|
|
|
|
|
|
channel n. [IRCI The basic unit of discussion on IRC. Once one joins a channel, everything one types is read by others on that channel. Channels are named with strings that begin with a '#' sign and can have topic descriptions (which are generally irrelevant to the actual subject of discussion). Some notable channels are #initgame, #hottub, and #report. At times of international crisis, #report has hundreds of members, some of whom take turns listening to various news services and typing in summaries of the news, or in some cases, giving first-hand accounts of the action (e.g., Scud missile attacks in Tel Aviv during the Gulf War in 1991). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
channel hopping n. [IRC, GEnie] To rapidly switch channels on IRC, or a GEnie chat board, just as a social butterfly might hop from one group to another at a party. This term may derive from the TV watcher's idiom, channel surfing. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
channel op /chan'l op/ n. [IRC] Someone who is endowed with privileges on a particular IRC channel; commonly abbreviated chanop or CHOP. These privileges include the right to kick users, to change various status bits, and to make others into CHOPs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chanop /chan'-op/ n. [IRC] See channel op. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
char /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ n. Shorthand for 'character'. Esp. used by C programmers, as 'char' is C's typename for character data. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
charityware /cha'rit-ee-weir'/ n. Syn. careware. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chase pointers 1. vi. To go through multiple levels of indirection, as in traversing a linked list or graph structure. Used esp. by programmers in C, where explicit pointers are a very common data type. This is techspeak, but it remains jargon when used of human networks. "I'm chasing pointers. Bob said you could tell me who to talk to about. " See dangling pointer and snap. 2. [Cambridge] pointer chase or pointer hunt: The process of going through a core dump (sense 1), interactively or on a large piece of paper printed with hex runes, following dynamic data-structures. Used only in a debugging context. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chawmp n. [University of Florida] 16 or 18 bits (half of a machine word). This term was used by FORTH hackers during the late 1970s/early 1980s; it is said to have been archaic then, and may now be obsolete. It was coined in revolt against the promiscuous use of 'word' for anything between 16 and 32 bits; 'word' has an additional special meaning for FORTH hacks that |
|
|
|
|
|