Various tidying and modernizing

entries/BOFH.txt

@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
 BOFH
 
-// , n. [common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system administrator
+// , n. [common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system
-with absolutely no tolerance for luser s. You say you need more filespace?
+administrator with a bad attitude towards users, who may apply
-massive-global-delete Seems to me you have plenty left... Many BOFHs (and
+excessive or unwarranted security policies.
-others who would be BOFHs if they could get away with it) hang out in the
-newsgroup alt.sysadmin.recovery , although there has also been created a
-top-level newsgroup hierarchy ( bofh.* ) of their own. Several people have
-written stories about BOFHs. The set usually considered canonical is by
-Simon Travaglia and may be found at the Bastard Home Page. BOFHs and BOFH
-wannabes hang out on scary devil monastery and wield LART s.
-

entries/GIGO.txt

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 GIGO
 
-/gi:goh/ 1. Garbage In, Garbage Out usually said in response to lusers who
+/gi:goh/ Garbage In, Garbage Out usually said in response to users 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.
+in human decision making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.

entries/GWF.txt

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 GWF
 
-n. Common abbreviation for Goober with Firewall. A luser who has equipped
+n. Common abbreviation for Goober with Firewall. A user who has equipped
-his desktop computer with a hypersensitive software firewall or host
+their computer with a hypersensitive software firewall or host intrusion
-intrusion detection program, and who gives its alerts absolute credence. ISP
+detection program, and who gives its alerts absolute credence. ISP
 tech support and abuse desks dread hearing from such persons, who insist
 that every packet of abnormal traffic the software detects is a hacker (sic)
 and, occasionally, threatening lawsuits or prosecution. GWFs have been known
@@ -10,4 +10,3 @@ to assert that they are being attacked from 127.0.0.1, and that their ISP is
 criminally negligent for failing to block these attacks. GWF is used
 similarly to ID10T error and PEBKAC to flag trouble tickets opened by such
 users.
-

entries/Jeff K..txt

@@ -1,20 +1,6 @@
 Jeff K.
 
-The spiritual successor to B1FF and the archetype of script kiddies.  is a
+The spiritual successor to B1FF and the archetype of script kiddies is a
-sixteen-year-old suburbanite who fancies himself a l33t haX0r , although his
+sixteen-year-old suburbanite who fancies himself a l33t haX0r, although his
 knowledge of computers seems to be limited to the procedure for getting
-Quake up and running. His Web page http://www.somethingawful.com/jeffk/
+Quake up and running.
-features a number of hopelessly naive articles, essays, and rants, all
-filled with the kind of misspellings, studlycaps , and number-for-letter
-substitutions endemic to the script kiddie and warez d00dz communities.
-Jeff's offerings, among other things, include hardware advice (such as AMD
-VERSIS PENTIUM and HOW TO OVARCLOAK YOUR COMPUTAR ), his own Quake clan
-(Clan 40 OUNSCE), and his own comic strip (Wacky Fun Computar Comic Jokes).
-Like B1FF,  is (fortunately) a hoax.  was created by internet game
-journalist Richard Lowtax Kyanka, whose web site Something Awful
-(http://www.somethingawful.com) highlights unintentionally humorous news
-items and Web sites, as a parody of the kind of teenage luser who infests
-Quake servers, chat rooms, and other places where computer enthusiasts
-congregate. He is well-recognized in the PC game community and his influence
-has spread to hacker fora like Slashdot as well.
-

entries/Murphy's Law.txt

@@ -2,14 +2,10 @@ Murphy's Law
 
 prov. The correct, original Murphy's Law reads: If there are two or more
 ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe,
-then someone will do it. This is a principle of defensive design, cited here
+then someone will do it. This is a principle of defensive design.
-because it is usually given in mutant forms less descriptive of the
+Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of McDonnell-Douglas's test engineers on
-challenges of design for luser s. For example, you don't make a two-pin plug
+the rocket-sled experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949
-symmetrical and then label it THIS WAY UP ; if it matters which way it is
+to test human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981).
-plugged in, then you make the design asymmetrical (see also the anecdote
-under magic smoke ). Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of McDonnell-Douglas's
-test engineers on the rocket-sled experiments that were done by the U.S. Air
-Force in 1949 to test human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981).
 One experiment involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different
 parts of the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued
 to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 in a replacement
@@ -20,5 +16,4 @@ at a news conference a few days later. Within months Murphy's Law had spread
 to various technical cultures connected to aerospace engineering. Before too
 many years had gone by variants had passed into the popular imagination,
 changing as they went. Most of these are variants on Anything that can go
-wrong, will ; this is more correctly referred to as Finagle's Law.
+wrong, will; this is more correctly referred to as Finagle's Law.
-

entries/OS and JEDGAR.txt

@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-OS and JEDGAR
-
-This story says a lot about the ITS ethos. On the ITS system there was a
-program that allowed you to see what was being printed on someone else's
-terminal. It spied on the other guy's output by examining the insides of the
-monitor system. The output spy program was called OS. Throughout the rest of
-the computer science world (and at IBM too) OS means operating system, but
-among old-time ITS hackers it almost always meant output spy. OS could work
-because ITS purposely had very little in the way of protection that
-prevented one user from trespassing on another's areas. Fair is fair,
-however. There was another program that would automatically notify you if
-anyone started to spy on your output. It worked in exactly the same way, by
-looking at the insides of the operating system to see if anyone else was
-looking at the insides that had to do with your output. This counterspy
-program was called JEDGAR (a six-letterism pronounced as two syllables:
-/jedgr/ ), in honor of the former head of the FBI. But there's more. JEDGAR
-would ask the user for license to kill. If the user said yes, then JEDGAR
-would actually gun the job of the luser who was spying. Unfortunately,
-people found that this made life too violent, especially when tourists
-learned about it. One of the systems hackers solved the problem by replacing
-JEDGAR with another program that only pretended to do its job. It took a
-long time to do this, because every copy of JEDGAR had to be patched. To
-this day no one knows how many people never figured out that JEDGAR had been
-defanged. Interestingly, there is still a security module named JEDGAR alive
-as of late 1999  in the Unisys MCP for large systems. It is unknown to us
-whether the name is tribute or independent invention.
-

entries/PEBKAC.txt

@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 PEBKAC
 
-/pebkak/ [Abbrev., Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair ] Used by
+/pebkak/ [Abbrev., Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair] Used by
 support people, particularly at call centers and help desks. Not used with
 the public. Denotes pilot error as the cause of the crash, especially stupid
-errors that even a luser could figure out. Very derogatory. Usage: Did you
+errors. Very derogatory. Usage: Did you ever figure out why that guy
-ever figure out why that guy couldn't print? Yeah, he kept cancelling the
+couldn't print? Yeah, he kept cancelling the operation before it could
-operation before it could finish. PEBKAC. See also ID10T. Compare pilot
+finish. PEBKAC. See also ID10T. Compare pilot error, UBD.
-error , UBD.
-

entries/bling.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+bling
+
+The aesthetic appearance of a system can be described as "bling heavy" if it
+contains a lot of fancy animations, slick screen transitions and exquisitely
+designed icons and fonts. "You can bling the heck out of this desktop environment".

entries/bob.txt

@@ -1,22 +1,23 @@
 bob
 
-n. At Demon Internet , all tech support personnel are called Bob. (Female
+n. In the 1990s at an early ISP called Demon Internet, all tech support
-support personnel have an option on Bobette ). This has nothing to do with
+personnel are called either Bob (masc) or Bobette (fem).
-Bob the divine drilling-equipment salesman of the Church of the SubGenius.
+This has nothing to do with Bob the divine drilling-equipment salesman
-Nor is it acronymized from Brother Of BOFH , though all parties agree it
+of the Church of the SubGenius. Nor is it acronymized from Brother Of
-could have been. Rather, it was triggered by an unusually large draft of new
+BOFH , though all parties agree it could have been. Rather, it was
-tech-support people in 1995. It was observed that there would be much
+triggered by an unusually large draft of new tech-support people in
-duplication of names. To ease the confusion, it was decided that all support
+1995. It was observed that there would be much duplication of names.
-techs would henceforth be known as Bob , and identity badges were created
+To ease the confusion, it was decided that all support techs would
-labelled Bob 1 and Bob 2. ( No, we never got any further reports a witness).
+henceforth be known as Bob or Bobette, and identity badges were created
-The reason for Bob rather than anything else is due to a luser calling and
+labelled Bob 1 and Bob 2. (No, we never got any further reports a witness).
-asking to speak to Bob , despite the fact that no Bob was currently working
+The reason for Bob/Bobette rather than anything else is due to a someone
-for Tech Support. Since we all know the customer is always right , it was
+calling and asking to speak to Bob, despite the fact that no Bob was
-decided that there had to be at least one Bob on duty at all times, just in
+currently working for Tech Support. Since we all know the customer is
-case. This sillyness snowballed inexorably. Shift leaders and managers began
+always right, it was decided that there had to be at least one Bob on
-to refer to their groups of bobs. Whole ranks of support machines were set
+duty at all times, just in case. This sillyness snowballed inexorably.
-up (and still exist in the DNS as of 1999) as bob1 through bobN. Then came
+Shift leaders and managers began to refer to their groups of bobs.
-alt.tech-support.recovery , and it was filled with Demon support personnel.
+Whole ranks of support machines were set up (and still exist in the
-They all referred to themselves, and to others, as bob , and after a while
+DNS as of 1999) as bob1 through bobN. Then came alt.tech-support.recovery,
-it caught on. There is now a Bob Code describing the Bob nature.
+and it was filled with Demon support personnel. They all referred to
-
+themselves, and to others, as bob, and after a while it caught on.
+There is now a Bob Code describing the Bob nature.

entries/chainik.txt

@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ chainik
 /chi:nik/ [Russian, literally teapot ] Almost synonymous with muggle.
 Implies both ignorance and a certain amount of willingness to learn, but
 does not necessarily imply as little experience or short exposure time as
-newbie and is not as derogatory as luser. Both a novice user and someone
+newbie. Both a novice user and someone using a system for a long time
-using a system for a long time without any understanding of the internals
+without any understanding of the internals can be referred to as
-can be referred to as chainiks. Very widespread term in Russian hackish,
+chainiks. Very widespread term in Russian hackish, often used in an
-often used in an English context by Russian-speaking hackers esp. in Israel
+English context by Russian-speaking hackers esp. in Israel (e.g. Our
-(e.g. Our new colleague is a complete chainik ). FidoNet discussion groups
+new colleague is a complete chainik ). FidoNet discussion groups
 often had a chainik subsection for newbies and, well, old chainiks (eg.
 su.asm.chainik, ru.linux.chainik, ru.html.chainik). Public projects often
 have a chainik mailing list to keep the chainiks off the developers' and
@@ -16,4 +16,3 @@ mainstream Russian due to the Russian translation of the popular
 yellow-black covered foobar for dummies series, which (correctly) uses
 chainik for dummy , but its frequent (though not excessive) use is still
 characteristic hacker-speak.
-

entries/crash.txt

@@ -2,13 +2,12 @@ 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 lusers lost
+what happens when the air gap of a hard disk collapses). A disk that
-their files in last night's disk . A disk  that involves the read/write
+involves the read/write heads dropping onto the surface of the disks and
-heads dropping onto the surface of the disks and scraping off the oxide may
+scraping off the oxide may also be referred to as a head, whereas the
-also be referred to as a head  , whereas the term system  usually, though
+term system  usually, though not always, implies that the operating system
-not always, implies that the operating system or other software was at
+or other software was at fault. 2. v. To fail suddenly. Has the system
-fault. 2. v. To fail suddenly. Has the system just ed? Something ed the OS!
+just crashed? Something crashed the OS! See down. Also used transitively
-See down. Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the  (usually a
+to indicate the cause of the crash (usually a person or a program, or both).
-person or a program, or both). Those idiots playing SPACEWAR ed the system.
+Those idiots playing SPACEWAR crashed the system. 3. vi. Sometimes said
-3. vi. Sometimes said of people hitting the sack after a long hacking run ;
+of people hitting the sack after a long hacking run; see gronk out.
-see gronk out.

entries/eye candy.txt

@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 eye candy
 
-/i: kand`ee/ , n. [from mainstream slang ear candy ] A display of some sort
+/i: kand`ee/ , n. [from mainstream slang ear candy ] A display of some sort.
-that's presented to lusers to keep them distracted while the program
+In mainstream usage among players of graphics-heavy computer games. Can also
-performs necessary background tasks. Give 'em some eye candy while the
+be used in the context of desktop operating system appearance, as in:
-back-end slurps that BLOB into core. Reported as mainstream usage among
+"KDE Plasma has a lot of eye candy". Also see bling.
-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.

entries/for the rest of us.txt

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 for the rest of us
 
-adj. [from the Mac slogan The computer for the rest of us ] 1. Used to
+adj. [from the Mac slogan The computer for the rest of us] 1. Used to
 describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable
 products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very
 overpriced products. 2. Describes a program with a limited interface,
@@ -9,10 +9,9 @@ primitives, or any other limitation designed to not confuse a naive user.
 This places an upper bound on how far that user can go before the program
 begins to get in the way of the task instead of helping accomplish it. Used
 in reference to Macintosh software which doesn't provide obvious
-capabilities because it is thought that the poor lusers might not be able to
+capabilities because they are thought to exceed the capabilities of
-handle them. Becomes the rest of them when used in third-party reference;
+average users. Becomes the rest of them when used in third-party reference;
 thus, Yes, it is an attractive program, but it's designed for The Rest Of
 Them means a program that superficially looks neat but has no depth beyond
-the surface flash. See also WIMP environment , Macintrash , point-and-drool
+the surface flash. See also WIMP environment, Macintrash, point-and-drool
-interface , user-friendly.
+interface, user-friendly.
-

entries/green card.txt

@@ -5,11 +5,6 @@ language, even if the color is not green and not a card. Less frequently
 used now because of the decrease in the use of assembly language. I'll go
 get my green card so I can check the addressing mode for that instruction.
 The original green card became a yellow card when the System/370 was
-introduced, and later a yellow booklet. An anecdote from IBM refers to a
+introduced, and later a yellow booklet. In fall 2000 it was reported from
-scene that took place in a programmers' terminal room at Yorktown in 1978. A
+Electronic Data Systems that the green card for 370 machines has been a
-luser overheard one of the programmers ask another Do you have a green card?
+blue-green booklet since 1989.
-The other grunted and passed the first a thick yellow booklet. At this point
-the luser turned a delicate shade of olive and rapidly left the room, never
-to return. In fall 2000 it was reported from Electronic Data Systems that
-the green card for 370 machines has been a blue-green booklet since 1989.
-

entries/hair.txt

@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ hair
 
 n. [back-formation from hairy ] The complications that make something hairy.
 Decoding TECO commands requires a certain amount of hair. Often seen in the
-phrase infinite hair , which connotes extreme complexity. Also in
+phrase infinite hair, which connotes extreme complexity. Also in
-hairiferous (tending to promote hair growth): GNUMACS elisp encourages
+hairiferous (tending to promote hair growth): EMACS elisp is pretty
-lusers to write complex editing modes. Yeah, it's pretty hairiferous all
+hairiferous all right.
-right.
-

entries/highly.txt

@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 highly
 
 adv. [scientific computation] The preferred modifier for overstating an
-understatement. As in: highly nonoptimal , the worst possible way to do
+understatement. As in: highly nonoptimal, the worst possible way to do
-something; highly nontrivial , either impossible or requiring a major
+something; highly nontrivial, either impossible or requiring a major
-research project; highly nonlinear , completely erratic and unpredictable;
+research project; highly nonlinear, completely erratic and unpredictable.
-highly nontechnical , drivel written for luser s, oversimplified to the
+In other computing cultures, postfixing of in the extreme might be preferred.
-point of being misleading or incorrect (compare drool-proof paper ). In
-other computing cultures, postfixing of in the extreme might be preferred.
-

entries/lamer.txt

@@ -1,22 +1,5 @@
 lamer
 
-n. [originally among Amiga fans] 1. Synonym for luser , not used much by
+1. Someone who is not very good at their craft. Perhaps a wannabe.
-hackers but common among warez d00dz , crackers, and phreaker s. A person
+2. Trying but failing at something. "I tried to install this but failed. Is it broken or am I just too lame?".
-who downloads much, but who never uploads. (Also known as leecher ). Oppose
+3. A system which is designed or operates in a significantly suboptimal manner. "Microsoft Windows is utterly lame".
-elite. Has the same connotations of self-conscious elitism that use of luser
-does among hackers. 2. Someone who tries to crack a BBS. 3. Someone who
-annoys the sysop or other BBS users for instance, by posting lots of silly
-messages, uploading virus-ridden software, frequently dropping carrier, etc.
-Crackers also use it to refer to cracker wannabees. In phreak culture, a
-lamer is one who scams codes off others rather than doing cracks or really
-understanding the fundamental concepts. In warez d00dz culture, where the
-ability to wave around cracked commercial software within days of (or
-before) release to the commercial market is much esteemed, the lamer might
-try to upload garbage or shareware or something incredibly old (old in this
-context is read as a few years to anything older than 3 days). Lamer is also
-much used in the IRC world in a similar sense to the above. This term seems
-to have originated in the Commodore-64 scene in the mid 1980s. It was
-popularized among Amiga crackers of the mid-1980s by Lamer Exterminator ,
-the most famous and feared Amiga virus ever, which gradually corrupted
-non-write-protected floppy disks with bad sectors. The bad sectors, when
-looked at, were overwritten with repetitions of the string LAMER!.