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were holders for buggy whips. "But suppose the parts list for a widget has 52 entries " 2. [poss. evoking 'window gadget'] A user interface object in X graphical user interfaces. |
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wiggles n. [scientific computation] In solving partial differential equations by finite difference and similar methods, wiggles are sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest wavelength representable on the grid. If an algorithm is unstable, this is often the most unstable waveform, so it grows to dominate the solution. Alternatively, stable (though inaccurate) wiggles can be generated near a discontinuity by a Gibbs phenomenon. |
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WIMP environment n. [acronym: 'Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device (or Pull-down menu)'] A graphical-user-interface environment such as X or the Macintosh interface, esp. as described by a hacker who prefers command-line interfaces for their superior flexibility and extensibility. However, it is also used without negative connotations; one must pay attention to voice tone and other signals to interpret correctly. See menuitis, user-obsequious. |
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win [MIT] 1. vi. To succeed. A program wins if no unexpected conditions arise, or (especially) if it sufficiently robust to take exceptions in stride. 2. n. Success, or a specific instance thereof. A pleasing outcome. "So it turned out I could use a lexer generator instead of hand-coding my own pattern recognizer. What a win?" Emphatic forms: moby win, super win, hyperwin (often used interjectively as a reply). For some reason suitable win is also common at MIT, usually in reference to a satisfactory solution to a problem. Oppose lose; see also big win, which isn't quite just an intensification of win. |
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win big vi. To experience serendipity. "I went shopping and won big; there was a 2-for-1 sale." See big win. |
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win win excl. Expresses pleasure at a win. |
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Winchester n. Informal generic term for sealed-enclosure magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the disk surface on an air cushion. There is a legend that the name arose because the original 1973 engineering prototype for what later became the IBM 3340 featured two 30-megabyte volumes; 3030 became 'Winchester' when somebody noticed the similarity to the common term for a famous Winchester rifle (in the latter, the first 30 referred to caliber and the second to the grain |
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