Chapter 40

This term is often confused with mung, which probably was derived from it. However, it also appears the word `munge' was in common use in Scotland in the 1940s, and in Yorkshire in the 1950s, as a verb, meaning to munch up into a masticated mess, and as a noun, meaning the result of munging something up (the parallel with the kluge/kludge pair is amusing). The OED reports `munge' as an archaic verb nmeaning "to wipe (a person's nose)".

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Murphy's Law prov.

The correct, original Murphy's Law reads: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it." This is a principle of defensive design, cited here because it is usually given in mutant forms less descriptive of the challenges of design for lusers. For example, you don't make a two-pin plug symmetrical and then label it `THIS WAY UP'; if it matters which way it is plugged in, then you make the design asymmetrical (see also the anecdote under magic smoke).

Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of the engineers on the rocket-sled experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981). One experiment involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 the wrong way around. Murphy then made the original form of his pronouncement, which the test subject (Major John Paul Stapp) quoted at a news conference a few days later.

Within months `Murphy's Law' had spread to various technical cultures connected to aerospace engineering. Before too many years had gone by variants had passed into the popular imagination, changing as they went. Most of these are variants on "Anything that can go wrong, will"; this is correctly referred to as Finagle's Law. The memetic drift apparent in these mutants clearly demonstrates Murphy's Law acting on itself!

Node:music, Next:mutter, Previous:Murphy's Law, Up:= M =

music n.

A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare science-fiction fandom, oriental food; see also filk). Hackish folklore has long claimed that musical and programming abilities are closely related, and there has been at least one large-scale statistical study that supports this. Hackers, as a rule, like music and often develop musical appreciation in unusual and interesting directions. Folk music is very big in hacker circles; so is electronic music, and the sort of elaborate instrumental jazz/rock that used to be called `progressive' and isn't recorded much any more. The hacker's musical range tends to be wide; many can listen with equal appreciation to (say) Talking Heads, Yes, Gentle Giant, Pat Metheny, Scott Joplin, Tangerine Dream, Dream Theater, King Sunny Ade, The Pretenders, Screaming Trees, or the Brandenburg Concerti. It is also apparently true that hackerdom includes a much higher concentration of talented amateur musicians than one would expect from a similar-sized control group of mundane types.

Node:mutter, Next:N, Previous:music, Up:= M =

mutter vt.

To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes, or fingers of ordinary mortals. Often used in `mutter an incantation'. See also wizard.

Node:= N =, Next:= O =, Previous:= M =, Up:The Jargon Lexicon

= N =

N:

nadger:

nagware:

nailed to the wall:

nailing jelly:

naive:

naive user:

NAK:

NANA:

nano:

nano-:

nanoacre:

nanobot:

nanocomputer:

nanofortnight:

nanotechnology:

nasal demons:

nastygram:

Nathan Hale:

nature:

neat hack:

neats vs. scruffies:

neep-neep:

neophilia:

nerd:

nerd knob:

net.-:

net.god:

net.personality:

net.police:

NetBOLLIX:

netburp:

netdead:

nethack:

netiquette:

netlag:

netnews:

netrock:

Netscrape:

netsplit:

netter:

network address:

network meltdown:

New Jersey:

New Testament:

newbie:

newgroup wars:

newline:

NeWS:

newsfroup:

newsgroup:

nick:

nickle:

night mode:

Nightmare File System:

NIL:

Ninety-Ninety Rule:

nipple mouse:

NMI:

no-op:

noddy:

node:

Nominal Semidestructor:

non-optimal solution:

nonlinear:

nontrivial:

not ready for prime time:

notwork:

NP-:

nroff:

NSA line eater:

NSP:

nude:

nugry:

nuke:

number-crunching:

numbers:

NUXI problem:

nybble:

nyetwork:

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N /N/ quant.

1. A large and indeterminate number of objects: "There were N bugs in that crock!" Also used in its original sense of a variable name: "This crock has N bugs, as N goes to infinity." (The true number of bugs is always at least N + 1; see Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology.) 2. A variable whose value is inherited from the current context. For example, when a meal is being ordered at a restaurant, N may be understood to mean however many people there are at the table. From the remark "We'd like to order N wonton soups and a family dinner for N - 1" you can deduce that one person at the table wants to eat only soup, even though you don't know how many people there are (see great-wall). 3. `Nth': adj. The ordinal counterpart of N, senses 1 and 2. "Now for the Nth and last time..." In the specific context "Nth-year grad student", N is generally assumed to be at least 4, and is usually 5 or more (see tenured graduate student). See also random numbers, two-to-the-N.

Node:nadger, Next:nagware, Previous:N, Up:= N =

nadger /nad'jr/ v.

[UK, from rude slang noun `nadgers' for testicles; compare American & British `bollixed'] Of software or hardware (not people), to twiddle some object in a hidden manner, generally so that it conforms better to some format. For instance, string printing routines on 8-bit processors often take the string text from the instruction stream, thus a print call looks like jsr print:"Hello world". The print routine has to `nadger' the saved instruction pointer so that the processor doesn't try to execute the text as instructions when the subroutine returns. See adger.

Node:nagware, Next:nailed to the wall, Previous:nadger, Up:= N =

nagware /nag'weir/ n.

[Usenet] The variety of shareware that displays a large screen at the beginning or end reminding you to register, typically requiring some sort of keystroke to continue so that you can't use the software in batch mode. Compare annoyware, crippleware.

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nailed to the wall adj.

[like a trophy] Said of a bug finally eliminated after protracted, and even heroic, effort.

Node:nailing jelly, Next:naive, Previous:nailed to the wall, Up:= N =

nailing jelly vi.

See like nailing jelly to a tree.

Node:naive, Next:naive user, Previous:nailing jelly, Up:= N =

naive adj.

1. Untutored in the perversities of some particular program or system; one who still tries to do things in an intuitive way, rather than the right way (in really good designs these coincide, but most designs aren't `really good' in the appropriate sense). This trait is completely unrelated to general maturity or competence, or even competence at any other specific program. It is a sad commentary on the primitive state of computing that the natural opposite of this term is often claimed to be `experienced user' but is really more like `cynical user'. 2. Said of an algorithm that doesn't take advantage of some superior but advanced technique, e.g., the bubble sort. It may imply naivete on the part of the programmer, although there are situations where a naive algorithm is preferred, because it is more important to keep the code comprehensible than to go for maximum performance. "I know the linear search is naive, but in this case the list typically only has half a dozen items."

Node:naive user, Next:NAK, Previous:naive, Up:= N =

naive user n.

A luser. Tends to imply someone who is ignorant mainly owing to inexperience. When this is applied to someone who has experience, there is a definite implication of stupidity.

Node:NAK, Next:NANA, Previous:naive user, Up:= N =

NAK /nak/ interj.

[from the ASCII mnemonic for 0010101] 1. On-line joke answer to ACK?: "I'm not here." 2. On-line answer to a request for chat: "I'm not available." 3. Used to politely interrupt someone to tell them you don't understand their point or that they have suddenly stopped making sense. See ACK, sense 3. "And then, after we recode the project in COBOL...." "Nak, Nak, Nak! I thought I heard you say COBOL!" 4. A negative answer. "OK if I boot the server?" "NAK!"

Node:NANA, Next:nano, Previous:NAK, Up:= N =

NANA //

[Usenet] The newsgroups news.admin.net-abuse.*, devoted to fighting spam and network abuse. Each individual newsgroup is often referred to by adding a letter to NANA. For example, NANAU would refer to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet.

When spam began to be a serious problem around 1995, and a loose network of anti-spammers formed to combat it, spammers immediately accused them of being the backbone cabal, or the Cabal reborn. Though this was not true, spam-fighters ironically accepted the label and the tag line "There is No Cabal" reappeared (later, and now commonly, abbreviated to "TINC"). Nowadays "the Cabal" is generally understood to refer to the NANA regulars.

Node:nano, Next:nano-, Previous:NANA, Up:= N =

nano /nan'oh/ n.

[CMU: from `nanosecond'] A brief period of time. "Be with you in a nano" means you really will be free shortly, i.e., implies what mainstream people mean by "in a jiffy" (whereas the hackish use of `jiffy' is quite different -- see jiffy).

Node:nano-, Next:nanoacre, Previous:nano, Up:= N =

nano- pref.

[SI: the next quantifier below micro-; meaning * 10^(-9)] Smaller than micro-, and used in the same rather loose and connotative way. Thus, one has nanotechnology (coined by hacker K. Eric Drexler) by analogy with `microtechnology'; and a few machine architectures have a `nanocode' level below `microcode'. Tom Duff at Bell Labs has also pointed out that "Pi seconds is a nanocentury". See also quantifiers, pico-, nanoacre, nanobot, nanocomputer, nanofortnight.

Node:nanoacre, Next:nanobot, Previous:nano-, Up:= N =

nanoacre /nan'oh-ay`kr/ n.

A unit (about 2 mm square) of real estate on a VLSI chip. The term gets its giggle value from the fact that VLSI nanoacres have costs in the same range as real acres once one figures in design and fabrication-setup costs.

Node:nanobot, Next:nanocomputer, Previous:nanoacre, Up:= N =

nanobot /nan'oh-bot/ n.

A robot of microscopic proportions, presumably built by means of nanotechnology. As yet, only used informally (and speculatively!). Also called a `nanoagent'.

Node:nanocomputer, Next:nanofortnight, Previous:nanobot, Up:= N =

nanocomputer /nan'oh-k*m-pyoo'tr/ n.

A computer with molecular-sized switching elements. Designs for mechanical nanocomputers which use single-molecule sliding rods for their logic have been proposed. The controller for a nanobot would be a nanocomputer.

Node:nanofortnight, Next:nanotechnology, Previous:nanocomputer, Up:= N =

nanofortnight n.

[Adelaide University] 1 fortnight * 10^(-9), or about 1.2 msec. This unit was used largely by students doing undergraduate practicals. See microfortnight, attoparsec, and micro-.

Node:nanotechnology, Next:nasal demons, Previous:nanofortnight, Up:= N =

nanotechnology /nan'-oh-tek-no`l*-jee/ n.

A hypothetical fabrication technology in which objects are designed and built with the individual specification and placement of each separate atom. The first unequivocal nanofabrication experiments took place in 1990, for example with the deposition of individual xenon atoms on a nickel substrate to spell the logo of a certain very large computer company. Nanotechnology has been a hot topic in the hacker subculture ever since the term was coined by K. Eric Drexler in his book "Engines of Creation" (Anchor/Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-19973-2), where he predicted that nanotechnology could give rise to replicating assemblers, permitting an exponential growth of productivity and personal wealth (there's an authorized transcription at http://www.foresight.org/EOC/index.html.). See also blue goo, gray goo, nanobot.

Node:nasal demons, Next:nastygram, Previous:nanotechnology, Up:= N =

nasal demons n.

Recognized shorthand on the Usenet group _comp.std.c_ for any unexpected behavior of a C compiler on encountering an undefined construct. During a discussion on that group in early 1992, a regular remarked "When the compiler encounters [a given undefined construct] it is legal for it to make demons fly out of your nose" (the implication is that the compiler may choose any arbitrarily bizarre way to interpret the code without violating the ANSI C standard). Someone else followed up with a reference to "nasal demons", which quickly became established.

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nastygram /nas'tee-gram/ n.

1. A protocol packet or item of email (the latter is also called a letterbomb) that takes advantage of misfeatures or security holes on the target system to do untoward things. 2. Disapproving mail, esp. from a net.god, pursuant to a violation of netiquette or a complaint about failure to correct some mail- or news-transmission problem. Compare shitogram, mailbomb. 3. A status report from an unhappy, and probably picky, customer. "What'd Corporate say in today's nastygram?" 4. [deprecated] An error reply by mail from a daemon; in particular, a bounce message.

Node:Nathan Hale, Next:nature, Previous:nastygram, Up:= N =

Nathan Hale n.

An asterisk (see also splat, ASCII). Oh, you want an etymology? Notionally, from "I regret that I have only one asterisk for my country!", a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just before he was hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels in the American War of Independence.

Node:nature, Next:neat hack, Previous:Nathan Hale, Up:= N =

nature n.

See has the X nature.

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neat hack n.

[very common] 1. A clever technique. 2. A brilliant practical joke, where neatness is correlated with cleverness, harmlessness, and surprise value. Example: the Caltech Rose Bowl card display switch (see Appendix A for discussion). See also hack.

Node:neats vs. scruffies, Next:neep-neep, Previous:neat hack, Up:= N =

neats vs. scruffies n.

The label used to refer to one of the continuing holy wars in AI research. This conflict tangles together two separate issues. One is the relationship between human reasoning and AI; `neats' tend to try to build systems that `reason' in some way identifiably similar to the way humans report themselves as doing, while `scruffies' profess not to care whether an algorithm resembles human reasoning in the least as long as it works. More importantly, neats tend to believe that logic is king, while scruffies favor looser, more ad-hoc methods driven by empirical knowledge. To a neat, scruffy methods appear promiscuous, successful only by accident, and not productive of insights about how intelligence actually works; to a scruffy, neat methods appear to be hung up on formalism and irrelevant to the hard-to-capture `common sense' of living intelligences.

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neep-neep /neep neep/ n.

[onomatopoeic, widely spread through SF fandom but reported to have originated at Caltech in the 1970s] One who is fascinated by computers. Less specific than hacker, as it need not imply more skill than is required to boot games on a PC. The derived noun `neeping' applies specifically to the long conversations about computers that tend to develop in the corners at most SF-convention parties (the term `neepery' is also in wide use). Fandom has a related proverb to the effect that "Hacking is a conversational black hole!".

Node:neophilia, Next:nerd, Previous:neep-neep, Up:= N =

neophilia /nee`oh-fil'-ee-*/ n.

The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty. Common among most hackers, SF fans, and members of several other connected leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology `Whole Earth' wing of the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and the Discordian/neo-pagan underground. All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, music, and oriental food. The opposite tendency is `neophobia'.

Node:nerd, Next:nerd knob, Previous:neophilia, Up:= N =

nerd n.

1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals. 2. [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what's really important and interesting and doesn't care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games. Compare the two senses of computer geek.

The word itself appears to derive from the lines "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo / And Bring Back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, / A Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!" in the Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran the Zoo" (1950). (The spellings `nurd' and `gnurd' also used to be current at MIT, where `nurd' is reported from as far back as 1957.) How it developed its mainstream meaning is unclear, but sense 1 seems to have entered mass culture in the early 1970s (there are reports that in the mid-1960s it meant roughly "annoying misfit" without the connotation of intelligence).

An IEEE Spectrum article (4/95, page 16) once derived `nerd' in its variant form `knurd' from the word `drunk' backwards, but this bears all the hallmarks of a bogus folk etymology.

Hackers developed sense 2 in self-defense perhaps ten years later, and some actually wear "Nerd Pride" buttons, only half as a joke. At MIT one can find not only buttons but (what else?) pocket protectors bearing the slogan and the MIT seal.

Node:nerd knob, Next:net.-, Previous:nerd, Up:= N =

nerd knob n.

[Cisco] a command in a complex piece of software which is more likely to be used by an extremely experienced user to tweak a setting of one sort or another - a setting which the average user may not even know exists. Nerd knobs tend to be toggles, turning on or off a particular, specific, narrowly defined behavior.

Node:net.-, Next:net.god, Previous:nerd knob, Up:= N =

net.- /net dot/ pref.

[Usenet] Prefix used to describe people and events related to Usenet. From the time before the Great Renaming, when most non-local newsgroups had names beginning `net.'. Includes net.gods, `net.goddesses' (various charismatic net.women with circles of on-line admirers), `net.lurkers' (see lurker), `net.person', `net.parties' (a synonym for boink, sense 2), and many similar constructs. See also net.police.

Node:net.god, Next:net.personality, Previous:net.-, Up:= N =

net.god /net god/ n.

Accolade referring to anyone who satisfies some combination of the following conditions: has been visible on Usenet for more than 5 years, ran one of the original backbone sites, moderated an important newsgroup, wrote news software, or knows Gene, Mark, Rick, Mel, Henry, Chuq, and Greg personally. See demigod. Net.goddesses such as Rissa or the Slime Sisters have (so far) been distinguished more by personality than by authority.

Node:net.personality, Next:net.police, Previous:net.god, Up:= N =

net.personality /net per`sn-al'-*-tee/ n.

Someone who has made a name for him or herself on Usenet, through either longevity or attention-getting posts, but doesn't meet the other requirements of net.godhood.

Node:net.police, Next:NetBOLLIX, Previous:net.personality, Up:= N =

net.police /net-p*-lees'/ n.

(var. `net.cops') Those Usenet readers who feel it is their responsibility to pounce on and flame any posting which they regard as offensive or in violation of their understanding of netiquette. Generally used sarcastically or pejoratively. Also spelled `net police'. See also net.-, code police.

Node:NetBOLLIX, Next:netburp, Previous:net.police, Up:= N =

NetBOLLIX n.

[from bollix: to bungle, or British `bollocks'] IBM's NetBIOS, an extremely brain-damaged network protocol that, like Blue Glue, is used at commercial shops that don't know any better.

Node:netburp, Next:netdead, Previous:NetBOLLIX, Up:= N =

netburp n.

[IRC] When netlag gets really bad, and delays between servers exceed a certain threshhold, the IRC network effectively becomes partitioned for a period of time, and large numbers of people seem to be signing off at the same time and then signing back on again when things get better. An instance of this is called a `netburp' (or, sometimes, netsplit).

Node:netdead, Next:nethack, Previous:netburp, Up:= N =

netdead n.

[IRC] The state of someone who signs off IRC, perhaps during a netburp, and doesn't sign back on until later. In the interim, he is "dead to the net". Compare link-dead.

Node:nethack, Next:netiquette, Previous:netdead, Up:= N =

nethack /net'hak/ n.

[Unix] A dungeon game similar to rogue but more elaborate, distributed in C source over Usenet and very popular at Unix sites and on PC-class machines (nethack is probably the most widely distributed of the freeware dungeon games). The earliest versions, written by Jay Fenlason and later considerably enhanced by Andries Brouwer, were simply called `hack'. The name changed when maintenance was taken over by a group of hackers originally organized by Mike Stephenson. There is now an official site one at http://www.nethack.org/. See also moria, rogue, Angband.

Node:netiquette, Next:netlag, Previous:nethack, Up:= N =

netiquette /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ n.

[portmanteau, network + etiquette] The conventions of politeness recognized on Usenet, such as avoidance of cross-posting to inappropriate groups and refraining from commercial pluggery outside the _biz_ groups.

Node:netlag, Next:netnews, Previous:netiquette, Up:= N =

netlag n.

[IRC, MUD] A condition that occurs when the delays in the IRC network or on a MUD become severe enough that servers briefly lose and then reestablish contact, causing messages to be delivered in bursts, often with delays of up to a minute. (Note that this term has nothing to do with mainstream "jet lag", a condition which hackers tend not to be much bothered by.) Often shortened to just `lag'.

Node:netnews, Next:netrock, Previous:netlag, Up:= N =

netnews /net'n[y]ooz/ n.

1. The software that makes Usenet run. 2. The content of Usenet. "I read netnews right after my mail most mornings."

Node:netrock, Next:Netscrape, Previous:netnews, Up:= N =

netrock /net'rok/ n.

[IBM] A flame; used esp. on VNET, IBM's internal corporate network.

Node:Netscrape, Next:netsplit, Previous:netrock, Up:= N =

Netscrape n.

[sometimes elaborated to `Netscrape Fornicator', also `Nutscrape'] Standard name-of-insult for Netscape Navigator/Communicator, Netscape's overweight Web browser. Compare Internet Exploiter.

Node:netsplit, Next:netter, Previous:Netscrape, Up:= N =

netsplit n.

Syn. netburp.

Node:netter, Next:network address, Previous:netsplit, Up:= N =

netter n.

1. Loosely, anyone with a network address. 2. More specifically, a Usenet regular. Most often found in the plural. "If you post that in a technical group, you're going to be flamed by angry netters for the rest of time!"

Node:network address, Next:network meltdown, Previous:netter, Up:= N =

network address n.