sunspots n.
1. Notional cause of an odd error. "Why did the program
suddenly turn the screen blue?" "Sunspots, I guess." 2. Also the
cause of bit rot -- from the myth
that sunspots will increase cosmic
rays, which can flip single bits in memory. See also
phase of the
moon.
Node:super source quench,
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super source quench n.
A special packet designed to shut up an Internet host. The
Internet Protocol (IP) has a control message called Source Quench
that asks a host to transmit more slowly on a particular
connection to avoid congestion. It also has a Redirect control
message intended to instruct a host to send certain packets to a
different local router. A "super source quench" is actually a
redirect control packet, forged to look like it came from a local
router, that instructs a host to send all packets to its own
local loopback address. This will effectively tie many Internet
hosts up in knots. Compare Godzillagram, breath-of-life packet.
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quench, Up:= S =
superloser n.
[Unix] A superuser with no clue - someone with root privileges
on a Unix system and no idea what he/she is doing, the moral
equivalent of a three-year-old with an unsafetied Uzi. Anyone who
thinks this is an uncommon situation reckons without the
territorial urges of management.