|
|
|
|
|
|
|
mode bit n. A flag, usually in hardware, that selects between two (usually quite different) modes of operation. The connotations are different from flag bit in that mode bits are mainly written during a boot or set-up phase, are seldom explicitly read, and seldom change over the lifetime of an ordinary program. The classic example was the EBCDIC-VS.-ASCII bit (#12) of the Program Status Word of the IBM 360. Another was the bit on a PDP-12 that controlled whether it ran the PDP-8 or the LINC instruction set. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
modulo /mod'yu-loh/ prep. Except for. An overgeneralization of mathematical terminology; one can consider saying that 4 equals 22 except for the 9s (4 = 22 mod 9). "Well, LISP seems to work okay now, modulo that GC bug." "I feel fine today modulo a slight headache." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
molly-guard /mol'ee-gard/ n. [University of Illinois] A shield to prevent tripping of some Big Red Switch by clumsy or ignorant hands. Originally used of the plexiglass covers improvised for the BRS on an IBM 4341 after a programmer's toddler daughter (named Molly) frobbed it twice in one day. Later generalized to covers over stop/reset switches on disk drives and networking equipment. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mongolian Hordes technique n. [poss. from the Sixties counterculture expression Mongolian clusterfuck for a public orgy] Development by gang bang. Implies that large numbers of inexperienced programmers are being put on a job better performed by a few skilled ones. Also called Chinese Army technique; see also Brooks's Law. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
monkey up vt. To hack together hardware for a particular task, especially a one-shot job. Connotes an extremely crufty and consciously temporary solution. Compare hack up, kluge up, cruft together. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
monkey, scratch n. See scratch monkey. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
monstrosity 1. n. A ridiculously elephantine program or system, esp. one that is buggy or only marginally functional. 2. adj. The quality of being monstrous (see 'Overgeneralization' in the discussion of jargonification). See also baroque. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
monty /mon'tee/ n. 1. [US Geological Survey] A program with a ludicrously complex user interface written to perform extremely trivial tasks. An example would be a menu-driven, button clicking, pulldown, pop-up windows program for listing directories. The original monty was an infamous weather-reporting program, Monty the Amazing Weather Man, written at |
|
|
|
|
|