level any higher than that, one asks the manufacturers to send someone around to check things. See also Infinite-Monkey Theorem. - diff --git a/entries/overrun screw.txt b/entries/overrun screw.txt index 2db67b3..0b5784e 100644 --- a/entries/overrun screw.txt +++ b/entries/overrun screw.txt @@ -4,11 +4,10 @@ n. [C programming] A variety of fandango on core produced by scribbling past the end of an array (C implementations typically have no checks for this error). This is relatively benign and easy to spot if the array is static; if it is auto, the result may be to smash the stack often resulting in -heisenbug s of the most diabolical subtlety. The term overrun screw is used +heisenbugs of the most diabolical subtlety. The term overrun screw is used esp. of scribbles beyond the end of arrays allocated with malloc (3) ; this typically trashes the allocation header for the next block in the arena , producing massive lossage within malloc and often a core dump on the next operation to use stdio (3) or malloc (3) itself. See spam , overrun ; see also memory leak , memory smash , aliasing bug , precedence lossage , fandango on core , secondary damage. - diff --git a/entries/padded cell.txt b/entries/padded cell.txt index fcf1278..e9a7ae3 100644 --- a/entries/padded cell.txt +++ b/entries/padded cell.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ padded cell -n. Where you put luser s so they can't hurt anything. A program that limits +n. Where you put lusers so they can't hurt anything. A program that limits a luser to a carefully restricted subset of the capabilities of the host system (for example, the rsh (1) utility on USG Unix). Note that this is different from an iron box because it is overt and not aimed at enforcing security so much as protecting others (and the luser) from the consequences of the luser's boundless naivete (see naive ). Also padded cell environment. - diff --git a/entries/paper-net.txt b/entries/paper-net.txt index 3cf65ed..191cf12 100644 --- a/entries/paper-net.txt +++ b/entries/paper-net.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ paper-net n. Hackish way of referring to the postal service, analogizing it to a very -slow, low-reliability network. Usenet sig block s sometimes include a +slow, low-reliability network. Usenet sig blocks sometimes include a Paper-Net: header just before the sender's postal address; common variants of this are Papernet and P-Net. Note that the standard netiquette guidelines discourage this practice as a waste of bandwidth, since netters are quite unlikely to casually use postal addresses. Compare voice-net , snail-mail. - diff --git a/entries/peek.txt b/entries/peek.txt index e72f1b6..688dd09 100644 --- a/entries/peek.txt +++ b/entries/peek.txt @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ corresponding constructs in any HLL (peek reads memory, poke modifies it). Much hacking on small, non-MMU micros used to consist of peek ing around memory, more or less at random, to find the location where the system keeps interesting stuff. Long (and variably accurate) lists of such addresses for -various computers circulated. The results of poke s at these addresses may +various computers circulated. The results of pokes at these addresses may be highly useful, mildly amusing, useless but neat, or (most likely) total lossage (see killer poke ). Since a real operating system provides useful, higher-level services for the tasks commonly performed with peeks and pokes @@ -15,4 +15,3 @@ groveling, a question like How do I do a peek in C? is diagnostic of the newbie. (Of course, OS kernels often have to do exactly this; a real kernel hacker would unhesitatingly, if unportably, assign an absolute address to a pointer variable and indirect through it. - diff --git a/entries/pointy-haired.txt b/entries/pointy-haired.txt index 4135561..d4c60fb 100644 --- a/entries/pointy-haired.txt +++ b/entries/pointy-haired.txt @@ -1,8 +1,7 @@ pointy-haired adj. [after the character in the Dilbert comic strip] Describes the extreme -form of the property that separates suit s and marketroid s from hackers. +form of the property that separates suits and marketroids from hackers. Compare brain-dead ; demented ; see PHB. Always applied to people, never to ideas. The plural form is often used as a noun. The pointy-haireds ordered me to use Windows NT, but I set up a Linux server with Samba instead. - diff --git a/entries/prime time.txt b/entries/prime time.txt index e73f7de..899d4d9 100644 --- a/entries/prime time.txt +++ b/entries/prime time.txt @@ -7,5 +7,4 @@ of prime time was traditionally given as a major reason for night mode hacking. The term fell into disuse during the early PC era, but has been revived to refer to times of day or evening at which the Internet tends to be heavily loaded, making Web access slow. The hackish tendency to -late-night hacking run s has changed not a bit. - +late-night hacking runs has changed not a bit. diff --git a/entries/profile.txt b/entries/profile.txt index a93b313..a9b6afc 100644 --- a/entries/profile.txt +++ b/entries/profile.txt @@ -5,8 +5,7 @@ each user's home directory and intended to be easily modified by the user in order to customize the program's behavior. Used to avoid hardcoded choices (see also dot file , rc file ). 2. [techspeak] A report on the amounts of time spent in each routine of a program, used to find and tune away the hot -spot s in it. This sense is often verbed. Some profiling modes report units +spots in it. This sense is often verbed. Some profiling modes report units other than time (such as call counts) and/or report at granularities other than per-routine, but the idea is similar. 3.[techspeak] A subset of a standard used for a particular purpose. - diff --git a/entries/quantum bogodynamics.txt b/entries/quantum bogodynamics.txt index 19e9bba..a0b8170 100644 --- a/entries/quantum bogodynamics.txt +++ b/entries/quantum bogodynamics.txt @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ quantum bogodynamics /kwontm boh`gohdi:namiks/ , n. A theory that characterizes the universe in terms of bogon sources (such as politicians, used-car salesmen, TV -evangelists, and suit s in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and +evangelists, and suits in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and computers), and bogosity potential fields. Bogon absorption, of course, causes human beings to behave mindlessly and machines to fail (and may also cause both to emit secondary bogons); however, the precise mechanics of the @@ -19,4 +19,3 @@ a bogon beam is deflected only with great difficulty. When the bogon encounters its antiparticle, the cluon, they mutually annihilate each other, releasing magic smoke. Furthermore 1 Lenat = 1 mole (6.022E23) of bogons (see microLenat ). - diff --git a/entries/scratch monkey.txt b/entries/scratch monkey.txt index 0019b17..a1b37d8 100644 --- a/entries/scratch monkey.txt +++ b/entries/scratch monkey.txt @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, Can you swim? Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain -clueless droid s at the local humane society. The moral is clear: When in +clueless droids at the local humane society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. [The actual incident occured in 1979 or 1980. There is a version of this story, complete with reported dialogue between one of the project people and DEC field service, that has been @@ -26,4 +26,3 @@ some facts wrong. For example, it reports the machine as a PDP-11 and alleges that Mabel's demise occurred when DEC PM ed the machine. Earlier versions of this entry were based on that story; this one has been corrected from an interview with the hapless sysop. - diff --git a/entries/script kiddies.txt b/entries/script kiddies.txt index f795a6c..136d181 100644 --- a/entries/script kiddies.txt +++ b/entries/script kiddies.txt @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ script kiddies pl.n. 1. [very common] The lowest form of cracker ; script kiddies do -mischief with scripts and rootkit s written by others, often without +mischief with scripts and rootkits written by others, often without understanding the exploit they are using. Used of people with limited technical expertise using easy-to-operate, pre-configured, and/or automated tools to conduct disruptive activities against networked systems. Since most @@ -9,4 +9,3 @@ of these tools are fairly well-known by the security community, the adverse impact of such actions is usually minimal. 2. People who cannot program, but who create tacky HTML pages by copying JavaScript routines from other tacky HTML pages. - diff --git a/entries/segmentation fault.txt b/entries/segmentation fault.txt index b04ee9c..2d01c31 100644 --- a/entries/segmentation fault.txt +++ b/entries/segmentation fault.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ segmentation fault n. [Unix] 1. [techspeak] An error in which a running program attempts to -access memory not allocated to it and core dump s with a segmentation +access memory not allocated to it and core dumps with a segmentation violation error. This is often caused by improper usage of pointers in the source code, dereferencing a null pointer, or (in C) inadvertently using a non-pointer variable as a pointer. The classic example is: inti; scanf( %d ,i);/*shouldhaveused i*/ 2. To lose a train of thought or a line of reasoning. Also uttered as an exclamation at the point of befuddlement. - diff --git a/entries/shell.txt b/entries/shell.txt index c34c783..874878b 100644 --- a/entries/shell.txt +++ b/entries/shell.txt @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ to a special resource or server for convenience, efficiency, or security reasons; for this meaning, the usage is usually a shell around whatever. This sort of program is also called a wrapper. 3. A skeleton program, created by hand or by another program (like, say, a parser generator), which -provides the necessary incantation s to set up some task and the control +provides the necessary incantations to set up some task and the control flow to drive it (the term driver is sometimes used synonymously). The user is meant to fill in whatever code is needed to get real work done. This usage is common in the AI and Microsoft Windows worlds, and confuses Unix @@ -18,4 +18,3 @@ starting up separate processes, but by dynamically linking the programs into its own code, calling them as subroutines, and then dynamically de-linking them on return. The VMS command interpreter still does something very like this. - diff --git a/entries/sigint.txt b/entries/sigint.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..613b9da --- /dev/null +++ b/entries/sigint.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +SIGINT + +Abbrev. Signals Intelligence. Data obtained via espionage or from +public sources which is used by the secret police of a nation state. +Hardware or software systems which contain back doors to facilitate +covert data collection are described as being "SIGINT enabled". +Also see back door. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/entries/snarf.txt b/entries/snarf.txt index 4090acd..299ed7a 100644 --- a/entries/snarf.txt +++ b/entries/snarf.txt @@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ snarfing phase of hacking FTPing megs of stuff a day. 3. To acquire, with little concern for legal forms or politesse (but not quite by stealing). They were giving away samples, so I snarfed a bunch of them. 4. Syn. for slurp. This program starts by snarfing the entire database into core, -then.... 5. [GEnie] To spray food or programming fluid s due to laughing at +then.... 5. [GEnie] To spray food or programming fluids due to laughing at the wrong moment. I was drinking coffee, and when I read your post I snarfed all over my desk. If I keep reading this topic, I think I'll have to snarf-proof my computer with a keyboard condom. [This sense appears to be widespread among mundane teenagers ESR] The sound of snarfing is splork!. - diff --git a/entries/social engineering.txt b/entries/social engineering.txt index 178f186..3150529 100644 --- a/entries/social engineering.txt +++ b/entries/social engineering.txt @@ -1,10 +1,9 @@ social engineering -n. Term used among cracker s and samurai for cracking techniques that rely +n. Term used among crackers and samurai for cracking techniques that rely on weaknesses in wetware rather than software; the aim is to trick people into revealing passwords or other information that compromises a target system's security. Classic scams include phoning up a mark who has the required information and posing as a field service tech or a fellow employee with an urgent access problem. See also the tiger team story in the patch entry, and rubber-hose cryptanalysis. - diff --git a/entries/spam.txt b/entries/spam.txt index a7ba1b8..2190cf0 100644 --- a/entries/spam.txt +++ b/entries/spam.txt @@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ are now primary. All three behaviors are considered abuse of the net, and are almost universally grounds for termination of the originator's email account or network connection. In these senses the term spam has gone mainstream, though without its original sense or folkloric freight there is -apparently a widespread myth among luser s that spamming is what happens +apparently a widespread myth among lusers that spamming is what happens when you dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan. Hormel, the makers of Spam, have published a surprisingly enlightened position statement on the Internet usage. - diff --git a/entries/spamhaus.txt b/entries/spamhaus.txt index ded29cf..c904fae 100644 --- a/entries/spamhaus.txt +++ b/entries/spamhaus.txt @@ -9,6 +9,5 @@ Usenet as Spam Freedom Day, but lesser imitators of the Spamford still infest various murky corners of the net. Since prosecution of spammers became routine under the junk-fax laws and statues specifically targeting spam, spamhausen have declined in relative importance; today, hit-and-run -attacks by spammers using relay rape and throwaway account s on reputable +attacks by spammers using relay rape and throwaway accounts on reputable ISPs seem to account for most of the flow. - diff --git a/entries/special-case.txt b/entries/special-case.txt index 5270ac5..e153787 100644 --- a/entries/special-case.txt +++ b/entries/special-case.txt @@ -4,6 +4,5 @@ vt. To write unique code to handle input to or situations arising in a program that are somehow distinguished from normal processing. This would be used for processing of mode switches or interrupt characters in an interactive interface (as opposed, say, to text entry or normal commands), -or for processing of hidden flag s in the input of a batch program or +or for processing of hidden flags in the input of a batch program or filter. - diff --git a/entries/spod.txt b/entries/spod.txt index 65934f1..02d428d 100644 --- a/entries/spod.txt +++ b/entries/spod.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ spod -n. [UK] 1. A lower form of life found on talker system s and MUD s. The spod +n. [UK] 1. A lower form of life found on talker systems and MUD s. The spod has few friends in RL and uses talkers instead, finding communication easier and preferable over the net. He has all the negative traits of the computer geek without having any interest in computers per se. Lacking any knowledge @@ -26,4 +26,3 @@ computers and the internet in general. 3. [Glasgow University] An otherwise competent hacker who spends way too much time on talker systems. 4. [obs.] An ordinary person; a random. This is the meaning with which the term was coined, but the inventor informs us he has himself accepted sense 1. - diff --git a/entries/teledildonics.txt b/entries/teledildonics.txt index 51357f8..8ad0409 100644 --- a/entries/teledildonics.txt +++ b/entries/teledildonics.txt @@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ teledildonics /tel`@dildo'niks/ , n. Sex in a computer simulated virtual reality, esp. computer-mediated sexual interaction between the VR presences of two humans. This practice is not yet possible except in the rather limited form of -erotic conversation on MUD s and the like. The term, however, is widely +erotic conversation on MUDs and the like. The term, however, is widely recognized in the VR community as a ha ha only serious projection of things to come. When we can sustain a multi-sensory surround good enough for teledildonics, then we'll know we're getting somewhere. See also hot chat. - diff --git a/entries/toolsmith.txt b/entries/toolsmith.txt index e8bd475..b32da12 100644 --- a/entries/toolsmith.txt +++ b/entries/toolsmith.txt @@ -1,9 +1,8 @@ toolsmith n. The software equivalent of a tool-and-die specialist; one who specializes -in making the tool s with which other programmers create applications. Many +in making the tools with which other programmers create applications. Many hackers consider this more fun than applications per se; to understand why, see uninteresting. Jon Bentley, in the Bumper-Sticker Computer Science chapter of his book More Programming Pearls , quotes Dick Sites from DEC as saying I'd rather write programs to write programs than write programs. - diff --git a/entries/toy language.txt b/entries/toy language.txt index 4c59abb..a18570e 100644 --- a/entries/toy language.txt +++ b/entries/toy language.txt @@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ toy language n. A language useful for instructional purposes or as a proof-of-concept for some aspect of computer-science theory, but inadequate for general-purpose -programming. Bad Thing s can result when a toy language is promoted as a +programming. Bad Things can result when a toy language is promoted as a general purpose solution for programming (see bondage-and-discipline language ); the classic example is Pascal. Several moderately well-known formalisms for conceptual tasks such as programming Turing machines also qualify as toy languages in a less negative sense. See also MFTL. - diff --git a/entries/trap door.txt b/entries/trap door.txt index 612ae7f..57e4908 100644 --- a/entries/trap door.txt +++ b/entries/trap door.txt @@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ trap door n. (alt.: trapdoor ) 1. Syn. back door a Bad Thing. 2. [techspeak] A trap-door function is one which is easy to compute but very difficult to -compute the inverse of. Such functions are Good Thing s with important +compute the inverse of. Such functions are Good Things with important applications in cryptography, specifically in the construction of public-key cryptosystems. - diff --git a/entries/trap.txt b/entries/trap.txt index be7de60..cfe9719 100644 --- a/entries/trap.txt +++ b/entries/trap.txt @@ -2,13 +2,12 @@ trap 1. n. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by some exceptional situation in the user program. In most cases, the OS performs some action, -then returns control to the program. 2. vi. To cause a. These instructions +then returns control to the program. 2. vi. To cause a. These instructions to the monitor. Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the. The -monitor s all input/output instructions. This term is associated with +monitors all input/output instructions. This term is associated with assembler programming ( interrupt or exception is more common among HLL programmers) and appears to be fading into history among programmers as the role of assembler continues to shrink. However, it is still important to computer architects and systems hackers (see system , sense 1), who use it to distinguish deterministically repeatable exceptions from timing-dependent ones (such as I/O interrupts). - diff --git a/entries/tree-killer.txt b/entries/tree-killer.txt index b39ce03..1a50192 100644 --- a/entries/tree-killer.txt +++ b/entries/tree-killer.txt @@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ tree-killer n. [Sun] 1. A printer. 2. A person who wastes paper. This epithet should be interpreted in a broad sense; wasting paper includes the production of -spiffy but content-free documents. Thus, most suit s are tree-killers. It is +spiffy but content-free documents. Thus, most suits are tree-killers. It is likely that both senses derive their flavor from the epithet tree-killer applied by Treebeard the Ent to the Orcs in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. See also elvish , elder days , and especially dead-tree version. - diff --git a/entries/tune.txt b/entries/tune.txt index 9e5ee13..6778358 100644 --- a/entries/tune.txt +++ b/entries/tune.txt @@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ tune vt. [from automotive or musical usage] To optimize a program or system for a particular environment, esp. by adjusting numerical parameters designed as -hook s for tuning, e.g., by changing #define lines in C. One may tune for +hooks for tuning, e.g., by changing #define lines in C. One may tune for time (fastest execution), tune for space (least memory use), or tune for configuration (most efficient use of hardware). See hot spot , hand-hacking. - diff --git a/entries/unixism.txt b/entries/unixism.txt index 12659c7..30d3ecf 100644 --- a/entries/unixism.txt +++ b/entries/unixism.txt @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ unixism n. A piece of code or a coding technique that depends on the protected multi-tasking environment with relatively low process-spawn overhead that -exists on virtual-memory Unix systems. Common unixism s include: gratuitous +exists on virtual-memory Unix systems. Common unixisms include: gratuitous use of fork (2) ; the assumption that certain undocumented but well-known features of Unix libraries such as stdio (3) are supported elsewhere; reliance on obscure side-effects of system calls (use of sleep (2) with a 0 @@ -10,4 +10,3 @@ argument to clue the scheduler that you're willing to give up your time-slice, for example); the assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed; and the assumption that fragmentation problems won't arise from never free () ing memory. Compare vaxocentrism ; see also New Jersey. - diff --git a/entries/virus.txt b/entries/virus.txt index f2a43af..524d020 100644 --- a/entries/virus.txt +++ b/entries/virus.txt @@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ security on these machines enables viruses to spread easily, even infecting the operating system (Unix machines, by contrast, are immune to such attacks). The production of special anti-virus software has become an industry, and a number of exaggerated media reports have caused outbreaks of -near hysteria among users; many luser s tend to blame everything that +near hysteria among users; many lusers tend to blame everything that doesn't work as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of virus has passed not only into techspeak but into also popular usage (where it is often incorrectly used to denote a worm or even a Trojan horse ). See phage ; compare back door ; see also Unix conspiracy. - diff --git a/entries/voice-net.txt b/entries/voice-net.txt index f577519..1909b0f 100644 --- a/entries/voice-net.txt +++ b/entries/voice-net.txt @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ voice-net n. Hackish way of referring to the telephone system, analogizing it to a -digital network. Usenet sig block s not uncommonly include the sender's +digital network. Usenet sig blocks not uncommonly include the sender's phone next to a Voice: or Voice-Net: header; common variants of this are Voicenet and V-Net. Compare paper-net , snail-mail. - diff --git a/entries/wall time.txt b/entries/wall time.txt index 716e524..429cbce 100644 --- a/entries/wall time.txt +++ b/entries/wall time.txt @@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ wall time n. (also wall clock time ) 1. Real world time (what the clock on the wall shows), as opposed to the system clock's idea of time. 2. The real running -time of a program, as opposed to the number of tick s required to execute it +time of a program, as opposed to the number of ticks required to execute it (on a timesharing system these always differ, as no one program gets all the ticks, and on multiprocessor systems with good thread support one may get more processor time than real time). - diff --git a/entries/warez d00dz.txt b/entries/warez d00dz.txt index 9bdf1f6..1e383a7 100644 --- a/entries/warez d00dz.txt +++ b/entries/warez d00dz.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ warez d00dz -/weirz doodz/ , n. A substantial subculture of cracker s refer to themselves +/weirz doodz/ , n. A substantial subculture of crackers refer to themselves as warez d00dz ; there is evidently some connection with B1FF here. As Ozone Pilot , one former warez d00d, wrote: Warez d00dz get illegal copies of copyrighted software. If it has copy protection on it, they break the @@ -31,4 +31,3 @@ sample of 100 people, the person whose handle is Hellraiser is the last person you'd associate with the name. The contrast with Internet hackers is stark and instructive. See cracker , wannabee , handle , elite , courier , leech ; compare weenie , spod. - diff --git a/entries/whack-a-mole.txt b/entries/whack-a-mole.txt index 3134938..dd4cbea 100644 --- a/entries/whack-a-mole.txt +++ b/entries/whack-a-mole.txt @@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ whack-a-mole n. [from the carnival game which involves quickly and repeatedly hitting the heads of mechanical moles with a mallet as they pop up from their holes.] 1. -The practice of repeatedly causing spammers' throwaway account s and drop +The practice of repeatedly causing spammers' throwaway accounts and drop boxes to be terminated. 2. After sense 1 became established in the mid-1990s the term passed into more generalized use, and now is commonly found in such combinations as whack-a-mole windows ; the obnoxious pop-up advertisement windows spawned in flocks when you surf to sites like Angelfire or Lycos. - diff --git a/entries/window shopping.txt b/entries/window shopping.txt index 2dea02e..19c6c6f 100644 --- a/entries/window shopping.txt +++ b/entries/window shopping.txt @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ window shopping -n. [US Geological Survey] Among users of WIMP environment s like X or the +n. [US Geological Survey] Among users of WIMP environments like X or the Macintosh, extended experimentation with new window colors, fonts, and icon shapes. This activity can take up hours of what might otherwise have been productive working time. I spent the afternoon window shopping until I found @@ -9,4 +9,3 @@ match my medium slate blue background. Serious window shoppers will spend their days with bitmap editors, creating new and different icons and background patterns for all to see. Also: window dressing , the act of applying new fonts, colors, etc. See fritterware , compare macdink. - diff --git a/entries/wizard.txt b/entries/wizard.txt index d2a1352..2a95b76 100644 --- a/entries/wizard.txt +++ b/entries/wizard.txt @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ wizard n. 1. Transitively, a person who knows how a complex piece of software or -hardware works (that is, who grok s it); esp. someone who can find and fix +hardware works (that is, who groks it); esp. someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone is a hacker if he or she has general hacking ability, but is a wizard with respect to something only if he or she has specific detailed knowledge of that thing. A good hacker could become a @@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ established that Unix Wizard is a recognized job title at some corporations and to most headhunters. See guru , lord high fixer. See also deep magic , heavy wizardry , incantation , magic , mutter , rain dance , voodoo programming , wave a dead chicken. - diff --git a/entries/worm.txt b/entries/worm.txt index 339ae53..846afb4 100644 --- a/entries/worm.txt +++ b/entries/worm.txt @@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ worm n. [from tapeworm in John Brunner's novel The Shockwave Rider , via XEROX PARC] A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. Compare virus. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it -is assumed that only cracker s write worms. Perhaps the best-known example +is assumed that only crackers write worms. Perhaps the best-known example was Robert T. Morris's Great Worm of 1988, a benign one that got out of control and hogged hundreds of Suns and VAXen across the U.S. See also cracker , RTM , Trojan horse , ice. -