infinite adj.
[common] Consisting of a large number of objects; extreme.
Used very loosely as in: "This program produces infinite
garbage." "He is an infinite loser." The word most likely to
follow `infinite', though, is hair.
(It has been pointed out that fractals are an excellent example
of infinite hair.) These uses are abuses of the word's
mathematical meaning. The term `semi-infinite', denoting an
immoderately large amount of some resource, is also heard. "This
compiler is taking a semi-infinite amount of time to optimize my
program." See also semi.
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infinite loop n.
One that never terminates (that is, the machine spins or buzzes
forever and goes catatonic).
There is a standard joke that has been made about each
generation's exemplar of the ultra-fast machine: "The Cray-3 is
so fast it can execute an infinite loop in under 2 seconds!"
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Infinite-Monkey Theorem n.
"If you put an infinite number
of monkeys at typewriters, eventually one will bash out the
script for Hamlet." (One may also hypothesize a small number of
monkeys and a very long period of time.) This theorem asserts
nothing about the intelligence of the one random monkey that eventually comes up with the
script (and note that the mob will also type out all the possible
incorrect versions of Hamlet). It may be referred to
semi-seriously when justifying a brute force method; the implication is
that, with enough resources thrown at it, any technical challenge
becomes a one-banana
problem. This argument gets more respect since Linux justified the bazaar mode of development.
This theorem was first popularized by the astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington. It
became part of the idiom of techies via the classic SF short story "Inflexible
Logic" by Russell Maloney, and many younger hackers know it through a reference
in Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". On 1 April 2000 the
usage acquired its own Internet standard, (Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite).