:munching squares: n. A {display hack} dating back to the PDP-1
(ca. 1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs
a trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T
for successive values of T --- see {HAKMEM} items 146--148) to
produce an impressive display of moving and growing squares that
devour the screen. The initial value of T is treated as a
parameter, which, when well-chosen, can produce amazing effects.
Some of these, later (re)discovered on the LISP machine, have been
christened `munching triangles' (try AND for XOR and toggling
points instead of plotting them), `munching w's', and `munching
mazes'. More generally, suppose a graphics program produces an
impressive and ever-changing display of some basic form, foo, on a
display terminal, and does it using a relatively simple program;
then the program (or the resulting display) is likely to be
referred to as `munching foos'. [This is a good example of the
use of the word {foo} as a {metasyntactic variable}.]
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
(ca. 1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs
a trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T
for successive values of T --- see {HAKMEM} items 146--148) to
produce an impressive display of moving and growing squares that
devour the screen. The initial value of T is treated as a
parameter, which, when well-chosen, can produce amazing effects.
Some of these, later (re)discovered on the LISP machine, have been
christened `munching triangles' (try AND for XOR and toggling
points instead of plotting them), `munching w's', and `munching
mazes'. More generally, suppose a graphics program produces an
impressive and ever-changing display of some basic form, foo, on a
display terminal, and does it using a relatively simple program;
then the program (or the resulting display) is likely to be
referred to as `munching foos'. [This is a good example of the
use of the word {foo} as a {metasyntactic variable}.]
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- munching squares n.
A display hack dating back to the
PDP-1 (ca.
1962, reportedly discovered by Jackson Wright), which employs a trivial computation (repeatedly plotting the graph Y = X XOR T for successive values of T -- see HAKMEM items 146-148) to produce an impressive display of moving and growing squares that devour the screen.... - boa: [IBM] n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor
in a {dinosaur pen}.
Possibly so called because they display a ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them straight and flat after they have been coiled for some time.... - Helen Keller mode: n. 1. State of a hardware or software system
that is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.
e., accepting no input and generating no output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other excursion into {deep space}.... - fencepost error: n. 1. A problem with the discrete equivalent of a
boundary condition, often exhibited in programs by iterative
loops.
From the following problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you need?... - fencepost error n.
1. [common] A problem with the discrete
equivalent of a boundary condition, often exhibited in programs by
iterative loops.
From the following problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with posts 10 feet apart, how many posts do you need?... - boa [IBM] n.
Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the
floor in a dinosaur pen.
Possibly so called because they display a ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them straight and flat after they have been coiled for some time.... - barf: /barf/ [from mainstream slang meaning `vomit']
1.
interj. Term of disgust. This is the closest hackish equivalent of the Val\-speak "gag me with a spoon".... - letterbomb: 1. n. A piece of {email} containing {live data}
intended to do nefarious things to the recipient's machine or
terminal.
It is possible, for example, to send letterbombs that will lock up some specific kinds of terminals when they are viewed, so thoroughly that the user must cycle power (see {cycle}, sense 3) to unwedge them.... - Helen Keller mode n.
1. State of a hardware or software
system that is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.
e., accepting no input and generating no output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other excursion into deep space....
