WhatIs

/nē-ə-fi-lē-ə/

n. The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty. Common trait of most hackers, SF fans, and members of several other connected leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology 'Whole Earth' wing of the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and the Discordian/neo-pagan underground. All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, Music and oriental food.

/nēp-nēp/

[onomatopoeic, from New York SF fandom]

n. One who is fascinated by computers. More general than hacker, as it need not imply more skill than is required to boot games on a PC. The derived noun 'neep-neeping' applies specifically to the long conversations about computers that tend to develop in the corners at most SF-convention parties. Fandom has a related proverb to the effect that

"Hacking is a conversational black hole!".

/nēt hak/

n. 1. A clever technique.

2. A brilliant practical joke, where neatness is correlated with cleverness, harmlessness, and surprise value. Example: the Caltech Rose Bowl card display switch.

See hack.

/nā-chər/

n. See has the X nature.

/nā-thən hāl/

n. An asterisk (see also splat, ASCII). Oh, you want an etymology? Notionally, from "I regret that I have only one asterisk for my country!", a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just before he was hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels in the American War of Independence.

/na-stē-gram/

n. 1. A protocol packet or item of email (the latter is also called a letterbomb) that takes advantage of misfeatures or security holes on the target system to do untoward things.

2. Disapproving mail, esp. from a net.god, pursuant to a violation of netiquette or a complaint about failure to correct some mail- or news-transmission problem.

Compare shitogram.

/na-nə-tek-ˈnä-lə-jē/

n. A hypothetical fabrication technology in which objects are designed and built with the individual specification and placement of each separate atom. The first unequivocal nanofabrication experiments are taking place now (1990), for example with the deposition of individual xenon atoms on a nickel substrate to spell the logo of a certain very large computer company. Nanotechnology has been a hot topic in the hacker subculture ever since the term was coined by K.

/na-nə-fȯrt-nīt/

[Adelaide University]

n. 1 fortnight * 10-9 or about 1.2 msec. This unit was used largely by students doing undergraduate practicals.

See microfortnight, attoparsec, and micro-.

/na-nə-kəm-pyü-tər/

n. A computer whose switching elements are molecular in size. Designs for mechanical nanocomputers which use single-molecule sliding rods for their logic have been proposed. The controller for a nanobot would be a nanocomputer.

/na-nə-bät/

n. A robot of microscopic proportions, presumably built by means of nanotechnology. As yet, only used informally (and speculatively!). Also called a nanoagent.