Computing: A Hacker's Dictionary

Computing covers it all, from hardware (any portion of a computer system that you can actually smack, thump, slam, punch, bash, whack, or clobber) to program ( a set of instructions for converting informational input into an emotional outburst). There are technical terms--Web browser (an Internet navigation program that gives computer users instant access to more than one billion advertisements); cultural phenomena--techie (a nerd with a Porsche); lingo--e-mail (a highly efficient method of wasting the countless working hours saved by the introduction of data-processing systems); and common words given new meaning in the computer age--instructions (a collection of Finnish proverbs with the words "User's Manual" printed on the cover).