The New Hacker's Dictionary
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A robot of microscopic proportions, presumably built by means of [9230]nanotechnology. As yet, only used informally (and speculatively!). Also called a `nanoagent'.
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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 [9234]nanobot would be a nanocomputer.
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nanofortnight n.
[Adelaide University] 1 fortnight * 10^(-9), or about 1.2 msec. This unit was used largely by students doing undergraduate practicals. See [9238]microfortnight, [9239]attoparsec, and [9240]micro-.
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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.
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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 [9244]http://www.foresight.org/EOC/index.html.). See also [9245]blue goo, [9246]gray goo, [9247]nanobot.
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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.
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1. A protocol packet or item of email (the latter is also called a [9254]letterbomb) that takes advantage of misfeatures or security holes on the target system to do untoward things. 2. Disapproving mail, esp. from a [9255]net.god, pursuant to a violation of [9256]netiquette or a complaint about failure to correct some mailor news-transmission problem. Compare [9257]shitogram, [9258]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 [9259]daemon; in particular, a [9260]bounce message.
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Nathan Hale n.
An asterisk (see also [9264]splat, [9265]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.
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nature n.
See [9269]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 [9273]Appendix A for discussion). See also [9274]hack.
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neats vs. scruffies n.
The label used to refer to one of the continuing [9278]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.
755
Less specific than [9282]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!".
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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, [9286]music, and [9287]oriental food. The opposite tendency is `neophobia'.
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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 [9291]computer geek.
756
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.
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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.
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net.- /net dot/ pref.
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[Usenet] Prefix used to describe people and events related to Usenet. From the time before the [9298]Great Renaming, when most non-local newsgroups had names beginning `net.'. Includes [9299]net.gods, `net.goddesses' (various charismatic net.women with circles of on-line admirers), `net.lurkers' (see [9300]lurker), `net.person', `net.parties' (a synonym for [9301]boink, sense 2), and many similar constructs. See also [9302]net.police.
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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 [9306]demigod. Net.goddesses such as Rissa or the Slime Sisters have (so far) been distinguished more by personality than by authority.
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net.personality /net per`sn-al'-*-tee/ n.
Someone who has made a name for him or herself on [9310]Usenet, through either longevity or attention-getting posts, but doesn't meet the other requirements of [9311]net.godhood.
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net.police /net-p*-lees'/ n.
(var. `net.cops') Those Usenet readers who feel it is their responsibility to pounce on and [9315]flame any posting which they regard as offensive or in violation of their understanding of [9316]netiquette. Generally used sarcastically or pejoratively. Also spelled `net police'. See also [9317]net.-, [9318]code police.
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NetBOLLIX n.
[from bollix: to bungle, or British `bollocks'] [9322]IBM's NetBIOS, an extremely [9323]brain-damaged network protocol that, like [9324]Blue Glue, is used at commercial shops that don't know any better.
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netburp n.
[IRC] When [9328]netlag gets really bad, and delays between servers exceed a certain threshhold, the [9329]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, [9330]netsplit).
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netdead n.
[IRC] The state of someone who signs off [9334]IRC, perhaps during a [9335]netburp, and doesn't sign back on until later. In the interim, he is "dead to the net". Compare [9336]link-dead.
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nethack /net'hak/ n.
[Unix] A dungeon game similar to [9340]rogue but more elaborate, distributed in C source over [9341]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 [9342]http://www.nethack.org/. See also [9343]moria, [9344]rogue, [9345]Angband.
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netiquette /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ n.
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[portmanteau, network + etiquette] The conventions of politeness recognized on [9349]Usenet, such as avoidance of cross-posting to inappropriate groups and refraining from commercial pluggery outside the biz groups.
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netlag n.
[IRC, MUD] A condition that occurs when the delays in the [9353]IRC network or on a [9354]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'.
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netnews /net'n[y]ooz/ n.
1. The software that makes [9358]Usenet run. 2. The content of Usenet. "I read netnews right after my mail most mornings."
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netrock /net'rok/ n.