Edward S. Ellis - "The Lost Trail"

Alfred de Vigny - "Cinq Mars, v6"

J. A. Mitchell - "The Last American"

Frances Hodgson Burnett - "The Head of the House of Coombe"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The New Hacker\'s Dictionary version 4.2.2

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




* [13784]u-:
* [13785]UBD:
* [13786]UBE:
* [13787]UCE:
* [13788]UDP:
* [13789]UN*X:
* [13790]undefined external reference:
* [13791]under the hood:
* [13792]undocumented feature:
* [13793]uninteresting:
* [13794]Unix:
* [13795]Unix brain damage:
* [13796]Unix conspiracy:
* [13797]Unix weenie:
* [13798]unixism:
* [13799]unswizzle:
* [13800]unwind the stack:
* [13801]unwind-protect:
* [13802]up:
* [13803]upload:
* [13804]upthread:
* [13805]urchin:
* [13806]URL:
* [13807]Usenet:
* [13808]Usenet Death Penalty:
* [13809]user:
* [13810]user-friendly:
* [13811]user-obsequious:
* [13812]userland:
* [13813]USG Unix:
* [13814]UTSL:
* [13815]UUCPNET:
_________________________________________________________________

Node:u-, Next:[13816]UBD, Previous:[13817]twonkie, Up:[13818]= U =

u- pref.

Written shorthand for [13819]micro-; techspeak when applied to metric
units, jargon when used otherwise. Derived from the Greek letter "mu",
the first letter of "micro" (and which letter looks a lot like the
English letter "u").
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UBD, Next:[13820]UBE, Previous:[13821]u-, Up:[13822]= U =

UBD /U-B-D/ n.

[abbreviation for `User Brain Damage'] An abbreviation used to close
out trouble reports obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's
part. Compare [13823]pilot error; oppose [13824]PBD; see also
[13825]brain-damaged.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UBE, Next:[13826]UCE, Previous:[13827]UBD, Up:[13828]= U =

UBE // n.

[abbrev., Unsoliclited Bulk Email] A widespread, more formal term for
email [13829]spam. Compare [13830]UCE. The UBE term recognizes that
spam is uttered by nonprofit and advocacy groups whose motives are not
commercial.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UCE, Next:[13831]UDP, Previous:[13832]UBE, Up:[13833]= U =

UCE n.

[abbrev., Unsolicited Commercial Email] A widespread, more formal term
for email [13834]spam. Compare [13835]UBE, which may be superseding
it.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UDP, Next:[13836]UN*X, Previous:[13837]UCE, Up:[13838]= U =

UDP /U-D-P/ v.,n.

[Usenet] Abbreviation for [13839]Usenet Death Penalty. Common
(probably now more so than the full form), and frequently verbed.
Compare [13840]IDP.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UN*X, Next:[13841]undefined external reference,
Previous:[13842]UDP, Up:[13843]= U =

UN*X n.

Used to refer to the Unix operating system (a trademark of AT&T, then
of Novell, then of SCO, and then of Caldera) in writing, but avoiding
the need for the ugly [13844](TM) typography. Also used to refer to
any or all varieties of Unixoid operating systems. Ironically, lawyers
now say that the requirement for the trademark postfix has no legal
force, but the asterisk usage is entrenched anyhow. It has been
suggested that there may be a psychological connection to practice in
certain religions (especially Judaism) in which the name of the deity
is never written out in full, e.g., `YHWH' or `G-d' is used. See also
[13845]glob and [13846]splat out.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:undefined external reference, Next:[13847]under the hood,
Previous:[13848]UN*X, Up:[13849]= U =

undefined external reference excl.

[Unix] A message from Unix's linker. Used in speech to flag loose ends
or dangling references in an argument or discussion.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:under the hood, Next:[13850]undocumented feature,
Previous:[13851]undefined external reference, Up:[13852]= U =

under the hood adj.

[hot-rodder talk] 1. Used to introduce the underlying implementation
of a product (hardware, software, or idea). Implies that the
implementation is not intuitively obvious from the appearance, but the
speaker is about to enable the listener to [13853]grok it. "Let's now
look under the hood to see how ...." 2. Can also imply that the
implementation is much simpler than the appearance would indicate:
"Under the hood, we are just fork/execing the shell." 3. Inside a
chassis, as in "Under the hood, this baby has a 40MHz 68030!"
_________________________________________________________________

Node:undocumented feature, Next:[13854]uninteresting,
Previous:[13855]under the hood, Up:[13856]= U =

undocumented feature n.

See [13857]feature.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:uninteresting, Next:[13858]Unix, Previous:[13859]undocumented
feature, Up:[13860]= U =

uninteresting adj.

1. Said of a problem that, although [13861]nontrivial, can be solved
simply by throwing sufficient resources at it. 2. Also said of
problems for which a solution would neither advance the state of the
art nor be fun to design and code.

Hackers regard uninteresting problems as intolerable wastes of time,
to be solved (if at all) by lesser mortals. Real hackers (see
[13862]toolsmith) generalize uninteresting problems enough to make
them interesting and solve them -- thus solving the original problem
as a special case (and, it must be admitted, occasionally turning a
molehill into a mountain, or a mountain into a tectonic plate). See
[13863]WOMBAT, [13864]SMOP; compare [13865]toy problem, oppose
[13866]interesting.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Unix, Next:[13867]Unix brain damage,
Previous:[13868]uninteresting, Up:[13869]= U =

Unix /yoo'niks/ n.

[In the authors' words, "A weak pun on Multics"; very early on it was
`UNICS'] (also `UNIX') An interactive time-sharing system invented in
1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the Multics project,
originally so he could play games on his scavenged PDP-7. Dennis
Ritchie, the inventor of C, is considered a co-author of the system.
The turning point in Unix's history came when it was reimplemented
almost entirely in C during 1972-1974, making it the first
source-portable OS. Unix subsequently underwent mutations and
expansions at the hands of many different people, resulting in a
uniquely flexible and developer-friendly environment. By 1991, Unix
had become the most widely used multiuser general-purpose operating
system in the world - and since 1996 the variiant called [13870]Linux
has been at the cutting edge of the [13871]open source movement. Many
people consider the success of Unix the most important victory yet of
hackerdom over industry opposition (but see [13872]Unix weenie and
[13873]Unix conspiracy for an opposing point of view). See
[13874]Version 7, [13875]BSD, [13876]USG Unix, [13877]Linux.

Some people are confused over whether this word is appropriately
`UNIX' or `Unix'; both forms are common, and used interchangeably.
Dennis Ritchie says that the `UNIX' spelling originally happened in
CACM's 1974 paper "The UNIX Time-Sharing System" because "we had a new
typesetter and [13878]troff had just been invented and we were
intoxicated by being able to produce small caps." Later, dmr tried to
get the spelling changed to `Unix' in a couple of Bell Labs papers, on
the grounds that the word is not acronymic. He failed, and eventually
(his words) "wimped out" on the issue. So, while the trademark today
is `UNIX', both capitalizations are grounded in ancient usage; the
Jargon File uses `Unix' in deference to dmr's wishes.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Unix brain damage, Next:[13879]Unix conspiracy,
Previous:[13880]Unix, Up:[13881]= U =

Unix brain damage n.

Something that has to be done to break a network program (typically a
mailer) on a non-Unix system so that it will interoperate with Unix
systems. The hack may qualify as `Unix brain damage' if the program
conforms to published standards and the Unix program in question does
not. Unix brain damage happens because it is much easier for other
(minority) systems to change their ways to match non-conforming
behavior than it is to change all the hundreds of thousands of Unix
systems out there.

An example of Unix brain damage is a [13882]kluge in a mail server to
recognize bare line feed (the Unix newline) as an equivalent form to
the Internet standard newline, which is a carriage return followed by
a line feed. Such things can make even a hardened [13883]jock weep.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Unix conspiracy, Next:[13884]Unix weenie, Previous:[13885]Unix
brain damage, Up:[13886]= U =

Unix conspiracy n.

[ITS] According to a conspiracy theory long popular among [13887]ITS
and [13888]TOPS-20 fans, Unix's growth is the result of a plot,
hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose intent was to hobble
AT&T's competitors by making them dependent upon a system whose future
evolution was to be under AT&T's control. This would be accomplished
by disseminating an operating system that is apparently inexpensive
and easily portable, but also relatively unreliable and insecure (so
as to require continuing upgrades from AT&T). This theory was lent a
substantial impetus in 1984 by the paper referenced in the [13889]back
door entry.

In this view, Unix was designed to be one of the first computer
viruses (see [13890]virus) -- but a virus spread to computers
indirectly by people and market forces, rather than directly through
disks and networks. Adherents of this `Unix virus' theory like to cite
the fact that the well-known quotation "Unix is snake oil" was uttered
by [13891]DEC president Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began
actively promoting its own family of Unix workstations. (Olsen now
claims to have been misquoted.)

[If there was ever such a conspiracy, it got thoroughly out of the
plotters' control after 1990. AT&T sold its UNIX operation to Novell
around the same time [13892]Linux and other free-UNIX distributions
were beginning to make noise. --ESR]
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Unix weenie, Next:[13893]unixism, Previous:[13894]Unix
conspiracy, Up:[13895]= U =

Unix weenie n.

[ITS] 1. A derogatory play on `Unix wizard', common among hackers who
use Unix by necessity but would prefer alternatives. The implication
is that although the person in question may consider mastery of Unix
arcana to be a wizardly skill, the only real skill involved is the
ability to tolerate (and the bad taste to wallow in) the incoherence
and needless complexity that is alleged to infest many Unix programs.
"This shell script tries to parse its arguments in 69 bletcherous
ways. It must have been written by a real Unix weenie." 2. A
derogatory term for anyone who engages in uncritical praise of Unix.
Often appearing in the context "stupid Unix weenie". See
[13896]Weenix, [13897]Unix conspiracy. See also [13898]weenie.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:unixism, Next:[13899]unswizzle, Previous:[13900]Unix weenie,
Up:[13901]= U =

unixism n.

A piece of code or a coding technique that depends on the protected
multi-tasking environment with relatively low process-spawn overhead
that exists on virtual-memory Unix systems. Common [13902]unixisms
include: gratuitous use of fork(2); the assumption that certain
undocumented but well-known features of Unix libraries such as
stdio(3) are supported elsewhere; reliance on [13903]obscure
side-effects of system calls (use of sleep(2) with a 0 argument to
clue the scheduler that you're willing to give up your time-slice, for
example); the assumption that freshly allocated memory is zeroed; and
the assumption that fragmentation problems won't arise from never
free()ing memory. Compare [13904]vaxocentrism; see also [13905]New
Jersey.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:unswizzle, Next:[13906]unwind the stack, Previous:[13907]unixism,
Up:[13908]= U =

unswizzle v.

See [13909]swizzle.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:unwind the stack, Next:[13910]unwind-protect,
Previous:[13911]unswizzle, Up:[13912]= U =

unwind the stack vi.

1. [techspeak] During the execution of a procedural language, one is
said to `unwind the stack' from a called procedure up to a caller when
one discards the stack frame and any number of frames above it,
popping back up to the level of the given caller. In C this is done
with longjmp/setjmp, in LISP or C++ with throw/catch. See also
[13913]smash the stack. 2. People can unwind the stack as well, by
quickly dealing with a bunch of problems: "Oh heck, let's do lunch.
Just a second while I unwind my stack."
_________________________________________________________________

Node:unwind-protect, Next:[13914]up, Previous:[13915]unwind the stack,
Up:[13916]= U =

unwind-protect n.

[MIT: from the name of a LISP operator] A task you must remember to
perform before you leave a place or finish a project. "I have an
unwind-protect to call my advisor."
_________________________________________________________________

Node:up, Next:[13917]upload, Previous:[13918]unwind-protect,
Up:[13919]= U =

up adj.

1. Working, in order. "The down escalator is up." Oppose [13920]down.
2. `bring up': vt. To create a working version and start it. "They
brought up a down system." 3. `come up' vi. To become ready for
production use.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:upload, Next:[13921]upthread, Previous:[13922]up, Up:[13923]= U =

upload /uhp'lohd/ v.

1. [techspeak] To transfer programs or data over a digital
communications link from a system near you (espercially a smaller or
peripheral `client' system) to one further away from you (especially a
larger or central `host' system). A transfer in the other direction
is, of course, called a [13924]download 2. [speculatively] To move the
essential patterns and algorithms that make up one's mind from one's
brain into a computer. Those who are convinced that such patterns and
algorithms capture the complete essence of the self view this prospect
with pleasant anticipation.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:upthread, Next:[13925]urchin, Previous:[13926]upload, Up:[13927]=
U =

upthread adv.

Earlier in the discussion (see [13928]thread), i.e., `above'. "As Joe
pointed out upthread, ..." See also [13929]followup.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:urchin, Next:[13930]URL, Previous:[13931]upthread, Up:[13932]= U
=

urchin n.

See [13933]munchkin.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:URL, Next:[13934]Usenet, Previous:[13935]urchin, Up:[13936]= U =

URL /U-R-L/ or /erl/ n.

Uniform Resource Locator, an address widget that identifies a document
or resource on the World Wide Web. This entry is here primarily to
record the fact that the term is commonly pronounced both /erl/, and
/U-R-L/ (the latter predominates in more formal contexts).
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Usenet, Next:[13937]Usenet Death Penalty, Previous:[13938]URL,
Up:[13939]= U =

Usenet /yoos'net/ or /yooz'net/ n.

[from `Users' Network'; the original spelling was USENET, but the
mixed-case form is now widely preferred] A distributed [13940]bboard
(bulletin board) system supported mainly by Unix machines. Originally
implemented in 1979-1980 by Steve Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott,
and Steve Daniel at Duke University, it has swiftly grown to become
international in scope and is now probably the largest decentralized
information utility in existence. As of early 1996, it hosts over
10,000 [13941]newsgroups and an average of over 500 megabytes (the
equivalent of several thousand paper pages) of new technical articles,
news, discussion, chatter, and [13942]flamage every day (and that
leaves out the graphics...).

By the year the Internet hit the mainstream (1994) the original UUCP
transport for Usenet was fading out of use (see [13943]UUCPNET) -
almost all Usenet connections were over Internet links. A lot of
newbies and journalists began to refer to "Internet newsgroups" as
though Usenet was and always had been just another Internet service.
This ignorance greatly annoys experienced Usenetters.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Usenet Death Penalty, Next:[13944]user, Previous:[13945]Usenet,
Up:[13946]= U =

Usenet Death Penalty

[Usenet] A sanction against sites that habitually spew Usenet
[13947]spam. This can be either passive or active. A passive UDP
refers to the dropping of all postings by a particular domain so as to
inhibit propagation. An active UDP refers to third-party cancellation
of all postings by the UDPed domain. A partial UDP is one which
applies only to certain newsgroups or hierarchies in Usenet. Compare
[13948]Internet Death Penalty, with which this term is sometimes
confused.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:user, Next:[13949]user-friendly, Previous:[13950]Usenet Death
Penalty, Up:[13951]= U =

user n.

1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using it as a means
rather than an end. Someone who pays to use a computer. See
[13952]real user. 2. A programmer who will believe anything you tell
him. One who asks silly questions. [GLS observes: This is slightly
unfair. It is true that users ask questions (of necessity). Sometimes
they are thoughtful or deep. Very often they are annoying or downright
stupid, apparently because the user failed to think for two seconds or
look in the documentation before bothering the maintainer.] See
[13953]luser. 3. Someone who uses a program from the outside, however
skillfully, without getting into the internals of the program. One who
reports bugs instead of just going ahead and fixing them.

The general theory behind this term is that there are two classes of
people who work with a program: there are implementors (hackers) and
[13954]lusers. The users are looked down on by hackers to some extent
because they don't understand the full ramifications of the system in
all its glory. (The few users who do are known as `real winners'.) The
term is a relative one: a skilled hacker may be a user with respect to
some program he himself does not hack. A LISP hacker might be one who
maintains LISP or one who uses LISP (but with the skill of a hacker).
A LISP user is one who uses LISP, whether skillfully or not. Thus
there is some overlap between the two terms; the subtle distinctions
must be resolved by context.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:user-friendly, Next:[13955]user-obsequious, Previous:[13956]user,
Up:[13957]= U =

user-friendly adj.

Programmer-hostile. Generally used by hackers in a critical tone, to
describe systems that hold the user's hand so obsessively that they
make it painful for the more experienced and knowledgeable to get any
work done. See [13958]menuitis, [13959]drool-proof paper,
[13960]Macintrash, [13961]user-obsequious.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:user-obsequious, Next:[13962]userland,
Previous:[13963]user-friendly, Up:[13964]= U =

user-obsequious adj.

Emphatic form of [13965]user-friendly. Connotes a system so verbose,
inflexible, and determinedly simple-minded that it is nearly unusable.
"Design a system any fool can use and only a fool will want to use
it." See [13966]WIMP environment, [13967]Macintrash.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:userland, Next:[13968]USG Unix, Previous:[13969]user-obsequious,
Up:[13970]= U =

userland n.

Anywhere outside the kernel. "That code belongs in userland." This
term has been in common use among [13971]Linux kernel hackers since at
leat 1997, and seems to have originated in that community.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:USG Unix, Next:[13972]UTSL, Previous:[13973]userland, Up:[13974]=
U =

USG Unix /U-S-G yoo'niks/ n.,obs.

Refers to AT&T Unix commercial versions after [13975]Version 7,
especially System III and System V releases 1, 2, and 3. So called
because during most of the lifespan of those versions AT&T's support
crew was called the `Unix Support Group', but it is applied to version
that pre- and post-dated the USG group but were of the same lineage.
This term is now historical. See [13976]BSD, [13977]Unix.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UTSL, Next:[13978]UUCPNET, Previous:[13979]USG Unix, Up:[13980]=
U =

UTSL // n.

[Unix] On-line acronym for `Use the Source, Luke' (a pun on Obi-Wan
Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke!" in "Star Wars") -- analogous to
[13981]RTFS (sense 1), but more polite. This is a common way of
suggesting that someone would be better off reading the source code
that supports whatever feature is causing confusion, rather than
making yet another futile pass through the manuals, or broadcasting
questions on Usenet that haven't attracted [13982]wizards to answer
them.

Once upon a time in [13983]elder days, everyone running Unix had
source. After 1978, AT&T's policy tightened up, so this objurgation
was in theory appropriately directed only at associates of some outfit
with a Unix source license. In practice, bootlegs of Unix source code
(made precisely for reference purposes) were so ubiquitous that one
could utter it at almost anyone on the network without concern.

Nowadays, free Unix clones have become widely enough distributed that
anyone can read source legally. The most widely distributed is
certainly Linux, with variants of the NET/2 and 4.4BSD distributions
running second. Cheap commercial Unixes with source such as BSD/OS are
accelerating this trend.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:UUCPNET, Next:[13984]V7, Previous:[13985]UTSL, Up:[13986]= U =

UUCPNET n. obs.

The store-and-forward network consisting of all the world's connected
Unix machines (and others running some clone of the UUCP (Unix-to-Unix
CoPy) software). Any machine reachable only via a [13987]bang path is
on UUCPNET. This term has been rendered obsolescent by the spread of
cheap Internet connections in the 1990s; the few remaining UUCP links
are essentially slow channels to the Internet rather than an
autonomous network. See [13988]network address.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:= V =, Next:[13989]= W =, Previous:[13990]= U =, Up:[13991]The
Jargon Lexicon

= V =

* [13992]V7:
* [13993]vadding:
* [13994]vanilla:
* [13995]vanity domain:
* [13996]vannevar:
* [13997]vaporware:
* [13998]var:
* [13999]vaston:
* [14000]VAX:
* [14001]VAXectomy:
* [14002]VAXen:
* [14003]vaxherd:
* [14004]vaxism:
* [14005]vaxocentrism:
* [14006]vdiff:
* [14007]veeblefester:
* [14008]velveeta:
* [14009]ventilator card:
* [14010]Venus flytrap:
* [14011]verbage:
* [14012]verbiage:
* [14013]Version 7:
* [14014]vgrep:
* [14015]vi:
* [14016]video toaster:
* [14017]videotex:
* [14018]virgin:
* [14019]virtual:
* [14020]virtual beer:
* [14021]virtual Friday:
* [14022]virtual reality:
* [14023]virtual shredder:
* [14024]virus:
* [14025]visionary:
* [14026]VMS:
* [14027]voice:
* [14028]voice-net:
* [14029]voodoo programming:
* [14030]VR:
* [14031]Vulcan nerve pinch:
* [14032]vulture capitalist:
_________________________________________________________________

Node:V7, Next:[14033]vadding, Previous:[14034]UUCPNET, Up:[14035]= V =

V7 /V'sev'en/ n.

See [14036]Version 7.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vadding, Next:[14037]vanilla, Previous:[14038]V7, Up:[14039]= V =

vadding /vad'ing/ n.

[from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e., [14040]ADVENT), used to avoid a
particular [14041]admin's continual search-and-destroy sweeps for the
game] A leisure-time activity of certain hackers involving the covert
exploration of the `secret' parts of large buildings -- basements,
roofs, freight elevators, maintenance crawlways, steam tunnels, and
the like. A few go so far as to learn locksmithing in order to
synthesize vadding keys. The verb is `to vad' (compare
[14042]phreaking; see also [14043]hack, sense 9). This term dates from
the late 1970s, before which such activity was simply called
`hacking'; the older usage is still prevalent at MIT.

The most extreme and dangerous form of vadding is `elevator rodeo',
a.k.a. `elevator surfing', a sport played by wrasslin' down a
thousand-pound elevator car with a 3-foot piece of string, and then
exploiting this mastery in various stimulating ways (such as elevator
hopping, shaft exploration, rat-racing, and the ever-popular drop
experiments). Kids, don't try this at home! See also [14044]hobbit
(sense 2).
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vanilla, Next:[14045]vanity domain, Previous:[14046]vadding,
Up:[14047]= V =

vanilla adj.

[from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] Ordinary
[14048]flavor, standard. When used of food, very often does not mean
that the food is flavored with vanilla extract! For example, `vanilla
wonton soup' means ordinary wonton soup, as opposed to hot-and-sour
wonton soup. Applied to hardware and software, as in "Vanilla Version
7 Unix can't run on a vanilla 11/34." Also used to orthogonalize chip
nomenclature; for instance, a 74V00 means what TI calls a 7400, as
distinct from a 74LS00, etc. This word differs from [14049]canonical
in that the latter means `default', whereas vanilla simply means
`ordinary'. For example, when hackers go on a [14050]great-wall,
hot-and-sour soup is the [14051]canonical soup to get (because that is
what most of them usually order) even though it isn't the vanilla
(wonton) soup.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vanity domain, Next:[14052]vannevar, Previous:[14053]vanilla,
Up:[14054]= V =

vanity domain n.

[common; from `vanity plate' as in car license plate] An Internet
domain, particularly in the .com or .org top-level domains, apparently
created for no reason other than boosting the creator's ego.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vannevar, Next:[14055]vaporware, Previous:[14056]vanity domain,
Up:[14057]= V =

vannevar /van'*-var/ n.

A bogus technological prediction or a foredoomed engineering concept,
esp. one that fails by implicitly assuming that technologies develop
linearly, incrementally, and in isolation from one another when in
fact the learning curve tends to be highly nonlinear, revolutions are
common, and competition is the rule. The prototype was Vannevar Bush's
prediction of `electronic brains' the size of the Empire State
Building with a Niagara-Falls-equivalent cooling system for their
tubes and relays, a prediction made at a time when the semiconductor
effect had already been demonstrated. Other famous vannevars have
included magnetic-bubble memory, LISP machines, [14058]videotex, and a
paper from the late 1970s that computed a purported ultimate limit on
areal density for ICs that was in fact less than the routine densities
of 5 years later.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vaporware, Next:[14059]var, Previous:[14060]vannevar, Up:[14061]=
V =

vaporware /vay'pr-weir/ n.

Products announced far in advance of any release (which may or may not
actually take place). See also [14062]brochureware.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:var, Next:[14063]vaston, Previous:[14064]vaporware, Up:[14065]= V
=

var /veir/ or /var/ n.

Short for `variable'. Compare [14066]arg, [14067]param.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vaston, Next:[14068]VAX, Previous:[14069]var, Up:[14070]= V =

vaston n.

[Durham, UK] The unit of `load average'. A measure of how much work a
computer is doing. A meter displaying this as a function of time is
known as a `vastometer'. First used during a computing practical in
December 1996.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:VAX, Next:[14071]VAXectomy, Previous:[14072]vaston, Up:[14073]= V
=

VAX /vaks/ n.

1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most successful minicomputer
design in industry history, possibly excepting its immediate ancestor,
the PDP-11. Between its release in 1978 and its eclipse by
[14074]killer micros after about 1986, the VAX was probably the
hacker's favorite machine of them all, esp. after the 1982 release of
4.2 BSD Unix (see [14075]BSD). Esp. noted for its large,
assembler-programmer-friendly instruction set -- an asset that became
a liability after the RISC revolution. 2. A major brand of vacuum
cleaner in Britain. Cited here because its sales pitch, "Nothing sucks
like a VAX!" became a sort of battle-cry of RISC partisans. It is even
sometimes claimed that DEC actually entered a cross-licensing deal
with the vacuum-Vax people that allowed them to market VAX computers
in the U.K. in return for not challenging the vacuum cleaner trademark
in the U.S.

A rival brand actually pioneered the slogan: its original form was
"Nothing sucks like Electrolux". It has apparently become a classic
example (used in advertising textbooks) of the perils of not knowing
the local idiom. But in 1996, the press manager of Electrolux AB,
while confirming that the company used this slogan in the late 1960s,
also tells us that their marketing people were fully aware of the
possible double entendre and intended it to gain attention.

And gain attention it did - the VAX-vacuum-cleaner people thought the
slogan a sufficiently good idea to copy it. Several British hackers
report that VAX's promotions used it in 1986-1987, and we have one
report from a New Zealander that the infamous slogan surfaced there in
TV ads for the product in 1992.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:VAXectomy, Next:[14076]VAXen, Previous:[14077]VAX, Up:[14078]= V
=

VAXectomy /vak-sek't*-mee/ n.

[by analogy with `vasectomy'] A VAX removal. [14079]DEC's Microvaxen,
especially, are much slower than newer RISC-based workstations such as
the SPARC. Thus, if one knows one has a replacement coming, VAX
removal can be cause for celebration.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:VAXen, Next:[14080]vaxherd, Previous:[14081]VAXectomy,
Up:[14082]= V =

VAXen /vak'sn/ n.

[from `oxen', perhaps influenced by `vixen'] (alt. `vaxen') The plural
canonically used among hackers for the [14083]DEC VAX computers. "Our
installation has four PDP-10s and twenty vaxen." See [14084]boxen.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vaxherd, Next:[14085]vaxism, Previous:[14086]VAXen, Up:[14087]= V
=

vaxherd /vaks'herd/ n. obs.

[from `oxherd'] A VAX operator. The image is reinforced because VAXen
actually did tend to come in herds, technically known as `clusters'.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vaxism, Next:[14088]vaxocentrism, Previous:[14089]vaxherd,
Up:[14090]= V =

vaxism /vak'sizm/ n.

A piece of code that exhibits [14091]vaxocentrism in critical areas.
Compare [14092]PC-ism, [14093]unixism.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vaxocentrism, Next:[14094]vdiff, Previous:[14095]vaxism,
Up:[14096]= V =

vaxocentrism /vak`soh-sen'trizm/ n.

[analogy with `ethnocentrism'] A notional disease said to afflict C
programmers who persist in coding according to certain assumptions
that are valid (esp. under Unix) on [14097]VAXen but false elsewhere.
Among these are:
1. The assumption that dereferencing a null pointer is safe because
it is all bits 0, and location 0 is readable and 0. Problem: this
may instead cause an illegal-address trap on non-VAXen, and even
on VAXen under OSes other than BSD Unix. Usually this is an
implicit assumption of sloppy code (forgetting to check the
pointer before using it), rather than deliberate exploitation of a
misfeature.
2. The assumption that characters are signed.
3. The assumption that a pointer to any one type can freely be cast
into a pointer to any other type. A stronger form of this is the
assumption that all pointers are the same size and format, which
means you don't have to worry about getting the casts or types
correct in calls. Problem: this fails on word-oriented machines or
others with multiple pointer formats.
4. The assumption that the parameters of a routine are stored in
memory, on a stack, contiguously, and in strictly ascending or
descending order. Problem: this fails on many RISC architectures.
5. The assumption that pointer and integer types are the same size,
and that pointers can be stuffed into integer variables (and
vice-versa) and drawn back out without being truncated or mangled.
Problem: this fails on segmented architectures or word-oriented
machines with funny pointer formats.
6. The assumption that a data type of any size may begin at any byte
address in memory (for example, that you can freely construct and
dereference a pointer to a word- or greater-sized object at an odd
char address). Problem: this fails on many (esp. RISC)
architectures better optimized for [14098]HLL execution speed, and
can cause an illegal address fault or bus error.
7. The (related) assumption that there is no padding at the end of
types and that in an array you can thus step right from the last
byte of a previous component to the first byte of the next one.
This is not only machine- but compiler-dependent.
8. The assumption that memory address space is globally flat and that
the array reference foo[-1] is necessarily valid. Problem: this
fails at 0, or other places on segment-addressed machines like
Intel chips (yes, segmentation is universally considered a
[14099]brain-damaged way to design machines (see [14100]moby), but
that is a separate issue).
9. The assumption that objects can be arbitrarily large with no
special considerations. Problem: this fails on segmented
architectures and under non-virtual-addressing environments.
10. The assumption that the stack can be as large as memory. Problem:
this fails on segmented architectures or almost anything else
without virtual addressing and a paged stack.
11. The assumption that bits and addressable units within an object
are ordered in the same way and that this order is a constant of
nature. Problem: this fails on [14101]big-endian machines.
12. The assumption that it is meaningful to compare pointers to
different objects not located within the same array, or to objects
of different types. Problem: the former fails on segmented
architectures, the latter on word-oriented machines or others with
multiple pointer formats.
13. The assumption that an int is 32 bits, or (nearly equivalently)
the assumption that sizeof(int) == sizeof(long). Problem: this
fails on PDP-11s, 286-based systems and even on 386 and 68000
systems under some compilers (and on 64-bit systems like the
Alpha, of course).
14. The assumption that argv[] is writable. Problem: this fails in
many embedded-systems C environments and even under a few flavors
of Unix.

Note that a programmer can validly be accused of vaxocentrism even if
he or she has never seen a VAX. Some of these assumptions (esp. 2-5)
were valid on the PDP-11, the original C machine, and became endemic
years before the VAX. The terms `vaxocentricity' and
`all-the-world's-a-VAX syndrome' have been used synonymously.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vdiff, Next:[14102]veeblefester, Previous:[14103]vaxocentrism,
Up:[14104]= V =

vdiff /vee'dif/ v.,n.

Visual diff. The operation of finding differences between two files by
[14105]eyeball search. The term `optical diff' has also been reported,
and is sometimes more specifically used for the act of superimposing
two nearly identical printouts on one another and holding them up to a
light to spot differences. Though this method is poor for detecting
omissions in the `rear' file, it can also be used with printouts of
graphics, a claim few if any diff programs can make. See [14106]diff.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:veeblefester, Next:[14107]velveeta, Previous:[14108]vdiff,
Up:[14109]= V =

veeblefester /vee'b*l-fes`tr/ n.

[from the "Born Loser" comix via Commodore; prob. originally from
"Mad" Magazine's `Veeblefetzer' parodies beginning in #15, 1954] Any
obnoxious person engaged in the (alleged) professions of marketing or
management. Antonym of [14110]hacker. Compare [14111]suit,
[14112]marketroid.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:velveeta, Next:[14113]ventilator card,
Previous:[14114]veeblefester, Up:[14115]= V =

velveeta n.

[Usenet: by analogy with [14116]spam. The trade name Velveeta is
attached in the U.S. to a particularly nasty processed-cheese spread.]
Also knows as [14117]ECP; a message that is excessively cross-posted,
as opposed to [14118]spam which is too frequently posted. This term is
widely recognized but not commonly used; most people refer to both
kinds of abuse as spam. Compare [14119]jello.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:ventilator card, Next:[14120]Venus flytrap,
Previous:[14121]velveeta, Up:[14122]= V =

ventilator card n.

Syn. [14123]lace card.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Venus flytrap, Next:[14124]verbage, Previous:[14125]ventilator
card, Up:[14126]= V =

Venus flytrap n.

[after the insect-eating plant] See [14127]firewall machine.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:verbage, Next:[14128]verbiage, Previous:[14129]Venus flytrap,
Up:[14130]= V =

verbage /ver'b*j/ n.

A deliberate misspelling and mispronunciation of [14131]verbiage that
assimilates it to the word `garbage'. Compare [14132]content-free.
More pejorative than `verbiage'.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:verbiage, Next:[14133]Version 7, Previous:[14134]verbage,
Up:[14135]= V =

verbiage n.

When the context involves a software or hardware system, this refers
to [14136]documentation. This term borrows the connotations of
mainstream `verbiage' to suggest that the documentation is of marginal
utility and that the motives behind its production have little to do
with the ostensible subject.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:Version 7, Next:[14137]vgrep, Previous:[14138]verbiage,
Up:[14139]= V =

Version 7 alt. V7 /vee' se'vn/ n.

The first widely distributed version of [14140]Unix, released
unsupported by Bell Labs in 1978. The term is used adjectivally to
describe Unix features and programs that date from that release, and
are thus guaranteed to be present and portable in all Unix versions
(this was the standard gauge of portability before the POSIX and IEEE
1003 standards). Note that this usage does not derive from the release
being the "seventh version of [14141]Unix"; research [14142]Unix at
Bell Labs has traditionally been numbered according to the edition of
the associated documentation. Indeed, only the widely-distributed
Sixth and Seventh Editions are widely known as V[67]; the OS that
might today be known as `V10' is instead known in full as "Tenth
Edition Research Unix" or just "Tenth Edition" for short. For this
reason, "V7" is often read by cognoscenti as "Seventh Edition". See
[14143]BSD, [14144]USG Unix, [14145]Unix. Some old-timers impatient
with commercialization and kernel bloat still maintain that V7 was the
Last True Unix.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vgrep, Next:[14146]vi, Previous:[14147]Version 7, Up:[14148]= V =

vgrep /vee'grep/ v.,n.

Visual grep. The operation of finding patterns in a file optically
rather than digitally (also called an `optical grep'). See
[14149]grep; compare [14150]vdiff.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:vi, Next:[14151]video toaster, Previous:[14152]vgrep, Up:[14153]=
V =

vi /V-I/, not /vi:/ and never /siks/ n.

[from `Visual Interface'] A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy
for an early [14154]BSD release. Became the de facto standard Unix
editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favorite outside of MIT until
the rise of [14155]EMACS after about 1984. Tends to frustrate new
users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input
text nor vice versa, and the default setup on older versions provides
no indication of which mode the editor is in (years ago, a
correspondent reported that he has often heard the editor's name
pronounced /vi:l/; there is now a vi clone named `vile'). Nevertheless
vi (and variants such as vim and elvis) is still widely used (about
half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even
EMACS fans often resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing
jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of
EMACS). See [14156]holy wars.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:video toaster, Next:[14157]videotex, Previous:[14158]vi,
Up:[14159]= V =

video toaster n.

Historically, an Amiga fitted with a particular line of special video
effects hardware from NewTek - long a popular platform at
special-effects and video production houses. More generally, any
computer system designed specifically for video production and
manipulation. Compare [14160]web toaster and see [14161]toaster.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:videotex, Next:[14162]virgin, Previous:[14163]video toaster,
Up:[14164]= V =

videotex n. obs.

An electronic service offering people the privilege of paying to read
the weather on their television screens instead of having somebody
read it to them for free while they brush their teeth. The idea bombed
everywhere it wasn't government-subsidized, because by the time
videotex was practical the installed base of personal computers could
hook up to timesharing services and do the things for which videotex
might have been worthwhile better and cheaper. Videotex planners badly
overestimated both the appeal of getting information from a computer
and the cost of local intelligence at the user's end. Like the
[14165]gorilla arm effect, this has been a cautionary tale to hackers
ever since. See also [14166]vannevar.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virgin, Next:[14167]virtual, Previous:[14168]videotex,
Up:[14169]= V =

virgin adj.

Unused; pristine; in a known initial state. "Let's bring up a virgin
system and see if it crashes again." (Esp. useful after contracting a
[14170]virus through [14171]SEX.) Also, by extension, buffers and the
like within a program that have not yet been used.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virtual, Next:[14172]virtual beer, Previous:[14173]virgin,
Up:[14174]= V =

virtual adj.

[via the technical term `virtual memory', prob. from the term `virtual
image' in optics] 1. Common alternative to [14175]logical; often used
to refer to the artificial objects (like addressable virtual memory
larger than physical memory) simulated by a computer system as a
convenient way to manage access to shared resources. 2. Simulated;
performing the functions of something that isn't really there. An
imaginative child's doll may be a virtual playmate. Oppose
[14176]real.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virtual beer, Next:[14177]virtual Friday,
Previous:[14178]virtual, Up:[14179]= V =

virtual beer n.

Praise or thanks. Used universally in the Linux community. Originally
this term signified cash, after a famous incident in which some some
Britishers who wanted to buy Linus a beer and sent him money to
Finland to do so.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virtual Friday, Next:[14180]virtual reality,
Previous:[14181]virtual beer, Up:[14182]= V =

virtual Friday n.

(also `logical Friday') The last day before an extended weekend, if
that day is not a `real' Friday. For example, the U.S. holiday
Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. The next day is often also a
holiday or taken as an extra day off, in which case Wednesday of that
week is a virtual Friday (and Thursday is a virtual Saturday, as is
Friday). There are also `virtual Mondays' that are actually Tuesdays,
after the three-day weekends associated with many national holidays in
the U.S.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virtual reality, Next:[14183]virtual shredder,
Previous:[14184]virtual Friday, Up:[14185]= V =

virtual reality n.

1. Computer simulations that use 3-D graphics and devices such as the
Dataglove to allow the user to interact with the simulation. See
[14186]cyberspace. 2. A form of network interaction incorporating
aspects of role-playing games, interactive theater, improvisational
comedy, and `true confessions' magazines. In a virtual reality forum
(such as Usenet's alt.callahans newsgroup or the [14187]MUD
experiments on Internet), interaction between the participants is
written like a shared novel complete with scenery, `foreground
characters' that may be personae utterly unlike the people who write
them, and common `background characters' manipulable by all parties.
The one iron law is that you may not write irreversible changes to a
character without the consent of the person who `owns' it. Otherwise
anything goes. See [14188]bamf, [14189]cyberspace,
[14190]teledildonics.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virtual shredder, Next:[14191]virus, Previous:[14192]virtual
reality, Up:[14193]= V =

virtual shredder n.

The jargonic equivalent of the [14194]bit bucket at shops using IBM's
VM/CMS operating system. VM/CMS officially supports a whole bestiary
of virtual card readers, virtual printers, and other phantom devices;
these are used to supply some of the same capabilities Unix gets from
pipes and I/O redirection.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:virus, Next:[14195]visionary, Previous:[14196]virtual shredder,
Up:[14197]= V =

virus n.

[from the obvious analogy with biological viruses, via SF] A cracker
program that searches out other programs and `infects' them by
embedding a copy of itself in them, so that they become [14198]Trojan
horses. When these programs are executed, the embedded virus is
executed too, thus propagating the `infection'. This normally happens
invisibly to the user. Unlike a [14199]worm, a virus cannot infect
other computers without assistance. It is propagated by vectors such
as humans trading programs with their friends (see [14200]SEX). The
virus may do nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program
to run normally. Usually, however, after propagating silently for a
while, it starts doing things like writing cute messages on the
terminal or playing strange tricks with the display (some viruses
include nice [14201]display hacks). Many nasty viruses, written by
particularly perversely minded [14202]crackers, do irreversible
damage, like nuking all the user's files.

In the 1990s, viruses became a serious problem, especially among
Windows users; the lack of security on these machines enables viruses
to spread easily, even infecting the operating system (Unix machines,
by contrast, are immune to such attacks). The production of special
anti-virus software has become an industry, and a number of
exaggerated media reports have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among
users; many [14203]lusers tend to blame everything that doesn't work
as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of
`virus' has passed not only into techspeak but into also popular usage
(where it is often incorrectly used to denote a [14204]worm or even a
[14205]Trojan horse). See [14206]phage; compare [14207]back door; see
also [14208]Unix conspiracy.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:visionary, Next:[14209]VMS, Previous:[14210]virus, Up:[14211]= V
=

visionary n.

1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence
researcher working on the problem of getting computers to `see' things
using TV cameras. (There isn't any problem in sending information from
a TV camera to a computer. The problem is, how can the computer be
programmed to make use of the camera information? See [14212]SMOP,
[14213]AI-complete.) 2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. At
IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed with awe and wonder.
_________________________________________________________________

Node:VMS, Next:[14214]voice, Previous:[14215]visionary, Up:[14216]= V
=

VMS /V-M-S/ n.

[14217]DEC's proprietary operating system for its VAX minicomputer;
one of the seven or so environments that loom largest in hacker
folklore. Many Unix fans generously concede that VMS would probably be
the hacker's favorite commercial OS if Unix didn't exist; though true,
this makes VMS fans furious. One major hacker gripe with VMS concerns
its slowness -- thus the following limerick:
There once was a system called VMS
Of cycles by no means abstemious.
It's chock-full of hacks
And runs on a VAX
And makes my poor stomach all squeamious.
--- The Great Quux