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Definitions by Larstait

1 - When a computer system shuts down and stops operation, usualyl without the operator wanting it to happen.

2 - A protected program.

3 - A file that has been changed by the OS so that it cannot be changed or deleted; often very easy to unlock.

4 - A floppy disk which has been physically locked to prevent accidental alteration or to prevent stupid people from modifying the contents.
The system is locked.
locked by Larstait November 6, 2003
Someone who copies a large amount of software and doesn't return the favor.
From "leach", the disgusting creature that sucks your blood.
leach by Larstait November 6, 2003
Integrated Services Digital Network.

Technology to completely digitize the phone service that was abandoned after much work (it began in the early 1980s) in the early 1990s becayse it was too expensive. It is currently used for high-speed Internet access, slower than T1 but faster than a modem. It is widely used by phone networks in some areas.
I don't have ISDN access
ISDN by Larstait November 6, 2003
(Internet Service Provider)

The local networks most normal people have to dial itno to reach the Internet; ISPs, in turn, make deals with such Internet backbone owners as MCI in order to connect to the Internet.
isp by Larstait November 6, 2003
Integrated Special Services Network

In a phone system (notably AT&T), controls special user features and customer control options. Not to be confused with ISSN, the serial number used by the Library of Congress used to register magazines.
ISSN by LarstaiT November 6, 2003

The Hacker Ethic 

Hacker code of morality that was originally formed by the MIT hackers in the late 1950s to the late 1960s and articulated by Steven Levy in his book HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION. The creed is as follows:

1)Always yield the Hands-On Imperative! Access to computers-- and andything else which might teach you about the way the world works-- should be unlimited and total.
2) All information should be free.
3) Mistrust Authority-- Promote Decentralization.
4) Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
5) You can create art and beauty on a computer.
6) Computers can change your life for the better.
While many of the 1960s hackers claim that modern hackers have rejected this code, it has actually strongly influenced all hackers for the last thirty years.
The Hacker Ethic by LarstaiT November 6, 2003
An icon which represents a user in a virtual reality/Internet setting, currently attempted with varying success. The term is adopted from Neal Stephenson; another word used for the same concept is Rudy Rucker's term "tuxedo."
First used from an Internet perspective in 1992 in SNOW CRASH, by Neal Stephenson, in one of those self-fulfilling SF prophecies. Stephenson got the name from the Hindu concept of avatars, which are the personification of various deities or entities.
avatar by LarstaiT November 6, 2003