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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>spike</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../S.html" title="S"/><link rel="previous" href="spiffy.html" title="spiffy"/><link rel="next" href="spin.html" title="spin"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">spike</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="spiffy.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">S</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="spin.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="spike"/><dt xmlns="" id="spike"><b>spike</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">v.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes
temporary) device that forces a specific result. The word is used in
several industries; telephone engineers refer to spiking a relay by
inserting a pin to hold the relay in either the closed or open state, and
railroaders refer to spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved. In
programming environments it normally refers to a temporary change, usually
for testing purposes (as opposed to a permanent change, which would be
called <a href="../H/hardwired.html"><i class="glossterm">hardwired</i></a>). </p></dd><dd><p> 2. [borderline techspeak] A visible peak in an otherwise rather
constant graph (e.g. a sudden surge in line voltage, an unexpected short
&#8220;<span class="quote">high</span>&#8221; on a logical line in a circuit). Hackers frequently use
this for a sudden short increase in some quantity such as system load or
network traffic.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="spiffy.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../S.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="spin.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">spiffy </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> spin</td></tr></table></div></body></html>