Books: The New Hacker\'s Dictionary version 4.2.2

V >> Various editors >> The New Hacker\'s Dictionary version 4.2.2

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Double bucky, you're the one!
You make my keyboard lots of fun.
Double bucky, an additional bit or two:
(Vo-vo-de-o!)
Control and meta, side by side,
Augmented ASCII, nine bits wide!
Double bucky! Half a thousand glyphs, plus a few!
Oh,
I sure wish that I
Had a couple of
Bits more!
Perhaps a
Set of pedals to
Make the number of
Bits four:
Double double bucky!
Double bucky, left and right
OR'd together, outta sight!
Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of
Double bucky, I'm happy I heard of
Double bucky, I'd like a whole word of you!

--- The Great Quux (with apologies to Jeffrey Moss)

[This, by the way, is an excellent example of computer [4162]filk
--ESR] See also [4163]meta bit, [4164]cokebottle, and [4165]quadruple
bucky.
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Node:doubled sig, Next:[4166]down, Previous:[4167]double bucky,
Up:[4168]= D =

doubled sig [Usenet] n.

A [4169]sig block that has been included twice in a [4170]Usenet
article or, less commonly, in an electronic mail message. An article
or message with a doubled sig can be caused by improperly configured
software. More often, however, it reveals the author's lack of
experience in electronic communication. See [4171]B1FF, [4172]pseudo.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:down, Next:[4173]download, Previous:[4174]doubled sig, Up:[4175]=
D =

down

1. adj. Not operating. "The up escalator is down" is considered a
humorous thing to say (unless of course you were expecting to use it),
and "The elevator is down" always means "The elevator isn't working"
and never refers to what floor the elevator is on. With respect to
computers, this term has passed into the mainstream; the extension to
other kinds of machine is still confined to techies (e.g. boiler
mechanics may speak of a boiler being down). 2. `go down' vi. To stop
functioning; usually said of the [4176]system. The message from the
[4177]console that every hacker hates to hear from the operator is
"System going down in 5 minutes". 3. `take down', `bring down' vt. To
deactivate purposely, usually for repair work or [4178]PM. "I'm taking
the system down to work on that bug in the tape drive." Occasionally
one hears the word `down' by itself used as a verb in this vt. sense.
See [4179]crash; oppose [4180]up.
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Node:download, Next:[4181]DP, Previous:[4182]down, Up:[4183]= D =

download vt.

To transfer data or (esp.) code from a far-away system (especially a
larger `host' system) over a digital communications link to a nearby
system (especially a smaller `client' system. Oppose [4184]upload.

Historical use of these terms was at one time associated with
transfers from large timesharing machines to PCs or peripherals
(download) and vice-versa (upload). The modern usage relative to the
speaker (rather than as an indicator of the size and role of the
machines) evolved as machine categories lost most of their former
functional importance.
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Node:DP, Next:[4185]DPB, Previous:[4186]download, Up:[4187]= D =

DP /D-P/ n.

1. Data Processing. Listed here because, according to hackers, use of
the term marks one immediately as a [4188]suit. See [4189]DPer. 2.
Common abbrev for [4190]Dissociated Press.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:DPB, Next:[4191]DPer, Previous:[4192]DP, Up:[4193]= D =

DPB /d*-pib'/ vt.

[from the PDP-10 instruction set] To plop something down in the
middle. Usage: silly. "DPB yourself into that couch there." The
connotation would be that the couch is full except for one slot just
big enough for one last person to sit in. DPB means `DePosit Byte',
and was the name of a PDP-10 instruction that inserts some bits into
the middle of some other bits. Hackish usage has been kept alive by
the Common LISP function of the same name.
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Node:DPer, Next:[4194]Dr. Fred Mbogo, Previous:[4195]DPB, Up:[4196]= D
=

DPer /dee-pee-er/ n.

Data Processor. Hackers are absolutely amazed that [4197]suits use
this term self-referentially. Computers process data, not people! See
[4198]DP.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Dr. Fred Mbogo, Next:[4199]dragon, Previous:[4200]DPer,
Up:[4201]= D =

Dr. Fred Mbogo /*m-boh'goh, dok'tr fred/ n.

[Stanford] The archetypal man you don't want to see about a problem,
esp. an incompetent professional; a shyster. "Do you know a good eye
doctor?" "Sure, try Mbogo Eye Care and Professional Dry Cleaning." The
name comes from synergy between [4202]bogus and the original Dr.
Mbogo, a witch doctor who was Gomez Addams' physician on the old
"Addams Family" TV show. Interestingly enough, it turns out that under
the rules for Swahili noun classes, `m-' is the characteristic prefix
of "nouns referring to human beings". As such, "mbogo" is quite
plausible as a Swahili coinage for a person having the nature of a
[4203]bogon. Compare [4204]Bloggs Family and [4205]J. Random Hacker;
see also [4206]Fred Foobar and [4207]fred.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dragon, Next:[4208]Dragon Book, Previous:[4209]Dr. Fred Mbogo,
Up:[4210]= D =

dragon n.

[MIT] A program similar to a [4211]daemon, except that it is not
invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to perform various
secondary tasks. A typical example would be an accounting program,
which keeps track of who is logged in, accumulates load-average
statistics, etc. Under ITS, many terminals displayed a list of people
logged in, where they were, what they were running, etc., along with
some random picture (such as a unicorn, Snoopy, or the Enterprise),
which was generated by the `name dragon'. Usage: rare outside MIT --
under Unix and most other OSes this would be called a `background
demon' or [4212]daemon. The best-known Unix example of a dragon is
cron(1). At SAIL, they called this sort of thing a `phantom'.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Dragon Book, Next:[4213]drain, Previous:[4214]dragon, Up:[4215]=
D =

Dragon Book n.

The classic text "Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools", by
Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman (Addison-Wesley 1986;
ISBN 0-201-10088-6), so called because of the cover design featuring a
dragon labeled `complexity of compiler design' and a knight bearing
the lance `LALR parser generator' among his other trappings. This one
is more specifically known as the `Red Dragon Book' (1986); an earlier
edition, sans Sethi and titled "Principles Of Compiler Design" (Alfred
V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman; Addison-Wesley, 1977; ISBN
0-201-00022-9), was the `Green Dragon Book' (1977). (Also `New Dragon
Book', `Old Dragon Book'.) The horsed knight and the Green Dragon were
warily eying each other at a distance; now the knight is typing
(wearing gauntlets!) at a terminal showing a video-game representation
of the Red Dragon's head while the rest of the beast extends back in
normal space. See also [4216]book titles.
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Node:drain, Next:[4217]dread high-bit disease, Previous:[4218]Dragon
Book, Up:[4219]= D =

drain v.

[IBM] Syn. for [4220]flush (sense 2). Has a connotation of finality
about it; one speaks of draining a device before taking it offline.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dread high-bit disease, Next:[4221]Dread Questionmark Disease,
Previous:[4222]drain, Up:[4223]= D =

dread high-bit disease n.

A condition endemic to some now-obsolete computers and peripherals
(including ASR-33 teletypes and PRIME minicomputers) that results in
all characters having their high (0x80) bit forced on. This of course
makes transporting files to other systems much more difficult, not to
mention the problems these machines have talking with true 8-bit
devices.

This term was originally used specifically of PRIME (a.k.a. PR1ME)
minicomputers. Folklore has it that PRIME adopted the reversed-8-bit
convention in order to save 25 cents per serial line per machine;
PRIME old-timers, on the other hand, claim they inherited the disease
from Honeywell via customer NASA's compatibility requirements and
struggled heroically to cure it. Whoever was responsible, this
probably qualifies as one of the most [4224]cretinous design tradeoffs
ever made. See [4225]meta bit.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Dread Questionmark Disease, Next:[4226]DRECNET,
Previous:[4227]dread high-bit disease, Up:[4228]= D =

Dread Questionmark Disease

n. The result of saving HTML from Microsoft Word or some other program
that uses the nonstandard Microsoft variant of Latin-1; the symptom is
that various of those nonstandard characters in positions 128-160 show
up as questionmarks. The usual culprit is the misnamed `smart quotes'
feature in Microsoft Word. For more details (and a program called
`demoroniser' that cleans up the mess) see
[4229]http://www.fourmilab.ch/webtools/demoroniser/.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:DRECNET, Next:[4230]driver, Previous:[4231]Dread Questionmark
Disease, Up:[4232]= D =

DRECNET /drek'net/ n.

[from Yiddish/German `dreck', meaning filth] Deliberate distortion of
DECNET, a networking protocol used in the [4233]VMS community. So
called because [4234]DEC helped write the Ethernet specification and
then (either stupidly or as a malignant customer-control tactic)
violated that spec in the design of DRECNET in a way that made it
incompatible. See also [4235]connector conspiracy.
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Node:driver, Next:[4236]droid, Previous:[4237]DRECNET, Up:[4238]= D =

driver n.

1. The [4239]main loop of an event-processing program; the code that
gets commands and dispatches them for execution. 2. [techspeak] In
`device driver', code designed to handle a particular peripheral
device such as a magnetic disk or tape unit. 3. In the TeX world and
the computerized typesetting world in general, a program that
translates some device-independent or other common format to something
a real device can actually understand.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:droid, Next:[4240]drone, Previous:[4241]driver, Up:[4242]= D =

droid n.

[from `android', SF terminology for a humanoid robot of essentially
biological (as opposed to mechanical/electronic) construction] A
person (esp. a low-level bureaucrat or service-business employee)
exhibiting most of the following characteristics: (a) naive trust in
the wisdom of the parent organization or `the system'; (b) a
blind-faith propensity to believe obvious nonsense emitted by
authority figures (or computers!); (c) a rule-governed mentality, one
unwilling or unable to look beyond the `letter of the law' in
exceptional situations; (d) a paralyzing fear of official reprimand or
worse if Procedures are not followed No Matter What; and (e) no
interest in doing anything above or beyond the call of a very
narrowly-interpreted duty, or in particular in fixing that which is
broken; an "It's not my job, man" attitude.

Typical droid positions include supermarket checkout assistant and
bank clerk; the syndrome is also endemic in low-level government
employees. The implication is that the rules and official procedures
constitute software that the droid is executing; problems arise when
the software has not been properly debugged. The term `droid
mentality' is also used to describe the mindset behind this behavior.
Compare [4243]suit, [4244]marketroid; see [4245]-oid.

In England there is equivalent mainstream slang; a `jobsworth' is an
obstructive, rule-following bureaucrat, often of the uniformed or
suited variety. Named for the habit of denying a reasonable request by
sucking his teeth and saying "Oh no, guv, sorry I can't help you:
that's more than my job's worth".
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drone, Next:[4246]drool-proof paper, Previous:[4247]droid,
Up:[4248]= D =

drone n.

Ignorant sales or customer service personnel in computer or
electronics superstores. Characterized by a lack of even superficial
knowledge about the products they sell, yet possessed of the
conviction that they are more competent than their hacker customers.
Usage: "That video board probably sucks, it was recommended by a drone
at Fry's" In the year 2000, their natural habitats include Fry's
Electronics, Best Buy, and CompUSA.
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Node:drool-proof paper, Next:[4249]drop on the floor,
Previous:[4250]drone, Up:[4251]= D =

drool-proof paper n.

Documentation that has been obsessively [4252]dumbed down, to the
point where only a [4253]cretin could bear to read it, is said to have
succumbed to the `drool-proof paper syndrome' or to have been `written
on drool-proof paper'. For example, this is an actual quote from
Apple's LaserWriter manual: "Do not expose your LaserWriter to open
fire or flame." The SGI Indy manual is said to include the line "Do
not dangle the mouse by the cord or throw it at coworkers.", but this
sounds like parody.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drop on the floor, Next:[4254]drop-ins,
Previous:[4255]drool-proof paper, Up:[4256]= D =

drop on the floor vt.

To react to an error condition by silently discarding messages or
other valuable data. "The gateway ran out of memory, so it just
started dropping packets on the floor." Also frequently used of faulty
mail and netnews relay sites that lose messages. See also [4257]black
hole, [4258]bit bucket.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drop-ins, Next:[4259]drop-outs, Previous:[4260]drop on the floor,
Up:[4261]= D =

drop-ins n.

[prob. by analogy with [4262]drop-outs] Spurious characters appearing
on a terminal or console as a result of line noise or a system
malfunction of some sort. Esp. used when these are interspersed with
one's own typed input. Compare [4263]drop-outs, sense 2.
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Node:drop-outs, Next:[4264]drugged, Previous:[4265]drop-ins,
Up:[4266]= D =

drop-outs n.

1. A variety of `power glitch' (see [4267]glitch); momentary 0 voltage
on the electrical mains. 2. Missing characters in typed input due to
software malfunction or system saturation (one cause of such behavior
under Unix when a bad connection to a modem swamps the processor with
spurious character interrupts; see [4268]screaming tty). 3. Mental
glitches; used as a way of describing those occasions when the mind
just seems to shut down for a couple of beats. See [4269]glitch,
[4270]fried.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drugged, Next:[4271]drum, Previous:[4272]drop-outs, Up:[4273]= D
=

drugged adj.

(also `on drugs') 1. Conspicuously stupid, heading toward
[4274]brain-damaged. Often accompanied by a pantomime of toking a
joint. 2. Of hardware, very slow relative to normal performance.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drum, Next:[4275]drunk mouse syndrome, Previous:[4276]drugged,
Up:[4277]= D =

drum adj, n.

Ancient techspeak term referring to slow, cylindrical magnetic media
that were once state-of-the-art storage devices. Under BSD Unix the
disk partition used for swapping is still called /dev/drum; this has
led to considerable humor and not a few straight-faced but utterly
bogus `explanations' getting foisted on [4278]newbies. See also
"[4279]The Story of Mel" in Appendix A.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:drunk mouse syndrome, Next:[4280]dub dub dub,
Previous:[4281]drum, Up:[4282]= D =

drunk mouse syndrome n.

(also `mouse on drugs') A malady exhibited by the mouse pointing
device of some computers. The typical symptom is for the mouse cursor
on the screen to move in random directions and not in sync with the
motion of the actual mouse. Can usually be corrected by unplugging the
mouse and plugging it back again. Another recommended fix for optical
mice is to rotate your mouse pad 90 degrees.

At Xerox PARC in the 1970s, most people kept a can of copier cleaner
(isopropyl alcohol) at their desks. When the steel ball on the mouse
had picked up enough [4283]cruft to be unreliable, the mouse was
doused in cleaner, which restored it for a while. However, this
operation left a fine residue that accelerated the accumulation of
cruft, so the dousings became more and more frequent. Finally, the
mouse was declared `alcoholic' and sent to the clinic to be dried out
in a CFC ultrasonic bath.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dub dub dub, Next:[4284]Duff's device, Previous:[4285]drunk mouse
syndrome, Up:[4286]= D =

dub dub dub

[common] Spoken-only shorthand for the "www" (double-u double-u
double-u) in many web host names. Nothing to do with the style of
reggae music called `dub'.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Duff's device, Next:[4287]dumb terminal, Previous:[4288]dub dub
dub, Up:[4289]= D =

Duff's device n.

The most dramatic use yet seen of [4290]fall through in C, invented by
Tom Duff when he was at Lucasfilm. Trying to [4291]bum all the
instructions he could out of an inner loop that copied data serially
onto an output port, he decided to unroll it. He then realized that
the unrolled version could be implemented by interlacing the
structures of a switch and a loop:
register n = (count + 7) / 8; /* count > 0 assumed */

switch (count % 8)
{
case 0: do { *to = *from++;
case 7: *to = *from++;
case 6: *to = *from++;
case 5: *to = *from++;
case 4: *to = *from++;
case 3: *to = *from++;
case 2: *to = *from++;
case 1: *to = *from++;
} while (--n > 0);
}

Shocking though it appears to all who encounter it for the first time,
the device is actually perfectly valid, legal C. C's default
[4292]fall through in case statements has long been its most
controversial single feature; Duff observed that "This code forms some
sort of argument in that debate, but I'm not sure whether it's for or
against." Duff has discussed the device in detail at
[4293]http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/duffs-device.html. Note that the
omission of postfix ++ from *to was intentional (though confusing).
Duff's device can be used to implement memory copy, but the original
aim was to copy values serially into a magic IO register.

[For maximal obscurity, the outermost pair of braces above could
actually be removed -- GLS]
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dumb terminal, Next:[4294]dumbass attack, Previous:[4295]Duff's
device, Up:[4296]= D =

dumb terminal n.

A terminal that is one step above a [4297]glass tty, having a
minimally addressable cursor but no on-screen editing or other
features normally supported by a [4298]smart terminal. Once upon a
time, when glass ttys were common and addressable cursors were
something special, what is now called a dumb terminal could pass for a
smart terminal.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dumbass attack, Next:[4299]dumbed down, Previous:[4300]dumb
terminal, Up:[4301]= D =

dumbass attack /duhm'as *-tak'/ n.

[Purdue] Notional cause of a novice's mistake made by the experienced,
especially one made while running as [4302]root under Unix, e.g.,
typing rm -r * or mkfs on a mounted file system. Compare [4303]adger.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dumbed down, Next:[4304]dump, Previous:[4305]dumbass attack,
Up:[4306]= D =

dumbed down adj.

Simplified, with a strong connotation of oversimplified. Often, a
[4307]marketroid will insist that the interfaces and documentation of
software be dumbed down after the designer has burned untold gallons
of midnight oil making it smart. This creates friction. See
[4308]user-friendly.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dump, Next:[4309]dumpster diving, Previous:[4310]dumbed down,
Up:[4311]= D =

dump n.

1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information about a problem or
the state of a system, especially one routed to the slowest available
output device (compare [4312]core dump), and most especially one
consisting of hex or octal [4313]runes describing the byte-by-byte
state of memory, mass storage, or some file. In [4314]elder days,
debugging was generally done by `groveling over' a dump (see
[4315]grovel); increasing use of high-level languages and interactive
debuggers has made such tedium uncommon, and the term `dump' now has a
faintly archaic flavor. 2. A backup. This usage is typical only at
large timesharing installations.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dumpster diving, Next:[4316]dup killer, Previous:[4317]dump,
Up:[4318]= D =

dumpster diving /dump'-ster di:'-ving/ n.

1. The practice of sifting refuse from an office or technical
installation to extract confidential data, especially
security-compromising information (`dumpster' is an Americanism for
what is elsewhere called a `skip'). Back in AT&T's monopoly days,
before paper shredders became common office equipment, phone phreaks
(see [4319]phreaking) used to organize regular dumpster runs against
phone company plants and offices. Discarded and damaged copies of AT&T
internal manuals taught them much. The technique is still rumored to
be a favorite of crackers operating against careless targets. 2. The
practice of raiding the dumpsters behind buildings where producers
and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are located, with the
expectation (usually justified) of finding discarded but
still-valuable equipment to be nursed back to health in some hacker's
den. Experienced dumpster-divers not infrequently accumulate basements
full of moldering (but still potentially useful) [4320]cruft.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dup killer, Next:[4321]dup loop, Previous:[4322]dumpster diving,
Up:[4323]= D =

dup killer /d[y]oop kill'r/ n.

[FidoNet] Software that is supposed to detect and delete duplicates of
a message that may have reached the FidoNet system via different
routes.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dup loop, Next:[4324]dusty deck, Previous:[4325]dup killer,
Up:[4326]= D =

dup loop /d[y]oop loop/ (also `dupe loop') n.

[FidoNet] An infinite stream of duplicated, near-identical messages on
a FidoNet [4327]echo, the only difference being unique or mangled
identification information applied by a faulty or incorrectly
configured system or network gateway, thus rendering [4328]dup killers
ineffective. If such a duplicate message eventually reaches a system
through which it has already passed (with the original identification
information), all systems passed on the way back to that system are
said to be involved in a [4329]dup loop.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dusty deck, Next:[4330]DWIM, Previous:[4331]dup loop, Up:[4332]=
D =

dusty deck n.

Old software (especially applications) which one is obliged to remain
compatible with, or to maintain ([4333]DP types call this `legacy
code', a term hackers consider smarmy and excessively reverent). The
term implies that the software in question is a holdover from
card-punch days. Used esp. when referring to old scientific and
[4334]number-crunching software, much of which was written in FORTRAN
and very poorly documented but is believed to be too expensive to
replace. See [4335]fossil; compare [4336]crawling horror.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:DWIM, Next:[4337]dynner, Previous:[4338]dusty deck, Up:[4339]= D
=

DWIM /dwim/

[acronym, `Do What I Mean'] 1. adj. Able to guess, sometimes even
correctly, the result intended when bogus input was provided. 2. n.
obs. The BBNLISP/INTERLISP function that attempted to accomplish this
feat by correcting many of the more common errors. See [4340]hairy. 3.
Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a balky computer, esp. when
one senses one might be tripping over legalisms (see [4341]legalese).
4. Of a person, someone whose directions are incomprehensible and
vague, but who nevertheless has the expectation that you will solve
the problem using the specific method he/she has in mind.

Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and spelling
errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his style, and would often
make hash of anyone else's typos if they were stylistically different.
Some victims of DWIM thus claimed that the acronym stood for `Damn
Warren's Infernal Machine!'.

In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to the command
interpreter used at Xerox PARC. One day another hacker there typed
delete *$ to free up some disk space. (The editor there named backup
files by appending $ to the original file name, so he was trying to
delete any backup files left over from old editing sessions.) It
happened that there weren't any editor backup files, so DWIM helpfully
reported *$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete *'. It then started
to delete all the files on the disk! The hacker managed to stop it
with a [4342]Vulcan nerve pinch after only a half dozen or so files
were lost.

The disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted to go to
Warren's office, tie Warren down in his chair in front of his
workstation, and then type delete *$ twice.

DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex
program; it is also occasionally described as the single instruction
the ideal computer would have. Back when proofs of program correctness
were in vogue, there were also jokes about `DWIMC' (Do What I Mean,
Correctly). A related term, more often seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The
Right Thing); see [4343]Right Thing.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:dynner, Next:[4344]earthquake, Previous:[4345]DWIM, Up:[4346]= D
=

dynner /din'r/ n.

32 bits, by analogy with [4347]nybble and [4348]byte. Usage: rare and
extremely silly. See also [4349]playte, [4350]tayste, [4351]crumb.
General discussion of such terms is under [4352]nybble.
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Node:= E =, Next:[4353]= F =, Previous:[4354]= D =, Up:[4355]The
Jargon Lexicon

= E =

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