SMO from FOLDOC

smoke

1. To crash or blow up, usually spectacularly. "The new version smoked, just like the last one." Used for both hardware (where it often describes an actual physical event), and software (where it's merely colourful).

2. [Automotive slang] To be conspicuously fast. "That processor really smokes." Compare magic smoke.

[Jargon File]

smoke and mirrors

Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly associated with bogus demos and crocked benchmarks (see also MIPS, machoflops). "They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix - sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase has been said to derive from carnie slang for magic acts and "freak show" displays that depend on "trompe l"oeil' effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened.

smoke-emitting diode

<humour, electronics>

(From "light-emitting diode") An incorrectly connected diode, probably a light-emitting diode, in the process of losing its magic smoke and becoming a friode.

smoke test

1. A rudimentary form of testing applied to electronic equipment following repair or reconfiguration, in which power is applied and the tester checks for sparks, smoke, or other dramatic signs of fundamental failure. See magic smoke.

2. By extension, the first run of a piece of software after construction or a critical change. See and compare reality check.

There is an interesting semi-parallel to this term among typographers and printers: When new typefaces are being punch-cut by hand, a "smoke test" (hold the letter in candle smoke, then press it onto paper) is used to check out new dies.

[Jargon File]

smoking clover

[ITS] A display hack originally due to Bill Gosper. Many convergent lines are drawn on a colour monitor in AOS mode (so that every pixel struck has its colour incremented). The lines all have one endpoint in the middle of the screen; the other endpoints are spaced one pixel apart around the perimeter of a large square. The colour map is then repeatedly rotated. This results in a striking, rainbow-hued, shimmering four-leaf clover. Gosper joked about keeping it hidden from the FDA (the US's Food and Drug Administration) lest its hallucinogenic properties cause it to be banned.

SMoLCS

Specification metalanguage used for a formal definition of Ada. "An Introduction to the SMoLCS Methodology", E. Astesiano, U Genova 1986.

SMOP

/S-M-O-P/ [Simple (or Small) Matter of Programming] 1. A piece of code, not yet written, whose anticipated length is significantly greater than its complexity. Used to refer to a program that could obviously be written, but is not worth the trouble. Also used ironically to imply that a difficult problem can be easily solved because a program can be written to do it; the irony is that it is very clear that writing such a program will be a great deal of work. "It's easy to enhance a Fortran compiler to compile COBOL as well; it's just an SMOP." 2. Often used ironically by the intended victim when a suggestion for a program is made which seems easy to the suggester, but is obviously (to the victim) a lot of work.

[Jargon File]

Nearby terms:

SMM ♦ SMNP ♦ smoke ♦ smoke and mirrors ♦ smoke-emitting diode ♦ smoke test

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