refer to one of the handful of nastiest monsters on an LPMUD or   other similar MUD.banana label: n. The labels often used on the sides of {macrotape}   reels, so called because they are shaped roughly like blunt-ended   bananas.  This term, like macrotapes themselves, is still current   but visibly headed for obsolescence.banana problem: n. [from the story of the little girl who said "I   know how to spell `banana', but I don't know when to stop"].  Not   knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare   {fencepost error}).  One may say `there is a banana problem' of an   algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions,   or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing   to featuritis (see also {creeping elegance}, {creeping   featuritis}).  See item 176 under {HAKMEM}, which describes a   banana problem in a {Dissociated Press} implementation.bandwidth: n. 1. Used by hackers in a generalization of its   technical meaning as the volume of information per unit time that a   computer, person, or transmission medium can handle.  "Those are   amazing graphics, but I missed some of the detail --- not enough   bandwidth, I guess."  Compare {low-bandwidth}.  2. Attention   span.  3. On {USENET}, a measure of network capacity that is   often wasted by people complaining about how items posted by others   are a waste of bandwidth.bang: 1. n. Common spoken name for `!' (ASCII 0100001),   especially when used in pronouncing a {bang path} in spoken   hackish.  In {elder days} this was considered a CMUish usage,   with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring {excl} or {shriek};   but the spread of UNIX has carried `bang' with it (esp. via the   term {bang path}) and it is now certainly the most common spoken   name for `!'.  Note that it is used exclusively for   non-emphatic written `!'; one would not say "Congratulations   bang" (except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted   to specify the exact characters `foo!' one would speak "Eff oh oh   bang".  See {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.  2. interj. An exclamation   signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The   dynamite has cleared out my brain!"  Often used to acknowledge   that one has perpetrated a {thinko} immediately after one has   been called on it.bang on: vt. To stress-test a piece of hardware or software: "I   banged on the new version of the simulator all day yesterday and it   didn't crash once.  I guess it is ready to release."  The term   {pound on} is synonymous.bang path: n. An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address specifying   hops to get from some assumed-reachable location to the addressee,   so called because each {hop} is signified by a {bang} sign.   Thus, for example, the path ...!bigsite!foovax!barbox!me   directs people to route their mail to machine bigsite (presumably   a well-known location accessible to everybody) and from there   through the machine foovax to the account of user me on   barbox.   In the bad old days of not so long ago, before autorouting mailers   became commonplace, people often published compound bang addresses   using the { } convention (see {glob}) to give paths from   *several* big machines, in the hopes that one's correspondent   might be able to get mail to one of them reliably (example:   ...!{seismo, ut-sally, ihnp4}!rice!beta!gamma!me).  Bang paths   of 8 to 10 hops were not uncommon in 1981.  Late-night dial-up   UUCP links would cause week-long transmission times.  Bang paths   were often selected by both transmission time and reliability, as   messages would often get lost.  See {{Internet address}},   {network, the}, and {sitename}.banner: n. 1. The title page added to printouts by most print   spoolers (see {spool}).  Typically includes user or account ID   information in very large character-graphics capitals.  Also called   a `burst page', because it indicates where to burst (tear apart)   fanfold paper to separate one user's printout from the next.  2. A   similar printout generated (typically on multiple pages of fan-fold   paper) from user-specified text, e.g., by a program such as UNIX's   `banner({1,6})'.  3. On interactive software, a first screen   containing a logo and/or author credits and/or a copyright notice.bar: /bar/ n. 1. The second metasyntactic variable, after {foo}   and before {baz}.  "Suppose we have two functions: FOO and BAR.   FOO calls BAR...."  2. Often appended to {foo} to produce   {foobar}.bare metal: n. 1. New computer hardware, unadorned with such   snares and delusions as an {operating system}, an {HLL}, or   even assembler.  Commonly used in the phrase `programming on the   bare metal', which refers to the arduous work of {bit bashing}   needed to create these basic tools for a new machine.  Real   bare-metal programming involves things like building boot proms and   BIOS chips, implementing basic monitors used to test device   drivers, and writing the assemblers that will be used to write the   compiler back ends that will give the new machine a real   development environment.  2. `Programming on the bare metal' is   also used to describe a style of {hand-hacking} that relies on   bit-level peculiarities of a particular hardware design, esp.   tricks for speed and space optimization that rely on crocks such as   overlapping instructions (or, as in the famous case described in   appendix A, interleaving of opcodes on a magnetic drum to minimize   fetch delays due to the device's rotational latency).  This sort of   thing has become less common as the relative costs of programming   time and machine resources have changed, but is still found in   heavily constrained environments such as industrial embedded systems.   See {real programmer}.   In the world of personal computing, bare metal programming (especially   in sense 1 but sometimes also in sense 2) is often considered a   {Good Thing}, or at least a necessary thing (because these   machines have often been sufficiently slow and poorly designed   to make it necessary; see {ill-behaved}).  There, the term   usually refers to bypassing the BIOS or OS interface and writing   the application to directly access device registers and machine   addresses.  "To get 19.2 kilobaud on the serial port, you need to   get down to the bare metal."  People who can do this sort of thing   are held in high regard.barf: /barf/ [from mainstream slang meaning `vomit']   1. interj.  Term of disgust.  This is the closest hackish   equivalent of the Val\-speak "gag me with a spoon". (Like, euwww!)   See {bletch}.  2. vi. To say "Barf!" or emit some similar   expression of disgust.  "I showed him my latest hack and he   barfed" means only that he complained about it, not that he   literally vomited.  3. vi. To fail to work because of unacceptable   input.  May mean to give an error message.  Examples: "The   division operation barfs if you try to divide by 0."  (That is,   the division operation checks for an attempt to divide by zero, and   if one is encountered it causes the operation to fail in some   unspecified, but generally obvious, manner.) "The text editor   barfs if you try to read in a new file before writing out the old   one."  See {choke}, {gag}.  In Commonwealth hackish,   `barf' is generally replaced by `puke' or `vom'.  {barf}   is sometimes also used as a metasyntactic variable, like {foo} or   {bar}.barfulation: /bar`fyoo-lay'sh*n/ interj. Variation of {barf}   used around the Stanford area.  An exclamation, expressing disgust.   On seeing some particularly bad code one might exclaim,   "Barfulation!  Who wrote this, Quux?"barfulous: /bar'fyoo-l*s/ adj. (alt. `barfucious',   /bar-fyoo-sh*s/) Said of something that would make anyone barf,   if only for esthetic reasons.baroque: adj. Feature-encrusted; complex; gaudy; verging on   excessive.  Said of hardware or (esp.) software designs, this has   many of the connotations of {elephantine} or {monstrosity} but is   less extreme and not pejorative in itself.  "Metafont even has    features to introduce random variations to its letterform output.   Now *that* is baroque!"  See also {rococo}.BartleMUD: /bar'tl-muhd/ n. Any of the MUDs derived from the   original MUD game by Richard Bartle (see {MUD}).  BartleMUDs are   noted for their (usually slightly offbeat) humor, dry but friendly   syntax, and lack of adjectives in object descriptions, so a player   is likely to come across `brand172', for instance (see {brand   brand brand}).  Some MUDders intensely dislike Bartle and this   term, and prefer to speak of `MUD-1'.BASIC: n. A programming language, originally designed for   Dartmouth's experimental timesharing system in the   early 1960s, which has since become the leading cause of   brain-damage in proto-hackers.  This is another case (like   {Pascal}) of the bad things that happen when a language   deliberately designed as an educational toy gets taken too   seriously.  A novice can write short BASIC programs (on the order of   10--20 lines) very easily; writing anything longer is (a) very   painful, and (b) encourages bad habits that will bite him/her later   if he/she tries to hack in a real language.  This wouldn't be so   bad if historical accidents hadn't made BASIC so common on low-end   micros.  As it is, it ruins thousands of potential wizards a year.batch: adj. 1. Non-interactive.  Hackers use this somewhat more   loosely than the traditional technical definitions justify; in   particular, switches on a normally interactive program that prepare   it to receive non-interactive command input are often referred to   as `batch mode' switches.  A `batch file' is a series of   instructions written to be handed to an interactive program running   in batch mode.  2. Performance of dreary tasks all at one sitting.   "I finally sat down in batch mode and wrote out checks for all   those bills; I guess they'll turn the electricity back on next   week..." 3. Accumulation of a number of small tasks that can be   lumped together for greater efficiency.  "I'm batching up those   letters to send sometime" "I'm batching up bottles to take to the   recycling center."bathtub curve: n. Common term for the curve (resembling an   end-to-end section of one of those claw-footed antique bathtubs)   that describes the expected failure rate of electronics with time:   initially high, dropping to near 0 for most of the system's   lifetime, then rising again as it `tires out'.  See also {burn-in   period}, {infant mortality}.baud: /bawd/ [simplified from its technical meaning] n. Bits per   second.  Hence kilobaud or Kbaud, thousands of bits per second.   The technical meaning is `level transitions per second'; this   coincides with bps only for two-level modulation with no framing or   stop bits.  Most hackers are aware of these nuances but blithely   ignore them.baud barf: /bawd barf/ n. The garbage one gets on the monitor   when using a modem connection with some protocol setting (esp.   line speed) incorrect, or when someone picks up a voice extension   on the same line, or when really bad line noise disrupts the   connection.  Baud barf is not completely {random}, by the way;   hackers with a lot of serial-line experience can usually tell   whether the device at the other end is expecting a higher or lower   speed than the terminal is set to.  *Really* experienced ones   can identify particular speeds.baz: /baz/ [Stanford: corruption of {bar}] n. 1. The third   metasyntactic variable, after {foo} and {bar} and before   {quux} (or, occasionally, `qux'; or local idiosyncracies like   `rag', `zowie', etc.).  "Suppose we have three functions: FOO,   BAR, and BAZ.  FOO calls BAR, which calls BAZ...."   2. interj. A term of mild annoyance.  In this usage the term is   often drawn out for 2 or 3 seconds, producing an effect not unlike   the bleating of a sheep; /baaaaaaz/.  3. Occasionally appended to   {foo} to produce `foobaz'.bboard: /bee'bord/ [contraction of `bulletin board'] n.   1. Any electronic bulletin board; esp. used of {BBS} systems   running on personal micros, less frequently of a USENET   {newsgroup} (in fact, use of the term for a newsgroup generally   marks one either as a {newbie} fresh in from the BBS world or as   a real old-timer predating USENET).  2. At CMU and other colleges   with similar facilities, refers to campus-wide electronic bulletin   boards.  3. The term `physical bboard' is sometimes used to   refer to a old-fashioned, non-electronic cork memo board.  At CMU,   it refers to a particular one outside the CS Lounge.   In either of senses 1 or 2, the term is usually prefixed by the   name of the intended board (`the Moonlight Casino bboard' or   `market bboard'); however, if the context is clear, the better-read   bboards may be referred to by name alone, as in (at CMU) "Don't   post for-sale ads on general".BBS: /B-B-S/ [acronym, `Bulletin Board System'] n. An electronic   bulletin board system; that is, a message database where people can   log in and leave broadcast messages for others grouped (typically)   into {topic group}s.  Thousands of local BBS systems are in   operation throughout the U.S., typically run by amateurs for fun   out of their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each.   Fans of USENET and Internet or the big commercial timesharing   bboards such as CompuServe and GEnie tend to consider local BBSes   the low-rent district of the hacker culture, but they serve a   valuable function by knitting together lots of hackers and users in   the personal-micro world who would otherwise be unable to exchange   code at all.beam: [from Star Trek Classic's "Beam me up, Scotty!"] vt. To   transfer {softcopy} of a file electronically; most often in   combining forms such as `beam me a copy' or `beam that over to   his site'.  Compare {blast}, {snarf}, {BLT}.beanie key: [Mac users] n. See {command key}.