= [^A-Za-z] =
=============

   :404: // n.  [from the HTTP error "file not found on    server"]
Extended to humans to convey that the subject has no    idea or no clue
- sapience not found.  May be used reflexively;    "Uh, I'm 404ing"
means "I'm drawing a blank".

   :404 compliant: adj.  The status of a website which has    been
completely removed, usually by the administrators of the    hosting
site as a result of net abuse by the website operators.     The term is
a tongue-in-cheek reference to the standard "301    compliant"
Murkowski Bill disclaimer used by spammers.  See also:    {spam},
{spamvertize}.

   :<bobbit>: n.  [Usenet: alt.folklore.urban and    elsewhere]
Commonly used as a placeholder for omitted text in a    followup
message (not copying the whole parent message is    considered good
form).  Refers, of course, to the celebrated    mutilation of John
Bobbitt.

   :4.2: /for' poynt too'/ n.  Without a prefix, this almost
invariably refers to {BSD} Unix release 4.2.  Note that it is an
indication of cluelessness to say "version 4.2", and "release    4.2"
is rare; the number stands on its own, or is used in the more
explicit forms 4.2BSD or (less commonly) BSD 4.2.  Similar remarks
apply to "4.3", "4.4" and to earlier, less-widespread releases    4.1
and 2.9.

   :'Snooze: /snooz/ [FidoNet] n.  Fidonews, the weekly    official
on-line newsletter of FidoNet.  As the editorial policy of    Fidonews
is "anything that arrives, we print", there are often    large articles
completely unrelated to FidoNet, which in turn tend    to elicit
{flamage} in subsequent issues.

   :(TM): //  [Usenet] ASCII rendition of the    trademark-superscript
symbol    appended to phrases that the author feels should be recorded
for    posterity, perhaps in future editions of this lexicon.  Sometimes
  used ironically as a form of protest against the recent spate of
software and algorithm patents and `look and feel' lawsuits.  See
also {UN*X}.

   :-oid: suff.  [from Gree suffix -oid = `in the image    of'] 1. Used
as in mainstream slang English to indicate a poor    imitation, a
counterfeit, or some otherwise slightly bogus    resemblance.  Hackers
will happily use it with all sorts of    non-Greco/Latin stem words
that wouldn't keep company with it in    mainstream English.  For
example, "He's a nerdoid" means that he    superficially resembles a
nerd but can't make the grade; a    `modemoid' might be a 300-baud box
(Real Modems run at 28.8 or    up); a `computeroid' might be any {bitty
box}.  The word    `keyboid' could be used to describe a {chiclet
keyboard}, but    would have to be written; spoken, it would confuse
the listener as    to the speaker's city of origin.  2. More
specifically, an    indicator for `resembling an android' which in the
past has been    confined to science-fiction fans and hackers.  It too
has recently    (in 1991) started to go mainstream (most notably in the
term    `trendoid' for victims of terminal hipness).  This is probably
 traceable to the popularization of the term {droid} in    "Star Wars"
and its sequels.  (See also {windoid}.)

   Coinages in both forms have been common in science fiction for at
least fifty years, and hackers (who are often SF fans) have    probably
been making `-oid' jargon for almost that long    [though GLS and I can
personally confirm only that they were    already common in the
mid-1970s --ESR].

   :-ware: suff.  [from `software'] Commonly used to form    jargon
terms for classes of software.  For examples, see    {annoyware},
{careware}, {crippleware}, {crudware},    {freeware}, {fritterware},
{guiltware}, {liveware},    {meatware}, {payware}, {psychedelicware},
{shareware},    {shelfware}, {vaporware}, {wetware}.

   :/dev/null: /dev-nuhl/ n.  [from the Unix null device, used    as a
data sink] A notional `black hole' in any information space    being
discussed, used, or referred to.  A controversial posting,    for
example, might end "Kudos to rasputin@kremlin.org, flames to
/dev/null".  See {bit bucket}.

   :0:  Numeric zero, as opposed to the letter `O' (the 15th    letter
of the English alphabet).  In their unmodified forms they    look a lot
alike, and various kluges invented to make them visually    distinct
have compounded the confusion.  If your zero is    center-dotted and
letter-O is not, or if letter-O looks almost    rectangular but zero
looks more like an American football stood on    end (or the reverse),
you're probably looking at a modern character    display (though the
dotted zero seems to have originated as an    option on IBM 3270
controllers).  If your zero is slashed but    letter-O is not, you're
probably looking at an old-style ASCII    graphic set descended from
the default typewheel on the venerable    ASR-33 Teletype
(Scandinavians, for whom /O is a letter, curse    this arrangement).
If letter-O has a slash across it and the zero    does not, your
display is tuned for a very old convention used at    IBM and a few
other early mainframe makers (Scandinavians curse    _this_ arrangement
even more, because it means two of their    letters collide).  Some
Burroughs/Unisys equipment displays a zero    with a _reversed_ slash.
Old CDC computers rendered letter O    as an unbroken oval and 0 as an
oval broken at upper right and    lower left.  And yet another
convention common on early line    printers left zero unornamented but
added a tail or hook to the    letter-O so that it resembled an
inverted Q or cursive capital    letter-O (this was endorsed by a draft
ANSI standard for how to    draw ASCII characters, but the final
standard changed the    distinguisher to a tick-mark in the upper-left
corner).  Are we    sufficiently confused yet?

   :1TBS: // n.  The "One True Brace Style"; see {indent    style}.

   :120 reset: /wuhn-twen'tee ree'set/ n.  [from 120 volts,    U.S.
wall voltage] To cycle power on a machine in order to reset or    unjam
it.  Compare {Big Red Switch}, {power cycle}.

   :2: infix.  In translation software written by hackers, infix    2
often represents the syllable _to_ with the connotation    `translate
to': as in dvi2ps (DVI to PostScript), int2string    (integer to
string), and texi2roff (Texinfo to [nt]roff).     Several versions of a
joke have floated around the internet in    which some idiot programmer
fixes the Y2K bug by changing all the    Y's in something to K's, as in
Januark, Februark, etc.

   :@-party: /at'par`tee/ n.  [from the @-sign in an Internet
address] (alt. `@-sign party' /at'si:n par`tee/) A    semi-closed party
thrown for hackers at a science-fiction    convention (esp. the annual
World Science Fiction Convention or    "Worldcon"); one must have a
{network address} to get in, or    at least be in company with someone
who does.  One of the most    reliable opportunities for hackers to
meet face to face with people    who might otherwise be represented by
mere phosphor dots on their    screens.  Compare {boink}.

   The first recorded @-party was held at the Westercon (a California
SF convention) over the July 4th weekend in 1980.  It is not clear
exactly when the canonical @-party venue shifted to the Worldcon    but
it had certainly become established by Constellation in 1983.
Sadly, the @-party tradition has been in decline since about 1996,
mainly because having an @-address no longer functions as an
effective lodge pin.

   :@Begin: //  See {\begin}.

   :\begin: //  [from the LaTeX command] With \end, used    humorously
in writing to indicate a context or to remark on the    surrounded
text.  For example:

     \begin{flame}
     Predicate logic is the only good programming
     language.  Anyone who would use anything else
     is an idiot.  Also, all computers should be
     tredecimal instead of binary.
     \end{flame}

   The Scribe users at CMU and elsewhere used to use @Begin/@End in
an identical way (LaTeX was built to resemble Scribe).  On Usenet,
this construct would more frequently be rendered as `<FLAME    ON>' and
`<FLAME OFF>', or `#ifdef FLAME' and    `#endif FLAME'.  Recently the
pseudo-HTML form `<flame>    ... </flame>' has become popular.

