/J rand'm/ n. [generalized from J. Random Hacker]
Arbitrary; ordinary; any one; any old. `J. Random' is often
prefixed to a noun to make a name out of it. It means roughly
`some particular' or `any specific one'. "Would you let
J. Random Loser marry your daughter?" The most common uses are
`J. Random Hacker', `J. Random Loser', and `J. Random Nerd'
("Should J. Random Loser be allowed to gun down other
people?"), but it can be used simply as an elaborate version of random in any sense.
[MIT] /J rand'm hak'r/ n. A mythical figure
like the Unknown Soldier; the archetypal hacker nerd. See random, Suzie COBOL. This may originally have been
inspired by `J. Fred Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a
household word back in the early days of TMRC, and was
probably influenced by `J. Presper Eckert' (one of the co-inventors
of the electronic computer).
v. To log on to a machine or connect to a network or BBS, esp. for purposes of entering a virtual reality
simulation such as a MUD or IRC (leaving is "jacking
out"). This term derives from cyberpunk SF, in which it was
used for the act of plugging an electrode set into neural sockets
in order to interface the brain directly to a virtual reality.
It is primarily used by MUD and IRC fans and younger hackers on BBS
systems.
/jag'eez/ n. The `stairstep' effect observable when an
edge (esp. a linear edge of very shallow or steep slope) is
rendered on a pixel device (as opposed to a vector display).
/J-C-L/ n. 1. IBM's supremely rude Job Control
Language. JCL is the script language used to control the execution
of programs in IBM's batch systems. JCL has a very fascist
syntax, and some versions will, for example, barf if two
spaces appear where it expects one. Most programmers confronted
with JCL simply copy a working file (or card deck), changing the
file names. Someone who actually understands and generates unique
JCL is regarded with the mixed respect one gives to someone who
memorizes the phone book. It is reported that hackers at IBM
itself sometimes sing "Who's the breeder of the crud that mangles
you and me? I-B-M, J-C-L, M-o-u-s-e" to the tune of the
"Mickey Mouse Club" theme to express their opinion of the
beast. 2. A comparative for any very rude software that a
hacker is expected to use. "That's as bad as JCL." As with COBOL, JCL is often used as an archetype of ugliness even by
those who haven't experienced it. See also IBM, [fear and
loathing}.
// n. Synonymous with IYFEG. At one time, people in
the USENET newsgroup rec.humor.funny tended to use `JEDR'
instead of IYFEG or `'; this stemmed from a public
attempt to suppress the group once made by a loser with initials
JEDR after he was offended by an ethnic joke posted there. (The
practice was retconned by the expanding these initials as
`Joke Ethnic/Denomination/Race'.) After much sound and fury JEDR
faded away; this term appears to be doing likewise. JEDR's only
permanent effect on the net.culture was to discredit
`sensitivity' arguments for censorship so thoroughly that more
recent attempts to raise them have met with immediate and
near-universal rejection.
/jif'kl/, /jaf'kl/, /j*-fi'kl/ vt., obs. (alt.
`jfcl') To cancel or annul something. "Why don't you jfcl that
out?" The fastest do-nothing instruction on older models of the
PDP-10 happened to be JFCL, which stands for "Jump if Flag set and
then CLear the flag"; this does something useful, but is a very
fast no-operation if no flag is specified. Geoff Goodfellow, one
of the jargon-1 co-authors, had JFCL on the license plate of his
BMW for years. Usage: rare except among old-time PDP-10
hackers.
n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on the
computer (see tick). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in
the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently
1/100 sec has become common. "The swapper runs every 6 jiffies"
means that the virtual memory management routine is executed once
for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.
2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond wall time interval. Even more confusingly, physicists
semi-jokingly use `jiffy' to mean the time required for light to
travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one
*nanosecond*. 3. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to
forever. "I'll do it in a jiffy" means certainly not now and
possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use
of the word. Oppose nano. See also Real Soon Now.
n. When some piece of code is written in a
particularly obscure fashion, and no good reason (such as time
or space optimization) can be discovered, it is often said that the
programmer was attempting to increase his job security (i.e., by
making himself indispensable for maintenance). This sour joke
seldom has to be said in full; if two hackers are looking over some
code together and one points at a section and says "job security",
the other one may just nod.
n. 1. A programmer who is characterized by large and somewhat
brute-force programs. See brute force. 2. When modified by
another noun, describes a specialist in some particular computing
area. The compounds `compiler jock' and `systems jock' seem to be
the best-established examples.
/joh' kohd`/ n. 1. Code that is overly tense and
unmaintainable. "Perl may be a handy program, but if you look
at the source, it's complete joe code." 2. Badly written,
possibly buggy code.
Correspondents wishing to remain anonymous have fingered a
particular Joe at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and observed
that usage has drifted slightly; the original sobriquet `Joe code'
was intended in sense 1.
n. /joh'liks/ n.,adj. 386BSD, the freeware port of the
BSD Net/2 release to the Intel i386 architecture by Bill Jolitz and
friends. Used to differentiate from BSDI's port based on the same
source tape, which is called BSD/386. See BSD.
/J-R-L/, /J-R-N/ n. The names JRL and JRN were
sometimes used as example names when discussing a kind of user ID
used under "TOPS-10" and WAITS; they were understood to be
the initials of (fictitious) programmers named `J. Random Loser'
and `J. Random Nerd' (see J. Random). For example, if one
said "To log in, type log one comma jay are en" (that is,
"log 1,JRN"), the listener would have understood that he should
use his own computer ID in place of `JRN'.
/jerst/ [based on the PDP-10 jump instruction] v.,obs. To
suddenly change subjects, with no intention of returning to the
previous topic. Usage: rather rare except among PDP-10 diehards,
and considered silly. See also AOS.
vi. Keeping a lot of state in your head while
modifying a program. "Don't bother me now, I'm juggling eggs",
means that an interrupt is likely to result in the program's being
scrambled. In the classic first-contact SF novel "The Mote in
God's Eye", by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, an alien describes
a very difficult task by saying "We juggle priceless eggs in
variable gravity." See also hack mode.
[from J. M. Barrie's "Peter
Pan"] v. Same as branch to Fishkill, but more common in
technical cultures associated with non-IBM computers that use the
term `jump' rather than `branch'. Compare hyperspace.
[IRC] vt. To kill an IRCrobot or user and
then take its place by adopting its nick so that it cannot
reconnect. Named after a particular IRC user who did this to
NickServ, the robot in charge of preventing people from
inadvertently using a nick claimed by another user.