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The New Hacker's Dictionary

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playte /playt/

16 bits, by analogy with [10404]nybble and [10405]byte. Usage: rare and extremely silly. See also [10406]dynner and [10407]crumb. General discussion of such terms is under [10408]nybble.

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Node:plingnet, Next:[10409]plokta, Previous:[10410]playte, Up:[10411]=

P =

plingnet /pling'net/ n.

Syn. [10412]UUCPNET. Also see [10413]Commonwealth Hackish, which uses `pling' for [10414]bang (as in [10415]bang path).

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Node:plokta, Next:[10416]plonk, Previous:[10417]plingnet, Up:[10418]= P

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plokta /plok't*/ v.

[acronym: Press Lots Of Keys To Abort] To press random keys in an attempt to get some response from the system. One might plokta when the abort procedure for a program is not known, or when trying to figure out if the system is just sluggish or really hung. Plokta can also be used while trying to figure out any unknown key sequence for a particular operation. Someone going into `plokta mode' usually places both hands flat on the keyboard and mashes them down, hoping for some useful response.

A slightly more directed form of plokta can often be seen in mail messages or Usenet articles from new users -- the text might end with ^X^C q quit :q ^C end x exit ZZ ^D ? help

842

as the user vainly tries to find the right exit sequence, with the incorrect

tries piling up at the end of the message....

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Node:plonk, Next:[10419]plug-and-pray, Previous:[10420]plokta,

Up:[10421]= P =

plonk excl.,vt.

[Usenet: possibly influenced by British slang `plonk' for cheap booze, or `plonker' for someone behaving stupidly (latter is lit. equivalent to Yiddish `schmuck')] The sound a [10422]newbie makes as he falls to the bottom of a [10423]kill file. While it originated in the [10424]newsgroup talk.bizarre, this term (usually written "*plonk*") is now (1994) widespread on Usenet as a form of public ridicule.

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Node:plug-and-pray, Next:[10425]plugh, Previous:[10426]plonk,

Up:[10427]= P =

plug-and-pray adj.,vi.

Parody of the techspeak term `plug-and-play', describing a PC peripheral card which is claimed to have no need for hardware configuration via DIP switches, and which should be work as soon as it is inserted in the PC.

Unfortunately, even the PCI bus is not up to pulling this off reliably, and people who have to do installation or troubleshoot PCs soon find themselves longing for the DIP switches.

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Node:plugh, Next:[10428]plumbing, Previous:[10429]plug-and-pray,

Up:[10430]= P =

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plugh /ploogh/ v.

[from the [10431]ADVENT game] See [10432]xyzzy.

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Node:plumbing, Next:[10433]PM, Previous:[10434]plugh, Up:[10435]= P

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plumbing n.

[Unix] Term used for [10436]shell code, so called because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of one program to the input of another. Under Unix, user utilities can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a shell script; this is much less effort than writing C every time, and the capability is considered one of Unix's major winning features. A few other OSs such as IBM's VM/CMS support similar facilities. Esp. used in the construction `hairy plumbing' (see [10437]hairy). "You can kluge together a basic spell-checker out of sort(1), comm(1), and tr(1) with a little plumbing." See also [10438]tee.

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Node:PM, Next:[10439]pnambic, Previous:[10440]plumbing, Up:[10441]=

P =

PM /P-M/

1. v. (from `preventive maintenance') To bring down a machine for inspection or test purposes. See [10442]provocative maintenance; see also [10443]scratch monkey. 2. n. Abbrev. for `Presentation Manager', an [10444]elephantine OS/2 graphical user interface.

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844

Node:pnambic, Next:[10445]pod, Previous:[10446]PM, Up:[10447]= P =

pnambic /p*-nam'bik/

[Acronym from the scene in the film version of "The Wizard of Oz" in which the true nature of the wizard is first discovered: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."] 1. A stage of development of a process or function that, owing to incomplete implementation or to the complexity of the system, requires human interaction to simulate or replace some or all of the actions, inputs, or outputs of the process or function. 2. Of or pertaining to a process or function whose apparent operations are wholly or partially falsified. 3. Requiring [10448]prestidigitization.

The ultimate pnambic product was "Dan Bricklin's Demo", a program which supported flashy user-interface design prototyping. There is a related maxim among hackers: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo." See [10449]magic, sense 1, for illumination of this point.

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Node:pod, Next:[10450]point-and-drool interface,

Previous:[10451]pnambic, Up:[10452]= P =

pod n.

[allegedly from abbreviation POD for `Prince Of Darkness'] A Diablo 630 (or, latterly, any letter-quality impact printer). From the DEC-10 PODTYPE program used to feed formatted text to it. Not to be confused with [10453]P.O.D..

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Node:point-and-drool interface, Next:[10454]pointy hat,

Previous:[10455]pod, Up:[10456]= P =

845

point-and-drool interface n.

Parody of the techspeak term `point-and-shoot interface', describing a windows, icons, and mouse-based interface such as is found on the Macintosh. The implication, of course, is that such an interface is only suitable for idiots. See [10457]for the rest of us, [10458]WIMP environment, [10459]Macintrash, [10460]drool-proof paper. Also `point-and-grunt interface'.

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Node:pointy hat, Next:[10461]pointy-haired, Previous:[10462]point-and-drool interface, Up:[10463]= P =

pointy hat n.

See [10464]wizard hat. This synonym specifically refers to the wizards of Unseen University in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" serious of humorous fantasies; these books are extremely popular among hackers.

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Node:pointy-haired, Next:[10465]poke, Previous:[10466]pointy hat, Up:[10467]= P =

pointy-haired adj.

[after the character in the [10468]Dilbert comic strip] Describes the extreme form of the property that separates [10469]suits and [10470]marketroids from hackers. Compare [10471]brain-dead; [10472]demented; see [10473]PHB. Always applied to people, never to ideas. The plural form is often used as a noun. "The pointy-haireds ordered me to use Windows NT, but I set up a Linux server with Samba instead."

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846

Node:poke, Next:[10474]poll, Previous:[10475]pointy-haired, Up:[10476]=

P =

poke n.,vt.

See [10477]peek.

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Node:poll, Next:[10478]polygon pusher, Previous:[10479]poke, Up:[10480]= P =

poll v.,n.

1. [techspeak] The action of checking the status of an input line, sensor, or memory location to see if a particular external event has been registered. 2. To repeatedly call or check with someone: "I keep polling him, but he's not answering his phone; he must be swapped out." 3. To ask. "Lunch? I poll for a takeout order daily."

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Node:polygon pusher, Next:[10481]POM, Previous:[10482]poll, Up:[10483]= P =

polygon pusher n.

A chip designer who spends most of his or her time at the physical layout level (which requires drawing lots of multi-colored polygons). Also `rectangle slinger'.

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Node:POM, Next:[10484]pop, Previous:[10485]polygon pusher, Up:[10486]= P =

847

POM /P-O-M/ n.

Common abbreviation for [10487]phase of the moon. Usage: usually in the phrase `POM-dependent', which means [10488]flaky.

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Node:pop, Next:[10489]POPJ, Previous:[10490]POM, Up:[10491]= P =

pop /pop/

[from the operation that removes the top of a stack, and the fact that procedure return addresses are usually saved on the stack] (also capitalized `POP') 1. vt. To remove something from a [10492]stack or [10493]PDL. If a person says he/she has popped something from his stack, that means he/she has finally finished working on it and can now remove it from the list of things hanging overhead. 2. When a discussion gets to a level of detail so deep that the main point of the discussion is being lost, someone will shout "Pop!", meaning "Get back up to a higher level!" The shout is frequently accompanied by an upthrust arm with a finger pointing to the ceiling. 3. [all-caps, as `POP'] Point of Presence, a bank of dial-in lines allowing customers to make (local) calls into an ISP. This is borderline techspeak.

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Node:POPJ, Next:[10494]poser, Previous:[10495]pop, Up:[10496]= P =

POPJ /pop'J/ n.,v.

[from a [10497]PDP-10 return-from-subroutine instruction] To return from a digression. By verb doubling, "Popj, popj" means roughly "Now let's see, where were we?" See [10498]RTI.

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848

Node:poser, Next:[10499]post, Previous:[10500]POPJ, Up:[10501]= P =

poser n.

A [10502]wannabee; not hacker slang, but used among crackers, phreaks and [10503]warez d00dz. Not as negative as [10504]lamer or [10505]leech. Probably derives from a similar usage among punk-rockers and metalheads, putting down those who "talk the talk but don't walk the walk".

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Node:post, Next:[10506]postcardware, Previous:[10507]poser,

Up:[10508]= P =

post v.

To send a message to a [10509]mailing list or [10510]newsgroup. Distinguished in context from `mail'; one might ask, for example: "Are you going to post the patch or mail it to known users?"

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Node:postcardware, Next:[10511]posting, Previous:[10512]post,

Up:[10513]= P =

postcardware n.

A kind of [10514]shareware that borders on [10515]freeware, in that the author requests only that satisfied users send a postcard of their home town or something. (This practice, silly as it might seem, serves to remind users that they are otherwise getting something for nothing, and may also be psychologically related to real estate `sales' in which $1 changes hands just to keep the transaction from being a gift.)

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849

Node:posting, Next:[10516]postmaster, Previous:[10517]postcardware,

Up:[10518]= P =

posting n.

Noun corresp. to v. [10519]post (but note that [10520]post can be nouned). Distinguished from a `letter' or ordinary [10521]email message by the fact that it is broadcast rather than point-to-point. It is not clear whether messages sent to a small mailing list are postings or email; perhaps the best dividing line is that if you don't know the names of all the potential recipients, it is a posting.

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Node:postmaster, Next:[10522]PostScript, Previous:[10523]posting,

Up:[10524]= P =

postmaster n.

The email contact and maintenance person at a site connected to the Internet or UUCPNET. Often, but not always, the same as the [10525]admin. The Internet standard for electronic mail ([10526]RFC-822) requires each machine to have a `postmaster' address; usually it is aliased to this person.

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Node:PostScript, Next:[10527]pound on, Previous:[10528]postmaster, Up:[10529]= P =

PostScript n.

A Page Description Language ([10530]PDL), based on work originally done by John Gaffney at Evans and Sutherland in 1976, evolving through `JaM' (`John and Martin', Martin Newell) at [10531]XEROX PARC, and finally implemented in its current form by John Warnock et al. after he and

850

Chuck Geschke founded Adobe Systems Incorporated in 1982. PostScript gets its leverage by using a full programming language, rather than a series of low-level escape sequences, to describe an image to be printed on a laser printer or other output device (in this it parallels [10532]EMACS, which exploited a similar insight about editing tasks). It is also noteworthy for implementing on-the fly rasterization, from Bezier curve descriptions, of high-quality fonts at low (e.g. 300 dpi) resolution (it was formerly believed that hand-tuned bitmap fonts were required for this task). Hackers consider PostScript to be among the most elegant hacks of all time, and the combination of technical merits and widespread availability has made PostScript the language of choice for graphical output.

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Node:pound on, Next:[10533]power cycle, Previous:[10534]PostScript, Up:[10535]= P =

pound on vt.

Syn. [10536]bang on.

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Node:power cycle, Next:[10537]power hit, Previous:[10538]pound on, Up:[10539]= P =

power cycle vt.

(also, `cycle power' or just `cycle') To power off a machine and then power it on immediately, with the intention of clearing some kind of [10540]hung or [10541]gronked state. Syn. [10542]120 reset; see also [10543]Big Red Switch. Compare [10544]Vulcan nerve pinch, [10545]bounce (sense 4), and [10546]boot, and see the "[10547]Some AI Koans" (in Appendix A) about Tom Knight and the novice.

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