The New Hacker's Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📖

Next:[12089]shim,

Previous:[12090]shell out, Up:[12091]= S =

shift left (or right) logical

[from any of various machines' instruction sets] 1. vi. To move

oneself to the left (right). To move out of the way. 2. imper. "Get

out of that (my) seat! You can shift to that empty one to the left

(right)." Often used without the logical', or asleft shift' instead

of `shift left'. Sometimes heard as LSH /lish/, from the [12092]PDP-10

instruction set. See [12093]Programmer's Cheer.

Node:shim, Next:[12094]shitogram, Previous:[12095]shift left (or

right) logical, Up:[12096]= S =

shim n.

A small piece of data inserted in order to achieve a desired memory

alignment or other addressing property. For example, the PDP-11 Unix

linker, in split I&D (instructions and data) mode, inserts a two-byte

shim at location 0 in data space so that no data object will have an

address of 0 (and be confused with the C null pointer). See also

[12097]loose bytes.

Node:shitogram, Next:[12098]short card, Previous:[12099]shim,

Up:[12100]= S =

shitogram /shit'oh-gram/ n.

A really nasty piece of email. Compare [12101]nastygram, [12102]flame.

Node:short card, Next:[12103]shotgun debugging,

Previous:[12104]shitogram, Up:[12105]= S =

short card n.

A half-length IBM XT expansion card or adapter that will fit in one of

the two short slots located towards the right rear of a standard

chassis (tucked behind the floppy disk drives). See also [12106]tall

card.

Node:shotgun debugging, Next:[12107]shovelware, Previous:[12108]short

card, Up:[12109]= S =

shotgun debugging n.

The software equivalent of [12110]Easter egging; the making of

relatively undirected changes to software in the hope that a bug will

be perturbed out of existence. This almost never works, and usually

introduces more bugs.

Node:shovelware, Next:[12111]showstopper, Previous:[12112]shotgun

debugging, Up:[12113]= S =

shovelware /shuh'v*l-weir`/ n.

Extra software dumped onto a CD-ROM or tape to fill up the

remaining space on the medium after the software distribution it's

intended to carry, but not integrated with the distribution. 2. A

slipshod compilation of software dumped onto a CD-ROM without much

care for organization or even usability.

Node:showstopper, Next:[12114]shriek, Previous:[12115]shovelware,

Up:[12116]= S =

showstopper n.

A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an implementation

effectively unusable; one that absolutely has to be fixed before

development can go on. Opposite in connotation from its original

theatrical use, which refers to something stunningly good.

Node:shriek, Next:[12117]Shub-Internet, Previous:[12118]showstopper,

Up:[12119]= S =

shriek n.

See [12120]excl. Occasional CMU usage, also in common use among APL

fans and mathematicians, especially category theorists.

Node:Shub-Internet, Next:[12121]sidecar, Previous:[12122]shriek,

Up:[12123]= S =

Shub-Internet /shuhb' in't*r-net/ n.

[MUD: from H. P. Lovecraft's evil fictional deity Shub-Niggurath, the

Black Goat with a Thousand Young] The harsh personification of the

Internet: Beast of a Thousand Processes, Eater of Characters, Avatar

of Line Noise, and Imp of Call Waiting; the hideous multi-tendriled

entity formed of all the manifold connections of the net. A sect of

MUDders worships Shub-Internet, sacrificing objects and praying for

good connections. To no avail -- its purpose is malign and evil, and

is the cause of all network slowdown. Often heard as in "Freela casts

a tac nuke at Shub-Internet for slowing her down." (A forged response

often follows along the lines of: "Shub-Internet gulps down the tac

nuke and burps happily.") Also cursed by users of the Web, [12124]FTP

and [12125]TELNET when the system slows down. The dread name of

Shub-Internet is seldom spoken aloud, as it is said that repeating it

three times will cause the being to wake, deep within its lair beneath

the Pentagon. Compare [12126]Random Number God.

[January 1996: It develops that one of the computer administrators in

the basement of the Pentagon read this entry and fell over laughing.

As a result, you too can now poke Shub-Internet by [12127]pinging

shub-internet.ims.disa.mil. See also [12128]kremvax. - ESR]

[April 1999: shub-internet.ims.disa.mil is no more, alas. But

Shub-Internet lives o^$#$*^ - ESR]

Node:sidecar, Next:[12129]SIG, Previous:[12130]Shub-Internet,

Up:[12131]= S =

sidecar n.

Syn. [12132]slap on the side. Esp. used of add-ons for the late and

unlamented IBM PCjr. 2. The IBM PC compatibility box that could be

bolted onto the side of an Amiga. Designed and produced by Commodore,

it broke all of the company's own design rules. If it worked with any

other peripherals, it was by [12133]magic. 3. More generally, any of

various devices designed to be connected to the expansion slot on the

left side of the Amiga 500 (and later, 600 & 1200), which included a

hard drive controller, a hard drive, and additional memory.

Node:SIG, Next:[12134]sig block, Previous:[12135]sidecar, Up:[12136]=

S =

SIG /sig/ n.

(also common as a prefix in combining forms) A Special Interest Group,

in one of several technical areas, sponsored by the Association for

Computing Machinery; well-known ones include SIGPLAN (the Special

Interest Group on Programming Languages), SIGARCH (the Special

Interest Group for Computer Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special

Interest Group for Computer Graphics). Hackers, not surprisingly, like

to overextend this naming convention to less formal associations like

SIGBEER (at ACM conferences) and SIGFOOD (at University of Illinois).

Node:sig block, Next:[12137]sig quote, Previous:[12138]SIG,

Up:[12139]= S =

sig block /sig blok/ n.

[Unix; often written .sig' there] Short forsignature', used

specifically to refer to the electronic signature block that most Unix

mail- and news-posting software will [12140]automagically append to

outgoing mail and news. The composition of one's sig can be quite an

art form, including an ASCII logo or one's choice of witty sayings

(see [12141]sig quote, [12142]fool file); but many consider large sigs

a waste of [12143]bandwidth, and it has been observed that the size of

one's sig block is usually inversely proportional to one's longevity

and level of prestige on the net. See also [12144]doubled sig.

Node:sig quote, Next:[12145]sig virus, Previous:[12146]sig block,

Up:[12147]= S =

sig quote /sig kwoht/ n.

[Usenet] A maxim, quote, proverb, joke, or slogan embedded in one's

[12148]sig block and intended to convey something of one's

philosophical stance, pet peeves, or sense of humor. "Calm down, it's

only ones and zeroes."

Node:sig virus, Next:[12149]signal-to-noise ratio, Previous:[12150]sig

quote, Up:[12151]= S =

sig virus n.

A parasitic [12152]meme embedded in a [12153]sig block. There was a

[12154]meme plague or fad for these on Usenet in late 1991. Most were

equivalents of "I am a .sig virus. Please reproduce me in your .sig

block.". Of course, the .sig virus's memetic hook is the giggle value

of going along with the gag; this, however, was a self-limiting

phenomenon as more and more people picked up on the idea. There were

creative variants on it; some people stuck `sig virus antibody' texts

in their sigs, and there was at least one instance of a sig virus

eater.

Node:signal-to-noise ratio, Next:[12155]silicon, Previous:[12156]sig

virus, Up:[12157]= S =

signal-to-noise ratio [from analog electronics] n.

Used by hackers in a generalization of its technical meaning. `Signal'

refers to useful information conveyed by some communications medium,

and `noise' to anything else on that medium. Hence a low ratio implies

that it is not worth paying attention to the medium in question.

Figures for such metaphorical ratios are never given. The term is most

often applied to [12158]Usenet newsgroups during [12159]flame wars.

Compare [12160]bandwidth. See also [12161]coefficient of X,

[12162]lost in the noise.

Node:silicon, Next:[12163]silly walk, Previous:[12164]signal-to-noise

ratio, Up:[12165]= S =

silicon n.

Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer systems (compare

[12166]iron). Contrasted with software. See also [12167]sandbender.

Node:silly walk, Next:[12168]silo, Previous:[12169]silicon,

Up:[12170]= S =

silly walk vi.

[from Monty Python's Flying Circus] 1. A ridiculous procedure required

to accomplish a task. Like [12171]grovel, but more [12172]random and

humorous. "I had to silly-walk through half the /usr directories to

find the maps file." 2. Syn. [12173]fandango on core.

Node:silo, Next:[12174]Silver Book, Previous:[12175]silly walk,

Up:[12176]= S =

silo n.

The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line card. So called from

[12177]DEC terminology used on DH and DZ line cards for the VAX and

PDP-11, presumably because it was a storage space for fungible stuff

that went in at the top and came out at the bottom.

Node:Silver Book, Next:[12178]since time T equals minus infinity,

Previous:[12179]silo, Up:[12180]= S =

Silver Book n.

Jensen and Wirth's infamous "Pascal User Manual and Report", so called

because of the silver cover of the widely distributed Springer-Verlag

second edition of 1978 (ISBN 0-387-90144-2). See [12181]book titles,

[12182]Pascal.

Node:since time T equals minus infinity, Next:[12183]sitename,

Previous:[12184]Silver Book, Up:[12185]= S =

since time T equals minus infinity adv.

A long time ago; for as long as anyone can remember; at the time that

some particular frob was first designed. Usually the word `time' is

omitted. See also [12186]time T; contrast [12187]epoch.

Node:sitename, Next:[12188]skrog, Previous:[12189]since time T equals

minus infinity, Up:[12190]= S =

sitename /si:t'naym/ n.

[Unix/Internet] The unique electronic name of a computer system, used

to identify it in UUCP mail, Usenet, or other forms of electronic

information interchange. The folklore interest of sitenames stems from

the creativity and humor they often display. Interpreting a sitename

is not unlike interpreting a vanity license plate; one has to mentally

unpack it, allowing for mono-case and length restrictions and the lack

of whitespace. Hacker tradition deprecates dull,

institutional-sounding names in favor of punchy, humorous, and clever

coinages (except that it is considered appropriate for the official

public gateway machine of an organization to bear the organization's

name or acronym). Mythological references, cartoon characters, animal

names, and allusions to SF or fantasy literature are probably the most

popular sources for sitenames (in roughly descending order). The

obligatory comment when discussing these is Harris's Lament: "All the

good ones are taken!" See also [12191]network address.

Node:skrog, Next:[12192]skulker, Previous:[12193]sitename, Up:[12194]=

S =

skrog v.

Syn. [12195]scrog.

Node:skulker, Next:[12196]slab, Previous:[12197]skrog, Up:[12198]= S =

skulker n.

Syn. [12199]prowler.

Node:slab, Next:[12200]slack, Previous:[12201]skulker, Up:[12202]= S =

slab [Apple]

n. A continuous horizontal line of pixels, all with the same color.

vi. To paint a slab on an output device. Apple's QuickDraw, like

most other professional-level graphics systems, renders polygons and

lines not with Bresenham's algorithm, but by calculating `slab points'

for each scan line on the screen in succession, and then slabbing in

the actual image pixels.

Node:slack, Next:[12203]slap on the side, Previous:[12204]slab,

Up:[12205]= S =

slack n.

Space allocated to a disk file but not actually used to store

useful information. The techspeak equivalent is `internal

fragmentation'. Antonym: [12206]hole. 2. In the theology of the

[12207]Church of the SubGenius, a mystical substance or quality that

is the prerequisite of all human happiness.

Since Unix files are stored compactly, except for the unavoidable

wastage in the last block or fragment, it might be said that "Unix has

no slack". See [12208]ha ha only serious.

Node:slap on the side, Next:[12209]slash, Previous:[12210]slack,

Up:[12211]= S =

slap on the side n.

(also called a [12212]sidecar, or abbreviated `SOTS'.) A type of

external expansion hardware marketed by computer manufacturers (e.g.,

Commodore for the Amiga 500/1000 series and IBM for the hideous

failure called `PCjr'). Various SOTS boxes provided necessities such

as memory, hard drive controllers, and conventional expansion slots.

Node:slash, Next:[12213]slashdot effect, Previous:[12214]slap on the

side, Up:[12215]= S =

slash n.

Common name for the slant (`/', ASCII 0101111) character. See

[12216]ASCII for other synonyms.

Node:slashdot effect, Next:[12217]sleep, Previous:[12218]slash,

Up:[12219]= S =

slashdot effect n.

Also spelled "/. effect"; what is said to have happened when a

website being virtually unreachable because too many people are

hitting it after the site was mentioned in an interesting article on

the popular [12220]Slashdot news service. The term is quite widely

used by /. readers, including variants like "That site has been

slashdotted again!" 2. In a perhaps inevitable generation, the term is

being used to describe any similar effect from being listed on a

popular site. This would better be described as a [12221]flash crowd.

Node:sleep, Next:[12222]slim, Previous:[12223]slashdot effect,

Up:[12224]= S =

sleep vi.

[techspeak] To relinquish a claim (of a process on a multitasking

system) for service; to indicate to the scheduler that a process may

be deactivated until some