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and source updates in the Unix/C world. 3. v. To compare (whether or not by use of automated tools on machine-readable files); see also vdiff, mod. |
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digit n. An employee of Digital Equipment Corporation. See also VAX, VMS, PDP-10, TOPS-10, DEChead, double DECkers, field circus. |
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dike vt. To remove or disable a portion of something, as a wire from a computer or a subroutine from a program. A standard slogan is "When in doubt, dike it out". (The implication is that it is usually more effective to attack software problems by reducing complexity than by increasing it.) The word 'dikes' is widely used among mechanics and engineers to mean 'diagonal cutters', esp. the heavy-duty metal-cutting version, but may also refer to a kind of wire-cutters used by electronics techs. To dike something out means to use such cutters to remove something. Indeed, the TMRC Dictionary defined dike as "to attack with dikes". Among hackers this term has been metaphorically extended to informational objects such as sections of code. |
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Dilbert n. Name and title character of a comic strip nationally syndicated in the U.S. and enormously popular among hackers. Dilbert is an archetypical engineer-nerd who works at an anonymous high-technology company; the strips present a lacerating satire of insane working conditions and idiotic management practices all too readily recognized by hackers. Adams, who spent nine years in cube 4S700R at Pacific Bell (not DEC as often reported), often remarks that he has never been able to come up with a fictional management blunder that his correspondents didn't quickly either report to have actually happened or top with a similar but even more bizarre incident. In 1996 Adams distilled his insights into the collective psychology of businesses into an even funnier book, The Dilbert Principle (HarperCollins, ISBN 0-887-30787-6). See also rat dance. |
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ding n.,vi. 1. Synonym for feep. Usage: rare among hackers, but commoner in the Real World. 2. dinged: What happens when someone in authority gives you a minor bitching about something, esp. something trivial. "I was dinged for having a messy desk." |
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dink /dink/ adj. Said of a machine that has the bitty box nature; a machine too small to be worth bothering with sometimes the system you're currently forced to work on. First heard from an MIT hacker working on a CP/M system with 64K, in reference to any 6502 system, then from fans |
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