prowler n.
[Unix] A daemon that is run
periodically (typically once a week) to seek out and erase core files, truncate administrative
logfiles, nuke lost+found directories, and otherwise
clean up the cruft that tends to pile
up in the corners of a file system. See also GFR, reaper, skulker.
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pseudo /soo'doh/ n.
[Usenet: truncation of `pseudonym'] 1. An electronic-mail or
Usenet persona adopted by a human
for amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative
repercussions of one's net.behavior; a `nom de Usenet', often
associated with forged postings designed to conceal message
origins. Perhaps the best-known and funniest hoax of this type is
B1FF. See also tentacle. 2. Notionally, a flamage-generating AI program simulating a
Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of actually being
such entities, despite the fact that no AI program of the
required sophistication yet exists. However, in 1989 there was a
famous series of forged postings that used a
phrase-frequency-based travesty generator to simulate the styles
of several well-known flamers; it was based on large samples of
their back postings (compare Dissociated Press). A significant
number of people were fooled by the forgeries, and the debate
over their authenticity was settled only when the perpetrator
came forward to publicly admit the hoax.
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pseudoprime n.
A backgammon prime (six consecutive occupied points) with one
point missing. This term is an esoteric pun derived from number
theory: a number that passes a certain kind of "primality test"
may be called a `pseudoprime' (all primes pass any such test, but
so do some composite numbers), and any number that passes several
is, in some sense, almost certainly prime. The hacker backgammon
usage stems from the idea that a pseudoprime is almost as good as
a prime: it will do the same job unless you are unlucky.