Source Code 1992 March/Source_Code_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_March_1992.iso/usenet/altsrcs/2/2928

Internet Message Format | 1991-03-02 | 51KB

From: [e-mail] (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.sources,misc.misc
Subject: The Jargon File v, part 3 of 17
Message-ID: <1ZdTsZ#6HYckK9ysZdD5gYTYT1PDL4K=[e-mail]>
Date: 2 Mar 91 18:15:05 GMT

Submitted-by: [e-mail]
Archive-name: jargon/part03

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X   trademarks such as NeXT, {NeWS}, VisiCalc, FrameMaker, TKsolver,
X   EasyWriter and others which have been raised above the hoi polloi
X   of common coinage by nonstandard capitalization.  Too many
X   {marketroid} types think this sort of thing is really cute, even
X   the 2,317th time they do it.  Compare {studlycaps}.
X
XBIFF: /bif/ [USENET] n. The most famous {pseudo}, and the
X   prototypical {newbie}.  Articles from BIFF are characterized by
X   all upper case letters sprinkled liberally with bangs, typos,
X   `cute' misspellings (EVRY BUDY LUVS GOOD OLD BIFF CUZ HE"S A K00L
X   DOOD AN HE RITES REEL AWESUM THINGZ IN CAPITULL LETTRS LIKE
X   THIS!!!), use (and often misuse) of fragments of {talk mode}
X   abbreviations, a long {sig block} (sometimes even a {doubled
X   sig}), and unbounded naivete.  BIFF posts articles using his elder
X   brother's VIC-20.  BIFF's location is a mystery, as his articles
X   appear to come from a variety of sites.  However, BITNET seems to
X   be the most frequent origin.  The theory that BIFF is a denizen of
X   BITNET is supported by BIFF's (unfortunately invalid) electronic
X   mail address: [e-mail].
X
Xbiff: /bif/ vt. To notify someone of incoming mail; from the BSD
X   utility `biff(1)' which was in turn named after the
X   implementor's dog; it barked whenever the mailman came.
X
XBig Grey Wall: n. What greets a {VMS} user searching for
X   documentation.  A full VMS kit comes on a pallet, the documentation
X   taking up around 15 feet of shelf space before adding layered
X   products such as compilers, databases, multivendor networking,
X   programming tools, etc.  Recent (since VMS V5) DEC documentation
X   comes with grey binders; under VMS V4 the binders were orange
X   (`big orange wall'), and under V3 they were blue.  See {VMS}.
X
Xbig iron: n. Large, expensive, ultra-fast computers.  Used generally
X   of {number-crunching} supercomputers such as Crays, but can include
X   more conventional big commercial IBMish mainframes.  Term of
X   approval; compare {heavy metal}, oppose {dinosaur}.
X
XBig Red Switch: [IBM] n. The power switch on a computer, esp. the
X   `Emergency Pull' switch on an IBM {mainframe} or the power switch
X   on an IBM-PC where it really is large and red.  "This !@%$%
X   {bitty box} is hung again; time to hit the Big Red Switch."
X   Sources at IBM report that, in tune with the company's passion for
X   {TLA}s, this is often acronymized as `BRS' (this has also
X   become established on FidoNet and in the PC {clone} world).  It
X   is alleged that the emergency pull switch on an IBM 360/91 actually
X   fired a non-conducting bolt into the main power feed; the BRSes on
X   more recent machines physically drop a block into place so that
X   they can't be pushed back in.  People get fired for pulling them,
X   especially inappropriately (see also {molly-guard}).  Compare
X   {power cycle}, {three-finger salute}.
X
Xbig win: n. Serendipity.  To `win big' is to experience
X   serendipity.  "I went shopping and won big; there was a
X   two-for-one sale."  See {win}.
X
Xbig-endian: [From Swift's `Gulliver's Travels' via a famous
X   paper `On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace' by Danny Cohen,
X   USC/ISI IEN 137 dated 1 April 1980] 1. adj. Describes a computer
X   architecture in which, within a given multi-byte numeric
X   representation, the most significant byte comes first (the word is
X   stored `big-end-first').  Most processors including the IBM 370
X   family and the {PDP-10} and Motorola microprocessor families and
X   most of the various RISC designs current in mid-1991 are
X   big-endian.  See {little-endian}, {middle-endian}, {NUXI
X   problem}.  2. adj. An {{Internet address}} the wrong way round.
X   Most of the world follows the Internet standard and writes email
X   addresses starting with the name of the computer and ending up with
X   the name of the country.  In the UK the Joint Networking Team
X   decided to do it the other way round; e.g. `[e-mail]'.
X   Most gateway sites have {ad-hockery} in their mailers to handle
X   this, but can still be confused.  In particular the address above
X   could be in the UK (code `uk') or Czechoslovakia (code `cs').
X
Xbignum: /big'nuhm/ [orig. from MIT MacLISP] n.  1. [techspeak] A
X   multiple-precision computer representation for very large integers.
X   More generally, any very large number.  "Have you ever looked at
X   the United States Budget?  There's bignums for you!"  2.
X   [Stanford] n. In backgammon, large numbers on the dice are called
X   `bignums', especially a roll of double fives or double sixes.
X   See also {El Camino Bignum}.
X
X   Sense #1 may require some explanation.  Most computer languages
X   provide a kind of data called `integer', but such computer integers
X   are usually very limited in size; usually they must be smaller than
X   2 ^ 31 (2,147,483,648) or (on a losing {bitty box}) 2 ^ 15
X   (32,768).  If you want to work with numbers larger than that, you
X   have to use floating-point numbers, which are usually accurate to
X   only six or seven decimal places.  Computer languages that provide
X   bignums can perform exact calculations on very large numbers, such
X   as 1000! (the factorial of 1000, which is 1000 times 999 times 998
X   times ... times 2 times 1).  For example, this value for 1000!
X   was computed by the MacLISP system using bignums:
X
X     40238726007709377354370243392300398571937486421071
X     46325437999104299385123986290205920442084869694048
X     00479988610197196058631666872994808558901323829669
X     94459099742450408707375991882362772718873251977950
X     59509952761208749754624970436014182780946464962910
X     56393887437886487337119181045825783647849977012476
X     63288983595573543251318532395846307555740911426241
X     74743493475534286465766116677973966688202912073791
X     43853719588249808126867838374559731746136085379534
X     52422158659320192809087829730843139284440328123155
X     86110369768013573042161687476096758713483120254785
X     89320767169132448426236131412508780208000261683151
X     02734182797770478463586817016436502415369139828126
X     48102130927612448963599287051149649754199093422215
X     66832572080821333186116811553615836546984046708975
X     60290095053761647584772842188967964624494516076535
X     34081989013854424879849599533191017233555566021394
X     50399736280750137837615307127761926849034352625200
X     01588853514733161170210396817592151090778801939317
X     81141945452572238655414610628921879602238389714760
X     88506276862967146674697562911234082439208160153780
X     88989396451826324367161676217916890977991190375403
X     12746222899880051954444142820121873617459926429565
X     81746628302955570299024324153181617210465832036786
X     90611726015878352075151628422554026517048330422614
X     39742869330616908979684825901254583271682264580665
X     26769958652682272807075781391858178889652208164348
X     34482599326604336766017699961283186078838615027946
X     59551311565520360939881806121385586003014356945272
X     24206344631797460594682573103790084024432438465657
X     24501440282188525247093519062092902313649327349756
X     55139587205596542287497740114133469627154228458623
X     77387538230483865688976461927383814900140767310446
X     64025989949022222176590433990188601856652648506179
X     97023561938970178600408118897299183110211712298459
X     01641921068884387121855646124960798722908519296819
X     37238864261483965738229112312502418664935314397013
X     74285319266498753372189406942814341185201580141233
X     44828015051399694290153483077644569099073152433278
X     28826986460278986432113908350621709500259738986355
X     42771967428222487575867657523442202075736305694988
X     25087968928162753848863396909959826280956121450994
X     87170124451646126037902930912088908694202851064018
X     21543994571568059418727489980942547421735824010636
X     77404595741785160829230135358081840096996372524230
X     56085590370062427124341690900415369010593398383577
X     79394109700277534720000000000000000000000000000000
X     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
X     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
X     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
X     00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
X     000000000000000000.
X
Xbigot: n. A person who is religiously attached to a particular
X   computer, language, operating system, editor or other tool (see
X   {religious issues}).  Usually found with a specifier; thus,
X   `cray bigot', `APL bigot', `VMS bigot', `EMACS
X   bigot'.  True bigots can be distinguished from mere partisans or
X   zealots by the fact that they refuse to learn alternatives even
X   when the march of time and/or technology is threatening to
X   obsolesce the favored tool.  It is said "You can tell a bigot, but
X   you can't tell him much."  Compare {weenie}.
X
Xbit: [from the mainstream meaning and `binary digit'] n. 1.
X   [techspeak] The unit of information; the amount of information
X   obtained by asking a yes-or-no question for which the two outcomes
X   are equally probable 2. [techspeak] A computational quantity that
X   can take on one of two values, such as true and false, or zero and
X   one.  3. A mental flag: a reminder that something should be done
X   eventually.  Example: "I have a bit set for you." (I haven't seen
X   you for a while, and I'm supposed to tell or ask you something.)
X
X   "I just need one bit from you" is a polite way of indicating that
X   you intend only a short interruption for a question which can
X   presumably be answered with a yes or no.
X
X   A bit is said to be `set' if its value is true or one, and
X   `reset' or `clear' if its value is false or zero.  One
X   speaks of setting and clearing bits.  To `toggle' or
X   `invert' a bit is to change it, either from zero to one or from
X   one to zero.  See also {flag}, {trit}, {mode bit}.
X
Xbit bang: n. Transmission of data on a serial line, when accomplished by
X   rapidly tweaking a single output bit at the appropriate times
X   (popular on certain early models of Prime computers, presumably
X   when UARTs were too expensive, and on archaic Z80 micros with a
X   Zilog PIO but no SIO).  The technique is a simple loop with eight
X   OUT and SHIFT instruction pairs for each byte.  Input is more
X   interesting.  And full duplex (doing input and output at the same
X   time) is one way to separate the real hackers from the {wannabee}s.
X
Xbit bashing: n. (also, `bit diddling' or `bit twiddling') Term
X   used to describe any of several kinds of low-level programming
X   characterized by manipulation of {bit}, {flag}, {nybble} and other
X   smaller-than-character-sized pieces of data: these include
X   low-level device control, encryption algorithms, checksum and
X   error-correcting codes, hash functions, some flavors of graphics
X   programming (see {bitblt}), and assembler/compiler code generation.
X   May connote either tedium or a real technical challenge (more
X   usually the former).  "The command decoding for the new tape
X   driver looks pretty solid but the bit-bashing for the control
X   registers still has bugs."  See also {bit bang}, {mode bit}.
X
Xbit bucket: n. The universal data sink (originally, the mythical
X   receptacle used to catch bits when they fall off the end of a
X   register during a shift instruction).  Data that is discarded,
X   lost, or destroyed is said to `go to the bit bucket'.  On {UNIX},
X   often used for {/dev/null}.  Sometimes amplified as `the Great Bit
X   Bucket in the Sky'.  This term is used purely in jest.  It's based
X   on the fanciful notion that bits are objects that are not
X   destroyed, but only misplaced.  This appears to have been a
X   mutation of an earlier term `bit box', about which the same
X   legend was current; old-time hackers also report that trainees used
X   to be told that when the CPU stored bits into memory it was
X   actually pulling them "out of the bit box".  See also {chad box},
X   {null device}.
X
Xbit decay: n. See {bit rot}.  People with a physics background
X   tend to prefer this one for the analogy with particle decay.  See
X   also {computron}, {quantum bogodynamics}.
X
Xbit rot: n. Also {bit decay}.  Hypothetical disease the existence
X   of which has been deduced from the observation that unused programs
X   or features will often stop working after sufficient time has
X   passed, even if `nothing has changed'.  The theory explains that
X   bits decay as if they were radioactive.  As time passes, the
X   contents of a file or the code in a program will become
X   increasingly garbled.
X
X   There actually are physical processes that produce such effects
X   (alpha particles generated by trace radionuclides in ceramic chip
X   packages, for example, can change the contents of a computer memory
X   unpredictably, and various kinds of subtle media failures can
X   corrupt files in mass storage) but they are quite rare (and
X   computers are built with error-detecting circuitry to compensate
X   for them).  The notion long favored among hackers that {cosmic
X   rays} are among the causes of such events turns out however to be a
X   myth; see the {cosmic rays} entry.
X
X   The term {software rot} is almost synonymous.
X
Xbit-paired keyboard: n. obs.  A non-standard keyboard layout which
X   seems to have originated with the Teletype ASR-33 and remained
X   common for several years on early computer equipment.  The ASR-33
X   was a mechanical device (see {EOU}), so the only way to generate
X   the character codes from keystrokes was by some physical linkage.
X   The design of the ASR-33 assigned each character key a basic
X   pattern which could be modified by flipping bits if the SHIFT or
X   CTRL key were pressed.  In order to avoid making the thing more of
X   a Rube Goldberg kluge than it already was, the design had to group
X   characters which shared the same basic bit pattern on one key.
X
X   Looking at the ASCII chart, we find:
X
X     3 high     4 low bits
X      bits      0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001
X       010     space   !    "    #    $    %    &    '    (    )
X       011        0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
X
X   That's why the characters !"#$%&'() appear where they do on a
X   Teletype.  This was *not* the weirdest variant of the
X   {QWERTY} layout widely seen, by the way; that prize should
X   probably go to one of the (differing) arrangements on IBM's even
X   clunkier 026 and 029 card punches.
X
X   When electronic terminals became popular in the early 1970s there
X   was no agreement in the industry over how the keyboards should be
X   laid out.  Some vendors opted to emulate the Teletype keyboard,
X   while others used the flexibility of electronic circuitry to make
X   their product look like an office typewriter.  These alternatives
X   became known as `bit-paired' and `typewriter-paired' keyboards.  To
X   a hacker, the bit-paired keyboard seemed far more logical --- and
X   because most hackers in those days had never learned to touch-type,
X   there was little pressure from the pioneering users to adapt
X   keyboards to the typewriter standard.
X
X   The doom of the bit-paired keyboard was the large-scale
X   introduction of the computer terminal into the normal office
X   environment, where out-and-out technophobes were expected to use
X   the equipment.  The `typewriter-paired' standard became universal,
X   `bit-paired' hardware was quickly junked or relegated to dusty
X   corners, and both terms passed into disuse.
X
Xbitblt: /bit'blit/ n. [from {BLT}, q.v.] 1. Any of a closely
X   related family of algorithms for moving and copying rectangles of
X   bits between main and display memory on a bit-mapped device, or
X   between two areas of either main or display memory (the requirement
X   to do the {Right Thing} in the case of overlapping source and
X   destination rectangles is what makes BitBlt tricky).  2. Synonym
X   for {blit} or {BLT}.  Both uses are borderline techspeak.
X
Xbits: n. 1. Information.  Examples: "I need some bits about file
X   formats."  ("I need to know about file formats.")  Compare {core
X   dump}, sense #4.  2. Machine-readable representation of a document,
X   specifically as contrasted with paper.  "I have only a photocopy
X   of the Jargon File; does anyone know where I can get the bits?".
X   See {softcopy}, {source of all good bits}.
X
Xbitty box: /bit'ee boks/ n. 1. A computer sufficiently small,
X   primitive, or incapable as to cause a hacker acute claustrophobia
X   at the thought of developing for it.  Especially used of small,
X   obsolescent, single-tasking-only personal machines like the Atari
X   800, Osborne, Sinclair, VIC-20, TRS-80, or IBM PC.  2. Pejorative.
X   More generally, the opposite of `real computer' (see {Get a real
X   computer!}).  See also {mess-dos}, {toaster}, and {toy}.
X
Xbixie: /biks'ee/ n. Variant {emoticon}s used on BIX (the Byte
X   Information Exchange).  The `smiley' bixie is <@_@>, apparently
X   intending to represent two cartoon eyes and a mouth.  A few others
X   have been reported.
X
Xblack art: n. A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by
X   implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular
X   application or systems area.  VLSI design and compiler code
X   optimization were (in their beginnings) considered classic examples
X   of black art; as theory developed they became {deep magic}, and
X   once standard textbooks had been written became merely {heavy
X   wizardry}.  The huge proliferation of formal and informal channels
X   for spreading around new computer-related technologies during the
X   last twenty years has made both the term `black art' and what it
X   describes less common than formerly.  See also {voodoo
X   programming}.
X
Xblack hole: n. When a piece of email or netnews disappears
X   mysteriously between its origin and destination sites (that is,
X   without returning a {bounce message}) it is commonly said to have
X   "fallen into a black hole".  Similarly, one might say "I think
X   there's a black hole at foovax!" to convey suspicion that site
X   foovax has been dropping a lot of stuff on the floor lately (see
X   {drop on the floor}).  The implied metaphor of email as
X   interstellar travel is interesting in itself.  Compare {bit
X   bucket}.
X
Xblast: 1. vt.,n. Synonym for {BLT}, used esp. for large data
X   sends over a network or comm line.  Opposite of {snarf}.  Usage:
X   uncommon.  The variant `blat' has been reported.  2. vt.
X   [HP/Apollo] Synonymous with {nuke} (sense #3).  Sometimes the
X   message "Unable to kill all processes.  Blast them (y/n)?" would
X   appear in the command window upon logout.
X
Xblazer: n. (also `'blazer') Nickname for the Telebit Trailblazer,
X   an expensive but extremely reliable and effective high-speed modem,
X   popular at UNIX sites that pass large volumes of {email} and
X   {USENET} news.
X
Xbletch: /blech/ [from Yiddish/German `brechen', to vomit, poss.
X   via comic-strip exclamation `blech'] interj.  Term of disgust.
X   Often in "Ugh, bletch".  Compare {barf}.
X
Xbletcherous: /blech'@-rus/ adj. Disgusting in design or function;
X   esthetically unappealing.  This word is seldom used of people.
X   "This keyboard is bletcherous!" (Perhaps the keys don't work very
X   well, or are misplaced).  See {losing}, {cretinous}, {bagbiter},
X   {bogus}, and {random}.  {bletcherous} applies to the esthetics of
X   the thing so described; similarly for {cretinous}.  By contrast,
X   something that is {losing} or {cretinous} may be failing to meet
X   objective criteria.  See {bogus} and {random}, which have richer
X   and wider shades of meaning than any of the above.
X
Xblinkenlights: /blink'@n-lietz/ n. Front-panel diagnostic lights
X   on a computer, esp. a {dinosaur}.  Derives from the last word of
X   the famous blackletter-Gothic "ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!"
X   notice in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the
X   computer rooms in the English-speaking world.  The sign in its
X   entirety ran:
X
X                        ACHTUNG!  ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS
X     Das computermachine ist nicht fur gefingerpoken und mittengrabben.
X     Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken
X     mit spitzensparken.  Ist nicht fur gewerken bei das dumpkopfen.
X     Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen hans in das pockets muss;
X     relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.
X
X   This silliness dates back at least as far as 1959 at Stanford
X   University and had already gone international by the early '60s,
X   when it was reported at London University's ATLAS computing site.
X   There are several variants of it in circulation, some of which
X   actually do end with the word `blinkenlights'.  It is reported, by
X   the way, that an analogous travesty in mangled English is posted in
X   German computer laboratories.
X
Xblit: /blit/ vt. 1. To copy a large array of bits from one part of
X   a computer's memory to another part, particularly when the memory
X   is being used to determine what is shown on a display screen.
X   "The storage allocator picks through the table and copies the good
X   parts up into high memory, and at the end {blit}s it all back
X   down again."  See {bitblt}, {BLT}, {dd}, {cat}, {blast},
X   {snarf}.  More generally, to perform some operation (such as
X   toggling) on a large array of bits while moving them.  2.
X   All-capitalized as `BLIT': An early experimental bit-mapped
X   terminal designed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as
X   the AT&T 5620.  The folk etymology from `Bell Labs Intelligent
X   Terminal' is incorrect.
X
Xblitter: n. A special-purpose chip or hardware system built to
X   perform {blit} operations, esp. used for fast implementation of
X   bit-mapped graphics.  The Commodore Amiga and a few other micros
X   have these, but in 1991 the trend is away from them (however, see
X   {cycle of reincarnation}).
X
Xblivet: [allegedly from a World War II military term meaning "ten
X   pounds of manure in a five-pound bag"] n. 1. An intractable
X   problem.  2. A crucial piece of hardware which can't be fixed or
X   replaced if it breaks.  3. A tool that has been hacked over by so
X   many incompetent programmers that it has become an unmaintainable
X   tissue of hacks.  4. An out-of-control but unkillable development
X   effort.
X
X   This term has other meanings in other technical cultures; in
X   particular, among experimental physicists and hardware engineers of
X   various kinds it seems to mean any random object of unknown purpose
X   (similar to hackish use of {frob}).  It has also been used to
X   describe an amusing trick-the-eye drawing resembling a
X   three-pronged fork which appears to depict a three-dimensional
X   object until one realizes that the parts fit together in an
X   impossible way.
X
Xblock: [from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1. vi.
X   To delay or sit idle while waiting for something.  "We're blocking
X   until everyone gets here."  Compare {busy-wait}.  2. `block
X   on' vt. To block, waiting for (something).  "Lunch is blocked on
X   Phil's arrival."
X
Xblock transfer computations: n. From the Dr. Who television series:
X   in the show, it referred to computations so fiendishly subtle and
X   complex that they could not be performed by machines.  Used to
X   refer to any task that should be expressible as an algorithm in
X   theory, but isn't.
X
Xblow an EPROM: v. To program a read-only memory, e.g. for use with
X   an embedded system.  This term arises because the programming
X   process involves intentionally blowing tiny electrical fuses on the
X   chip.
X
Xblow away: vt. To remove files and directories from permanent storage
X   with extreme prejudice, generally by accident.  Oppose {nuke}.
X
Xblow out: vi. Of software, to fail spectacularly; almost as serious
X   as {crash and burn}.  See {blow past}.
X
Xblow past: vt. To {blow out} despite a safeguard.  "The server blew
X   past the 5K reserve buffer."
X
Xblow up: vi. [scientific computation] To become unstable.  Suggests
X   that the computation is diverging so rapidly that it will soon
X   overflow or at least go {nonlinear}.
X
XBLT: /bee ell tee/, /bl@t/ or (rarely) /belt/ n.,vt. Synonym
X   for {blit}.  This is the original form of {blit} and the
X   ancestor of {bitblt}.  In these versions the usage has outlasted
X   the {PDP-10} BLock Transfer instruction from which {BLT}
X   derives; nowadays, the assembler mnemonic {BLT} almost always
X   means `Branch if Less Than zero'.
X
XBlue Book: n. 1. Informal name for one of the three standard
X   references on the page-layout and graphics-control language
X   PostScript (`PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook', Adobe
X   Systems, Addison-Wesley 1985, QA76.73.P67P68, ISBN 0-201-10179-3);
X   the other two official guides are known as the {Green Book} and
X   {Red Book}.  2. Informal name for one of the three standard
X   references on Smalltalk: `Smalltalk-80: The Language and its
X   Implementation', David Robson, Addison-Wesley 1983, QA76.8.S635G64,
X   ISBN 0-201-11371-63 (this is also associated with green and red
X   books).  3. Any of the 1988 standards issues by the CCITT 9th
X   plenary assembly.  Until now, they have changed color each review
X   cycle (1984 was {Red Book}, 1992 would be {Green Book}); however,
X   it is rumored that this convention is going to be dropped before
X   1992.  These include, among other things, the X.400 email spec and
X   the Group 1 through 4 fax standards.  See also {{book titles}}.
X
XBlue Glue: [IBM] n. IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture) an
X   incredibly {losing} and {bletcherous} protocol suite widely
X   favored at commercial shops that don't know any better.  The
X   official IBM definition is "That which binds blue boxes
X   together."  See {fear and loathing}.  It may not be irrelevant
X   that {Blue Glue} is the trade name of a 3M product that is
X   commonly used to hold down the carpet squares to the removable
X   panel floors so common in computer installations.  A correspondent
X   at U. Minn. reports that the CS dept. there has about 80 bottles of
X   Blue Glue hanging about, so they often refer to any messy work to
X   be done as `using the blue glue'.
X
Xblue goo: n. Term for `police' {nanobot}s intended to prevent {gray
X   goo}, denature hazardous waste, destroy pollution, put ozone back
X   into the stratosphere, prevent halitosis, and to promote truth,
X   justice, and the American way, etc., etc.  See {{nanotechnology}}.
X
XBNF: /bee-en-ef/ n. 1. [techspeak] Acronym for `Backus-Naur
X   Form', a metasyntactic notation used to specify the syntax of
X   programming languages, command sets and the like.  Widely used for
X   language descriptions but seldom documented anywhere, so that it
X   must usually be learned by osmosis from other hackers.  Consider
X   this BNF for a postal address:
X
X      <postal-address> ::= <name-part> <street-address> <zip-part>
X
X      <name-part> ::= <first-name> [<middle-part>] <last-name> <EOL>
X
X      <middle-part> ::= <middle-name> | <middle-initial> "."
X
X      <street-address> ::= [<apt>] <street-number> <street-name> <EOL>
X
X      <zip-part> ::= <town-name> "," <state-code> <zip-code> <EOL>
X
X   This translates into English as: A postal-address consists of a
X   name-part, followed by a street-address part, followed by a
X   zip-code part.  A name-part consists of a first-name followed by an
X   optional middle-part followed by a last-name.  A middle-part
X   consists of either a middle name or a middle initial followed by a
X   dot.  A street address consists of an optional apartment specifier
X   followed by a street number, followed by a street name.  A zip-part
X   consts of a town-name, followed by a state code, followed by a
X   zip-code.  Note that many things such as the format of a
X   first-name, apartment specifier, or zip-code are left unspecified.
X   These are presumed to be obvious from context or detailed somewhere
X   nearby.  See also {parse}.
X
X   A major reason BNF is listed here is that the term is also used
X   loosely for any number of variants and extensions, possibly
X   containing some or all of the {glob} wildcards.  In fact the
X   example above isn't the pure form invented for the Algol-60 report;
X   it uses [], which was introduced a few years later in IBM's PL/1
X   definition but is now universally recognized.
X
X   2. In {{Science-Fiction Fandom}}, BNF expands to `Big Name Fan'
X   (someone famous or notorious).  Years ago a fan started handing out
X   black-on-green BNF buttons at SF conventions.  This confused the
X   hacker contingent terribly.
X
Xboa: [IBM] n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor
X   in a {dinosaur pen}.  Possibly so called because they display a
X   ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them straight and
X   flat after they have been coiled for some time.  It is rumored
X   within IBM that 370 channel cables are limited to 200 feet because
X   beyond that length the boas get dangerous ... and it is worth
X   noting that one of the major cable makers uses the trademark
X   `Anaconda'.
X
Xboard: n. 1. In-context synonym for {bboard}; sometimes used
X   even for USENET newsgroups.  2. An electronic circuit board
X   (compare {card}).
X
Xboat anchor: n. 1. Like {doorstop} but more severe; implies that the
X   offending hardware is irreversibly dead or useless.  2. Also used
X   of people who just take up space.
X
Xbogo-sort: n. The archetypical perversely awful algorithm (as
X   opposed to {bubble sort}, which is merely the generic *bad*
X   algorithm).  Bogo-sort is equivalent to throwing a deck of cards in
X   the air, picking them up, then testing whether they are in order.
X   If not, repeat.  Used as a sort of canonical example of awfulness.
X   Usage: when one is looking at a program and sees a dumb algorithm,
X   one might say "Oh, I see, this program uses bogo-sort."  Compare
X   {bogus}, {brute force}.
X
Xbogometer: n. See {bogosity}.  Compare the `wankometer' described
X   in the {wank} entry.
X
Xbogon: /boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but
X   doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas
X   Adams's `Vogons', see Appendix C] n. 1. The elementary particle of
X   bogosity (see {quantum bogodynamics}).  For instance, "the
X   Ethernet is emitting bogons again", meaning that it is broken or
X   acting in an erratic or bogus fashion.  2. A query packet sent from
X   a TCP/IP domain resolver to a root server, having the reply bit set
X   instead of the query bit.  3. Any bogus or incorrectly formed
X   packet sent on a network.  4. By synecdoche, used to refer to any
X   bogus thing, as in "I'd like to go to lunch with you but I've got
X   to go to the weekly staff bogon."  5. A person who is bogus or who
X   says bogus things.  This was historically the original usage, but
X   has been overtaken by its derivative senses 1-4.
X
Xbogon filter: /boh'gon fil'tr/ n. Any device, software or hardware,
X   which limits or suppresses the flow and/or emission of bogons.
X   Example: "Engineering hacked a bogon filter between the Cray and
X   the VAXen and now we're getting fewer dropped packets."
X
Xbogosity: /boh-go's@-tee/ n. 1. The degree to which something is
X   {bogus}.  At CMU, bogosity is measured with a {bogometer};
X   typical use: in a seminar, when a speaker says something bogus, a
X   listener might raise his hand and say, "My bogometer just
X   triggered.".  More extremely, "You just pinned my bogometer."
X   means you just said or did something so outrageously bogus that it
X   is off the scale, pinning the bogometer needle at the highest
X   possible reading (one might also say "You just redlined my
X   bogometer.").  The agreed-upon unit of bogosity is the microLenat
X   (uL).  The consensus is that this is the largest unit practical for
X   everyday use.  2. The potential field generated by a bogon flux;
X   see {quantum bogodynamics}.
X
X   [Historical note: microLenat was invented as a attack against noted
X   computer scientist Doug Lenat by a {tenured graduate student}.
X   Doug had failed him on the AI Qual after the student gave "AI is
X   bogus" as his answer to the questions.  The slur is generally
X   considered unmerited, but it has become a running gag nevertheless.
X   Some of Doug's friends argue that `of course' a microLenat is
X   bogus, since it's only one millionth of a Lenat.  Others have
X   suggested that the unit should be re-designated after the grad
X   student, as the microReid.]
X
Xbogotify: /boh-go't@-fie/ vt. To make or become bogus.  A program
X   that has been changed so many times as to become completely
X   disorganized has become bogotified.  If you tighten a nut too hard
X   and strip the threads on the bolt, the bolt has become bogotified
X   and you'd better not use it any more.  This coinage led to the
X   notional `autobogotiphobia' /aw'to-boh-got'@-foh`bee-uh/ n.,
X   defined as the fear of becoming bogotified; but is not clear that
X   the latter has ever been `live' jargon rather than a self-conscious
X   joke in jargon about jargon.
X
Xbogue out: /bohg owt/ vi. To become bogus, suddenly and
X   unexpectedly.  "His talk was relatively sane until somebody asked
X   him a trick question; then he bogued out and did nothing but
X   {flame} afterwards."
X
Xbogus: adj. 1. Non-functional.  "Your patches
X   are bogus."  2. Useless.  "OPCON is a bogus program."  3.
X   False.  "Your arguments are bogus."  4. Incorrect.  "That
X   algorithm is bogus."  5. Unbelievable.  "You claim to have solved
X   the halting problem for Turing Machines?  That's totally bogus."
X   6. Silly.  "Stop writing those bogus sagas."  Astrology is bogus.
X   So is a bolt that is obviously about to break.  So is someone who
X   makes blatantly false claims to have solved a scientific problem.
X   (This word seems to have some, but not all, of the connotations of
X   {random}.)
X
X   It is claimed that `bogus' was originally used in the hackish sense
X   at Princeton, in the late 1960s.  It was spread to CMU and Yale by
X   Michal Shamos, a migratory Princeton alumnus.  A glossary of bogus
X   words was compiled at Yale when the word was first popularized (see
X   {autobogotiphobia} under {bogotify}). The word spread into
X   hackerdom from CMU and MIT.  By the early 1980s, it was also
X   current in something like the hackish sense in West Coast teen
X   slang, and it had gone mainstream by 1985.  A correspondent at
X   Cambridge reports, by contrast, that these uses of `bogus' grate on
X   British nerves; in Britain the word means rather specifically
X   `counterfeit' as in "a bogus pound note".
X
XBohr bug: /bohr buhg/ [from quantum physics] n. A repeatable {bug};
X   one which manifests reliably under a possibly unknown but
X   well-defined set of conditions.  Antonym of {heisenbug}.
X
Xboink: /boynk/ [USENET, perh. from the TV series
X   `Moonlighting'] 1. To have sex with; compare {bounce},
X   sense #3. (This is mainstream slang.) In Commonwealth hackish the
X   variant `bonk' is more common.  2. After the original Peter
X   Korn `Boinkon' {USENET} parties, used for almost any net social
X   gathering, e.g. Miniboink, a small boink held by Nancy Gillett in
X   1988; Minniboink, a Boinkcon in Minnesota in 1989; Humpdayboinks,
X   Wednesday get-togethers held in the San Francisco Bay Area.
X   Compare {@-party}.
X
Xbomb: 1. v. General synonym for {crash} (sense #1), esp. used
X   of software or OS failures.  "Don't run Empire with less than 32K
X   stack, it'll bomb out."  2. n.,v. Atari ST and Macintosh
X   equivalents of a UNIX `panic' or Amiga {guru} (sense 2),
X   where icons of little black-powder bombs or mushroom clouds are
X   displayed indicating the system has died.  On the Mac, this may be
X   accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number
X   indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga GURU MEDITATION
X   number (see {guru}).  {MS-DOS} machines tend to get {locked
X   up} in this situation.
X
Xbondage-and-discipline language: A language such as Pascal, Ada,
X   APL, or Prolog that, though ostensibly general-purpose, is designed
X   so as to enforce an author's theory of `right programming' even
X   though said theory is demonstrably inadequate for systems hacking
X   or even vanilla general-purpose programming.  Often abbreviated
X   `B&D'; thus, one may speak of things "having the B&D nature", etc.
X   See {{Pascal}}; oppose {languages of choice}.
X
Xbonk/oif: /bonk/, /oyf/ interj. In the {MUD} community, it has
X   become traditional to express pique or censure by `bonking' the
X   offending person.  There is a convention that one should
X   acknowledge a bonk by saying `oif!' and a myth to the effect that
X   failing to do so upsets the cosmic bonk/oif balance, causing much
X   trouble in the universe.  Some MUDs have implemented special
X   commands for bonking and oifing.  See also {talk mode},
X   {posing}.
X
Xbook titles:: There is a tradition in hackerdom of informally
X   tagging important textbooks and standards documents with the
X   dominant color of their covers or with some other conspicuous
X   feature of the cover.  Many of these are described in this lexicon
X   under their own entries.
X
X   See also {Blue Book}, {Red Book}, {Green Book}, {Silver
X   Book}, {Purple Book}, {Orange Book}, {White Book}, {Yellow
X   Book}, {Pink-Shirt Book}, {Aluminum Book}, {Dragon Book},
X   {Wizard Book}, {Cinderella Book}.
X
Xboot: [techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] v.,n. To load and
X   initialize the operating system on a machine.  This usage is no
X   longer jargon but has given rise to some derivatives which still
X   are.
X
X   The derivative `reboot' implies that the machine hasn't been
X   down for long, even that the boot is a {bounce} intended to clear
X   some state of {wedgitude}.  This is sometimes used of human
X   thought processes, as in the following exchange: "You've lost
X   me." "O.K., reboot.  Here's the theory...."
X
X   Also found in the variants `cold boot' (from power-off condition)
X   and `warm boot' (with the CPU and all devices already powered up,
X   as after a hardware reset or software crash).
X
X   Another variant: `soft boot', re-initialization of only part of a
X   system, under control of other software that's still running: "If
X   you're running the {mess-dos} emulator, control-alt-insert will
X   cause a soft-boot of the emulator, while leaving the rest of the
X   system running."
X
X   Opposed to this there is `hard boot', which connotes hostility
X   towards or frustration with the machine being booted.  "I'll have
X   to hard-boot this losing Sun" or "I recommend booting it hard."
X
X   Historical note: this term derives from `bootstrap loader', a short
X   program which was read in from cards or paper tape, or toggled in
X   from the front panel switches.  This program was always very short
X   (great efforts were expended on making it short in order to
X   minimize the labor and chance of error involved in toggling it in),
X   but was just smart enough to read in a slightly more complex
X   program (usually from a card or paper tape reader), to which it
X   handed control; this program in turn was smart enough to read the
X   application or operating system from a magnetic tape drive or disk
X   drive.  Thus, in successive steps, the computer "pulled itself up
X   by its bootstraps" to a useful operating state.  Nowadays the
X   bootstrap is usually found in ROM or EPROM, and reads the first
X   stage in from a fixed location on the disk, called the `boot
X   block'.  When this program gains control, it is powerful enough to
X   load the actual OS and hand control over to it.
X
Xbottom-up implementation: n. Hackish opposite of the techspeak term
X   `top-down design'.  It is now received wisdom in most
X   programming cultures that it is best to design from higher levels
X   of abstraction down to lower, specifying sequences of action in
X   increasing detail until you get to actual code.  Hackers often find
X   (especially in exploratory designs which cannot be closely
X   specified in advance) that it works best to `build' things in
X   the opposite order, by writing and testing a clean set of primitive
X   operations and then knitting them together.
X
Xbounce: v. 1. [UNIX, perhaps from the image of a thrown ball
X   bouncing off a wall] An electronic mail message which is
X   undeliverable and returns an error notification to the sender is
X   said to `bounce'.  See also {bounce message}.  2. [Stanford] To
X   play volleyball.  At one time there was a volleyball court next to
X   the computer laboratory.  From 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM was the scheduled
X   maintenance time for the computer, so every afternoon at 5:00 the
X   computer would become unavailable, and over the intercom a voice
X   would cry , "Bounce, bounce!"  3. To engage in sexual
X   intercourse; prob. from the expression `bouncing the mattress', but
X   influenced by Piglet's psychosexually loaded "Bounce on me too,
X   Tigger!" from the Winnie-the-Pooh books.  Compare {boink}.  4.
X   To casually reboot a system in order to clear up a transient
X   problem.  Reported primarily among {VMS} users.  5. [IBM] To
X   {power cycle} a peripheral in order to reset it.
X
Xbounce message: [UNIX] n. Notification message returned to sender by
X   a site unable to relay {email} to the intended {{Internet address}}
X   recipient or the next link in a {bang path} (see {bounce}).
X   Reasons might include a nonexistent or misspelled username or a
X   down relay site.  Bounce messages can themselves fail, with
X   occasionally ugly results; see {sorcerer's apprentice mode}.
X   The collective `bounce mail' is also common.
X
Xbox: n. 1. [within IBM] A computer; esp. in the construction "foo
X   box" where foo is some functional qualifier, like `graphics', or
X   the name of an OS (thus, `UNIX box', `MS-DOS box', etc.  2.
X   Without qualification but within an SNA-using site (see {Blue
X   Glue}), this refers specifically to an IBM front-end processor or
X   FEP /eff-ee-pee/.  An FEP is a small computer necessary to enable
X   an IBM {mainframe} to communicate beyond the limits of the
X   {dinosaur pen}.  Typically used in expressions like the cry that
X   goes up when an SNA network goes down, "Looks like the {box} has
X   fallen over." (see {fall over}.) See also {IBM}, {fear and
X   loathing}, {Blue Glue}.
X
Xboxed comments: n. Comments (explanatory notes in code) which occupy
X   several lines by themselves; so called because in assembler and C
X   code they are often surrounded by a box in a style something like
X   this:
X
X     /*************************************************
X      *
X      * This is a boxed comment in C style
X      *
X      *************************************************/
X
X   Common variants of this style omit the asterisks in column two or
X   add a matching row of asterisks closing the right end of the box.
X   The sparest variant omits all but the comment delimiters at
X   the extreme left; the `box' is implied.  Oppose {winged
X   comments}.
X
Xboxen: /bok'sn/ [by analogy with {VAXen}] pl.n. Fanciful plural of
X   {box} often encountered in the phrase `UNIX boxen', used to
X   describe commodity {UNIX} hardware.  The connotation is that any
X   two UNIX boxen are interchangeable.
X
Xboxology: /bok-sol'@-jee/ n. 1. The fine art of drawing diagrams
X   using the `box' characters (mainly, `|', `-', and
X   `+') in ASCII-monospace fonts.  Also known as `character
X   graphics' or `ASCII graphics'.  2. Boxological drawings.
X   "His report has a lot of boxology in it".  Compare {macrology}.
X
XBQS: adj. Syn. {Berkeley Quality Software}.
X
Xbrain dump: n. The act of telling someone everything one knows
X   about a particular topic or project.  Typically used when someone
X   is going to let a new party maintain a piece of code.  Conceptually
X   analogous to an operating system {core dump} in that it saves a
X   lot of useful {state} before an exit.  Example: "You'll have to
X   give me a brain dump on FOOBAR, before you start your new job at
X   HackerCorp."  See {core dump} (sense #4).  At Sun, this is also
X   known as `TOI' (transfer of information).
X
Xbrain-damaged: [generalization of `Honeywell Brain Damage' (HBD), a
X   theoretical disease invented to explain certain utter cretinisms
X   in Honeywell {Multics}] adj. Obviously wrong; {cretinous};
X   {demented}.  There is an implication that the person responsible
X   must have suffered brain damage, because he should have known
X   better.  Calling something brain-damaged is really bad; it also
X   implies it is unusable, and that its failure to work is due to poor
X   design rather than some accident.
X
Xbrain-dead: adj. Brain-damaged in the extreme.  Not quite like
X   mainstream use, as it tends to imply terminal design failure rather
X   than malfunction or simple stupidity.
X
Xbraino: /bray'no/ n. Syn. for {thinko}.
X
Xbranch to Fishkill: [IBM, from the location of one of their
X   facilities] n. Any unexpected jump in a program that produces
X   catastrophic or just plain weird results.  See {jump off into
X   never-never land}, {hyperspace}.
X
Xbrand brand brand: n. Humorous catch-phrase from {BartleMUD}s, in which
X   players were described carrying a list of objects, the most
X   common of which would usually be a brand.  Often used as a joke
X   in {talk mode} as in "Fred the wizard is here, carrying brand
X   ruby brand brand brand kettle broadsword flamethrower".  Prob.
X   influenced by the infamous Monty Python `Spam' skit.
X
Xbreak: 1. vt. To cause to be broken (in any sense).  "Your
X   latest patch to the editor broke the paragraph commands."  2. v.
X   (of a program) To stop temporarily, so that it may debugged.  The
X   place where it stops is a "breakpoint".  3. [techspeak] vi. To
X   send an RS-232 break (125 msec. of line high) over a serial comm
X   line.  4. [UNIX] vi. To strike whatever key currently causes the
X   tty driver to send SIGINT to the current process.  Normally break
X   (sense 3) or delete does this.
X
Xbreakage: 1. Brokenness and the consequent mess.  2. [IBM] n.
X   The extra people that must be added to an organization because its
X   master plan has changed; used esp. of software and hardware
X   development teams.
X
Xbreath-of-life packet: [Xerox PARC] n. An Ethernet packet that
X   contained bootstrap code, periodically sent out from a working
X   computer to infuse the `breath of life' into any computer on the
X   network that had happened to crash.  The machines had hardware or
X   firmware that would wait for such a packet after a catastrophic
X   error.
X
Xbring X to its knees: v. Of a machine, operating system, piece of
X   software, or algorithm; to present it with a load so extreme or
X   pathological that it grinds virtually to a halt.  "To bring a
X   MicroVAX to its knees, try twenty users running {vi} --- or four
X   running {EMACS}."  Compare {hog}.
X
Xbrittle: adj. Said of software that's functional but easily broken
X   by changes in operating environment or configuration, or by any
X   minor tweak to the software itself.  Also, any system which
X   responds inappropriately and disastrously to expected external
X   stimuli, e.g., a file system that is usually totally scrambled by a
X   power failure is said to be brittle.  This term is often used to
X   describe the results of a research effort that were never intended
X   to be robust, but can be applied to commercially developed
X   software.  Oppose {robust}.
X
Xbroadcast storm: n. An incorrect packet broadcast on a network that
X   causes most hosts to respond all at once, typically with wrong
X   answers that start the process over again.  See {network
X   meltdown}.
X
Xbroken: adj. 1. Not working properly (of programs).  2. Behaving
X   strangely; especially, (when used of people) exhibiting extreme
X   depression.
X
Xbroket: /broh'k@t/ or /broh'ket/ [by analogy with `bracket': a
X   `broken bracket'] n. Either of the characters `<' and
X   `>', when used as paired enclosing delimiters.  This word
X   originated as a contraction of the phrase `broken bracket', that
X   is, a bracket that is bent in the middle.  (At MIT, and apparently
X   in the {Real World} as well, these are usually called {angle
X   brackets}.)
X
XBrooks's Law: prov. "Adding manpower to a late software project
X   makes it later" --- a result of the fact that the advantage from
X   splitting work between N programmers is O(N), but the complexity
X   and communications cost associated with coordinating and then
X   merging their work is O(N^2).  The quote is from Fred Brooks, a
X   manager of IBMs OS/360 project and author of `The Mythical
X   Man-Month', an excellent early book on software engineering; the
X   myth in question has been most tersely expressed as "Programmer
X   time is fungible", and Brooks established conclusively that it is
X   not.  Hackers have never forgotten his advice; too often,
X   {management} does.
X
XBRS: n. Syn. {Big Red Switch}.  This abbreviation is fairly
X   common on-line.
X
Xbrute force: adj. Describes a certain kind of primitive programming
X   style; broadly speaking, one in which the programmer relies on the
X   computer's processing power instead of using his/her own intelligence to
X   simplify the problem, often ignoring problems of scale and applying
X   naive methods suited to small problems directly to large ones.
X
X   The {canonical} example of a brute force algorithm is associated
X   with the `Travelling salesman problem' (TSP), a classical NP-hard
X   problem: suppose a person is in Boston and wishes to drive to N
X   other cities.  In what order should he/she visit them in order to
X   minimize the distance travelled?  The brute force method is to
X   simply generate all possible routes and compare the distances;
X   while guaranteed to work and simple to implement, this algorithm is
SHAR_EOF
true || echo 'restore of jargon.ascii failed'
fi
echo 'End of part 3, continue with part 4'
echo 4 > _shar_seq_.tmp
exit 0