1. n. [acronym: Binary Large OBject] Used by database people
to refer to any random large block of bits that needs to be
stored in a database, such as a picture or sound file. The
essential point about a BLOB is that it's an object that cannot
be interpreted within the database itself. 2. v. To mailbomb someone by sending a BLOB to
him/her; esp. used as a mild threat. "If that program crashes
again, I'm going to BLOB the core dump to you."
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block v.
[common; from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1.
vi. To delay or sit idle while waiting for something. "We're
blocking until everyone gets here." Compare busy-wait. 2. `block on' vt. To block,
waiting for (something). "Lunch is blocked on Phil's
arrival."
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block transfer computations n.
[from the 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. (The Z80's LDIR instruction,
"Computed Block Transfer with increment", may also be
relevant.)
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Bloggs Family n.
An imaginary family consisting of Fred and Mary Bloggs and
their children. Used as a standard example in knowledge
representation to show the difference between extensional and
intensional objects. For example, every occurrence of "Fred
Bloggs" is the same unique person, whereas occurrences of
"person" may refer to different people. Members of the Bloggs
family have been known to pop up in bizarre places such as the
old DEC Telephone Directory. Compare
Dr. Fred Mbogo; J. Random Hacker; Fred Foobar.