Unit 19: Vocabulary

Someone who sits and programs all day; someone who is only valued for their programming skills.

The bad software architect said, "Tell the developers to stop thinking and start typing like good little code monkeys!"

A person who likes new things and often buys them before they are proven.

A geek is a typical early adopter, often trying the latest and greatest technology before their peers have even heard of it.

The point when something is no longer supported or viable.

Operating systems typically reach their EOL about 3 years after release, but some people continue using them for decades.

Someone obsessed or devoted to a particular item or genre.

Tom is such a fanboy, he still uses his old Commodore Amiga as his main computer.

To write an intentionally abusive reply to a comment or social media post.

Joe, the sysadmin, got sent to counseling because he started too many flame wars on the company intranet.

An individual with a passion for computers, to the exclusion of other normal human interests.

The geek did not have a girlfriend, but he did have a computer named Lisa which he programmed to sing him love songs before bedtime.

Completely broken in some mysterious way; corrupted.

The websites crashed because the server was completely horked.

A piece of software which redefines the industry, often causing people to rush out and buy new hardware so they can use it.

Email was the first killer app of the Internet.

At the forefront of a new technology; also referred to as "state-of-the-art".

Kyle's company is so leading edge that they buy everyone new computers every six months.

This is nerd slang for anything annoying.

Installing and configuring a Linux wireless network card can be a real pita.

A derogatory reference to a stereotypical IT manager who chooses their technology platforms based on the latest TV commercial and has no practical knowledge at all of what their employees actually do.

This is how the PHB is described on the Dilbert website: "He wasn't born mean and unscrupulous, he worked hard at it."

A derogatory term for poorly organized programming code.

The lead programmer threw his hands up in the air and screamed when he saw the 10,000 lines of spaghetti code that management asked him to debug by tomorrow.

Someone who successfully defines a path for the rest of the industry to follow.

Apple is a company of trendsetters, whom everyone else is just following like lemmings.

A person who writes intentionally controversial posts on a user forum in order to start a flame war.

The forum's popularity among serious users went down when the system operator refused to banish the trolls.

Something sarcastic you can say to non-technical people when they repeatedly give you misguided technical instructions that are impossible, impractical, dangerous, or overly time-consuming.

"Whatever, dude," replied the programmer when his manager asked him to work overtime to recover his deleted files.