|
|
|
|
|
|
|
access. So called because it is the default location for SEX (sense 1). ''I'll have the source in the pube directory by Friday." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
puff vt. To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At least one widely distributed Huffman decoder program was actually named 'PUFF', but these days it is usually packaged with the encoder. Oppose huff, see inflate. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
punched card n.obs. [techspeak] (alt. punch card) The signature medium of computing's Stone Age, now obsolescent outside of some IBM shops. The punched card actually predated computers considerably, originating in 1801 as a control device for mechanical looms. The version patented by Hollerith and used with mechanical tabulating machines in the 1890 U.S. Census was a piece of cardboard about 90 mm by 215 mm. There is a widespread myth that it was designed to fit in the currency trays used for that era's larger dollar bills, but recent investigations have falsified this. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IBM (which originated as a tabulating-machine manufacturer) married the punched card to computers, encoding binary information as patterns of small rectangular holes; one character per column, 80 columns per card. Other coding schemes, sizes of card, and hole shapes were tried at various times. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The 80-column width of most character terminals is a legacy of the IBM punched card; so is the size of the quick-reference cards distributed with many varieties of computers even today. See chad, chad box, eighty-column mind, green card, dusty deck, lace card, card walloper. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
punt v. [from the punch line of an old joke referring to American football: "Drop back 15 yards and punt!"] 1. To give up, typically without any intention of retrying. "Let's punt the movie tonight." "I was going to hack all night to get this feature in, but I decided to punt" may mean that you've decided not to stay up all night, and may also mean you're not ever even going to put in the feature. 2. More specifically, to give up on figuring out what the Right Thing is and resort to an inefficient hack. 3. A design decision to defer solving a problem, typically because one cannot define what is desirable sufficiently well to frame an algorithmic solution. "No way to know what the right form to dump the graph in iswe'll punt that for now." 4. To hand a tricky implementation problem off to some other section of the design. "It's too hard to get the compiler to do that; let's punt to the runtime system." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Purple Book n. 1. The System V Interface Definition. The covers of the first editions were an amazingly nauseating shade of off-lavender. 2. Syn. Wizard |
|
|
|
|
|