The New Hacker's Dictionary

1001

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Node:spam, Next:[12514]spam bait, Previous:[12515]spaghetti inheritance, Up:[12516]= S =

spam vt.,vi.,n.

[from "Monty Python's Flying Circus"] 1. To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively large input data. See also [12517]buffer overflow, [12518]overrun screw, [12519]smash the stack. 2. To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages. You can spam a newsgroup with as little as one well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?" on soc.women). This is often done with [12520]cross-posting (e.g. any message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both groups). This overlaps with [12521]troll behavior; the latter more specific term has become more common. 3. To send many identical or nearly-identical messages separately to a large number of Usenet newsgroups. This is more specifically called `ECP', Excessive Cross-Posting. This is one sure way to infuriate nearly everyone on the Net. See also [12522]velveeta and [12523]jello. 4. To bombard a newsgroup with multiple copies of a message. This is more specifically called `EMP', Excessive Multi-Posting. 5. To mass-mail unrequested identical or nearly-identical email messages, particularly those containing advertising. Especially used when the mail addresses have been culled from network traffic or databases without the consent of the recipients. Synonyms include [12524]UCE, [12525]UBE. 6. Any large, annoying, quantity of output. For instance, someone on IRC who walks away from their screen and comes back to find 200 lines of text might say "Oh no, spam".

The later definitions have become much more prevalent as the Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to most people senses 3 4 and 5 are now primary. All three behaviors are considered abuse of the net, and are almost universally grounds for termination of the originator's email account or network connection. In these senses the term `spam' has gone mainstream,

1002

though without its original sense or folkloric freight - there is apparently a widespread myth among [12526]lusers that "spamming" is what happens when you dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan.

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Node:spam bait, Next:[12527]spamblock, Previous:[12528]spam, Up:[12529]= S =

spam bait n.

Email addresses included in, or comprising the entirety of, a usenet message so that spammers mining a newsgroup with an [12530]address harvester will collect them. These addresses can be people who have offended or annoyed the poster, or who are included so that a spammer will spam an official, thereby causing himself trouble. One particularly effective form of spam bait is the address of a [12531]teergrube.

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Node:spamblock, Next:[12532]spamhaus, Previous:[12533]spam bait, Up:[12534]= S =

spamblock /spam'blok/ n.

[poss. by analogy to sunblock] Text inserted in an email address to render it invalid and thus useless to spammers. For example, the address `jrandom@hacker.org' might be transformed to `jrandom@NOSPAM.hacker.org'. Adding spamblock to an address is often referred to as `munging' it (see [12535]munge)-. This evasion tactic depends on the fact that most spammers collect names with some sort of [12536]address harvester on volumes too high to de-mung by hand, but individual humans reading an email message can readily spot and remove a spamblock in the from address.

1004

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Node:spangle, Next:[12548]spawn, Previous:[12549]spamvertize,

Up:[12550]= S =

spangle n.

[UK] The singular of [12551]bells and whistles. See also [12552]spungle.

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Node:spawn, Next:[12553]special-case, Previous:[12554]spangle,

Up:[12555]= S =

spawn n.,vi.

1. [techspeak] In UNIX parlance, to create a child process from within a process. Technically this is a `fork'; the term `spawn' is a bit more general and is used for threads (lightweight processes) as well as traditional heavyweight processes. 2. In gaming, meant to indicate where (`spawn-point') and when a player comes to life (or `re-spawns') after being killed. Opposite of [12556]frag.

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Node:special-case, Next:[12557]speedometer, Previous:[12558]spawn,

Up:[12559]= S =

special-case vt.

To write unique code to handle input to or situations arising in a program that are somehow distinguished from normal processing. This would be used for processing of mode switches or interrupt characters in an interactive interface (as opposed, say, to text entry or normal commands), or for processing of [12560]hidden flags in the input of a batch program or [12561]filter.

1008

Node:spl, Next:[12595]splash screen, Previous:[12596]spin, Up:[12597]= S =

spl /S-P-L/

[abbrev, from Set Priority Level] The way traditional Unix kernels implement mutual exclusion by running code at high interrupt levels. Used in jargon to describe the act of tuning in or tuning out ordinary communication. Classically, spl levels run from 1 to 7; "Fred's at spl 6 today" would mean that he is very hard to interrupt. "Wait till I finish this; I'll spl down then." See also [12598]interrupts locked out.

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Node:splash screen, Next:[12599]splat, Previous:[12600]spl, Up:[12601]= S =

splash screen n.

[Mac users] Syn. [12602]banner, sense 3.

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Node:splat, Next:[12603]splat out, Previous:[12604]splash screen, Up:[12605]= S =

splat n.

1. Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and others) for the asterisk (*) character (ASCII 0101010). This may derive from the `squashed-bug' appearance of the asterisk on many early line printers. 2. [MIT] Name used by some people for the # character (ASCII 0100011). 3. The [12606]feature key on a Mac (same as [12607]alt, sense 2). 4. obs. Name used by some people for the Stanford/ITS extended ASCII circle-x character. This character is also called `blobby' and `frob', among other names; it is sometimes used by mathematicians as a notation for `tensor product'. 5.

1009

obs. Name for the semi-mythical Stanford extended ASCII circle-plus character. See also [12608]ASCII.

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Node:splat out, Next:[12609]spod, Previous:[12610]splat, Up:[12611]= S =

splat out v.

[Usenet] To partially obscure a potentially provocative word by substituting [12612]splat characters for some of its letters (usually, but not always, the vowels). The purpose is not to make the word unrecognizable but to make it a mention rather than a use, so that no flamewar ensues. Words often splatted out include N*z* (see [12613]Godwin's Law), *v*l*t**n (anywhere fundamentalists might be lurking), *b*rt**n, and g*n c*ntr*l. Compare [12614]UN*X.

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Node:spod, Next:[12615]spoiler, Previous:[12616]splat out, Up:[12617]= S

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spod n.

[UK] 1. A lower form of life found on [12618]talker systems and [12619]MUDs. The spod has few friends in [12620]RL and uses talkers instead, finding communication easier and preferable over the net. He has all the negative traits of the [12621]computer geek without having any interest in computers per se. Lacking any knowledge of or interest in how networks work, and considering his access a God-given right, he is a major irritant to sysadmins, clogging up lines in order to reach new MUDs, following passed-on instructions on how to sneak his way onto Internet ("Wow! It's in America!") and complaining when he is not allowed to use busy routes. A true spod will start any conversation with "Are you male or female?" (and follow it up with "Got any good numbers/IDs/passwords?") and will not talk to someone physically present in the same terminal room

1010

until they log onto the same machine that he is using and enter talk mode. Compare [12622]newbie, [12623]tourist, [12624]weenie, [12625]twink, [12626]terminal junkie, [12627]warez d00dz. 2. A [12628]backronym for "Sole Purpose, Obtain a Degree"; according to some self-described spods, this term is used by indifferent students to condemn their harder-working fellows. Compare the defiant adoption of the term `geek' in the mid-1990s by people who would previously have been stigmatized by it (see [12629]computer geek). 3. [obs.] An ordinary person; a [12630]random. This is the meaning with which the term was coined, but the inventor informs us he has himself accepted sense 1.

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Node:spoiler, Next:[12631]spoiler space, Previous:[12632]spod, Up:[12633]= S =

spoiler n.

[Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the article) the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the movie. 2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of working out the correct answer (see also [12634]interesting). Either sense readily forms compounds like `total spoiler', `quasi-spoiler' and even `pseudo-spoiler'.

By convention, articles which are spoilers in either sense should contain the word `spoiler' in the Subject: line, or guarantee via various tricks that the answer appears only after several screens-full of warning, or conceal the sensitive information via [12635]rot13, [12636]spoiler space or some combination of these techniques.

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Node:spoiler space, Next:[12637]sponge, Previous:[12638]spoiler, Up:[12639]= S =