firmware /ferm'weir/ n.
Embedded software contained in EPROM or flash memory. It isn't
quite hardware, but at least doesn't have to be loaded from a
disk like regular software. Hacker usage differs from straight
techspeak in that hackers don't normally apply it to stuff that
you can't possibly get at, such as the program that runs a pocket
calculator. Instead, it implies that the firmware could be
changed, even if doing so would mean opening a box and plugging
in a new chip. A computer's BIOS is the classic example, although
nowadays there is firmware in disk controllers, modems, video
cards and even CD-ROM drives.
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F =
firmy /fer'mee/ n.
Syn. stiffy (a 3.5-inch floppy
disk).
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=
fish n.
[Adelaide University, Australia] 1. Another metasyntactic variable. See
foo. Derived originally from the Monty
Python skit in the middle of "The Meaning of Life" entitled "Find
the Fish". 2. A pun for `microfiche'. A microfiche file cabinet
may be referred to as a `fish tank'.