noun

• If you put an infinite number of monkeys at typewriters, given an infinite amount of time, eventually one will bash out the script for 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 trivial.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

notes

• In mid-2002, researchers at Plymouth Univesity in England actually put a working computer in a cage with six crested macaques. The monkeys proceeded to bash the machine with a rock, urinate on it, and type the letter S a lot (later, the letters A, J, L, and M also crept in). The results were published in a limited-edition book, Notes Towards The Complete Works of Shakespeare. A researcher reported:
  
  "They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there."

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

origin

• This theorem has been traced to the mathematiciamn Émile Borel in 1913, and 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, RFC2795 - Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

• acronym for "in other words". Used mainly in computer-based conversation (instant messaging, email, text messaging, etc.)

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• In real life

  by Tensore @., Feb 04 2005.

noun

• a short amount of time.

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 14 2009.

• phone number or digits.

  did you get his keys?

  by liz, VA, USA, Nov 04 1999.

noun

• Keep It Simple, Stupid. A maxim often invoked when discussing design to fend off feature creep and control development complexity.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

noun

• A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an expedient, if not clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves ad-hockery.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

verb

• To insert a kluge into a program.

  I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

origin

• Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling "kludge."
  
  In 1947, the New York Folklore Quarterly reported a classic shaggy-dog story "Murgatroyd the Kluge Maker" then current in the Armed Forces, in which a "kluge" was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial function. Other sources report that "kluge" was common Navy slang in the WWII era for any piece of electronics that worked well on shore but consistently failed at sea.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

• "ok, thanks."

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• Often used online, means "Okay, thanks, 'bye."

  did u print out my english paper? yeah? kthxbai.

  by Alice M., Falls Church, VA, USA, Feb 04 2008.

• "okay, thanks, bye."

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• "later". Used mainly in computer-based conversation (instant messaging, email, text messaging, etc.)

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• "later gator". Used mainly in computer-based conversation (instant messaging, email, text messaging, etc.)

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• An annoying fool; idiot. (Used extensively on IRC).

  He is such a lamer.

  by Steve C., Australia, Mar 03 1999.

• A geek or social loser. Also used as Lame-ass. Origin: Hackerspeak.

  He is such a lamer.

  by Allen G., Dec 18 2000.

noun

• a person unskilled in computer use. Contract with elite.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

origin

• This term seems to have originated in the Commodore-64 scene in the mid 1980s. It was popularized among Amiga crackers of the mid-1980s by "Lamer Exterminator", the most famous and feared Amiga virus ever, which gradually corrupted non-write-protected floppy disks with bad sectors. The bad sectors, when looked at, were overwritten with repetitions of the string "LAMER!".

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

noun

• a person who downloads without uploading in return.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

• a person who consumes without giving anything in return.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

verb

• to download without uploading in return.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

• to consume without giving anything in return.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

noun

• The natural decay of web links as the sites they're connected to change or die. Compare bit rot.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

• acronym for "laughing my fucking ass off". Used mainly in computer-based conversation (instant messaging, email, text messaging, etc.)

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

• acronym for "laughing my fat ass off". Used mainly in computer-based conversation (instant messaging, email, text messaging, etc.)

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 11 2009.

noun

• The act of removing the processor from a microcomputer in order to replace or upgrade it.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.

adjective

• ready to go.

  by WalterGR, Sacramento, CA, USA, Aug 14 2009.

origin

• from military slang for an M-16 rifle with magazine inserted and prepared for firing.

  by The Jargon File, Aug 14 2009.