The Jargon Lexicon
= J =
=====
J. Random: /J rand'm/ n. [generalized from {J. Random
Hacker}] Arbitrary; ordinary; any one; any old. `J. Random' is
often prefixed to a noun to make a name out of it. It means
roughly `some particular' or `any specific one'. "Would you
let J. Random Loser marry your daughter?" The most common uses
are `J. Random Hacker', `J. Random Loser', and `J. Random Nerd'
("Should J. Random Loser be allowed to {gun} down other
people?"), but it can be used simply as an elaborate version of
{random} in any sense.
J. Random Hacker: /J rand'm hak'r/ n. [MIT] A mythical
figure like the Unknown Soldier; the archetypal hacker nerd. See
{random}, {Suzie COBOL}. This may originally have been
inspired by `J. Fred Muggs', a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a
household word back in the early days of {TMRC}, and was
probably influenced by `J. Presper Eckert' (one of the co-inventors
of the electronic computer).
jack in: v. To log on to a machine or connect to a network
or {BBS}, esp. for purposes of entering a {virtual reality}
simulation such as a {MUD} or {IRC} (leaving is "jacking
out"). This term derives from {cyberpunk} SF, in which it was
used for the act of plugging an electrode set into neural sockets
in order to interface the brain directly to a virtual reality. It
is primarily used by MUD and IRC fans and younger hackers on BBS
systems.
jaggies: /jag'eez/ n. The `stairstep' effect observable
when an edge (esp. a linear edge of very shallow or steep slope)
is rendered on a pixel device (as opposed to a vector display).
JCL: /J-C-L/ n. 1. IBM's supremely {rude} Job Control
Language. JCL is the script language used to control the execution
of programs in IBM's batch systems. JCL has a very {fascist}
syntax, and some versions will, for example, {barf} if two
spaces appear where it expects one. Most programmers confronted
with JCL simply copy a working file (or card deck), changing the
file names. Someone who actually understands and generates unique
JCL is regarded with the mixed respect one gives to someone who
memorizes the phone book. It is reported that hackers at IBM
itself sometimes sing "Who's the breeder of the crud that mangles
you and me? I-B-M, J-C-L, M-o-u-s-e" to the tune of the
"Mickey Mouse Club" theme to express their opinion of the
beast. 2. A comparative for any very {rude} software that a
hacker is expected to use. "That's as bad as JCL." As with
{COBOL}, JCL is often used as an archetype of ugliness even by
those who haven't experienced it. See also {IBM}, {fear and
loathing}.
JEDR: // n. Synonymous with {IYFEG}. At one time,
people in the Usenet newsgroup rec.humor.funny tended to use
`JEDR' instead of {IYFEG} or `'; this stemmed from a
public attempt to suppress the group once made by a loser with
initials JEDR after he was offended by an ethnic joke posted there.
(The practice was {retcon}ned by the expanding these initials as
`Joke Ethnic/Denomination/Race'.) After much sound and fury JEDR
faded away; this term appears to be doing likewise. JEDR's only
permanent effect on the net.culture was to discredit
`sensitivity' arguments for censorship so thoroughly that more
recent attempts to raise them have met with immediate and
near-universal rejection.
JFCL: /jif'kl/, /jaf'kl/, /j*-fi'kl/ vt., obs. (alt.
`jfcl') To cancel or annul something. "Why don't you jfcl that
out?" The fastest do-nothing instruction on older models of the
PDP-10 happened to be JFCL, which stands for "Jump if Flag set and
then CLear the flag"; this does something useful, but is a very
fast no-operation if no flag is specified. Geoff Goodfellow, one
of the jargon-1 co-authors, had JFCL on the license plate of his
BMW for years. usage: rare except among old-time PDP-10 hackers.
jiffy: n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on
the computer (see {tick}). Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second
in the U.S. and Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently
1/100 sec has become common. "The swapper runs every 6 jiffies"
means that the virtual memory management routine is executed once
for every 6 ticks of the clock, or about ten times a second.
2. Confusingly, the term is sometimes also used for a 1-millisecond
{wall time} interval. Even more confusingly, physicists
semi-jokingly use `jiffy' to mean the time required for light to
travel one foot in a vacuum, which turns out to be close to one
*nanosecond*. 3. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to
forever. "I'll do it in a jiffy" means certainly not now and
possibly never. This is a bit contrary to the more widespread use
of the word. Oppose {nano}. See also {Real Soon Now}.
job security: n. When some piece of code is written in a
particularly {obscure} fashion, and no good reason (such as time
or space optimization) can be discovered, it is often said that the
programmer was attempting to increase his job security (i.e., by
making himself indispensable for maintenance). This sour joke
seldom has to be said in full; if two hackers are looking over some
code together and one points at a section and says "job
security", the other one may just nod.
jock: n. 1. A programmer who is characterized by large and
somewhat brute-force programs. See {brute force}. 2. When
modified by another noun, describes a specialist in some particular
computing area. The compounds `compiler jock' and `systems
jock' seem to be the best-established examples.
joe code: /joh' kohd`/ n. 1. Code that is overly
{tense} and unmaintainable. "{Perl} may be a handy program,
but if you look at the source, it's complete joe code." 2. Badly
written, possibly buggy code.
Correspondents wishing to remain anonymous have fingered a
particular Joe at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and observed
that usage has drifted slightly; the original sobriquet `Joe code'
was intended in sense 1.
1994 update: This term has now generalized to ` code', used
used to designate cose that has distinct characteristics traceable
to its author. "This section doesn't check for a NULL return from
malloc! Oh! no wonder! It's Ed code!". Used most often with a
programmer who has left the shop and thus is a convenient scapegoat
for anything that is wrong with the project.
jolix: n. /joh'liks/ n.,adj. 386BSD, the freeware port of
the BSD Net/2 release to the Intel i386 architecture by Bill Jolitz
and friends. Used to differentiate from BSDI's port based on the
same source tape, which is called BSD/386. See {BSD}.
JR[LN]: /J-R-L/, /J-R-N/ n. The names JRL and JRN were
sometimes used as example names when discussing a kind of user ID
used under {{TOPS-10}} and {WAITS}; they were understood to be
the initials of (fictitious) programmers named `J. Random Loser'
and `J. Random Nerd' (see {J. Random}). For example, if one
said "To log in, type log one comma jay are en" (that is, "log
1,JRN"), the listener would have understood that he should use his
own computer ID in place of `JRN'.
JRST: /jerst/ v.,obs. [based on the PDP-10 jump
instruction] To suddenly change subjects, with no intention of
returning to the previous topic. usage: rather rare except among
PDP-10 diehards, and considered silly. See also {AOS}.
juggling eggs: vi. Keeping a lot of {state} in your head
while modifying a program. "Don't bother me now, I'm juggling
eggs", means that an interrupt is likely to result in the
program's being scrambled. In the classic first-contact SF novel
"The Mote in God's Eye", by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle,
an alien describes a very difficult task by saying "We juggle
priceless eggs in variable gravity." See also {hack mode}.
jump off into never-never land: v. [from J. M. Barrie's
"Peter Pan"] Same as {branch to Fishkill}, but more common
in technical cultures associated with non-IBM computers that use
the term `jump' rather than `branch'. Compare
{hyperspace}.
jupiter: vt. [IRC] To kill an {IRC} {robot} or user
and then take its place by adopting its {nick} so that it cannot
reconnect. Named after a particular IRC user who did this to
NickServ, the robot in charge of preventing people from
inadvertently using a nick claimed by another user.