flap vt.
1. [obs.] To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,
flap...). Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days when the
disk was device 0 and DEC microtapes were 1, 2,... and
attempting to flap device 0 would instead start a motor banging
inside a cabinet near the disk. 2. By extension, to unload any
magnetic tape. See also macrotape. Modern cartridge tapes no
longer actually flap, but the usage has remained. (The term could
well be re-applied to DEC's TK50 cartridge tape drive, a
spectacularly misengineered contraption which makes a loud flapping
sound, almost like an old reel-type lawnmower, in one of its many
tape-eating failure modes.)
1. [obs.] To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,
flap...). Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days when the
disk was device 0 and DEC microtapes were 1, 2,... and
attempting to flap device 0 would instead start a motor banging
inside a cabinet near the disk. 2. By extension, to unload any
magnetic tape. See also macrotape. Modern cartridge tapes no
longer actually flap, but the usage has remained. (The term could
well be re-applied to DEC's TK50 cartridge tape drive, a
spectacularly misengineered contraption which makes a loud flapping
sound, almost like an old reel-type lawnmower, in one of its many
tape-eating failure modes.)
Related:
- flap: vt. 1. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap,
flap...). Old-time hackers at MIT tell of the days... - DT%FFP DecTape -
Unload and Flappa... - microtape: /mi:'kroh-tayp/ n. Occasionally used to mean a
DECtape,
as opposed to a {macrotape}. A DECtape is a small... - DDT /D-D-T/ n.
[from the insecticide
para-dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethene] 1.
Generic term for a program that assists in debugging... - Preen goeth before
a flap... - Sure, when pigs fl--OINK FLAP OINK FLAP-
Well I'll be darned... - 1) If a tarpaulin can flap, it will.
(2) If a small boy can get dirty,
he will. (3) If a teenager can go out, he will. ... - Immutability, Three Rules of:
(1) If a tarpaulin can flap,
it will. (2) If a small boy can get dirty, he will... - software rot n.
Term used to describe the tendency of
software that has not been used in a while to lose;
such failure may be semi-humorously ascribed to...
From the same category:
- byte /bi:t/ n.
[techspeak] A unit of memory or data equal to
the amount used to represent one character;
on modern architectures this is usually 8 bits,... - dehose /dee-hohz/ vt.
To clear a hosed condition... - drool-proof paper n.
Documentation that has been
obsessively dumbed down,
to the point where only a cretin could bear to read... - magic cookie n.
[Unix; common] 1. Something passed
between routines or programs that enables the receiver to perform
some operation;
a capability ticket or opaque identifier. Especially... - coefficient of X n.
Hackish speech makes heavy use of
pseudo-mathematical metaphors.
Four particularly important ones involve the terms...
