WhatIs

/nyet-wərk/

[from Russian nyet = no]

n. A network, when it is acting flaky or is down.

Compare notwork.

/ni-bəl/

(alt. 'nibble') [from v. 'nibble' by analogy with 'bite' => 'byte']

n. Four bits; one hex digit; a half-byte. Though 'byte' is now techspeak, this useful relative is still jargon.

/nü-sə prä-bləm/

n. This refers to the problem of transferring data between machines with differing byte-order. The string 'UNIX' might look like 'NUXI' on a machine with a different 'byte sex' (e.g., when transferring data from a little-endian to a big-endian, or vice-versa).

See also middle-endian, swab, and bytesexual.

/nəm-bərz/

[scientific computation]

n. Output of a computation that may not be significant results but at least indicate that the program is running. May be used to placate management, grant sponsors, etc. 'Making numbers' means running a program because output -- any output, not necessarily meaningful output -- is needed as a demonstration of progress.

See pretty pictures, math-out, social science number.

/nəm-bər-krənch-iŋ/

n. Computations of a numerical nature, esp. those that make extensive use of floating-point numbers. The only thing Fortrash is good for. This term is in widespread informal use outside hackerdom and even in mainstream slang, but has additional hackish connotations: namely, that the computations are mindless and involve massive use of brute force. This is not always evil, esp.

/nyük/

vt. 1. To intentionally delete the entire contents of a given directory or storage volume.

"On UNIX, 'rm -r /usr' will nuke everything in the usr filesystem."

Never used for accidental deletion.

Oppose blow away.

2. Syn. for dike, applied to smaller things such as files, features, or code sections. Often used to express a final verdict.

"What do you want me to do with that 80 Meg wallpaper file?"

"Nuke it."

/en-es-ā līn ēt-ər/

n. The National Security Agency trawling program sometimes assumed to be reading USENET for the U.S. Government's spooks. Most hackers describe it as a mythical beast, but some believe it actually exists, more aren't sure, and many believe in acting as though it exists just in case. Some netters put loaded phrases like 'KGB', 'Uzi', 'nuclear materials', 'Palestine', 'cocaine', and 'assassination' in their sig blocks in a (probably futile) attempt to confuse and overload the creature.

/nän-di-tər-mə-nis-tik pä-lə-nō-mē-əl/ or /N-P/

pref. Extremely. Used to modify adjectives describing a level or quality of difficulty; the connotation is often 'more so than it should be' (NP-complete problems all seem to be very hard, but so far no one has found a good a priori reason that they should be.)

"Getting this algorithm to perform correctly in every case is NP-annoying."

/nät-wərk/

n. A network, when it is acting flaky or is down.

Compare nyetwork.

Said at IBM to have orig. referred to a particular period of flakiness on IBM's VNET corporate network, ca. 1988; but there are independent reports of the term from elsewhere.

/nän-tri-vē-əl/

adj. Requiring real thought or significant computing power. Often used as an understated way of saying that a problem is quite difficult or impractical, or even entirely unsolvable ("Proving P=NP is nontrivial"). The preferred emphatic form is 'decidedly nontrivial'.

See trivial, uninteresting, interesting.