boxes.  Hackers tend not to think of the things they themselves run   as apps; thus, in hacker parlance the term excludes compilers,   program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a user would   consider all those to be apps.  Oppose {tool}, {operating   system}.arc: [primarily MSDOS] vt. To create a compressed {archive} from a   group of files using SEA ARC, PKWare PKARC, or a compatible   program.  Rapidly becoming obsolete as the ARC compression method   is falling into disuse, having been replaced by newer compression   techniques.  See {tar and feather}, {zip}.arc wars: [primarily MSDOS] n. {holy wars} over which archiving   program one should use.  The first arc war was sparked when System   Enhancement Associates (SEA) sued PKWare for copyright and   trademark infringement on its ARC program.  PKWare's PKARC   outperformed ARC on both compression and speed while largely   retaining compatibility (it introduced a new compression type that   could be disabled for backward-compatibility).  PKWare settled out   of court to avoid enormous legal costs (both SEA and PKWare are   small companies); as part of the settlement, the name of PKARC was   changed to PKPAK.  The public backlash against SEA for bringing   suit helped to hasten the demise of ARC as a standard when PKWare   and others introduced new, incompatible archivers with better   compression algorithms.archive: n. 1. A collection of several files bundled into one file   by a program such as `ar(1)', `tar(1)', `cpio(1)',   or {arc} for shipment or archiving (sense 2).  See also {tar   and feather}.  2. A collection of files or archives (sense 1) made   available from an `archive site' via {FTP} or an email server.arena: [UNIX] n. The area of memory attached to a process by   `brk(2)' and `sbrk(2)' and used by `malloc(3)' as   dynamic storage.  So named from a semi-mythical `malloc:   corrupt arena' message supposedly emitted when some early versions   became terminally confused.  See {overrun screw}, {aliasing   bug}, {memory leak}, {smash the stack}.arg: /arg/ n. Abbreviation for `argument' (to a function),   used so often as to have become a new word (like `piano' from   `pianoforte').  "The sine function takes 1 arg, but the   arc-tangent function can take either 1 or 2 args."  Compare   {param}, {parm}, {var}.armor-plated: n. Syn. for {bulletproof}.asbestos: adj. Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect   one from {flame}s.  Important cases of this include {asbestos   longjohns} and {asbestos cork award}, but it is used more   generally.asbestos cork award: n. Once, long ago at MIT, there was a {flamer}   so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed, had made,   and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had been   nominated for the `asbestos cork award'.  Persons in any doubt as   to the intended application of the cork should consult the   etymology under {flame}.  Since then, it is agreed that only a   select few have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn   this dubious dignity --- but there is no agreement on *which*   few.asbestos longjohns: n. Notional garments often donned by {USENET}   posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit   {flamage}.  This is the most common of the {asbestos} coinages.   Also `asbestos underwear', `asbestos overcoat', etc.ASCII:: [American Standard Code for Information Interchange]   /as'kee/ n. The predominant character set encoding of present-day   computers.  Uses 7 bits for each character, whereas most earlier   codes (including an early version of ASCII) used fewer.  This   change allowed the inclusion of lowercase letters --- a major   {win} --- but it did not provide for accented letters or any   other letterforms not used in English (such as the German sharp-S   and the ae-ligature   which is a letter in, for example, Norwegian).  It could be worse,   though.  It could be much worse.  See {{EBCDIC}} to understand how.      Computers are much pickier and less flexible about spelling than   humans; thus, hackers need to be very precise when talking about   characters, and have developed a considerable amount of verbal   shorthand for them.  Every character has one or more names --- some   formal, some concise, some silly.  Common jargon names for ASCII   characters are collected here.  See also individual entries for   {bang}, {excl}, {open}, {ques}, {semi}, {shriek},   {splat}, {twiddle}, and {Yu-Shiang Whole Fish}.   This list derives from revision 2.3 of the USENET ASCII   pronunciation guide.  Single characters are listed in ASCII order;   character pairs are sorted in by first member.  For each character,   common names are given in rough order of popularity, followed by   names that are reported but rarely seen; official ANSI/CCITT names   are surrounded by brokets: <>.  Square brackets mark the   particularly silly names introduced by {INTERCAL}.  Ordinary   parentheticals provide some usage information.     !          Common: {bang}; pling; excl; shriek; <exclamation mark>.          Rare: factorial; exclam; smash; cuss; boing; yell; wow; hey;          wham; [spark-spot]; soldier.     "          Common: double quote; quote.  Rare: literal mark;          double-glitch; <quotation marks>; <dieresis>; dirk;          [rabbit-ears]; double prime.     #          Common: <number sign>; pound; pound sign; hash; sharp;          {crunch}; hex; [mesh]; octothorpe.  Rare: flash; crosshatch;          grid; pig-pen; tictactoe; scratchmark; thud; thump; {splat}.     $          Common: dollar; <dollar sign>.  Rare: currency symbol; buck;          cash; string (from BASIC); escape (when used as the echo of          ASCII ESC); ding; cache; [big money].     %          Common: percent; <percent sign>; mod; grapes.  Rare:          [double-oh-seven].     &          Common: <ampersand>; amper; and.  Rare: address (from C);          reference (from C++); andpersand; bitand; background (from          `sh(1)'); pretzel; amp.  [INTERCAL called this `ampersand';          what could be sillier?]     '          Common: single quote; quote; <apostrophe>.  Rare: prime;          glitch; tick; irk; pop; [spark]; <closing single quotation          mark>; <acute accent>.     ()          Common: left/right paren; left/right parenthesis; left/right; paren/thesis;          open/close paren; open/close; open/close parenthesis; left/right banana.          Rare: so/al-ready; lparen/rparen; <opening/closing parenthesis>;          open/close round bracket, parenthisey/unparenthisey; [wax/wane];          left/right ear.     *          Common: star; [{splat}]; <asterisk>.  Rare: wildcard; gear;          dingle; mult; spider; aster; times; twinkle; glob (see          {glob}); {Nathan Hale}.     +          Common: <plus>; add.  Rare: cross; [intersection].     ,          Common: <comma>.  Rare: <cedilla>; [tail].     -          Common: dash; <hyphen>; <minus>.  Rare: [worm]; option; dak;          bithorpe.     .          Common: dot; point; <period>; <decimal point>.  Rare: radix          point; full stop; [spot].     /          Common: slash; stroke; <slant>; forward slash.  Rare:          diagonal; solidus; over; slak; virgule; [slat].     :          Common: <colon>.  Rare: dots; [two-spot].     ;          Common: <semicolon>; semi.  Rare: weenie; [hybrid],          pit-thwong.     <>          Common: <less/greater than>; left/right angle bracket;          bra/ket; left/right broket.  Rare: from/{into, towards}; read          from/write to; suck/blow; comes-from/gozinta; in/out;          crunch/zap (all from UNIX); [angle/right angle].     =          Common: <equals>; gets; takes.  Rare: quadrathorpe;          [half-mesh].     ?          Common: query; <question mark>; {ques}.  Rare: whatmark;          [what]; wildchar; huh; hook; buttonhook; hunchback.     @          Common: at sign; at; strudel.  Rare: each; vortex; whorl;          [whirlpool]; cyclone; snail; ape; cat; rose; cabbage;          <commercial at>.     V          Rare: [book].     []          Common: left/right square bracket; <opening/closing bracket>;          bracket/unbracket; left/right bracket.  Rare: square/unsquare;          [U turn/U turn back].     \          Common: backslash; escape (from C/UNIX); reverse slash; slosh;          backslant; backwhack.  Rare: bash; <reverse slant>; reversed          virgule; [backslat].     ^          Common: hat; control; uparrow; caret; <circumflex>.  Rare:          chevron; [shark (or shark-fin)]; to the (`to the power of');          fang; pointer (in Pascal).     _          Common: <underline>; underscore; underbar; under.  Rare:          score; backarrow; [flatworm].     `          Common: backquote; left quote; left single quote; open quote;          <grave accent>; grave.  Rare: backprime; [backspark];          unapostrophe; birk; blugle; back tick; back glitch; push;          <opening single quotation mark>; quasiquote.     {}          Common: open/close brace; left/right brace; left/right          squiggly; left/right squiggly bracket/brace; left/right curly          bracket/brace; <opening/closing brace>.  Rare: brace/unbrace;          curly/uncurly; leftit/rytit; left/right squirrelly;          [embrace/bracelet].     |          Common: bar; or; or-bar; v-bar; pipe; vertical bar.  Rare:          <vertical line>; gozinta; thru; pipesinta (last three from          UNIX); [spike].     ~          Common: <tilde>; squiggle; {twiddle}; not.  Rare: approx;          wiggle; swung dash; enyay; [sqiggle (sic)].   The pronunciation of `#' as `pound' is common in the U.S. but   a bad idea; {{Commonwealth Hackish}} has its own, rather more apposite   use of `pound sign' (confusingly, on British keyboards the pound   graphic   happens to replace `#'; thus Britishers sometimes call `#'   on a U.S.-ASCII keyboard `pound', compounding the American error).   The U.S. usage derives from an old-fashioned commercial practice of   using a `#' suffix to tag pound weights on bills of lading.   The character is usually pronounced `hash' outside the U.S.   The `uparrow' name for circumflex and `leftarrow' name for   underline are historical relics from archaic ASCII (the 1963   version), which had these graphics in those character positions   rather than the modern punctuation characters.   The `swung dash' or `approximation' sign is not quite the same   as tilde in typeset material   but the ASCII tilde serves for both (compare {angle   brackets}).   Some other common usages cause odd overlaps.  The `#',   `$', `>', and `&' characters, for example, are all   pronounced "hex" in different communities because various   assemblers use them as a prefix tag for hexadecimal constants (in   particular, `#' in many assembler-programming cultures,