The New Hacker's Dictionary

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Node:cup holder, Next:[3377]cursor dipped in X, Previous:[3378]cubing, Up:[3379]= C =

cup holder n.

The tray of a CD-ROM drive, or by extension the CD drive itself. So called because of a common tech support legend about the idiot who called to complain that the cup holder on his computer broke. A joke program was once distributed around the net called "cupholder.exe", which when run simply extended the CD drive tray. The humor of this was of course lost on people whose drive had a slot or a caddy instead.

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Node:cursor dipped in X, Next:[3380]cuspy, Previous:[3381]cup holder, Up:[3382]= C =

cursor dipped in X n.

There are a couple of metaphors in English of the form `pen dipped in X' (perhaps the most common values of X are `acid', `bile', and `vitriol'). These map over neatly to this hackish usage (the cursor being what moves, leaving letters behind, when one is composing on-line). "Talk about a [3383]nastygram! He must've had his cursor dipped in acid when he wrote that one!"

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cuspy /kuhs'pee/ adj.

[WPI: from the [3387]DEC abbreviation CUSP, for `Commonly Used System Program', i.e., a utility program used by many people] 1. (of a program) Well-written. 2. Functionally excellent. A program that performs

302

well and interfaces well to users is cuspy. See [3388]rude. 3. [NYU] Said of an attractive woman, especially one regarded as available. Implies a certain curvaceousness.

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Node:cut a tape, Next:[3389]cybercrud, Previous:[3390]cuspy, Up:[3391]= C =

cut a tape vi.

To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tape for shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting the medium! Early versions of this lexicon claimed that one never analogously speaks of `cutting a disk', but this has since been reported as live usage. Related slang usages are mainstream business's `cut a check', the recording industry's `cut a record', and the military's `cut an order'.

All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete recording and duplication technologies. The first stage in manufacturing an old-style vinyl record involved cutting grooves in a stamping die with a precision lathe. More mundanely, the dominant technology for mass duplication of paper documents in pre-photocopying days involved "cutting a stencil", punching away portions of the wax overlay on a silk screen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in it was an important early storage medium.

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Node:cybercrud, Next:[3392]cyberpunk, Previous:[3393]cut a tape, Up:[3394]= C =

cybercrud /si:'ber-kruhd/ n.

1. [coined by Ted Nelson] Obfuscatory tech-talk. Verbiage with a high [3395]MEGO factor. The computer equivalent of bureaucratese. 2. Incomprehensible stuff embedded in email. First there were the "Received"

303

headers that show how mail flows through systems, then MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions) headers and part boundaries, and now huge blocks of radix-64 for PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail) or PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) digital signatures and certificates of authenticity. This stuff all services a purpose and good user interfaces should hide it, but all too often users are forced to wade through it.

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Node:cyberpunk, Next:[3396]cyberspace, Previous:[3397]cybercrud,

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cyberpunk /si:'ber-puhnk/ n.,adj.

[orig. by SF writer Bruce Bethke and/or editor Gardner Dozois] A subgenre of SF launched in 1982 by William Gibson's epoch-making novel "Neuromancer" (though its roots go back through Vernor Vinge's "True Names" (see the [3399]Bibliography in Appendix C) to John Brunner's 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider"). Gibson's near-total ignorance of computers and the present-day hacker culture enabled him to speculate about the role of computers and hackers in the future in ways hackers have since found both irritatingly na•ve and tremendously stimulating. Gibson's work was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived but innovative "Max Headroom" TV series. See [3400]cyberspace, [3401]ice, [3402]jack in, [3403]go flatline.

Since 1990 or so, popular culture has included a movement or fashion trend that calls itself `cyberpunk', associated especially with the rave/techno subculture. Hackers have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, self-described cyberpunks too often seem to be shallow trendoids in black leather who have substituted enthusiastic blathering about technology for actually learning and doing it. Attitude is no substitute for competence. On the other hand, at least cyberpunks are excited about the right things and properly respectful of hacking talent in those who have it. The general consensus is to tolerate them politely in hopes that they'll attract people who grow into being true hackers.

305

1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as a "cycle junkie"). One can describe an instruction as taking so many `clock cycles'. Often the computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and so one speaks also of `memory cycles'. These are technical meanings of [3417]cycle. The jargon meaning comes from the observation that there are only so many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer the cycles get divided up among the users. The more cycles the computer spends working on your program rather than someone else's, the faster your program will run. That's why every hacker wants more cycles: so he can spend less time waiting for the computer to respond. 2. By extension, a notional unit of human thought power, emphasizing that lots of things compete for the typical hacker's think time. "I refused to get involved with the Rubik's Cube back when it was big. Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if I let myself." 3. vt. Syn. [3418]bounce (sense 4), [3419]120 reset; from the phrase `cycle power'. "Cycle the machine again, that serial port's still hung."

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Node:cycle crunch, Next:[3420]cycle drought, Previous:[3421]cycle, Up:[3422]= C =

cycle crunch n.,obs.

A situation wherein the number of people trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the point where no one can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and the system has probably begun to [3423]thrash. This scenario is an inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to timesharing. Usually the only solution is to buy more computer. Happily, this has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so much so that the very term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic flavor; most hackers now use workstations or personal computers as opposed to traditional timesharing systems, and are far more likely to complain of `bandwidth crunch' on their shared networks rather than cycle crunch.

308

*[3454]daemon book:

*[3455]dahmum:

*[3456]dancing frog:

*[3457]dangling pointer:

*[3458]dark-side hacker:

*[3459]Datamation:

*[3460]DAU:

*[3461]Dave the Resurrector:

*[3462]day mode:

*[3463]dd:

*[3464]DDT:

*[3465]de-rezz:

*[3466]dead:

*[3467]dead beef attack:

*[3468]dead code:

*[3469]dead link:

*[3470]DEADBEEF:

*[3471]deadlock:

309

*[3472]deadly embrace:

*[3473]death code:

*[3474]Death Square:

*[3475]Death Star:

*[3476]DEC:

*[3477]DEC:

*[3478]DEC Wars:

*[3479]decay:

*[3480]deckle:

*[3481]DED:

*[3482]deep hack mode:

*[3483]deep magic:

*[3484]deep space:

*[3485]defenestration:

*[3486]defined as:

*[3487]dehose:

*[3488]deletia:

*[3489]deliminator:

310

*[3490]delint:

*[3491]delta:

*[3492]demented:

*[3493]demigod:

*[3494]demo:

*[3495]demo mode:

*[3496]demoeffect:

*[3497]demogroup:

*[3498]demon:

*[3499]demon dialer:

*[3500]demoparty:

*[3501]demoscene:

*[3502]dentro:

*[3503]depeditate:

*[3504]deprecated:

*[3505]derf:

*[3506]deserves to lose:

*[3507]desk check: