Data Sponge Silly slang for a handheld scanner.
eBay Effect The rise in a company's stock after announcing the addition of auctioning to its online offerings. Ticketmaster and Sharper Image both enjoyed the eBay effect.
Generation Lap The overtaking of baby boomers by their more technologically savvy offspring. The idea of a generation lap has been articulated by many who believe that the "Net generation" has an innate, magical relationship with information technologies.
Pic Post A free porn supersite on which adult sites post banner ads and links to images each day. The pic post gets content, users get lots of free dirty pictures, and participating sites get, um, exposure.
Spendorphins The pleasure proteins that seem to be released during a shopping frenzy. Coined by Martha Barnette in Allure magazine.
Y2.038K Bug Another time/date bug - this one will cause counters on certain legacy systems to leap back 136 years when January 19, 2038, rolls around. The relevant code may no longer exist in 39 years, but then again, two-digit dates once seemed a harmless temporary fix.
Tip o' the lineman's hard hat to Paul Boutin, Bowen Dwelle, and Marjorie Ingall.
- Gareth Branwyn (jargon@wiredmag.com)
MUST READ
The Real MP3 Player
Top Banana
FUD, Counter-FUD
Masters' Plan
Why AOL Always Wins
Tired/Wired
Crash Course
Hype List
Total Xtreme Immersion
People
Jargon Watch
id's Identity Crisis
Ion Storm: Doomed?
R&D Into Dollars and Cents
Inside IBM's Lab
Hype Dream
The Open-Source eCosystem
Raw Data
