Loadmaster's definitions

pareidolia

Misperception of an ambiguous stimulus as something specific.

Seeing faces in clouds is an example of pareidolia.

by Loadmaster July 21, 2004

filegate

A scandal during the early Clinton administration, in which executive staff obtained the FBI files of hundreds of Republicans and were accused of using them for nefarious political ends.

The "-gate" suffix comes from the infamous Whitehouse scandal in which the Nixon re-election campaign obtained Democratic campaign records by breaking into the Watergate apartments.

Hillary was the mastermind behind the whole filegate scandal.

by Loadmaster October 1, 2004

whom

What an educated owl says.

An owl says "Who".
An educated owl says "Whom".

by Loadmaster July 29, 2004

transclude

To include part or all of a digital document into one or more other documents by reference.

Both the online article about food production and the article about natural resources transclude the same chart depicting population growth.

by Loadmaster April 1, 2015

ijunkie

A person addicted to iJunk (i.e., a personal digital device), spending an inordinate amount of time using it.

That kid uses his smartphone for hours every day; he's an iJunkie.

by Loadmaster August 7, 2014

relativity

Formally known as the Theory of Special Relativity, formulated by Albert Einstein in 1905.

Deals with the perception of time and distance by observers in different frames of reference which are moving with respect to each other. An observer in one frame perceives that time is slower and distances are shorter in a different frame.

Also postulates that the speed of light is perceived to be the same in every frame of reference, and that no form of matter or energy can travel faster than light.

Relativity is the feeling that time slows down that you get when you're around your relatives.

by Loadmaster August 25, 2005

iJunk

Digital communication and entertainment devices, including smartphones, MP3 players, etc. Such devices allow people to waste enormous amounts of time engaging in social media, listening to music, watching videos, and so forth.

My daughter spends about ten hours a day on her iJunk, mostly texting with her friends; she's an iJunkie.

by Loadmaster August 9, 2015