TERMS STARTING WITH
machine: 1. A mechanical system that is designed to complete a task.
machine code "language" The representation of a {computer program} that is read and interpreted by the computer hardware (rather than by some other machine code program). A program in machine code consists of a sequence of "instructions" (possibly interspersed with data). An instruction is a {binary string}, (often written as one or more {octal}, {decimal} or {hexadecimal} numbers). Instructions may be all the same size (e.g. one 32-bit word for many modern {RISC} {microprocessors}) or of different sizes, in which case the size of the instruction is determined from the first {word} (e.g. {Motorola} {68000}) or {byte} (e.g. {Inmos} {transputer}). The collection of all possible instructions for a particular computer is known as its "{instruction set}". Each instruction typically causes the {Central Processing Unit} to perform some fairly simple operation like loading a value from memory into a {register} or adding the numbers in two registers. An instruction consists of an {op code} and zero or more {operands}. Different processors have different {instruction sets} - the collection of possible operations they can perform. Execution of machine code may either be {hard-wired} into the {central processing unit} or it may be controlled by {microcode}. The basic execution cycle consists of fetching the next instruction from {main memory}, decoding it (determining which action the {operation code} specifies and the location of any {arguments}) and executing it by opening various {gates} (e.g. to allow data to flow from main memory into a CPU {register}) and enabling {functional units} (e.g. signalling to the {ALU} to perform an addition). Humans almost never write programs directly in machine code. Instead, they use {programming languages}. The simplest kind of programming language is {assembly language} which usually has a one-to-one correspondence with the resulting machine code instructions but allows the use of {mnemonics} (ASCII strings) for the "{op codes}" (the part of the instruction which encodes the basic type of operation to perform) and names for locations in the program (branch labels) and for {variables} and {constants}. Other languages are either translated by a {compiler} into machine code or executed by an {interpreter} (2009-06-16)
machine code ::: The representation of a computer program which is actually read and interpreted by the computer. A program in machine code consists of a sequence of machine (e.g. Inmos transputer). The collection of all possible instructions for a particular computer is known as its instruction set.Execution of machine code may either be hard-wired into the central processing unit or it may be controlled by microcode. The basic execution cycle consists of register) and enabling functional units (e.g. signalling to the ALU to perform an addition).Humans almost never write programs directly in machine code. Instead, they use a programming language which is translated by the computer into machine code. The instruction which encodes the basic type of operation to perform) and names for locations in the program (branch labels) and for variables and constants. (1995-02-15)
machine ::: Common term for computer, usually when considered at the hardware level. The Turing Machine, an early example of this usage, was however neither hardware nor software, but only an idea.[Earlier use?] (1995-02-15)
machine Common term for "computer", usually when considered at the hardware level. The {Turing Machine}, an early example of this usage, was however neither hardware nor software, but only an idea. [Earlier use?] (1995-02-15)
machine cycle ::: (processor) The four steps which the CPU carries out for each machine language instruction: fetch, decode, execute, and store. These steps are be programmed as microcode which is itself usually fixed (in ROM) but may be (partially) modifiable (stored in RAM).The fetch cycle places the current program counter contents (the address of the next instruction to execute) on the address bus and reads in the word at that usually a single word but in other architectures an instruction may be several words long, necessitating several fetches.The decode cycle uses the contents of the IR to determine which gates should be opened between the CPU's various functional units and busses and what operation known as vertical encoding. One way RISC processors gain their advantage in speed is by having simple instruction decoding which can be performed quickly.The execute cycle occurs when the decoding logic has settled and entails the passing of values between the various function units and busses and the indirect addressing) may require three or four. Instructions in a RISC typically (but not invariably) take only a single cycle.The store cycle is when the result of the instruction is written to its destination, either a register or a memory location. This is really part of the execute cycle because some instructions may write to multiple destinations as part of their execution. (1995-04-13)
machine cycle "processor" The four steps which the {CPU} carries out for each {machine language} instruction: fetch, decode, execute, and store. These steps are performed by the {control unit}, and may be fixed in the logic of the CPU or may be programmed as {microcode} which is itself usually fixed (in {ROM}) but may be (partially) modifiable (stored in {RAM}). The fetch cycle places the current {program counter} contents (the address of the next instruction to execute) on the {address bus} and reads in the word at that location into the {instruction register} (IR). In {RISC} CPUs instructions are usually a single word but in other architectures an instruction may be several words long, necessitating several fetches. The decode cycle uses the contents of the IR to determine which {gates} should be opened between the CPU's various {functional units} and busses and what operation the {ALU}(s) should perform (e.g. add, {bitwise and}). Each gate allows data to flow from one unit to another (e.g. from {register} 0 to ALU input 1) or enables data from one output onto a certain {bus}. In the simplest case ("{horizontal encoding}") each bit of the instruction register controls a single gate or several bits may control the ALU operation. This is rarely used because it requires long instruction words (such an architecture is sometimes called a {very long instruction word} architecture). Commonly, groups of bits from the IR are fed through {decoders} to control higher level aspects of the CPU's operation, e.g. source and destination registers, {addressing mode} and {ALU} operation. This is known as {vertical encoding}. One way {RISC} processors gain their advantage in speed is by having simple instruction decoding which can be performed quickly. The execute cycle occurs when the decoding logic has settled and entails the passing of values between the various function units and busses and the operation of the ALU. A simple instruction will require only a single execute cycle whereas a complex instruction (e.g. subroutine call or one using memory {indirect addressing}) may require three or four. Instructions in a RISC typically (but not invariably) take only a single cycle. The store cycle is when the result of the instruction is written to its destination, either a {register} or a memory location. This is really part of the execute cycle because some instructions may write to multiple destinations as part of their execution. (1995-04-13)
machined ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Machine
machine instruction "programming" The smallest element of a {machine code} program. (2009-06-23)
machine language {machine code}
machine learning (ML) ::: The scientific study of algorithms and statistical models that computer systems use in order to perform a specific task effectively without using explicit instructions, relying on patterns and inference instead.
machine learning ::: The ability of a machine to improve its performance based on previous results.Neural networks are one kind of machine learning.[More examples? Net resources? Web page?] (1995-02-15)
machine learning The ability of a machine to improve its performance based on previous results. {Neural networks} are one kind of machine learning. [More examples? Net resources? Web page?] (1995-02-15)
machine listening
machine ::: n. --> In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion
machine perception ::: The capability of a computer system to interpret data in a manner that is similar to the way humans use their senses to relate to the world around them.[215][216][217]
machiner ::: n. --> One who or operates a machine; a machinist.
machinery ::: n. --> Machines, in general, or collectively.
The working parts of a machine, engine, or instrument; as, the machinery of a watch.
The supernatural means by which the action of a poetic or fictitious work is carried on and brought to a catastrophe; in an extended sense, the contrivances by which the crises and conclusion of a fictitious narrative, in prose or verse, are effected.
The means and appliances by which anything is kept in
machine vision (MV) ::: The technology and methods used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance, usually in industry. Machine vision is a term encompassing a large number of technologies, software and hardware products, integrated systems, actions, methods and expertise. Machine vision as a systems engineering discipline can be considered distinct from computer vision, a form of computer science. It attempts to integrate existing technologies in new ways and apply them to solve real world problems. The term is the prevalent one for these functions in industrial automation environments but is also used for these functions in other environments such as security and vehicle guidance.
Machine hour - Cost allocation base that provides a systematic and contemporaneous method of applying overhead costs to work in process Inventory. An overhead rate of cost per hour of work expended by a machine is applied to the work in process.
MAchine INdependent SAIL (MAINSAIL) From {XIDAK}, Palo Alto CA, +1 (415) 855 9271. (2006-12-06)
Machine learning - a subfield of computer science which focuses on the development of algorithms that can learn from and make predictions on data without being explicitly programmed. See /r/machinelearning
Machine_learning ::: is the concept that a computer program can learn and adapt to new data without human interference. Machine learning is a field of artificial intelligence (AI) that keeps a computer’s built-in algorithms current regardless of changes in the worldwide economy. BREAKING DOWN 'Machine Learning' Various sectors of the economy are dealing with huge amounts of data available in different formats from disparate sources. The enormous amount of data, known as big data, is becoming easily available and accessible due to the progressive use of technology. Companies and governments realize the huge insights that can be gained from tapping into big data but lack the resources and time required to comb through its wealth of information. As such, artificial intelligence measures are being employed by different industries to gather, process, communicate, and share useful information from data sets. One method of AI that is increasingly utilized for big data processing is machine learning.
TERMS ANYWHERE
32-bit application "architecture, operating system" {IBM PC} software that runs in a 32-bit {flat address space}. The term {32-bit application} came about because {MS-DOS} and {Microsoft Windows} were originally written for the {Intel 8088} and {80286} {microprocessors}. These are {16 bit} microprocessors with a {segmented address space}. Programs with more than 64 kilobytes of code and/or data therefore had to switch between {segments} quite frequently. As this operation is quite time consuming in comparison to other machine operations, the application's performance may suffer. Furthermore, programming with segments is more involved than programming in a flat address space, giving rise to some complications in programming languages like "{memory models}" in {C} and {C++}. The shift from 16-bit software to 32-bit software on {IBM PC} {clones} became possible with the introduction of the {Intel 80386} microprocessor. This microprocessor and its successors support a segmented address space with 16-bit and 32 bit segments (more precisely: segments with 16- or 32-bit address offset) or a linear 32-bit address space. For compatibility reasons, however, much of the software is nevertheless written in 16-bit models. {Operating systems} like {Microsoft Windows} or {OS/2} provide the possibility to run 16-bit (segmented) programs as well as 32-bit programs. The former possibility exists for {backward compatibility} and the latter is usually meant to be used for new software development. See also {Win32s}. (1995-12-11)
ABC 1. "computer" {Atanasoff-Berry Computer}. 2. "language" An {imperative language} and programming environment from {CWI}, Netherlands. It is interactive, structured, high-level, and easy to learn and use. It is a general-purpose language which you might use instead of {BASIC}, {Pascal} or {AWK}. It is not a systems-programming language but is good for teaching or prototyping. ABC has only five data types that can easily be combined; {strong typing}, yet without declarations; data limited only by memory; refinements to support top-down programming; nesting by indentation. Programs are typically around a quarter the size of the equivalent {Pascal} or {C} program, and more readable. ABC includes a programming environment with {syntax-directed} editing, {suggestions}, {persistent variables} and multiple workspaces and {infinite precision} arithmetic. An example function words to collect the set of all words in a document: HOW TO RETURN words document: PUT {} IN collection FOR line in document: FOR word IN split line: IF word not.in collection: INSERT word IN collection RETURN collection {Interpreter}/{compiler}, version 1.04.01, by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens, Steven Pemberton "Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl". ABC has been ported to {Unix}, {MS-DOS}, {Atari}, {Macintosh}. {(http://cwi.nl/cwi/projects/abc.html)}. {FTP eu.net (ftp://ftp.eu.net/programming/languages/abc)}, {FTP nluug.nl (ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/programming/languages/abc)}, {FTP uunet (ftp://ftp.uu.net/languages/abc)}. Mailing list: "abc-list-request@cwi.nl". E-mail: "abc@cwi.nl". ["The ABC Programmer's Handbook" by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens and Steven Pemberton, published by Prentice-Hall (ISBN 0-13-000027-2)]. ["An Alternative Simple Language and Environment for PCs" by Steven Pemberton, IEEE Software, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1987, pp. 56-64.] (1995-02-09) 2. "language" Argument, Basic value, C?. An {abstract machine} for implementation of {functional languages} and its intermediate code. [P. Koopman, "Functional Programs as Executable Specifications", 1990]. (1995-02-09)
AberMUD "games" The first popular {open source} {MUD}. The first version of AberMUD, named after Aberystwyth, UK, was written in {B} by Alan Cox, Richard Acott, Jim Finnis, and Leon Thrane, at University of Wales, Aberystwyth for an old {Honeywell} {mainframe} and opened in 1987. The gameplay was heavily influenced by {MUD1}, written by Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle, which Alan Cox had played at the University of Essex. In late 1988, Alan Cox ported AberMUD to {C} so it could run under {UNIX} on Southampton University's Maths machines. This version was named AberMUD2. Various other versions followed. (2008-11-24)
aberuncator ::: n. --> A weeding machine.
abstract machine 1. "language" A processor design which is not intended to be implemented as {hardware}, but which is the notional executor of a particular {intermediate language} (abstract machine language) used in a {compiler} or {interpreter}. An abstract machine has an {instruction set}, a {register set} and a model of memory. It may provide instructions which are closer to the language being compiled than any physical computer or it may be used to make the language implementation easier to {port} to other {platforms}. A {virtual machine} is an abstract machine for which an {interpreter} exists. Examples: {ABC}, {Abstract Machine Notation}, {ALF}, {CAML}, {F-code}, {FP/M}, {Hermes}, {LOWL}, {Christmas}, {SDL}, {S-K reduction machine}, {SECD}, {Tbl}, {Tcode}, {TL0}, {WAM}. 2. "theory" A procedure for executing a set of instructions in some formal language, possibly also taking in input data and producing output. Such abstract machines are not intended to be constructed as {hardware} but are used in thought experiments about {computability}. Examples: {Finite State Machine}, {Turing Machine}. (1995-03-13)
Abstract Machine Notation "language" (AMN) A language for specifying {abstract machines} in the {B-Method}, based on the mathematical theory of {Generalised Substitutions}. (1995-03-13)
abstract syntax "language, data" A form of representation of data that is independent of machine-oriented structures and encodings and also of the physical representation of the data. Abstract syntax is used to give a high-level description of programs being compiled or messages passing over a communications link. A {compiler}'s internal representation of a program will typically be an {abstract syntax tree}. The abstract syntax specifies the tree's structure is specified in terms of categories such as "statement", "expression" and "{identifier}". This is independent of the source syntax ({concrete syntax}) of the language being compiled (though it will often be very similar). A {parse tree} is similar to an abstract syntax tree but it will typically also contain features such as parentheses which are syntactically significant but which are implicit in the structure of the {abstract syntax tree}. (1998-05-26)
Abstract Syntax Notation 1 "language, standard, protocol" (ASN.1, X.208, X.680) An {ISO}/{ITU-T} {standard} for transmitting structured {data} on {networks}, originally defined in 1984 as part of {CCITT X.409} '84. ASN.1 moved to its own standard, X.208, in 1988 due to wide applicability. The substantially revised 1995 version is covered by the X.680 series. ASN.1 defines the {abstract syntax} of {information} but does not restrict the way the information is encoded. Various ASN.1 encoding rules provide the {transfer syntax} (a {concrete} representation) of the data values whose {abstract syntax} is described in ASN.1. The standard ASN.1 encoding rules include {BER} (Basic Encoding Rules - X.209), {CER} (Canonical Encoding Rules), {DER} (Distinguished Encoding Rules) and {PER} (Packed Encoding Rules). ASN.1 together with specific ASN.1 encoding rules facilitates the exchange of structured data especially between {application programs} over networks by describing data structures in a way that is independent of machine architecture and implementation language. {OSI} {Application layer} {protocols} such as {X.400} {MHS} {electronic mail}, {X.500} directory services and {SNMP} use ASN.1 to describe the {PDU}s they exchange. Documents describing the ASN.1 notations: {ITU-T} Rec. X.680, {ISO} 8824-1; {ITU-T} Rec. X.681, {ISO} 8824-2; {ITU-T} Rec. X.682, {ISO} 8824-3; {ITU-T} Rec. X.683, {ISO} 8824-4 Documents describing the ASN.1 encoding rules: {ITU-T} Rec. X.690, {ISO} 8825-1; {ITU-T} Rec. X.691, {ISO} 8825-2. [M. Sample et al, "Implementing Efficient Encoders and Decoders for Network Data Representations", IEEE Infocom 93 Proc, v.3, pp. 1143-1153, Mar 1993. Available from Logica, UK]. See also {snacc}. (2005-07-03)
acceptor {Finite State Machine}
Acorn Computer Group "company" A holding company for {Acorn Computers} Limited, Acorn Australia, Acorn New Zealand, Acorn GmbH and {Online Media}. Acorn Computer Group owns 43% of {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. (1994-11-08)
Acorn Computers Ltd. "company" A UK computer manufacturer, part of the {Acorn Computer Group} plc. Acorn was founded on 1978-12-05, on a kitchen table in a back room. Their first creation was an electronic slot machine. After the {Acorn System 1}, 2 and 3, Acorn launched the first commercial {microcomputer} - the {ATOM} in March 1980. In April 1981, Acorn won a contract from the {BBC} to provide the {PROTON}. In January 1982 Acorn launched the {BBC Microcomputer} System. At one time, 70% of microcomputers bought for UK schools were BBC Micros. The Acorn Computer Group went public on the Unlisted Securities Market in September 1983. In April 1984 Acorn won the Queen's Award for Technology for the BBC Micro and in September 1985 {Olivetti} took a controlling interest in Acorn. The {Master} 128 Series computers were launched in January 1986 and the BBC {Domesday} System in November 1986. In 1983 Acorn began to design the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM), the first low-cost, high volume {RISC} processor chip (later renamed the {Advanced RISC Machine}). In June 1987 they launched the {Archimedes} range - the first 32-bit {RISC} based {microcomputers} - which sold for under UKP 1000. In February 1989 the R140 was launched. This was the first {Unix} {workstation} under UKP 4000. In May 1989 the A3000 (the new {BBC Microcomputer}) was launched. In 1990 Acorn formed {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. (ARM) in partnership with {Apple Computer, Inc.} and {VLSI} to develop the ARM processor. Acorn has continued to develop {RISC} based products. With 1992 revenues of 48.2 million pounds, Acorn Computers was the premier supplier of {Information Technology} products to UK education and had been the leading provider of 32-bit RISC based {personal computers} since 1987. Acorn finally folded in the late 1990s. Their operating system, {RISC OS} was further developed by a consortium of suppliers. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:comp.sys.acorn}, {news:comp.sys.acorn.announce}, {news:comp.sys.acorn.tech}, {news:comp.binaries.acorn}, {news:comp.sources.acorn}, {news:comp.sys.acorn.advocacy}, {news:comp.sys.acorn.games}. {Acorn's FTP server (ftp://ftp.acorn.co.uk/)}. {HENSA software archive (http://micros.hensa.ac.uk/micros/arch.html)}. {Richard Birkby's Acorn page (http://csv.warwick.ac.uk/~phudv/)}. {RiscMan's Acorn page (http://geko.com.au/riscman/)}. {Acorn On The Net (http://stir.ac.uk/~rhh01/Main.html)}. {"The Jungle" by Simon Truss (http://csc.liv.ac.uk/users/u1smt/u1smt.html)}. [Recent history?] (2000-09-26)
Acorn Online Media "company" A company formed in August 1994 by {Acorn Computer Group} plc to exploit the {ARM} RISC in television {set-top box} decoders. They planned to woo {British Telecommunications} plc to use the box in some of its {video on demand} trials. The "STB1" box was based on an {ARM8} core with additional circuits to enable {MPEG} to be decoded in software - possibly dedicated instructions for interpolation, inverse {DCT} or {Huffman} table extraction. A prototype featured audio {MPEG} chips, Acorn's {RISC OS} {operating system} and supported {Oracle Media Objects} and {Microword}. Online planned to reduce component count by transferring functions from boards into the single RISC chip. The company was origianlly wholly owned by Acorn but was expected to bring in external investment. [Article by nobody@tandem.com cross-posted from tandem.news.computergram, 1994-07-07]. In 1996 they releasd the imaginatively titled "Set Top Box 2" (STB20M) with a 32 MHz {ARM 7500} and 2 to 32 MB {RAM}. There was also a "Set Top Box 22". {(http://www.khantazi.org/Archives/MachineLst.html
Acorn RISC Machine "processor" The original name of the {Advanced RISC Machine}. (1995-03-07)
Active Monitor "networking" A process in an {IBM} {token ring} network which ensures a token is present on the ring, removes circulating frames with unknown or invalid destinations, and performs introductions between machines on the ring. (1996-06-18)
Ada/Ed "language, education" An {interpreter}, editor, and {run-time environment} for {Ada}, intended as a teaching tool. Ada/Ed does not have the capacity, performance, or robustness of commercial Ada compilers. Ada/Ed was developed at {New York University} as part of a project in language definition and software prototyping. AdaEd runs on {Unix}, {MS-DOS}, {Atari ST}, and {Amiga}. It handles nearly all of {Ada 83} and was last validated with version 1.7 of the {ACVC} tests. Being an interpreter, it does not implement most {representation clauses} and thus does not support systems programming close to the machine level. A later version was known as {GW-Ada}. E-mail: Michael Feldman "mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu". {(ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/amiga/languages/ada)}, {(ftp://cnam.cnam.fr/pub/Ada/Ada-Ed)}. {For Amiga (ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/adaed)}. {RISC OS port (ftp://micros.hensa.ac.uk/micros/arch/riscos/c/c052)}. (1999-11-04)
adder ::: n. --> One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding numbers.
A serpent.
A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common European adder is the Vipera (/ Pelias) berus. The puff adders of Africa are species of Clotho.
In America, the term is commonly applied to several harmless snakes, as the milk adder, puffing adder, etc. html{color:
addressing mode 1. "processor, programming" One of a set of methods for specifying the {operand}(s) for a {machine code} {instruction}. Different processors vary greatly in the number of addressing modes they provide. The more complex modes described below can usually be replaced with a short sequence of instructions using only simpler modes. The most common modes are "register" - the operand is stored in a specified {register}; "absolute" - the operand is stored at a specified memory address; and "{immediate}" - the operand is contained within the instruction. Most processors also have {indirect addressing} modes, e.g. "register indirect", "memory indirect" where the specified register or memory location does not contain the operand but contains its address, known as the "{effective address}". For an absolute addressing mode, the effective address is contained within the instruction. Indirect addressing modes often have options for pre- or post- increment or decrement, meaning that the register or memory location containing the {effective address} is incremented or decremented by some amount (either fixed or also specified in the instruction), either before or after the instruction is executed. These are very useful for {stacks} and for accessing blocks of data. Other variations form the effective address by adding together one or more registers and one or more constants which may themselves be direct or indirect. Such complex addressing modes are designed to support access to multidimensional arrays and arrays of data structures. The addressing mode may be "implicit" - the location of the operand is obvious from the particular instruction. This would be the case for an instruction that modified a particular control register in the CPU or, in a {stack} based processor where operands are always on the top of the stack. 2. In {IBM} {System 370}/{XA} the addressing mode bit controls the size of the {effective address} generated. When this bit is zero, the CPU is in the 24-bit addressing mode, and 24 bit instruction and operand effective addresses are generated. When this bit is one, the CPU is in the 31-bit addressing mode, and 31-bit instruction and operand effective addresses are generated. ["IBM System/370 Extended Architecture Principles of Operation", Chapter 5., 'Address Generation', BiModal Addressing]. (1995-03-30)
Aditi "database, project" The Aditi Deductive Database System. A multi-user {deductive database} system from the Machine Intelligence Project at the {University of Melbourne}. It supports base {relations} defined by {facts} (relations in the sense of {relational databases}) and {derived relations} defined by {rules} that specify how to compute new information from old information. Both base relations and the rules defining derived relations are stored on disk and are accessed as required during query evaluation. The rules defining derived relations are expressed in a {Prolog}-like language, which is also used for expressing queries. Aditi supports the full structured data capability of Prolog. Base relations can store arbitrarily nested terms, for example arbitrary length lists, and rules can directly manipulate such terms. Base relations can be indexed with {B-trees} or multi-level signature files. Users can access the system through a {Motif}-based query and database administration tool, or through a command line interface. There is also in interface that allows {NU-Prolog} programs to access Aditi in a transparent manner. Proper {transaction processing} is not supported in this release. The beta release runs on {SPARC}/{SunOS4}.1.2 and {MIPS}/{Irix}4.0. E-mail: "aditi@cs.mu.oz.au". (1992-12-17)
Advanced RISC Machine "processor" (ARM, Originally {Acorn} RISC Machine). A series of low-cost, power-efficient 32-bit {RISC} {microprocessors} for embedded control, computing, {digital signal processing}, {games}, consumer {multimedia} and portable applications. It was the first commercial RISC microprocessor (or was the {MIPS R2000}?) and was licensed for production by {Asahi Kasei Microsystems}, {Cirrus Logic}, {GEC Plessey Semiconductors}, {Samsung}, {Sharp}, {Texas Instruments} and {VLSI Technology}. The ARM has a small and highly {orthogonal instruction set}, as do most RISC processors. Every instruction includes a four-bit code which specifies a condition (of the {processor status register}) which must be satisfied for the instruction to be executed. Unconditional execution is specified with a condition "true". Instructions are split into load and store which access memory and arithmetic and logic instructions which work on {registers} (two source and one destination). The ARM has 27 registers of which 16 are accessible in any particular processor mode. R15 combines the {program counter} and processor status byte, the other registers are general purpose except that R14 holds the {return address} after a {subroutine} call and R13 is conventionally used as a {stack pointer}. There are four processor modes: user, {interrupt} (with a private copy of R13 and R14), fast interrupt (private copies of R8 to R14) and {supervisor} (private copies of R13 and R14). The {ALU} includes a 32-bit {barrel-shifter} allowing, e.g., a single-{cycle} shift and add. The first ARM processor, the ARM1 was a prototype which was never released. The ARM2 was originally called the Acorn RISC Machine. It was designed by {Acorn Computers Ltd.} and used in the original {Archimedes}, their successor to the {BBC Micro} and {BBC Master} series which were based on the eight-bit {6502} {microprocessor}. It was clocked at 8 MHz giving an average performance of 4 - 4.7 {MIPS}. Development of the ARM family was then continued by a new company, {Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.} The {ARM3} added a {fully-associative} on-chip {cache} and some support for {multiprocessing}. This was followed by the {ARM600} chip which was an {ARM6} processor {core} with a 4-kilobyte 64-way {set-associative} {cache}, an {MMU} based on the MEMC2 chip, a {write buffer} (8 words?) and a {coprocessor} interface. The {ARM7} processor core uses half the power of the {ARM6} and takes around half the {die} size. In a full processor design ({ARM700} chip) it should provide 50% to 100% more performance. In July 1994 {VLSI Technology, Inc.} released the {ARM710} processor chip. {Thumb} is an implementation with reduced code size requirements, intended for {embedded} applications. An {ARM800} chip is also planned. {AT&T}, {IBM}, {Panasonic}, {Apple Coputer}, {Matsushita} and {Sanyo} either rely on, or manufacture, ARM 32-bit processor chips. {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.sys.arm}. (1997-08-05)
Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. "company" (ARM) A company formed in 1990 by {Acorn Computers} Ltd., {Apple Computer, Inc.} and {VLSI Technology} to market and develop the {Advanced RISC Machine} {microprocessor} family, originally designed by Acorn. ARM Ltd. also designs and licenses peripheral chips and supplies supporting software and hardware tools. In April 1993, Nippon Investment and Finance, a Daiwa Securities company, became ARM's fourth investor. In May 1994 Samsung became the sixth large company to have a licence to use the ARM processor core. The success of ARM Ltd. and the strategy to widen the availability of RISC technology has resulted in its chips now being used in a range of products including the {Apple Newton}. As measured by an independent authority, more ARM processors were shipped than {SPARC} chips in 1993. ARM has also sold three times more chips than the {PowerPC} consortium. {(http://systemv.com/armltd/index.html)}. E-mail: armltd.co.uk. Address: Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. Fulbourn Road, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 4JN, UK. Telephone: +44 (1223) 400 400. Fax: +44 (1223) 400 410. (1994-11-03)
adware "software" Any kind of {software} that displays advertisements while it is running. The display of adverts is sometimes incidental to the software's main purpose (e.g. a game). In the case of a piece of {malware}, the adverts may be its only purpose, possibly hidden behind a pretence of providing some desired function like a security scanner. The adware's distributors may get paid for every machine infected. The adverts may vary in obtrusiveness from occasional or out-of-the-way images, audio or video to blocking access to the desired function while the advert is presented. {Nagware} is a special case of adware where the advert is for a license for, or upgrade to, the program itself. (2018-12-13)
aeroplane ::: n. --> A flying machine, or a small plane for experiments on flying, which floats in the air only when propelled through it.
Aesthetics is now achieving a more independent status as the subject (whether it is or can be a "science" is a disputed issue) which studies (a) works of art, (b) the processes of producing and experiencing art, and (c) certain aspects of nature and human production outside the field of art -- especially those which can be considered as beautiful or ugly in regard to form and sensory qualities. (E.g., sunsets, flowers, human beings, machines.)
"A Godhead is seated in the heart of every man and is the Lord of this mysterious action of Nature. And though this Spirit of the universe, this One who is all, seems to be turning us on the wheel of the world as if mounted on a machine by the force of Maya, shaping us in our ignorance as the potter shapes a pot, as the weaver a fabric, by some skilful mechanical principle, yet is this spirit our own greatest self and it is according to the real idea, the truth of ourselves, that which is growing in us and finding always new and more adequate forms in birth after birth, in our animal and human and divine life, in that which we were, that which we are, that which we shall be, — it is in accordance with this inner soul-truth that, as our opened eyes will discover, we are progressively shaped by this spirit within us in its all-wise omnipotence.” *Essays on the Gita
“A Godhead is seated in the heart of every man and is the Lord of this mysterious action of Nature. And though this Spirit of the universe, this One who is all, seems to be turning us on the wheel of the world as if mounted on a machine by the force of Maya, shaping us in our ignorance as the potter shapes a pot, as the weaver a fabric, by some skilful mechanical principle, yet is this spirit our own greatest self and it is according to the real idea, the truth of ourselves, that which is growing in us and finding always new and more adequate forms in birth after birth, in our animal and human and divine life, in that which we were, that which we are, that which we shall be,—it is in accordance with this inner soul-truth that, as our opened eyes will discover, we are progressively shaped by this spirit within us in its all-wise omnipotence.” Essays on the Gita
AI koan "humour" /A-I koh'an/ One of a series of pastiches of Zen teaching riddles created by {Danny Hillis} at the {MIT AI Lab} around various major figures of the Lab's culture. See also {ha ha only serious}, {mu}. In reading these, it is at least useful to know that {Marvin Minsky}, {Gerald Sussman}, and Drescher are {AI} researchers of note, that {Tom Knight} was one of the {Lisp machine}'s principal designers, and that {David Moon} wrote much of Lisp Machine Lisp. * * * A novice was trying to fix a broken Lisp machine by turning the power off and on. Knight, seeing what the student was doing, spoke sternly: "You cannot fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no understanding of what is going wrong." Knight turned the machine off and on. The machine worked. * * * One day a student came to Moon and said: "I understand how to make a better garbage collector. We must keep a reference count of the pointers to each cons." Moon patiently told the student the following story: "One day a student came to Moon and said: `I understand how to make a better garbage collector... [Pure reference-count garbage collectors have problems with circular structures that point to themselves.] * * * In the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6. "What are you doing?", asked Minsky. "I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe", Sussman replied. "Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky. "I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play", Sussman said. Minsky then shut his eyes. "Why do you close your eyes?", Sussman asked his teacher. "So that the room will be empty." At that moment, Sussman was enlightened. * * * A disciple of another sect once came to Drescher as he was eating his morning meal. "I would like to give you this personality test", said the outsider, "because I want you to be happy." Drescher took the paper that was offered him and put it into the toaster, saying: "I wish the toaster to be happy, too." (1995-02-08)
air chamber ::: --> A chamber or cavity filled with air, in an animal or plant.
A cavity containing air to act as a spring for equalizing the flow of a liquid in a pump or other hydraulic machine.
Alan Turing "person" Alan M. Turing, 1912-06-22/3? - 1954-06-07. A British mathematician, inventor of the {Turing Machine}. Turing also proposed the {Turing test}. Turing's work was fundamental in the theoretical foundations of computer science. Turing was a student and fellow of {King's College Cambridge} and was a graduate student at {Princeton University} from 1936 to 1938. While at Princeton Turing published "On Computable Numbers", a paper in which he conceived an {abstract machine}, now called a {Turing Machine}. Turing returned to England in 1938 and during World War II, he worked in the British Foreign Office. He masterminded operations at {Bletchley Park}, UK which were highly successful in cracking the Nazis "Enigma" codes during World War II. Some of his early advances in computer design were inspired by the need to perform many repetitive symbolic manipulations quickly. Before the building of the {Colossus} computer this work was done by a roomful of women. In 1945 he joined the {National Physical Laboratory} in London and worked on the design and construction of a large computer, named {Automatic Computing Engine} (ACE). In 1949 Turing became deputy director of the Computing Laboratory at Manchester where the {Manchester Automatic Digital Machine}, the worlds largest memory computer, was being built. He also worked on theories of {artificial intelligence}, and on the application of mathematical theory to biological forms. In 1952 he published the first part of his theoretical study of morphogenesis, the development of pattern and form in living organisms. Turing was gay, and died rather young under mysterious circumstances. He was arrested for violation of British homosexuality statutes in 1952. He died of potassium cyanide poisoning while conducting electrolysis experiments. An inquest concluded that it was self-administered but it is now thought by some to have been an accident. There is an excellent biography of Turing by Andrew Hodges, subtitled "The Enigma of Intelligence" and a play based on it called "Breaking the Code". There was also a popular summary of his work in Douglas Hofstadter's book "Gödel, Escher, Bach". {(http://AlanTuring.net/)}. (2001-10-09)
Algebraic Logic Functional language "language" (ALF) A language by Rudolf Opalla "opalla@julien.informatik.uni-dortmund.de" which combines {functional programming} and {logic programming} techniques. ALF is based on {Horn clause} logic with equality which consists of {predicates} and Horn clauses for {logic programming}, and functions and equations for {functional programming}. Any functional expression can be used in a {goal} literal and arbitrary predicates can occur in conditions of equations. ALF uses {narrowing} and {rewriting}. ALF includes a compiler to {Warren Abstract Machine} code and {run-time support}. {(ftp://ftp.germany.eu.net/pub/programming/languages/LogicFunctional)}. ["The Implementation of the Functional-Logic Language ALF", M. Hanus and A. Schwab]. (1992-10-08)
ALgorIthmic ASsembly language "language" (ALIAS) A machine oriented variant of {BLISS}. ALIAS was implemented in {BCPL} for the {PDP-9}. ["ALIAS", H.E. Barreveld, Int Rep, Math Dept, Delft U Tech, Netherlands, 1973]. (1997-03-13)
"All force is power or means of a secret spirit; the Force that sustains the world is a conscious Will and Nature is its machinery of executive power.” The Renaissance in India
“All force is power or means of a secret spirit; the Force that sustains the world is a conscious Will and Nature is its machinery of executive power.” The Renaissance in India
alligator ::: n. --> A large carnivorous reptile of the Crocodile family, peculiar to America. It has a shorter and broader snout than the crocodile, and the large teeth of the lower jaw shut into pits in the upper jaw, which has no marginal notches. Besides the common species of the southern United States, there are allied species in South America.
Any machine with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator
a form of squeezer for the puddle ball
ALPS "language" 1. An interpreted {algebraic language} for the {Bendix G15} developed by Dr. Richard V. Andree (? - 1987), Joel C. Ewing and others of the {University of Oklahoma} from Spring 1966 (possibly 1965). Dale Peters "dpeters@theshop.net" reports that in the summer of 1966 he attended the second year of an {NSF}-sponsored summer institute in mathematics and computing at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Andree's computing class mostly used the language GO-GO, later renamed ALPS. The language changed frequently during the class, which was occasionally disorienting. Dale believes it was also used in Summer 1965 and that it was about this time that {John G. Kemeny} (one of the designers of {Dartmouth BASIC}, 1963) saw it during a visit. Dr. Andree's January 1967 class mimeo notes on ALPS begin: "ALPS is a new programming language designed and perfected by Mr. Harold Bradbury, Mr. Joel Ewing and Mr. Harold Wiebe, members of the O.U. Mathematics Computer Consultants Group under the direction of Dr. Richard V. Andree. ALPS is designed to be used with a minimum of training to solve numerical problems on a computer with typewriter stations and using man-computer cooperation by persons who have little familiarity with advanced mathematics." The initial version of what evolved into ALPS was designed and implemented by Joel Ewing (a pre-senior undergrad) in G15 {machine language} out of frustration with the lack of applications to use the G15's dual-case alphanumeric I/O capabilities. Harold Wiebe also worked on the code. Others, including Ralph Howenstine, a member of the O.U. Math Computer Consultants Group, contributed to the design of extensions and Dr. Andree authored all the instructional materials, made the outside world aware of the language and encouraged work on the language. (2006-10-10) 2. A parallel {logic language}. ["Synchronization and Scheduling in ALPS Objects", P. Vishnubhotia, Proc 8th Intl Conf Distrib Com Sys, IEEE 1988, pp. 256-264]. (1994-11-24)
Altair 8800 "computer" An {Intel 8080}-based machine made by {MITS}. The Altair was the first popular {microcomputer} kit. It appeared on the cover of the January 1975 "Popular Electronics" magazine with an article (probably) by Leslie Solomon. Leslie Solomon was an editor at Popular Electronics who had a knack for spotting kits that would interest people and make them buy the magazine. The Altair 8800 was one such. The MITS guys took the prototype Altair to New York to show Solomon, but couldn't get it to work after the flight. Nonetheless, he liked it, and it appeared on the cover as "The first minicomputer in a kit." Solomon's blessing was important enough that some MITS competitors named their product the "SOL" to gain his favour. Some wags suggested {SOL} was actually an abbreviation for the condition in which kit purchasers would find themselves. {Bill Gates} and Paul Allen saw the article on the Altair 8800 in Popular Electronics. They realised that the Altair, which was programmed via its binary front panel needed a {high level language}. Legend has it that they called MITS with the claim that they had a {BASIC} {interpreter} for the Altair. When MITS asked them to demo it in Albuquerque, they wrote one on the plane. On arrival, they entered the machine code via the front panel and demonstrated and sold their "product." Thus was born "Altair BASIC." The original Altair BASIC ran in less than 4K of RAM because a "loaded" Altair had 4K memory. Since there was no {operating system} on the Altair, Altair BASIC included what we now think of as {BIOS}. It was distributed on {paper tape} that could be read on a {Teletype}. Later versions supported the 8K Altair and the 16K {diskette}-based Altair (demonstrating that, even in the 1970s, {Microsoft} was committed to {software bloat}). Altair BASIC was ported to the {Motorola 6800} for the Altair 680 machine, and to other 8080-based microcomputers produced by MITS' competitors. {PC-History.org Altair 8800 page (http://pc-history.org/altair_8800.htm)}. [Forrest M. Mimms, article in "Computers and Electronics", (formerly "Popular Electronics"), Jan 1985(?)]. [Was there ever an "Altair 9000" microcomputer?] (2002-06-17)
amalgamator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, amalgamates. Specifically: A machine for separating precious metals from earthy particles by bringing them in contact with a body of mercury with which they form an amalgam.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange "character, standard" The basis of {character sets} used in almost all present-day computers. {US-ASCII} uses only the lower seven {bits} ({character points} 0 to 127) to convey some {control codes}, {space}, numbers, most basic punctuation, and unaccented letters a-z and A-Z. More modern {coded character sets} (e.g., {Latin-1}, {Unicode}) define extensions to ASCII for values above 127 for conveying special {Latin characters} (like accented characters, or {German} ess-tsett), characters from non-Latin writing systems (e.g., {Cyrillic}, or {Han characters}), and such desirable {glyphs} as distinct open- and close-{quotation marks}. ASCII replaced earlier systems such as {EBCDIC} and {Baudot}, which used fewer bytes, but were each {broken} in their own way. Computers are much pickier about spelling than humans; thus, {hackers} need to be very precise when talking about characters, and have developed a considerable amount of verbal shorthand for them. Every character has one or more names - some formal, some concise, some silly. Individual characters are listed in this dictionary with alternative names from revision 2.3 of the {Usenet} ASCII pronunciation guide in rough order of popularity, including their official {ITU-T} names and the particularly silly names introduced by {INTERCAL}. See {V} {ampersand}, {asterisk}, {back quote}, {backslash}, {caret}, {colon}, {comma}, {commercial at}, {control-C}, {dollar}, {dot}, {double quote}, {equals}, {exclamation mark}, {greater than}, {hash}, {left bracket}, {left parenthesis}, {less than}, {minus}, {parentheses}, {oblique stroke}, {percent}, {plus}, {question mark}, {right brace}, {right brace}, {right bracket}, {right parenthesis}, {semicolon}, {single quote}, {space}, {tilde}, {underscore}, {vertical bar}, {zero}. Some other common usages cause odd overlaps. The "
American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc. "company, telecommunications, Unix" (AT&T) One of the largest US telecommunications providers, also noted for being the birthplace of the {Unix} {operating system} and the {C} and {C++} programming languages. AT&T was incorporated in 1885, but traces its lineage to Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone in 1876. As parent company of the former {Bell System}, AT&T's primary mission was to provide telephone service to virtually everyone in the United States. In its first 50 years, AT&T established subsidiaries and allied companies in more than a dozen other countries. It sold these interests in 1925 and focused on achieving its mission in the United States. It did, however, continue to provide international long distance service. The Bell System was dissolved at the end of 1983 with AT&T's divestiture of the Bell telephone companies. AT&T split into three parts in 1996, one of which is {Lucent Tecnologies}, the former systems and equipment portion of AT&T (including Bell Laboratories). See also {3DO}, {Advanced RISC Machine}, {Berkeley Software Distribution}, {Bell Laboratories}, {Concurrent C}, {Death Star}, {dinosaurs mating}, {InterNIC}, {System V}, {Nawk}, {Open Look}, {rc}, {S}, {Standard ML of New Jersey}, {Unix International}, {Unix conspiracy}, {USG Unix}, {Unix System Laboratories}. {AT&T Home (http://att.com/)}. (2002-06-21)
Amiga "computer" A range of home computers first released by {Commodore Business Machines} in early 1985 (though they did not design the original - see below). Amigas were popular for {games}, {video processing}, and {multimedia}. One notable feature is a hardware {blitter} for speeding up graphics operations on whole areas of the screen. The Amiga was originally called the Lorraine, and was developed by a company named "Amiga" or "Amiga, Inc.", funded by some doctors to produce a killer game machine. After the US game machine market collapsed, the Amiga company sold some {joysticks} but no Lorraines or any other computer. They eventually floundered and looked for a buyer. Commodore at that time bought the (mostly complete) Amiga machine, infused some money, and pushed it through the final stages of development in a hurry. Commodore released it sometime[?] in 1985. Most components within the machine were known by nicknames. The {coprocessor} commonly called the "Copper" is in fact the "{Video} Timing Coprocessor" and is split between two chips: the instruction fetch and execute units are in the "Agnus" chip, and the {pixel} timing circuits are in the "Denise" chip (A for address, D for data). "Agnus" and "Denise" were responsible for effects timed to the {real-time} position of the video scan, such as midscreen {palette} changes, {sprite multiplying}, and {resolution} changes. Different versions (in order) were: "Agnus" (could only address 512K of {video RAM}), "Fat Agnus" (in a {PLCC} package, could access 1MB of video RAM), "Super Agnus" (slightly upgraded "Fat Agnus"). "Agnus" and "Fat Agnus" came in {PAL} and {NTSC} versions, "Super Agnus" came in one version, jumper selectable for PAL or NTSC. "Agnus" was replaced by "Alice" in the A4000 and A1200, which allowed for more {DMA} channels and higher bus {bandwidth}. "Denise" outputs binary video data (3*4 bits) to the "Vidiot". The "Vidiot" is a hybrid that combines and amplifies the 12-bit video data from "Denise" into {RGB} to the {monitor}. Other chips were "Amber" (a "flicker fixer", used in the A3000 and Commodore display enhancer for the A2000), "Gary" ({I/O}, addressing, G for {glue logic}), "Buster" (the {bus controller}, which replaced "Gary" in the A2000), "Buster II" (for handling the Zorro II/III cards in the A3000, which meant that "Gary" was back again), "Ramsey" (The {RAM} controller), "DMAC" (The DMA controller chip for the WD33C93 {SCSI adaptor} used in the A3000 and on the A2091/A2092 SCSI adaptor card for the A2000; and to control the {CD-ROM} in the {CDTV}), and "Paula" ({Peripheral}, Audio, {UART}, {interrupt} Lines, and {bus Arbiter}). There were several Amiga chipsets: the "Old Chipset" (OCS), the "Enhanced Chipset" (ECS), and {AGA}. OCS included "Paula", "Gary", "Denise", and "Agnus". ECS had the same "Paula", "Gary", "Agnus" (could address 2MB of Chip RAM), "Super Denise" (upgraded to support "Agnus" so that a few new {screen modes} were available). With the introduction of the {Amiga A600} "Gary" was replaced with "Gayle" (though the chipset was still called ECS). "Gayle" provided a number of improvments but the main one was support for the A600's {PCMCIA} port. The AGA chipset had "Agnus" with twice the speed and a 24-bit palette, maximum displayable: 8 bits (256 colours), although the famous "{HAM}" (Hold And Modify) trick allows pictures of 256,000 colours to be displayed. AGA's "Paula" and "Gayle" were unchanged but AGA "Denise" supported AGA "Agnus"'s new screen modes. Unfortunately, even AGA "Paula" did not support High Density {floppy disk drives}. (The Amiga 4000, though, did support high density drives.) In order to use a high density disk drive Amiga HD floppy drives spin at half the rotational speed thus halving the data rate to "Paula". Commodore Business Machines went bankrupt on 1994-04-29, the German company {Escom AG} bought the rights to the Amiga on 1995-04-21 and the Commodore Amiga became the Escom Amiga. In April 1996 Escom were reported to be making the {Amiga} range again but they too fell on hard times and {Gateway 2000} (now called Gateway) bought the Amiga brand on 1997-05-15. Gateway licensed the Amiga operating system to a German hardware company called {Phase 5} on 1998-03-09. The following day, Phase 5 announced the introduction of a four-processor {PowerPC} based Amiga {clone} called the "{pre\box}". Since then, it has been announced that the new operating system will be a version of {QNX}. On 1998-06-25, a company called {Access Innovations Ltd} announced {plans (http://micktinker.co.uk/aaplus.html)} to build a new Amiga chip set, the {AA+}, based partly on the AGA chips but with new fully 32-bit functional core and 16-bit AGA {hardware register emulation} for {backward compatibility}. The new core promised improved memory access and video display DMA. By the end of 2000, Amiga development was under the control of a [new?] company called {Amiga, Inc.}. As well as continuing development of AmigaOS (version 3.9 released in December 2000), their "Digital Environment" is a {virtual machine} for multiple {platforms} conforming to the {ZICO} specification. As of 2000, it ran on {MIPS}, {ARM}, {PPC}, and {x86} processors. {(http://amiga.com/)}. {Amiga Web Directory (http://cucug.org/amiga.html)}. {amiCrawler (http://amicrawler.com/)}. Newsgroups: {news:comp.binaries.amiga}, {news:comp.sources.amiga}, {news:comp.sys.amiga}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.advocacy}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.announce}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.applications}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.audio}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.datacomm}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.emulations}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.games}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.graphics}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.hardware}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.introduction}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.marketplace}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.misc}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.multimedia}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.programmer}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.reviews}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.tech}, {news:comp.sys.amiga.telecomm}, {news:comp.Unix.amiga}. See {aminet}, {Amoeba}, {bomb}, {exec}, {gronk}, {guru meditation}, {Intuition}, {sidecar}, {slap on the side}, {Vulcan nerve pinch}. (2003-07-05)
Amulet "processor" An implementation or the {Advanced RISC Machine} {microprocessor} architecture using the {micropipeline} design style. In April 1994 the Amulet group in the Computer Science department of {Manchester University} took delivery of the AMULET1 {microprocessor}. This was their first large scale asynchronous circuit and the world's first implementation of a commercial microprocessor architecture (ARM) in {asynchronous logic}. Work was begun at the end of 1990 and the design despatched for fabrication in February 1993. The primary intent was to demonstrate that an asynchronous microprocessor can consume less power than a synchronous design. The design incorporates a number of concurrent units which cooperate to give instruction level compatibility with the existing synchronous part. These include an Address unit, which autonomously generates instruction fetch requests and interleaves ({nondeterministic}ally) data requests from the Execution unit; a {Register} file which supplies operands, queues write destinations and handles data dependencies; an Execution unit which includes a multiplier, a shifter and an {ALU} with data-dependent delay; a Data interface which performs byte extraction and alignment and includes an {instruction prefetch} buffer, and a control path which performs {instruction decode}. These units only synchronise to exchange data. The design demonstrates that all the usual problems of processor design can be solved in this asynchronous framework: backward {instruction set} compatibility, {interrupts} and exact {exceptions} for {memory faults} are all covered. It also demonstrates some unusual behaviour, for instance {nondeterministic} prefetch depth beyond a branch instruction (though the instructions which actually get executed are, of course, deterministic). There are some unusual problems for {compiler} {optimisation}, as the metric which must be used to compare alternative code sequences is continuous rather than discrete, and the {nondeterminism} in external behaviour must also be taken into account. The chip was designed using a mixture of custom {datapath} and compiled control logic elements, as was the synchronous ARM. The fabrication technology is the same as that used for one version of the synchronous part, reducing the number of variables when comparing the two parts. Two silicon implementations have been received and preliminary measurements have been taken from these. The first is a 0.7um process and has achieved about 28 kDhrystones running the standard {benchmark} program. The other is a 1 um implementation and achieves about 20 kDhrystones. For the faster of the parts this is equivalent to a synchronous {ARM6} clocked at around 20MHz; in the case of AMULET1 it is likely that this speed is limited by the memory system cycle time (just over 50ns) rather than the processor chip itself. A fair comparison of devices at the same geometries gives the AMULET1 performance as about 70% of that of an {ARM6} running at 20MHz. Its power consumption is very similar to that of the ARM6; the AMULET1 therefore delivers about 80 MIPS/W (compared with around 120 from a 20MHz ARM6). Multiplication is several times faster on the AMULET1 owing to the inclusion of a specialised asynchronous multiplier. This performance is reasonable considering that the AMULET1 is a first generation part, whereas the synchronous ARM has undergone several design iterations. AMULET2 (under development in 1994) was expected to be three times faster than AMULET1 and use less power. The {macrocell} size (without {pad ring}) is 5.5 mm by 4.5 mm on a 1 micron {CMOS} process, which is about twice the area of the synchronous part. Some of the increase can be attributed to the more sophisticated organisation of the new part: it has a deeper {pipeline} than the clocked version and it supports multiple outstanding memory requests; there is also specialised circuitry to increase the multiplication speed. Although there is undoubtedly some overhead attributable to the asynchronous control logic, this is estimated to be closer to 20% than to the 100% suggested by the direct comparison. AMULET1 is code compatible with {ARM6} and is so is capable of running existing {binaries} without modification. The implementation also includes features such as interrupts and memory aborts. The work was part of a broad {ESPRIT} funded investigation into low-power technologies within the European {Open Microprocessor systems Initiative} (OMI) programme, where there is interest in low-power techniques both for portable equipment and (in the longer term) to alleviate the problems of the increasingly high dissipation of high-performance chips. This initial investigation into the role {asynchronous logic} might play has now demonstrated that asynchronous techniques can be applied to problems of the scale of a complete {microprocessor}. {(http://cs.man.ac.uk/amulet)}. (1994-12-08)
analogue computer "computer, hardware" A machine or electronic circuit designed to work on numerical data represented by some physical quantity (e.g. rotation or displacement) or electrical quantity (e.g. voltage or charge) which varies continuously, in contrast to {digital} signals which are either 0 or 1. For example, the turning of a wheel or changes in voltage can be used as input. Analogue computers are said to operate in {real time} and are used for research in design where many different shapes and speeds can be tried out quickly. A computer model of a car suspension allows the designer to see the effects of changing size, stiffness and damping. (1995-05-01)
Analytical Machine {Analytical Engine}
androides ::: n. --> A machine or automaton in the form of a human being.
“And though this Spirit of the universe, this One who is all, seems to be turning us on the wheel of the world as if mounted on a machine by the force of Maya, shaping us in our ignorance as the potter shapes a pot, as the weaver a fabric, by some skilful mechanical principle, yet is this spirit our own greatest self and it is according to the real idea, the truth of ourselves, that which is growing in us and finding always new and more adequate forms in birth after birth, in our animal and human and divine life, in that which we were, that which we are, that which we shall be,—it is in accordance with this inner soul-truth that, as our opened eyes will discover, we are progressively shaped by this spirit within us in its all-wise omnipotence.” Essays on the Gita
antiattrition ::: n. --> Anything to prevent the effects of friction, esp. a compound lubricant for machinery, etc., often consisting of plumbago, with some greasy material; antifriction grease.
apart ::: adv. --> Separately, in regard to space or company; in a state of separation as to place; aside.
In a state of separation, of exclusion, or of distinction, as to purpose, use, or character, or as a matter of thought; separately; independently; as, consider the two propositions apart.
Aside; away.
In two or more parts; asunder; to piece; as, to take a piece of machinery apart.
Apollo Computer "company" A company making {workstations} often used for {CAD}. From 1980 to 1987, Apollo were the largest manufacturer of network {workstations}. Apollo workstations ran {Aegis}, a proprietary {operating system} with a {Posix}-compliant {Unix} alternative frontend. Apollo's networking was particularly elegant, among the first to allow {demand paging} over the network, and allowing a degree of {network transparency} and low {sysadmin}-to-machine ratio that is still unmatched. Apollo's largest customers were Mentor Graphics (electronic design), GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Boeing (mechanical design). Apollo was acquired by {Hewlett-Packard} in 1989, and gradually closed down over the period 1990-1997. (2003-07-18)
appliance ::: n. --> The act of applying; application; [Obs.] subservience.
The thing applied or used as a means to an end; an apparatus or device; as, to use various appliances; a mechanical appliance; a machine with its appliances.
Archimedes "computer" A family of {microcomputers} produced by {Acorn Computers}, Cambridge, UK. The Archimedes, launched in June 1987, was the first {RISC} based {personal computer} (predating {Apple Computer}'s {Power Mac} by some seven years). It uses the {Advanced RISC Machine} (ARM) processor and includes Acorn's {multitasking} {operating system} and {graphical user interface}, {RISC OS} on {ROM}, along with an interpreter for Acorn's enhanced {BASIC}, {BASIC V}. The Archimedes was designed as the successor to Acorn's sucessful {BBC Microcomputer} series and includes some backward compatibility and a {6502} {emulator}. Several utilities are included free on disk (later in ROM) such as a {text editor}, paint and draw programs. Software emulators are also available for the {IBM PC} as well as add-on {Intel} processor cards. There have been several series of Archimedes: A300, A400, A3000, A5000, A4000 and {RISC PC}. {Usenet FAQ (ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/acorn/)}. {Archive site list (http://cs.vu.nl/~gerben/acorn/acorn-archives.txt)}. {HENSA archive (ftp://micros.hensa.ac.uk/)}. {Stuttgart archive (ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/acorn)}. See also {Crisis Software}, {Warm Silence Software}. (1998-04-03)
arithmometer ::: n. --> A calculating machine.
ARM 1. "processor" {Advanced RISC Machine}. Originally {Acorn} RISC Machine. 2. "company" {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. 3. "publication" ["The Annotated C++ Reference Manual", Margaret A. Ellis and Bjarne Stroustrup, Addison-Wesley, 1990]. 4. "hardware" {Active Reconfiguring Message}. (1997-10-03)
ARM610 "processor" A 32-bit {RISC} {microprocessor} based on the {ARM6} processor core designed by {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. The ARM610 is the successor to the {ARM3} processor and is produced by {VLSI Technology Inc}. It consumes 500mW at 33MHz with a 5V supply. (1995-12-29)
ARM710 "processor" A 32-bit {RISC} {microprocessor} based on the {ARM7} processor core designed by {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. The A710 is the successor to the {ARM610} processor. It was released in July 1994 by {VLSI Technology Inc}. The ARM710 can run at 40MHz (fastest sample 55MHz) dissipating 500mW with a 5V supply or 25MHz with 3.3V supply. It has an 8 kilobyte on-chip {cache}, {memory management unit} and {write buffer}. The ARM700 and ARM710 processors represent a significant improvement over the {ARM610} processors. They have a higher maximum clock speed and a number of architectural improvements such as double the size of internal cache, this means that more of any process can be executed internally without accessing the (relatively) slow external memory. Other improvements are an improved {write buffer} and an enlarged {Translation Lookaside Buffer} in the {MMU}. All of these improvements increase the performance of the system and deliver more real performance than a simple comparison of clock speeds would indicate. The ARM710 has been optimised for integer performance. The FPA11 {floating point} {coprocessor} has a peak throughput of up to 5 {MFLOPS} and achieves an average throughput in excess of 3 MFLOPS for a range of calculations. (1995-04-21)
ARM7 "processor" A {RISC} {microprocessor} architecture from {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. (ARM). Building upon the {ARM6} family, the goal of the ARM7 design was to offer higher levels of raw compute performance at even lower levels of power consumption. The ARM7 architecture is now (Dec 1994) the most powerful low voltage {RISC} processor available on the market. The ARM7 offers several architectural extensions which address specific market needs, encompassing fast multiply and innovative embedded {ICE} support. Software development tools are available. The ARM7 architecture is made up of a core CPU plus a range of system peripherals which can be added to a CPU core to give a complete system on a chip, e.g. 4K or 8K {cache}, {Memory Management Unit}, {Write Buffer}, {coprocessor} interface, {ICEbreaker} embedded {ICE} support and {JTAG} {boundary scan}. The {ARM710} {microprocessor} is built around the ARM7 core. {(http://systemv.com/armltd/arm7.html)}. (1995-01-05)
ARM800 "processor" A {microprocessor} based on the {ARM8} processor core designed by {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. Planned features include a 60-100Mhz {clock rate}; 0.35-0.4 micron silicon fabrication; an improvement on the {ARM7}'s 1.4 cycle/instruction; a 16 Kbyte {cache}. Some estimates were 100 MIPS and 120 Kdhrystones at 70Mhz (twice the {ARM700}). Samples of the ARM800 are expected to be available in late 1995. It may run on a voltage below 3.3V. {Digital Semiconductor}'s Hudson fab is 0.35 micron and they have announced a licensing deal for the ARM architecture (see {StrongARM}). (1995-02-07)
ARM8 "processor" A {RISC} {microprocessor} {core} designed by {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. with 50000 {transistors}. The design of the ARM8 is not yet public but it is not {superscalar}. The ARM8 will form the core of the {ARM800} {microprocessor} {integrated circuit}. (1995-03-03)
ARM Ltd {Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.}
arm ::: n. --> The limb of the human body which extends from the shoulder to the hand; also, the corresponding limb of a monkey.
Anything resembling an arm
The fore limb of an animal, as of a bear.
A limb, or locomotive or prehensile organ, of an invertebrate animal.
A branch of a tree.
A slender part of an instrument or machine, projecting from a
AS/400 "computer" An {IBM} {minicomputer} for small business and departmental users, released in 1988 and still in production in October 1998. Features include a menu-driven interface, {multi-user} support, terminals that are (in the grand {IBM} tradition) incompatible with anything else including the {IBM 3270} series, and an extensive library-based {operating system}. The machine survives because its {API} layer allows the {operating system} and {application programs} to take advantage of advances in hardware without recompilation and which means that a complete system that costs $9000 runs the exact same operating system and software as a $2 million system. There is a 64-bit {RISC} processor operating system implementation. Programming languages include {RPG}, {assembly language}, {C}, {COBOL}, {SQL}, {BASIC}, and {REXX}. Several {CASE} tools are available: {Synon}, {AS/SET}, {Lansa}. {(http://as400.ibm.com/)}. (1999-07-26)
"As for prayer, no hard and fast rule can be laid down. Some prayers are answered, all are not. You may ask, why should not then all prayers be answered? But why should they be? It is not a machinery: put a prayer in the slot and get your asking. Besides, considering all the contradictory things mankind is praying for at the same moment, God would be in a rather awkward hole if he had to grant all of them; it wouldn"t do.” *Letters on Yoga
“As for prayer, no hard and fast rule can be laid down. Some prayers are answered, all are not. You may ask, why should not then all prayers be answered? But why should they be? It is not a machinery: put a prayer in the slot and get your asking. Besides, considering all the contradictory things mankind is praying for at the same moment, God would be in a rather awkward hole if he had to grant all of them; it wouldn’t do.” Letters on Yoga
A
A specialist of logic’s hard machine
assembler "programming" A program which converts {assembly language} into {machine code}. (1996-03-25)
assembly language "language" (Or "assembly code") A symbolic representation of the {machine language} of a specific {processor}. Assembly language is converted to {machine code} by an {assembler}. Usually, each line of assembly code produces one machine instruction, though the use of {macros} is common. Programming in assembly language is slow and error-prone but is the only way to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the hardware. {Filename extension}: .s ({Unix}), .asm ({CP/M} and others). See also {second generation language}. (1996-09-17)
Association for Computing "body" (ACM, before 1997 - "Association for Computing Machinery") The largest and oldest international scientific and educational computer society in the industry. Founded in 1947, only a year after the unveiling of {ENIAC}, ACM was established by mathematicians and electrical engineers to advance the science and application of {Information Technology}. {John Mauchly}, co-inventor of the ENIAC, was one of ACM's founders. Since its inception ACM has provided its members and the world of computer science a forum for the sharing of knowledge on developments and achievements necessary to the fruitful interchange of ideas. ACM has 90,000 members - educators, researchers, practitioners, managers, and engineers - who drive the Association's major programs and services - publications, special interest groups, chapters, conferences, awards, and special activities. The ACM Press publishes journals (notably {CACM}), book series, conference proceedings, {CD-ROM}, {hypertext}, {video}, and specialized publications such as curricula recommendations and self-assessment procedures. {(http://info.acm.org/)}. (1998-02-24)
Association for Computing Machinery {Association for Computing}
Atanasoff-Berry Computer "computer" (ABC) An early design for a binary calculator, one of the predecessors of the {digital computer}. The ABC was partially constructed between 1937 and 1942 by Dr. {John Vincent Atanasoff} and Clifford Berry at {Iowa State College}. As well as {binary} arithmetic, it incorporated {regenerative memory}, {parallel processing}, and separation of memory and computing functions. The electronic parts were mounted on a rotating drum, making it hybrid electronic/electromechanical. It was designed to handle only a single type of mathematical problem and was not automated. The results of a single calculation cycle had to be retrieved by a human operator, and fed back into the machine with all new instructions, to perform complex operations. It lacked any serious form of logical control or {conditional} statements. Atanasoff's patent application was denied because he never have a completed, working product. Ideas from the ABC were used in the design of {ENIAC} (1943-1946). {(http://cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml)}. (2003-09-28)
ATM 1. "communications" {Asynchronous Transfer Mode}. 2. Automatic Teller Machine - a cash dispenser. 3. "chat" At the moment. 4. "text" {Adobe Type Manager}.
atomic "jargon" (From Greek "atomos", indivisible) Indivisible; cannot be split up. For example, an instruction may be said to do several things "atomically", i.e. all the things are done immediately, and there is no chance of the instruction being half-completed or of another being interspersed. Used especially to convey that an operation cannot be interrupted. An atomic {data type} has no internal structure visible to the program. It can be represented by a flat {domain} (all elements are equally defined). Machine {integers} and {Booleans} are two examples. An atomic {database transaction} is one which is guaranteed to complete successfully or not at all. If an error prevents a partially-performed transaction from proceeding to completion, it must be "backed out" to prevent the database being left in an inconsistent state. [{Jargon File}] (2000-04-03)
attachment ::: n. --> The act attaching, or state of being attached; close adherence or affection; fidelity; regard; an/ passion of affection that binds a person; as, an attachment to a friend, or to a party.
That by which one thing is attached to another; connection; as, to cut the attachments of a muscle.
Something attached; some adjunct attached to an instrument, machine, or other object; as, a sewing machine attachment (i. e., a device attached to a sewing machine to enable it to do
Aufklärung: In general, this German word and its English equivalent Enlightenment denote the self-emancipation of man from mere authority, prejudice, convention and tradition, with an insistence on freer thinking about problems uncritically referred to these other agencies. According to Kant's famous definition "Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority, which is the incapacity of using one's understanding without the direction of another. This state of minority is caused when its source lies not in the lack of understanding, but in the lack of determination and courage to use it without the assistance of another" (Was ist Aufklärung? 1784). In its historical perspective, the Aufklärung refers to the cultural atmosphere and contrlbutions of the 18th century, especially in Germany, France and England [which affected also American thought with B. Franklin, T. Paine and the leaders of the Revolution]. It crystallized tendencies emphasized by the Renaissance, and quickened by modern scepticism and empiricism, and by the great scientific discoveries of the 17th century. This movement, which was represented by men of varying tendencies, gave an impetus to general learning, a more popular philosophy, empirical science, scriptural criticism, social and political thought. More especially, the word Aufklärung is applied to the German contributions to 18th century culture. In philosophy, its principal representatives are G. E. Lessing (1729-81) who believed in free speech and in a methodical criticism of religion, without being a free-thinker; H. S. Reimarus (1694-1768) who expounded a naturalistic philosophy and denied the supernatural origin of Christianity; Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86) who endeavoured to mitigate prejudices and developed a popular common-sense philosophy; Chr. Wolff (1679-1754), J. A. Eberhard (1739-1809) who followed the Leibnizian rationalism and criticized unsuccessfully Kant and Fichte; and J. G. Herder (1744-1803) who was best as an interpreter of others, but whose intuitional suggestions have borne fruit in the organic correlation of the sciences, and in questions of language in relation to human nature and to national character. The works of Kant and Goethe mark the culmination of the German Enlightenment. Cf. J. G. Hibben, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, 1910. --T.G. Augustinianism: The thought of St. Augustine of Hippo, and of his followers. Born in 354 at Tagaste in N. Africa, A. studied rhetoric in Carthage, taught that subject there and in Rome and Milan. Attracted successively to Manicheanism, Scepticism, and Neo-Platontsm, A. eventually found intellectual and moral peace with his conversion to Christianity in his thirty-fourth year. Returning to Africa, he established numerous monasteries, became a priest in 391, Bishop of Hippo in 395. Augustine wrote much: On Free Choice, Confessions, Literal Commentary on Genesis, On the Trinity, and City of God, are his most noted works. He died in 430. St. Augustine's characteristic method, an inward empiricism which has little in common with later variants, starts from things without, proceeds within to the self, and moves upwards to God. These three poles of the Augustinian dialectic are polarized by his doctrine of moderate illuminism. An ontological illumination is required to explain the metaphysical structure of things. The truth of judgment demands a noetic illumination. A moral illumination is necessary in the order of willing; and so, too, an lllumination of art in the aesthetic order. Other illuminations which transcend the natural order do not come within the scope of philosophy; they provide the wisdoms of theology and mysticism. Every being is illuminated ontologically by number, form, unity and its derivatives, and order. A thing is what it is, in so far as it is more or less flooded by the light of these ontological constituents. Sensation is necessary in order to know material substances. There is certainly an action of the external object on the body and a corresponding passion of the body, but, as the soul is superior to the body and can suffer nothing from its inferior, sensation must be an action, not a passion, of the soul. Sensation takes place only when the observing soul, dynamically on guard throughout the body, is vitally attentive to the changes suffered by the body. However, an adequate basis for the knowledge of intellectual truth is not found in sensation alone. In order to know, for example, that a body is multiple, the idea of unity must be present already, otherwise its multiplicity could not be recognized. If numbers are not drawn in by the bodily senses which perceive only the contingent and passing, is the mind the source of the unchanging and necessary truth of numbers? The mind of man is also contingent and mutable, and cannot give what it does not possess. As ideas are not innate, nor remembered from a previous existence of the soul, they can be accounted for only by an immutable source higher than the soul. In so far as man is endowed with an intellect, he is a being naturally illuminated by God, Who may be compared to an intelligible sun. The human intellect does not create the laws of thought; it finds them and submits to them. The immediate intuition of these normative rules does not carry any content, thus any trace of ontologism is avoided. Things have forms because they have numbers, and they have being in so far as they possess form. The sufficient explanation of all formable, and hence changeable, things is an immutable and eternal form which is unrestricted in time and space. The forms or ideas of all things actually existing in the world are in the things themselves (as rationes seminales) and in the Divine Mind (as rationes aeternae). Nothing could exist without unity, for to be is no other than to be one. There is a unity proper to each level of being, a unity of the material individual and species, of the soul, and of that union of souls in the love of the same good, which union constitutes the city. Order, also, is ontologically imbibed by all beings. To tend to being is to tend to order; order secures being, disorder leads to non-being. Order is the distribution which allots things equal and unequal each to its own place and integrates an ensemble of parts in accordance with an end. Hence, peace is defined as the tranquillity of order. Just as things have their being from their forms, the order of parts, and their numerical relations, so too their beauty is not something superadded, but the shining out of all their intelligible co-ingredients. S. Aurelii Augustini, Opera Omnia, Migne, PL 32-47; (a critical edition of some works will be found in the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna). Gilson, E., Introd. a l'etude de s. Augustin, (Paris, 1931) contains very good bibliography up to 1927, pp. 309-331. Pope, H., St. Augustine of Hippo, (London, 1937). Chapman, E., St. Augustine's Philos. of Beauty, (N. Y., 1939). Figgis, J. N., The Political Aspects of St. Augustine's "City of God", (London, 1921). --E.C. Authenticity: In a general sense, genuineness, truth according to its title. It involves sometimes a direct and personal characteristic (Whitehead speaks of "authentic feelings"). This word also refers to problems of fundamental criticism involving title, tradition, authorship and evidence. These problems are vital in theology, and basic in scholarship with regard to the interpretation of texts and doctrines. --T.G. Authoritarianism: That theory of knowledge which maintains that the truth of any proposition is determined by the fact of its having been asserted by a certain esteemed individual or group of individuals. Cf. H. Newman, Grammar of Assent; C. S. Peirce, "Fixation of Belief," in Chance, Love and Logic, ed. M. R. Cohen. --A.C.B. Autistic thinking: Absorption in fanciful or wishful thinking without proper control by objective or factual material; day dreaming; undisciplined imagination. --A.C.B. Automaton Theory: Theory that a living organism may be considered a mere machine. See Automatism. Automatism: (Gr. automatos, self-moving) (a) In metaphysics: Theory that animal and human organisms are automata, that is to say, are machines governed by the laws of physics and mechanics. Automatism, as propounded by Descartes, considered the lower animals to be pure automata (Letter to Henry More, 1649) and man a machine controlled by a rational soul (Treatise on Man). Pure automatism for man as well as animals is advocated by La Mettrie (Man, a Machine, 1748). During the Nineteenth century, automatism, combined with epiphenomenalism, was advanced by Hodgson, Huxley and Clifford. (Cf. W. James, The Principles of Psychology, Vol. I, ch. V.) Behaviorism, of the extreme sort, is the most recent version of automatism (See Behaviorism). (b) In psychology: Psychological automatism is the performance of apparently purposeful actions, like automatic writing without the superintendence of the conscious mind. L. C. Rosenfield, From Beast Machine to Man Machine, N. Y., 1941. --L.W. Automatism, Conscious: The automatism of Hodgson, Huxley, and Clifford which considers man a machine to which mind or consciousness is superadded; the mind of man is, however, causally ineffectual. See Automatism; Epiphenomenalism. --L.W. Autonomy: (Gr. autonomia, independence) Freedom consisting in self-determination and independence of all external constraint. See Freedom. Kant defines autonomy of the will as subjection of the will to its own law, the categorical imperative, in contrast to heteronomy, its subjection to a law or end outside the rational will. (Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, § 2.) --L.W. Autonomy of ethics: A doctrine, usually propounded by intuitionists, that ethics is not a part of, and cannot be derived from, either metaphysics or any of the natural or social sciences. See Intuitionism, Metaphysical ethics, Naturalistic ethics. --W.K.F. Autonomy of the will: (in Kant's ethics) The freedom of the rational will to legislate to itself, which constitutes the basis for the autonomy of the moral law. --P.A.S. Autonymy: In the terminology introduced by Carnap, a word (phrase, symbol, expression) is autonymous if it is used as a name for itself --for the geometric shape, sound, etc. which it exemplifies, or for the word as a historical and grammatical unit. Autonymy is thus the same as the Scholastic suppositio matertalis (q. v.), although the viewpoint is different. --A.C. Autotelic: (from Gr. autos, self, and telos, end) Said of any absorbing activity engaged in for its own sake (cf. German Selbstzweck), such as higher mathematics, chess, etc. In aesthetics, applied to creative art and play which lack any conscious reference to the accomplishment of something useful. In the view of some, it may constitute something beneficent in itself of which the person following his art impulse (q.v.) or playing is unaware, thus approaching a heterotelic (q.v.) conception. --K.F.L. Avenarius, Richard: (1843-1896) German philosopher who expressed his thought in an elaborate and novel terminology in the hope of constructing a symbolic language for philosophy, like that of mathematics --the consequence of his Spinoza studies. As the most influential apostle of pure experience, the posltivistic motive reaches in him an extreme position. Insisting on the biologic and economic function of thought, he thought the true method of science is to cure speculative excesses by a return to pure experience devoid of all assumptions. Philosophy is the scientific effort to exclude from knowledge all ideas not included in the given. Its task is to expel all extraneous elements in the given. His uncritical use of the category of the given and the nominalistic view that logical relations are created rather than discovered by thought, leads him to banish not only animism but also all of the categories, substance, causality, etc., as inventions of the mind. Explaining the evolution and devolution of the problematization and deproblematization of numerous ideas, and aiming to give the natural history of problems, Avenarius sought to show physiologically, psychologically and historically under what conditions they emerge, are challenged and are solved. He hypothesized a System C, a bodily and central nervous system upon which consciousness depends. R-values are the stimuli received from the world of objects. E-values are the statements of experience. The brain changes that continually oscillate about an ideal point of balance are termed Vitalerhaltungsmaximum. The E-values are differentiated into elements, to which the sense-perceptions or the content of experience belong, and characters, to which belongs everything which psychology describes as feelings and attitudes. Avenarius describes in symbolic form a series of states from balance to balance, termed vital series, all describing a series of changes in System C. Inequalities in the vital balance give rise to vital differences. According to his theory there are two vital series. It assumes a series of brain changes because parallel series of conscious states can be observed. The independent vital series are physical, and the dependent vital series are psychological. The two together are practically covariants. In the case of a process as a dependent vital series three stages can be noted: first, the appearance of the problem, expressed as strain, restlessness, desire, fear, doubt, pain, repentance, delusion; the second, the continued effort and struggle to solve the problem; and finally, the appearance of the solution, characterized by abating anxiety, a feeling of triumph and enjoyment. Corresponding to these three stages of the dependent series are three stages of the independent series: the appearance of the vital difference and a departure from balance in the System C, the continuance with an approximate vital difference, and lastly, the reduction of the vital difference to zero, the return to stability. By making room for dependent and independent experiences, he showed that physics regards experience as independent of the experiencing indlvidual, and psychology views experience as dependent upon the individual. He greatly influenced Mach and James (q.v.). See Avenarius, Empirio-criticism, Experience, pure. Main works: Kritik der reinen Erfahrung; Der menschliche Weltbegriff. --H.H. Averroes: (Mohammed ibn Roshd) Known to the Scholastics as The Commentator, and mentioned as the author of il gran commento by Dante (Inf. IV. 68) he was born 1126 at Cordova (Spain), studied theology, law, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy, became after having been judge in Sevilla and Cordova, physician to the khalifah Jaqub Jusuf, and charged with writing a commentary on the works of Aristotle. Al-mansur, Jusuf's successor, deprived him of his place because of accusations of unorthodoxy. He died 1198 in Morocco. Averroes is not so much an original philosopher as the author of a minute commentary on the whole works of Aristotle. His procedure was imitated later by Aquinas. In his interpretation of Aristotelian metaphysics Averroes teaches the coeternity of a universe created ex nihilo. This doctrine formed together with the notion of a numerical unity of the active intellect became one of the controversial points in the discussions between the followers of Albert-Thomas and the Latin Averroists. Averroes assumed that man possesses only a disposition for receiving the intellect coming from without; he identifies this disposition with the possible intellect which thus is not truly intellectual by nature. The notion of one intellect common to all men does away with the doctrine of personal immortality. Another doctrine which probably was emphasized more by the Latin Averroists (and by the adversaries among Averroes' contemporaries) is the famous statement about "two-fold truth", viz. that a proposition may be theologically true and philosophically false and vice versa. Averroes taught that religion expresses the (higher) philosophical truth by means of religious imagery; the "two-truth notion" came apparently into the Latin text through a misinterpretation on the part of the translators. The works of Averroes were one of the main sources of medieval Aristotelianlsm, before and even after the original texts had been translated. The interpretation the Latin Averroists found in their texts of the "Commentator" spread in spite of opposition and condemnation. See Averroism, Latin. Averroes, Opera, Venetiis, 1553. M. Horten, Die Metaphysik des Averroes, 1912. P. Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant et l'Averroisme Latin, 2d ed., Louvain, 1911. --R.A. Averroism, Latin: The commentaries on Aristotle written by Averroes (Ibn Roshd) in the 12th century became known to the Western scholars in translations by Michael Scottus, Hermannus Alemannus, and others at the beginning of the 13th century. Many works of Aristotle were also known first by such translations from Arabian texts, though there existed translations from the Greek originals at the same time (Grabmann). The Averroistic interpretation of Aristotle was held to be the true one by many; but already Albert the Great pointed out several notions which he felt to be incompatible with the principles of Christian philosophy, although he relied for the rest on the "Commentator" and apparently hardly used any other text. Aquinas, basing his studies mostly on a translation from the Greek texts, procured for him by William of Moerbecke, criticized the Averroistic interpretation in many points. But the teachings of the Commentator became the foundation for a whole school of philosophers, represented first by the Faculty of Arts at Paris. The most prominent of these scholars was Siger of Brabant. The philosophy of these men was condemned on March 7th, 1277 by Stephen Tempier, Bishop of Paris, after a first condemnation of Aristotelianism in 1210 had gradually come to be neglected. The 219 theses condemned in 1277, however, contain also some of Aquinas which later were generally recognized an orthodox. The Averroistic propositions which aroused the criticism of the ecclesiastic authorities and which had been opposed with great energy by Albert and Thomas refer mostly to the following points: The co-eternity of the created word; the numerical identity of the intellect in all men, the so-called two-fold-truth theory stating that a proposition may be philosophically true although theologically false. Regarding the first point Thomas argued that there is no philosophical proof, either for the co-eternity or against it; creation is an article of faith. The unity of intellect was rejected as incompatible with the true notion of person and with personal immortality. It is doubtful whether Averroes himself held the two-truths theory; it was, however, taught by the Latin Averroists who, notwithstanding the opposition of the Church and the Thomistic philosophers, gained a great influence and soon dominated many universities, especially in Italy. Thomas and his followers were convinced that they interpreted Aristotle correctly and that the Averroists were wrong; one has, however, to admit that certain passages in Aristotle allow for the Averroistic interpretation, especially in regard to the theory of intellect. Lit.: P. Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant et l'Averroisme Latin au XIIIe Siecle, 2d. ed. Louvain, 1911; M. Grabmann, Forschungen über die lateinischen Aristotelesübersetzungen des XIII. Jahrhunderts, Münster 1916 (Beitr. z. Gesch. Phil. d. MA. Vol. 17, H. 5-6). --R.A. Avesta: See Zendavesta. Avicehron: (or Avencebrol, Salomon ibn Gabirol) The first Jewish philosopher in Spain, born in Malaga 1020, died about 1070, poet, philosopher, and moralist. His main work, Fons vitae, became influential and was much quoted by the Scholastics. It has been preserved only in the Latin translation by Gundissalinus. His doctrine of a spiritual substance individualizing also the pure spirits or separate forms was opposed by Aquinas already in his first treatise De ente, but found favor with the medieval Augustinians also later in the 13th century. He also teaches the necessity of a mediator between God and the created world; such a mediator he finds in the Divine Will proceeding from God and creating, conserving, and moving the world. His cosmogony shows a definitely Neo-Platonic shade and assumes a series of emanations. Cl. Baeumker, Avencebrolis Fons vitae. Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Philos. d. MA. 1892-1895, Vol. I. Joh. Wittman, Die Stellung des hl. Thomas von Aquino zu Avencebrol, ibid. 1900. Vol. III. --R.A. Avicenna: (Abu Ali al Hosain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina) Born 980 in the country of Bocchara, began to write in young years, left more than 100 works, taught in Ispahan, was physician to several Persian princes, and died at Hamadan in 1037. His fame as physician survived his influence as philosopher in the Occident. His medical works were printed still in the 17th century. His philosophy is contained in 18 vols. of a comprehensive encyclopedia, following the tradition of Al Kindi and Al Farabi. Logic, Physics, Mathematics and Metaphysics form the parts of this work. His philosophy is Aristotelian with noticeable Neo-Platonic influences. His doctrine of the universal existing ante res in God, in rebus as the universal nature of the particulars, and post res in the human mind by way of abstraction became a fundamental thesis of medieval Aristotelianism. He sharply distinguished between the logical and the ontological universal, denying to the latter the true nature of form in the composite. The principle of individuation is matter, eternally existent. Latin translations attributed to Avicenna the notion that existence is an accident to essence (see e.g. Guilelmus Parisiensis, De Universo). The process adopted by Avicenna was one of paraphrasis of the Aristotelian texts with many original thoughts interspersed. His works were translated into Latin by Dominicus Gundissalinus (Gondisalvi) with the assistance of Avendeath ibn Daud. This translation started, when it became more generally known, the "revival of Aristotle" at the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. Albert the Great and Aquinas professed, notwithstanding their critical attitude, a great admiration for Avicenna whom the Arabs used to call the "third Aristotle". But in the Orient, Avicenna's influence declined soon, overcome by the opposition of the orthodox theologians. Avicenna, Opera, Venetiis, 1495; l508; 1546. M. Horten, Das Buch der Genesung der Seele, eine philosophische Enzyklopaedie Avicenna's; XIII. Teil: Die Metaphysik. Halle a. S. 1907-1909. R. de Vaux, Notes et textes sur l'Avicennisme Latin, Bibl. Thomiste XX, Paris, 1934. --R.A. Avidya: (Skr.) Nescience; ignorance; the state of mind unaware of true reality; an equivalent of maya (q.v.); also a condition of pure awareness prior to the universal process of evolution through gradual differentiation into the elements and factors of knowledge. --K.F.L. Avyakta: (Skr.) "Unmanifest", descriptive of or standing for brahman (q.v.) in one of its or "his" aspects, symbolizing the superabundance of the creative principle, or designating the condition of the universe not yet become phenomenal (aja, unborn). --K.F.L. Awareness: Consciousness considered in its aspect of act; an act of attentive awareness such as the sensing of a color patch or the feeling of pain is distinguished from the content attended to, the sensed color patch, the felt pain. The psychologlcal theory of intentional act was advanced by F. Brentano (Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte) and received its epistemological development by Meinong, Husserl, Moore, Laird and Broad. See Intentionalism. --L.W. Axiological: (Ger. axiologisch) In Husserl: Of or pertaining to value or theory of value (the latter term understood as including disvalue and value-indifference). --D.C. Axiological ethics: Any ethics which makes the theory of obligation entirely dependent on the theory of value, by making the determination of the rightness of an action wholly dependent on a consideration of the value or goodness of something, e.g. the action itself, its motive, or its consequences, actual or probable. Opposed to deontological ethics. See also teleological ethics. --W.K.F. Axiologic Realism: In metaphysics, theory that value as well as logic, qualities as well as relations, have their being and exist external to the mind and independently of it. Applicable to the philosophy of many though not all realists in the history of philosophy, from Plato to G. E. Moore, A. N. Whitehead, and N, Hartmann. --J.K.F. Axiology: (Gr. axios, of like value, worthy, and logos, account, reason, theory). Modern term for theory of value (the desired, preferred, good), investigation of its nature, criteria, and metaphysical status. Had its rise in Plato's theory of Forms or Ideas (Idea of the Good); was developed in Aristotle's Organon, Ethics, Poetics, and Metaphysics (Book Lambda). Stoics and Epicureans investigated the summum bonum. Christian philosophy (St. Thomas) built on Aristotle's identification of highest value with final cause in God as "a living being, eternal, most good." In modern thought, apart from scholasticism and the system of Spinoza (Ethica, 1677), in which values are metaphysically grounded, the various values were investigated in separate sciences, until Kant's Critiques, in which the relations of knowledge to moral, aesthetic, and religious values were examined. In Hegel's idealism, morality, art, religion, and philosophy were made the capstone of his dialectic. R. H. Lotze "sought in that which should be the ground of that which is" (Metaphysik, 1879). Nineteenth century evolutionary theory, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and economics subjected value experience to empirical analysis, and stress was again laid on the diversity and relativity of value phenomena rather than on their unity and metaphysical nature. F. Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra (1883-1885) and Zur Genealogie der Moral (1887) aroused new interest in the nature of value. F. Brentano, Vom Ursprung sittlicher Erkenntnis (1889), identified value with love. In the twentieth century the term axiology was apparently first applied by Paul Lapie (Logique de la volonte, 1902) and E. von Hartmann (Grundriss der Axiologie, 1908). Stimulated by Ehrenfels (System der Werttheorie, 1897), Meinong (Psychologisch-ethische Untersuchungen zur Werttheorie, 1894-1899), and Simmel (Philosophie des Geldes, 1900). W. M. Urban wrote the first systematic treatment of axiology in English (Valuation, 1909), phenomenological in method under J. M. Baldwin's influence. Meanwhile H. Münsterberg wrote a neo-Fichtean system of values (The Eternal Values, 1909). Among important recent contributions are: B. Bosanquet, The Principle of Individuality and Value (1912), a free reinterpretation of Hegelianism; W. R. Sorley, Moral Values and the Idea of God (1918, 1921), defending a metaphysical theism; S. Alexander, Space, Time, and Deity (1920), realistic and naturalistic; N. Hartmann, Ethik (1926), detailed analysis of types and laws of value; R. B. Perry's magnum opus, General Theory of Value (1926), "its meaning and basic principles construed in terms of interest"; and J. Laird, The Idea of Value (1929), noteworthy for historical exposition. A naturalistic theory has been developed by J. Dewey (Theory of Valuation, 1939), for which "not only is science itself a value . . . but it is the supreme means of the valid determination of all valuations." A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic (1936) expounds the view of logical positivism that value is "nonsense." J. Hessen, Wertphilosophie (1937), provides an account of recent German axiology from a neo-scholastic standpoint. The problems of axiology fall into four main groups, namely, those concerning (1) the nature of value, (2) the types of value, (3) the criterion of value, and (4) the metaphysical status of value. (1) The nature of value experience. Is valuation fulfillment of desire (voluntarism: Spinoza, Ehrenfels), pleasure (hedonism: Epicurus, Bentham, Meinong), interest (Perry), preference (Martineau), pure rational will (formalism: Stoics, Kant, Royce), apprehension of tertiary qualities (Santayana), synoptic experience of the unity of personality (personalism: T. H. Green, Bowne), any experience that contributes to enhanced life (evolutionism: Nietzsche), or "the relation of things as means to the end or consequence actually reached" (pragmatism, instrumentalism: Dewey). (2) The types of value. Most axiologists distinguish between intrinsic (consummatory) values (ends), prized for their own sake, and instrumental (contributory) values (means), which are causes (whether as economic goods or as natural events) of intrinsic values. Most intrinsic values are also instrumental to further value experience; some instrumental values are neutral or even disvaluable intrinsically. Commonly recognized as intrinsic values are the (morally) good, the true, the beautiful, and the holy. Values of play, of work, of association, and of bodily well-being are also acknowledged. Some (with Montague) question whether the true is properly to be regarded as a value, since some truth is disvaluable, some neutral; but love of truth, regardless of consequences, seems to establish the value of truth. There is disagreement about whether the holy (religious value) is a unique type (Schleiermacher, Otto), or an attitude toward other values (Kant, Höffding), or a combination of the two (Hocking). There is also disagreement about whether the variety of values is irreducible (pluralism) or whether all values are rationally related in a hierarchy or system (Plato, Hegel, Sorley), in which values interpenetrate or coalesce into a total experience. (3) The criterion of value. The standard for testing values is influenced by both psychological and logical theory. Hedonists find the standard in the quantity of pleasure derived by the individual (Aristippus) or society (Bentham). Intuitionists appeal to an ultimate insight into preference (Martineau, Brentano). Some idealists recognize an objective system of rational norms or ideals as criterion (Plato, Windelband), while others lay more stress on rational wholeness and coherence (Hegel, Bosanquet, Paton) or inclusiveness (T. H. Green). Naturalists find biological survival or adjustment (Dewey) to be the standard. Despite differences, there is much in common in the results of the application of these criteria. (4) The metaphysical status of value. What is the relation of values to the facts investigated by natural science (Koehler), of Sein to Sollen (Lotze, Rickert), of human experience of value to reality independent of man (Hegel, Pringle-Pattlson, Spaulding)? There are three main answers: subjectivism (value is entirely dependent on and relative to human experience of it: so most hedonists, naturalists, positivists); logical objectivism (values are logical essences or subsistences, independent of their being known, yet with no existential status or action in reality); metaphysical objectivism (values --or norms or ideals --are integral, objective, and active constituents of the metaphysically real: so theists, absolutists, and certain realists and naturalists like S. Alexander and Wieman). --E.S.B. Axiom: See Mathematics. Axiomatic method: That method of constructing a deductive system consisting of deducing by specified rules all statements of the system save a given few from those given few, which are regarded as axioms or postulates of the system. See Mathematics. --C.A.B. Ayam atma brahma: (Skr.) "This self is brahman", famous quotation from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 2.5.19, one of many alluding to the central theme of the Upanishads, i.e., the identity of the human and divine or cosmic. --K.F.L.
AUTOCODER "language" Possibly the first primitive {compiler}. AUTOCODER was written by Alick E. Glennie in 1952. It translated symbolic statements into {machine language} for the {Manchester Mark I} computer. Autocoding later came to be a generic term for {assembly language} programming. (1994-11-07)
automatical ::: a. --> Having an inherent power of action or motion.
Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under fixed conditions; -- esp. applied to machinery or devices in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand are done by the machine or device itself; as, the automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse.
Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical;
Automatically Programmed Tools "language" (APT) A language for numerically controlled machine tools. Versions: APT II (IBM 704, 1958), APT III (IBM 7090, 1961). ["APT Part Programming", McGraw-Hill]. [Sammet 1969, p. 605]. (1995-05-04)
automaton "robotics, mathematics, algorithm" (Plural automata) A machine, {robot}, or {formal system} designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions. Automata theory, the invention and study of automata, includes the study of the capabilities and limitations of computing processes, the manner in which systems receive input, process it, and produce output, and the relationships between behavioural theories and the operation and use of automated devices. See also {cellular automaton}, {finite state machine}. (1996-04-23)
automaton ::: v. i. --> Any thing or being regarded as having the power of spontaneous motion or action.
A self-moving machine, or one which has its motive power within itself; -- applied chiefly to machines which appear to imitate spontaneously the motions of living beings, such as men, birds, etc.
aviator ::: n. --> An experimenter in aviation.
A flying machine.
backbone site A key {Usenet}, {electronic mail} and/or {Internet} site; one that processes a large amount of third-party traffic, especially if it is the home site of any of the regional coordinators for the {Usenet} maps. Notable backbone sites as of early 1993 include {uunet} and the mail machines at {Rutgers University}, UC Berkeley, {DEC}'s Western Research Laboratories, {Ohio State University} and the {University of Texas}. Compare {rib site}, {leaf site}. [{Jargon File}] (1994-11-28)
back-end "programming" Any software performing either the final stage in a process, or a task not apparent to the user. A common usage is in a {compiler}. A compiler's back-end generates {machine language} and performs optimisations specific to the machine's {architecture}. The term can also be used in the context of {network} applications. E.g. "The back-end of the system handles {socket} protocols". Contrast {front end}. (1996-04-09)
backlash ::: n. --> The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear; also, the jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
bailer ::: n. --> See Bailor.
One who bails or lades.
A utensil, as a bucket or cup, used in bailing; a machine for bailing water out of a pit.
balance wheel ::: --> A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock; -- often called simply a balance.
A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in those watches called a balance).
A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements of any engine or machine; a fly wheel.
bayonet ::: n. --> A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.
A pin which plays in and out of holes made to receive it, and which thus serves to engage or disengage parts of the machinery. ::: v. t.
beetle ::: v. t. --> A heavy mallet, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; -- called also beetling machine.
To beat with a heavy mallet.
To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine; as, to beetle cotton goods.
"Behind this petty instrumental action of the human will there is something vast and powerful and eternal that oversees the trend of the inclination and presses on the turn of the will. There is a total Truth in Nature greater than our individual choice. And in this total Truth, or even beyond and behind it, there is something that determines all results; its presence and secret knowledge keep up steadily in the process of Nature a dynamic, almost automatic perception of the right relations, the varying or persistent necessities, the inevitable steps of the movement. There is a secret divine Will, eternal and infinite, omniscient and omnipotent, that expresses itself in the universality and in each particular of all these apparently temporal and finite inconscient or half-conscient things. This is the Power or Presence meant by the Gita when it speaks of the Lord within the heart of all existences who turns all creatures as if mounted on a machine by the illusion of Nature.” The Synthesis of Yoga*
“Behind this petty instrumental action of the human will there is something vast and powerful and eternal that oversees the trend of the inclination and presses on the turn of the will. There is a total Truth in Nature greater than our individual choice. And in this total Truth, or even beyond and behind it, there is something that determines all results; its presence and secret knowledge keep up steadily in the process of Nature a dynamic, almost automatic perception of the right relations, the varying or persistent necessities, the inevitable steps of the movement. There is a secret divine Will, eternal and infinite, omniscient and omnipotent, that expresses itself in the universality and in each particular of all these apparently temporal and finite inconscient or half-conscient things. This is the Power or Presence meant by the Gita when it speaks of the Lord within the heart of all existences who turns all creatures as if mounted on a machine by the illusion of Nature.” The Synthesis of Yoga
bell crank ::: --> A lever whose two arms form a right angle, or nearly a right angle, having its fulcrum at the apex of the angle. It is used in bell pulls and in changing the direction of bell wires at angles of rooms, etc., and also in machinery.
bellows ::: n. sing. & pl. --> An instrument, utensil, or machine, which, by alternate expansion and contraction, or by rise and fall of the top, draws in air through a valve and expels it through a tube for various purposes, as blowing fires, ventilating mines, or filling the pipes of an organ with wind.
belting ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Belt ::: n. --> The material of which belts for machinery are made; also, belts, taken collectively.
BeOS "operating system" The {operating system} originally designed to run on the {BeBox} {microcomputer}. BeOS is good at both {multitasking} and {real-time} operation. It has a {bash} command shell, with ports of many {GNU} programs by Be, Inc. It has a {GUI} front end (not {X}). A {C++} {compiler} is supplied with the machine, and there are rumours of other languages being ported in the future. BeOs eventually became used on the {x86} and standard {PPC}. Be, Inc. went bankrupt in 1999, after releasing the last upgrade of BeOS (R5.0.3), and was sold to {Palm}. Several groups are currently (2003) attempting to create an R6 version of the OS. The most likely to succeed are {Yellowtab} and {OpenBeOS}, which is likely to be renamed. (2003-05-30)
big blue {International Business Machines}
billy ::: n. --> A club; esp., a policeman&
binary file "file format" Any {file format} for {digital} {data} that does not consist of a sequence of printable {characters} ({text}). The term is often used for executable {machine code}. All digital data, including characters, is actually binary data (unless it uses some (rare) system with more than two discrete levels) but the distinction between binary and text is well established. On modern {operating systems} a text file is simply a binary file that happens to contain only printable characters, but some older systems distinguish the two file types, requiring programs to handle them differently. A common class of binary files is programs in {machine language} ("{executable} files") ready to load into memory and execute. Binary files may also be used to store data output by a program, and intended to be read by that or another program but not by humans. Binary files are more efficient for this purpose because the data (e.g. numerical data) does not need to be converted between the binary form used by the {CPU} and a printable (ASCII) representation. The disadvantage is that it is usually necessary to write special purpose programs to manipulate such files since most general purpose utilities operate on text files. There is also a problem sharing binary numerical data between processors with different {endian}ness. Some communications {protocols} handle only text files, e.g. most {electronic mail} systems before {MIME} became widespread in about 1995. The {FTP} utility must be put into "binary" mode in order to copy a binary file since in its default "ascii" mode translates between the different {newline} characters used on the sending and receiving computers. Confusingly, some {word processor} files, and {rich text} files, are actually binary files because they contain non-printable characters and require special programs to view, edit and print them. (2005-02-21)
bit field "data" Part of an item of data, storage location or message, identified as a certain number of contiguous {bits} starting at a certain bit position within the data. Bit position zero is usually the least significant bit. For example, in an {ARM} {machine code} instruction the four-bit field at bits 28 to 31 (the four most significant bits in the 32-bit word) is the "condition code". (2007-03-26)
blinkenlights /blink'*n-li:tz/ Front-panel diagnostic lights on a computer, especially a {dinosaur}. Derives from the last word of the famous blackletter-Gothic sign in mangled pseudo-German that once graced about half the computer rooms in the English-speaking world. One version ran in its entirety as follows: ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS! Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten. This silliness dates back at least as far as 1959 at Stanford University and had already gone international by the early 1960s, when it was reported at London University's ATLAS computing site. There are several variants of it in circulation, some of which actually do end with the word "blinkenlights". In an amusing example of turnabout-is-fair-play, German hackers have developed their own versions of the blinkenlights poster in fractured English, one of which is reproduced here: ATTENTION This room is fullfilled mit special electronische equippment. Fingergrabbing and pressing the cnoeppkes from the computers is allowed for die experts only! So all the "lefthanders" stay away and do not disturben the brainstorming von here working intelligencies. Otherwise you will be out thrown and kicked anderswhere! Also: please keep still and only watchen astaunished the blinkenlights. See also {geef}. [{Jargon File}]
block transfer computations "algorithm, humour" (From the UK television series "Dr. Who") Computations so fiendishly subtle and complex that they could not be performed by machines. Used to refer to any task that should be expressible as an {algorithm} in theory, but isn't. [{Jargon File}] (2004-09-28)
blower ::: n. --> One who, or that which, blows.
A device for producing a current of air; as: (a) A metal plate temporarily placed before the upper part of a grate or open fire. (b) A machine for producing an artificial blast or current of air by pressure, as for increasing the draft of a furnace, ventilating a building or shaft, cleansing gram, etc.
A blowing out or excessive discharge of gas from a hole or fissure in a mine.
machined ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Machine
machine ::: n. --> In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion
machiner ::: n. --> One who or operates a machine; a machinist.
machinery ::: n. --> Machines, in general, or collectively.
The working parts of a machine, engine, or instrument; as, the machinery of a watch.
The supernatural means by which the action of a poetic or fictitious work is carried on and brought to a catastrophe; in an extended sense, the contrivances by which the crises and conclusion of a fictitious narrative, in prose or verse, are effected.
The means and appliances by which anything is kept in
B-Method "programming, tool" A system for rigorous or formal development of software using the notion of {Abstract Machines} to specify and design software systems. The B-Method is supported by the {B-Toolkit}. Abstract Machines are specified using the Abstract Machine Notation (AMN) which is in turn based on the mathematical theory of {Generalised Substitutions}. (1995-03-13)
bobbinet ::: n. --> A kind of cotton lace which is wrought by machines, and not by hand.
bobbin ::: n. --> A small pin, or cylinder, formerly of bone, now most commonly of wood, used in the making of pillow lace. Each thread is wound on a separate bobbin which hangs down holding the thread at a slight tension.
A spool or reel of various material and construction, with a head at one or both ends, and sometimes with a hole bored through its length by which it may be placed on a spindle or pivot. It is used to hold yarn or thread, as in spinning or warping machines, looms, sewing
bolter ::: n. --> One who bolts; esp.: (a) A horse which starts suddenly aside. (b) A man who breaks away from his party.
One who sifts flour or meal.
An instrument or machine for separating bran from flour, or the coarser part of meal from the finer; a sieve.
A kind of fishing line. See Boulter.
BOSS Bridgport Operating System Software. A derivative of the {ISO 1054} numerical machine control language for milling, etc.
botnet "security" A large number of hijacked computers controlled by a {botmaster} via the Internet. Some botnets have been estimated to include hundreds of thousands of computers. Botnets are sometimes rented out, sometimes for as little as 4 cents per machine. The machines are recruited via a {virus} (e.g. sent by {e-mail}), a {drive-by download} or a {worm}. (2019-03-16)
breaker ::: n. --> One who, or that which, breaks.
Specifically: A machine for breaking rocks, or for breaking coal at the mines; also, the building in which such a machine is placed.
A small water cask.
A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sand bank, or a rock or reef near the surface.
Brilliant One of five pedagogical languages based on {Markov} {algorithms}, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)]. See also {Diamond}, {Nonpareil}, {Pearl}, {Ruby}.
brushing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Brush ::: a. --> Constructed or used to brush with; as a brushing machine.
Brisk; light; as, a brushing gallop.
bucky bits /buh'kee bits/ 1. Obsolete. The bits produced by the CONTROL and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard ({octal} 200 and 400 respectively), resulting in a 9-bit keyboard character set. The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this with TOP and separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a 12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see {space-cadet keyboard}). 2. By extension, bits associated with "extra" shift keys on any keyboard, e.g. the ALT on an IBM PC or command and option keys on a Macintosh. It has long been rumored that "bucky bits" were named after Buckminster Fuller during a period when he was consulting at Stanford. Actually, bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth when *he* was at Stanford in 1964--65; he first suggested the idea of an EDIT key to set the 8th bit of an otherwise 7 bit ASCII character. It seems that, unknown to Wirth, certain Stanford hackers had privately nicknamed him "Bucky" after a prominent portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname transferred to the bit. Bucky-bit commands were used in a number of editors written at Stanford, including most notably TV-EDIT and NLS. The term spread to MIT and CMU early and is now in general use. Ironically, Wirth himself remained unaware of its derivation for nearly 30 years, until {GLS} dug up this history in early 1993! See {double bucky}, {quadruple bucky}. (2001-06-22)
bug "programming" An unwanted and unintended property of a {program} or piece of {hardware}, especially one that causes it to malfunction. Antonym of {feature}. E.g. "There's a bug in the editor: it writes things out backward." The identification and removal of bugs in a program is called "{debugging}". Admiral {Grace Hopper} (an early computing pioneer better known for inventing {COBOL}) liked to tell a story in which a technician solved a {glitch} in the {Harvard Mark II machine} by pulling an actual insect out from between the contacts of one of its relays, and she subsequently promulgated {bug} in its hackish sense as a joke about the incident (though, as she was careful to admit, she was not there when it happened). For many years the logbook associated with the incident and the actual bug in question (a moth) sat in a display case at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). The entire story, with a picture of the logbook and the moth taped into it, is recorded in the "Annals of the History of Computing", Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 1981), pp. 285--286. The text of the log entry (from September 9, 1947), reads "1545 Relay
burring machine ::: --> A machine for cleansing wool of burs, seeds, and other substances.
bus error "processor" A fatal failure in the execution of a {machine language} instruction resulting from the {processor} detecting an anomalous condition on its {bus}. Such conditions include invalid address alignment (accessing a multi-byte number at an odd address), accessing a {physical address} that does not correspond to any device, or some other device-specific hardware error. A bus error triggers a processor-level {exception} which {Unix} translates into a "SIGBUS" {signal} which, if not caught, will terminate the current process. (2000-04-04)
Busy Beaver "theory" (BB) One of a series of sets of {Turing Machine} programs. The BBs in the Nth set are programs of N states that produce a larger finite number of ones on an initially blank tape than any other program of N states. There is no program that, given input N, can deduce the productivity (number of ones output) of the BB of size N. The productivity of the BB of size 1 is 1. Some work has been done to figure out productivities of bigger Busy Beavers - the 7th is in the thousands. (1994-10-24)
byte-code "file format, software" A {binary} file containing an {executable} program, consisting of a sequence of ({op code}, data) pairs. Byte-code op codes are most often fixed size {bit patterns}, but can be variable size. The data portion consists of zero or more {bits} whose format typically depends on the op code. A byte-code program is interpreted by a {byte-code interpreter}. The advantage of this technique compared with outputing {machine code} for some particular processor is that the same byte-code can be executed on any processor on which the byte-code interpreter runs. The byte-code may be compiled to machine code ("native code") for speed of execution but this usually requires significantly greater effort for each new taraget architecture than simply porting the interpreter. For example, {Java} is compiled to byte-code which runs on the {Java Virtual Machine}. (2006-05-29)
byte-code interpreter "software" A program that {executes} a {byte code} program. An example is the {Java Virtual Machine}. (1999-11-28)
byte "unit" /bi:t/ (B) A component in the machine {data hierarchy} larger than a {bit} and usually smaller than a {word}; now nearly always eight bits and the smallest addressable unit of storage. A byte typically holds one {character}. A byte may be 9 bits on 36-bit computers. Some older architectures used "byte" for quantities of 6 or 7 bits, and the PDP-10 and IBM 7030 supported "bytes" that were actually {bit-fields} of 1 to 36 (or 64) bits! These usages are now obsolete, and even 9-bit bytes have become rare in the general trend toward power-of-2 word sizes. The term was coined by Werner Buchholz in 1956 during the early design phase for the {IBM} {Stretch} computer. It was a mutation of the word "bite" intended to avoid confusion with "bit". In 1962 he described it as "a group of bits used to encode a character, or the number of bits transmitted in parallel to and from input-output units". The move to an 8-bit byte happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and promulgated as a standard by the {System/360} {operating system} (announced April 1964). James S. Jones "jsjones@graceland.edu" adds: I am sure I read in a mid-1970's brochure by IBM that outlined the history of computers that BYTE was an acronym that stood for "Bit asYnchronous Transmission E..?" which related to width of the bus between the Stretch CPU and its CRT-memory (prior to Core). Terry Carr "bear@mich.com" says: In the early days IBM taught that a series of bits transferred together (like so many yoked oxen) formed a Binary Yoked Transfer Element (BYTE). [True origin? First 8-bit byte architecture?] See also {nibble}, {octet}. [{Jargon File}] (2003-09-21)
calender ::: n. --> A machine, used for the purpose of giving cloth, paper, etc., a smooth, even, and glossy or glazed surface, by cold or hot pressure, or for watering them and giving them a wavy appearance. It consists of two or more cylinders revolving nearly in contact, with the necessary apparatus for moving and regulating.
One who pursues the business of calendering.
To press between rollers for the purpose of making smooth and glossy, or wavy, as woolen and silk stuffs, linens, paper, etc.
CAML "language" 1. A language for preparation of animated movies. 1976. (1994-11-09) 2. {Categorical Abstract Machine Language}. (2000-07-06)
CAM-PC "hardware" A {cellular automata} circuit board which is a hardware implementation from {Automatrix} of the {MIT} {CAM-6} machine. It comes with dozens of experiments and applications. {(http://automatrix.com/campc/index.html)}. (1995-04-21)
candroy ::: n. --> A machine for spreading out cotton cloths to prepare them for printing.
carrier ::: n. --> One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger.
One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster.
That which drives or carries; as: (a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the face plate; a lathe dog. (b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine. (c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel.
carrier scanner "security" (Or "wardialer") A program which uses a {modem} to dial a series of phone numbers (say, from 770-0000 to 770-9999), and keeps a log of what phone numbers answer with a modem {carrier}. The results of such a search were generally used by people looking to engage in {random} mischief in {random} machines. Since the 1980s, wardialers have generally fallen into disuse, partly because of easily available "{caller ID}" technology, partly because fax machines are now in wide use and would often be logged as a {carrier} by a wardialer, and partly because there are so many new and more interesting venues for computerised mischief these days. (1997-03-16)
catadrome ::: n. --> A race course.
A machine for raising or lowering heavy weights.
cataract ::: n. --> A great fall of water over a precipice; a large waterfall.
An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight.
A kind of hydraulic brake for regulating the action of pumping engines and other machines; -- sometimes called dashpot.
Categorical Abstract Machine Language "language" (Originally "CAML" - Categorical Abstract Machine Language) A version of {ML} by G. Huet, G. Cousineau, Ascander Suarez, Pierre Weis, Michel Mauny and others of {INRIA} and {ENS}. CAML is intermediate between {LCF ML} and {SML} [in what sense?]. It has {first-class} functions, {static type inference} with {polymorphic} types, user-defined {variant types} and {product types}, and {pattern matching}. It is built on a proprietary run-time system. The CAML V3.1 implementation added {lazy} and {mutable} data structures, a "{grammar}" mechanism for interfacing with the {Yacc} {parser generator}, {pretty-printing} tools, high-performance {arbitrary-precision} arithmetic, and a complete library. CAML V3 is often nicknamed "heavy CAML", because of its heavy memory and CPU requirements compared to {Caml Light}. in 1990 Xavier Leroy and Damien Doligez designed a new implementation called {Caml Light}, freeing the previous implementation from too many experimental high-level features, and more importantly, from the old Le_Lisp back-end. Following the addition of a {native-code} compiler and a powerful {module} system in 1995 and of the {object} and {class} layer in 1996, the project's name was changed to {Objective Caml}. ["The CAML Reference Manual", P. Weis et al, TR INRIA-ENS, 1989]. (2003-04-12)
cellular automaton "algorithm, parallel" (CA, plural "- automata") A regular spatial lattice of "cells", each of which can have any one of a finite number of states. The state of all cells in the lattice are updated simultaneously and the state of the entire lattice advances in discrete time steps. The state of each cell in the lattice is updated according to a local rule which may depend on the state of the cell and its neighbors at the previous time step. Each cell in a cellular automaton could be considered to be a {finite state machine} which takes its neighbours' states as input and outputs its own state. The best known example is J.H. Conway's game of {Life}. {FAQ (http://alife.santafe.edu/alife/topics/cas/ca-faq/ca-faq.html)}. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:comp.theory.cell-automata}, {news:comp.theory.self-org-sys}. (1995-03-03)
cellular multiprocessing "architecture, parallel" (CMP) The partitioning of {processors} into separate computing environments running different {operating systems}. The term cellular multiprocessing appears to have been coined by {Unisys}, who are developing a system where computers communicate as clustered machines through a high speed {bus}, rather than through communication {protocols} such as {TCP/IP}. The Unisys system is based on {Intel} processors, initially the {Pentium II Xeon} and moving on to the 64-bit {Merced} processors later in 1999. It will be scalable from four up to 32 processors, which can be clustered or partitioned in various ways. For example a sixteen processor system could be configured as four {Windows NT} systems (each functioning as a four-processor {symmetric multiprocessing} system), or an 8-way NT and 8-way {Unix} system. Supported operating systems will be {Windows NT}, {SCO}'s {Unixware} 7.0, Unisys' {SVR4} {Unix} and possibly the OS2200 and MCP-AS {mainframe} operating systems (with the assistance of Unisys' own dedicated {chipset}). {(http://marketplace.unisys.com/ent/cmp.html)}. (1998-09-09)
Cellular Neural Network "architecture" (CNN) The CNN Universal Machine is a low cost, low power, extremely high speed {supercomputer} on a chip. It is at least 1000 times faster than equivalent {DSP} solutions of many complex {image processing} tasks. It is a stored program supercomputer where a complex sequence of image processing {algorithms} is programmed and downloaded into the chip, just like any digital computer. Because the entire computer is integrated into a chip, no signal leaves the chip until the image processing task is completed. Although the CNN universal chip is based on analogue and logic operating principles, it has an on-chip analog-to-digital input-output interface so that at the system design and application perspective, it can be used as a digital component, just like a DSP. In particular, a development system is available for rapid design and prototyping. Moreover, a {compiler}, an {operating system}, and a {user-friendly} CNN {high-level language}, like the {C} language, have been developed which makes it easy to implement any image processing algorithm. [Professor Leon Chua, University of California at Berkeley]. (1995-04-27)
centrosome ::: n. --> A peculiar rounded body lying near the nucleus of a cell. It is regarded as the dynamic element by means of which the machinery of cell division is organized.
cfortran.h "library" A {transparent}, machine independent interface between {C} and {Fortran} routines and {global data}, developed by Burkhard Burow at CERN. It provides {macros} which allow the {C} {preprocessor} to translate a simple description of a C (Fortran) routine or global data into a Fortran (C) interface. Version 2.6 runs on {VAX}/{VMS}/{Ultrix}, {DECstation}, {Silicon Graphics}, {IBM} {RS/6000}, {Sun}, {Cray}, {Apollo}, {HP9000}, {LynxOS}, {f2c}, {NAG f90}. {(ftp://zebra.desy.de/cfortran/)}. cfortran.h was reviewed in RS/Magazine November 1992 and a user's experiences with cfortran.h are described in the Jan 93 issue of Computers in Physics. (1992-04-12)
chapelet ::: n. --> A pair of straps, with stirrups, joined at the top and fastened to the pommel or the frame of the saddle, after they have been adjusted to the convenience of the rider.
A kind of chain pump, or dredging machine.
Charles Babbage "person" The British inventor known to some as the "Father of Computing" for his contributions to the basic design of the computer through his {Analytical Engine}. His previous {Difference Engine} was a special purpose device intended for the production of mathematical tables. Babbage was born on December 26, 1791 in Teignmouth, Devonshire UK. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1814 and graduated from Peterhouse. In 1817 he received an MA from Cambridge and in 1823 started work on the Difference Engine through funding from the British Government. In 1827 he published a table of {logarithms} from 1 to 108000. In 1828 he was appointed to the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge (though he never presented a lecture). In 1831 he founded the British Association for the Advancement of Science and in 1832 he published "Economy of Manufactures and Machinery". In 1833 he began work on the Analytical Engine. In 1834 he founded the Statistical Society of London. He died in 1871 in London. Babbage also invented the cowcatcher, the dynamometer, standard railroad gauge, uniform postal rates, occulting lights for lighthouses, Greenwich time signals, and the heliograph opthalmoscope. He also had an interest in cyphers and lock-picking. [Adapted from the text by J. A. N. Lee, Copyright September 1994]. Babbage, as (necessarily) the first person to work with machines that can attack problems at arbitrary levels of {abstraction}, fell into a trap familiar to {toolsmiths} since, as described here by the English ethicist, Lord Moulton: "One of the sad memories of my life is a visit to the celebrated mathematician and inventor, Mr Babbage. He was far advanced in age, but his mind was still as vigorous as ever. He took me through his work-rooms. In the first room I saw parts of the original Calculating Machine, which had been shown in an incomplete state many years before and had even been put to some use. I asked him about its present form. 'I have not finished it because in working at it I came on the idea of my {Analytical Machine}, which would do all that it was capable of doing and much more. Indeed, the idea was so much simpler that it would have taken more work to complete the Calculating Machine than to design and construct the other in its entirety, so I turned my attention to the Analytical Machine.'" "After a few minutes' talk, we went into the next work-room, where he showed and explained to me the working of the elements of the Analytical Machine. I asked if I could see it. 'I have never completed it,' he said, 'because I hit upon an idea of doing the same thing by a different and far more effective method, and this rendered it useless to proceed on the old lines.' Then we went into the third room. There lay scattered bits of mechanism, but I saw no trace of any working machine. Very cautiously I approached the subject, and received the dreaded answer, 'It is not constructed yet, but I am working on it, and it will take less time to construct it altogether than it would have token to complete the Analytical Machine from the stage in which I left it.' I took leave of the old man with a heavy heart." "When he died a few years later, not only had he constructed no machine, but the verdict of a jury of kind and sympathetic scientific men who were deputed to pronounce upon what he had left behind him, either in papers or in mechanism, was that everything was too incomplete of be capable of being put to any useful purpose." [Lord Moulton, "The invention of algorithms, its genesis, and growth", in G. C. Knott, ed., "Napier tercentenary memorial volume" (London, 1915), p. 1-24; quoted in Charles Babbage "Passage from the Life of a Philosopher", Martin Campbell-Kelly, ed. (Rutgers U. Press and IEEE Press, 1994), p. 34]. Compare: {uninteresting}, {Ninety-Ninety Rule}. (1996-02-22)
cheek ::: n. --> The side of the face below the eye.
The cheek bone.
Those pieces of a machine, or of any timber, or stone work, which form corresponding sides, or which are similar and in pair; as, the cheeks (jaws) of a vise; the cheeks of a gun carriage, etc.
The branches of a bridle bit.
A section of a flask, so made that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mold; the
chevrette ::: n. --> A machine for raising guns or mortar into their carriages.
chicken head "graphics, abuse" The {Commodore} Business Machines logo, which strongly resembles a poultry part. Rendered in {ASCII} as "C=". With the arguable exception of the {Amiga}, Commodore's computers are notoriously crocky little {bitty box}es (see also {PETSCII}). Thus, this usage may owe something to Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (the basis for the movie "Blade Runner"; the novel is now sold under that title), in which a "chickenhead" is a mutant with below-average intelligence. [{Jargon File}] (2006-07-12)
chine nual "documentation" /sheen'yu-*l/ (MIT) The {LISP Machine} Manual, so called because the title was wrapped around the cover so only those letters showed on the front. [{Jargon File}] (1994-12-02)
CHIP-8 "language, games" A low-level {interpretive language} (really a high-level {machine code}) developed at {RCA} in the late 1970s for {video games} on computers using {RCA}'s {CDP1802} processor. It could also be used on the {DREAM 6800}. {Amiga interpreter (ftp://ftp.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/amiga/fish/f5/ff537/CHIP8.lzh)}. (2002-04-09)
Cichlid "graphics, tool" A tool for rapidly visualising arbitrary data in high-quality 3D, while allowing the viewer to explore and interact with the data in {real time}. Cichlid was designed with remote data generation and machine independence in mind; data is transmitted via {TCP} from any number of sources (data servers) to the visualisation code (the client), which displays them concurrently. [Who? URL?] (2004-01-22)
Cirrus Logic "company" A manufacturer of {integrated circuits} including the {Advanced RISC Machine} and display interface processors and cards for use as {Windows accelerators} (requiring dedicated driver software). {(http://cirrus.com/)}. [Other products?] (1996-10-13)
C* "language, parallel" An {object-oriented}, {data-parallel} superset of {ANSI C} with synchronous {semantics}, for the {Connection Machine}, designed by {Thinking Machines}, 1987. C* adds a "domain" data type and a selection statement for parallel execution in domains. An unimplemented language called "{Parallel C}" [which one?] influenced the design of {C*}. {Dataparallel-C} was based on {C*}. ["C*: An Extended C Language for Data Parallel Programming", J.R. Rose et al, Proc Second Intl Conf on Supercomputing, L.P. Kartashev et al eds, May 1987, pp 2-16]. ["C* Programming Manual", Thinking Machines Corp, 1986]. [{Jargon File}] (2000-11-14)
Clean "language" A {lazy} {higher-order} {purely functional language} from the {University of Nijmegen}. Clean was originally a subset of {Lean}, designed to be an experimental {intermediate language} and used to study the {graph rewriting} model. To help focus on the essential implementation issues it deliberately lacked all {syntactic sugar}, even {infix} expressions or {complex lists}, As it was used more and more to construct all kinds of applications it was eventually turned into a general purpose functional programming language, first released in May 1995. The new language is {strongly typed} (Milner/Mycroft type system), provides {modules} and {functional I/O} (including a {WIMP} interface), and supports {parallel processing} and {distributed processing} on {loosely coupled} parallel architectures. Parallel execution was originally based on the {PABC} {abstract machine}. It is one of the fastest implementations of functional languages available, partly aided by programmer {annotations} to influence evaluation order. Although the two variants of Clean are rather different, the name Clean can be used to denote either of them. To distinguish, the old version can be referred to as Clean 0.8, and the new as Clean 1.0 or Concurrent Clean. The current release of Clean (1.0) includes a compiler, producing code for the {ABC} {abstract machine}, a {code generator}, compiling the ABC code into either {object-code} or {assembly language} (depending on the {platform}), I/O libraries, a {development environment} (not all platforms), and {documentation}. It is supported (or will soon be supported) under {Mac OS}, {Linux}, {OS/2}, {Windows 95}, {SunOS}, and {Solaris}. {(http://cs.kun.nl/~clean/)}. E-mail: "clean@cs.kun.nl". Mailing list: "clean-request@cs.kun.nl". ["Clean - A Language for Functional Graph Rewriting", T. Brus et al, IR 95, U Nijmegen, Feb 1987]. ["Concurrent Clean", M.C. van Eekelen et al, TR 89-18, U Nijmegen, Netherlands, 1989]. [{Jargon File}] (1995-11-08)
clipper ::: n. --> One who clips; specifically, one who clips off the edges of coin.
A machine for clipping hair, esp. the hair of horses.
A vessel with a sharp bow, built and rigged for fast sailing.
clock ::: n. --> A machine for measuring time, indicating the hour and other divisions by means of hands moving on a dial plate. Its works are moved by a weight or a spring, and it is often so constructed as to tell the hour by the stroke of a hammer on a bell. It is not adapted, like the watch, to be carried on the person.
A watch, esp. one that strikes.
The striking of a clock.
A figure or figured work on the ankle or side of a stocking.
clockwork ::: n. --> The machinery of a clock, or machinery resembling that of a clock; machinery which produces regularity of movement.
clock-work ::: with machinelike regularity and precision; perfectly.
coal works ::: --> A place where coal is dug, including the machinery for raising the coal.
code 1. "software" Instructions for a computer in some programming language, often {machine language} (machine code). The word "code" is often used to distinguish instructions from {data} (e.g. "The code is marked 'read-only'") whereas the word "{software}" is used in contrast with "{hardware}" and may consist of more than just code. (2000-04-08) 2. "cryptography" Some method of {encryption} or the resulting encrypted message. (2006-11-10)
Code-Generator Generator Language "language" ("seagull") (CGGL) A {machine description language} based on modelling the computer as a {finite-state machine}. ["A Code Generator Generator Language", M.K. Donegan et al, SIGPLAN Notices 14(8):58-64, Aug 1979]. (1994-10-24)
code segment "memory" ({Intel 8086} CS) The area of memory containing the {machine code} instructions of a {program}. The code segment of a program may be shared between multiple processes running that code so long as none of them tries to modify it. {Unix}, confusingly, calls this the "text segment" and the area for uninitialied data, the {bss segment}. Initialised data is located in the {data segment}. (1996-12-21)
Colossus (A huge and ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes). 1. "computer" The Colossus and Colossus Mark II computers used by {Alan Turing} at {Bletchley Park}, UK during the Second World War to crack the "Tunny" cipher produced by the Lorenz SZ 40 and SZ 42 machines. Colossus was a semi-fixed-program {vacuum tube} calculator (unlike its near-contemporary, the freely programmable {Z3}). ["Breaking the enemy's code", Glenn Zorpette, IEEE Spectrum, September 1987, pp. 47-51.] 2. The computer in the 1970 film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project". Forbin is the designer of a computer that will run all of America's nuclear defences. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Goliath, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners. Both computers insist that they be linked, whereupon the two become a new super computer and threaten the world with the immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached. Colossus begins to give its plans for the management of the world under its guidance. Forbin and the other scientists form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate underground. {The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064177)}. (2007-01-04)
comber ::: n. --> One who combs; one whose occupation it is to comb wool, flax, etc. Also, a machine for combing wool, flax, etc.
A long, curling wave.
Encumbrance.
The cabrilla. Also, a name applied to a species of wrasse. ::: v. t.
comb ::: n. --> An instrument with teeth, for straightening, cleansing, and adjusting the hair, or for keeping it in place.
An instrument for currying hairy animals, or cleansing and smoothing their coats; a currycomb.
A toothed instrument used for separating and cleansing wool, flax, hair, etc.
The serrated vibratory doffing knife of a carding machine.
A former, commonly cone-shaped, used in hat manufacturing for
Commodore 128 "computer" (C128) An expanded {Commodore 64}, {Commodore Business Machines}' last commercially released 8-bit computer. However, they did prototype the {Commodore 65} and {Commodore SX64}. (1996-06-05)
Commodore 1570 "storage" {Commodore Business Machines}'s allegedly "advanced" disk drive for use with the {C128}. It is basically a {1541} with the capability to use "burst loading" (like the {Commodore 1571}), and lots of new {bugs}. The {Commodore 1571} was a double-sided version of the 1570. (1996-04-07)
Commodore 1571 "storage" {Commodore Business Machines}'s "advanced" {disk drive} for the {C128}. It was the double-sided version of the {Commodore 1570} disk drive but, unlike the 1570, worked quite well. The 1571 supported "{burst mode}" loading when used on a C128 in native mode, which increased the transfer speed from 1541 speed to about three kilobytes per second (about a 10-fold increase). The 1571 could be told to emulate a {1541} for use with a {C64} or 1541 disks. Bugs in early releases of the 1571 {ROM} affected access to the second side of the disk. (1996-04-07)
Commodore 1581 "storage" {Commodore Business Machines}'s 3.5 inch {disk drive} for the {Commodore 64} and {Commodore 128}. The drive stores 800 {kilobytes} using an {MFM} format which is different from both {messy-dos} 720 kb, and the {Amiga} 880 kb formats. The 1581 supports a poor imitation of {directories} which are really just {partitions} and largely unused. It also supports burst loading like the {Commodore 1571}, but is actually faster as it is better designed. It has 3160 {blocks} free when formatted. The 1581 is the highest density C64 serial bus drive made by Commodore. However Creative Micro Designs (CMD) make the {FD2000} (1.6MB) and (until recently) the {FD4000} (3.2MB) 3.5" disk drives. {GEOS} users like 1581s as they are very fast when used with GEOS. See also {Commodore 1541}, {Commodore 1571}. (1998-12-23)
Commodore 64 "computer" (C64) An 8-bit {Commodore Business Machines} {personal computer} released around September 1981. Prototypes were (apparently) made before Christmas 1980 (and shown at some computer fair). The {CPU} was a {6510} from {MOS Technology} (who were a wholly owned subsiduary of Commodore at this time(?)). The C64 had 64 {kilobytes} of {RAM} as standard and a 40-column text, 320x200 {pixel} display generating {composite video}, usually connected to a television. {DMA}-based memory expanders for the C64 (and C128) allowed 128, 256, and 512 kb of RAM. Several third party manufacturers produce accelerators and RAM expanders for the C64 and C128. (Some, risking a {holy war}, compare this to putting a brick on roller-skates). Such accelerators come in speeds up to 20MHz (20 times the original) and RAM expanders to 16MB. The C64's {1541} 5.25 {floppy disk} drive had a {6502} processor as a {disk controller}. See also {Commodore 65}. ["Assembly language programming with the Commodore 64", Marvin L. De Jong]. (1996-06-05)
Commodore 65 "computer" (Or Commodore 64DX, C65, C64DX) The last 8-bit computer designed by {Commodore Business Machines}, about 1989-1991. The C65 boasts an {ugly} collection of {custom} {integrated circuits} which makes even the {Amiga} hardware look standard. The core of the C65 {chipset} is the {CSG 4510} and {CSG 4569}. The 4510 is a {65CE02} with two {6526} {CIAs}. The 4569 is equivalent to a combination of the {6569} VIC-II and the {MMU} of the {Commodore 64}. The C65 also has a {DMA controller} (Commodore's purpose built {DMAgic}) which also functions as a simple {blitter}, and a {floppy controller} for the internal {Commodore 1581}-like disk drive. The floppy controller, known as the {F011}, supports seven drives (though the {DOS} only supports 2). The {4510} supports all the {C64} {video modes}, plus an 80 column text mode, and {bitplane} modes. The bitplane modes can use up to eight bitplanes, and {resolutions} of up to 1280 x 400. The {palette} is 12-bit like the {Amiga 500}. It also has two SID's (MOS 8580/6581) for stereo audio. The C65 has two busses, D and E, with 64 {kilobytes} of {RAM} on each. The VIC-III can access the D-bus while the CPU accesses the E-bus, and then they can swap around. This effectively makes the whole 8MB {address space} both {chip ram} and {fast ram}. {RAM} expansion is accomplished through a {trap door} slot in the bottom which uses a {grock} of a connector. The C65 has a {C128}-like native mode, where all of the new features are enabled, and the CPU runs at 3.5 megahertz with its {pipeline} enabled. It also has a C64 {incompatibility mode} which offers approx 50-80% compatibility with C64 software by turning off all its {bells and whistles}. The {bells and whistles} can still be accessed from the C64 mode, which is dissimilar to the C128's inescapable C64 mode. Production of the C65 was dropped only a few weeks before it moved from the Alpha stage, possibly due to Commodore's cash shortage. Commodore estimate that "between 50 and 10000" exist. There are at least three in Australia, about 30 in Germany and "some" in the USA and Canada. (1996-04-07)
Commodore Business Machines "company" (CBM) Makers of the {PET}, {Commodore 64}, {Commodore 16}, {Commodore 128}, and {Amiga} {personal computers}. Their logo is a {chicken head}. The Commodore name is controlled by Commodore Licensing BV, now a subsidiary of Asiarim. Commodore USA signed an agreement with Commodore Licensing BV. On 1994-04-29, Commodore International announced that it had been unable to renegotiate terms of outstanding loans and was closing down the business. Commodore US was expected to go into liquidation. Commodore US, France, Spain, and Belgium were liquidated for various reasons. The names Commodore and Amiga were maintained after the liquidation. After 1994, the rights to the Commodore name bounced across several European companies. On 1995-04-21, German retailer {Escom AG} bought Commodore International for $14m and production of the Amiga resumed. Netherlands-based {Tulip Computers} took over the brand. Production of the 8-bit range alledgedly never stopped during the time in liquidation because a Chinese company were producing the {C64} in large numbers for the local market there. In 2004, Tulip sold the Commodore name to another Dutch firm, Yeahronimo, that eventually changed its name to Commodore International. In April 2008 three creditors took the company to court demanding a bankruptcy ruling. On 2010-03-17, Commodore USA announced that it was to release a new PC in June 2010 which looks very similar to the old Commodore 64 but comes with a {Core 2 Duo}, {Core 2 Quad}, {Pentium D} or {Celeron D} processor and with {Ubuntu} {Linux} or {Windows 7} installed. {PC World article (http://pcworld.com/article/192415)}. (2010-09-14)
Commodore "company, computer" {Commodore Business Machines} or one of their computers such as the {Commodore 64}. (2010-09-14)
Common Gateway Interface "web" (CGI) A {standard} for running external {programs} from a {web} {HTTP} {server}. CGI specifies how to pass {arguments} to the program as part of the HTTP request. It also defines a set of {environment variables} that are made available to the program. The program generates output, typically {HTML}, which the web server processes and passes back to the {browser}. Alternatively, the program can request {URL redirection}. CGI allows the returned output to depend in any arbitrary way on the request. The CGI program can, for example, access information in a {database} and format the results as HTML. The program can access any data that a normal application program can, however the facilities available to CGI programs are usually limited for security reasons. Although CGI programs can be compiled programs, they are more often written in a (semi) {interpreted language} such as {Perl}, or as {Unix} {shell scripts}, hence the common name "CGI script". Here is a trivial CGI script written in Perl. (It requires the "CGI" module available from {CPAN}).
Common Lisp "language" A dialect of {Lisp} defined by a consortium of companies brought together in 1981 by the {Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency} (DARPA). Companies included {Symbolics}, {Lisp Machines, Inc.}, {Digital Equipment Corporation}, {Bell Labs}., {Xerox}, {Hewlett-Packard}, {Lawrence Livermore Labs}., {Carnegie-Mellon University}, {Stanford University}, {Yale}, {MIT} and {USC Berkeley}. Common Lisp is {lexically scoped} by default but can be {dynamically scoped}. Common Lisp is a large and complex language, fairly close to a superset of {MacLisp}. It features {lexical binding}, data structures using defstruct and setf, {closures}, multiple values, types using declare and a variety of numerical types. Function calls allow "&optional", keyword and "&rest" arguments. Generic sequence can either be a list or an {array}. It provides formatted printing using escape characters. Common LISP now includes {CLOS}, an extended LOOP {macro}, condition system, {pretty printing} and logical pathnames. Implementations include {AKCL}, {CCL}, {CLiCC}, {CLISP}, {CLX}, {CMU Common Lisp}, {DCL}, {KCL}, {MCL} and {WCL}. Mailing list: "common-lisp@ai.sri.com". {ANSI Common Lisp draft proposal (ftp://ftp.think.com/public/think/lisp:public-review.text)}. ["Common LISP: The Language", Guy L. Steele, Digital Press 1984, ISBN 0-932376-41-X]. ["Common LISP: The Language, 2nd Edition", Guy L. Steele, Digital Press 1990, ISBN 1-55558-041-6]. (1994-09-29)
Communications of the ACM "publication" (CACM) A monthly publication by the {Association for Computing Machinery} sent to all members. CACM is an influential publication that keeps computer science professionals up to date on developments. Each issue includes articles, case studies, practitioner oriented pieces, regular columns, commentary, departments, the ACM Forum, technical correspondence and advertisements. {(http://acm.org/cacm/)}. (1995-01-18)
commutator ::: n. --> A piece of apparatus used for reversing the direction of an electrical current; an attachment to certain electrical machines, by means of which alternating currents are made to be continuous or to have the same direction.
comparator ::: n. --> An instrument or machine for comparing anything to be measured with a standard measure; -- applied especially to a machine for comparing standards of length.
compiler "programming, tool" A program that converts another program from some {source language} (or {programming language}) to {machine language} (object code). Some compilers output {assembly language} which is then converted to {machine language} by a separate {assembler}. A compiler is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each input statement does not, in general, correspond to a single machine instruction or fixed sequence of instructions. A compiler may support such features as automatic allocation of variables, arbitrary arithmetic expressions, control structures such as FOR and WHILE loops, variable {scope}, input/ouput operations, {higher-order functions} and {portability} of source code. {AUTOCODER}, written in 1952, was possibly the first primitive compiler. {Laning and Zierler}'s compiler, written in 1953-1954, was possibly the first true working algebraic compiler. See also {byte-code compiler}, {native compiler}, {optimising compiler}. (1994-11-07)
Compiler Target Language (CTL) The intermediate language used by the {ALICE} parallel machine. ["The Design and Implementation of ALICE: A Parallel Graph Reduction Machine", M.D. Cripps et al, Proc Workshop on Graph Reduction, Springer 1987]. (1994-11-14)
compile time "programming" The period of time during which a program's {source code} is being translated into {machine code}, as opposed to {run time} when the program is being executed. As well as the work done by the {compiler}, this may include macro preprocessing as done by {cpp} for example. The final stage of program construction, performed by the {linker}, would generally also be classed as compile time but might be distinguished as {link time}. For example, {static data} in a {C} program is allocated at compile time whereas non-static data is allocated at {run time}, typically on the {stack}. (2004-09-28)
compressor ::: n. --> Anything which serves to compress
A muscle that compresses certain parts.
An instrument for compressing an artery (esp., the femoral artery) or other part.
An apparatus for confining or flattening between glass plates an object to be examined with the microscope; -- called also compressorium.
A machine for compressing gases; especially, an air
computer "computer" A machine that can be programmed to manipulate symbols. Computers can perform complex and repetitive procedures quickly, precisely and reliably and can store and retrieve large amounts of data. Most computers in use today are electronic {digital computers} (as opposed to {analogue computers}). The physical components from which a computer is constructed are known as {hardware}, which can be of four types: {CPU}, {memory}, {input devices} and {output devices}. The CPU ({central processing unit}) executes {software} {programs} which tell the computer what to do. Input and output (I/O) devices allow the computer to communicate with the user and the outside world. There are many kinds of memory or storage - fast, expensive, short term memory (e.g. {RAM}) to hold intermediate results, and slower, cheaper, long-term memory (e.g. {magnetic disk} and {magnetic tape}) to hold programs and data that are not being used immediately. Computers today are often connected to a {network} (which may be part of the {Internet}). This allows them to be accessed from elsewhere and to exchange data with other computers. (2018-06-25)
computer ethics "philosophy" Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?). {"Philosophical Bases of Computer Ethics", Professor Robert N. Barger (http://nd.edu/~rbarger/metaethics.html)}. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:bit.listserv.ethics-l}, {news:alt.soc.ethics}. (1995-10-25)
computron "jargon" /kom'pyoo-tron"/ 1. A notional unit of computing power combining execution speed and storage capacity. E.g. "That machine can't run GNU Emacs, it doesn't have enough computrons!" 2. A mythical subatomic particle that carries computation or information, in much the same way that an electron carries electric charge (see also {bogon}). [{Jargon File}] (2013-03-02)
CONCUR "language" A proposal for a language for programming with {concurrent} processes. CONCUR was inspired by {Modula} but removes Modula's restrictions on the placement of process declarations and invocations in order to study the implications of process support more fully. Anderson presents a {compiler} which translates CONCUR into the {object language} for a hypothetical machine. ["CONCUR, A Language for Continuous Concurrent Processes", R.M. Salter et al, Comp Langs 5(3):163-189, 1981]. {["Concur: a High-Level Language for Concurrent Programming", Karen Anderson Thesis, B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, 1979] (https://ritdml.rit.edu/handle/1850/15968?show=full)} (2013-06-05)
cone pulley ::: --> A pulley for driving machines, etc., having two or more parts or steps of different diameters; a pulley having a conical shape.
Connection Machine LISP "language" {Lisp} with a parallel data structure, the 'xapping', an array of values assigned to an {array} of sites. [G.L. Steele et al, "Connection Machine LISP: Fine-Grained Parallel Symbolic Processing", in Proc 1986 ACM Conf on LISP and Functional Prog, Aug 1986, pp.279-297]. ["Connection Machine LISP Reference Manual", Thinking Machines Corp, Feb 1987]. (1995-02-28)
cons cell "programming" /konz sel/ or /kons sel/ A {Lisp} {pair} object containing any two objects. In {Lisp}, "cons" (short for "construct") is the fundamental operation for building structures such as {lists} and other {binary trees}. The application of "cons" to objects H and T is written (cons H T) and returns a pair object known as a "cons", "cons cell" or {dotted pair}. Typically, a cons would be stored in memory as a two consecutive {pointers}. The two objects in a cons, and the functions to extract them, are called "car" and "cdr" after two 15-bit fields of the {machine code} {instruction} format of the {IBM 7090} that hosted the original LISP implementation. These fields were called the "address" and "decrement" parts so "car" stood for "Contents of Address part of Register" and "cdr" for "Contents of Decrement part of Register". In the typical case where the cons holds one node of a {list} structure, the car is the {head} of the list (first element) and the cdr is the {tail} of the list (the rest). If the list had only one element then the tail would be an empty list, represented by the cdr containing the special value "nil". To aid in working with nested structures such as lists of lists, Lisp provides functions to access the car of the car ("caar"), the car of the cdr ("cadr"), the cdr of the car ("cdar") and the cdr of the cdr ("cddr"). (2014-11-09)
Control and Status Register "hardware" (CSR) A special {register} in most {CPUs} that stores additional information about the results of {machine instructions}, e.g. {comparisons}. The CSR consists of several independent {flag bits} such as {carry}, {overflow} and zero. The CSR is chiefly used to determine the outcome of {conditional branch} instructions or other forms of {conditional execution}. (2018-01-29)
control flow "programming" (Or "flow of control") The sequence of {execution} of the {instructions} in a {program}. Control flow is linear, executing the instructions in the order they were written, unless it is changed at {run time} by {control structures} such as {if statements}, {loops} or {goto} statements). These {high-level} language statements are translated by the {compiler} or {interpreter} into {machine instructions}, most commonly {conditional branch} instructions. {Interrupts} and {exception handling} also change the sequence of execution of instructions but are not part of normal control flow. Not to be confused with "{flow control}". (2017-07-30)
Control Program "operating system" (CP) The component of {IBM}'s {Virtual Machine} (VM) that provides "guest support" for {operating systems} that run on IBM {mainframe} compatible processors. Cp does this by providing a seamless {emulation} of privileged functions in the problem program environment. (1999-01-19)
control structure "programming" One of the {instructions}, {statements} or groups of statements in a programming language that determines the sequence of execution of other instructions or statements (the {control flow}). In {assembly language} this typically consists of {jumps} and {conditional jumps} along with {function} call and {return}, though some architectures include other constructs such as an instruction which skips the following instruction depending on some condition ({PDP}?), various kinds of {loop} instructions (later {Motorola 680x0}) or conditional execution of all instructions (Advanced RISC Machine). Basic control structures (whatever their names in particular languages) include "if CONDITION then EXPRESSION else EXPRESSION", the {switch statement}, "while CONDITION do EXPRESSION", function call, the suspect "{goto}" and the much-feared "{come from}". Other constructs handle errors and {exceptions} such as {traps} and {interrupts}. (1997-09-14)
control unit 1. "processor" The part of a {CPU} that sends control signals to other components to cause them to execute the {machine cycle} - fetch, decode, execute, store. 2. "architecture" Any device that controls the I/O operations of one or more {peripheral} devices, e.g. a {disk controller}. (2008-05-21)
Conversational Monitor System {Virtual Machine/Conversational Monitor System}
Conway's Game of Life "simulation" The first popular {cellular automata} based {artificial life} simulation. Life was invented by British mathematician {John Horton Conway} in 1970 and was first introduced publicly in "Scientific American" later that year. Conway first devised what he called "The Game of Life" and "ran" it using plates placed on floor tiles in his house. Because of he ran out of floor space and kept stepping on the plates, he later moved to doing it on paper or on a checkerboard and then moved to running Life as a computer program on a {PDP-7}. That first implementation of Life as a computer program was written by M. J. T. Guy and {S. R. Bourne} (the author of {Unix}'s {Bourne shell}). Life uses a rectangular grid of binary (live or dead) cells each of which is updated at each step according to the previous state of its eight neighbours as follows: a live cell with less than two, or more than three, live neighbours dies. A dead cell with exactly three neighbours becomes alive. Other cells do not change. While the rules are fairly simple, the patterns that can arise are of a complexity resembling that of organic systems -- hence the name "Life". Many hackers pass through a stage of fascination with Life, and hackers at various places contributed heavily to the mathematical analysis of this game (most notably {Bill Gosper} at {MIT}, who even implemented Life in {TECO}!; see {Gosperism}). When a hacker mentions "life", he is more likely to mean this game than the magazine, the breakfast cereal, the 1950s-era board game or the human state of existence. {On-line implementation (http://pmav.eu/stuff/javascript-game-of-life-v3.1.1/)}. ["Scientific American" 223, October 1970, p120-123, 224; February 1971 p121-117, Martin Gardner]. ["The Garden in The Machine: the Emerging Science of Artificial Life", Claus Emmeche, 1994]. ["Winning Ways, For Your Mathematical Plays", Elwyn R. Berlekamp, John Horton Conway and Richard K. Guy, 1982]. ["The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge", William Poundstone, 1985]. [{Jargon File}] (1997-09-07)
cookie monster "recreation" (From the children's TV program "Sesame Street") Any of a family of early (1970s) hacks reported on {TOPS-10}, {ITS}, {Multics} and elsewhere that would lock up either the victim's terminal (on a {time-sharing} machine) or the {console} (on a batch {mainframe}), repeatedly demanding "I WANT A COOKIE". The required responses ranged in complexity from "COOKIE" through "HAVE A COOKIE" and upward. See also {wabbit}. [{Jargon File}] (1997-02-12)
Core War "games" (Or more recently, "Core Wars") A game played between {assembly code} programs running in the {core} of a simulated machine (and vicariously by their authors). The objective is to kill your opponents' programs by overwriting them. The programs are written using an {instruction set} called "{Redcode}" and run on a {virtual machine} called "{MARS}" (Memory Array Redcode Simulator). Core War was devised by Victor Vyssotsky, Robert Morris Sr., and {Dennis Ritchie} in the early 1960s (their original game was called "{Darwin}" and ran on a {PDP-1} at {Bell Labs}). It was first described in the "Core War Guidelines" of March, 1984 by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney of the Department of Computer Science at The University of Western Ontario (Canada). Dewdney wrote several "Computer Recreations" articles in "Scientific American" which discussed Core War, starting with the May 1984 article. Those articles are contained in the two anthologies cited below. A.K. Dewdney's articles are still the most readable introduction to Core War, even though the {Redcode} dialect described in there is no longer current. The International Core War Society (ICWS) creates and maintains Core War standards and the runs Core War tournaments. There have been six annual tournaments and two standards (ICWS'86 and ICWS'88). ["The Armchair Universe: An Exploration of Computer Worlds", A. K. Dewdney, W. H. Freeman, New York, 1988, ISBN 0-7167-1939-8, LCCN QA76.6 .D517 1988] ["The Magic Machine: A Handbook of Computer Sorcery", A. K. Dewdney, W. H. Freeman, New York, 1990, ISBN 0-7167-2125-2 (Hardcover), 0-7167-2144-9 (Paperback), LCCN QA76.6 .D5173 1990]. (1998-10-30)
corncutter ::: n. --> A machine for cutting up stalks of corn for food of cattle.
An implement consisting of a long blade, attached to a handle at nearly a right angle, used for cutting down the stalks of Indian corn.
cornsheller ::: n. --> A machine that separates the kernels of corn from the cob.
cotter ::: n. --> Alt. of Cottar
A piece of wood or metal, commonly wedge-shaped, used for fastening together parts of a machine or structure. It is driven into an opening through one or all of the parts. [See Illust.] In the United States a cotter is commonly called a key.
A toggle. ::: v. t.
couloir ::: n. --> A deep gorge; a gully.
A dredging machine for excavating canals, etc.
countershaft ::: n. --> An intermediate shaft; esp., one which receives motion from a line shaft in a factory and transmits it to a machine.
cow ::: n. --> A chimney cap; a cowl
The mature female of bovine animals.
The female of certain large mammals, as whales, seals, etc.
A wedge, or brake, to check the motion of a machine or car; a chock. ::: v. t.
CPU Wars /C-P-U worz/ A 1979 large-format comic by Chas Andres chronicling the attempts of the brainwashed androids of IPM (Impossible to Program Machines) to conquer and destroy the peaceful denizens of HEC (Human Engineered Computers). This rather transparent allegory featured many references to {ADVENT} and the immortal line "Eat flaming death, minicomputer mongrels!" (uttered, of course, by an IPM stormtrooper). It is alleged that the author subsequently received a letter of appreciation on IBM company stationery from the head of IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Laboratories (then, as now, one of the few islands of true hackerdom in the IBM archipelago). The lower loop of the B in the IBM logo, it is said, had been carefully whited out. See {eat flaming death}. [{Jargon File}]
crabbing ::: n. --> The act or art of catching crabs.
The fighting of hawks with each other.
A process of scouring cloth between rolls in a machine.
crack root "security, jargon" To defeat the security system of a {Unix} machine and gain {root} privileges thereby. The sort of thing a {cracker} wants to do. [{Jargon File}] (2010-02-04)
crane ::: n. --> A measure for fresh herrings, -- as many as will fill a barrel.
A wading bird of the genus Grus, and allied genera, of various species, having a long, straight bill, and long legs and neck.
A machine for raising and lowering heavy weights, and, while holding them suspended, transporting them through a limited lateral distance. In one form it consists of a projecting arm or jib of timber or iron, a rotating post or base, and the necessary tackle, windlass,
crank (Automotive slang) Verb used to describe the performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorised operations." [{Jargon File}] (1994-12-01)
crash and burn "jargon" A spectacular crash, in the mode of the conclusion of the car-chase scene in the movie "Bullitt" and many subsequent imitators (compare {die horribly}). A {Sun-3} {display screen} losing the flyback transformer and lightning strikes on {VAX-11/780} backplanes are notable crash and burn generators. The construction "crash-and-burn machine" is reported for a computer used exclusively for alpha or {beta} testing, or reproducing bugs (i.e. not for development). The implication is that it wouldn't be such a disaster if that machine crashed, since only the testers would be inconvenienced. [{Jargon File}] (1996-02-22)
Cray instability A shortcoming of a program or {algorithm} that manifests itself only when a large problem is being run on a powerful machine such as a {Cray}. Generally more subtle than {bugs} that can be detected in smaller problems running on a {workstation} or {minicomputer}. [{Jargon File}] (1994-10-13)
creaser ::: n. --> A tool, or a sewing-machine attachment, for making lines or creases on leather or cloth, as guides to sew by.
A tool for making creases or beads, as in sheet iron, or for rounding small tubes.
A tool for making the band impression distinct on the back.
creel ::: n. --> An osier basket, such as anglers use.
A bar or set of bars with skewers for holding paying-off bobbins, as in the roving machine, throstle, and mule.
crimper ::: n. --> One who, or that which, crimps
A curved board or frame over which the upper of a boot or shoe is stretched to the required shape.
A device for giving hair a wavy appearance.
A machine for crimping or ruffling textile fabrics.
cropper ::: n. --> One that crops.
A variety of pigeon with a large crop; a pouter.
A machine for cropping, as for shearing off bolts or rod iron, or for facing cloth.
A fall on one&
cross-assembler An {assembler} which runs on one type of processor and produces {machine code} for another. There is a set of {6502}, 68xx and {Zilog Z80} and {8085} cross-assemblers in {C} by "msmakela@cc.helsinki.fi" and Alan R. Baldwin. They run under {MS-DOS} and could be compiled to run under {Unix} and on the {Amiga} and {Atari ST}. See also {fas}. {(ftp://ccosun.caltech.edu/)}. (1993-03-10)
cruncha cruncha cruncha "jargon" /kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch* kruhn'ch*/ An encouragement sometimes muttered to a machine bogged down in a serious {grovel}. Also describes a notional sound made by grovelling hardware. See {grind} (sense 3). (2003-06-02)
Crystal Concurrent Representation of Your Space-Time ALgorithms. A {recursion equation} parallel language. ["A Parallel Language and its Compilation to Multiprocessor Machines or VLSI", M.C. Chen, 13th POPL, ACM 1986 pp.131-139]. (1994-12-06)
cube 1. [short for "cubicle"] A module in the open-plan offices used at many programming shops. "I've got the manuals in my cube." 2. A NeXT machine (which resembles a matte-black cube).
cumbersome ::: a. --> Burdensome or hindering, as a weight or drag; embarrassing; vexatious; cumbrous.
Not easily managed; as, a cumbersome contrivance or machine.
cybernetics "robotics" /si:`b*-net'iks/ The study of control and communication in living and man-made systems. The term was first proposed by {Norbert Wiener} in the book referenced below. Originally, cybernetics drew upon electrical engineering, mathematics, biology, neurophysiology, anthropology, and psychology to study and describe actions, feedback, and response in systems of all kinds. It aims to understand the similarities and differences in internal workings of organic and machine processes and, by formulating abstract concepts common to all systems, to understand their behaviour. Modern "second-order cybernetics" places emphasis on how the process of constructing models of the systems is influenced by those very systems, hence an elegant definition - "applied epistemology". Related recent developments (often referred to as {sciences of complexity}) that are distinguished as separate disciplines are {artificial intelligence}, {neural networks}, {systems theory}, and {chaos theory}, but the boundaries between those and cybernetics proper are not precise. See also {robot}. {The Cybernetics Society (http://cybsoc.org)} of the UK. {American Society for Cybernetics (http://asc-cybernetics.org/)}. {IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society (http://isye.gatech.edu/ieee-smc/)}. {International project "Principia Cybernetica" (http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DEFAULT.html)}. ["Cybernetics, or control and communication in the animal and the machine", N. Wiener, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1948] (2002-01-01)
cycle server "jargon" A powerful computer that exists primarily for running large {batch} jobs. The term implies that {interactive} tasks such as editing are done on other machines on the network, such as {workstations}. [{Jargon File}] (1998-03-13)
database machine "hardware" A {computer} or special hardware that stores and retrieves data from a {database}. It is specially designed for database access and is coupled to the main ({front-end}) computer(s) by a high-speed channel. This contrasts with a {database server}, which is a computer in a {local area network} that holds a database. The database machine is tightly coupled to the main {CPU}, whereas the database server is loosely coupled via the network. [Example?] (2004-03-11)
deckle ::: n. --> A separate thin wooden frame used to form the border of a hand mold, or a curb of India rubber or other material which rests on, and forms the edge of, the mold in a paper machine and determines the width of the paper.
decorticator ::: n. --> A machine for decorticating wood, hulling grain, etc.; also, an instrument for removing surplus bark or moss from fruit trees.
derange ::: v. t. --> To put out of place, order, or rank; to disturb the proper arrangement or order of; to throw into disorder, confusion, or embarrassment; to disorder; to disarrange; as, to derange the plans of a commander, or the affairs of a nation.
To disturb in action or function, as a part or organ, or the whole of a machine or organism.
To disturb in the orderly or normal action of the intellect; to render insane.
Deus ex machina: Literally, the god from the machine; an allusion to the device whereby in ancient drama a god was brought on the stage, sometimes to provide a supernatural solution to a dramatic difficulty, hence any person, thing, or concept artificially introduced to solve a difficulty. -- G.R.M.
director ::: n. --> One who, or that which, directs; one who regulates, guides, or orders; a manager or superintendent.
One of a body of persons appointed to manage the affairs of a company or corporation; as, the directors of a bank, insurance company, or railroad company.
A part of a machine or instrument which directs its motion or action.
A slender grooved instrument upon which a knife is made
disintegrator ::: n. --> A machine for grinding or pulverizing by percussion.
doffer ::: n. --> A revolving cylinder, or a vibrating bar with teeth, in a carding machine, which doffs, or strips off, the cotton from the cards.
draughtsman ::: n. --> One who draws pleadings or other writings.
One who draws plans and sketches of machinery, structures, and places; also, more generally, one who makes drawings of any kind.
A "man" or piece used in the game of draughts.
One who drinks drams; a tippler.
drawbench ::: n. --> A machine in which strips of metal are drawn through a drawplate; especially, one in which wire is thus made; -- also called drawing bench.
dredge ::: n. --> Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: (a) A dragnet for taking up oysters, etc., from their beds. (b) A dredging machine. (c) An iron frame, with a fine net attached, used in collecting animals living at the bottom of the sea.
Very fine mineral matter held in suspension in water.
A mixture of oats and barley. ::: v. t.
dredger ::: n. --> One who fishes with a dredge.
A dredging machine.
A box with holes in its lid; -- used for sprinkling flour, as on meat or a breadboard; -- called also dredging box, drudger, and drudging box.
drill press ::: --> A machine for drilling holes in metal, the drill being pressed to the metal by the action of a screw.
duster ::: n. --> One who, or that which, dusts; a utensil that frees from dust.
A revolving wire-cloth cylinder which removes the dust from rags, etc.
A blowing machine for separating the flour from the bran.
A light over-garment, worn in traveling to protect the clothing from dust.
dynamometer ::: n. --> An apparatus for measuring force or power; especially, muscular effort of men or animals, or the power developed by a motor, or that required to operate machinery.
dynamo ::: n. --> A dynamo-electric machine.
electrical ::: a. --> Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark.
Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance.
Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic.
electromotor ::: n. --> A mover or exciter of electricity; as apparatus for generating a current of electricity.
An apparatus or machine for producing motion and mechanical effects by the action of electricity; an electro-magnetic engine.
elevator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, raises or lifts up anything
A mechanical contrivance, usually an endless belt or chain with a series of scoops or buckets, for transferring grain to an upper loft for storage.
A cage or platform and the hoisting machinery in a hotel, warehouse, mine, etc., for conveying persons, goods, etc., to or from different floors or levels; -- called in England a lift; the cage or platform itself.
engineering ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Engineer ::: n. --> Originally, the art of managing engines; in its modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the mechanical properties of matter are made useful to man in structures and machines; the occupation and work of an engineer.
engine ::: n. --> (Pronounced, in this sense, ////.) Natural capacity; ability; skill.
Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.
Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture.
A compound machine by which any physical power is applied to produce a given physical effect.
enginery ::: n. --> The act or art of managing engines, or artillery.
Engines, in general; instruments of war.
Any device or contrivance; machinery; structure or arrangement.
engine-sized ::: a. --> Sized by a machine, and not while in the pulp; -- said of paper.
erection ::: n. --> The act of erecting, or raising upright; the act of constructing, as a building or a wall, or of fitting together the parts of, as a machine; the act of founding or establishing, as a commonwealth or an office; also, the act of rousing to excitement or courage.
The state of being erected, lifted up, built, established, or founded; exaltation of feelings or purposes.
State of being stretched to stiffness; tension.
excavator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, excavates or hollows out; a machine, as a dredging machine, or a tool, for excavating.
“Existence is not merely a machinery of Nature, a wheel of law in which the soul is entangled for a moment or for ages; it is a constant manifestation of the Spirit. Life is not for the sake of life alone, but for God, and the living soul of man is an eternal portion of the Godhead.” Essays on the Gita
faller ::: n. --> One who, or that which, falls.
A part which acts by falling, as a stamp in a fulling mill, or the device in a spinning machine to arrest motion when a thread breaks.
fantoccini ::: n. pl. --> Puppets caused to perform evolutions or dramatic scenes by means of machinery; also, the representations in which they are used.
feller ::: n. --> One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.
An appliance to a sewing machine for felling a seam.
filatory ::: n. --> A machine for forming threads.
finger ::: n. --> One of the five terminating members of the hand; a digit; esp., one of the four extermities of the hand, other than the thumb.
Anything that does work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; especially (Mech.) a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion.
The breadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in
fitter ::: n. --> One who fits or makes to fit;
One who tries on, and adjusts, articles of dress.
One who fits or adjusts the different parts of machinery to each other.
A coal broker who conducts the sales between the owner of a coal pit and the shipper.
A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
fleece ::: n. --> The entire coat of wood that covers a sheep or other similar animal; also, the quantity shorn from a sheep, or animal, at one time.
Any soft woolly covering resembling a fleece.
The fine web of cotton or wool removed by the doffing knife from the cylinder of a carding machine. ::: v. t.
flock ::: n. --> A company or collection of living creatures; -- especially applied to sheep and birds, rarely to persons or (except in the plural) to cattle and other large animals; as, a flock of ravenous fowl.
A Christian church or congregation; considered in their relation to the pastor, or minister in charge.
A lock of wool or hair.
Woolen or cotton refuse (sing. / pl.), old rags, etc., reduced to a degree of fineness by machinery, and used for stuffing
follower ::: n. --> One who follows; a pursuer; an attendant; a disciple; a dependent associate; a retainer.
A sweetheart; a beau.
The removable flange, or cover, of a piston. See Illust. of Piston.
A gland. See Illust. of Stuffing box.
The part of a machine that receives motion from another part. See Driver.
"For each birth is a new start; it develops indeed from the past, but is not its mechanical continuation: rebirth is not a constant reiteration but a progression, it is the machinery of an evolutionary process.” The Life Divine
“For each birth is a new start; it develops indeed from the past, but is not its mechanical continuation: rebirth is not a constant reiteration but a progression, it is the machinery of an evolutionary process.” The Life Divine
fourdrinier ::: n. --> A machine used in making paper; -- so named from an early inventor of improvements in this class of machinery.
furniture ::: v. t. --> That with which anything is furnished or supplied; supplies; outfit; equipment.
Articles used for convenience or decoration in a house or apartment, as tables, chairs, bedsteads, sofas, carpets, curtains, pictures, vases, etc.
The necessary appendages to anything, as to a machine, a carriage, a ship, etc.
The masts and rigging of a ship.
gatling gun ::: --> An American machine gun, consisting of a cluster of barrels which, being revolved by a crank, are automatically loaded and fired.
gearing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Gear ::: n. --> Harness.
The parts by which motion imparted to one portion of an engine or machine is transmitted to another, considered collectively; as, the valve gearing of locomotive engine; belt gearing; esp., a train
geocyclic ::: a. --> Of, pertaining to, or illustrating, the revolutions of the earth; as, a geocyclic machine.
Circling the earth periodically.
getterup ::: n. --> One who contrives, makes, or arranges for, anything, as a book, a machine, etc.
gib ::: n. --> A male cat; a tomcat.
A piece or slip of metal or wood, notched or otherwise, in a machine or structure, to hold other parts in place or bind them together, or to afford a bearing surface; -- usually held or adjusted by means of a wedge, key, or screw. ::: v. i.
gimmal ::: n. --> Joined work whose parts move within each other; a pair or series of interlocked rings.
A quaint piece of machinery; a gimmer.
gin ::: n. --> Against; near by; towards; as, gin night.
A strong alcoholic liquor, distilled from rye and barley, and flavored with juniper berries; -- also called Hollands and Holland gin, because originally, and still very extensively, manufactured in Holland. Common gin is usually flavored with turpentine.
Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare.
A machine for raising or moving heavy weights, consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the top, with a windlass, pulleys,
glazer ::: n. --> One who applies glazing, as in pottery manufacture, etc.; one who gives a glasslike or glossy surface to anything; a calenderer or smoother of cloth, paper, and the like.
A tool or machine used in glazing, polishing, smoothing, etc.; amoung cutlers and lapidaries, a wooden wheel covered with emery, or having a band of lead and tin alloy, for polishing cutlery, etc.
governor ::: n. --> One who governs; especially, one who is invested with the supreme executive authority in a State; a chief ruler or magistrate; as, the governor of Pennsylvania.
One who has the care or guardianship of a young man; a tutor; a guardian.
A pilot; a steersman.
A contrivance applied to steam engines, water wheels, and other machinery, to maintain nearly uniform speed when the resistances
gramme machine ::: --> A kind of dynamo-electric machine; -- so named from its French inventor, M. Gramme.
greaser ::: n. --> One who, or that which, greases; specifically, a person employed to lubricate the working parts of machinery, engines, carriages, etc.
A nickname sometimes applied in contempt to a Mexican of the lowest type.
grubber ::: n. --> One who, or that which, grubs; especially, a machine or tool of the nature of a grub ax, grub hook, etc.
guillotine ::: n. --> A machine for beheading a person by one stroke of a heavy ax or blade, which slides in vertical guides, is raised by a cord, and let fall upon the neck of the victim.
Any machine or instrument for cutting or shearing, resembling in its action a guillotine. ::: v. t.
gummer ::: n. --> A punch-cutting tool, or machine for deepening and enlarging the spaces between the teeth of a worn saw.
harvester ::: n. --> One who harvests; a machine for cutting and gathering grain; a reaper.
A harvesting ant.
hay-cutter ::: n. --> A machine in which hay is chopped short, as fodder for cattle.
haymaker ::: n. --> One who cuts and cures hay.
A machine for curing hay in rainy weather.
header ::: n. --> One who, or that which, heads nails, rivets, etc., esp. a machine for heading.
One who heads a movement, a party, or a mob; head; chief; leader.
A brick or stone laid with its shorter face or head in the surface of the wall.
In framing, the piece of timber fitted between two trimmers, and supported by them, and carrying the ends of the
headstock ::: n. --> A part (usually separate from the bed or frame) for supporting some of the principal working parts of a machine
The part of a lathe that holds the revolving spindle and its attachments; -- also called poppet head, the opposite corresponding part being called a tailstock.
The part of a planing machine that supports the cutter, etc.
heck ::: n. --> The bolt or latch of a door.
A rack for cattle to feed at.
A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door.
A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
A bend or winding of a stream.
heliotrope ::: n. --> An instrument or machine for showing when the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line.
A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also turnsole and girasole. H. Peruvianum is the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers.
An instrument for making signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the sun&
hemmer ::: n. --> One who, or that which, hems with a needle.
An attachment to a sewing machine, for turning under the edge of a piece of fabric, preparatory to stitching it down.
A tool for turning over the edge of sheet metal to make a hem.
hopper ::: n. --> One who, or that which, hops.
A chute, box, or receptacle, usually funnel-shaped with an opening at the lower part, for delivering or feeding any material, as to a machine; as, the wooden box with its trough through which grain passes into a mill by joining or shaking, or a funnel through which fuel passes into a furnace, or coal, etc., into a car.
See Grasshopper, 2.
A game. See Hopscotch.
horse power ::: --> The power which a horse exerts.
A unit of power, used in stating the power required to drive machinery, and in estimating the capabilities of animals or steam engines and other prime movers for doing work. It is the power required for the performance of work at the rate of 33,000 English units of work per minute; hence, it is the power that must be exerted in lifting 33,000 pounds at the rate of one foot per minute, or 550 pounds at the rate of one foot per second, or 55 pounds at the rate of ten feet per
H. Scholz, Geschichte der Logik, Berlin, 1931. Logical Empiricism: See Scientific Empiricism I. Logical machines: Mechanical devices or instruments designed to effect combinations of propositions, or premisses, with which the mechanism is supplied, and derive from them correct logical conclusions. Both premisses and conclusions may be expressed by means of conventional symbols. A contrivance devised by William Stanley Jevons in 1869 was a species of logical abacus. Another constructed by John Venn in 1881 consisted of diagrams which could be manipulated in such a manner that appropriate consequences appeared. A still more satisfactory machine was designed by Allan Marquand in 1882. Such devices would indicate that the inferential process is mechanical to a notable extent. -- J.J.R-
huller ::: n. --> One who, or that which, hulls; especially, an agricultural machine for removing the hulls from grain; a hulling machine.
hummeler ::: n. --> One who, or a machine which, hummels.
hydraulics ::: n. --> That branch of science, or of engineering, which treats of fluids in motion, especially of water, its action in rivers and canals, the works and machinery for conducting or raising it, its use as a prime mover, and the like.
hydropult ::: n. --> A machine for throwing water by hand power, as a garden engine, a fire extinguisher, etc.
II ADIT. ::: The physical is the slave of certain forces which create a habit and drive it ilirouch the mechanical power of the habit. So long ns the mind gives consent, you do not notice the slavery ; but if the mind withdraws its consent, then you feel the servitude, you feci a force pushing you in spite of the mind's will. It is very obstinate and repeats itself till the habit, the inner habit revealing itself in the outward act, is broken. If is like a machine which once set in motion repeats the same move* ment. A quiet persistent aspiration will bring you to the point where the habit breaks and you arc free.
indicator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, shows or points out; as, a fare indicator in a street car.
A pressure gauge; a water gauge, as for a steam boiler; an apparatus or instrument for showing the working of a machine or moving part
An instrument which draws a diagram showing the varying pressure in the cylinder of an engine or pump at every point of the stroke. It consists of a small cylinder communicating with the engine
inductive ::: a. --> Leading or drawing; persuasive; tempting; -- usually followed by to.
Tending to induce or cause.
Leading to inferences; proceeding by, derived from, or using, induction; as, inductive reasoning.
Operating by induction; as, an inductive electrical machine.
Facilitating induction; susceptible of being acted upon
ingenious ::: a. --> Possessed of genius, or the faculty of invention; skillful or promp to invent; having an aptitude to contrive, or to form new combinations; as, an ingenious author, mechanic.
Proseeding from, pertaining to, or characterized by, genius or ingenuity; of curious design, structure, or mechanism; as, an ingenious model, or machine; an ingenious scheme, contrivance, etc.
Witty; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious; as, an ingenious reply.
installation ::: n. --> The act of installing or giving possession of an office, rank, or order, with the usual rites or ceremonies; as, the installation of an ordained minister in a parish.
The whole of a system of machines, apparatus, and accessories, when set up and arranged for practical working, as in electric lighting, transmission of power, etc.
interference ::: n. --> The act or state of interfering; as, the stoppage of a machine by the interference of some of its parts; a meddlesome interference in the business of others.
The mutual influence, under certain conditions, of two streams of light, or series of pulsations of sound, or, generally, two waves or vibrations of any kind, producing certain characteristic phenomena, as colored fringes, dark bands, or darkness, in the case of light, silence or increased intensity in sounds; neutralization or
intricate ::: a. --> Entangled; involved; perplexed; complicated; difficult to understand, follow, arrange, or adjust; as, intricate machinery, labyrinths, accounts, plots, etc. ::: v. t. --> To entangle; to involve; to make perplexing.
invent ::: v. t. --> To come or light upon; to meet; to find.
To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to contrive or produce for the first time; -- applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine.
To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; -- in a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent a falsehood.
iron ::: n. 1. A silver-white metal, usually an admixture of some other substance, usually carbon, rendering it extremely hard and useful for tools, implements, machinery, constructions, and in many other applications. adj. 2. Inflexible; unyielding; firm. 3. Stern; harsh; cruel. 4. *Fig.* Resembling iron in firmness, strength, colour, etc.
jantu ::: n. --> A machine of great antiquity, used in Bengal for raising water to irrigate land.
jenny ::: n. --> A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
A familiar name of the European wren.
A machine for spinning a number of threads at once, -- used in factories.
jigger ::: n. --> A species of flea (Sarcopsylla, / Pulex, penetrans), which burrows beneath the skin. See Chigoe.
A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather; same as Jack, 4 (i). ::: n. & v. --> One who, or that which, jigs; specifically, a miner
jig ::: n. --> A light, brisk musical movement.
A light, humorous piece of writing, esp. in rhyme; a farce in verse; a ballad.
A piece of sport; a trick; a prank.
A trolling bait, consisting of a bright spoon and a hook attached.
A small machine or handy tool
A contrivance fastened to or inclosing a piece of work, and
jim-crow ::: n. --> A machine for bending or straightening rails.
A planing machine with a reversing tool, to plane both ways.
joiner ::: n. --> One who, or that which, joins.
One whose occupation is to construct articles by joining pieces of wood; a mechanic who does the woodwork (as doors, stairs, etc.) necessary for the finishing of buildings.
A wood-working machine, for sawing, plaining, mortising, tenoning, grooving, etc.
::: "Karma is only a machinery, it is not the fundamental cause of terrestrial existence — it cannot be, for when the soul first entered this existence, it had no Karma.” *Letters on Yoga
“Karma is only a machinery, it is not the fundamental cause of terrestrial existence—it cannot be, for when the soul first entered this existence, it had no Karma.” Letters on Yoga
Karma is only a machinery ; it is not the fundamental cause of terrestrial existence ; it cannot be, for when the soul first entered this existence, it had no Karma.
key ::: n. --> An instrument by means of which the bolt of a lock is shot or drawn; usually, a removable metal instrument fitted to the mechanism of a particular lock and operated by turning in its place.
An instrument which is turned like a key in fastening or adjusting any mechanism; as, a watch key; a bed key, etc.
That part of an instrument or machine which serves as the means of operating it; as, a telegraph key; the keys of a pianoforte, or of a typewriter.
kingston metal ::: --> An alloy of tin, copper, and mercury, sometimes used for the bearings and packings of machinery.
knitter ::: n. --> One who, or that which, knits, joins, or unites; a knitting machine.
labor-saving ::: a. --> Saving labor; adapted to supersede or diminish the labor of men; as, labor-saving machinery.
lace ::: n. --> That which binds or holds, especially by being interwoven; a string, cord, or band, usually one passing through eyelet or other holes, and used in drawing and holding together parts of a garment, of a shoe, of a machine belt, etc.
A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.
A fabric of fine threads of linen, silk, cotton, etc., often ornamented with figures; a delicate tissue of thread, much worn as an
Lamettrie, Julien Offroy de: (1709-1751) A French materialist and author of L'homme machine, in which he expresses his belief that the soul is a product of bodily growth; he maintains that the brain has its "thought muscles" just as the leg has its "walk muscles."
lapping ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Lap ::: n. --> A kind of machine blanket or wrapping material used by calico printers.
lathe ::: n. --> Formerly, a part or division of a county among the Anglo-Saxons. At present it consists of four or five hundreds, and is confined to the county of Kent.
A granary; a barn.
A machine for turning, that is, for shaping articles of wood, metal, or other material, by causing them to revolve while acted upon by a cutting tool.
The movable swing frame of a loom, carrying the reed for
::: "Law is necessary for order and stability, but it becomes a conservative and hampering force unless it provides itself with an effective machinery for changing the laws as soon as circumstances and new needs make that desirable.” *The Human Cycle
“Law is necessary for order and stability, but it becomes a conservative and hampering force unless it provides itself with an effective machinery for changing the laws as soon as circumstances and new needs make that desirable.” The Human Cycle
lift ::: n. --> The sky; the atmosphere; the firmament.
Act of lifting; also, that which is lifted.
The space or distance through which anything is lifted; as, a long lift.
Help; assistance, as by lifting; as, to give one a lift in a wagon.
That by means of which a person or thing lifts or is lifted
A hoisting machine; an elevator; a dumb waiter.
lock stitch ::: --> A peculiar sort of stitch formed by the locking of two threads together, as in the work done by some sewing machines. See Stitch.
loom ::: n. --> See Loon, the bird.
A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.
That part of an oar which is near the grip or handle and inboard from the rowlock.
The state of looming; esp., an unnatural and indistinct appearance of elevation or enlargement of anything, as of land or of a
lubricant ::: a. --> Lubricating. ::: n. --> That which lubricates; specifically, a substance, as oil, grease, plumbago, etc., used for reducing the friction of the working parts of machinery.
lubricator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, lubricates.
A contrivance, as an oil cup, for supplying a lubricant to machinery.
luddite ::: n. --> One of a number of riotous persons in England, who for six years (1811-17) tried to prevent the use of labor-saving machinery by breaking it, burning factories, etc.; -- so called from Ned Lud, a half-witted man who some years previously had broken stocking frames.
Lullic art: The Ars Magna or Generalis of Raymond Lully (1235-1315), a science of the highest and most general principles, even above metaphysics and logic, in which the basic postulates of all the sciences are included, and from which he hoped to derive these fundamental assumptions with the aid of an ingenious mechanical contrivance, a sort of logical or thinking machine. -- J.J.R.
machinal ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to machines.
machining ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Machine ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to the machinery of a poem; acting or used as a machine.
machinist ::: n. --> A constrictor of machines and engines; one versed in the principles of machines.
One skilled in the use of machine tools.
A person employed to shift scenery in a theater.
maiden ::: n. --> An unmarried woman; a girl or woman who has not experienced sexual intercourse; a virgin; a maid.
A female servant.
An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals.
A machine for washing linen. ::: a.
Main works: Histoire naturelle de l'ame, 1745; L'homme-machine, 1747; L'homme-plante, 1748; Discours sur le bonheur, 1748; Le systeme d' Epicure, 1750. --R.B.W. Lange, Friedrich Albert: (1828-1875) Celebrated for his History of Materialism, based upon a qualified Kantian point of view, he demonstrated the philosophical limitations of metaphysical materialism, and his appreciation of the value of materialism as a stimulus to critical thinking. He worked for a greater understanding of Kant's work and anticipated fictionalism. -- H.H.
malaxator ::: n. --> One who, or that which, malaxates; esp., a machine for grinding, kneading, or stirring into a pasty or doughy mass.
manhole ::: n. --> A hole through which a man may descend or creep into a drain, sewer, steam boiler, parts of machinery, etc., for cleaning or repairing.
manufacture ::: n. 1. The making or producing of anything; generation; or the thing produced, product. 2. Fictitious invention, fabrication, concoction. manufactures. *v. 3. To make or produce by hand or machinery, especially on a large scale. *manufactured.
manufacture ::: n. --> The operation of making wares or any products by hand, by machinery, or by other agency.
Anything made from raw materials by the hand, by machinery, or by art, as cloths, iron utensils, shoes, machinery, saddlery, etc. ::: v. t.
marker ::: n. --> One who or that which marks.
One who keeps account of a game played, as of billiards.
A counter used in card playing and other games.
The soldier who forms the pilot of a wheeling column, or marks the direction of an alignment.
An attachment to a sewing machine for marking a line on the fabric by creasing it.
masher ::: n. --> One who, or that which, mashes; also (Brewing), a machine for making mash.
A charmer of women.
masticator ::: n. --> One who masticates.
A machine for cutting meat into fine pieces for toothless people; also, a machine for cutting leather, India rubber, or similar tough substances, into fine pieces, in some processes of manufacture.
matcher ::: n. --> One who, or that which, matches; a matching machine. See under 3d Match.
mechanical ::: a. --> Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with, mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the quantitative relations of force and matter, as distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as, mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical deposits.
Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools; made or formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical precision; mechanical products.
mechanic ::: a. --> The art of the application of the laws of motion or force to construction.
A mechanician; an artisan; an artificer; one who practices any mechanic art; one skilled or employed in shaping and uniting materials, as wood, metal, etc., into any kind of structure, machine, or other object, requiring the use of tools, or instruments.
Having to do with the application of the laws of motion in the art of constructing or making things; of or pertaining to
mechanician ::: n. --> One skilled in the theory or construction of machines; a machinist.
mechanic ::: n. 1. A worker skilled in making, using, or repairing machines, vehicles, and tools. mechanic"s. adj. **2. Resembling the action of a machine. 3. Resembling (inanimate) machines or their operations; acting or performed without the exercise of thought or volition; lacking spontaneity or originality; machine-like; automatic. 4. Habitual; routine; automatic. 5. Pertaining to, or controlled or affected by, physical force. mechanical, mechanically.**
mechanism ::: an assembly of moving parts performing a complete functional motion, often being part of a large machine or likened to one; linkage.
Mechanism: (Gr. mechane, machine) Theory that all phenomena are totally explicable on mechanical principles. The view that all phenomena is the result of matter in motion and can be explained by its law. Theory of total explanation by efficient, as opposed to final, cause (q.v.). Doctrine that nature, like a machine, is a whole whose single function is served automatically by its parts. In cosmology, first advanced by Leucippus and Democritus (460 B.C.-370 B.C.) as the view that nature is explicable on the basis of atoms in motion and the void. Held by Galileo (1564-1641) and others in the seventeenth century as the rnechanical philosophy. For Descartes (1596-1650), the essence of matter is extension, and all physical phenomena are explicable by mechanical laws. For Kant (1724-1804), the necessity in time of all occurrence in accordance with causality as a law of nature. In biology, theory that organisms are totally explicable on mechanical principles. Opposite of: vitalism (q.v.). In psychology, applied to associational psychology, and in psychoanalysis to the unconscious direction of a mental process. In general, the view that nature consists merely of material in motion, and that it operates automatically. Opposite of: all forms of super-naturalism. See also Materialism, Atomism. -- J.K.F.
mechanism ::: n. --> The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.
Mechanical operation or action.
An ideal machine; a combination of movable bodies constituting a machine, but considered only with regard to relative
mechanist ::: n. --> A maker of machines; one skilled in mechanics.
One who regards the phenomena of nature as the effects of forces merely mechanical.
mechanographic ::: a. --> Treating of mechanics.
Written, copied, or recorded by machinery; produced by mechanography; as, a mechanographic record of changes of temperature; mechanographic prints.
mechanurgy ::: n. --> That branch of science which treats of moving machines.
mend ::: v. t. --> To repair, as anything that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or the like; to restore from partial decay, injury, or defacement; to patch up; to put in shape or order again; to re-create; as, to mend a garment or a machine.
To alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken; as, to mend one&
Metaphysical deduction: An examination of the logical functions of thought that there are certain a priori forms of synthesis which belong to the very constitution, the bare, purely formal machinery of the understanding. -- H.H.
miller ::: n. --> One who keeps or attends a flour mill or gristmill.
A milling machine.
A moth or lepidopterous insect; -- so called because the wings appear as if covered with white dust or powder, like a miller&
mill ::: n. --> A money of account of the United States, having the value of the tenth of a cent, or the thousandth of a dollar.
A machine for grinding or comminuting any substance, as grain, by rubbing and crushing it between two hard, rough, or intented surfaces; as, a gristmill, a coffee mill; a bone mill.
A machine used for expelling the juice, sap, etc., from vegetable tissues by pressure, or by pressure in combination with a grinding, or cutting process; as, a cider mill; a cane mill.
millwork ::: n. --> The shafting, gearing, and other driving machinery of mills.
The business of setting up or of operating mill machinery.
millwright ::: n. --> A mechanic whose occupation is to build mills, or to set up their machinery.
minder ::: n. --> One who minds, tends, or watches something, as a child, a machine, or cattle; as, a minder of a loom.
One to be attended; specif., a pauper child intrusted to the care of a private person.
Missing definition "introduction" First, this is an (English language) __computing__ dictionary. It includes lots of terms from related fields such as mathematics and electronics, but if you're looking for (or want to submit) words from other subjects or general English words or other languages, try {(http://wikipedia.org/)}, {(http://onelook.com/)}, {(http://yourdictionary.com/)}, {(http://www.dictionarist.com/)} or {(http://reference.allrefer.com/)}. If you've already searched the dictionary for a computing term and it's not here then please __don't tell me__. There are, and always will be, a great many missing terms, no dictionary is ever complete. I use my limited time to process the corrections and definitions people have submitted and to add the {most frequently requested missing terms (missing.html)}. Try one of the sources mentioned above or {(http://techweb.com/encyclopedia/)}, {(http://whatis.techtarget.com/)} or {(http://google.com/)}. See {the Help page (help.html)} for more about missing definitions and bad cross-references. (2014-09-20)! {exclamation mark}!!!Batch "language, humour" A daft way of obfuscating text strings by encoding each character as a different number of {exclamation marks} surrounded by {question marks}, e.g. "d" is encoded as "?!!!!?". The language is named after the {MSDOS} {batch file} in which the first converter was written. {esoteric programming languages} {wiki entry (http://esolangs.org/wiki/!!!Batch)}. (2014-10-25)" {double quote}
mitrailleuse ::: n. --> A breech-loading machine gun consisting of a number of barrels fitted together, so arranged that the barrels can be fired simultaneously, or successively, and rapidly.
model ::: n. --> A miniature representation of a thing, with the several parts in due proportion; sometimes, a facsimile of the same size.
Something intended to serve, or that may serve, as a pattern of something to be made; a material representation or embodiment of an ideal; sometimes, a drawing; a plan; as, the clay model of a sculpture; the inventor&
modification ::: n. --> The act of modifying, or the state of being modified; a modified form or condition; state as modified; a change; as, the modification of an opinion, or of a machine; the various modifications of light.
motion ::: n. --> The act, process, or state of changing place or position; movement; the passing of a body from one place or position to another, whether voluntary or involuntary; -- opposed to rest.
Power of, or capacity for, motion.
Direction of movement; course; tendency; as, the motion of the planets is from west to east.
Change in the relative position of the parts of anything; action of a machine with respect to the relative movement of its parts.
motor ::: n. --> One who, or that which, imparts motion; a source of mechanical power.
A prime mover; a machine by means of which a source of power, as steam, moving water, electricity, etc., is made available for doing mechanical work.
Alt. of Motorial
moulinet ::: n. --> The drum upon which the rope is wound in a capstan, crane, or the like.
A machine formerly used for bending a crossbow by winding it up.
In sword and saber exercises, a circular swing of the weapon.
movement ::: n. --> The act of moving; change of place or posture; transference, by any means, from one situation to another; natural or appropriate motion; progress; advancement; as, the movement of an army in marching or maneuvering; the movement of a wheel or a machine; the party of movement.
Motion of the mind or feelings; emotion.
Manner or style of moving; as, a slow, or quick, or sudden, movement.
mower ::: n. --> One who, or that which, mows; a mowing machine; as, a lawn mower.
mule ::: n. --> A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare, sometimes a horse and a she-ass. See Hinny.
A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust of another; -- called also hybrid.
A very stubborn person.
A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool, etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; -- called also
onager ::: n. --> A military engine acting like a sling, which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket, and was operated by machinery.
A wild ass, especially the koulan.
operameter ::: n. --> An instrument or machine for measuring work done, especially for ascertaining the number of rotations made by a machine or wheel in manufacturing cloth; a counter.
order ::: n. --> Regular arrangement; any methodical or established succession or harmonious relation; method; system
Of material things, like the books in a library.
Of intellectual notions or ideas, like the topics of a discource.
Of periods of time or occurrences, and the like.
Right arrangement; a normal, correct, or fit condition; as, the house is in order; the machinery is out of order.
"Our thoughts are not really created within ourselves independently in the small narrow thinking machine we call our mind; in fact, they come to us from a vast mental space or ether either as mind-waves or waves of mind-force that carry a significance which takes shape in our personal mind or as thought-formations ready-made which we adopt and call ours. Our outer mind is blind to this process of Nature; but by the awakening of the inner mind we can become aware of it.” Letters on Yoga
“Our thoughts are not really created within ourselves independently in the small narrow thinking machine we call our mind; in fact, they come to us from a vast mental space or ether either as mind-waves or waves of mind-force that carry a significance which takes shape in our personal mind or as thought-formations ready-made which we adopt and call ours. Our outer mind is blind to this process of Nature; but by the awakening of the inner mind we can become aware of it.” Letters on Yoga
Pascal, Blaise: (1623-1662) French philosopher mathematician and scientist. He conducted scientific researches including experiments on atmospheric pressure and invented an ingenious calculating machine. He turned from preoccupation with the scientific to the study of man and his spiritual problems and found faith as a sounder guide than reason. At this stage of his thought, theology becomes central. These thoughts are developed in his Provincial Letters and in his posthumously published masterpieces of style, the Pensees. -- L.E.D.
pattern ::: n. --> Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine.
A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a specimen; a sample; an example; an instance.
Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern.
Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a beautiful pattern.
pawl ::: n. --> A pivoted tongue, or sliding bolt, on one part of a machine, adapted to fall into notches, or interdental spaces, on another part, as a ratchet wheel, in such a manner as to permit motion in one direction and prevent it in the reverse, as in a windlass; a catch, click, or detent. See Illust. of Ratchet Wheel. ::: v. t.
pegm ::: n. --> A sort of moving machine employed in the old pageants.
pendulum ::: n. --> A body so suspended from a fixed point as to swing freely to and fro by the alternate action of gravity and momentum. It is used to regulate the movements of clockwork and other machinery.
phonorganon ::: n. --> A speaking machine.
physeter ::: n. --> The genus that includes the sperm whale.
A filtering machine operated by air pressure.
picker ::: n. --> One who, or that which, picks, in any sense, -- as, one who uses a pick; one who gathers; a thief; a pick; a pickax; as, a cotton picker.
A machine for picking fibrous materials to pieces so as to loosen and separate the fiber.
The piece in a loom which strikes the end of the shuttle, and impels it through the warp.