finn v.
[IRC] To pull rank on somebody based on the amount of time one
has spent on IRC. The term derives from
the fact that IRC was originally written in Finland in 1987.
There may be some influence from the `Finn' character in William
Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel "Count Zero", who at one point
says to another (much younger) character "I have a pair of shoes
older than you are, so shut up!"
Node:firebottle, Next:firefighting, Previous:finn, Up:= F
=
firebottle n.obs.
A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical device,
similar in function to a FET but constructed out of glass, metal,
and vacuum. Characterized by high cost, low density, low
reliability, high-temperature operation, and high power
dissipation. Sometimes mistakenly called a `tube' in the U.S. or
a `valve' in England; another hackish term is glassfet.